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Losing her grip
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's pretensions to heading a democratic regime and of having a firm grip on power are fast falling apart. The almost weekly, if not daily, political killings and abductions carried out by suspected agents of the state have exposed the seeming "inability" of Mrs. Arroyo's government to put a stop to these heinous crimes.
The victims' families, the activists and the human rights groups are finally being listened to when they say that there is an unacceptably huge number of people whose murders or involuntary disappearances are related to their political beliefs and activities with the military, police and/or government-sponsored "death squads" as prime suspects.
An overwhelming number are identified with the national democratic movement, as exemplified by the progressive party lists such as Bayan Muna and the militant formations such as Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), but other activist groups like Kilusang Pambansang Demokratiko (KPD) and the followers of former President Joseph Estrada in the United Masses for Justice and Democracy (UMDJ) have also been recently victimized.
The government line -- these are just individual, unrelated cases that they are dutifully investigating; there is no pattern to the mayhem; and those who decry military/police involvement are communists or communist sympathizers whose unfounded accusations ought to be dismissed outright -- has been completely debunked.
After pretending for more than a year that the problem did not exist, government has resorted to a different tack. The favored explanation by Malacanang today is that the Leftists are killing each other off.
The argument goes: they've done it before, they can do it again. Why they are doing so now and how government can put a stop to this supposedly fratricidal rampage are questions that Messrs Ermita, Gonzales & Gonzalez and the PNP/AFP's smart generals seem to consider irrelevant.
That incredible theory has not caught on considering the victims' track record as militant leaders, human rights advocates and even just plain civic-spirited citizens. In fact, the victims' kin, friends and co-workers have consistently denounced the tagging of the New People's Army as the perpetrators to be a malicious attempt to get the real culprits off the hook.
However, the recent murder in broad daylight of Sotero "Ka Teroy" Llamas in Tabaco, Albay appears to be a renewed attempt to give credence to the discredited government line that the killings are the result of the blood thirsty vindictiveness of the communist movement, if not part and parcel of another violent "purging" of its ranks.
Mr. Llamas, a legendary communist leader in the Bicol region who gained national prominence when he was wounded and arrested after a firefight with government troops, was subsequently released and became an adviser to the National Democratic Front in peace talks with the government. He then helped found the progressive party list Bayan Muna before running for governor of Albay under the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lacson wing). He chose to retire from political involvements and run a small business after he lost his electoral bid.
As such, he did not run afoul of the CPP in any way nor the progressive party list he had joined after having given up the armed struggle. But SOLCOM head, General Pedro Cabuauy, has foisted his ignorant if not malicious speculation that Mr Llamas was killed by his former comrades because he had run for governor allegedly against their wishes. This canard was immediately belied by Mr. Llamas' widow but the government persists in peddling the lie to the uninformed public.
Presidential Defender Mike Defensor added a touch of the comic to official avowals that government could not have had any reason for wanting Mr. Llamas dead by claiming that the former rebel had been helping the government in certain projects. He apparently had forgotten or was completely ignorant of the fact that the Justice Department had included Mr. Llamas, along with more than fifty others including progressive party list legislators Satur Ocampo et al, among those government charged last month with conspiracy to commit rebellion.
It did not take long for the police body tasked to investigate the political killings, to posit another incredible theory. Former Senator "Gringo" Honasan and his followers in the Guardian Brotherhood Inc. are being implicated in the unsolved murders. This was just after National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales announced that the CPP-NPA planned to assassinate Mrs. Arroyo and other Cabinet members even as they were also planning to assassinate their alleged allies in the Opposition. Again no plausible reason could be provided by the National Conspiracy Adviser.
Is this a convoluted if somewhat crass plan to disrupt the broad anti-Arroyo alliance or are Mrs. Arroyo's defenders simply running out of excuses and ruses?
Whatever it is Mrs. Arroyo's boys are cooking, her refusal to condemn the killings, her failure to order an honest-to-goodness investigation by an impartial and credible body and her inability to sanction immediately and severely those police and military men found to be remiss in their jobs of running after the true perpetrators or worse, as in the recent case of the ambush by Cavite policemen of a militant trade unionist, of participating in such crimes themselves, speak loudly about where her true attitude and intentions about these killings lie.
Seen in the light of the political persecution that Mrs. Arroyo's opponents are currently being subjected to such as the six progressive party list representatives and others accused or implicated in false rebellion charges, the red labeling and demonification of legal democratic organizations as "terrorists", the continuing Gestapo-like arrests of critics and alleged dissidents in the name of countering "destabilization" and the state terrorism being inflicted on ordinary people by
government's militarization of the countryside, what adds up is that Mrs. Arroyo is resorting to sheer violence on top of wholesale deception in order to prop up her tottering regime.
Mrs. Arroyo is generating more political turmoil, more rebelliousness and the just condemnation by the Filipino people as well as the international community among whom there still exists high regard for the rule of law and respect for human rights and human dignity.#
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
Published in Business World
2-3 June 2006


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Animal Testing Reduced By Soft-Cell Approach
The new in-vitro technique pioneered by Dr Amanda Hayes and her UNSW colleagues, Shahnaz Bakand and Chris Winder, directly exposes human cells to airborne toxicants and measures cytotoxic effects. The cells are grown on a porous polyester membrane inside a small diffusion chamber and then exposed to selected toxic air pollutants. After as little as one hour's exposure, they can study cell growth and metabolism, and a range of routine toxicological endpoints.
Importantly, the toxic measurements obtained by the in vitro method, such as the amount of a contaminant needed to inhibit cell growth, mirror well-established lethal values obtained from animal studies - a long-established method in toxicological studies. "In-vitro toxicity tests can improve the scientific, economic, and ethical value of research and play a significant role in the screening of toxic chemicals and the replacement of animals," Dr Hayes says.
This research earned Hayes and her colleagues the 2006 Australian Museum Voiceless Eureka Prize for Research. This prize rewards scientists for work that has reduced the use of animals or animal products in laboratory-based research, education and testing.
Many industrial and environmental air pollutants are already known to have adverse health effects on the respiratory system of workers. Increasingly, new formulations are using tiny nanoparticles and ultrafine particulates in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and petrochemical products. Little is known about their toxicity and safety to human health but this new category of pollutants poses possible dangers, both medically and environmentally, especially if they get airborne.
Most nanoparticles have a high surface area-to-mass ratio that can make the particles very reactive or catalytic. Being so small, they may also be able to pass through cell walls in organisms, and their reactions inside the body are relatively unknown.
"These tiny new substances are the tip of a huge chemical iceberg," says Hayes, Manager of the Chemical Safety and Applied Toxicology Laboratories at the University of New South Wales.
"Worldwide, there are millions of known chemicals, of which more than 100,000 chemical compounds are in commercial use in an unknown but extremely large number of chemical mixtures.
"Continued conventional animal toxicity testing of this large number of chemicals is simply unachievable from a scientific and economic standpoint," says Dr Hayes. "It's also unethical, given that in Australia alone, more than a million dogs, cats, rabbits, sheep, cattle, pigs and mice are used each year for toxicological testing and research." This is a drop in the ocean, compared with the animal death toll in the rest of the world.
In many inhalation studies, the toxicity of airborne chemicals is tested on laboratory animals by placing them in enclosed chambers and subjecting them to increasing concentrations of the test compounds for specified times until half of the test animals are killed. One type of test commonly used where this occurs is the LD50 test, where LD stands for lethal dose.
This heavy reliance on animal data in toxicology has long been a concern of the scientific community. Predicting the biological activities of toxic chemicals in humans by using animal data always poses uncertainty due to differences between animals and humans.
In a series of published experiments, the UNSW team has demonstrated the feasibility of their in vitro technique for:
* formaldehyde, an industrial contaminant linked to human cancer;
* nitrogen dioxide, a lung irritant that causes inflammation, pulmonary oedema, and pneumonia;
* fire combustion products, including cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, and ammonia; and,
* the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) xylene and toluene, found in solvents used by the printing, painting, and petrochemical industries.
The in vitro method "opens new possibilities for toxicity testing of industrial chemicals, environmental contaminants, workplace airborne contaminants, and fire combustion products", says Dr Hayes.
The technique has several advantages over conventional tests:
* The use of human cells (as opposed to animal cells) generates data representative of direct human chemical exposure.
* A number of human cell types such as lung, skin and liver can be used to represent target organs that are more likely to be significantly exposed or affected by air pollutants. As the respiratory system is both a site of toxicity for pulmonary toxicants, and a pathway for inhaled chemicals to reach other organs, relevant airway cells and lung cells are a major focus for inhalation studies.
* The advantage of using human cell lines and cultures is that the researcher can study toxicity mechanisms at the molecular/cellular level at an earlier stage specifically for individual chemicals, depending on their site of action within the human body without using animals. For example, when assessing the toxicity of formaldehyde, which is known to have a toxic effect on the liver, liver type cells such as hepatocytes can be chosen.
* The in vitro technique is cheap and portable, so scientists can measure immediate toxicity events, rather than waiting for toxicity to be expressed as organ or organism failure many months or even years down the track from initial exposure.
* The application of in vitro methods could open new possibilities for toxicity testing of industrial chemicals, occupational and environmental contaminants, combustion products and respiratory therapeutics and lead to a better understanding of the interactions between chemical exposure and toxic effects of single chemicals and chemical mixtures.
Contact: Dr Amanda Hayes
University of New South Wales

subset: commoncrawl


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Norton has long been the name in AV software, as far back as I can remember. The once sage-like Norton AntiVirus (NAV) suffered from criticisms in recent years, of slowing users computers down to a snail pace, and with an intrusive approach to protection.
Well, things have changed, as we saw recently in the review of Norton Internet Security, reviewed recently here on Pocket-lint. They have also removed the bespectaled geek from the box, which is a bonus.
We found ourselves in a unique position. Reviewing AV software is a considerable chore, because you need to remove all other AV software protection, then start afresh. Luckily, we tested NAV on a new laptop that came supplied with the previous version; then could directly compare with the 2007 edition.
Installation was quick and easy. The latest user interface is clean and easy to navigate, but seems to want to duplicate itself all over the place – the system tray, and the Taskbar. The Taskbar option is actually not bad – perhaps a little too overt for our liking – but it does provide at a quick glance the peace of mind that NAV is running, and that everything is ok.
But what of the running? It is certainly faster that the previous versions that we have experienced, and the start-up delays that used to plague the software seem to have gone. Set to Live Update automatically, it will take care of itself and needs very little help.
NAV boasts protection from spyware, as well as instant messaging. The back of the box displays the features in a neat summary tick box layout, but very much seems to be an advert for the full Internet Security suite, but informs you that incoming and outgoing email is safe, and downloading files from dubious sites will also benefit from protection.
Increasing attention is being paid to system processes, and this is perhaps where NAV gets some unwelcome attention in that it will start-up with a number of separate processes running, of course, which loiter in the background.
Then there is the price, £40 you are looking at, which includes a year subscription to the update service. The question always it whether this is worth it, compared to free offerings such as Grisoft's AVG. The basic price for the McAfee equivalent is also £40, so little difference there.
Overall, we are happy as you can be with a piece of software that if all things go well, you never have to fiddle with. But you still have to pay for it, which will take a point off the score.


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I know its been a long time since my last post, but with the holidays right around the corner its the perfect time to jump back into things. Before I get too excited about the holidays I want to share this birthday cake the I made for my son. I was very nervous about making it, but it was so fun and really easy to do.
I started by trimming the top of the cakes to make them flat on top. Then I put a layer of frosting on the first layer and put the second layer on the frosting upside down. This gave me a really flat surface to work on.
Then I carefully scooped out a corner of the cake with a spoon and frosted the rest of the cake. It doesn't have to be perfect and smooth because it is a supposed to be a construction cake.
Then you get to decorate and be creative. You could use crushed oreos here if you like, but I just wanted to use the cake because I like how it looked. You will have the cake tops that you cut off plus the cake you scooped from the corner to use. I also thought the choco rocks added some texture to the cake. I think they were my favorite part of the cake to eat!!
I had a blast making this cake and was so pleased with how it turned out. I have also made some delicious treats lately that I am excited to share with you soon!!


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Smaller release this time around, this is mainly to address a crash bug that affects certain shared folders. Those experiencing the bug will find their client crashing a short while after starting it. I figured I might as well get it out there for whomever really needs it. Additionally:
Though I initially intended room walls to be the centerpiece of the next SoulseekQt build, most users, and especially those who share more than just a few thousands of files are probably going to be much happier about the initial re-scanning of shared folders when the client starts being moved to a secondary thread. If you're used to your SoulseekQt client taking anywhere between an uncomfortable number of seconds to start to, according to some reports, several minutes, chances are the new build will all but eliminate the wait.
Hey guys, sorry for not responding to any connection problem reports over the last couple of weeks. I have a full-time job that's keeping me very busy and I've had trouble reaching even those of you who actually gave me their TeamViewer ID and password. To recap, chances are I won't really be able to help with any connection problems as in most cases it's an ISP blocking Soulseek or something similar.
For the last couple weeks I've been taking a closer look at the way SoulseekQt uses up memory. If you're a casual user, sharing no more than a couple of tens of thousands of files or less, and you don't go around leaving a whole lot of search and share browse windows open, chances are you haven't had too many problems with SoulseekQt's memory use. If you're one of the more heavy users out there, well, you should still be fine as long as your rig gives you enough memory to play around with.
We're happy to announce a new service for privileged users that we've been experimenting with for the last couple of weeks. If you've donated recently and have privileges time left you probably know this already, as we've notified privileged users via mass message a while ago.
I get to check off a few big ones with tonight's build. The user info feature is something I know has been sorely missing in SoulseekQt since the very beginning. I've never been particularly happy with the way it turned out in the original Soulseek client, but I wasn't sure how I'd prefer it. The way it ended up this time around feels like an improvement. The user picture and textual description are shown contiguously on one page using an HTML control. Extra information like upload slots and upload availability are shown in small fields on top.
This one fixes a non-response of the SoulseekQt client to a somewhat less common type of upload request coming from the original client. It's not a huge deal on the individual user level, but I've been wanting to do a little more advertising of SoulseekQt, and I figured I'd get this out of the way before I start. Other changes include:
It's been a rough few days, trying to figure out how not to undo all of the work I did standardizing Unicode as the client's de facto method of handling strings. I literally went through three separate conversions. The first to ensure that the data system could easily handle switching to any new method of storing basic values, seeing as I had changed it once, then back when it turned out Qt's Unicode QStrings couldn't handle extended ASCII characters as gracefully as I needed them to.
Update: It appears the across-the-board conversion to Unicode is making the new build unable to download files with extended ASCII characters in their name (shared by users of the original Soulseek client.) I've pulled the download links and auto update notification until I can figure out a solution.


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Emma Goldman in her 1931 autobiography Living My Life:
At the dances I was one of the most untiring and gayest. One evening a cousin of Sasha [Alexander Berkman], a young boy, took me aside. With a grave face, as if he were about to announce the death of a dear comrade, he whispered to me that it did not behoove an agitator to dance. Certainly not with such reckless abandon, anyway. It was undignified for one who was on the way to become a force in the anarchist movement. My frivolity would only hurt the Cause.
I grew furious at the impudent interference of the boy. I told him to mind his own business, I was tired of having the Cause constantly thrown into my face. I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from conventions and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement should not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it. "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everyboy's right to beautiful, radiant things." Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world--prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own comrades I would live my beautiful ideal.
[Living My Life (New York: Knopf, 1934), p. 56]


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looks like blogger won't even let me upload the smallest of photos.
I'm a visual artist and I need pictures to go with my words...
I'm moving everything to Tumblr. good times!
starheadboy on Tumblr
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
moving to tumblr
Posted by starheadboy at 2:55 AM
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Is financial and social performance reporting important for the microfinance industry? Is the data resulting from that reporting useful to you for making micro- and meta-level decisions?
"Everyone benefits from "core facilities" such as these, says Beth Rhyne in this article. They are part of the commons, and no one should be a free rider. "We all need to chip in to fund the information infrastructure.
"The infrastructure organizations and their key supporters, together with MFIs, networks and investors, must be willing to take a fresh look at these needs and search without preconceptions for the most economical and efficient ways for information to flow, for standards to develop, for viable business models to emerge for data collection, on-site evaluations and other core functions."
Center for Financial Inclusion Blog
Nearly every industry requires infrastructure to thrive, and this goes for the microfinance industry too. But the infrastructure that the global microfinance industry has constructed over the past two decades is looking a bit shaky today. Infrastructure investments are urgently needed to keep the industry sound and prepare it for the future.
One could argue what exactly constitutes the microfinance industry's infrastructure, and there are a range of organizations to choose from, but for this conversation, let's look at several key organizations dedicated to setting standards and providing information for microfinance globally: the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the four specialized microfinance rating agencies, the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), Smart Campaign, and Microfinance Transparency (MFT). These organizations, which perform vital functions for the industry, arose during two different phases of microfinance industry development.
The first generation of organizations – MIX and the…
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My gift to Jesus on his "birthday" last Christmas was to change the next thing.
I had no idea what it would be, but I figured there must be something else I needed to work on, some area of my life He might like to refine. So I said okay and gave Him permission for the next thing without knowing what He might ask of me.
Well, let me tell you something: He is speaking to me lately. He is making His message loud and clear.
Writing here about my tendency towards being overwhelmed has really gotten me thinking more deeply again. This, combined with a huge internet conspiracy where everything I read seems to relate to one topic, has convinced me. The next thing in my life is named Discipline.
It also goes by the names of Diligence and Perseverance.
Reading The Introvert Advantage taught me to accept my lower energy levels. I'm not lazy! I thought gleefully, I'm merely introverted.
A burden of guilt lifted from my shoulders, and it put me in a healthy place to realize something today:
I am, in fact, somewhat lazy.
I'm laughing as I write this. It sounds so ridiculous. To learn self acceptance first, just so I can finally admit my laziness and ask God to help me change it, seems so… counter intuitive. Crazy, even. But there you go. I finally stopped obsessing over the guild-laden issue enough that I could step back and see it more clearly when the time came. Today, I can confess to you that I am a sluggard. And I can confess it without guilt or shame.
I feel remorseful, and I want to change, but I don't feel crushed under the weight of it. Amazing!
So how can I, a person with low energy levels and a lack of self discipline, become less lazy?
Well, I happened to read Proverbs 6:6 a couple days ago:
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
And the lovely thing was that it came in a non-condemning package: What to do when you're overwhelmed. When the task is too big, and you tremble in fear at its size.
Look at the ant.
It moves mountains, one grain of sand at a time.
It just keeps going, plodding along, carrying that one small speck.
And eventually, something big has happened; an anthill has been made; a colony housed; tunnels created. A mountain has been moved.
Photo Credit: Damgaard, (TheObsessivePhotographer.com) via Compfight cc
I can do that. I can move one small grain of sand.
Lord, please help me develop diligence. Enable me to stop giving up, to stop making excuses, to begin to just do the work. To break down the task into small bites instead of trembling in fear at the mountain.
What do you do when you're overwhelmed by the tasks at hand?


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The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday fined a Barrington man $590,000 for his role in an alleged accounting scheme that led to an overstatement of his company's earnings over three years.
Richard Linden was the CEO of Merge Healthcare Inc., a Milwaukee-based medical company.
The SEC also fined former Chief Financial Officer Scott Veech of Whitefish Bay, Wis., $280,000 and directed Merge to avoid further violations. Merge, Linden and Veech agreed to settle with the SEC without admitting or denying the allegations.
Linden and Veech did not return calls seeking comment. Veech's attorney, Vincent Connelly, said he was satisfied with the resolution. A company spokeswoman said Merge has since adjusted its internal controls.


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Beetroot Chocolate Cake
We are excited to have the lovely Simone Denny, the owner and founder of Nourishing Hub, as our guest blogger this week. Simone has an absolutely delicious tea-time treat to share with us which is full of nutritional goodness and big on flavour. Simone's 'Beetroot Chocolate Cake' is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and paleo.
[ Beetroot Chocolate Cake ]
2 beetroot (about 350gms) finely grated
2 cups of almond meal
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1.5 teaspoon of baking powder (gluten free)
3/4 cup of raw cacao
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup of coconut sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted)
1 cup of date paste (see below)
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Chocolate Icing:
2 Avocados
3 tablespoons of raw cacao
1/2 cup of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Line a 22 inch cake tin (I used a heart shaped tin for this image)
- Grate beetroot using the fine blade of the grater, set aside.
- To make the date past add 1 cup of dates to a pot and cover with boiling water. Simmer for a few minutes until dates are soft. Strain most of the water off and then blend it into a smooth paste with a whizz stick then set aside.
- In a bowl add almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, raw cacao, salt and coconut sugar (or alternative).
- In a bowl gently beat the eggs and add coconut oil, date past, and vanilla essence. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and fold in the grated beetroot. Mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Pour mixture into the lined cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the cake from the tin.
- When the cake is cool ice with chocolate icing. I decorated my cake with pistachios and rose petals.
- Serve with coconut yogurt of coconut cream. The cake keeps well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days.
TEA PAIRING: This beetroot chocolate cake pairs beautifully with our Bodhi Organic ViridiTEA.
Nourishing Hub is a website dedicated to women's health and wellbeing. Not only is the Nourishing Hub an online health store providing natural and organic products, it is also a 'hub' for like-minded women who are interested in healthy living, eating nutritious food and enhancing general wellbeing. Simone has a huge passion for nourishing the body with wholefoods and superfoods that help to increase energy and enhance optimal health.
Connect with Simone:
FB https://www.facebook.com/nourishinghub
IG @nourishinghub
TW @nourishinghub


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Filed under: Daily Not Bread, Emotions, Food Log | Tags: paleo eggs benedict
On the 31st day of the Crossfit Vancouver Paleo Challenge, I wanted to make an awesome breakfast. I got up early and started cracking eggs because I wanted to make Paleo Eggs Benedict.
8:30 AM Breakfast Paleo Egg Benedict with the Tomato and Kristin's Blood and Tears
OK, here's the thing: you'll note the sauce is kind of solid. Holy god is it frustrating to make hollandaise without butter or salt. I had to ditch two batches because they kept hardening. I used extra virgin olive oil instead of butter, but it made it tricky. In the end, the hollandaise was solid, but tasted damned good. I sliced organic Canadian back bacon thin and then covered it with a perfectly poached egg and ripe tomatoes. This felt like luxury.
At lunch, I was starving because of a Crossfit workout that included three timed runs, but I had no interest in tackling something complex — benedict covered saucepans still littered the kitchen. We grabbed a few turkey slices, a fruit smoothie, and some carrot sticks and that tided us over till dinner.
6 PM, Dinner Imaginative Streak Over
I think I burned out a bit on the complex meals. Dinner was scrambled eggs with onion and mushrooms, sliced turkey and a dollop of the staple tomato pesto
Typically satisfying and non-typically quick to prepare.
I am pretty proud to have made it through this month. I wasn't sure I could do it: I have a killer sweet tooth and cheese is one of my favourite things on the planet. I did it, we did it, and did it well and we both feel really good about it. Having each other's support — and the fact that we work from home and can easily prepare our own meals — really helped, too.
- Meals can be time consuming.
- Paleo is expensive if you choose to eat organic, grass-fed and locally raised meat and dairy. Our grocery bill went up about 4x our average this month.
- There is a lot of planning and creativity required
- It's hard to go out for dinner and stick to a strictly Paleo diet, unless you open yourself up to dairy and butter, which we did not.
- Since everything is fresh…a lot of grocery shopping and creative use of produce that you need to use right away because of a limited shelf life.
- The first week was hard as all hell. It's almost like I envision withdrawal from drugs. It sucked and there's no way around the suckage. Eat some dates. But they don't really help when your body is screaming for rice pudding. Ignore the screaming and it'll be worth it.
- After the first week, you'll start to feel kind of…peppy and happy and you'll wonder why and realize that your diet controls your moods way more than you ever thought.
- The meals are truly delicious – simple and fresh = really good eating.
- Noticeably improved energy.
- Noticeable improvements in leanness. Corey was already ripped to holy hell, but his back is even leaner and than before, and his abs are showing through like I've never seen them before. His legs have also added muscle. I was never ripped, and I am starting to be. I can see my top stomach muscles now, and my arm muscles are bigger. My stomach is flat and taut, none of the bloat I used to carry around.
- Quality time: it's fun to cook and come up with new recipes together.
We don't own a scale, but I'd be willing to wager I actually put on a few pounds this month. We did do before and after pics and I posted them on flickr if you're interested.
I'll keep writing here even after the contest wraps, when I do a meal I'm particularly enamoured with, or when I have something Paleo to share. Corey is going to develop a bit of a recipe application on the aqufit site, so stay tuned there too. We are going to continue to eat this way because we like the way it makes us feel.
Thanks for riding along on this journey with us, you guys!
***Edited to add: I didn't properly note our inspiration for all of this, Coach Lu. We went to Crossfit one afternoon after a bit of a scrap; I was sick of the gym and Corey was deservedly tired of my whining. I wanted us to seek new avenues, and Corey went along with me.
Dave inspired us with his openness and immediately evident enthusiasm. He was the one who got us on the Paleo track and the dude I can credit with keeping us on it. He is a stellar coach and a really good human and we are both grateful for him.
9 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Well done! Now go have a piece of cheese. 🙂
p.s. I couldn't find your pics??
You are my hero Kristin! Great job… I SO want to try this because im a total sugar addict… Need to break the cycle. Any advice on sticking to the diet in a household with kids? Did you prepare separate meals for your son? You must have willpower of steel.
I am proud of you guys. I administered the challenge and for most fit people like yourselves, they don't take the challenge. They figure their diet is good enough. 31 days of this diet will change everyones way of thinking if they truly go for it. Sugar is a drug. I say no more. America is addicted and needs to learn what it is to eat again. Even if it means we have to go back to the Caveman days to re discover ourselves.
Long term I believe in moderation. I have some digestive issues which keep me a little more strict than others. When I eat junk food I make a conscious choice to do so and I am aware of the consequences.
Think twice about what you eat. You are a soul, a good soul, but you need your body to survive on earth. Respect your body and your time here.
Congrats KD and Popeye!
I wish you health, happiness, and all of your dreams to come to fruition.
Coach Lu
Kristin, I am so impressed. I want to go Paleo too and I have been wanting to try Crossfit. I really love this blog for yummy paleo recipes: http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/
I have yet to try them, but they always look yummy! I suspect I will be asking you some more about Paleo in the future.
Great work you 2! I am slightly sad (ok, really sad) that your 31 day challenge has come to an end. I truly looked forward to reading this blog daily and would get "anxious" to read what you ate/made! Keep us all updated on here or on Aqufit please and thank you 🙂


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I need some help. I am going to have to change the name of this blog now that I am more than "mama2lilly." I was thinking something with the words: garden, bouquet, bunch, flowers etc. I'm not sure. Please leave me a comment or send me an email if you can think of a fun new name for our family blog. Thank you. I'm sure we will come up with something!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Misc. Monday: HELP!
Posted by michelle michael at 11:30 AM
Labels: random
4 comments:
- Baba said...
Flower Mama
Mama's garden of girls
The girls' garden
- April 20, 2009 at 3:46 PM
mama's angels
- April 20, 2009 at 10:23 PM
- mama2lilly said...
emailed to me fr. cathleen:
my blooming girls
my little flowers
- April 21, 2009 at 8:49 AM
- The Floyds said...
I'm not sure if you still want your name in there or not, but:
michelle's flower girls
garden girls
life in the garden
loving my flowers
- April 21, 2009 at 5:26 PM
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text:
A Little Bit of MeJottings and Writing, miscellanous misgivings
Archive for fantasy
Pin Ups
Pinups – inspired by Billy Collins
The breeze lifted her skirt, which billowed around her waist, exposing her long stockinged legs and the secret apparatus of her garter belt and underwear. The tiny dog, frightened by the rustle and movement of clothing, spun around her legs and tangled himself in her red, high-heeled shoes. She gasped and pursed her crimson lips in a shriek of dismay, while simultaneously trying to hold her ridiculously tiny hat. Male onlookers on both sides of the street craned their necks in an effort to unravel the dark mysteries, revealed. Charlene had but nine days left before the twenty eighth of the month. She was dammed she was going to waste it on some boring married man who could only offer her an occasional roll in the hay. She had bigger fish to fry. What she was after was someone with money and without obligations. To her chagrin men like this often found her shallow. Why didn't the men she wanted, want what she had to offer? Why did she only attract the desperate or the committed? Why did she end up with men who had grease under their fingernails, sawdust in their hair? She tottered further down the tree-lined avenue. It was if she had a sign attached to her back which read 'Look but do not Touch'.
Miss Camel, Turkish Gold. A scrap of gold lame hardly covers her ample body. She smiles sideways while grasping her tiny packet of Camel. The Government warning is discreetly turned to the rear wall. Her right leg is cocked, like a cigarette, ready to be lit. Perched atop her auburn mane is a tiny Turkish fez, a counterpoint to the Turkish gold brand. A single blue ribbon cuts her neck. Her right breast protrudes enticingly from over her raised arm, as if it were a cigarette being proffered. Missy Country Cook bends over the table to place a bottle on the chequered tablecloth. Could it be tequila or is it soda? Her white breasts spill out of the top of her gingham dress. The delicate fold of her sex is clearly visible in the crossword-coloured folds. Her huge yellow earrings contrast garishly with her bright red slash of a mouth. A Mexican look-alike leers seductively as he unfolds a guitar or is it a rifle from his shoulder.
Michelle looked over the rim of her champagne glass coquettishly. She blinked her perfectly manicured eyelashes at Roderick who exhaled a thin line of blue smoke from the Cabana he clutched in his elegantly manicured right hand. If she played her cards right, the 1955 Giulietta Bertone Spider Alfa Romeo sports car with the cracked red upholstery and black and white dice suspended from the rearvision mirror would be hers before the thirty first. Roderick thought that there must be some catch to this. An extremely (that word wasn't strong enough, maybe drop dead gorgeous would have been more appropriate but somehow it sounded tacky when applied to this goddess) attractive woman was literally groveling at his feet. Her thin strand of white pearls framed her sculpted breasts. They were the most beautiful breasts he had ever seen. Not artificial, perfectly tanned, and just the shape and size of his most secret fantasies. There must be a catch. Michelle quaffed her champagne and her sensuous tongue licked the stray drops from her barely parted lips. Roderick found himself transformed to a different time and place. By the fifth of the next month, Roderick would only remember the menu on which they had dined that night. He would not recall her name, or her features. She faded, as does the pattern of a carpet, exposed to habitual sunlight.
Rachel rolled over on the sand and revealed the full extent of her $10,000 boob job. If her calculations were right, she would be making more than hay by the thirtieth and she would be set for the New Year. Why it had taken her so long to work out how to beat the thirty-day deadline she didn't know. That silly Charlene would have never dreamt up a scheme like this. She was destined to be Miss February, year after year, walking down a sunny street, waiting for the wind to lift her skirts. And that silly little dog. That would have got on Rachel's nerves long ago. Why! She could be living in a sun filled Spanish villa by next year, looking out over a sparkling bay to sailboats coming to her own little cove for an afternoons picnic. She pictured herself in her room. Three candles, each a different height, burned and sung in perfect harmony. At her back an enormous white baby grand. She shuddered deliciously at the thought. She looked down at her body. The thong was a brilliant idea. No man could resist. Rachel had learnt that being an object of adoration had its limitations. Men could ogle you year after year, but a girl had to think of her future. Her future included some very opulent accessories. Here they came. As bees are attracted to colorful flowers, men will always be attracted to cleavage and curves. They pretended to gaze out to sea as they displayed their buffed bodies for Rachel's perusal. She demurely lifted herself from the beach towel and sauntered past them to suspend part of her glorious body in the sparkling surf. Just the feet, and only to the ankle. She could not risk ruining the perfect line of her carefully selected wardrobe.
Natasha had no such thoughts. She pulled the fur tightly around her bare body as the snow drifted about her auburn locks. The distinguishable flakes blew sideways and looked like tiny spots of light, reflecting off a crystal chandelier. Her long sensuous legs were parted just enough to allow a glimpse of her sex. Her brown eyes gazed intensely at any male who looked her way. She was in control and that is how she preferred it. She knew how long she had to allure her prey and she knew what she would do to him when he succumbed to her charms. But it was a little cold. She felt her erect nipples rubbing against the soft inner material of the coat and she was instantly aroused. She almost felt her pupils dilate and she was suddenly and explicably, moist.
Miss November has no name. She sits astride a yellow bicycle which looks as though its speed has bled onto the footpath. Her hat-brim has blown backwards with imagined forward motion and is now uncharacteristically like a sail, flapping loose and untethered, in the breeze. Her look of astonishment arouses in the viewer a sense of wanting to rescue her from whatever fate has cruelly dealt her. Her long legs seem to never stop but they disappear into her body midframe. She is twisted in a way that must be painful; the way catwalk models contort their bodies to show the lines of some distant designer's dreams. She does not appear to have any thoughts in her head aside from how she will get that damn hat-brim into its proper place. It looks as if she will soon be on holiday.
Holly sat at the kitchen table. The floral wallpaper in the background reflected the muddy light from the sixty-watt bulb over her head. She was irascible. Always last, always waiting. A single strand of hair fell sluggishly over her perfect face. A tiny tear appeared in the corner of her eye. A glass cabinet filled with alabaster pottery provided the only ambience in the otherwise drab kitchen. A solitary greeting card lay opened on the white linen covering of the table in front of her. A message from a lost lover. The year was over. December the thirty first rolled to its inevitable end and as the last seconds ticked away Holly felt the certainty that she had a full eleven months at the bottom the heap before she would see the light of day again. Her shoulders gave an involuntary shudder as she heard the chorus of ten-nine-eight-seven-six-five-four-three-two-one echo through her head. She blinked, and she was gone.


text:
(KMOV)—Several traffic projects are set to begin this week along three heavily traveled areas in the News 4 viewing area.
MoDOT will close lanes on the Poplar Street Bridge Monday morning. One lane in each direction will be closed weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for the next three weeks for crews to inspect the bridge.
Moving to St. Charles County, traffic along Interstate 64 will be slowed or stopped for periods of time this week so crews can blast rock near the Boone Bridge. Officials will help stop traffic at the designated times starting Tuesday.
The actual times the blasting will take place will be announced on a day-to-day basis. Traffic should only be stopped for a maximum of ten minutes.
Olive street road will be closing between Centaur and Chesterfield Airport Road. MoDOT tells News 4, this closure will last about two weeks as a contractor installs a 90 foot-long storm drainage system.
In the meantime drivers are asked to use the southern routes of Eatherton, Wildhorse Creek Road, Long Road and Chesterfield Airport Road.
Several electronic message boards are up in an effort to alert drivers of the day-to-day traffic changes.
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text:
Chicken Soup For Country Soul
Disclaimer – This is not a cook book!
You know, just like every other teenage soul, I had no interest in books like Chicken Soup For The Soul. Trust me.
However, two years ago, I got about eight classics, at the same time; Zig Ziglar, Jack Canfield, Myles Monroe, Napoleon Hill and others. My journey started.
My relationship with Chicken Soup For The Soul, however, started in 2016, long after I read Jack Canfield's 'How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be'. Jack is blunt and that's a good thing. I got a spin off of Chicken Soup For The Soul, it's anniversary edition containing stories from literally all the Chicken Soup books and I couldn't wait to read more.
This week, I read Chicken Soup For The Country Soul and its a must-read for everyone.
My reviews are a bit informal but enjoy!.
Chicken Soup For The Country Soul.
Chicken Soup For The Soul Books.
Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Rom Camacho.
Inspirational/Motivational Book.
CSFTCS is a collection of short stories revolving around the American country music industry, Nashville; it's stars; their fans and life, in general. Now, these stories may be centred about country music but it's more than that. It's life, in a closer look.
There are stories on Love and Kindness, On Family, The Power of Faith, Living The Dream, Overcoming Obstacles and Hardships and The Power of A Song.
Some stories made me reflect, some made me cry, others made me want to never stop dreaming and some made me belly-out with laughter.
The book is divided into six sections, with each having a number of stories. On Love And Kindness contained stories of giving, impacting kindness and love. On Family contained stories of a father's love, the power of family, the love of a wife, loss and so on. The Power Of Faith was that section that taught me to keep on believing! Living The Dream contained stories of struggle, trying to make it in the music business and in life, dreaming big and never giving up. Overcoming Obstacles and Hardships was the reminder that tough times never last but tough people do! The Power Of A Song was the perfect never-ending end to stories that are more than stories. It was the reality that songs should be more than songs. Music should heal, should have a message and it can, it already has!
It's amazing that some of these stories are true stories. Some, fiction but not any less mind-blowing.
As my friend, Rafiat once said, 'So many words'. But, now, these are so many words of impact, imprinting impact.
You know, reading about all these stars in the papers, watching them on Tv, they look so high up there. In a way, reading this book, reading their stories, by them and by others deeply humanises them, at least for me. Dolly Parton wrote 'I Will Always Love You'. I sincerely never knew until I read this. I've always known Whitney Houston for the song. In her story, she describes her encounter with a fan whose life was changed by the song. The Power Of A Song.
Stories like Teddy Bear, The Frog Finally Got Its Wings, God bless the U.S.A, A Special Gift will never leave me.
I can say for a fact that I have learnt so much. From reading a book, yes. It's funny how some things just really get to you.
I think I started getting the whole inspiration vibe, from the Acknowledgment segment of the book.
(Yes, I actually read The Preface)
The words the authors wrote.
That's all I have to say.
One of my favourite things about the book is the little quotes above each story. Here's my favourite one!
Your talent is God's gift to you. How you use it is your gift to God.
– Country Saying.
Chicken Soup For The Country Soul is an excellent read, with great content and great writing. Each story, distinct, yet has a connective bond with the next. It's refreshing. It was written in 1998, almost twenty years ago. Yet, reading it in 2017, it still works! It's a timeless piece.
I highly recommend the other Chicken Soup For The Soul books as well as 'How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be' by Jack Canfield.
You'll love them!
Rating – A
Review by Titilope Adedokun
Published by Great Opara


text:
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episode Forty-Seven: "Dead Duck"
Well, it was bound to happen eventually: finally, Darkwing fucking DIES. Surely he didn't think he could be on the receiving end of all that slapstick violence FOREVER without eventually having to pay the piper, did he?
He dies by crashing into a wall helmetless while in pursuit of Megavolt, and the show evinces at least some vague awareness of the whole non-threatening nature of violence in this show. I am sort of surprised they were able to actually show Satan shoving souls down into eternal perdition, but they totally do (if this were a Chick Tract, that would be God doing the shoving--funny, that). We even see Satan and St. Peter getting into an argument about who should get his soul. But, he returns to Earth as a ghost and has to try to figure out a way out of this, in spite of being pursued by the Grim Reaper.
This is all reasonably amusing, and it's surprising the show would be permitted to tread such territory. But…surely from the very, very beginning everyone was able to see the lame ending coming. YES, IT'S ALL A DREAM. Hmph. Only Super Mario Bros 2 can get away with that one, in my book. I suppose giving tacit approval to this particular cosmology by having it be otherwise probably wouldn't have been permitted, but that doesn't make it any less lame. And the flowers bloom like madness in the spring.
Stray Obsevation
-"Goodbye, Morgana! I'm sorry we never had the chance to get together!" Okay but no seriously, what G-rated explanation could there possibly be for this comment?
4 comments:
The whole point of the "death" scene is to emphasize a point made in the pilot– always wear your helmet.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 18, 2016 at 10:56 AM
I'm so sorry you stopped before you got to the best episode, "Time and Punishment," but I'm glad you got this one, possibly the most memorable episode of the series.ReplyDelete
-"Goodbye, Morgana! I'm sorry we never had the chance to get together!" Okay but no seriously, what G-rated explanation could there possibly be for this comment?
Sorry, but I always assumed he meant getting married -- never saw anything dirty in that comment. (Besides, I firmly believe these 2 have "gotten together" in the sense you're referring to already, after the last scene of "Just Us Justice Ducks if nowhere else.)
So… 'you going to review the 2017 DuckTales pilot here?ReplyDelete
Actually, on one article, the creators of the reboot implied Glomgold is actually South African, but is pretending to be Scottish in order to outdo Scrooge.ReplyDelete
In short, he is a South African-pretending-to-be Scottish duck


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Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Karmin @ Best Buy Union Square, May 9, 2011
When my friend introduced me to this duo not more than a month ago, it was because she saw them cover a very particular rap song (and well too) and thought that I would enjoy their rendition. The song of course was "Look At Me Now" by Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, and Lil Wayne. Busta's verse is old school Bussa Buss, where he is rapping at the speed of light. Karmin's rendition is just as good, with none of the words dropped at all, some are changed of course to make it a bit more radio friendly. I couldn't believe someone was able to reproduce this song with such accuracy and manage to have fun with it like these two, so I decided that after watching this amazing Youtube video (which has eclipsed 11 million hits and counting) I would check out the rest of their songs, covers and originals. Everything is done great, and their covers are so originally done that really the only thing that's similar is the lyrics at the end of the day. These guys are mega talented, which is why when I heard they would be performing at Best Buy's Live series yesterday, I couldn't miss it...
Best Buy in Union Square has a musical series where they have artists come into the store and perform every so often. They've had quite a large amount of people perform in the past (Blitz the Ambassador, John Rich, Panic at The Disco, Wiz Khalifa and many others) but this was actually the only performance that I've made it to, and I was not disappointed. The multitalented Karmin consists of two people, Amy and Nick (now engaged, sorry everyone!), neither of which are actually named Karmin. Amy is the guitar player (acoustic) and lead vocalist (singer and very good rapper) while Nick is the multi-instrumentalist (Keys, trombone and a box he plays like a drum) and background vocals. The talent is there, and judging from their Youtube videos you know the performance ability is there as well, here's how it went:
They reached the stage and started things off with their rendition of "Bad Romance" by the one Lady Gaga. They did a very wide assortment of covers, showing off their pure talent with just those alone: a cover of "Price Tag" by Jessie J, of course "Look At Me Now," and their newest Youtube sensation, "6 Foot, 7 Foot" by Lil Wayne and Cory Gunz. They even took a Twitter request live, and one of their followers asked them to do their rendition of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," and they obliged. Honestly had they just done a few covers I feel like all the Karmin fans in attendance would have been right as rain as they say, but that wouldn't make any sense now would it? They did originals like "Inside Out," "Little Bit Crazy," and a new track by the name of "On Your Side," one that they claimed they wrote for The Ellen Show but hadn't really finished by the time the cameras were on them rehearsing it, so they figured they would bless the NY fans with the pretty much finished product.
Karmin's sound is rather refreshing. They are inherently pop music, but more singer/songwriter than the trash you will hear on the radio nowadays. They both play instruments and can both sing (in two party harmony of course) and lead sing Amy has such a fun stage presence that you can pretty much guess what it would be like to talk to her in real life just from watching her perform. I of course figured it out first hand, because they decided after their amazing performance to stay after the show to meet some fans and sign some CDs for people. They actually waited until the very last person on the line to meet them was gone before they actually made their exit; a kindness that is really lacking in today's music world. Karmin are on the road to stardom, from doing covers on Youtube to playing live on The Ellen Show, and I'm all for it. We need more actual talented musicians in this business to offset the 'artists' that are all fluff. Heed the words of Karmin: don't try and fake it, you'll never make it...Well said guys, well said.
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text:
The carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, will not be refueled as planned, due to the budget problems facing the Navy. It's the halfway point of the career, which is when they perform major maintenance items and refuel.
So, one of our super carriers is basically on standby at the pumps. You'd think with all that deck space, they could keep a herd of unicorns on deck to supply fuel as needed.
Oh yeah. Biden got a raise. I wonder how they could afford that?
In Case You've Wondered
My blog is where my wandering thoughts are interspersed with stuff I made up. So, if while reading you find yourself confused about the context, don't feel alone. I get confused, too.
If you're here for the stories, I started another blog: scratchingforchange.blogspot.com
One other thing: sometimes I write words you refuse to use in front of children, or polite company, unless you have a flat tire, or hit your thumb with a hammer.
I don't use them to offend; I use them to embellish.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Where The Hell are the Unicorns?
Labels: Insanity, Observation
4 comments:
Congress gave themselves raises as well. Way to lead!ReplyDelete
It's like golf courses on military bases and the five star hotels of military officers. They've developed a sense of entitlement that's not warranted, or the result of sound decisions.ReplyDelete
Things always change, but too many people suffer for no logical reason.
Things always change, like carriers that used to receive so much respect and awe, to becoming an empty dance floor. I wonder when the first congressional party will be thrown on its deck.ReplyDelete
But Congress NEEDS the pay raise since they've raised taxes. THAT will never change.
The majority of Congress are egotistical pinheads. They need to be kicked out.ReplyDelete
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text:
Awhile ago my friend Barbara Parker purchased a premade unfinished box
that had a album inside.
She told me that she purchased it with me in mind, and knew I would know
what to do with it
Barb I did finish it and here it is.
I hope you like it.


text:
The couch gets another makeover, this time a neutral brown linen. I just need some throw pillows to liven it up.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Meanwhile, in the front...
This got put in a couple of weeks ago:
Now maybe we can grow something without it being trampled. (and pee-ed on)
Now maybe we can grow something without it being trampled. (and pee-ed on)
Posted by Alexandra at 9:01 PM No comments:
Putting it back together...
Posted by Alexandra at 8:59 PM 1 comment:
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Backyard Make-Over Part 2
Yesterday the masons finished putting in the stone. New stone where the cement was
and our old stone back in it's place with mortar.
Now to put the table and other things back...
Posted by Alexandra at 8:23 AM No comments:
Monday, November 3, 2014
Backyard Make-over Part 1
All the ugly, bumpy, cracked cement got ripped out of the backyard today...right down to the soil.
Blue-stone pavers are on the plan...but if having grass didn't require having a mower I might have considered a lawn. I'm already liking it better.
Blue-stone pavers are on the plan...but if having grass didn't require having a mower I might have considered a lawn. I'm already liking it better.
Posted by Alexandra at 5:54 PM No comments:
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Sitting Room
The small room off of the bedroom is still being finished up....but very close to being done. I finally moved some things around and got a mattress for the daybed. The idea was to put the TV in the closet, but I was just told by the cable company that the wires in the wall are all rotted out from the storm...and somehow it never occurred to me to have them re-run when the walls were open. Oh well...too late now....
Posted by Alexandra at 11:42 AM No comments:
Johnny's Amazing Wood-work
For my birthday last year my step father MADE me (yes, hand carved...AND it works) a tea-pot clock...with a swinging wooden spoon pendulum. It's only just in the past few weeks that it got hung on the wall of my office...and a constant reminder that it's time to make more tea.
Posted by Alexandra at 11:35 AM No comments:
Monday, August 11, 2014
From Kitchen To Bath
This used to be my spice cabinet in my old apartment....now relocated to the bath for soaps and salts
Posted by Alexandra at 7:55 PM 1 comment:
A Mere 6 Months Later...
work continues on the small space off the bedroom...on it's way to becoming a sitting area.
Curtains are up, and the storage locker is officially emptied.
I was surprised to find that these were the only books to have survived the storm.
Posted by Alexandra at 7:53 PM No comments:
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
The Extra Room
The poor little room off the bedroom which never got fixed up --even before the storm-- is finally getting it's chance. First up: a new closet.
Posted by Alexandra at 3:31 PM No comments:
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Saying Goodbye
I'm surprised at how long it's been since I've posted. A few little things have been happening which I'll post about shortly as we finish up post-storm work, but we've been mostly distracted with saying goodbye to Franklin. Best cat ever, youthful to the last of his 15 years, I'm so happy he was able to move here with me and realize his love affair with stairs, bird watching, escaping into the backyard to rub himself on the pavement, and commandeering the stove griddle for naps.
Best company, constant buddy, and sleep-mate....he is sorely missed.
Best company, constant buddy, and sleep-mate....he is sorely missed.
Posted by Alexandra at 12:46 PM 3 comments:
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See Rock City"1950s Style!
We're heading to Lookout Mountain this fall, and you're invited to come along! The Tennessee State Museum continues its popular "Exploring Tennessee bus trip series with a trek southbound and down. Celebrating the popularity of the nation's early highway system and recognizing its impact on tourism unique to Tennessee, we will trace the route and visit the destinations enjoyed by countless families then and now.
We will set out from Nashville early on Saturday, November 5, 2016, hopping on a portion of the historic Dixie Highway as it curves through the small towns of Middle Tennessee and on into East Tennessee. Like so many travelers before us, Hwy 41 will take us right to the foot of famed Lookout Mountain, where we will ride the Incline Railway and see Rock City. Sit back and delight in the trip " we've got the driving, lunch, and tickets under control!
Enhancing the day will be commentary about both the Highway and the sites by noted historians Martha Carver and Claudette Steger. Carver, retired historian for Tennessee Department of Transportation, and Steger, preservation officer for the State Historical Commission, wrote the book Looking Beyond the Highway: Dixie Roads and Culture, and they look forward to sharing fascinating stories of their studies with us.
The cost is $85 a person if you book before October 15 and $90 afterwards. The cost covers transportation, lunch, snacks, our lecturers' honorarium fees, and admission tickets to the Incline and Rock City.
There are limited seats available, so this trip should sell out quickly " don't delay, book today!
Click here to sign-up.
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243-1120
The Tennessee Military Branch Museum is open for visitors.
301 6th Ave N
Nashville, TN 37243
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243-1120
The Tennessee Military Branch Museum is open for visitors.
301 6th Ave N
Nashville, TN 37243


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The whispers our pals at CrackBerry first planted in our heads last May are true (and again this spring) -- Android applications are coming to the BlackBerry Playbook via BlackBerry App World.
We'll let that sink in for a minute.
Here's the deal: Any app that runs on Android 2.3 will work, RIM says. There will be a pair of optional "App Players" that provide the runtime for the android applications. There will be compatible APIs, so developers should be able to easily port their apps. The apps will be downloaded from RIM's App World and run in a secure sandbox. So we're not talking low-level stuff here.
From the press release:
Developers will simply repackage, code sign and submit their BlackBerry Java and Android apps to BlackBerry App World. Once approved, the apps will be distributed through BlackBerry App World, providing a new opportunity for many developers to reach BlackBerry PlayBook users. Users will be able to download both the app players and the BlackBerry Java and Android apps from BlackBerry App World.
The PlayBook goes on sale April 19, but Android applications won't be able to run at launch. Instead, RIM will show off the new App Players and demo Android apps at BlackBerry World in Orlando on May 3-5.
Said RIM president and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis:
"The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today. The upcoming addition of BlackBerry Java and Android apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook on BlackBerry App World will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform."
So, yeah. Android applications will be able to run on the PlayBook. But the apps can't be all that deep, and will be running in some sort of emulation layer. But perhaps it's a all a middle ground to entice Android developers to go all-in with the BlackBerry NDK and do real ports, and not just emulation. We'll just have to see. Full presser's after the break.


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Teachers can use this tool in different ways. You can send a form to your students the day before school as a "get to know you" activity so you can come into class the first day with some information about your students. You can give entire homework assignments with short answer, multiple choice, true/false and matching questions. You can flip your classroom and give the students a video to watch and hold them responsible for the content by requiring them to answer a few questions on the video. The best part of all is that all the information goes into one simple spreadsheet.
If you want to get a little fancier, a few months ago Google Forms began allowing you to embed a youtube video within a form. So now you can create a video and have it along with the homework questions all within the same link. CLICK HERE to see an example I recently did in my 12th grade class. See below for a few examples of how other teachers have used Google Forms in their classroom.
How will you know if someone filled out a form? Either you can check your Google Drive file every day, or you can turn on notifications and get an email any time the form is filled out. To set this up, go into the backend Google Spreadsheet that is created (see videos below), go to tools, Notification rules, and choose how and when you want to be notified.
To learn how to create Google Forms, watch the two videos below:
Examples of other teachers using Google Forms
1. Student Reading Log
2. Sample Form to Track an Assignment
3. 80 + Google Forms for the Classroom
4. 74 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom
Other Resources
1. 6 Things You Might Not Have Know You can Do in Google Forms
a. Youtube video
b. Print Version
2. Webinar on Advanced Forms
3. Innovative Ideas for Using Google Forms
4. 80 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom
5. How to Use Google Forms to make self-grading quizzes
Links to Previous Videos
1. How to Create a Screencast
2. How to Create a Screencast from an iPad
3. Introduction to Gmail (by Aaron Fleksher)
4. Google Calendar (by Aaron Fleksher)
5. Google Drive #1


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Ostwald System
The Ostwald system creates a color space based on dominant wavelength, purity, and luminance, mapping the values of hue, saturation and brightness. Establishing the values for these parameters is done with a disc colorimeter which mixes on a disk amounts of the pure spectral color at the dominant wavelength with white, and black . Thus the point in the Ostwald color space is represented by values C,W, and B to represent the percentages of the circle. For example 35,15,50 represents 35% full color, 15% white, and 50% black.
The OSTWALD system is based upon an analysis of reflectance curves.
The word "harmony" in the title aptly symbolizes what Ostwald wanted to achieve with colors. Experience had shown him (and others) that some color combinations could be seen as pleasant (or harmonious), while others were unpleasant. The question was why, and whether a law could be formulated. With his analysis of color-harmony, Ostwald proceeds on the basis of his conviction that harmony is created by color-order. A double-cone is put forward with one white and one black tip between which a stepped grey-scale is arranged, modeled according to a fundamental psychological law. The double-cone extends from a color-circle divided into 24 segments (the full colors) which in turn stem from the four proto-colors of yellow, red, blue and sea-green
His Farbfibel "The color primer" (historical illustr. 1; illustr. 2; illustr. 3), which appeared in 1916, introduced a color system devoted to this task (and survived for 15 editions).
Ostwald, who had met Albert H. Munsell in 1905 on a journey to America, attempted to devise a system — just as the American painter had done — based on perception and equalizing the respective differences between individual colors. Expressed in our modern technical language, we can say that Ostwald attempted to construct a perceptual color-system using non-empirical methods. In place of Munsell's three parameters, he selected an alternative group of variables: namely, color-content, white-content and black-content. He also introduced the special term "full color", by which he meant a color which permitted the sensation of one single color-tone (Munsell's "hue") and was not tempered by white or black. To be more accurate, we could say that a full color is an optimally pure color — in other words, of maximum saturation and at the same time bright. Full colors are, of course, ideal colors which cannot be reproduced by actual pigments. (When Ostwald published his Color Primer, his full colors contained about 5% white and slightly less black, as he himself admitted.)
We can thus formulate the guiding principle behind Ostwald's theory of color in the following way: the most universal mixture is the mixture of full colors, white and black. Each pigmented color can be characterized by specifying the color-content (at a certain color-hue), white-content and black-content. In his Farbfibel, Ostwald proceeds systematically, drawing a distinction between chromatic and achromatic colors. He arranges his achromatic colors in the form of a grey scale along a line containing eight gradations, which conform to a geometrical sequence. In other words, the influence of visually dominant white does not decrease uniformly from above downwards, but does so geometrically, with the perceived mid-point between black and white being characterised by a proportion of approximately 20% white. (To avoid confusion, we have omitted the letters used here by Ostwald to identify these gradations.) The basis of the sequence is the so-called Weber-Fechner Law of Psychophysiology, although its application is technically limited. In fact, Ostwald abandoned his grey sequence which used this law as a basis.
The full colors are arranged around a complete circle which leans towards Hering's system and starts out with four basic colors: yellow to the north; red to the east; blue (to be more exact, ultramarine) to the south; and sea-green to the west. Four further colors are then placed between these: orange between yellow and red; violet between red and ultramarine blue; turquoise between ultramarine blue and sea-green; and leaf-green between sea-green and yellow. (Ostwald names orange "kress" and violet "veil". At the time of World War I, it was considered prudent to avoid all words borrowed from the French. However, we shall not be doing so.) As with Munsell, the colors are arranged so that compensating colors (i.e. color-pairs whose mixtures produce a neutral grey) are placed opposite each other: yellow-ultramarine blue, orange-turquoise, red-sea-green, and violet-leaf green.
With these eight colors, Ostwald constructs 24 color-hues with equal spacing and numbers them from yellow upwards, arranging them into a circle.
From the full colors of this circle, Ostwald then constructs the so-called "bright-clear", or "dark-clear" colors, resulting in a series which, towards either white or black, is "perceptually equidistant" from each respective color. With that, Ostwald can proceed with the fulfillment of his original task: namely, to specify the general mixing of the other colors characterized by him as "dull colors" (or, in accordance with Hering, "veiled colors") and forming most of the colors existing in the color-solid.
Each such dull color can be defined from a mixture of a full color and a grey tone, with the grey tone being defined from a mixture of black and white. The color standard desired of any particular full color can therefore be realized using an equilateral triangle, with its central black-white axis — the grey scale — lying opposite the full color as the third point. The sides of the triangle running from the full color towards either black or white each contain "dark-clear" or "bright-clear" color sequences.
When joined onto the triangle of opposing complementary colors, such a monochromatic triangle — regarded as "psychological" by Ostwald — becomes a rhombus (below right) which can be applied to the entire circle of pure colours. The basis of a double-cone is created in this way, uniting all the colors of Ostwald's system (above right). The Color Harmony Manual, the third edition of which was published in 1948, provides a very good practical embodiment of this construction.
The word "harmony" in the title aptly symbolizes what Ostwald wanted to achieve with colors. Experience had shown him (and others) that some color combinations could be seen as pleasant (or harmonious), while others were unpleasant. The question was why, and whether a law could be formulated. With his analysis of color-harmony, Ostwald proceeds on the basis of his conviction that harmony is created by color-order. To identify these harmonies, he even drafted a law (harmony = order), claiming that he could find all harmonies by analyzing all the orders of color which his color solid — the double-cone — would allow, and that he could do this according to the rules of geometry. From 1926 onwards, these harmonies were summarized — initially by Ostwald himself — first of all in a Harmothek and later in the Color Harmony Manual, with which we are already familiar.
It would not be fitting for us to criticize Ostwald's theory of color, but it does appear that its effect is not very convincing. We probably have to accept that science does not provide us with information about the harmonious combination of colors in the same way as with sounds. Light and sound are different wave forms, and the eye, in contrast to the ear, possesses only rudimentary capabilities with regard to comparative analysis. In addition, we can barely see more than an octave (the maximum extent of the visible spectrum). There also appears to be no physical or physiological basis to the assumption that some individual combinations of color are more desirable than others. Nobody — including Ostwald — has ever thought of improving on the magnificence of a rainbow by removing or adding a component of its colors. However, Ostwald did wish to improve Japanese woodcuts and recommended a new coloring using his standards as a basis, henceforth regarding this to be more "Japanese" than the originals.
In the world of art, Ostwald may indeed have created rather a doubtful reputation for himself with this claim. But his system nevertheless left its mark: for example, the Dutch "De Stijl" movement with Piet Mondrian at its centre focused on his work — at any rate, Mondrian's treatment of colors in 1917 and 1918 had much in common with Ostwald's theories.


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You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Mexico' category.
This Riviera Maya wedding was beautifully captured by 34 Studio.
No one says "I wish I had a bigger wedding". After the last piece of cake is sliced and last song is over, most couples will tell you they we wished they had a smaller wedding. Less guests means less stress, less expensive, and more time spent with the people you hold closest to your heart. Destination weddings are great for cutting down a guest list. They can also be money savers. Grand Velas Riviera Maya Resort, near Cancun, offers wedding packages that will cost you less than the average American wedding, even after flight and hotel costs for you and your fiance. For more information please contact Maria at our West Hollywood office at (866) 456-5571
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- Ceremony set up for 25 people
- Reception set up for 25 people
- Plated menu for Reception for 25 people
- 4 hrs Premium Open Bar for Reception for 25 people
- Transportation Airport-Hotel-Airport for the wedding couple
- First sunrise together, breakfast in bed
- Wedding Coordinator Services
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Prices do not include hotel stay and are subject to change without prior notice. Package valid only for Grand Velas guests. Additional costs may apply for non Grand Velas guests attending Ceremony and/or Reception. *In case of Civil Ceremony, additional cost may apply for legal papers.**Three courses Menu to choose from the Banquet Menu. ***Minimum 15 Suites reserved. Reservations must be made by July 31st, 2012. Event may be held up to December 18th, 2013. Black out dates: December, 19th 2011 to January 3rd, 2012 / December, 19th 2012 to January 3rd, 2013. Decoration not included. Please inquire About additional services.
This beautiful Mexico wedding was captured by Edmonson Photography. The ceremony took place at Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Carmen and the reception was held at Grand Velas Riviera Maya. To see more photos visit Edmonson's blog.
Elizabeth Medina captured this beautiful Mexico wedding at the Moon Palace Resort. Check out the Trash the Dress photo session the day after! For more photos go to her blog.


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Mis Favoritas de Marzo (2012)
2. Hors Satan, 2011, Bruno Dumont
4. A Ma Soeur, 2001, Catherine Breillat
1. Time Indefinite & Bright Leeves, de Ross McElwee
2. The Muppets, de James Bobin
-Hors Satan, Bruno Dumont 2011
-El lago seco, Masahiro Shinoda 1961
-Tras el cristal, Agustín Villaronga 1987
-Into the Abyss, Werner Herzog 2011
-Donnie Brasco, Mike Newell 1997
-Lilo & Stitch, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders 2002
-Brooklyn's Finest, Antoine Fuqua 2009
++ Trailer de Cosmopolis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IntCndoiJYg
+ Trailer de the 3 stooges
The Green Ray (2011) de Tacita Dean.
The Living Dead: Three Films About the Power of the Past (1995) de Adam Curtis.
The Blackout (1997) de Abel Ferrara.
Muktikara (1999) de Jeanne Liotta.
Brève Traversée (2011) de Catherine Breillat.
The Girlfriend Experience (2009) de Steven Soderbergh.
L'Homme Qui Ment (1968) de Alain Robbe-Grillet.
Bad Lieutenant (1992) de Abel Ferrara.
The General Returns from One Place to Another (2006) de Michael Robinson.
Loretta (2003) de Jeanne Liotta.
King of New York (1990) de Abel Ferrara.
Trans-Europ-Express (1966) de Alain Robbe-Grillet.
Chronicle (2012) de Josh Trank.
Un Ete Brulant (2011) de Philippe Garrel.
Ms. 45 (1981) de Abel Ferrara.
1. Superstition Andalouse (Segundo de Chomón, 1912)
2. Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2007)
3. Les herbes folles (Alain Resnais, 2009)
4. The Muppets (James Bobin, 2011)
5. El señor (Juan Cavestany, 2012)
6. Ruby Gentry (King Vidor, 1952)
7. The sitter (David Gordon Green, 2011)
8. Lure of the wilderness (Jean Negulesco, 1952)
9. S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge (Rithy Panh, 2003)
10. Faust (Alexandr Sokurov, 2011)
1. The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1939)
2. A Torinói ló (Béla Tarr, 2011)
3. The Unforgiven (John Huston, 1959)
4. Karigurashi no Arrietty - Yukashita no kobito-tachi (Yonebayashi Hiromasa, 2010)
5. Baby Face Nelson (Don Siegel, 1957)
6. Private Hell 36 (Don Siegel, 1954)
7. La reine des pommes (Valérie Donzelli, 2009)
8. Cyrano de Bergerac (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990)
9. Crimen (Mario Camerini, 1960)
10. The Woman in White (Peter Godfrey, 1947)
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (Andrei Ujica, 2011)
Il pianeta azzurro (Franco Piavoli, 1981)
Hors Satan (Bruno dumont, 2011)
Pentimento (Frans Zwartjes, 1979)
Behind the walls (Frans Zwartjes, 1970)
La guerre es declaré (Valérie Donzelli, 2011)
Crazy clown time (David Lynch, 2012)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (T. san Durkin, 2011)
Find Me Guilty (Sidney Lumet, 2006)
El reto de la canela (Salvador Raya, 2012)
1. The Cardinal (Otto Preminger, 1963)
2. Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944)
3. The World of Suzie Wong (Richard Quine, 1960)
4. The Go-Between (Joseph Losey, 1970)
5. The Romantic Englishwoman (Joseph Losey, 1975)
6. Far From the Madding Crowd (John Schlesinger, 1967)
7. The Collector (William Wyler, 1965)
8. Bunny Lake is Missing (Otto Preminger, 1965)
1) Il conformista (Bernardo Bertolucci)
2) Faust (Aleksandr Sokurov)
3) Night train (Diao Yi-nan)
4) Exiled (Johnnie To)
5) Un été brûlant (Philippe Garrel)
6) Cold Fish (Sion Sono)
7) Elena (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
1. The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford)
2. A Torinói ló (Béla Tarr)
3. The Unforgiven (John Huston)
4. Karigurashi no Arrietty - Yukashita no kobito-tachi (Yonebashi H.)
5. Baby Face Nelson (Don Siegel)
6. Private Hell 36 (Don Siegel)
7. La reine des pommes (Valérie Donzelli)
8. Cyrano de Bergerac (Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
9. Crimen (Mario Camerini)
10.Royal Wedding (Stanley Donen)
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I'm so glad I've finally found someone that appreciates a masterpiece like Geneviève by Michel Brault, almost as much as me. I've seen that movie only once, and since then I've been trying by all means to rewatch it, but so far, I've failed miserably.
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Special Thanks from a cinephile from Portugal,
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I took T to the library Friday afternoon. He enjoys going because he can sit at one of several children's computer stations and watch the screen do cool things. Several times I have attempted to show T how the game works (if I can figure it out myself!), but he has taken to gently pushing me away and saying "I'll be right back", which in T translates as "Go away." J (He wants me to say "I'll be right back" and then leave, so he prompts me by saying it to me first. Brilliant reasoning, I must admit.)
Note: he has not ever played any computer games other than cause-and-effect games – press a key and something happens – and he hasn't shown interest in those in about a year. We've tried to show him how to point & click with a mouse and move it around, but until Friday, he never indicated that he caught on or showed any interest. Just sitting and watching.
There was a new game on his favorite computer, which looked pretty cool. It was a shape-matching game, and required no clicking of the mouse at all. You just swiped the curser over the shape at the bottom of the screen – which "picked up" the shape – and then you slid it over the matching shape at the top of the screen. I showed T how do to this; he replied by saying "I'll be right back", and I obliged. I came back after a few minutes AND HE WAS PLAYING THE GAME BY HIMSELF.
I didn't know whether to jump for joy or cry or play cool or what. So I stood there in disbelief, jaw dropped, hand to my mouth, in sheer and utter amazement. I then went over to the resource librarian's desk and asked what software was on the children's computers. At first, she seemed a little defensive or annoyed, but I explained that I was witnessing a minor miracle from my autistic son – that he was playing a computer game for the first time all by himself. Well, she was pretty excited about that and was calling everywhere to find out what the program was. She first asked if I could close out the game so we could find out what it was, and I said "Um, I'm not really wanting to interrupt this!" and then she realized how silly that was. After a few phone calls, she had gathered every possible bit of identifying information she could (such a good librarian!) so that I could order it for him. Then she said that this was worthy of notation in their log, and happily went on her way to document the miracle.
Then I stood there in awe. I called Rob to share the moment. He was stunned too. Not that we didn't think that he couldn't do it someday – we knew he could – but playing computer games was yet another way that we got to see just how different typically developing children are from him. Kids his age are computer whizzes. I watch his cousins maneuver the Webkins website and am completely amazed (brilliance in all its different forms runs in the family). But Friday, getting to watch him play this game was like witnessing a miracle. Once again we have proof that he is capable of learning challenging tasks. Every skill he gains is another step toward an independent life. I saw into the future and he was at a desk doing computer work. I've dreamt it, but the dream became more of a vision of possible reality today.
It was a magnificent day. You go, T.


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"The Reeve Foundation invites the paralysis community to share their unique stories through our Faces & Places Photo Contest," said Peter T. Wilderotter, Reeve Foundation President and CEO.
Short Hills, NJ (Vocus/PRWEB) February 24, 2011
The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation has launched an online photo contest to showcase favorite portraits and travel destinations of the paralysis community.
Applications for the 2011 Reeve Foundation Faces & Places Photo Contest are being accepted through March 11, 2011. Individuals can submit photos in two categories, portrait and travel. Judging for the portrait photo is based on adherence to theme of contest, originality of thought, photographic skills, and a description of photo in 120 words or less.
Photos can be black and white or color and shot on a camera. The only restriction to enter is that the contest entrant must be living with paralysis. He or she must either have taken the photo or be in the photo.
Ten semi-finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges submitted at http://www.ChristopherReeve.org/photo. These photos will then be featured on the Reeve Foundation website from March 18 through March 27, 2011 for the public to view and vote. The winner will be announced the week of March 28.
One grand prize winner will receive a private photography lesson with renowned photographer Christopher Voelker, who has been living with quadriplegia since the age of 16, via telephone, Skype, or his Los Angeles studio (travel not provided). Voelker has shot celebrities ranging from Ringo Starr to Rhianna.
"The Reeve Foundation invites the paralysis community to share their unique stories through our Faces & Places Photo Contest," said Peter T. Wilderotter, Reeve Foundation President and CEO. "Every person living with paralysis has a powerful story and can be well-lived through vivid imagery."
About the Reeve Foundation
The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research, and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy. For more information please visit our website at ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-225-0292.
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Over at Conglomerate, Eric Gerding, a respected Professor of Corporate Law, apparently disapproves agreements between universities and credit card companies creating so-called affinity cards, whereby universities help companies market such cards to students and alumni, in return for a portion of the earnings that such cards produce. Gerding plainly does not like such arrangements, and he urges readers to examine a database created by the Federal Reserve that reports on the terms of such deals, including what payments universities have received, how many cards have been issued pursuant to such arrangements, and the identity of the card issuer. (For instance, a search of the database will reveal that the Duke University Alumni Association received $1.375 million from Chase Bank, USA N.A., that there are over 8,000 cards issued pursuant to the Duke/Chase Affinity program, and that 4 such cards were issued last year.) Congress required the Fed to create the database in the so-called Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, and the Fed in turn required companies with these programs to turn over such information, without providing the companies with compensation for the time and effort spent complying with this request.
Here is the substance of Professor Gerding's critique:
Let me explain.