text:
Explore Our Hotel
Welcome to our Lake Wales Hotel in Central Florida, check out our .
Our Holiday Inn Express® Lake Wales North - Winter Haven hotel is conveniently located just 5 miles from LEGOLAND FL
Business travelers love our hotel's location in Lake Wales because it offers amenities specifically tailored to their needs, such as a 24-hour Business Center with copying, printing and a personal computer. We also have free high-speed wireless Internet access. In addition, our hotel is near area corporations, such as Citrus World Inc, Florida Natural, Hesco, Amphenol, Kegel, Lake Wales Medical Center and State Farm.
During your road trip to such Florida attractions as LEGOLAND Florida Resort, Walt Disney World® Theme Parks, Universal Studios, Sea World, Aquatica and Discovery Cove, you can recharge in Lake Wales and tour Bok Tower Gardens, explore rare plant life at Pine Ridge Nature Preserve or visit the Florida's Natural Growers Grove House. Also, take time to hear great musical acts at the Carillon concerts.
When you stay at our hotel's facility in Lake Wales, you're able to enjoy great amenities, including our free, hot Express Start breakfast bar, a 24-hour, on-site Fitness Center and a stylishly designed outdoor pool. At our Holiday Inn Express® Lake Wales hotel, we're ready to exceed your expectations!
- Black-out Shades
- Rollaway Bed/Cot Available
- Crib Available
- Iron/Ironing Board
- In-room Safe
- Separate Hanging Closet
- In-Room Heating and A/C Controls
Bathroom/Personal Care
- Private Bathroom
- Bathroom Amenities Available
- Hair Dryer
- Bathtub
- Separate/Walk-in Shower
In-Room Features
- Mini Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Coffee Maker
- Flat-screen TV
- DVD Player
- iPod Docking Station with Clock Radio
- Work Desk with Lamp
- Desk-level Electrical Outlet
- Cable/Satellite
- Premium Channels
- DVD/Video Rental
- Direct-dial Phone
- Phone with Voicemail
- Electrical Adapters Available
- Complimentary Morning Newspaper
Added Value
- Complimentary Coffee/Tea Supplies
- Full Breakfast Included
- Breakfast Buffet Included
- Continental Breakfast Included
- Complimentary Coffee in Lobby
- Kids Eat Free
- Off-site Restaurant Delivery Available
Business Services
- 1 Meeting Room(s) Available
- On-Site Business Center
- Printer
- Copier
- Scanner
- Office supplies available
Internet Access
- Free High-Speed Internet in all Rooms
- Wireless Internet service is free for all IHG® Rewards Club members
Entertainment & Recreation
- Outdoor Pool
- Outdoor Pool Hours of Operation: 8:30 AM - 11:00 PM
Health & Fitness
Complimentary Fitness Center
Brand new state of the are fitness center. Matrix fitness equipment to include Suspension Elliptical with TV attached; Treadmill with tv attached; stationary bicycle with tv attached. Bench with free weights.
Hours of Operation: 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
Fitness Center Type: LIMITED
Fitness Center Equipment:
- Treadmill
- Elliptical Machines
- Free Weights
- Stationary Bicycle
Last Renovation of Fitness Center Equipment: 2017
Housekeeping & Laundry
- Daily Housekeeping
- On-site Guest Self-Laundry Facilities
- Hours of Operation: 12:00 PM - 11:05 PM
Added Value
- Language Interpretation
- Wake Up Calls
- Ice Machine
Hotel Details
2953 Ridge Way
Lake Wales, Florida 33859
United States
Check In: 3:00 PM
Check Out: 11:00 AM
Check-in Age: 21
Parking + -
- Complimentary Self Parking Available
Accessibility + -
- Public Entrance
- Guest Rooms
- Elevators
- Public Restrooms
- Registration Desk
- Exercise Facility
- Business Center
- Pool
- Number of Accessible Meeting Rooms: 1
Accessible Hotel Areas
- Registration Area
- Accessible Guest Rooms
- Business Center
- Meeting Room
- Exercise Facility
- Pool
Hotel Areas with Accessible Routes from Accessible Public Entrance
- Accessible Self Parking
- Van Accessible Self Parking
- Ramp Access
- Portable Bathtub Seats
- Closed Caption TVs
- Telephone with TDD
- Visual Alarm/Alert in Guest Rooms
- Visual Alarm/Alert in Public Spaces
- Communication Kits with Visual Alarms
Provided by Hotel
Pet Policy + -
- Pets Allowed
- Service Animals Allowed
- Pet Fee per Night: 25 USD
- Pets allowed but limited to under 25 lbs. All service animals are allowed.
Facility + -
- Smoke-Free Facility
- Number of Floors: 3
- Total Number of Rooms: 82
- Number of Suites: 13
- Number of Non-Smoking Rooms: 69
- Number of Accessible Rooms: 7
- Public Spaces Renovated in: 2017
- Guest Rooms Renovated in: 2017
Languages + -
Languages Spoken by Staff
- Spanish
Credit Cards + -
- American Express
- Visa
- MasterCard
- Diners Club
- Carte Blanche
- Discover


text:
Without my lists, I would spend my day distracted and Pinterest Pinning (are you following me?) all day long! Not that that wouldn't be fun...
The lists (especially when they are as pretty as these...) keep me on task and productive. I wish I would've known the magic of making a little list when I was in school.
Do your kids a favor and get them started with a good List making habit this school year. They'll think it is a gift for them... but it is really a gift for you.
I love these To-Do lists... the great design makes checking them off even more fun!
It is Back to School Season! I've put together a Back to School Guide that will make the beginning of the school year more fun (and manageable!). These make ahead dinners, easy breakfast recipes and simple desserts will get an A+ from your kids... and will pass the parent taste test, too!
Don't Forget : Join me in giving back this Back-to-School season!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Community Health Fair to be March 29
Send a link to a friend
20, 2014]
The annual Community Health Fair
will be on March 29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lincoln Park
District SportsCenter, 1400 Primm Road in Lincoln. Admission is free
and everyone is invited to attend.
The environmental health division of the
Logan County Department of Public Health will offer free nitrate
screenings for well water. Only private well water will be screened.
Residents are invited to bring their own samples. Radon test kits
will also be available for a fee.
Recyclable items will be collected, including unused, unwanted
medications as well as glass, cellphones and printer cartridges.
Destruction of hard drives and shredding of confidential papers will
be sponsored by State Bank of Lincoln.
This year's activities include a free, 65-foot inflatable
obstacle course, cooking demonstrations at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and
noon, free chair massages, a children's craft table, and Lapsit
story sessions with Lincoln Public Library staff at 9:30 a.m., 10
a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Child fingerprinting and car seat
checks will also be offered.
[to top of second column]
Central Illinois Community Blood Center will have a blood drive
from 9 a.m. to noon in the bloodmobile at the sports complex.
First-time donors are welcome.
Peggy's Place will provide healthy food choices for purchase
during the health fair.
The Community Health Fair is sponsored by the Lincoln Park
District and the Logan County Department of Public Health.
For more information, see the park district
website or contact Mallory Sinner at the Logan County
Department of Public Health, 217-735-2317, or Marcia Greenslate at
the Lincoln Park District, 217-732-8770.
[Text from file received from
Lincoln Park District]
Recent articles
Back to top


text:
Your session will expire in seconds.Do you want to stay connected?
Welcome to Silverfish. This site uses cookies. Read our policy.
For the Yeti rider who loves a super lightweight and breathable glove. The Enduro Glove uses quality construction and a barely-there feel to give you the handlebar traction you need on the Enduro track or local lunch ride.
Silverfish UK Ltd. Units 3a-3c Woodacre Court, Saltash Parkway Industrial Estate, Burraton Road, Saltash, Cornwall, United Kingdom, PL12 6LY
Silverfish UK Ltd. (Registration No. 4075057).
Technical specifications are for guidance only and cannot be guaranteed accurate. All offers are subject to availability and while stocks last. Errors and omissions excepted. Silverfish UK Limited acts as a credit intermediary and only offers credit products for Close Brothers Retail Finance. Its registered office is: Close Brothers Group plc, 10 Crown Place, London EC2A 4FT. Credit is subject to application and status.


text:
On the Front Bench: Refugee Girls Get a Fair Shot at a Future
Rick Perera, Horn of Africa Communications Coordinator
|Overflow classes at the crowded Illeys Primary School, run by CARE, meet in tents in the courtyard. Most new students are recent refugees from Somalia.
It's a typical day at the CARE-managed Illeys Primary School at Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. Fifty parents are lined up outside the gates, desperate to enroll their children. They're drawn not just by the prospect of an education, but by the daily meal CARE provides, in partnership with the World Food Program. The student body is swelling astronomically with the children of new refugees, mostly fleeing drought and hunger in Somalia.
This modest compound of cement-block classrooms, designed for 1,500 students, packs in more than 4,000 children in two daily shifts. Spillover classes are housed in tents, bright voices echoing in song and recitation through the sandy courtyard.
"Every child who wants to come to school here is welcome, though of course it's a strain," says principal Ahmed Hassan in his cluttered office, where a whiteboard overflows with statistics about his ever-growing student population.
Illeys school is close to the influx area for refugees, and most of the new youngsters filling the school have recently arrived from Somalia with their families. In one of the tents, Farah Ali Abdi gives a basic English lesson to a remedial class. The group encompasses children ranging from 4 to 15 years old, all of them struggling to catch up enough to enroll in regular primary grades. "The cup is on the table!" they shout gleefully â more or less in unison.
Principal Ahmed Hassan struggles to accommodate 4,000 students, in two shifts, in a facility designed for 1,500.
Most teachers here, like Farah, are refugees themselves, hired and trained by CARE. They work with patience and skill, but with as many as 130 children in one classroom it is next to impossible to give all of them the attention they deserve. The five primary schools managed by CARE in Dagahaley camp are massively overburdened, with over 15,000 students. To cope with the influx, and help those who lag behind catch up to their peers, CARE operates special accelerated learning centers during school vacation. Yet, far too many refugee children receive no education: more than 60 percent of kids in the Dadaab camps do not attend school at all.Girls face special roadblocks in the quest to learn. Only 39 percent of students at the camp schools are girls. By tradition, girls are expected to take on the bulk of chores at home. "If a family has two girls and two boys, they will send the boys and one girl to school and keep the other girl home to work," says Principal Hassan. "Even the girls who attend will have little time to do homework â unlike their brothers." Puberty brings an additional challenge. Girls may miss class for a week every month during their period, out of fear of embarrassment â and many drop out entirely. A girl is traditionally considered marriage-ready at 14, and dropout rates soar at that age.
CARE's work to improve educational opportunity starts at the grassroots. Staffers hold community orientations and go door to door in the camp's residential blocks, advising families about the benefits of learning. Teachers live among the refugees, constantly reinforcing those messages. CARE helps adolescent girls stay in school, distributing sanitary napkins and training communities in how to dispose of them safely.
Sahara Hussein Abanoor, age 17, is an eighth-grader at Illeys, and aspires to be a lawyer.
Over time, teachers say, families see the benefits their neighbors reap when daughters become educated, get jobs and help support their parents. Bit by bit, the old attitudes are changing.
Sahara Hussein Abanoor, age 17, has an exceptionally eager face, but her ambition is not unusual among the students here. She loves learning and wants to become a lawyer and help refugees like her family. "My parents see what I'm achieving and they believe that my future life will be better," she says in confident English, beaming beneath a pumpkin-colored hijab that billows in the stiff breeze. "My mother did not go to school because there was no possibility of that in Somalia. Nowadays the world has changed very much. Even my brothers say it's good that girls go to school."
Shukri Ali Khalif, a member CAREâs Gender and Development team, is a passionate advocate for girls.
Indeed, some of the most effective advocates for girls' education in Dadaab are men. One of them is Shukri Ali Khalif, a tall, skinny 29-year-old who joined CARE's Gender and Development team in 2007. Previously, he says, he had no idea of the difficulties girls face or why they are more likely to drop out. Today he is an enthusiastic spokesman for their equal access to school. "I facilitate mentoring groups for girls, and encourage them to speak out in class and ask questions, instead of sitting on the back bench and letting boys take the lead."
And how do the boys feel about all this? Shukri â who was himself a refugee boy not so long ago â grins. "They feel great!"


text:
Please enter the name by which you would like to log-in and be known on this site.
Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.
Please enter a valid email address for yourself.
Where do you live?
Your hobbies, etc
All timestamps displayed on the forums can be automatically corrected to show the correct time for your location in the world. Simply select the appropriate time zone from the list below.
In addition, you may set the appropriate option to allow for daylight savings time in your part of the world.
From time to time, the administrators and/or other members may want to send you email notifications or messages. If you do not want to receive email from certain people then you may disable the options here
In order to proceed, you must agree with the following rules:
Forum Rules
Registration to this forum is free! We do insist that you abide by the rules and policies detailed
below. If you agree to the terms, please check the 'I agree' checkbox and press the 'Complete Registration' button below.
If you would like to cancel the registration, click here
to return to the forums index.
By registering you agree to us emailing you with newsletters and discounts, which you can switch off in your profile at any time.


text:
...to show a wee bit of Irish pride. Maybe I should have waited until Valentine's Day was over - but...well, I didn't. I went ahead and stitched up two little affectionately Irish pendants for the shop. And, I have already dug out my U2 cd's and have been giving those a work out lately as well. Wait, let's just be honest here folks - most of my U2 is on vinyl or cassette but what I do have on cd is getting a lot of play over here these days. (btw - anyone else go through a U2 phase? I was bitten by the U2 bug HARD - still think they are incredible!)
So, why wait until March 17th? I'm going to start right now. I have lot to celebrate for I have been one lucky lass!


text:
Joy Ride: Exceptional Values in Receivers, Navigation Systems, Video Monitors & Security Systems
(The Alternative to Factory-Installed Packages)
A massive amount of slicing and dicing by manufacturers of automobile receivers makes for a challenging shopping process. However, after you get your arms around the matter, you'll save money, because you're able to select a model that has the few features that you want and excludes the features—and cost—that you don't.
In the mid-2000s, automakers set their sights on generating new revenue by going after a piece of the vehicle-customization pie. As a result, "tuner" versions of automobiles no longer were the domain of customizing shops and aftermarket-parts producers. Aero kits, high-end wheels, lowered suspensions and chrome exhaust tips could be installed at automakers' factories or by the dealer, so your one-of-a-kind ride already was pimped out at many dealerships for you to drive away.
The automotive aftermarket is under attack again.
Automakers can install smart-entertainment systems that incorporate the utmost in technology, right at the factory. That's because automakers know that today, for many new-vehicle shoppers, high-quality sound takes a back seat to connectedness—to one's email, Facebook newsfeed, Twitter feed, texts and music that's cloud-based or that resides on a smartphone.
Although manufacturers of aftermarket automobile electronics pump out systems that provide this technology, too, these companies are doing so in a new era in which their expertise is required less, just as vehicle customizers witnessed 10 years ago. So what has been the response of some aftermarket automobile-electronics manufacturers, in particular in regard to automobile receivers? It has been to produce numerous versions of a "base" model, with each version including fewer or more features and functions than the base version has. Rather than try to compete with the automakers' packed-with-tech, factory-installed receivers, aftermarket companies are going after new-vehicle buyers who are interested in some tech, but only the tech that they want. These consumers are able to forgo the significant cost that they would pay if they bought a vehicle that includes not only a fully featured smart-entertainment system that's installed in the factory but also the equipment package of which that receiver—or multipurpose system or navigation system—is a part.
Of course, the availability of the latest technology in aftermarket electronics components is important to owners of vehicles that were manufactured before the emergence of today's breed of sophisticated technology.
ARE YOU RECEIVING? According to Mark Boyadjis, who is the principal automotive-user-experience analyst at market-research company IHS, the North American market for so-called head units (read: receivers, multipurpose systems or navigation systems) that are made to be installed by the consumer via an installer is projected to be $780 million in sales in 2018 compared with $1.7 billion in 2011.
"The automotive companies have done a good job of putting better equipment in [vehicles] at the factory, so demand for aftermarket installation is falling," Boyadjis says.
So, catering to the individual preferences of the aftermarket buyer—to provide a better-bang-for-the-buck option—is the only way that the makers of aftermarket automobile-electronics systems can survive. Hence, the slicing and dicing of models, particularly receivers, whether they include CD players or are of the so-called mech-less, or CD-player-less, variety. Aftermarket automobile-electronics manufacturers now approach the development of a receiver model from the perspective of engineering the root architecture of the component and then tweaking it to create, for example, a version that produces a high wattage but lacks Sirius/XM Radio readiness and vice versa.
Consider three CD receivers that are from Pioneer: the DEH-X6900BT ($110), the DEH-X4900BT ($100) and the DEH-X3900BT ($90). These models are similar, except that the most expensive one has a 13-band equalizer and three RCA jacks. The second and third models have a five-band equalizer and two jacks. The least expensive model lacks a function that permits you to change the color of the LED display readout, a function that the other two models have.
Not long ago, the sign of a true audiophile could be found in the boom of the bass that was produced by the stereo that he/she had in his/her automobile. Today, for many consumers, it's all about connectivity.
"Consumers, especially younger consumers, are demanding connectivity in their vehicles," says Chris Cook, who is the president of the industry trade group Mobile Electronics Association. "Being connected is a lifestyle."


text:
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.[a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
11 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.[b]
13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.
19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.
21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
preserve sound judgment and discretion;
22 they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
23 Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the Lord will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
"Come back tomorrow and I'll give it to you"—
when you already have it with you.
29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
when they have done you no harm.
31 Do not envy the violent
or choose any of their ways.
32 For the Lord detests the perverse
but takes the upright into his confidence.
33 The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34 He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
35 The wise inherit honor,
but fools get only shame.
4 Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
2 I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
3 For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
4 Then he taught me, and he said to me,
"Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get[c] wisdom.
Though it cost all you have,[d] get understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
9 She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown."
10 Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
16 For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to one's whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the[e] paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity[f] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, "How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble
in the assembly of God's people."
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man's wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
21 For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.
23 For lack of discipline they will die,
led astray by their own great folly.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity[b] and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God's grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both "Yes, yes" and "No, no"?
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas[c] and Timothy—was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


text:
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley is, quite simply, the King of Rock & Roll.
In 1954, the performer kicked off a musical revolution by modernizing traditional genres such as blues, country and bluegrass for contemporary (and more youthful) audiences. Throw in a charismatic stage presence with then-scandalous hip-swings and body contortions, and it's easy to see why Presley set the charts (and hearts) ablaze.
It's difficult to overstate Elvis Presley's influence on music and culture. His hip-swinging presence, golden voice and raucous rockabilly caused a rock & roll domino effect. Buddy Holly moved away from country after seeing Presley in concert, for example, and his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show induced audience pandemonium and established him as a musical rebel.
A consummate performer, he relished contorting his body in response to crowd screams—knowing full well every wrist flick, leg shake and body swerve would delight listeners and convey sexual intrigue. As a singer, Presley was also expressive and dramatic; his voice could be wounded, tender, romantic and desolate. His delivery exuded sweetness one moment, and danger the next.
More than that, however, he and his bandmates took traditional influences—blues, country and bluegrass—and modernized them for contemporary (and more youthful) audiences. Quicker tempos, hot-rodding arrangements, edgier textures—all of these things became hallmarks of his music.
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley was exposed to gospel music in a Pentecostal church and, after his family moved to Memphis, Beale Street's blues and jazz. His big break came right after high school, when he visited Memphis Recording Service studio to record a few songs. That 1953 visit (and, specifically, Presley's versatile voice) made quite an impression on everyone there—from secretary Marion Keisker to studio owner Sam Phillips, who had also recently founded Sun Records.
In June 1954, when the latter was looking for a vocalist to cut a song, he called up Presley and invited him back to the studio. Sensing some backing musicians would help, Phillips paired the vocalist with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. In early July—during a session that at first seemed like it was going nowhere—this trio eventually found their groove with an upbeat version of the blues song "That's All Right (Mama)" and a brisker take on the Bill Monroe bluegrass tune "Blue Moon of Kentucky."
The music was an immediate radio sensation, and the songs comprised Presley's first release for Sun Records. Several more singles followed in the subsequent year, as did live shows. In fact, Moore, Black and drummer D.J. Fontana formed the nucleus of Presley's band, the Blue Moon Boys, which would stay with him as he recorded for Sun Records and then had his contract bought by RCA in late 1955.
"I Forgot To Remember to Forget"—which was released on Sun Records and later reissued by Presley's new label—reached Number One on the country charts in early 1956, but its success was eclipsed by his first proper RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel." A Number One pop crossover hit, the song highlighted Presley's low-register warble and featured sparse, strolling instrumentation that amplified the song's despair.
The song made Presley enormously relatable—who can resist trying to comfort someone nursing a broken heart?—and the budding superstar came into his own on a variety of 1956 Number One singles: "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog." The next year brought even more success, as "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear," "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock" all reached Number One. As Presley grew more popular, his music and moves accordingly grew bolder, which only exacerbated the frenzy around him.
Presley took a two-year break starting in 1958 for a stint in the Army, and when he returned in 1960 he resumed his acting career—something he had dabbled in starting with 1956's Love Me Tender movie. Music was an afterthought, as he focused on soundtrack work that didn't connect with audiences as well. Still, Presley did win his first Grammy Award for his 1967 gospel album, How Great Thou Art.
By the end of the Sixties, however, Presley was primed for a comeback. On December 3, 1968, Elvis—a.k.a. his '68 Comeback Special—aired on NBC. The leather-clad singer embraced his rock & roll roots and made a grand re-entrance, kicking off a concert and recording resurgence that established him as a crooning, charming showman. The orchestrated "Suspicious Minds" hit Number One in 1969.
In the Seventies, Presley toured constantly. This pace—as well as growing issues with prescription drugs—took a toll on his health. On August 16, 1977, while at home in his mansion, Graceland, he died of a heart attack.
Presley's mythology and legacy live on via Graceland, which is now a popular museum, and via high-profile use of his music: In 2002, for example, a Junkie XL remix of the song "A Little Less Conversation" became a global hit. His achievements speak for themselves, however: Over 100 of his songs reached the Top 40—an incredible statistic that points to his incredible, indelible influence.
Inductee: Elvis Presley (born January 8, 1935, died August 16, 1977)


text:
The studies and reports in this section have been prepared with the financial support of the European Commission. Their aim is to provide information and analysis on different aspects of the Common Fisheries Policy and to feed into discussion on these issues.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the European Commission, nor do they anticipate its policy in this field. Neither the entire contents, nor any particular sections of these studies and reports may be reproduced without the written authorisation of the European Commission. Where applicable, all extracts must be accompanied by explicit reference to these studies and reports.


text:
SEATTLE, Sep 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- (NASDAQ: AMZN)-Amazon.com today announced that Kindle and Kindle app customers can now borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 local libraries in the United States. When a customer borrows a Kindle library book, they'll have all of the unique features they love about Kindle books, including Whispersync, which automatically synchronizes their margin notes, highlights and bookmarks, real page numbers, Facebook and Twitter integration, and more. For more information about borrowing library books for your Kindle or free Kindle apps, go to www.amazon.com/kindle/publiclibraries. To start checking out Kindle library books, visit your local library's website.
"Starting today, millions of Kindle customers can borrow Kindle books from their local libraries," said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. "Libraries are a critical part of our communities and we're excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country. We're even doing a little extra here - normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we're fixing this by extending our Whispersync technology to library books, so your notes, highlights and bookmarks are always backed up and available the next time you check out the book or if you decide to buy the book."
Customers will use their local library's website to search for and select a book to borrow. Once they choose a book, customers can choose to "Send to Kindle" and will be redirected to Amazon.com to login to their Amazon.com account and the book will be delivered to the device they select via Wi-Fi, or can be transferred via USB. Customers can check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any generation Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry or Windows Phone, as well as in their web browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
"This is a welcome day for Kindle users in libraries everywhere and especially our Kindle users here at The Seattle Public Library," said Marcellus Turner, city librarian for The Seattle Public Library. "We're thrilled that Amazon is offering such a new approach to library ebooks that enhances the reader experience."
When borrowing a Kindle book from their local library, customers can take advantage of all of the unique features of Kindle books, including:
To start checking out Kindle library books, visit your local library's website.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle with Special Offers, Kindle 3G with Special Offers and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle 3G, Kindle 3G with Special Offers and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, and www.amazon.it. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.Media Hotline, 206-266-7180www.amazon.com/pr
Press Releases
Images & Videos
Amazon.com | Conditions of Use, © 1996-2019, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates


text:
Willamette Valley No. 66
sold out
Willamette Valley No. 66
60" x 72" acrylic, pinot skins & grape leaves on canvas
Add To Cart
Willamette Valley:
Oregon's Willamette Valley represents one of the few places where climate, soil, and entrepreneurial spirit combine to produce some of the world's best Pinot Noir and Riesling. The area's marginal grape-growing climate creates a thin line between exceptional quality and bitter disappointment. Even so, the region draws together those willing to risk failure in order to produce something great. The artist has attempted to capture the spirit, the tranquility, and the grandeur of the Willamette Valley.


text:
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
So what brought you to the beauty pageant, Ash? Were ya judging? Were ya "fluffing" the girls before they hit the stage? Was one of them a hot date who said if she won she'd give you a special favor? And did ya get any action?
Tell her you're a doctor-man? And her subsequent, "Oh, you are?" HEYO!
I much preferred my date for the night, honestly. :P


text:
By Rob Glidden
Staff Writer
The music club at Derynoski Elementary School tackled the subject of bullying with song and dance, as an ensemble of about 60 kids performed the musical "Bullies Anonymous."
The club has been working on the performance for months and presented two shows last week, one in the afternoon for their fellow students and another for parents and community members in the evening.
The three advisors for the club felt that "Bullies Anonymous," written by Ron Fink and John Heath, was ideal for educating elementary school kids about the details of bullying.
"We felt like this took a serious topic and added an element of fun and that would engage the kids," said guidance counselor Stephanie Parsons, who served as the show's music director and played the piano during the performance.
The half-hour musical is almost fully driven by the songs, with only brief snippets of dialogue between each number. The teachers liked this because it taught the students the value of ensemble work.
"The chorus is really the star, even if not everyone in it has a speaking part," said Kathy Jardine, a social worker who was the show's stage manager.
The premise of the show is an after-school program where self-admitted bullies go to get some lessons in compassion from teachers.
"There's not one way that a bully looks or acts," said Gianna Wadowski, playing "Mrs. Collins."
To illustrate that point, characters in the show represented the various types of bullying – physical, verbal and social.
"I like to pick on kids cause it makes me feel tough," said Karter Henricksen, delivering his line as the "verbal bully" with ample sarcasm.
The organizers joked that the production was "off off Broadway" and "not just low budget, but no budget," but the performance did include some artwork and a "bullyometer" designed by David Parsons.
Following the afternoon performance, Derynoski principal Jan Verderame spoke briefly about the issues addressed in the show.
"We try to send the message early in the year that we want no bullying at Deryonski," she said. "Remember the lessons you learned from this."
The students had been highly attentive during the show, to the point where even the advisors were surprised.
Natalie Kalasky, a school psychologist who was the show's production manager, said she was "amazed at how quiet the students were."


text:
Solstice, 33x27
Solstice, 33x27
Rolled Giclee on Canvas
By Edward Gordon
About Edward Gordon
"My goal is to make paintings so realistic that viewers are drawn into the imagery space and share in the peaceful feelings I try to incorporate into each work." – Edward Gordon
The paintings of Edward Gordon are technically correct while the visions created take on a surrealistic quality. Although the subject matter can be radically different from painting to painting, his inspiration is always light. Most representations are of early morning or sunset. Gordon's formidable technique, the smoothness and sheen of his surfaces, the meticulous detail and desolate emptiness speak of a personal vision.
After graduating from Rutgers University, Edward pursued a career as a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania.
An avid skier and hiker, Gordon was drawn to northern New Hampshire, particularly the White Mountains. He moved to the Franconia area in 1973. His painting career began after attending a painting class in which he created and sold three pieces. In 1980, after much encouragement from his well received earlier works, Mr. Gordon made the bold step to leave the security of a 9 to 5 job, in order to fulfill a life-long dream and dedicate his time and energy to painting.
Edward Gordon has received many awards and honors including: the cover and center spread of Yankee magazine, 2000; The Artists Magazine, 1995 Cover Competition; first prize in the landscape division of The Artists Magazine, 1993; and finalist in the 1994 Arts for the Parks competition. Most recently, Edward was named Painter of the Year by the Spotlight Magazine's 1997/98 Reader's Choice Awards in Portsmouth, NH. Gordon's work has also appeared in the November 1983 American Artist Magazine, and the 1994 North Light Publication, Enliven Your Paintings with Light. Yankee Magazine has chosen his work for their covers of January 1997 and March 2001 issues.
In 1997, Mr. Gordon began publishing his own giclée prints under the name of Gordon Publications. Currently he has published 33 giclée editions, most of which have sold out. Edward's original paintings and prints are included in private collections across America, three European countries and the Bahamas.
After visiting California's north coast several times, Edward became enamored with the quiet charm of Mendocino, where he currently resides, near its juxtaposition to the sometimes raging Pacific Ocean.


text:
As Pakistani Film Industry is deteriorating since long, the Pakistani Actress are being involved in immoral and illegal activities. This is a suffering time for Pakistani Film Industry. But at this time some positive changes are being seen in the showbiz industry that new talent is being introduced in the Film Industry as well as TV dramas. It is a good effort by the Directors and Artists. As the new generation is coming in this industry, it is again improving its repute. But the senior actors and actresses are not changing their attitude. The Seniors are finding it difficult to change their attitude towards the latest trends in the Pakistani Film Industry.
The latest news came up to media will not be less than a shock for you that one of the raid conducted by the police on a guest house few hours ago, Pakistani Film and TV actress Nirma along with other models of the fashion industry caught red handed while making sex in the private room. The guest house is located somewhere at Sher Colony (Name of the guest house is not disclosed). When police raided on the spot the Pakistani Actress Nirma and other models were busy in the shameful acts like drinking, having sex, taking drugs etc, they were showing their sexual capabilities just for making some amount of money.
It was also assumed and found that they were taking alcohol in the party and all the girls including Nirma were fully and badly drunk when they were arrested by the police. The so called Pakistani actors, actresses, government officers, traders, and industrialists were enjoying and drinking in the party. However all the participants were belonging to the rich families of Pakistan.
According to a police official, police arrested the men and women that were present at the time of raid in the guest house. Till now, no news has been received about the release of Pakistani Actress Nirma and other participant models, nor any serious action is taken yet against them.
We, at Funbench.com condemn all like these activities, after knowing that no action is taken against them keeping in view their popularity in Pakistan. Pakistani Media is also reporting about the raid at guest house and arrest of Nirma with other girls or models from the sex party in a guest house.


text:
Why does the formalism of QM represent reversible changes (eg the time evolution operator, quantum gates, etc) with unitary operators?
To put it another way, can it be shown that unitary transformations preserve entropy?
Stack Exchange network consists of 175 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.Visit Stack Exchange
Why does the formalism of QM represent reversible changes (eg the time evolution operator, quantum gates, etc) with unitary operators?
To put it another way, can it be shown that unitary transformations preserve entropy?
The fact that evolutions of quantum mechanics are unitary after finite periods of time can be proven from the Schrödinger equation, and hinges on the characterization of unitary operators as those linear operators which are norm-preserving.
Recall the Schrödinger equation: $$ \frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm d t} |\psi\rangle \;=\; -i H |\psi\rangle \;,$$ where $H$ may or may not be time-dependent, but in any case has real eigenvalues, so that $H = H^\dagger$. As a result, the way in which $|\psi\rangle$ changes instantaneously with time is in such a way that its magnitude, as a vector in Hilbert space, does not increase. We can see this by simply computing: $$ \frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dt} \langle\psi|\psi\rangle \;=\; \left[\frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dt} \langle\psi|\right]|\psi\rangle + \langle\psi|\left[\frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dt}|\psi\rangle\right] \;=\; i\langle\psi|H^\dagger|\psi\rangle - i\langle\psi|H|\psi\rangle \;=\; 0.$$ because $H = H^\dagger$. Then at all times the state vector remains the same length. That is to say, the norm is preserved under finite-time evolution.
Because unitary operators are exactly those ones which preserve the norm, it follows that the finite-time evolution will be unitary.
Like all 20th century physics, the formalism is invariant with respect to time reversal. This was true in classical mechanics and it remains true in QM because canonical quantization does not alter the meaning of energy - it just becomes an evolution operator. Unitary operators satisfying $A A^{\dagger} = I$ are associated logarithmically to Hermitian ones with real eigenvalues. Since measured quantities must be real, this was historically the inevitable route for QM.
Entropy should not be confused with unitary evolution. It is a thermodynamic quantity requiring a system of many states and it always increases for one direction in time, even when the underlying laws are time reversal invariant. This was Boltzmann's original insight (see kinetic theory for gases). With black holes we can talk about other forms of entropy, but the general view is that unitary evolution applies to all the usual quantum states so that information is conserved even for black hole processes. This is the so called Information Paradox.
The story is much more complicated in QFT but time reversal symmetry is still maintained at a fundamental level, even though there is a time operator with symmetry broken for specific interactions by CP violation.


text:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in November due to a surge in imports, pointing to a sharp slowdown in economic growth during the last three months of 2012.
Still, the trade gap's growth was driven by imports of consumer goods, a potentially positive sign for household spending if the gains in imports were not a one-time rebound following a disruptive storm.
America's trade deficit widened 16 percent in November to $48.7 billion, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
Analysts were expecting the deficit to shrink to $41.3 billion, and the report led a host of economists to trim their estimates of economic growth in the fourth quarter.
"This is not good news for the fourth-quarter GDP growth," said Peter Cardillo, an economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
When a country imports more than it exports, cash is sucked out of its economy, subtracting from gross domestic product.
JPMorgan cut its forecast for fourth quarter GDP growth to a 0.8 percent annual rate from 1.5 percent. The economy grew at an above-trend 3.1 percent pace in the third quarter.
The trade deficit was the widest since April. Imports surged 3.8 percent, the biggest gain in eight months.
Imports of consumer goods rose by $4.6 billion, while imports of petroleum products fell by $870 million.
That might point to firmer consumer demand, which is the main engine of the U.S. economy.
"The good news is the strength in imports is a sign that the U.S. economy is buying imports," said Cary Leahey, an economist at Decision Economics in New York. "Whatever the fourth quarter GDP prints, it will understate the momentum."
At the same time, some of the strength in imports of consumer goods could prove temporary, said Peter Newland, an economist at Barclays. Some U.S. ports closed in late October due to a mammoth storm, which disrupted trade and hit imports that month.
Also, the risk remains that imported goods could languish on businesses' shelves if purchasing managers are misreading consumer demand.
U.S. stock index futures opened lower and the dollar weakened against the euro.
While the Commerce Department does not release seasonally adjusted data for the U.S. trade deficits with countries and regions, the U.S. goods trade gap with China fell 1.7 percent from October, with a drop in exports outweighing a slighter fall in imports.
Imports surged 4.1 percent from the European Union, and were up 6.4 percent from Germany.
Overall, seasonally adjusted exports rose 1 percent.
The increase was held back by a 1.3 percent decline in exports to the European Union, which continues to battle a sovereign debt crisis that has sent several of its member countries into recession.
A separate report showed declining prices for U.S. imports and exports in December, a sign of the chill in the global economy that is hurting exporters but giving respite to U.S. drivers stung by high fuel prices.
The Labor Department said import prices fell 0.1 percent in December, in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters.
Prices fell 0.1 percent for both fuel and non-fuel imports.
That points to a tame inflation environment, which should allow the Federal Reserve to stay on its ultra-easy monetary policy course as it tries to nurse the economy back to health.
Import prices fell 1.5 percent in the 12 months through December, with prices for fuel down 6.4 percent over that period and non-fuel prices up just 0.1 percent.
Export prices also fell in December from November, dragged down by a 0.2 percent drop in prices for non-agricultural exports. Prices fell for exported capital goods and consumers goods.
U.S. manufacturers selling their goods abroad appear to have declining power in pricing as the global economy takes a hit from Europe's debt crisis.
Reporting by Jason Lange; Additional reporting by Ellen Freilich and Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman


text:
Kids' Authentic Originals
11 Products
Filter By:
Keep the little ones looking sharp with classic Sperry boat shoes for kids. Our Authentic Original kids' boat shoes are just like mom and dad's, but with easy slip-on styling. Shop a variety of colors and styles to find Authentic Originals for everyone in the family.


text:
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A court in central Vietnam has sentenced a well-known blogger to 2 years in prison for posting criticism of the communist government in the latest case from an intensified crackdown against dissent.
Lawyer Tran Vu Hai said Truong Duy Nhat was convicted of posting material that distorted the government's policies and put the country's leadership in the bad light. The half-day trial took place in Danang City on Tuesday.
His lawyer said Nhat told the court that he did post the 12 articles on his blog, but maintained that his acts did not constitute a crime, and that he merely exercised his rights to freedom of expression.
The 50-year-old Nhat was arrested at his home in central Danang City in May last year.


text:
(Reuters) - Nike Inc reported forecast-topping quarterly profit on Thursday on strong North American demand, and its orders volume indicated steady worldwide demand. Its shares were up 6 percent after the bell.
Orders for Nike-branded shoes and clothing scheduled for delivery from December 2012 through April 2013, known as futures orders, were up 14 percent in North America, Nike's most mature market.
"In North America, we created great momentum. This is somewhat counterintuitive to some, given this market size and assumed maturity. But I see tremendous growth potential in North America," Chief Executive Mark Parker said on a call with analysts.
Worldwide orders for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company were up 6 percent, the same as last quarter.
"The biggest driver of this stock is usually futures orders. Last quarter, futures orders were lower than expected. This quarter they came in line, and North America was stronger than expected," said Brian Yarbrough, consumer discretionary analyst for Edward Jones.
Yarbrough also said the company's gross margins for the quarter, though still down, exceeded expectations.
"If you go back a few quarters, gross margins have been down a lot more. The less of a decline is positive," he said.
Nike's gross margins fell 30 basis points at the end of its fiscal second quarter.
The company said it continues to expect gross margin expansion in the fourth quarter of fiscal '13 with those coming in more or less flat in the full year.
For the second quarter ended November 30, the company earned $384 million, or $1.14 a share, from continuing operations. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn $1 a share, as per Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 7 percent to $6.0 billion.
Nike had been caught with excess inventory in key markets like China and was finding it difficult to tackle intense competition and frequent promotional sales by local brands, while distributors and retailers remain wary in an uncertain economy.
"The China problem won't go away in 12-18 months, but it is no worse than it was expected," said Rahul Sharma, founder and managing director of Neev Capital, a London-based consulting company. "But look at North America, it is on fire. And this is such a big business."
On a call with analysts, finance head Don Blair said the company "proactively canceled orders and reduced futures to tightly manage the amount of new product flowing into the (Chinese) market," so as to be able to handle the extra inventory already present there.
The company taking such a hit to near-term futures orders for a long-term benefit was a sign of strength for Sharma.
On Thursday, Nike said inventories for the second quarter rose 9 percent, a much smaller rise than the 35 percent it saw last year.
Nike shares were trading up at $104.75 after the bell. They closed at $99 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Chicago; Editing by Gary Hill, Gunna Dickson, Leslie Adler and Leslie Adler)


text: Deep-sea Detectives It all started when Dan Lizarralde (above) went to the Gulf of California in 2002 to explore a spreading center at the bottom of the Guaymas Basin where two of Earth's tectonic plates are moving apart. (Photo by Adam Soule, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)In the Gulf of California, magma rises from Earth's interior along a zigzagging zipper of spreading centers connected by major faults. The magma solidifies, adding new ocean crust to the seafloor, widening the ocean basin, and further separating the Baja Peninsula from the rest of Mexico.Lizarralde, a geophysicist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), obtained a seismic profile across the western portion of the basin—a sonar slice down through the sediment to about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) beneath the seafloor—that offered a glimpse of the ocean crust's structure and composition. He taped the seismic profile to his office wall, where it hung for a long time before he realized that some of its characteristics were more than unusual. According to the conventional wisdom of how seafloor crust forms, they were impossible.On the profile, the spreading center is easy to spot: It features a distinct notch in the crust, like a trench dug by a giant. (Geologists call such sites "graben" (GRAH-ben), which is German for "graves.") This graben was heavily cloaked in about 600 meters (1,968.5 feet) of sediment. That didn't surprise Lizarralde. Sediment accumulates fast in the Guaymas Basin because a lot of material blows and washes in from the margins of the nearby land. Large blooms of plankton in the Gulf add even more material to the seafloor. Also as expected, the Guaymas sediments were thinner near the spreading center and thicker farther away. Magma rises to the seafloor at the spreading center and flows laterally from there, so ocean crust farther away from the center is older and has had more sediment accumulate on top of it.But one spot on the profile caught Lizarralde's eye. It was a tall, thin feature about 28 kilometers (17 miles)—or about a million years—away from the spreading center, but it was covered by only 100,000 years' worth of sediment. "One day I realized, 'Wait a second, that's not very much sediment' " Lizarralde recalled. "It just made no sense." That feature was not the only oddity on the profile. Much of the structure beneath the seafloor didn't make sense. Instead of smooth layers of sediment stacked on each other, the layers were disrupted, jumbled—"ratty-looking," Lizarralde called them. It looked as though magma had pushed up into the sediments, disturbing the orderly layers. Normally, magma gets "focused" at the spreading center, so it emerges within 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) of the plate boundary rather than across a more expansive area. Some of it intrudes into the sediments right near the graben. But in the Guaymas Basin profile, magma appeared to have penetrated sediments in many locations up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) away from the plate boundary. For some reason it hadn't focused. "I saw that and said, 'I've got to pursue this," said Lizarralde. "But nobody's going to believe it."He quickly realized there was a relatively easy way to find out if magma was, in fact, intruding into outlying sediments. Just as ore prospectors use the presence of certain plants to indicate deposits of valuable minerals, he would use the presence of seafloor organisms that feed on methane to prove the underlying geology. His rationale was simple. "These sediments are at 0°C (32°F), and if all of a sudden you put a 1,000°C (1,832°F) wedge of igneous melt in there, it just flashes the sediments," he said. "All of the water turns into vapor and gets released, and a lot of the carbon in the sediments right around the melt gets baked off and released as methane and other hydrocarbons." As those hydrocarbons percolated through the seafloor, they would provide nourishment for microbes, which in turn would attract a host of predatory and scavenging organisms. "So if this is happening, we ought to see a bunch of seafloor life away from the spreading center," he said. That was very much contrary to generally held ideas that the deep ocean floor is mostly barren of life, aside from oases where circumstances provide nourishment for organisms. At cold seeps, for example, the sheer weight of sediments drives methane and other nutrients out of buried reservoirs into the water. In hydrothermal vent systems at spreading centers, volcanism drives hot, buoyant, chemical-rich fluids to form geysers at the seafloor. Scientists had studied hydrothermal vents in the Guaymas Basin in detail, but no one had bothered to do more than a cursory survey of the Guaymas seafloor beyond the spreading center. "The fact that nobody'd ever done it means that nobody thought that there would be anything out there to find," said Lizarralde. "It's just the mindset that everything must be happening at the ridge."Though the plan to locate seafloor vent sites was conceptually simple, Lizarralde didn't have experience designing or leading the complex field operations required for a seafloor mapping program. Needing a partner, he went down the hall to pitch the idea to his friend Adam Soule (above), a volcanologist who had the technical and scientific expertise to lead such an expedition. Soule agreed to serve as chief scientist, and in October 2009, he and Lizarralde sailed to the Guaymas Basin aboard the research vessel Atlantis to map the floor of the basin and look for evidence that magma had come up into the sediments far from the spreading center. Joining them were WHOI colleagues Dan Fornari, a marine geologist who has developed several deep-sea imaging systems, and postdoctoral researcher Giora Proskurowski, a geochemist.The researchers first tacked back and forth across the basin as a multibeam sonar mounted on the bottom of the ship emitted sound waves that reflected off the seafloor. That gave them an overall view of the bottom topography. The study area was about 55.5 miles (90 kilometers) by 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) and included the part of the seafloor lying above the seismic profile that started it all.Then it was time to get a closer look at the texture and physical character of the seafloor with a different form of sound imaging. "I thought the best approach would be to use sidescan sonar, which is like taking an aerial photograph of the seafloor, but instead of using light, you use sound to 'light up' the seafloor," said Soule. They towed the sidescan sonar back and forth across the study area, keeping it at a height of about 500 meters (1,640 feet) above the bottom. As with the multibeam sonar, it emitted sound waves that reflected back to receivers on the device. With sidescan sonar, the amplitude of the return waves reveals differences in the density, hardness, and roughness of the surfaces they bounced off. The amplitudes, mapped to the seafloor, produce an image like an aerial photograph. Soft mud yields a nondescript gray image. Hard features such as crusts of calcium carbonate or clusters of shelled creatures produce brighter, lighter-colored images. Images were transmitted up a cable towed by the ship, where the scientists kept their eyes glued to a screen—and their fingers crossed."There was a real possibility that we'd go out there and see nothing—just mud," said Soule. But within hours it became apparent that the team was in luck. Against the dull gray background of seafloor sediment were dozens of bright reflective features. "These things stuck out like Christmas tree lights," said Soule. The sidescan images revealed about 100 of the reflective spots, most about 200 meters (219 yards) across and about 10 meters (11 yards) high. That was encouraging, but the most crucial test still lay ahead: Would there be a bright spot over the subsurface feature that Lizarralde had noticed in the seismic profile, that he thought had been created by intrusion of magma?"The prediction was, if we don't see something here, then our hypothesis isn't right. So we were biting our nails," said Lizarralde. "I was like, OK, we need to see something. When we came across here, we saw not only a dot, but this big ring. It looked like a bull's-eye!" The screen showed a bright halo about 750 meters (820 yards) across—bigger than most vent sites at the graben of fast-spreading centers. And it lay on the seafloor directly above the curious feature that first caught Lizarralde's attention on the seismic profile.After scanning the whole study area, the team went back to ten of the reflective spots to gather chemical and temperature data. Proskurowski used Niskin bottles to collect water samples from just above many of the features and brought them back for analysis in the lab of WHOI geochemist Jeff Seewald. At every site they tested, they found abundant methane and helium-3, and less carbon-13 than usual, all of which indicated that material was coming out of the sediments as a result of heating. They also found that water near the patches was significantly warmer than in areas farther away. The bull's-eye was the warmest spot of all. So far, sonar, chemical analyses, and temperature readings all supported the possibility that magma had intruded into the sediments far away from the spreading center. But the discovery of lush seafloor life really nailed it.The researchers had planned to look for signs of life at the bright spots using an underwater camera attached to a high-speed fiber-optic cable. But when that system needed a time-consuming repair, they decided to try a new device that had recently been developed by WHOI engineer Marshall Swartz (above). Known as the SDSL Data-Link (Synchronous Digital Subscriber Line), Swartz's device married an Ethernet link to an ordinary sea cable normally used to transmit electrical signals. The result was an inexpensive, sturdy system that could transmit images and data in real time. It had only been used once before, but the team had little choice. "Without it, we were stuck," Soule said. "Our targets were so small, we needed that camera to see things in real time in order to move the ship 50 meters this way or that way to find them. It was essential to what we needed to do." The team towed the device toward the big bull's-eye and watched the screen that displayed what the camera was seeing. Since the seafloor was about 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) down, for more than an hour they saw only darkness or the monotonous grey muck of bare seafloor. But finally, there it was, right on target: an enormous patch of clams, crusty mats made of bacteria, and tubeworms.Over its 48-hour deployment, the SDSL Data-Link sent about 15,000 images up the cable. At most of the sites they examined with it, the researchers saw thriving biological communities—proof that nutrients were flowing up from the seafloor at those spots. The sites represent a previously unknown scenario where seafloor communities can thrive, said microbiologist Andreas Teske of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "They combine the features of a hydrothermal vent site and a cold seep of the kind that you see in the Gulf of Mexico," said Teske. "It may look like a cold seep but is much warmer than a cold seep. It's hydrothermally driven."The oases of living things confirmed Lizarralde's hunch that magma was pushing up toward the seafloor far from the spreading center. But why does that happen in the Guaymas Basin? Does it occur elsewhere? And what does it reveal about how new ocean crust is formed? Lizarralde said the conventional wisdom, that magma gets focused deep below the seafloor and emerges only at or near a spreading center, was based on the fact that there are very few observations of magma below a spreading center not being focused. But the mechanism—how melt gets focused—has never been adequately explained. He thinks the situation in the Guaymas Basin suggests that the key to focusing is the lack of sediment found at most spreading centers. With little sediment to cover and plug up cracks in the igneous crust, frigid seawater circulates through the crust and removes heat in much the same way that a car's radiator cools a hot engine. This type of advective heat loss is so efficient that magma either freezes in the mantle or stops rising at the bottom of the cold crust and flows laterally along the freezing front toward the hottest spot in the region—the graben at the plate boundary. At Guaymas, the situation is different, he said. The very thick sediment acts like sand in a radiator, preventing cold water from circulating efficiently and from cooling the magma via advection. Instead, cooling takes place via conduction, which is much less efficient. As a result, everything is hotter, and magma isn't channeled along a freezing front toward the plate boundary, but simply keeps moving straight up—and sometimes breaks through the crust into sediments far from the graben. Lizarralde and Soule said the large number of these so-called "warm seeps" they found is significant. "The fact that we saw so many means that the phenomenon is happening fairly frequently," said Soule. "To see a hundred of them is amazing. Given their short lifespan, it means that in the last 500 years, 50 or 60 of them could have been created." And that's just in one relatively small ocean basin. The scientists think the same thing could be happening at many sites on the ocean floor. Similar warm seeps seen elsewhere, such as in the Okinawa Trough, had been attributed to a form of volcanic activity, but Lizarralde now suspects they may be like those in the Guaymas Basin. "I suspect that any time you have a spreading system that has a bunch of sediments on it, the mechanisms that focus magma get turned off," he said. "So you get a wide region where magma gets into the sediments and cooks off carbon."The scientists published their work, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, in the journal Nature Geoscience in November, 2010. But publication didn't end the story. If the process they observed is more widespread, that raises another question: Just how much carbon is being released into the water? Scientists have thought that once carbon from organic detritus, carbonate shells, and other sources sinks and is deposited on the seafloor, it is sequestered there for a few hundred thousand years. But the researchers estimate that the process seen in the Guaymas Basin could drive as much carbon out of the sediments as goes into them. That means deposits of carbon in seafloor sediments may not be as permanent as previously thought, and we may need to re-think suggestions to use the deep ocean as a repository for excess atmospheric carbon. "We could be burying a lot less carbon than we think if this is going on, because these particular sediments are extremely organically rich," said Seewald (above). "There's a lot of carbon in this basin. And if it's going to be released back to the ocean or atmosphere, there's a huge impact." Lizarralde said seafloor organisms would recapture some of the released carbon, but a substantial amount escaping to the ocean could reduce the pH of seawater and have impacts on marine life. If some carbon made it all the way to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, it could play an unsuspected role in climate change.Soule, Lizarralde, and Seewald hope to return to the Guaymas Basin with Andy Fisher from the University of California, Santa Cruz, to collect fluid and rock samples at the warm seep patches and further explore the sites' water temperature, chemical composition, and carbon flow. Meanwhile, the discovery of unexpected patches of life on the seafloor is a source of wonder because of its far-reaching ramifications linking Earth's interior to its atmosphere. "I get excited about it," Seewald said, "because you go from the very fundamental process of generating the ocean crust to potentially affecting climate."


text:
Everyone in my family has been falling in love with the Walking Dead series. So this lesson is for all of us that loves, and looks forward to watching the AMC television series The Walking Dead. Here is "how to draw a walker", step by step. There is many different Walkers from the series and you can actually click on the word "walkers" that I just wrote and you will be taken to AMC'S Walking Dead page to view all the different walkers from the show. I chose to recreate the Deer eater which is a real creepy zombie that I really like. Anyways, you should enjoy this tutorial on drawing a walker. So go ahead and have fun, I will return here tomorrow with more lessons for you all to enjoy.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


text:
The groupdn keyword specifies that access to a targeted entry is granted or denied if the user binds by using a DN that belongs to a specific group. The groupdn keyword uses this syntax:
groupdn="ldap:///groupDN [|| ldap:///groupDN]..."
The bind rule is evaluated to be true if the bind DN belongs to a group that is specified by any of the values for groupDN.
In the following example, the bind rule is true if the bind DN belongs to the Administrators group :
aci: (version 3.0; acl "Administrators-write"; allow (write) groupdn="ldap:///cn=Administrators,dc=example,dc=com";)
Characters that are syntactically significant for a DN, such as commas, must be escaped with a single backslash (\).


text:
Learn more about the Ford Edge: Ford Edge Reviews, Pricing, Specs and more »
If you're looking to buy used Ford Edge components or vehicles, or if you're having trouble finding a used Ford Edge for sale in your area, you'll need to take some time to research the options in your vicinity carefully. Doing this can help you to secure the best possible deal and find the highest quality Ford Edge. The Ford Edge is a highly rated vehicle that is appropriate for individual drivers and families alike; this makes it one of the more popular used vehicles that you'll find on the road today.
Used Car Dealers
One of the best places to go to find a used Ford Edge is a used car dealership in your area. While these don't always have the best selection, they always provide a good price on a used vehicle. Search the Internet and also the phone directory listings in your area for more information about used car dealers in your area. If you don't find many, look to the nearest urban area or large city for an additional set of dealership options.
Salvage Yards
Salvage yards are some of the cheapest options as far as used Ford Edge vehicles go. These dealers take cars that are deemed to be too damaged to repair by their owners. The result is that you'll be able to find used parts and even entire cars for a very low price. Unfortunately, they will require a good bit of maintenance and repair work in order to begin to work at all, let alone to drive well and be suitable for your needs once again.
Please enter a valid email address.


text:
Brazil's installed capacity grew by 41.3% to top 2.7GW, more than half the region's total, while Mexico's less impressive 26.1% expansion leaves it close to 1.4GW of installed capacity, more than a quarter of the region's wind-generated energy.
Progress in other countries throughout the region has been decidedly more modest, but that could be about to change as Chile, Argentina and Uruguay set in process ambitious plans to grow their currently minuscule wind energy capacity. Smaller players, notably Panama, Venezuela and Honduras, are also reporting signficant projects in the pipeline.
Whether the region offers sufficient political clarity and investment confidence to make good all these projections over the next decade or so remains to be seen.


text:
Back in February, Ars reported on the decision by the BBC to give its viewers download access to what they term "catch up" programming. At the time, a set of rules governing the programs and access rights had been proposed and were open to public and industry comment. Final rules have now been announced by the BBC Trust, although the impact of some decisions will be evaluated on a regular basis.
As our earlier coverage indicated, providing download access to BBC content is dizzyingly complex. The BBC is supported by license fees assessed on everyone in the country that owns a TV, making it akin to a public service. But the BBC itself relies on private media companies to provide much of its material. Many BBC broadcasts are licensed to other countries and are sold on DVD. Balancing all of the commercial and private concerns is the BBC Trust, which also considers the general media market in order to ensure that the public programming does not preclude competitive private broadcasters from entering the market.
The plan under debate was designed to allow a TiVo-less equivalent to time shifting: viewers that missed a program could, for up to a week after its broadcast, download the episode they missed for free. Downloads would be subject to DRM to prevent copying and would self-destruct after a set period of time. In addition, when a program came to a close, series "stacks" would be provided that included all of the episodes. Other rules would be applied to radio broadcasts.
Over 10,000 comments later, the proposed rules largely remain intact. For audio-only content, industry came out pretty well: book readings would not be made available in order to avoid competition with the audible book market, and classical music would be excluded in part because it was considered to be in a "precarious state." Classical programs would continue to be made available as catch-up listening via streaming audio.
When it came to video content, the situation was far more complex. Although no specific question addressed it, the Trust came away with the impression that, while industry considered DRM a given, the vast majority of the public was opposed to it. Despite pleas by the industry, the Trust refused to reduce the 30-day window for viewing downloads (which had been reduced from an initially-proposed 13 weeks).
The trust also resisted industry calls to completely eliminate downloads of series stacks in light of overwhelming public support for this feature. But the feature was limited to 15 percent of total broadcast content, and conditions were defined for inclusion: "Stackable series are those with a distinct run, with a beginning and end, and a narrative arc or those with exceptionally high impact." Given the potential ambiguity in this definition, they promised to revisit the topic in two years to see how this feature was working.
The other issue of contention was in the DRM being used: Windows Media, which necessarily creates a platform restriction. That restriction remains, despite being overwhelmingly unpopular: nearly 90 percent of respondents favored neutrality. "Such was the strength of feeling that respondents did not appreciate, or did not consider it relevant, that the Trust was proposing that the BBC achieves platform neutrality within a specified period," read the report. "Any period of excluding other operating systems was apparently considered unacceptable by our public respondents."
The Trust considered arguments that it was possible to provide an open license for content while retaining its commercial value but decided that they "regard the business models for this approach to be unclear at present." Initially, they planned to set a twoyear deadline for platform-neutral DRM but have backed off in response to BBC management, which suggested a limit would poison their ongoing negotiations with Adobe, Apple, and Real. Instead, audits of progress towards platform neutrality will occur every six months going forward. It's not clear whether the negotiations will ultimately result in a single, cross-platform DRM, or whether the BBC will ultimately offer downloads in multiple formats. But for now, DRMed WMV stays.
One interesting tidbit from the report was the lack of interest in parental controls. Only about a quarter of respondents rated a content control system important. Whether this truly reflects disinterest or the age of those taking the survey isn't clear.
Overall, the final report is mostly notable for being fairly reasonable. It tries to balance commercial and public concerns, and it emphasizes that the importance of providing the viewers with this service overrides lingering concerns about several of its features. The continued evaluations planned for some of the features suggest that fine-tuning of the service should occur rapidly, leaving the BBC with what might be a model system for other nations that have a combination of public and private broadcasting.


text:
Your Green Thumb & Empowered
As any seasoned gardener or landscaper knows, the most important thing you can do to enhance a lawn or garden is to cultivate better soil. And the single best way to do that is to condition your soil with compost, one of the finest organic supplements known to humankind. For over two decades, St. Louis Composting has been the region's leading producer of nature's ultimate renewable resource. We supply hobbyists and professionals alike with top quality compost, topsoil and soil blends and a variety of mulches while simultaneously reducing landfill waste across the metro area.
St. Louis Composting, Enriching the Soil – Naturally – Since 1992


text:
DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A judge ordered a Michigan lawyer to delete from his Facebook page all references to a settlement reached with a McDonald's restaurant over its halal entrees.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Kathleen Macdonald issued the order Thursday to Majed Moughni of Dearborn after attorneys involved in last month's tentative settlement said he was spreading false and misleading statements about the case, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.
A McDonald's restaurant in Dearborn reached the $700,000 class-action settlement with attorneys of Muslim customers who had claimed the restaurant sold McChicken sandwiches and McNuggets as being halal when the meals were not.
Halal is the Islamic equivalent of Jewish kosher.
The settlement would divide the money between two Arab-American organizations and a man who was the lead plaintiff.
On his Facebook page, Moughni called the settlement a backroom deal.
His Facebook page was a popular source of news for the Dearborn Muslim community, drawing about 20,000 views a week.
The judge banned Moughni from discussing the settlement with anyone potentially affected by it and ordered him to replace his posts with copies of the settlement.
He was also ordered to forward the names and contact information of anyone who commented on the case.
The judge's order was "pretty clearly over-broad on its face and unconstitutional," said Nate Cordozo, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco civil rights group that deals with online issues.
A colleague of one of the attorneys who requested the order disagreed. "There is no First Amendment right to deceive and mislead people about their rights under a class action settlement," Mike Jaafar said.


text:
Mayor's Office
Mayor Chris Beutler today encouraged area residents to shop at local retailers on Saturday, November 27 as part of the first "Small Business Saturday," a national campaign to spur business for smaller merchants. The Mayor was joined by representatives of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, the Nebraska Retail Federation, the Downtown Lincoln Association, the Lincoln Independent Business Association and local retailers at a kickoff event at Schaefer's TV and Appliance Center, a locally-owned business in operation since 1946.
"Thanksgiving is closely followed by two of the biggest shopping days of the year — Black Friday and Cyber Monday," said Mayor Beutler. "Small Business Saturday is a way to remind shoppers of the benefits of buying from locally-owned stores. These retailers not only add character to our community, they also are a key part of our economy. I call on every shopper to make at least one purchase at a locally-owned retailer on November 27th to support our home-grown business community."
For every $100 spent at local small businesses, $68 returns to the community, according to Civic Economics, an economic analysis consulting firm. Mayor Beutler also cited three statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration:
The idea for Small Business Saturday came from American Express, and the campaign was kicked off November 8 in New York City. American Express is promoting the campaign through Facebook and Twitter with links at www.smallbusinesssaturday.com:


text:
Looks like you are using an old version of Internet Explorer - Please update your browser
Readers respond to AM v9 n2.
No results found in Readers Respond .
The summer issue looks at some of the earth's most amazing rock features and explains how they formed quickly in the past few thousands of years.Browse Issue Subscribe
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.