text: E.L. James, British author of the dirty, dirty sadomasochistic sex book you wouldn't read aloud to your grandparents 50 Shades of Grey, embarked on her U.S. book tour today in Miami, the unofficial literary capital of North America. How exciting! If you don't already know all about James' erotic novel, pretty much all you need to know at this point is that it's poised to become an even bigger cultural phenomenon than it already is, with James getting a seven-figure contract for more sexytime books with Vintage and Universal producing a 50 Shades adaptation as we speak. It's now only a matter of time before a deal for the 50 Shades adults-only amusement park is announced, and rumor (my rumor) has it that Busch Gardens may be creating a whole sex safari filled with really amorous animal couples.


text:
Cat Figurines Dog Figurines Wild Animal Figures Metal Sculptures Yoga Figurines Glamorous Girls Abstract Figures
Metal Flying Dragon
£23.00 Free Delivery
Metal Monster with Spear
£35.00 Free Delivery
Metal Monster with Trident
£39.00 Free Delivery
Monster Destructor Warrior
£47.00 Free Delivery
Monster Destructor Warrior with Spear
£45.00 Free Delivery
About us
We are committed to providing you with an effortless shopping experience, from the comfort of your home. Shop online at www.TheGiftSshop.co.uk.
Your independent gift store for any occasion: Birthdays, Mother & Fathers Day, Valentines Day, Wedding Day, Anniversaries and Christmas Gifts.
City Airport Taxis

subset: commoncrawl


text:
San Francisco (minus 4) at Atlanta, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Scott Reid: As Earthlings everywhere cheered the Niners' triumph over Green Bay last week, the rise of K-fever reached near epidemic levels. Squillions hopped aboard the Kaepernick bandwagon (wave to me – I'm in the Montana jersey near the window). What a day! In addition to breaking the single-game record for rushing by a quarterback, outdueling Aaron "The Consensus Greatest QB In The Game" Rodgers and winning the Golden Globe in the category of Best Snapback Not Worn By L'il Wayne….
…Kaepernick managed to dazzle America with his mythmaking instincts. The SF QB took the unusual step of releasing a letter he had written to himself in Grade Four. In it, the pre-tatted Kaepernick…. mused that he would one day '…go to the pro's and play on the Niners.' And lo and behold… here he is. Journalists and fans alike heralded the precognitive prowess of the only read-option milk monitor in middle school and cooed at his youthful determination. However, such predictive powers are not as uncommon as you might think. The intrepid researchers at Feschuk Reid World Inc. have been working hard to uncover comparable examples and have quickly surfaced the following letters written by recognizable celebrities to themselves:
Rex Ryan: "One day I hope to be a lap-banded loud mouth who likes to think about quarterback Mark Sanchez and my wife. Barefoot. Together. In a tattoo, even."
Anne Hathaway: "When I grow up, I'll be a princess. And people will love me and I'll win an Oscar. And then, very quickly, the whole big sparkly world will grow tired of my phony horseshit and want for me to fall from something high."
Scott Feschuk: "I'll have the sexiest, sonafabitch partner you ever up and downed. His name will also be Scott. And he will have immense power over women like Lauren Tannehill."
So there you have it – dreams do come true. And not just for young Colin Kaepernick. Although he's still going to have a pretty good day. Pick: San Francisco.
Scott Feschuk: Listen, as a guy who works with words for a living, I'm here to tell you that you've got a lucrative future ahead of you in ghostwriting – specifically, ghostwriting the diaries of 11-year-old girls. OOOOOO!!!! COLIN K. LOOKED AT ME TODAY IN STUDY HALL. SQUEEEEEEEEEAL!!! And for the record, it's getting to be embarrassing having to go to business meetings with you all covered in glitter from your incessant scrap-booking. Grow a pair, and not boobies this time. In other news, after some terrific games last weekend, the football gods will surely afflict us with at least one stinker this Sunday – and I think it's going to involve the Atlanta Falcons being ground into a thick paste, forced through a fine mesh sieve and reconstituted as a hearty and satisfying jerky (except for Matt Ryan, who'll taste bland). So let's turn our attention to a more pressing question: how did the Denver Broncos manage to lose last week? Some say it was Peyton Manning's arm having the same consistency as a pool noodle (he didn't through downfield once the entire game). Some say it was coach John Fox being more conservative than Grover Norquist.
But the real culprits were the team's cheerleaders. Yes, I know it was cold. Yes, I know that extremities were at risk. But you know what? Extremities are the whole point of cheerleaders! YOU GOTTA GUT IT OUT, LADIES. Who exactly are you inspiring to victory when you're dressed like the guy who sold me my Christmas tree.
Pick: San Francisco.
• • •
Baltimore (plus 9) at New England, Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET
Feschuk: This is hard for me to admit but, inspired by recent events, I feel the need to come clean: Scott Reid does not exist. He never existed. I invented him to fill a dark void in my life and also to seem slightly less fat and abrasive by comparison. Oh, sure, you may think you've seen Scott Reid on TV talking about sports or politics, but that was actually a lifelike puppet I fashioned from burlap, foam and a tremendous amount of pale. What can I say? We all have needs.
One thing that bugs me about this whole Manti Te'o thing: people are coming down so hard on him – but no one ever criticizes Tim Tebow for claiming to have had a relationship with the forward pass. Guys, I swear I had the ability to throw one… but it died! BE UPLIFTED BY MY TRAGIC TRAGEDY. Meanwhile, in actual news: Please, Bill Belichick – spare us from the Harbaugh Bowl! The Niners are going to crush the Falcons and if somehow the Ravens get a win, we're facing two long weeks of montages of Jimmy and Johnny's childhood photographs and endless anecdotes about what precocious scamps they were and whatnot. I'd rather watch Wes Welker clip his fingernails. Heck, I'd rather watch Tom Brady clip Wes Welker's fingernails. The only thing that could be more boring than the Harbaugh Bowl would be Matt Ryan doing anything ever. Pick: New England.
Reid: Ok. Three things. First, Scott Reid DOES exist. I AM real. And HERE's what I look like:
Second of all, I'm not all that pale. For example, I've got quite a bit more pigment these days than Sammy Sosa:
Third and most important, you're very wrong. The HarBowl would be an enormous gift to fans of both football and fratricide. I am inclined to believe the Niners would win that matchup. But the real contest would be waged between siblings who shelter NFL-sized egos and immense insecurities.
I, for one, find it very easy to imagine that little brother John has some gi-normous scores to settle. Does this look like a man who would be a caring and supportive big brother?
At the end of the HarBowl there would be two teams, one winner and half a red spot covered in teeth and shoelaces where the losing H brother used to stand. Don't be dumb and bet on John. And don't bet on him to beat Belichick. It doesn't take a gridiron genius to figure out that if you shut down Rice, you shut down the Ravens. Flacco? Pfft! Pick: New England.


text:
An 18-year-old man who friends said was walking a few blocks home after leaving a party because an argument broke out did not make it to his front door on the Far South Side Saturday morning.
He was shot about to death about 2 a.m. less than half-a-block from his home -- and presumably from safety.
"Not even alley to alley. Two minutes, Joe," said Stephen Spencer, 21, estimating the short amount of time it would have taken him to get to his house. "That's it. Thirty seconds."
A second man, 21, was shot in the foot as he walked with the man, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said. The two were among seven people shot between Friday evening and Saturday morning. None of the five other shootings were fatal, police said.
Police cars had raced to the West Pullman intersection about 4 a.m. Saturday where two hours earlier the 18-year-old man, identified as Thaddeus Tucker by the Cook County medical examiner's office, had been killed. It had been almost two hours since the teen was found dead, bleeding from his head, on a sidewalk in front of a house on 122nd Street just west of Lafayette Street.
Sherry Watson, 46, let out a muted groan and turned her head as officers lifted the young man in a body bag and set him into the back of a dimly-lit wagon. Others muttered and looked away.
"This was a child that had some sense," said Watson, who said the dead man deferred opportunities to drink or smoke with friends on a regular basis. The man was identified by multiple people at the scene as a June graduate of Fenger High School.
" 'I don't play the game, call me when you get back,' " she recalled him saying.
"It's crazy all over," Brandie Clark, 34, said. "It's all over, don't even matter where. Chicago has gotten crazy. It's ludicrous. It's out of control."
A crowd had earlier gathered on the southeast corner of the intersection, in a spot that offered the clearest line of sight to the man's body.
Three marked police cars approached from the east and sped to the yellow tape as a woman, who appeared in her 20s, was being escorted away by another woman who appeared about the same age.
A young man in a blue shirt sat on the ground inside the tape, wearing handcuffs and surrounded by four officers.
The woman was yelling at police and taking steps backward even as her acquaintance held her torso and walked her away from the scene.
"So what you got a badge, I can get a badge too and we can get it cracking," she yelled from down the block.
Others at the scene spoke openly of revenge, and reiterated that they were not concerned that police officers were within earshot. People out here know what happened, a young man said, and someone was certain to find him and his house.
"How many bodies (do) you think (are going) to drop? How many bodies (do) you think (are going) to drop?" one young man asked a police commander at the scene.
After extra police arrived, a group of about ten officers walked past an ambulance toward a crowd that followed the woman as her acquaintance escorted her east away from the crime scene. The ambulance came to take the young man in handcuffs away.
At one point, 14 police cars – marked and unmarked, SUVs and sedans, and a wagon – sat parked around the scene and in the blocks surrounding it.
A quiet group of about two dozen waited at the crime scene while crime lab officers took photos and examined the young man's body. At least six evidence markers sat next to the body in a small area no more than two feet wide, indicating the casings were ejected from a gun held by a shooter whose weapon hand was steady. The dead man was shot numerous times in the head, police said.
Four women, one whose son was friends with the dead 18-year-old, spoke disapprovingly of the violence in the city and the seemingly small slights that can get someone shot.
Police had made no arrests and did not have any identification of the shooter. The second man that was wounded in the incident had gone home after being shot and called police from his home but wasn't very cooperative, police said. He's in stable condition at Roseland Community Hospital.
Spencer stood outside the tape even as almost everyone else walked to the dead man's house about a block east. Spencer knew him since the two were toddlers, he said.
Spencer did not know the nature of the argument that had led his friend to leave the party.
"He was a competitive spirit, no matter what. Riding bikes, playing basketball, whatever," he said.
"For them to catch him like this, it's bogus. Life doesn't mean anything to anyone anymore," Spencer said.
Spencer said that, among his group of friends, the dead man was always one to try and stifle conflict before it escalated.
"He was always the one trying to disperse it, resolve it," Spencer said.
In other Friday night shootings:
A 27-year-old man was shot about 2:40 a.m. after arguing with two others in the 5200 block of South Wood Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, New Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. He's in stable condition at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital after sustaining multiple head wounds and a wound to his chest.
A 31-year-old man was shot in the 8900 block of South Morgan Street about 12:40 a.m., Alfaro said. He was taken from the scene in the Gresham neighborhood to Little Company of Mary Hospital. No condition was available.
Another man, 40, was driving in the 4900 block of West Ferdinand Street in the South Austin neighborhood when he was shot about 1:25 a.m. He suffered a graze wound and was taken to West Suburban Medical Center, Alfaro said.
Two women – one 31 and the other in her 50s – were wounded in separate South and West side shootings Friday.
Latest Breaking News
The 31-year-old was shot about 8:38 p.m. during an attempted robbery in the 4300 block of West 18th Street in the Lawndale neighborhood. She is in stable condition at Mount Sinai Hospital and was shot in the shoulder, News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said.
Earlier, the older woman was shot in her left arm and grazed in her chest, Alfaro said. She's in stable condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center. The shooting happened about 5:55 p.m. in the South Chicago neighborhood, in the 8700 block of South Commercial Avenue.
Nobody is in custody, and area detectives are investigating.
Twitter: @peternickeas


text:
Aspects highlighted this week include highlighting potential opportunity zones, management points and targets. Areas highlighted this week in the review are both high probability trend continuation type zones and counter trend zones in the market.
Pairs and Markets Analysed this Week: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, USDCHF, Gold, EURAUD, GBPAUD, GBPNZD, USDJPY, AUDNZD and Silver.


text:
MindYourFingers needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 40 designs submitted by 11 freelance designers.
We require a smart, professional and clean logo for our small but growing ecommerce website http://www.mindyourfingers.co.uk which sells pocket multi-tools(such as Leatherman), swiss army knives, torches and Zippo lighters.
Mind Your Fingers
Tools and Torches OR Tools, Torches and Flames
Desired Color Scheme:
Military blues and greys, Silver Metallic.
Desired Style:
Clean, modern and professional.
Accepted File Formats:
PNG, JPEG, a white background version and a transparent version
The logo we are looking for will contain the website name 'Mind Your Fingers' and a strap line which should be either 'Tools and Torches' or 'Tools, Torches and Flames'. Beyond the name and strap line, you are free to do whatever else with the design you see fit.
We would like the logo to be clear, sharp and edgy, in military blues(but preferably not camo) and silvery metallic type colours, with a hint of fire/flame if possible to integrate that into the design without it getting too busy. Although should you think a different colour scheme will work better feel free to submit one.
We are looking for a white background image and a transparant image to be used for watermarking images and overlaying on other images in general.
One big no-no is that we dont want any reference to fingers being chopped off, blood, injuries, burns, or anything along those lines.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
It's Glenn Miller's Birthday
Born March 1, big band leader Glenn Miller was raised in Fort Morgan and briefly attended CU before leaving to launch his career.
Because of his connection to Colorado, part of "The Glenn Miller Story" was filmed here.
Post photographers took pictures during the filming. The Denver Post archive had a number of the shots from the Trocadero ballroom at Elitch Gardens, downtown Denver and Lowry Air Force Base. (No Boulder photos.)
Many locals were used in the scenes. If you recognize someone, let us know.
This movie clip was filmed at Lowry
For a detailed biography of Glenn Miller, go to the Glenn Miller Archive at the University of Colorado College of Music.
Every June there is a Glenn Miller Swing Fest in Fort Morgan. (Thanks, Donna)


text:
Al Lewis: guilty of sensationalizing?
Re: "Not all that glitters is good," Aug. 5 Al Lewis column
While I recognize that as a columnist, Al Lewis can write whatever he likes with little-to-no editorial accountability, his recent commentary on the University of Denver's International Bridge Builders award honoring Newmont Chairman Wayne Murdy was a disservice to your readers. For one, Mr. Lewis sensationalizes claims against Newmont as "so horrible" that "Newmont's own shareholders have passed a resolution demanding that the company address them." What Mr. Lewis failed to mention is that Newmont actually encouraged its shareholders to vote in favor of this resolution that would provide for independent reporting on the company's social performance, worldwide.
In fact, the organization promoting the resolution issued a news release on April 19, 2007 praising Newmont for being the first mining company in the world to urge shareholder support for such a resolution (see Denver Post, April 20, 2007). Why would Mr. Lewis deliberately mischaracterize the nature of the resolution by leaving out that critical fact?
Mr. Lewis also raised issues relating to the Western Shoshone in Nevada saying that their claims are "remarkably like what cowboys have been doing to Indians for centuries." Reading that statement one would think Newmont was shooting Native Americans, driving them off of their lands and forcing them onto reservations. Again, Mr. Lewis offers a sensational claim while refusing to provide any supporting evidence.
The Western Shoshone's claims are against the United States government and the Bureau of Land Management for leasing government lands to natural resource companies, which is part of the BLM's charter. Mr. Lewis' characterization trivializes the plight of Native Americans and is demeaning both to their cause as well as to Newmont.
Perhaps most appalling is Mr. Lewis apparent dismay that anyone involved with gold mining could receive any public recognition for humanitarian activities ("But do you really have to give a gold miner a humanitarian award?") This ignores the fact that gold mining companies in Colorado and nationwide have received numerous awards and recognition for their contributions to safety, to environmental protection and to the communities in which they do business.
Mr. Lewis' column fails the test of responsible journalism and is an insult to the professionals who work in this industry.
Stuart A. Sanderson
Colorado Mining Association
This letter was not edited.


text:
Names are trickling in of the San Francisco Chronicle reporters who are taking a buyout. More than 40 are leaving in this round, and collectively they have more than 1,000 years at the institution. (This is only a partial list, as more than 80 people have applied for the buy out.)
Some of the paper's veteran reporters and biggest names are leaving. It looks like music, books and arts coverage will be hit hard, as well as the photo department.
Here are the names:
Joel Selvin, who has covered the rock and roll scene for 30 years or so.
Carl Hall, a longtime science reporter currently on leave.
Tom Meyer, editorial cartoonist.
Zachary Coile, a long-time reporter in the
Nancy Gay, who covers 49ers football and other major league teams.
Three of the papers top culture writers are departing, including Jesse Hamlin, Edward Guthmann, and Heidi Benson. They frequently profile authors, actors, and musicians.
Sabin Russell, who has covered science for decades.
Alison Biggar, the long-time editor of the Chronicle Magazine.
Sylvia Rubin, who covers fashion.
Bernadette Tansey, a biotech reporter. (She has been writing a new feature each Sunday that I love, a round-up of books on a particular business topic, but done in a very clever way.)
The photography department will take a big hit as six photographers, including Pulitzer-Prize winner Kim Komenich, are departing. The others include Michael Maloney, Craig Lee, Eric Luse, Mark Costatini and Kurt Rogers, a sports photographer
Other departures include:
Kevin Albert, editorial assistant
Greg Ambrose, copy editor
Charles Burress (who has covered
Peter Cafone, sports copy editor
Ken Costa, graphic designer
Dan Giesin, sports copy editor
Janice Greene, editorial assistant on the op-ed page
Elizabeth Hughes, copy editor
Leslie Innes, Datebook editor
Timothy Innes, foreign news wire editor
Rod Jones, copy editor, news
Eric Jungerman, designer
Kathy Kerrihard, library researcher
Simar Khanna, editor of Home and Garden section
Bonnie Lemons, copy editor, news
Glenn Mayeda, editorial assistant, sports
Johnny Miller, library researcher
Shirley-Anne Owden, copy editor, features
Courtenay Peddle, copy editor, news
Lee Sims, copy editor, news
Michelle Smith, a sports reporter who covers women's basketball
Patricia Yollin, metro reporter
The deadline for taking a buyout is Tuesday, and after that the Hearst Corporation plans to layoff more editorial, production, and advertising staff to bring the cuts to 150. So the list will grow longer. Hearst had wanted to lay off as many as 225 workers, (and threatened to shutter the paper) but backed off after the Newspaper Guild agreed to cuts in vacation time and seniority rules.
Just two years ago the Chronicle, which is losing about $1 million a week, laid off 100 people.


text:
Priyanka Conquering the World
In an exclusive, three-part interview with The Wall Street Journal's Lee Hawkins, Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra speaks of her move to music and her push to reach a more global audience. Priyanka also talks of her new album, of the success of her single, "In My City," and the rise of South Asian culture across the world.
Bollywood Star Priyanka Chopra Goes Global.
Priyanka Chopra & The Rise of South Asian Culture.
Priyanka Chopra On "In My City" & New Album.


text:
Blake & Leo go biking
Summer is not over, but I already know that if I were to recap the best gossip of Summer 2011, one of the top 3 stories would be Blake Lively's How Did She DO That to Leonardo DiCaprio?!?
Remember the f-cking idiot tabloid last week that reported they'd broken up because they saw a photograph of Leo with his ma and no Blake? There are STILL people emailing me about that asking when it happened and what next and whatever.
What's next is that Blake and Leo are in New York now. They were in California last week. She was working there. Then she had to work back in NYC. So he travels with her if he can, and right now, he can a lot. Because he wants to be around her. Because he's really, really into her. Because I know this was hard to believe, me too, but that's still what it is, that's still what multiple sources confirm to be the case.
So check it out – Blake and Leo with his boy Lukas Haas on Saturday, riding their bikes around the city. What's the law in New York? You don't have to wear a helmet? Or do you but they never ticket? I know this is the wrong thing to say but I think I'd ride a bike more if I could look as cute as she does on hers and a lot of that has to do with the fact that, um, she's not wearing one which, CHILL, I'm not saying don't, I'm just saying I'd rather walk than go with the headgear, is that ok?
Photos from INF


text:
The upcoming Italian elections Feb. 24-25 are testing whether democracy can correct itself. The elections are a contest between the populism of short-term fixes and the long-term reforms necessary to make Italy's economy solvent, competitive, and sustainable over the long run.
Mario Monti's period (beginning November 2011) as an unelected "technocratic" prime minister appointed by President Napolitano, outside of politics, was a "circuit breaker." It aimed at shifting Italy's unsustainable course by making reforms on a range of issues from pensions to taxes to flexibility in the labor market. Taking a sober look at the future, Mr. Monti's policies sought to respond to a reality all of Europe must face.
Europe has 7 percent of the global population and accounts for 24 percent of global production and 50 percent of social spending. As the emerging economies from China to Brazil to Turkey level the playing field and erode Europe's share of production, Europeans will have to become more competitive and productive to be able to finance the same level of social spending. Or the level of benefits people have become used to must be cut.
For all his willingness to face the facts, Mr. Monti has been rewarded by the electorate with plummeting poll numbers. Some polls suggest Monti's coalition would only garner about 13 percent of the vote in an election.
To be sure, austerity alone cannot enable Italy to escape its debt trap. But debtor countries like Italy have little fiscal room for stimulus. That has to come from the creditors in Europe, namely Germany. Yet, there too, Chancellor Angela Merkel risks political failure in German elections next fall if she would agree to a stimulus program or a "bailout" of the debtor countries. In Germany, too, the short-term horizon of voters blocks a long-term solution to Europe's collective woes.
Monti's "circuit breaker" policies are a battle against two forces: the "Diet Coke culture" of consumer democracy and the "vetocracy." In a consumer democracy, all the feedback signals – the media, market, and politics – steer behavior toward immediate gratification. Just as people expect sweetness without calories, they seem to want consumption without savings, high standards of living without a competitive economy, and a welfare state without taxes.
Vetocracy is a decayed form of democracy in which special interests – from unions to banks – have staked a claim on the state and seek to block any reform that threatens their spoils. In Italy, such special interests even have so-called "acquired rights." To satisfy such appetites, debt as a percent of GDP in Italy soared from 60 percent in 1980 to 120 percent by 1992.
A vote to retain this status quo is not only a vote for the past – because it is a vote for the vested interests of the present – but it is a vote against the future. Former Italian prime minister and current candidate Silvio Berlusconi is in many ways the poster boy for Diet Coke democracy and vetocracy as he revs up the right-wing populist impulse. Beppe Grillo on the populist left has more to offer by rightly expressing the anger and frustration over pervasive corruption. But anger and frustration are not a governing program.
Italians should consider what is at stake. Albeit in a global growth environment, former German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, was able to push through the kind of structural reforms Monti has proposed back in 2003 when he was in office. He was rewarded by being kicked out of office in the next election. Yet, a decade later, Germany is the strongest and most competitive economy in Europe as a result of those reforms.
Reforms take many years to manifest their benefits, and are always unpopular at the outset. Clearly, democracy mispriced the value of Mr. Schroeder's reforms. Will it do the same for Monti's?
Is Monti a legitimate candidate?
The related issue is whether Mario Monti should have put himself forward directly as a candidate for prime minister again in the election campaign. Because he is already a "senator for life," Monti cannot technically stand for parliamentary election, but he could be re-appointed as prime minister if his coalition makes adequate gains in parliament.
In an effort to retain his elevated, "above the fray" impartiality, Monti instead has agreed to serve again in government only if the reform agenda he proposes to continue (his structural reforms) gains enough support from the various parties contending for seats to win a sufficient majority. Only then would a new government be able to see them through. Critics argue that if Monti doesn't "earn" a leadership role as a candidate, he won't be "legitimate."
I understand this argument but can also see how Monti's path makes sense. What is important is the "circuit breaker" agenda. It would be useless to elect a "re-politicized government" without a majority to implement reform. Monti is already a member of parliament as a senator-for-life and thus legitimately eligible for a leadership role in Italy's parliamentary system.
Also, what Monti is attempting is not so strange in other democracies. When Jerry Brown successfully campaigned for governor of California in 2010, he pledged he would not raise taxes without "asking the people." One reason he did this is that bipartisan gridlock in the California legislature – where a supermajority two-thirds vote is required to raise taxes – blocked his ability to raise taxes through the legislature.
In his first two years in office, Gov. Brown slashed spending while he sought to obtain supermajority approval – not to raise taxes, but only to get permission from the legislature to put a proposition on the ballot so the voters could decide what to do. That also required a two-thirds vote, which he couldn't get.
In California's direct democracy, voters can make laws and change the state constitution without going through the legislature. To do so, they must gather the requisite signatures from the public (around 1 million). Once a measure qualifies for the ballot, it becomes law if it passes.
So, failing to get the legislature to allow the public to vote, the governor set up a civil society committee with the teachers' unions to propose raising the sales and income tax for a direct vote of the public. Even though he was the governor, his committee had to gather the requisite signatures to qualify the proposition. In November, that tax plan passed, giving California a temporary reprieve from budget bleeding.
I must add, however, that the new tax avoided the challenge of the "Diet Coke habits" of the general public since it was targeted for restoration of education cuts, a good thing, but only applied to "others" – the rich making more than $250,000 per year. In a society edging toward plutocracy, this was a necessary precondition of broader reform, but only that.
The "candidate" in this case was not Governor Brown. The candidate was a tax policy put forward by a civil society group that included the governor.
Mario Monti's "agenda for reform" being put forward to the voters without a candidacy seems to me very much the same kind of idea. It is an innovation in democratic politics for the tough times we face – a referendum on the future versus the status quo and the past. If that is legitimate in the radical democracy of California, why not in Italy?
Nathan Gardels is editor-in-chief of NPQ and the Global Viewpoint Network of Tribune Media Services. He is co-author with Nicolas Berggruen of "Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East."
© 2013 Global Viewpoint Network/Tribune Media Services. Hosted online by The Christian Science Monitor.


text:
Let your friends know! Update your Facebook status or send a Tweet to share these 360-degree views.
More Panoramic Views
This exclusive collection of interactive panoramic pictures lets you explore the hospitality venues at Pittsburgh's PNC Park with full 360-degree views.
Host your event in a real Big League Clubhouse!
The Clubhouses are unique areas for entertaining guests. They're perfect for corporate gatherings, such as sales meetings, corporate retreats and team-building events; and social gatherings, such as birthday parties and cocktail receptions (there is limited availability of the Clubhouses based on the Pirates schedule).
Capacity is 25 to 100 guests, depending on room set-up.


text:
Check out the latest RPG news | Podcasts | Twitch Streams
It's not apples to apples.
In all fairness, we have NO idea what's creating this issue, so assuming that it's something as basic as you say Anuubis is a little cocky. 20,000+ people getting the same error for over 24 hours can't be as simple as you or any of us think, otherwise we'd all be making money hand over fist by running our own MMO.
FINAL FANTASY XIV @FF_XIV_EN 4mIf you're still unable to log in, we ask that you please wait and try again later as we work to address the issue for remaining characters.Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More FINAL FANTASY XIV @FF_XIV_EN 5mIf you have submitted your World/Character Name on the Error 3102 thread we created, please check to see if you can log in.Expand FINAL FANTASY XIV @FF_XIV_EN 5mWhile recovery is not fully complete, we have been able to address a large number of characters that were affected by error 3102. #FFXIV
So can you only unlock the other jobs in certain cities or should all of the jobs be in every city? I know that to change jobs after you unlock them you just have to equip an appropriate weapon, but to unlock them where do you go?


text:
Are you in the right place?
Please select your shipping country.
Stijl nr.
In this volume, we meet up with four different artists to explore their personal reflections on their own work. In Copenhagen, we meet up with Frederik and Oliver—university friends turned artistic duo producing pieces for the likes of Noma. In Los Angeles, we find Canadian rapper, Jazz Cartier, fresh off his North American tour with time to gather ideas for the next project. Back in Denmark's capital city, we brought a camera to the Vibe Factory, interrupting the sultry singer/songwriter, Kwamie Liv, just days before taking off to Tokyo to make her acting debut. And traveling back to the US, we got the first look at the new apartment and studio space of lifetime New Yorker, Lexie Smith, known casually to many as, "that bread girl."


text:
Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium Oral capsule
What is this medicine?
PENTOSAN (PEN toe san) is used to treat the bladder pain or discomfort caused by interstitial cystitis. This is a condition that causes inflammation of parts of the kidney.
This medicine may be used for other purposes; ask your health care provider or pharmacist if you have questions.
What should I tell my health care provider before I take this medicine?
They need to know if you have any of these conditions:
kidney or liver disease
an unusual or allergic reaction to pentosan, other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives
pregnant or trying to get pregnant
How should I use this medicine?
Take this medicine by mouth with a glass of water. Follow the directions on the prescription label. Take this medicine on an empty stomach, at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after food. Do not take with food. Take your doses at regular intervals. Do not take your medicine more often than directed.
Talk to your pediatrician regarding the use of this medicine in children. Special care may be needed.
Overdosage: If you think you have taken too much of this medicine contact a poison control center or emergency room at once.
NOTE: This medicine is only for you. Do not share this medicine with others.
What if I miss a dose?
If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you can. If it is almost time for your next dose, take only that dose. Do not take double or extra doses.
What may interact with this medicine?
Do not take this medicine with any of the following medications:
agents that prevent or dissolve blood clots like heparin or warfarin
aspirin, especially in higher doses
This medicine may also interact with the following medications:
NSAIDs, medicines for pain and inflammation, like ibuprofen or naproxen
This list may not describe all possible interactions. Give your health care provider a list of all the medicines, herbs, non-prescription drugs, or dietary supplements you use. Also tell them if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs. Some items may interact with your medicine.
What should I watch for while using this medicine?
Tell your doctor or health care professional that you are taking this medicine if you are going to have a medical procedure or surgery.
What side effects may I notice from receiving this medicine?
Side effects that you should report to your doctor or health care professional as soon as possible:
allergic reactions like skin rash, itching or hives, swelling of the face, lips, or tongue
signs and symptoms of bleeding such as bloody or black, tarry stools; red or dark-brown urine; spitting up blood or brown material that looks like coffee grounds; red spots on the skin; unusual bruising or bleeding from the eye, gums, or nose
stomach pain
Side effects that usually do not require medical attention (report to your doctor or health care professional if they continue or are bothersome):
hair loss
This list may not describe all possible side effects. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Where should I keep my medicine?
Keep out of the reach of children.
Store at room temperature between 15 and 30 degrees C (59 and 86 degrees F). Throw away any unused medicine after the expiration date.
March 21, 2017
U.S. FDA-approved Package Insert


text:
Stephen Fry.
Charlie Brooker.
The blatant sexual chemistry between Michael Portillo and Diane Abbot on This Week.
Originally Posted by woops
but soooo true
I would like to bless Bundaberg Root Beer. It's lovely stuff, not quite as nice as Thomas Kemper but we in England are beggars in this field and thus cannot be choosers.
Also for blessing, not blazing: Ms STN, The Prefects, Deborah Kerr, John Cowper Powys and The Earl of Sandwich.
Rob has always been on it, great DJ and all-round good egg.
nur i hate stephen fry
irn bru / rhubarb / kids on public transport who listen to their mobile phones without headphones and sing along / CRICKET / 17 / chorizo / people who treat kids with absolute respect
raspberry juice/ the wire/ oscar niemeyer/ volleyed goals from outside the penalty area/ soviet cosmonaut chic
Having a 3rd Osc/Joy Division/Steven Patrick Morrissey/Nick Kent/Heroes/The Wire/Flakes/Friday Afternoon
brian winning big brother, seems a very nice bloke, like the old blues style haircut, my girlfriend likes watching it ok,?
The flats i live in went a bit mad when he won, they got well excited upstairs and down.
also people who are stealth helpful.
they do it when you don't really realise it for whatever reason, bless them.
Last edited by mms; 31-08-2007 at 10:36 PM.


text:
FootJoy Tour-S Golf Shoeview other products
This new FootJoy shoe was inspired by what the best players in the world wanted to wear, so it's no surprise that we also love the stability and style it offers.
The Tour-S boasts waterproof protection and great comfort from its unique collar, tongue and midsole design, while its PowerPlate outsole provides a lightweight and stable platform so you can transfer power more efficiently during your swing.
Key features and benefits:
- PowerStrap on the upper enhances medial and lateral support
- SecureCollar and ComforTongue deliver secure and comfy fit
- All-day underfoot comfort from dual-density PU Fit-Bed
- PowerPlate outsole provides lightweight and stable platform
- Launch Pods extend heel and forefoot surface area to maximise grip
- Premium Performance Leather for comfort with waterproof protection
If you want durable quality and trendy styling with reliable grip and stability, you must come and take a look at the Tour-S shoe. While you're here we can talk you through the size and width options and why not try a pair on for size?


text:
"As training professionals, we are builders. We have been blessed with talents and abilities to help others, to build them up and help them succeed." –Don Vaughn, Training and Development Specialist, Sioux Falls Federal Credit Union, and 2011 ELLy Training Professional of the Year.
To recognize excellence and innovation in credit union training, CUNA hosts the CUNA Experience Learning Live! (ELLy) Training Awards annually—one of the only national awards presented to trainers in the credit union movement.
Winners are announced at CUNA Experience Learning Live!, a credit union trainer-centric conference that features the latest insights in credit union training. Attendees return to their credit unions to maximize staff morale, strengthen their volunteer dedication, and increase the overall knowledge of their staff.
Competition for the ELLy awards is fierce. Credit unions of all asset sizes compete for only a few awards.
While there's no hard and fast formula to win an ELLy award, each ELLy award recipient displays creativity, originality, and perseverance.
However, the group of ELLy award recipients differs drastically from year to year. So the question remains: What does an ELLy award winner look like?
We reached out to past 2011 ELLy award winners to find out.
Vaughn was recognized for revitalizing his credit union's culture after the president/CEO of the past 30+ years stepped down and a new CEO took over. Unsurprisingly, the new CEO had a personal vision of how his credit union should operate. Vaughn was there to help make this vision a reality.
Through weekly training classes, customized CUNA CPDOnline classes, a member needs handbook, increased training expectations, and a formal shadowing program, Vaughn ensured his staff embraced the new philosophies and duties the new CEO introduced at Sioux Falls Federal.
Through what Vaughn calls the SALT Program (Sales & Service, Accountability, Leadership, and Teamwork), he converted both veteran and new employees to the new credit union culture and helped them work more harmoniously with their co-workers and members.
"To be truly effective as a trainer, one must not only have the support of all learners, but also a desire to learn and then apply what you've learned," Vaughn says. "Adult learners need to know that training is going to benefit them."'
Vaughn has said that getting employees to come together to embrace an overall mission of has been his primary goal as a credit union trainer.
CUs transform training
Pam Hoadley, credit union trainer at Educators Credit Union in Racine, Wis., and the recipient of the 2011 Wow! Award, looked to new technologies to revitalize her credit union's training program, creating a training video with the help of her staff.
"We felt that keeping it fun and using media really resonated with staff the most," Hoadley says. "It was great to have the staff involved in the video. Having 'in-house actors' both entertained our staff and helped other staff members connect and relate with the message we tried to get across."
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ken Kelly and Michelle Trekas of Red Canoe Credit Union, Longview, Wash., were honored with the Catalyst Award, a premiere honor recognizing a training department that serves as a conduit of energy for the credit union.
Kelly and Trekas, no strangers to the ELLy awards, were noticed for the sheer number of quality training programs and events they held at their credit union, including:
• Le Tour De Gnome: An annual event where Red Canoe departments work together to find a special "Golden Gnome" hidden somewhere within a 50-mile radius of the credit union. Teams decipher clues to find the hidden statue for prizes and bragging rights.
• Fight Club: Only credit union professionals who received mystery shops of 93.5% or better were asked to become a part of this exclusive club. They do not talk about it.
Select club members got to punch out a hole in a giant punchboard and pull out prizes, including free lunches and jean day certificates.
• Castle Rock Branch Grand Opening: To relieve the stress involved in opening a new branch, promote team unity, and reward staff for their hard work, employees were treated to a fun-filled day at the Great Wolf Lodge, a hotel/water park.
The event featured various contests held to help employees build healthy work relationships.
• Let's Make a Meal: This is a themed lunch created to celebrate success with second-quarter sales and service goals. The staff was given a catered lunch followed by a game similar to "Let's Make a Deal" that included the opportunity to win gifts and prizes.
Many dressed in '70's garb to recreate the classic television show.
• Minute to Win It!: This wacky game paired laughter with sales and service strategies to educate leaders on company policies, forge management cohesiveness, and have fun.
• Monthly sales meetings: To keep the momentum going from the CUNA Creating Member Loyalty Program™, these monthly meetings were introduced to spark conversation, uncover potential sales-related problems, and keep staff engaged with the sales and service program.
• IQ Challenge: Participants answered a variety of questions and solved brain teasers in a friendly competition to benefit a charity and to prove, once and for all, who at Red Canoe Credit Union is the wisest of them all.
Being an effective trainer requires an element of humility, Kelly and Trekas say. "No matter how many awards you win, you're never going to have all the right answers. Our inspiration comes from our staff. If we're struggling to come up with ideas, we look to the very talented people we work with."
Exceptional trainers must be flexible, open to change, and willing to face any challenge that comes their way.
Not all ELLy award winners have the same "look," but they all have a calling to build people up and help them succeed.
MARLO FOLTZ is director of blending learning for CUNA's center for professional development. Contact her at 800-356-9655, ext. 4232.


text:
I guess there are more folks that would like to see some more characters from the anime Angel Beats because I keep getting requests for more tuts on them. Since I already did Angel or Kanade, I thought I would make a lesson on "how to draw Yuri Nakamura", step by step. As I mentioned before, Yuri is the one that has a big problem with Angel and she is also the leader of the SSS which stands for 'Shinda Sekai Sensen'. This group blames God for their hardships and troubles in life. Therefore they rebel, and fight against him. Yuri believes that Angel or Tenshi is somehow connected to God because she possesses powers that are quite supernatural. Because of this she makes it her mission in life to bring down Tenshi which is why she is always finding new ways to make an attack on her. Yuri almost always drags Hinata around with her as she fulfills her plots no matter what they may be. Other than her sour feelings for God, she is also quite the looker. She has purple colored hair with a full set of neatly combed bangs. She wears a headband that is almost the same color of her hair but it also has a yellowish green ruffled ribbon attached to the side of the headband. Her eyes are pretty because they are like this ocean green color. Apart from being cruel to Angel, Tenshi, Kanade, or whatever you want to call her, she has a pretty charismatic personality which draws people to her. I had fun drawing Yuri because she was simple and entertaining to recreate or replicate. Of course if you're a fan of the Angel Beats series, you will probably enjoy this lesson more than I did making it. I have more stuff coming your way so stay tuned in to see what it is. Peace people and 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:
In late 2008, when it becomes clear that newly elected President Obama will nominate Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation presents a very large conflict of interest problem. There is a particular concern that foreign governments could use donations to the foundation to influence the Clinton-led State Department.
As a result, on December 12, 2008, the foundation's CEO Bruce Lindsey signs a memorandum of understanding with Valerie Jarrett, co-chair of Obama's transition team. It allows governments which had previously donated to the foundation to continue to do so, but only at existing yearly levels. It details an ethics review process for new donating countries or countries that want to "materially increase" their support. However, it does not prohibit foreign countries with interests before the US government from continuing to give money to the foundation.
The Washington Post will later report, "Some of the donations came from countries with complicated diplomatic, military, and financial relationships with the US government, including Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman. Other nations that donated included Australia, Norway, and the Dominican Republic." The Post will also note, "Foreign governments and individuals are prohibited from giving money to US political candidates, to prevent outside influence over national leaders. But the foundation has given donors a way to potentially gain favor with the Clintons outside the traditional political limits."
The agreement will expire when Clinton ends her tenure as secretary of state in February 2013. (The Washington Post, 2/25/2015) (US Senate, 12/18/2008) The agreement covers the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (CGEP), a Canadian offshoot of the Clinton Foundation that some will later call a "slush fund" for the Clintons. The agreement will be broken in the case of the CGEP, as the Clinton Foundation will not reveal the names of those who donated through the CGEP. (Bloomberg News, 4/19/2015) (Harper's Magazine, 11/17/2015)
The agreement will also be broken in other aspects. For instance, in 2015 it will be reported that the foundation didn't disclose any foreign donors to the public, despite that being stipulated in the agreement. It will also emerge that no punishment was spelled out if the agreement was violated. (The Boston Globe, 4/30/2015)


text:
|Audioengine N22 Desktop Audio Amplifier Review
|Monday, 06 December 2010
Page 1 of 2
One discussion topic I constantly see on Audio forums and chat rooms is the "second system." Most of us dream of having at least one room in the home/apartment that can serve as a primary listening and/or home theater room. But bringing a functional system into any room while maintaining feng shui can be challenging. It can be doubly challenging for a second system. When it comes down to it, most of us are willing to sacrifice some performance for convenience; after all, who wants a 60-pound amp sitting on the dresser, no matter how great the sound? Audioengine's latest release, the N22 Desktop Audio Amplifier makes such sacrifices a lot easier. This 22-watt unit can serve proudly in any second system, even as "the" system if space dictates.
Small but Versatile
The N22 is built to fit in nearly any room, no matter how limited your space. This compact, 22-watt amp stands 7&1/4 inches high, extends 7&5/8 inches deep and measures barely more than 4 inches across, which includes the built-in stand. (I have books that consume more space than this amp.) And because the N22 stands vertically, it tucks easily into tight spaces. I use the upper room in my home as a dual office/music room. My main audio setup is against the south wall, while my desk and computer occupy the north side. Because of this, my back is turned toward my primary rig, so when it comes time for serious listening I shift to the center where I have a couple chairs placed for such activity. That doesn't mean when I'm working that I don't listen to music, but it most often comes from the periphery instead of me being front and center. The N22 changed that. I could put the amp on my desk, to one side of my computer monitor, and have full access to music from the "north." The amp has plenty of ventilation and runs quite cool so it can handle cramped quarters without issue.
Although the N22 has a small footprint, it doesn't scrimp on features. It includes a headphone amp, and unlike most audio amplifiers the N22 can run safely without speakers connected. The headphone amp operates independently of the power amplifier, which is a pretty cool feature and makes the amp even more versatile. Should you want to listen to music stored on an iPod/iPhone through headphones only, you can bring the N22 along (it weighs about 4 pounds) without the burden of lugging speakers and their cables through the house. Plug in the amp and connect your device and headphones and you're ready. A preamp output also makes it possible to connect a subwoofer (for 2.1 "surround"), external amp or Audioengine's own wireless adapter and maintain volume control via the front dial. The rear panel also features a USB power port to keep iPods, iPhones and other USB-powered devices fully charged.
I wouldn't use the N22 to drive high-end mini monitors, as they are often less sensitive and require greater power to drive; but the AudioEngine amp deserves better than a $25 pair of plastic "computer speakers." (AudioEngine's own P4 passive bookshelf speakers would be a logical pairing to the N22.) My trusty Athena AS-B1 bookshelf speakers, with sensitivity rating of 90dB, proved an excellent match to the N22. My sources included an iPod mini,and iTunes via my Mac mini.


text:
Original Trinity Hymnal, #104
From Psalm 19:1-6, 14
The heav'ns declare thy glory,
The firmament thy pow'r;
Day unto day the story
Repeats from hour to hour;
Night unto night replying,
Proclaims in every land,
O Lord, with voice undying,
The wonders of thy hand.
The sun with royal splendor
Goes forth to chant thy praise,
And moonbeams soft and tender
Their gentler anthem raise;
Over every tribe and nation
The music strange is poured,
The song of all creation
To thee, creation's Lord.
All heaven on high rejoices
To do its Maker's will,
The stars with solemn voices
Resound thy praises still;
So let my whole behavior,
Thoughts, words, and actions be,
O Lord, my Strength, my Saviour,
One ceaseless song to thee.
Page number: Blue 104, Right-Click Here to Download MIDI File
|© 2020 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


text:
PRO+ Premium Content/Storage
Access your Pro+ Content below.
Don't get stuck with old backup ideas: Best Practices
This article is part of the Storage issue of Vol. 7 No. 7 September 2008
Backup may have been around forever, but it sure looks different these days. It's said a shark must keep moving or die. While this may not be entirely true, it's something to consider when talking about the realities of IT today. If you aren't moving forward, you're almost certainly falling behind, and standing still inevitably leads to an inability to meet the service needs of your organization. Data backup is as old as computing itself. Ever since the first paper tapes and punch-card decks were duplicated, IT admins have recognized the need for multiple copies to guard against the unexpected. But even in the days of batch computing, accomplishing this task presented the ever-familiar challenges of resource constraints, limited time to accomplish the backup and managing multiple copies. Until recently, the basic nature of backup has remained largely a batch-oriented tape management process. Magnetic tape, evolving for decades in terms of speed, capacity and reliability, was the core technology that enabled offsite and long-term...
Access this PRO+ Content for Free!
Features in this issue
Are full backups a thing of the past?
In the not-so-distant past, we relied on tape backups for operational recovery, disaster recovery and long-term data retention. But are full nightly backups to tape still needed now that we have new disk-based technologies like snapshots and continuous data protection?
Storage administrators find some relief for backup headaches
Our View: Whom do you trust?
Dedupe moves beyond backup
SMBs move beyond the VTL interface
Midrange online backup offerings help SMBs get on the cloud
Ask the Experts: RTOs and RPOs
Is there a standard ratio between RTOs and RPOs, or are they independent of each other?
CDP in depth
Continuous data protection (CDP) technology is now a viable alternative to traditional backup software and storage system-based replication software. But CDP products can vary significantly, especially in the context of different storage architectures. Depending on specific environments, companies may have to evaluate very different criteria before settling on a CDP product.
The lure of open-source backup programs
Disk-to-disk backup enticing in many forms: Survey Says
Disk-to-disk backup enticing in many forms
Dedupe myths and methods
Exaggerated claims, rapidly changing technology and persistent myths make navigating the deduplication landscape treacherous. We list the top five dedupe myths and provide tips to help you get a deduplication product that fits your organization's needs at a competitive price.
No rush to deploy iSCSI
Small disks, big specs
Hard disk drives have been around for more than 50 years, but the technology is on the cusp of big changes--SAS, a shift to the 2.5-inch form factor and a steady increase in disk drive capacity--that will affect enterprise storage for years to come.
DAS revs up for a resurgence
Ballooning storage by the numbers
LTO top tape format by far: Survey says
Ask the Expert: NFS vs. CIFS
What should you consider when choosing between Network File Sharing (NFS) or Common Internet File System (CIFS)?
DC power can cut costs, but conversion isn't easy
Centralize virtualization at the switch
There are a number of ways you can virtualize your storage, but because a switch-based virtualization engine works out-of-band, there's no need for server agents, making it the most scalable and highest performing of all virtualization architectures.
Price of SAS drives dips
Backup apps' reporting tools become more versatile
Archiving, DR join backup as online services
Backup software by the numbers
Why are you using a VTL or why have you decided not to use one?
Virtual server backup tips
Virtualized servers yield many benefits, but they can also add complexity to backup operations. There are three main ways to back up a virtual server. Here's how to determine which method is best for your virtualized server environment and storage requirements.
What storage product would you like to see on the market that isn't now?
New life for NAS
Quality Awards IV: On top again: CommVault Galaxy, EMC Retrospect
CommVault's Galaxy solidified its position as the top enterprise backup product by finishing first for the third time in the four years we've conducted the Quality Awards. Among the midrange products, EMC Retrospect retained its crown as group champion.
Our View: When good admins go bad
Columns in this issue
Gen2 virtual tape libraries: Hot Spots
From disaster recovery to capacity optimization and dedupe, the next phase of VTL products promises change.
Backup by the numbers: Backup Purchasing
Results from Storage magazine's most recent Purchasing Intentions survey reveal that respondents will have to expand or alter their backup systems to protect ever-growing data stores.
Connecting the backup dots: Editorial
Break those backup bottlenecks: Best Practices
Backup performance tuning is an art, but identifying infrastructure bottlenecks is more of a strict mathematical exercise once you know the important numbers. And understanding the source of existing and potential bottlenecks makes it easier to find and resolve them.
Coping with cloud storage: Editorial
Migration projects need automation boost: Hot Spots
If you have a data migration project in the works, challenge your storage vendor, storage software vendor or third-party consulting firm to deliver a solution that reduces the time, risk and cost of your project.
Don't get stuck with old backup ideas: Best Practices
The time has come to shed your traditional, compartmentalized view of backup and embrace a recovery-centric data management focus.
Keep it simple, stupid: Part deux: Storage Bin 2.0
Are you one of those companies that leaves inactive data on the most expensive architecture and applies stringent (expensive) processes to that same data? If so, wise up!


text:
I guess the first lesson I will submit is the one on "how to draw Longtail", step by step from Warrior Cats. I will sometimes make these characters from time to time when people request them. A lot of members have uploaded their own works of art and lessons on these popular cats from the childrens book that has gotten inside the minds of so many teens and young adults. Longtail is what I would call a gray colored tiger cat that has really dark black stripes. Instead of being a robust cat, Longtail is slender with long legs. He does have a scar on his ear which leaves it looking like someone carved a V from his ear. If you are an avid reader of the books you should know all the 411 on Longtail. Unfortunately I didn't read the series yet, so I don't know too much about this Warrior Cat. I do know that Longtail is very protective and doesn't take a liking to cats that are or where naturally born into a clan. Anyways, I think you will find that Longtail is spruced up a bit to go along with his character description or personality. I hope you like this version of one of the coolest looking Warrior Cats I have drawn to date. Peace out folks and 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:
Many of Heffernan's paintings have a European flair. The lushness of the landscape feels familiar, like a Baroque or Renaissance canvas. "Self-Portrait Moving Out" and its cohorts, now displayed at the Palo Alto Art Center, are works informed by the past but immersed in the present. In turn, they can provide bridges to the future by warning about growing dangers, albeit picturesquely.
This summer, the art center has paired Heffernan's figurative and landscape paintings with work by another artist who draws on the past. Across from the main exhibit, "Sky Is Falling: Paintings by Julie Heffernan," is "Community Heirloom Project" by Bay Area artist Shenny Cruces.
Members of the Palo Alto community have contributed their own pieces of the past to these assemblage sculptures. Cruces put out a call for objects that were meaningful — but not so meaningful that people would object to having them cast in porcelain. The artist worked the items, or porcelain reproductions of them, into sculptures filled with repeating patterns: rabbit ears, doll faces, clock pendulums and a piggy bank shaped like a pineapple. There's humor and a curious grace in this rebranding of familiar objects.
"They're tightly packed," curator Lisa Ellsworth says of the assemblages during a tour, "and the more you look the more you find. She's very deliberate." Ellsworth points out a repeating motif of arcs: both in the curves of the bunny ears and in the way that delicate plates are arranged on one wall.
Ellsworth finds the pairing of Heffernan and Cruces a natural one. Besides bridging the past and present, both artists also share a love of details and layered elements, she said.
Heffernan, a New Yorker who grew up in Marin County, is presenting her exhibition as a mid-career survey, though most of the works are from the last five years. Born in 1956 in Illinois, she earned a bachelor's degree in painting and printmaking from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master's in painting from the Yale School of Art. She has exhibited in galleries from Tokyo to San Francisco to New York.
"This is my first show in Palo Alto and I'm thrilled because when I was in high school we would steal my parents' car and come out here to hang out on Stanford campus and pretend we were college kids," Heffernan says in an email interview. "So now legitimately to be hanging out here (at least virtually!) is in a sense a way of things coming back around!"
Heffernan's cheerfulness is reflected in her paintings. Dark motifs and scenes dwell side-by-side with optimistic images: dead birds and fruit bursting with ripeness, ample flowers and loosely woven net bags that barely keep their contents from falling. Heavy topics such as conspicuous consumption, war and climate change blossom in her work, thanks in part to the National Public Radio programs she listens to while painting.
"Self-Portrait Moving Out," Heffernan says, is absolutely about consumption. "The pile in 'Moving Out' is all the extra useless stuff we haul around throughout our lives that provide, I guess, some kind of psychic ballast for us, but really just holds us down."
She mentions the large letters interspersed among the women's possessions in the painting: H-E-L-P-D-U-N-K-L-E. "'Hell' means 'light' in German, and Dunkle means dark, but hell is also that place down below, and when merged with the falling letter P is a cry for ..." Heffernan writes, trailing off. "I want some of the stuff the women are hauling to function as the words they don't have, their cries in the wilderness."
Other aspects of the painting have double meanings. While the flags flying above the possessions look celebratory, they are also of the nations that will be hit first by sea-level rise, Ellsworth says back in the gallery. The Tuscan-esque buildings down below are starting to be submerged in water.
Then again, there are ways out: Pathways and ladders create a network through the painting. Ellsworth smiles, pointing out their lines. "She creates room for hopefulness and redemption in her work."
Another dramatic painting in the show is placed at the front of the main gallery, welcoming visitors in with a frank gaze. "Self-Portrait in the Cross Hairs," from 2006, is one of Heffernan's many canvases depicting women in giant headdresses and skirts, scenes both luxurious and unsettling. Here, the lady has her head adorned with chandelier crystals piling up to the top of the canvas. Her skirt is a bouquet of round objects, mixing stone fruits with glowing orbs that could be glass balls or grapes. At her feet are dead fish and dead birds, and two rodents in fisticuffs. Ancient scenes of war rage in the background.
"There's a precariousness to life," Ellsworth says.
All of Heffernan's works in the show are oil paintings on canvas except for one. "Self-Portrait as Intrepid Scout Leader," from 2012, is a many-layered archival pigment print incorporating museum board, glass jewels, gold leaf and other materials. It's one of her only prints.
A thousand stories dwell within "Self-Portrait as Broken Home," a 2008 oil of a peculiar sort of apartment building. Rooms are stacked in an organic shape with intriguing actions going on inside: white birds fluttering around a TV, a woman shooting someone, a Christmas tree that spans two rooms through a hole in the floor. There are countless stories waiting to be told by a viewer, and that's an artistic approach that Shenny Cruces can appreciate.
In her "Community Heirloom Project," viewers must craft their own interpretations for the sculptures. Who ate from those dainty plates, wore the kid glove, played with the iron rabbit? The artist, who works as the ceramics manager at the Richmond Art Center, didn't know what bounty she would reap when she put out the call for the heirlooms. The plastic pineapple piggybank was a treat when it arrived, as were the old meerschaum pipes.
To cast the items, Cruces made a plaster mold of each piece and then poured liquid porcelain inside. "You get this casting, just like a chocolate bunny during Easter," she says in a phone interview. With the porcelain version, "you don't have to have all the details and colors of the original object," she said. "It gives you a hint about what's going on."
Some items were left alone rather than being cast. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses, for instance, looked better as is. A chair is still made mostly of wood, except that Cruces has repaired its broken spindle by creating a new one from porcelain. In some places, she's added gold lacquer.
As Ellsworth noted, Cruces created many repeating arcs in her installation. "I really wanted it to look like a sacred space, like a cathedral," she says. "These objects were obviously important to someone."
As for the pineapple, Cruces isn't sure what it meant. But she enjoys speculating. The bank was from Waikiki Beach, with a hole that could be used for a drinking straw (presumably, before any coins were put inside).
"Maybe it was on their honeymoon," Cruces muses. "Maybe it was the most beautiful place they'd ever been, and this was their souvenir of it."
What: Paintings by Julie Heffernan and sculptures by Shenny Cruces, at the Palo Alto Art Center
Where: 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto
When: Through Sept. 1. The center is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.
Cost: Free.
Info: Interactive parts of the exhibits feature porcelain keys by Cruces that visitors can take home, and an area where visitors can make collages of patterned magnets that resemble Heffernan's paintings. A closing talk with Shenny Cruces is planned for Aug. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m.
For more, go to cityofpaloalto.org/artcenter or call 650-329-2366. Cruces plans to include some of the stories behind her sculptures at communityheirloom.blogspot.com.
This story contains 1398 words.
Stories older than 90 days are available only to subscribing members. Please help sustain quality local journalism by becoming a subscribing member today.
If you are already a subscriber, please log in so you can continue to enjoy unlimited access to stories and archives. Subscriptions start at $5 per month and may be cancelled at any time.


text:
Why Minor in Teacher Education at CIU?
More than a minor, the Teacher Education program prepares you to be licensed to teach in an early childhood education program or elementary school in just five years. Here's how it works. You'll earn a bachelor's degree in Bible and a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T) that leads to licensure. Additionally, you will earn a minor in education that provides teaching experience, and makes you eligible for an Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) certification in elementary education with an endorsement in early childhood. Complete other designated courses, and you can add an ACSI endorsement in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
You may also pursue a supporting minor in various fields of study such as Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), Psychology, Youth Ministry, Bible Teaching or English.
Your Future
Teacher Education at CIU leads you to a world of possibilities:
- Teaching Pre-K to sixth grade in public schools, international schools, charter schools, Christian schools, MK schools, home schools
- Academic interventionist
- Church education
- Ministering to children through mercy organizations worldwide
- Tutoring – private or public institutions
- Directing after-school and day-care programs
- Christian education consultant
- Further training as curriculum and instructional specialist, guidance counselor, school administrator, and doctoral work
Your Next Step
Begin dreaming of the many ways you can be used by God with a Teacher Education degree. Get started today.
Course requirements and suggested program of study
Degree Program Faculty
Lynn Hoekstra
Teacher Education Program Director, Professor of Education
B.A., Calvin College; M.A., Western Michigan University; Ed.D., Azusa Pacific University
Mark McCann
Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) Program Director, Professor of Education
B.A., Florida Bible College; M.S., Nova Southeastern University; Ed.D., University of Central Florida
Connie Mitchell
Dean of the College of Education
B.A., Florida Bible College; B.S., Bryan College; M.A., Ed.D., University of Miami
Debbie Moore
Master of Education (M.Ed.) Program Director, Professor of Education
B.S., Toccoa Falls College; M.Ed., Bob Jones University; Ph.D., Columbia International University
Linda Murdaugh
Director of Professional Education Field Experiences
B.A., California Baptist College; M.A., California State University
Milton V. Uecker
Professor Emeritus - Education
B.A., Concordia Teachers College; M.Ed., University of Texas at Austin; Ed.D., University of Virginia


text:
Brazil Dry-Process Fazenda IP Yellow Bourbon has malt sugar sweetness, hazelnut, moderate acidity and works well across the roast spectrum.
El Salvador Matalapa-Fana SWP Decaf is a straight-forward cup with unrefined sugar sweetness, flecks of fruited notes and malic acidity.
Guatemala Huehuetenango Xinabajul SWP Decaf is sweet and syrupy with chocolate and subtle spice hints.


text:
Create a flawless first impression on arriving motorists. Make customers feel welcome as they approach, with warm and inviting lighting. Enhance safety in petrol station parking areas with energysaving LED lights that maximize visibility.
that invites
Giving a petrol station
a light makeover
up for
energy savings
New Zealand
Z Energy
Connected lighting systems
Connected lighting systems from Philips move professional lighting forward into the brave new worlds of constant connectivity and big data delivering world-class illumination and extraordinary value beyond illumination
Packaged offerings
The pressure on reducing energy, maintenance costs and operating costs will continue to increase so that climate change and budget objectives can be met. Understanding the total costs of an lighting installation over it's whole life time is becoming increasingly important as budgets become tighter and long term planning is required.
Get the daylight effect and modernize any interior, with sleek luminous ceiling panels.


text:
Advanced Search |
Search Tips
Fruchilla Wildberry - Premium Sugar Base
Comes packaged in a box 2 x 5 Litre Bottles (Total of 10L)
Mixing ratio of 1 part concentrate to 5 parts water
We promise to never spam you, and just use your email address to identify you as a valid customer.
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!
Click the button below to add the Fruchilla Wildberry to your wish list.
All prices are in AUD.
Copyright 2020 The Slushie Specialists.
Sitemap |
Shopping Cart Software by BigCommerce


text:
2013 Griffin King Of The Hammers - Buggy Bashing
Wheelers Thrive In The California Desert
It takes a tough car to win the Griffin King of the Hammers, but it takes a tough man to just finish. Despite efforts from some of the most talented drivers in the world, only 27 of 129 racers reached the finish line. The vast majority of them were not household names but instead, guys who have rockcrawling experience, are familiar with their rigs, and know how to fix things when stuff goes wrong.
In fact, the top two finishers this year were both guys who built their own race vehicles from scratch and know every nut and bolt. When was the last time that happened at a NASCAR or NHRA race? While KOH has evolved from a beer bet amongst friends just seven short years ago to one of the biggest off-road races in the world, you still can't buy your way to Victory Lane.
This year's winner, Randy Slawson, lives near Johnson Valley and prepares all year for this race, fabricating his own Bomber tube car that is packed with parts that are simple and strong. The LS engine, 9-inch axles, and 39-inch BFGs probably aren't that different from what you are running in your rig. One thing that sets Slawson apart though is the hours of suspension tuning he has performed on his King shocks. King Shocks is conveniently located in the same town where he lives.
All that hard work paid off. Slawson was the first to the checkered flag in what many are calling the hardest King of the Hammers race yet.


text:
Europe Week Ahead: Cyprus Still Dominates
Cyprus is likely to dominate financial markets next week as a rescue deal remains elusive. MarketWatch's Sara Sjolin and Dow Jones's Andrea Tryphonides also look at U.S. data after the FOMC and Japan under a new central bank governor.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... the the ... places Cypress's Dalton Asia markets ... this week ... this is likely to dominate again next week ... and that Tiffany's is so silly to have to look at the week ahead ... of residents of the ... escape of the isthe is the title of the book of hers aboard on ... should ... on this about the incest with friends and let it apps and eighty s maybe I that that the Fed and the undying Cypress Topeka said many times ... and seven had a fair few of things that have me on weenies that the ... US if your position to trying to negotiate with the with the Russians ... and Mr. Medvedev said yesterday that night that wouldn't be any kind of that agreement but it looks like today that maybe the approach is slightly softened ... I'm an ... issue is is that the Cook's thinking ... is that the city because on Monday the European Central Bank says ... the deal by then it was on the debt crisis we pull the plug on images to ... think that it's it's a bit to the banks and set which is which is why it was getting a little bit notice how about deciding that ... even if the election the Muppets as well having even all singing Kiat reaction in financial markets about European equities under the bits of th is nothing like the main reason I haven't that there's ... not exactly the process in the center of ... this whole country ... and cooking when using this phrase is a unique ... bad situation a special situation how little we can set that up recently absolute ... the new ... mayor of contagion ... to the prisons into this well yes the sun and so on his absence at me pointed out said that that is the whole contagion thing is bad for my NBC has won twelve can briefly immediately of course those of you you would still go beyond this ... Rwanda's forgot about it so the fund ... once the government and win ushered in to see any progress next week ... ok the Fed on as you know that that seems to be just me in the study she goes policy ICD the UK in London on Monday with analysts and speaking of the London school of Economics and is always interesting to see but the thing ... other than sincere vehicles out of this debate about the age of is that I'm not ... actually doing is right we have pending a new home sales consumer confidence durable goods in ... the fourth quarter GDP reading ... so I like some of the recent data has been suggested that the U S ... economic recovery is moving along and well for fourth-quarter still very ... low around like maybe twenty five percent ... to look into a profitable than that of pending home sales new home sales in the mix and that that that that that overage if ... that is ... the Digital is believed to be that this is not amended ... that has long been signs of a perfume for women who were going or we have seen in coming and will abandon its status as a nice wee years yes and ... I'm ready to go ... to the complexity of ... the disaster iOS and his winking touch should spend on Enterprise Minister using as ... they really wanted to a key Senate to Buy Lodge and wider range of assets and ... that he said he was a priest inflation of two things two ... percent inflation target in two years and for Monday this could be a little bit ... optimistic ... but who knows when she sings are really ... into moving to the Japanese economy ... she races but that he stands in the way little tough on him to the station as the reality is that that that is out to the buyback will be the key thing to ... do some vocal importance of the demonstrators on the data coming out this social production utensils inflation unemployment so ... on this and a good good ... good double digit the profile of Opel one activities like ... I should imagine ... not at the center of the corporate on I'd say it seems quite right thing said the snow off that that that the week that we've had however we did have some good and it was but some of the light which the House bill passed with an intimate self ... scan NV and interesting because of the budget will send him in the week ended the UK ... from UK Budget both Becky ... and I'm basically the governments looking to support identified as I was bullish on some tasty out that the student housing on the ticket to ride but it's up to the gatehouse of the results have had to write long and I mean like ... and when even fed the hideout following the Fed the budget of what ... intent of Coway specifically the community to get the new Sea Island's dusty thankful with ... another money to Kingfisher said Kingfisher wingnut in the UK said people not being Kiesel says but then like Eli Whiteside stores ... and looking for a country is run the the the ... the the the heads of the U ... K ... yes we did spot with the head of cabbage does that expression from Sony needs to have an upright and I think it ... was kind of things we need to I was going to happen and that ... we need to let the production of ... the kingfish up that is the isthe ... it will take the segment


text:
Why Did the Sunday Times Run A One-Sided Piece On The Occupation? Because There's Only One Side
by: MJ Rosenberg on March 19th, 2013 | 4 Comments »
On Sunday, the New York Times ran an extraordinary magazine piece (it was the cover story) on West Bank Palestinians who are resisting the Israeli occupation through non-violence. For those who follow the issue closely, the extraordinary aspect of the piece was not so much anything author Ben Ehreneich revealed as it was that the article appeared in the New York Times at all.
You just don't expect to find this type of reporting on Israel in the Times which, ever conscious that it is the New York Times, is always cautious about its reportage on Israel. Most of its coverage is either extremely balanced ("the Palestinians say this, the Israeli government says that") or slavishly supportive of the Israeli line. (Columnists Tom Friedman and Nick Kristof both consistently deviate from the line, but they are columnists, influential columnists to be sure, but opinion columnists nonetheless).
Ehrenreich's piece neither adhered to the Israeli line nor was it balanced. It had a clear point of view: the occupation is a terrible thing that should not continue.
Does that make it biased? It would, if there was another side to the argument. But in the case of the occupation there isn't. Imagine Ehrenreich's counterpart on the right explaining that the 45-year occupation is a good thing which should continue forever.
Other than West Bank settlers and their supporters on the far right of the Israeli and American political spectrum, no one makes that case. The United States government is committed to the "two-state solution." Prime Minister Netanyahu has also endorsed it as has every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo agreement with Yasir Arafat. As for the lobby here in the United States, it too supports the two-state solution.
It hardly needs to be said that endorsing the "two state solution," by definition, means opposing the occupation. After all, there is no place where a Palestinian state could be created other than the West Bank (including east Jerusalem) and Gaza. That is if you favor two states. The "one state solution" would include the land that is now Israel in a single state for all the people who live there. But that, obviously, is something different than the "two state" framework.
Of course, neither the Netanyahu government nor the lobby here really want the occupation to end. If they did, they would not, in the case of the Israeli government, keep expanding settlements or, in the case of pro-Israel organizations here, support Israel's right to do so. Nor would they use their influence to prevent any pressure from the United States on Israel to end the occupation. In short, both Israel and its lobby here nominally oppose the occupation while actually supporting it.
The reason they can't say they support occupation is the same reason that the New York Times will never run a major piece that takes the opposite point of view from Ehrenreich's. That is because in the year 2013, it is no longer possible to defend occupation and the denial of rights to the native people that goes along with it. Like defending colonialism or segregation, defending occupation is beyond the pale of civilized discourse.
And that is why hardly anyone defends it. It survives because those who favor it, do not engage on that issue directly, saying "of course, I oppose the occupation but…."
And it is the arguments that follows the "but" that allow an institution universally believed to be wrong to continue.
The words that invariably follow the "but" rarely, if ever, defend the occupation itself. Instead they attack the people whose land is being occupied, the Palestinians in particular and sometimes Muslims in general.
The arguments are (1) that the Palestinians do not accept Israel's right to live in peace and security (they have since 1993), (2) that they are terrorists (the Palestinian Authority which governs the West Bank not only opposes terrorism, it works with the Israeli authorities to thwart it, (3) that Palestinian schools teach their children to hate Jews (which has been proven false), (4) that Israel has no Palestinian partner with whom to negotiate (Mahmoud Abbas is so friendly to Israel that many Palestinians consider him an Israeli puppet) and (5) that the Palestinians have rejected Israeli offers of to remove the settlements and exchange the occupied territories (it has, in fact, never been offered).
In other words, supporters of the status quo, knowing that the occupation is indefensible, simply change the subject to one that they would rather discuss. And that is the nature (as they see it) of the Palestinians (and, in the case of the Pam Geller's of the world, the nature of all Muslims). In short, knowing they cannot win the argument by discussing the issue that prevents peace (the occupation), the Israeli government and its lobby here chooses instead to attack the Arabs. And it works. Forty-five years after it began, the occupation not only survives, it has become more impregnable as settlements expand, the number of settlers increase and Israel's system of roads, walls, and law defends the settlers at the expense of the local population.
[It should be noted that in the first years of the occupation, it was defended as strategically necessary to defend Israel itself. But that was disproven in 1973 when Israel, holding all the territories it does now plus the Sinai Peninsula, was attacked by the combined forces of Egypt and Syria and only prevailed after three weeks of fighting and the loss of 2,688 soldiers in contrast to the 776 it lost in the 1967 war, when it held none of the occupied territories and defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in six days.]
The best news about the Ehrenreich piece is that he simply describes the occupation in all its ugliness, forcing the reader to forget for a time all the propaganda about Palestinians and instead focus on the conditions Palestinians are subjected to simply because the settlers (and the Israeli government that supports them) wants their land. And, beyond that, he defends non-violent resistance to the occupation as the one means that can end it. (He quotes one Israeli army official saying that he prefers dealing with resisters who shoot, "you have the enemy, he shoots at you, you have to kill him." But he is confounded by non-violent resistance. Another is quoted as saying, "We don't do Gandhi very well." In short, Ehrenreich eviscerates the occupation and describes how it can be ended.
No, that is the second best news about the piece. The best news is that it appeared in the New York Times. Most definitely, the Times, they are a changing.


text:
Get a free shipping quote.
We specialize in broke safe sound horses for children, seniors, beginners, and families! Delivery is included in price!
Please call Alisha! Due to the high number of scam emails we receive, we would rather speak with people personally! We may not receive or respond to your email. Please, serious inquiries only, and we do not take horses in on trade.
Watch Cody's entire video at our website, it's a must!
Don't wait our horses sell quickly!... (read more)
We are located in Arkansas, but shipping is included in our price. We use professional transports and ship worldwide.
The Nation's Premier Source For Beginner Safe Family Horses!
Avoid Scams and Fraud - Potential areas of fraud: wire transfer, moneygrams, money orders, cashier checks, shipping, escrow, "transaction protection", "guarantee". Check out the Buyer Safety section for more info.


text:
Young women considering pursuing a PhD in anthropology can follow in the footsteps of many of their peers at these 10 schools.
* Highlighted schools are featured
Source: Weighted Baccalaureate Origins Study, Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium. The study tracked the baccalaureate origins of individuals granted PhDs from 1992-2001. The listing shows the top 10 institutions ranked by percentage of undergraduates who went on to earn a PhD in the selected discipline.
Want more information on how this list was compiled? Find out more here.
Still Looking?
Keep exploring to find your perfect college.


text:
throw (one) into a tizz(y)(redirected from throw her into a tizz)
throw (one) into a tizz(y)
To cause one to enter a nervous, confused, agitated, or excited state. Preparing for board meetings always throws him into a tizzy, so just be prepared for a long couple of days. His incoherent tweet threw the Internet into a tizzy. The arrival of the pop star threw his fans into a tizz.
See also: throw


text:
Does the four-hour A&E target matter?
The A&E target certainly made a big difference when it was first introduced. Waits of 12 hours were not unheard of before the four-hour target came into force in England a decade ago.
But like all targets, it is a blunt tool too.
Patients undoubtedly enjoy much shorter waits than they did - even during these last few months.
When the target was brought in nearly twice as many patients were waiting longer than four hours than the numbers during the peak this winter.
However, there are ways to play the system.
Two of the most common are getting ambulances to queue before hospital staff will take their patients on (to stop the clock starting), and transferring patients from A&E to wards set up alongside them - often known as medical assessment units or clinical decision units (so the clock stops).
While the statistics will say only a very few patients wait for over four hours, the reality - as many testify - is somewhat different, whether the target is hit or missed.
Uncomfortable waits
But what really matters here is whether waiting longer harms patients.
There are always exceptions, but most people would accept that the NHS is good at prioritising the most ill patients.
Therefore those waiting longest will tend to be the patients who are most able to cope with delays.
However, that does not mean that for those individuals there may be some very uncomfortable waits.
That is particularly true for the busiest hospitals.
The units that are most likely to miss the targets and the ones that can least afford too. They tend to be the biggest and busiest hospitals where the sickest patients are taken.
These major units are known as type 1. When you break down those figures to weekly data you can see that overall the target was not hit at all from September to May.
That is a remarkable situation in the modern NHS, as Patients Association chief executive Katherine Murphy acknowledges.
She believes the situation is "reaching crisis point".
But a delve deeper into the figures makes even more worrying reading.
When the figures are broken down by individual hospital there have been weeks where approaching half of patients have waited longer than four hours in some places.
In those situations even with doctors prioritising the sickest patients it gets extremely difficult to make sure the delays do not adversely affect some.


text:
If you haven't had the chance to see the Israeli feature film Yossi & Jagger, here's another reason why you should: Entertainment Weekly just released a list of the 50 Sexiest Movies Ever, and at 49th place the 2002 movie just made the cut. Here's what EW had to say:
The titular men (Ohad Knoller and Yehuda Levi) are sturdy Israeli soldiers stationed at an icy outpost on the Lebanese border. Like a less tormented version of Brokeback Mountain's Jack and Ennis, they keep their coupling a secret.
Sexiest Moment: The guys go at it, fully clothed, on a snowy hillside. Because we see mostly close-ups of their faces as they make out, joke, and laugh, what's sexy is their sweet delight in one another.
You can buy the movie here, and download or rent it here. Check out Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Sexiest Movies Ever, and their 25 Least Sexy Movies Ever.


text:
Life in Christian County, Kentucky... History and Old Stuff...
The Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site is located at Fairview, Kentucky, a few miles from where we live.
Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederate States of America, and he was born in Fairview, just a few hundred feet from the monument. A Baptist church stands on the site where the cabin in which he was born once stood.
The building of the monument started shortly before World War I. Funds for the construction were raised by the Orphans Brigade (Kentuckians who fought for the Confederacy) and by the Daughters of the Confederacy. The Kentucky State Legislature provided financial assistance to finally finish the construction in 1924.
I think most local white folks would say this is not a monument to slavery or racism but rather to history and heritage. I think many local black folks would see it differently. To me, the place is a reminder that I don't hold and will never fully understand the deep personal feelings some people still cherish about the Civil War.
Stone pillars mark a gateway to the park for walkers. A low stone wall surrounds much of the park. Deep shade, spacious picnic pavilions, and plentiful playground equipment make the grounds a popular site for summer family reunions.
Though the tower can be seen for miles, one doesn't fully realize its size until it's seen at close range.
An elevator runs to the top of the tower, and for $4.00 per person, visitors can ride to the top, enjoy the view, and visit the museum in the visitor center. The photos above were taken from the observation windows at the top of the monument.
These metal plates at the base of the tower give a little information about its construction (left) and some advice from Jefferson Davis about the future (right.)
This photo is unrelated to the Jefferson Davis Monument. This is the Fairview Produce Market just outside the little village of Fairview. Many Mennonite and Amish farmers bring fresh garden fruits and vegetables here to sell in bulk to stores and peddlers. The green wagons behind the tractor are full of sweet corn, and watermelons can be seen in the horse-drawn trailers. During the summer, auctions are held five or six days a week.
My brother left this morning. I've got a lot of errands to run and chores to do, but I'll get back to normal blogging sooner or later.
Technorati tags:


text:
ACErail necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 161 diseños de 18 diseñadores freelance.
This contest seeks to solicit designs for banners to be installed on light and decorative poles in and around the renovated historic Robert J. Cabral train station vicinity. The winning banner design will eventually be 62" wide by 122" tall in size and in color.
Accepted File Formats:
Standard Web Formats (.jpg, .gif or .png); Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
Thank you for your interest in this design contest. The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) train station in Stockton, CA is named after one of ACE's founders, Robert J. Cabral. Currently, the neighborhood surrounding the station is undergoing a massive revitalization, and the station property will be getting a "facelift." In addition to a 75-foot clock tower, the station area will debut new piers holding banners which will announce entry. These piers, almost 29-feet high, will feature new monumental banners symbolizing the station and namesake.
This contest seeks entries for the design of these new pole banners. Eventually, the banners will be made of an outdoor vinyl material and will be 62" wide by 122" tall. The banners will be in full color.
The chosen design WILL:
- Prominently display the name of the station in any or all of the following fashions: "Robert J. Cabral," "Cabral," or initials R. J. C., with or without the periods.
- Make reference to the area as either "Station," "Plaza," "Center," any other creative new reference to the area, or any combination thereof.
- Be multi-colored. No official colors have been selected at this time.Things to consider:
- Banners may be placed on one or both sides of a given pole.
- Banners will be placed at a train station.Winning entry will be awarded $400. Winning entrant will be asked to wait to send artwork until payment details have been worked out between agency and winner. If a U.S. citizen, winner will be asked to supply ACE - a public agency - with a W9 form.Â
Examples of pole banners:
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/carkin…4/sizes/m/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/159976…6/sizes/m/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/469018…nformation about ACE:
- http://www.acerail.com
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/842635…/sizes/m/Â Picture - there are MANY others on the internet)