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Trail to First Class
Click here for rank requirements pdf
1a. Present yourself to your leader, prepared for an overnight camping trip. Show the personal and camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it.
1b. Spend at least one night on a patrol or troop campout. Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch.
1c. Tell how you practiced the Outdoor Code on a campout or outing.
2a. On the campout, assist in preparing one of the meals. Tell why it is important for each patrol member to share in meal preparation and cleanup.
2b. While on a campout, demonstrate the appropriate method of safely cleaning items used to prepare, serve, and eat a meal.
2c. Explain the importance of eating together as a patrol.
3a. Demonstrate a practical use of the square knot.
3b. Demonstrate a practical use of two half-hitches.
3c. Demonstrate a practical use of the taut-line hitch.
3d. Demonstrate proper care, sharpening, and use of the knife, saw, and ax. Describe when each should be used.
4a. Show first aid for the following:
• Simple cuts and scrapes • Blisters on the hand and foot • Minor (thermal/heat) burns or scalds (superficial, or first-degree) • Bites or stings of insects and ticks • Venomous snakebite • Nosebleed • Frostbite and sunburn
• Choking
4b. Describe common poisonous or hazardous plants; identify any that grow in your local area or campsite location. Tell how to treat for exposure to them.
4c. Tell what you can do while on a campout or other outdoor activity to prevent or reduce the occurrence of injuries or exposure listed in Tenderfoot requirements 4a and 4b.
4d. Assemble a personal first-aid kit to carry with you on future campouts and hikes. Tell how each item in the kit would be used.
5a. Explain the importance of the buddy system as it relates to your personal safety on outings and in your neighborhood. Use the buddy system while on a troop or patrol outing.
5b. Describe what to do if you become lost on a hike or campout.
5c. Explain the rules of safe hiking, both on the highway and crosscountry, during the day and at night.
6a. Record your best in the following tests:
• Pushups (Record the number done correctly in 60 seconds.) • Situps or curl-ups (Record the number done
correctly in 60 seconds.) • Back-saver sit-and-reach (Record the distance stretched.) • 1-mile walk/run (Record the time.) 6b. Develop and describe a plan for improvement in each of the activities listed in Tenderfoot requirement
6a. Keep track of your activity for at least 30 days.
6c. Show improvement (of any degree) in each activity listed in Tenderfoot requirement 6a after practicing for 30 days. • Pushups (Record the number done correctly in 60 seconds.) • Situps or curl-ups (Record the number done correctly in 60 seconds.) • Back-saver sit-and-reach (Record the distance stretched.) • 1-mile walk/run (Record the time.)
7a. Demonstrate how to display, raise, lower, and fold the U.S. flag.
7b. Participate in a total of one hour of service in one or more service projects approved by your Scoutmaster. Explain how your service to others relates to the Scout slogan and Scout motto.
8. Describe the steps in Scouting's Teaching EDGE method. Use the Teaching EDGE method to teach another person how to tie the square knot.
9. Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Tell how you have done your duty to God and how you have lived four different points of the Scout Law in your everyday life.
10. While working toward the Tenderfoot rank, and after completing Scout rank requirement 7, participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
11. Successfully complete your board of review for the Tenderfoot rank.


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Tens of thousands of people rallied on Japan's southern island of Okinawa Sunday against the deployment of US Osprey military aircraft after a series of accidents elsewhere involving the planes.
Protesters demanded the United States and Japan immediately scrap plans to deploy 12 MV-22 Ospreys at the Futenma US base on Okinawa and shut down the Futenma base in the crowded city of Ginowan.
The turnout at the main rally was estimated by organizers at more than 100,000. Okinawan media put the number at "tens of thousands".
"We don't want the Osprey, the world's most dangerous aircraft" read a placard at the mass rally at a seaside park near the base, according to television footage. "Osprey. No!" said another.
Similar rallies were staged on two smaller islands in the Okinawa island chain and in Tokyo several thousand people circled the Japanese parliament building.
The Osprey has rotors that allow it to take off like a helicopter. It can refuel in the air, allowing it to cover big distances in a region where concerns have mounted over the rise of China.
Ginowan mayor Atsushi Sakima told the rally the safety of the hybrid transport aircraft "has not been guaranteed".
In April, an MV-22 Osprey crashed in Morocco, killing two Marines.
Another variant of the aircraft crashed in June in Florida, injuring five crew members, although US officials said the accident was not due to mechanical problems.
Concerns heightened further when an MV-22 made an emergency landing in a residential area outside a Marine base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Thursday.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of Japan's concerns over the Osprey's safety on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Russia on Saturday, according to Japanese media.
A series of crimes committed by US troops over the years, including the 1995 gang rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl, have fueled resentment among islanders against the heavy US military presence.
The United States and Japan have been bogged down for years in talks to relocate the Futenma base, which locals want to see moved away from the island chain.

subset: commoncrawl


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A few photos from my trip to Greyfriars cemetery in Edinburgh last March where many of the old skull monuments dating back to the late 1700s and early 1800s can still be found. I do love them!
Happy Halloween.
31 October 2009
A few for Halloween
5 comments:
Awesome pics...I kind of don't understand why people use skeletons and skulls and things on their graves. I love the pictures though...ReplyDelete
Thank you. The tradition of skulls on graves faded out in the early 1800s. Prior to that it was used as a symbol of mortality and was quite popular along with things like a scythe - cutting down of life, the passage of time and death or an hourglass which is the symbol of Father Time.ReplyDelete
Wonderful Pictures!ReplyDelete
Many thanks Terri.ReplyDelete
The "Memento Mori" tradition of memorial imagery is one of the most significant in the history of western art. Thanks so much for sharing these beautiful images!ReplyDelete
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Can you imagine yourself living in a giant volcanic crater? Well, for starters, you can forget about Starbucks. But it sure would be the ultimate destination to get away from it all. It's not all that surprising then, that about 200 people actually inhabit the Japanese volcanic island of Aogashima, with only one school and a single post office.
Aogashima, a part of the Izu Archipelago, lies two hundred miles south of Tokyo, in the Philippine Sea. The island and its 205 inhabitants (as of 2009), are a part of Japan and governed by Tokyo. When I first saw pictures of this breathtaking location, it sort of reminded me of an inverted pudding on a plate. Or an oddly shaped donut. But Aogashima is really a volcano within a volcano. The island is quite well known for having a volcanic caldera within a larger caldera. So what you have is one big, giant crater, which is the island itself, inside which is nestled a much smaller version of itself. This gives the whole island a rather mysterious appeal, almost like something out of a fantasy movie. It's hard to believe there are such places still left in the world, untouched by noisy human activity.
The entire population of Aogashima lives on a small part of the island. This is where most of the amenities are located, such as a general store and a helipad. While it's unrealistic to expect a great night life or gourmet food options in a place as remote as this, Aogashima isn't totally devoid of activities to pursue. For starters, it is a great place to relax and unwind, basking in all the serenity. Scuba diving is a popular activity in the intensely blue waters. You could also consider hiking and camping by the volcano, or visiting the volcanic hot springs. In the very center of the island is a geothermal sauna. The main volcano has scalding hot steam vents around one side, which are used to power the public sauna – a perfect way to relax after a long day of hiking. You can even cook food at the steam vents, in the pots available outside the sauna to steam your goodies. Accessibility options to and from the island aren't too great:, as it can only be reached by ferry and by helicopter. Once you're on the island, you have access to a 24/7 live feed of the harbor, so that you can keep an eye on the weather before venturing out.
If you are planning on visiting Aogashima , you might want to know that it is actually an active volcano. The last massive eruption was over 200 years ago, in 1785. 140 people are said to have died back then, and since it has been a while, the volcano might be in store for another eruption sometime soon. If you're not the kind to take risks, you might as well sit back and enjoy breathtaking pictures of this amazing beauty of an island. I'll leave you to it.
Photos via: Volcanoes of the World, Future-Giraffes


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In the course of this day�s journey, as on subsequent occasions, we encountered some Englishmen (small farmers, perhaps, or country publicans at home) who were settled in America, and were travelling on their own affairs. Of all grades and kinds of men that jostle one in the public conveyances of the States, these are often the most intolerable and the most insufferable companions. United to every disagreeable characteristic that the worst kind of American travellers possess, these countrymen of ours display an amount of insolent conceit and cool assumption of superiority, quite monstrous to behold. In the coarse familiarity of their approach, and the effrontery of their inquisitiveness (which they are in great haste to assert, as if they panted to revenge themselves upon the decent old restraints of home), they surpass any native specimens that came within my range of observation: and I often grew so patriotic when I saw and heard them, that I would cheerfully have submitted to a reasonable fine, if I could have given any other country in the whole world, the honour of claiming them for its children.
As Washington may be called the head-quarters of tobacco-tinctured saliva, the time is come when I must confess, without any disguise, that the prevalence of those two odious practices of chewing and expectorating began about this time to be anything but agreeable, and soon became most offensive and sickening. In all the public places of America, this filthy custom is recognised. In the courts of law, the judge has his spittoon, the crier his, the witness his, and the prisoner his; while the jurymen and spectators are provided for, as so many men who in the course of nature must desire to spit incessantly. In the hospitals, the students of medicine are requested, by notices upon the wall, to eject their tobacco juice into the boxes provided for that purpose, and not to discolour the stairs. In public buildings, visitors are implored, through the same agency, to squirt the essence of their quids, or �plugs,� as I have heard them called by gentlemen learned in this kind of sweetmeat, into the national spittoons, and not about the bases of the marble columns. But in some parts, this custom is inseparably mixed up with every meal and morning call, and with all the transactions of social life. The stranger, who follows in the track I took myself, will find it in its full bloom and glory, luxuriant in all its alarming recklessness, at Washington. And let him not persuade himself (as I once did, to my shame) that previous tourists have exaggerated its extent. The thing itself is an exaggeration of nastiness, which cannot be outdone.
On board this steamboat, there were two young gentlemen, with shirt-collars reversed as usual, and armed with very big walking-sticks; who planted two seats in the middle of the deck, at a distance of some four paces apart; took out their tobacco-boxes; and sat down opposite each other, to chew. In less than a quarter of an hour�s time, these hopeful youths had shed about them on the clean boards, a copious shower of yellow rain; clearing, by that means, a kind of magic circle, within whose limits no intruders dared to come, and which they never failed to refresh and re-refresh before a spot was dry. This being before breakfast, rather disposed me, I confess, to nausea; but looking attentively at one of the expectorators, I plainly saw that he was young in chewing, and felt inwardly uneasy, himself. A glow of delight came over me at this discovery; and as I marked his face turn paler and paler, and saw the ball of tobacco in his left cheek, quiver with his suppressed agony, while yet he spat, and chewed, and spat again, in emulation of his older friend, I could have fallen on his neck and implored him to go on for hours.
We all sat down to a comfortable breakfast in the cabin below, where there was no more hurry or confusion than at such a meal in England, and where there was certainly greater politeness exhibited than at most of our stage-coach banquets. At about nine o�clock we arrived at the railroad station, and went on by the cars. At noon we turned out again, to cross a wide river in another steamboat; landed at a continuation of the railroad on the opposite shore; and went on by other cars; in which, in the course of the next hour or so, we crossed by wooden bridges, each a mile in length, two creeks, called respectively Great and Little Gunpowder. The water in both was blackened with flights of canvas-backed ducks, which are most delicious eating, and abound hereabouts at that season of the year.
These bridges are of wood, have no parapet, and are only just wide enough for the passage of the trains; which, in the event of the smallest accident, wound inevitably be plunged into the river. They are startling contrivances, and are most agreeable when passed.
We stopped to dine at Baltimore, and being now in Maryland, were waited on, for the first time, by slaves. The sensation of exacting any service from human creatures who are bought and sold, and being, for the time, a party as it were to their condition, is not an enviable one. The institution exists, perhaps, in its least repulsive and most mitigated form in such a town as this; but it is slavery; and though I was, with respect to it, an innocent man, its presence filled me with a sense of shame and self-reproach.
After dinner, we went down to the railroad again, and took our seats in the cars for Washington. Being rather early, those men and boys who happened to have nothing particular to do, and were curious in foreigners, came (according to custom) round the carriage in which I sat; let down all the windows; thrust in their heads and shoulders; hooked themselves on conveniently, by their elbows; and fell to comparing notes on the subject of my personal appearance, with as much indifference as if I were a stuffed figure. I never gained so much uncompromising information with reference to my own nose and eyes, and various impressions wrought by my mouth and chin on different minds, and how my head looks when it is viewed from behind, as on these occasions. Some gentlemen were only satisfied by exercising their sense of touch; and the boys (who are surprisingly precocious in America) were seldom satisfied, even by that, but would return to the charge over and over again. Many a budding president has walked into my room with his cap on his head and his hands in his pockets, and stared at me for two whole hours: occasionally refreshing himself with a tweak of his nose, or a draught from the water-jug; or by walking to the windows and inviting other boys in the street below, to come up and do likewise: crying, �Here he is!� �Come on!� �Bring all your brothers!� with other hospitable entreaties of that nature.
We reached Washington at about half-past six that evening, and had upon the way a beautiful view of the Capitol, which is a fine building of the Corinthian order, placed upon a noble and commanding eminence. Arrived at the hotel; I saw no more of the place that night; being very tired, and glad to get to bed.
Breakfast over next morning, I walk about the streets for an hour or two, and, coming home, throw up the window in the front and back, and look out. Here is Washington, fresh in my mind and under my eye.
Take the worst parts of the City Road and Pentonville, or the straggling outskirts of Paris, where the houses are smallest, preserving all their oddities, but especially the small shops and dwellings, occupied in Pentonville (but not in Washington) by furniture-brokers, keepers of poor eating-houses, and fanciers of birds. Burn the whole down; build it up again in wood and plaster; widen it a little; throw in part of St. John�s Wood; put green blinds outside all the private houses, with a red curtain and a white one in every window; plough up all the roads; plant a great deal of coarse turf in every place where it ought not to be; erect three handsome buildings in stone and marble, anywhere, but the more entirely out of everybody�s way the better; call one the Post Office; one the Patent Office, and one the Treasury; make it scorching hot in the morning, and freezing cold in the afternoon, with an occasional tornado of wind and dust; leave a brick-field without the bricks, in all central places where a street may naturally be expected: and that�s Washington.
The hotel in which we live, is a long row of small houses fronting on the street, and opening at the back upon a common yard, in which hangs a great triangle. Whenever a servant is wanted, somebody beats on this triangle from one stroke up to seven, according to the number of the house in which his presence is required; and as all the servants are always being wanted, and none of them ever come, this enlivening engine is in full performance the whole day through. Clothes are drying in the same yard; female slaves, with cotton handkerchiefs twisted round their heads are running to and fro on the hotel business; black waiters cross and recross with dishes in their hands; two great dogs are playing upon a mound of loose bricks in the centre of the little square; a pig is turning up his stomach to the sun, and grunting �that�s comfortable!�; and neither the men, nor the women, nor the dogs, nor the pig, nor any created creature, takes the smallest notice of the triangle, which is tingling madly all the time.
I walk to the front window, and look across the road upon a long, straggling row of houses, one story high, terminating, nearly opposite, but a little to the left, in a melancholy piece of waste ground with frowzy grass, which looks like a small piece of country that has taken to drinking, and has quite lost itself. Standing anyhow and all wrong, upon this open space, like something meteoric that has fallen down from the moon, is an odd, lop-sided, one-eyed kind of wooden building, that looks like a church, with a flag-staff as long as itself sticking out of a steeple something larger than a tea-chest. Under the window is a small stand of coaches, whose slave-drivers are sunning themselves on the steps of our door, and talking idly together. The three most obtrusive houses near at hand are the three meanest. On one � a shop, which never has anything in the window, and never has the door open � is painted in large characters, �The City Lunch.� At another, which looks like a backway to somewhere else, but is an independent building in itself, oysters are procurable in every style. At the third, which is a very, very little tailor�s shop, pants are fixed to order; or in other words, pantaloons are made to measure. And that is our street in Washington.
It is sometimes called the City of Magnificent Distances, but it might with greater propriety be termed the City of Magnificent Intentions; for it is only on taking a bird�s-eye view of it from the top of the Capitol, that one can at all comprehend the vast designs of its projector, an aspiring Frenchman. Spacious avenues, that begin in nothing, and lead nowhere; streets, mile-long, that only want houses, roads and inhabitants; public buildings that need but a public to be complete; and ornaments of great thoroughfares, which only lack great thoroughfares to ornament � are its leading features. One might fancy the season over, and most of the houses gone out of town for ever with their masters. To the admirers of cities it is a Barmecide Feast: a pleasant field for the imagination to rove in; a monument raised to a deceased project, with not even a legible inscription to record its departed greatness.
Such as it is, it is likely to remain. It was originally chosen for the seat of Government, as a means of averting the conflicting jealousies and interests of the different States; and very probably, too, as being remote from mobs: a consideration not to be slighted, even in America. It has no trade or commerce of its own: having little or no population beyond the President and his establishment; the members of the legislature who reside there during the session; the Government clerks and officers employed in the various departments; the keepers of the hotels and boarding-houses; and the tradesmen who supply their tables. It is very unhealthy. Few people would live in Washington, I take it, who were not obliged to reside there; and the tides of emigration and speculation, those rapid and regardless currents, are little likely to flow at any time towards such dull and sluggish water.
The principal features of the Capitol, are, of course, the two houses of Assembly. But there is, besides, in the centre of the building, a fine rotunda, ninety-six feet in diameter, and ninety-six high, whose circular wall is divided into compartments, ornamented by historical pictures. Four of these have for their subjects prominent events in the revolutionary struggle. They were painted by Colonel Trumbull, himself a member of Washington�s staff at the time of their occurrence; from which circumstance they derive a peculiar interest of their own. In this same hall Mr. Greenough�s large statue of Washington has been lately placed. It has great merits of course, but it struck me as being rather strained and violent for its subject. I could wish, however, to have seen it in a better light than it can ever be viewed in, where it stands.
There is a very pleasant and commodious library in the Capitol; and from a balcony in front, the bird�s-eye view, of which I have just spoken, may be had, together with a beautiful prospect of the adjacent country. In one of the ornamented portions of the building, there is a figure of Justice; whereunto the Guide Book says, �the artist at first contemplated giving more of nudity, but he was warned that the public sentiment in this country would not admit of it, and in his caution he has gone, perhaps, into the opposite extreme.� Poor Justice! she has been made to wear much stranger garments in America than those she pines in, in the Capitol. Let us hope that she has changed her dress-maker since they were fashioned, and that the public sentiment of the country did not cut out the clothes she hides her lovely figure in, just now.
The House of Representatives is a beautiful and spacious hall, of semicircular shape, supported by handsome pillars. One part of the gallery is appropriated to the ladies, and there they sit in front rows, and come in, and go out, as at a play or concert. The chair is canopied, and raised considerably above the floor of the House; and every member has an easy chair and a writing desk to himself: which is denounced by some people out of doors as a most unfortunate and injudicious arrangement, tending to long sittings and prosaic speeches. It is an elegant chamber to look at, but a singularly bad one for all purposes of hearing. The Senate, which is smaller, is free from this objection, and is exceedingly well adapted to the uses for which it is designed. The sittings, I need hardly add, take place in the day; and the parliamentary forms are modelled on those of the old country.
I was sometimes asked, in my progress through other places, whether I had not been very much impressed by the heads of the lawmakers at Washington; meaning not their chiefs and leaders, but literally their individual and personal heads, whereon their hair grew, and whereby the phrenological character of each legislator was expressed: and I almost as often struck my questioner dumb with indignant consternation by answering �No, that I didn�t remember being at all overcome.� As I must, at whatever hazard, repeat the avowal here, I will follow it up by relating my impressions on this subject in as few words as possible.
In the first place � it may be from some imperfect development of my organ of veneration � I do not remember having ever fainted away, or having even been moved to tears of joyful pride, at sight of any legislative body. I have borne the House of Commons like a man, and have yielded to no weakness, but slumber, in the House of Lords. I have seen elections for borough and county, and have never been impelled (no matter which party won) to damage my hat by throwing it up into the air in triumph, or to crack my voice by shouting forth any reference to our Glorious Constitution, to the noble purity of our independent voters, or, the unimpeachable integrity of our independent members. Having withstood such strong attacks upon my fortitude, it is possible that I may be of a cold and insensible temperament, amounting to iciness, in such matters; and therefore my impressions of the live pillars of the Capitol at Washington must be received with such grains of allowance as this free confession may seem to demand.
Did I see in this public body an assemblage of men, bound together in the sacred names of Liberty and Freedom, and so asserting the chaste dignity of those twin goddesses, in all their discussions, as to exalt at once the Eternal Principles to which their names are given, and their own character and the character of their countrymen, in the admiring eyes of the whole world?
It was but a week, since an aged, grey-haired man, a lasting honour to the land that gave him birth, who has done good service to his country, as his forefathers did, and who will be remembered scores upon scores of years after the worms bred in its corruption, are but so many grains of dust � it was but a week, since this old man had stood for days upon his trial before this very body, charged with having dared to assert the infamy of that traffic, which has for its accursed merchandise men and women, and their unborn children. Yes. And publicly exhibited in the same city all the while; gilded, framed and glazed hung up for general admiration; shown to strangers not with shame, but pride; its face not turned towards the wall, itself not taken down and burned; is the Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America, which solemnly declares that All Men are created Equal; and are endowed by their Creator with the Inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!
It was not a month, since this same body had sat calmly by, and heard a man, one of themselves, with oaths which beggars in their drink reject, threaten to cut another�s throat from ear to ear. There he sat, among them; not crushed by the general feeling of the assembly, but as good a man as any.
There was but a week to come, and another of that body, for doing his duty to those who sent him there; for claiming in a Republic the Liberty and Freedom of expressing their sentiments, and making known their prayer; would be tried, found guilty, and have strong censure passed upon him by the rest. His was a grave offence indeed; for years before, he had risen up and said, �A gang of male and female slaves for sale, warranted to breed like cattle, linked to each other by iron fetters, are passing now along the open street beneath the windows of your Temple of Equality! Look!� But there are many kinds of hunters engaged in the Pursuit of Happiness, and they go variously armed. It is the Inalienable Right of some among them, to take the field after their Happiness equipped with cat and cartwhip, stocks, and iron collar, and to shout their view halloa! (always in praise of Liberty) to the music of clanking chains and bloody stripes.
Where sat the many legislators of coarse threats; of words and blows such as coalheavers deal upon each other, when they forget their breeding? On every side. Every session had its anecdotes of that kind, and the actors were all there.
Did I recognise in this assembly, a body of men, who, applying themselves in a new world to correct some of the falsehoods and vices of the old, purified the avenues to Public Life, paved the dirty ways to Place and Power, debated and made laws for the Common Good, and had no party but their Country?
I saw in them, the wheels that move the meanest perversion of virtuous Political Machinery that the worst tools ever wrought. Despicable trickery at elections; under-handed tamperings with public officers; cowardly attacks upon opponents, with scurrilous newspapers for shields, and hired pens for daggers; shameful trucklings to mercenary knaves, whose claim to be considered, is, that every day and week they sow new crops of ruin with their venal types, which are the dragon�s teeth of yore, in everything but sharpness; aidings and abettings of every bad inclination in the popular mind, and artful suppressions of all its good influences: such things as these, and in a word, Dishonest Faction in its most depraved and most unblushing form, stared out from every corner of the crowded hall.
Did I see among them, the intelligence and refinement: the true, honest, patriotic heart of America? Here and there, were drops of its blood and life, but they scarcely coloured the stream of desperate adventurers which sets that way for profit and for pay. It is the game of these men, and of their profligate organs, to make the strife of politics so fierce and brutal, and so destructive of all self-respect in worthy men, that sensitive and delicate-minded persons shall be kept aloof, and they, and such as they, be left to battle out their selfish views unchecked. And thus this lowest of all scrambling fights goes on, and they who in other countries would, from their intelligence and station, most aspire to make the laws, do here recoil the farthest from that degradation.
That there are, among the representatives of the people in both Houses, and among all parties, some men of high character and great abilities, I need not say. The foremost among those politicians who are known in Europe, have been already described, and I see no reason to depart from the rule I have laid down for my guidance, of abstaining from all mention of individuals. It will be sufficient to add, that to the most favourable accounts that have been written of them, I more than fully and most heartily subscribe; and that personal intercourse and free communication have bred within me, not the result predicted in the very doubtful proverb, but increased admiration and respect. They are striking men to look at, hard to deceive, prompt to act, lions in energy, Crichtons in varied accomplishments, Indians in fire of eye and gesture, Americans in strong and generous impulse; and they as well represent the honour and wisdom of their country at home, as the distinguished gentleman who is now its Minister at the British Court sustains its highest character abroad.
I visited both houses nearly every day, during my stay in Washington. On my initiatory visit to the House of Representatives, they divided against a decision of the chair; but the chair won. The second time I went, the member who was speaking, being interrupted by a laugh, mimicked it, as one child would in quarrelling with another, and added, �that he would make honourable gentlemen opposite, sing out a little more on the other side of their mouths presently.� But interruptions are rare; the speaker being usually heard in silence. There are more quarrels than with us, and more threatenings than gentlemen are accustomed to exchange in any civilised society of which we have record: but farm-yard imitations have not as yet been imported from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The feature in oratory which appears to be the most practised, and most relished, is the constant repetition of the same idea or shadow of an idea in fresh words; and the inquiry out of doors is not, �What did he say?� but, �How long did he speak?� These, however, are but enlargements of a principle which prevails elsewhere.
The Senate is a dignified and decorous body, and its proceedings are conducted with much gravity and order. Both houses are handsomely carpeted; but the state to which these carpets are reduced by the universal disregard of the spittoon with which every honourable member is accommodated, and the extraordinary improvements on the pattern which are squirted and dabbled upon it in every direction, do not admit of being described. I will merely observe, that I strongly recommend all strangers not to look at the floor; and if they happen to drop anything, though it be their purse, not to pick it up with an ungloved hand on any account.
It is somewhat remarkable too, at first, to say the least, to see so many honourable members with swelled faces; and it is scarcely less remarkable to discover that this appearance is caused by the quantity of tobacco they contrive to stow within the hollow of the cheek. It is strange enough too, to see an honourable gentleman leaning back in his tilted chair with his legs on the desk before him, shaping a convenient �plug� with his penknife, and when it is quite ready for use, shooting the old one from his mouth, as from a pop-gun, and clapping the new one in its place.
I was surprised to observe that even steady old chewers of great experience, are not always good marksmen, which has rather inclined me to doubt that general proficiency with the rifle, of which we have heard so much in England. Several gentlemen called upon me who, in the course of conversation, frequently missed the spittoon at five paces; and one (but he was certainly short-sighted) mistook the closed sash for the open window, at three. On another occasion, when I dined out, and was sitting with two ladies and some gentlemen round a fire before dinner, one of the company fell short of the fireplace, six distinct times. I am disposed to think, however, that this was occasioned by his not aiming at that object; as there was a white marble hearth before the fender, which was more convenient, and may have suited his purpose better.
The Patent Office at Washington, furnishes an extraordinary example of American enterprise and ingenuity; for the immense number of models it contains are the accumulated inventions of only five years; the whole of the previous collection having been destroyed by fire. The elegant structure in which they are arranged is one of design rather than execution, for there is but one side erected out of four, though the works are stopped. The Post Office is a very compact and very beautiful building. In one of the departments, among a collection of rare and curious articles, are deposited the presents which have been made from time to time to the American ambassadors at foreign courts by the various potentates to whom they were the accredited agents of the Republic; gifts which by the law they are not permitted to retain. I confess that I looked upon this as a very painful exhibition, and one by no means flattering to the national standard of honesty and honour. That can scarcely be a high state of moral feeling which imagines a gentleman of repute and station, likely to be corrupted, in the discharge of his duty, by the present of a snuff-box, or a richly-mounted sword, or an Eastern shawl; and surely the Nation who reposes confidence in her appointed servants, is likely to be better served, than she who makes them the subject of such very mean and paltry suspicions.
At George Town, in the suburbs, there is a Jesuit College; delightfully situated, and, so far as I had an opportunity of seeing, well managed. Many persons who are not members of the Romish Church, avail themselves, I believe, of these institutions, and of the advantageous opportunities they afford for the education of their children. The heights of this neighbourhood, above the Potomac River, are very picturesque: and are free, I should conceive, from some of the insalubrities of Washington. The air, at that elevation, was quite cool and refreshing, when in the city it was burning hot.
The President�s mansion is more like an English club-house, both within and without, than any other kind of establishment with which I can compare it. The ornamental ground about it has been laid out in garden walks; they are pretty, and agreeable to the eye; though they have that uncomfortable air of having been made yesterday, which is far from favourable to the display of such beauties.
My first visit to this house was on the morning after my arrival, when I was carried thither by an official gentleman, who was so kind as to charge himself with my presentation to the President.
We entered a large hall, and having twice or thrice rung a bell which nobody answered, walked without further ceremony through the rooms on the ground floor, as divers other gentlemen (mostly with their hats on, and their hands in their pockets) were doing very leisurely. Some of these had ladies with them, to whom they were showing the premises; others were lounging on the chairs and sofas; others, in a perfect state of exhaustion from listlessness, were yawning drearily. The greater portion of this assemblage were rather asserting their supremacy than doing anything else, as they had no particular business there, that anybody knew of. A few were closely eyeing the movables, as if to make quite sure that the President (who was far from popular) had not made away with any of the furniture, or sold the fixtures for his private benefit.
After glancing at these loungers; who were scattered over a pretty drawing-room, opening upon a terrace which commanded a beautiful prospect of the river and the adjacent country; and who were sauntering, too, about a larger state-room called the Eastern Drawing-room; we went up-stairs into another chamber, where were certain visitors, waiting for audiences. At sight of my conductor, a black in plain clothes and yellow slippers who was gliding noiselessly about, and whispering messages in the ears of the more impatient, made a sign of recognition, and glided off to announce him.
We had previously looked into another chamber fitted all round with a great, bare, wooden desk or counter, whereon lay files of newspapers, to which sundry gentlemen were referring. But there were no such means of beguiling the time in this apartment, which was as unpromising and tiresome as any waiting-room in one of our public establishments, or any physician�s dining-room during his hours of consultation at home.
There were some fifteen or twenty persons in the room. One, a tall, wiry, muscular old man, from the west; sunburnt and swarthy; with a brown white hat on his knees, and a giant umbrella resting between his legs; who sat bolt upright in his chair, frowning steadily at the carpet, and twitching the hard lines about his mouth, as if he had made up his mind �to fix� the President on what he had to say, and wouldn�t bate him a grain. Another, a Kentucky farmer, six-feet-six in height, with his hat on, and his hands under his coat-tails, who leaned against the wall and kicked the floor with his heel, as though he had Time�s head under his shoe, and were literally �killing� him. A third, an oval-faced, bilious-looking man, with sleek black hair cropped close, and whiskers and beard shaved down to blue dots, who sucked the head of a thick stick, and from time to time took it out of his mouth, to see how it was getting on. A fourth did nothing but whistle. A fifth did nothing but spit. And indeed all these gentlemen were so very persevering and energetic in this latter particular, and bestowed their favours so abundantly upon the carpet, that I take it for granted the Presidential housemaids have high wages, or, to speak more genteelly, an ample amount of �compensation:� which is the American word for salary, in the case of all public servants.
We had not waited in this room many minutes, before the black messenger returned, and conducted us into another of smaller dimensions, where, at a business-like table covered with papers, sat the President himself. He looked somewhat worn and anxious, and well he might; being at war with everybody � but the expression of his face was mild and pleasant, and his manner was remarkably unaffected, gentlemanly, and agreeable. I thought that in his whole carriage and demeanour, he became his station singularly well.
Being advised that the sensible etiquette of the republican court admitted of a traveller, like myself, declining, without any impropriety, an invitation to dinner, which did not reach me until I had concluded my arrangements for leaving Washington some days before that to which it referred, I only returned to this house once. It was on the occasion of one of those general assemblies which are held on certain nights, between the hours of nine and twelve o�clock, and are called, rather oddly, Levees.
I went, with my wife, at about ten. There was a pretty dense crowd of carriages and people in the court-yard, and so far as I could make out, there were no very clear regulations for the taking up or setting down of company. There were certainly no policemen to soothe startled horses, either by sawing at their bridles or flourishing truncheons in their eyes; and I am ready to make oath that no inoffensive persons were knocked violently on the head, or poked acutely in their backs or stomachs; or brought to a standstill by any such gentle means, and then taken into custody for not moving on. But there was no confusion or disorder. Our carriage reached the porch in its turn, without any blustering, swearing, shouting, backing, or other disturbance: and we dismounted with as much ease and comfort as though we had been escorted by the whole Metropolitan Force from A to Z inclusive.
The suite of rooms on the ground-floor were lighted up, and a military band was playing in the hall. In the smaller drawing-room, the centre of a circle of company, were the President and his daughter-in-law, who acted as the lady of the mansion; and a very interesting, graceful, and accomplished lady too. One gentleman who stood among this group, appeared to take upon himself the functions of a master of the ceremonies. I saw no other officers or attendants, and none were needed.
The great drawing-room, which I have already mentioned, and the other chambers on the ground-floor, were crowded to excess. The company was not, in our sense of the term, select, for it comprehended persons of very many grades and classes; nor was there any great display of costly attire: indeed, some of the costumes may have been, for aught I know, grotesque enough. But the decorum and propriety of behaviour which prevailed, were unbroken by any rude or disagreeable incident; and every man, even among the miscellaneous crowd in the hall who were admitted without any orders or tickets to look on, appeared to feel that he was a part of the Institution, and was responsible for its preserving a becoming character, and appearing to the best advantage.
That these visitors, too, whatever their station, were not without some refinement of taste and appreciation of intellectual gifts, and gratitude to those men who, by the peaceful exercise of great abilities, shed new charms and associations upon the homes of their countrymen, and elevate their character in other lands, was most earnestly testified by their reception of Washington Irving, my dear friend, who had recently been appointed Minister at the court of Spain, and who was among them that night, in his new character, for the first and last time before going abroad. I sincerely believe that in all the madness of American politics, few public men would have been so earnestly, devotedly, and affectionately caressed, as this most charming writer: and I have seldom respected a public assembly more, than I did this eager throng, when I saw them turning with one mind from noisy orators and officers of state, and flocking with a generous and honest impulse round the man of quiet pursuits: proud in his promotion as reflecting back upon their country: and grateful to him with their whole hearts for the store of graceful fancies he had poured out among them. Long may he dispense such treasures with unsparing hand; and long may they remember him as worthily!
The term we had assigned for the duration of our stay in Washington was now at an end, and we were to begin to travel; for the railroad distances we had traversed yet, in journeying among these older towns, are on that great continent looked upon as nothing.
I had at first intended going South � to Charleston. But when I came to consider the length of time which this journey would occupy, and the premature heat of the season, which even at Washington had been often very trying; and weighed moreover, in my own mind, the pain of living in the constant contemplation of slavery, against the more than doubtful chances of my ever seeing it, in the time I had to spare, stripped of the disguises in which it would certainly be dressed, and so adding any item to the host of facts already heaped together on the subject; I began to listen to old whisperings which had often been present to me at home in England, when I little thought of ever being here; and to dream again of cities growing up, like palaces in fairy tales, among the wilds and forests of the west.
The advice I received in most quarters when I began to yield to my desire of travelling towards that point of the compass was, according to custom, sufficiently cheerless: my companion being threatened with more perils, dangers, and discomforts, than I can remember or would catalogue if I could; but of which it will be sufficient to remark that blowings-up in steamboats and breakings-down in coaches were among the least. But, having a western route sketched out for me by the best and kindest authority to which I could have resorted, and putting no great faith in these discouragements, I soon determined on my plan of action.
This was to travel south, only to Richmond in Virginia; and then to turn, and shape our course for the Far West; whither I beseech the reader�s company, in a new chapter.
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by Margo Sparkman, Director of Development
A few months ago, I received an unexpected phone call from a lawyer in Kettering, Ohio. He said he was the attorney for the Estate of Barbara A. Althoff. Miss Althoff had left Alice Lloyd College as a beneficiary of her estate. More than that, her sister Lucille Althoff had also left the College in her will, but each had made the surviving sister the primary beneficiary and Alice Lloyd College a contingent beneficiary. Lucille had passed away on Sunday, December 11th, and Barbara died just two weeks later on Wednesday, December 23rd. The lawyer put me in touch with Marilyn Slusser, Barbara's second cousin, the administrator of the estate. After speaking with Mrs. Slusser, I was in awe of all that had transpired to bring about this very generous gift of bequest.
Marilyn Slusser had kept in touch with Lucille and Barbara Althoff, but mainly as a second cousin would do – annual Christmas cards and letters, an occasional phone call, etc., but she was surprised when Barbara called her to ask for her help in planning Lucille's funeral. Of course, Marilyn agreed to do that and promptly drove down to visit Barbara. The two "girls," as she called them, had been avid golfers, great gardeners, and traveled extensively within the states, including Hawaii. Lucille had been the sister with the fun and joking personality – almost devilish, Marilyn said. Barbara, on the other hand, was very subdued and managed the finances.
When she arrived at the modest home of the Althoff sisters, Marilyn discovered a tragic site. A very frail Barbara answered the door on her walker. The sparse furnishings consisted of the sisters' beds, walkers, a typewriter and clutter. The carpet had wrinkles that were an accident waiting to happen, especially for a 91-year-old (Lucille) and an 86-year-old (Barbara). Neighbors had been helping them with food and errands for some time.
Barbara had solidified some of the plans for the funeral, deciding to secure a plot in the cemetery in Fort Recovery, Ohio and expressed an interest in a Lutheran service since their father had been one of 13 Lutheran pastors in the family. A cousin and pastor, Raymond Menchhofer, was called to perform the service. Marilyn arranged everything as Barbara wanted, and Barbara told her to do the same thing for her when it was her time. However, the day of Lucille's funeral came, and Barbara chose not to attend.
Marilyn and her husband, Harold, continued to call on Barbara daily. The second week, they had to miss a couple of days. On the third day, Marilyn called Barbara, but there was no answer. She called the neighbors, but they could not get an answer at the door either. Marilyn and Harold drove to Barbara's house and had to get the police to let them inside. They found Barbara too late. Apparently, she had died soon after their last visit. As promised, Marilyn arranged Barbara's funeral almost identically to Lucille's.
Afterwards, there was the task of inventorying the women's estates. They each had a will, but where were the assets? It turned out they had money in seven banks, and they could have been living like queens instead of paupers! The great thing was that they left their fortune to three very worthy institutions: the Lutheran Church, the Fort Recovery High School they had both attended, and Alice Lloyd College. They had once visited the campus of ALC and kept a detailed folder containing correspondence back and forth between themselves and various staff members, including all five presidents. ALC's records indicated that they began giving in 1955, possibly after the airing of "This is Your Life, Alice Lloyd" on national television.
Marilyn and Harold decided to hand-deliver the bequest check to each beneficiary organization. They brought the check for Alice Lloyd College on October 23, 2013, stayed overnight in Miss June's Guest House, and explored the campus before heading back home the following day. They left with a warm feeling that the "girls'" money had gone to very good causes.
Help us continue the work of Mrs. Alice Lloyd and countless others by giving to Alice Lloyd College! With gifts from people like you, we can continue to offer a quality education to the young people of Appalachia. Click here to make your gift today!


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Los Angeles Chocolate Fountain Rental
- Serving:
- Serving Los Angeles CA
- Address:
- Visit Our Website For More Info
- City, Zip Code & State
- Los Angeles, CA 91403
We area full service rental company that services the local area. Our fountains are great for parties, corporate events, sweet 16s, and weddings. If you're looking to make a big impression then a 3 foot tall chocolate fountain is the way to go.
With 10 years of experience,petitive pricing, and great tasting chocolate, we will make your next event something to remember. We can service Weddings, Birthdays, Quiceneras, Holidays, Corporate Events, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, TV/Movie Shoots and Grand Openings.Each fountain is fully chromed from top to bottom, and each base is constructed of spun metal that helps give this fountain it uniquely elegant design. An experienced operator will always be present to set-up, show your guests how to dip from the fountain, and make sure it runs smoothly for your event.  and ensure the smooth running during the entire period of the hire. There are eight delicious food items that are always available and will be restocked during your event.
To rent the fountain is $325 for 3 Hours. This includes an attendant to run the fountain, unlimited chocolate, skewer for dipping along with delivery and set up. Melting of the chocolate takes about an hour which we provide our own equipment for. We do not need to use your kitchen or any rooms in your house so there will be no need for cleaning after. Many of the venues and customer havemented that they like using us because we are self contained and do not need get in the way of an already busy kitchen during the event.
You get everything from above plus the following, Five dipping items including Strawberries, Bananas, Donut Holes, Marshmallows and Pretzels. These food items are what we have found that work the best for any group of guests. Additional or different dipping items are available upon request and trays to display the food.
There is no need to worry about the details because we take care of all that. You can have a worry free and spotless kitchen. No need to imagine chocolate getting all over your kitchen floor and appliances because we have it under control. You can visit our website for more information and also to view gallery of photos of us at previous events. Just provide the address and we wil show up with tons of fun and excitement.
Among other cities, Los Angeles Chocolate Fountain Rental may serve the following areas: Chatsworth, Porter Ranch, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hills, Missions Hills, Sylmar, Sunland, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Valley Village, Studio City, Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, West Hills, Woodland Hills, Calabasas, Agoura, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Moorpark, and Simi Valley. If you don't see your city listed please call for more information.
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Certainly Afghanistan is not where you'd want to be if your wife was in labor back home in Michigan, but that's where Specialist Brock Howland found himself stationed when his wife, Mary, gave birth to their son. Fortunately, thanks to the miracle of modern technology, Brock was able to watch the entire thing on Skype, and it sounds like it actually worked out very well. He even had good reception the whole time.
Mary says it meant everything to be able to connect with him, "To have his support was the world. It felt like the other part of my heart was here." For his part, the new dad says, "It chokes me up. It really did. Especially when he first came out and I saw him on Mary's stomach, I lost it. I absolutely was in tears. I still get really sad and happy at the same time. Sad that I can't be there. But so fortunate and happy that I have such a beautiful son now." Oh, man. As you can imagine, Brock can't wait to meet his son in real life. He doesn't know exactly when it will be, but the sooner the better.
Father Skype's from Afghanistan to be at child's birth [THV11]
Soldier Witnesses Son's Birth Via Skype [Buzzfeed]


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The University of Hawaiʻi (UH), which has managed and operated the Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC) since 2001, has created a new Academic-Industry Alliance with Lockheed Martin, Pacific Defense Solutions, Referentia Systems Incorporated, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in order to pursue the follow-on MHPCC contract, which is expected to begin October 1, 2011.
Over the past 10 years, UH has led the transformation of MHPCC to become a major national DoD Supercomputing Resource Center (DSRC). The new alliance will support the long-term sustainability and success of the MHPCC DSRC as a vital national asset and cornerstone of the high technology community on Maui and in Hawaiʻi.
UH President M.R.C. Greenwood described the alliance by stating, "Building on our strong record of excellent management of the Maui High Performance Computing Center DoD Supercomputing Resource Center for the past decade, the University of Hawaiʻi is partnering with an exceptionally strong combination of local and national organizations to take the MHPCC DSRC to the next level of achievements. Our 'Home Team' is eminently capable and well-prepared to continue our outstanding record of performance into the future for the benefit of our nation and the state of Hawaiʻi."
Lockheed Martin is the largest provider of IT services, systems integration, and training to the U.S. government and currently manages four of the major DoD Supercomputing Resource Centers, all located on the U.S. mainland. Pacific Defense Solutions (PDS) is a Maui-based and locally owned small business with nationally recognized subject matter experts in the fields of Space Situational Awareness (SSA), electro-optic systems, modeling and simulation.
Referentia is a global small business headquartered in Honolulu that provides world-class innovative cyber security technology and solutions. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. Department of Energy multi-program science and technology laboratory that is currently the world's largest supercomputing center.


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Your home is your castle
And so is your mailbox. Let us help you move it to a place that is safe. Start with a clean slate. It's easy.
Your personal email deserves professional attention
As soon as you sign up you are good to go. And yes, we will always answer your every call.
Personal domain
Your own address. Truly yours.
Private mailbox
Your email for your eyes only.
Public webpage
Your online profile page.
(optional, free)
What are people saying?
Daniel Burka
Khoi Vinh
Why pay for email?
Free email comes at a price. Your data deserves to be protected. Your mailbox is your life. Think about the intimate details in your emails. This is why Soverin is committed to the following principles:
No tracking
Your email is not scanned and you are not profiled
No Advertising
Your emails will never be read, your data is not sold
No lock in
Your mailbox is yours, take it wherever you want
Privacy first
Feel as free as in the comfort of your own home


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As You Were
In the future, an injured soldier returns home with prosthetics to replace an arm and leg lost in combat and must reconnect with family.
Simon Ender struggles with his decision to commit his elderly mother into a nursing home alternative that has solved Senior Citizen overpopulation.
Born in a small Texas town, Trevin Matcek has made movies since he was 10 years old. Trevin is a graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts production program. His first 35mm short Sylvia won the Gold Award for Best Student Short at Houston Worldfest, played over a dozen festivals around the world, and aired on Showtime.… Show more After working several years in post-production, Trevin began directing and editing music videos for bands such as Spoon and Clearlake. His video "The District Sleeps Tonight" for The Postal Service, was Fuse TV's #3 Video of the Year and nominated by the Music Video Production Association for Best Video under $10,000. Trevin has worked on campaigns for NFL Sports, Sony's PS3, and Cisco Systems. As part of the Dublab Collective, the director has helmed Vision Version videos for artists Hecuba, The Excepter, and Baby Dee. He has collaborated in visual effects for films such as The Avengers, Battleship, and Oblivion. ITVS and PBS commissioned him to write and direct an episode of their groundbreaking series Futurestates. Titled Life Begins at Rewirement, the short premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and stars Barry Del Sherman (There Will Be Blood), Jill Andre (The Master), Tok Olagundoye (ABC's The Neighbors) and David (Gruber) Allen (Freaks & Geeks). Show less
An Tran is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and a Film Independent Project: Involve Fellow in writing and directing. She has produced music videos for the Dublab Collective, Spoon, Clearlake, The Postal Service, and The Exceptor. Her production credits include Things We've Made; You, Me & We; Sylvia; Sundance Shuffle;… Show more and Mad Girl's Love Song. As a journalist, Tran's articles and interviews have appeared in American Cinematographer, Filmmaker, Exposure, In Camera, Videography, and the Los Angeles Times. Show less
Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.
We'll send you funding deadlines, events, and film news.
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Set up Display Accommodations
In Settings > Accessibility > Display Accommodations, you'll see three main options: Color Filters, Light Sensitivity, and Reduce White Point.
Color Filters
Color Filters can help you differentiate colors or read onscreen text.
To help you differentiate colors, there are four presets. After you choose one (except Grayscale), you can then select Intensity to adjust the filter's strength:
- Grayscale
- Red/Green Filter (for Protanopia)
- Green/Red Filter (for Deuteranopia)
- Blue/Yellow Filter (for Tritanopia)
To help you read onscreen text, select the Color Tint option. Then select Intensity or Hue to make adjustments.
Light Sensitivity
Lower or increase the overall brightness.
Reduce White Point
Lower or increase the intensity of bright colors.
Use a shortcut to turn Display Accommodations on and off
Since Display Accomodations aren't necessarily needed at all times, you can quickly turn them on and off with a shortcut:
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut.
- Select any features that you want a shortcut for.
- Press the Menu button on your Apple TV Remote to leave the Settings menu. To use the shortcut that you created, quickly press Menu three times on your remote.


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Leotards Collection for Artistic Gymnastics
Not so far, we've opened new direction in our activity – we started to sew leotards for artistic gymnastics and acrobatics. Meet our new collection "Miss"!
You'll be in a center of attention in these bright leotards and take the main prizes at any competition!
You are also always welcome to offer your own design of the leotard you want – just click here.
More than that, we sew sport clothes for any kind of sport:rhythmic or artistic gymnastics, ice skating, synchronous swimming, acrobatics etc.
Read more information in the article "Whatever sport you do, we sew for you!"
- Find your own suit among our ice skating outfits.
19 Aug 2014 at 07:00
26 Sep 2017 at 20:54
19 Nov 2017 at 20:46
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PruHealth Wins 2008 Gold Award in Global Awards for Excellence in BPM and Workflow Program
South African health care insurance provider wins by supporting customers and partners with industry-leading TIBCO BPM
TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX), congratulates PruHealth, on winning the 2008 Gold Award in the Global Awards for Excellence in BPM & Workflow for the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region. PruHealth applied BPM software to improve the process for managing appointments with partners, tracking usage, and preparing corporate invoices in addition to automating the process for receiving, validating, reconciling, and routing electronic claims for assessment.
"This award illustrates the global value we are delivering to our customers and other stakeholders," said Paulo Dos Santos of PruHealth in accepting the award. "We've been able to drive tangible, ongoing business value from our operations, and leverage our SOA architecture to establish BPM as an enterprise program."
The award judges focused on implementations that supported business processes extending beyond corporate boundaries to assist customers, suppliers and trading partners.
"PruHealth's leadership with TIBCO infrastructure software has clearly improved and optimized its business operations. This award underscores that success," said Ram Menon, executive vice president, worldwide marketing for TIBCO. "PruHealth's award closely follows TIBCO's naming to a Leadership position in the Leaders Quadrant in Gartner's February 2009 BPMS Magic Quadrant, which we believe again demonstrates TIBCO's results-focused approach to providing multiregional BPM solutions. In tough economic times it's great to be recognized and see TIBCO's approach paying dividends for our customers in a variety of industries worldwide."
The 2008 Gold Award in Global Awards for Excellence in BPM & Workflow Program awards are sponsored by BPM Focus in association with the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), and are given to companies who demonstrate excellence in BPM and workflow.
About PruHealth
PruHealth was launched in October 2004 and is a joint venture between UK-based Prudential and Discovery, the South African health insurance leader. Its model is based on a successful concept launched in South Africa and the US.
PruHealth is more than just health insurance – PruHealth believes that people who look after their health should pay less for their insurance. The unique Vitality programme encourages customers to look after their health and be rewarded for their efforts. Customers participate in every day healthy activities to earn Vitality points which in turn convert to a Vitality Status. The more points, the higher the status and the greater the rewards. Learn more at www.pruhealth.co.uk.
About TIBCO
TIBCO's technology digitized Wall Street in the '80s with its event-driven "Information Bus" software, which helped make real-time business a strategic differentiator in the '90s. Today, TIBCO's infrastructure software gives customers the ability to constantly innovate by connecting applications and data in a service-oriented architecture, streamlining activities through business process management, and giving people the information and intelligence tools they need to make faster and smarter decisions, what we call The Power of Now®. TIBCO serves more than 3,000 customers around the world with offices in more than 20 countries and an ecosystem of over 200 partners. Learn more at www.tibco.com.
TIBCO, and TIBCO Software are trademarks or registered trademarks of TIBCO Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other product and company names and marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned for identification purposes only.


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Since 1979, we have been giving our guests the chance to enjoy the calm sea waters of the region, the carelessness of holidays and the pleasure of delicious food by stopping time, here… in Agia Galini.
The hotel's traits are the family environment and the remarkable quality of the region, which are clearly discernible as soon as you visit us.
During your vacation, in hotel STOCHOS you will be enjoying the unobstructed view to the Libyan Sea, along with the comfort and the facilities of our (recently renovated) studios.
The location of STOCHOS Studios is ideal, just a stone's throw from the beach and a few minutes' walk from the centre of Agia Galini, through a scenic route by the sea.. p>
The Cretan cuisine by Ms. Anna like you have never tasted it before.
All the Cretan traditional appetizers (from mini myzithra cheese pies, sour myzithra cheese pastries, snails etc.), as well as fresh fish, meat from the mountains of Psiloritis and tasty raki (produced by us) will give you one more reason to go overboard once again
The amphitheater layout of the houses makes Agia Galini a special place, by offering a magnificent view to the harbor and the plain of Messara, while the view from the port to the village is equally impressive to the eye of the visitor.
The quaint village of Agia Galini combines harmonically mountain and sea, offering the visitor a scenery of unique beauty p>
Your careless days in Agia Galini can become exciting through various activities that will fill your holidays with new experiences. Lots of excursions are organized by different institutions to magnificent beaches, enchanting landscapes and forests worth visiting.
As it is widely known, south Crete is full of bewitching beaches. One of them is the beach of Agia Galini.
A splendid beach with sand, small pebbles and crystal clear waters, though it is not the only one in the region. There are a lot of beaches worth visiting.
Evi, was so nice to see you again, thank you for the lovely dinner and vitamientjes afterwards. You are the best !!! See you next summer.
We stayed with you 4 nights on July 23rd-27th and enjoyed every moment of it - the room, the food, the beach, and especially your warm and welcoming attitude. Your vitamins, Evi, were just great1
Thank you for the fantastic holidays we had at your place!
We are back home now, and we feel homesick to... Stochos!
Lots of love to everyone, especially Elma and the two waiters from Helo&...
It is always a pleasure to come to your site again and again and learn more and more useful and interesting things! Thanks a lot!
(+30) 28320 91167
(+30) 28320 91433


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Acanthus Leaf Egg & Dart, 8"w x 1 1/16"d
If you are an existing customer or in the design, cabinet or millwork industry and pay by credit card or terms and are interested in establishing an account to access the Millwork Trade Store or buy direct, please complete the Trade form to apply for an account.
|Apply for Trade Account for discount pricing.
|Apply Now
We offer three Priming and Sanding options with varied pricing based on linear feet and moulding type. We utilize Sherwin-Williams Universal Primer. These services save you time and reduce on-site preparation costs before installation.
|Priming and Sanding Available
|Request Quote
We offer CNC capabilities for custom mouldings, arches, and more with our CAMaster and CNC Router. This boosts productivity, reduces waste, and expands our custom offerings for customers. Click below for a quote.
|CNC Machining
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We offer extensive millwork design services for both residential and commercial projects. We collaborate closely with you and professionals to turn your visions into reality. Click below to learn more.
|Millwork Design Service
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- Available in random lengths from 3'-16'.
- FedEx shipping: Moldings range from 36"-96".
- LTL shipping: Bundles (8-12-16') include lengths from 3'-16'.
- Prices are per linear foot.
- Length upcharges are not included in the base price.
- F.O.B. Buyer.
- Subject to a 20% restocking fee.
- Start at $45, varies by destination.


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Do you feel lucky? Here's a clear-cut approach for improving your luck today.
«The Luck of the Irish» is an American phrase that comes from the days of the gold rush in the 1800s. Intolerant Americans figured the Irish people weren't smart enough to find gold, and blamed their success on being lucky rather than skilled. In reality, America's early immigrants have time and again proven themselves to be hardworking and smart enoughto generate their own good fortune consistently.
So often I have witnessed people excuse their own inadequacies by crediting the success of others to luck. Salespeople I know disparage their more successful competitors as lucky. If those salespeople would make as many calls or work as many hours as their competitors, they would realize that their probability of closing is fairly equal. The competitors are simply swinging the bat more often.
The truth is that seemingly lucky people are opportunists. They do the things that allow them to take advantage of the world around them. For them, it's not about being in the way of good luck or bad. It's the actions they take to get what Jim Collins refers to as a high return on luck whichever way the pendulum swings. Follow these five tips and you can be as lucky as anyone, no four-leaf clover or rabbit's foot required.
1. Play to your strengths. So much time and energy is wasted trying to do things you probably don't do very well. Author and Inc. columnist Lewis Schiff learned from his survey of incredibly wealthy people that they got that way by focusing only on what they do best. Everything else you can delegate, or you could find a partner to compensate for your weaknesses. That way, you will shine where you excel and attract opportunity. Good things come to those who emanate success.
2. Prepare in advance. Unlucky people often get that way because they're reactive and unprepared for whatever comes. People who have stored food and water in their basements aren't lucky to find themselves prepared when disaster strikes, they used forethought to make sure they had what they might need just in case. I personally scoff at this horrible recent trend of disparaging business plans because things change constantly. The point of a business plan isn't to follow it no matter what, it's to establish a structure for smart decision making that allows you to succeed no matter what the future might bring.
3. Start early. Some people seem to have more hours in the day. I myself don't need more than six hours of sleep and am constantly finding ways to be more efficient. I use that extra time to start my projects well in advance. My rewards aren't dependent upon the time of day that I take action. (This column is being written at 3 a.m.) But it does matter that I'm beginning to explore projects I expect to complete months or years from now. So many people only want to put their energy into things that provide immediate gratification. The most fortunate people I know are the ones who planted seeds early and now reap thatharvest of happiness.
4. Connect with as many people as possible. The key to success is access to opportunity. Access comes from influence. If you're influential, people will come and bring opportunities to you. The bigger your following, the more powerful your influence. The only way to build a big following is to provide value to many people. You have to provide the sort of value that will cause people to spread your thoughts far and wide, attributing credit to you when they do. Are you creating that kind of value? If not, figure how you can.
5. Follow up. Opportunities often come and go because people don't respond in a timely manner. I'm always amazed when people ask me for something and I respond only to never hear from them again. Three months ago, a young woman asked me if I hire interns or assistants. I replied immediately saying I'm always willing to consider hiring people who bring value to my work. I asked her how she thought she could enhance what I could do. I never heard from her again. Perhaps she now considers herself unlucky that opportunity doesn't come her way. I believe that following up is often more powerful and impressive than the act of initiating.
May you be so lucky to have people in your life that follow up.
By Kevin Daum


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Posted by Editoress on 11/15/12
Latest IMBA Canada News
Trail Builders Chosen As 2012 X-Fusion Trail Ambassadors
Congratulations to Igor Dragoslavic (Waterloo, ON) and Jim Lucas (Crowsnest Pass, AB), who have been named IMBA Canada's 2012 X-Fusion Trail Ambassadors.
"We are so proud to be able to give a small thank you to two hard working, community oriented individuals like Igor and Jim, our East and West 2012 X-Fusion Trail Ambassadors," says Brian Kuhn from Renegade Cycle Solutions (RCS).
Made possible by RCS, the X-Fusion Trail Ambassador Awards recognizes Canadian advocates who go 'above and beyond' their volunteer roles to give back to the mountain biking and trails communities. Full Press release
Just Two Weeks Left To Apply For A 2013 Trail Care Crew Visit
Don't miss this free opportunity to learn about sustainable trail building, club growth, and community trail development.
IMBA Canada clubs/retailers, Parks Canada sites, and other land managers are invited to apply to host the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew in 2013. Online application must be submitted before Midnight EST on December 1st.
Check out what the TCC can do for your community on the blog.
IMBA Canada To Receive Award For Support Of Baview Bike Park Project In Toronto
IMBA Canada is being recognized by Youth Unlimited for its involvement in the development of the Bayview Bike Park.
"It has been a true pleasure to work alongside all the great people from Revolutions and Youth Unlimited in helping to revitalize the Bayview Bike Park through public youth engagement days, and are excited to continue this goal together in the years to come," said IMBA Canada's Trail Specialist Daniel Scott. A representative from IMBA Canada will be present at the Park's closing celebration on Nov. 24 to receive the award.
Turkey Point Mountain Bike Club Receives Trillium Grant
A huge congratulations to IMBA-affiliate Turkey Point Mountain Bike Club for acquiring a $30,000 Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant; a monumental achievement after officially forming the club only one year ago.
For those that have been fortunate enough to ride in the area, they already know how good these trails are, and the grant will be used to enhance this trail network even further. Read more on the IMBA Blog
Copeland Forest Update
Earlier this month, IMBA Canada's Ontario Coordinator attended the Couchiching Conservancy's latest meeting on the Copeland Forest. Read his report on the full-day meeting, which saw 140 participants and 20+ mountain bikers in the crowd. Full report on the IMBA Blog
More News on the IMBA Blog
Fall is here but trail advocates are still hard at work in Quebec
The new batch @ CapU complete semester one
Canada winter sale now on!
We're all in this together - Kimberley, BC (TCC)
Invermere, BC - Where is your club at? (TCC)
Full blog Link
Upcoming Events
• Nov. 17: IMBA Trail Workshop in Cranbrook, BC
• Nov. 24: IMBA Trail Workshop in Fraser Valley, BC
• Dec. 1: IMBA Trail Workshop in Powell River, BC
• Dec. 8: IMBA Trail Workshop in Nanaimo, BC
Full calendar
|Return to Cycling 4 Women homepage | Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top


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About Us
History of SALONPAS®
In the century-and-a-half since our founding, Hisamitsu has pioneered the development of patches and other topical treatments to relieve everyday aches and pains. Our Salonpas® product line gained early acceptance in Asia and now sells in 50 countries around the world.
Although our products are now internationally recognized, we started out as a small, family owned business in Japan. Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical was founded in the mid-19th century under the name of Komatsuya. The company went on to create a large variety of health-related products. Our company has always prided itself on its ability to create new consumer products based on Hisamitsu's comprehensive research, development, manufacturing, and sales capabilities.
Salonpas® brand patches were first introduced in 1934 and their efficacy propelled our company to the global market leader position that we currently hold today. Salonpas® was developed through the application of Asahi Mankinko, the prototype therapeutic patch we introduced back in 1903. The original product gained quick acceptance and was considered cutting edge technology in its day. Thanks to sustained research and input from everyday users, our products continue to evolve. Moreover, our company has expanded the culture and use of patch treatment. Hisamitsu continues to develop and refine therapeutic patches that are safe and easy to use.
Corporate Philosophy
We believe the fulfillment of our mission is nothing less than an obligation to the global community. It is with that in mind that we work to improve our products and promote new means for people everywhere to apply the many benefits of topical care. Hisamitsu's goal has always been to advance the benefits of external analgesic treatments, especially their pain-relieving effects and the feeling of invigoration they offer. Nowhere is this objective better expressed than in our corporate maxim, "Salonpathy". This word was derived from Salonpas®, one of our key products. Under the banner of Salonpathy, we are actively promoting better health for people around the world, offering a range of pain relieving patches and pharmaceutical products. As the 21st century begins, we are responding to basic needs that unite people everywhere. Good health, freedom from pain and a lifestyle rich in vitality, is the foundation for all we do at Hisamitsu. Our business strategy is designed to develop new medical products and drugs commensurate with our core competencies in external analgesics. This is our mission, to make topical care available for all who seek it-anytime, anywhere.
Research & Development
The future of pharmaceutical products is one of unprecedented possibilities. Hisamitsu's efforts in research and development are focused on external analgesic products. The poultices, plasters, and ointments applied to the skin have been used for many generations. There are good reasons that this tried and true technology of administering drugs through the surface of the skin for delivery throughout the body is enjoying modern day popularity.
These include:
- Maintaining a steady drug concentration in the bloodstream
- Controlling dosage over a specific period of time
- Avoidance of the first-pass effect through the liver
- Reducing any harmful effects to the digestive system


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The future of vitamin E in the cosmetic market looks good, according to a recent analysis by market researcher Frost and Sullivan. By 2012, the company estimates that vitamin E sales will have exceeded US$13.6 million. Frost and Sullivan attribute this analysis to the growth in usage of vitamin E in anti-aging and scar diminishing cosmetic products.
The one factor that Frost and Sullivan believe will impede the growth of sales for vitamin E, is the small volume of the vitamin available for a high price. In 2005, according to the company, vitamin E use in cosmetics accounted for 4.1 percent, or $8.6 million out of $209.6 million in total sales for the vitamin.


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Education Prize: Hernán Quintana
Austin, TX - AAS 2017 - Speakers and attendees during the Education Prize Lecture: Hernán Quintana at the American Astronomical Society's 230th meeting at the JW Marriott hotel in Austin, Texas, Thursday June 8, 2017. The AAS, established in 1899 and based in Washington, DC, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. More than 500 astronomers, educators, industry representatives, and journalists are spending the week in Austin to discuss the latest findings from across the universe. AAS photograph © 2017 by Corporate Event Images/Phil McCarten.
Speakers and attendees Education Prize Lecture Hernán Quintana AAS 2017


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WEDNESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) — Men appear more likely to
die from Parkinson's disease than women, Hispanics and Asians with the
neurologic disorder, a large U.S. study reveals.
The researchers also found that those patients who suffered from
dementia had a higher death rate from Parkinson's disease.
The findings stem from an analysis of 138,000 Parkinson's patients
across the United States who were Medicare beneficiaries between 2002 and
Led by Dr. Allison Willis from Washington University School of Medicine
in St. Louis, the study appears in the January issue of the Archives of
During the six-year study period, overall, 64 percent of the patients
died. Nearly 70 percent had developed dementia in that time.
Black patients had the highest death rate, at more than 66 percent,
while white patients had a slightly lower rate of almost 65 percent.
By contrast, Hispanic and Asian Parkinson patients faced death rates of
roughly 55 percent and 51 percent, respectively.
The team also found that those patients who had both dementia and
Parkinson's were less likely to survive. The incidence of dementia was
highest among black Parkinson's patients at more than 78 percent.
Hispanics, whites, and Asians had dementia rates of about 73 percent, 69
percent and 67 percent, respectively.
"We demonstrate that dementia occurs commonly in patients with incident
[Parkinson's disease] 65 years and older; this had the strongest effect on
age-adjusted survival among the variables that we studied," the authors
said in a journal news release. "Our data highlight the need for
prevention of, or treatment, for dementia in patients with PD because of
its effect on survival."
More information
For more on Parkinson's, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.


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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – New York lawmakers narrowly voted to legalize same-sex marriage Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.
New York will become the sixth state where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far.
"We are leaders and we join other proud states that recognize our families and the battle will now go on in other states," said Sen. Thomas Duane, a Democrat.
Gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
Though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size and New York City's international stature and its role as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, which is considered to have started with the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.
The New York bill cleared the Republican-controlled state Senate on a 33-29 vote. The Democrat-led Assembly, which passed a different version last week, is expected to pass the new version with stronger religious exemptions and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who campaigned on the issue last year, has promised to sign it. Same-sex couples can begin marrying begin 30 days after that.
The passage of New York's legislation was made possible by two Republican senators who had been undecided.
Sen. Stephen Saland voted against a similar bill in 2009, helping kill the measure and dealing a blow to the national gay rights movement.
"While I understand that my vote will disappoint many, I also know my vote is a vote of conscience," Saland said in a statement to The Associated Press before the vote. "I am doing the right thing in voting to support marriage equality."
Gay couples in gallery wept during Saland's speech.
Sen. Mark Grisanti, a GOP freshman from Buffalo, also said he would vote for the bill. Grisanti said he could not deny anyone what he called basic rights.
The effects of the law could be felt well beyond New York: Unlike Massachusetts, which pioneered gay marriage in 2004, New York has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license, meaning the state could become a magnet for gay couples across the country who want to have a wedding in Central Park, the Hamptons, the romantic Hudson Valley or that honeymoon hot spot of yore, Niagara Falls.
New York, the nation's third most populous state, will join Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in allowing same-sex couples to wed.
For five months in 2008, gay marriage was legal in California, the biggest state in population, and 18,000 same-sex couples rushed to tie the knot there before voters overturned the state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the practice. The constitutionality of California's ban is now before a federal appeals court.
While court challenges in New York are all but certain, the state — unlike California — makes it difficult for the voters to repeal laws at the ballot box. Changing the law would require a constitutional convention, a long, drawn-out process.
The sticking point over the past few days: Republican demands for stronger legal protections for religious groups that fear they will be hit with discrimination lawsuits if they refuse to allow their facilities to be used for gay weddings.
The climactic vote came after more than a week of stop-and-start negotiations, rumors, closed-door meetings and frustration on the part of advocates. Online discussions took on a nasty turn with insults and vulgarities peppering the screens of opponents and supporters alike and security was beefed up in the capitol to give senators easier passage to and from their conference room.
The night before, President Barack Obama encouraged lawmakers to support gay rights during a fundraiser with New York City's gay community. The vote also is sure to charge up annual gay pride events this weekend, culminating with parades Sunday in New York City, San Francisco and other cities.
Despite New York City's liberal Democratic politics and large and vocal gay community, previous efforts to legalize same-sex marriage failed over the past several years, in part because the rest of the state is more conservative than the city.
The bill's success this time reflected the powerful support of Cuomo and perhaps a change in public attitudes. Opinion polls for the first time are showing majority support for same-sex marriage, and Congress recently
repealed the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that barred gays from serving openly in the military.
In the week leading up to the vote in New York, some Republicans who opposed the bill in 2009 came forward to say they were supporting it for reasons of conscience and a duty to ensure civil rights.
Pressure to vote for gay marriage also came from celebrities, athletes and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Republican-turned-independent who has long used his own fortune to help bankroll GOP campaigns and who personally lobbied some undecided lawmakers. Lady Gaga has been urging her 11 million Twitter followers to call New York senators in support of the bill.
While the support of the Assembly was never in doubt, it took days of furious deal-making to secure two Republican votes needed for passage in the closely divided Senate.
Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox rabbis and other conservative religious leaders fought the measure, and their GOP allies pressed hard for stronger legal protections for religious organizations.
Each side of the debate was funded by more than $1 million from national and state advocates who waged media blitzes and promised campaign cash for lawmakers who sided with them.
But GOP senators said it was Cuomo's passionate appeals in the governor's mansion on Monday night and in closed-door, individual meetings that were perhaps most persuasive.
The bill makes New York only the third state, after Vermont and New Hampshire, to legalize marriage through a legislative act and without being forced to do so by a court.


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Biographies by Archos
Our member, Archos, is posting biographies about band members time to time. You can see here a list of the ones he has posted so far. Just click on the links to take you to his post, you can even comment them. And you can follow his latest additions on the front page of the forum on the right sidebar.
Thank you Archos!


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Federati Nu: Federated N-series GNU Social is a social network based on the Free Software GNU social tool.
If you register for an account, you can post small (8192 chars or less) text notices about yourself, where you are, what you're doing, or practically anything you want. You can also subscribe to the notices of your friends, or other people you're interested in, and follow them on the Web or in an RSS feed.


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I was all set to take my 6- and 3-year-old sons with me to vote today. What a great way to set an example! Let them see democracy in action! Then my husband, who had headed to the polls on his way to work, texted me to say he was still in line and had bumped into everyone we know. And then I ran into a neighbor who said she had waited an hour and a half to vote.
Suddenly my patriotic parental intentions evaporated. I think it's fantastic so many people are voting in this election, I really do. Exercise those rights, people! But 90 minutes on line with an energetic 3-year-old?! In front of everyone we know?! I vote no.
On the way to the sitter's to drop off the kids before I headed to the polls, we had a lively political discussion.
6-year-old Miles: "Are we allowed to vote, too, Mom?"
Me: "No, you have to be 18."
Miles: "Or older, like you?"
Me: "Yeah. Or older."
3-year-old Riley: "I wanna vote!"
Miles: "Who would you vote for, Riley?"
Riley: "Santa Claus!"
Miles: "No, Riley, this is serious. We learned about it at school. Your choices are –"
Riley: "Underpants!"
Miles: "Riley!! Listen! You can vote for –"
Riley: "Pepperoni!"
And there you have it, people. The children — the future of our great country — have spoken. I have to admit, though: Santa Claus seems like a pretty solid choice.
Did you bring your child along to vote today? How do you talk to your kids about the election?