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Paul Kelbie
There was never any doubt what Gordon Gentle would end up doing when he left school. Both his mother's brothers had served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers in Northern Ireland, and for the quiet, 6ft 2in Celtic fan it seemed there was never an alternative but to follow in their footsteps.
School friends teased him over his military ambitions, saying he was too kind and good-natured to be a soldier. He was called Gentle, after all. But the teenager had the strength of character to ignore them, and enlisted with the regiment last year.
On Wednesday, the same friends, who nicknamed him him "Soft", will gather to honour a 19-year-old who joined the Army to see the world but ended up being the 60th and last British soldier to be killed in Iraq before the handover of power to the new Iraqi government.
Fusilier Gordon Gentle died last week and two of his colleagues were seriously wounded when a bomb planted by the side of a road in Basra was detonated as their Land Rover passed by.
His death caused outrage when it emerged that he had only just completed his basic training before being sent to Iraq. His parents condemned the lack of preparation.
Yesterday it was reported that a number of servicemen have been sent to Iraq without undergoing training designed to help them deal with likely threats. The Ministry of Defence is pleading "exceptional" circumstances.
Since news of his death was broken to his family last week the tight-knit community of Pollok in Glasgow has been in shock. Family and friends have attacked the Government and the Army for sending such a raw recruit into a combat zone.
"He shouldn't have been there, none of our boys should be there," said his tearful mother, Rose, who works as a cleaner. "Why don't Tony Blair and Geoff Hoon send their own families out to Iraq? My son was just a bit of meat to them, just a number. They don't care about him - all they're worried about is the next election."
The garden of the family's modest terraced home has been turned into a makeshift memorial to the soldier as friends and neighbours have draped flowers, cards, soft toys and Celtic football shorts over a wooden picket fence adorned with messages of condolence.
A steady stream of well-wishers have called to honour the boy, who was well known and liked in the community.
"All the kids in the street are devastated," said Paul Montague, a neighbour. "He was a marvellous guy." On Friday the body of the young soldier - the first Royal Highland Fusilier to be killed by hostile fire in 24 years - was flown back to Scotland for a military funeral this week at St James's Church, which lies just around the corner from the family home.
"I am confident that the Pollok community will turn out in their hundreds to pay tribute to Gordon Gentle," said the Scottish Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan, a family friend.
Mr Sheridan, a childhood friend of Rose who knew the teenager all his life, described the soldier as a "delightful young man".
"He was at the very heart of everything that was good about the community," said Mr Sheridan. "He was involved in organising the local gala day, the annual football tournament … in saving the local community hall from closure. He was involved in all the activities which make a community a community."
It was partly due to that same selfless spirit that, despite his first overseas posting being to a war zone, Mr Gentle had assured his family he was happy to go as it was "part of the job" and he accepted the risks. He was proud to wear the uniform of a regiment with more than 200 battle honours to its name, even though he told Rose that all he was doing was "delivering water".
Throughout his tour of duty he regularly wrote or called home, always upbeat about life and making plans for his return. He told his family how he had taken up boxing and was looking forward to heading off to Greece or Spain on holiday this month.
His last letter arrived about 48 hours after he had been killed - further grief for the family. It said how much he was excited about coming home to see friends and have a "bevy" with his dad.
The two men were close. When, in April, Gordon completed basic training at Catterick in South Yorkshire and passed out in a military parade in front of his family, his father, George, called it "the proudest moment of my life". A family portrait shows the serious-looking soldier in full dress uniform flanked by his smiling and adoring sisters, Pamela, 21, and Maxine, 14.
For a hard-working family from Pollok - a Glasgow suburb - their son's graduation into the ranks of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Highland Fusiliers was a matter of achievement.
"He was the best son a father could ever hope for," said Mr Gentle, the 45-year-old painter and decorator who has been devastated by the loss of his only son.
Brought up in a tight-knit community where neighbours watch over one another and children play happily in the street Gordon Gentle was instilled with a sense of duty, fair play and social conscience.
Before joining the Army the teenager used to help organise the local Pollok Gala, deliver campaign leaflets for the Scottish Socialist Party and was regarded as the "kind of lad who would do anything to help".
"He was a fine, upstanding, hard-working guy who was always a credit to the school," said Wullie Todd, deputy head teacher of the local Hillpark Secondary School, which Gordon attended until leaving to join the Army.
"Gordon was always keen to get involved in school activities and was a great asset," he said. "His death has been a great shock and we are all devastated for his family."
The young soldier's transformation from playground to parade ground started last year with 14 weeks' basic training, then a 16-week combat infantry course at Catterick Infantry Training Centre in North Yorkshire.
The first 12 weeks were spent on weapons training; map reading and battlefield first aid, together with nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) training, followed by lessons in battlefield communications and physical fitness.
After the first phase the youngster was taught the fighting skills of an infantry soldier, combat tactics and - in preparation for deployment to the Gulf - did a one-week course on convoy drills, and ambush awareness.
Despite assertions from the Army that the teenager had been properly trained, his family are not convinced and are angry that he was sent in to a combat zone after such a short time in the military.
"He was just out of training a matter of weeks before he was sent to Iraq," said the boy's uncle, Gordon Graham, who was a fusilier for six years. "He did the basic training but that just does not give enough preparation for what he faced in Iraq. He hadn't had the time to be trained properly."
Mr Graham's brother, Wullie, was also a member of the same regiment. He said the Army needed to give young lads like his nephew at least two years' training before sending them into situations like Iraq.
"Gordon shouldn't have been there, it's not our war," Mr Graham said.
"The Army sent a baby to do a man's job," said the teenager's aunt, Senga Fry, who described her nephew as "a lovely, handsome, big lad who had lots of pals and plenty of girlfriends".
The family, although grieving, remains proud. In the words of his father: "He managed to get out of Pollok and do something with his life."
Paul Kelbie is Scotland Correspondent for The Independent newspaper, UK.
Article courtesy of The Independent


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The Rev. Ian Punnett is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church who has served most recently at St. Clement's Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and earned his master of divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta.
Ian has for many years been a popular radio talk show host on stations in Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, where he co-hosted a morning program with his wife Margery. He was also the weekend host of the nationally syndicated program Coast to Coast AM.
He's the author of "How to Pray When You're P****d at God," published by Random House. For more information visit www.howtopraybook.com.
Just to get re-acquainted, I am Ian Punnett. I'm an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. Not everybody understands the difference between a deacon and a priest, and I understand that because the diaconate is expressed differently in various traditions; but remember that deacons, while less known or understood than the priesthood as holy orders go, actually there were deacons before there were priests. And in the Episcopal Church, we are considered a separate but equal holy order.Read full transcript...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Zinfandel first appeared in the United States in the 1820s when Long Island nursery owner George Gibbs imported several grape vines from the Imperial collection in Vienna. One of the vines was Zinfandel. (The current thinking is that Zinfandel originated in Croatia where it is called Plavac Mali.) In the 1850s, Zinfandel made its way to California.
Source: http://www.beekmanwine.com/factsquotes.htm


text:
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text: Been having issues since day 1 of getting my Bionic. Really starting to get annoyed... I have issues with 4g not being able to connect, when it does connect the phone is idle but as soon as I go to do something if disappears...flashes on and off and then in addition..I have no bars for phone service. It really does not matter where I am at either..I live in Pittsburgh and travel all around the surrounding area and have the same problem no matter where I go. And since .902 battery life has gone south...I mean my battery will die in less than 7 hours with almost no usage other than a phone call or two. When I check to see what has been using the battery..it almost always the Android OS with the most usage. Any ideas or suggestions?


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Your parish's divine fuel source
A participating community is energized or spirited. Go back and read the Pentecost story again (Acts 2:1-11).
- As you read it, keep in mind that while most Catholics know this story, very few of them have ever read it in the Bible. They know it because they've heard it proclaimed at Mass on Pentecost Sunday.
- Keep in mind that for most of the catechumens, the first time they will hear this story is at Mass on Pentecost Sunday.
- And keep in mind that the first time the neophytes hear this story as fully participating members of the Body will be eight Sundays after their baptism, at Mass on Pentecost Sunday.
In other words, for most Catholics, this is not a story that is associated with the history of first-century Jerusalem. It is a living testament that is part of their ongoing celebration of the liturgy.
In that context, we hear proclaimed:
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. (Acts 2:1-4)
Luke's unique vision
Since Luke, the author of Acts, was not one of the original disciples, he was not there to witness this event. And, if you read John's eyewitness account of the sending of the Spirit (Jn 20:19-23, also proclaimed on Pentecost Sunday), it didn't happen this way at all. It didn't even happen on Pentecost. So what is Luke up to? Luke is describing the effects of a community that is filled with the Spirit, which he can attest to personally. Luke has experienced life in the Spirit. So when he sets out to write an account of the sending of that Spirit, he wants to use language and images that will communicate the power of that Spirit.
Luke lived in a driven community, a community propelled to mission as if by hurricane force. The Spirit was in and through his community as though it were a strong, driving wind. Luke's community was on fire with the Spirit. He could see it in their faces when they talked about their faith, when they gathered for prayer, when they went out to serve the poor. They glowed with God's Spirit, as though someone had lit them on fire like torches.
Luke's community not only welcomed strangers, they went out to find them. They didn't worry that the strangers were from different cultures or different neighborhoods or different socio-economic groups. They knew their message of good news was a universal message that could be communicated to anyone. They didn't need to speak the language of commerce or politics or religion or philosophy. They only needed to speak of God's love. That was a universal language people of every nation, of every tongue, understood.
Fire up your liturgy
Some elements of energetic liturgy might include the following:
- A conversational tone as people gather for worship, recognizing Christ in each other and exchanging greetings.
- A gathering song the community knows by heart and sings with gusto.
- Heartfelt and hearty responses to the prayers. The liturgy is a dialogue, and it should sound like one.
- Purposeful and sure-footed movement by all the ministers of the liturgy. Everyone should be confident in their movements.
- Spirited and excellent proclamation of the readings in such a way that the assembly believes the message being proclaimed.
- An engaging and engaged presider. A homily that is a passionate statement of faith.
- A Communion procession that does not lag, in which everyone participates and everyone stands in solidarity with all who are sharing Christ's Body and Blood. Communion, especially Communion, is not a time for kneeling in private prayer.
- A minimum of announcements, second collections, and extraliturgical talks or meditations that drag down the energy of the assembly.
- A final blessing that encourages, empowers, and enables the assembly to go out and engage in the mission of the Gospel in their daily lives.
- A community that "hangs out" after Mass, chatting and connecting with one another because they are in no hurry to leave.
The driven, fiery, loving spirit that shows through in a community celebrating in this way is also a key symbol in the liturgy. An energetic, spirited community catechizes about the mission we are baptized into. We are not dejected, forlorn messengers of doom. Jesus enjoyed life and was so passionate about being in the thick of things, he sometimes wore himself out. By bringing an energetic spirit to the liturgy and using that energy to enliven our celebration, we learn how to communicate the joy and energy of God's Spirit to the world. We will know our communities are initiating communities when guests are "blown over" and "fired up" by the energy they experience in our liturgies.
Next action
The next topic in this course will be e-mailed to you in a few days. In the next day or two, look up the readings for Pentecost Sunday and pray over them. Then choose two actions from the bullet points above to implement as you are able in your parish setting.
If you found this page through a search engine or from a link sent to you by a friend, you are more than welcome to sign up for the entire course. It's free! Just go to this link to get started.


text:
By Well Groomed
Posted in W-G Engagements
Gotta hand it to this bearded, mustached guy for keeping it seasonal. A few pumpkins make great props in this forest-y engagement session. He mixes brown boots, grey pants, and a grey and blue tie like a pro. Want to grasp the skill? Check out W-G's tips for mixing black, brown, grey, and blue.
images by Emily Steffen


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The Home of Guided Tours of Mid Wales
Almost every region in Mid Wales has something interesting to discover - quiet villages, stunning scenery, historical buildings lost in the countryside...so before rushing to visit the most popular regions why not think about somewhere else for a change? You can avoid the crowds and still have a great time discovering the 'real' Mid Wales!
Welsh Overland Safari is an independent guided tour company offering unique overland guided tours of some of the most beautiful, unspoilt landscapes in Europe, as well as rare natural habitats for wildlife. One of Wales's best kept secrets, the region has a rich and diverse history dating back to well before Roman times. Exploring the rugged mountains, lakes, waterfalls and forests of the area.


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It was announced on Tuesday that Twitter has launched an online task force with the sole purpose of finding offensive posts and shutting down those accounts.
As the Washington Examiner reports, the new "Trust and Safety Council" is a conglomeration of over 40 organizations from 13 regions around the world. The council includes groups such as the Feminist Frequency, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Together, these groups will hunt down offensive messages, violent speech, or any perceived hateful remarks.
A statement released by Twitter said:
With hundreds of millions of tweets sent per day, the volume of content on Twitter is massive, which makes it extraordinarily complex to strike the right balance between fighting abuse and speaking truth to power.
It requires a multi-layered approach where each of our 320 million users has a part to play, as do the community of experts working for safety and free expression.
In developing the Council, we are taking a global and inclusive approach so that we can hear a diversity of voices. As we develop products, policies, and programs, our Trust and Safety Council will help us tap into the expertise and input of organizations at the intersection of these issues more efficiently and quickly.
Certainly the move is aimed to help combat propaganda disseminated on Twitter by Islamic terror groups like ISIS. As the Examiner reports, 125,000 ISIS-associated accounts have been "silently removed" since mid-2015. Twitter has also amended its terms of service, making it clear that it will not put up with abusive language.
However, in its efforts to secure the "safety of digital citizenship" and ensure "greater compassion and empathy" online, the Twitter police will undoubtedly stumble into censoring free speech made by conservatives or Christians who are simply expressing their beliefs.
Twitter joins Facebook in combating "extremist speech" and cracking down on xenophobia on social media.


text:
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text:
In July, a 30-inch oil pipeline burst in Battle Creek, Mich., near a
tributary of the Kalamazoo River. The cracked pipe leaked an estimated
million gallons of oil into the water, and at the time, Enbridge Energy,
the Canadian company that owns the pipe, promised a complete cleanup
and rigorous review of its practices. "This is our responsibility," said Patrick Daniel, Enbridge's chief executive officer. "This is our mess. We're going to clean it up."
But that cleanup has itself been messy. An investigation by the
Michigan Messenger – a sister site of the Washington Independent, also
part of the American Independent News Network – found undocumented
workers laboring in unsafe conditions at the cleanup site.
An Enbridge Energy subcontractor bused in undocumented workers to
labor for up to 100 hours a week, clearing debris and cleaning up oil in
unsafe conditions. In response to the Messenger investigation, Enbridge
fired the subcontractor, who sent the workers back to Texas. There, the
undocumented workers, awaiting cash payments for their efforts, met
with local authorities – and many were detained.
The scandal has gone national, with politicians expressing dismay at
the conditions at the Michigan cleanup site and the labor abuses, and
authorities turning their attention to the companies doing the dirty
business of getting America's waterways clean.
An Unsafe Cleanup
After the Michigan oil spill, Enbridge hired contractor Garner
Environmental Services to aid in the cleanup of the river. Garner, in
turn, hired Texas-based Hallmark Industrial to supply workers. Last
month, Hallmark bused scores of undocumented workers to the cleanup
site. Living in hotels, the workers spent 12 to 14 hours a day cleaning
oil-soaked islands and shorelines along the Kalamazoo River. The workers
received $800 per week in cash for their efforts.
After receiving an initial tip from a Hallmark worker who asked not
to be identified for fear of reprisals, the Michigan Messenger visited a
rally site where the workers were picked up every morning. Half of two
dozen men interviewed there admitted to being undocumented workers. All
of them asked not to be identified.
Photographs supplied by a whistle-blower showed clear violations of
safety standards. In those photos, undocumented workers were seen
covered in oil and mud getting food and water. In one photo, a worker
covered in oil sits on the white cooler from which workers get their
Last week, after the Messenger investigation, Garner fired Hallmark. The workers were put on charter buses back to Texas.
Workers, Seeking Pay, End Up Detained
The buses stopped in Winnie, Texas, behind a bank. Reportedly, the
workers on the buses were expecting cash payments from Phillip Hallmark,
the head of Hallmark Industrial. Soon after, neighbors complained to
the police about the buses, which were blocking a street. When sheriffs
arrived, the men held in the buses ran.
Local authorities took custody of 59 of the Battle Creek workers, and
about 40 men got away. Authorities say 42 of the 59 detained workers
were undocumented, and they were sent to a detention facility in
Houston. Legal residents were released and allowed to collect their
belonging from the buses. Authorities continue to search for men who
escaped during the detention process.
Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive spoke with the Messenger after the
incident. "The [charter bus] drivers were told to drive them to this
small house in our little community," LaRive said in a phone interview.
"They were to meet Mr. Hallmark once they got there. Of course, he was
nowhere around when we showed up."
LaRive indicated that law enforcement is looking for Phillip
Hallmark. "I'm sure the federal authorities will be very interested in
talking to him," he says.
Enbridge Pushes Back
In the wake of the Messenger investigation, the firing of Hallmark
and the detention of its workers, Enbridge Energy — the company
repsonsible for the spill — has claimed no responsibility for the
workers cleaning it up.
Last week, Enbridge officials said there was no official proof that
the undocumented workers were in any way connected to the spill cleanup
in Michigan. "This is an issue between law enforcement, Hallmark and
Garner," said Terri Larson, Enbridge spokesperson. "There is no direct
connection between Enbridge and Hallmark."
Larson stressed that contractor agreements with Enbridge contained
"very strict" provisions about following all applicable state and
federal laws. Asked if the Hallmark situation would impact the Garner
contract, Larson said, "That's something I cannot discuss."
Larson referred many questions to Garner Environmental, which has consistently failed to return media inquiries.
A Broader Investigation
But the Messenger investigation is ginning up broader questions about
Enbridge's labor and safety practices. A look at the company's record
reveals a pattern of problems with worker safety including multiple
worker deaths in recent years.
This summer the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) cited Enbridge for "willful" and "serious" violations after a
chemical release at a company natural gas processing plant in Texas
resulted in the death of a worker. According to OSHA one employee died
and another was left in critical condition on Jan. 10 when hydrogen
sulfide was released as workers replaced a faulty valve on a waste heat
boiler in the sulfur plant.
Federal officials say Enbridge failed to develop and implement safe
work practices for workers exposed to hydrogen sulfide and failed to
provide the workers with respirators — required personal protection
These violations were committed, they said "with intentional, knowing
or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain
indifference to employee safety and health."
OSHA also cited Enbridge for failing to review current operating
procedures, failing to inform contract workers of the known potential
fire, explosion or toxic release hazards related their work and not
requiring the use of necessary flame resistant clothing. The agency
assessed $152,100 in fines for these violations.
In August, the Department of Transportation's Pipeline Hazardous
Materials Administration fined Enbridge $2.4 million for safety
violations involving worker safety and failure to conduct required
monitoring and maintenance.
DOT officials said that two Enbridge workers died in a crude oil
explosion in Clearbrook, Minn., as they worked to make repairs on the
Lakehead pipeline, and they cited Enbridge for failing to safely and
adequately perform maintenance and repair activities, clear the
designated work area from possible sources of ignition, and hire
properly trained and qualified workers.
The agency also ordered Enbridge to revise and implement certain
pipeline maintenance and repair procedures and to train and requalify
its employees.
While work seems dangerous for Enbridge employees — overall, from
2004-2008, 395 injuries were recorded by Enbridge and then reported to
management according to the Canadian environmental group the Polaris Institute
— actual statistics are probably much higher because 80 percent of
Enbridge workers are non-union and have little protection against
discrimination if they report a problem.
"Officially, Enbridge provides on the job health and safety training
as mandated by federal and provincial jurisdictions, and has established
health and safety committees at each site," Polaris writes. "However,
the only collective agreement negotiated with the company to include
specific provisions regarding proactive health and safety precautions,
training and remedial action is between Enbridge Gas Distribution and
the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union in Ontario."
Many workers involved in direct cleanup of the Kalamazoo River spill
were hired by subcontractors who were required only to provide on site
lectures about hazardous substances and personal protection gear.
Under Michigan regulations all employers at a multi-employer job
sites share responsibility for ensuring that proper safety ruled are
followed, according to Michael T. Mason, safety and health manager for
the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Inspectors at the Enbridge oil spill cleanup site on a daily basis,
conducted "walkarounds" of the job site and asked workers if they had
been trained, Mason said. "We can tell by interviews and by watching
them we can tell if [workers] have been trained." Mason acknowledged
that direct observation can be difficult at a 25-mile job site such as
the cleanup area along the Kalamazoo River.
Political Attention in the Wake of the Spill
And the Michigan and Texas incident has garnered the attention of politicians as well.
For one, politicians in Michigan are incensed that Enbridge did not
use local workers, as the state has the second-highest unemployment rate
in the country. Rep. Mark Schauer (D) sent letters
to the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency as well as
the Secretary of Labor calling for an investigation of Enbridge, due to
the Messenger investigation.
"Enbridge needs to live up to the commitment it made to our
community, be a good neighbor, and start hiring qualified Michigan
workers to clean up the spill," Schauer said. "Our community repeatedly
asked the EPA and Enbridge to use local labor, and the fact that
Enbridge allowed one of its contractors to hire illegal immigrants is
In an interview with the Michigan Messenger, Schauer took aim not
only at the undocumented worker hiring scandal, but also the whole
culture of using independent contractors to skirt the law.
"I have worked for some time on the independent contractor fraud that
goes on. This is when, typically in the construction trades — and this
situation on the river clean up sort of classically fits the mold —
where companies will hire workers as independent contractors, as 1099
independent contractors. It's specifically done to evade paying taxes,"
Schauer said, noting independent contractor payments do not have any
federal or state taxes deducted from them.
This leaves the individual responsible for those taxes. "Now that's
cheating the taxpayer, but it's also creating an unfair advantage for
these companies that are hiring workers as independent contractors
rather than full employees."
This of course is an issue tied to undocumented workers, Schauer
noted. In an interview with the Messenger, Hallmark said his independent
contractors were not required to fill out I-9 federal forms. Those
forms verify that a person is legally eligible to work in the United
"In this case this seems to be a loophole in which the employer is
claiming they don't have to check the legal status of these workers and
require them to complete I-9 forms," Schauer said. "So there's tax fraud
and there's also a violation of the law by hiring undocumented workers,
it appears."
Schauer says this unfair advantage the independent contracting
process allows, combined with the lack of legal status verification,
makes it hard for Michigan workers to compete.
"It's outrageous and disgusting that our local workers — including
many who have hazmat training and certifications — have been cheated out
of these opportunities to do this work," Schauer said. "This is another
example of a company cutting corners ad cheating our workers out of an
opportunity to support their families."
Schauer said he has been trying "since the very start" of the spill
to connect local workers with Enbridge Energy Partners. But those
attempts have failed.
Schauer said the allegations of safety violations and the hiring of
undocumented workers will become part of a scheduled Sept. 15 House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearings on the July 25 oil spill.
He says the oil spill was a violation of the people of Calhoun county and "it shouldn't have happened."
"What people are looking for is fundamental fairness and that appears to have been violated here," he said.
Further Allegations About Hallmark
The incident is also shining a light on Phillip Hallmark
and his company's labor practices. The Texas Independent reports
Hallmark is already under indictment by a Chambers County jury for
insurance fraud and theft in a previous, unrelated case.
Hallmark's attorney Joseph C. "Lum" Hawthorn said last week he had
recently been in touch with his client and was aware of Hallmark's
whereabouts. When asked where Hallmark is, Hawthorn cited
attorney-client privilege, saying, "That's none of your business."
Hawthorn said Hallmark was not currently in custody, that he was aware of.
Regarding the charge involving insurance fraud and theft, Hallmark
has a court date set in Anahuac for Oct. 1. He was originally slated to
appear in court Friday, Aug. 27.
Allegedly, in July 2006, Hallmark's accomplice Joe Collins claimed to
State Farm Insurance Company that Collins' 2003 Ford F-150 was stolen
from a parking lot, when Hallmark and Collins were hiding the truck,
according to grand jury indictments from December 2009.
Hallmark's wife Holly is an insurance agent in Port Arthur for Farmers Insurance Group. She is not named in court documents.
In 2004, Hallmark was fined $1,000 after pleading no contest to
election code violations involving campaigns for Port of Port Arthur
commissioner. Hallmark was charged with failing to report newspaper
advertisements that he paid for to the candidates he supported or to
authorities. Hawthorn also represented Hallmark during the 2004 case.
Hallmark is the son of former Jefferson County Commissioner Waymon Hallmark, who retired in 2009.
The Michigan Messenger's Todd Heywood and Eartha Jane Meltzer,
the Florida Independent's Travis Pillow and the Texas Independent's
Patrick Brendel contributed reporting and writing to this story.


text:
HQ: 3996 poly; 3373 verts
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text:
"Snow Cake" A Treat
The film opens against the backdrop of a snowy highway as Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman), a grumpy ex-con who doesn't like to talk much, begins a road trip to Winnipeg. At a roadside restaurant, he meets Vivienne Freeman (Emily Hampshire), a quirky teen who has selected Alex as the safest choice for a free ride home to the small town of Wawa, Ontario.
Alex begrudgingly agrees to take her, but warns "you better get out when I've had enough." Gregarious Vivienne has just started to get Alex to crack a smile, but she is killed when they're hit by a truck just outside of Wawa.
Although it's not his fault, Alex goes to apologize to Vivienne's mother, Linda Freeman (Sigourney Weaver), a high-functioning, very verbal autistic woman. She handles the news matter-of-factly and insists Alex stay with her, help plan the funeral and do Vivienne's chores.
Linda's straightforward view of the world, unencumbered by the emotions and conventions of supposedly "normal" people, has a healing affect on Alex.
Alex also falls into a relationship with Linda's sophisticated single neighbor Maggie, gently played by Carrie-Ann Moss. Maggie doesn't demand much of Alex and is able to coax him into opening up about his past.
Weaver captures Linda's honest view of the world — as pure, and clean as the fresh-fallen snow she loves so much.
Weaver, with the help of Angela Pell's thoughtful and witty script, plays Linda as a strong and independent soul who happens to be autistic.
In one scene, Alex finds Linda in the backyard, joyfully rolling around in the snow. She tells Alex that Vivienne once described an orgasm to her, which she thinks "sounds like an inferior version of what I feel when I have a mouthful of snow."
Pell, whose own son is autistic (and loves to eat snow), doesn't let the script succumb to the gimmickry that so often accompanies films about behavioral disorders. Linda doesn't have any unusual talents, she isn't taken out of her environment to experience the "real" world, and she's not miraculously cured at the end.
The role of Alex was written with Rickman in mind, so it's no surprise that he's perfect for it. He plays Alex with subtlety, using gesture or expression to portray his character's emotional reawakening.
Rickman is also quite funny in a dry, British sort of way. He and Weaver have some great comic moments together, highlighted by a Scrabble game played according to Linda's unique rules.
Weaver and Rickman have worked together before, in the 1999 sci-fi comedy "Galaxy Quest." It was Rickman who suggested Weaver for the role of Linda.
The movie was shot in the actual town of Wawa, which is by the shores of Lake Superior. A giant Canada goose sculpture that's the town's landmark, the nature murals on the restaurant walls, and Linda's cardigan sweater embroidered with birds and trees which Alex wears give the film an authentic North Woods charm.
"Snow Cake" was directed by Marc Evans and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was also screened at this year's Berlin Film Festival and Hong Kong Film Festival A commercial release date has not been set.


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Vancouver Canucks: Ryan Kesler's Surgery Shows Challenges of a Long Playoff RunAugust 3, 2011
The Vancouver Canucks run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals was a great achievement, even if they didn't win the ultimate prize. However, the great success of a long playoff run usually comes at a price and the Canucks are learning that the hard way.
Today the Canucks announced that their All-Star and Selke award-winning centre Ryan Kesler had successful hip surgery and will require 10 to 12 weeks of rehab. If you do the math, you'll realize that Kesler will be doubtful at best to return for the regular season opener on October 6.
But if you go back to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which took place on June 15, and do the math again you'll realize it's been more than six weeks between then and now.
So why did it take so long for Kesler to have surgery?
After all, everyone knew that Kesler was playing hurt throughout the Stanley Cup Finals. It was apparent that he injured himself in the Western Conference-clinching victory against the San Jose Sharks.
But the Canucks management and medical staff thought that Kesler might be able to avoid surgery by putting him on a recovery program combined with some rest. However, a visit to a hip specialist proved that surgery would be the best option in order to avoid any future problems.
Of course, if the Canucks postseason run had ended earlier, Kesler would have presumably started his recovery program earlier. The Canucks would have then figured out that he needed surgery much earlier and the rehab process from that surgery wouldn't be putting his status on opening night in doubt.
It doesn't take a rocket science to figure out that a longer playoff run increases the chances of players getting hurt and decreases their recovery time for next season. It doesn't seem fair that the team that came closest to winning that Stanley Cup without actually hoisting it is now at a disadvantage compared to the other 28 teams that didn't hoist the Cup.
But that's the harsh reality of professional sports and there's nothing that can be done about it. The worst part for the Canucks is that they seem to have been hit by that harsh reality worse than most teams who have been in their position previously.
Not only is Kesler injured and doubtful for the start of the regular season, but several other key contributors for the Canucks also suffered serious injuries during the playoffs that may cause them to miss the season opener as well.
Dan Hamhuis, Mason Raymond, and Mikeal Samuelsson all underwent surgical procedures as a result of playoff-related injuries. Samuelsson's came in the second round against the Nashville Predators, while Raymond and Hamhuis were both knocked out of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins prematurely.
Raymond's procedure was the most serious as he needed to repair a fractured vertebra and will likely be out of action until November. Hamhuis and Samuelsson's status for the regular season opener is unclear at this point, but even if they have to miss time in the preseason it may hurt the Canucks.
Athletes today have such a strict training schedule that being forced to miss workouts and games can result in players falling behind in terms of their fitness level and sharpness on the ice. Everyone is working to improve and get an edge in the offseason and it's hard to keep up when you're at a disadvantage before the season even starts.
This is the main reason why many champions and finalists suffer from slow starts the following season in hockey and other sports. It's usually not because of a so-called Stanley Cup hangover. It's the fact that the opposition teams get to rest sooner, which means they can start training sooner and become that much better before the start of the next season.
In the world of professional sports, the slightest advantage can make a huge difference in the end results. Fortunately for the Canucks, the absence of one of their best defenseman along with possibly their entire second line is coming at the start of the season and not during the playoffs.
The question is will they be able to catch up to the rest of the NHL once they get back to full health?


text: Lila Chupa-Hoops Spins Roxanne at Midnight Carnival! Lila Chupa-Hoops (on Facebook and @lila_chupahoops on Instagram) of LilaChupa-Hoops.com crushes it with her latest performance. She's dazzling us here on stage at the Midnight Carnival in San Diego, California, USA. From start to finish, taking us from a single hoop to quad hooping, we're completely captivated and loving every minute of it! Produced by Valentina Martin. Video by Matt Hohlfeld and Tony Magpantay. Lila lives in Paris, France. The soundtrack is "Watch Out Roxanne" by Loo & Placido.


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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunshine Award!
Hello, hello! I am so pleased to tell you all that I was given the Sunshine Award from Cheryl at Cheryl's Window. I was so surprised to find that she had chosen me as one of the recipients for this award! My goal, when starting this blog, was to inspired and teach people by sharing what I know, and I love knowing that someone out there appreciates it. Thank you Cheryl!
I believe it is now my duty to pass this award to more people. Here goes!
1) Nancy - Loves to Create
2) Bonnie - A Life Unrehearsed
3) Wendy (my mom!) - Wendy's Crafty Ways
4) Judit - Blooming Crafts
5) Jen - Jen With Sprinkles
6) Nilda - Paper Creations
7) Amy - Prairie Paper and Ink
8) Aymee - A Scraphappy Southernbelle
9) Emily - Emmie Lou Who Stamps and You
10) Stephanie - Handmade Creations by Stephanie
at 8:04 AM
4 comments:
thank you so much for the awardReplyDelete
aaaawwwww. thks Courtney!!! I am touched.. thanks for thinking of me! big hugs xoReplyDelete
You are so sweet to think of me! Thank you! I am going to be adding you to my blog roll because I want ALL of my visitors to see how talented you are! Your totally ROCK girl! Actually, I need to do a post on ya ;)ReplyDelete
I am so blessed to have a such a talented daughter who I learn from every day. Thanks for being so thoughtful!! ....oh and Happy Birthday tomorrow!ReplyDelete
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! Reading them is always the high light of my day!
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Oil tanker hijacked off Nigeria coast
SHAFAQNA – Pirates have hijacked a crude oil tanker off the Nigerian coast, taking three hostages and killing the vessel's Greek deputy commander, the Greek coastguard has said.The Malta-flagged Kalamos was anchored and awaiting fresh cargo from Qua Iboe, an oil terminal in Nigeria's southeastern region operated by ExxonMobil, before being attacked on Wednesday.
Two of the three hostages are Greek, and Greeks make up 10 out of the total 23 crew, a spokeswoman for the coastguard told AFP news agency.The hijacking of the 15-year-old tanker took place in the Gulf of Guinea, a region which has seen spurt in piracy.Between January and September last year the area recorded 33 incidents of piracy and armed robbery, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
It said the pirates operating off the coast of Nigeria, Togo and Benin are heavily armed and violent, and often hold crews hostage for several days.
Source : Aljazeera.net


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The World of Itock
Welcome to Itock!
Full of powerful magics, dangerous creatures and ambitious people, you've been thrust into the vast world of Itock!
A good place to start is the wiki. There you can find info on character creation, magic rules, race info and the general history and lore of Itock


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Angels Sending Dimes from Heaven
I get messages from angels all the time. Anyone can, all you have to do is listen. The one I remember the most is from the time I was downsized from my job. I'd had a feeling for a week that something was going on so I'd cleaned up all my files and the day I was done was the day I was dismissed.
We needed my income so of course I was worried. The next morning, as I was getting up, I found a dime on the living room carpet. Along with the dime, I got the message [from the angels]: "This is to let you know God will take care of you." Every day I found a dime and every day I was reminded that God will take care of us. It didn't matter if I was walking down the street, in the store or just at home, I found a dime.
After four months, I found a new job that was a higher pay than the one I'd left with more benefits. My job loss was a blessing in disguise. For awhile I didn't find any more dimes until one particular day. All of a sudden, I broke out in a rash that I couldn't get rid of so off to the doctor. I went. Finally I was diagnosed with Lupus and totally worried since I knew someone who had the disease and she wasn't doing well.
Later, when I walked through the door [of my house], there was a dime. I knew that [was a sign] that I would be okay. To this day if I have a worry or if I am praying about a particular thing, I find a dime.
- Pam B., winner of our Archangel Raphael book contest


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Let me start off by saying that this soup is one of my very favorites... seriously, it is. The Rusten House, a family run Mexican restaurant in my hometown, serves it as a starter dish. Growing up, I ate dinner there with my family about once a week from the time I was a little girl until I left home. When I go home and visit we always hit up the Rusten House... always. To this day, the waiter still remembers my order. Alright, I do get the same thing every time... albondigas soup and cheese enchiladas with rice and beans, so that's probably why he remembers. But I still think it's amazing.
Something I don't think are amazing...... piñatas.
Let me diverge for a moment.
Listen, I know they are supposed to be fun and you get loads of candy, but I have never liked them. Even as a child. I dreaded the piñata at my cousins birthday parties. DREADED.
We would wait in line to be blindfolded, spun around until we were dizzy, and given a wooden stick to beat down a paper mâché cartoon character. All the while, my grandpa who maned the piñata, would move the piñata up and down on a rope so you would miss the thing.... on purpose.... then laugh!
This is why I have never had a piñata at one of my girls birthday parties... even though they have begged... and pleaded...
I know, I know... your thinking I'm a little too sensitive. Your right, I need to get over my piñata phobia.
And I will...... eventually. It's just still too fresh.
Anyway, lets recap. What I think is amazing... Albondigas Soup and the Rusten House waiter remembering my order. Not so amazing... piñatas at birthday parties.
So, here ya go... my version of an amazing soup.
Albondigas Soup
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 carrots, cleaned and diced
- 4 stalks of celery, cleaned and diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 1/2 quarts of water (12 cups)
- 10 beef bullion cubes
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1/3 cup of uncooked long grain rice
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons of salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon of pepper, divided
- 1 teaspoon of season salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot on medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Stir to combine and cook for about 5 minutes. Next, add the water and the beef bullion cubes. Bring to a boil.
In the meantime, combine the ground beef, rice, remaining salt and pepper, season salt, oregano, and egg in a medium bowl. Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. With your hands, gently roll the ground beef mixture into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. This makes about 15 meatballs.
Once the soup has come to a boil, drop the meatballs in and cover. Lower the heat to medium low and let the soup simmer for about an hour or until the rice in the meatballs is cooked. Makes 6 servings.
I'm linking this amazing recipe up to the Tidy Mom and Dine and Dish Soup-a-Palooza!
Come join Soup-a-Palooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by Bush's Beans, Hip Hostess, Pillsbury and Westminster Crackers.
Printable Recipe here on Tasty Kitchen
Yours Truly... the piñata hater.


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The agent of Modibo Diakite insists his client could quite possibly depart Sunderland this winter.
The 26-year old French defender, who joined the Black Cats from Lazio in the summer, is a target for Serie A clubs Parma and Chievo Verona with his representative Ulisse Savini suggesting a move back to Italy is a possibility.
"Modibo could return to Italy in this January transfer window, there is a 50 per cent chance," Savini told Tuttomercatoweb.
"Parma and Chievo are interested in him. But it is possible even he could remain in the Premier League, we are evaluating various options."
For breaking stories and all the great banter like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tribalfootball


text: Greetings, I'm dropshipping and wholesaling 100% natural tumbled Agate Stones that is very beautiful and eye-catching including multiple varieties which are rare to find from the best agate mines worldwide. We have No MOQ (minimum order quantity) so you can order samples anytime before making large orders, and we ship worldwide. I will give you prices based on your choice and quantity wanted, pictures are available. waiting for your orders and inquiries through PMs... Best Regards


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Maple Leafs vs. Capitals: Stanley Cup Playoffs Odds and Prediction
If you go simply by regular-season points, the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series between the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals and the wild-card Toronto Maple Leafs is the biggest mismatch of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Then again, the Capitals have a history of disappointing in the postseason. They are heavy series favourites on Sports Interaction NHL odds. […] Read more at the SportsInteraction Blog!


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The levi's 511 slim fit black stretch sits between levi's skinny and straight fit (cut close but not too restricting). Features the classic five pocket design, zip fly, levi's signature red tab and black leather patch. Wash: black stretch fit: slim through thigh and leg, sits below waist composition: 99% cotton, 1% elastane style 04511-4406 normal rrp $119.95


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"The point of the work of your life is not what you accomplish. It's not the body of work. It's not how many people you touch. It's not the books you write or the product you create. It is the effort that you put into it that matters. It's the work, it's the showing up that matters…
He taught me to measure myself based on my effort, not my struggle, not my resistance, not my angst but my effort, my genuine effort."
Brooke claims that the teaching enabled her to shift her focus from what it is she is creating to the effort she is bringing forth to the creative process. In The Great Work of Your Life Stephen teaches that people feel most happy and fulfilled while meeting the challenge of their work or goals, not on completion of them. Courageous action should be measured, not the result.
He quotes Krishna " Success or failure are not your concern… Your task is only to bring as much life force as you can muster to the execution of your dharma".
Courageous action should be measured, not the result.
I find this teaching enormously liberating, and a powerful value to teach my children. Removing the pressure to succeed, and the anxiety of possible failure, certainly brings more enjoyment to the creative process. It probably improves the likelihood of success too – the creative juices can flow uninhibited and the added pleasure in the process may fuel a greater commitment. For children it must be hugely reassuring to believe that it is not important how good they are at something so long as they make an honest effort. The way I see it is that sometimes the effort required is our very best, and at other times that will be pushing beyond our fear to try something or to simply show up.
There are sooooo many gems within Brooke's Lessons from Stephen Cope podcast, so check out the full episode over at The Life Coach School. The transcript is also available for download.I hope you enjoy.
The Life Coach School Episode 80 Lessons from Stephen Cope by Brooke Castillo
The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope (I haven't read this but this is the book that Brooke references in her podcast.)


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Living Life Under Embargoes buff.ly/2Ep4I6r https://t.co/UodjpvxU84
That gum you like is very much coming back in style.
After teasing us last week, it was made official on Monday that Twin Peaks is definitely returning to television with a nine part series to air on Showtime in 2016. Mark Frost and David Lynch will be penning all of the scripts, and Lynch will direct all of the episodes.
Now… what's the story.
Frost did some interviews today and made it clear that this is not a reboot, but instead picks the story up 25 years later. He wouldn't reveal which, if any, actors will be returning, but did seem to indicate they expect some familiar faces to appear. And Kyle MacLachlan seems ready.
Better fire up that percolator and find my black suit :-) #Twinpeaks
— Kyle MacLachlan (@Kyle_MacLachlan) October 6, 2014
Frost also said that some questions we have been asking since the series left the air will indeed see answers.
This is all very intriguing as during one of Cooper's interactions with Laura in the Red Room had her saying, "I will see you again in 25 years." Did Lynch somehow plan this out? Doubtful as Frost said this came up about three years ago when he and Lynch had lunch after he remembered Laura's comment, but intriguing all the same.
It's going to be difficult to recapture the oddity of that series and make it compelling again, but over the years, every time I've caught an episode or a clip, it still pulls me in. I recently picked up the complete set and now I plan to work my way through it again and prepare myself to return to the Double R Diner, the Great Northern and… the Black Lodge.
Check out the promotional video released with the announcement below… and someone make sure there aren't any fish in the percolator.


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New York Times bestselling author Darcie Chan returns to the enchanting town of Mill River in a heartwarming novel of family, self-discovery, and forgiveness. Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy.
Josie DiSanti is starting over. Recently widowed, she has fled her New York City home with her two young daughters—spirited Rose and shy Emily—in tow. She takes refuge in Mill River, Vermont, to live with her only remaining relative, Ivy Collard, the local bookstore owner and a woman Josie barely knows. There, the young mother and her girls build a new life for themselves—until a shocking tragedy tears the sisters apart.
Years later, Josie's still-estranged daughters return to the quiet town for the reading of their mother's will, which stipulates that they must work together to locate a hidden key to a safe-deposit box containing their inheritance. Even from the great beyond, it seems Josie will do anything to bring about her daughters' reconciliation. Having no choice but to go along with their mother's final wishes, Rose and Emily move back to Mill River for the summer to begin the search—discovering that, in the close-knit community known for magic and miracles, an even greater treasure awaits them.
Meet the Author
DARCIE CHAN is the New York Times bestselling author of the eBook sensation The Mill River Recluse and the novel The Mill River Redemption. She has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. For fourteen years, Chan worked as an attorney drafting environmental and natural resource legislation for the U.S. Senate. She now writes fiction full-time and lives north of New York City with her husband and son.


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Monday, January 4, 2016
John Andrew Fredrick's "The King of Good Intentions II": Book Review
A fresh novel about the travails of a struggling musician on L.A.'s indie-rock fringe, this sequel to The King of Good Intentions continues the story of John and his jangle-pop band, The Weird Sisters. Likely at least semi-autobiographical, narrated after all by John with frequent asides to us, this takes up the tale on the 5th of April, 1994, the day Kurt Cobain died. While only Raleigh, the new drummer, feels bereft by this news as the band ends its West Coast tour in their woebegone van, John, and his fellow Sisters girlfriend Jenny and bassist Rob, convey their own emotions, as they contend with the usual litany of woes on a tiny record label's budget, and their dreary day jobs. It's similar to the late-career Spinal Tap playing puppet shows and pizza parlors, sans wigs or bombast.
They realise the long odds, for 'there are zillions of Nigel Tufnels out there, in Technicolor verisimilitude, readying their teapot tempests, viewing their at once shrunken and little self-important lives through metaphorical shrink wrap.' Frederick, who teaches college English while fronting for decades The Black Watch, connects commentary with comedy, erudition to emotion. He takes more chances in this second novel, too. Consider, in extended set-pieces of a dozen or twenty pages, the maximalist style and elevated diction which Alexander Theroux's books exemplify. 'Eudaemonic snowman', 'plethoric poses', 'untinctured marzipan', and 'orgulous orbit' speckle a ramble on musicians' follies. Dr Johnson and The Rambler, besides, earn name-checks, alongside Bloom and Hobbes, Hamlet and Macbeth, Plato and Chaucer, Karen Horney and Jean Renoir. Not your usual rocker's lament from the road. Ten pages on terrible tours entertain; so do those on a break-up, travails of record-label workers, and a diversion starting on L.A.'s woeful buses and ending in death.
Fredrick stumbles here, however, when cliches about Westside mini-moguls and riffs on a bigoted ex-pat posse of Brits in Santa Monica and a visit to randy Jewish doctor fall flat. 'Sony Bono' is a great typo, but too many others mar the prose's flow. All the same, for 450 pages, this roars along, in overdrive for the frenzied satire, downshifting for clever flirtation or existential lament. You feel the 'ass death' of sitting in the van, you smell the farts. In the middle of a Central California highway stop, the prose bursts into 'what atrocious colloquies one has to have in bands'. The Sisters contend with musical marginalisation, a post-Kurt grunge mood. Their miniscule fan base of twee chicks and twinkly critics remains so, and their psychedelic-fuzz, lyrically literate CD languishes undistributed.
But these, fans or not, delight. Bob Chalet of Bob Chalet Records, truculent publicist Sylvia Doum, Brit bar bore Barnacle Bob, Jen's father the whingeing Ogre, the fanzine scribe Flake with 'skin like the inside of a candy bar wrapper' move the story along, even if John in his frustration with the mechanics of fiction relegates plots to cemeteries. For this picaresque tale recalls its 18th-century predecessors, the London scribblers of the demi-monde. Fredrick integrates his academic training in this period with dissecting late 20th-century foibles, and his scholarly bent enriches this narrative.
The results, which begin and end in medias res (for this saga will turn a trilogy, we are told early on), capture John's tetchy voice, a winning if often whining one. It can be bright, as with romance, or dim, as when a nervous breakdown invokes 'The Waste Land, stripped of...nothing.' While admittedly 'long on material for jeremiads like this', it deftly conjures up Ulysses and The Great Gatsby as it ends. And with the promise of The Hollow Crown, we will welcome the conclusion of the Weird Sisters' spells.
(Slugger O'Toole with an additional paragraph; as is above to Amazon British + US 12-11-15)
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Returning Hometown Scholar to Discuss Controversy of Updating Literary Classics
Former Weatherford resident Dean Rader, who is professor of English at the University of San Francisco, will lead a participatory discussion April 4 on the current controversy of changing literary classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to appease contemporary societal views prevalent in the United States.
The 7 p.m. talk will be held this Monday, April 4, at Southwestern Oklahoma State University's Conference Center, located at the corner of 7th and Davis Streets in Weatherford. Admission is free and open to the public.
Beyond the controversy of changing literary classics, the presentation will also include a poetry reading from Dean Rader's upcoming book, Works & Days, and a literary discussion of Native literature. A book signing will follow the evening presentation. Books will be available for purchase Monday night.
Rader has been at the University of San Francisco since 2001 in several capacities, including the National Endowment of the Humanities chair and associate dean for Arts and Humanities.
Rader has written on numerous subjects, from entries in the Emily Dickinson Encyclopedia to essays and opinion pieces for both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oklahoma Observer to blogging about poetry, media, politics, and culture on his site, The Weekly Rader (http://weeklyrader.blogspot.com). Several of his original poems have been published in the Berkeley Poetry Review, the Connecticut Review, Poet Lore and The Wallace Stevens Journal.
Rader has produced a significant body of work on American Indian poetry in such publications as SAIL: Studies in American Indian Literatures and Southwestern American Literature, covering subjects like the poetry of social engagement, native theater and trickery imagery in literature. Rader has published two books, Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry (2003) and The World is a Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking about Visual and Popular Culture (2010).
He has a forthcoming book, Engaged Resistance: Contemporary American Indian Art, Literature and Film from Alcatraz to the NMAI that is scheduled to be published in April 2011. Rader recently finished "The Ten Greatest Poets Project" originating in a San Francisco Chronicle column and picked up by the New York Times and The New Yorker (magazine). In this, Rader discusses the top ten poets as defined by "a poet's ability to affect social movements, to alter political discourse, and to be a mouthpiece for the oppressed."
Rader earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University and his Masters of Arts in Comparative Literature and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
For more information about the Al Harris Library Showcase event, contact Jason Dupree, head of public services, SWOSU Libraries, at 580.774.3031 or email email@example.com.


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My Happy Family (2017)
Release Year: 2017
Ratings: IMDB: 7.8/10 Metascore: 86% RT: N/A
Duration: 120 mins
Genres: Drama,
Country: France, Georgia, Germany,
Actors: Berta Khapava, Merab Ninidze,
Director: Nana Ekvtimishvili,
Synopsis: My Happy Family: In a patriarchal society, an ordinary Georgian family lives with three generations under one roof. All are shocked when 52-year-old Manana decides to move out from her parents' home and ...
Movies Version Links For My Happy Family (2017)
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This weeks freebie svg is a tree trunk/lower branches, 12 leaves and a "tire". I used a primacolor pencil to engrave the tree with a heart and TY. The flowers are a MS punch and I used stickles in the centers of them because everything is better with stickles! Thanks for looking!
PSI_tree trunk


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We are proud to work with corporations, foundations, and governments from around the world to support our work in rural communities. Partners help deepen our impact and expand the breadth of our work, through knowledge sharing, program partnerships financial capital, and in-kind support. For a list of READ's current featured partners, click here.
Ways to partner with READ:
Corporate Engagement
Corporate partners provide financial resources and technical support to grow our programs and organizational capacity. They also provide the leverage of their networks and brand credibility for READ.
Partnerships give corporates the opportunity to invest in the economic growth of rural and semi-urban areas in countries where they operate, and to demonstrate to customers, employees, and partners their desire to realize their corporate values.
Foundation Support
Foundations often provide funding for program innovation, monitoring and evaluation, building robust and scalable systems and infrastructure, and growing our human capital - areas of our business that are often overlooked but are critical to our ability to deliver quality programs and to create a sustainable organization.
NGO and Implementing Partners
READ offers local communities training programs in education, economic empowerment, technology, women's empowerment, health, agriculture, and more. These programs are supported by our key global and local implementing partners. Working in collaboration with partner organizations helps us build upon the strengths of existing work and also ensures long-term sustainability of our programs.
Direct DonationsYour company, foundation or organization can invest directly in READ Global, either in our area of greatest need or for a specific program or country.
Employee Giving Programs and Corporate Matching
Matching gift or payroll deduction programs can greatly benefit your company's public relations, as well as employee/employer relations. Employees can always select their company for a match when they give through our donate page.
Corporate / Organization Fundraisers
Fundraising campaigns are a great way to engage individual employees and support on-the-ground projects. Once the fundraising campaign is launched, events can be a fun way to mobilize your network around the cause. To learn about the types of projects you can fundraise for, visit our Start a Fundraiser page. For support in developing your fundraiser, read our Fundraising Toolkit.
In-Kind Donations
You can donate products or services to support READ Global, either to directly support our programs, or for use in auctions for fundraising events.
Cause-related Marketing Promotions / Commercial Co-Ventures
Companies that sell products aligned with READ's mission and values can donate a percentage of product revenues to READ Global. This can benefit the company's PR, increase sales and bolster brand loyalty. We ask that a commercial co-venture agreement be signed in advance.


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These regulations are administered in the Ministry for the Environment.
PURSUANT to Part 3 of the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996, His Excellency the Governor-General, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, and on the recommendation of the Minister for the Environment whose recommendation has been made—
(a) After consultation by that Minister in accordance with section 17 of that Act; and
(b) After being satisfied that, after making the regulations, New Zealand will be able to give effect to its obligations under the Convention and the Protocol,—
makes the following regulations.
1 Title and commencement
2 Interpretation
3 Prohibition on importation of certain goods containing ozone depleting substances
(1) These regulations may be cited as the Ozone Layer Protection Amendment Regulations 1999, and are part of the Ozone Layer Protection Regulations 19961 ("the principal regulations").
"the principal regulations"
(2) These regulations come into force on the 28th day after the date of their notification in the Gazette.
Regulation 2 of the principal regulations is amended by inserting, after the definition of the term Methyl chloroform, the following definition:
"Minister means the Minister for Enterprise and Commerce".
Regulation 19 of the principal regulations is amended by adding the following paragraph:
"(f) Any dehumidifiers, refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioners, supermarket display cases, heat pumps, and water coolers that contain any CFC (except those that are part of or belong to any other product, equipment, or thing)."
Clerk of the Executive Council.
This note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general effect.
These regulations, which come into force on the 28th day after the date of their notification in the Gazette, ban the import of certain products (whether new or second-hand) containing chlorofluorocarbons at the time they are imported. The ban only applies to the itemised products in stand-alone or independent form.
A definition of the term Minister is inserted into the Ozone Layer Protection Regulations 1996 to make it clear that a reference to the Minister in the regulations is a reference to the Minister for Enterprise and Commerce.
Issued under the authority of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1999.
Date of notification in Gazette: 4 February 1999.


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text:
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2018 KUAM. All Rights Reserved. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service, and Ad Choices.
Source: National Institutes of Health
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 12-ounce boxes of frozen spinach, thawed
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup liquid egg-white substitute
¾ cup shredded fat-free
Mozzarella cheese
1 cup fat-free milk
½ medium onion, chopped
½ tablespoon low-sodium
Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
Yield: 8 servings
Serving size: ¾ cup
Calories: 137
Total Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 6 mg
Sodium: 186 mg
Total Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 10 g
Carbohydrates: 12 g
Potassium: 309 mg
*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. Use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an "as is" basis without any representations or warranties.


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Starring in this Numero November 2012 editorial is model Ginta Lapina who dons decadent noir garments to make for an expressive femme fatale editorial.
Bringing an air of seductive allure, Lapina adds eccentricity to her posing making her movement an enticing display for the garment story. The all-black palette makes visual stimulation provided by the texture of each garment that denoting the unabashed decadence of each piece. Luxury labels such as Victor & Rolf, Diane Von Furstenberg and Yves Saint Laurent appear in this Numero November 2012 editorial.
Captured by photography duo Santiago & Mauricio, this femme fatale piece creates striking contrast with the model's fair complexion and the bold darkness of her attire. This spread showcases a modish take on the ever-prominent leather trend of the autumnal season.
Fierce Fatale Photography
More Stats +/-
Glamorous Monochromatic Fashion
Glam Narcissistic Editorials
Dusk-Dancing Dames
Sultry Subway Photoshoots
Glamorous Carnival Photoshoots
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The Numero November 2012 Issue Allures with Noir Couture
- By: Alexandra SerranoOct 28, 2012
References: numero-magazine & visualoptimism.blogspot
References: numero-magazine & visualoptimism.blogspot


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MONTREAL, Que. – Old man winter was at least partially to blame for a mixed Q1 economic report from TransForce Inc.
MONTREAL, Que. – Old man winter was at least partially to blame for a mixed Q1 economic report from TransForce Inc.
While the company's overall revenue was up from the same quarter in 2013, that was mainly the result of the acquisition of Clarke Transport and Clarke Road Transport on January 1 2014. Revenues from Clarke accounted for $44.1 million of TransForce's total revenue of $770.5 million. In comparison, its 2013 Q1 revenue was $749.70 million.
TransForce's income from operating activities, as calculated in earnings before income and taxes (EBIT) was $33.2 million, representing 4.3% of total revenue, down significantly from Q1 2013 when it was $44.6 million or 5.9% of total revenue.
According to TransForce chair Alain Bédard, the first quarter results "were affected by more severe winter weather this year compared to last. This factor and persistent softness in certain key sectors of the North American economy explain most of the EBIT decline in package and courier (P&C) and less-than-truckload (LTL) segments, which overshadowed another solid performance from our waste management operations."
Looking at the future, Bédard expects the company is still going to have to adjust its operations and its business strategies.
"Although business conditions remain challenging due to a weak economy, we are encouraged by certain signs of firmer pricing in the LTL and truckload segments. We are also making steady progress in regards to improving the efficiency of our P&C and LTL networks.
"Still, we must continue to adapt supply to demand by optimizing our asset base. In this regard, we closed four additional rig moving terminals in the U.S. and put these assets up for sale. Going forward, we will also focus on unlocking synergies from the Clarke and Vitran acquisitions, while maximizing return on assets in all segments."


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Minimum requirements:
- GV PIC Flight and Sim training within the last 24 months at Flight Safety or CAE
- Must have logged a minimum of 4000/3000 Total time/PIC.
- Must have logged a minimum of 3000/2000 Multi time/PIC.
- Must have logged a minimum of 500 turbine hours
- Must have a current First Class FAA Medical Certificate
- Must have no FAA violations within last 5 years
- Must meet the PIC standards for ARGUS and Wyvern
- Part 135 experience (preferred)
- Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
- 401(K) Savings Plan
- Flex Spending Account
- Paid Time Off
- Paid Sick Time
- Paid Vacation
As a proof of your professionalism, apply only when you comply with all the requirements and if you have or can obtain a work permit that allows you to be employed in this country.
You'll also be interested in other GV Jobs


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from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. Simple past tense and past participle of kvetch.
Sorry, no etymologies found.
At exchange operator Direct Edge, Chief Executive William O ' Brien decided to give all employees one floating holiday to use in 2011 after spokesman Rafi Reguer " kvetched " about the situation.
Vacation Takes a Holiday: Calendar Quirk Puts Traders to Work
He tells us how to employ cliché—with a twist, he suggests, as in the micro-memoir "I came, I saw, I kvetched."
If you've ever kvetched about the way your state's late primary ends up being largely irrelevant year in and year out, and have suspected that the media had a large hand in that, congratulations!
An Insider's Guide To 'How The Presidential Primary Process Actually Works'
Though the New York Post and Daily News once a year routinely call for the abolition of this 179-year-old office (with periodic name changes) - and mayors, too, have predictably kvetched about an office that's mandated to be the watchdog over City Hall-there's no public support for ending something that keeps the bureaucracy on its toes.
He kvetched and annoyed his way out of the game, voted out because no one could stand to be around him a moment longer.
Tallulah Morehead: Survivor 21: Infants vs Senior Citizens: Fetuses Gone Wild!
Ditto for such long-suffering conservative entertainers as actress Janine Turner, who kvetched that at one point she thought she would be fired from Friday Night Lights -- that commie TV show about Texas high school football -- because of her politics.
She wriggled and kvetched, though she seemed happier in the Next Gen ep before that.
I will say that just about every Australian we met there was polite, friendly, and helpful, and while I may have kvetched a bit about the food prices, I think we got great value for our money and time.
During the following week on blogs and Twitter Purple Ticket holders kvetched about their plights.
He further kvetched in his thinly veiled editorial that what Mr Greenwald presents in his documentary "again and again, are terrifying images of children".


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[[wysiwyg_imageupload:8702:]]At the UK premiere for Much Ado About Nothing, Joss Whedon made a couple statements about The Avengers 2.
As The Avengers 2 and James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy are both filming in London, Joss Whedon doesn't exactly rule out using characters from the Guardians in the sequel.
However, the use of members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in The Avengers 2 might be a stretch as Whedon says the current draft of the movie doesn't include them, but says he could always rewrite the current script.
We're following Guardians at Shepperton [with Avengers 2] but we won't be swapping cast members. Every movie is its own thing and has to be. Unless I take a lot of peyote and write a very different draft… and I'm not ruling that out.
(via Bleeding Cool)
The Avengers 2 assembles May 1, 2015.
The Guardians of the Galaxy movie has an August 1, 2014 release directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt as Peter Quill Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer and Zoe Saldana as Gamora.
Also rumored for the movie are Michael Rooker, Lee Pace, Ophelia Lovibond, Enzo Cilenti, Karen Gillan, Glenn Close and Benicio Del Toro.
For news, images and more head on over to the Cosmic Book News Guardians of the Galaxy Movie Hub.
Guardians of the Galaxy, based on the Marvel comic books of the same name, features an unlikely cast of characters who must team up in order to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions.


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Washington: A new study has revealed that protecting key regions that comprise just 17 percent of Earth`s land may help preserve more than two-thirds of its plant species.
The researchers from Duke, North Carolina State University and Microsoft Research used computer algorithms to identify the smallest set of regions worldwide that could contain the largest numbers of plant species.
"Our analysis shows that two of the most ambitious goals set forth by the 2010 Convention on Biological Diversity-to protect 60 percent of Earth`s plant species and 17 percent of its land surface-can be achieved, with one major caveat," Stuart L. Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke`s Nicholas School of the Environment, said.
"To achieve these goals, we need to protect more land, on average, than we currently do, and much more in key places such as Madagascar, New Guinea and Ecuador.
"Our study identifies regions of importance. The logical-and very challenging-next step will be to make tactical local decisions within those regions to secure the most critical land for conservation," Pimm said.
The findings are published in the journal Science.


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Copyright ©2018 Blade HQ. Server: web02All rights reserved
Iain Sinclair Design was founded by Iain Sinclair in 1964. They design and develop high innovative consumer products world wide. Run by Iain Sinclair and Grant Sinclair, this company is designs modern yet highly functional products that constantly change the status quo.


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FTC: Work-From-Home Coaching Services Scam Conned Millions From Consumers
A federal court entered a temporary restraining order halting an allegedly deceptive scheme that conned millions of dollars from consumers, the FTC announced Monday.
According to the FTC charges, the businesses' websites told numerous false "rags to riches" stories and made unsubstantiated claims that consumers could earn thousands of dollars a month by purchasing business coaching services and establishing their own internet businesses.
The FTC seeks to put a permanent stop to the operations of the company — which did business under several names, including Essent Media, LLC, Net Training, LLC, YES International, Coaching Department, and Apply Knowledge — and for money to be returned to affected consumers.
The company allegedly violated the FTC Act by misrepresenting earnings and the nature of services. It also allegedly violated the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule by misrepresenting material aspects of investment opportunities.
The scheme worked in three interconnected phases. In the first phase, consumers were enticed by deceptive emails and websites to purchase work-at-home kits costing $37 to $99. The second phase promised consumers would earn thousands of dollars a month using a coaching program to assist in their online business. The system generally cost $3,000 to $12, 000 and consumers were urged to put the cost on their credit cards, leaving many heavily in debt. During the third phase, the company pretended to provide consumers with coaching services while pitching additional costly add-on services.
A preliminary injunction hearing is set for March 20.
In a similar case last week, the FTC announced a series of settlement orders totaling $55.3 million stemming from a 2012 complain that several companies deceived consumers with business or work-at-home opportunities. In reality, the organizations in question tricked consumers into paying to join programs that then had recurring monthly charges.
FTC Halts Multi-Million Dollar Work-From-Home Business Coaching Scheme [Federal Trade Commission]
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.


text:
Newspaper article THE JOURNAL RECORD
Foreign Investment in U.S. Energy Industries Seen Increasing
Article excerpt
Foreign investment in the oil and natural gas industries has risen over the past several years and is expected to continue this pattern, according to Petroleum Information, an industry information clearinghouse owned by the Dun & Bradstreet Corp.
Direct foreign investment in U.S. energy companies during 1985 was $28.1 billion, up 10.6 percent from $25.4 billion in 1984.
In 1985, the oil and gas industries received 15.4 percent of the total direct foreign investment in all U.S. businesses that year.
Foreign companies, according to Petroleum Information, invest in U.S. companies because of the open investment climate and the opportunity to obtain low-cost reserves and technical expertise.
Foreign investments are made by one of three ways: purchase of an entire company; formation of a joint venture combining the cash of the investor with the expertise of the U.S. firm; or purchase of reserves or undeveloped acreage without acquiring a stake in the U.S. company.
Foreign-affiliated companies produced 1.43 million barrels of U.S. oil per day in 1985, or about 13.4 percent of the daily total. About 6 percent of the total U.S. natural gas produced in 1985, or 1.018 trillion cubic feet, was produced by foreign-affiliated companies. . .
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has delayed the effective date of the good faith negotiation procedures under Order 451 to Dec. 18.
The decision to delay the effective date was made after the commision received 60 requests for rehearings on the pricing rule and needed more time to consider the legal challenges and requests for clarifications.
The good faith negotiation rule allows a natural gas producer who is unable to renegotiate a price for old gas to abandon the contract and sell to another buyer.
The good faith negotiation rule is a central feature of Order 451, and had been scheduled to become effective Nov. 1. The commission voted to extend the effective date in an Oct. 31 order. . .
- Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc. has announced a gas discovery in the western Gulf of Mexico.
The High Island Block A-129 No. 2 wildcat appraisal well tested gas from perforations at 6,514 feet to 6,557 feet. …


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San Diego is quickly becoming as known for its cocktail culture as for its craft beer dominance on the national stage. All-Star Week is your chance to try some of the local mixologists' favorite twists on the baseball theme, while visiting a few mandatory cocktail havens near Petco Park.
So put down that boring Jack & Coke, and pick up one of these concoctions:
1845 Cocktail, Rustic Root: This downtown locale mixed up a drink named after the year baseball made its appearance in the U.S. The 1845 is made with Grand Marnier, Fernet-Branca (a San Diego favorite), simple syrup and lemon juice, with an orange peel. Bask in our glorious weather while sipping this cocktail on the rustic-American rooftop lounge, just a few blocks away from Petco Park.


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The Carroll County Health Department Employees recognized sixteen employees with service awards for 20 or more years of service as of 2014-15. Acting Health Officer Dr. Henry Taylor presented each employee with a certificate and a token of appreciation based on their years of service.
Awards for 20 years of service: Penny Bramlett, Patti Miller, Susan Rinehart, Cheryl Webb, Barbara White
Awards for 25 years of service: Leigh Broderick, Barry Fortune, Bobbi Hughes, Patricia McCloud, Kathleen McNeave, Lisa Pollard
Awards for 30 years of service: Susan Doyle, Cindy Feld, Gail Myers
Award for 35 years of service: Judy Baile
Award for 40 years of service: Penny Wisner
This item was posted by a contributing reader. To learn more about contributing readers, click here.


text: 2003-2006 KTM 525 SX Racing Front 14T Sprocket $15.99 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+ Quantity Quantity Add to cart High Quality Stock Replacement Sprocket. Heat treatment for added strength and wear resistance. Zinc plated and have a baked on durable paint process for corrosion resistance. Sprocket Material: Carbon Steel C45 Position: Front Tooth: 14 Fitment: 2003-2006 KTM 525 SX Racing WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals such as Cadmium, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov