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Good news down in Texas. A Zen center has outgrown its current practice space and needs an upgrade! You can help them. The San Antonio Zen Center, a temple in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki roshi affiliated with the San Francisco Zen Center, is in ...Read More »
My relationship to Zen practice
I can ramble and my thoughts are jumbled often. I hope I was clear. ...
The Dharma (of) Storytellng
By Rafe Martin "When the Dharma is internalized . . . it is most naturally taught in the form of fol...
INTERNATIONAL BLASPHEMY DAY: Make Room for the Misfits!
When SweepiingZen asked for a talk on International Blasphemy Rights Day (September 30th), I joked t...
Confucianism and Zen: The Ritual Nexus
Confucianism and Zen: The Ritual Nexus (Ritual Theory in Myōan Eisai's "Regulations of the Zen Schoo...
Transparency in Government
When I was growing up, the government was good and life was simple. President Eisenhower was like a ...
On a Clear Mind
With respect to all, It is 1:00 AM. I am awake and outside looking at the moon through my telescope ...
Seeing the voice of the rivers
Writing about the inspiring World Rivers Day at Adam's request is a pleasure. To view the Hubb...
The Dog that Did Not Bark
The Dog that Did Not Bark: Thoughts on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear We...
The Myth of a Third Zen Lineage
Kurt Spellmeyer Cold Mountain Sangha The Myth of a Third Zen Lineage About a month ago, Adam Tebbe, ...
The Fall Equinox from a Zen Perspective
By Koro Kaisan Miles Wednesday September 23rd, the day of this year's Fall Equinox. For many people ...
Abbots Address "A Short Meditation on Institutions in Zen"
Hello Sangha, Welcome to the Abbot's address. Today is September 21st, 2015. So, I'd lik...
Help the San Antonio Zen Center find a new home
Good news down in Texas. A Zen center has outgrown its current practice space and needs an upgrade! ...
Dizang Planting the Fields
BOOK OF SERENITY- CASE 12 DIZANG PLANTING THE FIELDS Dizang asked Xuishan, "Where do you come from?"...
FOURTH IN A SERIES Please read the following with a gentle voice … Sadly, 40 days have ...
Listening to that which is difficult
Heads up. I'm not here to make enemies. In case I've never been clear, as editor I retai...
Help the San Antonio Zen Center find a new home
Soto Zen training monastery comes to Northern California
August 2015's Notable Books on Zen Buddhism
NPR – Adopting A Buddhist Ritual To Mourn Miscarriage, Abortion
Looking for two volunteer journalists at Sweeping Zen
Bodhi Manda Zen Center Board, Letter of Apology
Peter Coyote Interview
Completed on June 16, 2008 Peter Hosho Jishi Coyote, the well-known progressive political activist, actor, and writer, is also an experienced Zen practitioner with many years of sitting under his belt. He began his practice at the San Francisco Zen Center and in 2007 received ...Read More »
Carolyn Atkinson Interview
Susan Ji-On Postal Interview
David Rynick interview
Hughie Carroll Interview
Joko Dave Haselwood Interview
Keido Josh Mu'nen Bartok Interview
Ian Hakuryu Forsberg Interview
Lin Jensen interview
My relationship to Zen practice
I can ramble and my thoughts are jumbled often. I hope I was clear.Read More »
INTERNATIONAL BLASPHEMY DAY: Make Room for the Misfits!
Transparency in Government
On a Clear Mind
Abbots Address "A Short Meditation on Institutions in Zen"
Dear Friends on the Zen Path, New Year's Greetings, 2012
As we enter the 2012th year of the western calendar, which is also the Year of the Dragon in the East Asian cycle, we are made aware from many fronts that we live in troubled times, that there is turmoil and suffering in so many ...Read More »
SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: I AM-NOT-NOT-AM-AM A ZEN ARTIST CLERGY !
Painted Rice Cakes and the Absolute
SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: gratitude & Great Gratitude
"Do not take what is not freely given"
Zen in America website and trailer launch
WEBSITE: http://zeninamerica.com/ Hi friends! I've been having a blast doing this documentary so far, finding myself wanting to see it someday as much as anyone else. As you can see from the trailer, it's not just teachers I'm talking with — I want this film ...Read More »
Souls of Zen – Buddhism, Ancestors, and the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, a new documentary film
Zen Furnace – Documentary to be featured at the 2011 Louisville International Film Festival
Abraxas no Matsuri, a film by Director Naoki Kato (w/ Trailer)
The Zen Mind – Emptymind Films
My Colleague Myogen Steve Stücky and Why I Love Zen
I have written before of Zen's need to squarely face institutional inadequacies, but have I said enough about why I love Zen? I don't love Zen for the robes and the folderol; I love it for where the rubber meets the road. Where one hand ...Read More »
Remembering Issan Dorsey, founder of Maitri Hospice
A Graceful, Fearsome Lion
A Pillar of Zen: Roshi Philip Kapleau 1912 – 2004
Recalling Nichidatsu Fujii


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Information and Questions about Pioneer Book Club Events
How do I register? Register online to attend a book club event in your area or contact your hostess individually.
What is Pioneer Book Club? Pioneer Book Club is a collaborative alumnae event that will reconnect alumnae to life on campus and to one another. The Alumnae Association invites all alumnae to share in the common reading experience of The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author and Wesleyan's 2015 Katharine Payne Carnes Lecture Series speaker. Ms. Monroe will visit Wesleyan and speak to the campus community on January 22, 2015.
When is Pioneer Book Club? Pioneer Book Club will be celebrated in October and November with alumnae hostesses opening their homes for conversation, refreshments, and a lively book discussion. Check out our list of events for a book discussion in your area. (I don't see an event in my area, but I would like to host a book discussion!)
Tell me more about the book The Butterfly's Daughter. In The Butterfly's Daughter, author Mary Alice Monroe touches hearts with her unique ability to celebrate both the complexities of the human psyche and the splendor of nature. Four women embark on a journey of self-discovery that follows the monarch butterflies' migration to Mexico. The story begins when Luz Avila's grandmother, the local butterfly lady, purchases an old VW bug for a road trip back home to Mexico. When she unexpectedly dies, Luz is inspired to take her Abuela's ashes home. Following her grandmother's beloved butterflies, Luz meets a collection of women - each on a journey of her own. But nothing can prepare Luz for what she finds along the way. Rich with lyrical detail and insight, The Butterfly's Daughter embraces the notion that life is more about the journey, rather than the destination.
Tell me more about Mary Alice Monroe. New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe found her true calling in environmental fiction when she moved to coastal South Carolina. Already a successful author, she was captivated by the beauty and fragility of her new home. Her experiences living in the midst of a habitat that was quickly changing gave her a strong and important focus for her books.
Mary Alice Monroe writes richly textured books that delve into the complexities of interpersonal relationships and the parallels between the land and life. Monroe's novels are published worldwide. Author of Last Light over Carolina, Time is a River, and other acclaimed novels, her books have achieved bestseller lists including the New York Times, USA Today, and SIBA. Ms. Monroe has received numerous awards, including several Readers' Choice Awards, RT Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2008 South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing, and was featured at the National Festival of the Book. In 2011 The Butterfly's Daughter won the International Book Award for Green Fiction. Fellow New York Times bestselling author Pat Conroy has said of Ms. Monroe's writing, "Every book that Mary Alice Monroe has written has felt like a homecoming to me."
Mary Alice Monroe is an active conservationist/environmentalist who serves on the Board of the South Carolina Aquarium, The Leatherback Trust, and Charleston Literacy Volunteers. She is a frequent speaker at book festivals, conferences, and private events.
I don't have time to read The Butterfly's Daughter. May I still attend a Pioneer Book Club event? Yes, we encourage you to call your area hostess and reserve a space to enjoy spending time with other Wesleyan women in your city.
I live in a big city and have limited space in my home. How large a group would I be hosting? We suggest that attendees to book club events be limited to no more than 20 alumnae at each event. We anticipate having multiple Pioneer Book Club events in larger cities to accommodate all alumnae who are interested in participating. Each event will have its own R.S.V. P. date.
What kind of refreshments should I serve? Light refreshments are the best, but selections are up to each individual hostess and her friends. Coffee and dessert is always a good choice.
What kind of resources will Wesleyan provide? Each hostess will receive a Pioneer Book Club Package that will include: name tags, sign-in sheets, discussion questions, contact information forms, a door prize, book marks, and event evaluation forms.
How will Pioneer Book Club be promoted? The Alumnae Office will promote Pioneer Book Club through e-invitations, emails, and social media, and will provide hostesses with resources for events.
Where can I buy a copy of The Butterfly's Daughter? You can purchase your copy of The Butterfly's Daughter online via Barnes and Noble or Amazon.
Register online to attend a book club in your area or
Register online to host a book discussion!
Alexandria, VA
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Questions? Please contact the Alumnae Office
478-757-5172 or firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


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can I get pop corn and a swordafish sandwich with my death spiral up day tickets? {:O] just askin
I posted the link for you below this one
psec copy and paste http://finance.yahoo.com/mb/forumview/?&bn=ed1142ac-d919-3e24-8ee3-34e2328964d4 this will get you there
No o dividend in the year 1720 donkey said rather
Sentiment: Buy
dONKEY has said O paid no dividend in the year 17020? Do we beleive him/her?
The PSEC board http://finance.yahoo.com/mb/forumview/?&bn=ed1142ac-d919-3e24-8ee3-34e2328964d4 However it is no longer linked
Bunch of worm in a can when this ocd (nut) talks to him/her self {:o[
Sentiment: Strong Buy
I got 4 shares of BBEP, with the last dividend re-investment be jealous Mr. K444?? Much ? {:o]
Sentiment: Strong Buy
phil, To me UBTI is like a siting of bigfoot. Not sure it is real or not. However we were talking to lamontcranston17 who appeard angry the 20 posts and no one would do the work for him and tell him if he would get a K-1 from BBEP. mY THOUGHT WAS EITHER HE IS NEW TO COMPUTERS AND DID NOT KNOW OF WEBSITES OR GOOGLE? Or rather he just needed a bedtime story to read. With all going on with BBEP the last thing I would expect would be 20 reply to question " Do I get a K-1 or not and for why did they not tell me? So I thought I would over answer his question so he would have a good read. UBTI is for trump or Romney my little 457 plan has no MLP only index funds same with roth
Sentiment: Strong Buy
Tell us about ETY!!
MIKE57DK you are missed at ETY you have not posted there since jan 2015? Were are you?
Sentiment: Buy
You like ANDE and that is good but ANDE has debt & small dividend. Well TNH has zero debt so $50,000 for ANDE? well I have not been sold on that idea explain? Buy TNH RATHER
Sentiment: Strong Buy
The K-1 contains a line reporting how much UBTI the MLP is passing through. The tax rate is the highest tax rate for a trust, currently 39.6%. There is a deduction that covers the first $1,000 of UBTI from all sources; after that, the retirement account will owe tax.There is a concept in the tax code (I.R.C. §§511-514) called "unrelated business income tax" (UBIT). Under the UBIT rules, tax-exempt organizations and retirement accounts must pay tax on their "unrelated business taxable income" (UBTI)--income from a business that is not related to their exempt purpose I hope this helps you?
Sentiment: Strong Buy
You already know the answer is yes. If you go to BBEP websit all answers are there, however The tax return thing is yours. If you own in IRA keep dividend under $1000 then you will not need to worry about ubti tax. google it an be shocked ira ubti tax
BBEP & LNCO HAVE BOTH NO ARP OR OTHERS With lnco & bbep I am down a lot and even with cost averaging wow
Sentiment: Strong Buy
NO YOU CAN HAVE ocd (nut) lunch by yourself today after all the psyco ward let you out on a two hour pass take a ride on the DEXTER boat the slice of life goody!!!
Stay strong kaptain the OCD (NUT) group will migrate to BBEP & LINE soon they get better Shock & Awe responses there. They only want someone to yell at them they need that to live as it is too boring in the Psycho Ward for them before medication time {:o] Soon they will start to short sell BBEP at $2.00 a share
Mommy I am not sleepy yet! Please have that OCD (NUT) MAN tell us more stories about stock stuff????XOM Mommy is XOM his ex-wife? No it is a personal pronoun as in HE #$%$ and he did here on the board
Sentiment: Strong Buy
Well then stop your posting then and take your OCD (NUT) Medication ! One less weirdos will be here wasting our time ! The only DIPS Ihave found are in your head! Your only day off from work at Taco Bell should not be wasted here?
Sentiment: Strong Buy
Mr. k444buying333-666 I hope you buy DEXTER'S BOAT The Slice of Life" is the name of Dexter Morgan's fishing boat, which he primarily uses to dump his victims' remains into The Gulf Stream. The name is a pun. "Slice" refers to Dexter's use of blades.e Slice of Life. Rather perhaps you could just take a cruise on it like a three hour tour like Gilligan or the choir director did episode one. Looks like I have topped you on the silley nonsense scale?????. Glad to have wasted your time too
Sentiment: Strong Buy


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Why? Because you can! And pickle, and jam, or otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear. Put on your best apron and step into our kitchen, won't you?
If you have a smallish child in your house, chances are they love grape jelly. Skip the small, expensive jar of jelly and grab a jug of juice instead.
Repeat after me: "Peeling grapes is not hard." Actually, it's quite easy, and oh-so-deliciously worth it. A simple jam of Concord grapes, a bit of sugar and not much else, but the skins deliver a wallop of flavor. Must be tasted to be believed.


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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday said his transportation commissioner Jamie Fox would step down by the end of the month to return to the private sector after only a year in the position.
Brazil's state-run utility Eletrobras said on Friday a report into six hydroelectric plants found the assets had a remaining value of 1.3 billion reais ($332
Brazil's Supreme Court authorized the questioning by Federal Police of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a witness in a broadening corruption case focused
The Company:
FloScan is a Seattle-based corporation that designs and manufactures its products in the United States. With worldwide sales at an all-time high,
Classification societies are changing their monitoring rules for seawater-lubricated propeller shafts in line with the rules governing the inspection and withdrawal
Norwegian tanker shipper Odfjell announced it is upgrading the propulsion systems aboard 19 of its chemical tanker vessels in a move that aims to reduce its fuel


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3:10 to YumaDirector: James Mangold
Cast: James Mangold, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda
View All Available Formats & Editions
Russell Crowe plays a desperado whose accomplices stage an ambush after he is taken into custody by a determined local sheriff in this remake of the 1957 film starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. James Mangold directs a script based on the /a>/a>/a>… See more details below
- Overview
- Editorial Reviews
- Product Details
- Special Features
- Related Subjects
- Cast & Crew
- Scene Index
- Menu
- Videos
Russell Crowe plays a desperado whose accomplices stage an ambush after he is taken into custody by a determined local sheriff in this remake of the 1957 film starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. James Mangold directs a script based on the Elmore Leonard short story and penned by Stuart Beattie, Michael Brandt, and Derek Haas.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
- Release Date:
- 01/08/2008
- 0031398221869
- Original Release:
- 2007
- Rating:
- Source:
- Lions Gate
- Region Code:
- 1
- Presentation:
- [Full Frame]
- Sound:
- [Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound]
- Time:
- 2:02:00
- Sales rank:
- 36,689
Special Features
Cast & Crew
|Russell Crowe
|Ben Wade
|Christian Bale
|Dan Evans
|Peter Fonda
|Byron McElroy
|Gretchen Mol
|Alice Evans
|Ben Foster
|Charlie Prince
|Dallas Roberts
|Grayson Butterfield
|Alan Tudyk
|Doc Potter
|Vinessa Shaw
|Emma Nelson
|Logan Lerman
|William Evans
|Kevin Durand
|Luce Rains
|Marshal Weathers
|Lennie Loftin
|Glen Hollander
|Rio Alexander
|Johnny Whitworth
|Tommy Darden
|Shawn D. Howell
|Pat Ricotti
|Ramon Frank
|Deryle J. Lujan
|James Augure
|Brian Duffy
|Jason Rodriguez
|Chris Browning
|Chad Brummett
|Forrest Fyre
|Walter Boles
|Luke Wilson
|Benjamin Petry
|Mark Evans
|Arron Shiver
|Bill Moons
|Sean Hennigan
|Marshal Will Doane
|Girard Swan
|Deputy Harvey Pell
|Christopher Berry
|Deputy Sam Fuller
|David Oliver
|Evil Bartender
|David Oliver
|Evil Bartender
|Jason Henning
|Train Clerk
|Marco Beltrami
Technical Credits
Scene Index
1. Late Night Ambush [3:30]
2. Making Things Right [4:01]
3. Here We Go [6:38]
4. He's Fast [4:52]
5. Trouble Brewing [6:40]
6. Needs Attention [4:37]
7. I Want to Talk [6:16]
8. Setting Bait [4:37]
9. Table Manners [3:54]
10. Getting By [6:43]
11. Tension Rising [3:48]
12. Digging Graves [1:48]
13. Choosing Paths [8:11]
14. Apache Attack [5:56]
15. Prisoner Dispute [5:10]
16. Laying Low [4:35]
17. New Offer [3:27]
18. Got Company [4:56]
19. Not All Bad [5:15]
20. Just You [3:32]
21. Sharp Shooting [5:12]
22. Making Confessions [6:35]
23. Special Delivery [4:20]
24. Train to Yuma [7:36]
Play Movie
Set Up
English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX
Audio Commentary With Director James Mangold: On/Off
Subtitles Off
Scene Selection
Special Features
Destination Yuma
Outlaws, Gangs & Posses
An Epic Explored
Deleted Scenes
Play All
Darden Vs. Nez
Darden Vs. Monty
Al Pinkerton's Tongue
"Were You Sincere About Mexico?"
Corrupted Souls
Overrated Utensils
"That's My Son!" the Hay and the Grass
Also From Lionsgate
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
See all customer reviews >


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6 Reviews
Karen, Thank you for this recipe. I reviewed at least 20 other Frog-Eye salad recipes and yours was the only one that had fruit cocktail in it. I love it this way but lost the recipe.
Everyone LOVES this! I've made it three times and people fight over the leftovers (and unless you're feeduing a TON of people - there will be leftovers!). I added a tiny bit of cinnamon the last time I made it - and it was delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
DH and I loved this recipe. I cut it in half and it was more than enough to serve twice-Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I decorated the top with maraschino cherries to make it more attractive, but for some reason, most people didn't even try it! A few asked what it was and instead of saying "Frog Eye Salad" which I thought might turn them off, I simply said "It's a fruit salad". Some asked if it contained tapioca and I said "No, a different kind of pasta." Perhaps that turned them off or else maybe the reason was because there was just too much food to sample from. In any case, even though we both enjoyed it, doubt if I will make it again when it seems we are the only ones who liked it.
Only for salad lovers who like "tapioca" consistencies, and I found out after making it, there are people out there who hate that feeling in their mouth. Others loved it--I'll make it again for them and me.
I love this. We used to have it every year and every hoilday.


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- 3.5-hour off-road Jeep adventure through Denali National Park
- Take your turn driving along the historic Stampede Trail, which inspired the movie Into the Wild
- Soak in the surrounding wilderness and spot Mt McKinley and wildlife such as moose and bears
- Your professional guide will safely lead the pack of Jeeps and teach you about the wilderness via your two-way radio
What You Can Expect
Your destination is Stampede Road. Once called Stampede Trail and not shown on many Alaska maps, this road was a mining trail blazed in the 1930s. This is the same road that the character from the film Into The Wild travels on.
The first few miles of the road are paved, but beyond this point, your guide will lead the pack of Jeeps along some unpaved paths, giving you with plenty of bumps and dips to maneuver. There will be ample opportunity to switch drivers so everyone can enjoy the thrill of maneuvering along this road through the wilderness.
Through your two-way radio, your guide will explain the area's rich history, point out interesting sights and provide tips on the road conditions ahead. You and your fellow travelers can ask your guide any questions you may have along the way.
Don't forget your camera! On a clear day, you may be able to see Mt McKinley, and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for wildlife, as this area is rife with moose, foxes, caribou and even bears.
Enjoy a snack before winding your way back to where you started, with lots of stories and photos of your Alaskan wilderness adventure to share with friends!
Customer Reviews
August 2013
Tour was great, BUT Viator itself needs to have done its homework in getting the tour company name correct......
July 2014
Communication is expected from the pre-paid user of the trip to confirm pick up time a day in advance. This however, does not apply with Off-Road Jeep Adventures. We were picked up 45 minutes late with no notification that this would eventuate. We had to follow up personally to be informed there was a problem with the earlier tour. When queried on pickup, was informed that "office person was new....". Sorry, respect and communicaton is expected from supplier as well as user. Consequently we missed another tour planned for that afternoon because Off-Road Jeep Adventure was late.
Ruth P
August 2014
We booked this tour with another couple, who were our traveling companions on our Alaska Adventure. We looked forward to enjoying their company in a jeep such as the one in the picture above, and we also looked forward to seeing the kind of scenery shown in the same picture. Unfortunately, our jeep broke down in a mud hole (possibly man-made) on a trail without any scenic views. Without going into detail, we saw no wildlife, no scenery, and ultimately, my husband and the couple with whom we were traveling were separated into three other jeeps with people that we did not know. In addition, another of the jeeps also overheated, but was luckily resuscitated by a guest who was an auto mechanic. We made it to the "snack location", where we saw yet another jeep which had broken down from a previous tour. By this time, so much time had been wasted during the breakdown that we were forced to return home so that one of the families would not miss their train connection from Denali.
We returned on the same trail, but the adventure did not end there. As we were returning to the tour base camp, yet another jeep was being hauled off to Fairbanks for repair. It is no wonder that there was not a contingency plan for extra jeeps in case there was a breakdown. Once we arrived at the base camp, we were whisked back to the Princess Wilderness Lodge.....my husband was in one van, and I was in another. This "adventure" cost us and our traveling companions a total of $580. It was not my favorite day in Alaska.


text: Wedding Photobooth by The 3 Bears One Stop Gift Shop £14$30.33€20.71$23.03 12 customer reviews(12) In stock £18.50$40.08€27.37$30.43 delivery to United States Receive this item 5-10 working days from dispatch International delivery available gift wrapping service?gift wrapping service? (required)Yes please wrap with tissue paper, tie a ribbon and add a gift tag (+ £4)No thanksgift wrapping service? (required)Yes please wrap with tissue paper, tie a ribbon and add a gift tag (+ $8.66)No thanksgift wrapping service? (required)Yes please wrap with tissue paper, tie a ribbon and add a gift tag (+ €5.91)No thanksgift wrapping service? (required)Yes please wrap with tissue paper, tie a ribbon and add a gift tag (+ $6.58)No thanks quantity by The 3 Bears One Stop Gift Shop Location: West Sussex, GB read seller's profile see seller's complete range more items from this seller Tasty Treat Holder £5.50$11.91€8.13$9.04 Rainbow Swirly Lollipop £1.50$3.25€2.21$2.46 Kissing Booth £7.50$16.25€11.09$12.33 Red Knitted Triceratops Soft Toy £15$32.50€22.19$24.67 Christmas Peppermint Candy Cane £0.65$1.40€0.96$1.06 Crochet Octopus Rattle Soft Toy £9.50$20.58€14.05$15.62 view all you may also like PRODUCT DETAILS CUSTOMER REVIEWS DELIVERY RETURNS gift wrapping available ask seller a question save for later Add a little drama to your wedding party with these witty photo booth masks and props! These are great for weddings and this set will create hilarious photos memories of your special occasion. A selection of wedding themed disguises and props with a large fold-out card frame for your guest to dress up in and be snapped in the frame! Strike a pose and get snapping to create some great photo memories of your big day! made from: 20 wedding themed disguises and props with a large fold-out card frame dimensions: Size: 60cm x 40cm product code: 236432 12 customer reviews Tue 21 Apr 2015 It's good value for what it is but it's meant as an add on at sons wedding Thu 09 Apr 2015 Received my order very quickly! Feel that the package should have a label stating DO NOT BEND as my postman folded it to post it through the letter box so items are slightly bent unfortunately. Tue 07 Apr 2015 Really easy to order, quick delivery and looks great! Wed 17 Dec 2014 Worked well, veil quite small Mon 18 Aug 2014 No comment supplied. Sat 26 Jul 2014 Great......... Wed 16 Jul 2014 lovely items and will be purchasing more for my son's wedding but do think there overpriced for what they are. Thu 17 Apr 2014 Just what I wanted and can't wait for the fun at our wedding! Tue 15 Apr 2014 Fabulous and looking forward to using them at our wedding in July Thu 06 Mar 2014 Fab gift and carefully packed! Thank you xx Wed 28 Aug 2013 Looks great and fun, we hope our guests will have great fun with it! Fri 07 Jun 2013 No comment supplied. see all customer reviews hide some customer reviews read about our product rating system ratings guide trusted independent customer feedbackforum excellent bad good poor This product is dispatched to you by The 3 Bears One Stop Gift Shop. MAINLAND UK order now and receive this item by price Standard Delivery Thursday 15 October £2.75$5.95€4.06$4.52 NON-MAINLAND UK estimated delivery price Highlands & Islands of Scotland 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch £2.75$5.95€4.06$4.52 Northern Ireland 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch £2.75$5.95€4.06$4.52 Other UK Islands 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch £2.75$5.95€4.06$4.52 INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY estimated delivery price Western Europe 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch £11.50$24.92€17.01$18.91 Rest of Europe 5-10 working daysfrom dispatch £11.50$24.92€17.01$18.91 USA & Canada 5-10 working daysfrom dispatch £18.50$40.08€27.37$30.43 Asia & Australasia 5-10 working daysfrom dispatch £19.50$42.25€28.85$32.08 Rest of the world 5-14 working daysfrom dispatch £19.50$42.25€28.85$32.08 You have 28 days, from receipt of cancellable goods, to notify the seller if you wish to cancel your order or exchange an item. Please note: goods that are personalised, bespoke or made-to-order to your specific requirements, perishable products and personal items sold with a hygiene seal (cosmetics, underwear) in instances where the seal is broken are non-refundable, unless faulty. Read more about our returns policy.Should you choose to return or exchange your order you will need to deliver the item(s) to the UK, where this seller is based. The 3 Bears One Stop Gift Shop's return policy


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Global Sources Electronics welcomed huge crowds to AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong, as visitors from around the world came to source the latest and best in electronics from 5,500 booths across the eight days of the show.
The show on April 11-14, featured 3,700 booths of the latest electronics for the home, office and automobile, alongside a selection of high-quality cameras, alarms, access controls and more in Asia's most specialized sourcing event for security products.
Buyers also enjoyed free access to an exclusive conference program, and took the opportunity to try the latest personal transport devices in the Robotics Product Demonstration Zone. Meanwhile, the Product Showcase allowed visitors to expand their sourcing options beyond the show with hundreds of items from non-exhibiting suppliers.
With 90% exclusive exhibitors, Global Sources Electronics is the world's biggest sourcing show for electronics products and the sourcing platform of choice for a growing number of buyers. Major buyers at the April show included representatives from Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Maxell Global, Hyundai Electronics, Intel, Leica, Multilaser, Polaroid, Porsche, Samsung, SK Telecom and Wal-Mart.
Access the event page online for more information on the show, to get in touch with attending suppliers and to browse their products for up to two months after the show period.For your next chance to meet reliable suppliers via Asia's trusted sourcing platform, catch the show's upcoming fall edition at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong on October 11-14 and 18-21, 2015.


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I am on my way to the Maritime Museum now. It is a beautiful sunny day!
A view from the upper deck of the bus and nearby tube station.
I am on my way to the Maritime Museum now. It is a beautiful sunny day!
A view from the upper deck of the bus and nearby tube station.
Can I recommend that the best way to arrive at the maritime museum (and to return to central London once finished there) is on the Thames Clipper, the inexpensive catamaran service which runs along the Thames. There is a pier in Greenwich for embarking – one of the great inside secrets of London!
Also, if you are looking for somewhere to lunch while in Greenwich, may I suggest the Coach and Horses – an excellent pub inside Greenwich's covered market.
Today would also be an excellent day to make your way up to the Greenwich observatory; superb views of London and a marvellous museum of Timekeeping, Astronomy and Navigation.
Some thoughts anyway…
St. Gregory Nazianzus
ep. 131 - AD 382
Raymond Card. Burke
And check out the stunning FULL SIZE altar cards HERE. I have a set on my altar.
See my post about the Domus Australia HERE
- St. John Paul II
- Basil of Caesarea - ep. 243
- Sean McCabe @seanwes
- C.S. Lewis
- Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 176
- Thomas Jefferson to Henry Lee, 1824. ME 16:73
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Anonymous"Father John Zuhlsdorf is a crank"
- Michael Sean Winters
- Edmund Burke
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25 Years Ago
World War I veteran Jesse P. Ross of Harriman was honored by the French government "in tribute for services rendered to Franc during the War of 1914-1918." Ross, 91, was accompanied by members of his family and a number of area veterans during a ceremony at Roane County Courthouse. The self-proclaimed "rookie" at Camp Forest, Ga., said he "saw a lot of thing the ordinary soldier didn't see." He and his company built the grandstand for Pershing Stadium in Paris, and he recalled visiting the home of author Victor Hugo at a time when it was not open to the public.
10 Years Ago
Rockwood City Council voted unanimously to appoint police veteran Bill Stinnett as the city's new chief of police. Stinnett, who had been acting chief since March 2003, began his career at Rockwood as a patrolman in 1985. He was promoted to investigator in 2000.
Five Years Ago
After two days of deliberations, a mistrial was declared in the Leon Houston murder trial. The six-men, six-women jury "just couldn't come together with a full, 100-percent verdict," one juror said. "We tried and tried and tried ... just couldn't make it." Houston and his younger brother, Rocky, were accused of gunning down Roane County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Jones and his ridealong partner, former lawman Mike Brown, in front of Leon Houston's house in 2006. The juror said the burden of proof, not sympathy for Houston, led to the jurors' decision. "To be honest, I don't think the state made their case," he said.
One Year Ago
Conducting early voting in the Roane County Courthouse can give the perception of an unfair advantage to county officeholders seeking re-election, District Attorney General Russell Johnson opined in a letter to the Election Commission. "I think the solution is to move the early voting out of the courthouse," the DA said. "That will address any further issues with elected officials being present in the courthouse while they are also candidates for re-election." State law also dictates that no law-enforcement officer may be closer than 10 feet of the polling place, an issue complicated by courthouse security. Administrator of Elections Charles Holiway said he thinks voters will be more comfortable in another early voting locale because of security and lack of courthouse parking. However, another state law mandates that voters go to the Election Commission to cast early ballots. In Roane County, that's in the courthouse.
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Language: French
Collection: Texas Folklore Society Publications
Follow de Drinkin' Gou'd
Date: 2000
Creator: Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964
Description: This volume of the Publications of the Texas Folklore Society includes information about the play-party in Oklahoma, folklore of Texas birds, tall tales, folk anecdotes, Texas folk songs and ballads, and other folklore (back cover). The index begins on page 185.
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Date: 1976
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Description: This volume of the Publications of the Texas Folklore Society contains "a collection of essays by contemporary folklorists who are writing about the customs and traditions and the songs and the stories that are going on now" (inside the front cover). The volume includes information about the folklore of cowboys, rodeos, chain letters and marijuana, as well as information about country, swing and gospel music. The index begins on page 301.
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Before I say what I'm attempting to do, I want to preface it with me being open to any/all solutions.
Basically I'm editing a PHP file. We have a localization function in the class I'm editing that takes a key, similar to this:
What I'm looking to do (in VIM) is create a keybinding that will determine what the localization value of that function call is, when the cursor is over that key. I can get the key easily enough into a vimscript function. My plan was then to just find the class name via regex (this doesn't need to be perfect) and then instantiate that class via :exec php -r and call the function. So more or less, create a minimal script that would actually make the call.
Like I said, I can get the key isolated the way I want. But trying to figure out the proper vimscript way to find the current class. Basically I want the second word on the first line that matches /^class / in the current file, in a vimscript variable. I've browsed some of the documentation but can't seem to get it to work.
Open to any/all suggestions on how to perform this operation.
Edit: To clarify, I can isolate the key I'm highlighting by doing something like:
noremap <leader>z :call DoSomething(expand("<cword>"))<CR>
function! DoSomething(l)
let key = a:l
echom key


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Medicine and Morality in Haiti
The Contest for Healing Power
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Preview (read now) Add to my own site Give this ebook to a friend Add to my wishlist Author's page Publisher's page
Morality and medicine are inextricably intertwined in rural Haiti, and both are shaped by the different local religious traditions, Christian and Vodoun, as well as by biomedical and folk medical practices. When people fall ill, they seek treatment not only from Western doctors but also from herbalists, religious healers and midwives. Dr Brodwin examines the situational logic, the pragmatic decisions, that guide people in making choices when they are faced with illness. He also explains the moral issues that arise in a society where suffering is associated with guilt, but where different, sometimes conflicting, ethical systems coexist. Moreover, he shows how in the crisis of illness people rework religious identities and are forced to address fundamental social and political problems.
Cambridge University Press; September 1996
258 pages; ISBN 9780511822421
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Title: Medicine and Morality in Haiti
Author: Paul Brodwin
258 pages; ISBN 9780511822421
Read online, or download in secure PDF format
Title: Medicine and Morality in Haiti
Author: Paul Brodwin
Buy, download and read Medicine and Morality in Haiti (eBook) by Paul Brodwin today!
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For four years, the residents and students of Dillon, Texas, have faced difficult choices on and off the field with courage, passion and perseverance. Now the time has come to find closure for problems of the past while pursuing new possibilities that will lead many beyond Dillon city limits. But, will everyone be up to the challenge?
Saying goodbye to Dillon, Texas, won't be easy for those who've been with Friday Night Lights from the start--especially those who read the book or saw the movie. Over five years on NBC, students graduated, the high school changed (from West to East Dillon), and Eric and Tami Taylor (Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton) and Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) remained constants, sometimes making mistakes, but always trying to do right by their kids--biological and otherwise. And few shows offered more believable relationships, from Coach and Tami to Luke (Matt Lauria) and Becky (Madison Burge), who rekindle their romance in the final season.
If the fourth year marked the end of an era, the fifth revolves around new beginnings: Tami returns to her role as guidance counselor (after a controversial reign as principal), Buddy takes his wayward son under his wing, Julie (Aimee Teegarden) has a rough start at college, Billy (Derek Phillips) becomes assistant football coach, Becky moves in with him and his wife, and quarterback Vince (Michael B. Jordan), who continues to see Jess (Jurnee Smollett), tangles with his recently paroled father, Ornette (Cress Williams). Naturally, there are a few new arrivals, but they don't make the same impact as returning Dillon veterans Landry (Jesse Plemons), Jason (Scott Porter), Matt (Zach Gilford), Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), and Billy's younger brother, Tim (Taylor Kitsch), whose adjustment to life after prison parallels Ornette's experience.
This 13-episode arc traces the road to the state championships and marks the end of one of television's most emotionally involving shows, always operating on the principle that everyone can change, and that there's still room on network TV for semi-improvised, documentary-style filmmaking. Deleted scenes, commentary tracks, and a featurette offer a comprehensive look back at a stellar series, truly one of the medium's very best. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Even my completely apathetic about football daughter loves this show!Published 15 days ago by CindyB
Absolutely loved this series; never missed an episode of great stories and excellent acting. Was "heartbroken" when it went off the air. Read morePublished 1 month ago by V. WEAVER
One of the best TV series ever. Enjoyed it all and love casting and complex story line. JBPublished 1 month ago by john j bolebruch
The very best we've ever seen Watched five seasons in two weeks.Published 2 months ago by tom johnson
|From this Discussion
|Friday Night Lights
This tv series is based on a very good movie, based on a very good book that are all called Friday night lights. You may be thinking about that.
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Where The Boys Aren't
The gender gap on college campuses
Why We Must Remember the Gulag
Anne Applebaum reminds us how tyranny works.
Saddam's French Connection
From the March 10, 2003 issue: Does the Iraqi dictator have the goods on French politicians?
Currying Favor with Washington
Is this the beginning of a beautiful U.S. India friendship?
Who Runs the FDA?
So far, not the Bush administration.
The Bush Team Punts on Title IX
And meanwhile men's college teams disappear.
Readin', Ritalin and 'Rithmetic
Education's new three R's.
Under Western Eyes
What went right and what went wrong in the reform of Eastern Europe.
When East Meets West
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Find out more about Federal compensation throughout your career and around the world.
Staffing to align with your agency's mission
Review the new 2014 Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Handbook
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Human Resources and Security Specialists should use this tool to determine the correct investigation level for any covered position within the U.S. Federal Government.
Visit this federal site to search for our regulatory notices, proposed and final rules.
See the latest tweets on our Twitter feed, like our Facebook pages, watch our YouTube videos, and page through our Flickr photos.
The results of the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) are in and they show that employees across the Federal Government are more engaged in their workplaces and more satisfied with their jobs than they were a year ago. While there is still plenty of room for improvement, there are signs that the Administration's focus on employee engagement is beginning to pay dividends for the workforce, and ultimately for our customers, the American people.
I'd like to share some highlights of the government-wide results as well as share an important update on how you can access some of the data. The employee engagement and global satisfaction results of this year's FEVS can now be viewed by the public in visual formats on UnlockTalent.gov, OPM's innovative digital dashboard. This tool, which allows customized views of the data, was previously available only to the leadership of Federal agencies.
One highlight in the government-wide results that is especially meaningful for me and other leaders this year is a 1 percent increase in the employee engagement index score, to 64 percent from 63 percent in 2014. Although the change may appear to be small, it is in fact statistically significant, and many individual agencies experienced larger gains.
The FEVS provides a powerful way for agency leaders to evaluate their engagement programs and office cultures. As leaders, we know that employee engagement drives performance and is closely tied to mission success in the Federal Government, which translates into better customer service for the American people.
Agency leaders have actively responded to feedback from prior years' surveys and those efforts are reflected in the results. Compared with 2014, more employees in 2015 perceive their agency conditions as conducive to employee engagement, which is defined as an employee's sense of purpose, manifest in the level of dedication, persistence, and effort that he or she puts into the work and into the overall commitment to an agency and its mission.
Internal engagement efforts are more likely to be successful when employee feedback is used to make workplace changes. That's why these results are crucial. Agencies that experienced increases in employee engagement of 3 percentage points or more also saw an increase in employees' confidence that the survey would be used to make the agency a better place to work.
Another important index also increased by 1 percent government-wide: The global satisfaction score in 2015 was 60 percent, up from 59 percent in 2014. That score tells us that employees are more satisfied with their jobs, their pay, and their organizations and that they are more likely to recommend their agency to others.
This year, 50 percent of the employees who were surveyed responded, for a total of 421,748 responses from 82 agencies. The response rate was 3 percentage points higher than last year's 47 percent. Overall, 75 percent of responses to the individual survey questions were more positive than they were last year.
And the results underscore the dedication of Federal employees. The survey found that 90 percent or more of employees view their work as important, are willing to commit extra effort when necessary to get their jobs done, and consistently seek out ways to do their jobs better.
Other trends remained strong in 2015: By and large, employees expressed that they enjoy good relationships with their supervisors and are satisfied with telework and alternative work schedules. Areas where the results show we need improvement are: Adequately dealing with poor performers and recognizing differences in performance levels within work units.
Employees' ratings of senior agency leaders, which declined by 3 percentage points in the 2014 survey, rebounded somewhat in 2015 with a 1 percentage point increase. But it's clear that we need to continue our focus on engagement and building confidence in our senior leadership.
As of today, everyone can access the employee engagement and global satisfaction data with our visualization tool, UnlockTalent.gov, which tells the story with graphs, charts, and other visual means. It is a very helpful way to analyze the results agency by agency.
Here are five things you'll want to know to get started:
Clicking on UnlockTalent.gov will take you directly to the data, no sign-in required.
This tool has been an invaluable resource for leaders throughout the
government, and I am pleased that it is now available for all to use.
Every employee is a part of the change and we want to keep the momentum
going. If we continue to work together, the progress will show in future
Note to our readers: OPM will release the full 2015 FEVS government-wide report soon.
OPM soon will be releasing the government-wide results of the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), and I am happy to report that we are seeing some positive trends in the numbers this year, although we still have more work to do. Participation in the survey was up – the response rate was 50 percent, up from 47 percent in 2014 – and employee engagement index scores improved at most agencies. The Administration's focus on engagement is having an impact, and I'm looking forward to sharing the results in more detail soon. In the meantime, I'd like to talk about why employee engagement is so important, and to share a success story from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Employee engagement drives performance and is closely tied to mission success in the Federal Government. An agency that engages its employees ensures a work environment where each employee can reach his or her potential, which in turn has a strong impact on the agency's ability to achieve its mission goals. Individual agency performance contributes to success for the entire Federal Government, which means better service for the American people.
Engagement occurs in every office between employees and their supervisors and should be a focus at all levels of an agency, from front-line employees to the leadership. The People and Culture plank of the President's Management Agenda was created, in part, to shine a light on engagement and to support agencies' efforts to strengthen an organizational culture of employee engagement and mission performance.
This past year, each agency was asked to appoint a senior accountable official responsible for improving employee engagement. Agencies then worked closely with OPM's FEVS team to analyze and interpret their reports. Each agency received detailed, customized reports with data broken down by department, program, and office, with the goal of enabling agencies to examine internal engagement at the "local level".
The experience of HUD shows just how powerful a tool the FEVS can be. This past year, HUD increased its engagement score by 5 percentage points. It also increased its global satisfaction score by 6 percentage points. This impressive growth came about as a result of the agency's commitment to increasing internal engagement.
In sharing their story with OPM, HUD officials credited several efforts with making the difference. They created new collaboration tools, and repurposed some existing ones, for employees to share ideas with their leaders. One such tool is HUDConnect, an internal social media platform that gives employees the opportunity to reach out to leaders and each other. They can recommend process improvements or new technologies. The agency also implemented regular emails to the workforce and quarterly town hall meetings as ways to open lines of communication.
Every employee was provided the FEVS scores for the agency as well as analyses of the data. HUD encouraged senior leaders to use www.unlocktalent.gov – a dashboard OPM created last year that puts each agency's survey data into visual formats and helps leaders to better understand what the numbers mean.
Importantly, at HUD, change came from the top. Secretary Julián Castro made engaging employees a priority – and he made sure employees knew their feedback would be taken seriously. He and Deputy Secretary Nani Coloretti challenged the department to increase participation in the survey from 51 percent to 75 percent, and it ultimately achieved a 74 percent response rate. Coloretti placed a strong emphasis on responding to employees' requests through internal tools like HUDConnect and Switchboard, two ways to directly solicit employee feedback. She conducted deep-dive conversations with program offices to create a set of initiatives to build a stronger HUD. These initiatives were shared with employees agency-wide and voted on; from this feedback, there are several projects happening now that are expected to improve HUD's processes and systems and to strengthen its staff.
These strategies are backed up by our experience with Federal agencies collectively. Leadership involvement, improving internal communications, and enabling employees to have more input into how their organization functions are proven approaches to boosting employee engagement and performance.
I congratulate everyone at HUD for their commitment to employee engagement, for maximizing the value of FEVS as a tool to drive change, and for embracing evidence-based strategies in order to achieve progress. Well done.
There are many other agency success stories in this year's FEVS results, and I look forward to sharing more of them soon on the OPM blog.
Real change in the workplace comes from the bottom up. Each employee has important feedback to give and now is the time for your voice to be heard.
The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey provides senior leaders and managers with data that shows what works well and what needs to be improved within each agency.
I know some Federal employees aren't really sure why they should take the survey. Here are four things you should know about why it's important to participate.
1. Your voice is important. The FEVS asks for your opinion on a wide range of topics, such as training, job satisfaction, performance appraisals, work-life programs, and management. Agencies use this valuable information to improve their organizations.
2. Your responses are confidential. Individual FEVS responses cannot be linked back to you. No one – not even your supervisor – will know how you answered. The reason we insist on confidentiality is, we need your candid and unfiltered feedback.
3. Your participation matters. The FEVS is sent to a sample of employees, so not every Federal worker gets a survey every year. If you received one this year, your participation is important and will serve as a crucial voice for employees like you. If you're not sure if you received an invitation, look for an email from OPM.
4. You will have an impact. Leaders across the government pay close attention to FEVS scores. Thanks to new tools from OPM, including an online tool called Unlocktalent.gov, agency leaders can use the results in new and significant ways. With Unlocktalent.gov, they can slice and dice the data in ways that give them insights at every level of the agency, even individual offices.
I know you work hard to get the job done each and every day. You're the expert in understanding what it's like to work for your agency. So, tell us what's working and what's not. The survey is open until early June. Your responses will help us continue to build a world-class workforce that serves the needs of the American people.
In his memorandum for modernizing Federal leave, the President wrote, "Men and women both need time to care for their families and should have access to workplace flexibilities that help them succeed at work and at home. Offering family leave and other workplace flexibilities to parents can help achieve the goals of recruiting and retaining talent, lowering costly worker turnover, increasing employee engagement, boosting employee morale, and ensuring a diverse and inclusive workforce."
This week, as President Obama continues his conversations with working families across the country, OPM is proud to release a new online handbook that gives Federal employees the information they need to take advantage of the government's many leave policies related to having a baby, adopting, or becoming foster parents.
Our Handbook on Leave and Workplace Flexibilities for Childbirth, Adoption and Foster Care provides scenarios and tips to give employees realistic and specific examples about how these policies can and should be applied. It was developed with the help of representatives from more than 40 Federal agencies, and it is an important milestone in achieving the President's vision for Federal working families.
Federal employees will be familiar with many of our leave policies. New mothers and fathers may take at least six to eight weeks of sick leave, followed by additional time to bond with their child through annual leave or the Family Medical Leave Act. The FMLA guarantees that Federal employees may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a year of the birth or adoption of a child so that new parents can have extra time with their families. I'm also proud that our government recognizes the same needs for adoptive parents, foster families, and same-sex couples.
Our handbook also provides information about less well-known options. For example, employees can use FMLA intermittently – say, one day a week for 12 months – rather than using 12 weeks all at once. Some offices are able to offer adjusted work schedules, with flexible start and end times. For families who need some extra time at home, the perfect solution may be to switch to a part-time schedule.
The handbook shares explanations of all of these types of workplace flexibilities, and more. It has definitions and details about each type of leave, and it also has specific examples of how a Federal worker might combine different types of leave in a way that makes the most sense for his or her family. Our goal is to make our policies and regulations are as clear -- and flexible -- as possible for every employee and his or her supervisor.
To attract and retain a talented, engaged, and productive workforce, the Federal Government must ensure that employees are provided every opportunity to use workplace flexibilities that will enable them to thrive both at work and at home. We hope that this handbook will help move us toward our goal of fully supporting and empowering working parents in their roles both as Federal employees and parents.
My passion for building a Federal workforce that looks like the America we serve is not just about numbers. It is about the American people benefiting from the talent, the wisdom, the experience, and the insights of people from every community in this great country. We need that diversity at every level and at every decision table.
In August 2011, the President issued an executive order that called for a government-wide coordinated effort to promote diversity and inclusion within the Federal workforce. The President's Management Agenda builds on that commitment.
At the Office of Personnel Management, we work every day to help agencies build a workforce that reflects the bright mosaic of the American people. We know we must work equally hard to be sure that once hired, employees feel included and engaged at all levels of government. Although we know there's still much work to do, the data shows us that we are making progress on the President's vision.
For example, four years ago, the President set a goal of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities. I am proud to say that we are more than half way toward reaching that milestone. In fact, OPM's latest report on the employment of people with disabilities shows that the Federal Government has hired people with disabilities at a higher rate than at any time in the past 33 years.
Our data also shows a steady increase in making our Senior Executive Service more diverse. For example, in 2009, women represented just 31 percent of the SES. Today, they make up 34 percent of these senior leadership positions. We're also making progress in improving representation along all racial and ethnic lines.
OPM is expanding the data we collect through the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to capture information from employees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. As more LGBT employees self-identify through this powerful tool, agencies will be better equipped to support this important part of our Federal family.
OPM is providing agencies with the tools, strategies, and guidance to help them continue this progress. This week, OPM unveiled the REDI Roadmap, which stands for Recruitment, Engagement, Diversity, and Inclusion, and is designed to make sure that across government, we are using the latest data-driven expertise, digital tools, and collaborative thinking to continue to build, develop, and engage a talented and diverse workforce, now and for years to come.
REDI reflects OPM's commitment to the President's vision of ensuring that all segments of society are represented and feel included at every level of America's workforce. You can learn more about the new REDI Roadmap at www.opm.gov/REDI.
This post was originally featured on the White House Blog.
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The Boss 302 returns to the road after 42 years.
Shaking Hands With The Devil
Watch as a Cobra Jet lines up with a Super Cobra Jet!
Make Your "Five-Oh" Go Faster and Smoother
If you love Ford performance, this is the place for you!
We put together some of our favorite articles about the Ford Mustang!
King of the Road
A Race Car For The Streets
Born on California's highways, the Mustang SSP offered police a high-performance alternative.
How to get up-close and personal to find the finest Ford Mustang you can afford.
A visual guide to telling one vintage Pony Car from its model-year stable mates.
Mustang's third body style emerges.
A visual feast for Mustang lovers.
A Real Jekyll & Hyde Ride
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A fitting end to the S-197 Mustang era.
Daytona Speedway was a fitting corral for these ponies.
Tulsa Raceway Park thundered with Ford power!
Carving corners with Ford power!
Walking around the paddock at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit
The Ultimate Ford Family Reunion
Fords invade downtown Tulsa's Brady Arts District
Walking around Tulsa Raceway Park
The capstone of a great event.
Families, fun and Mustangs at Myrtle Beach.
Classic Mustangs took the strip by storm.
The work trucks of yesteryear captured in their element.
Four Generations Strong
More from the 17th fairway of the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort.
Ford Hits The Jackpot In Vegas
Flat colors are the new "it" color.
The legendary Italian automaker was well represented with a an amazing display of thoroughbreds.
American iron wasn't all that was on the show field.
The biggest show in the automotive aftermarket doesn't disappoint!
Long flowing running boards, stunning metalwork, and dripping with style.
These little details make a statement about an automotive that is era long gone.
Who said your car had to be old to be in the show?
From horseless carriages to speedsters, these rolling masterpieces captured everyone's imagination.
Once again RM delivers with $26.8 million in sales and an impressive list of vehicles.
If the Vegas strip is packed with cool cars then it must be time for SEMA!
Fast, loud and flashy, just like Las Vegas!
Watch as David Williams from Fast Lane Classic Cars pulls the front wheels on his juiced Cobra!
These engines are as fantastic to look at as the cars that surround them.
Fat fenders, no fenders, they were all here!
AutoTrader Classics brings you the best of AutoRama!
Big, round fenders set these rides apart from their skinny cousins.
We check out one of the coolest car collections in California.
AutoTrader Classics Editor Brian Medford travels to Streetside Classics in Powder Springs, GA to talk about one of his favorite cars, the Impala SS.
AutoTrader Classics Editor Brian Medford travels to Streetside Classics in Powder Springs, GA to check out their inventory and talk about some of their cars.
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- 1st Prize at Certamen Internacional Burgos-New York 2010. (Kazuko Hirabayashi president of the Jury)
- 1st Prize at VII Certamen Iberoamericano de Coreografía Alicia Alonso CIC'2010. "boundless field of creativity that sparked one of the most strong ovations of the festival". International Ballet Festival of Havana 2010.
- Premiered at the Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid 2009: • Audience Prize • Royal Conservatory of Professional Dance Prize
entomo continues touring the world after 4 years and more than 120 performances in 19 countries of 5 continents:
Wendy Perron, Dance Magazine editor, writes: "A surprise came in the form of a new piece that won the Havana choreographic competition, a duet called Entomo. An insect dance to end all insect dances, it was created and performed by two very cool guys from Madrid: Elías Aguirre and Alvaro Esteban. The duet is sharply observed, ingenious, playful, and stunningly cruel."
Amy Stafford (now in berlin), former arts editor for Surface Magazine in SF and also wrote for the New Art Examiner in the late 90's, says: "your work is a crowd pleaser, it makes contemporary dance and movement accessible to a large audience who may not be familiar with contemporary dance. It merges performance art, dance, street culture and science and it is interesting for both young people and adults."
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Fast Forward-Pause-Stop: The 3-Speed Human Germline Debate
Researchers borrowed a tool from the bacterial immune system toolkit, and developed a genetic modification technique called CRISPR/cas9. CRISPRs rapid uptake by biologists in nearly every field demonstrates the technologys utility and potential. Its use for deliberate species modification, and human germline modification in particular, has spurred vociferous debate.
The debate has three buttons Stop, Pause, and Fast Forward. Or so it seems.
Steven Pinker grabbed headlines and staked out the Fast Forward position with his Boston Globe op-ed. His central point that taking dignity, social justice, health and safety into account will cost millions of lives expresses technological optimism at its extreme. His central pitch, get out of the way, targets those who would Pause or Stop CRISPRs use to address those concerns. Get out the way functions like recent accusations of scientific authoritarianism.
Big Tobacco called researchers and public health experts Nicotine Nazis, in its campaign to fight tobacco regulation. More recently, opponents of environmental protection measures have accused climate scientists who support such measures of scientific authoritarianism. Here, Pinkers Get out of the way in effect charges those who support moratoria or regulation of CRISPR with being human, rather than scientific.
There is nothing inherently wrong with technological optimism. Nor is technological optimism incompatible with principled caution. A 2012 study by Hochschild, Crabill & Sen shows that a majority of the 4,300 Americans they surveyed holds coherent views that pair technological optimism and support for regulation of genomic science. Hyper-optimism paired with scientific authoritarianism, on the other hand, makes any other position seem oppositional, and creates both a false sense of polarization and a false divide between science and human values.
Leading scientists and ethicists, including David Baltimore, Jennifer Doudna, Hank Greely, Rudolf Jaenisch, Paul Knoepfler, and most recently, The Hinxton Group, have called for hitting the Pause button. Others would hit Stop. Eric Lander, and Edward Lanphier, for example, have advocated prohibiting human germline modification altogether. The proposed moratoria vary considerably. Most, if not all, are moderate and take seriously risks to human health, life, and status arising from efforts to implement germline genetic changes.
Most are also narrowly tailored, subjecting only human germline modification to scrutiny. The combination of the Fast Forwards efforts to characterize moratoria as extreme, and the Pause and Stop supporters sole focus on modifying the human germline, effectively edits out other pressing issues that genetic modification techniques like CRISPR raise.
Jasanoff, Hurlbut and Saha have pointed out that the 1973 moratorium on recombinant DNA research and the subsequent meeting as Asilomar bracketed off three serious concerns: environmental release of engineered organisms; biosecurity; and ethical and social aspects of human genetic engineering. The proposed moratoria may have the same effect.
Social stratification by wealth, race, and disability patterns technology use; technology does not by its very existence erase stratification. That fact alone should temper our optimism. Yet the Fast Forwards tend to overlook history and social reality in projecting the effects of new technology.
Only a few observers, including Hank Greely, have raised concerns about the environmental consequences of using CRISPR and a technique known as gene drive to re-engineer organisms. Some scientists have also pointed to risk that releasing modified mosquitoes may have unintended consequences, as have importation of nonindigenous plants and animals.
The CRISPR debate is just getting started. The issue of genetic modification is not new. Nor is human germline modification a stand-alone issue. While I support a moratorium and rigorous discussion, we need more than an ad hoc response. It is time to develop a participatory governance approach to the many issues that technologies like CRISPR raise.
Lisa C. Ikemoto is a fellow at the Center for Genetics and Society. She is Professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law. She teaches bioethics, health care law, public health law, reproductive rights, law & policy, and marital property. Her research areas include reproductive and genetic technology uses, health care disparities, and public health law. Her recent work addresses reproductive tourism, the ways in which human gamete use links the fertility and biotechnology industries, and the privatizing effects of informed consent. She will interview George Annas in the upcoming installment of the Center for Genetics and Society's Talking Biopolitics series.
Previously on Biopolitical Times:
Composite image via Pixabay and Flickr/Shaury Nash
"Moonshot Medicine": Putative Precision vs. Messy Genomes
Like so many medical terms, precision medicine is a combination of both wishful thinking and obfuscation. In this case, it also carries a somewhat unsettling suggestion: if medicine has not up until now been precise, then what has it been?
Precision medicine started being touted in the specialized journals in the late aughts as part of a new era being ushered in by coordinated and integrated care, fiscal transparency, and patient-centered practice. It was one of a suite of approaches that promised to bring costs down while improving outcomes. The idea was that by looking at drugs and other therapies according to how they succeeded (or didnt) in people sharing particular gene variations and similar physical traits, physicians could make more intelligent choices patient-by-patient, selecting the treatment with a greater chance of working.
Big Pharma saw promise in the approach and made strategic partnerships (Pfizer and Medco Health Solutions in 2011, for example, and Novartis and Genoptix that same year); startups and researchers rushed to secure patents; while medical groups such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology devoted sessions at their annual conferences to precision medicines potential benefits now that speedier gene sequencing was bringing costs down sufficiently to make it possible to contemplate tailor-making cancer drugs.
At the same time, some in the burgeoning field saw major structural hurdles. For example, most work on biomarkersthe substances or physical signs that a disease is present or a drug is workingis done in university and government research labs, and it takes time for any given biomarker to be proven accurate, as well as to be adopted by physicians in the clinic. Finding biomarkers that not only show whether a drug is present but whether it is affecting the target cells to reduce disease presented a further challenge.
Soon enough, though, proponents were touting precision medicine in scientific meetings as revolutionizing oncology, and medical programs launched courses in whole genome sequencing. Dean Dennis Charney of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine gave the rationale for their decision to start offering an elective course Practical Analysis of Your Personal Genome in 2012, "For precision medicine to become a routine in the medical clinic, we need to train the next great generation of physicians to harness sequencing-driven medical genetics."
Genome sequencing, though, wasnt enough, argued some. That same year, Peter Taylor, director of the Victorian Life Sciences Computational Institute at the University of Melbourne, wrote in The Australian,
Medicine today is as much about statistical literacy as it is about bedside manner or learning about anatomy. As the world heads towards the field of personalised, or, as I prefer to put it, precision, medicine where treatments are designed for individual patients based on their genetics, cancer type and family history, the next generation of doctors need to know about statistics, errors and measurements so they can understand how the almost daily announcements of breakthroughs, recalls of medicines and clinical trial results impact on their patients.
Medicine today is as much about statistical literacy as it is about bedside manner or learning about anatomy. As the world heads towards the field of personalised, or, as I prefer to put it, precision, medicine where treatments are designed for individual patients based on their genetics, cancer type and family history, the next generation of doctors need to know about statistics, errors and measurements so they can understand how the almost daily announcements of breakthroughs, recalls of medicines and clinical trial results impact on their patients.
In addition to advocating a renaming of the field by replacing the previously used word personalized with precision, and championing the value of statistics for future physicians, Taylor delivered a zinging backhand indictment of the med school status quo: These tools they will be using will be produced by mathematicians and bio-statisticians, not just the anatomists of old.
Precision medicine made the leap out of medical circles and into the mainstream around this time. Google Trends shows the term emerging onto the interwebs in March 2012 with 11 news headlines and then blipping along at about the same level until February 2015, when it leaps to a new plateau of about 100 in the wake of President Obamas announcement of a $215 million precision medicine initiative in his State of the Union address.
Critics offered a raft of objections to the announcement. Even those in favor of increased use of genetic testing predicted it would be years before there were enough sufficiently trained physicians and genetic counselors to ensure that patients received accurate readings; until then, the complexities of genomics would likely result in an unsettlingly large number of faulty diagnoses. Others said it would just bring about more problems related to genetic privacy.
Writing in The New York Times, Mayo Clinic physician Michael Joyner leveled a much more sweeping critique of the entire precision medicine effort, one that cant be answered better privacy protections or more doctors with training in genetics. Joyner argued that Obama's plan, which he dubbed "moonshot medicine" is unlikely to prevent disease and a misdirection of effort. He cites the unexpected findings emerging from the Human Genome Project, including the growing scientific consensus that genetic variants don't account for most common complex diseases, and the missing heritability problem. His advice:
We would be better off directing more resources to understanding what it takes to solve messy problems about how humans behave as individuals and in groups. Ultimately, we almost certainly have more control over how much we exercise, eat, drink and smoke than we do over our genomes.
We would be better off directing more resources to understanding what it takes to solve messy problems about how humans behave as individuals and in groups. Ultimately, we almost certainly have more control over how much we exercise, eat, drink and smoke than we do over our genomes.
As a colleague said to me recently, precision medicine is also a non-starter when it comes to social justice: in the U.S., dollars could be better spent on providing primary and preventive care to more people who, even with the Affordable Care Act still cannot access medical treatment on a regular basis.
But the hype, with its hopeful but unlikely message, is so much easier to sell than the not-terribly encouraging reality. And in research and medical circles, the funding being directed at gene-based health care is a powerful lubricant of enthusiasm. So the megaphones will likely be blaring the precision medicine tune for some time to come.
Gina Maranto is a fellow at the Center for Genetics and Society. She is Professor and Director of Ecosystem Science and Policy and Coordinator of the Environmental Science and Policy program at the University of Miami's Leonard and Jayne Abess Center. Her articles, opinion pieces, and reviews have appeared in Discover, The Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American, The New York Times, and other publications. She is the author of Quest for Perfection: The Drive to Breed Better Human Beings.
Image via Wikimedia, with color added
The Moral Imperative for Psychologists
Steven Pinker was one of the first to have his genome sequenced, and he wrote a long essay about the experience in the New York Times magazine in 2009. He sensibly concluded that your genome could tell you some things, but that there were more direct ways to find out about yourself. In his words: If you really want to know yourself, consider the suggestion of François La Rochefoucauld: Our enemies opinion of us comes closer to the truth than our own. Pinker seems to have gained a whole new group of enemies with his recent Boston Globe op-ed calling on ethicists to leave scientists alone to pursue their research with new gene editing technologies. But its at least possible, if not entirely plausible, that Pinker actually agrees with his critics that genetic editing requires regulatory and bioethics oversight, and that he believes that such regulation needs more, not less, attention.
Pinker understands the power of language to shape beliefs. In his 2009 book How the Mind Works, he noted that in everyday life we will need language (and humor) to undermine the pretensions of countless blowhards, blusterers, bullies, gasbags, goody-goodies, holier-than-thous, hotshots, know-it-alls, and prima donnas. Ill let him decide which one he most closely represents when he claims authority on a pretext of beneficence and competence (a strategy he says he despises in How the Mind Works).
In his recent op-ed, Pinker is, of course, beneficent, promising that science will slay premature death and disability. His promise, however, comes at a high price: we must ignore human dignity and social justice.
But if morals are not to matter to scientists, why should they matter to bioethicists? How can Pinker suggest as a matter of importance that bioethics should get out of the way of research because this is (or should be) the primary moral goal of todays bioethics? Maybe this is because he has always mistrusted morality as being too dependent on philosophy (rather than science?). As he argued in How the Mind Works,
Maybe philosophical problems are hard
because the mind of Homo sapiens lacks the cognitive equipment to solve them. We are organisms, not angels, and our minds are organs, not pipelines to the truth.
The argument seems to be, if psychologists think that the human mind cannot solve a problem, humans should not waste their time trying to deal with it.
The ability to ignore human dignity was on display when Pinkers own profession of psychology, through the American Psychology Association (APA), decided post-9/11 that it was ethical for psychologists to ignore human rights, and to participate in torture at Guantanamo Bay and at the CIAs black sites. Of course they thought they were being beneficent and saving lives. As the playwright Arthur Miller observed, to perceive somehow our own complicity with evil is a horror not to be borne. Only this summer did the APA unequivocally denounce its pro-torture ethics and adopt a human rights framework for the profession. Psychiatrists organizations, in contrast, consistently refused to permit their members to join in the torture, even in the ticking-time-bomb scenario where thousands of lives could theoretically be saved.
It is worth asking whether this is because psychiatrists are physicians with a do no harm moral tradition; whereas psychologists, who are non-physicians, have no such tradition. Similarly, most genetic researchers are not physicians, and there is no equivalent of the Hippocratic do no harm morality in science.
Since Pinker knows all this, it is worth at least considering his essay as a cry for help from bioethics to aid in the rehabilitation of his own profession, and to prevent the perversion of science in general. This is not as far-fetched as it seems since Pinker praises bioethics for setting up safeguards for the safety and informed consent of patients and research subjects. He has to be able to see this contradiction which can be resolved only with more, not less, attention to ethics.
So heres the real question Pinker raises: should there be a scientific exception to our laws against committing crimes against humanity? This is (or should be) an easy question regarding genocide, murder, torture, or slavery. But mostly what is at stake in the new gene editing techniques is what I have called a type 2 crime against humanity: altering humans in such a way as to either irrevocably transform the species itself or to put the human species at risk of extinction (e.g. through a novel pathogen, a risk at the core of gain of functionferret flu typeresearch).
Put another way, if researchers really, really want to do good, should society simply let them decide among themselves whether the risks to humanity are acceptable? Can we (morally?) say to our scientists, if you can give us all an extra decade of disease-free life (plausible) by killing all the members of a tribe that lives in a remote jungle of Brazil in some necessary experiment (implausible to be sure), you have our blessings? To answer this question in the affirmativeit seems to memeans we have already given up the ethical values that make our species worth preserving. I think the (new) American Psychology Association would agree, and perhaps Steven Pinker would too.
George Annas is Warren Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at Boston University School of Public Health, and Professor in the Boston University School of Medicine and School of Law. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and vice-chair of the American Bar Associations Committee on Health Rights and Bioethics (Civil Rights and Social Justice Section). His most recent book Genomic Messages: How the Evolving Science of Genetics Affects our Health, Families, and Future (with Sherman Elias) will be featured in an upcoming Talking Biopolitics conversation.
Image via Pixabay
Biotech Imagination: Whose Future is this?
PLOS Biology, a peer-reviewed open-access journal, recently asked eight leaders for their predictions about the next ten years in genetics and genomics. Many responses acknowledge that this task may be impossible; nonetheless, the answers do not waver: All are optimistic and predict enormous positive impact.
Is this insider enthusiasm warranted? Should the rest of us be so optimistic?
One thing we can count on is uncertainty both in the biological systems and with regard to the power of emerging technologies. Contributors Laura F. Landweber of Princeton University and Ian Dunham of European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Wellcome Trust Genome Campus each underscore how much more we have to learn of vast and complex genome architectures. They highlight how new findings from more sophisticated whole genome sequencing and data mining are eroding traditional notions of a gene, moving us ever further from the classical reductionist examples from early molecular biology and the idea that molecule X does function Y.
Aside from such concessions of uncertainty, the overall tenor of the commentaries is near-utopian.
None of the contributors mention even widely acknowledged challenges of the genetic future such as data overload, let alone the potential for much more difficult social and legal problems such as new modes of surveillance or lawsuits due to gene editing gone wrong.
Meanwhile, examples of the boons of genetic advances range from the practical to the conceptual. Routine genetic sequencing of tumors to provide more precise cancer treatment is mentioned. There is also a prediction that we will soon have precise, personal miniaturized genomic monitoring devices capable of reading our bodies for signs of sickness and disease, causing the whole of healthcare to shift from primarily reactive to primarily proactive.
In addition to revolutionary new products on the personalized healthcare market, predictions meander briefly into social implications, maintaining an oddly optimistic gaze. Bartha Knoppers, director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill University, suggests that genetic information could move us away from todays contentious human classifications such as gender and ability towards destigmatized subpopulations of risk or resistance revealed by genomic profiles. Its an interesting idea, but the trend so far has moved us in the opposite direction: toward genetic information being used to underscore the biological reality of human difference.
It seems quite likely that we will have to continue struggling to avoid reifying social categories like gender, race, and ability. In addition, we may have to fight discrimination at newly imagined sites of difference say for example, against carriers of a particular gene mutation who can suddenly no longer purchase life, disability, or even health insurance.
Unwittingly straining against Knoppers colorblind destigmatization prediction, BGI-Shenzen director Huanming Yang predicts that we will sequence most, if not all, of the species identified on earth as well as most, if not all, ethnic groups. He asserts that this knowledge will help treat diseases and restrict the births of those deemed genetically abnormal, and that we will manage to simultaneously honor individual privacy, intellectual property rights, and free access to genome sequencing data because the future is brilliant and is now.
But whose future is this?
Missing from these short exploratory essays is discussion of the forces that will be shaping this biotechnological future. There is no mention of societal mechanisms such as regulation or democratic participation. Nor is there any mention of the impact of money, global collaborations among biotech giants, or competing national agendas. This notable absence of actors supports the insidious storyline that biotechnology is an unguided force leading inevitably to human progress; a kind of cellular manifestation of destiny, unstoppable and un-shapeable in its trajectory.
In this view, biotechnology itself is protagonist: an unrelenting [bio]power that asserts itself on all forms of life. The people, the structures, and the money that do in fact guide the specific research goals and ultimate direction of biotechnology are made invisible.
The question posed by PLOS But how will society view such developments? positions us as passive observers and receivers of exciting advances coming our way. Importantly, the phrasing of the question suggests that while society may view developments in a negative way, the developments themselves could not actually be negative. In other words, it asserts the judgment that people could only feasibly be concerned about the future of biotechnology if they misunderstand. After all, the leaders are all in agreement: Utopia is around the (research funding) bend.
It is only this telling of the biotechnological future that makes it possible for one to consider the most ethical option for bioethicists and concerned bystanders to get out of the way.
To meaningfully consider the future requires imagination, but the story of biotechnology as heroic protagonist is a fairytale. We must make visible the monetary, social, and political forces determining the direction of genetics and genomics. If we fail to enrich the stories we tell with the context of our times, we risk becoming a footnote to our own future.
Jessica Cussins is a consultant and former Project Associate at the Center for Genetics and Society, currently earning a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is a regular blogger at Biopolitical Times, Psychology Today, and the Huffington Post.
Image via Brandifly117/Pixabay


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Latest News
IMF sees silver lining in EU migrant crisis
The massive arrival of migrants in the European Union will burden member states' budgets in the short term but ultimately fuel economic growth, the IMF's chief economist said Tuesday. The arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants in the EU, many fleeing the civil war in Syria, has unleashed a crisis for the bloc, but in the long term it will help its economies by expanding the labor force, said Maurice Obstfeld, the International Monetary Fund's new economic research director. The influx has caused conflict among the EU's 28 members and led to a partial breakdown in their open-border system as member states struggle to cope.