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Now that I have gotten that out of the way, let us look at this particular case...
On the face of it, Disa India Ltd. looks like this:
Nothing worth jumping up from the chair, it would seem.. Well, if we do a regular excel sheet, it would look even sadder.
Disa is one stock idea you just cant express on the excel sheet!!!
To be honest, in case of a lot of interesting investment opportunities, one has to get out of the excel sheet!
I am looking at Disa from two angles; as a delisting candidate and as a business.
Disa - the delisting candidate
If one goes through the latest shareholding pattern, promoters hold 74.27%. However, if we look at the 1%+ holders, another 12.01% are held in an escrow account, these are basically shares that the parent had acquired through an open offer in 2009. However, SEBI contested the open offer price calculation, hence, the shares are held in escrow till the matter is solved. SEBI has lost the case in SAT and has now appealed in the Supreme Court against Disa. More details can be found here.
So effectively, Disa promoters hold 86.28% shares of the company. So they will have to either bring down their holding to 74% or delist in due course of time. As far as I have searched, there are no other subsidiaries of the Norican Group (the parent), which are listed.
This makes Disa India a prime delisting candidate. Time will tell if at all they will opt for delisting, and when. Delisting is anyway going to be difficult, given the super-scattered shareholding pattern. FYI, Disa had tried delisting in 2007. The 'discovered price' came to Rs.2960 per share. This was rejected by the management and delisting failed.
Disa - the business
Disa India is a subsidiary of the Norican Group, a Denmark based entity formed from the merger of Disa (a forging and moulding machinery and equipments manufacturer) and Wheelabrator (a surface treatment and preparation equipment manufacturer) to form a global leader, renamed as the Norican Group. More info here.
For a number of years, Disa was just floating aimlessly. There was virtually no growth, no innovations, no product launches..nothing. The formation of the Norican Group seems to have changed it all. Disa is now expanding, going in for higher R&D, better innovations, launching new products and basically becoming very much proactive. I urge you to please read and absorb this and this article fully. It will surely give you an idea about the 'change' in the company, which I am talking about and the scope for growth for its products.
The December 2010 quarter results do show the improvement in the business. (Most of the new launches were done in mid 2010, so the December 2010 quarter results were of great interest to me.)
|Click to enlarge
Disa seems to be quite on track to improve business and financial performance significantly. The product launches, the R&D, the industry feedback, all suggest so.
If I can get India's largest foundry and surface treatment equipment manufacturer at a market cap of Rs.200 cr and an EV of Rs.150ish cr, I think it is a good deal. The delisting angle adds to the goodyness of the deal!
I intend to attend the company's AGM, where I hope to get more information and feedback on the same.
In order to keep the length of the article to a reasonable level (so that the reader will not fall asleep on the keyboard), I have omitted certain details which I felt weren't absolutely critical. Please do get in touch with me in case of any queries or feedback.
Cheers and happy investing!


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Editorial: North Korea's reign of terror aimed at containing unrest
The latest developments in North Korea indicate that the country has become even more unstable since former leader Kim Jong Il died two years ago.
Jang Song Thaek, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission who was regarded as the No. 2 man in the Kim Jong Un regime, was sentenced to death for allegedly trying to take power by staging a military coup. He was executed the same day, just four days after he was ousted from all his posts and expelled from the Workers' Party of Korea.
These developments illustrate the coldhearted nature of Kim - the ruling party's first secretary - who is trying to strengthen his dictatorship through a reign of terror that included liquidating his uncle, in the apparent belief that without doing so he would not be able to maintain control of the country.
North Korea's state-run media reported the sentence, handed down at a special military court of the State Security Department - the country's secret police - accusing Jang of attempting to bring about the collapse of the country's economy and people's livelihoods. It also said that if the state was driven to the verge of collapse, Jang believed he could grab the reins of power.
Jang was accused in court of a diverse range of crimes, including an act of treason by cheaply selling off the country's land with a 50-year lease to a foreign country - land in a special economic and trade zone in Rason near its borders with China and Russia - and triggering tremendous economic confusion with the redenomination of the currency four years ago.
To what extent these accusations are true is not known. But the issuance of this statement itself is tantamount to North Korea admitting there are cracks in the regime and economic maladministration. Kim's regime may be trying to lay all the responsibility on Jang to justify its legitimacy.
North Korea, which is reinforcing its state control at home, may adopt a policy of external provocations.
There are strong fears that the country may flaunt its nuclear deterrent by conducting its fourth nuclear test and fire yet another missile under the guise of launching an artificial satellite.
In this respect, it has been learned through analyses of satellite photos that North Korea has restarted a plutonium reactor, while moving ahead with improving nuclear test and missile launch sites. The international community must pay close attention to such developments and cooperate to deal with them.
Now that Jang has been removed from the scene, Kim apparently intends to carry out economic activities under the Cabinet-led leadership.
There are no signs of the country changing its policy of pursuing, in parallel, both economic reconstruction and the strengthening of its nuclear capability.
As long as North Korea continues to pursue nuclear and missile development, international economic sanctions against the country will not be relaxed. The country will not be successful in wooing any foreign investment or foreign tourists.
The North Korean people's frustration will grow as economic hardships continue. The danger of the country collapsing from within is growing.
In its efforts to develop the northeastern part of China by helping stabilize North Korea, Beijing has been urging Pyongyang to carry out reforms and open its market. The execution of Jang, who had assumed the pivotal role in this scheme, is probably a major blow to China's influence.
The destabilization of a despotic state developing nuclear weapons could lead to the outbreak of domestic turmoil. This is an important phase when Japan should prepare itself for any emergency by firmly maintaining the Japan-U.S. alliance and reinforcing its defense capability.

subset: commoncrawl


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LOS ANGELES— A pair of Arizona Diamondbacks got a chance to take in a Real Madrid training session on Monday and test the baseball skill of the Spanish giants.
Diamondbacks players' catcher Miguel Montero and outfielder Gerardo Parra observed Real Madrid's training session on Monday prior to their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After taking photos, both players played a game of baseball with several members of Los Blancos.
For the two natives of Venezuela, the chance to see the Spanish giants was an exciting experience.
Quotes from Montero below…
MONTERO: "It was great, I grew up watching a lot of soccer and I was checking the website and the schedule because I know that every year, they do a US tour so it worked out pretty good. I saw that they were going to come [to Los Angeles] the same time that we do and I talked to our PR guy to see if we could go see them and [Monday] it was a great experience."
(On what he and Parra did during the Madrid training session…)
MONTERO: "We got to meet the guys, take a couple of pictures and they played around with a baseball bat, a glove and a baseball. It was great just to be there and shake their hands."
(On the Real Madrid player with the best baseball skill...)
MONTERO: "Xabi Alonso. He was pretty good man, he impressed me. We talked and he said that he had been in a baseball game one time and after that, he got to hit a bit then he went to find a batting cage. He went there and he took some extra swings and it looked like he did. I didn't get him a deal, but he's pretty good."
(On the player that he was most excited to see…)
MONTERO: "Iker Casillas. My family is from Spain, my dad and mom were born and raised in Spain so I always followed soccer. I played a little bit, but I was born in Venezuela and the national time is baseball, but I always kept watching. I always watch the World Cup, Euro Cup and growing up; I watched Real Madrid and Barcelona."


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Do you know those segments on "Jackass" where Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze get into old-age make-up and perform stunts on Rascal scooters? Well, get ready for the real thing.
NBC has just announced a new senior citizen-focused prank show to be hosted by 89 year-old Betty White.
"Betty White's Off Their Rockers" (working title), is being described as a hidden-camera comedy show where seniors pull pranks on unsuspecting whippersnappers.
U.S. & World
In an official release, White joked: "People have been telling me that I'm 'Off My Rocker' for years -- now I can prove it."
The show is an American version of a format that has already been sold in more than 20 territories, including France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, and South Korea.
NBC has ordered 12 episodes of "Rockers." No air dates have been set yet.
Selected Reading: Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Washington Post


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Some parents swaddle their crying babies. Others sing them sweet lullabies or stick them in a swing. And then there are the parents who used The Force (yes, as in Star Wars) to calm their fussy child. A YouTube video posted by the parents shows how the 4-month-old immediately quiets when the Star Wars theme song starts playing.
Last week, YouTube user SebastianL2012 posted the video to show the song's magical powers:
We discovered by accident that the Star Wars Theme Song has magical abilities to calm the baby down. He was screaming and crying in the car one day, and the MP3 player started playing this song and he just stopped. Then, every time after that when he'd be crying for no reason (we knew his diaper was clean, tummy was full, etc.) and we'd play this song, he'd perk right up.
The video has since traveled throughout the Internet galaxy with nearly 300,000 pageviews and appeared in the Huffington Post and Jezebel.
There are so many things that could be done with the great finding in this video? Airlines could add a Star Wars listening channel on plane flights so parents can play the theme song for their wailing kids on flights. Put headphones on the kids and presto! And a toy maker should create a musical Yoda stuffed animal that plays the theme song. Any other ideas?


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U.S. and NATO troops will remain in the country until 2014, but will only serve an advisory role from now on.
Afghanistan's military formally took over responsibility for its own security on Tuesday, accepting the handoff from NATO forces, whether security forces there are ready or not. At a brief ceremony in Kabul this morning, Western forces handed the lead responsibility for all security operations to the Afghanistan's national forces, the first time since the U.S. invasion 12 years ago, that the Afghan government is officially in charge. (Or, really, since the Soviet-backed communist government collapsed in the early 1990s.) The move comes on the same day that Taliban has open actual diplomatic office in Qatar and has signaled a desire for formal peace talks.
U.S. and NATO troops will remain in the country until the end of 2014, but are supposed to serve only in an advisory and back-up role from now on — and they will likely be needed as violence is spiking across the country and serious doubts remain about the local forces ability to get the job done. Just a few hours before President Hamad Karazi formally accepted the transition, a suicide bomb in Kabul killed three people in an assassination attempt on a local politician.


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|by Robert Firpo-Cappiello
|How-Tos, Airlines, Before the Trip, Frequent Flier Miles
Of all the questions I get asked by friends and family when I tell them that I'm Executive Editor at Budget Travel, the most frequent is: "When is the best day to buy airline tickets?"
The quick-and-dirty answer has traditionally been, "Tuesday" (thanks, in part, to a well-publicized finding by FareCompare.com, which went so far as to pinpoint 3 p.m. Eastern Time as the perfect ticket-purchase time on Tuesday). The more nuanced answer, of course, is, "It depends."
Melisse Hinkle, travel expert and editor at Cheapflights.com, says "A lot of airlines post sales on Tuesdays that last up to 48 hours (or until the seats are gone), so the common belief is that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to shop for a flight. It is worth watching for such promotions in the hopes your destination of choice shows up for a fare sale."
But Hinkle adds some nuance to the Tuesday-Wednesday theory of buying airline tickets, noting that airlines readjust their pricing overnight. "So early morning, any morning, might be the best time to browse for deals. Cheapflights.com also advises signing up for newsletters from multiple travel providers to track for sales, whether they fall on a Tuesday or any other day of the week."
In fact, a recent study, published in the (take a deep breath...) Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, finds that there is scant hard data to back up the Tuesday-Wednesday theory. The study (another deep breath...), "Price Discrimination by Day-of-Week of Purchase: Evidence from the U.S. Airline Industry," actually found that weekends may be the best time to buy airline tickets. Once researchers controlled for factors such as day of travel, the refundability of the ticket, how many days in advance the ticket was purchased, and how full the flight was, they found that buying on a weekend led to an average 5 percent discount. The lower price was seen most often for "leisure destinations" such as Orlando and Las Vegas, and may be due to "price discrimination," in which airlines may attempt to sell tickets to business travelers (who typically purchase tickets on weekdays) at higher prices than those sold to price-conscious vacationers (who make up a bigger percentage of weekend purchasers).
The takeaway? You'll likely get a good fare (though, research suggests, possibly not the lowest) by booking on a Tuesday or Wednesday; you should sign up for e-newsletters and deal alerts (including Budget Travel's newsletter!); and to maximize savings, keep careful track of your rewards programs with an app such as MileageManager.com.
TALK TO US! If you've got a great I-booked-a-great-deal story, we'd love to hear it and may use it in a future Budget Travel story.


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STANFORD, Calif. (AP) One of the most important road trips the Stanford men's basketball team will have made this season never shows up on the schedule, in the team's record or total miles traveled.
In September, the Cardinal gathered around to support one of their own after junior forward Dwight Powell lost his mother. The coaches and several players flew to Toronto for the funeral.
Jacqueline Weir died on Sept. 13 in Boston after a short fight with cancer, three months shy of her 54th birthday. Powell's coaches visited the hospital in the Boston area, where Weir worked and lived. And Stanford received permission from the NCAA to fly the players from Powell's recruiting class to Canada to be there for him at the memorial.
``It was important, for sure,'' Powell said. ``My friends in my life are my family. The team is my family, so it meant a lot for them to come out there. I have a really good support group in Toronto as well, some guys I played with in high school.''
Coach Johnny Dawkins realizes the importance of everyone supporting Powell, an only child attending college so far from home. Dawkins already had a close-knit group on the reigning NIT champions, who hope last season's special run is only a preview of bigger things for the program this March in the NCAA tournament. Stanford hasn't been since 2008, and not yet under fifth-year coach Dawkins.
Powell will be an integral part in getting Stanford there. Keeping him in the right frame of mind as he continues to mourn his mother has been a joint effort.
Dawkins considers the trip to Toronto one that showed Powell just how much support - and how many brothers - he has within his own locker room, and on campus.
``Absolutely,'' Dawkins said. ``That's what it's about. It was very unfortunate what happened to his mom, and very sudden. It really puts it in perspective when something happens to a young man and a family. The players understand that. His teammates and his coaches are a big part of his life. It's important to rally around him.''
The Cardinal (6-3) are finishing up their annual two-week break for final exams before returning to the court to host UC Davis on Saturday, the first of four remaining nonconference games ahead of Pac-12 play. Stanford is picked fourth in the conference.
Powell has led Stanford in scoring three times already, including going off for a career-high 29 points in a 71-58 victory against Denver on Dec. 2. He is averaging 14.2 points per game, second to Chasson Randle's 14.7, while also pulling down 6.9 rebounds.
``This is the best place for me to be right now. First of all, it's a different country, so I don't even have too much family except for the team,'' Powell said. ``I can't really think of anyone else I'd rather lean on right now than my teammates. Regardless of what goes on, they can take my mind off things. They can put my mind on the things I need to think about sometimes and help me talk things out, just be there.
``I feel very lucky to have the team that I have, just for that reason. It also translates onto the court, that closeness, that trust.''
The 6-foot-10, 235-pound Powell always felt comfortable on The Farm and in the Bay Area. He chose Stanford over Harvard and Georgia Tech.
Yet Powell was a late bloomer when it came to basketball, first playing volleyball and competing in the high jump in track. Once Powell picked up hoops, he moved to Florida at age 16 to attend the IMG Academy and prepare for college.
He emerged as an impact player late last season for Stanford, averaging 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds during the Cardinal's five-game NIT title run while shooting 65.4 percent from the field. He started just 11 times but played in 35 games and averaged 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds overall.
Powell's biggest challenge so far with an increased role and more responsibility has been keeping his emotions in check. In a 70-62 loss to Belmont at home in Maples Pavilion on Nov. 18, Powell fouled out in only seven minutes - sitting down for good early in the second half.
``He's playing with a heightened focus,'' Dawkins said. ``He's just so focused right now that my biggest thing is that he stays level and doesn't get too emotional. I talk to him a lot about it and how you approach the game - never get too high or too low.''
Powell attended Canada Basketball's senior men's national team training camp in late August in Toronto. By the time he returned to Boston to see his mom, she was hospitalized and deteriorating quickly. The breast cancer had spread to her liver.
``I think she had a feeling for a couple of months but she didn't want to burden me,'' Powell said. ``She kind of left it unattended.''
Teammate and roommate Josh Huestis was the one to tell Powell he would have dear friends coming to Canada to help him in the grieving process.
``We're all really close with Dwight. He's one of my best friends,'' Huestis said. ``Our coaches talked to us and proposed that we go out there for the funeral. All the guys thought it was a great idea. I can't imagine what he was going through. It was the right move. He was in Toronto and I had been talking to him. I told him we would be coming out there and he was really thankful for that, just to have some familiar faces around, especially in such a hard time.''
It's no surprise that before and after each practice Stanford's players gather for a cheer of ``Family!'' These guys truly consider themselves brothers.
That Toronto trip only helped cement the bond.
``The fact we were able to go out there just brings us so much closer together,'' Huestis said. ``It shows we're not just a team but a family, too.''
The Cardinal were thrilled to capture a national championship and get the taste of winning their final game, but both Powell and Huestis called it ``bittersweet.''
There have been many important messages for this bunch over the past year.
Earlier this season, Stanford shot a video in the locker room after practice and sent it to NFL star Ray Lewis, who paid the team a surprise visit at Madison Square Garden and delivered a spirited speech before the NIT semifinal game against Massachusetts. The Cardinal players wanted to encourage the injured Ravens linebacker and spiritual leader in his rehab from a torn triceps after he did so much to pump them up before a key game. Stanford went on for a commanding win against Minnesota in the championship game.
Not that Powell needs much to inspire him at the moment. Huestis sure won't question his teammate's motivation.
``The passing of his mom put everything in perspective for him. Nothing's given in life, nothing guaranteed,'' Huestis said. ``Obviously his mom is in the forefront of his mind.''
Exactly, Powell said.
``Everything I do is in her memory,'' he said, ``absolutely.''


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Also of interest is 109 - 111 Montgomery St. It is located on the westside of the shuttle tracks, is a single story structure and is owned by the Botanical Garden as a science center.I guess the BBG sold it!
It would not surprise me if, in the somewhat near future, it was sold and then developed. A scenario could be that the first floor would remain a science center which would receive a 99 year from the developer. BBG could create a liquid endowment for itself...
While the roof has been demolished, the external walls appear intact.
This site continues to be one of the sites I believe will make a large impact on western Crown Heights: http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/47007/the-big-18-developments-the-whynot-31-wont-stop-talking-about?new=1
This lot sold for almost $25M.
"The latest permits indicate the building will encompass 168,236 square feet. If the new owner builds the current plans, the residential units, ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, should average 814 square feet apiece. Amenities include a 71-car underground garage, a pet spa, private residential storage, storage for 81 bikes, outdoor terraces on the ground, second, and rooftop levels, and a fitness center. Karl Fischer is the architect. Demolition permits indicate crews will begin to raze the existing single-story warehouse imminently."
I didn't get a photo, but the external walls are the only about the only part of this building that now remains.
This building will likely take about 3 years to complete, but its rents should far exceed those at area buildings that have been flipped.
For some perspective, here are a few units at 15 Crown Street in a pre-war building that is/was rent stabilized.
...the units have been flipped to just under the $2700 RS cap.


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Thanks!chiisu81 wrote:These look great!
Here's the final for Insect Valhalla. As my brother said "Looks like the ants didn't put up much of a fight".
I'm going to finish the backgrounds and signatures on all of them and send them over this weekend. I got a little frustrated with GIMP, so Paint Essentials is arriving today.


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Quick Links?
Replica E-Edition
Arts & Life
Canstar Community News
About Us
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/4/2012 (3042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
In January 1945, a converted German hospital ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff, was sunk by Russian torpedoes in the Baltic Sea, killing more than 9,000 people, most of them civilians, including 4,000 children. It is the greatest seagoing disaster in history. The worst maritime disaster in Canadian history happened in 1914 when the Empress of Ireland collided with another ship and sank in the St. Lawrence, with more than 1,000 lost.
And yet, when the subject of ocean disasters is raised, it's the Titanic that towers above them all. The catastrophe has spawned an encyclopedia of metaphors for wilful blindness in the face of disaster, avoidable catastrophe, incredible stupidity, hubris and a range of other superlatives that worked their way into the English lexicon over the last 100 years.
Movie director James Cameron has even called it a metaphor for the end of the human race caused by global warming. Apparently the human race is heading toward disaster by ignoring the warning signs about climate, much the way the Titanic's captain disregarded numerous reports the ship was heading toward a massive icefield.
As evidenced by the proliferation of TV documentaries, books and exhibitions on the 100th anniversary of the sinking, the Titanic is truly unsinkable in terms of its impact on the imagination and the quest for an enduring meaning.
The sinking affected people around the world, including in Manitoba. Some 30 passengers had a Manitoba connection, according to author Michael Dupuis. Other sources say at least 22 of them died along with 1,500 others that frigid night in the North Atlantic. The city went into mourning for all the victims, with special church services and fundraisers to help orphans and widows.
The White Star Line, owner of the Titanic, had an office in a building at 333 Main St., adjacent to the Bank of Montreal building. The building's windows featured the Titanic in various stages of construction, evidence of the worldwide interest in the project. When the building was demolished in 1980, there wasn't a peep about its link to the disaster.
Five years later, the wreck was discovered at the bottom of the Atlantic, and the story surfaced once again.
While there have been greater disasters since the Titanic, the ship's brief life had all the elements of a great novel. It was the greatest, largest, fastest and most luxurious ship of its time, an unsinkable leviathan, as its owners boasted. The ship's manifest was a microcosm of the contemporary class structure and a reflection of the great disparity in wealth and status between the poor and the rich. The poor also died in the disaster at a higher rate than the wealthy. It was an epic disaster transmitted around the world via the new technology of wireless telegraph.
The central lessons of the Titanic remain relevant today. It's about risk, and how much of it scientists, explorers, government and society are prepared to accept in the pursuit of more knowledge, convenience and scientific achievement.
As Mr. Cameron stated at a NASA symposium: "Titanic teaches us to be constantly vigilant, to assume nothing about our methodology, to constantly ask the question, 'What are we doing wrong right now?' "
He noted the Titanic's captain was criticized for steaming at full speed into a icefield, but that's the way ships had always operated because they had the ability to slow down and turn quickly. The Titanic, however, was much larger than any other ship afloat, and its designers failed to ask whether the old practices followed by smaller ships would work.
It was hubris of a sort, but more important, it was a failure to constantly re-evaluate our methods and our knowledge to ensure they are valid. It's the kind of mistake that has been repeated numerous times since the Titanic met its end. One hundred years later, the lessons of eternal vigilance and humility remain as valid as ever.
Editorials are the consensus view of the Winnipeg Free Press' editorial board.
Editorials are the consensus view of the Winnipeg Free Press' editorial board.
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Late to Bed, Early to Rise, Keep the Faith and ORGANIZE!
Politicians have failed to make politics relevant to the hip-hop nation, yet they would like to gain their support. I have a simple suggestion: Listen. --Hip-hop journalist Rom Willis
Lisa Sullivan knows how to listen. The founder and president of LISTEN Inc., an organization devoted to developing youth leadership, Sullivan learned at an early age to understand the world she is in and what was expected of her. She beams with pride and admiration as she recalls how her folks instilled a deep-seated work ethic within her.
"On my 15th birthday my mother took me down to [a local store] and told the manager, `This is my daughter and she needs a job!'" She fondly remembers the positive reinforcement she received from members of her Washington, D.C. community, including strangers. "I was waiting at a bus stop and an older lady asked me about myself, and as we were parting company she said, `Now you remember to go to church, you hear?' and I said, `Yes, ma'am!'"
Sullivan, a soft-featured black woman with a short salt-and-pepper afro, flashing eyes, and an easy smile, gets visibly excited when she speaks of her passion: lifting up the young. "This generation is bombarded with information without the capability of analyzing it. In such a confusing society, you must have a knowledge base; otherwise it is like being a computer with no anti-virus software running--any virus can come along and take hold."
LISTEN (an acronym for Local Initiative Support, Training, and Education Network) is Sullivan's vision to bridge the knowledge gap for urban youth and to help them build the capabilities to successfully navigate society's turbulent waters. According to Sullivan, "Urban youth must be organized to formulate their own questions, to define their own problems, to find their own solutions, and create their own institutions."
To that end, LISTEN takes several approaches to develop leadership and strengthen social capital among the urban youth of the hip-hop nation. It locates talented local youth leaders in Washington, D.C., and around the world; researches and disseminates information on local youth culture, policy issues, and trends affecting urban youth; and trains youth workers in professional development, urban youth development, nonprofit management, group facilitation, and public life skills. LISTEN also convenes young leaders, activists, youth workers, youth organizers, artists, academics, policy analysts, journalists, and social entrepreneurs of color and connects urban youth with opportunities, fellowships, training, and employment.
An honors graduate of Clark Atlanta University with a master's degree from Yale, Sullivan has served with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Children's Defense Fund (where she founded the Black Student Leadership Network). Sullivan acknowledges without a trace of boastfulness that she could pretty much pick and choose any organization in her fields of expertise. "LISTEN is very much an expression of my faith," said Sullivan. "I could probably have worked for the national organizations (Urban League, NAACP, etc.) but I was compelled to start something new. A synthesis of the old and the young and my faith gives me the courage and confidence to push off from the comfort, security, and the status."
Sullivan chose Ella Josephine Baker as the model for her approach for LISTEN
and her work in general. Baker was the legendary organizer whose efforts for the NAACP throughout the South in the 1940s were instrumental in paving the way for much of the civil rights activity of the 1950s and 1960s. Baker's trailblazing efforts and contacts laid the foundation for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which formed in 1960.
Sullivan cites Baker's impact especially on her understanding of grassroots democracy and decentralized leadership. She wrote, "For Ella Baker, the single most important goal of community organizing was to ensure the leadership development of poor people, women, and youth to participate in and contribute to local political activism by initiating projects and influencing strategy." Sullivan continued, "[The] undeveloped social capital and untapped leadership potential of the hip-hop nation can re-energize the post-modern freedom movement."
What is the hip-hop nation? Hip-hop culture is seen by some as the personification of the young people of the inner city. Urban youth are recognized by advertisers and fashion designers as the progenitors of the "ghetto cool" style that permeates pop culture. But while they may now be visible, to a great extent they are still inaudible. While there's faith in the marketability of hip-hop culture (especially its warts: violent, misogynistic, and homophobic images and lyrics and a glorification of crass consumerism), society as a whole has no faith in the youth within the hip-hop nation. That attitude is anathema to Sullivan.
"Having faith in young folks when sometimes they don't have faith in themselves is a powerful thing," she said. "A young man said to me recently, `You had faith in me when I didn't have faith in myself!' I want to give them strength to find their own faith because that is what happened for me."
Sullivan believes older adults saw the value in her and that their contribution to her upbringing was vital. Especially important was their faith. She said, "Your faith doesn't validate who you are, but folks tend to gravitate toward it--they are either scared of it or trying to relate to it. As I mature, I am now more open to talking to young people about faith because it is the source of meaning."
Instrumental in implementing Sullivan's action plan are staff members such as Ditra Edwards, director of training and youth development for LISTEN. Before coming to the organization she was senior program director for community programs at the YMCA of Greater Boston. She is very forthright and exudes earnestness; she too is on a mission. Her work over the last 10 years has focused on teens and young adults. She sees a connection between faith and activism. "To understand activism is to understand that it is not about you as an individual, it is about the character of a just society," Edwards said. "For us it is about helping people come to that space. A social movement must have a foundation, and for us it is faith. Faith gives strength for the long haul, because for us there are no immediate results."
LAST YEAR, IN AN effort to help other activists "find that space," LISTEN organized a global exchange program. A delegation of youth leaders from around the United States journeyed to South Africa in early 2000. Participants came from many diverse organizations--from the Central American Resource Center and Hermana a Hermana/Sister to Sister to the Center for the Study of Youth at the University of Pennsylvania.
LISTEN organized the experience because Sullivan knew a lot of the most talented, smart, and committed organizers were stuck ideologically and "trapped in anger and hatred," which Sullivan said is stoked by fear. "This generation of organizers has to shoulder the heavy weight of the successes of previous generations, and they are afraid they can't measure up," which often leaves people feeling overwhelmed. Then, said Sullivan, "We act from a place of victimization and anger and our righteous indignation prevents us from confronting our fears."
The delegation split into four groups in South Africa and traveled to different locations. The delegates stayed in the homes of individuals and visited non-governmental organizations. They were struck by the spirituality and the grace exhibited by so many of the local organizers who were on the cutting edge of a new society--people who were literally building a new nation.
While in Pretoria, Ditra Edwards worked in a program for street children, but she stayed in the home of an affluent white South African. After working in the program, she would return to the host's home and wonder about the children who didn't know where they were going to sleep. "There was such a disconnect," she said. "It got to the point where I couldn't eat or sleep; all I could do was pray for those children. Coming back together with the group helped me give voice to that emotion."
A common discovery of the delegates was the lack of hatred and anger among the indigenous organizers and the people they served. Edwards said that this reality was so profoundly powerful that many of the delegates who had held the most anger came to a space where they wondered, "If these people could go through all of this [apartheid and the struggle that endures] and still find hope, what do I have to be angry about?"
Sean Joe, a postdoctoral research associate with Penn's Center for the Study of Youth Policy, stayed with a family in a wealthier "colored" (mixed race, in South African parlance) neighborhood. He witnessed the tremendous impact of American popular culture, especially hip-hop style, rap music, and the daytime soaps. He was peppered with many questions about the big houses and lavish living that are often displayed in American music videos and television.
These conversations with his host family also helped him understand the profound distinctions between the experiences and perceptions of the "blacks" and "coloreds" of the country. His host family felt that blacks were unable to effectively manage and lead the country, and things had been better under apartheid. Joe said he learned that "In order to have a successful social change movement you must also prepare the leadership for the phase that comes after the change has occurred--that is governance. In South Africa there was a successful social change [in representational power] but little change in the distribution of resources, health care, and education."
Joe also emphasized that the trip helped him clarify his roles within youth-led social movements in the United States. Other delegates echoed this, noting that the most valuable result was the new set of relationships forged among the delegates and with many of the South Africans they met.
Lisa Sullivan was surprised by how riveting the experience was for the delegates. It surpassed her hopes for how cathartic it would be for those involved.
Planning the global exchange program is seen by many who know her as evidence of her faith in action and her faith in the potential of young people. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that today's urban youth are "lost," Sullivan has great faith in these young people--"In spite of evidence that I shouldn't," she laughed. She knows that with faith, evidence changes.
Larry Bellinger is an assistant editor of Sojourners. For more information on LISTEN, visit www.lisn.org.
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Susan Feniger's Lemon Marmalade
Try topping Susan Feniger's Ukranian Spinach Dumplings from Street Food with this Lemon Marmalade for a tangy, bright finish to the rich appetizer. The marmalade itself is easy to make (at least once you've peeled and sliced the lemons) and also pairs well with buttery toast and crunchy biscotti.
Reprinted with permission from Susan Feniger's Street Food by Susan Feniger. Copyright 2012. Published by Clarkston Potter. Available wherever books are sold. All rights reserved.
What's New On Serious Eats
- Yield:makes 1 1/2 cups
- Active time: 45 minutes
- Total time:2 hours
- 5 lemons, washed well
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Using vegetable peeler, remove the yellow zest from all of the lemons. Slice the zest into narrow, delicate strips and put them in a small saucepan. Cut off the ends of each lemon, and then cut down the sides, removing the white pith so that you are left with just the fruit. Discard the pith. Cut the fruit into 1/2-inch pieces, removing any large membrane and seeds. Put the fruit in the same saucepan with the zest.
Pour 1/4 cup water into the saucepan and add the sugar and salt; stir well to combine and dissolve the sugar. Put the pan over medium heat and, stirring occasionally, bring to a boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the marmalade is thick and glossy.
Transfer the mixture to a container and let it cool in the refrigerator. Store the marmalade in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Guest: Frank Curzio of Stansberry Research tells us why he is bullish on stock now and some of his favorite picks. We also talk about Natural Gas (UNG) as well as hitting the poultry stocks again. The Spearman and KRI are beginning to show signs of strain. How long can the promise of stimulus keep markets up?
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW | LISTEN @ ZUNE – @iTUNES
Frank Curzio is an equity analyst for Stansberry & Associates. (3-month money back if you are not satisfied)
Check out Frank's Podcast on iTunes HERE.
Frank has over 15 years of investing experience. He was recently the editor of TheStreet.com's Stocks Under $10 newsletter where he significantly outperforming the markets during his tenure. He was also a research analyst for Jim Cramer and host of The Real Wall Street podcast one of the most widely listened-to financial podcasts on iTunes.
Frank has been a guest on various media outlets including Fox Business News, CNBC's The Kudlow Report and CNBC's The Call. He has also been mentioned numerous times on Jim Cramer's Mad Money, is a featured guest on CNN Radio and has been quoted in financial magazines and websites.
Before TheStreet.com, Frank was the editor of The FXC Newsletter and received one of the top rankings by Hulbert's Financial Digest for risk-adjusted performance. Also, Frank was portfolio manager for Greentree Financial.
Looking to invest in The Disciplined Investor Managed Growth Strategy?
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:54 — 32.2MB)
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WINEDALE — Back on the front porch at the old country place, after a week in Houston where I had to wear a tie for two days. My neck is still sore.
So I'm pleased to be out here among the fire ants and hoot owls, but man, this old place is flat burning up. My rain gauge has got a 10th of an inch of dirt in it, and I'm seeing little dust devils dancing around in the bottom of the stock tank.
We haven't had rain that amounted to much since last fall, and all our living things are beginning to hurt. Even the armadillos are looking a little lean.
This morning early, I heard a lone coyote singing in the woods the other side of the road. It's customary with coyotes that they do their yelping in chorus, so maybe I was hearing a hopeful sign. My Uncle Billy Crockett used to say that if you hear a coyote howl after sunup, you'll have rain before dark.
Trouble is, when I heard that coyote doing his solo, the sun wasn't up yet. Need to get that animal to yelp a little later.
During dry times like this, wild things seem to change their habits. Some become less cautious toward humans.
We have a growing population of cottontail rabbits, for instance, here inside the yard. We've never killed one, or tried to scare one away. We like having them around. The dog doesn't even chase them.
And yet when the weather is what we consider normal — meaning plenty of rain — those cottontails are deathly afraid of us and scamper for cover when we come out of the house.
Not now, though, during this drought. I go out to turn on the sprinkler, I can walk up within 5 feet of those rabbits. It's like they understand that if I irrigate the yard and make the grass turn green, surely I'm not the enemy.
Actually, we long ago quit irrigating to save lawn grass. Only reason I turn on a sprinkler now is to water trees, hoping to save them. I can replace grass in the yard, but if we lost the live oaks that shade this old house, I'd turn around and go back to Houston.
The birds also have decided, finally, that I'm not going to kill them when I fill the feeders and the bird bath. It's like they're sitting on the fence and waiting in line to get in the bath tub.
And they do love the sprinkler. Cardinals, especially. I'm pretty sure I can hear them chattering at me. "Turn on the sprinkler! Turn on the sprinkler!" Then they take turns fluttering through the mist, like a gang of children playing in the yard.
This becomes a responsibility, the same as if you were raising pigs or chickens for the market. You can't just pick up and leave for several days.
Wild creatures that you feed and water become dependent on you, and they suffer if you go away. Or even if they don't, you feel as if they do, and you end up paying somebody to do the feeding and watering while you're gone.
Even honeybees are coming to us now for water. This is a new one in my experience.
We put out sugar water in feeders for hummingbirds, as so many others do. I went out recently to check the feeders and all the stations where the hummingbirds drink were covered in honeybees. Bees piled on top of bees, trying to get their snoots into the holes to slurp up that sugar water.
I've been feeding hummingbirds for decades, and I've never before seen bees do that. Evidently the hummingbirds haven't seen it before, either. They come to feed and hover at a distance of 6 inches and stare at all those bees, and it's like they're simply amazed by this revolting sight. And they fly away in disgust.
So there's another curiosity of life in the country during this severe drought. And here's another yet: Flying, crawling creatures are competing with us for our cool air.
We do have cool around here. We'd never be able to stay in this old house, with its tin roof, without a little AC. And when the outside temp begins quivering up there around 100, bugs recognize that they'd be more comfortable inside the house than outside.
Dirt dobbers. Wasps. Spiders. Crickets. And a variety of crawlers and creepers and buzzers we've never met before and can't find in bug books or on the Internet.
All these living things gather on the porch and wait for a door to open so they can pop into the AC.
Fighting 'em for cool air gets pretty tiresome.


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Welcome to The JLeRN Experiment at Mimas
Welcome to the JLeRN blog!
We're a small team at Mimas in the UK, working on a JISC-funded experiment, setting up and testing a node as part of the U.S.-based Learning Registry project:
"JISC will be participating in the Learning Registry project by setting up an experimental node in the UK with a focus on content from the higher education and cultural sectors. Utilising the expertise and content available to JISC, the project will explore contributing data and analysing it. JISC hopes to collaborate with the Learning Registry in exploring the infrastructure considerations and to help specify and support useful applications."
We're collaborating across the globe with other edtech development teams on this technical proof-of-concept initiative. The Learning Registry is exploring the development of a decentralised network of nodes for sharing 'paradata' about learning resources and their use:
"Paradata provides a mechanism to openly exchange data about how resources are discovered, assessed for utility, and integrated into the processes of designing learning experiences. Each of the individual and collective actions of favoriting, foldering, rating, sharing, remixing, embedding, and embellishing that are the hallmarks of today's teacher workflow around digital content are points of paradata that can serve as indicators about resource utility and emerging teacher practices." – NSDL page on the Learning Registry site.
The team consists of me, Sarah Currier, leading the effort, and two awesome developers, Nick Syrotiuk and Bharti Gupta.
We're going to use this blog to share all of our adventures, mis-steps, solutions, and creative ideas while working on the Learning Registry. It's open notebook science in action!
We're also staying in close communication with JISC CETIS, who have a separate watching brief and advisory role on behalf of the UK with the US Learning Registry project. John Robertson, Lorna Campbell and Phil Barker have already been a great help. I highly recommend following the links on John and Lorna's names there, to read some useful, accessible blog posts on the Learning Registry. You might also want to check out the presentations and guidance documents here, follow the project on Twitter at @learningreg and #learningreg, and read Learning Registry maven Dan Rehak's guest blog post for CETIS here.
And we'll be working, of course, with the Jorum team, also based here at Mimas, as one source of learning resource data.
We'd like to work with any technical teams who would like to experiment with the node we are setting up. If you have data and/or you are setting up your own node, and wish to collaborate with us, please get in touch: sarah [dot] currier [at] manchester.ac.uk


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Sustainability Lecture Series Brings Environmental Activist to SUNY CantonTuesday, March 25th, 2014
Hilary Smith, the director of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP), will discuss the issue of invasive species in Northern New York as part of SUNY Canton's spring Sustainability Lecture Series.
Smith will discuss local invasive species, potential future threats and efforts to stop their spread at 6 p.m. April 2 in Nevaldine North, Room 102. This event is free and open to the public.
Invasive species are one of the biggest environmental challenges of all time, according to Smith. Introduced from other places, invading plants and animals have no natural predators to keep their populations in check. They spread uncontrollably, wreaking havoc in rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, and woods and wetlands.
"Invasive species affect everyone," said Smith. "There are opportunities for action to stop their spread in our backyards, in our favorite swimming spots, across the state and beyond."
APIPP, along with more than 30 cooperating organizations, have the mission to protect the Adirondack region from the negative impacts of invasive species. Smith specializes in invasive species planning, program development, partnership building, community-based action and innovative solutions to invasive species prevention and management. She received her master's in Biodiversity, Conservation and Policy from the State University of New York at Albany and her undergraduate degree in Biology from Hamilton College.
The Sustainability Lecture Series was designed to accelerate awareness of environmental, economic and social concerns through presentations and interactive demonstrations. The series will continue with other environmental experts throughout the spring. For additional information, visit http://www.canton.edu/sustainability/lecture.html.
About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier College for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The College delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management, and public service to students in the North Country, New York State, and beyond. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to their academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as eight exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The College's 14 athletic teams compete in state-of-the-art facilities as provisional members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.


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Bernat Armangue / AP
Palestinian schoolchildren walk through debris past a damaged school in Gaza City on Nov. 24, 2012. The school was damaged in an Israeli strike that targeted a nearby building.
Reuters reports: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children headed back to school for the first time Saturday in 10 days, in another indication normal life was returning after cross-border violence in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed. Full Story
Ahmed Zakot / Reuters
Palestinian school girls inspect their school, which witnesses said was damaged in an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City on Nov. 24.
Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images
Palestinian schoolboys look through a hole at their damaged school, run by the United Nations, in Gaza City, on Nov. 24.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.
Related content on PhotoBlog:
- After 8 days of violence, a chance to draw breath in Gaza and Israel
- Palestinians take to the streets to celebrate cease-fire with Israel


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The Ohio Northern University Department of Music will present a concert featuring the ONU Men's and Women's Choruses in Presser Hall's Snyder Recital Hall on Friday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The concert will open with the ONU Women's Chorus performing selections from Michael Este, Matthew Armstrong, John Floyd Campbell, "Wicked" composer Stephen Schwartz and others. The ONU Women's Chorus is under the direction of Marilyn Roth Basinger, newly appointed lecturer in the ONU Department of Music.
The ONU Men's Chorus will perform pieces ranging from Russian composer Chesnokov to Tim Jones' quirky "The Pirate Song." They will sing in Swedish, Celtic and English. They also will perform a setting of the American folk song "Cindy" arranged by Mac Wilberg, the conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Past members of Men's chorus will be invited to join the group in the singing of the "ONU Hymn."
The concert will conclude with both groups performing "I Have Had Singing."


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I love playing Tennis, give me a call @ 571 393 7192 if you are interested.
Any public court in Plano is ok. I have time in the evenings on weekdays and afternoons on weekends.
Temperature is not an issue for me :)
Natasha, this is going out only to my friends on Tennisopolis. I'm trying to build some buzz on facebook for Tennisopolis. I couldn't think of anything extremely clever, so I figured giving away cool stuff always works! I need your help today; just LIKE the post our our fb page for a Verdasco autograph. And stay tuned, we're going to be having more giveways on fb in the near future.
Here's the link to our page:
Thanks, Mark
Thanks Natasha! I have two friends on here now!!! LOL! Have a great day!
Your photos are beautiful! Much better when you smile!!
good day to you Natasha, would you like to play tennis sometime in Plano
there are also some nice courts in Frisco at Warren park, some in Richardson
in any case let me know, have a wonderful day.
Hi Natasha! Welcome to Tennisopolis. Like you, I enjoy being active and working out. What better than being outside on a nice day/evening, while playing some tennis? Well, some things, but not many. I live in Garland, and work in Rockwall, but am available to play anywhere, at any location. Huffhines Tennis Center in Richardson is good. Let me know if you'd like to get together and play sometime...
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text: Compressing DTS wav files? 2018-04-05 01:50:29 I have some DTS wav files from a DTS cd. When compressing using wavpack using wavpack -hhx3myd --allow-huge-tags -w encoder -w settingsI get a file that is just static. I'm assuming that's because of the compression. Is there a way i'm supposed to be compressing these files? If compression simply won't work, can i turn them into uncompressed wv files so that i can at least have the tagging available?Thank you.


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Joshua Parden, July 04th , 2020.
If you are looking for a style for your dining room, check out these awesome industrial dining rooms. Here we present you an urban collection of industrial dining furniture that will add a twist of loft style living to your dining room. Simple, clean, strong, and functional is the best way to describe the industrial dining room. Brick walls, upcycled wood, concrete and industrial metal furniture they all together it looks amazing. You can add some warm industrial style to your space with a dining table in industrial style.
In some dining rooms the area rug serves as a floor covering that feels good underfoot and is meant for function and not décor. While other dining rooms keep a simple table and chairs, and then have the area rug take command of the room. If you choose the more bold approach, choose a few colors from the carpet and bring them into the wall color and fabrics of the room. This will unite the room and keep it from looking too busy for the eye.
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World premiere December 18, 2010
Dance. Beethoven has been interpreted in widely differing ways. Now his music finds new expression through two contemporary choreographers.
Dance production by Örjan Andersson and Lukáš Timulak.
Watch a movie from the performance.
Eternal ideals and continuous change forms the dynamic set of opposites that are contained within this evening of dance based on the music of Beethoven. Örjan Andersson and Lukáš Timulak have created the choreography. The latter has based his choreography on Beethoven's powerful symphony no 3, Eroica, while Andersson has chosen the 32 Variations in C minor and Piano Sonata no 8 in C minor (Pathétique). The world famous Swedish pianist Roland Pöntinen and The Göteborg Opera Orchestra, conducted by Eri Klas, will provide the music.
Watch pictures from the performance.
Lukáš Timulak was a dancer at the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) for ten years and has recently become a full-time choreographer. He has done a number of productions for both NDT1 and NDT2 during the ten years he has been with the company, but he has also created productions for the Slovakian National Theatre in Bratislava. Since 2004 he has created all his works together with the graphic designer Peter Bilak.
Watch a movie from the rehearsal with Lukáš Timulak.
Örjan Andersson is one of Sweden's foremost contemporary choreographers and is known for his individual, visually sharp style, with a strong musicality. He has created pieces for his own dance company Andersson Dance, The Cullberg Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 1 and Compañia Nacional de Danza, among others. This will be his third piece for The Göteborg Ballet.
Watch movies from the rehearsal with Örjan Andersson.
Beethoven wanted to dedicate his heroic symphony to Napoleon, but when he named himself Emperor Beethoven believed that he had distanced himself from his earlier high humanistic ideals. Beethoven himself was the subject of intense worship after his death. He was one of the first free artists and – due to increasing deafness – surrounded by increasing silence. Instead he listened to his inner self, to the musical creativity of his soul. Like a theme with many variations, Beethoven has been interpreted in many different ways. His music is now interpreted afresh through the work of two contemporary choreographers.
Roland Pöntinen, pianist
Roland Pöntinen made his debut in 1981 with Kungliga Filharmonikerna (The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra) and has worked with the leading orchestras in Europe, the USA, Korea, South America and New Zealand ever since.
Highlights of his career include concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris and London; with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Glasgow and Edinburgh; as well as performances at the London Proms where he performed both Grieg's Piano Concert and Ligeti's Piano Concert. Roland Pöntinen has built up an impressive repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti. He is also a dedicated chamber musician and regular performs with musicians Ulf Wallin, Martin Fröst, Barbara Hendricks and in duets with fellow pianist Love Derwinger.
Pöntinen has performed at a large number of international festivals. In 2008 he was re-invited to the Piano Rarities Festival at Schloss vor Husum, where he took part alongside Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Together they performed music by Sjostakovitj and Prokofiev at the gala concert for Esa-Pekka Salonen's 50th birthday, which was also broadcasted on TV. In 2009 he embarked on a three year project, during which he will perform all of Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas. Roland Pöntinen has made over 90 separate recordings.
He is also a composer, and in 1998 his production Blue Winter premiered in Philadelphia and at the Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Wolfgang Sawallisch to much critical acclaim.
Pöntinen is a member of Kungliga Musikaliska Akademin (The Royal Swedish Academy of Music) and was awarded the royal medal Litteris et Artibus in 2001.
Heiligenstadt Testament
One of the sources of inspiration for dance production Eroica is the so called Heiligenstadt Testament, written by Beethoven as he was in the last stages of finally losing his hearing after many years of deterioration.
For my brothers Carl and (Johann) Beethoven Heiligenstadt, October 6 1802
O ye men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do ye wrong me, you do not know the secret causes of my seeming, from childhood my heart and mind were disposed to the gentle feelings of good will, I was even ever eager to accomplish great deeds, but reflect now that for six years I have been a hopeless case, aggravated by senseless physicians, cheated year after year in the hope of improvement, finally compelled to face the prospect of a lasting malady (whose cure will take years or, perhaps, be impossible), born with an ardent and lively temperament, even susceptible to the diversions of society, I was compelled early to isolate myself, to live in loneliness...
The entire letter will be translated for the Eroica programme.
Translated by: Astrid Pernille Hartmann


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International Law of WarThis course examines the international legal rules governing war. It focuses on two legal regimes-one governing decisions to use of force (jus ad bellum), the other governing the conduct of hostilities (jus in bello, the law of armed conflict, or international humanitarian law). For each, we will consider traditional doctrines and debates, and explore how those doctrines handle contemporary challenges: Do terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction render traditional rules on self-defense obsolete? Under what circumstances is humanitarian intervention lawful (if at all)? What protections must be afforded to terrorism detainees? What is the proper balance between fighting insurgent groups that blend into the population and protecting civilians from attack? The course will take seriously issues of implementation, enforcement, and noncompliance.
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Brent Fisse has extensive experience in trade practices and competition law, corporate regulation and e-commerce. He has acted for clients in a wide range of industries including information technology, health, telecommunications, energy, transport, motor vehicles, music, metals, retail grocery, financial services, sport, tourism. recruitment and publishing and broadcasting. He has also acted for several regulatory agencies.
Brent became a partner of Gilbert + Tobin in 1995, after acting for the firm for two years as a consultant. At Gilbert + Tobin he practised mainly in trade practices and competition law and telecommunications regulation, often for Optus against Telstra in the mid-to-late 1990s. With Greg Corrigan of Tankstream Systems, he also developed G+T online trade practices compliance training programs for many leading Australian companies. Since retiring from Gilbert + Tobin in 2004, Brent has run his own specialist trade practices advisory practice. He also continues to develop online compliance applications with Greg Corrigan and Tankstream Systems.
In 1995 Brent advised the ACCC on alternative sanctions against corporations, in the form of draft legislative proposals and a commentary on corporate probation and community service orders. More recently, he advised the Commerce Commission of NZ in a range of competition law matters. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 he assisted the Federal Court in running workshops on cartel offences and criminal cartel trisls.
Brent has assisted in the work of various law reform agencies, including: the SA Penal Methods Reform Committee 1973-1974 (consultant); the ALRC (Powers of Criminal Investigation 1974 (consultant); Compliance with the Trade Practices Act 1994 (Commissioner part-time); Principled Regulation: Civil and Administrative Penalties in Australian Federal Regulation 2002) (member, Advisory Committee)); and the NSW Law Reform Commission (part-time Commissioner 1990-1997). He acted as a consultant to the Attorney-General's Department in 1974-1975 (Federal Criminal Code project), and as a member of the drafting committee for AS 3806 Compliance Programs in 1997-1998 and 2005-2006.
Brent is the co-author (with Caron Beaton-Wells) of Australian Cartel Regulation, published by Cambridge University Press in February 2011. Other books and papers include: Corporations, Crime and Accountability (with John Braithwaite. 1993), The Impact of Publicity on Corporate Offenders (with John Braithwaite, 1983), Securities Regulation in Australia and New Zealand (co-editor 1st & 2nd eds with Gordon Walker and Ian Ramsay); "Reconstructing Corporate Criminal Law: Deterrence, Retribution, Fault and Sanctions" (1983) 56 Southern California Law Review 1145; and the fifth edition of Howard's Criminal Law (1990).
Brent taught at the University of Adelaide Law School from 1964-1985 and from 1985-1995 at the University of Sydney where he was a professor of law. His other academic positions have included: Bicentennial Fellow, University of Pennsylvania (1968-1969); Research Professor, University of Delaware, 1981-1982; and Mitchell Distinguished Visiting Professor, Trinity University, San Antonio, 1984. He is an honorary professor at the University of Sydney Law School.
Brent is a member of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section and the Law Council of Australia's Competition and Consumer Committee. He is the managing director of Lexpert Publications Pty Ltd.


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The City-Parish of Lafayette is located in southwest Louisiana, approximately 40 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The normal annual precipitation averages 54-58 inches. The oil industry plays a vital role in the parish economy, yet the area remains diversified, depending greatly upon agriculture and distribution of retail and wholesale trade.
The Vermilion River is the major waterway that winds its way through Lafayette Parish, and is the area's major stormwater drainage outfall being fed by Bayou Carencro, Bayou Queue de Tortue, Beau Basin, Coulee Bend, Grand Avenue Coulee, Coulee des Poches, Coulee Ile des Cannes, Coulee Mine, Francois Coulee, Gaston Coulee, and the Isaac Verot Coulee. The Vermilion River passes near several communities and across the Intracoastal Waterway before it empties into Vermilion Bay, which connects the Gulf of Mexico. According to the USGS, the flood stage of the Vermilion River at Surrey Street is approximately ten (10) feet.
During high flood stages, an unusual phenomenon occurs on the Vermilion River. When the river below Pinhook Bridge is unable to carry high flows, the direction is reversed upstream toward the low marsh areas east of Lafayette Parish. This reversal is limited to the reach between Pinhook Bridge and Long Bridge where the left descending bank borders a low swamp area. When the stages downstream of Pinhook Bridge are relatively low, the direction of flow is in the normal downstream direction.
Significant floods are reported to have occurred as early as 1907. Other significant floods occurred in 1927, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1977, 1993, 1995, 2001 (Tropical Storm Allison), 2004, and 2012. The most severe flood in the area occurred in August 1940, and studies of this flood showed extremely heavy rainfall at the Lafayette Airport daily rainfall station. For the four-day period of August 6-9, a rainfall of 27.33 inches was recorded; for the 10-day period of August 1-10, a rainfall of 37.86 inches was recorded.
The purchase federal flood insurance is highly recommended. Basic homeowner's insurance policies don't cover damage from floods. LCG participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which means that federally subsidized flood insurance is available to everyone in the parish. Remember there is a 30-day waiting period before a policy becomes effective. Some people have purchased flood insurance because it was required by the bank or loan company when they obtained a mortgage or home improvement loan. Usually these policies just cover the building's structure and not the contents. During the kind of flooding that happens in Lafayette Parish, there is usually more damage to furniture and the contents than there is to the structure. Remember that a flood insurance policy must be renewed each year.
Mandatory Purchase Requirement: The mandatory purchase requirement applies to all forms of federal or federally related financial assistance for buildings located in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). This requirement affects loans and grants for the purchase, construction, repair, or improvement of any publicly or privately owned buildings in the SFHA, including machinery, equipment, fixtures and furnishings contained in such buildings. If a building is located in a SFHA, the agency or lender is required by law to require the recipient to purchase a flood insurance policy on the building.
For more information about flood insurance contact:
Rather than wait for a flood to occur, you can act now to protect your property from flood damage. Various alternatives are available to help minimize flooding. If the floor level of your property or structure is lower than the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) located on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), consider ways to prevent flooding from occurring such as retrofitting your building. "Retrofitting" means altering your building to eliminate or reduce flood damage.
Retrofitting measures include:
There are several good references on retrofitting at the Lafayette Public Library. Many of these will inform you about retrofitting techniques and help you decide which is best for you.
Lafayette is a beautiful place to live. The undisturbed marshes and wetlands provide a wide range of benefits to the human and natural systems. They provide flood storage and conveyance, reduce flood velocities and flood peaks. Water quality is improved through the marshes and wetlands ability to filter nutrients and impurities from runoff and process organic wastes. The local marshes and wetlands provide breeding and feeding grounds for fish and wildlife, create and enhance waterfowl habitat, and protect habitats for rare and endangered species. The floodplains are an important asset. They provide open space, aesthetic pleasure, and areas for active and passive uses.
If flooding is imminent and evacuation of the parish is advised, LCG will notify you through local radio and Cable TV. Additionally, the Parish will be receiving information from NOAA Weather Station Radio broadcasts weather information at 162.550 MHZ 24 hours a day and from the National Weather Service Offices in Louisiana The local contact number is 985.385.1770 or the City of Morgan City's Planning and Zoning Office at 985.380.4724. Please call in reference to evacuation notices, procedures and shelters.
All development in Lafayette Parish needs local and state permits. Contact the Planning, Zoning and Development Department at 337.291.8491 for advice before you build, fill, place a manufactured home or otherwise develop. The zoning ordinance, flood control ordinance and the International Building Codes have special provisions regulating construction and other developments within floodplains. Without these provisions, flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) would not be available to property owners of Lafayette Parish. Any development in the floodplain without a permit is illegal; such activity can be reported to the Floodplain Administrator at 337.291.8468.
What is substantial improvement? The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requires that any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement, must conform or meet the same construction requirements as a new building and be constructed above the minimum Base Flood Elevation (BFE) listed on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
What is substantial damage? Substantial damage means damage of any origin sustained by a building or structure when the cost of restoring the building to its pre-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the building before the damage occurred. Substantial damage is determined regardless of the actual repair work performed.
Lafayette Consolidated Government requires, by ordinance, that any substantial improvement or substantial damage improvement must have a building permit. Permit information can be obtained at the Planning, Zoning and Development Department located at 220 West Willow Street, Building B or by calling 337.291.8461.
It is illegal in Lafayette Parish to dump any type of debris into a canal, stream, river or drainage ditch. This debris can become entangled in culverts and shallow streambeds, canals or drainage ditches and impede drainage causing the flow of water to back up. Citizens of Lafayette should also keep drainage ditches on their property free of debris, foliage and vegetation that would impede the flow of water. Debris dumping should be reported to the Public Works Department at 337.291.8517.
Citizens of Lafayette can obtain flood information concerning flooding, flood maps, mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements, flood insurance requirements and inquiries, and flood zone determinations from the Floodplain Administrator at 337.291.8468.
Elevation Certificates of many properties in the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA's) are available and on file at the Planning, Zoning and Development Department and copies are available upon request for $25.00.
Real time river gauge information can obtained through the following websites: waterdata.usgs.gov/la/nwis/rt or through www.usgs.gov.
Concerned citizens and the general public can obtain information on flood protection assistance from the Floodplain Administrator at 337.291.8468 or the Public Works Department at 337.291.8517. Flood protection assistance provided by Lafayette Consolidated Government is site-specific flood and flood related data, data on historical flooding in the neighborhood and similar information so inquirers can relate the flood threat to their problems.
List of Services Provided:
Hazard Mitigation Plan Progress Report 2019
To view the Lafayette Parish Hazard Mitigation Plan 2015 click here:
The US Corps of Engineers has enacted rules to protect wetlands as required under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Before you
proceed with your development you are advised to contact the Corps regarding potential wetlands status of your property.
To apply for a Wetland Determination, click here.
Please contact the following:
Department of the Army
Wetlands Delineation
New Orleans District
Corps of Engineers
PO Box 60267
New Orleans, LA 70160-0267
Lafayette is a STORM READY COMMUNITY. Find out more.


text:
Job Description
Our client is currently seeking a night concierge to work at a residential apartment development in West London.
The shift pattern and hours will be 4 days on 4 days off (7am - 7pm).
Manage all aspects of front of house concierge office.
Assisting residents, contractors and visitors when and where required.
CCTV monitoring.
Routine Patrols of the development.
Electric meter and water reading for residents.
Keeping a diary of all works and visits.
Reporting Faults and Defects through appropriate channels.
Answer telephone calls and emails and logging of messages.
Signing in and out visitors and contractors.
Receiving parcels and letters on behalf of residents then programming them on a parcel data base system before putting them on shelf for collection.
Key Holding and management, programming fob keys and car remote control fobs for contractors and residents.
Handing out keys and access fob to cleaners, residents and contractors as required.
Able to give a clear and concise handover at the end of the shift.
Previous experience working in luxury residential apartments would be desirable however 4/5* hotel experience would also be suitable.


text:
Leed's Duffels
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Leed's duffel bags are dependable yet affordable, bags for travel and sport. One of the most trusted manufacturers in the industry, recipients can immediately recognize the level of quality inherent to these items. Additionally, they are available for imprint by several different methods, including four-color process, embroidery, transfers or screen printing. Each imprint method has its own benefits. To better determine what imprint method will work best for you, contact your account manager, who will work with you on developing a marketing strategy around the needs of your brand and budget. After all, these Leed's duffel bags could outfit a middle school soccer team, company baseball team, or university wrestling club. As athletes travel far and wide for conference games, they bring their team's brand as well as your brand along with them, generating new impressions all along the way.


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What Would Jesus Do? Christian Only.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
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text:
Throat-slashing mom deemed insane
A Schertz woman who admitted slashing her daughter's throat was found not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
"It was absolutely the right decision," said attorney James Millan, who represented Christine Caldera, 39, at the brief bench trial in Guadalupe County before state District Judge Gary Steel.
Held in lieu of posting $1 million bail since her arrest March 26 over the unprovoked attack on her 13-year-old daughter — who has recovered — Caldera was ordered by Steel to be treated at the state mental hospital in Vernon.
If and when her condition is deemed suitable for a return to society, she won't face further prosecution for the incident, Millan said.
He said his client, a nurse and single mother who'd previously been treated for anxiety and depression, blacked out during the violent early-morning episode in which she slashed her daughter's throat with a knife, cut her own wrists and then punched out windows on her Gettysburg Drive home.
Responding officers found Caldera making incomprehensible noises, said Millan, noting: "She was still having auditory hallucinations for several days thereafter."
He asked the court to dismiss the assault charge against Caldera and get her treated.
Millan said three witnesses took the stand Wednesday: Caldera's roommate, her brother and a Guadalupe County jail staffer. Millan also said the victim, who's not in contact with her mother, filed an affidavit stating she didn't want to her go to prison.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lyerla, who represented the state at Wednesday's trial, couldn't be reached.


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The November installment of Gelf Magazine's Varsity Letters reading series is tonight. Seth Wickersham, Eric Kester, and Bill Strickland are talking, respectively, about Michael Vick, Harvard, and Lance Armstrong, three beloved American institutions. The reading is tonight, 7:30, at Le Poisson Rouge in downtown Manhattan, and it's free! Go! [Gelf]
More from Deadspin


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Allow me to share with you the story of a former colleague. Joanna (Jo) is a former colleague back when I was still an employee. She is a very intelligent and hardworking woman, and for a time she was the sole breadwinner of her family. She earns good salary because she is quite good with what she do, and I enjoyed working with her before she was a great team player, so a few years after I left I was not surprised that she also left the said company for a bigger one.
I found out that she became a unit director of one of one of the biggest real estate company in the Philippines. And although we don't get to talk as much, I will constantly hear from common friends about her and that she is doing quite well.
One day, I heard that she has bought a property and had it renovated so she and parents and younger brother will be moving into the said house. She never requested me to Feng Shui audit her house only because she doesn't believe in Feng Shui.
And so I was really surprised when she got in touch with me and told me about her concern. Apparently, since moving into the said house, things start to fall apart. While before she enjoys the support of her staff and her bosses, it seems gradually she is becoming an island in her company. She now seems powerless while before she was considered as one of the most powerful voice in the said company. A mutual friend suggested that she consult me and out of desperation she reached out to me.
It was not hard for us to meet, although we never had the opportunity before, because the company she worked for is also my client in my main business and so we agreed to meet.
Before we arranged to meet, I told bring a floor plan of her house and also some pictures. When she showed me the floor plan and the pictures, I immediately asked her whether her bedroom is above the garage because the floor plan shows that there is a room on top of the garage. She said yes, and I told her that's the problem.
You see, a garage is considered as an empty space or a no 'chi' area of the house. That place is considered as empty or dead chi. While it is normally neutral, having a room on top of it makes it really bad because it will mean that you are 'living' on top of an empty space or a space with dead chi, and that will make your life chi weak thus taking out power and support away from you.
This is especially bad if the garage happens to be on the sector of your good luck. This is determined thru the Kua number.
The solution to this now is really to put a powerful amulet in that area. I would normally recommend to put Vajrapani Ruel(1) or any powerful amulet like the Surangama Mantra Amulet or the Traditional Sutra Amulet. But at that time these amulets were not yet available so I told her to put on some light in the garage, and to make it really bright. And if possible to have a dog or cat or even a child play in that area whenever possible and to play some music in that area. Jo decided to install lights and she installed a speaker in the area so whenever they play music inside the house, the music is also played in the garage. She from time to time also has her dog play in the area.
Jo told me that these things helped, and slowly she regained the power and popularity and support that she used to enjoy.
Jo has since then put a Vajrapani Ruel in the area and she said she could feel that putting an amulet in the area proved to be better because she again just had another promotion. She is now Junior Vice – President of the said company!
For questions, comments and suggestions please email email@example.com


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Ok, so no bike sharing till next year. There are some other options. Why not get your very own bike?
Time's Up just got a whole shipment of used Dutch style bikes and they're rapidly fixing them up for sale.
Here is more about the lot of bikes from Time's Up:
Times Up! introduces low cost Dutch bikes to its Brooklyn space.
We ordered 450 bikes from Japan that we are recycling and getting on
the streets fast, for the cheapest prices possible. While Bike Share
stutters to a start, we are getting people on their own perfect
commuter bikes at an affordable price.
While Time's Up! recycle-a-bike program offers all different styles of
bikes, we focused on providing a very practical Dutch-style non-gender
specific recycled bicycle. This single speed bicycle can be ridden in
the rain and includes full fenders, both front and rear, full chain
guard, and in most cases rear rack baskets, and a kick stand. The
upright safe design of a Dutch Bike provides more visibility than
typical bicycles. The introduction of low-cost (just over $100) Dutch
bikes is a way to change the mindset of New Yorkers. Many times in
America, biking is viewed as more of a sport rather than a mode of
transportation. Through the use of more practical and leisurely
designed Dutch Bikes, the American concept of biking can be
transformed from solely sport biking to an enjoyable method for
everyday commuting or enjoying the city's bike paths and greenways.
Subsequently, bike ridership can spread to various groups of people
and increase non-polluting forms of transportation. This program has
been remarkably successful. We are starting to see more and more Dutch
bikes all over NYC
We'll be recycling bikes in the back yard of the Brooklyn Space four
days a week every week from now on!
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays
99 S 6th St, Brooklyn
Wednesdays and Sundays from 4pm-8pm and Thursdays and Fridays from
12noon-6pm, join us for bicycle recycling in the back yard of our
Brooklyn Location. This is a great opportunity to learn basic bike
repair from our mechanics on a one-on-one level, and also to help
Time's Up! with this hugely important project to get more New Yorkers
on bikes – the best way we know to create a greener, more livable
city. We need people to help recycle bikes, sell bikes, input bike
sales into our database, keep the shop in order, and more! Follow us
on twitter to get the latest schedule changes – we'll probably be
working even more hours and days than these.
This is a great way to learn bike mechanics skills and get first dibs on a great street-ready bicycle.
Now here is more on the schedule of Time's Up events:
Continue reading Who need bike sharing, Time's Up has 450 bikes for sale.


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On Bathtubs, Glowsticks and 911
What do you get when you cross Dennis the Menace with Calvin aka Calvin and Hobbs and ramp up the cute factor by 1000 degrees - You get the Damon.
I've been with this kid since the day of his birth. Rocked him, fed him, cooed to him and played the role of ZAZA for all of his just turned five years? And still, when I suggested to his Dad that I could take him with me on a road trip for 2 weeks while I went to see the adorables he looked at me and asked, "Two weeks? Are you sure?" I thought he was worried about the kid. Now, I realize he was worried about me.
I'm thinking well, of course. I took the Adorables with me every summer for a road trip. Now, I'm going to see them and he has reached the magic age of five - he should come along. It's like a tradition now. Road trip with Zaza. The Adorables have reached the savvy years of Ten (almost 11) and Fifteen (almost 25). They have been irritated (just my guess), exasperated (just a guess), shell-shocked (who wouldn't be) and occasionally charmed by the kid they adored when he was a babe. It's that charming few seconds that he works that keeps him from being sent to his room until he is 45.
He is just - all boy? Is that a real thing any more? I guess it is since I went to his pre-k 4 year old graduation - yes. It's a thing. And I don't think it should be a thing. But I went anyway and when the kids eyes lit up when I walked into the auditorium I wouldn't have been anywhere else in the world. He was the first kid to make it to the 100 club last year (counting to 100) and letting me know the rest of the kids were coming along and giving it their best shot. He also let me know he sat by Miss Wendy everyday at lunch. I thought maybe he was her favorite or something. Now, I realize she was trying to keep the school from being burned down. Accidently. The kid is not malicious. He is - - - - curious. Like a scientist. Which is what led to our 911 call.
So this is how it happened . . .
Maybe it started with a trip to the dollar store. This is where we bought bath fizzes and little capsules that turn into sponge shapes. The kid happens to be faster than flash. As evidenced in photo where I turned my back and he had located a sword and stuck it down his shirt, prepared to fight demons and dragons I suppose. Only before he made it back to the sword isle to replace it he had drawn it on a woman who might have been in her 70s. I was rushing to snatch it away and apologize when she whipped out an imaginary sword and begin defending herself. I went back to what I was doing. Obviously she was in control of the situation.
The Adorables have a friend staying over. They are watching one of my favorite movies. Moonrise Kingdom. Everyone has eaten. The television is about six feet from the bathtub. I put The Damon in the bathtub with magic shapes and bubble fizzes. I stand up and watch part of the movie. He yells Zaza. I go back to the bathroom. Yes, That's a t-rex. Good job. Back to the movie. I love this movie. He yells Zaza. Back to the bathtub. This goes on for a long time. I never, ever sit down to watch even five minutes of the movie. I never sit down. The girls are my witnesses. All the spongy things have turned into shapes and I am about to supervise the out of the tub and into the Mickey Mouse pajamas when I go back to the tub and in the six feet five minutes break the kid has - Gotten out of the tub, found a GLOWSTICK like they sell at fairs and for 4th of july - gotten back into the tub and decided to maybe bend the glow stick until it breaks to see what is inside, have it leak into the tub.
When I step back into the bathroom I immediately realize something has gone wrong in the last 2 and half minutes. There is a horrible chemical smell, the bath water is not the right fizzy color and I pull child from tub, tell him I need to wash him in clean water, start to drain the tub and then the kid starts to SCREAM. No parent or grandparent or nice neighbor next door wants to hear a kid scream like this. The fact that he is holding his privates with a look of pure panic and screaming is a serious CLUE that glow-sticks broken in tub do not mix well with boy parts. The screaming GET'S LOUDER AS I AM DRAINING THE TUB TELLING THE KID IT'S GONNA BE OK. Pouring cold water over him and over him and over him and the screaming get's louder and all of this in maybe sixty long seconds and I have two thoughts -
Call poison control but I can't turn loose of the water and screaming kid. Tell the fifteen year old to look up the number for poison control and call them - or - insert blood curdling screams and visions in my head of the child burning from the inside out here - call 911.
Adorable One calls 911.
What is the emergency?
There is a screaming kid in the bathtub.
Can you go to a room where I can hear you?
(leaves bathroom)
Yes. There is a screaming kid in the bathtub.
Why is he screaming?
I don't know. Zaza said call 911.
I am trying to explain why he is screaming but he is screaming. The lady on 911 is asking questions. The fifteen year old is trying to ask me questions. The kid is screaming don't touch me and clutching himself and I'm pouring water on him.
By Minute number 4 there is an officer standing in the door of the bathroom. I don't think I've ever been happier to see a guy in uniform. Officer sees the kids eyes get eversowide and calmly tells the kid - You are not in trouble. I say two words. Glow-stick. Bathtub. My eyes as wide as the kids. He looks at my wide eyes and says - Not Toxic. These are two of the sweetest words I've ever heard.
INSERT a little backstory.
At the grocery store the day before a police officer was standing next to some people taking a report when Damon asked -what are the police doing at the store? and a certain Zaza MIGHT have said - looking for little boys running through the store that don't mind their Zaza's. Then the kid wouldn't get out of his carseat. When I asked why. He said -Are you kidding?! I can't go in there! The police are looking for me!
(Don't lecture me on proper parenting and telling kids police are their friends. I've been on the road for weeks)
I explain to the kid in my calm it's not toxic voice - This man has all the same body parts you do. I'm sure he'll know exactly what we need to do.
(I think this is pretty brilliant reasoning tactics. If you ever have to deal with boys of any age I suggest it. They seem to take this part seriously.)
At which point the screaming subsides, I'm still pouring cold water and the kid is calming down. Then there is all that detailed stuff like - another officer is guarding the door outside (not sure why) I have to explain that yes, I am the guardian and look - I have witnesses - i've been in this bathroom all night - minus those 2 minutes.
The fire rescue guy arrives. I must show my id, sign a form, and do all the things one does to help the emergency a) determine nothing wicked is going on and b) people wrap up this visit and go off to help people in danger from worse things than a glow stick.
When they leave the kid is wearing his Mickey Mouse jammies and eating watermelon. But he doesn't let the Rescue guy leave until ---
"Do you like slime? Do you have any slime? Here, see my slime? I have blue slime. Touch it, go ahead just touch it! "
Rescue guy touches slime. Says he's got his own slime he has to get back to. Says goodnight.
"Still burning?" I ask the kid when he leaves.
"Yeah, it still burns."
"Thought so."
Four ginger ales and four trips to the bathroom later we safely call it a night. I don't want to hear my son tell me one time - "I told you so."
Thanks so much for reading, liking and sharing with friends.
July 2020


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We are now well into the 2015/16 tax year and there are a few changes to ISAs which you need to be made aware of…. The ISA allowance has increased to £15,240 per investor and this applies to both Cash ISAs (over 16s) and Stocks and Shares ISAs (over 18s). You can invest in one […]
ISA Allowance 2015/16
by shrewdcookie on 11:30 am in ISA's
ISA Allowance 2013/14 – until 5th April 2014
by shrewdcookie on 1:52 pm in ISA's
The current tax year ends on 5th April 2014 and until midnight you can invest up to £11,520 into a Stocks and Shares ISA. This can either be direct with a fund management house or via an investment platform, fund supermarket or wrap provider. For those who are keen to manage their own portfolios there […]
Pay Yourself First
by shrewdcookie on 12:00 pm in Saving Money
Build wealth by paying yourself first! Take a paycut and invest this money for your future.
Compulsory Financial Education?
by shrewdcookie on 2:53 pm in Protection
Just a quick post as I am off for the long Bank Holiday Weekend, but I have been reading an interesting post by Lee over at FivePencePiece on the need for Compulsory Financial Education in our schools. I wholeheartedly agree with Lee – we received not a single piece of guidance on personal finance whilst […]
ISA 2012/13 – deadline tonight!
by shrewdcookie on 1:27 pm in ISA's
The end of another tax year is now upon us and you have until 23;59 hours tonight (5th April 2012) to use your ISA allowance. Here is my ISA article – also check out Lee's over at FivePencePiece
Self-Assessment – the deadline looms!
by shrewdcookie on 10:17 pm in Personal Taxation
Just a quick heads-up people – the deadline for submitting your electronic deadline is fast approaching – 23.59 hours on Tuesday 31st January 2012. This is the deadline for submitting your electronic return (paper returns were due in by 31st october 2011) for the 2010/11 tax year. It's also the deadline for payments due in […]
ISAs – the basics – 2011/12 tax year
by shrewdcookie on 2:04 am in ISA's
Here's a brief overview of ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) – what you can and cannot do with them in the current 2011/12 tax year which ends on 5th April 2012. What is an ISA? An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a tax-efficient form of saving or investment. It is tax-efficient in terms of income and […]
ISA Allowances 2011/12 Tax Year
by shrewdcookie on 5:43 pm in ISA's
At midnight tonight the new 2011/12 tax year starts! ISA allowances are increasing from £10,200 to £10,680. Of this £10,680, up to £5,340 can be invested in a Cash ISA, and any unused allowance between the amount you put into a Cash ISA and the overall allowance of £10,680 can be invested in a Stocks […]
ISAs – the basics – 2010/11 tax year
by shrewdcookie on 2:50 am in ISA's
It's that time of year again – as the end of another tax year approaches on 5th April we are now well and truly into "ISA Season"! Here's a brief overview of ISAs for those new to this form of savings/investment, as well as for those who may have a few queries they need answers […]
Warning – HMRC Tax Refund Email Scam?
by shrewdcookie on 9:34 pm in Tax
This evening I received an email purportedly to be from HMRC in respect of a tax refund. The opening to the email is as follows: "Dear Applicant We have reviwed your tax return and our calculations of your last years accounts a tax refund of GBP 178.25 is due." You will notice that there are […]