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First of all, I just want to say one thing and I cannot say it enough :
hats off !
Yes, I know I already congratulated you last week, but don't get me wrong : I am not buttering you up ! It would be unfair and rather offending,wouldn't it ? No,no flattery, just compliments.
No wet blankets on Perky Busy Bee ocean liner ! Only real livewires !
As soon as I make my weekly announcement, you always rush onto the gangway to be the first sightseers, and then you never fail to send the word round and advertise our cruise !
Even those who early July had to get off because of Summer family holidays, off-the-beaten-track destinations or personal reasons, wrote , before leaving, so enthusiastic testimonials on our guest book that I can't help quoting some !
PerkyBusy Bee cruising offers something for everyone from the young to the young at heart like me !
On Perky Busy Bee the choices are endless from invigorating reading to more relaxing browsing.
The incredible choice of true- to- life stories,blunders, pranks and tricks makes each stopover a delightful new adventure. I'll be back in September !
Jeez, thanks a million, but now stop it , or sooner or later I'll get too big for my boots !!
Sorry for such a long speech, but I think you deserved praises.
Now, I can see a lot of you champing at the bit and wondering when Captain Perky will stop spouting off and ,at last, announce this week's stopover !
Well, how shall I put it ?....This week we won't set foot on dry land.
Come on,don't panick ! No lifejacket needed !
This break offshore has nothing to do with the vagaries of July weather.
You know that on Perky Busy Bee ocean liner we always look at everything through rose-tinted glasses,so no matter the temperatures, the clouds, the showers and the storms !
So what ??
Well,actually, we've been sailing for over one month now, and I let myself sidetracked so easily that I have not even asked you about your favourite food !
And yet, even if our cruise is entertaining, you can't live only on fun and laughters.
Of course, I try to cater to everyone and make sure that there are enough choices to satisfy any kind of taste.
I know there are love-it or hate-it foods such as oysters,beets and other polarizing eats.
That's why I have decided that today's special will be pasta !
Quite sure, you won't turn up your nose at such a dish, will you ?
So, let me tell you the spaghetti-lover story.
Ages ago Dearhubby and I decided to go backpacking on Greek islands with a couple of friends, and, of course Jolux !
You remember the naughty puppy cocker of ''Love at first sight '' in chapter 71, don't you ?
By then, he had gone through the awkward age.
After climbing onto the dining-room table to chew the bamboo pendant light fitting, he had decided to stop wreaking havoc and to make amends for his behaviour !
Maybe,the brand-new dog crate threat had helped him to make that long-awaited decision ...
Anyway, he had become such a well-behaved and cute dog, that he was even allowed to travel with us in the passenger cabin.
Then, once on the island, everything went on smoothly.
We let him frolic in the backcountry, and when in villages, we leashed him up not so that he didn't bother anyone, even though the locals used to give him lots of cuddles and pats.
Unfortunately, for his meals we had been dead wrong, and we quickly ran out of dry pet food.
In those days, hopping packages and tours had not congested the Greek islands yet,so asking the natives where we could get dog food (dry or tinned) turned soon into a daily headache !
We were so bad at making ourselves understood that once we nearly fed our hungry little dog with stuffed grapes leaves ! (by the way, thta's delicious !).
We started getting fed up, but Jolux did not !
So, one day, in an open-air restaurant, we were about to order, when Dearhubby had a bright idea.
He would order two courses : a Greek salad, and meatballs with spaghetti and he would give the latter to our dog, on the sly, of course !
As soon as the waiter had served us, Dearhubby immediately spooned the spaghetti dish into our dog's bowl under the table. That "trick " took him just a few seconds.
Hardly had he put the plate back onto the table when the waiter was back with some water.
When he saw the empty plate, he nearly dropped the jug ! He stared at my husband, turned round and rushed back inside to tell the cook to keep cooking, cause there was a guy outside eating like a horse and what's worse, awfully quickly !!
We were doubled up with laughter ! Under the table our little spaghetti-lover was digesting, sleeping like a log and dreaming of holidays in Italy !!
Feeling hungry now ?? Come on, sure there must be some pasta in your pantry !!
Enjoy your meal and don't forget : be perky !!
the address for help, comments and anythingyou need is :


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Dear all,
About a week ago, I met up with F for dinner. During the first part of our conversation, we had a brief discussion about Pastor S's Sunday sermon on Matthew 16:21-28, "賺了世界,賠上生命." F deemed the sermon "excellent" while I considered that a poor rendition of one of the most crucial and powerful passages in the Gospel of of Matthew. Despite our differences, we quickly arrived at one common observation, namely that the final applications of that sermon — share the Gospel, serve the church, and support mission — remained largely generic.
The disappointment we felt is particularly real considering what Jesus said in the passage:
Mat 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples,
"If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
How do you summarize Christian discipleship? Simply said, it is to be found in "denying" and "dying." The call of Jesus is far more radical than "share the Gospel, serve the church, and support mission." Denying and dying are to take place in the deepest and most fundamental level. Jesus is calling us to demolish the idols we love and cherish the most. He is urging us to (decisively) leave behind this world with "all his boasted pomp and show" that we may truly receive the "solid joys and lasting treasure" which "none but Zion's children know" (cf. Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken).
Now what are some of the foremost and most powerful idols of our times… in a place like Hong Kong? Well, money, career, prestige, security come quickly to mind. And if you have children in the household, education and schooling become the next inevitable temptations.
As such, Christian discipleship in a place like Hong Kong will largely and necessarily be comprised of denying and dying to deadly idols like money, career, prestige, security while firmly rejecting the notions of education and schooling supplied by an idolatrous culture driven by false promises and fear. [I am sure you Hong Kong parents know I am talking about.]
Ever since our Sunday meeting, I had been thinking much about how (true, biblical) Christian parenting would look like in Hong Kong. And the more I think about it, the more I become convinced that only a radical departure from the world can truly fulfill Jesus' call to Christian parenting in this idolatrous world. What do I mean by that? I mean instead of keeping our children in the race, we should take them out of it altogether. Instead of aiming to alleviate their pressure in running the (stupid) rat race, we should guide them and urge them to run a totally different race.
That's what I have been thinking about. How does it look like in practice?
Think about it, if you ask God what a good education looks like, what would He say? Well, without a doubt, God would never define a good education as prestigious schooling, high exam scores, prestigious colleges, a high-earning job plus a successful career. Agree? If so, then we can throw all of the above out of the windows. They should merit no real consideration in our design and aspiration for our children's education.
What then would be an education pleasing to God? Again, the answer can be quite simple. It is first of all an education that is centered around Knowing God through His Word! I really meant it when I wrote in my previous email, "The Bible — and the Gospel within — is to become everything to them. The Word of God will give them life: it will shape their existence, define their identity, build their values, and guide their paths. There would be no pursuing of this world, no chasing after money, sex and power. Instead, the Lord's Prayer — seeking His kingdom and righteousness — is to be the singular focus of their lives."
Again, we must do all things in our powers to nurture our children towards knowing and loving God.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.
Deu 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Deu 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deu 6:6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
Deu 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Now, it should be evident that I am not merely talking about taking the kids to church for worship and/or Sunday School. If this is all you think about being Christian parents, then I can guarantee you that your children will not look much different from the world when they grow up. Seriously, it will take much more to give our children a truly god-ward education. And in order to impact your children with God's Word, you need to spend time with them… lots of it! And this is where the current educational system becomes a real hindrance.
As you may remember, on the Sunday we met, I spent a great deal of time talking with J. I loved hearing him talk about his life, his loves and dislikes, and his views on many things in Hong Kong. And one theme surfaced repeatedly in our conversation, it is that Hong Kong students are much busier than their counterparts in the West. Somehow the schools (and parents!) found a way to make these little children "work" like robots, so much so that a bright kid like J would still end up having little free time. [I joked that J should voluntarily 流班 and come to live with us for a year.]
Now that is quite a tragedy. It made me think about Neil Postman's "The Disappearance of Childhood," though he was writing on an overtly commercialized society. But worse, schools are now "competing" with Christian parents for the precious time needed to bring about a truly godly education to our children.
Some of you will remember Richard Foster's "Celebration of Disciplines." And in one of the earlier chapters, he quotes Carl Jung's famous words, "Busyness is not of the devil; it is the devil." If indeed that busyness could suffocate our spiritual life, that same busyness will also hamper the spiritual development of our children. In the end, how can you implement a quality biblical education on your children with no time left on the schedule?
But it is not only biblical learning that I am concerned about; I am ultimately concerned about freeing our children from the slaving "fill-the-duck 填鴨式" education that true learning may take place. Here, I envision a three-level education / learning for our children:
2. Individual Gifting
1. Liberal Education
0. Biblical Education
At Level 0 is learning about God's Word — the most foundational and central part of Christian parenting. Beyond the basics of the biblical stories, children are exposed to systematic and biblical theologies together with the history of the church. Christian biographies are particularly helpful here as we exhort them to live boldly, fearlessly, and single-mindedly for the glory of God. Indeed, the repeated theme should be that none of their learning is to be geared towards money, career, prestige, and security. These are our cultural idols and must be demolished. Instead, we are to live faithfully, trusting in the Lord and seeking His glory in all that we do. Without this solid foundation, all else would amount to nothing.
Once Level 0 is being given its proper priority, we can then freely and earnestly pursue a liberal education for our children that emphasizes not only the acquisition of knowledge and skills, but a true understanding of our world through a balanced curriculum of sciences and humanities. They are to enjoy God in all their study and learning. They are to understand God's creation through all the subjects and academic divisions. And unlike a techie-education, think MIT, we must encourage our children to wrestle with history and philosophy (of science and technology), to understand human ideologies and idolatry. Of course, in the end, the biblical perspective must stand out. Yet a good liberal education is indispensable in helping our children develop a distinctively Christian worldview.
The last level of our children's education provides further freedom and encouragement in pursuing one's calling. I remember M asking me if we had discovered some unique gifting in Emmett and Alethea. No we haven't, but this is indeed a crucial element to our parenting process. Sir Ken Robinson, a well-known secular educationist, wrote a book titled "The Element." The subtitle of the book states "Find Your Passion Changes Everything." He laments that too many gifted people have settled for (financial and professional) security while forgoing their true callings in life. Talk about "opportunity cost." There is no greater loss of human resources, said Sir Robinson, than people not living their passion.
I think there is a great deal of truth in what he said. That is why when I saw J's drawing, i asked her to promise me that she would keep drawing and drawing and drawing. This does not mean that she would one day become a world-renowned artist, but it is our way to impress upon her mind that God has uniquely gifted her and God delights in seeing her exercise her gifts and passion for His glory. The worst thing we can do as parents at that juncture is perhaps to "grade those passions of our children" based on its "potential $$$ value, usefulness and marketability."
Still, not all passions are equal. In Sir Robinson's world, every passion / calling is equal in value and legitimacy, but this is not so in God's world. Kathy has a cousin whose gift and passion are in "programming computer games." Now that turns out to be a financially-rewarding career, and he seems genuinely passionate about what he is doing. But that does not mean that it is a legitimate Christian calling. The truth is that if he ever gets converted and becomes a (thoughtful) Christian, one of the first things he would likely wrestle with is the meaningfulness (or the lack of meaning) of his job.
Indeed, Christians are heavenly beings with an earthly existence. We live for meaning — meaning as given by our Creator and Redeemer God. We live for God's glory, and not for the idols of this world. Therefore ultimately, the Christian calling lies in the intersection between one's God-given talents and one's God-sanctified passion. Indeed, without true sanctification of mind and heart, a Christian calling is utterly impossible. But once the sanctifying process has begun, we cannot help but long to seek out and live out God's calling for us… even if it means monetary sacrifices and familial opposition.
What would happen if we would direct our children in a god-ward direction? Does it mean that they would become successful? Does it mean that God would bless them such that they would be respected by many in our world? Well, God indeed would bless them, but the blessing will look very different than what the world would expect. I have a feeling that if our children turn out to be godly, they would likely live poorer lives than we live. They would give more sacrificially and they would likely not occupy jobs / career of high status and power. But in exchange, they would live with godliness, profound joy and contentment. They would engage themselves in the "business of creating meaning." They would learn to trust God for everything in life; they would live boldly, fearlessly, single-mindedly and unreservedly. They would see Jesus… high and lifted up… before their eyes. They would hear the cheers from the saints… the "clouds of witnesses"… that they would stay faithful in suffering and being rejected by the world.
What a vision to have for our children?! What a dream that will be?! To see the glory of God… to see the mystery of the Gospel… revealed in them!
But it all begins here and now… with us and not with our children. How we live will affect how they live. What we envision for them will in years, by the grace of God, become reality in them… I told F during our dinner that if we were to live in Hong Kong (and not permitted to home-school), we will probably find a school (perhaps in Band 2 or Band 3) known for their "light workload" and "unbusy student life." We would voluntarily drop out of the rat race that we may be devoted to the one true race. Indeed, there is only one race that is worth racing for.
Come, and run the race… with Jesus… to Jesus… and for Jesus!
– Kin.

subset: commoncrawl


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CIA Reads My Blog
Of course perhaps it was just innocent coffee break surfing?
I am the great grandson of Don Tomás Estrada-Palma, the first elected President of Cuba (1902-1906). "Where I am different from most people in the group is I know I am a slave but I think freely while the group thinks they are free while being enslaved..." - Tomas Estrada-Palma, IV -
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Have a wonderful week!
Monday, April 4, 2011
minute monday
Have a wonderful week!
Posted by Vio Schuster at 10:16 PM
Labels: best friend, coffee, husband, morning
3 comments:
I think it's time for me to come back in this world of blogging..but i dont know..i think i have to get myself together in my real life and put things head to head..and after that, start writting again. But..i know i can always count on you! >:D< thanks for this post...actualy, these last 2 weeks were full of you, and for you, full of me..i kinda love it! :xReplyDelete
I just wanted to say thank you for stopping by my blog, and for the great tips on cameras! I'm excited to purchase one, but I'm definitely taking my time to make sure I get the right one. I appreciate your advice!ReplyDelete
Sounds like a fantastic start to your week! Hope it's a great one!
Love your post... Make my so sentimental...ReplyDelete
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Even a one - man Altar Server Team shines at Deacon - less Saturday pm Mass.
Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church.
Brackettville, Texas 78832.
Saturday. November 24, 2012. 5:30 pm Mass. TEAM Mr. Dante Luna.
Way to go, Dante! :)
The World of the University of Texas at El Paso as the Academic Equivalent of an Enron of Texas-style Continuing Criminal Enterprise.


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Company needs to improve reporting and underlying policies, particularly on labour rights and environment:
A new report by MSN and Red Puentes Mexico examining Wal-Mart Mexico's (Walmex) CSR reporting, finds weaknesses in the company's reporting and practices, particularly in the areas of labour rights and the environment.
"Walmex needs to better address underlying policy issues such as the presence of protection contracts in most of its retail outlets, its treatment of over 23,000 "volunteer" youth baggers and the lack of consultation with civil society stakeholders on social and environmental issues," says Beatriz Lujan, of the Authentic Labour Front, a member organization of Red Puentes Mexico.
"We look forward to working with Walmex in an effort to improve the company's CSR reporting and its social and environmental policies and practices based on the report's recommendations," says Lynda Yanz of MSN.
See MSN report finds holes in Wal-mart de Mexico's CSR reporting and underlying policies posted on their website December 7, 2010 for more information and links.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Maquila Solidarity Network criticizes Wal-Mart Mexico's social responsibility reporting
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Sunday, May 9, 2010
Okay...maybe not
So my goals for this year are out the window. I am just going to take each day as it comes and do what I do best, plan a little and fly by the seat of my pants a lot. Hopefully with the end of the school year just around the corner I can get back to being my normal self.
I actually had time to sit down today, Mother's Day and read blogs it was nice to catch up with Bone, TC and my cousin Felicia that just had a beautiful baby boy. I also had dinner with my dear sweet husband and our two sons oh and I did laundry.
I have not written in so long, except for a grade school paper every week, I have forgotten how something else to get back to once summer is here.
5 comments:
- TC said...
Well, I can't speak for Bone, but it sure was great to see you around again! I was getting worried about you :)
Hope you're feeling better soon, and enjoying being back in the blogosphere.
- May 10, 2010 at 6:41 PM
- HeidiTri's said...
Relax....breathe. It's been really hectic for you. and sometimes, no matter how hard we try, balance isnt possible.
- May 12, 2010 at 2:38 AM
- Doohickie said...
Hopefully with the end of the school year just around the corner I can get back to being my normal self.
- May 13, 2010 at 5:31 PM
- Bone said...
I'm writing less, too. But I think it's partly because I've been getting out more. Let's just go with that anyway.
Good to see you back around!
And I think enjoying each day as it comes is a pretty good goal to have myself.
- May 24, 2010 at 3:55 PM
- Felicia said...
LOL, your blog post reminds me of me! Today is my catch up day on blogs and most of my goals I find myself thinking, "what was I thinking?" ;)
- July 2, 2010 at 4:36 PM


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jgn pk pasal Ursa lak bgi sape yang men DoTa tuh..
n bukan jugak sejenis penyakit usus yee..
dan ini jugak bukan sejenis kuih bangkit yang dijual di simpang2!!
its a POLAR BEAR!!!Ursus Maritimus tu name specific die..
name cam pahlawan Rome pun ade >,,<"
name cam pahlawan Rome pun ade >,,<"
aku ske gile bear nih!!bapak style!!ganaz pun ganaz..
putih je like a sacred beast!!!!muahahhaa..tp polar-chan da nk pupus da T.T
sian kat die, klu la aku Monkey.D.Garp!!
aku bunuh da org yg buru polar-chan ni!! grrrrrrrrrr...
aku bunuh da org yg buru polar-chan ni!! grrrrrrrrrr...
ok here its goes a few details bout' polar-chan!!
Polar bears roam the Arctic ice sheets and swim in that region's coastal waters. They are very strong swimmers, and their large front paws, which they use to paddle, are slightly webbed. Some polar bears have been seen swimming hundreds of miles from land—though they probably cover most of that distance by floating on sheets of ice.
Polar bears live in one of the planet's coldest environments and depend on a thick coat of insulated fur, which covers a warming layer of fat. Fur even grows on the bottom of their paws, which protects against cold surfaces and provides a good grip on ice. The bear's stark white coat provides camouflage in surrounding snow and ice. But under their fur, polar bears have black skin—the better to soak in the sun's warming rays.
These powerful predators typically prey on seals. In search of this quarry they frequent areas of shifting, cracking ice where seals may surface to breathe air. They also stalk ice edges and breathing holes. If the opportunity presents itself, polar bears will also consume carcasses, such as those of dead whales. These Arctic giants are the masters of their environment and have no natural enemies.
Females den by digging into deep snow drifts, which provide protection and insulation from the Arctic elements. They give birth in winter, usually to twins. Young cubs live with their mothers for some 28 months to learn the survival skills of the far north. Females aggressively protect their young, but receive no help from their solitary male mates. In fact, male polar bears may even kill young of their species.
Polar bears are attractive and appealing, but they are powerful predators that do not typically fear humans, which can make them dangerous. Near human settlements, they often acquire a taste for garbage, bringing bears and humans into perilous proximity.
hoho!!polar-chan mmg sangat kuat^^ tapi die attack human klu
die kne povoke je, so, jgn la acah2 die eh..heeee..
aku bnyak duit nanti, aku nak bela polar-chan la!!!srh die jage umah aku..
hahahaha..horrraa!!thats all bout Ursus, I hope we can protect this
innocence animals together!!!


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Aubergine Velour Ladies Driving Shoe MoccasinsSALE £79.00 (£65.83 ex TAX) (approx $109 USD) was £120.00
A rare aubergine velour suede leather Italian ladies moccasin with matching aubergine patent saddle & topline.
This style is made exclusively for Arthur Knight by an established factory located in the Marche region. Classic round toe design with black subber studded sole and heel. Fully leather lined with padded leather insole with embossed Arthur Knight logo.
100% Made in Italy


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"She could just barely sit up and drooled like crazy. She would just beam up at Henry as he read to her. This is the daughter who was reading 60 chapter books a month when she was ten. Now that our daughter is almost 13, Henry has moved on from reading Cat in the Hat for our daughter to discussing books like John Adams with our daughter."That reminds me of my DH and DD. He started reading to her pretty much the moment we brought her home from the hospital (she was 2 weeks old in the below picture).
She's now 4 3/4 and the two of them have a Saturday morning ritual where he reads her selected articles from the Economist magazine and then explains them to her. Not the type of read-aloud I would think to do with her, but I'm certain she benefits from experiencing two different perspectives on reading.
I recently came across an interesting research paper by Richard Fletcher and Kerry Dally of the University of Newcastle in Australia entitled "Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Literacy Development". In it, the researchers discuss the barriers to getting fathers involved with family literacy activities. One of the biggest is a perception that reading is a "feminine" thing:
"In their survey of school-family literacy programmes Cairney et al. (1995) reported that the participation of parents in the programmes was strongly gender based, with mothers representing the majority of participants. Not only were the family members more likely to be mothers than fathers but also virtually all of the school personnel who participated in the programmes were women. According to Cairney et al. (1995, p.36) 'Programmes were largely initiated, planned, run and coordinated by women for women'. The problem with the disproportionate number of women involved in school-parent literacy programmes is that such initiatives may inadvertently reinforce an already strongly established perception of literacy and learning as 'feminized' activities (Cairney et al., 1995). The following comment by one of the course presenters in Cairney et al.'s survey reveals that boys may be particularly disadvantaged by the gender imbalance in early literacy education and the perception that reading is 'women's work'. 'Children see reading as a feminine thing to do, because a female infants teacher teaches them, mum reads to them at home' (Cairney et al., 1995, Vol 2, p. 62)."This can be one of the real advantages of homeschooling. While the mom is often the primary teacher, the dad is typically much more involved with the children's education than he would be in a traditional school. This was discussed in Dr. Michael Pakaluk's excellent article "Nine Reasons to Homeschool". Greater involvement by the father in education may help to explain why homeschooled students score so well on standardized tests of reading.
I feel so blessed to have a DH who enjoys reading and sharing his love of the written word with his children!


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Wells starts, but Pelini mum on QB job
YOUNGSTOWN — The plot continues to thicken when discussing the quarterback situation for Youngstown State.
Hunter Wells became the fourth different quarterback to play this year as he took every snap during the Penguins' 13-10 victory over Indiana State. Whether Wells will be the starter again next week against five-time defending national champion North Dakota State is anyone's guess.
"Right now Hunter's the guy," YSU coach Bo Pelini said. "That could change. The way we do it, it's all in how you practice."
Wells, a junior who started 18 games over his freshman and sophomore seasons, started because Ricky Davis suffered an undisclosed injury last week. Davis began the season as the starter, and when healthy, was assumed to be the starter. Pelini said he should return to practice Monday, which begs the question: Will he return to the starting role?
Davis, who narrowly beat out Wells for the starting job in fall camp, was inconsistent in six games as a starter, completing 55-of-106 passes (52 percent) for 864 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. He was more effective as a runner, gaining 340 yards on 83 carries (4.1 yards per rush). The Penguins also played redshirt freshman Nathan Mays, but he attempted just 13 passes, completing seven and throwing one interception.
Wells didn't exactly light it up against the Sycamores, completing 13-of-26 passes for 101 yards and two interceptions in the first quarter. He seemed to settle in after that — going 12-of-20 for 88 yards from the second through fourth quarters.
"Hunter was fine," Pelini said. "He made those errors. He underthrew the one, where I thought we had Jody (Webb) on a big play. He obviously made a bad decision on the other one. Overall, I thought he did some really good things. You're going to be a hair rusty, but I thought he played well."
Wells wasn't made available for comment following the game. He had a shoulder injury the last few weeks but didn't show any visible signs of worsening the injury.
MOSS' BIG DAY: It's hard to overshadow a man who stands 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, but it did seem as if defensive end Avery Moss went unnoticed early in the season.
That's changing fast.
The Nebraska transfer overtook the season sack lead from All-American Derek Rivers as Moss added three to his total against the Sycamores. He now has 10.5 on the season, which is 1.5 better than Rivers, YSU's career leader in the category.
Moss is also third on the team with 36 tackles.
"Avery's playing great," Pelini said. "He's playing at a high level, and right across the board on defense we played well."
"I'm speechless," said longtime friend and roommate LeRoy Alexander, a starting safety for the Penguins. "Before the game I told him, 'Let's go!" and he came out on fire.
"He's got a feel for it, and working with Derek has made him better, and vice versa, so they've been dominating up front."
The Penguins tied a season-high with seven sacks against ISU.


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I'm not a huge fan of "bling-bling" like diamonds and crystals but I like silver jewellery. My wedding ring is just a simple band, made of gold and coated with rhodium. Anyway, i would like to show you my most favourite necklaces and pendants.
(Left) This one is actually an earring but i don't ear piercings. So, it's perfect pendant!
(Right) The Seahorse King is the one i wear the most lately. I like the design a lot.
(Left, Right) These two are from AllSaints and i like them both.
(Left) I got the scissors from ASOS and the necklace is broken.
(Right) The clock is a gift from my mom.
(Left) My nickname "KOR" is made to order.
(Right) The I (heart) Berlin one bought from Etsy.com.
(Left) The left one is pretty expensive bought from Spoonful Cafe.
(Right) The barbed wire necklace is my J-rock prop when i was in high school… still like it but never have a chance to wear it recently. LOL
I hope you find them interesting and plz show me yours! 🙂


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Cute Demon Crashers is unique in my experience. Admittedly, I'm not an expert in the otome gaming area, but most (non-puzzle/time management) games I've played aimed at a female audience are either adventure, adventure+romance or romance+adventure. CDC is not about romance: it's about getting a girl some sex.
CDC bills itself as a game about "consent and feeling safe in intimacy", and focuses on Claire. We meet Claire as she's home alone and...somewhat frustrated. Then four attractive demons turn up and offer her no-strings sex. And that's...pretty much it. Claire can get to know the demons a bit and decide whether to have sex with one of them, and just how much sex she wants to have (there's a lot of emphasis on stopping at any time). But there is never a suggestion that this is a romance (the demons cannot form romantic attachments).
I think the last game I played where sex was the goal was Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (way back in the dark ages of gaming). But LSL was about convincing some woman (any woman) to have sex with Larry (or, apparently, just paying a prostitute - I only played the beginning of LSL), while CDC is pretty much a beginner's guide to sex as a mutually positive experience. I'm fairly sure it's also the only game I've ever played that (depending on the route you play) provides imagery of an erect penis (not hidden as towers in the background).
Anyway, I think this game will be a gift to tween girls worldwide, and it amused this non-tween too. We've come a long way from Larry.
16 August 2015
CDC: A sex game for girls
2 comments:
Oh man, otome games bring me back. I still have great fond memories of Roxanne Cheng's Lucky Rabbit Reflex (and its ambiguously brown heroine) and recently I played that one japanese pigeon dating sim. I'm a big fan of them because video games rarely pander to women (even if it's in a limited sort of way).ReplyDeleteReplies
There's an increasing indie gaming swell of otome games, along with the industry ones coming out of Japan. Increasing choice in the digital age.Delete
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Thursday's letters: Sparse arena loos cause stinky alleys
Recent comments about public urination, associated with events at Rogers Place, ignore the obvious; Downtown Edmonton's new crown jewel is poorly designed.
It is congested and the lack of washroom facilities is appalling. Lineups of 10-15 minutes are commonplace. Sadly, instead of waiting after an event to use overcrowded washrooms, some patrons choose to relieve themselves elsewhere.
A.A. Bialowas, Edmonton
Private sector best for privies
I hear the city wants to study building public washrooms. I don't know much about public washrooms, but I do know the privately run Esso gas station in Whitecourt built award-winning washrooms on their own nickel, I am guessing for the purpose of attracting customers for a coffee and maybe a tank of gas.
Perhaps we should hire them to build washrooms, and get a gas station and Timmy's along with the deal. No study, no debate. Just get it done.
Roger Kehoe, Edmonton
Forget City of Champions signs
Re. "City of Champions has many meanings," April 1
The City of Champions signs should never be resurrected again, for the very reason that those pathetic signs are dragged out each time there is a chance of an athletic championship for Edmonton. Better yet, trash the signs.
If the letter writer J.E. Logan, remembers back to the 1970s and onward for about two decades, Edmonton stagnated under dominance from Calgary. The same will happen again if Edmontonians do not pay attention.
For at least two decades, Edmonton's citizens went into hibernation, only coming out to admire Calgary's brashness.
And now, (even if coming from Europe via the polar route) we fly over Edmonton, and go to Calgary, as Air Canada is now headquartered in that city. Then, about two hours later we return north to Edmonton via a very inferior Air Canada flight.
Might I suggest Edmontonians think about what might happen again if ruled from Calgary.
Liz Milanovich, Edmonton
Speak up for daylight time
This nonsense over daylight saving time has gone on long enough and although it was announced Monday the bill would be placed on hold temporarily, we who recognize the many advantages of DST must remain vigilant.
The premier said recently that she is "leaning in favour of the bill." When she eventually chooses to go public the sheep in her party will fall meekly into line and vote to get rid of DST.
I suggest all golfers, hockey fans and players, softball leagues and parents who want nice, long summer evenings make their voices heard. Let the government know we want the status quo.
All these red herrings concerning the effect of changing time twice yearly is pure garbage. Farmers can adapt, drivers are not going to be crashing their vehicles while adjusting, and kids are not going to fall asleep in school. To those who bemoan the inconvenience of changing clocks twice yearly, I have nine clocks and can change them in five minutes or less.
John C. Fielder, Edmonton
Gov't knows best
I was pleased to note the education minister's universal directive to school boards not to inform parents if their children are members of a gay-straight alliance.
I agree because the state is better positioned to raise children than are the parents. The directive is important because we cannot rely on the good judgment of teachers to follow existing laws and report when they think a student is in danger at home.
One criticism of the directive is that it does not go far enough. Perhaps parents should not be informed if a student is missing school, is not achieving, is struggling socially, appears to be unhealthy, is diagnosed with a specific learning challenge or is on sports teams. No, the parents should not be brought into the picture; let the state take full responsibility. Perhaps we should even reconsider past strategies employed for protecting children from their parents.
They will indeed be better served by the state. Alternatively, "processes" might be employed whereby the parents, student and school staff work together to ensure a safe and caring environment for all students including LGBTQ students.
John Acheson, Edmonton
Letters welcome
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text: Sometimes you have no idea what to expect from a couple. Mark and Alyssa were that couple. I knew Mark was a pro golfer and I knew that I loved emailing with Alyssa. It wasn't until I saw their amazing venue and was able to ride out onto the green with them in a golf cart that I truly began to realize how fun and down to earth they both were. There is something positively jaw-dropping about a Whistling Straits wedding.


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Changes from Direct3D 10
This section applies only to Windows 7 and later, and Windows Server 2008 R2 and later versions of Windows operating system.
The following sections describe how Direct3D 11 has changed from Direct3D 10.
Driver Callback Functions to Kernel-Mode Services
The device-specific callback functions that the Direct3D version 11 runtime supplies in the D3DDDI_DEVICECALLBACKS structure when the runtime calls the user-mode display driver's CreateDevice(D3D10) function isolate the driver from kernel handles and kernel function signatures. The Direct3D version 11 runtime changes the callback semantics and, therefore, the implementation of the callback functions to support a free-threaded mode of operation, whereas previous Direct3D version runtimes did not support a free-threaded mode of operation. The rules for free-threaded mode operation apply after the driver indicates that it supports free-threaded mode (D3D11DDICAPS_FREETHREADED); otherwise, the previous heavily restricted rules apply. For information about how the driver indicates support for free-threaded mode, see Threading and Command Lists. The following restrictions still exist for Direct3D version 11:
Only a single thread can work against an HCONTEXT at a time. Existing callback functions that currently use an HCONTEXT are pfnPresentCb, pfnRenderCb, pfnEscapeCb, pfnDestroyContextCb, pfnWaitForSynchronizationObjectCb, and pfnSignalSynchronizationObjectCb. Therefore, if more than one thread call these callback functions and use the same HCONTEXT, the driver must synchronize the calls to the callback functions. Satisfying this requirement is quite natural because these callback functions are likely to be called only from the thread that manipulates the immediate context.
The driver must call the following callback functions only during calls to the following driver functions by using the same threads that called those driver functions:
The driver must call pfnAllocateCb on the thread that called the driver's CreateResource(D3D11) function when shared resources are created. Regular non-shared allocations with the device are fully free-threaded.
The driver must call pfnPresentCb only during calls to the driver's PresentDXGI function.
The driver must call pfnSetDisplayModeCb only during calls to the driver's SetDisplayModeDXGI function.
The driver must call pfnRenderCb on the thread that called the driver's Flush(D3D10) function. This restriction is quite natural because of the HCONTEXT restrictions.
The pfnDeallocateCb callback function deserves special mention because the driver is not required to call pfnDeallocateCb before the driver returns from its DestroyResource(D3D10) function for most resource types. Because DestroyResource(D3D10) is a free-threaded function, the driver must defer destruction of the object until the driver can efficiently ensure that no existing immediate context reference remains (that is, the driver must call pfnRenderCb before pfnDeallocateCb). This restriction applies even to shared resources or to any other callback function that uses HRESOURCE to complement HRESOURCE usage with pfnAllocateCb. However, this restriction does not apply to primaries. For more information about primary exceptions, see Primary Exceptions. Because some applications might require the appearance of synchronous destruction, the driver must ensure that it calls pfnDeallocateCb for any previously destroyed shared resources during a call to its Flush(D3D10) function. A driver must also cleanup any previously destroyed objects (only those that will not stall the pipeline) during a call to its Flush(D3D10) function; the driver must do so to ensure that the runtime calls Flush(D3D10) as an official mechanism to cleanup deferred destroyed objects for those few applications that might require such a mechanism. For more information about this mechanism, see Deferred Destruction and Flush(D3D10). The driver must also ensure that any objects for which destruction was deferred are fully destroyed before the driver's DestroyDevice(D3D10) function returns during cleanup.
Deprecate Ability to Allow Modification of Free-Threaded DDIs
For Direct3D version 11, the API-level concept of a display device and an immediate context are still bundled together at the DDI level by the legacy concept of a display device. This bundling of display device and immediate context maximizes compatibility with prior-version DDIs (such as, the Direct3D version 10 DDI) and reduces driver churn when supporting multiple versions of APIs through multiple versions of DDIs. However, this bundling of display device and immediate context results in a more confusing DDI because the threading domains are not extremely explicit. Instead, to understand the threading requirements of multiple interfaces and the functions within those interfaces, driver developers must refer to the documentation.
A primary feature of the Direct3D version 11 API is that it allows multiple threads to enter create and destroy functions simultaneously. Such a feature is incompatible with allowing the driver to swap out the function table pointers for create and destroy, as the Direct3D version 10 DDI semantics for functions that are specified in D3D10DDI_DEVICEFUNCS and D3D10_1DDI_DEVICEFUNCS allowed. Therefore, after the driver passes back the function pointers for creates (CreateDevice(D3D10)), the driver should not attempt to change behavior by modifying these particular function pointers when the driver runs under the Direct3D version 11 DDI and while the driver supports DDI threading. This restriction applies to all device functions that start with pfnCreate, pfnOpen, pfnDestroy, pfnCalcPrivate, and pfnCheck. All the rest of the device functions are strongly associated with the immediate context. Because a single thread manipulates the immediate context at a time, it is well-defined to continue to allow the driver to hot-swap immediate context function table entries.
pfnRenderCb Versus pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb
The Direct3D version 10 API functions hooked the Direct3D runtime's pfnRenderCb kernel callback function to perform amortized processing (that is, instead of executing certain operations for every API function call, the driver performed amortized operations for every so many API function calls). The API typically uses this opportunity to trim high watermarks and flush out its deferred object destruction queue, among other things.
To allow the kernel callback functions to be as free-threaded as possible for the driver, the Direct3D API no longer uses pfnRenderCb when the driver supports the Direct3D version 11 DDI. Therefore, drivers that support the Direct3D version 11 DDI must manually call the pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb kernel callback function from the same thread that entered the driver DDI function after the driver submits a command buffer on the immediate context (or similar frequency). Because the operation should trim high watermarks, it would be advantageous to do it before the driver generates command buffer preambles when leveraging the state-refresh DDI callback functions.
In addition, the driver should be aware of the API amortization issue, and try to balance how often it uses the pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb kernel callback function. On one extreme, the driver might cause over-processing. For example, if the driver always called pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb twice (back-to-back), possibly due to multiple-engine usage, it would be more efficient for the driver to call pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb only once. On the other extreme, the driver might not allow the Direct3D API to do any work for a whole frame if the driver never called pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb, possibly due to an alternating frame rendering design. The driver is not required to call pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb any more often than it naturally would, as that is overkill (for example, if the driver did not call pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb in a 1 millisecond timeframe, it must be time to pump the API). The driver is required to only determine which of the existing pfnRenderCb calls should be accompanied by pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb and, naturally, conform to the threading semantics of the operation.
For drivers that support command lists, those drivers must also call pfnPerformAmortizedProcessingCb from deferred contexts whenever those drivers run out of room (a similar frequency as every immediate context flush). The Direct3D version 11 runtime expects to, at least, trim its high-watermarks during such an operation. Because the threading semantic that is related to pfnRenderCb has been relaxed for Direct3D version 11, concurrency issues must be solved in order to allow Direct3D version 11 to continue to hook pfnRenderCb, without restriction.
New DDI Error Code
The D3DDDIERR_APPLICATIONERROR error code is created to allow drivers to participate in validation where the Direct3D version 11 API did not. Previously, if the driver returned the E_INVALIDARG error code, it would cause the API to raise an exception. The presence of the debug layer would cause debugging output and indicate that the driver had returned an internal error. The debugging output would suggest to the developer that the driver had a bug. If the driver returns D3DDDIERR_APPLICATIONERROR, the debug layer determines that the application is at fault, instead.
Retroactively Requiring Free-Threaded CalcPrivate DDIs
Direct3D version 11 retroactively requires driver functions that begin with pfnCalcPrivate on Direct3D version 10 DDI functions to be free threaded. This retroactive requirement matches the behavior of the Direct3D version 11 DDI to always require *pfnCalcPrivate** and pfnCalcDeferredContextHandleSize functions to be free threaded even if the driver indicates it does not support DDI threading. For more information about this retroactive requirement, see Retroactively Requiring Free-Threaded CalcPrivate DDIs.
Deferred Destruction and Flush D3D10
Because all the destroy functions are now free-threaded, the Direct3D runtime cannot flush a command buffer during destruction. Therefore, the destroy functions must defer the actual destruction of an object until the driver can ensure that the thread that manipulates the immediate context is no longer dependent on that object to survive. Each discrete immediate context method cannot efficiently use synchronization to solve this destruction issue; therefore, the driver should use synchronization only when it flushes a command buffer. The Direct3D runtime also uses this same design when it must deal with similar issues.
Due to the ratification of deferred destruction, the Direct3D runtime advocates that those applications that cannot tolerate deferred-destruction workarounds instead use explicit mechanisms. Therefore, the driver must process its deferred-destruction queue during calls to its Flush(D3D10) function (even if the command buffer is empty) to ensure that these mechanisms actually work.
Those applications that require a form of synchronous destruction must use one of the following patterns, depending on how heavyweight a destruction they require:
After the application ensures that all dependencies on that object are released (that is, command lists, views, middle ware, and so on), the application uses the following pattern:
Object::Release(); // Final release ImmediateContext::ClearState(); // Remove all ImmediateContext references as well. ImmediateContext::Flush(); // Destroy all objects as quickly as possible.
The following pattern is a more heavywight destruction:
Object::Release(); // Final release ImmediateContext::ClearState(); // Remove all ImmediateContext references as well. ImmediateContext::Flush(); ImmediateContext::End( EventQuery ); while( S_FALSE == ImmediateContext::GetData( EventQuery ) ) ; ImmediateContext::Flush(); // Destroy all objects, completely.
Primary Exceptions
Primaries are resources that the runtime creates in calls to the driver's CreateResource(D3D11) function. The runtime creates a primary by setting the pPrimaryDesc member of the D3D11DDIARG_CREATERESOURCE structure to a valid pointer to a DXGI_DDI_PRIMARY_DESC structure. Primaries have the following notable exceptions in regard to the preceding changes from Direct3D 10 to Direct3D 11:
Both the driver's CreateResource(D3D11) and DestroyResource(D3D10) functions for primaries are not free-threaded, and they share the immediate context threading domain. Concurrency can still exist with functions that start with pfnCreate and pfnDestroy, which includes CreateResource(D3D11) and DestroyResource(D3D10). However, concurrency cannot exist with CreateResource(D3D11) and DestroyResource(D3D10) for primaries. For example, the driver can detect that a call to its CreateResource(D3D11) or DestroyResource(D3D10) function is for a primary, and thereby determine that it can safely use or touch immediate context memory for the duration of the function call.
Primary destruction cannot be deferred by the Direct3D runtime, and the driver must call the pfnDeallocateCb function appropriately within a call to the driver's DestroyResource(D3D10) function.


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Law on Screen Seminar at DCU – Report
To mark the establishment of the Socio-legal Research Centre and the launch of the BCL (Law and Society), the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University held an evening seminar "Law on Screen-The Representation of Law and Lawyers on Film and Television". The event, which took place on Thursday, Nov 5th, featured engaging contributions from a number of distinguished speakers.
The Director of Film Classification, John Kelleher, took the audience through a history of film censorship in Ireland, dating from the passing of the Censorship of Films Act 1923. Mr Kelleher noted that the office of which he is now Head has moved considerably from a focus on film censorship (cutting scenes of 'abdominal dancing' from films like the Elvis Presley vehicle King Creole, on the grounds of the excitement they might induce in schoolgirls) to its present day function of film classification. Mr Kelleher pointed out that, although censorship of films traditionally had focused on issues like nudity and blasphemy, it is only in the last two decades that films are classified according to age, with a resulting emphasis on the protection of children, in particular, that was not present in earlier periods of Irish life from the 1920s through to the 1980s.
Eddie Holt, from the Department of Communications in DCU, spoke about how the public trust in the legal profession had fallen dramatically since the 1970s. This was driven, largely, by social developments in the US and the influence of negative portrayals of lawyers in Hollywood films, such as The Verdict and Carlito's Way, in which lawyers were portrayed as having broken personal lives, addiction problems and a lack of ethics and morals.
Picking up on this theme, Dearbhail McDonald, the Legal Editor of the Irish Independent, gave her view how film and TV portrayal of the law impacts on the Irish justice system, as she sees it daily in the Four Courts. She expressed concern at the increasing coverage of trials-particularly in criminal cases-as forms of 'entertainment', where, much as on screen, 'goodies and baddies' are identified in the media and in popular perception, leading to a real risk of the undermining of the justice system. She spoke of the public reaction to some recent, high-profile verdicts in criminal cases, where it almost seemed like the Four Courts had itself become a film set as the public vented grief and anger in borderline hysterical proportions towards both the victims and perpetrators of crime.
Bernard Rogan, BL ended the evening by portraying the reality of life at the Bar. He spoke of the commitment of the vast majority of barristers to ethics, fairness and justice. While acknowledging the difficulties faced in the current economic climate by young, and aspiring, barristers, he reaffirmed the enormous sense of pride and public service most practitioners derive from their careers. He also pointed out that, although the popular portrayal of the lawyer's life on screen was one of sex, drugs and rock n' roll, he himself had a much more temperate working environment!


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A conveniently located 93 acre property that is just waiting for that dream home. The property is well fenced into three paddocks of good grazing land. Water is supplied from both a permanent creek with several deep watering holes and a good capacity dam. There is a very private and slightly elevated building site down by the creek that is relatively flat and suited to a vast array of home designs.
The property is located in the Richmond Vale area that is within close driving distance to Newcastle, Maitland and Hunter Valley Wine Country.


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Friday, 19 July 2013
Good Luck Team Wales!
This week I've been thinking more than usual about the Duchess of Cambridge. She's generally there as a sort of low level background presence in my musings, you know, in a "Sheesh, I wish I had a stylist like Kate's to help me tackle this heat frizz..." sort of way. But this week, as the world awaits news of the royal baby, I feel for her in a way that's probably faintly ridiculous considering we've never met.
It just brings back so many memories of being pregnant, and then the Herculean effort that is labour. To have to do it with such intense media scrutiny must be incredibly difficult. I say that, of course the media only really gets to see the public moments - I suspect it's unlikely Team Wales will pop up on "One Born Every Minute" - but still, it must be daunting.
When I arrived at hospital to have my first baby, it was a cold November Sunday, but I was toastie warm with the first flushes of pain, and remember waddling out of the taxi in flip flops, clutching my pillow and assorted "essentials" that all first timers probably take in with them. I cheerily ambled up to the desk and announced "Hello, I'm here to have my baby!" They took one look at me and popped me into a room that might as well have been marked "In nowhere near enough pain". Some hours later, when I'd quit the cheery banter and was at full moo, we all knew baby was finally coming. Mind you, the good cheer returned immediately after I'd met the little man, as to Mr W's amazement and probable shame, I treated everyone to a round of the national anthem, honked through the gas & air pipe. Except I realised at the end that something was amiss, roundly apologised ("I'm SO sorry everyone, that was the American one, wasn't it? Here we go...") and then proceeded to honk God Save the Queen. It's probably just as well that I couldn't see the stitches that were being done at the time - I can't imagine the nurse's hand was awfully steady as she shook with laughter.
Given Baby Wales's family, the above musical interlude might be something Kate would like to think about - #justsaying and all that.
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(John Frankenheimer, 1998)
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed by Dave Lancaster
Summary: Punctuated by brilliant car chases, this all-star crime thriller grips while earning your respect.
I doubt we'll ever see another action thriller (or any genre for that matter) starring the power trio that Robert De Niro, Jean Reno and Sean Bean but John Frankenheimer managed to assemble these icons of New York, Casablanca and Yorkshire to topline his action thriller.
They play a group of covert mercenaries (alongside the also eclectic casting choices of Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard and Jonathan Pryce) who gather in Paris with orders to steal a mysterious briefcase for even more mysterious client.
In terms of plot motivation, there isn't much more than that but Frankenheimer's film offers plenty of twists, backstabs and brutal driving scenes to paper over the gaping holes that most ordinary thrillers would attempt to at least pad out with some intrigue fluff.
Frankenheimer decides against this and powers through with genuinely grippping action and hopes for some chemistry between the actors along the way (of which, the teaming of De Niro and Reno is surprisin gly effective).
In this respect, Ronin has the feel of a vintage 70s/80s actioner, fuelled by William Friedkin-esque determination: The French Connection, To Live and Die in LA and Sorcerer springing to mind most vividly. If you enjoyed that school of no holds barred but meticulously crafted and exquisitely casted cinema then Ronin will cut the proverbial mustard.
Arrow's Blu-ray rehashes many of the extras of the old special edition DVD from MGM while also adding a few more and, most importantly, brushing up the sound and picture quality to the max. Arrow's Ronin disc is one for the big screen with the sound way up high.
Special edition Blu-ray contents:
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Searching for the 10 most important Catholic moments of the decade
As the decade draws to a close there are a lot of lists appearing in the papers and on the web: the 100 best films of the decade, the 100 best books of the Noughties and so on.
They've got me wondering: what were the 10 most important Catholic moments of the decade? If you have any thoughts, leave a comment or email me at email@example.com, with "Most important Catholic moments" in the subject line.
I'll post the list later in the month.


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Peter King is bigoted and ineffective
Peter King's Islamic radicalization hearings against Muslims is meaningless and ineffective. He leaves out discussion of the United States long history of collaborating with Jihadis, propping up dictators and toppling democratic regimes (like in Iran in 1953). Robert Dreyfuss, author of Devils Game, discusses history of US and Middle East.
Dreyfuss' book is just the tip of the iceberg. How many people are aware that the United States spent millions of dollars on violent, extremist textbooks that were given to Afghan Children? See From U.S., the ABC's of Jihad in The Washington Post (Saturday, March 23, 2002; Page A01)
The United States funded and supported Islamic extremists during the Afghan-Russian War in order to give the Soviet Union its "Vietnam." The US could have supported pro-democracy Afghan groups, but instead chose the most brutal extremists from around the world to create death and destruction in Afghanistan.
While people accuses CAIR of supporting Hamas, people forget how Israel allowed Hamas to flourish as a rival to the secular Palestinian Nationalist movement. See "How Israel and the United States Helped to Bolster Hamas" from the Democracy Now program for more about this issue.
So basically, while the United States preaches human rights and democracy, it supports kings, dictators and extremists who do its bidding. And just so that we can live comfortably, Muslims are supposed to accept and be happy about being oppressed and killed by their leaders (that we armed and supported).
I'd like to see people put their money where their mouth is and demand USA stop accepting billions of dollars in investment money from the Saudis.
There are 9/11 victims families that are demanding a reopening of the 9/11 investigation. But Peter King is ignoring them http://rememberbuilding7.org/ King chooses to place all the blame on voiceless and powerless Muslims because it is the easy and cowardly thing to do.
Peter King thinks that it was OK to support Irish terrorists because the terrorist acts did not occur in the United States. How does that look to the world that our elected politicians have double standards. What does Britain, an ally on the war on terror, think of our government supporting people who commit terrorists in their country. Peter King should be made to step down as head of House Homeland Security Committee.
Arabic School Ex-Principal Fights to Get Job Back
Those who do not live in New York Cit,y may not be aware of the new Khalil Gibran International Academy, a public school where the Arabic language and culture are included in the curriculum.. The principal was going to be Debbie Almontaser (women in photo, on the left), a Yemeni immigrant. At the start of the school year She was replaced by Danielle Salzberg, a Zionist who does not speak Arabic.
Almost from the time the Education Department announced plans for the school in February, it faced opposition from parents at public schools that were to share their space with the Arabic-culture school, as well as from conservative columnists, who said the school would promote radical Islam.
The controversy that ultimately lead to Ms. Almontaser's resignation began in early August, when she faced questioning from The New York Post over the phrase "Intifada NYC," which was printed on T-shirts sold by Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media, a Brooklyn-based organization. The shirts had no relation to the school. She said that the word "intifada," — which is commonly used to refer to the Palestinian uprising against Israel — literally meant "shaking off" and did not only suggest violence.
Yesterday, Ms. Almontaser said that Education Department officials had forced her to speak to the reporter and then, not satisfied with her answer, demanded that she write an apology.
See complete story by Jennifer Medina in the New York Times (October 17, 2007) at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/education/17principal.html
While New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten condemned Ms. Almontaser for defending the phrase "Intfida New York," they had nothing to say about the article at the website of the newspaper of the NYC United Federation of Teachers ( http://www.uft.org/news/teacher/around/irish_duo/ ) were it refers to the terrorists of Hagannah as freedom fighters.
He later became a stakeholder for the Hagannah, a defense lawyer for Jewish gun-runners and had his brother, Mayor William O'Dwyer, call off a police detail from the docks so guns could be sent to Israel.
… Manhattan attorney Brian O'Dwyer (left), who told a vignette about his father defending Israeli freedom fighters caught with guns in Manhattan; with Joel Shiller (center), chair of the UFT Jewish Heritage Committee, and Callaghan.
Here is some of what the Hagannah did to the Palestinians
Not only did they terrorize the Palestinians, they also terrorized Jews. There is a book by Naeim Giladi called
- Ben Gurion's Scandals: How the Haganah &the Mossad Eliminated Jews.
Read about it here http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/occupation/ameu_iraqjews.htm
Update: Here is a blog that gives updates about Debbie Almontaser and the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA) http://kgia.wordpress.com


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How voice reduces friction in online purchases
In my last post, I explored how natural language search enhances the product discovery experience. While we can all relate to the value a product expert adds to the buying process when we're making considered purchases, oftentimes we know exactly what we want. In that context, that helpful assistant can sometimes be an annoyance. In addition, sometimes those identified purchases are things you need immediately. I still find myself rushing to fit these errands into my day. Maybe it's bottle of wine before a friend stops by for dinner or a desperate need for cold medicine (it's still that time of year in the northeast). There is a whole new breed of businesses that are vying for this next leg of the online retail market. It's what we like to refer to as "on-demand ecommerce". At Voysis, we believe that these types of experiences are ripe for voice AI.
What is on-demand ecommerce?
Think for a second about how your neighborhood liquor store differs from Target. At Target, you grab a cart and likely go through most if not all isles of the store. You often leave the store with products you've discovered that you didn't plan to buy. And it's rare that you interact with a Target employee before you reach the register. In the liquor store, you almost always interact with someone even if you already know what you want. You're usually in and out in a minute or two. The only friction you'll run into is a line…if there is one. It's the travel time that is the real commitment here.
One great example of on-demand ecommerce is a company called Drizly. Based in my hometown, Boston, the team at Drizly is focused on transforming the way alcohol is shopped, sold and shared. Sure sometimes it's nice to explore the shelves for something new, which you can do with Drizly by the way, but more often than not, we're creatures of habit and know what we want. And the thing I love about Drizly is that it offers convenience in an on demand way. When the team needs a case of Heineken to celebrate a big milestone, Drizly is there.
How voice streamlines the transaction process
Traditional interfaces present users with a search box as well as categories and filters. While we're all used to these experiences, our goal as innovators is to always be looking for a better way. As our own John Fitzpatrick outlined in a recent post, voice interfaces allow us to build experiences that are truly optimized for specific domains. To offer an experience that closely mirrors what we'd do if we were in the liquor store but, with one key difference, without having to be there.
Below is an example that showcases how voice streamlines the product selection and checkout process. In this type of interaction, the user can identify the products they want to buy, add them to their cart, define a delivery time and location, and checkout with a few simple voice commands.
As online retail continues to permeate our lives, we'll travel less, use less gas, and have more time to focus on more important things. In parallel, voice AI is driving a shift in how user experiences are designed. A partnership between these two movements will pose new levels of efficiency for consumers and also offer a more natural way of completing these tasks online. It's a natural evolution.
We're here to help you voice-ify your app. Let's talk!


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Saturday, October 25, 2014
Spooks to you...
Labels: Picmonkey Halloween
4 comments:
- rottrover said...
Hi Baby Girl!! Sometimes my mom says I'm "Blocky headed" I think cuz we rotties have big square heads; but girl...you take this to a whole new level!!
- October 25, 2014 at 12:22 PM
- DeniseinVA said...
Spooks to you too you cutie you. Please say hi to mommy for me and I love how she has put your photo on a cube. Clever Mommy!
- October 25, 2014 at 1:04 PM
- SweetMarie said...
Happy Halloween sweet pups!!!
- October 25, 2014 at 11:52 PM
You have some fun shots for the holiday. Love them all.
- October 27, 2014 at 8:51 PM
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It's that time of year again, folks! What have you decided to change in your life? Last year I did Grateful Photos and those were really a lot of fun, helping me to quite literally count my blessings. Quite a few of my friends are giving up Facebook for the Lenton season, and I really thought about that, prayed about it, but one word kept coming up over all the others: GRACE.
No, I'm not giving up Grace. I am asking for Grace, every single morning before I even get out of bed, every day. We really should be doing this anyway, but I'll be the first to admit that I get preoccupied with the day ahead of me and just trust that God will give me what Graces I need when I need them.... but to put intent, thought, and effort into it, it has a deeper meaning.
On this first day of Lent, I asked for the Grace to forgive people who have hurt me. Again, something that should be a given, but I let it be out-of-sight-out-of-mind and just keep moving with the bandaid rather than helping the wounded parts of me to heal. That proverbial bandaid defeats the purpose of forgiveness. I used to think that forgiving meant forgetting, but that's not the case, most definitely not in this situation. And the person who has hurt me so deeply is in a circle of friends whom I'm not willing to give up, so I must find the Grace to forgive. I will be tentative and cautious when speaking (if speaking) with her again, but I need to heal my hurt, I need to ask God to heal my hurt.
Mother Mary, you bestow Graces upon us, as you are filled with God's Grace. Please help me, grant me God's Grace to forgive those who have hurt me so grievously. Jesus, fill my heart with Your Love and help me to share that Love with others, as You have asked me to. Amen.


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So, people tell me that God is infinite.
All the qualms I may have about religion about following someone else blindly in some pursuit of purpose are still, in my own humble opinion, wholly grounded.
However... I don't discount this theory. That is to say I can see a reason that there would be a need for us, the human race, to have been created.
An infinite being created the human race with a finite life span. He created flowers, tress, land, seas, birds, (bees...) and everything else.
If he is truly omnipotent then why would he need to?
The conclusion I have drawn is that an infinite being surely cannot experience joy, love, beauty and pain the way we do? In their very essence these feelings and experiences can only exist within a protracted period of time... ergo he created finite beings to experience what he could not.
A baby is born in a couple of minutes and yet it is a new life entering the world! A release of nine months of hard work. Though for an infinite being this point in time is no different from infinite others.
One example of many I could name... I will just leave them for your indulgence.
I think this can be expressed in an equation but then I am no XKCD.com...
Yours in complex arrangements of beauty over t1 minus t2..
Ps. Quite sexist there, I apologize: I shouldnt talk of God as a man and yes, yes, I know labour goes on for hours into days, I'm just trying to make a point..


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Madhya Pradesh power crisis worsens, shortfall rises by 1,800 MWApril 18th, 2008 - 9:25 pm ICT by admin
Bhopal, April 18 (IANS) With the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board's (MPSEB} five thermal units going out of order, the power shortfall in the state worsened, touching 1,800 MW from around 1,000 MW during peak hours, sources said. "While a 210 MW unit at the Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Station (SGTPS) was already out of order since Tuesday, what has added to the woes of the power consumers in the state is the failure of MPSEB's four thermal units Thursday night," said a Board official.
These four units, having a cumulative installed capacity to generate 850 MW include 500 MW and 210 MW under SGTPS and 120 MW and 20 MW at the Amarkantak Thermal Power Station.
The simultaneous failure of five power generating units brought down the thermal power generation strength in the state from 2647.5 MW to 1587.5 MW, leading to huge unscheduled power cuts across the state. The rural areas were the worst hit.
While district and tehsil headquarters have already been put under load shedding for five to 13 hours, the rural areas are facing 14 hours" scheduled power cut.
All the failed units are expected to resume power generation by Sunday, said a senior MPSEB official.
This is the second time in a week that the SGTPS power generating units are not functioning. Four units under SGTPS were shut down due to technical snag April 11 and could be started after two days.


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What a JOKE....it's about time that the White House Press Correspondents start to get "discourteous" with this President and challenge him on the overreaches of power, the lies and distortions he is trying to pass off on the American People...The Press was supposed to the the fourth arm of the Government, but today most of the press outlets are acting like they are totally state-run...
WHCA: Daily Caller heckler 'discourteous'
By DYLAN BYERS | 6/15/12 5:15 PM EDT
The president of the White House Correspondents' Association has called today's "rude interruption" of President Obama by a Daily Caller reporter "discourteous," but said that the Daily Caller's status as a member for the White House in-town press pool is something that would need to be discussed by the WHCA board, of which she is a member.
"It was discourteous. It's not the way reporters who cover the White House conduct themselves," Caren Bohan, the current WHCA president and White House correspondent for Reuters, told POLITICO today, shortly after DC reporter Neil Munro shouted a question at the President while he was delivering remarks in the White House Rose Garden.
"The WHCA always encourages vigorous questioning of the president, but that does not extend to rude interruptions of the president in the middle of a speech," Bohan said. "I've thrown questions to the President before, but reporters typically wait until he's finished speaking."
The Daily Caller, a conservative website, is a member of the in-town White House press pool. But after today's incident many have speculated that it could lose its access to the President and to the White House.
"That is something that our board has not yet discussed," Bohan told POLITICO.
Following his exchange with the President, Munro claimed to have mistimed his question, though he later wrote an article defending his decision to press a president who, he wrote, "has often used this no-questions strategy when making important or poll-boosting announcements."
"Sometimes, the president does answer shouted questions. At the end of a March 23 Rose garden event, for example, he answered a shouted question about Trayvon Martin, a Florida youth killed in February," Munro wrote. "On Friday The Daily Caller asked a question as his speech appeared to be ending."
Many reporters who were at today's Rose Garden event disagree with Munro's characterization of events, noting that few if any reporters aside from Munro thought the President had concluded his remarks.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
It's about Time the Press Starts to Take On this Lying President....
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I made this card for 2RedBananas Rub a Dub Dub Challenge.
I used rub-ons that I purchased from Oriental Trading quite some time ago. I purchased them to be able to make cards when I was in hurry.
This pack has all sorts of purple, blue and green flowers & vines I just love it


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Anyone read this book? War is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General (Paperback)
by Smedley D. Butler (Author)? I was just recommended it but haven't read it. I was wondering how those of us who are pro-war might feel about reading the book by a General about how War is corrupt? Just reading the Amazon customer reviews gives a powerful insight into what's wrong w/the war machine.
I went to this amazing 'stone gallery' in Berkeley where I got to hang w/an artist, Ehren Tool. Rapped with him for awhile on this. He has a series of powerful pieces to increase war awareness: ceramic cups with war imagery on them. He's giving them away for free & mailed some to Bush, & Cheney. I didn't realize he was a Gulf War Vet, just makes his stuff more powerful.


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Will Margarito vs. Cintron be explosive? Will 'Sugar' Shane look sweet again? Can 'Big Time' McCline finally come up big? TheSweetScience.com writers tell you what they think.
Margarito-Cintron Predictions
Margarito lost his last fight, a controversial TKO stoppage to the much bigger Daniel Santos. And while Cintron is a big, powerful welterweight, he is not nearly as polished as Santos – one of boxing's best boxers. Margarito will be fighting at his natural weight and will use all of his considerable seasoning to outlast the young Puerto Rican slugger in a brutal fight. Margarito via split decision in an all-time great welterweight slugfest.
Matt Aguilar
Antonio Margarito will meet the Puerto Rican sensation Kermit Cintron. Margarito is one mean dude. He literally was tearing his last opponent's ear off with his fists (not his teeth). He has met the better opposition. He is more seasoned. Margarito is probably the favorite. But there's something about this Cintron kid I like. He is a big welterweight. I can easily see him growing into a middleweight. He is very strong and has good power. My head says Margarito but my heart is leaning toward Cintron. I'm going to have to go with Kermit by a late round KO in what should be a candidate for Fight of the Year.
Jim Amato
The "safe" pick is either Kermit by early KO or Margarito by decision or late TKO. I'm going to split the difference and call it Kermit by mid-round stoppage. Cintron will come on early, perhaps bust Antonio up a bit. Margarito will rally and begin to wear down the less experienced Cintron. Midway through the bout, Kermit rallies back, and though Margarito is willing to brawl, he's not giving as much as he's getting. The ref jumps in . . . Cintron by controversial 8th round TKO.
Jake Donovan
Okay, no one except the WBO considers this a championship bout. We have a true champion in the form of Zab Judah. This may nevertheless prove to be a solid fight with longterm division consequences. Margarito has defended his belt, but in his fights with fellow WBO titleholders for the 147 and 154-pound crowns he came up short. Cintron pulls this out with a 10th round KO.
J.E. Grant
Good fight, hard fight. Margarito too much, too busy for the less experienced Cintron. Antonio Margarito late TKO winner.
Mike Indri
Potentially explosive battle as two heavy hitters meet for the WBO title. Margarito a bit more polished of the two fighters, but Cintron is the more heavy-handed. Cintron victories over Elio Ortiz and Teddy Reid don't prepare Cintron enough for Margarito, who has been in with and beaten punchers before. A great, close fight, but the nod goes to Margarito, as Cintron gains needed experience.
Joey Knish
This could be a candidate for Fight of the Year. I see Margarito taking control early, even hurting Cintron on a few occasions, but Cintron's power will take over. After flooring Margarito, Cintron swarms all over him, blasting him with thunderous shots until the referee comes to Margarito's rescue. Cintron TKO 7.
Marc Lichtenfeld
This is the lone of the best matchups in years. Picking a winner is extremely difficult, but something tells me that Cintron's youth will prevail over Margarito's experience. This will be a barnburner for as long as it lasts. Cintron by TKO.
Robert Mladinich
Every young swimmer has to go out into deep water sometime, and now it is Kermit Cintron's time. (I wish I could get that Kermit the Frog out of my head.) Cintron is 24-0 with a lot of early knockouts, but most of the guys coming out of the other corner were quick to remember they were being paid by the job and not by the hour. His last fight, an 8th round stoppage of rugged Teddy Reid, was a step up and in the right direction, but Antonio Margarito may be a leap too far. Give Cintron the first three rounds; Margarito everything else and the decision.
Pat Putman
This may very well be the most exciting fight of the evening. It will go the distance and be very close. Margarito by split decision.
Aaron Tallent
Mosley-Estrada Predictions
Mosley returns to welterweight form and dominates Estrada by unanimous decision.
Matt Aguilar
Sugar Shane Mosley returns to the welterweight class as he takes on Angelo Dundee's fine prospect David Estrada. Angelo is very high on this kid, so I take him seriously. But if Shane has anything left, this is a fight he should win, which would put himself in line for a shot at the winner of the proposed Zab Judah-Oscar De La Hoya fight.
Jim Amato
Shane finds out early that the move down to welter is not the answer to all of his problems. He also finds out that Estrada is a hell of a lot tougher than expected. This one goes the distance, but in the end, many will be calling for Shane's retirement. Upset: Estrada by decision.
Jake Donovan
Shane Mosley, once the king of the pound-for-pound club, is coming off consecutive losses to Winky Wright, which only compounded the problems caused by his consecutive losses to Vernon Forrest. He was a great lightweight, a good welterweight, and a passable junior middleweight. This bout marks a return to the welterweights where he figures his power will prove decisive. David Estrada, though ably backed by Angelo Dundee, is not to going to spoil the party. Mosley by KO in 8.
J.E. Grant
Mosley all over the game, but overmatched Estrada. Shane Mosley KO 6-7 rounds.
Mike Indri
Look for Shane to return to "power boxing," as he should re-gain his edge in speed and power while dropping back down to 147. Estrada no pushover and it will be an entertaining fight, but Sugar looks sweet again.
Joey Knish
I'll admit, I drank the Kool-Aid when it comes to Shane Mosley. I always thought he was one of the best boxers in the sport. While I don't think this fight is a gimme, I see Mosley winning a unanimous decision.
Marc Lichtenfeld
Estrada is no stiff and Mosley has not looked like a world-beater later, but Mosley should be much too experienced to lose this one. Mosley by decision.
Robert Mladinich
His real name is Shane Daniel Donte Mosley and he has only won one fight since July of 2001, which makes you wonder why all the bookies say you have to bet your house to win a chicken coop if you like him over unbeaten David Estrada, one of Angelo Dundee's latest students. In his last six fights, Mosley has lost two (and the all-world light middleweight title) to Winky Wright; defeated Oscar De La Hoya; fought a three-round no-contest with Raul Marquez; and lost to Vernon Forest twice. Take a flyer: bet the chicken coop on Estrada, by decision.
Pat Putnam
Sugar Shane Mosley is another fighter trying to find his way. He is making the smart move by dropping back down to welterweight. It is a division Mosley can dominate and he will prove that Saturday against David Estrada. Mosley by unanimous decision.
Aaron Tallent
McCline-Brock Predictions
Brock upsets McCline via 7th round TKO.
Matt Aguilar
Calvin Brock, the best heavyweight prospect around, will be severely tested when he takes on Jameel McCline. This is a very interesting matchup. On paper McCline should win. He is bigger, stronger, and has met some top shelf heavyweights. This is another case where my head says McCline but my heart says Brock. I'm going to go with Calvin by a late round KO.
Jim Amato
Jameel jumps on Calvin early, not unlike the Byrd fight. Brock takes Jameel's best and rallies back midway through. McCline bites down, realizing that one more loss puts him on the shelf possibly for good, and dominates down the stretch to eke out a close (and somewhat disputed) unanimous decision. McCline by decision.
Jake Donovan
Folks say that Brock is taking a huge leap forward and is assuming risk. Really it is McCline who is taking the risk – and perhaps unnecessarily. Brock, the college graduate, hasn't yet graduated to the elite level of the heavyweight division, but a victory here gets his foot in the door. Though I believe McCline was robbed of victory against Chris Byrd, and along with it the IBF belt, that isn't saying much (ask the list of other robbery victims versus Byrd: Fres Oquendo and Andrew Golota). Brock cracks the top-ten with a decision victory.
J.E. Grant
McCline is big and strong – and a nice person – but he doesn't have what it takes. Brock does, and this is his "coming out" fight. Calvin Brock will knockout Jameel McCline.
Mike Indri
Big Time McCline has such an edge in class of opposition it isn't even close. He barely lost a points decision to Byrd in his last bout and knows his hourglass is running low. Brock is the more polished amateur and more powerful puncher, but I look for McCline to fight "big" by using his 45-pound weight advantage and four extra inches in height to keep Brock at bay. A good fight, won by the good bigger guy.
Joey Knish
Similar to how I see Margarito – Cintron. McCline in control early, but Brock will come on strong in the later rounds. McCline gets up off the canvass only to be stopped in the ninth.
Marc Lichtenfeld
This is do-or-die for McCline, who has been on the cusp of bigger things for quite some time. Unfortunately, Brock is on a roll and in this case youth will prevail. Brock by decision.
Robert Mladinich
Out of the Klitschko brothers' mold, Jameel McCline has a big body and a suspect gas tank. Still, chasing Chris Byrd around the ring for 36 minutes can do that to the big fellows, so if we toss that loss out, unbeaten Calvin Brock may be stepping up into a world of trouble. The only name on Brock's 24-0 resume belongs to Clifford Etienne, who spent almost as much time on the floor as he did on his feet against the hard-hitting former Olympian. Still, there is an old Romanian proverb: "Even when fed chickens a young tiger is a no less a tiger." Brock by decision.
Pat Putnam
Jameel McCline would be defending the IBF heavyweight title these days if he had not punched himself out against Chris Byrd. Big Time will not make the same mistake against Calvin Brock. McCline by unanimous decision.
Aaron Tallent


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You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world.
Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics, Prescriptive Analytics…
The Big Data revolution's got all kinds of scientific terms buzzing around today's boardrooms at warp speed, smashing into each other on the path to becoming enterprise-wide solutions to business success. But what do they really mean? And more specifically, what do they really mean to marketers?Read more
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You've got the social proof that referral marketing works. But how well is it working for you?
While an endorsement from a family member or friend holds stronger influence than most advertising and marketing channels, are you doing everything you can to optimize conversions after the initial referral takes place?
Immediate credit toward product and services can be enticing for some but if they're still on the fence or not ready to buy, how are you engaging them in a way that will keep their attention and keep you top of mind?
Try segmenting based on wealth...Read more
We know that data-driven marketing is becoming more critical to marketers and fundraisers. One doesn't need a crystal ball to know it will continue to influence what we build and execute in 2016. Let's be clear, it's not about more data, but data that can drive business decisions. Company leaders, especially within the C-suite, are considering how they will define their own vision of a data-driven company, the metrics required and how to adopt predictive prospecting as a strategy.
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Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Can I eat it?
This food obsession is driving my life. I've gone from cooking with a Cordon Bleu chef to massaging a guinea hen corpse with olive oil and salt in Florence. I'm the only one I know who greeted the invasion of the Zebra mussels with the question, "Can we eat them?"
Posted by BC at 4:01 PM
2 comments:
- kitchenmage said...
"Can we eat them?"
Me too! Glad to meet you.
- June 19, 2007 at 12:18 AM
- BC said...
The most credible sounding information I could find was at this website
- June 24, 2007 at 9:44 AM
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Glass half empty? Pessimist. Glass half full? Optimist. But what if you just don't care how much liquid is in your cup?
That's me lately. Not really excited about anything or upset about something, just sort of going through the motions and trying to figure out what will inspire me to start being me again.
Earlier this week I was driving to work, crossing over that long, low wooden bridge that I've often photographed at sunset. I realized I was driving on auto-pilot, and forced myself to focus on the fall colors around me, reflecting in the almost-still morning water. A movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to turn my head, just in time to watch a Bald Eagle deftly pluck a small fish from the creek and fly off.
If that's not a sign to wake up and start paying attention, I don't know what is!
So this week I'm forcing myself to wake up, to start taking care of things that matter and pay attention to the awesomeness around me. To know when to go to bed, when to stop working and when to play so I don't always feel like I'm playing catch-up. To get back into the gym and increase how often I swim laps in the pool so I feel better in my own skin. To teach my Mom how to use iTunes, because she does so much for me without being asked. To download the pictures and video from my camera so I can share the joy in a 4-year-old's birthday with her family on Facebook. To spend a day baking so I can send a "Thank you" package to a friend who helped me out.
Some of these tasks will be easier than others, but there's a saying, "Fake it 'til you make it." That attitude is going to help me drive my car to the gym today after work. (It's also going to help me get out of my car, into my clothes and onto an elliptical!) Hopefully, somewhere in between faking it and making it, I'll lose the "Meh" feeling*, find some unexpected joys and lose some extra pounds.
Speaking of extra pounds, keep your fingers crossed that I'll also find the strength to actually mail out all of those baked goodies instead of crawling into bed with a good book, a glass of red wine and a platter of cookies and cakes!
* I've concluded that having a "Meh" day is fine — totally justifiable based on the comfort and pleasure factors of chocolate, fleece, a good book or movie and my own company. However, a "Meh" month isn't so fine and must be addressed before I forget how to talk to people in person, the mountains of leaves make it impossible to walk to my front door, or I end up having to buy another size of "fat jeans" when I swore that this size was going to be my numerical limit for my closet and my butt.


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With the 2011 Verizon Business Data Breach Investigation Report and breach after breach after breach recently in the news, you might be thinking that information security is all about malevolent actors right now. The "black hats" seem to have become very good at targeting, infiltrating, and extracting valued data from desirable targets.
An article yesterday by Ellen Messmer at Network World spotlights another important issue in information security today: business partners sharing information insecurely. At Lutheran Life Communities (LLC), when they installed Palisade Data Loss Prevention (DLP) systems , it was found that business partners were transmitting personal health information (PHI) insecurely to LLC. LLC has chosen a practical response by warning business partners of the problem.
In my experience, this is not an isolated problem. In the past, the DLP vendor community has highlighted the "insider problem" where employees -- usually just trying to do their jobs -- end up using poor business practices and cause frequent exposures of personal financial information (PFI) and/or personal health information, the two most highly-regulated types of personal identifying information (PII). However, in numerous DLP installations I've observed, I have seen data inbound into organizations containing PFI and PHI violations, such as unwary customers sending credit card information in unsecured email messages into companies to request purchases. I have also seen medical facilities where PHI was unexpectedly being transferred insecurely in and out of the organization, just as LLC noted in Ellen's article.
We have become aware of the risks of data loss. Governments have begun enforcing data protection requirements. We have developed policies and tools that have significantly raised the standards for protecting confidential information. Let's put these tools and policies to good use.