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Guru Ram Das, SSS Ji's Legacy for South America
Greetings from Beautiful La Paz, Bolivia:
We are winding down our trip in this beautiful city. Last night after Hari Dharam's sweet class full of stories of the Gurus and lovely chanting, Simran Singh and myself gave a short Gatka presentation, and people were delighted. Needless to say, we were both quite out of breath, since excersing in this altitude takes its toll!
This morning several of us attended group Sadhana here at the hotel. There were about 15 people from the Bolivian Sangat, and Sat Kirn Kaur led the meditation with live music, which was greatly appreciated and highly regarded. We had literally no time to go home and rest afterwards since the day was jammed packed. After breakfast, Guru Bachan Singh, Sat Kirn Kaur, Deva Kaur (our beautiful hostess), Hari Purkh Kaur (another devoted yoga student) and myself went to visit a lovely lady who collects antique weavings from the indigenous people of the area. When she greeted us in perfect english, Guru Bachan Singh mentioned her perfect pronunciation, and it turns out she's american but has been living in La Paz since 1976! She has had exhibitions at the Smithsonian and other major museums and at present, she has a whole exhibit in storage in Santa Fe, NM waiting for the perfect exposure!!
Some of the pieces she showed us were tightly woven traditional alpaca skirts, chieftain ponchos and other assorted cloths with simple yet elegant designs in vibrant blues, reds, indigos, whites and yellows, which was amazing since ALL of them use natural dyes from local plants and insects (ugh!), and are all quite old.... some dating as early as early 1800�s.
Right after that, we all rushed to our next appointment: a meeting specially set up for us to meet with several doctors, and psychologists working in a Drug Rehabilitation Center. Thanks to another connection with a Kundalini Yoga student whose husband (Dr. Rodolfo Lopez) runs the State Mental Health Ministry, we were able to talk to these dedicated group of professionals. Guru Bachan Singh and Sat Kirn Kaur gave a short summary presentation on 3HO SuperHealth, its success rate, and our willingness to share these precious teachings with them, and there seemed to be genuine interest in exploring the possibility of setting up something here in Bolivia in the near future!! We left feeling this could be the beginning of a partnership with the Bolivian Drug Rehabilitaion world, where it is so needed.
After lunch we had yet another meeting set up for us.... this time in the poorest section of La Paz. This particular meeting happened through the synchronicity of Guru Ram Das! It so happened that when we arrived at the airport, there was quite a short lady there waiting for some other passenger, but when she saw our dazzlingly white radiant group, she approached us and begged us to come see her place and the work she was doing. This destination turned out to be a project to give help and aid to orphans and the poorest elderly folk. The lady we had met at the airport and her husband both run this project by providing clothing, food, toys, and basic needs to these people who have nowhere else to turn to.
When we arrived we were guided up some dark stairwells to the second story into a room that was FULL of children and some elderly indigenous people.. You could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. But as soon as we walked in, as if waiting a cue they all broke into loud applause with HUGE grinning faces. All of them were moved to see these strange white �foreigners�here in their humble surroundings visiting THEM! They literally all rushed to hug Guru Bachan Singh (who even sitting down towers over everybody!), Jai Hari Kaur, and myself. The kids swamped us and GBS was so touched he started crying. Later in the car he said that in each of those children's faces all he could see was the Siri Singh Sahib's face. It was quite moving. The children ranged between a few months old to teenagers.
GBS gave a short talk about how Guru Ram Das himself had been an orphan, and how he grew up to become a great Saint who had changed and touched many many lives, even to this day. And then much to the kids surprise, we brought out cookies and candies we had bought earlier. The children were SO excited! At one point while the goodies were being passed around, we asked all of them to close their eyes and take a few long deep breaths. Well, many of the kids were NOT going to let go of their cookies, so with the cookie sticking out of their mouths they were tightly squeezeing their eyes and trying to breathe deep! It was precious!
It seems everywhere we go, the Guru points the way.... sets up the meetings with whomever needs to hear our message, and the doors open for all kinds of amazing connections at every level. Our impact is felt by many, young and old.
Finally, we finished our busy day by having a lovely dinner at the house of the Ex-chancellor of Bolivia, someone in the political realm equivalent to Dick Cheney. He basically ran the country behind the scenes, with the last president. His lovely wife has an angelical voice and she delighted us with the sweetest bolivian songs. This enchanting evenning ended our lovely tour of this beatiful country. A country that really feels like the Tibet in Latin America. Perhaps it's the high altitude, perhaps it's the majority of indigenous people who never got assimilated into the western mind-set.... perhaps it's the rugged countryside (it looks like the city was built inside the Grand Canyon!).... perhaps.... perhaps.....but there is a deep spiritual feeling permeating the crystal-clear air.... and it beckons us to keep coming back, which is our prayer we all will someday!
So, for now... signing off yet from beautiful Boliva, till we sign on again from Paraguay..... the yatra of the tour of miracles in honor of Guru Ram Das.
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A cozinha da Minha Infância Saladas/Entradas
Depois de ter perdido os meus pais, avós e irmãos decidi fazer-lhes homenagem com este [...] See book
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8 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the [a]hardness of his face is changed. 2 I counsel thee, Keep the king's command, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 For the king's word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment: 6 for to every [b]purpose there is a time and judgment; because the [c]misery of man is great upon him: 7 for he knoweth not that which shall be; [d]for who can tell him how it shall be? 8 There is no man that hath power over the [e]spirit to retain the [f]spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge [g]in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it. 9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: [h]there is a time wherein one man hath power over another [i]to his hurt. 10 So I saw the wicked buried, [j]and they came to the grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity. 11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is [k]fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him: 13 but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. 14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: [l]for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the [m]business that is done upon the earth [n](for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes), 17 then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
- Ecclesiastes 8:1 Hebrew strength.
- Ecclesiastes 8:6 Or, matter
- Ecclesiastes 8:6 Or, evil
- Ecclesiastes 8:7 Or, for even when it cometh to pass, who shall declare it unto him?
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or, wind
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or, wind
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or, in battle
- Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or, what time one man had etc.
- Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or, to his own hurt
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 Or, who had come and gone away from the holy place; and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. Or, and men came and went etc.
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 Or, emboldened
- Ecclesiastes 8:15 Or, and that this should accompany him
- Ecclesiastes 8:16 Or, travail
- Ecclesiastes 8:16 Or, how that neither by day nor by night do men see sleep with their eyes


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Tell Us Your Thanksgiving Horror Stories
Last year we had so much fun hearing your accounts of holidays gone horribly awry, we decided to do it again. Like grandma getting drunk and cursing you out, it's a new Thanksgiving tradition!
Between cooking accidents, travel mishaps, family dysfunction, and other assorted boneheaded blunders, Thanksgiving is particularly ripe for disasters. We all have a tale about burning a turkey, getting trapped in the airport with nothing but $3.52 and a Snuggie, you fatass Aunt Fanny passing out in her stuffing, or, you know, burning the house down on Thanksgiving Day. We want you to share those stories with us!
The best one will win a whole case of Stoli vodka—which should be enough to get you and your whole family drunk to forget the pain of the day that just passed.
Since this is our second year of doing this, here are some ground rules:
- Last year's winning and honorably mentioned stories are not eligible again this year. Sorry! (Based on how horrible some of their families are, though, the authors probably have more stories where those came from.) Stories that were submitted but did not win or receive an honorable mention are eligible again this year. Keep in mind, though, that there was probably a good reason your story didn't win last year. So maybe you should go back and jazz it up (or shorten it) a bit.
- Stories are rewarded not only for the atrocity of the tale, but also their comedic value and the quality of the writing. Keep them concise, clever, and entertaining. And don't forget that proper punctuation and spelling counts.
- If you start your story with "This isn't as bad as everyone else's but..." or something similar, it will not be read by the official judging panel (which is basically me and my drunk family after Thanksgiving dinner). If you tell us your story isn't good enough to win, we're going to take your word for it.
- All stories must have taken place on or around Thanksgiving. Feel free to submit stories from this year.
- Submissions must be made in the comments section of this post. If you aren't already a commenter, find out how to become one here. I love hearing from you all, but do not email me your stories. Thanks.
- Stories must be submitted Monday, November 29 at noon. We'll pick the winner later that afternoon.
- You must be 21 or older to participate. All other standard contest rules apply.
Alright, it's time to get in the comments and start sharing away. It's going to be a long holiday week, so why not enjoy it by wallowing in our collective misery?
[Illustration by Contributing Illustrator Sam Spratt, based on Norman Rockwell's "Thanksgiving." Check out Sam's newly redesigned portfolio website and become a fan of his Facebook Artist's Page.]


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NOAA: Atmospheric River Q & A
ARs are the water-vapor rich part of the broader warm conveyor belt (e.g., Browning, 1990; Carlson, 1991), that is found in extratropical cyclones ("storms"). They result from the action of winds associated with the storm drawing together moisture into a narrow region just ahead of the cold front where low-level winds can sometimes exceed hurricane strength. The term atmospheric river was coined in a seminal scientific paper published in 1998 by researchers Zhu and Newell at MIT (Zhu and Newell 1998). Because they found that most of the water vapor was transported in relatively narrow regions of the atmosphere (90% of the transport occurred typically in 4-5 long, narrow regions roughly 400 km wide), the term atmospheric river was used. A number of formal scientific papers have since been published building on this concept (see the publication list), and forecasters and climate researchers are beginning to apply the ideas and methods to their fields.
The satellite images at left show strong ARs as seen by satellite. The advent of these specialized satellite observations have revealed ARs over the oceans and have revolutionized understanding of the global importance of ARs (more traditional satellite data available in the past could not clearly detect AR conditions). The interpretation of these satellite images, which represent only water vapor, not winds, was confirmed using NOAA research aircraft data over the Eastern Pacific Ocean and wind profilers along the coast (Ralph et al. 2004). The event shown in the bottom-left image was documented by Ralph et al. (2006), which concluded this AR produced roughly 10 inches of rain in 2 days and caused a flood on the Russian River of northern California. It was also shown that all floods on the Russian River in the 7-year period of study were associated with AR conditions. As of late 2010 there have been a number of papers published on major west coast storms where the presence and importance of AR conditions have been documented. These are provided in an informal list of the "Top Ten ARs" of the last several years on the U.S. West Coast. It is now recognized that the well-known "Pineapple express," storms (a term that has been used on the U.S. West Coast for many years) correspond to a subset of ARs, i.e., those that have a connection to the tropics near Hawaii. In some of the most extreme ARs, the water vapor transport is enhanced by the fact that they entrain (draw in) water vapor directly from the tropics (e.g., Bao et al 2006, Ralph et al. 2011).
Can we forecast atmospheric rivers?
National Weather Service forecasters located along the west coast are now familiar with the concept of atmospheric rivers and can identify these phenomena in current numerical forecast models. This provides them the capability to give advanced warning of potential heavy rain sometime 5 to 7 days in advance. They have also learned to monitor polar orbiter microwave satellite imagery that provides advanced warning of the presence and movement of these phenomena in the Pacific. During the last two winters, with the development of atmospheric river observatories, forecasters have been able to monitor the strength and location of these rivers as they make landfall and thus improve short-term rainfall forecasts for flash flooding. There are still challenges to predicting rainfall totals in these events as models still struggle with the details of the duration and timing of AR's as they make landfall.
Why are ARs capable of producing extreme rainfall on the U.S. West Coast?
AR conditions are conducive to creating heavy orographic precipitation (Ralph et al., 2005; MWR) because:
- they are rich in water vapor,
- they are associated with strong winds that force the water vapor up mountain sides,
- the atmospheric conditions do not inhibit upward motions (because the atmospheric static stability is nearly neutral up to about 3 km MSL, on average)
- once the air moves upward, the water vapor condenses and can form precipitation
What is the role of atmospheric rivers in creating floods?
- Research has shown there were 42 ARs that impacted CA during the winters from 1997 to 2006, and the resulting seven floods that occurred on the Russian River watershed northwest of San Francisco during this period were all associated with AR conditions.
- A major flood in California, known as the "New years Day Flood" in 1997 cause over $1 Billion in damages and had a well-defined AR.
- Less formally, ARs are known to result in an order of magnitude larger post-storm stream flow "bumps" (increases) than other California storms, in the Merced and American Rivers.
- The Pacific Northwest also regularly experiences this type of storm. Case in point is the landfalling AR of early November 2006 that produced heavy rainfall and devastating flooding and debris flows with region-wide damage exceeding $50 million.
- The Notable AR Events list highlights additional high-impact AR events.
How are science and applications of ARs being addressed?
- Research experiments (CalJet and PacJet) performed by NOAA in the 1998, 2001, and 2002 were conducted to better understand landfalling Pacific winter storms.
- CalJet/PacJet led to the development of the NOAA Hydrometeorology Testbed (HMT; hmt.noaa.gov). HMT's aim is to accelerate the development and prototyping of advanced hydrometeorological observations, models, and physical process understanding, and to foster infusion of these advances into forecasting operations of the NWS, and to support the broader user community's needs for 21st Century precipitation information.
- Within HMT, scientists have developed and prototyped an atmospheric river observatory (ARO) designed to further our understanding of the impact of ARs on enhancing precipitation in the coastal mountains and the high Sierra of California.
- Studies of the potential impacts of climate change on AR characteristics is the focus on an ongoing project – CalWater that is partnering with HMT, the California Energy Commission, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USGS and others, to explore the potential implications for flood risk and water supply.
- Under the USGS-led Multihazards project, ARs have become the focus of an emergency preparedness scenario for California that is intended to help the region prepare for a potentially catastrophic series of ARs. The scenario is named "ARkStorm" and has developed an informational video for use with the public (http://urbanearth.gps.caltech.edu/winter-storm/).
What are the benefits of studying atmospheric rivers?
The community of flood control, water supply and reservoir operators of the West Coast states see ARs as a key phenomenon to understand, monitor and predict as they work to mitigate the risks of major flood events, while maintaining adequate water supply. The frequency and strength of AR events in a given region over the course of a typical west-coast wet season greatly influences the fate of droughts, floods, and many key human endeavors and ecosystems. Better coupling of climate forecasts with seasonal weather forecasts of ARs can improve water management decisions. Long-term monitoring using satellite measurements, offshore aircraft reconnaissance, and land-based atmospheric river observatories, combined with better numerical modeling, scientific progress, and the development of AR-based smart decision aids for resource managers, will enable society to be more resilient to storms and droughts, while protecting our critical ecosystems.


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A recovering network engineer and a failed musician, Dino spends his free time doing Mixed Martial Arts, and walking his German Shepherd named Dojo.Member Directory


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In general, I am a supporter of private equity, so first a disclaimer. There appears to be a real and genuine problem with the private equity industry in the U.S.: our tax code encourages private equity companies to load their acquisitions up with too much debt. That is a relatively recent problem, and one that seems fixable.
Anyway, I generally support private equity. Why? Because of Japan.
Fact 1: In Japan, there is no big private equity industry, because it is very difficult to do a leveraged buyout of a company. The Japanese government allows companies to defend themselves from takeovers in ways that are illegal in America. Also, Japanese companies often hold each other's shares, a practice known as "cross-shareholding", which tends to prevent hostile takeovers. Cross-shareholding creates huge financial risks; however, many of the Japanese companies that engage in cross-shareholding are big banks that are backed by the government (much as ours are here in the U.S., but more explicitly), so this risk is assumed by the Japanese taxpayer. For a comprehensive primer on Japanese corporate governance, see here.
Upshot: In Japan, private-equity firms cannot buy companies and force them to restructure.
Fact 2: Japan has a productivity problem. We think of Japan as being super-productive, and in fact some industries (and most export-oriented factories) are. But overall, Japanese productivity kind of stinks. Since at least the 90s, Japan's Total Factor Productivity has lagged far behind that of the U.S. Nor is this due (as Ed Prescott has tried to claim) to a slowdown in technology; it appears to be a function of how resources are allocated within and between Japanese companies.
Although it's hard to measure white-collar productivity, anecdotally, it is horrendous in Japan. Employees sit idly in front of their computers waiting for the boss to leave so they can go home, or make busy-work for themselves, copying electronic records onto paper (yes, this is real!). Unproductive workers are kept on the payrolls because of lifetime employment, with high salaries guaranteed by the system of seniority pay. To this, add endless meetings, each of which must be exhaustively prepared for in advance. Layer upon layer of bureaucracy with poorly defined accountability. Pay based entirely on tenure rather than merit.
I have seen a little of this with my own eyes, but if I had to work full-time for a Japanese company for any extended period of time, I would probably quit and join the yakuza. It is baaad. Like, Brazil-the-movie-bad.
Would private equity shake up this insane little world? I think it would. In the U.S., Steven Davis, Josh Lerner, and their co-authors found that private equity firms have a positive impact on the productivity of the companies they buy out. Here is a survey of other research on the topic; basically it all agrees that productivity gets a boost when a firm gets acquired.
It is my opinion that Japan desperately needs this sort of productivity boost.
Now, the knock against private equity (besides the debt problem I mentioned at the beginning of this post) is that it screws over the workers of the companies it buys. In fact, it does seem to be the case that private equity firms achieve most of their productivity gains by firing people. The stereotypes are true. So private equity's detractors say: Workers may not be shareholders, but they are stakeholders. When workers sign on to work for a company, and thus sacrifice their mobility and outside options, they enter into an implicit contract with a company, that says, essentially, "This company will try to live as long as possible." When private equity companies chop up and sell a company, this implicit contract is violated, and the worker-stakeholders lose out. (Note: Just to pat myself on the back, I thought of the "implicit contract" thing before reading this Larry Summers paper! But it says basically the same thing.)
And I agree with that. And I think it is a real cost of letting private equity do its thing. But I don't think it's as big a cost as people make it out to be. Again, the reason is Japan. In Japan, the implicit contract between worker and firm is far more important than in the U.S.; companies there view workers as very, very important stakeholders. This is, in fact, why the government makes it so hard to take over companies; Japan is a Bain-basher's dream land.
But - and here I venture into the realm of anecdotes and intuition - I do not think that Japanese workers are happier than American workers. First of all, the low-productivity office environment I described takes its toll. Long wasted overtime hours separate men from their families. Squelched individual initiative creates feelings of frustration and stasis. The impossibility of switching companies, the lack of merit pay, and the pre-determined nature of promotions leave few career goals to strive for. And, most importantly, the binding of employees to their employers creates a pervasive feeling of powerlessness (無力感) and fear; if bad decisions or market shifts force a company to lay off workers, those workers have basically no hope of finding a similar job elsewhere. No wonder the suicide rate in Japan is so astronomically high. The bulk of those suicides are men of working age.
And I didn't even mention women. Anyone who knows Japan knows how poorly Japanese women are utilized (and how poorly they are treated) at many Japanese companies. It is disgusting, and it is harming Japan's economy big-time. One reason is the impossibility of winning discrimination lawsuits in Japan's hidebound legal system. But I think a bigger reason is related to corporate governance; since there is no pressure on these zombie companies to boost productivity, there is no reason for them to hire more women or make better use of the women they already have. Private equity would change that, I think. What private equity does is force companies to cut labor costs; one big way of cutting costs is to replace your existing workers with workers who are of similar quality but are paid less. In a country with a big gender pay gap, those alternative workers are known as women.
So I say: Japan should let the corporate raiders raid. Sic the pirates on the zombies.
And although American critics of private equity have valid points, I think they should look to Japan before they denounce the role that Bain Capital and company have played in our economic and social development. By all means, change the tax code to discourage private equity companies from over-leveraging their acquisitions. Close the carried interest loophole. Create re-employment services to help the workers laid off in restructuring. But for pete's sake, don't wish that our corporate culture was like Japan's. You wouldn't like it.
Update: Paul Krugman chimes in, with a claim that the rise of buyout firms increased inequality. Sorry, maybe it's true, but I don't see the proof here. Correlation does not equal causation, and a lot of other stuff was going on at the time, in particular globalization, the death of unions, and changes in technology.
Update 2: Some people have been asking "Well, maybe private equity boosts productivity in the short term, but doesn't it reduce investment in the long term?" I was curious so I did a little Googling. Here is a paper by Jarrad Harford and Adam Kolasinski purporting to show that private equity firms generally create more long-term value than they destroy. Here is a private study showing that firms bought by private equity tend to increase, not decrease, their investment rates in the medium-term. Here is a paper by Josh Lerner and others showing that companies bought by private equity maintain about the same rate of research and development. But on the other hand, Josh Kosman's new book purports to show that companies bought by private equity tend to go bankrupt. And the overleveraging thing appears to have become a lot more common recently; this may mean that private equity has been more destructive recently than in the 80s, but the long-term data isn't in yet. My tentative conclusion: If done right, private equity creates value and improves productivity, but we need to close the interest tax deduction loophole that encourages overleveraging.
Update 3: Here's a recent news story about just the kind of low white-collar productivity that I'm talking about...


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BROADWAY REVIEW: "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" plays at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway. Call 212-239-6262 or visit cinderellaonbroadway.com
NEW YORK - The provenance of "Cinderella" is long ago and far away — she's been around at least since the 17th century in written form, and some date her all the way to classical antiquity.
So one need not be a stickler with particular plot points. But an audience plunking down money for the first-ever Broadway production of "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella," first seen on American television in 1957 with Julie Andrews in the title role (played here by Laura Osnes), has certain, reasonable expectations born of the last century: ugly stepsisters, a mean stepmother, a glass slipper and, most crucially of all, the aspirational notion that an ordinary girl, a mistreated kitchen maid, can be suddenly transformed into the kind of glamorous woman who can sweep a monarch off his feet. She enjoys a moment not unlike a lottery winner or, for that matter, the former Kate Middleton (OK, scratch the maid part). And, as Rodgers and Hammerstein well knew, we never weary of watching dreams fulfilled. Especially when we're young.
The fundamental problem with Douglas Carter Beane's perplexing, wholly unromantic and mostly laugh-free new book for this Broadway "Cinderella" — which turns the heroine into a social reformer like a better-looking Jane Addams, the stepsisters (Marla Mindelle and Ann Harada) into sympathetic, wounded creatures of thwarted desire, and Prince Charming (Santino Fontana) into a myopic dunce who needs his eyes opened to the poverty of his people — is that it denies the audience the pleasure of instant reversals of fortune. Sure, these matters are tricky. We no longer define great fortune by whom one manages to marry, and rightly so. But if nobody wanted to see "Cinderella" as it's generally and vaguely understood, nobody would have been in the house at the opening Sunday night, and this show would not have been grossing more than $1 million a week during previews.
There is nothing wrong with updating or even politicizing the story — although when you are updating the book to this extent, it would help to have brought along living composers of a similar reformist bent, rather than a lush, romantic, harmonic and, yes, politically traditional song suite penned about a half-century ago — the problem here is how it is done. This new version ends up collapsing the basic logic of the familiar story and tramples all over the musical soul of a score from another era, a retro collection of songs less fevered than the R&H; masterworks and inextricably linked to an American moment soon to be swept away in social revolution.
This confused show now includes a nefarious adviser, Sebastian (Peter Bartlett), who really is running the country, a superfluous revolutionary named John-Michel (Greg Hildreth), who functions as a love interest for one of those not-so-ugly stepsisters, a fairy godmother (Victoria Clark), who doubles as a beggar woman offering rewards for Cinderella's kindness, and a plot that involves a prince becoming so enlightened as to suggest democracy rather than a hereditary monarchy. Now there's an idea every sporty royal loves.
Perhaps one could embrace all of this revisionism if it all were lighter and more charming than is the case here. But at one point deep in Act 2 of director Mark Brokaw's strange production, you cannot help but reach the inescapable conclusion that Osnes' "Cinderella," as conceived here, just wouldn't have any interest in elitist dresses, balls with princes or glass slippers — which, in this case, were designed by Stuart Weitzman, aka Prince of the Pump. So what is it, folks? Designer product placement or Up With the Revolution?
Not for the first time, Broadway wants it all ways — the hip and the retro, romance and self-aware sniping, Rodgers and Hammerstein melodies and atonal satirical jabs, a golden title for family audiences and yet something else entirely once their credit cards have been charged. It would work better, perhaps, if there were a lighter touch to Brokaw's production, which is long and dense and fails to showcase the music (the score is enhanced by a couple of additional Rodgers and Hammerstein songs cut from other shows).
Costume designer William Ivey Long crafted some fun changes, but the show's visual appeal, stuck in that fatal dead spot between romance and satire, is handicapped by a set from Anna Louizos that puts one in mind of the lair of the Knights Who Say Ni in "Spamalot." There is no sense whatsoever of a nice, dreamy palace in which Cinders could be happy. In fact, her current life with her manageable stepsisters, reformable stepmom (Harriet Harris, who has her moments), a few friendly little furry creatures and a magical beggar woman with whom to pass the time seems a whole lot better than anything on offer with a prince who, once transformed as is the case here, would not be choosing a mate at a dance or concerning himself with a shapely ankle in a designer shoe.
Twitter @ChrisJonesTrib


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B.C.'s population reached 4.7 million by Oct. 1, a gain of less than one per cent from the same time last year.
The province's population growth rate was down to 0.8 per cent by the third quarter of 2015, Central 1 Credit Union reports in its latest B.C. Economic Briefing. Net international migration was the main reason for the slowdown, with 11,100 international arrivals during what is usually the highest period of the year for immigration gains.
Within Canada, interprovincial migration climbed to nearly 5,000 in the third quarter of 2015, as people returned home to a relatively buoyant B.C. economy from provinces hit by slumping oil prices, notably Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland.
While permanent international resident arrivals were slower, international tourism demand climbed to more than 400,000 people by October, due mainly to U.S. visitors taking advantage of a lower Canadian dollar.


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31Ft Rosa del Mar II Betram
The Rosa del Mar II a 31Ft. Bertram with twin New Cummings diesel engines and top fishing gear. Caters the multiple fisherman adventure in Cabo San Lucas Sportfishing Charters.
8 Hour Fishing charter package / $ 700.00 Deposit $350.00 | 16% Tax included in Pricing. No Other charges will be added.
Vessel Description:
Bathroom, table and bench seats, 2 individual beds, coolers, Full sound system | Live bait tank and tuna tubes, twin Cummings 300hp engines | VHF Radio, GPS, fish finder, GoPro accesories
All charters inclued:
Fishing for up to 6 anglers
8 Hr. Charter
Fishing Gear
Bottled Waters – Ice
Taxes Included – Taxes are 16% in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
What's not Included?
Fishing Licenses $14.00 per passenger (all passengers over 16 years old must have a fishing license)
Buying your fishing licenses is easy and are purchased on the morning of your trip right next to your charter or at the fuel dock. (your fleet manager will assist you)
You can choose to stop at the Convenience Store on the Marina where you can purchase anything you need in the Morning. (Food, Beer, Sodas, waters, sunblock, coffee, etc.)
Lunch and 4 Drinks per Passenger – $20.00 per Person.
Lunch includes:
Breakfast burrito, Torta / Sandwich or Burritos option, chips, frui,t and snack.
Plus 4 drinks with choice of Coke, Diet Coke, 7 Up, Pacifico, Corona, Bud Light or Water.
Deposit: $ 650.00 Dlls 5 Hrs
Full day charter $750 Dlls 8 Hrs
Must be received a minimum of 72 hours prior to date of charter, or cancellation can not be accepted. A minimum charge will apply. Cancellations received in time will have a minimum booking fee of 33% applied due to dates and space can not be sold to others clients and we loose money.
Simple , Easy Reservations:
Use our Automated Paypal secure credit card reservation system.
Just add your Name, and the fishing Date, and make your Deposit, or payment in Full.
You will receive a charter confirmation email in 24hrs. with all pick up and meeting details.
To pay your deposit:
You may use the following button to pay for required deposits. These transactions are processed through the highly secure PayPal site.
When you make your reservation to charter any boat, we require a deposit per day for each day that you have reserved the boat. This deposit reserves the boat, crew, fuel, and tackle for the entire period of your charter.
Not to mention with gas cost rising the deposit will secure and guarantee your charter day and Price to be locked in until the charter date arrives. Refunds will be given upon 72 hours notice prior to the charter date.
Call Edward or Carlos for Charter information in Cabo. We now have a USA : 1-619-251-2910. Or to call our cell phone dialing from the U.S. dial 011-52 (664) 375-1053 or email us at: firstname.lastname@example.com. We will respond within 24 hours. If you do not get a reply, please try again as we are bombarded with spam and are trying our best to filter out the bad and keep the good emails we receive. Emails with no subject info or 'hello' are considered spam and are filtered out. Thank you for your understanding.
|Cabo San Lucas Sportfishing Charters
|Rosa del Mar Sportfishing
|Bad Company Sportfishing
|The Official Cabo Guide
|Cabo San Lucas Charters
|Cabo Fun Guide
|Cabo Sportfishing Guide
|La Atrevida Spotfishing Charter
|Dmeches Sport Fishing
Boulevard Paseo de La Marina 106
Centro C.P. 23450
Cabo San Lucas Baja California Sur Mexico
Tel- 619-251-2910
(Please Dial The Entire Number)


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1969 Chevrolet C10 - Inverted Inheritance
Steve and Jacque Johnson's Atomic Orange C10
Related Video
Passing a classic truck down from father to son is an American tradition. However, for Steve Johnson and his son Sam, that tradition actually worked backward.
"My truck first belonged to my son Sam. He bought the '69 Chevy truck while a senior in high school. I remember the day he brought it home. I was standing in the garage when I saw him pull up in a primer and rust bucket. I couldn't believe he had bought such a piece of junk. Then I opened the hood and saw the 396 and an air conditioned cab and my impression changed.
"Sam street raced the truck through high school. Being a police motor officer, that caused me to pull my hair out, but having the truck around and watching him pull engines and transmissions brought me back to my own teen years. A year after graduating from high school, Sam took off to Phoenix to attend Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. At the time, Phoenix was the car theft capital of the nation. There was no way he was taking that truck to Arizona and there was no way I was going to let that big block go to someone else. I bought the truck from my son for $5,000. Yeah, dad got took, Sam went to Phoenix and the truck sat in our driveway for the next two years. That's when I found out that the rear end was blown.
"I began planning on what I wanted to build. I started with a complete rebuild of the rearend with an Eaton posi, 3.73 gears and Strange Axles. Over the next several years I started buying and storing the major components, including a Vintage Air direct fit system, Billet Specialties V-Trac, and an ididit steering column. I tried to buy every part I could think of to update this truck.
"I contacted a good friend, Big Ed Johnson of Big Ed's Body Shop in Petaluma, California. Ed was talking about retiring and I knew I wanted him to do the paint and body work because I had seen the amazing work that came out of his shop. Ed was pushing 73 and I knew he had been eyeing a '50 Merc I had in my garage for quite awhile. I was able to make a trade with Ed: paint and body work for the "project" Merc. Over the next two years, Ed would give me a completed fender here and door there, which ended up hanging in various areas around my garage. Ed did some amazing things, such as the hand fab'd gas door and the french'd antenna. At this point, no real work had been done on the truck other than being completely disassembled with the rusty frame sitting in my garage.
"I had been working as a police motor officer with little room in my 20x20 garage and had both my police and my personal Harley-Davidson, and up until the trade with Ed, my '50 Merc. In 2008, I was offered an early retirement by the City of Petaluma and I jumped at it. I retired December 31, 2008 and two days later, began working full time building my truck.
"I started cleaning and painting the frame, and spending hours and hours on the computer researching everything I could on Chevy trucks. I would buy every truck magazine and go to every car show around to look at what was being done. I wasn't looking so much to get ideas but more to see what I didn't like. The theme my son and I wanted was a stock look, a little flare of custom, but still keeping it old-school.
"The most important components to me were the suspension and brakes. The truck was converted to four-wheel disc brakes. The front suspension was converted to tubular A-arm suspension, a quick ratio steering box, and the heaviest sway bar I could find. The center crossmember was replaced with a Classic Performance Products crossmember kit, which allowed the exhaust to run through the crossmember and not under it. It also changed the angle of the pinion to work with the 6-inch lowered rear. The rear feame was also C-notched to accept the 6-inch lowered springs and shock relocate kit from Earyl Classic to allow for correct shock geometry.
"During this time, UPS was coming to my house almost on a daily basis. I had to have a talk with the driver and ask him not to deliver after 5pm when my wife would be home from work, just keep it on the truck and deliver it the next day. Packages were coming almost daily and my wife was beginning to think I had a problem.
"Sam found a 454hp big-block and rebuilt the engine. He had it bored 0.60-over with a set of rectangle port heads. We came across a GM aluminum high-rise manifold and sent it out to get gloss black powdercoated, something we had not seen.
"The interior was done by another friend, Dirk Tuenstra of Route 66 Upholstery in Petaluma. Dirk used tan leather to do the seat, door panels, head liner, and dash pad. In an attempt to save money, my original plan was to complete the interior with cloth seats, but this was one area where my wife weighed in. She said you've got to put in leather. You can't spend so much money for things you can't see and then skimp on the interior, so leather it was!
"The electrical system was an area in which I had little experience. Thanks to Painless Wiring, the installation was a snap. Taking my time and double and triple checking things as I went, it came off without a hitch.
"In the end, we ended up with a truck that drove and handled like a dream. The floating and sloppy steering was gone. The truck stays flat in the turns and rides and drives like a sports car.
"My son Sam and I completed the build in July 2010 and two days later my wife Jacque and I drove it to South Lake Tahoe to Hot August Nights. The 200-mile drive had my wife and I on edge. My wife, nervous as ever, recalled all the hot rods I had as a teenager and all the break downs."
Luckily, the trip went smoothly and the two made the 400-plus-mile round trip unscathed.
When asked if he kept track of the damage to his pocket book, "I'm not sure what the total cost of the build was. As a police officer, I learned that evidence can incriminate you, so I tossed many of the receipts as soon as I got them. My estimated cost is around $30k, including what I paid for the truck."
Not bad for a father and son build in a two-car garage! CCT
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Black Expressions Book Club
*** This club has been discontinued *** Click Here for new club
About Black Expressions
While many bookstores carry a limited number of books that deal specifically with the African-American culture, Black Expressions Selection offers hundreds of titles about or written by African-Americans. Through their simple website and club magazine, readers can choose books that will educate and inspire readers of any race. Because they are often so difficult to find, several of the books available through Black Expressions Book Club tend to be expensive when bought through other websites or in stores. Offering titles at up to 40 percent off of the publishers' edition, Black Expressions not only beats their competition, but blows them away.
The most convenient aspect of the Black Expressions Book Club is the easy-to-use website that provides customers with several tools to help them find exactly what they're looking for. For those who know exactly what book they're interested in, the sites simple search toolbar can locate results in seconds. As many readers aren't exactly sure what they're hoping to find, Black Expressions provides a list of categories and member favorites so that customers are sure to make the best, most educated choice. Read our Black Expressions Review.
Awarded the 2006 Book Club of the year at the African American Literary Awards, Black Expressions provides access to exclusive content, book excerpts, reading guides and author interviews as well as member reviews to help make your selection easier. Chosen carefully by Black Expressions editorial staff, each of the thousands of titles available through the site and the book club's magazine have been selected for their impact on African-American culture.
With a selection of books from well-known authors Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, E. Lynn Harris, James Baldwin, Walter Mosley and Eric Jerome Dickey, Black Expressions helps readers to keep up with their favorite authors and genres for a low price. After joining the club, Black Expressions members can choose four books for only $2.00 and will receive a free gift. Compared to other book clubs, which often require several full-price purchases over a short period of time, Black Expressions only asks that members agree to buy four books at regular club prices over a two year period. With so many great selections to choose from, it's not a difficult feat to accomplish.
Whether you're looking to discover more about rich African-American history, become enlightened on current culture or feel more connected with African-American living, Black Expressions Book Club offers something for everyone. With a huge selection, low prices and easy-to-use system, Black Expressions caters to its members and focuses on delivering the best titles from the most popular authors for an enlightening and educational reading experience. A no pressure member agreement, combined with a great introductory offer and regular low prices, make learning about African-American culture more affordable, convenient and enjoyable than ever. Join Black Expressions Book Club Today.


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Airlines ask US not to put migrant children on flights
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines and United Airlines said Wednesday that they asked the Trump administration not to use their flights to carry migrant children who were separated from their parents by immigration authorities.
Facing growing opposition to his administration's recent policy of separating migrant families, President Donald Trump signed an order later in the day to keep families together at the nation's southern border.
The issue had galvanized flight attendants, some of whom took to social media to post accounts of seeing young passengers whom they believed to be migrants separated from their parents.
"We have no desire to be associated with separating families, or worse, to profit from it," American said in a statement.
United then issued a statement in which CEO Oscar Munoz said the company's purpose is to connect people. "This policy and its impact on thousands of children is in deep conflict with that mission and we want no part of it," he said.
Southwest, Frontier and Alaska also criticized the policy and asked not to be involved in transporting separated children.
A spokesman for the Homeland Security Department criticized the airlines in strong terms, accusing them of no longer wanting to help the agency protect the traveling public and reunite unaccompanied illegal immigrant children with their families.
"Despite being provided facts on this issue, these airlines clearly do not understand our immigration laws," the spokesman, Tyler Houlton, said in a statement. He accused the airlines of "buckling to a false media narrative."
Things shifted again when Trump signed an executive order to keep families together at the southern border, saying at the White House that he doesn't like the sight of children being separated from their families. But he added that the "zero tolerance" policy will continue.
Delta Air Lines, which had been notably silent most of the day, then issued a brief statement calling reports of families being separated "disheartening," and praising Trump's executive order.
The White House announced its zero-tolerance policy toward undocumented migrants in early May. Since then, more than 2,300 children have been taken from their parents at the southwestern border, leading to a spike in the number of young children under government care. However, most of the unaccompanied minors in the custody of U.S. authorities arrived at the border without their parents.
Both American and United said they do not know whether any migrant children separated from their parents have been placed on their flights. In recent days several flight attendants have gone on social media to report seeing groups of children on their flights whom they believed to be children separated from their migrant families.
"These flight attendants were well aware of what was going on, so how can these airlines claim they didn't know? I don't believe that," said Michael Avenatti, a lawyer better known for representing a porn actress in a legal fight against Trump, but who said he also represents more than 50 migrant families who have been separated from their children.
Many airlines have contracts to provide travel services to the U.S. government. American said, however, that the government doesn't provide information about the passengers or their reason for travel.
David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter
This story has been corrected to show that American Airlines issued a statement, not CEO Doug Parker.


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Mark 12:28-34 — Kingdom Priorities
As Jesus teaches in the temple courts, his opponents confront him with a series of questions. Jesus had enraged the temple authorities when he cleansed the Court of the Gentiles from merchandizers. They questioned his authority, his allegiances, and his theology. These hostile questions intended to subvert his popularity and/or endanger his life.
Now, however, a scribe—like one of those who questioned him in Mark 11:27—approaches him with some respect. While Matthew (22:35) portrays this incident as the result of a Pharisaic conspiracy to test Jesus once again, Mark is more ambiguous. Mark's scribe was impressed with how well Jesus handled the succession of questions and consequently wonders how Jesus might answer the question that rabbis discussed among themselves: "Of all the commandments, which is the first of all?" Which commandment, he asks, ranks as "numero uno"! Which commandment is the most important?
Given that the rabbis counted 613 imperatives within the Torah, it is not surprising that there would be some discussion about which was the most important or which had priority. Allen Black (College Press NIV Commentary on Mark, 216) reminds us that many, including Jesus' contemporary in Alexandria Philo (Who is the Heir of Divine Things, 168; Special Laws, 2.63), considered the ten commandments a summary of the Torah divided between responsibilities toward God ("piety") and responsibilities toward people ("justice"). This two-fold categorization fits the answer Jesus himself gave: love God and love your neighbor.
Jesus identifies two commands—out of a host present in the Torah—as the first and second. "Love God" is the "first of all," that is, it has priority, but the "second" is "love your neighbor." The first quotes the great Shema (Hebrew for "hear") of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 which was repeated twice daily by devout Jews in the Greco-Roman period (Allen cites Letter to Aristeas, 160; Jubilees 6:14). The second quotes Leviticus 19:18.
It seems rather amazing that Jesus could lift two isolated commands out of the Torah and identify them as first and second. The identification of the Shema as first is more understandable as its narrative function in Deuteronomy is the fountainhead of Israel's response to God's deliverance and land-grant recounted in Deuteronomy 1-5. Since God has graced Israel, Israel returns that grace with loving gratitude.
But the identification of Leviticus 19:18 appears more arbitrary. It seems to appear as one command in a list of others within the Holiness Code (Leviticus 18-20). Some suggest that Leviticus 19:18 functions as a summary statement in the Holiness Code, but this is not apparent. Nevertheless, Jesus recognizes its theological importance.
What enables Jesus to so clearly and succinctly identify these two texts—among many others that could have been chosen—as the first and second commandments? It is apparent that Jesus does not read Scripture as a flat text where every command is as equally important as every other command. Rather, he reads the text in a hierarchical fashion. That is, he recognizes levels of priority and importance. I suggest he reads in a narratival way such that the story (plot) of God moves us to recognize "love you neighbor" as the second greatest command. Some commands are more fundamental than others.
The scribe recognizes Jesus' point. He repeats what Jesus quoted—and thus the narrative underscores the unparalleled significance of theses two imperatives—and also interprets the significance of prioritizing these two commands. In effect, Jesus has prioritized these two commands, according to the scribe, over "burnt offerings and sacrifices." In other words, Jesus has prioritized loving God and neighbor over the temple, its sacrifices and their atoning significance. This does not mean that sacrifices are unimportant but rather that they are less important that what some might have thought. The two greatest commands are love God and love neighbor–and we must be careful that we don't respond with "but…." [fill in the blank with an "important" command].
There is a tradition with the history of Israel which prioritized the sacrifices so that if one comes to the temple and offers their sacrifices, then God is pleased with them (despite their lives). This is the safety of the temple to which Jesus alluded when he cleansed the Temple as Jesus quoted from Jeremiah's Temple sermon (Jeremiah 7). Some believed that despite their adulteries and social injustice (how they treated the poor, widows and orphans) their sacrifices were accepted because the temple represented God's gracious presence. The second command, love your neighbor, does not sanction such an interpretation of the temple.
What makes one more fundamental than another? How are these two imperatives ("love God" and "love your neighbor") more important than sacrifices? Perhaps we might see in "love God and love your neighbor" an act of sacrifice itself. It is the gift of ourselves to God (our whole body, soul and strength) and, in turn, to others. We are the sacrifices. This is more important than any ritual which expresses that devotion.
It reminds us that God loves mercy more than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6) or Micah's declaration of what the Lord requires more than a thousand rams, that is, "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). We are the sacrifices which God requires (cf. Psalm 40:6-8).
The context in which Mark places this exchange underscores the importance of "love your neighbor" (quoted twice). It appears between the exploitation the money-changers practiced in the temple courts (Mark 11:15-16) for which Jesus judges the temple complex and Jesus' accusation that the wealthy temple authorities ("scribes") exploit widows (Mark 12:38-40). Leviticus 19:18—love your neighbor—falls between the prohibition against defrauding (robbing) your neighbor (19:13) and honest business practices (19:35). Economic justice functions prominently in the last part of the Holiness Code.
Given the temple context, controversy and practices in Mark 11-12 as well as Jesus seemingly gratuitious comment about widows, "love your neighbor" has added significance. It is, it seems, a further judgment against the temple authorities. The scribe did not ask Jesus for the second commandment. He only inquired about what was "first of all." Jesus volunteered the second and his reference to the social injustice of the scribes later in this chapter is a narrative clue for Mark's readers as to why.
This may explain Jesus' rather curious (backhanded?) compliment to the scribe: "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Jesus notes that the scribe is "thoughful" (nounechos, only here in the NT)–he has got the right mind (nous) about it, but does he practice what he knows (loving God with soul and strength?)? Jesus did not invite the scribe to follow him and he did not say he was a kingdom participant. He still seems at a distance though near. Perhaps the scribe's involvement in the temple complex was why, though near, he was not yet a Jesus-follower.
Whatever we make of Jesus' "compliment," the scribe correctly affirmed kingdom priorities. The kingdom ethic is to love God and love our neighbor. It is that simple though it is far from simple; easy to grasp perhaps, but difficult to live. The kingdom is rooted, grounded and expressed in love—God's love for us, our love for God and our love for each other.
It is rather sobering, however, to consider whether, possibly like the scribe, we are "not far from the kingdom of God." Is it possible that we might affirm but not practice the two greatest commands? Is it possible that we might know better but we don't do better? Is it possible that we know about God but we don't know God as people who love our neighbors?
Is it possible, I wonder, whether we know the commandments but we are so emeshed in the structures of oppression and injustice (much like the scribes in the temple; like those living under Jim Crow or in southern slave states) that we don't even recognize that we fail to love our neighbors even as we insist that we do?
May God have mercy on us all.


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The US Supreme Court's announcement last week that it will take up two key same-sex marriage cases sets the scene now for several months of legal speculation and deeply-felt advocacy.
The speculation has to do with how the high court will act once it begins considering the issue, likely next spring. Who will it hear arguments from? Will it come down strongly and clearly for or against gay marriage? Or will it rule narrowly, sending the cases back to lower courts for further deliberation or perhaps simply letting those courts' rulings stand?
In other words, same-sex marriage may be the "defining civil rights issue of our time," as high-profile attorneys Theodore Olson and David Boies argue in their case against California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage. But it will not necessarily be settled broadly for all Americans and for all time as a constitutional issue.
If it's true that the Supreme Court pays at least some attention to political, cultural, and social trends in the United States, as some legal scholars and historians contend, then momentum seems to be in the direction of approval of same-sex marriage.
Polls show a clear shift in public acceptance, especially among under-30 Americans – 63-35 percent approve, according to a Quinnipiac University poll this past week. For all age groups, Gallup puts the number at 53-46 approval.
One hint at changing attitudes, even among those who continue to believe strongly that marriage must be exclusively between one man and one woman: The Mormon Church (which provided much if not most of the financing and grass-roots support for Prop. 8 in California) just launched a new website "aimed at providing 'greater sensitivity and better understanding' among Latter-day Saints with regards to same-sex attraction," reports the church-owned Deseret News in Salt Lake City.
"The experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people," the church's position reads. "The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them. With love and understanding, the Church reaches out to all God's children, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."
While rejecting the notion that homosexual relations are a sin, Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center, says this move by the church gives gay Mormons hope "through knowing that their families and church leaders are committed to reducing judgment, rejection, and isolation."
The 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, bars federal recognition of gay unions. Several pending cases challenge the provision of DOMA which effectively bars same-sex spouses from receiving federal benefits such as Social Security survivor payments.
A separate appeal asks the justices to decide whether federal courts were correct in striking down California's Proposition 8, the amendment that outlawed gay marriage after it had been approved by state courts.
While nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage – most recently Maine, Maryland, and Washington in ballot measures last month – 37 states have upheld the traditional definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman, either through constitutional amendments or state statutes.
Both sides in the debate are alert to the importance of this next legal step involving the US Supreme Court.
"The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear these cases is a significant moment for our nation," Roman Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said in a statement. "I pray the Court will affirm the fact that the institution of marriage, which is as old as humanity and written in our very nature, is the union of one man and one woman."
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, says, "We've come too far to give up now."
"Justice is on our side and we won't stop until equality reaches every corner of our vast country," Mr. Griffin said in a statement.
Meanwhile, following a three-day waiting period after county officials began issuing marriage licenses in Washington State Thursday, members of the clergy and other authorized officials will begin conducting same-sex weddings there on Sunday.
In Olympia, Washington, Tina Roose and Teresa Guajardo have reserved the state Capitol rotunda for a pre-Christmas wedding ceremony Dec. 15.
As for those who voted against same-sex marriage in her state, Ms. Roose told Reuters she hoped they would be won over "with love."
"You can only change people's attitudes one heart at a time," she said.


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Enjoy half-board at irresistible rates for adults and children alike!*
Leave behind your apron, the stove and cooking... but still get your feet under the meal table!
Take your time in the morning and in the evening, and don't worry about breakfast and dinner. There is a tariff for adults and a tariff for children under 12 years, including breakfast and dinner*.
* Offer valid on certain dates and in certain camping villages only, subject to availability. See the participating camping villages' tariff pages to find out the periods of validity and the tariffs.
Valid throughout the season
person over the age of 12 : € 30 per day
children aged 4 to -12 years : € 19 per day
children aged 2 to -4 years : € 7 per day
Stay for longer and enjoy 10%* off your next holiday!
Recharge your batteries in the heart of nature and spend even longer in the great outdoors. With the long stay offer, your holidays with Yelloh! Village will cost you even less!
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10% off all stays of at least 10 nights
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It's the middle finger that flipped across the Internet world — and it belongs to millionaire socialite Filomena "Phyllis" Tobias.
The Heat fan from Jupiter flashed an angry bird inches from the face of Chicago Bulls player Joakim Noah Wednesday. The resulting photo of the fierce-looking blonde quickly made headlines across the country.
So who is the woman behind the finger?
She's the 47-year-old widow of a hedge fund owner who, under mysterious circumstances, was found dead five years ago in the pool of the couple's mansion. It was her fourth husband.
Tobias first entered the media spotlight in 2007 following the death of Seth Tobias, 44, former CNBC commentator and hedge fund owner. A legal fight over the dead husband's wealth brought out lurid stories of murder, cocaine binges and trysts with a tiger-tattooed go-go dancer.
Thursday, she unexpectedly emerged back in the spotlight. She drew sharp criticism from other basketball fans, who said she crossed the line with her aggressiveness, and from Heat players, who lamented her actions.
"At the end of the day we're all human. We're regular people just like you and it's unfortunate," said Heat star Dwyane Wade. "We just want to ask our fans to cheer for us, to boo them when you come here and all of that, but let's stay first class around here, Miami."
Asked if he typically has fun with fan interaction, Noah told espnchicago.com he wasn't thrilled about being flipped the bird. "Do you have fun when somebody sticks their middle finger in your face?" Noah replied.
Tobais' middle finger came out during the fourth period, when she was watching the game with her family from posh lower-bowl seats. Noah had been ejected for cursing at referee Scott Foster, and received Tobias' one-finger scorn as he walked past the family on his way to the locker room.
Wearing a multicolored top, tight white pants, plenty of bling and clutching her red designer purse, Tobias and her finger salute became an Internet meme. One sports-related site, Deadspin.com, invited users to create captions and lampoon the photo with alterations.
Many on Twitter proclaimed her the typical cocky Heat fan.
"Typical Miami Heat trashy fan. No class. When the Heat are losing, her seat will be empty like the rest of them," wrote Kenny Ruiz in the Sun Sentinel's Facebook page.
Doug Peters, a friend who sold the seats to Tobias, said the widow was embarrassed. She told those around her that she simply was caught up in the excitement. Tobias declined to be interviewed Thursday.
"She's a really good woman," Peters said. "She got caught up in the heat of the moment. I don't think she'll be showing her face around for a while."
Peters said he felt bad for Tobias, but also said he did not want to condone such boorish behavior.
Peters said he sold the seats to Tobias, also a season-ticket holder, because he couldn't make it to the game. Tobias purchased the tickets to bring more of her family members and friends, which included the children seen in the front seats and the man standing next to her in the photo.
Several news outlets identified the man as Tobias' fiance, Bruce Smith, a vice-president of a sports consulting group in Atlanta that helps athletes with their wealth. He could not be reached for comment.
Before Wednesday night's incident, Filomena Tobias had been making public appearances, including a charity function in Palm Beach County.
Such moments have been more cheerful occasions than the days she faced after her husband's death, the circumstances of which sound like something straight from a Carl Hiaasen novel, set in one of Palm Beach County's most exclusive neighborhoods.
On Sept. 4, 2007, Jupiter police and paramedics found Tobias drowned in his pool. Medical examiners ruled he had a lethal mix of alcohol, cocaine and the sleeping pill Ambien in his system.
A five-month police investigation concluded there was no foul play, and prosecutors declined to pursue a criminal prosecution.
In 2008, Tobias' brothers — Samuel, Spence, Scott and Joshua — accused Filomena of murder in a civil battle to keep her from grabbing their late brother's $25 million fortune under Florida's "slayer statute."
The brothers in the dispute claimed Filomena Tobias spiked their brother's last meal of penne a la vodka with a deadly dose of Ambien. A 300-pound Internet psychic told the New York Times in 2007 that Filomena Tobias confessed that she lured her woozy husband to the pool area, promising him sex with a male stripper know as "Tiger."
Filomena Tobias' attorneys, which included a former husband, described the accusations at the time as ridiculous.
The following year a probate court judge approved a settlement agreement between his widow and his brothers.
The agreement precluded the need for a scheduled eight-day trial that would have featured accusations of gambling, overspending and marriage-ending affairs, which were outlined in court documents.
In the documents, Filomena Tobias described herself as a "housewife" who spent $47,000 in expenses a month, including $4,400 for clothes, $1,500 for beauty salons and $5,000 for the upkeep of her Porsche and Range Rover, according to a 2007 Sun Sentinel article.
On Thursday, reacting to the backlash from Tobias' finger waving, her grown daughter told the Sun Sentinel in a phone interview that her mother "was having fun just like any other fan."
Chicago Tribune Sports
Victoria Racanati said her mother had this to say to her critics: "People need to get a life."
Miami Heat player Chris Bosh said he expects retribution from Bulls fans, when the teams continue their series in Chicago on Friday.
"I'm sure we'll be hearing similar things tomorrow night and Monday night," Bosh said Thursday. "What goes around comes around. We're going to have to deal with it, too.''
Victoria Racanati and Doug Peters both described Tobais and her family as "very private" and declined to talk more about her current life.
Racanati described Tobias as an ardent Heat fan, but was fuming by some of the less-than-flattering comments left on Internet stories about the incident.
"I have to say she still looks really hot," the daughter said.
Staff Writers Harvey Fialkov and Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.


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May 23, 2012
Video: Dark Chocolate & Espresso Pots de Crème
I filmed a quick 5-minute video demonstrating the recipe so you can see just how easy it really is. Take a look and give it a try! You can easily customize the recipe to your tastes, using liqueur in place of the espresso, milk or semi-sweet chocolate instead of the dark, and different types of extract (orange or peppermint, for example) to alter the flavor. Tomorrow I'm going to show you a fun variation for this recipe made with coconut and white chocolate.
Let me know what you think about the video!
Posted by Alejandra Ramos
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Methane Hydrate Graduate Fellowship Program
Benjamin Phrampus, a post doctoral researcher at Oregon State University, was selected as the 2016 recipient of the NETL-National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Methane Hydrate Research Fellowship. Please see page 25 of the 2016 Issue (Vol. 16, Issue 1) of Fire in the Ice for more information on the recipient.
The Department of Energy has a long history of building synergistic relationships with research universities. Funding academic research is a "win-win-win" situation. The U.S. government is able to tap into some of the best minds available for solving national energy problems, the universities get the support they need to maintain cutting edge faculty and laboratories, and the students involved are provided with opportunities that help them along their chosen path of study, strengthening the national pool of scientists and engineers. According to Samuel Bodman, speaking about graduate research in methane hydrates, "Students are the foundation of our energy future, bringing new ideas and fresh perspectives to the energy industry. What better way to assure technology innovation than to encourage students working on the development of a resource that has the potential to tip our energy balance toward clean-burning, domestic fuels."
With this objective in mind, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has launched an additional initiative designed to even more directly support students; an academic research fellowship program to support qualified students in their pursuit of advanced degrees related to methane hydrate science. The 2-year fellowships are being made available to U.S. citizens to support work towards M.S. and Ph.D degrees, or in a Post-doctoral appointment.
Selection of fellows is based on the technical/scientific merit of proposed projects, their potential to advance the stated goals of the interagency R&D program and the nature of the proposed research environment (including mentors and hosting institutions). The program features competitive stipend structures, including a $6000 annual travel allowance. Support for research costs will have limits related to the nature of the work (e.g., laboratory versus field), and awards will not be applicable towards tuition, which is considered an appropriate institutional contribution. Candidates are able to name the institution where the work would be done without prior institutional "certification." Any institution would be considered, but the quality of the institution will be a consideration in the merit ranking of proposals.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is responsible for creating and administering the program in association with NETL and the ongoing interagency R&D effort in methane hydrates. Information on the fellowship program is now available the NAS website [External Site].
Starting with the February 1, 2008 application deadline, the NETL-NAS Methane Hydrate Fellowship began semi-annual rather than quarterly proposal reviews. Open seasons for applications will now occur in December and June with proposal reviews beginning in March and September, respectively.


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Home of Rhett & Link fans - the Mythical Beasts!
Bella(Basilisk) has not received any gifts yet
Welcome to the Kommunity!
Here's a link to my little tour guide that may help you along the path to mythical beastliness ~ Rhett & Link 101
Please also note that all new kommunity members are expected to read, agree and adhere to the Rules of Conduct as listed on Link (Chiasquatch)'s blog post at:
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America Spends Its Last $315 on Nikes
As unemployment ravages the working class, our lower and higher education systems shudder in crisis, and murder decimates our forgotten urban poverty zones, Nike is rolling out its first $300+ sneaker. But mom, you don't understand—it's worth it.
The coming $315 LeBron X Nike Plus, due in the fall, is expected to come embedded with motion sensors that can measure how high players jump. The LeBron 9 PS Elite basketball shoes, which currently retail for $250, feature Nike's signature swoosh in metallic gold.
Hmm, gold. Sounds like a good investment. Nike is actually ordering stores to stop holding buzz-building midnight releases of their new shoes because we, the consumers, always line up and start riots and fight each other for the privilege of buying Nike's newest products.
We all deserve what we get.


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Leftover stuffing rolled up in thinly sliced turkey, covered in gravy, and baked to heat through.
Leftover turkey, green bean casserole, any other side vegetable, gravy, in a pot pie or (with less gravy) as a pocket pie/empanada/hot pocket.
Stuffing shaped into balls and deep fried as a replacement for hush puppies.
I've already got the taco soup on my menu for that weekend. :)


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SUPREMUM EST MORTALIBUS BONUM Guillaume Dufay
Cantica SymphoniaGiuseppe Maletto
Performing artists
Cantica SymphoniaGiuseppe Maletto, direction
Alena Dantcheva Laura FabrisMaria Teresa Nesci Gianluca FerrariniFabio Furnari Guido Magnano Marta GraziolinoSvetlana Fomina Efix Puleo Mauro MoriniDavid Yacus et al
Production details
Total playing time: 78'16''Recorded at Chiesa del Colletto, Roletto, Italy,in August and October 2005, and inSeptember 2006Engineered by Davide FiccoProduced by Sigrid LeeExecutive producer: Carlos CésterDesign: Valentín Iglesias (00:03:00)Booklet essay: Guido MagnanoEnglish Français Italiano Deutsch Español
Links & downloads
Commercial release sheet (PDF)
Buy this product
Supremum est mortalibus bonum
1 Supremum est mortalibus bonum2 Rite maiorem Iacobum canamus3 O beate Sebastiane4 O sancte Sebastiane5 Magnam me gentes lauda paciare, Minerva6 Aver regina celorum (I)7 Ave virgo, que de celis8 Fulgens iubar ecclesie dei9 Mirandas parit hec urbs florentina puellas10 Ave regina celorum (II)11 O gemma, lux et speculum12 O proles Yspanie13 Moribus et genere Cristo coniuncte14 Ave regina celorum
About this CD
With this disc, Giuseppe Maletto and Cantica Symphonia complete their 'Dufay trilogy' on Glossa: two volumes of motets and one of chansons (Tempio dell'Onore e delle Vertù, GCD P31903). These musicians (singers and instrumentalists), many of them members of the various configurations of La Venexiana, represent the best possible interpreters today for communicating this timeless and moving music: motets indelibly linked to the power struggles that, in the first half of the fifteenth century, convulsed the politics of European powers and of the Roman Catholic Church – with the Church's great Councils, attended by Guillaume Dufay, as the settings for glorious and evocative compositions. Together with Quadrivium (GCD P31901), this new release sees Cantica Symphonia traversing all the currently attributed motets by Dufay – works written to set the seal on historic occasions as well as those with liturgical texts. The accompanying essay admirably captures the pervasive fifteenth century currents of Humanism and religious splendour.
For many years Cantica Symphonia has devoted much performing, musicological and recording energy over the music of the French composer Guillaume Dufay. Born at the dawn of the 15th century, Dufay's musical career looked back to medieval conventions and forward to the early Renaissance. He was a much-travelled figure and was regularly present as musician, composer and emissary of church and secular powers at the many Ecumenical Councils held by the Roman Catholic Church during these turbulent political times. Dufay was often called on to write motets for important occasions such as the dedication of the Duomo of Florence – Nuper rosarum flores – or an especially critical meeting between the Pope, Eugenius IV and the Emperor, Sigismund – Supremum est mortalibus bonum (the names of both these two are to be found within the words of the motet). [read more...]


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A White House panel charged with reviewing NASA's exploration plans has dropped any hope of sending astronauts directly to Mars and found the space agency's budget too slim to accomplish its goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020.
After more than six hours of public deliberation on Wednesday, the 10-member committee overseeing the Review for U.S. Human Space Flight Plans decided not to include a plan to send astronauts straight to Mars - called Mars Direct - on its list of options to be considered by President Barack Obama because of its daunting challenges and cost.
"We think Mars Direct is a mission that we're really not prepared to take on technically or financially, and it would likely not succeed," said the committee's chairman Norman Augustine, a former Lockheed Martin CEO, late Wednesday after the televised meeting in Washington, D.C. "I really want to emphasize that we're not giving up on Mars at all."
A manned Mars mission is the ultimate goal, but shifting all of NASA's focus on getting there as soon as possible is not feasible, he added.
The committee is expected to present its initial report to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and White House science adviser John Holdren on Friday and file a final version for President Obama's review by the end of the month.
Funding woes
Augustine's committee is reviewing NASA's plan to retire its aging space shuttle fleet and replace it with a capsule-based Orion spacecraft as part of a larger effort to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. But NASA's current budget for human spaceflight through 2020 is not enough to cover the costs of achieving its baseline lunar goal, let alone other alternative options, the committee found.
"This budget is just simply not friendly to exploration," said committee member Sally Ride, a former astronaut and the first American woman in space. "It's very difficult to find an exploration scenario that actually fits within this very restrictive budget guidance that we've been given."
NASA has a budget of about $80 billion for human spaceflight through 2020, about $28 billion less than projected when it first chose the Orion spacecraft and its Ares rockets to succeed the space shuttle fleet. Orion spacecraft are not expected to begin operational flights until 2015, the committee said.
Augustine said that NASA's exploration budget has been cut repeatedly since announcing the new space exploration plan in 2005, hindering its progress. Technical and other delays have also led to the current shortfall, he added. Still he and his committee were surprised none of their options fit in NASA's current budget.
'I did think that one of the current options would fit under the present funding budget," he said. "I thought it might be quite a while before you really got into space and do those exciting things that we were talking about — I guess I should have realized that it wasn't possible."
Narrowing options
Last week, the committee culled a list of 3,000 options for human spaceflight down to about seven different scenarios.
On Wednesday, committee members refined that list down to four general scenarios that include more funding. They include building Orion spacecraft for eventual manned mission to the moon, as well as options for sending astronauts farther out into deep space to visit near-Earth asteroids or the stable Lagrange points around Earth by the mid- to late-2020s or 2030.
"We very much like the deep space option," Augustine said, adding that his committee is not endorsing one option over another. "It's a doable, viable option.:
Only one of the four scenarios includes NASA's planned Ares I rocket, the booster designed to launch Orion capsules into space. Some included extending the International Space Station's lifetime beyond 2016 to 2020.
The committee strongly favored encouraging commercial vehicles for launching astronauts into orbit and suggested setting $2.5 billion aside between 2011 and 2014 to spur development in those spacecraft. It also included options that included spacecraft more heavily derived from current space shuttles, as well as current unmanned heavy-lift rockets like the Delta 4 Heavy and variants of NASA's giant Ares V rocket envisioned to launch lunar landers into orbit.
The potential for in-orbit refueling was cited as a key technological goal for some committee members. But adequate funding is key if NASA is to tackle an innovative, inspiring program that can capture the attention of the American public, committee members said.
"Our view is that it will be difficult with the current budget to do anything that's terribly inspiring in the human spaceflight area," Augustine said.


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Based on the most widely-used Series 3 preparatory course!
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NFL Prospect Michael Sam Comes Out As Gay
On Sunday, in interviews with The New York Times and on ESPN's Outside the Lines, Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam said that he is gay.
The All-American and Associated Press SEC Defensive Player of the Year is said to be a top prospect to go on to an NFL career. If the 24-year-old Sam is drafted in May, he would be the first openly gay player in NFL history.
"I am an openly, proud gay man," Sam told ESPN's Chris Connelly.
Sam first came out to his teammates in August of last year.
"I looked in their eyes, and they just started shaking their heads — like, finally, he came out," he told The New York Times. Sunday's interviews were the first time he spoke publicly about his sexual orientation.
Sam said in the interview with ESPN that he made the decision to come out publicly, and not just to his team, when it came to a point where he didn't know exactly how many people knew of his sexual orientation.
"I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it," Sam said. "I just want to own my truth."
The NFL released a statement on Sunday night following the interviews.
"We admire Michael Sam's honesty and courage," it said. "Michael is a football player. Any player with ability and determination can succeed in the NFL. We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014."
Sam also acknowledged the gravity of the announcement and the effect it could have on his career.
"It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL," he said.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.