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I may have a thing for cowboy romances now. Stacey Kennedy's new Kinky Spurs series focuses on the Blackshaw brothers. Sexy, swoony, and definitely romance hero material; these three cowboys are here to rope you into their hearts!
Emma has returned to her summer home of her grandmother who's recently passed. The areas of land and animals couldn't have come at a better time when Emma needs an escape to heal from heartbreak. She's left her job and lost the man she thought loved her all in the same day. Licking her wounds in River Rock seems the perfect distraction from the mess of her life. The unplanned distraction? The mysterious cowboy who comes in to the bar, Kinky Spurs, and always locks eyes with her. But Kinky Spurs isn't just in name; it's claim to fame is it's sexy cowboys that come in to "rope" themselves a woman. With a last minute change, Emma is on stage with her mysterious cowboy, Shep Blackshaw. Piercing eyes, smoking body, and a killer smile….Emma is doomed.
After their family loses their father, Shep and his brothers have to make a decision on their families business. A distraction is just what Shep needs from his new responsibilities and nothing is more eye catching than the sexy new bartender at Kinky Spurs. Shep is determined to find out more about her after their steamy on stage encounter with a rope and some intimate eye-locking. When one of Emma's new horses drags her on a wild chase, Shep is there to save the day and keep her close. But what seemed to be a fun fling for the womanizing cowboy is quickly turning in to a true romance neither planned for.
Their own perceived futures are what get in they way for Emma and Shep. When a piece of Emma's past comes back to threaten what these two have built, their quiet content country romance is all but shattered. Shep is amazingly charming; I loved his mix of country boy next door and bad boy in the sheets. Emma was a headstrong heroine but I liked her vulnerabilities in trusting her own instincts; it made her incredibly relatable. This is a quick and emotion filled romance for any fan; cowboy, small town, triangle, all of the above. I can't wait to read more of our Blackshaw brothers based on the teases of the two younger brothers love interests!
Emma Monroe has returned to River Rock, Colorado, after the death of her grandmother. Now she's inherited a farm full of abused animals and she's working as a waitress at the local hotspot, Kinky Spurs. The last thing Emma wants in her life is a man, as she's still recovering from a recent heartbreak. But when a sensual and powerful cowboy, Shep Blackshaw enters her life, Emma begins to want things she shouldn't.
Shep knows sex shouldn't be on his mind. He's got a world of responsibility on his shoulders. He's attempting to save his late father's cattle ranch, Blackshaw Cattle Company, from foreclosure. But Emma's heated reactions to his touch make ignoring her impossible. She's the perfect distraction to make him forget that his father's company is a sinking ship.
While their nights only heat up, soon emotions become tangled into the mix. Shep's not only giving Emma the hottest nights of her life, he's also healing her heart. With every encounter, she forgets her heartbreak. With every naughty adventure, she stops mourning the life she left behind. And with every dirty word whispered from Shep's mouth, she stops thinking of all the reasons why she shouldn't fall for him. But when the past comes to claim Emma, she'll need to choose between the life she thought she wanted and the life she's grown to love with Shep. How will she say no to forever with a dirty-talking cowboy.
Emma spun on her heels, opened her mouth, then promptly closed it. All sadness fled in a millisecond.
Leaning against the doorframe, Shep wore only his jeans, no shirt in sight. Oh my fucking God. Dream Shep had nothing on the real thing. Anyone could tell that Shep worked hard for a living. He didn't seem the type of man that would spend hours in the gym, indicating his job was the reason he was built for hard labor. His wide shoulders, squared chest, gloriously perfect six-pack with deep ridges made for exploring fingers—all of it was mouthwateringly hot.
His voice deepened into a low rumbly tone. "Darlin', you really need to stop looking at me like that."
She lifted her gaze to his potent stare. Heat rose to her cheeks. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." The side of his mouth curved, like he knew the power he had over her. "I happen to enjoy watching you eye-fuck me, but you're making it hard for me to be a gentleman."
Her knees weakened, heart raced. How tempting it was to engulf this fiery passion burning between them, not run from it. And how confusing was that? No more casual sex, wasn't that what she said? She knew where relationships like that ended up, nowhere good. Yet, her mouth parted, and out came, "What if I don't want you to be a gentleman?"
Something fierce crossed his expression then, darkening his eyes. He stepped forward, bringing all that strong manly heat in close. He smelled of rain and wood and all that was perfect in this world. He dipped his head, and all she had to do was reach out and touch him. "What exactly do you want from me, Emma?" His lips were right there. His naked flesh, right there. "Do you want me to take control of you and roughly take what's mine for the night?"
His sexy smile revealed a horrible truth. She nearly melted into the floor. "Oh, dear Lord, I told you about my dream?" Please say no. Please say no.
He lifted his hand, gently dragging his knuckles across her cheek. "Ah, but I happen to like that dream you had and shared with me." He slid his thumb across her chin, tilting her head up to stare deeply into his gorgeous eyes. "You still haven't answered me. Do you want me to kiss you slowly, savoring every little bit of your mouth?" His thumb brushed across the plumpest part of her bottom lip. "Or shall I punish you with my kiss, making you regret that you ever turned me down?" The heat of his body sizzled against her as he leaned in closer, his warm breath across her mouth. "Tell me, Emma, shall I tie you up with my ropes like I already have? Do you remember what that felt like? Did you like it, sweetheart?"
"You know I liked it," she managed, breathless.
His grin was pure sin. "You're right, I do know that." He dragged his knuckles over her flushing cheek again, seemingly touching her soul-deep. Her mouth parted, breaths became heavier when he ran the pads of his fingers slowly down her arms, the power he exuded like a wall of strength in front of her. "Tell me, Emma," he finished.
The words nearly fell out of her mouth. She wanted to experience his brand of passion. She got the feeling if she let go with him, he'd deliver where others had failed. Almost as if he'd take away all the pain, all the confusion, and silence her fears.
Her mouth parted to say, Make me forget it all. The words died in her throat. Her fears were bigger and stronger than her desire. She'd been fooled by one man before. The icy cold reminder still splintered her heart, there and unavoidable. "I can't," she said softly.
"You can't." There was no disappointment in his voice, only firmness. "Then I can't."
He took her hand into the strength of his, and she slowly opened her eyes, her breath catching at the contained power in his expression.
Shep breathed sex and passion, and the danger of him presented itself to her. Causal sex was one thing, but she got the feeling Shep didn't do causal sex. He was pure emotion, total connection, and all intimacy. He'd wrap her up emotionally and take everything she had, and when he was finished with her, he'd demand more.
With his eyes locked onto hers, he led her from the bedroom. Once in the hallway, he turned to her, leaned in, and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Good night, Emma."
She could finally breathe again. "Good night, Shep."
Then with that blazing-hot gaze pinning her to where she stood, he shut the bedroom door, leaving her, and all her thoughts, alone in the quiet hallway.
USA Today bestselling author Stacey Kennedy has written more than forty romances, including titles in her wildly hot Kinky Spurs, Club Sin, and Filthy Dirty Love series. Her books are about real people with real-life problems, searching for that special thing we call love…in a very sexy way. When she's not burning up the pages and setting e-readers ablaze, she's living her happily ever after with her husband and two young children in southwestern Ontario. She's a firm believer that wine, chocolate, and sinfully sexy books can cure all of life's problems.
Authors Links
Website: www.staceykennedy.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorstaceykennedy
Twitter: twitter.com/Stacey_Kennedy


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Direct Vent Furnaces are highly efficient and can be installed in a wide variety of locations, including basements, sheds, garages, cabins, and more.
Create consistent heat and energy efficiency with Rinnai technology that optimizes gas usage. Each model features advanced modulating technology, which responds to even the smallest temperature fluctuations — keeping your home consistently comfortable.
With no ductwork required, a modulating gas valve with a variable-speed blower uses only the gas needed to heat the space, bringing in evenly distributed heat and minimizing heat loss.

subset: commoncrawl


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< Desktop | Whiteboards
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We users .
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Latest revision as of 19:07, 15 August 2015
We currently provide our users with a very poor experience when updating their operating system.
Our current package-centric view of OS software updates is less than ideal. Most people are not interested in learning about updates to hundreds of tiny packages they have never heard of.
These myriad individual updates aren't even well coordinated. They arrive at the user's computer and pester her to update them in a random and seemingly continuous stream. This does not show respect for the user's time.
The many combinations of packages that are possible due to this lack of coordination means that we don't actually test any of them. There is no set that is canonical or even most likely.
So, basically, what we have today is:
- Arcane
- Uncoordinated and disruptive
- Often broken, fragile, and largely untested
A very poor user experience.
All releases
This section applies to all rawhide releases, and stable releases.
- System components must be tested as a single unit before release
- To avoid regressions
- Users must have confidence in updates not breaking their system. Fear is not a good experience
- System components must be presented to the user as a single install unit
- Many users are not interested in details of arcane system packages; and those that are can still find out
- The update was tested as a unit, therefore it make sense to present it as a unit
- Most people simply install all updates anyway
- System updates must not break any application that we define as critical (Firefox, etc)
- Because applications are what users care about
- Users should be able to detect whether updates are available from within the app they are using
- This is just being nice and helpful
- Application updates should appear to the user as a single object (ie. not a set of loosely related packages)
- Most users do not care how the app is broken down into individual packages
- Showing all the individual packages makes it easier to end up in broken situations where some updates are installed, others not
- Full details will still be available for users who care
- Applications must not install updates on their own but should work in concert with a central update installer.
- To limit the number of potential reboots after installs
- To offer the option of opting out of certain types of updates
- To not have to prompt the user repeatedly in different ways
- So applications don't expect that they can do whatever they wish
- So we can better test the combinations of software
- Allow users to discover or be reminded of pending updates
- To allow users to batch update disruptions
- Release engineering may be free to withdraw or block a package if it breaks the integration tests
- Otherwise, why test at all ?
- System must have a way to defer or queue updates to currently running software
- To avoid e.g. the browser starting to misbehave because an update thats running in the background has updated the firefox package
- System must be able to download updates in the background using idle time and bandwidth
- This is a part of being respectful of the users time
- Having the updates already downloaded when the user sees them makes the update experience snappy
- System must be capable of installing update non-interactively (no prompting)
- Otherwise we force the user to sit through a potentially lengthy update process, wasting his time
- System must be capable of installing the updates that require restarting at shutdown time
- This is a natural break in the user's flow
- The process can be left unattended and it will power off the machine when complete
Stable releases
- Batched updates must occur and appear to the user no more often than once per week
- Tuesday suggested as the update day
- System updates should only:
- fix critical bugs or security vulnerabilities
- provide hardware enablement
- System updates may only be deferred for a short time after which they will be installed automatically
- System updates should be able to run autonomously when the user requests a shutdown (but not necessarily on reboot since a reboot means that the user wants to resume operation and is not done with the computer)
- Application updates may be deferred or permanently ignored at the user's discretion
- One reason for this is that for the user the system is working fine and changes may be known to break workflows or habits or devices.
- Application updates may add new features even in a stable release at the upstream brand's discretion as long as someone can be held responsible for fixing problems
- Should perform more testing on or elimination of "zero-day" updates after a release
- Thorough testing of a release is less relevant if the system is never in that state due to zero-day updates.
- Nightly composes should be tested to boot, start a graphical user session, and load a web page before being pushed out
- There should be a weekly or bi-weekly snapshot stream/repo for early adopters that do not want the nightly changes
- Weekly snapshots should receive more testing than the nightly and a broader category of functionality should be confirmed to work
- It should always be dog-foodable and should never be known to be severely broken
- We should take our Alpha, Beta, etc releases more seriously
Community Organization
Having well defined and agreed upon checkpoints is one of the only ways to manage large open source communities. We agree that using a time based release process for stable releases is worthwhile but we give up on that the moment the release goes out the door.
By elevating Rawhide to something that people can actually use we can bring the community back into the Fedora development process.
The Quality Assurance team's job becomes tractable. The OS can be tested as a well defined unit. If someone wants to deviate from that - they are in uncharted waters. But right now we're all in charted (untested) waters. And that is scary.
Release Quality
Giving QA a job they can actually do is only one part of this. Having a larger community testing and using (dog-fooding) Rawhide before a release is also essential. As it stands, we don't even have a majority of the core Desktop design and development teams using Rawhide until shortly before the release.
Documentation teams will have opportunity to document release updates where required.
Increased visibility into the design and creation process (during Rawhide) should also be a big win.
Obviously, being able to avoid embarrassing oversights is an important goal. So is being able to tell a story about why Fedora is good for you.
Certainly, having well defined checkpoints allows a marketing team to schedule work more easily.
Having marketing folks be closer to the design and development phases of Fedora should facilitate building roadmaps for future releases and creating good stories about current ones.
Increasing visibility into the Rawhide cycle allows more viral marketing to occur - and to build anticipation for a release.
Software Developers
Being able to give (third-party) software developers some idea of what they can expect to use and depend on in Fedora would be helpful. Giving developers a chance to test their own apps with newer releases is important.
There is a lot more we can and should do here.
Upstream Contributors
Making Fedora the best choice for working on upstream software really requires making Rawhide more usable. This helps build the Fedora development ecosystem.
System Administrators
Want to be able to test changes before they hit users. Want better documentation of changes. Want to see what is coming in future releases before they arrive. Have a strong incentive to see that updates are automatically or timely applied. Are overworked and would love to set up things on autopilot provided they never break things. In many cases wish to or need to delegate some authority to users to install apps or to perform updates. I hope that we can address each of these things.
Basically just want things to work and not disrupt or annoy them. Which means they trust us. Until they don't - and then they are gone.
All snapshots (including nightly Rawhide) should ensure they don't break the following: System boots and can get to a web page to get help for minor issues if needed
In detail this means the following must work:
- Grub
- Kernel
- process input
- detect monitor
- display output
- support root filesystem
- support home filesystem
- Dracut
- mount root filesystem
- Plymouth
- only for encrypted disks?
- Upstart
- Xorg
- process input
- detect monitor
- display output
- autologin user
- gnome-session
- since nothing starts without it
- handles logout
- gnome-settings-daemon
- xrandr
- gnome-panel
- displays network applet
- allows starting web browser
- NetworkManager
- connect to wireless
- Firefox
- load website
This is essentially what Critical_Path_Packages_Proposal is about.
There are a lot of components to this problem. It would be prohibitively difficult to solve all of the issues at once. So, we may want to implement a solution in stages.
Phase I
Now that we have rough consensus that we should try to limit the volume of "pointless" updates, what is next?
Two things we may want to address right away:
1. Limit the frequency of non-critical updates to once per week in stable releases
2. Establish norms or rules that limit the types of changes in stable releases to ensure the releases remain stable
So, what are "critical" updates anyway? And what norms should we apply to stable releases?
Related Work
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Automated_QA_Testing_Project
- http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Critical_Path_Packages_Proposal
- http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Activity_Day_Fedora_Development_Cycle_2009#Resulting_Output
- https://fedorahosted.org/pipermail/autoqa-results/2009-August/thread.html
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/No_Frozen_Rawhide_Proposal


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Good review. I've been resisting a "task system" for quite some time now. I just keep a notebook and it works fine, but I know I can be more efficient with one of the digi versions. I'll check out some of these. Thanks!
This article is Wise Bread's contribution to Life Scoop, where ordinary people learn how to make surprising things happen with technology.
I'm trying yet another task management system and I think I've found a keeper. I've been on a search for quite some time, and while many people have strong opinions on their favorite apps, the best one for you will serve your particular needs and lifestyle. You may need to try a few before finding the right one for you — I've tried at least a dozen. I've settled on Toodledo for the five specific problems it solved for me.
When I used to look at my list of to-dos, I wanted to run and hide. I knew I needed to make a daily list of a few things to accomplish, since it would be impossible to do everything in one day. But I'm indecisive, and it's a long list. The decision making process was a huge task in itself, and to have to do that on a daily basis grated at my soul. So I ended up doing whatever I remembered to do, or whatever came my way, which meant things didn't get done because I had completely forgotten about them (but they were on the list somewhere).
What Toodledo does is assign the importance of a task for me, based on a number of factors like due date, priority, and whether I've starred it (another way to highlight a task). I don't need to choose. I just go down the list. This goes beyond typical sorting functions of other apps where you can only either sort by priority or due date. Toodledo calculates importance by due date, priority, and whether I've starred it. Sometimes it's more important to start on a something that's due further out because of its priority and how long it'll take.
Toodledo also has a scheduler, which allows Toodledo to just tell me what to do — this feature is only available for their Pro account ($14.95 per year). Say I have 2 hours free and I don't want to decide what tasks I should do in that time. Like figuring the importance scale, Toodledo analyzes all my tasks and picks from my list that will be the most effective use of that time. Each task has a field for estimated time the task will take, so this is taken into consideration when the tasks are scheduled based on your availablity.
Oftentimes I'm working on something when I get distracted — the phone rings, an instant message appears, I notice a new email — and then I completely forget that I was working on something. I'll get off the phone and decide to check email. Before long I'm off doing something else with the original task left hanging. Many people call this "multi-tasking" but most of us know that there are very few things we can really do at the same time. I can walk on the treadmill and read email at the same time, but I can't talk on the phone and write an article at the same time.
I'm not disciplined enough to follow strict rules of checking email only twice a day or turning off my phone. But I can always go back to Toodledo (after I'm no longer distracted) and see the task I was working on previously.
Their timer feature also helps me to stay on task when my mind starts to wander and I want to do something else. Click the timer button and it keeps the clock running for the time spent on that task. Knowing that before I switch tasks I have to stop the timer button actually gives me incentive to just finish what I'm doing. That one small barrier is enough to prevent the impulse to check email or facebook status until I've completed the task at hand.
Two features of Toodledo that helps me manage my time is the timer (which tells me exactly how long I've spent on a task) and the time estimation I can include for each task (to get a handle of what I can expect to accomplish in one day). Sometimes a day passes by and I wonder what I did all day. With the timer function, I can see exactly where all my hours went, and it does make me feel better to know that I actually didn't spend all day on Facebook. It also helps me see where I may be spending way too much of my time on...
Being able to see how long a task will take also helps me plan my day. If I'm just going down a list of items, I might think I can complete 10 things. But taking into consideration the time it'll take for each task will keep my expectations realistic. If there's a big project I need to slot most of the day to, I might only accomplish 3 things that day, but it still would have been a full day of working.
Toodledo allows me to set goals, and assign tasks to that goal. Setting specific tasks to goals ensures that I keep my eye on the ball. I can look at my next steps and see how far I've come. The Pro account offers a chain display that shows the number of tasks completed for each goal, as well as the goal's chain. The chain gets longer for each consecutive day that a completed task contributes to the goal. Make progress on a goal each day to get a long chain. Miss a day and that chain will get broken.
It's important to see beyond the task list at the bigger picture and know that checking off the tasks brings you another step closer to your goals.
At first glance Toodledo's interface is not very appealing. But dig a little deeper and their layout is pretty brilliant. It is super easy to navigate and customize. They have more fields for tasks than I've ever encountered, but if there are fields you don't ever use, they don't show up. Another important (yet simple) feature they offer is various ways to organize your tasks — folders, context, goals, stars — that allow easy access to any task.
I'm a stickler for organization, and the problem with some of the other apps I've tried was how inadequate I found their flexibility to be. Having multiple labels on each task and being able to view them according to any of those labels help a great deal in organizing my entire list of tasks (about 200 at this point).
A regular spiral notepad worked for me for a long time. But when I saw how much of my time was spent organizing and reorganizing and then selecting tasks, I knew I had to get help. Among the dozen or so task management systems I tried, a few stood out even though they weren't perfect for me. If you're looking for some places to start, here are some other popular options.
Gmail Tasks — Integrated into your Gmail and Gmail Calendar, it's clean, simple, and takes up little room. Before I switched to Toodledo, I was using this for time sensitive tasks. I always had my Gmail Calendar open and I could enter tasks directly from there. These were tasks I knew I couldn't just write on my notepad because who knew when would be the next time I looked it over.
Ubernote — This is more note-taking than task management, although they do have a task feature. Other features include a variety of tools that integrate your web surfing (submit notes via email, bookmarking, web clipping).
Remember the milk — Easy to use and hugely popular, it is accessible via iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Google Calendar, and even Twitter.
Zoho — Zoho is a treasure trove of productivity and collaboration apps. If you work in a team and have use for all their various apps, this is a great system to use.
5pm — We use this for Dealista production and I really like it for projects that involve multiple steps and people. It's not ideal for a long list of tasks, but it works well for project management.
Wrike — Another useful app for project management among a team, but not ideal for personal task management. Greg wrote a great review of Wrike.
For more ways to do everyday tasks better, faster, and smarter, check out these great tips from Life Scoop:
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Good review. I've been resisting a "task system" for quite some time now. I just keep a notebook and it works fine, but I know I can be more efficient with one of the digi versions. I'll check out some of these. Thanks!
Great article. There are so many apps out there and I've spent a small fortune trying most of them. I'm awful about writing things down. I travel a lot so much of time is in transit or it simply isn't convienient for me to stop what I'm doing to type or write a "to do". I use Jott - it's programmed in my phone and I call a number, say what I need (task, appointment in outlook, email draft, etc) and it transcribes the voice to the specifed form. I then get a text message confirmation. It works with outlook, also. This has changed my life - really - my clients love that I don't forget so many things now! ;-)
Right now I'm digging Evernote for it's unstructured ways and ubiquitous inputs (email, iphone app, desktop app, webpage, etc). My biggest problem is jotting everything down. My second biggest problem is looking at what I've written down and crossing it off the list.
I've loved and rejected other task management systems in the past because after a few days, I always get tired of being forced into their structure. Evernote is the closest thing I've found to being a "virtual stack of post-it notes". It may not automagically organize my tasks into priorities and due dates, but it's unstructured format is actually a good thing and gives it a good shot of having a long-term relationship with my messy brain.
Lately I've been trying out TeuxDeux. It's very simple which is its main advantage to competitors. If you are looking for simple this would be worth checking out. http://teuxdeux.com
I found Teux Deux too simplistic. Then I tried Remember the Milk. It was not as user-friendly.
Thanks for writing about Toodledo. I've already signed up to give it a trial.
Thanks for the post and for all the great links and ideas... I'm always trying to find a good way to control my to do list and always end back with paper and pen. I have a nice top 10 to do list system that works pretty well.
A lot to choose from. I, too, deal with the same distractions everyday. Time management is one of the skills I've been trying to develop; there are times I'm a victor, but often a failure.
To help me accomplish more based on the schedule, I installed ClocX, a simple and free alarm software.
One could add sound or open a program once the set time is over. But more than the application, commitment would helps me more.
Great post! And a time well spent.


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Lovecraft's Fiction
(Alphabetical Order)
Below is an alphabetical list of Lovecraft's fiction, revisions, collaborations, and miscellaneous minor works, as well as some tales that are not extant. The dates for each of the tales are based primarily on S.T. Joshi's "Chronology of the Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft" included in Arkham House's Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, but includes some changes based on Mr. Joshi's ongoing research. This list is also available in both chronological order and publication order.


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A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Diabetes Self-Care Improves Slowly, U.S. Report Finds
But nearly half of patients aren't meeting goals for blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Just 14 percent of people with diabetes hit all the recommended health targets during the first decade of the 21st century, according to the new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Researchers found that between 1999 and 2010, the number of people with diabetes who achieved their blood sugar goals improved by about 8 percent. That same time period saw a nearly 12 percent improvement in the number of people meeting their blood pressure goals.
And 21 percent more people lowered their LDL cholesterol (the bad type) to less than 100 milligrams per deciliter during the study time period.
Tobacco use was one area where the numbers didn't move.
"The overarching theme is slow and steady improvement. Just a 1 percent improvement in hemoglobin A1C [a long-term measure of blood sugar levels] in 19 million people with diabetes is tremendous," said report author Dr. Mohammed Ali, an assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a consultant in the CDC's division of diabetes translation in Atlanta.
"There are still huge gaps," Ali said. "We have a good report card, but we have a long way to go in certain aspects, like blood pressure control and tobacco use. One in five people with diabetes still use some form of tobacco."
Almost 19 million U.S. adults have diabetes, according to background information in the study. "Probably 95 percent or higher have type 2 diabetes," said Ali. Type 2 diabetes is considered preventable. Untreated or poorly treated diabetes can lead to serious complications, including vision problems and kidney disease.
According to the report, the primary goals for diabetes care include:
- Hemoglobin A1C of 7 percent or less
- Blood pressure of less than 130/80 mm Hg
- LDL cholesterol levels below 100 milligrams per deciliter
- No tobacco use
"We've always been so focused on [blood sugar], but the key for anybody with diabetes is comprehensive control of risk factors. So don't forget your blood pressure. Don't forget your cholesterol. Don't smoke. These are the things, along with [blood sugar], that are really going to improve your quality of life," said Ali.
Between 33 percent and 49 percent of people with diabetes were not meeting their targets for blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol control, the report found.
Dr. Graham McMahon, co-author of an accompanying journal editorial and a diabetes specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, finds the figures disappointing.
"I think these results show slower than anticipated progress in meeting diabetes goals," he said.
McMahon thinks changes are needed in the way diabetes is managed and reimbursed.
"Clinicians should be given credits for improvements toward a goal," he explained. "You want to have a combination of factors that acknowledge the difficulty and complexity of engaging patients in self-care."
The best way for diabetes care providers to promote patients' self-care is to partner with them, he said. This includes exploring and dismantling the obstacles the patient experiences, noted McMahon.
"Diabetes can be all-consuming for a patient. It changes the way you interact with family and friends, and in how you view yourself, whether you consider yourself well or not well," McMahon said. Type 2 diabetes "also affects feelings of self-worth and fault because the community often blames people for having this problem."
McMahon said he'd like to see care move toward a more patient-centered environment that can help patients identify helpful strategies for improving their health. This could be accomplished with health care teams -- including nurse educators, primary care doctors, endocrinologists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists and nutritionists -- that would address the whole patient, said McMahon.
Health News Copyright (c) 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
- More Health News on:
- Diabetes
- Health Statistics


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Steward Health Care System, the for-profit medical organization that has purchased 10 Massachusetts hospitals in just over a year, plans to sell a number of its medical office buildings, lease the real estate back, and use the proceeds for its hospital operations.
Steward is offering to sell 11 buildings in Brighton, Dorchester, Foxborough, Fall River, Brockton, Taunton, Methuen, and Ayer - more than 350,000 square feet in all - it purchased as part of a series of hospital acquisitions. Nine of the office buildings are situated directly on Steward hospital campuses, and the other two are near hospitals.
As part of a sale-leaseback agreement, Steward would sign a long-term contract to rent the same office space. Marketing material described the on-campus buildings as having "a vacancy rate of 0 percent.''
Steward, which is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, intends to use proceeds from the real estate sale in its hospital operations, spokesman Chris Murphy said. He said Steward would not redirect the money to Cerberus in the form of a stock dividend, a common capital strategy among private equity investors and the companies they own.
"It's going back into the [Steward] system,'' Murphy said. "We're selling our medical office buildings because we're not a real estate company. Our focus is on running hospitals and taking care of our patients.''
Steward has not set a formal asking price for the buildings, but the sale would probably yield tens of millions of dollars in cash.
The real estate includes two buildings at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton and one at Carney Hospital in Dorchester. The largest building is on the campus of Morton Hospital in Taunton, an institution Steward bought last month.
Other buildings up for sale are at or near St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Norwood Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, and Holy Family Hospital in Methuen.
Steward began medical operations last year after closing on the acquisition of Caritas Christi Health Care and its six hospitals, then aggressively outbid competitors to buy other hospitals in the state.
It quickly assembled a large medical network that is designed to attract patients who had gone to big Boston hospitals in the past. That meant spending money improving the facilities it acquired.
As a private company, Steward does not provide detailed information on its finances. But its marketing materials for the buildings say Steward has so far invested $300 million in hospital renovations and $60 million on information technology upgrades.
Meanwhile, Steward has aggressively wooed doctors who can refer more patients to its hospitals. For example, it recently lured 150 North Shore doctors from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's physician group with an offer so generous that Beth Israel's lawyers questioned if the terms amounted to illegal kickbacks. (Steward insists there was nothing wrong with its offer.)
The company is promoting the large tenant base represented by 2,800 health care providers in its network and the unusual opportunity for real estate investors to buy many properties in a single transaction.
"This Massachusetts medical building portfolio is a unique opportunity for an investor to immediately become a major player in one of the highest barrier-to-entry markets in the United States,'' the company says in real estate marketing material.
Many investors are attracted to sale-leaseback arrangements for medical buildings if the hospital is considered a high-quality tenant willing to sign a lease for at least 15 years, said Mark Alexander, national director of medical office sale/leasebacks at Sperry Van Ness in Fort Myers, Fla.
Tepid demand for other types of commercial real estate has made stable medical office space look relatively appealing, he said.
"There's a big appetite out there,'' Alexander said. "There's so much demand because there's less demand for everything else.''
It is true that many hospitals have considered similar arrangements. But others have not. Vanguard Health Systems Inc., owner of the state's only other for-profit hospitals - St. Vincent's in Worcester and Metrowest Medical Center in Framingham - continues to own all the property on its campuses.
Steward said it is happy to get out of the landlord business, because charging rent to doctors who work for it creates compliance problems. All true, no doubt, but hardly the real reason to sell valuable property.
Steward is known best for the kind of money it's prepared to spend. This time, it's in a position to make a pile of cash.
Steven Syre is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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CANBERRA, Australia – Oct. 14, 2013 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is sponsoring the 2013 and 2014 UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, a competition in which students develop unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) that locate and deliver an emergency package to a fictitious lost hiker. The competition is aimed at encouraging growth in the Australian civil UAV industry and raising awareness of the potential civilian applications.
"This competition is significant because it introduces high school and university students to UAV technology and shows them how it can help solve real-world problems," said Ian Irving, Northrop Grumman's chief executive for Australia. "Given our company's leadership in the field of unmanned aircraft systems, we are pleased to be supporting this important initiative, which will help create the next generation of aerospace professionals."
The UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue includes two flying categories: the Airborne Delivery Challenge and the Search and Rescue Challenge . Both competitions give students a hands-on opportunity to explore their interests, whether in project management, engineering, mathematics or technology.
This year's Airborne Delivery Challenge took place Sept. 24-25 at Gratton Field in Calvert, Queensland, with 11 teams of Australian high school students participating. Each team was given an emergency package to be delivered to the lost bushwalker, a mannequin called "Outback Joe." Teams used UAVs they built to carry and drop the package as close to Outback Joe as possible. The delivery of the package was controlled by either a human operator or automatically by the systems on the aircraft. This year's Airborne Delivery Challenge was won by the Calamvale Raptors II team from Queensland.
"The competition experience increased the students' interest in science and technology and encourages them to think about pursuing careers in the aerospace industry," said Jonathan Roberts, co-chair of the UAV Challenge Steering Committee and head judge. "UAVs are of growing importance to Australia given its size. This technology is critical, whether for search and rescue or monitoring bush fires or floods."
An optional Search Phase, in which teams used their aircraft to read symbols left by Outback Joe, was completed for additional points. Each team submitted a technical report on its UAV and gave an oral presentation.
The Search and Rescue Challenge will be held Sept. 22-26, 2014, in Kingaroy, Queensland. This competition, open to university students and amateurs worldwide, also includes developing a UAV that locates Outback Joe and delivers the emergency package to him. For this competition, the UAVs must meet specific size qualifications and teams must put together two technical reports, along with a flight demonstration video. The students submit an autonomous flight record that documents that their UAV has flown autonomously for at least five hours.
The UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, which began in 2007, is a joint initiative between the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (a Queensland University of Technology research centre) and CSIRO (Australia's national science agency). It is supported by the Queensland Government, Aviation Development Australia Limited and the Australian Association of Unmanned Systems. Northrop Grumman's involvement started in July 2013 when the company sponsored Dickson College UAV, a team from Dickson College in Canberra.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
CONTACT: Jessica Hairston 703-280-4417 (office) 571-423-6297 (mobile) firstname.lastname@example.com Ken Beedle +44 207 747 1910 (office) +44 7787 174092 (mobile) firstname.lastname@example.com


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Content: Sensible World of Soccer
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: Not available in Japan
Dash Text: [ESRB: E (EVERYONE)] Single Player, Xbox LIVE Multiplayer 1-2, Local Multiplayer 1-2, HD (High Definition). Sensible World of Soccer is the classic 90s football game reborn with enhanced graphics! Take on your friends online now in this fantastic pick up and play football game. Play a quick game, or manage your team over a full season with a fully immersive tactics editor.This game uses technology of Massive Incorporated ("Massive") that enables in-game advertising. Massive may collect your Internet protocol address and other anonymous information for the purposes of transmitting and measuring in-game advertising. Massive does not store or use this information for discovering your identity. Please see Massive's privacy policy: http://www.massiveincorporated.com/site_network/privacy.htm. Trademarks and copyrighted material in in-game advertising are the property of the respective owners. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/Live/accounts.
Update: The team is hard at work troubleshooting the problem, but it will take some time. Thanks for your patience.
Update: It is now available for download. Have fun!


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Abdul Rahman Munif: "Variations on Night and Day"Intrigue and War
Running to 2500 pages in the original version, Abdalrachman Munif's five-volume novel cycle Cities of Salt is one of the cornerstones of Arab literature and a subversive chronicle of Saudi Arabia. Angela Schader introduces the novel cycle and publication of the final volume, Variations on Night and Day
Born in 1933, to a Saudi merchant father and Iraqi mother, Abdalrachman Munif's five-volume novel cycle "Cities of Salt", written in the 1980s, is not least based upon the knowledge garnered by the writer during his years working in the Arab oil industry.
As a political activist, Munif also made early acquaintance with the repressive mechanisms of Arab regimes as his prison novel "East of the Mediterranean", among others, clearly shows.
Oil fields rather than date palms
There was a good reason why "Cities of Salt" was banned in several Arab countries, and in Saudi Arabia in particular. A sweeping, satirical and critical panorama of history emerges from the pages of this pentalogy about the rise of the fictional oil state of Mooran, a state whose main protagonists are clearly intended to be identifiable as members of the Saudi royal family.
The Diedrich publishing house has commendably taken on the job of publication in German and entrusted the team of Larissa Bender and Magda Barakat with the translation; the third volume (published in English as "Variations on Night and Day"), which has just appeared, is the final part of the project. (The five novels are published in three volumes.)
Chronologically, it goes back to a period earlier than those dealt with in the first two parts of the novel cycle, and in reading it becomes clear that this is a time that Munif does not know from personal experience.
The two preceding volumes, "Cities of Salt" and "The Trench" cover the period from 1933 to 1964 and are full of the writer's rich, striking imagery, depicting the sheer violence of the progress which with the discovery of oil erupted over a desert people accustomed to the simplest of lifestyles.
No writer surely has more acutely captured or described with more righteous anger the plight of an uprooted people as they witness the spread of smoking oilfields where their palm groves once stood, or the humiliation of the horse and camel breeders whose noble animals, the stuff of poetry, are being pushed unceremoniously aside by the rise of the motorised vehicle, the empty ostentation of it all reflected in the ghastly East-West style mix.
This visual quality is less evident in "Variations on Night and Day" even if the novel does gather pace quickly after a somewhat slow introduction. Set in the first decades of the 20th century, it describes the growth of the fictional desert state of Mooran, where the shady and fickle ambitions of local Bedouin sheikhs and emirs and the interests of the British Empire combine in a seedy entangling mesh.
With sensual quality of the early volumes largely absent the text relies entirely on characters, their thoughts and conversations.
Irritatingly, but also ingenuously, Munif explores the constant blurring of perception and interpretation which are as much a part of the narrower confines of a scheming court as they are of any society deprived of public information channels; and also in Arab-British exchanges, where neither side is willing to show their cards completely and where cultural differences are the source of additional misunderstandings.
Historical hall of mirrors
Central protagonists are the Sultan Khureybit and his son Fanar – the pair clearly modelled on the founder of Saudi Arabia Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud and his son Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz. One might initially suspect a fictionalised portrait of T.E. Lawrence, the celebrated "Lawrence of Arabia" behind the character of the Briton Hamilton, the Sultan's loyal intermediary in negotiations with the British; however the less well-known Harry St. John Philby is Hamilton's actual true-life counterpart.
Both Lawrence and Philby were unconventional characters, peculiarly unsuited to the life of the civil servant and both shared a fascination for Arab and Bedouin culture. In both cases, too, it was Western political interests that brought a crisis of conscience into their relationships with Arab friends, though, in fact, they were on opposite sides of the fence. Lawrence supported Sherif Hussein, the Emir of Mecca who was defeated in 1924 by Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud and expelled from the holy sites of Islam.
Non-Arab readers would probably have appreciated a preface or afterword to provide them with insights into the historical background of the period because as things stand they find themselves largely confronted with a terra incognita. It is only at rare moments that the action suddenly zooms in on its actual historical setting in the early 20th century – for example when Khureybit sits in a car.
The sultan's conquests, on the other hand, along with the precarious alliances of local tribal leaders have much more to do with Bedouin tradition than with modern politics and warfare; and the intrigues at court, where servants, maids and eunuchs carry on a bizarre and often brutal guerrilla warfare in the name of jealous sultans' wives are redolent with the atmosphere of the Arabian Nights.
A semblance of harmony
In this limbo of envy and greed it is, of all Khureybit's many sons, the silent Fanar who attracts our attention. We are told that he listens with his eyes, with his heart and with his ears, and seems therefore to be endowed with a sensorium for the immense upheaval that the future is to bring to his country. To him the world seemed an enormous aggregation of hidden, colliding rocks one of which would inevitably crush the others.
Both Khureybit and Hamilton see the thoughtful young man as future crown prince; and it is he who accompanies Hamilton on his diplomatic missions to London, where he also receives English lessons from Miss Margot, the aged aunt of his host.
Munif here outlines an idealistic alternative to the kind of relationship dictated purely by political interests as in the case of Khureybit and his British protectors.
Even if the mentor-student relationship does appear to indicate a certain inequality, it prohibits both Fanar's distinctive character and Hamilton's inner turmoil – which allows him in the end to choose to live in Mooran and to follow the Islamic faith – from seeing the relationship as merely a positive variation on colonial power structures.
With Hamilton Munif has created a brooding wanderer between worlds, one who does not belong in either of them and who for that reason is also able to maintain a critical distance; with Fanar he sketches the figure of a prince who stands apart from palace intrigues and tribal feuds; with Miss Margot a wise woman who teaches the young prince that true cultural harmony is not only about points of connection but also requires respect for the divisions.
Readers familiar with the other two volumes of "Cities of Salt" will, however, feel misled by these passages. The hidden colliding rocks will crush Mooran and its inhabitants, thoroughly and mercilessly.
Angela Schader
© Neue Züricher Zeitung / Qantara.de 2009
Translated from the German by Ron Walker
Abdul Rahman Munif: "Das Spiel von Licht und Schatten", translated by Larissa Bender and Magda Barakat. Diedrichs-Verlag, Munich 2009, 448 p.
The English translations (all published by Vintage, New York:
Interview with Rajaa Al-Sanie
"Change Is Inevitable in Any Society"
Although the book stirred a scandal and is officially banned in her home country of Saudi Arabia, Rajaa Al-Sanie's "Girls of Riyadh" has become the number one best-seller in the Arab world. Friedhelm Hartwig interviewed the 24-year-old
Janadriyah Cultural Festival in Saudi Arabia
Diabolical Temptations
A festival in the north of Riad has been celebrating Saudi Arabia's culture since 1985. Now, after 25 years, the festival organisers have finally decided against gender segregation. Hanna Labonté reports on a festival between two worlds
Interview with the Saudi Reformer Taufiq Al-Seif
"Everyone Is Waiting for Political and Social Reforms"
The Saudi politician and controversial author Taufiq Al-Seif considers that domestic and foreign support for the new Saudi king, as well as a favourable economic and social situation, mean that conditions are right for the renewal of the country's political and social system. He spoke to Hassan Mustafa
Literary Dialogue
Literature plays an important role in intercultural dialogue. Our dossier shines the spotlight on some remarkable authors, books, translations and dialogue initiatives


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Masters in Humanities Degrees Programs
A masters in humanities can cover subjects ranging from literature or religion. You'll study about human behavior, practices and thought in this type of program. Browse campus-based and online graduate programs today!
Why Pursue a Masters in Humanities Degree?
Nearly every field in the liberal arts, from history to literature to philosophy, is rooted in the humanities. This subset of studies encompasses any area that deals with people, culture, politics or thought processes on scales ranging from the individual to global politics.
Interestingly, in the wake of globalization, a strong humanities background may be particularly useful for students who wish to dive into the world of international commerce or global politics. Unlike hard science fields or other areas of study
falling under the STEM umbrella, a humanities education is designed to impart not just fact-based knowledge, but also critical thinking skills to graduates.
Masters in Humanities Coursework
Humanities is a huge field of study. In fact, rather than a single subject like history or philosophy, humanities are better described as the larger arena into which these other subjects fall. As such, there is no typical course of study in a humanities program. Instead, students are generally free to pursue whichever area of interest is deemed most valuable to them.
Many students of the humanities focus on research-based subjects, such as history, literature and philosophy. Courses along this track tend to focus on providing students with a background in important subject matter canon in the given field of study and analyzing things like historical documents or philosophical texts through a variety of critical lenses.
Additional paths students can take through a humanities education may focus more strictly on cultural studies, such as art history. Conversely, students may wish to take a more public-facing path and direct their studies toward politics and public policy.
Potential Career Paths for Individuals with a Master's Degree in Humanities
Graduates of a humanities masters degree program might graduate with skills and knowledge that are applicable across a wide variety of industries. This potential skill set includes; critical thinking, problem solving and project management. As such, humanities masters degree program graduates might choose to pursue careers in nearly any field, as the research skills acquired throughout the course of the degree might be useful in a range of settings. Education is one career path that might be pursued by those with backgrounds in humanities.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic, secondary and high school teachers earned a 2020 median annual salary of $62,870, with jobs expected to grow in this field by 8% from 2020 to 2030. (Source: BLS.gov)
The critical thinking skills imparted by a humanities masters degree might be put to use in a business setting as well, by those who wish to pursue careers in market research analysis. The BLS reported that these professionals earned a 2020 median annual salary of $65,810, with an estimated job growth of 22% expected from 2020 to 2030. (Source: BLS.gov)
Is Earning a Masters Degree in Humanities Right for You?
Humanities is unique in that rather than a specific body of knowledge, it is designed to leave students a broader range of critical and analytical skills that may be useful across nearly every industry. While some humanities graduates choose to pursue career paths within academia, there may be a variety of options available for those who wish to branch out into the private or government sectors as well.
Resources: 1.http://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/high-school-teachers.htm | 2.http://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/market-research-analysts.htm
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Popular Schools with Humanities Masters Degrees
GradSchools.com offers 91 Masters in Humanities
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The latest research shows that almost everyone needs to hold the salt.
It's a critical flavor enhancer for so many foods, and in centuries past, it was necessary for preserving perishables before the advent of refrigerators. But salt, alas, is one of the many factors plaguing American health. The American Heart Association (AHA) links too much salt in the diet to a higher risk for heart disease, hypertension and stroke, and according to research presented this week at the AHA's 2013 Scientific Sessions, excessive salt led to nearly 2.3 million heart-related deaths worldwide in 2010.
The researchers analyzed 247 surveys of adults participating in the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Survey, which is a collaborative study involving researchers from 50 different countries. The participants reported on their sodium intake from 1990 to 2010 in food questionnaires. Overall, adults around the world ate an average of 4,000 mg of sodium a day, either from prepared foods or from table salt, soy sauce or additional salt sprinkled into meals while cooking. That's twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organization (2,000 mg per day) and nearly three times the amount the AHA says is healthy (1,500 mg per day).
(MORE: Top 10 Sources of Salt in Your Diet)
Of the 187 countries represented in the surveys, 181, home to 99% of the world's population, exceeded the World Health Organization's salt limit; only Kenya adhered to the AHA's recommendation.
To emphasize the contribution that high sodium intake can have on health, the researchers then conducted a meta-analysis of 107 trials that measured the relationship between participants' salt consumption and blood pressure and heart-disease risk.
Among people dying from heart attacks, strokes or other heart-related disorders, 40% were premature and occurred in people 69 and younger. Excessive salt intake — defined as anything above 1,000 mg per day — was linked to 84% of the deaths, and the majority occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Out of the 30 largest countries in the world, the U.S. ranked 19th, with 429 deaths per million adults due to excessive salt consumption.
The Salt Institute criticized the study, noting that the added heart-disease risk was compared with an unrealistically low level of salt consumption that no country in the world met. "This latest AHA statistical study on the worldwide mortality from dietary salt is misleading and totally devoid of genuine evidence," said Morton Satin, vice president of science and research for the Salt Institute, in a statement. "Using a highly flawed statistical model, researchers simply projected potential reductions in mortality without considering all known health risks resulting from low salt intake."
(MORE: Are We Training Babies to Crave Salt?)
Still, adults are not the only ones at risk. In other research presented at the AHA meeting, scientists reported that children are already eating too much salt as well. The high sodium content in prepackaged meals and snacks targeted at kids is pushing them to eat unhealthy amounts. About 75% of prepackaged meals are high in sodium, according to data that analyzed the salt content in 1,115 products for babies and toddlers.
In the analysis, the researchers defined "high in sodium" as containing over 210 mg per serving, and they found that some toddler meals contained up to 630 mg of sodium per serving. "Our concern is the possible long-term health risks of introducing high levels of sodium in a child's diet, because high blood pressure, as well as a preference for salty foods, may develop early in life. The less sodium in an infant's or toddler's diet, the less he or she may want it when older," said lead author Joyce Maalouf, a fellow at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, in a statement.
(MORE: To Salt or Not to Salt? Study Questions Benefits of Reducing Dietary Sodium)
And the AHA says it's worth remembering that salt doesn't just come in the shaker on the table. Because it's hidden in so many prepackaged and prepared foods, it's important to read labels and nutritional information for things you don't make yourself. And when cooking, keep salt to a minimum and try substituting with other flavors, like the sourness of lemon juice, to trick your taste buds into thinking they're getting salt.


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- March 18, 2010
The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, a hotel institution on the Key in the midst of its 40th year in business, is suspending its hotel operations Sunday, Sept. 27 until further notice.
With tears in her eyes and a hesitant voice, Colony General Manager Katie Moulton announced Tuesday, Sept. 22, in The Colony Dining Room that hotel operations are closed, for now, as a result of the failure of the condominium unit owner association's board to assess unit owners to fund operation expenses and repairs to the property.
The Colony and its association have been in the midst of a legal dispute over funding requirements since April 2007.
"I'm sorry we have to do this," said Moulton, her voice cracking as she spoke. "But we will return our operations soon, get renovations done and be the gem of the Gulf that we have been."
Colony Chairman and owner Dr. Murray "Murf" Klauber called the announcement "the toughest decision I have ever made in my life."
"This place is my love," Klauber said.
As of 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, Moulton said preparations to close the hotel will begin, including shutting off all utilities to the condominium buildings that house 237 individual condominium units on the 18-acre site.
Eighty full-time hotel staff employees are being laid off and approximately 60 employees will remain on-site to continue restaurant, bar and catering operations, Moulton said.
Mayor Lee Rothenberg and others were saddened to hear the news.
"It would be very sad to lose a great and famous landmark like the Colony," Rothenberg said. "I hope a way is found to keep it in operation."
Longboat Key Club and Resort General Manager Michael Welly also voiced support for The Colony.
"I remember reading about The Colony for years before I even came to Longboat Key," Welly said. "It's an international facility that set the pace for tennis, and I hope they can work out their differences for the sake of the island."
Michael Klauber, proprietor of Michael's On East, moved to The Colony with his family when he was 14 years old. He ran the Colony Restaurant as food and beverage director from 1980 to 1986.
"My hope is that this line in the sand will bring the parties to the table once and for all and that both sides will be able to develop a long-term plan and ultimately long-term success for the Colony," he said.
When asked how the decision to close the hotel has affected her 83-year-old father, Moulton said: "This is killing him. His heart is breaking in several different ways."
Moulton said her staff is working to find accommodations for all guests that previously made hotel reservations. An effort is also underway to assist employees, which Moulton called "my family," in finding work elsewhere.
The Colony Spa, The Monkey Room Patio and The Colony Shops, which includes tennis shop Le Tennique, will also be closed until further notice.
The Colony Dining Room, however, will remain open permanently Tuesdays through Sundays, serving dinner starting at 5 p.m. The restaurant will also continue its Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekly.
The Monkey Room Bar and catering operations will also remain open. Klauber owns all of the businesses that remain open.
Moulton said the businesses that will be shut down "were very dependent on the hotel and are incredible profit centers for the resort operation."
The suspension of hotel business, Moulton said, means that restaurant revenues could decline by 35%.
The Colony, which opened in 1969 and has annual revenues of more than $20 million, was the first tennis-themed resort in the country with beachfront views, Klauber said. Those tennis courts will remain in operation, but are now only available for members of the public who pay for Colony-offered tennis clinics.
Unit owners will not have access to the tennis courts or any other amenities (besides the open-to-the-public restaurant and bar) during the suspension.
Moulton said it's impossible to operate the Colony as a world-class resort anymore without the cooperation of the association, which has been in a dispute with the Colony since 2006.
The announcement was made two months after a federal bankruptcy judge ruled the association's board does not have to assess unit owners $14.1 million in resort repair costs or make payments to a recreation lease the judge declared null and void. Moulton said the Colony will appeal the judge's rulings, a process that will take a year or longer to go through.
Meanwhile, foreclosure proceedings are ongoing in Sarasota County against Klauber and seven of his resort corporations, alleging they have defaulted on three loans whose outstanding amounts total $8.02 million.
Moulton said the reopening of the hotel hinges on reaching an agreement with the association board to fund expenses or finding capital from an outside source with which the association is also willing to work.
Klauber and Moulton said they reached their decision early last week after the association did not respond to a proposed maintenance agreement with financial terms that could have reinstated the Colony as manager of the property.
Said Moulton: "We have an association board of directors that's not interested in participating in productive dialogue with us and we are forced to suspend hotel operations in order to protect the Colony's financial security."
Moulton said her father has been paying for the hotel operation expenses for more than three years.
"It simply has to stop," Moulton said.
Following the close of the bankruptcy trial in July, Moulton said she and Klauber have attempted to meet with the association to move forward with a plan for future obligations of association expenses. Moulton said the association has declined meeting attempts.
Moulton said she and Klauber are working "with a number of viable investment groups that could potentially provide operating capital."
"The suspension will hopefully help investors make their decisions more quickly," said Moulton, who admits the condominium documents as written mean the association would have to be in agreement with any investor who signs on to help the property.
Klauber said it's his goal to continue to work toward renovating the facilities, adding a world-class meeting facility and taking advantage of the town's 250-tourism-unit ordinance to bring an additional 85 tourism units to the property.
Klauber also pointed out that any investor who works with the Colony will have to adhere to the independent vision that he and his daughter have created.
"Certain (association) members have stated it's their goal to starve Dr. Klauber out and have no intentions of making payments until that time comes," Moulton said. "We hope this action will cause the unit owners to reconsider."
Association president Jay Yablon, however, said there is no truth to the fact that the association has refused to meet with Klauber.
"If it was their intention to meet with the board, we on the board would have appreciated knowing that," Yablon said. "We told them last week a reply would be forthcoming (regarding the maintenance agreement), and they chose to take this action anyway."
Despite the disagreement, Yablon called the news "a sad day for The Colony."
"It was clear following the (bankruptcy) judge's decision that Dr. Klauber would now have to sustain the hotel as a profitable business without subsidy from the owners," Yablon said. "At this time, the board will be working rapidly and prudently to protect the property, protect the interests of the unit owners and plan for the future."
In the meantime, unit owners, who have 30 days annual use of their condominiums as part of the existing condominium documents, will have to work individually to turn the utilities back on to their units if they plan to use them.
Carl Rentschler, a 17-year unit owner of The Colony, was upset to hear the news.
"The whole situation is extremely disappointing," Rentschler said. "But it seemed like an inevitable outcome the way things we're proceeding."
In a letter sent to Colony attorney Charles Bartlett on Tuesday, association attorney Jeffrey Warren states that the Colony's statements regarding efforts to resolve the current dispute "are false and misleading."
Warren also requests that keys to the condominiums be distributed Wednesday, Sept. 23 and requests that furniture and fixtures in the units be left intact. Bartlett has already stated that Klauber owns room furnishings.
Moulton also pointed out that the documents in place prevent the association and its board from trying to re-open hotel operations without Klauber's involvement as the hotel's general partner.
Meanwhile, a pending Sarasota lawsuit filed by several unit owners in February requests the removal of Klauber as general partner.
Klauber, however, said he has no plans to leave the facility that he built from the ground up.
"We have been a big force of fun on Longboat Key," said Klauber, who will continue to live on the top floor penthouse of the soon-to-be deserted hotel building. "We shall return."


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The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia for AIM 9X-2 Sidewinder missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $534 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on May 13, 2014.
The Government of Australia has requested a possible sale of up to 350 AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Tactical Missiles, 35 AIM-9X Special Air Training Missiles (NATMs), 95 AIM-9X-2 Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs), 22 AIM-9X-2 Tactical Guidance Units, 19 CATM-9X-2 Guidance Units, 3 DATM-9X, containers, test sets and support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documents, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance, and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated cost is $534 million.
Australia is an important ally in the Western Pacific that contributes significantly to ensuring peace and stability in the region. Australia's efforts in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations have made a significant impact on regional, political and economic stability and have served U.S. national security interests.
This proposed sale will improve the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) air to air capability and ability to defend its nation and cooperate with allied air forces. These missiles will be used on the RAAF's F/A-18 aircraft (and eventually F-35 aircraft) and will maintain the RAAF's air-to-air capability to defend its extensive coastlines against future threats. The proposed sale will enhance RAAF's ability to operate with coalition forces in bilateral and multilateral exercises and potential air defense operations. Australia will have no difficulty absorbing these missiles into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The principal contractor will be Raytheon Missile Systems Company in Tucson, Arizona. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Implementation of this sale may require the assignment of additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives in Australia to provide technical and logistics support for two years. U.S. Government and contractor representatives will also participate in program management and technical reviews for one-week intervals twice annually.
There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.


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December 2023 Events
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Half Moon Bay, CA
Sun, Nov 5. 16:30
Jackie Ryan Quintet With Special Guest Erik JekabsonBach Dancing & Dynamite Society
Sun, Nov 5. 16:30


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2009 November All-American Battle Set for Round Eight of the World Senior
|All-American Battle Set for Round Eight of the World Senior
|By GM Larry Kaufman
|November 3, 2009
After seven rounds of the World Senior Championship in Condino, Italy (October 27-November 11), I have a respectable score of 5/7, having recovered from a bad patch where I lost to top seed GM Tseshkovsky as Black in round 4 and then losing on time in a difficult position in round 5 after a clock malfunction.
In my round five game against Malmdin Nils-Ake of Sweden, I played my 39th move as Black. The clock added 30 minutes to each side, which it is supposed to do after move 40. So it just displayed 30 minutes, no indication of seconds. As my position was critical and I had to find a way to stay alive, I gambled on when and if I might be forfeited. When the display showed 29, the arbiter forfeited me. I could have filed a protest based on the faulty clock and the fact that I had no way to tell how much time remained, but I felt that I would most likely lose anyway even if they upheld my protest. It turned out that I wasn't quite as lost as I thought at the time; Rybka thinks I might have reached a pawn down ending with some chances to draw.
So far all five of my wins have been relatively easy, in every case I was winning by move 21. Here is my latest:
GMs Mark Tseitlin and Miso Cebalo share the lead at 6, the latter having defeated Tseshkovsky today. Three GMs (Tseshkovsky, Butnorius, and Chernikov) plus the untitled Bo Jacobsen share third at 5.5.
But I am not the only American still in contention for a prize. New Orleans master Jude Acers shares my score of 5 points, and we are paired against each other tomorrow! I'll have Black.
Here is Acers marathon round seven win against IM Leonid Kernazhitsky.
The other two American masters playing, Eduard Zelkind and IM James Sherwin, both have 4.5. Four rounds to go.
In the women's section WIM Tatyana Fomina leads with 5 out of 6, while a group of four players including top seed GM Nona Gaprindashvili have 4.5. Only three rounds remain in this section, which was shortened from the planned 11 rounds as it was felt that 11 rounds was unnecessary with only 28 players.
See Larry's earlier reports on arriving at the World Senior and the early rounds. Also watch the games live including the All-American Acers-Kaufman battle on the official website's live game link.


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Whoever Stole the 'Elven Weapon' from a Princeton Student at Wawa, Please Return It
A tipster passes along the following missive, sent on Saturday to the residents of Forbes College. We reproduce it here only to help its author find his (her?) belongings.
From: [REDACTED]
Date: Mar 4, 2012 2:03 PM
Subject: Lost bow and two arrows
Dear Forbesians,
My roommate inexplicably left his handcrafted bow and a quiver of five arrows at the Wawa convenience store between 2 and 2:30 am last night, and returned at around 2:45 am to find the bow and two arrows stolen. He would like to remind the person responsible that this is a serious elven weapon and not a toy; and further that the hand of Mirkwood, though soft and manicured, shows no mercy. The items in question can be returned to room [REDACTED] with an apology letter written in runic script.
We'll just note that the Princeton Wawa is usually pretty hopping at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, and we wouldn't expect to recover anything left there, especially not serious elven weapons.


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Patrice Lumumba, in full Patrice Hemery Lumumba, (born July 2, 1925, Onalua, Belgian Congo [now the Democratic Republic of the Congo]—died January 1961, Katanga province), African nationalist leader, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (June–September 1960). Forced out of office during a political crisis, he was assassinated a short time later.
Lumumba was born in the village of Onalua in Kasai province, Belgian Congo. He was a member of the small Batetela ethnic group, a fact that became significant in his later political life. His two principal rivals, Moise Tshombe, who led the breakaway of the Katanga province, and Joseph Kasavubu, who later became the Congo's president, both came from large, powerful ethnic groups from which they derived their major support, giving their political movements a regional character. In contrast, Lumumba's movement emphasized its all-Congolese nature.
After attending a Protestant mission school, Lumumba went to work in Kindu-Port-Empain, where he became active in the club of the évolués (Western-educated Africans). He began to write essays and poems for Congolese journals. He also applied for and received full Belgian citizenship. Lumumba next moved to Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) to become a postal clerk and went on to become an accountant in the post office in Stanleyville (now Kisangani). There he continued to contribute to the Congolese press.
In 1955 Lumumba became regional president of a purely Congolese trade union of government employees that was not affiliated, as were other unions, to either of the two Belgian trade-union federations (socialist and Roman Catholic). He also became active in the Belgian Liberal Party in the Congo. Although conservative in many ways, the party was not linked to either of the trade-union federations, which were hostile to it. In 1956 Lumumba was invited with others on a study tour of Belgium under the auspices of the minister of colonies. On his return, he was arrested on a charge of embezzlement from the post office. He was convicted and condemned one year later, after various reductions of the sentence, to 12 months' imprisonment and a fine.
When Lumumba got out of prison, he grew even more active in politics. In October 1958 he, along with other Congolese leaders, launched the Congolese National Movement (Mouvement National Congolais; MNC), the first nationwide Congolese political party. In December he attended the first All-African People's Conference in Accra, Ghana, where he met nationalists from across the African continent and was made a member of the permanent organization set up by the conference. His outlook and vocabulary, inspired by pan-African goals, now took on the tenor of militant nationalism.
As nationalist fervor increased, the Belgian government announced a program intended to lead to independence for the Congo, starting with local elections in December 1959. The nationalists regarded this program as a scheme to install puppets before independence and announced a boycott of the elections. The Belgian authorities responded with repression. On October 30 there was a clash in Stanleyville that resulted in 30 deaths. Lumumba was imprisoned on a charge of inciting to riot.
The MNC decided to shift tactics, entered the elections, and won a sweeping victory in Stanleyville (90 percent of the votes). In January 1960 the Belgian government convened a Round Table Conference in Brussels of all Congolese parties to discuss political change, but the MNC refused to participate without Lumumba. Lumumba was thereupon released from prison and flown to Brussels. The conference agreed on a date for independence, June 30, with national elections in May. Although there was a multiplicity of parties, the MNC came out far ahead in the elections, and Lumumba emerged as the leading nationalist politician of the Congo. Maneuvers to prevent his assumption of authority failed, and he was asked to form the first government, which he did on June 23, 1960.
A few days after independence, some units of the army rebelled, largely because of objections to their Belgian commander. Moise Tshombe took advantage of the ensuing confusion, using it as an opportunity to proclaim that the mineral-rich province of Katanga was seceding from the Congo. Belgium sent in troops, ostensibly to protect Belgian nationals in the disorder, but the Belgian troops landed principally in Katanga, where they sustained Tshombe's secessionist regime.
The Congo appealed to the United Nations to expel the Belgians and help them restore internal order. As prime minister, Lumumba did what little he could to redress the situation. His army was an uncertain instrument of power, his civilian administration untrained and untried; the United Nations forces (whose presence he had requested) were condescending and assertive, and the political alliances underlying his regime very shaky. The Belgian troops did not leave, and the Katanga secession continued.
Since the United Nations forces refused to help suppress the Katangese revolt, Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union for planes to assist in transporting his troops to Katanga. He asked the independent African states to meet in Léopoldville in August to unite their efforts behind him. His moves alarmed many, particularly the Western powers and the supporters of President Kasavubu, who pursued a moderate course in the coalition government and favored some local autonomy in the provinces.
On September 5 President Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba, but the legalities of the move were immediately contested by Lumumba; as a result of the discord, there were two groups now claiming to be the legal central government. On September 14 power was seized by the Congolese army leader Colonel Joseph Mobutu (later president of Zaire as Mobutu Sese Seko), who later reached a working agreement with Kasavubu. In October the General Assembly of the United Nations recognized the credentials of Kasavubu's government. The independent African states split sharply over the issue.
In November Lumumba sought to travel from Léopoldville, where the United Nations had provided him with protection, to Stanleyville, where his supporters had control. He was caught by the Kasavubu forces and arrested on December 2. On January 17, 1961, he was delivered to the secessionist regime in Katanga, where he was murdered. His death caused a scandal throughout Africa; retrospectively, even his enemies proclaimed him a "national hero."
The reasons that Lumumba provoked such intense emotion are not immediately evident. His viewpoint was not exceptional. He was for a unitary Congo and against the division of the country along ethnic or regional lines. Like many other African leaders, he supported pan-Africanism and the liberation of colonial territories. He proclaimed his regime one of "positive neutralism," which he defined as a return to African values and rejection of any imported ideology, including that of the Soviet Union.
Lumumba was, however, a man of strong character who intended to pursue his policies, regardless of the enemies he made within his country or abroad. The Congo, furthermore, was a key area in terms of the geopolitics of Africa, and because of its wealth, size, and proximity to white-dominated southern Africa, Lumumba's opponents had reason to fear the consequences of a radical or radicalized Congo regime. Moreover, in the context of the Cold War, the Soviet Union's support for Lumumba appeared at the time as a threat to many in the West.


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[from mainstream slang meaning 'vomit']
1. interj. Term of disgust. This is the closest hackish equivalent of the Val\-speak "gag me with a spoon". (like ewww!)
See bletch.
2. vi. To say "Barf!" or emit some similar expression of disgust. "I showed him my latest hack and he barfed" means only that he complained about it, not that he literally vomited.
3. vi. To fail to work because of unacceptable input. May mean to give an error message.
Examples: "The division operation barfs if you try to divide by 0." (That is, the division operation checks for an attempt to divide by zero, and if one is encountered it causes the operation to fail in some unspecified, but generally obvious, manner.) "The text editor barfs if you try to read in a new file before writing out the old one."
In Commonwealth hackish, 'barf' is generally replaced by 'puke' or 'vom'. barf is sometimes also used as a metasyntactic variable, like foo or bar...