text:
Looking back a year full of movies you have to remember the bad with the good. We can celebrate the best of the best and express our love and appreciation for them, but for the sake of balance it's important to look back at the ones that we expected more from – the ones that didn't deliver on expectations or hopes. These are the titles we see in theaters and leave saying, "Man, I wish that was better."
As the year comes to an end we can look back at our lists of Most Anticipated Movies from January and find out where we went right and where we went wrong – and this is a list of the latter. For various reasons to be explained, these films were unable to live up to our aforementioned expectations or hopes and instead left us wanting more. These are the most disappointing movies of 2012.
Dark Shadows
There are two films that were released in 2012 that caused me to leave the theater in a bit of a rage – and Tim Burton's Dark Shadows is the first on the list. It should have been simple: take a silly, gothic soap opera from the 1960s, borrow its themes and characters, and create a cool little early-in-the-year star-filled scare-a-thon. But that's not what we saw. The script, written by Seth Grahame-Smith, is spectacularly lazy, filled with meaningless relationships, hollow characters and no sense of pacing, but there's also the fact that the movie never decides what it wants to be, be it a comedy, a horror, a spoof or a thriller. Burton was able to save a little face this year by releasing Frankenweenie, a solid, fun bit of stop-motion animation, but I will not soon forget the truly awful experience that is watching Dark Shadows.
Ridley Scott's Prometheus was meant to be one of the best movies of the year. The director's first science-fiction film in three decades and his first return to the Alien universe since 1979, everyone went into the theater thinking that his latest was going to have a breathtaking impact on the genre – but what we got was simply a beautiful disaster. Unlike some of the other titles on this list that have a laundry list of major issues, this entry could have worked if it weren't for the Swiss cheese-like script. Scott's visuals and performances by Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba and Charlize Theron try to hold the whole thing together, but at the end of the day most of the movie doesn't make any sense and is so riddled with plot holes that all the stuff that does seem clear ends up getting muddled. We wanted Prometheus to revolutionize sci-fi, but all we ended up with is disappointment.


text:
Hi all,
This is my first post here and i am expecting if any body can give me a push in right direction.
For the purpouse of understanding the programming cocepts related to the networking i hav choosen to programm an Intrusion Detection System for my last year projects.
I hav been searching google for quite a while and i hav stumbled accross various IDS like snort, tripwire........(and this site also) but i hant find anything on how to begin writing .
Mine purpouse of building an IDS is to understand basic concepts.
I hav fair amount of programming experience in c, VS and vs.net and now i am exploring PHP and Python too.
also i want it to be platform independent if possible.
i will build in 2 modules :
1st i will like to build an NIDS which can do basic stuff like detecting portscan or ddos attack.
my 2nd priority will be to build system integrity verifier.
and then to merge.
This site seems to contain many usefull stuff and i will be exploring it A.S.A.P
so plss guys any of ur help will be highly appreciated.
Thanx in advance

subset: commoncrawl


text:
21 U.S. Code § 321c - Nonfat dry milk; "milk" defined
For the purposes of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of June 26, 1938, (ch. 675, sec. 1, 52 Stat. 1040) [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] nonfat dry milk is the product resulting from the removal of fat and water from milk, and contains the lactose, milk proteins, and milk minerals in the same relative proportions as in the fresh milk from which made. It contains not over 5 per centum by weight of moisture. The fat content is not over 1½ per centum by weight unless otherwise indicated.
The term "milk", when used herein, means sweet milk of cows.
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of June 26, 1938 (ch. 675, sec. 1, 52 Stat. 1040), referred to in text, probably means act June 25, 1938, ch. 675, 52 Stat. 1040, as amended, which is classified generally to this chapter (§ 301 et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 301 of this title and Tables.
Section was not enacted as a part of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which comprises this chapter, but was made applicable thereto.
1956—Act July 2, 1956, substituted "nonfat dry milk" for "nonfat dry milk solids or defatted milk solids".
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
One of the dating services for meeting local people is Collette speed dating. Based on a series of short planned introductions Collette speed dating allow singles to quickly meet people face to face in a safe and fun environment. Imagine meeting people online in a similar fashion through matchmaker.com'sinnovative new Cupid feature which emails you introductions of singles in the Collette speed dating area without ever having to leave your home.
ColletteJoin Now Free!
Collette Girls | Collette Men | Collette Gay | Collette Lesbians
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
More Collette Links:
Collette Dating | Collette Personals | Collette Chat | Collette Singles | Collette Love
Senior Dating | Catholic Dating | Christian Dating | Muslim Dating
Black Singles | Asian Singles | Latin Dating
Meet people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles around the world or someone in the local Collette neighborhood at matchmaker.com. There are thousands of singles from the around the world looking for a long term relationship. Find love and romance with a Collette speed dating style of matchmaking.


text:
By Caren Bohan and Fred Barbash
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eager to exploit divisions among Republicans, Democrats have hammered the message that the U.S. government shutdown is the work of a small segment of House of Representatives Republicans on the far right.
In fact, support for the tactic that led to the shutdown - now in its fourth day - has proven to be far more solid and widespread among House Republicans than the Democratic portrayal.
That is because the far right, after the 2010 and 2012 congressional elections, is not a small segment at all - it represents probably 69 percent of the House Republican caucus.
Members who were endorsed by Tea Party organizations in the 2012 election make up a full third of the Republican caucus of 232 representatives.
Even more, about 160 members, a strong majority of the caucus, get high ratings from the ultra-conservative Club For Growth.
The long-established and well-financed small-government advocacy group has been in the forefront of the movement that urged the House to tie continued funding of the government to a demand for the defunding President Barack Obama's healthcare law. It has also sought to pressure representatives who threaten to abandon the hard line.
Democrats have consistently said that Obamacare is non-negotiable and House Speaker John Boehner opposed the hardline in his own party, fearing a shutdown. But Boehner was not just outnumbered by his caucus in the House; he was overwhelmed.
"The dirty little secret here is: Nothing these radical Tea Party conservatives are proposing is not part of the Republican Party platform," said Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth.
While there has been talk of revolts from moderate Republicans, no more than 12 to 14 members have been willing to publicly dissent from the party's approach.
One of those moderates, Peter King of New York, said House Republicans have relented in part because a majority of party lawmakers "think they are winning" the fight. King and others have been trying to lead a revolt but it has received little support.
The broad Republican support for a hardline strategy may be even more consequential as the October 17 deadline to raise the government debt ceiling approaches. Many Tea Party Republicans are loath to vote for any debt ceiling increase unless it is tied to a requirement to balance the budget with no tax increase - something Democrats oppose.
If a large number of Republicans back that demand, it would be impossible for Boehner to lift the debt ceiling without relying on Democrats for the lion's share of votes - a step that could undercut his leadership even more.
One Republican who showed no sign of abandoning the party's stance was Representative Trey Radel, a freshman House member from Florida.
Radel, a former television and radio talk show host, ran for his seat in 2012 on a platform of fiscal conservatism and toning down the vitriol in American politics.
He disagreed with the notion that the House Republicans were a "massive divided conference." He said that idea is belied by the fact that the Republican votes demanding changes to Obamacare as a condition of funding the government have been almost all unanimous or nearly unanimous.
"How in the heck can anyone shift the focus - or in their words the blame - on this quote-unquote Tea Party," Radel told Reuters in an interview. "This is the Republican Party ... We are all unified on this."
Even some of the more outspoken Republican opponents of the strategy on Obamacare were resigned to allowing it to play out.
"I think we're in for a prolonged situation," Republican Representative Devin Nunes of California told Reuters.
Nunes earlier this week referred to Republicans who had embraced brinkmanship over Obamacare as "lemmings with suicide vests."
But he said he did not think there was much of a chance of a broad rebellion against the "lemming caucus."
"I think there's a few folks that have talked about it," Nunes said. "But I don't think it's possible."
None of this surprises experts on the makeup of Congress after the 2010 and 2012 elections.
While much was made of losses among conservatives in key U.S. Senate races and the loss of half a dozen House seats by Republicans in 2012, the composition of the Republican caucus moved even further to the right than it was after the 2010 election, according to a study by political scientists Keith Poole of the University of California at San Diego and Howard Rosenthal of Princeton.
"As a whole the Republican conference is pretty conservative," said John Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in California.
"Within the Republican conference, the debate is over strategy and tactics, not ideology. Republicans are pretty unified in their opposition to Obamacare."
While there is a more militant contingent composed of one or two dozen members, said Sarah Binder, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution think tank, the overwhelming majority of Republicans, not just those associated with the Tea Party, hail from solidly conservative districts where the boundaries have been carefully drawn to include a high number of Republican voters.
In those districts and among those voters, opposition to Obamacare is not divisive; it is unifying.
It is true that Boehner counseled against the tactic now being used by his caucus in the House and was pushed into it by conservative members.
If there is anything in the House that is a small minority, it is not the conservative Republicans, but rather the group of members who regularly support Boehner.
An analysis of voting patterns in the House by Binder published in the "Monkey Cage," a prominent political science blog, concluded that less than 15 percent of Boehner's colleagues "stuck with him through thick and thin this year."
Boehner's "go-to crowd represents a very small portion of the conference," she wrote.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)


text:
Looking for workers?
Let us help you find highly skilled Freelance Programmers, Web Designers and Copywriters at the best possible price! Join us for free! With thousands of registered users, for any job you can outsource, we've got the talent.
Looking for work?
Become a Freelance Programmer, Web Designer, Copywriter or Translator and let us help you find customers from all over the world! It's free to sign up and bid. Join us and start making money today!


text:
- ½ med. pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
- ¾ stick unsalted butter, 6 T
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1.5 cup all purpose flour
- 2 t ground cardamom
- 2 t baking powder
- ¼ t Salt
- ¾ stick butter, softened, 6 T
- 1 Ccup granulated Sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1 T dark Rrum
- ½ cup unsweetened pineapple juice (may also puree fresh pineapple, strain and use this juice)
- 2 T dark rum, for sprinkling over cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8 inch-thick pieces.
Melt butter in a 12 inch iron skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 4 minutes.
Remove from heat, arrange pineapple on top of sugar & butter in concentric circles, overlapping.
Sift together flour, cardamom, baking powder and salt.
Beat butter in mixer until light and fluffy.
Slowly add in granulated sugar.
Add eggs one at a time, incorporating well.
Beat in vanilla and rum.
Add half of flour mixture, on low speed, until just blended.
Add pineapple juice, then remaining flour mix, until just blended.
Spoon batter over pineapple tpping, spreading evenly.
Bake in middle of oven until golden and tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Let cake stand in skillet 5 minutes, invert over a plate.
Sprinkle with remaining rum.
Serve cake warm or at room temperature. Serves 8-10.


text:
Share on Facebook
Average Rating: 5.00
Got a meme to share? Submit your memes here Upload Meme
Average Rating: 5.00
Submitted by Ronomundo
Submitted by Dollar380
Got memes to share? Submit them here Upload Meme
Are you ready to call Donald Trump your president?
Do you believe Mr. Trump will make America Great Again?
If elections were held today, would you vote for Trump?
Do you believe Mr. Trump is the most qualified candidate to be POTUS?
Will Donald and Melania bring class back to the Whitehouse?
After The Debate, Are You Still Voting For Trump?


text:
Buy Used Forklifts
Rental Equipment
NEON, Helping YOU Meet Your Business Needs
NEON is an international wholesale supplier of used forklifts, lift trucks and other used material handling equipment. At NEON, we inspect, appraise, buy, refurbish and sell all makes and models of used forklifts. Our facilities in Los Angeles, California; Cleveland, Ohio and Mexico enable us to serve you on a global level. We strive to meet your affordable forklifts and material handling equipment needs while providing the highest quality service.
Our material handling repair facility in Garfield Heights is one minute from 480 and 77 and our delivery trucks and service vans can quickly access all business locations in northern Ohio. Whether the need is for a loaner for a broken machine, a seasonal rental or new and used equipment purchases, Neon will service your material handling and light construction needs instantly.
We also offer wholesale forklift rentals and attachment rental services. Customers can choose from more than 200 forklifts in stock for immediate, weekly, monthly or long term rental periods. Learn more about our light construction equipment rentals and used forklift rentals.


text:
How To Cook (and Shred) a Pork Shoulder for Pulled Pork
Pork shoulder is one of my secret weapons in the kitchen. A pork shoulder, slow-cooked and pulled into succulent little shreds, can become a thousand different meals. I can mix in some barbecue sauce and make pulled pork sandwiches, scatter the pork over pizza, or toss it into a sauce for pasta. And that's just to start!
Today I want my secret weapon to become your secret weapon. I'm showing you how to cook a pork shoulder — from choosing the meat to transforming it into a fork-tender meal that can last all week.
How To Make Pulled Pork: Watch the Video
What to Buy?
Look for pork shoulder or pork butt. Even though it's called a "butt," it's actually part of the shoulder meat. (The actual rear end is called the ham!) Go for bone-in or boneless, whichever you prefer. Bone-in shoulders take a little longer to cook, but can make the meat more flavorful and succulent. Boneless cuts can be sliced into smaller chunks for easier handling and quicker cooking. I've done both many times and find bone-in and boneless fairly interchangeable.
You can use this method to cook any size cut you want, but I usually go for four to six pounds boneless or four to seven pounds bone-in. This will give you roughly 10 cups of shredded meat, which is enough to feed a crowd or plenty for a week's worth of meals. Cooking a pork shoulder takes an afternoon of your time, so I tend to roast as much as I can at once and freeze what I don't think I'll use right away for future meals.
Slow-Cooking the Pork
Cooking a pork shoulder into heavenly succulence is practically fool-proof, but it does require time. The shoulder is a hard-working muscle and the meat is pretty darn tough. At a low, steady temperature, however, the gelatin in that tough shoulder melts and bastes the meat as it cooks. You can't rush it.
Put the meat in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, pour in just enough liquid (broth, beer, or anything else) so the meat is partially submerged, then cover it and let the pork cook slowly in a low oven for a few hours. This is entirely hands-off time. The pork is done when it's so tender that it literally flakes apart when you poke it with a fork and falls off the bone.
What to Do with Pork Shoulder
I said this was my secret weapon and I meant it. A few hours of labor upfront means some pretty darn incredible pork that will make almost any quick weeknight dish taste like it took hours to make. Depending on how you spice the pork, one single batch can be used in countless ways.
Besides making straight-up pulled pork sandwiches, I add it to pasta sauces, frittatas, casseroles, and pizzas. Don't forget about making tacos or enchiladas, steamed pork buns, or stir-fried rice — almost every cuisine has its own uses for shredded pork! I also freeze the pork in one-cup batches so I can easily thaw it for easy dinners down the road.
I've listed a few other ideas below and some different spice blends at the end of the recipe. Do you regularly cook pork shoulder? What do you like to do with it?
More Ideas for Pork Shoulder
- Beer-Braised Pulled Pork Shoulder
- Slow-Cooked Pork Roast with White Wine and Sage
- Pulled Pork Tacos
- Slow-Cooked Hoisin Pork Wraps with Peanut Slaw
- Pulled Pork with a Twist: Cochinita Pibil from Simply Recipes
- Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork from Splendid Table (slow-cooker version)
Ways to Use Pork Shoulder
- Pork Ragu with Semolina Gnocchi
- Rigatoni with Shredded Pork in Mustard Cream Sauce
- Eggs with Pork "Debris"
- 10 Ways to Make a Pork Butt Last All Week (Or Just All Day)
- Pulled Pork Shoulder: Ways to Use It All Week Long
How To Cook (and Shred) a Pork Shoulder
Makes approximately 10 cups shredded pork
What You Need
4 to 6 pounds
boneless pork shoulder or butt (or 5 to 7 pounds bone-in)
1/2 tablespoon
1/2 tablespoon
1 to 3 tablespoons
mixed spices or dry herbs (see Recipe Notes)
yellow onion (optional)
medium carrot, roughly chopped (optional)
3 stalks
celery, roughly chopped (optional)
4 cloves
garlic, smashed (optional)
1 1/2 cups
liquid - chicken or vegetable broth, tomato juice, light or amber beer, white or red wine, orange juice, or a mix of several liquids
2 to 4 tablespoons
liquid smoke (optional)
1/4 to 1/2 cup
barbecue sauce (optional)
- Equipment
Cutting board
Chef's knife
Measuring cups and spoons
5-quart or larger Dutch oven
Large mixing bowl
Dinner forks (optional)
Heat the oven to 325°F: Heat the oven to 325°F. Place an oven rack in the lower-middle of the oven.
Trim the pork: Trim off any large pieces of fat from the outside, but leave small pieces and the interior fat. If using boneless pork, cut the pork into several large fist-sized pieces. If using bone-in, leave the pork as is, on the bone.
Season the pork: Sprinkle the pork with salt, pepper, and spices. Rub the seasoning into the pork with your fingers so the meat is evenly coated on all sides.
Sear the pork (optional): If you have time, searing will deepen the final flavor of your pork and give it some textural contrast. Warm the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the pork on all sides, working in batches as necessary so as not to crowd the pan. For more detailed step-by-step instructions, see How To Sear Meat.
Add the vegetables (if using): Onions, garlic, and other vegetables also deepen the final flavor of the pork, but are optional. If using, nestle them around the pork in the Dutch oven.
Add the liquid: Pour the liquid and liquid smoke (if using) over the top of the pork. The pork should be only partially submerged, with some of the pork remaining above the surface of the liquid.
Bring to a simmer: Set the Dutch oven with the pork over medium-high heat and bring the liquid to a simmer.
Cover and transfer to the oven: Once simmering, cover the Dutch oven and transfer the whole pot to the oven.
Cook for 2 to 4 hours, until fork tender: Let the pork cook undisturbed for 2 hours, then begin checking it every half hour. Total cooking time will be 2 to 4 hours, depending on the amount of pork and whether it's bone-in (which takes longer to cook). The pork is done when it is fork-tender (when the meat can be easily pierced with a fork without resistance and easily falls apart with a little pressure). If you're cooking pork on the bone, the meat should be falling off the bone. If in doubt, cook the meat another half hour; it's almost impossible to overcook meat with this method.
Transfer the pork to a large bowl: Lift the pieces of pork out of the liquid and transfer to a large mixing bowl. When cool enough to handle, use two forks or your fingers to shred the meat into pieces. Remove any large pieces of fat or bones.
Strain the cooking liquid: Strain the cooking liquid into a measuring cup. The vegetables can be chopped and mixed in with the pork, if desired. Skim the fat off the top of the cooking liquid.
Moisten the pork with cooking liquid or barbecue sauce (optional): For more moist and flavorful pulled pork, you can mix some of the cooking liquid back into the pork. Start with a little, mix, then add more until the pork is as wet or dry as you like. Alternatively, for barbecue pulled pork, you can mix in barbecue sauce.
Serve or freeze the pork: Pulled pork will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator or for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Recipe Notes
Slow-cooker variation: In a 5-quart or larger slow cooker, combine the meat, any vegetables, and liquid. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours or LOW for 8 to 10 hours.
Spice combinations:
→ Plain pork (most versatile, season after cooking for use in any dish): bay leaf (used whole) with no other spices
→ Barbecue-spiced pork (good for pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, and pizza): cumin, paprika, brown sugar, dry mustard
→ Herbed pork (good for pasta sauces, ravioli, and casseroles): fresh or dried oregano, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, bay leaf (used whole)
→ Mexican-spiced pork (good for enchiladas, burritos, tacos and tamales): cumin, chile powder, dried oregano, dried chipotle or ancho chiles (used whole), garlic powder
→ Asian-spiced pork (good for tacos, steamed dumplings, and stir-fried rice): star anise, cloves, fennel, coriander, cinnamon (or Chinese 5-spice blend)


text:
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China's "Beijing Blues" has won the best film award at Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival, an event considered the Chinese-language Oscars. Hong Kong's Johnnie To is taking home the best director's award
"Beijing Blues" portrays the lives of the ordinary urban dwellers through the work of a squad of plainclothes crime-hunters.
At Saturday's ceremony, To won the award for directing "Life Without Principle," a movie about ordinary citizens' struggles in hard economic times.
The film has also won veteran Hong Kong actor Lau Ching Wan the best actor's award. Lau portrays a triad thug seeking to recover money lost in a loan shark scheme.
Taiwan's Gwei Lun-mei won the best actress award for portraying a woman involved in a romantic triangle in "GF-BF" or "Girlfriend-Boyfriend."


text:
Wedding and portrait photography in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Welcome to the blog! I'm Charlotte and I'm a PPA Certified Professional Portrait Photographer based in Lexington, SC! Here you will have a little peek into not only my recent sessions, but a little of my crazy, wonderful life in general! Enjoy and I hope to hear from you!
« Older posts
© 2018 Charlotte Ashley Photography Blog|ProPhoto Blogsite Designed by Dawn Alderman Design


text:
DOVER, DEL – The York College field hockey team surrendered four unanswered goals to have their 2010 season come to a close courtesy of a 5-3 loss at Wesley College in the opening round of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday in Dover, Delaware.
The Spartans finished the season dropping three straight as they were outscored 17-7 during the streak. York finishes the season with a mark of 9-11. The Green and White lost six of their final seven matches after being a season-high three games over .500 at 8-5 after their 3-1 win at Frostburg on October 9.
Wesley improves to 12-8 and advances to face the top-seeded Salisbury University Sea Gulls in Wednesday's conference semifinals.
The Wolverines started the scoring just 4:11 into the game as Madison Leone scored on Wesley's first shot of the game. Brooke Tadlock earned the assist as the hosts took the early lead.
The Spartans took less than a minute to tie the game as sophomore standout Sandee Reich corralled a Jillian Brezgel cross and lifted it past Wesley goalkeeper Sarah Johnson for the goal at the 5:04 mark. The goal was Reich's team-leading tenth of the year as she finished with a team-leading 24 points.
Spartan senior Katie Dawkins put the Spartans on top at the 10:09 mark as she captured a rebound off a Casey Lawrence shot and deposited the ball in the back of the cage for the 2-1 lead.
Dawkins pushed the Spartan lead to 3-1 with 7:49 remaining in the first half as she again hooked up with Lawrence as Dawkins redirected a Lawrence shot into the cage for the Spartans.
Wesley started their comeback a mere 1:18 after Dawkins second goal as Danielle Tearl captured a loose ball in the box and drove it past Spartan goalie Lydia Pirie for the tally, cutting the Spartan lead to 3-2 heading to the half.
Dawkins almost got her third goal of the game just 12 seconds before the break but Wesley's Dana Keller recorded a defensive save for Wolverines, denying the Spartan senior a hat trick.
The Wolverines tied the game 13:21 into the second half as Tadlock collected her own rebound and drilled it past Pirie for the goal. Wesley took the lead for good with 12:16 remaining in the game when Leone took a Tadlock cross and scored her second goal of the day, giving the Wolverines a lead they would not relinquish.
Tadlock added her second goal of the match with 2:15 left in the game as she stole the ball off a free hit, dribbled in on Pirie and scored for the Wolverines.
The Wolverines outshot the Spartans 15-8 including a whopping 11-1 in the second half. Wesley held a slight 7-6 margin in penalty corners.
Johnson earned the win as she notched two saves. The Wolverines posted three defensive saves in the game including a pair by Keller. Pirie notched nine saves but allowed all five of the Wesley goals in her 70 minutes of work.
The Spartans say goodbye to Dawkins, Lawrence, and fellow seniors Kelly Kreamer and Becky Reeves as they combined to win 37 matches in their four year careers.
Reich and Brezgel will highlight the Spartan returners for 2011 as the Green and White will look to return to double digits in wins.
Katie Dawkins photo courtesy of Robin Rice


text:
Two arrested in separate gun incidents at Manchester clubs
March 01. 2014 8:02PM
MANCHESTER - Police arrested two men in separate gun-related incidents downtown within a two-hour period.
Felipe Olinger, 29, of 485 Dubuque St. was charged with felony criminal threatening and reckless conduct in connection with an incident that occurred last week.
According to Sgt. Craig Rousseau, Olinger had been involved in a confrontation at the Social 24 club on Depot Street on Feb. 23. When a security guard attempted to remove him from the premises, Rousseau said, "he is alleged to have removed a small semiautomatic pistol from underneath his shirt and pointed it in the direction of the club employee."
Employees removed the man from the club, and he allegedly threatened "to come back and do some damage to the building with his gun," Rousseau said. The employees reported the incident to police.
Just before 11 p.m. on Friday, a police officer working a security detail at Drynk nightclub, 20 Old Granite St., noticed Olinger and called for backup, police said. He was arrested without incident.
Olinger was being held at Valley Street Jail on $10,000 cash or surety bail, pending arraignment on Monday.
About 12:40 a.m. on Saturday, Timothy O'Regan, 21, of 141 Second St. was charged with carrying a concealed firearm without a permit and drug possession, according to police.
Rousseau said a police officer in the area of 50 Old Granite Street noticed a group of about six men arguing and shoving each other. When the officer approached the group, O'Regan continued yelling at the others, he said.
"The officer began patting him down for weapons for his safety and everybody else's safety and found a handgun in his waistband," Rousseau said.
Police said they confirmed O'Regan did not have a permit, and he was arrested.
After his arrest, he was searched and police found a baggie of white powder in his coat, believed to be cocaine, Rousseau said.
O'Regan was charged with possession of a controlled narcotic in addition to the gun charge. He was released on $1,000 cash or surety bail.


text:
LINDEN - A setting sun, a frightened family, a pit full of human remains.
LINDEN - A setting sun, a frightened family, a pit full of human remains.
Monsignor Robert Silva, 72, stood over the well east of Linden on Feb. 12, a clear, crisp Sunday afternoon. He peered into the darkness and prayed.
"I used the same prayer that I use to bless graves; then, after the church's prayer, I said my own," Silva said. "I said that we love you, God, and you love us - and please bring something of life out of this because it is frightening.
"Take away our fear.
"And I prayed for the family that lives there, that they could live in peace. While I'm sure they will never forget, I prayed that the memory would not be debilitating."
Silva's prayer of consecration at sunset came amid a swirl of activity. San Joaquin County sheriff's investigators sifted through soil samples nearby. A backhoe chugged and dug at the widening hole in the ground. The owners of the property stood 10 feet away. They had asked Silva, pastor of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Linden, to come and pray.
He didn't hesitate.
Residents of Linden, resilient, close-knit and hard working, are still sorting through the horrors left behind by Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog. Many have turned to their churches for comfort and for a sense of understanding.
Linden's First Baptist Church, with 135 members, is surrounded by orchards at the west end of town. The congregation meets twice a week.
"We have prayed regularly for clarity and for peace," the Rev. John Hathorn said. "We've asked God to give wisdom for all the families involved."
Hathorn, 52, who lives in Stockton, pointed to the different ways such tragic events affect a small town.
"We try to be sensitive to the community," he said. "There are people who know people, so many know one another. We have prayed diligently. It's on our minds and hearts."
The Linden-Peters Full Gospel Church, at 400 N. Fine Road, is just 61/2 miles from the dig site. Members of the Herzog family still attend, and the church's co-pastors are the husband-and-wife team of Doyle and Zula Ann Judd.
"To be honest, we haven't really discussed it," said 77-year-old Doyle Judd. "We come to church to worship and leave everything else outside."
He added that they are encouraging the Pentecostal congregation to "just pray for everybody."
The Herzogs and Shermantines are well-known families in the Linden area.
Trish Huarte-Pechan, 62, was the first parishioner to reach the Holy Cross parking lot for Friday morning Mass.
"Most people feel sorry for the families," she said. "It's disheartening to have Linden make national news for something so bad. It really is a great community."
Silva agrees.
"I love Linden. To come here and be quiet ... in many ways," Silva said, "it is food for the soul. The people are terrific.
"These people are pretty earthy. They understand the dynamic of good and evil. In many ways, what happened saddens them. But, at the same time, they will overcome."
Silva, who previously served as the Chicago-based president of the National Federation of Priests' Councils, remembered pausing at the pit before praying. "It was a beautiful setting. I was asked by the family to come ... to bless that property and change it from a place of darkness to a place that promises resurrection and life."
Blocking out the distractions around him, Silva said, "It was just me and the family watching. I went right up to the mouth of the excavation. We really don't understand the power of evil - that it is a force in our world. We need to be aware that evil is real, and that means we attempt in our lives to live goodness.
"That's the only power that overcomes this."
Contact Assistant Managing Editor Kevin Parrish at (209) 546-8264 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Q)How do the coaches really feel about the following positions: safety, linebacker and wide receiver?
A) We'll start with safety. This is probably the position that the coaching staff is most concerned about, well safety and tight end. The question at safety isn't about talent; Florida has a slew of talented players that can play safety. The problem is finding a player who is ready and able to play safety the way Will Muschamp and D.J. Durkin need them to play the position.
What I mean by this is the coaches ask a lot out of the safeties as far as communication is concerned. The safeties play a big role by communicating protections and making sure the entire secondary knows what they need to do on every play. Throughout spring the coaching staff waited for a player to step up and "get it" but so far there hasn't been one player to step up and take control.
Marcus Maye is a player that Joker Phillips mentioned as far as standing out some but other than that, we just hear a lot of typical coach talk like so and so has done some nice things. It's hard to think that a freshman could come in and meet the coaching staff's expectations but Marcell Harris and Keanu Neal will both have an opportunity to play and potentially start as freshmen. The battle for the two starting spots at safety is far from over.
The linebacker group is extremely green but what they lack in experience, they make up for with talent. Antonio Morrison is going to be a special player for Florida. The group is made even stronger with the addition of Ronald Powell, who will play both Buck and SAM. Jeremi Powell, Daniel McMillian, Alex Anzalone, Michael Taylor, Darrin Kitchens and Neiron Ball give the group a ton of depth. The staff is very comfortable with what they have at linebacker and they should be.
Wide receiver is still a waiting game. Like at safety, the staff is waiting for one player to shine and stand out above the rest. Quinton Dunbar appears to be that guy at this point. He'll enter the fall as the unquestioned No. 1 guy but whom else can Florida count on? Demarcus Robinson could turn into that option. Calling him "athletic" wouldn't do it justice. He's a playmaker and he will be a big-time player for Florida, but can he do it as a freshman?
I know everyone wonders about Andre Debose and how he is doing. Reports are that Debose had a solid spring but I won't believe it until I see him do it during the regular season. Gator fans have waited for Debose to turn into the "next Percy Harvin" as Urban Meyer unfairly dubbed him but Debose was never going to be the next Percy. I am more interested in how the coaching staff uses the five freshmen that they signed as well as players like Solomon Patton and Latroy Pittman.
Q) Will anything change with game prep? Specifically with "smaller" opponents?
I don't think the coaching staff prepares differently for the "smaller" opponents. Will Muschamp values one stat and one stat only. That's putting a "W" down on the schedule each and every Saturday.
While Gators fans grew accustomed to Steve Spurrier trying to hang half a hundred every week and Urban Meyer calling timeouts at the end of a blowout victory against Georgia, those things don't excite Muschamp.
Florida played a very conservative offensive style in 2012 because they had the defense and special teams units to be able to play that way. I think the defense will pick up where they left and continue to be one of the strongest units in the country. Once Florida figures out who is going to kick, the special teams unit will be strong as well. That means more conservative play calling in 2013 and less "sexy" wins over lesser opponents.
Q) How are the following players doing/developing and do you think they will contribute this year: Jeremi Powell, Ian Silberman, Trip Thurman, Austin Hardin, Bryan Cox Jr. and Tevin Westbrook.
A) Powell – This is a player the coaching staff is very excited about. Powell can play both outside linebacker spots and he could easily work into the rotation. He'll make an impact for Florida this season.
Silberman – He missed most of the spring with an injury and Max Garcia looked solid at left guard. I don't see Silberman earning a starting spot on the offensive line this season but he is a player who can come in and contribute if someone goes down with injury.
Thurman – The coaching staff says that he will be back at full strength following surgery to repair a torn labrum. After going through a labrum injury of my own, I have no idea how Thurman will be able to play this season. With a labrum injury, it is extremely difficult/painful to extend your arm out straight and put any pressure on it. Thurman will need to do this motion every single time the ball is snapped. I just don't see how he can come back and be effective this season following that type of surgery.
Hardin – I had Hardin penciled in as the starting kicker heading into spring. He didn't grab the job but continues to work and will battle for the starting spot this fall. I think he takes the job by the time Florida kicks off against Toledo.
Cox Jr. – Being completely transparent, I am partial to Bryan Cox because he and I attended the same high school. My bias aside, Cox had a great offseason and the coaching staff noticed. He added some considerable size in the offseason and looks the part of a Buck LB. He is going to contribute this season and will surprise some people along the way.
Westbrook – Being completely honest, I don't see Westbrook being anything more than a blocking option at tight end. He improved as a pass-catcher in the offseason but he's still not on the same level as the rest of the tight ends in that aspect of his game.
Q) Will we get out of the cellar in passing yards per game in 2013?
A) I expect the passing game to be better in 2013 but Florida will probably still be in the bottom half of the conference. That's just the kind of offense that Muschamp wants to run and last season showed that it can be effective.
Q) Who's your bet as our "go-to" clutch receiver on third and long?
A) Quinton Dunbar.
Q) What are your expectations for the defense and how do we pick up where we left off after losing 7 starters?
A) I expect Florida to have a top-3 defense in the SEC. I mentioned before that what the defense lacks in experience they make up for in talent.
Florida has the potential to have the best secondary in the league and the defensive line and linebacker units should be strong again. Antonio Morrison is picking up right where Bostic left off both on and off the field and you can mark it down, he will become the next great middle linebacker in Florida football history.
Safety is the only real concern for me. There is a ton of talent but Florida is looking for the complete package. I think they have that player on the roster, he just hasn't shown himself yet.
Q) Other than lifting with Coach Dillman what can the players do over the summer and what coaches can they interact with?
A) The players can only interact with Dillman and the nutrition staff. As far as working out goes, the players have player run practices that they call "captain's practices." This is where you need players to step up and become leaders.
Q) Is Driskel actually improving?
A) The main things Driskel needs to work on are his decision-making, footwork and pocket presence. It's hard to get a sense of where he is based on what we saw this spring first hand. We won't really know how much he has improved in his decision-making and pocket presence until we see him in a live game at full speed. His footwork looked improved this spring. He had a tendency of not stepping into all of his passes last season and that caused some balls to sail on him.
As far as improving as a leader, I think he has. After talking to some people close to the team, it seems that Driskel has taken a leadership role in the captain's practices and is really working with the receivers to develop a better chemistry with the group as a whole.
I want to thank everyone who sent their questions in and made this article possible. I hope I answered all of your questions sufficiently and I look forward to making this mailbag a weekly staple. I'll create threads every week starting on Wednesday asking for questions and I'll run the story on Friday.


text:
By Fiona Hurrell, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – February marks the month of 2013 Carnival and the party blocos (street party-parades) are already going into overdrive as more and more visitors arrive in Rio. With 492 blocos to look forward to this year, here are just a few of the largest to check out.
Boêmios da Lapa, a bloco in the party region of Lapa, will take place on Friday, February 8th, from 8PM until 11PM. This bloco epitomizes the bohemian district of Lapa in which it is set so expect a huge crowd made up of residents and travelers. The scene is very informal but with a distinctive party vibe and bars are open late as usual for anyone wishing to carry on through the night.
Cordão da Bola Preta, on Saturday, February 9th, has a strong following and is perhaps one of the most famous of the Centro district blocos. Beginning on Avenida Rio Branco, in the City's business area of downtown, this bloco, which celebrates its 95th anniversary this year, will travel to Lapa before looping back to its original meeting point. Taking place every Saturday during Carnival, this bloco attracts an estimated two million people, going on from 9AM until 2PM.
Dois Pra Lá Dois Pra Cá on Saturday, February 9th, is one of the busiest blocos which begins in Botafogo and finishes in front of the Copacabana Palace hotel on the beachfront. Playing a rich mix of samba, this bloco is always a hit with residents and tourists alike, covering some good ground through the surrounding streets. The bloco starts on Rua Álvaro Ramos at 10AM and finishes at 2PM.
O Baile Infantil da Banda de Ipanema, on the same day, is a bloco specifically for children and adults are only permitted when accompanying children ensuring that this bloco remains calm and safe. Situated in the Praça General Osório, this bloco is stationary with music and activities to entice little ones in to the Carnival spirit as much as the adults.
Simpatia é Quase Amor on Sunday, February 10th, is a continually popular beach-side bloco in Zona Sul (South Zone), gathering thousands of revelers at Praça General Osório to process down the beachfront of Ipanema. Created in 1985, this Ipanema bloco has become so established it creates a new theme song each year and sells T-Shirts to go with it. Despite this, the bloco is very casual and everyone is invited to join whether in costume or not.
Banda Atlantica situated on the beachfront of Copacabana on Avenida Atlantica is equally popular not only for its location but because it doesn't travel around the streets like other blocos, thus appealing to those who may prefer to stay in the same spot. Expect a young crowd wearing anything from fancy dress to beach attire. The bloco will take place on Monday, February 11th, from 6PM till 10PM.
Banda de Ipanema on Tuesday, February 12th, is one of the largest blocos in Rio and the majority of revelers will be in serious costume. First started in 1965 during military dictatorship, this long running bloco is credited for reviving the street parades which Rio carnival has become famous for. It is also very popular with the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) community and is frequented by a number of colorful drag queens. The procession starts at 5:30 PM from Rua Gomes Carneiro and will eventually finish at Praça General Osório at 9:30 PM.


text:
ArtsWatch: UK Copyright Version 2.0
The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.
On Aug. 3 Britain's Intellectual Property Office revealed wide-ranging plans for UK copyright law reform that will support high-tech business opportunities and a more innovative approach to private consumer copying, while improving antipiracy enforcement against criminal infringement. The flurry of reports includes three publications by the IP Office — "Prevention And Cure: The UK IP Crime Strategy 2011," "The UK's International Strategy For Intellectual Property" and "The Government Response To The Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property And Growth" — as well as the release of several documents on implementation of the Digital Economy Act by the Department For Culture, Media and Sport, notably Ofcom's May report "'Site Blocking' To Reduce Online Copyright Infringement." The Hargreaves review was released in May and proposes many new ways to relax Britain's IP laws. Somewhat surprisingly, the UK government has accepted all of its recommendations hoping to promote beneficial economic growth without harming the creative sector. Notable highlights include a more permissive approach to private consumer copying and format shifting, ambitious long-term plans to develop an efficient Digital Copyright Exchange for licensing and the establishment of procedures to license orphan works. Ofcom's contributions focus on enforcement, including imposition of a fee for Internet subscribers to appeal notices of online infringement, and rejection of the Digital Economy Act's approach to blocking infringing websites as being ineffective. Although the site-blocking component of this legislation has been sidelined for now, a July 28 court decision to order ISP-blocking of the infringing site Newzbin2 offers content owners some consolation that this approach has a future. Initial reactions from trade group UK Music and the UK Musicians' Union outlined reservations over the government's announcement alongside suggestions for improvements. The idealism of the UK government's modernizing zeal is fine in itself — timely in terms of copyright and needed in terms of economic growth — however, the guaranteed bottom line is that high-tech businesses will take advantage of looser copyright laws almost regardless of whether their innovations fairly compensate the creative community of artists and other content owners.
Reflecting on the impressive sales for Taylor Swift's Speak Now in November 2010, her label Big Machine Records and IFPI revealed details of their intense antipiracy activity conducted in parallel with more conventional marketing for the album. Digital Music News reported, "Big Machine not only spent considerable effort stamping out pre-release leaks, they also maintained night-and-day diligence on every pirated copy after the release date. Most were taken down immediately, a response that requires huge resource allocations." Swift's preceding album, 2008's Fearless, garnered her worldwide recognition and four GRAMMY Awards, helping to ensure that the means were in place to promptly enforce thousands and thousands of Internet takedown notices within a brief period for her follow-up album. Artists with smaller followings, wondering whether Internet piracy is hurting their sales, are at a significant disadvantage.
A coalition of leading music industry organizations reiterated their concerns over a future .music generic top-level domain in a submission responding to a request for comments from the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Similar to the coalition's January letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the latest response was written by RIAA Deputy General Counsel Victoria Sheckler and its signatories include ASCAP, BMI, CISAC, IFPI, NMPA, and The Recording Academy. The letter reads, "We are concerned about malicious conduct, such as wide-scale copyright infringement, over any music themed gTLD...and would like to see best practices developed to ensure this type of malicious behavior does not occur."
The Copyright Royalty Board granted SoundExchange's April 2010 petition to use proxy data, given the absence of usable records, in order to distribute unallocated digital royalties from 2004–2009, as published in the Federal Register on Aug. 1. The CRB noted that SoundExchange's comment in reply to its rulemaking procedure was the only submission received. During the rulemaking, several additional usage reports were submitted, reducing the unallocated royalties from $28 million to $19.4 million — approximately 3 percent of the total royalties collected during the time period.
On Aug. 1 a U.S. District Court granted MPAA member studios a preliminary injunction against Zediva, ordering the video rental service to be shut down until the outcome of a full trial based on a preliminary finding that it violated copyright law and would do irreparable harm to the studios' legitimate online video services. In April the MPAA described Zediva's place-shifting business model as a "gimmick" — the service hosted physical DVD players that streamed rented DVDs to subscribers' computers.


text:
SUMNER, Wash. – The St. George's Dragons were the lone team this season that had any kind of success slowing down Northwest Christian forward Jacob Weaver.
The Dragons held the standout senior to a total of two goals in winning all three of the regular-season meetings between the two.
But with redemption on his and his teammates' minds, Weaver exploded for a hat trick on Saturday night in the Class 1B/2B state championship game at Sunset Chev Stadium, lifting the Crusaders to a 4-0 win and capturing the school's second state title.
"I had to make up for those other three (games)," Weaver said with a grin.
Weaver, who entered the game with 57 goals on the year, got his 58th in the 17th minute, taking a pass from Cody Kilpatrick in the middle, splitting two defenders and unleashing a shot across his body into the right corner of the goal from 10 yards out.
Northwest Christian (15-4) struck again 25th minute as Austin Friedly passed out of traffic in the middle to a wide-open Payton Gray on the left side, who deposited it into the right corner past goalkeeper Peter Worrall.
Although St. George's outshot Northwest Christian 4-3 in the first half, the Crusaders made the most of their chances.
"It was just remarkable finishing," St. George's coach Heidi Melville said. "And their defense stepped up in a way they haven't all year."
With the defense giving up few looks to St. George's (17-3), Weaver continued to run wild on offense in the second half. He got loose on a breakaway, split two defenders and chipped the ball past Worrall in the 57th minute, and later added another goal – his 60th of the year – in the 69th minute.
"We played these guys (earlier) and he had a difficult time getting some goals," Northwest Christian coach Mica Lamb said. "They used some things defensively that make it difficult for him. So we told him that he needed to be active off the ball. When he's going at a breakneck pace he's pretty much unstoppable. He got an opportunity to do that today."
The Crusaders finished the two state games at Sunset Chev Stadium with nine goals while allowing opponents only one, a transformation that put a smile on Lamb's face.
"(The seven seniors) wanted this so bad," Lamb said. "It just really showed today. They've played well all season but I've seen a difference in their focus and execution this last week."


text:
Banbury, UK, Thursday 24th January 2013
Take the reins of a growing construction company, hiring staff, purchasing vehicles and sending them out to complete building contracts for the city.
With a vast amount of construction projects to undertake you'll need to place football stadiums, entertainment centres and more in key areas to increase your revenue. Can you help shape the city from humble begins to a fully-fledged metropolis?
· Hire construction workers including ground workers, steel fabricators, electricians, carpenters and gardeners to complete your building projects
· Send your workers to other construction sites to complete contract work and gain additional income
· Once you have constructed housing property, sell it to increase profits
· Purchase a selection of vehicles and repair them to keep them in top condition
· Construct dozens of buildings that will improve the city's infrastructure like football stadiums, hotels, offices, power stations
· Make roads to expand your city reach
About Excalibur Publishing Limited
Excalibur Publishing, Extra Play and First Class Simulations form the publishing arm of Contact Sales Ltd. Contact Sales are proud to be the only independent UK owned publisher with a high street presence both at home and overseas. A success story built on a solid foundation of high quality products and a trusted reputation throughout the interactive entertainment industry. Its dynamic team of experienced industry professionals is led by Robert Stallibrass who brings over 20 years' experience in computer games sales and marketing to the forefront of the business.
First Class Simulations focuses exclusively on flight and train simulator expansions and has become a market leader in the sector, winning awards for titles such as Lancaster and Hawker Heroes. Excalibur Publishing offers a mix of engaging standalone PC games and PC simulations such as UK Truck Simulator, Farming Simulator 2011, Blood of Europe, Theatre of War and Farewell to Dragons and is no stranger to the UK sales charts. A range of titles can be found at retail stores throughout Europe and all of the major UK retail outlets including; PC World/Dixons, Game, independent stores and online at Amazon, and Play.com.
|[View All]


text:
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man convicted of aggravated murder in the slaying of his daughter-in-law, who was strangled and dumped in a septic tank, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Jurors in Chillicothe (chihl-ih-KAHTH'-ee) recommended that sentence Wednesday rather than opting for the death penalty for 48-year-old William Inman. The judge followed the recommendation.
Jurors on Monday found Inman guilty of aggravated murder and other charges in 25-year-old Summer Inman's slaying in March 2011. The trial was moved to Chillicothe in Ross County after unsuccessful attempts to seat a Hocking County jury.
Inman denies killing his daughter-in-law. His attorney says they're relieved Inman avoided the death penalty, and he expects an appeal.
Inman's son and wife were convicted last year in the murder.


text:
Director's Corner
December 9, 2010
Pauline F. Harvey, UAF Director
It has been my pleasure to serve as first the interim director, and now the director of Chukchi Campus. I am from the village of Noorvik and am pleased that I can continue to serve my region in a larger capacity. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in Noorvik and Kivalina as Assistant Principal and Principal. Recently, I addressed the Future Teachers of Alaska and was pleased to see a hundred students interested in becoming teachers and principals. This is critical to the academic and cultural success of our Inupiaq students in the Northwest Arctic region. I shared with these young minds my first experiences of college in upstate New York and how my cousin and I would eat frozen Banquet chicken in lieu of our frozen fish! We also would bring pizza to the nearest cemetery, the quietest place we could find, and eat in peace! Since those experiences in the late '70s, I have spent 27.5 years first as a grade school teacher and more recently as a principal in this region and for the Anchorage School District.
At Chukchi Campus, I am pleased to announce that we have written three grants this summer (2010): one HUD grant and two Title III grants. We were awarded all three grants this fall. The HUD grant will allow us to work in partnership with UAF Cold Climate Housing Research, the Northwest Housing Inupiat Authority and the Alaska Technical Center to build a home in the summer of 2012 that uses best practices for alternative energy and cost savings techniques. The Title III Renovation Grant will allow us to erect an addition to our campus to house our flight simulator, build a classroom for aviation classes, and to build a storage room for alternative energy materials. I visited the Yuut Aviation program in Bethel last month and discovered they had graduated many local pilots in the last decade. We will begin doing fund searches for this as we build our addition. Finally, our third grant is also a Title III grant and this grant basically provides the basic funding needed to supplement UAF CRCD funding and keep our doors open.
Our campus is dedicated to the preservation of the Inupiaq language. We are working on creating more Inupiaq language classes and hope to pair tech savvy folks with our elder speakers. This will help form a partnership that will benefit the expertise of both generations. We encourage all people to keep trying to speak Inupiaq even though we make mistakes! My generation and those younger would appreciate encouragement from the fluent speakers. Speaking our Inupiaq language is one of our inherent rights as Inupiat people.
We honor and give recognition to all our regional partners, whom have been very welcoming and respectful of my leadership: The Northwest Arctic Borough, The Northwest Arctic Borough School District, NANA Regional Corporation, Maniilaq Association, as well as the City and IRA traditional councils in our region. Quyanaq (Thank you) for all the great support and mentorship.
Happy Holidays, and stay safe during this time in which we spend with the ones we love. I look forward to serving you to the best of my ability, with the wonderful staff and faculty at Chukchi Campus!


text:
Assessing the impact of climate warming on ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Research Initiative
2007 Funded Project
In the Arctic ecosystem, ice algae contribute significantly to the total primary production (ice algae + phytoplankton) and play a critical role in sustaining pelagic and benthic secondary production. Climate warming has caused considerable changes in the ice/snow dynamics, including the dramatic decrease of ice coverage, the thinning of sea ice and snow, and the early melting of sea ice. These changes will inevitably impact the spatio-temporal distribution of ice algae production across the Arctic Ocean. Assessing such an impact is technically challenging yet scientifically interesting. In this proposed study, I will apply an ice algae model to quantitatively assess the impact of climate warming on ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean. Data from multiple sources will be used to drive the model, including the ice/snow information derived from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), surface short wave heat flux (for computing the photosynthesis available radiance) from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project - Flux Data (ISCCP-FD), and nutrients and temperature/salinity climatology from the World Ocean Atlas 2005 (WOA05). The resulting model will be able to examine the change of total ice algae production, as well as the spatial distribution and variation of ice algae blooms (both timing and magnitude) across the Arctic Ocean in response to decreasing ice extent and snow depth.
This proposed study will directly address one of the three issues raised in the WHOI Arctic Research Initiative - understanding the likely effects of climate change on the ecosystem dynamics within the Arctic. It fits well with my research interests and future proposal development, serving as an important first step towards the development of the biological-physical coupled model in the Arctic Ocean. I am currently involved in the development of a proposal to couple hydrodynamics (including ice) and ecosystem models with a team of scientists, including C. Davis and C. Ashjian (WHOI Biology), R. G. Campbell (URI), A. Proshutinsky and R. Beardsley (WHOI PO) and C. Chen (UMass). The proposal will be tentatively submitted in response to the next Western Arctic Shelf-Basin Interactions (SBI) proposal call. In addition, I am discussing collaboration with Dr. Frederic Dupont (hydrodynamic and ice modeler) at Université Laval (Canada) to incorporate the ice algae model with ice/snow dynamics obtained from his ice model.The support from WHOI Arctic Research Initiative on this proposed study will be critical for me to start exploring this new and exciting research area.


text:
Written by Neil A. Davis Wednesday, 04 November 2009 22:39
Is there something in your life that you enjoy doing most? Chances are you have to make choices in order to pursue it. Whatever your passion—hobby, family or job, most likely it requires setting aside time, money or both.
If you spend all your money on your passion, you will starve to death (unless your passion is eating). If you spend all your time, you'll find there are only so many hours in a day. Every person makes choices to achieve a balance.
In the past, many couples had the option for the woman to "stay at home." Today it seems more likely that both partners will need to be wage earners, spending more time on the job in order to keep up. Why is that? What has changed?
You might say, it's because things cost more now. Again I ask, why is that? Through good times and bad, what is the one thing that seems to be able to grow unfettered?
The answer is (drum roll please)... government. Why does government always need more money and where does it go?
There are literally thousands of groups like ACORN that are sucking the life-blood out of our country. Congress gives them untold billions of dollars each year, funding our own downfall in the name of welfare.
Talk radio, Internet bloggers and television show hosts like Glenn Beck are beginning to look into the cesspool they swim in. Beck may act like a loon, but no commentator is doing a better job of exposing these groups.
In the process we are finding that corruption exists on all levels of the current administration. The problem however, has been building for decades.
I ask you to make one more choice. I believe our lives could be vastly improved by educating ourselves about the corruption and manipulation that is occurring right in front of us, behind our backs. By working together, sharing information and embarrassing our government officials into doing the right thing, it's possible we could rid ourselves of this scourge.
If you watch television to get your news, you need to know that Fox News is the only viable choice. While they lean to the right, they are the only network that actually "reports" the news, rather than give an opinion piece. All the other networks are part of the problem. They have what Bernie Goldberg wrote about—a slobbering love affair with Barack Obama.
If we weren't funneling vast amounts of money to antagonists, we might have a little left over for ourselves. Less time spent working to make money, would free up time to spend on our "passions."
A little time spent teaching our children the difference between right and wrong wouldn't be a bad thing. We could do a 180 on the road we're heading down now. Big government is a passion killer.


text:
Kodas: \
Pardavimo kaina: € 0.00
|Programinė įranga
|Short Description:
|TeamCity has got you covered with a wide range of developer-oriented features to take your team's performance to the next level. Whether you develop in Java, .NET or for mobile platforms, TeamCity has the essentials you need to get started in a matter of minutes, right inside the installer package. Whenever you need special additional functionality, choose from over 100 ready-to-use plugins. Or, add custom features by creating your own plugins using the TeamCity Open API. Never feel left alone. Get help from various support channels including a public issue tracker, community forum, and comprehensive online documentation. TeamCity gets smarter as you get bigger. Its licensing model allows you to start completely free, and smoothly expand your server capacities as you need more power. Initially a Continuous Integration server, TeamCity has encompassed all the features you expect from a mature Continuous Deployment platform. Today it is the best choice you can make for both.
|12 month(s)
|Producer product family:
|TeamCity - Upgrade from Enterprise Server with 3 Build Agents to Enterprise Server with 5 Build Agents
|Net weight:
|0.00 kg
|Gross weight:
|0.00 kg
|UAB Kompsis" ir Ko, Pamėnkalnio 19-18 Vilnius Lietuva
|Susisiekite dabar: +370 5 2614060
|Mob: +370 699 21091; +370 699 67204
|El. paštas: firstname.lastname@example.com
(c) 1998 - 2017, UAB 'KOMPSIS' IR KO
Prekių ir gamintojų pavadinimai yra registruoti prekiniai ženklai


text:
Profiles: Bulger's Alleged Victims
Profiles: Bulger's Alleged Victims
These are many of the alleged victims of James "Whitey" Bulger's reign of crime.
|John McIntyre According to court testimony, McIntyre spoke to federal agents about Bulger's involvement in a failed plan to send guns to the Irish Republican Army via a fishing boat in 1984.
|James Sousa According to court testimony, Sousa and two other planned to sell fake gold to Boston-based dentist John Jennings and then rob him.
|William O'Brien After killing a man in a drunken brawl, Boston native William O'Brien spent four years in prison. Upon release, O'Brien joined Al "Indian Al" Notarangeli's gang.
|Michael Donahue Michael Donahue, a Boston native and truck driver, had just finished dining out with a friend when he was shot in the head.
|Edward Connors Edward Connors, who tipped off James "Whitey" Bulger and Howie Winter about James O'Toole's whereabouts the night O'Toole was killed, began talking openly about his involvement in the killing, according to testimony.
|Francis Leonard Following the merger of the Mullen gang and Killeen gang after a long and bloody turf war, the combined gang's leader, Howie Winter, sanctioned the killings of anyone who seemed to step out of line.
|John B. Callahan On Aug. 2, 1982, while FBI agents were searching for John B. Callahan, 45, for questioning, Callahan's bullet-ridden body was discovered in the backseat of his Cadillac in a parking lot at Miami International Airport.
|James O'Toole The Charlestown mob targeted O'Toole following a love triangle with O'Toole's girlfriend and the Charlestown mob member Ronald P. Demody
|Al Notarangeli Al Notarangeli, commonly known as "Indian Al," was the leader of the Somerville-based Notarangeli gang when James "Whitey" Bulger began to rise the ranks of the Winter Hill gang.
|Deborah Hussey Deborah Hussey spent her childhood as Steven "The Rifleman" Flemmi's stepdaughter. Her mother was Flemmi's common-law wife and the two lived together for more than a decade.
|Arthur Barrett Arthur "Bucky" Barrett, infamously known as the mastermind of the 1980 Depositor's Trust bank heist, was tricked into attending a secret meeting and subsequently shot in the back of the head.
|Paul McGonagle Amid the fighting between the Mullen gang and the Killeen gang, Mullen gang leader Paul McGonagle's brother was accidentally killed. Swearing revenge, Paul McGonagle disappeared in 1974.
|Edward Brian Halloran Edward Brian "Balloonhead" Halloran had just finished dinner at Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant in Boston with friend Michael Donahue when the two were ambushed in their car.
|Thomas King Thomas King was deep in the midst of the Mullen gang, a rival South Boston gang that had began a turf war with the White Hill gang. It was only after the two gangs had joined forces, however, that King disappeared.
|Richard Castucci Richard Castucci was a White Hill gang member and FBI informant when James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi killed him to prevent him from telling the FBI where fellow White Hill gang members were hiding out.
|Debra Davis Debra Davis, was 17 when Steve "The Rifleman" Flemmi visited the jewelry store she was working and asked her on a date.
|Michael Milano Michael Milano was working as a bartender for a North End restaurant when he purchased a black Merecedes-Benz. One night in 1973, when Milano was leaving his job, he was attacked with a machine gun and killed.
|Roger Wheeler Roger Wheeler was a 55-year-old father of five when he was shot between the eyes as he left a Tulsa country club, following his weekly round of golf.
|Al Plummer Father of six and Andover resident Albert "Al" Plummer died on March 23, 1973, from a bullet wound to the head.


text:
The execution of Troy Davis in Georgia last week has once again pushed the debate over capital punishment to the forefront. Although there are many questions regarding this particular case, Mr. Davis is dead, and any discussion is purely academic.
Instead, let us take a look at Connecticut's own capital case of the moment, the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky for his part in the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, in their Cheshire home in 2007.
Unlike Davis, there is no question regarding Komisarjevsky's participation in a heinous crime. Instead, we find the argument to be one of degrees: Is Komisarjevsky a murderer, or was he simply caught up in his alleged accomplice's insane rampage? His life hangs on that question.
What tends to be lost in the sensational details of the crime and the heart-wrenching emotions it evokes is that we are on the verge of exacting revenge on these men, not serving justice.
Justice would have been served if Dr. William A. Petit Jr., who was severely beaten during the attack on his family, and the prosecution had agreed to accept Komisarjevsky's and Steven Hayes' plea bargains for life in prison. Instead, we have all been living with this case for more than four years, with news coverage from The New York Times to the Los Angeles Times and the sordid tale of that night in 2007 splashed across The Courant's front page.
And for what? For the cathartic moment that the execution of two men may offer? A moment which, thanks to automatic appeals, may not come for years, if not decades?
Dr. Petit is an intelligent, well-spoken and sympathetic man, but underneath his eloquence and genuine pain is a cry for revenge. The defendants took his family from him, and now he wants their lives as payback. This is a completely understandable and human reaction to the magnitude of the tragedy he has endured.
The criminal justice system, however, is not an instrument of revenge, nor should it be. Yet we stand by time and again and allow that system to be perverted from its true goal of delivering justice into a tool to satisfy our worst desires, all while disguising the unspeakable act of taking a life in a cloak of biblical eye-for-an-eye law. In fact, two state senators, Edith Prague and Andrew Maynard, actually voted against repealing the death penalty this year despite their opposition to capital punishment in the past, presumably to ensure that Komisarjevsky and Hayes would die for their crimes.
This is wrong. It was wrong for the defendants to take the lives of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Hayley Petit and Michaela Petit. It is equally wrong for the state, with the people's consent, to take the lives of Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes.
It is wrong because it perpetuates a punishment that disproportionately is applied to poor and minority defendants. It is wrong because men and women have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt being raised. It is wrong because millions of dollars will be spent on killing these men. It is wrong because when all is said and done, the total body count from that night in Cheshire will be five.
It is wrong because we are allowing ourselves to be morally compromised in the name of revenge. We have dehumanized Komisarjevsky and Hayes by calling them "monsters," "career criminals" and other pejoratives to make it easier to kill them. But they are still human beings with parents and loved ones, just as the victims of their terrible crime were.
Taking a life is wrong. Isn't that why we're about to "punish" the defendants?
Jamil R. Ragland, 25, of Hartford is a senior in the Individualized Degree Program at Trinity College.
The Courant invites writers younger than 30 to write essays of 600 words or less containing strong views. Please e-mail your submission to firstname.lastname@example.com, with your full name, hometown, daytime phone number, age and occupation (or your school's name and your level in school). You can also fax op-eds to 860-520-6941.


text:
Academic Rigor
Dorm Life
Food and Dining
Bang for the buck
Clubs and Activities
Campus Safety
I am learning TONS of stuff that I thought I already knew. I'll be ready for Jeopardy! very soon!!!!!!!
To find more tips for prospective students, what to do for fun and whether this school is great for a particular type of student read the 19 reviews for Kent State University at Stark
Curious about something that isn't answered here? Feel free to ask Kent State University at Stark a question
Kent State University at Stark is the best college choice if you are looking for affordability without sacrificing the quality education. It is a smaller college which allows for more student-instructor interaction. Kent Stark offers degree programs that can either be finished on campus or prepare you to transfer to the main campus.Read More
Kent State University at Stark is a great, beautiful campus. The professors really care about the students and want you to do well. You can take as many credit hours as you want and the tuition stays the same.Read More
Everyone who is a part of the Kent Stark campus is amazing to work with and always ready to help out. There is a great sense of community and family that comes out of our tightly knitted campus. It is a great place to get a great college education, save money, and stay close to home all the while feeling at home whenever you show up for class.Read More
Not as difficult as expected.Read More
I loved the visit there. Everyone is so sweet and caring. AND, the campus is just beautiful, the landscaping is breathtaking.Read More
A top university with a diverse student body and class choice for all majors. It also offers a diverse extra-curricular activity list.Read More
Smaller campus. Less people. Has just as much to experience as any other College.Read More
Very nice commuter campus close to home. My teacher is great and really cares about the individual students. Classes are small, and i feel comfortable at this college.Read More
This is small but not very intimate. It's a good place to get your general requirements out of the way because of the low price. It is a good fit for me and busy lifestyle.Read More
1. Great, small and personal campus. 2. Because the campus is not huge there is a very personal feel with the teachers. 3. Their student center is very helpful with just about any questions possible.Read More


text:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar spiked against the euro and yen Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the lag time between the end of the Fed's bond-buying program and the first rate hike could be about six months, suggesting a first step in monetary tightening could happen as soon as the spring of 2015.
That's sooner than market participants had expected, said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets.
The dollar USDJPY, -0.03% jumped to ¥102.47 from ¥101.41 late Tuesday. The euro EURUSD, +0.2914% dropped to $1.3830 from Tuesday's level of $1.3932.
The Fed said Wednesday it would reduce its monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion, in line with expectations. The central bank also changed the way it expresses how long it plans to keep interest rates low, adding that it will now consider a "wide range" of factors instead of focusing on the 6.5% threshold in the unemployment rate.
Yellen's response in the press conference elaborated on the Fed statement, which said the bank would wait "a considerable time" before hiking rates.
The dollar also rallied in the wake of the Fed statement. "The Fed did not take the dovish evolution that most people expected as they dropped the 6.5% threshold," said Anderson. Short-term interest rates are now expected to rise slightly faster than as dictated by previous forecasts. Read: Fed shifts criteria for rate hike and market sours
Treasury yields surged Wednesday.
The ICE dollar index DXY, -0.22% a gauge of the currency's strength, rose to 80.001 from 79.389 on Tuesday. The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, -0.24% an alternate measure that pits the dollar against more rivals, gained to 73.57 from 73.01.
"The tone of the statement and the updated staff projections (mainly on the appropriate timing of policy firming) sounds more hawkish than expected," said analysts at Newedge Strategy in a note. "The great majority of FOMC members now sees Fed Funds to start rising in 2015 and the target for Fed Funds at the end of 2015 is now clearly centered at 1%."
The pound GBPUSD, +0.2586% fell to $1.6536 from $1.6589 on Tuesday. The pound had strengthened earlier after an improvement in monthly U.K. jobs figures. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by 34,600 in February, from January. The figure outstripped projections of a 25,000 drop.
In a flurry of activity for the U.K. markets Wednesday, the statistics office also said the unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.2%, meeting expectations. Separately, minutes from the Bank of England's meeting earlier this month showed all nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favor of keeping policy unchanged.
The benchmark interest rate currently stands at a record low of 0.5% and bank purchases of government bonds remains at 375 billion pounds ($622 billion). The U.K.'s finance minister also outlined his annual budget on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar AUDUSD, +0.5403% fell to 90.40 U.S. cents from 91.28 U.S. cents late in the previous session.
Read more on MarketWatch:
Bitcoin after the Mt. Gox collapse: Live video chat Thursday
Recap of Janet Yellen's first press conference
What Fed's focus on 2015 rate hike means to you
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.


text:
Marry Age is a one page template designed to suit perfectly for Wedding, Albums, Invitation and Personal Portfolio websites. It is cross browser compatible, uses Google fonts. It comes a fully functional out of the box contact form. It is created by using HTML5, with a responsive design which makes it a perfect fit for all devices.
Main Features:
- Responsive HTML5 & CSS3 tableless design.
- Google Web Fonts
- jQuery enhanced slider and effects.
- PHP Contact Form.
- Well commented code.
- Layered PSD Included.
- CSS based Navigation.
- Multiple Color schemes
- Font Awesome
= V1.0 - 17.07.2013 = * Initial Release


text:
Herbal medicines are the precursors of many common drugs prescribed in clinical
practice in modern western industrial countries today. Further, herbs and
herbal products are still an important part of the primary health care systems
in many parts of the world--in countries such as China and Mexico, and throughout
South America and Africa. Common use and interest in herbal medicine is
also growing in some industrial countries such as the United States and
Germany. Throughout recorded history, some of the same herbal medicines
commonly used today were recognized and prescribed by ancient doctors--handed
down from unknown antiquity.
One such plant was called agnos by the ancient Greeks, over 2,000
years ago; then agnus castus throughout the middle ages and renaissance.
Today one can still buy these small spicy fruits in European herb markets
by the same name.
The ancients ascribed many magical powers to this plant, and it was considered
an important healing herb among the common people during the following centuries.
Throughout Europe, where herbal medicine has more of an unbroken tradition
than it does in the United States, agnus castus or "vitex" as
it is usually called here, is often used to help relieve the symptoms associated
with female hormonal imbalances such as the depression, cramps, mood swings,
water retention and weight gain associated with the menstrual cycle (PMS-associated
symptoms). In European herbalism and medical practice, Vitex extracts are
also prescribed for uterine fibroid cysts and to help alleviate the unpleasant
symptoms of menopause.
The lack of modern controlled studies is surprising, given the herb's extremely
long history of use as a hormone balancing remedy and a legendary remedy
to help subdue excited libidos among those who would remain chaste. Identification
and standardization of active constituents still await interested researchers.
This work may be soon forthcoming given the current re-awakening of interest
in this ancient herb.
Botany and Natural Occurance of Chaste Tree
Vitex, a genus from the Verbenaceae, consists of about 60 species
in the tropics and subtropics in both hemispheres. Vitex agnus castus
is in the vervain family (Verbenaceae) and is a well-known aromatic shrub
to small tree growing in the Mediterranean area to western Asia. The plant
has long spires of pale lilac or rose colored flowers and small grey-brown,
hard fruits, which is the part used medicinally. It is often found growing
next to streams, and it loves water, but this author has seen it growing
in very dry, rocky spots on the Greek islands.
Vitex usually grows from three to nine feet tall, but under cultivation
can develop to 20 feet tall. The bark is white-felted, the opposite leaves
are palmately compound with 5-7 leaflets. The flowers are in interrupted
spikes and the corolla is two-lipped from 6-9 mm long. The fruit is a small hard reddish-black drupe with a persistent calyx.
Because agnus castus is native to Greece and Italy, it was well-known by
the ancients. The name Vitex comes from the Romans, perhaps because
it was considered related to the willow, Salix--both because of its
leaves and its flexible branches, used like willow in wickerwork. Agnus-castus
comes from the Greek agnos castus, chaste, because the plant has
since those times been associated with chastity. Pliny, the Greek natural
historian (AD 23-79) wrote that the Greeks called it lygos, or agnos
because the "Athenian matrons, preserving their chastity at the
Thesmophoria, strew their beds with its leaves."
Linnaeus described the plant as Vitex agnus castus in Species
Plantarum (1753), naming De Plantis Epitome of Mattioli (1586),
Royen's Florae Leydensis Prodromus (1740), Gronovious' Flora Virginica
(1739-47) and Bauhin's Theatri Botanici (1623) as the authorities.
Bauhin called it Vitex latiore folio.
History of Use and Folklore


text:
WORCESTER — The Telegram & Gazette has launched a new initiative called Worcester Connects — The Center for Community Engagement, which consists of a website, speaker series and other programs.
The initiative hopes to bring "together people, ideas and solutions to shape the future of Worcester County," according to Averil Capers, who has been named director of the center. Ms. Capers is also the director of marketing and research for the T&G.
The center will focus on six main topic areas, Ms. Capers said. They are business, community, education, culture, faith and health care.
A main component of the center is its website, www.WorcesterConnects.com, which will serve as a platform for an idea and information exchange. The site is populated with commentary and opinion pieces that community leaders have written. The public is encouraged to post their thoughts as well, and all must register with their first and last name to do so.
"This will allow for a higher level of discourse among those posting and commenting," Ms. Capers said.
Among the leaders, called "Community Connectors," who will be contributing to the site are: Timothy P. Murray, president and chief executive officer of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce; Linda Cavaioli, executive director of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts; the Rev. Clyde D. Talley, pastor of Belmont A.M.E. Zion Church; and Juan A. Gomez, president and chief executive officer of Centro Las Americas.
Others Community Connectors represent higher education, local government, the arts and the business community.
Fallon Community Health Plan has signed on as a visionary sponsor of the initiative.
Publisher Bruce Gaultney said he sees the center's effort to encourage more community engagement as a logical extension of the newspaper's traditional role in encouraging debate on local topics.
A cornerstone of Worcester Connects is a Distinguished Speaker Series at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. It will begin on Nov. 6 with former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Other speakers early next year include Dr. Benjamin Carson, Dee Dee Myers and Geoffrey Canada. (Tickets are available only as a subscription package now, but will be sold for individual speakers closer to the date of each talk.)
The Telegram & Gazette will gauge Worcester Connects' success by the number of registrations and returning visitors, the nature of the dialogue on the site and, ultimately, Ms. Capers said, "seeing positive changes take place in Worcester from those types of conversations and sharing of information."
Allen Fletcher, former owner of Worcester Magazine, visited the Worcester Connects website and described it as "somewhere between the blogosphere and Facebook."
"I think the question is, Would I use it? And my answer is an emphatic maybe," he said. "It seemed to be a community of people who probably have influence on the community… There are probably things that I'd like to grab them and shake them by the lapels about… This is the perfectly appropriate forum for that."
Worcester Connects is not a common model in the newspaper industry. Other cities, like Springfield, have speakers series aimed at civic dialogue, but Springfield's is free and not affiliated with the local newspaper. The World Company, a news organization in Lawrence, Kan., has WellCommons.com, a partnership with a local hospital that combines journalism and social media around health issues, but WorcesterConnects is separate from the Telegram & Gazette's news content.
Rick Edmonds, media business analyst and leader of news transformation at the Poynter Institute in Florida, said, "It may be that a sort of a special-purpose site that's different from the news site is a way to build audience and build engagement with the community."
Worcester Connects is giving the newspaper a chance to highlight other connections it has with the community, too, such as a course on urban journalism taught by Clark University and Nichols College faculty right in the newsroom.
The course was taught for the first time last year and is continuing this fall.
Worcester Connects on Twitter
Worcester Connects on Facebook
Contact Jacqueline Reis via email at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @JackieReisTG.


text:
Open Thread: Friends and Family and Everyone Else
Here's a place to talk about the relationships in your life whenever you want.
I love the Original House of Pancakes -- with my parents, or us holy-ghosters after church, or some fellow-revelers after a hangover-worthy night, or my little niece and cousins who deserve a nicer breakfast than an Egg McMuffin. But … for a date?
I have a friend who had a man take her there for their first date. They are not in college. And, he took her on a Sunday afternoon after all the churches let out … now, you know.
This friend and I both survived the University of Chicago. We are both first-generation college students who became first generation graduate students to insure that generations after us would not carry such an ironically noble and conflicted award; we have both traveled the world on our own dimes; we both have mastered another language … Français pour être précis; we are both expected to mine the black holes of our psyches to write for a living; we both chose self-directed professions that mostly require discipline and determination as fuel; we both recognize "A Love Supreme" or "Satin Doll" or "Gershwin" within a couple of bars; we read philosophy; we write it; and, we definitely love pancakes with plenty of butter and syrup.
We could have stayed up working all night then needed to brave the two-hour wait at IHOP on a weekend day just to refuel again. But, as grown ladies on a date?! No.
After her narrative of this waste of an afternoon was over, I recalled my unfortunate episode, once colliding with a man nearly 20 years my senior who led me to believe he was only 10 years such.
He met me shortly after my 2nd novel debuted in 2008. He never bought (let alone read) that one or the first. He begged me out to eat often (ranging from sushi to Boston Market), texted me decent but fairly common poetry, paraded me around his musician friends as his "girlfriend" after a few days, gave exclamation to all my color-coordinated and accessorized outfits, talked my ear off about his music dreams and projects, sang my loathed and familiar so-called compliment of "Chooocolate" on a daily basis, and certainly made a show of circling my body whenever I wore a dress so he could admire my derriere and "them hips!" (His guy friends gave thumbs up to the hips.)
But, he never perused my bookshelf to initiate conversation on one of the nearly 2,000 books I stock. He never asked about one art piece I collected. He never asked to read anything I was writing on my computer, often as he sat nearby in impatience.
If I mentioned a country I had visited, he did not request to see pictures. When I discussed my college memories, he grew mute. The irony of this was he met me in Starbucks while I was banging out an article for a classic film website. He could not say he did not know.
Soon, I learned that "full-time" musician and concert organizer meant showing up later at friends' shows asking to play for a second, and then going to the public library to "network" on Facebook and Myspace the next day. It meant driving a few friends to their more regular gigs before they arose at 5 a.m. to stand in line for Ford factory applications.
My father was a factory worker, so that was not it. It was the misrepresentation that we had a career and life experience in common. It made me wish I was a nurse. Then, he would have known better to have thought we might be a match.
But, that writer and thinker thing … there really is no context for most people as to what that means. He once wanted me to take him to a poetry slam and sign up for "Open Mic" so he could see what I did. I had to politely explain I was not a good poet.
One fine day, he overstayed his welcome in my home (overnight) after yet another attempt to prematurely bed me before I could verify his age, address, income source, and origins through that process formerly known as "dating" (or "courting," or "getting to know you," if you will).
I was determined to carry on with my day — which included cleaning my kitchen before taking a break to watch Jeopardy! As a Black historian, I had extensive knowledge of virtually any blues artist he named to me (he played the harmonica).
I had a themed library in every room of my home, including my bathroom he had insisted on marking his territory with a shower within that very morning. But, he heard me answering 3 out of 5 questions correctly on Jeopardy! and he grew pale, buck-eyed, stiff, and anxious.
You would have thought I had transformed from the cool, sexy, "Chocolate" chick he was trying to bed into a ghost come up from Hades. Or maybe Reagan, the sad character Linda Blair played in "The Exorcist": possessed by a devil, speaking foreign tongues I should have never heard, giving information I could not have known, taunting, strange, and dangerous. I went from sexy to discomforting.
When I was in junior high school, I was comfortable with and actually honored to make peoples' day in "Around the Way Girl" ways. I flashed my smile often, showed I could snake with the best of them, threw on my FUBU outfit for the basketball games, and rapped along to Kid-n-Play or Will Smith on Video Soul.
But I turned down my Mozart when friends knocked. I did not invite the Pep Club to my piano recitals. I kept my obsession with the Sophocles' tetralogies to my closet intellectual self. I closed our front door when the family studied the Bible.
For my peace of mind, I thought it best to fit the "norm"; popularity balanced my nerdier pursuits. But adulthood becomes a self-selecting world. I have discovered that it is still difficult to select a world around me where "Smart Black Woman" is just as celebrated and comforting as "Strong Black Woman."
My Black female friends and I are anything but "typical." For all of us, education has been a fundamental core value. The term "Domestic Goddess" is a natural descriptor that anyone who tastes our food or enters our home experiences. The world is our oyster, and we travel it often.
A conversation with any one of us is as significant a pleasure as winning (or losing) at Trivial Pursuit. We want Tupac Shakur to come back to life. We love Meryl Streep as much as we love Nia Long. We are not racist. We remain steadfast and committed to our families and communities.
And, most essentially, we are kind and diplomatic women who give others freedom to express themselves, exhibit genuine interests in others' interests, and fit in very well to environments beyond our owns.
Yet, we remain ensconced by and encased within a world that is more likely to view us as that banshee-yelling-at paternity-tests and referees on daytime talk shows, or as that helpless dysfunctional problem to be solved (or saved) within impoverished and violent environments, or that half-talented songstress whining catchy hooks for the booty-shaking crowd, or that distressed foreign woman in dire circumstances of need, or that "angry" and "mad" thing …
These gentlemen I have discussed here are a part of this world -- and they were Black and educated themselves. When we have dated men of other races who relate to our minds, we suffered dirty looks in our own communities.
Bad dates are not unique to Black women. All women experience this fact of life. But for other women, the "bad dates" occur at sophisticated venues where the grievances hover more in the realms of personality incompatibility, or crudeness on the part of the male, or the poor guy's awful choice of tie.
For Black women, another dimension to this fact of life usually contributes to our unique tales: We are stricken with the heavy task of overturning stereotypes that demean the experiences we ought to have in this world.
My observations are not original. That is the problem. They have been discussed, ad nauseam, by writers and cultural critics the world over. Most people would fail this quiz:
• Did you see a Black woman wearing glasses or reading a book on TV this week?
• Did you actually see a Black woman at work -- in her office, at a meeting, negotiating a contract, or delivering a monologue -- on any one of the sitcoms that claim to portray Black people in a more positive and progressive light?
• Did you see a film where a Black man, or any man for that matter, chased a Black woman down for her love -- betwixt winning conversations and memorable lines?
• Have you watched a Black female commentator or expert, outside of discussions on violence or community ills or politics, win an intellectual spar this week?
For those of us who flow into our own recipes, we exist in a state of arrested development that silences us outside of a very narrow group of people.
It is troubling to see shock on wait staffs' faces or amusement on grocery clerks' faces when we pronounce "foie gras" or inquire where the tahini sauce is. I once had to ask a White man at a party to move away from me; he was visibly shocked that I not only knew who National Book Award winner Joan Didion was, but that I was actually reading her latest book.
I went from relaxing to thinking: How could a woman assembled at a gathering of writers, professors, teachers, and artists not know who Joan Didion is? Oh, I am Black.
To some extent, the heart of this matter is that my girlfriends and I have crossed paths with close-minded individuals. But at this stage of our lives, what filtration process must occur before we can guard our steps against even tip-toeing near such paths?
Will we sell out if we flee off to the suburbs or Europe? Are we that needed here, in urban Americas, to explain ourselves to no avail? For no one ever wishes to be a role model.
It usually happens naturally by way of striving for a model -- and we have had great ones. So, what is a smart Black woman to do when she arrives there -- but she better pour syrup like Aunt Jemima on first dates or lose her voice when Jeopardy! is on?
Reprinted with Permission from Clutch.