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by Jamie Buckingham
Dear Bonnie:
Your call from Tulsa, Okla., telling us that you are expecting your first baby has filled the old home place with joy. Your mom—and your brothers and sisters—are ecstatic.
You could tell, of course, when Robin grabbed the phone and started squealing. I believe she's more excited over your "good news" than over the birth of her own two children. What do I feel? Well, while the rest of the family is back in the kitchen celebrating, I have withdrawn to my quiet place back here in my study to think—and remember. I'm proud of you and Marion.
During your two years of marriage, you have proved yourselves hard workers and able managers. Marion has a great future ahead, and you are, already, an outstanding artist and illustrator. Thus when you announced, several months ago, that you wanted to have a baby, I knew it would cost you something. Choosing a baby over a career is a difficult decision. You and Marion are earning good salaries.
That will be chopped in half when you stop work—while your expenses will increase, But yours is the finer decision. Your mom and I are proud you have chosen a baby over money. There are, in the lives of most women, three significant times. They are menstruation, marriage and childbirth.
The first time begins at the marvelous moment when a girl's body announces she is no longer a child—but has become a woman. For some girls this is terrifying. They have not been taught that their body is fearfully and wonderfully made. They do not know that the sign of blood is not a signal of death, but the heralding of a new age—that the menstrual cycle is not a curse but the signal her body is now capable of bearing new life.
I realize, as a man, I've never had to go through the monthly bloating and cramping caused by the menstrual period. I remember, too vividly, all those times during your teen years when I would hear you moaning in the night. I would go into your room and spend long hours sitting on the side of your bed, rubbing your back and praying.
I suffered with you, sweetheart. I know it was painful. The missed days of school. The times of aloneness, hurting upstairs in your bedroom or lying on the sofa with a heating pad. Not all women suffer as severely. But you, and your mom, know the agony of such pain. I was first exposed to all this when your mom and I were dating back in high school.
I knew almost nothing of female anatomy, and could not understand her monthly cramps, remember a long trip home from college our sophomore Thanksgiving. We were in the back seat of a friend's car, traveling through south Georgia and north Florida.
Your mom, who was then wearing my engagement ring, was in severe pain. She lay across my lap, moaning and wetting my trousers' leg with her tears, while I rubbed the small of her back and felt totally helpless. It seems I've been rubbing backs ever since—hers, yours and your two sisters'.
But out of those times of agony, your mom gave birth to five wonderful children who have all grown up to love the Lord and honor their parents. You were the third conception. You are the product of her pain—not only in childbirth, but in those earlier years as she got ready.
Now, sweetheart, you, too, are pregnant. You and Marion, in love, have joined together to create another life. There will be more pain as the baby is born, but it will all be forgotten in the glory of the miracle, Thus the other two stages of woman's life are inexorably bound to that first significant event of emerging adolescence.
They are the times for which every woman is created—marriage and childbirth. Even though a woman may never marry, or marries and remains childless, the yearning to mate and reproduce remains. And many confess they are less than complete until these moments are achieved.
You, though, have been blessed with a wonderful, loving, God-fearing husband. Now you are blessed with pregnancy—the time when a woman achieves her greatest physical beauty. From the time you were conceived to this pending moment of birth, God has been preparing you to create new life.
That is the reason you are such a fine artist. You love to take nothing and turn it into something beautiful. That is what you and Marion have done. You have taken common sperm and ordinary egg and put them together in love. The result is the new life which grows in your belly.
It is a marvelous picture, Bonnie, of what Christ has done for us. The blood of Jesus is the central issue of our salvation. Some look upon blood as ugly, but it is the blood which makes us capable of reproducing. Ahead of you lies the greatest fulfillment of human experience.
Although the male is spared the pain of the menstrual cycle, yet he is also denied the honor of creating new life in his body—and the ultimate joy of giving birth to a living child. And one day, as Christ gave us the mighty Holy Spirit, Out of your inner being will flow new life.
Your mom and I are immensely happy for you. The fact we already have three wonderful grandchildren does not diminish our joy. For you are a special person. You are God's gift to us. And now, you will bear God's gift to you and Marion. So, the old home place is filled today with rejoicing, I, too, am proud.
These tears, which you cannot see, are tears of nostalgia. But your mom and I renew our covenant with you, not only to pray for you and the new life which grows in you. but to stand with you as you take this next wonderful step toward spiritual fulfillment. Afer all, that's what parents—and grandparents—are for.
From 1979 until his death, Jamie Buckingham (1932-1992) wrote the "Last Word" column for Charisma magazine, which originally published this article. He was the editor of Ministry Today magazine at his untimely death in February 1992—more than 20 years ago.
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The Crew will make its first-ever trip to Montreal this weekend to face Eastern Conference foe, the Montreal Impact. The Black & Gold opened Crew Stadium for the 2012 season with a 2-0 victory against the Impact back on March 24th. Columbus overpowered a 10-man Montreal after Jeb Brovsky's red card in the 19th minute. Milovan Mirosevic put the Crew on the scoreboard first, scoring his first goal for the Black & Gold with a 30th minute penalty kick drawn by Emilio Renteria. Fellow newcomer Olman Vargas put the nail in the coffin during the 65th minute, powerfully heading home a cross from Shuan Francis on the left flank to beat Impact 'keeper Donovan Ricketts for his first tally as a member of the Crew.
Check out the highlights below:

subset: commoncrawl


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Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by VOODOOXI, Sep 10, 2013.
God, no. It'd be as sad as a Brady Bunch holiday reunion movie.
I know it's kind of fanboyish, but it would be neat to see a miniseries or two-hour special which combines characters from TNG, DS9, and Voyager and introduces us to the adventures of a new cast and crew.
Kicking off a series like that... cool. Ending a series with characters from the other show stealing the spotlight... boneheaded. I'm looking at you TATV.
I'd like to see Worf as captain. A new crew. Old crew can make cameos. New people working on the show.
At first I was thinking it could work like the Perry Mason movies of the 80s/90s but TNG really wasn't very good with 2-parters or movies.
I am so sick of Worf, one of the reasons I no longer buy the TNG novels. There's a point where you can simply use a character too much and after nearly three-hundred episodes and four films, Worf is a character that has been used too much.
Well I haven't read any of the novels and he didn't get much to do in the movies. I'm not tired of Worf.
The writers always got stuck in the "You/he/she/they is/are without honor!" rut that made the character so uninteresting to me.
Worf's an average character, and got the short end of the stick in the movies(cliche lines and comic relief), but he had 11 seasons of regular development, and frankly I think most of his potential has been realized. If there's to be a new series, it shouldn't be centered on him.
I think he had a lot more potential than just the "Honor! Honor! Honor!" we mostly got. (Thanks a heap, Ron Moore.) There were glimpses of some of the potential in some episodes, like when he was willing to let the Romulan captive die much to Picard's dismay, or in "Redemption" when after Kurn told him it was the Klingon way to kill his enemy after his enemy's defeat he told Kurn, "I know, but it is not my way." By the time of the films, they just gave up entirely. A shame, really, as Worf could have been a much more important character in the films.
I'll agree there. Him letting the Romulan die was one of the most "woah!" moments in TNG I can remember. To me Worf was the outsider, who read up on Klingon ways and customs, but at the core never understood how they behaved and adopted human core values no matter how much he projected his Klingon exterior. Had they explored that side more, it would've been cool but yeah... Worf as is, is just a case of overcompensation.
Let's not forget National Car Rental commercials!
Grandma knows best!
You know that Ron Moore wrote your second example, right?
I was going to offer that Worf could only work if they got Ron Moore back to write him....
Yes. There was certainly potential there, but potential that was rarely ever realized as Moore kept writing the Klingons as one-note.
That's true for all the characters, and that's why I'd prefer an animated series as opposed to a live action one.
I think a TNG-like series could be very successful right now.
With modern characters. Not with a bunch of already well-traveled characters in their 60s.
That article was nothing bit a huge pile of wishful thinking and a lack of perspective.
"One movie every few years isn't cutting it for the fans"? Trek is still trying to pull itself together after the doldrums of the Berman years. Is it in better shape than it was pre-2009? Yes. But after a decade+ of oversaturation, can you blame CBS/Paramount for playing it safer at the moment? (Also, Trek did perfectly fine with doing a movie every few years before TNG came along.)
Also, you've got years' worth of reruns and movies, comic books, tie-in novels, and at some point we'll probably see TNG-based fan-film episodes. It's not like there's a shortage of product available. Trek is supposed to be entertainment, not an addiction CBS/Paramount can't keep pace with.
"Most of the cast would come back"? Um...why? They've aged out of the roles and moved on with their lives. I seriously question if they'd honestly want to go back and do it again.
Finally...how would bringing back TNG help the franchise? How would it have any appeal to mainstream audiences at this point? Nobody's ever willing to address this problem. In fact, it's pretty telling that every proposal to "save" Trek amounts to backpedaling and making the franchise a nerd ghetto piece again. I mean, a rebooted version of TNG might be possible (it's the only version of Trek that has enough staying power to hold pace with the original series), but going back and carrying on as if nothing ever ended? That would be a recipe for failure.
Rolling Stone couldn't be more wrong if it tried. If anything, all they did was underscore how dumb the idea really is, and how there's no chance of it ever happening.
They could called it STAR TREK: A FEW GENERATIONS BACK.
In concept, TNG is a fine idea for a theatrical film. They just went and made some really Bad films and killed themselves.
They don't have to, but a handy reasoning is already in place. By the time of nuTNG, the alterations introduced in nuTrek could be even more extreme.
It occurs to me they would also have a chance to do a crossover story or cameo with nuKirk and crew still in their primes while leaving their fates open-ended.
Like spinning off from Avengers to Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on television, maybe nuTrek to nuTNG is the way to take a shot at expanding on the modern franchise. Commit to a year, a dozen episodes or so, see what happens.
If not nuTNG, I suppose there are still less-travelled corners of nuTrek to explore that they'll never find time to do in the films.
I imagine a return of TNG would be like this scene from Ghostbusters 2:
Picard: "Suck in the guts - Engage!"
No thanks. They had a chance to go out on a high note a decade ago and blew it. I would prefer that TNG in the realm of television ended with "All Good Things...". When you don't consider the films, it's a very solid ending.
OP: no.
The world suffered enough of the German disaster with the movies and spin offs.
Separate names with a comma.


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February 18, 2013 Weekly Mexico Intermodal Fuel Surcharge
Announcement Number: IM2013-94
Categories: Domestic Fuel Surcharge,Domestic Mexico,Premium
Posted Date: February 12, 2013
February 18, 2013 Weekly Mexico Intermodal Fuel Surcharge
Effective Date: February 18, 2013
Dear Intermodal Customer:
As information, the Union Pacific weekly Mexico intermodal fuel surcharge is 31.5% for the week of February 18, 2013 - February 24, 2013. This fuel surcharge will apply to Mexico Direct shipments only.
Please refer to the UP website for future publication of our weekly fuel surcharge.
Intermodal Business Team
If you have any questions please contact your Union Pacific representative.


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Big Hurt decides to call it a career
Longtime White Sox star Thomas is 18th on home run list
By Scott Merkin / MLB.com
And his 6-foot-5, 265-pound frame would have been enough for Frank Thomas to earn that nickname. The authority with which he put the bat on to baseball, though, made the moniker even more fitting.
Big Hurt retiresComplete coverage
• Thomas 'at peace'
• Sox to retire No. 35
• Thomas relishes career
• Hall's '14 ballot golden
• Thomas calls it a career
• 500th home run coverage
• Thomas' bio/stats
• Shop for Thomas gear
Big Hurt gallery
Video highlights
Thomas on retirement
Big Hurt retrospective
Full news conference
Network on Thomas
Hurt's 500th home run
Bodley on Thomas
For 19 seasons, Thomas tore apart opposing hurlers with his immense power and keen batting eye to the tune of a .301 average, an amazing .419 on-base percentage, .555 slugging percentage, 521 home runs and 1,704 RBIs. Sixteen of those years came on the South Side of Chicago, so it's only fitting Thomas announced the end to what looks like a Hall of Fame-bound career Thursday night in the same city.
Thomas was in town to receive lifetime achievement recognition from the Comcast SportsNet Sports Awards to benefit the March of Dimes at the Hilton Chicago. The big man told MLB.com a few hours prior to receiving this honor how he was done playing baseball and moving on to other ventures.
"No, I'm done, I'm done," said Thomas, who figures to talk more about his decision during a press conference Friday at U.S. Cellular Field. "I've had a great career. I've had 20 Spring Trainings, 21 Spring Trainings, and I'm happy where I'm at right now.
"Life goes on. I have a 15-month old baby, and I've spent a lot of time with my [four] kids during this last year and a half. I caught up with the time that I missed away from them. I'm really happy. I'm taking care of myself and I feel good."
The 2008 season marked the last time Thomas suited up, hitting .240 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs while splitting time between the A's and Blue Jays. His last truly Thomas-like showing came in 2006 during his first year with Oakland, when he hit .270 with 39 home runs and 114 RBIs.
Even after his injury-plagued struggles in 2008, Thomas felt as if he could contribute during the 2009 campaign but never found any takers on the open market. As he watches friends such as Jermaine Dye go through the same free-agent angst during this offseason, Thomas decided to put baseball behind him.
"I still could play right now, but with this body and I'm 41," said Thomas, who has not officially filed retirement papers. "I can walk away and say I was just as good at the end as I was at the beginning, probably better because I was much smarter.
"It's just one of those things that you can't play forever. I've had time to focus on what my future would be over the last year and a half and I have some interesting things going on. I'm doing well."
Moving into the broadcasting field is one option for Thomas, who received extremely positive reviews for his pregame and postgame work with Comcast during coverage of the Crosstown Showdown last year. Thomas mentioned other business ventures, without going into detail, but ruled out moving into the coaching profession.
"That's not in my future right now, not at all," said Thomas of coaching. "I have other things in my life I really want to do."
A look at the White Sox record book on the offensive end shows Thomas atop no fewer than 12 separate categories, including 448 home runs, 1,466 walks, 1,327 runs scored and 1,465 RBIs. The first baseman/designated hitter joins Jimmie Foxx and Albert Pujols as the only first basemen in baseball history to win back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards, doing so in 1993 and 1994.
He was selected to five All-Star Games, took home four Silver Slugger honors and captured the 1997 batting title with a .347 average. From 1991-97, Thomas drew at least 100 walks, scored at least 100 runs, drove in at least 100 runs, batted at least .300 and launched at least 30 home runs in every year but 1992, when he hit 24 home runs.
Some pundits have termed that stretch as impressive as any for a right-handed hitter in the history of baseball, although Pujols' current numbers might add fodder to that critique. Thomas won't disagree with this particular praise.
"When you get to this point, you have to realize I've had a special, special career," Thomas said. "Thank God I've had a career only a handful could have.
"There's no sadness. I tell people I was blessed to be 41 years old and people were talking about, 'Will you still play?' No, I had a long run, over 23 years involved with professional baseball."
During that time, Thomas' legacy has grown because he went about his work the right way. If not for injuries that left him with 659 at-bats combined between the 2001, '04, '05 and '08 seasons, his already impressive numbers would be even greater.
"I'm happy my career is what it is," said Thomas, who finished with 1,667 walks and just 1,397 strikeouts. "I'm happy to say that Frank Thomas had an incredible career through hard work."
Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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The all-day long festival began at 6:30 a.m. with a pancake breakfast at the middle school cafeteria, sponsored by the Dover Lions Club.
The 5K and 10K race began at 8 and the gates opened at 9 to the public for the festival.
The parade will begin at 10 a.m. west of the football field and travels through the town, ending on the Dover High School campus. Participants are asked to line up in front of the Fine Arts cafeteria at 9:30 a.m. The parade will begin on Water Street, turn left onto Elizabeth Street, and then right onto Market Street until ending at Pirates Loop.
Many of the antique cars entered in the car show will be featured during the parade, along with floats and community members riding horseback.
Entertainment begins at the amphitheater begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by games for kids, pre-teens, teens and adults.
Children's activities include games, bump and jump, pony rides, petting zoo and Jamell the Magician.
Teens and adults have the opportunity to join in the fun during a horseshoe throwing contest, water balloon toss and of course, the annual skillet toss and the log toss. The final game of the day will be the wheelbarrow race.
Along with games, entertainment and vendors, participants can sample homemade goodies and help choose the winner of the Dutch-oven cooking contest. Someone will also be awarded a ribbon and earn the title for baking the best pie in Dover in the second annual Ozark Memories Day Pie Contest.
At 5 p.m. the band boosters will host the annual chicken dinner, during which various junior and senior high bands will perform.


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Fire Capt. Craig Moreau and his wife were driving home last Monday night after a trip to Austin when they came upon an 18-wheeler on fire. Moreau and the trucker, whose brake problems started the fire, tried using a small extinguisher. Moreau said he thought the fire was out, but then noticed the blaze had flared up after crawling under the truck to check.
The firefighter then asked the driver what he was hauling. When he learned it was beer, both men began shaking and spraying cans of beer on the blaze, and the fire was extinguished with no injuries.
n Lots of times I find stuff to point out stupid people or things. Here, I wanted to recognize a western Pennsylvania pizza shop which delivered prescription medicines and other supplies to ill and elderly residents so they didn't have to go outside in the bitter cold.
Tom Wynkoop, owner of Fox's Pizza Den in Ligonier, said he tweeted his offer because his community about 45 miles east of Pittsburgh has a lot of elderly residents. He told those in need to call his cellphone to arrange deliveries of prescription medicines and other products — no strings attached.
That's right: Folks didn't have to order food to get help. "You have to be there for your residents," he said.
Great job, Mr. Wynkoop.
n Staying in Pennsylvania, Authorities said a man stole 12 bottles of hand sanitizer from a hospital so he could mix it with orange juice and drink it for the alcohol it contained.
Lee Ammerman, 51, was been mailed a summons requiring him to surrender Feb. 5 on charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
Police said a UPMC Altoona hospital employee saw Ammerman steal a bottle of sanitizer in October by hiding it in an arm sling he was wearing. They say Ammerman returned to steal more sanitizer twice in December. The hospital is seeking about $80 in restitution. Police said Ammerman acknowledged stealing the sanitizer: "I mix the liquid with orange juice."
n A New Mexico woman whose dog tested positive for cocaine and marijuana is fighting to get the canine back after surrendering the Labrador retriever because of a $2,000 vet bill.
Maddie, 1, showed "strong positive cocaine" and active marijuana traces in urine tests conducted last week by an Albuquerque clinic, which reported that veterinarians saw the dog twitching, shaking and walking with poor balance after owner Arlene Saiz brought her in.
Saiz couldn't pay the vet bill, so she regrettably signed the dog over to the city Animal Welfare Department.
City officials said police found no evidence to file charges against the woman, who said she doesn't know how the animal consumed the drugs.
n Connecticut police are looking for a man who smashed his vehicle into a Newington gas station, swiped a banana from a shelf and ate it before leaving early Wednesday morning. Nothing else was taken.
The store's surveillance video shows a Ford Freestyle backed repeatedly into the store and broke the glass doors, which set off the burglar alarm at about 2 a.m. The man was gone before police arrived.
n I have a confession to make: I still love heavy metal and hair band music from my high school days. So this one caught my attention when I saw the words Whitesnake and homeless.
When police responded to a city business Thursday in Gloucester, Mass., to assist employees with a homeless man, he claimed he was the drummer for the 1980s-era hard rock band Whitesnake.
A quick check of records indicated that wasn't true.
The man was asked to leave an apartment building in the "Still of the Night" when he was found sleeping in the doorway. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation.


text: I know you have been critical of me and DB but it has always been with and honest , educated and also common sense mixed in , but where you have my respect is you do your homework , you listen well , this allows you to punch holes in TCF's story's that are made up as they go , I hope you keep this throughout your life instead of just believing what someone says, Facts are important !!! Its like when we vote because we "think" this is the guy that is for the people and we see 5 yrs later the prices of gas are killing the common man , yet one fact remains when Bush left office gas was a 1.87 a gallon so I ask do the fact show he is really for the people ??


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Well, the big news of the week in Cardinal Nation was Tony La Russa's DUI arrest. I was certainly surprised by that news. I won't condemn the guy, although it's certainly not role-model behavior. I would blame his vegetarianism. He probably didn't eat much for dinner, so a couple glasses of wine put him over the limit.
I note a sharp contrast in media commentators' opinions on this incident here in LA vs in St. Louis. In Friday's Los Angeles Times, T.J. Simers wrote: "According to the Associated Press, when La Russa walked onto the field before the Cardinals' game 'many fans stood and applauded.' Unless they were expressing their appreciation to La Russa for not killing someone while driving drunk behind the wheel, the fans certified themselves idiots, while also giving everyone another reminder how some sports fans consider their sports heroes god-like – no matter what they do." Come on, TJ, "idiots" is a little harsh…and "certified idiots"…geez…
Meanwhile, in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Bill McClellan argued the arrest would probably gain West Coast Tony some respect from local Bud-swilling fans: "So the news was shocking. It's a shame, I said to myself, which is what
a sinner should always say when another sinner stumbles. And I thought,
except for the fact that La Russa probably doesn't have 160,000 miles
on his car, it could have been me."
I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't think Tony deserved a standing ovation for being a drunk driver, but I do think he deserves our forgiveness and "there but for the grace of God go I" understanding. I think he made a good apology in his statement and took responsibility for his actions. The arrest doesn't change my favorable opinion of the man. I happened to meet someone at a pub crawl yesterday who volunteers for Tony's Arf Foundation and attested to what a good guy Tony is and how involved he is in the organization during the off-season. Mindful of this week's news, I made sure to walk home from the crawl.
Read more about it – The Smoking Gun has copies of the police reports.


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Queen Rania Phones Asma al-Assad: First Ladies' PRIVATE Catch-up
Bashar Al Assad's wife, Asma al-Assad to Queen Rania: Our situation is quite excellent and stable; however, we are worried about you over in Jordan. I hope that you can relieve our worst fears and re-assure us.
A report emerging from Amman covered by "Al Quds Al-Arabi" tells a tale of keeping up appearances and tit-for-tat between neighboring (and perhaps jostling) First Ladies.
A Cold Call?
As Jordan shivers through a snow-storm, we catch up with the friendly-cool phone chat between two First Ladies, that threatens to keep the region in a deep freeze. The frosty, cool tone of the call is not far from the surface, as the Lion-ess is giving nothing away.
The wife of the Jordanian Monarch, Queen Rania, was more than mildly surprised (to say the least) by concern expressed by Syria's First Lady, Asma al Assad, for Jordan, earlier this week. This friendly enquiry took place when the Queen consort took it upon herself to check in on her Syrian counterpart on a more personal basis than a political one. Personal, not state, welfare.
An exclusive Jordanian source – with an eye for a good story - reported that Asma al-Assad expressed her concern over Jordan, when she received an isolated, out-of-the-blue call from the Jordanian Palace; the caller none other than Queen Rania.
A Friendly Neighborly concern-call or one-up-ladyship? To chin-wag or to rub-noses?
According to the same leak, Queen Rania had made this courtesy call to Asma Al Assad to reconnect, as well as, naturally, to ask about the conditions and deteriorating situation in Syria.
Mrs. Bashar al Assad instead turned the tables of concern around when she led with her question on the Queen's own state and wellbeing, not before allowing her own controlled response that her (and by the same token Syria's) situation was "excellent" and "stable"; "they had nothing to worry about, thank God." Before rounding up the the conversation, President Bashar al-Assad's British-Syrian wife took pains to point out that the news they were getting from Jordan concerned them, and that they wanted to make sure that everything was alright.
The details of the exchange related in this article beggar belief, if taken at face value. Still, dissembling in times of trouble can be the coping mechanism and saving-face prerogative of many a man or woman in distress. Especially for these chic, rarely ruffled, rather glamorous and poised ladies of state.
The fallout of the First Lady Catch-up
This telling telephone chit-chat in many ways reflects aspects of long-time bickering and tit-for-tat, from the Syrian side especially – that royal and state rumor mills have always implied marked the state of relations between the respective countries' 'couple' heads of states. It also reflects the cold political relations between both sides at this time, complete with the heated mutual suspicion.
Shortly into the Syrian crisis, King Abdullah II was reported to have directly volunteered that, were he to have found himself in Al-Assad's position, he would step down. Perhaps any patronizing undertones taken away from this advice have not been forgotten.
The telephone call which coincided with the Syrian Presidents wife's recent press release was not the only fruitless effort that Jordan had come up against, after attempting in vain to communicate with Damascus, specifically with the Presidential Palace. Prince Hassan Bin Talal, uncle to the King, revealed in a recent televised interview, that his nephew King Abdullah had tried to encourage Bashar al Assad to initiate reform, through telephone conversations. He insinuated that the Syrian side snubbed any Jordanian sympathy.
HM King Abdullah II had revealed that, at the beginning of the Syrian crisis, two telephone conversations took place, between himself and the Syrian President, advising the latter to open up politically. He then sent him an envoy, Dr. Khalid Al Karaki, a former Royal Court Chief, to helpfully outline Jordan's experience with the formation of the "National Dialogue Committee", to him.
These calls did not lead to much, nor could they arrive at any understanding. However, close sources to the Jordanian government spoke to Al Quds al Arabi revealing that several attempts on the part of Amman, to contact the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad have been disregarded.
There has been an intrigue mounting on the mostly silent First Lady of Syria, such that any news leaked on her perspective or position (including emotional state) at this time are of remarkable interest, as the case starts to get unavoidably personal.


text:
Xiaomi continues to sell more than Apple in China, Samsung and Lenovo still at the helm
16 Comments
1. xperiaDROID (banned) (Posts: 5629; Member since: 08 Mar 2013)
Go Xiaomi!
2. fireblade (Posts: 717; Member since: 27 Dec 2013)
And Apple's current position in China was helped by people who want to show off their status that they can buy the expensive iphone. The 16 GB version costs $872 there.
8. Arte-8800 (banned) (Posts: 4562; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)
What a Ripoff
A subpar app launcher phone with a Apple logo stamped on costs that much Wth
A mid end device and 2 years old spec phone
10. SleepingOz (unregistered)
I've been in Beijing since last Sep and what I can say so far is that most of the chinese people are mindless sheeep.
16. joey_sfb (Posts: 6794; Member since: 29 Mar 2012)
What a racist remark! Please read the article again. Apple phones are not so hot in China.
I being to Beijing, most people use their home grown brands Android phones with super big screen.
3. sipha (Posts: 439; Member since: 12 May 2012)
18%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 10%, 8%
now thats the sh*t i like right there!!
= a good competitive market
4. Gamas_K (Posts: 71; Member since: 02 Nov 2013)
People in china buy iphone because they want to show off, like in indonesia.. 16 gb iPhone 5s here cost around US$950 here and people buy it only because it has apple logo at the back
5. ihavenoname (Posts: 1693; Member since: 18 Aug 2013)
No suprise really. Apple has lead on high-end market, but especially on markets like China low- and mid-range phones are the hot stuff. If Apple just would cut the 5C price, IMO to $400.
7. aksa123 (Posts: 345; Member since: 30 Jan 2014)
iPhone gets backed up by ChinaMobile, so it's cheap but with contract.
6. StraightEdgeNexus (Posts: 3689; Member since: 14 Feb 2014)
Wut? Apple was at 3rd position in china. So those seemingly "budget conscious" people indeed sold babies to buy iphones....
9. Arte-8800 (banned) (Posts: 4562; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)
And kidneys
11. whburling (Posts: 14; Member since: 08 Apr 2014)
yes.....competition does lead to reduced whole phone innovation as innovation is not linear (can not be willed along a rationale course) and hence more manufacturers does enhance the probability of new concepts being implemented. On the other hand, fewer manufactures does not necessarily mean phone technology development does not grow; phones are reliant on component level innovation and that will continue and hence phone functionality will continue to improve at or near the current level even with fewer phone (not component) manufacturers.
As I have repreatedly stated on this website, phones, as we know them, will no longer exist as soon as technology develops that elminates the need for physical touch and for physical displays that are hand held. Retina or eyeglass displays and sensors that detect body movement from large to small finger level tremors will result in ultra small general purpose computers displacing phones. Aesthetics, as a market driver, will give way to functionality as a market driver.
Apple's market hold is due partly to aesthetics and partly to simplicity (by removing choice which reduces the complexity associated with learning and decision making). I contend that the aesthetic component will end (although remenants might remain if eyeglass displays win the visual component race) and hence Apple's dominance due to this factor will cease to exist.. Apple will also cease to maintain market share due to simplicity as soon as O/S manufactures make it easier to dial in the degree of control one wishes to face in operating their device at any given moment. That moment will exist and soon as O/S manufactures realize they are in the battle for their lives at this very moment. Rather than create hierarchical methods of hiding control, I suggest the current trend of "styles" (each offers increasing access to control with associated complexity), where styles are changed at whim will end up displacing Apple
12. StraightEdgeNexus (Posts: 3689; Member since: 14 Feb 2014)
Tl;Dr version please
13. number29 (Posts: 185; Member since: 25 Jan 2013)
"That's a godsend for consumers, but it might cost us the current diversity in products somewhere down the line."
That's why it's only a godsend for those who are too short sighted to see the writing on the wall. We've seen it in the Windows PC market and we're seeing it now in the Android market.
14. sbfalex (Posts: 29; Member since: 25 Jan 2013)
please get your facts straight phonearena or the source this article was obtained... china telecom has been selling iphones for the past 3, 4 years and it's the smallest of the 3 major carriers in China... The largest carrier in China is China Mobile and that's the one that recently started selling iphones...


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Drugs & Medications - Abilify intramuscular
Abilify intramuscular
Common Brand Name(s): Abilify
Abilify intramuscular Warnings
There may be a slightly increased risk of serious, possibly fatal side effects (such as stroke, heart failure, fast/irregular heartbeat, pneumonia) when this medication is used by older adults with dementia. This medication is not approved for the treatment of dementia-related behavior problems. Discuss the risks and benefits of this medication, as well as other effective and possibly safer treatments for dementia-related behavior problems, with the doctor.
Abilify intramuscular Uses
Aripiprazole injection is used for the short-term treatment of agitation that occurs with certain mental/mood disorders (such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder). It is given by injection when quick relief of your symptoms is needed or when you are unable to take the medication by mouth. When you are able to take it by mouth, your doctor will change this medication to a form that can be taken by mouth.
Aripiprazole is known as an antipsychotic drug (atypical type). It works by helping to restore the balance of certain natural chemicals in the brain (neurotransmitters). This medication can decrease hallucinations and improve your concentration. It helps you to think more clearly and positively about yourself, feel less nervous, and take a more active part in everyday life. Aripiprazole can treat severe mood swings and decrease how often mood swings occur.How to use Abilify intramuscular
Read the Medication Guide provided by your pharmacist before you start using aripiprazole and each time you get a refill. If you have any questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
This medication is given by slow injection, deep into a muscle, by a health care professional. The dosage is based on your medical condition, response to treatment, and other medications you may be taking. Be sure to tell your doctor and pharmacist about all the products you use (including prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and herbal products).
Another injection may be given if agitation continues, usually no sooner than 2 hours after the first injection. If continuing treatment is needed, your doctor should switch you to a medication taken by mouth as soon as possible.
Tell your doctor if your condition persists or worsens.
Abilify intramuscular Side Effects
See also Warning section.
Dizziness, lightheadedness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, tiredness, excess saliva/drooling, blurred vision, weight gain, constipation, and trouble sleeping may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor or pharmacist promptly.
To reduce the risk of dizziness and lightheadedness, get up slowly when rising from a sitting or lying position.
Remember that your doctor has prescribed this medication because he or she has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects.
Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including: fainting, mental/mood changes (such as increased anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts), trouble swallowing, restlessness (especially in the legs), shaking (tremors), muscle spasms, mask-like facial expression, seizures, signs of infection (such as fever, persistent sore throat), trouble controlling certain urges (such as gambling, sex, eating or shopping).
This medication may rarely make your blood sugar level rise, which can cause or worsen diabetes. Rarely, very serious conditions such as diabetic coma may occur. Tell your doctor right away if you develop symptoms of high blood sugar, such as increased thirst and urination. If you already have diabetes, be sure to check your blood sugars regularly. Your doctor may need to adjust your diabetes medication, exercise program, or diet.
This medication may rarely cause a condition known as tardive dyskinesia. In some cases, this condition may be permanent. Tell your doctor right away if you develop any unusual uncontrolled movements (especially of the face, mouth, tongue, arms, or legs).
This medication may rarely cause a very serious condition called neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). Get medical help right away if you have any of the following symptoms: fever, muscle stiffness/pain/tenderness/weakness, severe tiredness, severe confusion, sweating, fast/irregular heartbeat, dark urine, signs of kidney problems (such as change in the amount of urine).
A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is rare. However, get medical help right away if you notice any symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, including: rash, itching/swelling (especially of the face/tongue/throat), severe dizziness, trouble breathing.
This is not a complete list of possible side effects. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.
In the US -
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at www.fda.gov/medwatch.
In Canada - Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345.
Abilify intramuscular Precautions
See also Warning and Side Effects sections.
Before using aripiprazole, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or if you have any other allergies. This product may contain inactive ingredients, which can cause allergic reactions or other problems. Talk to your pharmacist for more details.
Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist your medical history, especially of: problems with blood flow in the brain (such as cerebrovascular disease, stroke), blood clotting problems (such as hemophilia, low platelets), diabetes (including family history), heart problems (such as low blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure, irregular heartbeat), nervous system problems (such as dementia, NMS, seizures), obesity, low white blood cell count (including history of low white blood cell count caused by medications), swallowing problems.
This drug may make you dizzy or drowsy or cause blurred vision. Do not drive, use machinery, or do any activity that requires alertness or clear vision until you are sure you can perform such activities safely. Avoid alcoholic beverages.
This medication may make you sweat less, making you more likely to get heat stroke. Avoid doing things that may cause you to overheat, such as hard work or exercise in hot weather, or using hot tubs. When the weather is hot, drink a lot of fluids and dress lightly. If you overheat, quickly look for a place to cool down and rest. Get medical help right away if you have a fever that does not go away, mental/mood changes, headache, or dizziness.
Older adults may be more sensitive to the side effects of this drug, especially seizures, drowsiness, confusion, tardive dyskinesia, swallowing problems, and other serious (rarely fatal) side effects. (See also Warning section.) Drowsiness and confusion can increase the risk of falling.
Before having surgery, tell your doctor or dentist about all the products you use (including prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and herbal products).
During pregnancy, this medication should be used only when clearly needed. Babies born to mothers who have used this drug during the last 3 months of pregnancy may rarely develop symptoms including muscle stiffness or shakiness, drowsiness, feeding/breathing difficulties, or constant crying. If you notice any of these symptoms in your newborn especially during their first month, tell the doctor right away.
Since untreated mental/mood problems (such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) can be a serious condition, do not stop taking this medication unless directed by your doctor. If you are planning pregnancy, become pregnant, or think you may be pregnant, immediately discuss with your doctor the benefits and risks of using this medication during pregnancy.
This medication passes into breast milk. Breast-feeding while using this drug is not recommended. Consult your doctor before breast-feeding.
Abilify intramuscular Interactions
Drug interactions may change how your medications work or increase your risk for serious side effects. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor's approval.
A product that may interact with this drug is: metoclopramide.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking other products that cause drowsiness including alcohol, antihistamines (such as cetirizine, diphenhydramine), drugs for sleep or anxiety (such as alprazolam, diazepam, zolpidem), muscle relaxants, and narcotic pain relievers (such as codeine).
Check the labels on all your medicines (such as allergy or cough-and-cold products) because they may contain ingredients that cause drowsiness. Ask your pharmacist about using those products safely.
Abilify intramuscular Overdose
If someone has overdosed and has serious symptoms such as passing out or trouble breathing, call 911. Otherwise, call a poison control center right away. US residents can call their local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call a provincial poison control center. Symptoms of overdose may include: very fast heartbeat, loss of consciousness.NOTES:
Laboratory and/or medical tests (such as blood sugar, weight, cholesterol/triglyceride levels) may be performed from time to time to monitor your progress or check for side effects. Consult your doctor for more details.MISSED DOSE:
Not applicable.STORAGE:
Not applicable. This medication is given in a hospital or clinic and will not be stored at home.
Information last revised July 2016. Copyright(c) 2016 First Databank, Inc.
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
IMPORTANT: About User Reviews on RxList
RxList is part of the WebMD Health Network. The opinions expressed in the WebMD User Reviews are solely those of the User, who may or may not have medical or scientific training, and do not represent the opinions of WebMD. These member reviews have not been reviewed by a WebMD physician or any member of the WebMD editorial staff for accuracy, balance, objectivity, or any other purpose except for compliance with our Terms and Conditions. Some of these opinions may contain information about uses of the drug products that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. WebMD does not endorse any specific product, service or treatment.
WebMD User Reviews should not be considered as medical advice and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your physician or other qualified healthcare provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your care plan or treatment. WebMD understands that reading individual, real-life experiences may be a helpful health information resource but they are never a substitute for professional medical advice from a qualified healthcare provider.


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Mike Maroni's Spaghetti and Meatballs
Serve the meatballs and sauce with a hefty serving of pasta. Mike's secret trick was to put sauce on the noodles, lift the noodles to allow the sauce to sink to the bottom and then top with meatballs and more sauce.
Note: When meatballs are done, add them to the Maroni sauce and simmer for 30 minutes before serving.
Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe [1]
From Mike Maroni on Throwdown with Bobby Flay [2]
1 pound ground chuck
4 ounces dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
4 ounces whole milk
6 ounces grated Romano
3 ounces grated Spanish onion
2 ounces finely diced fresh garlic
2 ounces finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 ounces finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
- Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
- Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!
Maroni Sauce [3]
From Mike Maroni on Throwdown with Bobby Flay [4]
6 ounces good olive oil, not extra-virgin
12 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 large or 2 medium Spanish onions, finely diced
2 (28-ounce) cans imported crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper
1 large handful julienned fresh basil leaves
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add oil.
- Once heated add the finely sliced garlic and onions to the pan.
- Cook over medium heat until soft and slightly brown.
- Next add the canned crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the julienned basil.


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1. Bella is surprised and touched that Charlie put snow chains on her truck because she isn't used to people taking care of her. Later on we know that Renee called Bella hysterical to have her come home yet Renee wasn't in Phoenix. Given all of this what were your impressions of Renee?
I think my impressions of Renee were exactly what Stephenie wanted reader's impressions to be. I felt like Renee was a little crazy, kind of all over the place emotionally, someone who doesn't always think things through.
2. The accident is the first great action scene in the book. Did you get all the details right in your head the first time, or did you realize you missed finer points when Bella thinks about the accident later?
I literally read the scene three times trying to figure out if I'd missed something. The line about his family looking at him with anger, but having no concern for his safety was absolutely telltale for me that something bigger was going on, even though i already knew about the vampire thing.
3. What did you think about Charlie's response to the accident?
Classic Dad!
4. This is the first time we meet Carlisle. What were your first impressions?
He sounds like he's winning the fight in trying to blend in despite being gorgeous. I liked the fact that he had very little reaction to Bella's tale of Edward's daring rescue.
5. Did Edward's cool and even sarcastic comments regarding the accident intrigue you or frighten you?
I kind of thought he was a little bit of a Vulgar Language Is Ugly at this point in the book, I was shouting "just tell her"


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Hey, I'm applying to several schools for my bachelors in programming, and one of the campuses I'm looking at is the University of Washington. Has anyone here attended UW? I'm trying to get a feel for how good it is. What I care about the most is being somewhat challenged, preferably one that focuses more on problem solving over design. I do NOT want a school that spends a month working on "for" loops etc!
Example, I asked some questions to a couple of my friends who are about ready to graduate from some local colleges here in programming: "So what type of object oriented programming did you do?" Answer-> "Uh... well we never really got to object oriented programming..." "Uh, ok, what about algorithms?" Answer->"Oh, you mean like bubble sort? Man that was hard, took our class forever!" This is the type of thing I'm trying to avoid at all costs!


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More than 100 people were arrested at weekend rave in Northern California, mostly for drug offenses and public drunkenness.
Mountain View Police Lt. Chris Hsiung says most of those arrested at the Beyond Wonderland concert were charged with furnishing or using illegal drugs such as Ecstasy, LSD and the stimulant GHB.
The San Jose Mercury News reports police also arrested some people for drunkenness. Others were wanted on outstanding warrants.
Hsiung says no major medical emergencies were reported at the concert at Shoreline Amphitheater, where about 40,000 electronic music fans gathered over two days. On the first day of the rave, there were no arrests, but that number jumped to at least 67 by Sunday afternoon. Mountain View police had stepped-up patrols for the weekend.
Many said they came just for fun - not to get high and into trouble.
"We're just really excited to go in there and dance and listen to all of the music," a man named Curtis said. "It's going to be great."
A man and woman, Alex and Sierra, also said they came to the rave together to just have a goog time.
"I've been going on-and-off for the past like four years, so it's sort of become a lifestyle for us, so it's really cool," Alex said. "We like it a lot."
The Cow Palace in Daly City banned raves three years ago after two concert-goers died from drug overdoses.


text:
LOL Thank you, Croll and Fenella for the information!
Quick question: I live in Canada, and I've heard Pumpkin used as a pet name here, but is it used in England? What are some common pet names parents might give to their kids?
Nora Writes ~ Nora Draws ~ Nora Duels ~ Nora Drabbles ~ Nora Betas
My fabulous Doctor Who banner is by Nadia/majestic_ginny!
Yeah, I think you could used Pumpkin. It might be less common here than in Canada, but I don't think it's unheard of. For other pet names used here, there's quite a lot of variety, and probably regional variation too, so other people might use different things. Ones that spring to mind are Poppet/Moppet, Sweet-Pea, Diddums (lol), Chicky... Of course, things like Sweetie and Honey or Darling could be used just as well if you want something simpler. Oh, and bear in mind that I'm not a parent!
Avvie by majestic_ginny/Nadia. Banner by clabbert2102/Bella. Thank you both!
I write, I drabble, duel, beta and draw,
I am a Hufflepuff to the core!
Do you have in mind a particular area that Hannah's dad is from? Because accent varies depending on which part of the country you're from, as it does everywhere else. If you're using "ken", then I'd say that's a northern/Scottish accent (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but it's rarely heard now. He'd have to be a very traditional man to use that.
The bit that makes it sound Irish is "mam". To stick with a Northern dialect, you can just use "mum" because that's how it would normally be said. Hope that helps a bit!
Ken (= know) is definitely Scots, not Northern English. I'd say knaa. It's the way we talk, tha knaa's?
Mam, may be irish, but it's also northern english and it's busily dying out rom Mrseyside and Yorkshire northwards. Mam is still common in the north, but a lot less than it used to be. However, in Scotland it would be Ma, or even Maw.
If you're interested, many surnames tend to be regional and there is a big cluster of Abbots around Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. I set my Hannah story just north of thar cluster, in Cumbria.
Ma is quite London, actually. Not that my kids call me anything but Mum, but an older generation might say 'Goin' to see me ma' (I'm thinking EastEnders here and my husband) - but pronounced Mar.
Regarding Abbott, there's a grave in Godric's Hollow with that surname on it. Godric's Hollow is South West England (Exmoor etc), so if you want a rural accent from there, then think of Hagrid. Robbie Coltrane may be Scottish, but his Hagrid accent is West Country.
I was wondering if British teens during the Marauder era would have said something like freak out? As in, it freaked me out or you really freaked out... I'm thinking that is very American from that time period, but I'm not sure. I think Austin Powers says it, doesn't he? Anyway, if not, is there a phrase teens would have used when talking about being disturbed by something? Not something horrifying, but more like, I don't know... Lily realizing she really likes James and it freaks her out. That sort of thing.
ETA: Thanks, Carole. That does help.
Hmmm, that's stumped me. You know something, I'm really not sure about the phrase 'freaked out' and have been trying to search around on the net but can't find much. It doesn't sound out of place to me, meaning that if I saw it in a story in the context you've said, then I wouldn't pick on it as anachronistic. It sounds quite hippy-dippy sixties/seventies to me, so Lily could have picked up on it. Whether those who weren't Muggle born would is a different matter.
The best clue, acrually, is Petunia referring to her sister as a freak when she's about to go to Hogwarts. So it's quite reasonable that Lily could think something is 'freaking her out'.
Hope that helps.
The term freak out did originate in the late 1960s. I'm not so sure it would have jumped the pond and then made its way into the wizarding community for the Maruaders to use it.
Is anybody familiar with traffic conditions at Charing Cross Road? My characters arrive at the Leaky Cauldron by taxi sometime in the late afternoon or early evening on a Saturday. Would there be a lot of foot or vehicular traffic?
ETA: Thanks Carole. I had a feeling I wrote myself into a corner. I'll just have to find a way to write myself back out of it.
Last edited by tagriffy; 04-21-2013 at 12:06 AM. Reason: Thanking Carole
Charing Cross Road is very busy with both traffic and people. It's one of the main roads in the centre of London, serving Railway Stations, tube stations etc etc.


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(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
By Shannon Carlin
Though Miley Cyrus has never been arrested, she is no stranger to controversy. So in light of Justin Bieber's recent troubles, which now include a Toronto assault charge and last week's arrest in Miami, she's come up with a bit of advice that she thinks will help her friend stay out of trouble.
Related: Watch Miley Cyrus & Madonna's Countrified Duet of 'We Can't Stop'
Last night (Jan. 30) on The Tonight Show, Cyrus told Jay Leno that the best way for Bieber to get back on track, is to hire someone to help him remodel his Calabasas home.
"You've got a lot of money. Pay people to make sure you don't get in trouble and party at your house," she said. "Buy a house, and add a club to it."


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Arugula Pear Salad With Pomegranate Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese
To stand out in a Thanksgiving spread, a salad must be bold and flavorful. Yet it should not compete with the other flavors on the table. Start to finish: 15 minutes. By Alison Ladman, The Associated Press. Makes 10 servings.
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large pears, cored and sliced
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup sliced dried apricots
½ cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground allspice
¼ cup olive oil
10-ounce container baby arugula
4 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine the butter and cinnamon. When the butter has melted, add the pears and saute until they are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cranberries and apricots, then cook for another minute. Set aside off the heat.
In a blender, combine the pomegranate juice, red wine vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, allspice and olive oil. Blend until well combined.
In a large bowl, arrange the arugula. Top the greens with the sautéed pear mixture, then the crumbled goat cheese. Serve the vinaigrette on the side.
Per serving: 190 calories; 90 calories from fat (47 percent of total calories); 10 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 10 mg cholesterol; 25 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 18 g sugar; 3 g protein; 180 mg sodium.
Turkey and Gravy
Start to finish: 2½ to 3 hours. By Alison Ladman, The Associated Press, makes a 12- to 14-pound turkey with gravy.
6 medium carrots, rough chopped
6 stalks celery, rough chopped
3 large yellow onions, quartered
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
12- to 14-pound turkey
¼ cup white wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the carrots, celery and onions in an even layer over the bottom of a large roasting pan.
In a small bowl, mix together the butter, salt and black pepper. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Rub the butter mixture all over the inside and outside of the turkey, making sure to get under the skin, too. To do this, gently lift the skin over each breast with one hand while working the butter under it with the other.
Set the turkey over the vegetables and roast for 2 to 2½ hours, basting the turkey with juices from the pan every 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the oven when the breast reaches 160 degrees and the thigh reaches 170 degrees. If the turkey darkens too much before reaching those temperatures, cover it with foil and continue roasting.
Transfer the turkey to a serving platter, cover with foil, then set a large, thick towel over it to keep it warm.
Remove and discard vegetables from the roasting pan. Place the pan on the stovetop over medium heat (you may need to use more than one burner). Bring the juices to a simmer. Add the white wine and scrape up any browned bits in the pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth and flour. Pour into the pan, whisking continuously. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Strain the gravy, if desired.
Per 6 ounce serving plus gravy: 460 calories; 220 calories from fat (48 percent of total calories); 24 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 200 mg cholesterol; 1 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 56 g protein; 480 mg sodium.
Spicy Cranberry Sauce
This riff on the traditional sauce is especially good on turkey sandwiches the next day. This sauce can be made up to a week ahead. From Kristen Browning-Blas, The Denver Post. Makes about 2½ cups.
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 12-oz package fresh or frozen cranberries
2 tablespoons chopped canned jalapeños
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
½ teaspoon ground toasted cumin
1-2 teaspoons lime or orange juice
Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add cranberries; return to a boil. Gently boil cranberries for 10 minutes without stirring.
Pour into a medium non-metal bowl. Gently stir in remaining ingredients. Place a plastic wrap directly on salsa. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Best if served at room temperature.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Sun-dried Tomato (and maybe a little bacon)
Roast sweet potatoes in the same oven as your turkey, which may be set to a lower temperature. Just cook a few minutes longer.The result? A sweet potato dish even picky eaters will gobble down. By Tucker Shaw, The Denver Post. Serves 4-6 as a side dish.
2 hefty sweet potatoes (about 2½ pounds), peeled and cut roughly into cubes about 1-inch square
2 slices bacon, minced (May also use pancetta, prosciutto, salami, or cooked ham)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt
About ¼ cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (or to taste)
Pinch red pepper flakes
A few toasted pine nuts (optional)
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss together sweet potatoes, bacon (if using), olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread potatoes into a single even layer in oven-proof baking dish. Cover (if it doesn't have a top, cover with aluminum foil) and roast 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil, stir in sundried tomatoes and pepper flakes and cook 10-15 more minutes with the top off, until potatoes are tender and lightly caramelized. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper if you need it, and a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle with pine nuts (if using) and parsley.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Pomegranate Seeds
Roasting brings out the sweetness of Brussels sprouts. From "Seriously Simple Holidays" by Diane Rossen Worthington (Chronicle Books, 2009). This dish can be made a day in advance and reheated. Add pomegranate seeds just before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed (and halved if they are large)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Seasoning salt or coarse kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds for garnish
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Using tongs, evenly coat the sprouts with seasonings and oil.
Roast, turning sprouts once with the tongs, for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. The timing depends on the size of the sprouts.
Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve immediately.
Advance preparation: Make up to 4 hours ahead through the roasting step. Cover and keep at room temperature. Reheat in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes. Add pomegranate seeds just before serving.
Squash Bisque with Roasted Corn Salsa
This soup comes together quickly and even can be prepared a day ahead. To do so, follow the recipe except for adding the cream. When ready to reheat, do so over low heat, then stir in the cream. You also could toast pumpkin seeds and sprinkle some of those over each serving. Or even better — tamari-coated pumpkin seeds. By Alison Ladman, The Associated Press. Makes 8 servings.
2 tablespoons butter
1 large red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 cups cubed butternut squash
2 carrots, diced
1 quart vegetable stock or broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and garlic and cook until tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup of this mixture. Add ginger, butternut squash, carrots and bring to a simmer. Cook until carrots and squash are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
While the soup cooks, make the salsa. In a skillet over high, heat the oil. Add the corn kernels and grape tomatoes and sear until browned, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved onions. Stir in the vinegar, then season with salt and pepper.
When the soup is ready, transfer it, working in batches, to a blender and purée until smooth. Return the puréed soup to the pan and stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with the salsa.
Per serving: 220 calories; 140 calories from fat (64 percent of total calories); 16 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 50 mg cholesterol; 18 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 3 g protein; 100 mg sodium.


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If this is listed elsewhere on board please remove.
R2 and 3PO are running around an electronics store. Very funny.
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Have you seen this yet??
Posted 29 October 2010 - 11:42 PM
Posted 30 October 2010 - 09:08 AM
That was awesome. Where is this store? I want to go there now.
"In an age of fads, copycats, and rapidly changing trends, you have chosen to stand out from the rest and be an individual. We applaud your courage and self-expression. Thanks for being a part of our show today. Don't ever change. The world needs more people with your spirit." - The Citizens of Hollywood
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Carolyn Murphy in Vogue Australia January 2013
Sweet Carolyn: Murphy Shines on the Cover of Vogue Australia
Winter may be settling in across the United States, but Summer's just starting to heat up in the land down under — thanks in part to Carolyn Murphy's January cover of Vogue Australia.
Regan Cameron photographed the blond bombshell for the cover and an editorial in the magazine called "Sweet Carolyn." Vogue Australia's editor in chief said picking Murphy for the cover was a no-brainer. "She's so picture perfect that she's often cast as a mannequin," McCann said, "but as a laid-back keen surfer, she's equally at ease in these luxe, hippie looks."
Elsewhere in the issue, there are interviews with Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga and an essay by Erin Brockovich. For now, a look at the cover and a few images from Murphy's shoot here in the gallery.
Photos courtesy of Vogue Australia.


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A wealthy Doncaster businessman has stepped in to resurrect a landmark building overlooking the town's Victorian cemetery.
Glazing magnate Adrian Welch attended a property auction in Sheffield and bid £10,000 for the Hyde Park Cemetery Lodge, which has been derelict for more than 30 years.
Mr Welch runs his glass and window repair operation form Carr Lane, just across the road from the lodge, which was previously occupied by the cemetery superintendent but has been boarded up for security reasons.
It is believed he intends to renovate the structure and use it as part of his business.
The auction was attended by Richard Bell, chair of The Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery, who said only one other bidder showed interest in the building and dropped out at £9,000.
The agents had hoped it might fetch £25,000.
Prospective buyers were made aware they would also have to fund the repair of the adjacent stone archway, which is leaning and held up by scaffolding.
Mr Bell said: "Adrian has been a keen supporter of the work of the Friends group for several years.
"To have the Lodge and archway restored, and the building back into sustainable use, will greatly improve the appearance of the cemetery's main entrance.
"The incidence of anti-social behaviour at the site has reduced very greatly in recent years, as the Friends have worked in partnership with Doncaster Council to improve the site.
"Having the Lodge occupied will certainly help to continue that trend.
"The Friends look forward to continuing to work with Adrian over the coming years. We have offered him whatever assistance we are able to provide, as he works towards restoring the historic Lodge to its former glory."


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One for the real openers, this ton simply a knock to behold
This was a red letter day for opening batsmen, both accomplished and bog ordinary. Those for whom the only tempting drive is to the nets, and runs are a desirable, but not necessarily obligatory, byproduct of stoic occupation.
A day for those who sneered at the flashy strokeplay of the Chappells and took their lumps like Stumpy Laird. Who could barely disguise their grudging admiration for Boycott and Tavare, even if this attracted schoolyard bullies as surely as a Bay City Rollers T-shirt. Who despaired when sloggers, dashers and show ponies such as Virender Sehwag thrived in a place that was the birthright of the stubborn, the obdurate and the bloody-minded.
Those who, like Ed Cowan, respect old-fashioned values like ''taking the shine off'', ''tiring the bowlers'', ''rotating the strike'' and playing in a manner likely to make you the most irritating bloke on the field. Not easy when Billy Bowden is umpiring.
This is not to underestimate Cowan's talent, or the excellent strokeplay that punctuated his maiden century. Shots that, on Sunday evening, saw his run-rate rise like Mark Cosgrove's pulse rate during a quick single. It is to celebrate the virtues that put Cowan into the position to make his ton. He is, first and foremost, a real opener.
Besides knowing which end of a Gray-Nicolls to grip, Cowan is an irritatingly good writer. Indeed, before this knock, harsh judges might have suggested reading about his innings could be more entertaining than watching them. But against a fine attack on an admittedly flat deck, his coming of age was not drudgery, it was a joy to behold.
The only shame was that Bill Lawry was not in the commentary box - a sentence you don't find yourself writing often. Despite years of self-deprecating banter, the ''corpse with pads on'' was a far better strokeplayer than his modern-day reputation suggests. Between mucking out the pigeon coops, he will have appreciated the blooming of another supposed blocker.
Cowan had a touch of fortune. He was caught from a no-ball and the boundary that took him from 94 to 98 came off his helmet. But when you take the best of the bowling in the worst of the conditions, having spent part of eight hours ducking and dodging at short leg, don't you deserve a nod and a wink from Lady Luck?
Surprisingly, Cowan's was the more impressive contribution to a magnificent partnership forged at either end of Parramatta Road. His father, Richard, celebrated with a quote from Kipling. It is not blatant stereotyping to suggest Michael Clarke's inspiration was more likely to have been the lyrics of Jimmy Barnes. Sport creates more odd couplings than a party at Hugh Hefner's farm.
Glenn McGrath was the best of the bowlers. Who better than the human metronome to critique the performances of two sets of struggling trundlers? The leaked Australian dossier had made the science of bowling seem more complex than quantum physics. McGrath revealed that, in his day, bowling meetings lasted about a minute - the time it took to remind each other to hit the top of off stump. And you thought Pigeon, Dizzy, Bing and Warnie were spending hours dissecting Jung's theory of synchronicity.
As Cowan and Clarke batted the game into an early grave, the meandering play made way for other weighty matters such as the poor attendance. ''It's a thin crowd,'' remarked the ABC's South African commentator Neil Manthorp, before remembering he was in the city of the 24-ounce sirloin. ''Well, there aren't many here.''
Pity for the absentees. They missed a glorious moment for all real openers.
Email- email@example.com
Twitter- @rdhinds
Richard Hinds is the Chief Sports Columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald
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Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by TheGodBen, Oct 16, 2011.
merry christmas
There are 2 different types of creepy. One is when somebody makes you stop and go "errr…. I don't know about this person". This is usually when someone does something socially awkward -- like try to escort someone home even after they've declined. The other kind of creepy makes your skin crawl, because the act itself makes the person seem repulsive.
Let me give you an example. After a date once, a guy asked me if I was going to "run away from him". Creepy thing to say, but creepy in the 1st degree, not second. When you're hit on by a married guy, that's the 2nd type of creepy.
At first glance, Chrysalis seems in character for Julian. But Julian is the first type of creepy not the second.
Season 1 Julian was face palm embarrassing and socially awkward but no worse than many young, nerdy guys I've met. With Melora, it was inappropriate but excusable, because Julian was young, naive, and socially awkward. Also, Melora was a fully mature adult.
With Sarina, it feels more predatory. Julian should know better, especially since he's grown up quite a bit since Melora. A doctor abusing his authority without considering the welfare of his patient who couldn't possibly be emotionally equipped to handle his advances is on a different level than a naive act by someone who is socially awkward.
I think Chrysalis is out of character for Julian. I don't even think early season Julian would do what he did here. But if he did, he would at least learn a lesson about not violating medical ethics. But we know he doesn't, because later he skirts the boundary to get Ezri to talk to him. And the fact he didn't learn the lesson after Chrysalis makes that relatively innocent act seem creepily predatory as well.
Side note: I don't think the writers actually realized that they made Julian creepy.
Merry Christmas!
Influenced by a certain review in your Enterprise thread, I did this:
Merry Christmas
All those times I trolled Youtube searching for bizarre versions of What is Love, and I didn't find this masterpiece? It makes me feel bad that this is the last romance of the week episode.
Wow! I think there's real potential in the premise of Star Trek: Destroyager, someone should do a fanfic.
Review TOS or TNG next if you want to see more romance of the week.
It would have all the best parts of MU Trek: Captain's Wenches, and Lesbians!
...Oh wait, the captain is Janeway.
I was considering doing TNG next, but with an offer like that, I think I'll pass.
Is μChakotay μJaneway's wench? Because I can imagine him wearing nothing but leather straps and with a ball-gag in his mouth, and I get the feeling that a lot of Voyager fans have already fantasised about that scenario.
My theory is Janeway had him castrated after Caretaker. He was looking like he was going to be a dominant and interesting character on that episode alone. Boy did they trick us there.
Oh, don't worry, there's one or two of them that are actually somewhat good. If you do review it, you should count romances of the week. Along with Troi stating the bleeding obvious, Riker coming off as a sexual predator, Picard's speeches, and Worf getting beaten with ease by the alien of the week.
Are you alive? Were you killed by a disgruntled shopping mall Santa Claus?
He's fine. TheGodBen is Irish, and so celebrated Christmas and the New Year in a suitably drunk fashion.
Should be awake for Easter.
Next year.
Hey now, we Irish break our drunken hibernation for St Patrick's Day. It's a holy day, after all.
Actually, the reason why I haven't gotten back to DS9 yet is because I'm watching Archer, which is awesome. There are so many references that I now get that I didn't before. I finally understand why other posters here refer to Captain Archer as Duchess, I thought it was because he was fussy and couldn't fight for shit.
Anyway, I'm almost finished Archer (and just in time for the new season to start) so I should be back to DS9 this week or next.
So you're watching ENT right?
Pfft, Jonathan Archer wishes he was half the man Stirling Malory Archer is.
I think Jonathon Archer just wishes he was half a man to start of with.
Yes... he does.
Which episode of Babylon 5 is that from again?
Once More Unto the Breach (***½)
Klingons are an odd bunch, they appear to be the most beloved of Star Trek's alien species, but it's very easy to get bored with their obsession with honour and bloodshed. As the last of the dedicated Klingon episodes, this episode suffers some for going over old ground, but it does enough differently to be an enjoyable episode. If Soldiers of the Empire was a generic Klingon episode, then this is more like a very special Klingon episode that explores the serious topic of ageing and dementia.
Kor is like the Klingons' version of Kirk, but while Kirk disappointed his admirers by falling off a bridge to save generic cave-dwelling species #238, Kor disappointed his admirers by failing to die. Now he's old and has the Klingon version of Alzheimer's, and he can't get a command of his own any more. Worf agrees to help him without bothering to check if Kor is mentally fit for command, and this results in a bunch of people dying unnecessary deaths. Kor makes a fool of himself in the middle of a battle and gets the date wrong by about a century, causing all the other Klingons to laugh at him. Still, could be worse, he could have developed incontinence as well.
In the end, the message is clear; people with dementia should commit suicide. Not wanting to go the Dignitas route, Kor decides to go out in a blaze of glory by stealing a ship and taking on a small fleet of Dominion vessels by himself. Thus, Kor gets a fitting mythic end that Klingons will sing songs about for generations, and he saved on travel costs to Switzerland.
The episode is good for the most part, but it feels very staged, with some scenes feeling particularly artificial. It was nice to see Kor one last time, and his death was fitting for the Klingon Kirk. It could have done without the b-story though, the sub-plot about Quark being in love with Ezri is just kinda pathetic.
I think it was the B5/ENT/QL crossover special but I could be wrong. Scott Bakula played everyone I think.
I find Once More Unto The Breach a bit boring. It's okay at first when Kor appears, but the rest just kind of meanders away.
I couldn't stand this episode; it made me feel so uncomfortable. I felt bad for Martok, of all people. I can't stand hero worship, especially when I know Kor's going to metaphorically crap his pants later. So I stopped at the scene in the mess hall when that one klingon is getting their nose extra brown, and then Martok walks in.
Same thing happened when Sisko kicks Rom off the team in the baseball episode. I guess I just have too much empathy, or something. I should play more violent video games.
I'm one of those crazy Klingon fans so I really liked this one. I especially like the look into Martok's backstory more than anything else.
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Symitar Claims 35 Core Signings in Fiscal 2013
Thirty-five new credit union clients were signed by the Symitar core processing division in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to Jack Henry & Associates in Monett, Mo.
The San Diego-based core processor said three of the new Symitar Episys core users are billion-dollar credit unions, giving Symitar a total of 76 of the 196 credit unions, or 39%, of that market.
The company also noted a trend toward outsourcing the core, as 18 of the 35 new clients chose that route and another 25 existing clients chose to move from in-house to outsourced delivery, including 12 on the Episys platform and 13 on the CruiseNet platform for smaller credit unions.
Jack Henry & Associates said there now are more than 750 credit unions running on Symitar core processing software.


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Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Melakon, Nov 29, 2012.
And perhaps his shortest guest appearance ever.
If IT was the captain...with that expression, I would transport myself off of the ship...even if there was no planet nearby...
after going back to watch TOS after only vaguely remembering it from childhood, the thing that struck me most is that young shat was bloody attractive
shatgrew, not so much
The expression on Lee Majors' face says it all.
Or, he was thinking, "6 million dollar man? Whatever. I'm married to Farrah, who's probably screwing 6 million other men every day I go to work on this goofy series!"
Judging from that photo with Lee Majors, someone wants us to believe The Shat is over six feet tall.
I had a huge crush on him when I was a young teen and when I went back to TOS years later as an adult I remember thinking I would probably find that kind of amusing. But NO, he was just as gorgeous, if not more gorgeous than I remembered!
That Promise ad has to feature Shatner's worst ever wig.
As for the man himself, generally he's better in early Trek when he's still well respected theatre actor William Shatner rather than The Shat. That's not to say there's not enjoyable stuff later on, it's just the ratio between actually acting and hamming it up shifts more and more towards the later as he goes on.
I don't know if he's ever admitted it, but I really hope around the time he did Rocket Man he was on lots and lots of hardcore drugs. That'd explain it.
There was more than one Promise ad with him too. My first reaction when seeing them in the early 70s was "Oh dear." It was obvious he was having to do them because he needed the money.
Speaking of Mr. Shatner, he will be at the US Navy's decommissioning ceremony for the USS Enterprise on Saturday:
He's not an actor. He's a star.
Really, he long ago decided to play himself playing an actor playing himself. "Free Enterprise" was the best thing that every happened to Shatner. He completely redefined himself.
As for his earlier work, it is absolutely in the style of every other drama on TV at the time. Check out "Bonanza" or "The Big Valley." Almost all shows were broadcast and then rebroadcast only once. That was the expectation, anyway. There was no time for subtleties. The audience needed to be told fast what the story was about.
Is it often hammy now? Sure. But no one, even in the first decade of syndication, ever, ever complained about it. I lived through it all, and while fans complained about certain guests, no one ever criticized the regular cast's performances. Back in the '70s, the most common complaint about Shatner in "Star Trek" was that he was sometimes "fat." (Which I just do not see in TOS. Maybe a few extra pounds, but never fat.)
Here's one for the ladies!
A pre-Trek Bill takes off his shirt in the failed "Alexander the Great" pilot.
And here's a young, slim, and impossibly blond (or is that a bad wig?) Shatner in a 1955 live TV production of Billy Budd.
It does, but that was also his only expression.
I'll see your margarine commercial, and raise you a Loblaw's commercial (Loblaw's is a Canadian supermarket chain):
I have another clip from that show here:
Shatner is a decent actor. There's an interesting clip here where he discusses his method:
By the 1980s theatrical acting was no longer appreciated, and Shatner's reputation had taken a hit because of how pushy he had (necessarily?) been during his lean years. By the 1990s, he took a cue from George Foreman and Leslie Nielson and realized he could reinvent himself. He gave the public what it wanted -- perhaps at the expense of some good performances.
Whatever it must have been like being a co-star of Shatner's, I do distinctly remember all of the TOS cast saying that being DIRECTED by him, in ST V, was completely different. Strictly as a director, he was totally professional and treated the entire cast with 100% respect. There was none of the baggage that came with being a fellow *actor* during the original series.
That being said:
He's so much fun, whether in comedy or drama. Canada's answer to Roger Moore.
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August 2013 In a surprising finding, male rats who used cocaine sired male offspring who later exhibited blunted responses to the drug. Researchers determined the cause was an epigenetic alteration.
August 2013 New research demonstrated that, in rhesus monkeys, ongoing cocaine exposure weakens two brain functions that people require for successful behavioral change: cognitive flexibility and memory. But the study determined that these changes may not be permanent.
July 2013 Researchers found that 1 in 8 high school seniors had used a prescription opioid nonmedically, and 70 percent of these teens had compounded the attendant risk by co-ingesting an opioid with one or more other drugs. Nonmedical opioid use was significantly more prevalent among whites than among African Americans or Hispanics.
July 2013 When the goal is to avoid using alcohol and illicit substances after being released from jail, it's who one's friends are that counts most. Self-control is important because it helps a person have the right kind of friends.
May 2013 The National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse introduced two new members at its May 2013 meeting.
May 2013 A new vaccine hindered the often-abused prescription opioids oxycodone and hydrocodone from entering the brain and suppressed one of the drugs' signature central nervous system effects. The findings warrant continued development of the vaccine as a potential aid in the treatment of oxycodone and hydrocodone abuse and dependence.
May 2013 Men benefit more than women from nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation because nicotine affects a key neuroreceptor differently in the two sexes, a NIDA-sponsored study suggests. The findings highlight the need for alternative therapies for women smokers, and point to the female hormone progesterone as a potential therapeutic target.
May 2013 Forty-seven percent of substance abuse treatment counselors in a national sample left their jobs voluntarily within 3 years.
April 2013 Patients were more likely to take a rapid HIV test when substance abuse treatment programs offered the test onsite rather than referred for offsite testing. Patients were equally likely to accept and learn their HIV status whether the offer of onsite testing was accompanied by 30 minutes of risk reduction counseling or by 5 minutes of brief information on the testing procedure. Onsite testing accompanied by brief information was cost effective, taking into account the projected lifetime costs of treatment and the gains in health and longevity for detected cases.
April 2013 Marijuana-dependent outpatients who were treated with the medication gabapentin in a pilot clinical trial reduced their cannabis use more and reported fewer symptoms of drug withdrawal than patients who received a placebo.


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I'm building my own photo gallery for my website, and my initial plan was to have the following folder structure:
/gallery/ (for the main pics, around 600px wide)/gallery/fullsize/ (for the original, around 1280px wide)/gallery/thumbnails/ (for the 150px wide thumbnails)
They will be organized in a database.
I have most of it working now, and am working on the layout for the main gallery page, BUT when I went to download all the pics from my old photo gallery (which was a Gallery2 install), I noticed that each album has its own folder. Now I'm second-guessing my album design.
What are the advantages of creating separate folders for the different albums? Is it work modifying my gallery to create subfolders?
I don't see any real reason for various folders. You can easily distinguish the various versions of each file by the name. But it's up to you, really, If you find it useful to organize files this way, then go for it; but if it's more work, with no obvious advantage, I wouldn't bother.
There is no advantage. One folder
I have to agree with Ralph. I'd go with one folder, go with your original plan.
Thanks for the input. I guess the only real advantage I can think of is "friendly" URLs without having to figure out a bunch of mod rewrite rules. To me, /gallery/vacations/2009/ looks better than /gallery/index.cfm?album=12. Plus, I'm not how to do mod rewrites if some albums have /album_name/pic and other have /album_name/sub_album/pic.
I guess it depends on how you are setting up the gallery. I wasn't thinking in terms of URLs. I'm not sure why anyone would ever see URLs like that. I think of a gallery as a series of pictures on a page (perhaps enhanced with JS) but I don't see why or where someone would need to see a URL like that. Where you store your images is different from where you post your gallery page.
I could be over-thinking this.
When I had Gallery 2 installed on my old website, it has these long, hideous URLs for pics (i.e. /gallery/index.php?g2_itemId=20130). This would be very easy to do of course, because you just call the ID number of the row. But they had an option that you could click in the admin panel to turn that URL into /gallery/vacations/holland/20130, and I thought it made the URL look a lot better, especially if you had to paste the link into an email or something.
In my database, I've added a "url" to my albums table. It's basically an all lowercase, no-spaces identifier (i.e. "vacations") that I could use in the URL, but I've always been told it's way better to use numbers. But if I do some mod rewrite tricks, it would be easier to use that identifier than a number.
But maybe no one really looks at the URL and I'm wasting a bunch of effort. But I see what you mean about how I store my pics vs how I display them on my gallery page.
Just as a follow-up, I went with Eric and Ralph's suggestion of doing one folder (rather than a folder for each album) and it's worked out beautifully. The code is much simpler, and I just found an unexpected advantage when I had to move a top-level album within another album (making it a child of that album). It was a simple matter of changing the parent_album from null to the ID of the new parent. Took 2 seconds.
Thanks for the recommendations. The new gallery was a bit of work, but it works fantastically. However with 4272 photos (triple that if you count the thumbnails and fullsize versions) I think I'll be waiting a week for my 15/5 fibre service to be installed. Uploading those pics over my current 0.67mb upload speed (on a good day) is a bit much to ask. :shifty:
Thanks for the feedback! You are fortunate that you can get upload/download speeds like that.
Well now I have a follow-up question, but it's more of an HTML/usability question than a programming question, but I don't know if there's a better place to ask it, so I'll just keep this going.
So now my photo gallery is up, and I have added previous/next navigation. I've also changed my right column into a scrolling column of thumbnails, so you can scroll through them while looking at a single pic, and click one to go straight to it.
I want the list to scroll as the photos advance, so I've put named anchors with each thumbnail, and that makes the list scroll to the current pic. It also has the side-effect of scrolling the page down so that the current pic is right about where I want it.
It works great until you get to the last few pics, at which point the page scrolls up, putting the current pic off the top edge of the screen, so a user has to scroll back down to see it.
Example here. If you click "next" (or just click the main pic) you'll go through the gallery, and you can see what happens when you get to the end.
So the question is, is there a better way to get that column of thumbnail on the right to scroll to keep the thumbnail of the currently being viewed pic at the top? Or at least on the page.
I found a jquery plugin called ScrollTo that I'm going to fiddle with.
Why reinvent the wheel? Go to hotscripts.com and download a free one then modify it to suit your needs.
When I did this I put all the gallery photos in in folder and named them like this...
Then I put all the controls images in a separate folder. The arrows shadows and such. But since that can all be done worth css now there is no need.
Because it will take me twice as long to integrate the free one into my existing website then it would to write one myself. Then when the next version of the free one comes out, I have to do it all again. And when I want the free one to do something it doesn't do out of the box, it takes even more fiddling and posts on support forums that go unanswered. Been there, done that.
My gallery is done and the bulk of it took me two weekend, working mornings and evenings. Probably 20 hrs max. It does everything I want it to do, exactly the way I want to do it, and if I need to add a feature, it takes a few minutes because I know every nut and bolt of it. It's not stuffed with extra things I'll never use, it's speedy, and it was fun to write.
Why reinvent the wheel? Because the old one was square.
Fair enough!