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DiM wrote:well years ago there was a layer battle and there were various mini graphic contests.
don't know if it's been done since but it would be great to have this thing brought back.
also i'd love to see thematic speed contests. for example once a month for 6 hours (a decent time to get a map done) any map maker goes in the chat and a CA gives a theme (let's say pirates, or your neighbourhood, or gay penguins) and each person starts making the map reporting the progress every hour to the CA (a screenshot of the map to show progress). then the maps get voted and the winner is uploaded on the site. of course a lot of work is still needed to balance gameplay and perhaps even touch up graphics but that can be done while in beta.
Absolutely no way, am I going to contribute 6 hour of my time to something like this! As cool as it sounds.
But I would like to see more ways to allow people to compete against each other. Graphical competition pushes us all to become better with our chosen programs.


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Mike Melvoin, a pianist/composer/arranger whose credits reach from Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys, and who was the first active musician to serve as national president of the Recording Academy, has died. He was 74.
A first-call pianist and keyboardist since the early 1960s, Melvoin died Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, said his daughter Wendy. He had cancer.
In addition to his studio work, Melvoin remained strongly linked to jazz, his first musical love, performing on a regular basis in local clubs, frequently touring internationally and releasing numerous recordings of his own groups.
Pianist/composer Michael Lang, also a busy member of the Los Angeles community of jazz and studio musicians, expressed high praise for Melvoin's many accomplishments, noting his "unique, significant contributions to jazz and popular music as a pianist, arranger and songwriter as well as a composer of film music."
Jazz alto saxophonist Phil Woods, who performed on Melvoin's album "It's Always You," was equally enthusiastic about another area of Melvoin's skills — his songwriting. "They're not just your regular Tin Pan Alley," Woods said. "It's the American song form raised a notch. Mike is like fine wine."
Among the numerous sessions in his lengthy resume, Melvoin played on such memorable recordings as Frank Sinatra's "That's Life," Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable," the Jackson 5's "ABC," and "Pet Sounds" and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.
"It was a marathon," Melvoin said, mentioning the "Good Vibrations" recording dates while describing the ups and downs of life as a studio musician. "Six double sessions," he recalled. "All for one song."
His name turns up with remarkable consistency among the backing players for one varied hit after another, including Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman," John Lennon's "Stand By Me," Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen" and Quincy Jones' all-star collective, "We Are the World."
As a busy studio musician for a good part of his career, Melvoin was always quick to defend the skills and the versatility of the players who performed, as he did, on recordings, films, television shows and beyond, bringing life to every style and genre of music.
"Studio guys get sold short," he told the Boston Herald in 2004. "There's an innate distrust that people have that if you do one thing, somehow that's the authentic article, and if you do more than one thing, somehow it's not. The truth is the great studio players are the authentic article in everything they do."
In 2011, when the Recording Academy made changes in the Grammy awards structure, Melvoin was in the vanguard of the movement to rescind the category changes. As a pianist whose career had touched every stylistic area, he was especially bothered by the effect of the changes upon instrumentalists.
"Everyone who has ever played an instrument," he said in a public statement, "has had the possibility of receiving recognition from the Grammys gutted. That cannot and will not stand."
Melvoin's advocacy for the recognition of instrumental musicians continued until his death.
Michael Melvoin was born May 10, 1937, in Oshkosh, Wis. He began to play piano at the age of 3, and was an active performing musician as a teenager.
After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in English, he moved to New York, focusing on a career as a professional musician. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1961.
Melvoin, who was separated from his wife, Sandra, is survived by twin daughters Wendy and Susannah, both singer-songwriters; four grandchildren; a brother; and Melvoin's companion, actress Theresa Russell. His son, Jonathan, a member of the group Smashing Pumpkins, died in 1996 of a fatal heroin overdose.
Mike Melvoin, a pianist/composer/arranger whose credits reach from Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys, and who was the first active musician to serve as national president of the Recording Academy, has died. He was 74.

subset: commoncrawl


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Splash SF Sept 2012 People's Choice Award winner Kismet connects you to your existing friends in the real world by simplifying getting together face to face. Watch co-founders Kevin Stephens and Michelle Norgan present.
Do you want to present on stage in front of 350 high-tech influencers and try your shot at being Splash NY December? Splash is free to enter. And, it's great marketing and exposure, along with some fun prizes, like sit-down meetings with VCs, an Apple iPad, free legal and accounting consultations, and more.
Even though success is not defined by how much money a company has raised, past Vator winners, such as Thumbtack, Getable, Grovo, Astrid, Udemy, and Geeklist have gone on to raise millions of dollars collectively from venerable VCs, soon after presenting.
Here's some other testimonials:
"The process of inviting everyone one we knew to vote for us, even before the event, was a fantastic way to build support for our company. Then presenting at Vator Splash was a blast. The short presentation style ensured the audience was engaged and the follow-up questions from the judges were on-point and constructive. At Vator Splash, I made great connections with a number of investors and had a number of follow-up meetings. We were able to raise our last round entirely from investors who discovered us from the publicity we generated from Vator Splash," said Jon Paris, CEO and founder of Astrid.
"Working with Vator, and Bambi, is a pleasure. She's really passionate about uniting great ideas with the right people. We actually tied for first in last years Vator Splash SF and as a direct result raised $150,000 from an investor who saw us pitch. TEEC Angels approached us right at the event and invested soon thereafter. Reuben Katz, CEO and founder of Geeklist.
"Vator has acted as a launchpad for my startup in terms of awareness and exposure. As a winner of a Vator competition, my startup enjoyed early traction and buzz. Vator has kept my business relevant in the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and potential employees. I've made many invaluable connections to the investor and entrepreneur community." Tim Hyer, founder and CEO, Getable.
"DogVacay.com won Vator Splash LA in June 2012. The competition allowed us an opportunity to meet and pitch against some of the great Los Angeles startups and further foster our entrepreneurial community. There was such a positive energy with so many great minds providing insightful feedback throughout the night. Two paws up, Vator!" Aaron Hirschhorn, founder & Top Dog, Dog Vacay
"Events like Vator Splash are critical for startups to generate awareness. We were a top 10 finalist for Splash LA. It provided us with an amazing opportunity to network and gain exposure to a whole community of investors and VCs. Soon after, we raised $3M as a result of the momentum/exposure from the event and the platform in general," Peter Vogel, founder and CEO, Plink.
Join the Splash competition here.


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Boy, 12, recounts days as terror inmate / Youngest captive spent 17 months detained, a year at Guantanamo
2004-02-13 04:00:00 PDT Khuja Angoor, Afghanistan -- A single day forever changed the life of 12-year-old Asadullah Rahman.
Struggling to remember the exact date he was captured by American soldiers, or when he was flown to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where the United States holds "enemy combatants" without charges, he presses his fingers to his temples to conjure memories that have grown fuzzy after months in detention.
He was just 10 years old when American soldiers stormed the compound of the local Afghan commander who was holding him captive, he says. They grabbed his gun. There were handcuffs and blindfolds. Since then, he has seen the inside of three separate interrogation rooms.
On Jan. 29, after being released with two other young detainees, he returned to this village in eastern Afghanistan, a three-hour drive along dirt roads from Kabul. He was free but burdened with the uncomfortable distinction of being the youngest person ever jailed in America's war on terror.
"They should have arrested al Qaeda, not me," he said in the first interview since his release. "I was just innocent."
U.S. military officials say that based on medical tests, they believe Asadullah is older than he claims, perhaps 13 to 15. The two other youngsters released with him, who are both 15, say he was about 13 when he was freed.
As proof of his youth, Asadullah points to a Polaroid hanging on his bedroom wall, too fresh to have faded, taken just before he was captured. In the photo, he looks like a child -- standing, flanked by his cousin and older brother, in a field of wildflowers. Today he is 5 feet tall and mostly muscle, with a tired smile, dense lashes and old-man eyes.
The Pentagon claims he was a trained gunman conscripted to fight in an anti-U.S. militia.
"The Taliban leadership directed younger members to counterattack the U.S. forces in the area," Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Burfeind, a Pentagon spokesperson, said by phone. "The juveniles were removed from the battlefield to prevent further harm to U.S. forces and to themselves."
Asadullah maintains that he was sold into sexual slavery to a local militia leader, one of many in lawless prewar Afghanistan, in nearby Paktia Province.
One day, his favorite uncle approached Asadullah with the offer of paid work at the compound of a local gunman known only as Commander Sammoud -- a militia leader with a reputation for terrorizing surrounding villages.
"I was brought there to service the commander's men," Asadullah says in a quiet voice. During the day, he served food and washed dishes. At night, he was asked to do other things he is too ashamed to utter.
By his 10th birthday, he had spent about a month with the militia and knew his way around an AK-47, but never pulled a trigger, he claims. And while Sammoud had lots of enemies, Asadullah insists Americans weren't among them.
"He wasn't Taliban, but he was a criminal," he says.
The military commander of the district police force, Mohammad Sabir, agrees. He says Sammoud and about 30 armed followers were not Taliban but an armed band that often extorted money from local villagers.
One autumn night -- a year and a half ago, Asadullah figures -- the gunmen were sitting down to dinner when around 50 American soldiers stormed the compound.
"They said they were looking for al Qaeda and Taliban soldiers," Asadullah says.
Most of Sammoud's followers escaped, but seven people, including Asadullah and Sammoud, were captured and taken to the U.S. base in Gardez.
Over the next week he was interrogated several times. What did he know about the Taliban? Why was he carrying guns? Had he shot at an American? Had he ever killed one? Who was he working for?
"At Gardez, I was beaten. But I wasn't beaten too much. There was some kicking, nothing more."
From Gardez, he was transferred to Bagram, a U.S. air base near Kabul. Again he was interrogated. Asadullah believes he remained at Bagram for four or five months.
Then he was blindfolded and hooded and taken on a journey by plane that lasted a very long time.
"The Americans told me it was none of my business where I was going," he says.
When he arrived at Guantanamo Bay naval base, he was questioned for hours. At the end of the session, his interrogators asked how old he was. They seemed shocked at his response.
"I was the youngest person they had ever arrested," he says.
The first sign his family received that Asadullah was alive came in a letter delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross more than a year after he went missing.
Asadullah's mother retrieves it from the folds of a prayer mat. The letter, written in his native Pashto, is creased and tear-stained and bears the stamp of military clearance.
"All of the greetings from my heart I convey to the family," Asadullah wrote. "I keep my hope alive by the grace of Allah. Please send me a letter when you can. Please don't cut the connection, write soon."
Asadullah and the two other boys who were released lived in a separate compound a two-minute drive from the main prison at Guantanamo Bay. From his bedroom, he could see the ocean.
"We recognize the special needs of juvenile detainees and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding their young lives," Burfeind says. "Every effort was made to provide them a secure environment free from the influences of older detainees."
During the days, they were allowed to run on the grass inside the compound. Sometimes, the soldiers would play football with them. Asadullah even developed a certain prowess at chess.
"Guantanamo was like home if you compare it to Bagram," he says. "But I wished I was more independent, more free. I wished I was not like a prisoner."
The boys were taught to read and write English. It was the first time they had attended anything resembling school. Asadullah was also given books in Pashto and a copy of the Koran.
"Sometimes we were allowed to watch television. I liked to watch movies," he recalls.
The soldiers assigned to guard them became friends. "They were so kind to us," he says.
Almost a year after he arrived, he was called into the office of a commanding officer and told he was going home. Military officials said the boys had provided useful intelligence but had no further value and were no longer a threat to the United States. He had spent 17 months in U.S. captivity.
Private W, a guard who had become his friend, gave him a football and a chessboard to take back to Afghanistan.
"The guards gave me a big hug and said, "Be good. Go to school,' " he recalls.
When they landed at Bagram, a Red Cross representative took him to the Interior Ministry, where he received identity papers. Then a UNICEF case worker took him to Kabul for a reunion with his family. "We did not expect to see him alive," his mother says. "Everybody was crying."
She barely recognized her son. His voice had changed. He had whiskers and a sprinkle of acne.
For Asadullah, life in this village of 2,000 in Logar Province, where his family moved after his capture, is disorienting. There is no electricity, no running water, no school, no medical clinic. He misses football games with Private W, math lessons and speaking English.
"I am not feeling very good. There is nothing to do here," he says.
How can he explain to his family that sometimes he feels Guantanamo was the best thing that ever happened to him? That he nurtures dreams of life beyond the mountain pass?
He wants a motorcycle so he can attend school in Kabul and learn more English. He wants to become a teacher or a doctor or an engineer. Most of all he wants out of this village, he says.
"I want to go to America."


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It's starting to really shape up that the criticism of the Obama Administration regarding the attack on the consulate at Benghazi is a lot of outrage about….the Obama Administration even existing. I was astonished that then-Republican candidate for the presidency, Mitt Romney, chose to opportunistically seize on the deaths of four Americans because it was the sort of flail a losing campaign with a candidate who neither seemed to know or care to understand much about foreign policy might launch. Astonished that no one called it off—not astonished that it occured. The point being—I could remember exactly that sort of fail-flail occuring with a candidate who attempted to grandstand on an issue—the economy, which was not his known strong point, in exactly the same point in his campaign;
The candidate was Senator John McCain, and the event was the nonsensical suspension of his campaign and the further subsequent flail of calling together a group of his peers to try and hash out a plan. From thenTreasury Secretary Hank Paulson's version of the events:
It was brilliant political theater that was about to degenerate into farce. Skipping protocol, the president turned to McCain to offer him a chance to respond: "I think it's fair that I give you the chance to speak next."
But McCain demurred. "I'll wait my turn," he said. It was an incredible moment, in every sense. This was supposed to be McCain's meeting—he'd called it, not the president, who had simply accommodated the Republican candidate's wishes. Now it looked as if McCain had no plan at all—his idea had been to suspend his campaign and summon us all to this meeting. It was not a strategy, it was a political gambit, and the Democrats had matched it with one of their own.
Finally, raising his voice over the din, Obama said loudly, "I'd like to hear what Senator McCain has to say, since we haven't heard from him yet."
The room went silent and all eyes shifted to McCain, who sat quietly in his chair, holding a single note card. He glanced at it quickly and proceeded to make a few general points. He said that many members had legitimate concerns and that I had begun to head in the right direction on executive pay and oversight. He mentioned that Boehner was trying to move his caucus the best he could and that we ought to give him the space to do that. He added he had confidence the consensus could be reached quickly.
As he spoke, I could see Obama chuckling.
McCain had nothing, then, and got called on it, just like Mitt Romney had nothing when, during the second debate, he stepped into the trap ("Please proceed, Governor") that invited the moderator to actually perform an act of journalism and check the factual record, acknowledging that Obama from day one did consider the Benghazi assault an act of terror.
How is it then, that right after Mitt Romney's notable shellacking in the election, that Senator John McCain decides to jump on the Benghazi bandwagon with both feet, so eager to publically smear Obama that he calls a potential nominee for Hillary Clinton's replacement as Secretary of State "none too bright" whilst he is literally blowing off a briefing to potentially get the kind of answers that he was seeking?
How does one shriveled human actually contain so much bitterness? I don't even know. In his wake, the wingnuts who were in mid-flock are caught spouting gibberish by journalists who smell a rat.
This leaves me with the happy thought, espoused by Booman, that just like this was a non-story, maybe this means John McCain is finally persona non grata. I, too, have longed for the time when McCain inserted his platinum card to draw from the old Bank of American Trust, and finds it declined (hell, he should get a bill with penalties for being well and truly overdrawn). But I treat this non-story as a bloggable event in much the way a doctor is interested in symptoms—"He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." I'd like to see the symptoms abate—and yet, I am watchful in the event that the screamers on the right will try to actually get their "Watergate-style" hearings—facts be damned! They see the ghosts.
They need them. Or they would have to face the idea that maybe, just maybe, the Obama Administration's greatest success is in not really being fuck-ups.
(X-Posted at Rumproast)


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Story highlights
- Ernie Els criticizes officials over state of greens at Wentworth
- Els masterminded re-design of West Course where PGA Championship held
- Defending champion Luke Donald leads after third round of 69 for 11-under 205
- Donald set to return to World No.1 in place of Rory McIlroy
A furious Ernie Els blasted Wentworth officials over the condition of the course he redesigned after completing his third round at the PGA Championship Saturday.
The popular South African moved into a tie for fourth behind leader Luke Donald after a solid two-under 70 in blustery conditions on the West Course.
But rather than talk about his admittedly slim chances of victory, Els only wanted to bemoan the state of most of the greens, which he described as "virtually unplayable," due to a lack of watering.
He told the official European Tour website: "It's such a pity as so much work and effort has been put in.
"I wish the Tour and the green staff would put more moisture in, I have asked them, begged them to do it but obviously they see it differently.
"It's a never-ending story around here," he complained.
Els, who owns a property near the course, was commissioned by Wentworth owner Richard Caring to make radical changes back in 2010 and not all have been greeted with acclaim by leading players, particularly those to the par-five 18th.
The 42-year-old, who won the World Match Play tournament seven times at Wentworth, had to use all his expertise and local knowledge to move up the leaderboard.
Els was one of only 10 players to be under par, with Donald, set to reclaim the world number one spot, finishing with a birdie on the final hole for a joint best of the day three-under 69 for 11-under 205.
Fellow Englishman Justin Rose also shot a 69 to trail by two shots going into the final round where he will be paired with Donald.
The defending championship needs to finish in the top eight to leapfrog Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut at the European Tour's flagship event.
Donald first attained the ranking thanks to his 2011 victory and despite losing the No.1 spot since has shown incredible consistency.
"It will be a proud moment personally to go a whole year and still be at the top of the world rankings," he told BBC Sport.
"But obviously my main focus is to try to win the tournament."
Ireland's Peter Lawrie challenged him at the top of the leaderboard until dropping shots on the back nine to be third on seven-under.
Els, fellow South Africans Richard Sterne and Branden Grace and former British Open champion Paul Lawrie shared fourth, but six shots behind Donald.
Overnight leader James Morrison of England slumped to an 81 to go back to three-under.


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Bone scan
A bone scan is a nuclear medicine imaging test that uses bone-seeking radioactive materials or tracers (radiopharmaceuticals) and a computer to create an image of the skeleton (bones). A bone scan looks at the bones to see if there are any abnormalities, such as a fracture, tumour or infection.
This test is also called bone scintigraphy.
Why a bone scan is done
A bone scan may be done to:
- look for problems in the bones (skeletal system):
- arthritis
- infection
- avascular necrosis (a disease that causes the bone to collapse because of a problem with its blood supply)
- cancer
- Bone scans can show lesions (abnormal areas) in the bone 6–12 months before they would appear on an x-ray.
- assess fractures or injuries
- find the cause of unexplained bone pain
- find out if cancer has spread (metastasized) to the bone
- Bone scans are not usually done for small tumours, when it is unlikely that cancer has spread to the bones.
- find out if cancer treatment is working
How a bone scan is done
The scan is usually done as an outpatient procedure in the nuclear medicine department of a hospital. No special preparation is usually needed.
- It is important for a woman to tell the nuclear medicine staff if she is breast-feeding, pregnant or thinks she may be pregnant before having any nuclear medicine test.
- The person may be asked to wear clothing that has no metal zippers, belts or buttons. They may be asked to change into a gown during the test and remove glasses, jewellery or objects that could interfere with the test.
Before the scan, the doctor will take a history of:
- fractures
- bone infections
- arthritis
- surgery to the bone, including devices inserted in the bone
- recent therapy, such as antibiotics, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, bisphosphonates or steroids
- current symptoms
- physical findings
The bone scan test has 2 stages: the radiopharmaceutical is given by injection (sometimes scans are done at this time), and then the person returns later for scans.
Giving the radiopharmaceutical
A radiopharmaceutical is injected into a vein in the hand or arm. Technetium 99m (Tc-99m) is usually the radiopharmaceutical used.
- The radiopharmaceutical travels through the blood and collects in bone, especially in areas of increased activity (where the bone is growing, breaking down or repairing itself).
- Sometimes images are taken right after the injection.
- Giving the radiopharmaceutical usually takes 15 minutes.
To get better images, the person may be asked to:
- drink at least 2 glasses of fluid after the injection and before the scan (unless contraindicated)
- urinate as often as necessary and empty the bladder just before the scan is done
Taking the bone scan
Bone scans are taken after the bones absorb the radiopharmaceutical (2–4 hours after the injection). The scan usually takes 30–60 minutes.
- The person lies very still on a table while the scanning machine and a gamma camera move back and forth over their body.
After the scan, the radioactive material quickly loses its radioactivity. It passes out of the body through the urine or stool (feces). Depending on the type of radiopharmaceutical used, it may take a few hours or days to completely pass out of the body.
- Drinking fluids after the procedure helps flush the radiopharmaceutical from the body.
- Instructions may be given for special precautions that need to be taken after urinating, such as to flush the toilet twice and to wash the hands thoroughly.
Potential side effects
The dose of x-rays or radioactive materials used in nuclear medicine imaging can vary widely. Dose depends on the type of procedure and body part being examined. In general, the dose of radiopharmaceutical given is small and people are exposed to low levels of radiation during the test. The potential health risks from radiation exposure are low compared with the potential benefits. There are no known long-term adverse effects from such low-dose exposure.
Some potential side effects that might occur include:
- Bleeding, soreness or swelling may develop at injection site.
- Allergic reactions to the radiopharmaceutical may occur, but are extremely rare.
What the results mean
A bone scan can detect many disorders. The images produced show increased activity in the bone.
- Bone breaks down and repairs itself for many reasons. Increased activity does not necessarily mean that there is cancer in the bone.
- Tumours in the bone can show up as increased activity because cells are dividing rapidly.
- Doctors may suspect bone metastasis if there are numerous active areas.
- Other bone problems, such as arthritis or fractures, can also attract the radiopharmaceutical and show up as active areas on the image.
Further investigation may be necessary to rule out other abnormalities, especially if a single area of increased activity shows up.
- Bone scans are often combined with prior bone scan, x-ray, CT or MRI imaging and laboratory test results.
What happens if a change or abnormality is found
The doctor will decide whether further tests, procedures, follow-up care or additional treatment are needed.
Special considerations for children
Being prepared for a test or procedure can reduce anxiety, increase cooperation and help the child develop coping skills. Parents or caregivers can help prepare children by explaining to them what will happen, including what they will see, feel and hear during the test.
- Explain to children that when the radiopharmaceutical is given they will feel:
- a sharp prick when the needle is inserted
- slight pressure or tugging when the radiopharmaceutical is injected
- Children need to lie still on the exam table during the scan, which may be unpleasant for them.
- Some children may need sedation to lie still for the whole test.
- Some children may like to hold a special toy or blanket during the scan.
- Children could listen to music or a story during the scan.
- The parent or caregiver can stay with the child and help them lie very still.
- Pregnant women cannot stay in the room during the scan.
- Some children feel closed-in when the scanner passes over their body. Reassure them that the scan does not hurt and will not last very long.
Instructions may be given for special precautions that need to be taken when caring for children during the first 6–24 hours after the test:
- If the caregiver is pregnant, someone else should do most of the child care.
- Wear disposable, waterproof gloves when handling the child's urine, stool or vomit, including diaper changes.
- Change sheets or clothing that has vomit, urine or stool smears on it.
- Wear disposable, waterproof gloves when handling sheets or clothing.
- Sheets and clothing can be washed in the regular laundry.
- Flush the toilet immediately after use by the child.
- Place diapers in the outside garbage.
The preparation for a bone scan depends on the age and experience of the child. Find out more age-specific information on helping children cope with tests and treatment.
How can you stop cancer before it starts?
Discover how 16 factors affect your cancer risk and how you can take action with our interactive tool – It's My Life! Presented in partnership with Desjardins.


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The next free Group-Session in 2017 will take place 5th of May, what is a friday, at 10 p.m. my time (Germany), what is 9 p.m. GMT, 1 p.m. PMT, 2 p.m. MST, 3 p.m. CST, 4 p.m. EST and so on. Here you can find your time zone: http://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/
When you can´t make it at the given time, just join at "your perfect time", as this happens in the Quantum Field.
How does the Monthly Rose Touch work?
The Sessions take place in the Quantum field. At the given time you find yourself a nice place and make sure you won´t be disturbed for at least 30 minutes. Make it a comfortable experience, maybe lit a candle, burn incense, play relaxation music or whatever helps you to get into a calm, meditative state. Breath calm while you focus onto your heart, as it is your gate. Imagine to open your heart and enter a holy place, where you sit between roses to receive the high frequencies of OneLove delivered to you through the Inner Net. (The Inner Net is connecting all that is. You enter it through your consciousness, no devices needed.)
The Rose Touch is a quantum experience and the only things required are your intend to participate, to open your heart and to receive these high frequencies. While the session everybody is adressed as a part of the group, but I am also focussing for a moment on each participant at the end of the session.
If you want to participate put your name under this post or message me. Please don´t put someone elses name to the list, as free will is very important in this case. Sole exceptions are your own children that are under 14 years or your pets, as you are their care-takers. For each month you´ve got to sign in anew if you´ve enjoyed it and want more.
Guided Meditation: For the ones, that would prefer to be guided into the Meditation, I´ve recorded a visit into your own inner Rosegarden to receive the Rose Touch. The sound quality is not good, as I´ve used a dictaphone and you hear sound in the background, my breath etc., but it is just an extra offer. To download the meditation klick on the colored Link: Monthly Rose Touch Medi
Everybody else may just use his own music and meditation practise. The Session will take place at least 30 minutes, but some people enjoyed it for many hours. Trust your own feelings, how long you want to stay in the field.
A personal statement: I´m honored to be able to hold this field and deliver these outstanding energies. But this is not about me or my human persona. I want to make that very clear. It is the pure Loveenergy that resides in all living beings that is bringing the blessings and healing energy. It is your own essence you´ll experience. As we´ve observed while the last sessions everybody that participates is strengthening the field, although s/he benefits from it. Welcome to the new earth. Let´s love it into life!
Shine your light precious soul!


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Phillips Boyd
Upon graduation from Washington College, Phil began a working career with the Dupont Company that lasted 40 years.
Most of that time was spent in finance in Wilmington, DE. There were a couple years spent in sales support in Boston in the early 1970s. During that time he and his wife Pat enjoyed vacationing along the Maine coast and the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire. They continue to vacation there every year since returning to Wilmington.
Phil has become an active gardener with the help of Pat: move this shrub from here to there, trim this tree, plant these bulbs, etc. Kidding aside, he does enjoy gardening and volunteers each year at the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Delaware Center for Horticulture's annual Rare Plant Auction. Other activities include "birding," most of which is "backyard," and running. He celebrated 30 years of running 15 to 20 miles a week last year.


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Nam Wa Rafting
Nan Province
This exciting activity waits for tourists who like to shoot many rapids. Rafting can be accompanied by elephant riding. The suitable time for rafting is from September to February. Visitors can contact travel agencies in the town.
The routes of rafting are as follows:
White-water Rafting along the Middle Part of the Wa River The rapids are of level 3 to 5 difficulty with a length of 100 kilometres. It takes 3 days and 2 nights passing the Doi Phu Kha National Park and the Mae Charim National Park.
White-water Rafting along the Lower Part of the Wa River It was originally a transporting route for teakwood, which was illegally cut from the forest in Mae Charim and Wiang Sa districts. The Wa River runs through the valleys. On both sides are high undulating mountains, and more than 22 rapids. The level of difficulty is at level 3 - 5 (level 3 is medium, level 4 is difficult, and level 5 is very difficult). The biggest and the most difficult one is Kaeng Luang. Some parts of the stream are sandy beach where a raft can be stopped, and it is suitable for swimming. Some parts are the location of elephant camps where visitors can take an elephant to Ban Hat Rai. The period when the tide is the highest is during August, while the lowest one is in April. The most suitable time for white-water rafting is from November to January.
There are 2 routes for rafting along the Wa River as follows:
- Sailing route by inflatable rubber dinghy: It starts from Ban Nam Pu, Nam Phang sub-district, Mae Charim district, and ends at Ban Hat Rai, San Na Nong sub-district, Wiang Sa district, being a total distance of 19.2 kilometres or takes 4 hours. However, if visitors start in front of the Office of the National Park , the total distance will be only 15 kilometres.
- Bamboo rafting route: It starts from Ban Nam Wa up to Ban Nam Pu for a distance of 4 kilometres or takes approximately 4 hours.
Contact the Nan Pang Chang Company, Tel. 0 5478 1316, the River Raft Company, Tel. 0 5471 0940, 08 9835 1506, and the Inter Tour, Tel. 0 5471 0195 for information of the Wa River Tour and elephant riding.


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Amiibo are a series of character toys that interact with games on the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS; When an amiibo is placed on the GamePad, that character will be brought into the game; As you play, your figure's data will also be updated, so keep playing to make your amiibo unique; There is a wide range of characters from numerous games to choose from, so collect them all.
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N M Tech Geochem Professor Presents Mantle Plume Research, Aug. 12, 2005
by George Zamora
CALGARY, CANADA, Aug. 12, 2005 – New Mexico Tech geochemistry professor Kent Condie recently gave a technical presentation on a global mantle plume event he is currently studying at Earth System Processes 2, an international convention for about 350 geoscientists which was held this week in Calgary, Canada. The weeklong series of interdisciplinary meetings, presentations, and seminars was co-sponsored by the Geological Society of America and the Geological Society of Canada.
Condie's presentation was titled "New Evidence for a Global Mantle Plume Event at 2.7 Ga and Possible Effects on Archean Paleoclimate and Biosphere."
Condie, who has taught at New Mexico Tech since 1970, is an internationally recognized expert on mantle plumes, plate tectonics, and crustal evolution, and has written several university textbooks on these subjects.


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Logo Design
Orçamento ₹600-1500 INR
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At least 57 people were injured, 11 seriously, when a commuter ferry from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, made a hard landing on Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan around 8:45 a.m on Wednesday.
Injured riders have been placed on stretchers and taken to ambulances. At least two people are in critical condition, one of whom is in surgery with a head injury.
Passengers, several of whom were standing as they waited to leave the boat, were tossed on impact. The ferry has no seat belts.
Dee Wertz, who was on shore, told AP that the ferry "was coming in a little wobbly" and "hit the right side of the boat on the dock hard, like a bomb."
Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said the ferry "hit Slip D and then continued on and hit Slip B ... It looked like it was 10 to 12 knots."
Here's the damage to the 141-foot-long ' Seastreak Wall Street,' which was carrying about 343 passengers and 5 crew members:
Rider Ellen Foran of Neptune City, N.J., told Colleen Long of The Associated Press that people tumbled on top of one another, hysterical and crying.
"All of a sudden, people that were standing up went flying into the aisles -- people flew four, five, six feet," commuter Roy Marleau told The New York Post. "People that were standing outside crashed into glass doors and shattered them."
Long noted that the corner of the ferry was "ripped open part the boat's hull like an aluminum can." Officials and Mayor Bloomberg are on the scene to determine the cause of the crash.
Here was the scene after the crash: AP notes that Atlantic Highlands is a section of the Jersey shore still struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy.


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In my previous experiments I used Machine Learning to try and predict a single game in the NHL. Machine Learning, as a reminder, is a subfield of Artificial Intelligence and is similar to statistics in that it is algorithmic modelling of data. In ML the computer is able to learn from data and when given new data, can make predictions on the outcome.
I used ML in hockey to try and predict a single game outcome. The results were not overwhelmingly strong. I was able to achieve ~60% accuracy in a single game, which is better than the baseline, but still not that high. I also looked at modifying PDO over the last n games to see if it helped with prediction and it did not. Surprisingly, in a single game, traditional statistics, such as goals against, goal differential, and location were more important to the results than advanced statistics.
I was curious about this 60% and started looking at the observed standings in the NHL and what part of them were because of talent and what were a result of random chance. Using classical test theory we could compare the observed results to that of a theoretical league and we could see that 38% of the observed results in the standings were a result of this random chance. Further analysis using monte carlo method shows that the NHL is statistically similar to a league where the results are a cause of 24% skill and 76% random chance. This means there's a theoretical limit for prediction of ~62% in the NHL.
If predicting a single game is quite difficult due to random chance, I would hypothesize that over a longer period you're more likely to see the better team win. We can use this in Machine Learning and I would hypothesize you will get higher prediction accuracy rates if you look at playoff series than a single game. It wont be perfect as you wont eliminate random chance. Leonard Mlodinow explains it best in "The Drunkard's Walk" in that teams who can beat another team 55% of the time will still lose a 7-game series, to the weaker team, 4 times out of 10. And teams having a 55-45 edge, the shortest significant world series would be a best of 269 games. So in this experiment I will try and predict the winner of a best-of-seven playoff series.
I want to use both traditional RTSS statistics, as well as performance metrics, but this leads to the problem that performance metrics only go back to 2007-2008. With 15 playoff series in a single year, 6 years of playoffs we have only 90 games to train, test and cross-validate on. This is clearly a small sample size so we have to take the results with a grain of salt.I've put all of my data in a single spreadsheet which you can view here. Some of these statistics are self explanatory and others you might have not heard of. The features in each row are (season average, unless otherwise indicated):
- Year: the year of the playoff series.
- Team: the team name.
- Win: did the team end up winning or losing?
- Home? : Did the team have home field advantage. This was an important feature in predicting a single game
- Distance: Straight line distance between the two cities, used to try and represent the travel the teams had to partake in that series.
- Conference Standing: the ranking of the team in their conference that year.
- Division Rating: This and the next three features come from the Z-Rating centre. There is a lot of research in rankings as predictors in soccer and tennis. Division Rating is the BSWP average of the division.
- Z-Rating: The actual z-rating of each team of the year, based on the Bradley-Terry System.
- BSWP (Balanced Schedule Winning Percentage): the teams expected win percentage in an equal number of games against every other team in the group.
- Strength of Schedule: The Z-Rating divided by the success ratio (ratio of wins to losses).
- Season Fenwick Close: to represent possession
- Score-Adjusted Fenwick: to represent possession
- Season Corsi: to represent possession
- Shooting Percentage
- Save Percentage
- Season PDO
- Cap Hit
- 5v5 Goals For
- 5v5 Goals Against
- 5v5 Goal Differential
- Win Percentage
- Pythagorean Expected Win Percentage
- Points earned that year
- 5/5 Goals For/Against Ratio
- Power Play %
- Power Kill %
- Special Teams Index: Summation of PP%+PK%
- Days Rest: Number of days since last game.
- Games Total Played: Number of games played in the playoffs so far.
- Fenwick Last-7: The fenwick average of each team over the last 7 games. As we saw recently, the season average doesnt always reflect how well the current team is playing (i.e. trades, injuries etc).
- Corsi Last-7
- Goalie Year Sv%: Based on the average of the goalies used over the last 7 games.
- Goalie GAA: calculated the same way
- Goalie Ev Sv%: Calculate the same way
For both teams in a playoff series their data is represented in a vector, V1 and V2. The differentials of these vectors are calculated, i.e. V1′ = V1 – V2, V2′ = V2 – V1. These new vectors are combined and given the label of which team won the series "Team1" or "Team2". This data was then fed into a number of algorithms. I tried Decision Trees, Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, Logistic Regression, NaiveBayes and meta classifiers (majority voting with SVM, NN and NB).
The initial results from these classifiers are as follows:
|Logistic Regression
Further tuning of the Support Vector Machine SMO returns an accuracy of 74.44%. All testing was done using 10-fold cross-validation. SMO, Logistic Regression, NN, and Voting are all statistically significant from the baseline using a Paired T-Test (p<0.05). The Tuned SMO is not statistically significant compared to the untuned version or to NeuralNetworks.
Using CfsSubsetEval we can determine which features contribute most to the outcome of the classifier. In this data the most useful features are the Z-Ratings, the Pythagorean Expected Win % and the Fenwick-Last 7.
Discussion & Conclusion
From first look at the results of the classifiers we can see they have significantly improved from predicting a single game. If we recall, those accuracies were in the mid-50s where as predicting a playoff series we are able to get an accuracy in the high 60s to low 70s. Our best classifier is even able to get an accuracy of 74.44%. This accuracy is almost the same when we leave out 33% of the data and train on only 66% of it. I feel confident that this classifier is a huge improvement. Even the simple classifier where the higher ranked team gets selected is only correct on 56% of this data.
It was encouraging to see that the most important features were advanced statistics rather than the RTSS. I was initially surprised to see how little role they played in predicting a single game but as the sample gets larger, so does the important of the advanced metrics. I was surprised to see Z-Ratings to be more important than Fenwick over the last 7. I was also surprised to see PEwin% even in the top three features.
For future work I definitely think it is work playing with Fenwick Last-n and see what the best number of previous games to go back is. I picked seven to look back at the previous playoff series, but that number may improve accuracy if we increase (or decrease) it.
I wanted to come up with a "Roster Strength" over the last n games as well. The problem was I could not find a single value for every player in the league (Corsi Rel, Avg TOI, GVT etc) that was easily scrape-able. I could write a script to go through BehindTheNet or Stats.HockeyAnalysis but that is going to take a long time. Similar to predicting a single game, I think it would be worth to run a monte carlo to see what the theoretical limit in predicting a single series is. Also getting more data would be nice but given we only have 15 series a year it is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.
But then again, as Dave Nonis says, 48 games is a large enough sample size.
I was asked on twitter to try Random Forests which I did and it returned an accuracy os 64.44%.


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Number: 111- 34
Date: February 26, 2010
The Senate Passes H.R.2847,
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act
On February 24, 2010, the Senate amended and passed H.R. 2847 by a vote of 70-28. The Senate version is titled the "Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, and includes Section 101 of Title I that would exempt "qualified employers" from paying the employer share of OASDI tax on wages paid to certain "qualified individuals" hired and employed after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011. The bill now returns to the House which passed its version on December 16, 2009 (see Legislative Bulletin 111-28).
- A "qualified employer" would not include any Federal, State, or local government entity, but would include public institutions of higher learning.
- A "qualified individual" would be an individual hired and employed for the time frame previously described who had not worked for more than 40 hours during the 60-day period before such employment began.
- Would not affect the amount of Social Security covered earnings of any individual.
- Would appropriate monies payable from the Treasury to the OASI and DI Trust Funds equal to the tax amounts not paid by qualified employers under the bill. The amounts would be transferred from the General Fund in such manner as to replicate, to the extent possible, the transfers which would have occured to such Trust Funds has such amendments not been enacted.
- Would be effective with respect to wages for employment after teh date of enactment and before January 1, 2011.


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Spring, 2007 was a season of accomplishment for Hope sports teams who contributed to another banner year for the intercollegiate program.
The orange and blue banner to be hung from the rafters of the DeVos Fieldhouse will mark Hope's claim to the Commissioner's Cup of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) for the seventh consecutive year and a record 29th time in school history.
There were numerous team and individual highlights that contributed to Hope's spring success. A record number of athletes received All-America honors in track and field, the baseball team won more games in a season than ever before and softball coach Karla Wolters reached a milestone in her illustrious career.
Four athletes qualified for the NCAA Division III track and field national championships. Four returned as All-Americans. Seniors Jennifer VanderMeer of Holland, Mich. and Ryan TerLouw of Iowa set new standards. VanderMeer became the first Hope athlete, male or female, to gain All-America honors four consecutive years as she placed fourth in the pole vault. TerLouw became the first male athlete to achieve All-America distinction three straight years in an event by placing fourth in the 1,500-meter run.
TerLouw, who was named the MIAA's most valuable runner, had a "dream" season of sorts. He was invited to compete in the Dream Mile at the Hillsdale Relays with an opportunity to challenge Hope's mile record which stood nearly 40 years. Track events are now measured in meters. Rick Bruggers '69 held the mark of 4:12.2. Competing against several NCAA Division I and Olympic-caliber athletes, TerLouw was timed in 4:05.31. He graduates holding Hope records in nearly every distance event.
Probably the most versatile of all Hope athletes is junior Lindsay Lange of Manistee, Mich. A significant contributor to Hope's basketball success in recent seasons, Lange is also a premiere track and field athlete. This spring for a second consecutive season she achieved NCAA All-America honors in the seven-event heptathlon with a fourth place finish at nationals.
The Flying Dutch counted Hope's highest point total ever at nationals with every qualifier contributing. Sophomore Christina Lis of Novi, Mich. made her first trip to the championships and returned with a sixth place finish in the high jump.
The baseball and softball teams each continued their traditions of success by surpassing 20 victories. The Flying Dutchmen posted a school-record 29 games en route to winning the MIAA championship and gaining a berth in the NCAA tournament. The baseball title was Hope's eighth in 14 years under coach Stu Fritz. Senior pitcher Mike Rodgers of Saline, Mich. and junior shortstop Brian Baker of Holland, Mich. were voted the MIAA's most valuable players.
The Flying Dutch surpassed 20 victories for the fourth straight season with a 25-13 record. A most significant win came early in the season when the Flying Dutch notched the 600th collegiate victory under coach Karla Wolters '73. Ranked among the winningest all-time NCAA Division III softball coaches, Wolters over her 29 year coaching career has 623 softball wins and 1,076 victories over all of the sports she has coached.
The MIAA batting champion in baseball and softball were both Hope athletes. Junior catcher Kylee Brouwer of Hudsonville, Mich. topped all softball batters with a .519 average while sophomore first baseman Matt VanderVelde of Grandville, Mich. was tops in baseball at .456.
In tennis senior Stephen Malvitz of Ada, Mich. was named the recipient of the MIAA's Stowe Sportsmanship Award which is given by the league's coaches for contributions to team, leadership qualities and exemplification of Christian virtues and sportsmanship. Malvitz is the seventh Hope player to receive it in the last eight years. In 15 seasons under coach Steve Gorno, the Stowe award has gone to a Hope player 10 times.
Hope finished 18th at the NCAA Division III men's golf championships. Junior Tommy Yamaoka of Zeeland, Mich. achieved All-America distinction by placing 15th in the 185-player field. His average of 76.5 strokes per-round was the best-ever by a Hope golfer at nationals. Yamaoka, who was the national freshman of the year in 2005, was voted to the Ping All-America second team. Senior captain Nate Golomb of Schoolcraft, Mich. led every golfer in the tournament in Par 3 efficiency. He averaged 3.06 strokes on the courses' eight par three holes.
Awards as the outstanding athletes in the class of 2007 were presented to four students. Lisa Smith of Dearborn, Mich. and Jennifer VanderMeer were presented the John Schouten award while Ryan Ter Louw and Michael VanderVelde of Grandville, Mich. received the Otto van der Velde All-Campus Award.


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In Reply to: Contest winner! posted by Belle83210 on August 10, 2005 at 22:47:11:
: Forgive the lack of formatting...
: MysticMeg won the fanfic contest!! Here is her story!
: By: Megan Hoffer
: A Disney?s Aladdin Fanfiction Story
: The sun started up above the wondrous city of Agrabah. It lit up the homes, and showed that it was the start of the day. Some people groaned at the beginning of a day?s work, but in the palace there was someone who couldn?t wait until she could start the new day.
: Princess Jasmine was sleeping peacefully in her large bed in her grand palace bedroom. The sun made a small stream of light through the partially closed curtains and it lit up her face. Jasmine stirred a bit, and then her large brown eyes shot open. She sat up quickly, and smiled. ?It?s today!? She exclaimed as she fell out of the bed and over to her small vanity. She examined herself in the mirror. Her long raven hair was clean, but it was hanging in strings all over her face. She picked up a brush and began to straighten it out. She liked having it down, but then something caught her attention.
: It was a picture of her mother. She smiled at the picture. She was always told she looked just like her mother, but today was the day she truly began to believe it. She saw how her mother had her own hair done. A long, low-lying ponytail held with two bands. Her large crown fit perfectly on her long dark hair.
: Jasmine wanted to look like her mother. She wanted to be her mother, especially on this special day. She went to put the bands in her hair, but she stopped. She looked down at her nightgown and gasped. ?I have to get dressed!? She went over to her wardrobe and swung it open. She looked at the door and realized that her servants had already picked out her outfit for the day. She sighed, but she realized it was just as good as anything that she could have picked out herself. It was a long harem pants outfit. It was a nice light purple, and the shirt was a long tank-top. Jasmine pulled it out and immediately put it on. She admired herself in the mirror. ?I look so grown up,? she whispered to herself. Jasmine quickly put the color-coordinated bands in her hair, in the same style as her mother?s. She looked at the crown that was lying nicely on her vanity uprise. Her father had just given it to her at the royal banquet the other night. He finally thought her ready to wear it as a symbol of the princess that she was. She picked it up and examined it again. It was so pretty, the sparkling green and blue jewel incrusted in the gold band. There were a couple bands to choose from to attach so that it would fit on her head. She decided on the purple that best matched her outfit. She looked at herself again in the mirror and was so happy with how grown up she looked.
: ?Jewelry,? she whispered. She looked at the vast amount of jewelry to choose from, but she knew that it was no contest. She picked up a small pair of gold earrings and placed them in her ears. Finding the necklace with the small purple jewel to match, she placed it on her neck. She picked up some lip gloss and swiped it across her lips. ?Finally,? Jasmine exclaimed, ?I?m ready.?
: As if on cue, the doors opened and a servant walked in. She looked at the young princess sitting at her vanity and smiled. ?Oh, Princess Jasmine, you look just as lovely as your mother.?
: Jasmine beamed and thanked her. ?Is my father ready for me.?
: ?Yes my dear, and so is the prince.?
: ?Can you believe it? He?s my first suitor. My first chance at real love!? Jasmine said excitedly.
: The servant smiled warmly, ?Don?t get to worked up dear. You have time.?
: Jasmine dismissed the comment and headed out of the door after checking herself in the mirror one last time. ?I?m ready? she thought and she headed down the hallway.
: *~*~*~*~*~*
: Jasmine peered into the banquet hall her father was awaiting her in. She tried to make out the details from behind the sheer curtains, but she couldn?t. She could see the two men, but other than that it was a blur. She took a large breath and headed into the hall, her heart beating faster and faster as she got closer and closer to the table. Once she got there, her father?s face lightened up.
: ?Oh, Jasmine, you?ve made it,? the graying man exclaimed. ?How wonderful!?
: Jasmine smiled, ?Good morning father.?
: The sultan motioned for her to sit in the chair to his left. Jasmine sat down, and now got a good look at the visitor she had been waiting for weeks to meet.
: He was older than Jasmine. Probably five years older, maybe more. He had dark brown hair and a tan complexion. His eyes were a dark forest green, but they seemed cold. They seemed distant; he didn?t seem nice.
: ?Jasmine, this is Prince Hakene,? the sultan took his daughter?s hand. ?Prince Hakene, this is my daughter, Princess Jasmine.?
: Prince Hakene smiled, and stared right at her. ?Good morning your highness.?
: Jasmine nodded, ?Thank you.?
: ?Now, as we were talking,? Jasmine?s father started, ?you said that you are looking for a new alliance between Agrabah and Klian, your kingdom.?
: Prince Hakene cleared her throat, and swallowed a bite of his food. ?Yes,? he started, ?and I believe that a marriage between me and your lovely daughter would be the perfect opportunity to bring our countries together.?
: ?What?? Jasmine thought. ?He doesn?t want me to love, he wants to use me to get something for himself. But I thought-?
: ?Now, Prince Hakene, there has to be other reasons for you to want to marry my daughter,? the sultan coaxed, seeing the shocked look on Jasmine?s face. Jasmine seemed anxious for his answers.
: ?Of course there is,? Prince Hakene replied.
: ?Good, he had me worried there for a moment,? Jasmine thought.
: ?Of course I will need a wife to produce an heir,? Hakene finished.
: Jasmine gasped, ?Is that it??
: Prince Hakene looked taken back, ?Excuse me??
: ?Is that all you want to use me for? To give you a son and to join your country??
: Prince Hakene looked over at the sultan, ?Have you taught your daughter that it is alright to speak in a man?s presence so rudely??
: The sultan smiled and looked at Jasmine, ?Well, you know thirteen year olds. They are fiery.?
: Jasmine didn?t take her eyes off the prince, ?Answer my question.?
: ?What else do you want me to say, young princess?? Hakene answered.
: Jasmine was fuming, ?I want you to say the word ?love? for once, how about that?!?
: ?Love of course will be a factor. We?ll come to love each other, I hope.?
: ?No,? Jasmine spat. ?Love needs to be the main factor. Love needs to be the primary reason. Not negotiations, or a vessel to produce an heir.?
: ?Jasmine, dearest,? the sultan began.
: ?Father, I don?t believe that this will work,? Jasmine growled, not taking her eyes off the prince. She sat up roughly, and stormed quickly out of the room.
: Prince Hakene looked after, obviously stunned. ?Well, what do we do now??
: ?I?m sorry Prince Hakene,? the sultan started, ?but my daughter does have the final decision.?
: ?You mean that you are going to let your daughter run her own life. She is the future of your kingdom!?
: The sultan laughed, ?I know. But there is so much time. She?s got nearly three years until she needs to have made her decision. I trust her, I?m sorry.?
: Prince Hakene huffed and sat up. He bowed quickly and then he also stormed out of the room.
: The sultan smiled a bit, ?I just hope that this gets easier,? he whispered.
: *~*~*~*~*~*
: Jasmine slammed open the door and then slammed it shut. She ran to her bed and threw herself down. Then, the tears came. She tried to hold them back, but they stung her eyes, and she let them come.
: ?This isn?t how it was supposed to be!? Jasmine thought. ?Mother always told me that when I got to this point that I would find love and happiness. She never said anything about being hurt! She never said anything about being treated as a prize. I?m not a prize! I?m a human being!?
: Jasmine went over to the vanity and looked at herself. She then looked at the picture of her mother on the vanity. She picked it up and some tears fell on it. She quickly wiped them away, and put the picture down. She took out her earrings and unclasped her necklace.
: ?I want to make you proud mamma,? she thought, ?but I can?t marry someone unless I know that it is for love. I hope you can understand. I?m sorry that I let you down.?
: She got up and took the picture to her bed. She pulled out a small chest from underneath her bed and opened it. She gently put the picture into the chest and shut the gold lid. ?I will let you know when I?ve found my happiness,? she thought to herself. She pushed the chest back under her bed, where it would stay for another five years.
: Jasmine got back up and went over to her vanity. ?There?s no reason I can?t look grown up, however.? She said. And she fixed her hair once again and walked out onto her balcony.
: Her pet tiger, Rajah, was waiting for her. Jasmine sat down next to him and put her head on his long torso. ?Oh Rajah, we?ve got a long time ahead of us,? she told her only friend. ?Better get ready.?
: Rajah growled, and Jasmine laughed. ?Oh, you know I?ll need your help.?
: Rajah purred, happy to know that his young mistress needed him.
: Jasmine sighed, ?I will find happiness one day Rajah. And I will marry for love. And any suitor, who treats me as an object, just will not do. I don?t care if I have to wait until the day of my 16th birthday. I will wait for love.?
: *~*~*~*~*~*
: And so Jasmine kept to her personal vow. And she did ward off any suitors who treated her as a prize. And she did keep her free spirit and fiery attitude. And in the end, it got her just what she always wanted. Her happy ending.
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Spectra Pipeline: Could Radon Exposure Or A Natural Gas Explosion Be Concerns For New York City Residents?
A little-known pipeline is stirring a fierce debate in New York City.
Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE), a Houston-based gas company, is in the process of building a 20-mile-long natural gas pipeline that will run from Staten Island, through New Jersey, under the Hudson River to Manhattan's West Village. Construction began in July 2012 and is set to be completed in November, Marylee Hanley, director of stakeholder outreach for Spectra Energy, said.
Pipeline supporters point to the 5,200 local jobs the project creates, reduced energy costs and a reduction of greenhouse gases. Opponents cite the possibility of an explosion and exposure to radioactive gas, and they question the demand for the pipeline altogether.
"We all agree we don't like the idea of further committing to natural gas," said Owen Crowley, founder of environmental group Sane Energy Project. "It's replacing one problem with another."
The placement of such a pipeline in a dense urban setting has environmental groups, residents and elected officials concerned, especially after recent natural gas pipeline explosions in Sissonville, W. Va.; another in Goldsmith, Texas; and a deadly one in San Bruno, Calif.
"The only thing we have in common is that it's a natural gas pipeline. That's the only similarity," Hanley said about Spectra's pipeline's association with the San Bruno blast.
Environmental groups like Sane Energy Project disagree and have taken legal action, organized demonstrations and participated in public forums to block the construction.
"We want to put a stop to it," Crowley said. "If we can't, expose it to public inquiry." He added that Spectra held meetings with residents, but they were sparsely attended. "There were public forums. No one knows about them."
Spectra's Hanley maintains the opposite. She said the company held more than 350 meetings that had "great attendance" and pointed to the legal notices and ads in local newspapers to inform residents of upcoming forums.
Environmental groups have been vocal about their two major concerns about the pipeline: exposure to radon gas and the possibility of a large explosion.
In a YouTube video opposing the project, Occupy the Pipeline, a branch of Occupy Wall Street, mentioned that the gas will be extracted from the Marcellus Formation, an area of shale gas extending across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Ohio and Maryland -- and known to contain radioactive radon gas, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, releases natural gas by pumping a fluid and propping material down a well to create cracks in the rock to release the natural gas. Proponents of hydrofracking point to economic benefits such as job creation and environmental ones like reduction of air pollution and greenhouse gases. Opponents say hydraulic fracturing can lead to groundwater contamination, risks to air quality and a host of health problems.
Geologists estimate that Marcellus shale may contain up to 489 trillion cubic feet of natural gas -- making it the second largest unconventional natural gas field in the world next to one in Iran. Although this supply of gas has been known about for some time, the depth and tightness of the shale made it hard to extract. In 2008, triggered by developments in hydraulic fracturing technology, higher natural gas prices and the success of a similar shale formation in Texas, extraction became a viable option, and the region experienced a shale boom.
According to Spectra Energy, the Marcellus shale is one of many gas sources for the pipeline.
"The gas in the pipeline can come from five sources: The Gulf of Mexico, Pennsylvania, the Marcellus Formation, the Rocky Mountains and offshore Nova Scotia," Hanley said.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which has jurisdiction over the project, supports this statement.
In its May 2012 report approving the pipeline's construction, FERC acknowledged the radon concern by stating that the gas will be "commingled with multiple gas streams … thereby diluting radon concentrations in any one source of supply."
Spectra CEO Greg Ebel said the company has investigated the radon issue extensively.
"We're not in the Exploration and Production business, we're the UPS, if you will, of natural gas -- the shipping of the stuff," Ebel said on CNBC's Mad Money. "We look at these issues, we look at them seriously. The EPA and Department of Energy has said that there is no health risk related to radon gas but we went and got a third party to look at that, looking at Marcellus gas -- [they got the] same findings as the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy."
Once the pipeline enters Manhattan, it will connect with the Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) network at West Street, by the Gansevoort Peninsula.
Residents from the surrounding Chelsea neighborhood have voiced their concerns over the safety of the pipeline, pointing to the century-old gas distribution lines beneath their homes. ConEd maintains the area's distribution system is 10 years old, but residents say the gas company is a constant figure in their lives, fixing leaks and other problems associated with the old underground infrastructure.
"There's not one week of the month that we do not have a ConEd truck on my block," Deley Gazinelli, a Chelsea resident since 1987, told DNAinfo.com.
Like the environmental groups, residents point to the risk of a large explosion and look to a 2010 San Bruno, Calif., blast as a warning.
The explosion in the San Francisco suburb created a 72-foot-wide crater, destroyed 38 homes and killed eight people. That pipeline was built in 1956 and, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, the deadly explosion was caused by inadequate maintenance and quality control.
Spectra said its pipeline will exceed the minimum Department of Transportation safety requirements. The pipeline will have a safety factor of 2.5, unlike most building and bridges, which are 1.5 or 2. For more than half of the pipeline's route, the company will use thicker-walled pipe than DOT requires. The entire pipeline will be buried below ground, Hanley said.
"It will be one of the safest in North America," Hanley said about the estimated $850 million pipeline.
Politicians on both sides of the Hudson River have weighed in on the project.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy strongly opposes the pipeline.
"There is nothing green about this report that essentially green-lights this unprecedented, dangerous gas line," he said after the project was approved by FERC. "There is no doubt the proposed line could imperil invaluable natural habitats, precious and diverse ecosystems, billions of dollars in economic infrastructure, and the more than a quarter million residents of Jersey City."
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg supports the pipeline's construction and hydrofracking in general, but he sees faults in the growing industry.
"The rapid expansion of fracking has invited legitimate concerns about its impact on water, air and climate -- concerns that the industry has attempted to gloss over," Bloomberg wrote in an op-ed piece for the Washington Post. He pointed to the need to create "common-sense regulations that will protect the environment." According to Bloomberg, if done properly, natural gas will have a better environmental impact than coal.
Crowley's group sees a solution in renewable energy like solar power. He said it's the ideal solution for New York City, which would be the perfect market to pioneer an alternative way of producing power.
A recent study published in Energy Policy helps prove his point, Crowley said. The proposed plan found that converting all of New York state to renewable energy would stabilize energy prices, create more jobs and reduce pollution costs.
"If New York takes a stand and creates a market for sustainable electricity, you can be sure electric companies will be lining up," Crowley said.


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What are the best payout casino games
If you were in a local casino you may notice many of the high rollers playing video poker. The reason for this is that the payouts on it is much better than other games without risking as much. When you hit you get paid real well and you do hit often at least your bet back where as when your playing slots you may hit on almost every spin but you will only win back a faction of your bet so unless you hit something real good your slowing dwindling down your money or fast depending on the game. The odds of hitting a bit return on slots doesn't happen very often. This all is different online, the video poker will pay but not as often as the games are not played as much and slots is where you will get your better returns. Of course you may lose awhile before ever hitting and you many need to change which game you play until you find one that is paying.
Other casino games that are decent are table games but you need to understand them more than just pushing a button. These are not for every player and it is basically just playing back and fourth for a long time until you do hit something that could pay on the odds. Keno is one of the worst casino games to play anywhere as it always has had the lowest pays out of all games. Almost like hitting the lottery which we all know doesn't happen often. You can try out these for free online at casino places which do not require a purchase and see how it goes.
Free Online Casinos
A lot of people may be inquiring about online casinos. It is a virtual replication of a land based gambling casino, a place where man can bet a casino game. Some other advantage of this sort of casino is the probability to play a costless online casino bet on.
There are two categories of players: the ones that play only for fun and the others that play for the money. The second category has other option. If they do not prefer to go to the casino and drop money when playing, they can select a free internet casino game. Instantly what is that? You may need. A free internet gambling casino game is a game that you are able to play free. The benefits of a cost-less casino game are that you are able to delight yourself but you will not lose anything while acting so. These free betting on sites cannot be called internet casinos because a casino regards winning or losing money. While you begin playing on this category of gaming website, you get a free casino incentive in the form of points, currency, or even credits. This casino incentive will be your money, which you are able to play with. This is the great thing about a free online casinos game.
Free Craps Game
The craps game is one of the free casino games. When did people start to play the crap game? This game was created so many years ago, probably Before Christ. The recovery of a dice in Egypt proved that the game was popular 6 thousand years ago. Not only was it popular in Egypt but in Rome and Greece as well. In the recent past, the craps game has been on the list of the free casino games.
So, how is the game played? Well, this is how: –
The crap game is generally a betting game that is played using two dice. The first throw of the dice indicates whether you have won or lost and this is determined by the total of the two dice. If the total is eleven or seven, then you are a lucky winner. If the total is two, three or twelve, then you lose. With the other numbers other than the mentioned appear, then it becomes the point number that should be tossed before a seven. If in any case the seven should appear before the point number, then you lose and this is the time that you give a chance to the second player to place his bet.
The game is however different when you play it online. First, you have to place the amount that you are willing to wager. Second, you must place the bet by clicking on any particular spot of your choice. After that the cursor gives the odds by indicating the suitable spot that you would have placed your bet. It is an exciting game in the category of the free casino games, so it is highly recommended for people who like to have fun.
Quick access to top casino games
To play new casino games all you need is a connection to the internet. This quick access to online casino entertainment, to a real and exciting system to bet, to all casino services and games is what makes the difference between online gambling and corporal casino gambling.
Being a new way to have fun playing casino games, you will always find in online casinos the super offers for free play, whether is for free tests on games, whether is for live free online casino play or for free play in casino tournaments. This way you can become a complete casino player and casino games will not have secrets for you.
Test new free play casinos
Playing in no purchase casinos many types of games will help you become a complete casino player. Each casino game has some secrets and testing them free is a great way to discover all the information you need to play a game. But above all, playing free casino games in online casinos is a great way to entertain, to have with a quick click exciting bets on casino games. The casino games list in online casinos is truly amazing and for any player's taste. From classic casino games to advanced or new casino games, playing in no deposit online casinos will help you get into the middle of the awesome casino sensations.


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Iowa Study Aimed at Making Tractors Safer for Kids
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Researchers who hope to keep children from dying in tractor accidents are using a state-of-the-art driving simulator to help determine when kids can safely operate farm equipment.
Federal regulators tried to combat the high number deaths and injuries among teen farm workers earlier this year with rules limiting their ability to operate power equipment. But farm families called the proposal an attack on their way of life, and the Obama administration dropped it.
Scientists at the University of Iowa and the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin are attacking the problem from a different angle. They're using the National Advanced Driving Simulator in Coralville to learn how children ages 10 to 17 make decisions while driving tractors.
Researcher Barbara Marlenga says current safety guidelines are based on expert consensus, but not science.


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From 1939 onward, Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany's propaganda minister, supervised the production of a trilogy of antisemitic films – Jud Suss, Die Rothschilds and Der Ewige Jude.
Of the three, Jud Suss, written and directed by Veit Harlan and unveiled at the 1940 Venice Film Festival to great acclaim, was the most commercially successful. Seen by 20 million Germans and 20 million other Europeans, it fanned the flames of antisemitism and facilitated the marginalization, persecution and murder of Jews throughout Europe.
Goebbels was extremely pleased with it. In his diary, he noted, "An antisemitic film of the kind we could only wish for. I am happy about it." Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS, was similarly impressed, ordering special viewings for SS men and members of Einsatzgruppen mobile killing squads.
Ironically enough, Jud Suss was based on a bestselling historical novel by the German Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger, whose subject was the 18th-century Jewish financier Joseph Suss Oppenheimer.
When Goebbels saw the British film version in 1934, he rubbed his hands in glee, knowing he could cynically twist and manipulate the material into a grotesque new form and antisemitic screed.
The man who implemented his vision was Harlan, a Berliner who studied theatre under the illustrious Jewish stage director Max Reinhardt and who was briefly married to the Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson, who died in Auschwitz.
Probably the most high-profile film director in Nazi Germany next to Leni Riefenstahl, Harlan was a compliant and supple craftsman who possessed the rare gift of being able to fuse drama with ideology. Having done so in such feature films as Der Herrscher (1937) and Die Reise nach Tilsit (1939), Harlan was the ideal candidate to direct Jud Suss, which employed the services of Jewish extras.
After World War II, Harlan was the only figure in Germany's entertainment industry to be prosecuted by the Allies, having been charged with aiding and abetting antisemitism. Twice acquitted, he went on to direct six films in postwar West Germany. He died in 1964 at the age of 64.
Felix Moeller's German-language documentary with English subtitles, Harlan: In the Shadow of Jud Suss, focuses on what his descendants think of him in light of his contributions to Nazi culture. It will be screened by the Toronto Jewish Film Society at the Al Green Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. during Holocaust Education Week.
Jud Suss is an insidious film of the first degree, starring the Austrian actor Ferdinand Marian, whose first wife was the Jewish pianist Irene Saager.
It portrays Oppenheimer as a cunning manipulator who enriches himself at the expense of the German people and a sexual predator who ravishes the blond Aryan maiden Dorthea Sturm, played by Harlan's Swedish wife, Kristina Soderbaum (whose father was the secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences).
Harlan's descendants, bearing the stigma of his surname and reputation as Goebbel's faithful collaborator, are generally ashamed of their father and grandfather.
One of his sons, describing his role as "unforgiveable," says he created "an instrument of murder." A daughter admits the film left her speechless and disgusted. As she puts it, "I felt like going out and puking."
Harlan's niece, Christiane Susanne, the wife of the late Hollywood Jewish director Stanley Kubrick, calls Jud Suss "repulsive." His grandson finds it "shocking." One of Harlan's other sons sits on the fence, claiming it is a family matter.
The most poignant comments are expressed by Jessica Jacoby, the daughter of Susanne Korber, one of Harlan's daughters and an actor who converted to Judaism to marry a Jew.
In a devastating observation, Jacoby points out that while Harlan, her Christian grandfather, demonized Jews through his film, her Jewish grandfather, a decorated veteran of World War I, was murdered in Minsk during the Holocaust.
The juxtaposition is stunning.
While none of Harlan's descendants defend him, they claim he was personally not antisemitic and was coerced to make Jud Suss. In postwar Germany, Harlan claimed he was "used" by Goebbels. As for Soderbaum, she said that Jud Suss "ruined" her life.
By any yardstick, Harlan: In the Shadow of Jud Suss is a riveting movie, amalgamating the past with the present and underscoring the importance of film in shaping public opinion.
But the gaps in it are puzzling. Moeller does not even try to understand why Harlan agreed to write and direct Jud Suss. And he says nothing about how it was made. These are serious omissions in an otherwise historically important film.


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Three Hope College jazz ensembles will perform on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The concert will feature the Contemporary Ensemble, the Mainstream Ensemble and the Jazz Arts Collective.
The Contemporary Ensemble features Brian Coyle, director of jazz studies, as coach; Kin Fong, alto; bassist Eric Dulmes; pianist Michael Reynolds; and drummer David Webster. The group will be performing Duke Ellington's "caravan" and Herbie Hancock's "CantaloupeIsland."
The Mainstream Ensemble features Rob Hodson as coach, pianist Larry Figueroa, guitarist Nate Roberts, bassist Zach Pedigo, and Stephen Hobson as drummer. The group will be performing Bobby Timmon's "Dat Dere," Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark," and Adam Rogers's "Sight."
The final group of the evening, Jazz Arts Collective, is the premiere large jazz ensemble at HopeCollege. Directed by Coyle, the collective places a creative focus on ensemble communication and improvisation. Comprised of a rhythm section and approximately seven horns, this select group performs compositions and arrangements from across the full spectrum of music.
The collective's repertoire ranges from the great historical jazz composers such as Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, to works by modern jazz masters like Vince Mendoza, Jim McNeely, and John Hollenbeck. Similarly, the group frequently performs commissions, works by emerging young composers, and originals by HopeCollege faculty and students. The ensemble also collectively reinterprets and re-imagines the music from the 20th century classical repertoire.
The collective's personnel include Katie Zigtermann, flute/saxophones; Kin Fong, alto; Zach Pedigo, tenor; Allyson McMeeking, baritone; Nick Hemeren, trumpet; Alex Ketchum, trombone; Larry Figueroa, piano; Nate Roberts, guitar; Zach Pedigo and Eric Dulmes, bass; and Stephen Hobson, drums/percussion. They will be performing Paul Tynan's "Plexiglass Houses," Jack Cooper's "Vistas," David Hazeltine's "The Lineup," George Gershwin's "A Foggy Day" and Charlie Parker's "Anthropology."
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.


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12.18.06: Motherhood's modest beginnings
To quote Charlie's Grandpa Zimmy, "Parenthood is a humbling experience."
The other day as I was nursing Charlie, Julia noticed my deflated, empty sac of a belly hanging out of my shirt and said, "Mama, your belly is so big. Why is it still so big?" Then, she bounced up and down on the bed and laughed, "It JIGGLES!"
I'm not laughing so much. But, I must say that my drooping belly is actually a welcome change after those last few weeks of pregnancy, when I felt like I could have used a wheelbarrow to cart my bowling ball belly around in front of me. As soon as Charlie was born, I felt instantaneously lighter. The nurses must have thought I was losing it, because I just kept saying: "I feel so light!" "Umm hmmm," they'd nod, their eyebrows a little cocked. "You just wouldn't believe how light I feel," I'd say again.
I'll never forget the first moment I really realized I wasn't pregnant anymore. It was in the hospital shower the day after Charlie was born when I dropped my razor on the floor. Dread came over me as I tried to figure out how I was going to bend over and pick it up. Then, the dread quickly turned to elation—euphoria—as I realized that I could effortlessly bend over and pick something up off of the floor! I was so excited that I stood up, dangled the razor precipitously over the shower floor and—oops!—dropped it again, just for fun.
Then, there was the time toward the end of my pregnancy when I went to turn on my laptop only to find that Will had unplugged it. I was working from bed on a TV tray so I could keep my feet up for a few hours a day, and the only place to plug in the laptop was in an outlet just behind our bed. This required getting down on the floor and reaching under the bed. So, there I was, lying on my back on the floor, trying to shimmy my huge self under the bed, only to find that the outlet was just beyond my reach. I lay there grunting and groaning, stretching and reaching in vain as my belly was far too big to allow me to squeeze any further under the bed. The absurdity of the situation hit me as I lay there like a turtle stuck on its back and contemplated calling in a forklift to help me get off the floor.
Labor is another humbling experience. Any sense of modesty you may have had quickly goes out the door when you give birth. There you are, your feet practically up around your ears, as a half dozen total strangers mill about the room. I'm too embarrassed to even mention the things my saint of a nurse had to do after the delivery "just to clean you up a bit." Then, there were the lactation consultants who fondled and massaged my breasts in an effort to help get the baby latched on. One had cold hands that were like ice packs on my sore breasts, and it felt so good that for a brief second I considered asking her to stay in the room to massage my breasts for a while—before the porn-scene-ness of it all dawned on me. And, oh, let's not forget the diaper-sized maxi pads and chic mesh underwear the hospital hands out for just such occasions. For purposes of illustration, here's Julia's Elmo doll modeling the fall line of Beverly Hospital's "Beverly's Secret" lingerie.
Yes, parenthood is a humbling experience. You check your ego at the door the minute they hand you that tiny little baby. And, that's when you realize that despite all of your own vanity, shortcomings and imperfections, you have somehow been entrusted with this perfect little life. And that is perhaps the most humbling thing of all.
Join FitPregnancy.com's Managing Editor Dana Rousmaniere each week as she chronicles life with a new baby.
Read the next entry: 12.25.06: Ho, Ho, Home for the Holidays


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Photo Contest Caters To Astronomy Buffs
SOCORRO, N.M. August 10, 2012 – The Magdalena Ridge Observatory, New Horizons West, and the Enchanted Skies Star Party are pleased to announce an astrophotography contest, High Altitude Astrophotography.
Astronomy enthusiasts are invited to enter the High Altitude Photography Contest in October. Photographers are welcome to visit the Magdalena Ridge Observatory and submit an image for the contest. MRO File Photo
Astronomy enthusiasts are invited to enter the High Altitude Photography Contest in October. Photographers are welcome to visit the Magdalena Ridge Observatory and submit an image for the contest. MRO File Photo
"The astrophotography contest is a continuing part of MRO's outreach activities. We welcome the opportunity to join with the Enchanted Skies Party and New Horizons to create an opportunity for amateur astronomers of all ages throughout the country to view and photograph the stars from Magdalena Ridge," said Ifan Payne, MRO Program Director.
Digital images are to be submitted online at http://www.mro.nmt.edu/news/essp2012contest/. Each contestant is allowed 1 entry. Registration for the event is required. For detailed rules and registration information please visit http://www.mro.nmt.edu/news/essp2012contest/.
The contest is the brainchild of Payne and Gene Turner, founder of New Horizons West and Rancho Hidalgo. Payne and Turner discussed the concept during the Annular Eclipse Party at the Magdalena Ridge Observatory. Payne and Turner thought the annual Enchanted Skies Star Party would be the perfect time to stage a photo contest at the observatory.
"Education plays an important part in the mission of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory, which is a wonderful astronomy education and outreach resource in the state of New Mexico," Payne said. "We hope the astrophotography contest will help make more people aware of this fantastic facility. We hope also that this sort of event will become a regular part of life at MRO and look forward to welcoming many more students, visitors and participants in our future events."
The Magdalena Ridge Observatory's 2.4-meter single telescope operated by New Mexico Tech will host an astrophotography contest in October.
The Magdalena Ridge Observatory's 2.4-meter single telescope operated by New Mexico Tech will host an astrophotography contest in October.
"We hope to bring in some really serious amateur astronomers from all over the country," said Alisa Shtromberg, an optical instrumentation engineer who is helping organize the event. "This is a good opportunity to put the Magdalena Ridge Observatory on the map and let astronomy enthusiasts know about the projects at the MRO."
The contest will take place over two nights, Wednesday and Thursday, October 10 and 11. The Enchanted Skies Star Party, one of the largest such events in the nation, will be October 10 to 13 in Socorro.
The grand prize winner's photograph will be featured in Astronomy magazine, receive one week of free stay at Rancho Hidalgo for two ($1,000 value) and a $500 gift certificate to Starizona, second and third place winners will receive $250 and $100 gift certificates to Starizona, respectively.
New Horizons West (affiliated with Rancho Hidalgo) is an educational non-profit organization based in Animas, N.M. New Horizons provides academic programming in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields that increases academic achievement and college and career aspirations. To remain competitive in a global economy, students need to be better prepared to participate in careers as scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technologists.
If you have never been to the Magdalena Mountains in the Cibola National Forest you would not expect that nested at the top of the mountains is the Magdalena Ridge Observatory and the Langmuir Research Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. Nor would you expect the hustle and bustle of intense research occurring on a daily basis. At the heart of New Mexico, 30 miles west of Socorro there is such a place; both research facilities associated with New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech).
For more than a decade the Enchanted Skies Star Party has been held in Socorro, N.M., and one of the highlight events each year is an observing night at the Magdalena Ridge Observatory. Amateur astronomers from around the country gather with their telescopes, binoculars, cameras, sketching pads and pens and spend a magical, glistening evening observing the celestial wonders.
The Magdalena Ridge Observatory is a multi-research and educational observatory built and operated by New Mexico Tech. The Magdalena Ridge Consortium Inc. was formed in 1996 with first design for the observatory commissioned in 2000. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory is a multi-research and educational observatory built and operated by New Mexico Tech. The 2.4-meter single telescope officially received first light in 2008. The facility partners with several agencies, including the Office of Naval Research, White Sands Missile Range and NASA. The facility is also available to New Mexico Tech students in physics and in the Master's of Science for Teachers program.
In July 2004 a memorandum of agreement was signed with the Cavendish Laboratory of University of Cambridge, in England, to develop an interferometer. The observatory consists of two major facilities: an operational 2.4-meter (fast-tracking) telescope and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer, which is a 10-element optical/infrared interferometer, currently under construction. The Observatory's mission is threefold: conduct astronomical research, provide means for space situational awareness, and educate and reach out to the communities to promote science and astronomical education and interests.
By Thomas Guengerich/New Mexico Tech