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It's really unseasonably warm here...near 70 today. I'm loving it and to celebrate the occasion I wore my miniskirt to work. One of my favorite job perks is that there is no dress code here whatsoever.
It's really unseasonably warm here...near 70 today. I'm loving it and to celebrate the occasion I wore my miniskirt to work. One of my favorite job perks is that there is no dress code here whatsoever.
Just rub it in why don't you Chrissy!
I don't have a dress code either.
Today I am wearing my comfiest jeans and a bob marley tshirt I have had for about 100 years, with my lambskin slippers. It's freezing rain here. Yuck. And I have a full house today. My 3 plus 5 more. Inside all day.
I've been looking at plane tickets for our trip to GA in April. It looks like were driving again since the tickets are $300 each. With it being me and my mom we can split the case and it be under $200 each AND we'll have my vehicle so we can run away if the family gets too crazy She was also talking about wanting to go walking around underground Atlanta so that'll be neat and we can take our time coming home
Suja, the pictures are gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing. My fil, who died this summer at age 92, lived in India as a child. His father was the Harbormaster in Bombay for many years, beginning in the 1920's. My fil's father moved to India from England, when he was about 3 years old. When fil turned 7, his parents decided it was best to send him back home to England for boarding school. At age 7. Can you even imagine sending your 7 year old child to boarding school, and you see him once a year. It was a different time back then. My fil was a fascinating man, I once asked him about living so far from his family, he just shrugged and said that is all he knew. He had extended family still living in England. But since the journey from India to England took 6 weeks, he only saw his parents once a year, sometimes every other year. My fil and mil traveled to India in the 1980's, and my mil fell in love with the country. She has been many many times since. She has asked us that she take Gilly to India when he's 7. Not sure how I feel about G traveling alone with her in India, at that time she will be 76 years old.
L, that is too funny about baby ds.
This morning at barely 6am, I heard something in my room, I opened my eyes and G was inches from my face, asking "is it morningtime Mommy?!!" oh daylight savings you are cruel.
Ashley, that would bother me too about the letter. Children that age need to just play. I just finished reading "Boys Adrift". I feel like buying the book in bulk and giving copies to G's future teachers, coaches, any other adult in his life.
Shelley-mom to DS, 6
HA! Daylight savings has been kicking our butt too! N is ready for at like 6 o'clock since the time change, so I have to keep his cranky whiney butt up for an extra hour or so before we can do bedtime. He already wakes up at 5a.m. I am not going to put him to bed earlier so that he wakes up any earlier!
There are still quite a few people who send their children to boarding school here. I could never do that. A lot of military families do it, apparently, to give their kids stability instead of moving them around with them.
Thanks for mentioning that book, Shelley. I'll have to read that since I have 2 boys and one of them is turning out to be the quiet brooding type. Lol. I'm afraid for Travis' sake that school will be boring for him like it was for me. I turned into a daydreamer but I can imagine with him being a boy, he might act out or something.
Abbey is still a little sick, the pedi gave a scrip for abx and told me to wait 24 hours to start. She thinks it's still viral but A's body has a tendency to move into pneumonia. Right now she just coughing occasionally, but it sounds horrible. Not to mention she's sleeping way more. :fingercrossed: her immune system fights this one off!
Oh, and in an lol moment, as we walked out of the doctor's office, she says to the receptionist "I saw the doctor! That was so much fun!" The receptionist turned to me and said "You sure know how to show her a good time!"
And Molly thinking soooo many positive sticky vibes for you. I hope it is just early and that all is well. to you.
I hope Abbey feels better soon.
I wish Conner would ask me to wipe him. I still cannot get him to poop on the potty. I have to confess a moment of frustration over the whole thing over the weekend. I really snapped. I wasn't yelling, but I was using the 'stern mommy voice' about it while cleaning him off at 2:00 a.m. I told him me and daddy were sick of it and that he really needed to start sitting on the potty. I kept going and going until I went to put his pj bottoms on and saw his face. omg-I immediately felt horrible. I broke his heart
I am absolutely at a loss as to what to do about this. We've tried everything except punishment...and even though it's against everything I believe in, in the back of my mind I have a tiny little voice telling me that maybe I should be hard on him about this. I can't do it though, so Rich & I continue taking turns changing poopy pants every other day.
Last edited by missychrissy; 11-09-2011 at 09:30 AM.
I'm loving the weather! I feel a little conflicted, actually, because I want to take him to see Puss in Boots before it's gone, but it seems a shame to spend an afternoon inside!
He's at a friend's house this morning, and she's taking them to the zoo and park so that should be fun.
DH got sent to work in Connecticut until Friday night. When the storm hit up here they got it really bad so he'll be out there fixing downed cable lines and stuff. So if I start posting at 2 a.m. it's because I've never spent the night without him in this house and I'm a little freaked out ;)
One of the Backstreet Boys (sort of the nkotb of the late 90's/2000's) followed me on twitter a couple days ago..I don't even know why because I wasn't following him. LOL
Which BSboy was it, Kate? I had a teenage crush on Kevin. Lol.
Sorry about the potty training stress, y'all. I'd like to offer some advice but I'm sure you've tried everything. What did the trick for us was going bottom-less and staying home for a few days.
Fingers crossed for you, Molly.
On the questions about Hinduism, caste system, etc. - I'm going to do the best I can to capture the essence of all that stuff, but this is probably going to get long and possibly nonsensical.
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, with lots of mythology, lores, etc. surrounding it, kind of like the Greek and Roman mythologies. There is a 'holy trinity' of sorts - Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. Of these, Vishnu and Shiva are the more popular deities, and there is actually only one temple to Brahma in India (there is a story about that, about how he bore false witness, was found out, and was cursed that people will not worship him. Because he begged for mercy, the one exception was made). Each of these gods has a consort. Brahma's is Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. Vishnu's is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Shiva's is Parvati, who in various avatars (each deity is capable of many, depending on the circumstances) often represents power. The avatars of the deities can be worshipped separately (Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, Kali and Durga are avatars of Parvati, etc.). There is actually a concept of 'Ardhanareeshwara' - which literally means 'half woman god' - essentially, the men are incomplete without their consorts, and their powers really rest with the amalgam of the male and female halves. There are also 'devas' (usually not major deities, but gods nontheless) and 'asuras' (demons) in addition to all the stuff on earth, of course. The gods have children (also gods), some have children with mortals (mortal). Just because one is a deva does not necessarily mean that one acts ethically/morally, and just because one is an asura does not mean that one is unrefined/evil. Lots of gray areas everywhere.
According to myth, back in the days, men used to live thousands of years. Through prayer and extreme meditation (and by extreme, I mean praying while standing on one leg with your arms held aloft, cutting off body parts and sacrificing oneself, etc.), one could force a god to appear, and grant one's wishes. Essentially, the power of prayer makes it uncomfortable for all living things to exist, so the god has no choice but to appear. The wish could be anything, except immortality and being made a god (which confers immortality). That which is born must die (including various avatars of the gods, if they are in human form), and no god can prevent death. This has been exploited by many asuras bent on getting up to no good, because they can force the gods to give them huge amounts of power and such (but no worries, the bad guys always lose).
There were men among us that dedicated their entire lives to prayer (Maharshi), and they gain an enormous amount of power as a result. These select people can usually see gods, travel to where they live, talk to them, etc. And their power gives them the ability to put curses on anyone that crosses them (including gods). Most, because of the sort of discipline it requires, use their power with restraint, but there is a particular one who is known for his temper, and goes postal on the gods from time to time. The other thing is that a married woman who is pure (IOW, she has never strayed from her husband, not in thoughts, not in words, and certainly not in action) gets enormous powers by virtue of that. There is a particular one who could, for instance, just take ordinary soil from the riverbanks, fashion a pot out of it and bring water from the river back home for her needs.
Now, the time on earth has been divided into yugas (epochs/eras). We are in the last one, the kali yuga, which is supposed to see moral and spiritual degeneration of society, and then it all ends and the clock gets reset. Next time around, we get a new creator - this one screwed up - and he's supposed to be better (Hanuman) because he is pure of heart.
Now, what all this means in practical, day-to-day terms is that there is pretty much a god for everything, and of course, because they each have their own quirks, must be worshipped in certain specific ways. Although there is no requirement that you pray or go to the temple, if you do the rites the wrong way, you could end up pissing off the god, and that's always big trouble. The complicated caste structure likely has its origins in the need for people dedicated to the study of how worship should be done, as well as the need to maintain order/control of the general population. Those that are scholarly, well versed in worship, are the Brahmins, and the highest caste. The kings/rulers/warriors are a tier below, and they're the Kshatriyas. Merchants, tradespeople, farmers, etc. became Vaishyas, and the laborers became the Shudras. Within each of the castes, there are further subdivisions, and what these are vary from region to region (I'm a Kshatriya, but my particular sub-caste, known as 'Nair' is only seen in Kerala). You are born into a particular caste, and you stay there, and at least in the recent past, it came to define who you are, what you could do, etc. (Mythology does not seem to show the same kind of restrictions/barriers - there are cases of people moving up from the caste they were born - not a lot though). In practical terms, this became discriminatory, a way to stratify society and create divisions, with power and wealth concentrating in certain areas, and some people impoverished (and likely to stay that way) because of their birth.
In order to rectify this, the government instituted a quota system, wherein certain % of seats in institutions of higher learning were set aside for people from the lower castes. The biggest problem with it is that it uses caste as the basis, not economic status - so there are lots of wealthy merchants (Vaishyas) whose kids grow up enjoying every advantage, and while a Brahmin/Kshatriya kid needs to get upwards of 95% on a medical school entrance test, he only needs 60%. In the meantime, while the Brahmins enjoyed prestige, a lot of them are really impoverished - being a priest doesn't pay much.
Kerala, the state I come from, is among the more evolved. It boasts 100% literacy rate (for some value of 'literate'), and has a big Christian and Muslim population without a whole lot of religious strife. As I mentioned previously, my particular caste exists in this state and nowhere else, and this caste (and certain closely related ones) are matriarchal. The basis for this is that back in the days, men used to be able to go to work and make money independently, but women could not. So the system was designed to protect their financial futures and those of their female offspring (especially). So for instance, let's say that there is a 'community property', which belongs to someone. Upon their death, the property will be divided among their children, grand children, great grand children, etc. However, whenever you hit a male as you traverse down that tree, you stop. So, for my parents' property, my brother gets a share, but his son, whereas I get a share, Mira gets a share, and so would her kids (and so on, as long as there is a girl in the branch). Now that we have wills and such, this sort of thing isn't really enforced much.
There are lots of cool things about how things were done back in the days, how they changed, how a wife could tell the husband he was no longer welcome in the house, etc. But this has already become a novel, so I'll stop now. THE END.
Last edited by Suja; 11-09-2011 at 11:41 AM.
Wow, Suja. Thanks for the synopsis! One question from me for now: are you commanded to teach and convert people over like christians do?
Although there are deities and deities and more deities, there is sort of an overarching theme that they're all part of a whole, and you're free to worship (or not) whichever god/goddess you want.
Wow Suja that is very interesting, I always enjoyed Greek Mythology and that reminds me alot of it.
Suja, thank you for sharing. I have so much to learn. I really want my kids to know about religions around the world so I need to learn myself.
Chrissy, I don't know what to tell you. He is just not ready it seems. I'm sure that goes without saying. I used to take care of a little boy who was nearly five and still pooping in his pants. I used to offer him to put on a pull up when he needed to go because egads. Changing a four year old poopy is whole 'nother ball game.
His mom and I tried everything (short of punishment) and nothing worked. Then one day he went. And the next day. And that was that. He decided he was ready.


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either small or large organizations.
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SMS Pro™ can be adapted to either small or large organizations. Based on your needs and maturity level of your SMS program, you can build your own SMS software tool kit using SMS Pro™ modules that have been developed specifically for the aviation industry. LEARN MORE

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Influencer Outreach Case Study-Women Who Inspire via @jfouts
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Satsuma-Cello is the Southerner's take on the classic Italian cordial limoncello. Satsuma-Cello is made from the aromatic rind of the Southern citrus Satsuma and has a limited season, so fill up fast.
This recipe goes with Rosemary-Satsuma Julep, Basil-Satsuma Julep, Satsuma Old-Fashioned
Yield: Makes about 3 quarts
More From Southern Living
Recipe Time
Hands On:
2 Hours, 30 Minutes
Total: 7 Hours
- 20 satsuma oranges*
- 2 (750-milliliter) bottles vodka
- 4 cups sugar
- 1. Peel satsuma oranges using vegetable peeler, reserving flesh for another use. Scrape bitter white pith from orange rind strips, and discard pith. Place orange rind strips in a large glass pitcher or 3-qt. jar; pour vodka over strips. Cover and let stand at room temperature 7 to 10 days.
- 2. Bring sugar and 5 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; let stand 30 minutes. Pour syrup into vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature 24 hours.
- 3. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into another pitcher, discarding orange rind strips. Pour into sealable bottles or Mason jars. Seal and chill 4 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator up to 1 month.
- *15 minneola tangelos may be substituted.
- 3 Satsuma-Cello Cocktails. The Southern citrus burst of this homemade liqueur delivers a festive twist to cocktail favorites. (Each recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.)
- Satsuma Old-Fashioned: Mix 1 cup Satsuma-cello, 1/2 cup whiskey, 4 dashes Angostura bitters, and 4 dashes Peychaud's bitters in a pitcher. Stir in 2 cups each ice and club soda.
- Rosemary-Satsuma Julep: Muddle 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves with 1 cup Satsuma-cello. Let stand 5 minutes. Strain into a pitcher. Stir in 2 cups each ice and club soda.
- Basil-Satsuma Julep: Muddle 1/4 cup basil leaves with 1 Tbsp. sugar. Add 1 cup Satsuma-cello. Let stand 5 minutes. Strain into a pitcher. Stir in 2 cups each ice and club soda.
My Notes
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Satsuma-Cello Recipe at a Glance
- COURSE: Beverages, Beverages, Alcoholic
- CONVENIENCE: Gifts, Make-Ahead, 5 Ingredients or Less
- CUISINE: Italian
- MAIN INGREDIENT: Fruits
- DIETARY CONSIDERATION: Low Cholesterol, Low Fat, Low Saturated Fat, Low Sodium, Meatless, Gluten-Free
- OCCASION: Christmas
- PUBLICATION: Southern Living
More Recipes Like This
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Arthur Laurents dies; playwright and Broadway director
Story | May 6, 2011
Arthur Laurents dies; playwright and Broadway director
Story | May 6, 2011
Oscars quiz: Which star did not win best actress for her film debut?
Story | Feb 7, 2010 | 4:33 PM
If Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious") wins the Oscar on March 7, she'll become the fifth performer to prevail as best actress for her film debut. Of the previous four, one was Shirley Booth ("Come Back, Little Sheba"). The three others are pictured below. Who...
Abigail Breslin takes on Oscar-winning role in Broadway revival of 'The Miracle Worker'
Story | Oct 28, 2009 | 4:33 PM
Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") will make her Broadway debut next March in the first rialto revival of 1960 best play winner "The Miracle Worker." Breslin will play Helen Keller while Tony nominee Alison Pill ("The Lieutenant of...
Ellen Burstyn takes acting triple crown with Emmy win
Story | Sep 17, 2009 | 8:53 AM
Three years after causing an uproar with her supporting nod for a 15-second appearance in the telefilm "Mrs. Harris," Ellen Burstyn won her first Emmy for a guest appearance on the drama series "Law & Order: SVU." With this victory, she becomes the 18th...


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Forgive me for this reply but I can't help myself. You say you were a better pally tank than the previous one. Does your face have some unique shape that rolling across the keyboard just made work better? I have tanked with about every thing in the game and Pally tanking is zzzzzzzz oh crap i fell asleep thinking about it. Again I do apologize for this but I couldn't help it.. Im a smart@#$ its just my nature.


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(This is a big lesson, so Kimberly walks you through this soda recipe on a video slideshow on HerbMentor.com as well.)
The more fermenting of food I do, the more I love it. My current passion is creating lacto-fermented sodas. Since it's fruit season, I've been experimenting with simple fruit soda recipes, and will share my soda recipe for homemade blueberry soda with you.
To do so you will need:
Fill the mason jar to 3/4 full with filtered water (it's best if you can remove the chlorine).
Add 1 Tablespoon of ginger and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Cover with cheese cloth and allow to sit out for 24 hours.
After a week it should become slightly bubbly and pleasant smelling. At this point it is ready to be used in your soda making. If you are not going to use it all right away, you can cap it and keep it in your refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
The next step is to create your syrup for your soda recipe.
To do this with blueberries you will need:
Put 1/2 gallon of filtered water in a large pot. Bring the water to a boil. Stir in your sugar or other sweetener.
Pour this hot liquid plus the berries into a gallon jar. (The hot liquid will help sterilize your jar. You may want to put a knife or other clean metal object into the jar to help draw some of the heat to keep the jar from breaking.)
Now add your one cup of culture (don't worry if some of the ginger gets into your brew it won't be enough to add it's flavor).
To bottle the soda after finishing your soda recipe, strain it and then pour it into some kind of bottle that can seal. You can use these fancy sorts of bottles or simply well cleaned bottles with screw tops the options are many. Leave the bottles to sit out overnight (or longer if it is not fizzy enough after one day). The fermentation process will continue and the closed bottles will trap the bubbles, so your soda will turn out nicely carbonated.
Use caution when opening your sodas. It's great to put a bowl over the top and a bowl underneath, in case they fizz over the top of the bottle. If your sodas are as fizzy as you like in the morning, put them into the fridge to slow the fermentation process.
Be aware bottles left too long on the counter can explode if the pressure builds up too much. Also, the fermentation process will continue in the fridge, though much more slowly. Bottles left too long in the fridge may also explode. So don't forget to drink the soda after you've made it.
Enjoy this refreshing and healthful soda recipe!
New Video on HerbMentor.com!
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18 people have joined TaxAssist Accountants so far in 2010
Press release date: 16-Jul-2010
So far in 2010, TaxAssist Accountants has successfully recruited 18 people to their network. 13 have joined as new franchises whilst 4 have purchased existing franchisees businesses and 1 person has joined another franchisee as a partner with a two year plan to buy out the existing franchisee.
Click Here for the Main Feature about this franchise
Read about other people who bought this franchise:-
TaxAssist Accountants Successful Franchises David Dixon Case Study
David Dixon Case Study I am a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and prior to joining TaxAssist Accountants worked as a Group Financ...Read more...
Successful Franchisee TaxAssist Accountants Bruce Burrowes
Award Win for Small Business Champions! TaxAssist Accountant, Bruce Burrowes, has won the Kingston Business Champions Award for 'Best...Read more...
Successful Franchises UK TaxAssist Accountants Loughborough
TaxAssist Accountants – sixth franchisee opens 2nd Shop Front So successful I bought a bank! (well... a former bank premises!)  ...Read more...
TaxAssist Accountants Franchises for Women Cheryl Hopkins
Cheryl Hopkins I joined TaxAssist Accountants in July 2009 and opened my shop in February 2010. My initial business plan consis...Read more...
TaxAssist Accountants Franchises for Women Sarah Ferguson
Sarah Ferguson
In 2004 Sarah Ferguson left her job as a finance direct...Read more...


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The Voices of East Harlem - Right On, Be Free - Live at Sing Sing Prison - 11/22/1972
Strap the hell in, because this one will blow you right out of your seat.
I wish I could, for the life of me, remember where I encountered this a couple months ago. Quite unlike anything I've ever heard before, the Voices of East Harlem utilize the raw spiritual power of a gospel choir while maintaining the looseness and energy of funk. Matching sacred music's most powerful weapon with the electric energy of funk and the theme of empowerment, then performed in a room of imprisoned men, the intensity of this particular performance is remarkably potent.
This is yet another opener (decent theme to loosely adhere to this week) and title track off their debut album. Upon investigation, their subsequent albums, while still at a glance, terrific (their self-titled third album tends to be their most celebrated), the choir falls into the background to support lead vocalists Gerri Griffin and Monica Burress.
Shortly after the group's appearance in this concert in front of the prison (filmed for a documentary and also featuring performances by BB King, Joan Baez and Jimmy Walker), the Voices began working with Curtis Mayfield and his Impressions replacement Leroy Hutson. I wish there was some way I could just get a master list of everything Mayfield encountered. Every time I encounter something that just pins my ears back from late 60's/early 70's soul, it seems Curtis is inevitably involved. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to make it an objective to sample every album on the Curtom label that I haven't listened to yet. But for now, I think I'll just watch this video six more times. - MO


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Eric Pincus's post on Basketball | Latest updates on Sulia
The Lakers haven't been under the cap in so long they still hold the rights to some crazy names: Karl Malone, Jim Jackson, Horace Grant, Brian Shaw, Mitch Richmond, Ron Harper, John Salley, Shammon Williams, Ira Newble, Theo Ratliff and Joe Smith! Of course they also have rights to Jordan Hill, Devin Ebanks, Darius Morris, Ramon Sessions and Troy Murphy. Under the new CBA, they can't sign and trade any old-timers a la Aaron McKie.
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Simultaneously informed my favorite neighbor cat, Thor, is moving away and that I've been paying $400/month more than its owner in rent.
Other 360 hard frozen with GoW 3 in the slot, marks 3 unrelated tech faults.
TV powercycles itself for 7 minutes, finally turns on and my 360 shows System Error. Wut. http://t.co/eMTzDfPv
"Who's awesome? I'm awesome." http://t.co/0xwJPsLE
No, it's cool. Go back to sleep: http://t.co/hFsKNrSH
Christ I miss playing UT, reinstalling today. If only I had the peeps to play with like I did a decade ago.
RT @AP: Obama gives the Medal of Honor to Dakota Meyer, a Marine who defied orders in Afghanistan to save 36 lives: http://t.co/upwEvRV5 -CJ
Don't suppose I have a choice about my next cosplay being Adam Jensen.
Good lord! Fuck you, ending to Halo Reach! (though admittedly it's refreshing and, in fact, perfectly fitting)
Last Night on Earth, custom gaming table http://t.co/3H8ZOLB


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Redmond's Community Fitness Center, serving over 3,000 members, offering over 40 group classes per week taught by Central Oregon's Top Team of over 20 Instructors. The RAC offers everything under one roof with over 15,000 square feet of fitness solutions to meet the needs of every individual and every budget.
Cathy Sassin a nutrition specialist shares some great information:
More Information
01/04/2012 11:24 PM Cathy Sassin: Nutrition Expert | 1 day only!
11/30/2011 05:21 PM RAC loves the Holidays
08/17/2011 06:12 PM The Rat Race
Cathy Sassin: Nutrition Expert | 1 day only! posted by admin VIP on 01/04/2012 11:24 PM
© 2011 Redmond Athletic Club


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Geraghty to lead Irish in Amlin
ESPN Staff
January 10, 2013
Jonathan Joseph will start on the wing for London Irish © Getty Images
Fly-half Shane Geraghty will captain London Irish as they resume their Amlin Challenge Cup campaign against Pool One rivals Mont-de-Marsan on Thursday at the Stade Guy Boniface.
Irish, who are currently second in the Pool, will also start with Guy Armitage and Steve Shingler in the centres with Jonathan Joseph switching to wing to form a back three with Marlon Yarde and Anthony Watson.
London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith said: "We enjoyed a good win over Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership last week and it is important the squad build some momentum off that performance. They have prepared well this week and are looking forward to a physical challenge in France."
On Friday Gloucester will also travel to France for their Pool One match against struggling Bordeaux. The Cherry and Whites have won four from four so far in the competition while the Begles have only managed to secure one bonus point from four matches. Gloucester boss Nigel Davies has included Jonny May and Henry Trinder in their XV. May has been sidelined since September while Trinder has also been forced to spend time out of action through injury. Also returning to the starting line up are Tim Molenaar, Dan Robson, Darren Dawidiuk, Dario Chistolini and skipper Jim Hamilton.
A jam-packed Saturday schedule will see four English sides in action with the pick of the bunch being Bath's home match against Agen in Pool Four. While Bath are yet to lose a match, amassing 173 points so far, Agen are their closest rivals in the Pool with 12 points overall.
Elsewhere, London Welsh will play host to Italians Cavalieri Prato in a crucial encounter in Pool Five. Welsh sit just two points behind second placed Grenoble.
Worcester will be hoping to maintain their top spot in Pool Two with a win over bottom-placed Rovigo. The Warriors are tied on 15 points with Perpignan in the competition.
The final encounter of the weekend will be London Wasps against Mogliano in Pool Three. Wasps have won three from four and are top with 16 points. Mogliano are yet to record a point in the Pool.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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The pressure is still on Lancaster
"If England flounder in the next World Cup the knives will be out - six-year contract or not." Tom Hamilton on the new contract for the England coaches
World Cup can bring Olympic-style boom
With the deadline for World Cup ticket applications now over, Tom May outlines his hopes, gripes and wishes for next year's global gathering
Time for panic at the Tigers? Not yet
Floundering Leicester, exquisite Exeter and two old England players tearing up trees - it's the Monday Maul
The latest Week in Pictures takes in the Rugby Championship and all the domestic action from the northern hemisphere


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2013 BMW 5 SERIES: A fact that startles some showgoers is that the BMW 5-Series has been in production for four decades, making incredible technological improvements over the years to become the epitome of modern design and driving pleasure. With an array of models, engines and platform choices, the sixth generation 5-Series is available in sedan and hatchback, with four- or five-passenger seating arrangements, and in three trim levels, all featuring TwinPower Turbo technology. The 528i comes with a new 2.0-liter four-cylinder (replacing the straight-six engine) that develops 240 horsepower. Mid-range, the 535i houses a 3.0L inline six-cylinder creating 300hp, while the top-tier 550i generates 400hp from the 4.4L V-8.. A six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic are available, as is rear-wheel drive and for those who face four-season commutes, there's BMW optional xDrive (all-wheel drive). Auto Start/Stop is standard on the 2013 528i and 535i. Depending on the model, the 5-Series offers four- or five-passenger seating, and 14.0 cu. ft. of luggage room in the sedan, and up to 63.0 on the hatchback with rear seats down. Featuring the longest wheelbase in the segment, a long and sleek hood, short overhangs, and a coupe-like roofline, the new BMW 5-Series is created for the performance minded executive. There are 18 exterior colors, including Tasman Green metallic and Alpine White. Without reservation, the 2013 BMW 5-Series is one of the top premium midsize automobiles in the world.
Visit the official BMW site for more information


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This is the photo blog of Kevin Wong. It's a celebration of photography in general, not just mine.
I accept select wedding photography engagements and donate my fees to charity. If interested, please contact me here.
Seaside Heights, N.J.: The Star Jet roller coaster at Casino Pier amusement park, once a Jersey Shore landmark, remains partly submerged in the Atlantic. (Photo: Stephen Wilkes for TIME)
After documenting the effects of Hurricane Sandy for TIME, photographer Stephen Wilkes took to the air to show the true extent of the storm's impact. See more on LightBox.
"Photography is in a way a mental process. We have to know what to, be clear, on what we want to say. Our conceptions, our, what we think of a certain situation, a certain problem. Photography is a way of writing it, of drawing, making sketches of it."
Of the indispensable photographs taken during the Second World War, Margaret Bourke-White's image of survivors at Buchenwald in April 1945 — "staring out at their Allied rescuers," as LIFE magazine put it, "like so many living corpses" — remains among the most haunting. The faces of the men, young and old, staring from behind the wire, "barely able to believe that they would be delivered from a Nazi camp where the only deliverance had been death," attest with an awful eloquence to the depths of human depravity and, maybe even more powerfully, to the measureless lineaments of human endurance.
On the anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald by Patton's Third Army, LIFE.com looks at the story — and at other, harrowing photographs — behind one of the indispensable images from World War II.
Read more here.
(Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Sot Lun is a student at the Arrupe Center in Battambang province.
Improvising a studio on a former battlefield, Grob along with a team from the UN created this portfolio to help raise awareness to International Day for Mine Awareness, April 4. The gallery is now updated to include pictures from Cambodia, which will be on view at the UN starting tomorrow. See more here.
Jonathan Torgovnik
Just a reminder:
The Foundation Rwanda "Evening of Food and Fotos" rock photography benefit auction is coming up tomorrow, April 4. More information about the event is available here.


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PHOENIX – Chipper Jones was saluted as "one of the greatest players of his generation" in a video tribute during Sunday's series finale at Arizona.
On Monday at Los Angeles, the Braves and their veteran third baseman will face a player some believe could become the greatest of the current generation, Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp.
Kemp led the majors in batting average (.466), HRs (nine), RBIs (22), on-base percentage (.515) and slugging percentage (1.000) before Sunday, and his 1.515 OPS was more than 300 points higher than the next-best by Texas' Josh Hamilton.
"What I like about him is, he works," Jones said. "He's working for something. He wants to be the best player in the game, and he's got a workout routine to help him get there. That's what you like to see out of young guys. Obviously he's got an abundance of talent, but to have the heart and desire to get better, that's rare these days."
Kemp and Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier (four homers, 21 RBIs) ranked 1-2 in the majors in RBIs before Sunday. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked about the challenge of slowing the duo.
"We'll see," Gonzalez said. "I know Kemp's always given us fits. We'll get it figured out. Maybe he'll cool off on the plane ride back from Houston."
Actually, Kemp has a modest .231 career average against the Braves with five homers, 20 RBIs, 14 walks and 44 strikeouts in 35 games. He went 5-for-23 against them last season with two homers and 12 strikeouts in seven games.
The Dodgers cooled off before the plane ride home – they got hammered 12-0 in the series finale against the Astros on Sunday. It was only their fourth loss in 16 games, but third in their past six.
The Dodgers and East-leading Nationals (12-4) are tied for best record in the National League, but the Dodgers have not played a team with a current winning record. Their first 10 games included seven against San Diego and three against Pittsburgh, and they've since gone 3-3 against Milwaukee and Houston.
Jones, who will turn 40 on Tuesday and has announced he'll retire after the 2012 season, received a standing ovation from the Chase Field crowd during a video montage shown on the scoreboard. He came to the top step of the dugout and waved his cap in appreciation as his signature at-bat song "Crazy Train" played on the stadium P.A.
Gonzalez had said at the beginning of the series that Jones would play Friday and Saturday and get a rest day Sunday. He didn't play the series opener Thursday after his surgically repaired left knee had some swelling following the long flight from Atlanta to Phoenix.
Jones grounded into a double play as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning Sunday and limped noticeably after the game. Asked how he was doing, he replied, "I'm living."
Pastornicky out of lineup again
Shortstop Tyler Pastornicky was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game Sunday, and not for any injury or ailment
Gonzalez didn't give any specific reason for playing veteran Jack Wilson over the slumping rookie for both weekend games at Arizona, but did acknowledge that he hoped it might help Pastornicky relax a bit and clear his head.
Pastornicky said after the game he's spent time "working on some things" with his swing this week.
He has hit .175 (7-for-40) in 11 games with three extra-base hits (one homer), four RBIs, two walks and a .214 on-base percentage in his first stint in the major leagues. Since hitting a homer April 10 at Houston, he's gone 4-for-28 with no walks and six strikeouts in his past seven games.
"He'll probably play the next couple of days, maybe all three in L.A.," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez has said he likes Wilson's ability to do things at the bottom of the lineup such as bunt and hit-and-run.
Heyward gets a rest
After having his 10-game hitting streak snapped Saturday, Jason Heyward was out of the lineup Sunday to get what Gonzalez told him was a deserved rest. Eric Hinske got the start in right field, and Heyward pinch-hit with two out in the ninth inning and flied out to end the 6-4 loss.
Heyward has hit .309 with a .377 OBP and .527 slugging percentage, and ranks among NL leaders with five stolen bases (two fewer than teammate Michael Bourn).
"Fredi told me before he put the lineup up," said Heyward, who started 14 of 15 games before Sunday, including each of the previous 11. "He wanted to let me know. He said, 'You've gone out there and played hard, and we appreciate the hard work you've put in. Just want to give you a day to rest, get 'Ski in there. You'll be in there when we get the lead late in the game.'
"That's that. He shook my hand and said, just wanted to let you know before we put the lineup up."
Unlike last season, when Heyward was benched several times late in the season in favor of a hot-hitting Jose Constanza, no one has played better for the Braves this season than the big right fielder. Heyward said it would be easier to relax and make the most of a day off under these circumstances, with the team having won 10 of its past 11 before Sunday.
"It's cool," he said. "I want to play, but I have been going pretty hard. So anytime you can take a rest like this at time when we're playing well, when I don't feel like I'll be too missed."
Gonzalez said: "I didn't post the lineup until after I talked to him. I said, hey, just giving you a little breather. Really appreciate the way you've been playing. Just give your body a little rest. But be ready to play because if we get the lead you're going back out there [in the late innings] to play defense."
April 22nd, 2012
6:50 pm
Chipper getting a nice reception everywhere.
April 22nd, 2012
6:51 pm
Matt Kemp taking the MVP snub… PERSONALLY!
April 22nd, 2012
6:52 pm
Tough loss today. 3 batter sequence killed us.
April 22nd, 2012
6:54 pm
Fredi managing to lose again today. Really pathetic. Braves would be a elite team with even an average manager. Doubt DOB will even mention all the blunders.
April 22nd, 2012
6:57 pm
Heyward is 22. Why is he resting? When I was 22 we would drink until 4am and be at work at 9am. Even though this generation of kids grew up skateboarding with pads on, it's no excuse!
April 22nd, 2012
7:02 pm
Guest Feddie is beting on games since he is bench players instead of his best hitters good lick with that we have the worsre manager in the game nice job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 22nd, 2012
7:09 pm
When will Fredi just admit he doesn't like Jason?
April 22nd, 2012
7:15 pm
Can't win them all, and this loss came down to one pitch hit for a grand slam to finish off a 5 spot for the Diamondbacks. The Braves came close but could not come all the way back.
At least now I can watch the games again after serving the 4-game mindless purgatory courtesy the Diamondbacks' stupid blackout policy!
April 22nd, 2012
7:25 pm
mikega1965, why do I call him Fredi Cox? An IBB to load bases just like Bull Headed Bob would've done.
Fire Fredi Cox!
April 22nd, 2012
7:30 pm
Is there something wrong with EOF?
He hasn't pitched in over a week and it seemed the 8th inning today was an ideal spot for him. Curious choice of using Durbin and Martinez instead of EOF and Medlen.
April 22nd, 2012
7:33 pm
Chad Dinger is one of Fredi Cox's pets. Get used to it!
April 22nd, 2012
7:34 pm
And just how did Fredi lose it? Can you guys tell me of a team that doesn't rest their starters here and there throughout a long season… If one of them went into a slump, you whining armchairs would call Fredi out for not giving him a rest…. you guys just plain have to cry at the tip of a cap… The Braves took their 4th series out of five, on the road no less, at 3-1…. revel in that, whimperers, they are playing great ball… you can't win every game…. the lack of understanding of baseball gives one pause to wonder why in the name of the world you blubberers even watch…. alexis, get in here! Your fellow tumbsuckahs need their binkies!!!
April 22nd, 2012
7:36 pm
Wow, we seem to have the most illiterate blubberers in the league as well… Boy, to be both dumb AND stupid must be quite a burden for the whine-babies…
April 22nd, 2012
7:37 pm
Freddie Gonzalez lost the game by letting that grammar school pitcher take the mound, Anybody that cant throw a strike to a pitcher deserves to go to rookie league. SEND HIM DOWN NOW
April 22nd, 2012
7:42 pm
Did anyone else think it was odd that no one – especially the manager – complained when Bourne was called out on the play at second when replays showed he beat the throw by five feet? Isn't THAT the place where the manager goes out and even though he might not reverse the call he fires up the players and lets them know he's got their back? A certain previous manager would have extended his record for getting thrown out of games…
April 22nd, 2012
7:50 pm
Hey, Lone Wolf, they are supposed to be professional baseball players. Rest, my aunt Fanny's foot. Baby is more like it. Those great Yankee teams that were killin' everybody that was, how many times did Stengal 'Rest' players? No, he put 'em in the next day and they murdered whoever! As the 'Mighty Casey' said hisself, " Every game I just wrote down, Blanchard, Kubec, Marris, Mantle, Berra, Skowran, Howard, Boyer & a pitcher and they won!
April 22nd, 2012
8:00 pm
Fire FG now.
April 22nd, 2012
8:04 pm
Gotta go…my life is callin'!
April 22nd, 2012
8:15 pm
Bunch of idiots posting on here today….
April 22nd, 2012
8:19 pm
April 22nd, 2012
8:34 pm
@BoatDoc- yeah, I was thinking the same thing. He should have jumped out of that dugout and got in that ump's face. Couldn't believe he just stood there.
April 22nd, 2012
8:39 pm
Hey 'Lobosolo', I couldn't have said it better myself. Way to call it!
April 22nd, 2012
9:16 pm
Fredi didn't walk the pitcher with 2 outs and the bases loaded, then groove one to the leadoff hitter.
April 22nd, 2012
9:28 pm
Love Chipper. Most everyone most everywhere else does too.
He still won't make 60 games this year. Knee(s) are going to blow.
April 22nd, 2012
9:49 pm
Fredi should've jumped down the ump's throat for missing that call. Just what a manager should do when an ump misses one that bad. Then the ump thinks "Boy, I must've really blown that one". Next time he tries a little harder to get it right. Because that was just awful and Fredi should've let him know that. Fredi's excuse that he's "300 feet away", and he didn't really see Bourn fuss about the call, are just pitiful. Come on Fredi, take up for your players. Go nuts occasionally. Maybe it'll make you a better manager. It will in the player's eyes.
April 22nd, 2012
9:52 pm
Ebenezer. Are you really comparing the great Yankee teams and Casey Stengal to these 2012 Atlanta Braves and Fredi G. You must be out of your freakin' mind dude. Totally brainless comments by some clueless nitwits. I'm done bashing. If you don't have anything positive or enlightening to say, SHUT THE F**K UP! Go Braves.
April 22nd, 2012
10:13 pm
I'm not one to bash the manager… there's plenty of the "armchair managers" doing that already… BUT, if Bobby Cox had been managing today, not only would he have been out of the dugout and on that umpire like white on rice, but he would have been thrown out of the game trying to let the umpire know that he blew that one!
April 22nd, 2012
11:50 pm
I could not understand the decision to puposly walk the batter so they could throw to the pitcher. even if he hit a home run it would have been 3-1. So they decided to walk him with 2 balls to the pitcher walks in a run and then a grandslam, 5-1 instead. I can ne ver understand the decision to purposly walk a hitter, it comes back to bite them too often. I wish I had a software program to get the percentage of walks that come back to harm the team. I think the percentage of harm is higher than 50/50, though it is anectdotal rather than based on statistical evidence.
April 23rd, 2012
6:21 am
when u have 2 balls on a .167 hitter, u SHOULD not walk him intentionaly to get to a pitcher. now u have a rookie trying get him out with pitching to the corners. dont blame the rookie, just call it poor , then fire the ____ manager. the braves cannot win with a gutless mananger that does not stand up for his players(the call on bourne)
April 23rd, 2012
7:07 am
More "Fire the Manager" idiocy. You guys do realize how well the team has been playing, right? Last year I heard that Fredi was a Cox clone and we would get more of the same (I wish, given that Cox was a HOF manager). This year, you complain because Fredi does not come out and scream at the umpires like Cox would have done. Get your stories straight!
April 23rd, 2012
8:07 am
The second base umpire, not Fredi, lost that game yesterday. He, not Fredi, should be bashed and fined by MLB powers.
One bad inning by a young pitcher can be expected and accepted. He learned more from that one inning than all the rest.
April 23rd, 2012
8:21 am
Jason Heyward was out of the lineup Sunday to get what Gonzalez told him was a deserved rest
I wonder what Cal Ripkin thinks about that, How many YEARS did he play without a rest?????????
April 23rd, 2012
8:48 am
Gonzalez has obvious issues with Hayward. Benching him and not benching Freeman, Uggla, or McCann for "rest" shows be that there is an obvious underlining issue with him as an ineffective manager.
April 23rd, 2012
8:53 am
everybody gets a day off………..chill out. cal ripken was obviously a robot.
April 23rd, 2012
9:32 am
Delgado was robbed by a sorry umpire. No way he'd given up that slam if the the pitches to Kennedy had been called correctly (or at all since they didn't even appear to have been called balls or strikes).
Need to shake it off and get ready for a good Dodgers team tonight……….
April 23rd, 2012
10:52 am
Heyward sits and we loose…..hrrrmmmmmmm
April 23rd, 2012
11:24 am
@braveless 8:48
I am pretty sure Freeman, Uggla, and McCann have had similar "rest" days this season. Did I miss something ?
April 23rd, 2012
11:27 am
Perhaps not Uggla yet, but it's early.
April 23rd, 2012
11:30 am
[...] Source: ajc.com [...]
April 23rd, 2012
12:11 pm
@DOB – who is more valuable 6 years of Jordan Schafer or 1 and half year of Michael Bourn?
April 23rd, 2012
12:11 pm
Did not like the intentional walk. It is the # 8 hitter and the free pass takes away a young pitchers aggressivness. Get him out and make the pitcher lead off the next inning. That can be on the manager. But a 4 pitch walk to the pitcher is all on Delgado. So even though I did not like the strategy, more blame goes to the pitcher. Still a Delgado fan though and hope he stays with big league team after Hudson is activated.
April 23rd, 2012
12:59 pm
@ count_schemula
"Why is he resting? When I was 22 we would drink until 4am and be at work at 9am."
LOL. Now that's funny. I bet you were the pride of your work too. One of the most ignorant posts I have seen in a long time.
April 23rd, 2012
1:01 pm
It's funny. How folks complain about taking 3 of 4 in Zona. It was a good weekend if you ask me. Next, I will be hearing I am "drinking the Kool Aid".
April 23rd, 2012
1:03 pm
Mccann will be out of the lineup tonight. Freddie had his day off last week. Why would you rest all your good players on the same day? Seems to me, your just looking for a reason to bash the manager.
April 23rd, 2012
1:24 pm
Was at the games in Phx Thursday and Sunday. Great to see Chip's salute Sunday, but not so great to see Delgado lose it in one ridiculous inning. You walk the pitcher on four pitches, you deserve to get grand slammed.
The D-Backs are a good team. The Braves were lucky to play them while Chris Young, whose season start was second only to Matt Kemp's. without Justin Upton for two games, and without Stephen Drew.
Phx said goodbye to Chipper, but he might play in Az again, in the playoffs.
April 23rd, 2012
2:02 pm
Who is Jimmy?????
"Fredi managing to lose again today. Really pathetic. Braves would be a elite team with even an average manager. Doubt DOB will even mention all the blunders.
What is your expectation – that the Braves just blister through every team they play and go 162 – 0! Get real dude. We started a young rookie pitcher in Delgado against the D-backs best pitcher in Ian Kennedy. Believe it or not, the other teams in this league have some athletes of their own too. Some people here need to quit all their whining and get behind this Braves team AND their coach!!!!!
There – I just said it.
April 23rd, 2012
2:02 pm
Who is Jimmy?????
"Fredi managing to lose again today. Really pathetic. Braves would be a elite team with even an average manager. Doubt DOB will even mention all the blunders.
What is your expectation – that the Braves just blister through every team they play and go 162 – 0! Get real dude. We started a young rookie pitcher in Delgado against the D-backs best pitcher in Ian Kennedy. Believe it or not, the other teams in this league have some athletes of their own too. Some people here need to quit all their whining and get behind this Braves team AND their coach!!!!!
There – I just said it.
April 23rd, 2012
2:41 pm
Arizona Braves Fan,
"Believe it or not, the other teams in this league have some athletes of their own too"
You can not win by being optimistic on this blog. The only reason other teams have any talent is because we did not trick them into trading all their talent for Lowe and KK and autographed pics of Bobby Cox.. If our management was able to do that, we would have all the talent and go 162- 0.
Otherwise, fire someone. Anybody.
April 23rd, 2012
4:36 pm
@Jimmy = Idiot of the Day
Fredi did nothing wrong today. Delgado goes 2-0 on the 8th batter with men on 2nd and 3rd. Fredi tells McCann to put him on to get to Kennedy, the pitcher, who doesn't have a hit this season. Delgado walks him on 4 pitches with the umpire making phantom strike calls so bad he had to clarify the count TWICE to both dugouts. Then Parra jacks a grand slam. All this happened in the second inning.
Without either the walk or the gran salami, the Braves would've won yesterday.
Whether the Braves win the World Series or finish last, we will have the "Fire Fredi" F-tards posting the same garbage every day. Isn't this internet great?
April 23rd, 2012
6:24 pm
Read the postings, see the same drivel from the same people. Win 9 of 11, the predominant posts are about what an idiot the manager is for losing the last one.
Fredi Gonzalez gave Amelia Earhart directions.
Fredi Gonzalez framed Roger Rabbit.
Fredi Gonzelez is the reason for high gas prices.
Fredi Gonzalez faked Obama's birth certificate.
April 23rd, 2012
6:42 pm
This is the third out of sixteen games that Heyward has been "given a rest". Heyward is 22, having a good offensive year, is the best defensive option in right field by leaps and bounds, and runs the bases well.
Most managers would want this type of player to be written into the middle of the lineup for 160 games or more instead of hitting seventh and on pace to play 130 games. I thought you you were suppose to ride players while they were hot (10 game hit streak)…not to try and personally snuff out a good run.
April 23rd, 2012
9:23 pm
Haywood does not need a rest he needs to spend time in the minores so he can stop strikin out so much all the time.
April 24th, 2012
3:44 pm
Resting….Resting??? RESTING???!!!!! Jeez!


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Written on: 23/03/2012
Battery life seems quite good at around an hour, cuts well, good point of balance and fairly quiet. BUT, and this is a big BUT - the DC electric motor appears to be made from chocolate. The shaft that connects the motor shaft to the drive dog for the blade mechanism is the diameter of a safety match, and seems to be made of a very poor quality soft metal. The blades becoming jammed does not seem to cause this component failure. Closer examination seems to reveal metal fatigue instead, as the… Read Full Review
Written on: 09/03/2012
Ordered Thursday morning following a friendly phone call to confirm availablity and the product was delivered Friday afternoon. With the best price for the product on the internet and superb customer service I would not hesitate in recommending to all… Read Full Review
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if my infinite scrolling is being stupid click here lol
you guys have no idea how obsessed i am with the sky. in the way that it is constantly changing, the clouds and color always different each time i look up. i admire its ability to remain beautiful despite its ambiguity.


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To perform a search, enter a keyword, phrase or item number in the search field and click "search."
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Red wines that are more fruit-forward and lighter in tannin and body.
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The wild fermentation and extended lees maturation in barrel have created a complexity and texture to the palate of this wine, as well as an vibrant purple hue. It is a supple wine with good fruit intensity and accordingly has aromas of sweet black cherries and hints of spicy oak. It will continue to drink well over the next few years.
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90 Points
Wine Enthusiast
For Jules, a Marlborough girl born and bred, life began in the early 70's just two years before the fledgling local wine industry began planting its first vines. Growing up in this wine region meant that the ebb & flow of the viticultural seasons have never been far from her view. Jules has seen the transformation that the wine industry has brought to the area and with this life...Read More About Jules Taylor
Grass-fed Wines
Sitting pretty on the northern tip of New Zealand's south island, Marlborough has become synonymous with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As well it should be - Marlborough is the primary region for those delicious, citrusy, summer-lovin' wines with vibrant acidity and pungent, grassy, grapefruit flavors. Sauvignon Blanc is the main grape here;...Read More About Marlborough
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My name resembles Anastassia, but not really.
"I find my greatest strength in wanting to be strong. I find my greatest bravery in deciding to be brave."
Louis Tomlinson is greater than you.
You and Me (But Mostly Me)
You and Me (But Mostly Me)
cannot. stop. listening! xD
I need to see this so bad. ]]>


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Venue Details and Accessibility
Cabaret Bar
Capacity 175, disabled access
This versatile bar is used for more events than you could shake a stick at. This large space hosts regular comedy nights, acoustic sessions, theatre and dance as well as our ever popular pleasance pub quiz. It is situated to the rear of the courtyard past the Pleasance Bar.
Pleasance Bar
disabled access
A popular hang out for student sports teams and societies, the Pleasance Bar has a lively atmosphere and serves a decent pint.The Pleasance bar opens into the Cabaret Bar on larger events. It is situated on the left as you enter the courtyard.
Pleasance Theatre
Capacity 300, disabled access
The Theatre, located on the first floor hosts regular theatre and dance performances as well as comedy and opera. This fully seated room is the perfect venue for large production stage shows.
5/2 Bristo Square


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Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are coming this November!
Check BNN and Bulbanews for up-to-date Pokémon news and discuss it on the forums or in our IRC channel.
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List of Pokémon by National Pokédex number
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This is a list of Pokémon in the order dictated by the National Pokédex, meaning that Pokémon from the Kanto region will appear first, followed by those from Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos. Each region's set of Pokémon starts with its own set of starter Pokémon and their evolutions, going in order of Grass, Fire, Water; the only exception is Unova, which begins with Victini, who is then followed by the starter Pokémon.
The first 151 entries in this Pokédex also serve as Kanto's regional Pokédex. In Generation II, this Pokédex order was known as the "Old Pokédex", with a new order that put related Pokémon near each other also included.
List of Pokémon by National Pokédex number
Generation I
Generation II
Generation III
Generation IV
Generation V
Generation VI
See also


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RuBin in Indie Cage Match! This Sunday, 7:30pm at @UCBTheatreEast!
RuBin's competing in Indie CageMatch at the Beast this Sunday!
This month at UCB East is Two Prov Month for Indie Cage Match & we've been fortunate to be picked for the competition! That said, we need your help!
This Sunday, we're up against 3 other awesome duos:
- The Andrews Sisters (Andrew Cornelius & Andrew Fafoutakis)
- Just One! (Nichole Yannetti & Kim Ramirez)
- Stij e Mendij (Andy Bustillos & Nick Mendillo)
Each team will have 10-12 minutes to do their thing. You, the audience member decides which duo moves on to the best of 4 on Sept. 2nd where the team will be picked by audience and a panel vote. And we need your support & love!
Reserve your tickets here: http://east.ucbtheatre.com/performances/view/24111
We love you!
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Just after midnight this morning, Indiana State Police and Riley Fire Department responded to a commercial vehicle fire on Interstate 70 westbound near the 12 mile marker.
53 year old Ronald Spotts, of Addison, New York was westbound on I-70 and noticed his box trailer loaded with approximately 46,000 pounds of sauerkraut appeared to be on fire.
Spotts pulled to the emergency shoulder and disengaged his tractor from the trailer.
Riley Fire Department extinguished the fire and no injuries were reported.
Westbound traffic was stopped for 40 minutes for fire suppression.
A semi truck fire on I-70 around midnight last night.
It happened in the westbound lanes at the 12 mile marker.
The truck was loaded with sauerkraut.
No word on what cause the fire.


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Several years ago, iWon gained an audience quickly by giving away prizes (see my iWon Wins Users article). That didn't help retain the audience in the long-run. Nevertheless, Blingo is trying the same thing, promising prizes for search. The ads on the site come from Google. The search results themselves appear to come from Gigablast. The promotion model and hype is iWon, circa 2000.
The Original Search Marketing Event is Back!
SES Denver (Oct 16) offers an intense day of learning all the critical aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search advertising (PPC). The mission of SES remains the same as it did from the start - to help you master being found on search engines. Register today!


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We have over 12,000 students, from over 100 countries, within one of the safest campuses in the UK
93% of Lancaster students go into work or further study within six months of graduating
Imogen Tyler supervises 7 postgraduate research students. Some of the students have produced research profiles, these are listed below:
Student research profiles
Senior Lecturer
Bowland North
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YN
United Kingdom
E-mail: Show email
Tel: +44 1524 594186
I welcome PhD applications in any of my areas of research. Please feel free to contact me to discuss preliminary ideas for PhD proposals or postdoctoral applications.
join me on twitter @DrImogenTyler or in the real world term-time Tuesday mornings, Bowland North B Floor, CGWS coffee morning.
Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Co-Director of the Centre of Gender and Women's Studies (with Celia Roberts)
Doctoral Director (with C.Roberts) for the Sociology Department (all programmes)
Lancaster pathway lead for Sociology, Science, Technology, Innovation & Social Practices and Social Anthropology in the ESRC North West Doctoral Training Centre.
Departmental Equalities and Disabilities Officer
Website Strategy Officer
I currently teach all or some of the following courses:
All my research is concerned with social inequalities, power, injustice and resistance. My work examines why inequalities exist, why inequalities are currently growing (for example, patterns of neoliberalism, marketization, privatisation and the erosion of democracy, rights and welfare systems), the intersections of different histories and forms of inequality (for example, gender, citizenship status, disability). My work also considers how inequalities are measured and classified, the ways in which inequalities are reproduced & resisted and critically the kinds of subjectivities and identities which are constituted through unequal social relations. My research is multi-disciplinary and criss-crosses the arts and social sciences. It is intersectional work which employs mixed methods and draws together long-standing research interests in migration, internal and external borders, sexual politics, social class, race & ethnicity, disability and poverty, and an abiding interest in culture, representation, processes of mediation and political aesthetics. This interdisciplinary context is crucial as one of the questions I am most interested in examining (and in my view one of the most important questions for the social sciences today) is "how and why publics consent to deepening inequalities"? That is "how is consent for inequality procured"? To approach this question requires analysis not only of the material conditions of inequality, but a much better understanding of how inequalites are produced and sustained through media and communication systems-- the political aesthetics of inequality.
In 2010 I was awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship and the major outcome of this fellowship is the monograph Revolting Subjects: Social Abjection and Resistance in Neoliberal Britain (London: Zed, 2013).
Table of Contents
Introduction: Revolting Subjects
1. Social Abjection
2. The Abject Politics of British Citizenship
3. The Asylum Invasion Complex
4. Naked Protest: Maternal Politics and the Feminist Commons
5. The Big Society: Eviction and Occupation
6. Britain and its Poor
7. The Kids are Revolting
Revolting Subjects: An Afterword
Through this research I have begun to develop a rich psycho-social account of the ways in which stigmatization operates as a form of governance that legitimates the reproduction and entrenchment of inequalities and injustices. I am now keen to find the time and funding to extend this work through a major new project on stigma and inequality provisionally entitled Wasted Generations: New Cultural and Political Economies of Stigma. This transnational project would extend my existing research on stigma and empoverishment in Britain to other national settings in the global north and south (including Asia and Africa). It would examine the impact the emergence of new cultural and political economies of poverty and stigma in a range of different local settings and in a range of registers, including government policy, local policy and services, and media cultures. This project would focus on three interlinked areas/populations: 1) young people, unemployment and workfare regimes 2) disability, welfare and hate crime and 3) irregular migrants and disciplinary citizenship regimes.
Asylum, Migrancy, Citizenship and Borders
I have published widely in this area and in 2009 I set up a cross departmental Migrancy Research Group at Lancaster University. I have recently edited, with Katarzyna Marciniak (Ohio University) a special issue of Citizenship Studies on `Immigrant Protest`(2013). An edited book, Immigrant Protest: Politics, Aesthetics, and Everyday Dissent (SUNY) will be published in 2014.
I have recently completed an ESRC funded project called 'Making Asylum Seekers Legible and Visible: An Analysis of the Dilemmas and Mitigating Strategies of Asylum Advocacy in the UK and US '. During 2012-2014 I will be running and participating an ESRC Seminar Series 'Exploring Everyday Practice and Resistance in Immigration Detention' with Dr Nick Gill (Exeter) (PI), Prof Mary Bosworth (Oxford), Dr Imogen Tyler (Lancaster), Dr Dominique Moran (Birmingham), Dr Alex Hall (York, UK). The final workshop in this series will take place in the North West of England in 2014. I am currently working with post-doctoral student, Maja Sager on her project `Contested Boundaries. An ethnographic study of activist practices for the inclusion of excluded migrants in Sweden, Denmark and the UK'. (Centre for Gender and Womens Studies, Centre for Mobilities Research and the Sociology Department Lancaster & Lund University Sweden, funded by the Swedish Research Council and the European Union).
Maternal Publics and Counter Publics
I have published widely in this area, most recently editing a special issue with Tracey Jesen (Newcastle) on the theme of Austerity Parenting (2012) and an issue of Feminist Review on `Birth' (2009). I sit on the editorial board of Studies in the Maternal and have been centrally involved with the development of MaMSIE (Mapping Maternal Subjectivities, Identities and Ethics) an international research network based at Birkbeck University. I have also recently completed (with Dr Celia Roberts and Dr Candice Satchwell) on a European-funded research project on Childbirth Organisations in the UK 2009-2011. I am in an ongoing colloboration with the arts organisation Birthrites and the artist Helen Knowles With Carol Kingdon, I am developing new research on the changing visual culture of birth and its implications in terms of women's expectations and experiences.
I am an external examiner for the BA in Sociology at Oxford Brookes University.
I am on the advisory board of the ESRC project Celebrity Youth (The role of celebrity in young people's classed and gendered aspirations').
Journal editorial board member
European Journal of Cultural Studies http://ecs.sagepub.com/
Feminist Media Studies http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rfms
Sociological Research Online http://www.socresonline.org.uk/
Studies in the Maternal http://www.mamsie.bbk.ac.uk/
MAMSIE Board Member
Research output: Book/Report/Proceedings › Book
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial
Research output: Book/Report/Proceedings › Book
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article
Research output: Book/Report/Proceedings › Other report
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings › Chapter
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings › Chapter
Activity: Conference participation › Participation in conference
Activity: Conference participation › Participation in conference
Activity: Conference participation › Participation in conference
Press clipping: Research
Press clipping: Research
Project: Funded Project › Research
Project: Funded Project › Research


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Gallery: Aussies buy their first Bitcoin-funded beers
Summary: Bitcoins, QR codes, smartphones, tablets, and beer. For some, there is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon at the pub.
3 of 12Image
(Image: Alexander Taylor, CC-BY 3.0)
Here's something that is rarely ever seen on a receipt: $0 in cash or credit. The register ties in with Williams' BitPOS system to allow payments to be accepted electronically, but of course, older systems need a bit of a tweak to get things working.
(Image: Alexander Taylor, CC-BY 3.0)
Williams gives a couple of mates a call to come down to the pub (at least, we think that's what's happening).
(Image: Alexander Taylor, CC-BY 3.0)
And sure enough, it wasn't long before he managed to build up a crowd for the Sunday afternoon.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.


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Just back from taking my car to a mate's place for him to have a look at and on the drive home via the moors I witnesses the most amazing full moon...a deep orange colour and looking superb. Anyway, as I got back to the town I had to pass over a bridge that goes over the the A465 Heads of the Valley road. I then saw a guy standing on the bridge with his tripod n camera pointing up the road...as I slowed down to look even the wife exclaimed "what a fabulous sight" !! There was the moon perched on the road arisen towards the highest point and probably the biggest I have ever seen....cursing my luck for not having the gear on me it is still nagging me as I sit and write this. I now wish I had stopped and just asked the guy to send me a thumbnail or something to look at. I am wondering now how he would have taken the shot...long exposure with cars streaming up towards that moon perhaps? Dunno but I know I am gutted. There was a haze about tonight - both my wife and I commented on it before seeing the moon and thinking about it I doubt it the conditions will quite happen like that again.
Anyway, my question to you is have you ever had a similar experience and did you get chance at another time to try for that shot?
When I am sometimes asked for advice by fellow photographers, top of my list comes the advice ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have a camera in the boot!!
Gutted for you.
Check on the internet for the next full moon and go back. If it's cloudy, do the same again at the next one and you'll get your shot. And yes, it'll be something that's happened to all of us at one time or another. The times I've thought - "Damn, I've not got me camera....I could have shot that scene right to the top level of my incompetence.....I could you know....really"
We've all been there.
I never leave the house without my wallet, car keys and Fuji F31fd compact, even if it's to pop to the shops.
Thanks all - I have calmed down a little this eveing but last night I was hurting...rofl
Strange old thing this photography malarky innit.
Last Modified By
cambirder at 18 Sep 2008 - 6:50 PM
Quote: There was the moon perched on the road arisen towards the highest point and probably the biggest I have ever seen..
I think you will find the size of the Moon never changes.
The moon does stay the same size, true enough, but it's orbit brings it closer to the Earth on some occasions and further away on others. It can also look larger when it is lower in the sky...
But I bet that still bugs you, the memory of that evening.
And yes, it has happened to me, too - many times, in small ways - but one time I will never forget. At Brean Down, Somerset a couple of years ago, an especially high tide at sundown. The sea came right up to the sea wall, smooth as a mill pond; there was a slight haze, the delicate colours of pinks, corals, peach-greys, sea and sky merging as the air cooled and became mistier; my children, crouched on the slipway, right at the water's edge... Magic, it was.
But whether I could have done it any kind of justice photographically, I have no idea.
Perhaps it is sometimes better to keep these moments as memories alone...
The problem with shooting the moon is that it always appears far smaller in the shot than with the naked eye. Something to do with the earths atmosphere distorting it through the lens. I'm sure someone here will be able to explain it properly
No fancy optics, it's just that it is small compared to the FOV of the camera. If you ask someone without looking, how many fingers (or hands) would cover the moon at arm's length, many would overestimate, but in fact it's only about a fingernail. I suppose when you look at it as it stands out from its surroundings you perceive it to be bigger than it is
I've seen some wonderful moons, sailing at night. Some were even spooky.
It happened the person on watch called me up urgently from my bunk because there was a large ship, brightly lit and close by, that seemed to be on a collison course and in imminent danger of hitting us, but not showing any navigation lights. We tried violent changes of course, but no matter what we did the ship kept on a steady reciprocal course, apparently just a few hundred metres away. At times it seemed to have a giant triangular sail. The second occasion this happened I guessed what it was - a huge distorted moon sitting on the horizon, framed into strange shapes through a gap in the clouds. The helmsman did not believe it was possible and told me I was a fool or something to that effect, but a few minutes later the moon rose in the sky and the clouds parted.
Other fantastic memories of sailing across the Channel alone, with everything brightly lit as if by daylight by a full moon, sailing in half a gale with spray coming over the bow lit by the moon as if by a flash.
On another occasion sailing down to Rugen from Copenhagen, the moon made a fiery pathway leading my boat to Germany. The moon was so bright I took a photo of it, with the dancing waves. The fiery orb in the sky I'm sailing towards looks a bit like the sun, but it isn't it was the moon. The white waving light in the distance was Rugen lighthouse. And this one and this one of a passing port hand navigation buoy lit by moonlight, off Rugen that same night.
Sorry to yack on - hope it's of interest to someone!
Quote: I witnesses the most amazing full moon...a deep orange colour and looking superb.
I remember seeing a moon like this when I was a child (I didn't even own a camera then!). I had taken the dog for a walk on the cliffs over Polperro (it was safe to do so then!) and everything had an eerie light. As I looked back towards the village the view was breathtaking. We sat on the outcrop of rocks and just looked for ages - something I'll never forget, but can never share!!
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Spring Fling
Each spring semester, SCF's Student Government Association sponsors the Spring Fling event. This is an opportunity for students to enjoy a campus event as campus clubs and organizations host a variety of entertainment activities.
Spring Fling 2015
will be held Thursday, March 26, 2015 from 10:00am to 1:00pm
In the Student Union Courtyard (east side of bldg. 14) on the Bradenton Campus
Entertainment to be announced


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Next, you'll be asked to connect with Twitter. Rest assured, we will never send a tweet from your account
without your permission.
We will send you an email with an invite soon.
RT @matthewbjaffeSt. Peter's Square as Pope Benedict prepares to leave http://t.co/6RScDupSgF
Video from Earlier Today: Pope Benedict Leaves Vatican
Benedict Departs Vatican for the Last Time as Pope
Interactive: 3-D rendering of St. Peter's Square, plus a #conclave explainer flipbook
Pope Francis Could Meet With Benedict
RT @abcWNN: LIVE: #InauguralMass of Pope Francis | here's a view of St. Peter's Square right now
RT @abcWNN: PIC: #InauguralMass for Pope Francis
Pope Francis Set for Inaugural Mass
Boston on lockdown shares fear on Twitter Photo: Empty Central Square via @BikeSafeBoston
Today in Pictures: Texas Memorial Services, Presidents Together, Pope Appeal
See what's Trending Now for @ABC
Follow @ABC on Twitter


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A review of Still Here, a book of photography of Katrina 4 years later.
Obama's abstinence FAIL from Amplify.
Women activists in Iran are not buying Ahmadinejad's nomination of the first female Cabinet ministers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tami's must-read take on the NYT article about black women and hair.
What if black women were white women?
Mali's President Declines to Sign Legislation Expanding Women's Rights
Have a great weekend folks!
8 Comments
Regarding the column that postulates what the world would be like if black women were white women, challenging assumptions is difficult—the people with power, the movers and shakers, the ones who really shape popular opinion and set policy are often times the same people who routinely do the right thing for the wrong reason. Think of any number of politicians who do what is politically expedient, and while it happens to be the right thing, coming from a particular messenger it seems cheap and self-serving rather than righteous and moral. Think about those celebrities that annoy us all when they jump on a bandwagon cause that while it might be the ethical thing to do, is also trendy at the same time.
So seldom do I see people who do the right thing for the right reason and I think it might need to be advanced by those of us with absolutely everything to gain and nothing to lose.
WHAT?!?! I didn't know that horrid commercial came from the Obama administration. I've seen it several times and it makes me want to puke! "You don't have to tell me about the parts…" Why the fuck not? That's important. We need comprehensive sex education. It's not okay to just dodge around it because you're "uncomfortable" talking about sex with your kids. You need to be clear and honest with them. You can't just "tell them to wait." That's a horrible message and not at all imformative. Oh, I'm really really pissed now. Big time FAIL on the Obama administration. Big time.
Human health and services dept. needs to fire someone, how ABSURD
And one of the arguments against comprehensive sex ed is that schools shouldn't be teaching kids about sex, it's the parents' job to teach their children about sex. And now the parents are supposed to tell them to "just wait"! When exactly IS it okay for kids to learn about sex? It's like in period-piece novels when someone calls the heroine aside on her wedding night and tells her to brace herself because her husband has a penis and she's going to bleed.
From this, to upholding the DOMA, to the reversal on the Needle Exchange program, the Obama administration is much, much too close to Bush ideals than I care for.
This makes me absolutely sick. Change you can believe in, MY ASS.
Sorry, but talking with kids about life is not always comfortable! That's part of being a parent!
What a stupid waste of money for that commercial that gives the same "education" policy we've had for the last 8 years.
Personal experience- wish I would have been told about sex. I will tell my kids if I have them. I feel they will make better decisions if they are informed. And oh yeah…WITHOUT the shame!
Side note- mimes and miming is creepy and outdated and that added another layer of Fail to that commercial.
Abstinence only is so dreadfully confusing to me. If I tell my kids to wait for marriage to have sex, but I don't tell them what sex is, how are they supposed to know what not to do? I can picture the talk before the wedding night:
"What? I was supposed to wait to have him put his dick in my ass, but I could have been eating calamari all this time? Why did nobody tell me this! I love calamari!"
If only politicians did the right thing for the so-called wrong reason.
According to Federalist Paper #10 (I think it's #10), the way our system is supposed to work is that politicians do the right thing because doing the right thing is politically expedient. In particular (the concern discussed in Federalist Paper #10), politicians will actively prevent power grabs by other politicians because it is supposed to be politically expedient for them to do so (the original quote is something to the effect of "ambition must be made to challenge ambition").
The problem is that, all too often, it is not politically expedient to do the right thing. For example, ambition was not made to challenge ambition in the days of Bush & CO, because the media made sure any ambitious politician knew that his/her bread was buttered on the side of just playing along with Bush & CO.
Fundamentally, Pogo was right about more than just the environment: "we have met the enemy and he is us". The reason why politicians don't do the right thing is because the priorities of the electorate make it politically expedient not to do so. If we want politicians to do the right thing, we shouldn't wait for them to catch a case of politically bravery but we as a society need to make it politically expedient for a politician to do the right thing.
Of course, if we dismiss whenever politicians do the right thing as "oh, they did it because it was politically expedient to do so", then doing the right thing is no longer politically expedient. This is why the forces of reaction are so keen to engender within us a distrust of politicians (and why they put no pressure on their own politicians to be trustworthy or moral) as well as why they actively try to undermine the teaching of evolution — because the fundamental way things are supposed to work in a democratic republic (hated by reactionaries pace their supposed patriotism) is that we "evolve" better politicians by placing selective pressure on them: when it is politically expedient for politicians to do the right thing, politics will evolve to do better and righter things.
But if we dismiss all political expedience, we aren't placing pressure on politicians anymore, are we? For all their supposed love of "competition", the forces of reaction really don't want any selective pressure on anyone as, by definition of conservative, they want to maintain an unevolved status quo (indeed, all their economic theories are based on an economy at equilibrium).
Sorry about the OT rant, but I get a little perturbed by the fashionable dismissal of political expedience … these dismissals are just what the right wants us to do!


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Everybody should know a little Shakespeare. Especially around Valentine's Day, it's really useful to be able to say "The course of true love never did run smooth." Last week, I almost told my wife in regular conversation that "love alters not when it alteration finds." That one I had stockpiled several Valentine Days ago when I couldn't afford any present for her. So, I memorized William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, and recited it to her. She didn't swoon exactly, but I still
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The sun begins to set, the air still holds the heat of the day, and the crickets begin to sing. The hum of conversations begins to quiet, and the Frisbee game is brought to a close in the back. People wander back to their seats, fill up their glasses with wine, and settle in for a good time. The spotlights can just faintly be seen on stage as the sunlight dies around us. Every year for the last ten years, my family has made it out to the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. It is such a wonderful experience.
When I asked some of my coworkers for ideas for a blog, almost simultaneously they said, "Bah humbug" and "Grinch." "Bah humbug" is a favorite saying of a character from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Grinch is the title character from Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Both stories are about characters that have an unfavorable outlook on Christmas and whose views are changed by the end of the story. People who are grumpy about Christmas are often called a "scrooge" or a "grinch."
For the past twenty years, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival has thrilled us with fantastic plays in Southmoreland Park.
Are you a Shakespeare newbie? Does 17th Century English seem like a foreign language? What exactly does "iambic pentameter" actually mean?
Shakespeare does not have to be a daunting subject. Do not be intimidated! Shakespeare can be enjoyed on many levels. Guaranteed; everyone can enjoy something about the Bard.
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Rachovitsa, Adamantia (2013) 'Fragmentation or unity of public international law' revisited: analysing the European Convention on Human Rights when the European Court takes cognisance of public international law norms. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Ioannis, Kalpouzos (2011) The applicability of international law to armed conflicts involving non-state armed groups: between status and humanitarian protection. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.


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Are You Ready to Feast on Profits?
Himanshu is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Expansion in emerging markets, especially China, has been a very lucrative idea for many retailers, since these markets offer excellent growth opportunities Moreover, these markets are untapped, unlike the developed economies such the United States. Hence, companies growing their footprint in emerging markets have benefitted tremendously. One apt example is Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), which has been a wonderful performer, especially in its Chinese operations.
Yum! Brands recently posted its third quarter results which set the Street on fire, making investors increasingly excited about the company. Its stellar results beat analysts' expectations, sending shares north. Yum had a great quarter! Let's discuss.
The Drivers…
Yum's initiative of expanding in China and opening as many as 192 new restaurants in the region paid off well. This enabled revenue to grow to $3.57 billion, an increase of 9% over last year. Its great performance in China was also accompanied by other segments, namely the United States and the International segment. Pizza Hut and KFC were the favorites of youngsters and experienced increased demand.
Moreover, a key driver during the quarter was its great restaurant menu that wowed customers. Taco Bell's new upscale menu, which was created by a celebrity chef, attracted attention. Additionally, its Cantina Bell menu, which offers fresher and healthier food, was another driver and of course its previous quarter's star dish – Doritos Locos Tacos drove revenue higher. However, the rollout of its Cantina Bell menu is still to show its full benefits since it was added in the middle of the quarter.
Yum! Brands performed well on all fronts with gross margin improvement as well. Its adjusted earnings surged 19% over last year to 99 cents per share. In fact, previous quarter's earnings were at 67 cents per share, dragged down mainly because of higher input costs, especially in China.
In fact, Yum was not the only one to face such a problem. Even Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) had been facing similar concerns of higher ingredients and labor costs which were weighing heavy on its bottom line and margins. Hence, the coffee retailer increased its product prices in order to endure the crisis. Starbucks also added new products such as its single serve coffee brewer called Verismo and added a new fruit juice line for its survival. The new coffee brewer is expected to be really beneficial, contributing $0.06 to $0.09 to Starbucks' earnings per share by 2016. Though Starbucks managed costs by increasing product prices and adding new products, Yum had a different approach, except for the price hike.
The food retailer managed its costs well this time through operating efficiencies and raising product prices. A very smart move by the company, in order to reduce costs, was to reduce the number of company owned stores to 10% of the total store base. It has been encouraging more franchising in its business model, making its cost structure lighter.
And The Brightness Continues…
Good performance and great strategic efforts do not stop here. With a total of 394 new restaurants in the quarter, the company plans to open as much as 1750 new restaurants during the year, 750 will be in China. This will be a strong growth catalyst, especially because of the retailer's focus on emerging markets, where it is experiencing rapid growth.
Its new Cantina Bell menu also looks good, especially because it offers fresh and healthy foods. With consumers becoming increasingly health conscious, healthy foods are in great demand. As a result, companies following this strategy are reaping huge benefits. For example, General Mills (NYSE: GIS) has been increasing its focus on healthy foods which are made of fresh and natural ingredients. Its Greek yogurt and baked snacks have been luring customers galore, sending its revenue 5% higher in its recent quarter. The key reason for a 35% jump in General Mills' earnings was its yogurt business which made customers go head over heels, enabling the company to benefit. The star yogurt business was recently strengthened through the acquisition of Yoplait's yogurt business. However, General Mills' focus on healthy food is not limited to its yogurt business. It is also intending to expand its cereal business to China since the market for healthy cereal breakfast has been growing.
The Takeaway
Yum! Brands is taking the right measures to solve its ongoing problems. Its strategy of expanding in emerging markets and continual innovation in its food menu has proved beneficial. It is expected that it will benefit more from these efforts. Also, its cost cutting strategy will be helping the food giant boost its bottom line further. In fact, Yum should be a great investing idea since it has been repurchasing its shares and paying out dividends. With a large number of new stores in the cards and a bright outlook, this company seems like a great growth stock for investors. You should not ignore this one at all.
justhimanshu has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Starbucks and has the following options: short JAN 2013 $47.00 puts on Starbucks. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.If you have questions about this post or the Fool's blog network, click here for information.