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Well kids, I've got to hand it to you.
Even though I FORBID IT with as much vigor as a father defending his daughter's virginity, y'all went ahead, bought a ticket, and now you've won the lottery. Yes, all of you. Man, I have the luckiest readers in the world, and not just because you get to be on the receiving end of great stuff like this here word vomit.
In all seriousness, we all know that the average player is 27 different kinds of screwed once they've won the lottery. They have no idea what to do with that kind of capital, probably because any disposable income they might have had before went straight into more lottery tickets. And who am I to squash the retirement plans of single moms everywhere? They work hard stripping, dammit.
It isn't just these moms who need an action plan. There are thousands of sob stories out there of someone who won the lottery, cashed out a bunch of stock options, or got an inheritance from great aunt Hortense and then promptly pissed it all away. I don't want readers of the ol' FU machine to suffer that same fate. Who else is going to buy me Subway when I need six inches in my mouth? My dad hates me and I'm pretty sure my wife poisons my dinner.
So let's get started.
Step 1: do nothing
Look, I know it's tempting to brag to all your friends about how much richer you now are compared to them. But for the love of all things holy, keep your trap shut. I cannot stress this enough.
If you're the recipient of an inheritance or some stock options, this shouldn't be terribly hard. Winning the lottery is another beast altogether, since your name will likely get out there at some point, especially if you've won something big. No, they don't publish the winners of $50 in scratch tickets in the newspaper. It's reserved for real news and pictures of cute kitties.
Your friends aren't trustworthy, no matter how much you might think they are. So don't tell them squat if you can avoid it.
If word gets out, you'll have 1,482 investment guys calling you and offering their services. You'll be tempted to hire one, because the last thing you want to do is piss away your new found wealth. But there's no reason to go nuts hiring these guys. They prey on guys with lots of money and very little investment knowledge. They'll have you in high-fee products faster than you'd think possible.
Instead, stick the money into a bunch of GICs. The CDIC insures GICs of up to $100,000, so if you're feeling really frisky, you'll want to spread it out among a bunch of different banks to make sure a bank failure isn't going to end up costing you. I probably wouldn't bother; rather, I'd just put it into a few banks that offered a good balance between a high rate and credit worthiness. In other words, don't stick it all in Home Capital's GICs.
Step 2: think about your options
Next, I want you to really think about what's important to you.
Obviously, you want to make sure the money doesn't get pissed away. It can't help anyone if you spend it on strippers and blow.
It isn't just enough to have a goal of not pissing away your money though. You need to really think about what you want to do with it. Goals could be creating a foundation to help poor kids, using the money to start a business you've always wanted to try, or something like that. Not pissing the money away isn't a viable answer.
Don't just write one or two things on this list. It should be pretty detailed, encompassing things like taking care of your kids/parents, paying for things like an education for your kids, and budgeting in some fun stuff like getting a bigger house or a dune buggy. Or a hooker. Hey, I'm not here to judge.
This process should take a few weeks if you do it right. Take the time to really think about what's important, and whether you want to leave a big legacy when you're alive, or whether you want to spend it while you're here.
During this time, the people who know you're suddenly rich will come begging for a handout. If they're not on the list, tell them to pound sand. The list will help keep you strong when people come with their sob stories. Lord, will they come. Hard too.
Step 3: Implement those goals
Once you've figured out what you want to do, now is the time to figure out how to fund it.
For an easy example, say you won $2 million, and you want to spend $100,000 per year on various things. We all know a reasonable withdrawal rate is between 3-4%, so this means you run the risk of running out of money some day.
Next, go interview a handful of investment guys. Tell them what you want to do in detail, how much you figure it'll cost, and how much you figure you'll have to invest. Tell these investment guys you want a detailed plan on how they'll invest that money to help you achieve those goals. Insist on that plan in writing.
Most investment advisors work on commission, and might not be very excited about providing a plan without securing the investment dollars first. And most fee-only planners probably will insist on getting paid beforehand as well. At this point in the process, it might be wise to spend a little money on a few different opinions. If they won't write anything down for you, at least you can get a feel from talking to them. Most will be bullshit artists that can be easily avoided.
This is also a pretty ideal time of your life to start learning about this kind of stuff. Investing your own money can save quite a bit of money in fees. Most folks who have won the lottery need a hobby to keep them busy. Yours can be investing. Even if you don't invest all of the money yourself, at least learn enough to figure out whether your advisor is doing a good job.
Step 4: stick to the plan
I get that sometimes life throws you curve balls and you might want to change the plan. That's all fine and good, but don't do it willy-nilly.
Take time to decide whether you want to really change the plan, or whether you're just bored. Talk it over with your advisor or some other trusted ally. If it's going to cost a lot, crunch the numbers and see how it'll affect the future. You might have to take out some other things from the plan.
That's about it. Admittedly, this is a boring plan, but that's because it's mostly designed to maintain wealth. Maybe I'll do another one of these on how to really grow your wealth once you've won the lottery. Or maybe my laziness will win out. Oh, the suspense!


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[Listen] Air - 'Le Voyage Dans La Lune' (Full Album Stream)
After much anticipation fans can finally stream the new album from Air. The album title, Le Voyage Dans La Lune, isn't out until next week on the 7th of Feb but the good ol' folk at NPR have offered up a full album stream this week 'cos they're nice like that. It's a treat for the ears so give it a spin below.

subset: commoncrawl


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The RN Residency program supports you as a newly hired graduate during your transition from classroom and clinical to your first work experience. This six to nine month program offers great flexibility in meeting your individual needs. It is a time for continued learning, as well as an opportunity to develop the confidence and comfort to work independently in the hospital setting.
This post hire residency is designed and facilitated by CentraState's Professional Development and Education Department with the goals of:
- Building on your clinical skills and helping you develop the technical skills needed;
- Developing your critical thinking skills;
- Equipping you with effective delegation and organizational skills; and
- Providing strong mentorship.
As an RN Resident, you will initially receive a comprehensive orientation, including a thorough review of policies and procedures, instruction in new technical skills, and experience in a Med/Surg rotation.
You will then be paired with a trained and experienced preceptor on your unit and given a gradual increase in responsibility over time. You will also receive off-unit experiences with the IV Team and Respiratory Therapy Department.
Upon completion of CentraState's Residency program, RNs are asked to make a two-year employment commitment. Interested? Email Anthony at email@example.com.
ONLY RN new grads are able to take this program. Attendees of this program must have a BSN by December 2015 and be licensed by February 2016.
Magnet Recognition for Nursing
CentraState Medical Center was granted Magnet® status in December 2005 and was designated again in 2012 by The Magnet Recognition Program® of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Magnet recognition is granted to hospitals after an intensive evaluation based on a wide range of quality indicators and standards of nursing practice.
Magnet recognition is considered the "gold standard" for measuring excellence in nursing and patient care. Of the approximate 5,800 hospitals in the U.S., 6.3 percent hold Magnet designation, and only 3.75 percent have been re-designated as Magnet organizations.
Hospitals must undergo a rigorous application and appraisal process to earn Magnet status. To achieve re-designation, they must repeat that process and also demonstrate further development of 60 separate criteria within the five Magnet model components: Transformational Leadership, Structural Empowerment, Exemplary Professional Practice, New Knowledge, Innovations and Improvements, and Empirical Outcomes.
Research indicates that Magnet recognized organizations consistently outperform those organizations that have not achieved Magnet status. They have better patient outcomes and higher patient satisfaction rates. Magnet recognized organizations are known for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. They also are found to enjoy increased nurse recruitment and retention rates and higher rates of job satisfaction.
Magnet status is granted for four years. Organizations must reapply to maintain the designation. Please find our annual report here.
Nurses interested in joining the CentraState nursing staff can call (732) 294-2510 or click here for more information about nursing at CentraState.


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DBlog launched its proven YachtPro Captain Software, an ultimate response for yachts refit management
Yacht Pro Captain is a software solution that has been designed to facilitate duties of a captain and his project management and engineering team during refit planning and implementation processes.
Available offline or in a cloud-based made, YachtPro Captain is a valuable tool to plan, optimize, execute and follow-up refit and maintenance works on board. It is a software solution indispensable for captains to streamline their refit planning process and take care about the overall project management during the works.
An integrated project management module serves as a primary instrument for scheduling works assigned for each supplier with a special colour coding feature. The historical overview of operations and quotations ensure timely and cost-effective decisions can be taken by a captain or a project manager.
One of the unique features of the YachtPro Captain is an integrated tool allowing for comparison of quotations from different shipyards according to a worklist. This ensures an accurate analysis of estimated costs, therefore an optimized budget planning. Paying a very close attention to ergonomic details of the software, DBlog could design a solution which supports different formats.
DBlog to take care about your refit planning and management process.
More details at: http://www.dblog.com/en/yachtpro-captain-solution


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Yoga South West is proud to offer Teen Yoga to high school kids. Yoga is beneficial for everyone, especially for teenagers (given these are difficult years emotionally and physically!). It is something we wish we had during these years, and wish to inspire teens to incorporate it into their lives, as we have.
Yoga immediately changed our lives and perception of body image, physical health, and mental wellbeing. We know that through Yoga, young adults can learn about healthy habits, to appreciate and respect their bodies and how they work, creating empowered, brave and aware young adults.
Not only a great way to keep the body physically fit, Yoga will help young adults by calming and relaxing their busy minds, and create inner peace that can be so beneficial in this stressful time.
We aim to implement mindfulness, bringing yoga to young adults. They will learn basic relaxation/meditation techniques as well as poses, techniques and body movement/awareness to help deal with the stress and pressure of school exams and every day life.
Please feel free to contact us and we can organise a meeting to see if we can fit in to your school term schedule.


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Indian Government plans to curb the Pharma industry's dependence on China
New Delhi, June 5 2012: In a bid to make the pharma industry more self-sufficient, the government has started the process of reducing the growing dependence on China as far as the domestic pharma industry is concerned.
It has been learned that the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) has submitted a list of drugs to the Commerce Minister Anand Sharma when the Group of Ministers met on May 14. It may be noted here that the minister had asked the industry body to share the details of drugs whose production has either shifted to China or whose manufacture in India is dependent on imports from China from the 74 price controlled bulk drugs, including the critical penicillin.
It is believed that this move will make the industry more self-sufficient to achieve the goal of becoming a major supplier of low-cost drugs. For the record, the government is responsible for fixing the retail prices of the drugs that are made from the 74 bulk drugs. While the Indian pharmaceutical market valuing at Rs. 62,000 crore ($11.18 billion) stands neck-to-neck with global pharma majors in finished drugs but the industry is still dependent on China for raw materials.
Close to two-third of raw materials that are used by the Indian pharma companies are imported from China, according to DG Shah, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance. Shah added that a large chunk of the anti-infective drugs, close to 20% of the total are made by using two derivatives of penicillin (Pen G or 6APA) in India.
It is expected that these measures will help the Indian pharma industry to become more self-sufficient in nature and will prepare it for a sustained long-term growth.


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The Problem of Poverty Amid Progress
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY saw an enormous increase in the ability to produce wealth. Steam and electricity, mechanization, specialization, and new business methods greatly increased the power of labor.
Who could have foreseen the steamship, the railroad, the tractor? Or factories weaving cloth faster than hundreds of weavers? Who could have heard the throb of engines more powerful than all the beasts of burden combined? Or envisioned the immense effort saved by improvements in transportation, communication, and commerce?
Surely, these new powers would elevate society from its foundations, lifting the poorest above worry for the material needs of life. Imagine these new machines relieving human toil, muscles of iron making the poorest worker's life a holiday, giving our nobler impulses room to grow. Given such bountiful material conditions, surely we could anticipate the golden age long dreamed of. How could there be greed when everyone had enough? How could things that arise from poverty -- crime, ignorance, brutality -- exist when poverty had vanished? Such were the dreams born of this wonderful century of progress.
True, there were disappointments. Discovery upon discovery, invention after invention still did not lessen the toil of those who most need relief or bring plenty to the poor. But it seemed there were so many things that could be blamed for this failure that our faith has hardly weakened. Surely we would overcome these difficulties in time.
Yet we must now face facts we cannot mistake. All over the world, we hear complaints of industrial depression: labor condemned to involuntary idleness; capital going to waste; fear and hardship haunting workers. All this dull, deadening pain, this keen, maddening anguish, is summed up in the familiar phrase "hard times."
This situation can hardly be accounted for by local causes. It is common to communities with widely differing circumstances, political institutions, financial systems, population densities, and social organization. There is economic distress under tyrannies, but also where power is in the hands of the people. Distress where protective tariffs hamper trade, but also where trade is nearly free. Distress in countries with paper money, and in countries with gold and silver currencies.
Beneath all this, we can infer a common cause. It is either what we call material progress, or something closely connected with it. What we call an industrial depression is merely an intensification of phenomena that always accompany material progress. They show themselves more clearly and more strongly as progress goes on.
Where do we find the deepest poverty, the hardest struggle for existence, the greatest enforced idleness? Why, wherever material progress is most advanced. That is to say, where population is densest, wealth greatest, and production and exchange most highly developed. In older countries, destitution is found amid the greatest abundance.
Conversely, workers emigrate to newer countries seeking higher wages. Capital also flows there seeking higher interest. They go where material progress is still in earlier stages. The older countries, where material progress has reached its later stages, is where poverty occurs.
Go to a new community where the race of progress is just beginning, where production and exchange are still rude and inefficient. The best house may be only a log cabin; the richest person must work every day. There is not enough wealth to enable any class to live in ease and luxury. No one makes an easy living, or even a very good one -- yet everyone can make a living. While you won't find wealth and all its effects, neither will you find beggars. No one willing and able to work lives in fear of want. Though there is no luxury, there is no poverty.
But just when they start to achieve the conditions civilized communities strive for, poverty takes a darker turn. This occurs as savings in production and exchange are made possible by denser settlement, closer connection with the rest of the world, and labor-saving machinery. It occurs just as wealth consequently increases. (And wealth increases not only in the aggregate, but in proportion to population.)
Now, some will find living better and easier -- but others will find it hard to get a living at all. Beggars and prisons are the mark of progress as surely as elegant mansions, bulging warehouses, and magnificent churches.
Unpleasant as it may be to admit, it is at last becoming evident that progress has no tendency to reduce poverty. The great fact is, poverty, with all its ills, appears whenever progress reaches a certain stage. Poverty is, in some way, produced by progress itself.
Progress simply widens the gulf between rich and poor. It makes the struggle for existence more intense. Wherever these forces are at work, large classes are maintained on charity.
Yes, in certain ways, the poorest now enjoy what the richest could not a century ago. But this does not demonstrate an improvement -- not so long as the ability to obtain the necessities of life has not increased. A beggar in the city may enjoy many things that a backwoods farmer cannot. But the condition of the beggar is not better than that of an independent farmer. What we call progress does not improve the condition of the lowest class in the essentials of healthy, happy human life. In fact, it tends to depress their condition even more.
These new forces do not act on society from underneath. Rather, it is as though an immense wedge is being driven through the middle. Those above it are elevated, but those below are crushed.
Where the poor have long existed, this effect is no longer obvious. When the lowest class can barely live, it is impossible to get any lower: the next step is out of existence altogether. This has been the case for a long time in many parts of Europe. But where new settlements advance to the condition of older ones, we see that material progress not only fails to relieve poverty, it actually produces it.
In the United States, it is obvious that squalor and misery increase as villages grow into cities. Poverty is most apparent in older and richer regions. If poverty is less deep in San Francisco than New York, is it not because it lags behind? Who can doubt that when it reaches the point where New York is now, there will also be ragged children in the streets?
So long as the increased wealth that progress brings goes to building great fortunes and increasing luxury, progress is not real. When the contrast between the haves and have-nots grows ever sharper, progress cannot be permanent. To educate people condemned to poverty only makes them restless. To base a state with glaring social inequalities on political institutions where people are supposed to be equal is to stand a pyramid on its head. Eventually, it will fall.
This relation of poverty to progress is the great question of our time. It is the riddle that the Sphinx* of Fate puts to us. If we do not answer correctly, we will be destroyed.
As important as this question is, we have no answer that accounts for the facts or provides a cure.
Experts break into an anarchy of opinion, and people accept misguided ideas. They are led to believe that there is a necessary conflict between capital and labor; that machinery is an evil; that competition must be restrained; or that it is the duty of government to provide capital or furnish work. Such ideas are fraught with danger, for they allow charlatans and demagogues to control the masses.
But these ideas cannot be successfully challenged until political economy gives some answer to the great question.
Political economy is not a set of dogmas. It is the explanation of a certain set of facts and their mutual relationships. Its deductions follow from premises we all recognize. In fact, we base the reasoning and actions of everyday life on them. These premises can be reduced to an expression as simple and basic as the physical law that says: motion follows the line of least resistance.
Political economy proceeds from the following simple axiom:
The process then consists simply of identification and separation. In this sense it is as exact a science as geometry. Its conclusions, when valid, should be just as apparent.
Now, in political economy we cannot test theories by artificially producing combinations or conditions, as other sciences can. Yet we can apply tests that are no less conclusive. This can be done by comparing societies in which different conditions exist. Or, we can test various theories in our imagination -- by separating, combining, adding, or eliminating forces or factors of known direction.
Properly done, such an investigation should yield a conclusion that will correlate with every other truth. Every effect has a cause; every fact implies a preceding fact.
In the following pages, I will use these methods to discover what law connects poverty with progress. I believe this law will also explain the recurring cycles of industrial and commercial depression, which now seem so unexplainable.
Current political economy cannot explain why poverty persists in the midst of increasing wealth. It teaches only unrelated and disjointed theories. It seems to me, this is not due to any inability of the science. Rather, there must be some false step in its premises, or some overlooked factor in its estimates.
Such mistakes are generally concealed by respect paid to authority. Therefore, I will take nothing for granted. Accepted theories will be tested; established facts will be freshly questioned. I will not shrink from any conclusion, but promise to follow the truth wherever it may lead.
What the outcome proves to be is not our affair. If the conclusions we reach run counter to our prejudices, let us not flinch. If they challenge institutions that have long been regarded as wise and natural, let us not turn back.


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Controversies pop up in 48 hours of Big Boss start
Big Brother – The most celebrated and internationally acclaimed show came to India with Big Boss that has been hosted by Salman Khan. Now with its adaption in Southern regions, Sudeep was the first one to make it happen with the Kannada version followed by Kamal Haasan taking over the Tamil and Junior NTR in Telugu.
The show commenced last Sunday (June 25) and everything was so exciting for the fans to see as it involves the Live Drama, which even includes actresses flirting with guys, emotional outbursts and controversial encounters involving politics too.
Juliana who shot to fame for her protests during Jallikattu ordinance was very much hurt by actresses Aarthi and Gayathri Raghuram with verbal confrontations. When Juliana had to injure accidentally breaking a porcelain cup, Aarthi was passing comments while others were helping her and Gayathri Raghuram didn't even come to look into the situation. Similarly, there were many such instances.
It looks like, there would more and more controversies happening there in the Big Boss house. In fact, things would be getting much more gripping to see as every weekend will have a contestant walking out of the house after elimination.


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Román Blanca Cubillos
Classical Ballet / Dancer
is a native of Bogotá, Colombia and a Summa Cum Laude graduate of the Ohio State University where she got a BFA in dance. Blanca was a scholarship student and earned a Certificate of Completion of the International Student Program at the Cunningham Dance Studios. She has performed the works of Charles Weidman and Isadora Duncan. In New York City she dances with Young Soon Kim Dance Company, Regina Nejman and Dancers, Luis Gabirel Zaragoza, and Filos Tanz Company. Blanca joined Anita Cheng Dance in 2004.
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Yesterday, Easter Sunday, we drove up to visit my parents like we usually do. We enjoyed a nice, quiet lunch at Cotton Patch…..okay, just kidding, that place is so noisy, you have to yell to carry on a conversation. Afterward, we visited more at the house, and my nephew, his wife and their adorable 3 year daughter came by to visit.
I had asked mom for some letters that she had kept from the time my kids were small, so yesterday, she handed me a large envelope full of letters and some photos. YAY…..more treasures! Oh, but wait….maybe not. The first letter I opened was from El Paso in 1986, after I had moved there with my boyfriend. It was quite sobering, even though I was sober to begin with. How my life has changed since then. For the better, of course.
The rest of the letters were far more entertaining, written in the early 1980s when we had moved to the country and were living in a ramshackle farm-house that we were renovating. Renovating is really an exaggeration. Trying to keep it from falling in on our heads, is more accurate. Most of the time that we lived in Forney, Texas, we didn't have a home phone, so I wrote letters to keep my parents informed of our general progress on the house and the kid's activities. Just an aside…..the postage stamps ranged from 20 to 22 cents on these letters.
The house did look better about a year later, and was still standing in spite of the wood-burning stove in the living room. Luckily the house did not burn down the winter that everything froze up for more than a week. We endured cold winters, and very hot summers in that house….and lots of dust, dirt and construction. Whew.
The best thing in the envelope was a hand written poem, that was once set to music, that I wrote for my mom for Mother's Day 1979. I actually don't remember writing this down and decorating it like this, but I did.
And she kept it.
All these years.
And people say *I* am a hoarder!!!
This is quite fragile as it's written on construction paper, and I even made an envelope from the paper also. Who knew I was so thoughtful and resourceful?
So, the most funny thing was a handwritten list, I must have been as young as 13-14…..titled "My Real Life Problems"….
I particularly love #15 and #18……my little brother was quite a brat back then. You can see I had a very low self-esteem, and I outgrew that for the most part. It does sneak in every once in a while to try to bring me down. I'm not sure about #14 as I never had trouble with my complexion, I was blessed with good genes in that department! Still, pretty funny to read now and see how insecure I was then. (this proves that I have always been a really good speller!)
When I began writing this today, I had intended to scan some of the actual hand written letters and include them; however, after re-reading them, they seem intensely personal to me, so I changed my mind. Some things are better left un-shared, I think. But, these letters reinforce my belief that my life has gone through a great many changes in the last 30-40 years, and I have come out on the other side a better person. The once painfully shy first grader who wouldn't speak a word for six weeks, somehow morphed into a musician who loved to entertain on stage, and then became a force to be reckoned with in the retail world.
So, thanks mom, for keeping these for me. I am sorry for the many times I've let you down, and I'm thankful that you always forgave me, and you never gave up on me.


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We have some fun workshops coming up! Take a look at our class calendar, or the PDF file we have - we hope you are inspired!
For classes that interest you - but the dates and times don't work - let us know! We will do our best to accommodate your needs.We have 2 shop machines available for use - so if you're from out of town, and would love to take a class - we have the tools and machines available for your to use.Don't forget our regular "Finish It Up" sessions. These are a great opportunity to come on in to work on any of your projects, and relax and have some fun with others. We provide the space to get away from it all, coffee and sometimes even treats too! Think about joining us on the fourth Wednesday (usually) of each month. (Check the calendar, below, for full details) Just call ahead to let us know you?re coming! Drop In Fee: $2.If you need a large space to baste your project, or cut large borders, or whatever ? give us a call. If our class area is not in use, it is available for you to use. Our large tables will help you get the job done.Is there something you would like to learn? Please let us know! All ideas for future classes are welcome - we want to offer what you want to learn.
"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow."


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WE ARE IN PRINT In an article published in THE.AMERICAN. CITY for January, by
John Errnnett Burke, Librarian, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee, titled 11Trends in Public Libraries Today11 are described the architectural fea.tures of three recently constructed public library buildings. The first is the proposed main library of Cincinnati priced at $4~ Million Dollars, the other two·are branch libraries -one the Grace R. Moore Branch of the Tacoma Library erected at a cost of $71,000, and the Lancaster Branch in our system which represents an investment of $48,000. This is a recognition that is gratifying to Architect Robert Smith and to the County Librarian. Our Lancaster Branch incorporates the many features of simplicity .and economy plus flexibility and reader comfort which are planned considerations in modern library design.
In this month's issue of the LOS ANGELES COUNTY :EMPLOYEE is a contribution by Marian C. Hayes describing the Anniversary Dinner Meeting of ·women In Government. In the same number is a photograph of a group of honored county employees who received 25-year service ·pins on January 8. Among others the group includes Arthur J. Will, Chief Administrative Officer, Harold Kennedy, County Counsel, Supervisor Roger W. Jessup, and our own Claire Nolte.
STAFF ASSOCIATION MEETING A meeting of the Staff Association was called by the FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 President, Nellie Frost, to take care of some matters of business and to hear a report from Mr. Henderson on the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association.
Following a custom of long standing the Association presented a gift book to each staff member who finished his 20th year of service with the Library; this year the volume was the 1951 Edition of the American College Dictionary. Staff members receiving the books whose service with the Library began in 1930-31 were Doris Myers, Bertha Davidson, Nellie O'Neill and James Potter. In addition, a 10-year service pin was presented to Renate Rohde who joined the staff in 1942.
At the request of Elizabeth Buttress, Payroll Clerk, the following instructions for the reporting of holiday make-up time .are brought to your attention:
Elimination of the Pink Holiday Time Reports has simplified time keeping for both the Branches and Central and we hope in time to iron out all of the little discrepancies that so often occur on reports not carefully made out.
In checking the January Time Reports it was found easier to check reports on which holiday make-up time was recorded only in the Explanatory Remarks column. While this was not exactly in accordance with instructions, nevertheless it proved to be a good method of recording holiday time and · in the future we should like you to enter all holiday make-up time in this manner.
The following example may assist you in recording make-up time for the February holidays: (The example assumes the regular schedu.le to be 5~ .hours daily) .
Date TIME EMPLOYEE WAS ON DUTY Total
In Out I In Out Hours' ExElanator~ Remarks
' ' '
Lincoln's Birthda
13 11:301' 2 7 9 52 12:3(,-1: 0 1 hr. for 2 12 -b EAST COMPTON After more than two years of effort a suitable location was
OPENING finally obtained for our new service outlet at East Compton.
It has been appreciat.ed for some time that this rapidly growing community should have a branch, and after contacting several property owners and considering various offers a new vacant store building at 15121 Atlantic Boulevard
.was leased. The local P.T.A. and other· groups and individuals have long been interested in obtaining a branch here and were instrumental in our locating satisfactory quarters. The East Compton Branch will be officially .opened Monday, March 17, and the occasion will be celebrated under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and the P.T.A.
NORTH The third branch in the Torrance Regional group was opened on
TORRANCE January 11, with flcwers and a festive atmosphere provided by local
BRANCH individuals and organizations. The new branch ;Ls located at 3614
174th Street in the City of Torrance in an area occupied by several
hundred families ~ith a school and business district near by.
FRANKE DAVIS It is with deep regret that the passing·of Miss Franke Davis on
January 19 is announced. Miss Davis, retired, was formerly a
Typist Clerk in our Processing Divisio~ where she served for 24 years. Since her
retirement she kept in touch with the Library and was last at ·central on the
occasion of the Christmas party.
SICK BAY Don HU:gnes returned to the Shipping Room after an absence of six weeks
because of a heart attack. Don spent two weeks in the hospital before he was released to continue his recuperation' at home. He i;:> now looking' very well, having lost 15 pounds and having been ably cared for by Mrs. Hughes.
Our Branch Librarian at Walteria, Mrs. Margaret M. Dowd, was forced to spend some
time in the Harbor Hospital. She is ·now re.cuperating comfortably at home.
. .
Suffering a painful arm fracture as a result of a fall at home Elsie Kittle,
Typist Clerk in the' Branches Division, has been forced to take .some time off
on sick leave.
The rare and unhappy coincidence of ·two ~embers of one family.being hospitalized at the same time took place when Mrs~ Agnes Sycour, Chief Order Librarian, underwent emergency surgery recently. While Mr. Sycour was recuperatirig from.an operation at the Good Samaritan Hospital Mrs. Sycour found it necessary to enter the institution. It is with pleasure that we report both .of the Sycours are now at hom~ and ·recovering.nicely.
AUNT MICHI The Office staff has a new aunt among its members iri the person of
Michiko Kamachi. On January lS her sister, Mrs. Stephen Kagawa,
became, the mother of little Lucy Mitsuye, weight 5 lbs. S oz. 'Michiko is now
entering upon ·a career of baby ·sitter for which she is w_ell qualified, having
devoted a week of her vacation to .taking care of Lucy's big brother Bobby,
1 year of age, while his mother was in the hospital.
MRS. VAN MARTER A letter was ,recently received by Mrs. Hayes,, Personnel Assistant, VACATIONED IN from our Branch Librarian at Garvey, Mrs. Hazel Van Marter, who HAWAII was enjoying a·vacation trip in the Hawaiian .Islands. Mrs. Van
Marter accompanied her husband on a business. trip to the Islands and re:parted ;that she was having a grand tiine seeing everything while Papa worked.
MI~S ALEXANDER Miss Frances Alexander, Children's Librarian at Centra;t, is WILL VACATION planning an exciting vacation. On March 7 she will· fly to New IN AFRICA York where she will embark on the "African Enterprise" the
morning of March 10 for a 25-day boat trip to Africa, stopping first at Capetown, then Port Elizabeth, and finally DUrban. At Durban she will start on a 17-day tourwhich will take her through Kruger Park -an animal sanctuary about 200 miles long where animals roam at wiil -and on to-Victoria Falls. Miss Alexander will then fly from Johannesburg to Nairobi, .Fast Africa, where short tours will be taken into the veldt. Returning to Johannesburg a 7-da;y garden tour will follow taki.Dg her to the vecy southern 'part of Africa. From Johannesburg she will fly to Capetown where more short tours will be taken. The "African Endeavor" will return her to New York, then back to Los Angeles arriving June 9 --and back to work on the 10th1 ·
MARTHA KOSTYU .. A·recent letter from Mart.ha Kostyu addressed to Mrs. Wallin was read WRITF.S FROM . with great interest by several staff 'members at Central. Wishing to GERMANY keep in touch with the County Library Miss Kostyu has requested that
her name be placed on our mailing list for the News Letter, and this we are glad to do. The following is quoted from her letter:
. . . • ' . "" ,_t:
II ••• So far I 1m enjoying niy tour very muoh and itIs proving to .be quite an education! There certainly are a lot of little con_veniences that I never appreciated before t My 'WOrk.is very interesting .and I pave
'established a new Arniy.Libracy at Zweibrucken which.is abou~20 kilometers a"fay. I didn't know anything about setting·one up when !',first started into. it, .but .it.• s sur.prising how-. much you learn by doirig! Both of the libraries are do~ng very well and we have just opened a music room here at Pinnasens which the.t".ellows seem to enjoy very much (along with met) I haven't done much touring as yet but have visited Heiaelberg and Frankfurt. The old. cast1e at Heidelberg sure ·did give me .a thrill and I was impressed in' true tourist fashion! ·I hope to go-:to,..Paris in tltt'O weeks and am looking forward to.it tremendously -still can't believe tbat 1 ·can do. t ·hings like that1 .Time has ·gone by very f'.ast and sometimes I . have difficUl.ty' iri 'believing that I started On this Great Trek over three months agot
"Promise I will· write 'morfb ·and in detail about Lire in the Old Country later111 , »·
. ...
·lHHHHHH:"* · .·
'. •.
WE'RE ON TV We are not endea~ring to ,lt,ck them, and we 8,re"no,t ._ going to join
them, but we are cooper<~ting with the produ~ers of T.V in tw~ instances -first, through the use of our San Vicent·e Branch· by Andrew Stone Productions, for "Gang Busters", and secondly, the fe~~uri,ng of Malibu Mobilibrarian Ml's. Margaret D. Light, on the Groueho.. Marx·Show· · ' ·
The description of the motion picture acti:vities at :s~ Vic~hte ·are described below: by our E!usiness Manager, William _Geller, who was on.the scene at ·the time:
. . ,. . .
. . '
Work began promptly on schedule at 7:30 a.m. and Mr. Stone and his associates found that the facilities of the libracy met their requirements. Approximately 40 people were involved in the activities between
7:30 and ll a.m. when the shooting was completed.
-8 ..
About four scenes were taken in that time. Each scene required many retakes and oftentimes the retakes were taken from different angles so
· ·:''.that it was difficult to tell how many actual episodes were photographed. ·As'the episodes were somewhat disconnected it also added to my difficulty. As I remember them, the scenes were as follows:
l'. The scene was at the desk of the library, with a beauteous
,; . female acting the role of librarian. After being dutifully coached by Mrs. Robbins and myself, she is photographed charging two books to detectives. on the trail of a crintj.nal who is known by them to be inthe library. Some discussion occurs between the two men about methods of approaching the criminal after which the librarian retires down-stage and enters into discussion with a patron about a book he wishes to take from the book truck.
Another scene depicted a -man browsin g along the-shelves, mostly for 11 atmospheric effects11 , I was told.
A third detective seats himself by the criminal, known as Carson, and in the guise of a student having a difficult mathematical problem engages the criminal in conversation, whereby the two other Fearless Fosdicks elaborately and casually saunter up to and behind the dangerous criminal.
The scene now shifts to the two detectives, one of which seats himself opposite the criminal, the third detective coming up from behind the stacks to arrive with book in hand, in back of the criminal. Simultaneously then all three jump the criminal, handcuff him, obtain the dynamite and gun he carries on his person and carry him off stage. (Sounds exciting, doesn't it? And it wasl)
A large part of the library came into the focus of the camera during these shots, as the scope of the lens took in not only the principals directly in front of it but the stacks of the library and even the outdoors, seen through the windows. I was interested to note that in the middle background there would be one or two persons browsing through books and going by on the outside would be a man and a girl who entered into the picture at a pr.ecise time. As you can well.J.magin.e, the~ coordi.nation of all t.hese people to secure a continuous action took considerable rehearsal and retaking of the pictures.
To be broadcast March 20. Don't miss itl
The transcription of Mrs. Light 1 s appearance on the Groucho Marx Show "You Bet Your Life11 will be on Radio Station KFI April 2, 9 p.m., and on Television Station KNBH Channel 4, April 3, 8 p.m. ~
' j 1/1 r:.1~ l
/ //\///' J.J/. ' ~,,. (/~ //John D. Henderson fy County Librarian
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Professional Architecture Practice Newcastle & Durham
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Base offer a comprehensive range of Architectural Services for clients in Newcastle, Durham and throughout the North East.
Our ethos is to be the best Architecture Company Newcastle and Durham has to offer, whilst providing a fast friendly and competitive yet highly professional service.
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Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the choices these days, you may feel like, "Where do I start?!"
In part 4 of our 5 part article, we the discuss "do I really need an HDTV?"
Right now, stations are moving towards HDTV programming. Although available for free over the air in major metropolitan areas, this process will take a few years to fully unfold. To be honest, an HDTV, plus components, plus the service can add up. But, if you are ready for top-notch quality? then dive in!
Do beware? it's more then a choice of size, price, and a few extra features. Many consumers purchase an HDTV thinking that they can plug it in and get HD programming. You must consider how you want to receive your HD programming to know what extra components you will need.
Over the Air. For this option, the HD programming is free, but limited to local stations received by an HD compatible antenna (approx $20-$100). Also, either a HD tuner that is built into the TV or a external tuner (approx. $250) is required.
Local Cable Provider. For this option, the HD programming is an additional fee per month. Typically this will include your local and any premium channels (such as HBO) that you already subscribe to. No HD tuner or antenna is required, the cable provider will lease you a HD cable box.
Satellite. The monthly fee is generally a bit less then the local cable provider. For this option, you need buy the HD satellite receiver (approx $400-$800) and replace your old dish with a slightly larger elliptical-shaped HD capable dish.
Even if you decide that HD programming is not right for you? you may still benefit from purchasing a HDTV if you watch a lot of DVD movies. Although not all DVD's are in true HD format, you will realize a higher clarity. Also, TV's last for 10+ years, so why not be ready for the technology if you change your mind down the road?
* Next in Part 5 of this article: TV recommendations by room
©2005 Architechtronics, Inc. All rights reserved.
To stay on the cutting-edge of home automation, theater, and technology join "The EDGE" today-it's free! www.architechtronics.com/edge.html">http://www.architechtronics.com/edge.html
Brett Griffin lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. Brett has 12 years of experience in the technology industry and strives to seamlessly blend high performance technologies into one easy to use system. As co-founder of Architechtronics, Brett uses his creativity and experience to help builders, dealers, and homeowners meet their technology desires in their home.


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Central Square Letter to $PICO
Join our free newsletter for some exclusive info we don't share elsewhere.
Central Square Management LLC, together with its affiliates ("Central Square"), is one of the largest shareholders of PICO Holdings, Inc. ("PICO" or the "Company"), with ownership of approximately 5.6% of the outstanding shares. We are writing to express our concerns with the Company's recent announcement on February 9, 2016 that Kristina Leslie, former Chair of the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), and Robert Deuster, resigned from the Board and that two new directors, Howard Brod Brownstein andRaymond V. Marino II, were appointed to the Board. As you know, over the past 16 months, we have persistently and repeatedly tried to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Board and PICO's management team to discuss our concerns regarding the Company's prolonged underperformance and poor governance in addition to several strategies, which, if implemented, we believe would materially improve the Company's performance for the benefit of all PICO shareholders. As part of these efforts, we recommended on numerous occasions the addition of three highly qualified individuals to the Board, including Anthony Bergamo, James Henderson and Daniel Silvers, and called on the Board to immediately engage with us to agree on a process for seating each of Messrs. Bergamo, Henderson and Silvers, but to no avail.
We were therefore disappointed to hear that the Board appointed two new directors to replace Ms. Leslie and Mr. Deuster without even attempting to engage in meaningful dialogue with one of its largest shareholders despite our persistent efforts to work with PICO to reconstitute the Board. As we have continuously stated in our prior written and verbal correspondence, we believe fresh perspective is needed on the Board in order to put the Company on the path towards creating value for shareholders rather than maintaining the troubling status quo of creating wealth for Mr. Hart, the rest of his management team and Board members at the expense ofshareholders. While we applaud the exit of Ms. Leslie and Mr. Deuster, we believe the appointments of Messrs. Brownstein and Marino represent yet another flagrant attempt by management and the Board to further entrench themselves while ignoring the highly-qualified candidates we originally recommended in October 2015 and refusing to engage in meaningful negotiations with us to reconstitute the Board.
In its February 9th announcement, the Company stated that "the input we have received from our shareholders" guided its choices for the new Board members and specifically, that Mr. Marino was a recommendation from an institutional shareholder. We find this statement to be both self-serving and highly deceptive, especially in light of Ms. Leslie's prior explicit statements to us on behalf of the Board that the candidates we proposed appeared highly-qualified to serve on the Board. However, despite the existence of these highly-qualified candidates vetted by one of its largest shareholders, the Company instead appears to have squandered additional shareholder resources by engaging a search consultant in what, we can only assume, was an effort to identify candidates that management believed would be more amenable to accommodating the status quo.
Further, the supposed "major" institutional shareholder that recommended Mr. Marino did not even hold a 1% stake in the Company as of the last date in which its ownership was disclosed. Quite simply, we believe the Board and management team preferred to appoint candidates of their own choosing and that any claim that such appointments were "responsive" to shareholders is an illusion of "change" designed to maintain the status quo without accountability to the Company's largest shareholders. While this dynamic would seem to create a more comfortable situation for management and the remaining Board members by further entrenching themselves, we believe all shareholders would be better served with new directors who could offer more significant change to PICO's value destructive ways by being empowered to constructively question and challenge the status quo represented by PICO's management team.
In light of the recent changes, however, it appears that both the Company and Central Square now agree that a new Board is required at PICO. We merely disagree on the constitution of the Board. We remind you that since our initial public letter to Ms. Leslie and the Board in August of 2015, the Company has announced the appointment of three new directors, two of whom it claims were in response to the recommendation of its large institutional shareholders. Given PICO's refusal to add the highly qualified candidates recommended by us, one of its largest shareholders, we believe these "changes" are in reaction to our publicly stated concerns regarding the Company in an attempt to appease shareholders and divert their attention from the real issues facing the Company.
We remind you of some of our core concerns:
- Management's compensation program continues to be both excessive and misaligned with the interests of shareholders, which includes Mr. Hart's base salary that is nearly double the median of the CEO's of the Company's self-defined peer group (and that is AFTER the recent underwhelming reduction) as well as a bonus structure that continues to be poorly-aligned with shareholder interests;
- The Board has a history of overseeing value-destructive capital allocation decisions, including, among others, its calamitous investment in PICO Northstar Hallock, LLC, which we believe resulted in the destruction of more than $85 million of shareholder value;
- Ongoing corporate governance failures with no clear measurement system of, nor consequences for, management's mistakes, which we believe have led to massive shareholder value destruction;
- Bloated corporate expense structure;
- History of appropriating shareholder money, which we believe has been used to unjustly enrich management;
- A staggered Board despite shareholders' approval of a proposal at the 2015 annual meeting recommending that PICO declassify the Board, which has the effect of hampering shareholders' ability to seek true change at the Company;
- A long-term track record of share price deterioration as demonstrated by PICO's share price underperformance compared to all major indices on a YTD-basis and during all relevant trailing periods (1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-years) as depicted in the table below; and
- Poor operating performance as demonstrated by a decline in PICO's book value per share from nearly $28.00 in 4Q07 to approximately $15.00 as of 3Q15.
We believe it is highly inappropriate for the incumbent Board members and management team, which have overseen such dramatic destruction of shareholder value, to seemingly hand-pick these newly appointed directors under the illusion of change without being held accountable for the Company's poor performance. Shareholders require real and sweeping change on the Board, not just the appearance of change in reaction to the challenge of a publicly concerned and critical large shareholder.
In fact, we found the February 9th announcement to be insulting to shareholders and contrary to our recent efforts to impose appropriate corporate governance standards, which only reaffirms our belief that the current management team and Board are more interested in preserving the status quo than engaging in meaningful dialogue with one of its largest shareholders to reach an agreement that offers real and substantive change for PICO shareholders.
We once again call on PICO's Board and management team to stop their delay tactics and entrenchment measures, which continue to utilize corporate resources, by immediately engaging with us to agree on a process for seating each of Messrs. Bergamo, Henderson and Silvers, who we believe together have the right mix of skill sets and experience to help the Board address PICO's challenges and opportunities with an open mind and a keen sense of urgency. We also reiterate our request that the Company hold its 2016 annual meeting no later than April 15, 2016 to enable shareholders to establish a clear mandate for the Company and to avoid the unnecessary expense of a special meeting that another shareholder is attempting to call.
Given the Company's refusal to address our repeated concerns and suggestions to date, however, we have little confidence that any meaningful agreement will be reached. Should our concerns and requests continue to fall on deaf ears, we will be left with no choice but to nominate candidates to the Board at the upcoming annual meeting so that shareholders can be offered a choice between the current path, which we believe is characterized by self-entrenchment and value destruction, and an alternative path that we believe would create significant value for all shareholders through accountability driven by highly-qualified Board oversight. It is unfortunate – but not surprising given precedent actions of this Board – that the Board has apparently chosen to waste additional shareholder resources on a proxy contest rather than work constructively with one of its largest shareholders to implement meaningful change at the Company.
We are hopeful that the Board will recognize that avoiding a proxy contest and immediately engaging with us is in the best interests of its shareholders. As always, we remain open to engaging in a constructive dialogue with you and members of the management team to reach an agreement that offers real and substantive change for PICO shareholders.
Don't forget that 13F season is here! Get our 4Q major activist investor quarterly (to come this week) newsletter and all our past issues at a 60% discount - subscribe here.


text: Just to get this out there --- I AM ROOTED and NANDROID IS INSTALLED:motdroidvert: Okay, so rooted my droid and im on 2.0.1 and would like to install and have MetaMorph working cause i found alot of themes i like. I listen to some intructions on that i need to install busybox before i can use MetaMorph. so i get this thing called "DroidrootHelper" (which i used to get nandroid) and i get it up and running with root. I mount System block 4 and press "install chmod busybox" and then unmount it, do a quick restart and no difference. Still get the error on launch of MetaMorph that Busybox isnt installed and that there is not enough space to unzip. Anybody got any sugestions on what to do??:cus: or am i a complete noob? **i have looked into using "su ln -s/system/bin/busybox/system/bin/cp" but that doesnt do any help to me.:cus:


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Rugby High School netballers 1988
Time to remind these young ladies of their netballing days at Rugby High School! They will all be in their early 40s by now and hopefully will enjoy the trip down memory lane.
These pictures appeared in the Advertiser in November 1988.
The first is of the Under 14s and the second the Under 16s team. Notice everyone had to have their name embroidered on their gym kit. No chance of ever wearing someone else's by mistake!
The girls were: Under 14s: (back from left) Corinne Thorpe, Victoria Pratt, Helen Watkins, Elizabeth Goddard and Emma Kendal. (Front) Sue Smith, Julia Chester, Amanda Sensicle and Zoe Smith.
Under 16s: (back from left) Jacqueline Chester, Anna Lansbury, Donna Finnegan and Kathrine Rushton. (Front) Laura Shine, Diane Battison, Kirsty Marvell and Catharine Jones.


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I've been suspicious of one-named thrushes since Robyn started scoring points beyond the Top 40 crowd (hell, since we confused appreciation of Aaliyah's overrated albums with spectacular consistency with singles), but a handful of listens to Amerie's Because I Love It confirms that she's got the avidity we demand of a wannabe pop sensation. Make no mistake: this is the year's most consistent pop album, terrific for confirming that lyrical banality does not equal performative banality -- that, indeed, performance scours banality until truth remains. As a stand-alone single, the galumphing "Gotta Work" reminded me too much of Beyonce's grim careerist anthems, long on determination, short on euphoria; on the album, it's a nicely modulated manifesto, preparing us for "Hate 2 To Love U," "Some Like It," and a sequence of tunes whose consistently inventive, glistening overtones bring to relief an undertone even a Battles fan can appreciate: sometimes there's gonna be days like this, so you smile and you endure. I realized there was something special going on when the synths on "Crush" obliquely interpolated a theme from New Order's "Thieves Like Us," one of their most underrated singles, and one that's taken years for me to warm to; I kept looking, hopelessly, for Bernard Sumner's wink to the audience.
That fervor's obvious in most of Amerie's performances. She's the Diana Ross of "You Keep Me Hangin' On," aware of the thin line between acceptance and hysteria, although thankfully Amerie's still not quite big enough a star for the awareness to ossify her energy into the rictus grin of "Muscles" and "It's My Turn." Unlike Beyonce, she can make her ballads signify beyond mere intimations of vulnerability. As Tim Finney remarks, her producers are savvy enough to luxuriate in the tension between her multitracked choruses and crisply enunciated verses, but this theory does little justice to what Amerie accomplishes on an "American Idol" readymade like "All Roads," on whose final forty-five seconds she's actually allowed to sing herself hoarse. It's a stunning moment: this is no Jennifer Hudson sustained aria of indestructibility, it's weakness, unmediated. It's what we expect "American Idol" to be instead of sell.
Re Amerie's "Crush" versus Ciara's "C.R.U.S.H.": were I to extend the New Wave diva analogy I started here, I'd say that Amerie is Alison Moyet to Ciara's Annie Lennox. The marketplace is responding in this manner, unfortunately, as Because I Love It's release date has been pushed back for months and I rarely hear Amerie on the radio. Meanwhile cooler-than-ice-cream Ciara will likely enjoy an audience likely to follow her into continued adult-contemporary remuneration. In the U.S. it's rare enough to see distance triumph over investment that this seems at best a mixed victory.
(crossposted with Back & Forth)
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Passion is a six-letter word
Posted by Alfred Soto at 9:14 PM
3 comments:
- John C. said...
I'd have something to say about this post if Columbia were to ever fucking release this album in the US. Based on the five tracks I've managed to find on blogs, this is a strong contender for my top 10 this year, but I may never know.
- September 7, 2007 at 9:13 AM
- Alfred Soto said...
It's supposed to be out in November. We'll see!
- September 7, 2007 at 11:05 PM
- kiss out the jams said...
I wish I could remember more of these tracks when the album's not on, because when it is, they're fantastic. Where is she getting these drum breaks?
- September 8, 2007 at 5:58 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Choose To Please Him More
October 31, 2009
Well, the end of yet another month… Time seems to be flying by.
Let's stop and evaluate what we have done to please the Lord this month. What will we do to please Him this coming month? It's not as much about what we will accomplish for Him as it's about what we allow Him to do in us… molding us… getting us "to be conformed to the likeness of His Son." (Rom. 8:29) Will we do what is necessary for that? Because He has given us choices to make… steps to take… efforts… ways to make ourselves available –surrendered– to His workmanship in us.
Things like prayer, worship (one on one alone time with Him), praise, and meditating on His Word.
Will we do it?
There's 30 days in November. Where will your heart be by the end of 30 days? Will it be Christlike –more so than it is now?
Calvinism Is Heretical
October 30, 2009
I am finding that within Christianity there is an evil doctrine that is being not only tolerated, but now glorified above the Scriptures. It is called Calvinism. Many men in the pulpit have been schooled in this doctrine and they are quickly seeping into all mainline churches. It is time for us all to examine this, expose its errors and blasphemies, and root it out, for it is not true Christianity.
Calvinists are dangerous to the body of Christ because differently than those such as Mormons, Muslims, or atheists, they use the very Scriptures we use –those beautiful inspired words of the Most High God– and then twist them, defaming God and confusing those who are trying to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Calvinists teach a different god. They teach that God randomly picks some humans to be saved and others to be tortured in Hell forever. They teach that God has all power to save these condemned souls, but does not do so merely because their damnation brings Him the most glory. They deny that the salvation extended through Jesus' death and resurrection covers ALL who, by their own free will, repent and believe. Instead, they teach that salvation is brought to the few only because God randomly picks those few. In this, they teach a different way of salvation.
Friends, when a group teaches a doctrine that is not in Scripture, especially that which concerns God's attributes and way of salvation, they are deemed heretical. Why is Calvinism not being exposed for what it is –heretical?
God is good. He is compassionate, merciful, and loving. He is not willing that any perish. (2 Peter 3:9) He has provided a way of escape to ALL (1 John 2:2 & 1 Tim. 2:3-6), and that way is not by random selection, but through repentance and belief for "whosoever will." Therefore, ALL, even those without the Gospel in their native language, are given the ability to look about them, see God's "divine nature" (Rom. 1:19,20) revealed in creation (Ps. 19:1-4), and attempt to seek Him. (Acts 17:27) And God says that all who seek Him with their whole heart will find Him. (Jer. 29:13,14) This, to the Calvinist, is a useless endeavor because they say that those selected for damnation never will seek Him anyway, and those selected for salvation needn't do so either –since their salvation is already a guaranteed election. Thus, the Calvinist makes nonsense out of so many Scriptures as they hold fast to their wrong interpretations of their few pet verses they take out of context.
Besides the gift of free choice, God has also graciously given to everyone a conscience by which to make right choices –to do good and seek truth– though yes, many suppress this because of their love for sin. God has given us the ability to be convicted by His wooing Holy Spirit, but He will not force His will onto anyone. God can do anything, but He will never violate His nature. Because of this, when the Calvinist says that God foreordains all actions, words, events –everything– he displays his inability to reason logically if he does not also admit that he is saying that God then DOES evil acts. Because if none of us can make choices, then it is God who holds us all by puppet strings, we are the puppets, and He is the one who moves the strings that cause the evil. No, this is defaming God, calling God a violator of His own attributes of holiness, mercy, and love; for one who DOES evil, IS evil. Thus the Calvinist blasphemes God!
Friends, be assured that Scripture does inform us of a God –the God– who is more merciful, loving, and kind than any of us can fathom. And that He is holy, which means He can never do one thing evil or wrong, He does not take pleasure in evil (Ps. 5:4), nor does He create that He may torture in order to bring Himself glory. This god that the Calvinists have made up, is just that –at best– a god of their wicked imaginations. At worst, they are actually worshipping a demon-god, who "masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Cor. 11:14)
Please read the Scriptures carefully. And start exposing this heretical doctrine of Calvinism in your church.
Prayers To Start Your Morning
October 29, 2009
I have often conversed with others about the importance of prayer, specifically about doing so first thing in the morning –before Satan, others, or oneself has the chance to try to usurp from God His servant's heart and mind. I'll share some of what I pray most every day upon waking –in case others of you may want to use something similar. I actually often pray these things once or twice again during each day –especially when faced with any sudden new decisions to be made– so that all of me will continuously and completely be submitted to His lordship –He who is the great and awesome King Most High.
Here's some of it:
"Heavenly Father, In the name of Jesus, Your Son, I take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ as Your Word says to do in 2 Cor. 10:5. I submit to Your Lordship: My heart, my mind, my will, my emotions, my decisions, my relationships, my affections, my hopes, my dreams, my aspirations, my expectations, and my prayers. Also, everything I read, write, listen to, and watch. Everything I eat and drink. Everything I wear and when. Everywhere I go, and when. My time, my desires, and my life are completely devoted to You, Lord, because I truly do want to please you perfectly. So please HELP me to please You by filling me with your Holy Spirit. Thank you for coming to earth to ransom us. I love You, God… very much. Amen."
I pray a lot of other things too, of course, but that is the prayer I start with –as soon as I wake up. I also try, even if I'm discouraged, to sing "new songs" to Him, which I just make up. I also like to exalt Him by describing who He is to me. "Lord, You are my Fortress, my Rock, my Shelter, my Protector, my Deliverer, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Ransomer, The Lifter of my spirit, the Anchor of my soul, my Helper, my Shield, my Comforter, my Counselor, my Teacher, my Friend, my Shepherd, my Provider, my Stronghold…" I also put in adjectives often, like "majestic, good, kind, merciful, loving, compassionate, strong, mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, beautiful, great, awesome, amazing, glorious, holy…" I also ask that He cause nations and peoples to ascribe to Him the glory due His name, and that all blessing, honor, power, might, dominions, kingdoms, rulership, reverence, exaltation, worship, obedience, wealth, wisdom, beauty, splendor, strength… be ascribed to Him. That His will will be done on earth and in my life, just as it is done in Heaven. And that He will soon bring all other powers and principalities to naught.
Those are the prayers of surrender and praise I offer up to God –all based on what Scripture teaches us to do and say. As well as this, I also ever morning, (and maybe other times too,) am sure to insert repentance praying, making sure I do this before I make my requests and petitions. I usually kneel on sackcloth, which is of course a symbol of repentance, as I bow with my forehead on my Bible. A good repentance prayer to start with is Ps. 51:10,17.
Of course there can be shortened versions of all these prayers. Like: "Lord God, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, I come humbly into Your majestic presence. I surrender all of me to You today and always. Help me to please You perfectly… every single minute today –and always. Because You are worthy to be praised, honored, adored, and obeyed. Thank you so much for being my Savior, my God, and my Heavenly Father. And for making me Your child. Please forgive me and cleanse me of all sin. I love You. Amen." That covers it too.
I do not believe in ritual. But I believe in practicing good habits. So making it a habit to begin our day with prayers similar to these (and meaning them) will please God and enable His people to walk in strength, faith, and obedience.
A Cockroach Found In Your Tea
October 28, 2009
In my alone time with the Lord this morning I happened to read Ecc. 10:1 again. It says, "As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." I meditated on it… how one ounce of foolishness can negate one's good reputation, one's blessed life, one's right standing with God.
I pondered all the times that I've heard compromising statements, all the many excuses I've heard about something being "no big deal", all the times I've seen even pastors shrug off the importance of sticking to the exact truth of correct doctrine and pure behavior and speech for themselves and other leadership in their church.
As the verse above teaches, a little error –unattended to– corrodes the whole lump. One fly begets maggots. One drop of arsenic can kill. Even one cockroach found in one's tea would cause the whole glass-full to get poured down the drain –for no thinking person would try to sip around it!
I thought of the many times that I've seen one word of slander devastate a friendship, a family, a church, a soul. I thought of the many times one action killed. Killed a marriage. Killed a career. Killed a family. Killed a life. Like one act of road rage… or even one careless miscalculation… or one misinformed judgment…
Let's be careful. Let's be sure our words are HIS words, our actions are HIS actions, our judgments are HIS judgments, our desires are HIS desires, our doctrines are HIS doctrines, our thoughts are HIS thoughts…
We do this through knowing Him. And His Word.
Your One Starfish Matters
October 27, 2009
No, we don't accept every philosophy or belief system, nor should we aid those promoting injustice, deceptions, or falsehoods. (2 John 1:10,11) But we ARE to accept everyone as a person. Here's Scripture to support that: "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to [……….. –to WHAT?–] bring praise to God." (Rom. 15:7) May we all remember that that is the point of our existence. To bring Him praise. And to love Him and others –the two commandments on which all the others rest.
So: "There is no mere mortal." I believe C.S. Lewis coined that statement. In other words, every human is important because they are made in the image of God. Yes, because "He died for all" (2 Cor. 5:14,15) and "gave Himself as a ransom for all men [mankind]…" (1 Tim. 2:6) and was "the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
Every person ever created is precious. Jesus underwent a cruel death for a reason… to deliver His created souls from the bondage they'd incurred upon themselves. Why? –Because He truly, deeply, more than we can fathom… loves people.
And He commands that we love also. So how do we love? How should this love look? Well, 1 John 3:18 says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." Actions… Truth… And as we sit at the feet of Jesus, with His Word in hand, we will learn what that all entails…
There's a thought-provoking story that touches on the actions of true love that has been around for at least 20-30 years and many of you have heard it, I'm sure. However, I have no idea who first wrote it and there are many versions to it. So here's my made-up version:
The tired, bitter man trudged slowly to the crest of the sand dune, then gazed across the shimmering salt-water. At the shoreline a movement caught his eye. "What in blazes…?!" Yep, it was a small boy, running back and forth, bending down… "What's he doing?" the grump muttered. "I better go see."
As the man hobbled down toward the water, he noticed the beach was coated with starfish, some alive, many dead, some still dying… "Boy!" he snapped as he neared. "You are wasting your energy! There are thousands of starfish on this beach. What you are doing is not going to make a dent. What you are doing does not matter!"
The little boy squinted up at the man with an astonished, quizzical look –as if he had never considered such a thought. "But sir," he said as he held one of the creatures in his hand. "It matters to THIS one."
The man's brows narrowed, but he had nothing to say. The boy then hurried to the water's edge and gently let the starfish slip in.
"Ridiculous waste of time," the man finally grumbled as he started away. Then he happened to look down. He saw a starfish on its back, its arms waving frantically –at him, it seemed. "Oh, bother," he said as he painfully leaned down to pick it up. He shuffled over to the water and set it free. He didn't want to look back at the boy, but he could tell the youngster was watching him, so he glanced his way. The boy broke out into a huge grin.
"Oh, bother," muttered the man again. But he held up his hand toward the boy as if to say, "Okay, I get it." Then he turned and left.
Remember, "There is no mere mortal."
Even if we can't even make a dent, it matters to the one YOU are helping, the one YOU are called to love…
Can we love just ONE starfish back to life…? Let's try.
Study Carefully God's Word
October 26, 2009
I encourage us all to search out truth on our own. –To be careful about taking anyone else's word for something. –To do our own research and study of history, astronomy, and other areas of fact, but especially that which concerns the Bible and how it came to be. Because the Bible, which made prophecies which have indeed come to pass, also has some grave warnings about the eternal destinations of human souls.
Once a person is convinced about the legitimacy of the Bible, then the correct interpretation must be found. This is done by reading and rereading God's Word, and it is very helpful if one already has been born anew and has the Holy Spirit indwelling them. (1 Cor. 2:10-16) However, even a sincere seeker will experience God's grace as He woos, illuminates, and teaches, drawing the seeker to spiritual truth.
There is one concept in the Scriptures that I am especially concerned about people examining. It entails the necessity of holy living and careful obedience to God. I believe study concerning this is exceptionally necessary because it is something that unfortunately seems to have been very watered down in almost all of Christendom. Few seem to be teaching the importance of it, and if they command it, they usually do not disciple people on how to adhere to the command.
Step one is to seek truth –the truth in the Word of God. We cannot find without the seeking… and it cannot be done half-heartedly. We must study, meditate, and ask the Lord to reveal truth to us. Quote to Him His own Word. Like Ps. 119:27,34 –"Let me understand the teaching of Your precepts… and I will keep Your law and obey it with all my heart." I'm sure sometimes people don't obey because they don't understand. But unfortunately for them, that is no excuse. There IS a way to understand: Study. And once they determine to seek and study, they will learn that there is a power offered to us by which to live blamelessly. Sadly, though, many do not want to study because they actually do not want to walk in that holy power. Why? Because they want to sin!
But… for those of us who love righteousness and truth: Once we have His Holy Spirit in us, we do not need anyone else to teach us. (1 John 2:27) Only Him. (John 16:13 & 14:26)
Now, does that mean we aren't to sharpen and encourage each other? Of course not. And to those who point out truth and who keep reminding us by their words AND LIVES, we should thank them. It encourages them to go on and not become weary in thinking their efforts were in vain.
Of course, who really, is going to reap the consequences of our beliefs and actions? Us. And our hearers. So for teachers of all kinds –including parents, it is of utmost importance that we study. And that we study with sincere and humble hearts, under the guidance of our compassionate and all-wise Counselor, the Holy Spirit of God.
with love,
Love Might Rebuke
October 25, 2009
For those who have ever struggled to uphold truth –whether it concerns ethics, equal rights, the inerrancy of the Scriptures, or even if the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa!– there is something to be kept in mind. That is, that love is also to be upheld. Love for God, others, and the truth itself.
However, a problem often arises: Those who don't agree like to suggest that disagreement, and certainly rebuke, is not loving. And of course, especially these days, to "be loving" is very politically correct –in Christian circles, but also in non-, though that's often termed "unity" or "peace-efforts". So to call, "Foul! –You're being unloving!" is a favorite ploy they think will work. I mean, who wants to be known for having broken "the two greatest commandments"? Or of having been accused of intolerance?
Sadly, this tactic is working with many and is frightening those who believe in absolute truth. Society wants to tell those of us who stick to the infallibility of the Word of God that we are narrow-minded and bigoted, and believing in things like Judgment and Hell show we are grossly unloving. This was bad enough coming from the world, but now it is coming from those right INSIDE Christianity! Emergents are one group who resort to this. They have such a watered-down way of salvation, that they are trying to tell the rest of us that "Yes, Jesus is the best way for us, but for those in other religions… well, Jesus will accept them too. Because God is love. You are not showing us Christians to be Christ-like."
Then we get the Christian-Buddhists… a group quickly increasing in number here in the USA. They say, "I like spiritual experiences, and yes, I do believe in a type of God… even the good man, Jesus…. but I also believe the Bible has been too tampered with to believe much of it…" That's their rhetoric.
And on it goes… with all the cults… with all the false paths… with all the false gods being promoted…
What are we Truth-lovers supposed to do? We are to be loving. We are to strive for peace… though not at the expense of truth. So… how do we juggle this?
One way is to disassociate ourselves from fellow-shipping with them. Prov. 25:26 says, "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked." So definitely, when we encounter pressure from wicked people, we are not to give in to their ways, advice, philosophies, or beliefs. If we have any choice in the matter, we are not to allow ourselves to come under their control. We are to leave if possible.
Another option is to counter their error. This is something God's Word also calls us to do. If He has given us the opportunity, and if there is abuse, mind-control, or anything immoral, unethical, or illegal being done, then a stand against that needs to be taken. Often the stand is against leadership, for it is those who, be it political, religious, or even social, wield much control over others.
Now what about those who are not necessarily "wicked", but who are teaching falsehoods, even right inside mainline Christian church groups? Well, verses such as Titus 1:10,11 say that "rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers… must be silenced." And how should we attempt to silence them? Verse 13 says "Rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith." This was something that was indeed done by the apostles, the writers, the prophets, and certainly Jesus Himself. In Matthew 23 Jesus gives a scathing rebuke to the experts in the law, calling them all sorts of names and attributing to them all sorts of sins. Stephen, in Acts 7:51 called the religious leaders stiff-necked, deaf, betrayers, murderers, etc., yet verse 55, as well as 6:5,15 let us know that he was full of the Holy Spirit. And many, many other examples could be cited.
So, is rebuke "unloving"? If done with a motive of love, it is not. Jesus says in Rev. 3:19, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent." Therefore, we see that rebuke to the foolish is actually a necessity if one truly loves and cares. It is also a necessity in upholding truth. And when it comes to upholding truth about God or His instructed way of salvation from an eternal death, it is the most loving action a person can extend to another.
Are there different types of rebukes? I use different types. To the timid, fearful, sincere, and/or humble I speak softly. I couch the rebuke as best I can in loving, uplifting, encouraging, even complimentary words. With many this works well. I look right into their eyes, and we connect. They know I love them, because Christ in me does. In fact, so very much. But do I withhold truth? No. I often take their hands and say, "Oh friend, you have to slay that sin. God will not allow in His presence one who is not repentant."
But to the arrogant, or those who lord it over others –those experts in the law who should know better– I suppose I may sound a tad bit more harsh.
Well, let's keep contending for the faith. And may our firm love for Truth also include love for each individual soul… whom Christ in us deeply cares about… even if it be tough love… —or love misunderstood.


text:
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Banbridge Academy's First XV will contest the Schools' Trophy final this Wednesday (24th February) against Belfast High School.
The final, the first of the major schools finals, will be held at Roughfort, home of B.R.A., in Mallusk and will kick off at 3.00pm.
The Academy made the final as a result of wins over Wellington College 5-0 and Cambridge House 27-10.
Their opponents had wins over Lurgan College 3-0 and Larne Grammar school 13-7.
The Belfast school will enter the tie as slight favourites as a result of an early season 7-0 win over the Academy.
But with injuries that day, all those involved are expecting a close affair.
The locals are Captained by Winger Michael McGaffin and the pack is led by prop Tom Lyttle. Further steel is added to the pack in the form of 2nd Row Peter Heaney and back row Jonny McIntosh. In the backs, Centre Ross Cartmill and Full Back Ben Russell have been the form players and the Academy will be hoping they can replicate that good play to lead them forward.
The full Academy squad is as follows: 1 John Wilson, 2 Timmy Beattie, 3 Tom Lyttle, 4 Peter Heaney, 5 Ethan Cromie, 6 Jonathan Campbell, 7 Jonathan McIntosh, 8 Jack Macaulay, 9 Jordan Mount, 10 Ben Thompson, 11 Troy Pinion, 12 Thomas Russell, 13 Ross Cartmill, 14 Michael McGaffin (Capt), 15 Ben Russell. Replacements 16 Scott Buchannon , 17 Corin Boardman, 18 Stuart Totten, 19 Toby Baxter, 20 Andrew Mitchell, 21 Tom Flanagan, 22 Jack Dolaghan, 23 Andrew Rutledge.


text: When photographer Ann Keen met Vicki and Jon she knew that their outdoor Sacramento, California wedding would be a blast to shoot. The couple was playful, creative and nerdy, in an extremely cute way. The couple's vision for the day started with conversations about everything they loved – space, cephalopods, games, and books. In the end, they knew they couldn't make the day overly nerdy so they needed


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Aquilegias are everywhere at the moment, and I love them! How can you not like a plant that self-seeds, survives harsh winters and drought, and doesn't need any care! They also survive the early Spring weeding because their new leaves are so distinctive that you can't really mistake them for anything else. They are looking good in my blue border at the moment. I say blue border, it wasn't meant to be blue, but these beauties have popped up, cornflowers have seeded everywhere, and various Nepeta and Geranium divisions that I've been given have found their way into the mix. Hey presto, an unplanned blue symphony.
|Elsewhere in the garden, Geranium Johnson's Blue has enjoyed the hot weather.
|And the Arum has had a bumper year, thanks to an absence of late frosts.


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Last week was rather a tightly traded ranged week with the market mostly holding on for the release of Nonfarm Payroll Report on Friday. Although the perception was overall positive, USD still remained weaker on summary approaching yearly low against other majors. However, with ECB and BOE (plus other major central banks) expressing reluctance in making their next moves, USD was able to consolidate some its weakness and showed a sign of comeback after NFP on Friday.
For the week, the DJIA ended with 1.2% in gain, S&P with 0.2% plus, but Nasdaq dropped a measly 0.4% as traders begin to balance their portfolio away from tech. Overall the market sentiment was positive as we start the week, as traders will be focusing on the upcoming CPI release in the U.S. on Friday, which may or may not change current sentiment, especially if we were to get a strong surprise.
Weekly Outlook
EURUSD: Honestly, with ECB remaining rather bullish and the fact we could see some asset purchases reducing before the end of the year, EUR is definitely expected to continue its upward trend. I would be looking to buy on dip, and as it is right now, I consider 1.1650 area to be good entries.
GBPUSD: Brexit or not, GBP is definitely recovering, just look at where it is right now (1.3025) and where it was 4 months ago (1.2170). Considering that despite recent CPI and other economic indicators portraying a lukewarm recovery, BOE is still moving ahead with talks on rate hikes, at least according to Carney. So the moral of the story is simple, BOE was more tolerate towards inflation (up to 3.5% y/y CPI reading). but not anymore. I got a feeling that as soon as CPI goes over 3% (it is 2.6% y/y now), BOE will take some action, whether it is just commenting or verbal intervention, they will do something… So it is clear, buy GBP on dip. and it will be ideal around 1.2850 if GBPUSD drops that low.
USDJPY: One of the most puzzling pair is the USDJPY because in my mind we should see 120 by now… but with the USD taking a dive, JPY has gained over 500 pips, although it still remained in range. I would not recommend a SELL trade for the pair, but a LONG entry around the low end, perhaps the 109 ~ 109.50 area.
USDCAD: CAD has been gaining but consolidated about 200 pips from the low. I believe there is still more room for it to go so if we see 1.2750 ~ 1.2900 area, I would sell the pair unless crude prices start to tumble sharply, and in that case, I would stay out.
USDCHF: I would stay out.
AUDUSD: There seems a lot of support on the AUD lately. However, it has consolidated so we could see another chance to go LONG and I am looking around below 0.7800 for long entries…
NZDUSD: 0.7300 might be a good entry to go LONG on the pair. NZD is expected to continue its ascension as both fundamental and technical support this currency to appreciate.
Of course, all of the above are my personal opinion. Market could change on a dime, so always pay attention to the news.
Happy Trading,
Forex Weekly Outlook August 7 ~ 11, 2017
August 7, 2017 by 1 Comment
Thank you Henry for your weekly outlook. I appreciate very much


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It looks like fairy tales really do come true, after a tramp in Hungary hit the jackpot with a huge lottery win on a ticket he bought with his last few coins.
László Andraschek has gone from living in doorways to owning a portfolio of properties since he scooped a 630m forint (£1.7m) win in the prize draw.
The 55-year-old won the lottery last year, but his story remained unknown until he recently made a big donation to a homeless shelter.
He bought the ticket with his last remaining coins on the way to a help centre for alcoholics in the capital city, Budapest.
He told Hungarian media: "I had only picked six numbers and the female shop assistant reminded me that I needed to pick a seventh. I told her to make it 24 – it doesn't matter anyway."
But it turned out to be a life-transforming call by the father of three which means he is now mulling over a visit to Italy with his wife – once he has got his first-ever passport that is.
His children have also been given flats and Andaschek has paid off all his debts. He aslo purchased a car, after turning up at the showroom on an old pushbike.
But Andraschek insisted that going from being homeless to a millionaire shall not change him – too much.
He told Hungarian TV: "I have become rich but I have not become a different person."
Life recently got tougher for homeless people with a new law criminalising sleeping rough in Hungary.