text:
"A man walking alone on a deserted beach, brandishing a lantern in his outstretched hand, might be a fool. But, for a ship that went astray on a stormy night, he might be the savior."
Thursday, October 02, 2008
History of Beer
Beer traces back its origins to the 6th millennium BC to Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. The Sumerians made reference to beer in their very first writings (clever people the Sumerians). The Hymn to Ninkasi of 1800BC, found in its entirety at the end of this article, is the oldest recipe for making beer in recorded history. Ninkasi is the Sumerian goddess of beer and the brew mistress of the gods (I told you that the Sumerians were smart). Beer, being the final product of natural fermentation, was discovered rather than invented. The Sumerians baked the grain they harvested in order to make it last in storage. It was found that the sweetest variety of grains if left and forgotten then moistened and eaten uplifted the wits of our grandfathers and made them jolly. We were indeed the first people to get intoxicated and in due course the masterminds of wild and fun partying. At least 3600 years before the 16-day world renowned Oktoberfest festival of Munich and Bavaria was initiated (1818) we were already getting drunk year round. It goes beyond doubt that the earliest pickup lines such as:
-If I told you that you had a great body, would you hold it against me?
-So, do you like fat guys with no money?
-If I were to ask you for sex, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?
and lamer ones still were invented between the Tigris and the Euphrates. When we, illustrious Levantines, remember our past and rightfully take pride in our colorful history, we should go all the way back without the slightest of hesitation. Drinking is a part of our true identity and as thus guilt and shame should not be allowed to obscure our vision even for those who chose to defy nature by becoming self-prescribed abstainers.
The Babylonians followed in the footstep of their forerunners and improved on the manmade processing while simultaneously the Fellaheen (peasants) along the River Nile of ancient Egypt added dates to the brew, just like they still do today, to improve on its taste. Hammurabi, the Babylonian king and the first lawmaker in history by all accounts decreed that the daily ration of beer per individual is to be based on his social standing. It varied from 2 liters for a manual laborer to 5 liters for a high priest. With the rise of the Roman Empire, beer continued to spread and infiltrated the outer reaches of the realm. The bigoted and narrow minded Romans considered beer to be the choice of Barbarians and stuck to their wine (no more their discovery than our Arak is). They called it Bacchus and claimed it to be the favorite drinks of the gods. Tacitus wrote of the Germans: "To drink, the Teutons have a horrible brew fermented from barley or wheat, a brew which has only a very far removed similarity to wine". Yeah right, the haughty Italians ended up making Fiats while the savage Germans contrived Beemers and Mercedes-Benzes.
By the Middle Ages beer developed radically in monastery breweries. Those wise olden priests didn't engage in beer brewing for profit but rather to liven up their frugal diet. Since the consumption of fluids didn't break their perpetual fast, a pious monk was allowed as much as 5 liters per day. Damn, who needs to eat anyway? That would've been just about the perfect time to join the church. I've kept a mental note about it, if I'm ever to travel back through time I'd choose the 1350's and commit myself to becoming a monk for the rest of my short yet happy life. Brewing beer slowly yet surely progressed on the hands of these men of the cloth and eventually they started producing more beer than they could consume. The first pubs were established by the monasteries and soon enough shady men of politics, dukes and princes, saw the tremendous potential of money in the beer "business". This hugely popular drink became taxable under Emperor Sigismund (1368-1437). Christian clerics of that era, bless their souls, greatly contributed to the fine art of brewing. Thanks to them, beer started to look and taste so much like the golden elixir of today. Hops were used for the first time to enhance the flavor in the Brabant monasteries somewhere in today's Belgium. King Gambrinus, still revered today as the patron saint of beer, jubilantly bellowed on a happy night: "In life be I called Gambrinus, King of Flanders and Brabant. I have made malt from barley and first conceived of the brewing of beer. Hence, the brewers can say they have a king as master brewer."
In the 1500's, Hamburg alone boasted 600 breweries and with the passage of time, Friedrich Wilhelm (1688-1740), King of Prussia, established his celebrated "Tobacco Council", what in essence is an early format of a group of "drinking buddies". Beer lovers gained an avid and influential supporter now that the church reversed its position on drinking. Rest in peace beloved king, my friends and I always remember you when we salute our Sumerian ancestors. "Kass Friedrich Ibn Wilhelm", we roar in euphoria after a few Bavarian cold ones.
In 1835, the first German railroad was inaugurated, connecting Nürnberg to Fürth. The first cargo transported on board was, well, two barrels of beer. With the invention of refrigeration by Carl von Linde (1842-1934), beer became seasonally independent. Should I go on… beer won the world over in a heartbeat and has successfully become the most globally consumed alcoholic beverage. There's hardly a country where beer is not brewed. Even under the tyrannical, oppressive and cruel despotism of the House of Saud (who prefer to drink Scotch from the high-heeled shoes of blonde prostitutes over any other form of drink) ingenious beer lovers prepare their brew in their bathtubs at home. We in Syria have 2 local brands of beer. I would suggest that you give them a try, if you haven't already done so, out of curiosity. From a scale of 0 to 10, I would give Al-Shark and Barada a grade of anywhere from 0 to 5. The strangest thing is that the taste is not consistent and varies from bottle to bottle, from the terrible to the mediocre. However, once you learn that these two brands of beer are produced by the public sector (meaning the government) you should wonder no more. An analphabet government official can barely tie his shoes let alone supervise and run a brewery. You would've thought that with the new opening up of the market, the erection of hundreds of factories and the introduction of dozens of new industries someone will have the balls to start a beer brewing plant. But my tobacco council and I know better. The new breed of Syrian investors (businessmen) and despite the fact that they might be heavy drinkers themselves, hide behind their middle finger (the same one they stick up the general public's ass). They court the government and bed the religious establishment. These patrons of modernization are accumulating such horrendous profits, bribing their ardent bearded supporters and basking in their blessings. What the hell am I talking about? Screw them.
It's time for a beer. Cheers.
The Hymn to Ninkasi
Translated by Miguel Civil
Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,
Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,
Having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished its great walls for you,
Ninkasi, having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished it's walls for you,
Your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.
Ninkasi, your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.
You are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics,
Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with [date] - honey,
You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
Ninkasi, you are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (...)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
|What do you think?
31 comments:
- Allie said...
"If I were to ask you for sex, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?"
This, is by far, the funniest pick-up line I've ever encountered. The stuff about beer was great too. :)
- Unknown said...
Hi Allie
So, honestly, do you think I would've had a chance with a line like that :-)
Have a good time and think of me when:
1. You hear a lame pickup line
2. You have a cold beer with a bunch of friends.
- Dubai Jazz said...
The other day I approached this hot girl and said: "hey, i am bigger and better than the titanic, only 200 girls went down on the titanic"
she simply sank within the crowd.
dubai jazz,
what kind of lady do you imagine you will get with this approach? On seocnd thought, I do not want to know.
Very interesting history on brew making. We used to have three local brands of beer, and regretfully the only one standing nowadays tastes like piss (in my honest opinion). I myself love german beer : 0
w.b. yeats
- yaser said...
thanks for the infomation, I'll try to look for our homegrown beer..:)
- saint said...
Hi Abufares,
I love the lines, which I have learnt them early.
Testimonial: I'm not a Budwiser fan, I prefer Michelob beer.
Although your pic was fine and dandy, but it is not the pride of the Budwiser, their pride as you know is the Clydesdale horses, and my favorite commercial is the one which tell you, you can be what ever you dream off. http://video.google.com/videosearch?ndsp=18&um=1&hl=en&q=budweiser%20clydesdale%20horses&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv#ndsp=18&um=1&hl=en&q=budweiser%20clydesdale%20horses&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv&start=20
Here is a challenge for you. Go to Budwiser.com, write down your real age.
Go to the perfect pour challenge, you will choose the glass angle, and pour angle and the pour height. Then you are into a challenge imagining the challenger is a lady behind the bar and you will win her if you could do it right without spilling on the counter, and if can't you should pay penalty.
I was a looser, how about you??
Good Luck
- saint said...
Correction: instead of which: I wish
BTW, Abufares, if you want to build a new plant for beer in Syria, what place do you choose, and why?
- Mariyah said...
When I saw the title of your post I wasn't sure I'd have anything to comment since I don't drink beer. But since YOU wrote it, dear Abu Fares, I thought it must be worth a read...and I was right!!! A very interesting history and I love the pick up lines...especially the sneaky insinuation of the first one!! :) Still don't think I'll try it, but drink it in health!
- Unknown said...
@Dubai Jazz
See what you did! You made my w.b. yeats wonder about you... I wonder about you myself sometimes.
Just to straighten matters up, before you embark on your doomed sea voyage you'd better fill up with some beer yourself and make certain that the hot girl had plenty of something much stronger. That's your only chance to ride her dinghy or at least to let her believe that your buoy actually floats.
- Unknown said...
@w.b. yeats
I wish I'd get a chance to try Puerto Rican beer one day. Preferably a very cold one, on a very hot day, on a very deserted beach... with you.
- Unknown said...
Welcome my man. Our local beer is served in almost all the 2nd grade restaurants and bars in Syria. Make sure it's as cold as possible to ease the pain.
Whether it is Al-Shark or Barada, it comes in different bottles (depending on what they have on hand). So you can drink Al-Shark in a clear, brown or green bottle. I suggest you pick the clear one just to be sure there is no hidden "gift" inside.
Being public sector companies they still collect the empties and re-use them. Now I have a friend (a restaurant owner) who has a friend in Al-Shark beer factory who always insures that his friend (the 1st one) gets his beer from a good batch. I'm not kidding, I swear... They have "good" batches and shitty batches. Let me put the matter in the proper perspective... just imagine that all the Damascene restaurants were owned and operated by our government...
I rest my case.
- Unknown said...
I got a 60 (Fair) score on my first and only attempt at Budweiser Pour Challenge. To tell you the truth though, I'm a very good beer pourer in real life.
Budweiser was one of the first brands of beer I tried. Remember I became 18 after I landed in the US. Back in those days, my most crucial preference was price. My friends and I would buy whatever was offered on sale at Walgreen's. Thus I learned about the various American brands like Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, Budweiser and Miller. Eventually I became a little more sophisticated and started enjoying Coors. Ultimately I discovered the Canadian brews like Moosehead and Labatt and my favorite at that time, the Mexican Dos Equis (XX).
Today, highest on my attainable list, that is I can get from the free shop in Tartous Port is Grolsch Dutch beer then the ubiquitous Heinneken (depending on where it's made). I love, however, to try local beers wherever I travel and my all time favorite remains Duvel of Belgium.
Finally, the land between the 2 rivers, that is our Jazira would be a perfect place for a brewery (water,wheat and history). Too bad the name Ninkasi is already taken by a brewery in Eugene, Oregon but we can take our pick from the dozens of good-natured Syrian gods of old.
5 km to the southeast of Tartous, there's a big sign marking the site of a new brewery "Royal Beer...." supposedly an under license operation with some German company. The sign has been there for 2 years but still no beer. I hope they are taking their time to perfect their brew and not because the project has been canceled or whatever.
- Unknown said...
What would my post be without your comments. I'm very glad you took the time though.
What you would not try? The sneaky insinuation of the first one or the beer?
I hope I can make you try "either" with me:-)
Abufares, 2 weeks ago I was in LA, I had some Arminian beer, I guess the lable was Van, any way it is the kind of old stile beer with the thik foam, (beera al shark)alepo made was good, the last time I tierd it was on 96, it was undrikable, Brasilan beer is like the bud,wery(GASOSA)I don´t like it, ok Ill put some beer in my cooler, I´m going fishing, taking with me some humos some mohamara, and i´ll make kabab(hele kele)of the interior part,with kezbara, e tum, I´m taking you with me,we will have oure litle HALAB with us
Do you enjoy dark beer as well? suggestion for the best Draft dark beer ever: Go to Ireland, any small local pub will do, order a Guiness Draft and enjoy!
My husband swears is the best "Dinner" ever! No need for anything else. I was pregnant at the time : ( Sadly I couldn't drink because I already had a very difficult pregnancy at the time. Lost the baby 3 days after, when I arrived home. I should have had the guinnes and maybe it would have had a miraculous effect...
In any event, I think it gives me the perfect excuse to go back to Ireland ; )
- Unknown said...
I think I was too generous when I gave Bira Al-Shark & Barada from 0 to 5. It's more like from 0 to 3 but you're right the quality deteriorated with the passage of years. From my knowledge of public sector industry, I'm certain the machines are not maintained, cleaned and consumables and filters not replaced...etc.
Sa77a Wa Hana and have a good time on your trip. Have one for me.
- Unknown said...
Ireland is one of the places I dream of visiting. I always try the beer whenever I'm in a new country. Although I'm not very fond of dark beer (I tried it once in Heathrow Airport and it was served at room temperature) but I'm sure that I will have a change of mind and heart in an Irish pub.
One of these days...
The "ambiance", the ambiance... : )
I do remember the Moosehead, which I tasted for the first time with you and I still like, and let me see...the Jolly Blond from Lafayette, Rolling Rock from New York, Heineken (favorite of the Caribbean Islands), hate Budwieser, hate Coors or Miller, tried Peroni in Italy, like Dos XX and Corona from Mexico, tasted draft beer in London (do not remember which??) but they also like to drink it room temperature like the Irish and the Scots, forget the Indian brandname and the Tai beer that I like and overall agree with you that the colder the better. Nothing like a cold beer, a sunny day and sailing in the Virgin Island Channel! : )
You definetly have to try THAT! I'm sure the whole family will enjoy it.
w.b. yeats
- Unknown said...
@w.b. yeats
naughty, naughty...
you've been doing so many things behind my back :-)
A cold beer, a sunny day and sailing with a virgin... you sure got that right. Wait a minute, the Virgin Island Channel, ah, that would be nice too!
- Diana said...
Over the past week I have taken a good look at your blog, skimming some posts and reading every word of others. I like it. :)
- Unknown said...
Beer according to my cousin is "the best gift that God bestowed upon us" and I must say I agree.
I tried beer in every city I visited this summer. The best selection of course was in Berlin, mainly because I didn't visit Brussels.
You posted once about Belgian beers, which compelled me to go the beer store and got my self a Leffe Brune. The wonderful dark beer has become my favourite beer, two bottles of which are on my desk.
- Unknown said...
The words you skimmed were delighted to get a glimpse from your eyes. Those you read thoroughly were blessed to have reached your mind.
Thank you for being here and more importantly for introducing your wonderful blog "The Quiver" http://the-quiver.blogspot.com/ to me.
- Unknown said...
I guess it was not meant for us to meet this past summer.
You have a wise cousin and you're lucky for that. You are also sage beyond the years ("I tried beer in every city I visited this summer."). If you can get your hand and eventually your lips on a Duvel bottle, give it a try and Ed3ili.
So now, beer is the nectar of the Gods...? : )
Look for the definition of my name in the dictionary, and you will see why I am smilling.
w.b. yeats
- Diana said...
Thanks! :)
- Joseph said...
Hey abufares thanks for the insight...check this out
... and If you ever happen to land In Ireland give us a shout...I'll be delighted to sample a pint or 2 with you.
Have a nice day.
- Unknown said...
@w.b. yeats
Did you ever think that I don't know what your name means?
Haven't you ever noticed how I acted like Hercules with you around?
- Unknown said...
Thank you for your delightful invitation to share a pint or 2 (most likely 2). If I ever have the chance to set foot in Ireland (something I always wanted) you'll hear about it for sure.
The pickup lines were out of this world:-) I LOVE the last one
w.b. yeats
- Ascribo said...
Yeah right, the haughty Italians ended up making Fiats while the savage Germans contrived Beemers and Mercedes-Benzes.
That's a perfect line, too. I have never thought of it this way!!!
I m affraid i really love you man,i read a lot of your posts since 3 years, the one you wright in your birthday was the one i was waiting for....you are just great.. thank you for being here


text:
Proof Of UFO?s Take a look at the clips:UFOMM
I just read James Carrion's (MUFON's ex- "International Director") statement of purpose on his blog site, "Center for UFO Truth". If his opening statement is any indication of what UFO truth he is referring to we're in for a one sided ride. He claims:
"Unfortunately, the field of Ufology has nothing to show for more than 60 years of investigation and research. By not adhering to professional evidentiary standards, Ufology will neither join the halls of academia nor will it discover what truly lies behind the subject of UFOs."
However, let's take a look at his statements very carefully. Basically he is saying if only our UFO researchers had dotted their "I"s and crossed their "t"s the UFO subject would have been thought worthy of study by the big scientific guns. The truth is Carl Sagan's had a catch 22 demand that UFO researchers produce not just evidence, but "extraordinary evidence". For UFO researches to produce extraordinary UFO evidence it would take extraordinary money and since UFO researchers have never had that money you have a perfect catch 22 in the UFO world.
The lives of Dr. Hynek and a braver James comes to mind when anyone insuates mainstreme attitude is all the UFO researchers fault. The other James was Dr. James McDonald, who was destroyed for using unchallengeable science to prove the debunkers science was sloppy. He never realize how much danger his career was in. He foolishly believed good scientists would always champion good science. He was so well respected other respected by his meticulous work the other scientist started agreeing with his science debunking the debunkers.. His destruction was so obviously orchestrated that it sent "coward waves" through the entire scientific community. He committed suicide because of the loss of his academic career. Remember, this was in the very beginning of UFO research and done by a mainstream scientist. Hynek had a career in the mainstream never had a grant or an academic career after changing his opinion on UFOs. Hynek didn't care the science was there he knew from the evidence they were real. Hynek also started Ted Phillips on his journey which also produced repeatable evidence at UFO landing sites. Hyneck himself must have had some pretty convincing evidence as he was ask to present it at the United Nations meeting on UFOs. http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/lee-speigel-on-his-1978-attempt-to-convince-the-united-nations-to-study-ufos/19530404
Remember Carrion is suggesting this was all sloppy research.
James' "Truth Train" has started off on the wrong track regarding scientists. This attitude by scientific is not new it is an attitude practice on all outside the box phenomenon that take place, take for example research into psychic phenomenon.
A classic example of how the scientific community deals with a very good scientist who does cross his "I" and his "t"s is reflected by Bob Jahn a man with the right credentials who headed for years the "Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research " Bob was an emeritus Professor of Aerospace Sciences and Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, who has taught and published extensively in advanced space propulsion systems, plasma dynamics, fluid mechanics, quantum mechanics, and engineering anomalies. But did it matter?
This playing field is treated the same as UFOs Even with a top respectable scientist and his team presenting solid repeatable evidence. the same old repeatable BS happens. There was not even a hint of other scientists being interested? I. Do you really think these actions by his comrads was because of his bad science? Jahn finally gave up trying to get his colleagues' attention, frustrated he claimed " we keep getting the same answers, but no one is listening". THESE SCIENTISTS REACTED AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE REACTED -ACCEPT THE SLOPPY REBUTTLES, AND GO ON WITH PURSUING SAFE FUNDING GRANTS.
The governments on both sides of the cold war finally took action themselves on some of their enigmas. I guess they didn't believe the scientists claims;"there is nothing to it". The only reason they didn't end up with psychic weapons was because couldn't control it. The government also was not as nonchalant as they claim over the UFO question. If UFOs were just sloppy science why did they feel a need to take them out?
No James, you are dead wrong, the fault of today's UFO state of affairs belongs at the seat of our great but fragile minds the scientists. Most of the extreme beliefs are here because there is a vacuum in science verses experience on these topics. So where there is a vacuum something will fill it. When any person realizes that the impossible just happened, against all the science that they've known to be true in science it may lead them doubtful on all of reality.
All around the world today people are realizing that their first hand UFO or paranormal experience is not unique. They read and watch on You Tube objects or experiences just like their own. Many more friends and relatives believe them. We also have the majority who don't report at all but know deep down something is wrong with the way science sees this world or others. I hope that is changing.
Some scientist see the You Tube too. Not all scientists are cowards. Recently, the National Geographic Channel had a program on recent investigations into the strange lights that are witnessed around the world at different locations. The once showcased here are the" Brown Mountain Lights. and the Hassdalen lights. By the way "Hassdalen Project", the longest investigation on these type lights by scientists in the entire world. So when James claims there has been no reaction to UFO investigations in the past is not true. One of the most interesting part of this clip is the UFO does something impossible and reputable scientist admitted it.
My problem with the good science presented in these clips is an historic one. It is that there is never any scientific follow-up investigations which could lead to more findings. The mystical and UFOs are out there if science won't do the job don't blame some charlatans for filling the vacuum.
Note: James also hinted that he found a great deal of problems in MUFON and elsewhere in a previous post. This will be probably be a part the "Center For UFO Truth" future articles. James took the job of edited the all the MUFON data they had on reports and investigations for a database. He claimed ,after he resigned, that corruption and all types of misbehaviors were perpetrated by certain researchers inside MUFON. I am looking forward to what he has, but I don't expect a balanced presentation.
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
National Geographic finds UFOs:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Wow. It is nearing 2 a.m. here in Miami, and I just returned from the Asha Bhosle and Amit Kumar concert at the Broward Performing Arts Center in Ft. Lauderdale. Before I called it a night, I just wanted to capture the moment.
What a wonderful concert! Asha Bhosle was amazingly entertaining and cordial, and it was a privilege to see her perform live. Amit Kumar was quite a revelation, and I shall surely want to pay more attention to his work.
Didn't quite think I had the scope for it, but I am an even bigger fan of Asha-ji after tonight. 'Wow' is a fitting initial reaction then. Much more in a detailed post on the event over the weekend. Cheers!
Wow, Asha-ji!
3 comments:
It was fun getting together last night after a while. I can't believe she even gave us a shout out!
- Saturday, April 19, 2008
I am soooo jealous :-) How fun.
BTW, I have added you to my blogroll, hope that's okay with you.
- Saturday, April 19, 2008
- theBollywoodFan said...
Mahesh: It was truly a great time. Glad you and yours were able to make it.
Memsaab: You've probably heard this sentence in a movie before: 'Neki aur pooch pooch?!' (i.e. to suggest something on the lines of 'why ask when doing a good deed!'). Thank you! Your blog is listed on mine as well, and I'll look forward to checking in often.
- Saturday, April 19, 2008


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[Each person is] the inhabitant of a world full of beauty and interest, the features of which he must recognise and know how to name, and a world too, and a universe, whose every function of every part is ordered by laws which he must begin to know. ~~Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education, Chapter 10Here are some Philosophy of Education numbers for you:
"Knowledge of Man" gets 48 pages in Chapter 10.
"Knowledge of the Universe" gets barely 17.
("Knowledge of God" gets 12.)
Some people are puzzled by Charlotte Mason's seeming lack of enthusiasm for subjects outside of the humanities.
Some people are very, very frustrated by it. Especially those who majored in math or science, or who work in math or science, or who are married to someone who worries that this CM stuff might be nice for the early grades but that nature study isn't going to cut it as they get older. And when do they do magnets and simple machines? And dinosaurs?
Less emphasis on science and math just doesn't fit, for instance, with current North American high school demands, and the almost more important requirements of colleges and universities. Many post-secondary programs in Ontario require senior-level maths and sciences. One college lists these requirements for grade 12 students applying to a nursing program:
■Six U or U/C credits including: Grade 12 U compulsory English; One of Grade 12 U Advanced Functions, Grade 12 U Calculus and Vectors or Grade 12 U Mathematics of Data Management; Grade 12 U Biology; Grade 12 U Chemistry and two other Grade 12 U or U/C courses with at least a cumulative average of 75%.
(U is University stream, U/C is University/College stream which would be slightly less advanced)
A Fitness and Health Promotion diploma program requires the following courses for admission:
■Grade 11 or 12 Biology, C or U, or equivalent (those without it can take a prep course at the college)
■Grade 12 Compulsory English, C or U, or equivalent (ditto)
■PLUS one of the following:
■Grade 11 or 12 Physics, C or U, or equivalent (ditto)
■Grade 11 or 12 Chemistry, C or U, or equivalent (ditto)
■Grade 12 Health and Physical Education, C or U, or equivalent
■Grade 11 or 12 Science, SNC3M or SNC4M
Take the science at high school or take it before you start the program, but somewhere along the line, you have to take it. Of course, not all the programs require math and science, but, as my own guidance counsellor used to say, "you might be closing some doors if you don't take those courses." I personally squeaked through school with two science credits (the last was in grade 11) and senior Functions and Relations, but then I was stubborn (I filled up my senior timetable with languages). Our Apprentice earned about every senior math and science credit there was (in addition to her hairstyling apprenticeship), and got herself into a chosen-by-hand science degree program. That's so you know that I would never stop anybody from taking lots of math and science and geography if that's what they want to do.
But that's Charlotte Mason's point: that, first off, it's not what everybody wants to do, or can do; but second, why should that stop the rest of us from taking an interest in our universe and all its "quirks and quarks?" Not earning senior science credits may "close the doors" of particular college programs (that never bothered me), but why should it close the doors of general interest? Unfortunately, our education system doesn't see it that way, though teachers moan about students' lack of interest in their science and math courses. It was the same thirty years ago--Grade 11 was Physics, take it or leave it. Grade 12 was Chemistry. No other options. When the voices out there complain about students' lack of math numeracy, or scientific literacy, they miss that one point: that though the humanities types and artsies don't get calculus, can't even get through senior chemistry without tearing our hair, it doesn't mean that math and science should be of no interest or have no relevance, that we're all doomed to everlasting ignorance, it's pork rinds with Bubba time.
But nobody can be completely cut off from at least the effects of science, even if our understanding of them is sometimes a bit straggly. We are bombarded with media stories of new medical discoveries (did you read about the ear that was created on a 3-D printer?), of meteors blowing up over Russia, of problems of the environment and agriculture. We are shown graphs, quoted numbers. We want to know what we should eat to stay healthy, how a new machine works, why some kinds of birds or bees are disappearing. If we are Christians, we certainly do want to know more about the "One who set the atoms dancing."
"Lord, You turn the wheels of the galaxies. You know what makes the planets spin. And You know what makes this watch run…" Through the years [Father] took his stopped watches to "the One who set the atoms dancing," or "who keeps the great currents circling through the sea." ~~Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding PlacePlease don't get me wrong: those who want to take college or university courses in areas requiring, for instance, a lab science background, or a particularly difficult math that the student's parents haven't studied recently, should certainly have the opportunity to get what they need. There really is no sneaking in through the back door on solid math and science preparation, and many homeschoolers do have to turn to outside courses, tutors, co-ops and so on. If you need that preparation for something, then by all means find a way to do it. This is where Charlotte Mason says that she doesn't have a lot to say about how science and math are taught (although she might have more to say these days)--geometry proofs are what they are, senior chemistry is still senior chemistry.
And her point, again, was that many of us could have done--can do--quite nicely without it. Her belief was that those who really needed to study higher-level math and science were a minority--an important and gifted minority, but still a minority. For the rest of us--we were not to be left without science and math altogether, by no means!--although what the "rest of us" do might not quite please the purists. For those of you who ever watched Seinfeld--do you remember George's invented holiday, "Festivus--for the rest of us?" That was pretty much what Charlotte was saying here--that there should be a large crowd of humanities majors enjoying our math and science Festivus, instead of being left out of the celebration altogether.
This did not mean, especially in the higher years, that it was to be all "science lite" or science-made-entertaining; or that those subjects could be dropped entirely. In the next post I will link to some of the books that her senior students used, to demonstrate that point. But math and science, taught in an accessible way, were to be part of the lifetime mind-equipment of every student; and they were valued for their place in the Science of Relationships and the Knowledge of the Universe.


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Our resort is also 45 minutes distance from Phuket International Airport, 25 minutes from Phuket town.


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Adobe Captivate is an electronic learning tool which can be used to author software demonstrations, software simulations, and randomized quizzes in swf and HTML format which can be converted and uploaded to video hosting websites. This content can be shared over Facebook and Twitter to make eLearning a very simple and interesting task. Adobe Captivate is shipped in 7 locales – English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Korean and Portuguese but courses and demonstrations can be created in other languages as well and we can share these localized courses very easily. Getting an online content in native language sets learners free of their dependency on English locale.
Creating localized eLearning courses
Below steps guide that how simple it is to share your high quality creations and demonstrations on YouTube and further over twitter/Facebook via Adobe Captivate 7 without even having much prior knowledge of the product. It will also highlight some of the trivial yet important issues which might prevent users to share content in English as well as non-English locales. This solution can be helpful to many native content creators.
1. Launch Captivate and select Video demo or Software Simulation from Start up page. Software simulation records events such as mouse click, keyboard entry, and system events and create slides accordingly. Video demo lets you create a single video which can be directly published to mp4 file.
2. Select the application or screen area which you want to demonstrate and select default presets for idevices(iphone, ipad), YouTube or customize it as per requirement. Select panning mode to focus screen areas manually/automatically with mouse movement.
3. Select "settings" button and go to Global Preferences. And select the language in which you want to generate the captions. Captions are generated automatically in case of software simulations which help in guiding throughout the training. Captivate allows you to create captions in multiple locales present in the list. They can be edited manually if required.
Captions can be generated in any of the languages selected by the user.
4. Add audio narration to your demo by selecting proper audio input device. System audio can be added as well to the projects along with narration.
5. After all settings click record button. Add narration and keep demonstrating your project. After completion hit END or click system tray icon in task bar.
6. The video will play before you and there is option to edit it but if it is properly recorded just click "YouTube". Click the Folder icon to publish it locally as mp4 file. (This can be shared as standalone file as well) . You can adjust the aspect ratio, quality, FPS in this workflow. Even after getting a copy store at your machine captivate asks about YouTube publish as well.
Edit Mode: If the video needs some correction click "Edit" and modify the video. Cutting of extra video, zooming on important areas, split of video into two parts, inserting objects, inserting another PIP (picture in picture) video is possible in edit mode.
Sharing courses on YouTube, Facebook & Twitter
1. Publish to YouTube:
If you already have a YouTube account, enter your credentials and accept the license agreement and Log in to YouTube.
For new users with no YouTube account, click over new user and you'll be redirected to sign up page for Google. Create your account and after successful creation come right back to Adobe Video Publisher and enter your details. Many a times users face an issue that even if after successful creation of account they are not able to login and face an error that specified user name/password incorrect although on YouTube they can log in with same credentials.
The issue is that every new account on YouTube needs verification. Without account being verified you cannot upload your video. To verify the account you can create your YouTube channel or verify via your phone.(This applies to Adobe Presenter Video creator as well)
Once you have logged in add description to your video and mark it under proper category public/private and UPLOAD! You can further view you video on YouTube or copy link to share with peers.
2. Publish to Facebook and Twitter
To share the course on Facebook/twitter check respective buttons and POST.
Sometimes user might face a blank dialog or a dialog saying internal error occurred when they post video on Twitter and issue is not easily isolated. Even restart/republish does not lead to any success.
The reason behind this is oAuth issue. We have to ensure that system's time stamp is in Sync with Twitter's. Twitter returns the current time in the "Date" HTTP header with every request. If your request fails due to a time stamp mismatch, use this time to determine the delta between the system clock and its server clock and adjust your oAuth_time stamps for subsequent requests accordingly. So all you need to check is that system time is set same as per proper time zone and you have not modified it. For eg. If your time zone is (US and Canada) Eastern Time then your system time should be same as current time of that region only else twitter won't return your request. And you'll get internal error. This issue can occur with people following different locales who may set their zone to some other region and system time to their own region. Can refer https://dev.twitter.com/discussions/204 for more details.
(Also applicable to Adobe presenter video creator.)
By following the above simple steps, students can now use their own Facebook/Twitter accounts to learn more by enrolling in these courses. It will be a great experience to learn via social networking portals . So start recording and sharing your projects in ADOBE CAPTIVATE and share them worldwide to connect with more and more people and encourage eLearning – the most fast and efficient learning practice.


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This proclamation was requested on behalf of the Young family!
to take action too? Send a proclamation request to your governor and
mayor to proclaim April 19th, 2016 as Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
Action Day! Click here to download a blank letter. Please send a copy of the proclamation to the awareness committee at firstname.lastname@example.com so we can share.


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Now, the former Alaska governor and Tea Party darling is suggesting conservatives should focus on Senate races in Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi where the Republican incumbent is up for re-election next year.
"Friends, do not be discouraged by the shenanigans of D.C.'s permanent political class today," Palin posted on her Facebook page early Thursday, as the federal government reopened and hours after Democrat Cory Booker defeated Republican Steve Lonegan for Senate in New Jersey.
"Be energized," she said. "We're going to shake things up in 2014. Rest well tonight, for soon we must focus on important House and Senate races. Let's start with Kentucky — which happens to be awfully close to the other original Confederate Colonies of South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi — from sea to shining sea we will not give up."
"We've only just begun to fight" she continued. "We'll begin by taking back Mississippi which King George once held as his own, and we'll move on to the colonial powers that made their stand against George's tyranny over the Colonies and their Confederate Allies. We shall trumpet the Confederate Colony war cry: Don't you dare tread on us no more!"


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Bobby Valentine has seen The Rivalry up close for decades. He grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and recalls going to a Yankees/Red Sox doubleheader at Fenway as a boy with his father (Yankee fan) and his uncle (Red Sox fan).
I'm really excited. Six times during the season [as manager of the Mets] is a little different than 18 times during the season. ... What I enjoyed most the last couple of years at ESPN was those games, because the players take them so seriously. I think we're going to be able to match them. It might not be the best team that wins, but the team that plays the best. ... I can't imagine 18 [games]. Is it like playing 50 games? I think it is.Larry Lucchino admitted that having Valentine in the Boston dugout "does add a little bit of kerosene to the fire" of the AL East rivalry.
Valentine agreed to a two-year deal, with options for two more, and is the 45th manager in team history. At the beginning of his press conference yesterday, he seemed overwhelmed, maybe even near tears of joy.
I am honored, I'm humbled and I'm pretty damn excited. This day is a special day, and it's more than a special day. It's the beginning of a life that I think is going to extend beyond anything else that I thought of doing. The talent level and the players that we have in this organization, I think, is a gift to anyone. And I'm the receiver of that gift. ...
I'm trying to wrap my head around it, to tell you the truth. ... I tried to not engage myself in this day, because I didn't want to be heartbroken. I wanted this from the first time I heard the job was opening, and I was sitting next to Karl Ravech [at ESPN], and he said, "Maybe you can be the manager." And I said, "Uh, I don't know." I would wake up at night thinking there's a chance, then say, "Don't go there. You're going to get your heart broken." ...
Did I dream about this situation? Absolutely. Did I wake up and put water on that face whenever I had that dream and say, "Hey, come on, get back to thinking about a new fire chief [for Stamford]?" Yes I did. I'm a realist. I saw the game as it was changing and I saw it obviously getting younger and different. I didn't know that I could ever fit in. But maybe I'm going to fit in.John Henry said Valentine is
the right man at the right time for this particular team. We're set to win, we should've won last year. We're built to win. We thought, in the end, that Bobby was the person most capable of taking us to where we want to go in 2012 and 2013. We're not at a point right now where we're building for the future. We are trying to win now.GM Ben Cherington (whose voice is so much like Theo Epstein's, it's spooky; listen to the audio only):
I'm very confident that we found the right person in Bobby Valentine. When I started this process, I said we were looking for someone who cared about players, who had a strong voice, who was willing to have difficult conversations with players, who could collaborate with the front office and ownership ... someone who has a passion for the game, someone who's open-minded and someone who wants to win. Based on those criteria, I believe we found the right person in Bobby Valentine.After the press conference, Valentine sat down with ESPN's Karl Ravech.
Ravech: "Where were you when you found out this job was actually going to be offered to you?"Valentine will wear #25, formerly worn by Tony Conigliaro and Mike Lowell. Valentine and Conigliaro roomed together "for a few days" in spring training in 1976, and he wants to get the blessing of the family. He left a voice mail for Lowell, who asked "if I went to his sports bar maybe I could get some free chicken wings." That's not likely.
Valentine: "I was laying in a bed in Japan. It took one phone call and about 20 minutes to call back and say 'Thank you I accept.'"
Ravech: "What were you thinking about for 20 minutes?"
Valentine: "I had to ask my wife what she thought."
Ravech: "And if your wife said 'I'm not sure'?"
Valentine: "I would have said 'OK, well, see you later, I'm doing it anyway."
The Herald's Michael Silverman asked Valentine about his philosophy on sabermetrics (but did not use any of the answer in his article):
I think it's the most exciting growth period that I'll ever be in, to be able to experience new information and advanced metrics in my daily workplace. Now when I was in Texas, we had a sabermetrician, if you will, on staff - Craig Wright, who was a wonderfully talented Bill James disciple, actually. But at the time, I wasn't ready for it nor was, I think, the world of baseball, to actually make the numbers applicable to the day-to-day managing of the game. I tried to continue the concept through New York and in Japan, but one of the exciting parts of this situation is that I know information is available to me. And that information has to get in, it has to be digested with the other information that I get from my ears and my eyes and my experience. And hopefully, it's going to be able to regurgitate some pretty good results. But it's exciting. I think it's an every day process and I think it's going to be a learning process for me."Only" a little more than two months to Truck Day!


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The mission of IOV is to protect, preserve and promote all forms of Folk Art and Folk Culture as elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), to foster understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity among all peoples, and thereby enhance the prospects for world peace.
We recognize that in order for folk culture to benefit future generations, it must not survive only as recorded memories of past generations, but in the living traditions of people today.
IOV has been accredited by Unesco as an Expertise Centre for Immaterial Cultural Heritage, and wishes to continue its accreditation through its operation.


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Find someone bigger than the Rock to focus on, I dare ya lol.
Plus, you know good and well how this works. Find something that kinda sells...and milk it as long as possible.
Find someone bigger than the Rock to focus on, I dare ya lol.
Plus, you know good and well how this works. Find something that kinda sells...and milk it as long as possible.
Please keep discussion relevant to actual G.I. Joe 3 news.
You know, they say that no one is dead in the movie unless you see them dead....I didnt actually see duke dead. It would be cool if he was captured and taken to the arena of sport or something like that, like the first episode of the series. I would also like to see something like the pyramid of darkness as it would require the film to take place in multiple sets and require A LOT of joes. Also since scarlett, ripcord , heavy duty and breaker were not in the 2nd movie they could be part of the 2nd team. There would also be joes in space too. If a movie were made of this scale it would also provide an avenue for more toys like the USS Flagg and the Defiant. I would also like to see Shipwreak introduced as well.
TBH i wish they would just start over again from the top. I was very disappointed with the character development in both movies and the second one brushed off so many main characters it was really sad. Destro is "off the team" and gets left in a tank? Duke going out so easily in the beginning while he's whining about life, not his character at all. Whatever they do for this third one they need to completely retool the entire thing. This is why I think it would make a better series to just start again. I don't mind if they kill off characters but do it properly and don't kill of so many of the main group.
Destro wasn't off the team, The commander Used James to build Cobra, his usefulness had expired...hence out of the band.....The 2 big things that I think need to happen for the third Joe film, are as follows......a large story done like the original 5 part mini series (with lots of good actors and a really great plot. 2......More retail support, that's the bottom line, Get Joe back in stores, not just in the toy isle, but on lunch boxes, beach towels, kites, clothes, toothbrush holders.....That's what we need....Bring in the original writing team to help flesh out the characters, it's a Hasbro film, by word Get Hasbro behind it and PUSH PUSH PUSH!!!!
As much as I would like to see a good G.I.Joe movie produced, I am reserved to believe that this will truly never happen. Just like the disaster that they called "the Transformers" the modern day interpretation of the 80's franchises doesn't seem to translate well to the screen today. Also, as much as it would be great to have a lot of well-known actors/actresses playing our childhood heroes, more big names means more opportunity NOT to make money on the film. Both Joe movies really did not do well overall at the box office compared to some other comparable ideas. It might be a little better received if our main hero is not a mute, face-mask wearing ninja and maybe we need to give him thoughts or text as dialog because honestly he is quite boring otherwise. And to have Roadblock as our main character is just another "Rock" movie. Just my thoughts.
of the team/out of the band, i remembered it close enough. Anyway, bottom line I think comes down to the writing, MS.South i think the retail support would help but even all that merchandising can't save a bad film. Gnawgahyde, the first movie duke was the main character, then he kinda passed the torch to roadblock in the second but I do agree with your thoughts on the second one being another "Rock" movie. No fault of the actor it's just he does very similar roles. SnakeEyes can't really be the star, but even in the books and animated series he wasn't the focus, he was the support, which is where he is best. All that said, I don't know if I'd go to see the 3rd film, they would have to do one helluva job in those trailers to get me interested.
They need to get Larry Hama to write a Joe movie. That would be one the Joe fans would sell their pimp daddy destro figures to see, as long as they kept him close as a consultant, on the set almost every day with the director, or at least reachable while filming. Casting isn't important to me, as long as the actors are good. Good actors=success to me, not certain big names. If Larry wrote a GI Joe reboot movie, I'd bet it would be a smash hit for anyone, whether they're Joe fans or not! Look at the Marvel 80's sales (according to the Silent Interlude hardcover)-GI Joe was the best selling title. Why? Largely because of Larry's writing. He's also one of the reasons the toys were so big for kids. Give Larry a chance, Hollywood!!!
Millennial Joe??
Hasbro Exec:
"The world has changed, and I think you're going to see G.I. Joe changing with it," he said. "There's going to be a much more contemporary approach to the whole franchise, and that will allow us to develop different characters."
Davis added: "We hope to create a head snap. It's a different kind of 'Joe' — one that still resonates with 'Joe' fans but brings in an uninitiated audience and expands the audience internationally and domestically."
Just read this today:
So it looks like we're getting what we all have asked for the last 5+ years. A new GI Joe, for today's kids.


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blitz (one) out(redirected from blitzed me out)
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blitz (one) out
To surprise, unsettle, and confuse someone. The sudden, blaring alarm blitzed us out—nobody moved until our teacher yelled for us to evacuate the building. I had to sit down because hearing such terrible news really blitzed me out.
blitz someone out
Sl. to shock or disorient someone. The accident blitzed her out for a moment. The second act blitzed out the audience and thrilled them to pieces.
blitzed out
Sl. shocked or disoriented. Ann was totally blitzed out by the events of the day. They were totally blitzed out by the bad news.
blitz someone out
tv. to shock or disorient someone. The accident blitzed her out for a moment.
blitzed (out)(blɪtst...)
mod. alcohol or drug intoxicated. I want to go out and get totally blitzed. I'll show her who's in charge!


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What can John Boehner do that Nancy Pelosi (and Hillary Clinton, and Sandra Day O'Connor, and anyone else unlucky enough to possess ladyparts) can't? Be a member or even set foot at his preferred golf club, the Burning Tree Club, as the co-editors of Mother Jones point out today. (They are similarly cursed.)
The June "golf summit" our president played with Boehner may not have yielded anything in the way of real amity, but at least someone had the sense to make sure it was Andrews Air Force Base's course and not Burning Tree's. (In the elite golf world, Burning Tree is considered relatively progressive when it comes to letting in African-American male members. Whole "decades" before 1990!)
According to MJ's Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery, golf aficionado Sandra Day O'Connor became the first justice not to be offered a membership, followed by the other ladies brazenly sitting on the nation's highest court. They note,
"91 years after women won the right to vote and 40 years after our mothers fought for more than token access to the levers of power, the signal the man second in line for the presidency intends to send to 51 percent of the nation, 40 percent of Republicans, and his own daughters is...well, we're too ladylike to say....The foundational impulse for both is that fairness matters less than power."
At least he's consistent?
Boehner's Handicap [MJ]


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Lost in the furor of last week's debate concerning health care reform was a tiny clause tucked into Sen. Max Baucus' compromise proposal that could extract a huge tax from medical device makers.
When the news surfaced, the industry quickly went on the offensive -- contacting key lawmakers, issuing public statements and writing newspaper op-eds in protest.
Although scant on detail, Baucus' proposal calls for makers of pacemakers, artificial knees, heart valves and other medical devices to pay about $4 billion annually beginning next year, approximately 3 percent of annual U.S. sales. The fee, which would help fund the health care overhaul now emerging from the Montana Democrat's influential Senate Finance Committee, would be allocated by market share.
The device industry, a backbone of Minnesota's economy that employs about 50,000 people, claims that the measure could prevent small, cash-strapped companies from developing new products and could hamper research and development efforts launched by larger players. Several employers hinted that it could lead to job losses.
"I think it would have a negative effect on Minnesota's economy," said Stephen Ubl, the Mounds View native who heads AdvaMed, the medical technology industry's lobbying organization in Washington. "Minnesota would be disproportionately hit by this tax."
Minnesota is home to industry giants Medtronic Inc. and St. Jude Medical Inc., plus roughly 300 other device firms, according to LifeScience Alley, an industry organization. Other states that have strong concentrations of device makers include Massachusetts and California.
Under the most recent Baucus proposal, health insurers would be hit with a $6 billion annual fee, drugmakers, $2.3 billion, and clinical laboratories, $750 million.
Ubl argues that med-tech companies would be taxed twice "since a portion of the hundreds of billions in cuts aimed at our customers -- including hospitals, nursing homes and home health care agencies -- will be passed on to us." Such buyers might negotiate for lower prices or curb purchases altogether.
Boston Scientific Corp., which employs 5,000 people in the Twin Cities, called the Baucus tax proposal "misguided." It would "increase costs, choke innovation and almost certainly lead to job losses in Minnesota," spokesman Paul Donovan said.
Likewise, Medtronic spokesman Chuck Grothaus said the measure could "negatively impact our 8,000-member workforce in Minnesota."
One of the biggest concerns of AdvaMed and others is the effect they believe a tax would have on medical device start-ups -- companies that develop new technologies for patients from raw ideas.
Mark Knudson, CEO of Roseville-based EnteroMedics Inc., which is developing an obesity-fighting device, said he supports health care reform, but is concerned about proposals that "adversely affect innovation, which is the real engine of health care progress in United States."
Ubl rejected the notion that medical device makers can afford a tax, as they may see a windfall from health care legislation as more patients obtain insurance and enter the health care system. "Many of the individuals who are uninsured today tend to be younger, healthier -- and probably would not use many of our members' products, even if an expansion occurs," he said.
Ubl said news of the tax came down as the Baucus bill went through "various iterations and they found they were short about $100 billion or more." He said AdvaMed is busy contacting members of the Senate Finance Committee and key lawmakers to press its case. Among them: Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken.
"I am concerned about the impact of the Finance Committee's proposed tax on jobs and research and development in our medical device industry," Klobuchar said. "As the bill moves through the Senate, I will work to improve it to ensure that Minnesota continues to be a leader in the medical technology industry."
Franken could not be reached for comment.
Morgan Stanley analyst David Lewis said in a note to investors this week that the Baucus proposal "is the beginning of a negotiation." He said that he doubts that AdvaMed would "posture" and risk "structural changes." But some concessions by the industry may be in order, he wrote. "If health care reform gains steam again, it is unlikely med-tech escapes unscathed."
Janet Moore • 612-673-7752


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I've finally got a useful post for you folks to go out and build some links for your business that will give you some extra link love. I'm a huge fan of finding an avenue that lets you build a few quality links and provide a future source of link acquisition for your company. Most businesses have some sort of event happening once or twice a year so why not utilize that to build some links? I've found a handful of choice websites that let you do just that, so make sure you think about these sites the next time you plan an event.
One of the clues some of you will pick up on to further your event marketing ideas is of course backlink research. I am providing you guys with an extensive list for marketing an event, so why not find the hidden gems I'm not blogging about? Where should I start you ask? Well I recommend heavily analyzing the link profiles for venues, especially the largest and most popular spots in your city. This should lead to a plethora of ideas for getting venue links so your can better position yourself within your niche.
The social event websites are all free and provide quite the service so make sure you do not waste their time by spamming these sites. Since it is quite business oriented you won't be able to get away with much ill gotten behavior, so I'm comfortable dropping this fine list on you all. If anyone has a great event site that I missed, and would like to be listed, then drop your link off in the comments and I'll get around to adding it when I have the time.
The Goods: Social Event Networks:
Thescene.com is a site you've most likely come across in your attempts to figure out what to do during any given weekend. The site is completely dedicated to events and the layout allows for an easy read, plenty of awesome content and will allow you to build some quality content. Your events and venue can have a page that does include a followed link back to your website. The key here is to hopefully have enough events and activity to stay indexed to keep that link juice coming.
UQevents.com is another superb looking event website that has just about every feature you'd want in a site like this and then some. This event site is quite active and the interface for setting up an event is very easy, so there is no excuse for not taking advantage of this site. You as well get a followed link back to your venue or event so it makes sense to re-use this site in the future and build up a strong account. I personally love the way this site is designed and functioning, and personally use it on a weekly basis to grab my local events.
Yahoo's own Upcoming section has been kicking for a long while now and is a highly traffic'd web application they've got going on over there. The system is quite user friendly, interacts with your Yahoo account which everyone should have by now…if you don't, where have you been? If you are the venue owner and haven't included your location here then get your ass in gear. You can grab followed links to your venue and event within the listing which is bloody killer knowing where that link is coming from. Keep in mind event listings might not stay there forever, or even indexed, so the venue itself will get more value out of this site.
Going.com is one of the hottest looking event sites on the market with all the bells and whistles of a social network. Did I mention they also have a very active iPhone application? To top it all off events and venues can and will get the benefit of the followed link on your listings page. Going gets a good amount of traffic according to Alexa, but I imagine that`s not even coming close when you factor in the mobile application and RSS subscribers.
When.com is another slick and easy to use event platform that has some sort of relation to Going.com. I say this because of some linking they have going on, as well as their platforms both seem to be the same CMS, or at least a spin off of it. When.com provides all the usual goodies that are the same as the other sites which includes followed links, social media tools and a decent sized user base. I didn't see a mobile application for the events and they did appear to have some widgets you can use, but the link was 404ing at the time of me writing this post.
More Event Sites:
– http://www.scenepeek.com
– http://eventful.com
– http://www.eventsbot.com
– http://zvents.com
– http://youreventhub.com
– http://explocity.com
– http://culturemob.com
– http://www.clubplanet.com


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Full-service broker(redirected from Full Service Brokerages)
Full-service broker
A broker who provides clients an all-inclusive selection of services such as advice on security selection and financial planning.
Full-Service Broker
A brokerage that provides transaction services in addition to research and investment advice. That is, a full-service broker works with clients to determine and execute clients' investment goals; brokers may conduct the transactions the clients direct or they may independently manage portfolios for clients. Full-service brokerage firms provide individual services, and, as a result, charge much higher commissions than discount brokerage firms. However, they are not as exclusive as boutiques.


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The three types of rocksigneous, sedimentary, and metamorphicare all subject to processes that change one rock type into another. The images below show several types of rocks undergoing these processes.
Just as evaporation and precipitation are processes that move water through the water cycle, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock-forming processes move rocks through the rock cycle. In this investigation, youll examine a detailed example of a rock traveling through the rock cycle.


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The meaning of Faa'iq is 'Variant of Fa'iq: Surpassing, excellent.' The name Faa'iq comes from the Arabic origin and is primarily given as a male name.
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Tags: Boys Name, Names beginning with F, Names beginning with FA, Faa'iq


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SOFERIM ("Scribes"):(Redirected from NOTARIES AND SCRIBES.)
Talmudic treatise dealing especially with the rules relating to the preparation of the holy books, as well as with the regulations for the reading of the Law. It belongs to the so-called "smaller treatises," a term applied to about fifteen works in rabbinical literature, each containing all the important material bearing on a single subject. While they are mishnaic in form and are called "treatises," the topics discussed in them are arranged more systematically; for they are eminently practical in purpose, being, in a certain sense, the first manuals in which the data scattered through prolix sources have been collected in a brief and comprehensive form. Ancient authorities mention especially seven such treatises, which are doubtless the earliest ones; and among these the tractate containing the rules on the writing of the "books" occupies a particularly prominent place on account of the importance of its contents. The name as well as the form of the smaller treatises indicates that they originated in the period of oral tradition which was dominated by the Talmud and the Midrash; so that these treatises are doubtless of great antiquity, some of them having been compiled in their main outlines before even the final redaction of the Talmud in the sixth century. This theory holds good with regard to the treatise Sefer Torah also, to which the treatise Soferim bears an especially close relation.
Soferim consists of twenty-one chapters, containing 225 paragraphs ("halakot")in all. The contents may be summarized as follows:Contents: Ch. i.-ix.
Ch. i.: On parchment and other writing-material; language, and translation of the Scriptures; the Septuagint; persons who are qualified to prepare books; leaves and pages; open and closed paragraphs. Ch. ii.: Spaces between letters, words, lines, pages, and books; space-lines; number of columns to the leaf, and lines to the column; width and height of the scrolls; rollers; sewing; mending; final letters. Ch. iii.: Writing several books on a single scroll; verse-marks in the scroll of the Law; superscriptions; palimpsests; procedure in regard to incorrectly written scrolls; rolling and unrolling; manner of rolling and reading; respectful handling of the scroll of the Law; careful use of food as a gift of God. Ch. iv.: The names of God and the interdiction against erasing them; Masoretic enumeration of such names; the sinfulness of profanely using any of them. Ch. v.: Sacrosanct writing of the names of God; scribal errors in such and in the lines of the sacred scroll; the Divine Name on vessels and utensils; preservation of scrolls and other writings which have become useless; use of loaned writings. Ch. vi.: Points and the
Ch. x.: General regulations for reading; number of readers; number of persons requisite for public religious functions; "ḳaddish" and "bareku." Ch. xi.: Order of reading and of the translations to be read; errors in reading the Torah. Ch. xii.: Method of reading the curses, the songs, and the Decalogue; lesson at the New Moon of Ḥanukkah; mode of writing the songs in Ex. xv., Judges v., and Deut. xxxii., as well as the order of reading the last-named. Ch. xiii.: Method of writing the Hagiographa in general and the scroll of Esther in particular; benedictions in connection with the Mafṭir and the reading of the Torah. Ch. xiv.: Benediction on reading the Hagiographa in general and the scroll of Esther in particular; liturgical observances prefatory to the reading; persons authorized to read and to officiate as ḥazzanim; individuals qualified to read the scroll of Esther; reading the other smaller scrolls; sanctity of the scroll of the Law; phylacteries and mezuzot. Ch. xv. Sanctity of other religious writings; diversity of the rabbinical sciences; occupations to be taught to children. Ch. xvi.: Value of the study of the Torah; the Haggadah; manifold interpretations; scholarship of the ancient teachers; sections of the Pentateuch; chapters of the Psalms; the Trisagion. Ch. xvii.: General regulations on the sections prescribed for the festivals; assistants at the sacrifice and their prayers; lessons and psalms for New Moon. Ch. xviii.: Daily and festival psalms; order of prayer for the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem; observances for the Day of Atonement. Ch. xix.: Further regulations regarding the psalms for festivals; formulas of prayer for the festivals; eulogy on announcing the new moon; benedictions for weddings and funerals. Ch. xx.: Eulogy on first beholding the new moon; lighting the Ḥanukkah lamp; benedictions and lesson for Ḥanukkah; the Trisagion at festivals; "Hallel." Ch. xxi.: Nisan, the month of rejoicing; the Feast of Purim and its observances; the benedictions of the Torah and the Megillah at Purim; Haggadah of the Patriarchs (Müller, "Masseket Soferim," etc., pp. 37 et seq.).
According to Zunz ("G. V." 2d ed., p. 100), "the little work is now badly disarranged, as is shown by the confusion of the two principal themes [i.e., the preparation of the scrolls, and the ritual of lessons and prayers], and the position and character of the haggadah," a statement which he defends as follows: "Rules for writing and for the Masorah are found in i. 1-6, 9-14; ii.; iii. 1-9, 10a, 11, 12, 13 (in part), 14-16; iv.-viii.; ix. 1-7; xii. 8b, 9-12; xiii. 1-4, 6a, 7; xv. 1-5; xvii. 1; synagogal ritual in ix. 8-11; x.; xi.; xii. 1-7, 8a; xiii. 5, 8-14; xiv.; xv. 12, end; xvii. 2-11; xviii.-xx.; xxi. 1-8; haggadah in i. 7-8; iii. 10b, 13 (in part); xiii. 6b, 10; xvi. 1-11, 12a; xxi. 9" (ib. notes a, b). Zunz likewiseshows the relationship existing between this work and later haggadot.
This lack of system, however, is not the result of careless copying or other negligence, but is due to the nature of the treatise's redaction; for it is a composite of at least three works, and the systematic order of the earlier part has evidently been disarranged by interpolations. In its present form the treatise is intended more for the readers and ḥazzanim than for the scribes: it is in great part confined to ritual precepts, although it must be borne in mind that the same person doubtless combined the functions of scribe and reader.Divisions.
Soferim may be divided into three main divisions: i.-v., vi. -ix., and x.-xxi., the last of which is subdivided into two sections, x.-xv. and xvi. 2-xxi. The treatise derives its name from its first main division (ch. i.-v.), which treats of writing scrolls of the Law, thus conforming to the ancient custom of naming a work according to its initial contents (comp. Blau, "Zur Einleitung in -die Heilige Schrift," pp. 31 et seq., Strasburg, 1894). This first part is the earliest component of the work, and is extant also as an independent "smaller treatise," entitled "Masseket Sefer Torah" (edited by Kirchheim); in this form it is a systematic work, but as incorporated in Soferim, although its division into chapters and paragraphs has been retained, its order has been disarranged by interpolations. A comparison of the two texts shows in an instructive way how ancient Jewish works developed in the course of time. The small treatise Sefarim, edited by Schönblum, is not earlier, as he assumes, but is later, than the Masseket Sefer Torah, from which it is an extract. The name "Sefarim" (= "books") is merely the plural of "sefer," designating the Torah as "the book" par excellence.
Chapters vi. to ix. constitute a separate part, containing Masoretic rules for writing, the first four paragraphs of ch. vi. and some passages of ch. ix. being of early date. This portion was undoubtedly added by Masorites of Tiberias; and the main portion of the modern Masorah, which also contains the passages in question, likewise originated in the same school. The first two parts of Soferim are acknowledged to be Palestinian, and were intended for the scribes; the last three halakot are a kind of appendix relating to the reading of certain words and passages.
The third division is chiefly devoted to rules concerning the order of the lessons, together with liturgical regulations. It is not a uniform composition, although the first section (ch. x.-xv.) is concerned almost entirely with the sequence of the lessons, while the remaining part (ch. xvi.-xxi.) contains liturgical regulations. The contents of xvi. 1 apparently form the conclusion of the portion of the work which precedes it. The third part of Soferim is likewise Palestinian in origin, as is shown by its sources; nor is this view contradicted by the phrases "our teacher in Palestine" (
The second section of the last portion (xvi. 2-xxi.) was added latest of all. It contains passages from the Babylonian Talmud, mentioning the "teachers of the land of Israel" (no longer
The evidence of all these facts makes it very probable that this treatise was finally redacted about the middle of the eighth century, an assumption which is supported by the statement of R. Asher (c. 1300, in the "Hilkot Sefer Torah") that Soferim was composed at a late date. At that period written prayer-books were doubtless in existence and were probably produced by the scribes, who combined the offices of communal ḥazzan and reader. It was but natural, therefore, that in treatises intended for the scribes all the regulations should be collected which concerned books, the Masorah, and the liturgy. It is practically certain that few copies of the Talmud were made at that time, and those without special rules; consequently no allusions to them are found in Soferim.
The fact that no sources are given for a number of the regulations in the first part points to an earlydate of composition (comp. i. 3, 13; ii. 4, 6, 8; iii. 4, 6-9a, 10-12a; iv. 4, 5, 8, 9; v. 1, 2; in i. 7, also, Müller cites no authority; comp., however, Shab. 115a and Meg. 18a, and see Blau, l.c. pp. 70 et seq.). Similarly, in the third part (x.-xxi.), which is later, no sources are assigned for a number of halakot (xv. 3 may, however, be based on Yer. Shab. 15c, 25); so that care must be taken not to assign the compilation of this longest portion to too recent a date. Both the form and the content of those passages in which authorities are not mentioned point to a Palestinian origin; they may have been derived from the lost portions of Yerushalmi and various midrashic works, which, indeed, they may be regarded as in part replacing. Only certain interpolations, as well as the haggadic passage at the end of the treatise (or, in several manuscripts, at its beginning), may have been added much later. The division of the last part into sections ("peraḳim") seems to have been intended to secure a uniform size for the several sections; for xvi. 1 belongs to the end of xv., and xix. 1 to the end of xviii., their separation being due to external reasons.Peculiarities of the Treatise.
As the substance of the treatise has been incorporated in later works on orthography, the Masorah, and the liturgy, only a few points peculiar to it need be mentioned here. In i. 13 occurs the maxim "He who can not read is not allowed to write." Custodians seem to be mentioned in ii. 12 (based on Yer. Meg. i. 9; comp. the Vitry Maḥzor, p. 689, note). The first notice in Jewish literature of the codex in contradistinction to the scroll occurs in iii. 6 (comp. the Vitry Maḥzor, p. 691), a passage which is to be translated as follows: "Only in a codex [may the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa be combined]; in a scroll the Torah and the Prophets must be kept separate"; while the following section describes a scroll of the Law as being divided into verses (doubtless by means of blank spaces), or as having the initial portion of its verses pointed. Among the ancients the beginning ("resh pasuḳ") of a verse rather than the end ("sof pasuḳ") was emphasized, since the former was important mnemonically. There were scribes, therefore, who marked the initial of the verse, although there is no trace of such points in the present Masorah and system of accentuation.
The earliest passage referring to "dyed leather" (parchment) is iii. 13, although it is possible, in view of ii. 10, that originally
Soferim is the first work to distinguish between the three grades of inspiration in the Bible (xviii. 3, end), namely, that of Torah (the Law), of Cabala (tradition of the holy prophets), and of Hagiographa (words of holiness).
- Vitry Maḥzor, ed. Hurwitz, pp. 686-717, Berlin. 1889-93;
- Wilna (Romin) edition of the Talmud (Soferim as an appendix to Ab. Zarah with variants and commentaries);
- Brüll's Jahrb. i. 1 et seq.;
- Joël, Blicke in die Religionsgeschichte zu Anfang des Zweiten Christlichen Jahrhunderts:
- I. Der Talmud und die Griechische Sprache, part i., pp. 1 et seq., Breslau, 1880 (on the Greek translation in Soferim, i. 8);
- Kirchheim, Karme Shomeron, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1851;
- Müller, Masseket Soferim, der Talmudische Traktat der Schreiber: eine Einleitung in das Studium der Althebräischen Graphik, der Masora, und der Altjüdischen Liturgie, Vienna, 1878;
- Schönblum, Sheloshah Sefarim Niftaḥim, Lemberg, 1877;
- Weiss, Dor, ii. 244 et seq., iv. 20, 34b;
- unz, G. V. pp. 95, 100 et seq., 322, note b.


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New: Interview: New Owners of the Oaks Theater
It might take five men from India to save Berkeley's historic Oaks Theater.
Bhaskar Molakalapalli, Srini Vejalla, Satish Rayapudi, Satya Penmetsa and Rama Sagiraji have more than complicated last names in common—they share a vision for the future of cinema which they hope will turn the Oaks Theater around.
As joint partners of Merriment Media Works, the company which leased the Oaks from Berkeley Realtor John Gordon recently, the five have a lot to do to reinvent the 1920's Art Deco cinema into an attractive destination once again. In a recent email interview with the Planet, they explained a little about how they would go about doing it.
Daily Planet: Why did you decide to lease the Oaks Theater?
Merriment Media: We have experience in showing movies in India and we also distribute Indian movies in the United States. So we decided to enter into the movie theater business in the Bay Area. We have screened some Indian movies at our partner theater Serra Theaters in Milpitas which received tremendous response. So we decided to expand our business—we did some research on demographics in the Bay Area and singled out Berkeley as a potential candidate for art, foreign as well as English movies.
Daily Planet: What can you do for Oaks that the former management could not?
Merriment Media: Good question. Previously people in the East Bay got a chance to watch only a few foreign language films but predominantly second run English movies at Oaks. Our idea is to screen first run and second run English movies as well as art and foreign language films. Our main idea is to bring Asian and Indian movies to Oaks. Our research shows the Oaks' neighborhood has a diverse culture which encourages good foreign language movies.
We want to mix English as well as foreign language films with English subtitles so that East Bay movie-goers can get the ultimate experience.
Daily Planet: Tell us about your plans for the new theater.
Merriment Media: We are planning to improve the ambiance of the theater by making some small modifications with the City of Berkeley's approval. We are currently in the planning stage. We are also trying to bring in a few Asian, Indian and other foreign language films which have received good reviews in other parts of the U.S. We are planning to use digital projection which makes watching movies a wonderful experience.
Daily Planet: We heard you are interested in bringing dinner and drinks to Oaks?
Merriment Media: Yes, we do have plans to introduce dinner and drinks while watching movies. We have studied how favorably people are responding to this concept—from Southern California to Washington to Illinois. It can be called the reinvention of the movie-going experience. But our idea is just in the preliminary stage and will have to go through all kinds of formalities first.
Daily Planet: Can you tell us a bit about your experience in the movie theater industry?
Merriment Media: We buy Asian and Indian movies for theaters all over the United States and screen them. Some of the theaters are our partners. As a result, we have pretty good experience in dealing with foreign films. Right now we have a partnership with Serra Theaters in Milpitas which mainly shows Indian movies.
Daily Planet: Are you excited to come to Berkeley? Are you worried about the city's stringent zoning laws or neighborhood opposition?
Merriment Media: Yes, we are very excited to come to Berkeley The city has historically encouraged foreign films. It has a world renowned university which caters to students all over the world, diverse neighborhoods and a melting pot of cultures. From what we have heard, the Oaks' neighborhood is simply excellent.
Daily Planet: Would you like to hear from the community?
Merriment Media: We are aware that the local community wanted to save the Oaks' Theater. We are proud that we are meeting their interests and demands. We hope Berkeley residents, especially those living in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, will encourage good films as they have done in the past irrespective of region or language so that we can bring some excellent art and foreign language films to the Oaks theater. We firmly believe that 'for art there is no language.' We would like to announce that we launched a new website www.BerkeleyOaks.com and we welcome everyone to visit it for movie schedules. We will be introducing a 'feedback forum' very soon, where people can share their thoughts and suggestions for the theater. Oaks will be managed by one of our partners, Rama Sagiraju.


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Contact Stephen McDonald CIR REALTY Calgary
Contact Stephen McDonald CIR REALTY Calgary
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The week in review
Biggest line: Paramount members brave 90-degree plus temperatures to buy their Yo-Yo Ma tickets July 26.
Most anticipated forecast: The weather for July 27, 29 and 30– the dates the Charlottesville Pavilion debuts with Tiny Universe, Fridays After 5, and Loretta Lynn, but without the full canopy that was ripped to shreds July 13.
Closest race: Latest polls show Democratic Lt. Governor Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore neck and neck in the governor's race.
Most popular: The same Mason-Dixon Virginia poll that shows Kaine ahead by one point says Governor Mark Warner could whup Senator George Allen if the Senate election were held today, Bob Gibson reports in the Daily Progress. Warner has shown no indication he's considering a Senate run, and both his and Allen's names have been bandied about as potential 2008 presidential candidates, an idea to which Virginians are cool, according to the poll.
Best candidate: Former Charlottesville superintendent Scottie Jo Griffin tells the Fall River, Massachusetts, school board, where she's one of five finalists for a job, that she's "one of the best candidates you'll ever encounter," according to the Herald News and cvillenews.com.
Latest gig for Cole Hendrix: The former Charlottesville city manager signs on for that position in Orange after taking it on an interim basis, according to DP reporter Kate Andrews.
Latest on the Hillsdale Connector: The Commonwealth Transportation Board approves a route from Greenbrier Drive through Seminole Square Shopping Center and the long-empty Terrace Theater to hook up with Hydraulic Road.
Worst news for the Terrace Theater: It's toast.
Best response to School Board approval of drug-sniffing dogs roaming the halls of Charlottesville High and Buford Middle schools performing random searches: "I personally don't want to live in a city where they close down the high school for an hour to check the classrooms with dogs," says newest board member Louis Bograd, according to a James Fernald article in the Progress.
Longest sentence: Edison P. Crawford gets 15 years for growing pot valued at $66,400 in Shenandoah National Park, Liesel Nowak reports in the Progress. His attorney, John Zwerling, who also represents UVA stabber Andrew Alston, calls the sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Norman Moon July 22 "cruel" and plans to appeal.
Worst Scouting disaster: Four Scout leaders from Alaska are killed July 25 when the tent they are raising touches an electrical line at the 2005 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill.
Biggest state windfall: More than $544 million lands in the black for fiscal year 2005, thanks to unanticipated economic growth– and that tax increase.
Most frenzied speculation: Who President Bush would name to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor reaches a peak right before his July 19 announcement that John G. Roberts Jr., District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals judge, is his choice.
Best national plug for the Shenandoah Valley: ESPN's Sportscenter broadcasts from Staunton July 22 as part of its "50 States 50 Days" tour.
Worst national plug for the Shenandoah Valley: The broadcast was at a foosball tournament.
Best Emmy nomination: Former Hook freelancer Tayloe Emery's "One" commercial is a contender for outstanding commercial.
Biggest fashion contretemps: Nationally, whether flip-flops are appropriate for the White House is hotly debated following the Northwestern women's lacrosse team's visit. Locally, General District Judge Roger Morton is sending home Madison and Culpeper defendants and jurors who come to court dressed like they're going to the beach, Andrews reports in the Progress.