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School Choice Week begins today and runs through Feb 2. I think we can agree that every child deserves a high-quality education. But across the country, many children are trapped in failing schools. Too often, low-income and lower middle-income children are forced to attend schools that simply don't work. I, like most Americans, want effective, motivating, challenging schools and teachers. School choice is about our kids, not educational reform. It's about what students learn, not about how their taught. I believe we should promote equal learning opportunities regardless of geography, and one way to do that is with school choice.
Part of being a great country is having great schools. America's strength is cultivated in its schools. American exceptionalism makes this country great and school choice would encourage people to embrace the principle of exceptionalism in our schools. An increasing number of people blame the parents, not the teachers, for the deterioration of education in America. During this school choice week, I encourage all to do more and to do it now, to ensure that our children, and all children, are getting the education they deserve.
Last year the South Carolina legislature almost passed a limited form of school choice. Call your representative and ask them to support full school choice. Write your local school board and demand school choice. Your taxes pay for your child's education, yet you don't have a voice in where they are educated. School choice can change all that. Learn more at www.schoolchoiceweek.com.
Sun City


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There are some valuable lessons to be learned from Kyle Johnson's experience when his race shop burned down.
As racers, there are certain things we prepare for. Every time the car gets unloaded at the track, the odds of a wreck or broken parts are pretty good. Racers and crews all over the country spend countless hours leading up to each race preparing race cars to avoid part failures, and are ready to spring into action in the event of a crash. But are you prepared for those unexpected incidences and circumstances that can be more devastating that most on-track accidents?
Kyle Johnson races a Limited Sportsman (Dirt Late Model) in Louisiana and Alabama, but a fire destroyed nearly his entire racing operation. The building was a barn on a 30×40-foot concrete slab, and all that's left now is the slab. "My shop is the common Saturday night racer's setup," explains Johnson. "It was made out of my family's 30×40-foot shed that had a loft upstairs that we used for doing woodwork and for storage. I bought and built items and equipment that a racer needed to maintain a race program. I had TIG and MIG welders, a drill press, a shop press, a parts washer, all sizes of tubing and metals, and any tool I needed to work on cars. When it came to tools and such, I deemed it as an investment and did not skimp on items of importance. I had a plan to equip my shop with everything to build and maintain a car 'in-house,' so I didn't have to drag the car to other shops to get work done, especially since my daughter wants to race, and soon I'll probably be buying her a car.
"After the Christmas holidays, I started to get the car ready for the 2012 race season. I had intentions to try to acquire sponsorship and race for points, due to our track getting NeSmith sanctioned for this year.
"I attended a racers auction in Birmingham, Alabama, and acquired body parts and other items to upgrade the car and put a new body on it. I stripped every component off and had a bare frame. I replaced the driver-side framerail from crossmember to four-bar mount and replaced the J-bar mount. This was done the first week of February. All the welding was complete and the primer coat applied after the completion of the framerail work.
"On the evening of February 15, 2012, I got assistance from my dad and son to help me flip the chassis back right side up and put it on jackstands. All that was left was to weld a piece of 3/4-inch square tubing to the rear of the chassis for a spoiler/deck support, which required four small welds.
"After the welds cooled, I put a primer coat on it and sat down to watch some TV. Then I applied a first coat of paint and sat and watched a little more TV. The total time in the shop after welding was probably about 1 hour and 15 minutes–I remember because I went inside and washed up to watch American Idol. Around 9:15 p.m., my wife and kids arrived home from church. To get to the house, you must drive up about 150 yards of driveway, the whole time facing the shop (part within 90 feet of it), and nothing was out of the ordinary.
"At about 10:30 I remember hearing a faint boom, but figured it was someone in the woods head lighting deer. Moments later, I heard several more explosions and stepped outside to investigate. That's when I looked out and saw all my hard work and investments up in flames. The shop was completely engulfed in flames, and I call[ed] 911 to get help. One key thing I said in the call was the presence of Oxy/Acetylene bottles and the amount of tires inside, as well as the other chemicals. This helped the East Central Volunteer Fire Department to be prepared for what to expect and the manpower needed.
"My dad, neighbors, and I went into action moving vehicles, boats, mowers, and whatever else we could get away from the shop safely. When the fire department got there, they were in full force. It took over three hours to extinguish the fire. The hardest part was where I had 20 or so tires stored upstairs, because they couldn't get an angle of attack.
"We all dreaded the next morning. A call was made to the insurance company and it was sending an adjuster that afternoon, so we couldn't touch anything. Also a state investigator was coming that morning. Everything was a total loss at first look. Words cannot describe what it is like to see all your hard work and dreams in a pile of ashes. Not only did I lose my tools and racing stuff, but family items also. My dad's woodshop, three freezers with meats and vegetables from fall harvest, holiday decorations, and all our fishing and camping gear I've collected for 20-something years was gone. It is by the grace of God a north wind wasn't blowing to push the fire toward the house and vehicles.
"After about four hours of investigating, the state investigator determined it was an electrical fire. An arced out piece of Romex was found going to an untripped breaker. The wire was behind a wall where the bathroom was. This area was also where all the paints, parts washer, my tires and wheels that were on the car, as well as the Oxy/Acetylene bottle cart were stored. So, the arced out wire must have caught the wood or something on fire and quickly spread. Inside the bathroom were two boxes of shop rags, catalogs, and four years of Circle Track magazines, so if the wire was near that, then the paper could have been an accelerant. We don't know how it arced, but assume it was either a mouse bit it or a power surge. The only thing plugged up was my welding machine, the freezers, and my battery chargers."
Up To Code
In some cases, preventing something as devastating as a fire can be as simple as ensuring your shop is up to code. Safety codes are designed to minimize the risk and effects of fire by establishing criteria for building, processing, design, service, and installation in the United States. Although following these codes may not be required in your personal shop, adhering to the guidelines listed could prevent or reduce damage in the event of an incident.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is responsible for more than 300 fire safety codes and safety standards, which can be accessed at www.nfpa.org. Although most of these codes are designed for commercial or industrial environments, proper storage and handling procedures for fuel, chemicals, and new and used petroleum products are covered, which can be easily applied to any small private or home shop. To get more information on what the NFPA has available, we spoke to Ken Willette, Division Manager for the Public Fire Protection Division.
"The NFPA started in the Boston area in 1897," explains Willette. "It was a consortium of insurance companies that came together and developed standards that would allow them to have improved fire protection systems in buildings. Over the years it has evolved to where areas of fire safety, electrical safety, building safety, storage of chemicals and hazardous material, and responder safety became part of the library of documents the NFPA produces."
We wanted to get some detailed information, so we spoke with Fire Service Specialist, Ryan Depew, who explained more about some of the NFPA's codes and standards that specifically relate to shops and service centers.
"Repair garages (and race shops) will find beneficial [safety] information within the NFPA standards," explains Depew. "For people that are running private shops, whether it be at home or not, the information may be a little outside of the scope, because they aren't running a business, but there is certainly useful information to look at and utilize from a safety standpoint. Just to break it down, we have the National Fire Code–NFPA-1. That's going to cover all of the different occupancies, including garages. We have a lot of information on hazardous materials storage, and proper storage for different types of chemicals."
From the handling and storage of chemicals and hazardous materials commonly found in race shops, to proper disposal of used oil and oily rags, to welding and cutting safety, the NFPA has codes and standards that can help add a higher level of safety to any shop.
(Editor's note: The codes and standards published by the National Fire Prevention Association [NFPA] are designed for commercial, industrial, and manufacturing facilities. Although the information in these codes may not be required in your shop, the information can offer many safety and fire prevention tips that can minimize the risk of fire.)
Coverage Is Key
Take a good look around your shop and start to add up all the little things you've had to buy over the years. We'd bet that before long you'd have an unbelievably long–and expensive–list of tools, equipment, spare parts, memorabilia, and other racing "junk" that would be difficult to replace.
Kimberly Sheara is a Liability Adjuster for the top commercial insurance company in the U.S., and is a good friend of the magazine. We got in touch with her about best practices when it comes to insuring your shop.
"You need to be very specific to ensure you have the correct amount of coverage," explains Sheara. "You need to take stock of what you have–equipment, tools, materials, essentially everything in the shop, then go see an agent and explain what you have and what you want covered. Don't do it on the Internet or over the phone, as the general policies aren't going to cover high-dollar items like race cars. A reputable and experienced agent who's written policies for shops before will get you the correct policy and all of the correct endorsements."
Sheara also informed us that not everything in your shop can be covered under one policy. "Anything that can have its own policy will not be covered. For example, a boat, a car, or an ATV or golf cart should have its own policy, and in most cases, will not be covered."
NFPA Codes
With more than 300 codes and standards, the NFPA has just about everything covered. Below are a few codes that directly relate to day-to-day operation in a privately owned or back yard race shop.
NFPA 1–The National Fire code
NFPA 13–Standard for installation of sprinkler systems
NFPA 20–Standard for the installation of stationary pumps for fire protection
NFPA 30–Flammable and Combustible Liquid code
NFPA 30A–Code for motor fuel dispensing facilities
NFPA 30B–Code for manufacturing and storage of aerosol products
NFPA 51B–Standard for fire prevention during welding, cutting, and other hot work
Beyond these, the NFPA has many more codes and standards that would apply to a race shop. Visit www.NFPA.org for more information.
Wrapping It Up
Is it likely that your shop in going to burn to the ground? Probably not, but the thought of losing your entire racing operation should be scary enough to make you take a good look at how safe your shop is. We know it isn't realistic to outfit your shop according to the codes and standards of the NFPA, but if you read a few relevant codes and a take a few fire prevention and safety techniques, that could be the difference between loosing your shop or not. And being that many shops are in garages attached to our houses, a safer shop means a safer house, and in many cases, a safer family!

subset: commoncrawl


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prevent(redirected from preventible)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical.
preventverb arrest, avert, avoid, baffle, balk, bar, block, check, checkmate, circumvent, contest, counter, counteract, countercheck, cut off, debar, defeat, deflect, delay, detain, deter, discourage, estop, fend off, foil, forbid, foreclose, forestall, forfend, frustrate, halt, hamper, hinder, hold back, impede, impedire, inhibit, intercept, interfere, interrupt, keep from, keep from happening, limit, muzzle, neutralize, obstruct, obviate, oppose, override, overrule, paralyze, parry, preclude, prohibere, prohibit, repress, restrain, restrict, retard, rule out, stave off, stay, stop, thwart, tie, turn aside, turn away, veto, ward off
Associated concepts: prevent competition, prevent waste, prevented by law, prevention of performance
Foreign phrases: Qui non prohibet id quod prohibere potest assentire videtur.He who does not forbid what he is able to prevent, is deemed to assent.
See also: arrest, avert, balk, ban, bar, block, censor, check, clog, condemn, constrain, counter, counteract, countervail, debar, delay, detain, disqualify, disrupt, eliminate, enjoin, estop, exclude, fight, foil, forbid, forestall, frustrate, halt, hamper, hinder, impede, inhibit, interdict, interfere, interpose, keep, obstruct, obturate, occlude, oppose, parry, preclude, prohibit, proscribe, repel, resist, restrain, restrict, stave, stay, stem, stifle, stop, suppress, thwart, withstand


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Arabic: hashshāshīn, plural of hashshāsh
There are many legends connected with the Assassins, and many are of dubious origin, more a result of medieval European story tellers' fantasy than facts (among these story tellers is Marco Polo). The main theme is that the Assassins performed their deeds under strong intoxication from hashish, resulting in their own deaths, but with the promise of immediate entry to Paradise a paradise that had been staged for them during their training at the Alamut, a paradise of sweet food and wine and beautiful and willing women.
These stories have never been confirmed by any investigations of contemporary Isma'ili sources, and there is good reason to believe that such a shortcoming is a clear indication that such stories are fabrications.
From the original sources, we learn that the Assassins changed the original Isma'ili doctrine, so that terrorism became a religious duty. Growing out from their centre in Kazvin, the Assassins built a number of strongholds all over Iran and Iraq.
The idea of a paradise constructed around Alamut was probably based upon the sayings of imam al-Kahir, where he talks about a Paradise that man has already entered. However, al-Kahir's paradise was meant as a spiritual one.
They had a system of terrorists as well as secret agents positioned in enemy camps and cities. The Assassins often worked closely with certain leaders of Muslim states, as their services were attractive: no one else was better able to kill important persons in enemy states. They were for long periods allied with the Christian crusaders, not because the Christians sympathized with them, but because they had common enemies.
One of the most important Muslim allies of the Assassins was the Seljuq ruler of Aleppo, Ridwan. Through this cooperation, they were able to establish themselves in the Syrian mountains, where several fortresses were erected. Without being recognized in the same way as other temporary states, the Assassins had in reality, their own state here. But the Assassins's influence over Aleppo came to be immense, and they effectively ruled the politics and economy of the city and its surroundings for a couple of decades.
Even Saladin came to treat the Assassins as allies, although he intended initially to eliminate them. The reason for this alliance, was that Saladin, following two assassination attempts, feared for his own life, and had more imminent enemies.
The Assassins were ranked according to intelligence, courage and trustworthiness. They underwent intense education as well as physical training.
When the Assassins were out on mission, they generally worked alone. Rarely did two or more of them work together. They dressed up as tradesmen or ascetic religious men, and spent a good deal of time in a city, in order to get well-acquainted with the houses and streets, as well as the daily routines of the future victim. The actual murder was performed with a dagger and in public, often inside the mosque on a Friday. By doing it all in public, the information about the deed was soon well known, and people were frightened. In general, the Assassin murderer himself was killed immediately thereafter by guards of the victim.


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Manufacturing Process
Gluten Free, Contaminate Free
At Heartland Pasta, we go to great lengths to assure you and your family that our wholesome gluten free pasta is pure and free of wheat and egg residuals. While we do not operate a gluten free dedicated processing facility, we strictly follow detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to make certain that the manufacturing environment is free from any gluten. In our five-year history of offering gluten free pasta in the United States and Europe, we have never had an incident or product recall on a gluten free product.
Following are a few of the guidelines we follow to prevent cross-contamination:
- We require a certificate on all of the ingredients used for gluten free production, verifying their origins and offering assurance of no cross-contamination.
- We maintain tight controls over the raw materials, mixing the corn and rice flour at our facility and loading them into dedicated containers.
- Prior to gluten free production, equipment and surfaces are thoroughly cleaned and inspected to verify absence of contamination. We follow the proposed rule in the Federal Register (72 FR 7295) that tests for gluten at the 20-parts-per-million (ppm) level.
- We stop manufacturing for 30 minutes prior to gluten free production to guarantee the absence of any airborne residuals from the production line.
- After production, the gluten level is tested and verified to ensure that it does not exceed 20 ppm.
We maintain many other processes and procedures, in keeping with good manufacturing practices. Therefore, you can be confident that Heartland Gluten Free Pasta is safe for you and your family.


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The recent $200 million Herbalife settlement leaves us with some open questions about how Herbalife will do in the stock market and what Bill Ackman will do with his short position.
In case you're not entirely familiar with the concept, a short position is when a broker sells you a stock that they do not yet own. The broker is betting against a particular company, in this case Herbalife. The broker sells you "borrowed" stock at say $50 a share. They are betting that the stock will drop below $50, at which point they will actually buy the stock, at say $40. The broker then makes the difference of the $10 per share; you paid $50 and the broker paid $40. To put it simply, the broker—in this case Ackman—is betting that a company's stock will decrease in value.
As of July 29, 2016, the stock price for Herbalife is up to 68.15 which is a positive 1.72% change. If you look at the past year, the stock price dropped in January of 2016 then gained over the last six months (up 47.22%). The recent settlement with the FTC coincides with another boost to the stock price. It seems that the market perception of this settlement is that it shows the FTC does not see Herbalife as a pyramid scheme.


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The Savi® 700 series is changing the way productivity-focused office professionals communicate. With three-way connectivity, easily manage and switch between PC, desk phone, and now mobile calls from a single wireless headset. With a new convertible headset we've added the lightest DECT™ headset on the market to our suite of wearing styles so you can choose the one that's best for you. Optimized for Unified Communications, the system automatically updates your status* to "busy" on PC, mobile and even desk phone calls so colleagues can see your availability. This intelligent system combines best-in-class sound quality, hands-free mobility and hours of talk time for ultimate efficiency. Once you experience a Savi 700 headset system you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
*With supported softphones. Plantronics software is required.
Light weight and rugged
World Class Warranty
Industry leading TAC, Sales and Sales support presence
Over 40 years of headset experience
Four wearing styles
All day comfort, lower cost of ownership due to long product life
"No Questions Asked" replacement within 48 hours
Plantronics has more people in sales, support, and service than our competition has staff
Noise-canceling microphone and digital sound processing support business-class clarity


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Yesterday was a great genealogy day!!!!!
As I mentioned last time, I am working on my ProGen assignment. I am trying to prove birth date, place and parents for my great grandfather, James Francis McCarry, aka Grandpop McCarry. Well I am ok with direct evidence on the date and place, but have not been sure about the parents and siblings. It is like I have known in my heart since I found this family that it is my 2nd greats, my McCarry's, but nothing on a piece of direct evidence tells me this is so. I do have his baptism record but the priest did not write out his first name in the record so the present pastor of the church would not give me a certificate because it is only in the record as "J. McCarry".
Well, working on this is getting me to look at all my records and things I have found over again. The other day I was looking at the marriage license for the "brother" and saw his father's address at that time. I realized it was down at the corner of the street and one block over from where Grandmom and Grandpop McCarry lived at that time! He must have moved closer to them after his wife died.
Then the biggie was yesterday! I hit paydirt! Did the Genealogy Happy Dance! I started looking for directories and found a bunch of Philadelphia directories on Ancestry that I never saw before. I found one for the year Grandmom and Grandpop were married, 1894. It had listed James and his father, Patrick, as ironworkers and the address was the same address that James had on his marriage license! A match was found! I found others that matched James, Patrick and Patrick, Jr with the address and working with metals. Sometimes James and Patrick, Jr were boilermakers and riviters.
This past Wednesday, Marian Pierre-Louis, of Marian's Roots and Rambles, presented a webinar on Legacy about discovering Massachusetts Ancestors. In it she said that she thinks people are not using City Directories enough and we should be. Well Marian, thank you for the hint and I will be using City Directories much more!


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Even 'bad science' needs putting in context
Science journalists must help to root out misleading scientific claims, but not without sensitivity to culture and the limitations of science.
Over the past few years, Western journalists and commentators have increasingly attacked spurious scientific claims, exposing them as "bad science". [1]
The targets of their attacks range from claims that the MMR vaccine against three childhood diseases (measles, mumps and rubella) raises the risk of autism, to denials of the scientific consensus that global warming is primarily the result of human activities.
Several practices that have come under fire take place in the developing world. Some are relatively low-risk, such as homeopathic medicine. Others may have more harmful consequences.
The belief of former South African president Thabo Mbeke, for example, that there is no causal link between HIV infection and AIDS, led to the government's reluctance to pay for antiretroviral treatment, resulting in an estimated 300,000 deaths. Criticism of Mbeke's stance only seemed to harden his position.
All such claims need to be contested. Science journalists, and bloggers, have an important role in this process. But the criticisms need a dose of cultural sensitivity if they are to be effective — and to avoid a potentially counter-productive backlash.
This is not to say that culture alone should determine how science is interpreted. But science journalists and commentators should not overlook the limitations of Western science as a way of understanding all aspects of the world, and thus of improving the quality of life.
Effective warnings
Where 'bad science' is exposed, the warning is clear: those who ignore the findings of modern science do so at their peril. At best, the argument goes, using bad science can lead to wasted resources. And at worst, it can delay action — to curtail global warming, for example, or protect people against a fatal disease.
The value of such warnings is obvious. Any society that promotes the idea that decisions should, where possible, be based on the best available scientific evidence must also be able to distinguish between good and bad science in order to judge what evidence counts as the best available.
But making such a distinction can appear to be asserting the superiority of Western science over other forms of knowledge, including traditional knowledge, and the belief systems on which they are based. And it can be perceived as furthering the economic and political goals of Western nations (often former colonial powers) in the developing world.
One such case was the opposition to vaccination campaigns against polio in northern Nigeria at the beginning of the last decade. The argument made by Muslim political leaders was that the vaccines produced by Western pharmaceutical companies were being used as a surreptitious way of reducing male fertility — and thus population growth.
So effective was their message that the vaccination campaign stopped in its tracks. And subsequently, spread of the disease delayed global eradication. The experience is a sobering reminder that, even if the science is right (or 'good'), it may not be enough to ensure that it is used effectively.
Cultural context
Public health professionals need to be sensitive to the cultural and political environment in which they operate, and in particular to factors which may lead to solid scientific evidence being rejected.
For example, researchers only recently found that the tropical disease Buruli ulcer is caused by a bacterium. Lacking a medical explanation, people often believe it represents a curse made by one villager against another — so sufferers have traditionally been kept hidden. Such beliefs will need to be taken on board in planning prevention strategies to counter the disease.
These cases spell out the danger facing sceptics who bemoan the ease with which 'bad science' can be peddled to a credulous population, whether in the developed or the developing world. Accusing someone of being naïve, or worse bigoted, in believing a particular argument is unlikely to change their mind.
Without question, revealing the flaws in such arguments is important. This may include emphasising the lack of reliable evidence of effectiveness that can withstand rigid scientific scrutiny.
Science journalists, and their colleagues in the blogging community, are well placed to help with this task. They have a responsibility to not only explain the significance and potential impact of new scientific discoveries, but also to challenge suspect claims to scientific validity.
Strengths and weaknesses
But like other sceptics, science journalists need to develop a sensitivity to the cultural setting in which they are reporting. This can mean going beyond the headline facts of a story — such as the rejection of polio vaccines in northern Nigeria — to unveil the social and political factors behind them.
It also requires developing an awareness of both the strengths and limitations of the scientific method. The strengths lie in the robustness of experimental techniques that distinguish reliable from unreliable knowledge, the key distinction between 'good' and 'bad' science.
Its weakness, however, lies in encouraging a form of hubris where modern science is seen as the only source of reliable knowledge — and discounting, for example, applications of traditional knowledge that may have served communities well for centuries or offer an alternative where science provides limited insight.
The ability to expose and root out 'bad science' should be an essential part of any science journalist's skills. This requires an understanding of how claims can be tested for their robustness (for example, by controlled trials in the case of new drugs).
But some scepticism towards science itself should also be part of this skills set. This should include a reluctance to accept without scrutiny everything that is said in the name of science, even by eminent scientists.
David Dickson
Editor, SciDev.Net
You might also like
[1] Badscienceblogs (2001)
[2] Bad Science (Guardian, 2011)


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Wireless carriers are battling in print, TV and Web commercials that focus on having the biggest 4G network or the most 4G coverage. All these commercials create a phony issue that doesn't relate to the actual reasons for choosing 4G service or choosing a given carrier to provide it.
We looked at two TV ads, from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, posted on their YouTube accounts.
Who really has the most 4G wireless coverage?
Performance and pricing determine the "4G experience"
The AT&T commercial consists of nearly 30 seconds of listening to the monotonous guitar hammering of "Memory Lane" by Eddy Current Suppression Ring and watching a young Dude appearing in about 40 different locations, with not quite that many girls, and with his trusty AT&T smartphone. He talks, laughs, smiles, walks, lies on a beach, looks at stuff, texts, takes photos of himself with one or another of the girls, and stuff like that.
At the end, and 30 seconds rarely has felt so long, the voice-over says, "AT&T. The nation's largest 4G network, covering 2,000 more 4G cities than Verizon."
Or as the YouTube text helpfully elaborates, "This spot follows our main character as he uses his AT&T smartphone throughout his adventures across the states. He chronicles his travels and shares his memories and experiences with the people he cares about thanks to AT&T, the nation's largest 4G network."
The concept of the "nation's largest 4G network" is a key message for AT&T. The carrier arrives at "largest" by adding together cities covered by two different cellular technologies, both of which AT&T labels 4G: LTE, in 103 cities at this writing, and HSPA+, which covers a whole lot more.
AT&T's website distinguishes between the two. 4G LTE represents the "fastest mobile Internet speeds," whereas "4G Mobile Broadband" is the carrier's "4G HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul. AT&T's 4G HSPA+ network is capable of delivering 4G speeds when combined with enhanced backhaul."
Apparently our Dude in the TV commercial is On the Road, an epic journey of exploration and discovery. Who is this guy? He's young. A casual dresser. He laughs a lot. His one obvious flaw is that he favors clear plastic parasols on rainy days. Perhaps he's a successful high-tech entrepreneur who's cashed out on some esoteric Web technology and retired at what looks like about 26 or so, and with time to kill and money to spend, decides to have adventures across the states. All 50 of them it seems. Maybe he's decided to visit the "2,000 more 4G cities than Verizon" that AT&T covers with the nation's largest 4G network.
Verizon Wireless takes a less impressionistic approach: It focuses on, you know, facts. This commercial, called "Easy Choice," opens with the headline "4G LTE Focus Group," so we know the people we're about to see are "real" people.
It's a conference room, clean, well-ordered, spare. The Focus Group Guy (FGG) begins helpfully by telling us that 4G LTE "has the fastest speeds."
"So, let's talk about coverage," he says, getting right to The Point. We see an easel with a bar chart, labeled "U.S. Markets with 4G LTE Coverage." A humongous red bar -- Verizon! -- rears up from the x coordinate, towering above the shrimpy little LTE bars for AT&T, and Sprint and poor T-Mobile.
"Based on this chart, who would you choose?" he asks the focus group. And they are wowed, stunned, impressed. Eventually, they all agree that they'd choose Verizon. The voice-over, as the words "It's an easy choice" appear on screen: "It doesn't matter how you present it. Verizon. More 4G LTE coverage than all other networks combined."
But what are these people "choosing" Verizon for? The FGG's question is ambiguous. He could be asking, "Based on this chart, which carrier would you choose as having the most LTE sites?" In that case, it's a simple matter of counting, and currently Verizon does indeed have the largest number of LTE cities. But he could also be asking, and this clearly seems to be the implication of the commercial, "Based on this chart, which carrier would you choose as your LTE provider?"
Both AT&T and Verizon are trying to persuade people that having a lot of LTE or 4G base stations somehow makes for a superior or better network, and therefore becomes a reason, or even the reason, for choosing the carrier. But you'd have to be as peripatetic as AT&T's Dude before a nationwide network of Verizon LTE base stations actually becomes a tangible benefit.
About one mile from where I live there's a main drag with a McDonald's, a Burger King and a Mexican restaurant that's part of a small Massachusetts chain. Based on the number of fast food restaurants owned by McDonald's, Burger King and this Massachusetts restaurant chain, which would you choose?
The answer is: The number doesn't have any bearing on my choice. I don't care if McDonald's has eleventy zillion stores in 50 states. I only care if it's got one where I live. And if I want TexMex instead of a Big Mac, I don't care even if there is a McDonald's where I live.
Consumer Reports, while not the last word on cellular service and phones, lists a "reader score" of overall satisfaction with their cellular service and then a set of criteria that CR's experts created for measuring specific features or attributes. "Voice and texting scores are relative (reflecting differences from the average of all providers)." It then goes on to give mean scores on a scale of "Very poor" to "Excellent" for: "value for money, satisfaction with data service, ease and speed of reaching support staff through the phone system, and support staff knowledge. Issue resolved ratings are relative as well."
There's no rating of coverage, reflecting the fact the total number of LTE or 4G cities served by a carrier is simply not a criteria for buying a particular phone or choosing a particular provider. In fact, the major wireless carriers in CR's most recent ratings scored well below much smaller providers, which often make use of one of the major's wireless network and may focus only on a given region.
CR concludes: "On the whole, readers who prepaid for their service (without a contract, for monthly minutes, unlimited or pay-as-you-go) were more satisfied overall than respondents with standard service. Customers at prepaid carriers were also happier with the value for money of their service."
Data speeds, the latest network technology, are only one part, and apparently often not the biggest part, in customer satisfaction with wireless service. TV commercials that focus on the number of cities covered by a 4G service simply try to deflect attention from more substantive and more relevant issues.
John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for Network World. Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnwcoxnww Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.


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Louis Vuitton Tivoli GM Authentic Pre Owned
This item is no longer available
Authenticity code: Louis Vuitton SD0140This authentic Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas Tivoli GM Bag is stunning. The Tivoli is named after famous the city Tivoli, Italy. It features gold tone hardware, pleating, a frame top and a gold zipper LV pull.
Authentic: Pre-Owned
Exterior: Like new
Interior: Like new
Measurements: 17" L x 8.5" W x 11" H. Handle Drop: 9.5" (Approx.)
Product Code: 104016
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Palm Beach State College Answers Governor's $10k Degree Challenge
Today, Palm Beach State College became the 12th Florida College System institution to accept Governor Scott's affordable degree challenge—to develop bachelor's degree programs that cost students $10,000 or less.
Governor Scott said, "This is great news for Florida students. The more affordable we make college degrees, the more Florida families will benefit and be able to get a great job. I look forward to seeing even more schools take our $10,000 degree challenge."
Randy Hanna, Chancellor of the Florida College System, announced Palm Beach State College's support for more affordable degree programs during today's House Education Committee meeting.
"Governor Scott set the bar high with this challenge, and I am proud to say that at every turn Florida colleges have met or exceeded our expectations. Accepting this challenge is just the first step on the road to greater accessibility," said Chancellor Hanna. "We will be working with the legislature to obtain the approvals necessary to make these programs available as quickly as possible."
To determine which degree programs will be offered at $10,000 or less, Palm Beach State College officials are developing an assessment survey that will look at program costs and job demand for new graduates.
"I appreciate the Governor's efforts to make higher education more accessible and affordable for all Floridians," said Palm Beach State College President Dr. Dennis P. Gallon. "And, we are making a concerted effort to design a degree program that will meet his challenge and prepare students for high-demand careers in our local economy."
To date, more than half of Florida's 28 College System institutions that offer baccalaureate degree programs have expressed support or interest in the high education affordability challenge. Many of the programs are in high-demand areas including information technology, business and organization management, education, and engineering technology.
In response to the critical statewide need for baccalaureate degree production, the Florida Legislature approved a process in 2001 that allowed community colleges to seek approval to offer bachelor's degrees. Today, 22 colleges are authorized to offer almost 150 baccalaureate programs.


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New Holland-Middletown service learning to benefit Humane Society
Send a link to a friend
21, 2014]
MIDDLETOWN — The service learning project for
January and February at New Holland-Middletown District 88 is for
the Humane Society of Logan County.
This year the school will also give a percentage
of the donations to a not-for-profit rescue group in Washington,
Ill., that is helping rescue pets from the devastating tornado that
left many pets lost and homeless.
The community is encouraged to help by leaving donations in the
school district's office at Middletown.
[to top of second column]
Faculty sponsors for this project are Diane Bicknell and Autumn
Schweizer. They can be reached at 217-445-2656.
[Text from file received from
New Holland-Middletown School
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Today we received our welcome package from the Wally Byam Caravan Club International, Inc. (WBCCI) which is the recreational vehicle club of Airstream owners. We joined our local unit, DenCO Unit (Denver, Colorado Unit) and are looking forward to meeting new Airstreaming folks and joining them on rallies and other club events. The most exciting items in the package are our red numbers, #4846. These numbers will go on the outside of Beatrice above the windows. These red numbers are a really big deal in the Airstream community as it shows that we are club members. I know it probably means nothing to many of you but, I couldn't wait to see our red numbers. Makes it even more official.
On another note, no word today from Colonial Airstream about Beatrice and how she survived Hurricane Sandy but, they did post on Facebook that they had no flooding or damage but, were closed today. So, guess it will be a good test for Beatrice to see if she has any leaks anywhere. So, I'm pretty pleased with that news! But, still waiting on the official word from Colonial tomorrow when they re-open!!!
Below is the history of Wally Byam and the club from the WBCCI.
As you read this story of Wally Byam, you will know he was a real person, not a myth, as we have heard some profess. Wally Byam is no longer with us, but his dream goes on. Each one of you, as you travel the highways, here and abroad, are living evidence of Wally's dream. He placed the world at our doorstep, for us all to enjoy!
"Don't stop. Keep right on going. Hitch up your trailer and go to Canada or down to Old Mexico. Head for Europe, if you can afford it, or go to the Mardi Gras. Go someplace you've heard about, where you can fish or hunt or collect rocks or just look up at the sky. Find out what's at the end of some country road. Go see what's over the next hill, and the one after that, and the one after that."
This is the message and the legacy of Wally Byam. The words, typically simple and direct, were Wally's answer to a caravanner who asked in 1959, "Wally, what are we going to do while you are in the hospital?" It was what Wally would say now to all of us.
Wally taught a generation and more of ordinary persons how to travel to the near and far places of the world. He provided them with a mechanism in the form of a travel trailer, which he offered for sale. More basically, however, he gave them a concept, an idea, a dream come true. He taught by showing them that they could bring "home" with them on their travels, near or far, and that they could feel at home wherever they went.
Where Wally Byam led, people eagerly followed. Somehow in following him they became better able thereafter to lead themselves. Perhaps this was because he had a way of expecting and getting the most that was in a man.
How Wally Byam happened to choose trailers to glorify his life, what inclined him in that direction, is surely contained somehow in the story of his life. But here there is a snag. Wally Byam was an extremely verbal and communicative man. To many he appeared to be an egotist. The fact is that he could rarely be brought into a direct discussion of his own life.
There aren't many details available about Wally and his family. They were never "poor" in the modern sense, certainly never hungry or in debt. But the times were hard, rough, beset by the physical elements, the wind and the rain, the crudeness of the roads.
Later his grandfather acquired a large flock of sheep. He didn't hesitate to put a teenage Wally in charge of them. He sent the boy to lead the flock to their summer pastures high in the mountains of Oregon, to stay there alone with them for months at a time.
As a shepherd boy, Wally lived out of a small, two-wheeled wagon covered with cloth and towed along at a walking pace by a donkey. At night the wagon would be unhitched and propped up by its tongue. The tail board let down to disclose a mat for a bed, a kerosene cook stove, food and water, and "all the other necessities of life"—a wash pail and some books.
Years later, on a trip through some western sheep country, Wally told one of his close friends that the shepherd boy's wagon had something to do with his later interest in trailers.
Wally graduated from Stanford in 1923 with a degree in law. He never applied for a board examination or practiced law in any form for the rest of his life. Instead he went to work for the Los Angeles Times as an advertising copywriter. He held that job long enough to decide that he liked advertising, but did not like to work for other people. He quit and formed his own agency and published a how-to-do-it magazine for home carpenters and builders. In the course of editing and publishing, Wally came across an article on how to build a trailer and bought it for publication. It was rather poor, as he was soon to find out. Every mail brought him complaints.
His curiosity piqued, he decided to follow the instructions himself. He quickly found them impossible. Abandoning the article but not the project, which tremendously intrigued him, he proceeded to build a trailer.
It was a "crude, boxy structure which rested none too easily upon a Model A Ford chassis", Wally wrote later in his book, "Trailer Travel Here and Abroad", "little more than a bed you could crawl into, a shelf to hold a water bottle, a flashlight and some camping equipment … protected from the elements."
Crude or not, it was Wally's first trailer. It attracted much attention and people even tried to buy it from him. At first he wouldn't sell; he was having too much fun with it himself. He wrote an article on how to build it and sold plans on the side.
He might have published the article himself in his own magazine, except for a very simple fact; he needed more money than he could "pay" himself. It was published by "Popular Mechanics" magazine.
Soon Wally was building trailers in his backyard for sale. They were strictly made-to-order versions of his own trailer and usually the customer would come over to pitch in and help. Parenthetically, from that day until this Wally's customers have always been made to feel free to walk into one of his factories to see "how things are coming along".
For some years the making of trailers was largely a backyard enterprise for Wally. Sometimes it supported his writing and other ventures, sometimes they supported it.
Wally conceived the name "Airstream" in 1934 and began applying it to his trailers "because that's the way they travel, like a stream of air".
In those prewar days there was really no such thing as a production line for Airstream. Each was a "custom" model. It was also an experimental model as well. Wally never stopped trying new things, incorporating new construction principles, building "the better travel trailer".
In 1936, Wally experimented with the first systematic use of the so-called "monocoque" construction principles in his trailers. He built riveted aluminum shell trailers which are still in existence to the present day.
Imperceptively building trailers, taking them on trips, helping friends build trailers, building trailers for friends, taking friends on trailer trips—became a business, in a sense the beginning of Airstream, Inc.
The full realization that he was "in the trailer business" came home to Wally as the storm clouds gathered for World War II. It came belatedly and with pain. The explanation of this is integral both to the story of Wally Byam and to the philosophy of the company he founded.
He continued to build trailers for travel until 1942, when the War Production Board ordered that "house trailers shall not be made for the duration of the war, except by manufacturers making them for the government or recognized and approved governmental agencies". That left Wally out.
The end of the war and the lifting of the ban on travel trailers did not immediately put Wally back in business again. A shortage of capital held him back for a time. So did a business venture which was to prove a painful blind alley.
That venture involved entering into a kind of partnership arrangement with another company of much greater facilities. At first it looked like an ideal arrangement with Wally turning over his travel trailer concept, his designs and methods and even the name Airstream in exchange for much-needed productive capacity.
For a time there was a mutually beneficial exchange. Wally created an entire travel trailer division and poured into it years of pent-up desire, thought and energy. He took all that he had learned of trailer manufacturing during the prewar era and added a new wealth of construction know how gained during his employment by an aircraft company.
But by 1948 the relationship was becoming estranged. It's difficult to say exactly why. Perhaps as much as anything else, Wally was acting characteristically. He had always been restive as an employee. He had always been driven from within, rather than pulled from without.
To protect his rights to the name Airstream, and to preserve what he considered the integrity of his Airstream travel trailer concept, Wally felt forced to buy his way out of the corporation. It was a trying, difficult process which was to require every bit of patience and determination Wally had. It was also to require every penny he could get his hands on.
Wally rented a small building near the Van Nuys, California, airport and announced to the world that he was back in his own trailer business. Thus was formed Airstream Trailers, Inc.
It took a good deal to have much faith in a company with so little capital or equipment (Wally's own tools, that was about all), but some did. The first was a bright young war veteran who had studied administration at Cornell University and was just then looking for some kind of permanent job with a future.
He was Art Costello, who at the time of the original publishing of this article was chairman of the Board of Directors of Airstream. Wally assigned Costello to a flat plank board supported by two orange crates and placed him in charge of "purchasing and accounting". Basically, that meant he was to handle the money to equip and supply a manufacturing facility to produce travel trailers. The money was roughly equal to the retail price of one Airstream at that time.
Soon after that Wally Byam remembered a production genius he had known during his war-time days at the aircraft plant; his group leader, Andy Charles. By some verbal magic, Wally persuaded this highly literate, individualistic man that he should become the first production superintendent of Airstream.
Just two years later, Wally gave Charles a check for $5,000 and a lease to a vacant factory in Jackson Center, Ohio, which had been built to manufacture bazookas. Starting from scratch in an area where trailers were associated with gypsies and fly by nights, Charles assembled and organized Airstream's eastern facility. It took him one month to produce the first eastern-made Airstream travel trailer. That was August 1952.
The following 10 years saw Wally's company grow to become a major American business enterprise. The best quick statement of Airstream's present position in the market is this; while producing the acknowledged "Cadillac" of travel trailers, it outsells all but the lowest priced "Chevy".
It is an astonishing fact that in the very midst of building his business, Wally Byam felt entirely free to leave his factories and take personal charge of every foreign caravan between the winter of 1951 and the spring of 1960!
For those who are not acquainted with Wally's caravans, they included, among others, trips to Canada, Mexico, Central America, a six-month caravan through Europe and one 18,000-mile tour from Capetown to Cairo through the continent of Africa.
The fact is that Wally never considered that he was leaving his business but rather that he was moving right in the middle of it. As he conceived it, his business was concerned with the essence, the ideal and the "dream" of romantic travel. Wally felt that Air-stream's product ought to be the very stuff of which dreams are made.
He kept saying over and over again, "I make your travel dreams come true." He meant it most profoundly.
To be sure, those shiny stressed-aluminum things lined up at his factories were vital – even integral – to those dreams, but they were the means as much as the end.
By Wally's thinking, there was a strange reciprocity between the "dream" and the trailer, a give and take. It worked out something like this: The more you could do in a trailer, the more you dreamed of doing. The more you dreamed of doing, the more you could do if you tried – in an Airstream.
The caravans and rallies conceived and personally led by Wally Byam were thus vastly more than mere "stunts". They were more than promotional devices. They were, in fact, the deliberate way by which Wally Byam demonstrated what could be done in a travel trailer.
Then having thus stimulated the "dream" of travel by trailer, Wally sought, through caravans and rallies, to learn what qualities and equipment should be designed and built into his Airstreams.
Wally Byam became the most fanatical critic of Airstream trailers the company ever had. Hardly a day went by that his companies didn't receive a long letter or dictating machine recording of criticism. Not even the smallest detail escaped Wally's personal notice. Factory presidents were never surprised to receive middle-of-the-night calls from London or Mexico City or Capetown. Something should be done about the door; the air-vent was vibrating (perhaps after 18,000 miles of roadless travel), or he had an idea for a new fold down bed for children.
Wally scoured the civilized world looking for efficient hot water heaters, door hinges, butane lamps, chemical toilets, small porcelain sinks, chairs – myriad such large and small items for his beloved Airstreams.
He had thousands of things packaged up and sent back to his factories for consideration. When nothing suitable was available on the world market, Wally sought to motivate somebody to manufacture it. Failing that, he ordered his own factories to make their own – be it a new bed, a window frame or a bathtub.
Wally said there would always be caravans. They would go farther, stay longer, encompass more. They would always be needed to introduce new caravanners to the ever-expanding potential of the travel trailer and to feed back more and more information to his factories.
Yet he knew perfectly well that only a small percentage of his Airstream owners could go on very many caravans. Most of them would do the majority of their travel by trailer to places closer to home, family and responsibilities.
He was thus enormously pleased in 1955 when a group of his followers actually beat him to the next logical step; they founded a club of their own which would "localize" caravanning and put it on a year round basis. Of course, they named it after him.
The Wally Byam Caravan Club is now one of the largest clubs in trailering, and it is a remarkable tribute to Wally. It demonstrates once more, and in an excellent way, the effect he had upon those around him. Most men would have insisted upon controlling the club; Wally let his followers keep control.
The WBCC (now WBCCI) has greatly added to the wealth of trailering experiences. Experiences? The temptation is to use the world "thrills" but that would imply cheap, sensational events of the moment. Wally Byam was against such things. Instead, he offered deeper, more lasting satisfactions through experiences of substance and meaning.
Trailering, as practiced by Wally and his followers, has always been more than the pursuit of mere superficial pleasures. It has always been above and beyond what the psychiatrists call the "pleasure principle".
There never was a Wally Byam caravan that wouldn't stop in the midst of having fun to take up a collection for some orphanage somewhere, to collect a pile of "surplus" canned goods for a village whose crop had failed, to drop off clothing, school supplies or books.
Does the point need belaboring? Of course not, nor does the related point that Wally Byam caravanners and club members have always been more than a group of Americans out for a good time, whether here at home or in a foreign country.
This is the way Wally wanted it, and this – greatly expanded and multiplied by his Airstream caravanners – is the way it shall be.
(The above story was written by Frank Palmer following the death of Wally Byam in 1962.)
History outline and photo source: WBCCI


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March 29, 2002
James C. Yong
Re: Track System
Dear Mr. Yong:
This letter extends the temporary no-action position originally taken by the Division of Market Regulation ("Division") on January 7, 2002 until January 6, 2003. The January 7th letter confirmed the Track ECN ("Track System" or "System") operated by Track Data Securities Corp. ("Track") is an "electronic communications network" ("ECN") as defined in the amendments to the Quote Rule and the Limit Order Display Rule (cumulatively, "Order Execution Rules") and would be in compliance with the requirements applicable to the ECN Display Alternative set forth in the ECN Amendment with respect to Nasdaq securities for which a linkage the System and the Nasdaq system is operational. In the January 7th letter, the Division took the position that it would not recommend the Commission take enforcement action against Nasdaq market makers who are participants in the System, if those Nasdaq market makers enter orders into the System without modifying their public quotations in compliance with the ECN Amendment.
The Division continues to condition its position on compliance with the terms expressed in the January 7th letter. These terms include compliance with the non-discrimination provisions of the Addendum to the Nasdaq Workstation II Subscriber Agreement. Track ECN should respond to orders entered into Track ECN through SelectNet access no slower than Track ECN responds to orders entered directly into the System, and in any event in no more than a few seconds.
The Division further conditions its position upon your representation that Track ECN has sufficient capacity to handle the volume of trading reasonably anticipated in its System. Such capacity should be ensured through periodic review and testing to (1) ensure future capacity, (2) identify potential weaknesses, and (3) reduce the risks of system failures and threats to system integrity. The Division may request records from Track regarding such reviews and tests.
The Division further conditions its position on Track providing brokers access via either SelectNet or the telephone for a charge of no more than the fee Track charges a substantial proportion of its active broker-dealer subscribers, and in any event, no more than $0.015 per share, plus any fee charged to the System by Nasdaq for SelectNet trades and plus any applicable transaction fee payable pursuant to Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"). In addition, the Division may request additional representations from you regarding the operation of the System.
The Division further conditions its position upon your representation that the trading information entered into the System will be kept confidential by those employees of Track having access to it, and that the operation of the System will be kept separate from the other business of Track. The Division, in the process of its continuing review of ECNs, may request records concerning procedures addressing these issues. Further, the Division will consider extending or modifying its temporary no-action position prior to January 6, 2003, based on its continuing experience with the operation of the ECN Display Alternative.
This no-action position regards enforcement action under Section 11A of the Exchange Act only, and does not express any legal conclusions regarding the applicability of Section 11A of the Exchange Act or other statutory or regulatory provisions of the federal securities laws. This no-action position is based solely on the representations you have made. Any different facts or conditions might require a different response. This no-action position is subject to changes in current law, regulation, and interpretations; any such change may require the Division to reevaluate and withdraw or modify this position.
Robert L.D. Colby


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Rob Ryan to Interview with Rams on Saturday
ST. LOUIS -- It's been more than five minutes since he was fired by the Cowboys, but Rob Ryan might be closing in on a new job.
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Ryan will interview with the Rams about becoming their defensive coordinator on Saturday. Ryan was fired after two seasons running the defense in Dallas, a turn of events he shrugged off by saying that he wouldn't be out of work for five minutes before landing with another team.
It has looked like the Rams were going to be that team for a while now. There were reports last week that Ryan had accepted the coordinator job with the Rams, but those turned out not to be true. If all goes well with Saturday's interview, there's a good chance that they'll move from incorrect to premature.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher played under Buddy Ryan, Rob's father, when he was a member of the Bears in the 1980′s and served as the elder Ryan's defensive coordinator with the Eagles. The Rams went without a defensive coordinator last season after Gregg Williams' suspension left them without the man they hired to fill the role.


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Christianity Under the Byzantine Emperors Home
Author's Afterwords
THE study of error is often only a little less important than the study of truth. The history of the human mind. in its progress from ignorance towards knowledge should tell us the mistakes into which it has sometimes wandered, as well as its steps in the right path. We turn, indeed, with more pleasure to review the sources from which the world has gained any of its valuable truths, in the hope of there finding some further knowledge which may be equally valuable; while for our errors, so long as we are unwilling to acknowledge them to be errors, we too often shut our eyes, and refuse to be shown their origin.
The Emperor Marcus, Antoninus, in his philosophical work, mentions the several tutors and friends from whom he gained his good habits, and those views of life which he chiefly valued; but though we must suppose that he was aware of some failings in his character, he does not tell us to which of his companions he owed them. And so it is with the benefits of civilisation, arts, and religion; and also with the evils of superstition. Modern Europe readily acknowledges how many benefits it received from Rome, from Greece, and from Judea, but has been willing to forget how much of its superstition came from Egypt.
When Christians shall at length acknowledge that many of those doctrines, which together now make up orthodoxy, or the religion of the majority, as distinguished from the simple religion which Jesus taught and practised; when they shall acknowledge that many of them are so many sad and lamentable errors; then, and not till then, will they seek to know their origin, and enquire from which of the several branches of Paganism they sprung. They will then see that most of the so-called Christian doctrines, that have no place in the New Testament, reached Europe from Egypt, through Alexandria.
All nations borrow from others--at least, from. those who are before them in the race of civilization. They borrow from each of their neighbours in those branches of knowledge in which they think they can do so wisely, and what they have taken often shows itself in the language. This can be best explained by instances from our own language. Thus, when we speak about the array, our words show that the French were our instructors in military matters, and we talk of "aide-de-camp," "chevaux de frise," "captain," "lieutenant," "ensign," "cadet."
When we speak of the church we use Latin wards, as "vestry," "rector," "vicar," "curate," "incumbent," "ordination," "font," "creed," "doctrine."
Words more strictly religious are often Greek, as "baptism," "liturgy" "litany."
The Italians gave us our words belonging to bookkeeping and banking, as "debtor," "creditor," "cambist," "ditto," "bankrupt," "usance."
The Spanish have given us a few words relating to their social life, such as "alcove," "verandah," "duenna."
From the Arabs, through scientific treatises, we have taken "almanach," "alchemy," "chemistry," "algebra."
The Italians also have given us many words relating to art, such as "mezzotint," "fresco-painting," "chiaroscuro," "pianoforte," "violoncello," "opera."
These few instances are, perhaps, enough to justify us in thinking that when the Greeks, Romans, and Jews have made use of Coptic words, it has arisen from their having borrowed these branches of knowledge from the Egyptians.
The aim of the following pages is not only to explain the Mythology of Egypt, but to show the extraordinary readiness with which its religious opinions were copied by the neighbouring nations, particularly by the Greeks and Romans. In matters of religion, the more ignorant part of those two nations bowed in reverence to the greater earnestness and seriousness of the Egyptians, who were at the same time so remarkably rich in mythological invention. Pagan Greece, received from Egypt all that part of its religion which related to a future state of rewards and punishments, and though Christian Greece was for a short time too intelligent to take the whole of the Egyptian mysticism and superstition, yet Christian Rome, from which our own opinions were chiefly learned, had no such hesitation, and was at all times a most willing pupil.
These facts may receive some explanation from two known laws of the human mind. First, among religious persons the fear of doing wrong makes them more afraid of falling into scepticism than into credulity; and those who believe more, whether they believe wisely or unwisely, are apt to think themselves on safer ground than those who believe less. In the case of a proposition in science, when the arguments for it and against it seem equal, the reasoner withholds his assent; but in the case of a religious dogma or article of faith, the mind in its weakness fancies it safer to accept it than to reject it. The reasoning powers are in part over-ruled by the feelings. In religious controversy, both parties, the believer and the doubter, usually feel that the reproach of disbelief, which it is in the power of one to throw against the other, hits a much harder blow than the reproach of credulity and superstition, which is all that the other can fling back again. It is only among irreligious persons and scoffers that the feelings strengthen the other side, and that disbelief can shut the door against argument by an equally blind and unfair claim to superiority. Hence arises the power which superstitious and complicated systems of religions have of spreading themselves, and hence the weakness of good sense when setting up its simple truths against the encroachments of such many-sided errors.
Secondly, earnestness and sincerity are the most powerful helps by which we enforce our opinions and convert our neighbours. And there was far more real conviction of the truth of their religion among the Egyptians than among their Greek and Roman neighbours. Hence the opinions of the more ignorant lived and spread, while the opinions held with hollowness and insincerity by the more enlightened died away.
The following are the principal doctrines which are most certainly known to be common to Egyptian Mythology and modern orthodoxy, as distinguished from the religion of Jesus. They include the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, and the atonement by vicarious sufferings.
1st. That the creation and government of the world is not the work of one simple and undivided Being, but of one God, made up of several persons. This is the doctrine of Plurality in Unity.
2nd. That happiness, or the favour of the judge of the living and the dead, could scarcely be hoped for, either from his justice or his mercy, unless an atoning sacrifice had been paid to him on our behalf, by a divine being; and that mankind, or some part of them, may hope to have their sins forgiven because of the merits and intercession .of that being, and to be excused from punishment because he consented to he sacrificed for them. With the Egyptians there were four such chief mediators.
3rd. That among the gods, or persons which compose the godhead, one, though a god, could yet suffer pain and be put to death.
4th. That a god, a man, or being half god and half man, once lived upon earth, who had been born of an earthly mother, but without an earthly father.
It may amuse, while it will help our argument, to mention also a few of the less important Egyptian opinions which are still common among us. Trifles sometimes declare their origin more certainly than opinions and habits of greater importance, which may be thought common to the human mind. Among the most interesting is the wedding ring. The Egyptian gold, before the introduction of coinage, had been usually kept in the form of a ring; and the Egyptian at his marriage placed one of these pieces of gold on his wife's finger in token of his entrusting her with all his property. The early Christians, says Clemens, saw no harm in following this custom; and in our own marriage ceremony the man places the same plain ring of gold on his bride's finger when he says, "With all my worldly goods I thee endow."
It was one of the duties of the priests of Phil to purchase of the river Nile a bountiful overflow by throwing a piece of gold into the stream once a year, and hence, probably, the Venetians borrowed their custom of wedding the Adriatic by throwing a gold ring into the sea. At the same time the Doge's cap was copied from the crown of Lower Egypt.
Our Christmas game of drawing lots for the title of King and Queen, is Egyptian. It was called by the Alexandrians, as Julius Pollux tells us, the game of Basilinda; and Tacitus mentions the quarrel between Nero and Britannicus when they were playing at this game in Rome.
The Egyptian day for eating sugared cakes had been our twentieth of January, but in the fourth century, says Moses of Chorene, it was changed to be kept fourteen days earlier; and the sugared cake of the Egyptians now marks the feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night.
When the Roman Catholic priest shaves the crown of his head, it is because the Egyptian priest had done the same before. When the English clergyman, though he preaches his sermon in a silk or woollen robe, may read the liturgy in no dress but linen, it is because linen was the clothing of the Egyptians. Two thousand years before the bishop of Rome pretended to hold the keys of heaven and earth, there was an Egyptian priest with the high-sounding title of Appointed keeper of the two doors of heaven, in the city of Thebes.
Christian art also owes much to the Egyptian imagination. The Virgin Mary rising to heaven, standing upon a crescent moon, very closely resembles Isis as the dog star rising heliacally (see Fig. 104). The figure of the Almighty, with head and outstretched arms at the head of the picture, particularly in the early pictures, when the head hung downwards, is the same in design as that of Horus at the top of many a funeral papyrus (see page 87). The figure of a triangle to represent the Trinity was clearly borrowed from Pagan Egypt (see page 99).
The supposed arts of astrology and witchcraft were more particularly Egyptian; the conjuror's word of Abracadabra is a corruption of the Greek word Abrasax, which is itself a corruption of the Egyptian hurt me not, by which they hoped to warn off evil spirits; and fortunetellers are even yet called Egyptians or Gypsies. When Shakespeare brings upon the stage the queen of the witches, she bears the name of Hecate, one of the well-known names of Isis.
These fanciful customs and foolish opinions and traditions of art help to show that although the old Egyptian race has ceased to be a nation for more than twelve hundred years, during which its history has been neglected, and its very existence often forgotten, yet the Egyptian mind still has a most important influence upon our modern civilisation. Protestant Europe is even now struggling to throw off the graver errors of the Nicene Creed and the Atonement, which Rome received from Egypt fifteen centuries ago.
June, 1863.
This Second Edition has been enlarged to the extent of four pages by the MS. additions which the Author left ready for publication. E. S.


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Can you believe? $2.99? What a Bargain!! What, you ask? Well, it's this. The Big Genealogy Blog Book. Author: Amy Coffin ( http://wetree.blogspot.com/ ). Book now at lulu.com.
If you are a new blogger or just read blogs, OR if you need some new ideas on what to blog about or how to improve your blog, then this is something you want to look at. And the price is right! And it's easy.
Disclosures: Do I know Amy? Yes. And she's a really great lady.
Does she know I'm writing this? NO. She has no idea, at least I haven't told her.
Does she know I "bought" her book? I don't know. I downloaded it the first day I heard about it. And I started reading it immediately. Unfortunately life interferred before I could finish reading it.
Did I get any discount for this? No.
Or any other compensation? No. Except for hopefully another smile and another great greeting the next time I meet her at a conference. And would you believe I didn't even know her until June 2010?


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Home > Tyne & Wear > South Shields > Little Haven Hotel
We have uploaded a new video to our YouTube channel. You can take a look at the video here…
The video was taken at North Marine Park in South Shields and focuses on the Groyne – the red structure at the entrance of the river Tyne. The Little Haven Hotel can be seen on the left side of the video adjacent to the Little Haven Beach in South Shields.
The paved circle between the hotel and the beach is the location of a public art sculpture called 'Conversation Piece' created in 1998 by the Spanish sculptor Juan Munoz. Each of the twenty two life size bronze figures is 1.5 metres high and weighs a quarter of a tonne. It is known locally as 'The Weebles'.
For more South Shields related blog posts click here: South Shields.
If you are looking for hotel accommodation near the Little Haven Hotel in South Shields our bed and breakfast availability is here: online booking.
Room information including photographs can be found on the bedrooms page of our website.


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Archive for the 'Elementary' tag
ROBOTC Graphical Programming Preview Available!
After months of work, the ROBOTC Development Team is excited to announce the availability of the first preview release of ROBOTC Graphical Language for the VEX IQ platform. This new interface will allow you to program robots from inside ROBOTC with easy-to-use graphical blocks that can be drag-and-dropped to form a program. Each block represents an individual command from the "text-based" ROBOTC and Natural Language. The new click and drag interface along with the simplified commands of Natural Language will allow any robotics user to get up and running with programming their robots as soon as possible.
The first release of ROBOTC Graphical Language is available for the VEX IQ platform for use with the standard VEX IQ Clawbot and Autopilot Robots. All ROBOTC 4.0 users will receive access to the new Graphical Language interface at no additional cost! Our plans over the next few months are to extend the Graphical Language interface to all of ROBOTC's support platforms, including the Robot Virtual Worlds technology. You can download the preview version today at http://www.robotc.net/graphical/.
The new ROBOTC Graphical programming environment adds a number of new features we'd like to highlight:
Graphical Language Command List (Drag and Drop)
With the new ROBOTC Graphical Mode, we've updated our "Functions Library" to match the style of the Graphical interface. This new mode will allow you to drag and drop blocks of code from the "Graphical Functions" menu into your program to get your program created even faster!
New Language Commands for Easier Programs
We also added some new language extensions to both ROBOTC and Natural Language; such as the simplistic "Repeat" command. Prior to the Repeat command, users would need to copy and paste large sections of code or use a looping structure (like a 'for' or 'while' loop) in order to have a set of actions repeat a number of times. With the new "Repeat" command, however, users can simply specify how many times they would like the code to run, with no complex coding required. And users who wish to make an "infinite loop" can use the "repeat forever" command to accomplish this task quickly!
Commenting Blocks of Code!
Another awesome tool that we've implemented in ROBOTC Graphical is the "comment out" feature. You can now comment out an entire line of code just by clicking on the block's line number. The robot ignores lines of code that are "commented out" when the program runs, which makes this feature very useful when testing or debugging code. This new tool is unique to ROBOTC's Graphical interface.
Updated and Simplified Toolbar
Sometimes navigating menus as a new user can be a little overwhelming – so many options to choose from and lots of questions about what each option is used for. To help with this, we've redesigned ROBOTC's toolbar to make getting up and running easier. We put the most used commands on a larger toolbar so new users have an area to easily click to download firmware, send their code to their robot, and run their programs without having to use the standard menu interface.
Convert to Text-Based Natural Language
Because each Graphical Natural Language block corresponds to a real ROBOTC or Natural Language function, users will be able to graduate from Graphical Programming to full text-based programming with the press of a single button. This allows users to naturally transition from Graphical Natural Language to the text based Natural Language (or ROBOTC), without having to worry about manually converting the code line-by-line!
Teacher's Guide and Sample Programs
The new graphical interface includes over 50 new sample programs to help you get up and running with working examples and demo code. In addition, we've also developed a 30+page guide to walk new (and existing) users through the new Graphical Programming interface and getting started with the VEX IQ platform. You can find a link to the programming guide here and also on the ROBOTC Graphical page.
This initial release is only the beginning and we're planning on improving the software with more features and flexibility over the coming months.
Future Support/Features:
- Copy and Paste
- Undo/Redo Support
- Support for custom robots/configurations via an updated "Motors and Sensor Setup" interface.
- Dynamic Loop and Command Parameters (based on Motors and Sensor Setup / Robot Configuration)
- Tooltips, Contextual Help, and more!
Click here to download the installer!
Let us know what you think! If you have any feedback or questions, please send them along via the ROBOTC's VEX IQ forums.
A Teacher's POV: Fun With VEX IQ Remote Controls
Whether they are in elementary school, middle school, or high school, students really enjoy programming their robots with remote controls. Luckily, the VEX IQ wireless controller allows you to do just that. ROBOTC allows you to create your own remote control programs to customize each joystick axis and button controls. Moreover, you can use both Natural Language and full ROBOTC with the remote controls.
Both the VEX IQ brain and the remote control require a radio controller for communication. The radio controller has to be in each in order to use the remote control. Additionally, a battery needs to be placed into the remote control for the wireless communication. Just like the battery for the VEX IQ brain, the battery for the remote control is rechargeable.
In order for the VEX IQ brain and the controller to communicate, they must be paired together. With both devices turned off, connect the two devices together with the tether cable that is included with the VEX IQ Starter Kit with Controller. The tether cable is just a standard Ethernet cable. Turn on the VEX IQ brain by pressing the check button. The controller will automatically link and pair with the VEX IQ brain.
Once your connection has been established, the green light will blink on both the remote control and the VEX IQ brain. You will not have to link the tether cable with the remote control the next time you turn on the VEX IQ brain or the remote control. In the classroom, you can assign each robot to a remote control by giving each a number. That way, you never have to link the remote control with the VEX IQ brain. Or, you can just have the students do a quick set up at the beginning of class. Either way will work.
ROBOTC can access all of the data from the VEX IQ remote control by referencing the button and axes by their described names. Joystick buttons return values of..
• 1 – Pressed
• 0 – Not Pressed/Released
Joystick Axis return values of…
• -100 to +100 (0 when centered)
When using the VEX IQ remote control, make sure you switch to your "Controller Mode" to Tele-Op.
Alright, now you can begin programming (either in Natural Language or full ROBOTC) and have some fun.
As teachers, we all know to expect the unexpected. I recently had the students on a Friday, with a long weekend in front of them. Therefore, I did not want to start a new concept, for I would have to re-teach it after the long weekend. So, I decided to set up a quick in-class competition with the VEX IQ Challenge Field and some Bucky Balls and rings.
I allowed the students to make up the parameters for the game, gave them some time to devise some strategy, downloaded some sample programs to run the remote controls, and let the fun begin. The students had a great time and the activity will serve as a springboard for future investigation into how to customize the remote control programs.
– Jason McKenna


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Lawyer Referral Program
The purpose of the Lawyer Referral Service is to assist the general public by providing a way in which any person who can afford to pay a reasonable fee for legal services may be referred to a qualified member of the bar. All persons licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of Illinois, in good standing, and who are also members of the WCBA in good standing, shall automatically constitute the voting membership of the service. If you are an attorney and would like to learn more about the Lawyer Referral Program, Click Here.
If you are looking for a Lawyer Referral, please select the Online Lawyer Referral button on the right side or Click Here.


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Tebow and the Jets
With all the media attention that the Jets have received the past week, they have shown why they will struggle this year. First, Tebow and Sanchez struggled immensely throwing the ball so far during training camp. Next, Antonio Cromartie claimed he could be the number 2 wide receiver for the Jets. While I do think he could play wide receiver, he could not be the second best receiver. With comments flying around the locker room, the Jets have shown exactly why last season exploded in their face when Santonio Holmes quit on his team. Holmes is currently hurt with a bruised rib. Although Rex Ryan looks good losing tons of weight, he will add fuel to this seasons troubles with Tebow and Sanchez. Rex will say many things that add to the conversation of when will Tebow start.
The Jets will start with a win at home against the Buffalo Bills. The Jets will rely on the running game and the strong defense. Next up are at the Steelers. The Jets will not be able to power run against the Steelers. The Steelers will win the game. The Jets will start 3-5 and will head into their bye week trailing the Patriots. If the Jets lose to the Seahawks in week 10, Tebow should be allowed to start week 11 at the Rams. Not because he deserves it but because I will be at the game. Up until week 10 I think the Jets will not use Tebow much in some games and use him as much as a third down back in others.
The Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano will be huge for the Jets. He will keep a great balance between Tebow and Sanchez. Sparano, the creator of the Wildcat with the Dolphins will not be able to run the exact same type of Wildcat because Tebow is not as fast as Rickey Williams and Ronnie Brown. Tebow will be forced to pick his holes between the tackles. In the end I do not see Tebow ever starting a game and the Jets will finish 7-9. The controversy between Tebow and Sanchez will carry on the whole season while the media should be talking about how well the defense will play.
As always, Go Tebow
Spencer Montgomery


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This is your brain on sugar — for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating.
After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn't register the feeling of being full as it does when simple glucose is consumed, researchers found.
It's a small study and does not prove that fructose or its relative, high-fructose corn syrup, can cause obesity, but experts say it adds evidence they may play a role. These sugars often are added to processed foods and beverages, and consumption has risen dramatically since the 1970s along with obesity. A third of U.S. children and teens and more than two-thirds of adults are obese or overweight.
All sugars are not equal — even though they contain the same amount of calories — because they are metabolized differently in the body.
Table sugar is sucrose, which is half fructose, half glucose. High-fructose corn syrup is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose.


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Ueli Steck's idea of taking it easy and having a good time? Climb all 82 peaks in the Alps over 4,000 m– over one Summer. We checked in with the so-called Swiss Machine last week*, when he still had another 31 mountains to go, to find out how the project's going.
How's the adventure been so far?
It's just so much fun. The weather has been great so far and I'm doing something almost every day. Sometimes of course there are days you are a little tired but that's normal. I don't feel wasted. I am super motivated and I am super happy. I have to say even if I don't climb all 82 summits, by the end I would still be totally happy. I had just a great time so far. It's just very cool being in the mountains, meeting people, going climbing, running cycling etc. The supporter is my best friend Daniel Mader.
Peak 41 of Ueli Steck's 82 Summit project. The Zinalrothorn above Zermatt marks the halfway point of his goal to climb all 82 4000 meter peaks in the Alps, using human-powered transport alone. ©PatitucciPhoto
The hardest part?
I don't know. When we did the Monterosa traverse, which was 18 peaks in a day, Andreas Steindel and I did get a little tired at the end! He is a mountain guide and part of the Swiss ski-mountaineering team. He knows the area very well so we just linked all these peaks. It was a great day out. I also climbed later the Weisshorn Bishorn in very bad weather. It was icy and snowy. I was completely in the fog. That was not a great moment.
View a map of Ueli's climbs in full screen here
Has this project taught you anything new?
Yes you don't have to go far away to have a great time. Also in the Alps you can find still great challenges!
What inspired you to create and do this project?
It was the challenge of the whole journey. Being able to move so much and also the challenge with the weather and the conditions on the mountains!
How has your climbing philosophy evolved?
Before I was just focused on performance and pushing the limits in alpinism, recently in the Himalaya on the high peaks. But I am also not 20 any more! I try to find the right balance in my life. I know I pushed myself to the edge, taking risk and pushing the limits on the 8000 m peaks. This is a one-way street. You will not survive this long-term. So of course I would like to go back to the Himalaya and climb 8,000 m peaks. But in the same style that I Annapurna? No, this I will not repeat. This game you survive only once in life.... But there are still great adventures to live!!!
*Note: This interview was made with Ueli before last Wednesday's accident in which Dutch climber Martijn Seuren died on the Rochefort Arete in the Mt Blanc massif. Contrary to some online reports, he was not part of Ueli's project, but Ueli was at the scene afterwards. You can read his statement here.


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O'Reilly promotes petition by NumbersUSA, a group linked to controversial anti-immigration activist John Tanton
Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is promoting an online petition, titled "Mr. President, Please Secure our Borders Immediately," spearheaded by NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration group. O'Reilly has said that the petition represents a "nonpartisan people's movement," but neglected to provide any background. In fact, NumbersUSA is part of a network of anti-immigrant organizations founded and/or funded by controversial activist John Tanton, who has made racist statements about immigrants.
O'Reilly first promoted the petition on the April 25 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: The group NumbersUSA is handling the petition. Their web address is reformus.org. Reformus.org. Or you can go to billoreilly.com, where we have a link right over to that Web site. We will keep a daily tally of how many of you sign up. And we begin with more than 90,000, as I mentioned. So there you have it. This is a nonpartisan people's movement, best we can do.
Tanton founded NumbersUSA in 1997. The group aims to "reduce the overall numerical levels of annual legal and illegal immigration."
Tanton also founded the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in 1979. The New York Times reported on May 14, 2000, that FAIR "has long viewed a ban on immigration as the key to population control." According to a Media Matters for America examination of FAIR's publicly available IRS disclosure forms, FAIR received $1.2 million between 1985 and 1994 from the Pioneer Fund, a foundation that supports the work of white supremacists, eugenicists, and others who seek to prove that genetic differences exist between races. In the mid-1980s, Tanton wrote the WITAN memos (the name refers to the Old English term 'witenangemot' or 'council of wise men'), which were "meant for Tanton colleagues who met at retreats to discuss immigration" [Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, Summer 2002]. "Tanton's memo raised questions about the 'reproductive powers' of the races, suggesting: 'perhaps this is the first instance in which those with the pants up are going to get caught by those with their pants down!'" [Los Angeles Times, 8/31/03]. Here are some excerpts from an October 1986 WITAN memo:
- Can "homo contraceptivus" compete with "homo progenitiva" if borders aren't controlled? Or is advice to limit ones [sic] family simply advice to move over and let someone else with greater reproductive powers occupy the space?
- Is apartheid in Southern California's future? The demographic picture in South Africa now is startlingly similar to what we'll see in California in 2030. In Southern Africa, a White minority owns the property, has the best jobs and education, has the political power, and speaks one language. A non-White majority has poor education, jobs and income, owns little property, is on its way to political power and speaks a different language.
- Will Latin American migrants bring with them the tradition of the mordida (bribe), the lack of involvement in public affairs, etc.? What in fact are the characteristics of Latin American culture, versus that of the United States?
In 1988, after the media published the memo, the group U.S. English, an advocacy group "dedicated to preserving English as America's official language" also founded by Tanton, cut its ties with him. U.S. English director Linda Chavez quit, as did board member Walter Cronkite [Los Angeles Times, 8/30/03].
Tanton and his groups also have close ties to Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), a leading supporter of stricter immigration rules, including a FAIR-supported five-year moratorium on many forms of legal immigration [The Washington Post, 3/25/05]. The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call described NumbersUSA legislative analyst Rosemary Jenks as "a close Tancredo ally in the immigration reform movement" [1/12/04]. A 2003 Salon.com article (written by Max Blumenthal, now a Media Matters research fellow) also noted Tancredo's extensive connections to both Tanton and white nationalist activists:
Tancredo also enjoys star status among the white-collar anti-immigrationists of Tanton's network who have courted his support, donating $5,000 to his 2002 campaign through FAIR's U.S. Immigration Reform PAC and thousands more in personal donations. Leaders in Tanton's network have long sought a foothold on Capitol Hill and, through Tancredo, it appears their hopes have been realized.
The close working relationship between the Tanton network and Tancredo is most apparent on the Web site for the congressman's Immigration Reform Caucus. When Salon interviewed Tancredo earlier this year, the Web site contained links to FAIR, NumbersUSA, CIS and virtually every other Tanton creation. It also contained a link to VDare, a white nationalist Web site run by British writer Peter Brimelow that is named after Virginia Dare, the first white child born in the New World. When asked about the link, Tancredo was befuddled and indignant.
After the Salon.com article's publication, Tancredo scrubbed all links to outside groups from the caucus' website, though he wrote in a letter to Salon.com: "I had no reason to believe that this online magazine is anything but a legitimate contributor to the vast library of resources on this vital issue. After looking over Vdare's recent work, I have not changed this opinion."


text: It's best to avoid wearing perfume or cologne when you're going to be in the sun for a prolonged period of time. Perfumes and colognes, especially those that contain oils from musk, sandalwood, citrus, bergamot, and vanilla, can actually be chemically changed by the sun. This chemical change can trigger an allergic reaction in the skin and increase the chance of hyper-pigmentation (age spots). Yikes! But prevention is easy – the next time you're headed to the beach don't forget to use a healthy, natural sunscreen and skip the fragrance!


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Of *Cappadocia, *Neoplatonist, pupil of *Iamblichus (2) and teacher of *Maximus (3) Chrysanthius, Priscus, and Eusebius Myndius. He set up a school of philosophy in Pergamum. No writings survive.Less
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How to Avoid Bankruptcy
You don't need to file bankruptcy to solve a trivial financial problem or when a more targeted remedy is available. Although you shouldn't view bankruptcy as a last-ditch solution, you probably shouldn't make it your first consideration, either. Consider the following solutions before deciding that bankruptcy is the way out.
Budget. If you can get your financial house in order through discipline and careful budgeting, go for it.
Allow your family to bail you out. If a parent or other family member offers to save your hide, accepting that generosity is tempting. But make sure that he or she
Is ready, willing, and able to help.
Can pay your debts without suffering financial hardship.
Can truly solve your problem, not just postpone an inevitable bankruptcy.
Sell your assets. If you own assets that you'd lose to a bankruptcy trustee, you may want to consider selling your stuff to pay your debts. If that doesn't raise enough money to pay all your debts, it at least helps whittle down your debt load.
Every state has laws that make certain essential assets exempt or off-limits to creditors, regardless of whether you file bankruptcy, usually including homesteads up to a specified value, pensions, basic household furnishings, and a modest vehicle.
Transfer credit-card balances. Although trading high interest rates for lower rates is worth checking out, credit-card balance transfers seldom are effective. And if you end up in bankruptcy, you may be facing an allegation of fraud, and your creditors may fight to prevent the debts you owe them from being wiped out.
Restructure home mortgages. You may be able to free up some cash by restructuring your home mortgage. Basically, you can do this in one of two ways: arranging a mortgage workout agreement or refinancing.