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Audrey Hudson told The Daily Caller that the files were taken during a SWAT raid of her Shady Side, Maryland home this past August conducted as part of an investigation into her husband, Paul Flanagan. Authorities were following up on a lead that Flanagan unlawfully possessed a number of firearms, and reportedly pilfered his wife's personal documents during an armed raid of the couples' home.
According to the Daily Caller's Alex Pappas, authorities had reason to believe that Flanagan was amassing a gun collection despite being legally barred from owning firearms due to a previous conviction. The Daily Caller obtained a search warrant showing that law enforcement was given the go-ahead to conduct a raid because Flanagan had been found guilty of resisting arrest in 1986 and thus prohibited from owning weapons. Authorities believed he had broken that restriction.
"One party that was interviewed remembered distinctly about Flanagan advising he had recently purchased a Bersa .380 handgun, and observed pictures of firearms similar to AK-47 semi-automatic rifles which were identified by Flanagan as being his," court documents obtained by Pappas say.
Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security both participated in the raid because Flanagan is employed by the Coast Guard, which is considered a division of DHS. If the raid was indeed over Flanagan's alleged gun collection, though, then why was his wife's papers taken by law enforcement? Hudson believes that the federal agents who entered her home knew she had worked with federal whistleblowers and wanted her sources.
Hudson is currently a freelance writer, but has reported previously for Newsmax, the Colorado Observer and The Washington Times.
"After the search began, Hudson said she was asked by an investigator with the Coast Guard Investigative Service if she was the same Audrey Hudson who had written a series of critical stories about air marshals for The Washington Times over the last decade," Pappas reported.
Hudson told the Daily Caller that during the raid, authorities confiscated file which included notes that "were used to expose how the Federal Air Marshal Service had lied to Congress about the number of airline flights there were actually protecting against another terrorist attack."
It took an entire month after the raid for Hudson to learn that the files had been taken by authorities. Miguel Bosch, a former air marshal-turned-special agent for the Coast Guard Investigative Service, called Hudson in September and told her that officials had her documents: handwritten and typed notes stemming from a series of interviews with confidential sources she had conducted, as well as other files.
"During the course of the search, the CGIS agent discovered government documents labeled FOUO – For Official Use Only (FOUO) – and LES – Law Enforcement Sensitive. The files that contained these documents were cataloged on the search warrant inventory and taken from the premises," a representative for the Coast Guard told the Daily Caller. "The documents were reviewed with the source agency and determined to be obtained properly through the Freedom of Information Act."
The documents were returned to Hudson, but she says she doesn't buy into their explanation. She says their response only explains one of the five files taken during the raid, "but does not explain why they took four other files with my handwritten and typed interview notes with confidential sources, that I staked my reputation as a journalist to protect under the auspices of the First Amendment of the Constitution."
"This guy basically came in here and took my anonymous sources and turned them over — took my whistleblowers — and turned it over to the agency they were blowing the whistle on," Hudson told The Daily Caller. "And these guys still work there."
"Part of the reason I'm coming forward with this is I'm scared to contact them," she said. "I'm terrified to contact them…I've got to let these guys know somehow."
A spokesperson for the Maryland State Police told Pappas that an investigation is currently under review regarding Hudson's husband.


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Database Mail External Program
Applies to: SQL Server
The Database Mail external executable is DatabaseMail.exe, located in the MSSQL\Binn directory of the SQL Server installation. Database Mail uses Service Broker activation to start the external program when there are e-mail messages to be processed. Database Mail starts one instance of the external program. The external program runs in the security context of the service account for SQL Server.
In this Topic:
Database Mail External Program Concepts
When the external program starts, the program connects to SQL Server using Windows Authentication and begins processing e-mail messages. When there have been no messages to send for the specified time-out period, the program exits. You can configure the amount of time that the program waits before exiting by using either Database Mail Configuration Wizard or the Database Mail stored procedures. For more information, see sysmail_configure_sp (Transact-SQL).
The external program stores information in system tables in the msdb database. If the external program cannot communicate with SQL Server, the program logs errors to the Microsoft Windows application event log. Additional message logging is provided when the logging level is set to Verbose in the Configure System Parameters dialog box of the Database Mail Configuration Wizard.
Notice that, for efficiency, the external program caches account and profile information. Therefore, configuration changes to accounts and profiles may not be reflected in the external program for a few minutes.
Tasks Related to Configuring Database Mail External Program
|Configuration Task
|Topic Link
|Specify the time that the External Program before exiting.
|sysmail_configure_sp (Transact-SQL)
See Also
SQL Server Service Broker
Database Mail Log and Audits
Database Mail
Submit and view feedback for

subset: commoncrawl


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Please select your location. We recommend:
Create fun, colorful looks with these Makeup Sets! Comes in so many beautiful shades and variety of colours. Never get bored just get bold!
Free Delivery on orders above QAR 150
Standard delivery charge is QAR 30
Click & Collect available on all items


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14K White Gold Fancy Bambou Key Pendant
Many in stock
Unlock your affair with the key to her heart. 14K white gold compose this key pendant. Pendant comes in a free 18" white gold cable chain.
Details :
Height- 12mm
Length- 16mm
Width - 2mm
Polished Finish
Returns Policy
Jewelry Affairs offers a 30-day return policy on jewelry. If you are not happy with your jewelry purchase within 30 days of receipt, you may return UNUSED merchandise that has not been engraved or customized for a refund, credit or exchange. Jewelry returned must be in original condition and credit is subject to merchandise being reviewed by our Quality Assurance Specialists. Merchandise that is damaged or altered in any way by a jeweler other than Jewelry Affairs cannot be returned. Some estate jewelry and designer jewelry may be fragile and cannot be returned if damaged. A merchandise credit will be issued if merchandise received as a gift is returned by the recipient. Items that have been personalized cannot be returned. Custom made jewelry are not refundable. With the above-mentioned provisions, a refund will be issued as soon as the item is received.


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Get news and updates sent right to your phone or inbox!
The City of Nampa sought extensive input from the community during Phase I. In addition to the Nampa Wastewater Advisory Group, many community members participated in an electronic focus group from 2010 to 2013. The City also hosted a public open house in April 2013 and a public hearing in June 2013.
Electronic Focus Group Materials
Survey No. 3
The purpose of the third survey was to explain the decision making process (phasing) and provide input on the upgrade options and funding options.
Survey #3 results
Evening meeting presentation - March 8, 2012
Click here for informational fact sheets about each upgrade option.
Survey No. 2
The purpose of the second survey was to gather more detailed information from residents about ranking benefits versus cost.
Survey #2 Results
Evening meeting presentation - May 4, 2011
Survey No. 1
The purpose of the first survey was to provide input on values that are important to the Nampa community when making wastewater decisions.
Survey #1 Results
Evening meeting presentation - Nov. 3, 2010
Open House Materials
Display boards:
Wastewater Overview Fact Sheet
Utility Bill Insert
Rate Calculation Fact sheet
Long-term Upgrade Options Fact Sheet
If you have questions or comments, please call 468-5441 or email [email protected]
Public Hearing Materials


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8 Ways to Choose Wide over Narrow
Typical business wisdom says, narrow your focus. Successful organizations do a few things very well. Less is more, but not always.
4 perils of narrow:
- Shuts down rather than turns on.
- Closes off rather than opens up.
- Rejects rather than explores.
- Pulls back rather than reaches out.
Narrow establishes limits. Reject the perils of narrow. Go wide.
8 ways to go wide:
- Look toward people, not away. Narrow reflects arrogance and detachment.
- Move toward problems and challenges quickly and responsively. Jump in the mud optimistically.
- Release don't restrict. Go narrow with what and wide with how. Patton said, "Don't tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."
- Do what you can with what you have. Limited resources invite protective attitudes. Protecting preserves the past but doesn't build the future.
- Talk into not out of. Pursue yes. Saying no is the easy way out.
- "Do for one what you wish you could do for all," Andy Stanley.
- Trust your strength. You'll find a way.
- Act humanely. Acceptance isn't approval. Narrow equates people with performance. Wide accepts people even when performance falls short.
Choosing wide over narrow, like other leadership principles, calls for wisdom and discretion.
Which "wide" principle most challenges you?
How can leaders choose wide and not become too thin?
Download Webinar Handout


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The success of your construction project relies on excellent weight-bearing sub-surface soil.
At SGS, we can quickly and easily determine your soil bearing capacity using our dynamic penetration test. Call our team today to ensure that your project is on solid foundations.
Because it can be used to control soil compaction, the dynamic penetration test is perfect for embankments, pavements, road surfaces and other projects that need backfilling. The test allows us to easily locate and examine the extent of soft spots below the surface that need treating. It can also be carried out under water for projects that require knowledge of the loading capacity of the sea bed.
This is a dynamic load test that uses a dynamic sounding technique to calculate the loading capacity and compaction properties of your soil. The test is used in situ to control the compaction of backfills and embankments, usually to a depth of about three meters below ground level.The equipment we use is portable and compact, allowing for quick and cost-effective operation.
The probe, equipped with a cone tip is driven into the ground by a 10-50 kilogram weight dropped freely from a height of 50 centimeters.The number of blows for penetrations per 10 centimeter layer is registered and converted into an average penetration per stroke.
The data gathered is used to calculate the Californian bearing ratio for each depth of soil – internationally recognized measurement for the load-bearing capacity of soils used for roads, pavements and airstrips.
With SGS as your partner, our world-wide expertise means you can be confident your project will be a success from start to finish. Call our team today for more information about our range of geotechnical tests to suit your project.
6755 Mississauga Road, Suite 204,
Mississauga, Ontario, CA-ON, Canada


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Request to Amend Accountability Plan – South Carolina – NCLB Policy Letters to States
June 9, 2010
The Honorable Jim Rex
State Superintendent of Education
South Carolina Department of Education
1006 Rutledge Building
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Dear Superintendent Rex:
I am writing in response to South Carolina's request to amend its state accountability plan under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Following discussions between the Department and your staff, you made changes to South Carolina's accountability plan, which are now included in the amended state accountability plan that South Carolina submitted to the Department on February 15, 2010. I am pleased to approve South Carolina's amended plan, which we will post on the Department's website. A summary of South Carolina's requested amendments is enclosed with this letter. As you know, any further requests to amend South Carolina's accountability plan must be submitted to the Department for review and approval as required by section 1111(f)(2) of Title I of the ESEA.
Please also be aware that approval of South Carolina's accountability plan for Title I, including the amendments approved herein, does not indicate that the plan complies with Federal civil rights requirements, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
I am confident that South Carolina will continue to advance its efforts to hold schools and school districts accountable for the achievement of all students. If you need any additional assistance to implement the standards, assessment, and accountability provisions of the ESEA, please do not hesitate to contact (email@example.com) or (email@example.com).
Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, Ph.D.
cc: Governor Mark Sanford
Teri Siskind
Nancy Busbee
Steve Abbott
Amendments to South Carolina's Accountability Plan
The following is a summary of South Carolina's amendment requests. Please refer to the Department's website (http://www.ed.govhttps://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplans03/index.html) for South Carolina's complete accountability plan.
Clean-up to reflect final transition to the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8 (Elements 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2a-c, 5.2, Attachment C)
Revision: South Carolina will remove references to assessments and timelines no longer relevant as a result of its change of its reading/language arts and mathematics assessments in grades 3-8 in school year 2008–09.
Non-substantive clarification (Element 2.3)
Revision: South Carolina will change the reference from "Proviso 1.8" to "State proviso."
Including students with disabilities in the State's definition of adequate yearly progress (AYP) (Element 5.3)
Revision: South Carolina will remove reference to the two percent transition flexibility previously granted to it under 34 C.F.R. § 200.20(g). In accordance with the terms of that regulatory provision, the transition flexibility that was previously offered is no longer available.


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by Elizabeth Forel (This article first appeared at onegreenplanet.org)
Charlie Horse died on Sunday, October 23rd on the mean streets of New York. He was a NYC carriage horse on his way to work in the park. He lay there on the street, unidentified at the time – his mouth open, hooves tied together and mane flared. The beautiful 15-year old white Percheron looked so big and powerful and helpless at the same time – like the image of Pegasus struck down – so final and so alone.
It was a shock.
At the time I said "Healthy horses do not just die in the street" and that "this horse must have died in the throes of agonizing pain because of the many hoof scuff marks on the street near his body." I did not know how right I unfortunately would be.
On Monday, October 31st, the ASPCA released a statement about the necropsy report, "Charlie was not a healthy horse and was likely suffering from pain due to a pronounced ulceration of the stomach and a fractured tooth. [He] was not healthy for a career in an urban carriage horse business."
Last week, in response to the death of the horse, Mayor Bloomberg added fuel to the fire by defending the industry. He dismissed calls for a ban saying that he could not imagine why "Anybody wants to destroy something that is part of New York's heritage and that tourists love." He continued "They're [carriage horses] well taken care of and most of them wouldn't be alive if they didn't have a job."
About Charlie, he said there was "no evidence "it" had been abused." In response to the news of Charlie's illnesses, the mayor said "This is a horse that went to work at age 15. Without that, unfortunately, the horse probably would have been put down, and so at least "it" had a good life."
Some people insist on living in an altered reality, wearing blinders.
New York is a world class city. People come here for the theater, shopping, night life, gourmet restaurants, and excellent museums – but not for a carriage horse ride. I often see the carriages parked waiting for customers who rarely come. The other night at the candle light vigil we held for Charlie, the carriages were lined up waiting and waiting for customers.
And who are all those people who love this industry to whom Mayor Bloomberg refers? Every poll I have seen in the last five years has shown at least 75% of respondents in favor of a ban of this trade. The most recent was from the Wall Street Journal and asked "Should NYC ban horse-drawn carriages?" The latest results I checked showed a tally of 76.8% Yes and 23.2% No.
The industry refuses to accept any responsibility for carriage horse deaths, accidents, living and working conditions, or violating rules and regulations. They like to say that they love their horses and Charlie was healthy – that we are just a bunch of humaniacs, loons and bleeding hearts – that we are uninformed, liars and know nothing about horses.
How wrong they are.
This was an illness whose symptoms had to be noticed by anyone who cared for that horse. Why were his cries for help unheeded? I asked Dr. Holly Cheever, world renowned equine veterinarian and expert on the carriage industry, her opinion about this tragedy. She said – "As a member of a prey species, Charlie would have concealed his pain-but a knowledgeable horse handler would have noted both lesions and would have had dental surgery to extract the tooth as well as medication and diet changes to minimize the ulcer's pain. Such expenses are rarely acceptable to this industry."
Susan Wagner, president of Equine Advocates, a sanctuary in upstate New York and home to 80 equines, added "I believe that Charlie's stomach ulcer combined with the added pain of a bad tooth, with all of that metal in his mouth putting pressure on it, could have really exacerbated his stomach problem. His death probably could have been prevented and Charlie would still be alive today had he been given the medical attention he so badly needed but he never received."
Another Horse Spooks
Just three hours after our vigil for Charlie Horse, another horse spooked and bolted into traffic on Central Park South. Philip Powell, a tourist from North Carolina, told the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages that he and his wife were walking by the carriage horse hack line on Central Park South – not far from Columbus Circle – when one of the horses spooked and charged into traffic – running west before he made a u-turn on the congested street – dragging an empty carriage behind him. The horse ran east on Central Park South and turned into the park at 7th Avenue where he crashed. This happened around 11 pm on Friday night, October 28th.
Powell was fairly close to the horse when he noticed him jerk his head upright and then bolt into traffic. He said it was quiet at the time. Powell told New York State Senator Tony Avella and us that "It's an absolute miracle that the horse and no pedestrians were seriously hurt. The entire incident happened so fast and was extremely shocking. The horse took off at top speed and could not be stopped. He could have easily trampled a pedestrian."
When Powell and his wife finally caught up with the horse, he witnessed an overturned, damaged carriage at the intersection of West and Center Drive, just off Seventh Avenue. "When we arrived, the horse was standing, but trapped in the gear. Several men tried to free him. They eventually left after a man led the horse away and some other men were cleaning up the broken carriage. " The police arrived, joining what appeared to be a dark unmarked car with officials asking the crowds to get back.
This accident is consistent with the nature of a horse. They are unpredictable, nervous prey animals and can spook at the slightest provocation. It does not have to be a loud noise, but could be a shadow, odd shape, rustling leaves, even an odor. They run from what they perceive to be a danger and become an unwitting, powerful weapon. It is fortunate that the horse did not get killed or kill anyone in his panicked flight.
We checked with the two local police precincts and they oddly did not have any record of the incident even though the police were reported to be at the accident site. The ASPCA did, however, confirm this accident with Senator Tony Avella's office.
I have long suspected that there are many more accidents like this that get covered up because I hear about them from tourists and New Yorkers but they never make the press and information is not available through the government agencies – even when we have documenting photos.
We do not know how much longer this abominable, archaic and politically connected industry will continue getting away with what they do.
It is inhumane, which has been confirmed by Charlie's death, and it is unsafe, which has been confirmed by the nameless horse's spooking accident.
But we are going to stay in this fight until the industry is shut down and the horses saved. We support Senator Avella's and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal's bill in Albany, which would prohibit the use of horse-drawn carriages in New York City. Bills #S5013 (Senate) and #A7748 (Assembly). Show your Support for the new bill by signing this petition.
We believe the bill will have a better chance in Albany, away from the unreasonable, political favoritism of New York City.
Go here for more information about the bill to ban the carriage horses in New York.
Elizabeth Forel has been an animal advocate for more than 25 years. She is president and co-founder of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, started in 2006, an all volunteer grass-roots group that focuses on New York City, and co-founder of Horses Without Carriages International, a global coalition representing advocates from many cities throughout the world, standing in solidarity to expose the injustice, cruelty, and inhumanity in the horse-drawn carriage industry.
Photo credit: Scott Graham


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The Nikkei index rallied strongly overnight as the Abe Administration floated the idea of possibly cutting Japanese corporate taxes if the consumption tax increases is instituted. The ABE Government is fearful of negatively impacting the economy so continue to be alert to any "tapering of taxation" to keep the present economic growth story on its path. Tonight I am posting Tobias Harris's post on the view of the consumption tax from Japanese sources. It is a rebuttal to my piece of last week.
Will Abe lead on the consumption tax?On Friday, Prime Minister Abe Shinzō headed off (jp) to the mountains in Yamanashi prefecture for an eleven-day summer holiday. He leaves behind a growing debate in Tokyo about the wisdom of proceeding as planned with the consumption tax hike scheduled to be phased in from 2014-2015 (5% to 8% in April 2014, 8% to 10% in October 2015). Abe has said he will make his decision about the tax sometime over the next two months, leaving proponents and opponents of the hike to make their cases once again.Arguably the supporters of the tax hike won several victories this week.First, at the start of the week the IMF advised the Japanese government to stick to the plan as concluded in 2012, arguing that the tax hike will signal the government's commitment to fiscal restructuring and will therefore bolster investor confidence. The IMF has been saying that the consumption tax rate should rise to 15% for years now, so its advice for Japan is not new. But the fund's intervention gives proponents an important international backer as they make their case to the prime minister.The next victory for proponents of the hike came on Thursday. Bank of Japan President Kuroda Haruhiko, speaking to the press after the BOJ policy board's regular meeting, voiced his support for raising the consumption tax and said (jp) that the BOJ's radical monetary policies and the planned hike were not incompatible. Like the IMF, Kuroda stressed the importance of reassuring investors that the Japanese government is serious about getting its financial house in order.Finally, on Friday the Nikkei Shimbun ran a major article (jp; registration required) — basically an editorial — addressed to senior government officials who are "nervous" about the consumption tax increase that sought to reassure them that raising the consumption tax next year would not be like raising the consumption tax from 3% to 5% in 1997. The article opens by explaining that the 1997 hike came in the midst of a regional financial crisis and at a time when the balance sheets of Japanese banks and corporations were loaded with bad debts. Having established that 1997 was a particularly bad time to raise the consumption tax, Nikkei pivots to say that since banks and businesses have more "stamina" today, it's appropriate to take on the challenge of the national debt in order to reassure global financial markets, which, Nikkei reminds us, are roughly three times larger than they were in 1995. With that in mind, the article warns that at the first sign that the government is not serious about raising the tax, investors will short Japan in a heartbeat.As arguments on behalf of austerity go, there is nothing earth shattering in the Nikkei article, in fact it contains pretty much the same arguments that Paul Krugman has critiqued for years, including in this 2010 column: the "confidence fairy" and the "bond vigilantes." But the arguments are less important than the reality that Japan's powers that be are lined up behind raising on the consumption tax on schedule in April 2014. The tax hike not only has the support of the BOJ president and Japan's leading business daily, but also the head of Keidanren (jp) its most powerful business lobby; Amari Akira, Abe's own minister for economic and fiscal policy; and leading members of the LDP, which has, after all, campaigned on raising the consumption tax for the last several elections. Of course, it almost goes without saying that the ministry of finance wants to see the tax hike proceed as scheduled.The forces arrayed against the tax, at least at the elite level, are thinner. Hamada Kōichi and Honda Etsuro, Abe's leading economic advisers, have both voiced skepticism about the current tax hike plan, with Professor Honda'sarguing (jp) that the tax should be phased in at 1% a year rather than in two phases. Saitō Tetsuo, the chair of LDP coalition partner Komeitō's taxation committee, has stressed the need to take economic conditions into consideration when deciding whether to go forward with the hike. Beyond elite circles, perhaps most significant fact is that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to the tax hike: Asahi's post-election opinion poll found (jp) 58% opposed and only 30% in favor.Given that sustainable, robust growth is still far from assured — and that wages have yet to rise, suggesting that consumers would really feel the sting of the tax hike — the facts are probably on the side of the skeptics. The proponents still have to explain (1) why the confidence of global markets is so important when, as Michael Cucek reminds us, Japan is largely invulnerable to "bond vigilantes" and (2) why confidence would evaporate now as opposed to anytime over the past decade of swollen deficits. If anything, delaying the consumption tax hike should signal to financial markets that the Japanese government is serious about reviving Japan's economy.But this week shows that the facts have an uphill battle against a good portion of the Japanese establishment (with the support of international actors like the IMF). After finally securing a plan in 2012 to raise the consumption tax, they are not about to let the Abe government back out of its commitment. With the final decision resting on Abe's shoulders, this issue is as good a chance as any for Abe to show that he can be the strong, decisive leader he claims to be.


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What do Marcin Gortat and "the next Phoenix Suns superstar" have in common?
No, I'm not saying that Gortat will be a superstar. If the Suns are lucky, he will become a quality C who will get you 14, 10 and 2 in 30-35 minutes for the next 4 years. That's not superstar level. However, that IS a quality player in a Conference weak on centers.
Last summer, Robert Sarver said the Suns' best chance to get their next superstar would be via trade. He said he was interested in acquiring movable assets and a lot of depth so that the Suns could pounce when that player became available. I called it our "Gasol" moment.
Of course, every team in the league has dreams of a Gasol-type trade. But how many of those teams can offer a young. starting-quality C as part of the package in return, without losing all of their size in the process?
Note the timing of the trade (December 18) in relation to the NBA trading deadline (Feb 24). None of the players acquired from Orlando can be packaged with any other Suns players for 2 months, but that does give the Suns plenty of time to repackage those players before the deadline. Don't expect this roster to be the same on February 25 as it is today.
Despite a better-balanced roster, the Suns are still short at the power forward (PF) position and "superstar" position if they want to make a long playoff run.
The biggest indication of Lon Babby and Lance Blanks' leanings from the weekend deal is this: they arguably upped the talent level on the roster while avoiding bad contracts. Carter is like an expiring deal (only 4 million guaranteed next season) and Pietrus' relatively cheap deal only lasts another year (player option).
The only long-term contract is Marcin Gortat's - exactly the one you WANT on a long-term deal. He is under contract at the mid-level price for 3 more seasons beyond this one - a great value for a skilled, young 7-foot Center. Now the Suns have insurance in case Lopez' injury bug returns.
The Suns center position is now more interesting than ever. They boast two players who are young, talented, starter-quality and relatively cheap.
Robin Lopez is a 22-year old shot-blocking 7-footer with defensive potential and a surprising offensive touch - around the rim and on set shots and free throws, despite oven-mitt hands that make rebounding an adventure. The Suns have his exclusive (cheap) rights for 2 more seasons beyond this one - not needing to make an extension decision until after the new CBA is in place.
Gortat is a 26-year old 6'11"-er who blocks shots, rebounds (offensive and defensive), plays quality defense and can finish at the rim. We will find out a lot more when we see him play for the Suns, but Dudley has already stated he thinks Gortat is perfect for this system.
How do a pair of quality, young centers and the trade deadline relate to each other?
I'll tell you.
If the Suns want a high-quality, young, proven Power Forward on a good contract in trade, you'd better expect the trade partner will demand one of these two in return. Lopez is injury-prone, but is cheap and has proven himself as a starter on a playoff-caliber team. Gortat is not proven yet, but he has been great in spot duty for Dwight Howard and his skillset has had NBA GMs drooling for years now.
Believe me, folks. This is a good thing. Quality young Cs are not easy to come by, yet the Suns now have 2 of them.
Sarver's claim that the next Suns' superstar is most likely to be acquired via trade might just turn out to be true. The Suns finally have the key, expendable assets to make that happen. 2 young cheap centers, 2 first-round draft picks in 2011, a huge expiring contract (Carter) and a host of quality NBA players on manageable contracts
Still not sure "who" that next star player is yet, but at least the Suns will be ready when that guy pops loose.


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Every pack is under the supervision of a pack committee, which consists of at least three members (chair, secretary, and treasurer). By handling administrative and support tasks, the pack committee allows the Cubmaster, den leaders, and their assistants to focus on working directly with the Cub Scouts.
With a committee of three, members must assume responsibility for more areas of service than with a committee of seven or more. Although packs can and do operate with a minimum of three committee members, experience has shown that a larger committee generally ensures a stronger, more stable pack and is better able to perform all the required functions to ensure a successful pack program. It is also a way of involving more pack families in meaningful service to the pack.
Qualifications: Is at least 21 years old, is selected by the chartered organization, and is registered as an adult leader of the BSA. One member is designated as pack committee chair.
Responsibilities: Regardless of the size of the pack committee, these responsibilities must be performed:
A strong pack committee will have individual members assigned to such areas as record keeping and correspondence, finances, advancement, training, public relations, and membership and registration. The pack committee chair decides how the responsibilities should be divided and gives committee members assignments. Here are details of the various pack committee functions:
The pack committee chair leads the pack committee and thus is responsible for the administration, oversight, and support of the pack program. The pack committee chair's role is to
The secretary ensures proper records are kept within the pack. Specifically, the secretary will:
The treasurer ensures the pack's finances are sound. Specifically, the treasurer will:
The advancement chair helps boys move through the ranks of Cub Scouting and transition into a Boy Scout troop. The advancement chair will:
This position keeps pack activities visible to the public, as well as to the families of the pack. Specifically, this person will:
This position helps the boys develop a love for the outdoors. Specifically, the outdoor activity chair will:
This position is essential to the health of the pack. The chair will:
Some councils rely heavily on units to raise Friends of Scouting (FOS) funds. The following functions are the responsibility of the FOS chair in cooperation with the treasurer.


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(CNN) -- Everyone knows traveling can be stressful, but having a smartphone along can make the trek a little more enjoyable.
The GoodFood application on the iPhone locates and offers reviews on nearby restaurants.
Both iPhone and BlackBerry have applications that can do everything from help keep you on time for that flight to mellow you out in the midst of those oh-so-annoying delays.
The following are just a few of the many offerings:
Pocket Express -- This nifty little app acts as a "mobile concierge" and provides a package that includes news, sports, weather, movies and travel.
"Travel" offers several helpful features, including the ability to check your flight status and schedule, a currency converter and a listing of nearby hotels. The application is free with an optional subscription to MobileCierge personal assistant for a fee. (Available for BlackBerry and iPhone)
WorldMate Live -- This free app is like having your own personal assistant with the ability to craft an itinerary, sync with your calendar and check out weather forecasts.
The free version also has a hotel booking service and a feature which allows you to find out if someone you know is where you are when you are. iReport.com: Send us photos of your secret travel places
A gold version of the app is available for purchase which includes flight alerts for more than 175 airlines and alternate flight suggestions should you need to reschedule. (Available for BlackBerry)
Stanza -- Why load down your purse or carry-on with paperbacks and magazines when you can load everything on to your phone?
The free Stanza reader app boasts a robust online catalogue of books, newspaper and magazine content. With links to more than 100,000 books from classics to contemporary novels, there will be plenty to read while en route or after arriving to your destination.
Some book downloads are free while others may be purchased from sites like Fictionwise or BooksOnBoard. (Available for iPhone)
Kindle for iPhone -- If Stanza's catalogue isn't enough for you, the recently introduced Kindle application offers access to the hundreds of thousands of books at Amazon's Kindle bookstore. Readers using the free app can adjust text size, add bookmarks and download previously purchased Kindle books.
And for those unsure as to whether they want to purchase a title, they can download a sample of an early chapter to take a test drive before they buy. (Available for iPhone)
Pandora -- A road trip wouldn't be complete without cool tunes and Pandora Internet Radio has plenty.
Users can select an artist whose songs become the basis of a "station," which will play that artist's music and music from performers with a similar sound.
By rating songs either thumbs up or thumbs down, the user can effectively craft a streaming playlist suited to his or her musical tastes. So there's little chance that Michael Bolton will pop up if Led Zeppelin is more your flavor. The app is free. (Available for iPhone)
GoodFood -- No longer do you have to depend on your taxi driver to get a good recommendation of where to eat.
Once you arrive at your destination, check out GoodFood by GoodRec for nearby restaurants and user reviews. Zoom in on the Google powered map, pick a listed establishment and tap for information and directions.
The "Want to Go" feature allows the user to create a list of favored places which will then appear with a bright blue pushpin when viewing the map. You can also add your own recommendations and photos on this free app. (Available for iPhone)
All About Travel and Tourism • Apple iPhone • BlackBerry Mobile Devices


text:
Michael Kaluta got his first influence from 1950s TV art instructor Jon Gnagy. Born in Guatemala, Kaluta studied Fine Arts and began illustration and comic book work against advice of his instructors. After publishing in fanzines like Spafon, he did his first comic book work for Charlton Comics in 1969, published in titles like Teen Confessions, Great Battles of History and Outlaws of the West. Kaluta created an impressive number of comic book covers for both Marvel and DC. Some of them include 'House of Mystery', 'Batman', 'Conan the King' and 'Vampirella'.
Crash Landing
In 1972, DC Comics revived 'The Shadow' and Kaluta got to re-create this character. He also illustrated stories with E.R. Burroughs' 'Carson of Venus' as back-ups in Korak, Son of Tarzan. Kaluta began drawing the 'Starstruck' comic series, written by Elaine Lee, in Heavy Metall in 1982. Most recently, he did a long run of cover designs for DC's 'The Books of Magic'. Kaluta is currently working in digital media, designing characters and environments for several video games.


text:
Neuroscientist investigates how brain repairs itself after a stroke
A neuroscientist at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech says she hopes that a better understanding of how the brain restores blood flow to damaged tissue following a stroke will offer new treatment clues for a leading cause of death in the United States.
Michelle Theus, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular neurobiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, is investigating how the brain develops "collateral" blood vessels which re-route blood flow after a vessel becomes blocked.
When the brain suffers from a blockage or clot, a network of replacement vessels, known as collaterals, can restore oxygen and nutrients to damaged tissue. The extent of the brain's collateral network varies from individual to individual and has a significant impact on the brain's ability to recover from stroke.
"It is widely known, clinically, that patients with an extensive collateral network have greater restoration of blood flow and are better protected from tissue damage following an embolic stroke," said Theus, who explained that an embolic stroke involves a blood clot forming somewhere in the body and traveling through the bloodstream to the brain.
She is searching for answers about the brain's natural network of collateral blood vessels, as well as its ability to remodel them after stroke and traumatic brain injury — two areas of study that remain largely a mystery. Last fall, Theus received a three-year, $483,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to begin this research.
Theus hypothesizes that a family of Eph receptors— molecules that guide the development and growth of axons, or nerve fibers, in the brain — operate as "negative regulators" in the formation of collateral vessels. In other words, these receptors may make it difficult for the brain to initially form, as well as repair, collaterals and, in effect, limit the ability of the brain to mend itself after a stroke.
"If that's the case, then therapeutic delivery of a drug that blocks this pathway may promote remodeling of the collateral network, improve blood flow, and limit tissue damage following stroke," Theus said.
Although the study will provide new insights into the formation of collateral vessels and address the potential for developing a new technique for promoting their growth, Theus emphasized that research is in the preliminary stages.
"Our long-term goal is to identify a way to enhance with a blocker the collateral network of an individual at risk for stroke and to generate effective, safe, and feasible drug targets that improve collateralization during chronic repair and translate them into clinical applications," she said.
Recent figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that stroke claims almost 130,000 lives and costs the country an estimated $36.5 billion in health care costs and lost productivity each year.
According to Theus, her research has a much greater potential to impact human medicine than veterinary medicine. Unlike humans or even cats, dogs rarely experience symptoms of embolic stroke, likely due to the high number of collateral vessels.
Theus' work is part of the growing One Health initiative that is uniting human and animal health. The One Health approach is dedicated to improving the lives of all species — human and animal — through the integration of human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science. Efforts in the development and evaluation of new diagnostic methods, medicines, and vaccines can ultimately prevent and control of diseases across species.
She earned a bachelor's degree in clinical laboratory sciences at the Ohio University and a doctorate in neuropathology and laboratory medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Michelle Theus with microscope
Michelle Theus's research focuses on regenerative medicine techniques to repair the central nervous system following traumatic brain injury. The National Institutes of Health has awarded her a three-year grant to study how the brain heals after a stroke.


text:
by William Teach | August 2, 2012 8:05 am
Standing up for Free Speech
(Fox News[1]) It used to be that taking a bite of a chicken sandwich just meant you were hungry. Now it has become a symbol of whether you stand for or against same-sex marriage, or — alternately — the right to express your personal views without fear of retaliation.
At Chick-fil-A locations across the country, people voted with their wallets today, coming out to express support for the fast-food chain after CEO Dan Cathy said in an interview that he is a firm backer of traditional marriage.
"I believe what the Bible says (about marriage)," Chauncy Fields told us after wolfing down a breakfast of chicken and biscuits. "So I came out here to support Chick-fil-A and the movement."
Chris Johnson sees a double standard. "He (Dan Cathy) said the exact same thing that President Obama said," Johnson told Fox News — referring to the president's past opposition to gay marriage — "And he gets negativity, and Obama gets positivity."
Chick-fil-a locations across the country were slammed. And, no, I didn't go myself, I was off playing golf. I did drive near the one in Knightdale, NC around 5pm, and it was still slammed, more than one would normally expect at that time period.
Among the groups is Project 21, a black conservative activist organization. One of its members, Demetrios Minor, said critics of Dan Cathy have taken his statements completely out of context. "I think liberals are missing a vital point in their blind hatred of Chick-fil-A," Minor said in a statement sent to Fox News. "Being against gay marriage is not being anti-gay."
That's a big point. Chick-fil-a is not against gays. They do not discriminate in hiring (I couldn't find any stories where they had been accused or sued) and do not discriminate in service. The head of the company simply said he was against gay marriage. And then we saw how the tolerant characters on the Left expressed their tolerance. Of course, they did not do the same thing to Obama when he expressed that he was against gay marriage.
The bigger issue was not that Liberals called for boycotts of the company. Let's face it, Conservatives will do the same at times, though usually less organized. You don't hear Rush, Beck, Hannity, Boortz, et all calling for boycotts (there might be some who do, I just never get to listen to them here in Raleigh). With Conservatives, it just kinda tends to happen. The bigger problem is elected officials demonizing Chick-fil-a, clearly a violation of First Amendment rights.
Anyhow, here's how the Left will respond[2]
On Friday, same-sex couples plan to converge on Chick-fil-A locations for National Same-Sex Kiss Day. At 8 p.m., they plan to publicly embrace to voice their displeasure against the millions of dollars Chick-fil-A is said to have donated to anti-gay marriage organizations.
A Facebook group[3] dedicated to the protest pokes fun at Chick-fil-A's slogan "Eat Mor Chikin" with the motto "Kiss Mor Chiks."
Oh, good, that should be huge. Especially at a time when no one will see it.
Crossed at Pirate's Cove[4]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[5].
Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/liberals/chick-fil-a-appreciation-day-resounding-success/
Copyright ©2023 John Hawkins' Right Wing News unless otherwise noted.


text:
7 Top NRC Experts Break Ranks to Warn of Critical Danger at Aging Nuke Plants
Seven top Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) experts have taken the brave rare step of publicly filing an independent finding warning that nearly every U.S. atomic reactor has a generic safety flaw that could spark a disaster.
The warning mocks the latest industry push to keep America's remaining 99 nukes from being shut by popular demand, by their essential unprofitability, or, more seriously, by the kind of engineering collapse against which the NRC experts are now warning.
As of Jan. 1, the world has more installed wind capacity than nuke. More than $360 billion was invested last year in renewables, dwarfing new reactor investments.
A small but well-funded band of reactor proponents has been pushing nukes as a solution to climate change. That idea was buried at recent global climate talks in Paris, where a strong corporate pro-nuke push went nowhere.
So some key industry supporters have shifted their efforts to keeping the old reactors open, which is where it gets really dangerous.
Each of the 99 remaining U.S. reactors is in its own particular state of advanced decay. All are based on technology dating to the 1950s, and all but one are at least 30 years old.
Ohio's Davis-Besse has a shield wall that is literally crumbling.
The operating licenses have expired for two reactors at Indian Point, north of New York City, where tritium leaks, massive river pollution and a wide range of safety issues have prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo to petition for their shut-down. Like numerous other U.S. reactors, Indian Point has been out of compliance with basic fire safety regulations for many years.
At California's Diablo Canyon, veteran NRC resident inspector Michael Peck was transferred after warning the commission that these two huge nukes could not withstand the shocks that might be delivered by the dozen earthquake faults near which they sit. Peck's report was ignored. It only became public after an intense independent investigation by Friends of the Earth and other green groups.
The NRC's income is based on revenues from operating reactors, meaning shutting one runs counter to its financial interests, though Congress seems always ready to pump in more money as long as the regulators don't regulate. President Obama referred to the NRC in 2007 as a "moribund agency."
Now, however, seven top NRC experts have gone public with a warning that 98 of the 99 nukes still operating in the U.S. suffer from a serious cooling system defect that threatens every one of them.
As reported by Reuters, the engineers filed a 2.206 petition usually used by public interest groups to raise safety and other concerns with the commission. That active NRC employees took this route indicates the engineers were concerned about official inaction.
According to Reuters, the engineers worry the flaw leaves U.S. reactors "vulnerable to so-called open-phase events in which an unbalanced voltage, such as an electrical short, could cause motors to burn out and reduce the ability of a reactor's emergency cooling system to function. If the motors are burned out, backup electricity systems would be of little help."
Such an event in 2012 forced the Byron 2 reactor in Illinois to shut for about a week. The engineers' petition says 13 such events have struck reactors worldwide in the past 14 years.
Nuclear expert David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists said the commission could have dealt with the issue years ago, but instead "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory" by letting the reactors continue operating without correcting the problem. "Something is not right with the safety culture at the agency," Lochbaum told Reuters.
The NRC could have eased concerns years ago by forcing plants to take action, he said.
Instead, as with so many other unresolved safety issues, America's crumbling reactor fleet continue to put the nation at increasing risk.
Powered by the tsunami of a Solartopian revolution in green energy, the movement to an economy based on renewables and efficiency continues to gain momentum. Even though nearly all their capital costs have long since been underwritten by the public, more and more of the U.S. reactor fleet have become unprofitable to operate.
But as made clear by this latest filing, a vital question remains unanswered: Will the safe energy movement be able to shut all these decayed reactors down before one of these increasingly serious unresolved issues brings yet another radioactive disaster to our shores?
Harvey Wasserman edits www.nukefree.org and wrote SOLARTOPIA! OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH. His next piece will discuss the corporate campaign to keep failing nukes from shutting.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: Syria, Another Pipeline War
5 Years After Fukushima, 'No End in Sight' to Ecological Fallout
Dear President Obama, The Clean Energy Revolution Is Now
Break Free: Stop Dirty Fossil Fuels, Expedite Transition to 100% Renewable Energy


text:
SQL Server Service Broker
SQL Server Service Broker provides the SQL Server Database Engine native support for messaging and queuing applications. This makes it easier for developers to create sophisticated applications that use the Database Engine components to communicate between disparate databases. Developers can use Service Broker to easily build distributed and reliable applications.
Application developers who use Service Broker can distribute data workloads across several databases without programming complex communication and messaging internals. This reduces development and test work because Service Broker handles the communication paths in the context of a conversation. It also improves performance. For example, front-end databases supporting Web sites can record information and send process intensive tasks to queue in back-end databases. Service Broker ensures that all tasks are managed in the context of transactions to assure reliability and technical consistency.


text:
CLEVELAND – One struggling team was bound to get some good news Wednesday night.
Detroit coach Lawrence Frank was happy to have something positive to talk about following the Pistons' 111-104 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"These are the guys we're building around, and we've got to fight for them," Frank said. "I have confidence in them, which is why I felt comfortable leaving them out there."
Andre Drummond scored a career-high 29 points and the Pistons won a second straight game for the first time in two months.
Greg Monroe's basket with 38.8 seconds remaining gave Detroit a 105-103 lead and the Pistons, who hadn't won consecutive games since Feb. 8-9, swept the four-game season series from the Cavaliers. Detroit has beaten Cleveland six straight times.
Drummond, who spent most of the fourth quarter at the free throw line after Cleveland coach Byron Scott chose to intentionally foul the 34 percent shooter, also grabbed 11 rebounds. Monroe scored 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 18.
Kyrie Irving scored 27 points, including 21 in the second half, but missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Cavaliers the lead with 21 seconds left. The All-Star guard was playing on the second night of back-to-back games for the first time since returning from a shoulder injury. Irving committed two turnovers in the final 2:12 and missed a free throw with 16 seconds remaining.
"I was obviously a little fatigued just like everyone else on the floor, but that's no excuse for not executing," he said.
Both teams have been in recent tailspins, leading to speculation that the two coaches could be replaced at the end of the season. The Pistons have just four wins in their last 19 games and are 6-19 since the All-Star break. The Cavaliers have lost 12 of 14.
Drummond was 8 of 14 at the line in the fourth quarter and made two free throws to give Detroit a 101-99 lead with 2:06 to play. His tip-in put Detroit up by four, but Tristan Thompson scored on a drive and Irving's basket with 44 seconds remaining tied the game.
Drummond, who was 9 of 17 from the line for the game, wasn't surprised at the Cavaliers' strategy.
"I knew I needed to make them for us to win, so I just focused at the line," he said. "Some went in, some went out, but all of them were on line. It gives me more points. That's the way you've got to look at it. It gave me a chance to work on my free throws."
Monroe's basket gave Detroit the lead for good. Following Irving's missed 3-pointer, Cleveland's strategy backfired a bit when Drummond grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Thompson after passing the ball. Since the foul away from the ball occurred under the two-minute mark, the Pistons got two free throws and possession. Stuckey made a foul shot and Jonas Jerebko split a pair after another foul.
"I tried to foul him right away, but they called it after he passed the ball," said Thompson. "I guess it's my fault, but I have to keep playing."
Scott would like to have seen the foul occur when Drummond grabbed the rebound.
"I didn't think (Drummond) had the ball," Scott said. "I thought they were trying to take the ball up the floor. It was a young, second-year player mistake. Tristan was thinking right. It was just way too late."
Irving was injured March 10 and missed eight games. He returned March 31, but sat out the following night as part of the team's recovery protocol.
Dion Waiters came off the bench and scored 11 points in 15 minutes in his first action since injuring his left knee March 20. Waiters, the team's second-leading scorer, missed 10 games. Thompson added 19 points.
Will Bynum scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons.
Pistons point guard Jose Calderon, the league's leading three-point shooter, missed his second straight game with a strained triceps. He's averaging 11.6 points a game since being acquired from Toronto.
The Cavaliers blew a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead Tuesday in a 99-94 loss at Indiana. Trailing by two in the closing seconds, Irving drove to the basket for an apparent game-tying layup but was whistled for charging. Scott thought Indiana's Jeff Pendgergraph should have been called for a blocking foul, but the call was upheld after a video review.
NOTES: Frank said C Jason Maxiell is still recovering from season-ending surgery for a detached retina and isn't traveling with the team. ... Cavaliers G C.J. Miles (concussion) missed his second straight game. Miles was inadvertently elbowed in the forehead by Orlando's Nikola Vucevic on Sunday. ... F Luke Walton (sprained ankle) missed his third straight game.


text:
1. Architectures
1.1. x86
amd64_edac: Add ECC decoding support for newer F15h models commit
Introduce int3 (breakpoint)-based instruction patching commit
Make jump_label use int3-based patching commit
Use asm-goto to implement mutex fast path on x86-64 commit
provide platform-devices for boot-framebuffers commit
perf/x86: Add Silvermont (22nm Atom) support commit
intel_pstate: Add Haswell CPU models commit
ACPI: Add facility to disable all _OSI OS vendor strings commit
ACPI: Add facility to remove all _OSI strings commit
arm64: add support for kernel mode NEON commit
big.LITTLE: vexpress-TC2 CPU idle driver commit
Add ARM-NEON RAID6 accelerated syndrome calculation commit
arm: kirkwood: readynas duo v2: Add GMT G762 Fan Controller commit
shmobile: Remove ag5evm board support commit
shmobile: Remove kota2 board support commit
7814/2: Allow forced irq threading commit
Allow selection HZ values commit
DRA7: board-generic: Add basic DT support commit
Kirkwood: Add support for another ZyXEL NSA310 variant commit
OMAP: DRA7: hwmod: Create initial DRA7XX SoC data commit
SAMSUNG: Remove old samsung-time driver commit
add support for kernel mode NEON commit
at91: at91sam9n12: add qt1070 support commit
barrier: allow options to be passed to memory barrier instructions commit
bcm281xx: Adding bcm28155-ap.dts commit
clps711x: Drop fortunet board support commit
irqchip: mmp: support irqchip commit
davinci: da850: add DT node for ethernet commit
davinci: da850: add DT node for mdio device commit
dove: add cpu device tree node commit
dove: add gigabit ethernet and mvmdio device tree nodes commit
dove: add initial DT file for Globalscale D2Plug commit
Add AK8975 device node for Exynos4412 TRATS2 board commit
Add DP controller DT node to exynos5420 SoC commit
Add FIMC nodes for Exynos4210 Trats board commit
Add FIMD DT node to exynos5420 DTS files commit
Add G2D support to exynos5250 commit
Add ISP power domain node for Exynos4x12 commit
Add MFC node for exynos 5420 commit
Add SPI1 controller and s5c73m3 sensor node for TRATS2 commit
Add USB host node for Exynos4 commit
Add WM1811A audio CODEC to Arndale bindings commit
Add camera device nodes for Exynos4412 TRATS2 board commit
Add camera subsystem nodes to exynos4x12.dtsi commit
Add device tree support for phycard pca100 commit
Add pin state information for DP HPD support to Exynos5420 commit
Add pinctrl entries for Exynos4x12 FIMC-IS peripherals commit
Enable USB hub on Arndale commit
Hook up IRQ for PMIC on Arndale commit
add ADC device tree node for exynos5420/5250 commit
add audio clock controller for exynos5420 commit
imx27-phytec-phycore-rdk: Add CAN node commit
imx27-phytec-phycore-som: Add SRAM node commit
imx27-phytec-phycore-som: Add WEIM node commit
imx27: Add core voltages commit
imx27: Add imx framebuffer device commit
imx6: Add support for imx6q wandboard commit
imx6dl-wandboard: Add audio support commit
imx6dl-wandboard: Add support for UART3 commit
imx6q-wandboard: Add sata support commit
imx6qdl-sabresd: Add touchscreen support commit
vexpress: Add CCI node to TC2 device-tree commit
wandboard: Add support for SDIO bcm4329 commit
dtsi: enable ahci sata on imx6q platforms commit
kirkwood: add gigabit ethernet and mvmdio device tree nodes commit
Documentation: DT: Add Freescale DSPI driver commit
mvebu: Add BootROM to Armada 370/XP device tree commit
mvebu: Add MBus to Armada 370/XP device tree commit
mvebu: Add Netgear ReadyNAS 102 board commit
mxs: Add backlight support for M28EVK commit
mxs: dt: Add Crystalfontz CFA-10056 device tree commit
mxs: dt: Add Crystalfontz CFA-10058 device tree commit
orion5x: add gigabit ethernet and mvmdio device tree nodes commit
shmobile: ape6evm-reference: add CPUFreq support commit
shmobile: ape6evm: add DT reference commit
shmobile: ape6evm: add MMCIF support commit
shmobile: bockw: add DT reference commit
shmobile: lager: Add DT reference commit
shmobile: lager: enable nfsroot in DTS commit
shmobile: r8a73a4: implement CPU clock scaling for CPUFreq commit
shmobile: r8a7790: add thermal driver support commit
sun5i: dt: Add AT24 device on A10S-OLinuXino-Micro commit
sun5i: dt: Add I2C controller nodes to the A10S dtsi commit
sun5i: dt: Enable I2C controllers on A10S-OLinuXino-Micro commit
sun6i: Add WITS Colombus A31 evaluation kit support commit
sun7i: Add Allwinner A20 DTSI commit
sun7i: Add Cubieboard2 Device Tree commit
sun7i: Add Olimex A20-Olinuxino-Micro support commit
sunxi: Add Allwinner A31 DTSI commit
sunxi: Introduce Allwinner A20 support commit
sunxi: dt: Add device tree for Mele A1000 commit
tegra: Add Tegra30 PCIe support commit
tegra: Enable PCIe controller on Beaver commit
tegra: Enable PCIe controller on Cardhu commit
tegra: add DT entry for nct1008 to Cardhu commit
tegra: add LP1 suspend support for Tegra20 commit
tegra: tamonten: Add PCIe support commit
tegra: tec: Add PCIe support commit
vexpress/TC2: add Serial Power Controller (SPC) support commit
vexpress/TC2: basic PM support commit
vexpress: Add SCC to V2P-CA15_A7's device tree commit
1.3. PowerPC
85xx: Add C293PCIE board support commit
85xx: Add P1023RDB board support commit
85xx: Add silicon device tree for C293 commit
85xx: add P1020RDB-PD platform support commit
85xx: add the P1020RDB-PD DTS support commit
perf: add 2 additional performance monitor counters for e6500 core commit
Implement get_user_pages_fast() commit
Make chip-id information available to userspace commit
add Book E support to 64-bit hibernation commit
Support CONFIG_PREEMPT commit
Support ASLR fully commit
Support FRAME_POINTER commit
Implement gettimeofday() via vDSO commit
Provide traceability for hypervisor calls commit
PCI RC: support I/O space access commit
PCI RC: support more MSI-X interrupt vectors commit
PCI RC: support pci=off boot arg for tilepro commit
avoid recursive backtrace faults commit
fast-path unaligned memory access for tilegx commit
Support PTP using the tilegx mPIPE (IEEE 1588) commit
support TSO for IPv6 in tilegx network driver commit
Support jumbo frames in the tilegx network driver commit
Support kprobes on tilegx commit
Support multiple mPIPE shims in tilegx network driver commit
Support reporting Tilera hypervisor statistics commit
Support simulator notification for ET_DYN objects commit
enable GRO in the tilegx network driver commit
tilegx: Add tty serial support for TILE-Gx on-chip UART commit
tilegx: provide kernel support for the tilegx UART shim commit
tilegx: support KGDB commit
Remove support for TILE64 commit
Add CPU identifiers for more OCTEON family members. commit
Add driver for the built-in PCI controller of the RT3883 SoC commit
Add uImage build target commit
Lantiq: Adds minimal dcdc driver commit
Netlogic: Add support for XLP2XX commit
Netlogic: Built-in DTB for XLP2xx SoC boards commit
ralink: Add support for systick timer found on newer ralink SoC commit
kprobes: add support for pc-relative long displacement instructions commit
mm: implement software referenced bits commit
pci: add recover sysfs knob commit
Enable /proc/vmcore mmap for s390 commit
1.7. m68K
Remove 16 unused boards in Kconfig.machine commit
m68knommu: user generic iomap to support ioread*/iowrite* commit
Enable kernel preemption commit
BMC support for PARISC machines commit
2. Drivers
2.1. Staging drivers
New driver: Xillybus generic interface for FPGA commit
asus_oled: delete driver commit
comedi: addi_apci_1710: delete driver commit
comedi: ni_labpc_isadma: new module for ISA DMA support commit
comedi: pcl724: add support for the PCM-IO48 PC/104 board commit
dgap: adds dgap driver to staging commit
dgnc: add dgnc digi driver commit
r8188eu: Insert Kconfig files for new driver commit
zcache: delete it commit
2.2. Graphics
Add unified GEM+TTM vma offset manager commit
Hollow-out GET_CLIENT ioctl commit
No-op out GET_STATS ioctl commit
Remove FASYNC support commit
- i915
- nouveau
implement support for VP3 engines commit
- radeon
- rcar-du
backlight: HX8357: Add HX8369 support commit
simplefb: add support for a8b8g8r8 pixel format commit
2.3. Storage
- iscsi
IB/iser: Add Discovery support commit
esas2r: ATTO Technology ExpressSAS 6G SAS/SATA RAID Adapter Driver commit
fnic: fnic Driver Tuneables Exposed through CLI commit
hpsa: add HP Smart Array Gen8 names commit
hpsa: add HP Smart Array Gen9 PCI ID's commit
lpfc 8.3.41: Add first burst support to driver commit
megaraid_sas: Add High Availability clustering support using shared Logical Disks commit
megaraid_sas: addded support for big endian architecture commit
mpt3sas: Added a driver module parameter max_msix_vectors commit
qla2xxx: Add support for ISP8044. commit
qla4xxx: Added support for ISP8042 commit
ufs: Add support for sending NOP OUT UPIU commit
ufs: add dme configuration primitives commit
ufs: add operation for the uic power mode change commit
2.4. Networking
Add i40e, a driver for Intel Ethernet Controller XL710 Family of devices commit, commit, commit, commit, commit, commit, commit, commit
ath10k: add SoC power save option to PCI features map commit
ath10k: implement device recovery commit
ath10k: implement rx checksum offloading commit
ath10k: implement tx checksum offloading commit
ath5k: enable support for 5 MHz and 10 MHz channels commit
ath9k: Add more PCI IDs for WB225 cards commit
ath9k: Add one more PCI ID for CUS198 commit
ath9k: Add statistics for antenna diversity commit
ath9k: Add support for AR9485 1.2 commit
ath9k: Enable WLAN/BT Ant Diversity for WB225/WB195 commit
ax88179_178a: Add VID:DID for Samsung USB Ethernet Adapter commit
bnx2x: VF RSS support - PF side commit
bnx2x: VF RSS support - VF side commit
brcmfmac: add AMPDU reordering functionality commit
brcmfmac: add support for manual TDLS operations commit
brcmsmac: add support for BCM4313 iPA variant commit
cxgb4: Add CLIP support to store compressed IPv6 address commit
enic: Add an interface for USNIC to interact with firmware commit
enic: Adding support for Cisco Low Latency NIC commit
cpsw: Add support for new CPSW IP version commit
cpsw: add support to show hw stats via ethtool commit
e1000e: enable support for new device IDs commit
gianfar: Add flow control support commit
igb: Add device support for flashless SKU of i210 device commit
igb: Implementation of 1-sec delay for i210 devices commit
igb: Implementation to report advertised/supported link on i354 devices commit
iwlwifi: dvm: remove P2P support commit
iwlwifi: mvm: Enable user set TX power commit
iwlwifi: mvm: add high temperature SKU thermal throttling parameters commit
iwlwifi: mvm: support six IPv6 addresses in D3 commit
iwlwifi: pcie: add SKUs for 6000, 6005 and 6235 series commit
ixgbe: add 1Gbps support for QSFP+ commit
ixgbe: add support for quad-port x520 adapter commit
r8152: enable tx checksum commit
r8152: support aggregation commit
cpsw: Add support for wake-on-lan for cpsw commit
qmi_wwan: Olivetti Olicard 200 support commit
qmi_wwan: add new Qualcomm devices commit
p54usb: add USB ID for Corega WLUSB2GTST USB adapter commit
qlcnic: Add AER support for 83xx adapter commit
qlcnic: Add PVID support for 84xx adapters commit
qlcnic: Add support for 84xx adapters to load firmware from file commit
qlcnic: Add support for per port eswitch configuration commit
qlcnic: Enable Tx queue changes using ethtool for 82xx Series adapter. commit
qlcnic: Enable support for 844X adapter commit
qlcnic: Loopback Inter Driver Communication AEN handler commit
qlcnic: Multi Tx queue support for 82xx Series adapter. commit
qlcnic: dcb: Add support for CEE Netlink interface. commit
rt2800usb: Add WLI-UC-G300HP's Product ID. commit
rt2x00: rt2800lib: enable RF3053 support commit
rt2x00: rt2800lib: enable RT3593 support commit
rt2x00: rt2800usb: add USB device ID for Linksys AE3000 commit
sfc: Add EF10 support for TX/RX DMA error events handling. commit
sfc: Add support for MCDI v2 commit
sfc: Add support for Solarflare SFC9100 family commit
sfc: Add support for new board sensors commit
sfc: Implement asynchronous MCDI requests commit
sfc: Minimal support for 40G link speed commit
sfc: Prepare for RX scatter on EF10 commit
sfc: Update MCDI protocol definitions for EF10 commit
sh_eth: Add support for r8a7790 SoC commit
sundance: Add netpoll support commit
wil6210: Enable TCP/UDP checksum HW offload commit
rt2x00: rt2800usb: add RT3573 devices commit
pch_gbe: Add MinnowBoard support commit
- Bluetooth
Infiniband/mlx4: Add receive flow steering support commit
Infiniband: iser-target: introduce fast memory registration mode (FRWR) commit
NFC: pn544: i2c: Add firmware download implementation for pn544 commit, add firmware download mode power-on support commit
2.5. Sound
ac97: Add ID for TI TLV320AIC27 codec commit
hda - Add CS4208 codec support for MacBook 6,1 and 6,2 commit
hda - Add Toshiba Satellite C870 to MSI blacklist commit
hda - Add dock speaker support for ASUS TX300 commit
hdspm - AES32: Enable TCO support commit
hdspm - Add S/PDIF and WCK48 controls for RME RayDAT commit
hdspm - Add S/PDIF, XLR, WCK48 and ADAT-in controls for RME AIO cards commit
hdspm - Add support for AEBs on RME AIO commit
rme96: Add PM support v3 commit
- ASoC
Add PCM1681 codec driver. commit
Add PCM1792A spi mode codec support commit
add Renesas R-Car ADG feature commit
add Renesas R-Car Generation feature commit
add Renesas R-Car SCU feature commit
add Renesas R-Car core feature commit
add Renesas R-Car module feature commit
add ak4554 driver commit
atmel: add wm8904 based audio machine driver commit
atmel: machine driver for at91sam9x5-wm8731 boards commit
fsl-ssi: ac97-slave support commit
fsl: Add S/PDIF CPU DAI driver commit
fsl: Add S/PDIF machine driver commit
wm8997: Initial CODEC driver commit
serial: option: add support for Inovia SEW858 device commit
serial: ti_usb_3410_5052: add Abbott strip port ID to combined table as well. commit
Add Device Tree support to XHCI Platform driver commit
chipidea: add Intel Clovertrail pci id commit
host: Faraday fotg210-hcd driver commit
musb dma: add cppi41 dma driver commit
phy: Add AM335x PHY driver commit
phy: tegra: Tegra30 support commit
USB2NET : SR9700 : One chip USB 1.1 USB2NET SR9700Device Driver Support commit
2.7. Input
ALPS - add support for model found on Dell XT2 commit
evdev - add EVIOCREVOKE ioctl commit
wacom - add support for ISDv4 0x10E sensor commit
wacom - add support for ISDv4 0x10F sensor commit
Add new driver for non-compliant Xin-Mo devices. commit
add Holtek USB ID 04d9:a081 SHARKOON DarkGlider commit
roccat: add support for KonePureOptical v2 commit
wiimote: add LEGO-wiimote VID commit
wiimote: add support for Guitar-Hero guitars commit
2.8. TV tuners, webcams, video capturers
bf609: add adv7343 video encoder support commit
bf609: adv7343: add S-Video and Component output support commit
shmobile: BOCK-W: add VIN and ML86V7667 support commit
shmobile: Marzen: add VIN and ADV7180 support commit
Mirics MSi3101 SDR Dongle driver commit
V4L: Add VP8 encoder controls commit
adv7511: add new video encoder commit
cx231xx: Add support for KWorld UB445-U commit
cx23885: Add DTV support for Mygica X8502/X8507 boards commit
dib0700: add support for PCTV 2002e & PCTV 2002e SE commit
introduce gspca-stk1135: Syntek STK1135 driver commit
marvell-ccic: add MIPI support for marvell-ccic driver commit
msi3101: add 2040:d300 Hauppauge WinTV 133559 LF commit
s5p-mfc: Add support for VP8 encoder commit
s5p-mfc: Core support for MFC v7 commit
usbtv: Add S-Video input support commit
v4l: Add media format codes for ARGB8888 and AYUV8888 on 32-bit busses commit
v4l: Renesas R-Car VSP1 driver commit
2.9. Hardware monitoring
(ads1015) Add support for ADS1115 commit
(k10temp) Add support for Fam16h (Kabini) commit
(nct6775) Add support for NCT6102D/6106D commit
(nct6775) Add support for NCT6791D commit
(nct6775) Add support for beep attributes commit
(nct6775) Add support for critical low/high temperature limits on NCT6106 commit
(nct6775) Add support for hibernate commit
(nct6775) Support two SuperIO chips in the same system commit
(w83627ehf) Add support for hibernate commit
2.10. Multi-function devices (MFD)
Add support for COMe-bHL6 and COMe-cTH6 to Kontron PLD driver commit
da9063: Add Dialog DA9063 core driver commit
2.11. Memory technology devices (MTD)
Add a new sys node to show the ecc step size commit
atmel_nand: enable Nand Flash Controller (NFC) write via sram commit
bcm47xxsflash: writing support commit
chips: Add support for PMC SPI Flash chips in m25p80.c commit
Added the 16MiB winbond device commit
elm: Low power transition support commit
Remove alauda driver commit
Remove obsolete JEDEC mapping drivers commit
2.12. Multi-Media Cards
2.14. Watchdogs
2.15. Various
Non-transparent brigde: Add support for connecting to a PCI-E Root Port on the remote system (also known as NTB-RP mode). This allows for a NTB enabled system to be connected to a non-NTB enabled system/slot commit; update Device IDs commit; use DMA Engine to Transmit and Receive commit
NVM Express: Disk IO statistics commit, disk stats for read/write commands only commit
PCI: tegra: Add Tegra 30 PCIe support commit
Add AoE-target files to debugfs commit
backlight: Add ROHM BD6107 backlight driver commit
backlight: Add Sanyo LV5207LP backlight driver commit
bq24190_charger: Add support for TI BQ24190 Battery Charger commit
clk: s2mps11: Add support for s2mps11 commit
clock: add stmmac clock for ethernet driver commit
clocksource: arch_timer: Add support for memory mapped timers commit
rtc-omap: add rtc wakeup support to alarm events commit
uio: Add driver for Humusoft MF624 DAQ PCI card commit
gpio: Kontron PLD gpio driver commit
gpio: add GPIO support for F71882FG and F71889F commit
gpio: em: Add pinctrl support commit
i2c: imx: Add Vybrid VF610 I2C controller support commit
iio: Add Nuvoton NAU7802 ADC driver commit
iio: add Bosch BMA180 acceleration sensor driver commit
iio: twl6030-gpadc: TWL6030, TWL6032 GPADC driver commit
Freescale PAMU driver and iommu implementation. commit
leds-pca9633: Add support for PCA9634 commit
leds: pca9633: Add hardware blink support commit
leds: support new LP8501 device - another LP55xx common commit
pwm: Remove superseded pwm-samsung-legacy driver commit
pinctrl: Add s5pv210 support to pinctrl-exynos commit
pinctrl: palmas: add pincontrol driver commit
pinctrl: sunxi: Add Allwinner A20 pins set commit
pinctrl: sunxi: Add Allwinner A31 pins set commit
power: Add APM X-Gene system reboot driver commit
power: Add twl4030_madc battery driver. commit
power: reset: Add msm restart support commit
regulator: 88pm800: add regulator driver for 88pm800 commit
regulator: core: Add support for disabling ramp delay commit
regulator: da9063: Add Dialog DA9063 voltage regulators support. commit
regulator: da9210: New driver commit
regulator: pfuze100: add pfuze100 regulator driver commit
serial: max310x: Add MAX14830 support commit
serial: max310x: Add MAX3109 support commit
serial: sirf: add support for Marco chip commit
serial:st-asc: Add ST ASC driver. commit
spi/qspi: Add dual/quad spi read support commit
spi/qspi: Add qspi flash controller commit
spi: DUAL and QUAD support commit
spi: add spi controller v3 master driver for Blackfin commit
spi:Add Freescale DSPI driver for Vybrid VF610 platform commit
thermal: add imx thermal driver support commit
thermal: exynos: Add hardware mode thermal calibration support commit
thermal: exynos: Add thermal configuration data for exynos5440 TMU sensor commit
thermal: exynos: Support thermal tripping commit
watchdog: sunxi: New watchdog driver for Allwinner A10/A13 commit
memstick: add support for legacy memorysticks commit
dmaengine: Add hisilicon k3 DMA engine driver commit
dma-buf: Expose buffer size to userspace (v2) commit


text:
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I've been crazyyy busy once again.
My new years resolution is to make time to regularly blog in the new year - I really hope to adhere to it! I will be doing a few catch up posts so please bear with me...so excited to have 10 followers - 1 is secret i'm not being delusional (:
The background for these is my lovely room at home, which is rather untidy at the moment so please excuse the mess, I've done the best I could with the tiny amount of time I've had.
I really wanted to show off this gorgeous long/short skirt I recently purchased from Forever21.(please excuse me if i'm making a huge faux par by not knowing the correct name.
Top: ASOS, Skirt: Forever21, Ring: jwllry, Lipgloss: Cargo,
Nail Varnish: No7 Glitterball and Revlon Love Her Madly


text:
"Industry insiders are whispering about a certain reality TV star who is so sprung on her lesbian lover that she blows through frequent flyer miles and buddy passes jetting back and forth to the west coast to see her.
They say the reality star recently over extended herself when she flew her strapping lover to New York to attend the Keyshia Cole and Rihanna concerts [at the end of last year]. She barely had enough money to fly back to LA.
Now insiders say the reality star has run out of cash and she was forced to place a call to a well-known businessman here in Atlanta asking him to wire her $1000 so she could fly back to Atlanta. The businessman (who knows she's a lesbian) flat out refused to front her the cash. I'm not sure how the reality star will get back to Atlanta, but I am shocked that no one told me she was a lesbian."
From Sandra Rose, via Blind Gossip


text:
Durant Travels with the Warriors to Toronto Ahead of Finals
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Durant is traveling with the Golden State Warriors to Toronto for the first two games of the NBA Finals, leaving open the chance he could be ready to return from a strained right calf in time for Game 2.
Durant, the two-time reigning Finals MVP who has missed the past five games since getting hurt in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against Houston, has already been ruled out for Game 1 on Thursday night.
As of Tuesday, when Golden State held an optional practice before flying, he had yet to do any full-speed work on the court. He has done some shooting, coach Steve Kerr said.
"If he did anything on the court, it would have been pretty light," Kerr said.
Warriors spokesman Raymond Ridder confirmed Durant was on the two-time defending champions' team plane that took off early afternoon West Coast time and landed late in Canada.
There will be two full days off before Game 2 on Sunday, giving Durant time to get further on-court work done that the Warriors would need to see before he is medically cleared.
"We'll see where it goes from here," Kerr said Monday. "This is where the fact that there's a lot of days in between games during the finals helps us, so we'll see."
Durant didn't travel to Houston for Game 6 of that round or to Portland for the two road games against the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals. He remained in the Bay Area to rehab, and the Warriors are unbeaten without him.
An impending free agent this summer, he was hurt May 8 when he landed awkwardly on his right foot following a baseline jumper late in the third quarter of a 104-99 victory over the Rockets at Oracle Arena. Durant is averaging 34.2 points per game this postseason.
Kerr said Durant has been spending countless hours rehabbing to recover — hoping to get back soon to what he loves most.
"You get that fear of missing out on stuff, like practices and shootarounds and new game plans and stuff like that. That's what I miss the most, obviously, grinding on the court individually and with my team. But that's out of my hands. Out of my control," Durant said Friday.
"My task is to try to conquer this, and I think that's the journey (we're) on as basketball players. So I'm pretty much down for anything but I'm excited that I'm making progress."
Center DeMarcus Cousins, out with a torn left quadriceps muscle he injured in Game 2 of the first round against the Clippers, hadn't been ruled out for Game 1 though Kerr mentioned the magnitude of coming back on the finals stage after so much missed time.
Cousins — in his first career postseason — scrimmaged Saturday and again Monday, a sign of progress he is closer to being ready.
"I feel better each and every day. That's my whole goal, to make sure I get better with each day that comes," Cousins said last week. "Hopefully, that opportunity comes, and I'm able to get on the floor and help my teammates and try to help them win a championship."


text:
In "Why We Write," edited by Meredith Maran, author and Globe contributor, 20 famous writers take us inside their literary worlds to see how the magic of writing takes place and to explain why otherwise sane people would engage in an activity that, Maran argues, "promises only poverty, rejection, and self-doubt."
First, the mystery of creation. For novelist Isabel Allende, stories begin inside her and then grow onto the page: "Each story is a seed," she explains, "that starts to grow and grow. . . . When I start writing a book, I have no idea where it's going." Like many of the writers here, Allende says she has difficulty separating her real life from the lives of her fictional characters. "I carry the story with me all day, all night, in dreams, all the time," she says.
Jodi Picoult speaks of hearing her characters' voices in her head as she's writing. The novelist from Hanover, N.H., calls this "successful schizophrenia" because "I get paid to hear those voices." Like Allende, Picoult doesn't always feel in control: "Characters seem to pick their own paths. They have an agenda that I don't even know about."
Ah, yes, but why do it? To begin with, all agree that writing is difficult. George Orwell compared writing a book to "a long bout of some painful illness."
Moreover, while the wages of sin may be death, for writing they are only slightly better, especially at the beginning. Sebastian Junger describes his hardships as a young freelance writer in Boston: "In a decade of writing I might have made five thousand dollars. I learned what it feels like to work and work" for almost no reward.
Memoirist Mary Karr agrees, recalling her days as a young writer in Boston who taught to make ends meet: "For the five years I was teaching in the academic ghetto around Boston [doing stints at Emerson, Tufts, and Harvard], I couldn't live on my earnings." Karr believes that anyone writing primarily to make money is delusional.
Journalist Michael Lewis ("Moneyball") has achieved a level of material success that eludes most writers, but even that comes with a price. Lewis notes that money "changes things." "When I started, I was paid nothing. . . . Now I'm paid vast sums for the worst crap. That's a reason to write now that I didn't have before." Lewis possesses a unique ability to take complex topics (such as the financial meltdown of 2008) and make them accessible, but while his books may read easily, they're awfully hard to write, he says.
So why do they do it? Joan Didion says her goal is "to find out what I'm thinking . . . and what it means." For Allende, the choice is more directly a matter of survival: "I'm unemployable. What else would I do?" Novelist Jennifer Egan writes because it allows her to live a double life "without destroying my marriage." So intense is Egan's immersion that "[s]ome-times I forget I have children, which is very strange."
Mystery master Sue Grafton began writing because of anger during a difficult divorce. As Maran explains, "Grafton found herself fantasizing about murdering, or at least maiming, her soon-to-be ex-husband. . . . [S]he turned those fantasies into a novel."
You need not be a fan of all of the writers interviewed to enjoy this absorbing look into the literary life. "Why We Write" is also filled with practical tips on writing, surviving, and thriving for anyone who works with words. My favorite comes from the pragmatic Picoult: "There is no muse. It's hard work. You can always edit a bad page, but you can't edit a blank page." As literary kick-starters go, that one's tough to top.
Chuck Leddy, a freelance writer who lives in Dorchester, can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
USATF Course Certification
Search the Database of Existing Certified Courses
Search the Database of Course Measurers
What is course certification?
The purpose of the USATF course certification program is to produce road race courses of accurately measured distances.
For any road running performance to be accepted as a record or be nationally ranked, it must be run on a USATF-certified course. In addition, the certification program is very important to the average road racer, as well as those of exceptional speed. Most runners like to compare performances run on different courses, and such comparisons are difficult if course distances are not reliable. No one can truly establish a personal best if the course distance is not accurate.
On use of GPS devices: See our statement, Position on GPS used by runners.
How to get your course certified:
The easiest way to have your course certified is to hire someone who is already skilled at measuring courses for USATF certification.
Search our Database of Known Course Measurers
Alternatively, you can measure it yourself if you are sufficiently motivated and willing to devote the time and attention that it requires. In either case, you may need to contact the USATF Road Course Certifier for your state. This person can refer you to qualified measurers that you might hire. Or, if you choose to measure the course yourself, the Certifier can provide guidance to help you through the process, and when you are finished, you will need to send paperwork to your state Certifier.
View the list of USATF Road Course Certifiers
For anyone who wishes to measure road courses for certification, our complete Course Measurement Manual is provided online (see below). After measuring according to the procedures in this manual, the measurer must submit complete data and application forms and a detailed map of the course to the Certifier in the state where the course is located (most certifiers charge a fee for reviewing the application, up to a maximum of $30). The certifier will either approve the course or, if the measurer made a mistake, notify the measurer and explain how to fix it. Once a course is approved, the certifier will assign it a course ID number, and prepare a certificate which is combined with the course map to become the official documentation for this certified course.
View or download the Course Measurement Procedures Manual
Access Additional Tools Available to Course Measurers
Duration of certification:
Because courses often degrade over time, all course certifications expire automatically 10 years after the year of issue, and must then be re-measured in order to be recertified.
About certified courses
Find a certified course/map


text:
I took my car to Johns Auto for repair , he replaced the part and got it back to me in the same day. The price was very good and job well done, you cant ask for better service, fa...
All reviews seem positive
Quality Automotive Parts, Service and Repairs.
We are an Independent Automotive Service Center featuring quality ACDelco Parts. We offer vehicle maintenance, service & repair. Feel free to call or come by our location anytime.. Batteries
From family friendly trips with kid friendly activities to local plumbers lawyers, spas, and contractors. Judy's Book has millions of listings and reviews for the best and not so great. Whether you're looking for a specific business or just trying to discover great places we make it easy. We're a family oriented site focusing on bringing trusted reviews and recommendations to moms and others. Green and Sustainable places are becoming more relevant to Judy's Book users, have a favorite place? Write a review and tell users why it's Green!


text:
Here's the most recent "Eureka!" comic from Roy Doty, appearing in MAKE Volume 30. Eureka! started running in MAKE Volume 25. To see the whole series, visit the Eureka! archive.
From the pages of MAKE Volume 30:
Until recently, home automation was gimmicky, finicky, and user-hostile. But today, thanks to a new crop of devices and technology standards, home automation is useful, fun, and maker-friendly. In the special section of MAKE Volume 30, we'll show you: how to flip any switch in your home with a smartphone, home automation without programming, controlling your HVAC with an Arduino, a webcam security system, and a wall-mounted Notification Alert Generator (NAG) that plays timely reminders as you walk by. Plus, you'll build a Yakitori Grill, a robust R/C flying-wing airplane, sturdy furnishings from PVC, and more!


text:
About the Book:
Single mom Daisy Sorensen doesn't believe in fairytale endings—at least not for her. All she wants is to enjoy a much-needed, stress-free family vacation at a friend's Lake Tahoe home. So of course everything that can go wrong does. Including a gorgeous man and his daughter showing up in the middle of the night.
Soon-to-be Governor Jack Harrison has had a crazy week, but he's sure nothing can top arriving to find a bathrobe-clad, beautiful stranger in the home he's staying in for the week. He's wrong. When things spiral out of control the next morning, Jack makes Daisy an offer she can't refuse. She'll pretend to be his fiancée and he'll help her open the bakery she's been dreaming about.
But in between late-night campfires and days on the lake, Jack finds himself falling for the strong, stubborn woman for real.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo
Add to Goodreads
Check out the other books in the Sorensen Family series:
- $25 Amazon Gift Card
Meet the Author:
Ashlee Mallory is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and thrillers. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and two kids. She aspires to one day include running, hiking and traveling to exotic destinations in her list of things she enjoys, but currently settles for enjoying a good book and a glass of wine from the comfort of her couch.


text:
Expert's Rating
- Good sound quality
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Can be used wired if battery runs out
- Poor phone-call performance
Philips's $130 SHB9100/28 Bluetooth Stereo Headset offers some compelling features. First, though the SHB9100 is a lightweight, on-ear headphone, the ear pads are a bit larger than usual—large enough to cover most ears. These comfortable, soft cushions also offer good passive noise isolation, blocking out some of the sound around you if you're in the street. They don't block as much noise as most in-ear headphones, but neither do they isolate you from your surroundings. While not true noise-canceling headphones, I found their noise isolation was sufficient to use while watching a movie on my iPad during a recent plane trip.
Philips calls the earpads "FloatingCushions" because of a second cushion, behind the main earpad, that allows the main earpad to pivot slightly against your ears in order to better fit the particular angles of your ears and head. The design does improve fit, and though the earpad material can make your ears warm after a while, it's easy to forget the earpads' presence. The grip is fairly tight, though as with most larger headphones, you won't want to wear the SHB9100 while running.
Once you've "broken in" the SHB9100 with a few hours of listening, the audio quality is quite good. While the bass performance isn't anywhere near that of a good set of wired, full-sized headphone, I didn't feel that I was missing much when listening to the SHB9100 (compared to my expectations for a portable headphone). Audio is clear and balanced, with good midrange and treble performance, along with very good stereo imaging. The highest frequencies can be a bit fuzzy—I noticed this particularly with the brass sections in an early Chicago Transit Authority song—but most music I tested the SHB9100 with didn't exhibit this issue.
All of the SHB9100's controls are on the right earpiece. You press and hold the face of the earpiece to turn the SHB9100 on or off; a volume slider on the back edge of the earpiece also lets you skip forward and back (when paired with devices that support AVRCP) by pressing the slider button once or twice toward the earpiece.
The SHB9100 is powered by a rechargeable battery that you charge using a common USB-to-Mini-USB cable (included). Philips claims that the battery should last for nine hours of use. I didn't specifically test this claim, but using the SHB9100 for about 2 hours a day, I got through several days without the battery waning. The SHB9100 also includes a standard headphone cable, so you can use the SHB9100 as a standard headphone if the batteries run out—a nice touch.
My only real complaint about the SHB9100 is that when using it for making phone calls, the audio quality was disappointing. While I could hear callers just fine, they told me they had trouble hearing me, even when I held my hand up to the side of my face to try and channel my voice toward the microphone in the right earpiece.
Bottom line
Getting comfort and good sound isn't easy with Bluetooth headphones, but Philips's SHB9100 offers a nice balance between the two. I could wear the SHB9100 for extended periods without noticing their presence, though my ears did get a bit warm. The inclusion of a wired option is handy for those times you forget to charge. If you want good sound and a comfortable fit for wireless listening, the SHB9100 is a great choice, though if you depend on your Bluetooth headset for making phone calls, I recommend looking elsewhere.


text:
- Laura Wears is playing with winter patterns and serving up a little plaid on plaid! Such a lovely menswear inspired look with all of the right feminine touches! (find Laurea Wears on Twitter!)
- Good Life brightens up a winter day with her new go-to colorful neutral that works in every season! Pop over to see how this classic color is the perfect backdrop for any look! (find Good Life on Twitter!)
- Seersucker + Saddles looks so chic in tennies and jewels for a cold, snowy day! A must see for styling those running shoes!(find Seersucker + Saddles on Twitter!)
- Undeniable Style is bringing the 90s back with a little grunge but of course glams it up with a little leather! This is the ultimate in causal chic! (find Undeniable Style on Twitter!)
- One Hundred Inspirations recreates a simple and classic Reese Witherspoon look for under $110! Head over to check out where the pieces are from!
- Miss Top Ten is making some BIG changes in her life and saying stylish through them all of course! You must see her fabulous blue accessories! So cute! (find Miss Top Ten on Twitter!)
- My Thrifty Chic is channeling Princess Kate and put on her most ladylike frock that is perfect for tea with the Queen… or a day in the park! The best part? She rented the dress!! (find My Thrifty Chic on Twitter!)
- The Second Best is keeping it simple and letting her (amazing!) accessory take the spotlight! Pop over to check out her cute and colorful bauble! (find Second Best on Twitter!)
- A Fashion Fixation lets it flow in one of the season's hottest trends! Paired with jeans and flats, this look is comfortable and cute! Love! (find A Fashion Fixation on Twitter!)
- Little Bit of Wo.We shows us three ways to wear a two-toned blazer – work, date night and weekend! Pop over to pick out your favorite look and grab a few tips! (find Little Bit of Wo.We on Twitter!)
- Rose a la Mode is out to dinner with the family in an outfit that the girls AND guys approve of! That's a win-win if you ask me! (find Rose a la Mode on Twitter!)
- Pretty Preened tried out a new mix of patterns and knocked it out of the park! Plaid and leopard must be a match made in heaven! (find Pretty Preened on Twitter!)
- Sweetie Pie Style rounds up 7 sweet treats to add a quick and easy spring fix to your wardrobe! The best news? They are all under $25!! (find Sweetie Pie Style on Twitter!)
- Second Street East is taking a cue from the warming weather and recreating a room and outfit with bright blues and pinks! Tons of great finds! (find Second Street East on Twitter!)
the IT list is brought to you weekly by Jill of Good Life and edited by Michelle of Second Street East.
For more information on how you can be involved – click here