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Many of today's retirees can expect to spend 30 years or more enjoying the fruits of their labor. That's why it's increasingly important not simply to plan for retirement, but to plan for longevity in retirement - all of the years it might last, all of the ways your life will change and all of the events you can't foresee.
Learn about longevity resources available to you.
In addition to the financial implications, retirement has life implications. Our knowledgeable and experienced team can help you sort through the possibilities and offer financial advice designed to guide you up to and through the retirement you've envisioned.
Ask yourself these key retirement questions:
Weingard Wealth Management Long-Term Care Website
Giving yourself every opportunity to save enough for a long, fulfilling life requires careful, detailed longevity planning - strategies for saving, investing and taking withdrawals. Making the right Social Security claiming decisions is vital to optimizing your retirement income strategy.
Let's talk about:
Whether you're bound for a dream home or planning to stay put, housing likely will be your biggest expense in retirement. While aging in the comfort of your own home would be ideal, modifications to the home – or your plan – could be necessary as mobility and transportation challenges arise
Let's talk about:
Being mobile means being independent. And retirement life brings more opportunity to go where you want whenever you want. That may help explain why transportation is the second largest expense for individuals older than 65 and accounts for about 15% of their annual expenditures, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's why we make sure to account for it as part of your long-term financial plan.
Let's talk about:
Your health and your finances are intertwined in complex ways. Most expect Medicare to pay for their healthcare expenses in retirement. But, in reality, Medicare pays only 60% of healthcare costs* - you still will have premiums, copays, and deductibles. As you age, healthcare costs can add up.
Let's talk about:
*Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2015
As we all live longer, chances are you may, at some point, provide care for a loved one or receive care yourself. Becoming a caregiver can be not only stressful, but also can have financial consequences if it requires taking time away from work. And long-term care is not covered by Medicare.
Let's talk about:
Today's longer life expectancies present opportunities and challenges as we get older. We're here to help.


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Instagram Growth Engine
Growing a social media following is a must these days, but unless you are Justin Bieber it's going to take a lot of work. This is a social media growth service designed specifically for busy entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their brand and sales through Instagram, with minimal effort on your part.
What you can expect:
- All followers are real and targeted
- Monthly report of new follower activity, upon request
- On average 100-1000+ Instagram followers every month
What we need from you:
- Information on your business and target audience
- White list of accounts you want to remain following (if necessary)
- Access to Instagram account (your login information)
- Any direct competitors that are on Instagram with a large following
- Are these real followers?
- Yes all new followers are 100% real and targeted. You may find some places online that sell followers, these are mostly farmed networks or fake accounts. That is not what we offer.
- How do you do it?
- Each day we'll perform many tasks in order to grow your account, following, unfollowing, favoriting, etc to organically grow your audience.
- Why don't I know the exact number, i.e. 100-1000 new followers?
- There are several factors. In general it is related to the size of your account from the start. Once we get good momentum with growing your followers, the faster we can run with results every month.
- How does the targeting work?
- Once you provide us with your ideal customer, we'll focus our efforts on a particular target or niche. For example, if your product or service targets moms, then that's who we'll work on getting moms to follow you.
- Will this unfollow any accounts I've personally followed?
- Yes. Any account not following you upon purchase will be unfollowed during this campaign. If you want to remain following certain profiles, please send us a white list of these accounts immediately after purchase. For example - friends, family, colleagues, industry related accounts, etc.
- How quickly will my Growth Engine be underway?
- New campaigns are generally underway in 1-2 business days, and we will be in touch as soon as it kicks off to let you know.
- How do I get started?
- It's pretty simple, after you purchase you will receive a brief questionnaire where you'll provide all the info needed. We'll then be in touch on the messenger to let you know we're getting started. Done and done.
- How is the correct audience targeted?
- We can target by hashtag and targeting accounts that have similar followers that you'd like to have.
- Do you post content to my account?
- You remain in control of all the content you post. We do not post any images for you. This allows you to solely focus on posting the best material possible, while we focus on bringing you the right audience to view your Instagram.
- Can I keep posting? Can I still follow and unfollow accounts?
- Yes! You can resume doing your normal activity. We will be working in the background, but your account will still be 100% in your possession.
- Do I have to verify my account?
- You will likely need to verify your account. This happens from multiple computer logins. Your social media platform is just confirming with you to secure your account. Don't worry, your account is 100% safe.
- Why should I post content to my account regularly?
- It is important to continue posting content to your account on a regular basis. Since these are real people, they're much more likely to follow and remain following an active account.

subset: commoncrawl


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Set Up a Billing Rate Level List in QuickBooks 2013
You can use QuickBooks 2013 to set up a billing rate level list. A billing rate sets the amount that you charge for service items. For example, while a law firm might sell only hours of legal advice, the item "legal advice" would be billed at different rates for different attorneys.
A brand-new attorney just out of law school might have his or her time billed at one rate, while a senior partner in the firm might bill at another, probably much higher rate.
To set up a billing rate, you choose the Lists→Billing Rate Levels List command. When QuickBooks displays the Billing Rate Level window, click the Billing Rate Level button and then choose the New command to display the New Billing Rate Level dialog box.
You use the New Billing Rate Level dialog box to define a billing rate, giving the billing rate level a name, and then setting either a fixed hourly rate for the bill rate level or different hourly rates for different service items.
After you create billing rate levels with the Billing Rate Levels List command, by the way, you need to connect the billing rate levels with specific employees so that the correct rate gets used when an employee's time is billed.
To do this, display the Employee Center window by choosing the Employees→Employee Center command. Then right-click the employee, choose Edit Employee from the shortcut menu, click the Additional Info tab when QuickBooks displays the Edit Employee dialog box, and select the appropriate billing rate in the Billing Rate Level list box.


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Alaska Medicaid and Denali KidCare cover most emergency and routine preventive dental services for recipients who are under age 21; specified restorative and prosthetic dental services are covered as well. Specific covered services include exams, X-rays, scaling, polishing, fluoride treatment, sealants, dentures, crowns, caps, root canals, and oral surgery. Some services may require your dentist to obtain prior authorization before providing the service.
Limited orthodontic services provided by a board-eligible or board-certified orthodontist may be covered for limited conditions that require the services of an orthodontist and an oral surgeon, such as cleft palate and severe skeletal malformations.


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Abuse isn't just about bruises. Not all forms of abuse leave bruises where we can see them,Domestic Violence Definition South Africa in South Africa . Although physical abuse is terrifying and needs to be addressed immediately there are other forms of abuse that can cause significant damage. One type of abuse that is very difficult for outsiders to detect is financial abuse. Marriage should be a partnership but when one spouse completely dominates the finances to the point that the other spouse has no control and no options financial abuse may be occurring.
What Are Signs of Potential Financial Abuse?
Every married couple handles their finances differently. In some cases one spouse handles the majority of the finances. They manage the accounts, pay the bills and deal with creditors. That does not by itself equal financial abuse.
Financial abuse occurs when one spouse is treated like an irresponsible child and Abuse Lawyers Near Me . They are cut off from funds and their knowledge about the couple's finances is severely limited. Some signs of financial abuse include:
•Strict Allowances. This isn't an amount that the spouses have agreed to limit themselves to but is instead a set amount that is grudgingly handed out from one spouse to the other and is all that will be given.
Documents, documents, documents. Written evidence is incredibly strong and can range from credit card bills showing that there is a credit card but that you aren't named on it to emails from your spouse that show the financial abuse.
Other witnesses can be incredibly powerful on your behalf. Financial abuse is hard for people outside the relationship to detect. So when someone credible comes in and tells the judge that it is happening and they can see it the judge will listen and Domestic Violence Essay Conclusion .
Domestic Violence Definition South Africa in South Africa ?
Have you ever experienced sexual abuse? Do you know that the negative experience you had may still be affecting you in the present?
In my practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I discovered that many women, and even some men, experienced sexual abuse. As I counseled the clients, they became aware of the negative decisions they had made from their sexual exploitation. In fact, many years later those painful thoughts were still affecting their lives in negative ways.
Some of the symptoms that it still influenced their lives were low self-esteem, avoiding dating, struggling in their relationships, not enjoying their sexuality, hiding their physical beauty, shyness, and doing everything to please others.
I included 14 hurtful thoughts that caused the above symptoms that I heard from many of the clients of all ages. Can you relate to any of them?
14 Negative decisions based on sexual abuse include:
1) I feel shame.
2) I am bad and dirty.
3) I am not safe in the world.
4) I can't trust men not to hurt me.
5) My parent or parents betrayed me because they did not protect me.
6) I can't trust people I love to be there for me.
7) I should have stopped it.
8) Sex is painful, dirty and wrong.
9) Men want me only for my body.
10) I feel guilty because it felt good.
11) I feel different than others; I am an outsider.
12) I have to hide my secret so people do not judge me.
13) I have to do what others want me to or I am not safe or loved.
14) It is not safe for me to get attention from men.
For example, Susan was molested by her father. As a result, she hated men and that affected all her relationships with the opposite sex. She also was very cute, free- spirited and loving as a child and that is when her father started to molest her. Her decision was many of the above negative beliefs, as well as it is not safe to be free, happy and shine. She just did what people wanted to stay safe. Her self-esteem was very low and that affected her social interactions and professional success. To stuff her pain, she overate and was obese.
Her mother knew but did nothing to protect Susan. (Mothers often cannot deal with the rejection so they deny it, and may also be afraid of their partners.) To help Susan, I suggested that she imagine her mother in front of her and say, "You did the best you could with the information you had, I forgive you."
Then I helped Susan release the other negative thoughts based on her negative experiences, and she felt much better, began speaking up for herself, and her relationship improved.
By the way, sexual abuse is one major cause of weight issues. Nancy told me that whenever she was thin, men made sexual comments and she did not feel safe. The weight is her wall of protection. "Helene, she said, "I have to make myself unattractive with my unattractive hairstyle, baggy clothes, and fat, for the men to leave me alone!"
Can you relate to Susan or Nancy? If you do, it would be very beneficial to release those hurtful decisions, so that you can enjoy a healthy and happy life.
Domestic Violence - Is It The First Cut is the Deepest?
We're all capable of abuse when we're frustrated or hurt. We may be guilty of criticizing, judging, withholding, and controlling, but some abusers, including narcissists, take abuse to a different level. Narcissistic Abuse can be physical, mental, emotional, sexual, financial, and/or spiritual. Some types of emotional abuse are not easy to spot, including manipulation. It can include emotional blackmail, using threats and intimidation to exercise control. Narcissists are masters of verbal abuse and manipulation. They can go so far as to make you doubt your own perceptions, called gaslighting.
The Motivation for Narcissistic Abuse
Remember that narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and abuse exist on a continuum, ranging from silence to violence. Rarely will a narcissist take responsibility for his or her behavior. Generally, they deny their actions, and augment the abuse by blaming the victim. Particularly, malignant narcissists aren't bothered by guilt. They can be sadistic and take pleasure in inflicting pain. They can be so competitive and unprincipled that they engage in anti-social behavior. Don't confuse narcissism with anti-social personality disorder.
The objective of narcissistic abuse is power. They act with the intent to diminish or even hurt other people. The most important thing to remember about intentional abuse is that it's designed to dominate you. Abusers' goals are to increase their control and authority, while creating doubt, shame, and dependency in their victims. They want to feel superior to avoid hidden feelings of inferiority. Understanding this can empower you. Like all bullies, despite their defenses of rage, arrogance, and self-inflation, they suffer from shame. Appearing weak and humiliated is their biggest fear. Knowing this, it's essential not to take personally the words and actions of an abuser. This enables you to confront narcissistic abuse.
Mistakes in Dealing with Abuse
When you forget an abuser's motives, you may naturally react in some of these ineffective ways:
1. Appeasement. If you placate to avoid conflict and anger, it empowers the abuser, who sees it as weakness and an opportunity to exert more control.
4. Set Boundaries. Boundaries are rules that govern the way you want to be treated. People will treat you the way you allow them to. You must know what your boundaries are before you can communicate them. This means getting in touch with your feelings, listening to your body, knowing your rights, and learning assertiveness. They must be explicit.
Don't hint or expect people to read your mind.
5. Have Consequences. After setting boundaries, if they're ignored, it's important to communicate and invoke consequences. These are not threats, but actions you take to protect yourself or meet your needs.
6. Be Educative. Research shows that narcissists have neurological deficits that affect their interpersonal reactions. You're best approach is to educate a narcissist like a child. Explain the impact of their behavior and provide incentives and encouragement for different behavior. This may involve communicating consequences. It requires planning what you're going to say without being emotional.
Get Support
To respond effectively requires support. Without it, you may languish in self-doubt and succumb to abusive disinformation and denigration. It's challenging to change your reactions, let alone those of anyone else. Expect pushback when you stand up for yourself. This is another reason why support is essential. You will need courage and consistency. Whether or not the narcissist makes changes, you'll get tools to protect yourself and raise your self-worth that will improve how you feel whether you stay or leave. CoDA meetings and psychotherapy provide guidance and support.
Warning: If you're experiencing physical abuse, expect it to continue or escalate. Get help immediately.
© DarleneLancer 2018
Stop Abuse Have Domestic Violence Cycle Of Violence Wheel List


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Conservation goose season open through March 24
Yes, I do know that most of the hunting seasons have now become history. One of the exceptions to that is that the so-called conservation season for light geese. However, there are not very many local folks that are willing to go afield after snow, blue, or Ross geese at this time of year. Believe me, successfully taking good numbers of those birds now is not like hunting them during the regular season.
First of all, the geese do not spend their time fattening up in the grain fields. To the contrary, they are feeding almost exclusively on green grass or in the planted green fields that abound in our area.
Whenever the geese begin to get ready to return to their nesting grounds, they tend to break up into smaller groups. There are rarely large numbers of geese together in the grain fields. They will sometimes be in those fields if the rice that was spilled was not eaten or if it has sprouted. The spilled grain will begin to grow and it becomes another green field. No matter what type of greenery there is, the geese will break up into smaller groups. Sometimes several of the smaller groups will be in the same feeding area, making them appear like the larger fall flocks of geese.
It would seem that these smaller groups of geese are the ones that migrated in family groups. Many times over the years, there will be some of the birds that are several years old and some that are the younger. As these families continue to add more numbers than were lost this year, overpopulation can occur. That is the reason for the extended conservation season for snow geese, blue geese and Ross geese.
The discouraging part of the conservation season is that some of the geese have already begun to head north. There are also fewer outfitters offering to continue their hunts. Many of them are also fishing guides, and they are now into that. Then there are the landowners that are now using their land for various other farming and ranching activities. This situation makes for less hunting land available to the extended-season goose hunters. However, there are still some light geese around, and the hunters that pursue them are offered more liberal regulations.
Should you decide to head out after the geese, you will be allowed to hunt from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. There is no bag or possession limit, electronic callers are legal, and the scatterguns are not required to hold only three shells. It's almost like a "there they are so have at them" situation for the hunters.
It would be a good idea to do some pre-planning. The weather in the early spring can be anywhere from bright, warm and sunshiny to cold, rainy and windy. There are also occasions when the early mornings are foggy. If the goose hunters are extremely fortunate, they will plan their hunts when the weather is foggy and with a wind blowing the fog around. Actually when the weather is most uncomfortable, the late season goose hunting is best.
I mentioned earlier that the geese are now in smaller groups. It has been my experience that the use of fewer decoys is better than the huge sets. Should you plan to use large numbers of decoys then I suggest that you set them in smaller groups that are separated
The geese are more educated by now. Even the younger geese have matured and are following the lead of the older ones. It seems that the groups of geese will be on the ground and then fly up and around for no apparent reason. They remind me of some good athletes that are getting in condition for their marathon flight. By eating more green vegetation and doing more flying to strengthen their muscles for the long flight to the nesting grounds, they are more able to make the long flight.
On the subject of strong muscles, the light geese have enough of them for some super table fare. The first thing that comes to mind for cooking goose meat is gumbo. They do make my favorite of all gumbos. Also, the breast may be cut across the grain, seasoned to taste, and deep-fried. I do like to use a tenderizer hammer on the meat before deep-frying.
If you would like some good smoked sausage to add to your gumbo, then make it with 50 percent goose breast and 50 percent pork before smoking. The legs and thighs are mild and are good in pot roast.
The season continues through March 24.


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text: William Mercer Green (1798-1887), the son of Mary Bradley and William Green, was born in Wilmington, NC. He entered the University in 1814, became a member of the Dialectic Society, and graduated with second honors in 1818, in the same class as James Knox Polk. He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1823 and served as rector of churches in Williamsborough and Warrenton, NC, before moving to Hillsborough, NC, in 1825. There he took charge of St. Matthews Church and of the Hillsborough Female Seminary. Shortly after joining the University faculty in 1838 as chaplain and professor of rhetoric and logic, Green became dissatisfied that students, regardless of their denomination, had to attend services in the chapel, and he worked to establish Chapel Hill's Church of the Atonement, now known as Chapel of the Cross. In 1849 he left Chapel Hill for Jackson, MS, and became the state's first bishop. Green promoted training schools for the clergy and was one of the founders of the University of the South at Sewanee, TN, becoming its chancellor in 1866. He received the DD degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1845 and the LLD from the University of North Carolina in 1881. Green, the father of thirteen children, was twice married, to Sally Williams Sneed in 1818 and to Charlotte Isabella Fleming in 1835 (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 2:362-63).


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BlackBerry 10, as it launched, was pretty robust. Many would say it's the most complete first generation OS ever put out there. This doesn't mean it's not lacking certain features we would like to see. Most of us are hopeful that these updates will come with 10.1, but nothing has been confirmed really.
For me personally, I'd like to see greater customization within notifications and profiles. Right now it's pretty much all or nothing, and truthfully, the vibrate function on my Z is like an earthquake.
There are a few other updates I'd like to see, but I'll open up the discussion to get your thoughts. What's the first thing that comes to mind that you'd like to see on 10.1?


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Our sweet Irish Rose, Marion Bernadette Burke Skidmore, age 94, died peacefully at home on December 12, 2008 in Blanding, UT.
She was born on April 17, 1914 in Minooka, PA, the only daughter of Thomas and Hannah Laffey Burke.
Marion graduated from the Staten Island Hospital School of Nursing in 1935 and this was where she met the love of her life, Demoivre Ray Skidmore, who was completing his residency at the same hospital.
They fell in love and were married on August 24, 1935 in New York City, New York. She joked that their marriage had to be kept on the QT until she graduated from nursing school because doctors and nurses weren't suppose to date, let alone get married!
She also joked about spending her honeymoon with a troop of Boy Scouts that Skid had brought out from Utah to a Jamboree at the same time.
Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple on September 24, 1954.
Together they had and raised five childen: Ray Burke (RuLynn); David Roger ( Nedra); Thomas Charles (Stormy); William Lobark; and Marianne Williams (Terry).
When Skid finished his residency, Marion and he moved back to Salt Lake City, UT where they built a home on 11th Avenue.
Shortly after this time, they established a successful medical practice in Salt Lake City. They were a wonderful team and accomplished a lot as they worked side by side to help each other.
Skid delivered hundreds of babies during his career and Marion made it possible for him to always be there for his patients.
Marion was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and enjoyed many church assignments during her life. She especially enjoyed working in the Primary organization during which time she was responsible for the children in the Primary Children's Hospital on 12th Avenue.
Marion loved to travel and was associated with Ester James Tours for several years. Because of this she was able to see many new places and meet new friends. One of her favorite tours was when she went to Hawaii.
She and Skid also had the opportunity to travel to Europe, which included a stop in Ireland. If you knew Marion very well, you knew that she was Irish through and through, so this was a highlight of her life. She was proud of her Irish heritage and felt it a privilege to wear the "green".
She loved to read, especially romance novels and had read literally hundreds. However, she also loved to exchange books so they never went to waste. She loved to do work with her hands, especially ceramics, and gave each of her children and grandchildren things she had made. She also loved to watch "QVC" and enjoyed buying items which she generously shared with those around her.
She loved being outside and sitting by the pool with a mug of ice in her hands. If a baby or child was around her, she would always tickle their ear.
After Skid's death in 1971, she went to work for Dr. James McEntire, a nephew, and helped him start his medical practice. In 1978 she retired and moved from the Avenues to Murray, UT with her daughter. In 2006 she moved to Blanding, Utah.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Demovire Ray; and her son, Thomas Charles.
She is survived by her four children; 26 grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. Marion is also survived by one sister-in-law, Anna Jean Skidmore of Logan, and many nieces and nephews who were important to her.
Marion was a widow for over 37 years and now has been reunited with her sweetheart and son. What a reunion they must be having at this time.
Memorial services were held on December 29, 2008, in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.SpanishValleyMortuary.com


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Rush Limbaugh opened his show Monday by addressing the exodus of radio advertisers after he called a Georgetown University law student a "slut" and "prostitute" on his show, and he seemed almost completely unfazed by their loss.
Less than an hour after AOL officially became the eighth company to pull its ads from Limbaugh's radio show, the conservative host cracked a joke:
I was watching the media on Saturday, and I said, "You know what? I gotta call myself and cancel and suspend the Two If By Tea advertising." [Two If By Tea is Limbaugh's tea company.] So I called myself to cancel the advertising. I got a busy signal so I couldn't cancel my own company's advertising. So Two If By Tea remains a sponsor of the Rush Limbaugh program and the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.
Limbaugh continued his broadcast in typical, pontificating fashion, stating:
The left, folks -- the media -- are giddy that some advertisers have said they're leaving the program. And I'm sorry to see 'em go. They have profited handsomely from you.
While the conservative host said that the advertisers' disaffiliation was a "shame," at the end of the day he just doesn't care.
"Those advertisers who no longer want your business, fine," Limbaugh continued. "We'll replace them. It's simple, really. "
To hammer in the us vs. them/money-is-no object point, Limbaugh explained that he already rejects millions of dollars of advertising a year: specifically calling out General Motors after the company had accepted government bailouts.
"This show is about you," he said, "not advertisers."
Past talk show hosts haven't weathered the storm of sponsor abandonment.
- Glenn Beck's Fox News Channel show was cancelled when he lost most of his advertisers after he called the president a racist.
- London's News of the World tabloid was shuttered after it became public that its reporters had hacked the voicemail of a murdered schoolgirl.
- Bill Maher was kicked off ABC after Sears, FedEx, and Roebuck & Co. pulled advertising after the "Politically Correct" host made insensitive remarks about 9/11 just six days after the attack. (Maher was quickly moved to HBO).
- Motel6 and General Motors' OnStar pulled sponsorship from Dr. Laura Schlesinger's radio show after she used a racial epithet when speaking with a black woman on the air. The radio host moved to Sirius XM radio as soon as her contract was up.
- NBC and CBS suspended Don Imus' broadcast six days after he called Rutgers University's female basketball players "nappy-headed hos." GM, Sprint Nextel Corp., and American Express (to name a few) had all pulled their sponsorship from his show.
It is unclear whether Limbaugh's advertisers have fully abandoned Limbaugh's show, however, or if they have merely stepped back temporarily until the storm has passed.
Ad Age uses Lowe's disaffiliation with "American Muslim" as an example of advertisers temporarily going to the sidelines:
When Lowe's announced late last year that it was withdrawing its ad dollars from TLC's "American Muslim," it might have seemed like a death knell for the show -- except for one thing. Lowe's didn't withdraw its ad dollars from TLC, or any of the other cable outlets owned by Discovery Communications.
Still, based on Limbaugh's "who needs 'em" rant, it doesn't seem like he'd take any of his old sponsors back.
Listen to Limbaugh's apology below:


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Asia GFS MSL Pressure/Thickness/Rainfall Summary
- location
- Africa
- Asia
- Europe
- New Zealand
- North America
- South America
- model
- BoM 10-day
- US 8-day
- CMC 6-day
About GFS
Global Forecast System. The operational numerical weather forecasting model run by NCEP. The GFS superceded the AVN and MRF models, on which it is largely based. Forecast data from the GFS is available out to 180 hours at full resolution and 16 days at a reduced resolution.
Weather News
How did the massive hailstones that fell over southern Queensland form?
Some of the largest hailstones ever seen in Australia are thought to have plummeted to Earth over southern Queensland on Friday afternoon.
WA's sizzling spell of heat stretching into the weekend
Despite already enduring a relentless barrage of heat, the hot maximum temperatures in Western Australia's southwest are not expected to fade for the next couple of days.
Drought not denting NSW farmland values as buyers scout property with promise of rain and water
Farmland values across drought-ravaged New South Wales are managing to remain strong as farmers search the state to buy property with guaranteed water supply and the promise of elusive rainfall.


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Jared Leto is TRYING
So f-cking hard. Even the Alba Bitch seems to be taken aback by his Try. And she's no stranger to Try.
This is Jared Leto sitting beside Jessica Alba at the Dior show in Paris yesterday screaming ME ME ME ME ME ME ME. It's more than just the hair. It's the way he's holding his body too. And the expression. With the posing. Like he thinks he's Prince.
Bitch, you are not Prince.
And his face, that look of unmistakable want and hunger on his face, so embarrassing his desperation. Don't call it artistic expression. This is more a case of artistic imitation. And a poor one at that, brought out in full next to John Galliano. That's the face of a fraud who's afraid of being found out.
Photos from KCSPresse/Splashnewsonline.com


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Okay, yes, I know this is a random tutorial. But in class I was bored so I drew a cat like this, because I love top hats and mustaches and all of those wonderful things. And I also like cats. So then I drew it on GIMP. And since I'm terrible at teaching people to draw things, I tried to teach the easiest thing I could do, which was this. Well, here's the weird tutorial thing. ENJOY if you can.
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!


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The Academy of Accounting Historians has established an annual manuscript award to encourage young academic scholars to pursue historical research. Any historical manuscript on any aspect of the field of accounting, broadly defined, is appropriate for submission.
Eligibility and Guidelines for Submissions
Any accounting faculty member, who received his/her docto-rate within seven years, is eligible for this award. Manuscripts must conform to the style and length requirements of the Ac-counting Historians Journal. Manuscripts must be the work of one author and previously published manuscripts or manuscripts under review are not eligible for consideration.
Seven copies of each manuscript should be submitted by March 31, 1988 to: Dr. Barbara D. Merino, North Texas State University, P.O. Box 13677, Denton, Texas 76205. A cover letter, indicating the author's mailing address, date doctoral degree awarded, and a statement that the manuscript has not been published or is not being currently considered should be included in the submission packet.
Review Process and Award
The Academy's Manuscript Award Committee will review submitted manuscripts and select one recipient each year. The author will receive a $500 stipend and a certificate to recognize his/her outstanding achievement in historical research. The manuscript will be published in the Accounting Historians Jour-nal after any revisions deemed necessary by the manuscript editor of the Journal. The award will be given annually unless the manuscript award committee determines that no submission has been received that warrants recognition as an outstanding manuscript. The award will be presented at the business meeting of the Academy in Orlando in August 1988.


text: Are you familiar with nitric oxide? You see a great many supplement products now with names coined around the terms "nitric oxide" and its common abbreviation; "NO". Nitric oxide is a highly desirable natural compound that promotes better circulation by inducing a natural process known as vasodilation. There are many reasons people may want to increase nitric oxide production and vasodilation; better blood pressure, improved erectile function and muscle fullness are the most common. In response, the supplement industry has created a whole category of supplements to promote vasodilation (" nitric oxide boosters") most of which rely on, essentially, a single amino acid to get job done. A new study suggests that soy isoflavones are effective NO boosters, too, which could pave the way towards much more effective NO products.


text:
Legal wigs to sort out rules on internet defamation, contempt
The law is the law, but we only have so many courts
In the wake of Lord McAlpine's lawyers threatening to sue thousands of Twitter users for libelling his name with false allegations of child abuse, as well as the multiple issues surrounding tweets that may be in contempt, the Attorney General has clarified that the same legal framework applies on the internet that applies offline.
Dominic Grieve QC told MPs on Wednesday, in response to a question from Labour politico Chi Onwurah, that the Law Commission was in fact reviewing contempt specifically as it relates to the internet.
He said:
An offence committed on the internet remains an offence. It is my belief that public awareness and understanding of this has been raised by a number of high profile cases and court proceedings over recent months. These have resulted in both fines and imprisonment for the offenders and have been widely reported.
The Law Commission is currently reviewing the law of contempt and will look at the issue of contempt and the internet. A public consultation will shortly commence.
Dominic Grieve QC. Pic credit: Attorney General's Office
In the meantime, the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer is understood to be finalising interim guidelines on how offences involving social media and the internet should be prosecuted.
The Commission looked into issues of defamation on the internet prior to the 15 March 2011 publication of the draft Defamation bill, which is currently moving through pre-legislative scrutiny in Parliament.
Starmer has urged police forces across England and Wales to approach such cases in a measured way to avoid what he said could end up being millions of trolling offences being prosecuted in courts across the land.
McAlpine's lawyers, meanwhile, are understood to be building a massive libel case against Twitter users. It's been reported that people who wrongly named the former Tory Party treasurer on the micro-blogging site are being asked to cough up cash or else face legal action.
The peer wants Twitter users with fewer than 500 followers to make a fixed donation - said to be £5 - to the BBC's Children In Need charity.
But for those people on Twitter with more than 500 followers, it has been suggested that McAlpine is seeking out-of-court settlement for larger sums of money that could amount to thousands of pounds for a stupid tweet or retweet that wrongly identified the lord of the realm as a child abuser.
His name was incorrectly linked to a child abuse case after a botched BBC2 Newsnight programme - which didn't name the peer - reported that a "senior Tory from the Thatcher years" had been accused of child abuse by north Wales care home victim Steve Messham.
Messham later said that it was a case of mistaken identity. He is still trying to track down the actual perpetrator and bring him to justice.
McAlpine has since agreed a £185,000 settlement plus costs with the BBC.
His lawyers are separately pursing a defamation payout from ITV1, after This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield haplessly waved a piece of paper containing uncorroborated names of rumoured child abusers that had been sourced from the internet in front of Prime Minister David Cameron on live television.
Sally Bercow, wife of Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, quit Twitter earlier this week, following a series of legal gaffes that included her wrongly tweeting McAlpine's name. An apparent hacking of her Twitter account appeared to have contributed to her disappearance from the site.
Guardian blogger George Monbiot and comedian Alan Davies are among the famous names also caught up in the McAlpine drama, after they too wrongly suggested on Twitter that the peer was a paedophile. Both have since apologised to McAlpine for their actions. ®
Sponsored: Beyond the Data Frontier


text:
Monsoon, switched: Friends season Market Street with Siam
How did two Thai art students wind up taking over Monsoon, Charlottesville's oldest Asian fusion restaurant? Well, to hear 31-year-old "Kitty" Ashi tell the story, it began in Bangkok.
Kitty hails from a restaurant-running family, but it was in art school in Bangkok that she became friends with the now 29-year-old restaurant co-owner, "Pooh" Dutdao.
Starting as a dishwasher, Kitty arrived first in America and began working her way up the ranks at a corporate restaurant, Tara Thai. Last summer, while looking for an opportunity, she spotted an online ad saying that Monsoon, started over 20 years ago, was for sale. By this point, Pooh had moved to Central Virginia and Tara Thai as well.
"It's kind of like destiny," says Kitty.
Building owner Lu-Mei Chang had found a duo willing to carry on some traditions– even while revamping the menu toward Thai specialities.
Today, lunch specials are $7.99, and dinner starts at just a penny more. The restaurant at 113 Market Street, which they bought from Chang last June, is now called Monsoon Siam.
"We kept the Monsoon name," says 31-year-old Kitty, "because we wanted to give her respect."
True to their art school roots, the two have adorned the walls with some of their original artworks, including collages of stained wood, and they've installed a record player– yes, playing vinyl– in the front hall.
As far as they know, this is the only place in town serving Kao Soi, a northern Thai egg-noodle dish. And, unlike their experience at Tara Thai, when it sometimes seemed that eighty percent of diners would order Pad Thai, they're seeing wider choices from their downtown patrons.
"They love to experiment," says Kitty.Read more on: monsoon siam restaurant
4 comments
Sounds Good! Table for 2 please!!
I eat here once a week, love the food, service, presentation, outdoor dining, I give it 5 stars
I am addicted to the Ka Pad Ka Pow.
i love the Andaman noodle ! and the knit pooh-bear clocks on the wall. these ladies are sweet and friendly and hard-working. their food is delish !


text:
State Codes and StatutesStatutes > West-virginia > 16 > 16-34-2
§16-34-2. Definitions.
(a) "Building" means a publicly or privately owned structure consisting of any combination of foundations, walls, columns, girders, beams, floors and roofs, with or without other elements of appurtenances.
(b) "Business entity" means a corporation, partnership, association, firm, sole proprietorship or other entity engaged in business.
(c) "Director" means the director of the division of health.
(d) "Mitigate" means to repair or alter an existing building or design for the purpose, in whole or in part, of reducing the concentration of radon in the indoor atmosphere.
(e) "Radon" means the radioactive noble gas radon-222 and the short-lived radionuclides which are products of radon-222 decay, including polonium-218, lead-214, bismuth-214 and polonium-214.
(f) "Radon laboratory" means a business entity that offers its laboratory services for the purpose of studying air, soil samples or passive radon detection devices to determine the concentration of radon.
(g) "Radon mitigation contractor" means a business entity having at least one person licensed as a radon mitigation specialist.
(h) "Radon mitigation specialist" means a person holding a license to install or apply methods or materials to reduce airborne radon concentrations in a building or to prevent the entry of radon into the indoor atmosphere.
(i) "Radon testers" means a business entity or person licensedto examine a building, air, soil or water for the presence of radon, including taking air, soil or water samples, or the act of diagnosing the cause of radon contamination in a building.
(j) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of health and human resources.
(k) "Test" means the act of examining a building, soil or air for the presence of radon, including taking air or soil samples, or the act of diagnosing the cause of radon contamination in a building.


text:
Larry King Joins Nastiest Celebrity Divorces
King and Southwick join Gosselins, Charlie Sheen, Madonna and others.
April 15, 2010 -- Divorce is never a walk in the park, but when fame and fortune play major roles, both parties usually end up battered and broken.
The latest case is Larry King, 76, and seventh wife Shawn Southwick, 50, who filed for divorce Wednesday. Already the split is shaping up to be a nasty one.
Sources told celebrity news Web site TMZ that Southwick believed King had been having an affair -- with her younger sister Shannon Engemann -- for five years. The Web site said Southwick discovered the affair when she checked King's credit card statement and saw a $160,000 car and a diamond necklace from Cartier. Southwick reportedly told a friend, "He never gave me a diamond necklace."
Engemann, 45, told TMZ Wednesday that King had indeed given her gifts for Christmas and her birthday, but she denied that they'd been having an affair.
"This is so ludicrous. She's singling me out, but Larry has been nothing but generous to our entire family, including me," Engemann said. "I'm tired for taking the rap for things. I did not have an affair with Larry. He's been like a father to me."
"I have a date tonight, and I'm not going to worry about it," Engemann added. "I love my sister. What's happening is not my fault."
King's rep did not respond immediately to ABCNews.com's request for comment. Asked about the affair on his way into the Palm restaurant in Hollywood last night, King told a TMZ cameraman, "I don't know what you're talking about."
According to reports, there's been discord in the King-Southwick household for some time. Rumors of trouble between King and Southwick swirled in 2008, when she reportedly checked into rehab. At the time, King's spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, denied reports that their marriage was on the rocks.
In February, King joked in front of TMZ cameras that the couple was "hanging by a thread."
Surprisingly, the couple did not sign a prenuptual agreement prior to their wedding. King's attorney confirmed to Access Hollywood on Thursday that although the couple did not have a prenup, there was another agreement in place. He declined to discuss the details of the agreement.
King, who is divorcing for the eighth time, is no stranger marital breakups. And he has plenty of company. Below, check out 10 other noteworthy divorces and the salvos that make them infamous.
1. Jon Gosselin vs. Kate Gosselin
Just when it seemed the couple made famous (then infamous) by TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8" couldn't spiral downward any further, Jon accused Kate last week of putting her dancing ambitions before their eight children and said he's going to court to ask for primary physical custody.
His lawyer Anthony F. List called Kate "an absentee mom" and cited "Dancing With the Stars" as evidence that she's not spending "quality time with the eight kids."
Gosselin's lawyer, Mark Momijan, shot back at the pair last Wednesday, directly questioning Jon's motives. "He's never questioned her ability to provide for their children," said Momijan of her ex, according to TMZ. "He's out of the limelight, while 23 million people are watching Kate on 'Dancing with the Stars.'"
2. Charlie Sheen vs. Denise Richards
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards' years-long back-and-forth made their divorce the subject of countless tabloid headlines, but the faux pas that took the cake came in June 2008, when Richards released a three-year-old, expletive-laced voice message from Sheen. The highlight: a curse-filled rant from Sheen calling his ex-wife -- and the mother of their two daughters Sam, 5, and Lola, 4 -- a "f**king c**t" and a "f**king n****r." Sheen, star of "Two and a Half Men," followed up by releasing an apology for what he called his "choice of words."
3. Christie Brinkley vs. Peter Cook
It's bad enough finding out about a husband's affair. Having to hear all the gory details divulged in court -- that can be nauseating, especially in the case of Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook. Their July 2008 divorce proceedings featured a torrent of torrid tales, including Cook's tearful admission that he enjoyed oral sex with his then-18-year-old assistant Diana Bianchi and his fondness for masturbating via webcam. No wonder Brinkley told Ladies' Home Journal "I would never get married again" in July 2009. "With what I know, I don't see why anyone would get married," she added.
After closing the books on their divorce last year, Brinkley and Cook recently decided to re-open that can of worms. Wednesday, they convened in a New York court, slinging charges and counter charges of violating the terms of their settlement and attempting to convince a judge that the other belongs in jail. A new trial is scheduled to start Tuesday.
4. Dina Lohan vs. Michael Lohan
For a while, it seemed the bulk of Dina and Michael Lohan's bickering concerned the fate of their most famous daughter, Lindsay, which might be expected from divorced parents new to Hollywood. But in July 2008 (apparently the summer of '08 slayed celebrity couples), a wild card entered the game: Michael Lohan learned of a love child he never new existed, a teenage half-sister of Lindsay and her three siblings that he fathered while separated from Dina. He even took a DNA test to confirm he was the girl's dad. Dina's response? She told Hollyscoop.com "I feel bad for the little girl."
5. Madonna vs. Guy Ritchie
After trying to cover up their divorce for weeks, once Madonna and Guy Ritchie went public with the news in October 2008, the mud-slinging started in earnest. She took a swipe at him at a sold-out concert in Boston, introducing the song "Miles Away, " which was inspired by her relationship with Ritchie, by quipping, "This song is for the emotionally retarded. Maybe you know some people who fall into that category. God knows I do." In November's Esquire, Ritchie fought back, calling Madonna "retarded" while admitting he still loves her.
6. Heather Mills vs. Paul McCartney
To vent after his volatile divorce from Heather Mills, which ended with him writing her a check for $48.7 million, Paul McCartney took to the medium he knows best. In November 2008, he released the scathing song "Nothing Too Much, Just Out of Sight," featuring the rants, "The last thing you do was to try and betray me/ In new morning light/ I'll never forget it/ And that's just outta sight," and "And you have money/ And no manners." Ouch.
7. Britney Spears vs. Kevin Federline
Though their divorce proceedings went (relatively) smoothly, Britney Spears' custody battle with Kevin Federline over the custody of their sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, was a train wreck. The breakdown heard 'round the world happened in January 2008, when she refused to turn the boys over to Federline at the scheduled pick up time and hid with them in her home for more than four hours, until police forcibly removed her and checked her into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
8. Kim Basinger vs. Alec Baldwin
Like Spears and Federline, Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin's divorce drama paled in comparison to the fireworks set off during the custody battle over their daughter, Ireland. In the sixth year of the drawn-out fight, Baldwin called the then 11-year-old Ireland for a court-approved chat, but got her voicemail. He wasn't happy. "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig," Baldwin said in the message leaked on TMZ.com in April 2007. "You have humiliated me for the last time." Baldwin apologized in statement but alleged that Basinger leaked the tape. She refuted his claim, and Baldwin temporarily lost visitation rights.
9. Whitney Houston vs. Bobby Brown
Only recently did Whitney Houston divulge the disturbing details about her divorce from Bobby Brown. "He spit on me," Houston told Oprah Winfrey in September, recounting one of her worst fights with Brown. "He spit on me. He actually spit on me. And my daughter was coming down the stairs and she saw that." Houston's response? "I took the phone and I hit him over the head with it," she told Winfrey.
10. Tricia Walsh (aka the YouTube wife) vs. Paul Smith
Her name may not be as well known as the others on this list, but her salvo is the stuff of Web 2.0 legend. British actress Tricia Walsh eviscerated her ex-husband, theater mogul Paul Smith, in a 2008 YouTube video that listed her long list of grievances. Among them -- that Smith blamed high blood pressure for his refusal to have sex, even though he kept a stash of Viagra and pornography in their home.
The video initially landed Walsh in hot water -- a New York divorce judge ruled she carried out a campaign of harassment against Smith by releasing the video while their divorce proceedings were ongoing, ordered her to leave the couple's tony apartment and cut the value of her settlement. But Walsh bounced back in 2009 with another viral video, "Arm Candy," which she plans to develop into a musical.


text:
The Number One Article On Casual Dating Rules
Let's be honest about this; casual dating is not easy. Men think it's easy, and perhaps some women too, but the fact of the matter is it is much harder to have THAT conversation with someone than it is to find out whether or not you want to date someone long term! How are you seriously expected to turn around to someone and say, "Hi, my name is Dave, and I'm looking for casual dating. There's a good chance I'm not going to put a ring on your finger…" Most girls will not appreciate that, at all.
This brings me nicely to our next point… the most important rules on casual dating that you'll need to know before you embark on your journey!
Try Honesty!
As Billy Talent once said in the song, "Try honesty!" What's the point in going through the hassle of making a girl believe she is the one for you, just so you can have a good time, only to break her heart a few months down the line when you realise that she is looking for just more than a casual fling, and you need to go through the whole nasty breakup thing?
What's the point? Most girls, especially if they are in their late 20's / early 30's and aren't married, probably won't be looking for a short term, casual love-affair. These are girls that are looking for marriage, babies and the whole happily ever after thing that Disney films have lead them to believe is possible.
When you meet a girl on line or face to face, why not be honest upfront and let her know that you aren't really looking for a relationship? Or even better still, make this very clear on your casual sex dating online dating profile. This is the thing about NSA fun – you can be a bit more risque… You'll filter out the people that AREN'T right for this kind of relationship straight away, and potentially, you should be left with the ones that are going to fulfil your fantasies and get the job done, so to speak. You might not have time for a relationship but that doesn't mean you need to miss out on all the fun that goes with it!
Don't Lead Her On!
Right, as we've mentioned, girls of a certain age are looking for someone and that something is most definitely not a casual dating scenario. They aren't looking to sow their wild oats like you guys are; they want to settle down and have babies. That's the long and short of it. Even the girls that don't think they want kids, WILL think about having kids, and once that biological clock starts ticking, nothing is going to stop them.
Don't lead these girls on. There is no point at all in wasting your time and theirs. All you're going to do is break her heart, and ask yourself this; do you really want a bunny boiler on your hands? When you've worked your way through as many women as you have, there's a good chance that you are going to encounter at least one of these in your dating timeline. They are a pain in the ass. Don't entertain the idea of trying to beat one. It won't work.
If you don't want a relationship and she does, don't keep going along thinking one of you may change your mind. There's a good chance it won't happen and once again, you'll be left with the awkward breakup that you would rather avoid. If she tells you she's got feelings for you, tell her that's not what you are looking for and step aside.


text:
Welcome to the Where food comes from area for children aged 3-5 years.
In this area you will find four activity sessions.
Activity 9 - Where does food come from?
Activity 10 - Does this food come from a plant or an animal?
Acivity 11 - How does food grow?
Activity 12 - What foods are in season?
Each activity comprises notes to help you run the session, and supporting resources.
6 computer activities for pre-school children:
Healthy eating
For more information on the sources used in this text, please contact email@example.com
Last reviewed: 09/10/2009
Next review date: 01/11/2012


text:
1) Script Title: Dynamic Ajax Content
2) Script URL (on DD): http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamici...jaxcontent.htm
3) Describe problem: I need to use JQuery on an HTML page to toggle the Div on the page. That HTML page is being loaded onto another page using the Dynamic Ajax Content script. I am hoping to find a way to use JQuery with Ajax, as I understand the two aren't really all that compatible.
The HTML page with the JQuery code is here (working script): http://www.torontoclassfind.com/deta...tyourroom.html
The HTML page I am loading the other page onto is here (script not working): http://www.torontoclassfind.com/startpage.html
The menu list of building names will ultimately be links that will change the ajax page in the bottom left div. But for now I just have the one page being loaded into the lower left Div by default.
Any input on this would be appreciated !
Edit: Question has been answered and the content on the links posted have changed (just a note for future viewers of this thread who click the links and don't 'get' what my problem was).


text:
[recipe here]
After the glorious abundance of cookies over the past few weeks, I read a little grumbling on the blogs of my fellow TWD'ers about the amount of chocolate we were using. To that I say: There can never be too much chocolate™. However, the grumblers got a bit of a respite this week, since Michelle of Bake-En chose the Dimply Plum cake. Despite the lack of chocolate, it was a very tasty treat! ;)
I was lucky enough to find some of the Italian prune plums in our local market, from Red Jacket Orchards. They looked gorgeous, but the pits were tenacious and I had to really pry some of 'em out.
The batter came together easily. I stuck to Dorie's flavoring suggestion and used a drop of the Supreme Spices' cardamom. The batter itself was so tasty—I really liked the subtle mix of orange and cardamom.
Since the prune plums were an oblong shape, the plum halves were quite tall, and I kind of thought they weren't going to end up being "dimples".
Luckily, I was wrong :)
There was so much liquid in the plums when the cake came out of the oven! After the required 15-minute cool time, it hadn't all been absorbed back into the fruit, so I gave it another 15 minutes. It still wasn't all absorbed, but at that point I was too impatient to wait any longer, so I flipped it out of the pan.
The cake tasted very good, and the plums were really juicy and delicious. Personally, I liked it even better the second day, when the cake got even moister and the flavors melded together.
We got this lovely tea set from one of A.'s coworkers, and I had to photograph it!
Yet another delicious TWD success. Now go look through the blogroll and get the recipe from Michelle's blog for the recipe!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesdays with Dorie: Dimply Plum Cake
26 comments:
- The Food Librarian said...
Yummy! Those plums look fantastic! And I love that tea set.
- September 23, 2008 at 1:24 AM
- n.o.e said...
OK, so your cake looks prettier than Dorie's. Shhh, don't tell her I said that. I'm typically a chocolate kind of girl, but this cake really bowled me over. Yours is so dimplishly perfect - those Italian plums are stunning. Just the thing to go with tea!
- September 23, 2008 at 2:00 AM
- PheMom said...
Gorgeous photos as always - and sharing pictures of blog-worthy wedding loot - love that!!
- September 23, 2008 at 3:09 AM
- steph- whisk/spoon said...
looks so good--plums have such beautiful color! i also used to buy plums from red jacket (and cider!) at the greenmarket when we lived in brooklyn...i miss them!
- September 23, 2008 at 3:13 AM
- Marthe said...
Your plum cake look very nice!! I can almost taste it!!
I'm not a plum-fan, but was surprised to find out that I actually liked this cake
- September 23, 2008 at 4:47 AM
- Lori said...
I had trouble with extra juiciness in the plums too, which wasn't helped by my addition of extra brown sugar on top of each one. That photo of the plums is amazing, by the way.
- September 23, 2008 at 6:39 AM
- VeggieGirl said...
Oooh, Italian prune plums!! Love that you used them for the cake (which looks wonderful to me!!).
- September 23, 2008 at 7:47 AM
- Sarah said...
Yum...looks perfect! Great job! And I love the tea set...so pretty!
- September 23, 2008 at 8:24 AM
- CB said...
Gorgeous gorgeous photos as always! What kind of camera do you have again? Wait. Don't tell me. I bet its a frillion dollars and I couldn't afford it! HAHA. I agree I loved this cake more the 2nd day for breakfast. YUM!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
- September 23, 2008 at 9:59 AM
- Amy said...
Best looking cake I've seen today!!
- September 23, 2008 at 11:54 AM
- StickyGooeyCreamyChewy said...
Beautiful job! Your dimples are perfect. The photos are lovely too!
- September 23, 2008 at 12:50 PM
- BAKE-EN said...
Wow, beautiful photos! After reading your post, I can't wait to try the cake tomorrow.
- September 23, 2008 at 3:58 PM
- Di said...
Beautiful job, as always. Maybe you could send some of your extra liquid my way, since my cake and apples were too dry. =) Love the tea set. I drink a lot of tea, but don't really have anything pretty to put it in.
- September 23, 2008 at 5:21 PM
- Prudy said...
Gorgeous as always. How did you do it? Everything you photograph is sheer art. I love your new tea set too.
- September 23, 2008 at 5:44 PM
- Natashya said...
Great photos! And I love your tea set.
- September 23, 2008 at 5:50 PM
- HoneyB said...
Great photos! I didn't seem to have the water issues you had. Must be my plums weren't as "juicy"!
- September 23, 2008 at 7:58 PM
- Kayte said...
Gorgeous photos and post...those plums are so great looking...in and out of the batter. Wonderful job on the cake! Yum. Any leftovers?
- September 23, 2008 at 9:18 PM
- Tracey said...
Gorgeous photos! Your cake looks delicious. I used the italian plums as well and thought they were great for this cake.
- September 23, 2008 at 10:02 PM
- Cathy said...
Wow -- now those are some dimples!! Your photos are simply stunning.
- September 23, 2008 at 10:29 PM
- Anne said...
Wow, the cake looks even better than the one in the book! Great job! :)
- September 23, 2008 at 11:49 PM
- Engineer Baker said...
I love how much the plums sunk into the cake - so pretty! Lovely tea set too.
- September 24, 2008 at 9:58 AM
- Christine said...
The tea set is so pretty. Photos and cake are beautiful, great job!
- September 24, 2008 at 12:46 PM
- Erin said...
This looks so beautiful and delicious! I liked it, but I agree with you- there can never be too much chocolate!
- September 27, 2008 at 12:27 AM
- Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...
i think that's the most perfect dimply plum cake I've seen!!
- September 27, 2008 at 11:08 AM
- SiHaN said...
your final cake looks so tantalizing. Great work! the dimples really sunk in very well.
- September 28, 2008 at 10:27 AM
- Y said...
Beautiful cake! Love how golden it is :)
- October 7, 2008 at 7:45 PM


text: Short Story Contest 137 Submissions & Details Thread Theme: "Revenge " This contest is open to all wf.org members, newbies and the established alike. Please post your entries as replies to this post. At the deadline I will collate all entries and put them forward for voting in a separate thread. The winning entry will be stickied until the next competition winner. Unfortunately, there is no prize but pride on offer for this contest. As always, the winner may also PM/VM me to request the theme of a subsequent contest if he/she wishes. Themes: "Revenge " (courtesy of Anthelionryu - since the winner of the last, Azalea, does not appear to be with us any more, it's been a week since his last post). Any interpretation is valid. Entries do not have to follow the themes explicitly, but off-topic entries may not be entered into the voting. Wordlimit: 500-3000 words Deadline for entries: Sunday 7th of July 2013 10:00 am (us pacific time) There is a 10% word-limit leniency at both ends of the scale. Please try to stick within the limit. As below, any piece outside of the suggested limit may not be entered into the voting. There is a maximum of 25 entries to any contest. If there are more than 25 entries to any one contest I will decide which are entered into voting based on adherence to the suggested word limit and relevance to the theme, not on a first-come-first served basis. Try to make all your entries complete and have an ending rather than be an extract from a larger one and please try to stick to the topic. Any piece seemingly outside of the topic will be dealt with in a piece by piece manner to decide its legitamacy for the contest. A story entered into the contest may not be one that has been posted anywhere on the internet, not just anywhere on this site. A story be posted for review until voting has closed. Only one entry per contest per contestant is permissable. Members may also not repost a story anywhere, or bring attention to the contest in any way, until the voting has closed Please try to refrain from itallicising, bolding, colouring or indenting any text to help avoid disappointment. These stylistics do not reproduce when I copy-paste them into the voting thread. You may use visible noparse BB code to preserve style if you wish by placing [ noparse ] and [ /noparse ] (without the spaces) around the entire text. Please remember to give your piece a title and give its word count in brackets at the top of your story. If there are any questions, please leave me a visitor message or PM me. Please do not clog up this, or any other thread, with your questions. Please note that only current members are eligible to win. Thanks, and good luck!


text:
Steve Duarte worked in human resources for the same company for 19 years. But within months of returning from Iraq with his Marine Reserve unit in 2003 – his second military deployment in two years – he was told his job was ending in a week.
"There was that initial shock – and then the shock of 'What am I going to do?' " recalls Mr. Duarte of Littleton, Colo., whose expenses at the time included tuition for his son at the University of Denver.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, tensions are mounting between the military's civilian volunteers, trying to step back into their professions, and employers, straining at times to cope with a growing cadre of workers who are away at war for months then expect to regain their former jobs. A 1994 law – the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) – gives workers that right, along with promotions or other benefits they would have earned had they not been deployed. But with more than 600,000 reservists and guardsmen mobilized since 9/11, thousands have found their jobs gone or positions diminished when they returned.
Last week the Department of Justice said it was suing Wal-Mart, alleging that it failed to reinstate a cashier who was an Air Force reservist, and United Parcel Service, charging that it eliminated the job of another Air Force reservist while he was on active duty in Iraq in 2003.
USERRA had been a lightly used law until 9/11 "changed our priorities completely," says John Muckelbauer, regional director of compliance for 10 Midwestern states for the Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, which investigates complaints. "It pushed USERRA right up to the top and it's been up there ever since."
The law is a ticklish issue for companies, experts say. On one hand, they don't want to do anything that makes them look unpatriotic. On the other, the long and sometimes repeated deployments of key personnel can complicate staffing.
"There continue to be companies that step forward and support guardsmen and reservists," says John Lowrie, an attorney with Ford and Harrison LLP, a labor-law firm that represents employers around the country. "There are other companies that do feel a strain, and it's difficult for them." Particularly under stress are airlines, police and fire departments, and other emergency-response services, whose key employees also tend to be in military reserve units, he adds.
"It can be a challenge for our smaller companies especially," says Jack Morton, manager of national security and emergency preparation at the US Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is working with the military to develop a predictable schedule for call-ups of the National Guard and reserve units.
Some 16,000 complaints filed
No one knows how big the problem is. Members of the reserve forces filed some 16,000 formal and informal complaints with the government from 2004 through 2006, says the Government Accountability Office (GAO), using the most recent data available. But that may underestimate the number who actually encounter rehiring problems, experts say.
Some aggrieved workers sue their employers on their own. Most apparently take no action at all. A GAO analysis of Defense Department surveys in 2004 and 2006 showed that some 70 percent of reservists who said they had problems getting rehired or promotions or raises did not seek redress.
One reason may be that the system is bureaucratic and can take months to decide a case.
Four government agencies handle complaints. The Defense Department's Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) offers informal mediation. The Labor Department tries to resolve formal complaints from service members without going to court. If they can't be resolved and are legitimate complaints, then the Justice Department or the Office of Special Counsel will take the case to court.
The system is actually working better than before as government agencies eventually geared up to handle all the complaints pouring in as a result of the largest activation of reserves in decades, according to the GAO. But it still criticized the process for delays and called for a single agency to oversee it.
The disputes are also more complex.
"In '03 and '04 our role was frequently more as a mediator and educator," says Mr. Lowrie, the lawyer who also serves as chairman of the Colorado ESGR. These days, more employees and employers are aware of USERRA's protections and cases are "slightly more a genuine dispute." The number of complaints ESGR ombudsmen receive has drifted down steadily from almost 6,000 in 2004 to a little more than 1,000 last year.
Justice Department suits are up slightly – rising from two to eight over the same period.
Stung by his sudden layoff notice from Agilent Technologies, Duarte called his commanding officer, Marine Col. George Aucoin, a New Orleans lawyer who knew of USERRA. When Duarte e-mailed company executives about the law, they said he was being laid off because of financial troubles and his job was not protected.
While sending out résumés, Duarte and Colonel Aucoin continued to research USERRA. The Labor and Defense departments said they couldn't represent him – for reasons that Duarte disputes.
In February 2004, Agilent posted an opening for a job very similar to Duarte's.
"That was kind of the nail in the coffin," says Duarte. He sued the next month.
A struggle – and $12,000 in costs
The case would ultimately cost Duarte $12,000. At the same time, he struggled to find another job. He and his wife lived off her salary, his severance from Agilent, and the pay from extra work he took on with his reserve unit. Finally, in April 2005, he went on active military duty "because I had to get back to work."
"It wasn't easy financially. It wasn't easy mentally," says Duarte. After a while, "it wasn't about the money."
If it was hard to use USERRA to protect himself – a college-educated lieutenant colonel with years of work experience and savings – "there is no way a young [private first class] or lance corporal coming back is going to be able to fight this thing," he says.
A little over a year after filing his suit, the US district court in Colorado found in his favor, awarding him almost $400,000.
Agilent said in a statement that "although Agilent disagreed with the final outcome in this matter, we appreciated the opportunity ... to explain the reasons for the business decisions that were made.... Agilent remains committed to its employees who serve in the military."
"It's forced employers to take a very close look at allegations arising under USERRA and forced them to consider the ramifications associated with disputing a claim," says Lowrie.
Duarte has become an advocate of sorts on the issue, starting a website about his experience and recently testifying at a Senate hearing on USERRA. A year ago he finally found steady work, back in human resources with the city of Westminster, Colo.
It "was the first time my life got back to some semblance" of normal since 2003, says Duarte.