text:
The commission that governs compensation for elected officials may be about to cut the pay of state legislators by 5 percent. That would be in line with the pay cut Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed for state workers.
At first glance, you wouldn't feel sorry for California legislators.
They make $95,291 a year -- the highest salaries of any state lawmakers in the country by a healthy margin. The next highest are Pennsylvania's legislators at $79,613 and New York's lawmakers, at $79,500 a year.
Local news from across Southern California
A 5 percent cut wouldn't disrupt their status as the nation's best paid state lawmakers. Why not give them an even bigger cut?
Because, strange as it sounds, California's legislators may be underpaid.
How could that possibly be? California asks far more of its legislators than any other state. Indeed, the fact that we ask so much of lawmakers -- too much, I'd argue -- is a big part of our problem.
California lawmakers simply represent far more people than their counterparts in other states. Three times more people in the state than in Texas, which would rank second in people per legislature.
California legislators represent 10 times more people than the national average. Our assemblymen are paid 20 cents a constituent. It's a dime per constituent for state senators.
What's more, our lawmakers work longer and harder. Yes, it does seem like our representatives take recesses and too many foreign trips.
But the California legislature is a full-time body. It is a body that is forced to manage more that legislatures in other places.
That's because California has centralized in Sacramento -- through its constitution and court decisions and ballot initiatives -- responsibility for all kinds of fiscal decisions at the state level that in most other states are handled by local elected officials at the county or municipal or school district level.
Because other states are less centralized, being a legislator elsewhere is often a part-time seasonal job with little pay. Legislatures meet for 90 days and go home.
When you compare California legislative pay by the number of people represented and the number of days worked and the number of issues that are their responsibility, our lawmakers are among the lowest paid in the country.
If we want to keep this broken, centralized system, we should pay lawmakers more. If we want to cut their pay, fine--but let's do it as part of a fix of our governing system.
Let's return decisions about taxes and spending to local governments, and add more lawmakers so that each doesn't have to represent so many people.
Cutting their pay, and giving them less to do, could be part of a larger reform.
@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Verdana"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }span.biossubtitle { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
Lead Prop Zero blogger Joe Mathews is California editor at Zocalo Public Square, a fellow at Arizona State University's Center for Social Cohesion, and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (University of California, 2010).
Send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


text:
PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND will feature a summary of the day's national and international news, using renowned experts to provide in-depth analysis. Each weekend broadcast will contain original, in-depth field reporting on topics including education, healthcare, the economy, energy, science and technology, religion, finance and the arts. Anchored by Hari Sreenivasan.
There are no upcoming air times for this episode.
Funding for PBS Newshour Weekend is provided in part by:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Do You Hate Popcorn?
When I first glanced at Rosecrans Baldwin's humorous tirade against popcorn in his Slate piece, Popcorn: Cinema's Worst Enemy, my first impression was "Damn, that's harsh." But after reading the whole thing, I could relate. (Okay, not on everything. On aesthetics, he says, "Popcorn looks like sheep shit"—using one of my favorite dishes as an example, I know very well that Japanese curry resembles diarrhea, but that would never stop me from loving it.)
It's the smell. Baldwin recounts one of his first popcorn-eating memories: "it's the stench that really lingers in memory--how the separate aromas oxidized and burned my sinuses." He goes on to say that the smell of buttered popcorn in a movie theater once made him vomit. I have yet to vomit at the hands of popcorn, but I do feel a bit nauseous whenever I go into a movie theater due to the thick, suffocating, stale scent of buttered popcorn. Does this happen to anyone else?
Although I don't eat popcorn in movie theaters (if I did, maybe I would throw up), I don't mind eating it in other situations where I'm not suspended in a cloud of popcorn stench. Baldwin taste tested a few microwavable popcorn brands at home in an attempt to see if he could outgrow childhood dislike for popcorn. In conclusion: Nope. Still hates everything about it. I'd suggest he try cooking it on a stove instead of using the microwave versions, but that may not make much of a difference. I use the stovetop method because 1) it's cheaper, 2) I can season it however I want, and 3) I don't have a microwave.
Popcorn: Do You Err on the Side of Unpopped or Burnt?
Large Movie Popcorn with Butter: 1,220 Calories
Popcorn Recipes
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text:
Hey to all you film theory fans out there if there is anything you have always from the store now is your chance to get it quickly so it will not turn out to be a glitch.
Xoxo Jodie55
50% off sale in Film Theory
Weekly Popular
If you are from the UK log into stardoll and click HERE . If you are from anywhere else go to 2m4u.com/ or daveproxy.co.uk/ or do...
Old and still available freebie...so if you do not have it here is your chance to get it... For new members again and also for some o...
Stardoll started a campaign "Rise of the Guardians" all over the world!! We already got those wings from Russia some days ag...
There are three contests in Brazil that give us two Miss Sixty pieces (!) and a flag. Choose one or all. ...
Hey, dolls! There is a new Tribute store in StarPlaza. Balenciaga Wang Tribute. There are 2 floors with a price range between 19SDs...
Hey, dolls! It's time for Weekly SuperStar Gift. CLICK Do you like the new gift? xoxo Prikazna
Hey, dolls! There is a small Young Hollywood collection. with price range between 42SDs - 110SDs Do you like the collecti...
If you are from Russia log into stardoll and click HERE . If you are from anywhere else go to webproxy.ru or dostyp.ru or anonymouse.ru/...
Pictures were captured from videos that's why they are not that clear..... Since we had the makeover...let's see some really old ph...
Hey, dolls! It's time for Weekly SuperStar Gift. CLICK Do you like the new gift? xoxo Prikazna
Blog Archive
- ► 2017 (265)
- ► 2016 (608)
- ► 2015 (1004)
- ► 2014 (1113)
- A new collection at Sweet Suites (probably tomorro...
- Captured: Psycho-bebe
- Another "Ever After High" campaign coming to Stard...
- Free LPS Minka Mark
- Free gifts from Monster High 13 Souhaits
- Stardoll Make-Over: Belle
- Spoilers
- 50% Sale off at Tingeling Halloween Couture Resurr...
- New SPLENDID collection released
- Free Turkish Republic Items
- Free Just Dance outfit - Brazil
- Monster High 13 Souhaits: soon on Stardoll
- More spoilers: UGG Australia
- New design for a limited time
- Spoilers
- Free Black Furby
- Hot Buys Box Clutch released
- Young Hollywood in real life
- Young Hollywood Preview
- New Spoilers
- "Last Week on Stardoll" - week #35
- What Not to Wear: Stardoll Edition
- 50% off sale in Dot
- New collection of Pretty n'Love released
- Free rose
- Hot Buys Club Leggins released
- 50% off sale in Film Theory
- Free LPS Vinnie Terrio
- Captured: Brendakonsen
- Hot Buys Embossed Jacket released
- Callie's Picks released
- Miss Stardoll World Gifts
- Preview: Callie's Picks
- November Hotbuys
- Callie's Picks: soon on Stardoll
- New spoilers
- MSW2013 revealed
- New stardesign scarf for a limited time
- Free Lil Lets bag - UK
- Free Secret Safe Diary - UK (UPDATED)
- Free Dress and leggings from Mega Bloks Barbie - U...
- More spoilers
- New collection of Fantasy Hotels released
- New Halloween Decor Spolers
- New Sims "Into The Future" Store
- Spoilers
- Stardoll Make-Over: Zombie Bride
- Free Headphones from Nita Light - NOVI STARS
- Spoilers
- "Last Week on Stardoll" - week #34
- 4 Years Underneath Stardoll. Happy Birthday USD!!
- Hot Buys Rope Boots released
- Free Dress and leggings from Mega Bloks Barbie - C...
- Free Dress and leggings from Mega Bloks Barbie - U...
- Cheap Monday in real life
- Sneak Peek - Cheap Monday (UPDATED - RELEASED)
- Spoilers Of The "Cool Thing" Coming Today
- Some New Spoilers
- Some shops from Nelly.com vanished?
- Mega Bloks Barbie : soon on Stardoll
- Free LPS Pepper Clark
- Something Cool Is Happening Tomorrow
- Free Lego Friends Hedgehog
- How To: Fall Headband
- New Stardoll Academy task - win 15 stardollars!
- Halloween pass - New Stardoll offer
- Tingeling Halloween Couture 2010 "Resurrected"
- Hot Buys Peplum Sweater released
- One more spoiler
- New Spoilers
- Free 100sc Ever After High Task
- Free sunglasses, lamp and lamb
- Another spoilers
- New Tingeling Halloween Couture spoilers
- Hot Buys Zippers Skirt released
- Free The SIMS3 - into the Future gifts
- Tingeling Halloween Couture: soon on Stardoll
- 50% off Sale is over
- Free Ever After High Tops, Skirts, Shoes and tight...
- New Epiphany
- New Jewelry Spoilers
- New Spoilers
- Is the Voting on MSW closed?
- "Last Week on Stardoll" - week #33
- Stardoll Make-Over: Bold Lipstick
- Last chance to vote for the Semi-finalists of Msw
- Is It For Halloween
- The other outfit from comic book has arrived
- The Sims3 - into the future: soon on Stardoll
- Free LPS Buttercream
- Secret Safe Diary: Soon on Stardoll
- New collection Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren release...
- Hot Buys Zip Snake Heels released
- Captured: Selfmachine
- Stardoll Make-Over:Alice Cullen
- New collection of Young Hollywood released
- Hot Buys Zip Print Dress released
- ▼ October (121)
- ► 2012 (1986)
- ► 2011 (1668)
- ► 2010 (1275)


text:
Using grid and guides
When designing pages, turning on the Grid/Guides can help you better align site elements. You also can set them to snap-align with other items on the page.
- Log in to your GoDaddy account.
- In your Products list click Website Builder, and then click Manage next to the account you want to use.
- Click Edit Site.
- Click the three-bar icon (Manage Settings) in top right corner, and then select Grid/Guides.
- Click either Small Grid or Large Grid.
- (Optional) Check the Snap to other elements checkbox to also have elements you drag on the page snap to align with other elements.
- Click Save.


text:
The community has restricted alcohol sales for more than 100 years. The entirety of city policy regarding alcohol sales is: "It shall be unlawful for any person to sell alcoholic beverages within the city."
In contrast, the liquor control policy in Monticello covers ten pages.
Council members were hesitant to make the decision and instead expressed a desire to let city residents be heard.
Councilman Joe B Lyman mentioned that he would like to see a community-wide referendum vote if the policy were to change.
"Five people shouldn't make this decision," said Lyman. "The whole community should be involved in this decision."
City Manager Jeremy Redd explained that a change could be made in three ways.
1) The council could draft an ordinance, hold a public hearing, and then vote on the issue.
2) The council can decide by majority vote to put it on the ballot as a referendum.
3) A citizen petition could request a ballot referendum.
For the issue to be on the 2013 city ballots, the council action or petition would need to be submitted by April 10.
A petition would require the signatures of registered voters equal to ten percent of the number who voted in the last general election. In 2012, approximately 1,600 votes were cast in the Blanding precincts, which include areas outside of city limits.
Councilman Robert Ogle brought up the topic, stating that he had been approached by a number of city residents who were interested in changing the policy.
Ogle mentioned that the discussion may be merited by two factors. The first is the basic philosophy of American liberty. He asked, "Is this a failed attempt to legislate morality?"
The second factor discussed by Ogle is related to economic development. He said, "We often hear about the need for a detailed and specific plan for economic development and tourism is often mentioned. I wonder if the prohibition of alcohol may retard this growth."
He added later, "Do we provide the services that our visitors deem essential?"
Two Blanding residents who own tourist properties spoke in favor of allowing the sale of beer and wine.
Craig Simpson owns properties in Blanding and Bluff. He mentioned that beer sales at his property in Bluff account for about two percent of sales.
However, he mentioned that the availability of the beverages is important to about one third of customers.
"A tremendous number of Europeans come through our doors and for many of them, having a beer or wine with their meal is part of their life," said Simpson.
He suggested that allowing for the sale of beer and wine in restaurants would have a "significant impact" on business.
Bill Haven said that beer and wine sales would make a difference for visitors to Blanding. He said he is not interested in saloons and bars and added that no one has even suggested a liquor store in town.
However, Haven said that if restaurants have the ability to serve beer and wine it would level the playing field for Blanding-area businesses.
Councilman Charlie Taylor said, "I have a personal opinion, but I think it is something worthwhile to explore and see what the community wants to do. The community should be able to speak about what they want to have happen."
"Well, we will know when the paper comes out," said Lyman. "We may get 1,000 phone calls."
The council acknowledged the difficulty of securing enough names on a petition by April 10 so it may be a council vote that calls for a referendum.
In other matters at the March 12 meeting, the council discussed the possibility assumption of ownership of land near the old swinging bridge.
A coalition including the City, Utah State University, San Juan Heritage Council and the BLM would be needed to pull together a project at the site, which has more than 50 archaeological sites.
The San Juan Education Foundation currently owns the property. Cleal Bradford, of the Foundation, said that the city may be able to develop the site as a tourist stop and archaeological center.
Guy Denton, of Utah State University, explained that USU is interested in partnering with the groups. However, he added that the development of an archaeological program at the Blanding campus would take time and effort to accomplish.
Several council members expressed concern about the liability and cost that could accompany the project. Mayor Toni Turk said, "If the university is not a major player in this, then the conversation is finished."
The council also discussed unregistered vehicles parked on city streets and a project by the Dedicated Hunters program to clean up the city shooting range.


text:
The tax battle may be over for now, but it will likely start up again before too long.
The American Enterprise Institute's James Pethokoukis looks ahead to the next big tax move from Washington — and why it might just be a hike of some sort. "It's hard to imagine another big deficit-financed tax cut happening anytime soon, especially as annual deficits enter trillion-dollar territory," he writes. "Indeed, the next big battle might be keeping all these tax cuts in place if Democrats take control of Washington."
On the other hand, if Republicans do turn to cutting spending on welfare programs, Social Security and Medicare, they might then look to use some of the money saved from cuts to slash taxes again. "Keep in mind, however, that for Democrats to go along with spending cuts — to make the math work, really — there will have to be tax hikes," Pethokoukis writes.
The GOP is unlikely to go along with raising individual or corporate income tax rates, and alternatives for raising revenue, like a carbon or consumption taxes, will be difficult to push through. So it's possible that smaller ideas, like expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, might come up next, Pethokoukis suggests.
But big-picture tax reform may need to come back to the idea of raising taxes, perhaps with some external prompting: "I guess," Pethokoukis says, "we will eventually find out if Washington cares about debt without a nudge from the markets."


text:
Bob Arum at 82: He thinks the world of boxing, Pacquiao
- Top Rank has signed Olympic gold medalists from several Asian countries
- Bob Arum has six smaller shows set for mainland China in 2014
- He called his Pacquiao-Rios fight in Macau a big success
Four days shy of his 82nd birthday, Hall of Fame boxing promoter Bob Arum is coming off an exhausting week-long trip to the island of Macau, where his meal ticket, Manny Pacquiao, ended a two-fight losing streak with an impressive victory against Brandon Rios.
For most 82-year-olds, the travel would be brutal. But Arum is no ordinary octogenarian. In fact, the CEO of Top Rank says he's energized by spreading the gospel of the Sweet Science around the world, especially in China, where boxing is still a novelty.
Asked if his sport is heading in the direction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is spreading its brand of mixed martial arts around the globe, Arum snaps off a quick answer.
"I don't know if boxing is going that way, but Top Rank is. You'd have to be a fool not to," he says. "You have the whole beautiful big world out there, with the market yearning for a product, like China, Russia, the Ukraine, Japan. If you sit back and concentrate only on the U.S., you're missing the best opportunities.
"I made six round trips to Asia this year. Three to Macau, one to Tokyo, one to Beijing and one to the Philippines. I don't find it tiring. I love taking the sport of boxing and expanding it to other areas.
"I was in Los Angeles last week, and I had about six meetings. All of them were either with Russians, or Ukrainians or Chechnyans, I mean it's crazy what's happening over there. All of that keeps me going because it's not the same-old, same-old.
"Putting on fights in the United States is great, but it gets repetitious because you're not doing anything innovative. We're doing innovative things, and our production is so far above anybody else in boxing or UFC. You watch the telecast of Pacquiao's fight with Rios, that production was incredible. That was all ours, not HBO."
PHOTOS: Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios
Arum has no problem following the UFC's lead, saying the organization is approaching the global market the right way.
"I think the UFC has done a great job and handled it like the business model that it is," he says. "They realize, I think, more revenue from Brazil than they do from the United States. Brazil is a tremendous market for mixed martial arts, as it can be for boxing. So for a business person not to realize that, he'd have to be out of his mind."
During a phone interview with USA TODAY Sports this week, Arum said he has plans for six shows — albeit small, local shows — on mainland China in 2014 plus more shows in Asia, Russia and Ukraine.
"We are endeavoring to develop boxing talent in China. It's not easy but we'll be able to do it by putting on local shows."
Arum was pleased with the first major boxing show from Asia in Pacquiao-Rios.
"It was very successful," Arum says. "We didn't do as well with the pay-per-view as we would have done if the fight was in the U.S., but the revenue from Asia more than made up for it."
One of Top Rank's recent spate of global signings, two-time gold medalist Zou Shiming of China, fought on the HBO-televised portion of the show, winning impressively.
"Boxing is strong globally," Arum says. "Look at who we signed: gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko (Ukraine), gold medalist Egor Mekhontsev (Russia), gold medalist Ryota Murata (Japan), Zou (China), a silver medalist from Brazil (Esquiva Falcao). We're actively pursuing fighters from all over the world, because we want to be the biggest global promoter in the world. That's what we've become."
The U.S. boxing market, meanwhile, is stagnant, he says.
"It's a good market, but it's certainly not growing. Boxing in the U.S. is largely dependent on two premium networks (HBO and Showtime). And as the (aging) audience for boxing begins to die out and is not replaced by the younger generation, which looks elsewhere for its sports, how long is the support from the premium networks going to last?
"And if that disappears, boxing is really in trouble. It is no accident that the U.S. (males) in the last Olympics won absolutely zero medals, let alone a gold medal. Boxing is not a sport in the U.S. that is producing the talent. It's coming from elsewhere."
Yet Arum is bullish on boxing's future, at least worldwide.
"Boxing is not dead," he says. "Boxing is so alive, it is so popular all over the world, that if you give them the right presentation, the right production, if you make it like we know how to make it, they go crazy.
"The arena in Macau totally sold out. We had thousands of people who came over from the Philippines, didn't even have tickets, watched it on closed circuit in Macau just to be there."
Arum touched on other subjects involving Pacquiao:
Can a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao fight be made? "Yes, if people stop posturing. Absolutely. It can happen. It's stupid if it doesn't happen. They owe it to the sport. What, is Mayweather going to fight Amir Khan? Who gives a (expletive)? We've announced we're willing to make anything happen. Now somebody has got to contact us so we can sit down and explore how it can happen. Isn't that the way normal people deal? You can't wave a wand. I've said unequivocally, we're ready to sit down and see if a deal can be reached."
Would you be willing to talk to Mayweather to make it happen? "Floyd or his representatives, of course. This idea that Floyd hates me or I hate Floyd is poppycock. Maybe the people around him are saying that. But Floyd and I, and certainly Todd (duBoef, Arum's stepson and president of Top Rank) and Floyd, have always had a wonderful relationship. These so-called writers are saying, 'Well, it can't happen, because Floyd hates Bob Arum.' Floyd doesn't hate me, like I don't hate him."
Were you surprised Pacquiao looked as good as he did vs. Rios?"No. I visited him in General Santos three weeks before the fight, and I could see he was a different guy. As best I could figure out, the reason was simple. When he's in L.A., he trains all day and goes home at night (day in the Philippines). So he stays on the phone all night, talking and texting to his wife and political people. He gets no sleep. Sleep-deprived, and tired, and that's why the cramping, and all that sort of stuff. He was not getting the proper rest. But when he trains in the Philippines, he has to go to sleep at night, because everyone else in the Philippines is sleeping."
Can you clear up Pacquiao's financial situation? "That stuff with the Philippines taxes (the government claims Pacquiao owes $50million in back taxes from five fights in the USA in 2008-09) is ridiculous. We've supplied them with all of our records showing that we've deducted and withheld 30% of Manny's purses and remitted it to the IRS. We have receipts from the IRS, everything. The vice president of the Philippines has called them on the carpet for doing that (Pacquiao himself calls it harrassment). Manny owes no tax or very little tax in the Philippines because he paid the taxes on his income that doesn't come from the United States." The U.S. and Philippines have a treaty where its people can't be double-taxed.
Is Pacquiao broke or close to it? "Manny will always be in a situation where he doesn't save what he earns. He still is in (typhoon-ravaged Tacloban), giving out food and money from his own pocket to victims from the purse of his last fight. He has a big home in the best area in the Philippines, millions of dollars in property and millions of dollars in assets. But does he have (what) he should have if he prudently saved his money instead of giving it away? No. But what am I going to tell him? Don't give your money to charity? Don't reach out to help your fellow Filipinos? How can I tell him that?"
Does he have to keep fighting? "If he wants to keep giving away money to charity, of course he does. How else is he going to generate that kind of money? If he stopped giving money to charity and lived off his assets, he could live a very comfortable, affluent life. But he can't, giving $5-10 million dollars a year away to charity."


text:
Vanguard BT09 Clash of the Knights & Dragons
P100.00 each pack
Vanguard Singles, Boosters, Decks and Playmats also available.
We ship nationwide.
Check our facebook page. Type "Sulitmerchant Cardshop"
Tips for Online Transactions
- Avoid scams by acting locally or paying with PayPal, Bank Deposit, LBC, or Pera Padala without the item.
- Never pay with anonymous payment services
- Don't buy or sell outside of your country. Don't accept cheques
- This site is never involved in any transaction, and does not handle payments, shipping, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"


text:
US President Barack Obama and his rival Mitt Romney hunted for votes in battleground states yesterday after the Republican propelled the economy to the forefront of the campaign by promising to restore the country's economic engine.
Romney will take his message to Florida voters while Obama plans to defend his record in the northeastern state of New Hampshire.
With just 10 days to go until Americans troop to the polls, the Republican nominee on Friday sought to steal Obama's 2008 "change" slogan and brand him a hapless leader unable to end the slow-growth malaise that has defined the economy.
"The president's campaign falls far short of the magnitude of the times. And the presidency of the last four years has fallen far short of the promises of his last campaign," Romney told a crowd in Ames, Iowa.
Turning the tables on 2008 Obama, the 65-year-old multi-millionaire private equity baron billed himself as the hope-and-change candidate and the Democratic incumbent as representing the political "status quo."
"President Obama promised to bring us together, but at every turn, he has sought to divide and demonize. He promised to cut the deficit in half, but he doubled it," Romney said.
Obama had also been in the region on Thursday, stumping for blue-collar votes and seeking to shore up a firewall against Romney, who has drawn ahead of the incumbent in national polls, but still trails in key swing states.
With the election on a razor's edge, the two teams are readying cross-country travel blitzes over the final 10 days of the campaign.
However, Mother Nature is intruding on their plans. Hurricane Sandy threatens to barrel ashore along the US mid-Atlantic coast tomorrow, bringing torrential rain and heavy flooding, and potentially knocking out power to millions just one week before the election.
Experts say the hurricane may collide with a powerful "nor'easter" seasonal weather system and merge with it to form a monstrous super-storm affecting more than a dozen states.
Fears of foul weather have already forced Romney to scrap a campaign rally today in Virginia Beach, Virginia, while Vice President Joe Biden canceled an appearance yesterday in the same city to allow officials to focus on storm preparations.
The White House said it was monitoring the storm closely, and Obama received a briefing on Friday from top emergency officials.
Aside from the threat to millions of residents, the storm could upend election-related preparations across several states, interfere with early voting and cause problems at polling stations.
Meanwhile the government released data showing economic growth picked up steam in the third quarter, reaching an annual pace of 2 percent.
The rate was a little better than had been expected, but Romney called the news "discouraging," saying growth was less than half what had been predicted by the White House when it passed the 2009 stimulus bill.
"Slow economic growth means slow job growth and declining take-home pay. This is what four years of President Obama's policies have produced," he said. "Americans are ready for change — for growth, for jobs, for higher take-home pay, and we're going to bring it to them."
Romney boldly predicted to a crowd of 2,500 people in Iowa that he could get the economy galloping ahead at 4 percent growth.
"We are at a turning point today. Our national debt and liabilities threaten to crush our future, our economy struggles under the weight of government and fails to create essential growth and employment," he said.


text:
- This event has passed.
Festival of Arts Fine Art Show
July 14, 2019 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 pm
Event Navigation
This summer explore Laguna Beach's Festival of Arts- a juried fine art show featuring 140 of Orange County's top artists in an open-air gallery setting. A world-renowned art destination, visitors can take tours of the exhibit, catch an art demonstration, dine at the on-site restaurants, create
their own masterpiece, or simply sit back and enjoy the creative atmosphere. There are even daily art classes for kids! Weekends are jam-packed with live music and special events providing
entertainment for all. Open daily July 5 – August 31, weekdays from 12noon to 11:30pm and weekends 10am to 11:30pm. General Admission: Weekdays $10, Weekends $15; Students &; Seniors: Weekdays $7, Weekends $11; Children 6-12: $5; Free Admission for Children 5 and under, Military, and Laguna
Beach Residents.


text:
This is the world's most advanced Scrabble set. Packed with LEDs, RFID sensors and fancy software, it's the cutting-edge in boardgames—and it's worth a cool $30,000.
Designed especially for the Prague Mind Sports Festival—where clever types gather to compete in a range of mentally taxing games—this board is designed to help broadcast games online, in real-time.
RFID sensors beneath each square—there are 225 in total—detect the presence of tiles which have corresponding RFID tags embedded in them. Software then scans the board every 974 milliseconds to update a live internet feed of the game, as it happens. The whole thing is clad in carbon fiber, and uses LEDs to dramatically light the playing surface, too.
The tournament kicks off on December 1st, if you're keen to see the board used in anger. [PR Newswire via Engadget]
Image by PR Newswire


text:
23 April 2013 at 12.23pm | 2 Comments
As part of our monthly series of recommended recordings from the Royal Opera House Shop, this month we take a look at releases from Antonio Pappano, Julia Lezhneva and Simon Rattle:
Antonio Pappano - Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle (EMI)
Antonio Pappano's ongoing series of recordings with his Roman forces at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has given us a double disc of Rossini's late piece Petite Messe Solenelle. Pappano is a masterful Rossinian – the playing is crisp, fierce where needs be, mellow the next moment. The four soloists are perfectly weighted, and the chorus work exemplary. This is a thrilling recording, one to set next to Pappano's previously released Verdi Requiem. My only reservation is that the live takes have resulted in a bit too much reverberation for my taste, but don't let that put you off for a second – this is a major release.
Julia Lezhneva - Alleluia (Decca)
Julia Lezhneva is Russian, but polished her craft under Dennis O'Neill in Cardiff. Her first recording on Decca has just appeared, an exploration of eighteenth century motets by Vivaldi, Handel and Mozart, including one previously unrecorded by Nicola Porpora. This is premium quality singing: Lezhneva's tone is equal throughout, completely technically in control of some fiercely difficult writing, but most importantly she sings without any artifice – her communicative ability shines through every number, and puts this release straight to the top of my list of 'must have' discs this month.
Simon Rattle/Berliner Philarmoniker - The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du printemps) (EMI)
In its centenary year, recordings past and present of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring have been tumbling off the production line. The latest comes from EMI, with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, and if you can't decide which Rite is for you, this might be your safest bet. Boasting sumptuously clear and expansive sound, the Berlin Philharmonic plays with astonishing control and detail. It may all be a bit coolly considered for music this shockingly innovative, but it is a mightily impressive reading. Symphonies of Wind Instruments and Apollon musagète fill the CD to a generous 75 minutes.
Read our recommended recordings for March
What recently released recordings would you recommend?


text:
Target Corporation, Store Executive Intern, Application Deadline, BTT Gateway Schedule ID 467
Sun, October 13, 2013
About This Opportunity
Use your business, leadership and people skills to inspire exceptional performance. Maximize sales and profits for your Target store. Ensure great guest service and team member satisfaction. Create a fast-paced, energetic environment that delivers a consistent Target brand experience for team members and guests.
Use your skills, experience and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a Stores Executive Intern, you'll take the lead as you…
•Gain a significant knowledge base during your comprehensive training program
•Work closely with the senior leadership group
•Gain the opportunity to make an impact within a Target store as an executive-in-training and project leader
•Offer innovative ideas and focusing on results, and inspire your team to do the same
•Receive extensive training to help you become a strong store executive leader
•Return to school with strengthened leadership and project management skills, and a better understanding of the outstanding opportunities at Target
•Desire to pursue a career in retail management
•Leadership and strong decision-making skills
•Assertiveness and initiative
•Team-oriented thinking
•Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in all situations
•Strong organizational skills with the ability to multi-task
Undergraduate interns are eligible for a number of benefits just for being a team member, including a 10 percent Team Member Discount, access to a toll-free NurseLine, access to the Target Health & Wellness Web site, access to the Team Member LifeResources, a resource offering free support and information, and discounts on a variety of other resources
About Target®
Expect the Best. At Target, we have a vision: to become the best - the best culture and brand, the best place for growth and the company with the best reputation. We offer an inclusive, collaborative and energetic work environment that rewards those who perform. We deliver engaging, innovative and on-trend experiences for our team members and our guests. We invest in our team members' futures by developing leaders and providing a breadth of opportunities for professional development. It takes the best to become the best, and we are committed to building a team that does the right thing for our guests, shareholders, team members and communities.
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation serves guests at stores nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education®.
To apply, see BTT Gateway Schedule ID 467. Application deadline is 10/13/2013.


text:
I just love this actor, Ryan Reynolds (born October 23, 1976). He is a Canadian film and television actor. Reynolds is known for playing the role of Michael Bergen on ABC's sitcom Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001), Wade Wilson of Deadpool in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", and Hal Jordan of Green Lantern in "Green Lantern." He has also appeared in films such as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, "Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe", "The Proposal", "The Change-Up", and "Safe House." (Notes by Wikipedia) I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Please fav, vote, and comment. Thank you all. Peace and love to you.
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:
Ask dealer for further details. Offer valid 1/3/2020-3/2/2020.
Add vehicles to compare. You can compare up to 3 vehicles at a time.
Prices include all costs to be paid by consumer except for tax, license, registration and doc fee. Leases are closed end with purchase options listed above. Lessee responsible for maintenance, repair, excess wear and tear. To qualify for competitive lease conquest cash, customer must be currently leasing a qualifying unit to qualify. Qualifying units include Non-General Motors. Subject to primary lender approval. All prices, specifications and availability subject to change without notice. Contact dealer for most current information Dealer not responsible for typographical errors. All prices expire at the end of month posted. Price(s) include(s) all costs to be paid by a consumer, except for licensing costs, registration fees, and taxes. Not available with special finance, lease and some other offers.
The new Chevrolet Bolt EV is an affordable, family-friendly vehicle brought to you by GM Motors. Our Paramus showroom has a large inventory of these cars. We have umpteen customizable choices, which you can make in this vehicle, depending on your preference. The new Chevrolet Bolt EV comes equipped with several safety features like Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert, Rear Park Assist, and Surround Vision. An in-built 8-inch diagonal multi-color configurable driver gauge cluster gives the person behind the wheel an enhanced description of the car while it is in motion. If Paramus customers would like to learn more about the features of this vehicle, feel free to contact our skilled staff at (201)-649-0823!
Search new Chevrolet Bolt EV Chevrolet's For Sale in New Jersey
Whether you're looking for a new or used car in New Jersey, you're sure to find one that suits your needs at Paramus Chevrolet. Be sure to check out our flexible financing options as we'll make sure it fits your budget as well. Proudly serving Englewood, Hackensack and Teterboro customers, we are sure to have something for you. If you don't see exactly what you're looking for, contact us or stop in and we'll do our best to find the right car for you.
Customer Reviews (1298Reviews)
Andy is absolutely amazing! He is...
Andy is absolutely amazing! He is friendly and helpful. He checks in to make sure everything is going smoothly and I know that my car is in the right ...
Courtney P. WYCKOFF
Clean, pleasant and courteous
Clean, pleasant and courteous
Cresenzo B. WAYNE
Quick service. Friendly sta
Quick service. Friendly sta
Donnell G. LODI
Oil change and tire rotation. It was...
Oil change and tire rotation. It was completed in a reasonable time.
Edward L. ORADELL
The steering on my 2017 Traverse was...
The steering on my 2017 Traverse was going. I brought my car into service. They told me it would take 5 hours and they could drive me home. I had to a...
Amy L. MONTVALE
2nd car I have leased with this...
2nd car I have leased with this dealership, very easy process (lots of paperwork) but easy...I would reccomend to friends.
Darren S. MAYWOOD
Great experience. No BS.
Great experience. No BS.
Geoffrey S. SUFFERN
Efficient service
Efficient service
Stanley O. FLORHAM PARK
Courteous and speedy service
Courteous and speedy service
Marybeth C. HASBROUCK HEIGHTS
the work requested was completed in a...
the work requested was completed in a timely and efficient manner.
Diana W. MAHWAH


text:
And Doctor Octopus wants to play voyeur too! Crafter Riley Replicas built this groovy Spider-Man wall panel for a friend's home. Hilariously enough, the panel ended up in "the pondering room." Explains the builder of this project:
I had a friend who wanted to decorate a room in her house for her husband who is a HUGE Spider-man fan so I made this wall panel for the room. I went with a faux brick wall theme with Spideys villains bursting through the wall! I have The Sandman, The Lizard, Doc Ock and The Green Goblin represented.
Riley Replicas also topped it off with a Venom symbiote mural tucked behind the door. I can appreciate the craftsmanship, but this is a scene right out of The Amazing Spider-Man and the Revenge of the Sinister Restraining Orders.
[Via Geeokologie]


text:
What's the strategy?
Balanced Folio (PSG) is a target risk fund of funds, holding underlying funds that invest in asset classes including Canadian and foreign fixed income and Canadian and foreign equity.
It is constructed to provide significant growth potential with a strong income counterbalance. The strategy has a highly diversified equity allocation, with a modest preference for growth stocks and some mid cap exposure. The fixed income allocation includes domestic and foreign government and credit bonds.
Why invest in this portfolio strategy?
Ideal for investors seeking a diversified portfolio with more equity than fixed income.
The strategy provides diversification through exposure to multiple asset classes in domestic and foreign markets and multiple active managers.
Investors benefit from tactical asset allocation decisions by the portfolio manager, including changes to the fixed income/equity allocation as well as the domestic/foreign allocation of the funds. The portfolio manager may make changes to the underlying fund mix in line with current forward-looking views on an ongoing basis. In addition, investors benefit from the active management of the underlying fund managers. Investors further benefit from automatic rebalancing, ensuring the asset mix stays close to the desired asset mix.
Portfolio managers
Susan Spence and Brandon Hutchison are the portfolio managers of the Balanced Folio (PSG) portfolio strategy and are supported by the Portfolio Solutions Group team. Learn more about the Portfolio Solutions Group investment philosophy and strategy.
Susan Spence
Susan Spence
A member of the Portfolio Solutions team since 2011, Susan is responsible for the entire team and oversees portfolio management of the asset allocation portfolios, including independent screening, selection, due diligence and monitoring of each investment manager and underlying fund component.
Susan joined the Laketon team in 1996, where she held progressively senior roles, most notably co-lead manager for the Canadian Growth equity mandate. Susan also has experience managing U.S. equity mandates and working as a global equity analyst.
Susan holds an honours bachelor of commerce degree from Queen's University and is a CFA charterholder.
Brandon Hutchison
Assistant Vice-President
Brandon Hutchison
Assistant Vice-President
Brandon is co-manager of PSG's asset allocation portfolio strategies. He is also responsible for independent screening, selection, due diligence and monitoring of each investment manager and underlying fund component. Brandon has been with the PSG team since 2011. He was previously an Assistant Portfolio Analysis Manager with the Great-West Life group of companies. He also worked as a product analyst for Quadrus Investment Services, where he played a key role in creating and implementing the product due diligence process.
Brandon holds an honours bachelor of business administration degree from Brock University and is a CFA charterholder.


text:
Nov. 21, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The MIT women's fencing team picked up right where it left off last season as it went unscathed in the opening weekend of Northeast Fencing Conference action. The Engineers posted victories over Boston University (23-4), Wellesley College (17-10), UMass-Amherst (24-3), University of New Hampshire (24-3), and Tufts University (19-8).
The epee team, comprised of Lele Yu, Mika Tomczak, Joanna Tong, and Nicole Koulisis, combined for a 39-6 ledger. Yu and Tomczak both posted marks of 12-1 as Tong finished with an 11-2 record. Koulisis contributed a total of 4-2 as MIT had three 8-1 wins on the day in addition to a sweep of UNH.
Drew Reese anchored the sabre squad with a 14-1 performance while Shauna Jin notched a 13-2 record. Yushin Chen won all three of her bouts as Lynn Wang had a solid showing with a 6-6 mark. For the day, the team totaled a 36-9 ledger.
Nancy Hua led the foil team with a 12-3 mark en route to a 32-14 squad total. Gemma Mendel notched a 9-3 ledger as Barrette Strickland went 9-5. Chun Li closed out the scoring with a 2-2 record.


text:
High Availability for IaaS, PaaS and SaaS in the Cloud
Outages, natural disasters and unforeseen events have proved that even in a distributed architecture, you need to plan for High Availability (HA). In this entry I'll explain a few considerations for HA within Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). In a separate post I'll talk more about Disaster Recovery (DR), since each paradigm has a different way to handle that.
Planning for HA in IaaS
IaaS involves Virtual Machines - so in effect, an HA strategy here takes on many of the same characteristics as it would on-premises. The primary difference is that the vendor controls the hardware, so you need to verify what they do for things like local redundancy and so on from the hardware perspective.
As far as what you can control and plan for, the primary factors fall into three areas: multiple instances, geographical dispersion and task-switching.
In almost every cloud vendor I've studied, to ensure your application will be protected by any level of HA, you need to have at least two of the Instances (VM's) running. This makes sense, but you might assume that the vendor just takes care of that for you - they don't. If a single VM goes down (for whatever reason) then the access to it is lost. Depending on multiple factors, you might be able to recover the data, but you should assume that you can't. You should keep a sync to another location (perhaps the vendor's storage system in another geographic datacenter or to a local location) to ensure you can continue to serve your clients.
You'll also need to host the same VM's in another geographical location. Everything from a vendor outage to a network path problem could prevent your users from reaching the system, so you need to have multiple locations to handle this.
This means that you'll have to figure out how to manage state between the geo's. If the system goes down in the middle of a transaction, you need to figure out what part of the process the system was in, and then re-create or transfer that state to the second set of systems. If you didn't write the software yourself, this is non-trivial.
You'll also need a manual or automatic process to detect the failure and re-route the traffic to your secondary location. You could flip a DNS entry (if your application can tolerate that) or invoke another process to alias the first system to the second, such as load-balancing and so on. There are many options, but all of them involve coding the state into the application layer. If you've simply moved a state-ful application to VM's, you may not be able to easily implement an HA solution.
Planning for HA in PaaS
Implementing HA in PaaS is a bit simpler, since it's built on the concept of stateless applications deployment. Once again, you need at least two copies of each element in the solution (web roles, worker roles, etc.) to remain available in a single datacenter. Also, you need to deploy the application again in a separate geo, but the advantage here is that you could work out a "shared storage" model such that state is auto-balanced across the world. In fact, you don't have to maintain a "DR" site, the alternate location can be live and serving clients, and only take on extra load if the other site is not available. In Windows Azure, you can use the Traffic Manager service top route the requests as a type of auto balancer.
Even with these benefits, I recommend a second backup of storage in another geographic location. Storage is inexpensive; and that second copy can be used for not only HA but DR.
Planning for HA in SaaS
In Software-as-a-Service (such as Office 365, or Hadoop in Windows Azure) You have far less control over the HA solution, although you still maintain the responsibility to ensure you have it. Since each SaaS is different, check with the vendor on the solution for HA - and make sure you understand what they do and what you are responsible for. They may have no HA for that solution, or pin it to a particular geo, or perhaps they have a massive HA built in with automatic load balancing (which is often the case).
All of these options (with the exception of SaaS) involve higher costs for the design. Do not sacrifice reliability for cost - that will always cost you more in the end. Build in the redundancy and HA at the very outset of the project - if you try to tack it on later in the process the business will push back and potentially not implement HA.
References: http://www.bing.com/search?q=windows+azure+High+Availability (each type of implementation is different, so I'm routing you to a search on the topic - look for the "Patterns and Practices" results for the area in Azure you're interested in)


text:
Commerce Secretary John Bryson involved in multiple car accidents after seizureWednesday, June 13th, 2012
We'll have to wait to see what the real story here is after an investigation into John Bryson's recent incidents is completed. Here's the story:
Commerce Secretary John Bryson said Monday he will take a medical leave of absence to undergo tests and evaluations after suffering a seizure during a succession of traffic accidents in San Gabriel and Rosemead.
Bryson informed President Barack Obama that he was taking a medical leave "so that I can focus all of my attention on resolving the health issues that arose over the weekend," according to a statement released by the department. Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank will serve as acting commerce secretary in Bryson's absence.
Bryson, 68, of San Marino, was treated Saturday at an undisclosed hospital after the crashes, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and San Gabriel Police Department said in a joint statement.
Neither the San Gabriel police nor the Sheriff's Department would release a 9-1-1 audio call involving the crashes on Monday.
The accidents took place Saturday. The first occurred at 5:05 p.m. in the 500 block of South San Gabriel Boulevard near a railroad crossing, according to dispatch logs released by the San Gabriel Police Department.


text:
ryguy wrote: I would hope that you would say a plumber is more credible to describe weird noises that you're hearing coming from the drain than say, an electrician or a pizza boy?
Yes quite so but we arent talking about that and no one has any empirical experience of UFO's therefor any witnessing done of them by say, Percy the Plod is going to be just as believeable as Helen the Housewife.
Granted, a pilot might and I repeat might be more able to explain aerial maneouvering than Helen the Housewife but his actual description of the alleged UFO is, in my opinion no more valid than hers.


text:
Last week I spent a few days in Huddersfield with the ELISION ensemble, watching some of their work with young composers. Wednesday featured a workshop and concert with four student composers chosen from an international call for pieces put out by the Institute for Musical Research in London. More than 40 scores were received, from which pieces were chosen by Daniel Moreira (Brazil/Germany), Mark Barden (USA/Germany/UK), Yuko Ohara (Japan/UK) and Leo Birtwhistle (UK). The standard and ambition of all four was high, but for my money I want to say a special word for Birtwhistle's Mesoscope A for trumpet, trombone and percussion, which struck me as the most effectively written of the pieces for ensemble (Moreira's BaKaTakaBaKa was for trombone alone, Barden's PULS for percussion) and a very accomplished piece of work. Given that Birtwhistle is still just a third year undergrad (at York University), I'd suggest looking out for more of his work in the future.
Friday was the main concert, featuring music by Pedro Alvarez, Alex Jang, Luke Paulding and Matthew Sergeant. I'll be posting a proper review of this next week, but in between rehearsals on Thursday I caught up with Luke Paulding for a chat about his music.
Paulding is an Australian composer, pianist and tubist, living in Melbourne. He was born in Bahrain in 1987 and moved to Australia when he was five. Recently he has begun to visit the country of his birth more regularly and, interestingly, he noted that he is increasingly compelled to bring certain aspects of the country – the political tensions, the regular sound of the Islamic call to prayer, certain features of the landscape – into his work. Not in any literal or programmatic way, but on a deep, maybe subconscious level of influence.
Our conversation kept returning to this idea of the almost imperceptible, or the unobvious-but-nevertheless-present. He spoke, for example, of wanting to avoid too much 'conceptual definition' to a piece when composing: 'I'm happier when it has a visceral quality'.
Something of that visceral quality comes through in his choice of percussion. Friday's piece, where dust is in their mouths and clay is their food, makes use of dry bamboo twigs and leaves, metal trays and grains of rice. All items to which an audience can directly relate. Everyone can grasp what pouring rice onto a tray might sound and feels like, even if they can't apprehend what vocalising into a trombone with the slide in fourth position is like, or how it relates to what they hear. Paulding refers to this as a kind of 'peripheral recognisability' – things you might recognise, but whose sounds might be distorted or recontextualised in some way – which serves a kind of heightened perception of the work and its meanings.
The idea of obscured or only suggestive meaning came up in the subject of titles too. where dust is in their mouths … takes its title from the Epic of Gilgamesh, in particular a vision of the underworld, 'a house of dust' 'whose people sit in darkness'. (See here, in a different translation: 'where dirt is their drink, their food is of clay'.) However, Luke tells me that searching for a title for a piece – even one as visually potent as this one – 'takes almost the whole compositional process'. It's something that comes into focus only towards the end of the piece, as 'a way of enriching the work … when it needs a bit of conceptual grounding'. It isn't a starting point, so its relationship to the material and form of the work is tangential at best. Other works reference lines of poetry by Eleanor Winer or Robert Wilbur, like this one:
One idea behind where dust is in their mouths … comes from a different, but related, piece of Babylonian poetry, describing the descent of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, love, war and sex, into the underworld. As she proceeds along her path, she has to pass seven gates. Ancient decree requires her to remove one item of clothing at each gate, and when she passes through the seventh she is completely naked. That idea of nakedness and increasing vulnerability was what attracted Luke. The piece is not a literal setting of these stanzas, however, but the idea of them echoes through the music: 'ghosts of the myth' pop up throughout.
So the players are pushed to the edge in this work, they're left out on a limb, they're made vulnerable. The piece begins, for example, with an extremely rapid, mostly triple-piano solo for tenor trombone, set in an almost impossibly high tessitura. There's an inbuilt danger to writing like this, which flirts with the possibility of failure. Yet Paulding is smart enough to recognise there is also a certain artifice to this impression: that when a composer gives their music to an ensemble like ELISION, experience, skill and commitment will always trump risk in the end. 'Writing for ELISION still has something of the fantasy about it', he says. And the same holds true for listeners: risk in a formalised concert hall situation with elite players on stage is a highly mediated kind of risk.
We can't decide whether this means that 'complexity' has reached a point of expressive saturation. There's a chance that it has. And Paulding acknowledges that there are other paths one might take towards a similar expressive effect. However, we do agree that the shock value that was accessible to composers in the 70s and 80s is long gone. 'But maybe that allows for different possibilities,' he concludes.
If you're in Dublin you can catch Luke's piece tomorrow night (Tuesday 12) at the Kevin Barry Room, National Concert Hall. Concert starts at 7.30, and there are more details here.


text:
Microsoft Business Forward
Accelerate your digital transformation with business applications
Watch James Phillips, CVP, Business Applications Group, share the vision for Microsoft business applications and demonstrate innovations that are helping business on their digital transformation journey.
Request a call to learn more
Discover ways to better connect with your customers through the digital tools within Dynamics 365.
Connected marketing and sales
Learn how Adobe Marketing Cloud and Microsoft Relationship Sales solution enable your sellers to close deals faster.
Intelligent customer service
Find out how intelligent bots help provide superior customer service while uncovering new opportunities for your business.
Proactive field service
Discover how to optimize your operations and resources to solve customer issues before they happen and make your customers even happier.
Custom apps
Learn how Power Apps helps you easily create custom applications that fit your specific business processes.
Get the latest on Microsoft Business Forward
Articles and insights
- Ray Wang, Constellation Research: Event Report: Microsoft Biz Apps Analyst Day highlights strategic transformation
- Kate Leggett, Forrester Research: Microsoft Dynamics 365 democratizes CRM with a unique vision And offering
- Paul Greenberg, The 56 Group: Yes, Microsoft is doubling down on business applications
News and announcements
Get ready for GDPR
Hear from guest speakers, Enza Iannopollo, Forrester analyst serving security and risk professionals, and Andrea Simandi, European Data Protection attorney for Microsoft, to learn best practices for addressing General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—the privacy law taking effect May 25, 2018—and how to build a comprehensive data governance model.WATCH NOW
Business Applications Virtual Launch Event
Get an in-depth look at the spring 2018 updates across Dynamics 365, Power BI, and Power Apps—and how they drive your business forward.WATCH NOW
Mit dem Vertrieb chatten
Geschäftszeiten: Montag–Freitag,
08:00–17:00 Uhr MEZ.
Jetzt anrufen
Geschäftszeiten: Montag–Freitag,
08:00–17:00 Uhr MEZ.
Kontakt anfordern
Lassen Sie sich von einem Dynamics 365-Experten beraten.


text: Intro To Statistics Semester: Spring Year: 2019 Subject Name: Statistics Course Number: 240 Institution: UMass Amherst Basics of probability, random variables, binomial and normal distributions, central limit theorem, hypothesis testing, and simple linear regression. (Gen.Ed. R2)[Note: Because this course presupposes knowledge of basic math skills, it will satisfy the R1 requirement upon successful completion.] Linked Course: Multiple required components--lab and/or discussion section. To register, submit requests for all components simultaneously. Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only. Schedule #: 20321 Course Sections Year - Any -202020192018201720162015201420132012 Term - Any -FallSpring Subject Course Number Institution - Any -Amherst CollegeHampshire CollegeMount Holyoke CollegeSmith CollegeUMass Amherst Section Number Intro To Statistics Sect # Credits Instructor(s) Instructor Email Meeting Times Location 02AG 0.0 M 11:15AM 12:05PM Lederle Grad Res Tower Rm 173


text:
Guidelines for Transfer Students
Admission Guidelines for Transfer Students to
Ala-Too International University for 2018-19 Academic Year
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for considering Ala-Too International University as a destination for further education. Student who would like to transfer to our university must complete at least two semesters in home university.
To apply for transfer international applicant has to submit passport and transcript copies through e-mail for visa processing and eligibility before the following dates:
Deadline for international students: 10th January, 2018
Deadline for Kyrgyz Republic citizens: 31st January, 2018
After receiving visa and provisional admission letter the applicant has to come to Kyrgyz Republic till 31st January, 2018 with following documents for completion of admission procedure:
● High school certificate (original)
● High school transcript (original)
● University transcript (original)
● No objection letter
● Copy of passport
● Photos 3x4 (6 items)
● One semester tuition fee
Contact Information:
Kyzzhibek Sydykova,
International Students Coordinator,
Ala-Too International University,
Ankara street 1/8, Bishkek, 720048, Kyrgyz Republic
Phone: +(996) 555820000
E-mail: email@example.com


text:
Aye. Keillor ain't known for his good looksThat's a good thing I'm thinkin'
Dulcius ex asperis
What I Smoke has a Sting to it
Searching for the queen
not yet
My mouth isn't always open(although some might beg to differ)
I'm explaining a swarm to some co-workers
OK, here's one of me, pretty scary. But it is a testament to how extractions are hot, sticky jobs:
Here's one a little more relaxed and normal:
And here's one of my favorites:
Last edited by Gene Weitzel; 02-28-2008 at 05:19 PM.
"The UNKNOWN, huh? That would be SNORBERT ZANGOX over in Waycross."
Ok, guess I'm in too. I changed some of the pics.
My Second Triathlon of the season, getting my numbers.
working the frames
Me & My Hubby, New Year's Eve
At the fair...
Last edited by hummingberd; 03-30-2008 at 09:57 PM.
Let's BEE friends
This is Joanne and I.
And yeah, she looks at me that way all the time.
"And yeah, she looks at me that way all the time". -J.F.
Why? I guess I just don't understand. I have grey hair now too. Nice photos. I guess I'll have to get my,.. "mug" on here too.
Last edited by Oldbee; 03-31-2008 at 05:38 AM.
Erin Forbes, EAS Master Beekeeper
A picture from my part time job. I am on the left.
My youngest helper:
Last edited by Barry; 11-06-2009 at 12:13 PM.
Here is a pic of me (driver) and my new beek. She bought a bee suit off of the internet so that she could go with me. She liked them better then I would have bet.
Last edited by kyfarmer; 04-15-2008 at 11:02 PM. Reason: forgot the link
Only one i have at the moment but i will put one of me doing bee stuff up soon.
Photo of me on my day job as a wildlife biologist. Found and relocated a nice gopher snake from our client's construction site in southern Arizona.
Last edited by James Henderson; 05-13-2008 at 10:40 AM. Reason: photo too large and overpowering...maybe a little scary too.
James Henderson
Golden Delight Honey; 225-803-5406 (cell)
heres a pic of myself with a swarm I had just got out of a tree 30' foot off the ground
got'er dun without my shotgun
having a cold one with the bees
This swarm turned out bigger than it looked from the ground. I ended up with 3 nuc boxes stacked on top of each other
I did knock a good part of the bees down on my head while getting them out of the tree. Bullseye bill is right. It hurts when a cluster of bees rain down on you. Especially when you are on the top of a 20 foot ladder holding a 10 foot pole with abucket and drawn comb over your head. At that point the bees are quick to let you know your beesuit is in the house
Last edited by riverrat; 06-28-2008 at 05:43 PM.
Showing Kim Dozier of CBS News a frame of bees at Beekeeping Class Field Day! (Yes, I love that yellow head band made just for us beeks!)
Can not seem to make the photo paste into this fourm, so will provide a link instead
Me and my other half hosting a wine tasting in the back yard last summer. Having a little bit too much fun- especially him in that outfit!
See story HOneybees Get Human Helpers here: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4048278n.
Last edited by winevines; 11-20-2008 at 10:22 AM.
I am holding on to the hope I have inside... Kutless


text:
You are here: Home > CONTACT US >
Moving can be exciting, but packing makes painful. The luster and optimism of a new home quickly diminishes when you're busy shoving your stuff in boxes so it doesn't break on the way.
Read More
It can be stressful moving into a new home. You might be overwhelmed with everything that you have to get done, or simply have no idea where to start. If you are a first time mover, follow these tips to get settled into your new home as quickly and easily as possible.Read More


text:
The bright and sophisticated Casablanca rug exhibits endless versatility and appeal. Available in four fresh and trendy colors, this rug is elegant and multifaceted in its simplicity. A contemporary touch that will add lots of pizzazz to your room decor.
The Casablanca rug is machine-made in Egypt of 100% polypropylene and can be used both indoors and outdoors. Practicality and style all in one!
Would you like us to help you find a similar item? Talk with our Design Consultants toll-free at1-800-927-5164.
*Shipping transit time varies based on destination. Free shipping offers are limited to the 48 contiguous states of the USA.
International Customers (including Alaska and Hawaii) please contact a Customer Service Representative if you have any questions about placing an order with PoshTots.
Promotion codes cannot be used for sale item purchases.
*Free shipping offers are limited to the 48 contiguous states of the USA.


text:
White Crystal Letter 'S' My ABCDior Tribales Gold Finish Earring
The letter 'S' My ABCDior Tribales earring features a smaller white resin bead that sits flat against the ear, and a larger bead that hangs from the bottom of the design. The pearl look of the beads is paired with a white crystal 'S' accent. As a single earring, this piece can be paired with a simple stud on the opposite ear to create a bold contrast.
Reference : E1028ABCCY_D301
- White Crystal Letter 'S' My ABCDior Tribales Gold Finish Earring
- White resin bead accents
- White crystal accents
- Push-back closure
- Bead diameter: 1.4 cm
- Gold finish metal
- Sold individually
- Made in Germany
Reference : E1028ABCCY_D301


text:
Compact Crossovers & 2019 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Sedan
Season 38 Episode 30 | 26m 49s
This week we compare compact utilities to see who comes out on top. Pat Goss says a tiny spark can shed big light. Stephanie Hart heads to Daytona for a tour of legends. Finally, we shoot through the corners in track-loving luxury with the Mercedes-AMG C63 S.
Aired: 03/30/19Video has closed captioning.
Problems Playing Video?
National corporate funding for MotorWeek is provided by Tire Rack, RockAuto and State Farm.


text:
Know what's comforting? A plate of piled-high barbecue — with all the fixins.
Monroe's Smokehouse Bar-B-Q, with a location on the Westside off Cassat and Edgewood at 4838 Highway Ave., and a mobile food truck (Monroe's On the Go), recently opened a second brick-and-mortar on bustling Beach Boulevard. The former Woody's Bar-B-Q has been revamped, and the wood floors, country décor and picnic bench seating is apropos.
After starting with bite-sized corn nuggets <> fried okra, I ordered the pulled pork platter — a large portion of moist and flavorful meat — with two sides, and added a third. Life's short — why not? The collard greens, with a vinegar base, won over my Southern heart. The creamy mac 'n' cheese and sweet potato soufflé were perfect accompaniments: cheesy goodness and a subtly sweet soufflé topped with chopped nuts.
Worth mentioning are those addictive corn nuggets: I recommend starting with a shared basket. They're stuffed with sweet creamed corn, fried and paired with a slightly spicy homemade ranch dipping sauce.
Monroe's has finger-licking-good wings (both dry and wet), sandwiches (pulled pork, chopped Carolina pork, brisket, pulled chicken and sliced turkey), salads and platters. The sides are where it's at; secretly, I'd love to order one of each and stuff myself silly. Talk about tempting: creamy coleslaw, homemade potato salad, collard greens, mashed potatoes, baked beans, black-eyed peas, sweet yellow whole-kernel corn, simmered Southern-style green beans and red coleslaw. The standard fries and side salad are also available.
As a big dipper (no pun intended), I get my kicks by tasting all of the homemade squeezable barbecue sauces: Two sticky thumbs-up for the tangy mustard sauce. There are also sauce flavors of mustard, hot mustard, Monroe sauce, chipotle, Carolina and sweet.
In the back of the restaurant is a bar area, complete with a painting of the original Monroe House, built in 1907. You'll find bottled beers and a few local draughts — offerings from Bold City and Green Room breweries.
Do yourself a favor: Get a box if you think you're getting full. You'll want to save room for dessert. Pastry Chef Anita Adams, formerly of Let Them Eat Cake!, creates confections so good you won't even consider sharing. The banana pudding cream pie left me with a smile on my face.


text:
It appears that the use of wildcard characters doesn't work in filters, or the banned word list files.
Example: I'm getting a LOT of messages with the subject PHAxyzRMA, where xyz is some combination of letters.
These messages are getting placed in the Junk Mail folder, but I'd like to zap them with a pre-download filter if possible.
I've tried using PHA*RMA and PHA???RMA in my filters with no success.
Am I missing something obvious?
While searching, someone asked why any combination of letters present in a banned word file, would be used, rather than the complete word.
Does it really work that way?
example: If the word MONKEY is placed in the banned list, then messgae with any combination of letters used in that word would be filtered:
I just want to make sure I understand how this really works.
Thanks !


text:
There's certainly something to be said for a game that doesn't take itself too seriously. Deadliest Warrior is a traditional fighting game at first glance, but once you delve deeper into the download it becomes clear that this is something a bit different. You can lop off limbs, achieve instant kills with arrow shots through someone's eyeball and pull off some of the most gruesome fatalities since Mortal Kombat. If that alone is enough to warrant a ten dollar investment, then Deadliest Warrior is for you. If you're looking for a traditional fighting game like Street Fighter, you might be left disappointed.
Deadliest Warrior is based on the Spike TV show of the same name that pits some of history's greatest combatants against one another in totally preposterous yet undeniably epic battles. And therein lies the reason that Deadliest Warrior will find a home with some gamers. The notion of having a fighting game that pits a pirate against a viking is just as awesome as it sounds. So awesome, in fact, that as I'm writing this there are three IGN editors standing over my shoulder shouting about how they just turned Charles Onyett's pirate into a peg leg.
The game adheres to the same premise of the show and gives gamers eight fighters from throughout history to choose from. The list includes a Viking, Apache, Centurion, Ninja, Knight, Samurai, Pirate, and Spartan. All of the warriors have different weapons, both ranged and melee, as well as different attack speed and power. Every fighter seemed fairly well balanced, though I'm sure some die hard Street Fighter fan will hop into the game and prove me wrong.
Deadliest Warrior isn't designed for the Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat fans of the world. The gameplay lacks depth and doesn't have nearly as much strategy as a typical fighting game, which undoubtedly hurts the download's lasting appeal. But for those that aren't concerned about the depth of their fighting game, Deadliest Warrior will likely fit the bill.
While it lacks the usual combos and moves that require precisely timed button presses, it does have plenty gruesome fatalities and attacks that are entertaining to watch. You can hack off limbs two seconds into a fight and watch your opponent trudge ever closer, bloody stump in tow. Of course, if that doesn't work you can always just shoot your arrow or throw your spear directly into your opponent's brain. That's sure to bring him down if you can nail the toss.
Sadly, the gameplay is fairly limited with only two real modes of play. You get the main ladder system that has you work your way through all eight fighters and includes a few interesting bonus mini-games, and there's also the standard multiplayer options like ranked and unranked games as well as local play. There are little trinkets like a training mode, but those don't really add much to the game after you get a feel for the action.
The visuals in Deadliest Warrior won't turn many heads unless you're oddly attracted to lots and lots of blood. There are seams on some of the character models where their limbs are designed to split from their body and the camera can be a bit wonky at times (especially while dodging an incoming attack as forcing the camera to rotate can take some time). Thankfully, the game makes up for its mediocre graphics with more hilariously chopped off limbs and blood smears than your typical fighting game.
Closing Comments
Overall Deadliest Warrior has some great moments where the personality of its creators shines through and I have no doubt that non-fighting game fans are going to find something to enjoy in this download. Still, I can't help but think that those looking for some depth along with their new fighting game are going to be left a bit disappointed. There just isn't enough staying power in either the gameplay or the modes to satiate those looking to peel back the initial layers and still have plenty to enjoy. That withstanding, if you're looking for something simple and bloody (and I mean bloody) that doesn't take itself too seriously, Deadliest Warrior could be for you.


text:
Story highlights
- Excised tumor weighed 180 pounds, hospital says
- Hai has neurofibramatosis, disorder dramatized in "The Elephant Man"
- The tumor "may return, but we can operate him again," hospital chief says
- Lead surgeon had previously removed tumors around 200 pounds
A Vietnamese man is recovering in the intensive care unit Friday, a day after surgery that completely removed from his right leg a tumor twice his body weight, according to the hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
The growing tumor had rendered the patient, Nguyen Duy Hai, virtually immobile until his surgery.
The excised tumor weighed 180 pounds (82 kilos), according to the hospital, a bit less than the 200 pounds (90 kilos) estimated before surgery.
Hai, 31, of Da Lat City, has Von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis, said Dr. Jean-Marcel Guillon, chief executive officer of FV Hospital, where the 12-hour procedure was performed.
The autosomal dominant hereditary disorder is the same disease that contributed to the extraordinarily large head of Joseph Merrick, whose story was dramatized in the 1980 film, "The Elephant Man," explained Guillon. (Last July, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, its researchers identified the gene variant in Proteus syndrome and plan to test DNA from Merrick's skeleton to determine if Proteus caused his disfigurement.)
The tumor, which originated in Hai's spine, "may return," Guillon wrote in e-mails to CNN, "but we can operate him again, and it won't never reach such a size anymore."
Doctors expect that Hai's cardiac and pulmonary functions will return to normal during the next 10 days. After that, Hai faces rehabilitation, physical therapy and possible help from the hospital's clinical psychologist to deal with issues pertaining to body image, Guillon said. "This patient lived all his life with this tumor. It was part of him."
Hai also needs to learn how to do things that his body had forgotten, including using the left leg he had never used normally, Guillon added.
The tumor was first discovered when Hai was four years old and had grown to its enormous size since then.
Hai had undergone a surgery to amputate most of his leg -- and with it the tumor -- in 1997, but in 2001, the tumor grew, and no doctors agreed to operate on him, according to the hospital. Guillon said he did not know why the leg was amputated, as there are no medical records from that time.
Furthermore, his family could not afford surgery, and very few surgeons in Vietnam can treat neurofibromas, Guillon said.
The latest surgery was considered risky with a 50% success rate for a number of reasons, Guillon explained. "First, such a giant tumor has developed its own blood system with huge arteries branched out from the normal vascular system. Therefore, one of the main risks was abundant bleeding."
Doctors used a "cell saver," which suctions and filters the patient's blood before re-injecting it into the body, along with extra blood for the surgery.
The second and third risks lay in heart function ("How would a heart react when a tumor with twice the weight of a patient is removed?") and the effects of a long -- more than 13 hours -- anesthesia, Guillon said.
Leading the surgical team was Dr. McKay McKinnon, a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery from Chicago.
McKinnon has been credited with removing a 200-pound tumor from a woman in the U.S. state of Michigan in 2000, as well as a 176-pound (80 kilo) tumor from a Romanian woman in 2004.
Aside from McKinnon, no one else on the team had any prior experience with Hai's condition or performed such a surgery before, Guillon said. "Though the surgical techniques used by Dr. McKinnon are usual and routinely used by our surgeons, the difference lays in his experience: he knows what to expect and what to do at specific crucial moments."
Finally, the team of Vietnamese surgeons and anesthetists had never worked with McKinnon before, and communication issues could turn dangerous in an operating theatre, Guillon said, adding that two of the three Vietnamese surgeons also go by "Dr. Thai."
Nonetheless, the communication among all in the operating theatre went "extremely well," Guillon said.
During the surgery, FV Hospital set up a live video feed for other doctors and hospitals to watch.
Video during the surgery showed five people assisting in the disposal of the excised tumor from its own gurney into a yellow co


text:
Princeton scientists have high hopes for hydrogen
In the lab of Professor of Chemistry Andy Bocarsly, the automobile of the future takes the form of a thin plastic film bolted between graphite and copper plates.
The device, about the size of a portable CD player, is a working fuel cell. Searing hot to the touch, it is connected to tubes and wires that carry pure hydrogen in one side and water and electric current out the other. It is the latest test model in Bocarsly's four-year-old study of fuel cells, particularly those that might be used in powering automobiles.
Bocarsly's lab , which collaborates on the project with Jay Benziger of chemical engineering, is one of several Princeton research groups investigating the science, technology and public policies needed to bring hydrogen fuel into widespread use. The subject has taken on a new focus with President Bush's announcement in January of an initiative to promote hydrogen as a next-generation fuel -- with a hydrogen-powered "FreedomCAR" as the centerpiece goal.
At the Princeton Environmental Institute , scientists are analyzing a range of technical issues related to the "hydrogen economy," including the best ways of producing and distributing the gas. In mechanical and aerospace engineering, Professor Chung Law is studying interim uses of hydrogen in combination with conventional fuels as well as issues of safety.
On March 5, Joan Ogden, a research scientist at the Princeton Environmental Institute and longtime analyst of alternative fuels, testified before the House Committee on Science as part of a hearing on "The Path to a Hydrogen Economy." The hearing was the first formal effort by Congress to respond to Bush's hydrogen initiative, and Ogden was the only academic scientist among five panelists from government and industry.
"Hydrogen fuel cells, although they are long term, potentially have a very high payoff," Ogden told the committee. "And I think they deserve signi- ficant government support now -- insurance, if nothing else, that they will be ready in 15 or 20 years if we want to deploy them on a very wide basis."
The full story is available in the Weekly Bulletin.
Contact: Lauren Robinson-Brown (609) 258-3601


text:
No Matter What
Season 2 Episode 16 | 26m 59s
Sometimes we avoid stepping into the fray. But when we are courageous, the consequences are life changing. Susanne learns about love and the virtues of a well-built campfire; José journeys to the U.S. and the possibility of a brighter future; and Annemarie discovers that letting go is not the same as giving up. Three storytellers, three interpretations of NO MATTER WHAT, hosted by Theresa Okokon.
Aired: 04/08/19Video has closed captioning.
Problems Playing Video?
Stories from the Stage is a collaboration of WORLD Channel, WGBH Events, and Massmouth.


text:
A former Texas Department of Public Safety state trooper was sentenced to two years probation Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of official oppression in connection with an illegal roadside cavity search that was recorded on dashcam video.
Angel and Ashley Dobbs were stopped by Trooper David Farrell on July 13, 2012, after he said he saw the women throw cigarettes out of their vehicle. Farrell, who said he smelled marijuana in the car, called for a female trooper to search the women.
Trooper Kelly Helleson arrived at the scene and conducted the search, which was recorded by Farrell's dashboard camera.
Nothing illegal was found in the search.
Dobbs, who testified in the sentencing Friday, recalled thinking after the cavity search, "Oh my God, did she just do that?"
Both Angel and Ashley Dobbs sued the DPS, alleging that Helleson performed searches on both women, touching both their anuses and vaginas, without changing the latex gloves between searches. The DPS settled the lawsuit for $185,000 last summer.
Helleson was later fired and indicted on two charges of official oppression and sexual assault. Farrell was ultimately indicted on a theft charge after the women said a bottle of prescribed hydrocodone was missing from Dobbs' car and purse after the search. An investigation by the DPS later cleared Farrell of that charge.
- Former Trooper Indicted in Roadside Cavity Search
- Trooper to be Terminated Over Roadside Cavity Search
After entering her plea Friday, Helleson apologized during the sentencing and said she was searching for illegal substances and that she never intended to touch the women in inappropriate places. She also added that the women smelled of pot.
Helleson testifies, reads a statement saying she is sorry. Describes night of search. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/2EgZbz2NvO — Ken Kalthoff (@KenKalthoffNBC5) May 23, 2014
Attorney's for Helleson had asked the judge to consider deferred adjudication instead of a conviction of the Class A misdemeanor, a move that would keep the conviction off Helleson's record and would allow her to continue working as an officer. Prosecutors said Friday that the community needs law enforcement it can depend on and demanded straight probation for Helleson with a conviction.
The latest news from around North Texas.
Judge Dominque Collins sided with prosecutors and sentenced Helleson to one year in prison (deferred) and two years of probation, ending Helleson's career as a law enforcement officer. She will also have to pay a $1,000 fine for each charge.
If Helleson violates the terms of her probation, she'll be sent to jail.
"No woman should have their body unnecessarily violated in this type of way. This was a gross invasion of the victim's privacy and violation of the public's trust," said Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins after the conviction.
Since the 2012 incident, the DPS has implemented a new policy that makes cavity searches without a warrant illegal.
NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff also contributed to this story.


text:
Non-Exclusivism, Universalism, Evil, and, Philosophy As One Big "IF"
America's leading Evangelical Christian philosophers (influenced perhaps by the struggle to find a way to justify the devilish amount of sheer ignorance in the world) are more attracted to ideas of "non-exclusivism" (i.e., people who are not born-again nor confessing Christians can still be "saved"), including even universalism (i.e., everyone will one day be "saved"), than are America's leading Evangelical Christian theologians, the latter of whom spout relatively more exclusivistic views based on a stricter linguistic interpretation of the Scriptures.
Though Alvin Plantinga is not a universalist, he is apparently a non-exclusivist who is attracted to the idea that more than just born-again or confessing Christians will be "saved."
Evangelical Christian philosopher, Vic Reppert [who argues on a philosophical basis that there is a likelihood of a "second chance" after death] adds, "There really isn't a firm quotable statement [regarding exactly what Plantinga's views are]. However, when I used to attend SCP meeting on a regular basis, I would have to say that exclusivism was very much a minority position. The philosophers, Robert Merrihew Adams and his wife Marilyn McCord Adams, are both universalists, and next to Plantinga, they are the best-regarded [Evangelical] Christian philosophers." [email from Reppert to Babinski, Tuesday, October 24, 2006]
Victor Reppert at his blogsite also recently posted an entry debating questions concerning God's "middle knowledge," titled, Gale, Adams, and universal salvation, that ended with Vic's observation that "since Adams [mentioned above] is a card-carrying universalist, it looks like he can dodge this objection. Everyone gets saving grace."
I suspect there are even more "ifs" if everyone looked harder at every argument--from eternal damnationism to universalism to simply death and rotting. I think it would demonstrate that philosophy is one big "if" when it comes to such questions.
Such "ifs" must also include the fact that the Bible is a book of words written by human beings, and such words are not equivalent to visibly seeing God, Jesus, the afterlife. Furthermore, people who claim to have seen God and/or the afterlife are also FEW in number. And many such "sights" are brief at best, or hazy (and they grow either "hazier" or "clearer" with the passage of time, depending on whether one is relying stictly on one's memory, or continually redefining one's memory of one's vision in verbal terms linked to increasingly dogmatic influences and interpretations applied from outside). Even of those few visions that some claim to have seen clearly, there's a wide variety of things seen, not simply Christian ones. So there is no coherent interpretation that includes and explains all such visions, let alone a "theologically systematic" whole, and as I said, FEW have ever seen such things.
1) If freewill was truly free than maybe it's logically impossible to assert that a God with "freewill" can also be defined as "good," because a God with "freewill" could also act "evil" by definition of having "freewill." Such a "God" would then have to be defined first and foremost as "free" and His actions defined as "indeterminate" or "vacillating based on choice."
2) Even if someone tries to argue that the definition of "freewill" (i.e., "always being able to choose either good or evil") applies to "God," then there's yet another question.
Let's accept a tri-omni good God exists. The "defense" offered for evil in that case is that anything God creates would be inherently less than God and more subject to temptations toward evil. But such an argument simply redefines the words "less than God," as "evil," but there is no proof that such a redefinition is necessarily true. Being "less" than "God" does not necessarily entail a creature becoming "evil," not anymore than God's own "freewill" might leave God in the exact same situation of always having to choose between two options. And WHATEVER MAY BE SAID IN THE ONE CASE APPLIES TO BOTH. Whatever keeps a tri-omni good God from never using His freewill to choose evil, could just as well apply to a less than tri-omni creation that came directly out of that same God. I stick by that statement, but Plantinga and Vic deny it on no provable basis that I have yet seen.
So there is no way for theistic philosophy to prove it has argued its was to reality or THE truth, because it just tries to redefine "freewill" in different terms for God and man, (or, it tries to equate the phrase "less than God" with "evil," again without proving that it is necessarily so), just based on PRESUPPOSITIONS THAT IT MUST BE SO. And such presuppositions remain as QUESTIONABLE as any other view.
In the end the idea of evil coming out of perfect goodness remains an unproven proposition.
All such philosophical arguments also flounder on the fact that we grow up via experiences of this cosmos. We learn about "'good' and 'evil' and the spectrum of actions lying in the grey area" in this cosmos before we ever learn how to separate those examples and concepts fully from one another in the form of "words," and claim they are fully and absolutely separate from one another. So the separation takes place afterwards (after one's mental development and contact with the world), and only after such a separation do philosophers take one of those abstracted concepts and try to build a bridge over to the opposte word and concept:
Perfect goodness---> Evil
When I read about arguments that try to create such a bridge I can't help noting all of the sheer ingenuity and guess work employed in the process of trying to find a way to bridge those two things that WE as human beings experienced and learned about as they already co-existed together, a world with both good evil and many grey areas of various shades as well. People living in this cosmos in which all those things co-existed, have learned how to pull such things apart mentally, and imagine only one of them existing alone in the beginning, then philosophers try to mentally derive one FROM the other. But that proves nothing about reality itself, the one in which we were raised and in which such things co-existed already.
It's like beginning with
Perfect Cold----> Hotness
Perfect Darkness----> Luminosity
A philosopher can of course argue based on scientific knowledge that the answer in the above cases is that molecules start to move faster, generating more heat and even light. But then the philosopher must also recognize that "perfect coldness" has no molecules that move faster than "perfect coldness" allows. Not if you begin with NOTHING BUT "perfect coldness." So you can NEVER get to the opposite side or cross the bridge from the initial defining point--you can't cross the bridge from one word to the other if both are already so well defined to the complete exclusion of the opposite word. (*Don't misunderstand me, I am speaking in terms of the limitation of going from one abstract word or concept to another, which by definition excludes the former word or concept. I am not speaking in terms of a creationist argument in which the cosmos began in perfect darkness and coldness--and even that argument is fallacious because scientists admit many possibilities not simply the one that the cosmos was created out of an inert cold and dark mass. They admit cosmoses might oscillate, give birth to other cosmoses, there might be an infinity of cosmoses and super-cosmoses throughout infinite time and space. And using "God" to explain the existence of the cosmos is simply to employ an even greater mystery ("God") to explain a lesser one, a more immediate and universally recognizable one.)
Now consider these questions and how they might be bridged:
Perfect Cold----> Hotness
Perfect Darkness----> Luminosity
In nature, coldness can and does sometimes warm up and/or cool down again; and darkness can and does grow brighter, and/or dimmer again. We observe such things happening on earth and via telescopes. So in nature CHANGES OCCUR, including oscillating ones. We observe that to be a fact of which there is no facter. Because there's a variety and mix of forces and co-existence of forces in the cosmos, all of which exist TOGETHER, side by side, rather than there being "PERFECT cold" or "PERFECT darkness." Nature, isn't "perfect" in either respect, and unlike philosophy, nature appears to be multi-sided, changeable and filled with the co-existence of things philosphers simply want to purify down into "perfect" words of which there is no worder.
Therefore, philosophy invents and relies on abstractions from nature that philosophers then further elevate to "perfections" or "absolutes," but they are picked a bit here and there from nature, like gnats from nature's hair, and philosophers claim that each particular thing they plucked from nature mentally is the "IT" that began it all.
That's probably why philosophers continues running into the same debates and obstacles to agreement since the pre-Socratics, because philosophy begins with fragments of the whole natural world of experience and then after fragmenting nature has to try and reunite the fragments back together to get THIS whole cosmos. Philosophy is the Humpty Dumpty rhyme writ large.
Thus the BIG QUESTIONS appear to lay beyond the ability of philosophers to get people to agree upon their answers. Philosophy cannot prove it's various conflicting explanations for reality, for this cosmos in which things co-exist, mix, and change. Philosophy has so far proven nothing. It is a mere wax nose on the faces of all philosophers, as flexible as their brains that keep alive all sorts of opposing views and viewpoints concerning the BIG questions.
Why speak about "eternal separation" as if change is no longer possible after some point? If there is "freewill" and if "freewill" is so vitally important, then why not retain freewill and that means retaining possibilities of change throughout eternity? Maybe people have their "up" and "down" periods throughout eternity? If you're looking at options PURELY PHILOSOPHICALL then eternal oscillation with no point of "no return," remains as good a purely mental option as any. But most people simply want the game of philosophy to end in some definitive way. They don't even begin to think in terms of life the universe and everything as an INFINITE game (rather than a finite one). I suppose that's partly because philosophers are lazy like the rest of the primates on this planet. Finish the job, reach the point of no return and get some sleep. (But read James Carse's FINITE AND INFINITE GAMES too, as well as Alan Watts's THE BOOK OF THE TABOO: AGAINST KNOWING WHO YOU REALLY ARE.)


text:
Designer Wallpaper
Leave all your perceptions of standard wallpaper at the door, and prepare to discover the world of luxury, designer and modern wallpaper with the Chapel Interiors wallpaper collection. With varied collections steeped in design inspiration, history, and cutting-edge modernity at the forefront of interior renovations, the wallpaper range is as unique as it is luxurious.
If you are a fan of certain wallpaper brands such as Barneby Gates, Harlequin and Sanderson, then you can browse directly by your most-loved brand. If you're simply looking to explore patterns and textures, you can also browse by collection, price and brand. It's never been easier to find the designer wallpaper you've been looking for.
Break out of the mould with a wallpaper range that suits your interior style. Discover the designer wallpaper you've been looking for at Chapel Interiors.


text:
Our Story
Special Events
Events Gallery
Guest Information
Club Attire
Phones and Electronics
Course & Courts
Course Conditions
Tennis Court Webcam
Nestled among tall pines and old oaks atop Sand Hill Road, Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club offers a haven for members, just minutes away from Stanford University, Palo Alto,
the greater Silicon Valley and many of the world's leading technology and investment firms.
Since 1962, Sharon Heights has provided a five-star country club experience where golf,
dining and recreation are presented in a casually elegant style. Through a commitment
to excellence, Sharon Heights has earned a Platinum Club award, and continues to be
a leading private club in the Bay Area, and beyond.
Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club 2900 Sand Hill Rd Menlo Park, CA 94025
[email protected]
Member Login
Contact Us