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SEATTLE – (Dec. 30) Yet another impressive first half of play was the story of the game for Seattle University men's basketball as the Redhawks closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 95-71 win over UC Riverside Saturday afternoon in the Connolly Complex.
The Redhawks improved on their best non-conference showing in recent history, moving to 11-6 on the year. The Highlanders fell to 5-9 overall.
Hot shooting and pesky defense was a lethal combination early as Seattle U scored 17 unanswered points to open the game. The Highlanders, meanwhile, committed six turnovers during the stretch while going 0-1 from the field.
The Redhawks shot better than 62 percent from the field in the frame, but it was their performance from beyond the arc that was even more impressive. Six different players drained at least one three-pointer as the team went 13-of-16 (81.3 percent).
Josh Hearlihy went 4-of-5 from deep while Jordan Hill and Matej Kavas were each a perfect 3-of-3. Mattia Da Campo drilled the Redhawks' 13th triple from the left corner to beat the halftime buzzer and send SU into the locker room with a 55-29 lead.
"Once again we got off to a great start and were really ready to play," said Head Coach Jim Hayford. "My coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for their game planning and having the guys ready to go."
After shooting just 6-of-19 from the field in the first half, the Highlanders hit five of their first six attempts in the second half. A Chance Murray jumper at 15:50 south make it a 19-point game, 63-44, but UCR would get no closer.
Despite a cold shooting spell, the Redhawks took advantage of 23 trips to the free-throw line in the second half, making good on 18 chances (78.3 percent). They would finish the night with a season-high 17 three pointers on 27 attempts (63 percent).
Hearlihy finished with 19 points to lead five Redhawks in double-figures for the fifth time this season. Hill had 17 points, Kavas added 13, Richaud Gittens had 12 and Morgan Means had 11.
"We wanted this week to mimic a conference week," said Hayford. "To work hard early in the week, get into game prep and the Thursday-Saturday turnaround. The guys answered the bell both nights and I'm really proud of them."
Murray led the Highlanders with 16 points while Dikymbe Martin had 12 and Ajani Kennedy chipped in 11.
Western Athletic Conference play begins Saturday, Jan. 6 as the Redhawks host preseason favorite, Grand Canyon. Tip-off from KeyArena is set for 7 p.m. The game will stream live on the WAC Digital Network and can be heard live on KTTH 770 AM.


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I shared my story with my new supervisor yesterday.
We had a staff meeting yesterday afternoon and it was the first time we sat down with our new supervisor, so she had us go around the table to introduce ourselves, say how long we've been there and state a fact that not everyone knew about you.
I chose to let everyone know that I am a diabetic.
My supervisor held me back afterward to chat and she shared with me that she too is diabetic. And also a few things about how she loves having me working there and that she's always happy to back up someone who loves their job.
It's nice having someone else at work that knows what I'm going through. It's nice that someone else there gets cranky when they're running high, so I can use the excuse that "If I'm cranky, blame it on my 'betes." and not get a weird look.
12 replies
I love a story like this one…I have worked at a state office for 6 years and the people I work with have been with me since my first surgery over 2 years ago. Not only do they do everything in their power to accommodate my needs they made sure I had donated time so I would still get my paycheck and insurance without any lapses. I have had 3 more surgeries since then and they have done the same for every one. This last surgery for a bowel obstruction I was out 2 months and on part time for another month…I never missed a pay check, they are all so awesome. The best part is how they have all become intune with my lows, I can even take my dog to work if I am struggling (she has never been to doggie school but knows way before I do that I'm going low). We have an inservice once a year about diabetes and everyone knows where my glucogen is and how to use it.
I am so happy you will be in a good environment! It really makes all the difference in the world!
Its also great that either of you could be aware if the other starts getting too low. Most people don't pick up on it until its too late. You don't need to hide it then either, you can just grab something to bring it back in line and not have strange looks. Good for you. Give the boss a pat on the back! And one for you too.
Doesn't it make you feel so good to know you shared this info with your staff members and especially, knowing the supervisor is aware of the diabetes, both from your standpoint and her own?
It does! I'm so happy to know someone else I work with knows what it's like to deal with diabetes.
It's always better to have a buddy! :D
Having a "boss" who relates to people well is awesome. Sharing they way you did in this group is sooo cool. It opens lines of communication that weren't there before. Good job! I'd want you on my team! How else with non-D's learn about D? Kudos 2U, girl!
Thank you! I don't mind sharing my story and answering questions. I want people to learn about it and know what it's like to live with it. Or to be able to say they know someone who fights like hell every day.
Next Discussion: Diabetes Information - Where to find it »

subset: commoncrawl


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By Marina Renton
CommonHealth intern
The numbers are striking: Recent double-digit rises around the country in long-familiar sexually transmitted diseases — gonorrhea, HIV, even the old scourge of syphilis.
Perhaps even more striking is what Thomas Bertrand of the Rhode Island Department of Health said recently about the rising numbers on Here & Now: "I would not call it a crisis, I'd call it a new normal right now, and we need to push against it."
Last month, the Rhode Island Department of Health put out a press release with its data from 2013 to 2014: Reported cases of infectious syphilis increased 79 percent, gonorrhea cases increased 30 percent, and newly diagnosed HIV cases increased 33 percent.
While these figures are dramatic, particularly the increase in syphilis, it's important to remember that year-to-year changes aren't always the best data to look at, said Bertrand, who is chief of the office of HIV, STDs, Viral Hepatitis, and Tuberculosis for the state Department of Health. It's better to examine a period of five to 10 years, he says.
But those numbers don't look good either: Since 2009, Rhode Island, along with the rest of the country, has seen increases in chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, Bertrand said in a phone interview. "We mirror the national trends in general."
"The acceleration or the increase may be a little bit steeper in Rhode Island than the rest of the country, but just a little bit," he added.
Can swiping right lead to STDs?
The Rhode Island Department of Health's statement mentions the use of hookup apps as a "high-risk behavior" that could be associated with the increase in STDs. However: "We don't have data to say that the use of social media or the people who use it are more infectious or transmitting disease more than people who don't," Bertrand said.
But the apps do add to tracking problems: When people use social media such as Tinder and Grindr to arrange hookups, the encounter can be casual and brief, so people don't share much information, Bertrand said. So, when someone is diagnosed with an STD, he or she might not be able to provide contact information for his or her sexual partners, making it harder to curb the spread of the disease.
Given the use of social media to arrange sexual encounters, there is opportunity for the health department to move online, Bertrand said. Continue reading


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Celebrating the pipe organ, the King of Instruments
|Justin H. Bischof
Justin H. Bischof is an active performer and improviser, having performed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He received a doctor of musical arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 1998. While in school, he twice received the Claire Coci Award. Dr. Bischof is director of music and organist at the Church of the Resurrection, New York, NY, and at the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y. In 1999, he was appointed adjunct professor of music history and adviser at Barnard College and professor of music theory at the Manhattan School of Music. He previously served on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music and the Nightingale-Bamford School. As a chamber musician, Dr. Bischof has performed in hundreds of concerts over the last decade. He has worked regularly with the Orchestra of Saint Lukes'as organist, pianist, and harpsichordist. In 1998, he was a semi-finalist in the AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation. This past summer, he was a featured performer at the AGO Region II Convention, as well as serving as an adjudicator for the Region II Competition for Young Organists. Dr. Bischof serves on the executive board of the New York City AGO Chapter and is a former dean of the Manhattan School of Music AGO Chapter. He has made three tours of Europe, performing in such venues as Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, and the Tonhalle, Zurich. He can be heard on several recordings. His latest Ethereal release includes the premiere of Aaron Miller's Concert of Two Organists with organist Ken Cowan and the Zurich Symphony Orchestra.


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Branch Account Manager
OneMain Financial Inc FKA CitiFinancial
Currently licensed by the State of Michigan as well as the Federal Government to produce and maintain mortgage accounts. Branch administrative duties is a large part of my daily activities as well as maintaining customers service with client's accounts. Monthly I have a sales target to achieve and I consistently excel at .


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Not all of the defectors from the Labour party to the SDP eventually lost their seats, as we claimed below. David Owen resigned from the party when they joined forces with the Liberals in 1987 and after the rump of the SDP disintegrated in 1990 he remained as an independent MP for Plymouth Devonport until he stepped down in 1992. Robert Maclennan remained as Lib Dem MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross until 2001.
"Maverick" is the derogatory label of choice when an MP crosses the Commons floor. So Tory spin doctors were busy in the Westminster corridors last night depicting Quentin Davies as a bit too Europhile and posh, an MP whose ungreen and old-fashioned social views sit uneasily with David Cameron's new agenda.
Thwarted personal ambition was also tossed into the mix. Unsurprising really, they claim. True up to a point, and Labour would have done the same if one of their own went over the Tory wall. Like many defectors Mr Davies has a volatile side: if he was a car his insurance premium would be high.
But the timing and substance of the Davies defection are damaging to Mr Cameron and helpful to Gordon Brown who seems to have been the MP's personal trainer as he wrestled with his conscience. He even read Mr Davies's blistering resignation letter - and told him not to change a word.
That must have been one of Mr Brown's easier decisions this week. Tory ex-colleagues complain that the letter is confused, with a complaint about the Cameroons' shallow PR-driven agenda followed by weighty policy differences notably over Europe - Mr Davies political passion.
But it remains a scorcher. Phrases such as "superficiality, unreliability and apparent lack of clear convictions" (apart from all that, he admires his ex-leader) may stick. The jibe will certainly resonate within the uneasy Conservative ranks in village and suburb, content to suspend disbelief in their young leader only as long as he looks like beating Mr Brown.
But Mr Brown has had a good month. The leadership transition which ends today has been much smoother than he dared hope. Since the Conservatives' nostalgic trip down Grammar School Lane, largely a waste of time, Mr Cameron has been having a rough time. How politicians cope with setbacks is a test of their calibre, but at this stage of the political cycle it should be the Labour MPs who are tunnelling their way out.
The irony here is that it is the Tory right which has most trouble with Dave and his Notting Hill mates. But Mr Davies, though an ex-investment banker and pro-hanger, is defecting from the left: he says he stands for a free market capitalism which offers social justice, Brown-style, for the poor, not just the upwardly mobile.
On Europe he is well to the left of Mr Brown and has been noisily spitting blood ever since Cameron trumped David Davis by promising to quit the Euro-Tory group (EPP). It was the leader's one big gesture to the right, yet they too feel he has reneged: Tory MEPs are still in the EPP.
What happens to the handful of MPs who "rat" in an average parliament? Most fade, then lose their seat, the eventual fate of all 28 SDP defectors from Labour in 1983. Sometimes they are given a peerage. Bruce Douglas-Mann, the only one who resigned and re-fought his seat, lost it. Mrs Thatcher gave Labour defector Reg Prentice a job, John Horam too who came via the SDP. Mr Blair did the same for Shaun Woodward and Alan Howarth. At 63, Mr Davies says he doesn't want a job. That will not stop the spinners saying he does. The MP was once fined when sheep starved on his farm. Expect to read more about that in the redtops.


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Gorgeous blond and brunette teenage sluts are sharing one bad. As they are both naked, they start teasing each other and rubbing their tight cunts.
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text: Limo solution is not just practical for executive events but also for wedding event. Pairs who will make an oath should include in their plans concerning working with services from wedding limousine Toronto. Nonetheless, to avoid aggravations, you should hire a limo solution one month beforehand before your wedding event day. Furthermore, it is necessary to make thorough research study regarding the solutions of the different providers use to figure out if it would certainly fit the occasion and also your budget plan. Remember that various limo solution business have various conditions and policies relying on the solutions. When you work with a limo solution in Toronto it would be to your benefit due to the fact that the majority of the companies give added services. You can ask online for the services they use as well as the physical address of the business. Nevertheless, before you position your booking, you must really see the automobile if it fits your demands. Read the rest of this entry »


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Caleb also had all sorts of fun checking out Norma's chair....I think she wins "coolest person" in his book for her sweet ride.....He (of course) loves everything with a motor, so this for sure had his full attention.
Check out this short clip of Caleb:
He also enjoyed meeting Cokoa (Norma's kitty).
But I do have to say, Cokoa handled it well (for the most part)
It was a great trip and I am just so thankful for this dear auntie in my life -- For her prayers, her encouragement, her love, her support and her constant concern for me and for rmy family. We are so blessed by you, my dear Auntie!


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Prime Ministers Of Turkey
History of the Prime Minister of Turkey
Throughout much of the history of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1299 until 1922, the Ottoman Sultan who ruled the country had a Grand Vizier who acted in a role that most would consider similar to that of a Prime Minister. Following the the Tanzimat period (1839-1876) of the Ottoman Empire, in which the empire underwent many reformations, the position of grand vizier became more similar to the role that prime ministers had in the contemporary Western European monarchies of the era. It was also at the end of the Tanzimat period, with the Ottoman constitution of 1876, that a parliament was put in place to watch over the prime minister's activities. The Ottoman constitution of 1876 was only kept in place for two years, but following the 1908 Young Turk Revolution the Second Constitutional Era reestablished the 1876 constitution which made it so the prime minister must answer to the parliament rather the the Ottoman Sultan. In 1923 when the Ottoman Empire was declared to be a republic, the prime minister would be appointed by the president of Turkey, instead of the Sultan, who was has his position abolished when the Ottoman caliphate was officially ended in 1924. After the prime minister is appointed they must be approved by getting a majority of the votes of confidence from the Grand National Assembly.
Duties of the Prime Minister of Turkey
The Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of the government of Turkey. The prime minister is also part of the executive branch of the Turkish government, along with the cabinet of Turkey and the President of Turkey. The prime minister is the leader of the cabinet and the also the leader of the main political party or coalition in the Turkish parliament. The prime minister can suggest to the president which ministers to dismiss from office and is also the person in charge of supervising the implementation of government policy, along with the Council of Ministers.
Notable Turkish Prime Ministers
İsmet İnönü
İsmet İnönü (1884-1973) was the longest serving prime minister in the history of Turkey, and the first person to serve as prime minister upon Turkey being officially declared a republic. He also served as the country's second president from 1938 until 1950 and as a general of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Repulbic. İnönü served as prime minister of Turkey on three separate occasions from November 1923 to November 1924, March 1925 to October 1937 and finally from November 1961 until February 1965. He was prime minister for a grand total of 16 years and 318 days, has the longest stretch as prime minister in Turkey's history at 12 years and 205 days and also formed 10 different cabinets in his time as prime minister. During his first short term as prime minister İnönü worked to keep in place the system for the new government that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) had put in place and to maintain peace. During his second 12 year term as prime minister he sent much of his time attempting to manage the economy by using a lot of government intervention following the 1929 economic crisis that caused the worldwide Great Depression. His plan resulted in the government taking control of much of the country's private property and the effects of this still linger as the majority of the land in Turkey is owned by the state. His last stint as prime minister was winning the 1961 election that was held after the 1960 military coup-d'etat and he had to form coalition governments until the 1965 election, which he lost.
Adnan Menderes
Adnan Menderes (1899-1961) was the second longest serving prime minister in the history of Turkey. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party, which broke through in the second free elections in Turkey in 1950 defeating the ruling Republican people's Party, which had been in power since the Republic of Turkey was founded. This was the first time in Turkey that there was a peaceful transfer of power in a free election between parties and Menderes became Prime Minister. Menderes served his time as prime minister in one 11 year, 167 day stretch in which he formed three different cabinets. During his time as prime minister the country experienced unprecedented economic growth, was admitted to NATO and experienced progress and growth in several key areas, such as education, health care, and education. His government was also blamed for arranging the 1955 Istanbul Pogrom in which thousands of properties belonging to Greeks in the Istanbul were destroyed and some Greeks were killed in order to punish them due to false rumors that the Greeks had attacked Mustafa Kemal's house in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. On May 27th, 1960, a military coup deposed the government and Menderes and other leading party members of the Democrat Party were arrested. They were charged with violating the Turkish constitution, ordering the Istanbul Pogrom and embezzling money. He and the other leaders were put on trail by a military court and Menderes was sentenced to death for his alleged crimes. Despite international outcry, Menderes was executed on September 17th, 1961.
Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel (1924-2015) was the third longest serving prime minister in the history of Turkey. Demirel served his time as prime minister in five different stretches. He also served as the ninth president of Turkey from 1993 until 2000. He was prime minister from October 1965 to March 1971, March 1975 to June 1977, July 1977 to January 1978, November 1979 to September 1980 and finally from November 1991 until May 1993. He formed seven different cabinets in his time as prime minister. During his first stint as prime minister Demirel led economic reforms to established inflation but the 1971 coup d'état ended his first run as prime minister. During his second and third stints as prime minister he formed a four party coalition government and a three party coalition government, but both of these ended up collapsing. The fourth time he was prime minister his minority government could not elect a president, which lead to the 1980 coup d'état and Demirel be banned from politics. During the 1987 constitutional referendum Demirel retained the right to participate in politics and by 1991 he became prime minister again in a coalition government and following the sudden death of President Turgut Öza (1927-93) he became President of Turkey, while leaving his job as prime minister.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the fourth longest serving prime minister in the history of Turkey, and has been the President of the country since August 28th, 2014. Erdoğan became prime minister in 2003 and held the office for 11 years and 167 days in a row, the second longest uninterruppted term as prime minister in the history of Turkey. During his time as prime minister he formed three different cabinets. During his time as prime minister Erdoğan worked to farther negotiations for Turkey's membership to the European Union, helped the country recover from the 2001 economic crash, oversaw the constitutional referendums and invested in the country's infrastructure. His time as prime minister was also controversial for his supposed Neo-Ottoman foreign policy, his ability to curb the military's political power, reforms that allegedly threatened judicial independence and his police crackdown in 2013 on protesters that argue that his is a dictator and an authoritarian.
|Prime Ministers of the Republic of Turkey
|Term(s) in Office
|İsmet İnönü
|1923-1924; 1925-1937; 1961-1965
|Fethi Okyar
|Celâl Bayar
|Refik Saydam
|Şükrü Saracoğlu
|Recep Peker
|Hasan Saka
|Şemsettin Günaltay
|Adnan Menderes
|Cemal Gürsel
|Suat Hayri Ürgüplü
|Süleyman Demirel
|1965-1971; 1975-1977; 1977-1978; 1979-1980; 1991-1993
|Nihat Erim
|Ferit Melen
|Naim Talu
|Bülent Ecevit
|1974; 1977; 1978-1979; 1999-2002
|Sadi Irmak
|Bülend Ulusu
|Turgut Özal
|Yıldırım Akbulut
|Mesut Yılmaz
|1991; 1996; 1997-1999
|Tansu Çiller
|Necmettin Erbakan
|Abdullah Gül
|Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
|Ahmet Davutoğlu
|Binali Yıldırım (Incumbent)
On WorldAtlas.com


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As a continuation of my "Going Back to basics" series, anyone who has studied leadership before knows the importance of excellent communication and people skills.
The more I studied leadership over time, the more I realized that I needed to spend just as much time reading the top 5 team books as I did learning specific business principles, and applying those principles on a regular basis. Its been said so many times before by so many great leaders- practices are many, principles are few, practices always Change, principles never do.
My "back to basics" series will help bring to the forefront of your mind, those principles that will bring positive change into your business and personal relationships. As you go thru them, see how many of these principles you truly apply on a daily basis. Please read the book! Until then, here are some summary points I have listed from Dale Carnegie's timeless book, "How to win friends and influence people".
How to win friends and influence people summary:
On handling people
Principal #1 Don't criticize, condemn or complain
Principal #2 Give honest and sincere appreciation
Principal #3 Arouse in the other person an eager want
Six ways to make people like you
Principal #1 Become genuinely interested in other people
Principal #2 SMILE!
Principal #3 Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language
Principal #4 Be a good listener
Principal #5 Talk in terms of the other person's interest
Principal #6 Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely
How to Win people to your way of thinking
Principle #1 The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it
Principle #2 Show respect for the other persons opinion. Never say "you're wrong"
Principle #3 If your are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically
Principal #4 Begin in a Friendly way
Principal #5 Get the other person saying yes yes immediately
Principal #6 Let the other person do a great deal of the talking
Principal #7 Let the other person feel that the idea was his or hers
Principal #8 Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view
Principal#9 Be empathetic with the other person's ideas and desires
Principal #10 Appeal to the nobler motives
Principal #11 Dramatize your ideas
Principal #12 Throw Down a challenge
Be a leader: How to change people without giving offense or arousing resentment
Principal #1 Begin with praise and honest appreciation
Principal #2 Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly
Principal #3 Talk about your own mistakes Before criticizing the other person
Principal #4 Ask questions instead of giving direct orders
Principal #5 Let the other person save face
Principal #6 Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise
Principal #7 Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to
Principal #8 Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct
Principal #9 Make the other person happy about doing the things you suggest


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Today is letter "B".
3. Bike ride.
4. Bowling.
5. Bean Bag games.( I gained the idea from a catering job we did for a graduate)
Drill 3 holes into a top board (21 3/4"x36").
Build the frame with 2x4's (3 @ 18 3/4", 2 @ 36"). I used my brad nail gun and wood glue.
Put the top board on.
Cut 2 leg pieces(11" long). I did a slit angle cut (15 degrees) so it would sit better in the grass.
Painted with stripes.
I used these bolts(about 4" long).
Drill (13/32 bit) into the side and leg.
Attach the leg with the bolt and a washer in between.Game directions: Place the 2 Toss Boards away from each other(you choose the distance) and let people line up on each side. Taking turns they throw the bean bags to the opposite toss board. If it lands anywhere on the board its 1 POINT, in the holes are marked with the point value. The bean bags just go back and forth.
6. Bubble gum Blowing contest.
Getting Ready.
1 piece of Bubble Gum
5 pieces of Bubble Gum
(I think it could have gone bigger but I had to hurry & take it- 4th try)7. Blow Bubbles.
8. Make Butter.
Gather a 2.5 oz. baby food jar. Fill 1/2 way with heavy cream, 1/8 tsp. salt
& 2 small marbles or 1 large marble.
Shake . . . . Shake & Shake some more (about 5-10 minutes).
Almost there.
A little more then you can take the remaining liquid out and use the butter.
YUM!9. Block Building.
10. We did the best Service Project today: painting Beads for Ben's Bells. Its a nonprofit organization wanting to spread the message to "Be Kind".
Pin It Pin It


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Thursday, May 02, 2013
2 comments:
Beautiful. When the kids were little we went to a zoo where the wolves had a wood. They never appeared for anyone to see, didn't even howl. I was strangely glad yet sad they were there at all. We went to San Diego zoo as well and they were in a little cage pacing back and forth in a state close to madness, as if they knew we were British and felt like that too. It broke my heart. Love wolves - thanks Mick.
I've raised chickens free range on my rural upstate New York farm, where we've continually lost birds to coyotes and foxes. It doesn't matter in the balance. We are homesteaders with zero commercial focus. We've a few wolves about as well due to our neighboring 600 acres state game lands where the authorities release many species of predators (while denying their existence and affiliation with). I've seen pictures posted locally of mountain lions and heard several reports of black panthers. The bears are more plentiful than habitat supports as well. Raising honey bees (under risk of extinction) is reported to be increasingly difficult per the bears destroying hives. The deer population is extremely dense and more are killed by autos than hunters. There's no shortage of wild game here, just a shortage of hunters. The greatest frequency of "evil" is likely the continued purchase of commercially raised chicken in grocery stores. The poor birds are raised under the cruelest conditions, to secure cheap prices. Zoos and commercial farming speak to the core of mankind as a futile and unnecessary race. I hope to see the day when cities collapse around the globe. Then there will be wolves.
Raymond J Raupers Jr
aka Woodchuck Pirate USA


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Five things you did not hear the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee say in the budget speech.
Vivek Kaul[1] and Nupur Pavan Bang[2]
"Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital," said Aaron Levenstein, an American professor of business management. And not Navjot Singh Sidhu as we Indians tend to believe. The annual budget of the government of India is also like a bikini. A lot it is revealed about it through the budget speech made by the Finance Minister, but the vital aspects lay hidden in the budget document. Here are five things you did not hear the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee say in the budget speech he made a few weeks back.
1. The government of India in the financial year 2011-2012 (i.e. the period between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012) spent 65% more than what it earned:
That the government spends more than it earns, we all know. This difference, known as the fiscal deficit, is expressed as percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP). For the financial year 2011-2012, the fiscal deficit of the government of India stood at 5.9 per cent of GDP. But this number somehow does not convey the grimness of the scenario that the government of India is in.
The expenditure for the year 2011-2012 has been estimated to be at Rs 1,318,720 crore (Rs 13,187.2 billion). In comparison the government's income for the year is at Rs 7,96,740 crore (Rs 7,967.4 billion). This works out to a difference or fiscal deficit of Rs 5,21,980 crore (Rs 5,219.8 billion). Hence in simple English the government spends 65.5 per cent more than what it earns.
When we compare the situation in this way we come to realize that the government is spending much more than what it earns. If you or me were to do that we would be in trouble pretty soon. The government as we shall see has a longer lifeline.
2. The fiscal deficit of the government of India has gone up by more than 300% in the last five years:
For the financial year 2007-2008 (i.e. the period between April 1,2007 and March 31, 2008) the fiscal deficit stood at Rs 1,26,912 crore (Rs 1269.12 billion), against Rs 5,21,980 crore (Rs 5,219.80 billion) for the financial year 2011-2012. Now what does that tell you? In a time frame of five years the fiscal deficit has shot up by nearly 312 per cent.
During the same period the income earned by the government has gone up by only 36 per cent to Rs 7,96,740 crore (Rs 7,967.4 billion).
When expenditure is expanding nearly 9 times as fast as your income, it can't be a good thing. No wonder, the finance minister gave that piece of information a miss.
3. The fiscal deficit target for the financial year 2012-2013 (i.e. the period between April 1, 2012 and March 31,2013) is likely to be missed:
When the finance Pranab Mukherjee gave his budget speech in February last year, he had set the fiscal deficit target for the financial year 2011-2012, at 4.6 per cent of GDP. He missed his target by a huge margin when the real number came in at 5.9 per cent of GDP. The major reason for this was the fact that Mukherjee had underestimated the level of subsidies that the government would have to bear.
He had estimated the subsidies at Rs 1,43,750 crore (Rs 1,437.5 billion) but they ended up costing the government 50.5 per cent more at Rs 2,16,297 crore (Rs 2,162.97 billion). The finance minister had underestimating the subsidy level of the three main categories of food, fertilizer as well as oil.
This has been the case in the past as well. In 2010-2011 (i.e. the period between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011) he had estimated the oil subsidies to be at Rs 3,108 crore (Rs 31.8 billion). They finally came in 20 times higher at Rs 62,301 crore (Rs 623.01 billion). Same was the case in the year 2009-2010 (i.e. the period between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010). The estimate was Rs 3,109 crore (Rs 31.09 billion). The real bill came in nearly eight times higher at Rs 25,257 crore (Rs 252.57 billion) (direct subsidies + oil bonds issued to the oil companies).
Similar underestimates have been made for the financial year 2012-2013, to project a fiscal deficit of 5.1 per cent of GDP. The total subsidies bill has been estimated to be at Rs 1,90,015 crore (Rs 1,900.15 billion) a good 12 per cent lower than the subsidy bill for the year 2011-2012.
The government has constantly underestimated the cost of subsidies and there is no reason to believe that it would not be the same for this year as well. Oil prices are unlikely to go down, and inflation is also not seen slowing down. Hence it is most likely that the government will miss its fiscal deficit target for this year as well. The only way to cut this bill is to cut the level of subsidies, and that is unlikely to happen. As a known stock bull said on TV the other day, even Saudi Arabia doesn't sell kerosene at the price at which we do. And that is why a lot of kerosene gets smuggled into neighboring countries and is used to adulterate diesel and petrol.
4. The government is in a huge debt trap:
The fiscal deficit target for the financial year 2012-2013 has been set at Rs 5,13,590 crore (Rs 5,135.9 billion). The government raises this money from the financial system by issuing bonds which pay interest and mature at various points of time. Of this amount that the government will raise, it will spend Rs 3,19,759 crore (Rs 3,197.59 billion) to pay interest on the debt that it already has. Rs 1,24,302 crore (Rs 1,243.02 billion) will be spent to payback the debt that was raised in the previous years and matures during the course of the year 2012-2013.
Hence a total of Rs 4,44,061 crore (Rs 4,440.61 billion) or a whopping 86.5 per cent of the fiscal deficit will be spent in paying interest on and paying off previously issued debt. What this means is that new debt is being issued to pay off old debt and pay interest on it.
The situation is similar to that of an individual who takes new loans to pay off older loans or rotates credit card debt across his various credit cards. The government can keep doing this for a long period of time because in the worst possible scenario it can print money and repay the debts that have accumulated and in the process reduce the value of the domestic currency. This is what many governments in the developed world are doing right now. You and I can't do this and ultimately will fall prey to debt collectors or will end up behind bars!
5. Interest rates will continue to be high:
As explained above the government finances its fiscal deficit by issuing bonds on which it pays interest. Who buys these bonds? These bonds are primarily bought by banks which by law need to invest 24 per cent of their deposits in such bonds. At the same time the government is also competing with private companies and you and I for this money. The banks have the option of lending their deposits to companies and also give it out to individuals in the form of car loans, home loans, credit cards, personal loans etc. Hence the government has to offer a higher rate of interest on its bonds. Given this, the rate of interest charged by banks on all other forms of loans goes up because they are more risky than lending to the government. Hence if the government is offering a rate of interest of 8 per cent on its bonds, then the banks are likely to charge more on all other forms of loans that they make. So the next time the finance minister talks about the interest rates going down, be skeptical. The interest rates cannot go down as long as the fiscal deficit doesn't go down and that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon.
The article was originally published in www.rediff.com on April 10th, 2012
[1] Vivek Kaul is a writer and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
[2] Nupur Pavan Bang is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Investment, Indian School of Business and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Above the Retreat Hotel on Sydney Road lies new bar Amelia Shaw. Spread over four rooms, the haven-like bar and salon is bringing a bit of polish to Brunswick. Owners Clint Fisher and Kathleen Clarke are behind the venture, named in honour of the pub's first licensee back in 1842.
Amelia Shaw is part of the new wave of Brunswick venues like Albert St Food & Wine starting to raise the bar in terms of quality design. Fisher and Clarke commissioned designer Danielle Brustman to do the interiors, giving her free rein. Recently returned from New York, Brustman drew on her visits to Harlem jazz haunts and her experiences as a set and interior designer to create a space that proves fun, idiosyncratic and theatrical.
On entry, you'll be welcomed by an image of Louise Brooks, a 60s Japanese hotel chandelier and the unusual and rare mid-century art deco cane furnishings. It's an eclectic mix that somehow works and is continued throughout the other rooms. The main bar takes its cues from West Coast deco with some intriguing constructivist and contemporary twists, not to mention a hand-painted geometric mural.
The cocktail menu is straight out of Palm Springs in the 60s, keeping in theme with the interior's salubrious and airy nonchalance. There's an Australian twist in both name and product, with Tasi Tasmanian Bush Liquor used in the 'Banjo Patterson', and there's also a 'Kir Rosella' (a twist on the Kir Royale).
There's certainly a lot to take in at Amelia Shaw. One room features both a round pool table and a pink trestle washbasin, both of which somehow work together. In fact, that's the general feeling around Amelia Shaw. A cocktail bar in Brunswick? A round pool table? Somehow these things shouldn't work, but at Amelia Shaw they come together beautifully.
Amelia Shaw
Level 1, 280 Sydney Road, Brunswick
0412 907 847
Thu 6pm–1am
Fri & Sat 6pm–3am
Sun 6pm–1am


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CupCake Pincushions are now available as a cute little PDF printable pattern booklet! This is the third pattern in "A Scrap Basket Project" PDF Series. This series is a collection of super easy projects for quilters and crafters of all skill levels, and are designed to use those small pieces of fabric.
You can find this pattern along with Pumpkin Coasters & Bird Ornaments in my SHOP.


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ENARADA, Bengaluru, July 9, 2016
India's ace sprinter Dutee Chand is confident of winning medals at the Rio Olympics which is slated to begin from August 5. Dutee, who is the first Indian woman to make it to Olympics in a 100 metres race in 36 years was in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference, Dutee said she was very much confident of winning a medal in the 100 metre category. In fact, Dutee's story is of a girl hailing from poor family, finding difficult to meet her ends meet and how she finally made it to the Olympics.
Dutee is the second Indian women ever to qualify for the women 100m event at the Summer Olympic Games, with legendary sprinter PT Usha last making it in 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Dutee was born on 3rd February 1996 to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand in Gopalpur, in Jajpur district of Odisha. She is one of four daughters born to the poor weaver couple. Her source of inspiration comes from her elder sister Saraswati Chand, herself an acclaimed athlete. In 2013, Dutee enrolled in KIIT University to pursue law.
Dutee expressed her happiness and thanked Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS, Bhubaneswar for supporting her to achieve this major milestone. "I feel deeply proud on being supported by the Founder of KIIT & KISS. Dr. Achyuta Samanta sir is like living God to me. Due to his strong support and encouragement, I got a golden opportunity to qualify in Rio Olympics 2016. Samanta sir is also like my father as he has been supporting me mentally, financially and in other ways like a daughter. He supported me unconditionally at a time when I was unknown. By his effort I got the chance to pursue my education in Law in KIIT University and could reach this position. I got my first medal in the 200m event at the Asian Championships in Pune in 2012-13 for our beloved Dr Samanta. I neither had proper shoes to run in this race, not money to buy immediately from market. When I called Dr Samanta from Pune to tell him about my problems, he immediately sent Rs 25,000 in my bank account. I could buy a good pair of shoes and won the first medal of my life. I have no words to thank to this respected person", the ace sprinter said.
Dutee also thanked Sports Department of KIIT University and its Director Dr. Gaganendu Dash, who helps and guides her in technical aspects.
Dutee Chand, in 2012, became a national champion in the under-18 category when she clocked 11.8 seconds in the 100m event. Clocking 23.811 seconds, Dutee won the bronze in the 200m event at the Asian Championships in Pune. That season also saw her become the first Indian to reach the final of a global athletics 100m final, when she reached the final in the 2013 World Youth Championships.
In the same year, she became the national champion in 100m and 200m when she won the events clocking 11.73 s in the final in 100m and a career-best 23.73 s in 200m at the National Senior Athletics Championships in Ranchi. Dutee clocked 11.33 sec in women's 100m dash to win the gold and erase Rachita Mistry's 16-year-old earlier national record of 11.38 sec in the 2016 Federation Cup National Athletics Championships in New Delhi. However, she missed the Rio Olympics qualification norm of 11.32 sec by one-hundredth of a second. Dutee qualified for Rio Olympics after she clocked 11.30 sec in the heats also broke her own National Record. In the final, she stepped ahead with another record, finishing 100m in 10:24 sec.
Unfortunately, Dutee was dropped from the Commonwealth Games contingent at the last minute after the Athletic Federation of India stated that hyperandrogenism made her ineligible to compete as a female athlete. The government is trying to explore CAS option in Dutee's case. There has been no suggestion that she has been involved in cheating or doping — the decision was made in compliance with International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations on "female hyperandrogenism" designed to address a perceived advantage for female athletes with high androgen levels. The decision has been condemned by Australian intersex advocates. The Athletic Federation of India and IAAF's actions were widely criticized as an affront to Chand's privacy and human rights.
Dutee Chand expressing her confidence at a press meet in Bengaluru. Photo by www.enarada.com
In July 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a decision to suspend the hyperandrogenism regulation for female track and field sports for two years, stating that insufficient evidence had been produced to indicate that there is any link between enhanced androgen levels and improved athletic performance. The court allowed two further years for convincing evidence to be submitted by the IAAF, after which the regulation will be automatically revoked if evidence has not been provided. This effectively removes the suspension of Dutee from competition, clearing her to race again.
On Dutee's achievement, Dr. Samanta in a televised interview said, "It is a matter of pride and great happiness to see her triumphant. It is my pleasure to promote talent from any field coming to my knowledge. When I met her for the first time, my sixth sense indicated that she will become a celebrity and win Olympics. I have been advocating and supporting her throughout her thick and thins. Today, my dream has come true and I am really proud of Dutee".


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Foundation making huge impact
Has awarded 119 grants totaling nearly $168K to EASD programs
Over the past several years, school administrators across the country have had to scramble to deal with an ever-shrinking revenue stream.
However, the Ephrata Area School District has one ray of light trying to provide help — the Ephrata Area Education Foundation.
Ann Marie Haus has served as the group's executive director since 2016. She recently explained the vital role the Foundation plays in helping EASD educate local students and answered questioned from the Ephrata Review regarding the Foundation.
Haus said the Ephrata Area Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
"The mission is to provide new innovative ideas or programs that ignites the hearts and minds of students," she said. "Founded in 2004, the Ephrata Area Education Foundation was created to provide opportunities for teachers to enhance educational experiences in their classroom by pursuing programs beyond the standard curriculum. We also continue to try and improve already effective programs in ways that engage and excite learners."
Haus said the cumulative effect of these investments is to provide innovative approaches to learning, which has helped Ephrata students earn recognition within and beyond the local region."
Over the last 12 years, the Foundation has funded more than 100 Venture Grants, totaling over $160,000 to teachers, staff, and administration to support innovative programs beyond the standard curriculum.
In addition, this year, the Foundation has named the following as Signature Programs: Coding Contest, Corny Days, P2P Program, the Susan Byrnes Field Trip, Quiz Bowl, and Vex Robotics Club. Signature programs are annually funded by the Foundation and have a commitment totaling $35,000 per year.
The Foundation also sponsors Venture Grants.
"Venture Grants are awarded to individual teachers, groups of teachers, departments, and other professional employees to fund projects designed to enhance and expand educational experiences and opportunities for the students in the Ephrata Area School District," said Haus. "All proposals must promote one or more of the Foundation's current initiatives, such as expanding innovative learning opportunities, advancing technology, supporting early childhood, ie, K-4 education, etc."
Haus addressed how the Foundation seeks to award its Venture grants.
"Although seeking to make delivery of the current curriculum more effective or more efficient is a laudable goal, such proposals generally do not rank as high as 'curriculum ventures' that are new and uniquely innovative," said Haus. "Grants, which have the potential to impact a significant number of students or a smaller, but underserved, population also tend to rank higher."
Haus said sustainability beyond the "seed money" provided by the grant is also a factor, although several one-time experiences have been funded over the years.
One change the Foundation implemented to the Venture Grant program for the 2017-18 school year was to create three separate grant categories each with its own application criteria, evaluation rubric, and an allotted percentage of available funds.
- Educational Innovation Grants are new and uniquely innovative projects.
- Proven in Practice Grants were innovative grants from prior years that the school district leadership sees as worthy, proven programs, but district funds are not available to be added into the budget.
- Expert in Residence Grants cover expenses related to bringing authors, artists, and other experts into a school to work with students and teachers.
"For the 2017-18 school year, the Foundation recently approved funding 21 Venture Grants totaling $52,595," noted Haus. "Over the last 12 years, the Foundation has funded more than 125 Venture Grants to teachers, staff, and administration to support innovative programs beyond the standard curriculum in the Ephrata Area School District."
As if the efforts of Foundation Venture Grants were not already producing significant results, Foundation Signature Programs are Foundation-sponsored programs which generate huge student interest and enthusiasm from which emanates proportional success. Haus highlighted some of the biggest of those programs.
The second annual Coding Contest was held in March.
"The Coding Contest provides students with the opportunity to collaborate and program while they learn the skills they will need in this rapidly changing technologically-driven world," explained Haus. "The basic skills of computer science help to nurture creativity and problem-solving skills and prepare students for their future career."
Corny Days: The Outdoor Learning Center was designed to offer a hands-on educational experience for students. This initiative, in collaboration with the Ephrata community, helps prepare students for successful careers in agriculture, science, food, and natural resource systems.
P2P Program: Over 85 percent of a child's communication, critical thinking, and problem solving skills are developed by the age of five. A joint project of the district and the Foundation, the P2P Academy offers free tools to help teach kindergarten readiness skills and to prepare preschoolers to succeed in school and beyond.
High School Quiz Bowl: Quiz Bowl is a fast-paced game that tests players' knowledge on a wide variety of academic subjects. In a fun and welcoming environment, students form lasting friendships, have a great time, and learn even more than they are already doing in their classrooms.
Susan Byrnes Field Trip: All third grade students learn about food groups and the way nutrients help them maintain healthy bodies. In addition, they study germs, both the good ones and the bad, and the ways germs multiply and spread.
VEX Robotics Club: VEX Robotics requires teams of students to design and build a robot and compete in a game-based engineering challenge. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts are put to the test as students learn lifelong skills in teamwork, leadership, communication, and more.
"For the 2017-18 school year, the Middle School Quiz Bowl team will also be a Signature Program of the Foundation," added Haus. "We look forward to supporting both teams and wish them both great success."
But where does all that money come from? It comes from a local community coming together to support the Foundation's effort and mission to education local children.
On Saturday, Feb. 25, more than 280 guests attended the Foundation's third annual Purple and Gold Gala at the Lancaster Country Club to support the foundation's efforts. The event raised an impressive $60,000.
At the event, Superintendent Dr. Brian Troop spoke about how fortunate the district is to have the support of a great community and a strong Foundation to help the district reach its goals.
"Continuing to improve already effective programs in ways that engage and excite our learners is not easy work and often requires additional funding," Troop told those attending the Gala. "Through the thoughtful leadership of the Foundation board over the years, the Foundation has been able to leverage even the smallest contribution into an idea or program that ignites the hearts and minds of our students."
Gala Committee Co-Chairman Dr. William Funk spoke about the Impact of Investment and the opportunities that are provided because of the financial support of donors.
"The most moving aspect of this entire process is working toward enhancing the educational experiences of children throughout the Ephrata Area School District," said Funk. "The Foundation has been able to impact these children because of your continued support."
In order to achieve such a huge body of work each year, the Foundation sets high expectations on its executive director.
"I actively seek ways to grow all aspects of the Foundation: program allocation, financial, marketing, fundraising, etc.," said Haus. "I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Foundation, which includes supporting all board members in the accomplishment of the Foundation mission."
While it may often seem as though the Foundation works silently, even seamlessly, with EASD behind the scenes to create a quality educational experience for all local students. That effort comes thanks to a dedicated board of directors, including: Dean Hoover, president; Connie Kirby, vice president; Aaron Groff, treasurer; Haus, secretary; executive director; Funk; Dr. Jacy Clugston Hess; Phillip Hess; Sarah McBee; John Porter; Kristee Reichard; Gil Sager; Larry Sollenberger; Mark Thompson; Troop; Chris Weber; and Carrie Willetts.
In addition there are the volunteers that help to make things happen beginning with the Gala Committee comprised of board members, retired teachers, parents, and community members. They include: Michele Storb, Stephanie Weber, Pat Orwig, Rebecca Gallagher, Randy Goshert, Joan Adams, Kerry Pepper, Donna Schlinkman, Darlene Graham, Michele Newswanger, Ashley Scheirer, and Stephanie Frymyer.
"The second greatest need of the Foundation is volunteers, committee members, potential board members," said Haus. "We are growing and we want to continue to grow. We will need the support of new volunteers, committee members, and board members to reach new possibilities. Whichever way you choose to help, support is welcomed."
Looking to the future, the Foundation is looking to start connecting with EASD alumni.
"Once students graduate from EASD there is no reconnection with them," noted Haus. "We hope to grow an alumni base to help with alumni reunions, and also support of the Ephrata Area Education Foundation."
With an active Facebook page, facebookcom/EASDEF and active Twitter account twitter.com/EphrataAreaEF, that should make the effort to connect with alumni, volunteers, donors and the community much easier.
For information on the Foundation, visit ephrataeducationFoundation.org.
Gary P. Klinger is a freelance correspondent in his 11th year welcoming your comment and questions via email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Ted Stehman says:
Doreen says:


text: Break out the baby wipes! Terrence Howard is planning to release his debut album, Terrence Howard – Me and the Band of Kings, on September 2. According to People one of the tracks, "Sanctuary," was inspired by "a coincidental meeting with Seal and Heidi Klum at a Hollywood party." Um…okay. • Lance Armstrong played coy when questioned about new gf Kate Hudson on The View. Yawn! • Aw, TMZ caught Jezebel fave Judge Judy bossing her husband around. WWJJD indeed. [People, Us, TMZ]


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Perfect for: A quick lunch with a friend, but why not go elsewhere in Chinatown?
Price range: $ Cheap
My rating: 5/10
Food: 4/10 Service: 7/10 Ambience: 5/10
It's very rare to find a Chinese joint that has better service than food. You'd bet that it's definitely a fairly inauthentic Chinese restaurant if that's the case (ahem, Chinese fusion restaurants, I'm looking at you). After all the things I heard about the soup dumplings / xiao long bao at Joe's Shanghai, was disappointed to find that this is exactly a restaurant that offers better service than food.
I consider myself well-versed in the soup dumpling world, having not only consumed hundreds of dollars worth when I lived near the Chinatown area of Sydney, more specifically, I was within 5 walking minutes of a Ding Tai Fung. Joe's Shanghai's xiao long baos do not compare, not even close.
I ordered one set (8) of the crab and pork xiao long bao - highly hyped, surely can't go wrong. Soon after my order, the waiter diligently brought out the tea pot and the vinegar & soy dipping sauce (this is excellent service for a Chinese restaurant). And my tray of soup dumplings came out within five minutes of that.
The recount of the story, soup dumpling by soup dumpling:
1. My first dumpling was disappointing to say the least. The dough was too tough and thick, the soup had far too much gelatin in it, and the flavour of the filling was overwhelmingly shrimpy - not even the crab and pork flavour I was expecting.
2. The second dumpling got worse. At this point, the soup in the dumpling was now overpowering and tasted like I was slurping liquid fat, and not even the good kind.
3-4. The third and fourth dumplings were only memories of me trying to drown the dumplings in the vinegar & soy concoction.
5-6. The fifth and six dumplings are what I would call "the point of no return" where I felt committed to finishing these bad boys (bad, being the keyword here). I don't even know why I was so committed.
7-8. The seventh and eighth dumplings: when I saw the light. I gave up. This completely wasn't worth it. There are far better calories to be consumed elsewhere in Chinatown (which is exactly what I did).
All eight torturous soup dumplings came to $10 including tax and tip. You know what I can get for $10 in Chinatown? A lot of good Chinese food, that is not from Joe's Shanghai. You can get a duck sesame pancake from Vanessa's ($2.50), 8 pork and chive fried dumplings from Prosperity Dumpling ($2), a plate of steaming peanut sauce noodles from Shu Jiao Fu Zhou ($2), a takeaway container of steamed ho fun from a hole in the wall joint on Henry and Market ($1.75), and a piece of freshly made beef jerky from Malaysia Beef Jerky ($1) and you still have $0.75 for a rainy day. That's what I call a proper Chinatown experience.
My key learning from this experience: don't buy into the hype - it's not worth the dollars and the calories.


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One of the foundations of an attractive smile is bright, white teeth.
So what happens when your pearly whites aren't so pearly white anymore?
Just as we all have different hair and skin colour, people have different tooth colour. Some teeth are more yellow than others, while others yellow with aging. Your natural tooth colour can also be affected by other factors, such as certain foods, tea, coffee, wines, and over time teeth can loose their brilliance.
Tooth Whitening is a very popular procedure. Most people will whiten their teeth for a special occasion, like a wedding or job interview. It can be an aid to quit smoking, by not wanting to have tobacco staining on your new white teeth. Also, whitening your teeth is like wearing a great outfit, it makes you feel good about yourself.
Now with the arrival of new tooth whitening technology, even the stubbornest teeth can be whitened safely and quickly. This is done at home or in the surgery and can be maintained by doing touch up treatments as needed. Whitening can also help prevent the development of further staining.
How is it done?
There are two options we provide to whiten your teeth.
At Home
The first is quite simple, we take a mould of your teeth and this mould is then used to fabricate a thin tray that fits precisely over the teeth. The material used is a thin flexible plastic so the tray is comfortable to wear. Once the tray is fitted to your teeth we supply you with bleaching gel to use at home for an hour a day. The bleach is placed in the trays and the teeth are whitened. Results are usually seen within the first week. Maximum results occur over the next 14-21 days. Following this period, we like to check the progress of the treatment.
In Office
The second is the Phillips ZOOM in-office whitening procedure, which requires approximately 1½ hours. This procedure is performed in the practice using a powerful UV light to activate a specially formulated and fast acting whitening gel. It may be possible to whiten as much as eight shades with the ZOOM technique.
For optimum whitening results, both options can be used in combination.
Are there any side effects?
Some people may experience tooth sensitivity during whitening treatments.
Others have reported some discomfort in the gums. These symptoms will usually disappear within 1-3 days after completing the treatment.
Pre-existing tooth-coloured fillings in the front teeth will not change colour. They may need to be replaced. Crowns, veneers and porcelain fillings will not whiten.
After Care
Post whitening care is also very important. You do have to take care with foods and drinks you consume for at least 36-48 hours post whitening. Immediately after whitening the tooth enamel is more susceptible to staining. Here is a handy rule to remember; whatever stains white clothing is a bad idea. Foods like berries, pasta sauces, gravy, soy sauce and tomato sauce are stain-causing and should be avoided. Obviously coffee, tea and red wine would also fit in this category.
Whitening your teeth is a safe procedure that will give dramatic results. A dental examination is required before treatment begins, as proper diagnosis is vital to determine how effective bleaching will be in treating your condition. It is also important to have the process professionally performed to ensure the quality, effectiveness and safety of the treatment.


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Thursday, February 19, 2009
MTV You're An Utter Tease
Freaking out, excited that it was casting related or some early released promo photo done by the studio, it turns out that it was this.
So this ladies and gents is the Official title art. Which I might add, aired on Entertainment Tonight hours ago.
Sorry you lose MTV.
I will say this. I'm not sure how I feel about adding in the whole 'the Twilight saga' thing. We obviously know which book saga its from. I DO like the color though.
In other Twilight news today, OK Magazine released an article on upcoming things to look forward to in New Moon as its slated to begin production in March. Which I'm starting to seriously doubt because apparently the script isn't finished which confirms my biggest fear that this movie will be rushed for the sake of keeping the teenie boppers happy.
Apparently Rob Pattinson WON'T be singing in this movie/soundtrack * tears her heart out *
Does he not understand how many times I listen to 'Let Me Sign' and 'Never Think' on repeat? Please RPatz. Your perfectly dark and painfilled voice in 'Let Me Sign' honestly still gives me shivers.
Also would someone PLEASE tell us if Dakota Fanning has signed on or not? She's always 'blah blah blah I'd love to play Jane!' or 'Yay Twilight.... Oh no, I haven't ACTUALLY read the books'
A. definite. answer. please. And if it's no? Tell me WHO will play Jane. And Aro too while you are at it.
I end this post with a very quick but hallarious recap of New Moon - in case its been awhile since you read it. sorry its tiny - its as big as blogspot will let me make it :(
8 comments:
- Shortland said...
That recap was EPIC!
- February 20, 2009 at 3:22 PM
- Ashley said...
Hahaha, I bet the reason they added "Twilight Saga" into the title was so the people who didn't bother to read the books and instead went to see the little talking pictures would understand that yes, Twilight is a series.
- February 21, 2009 at 4:04 AM
- Ashley said...
Oh, and I care about werewolves!! So take that, Edward. Jacob was a good friend, and so loyal! And super hawt!
- February 21, 2009 at 4:06 AM
- JoJo said...
the absense of edward in new moon made me appreciate him so much more :P.. I wonder what they will do in the movie. I'm sure they want him in it as much as possible..
- February 21, 2009 at 1:16 PM
I am reading this article second time today, you have to be more careful with content leakers. If I will fount it again I will send you a link
- February 19, 2010 at 9:27 PM
Your New Moon recap FTW!
- June 30, 2010 at 7:43 AM
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- August 6, 2014 at 12:21 PM


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Once again this year, our teachers are participating in the Professional Development program at Teachers College, the graduate school of education at Columbia University. A workshop entitled "A Day for Families: Supporting a Child's Literacy Development Takes All of Us" was held in October, and in addition to our teachers, a limited number of parents were invited to attend. Second grade parent Alison Yi kindly shares her notes.
This was a wonderful opportunity. It was great to be able to spend half a day thinking about how to support your child's development of literacy skills.
I attended three sessions, all structured around important themes but also full of practical advice. The first session began with establishing structure to a narrative and then techniques for elaboration and development of the story. I was intrigued by suggestions on using acting, drama, sensory details, timelines, internal feelings and thoughts to deepen and bring meaning to a story. As a mother of a 7-year-old boy, I'm on the lookout for anything that will help him to give voice to his internal feelings and empathy for other's experiences.
In the second session, we were presented with many useful ways to support early reading and writing. Sign-making, card-making, list-making, note-taking, letters, games and story telling … a long list. Some games like "Taboo" (a favorite in our family) were recommended for deepening vocabulary and mapping word relationships to concepts.
The third and final session dealt with enriching the reading experience itself to encourage growth and understanding in the developing reader. It covered everything from the what, when and how of the child's reading to the bigger themes of how the child can use reading material to develop the ability to debate and think critically. At all levels of reading ability, asking the same questions of a reader leads to viewing material through many different lenses as they grow. It made me realize how parents and the family culture play such a critical part in helping children to use their reading to expand their world experience and also to participate fully in the world around them as they grow.
Thanks to Jenny and the staff for continuing to support the Teacher's College literacy program in the school. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to attend the workshop.
Teachers College is one of the many beneficial initiatives funded by your PTA. Please help the continuation of these and similar programs by contributing to the Direct Appeal.


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A beautiful day here in Essex and I still have a bloody cold! Things haven't gone to plan today either, the holes that needed filling are still wet so can't be sanded and painted and then Homebase and B&Q didn't have the size/amount of paint I wanted. So not good really.
Here we are back for 21 – A photograph of the part of you that you dislike the most.
There's only 2 parts of me I dislike I suppose. Both are because of surgeries. I have a 10″ scar on my leg from an operation to try and cure my leg problems (It didn't work) and also a severely bad stomach because I've had 5 cesarian section when I've had my children – best description of this would be one of those body make over programs and they have a large section of skin that over hangs their knickers etc… well that's what I have but pretty badly and it can't be removed less surgically. As I don't particularly want to show off my stomach I'll go with my leg although I don't feel its the worse thing about me – its not very nice either.
This is from an operation I had 14 years ago. It measures 10″ in length and has 37 staple holes on each size. I slight shock when they told me it would only be 6″ long! It runs up the outside of my leg from an inch above my knee towards my thigh. I'm sitting down in this pic so it looks more curved but it is straight.
Well I guess I will see you tomorrow for Day 22 – almost finished the challenge now, it's flown by!
Lots of Love,
Mel xxxx


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Never Been Better!
The Never Been Better! pages connects with our 55+ community through articles and stories for inspired lifestyle choices. The two-page spread appears the first Tuesday of each month in the Sherwood Park News. Look for travel and health tips, community events and workshops, stories and poetry from local residents, and other topics of interest. We would like to thank and acknowledge Family and Community Services for partnering with us to provide the Seniors' Safety Calendar articles each month. We invite submissions from our community members. Have an idea for a story of interest? Would you like to see a specific topic or feature? Have photos from a recent event? Drop us a line - it's your page so let us know how we can make it better for you! For information or to submit articles, ideas or suggestions please contact the WFSC at firstname.lastname@example.com Attention: Bethany Horne, Editor
Never Been Better celebrates milestone:
April 2015 - The Past Six Years Have "Never Been Better!"
The Writers Foundation of Strathcona County (WFSC) and the Never Been Better! layout team are looking forward to celebrating an exciting milestone, as this April marks the sixth anniversary for the Never Been Better! publication!
The idea to create a monthly publication geared towards the 55-plus population in Strathcona County was based on the outcome of the 2009 Older Adults Plan - "to build an age-friendly and caring community that values and supports its older residents." We are proud to be part of a community that acknowledges and commends the contributions of its older residents and offers a wide range of activities to benefit their health and wellness.
Thank you to the volunteers and contributors (ongoing and occasional, alike) who make this publication possible - we value the input from our community members! The WFSC is proud of the connection and partnerships we have made with the community through this communication media. Keep your contributions coming and we will continue to report on the events, tips, and information that inspire your lifestyle.
Our Never Been Better! pages aim to provide advice and inspiration to the 55 and better members of Strathcona County, and we welcome contributions from you, the diverse residents of our community.If you have an achievement to share, event to review, group to promote, or are interested in creating awareness in your community, we would love to hear from you. This is YOUR page, and we value submissions, ideas, and feedback from our readers.
|JULY Traveling Soles.pdf
|AUGUST H1N1 Article.pdf
|Inspired Lifestyle Tips - HEALTH Summary.pdf
|Inspired Lifestyle Tips - TRAVEL summary.pdf


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In this tutorial, I am going to demonstrate how you can make a very nice enhanced version of the plain old comments section for your current WordPress theme. This is an advanced WordPress tutorial. You should have a decent knowledge of WordPress, PHP, HTML and CSS before you attempt an advanced tutorial. You will learn how to customize the text of the comments that have been made as well as the comments form people use to enter new comments. I will also describe a method to hide and show comments after a post with a click of your mouse. The goal of this tutorial is for you to be able to turn your ordinary WordPress comments section on your posts page to something that looks more like the image below:
Also, in the image above, the comments and the form below it will be hidden by default and only shown when the user clicks the arrow beside the number of comments on the left side of the widget.
Getting Started
The first thing we need to do is locate the files we will need to modify in order to make the above image a reality on your WordPress blog. There are a few files you will need to edit to make this happen. Please start by opening each of these files in your favorite text editor for coding. I like to use Notepad++ because you can open them all in tabs at the same time. The first file you need to open will be style.css located in your theme's main directory. For those of you that don't know where that is, open your FTP client, go to the folder that your WordPress blog resides in and open it. Navigate to wp-content/themes/your-theme where your-theme is whatever theme you have active on your installation of WordPress. Also in your theme's main directory, grab the file named comments.php as well. You may or may not need this. We will find out shortly.
Next, go to your WordPress main directory. This is the folder that holds the wp-contents and wp-includes folders among others. In this directory, locate the file named wp-comments-post.php. After that, from the same directory, open the folder named wp-includes and open the file named comment-template.php. Now you have what you need to start making changes to your WordPress theme's comment section. Here is a list for quick reference:
- Blog/wp-comments-post
- Blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php
- Blog/wp-content/themes/your-theme/style.css
- Blog/wp-content/themes/your-theme/comments.php
- Blog/wp-content/themes/your-theme/index.php
- Blog/wp-content/themes/your-theme/header.php
Note that "Blog" in the above list represents your WordPress main folder and could be named anything. If you don't know what it's called on your server, you need to find out before you do this tutorial.
Selecting the Correct Files
First thing we need to do is determine which files you need to edit. Some themes will require you to edit comments.php while other will not. Here is simple test you can do to figure out if you need to edit your comments.php or not:
- In comments.php search for the text "will not be published" and change the text to something that is more easily recognizable like "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX".
- Re-upload comments.php to your server in your WordPress current theme's directory.
- Now go view your blog and see if you find the X's in your comments form or not. If you see them, then you know you will need to edit that script, otherwise, you can close it because you won't need it. Be sure to also check any other pages you want to have comments on as well because they may use different comments templates. Many themes use the default comments script in the main WordPress directory also which we will discuss shortly.
Now determine if you need to edit comments-template.php and wp-comments-post.php file in a similar fashion as we just did with comments.php. After doing so you should know exactly which files make up your WordPress comments section. If your theme is more complex, there may be slightly more to it, but this should describe over 90% of your situations. Contact your theme developer if you cannot figure out which files to edit. In the project I had to do, I didn't need to edit the comments.php file in the theme and did need to edit both the wp-comments-post and comments-template.php files. Therefore, that is what I will demonstrate here. If in your case, you had to edit comments.php, then it will probably be even easier and you can easily interpret what we have done in the comment-template.php file for your comments.php file as they both just display the comments form and should have very similar HTML content.
Start Editing
Now that we have determined exactly what files need editing, let's get started with the code changes necessary to make the comments area look like it does in the image above.
I am going to start with comment-template.php. Here is what you need to do:
- Search for the text "comment_form(". That is the function that we need to make changes to in order to edit the comments form. The comment_form function should be found nearly at the bottom of the page.
- Look for where the $fields array is first defined. This is an array of fields that are shown in the comments form. You will want to make changes to the style declarations associated with this in style.css which you should already have open in your text editor. You will also likely want to make changes to the text of the field names the user sees such as email, message, etc. I chose to take out all but name, email and message in my example in the image above. What I did was gave the table in the fields array a new class name so I could start from scratch in defining all the elements inside that table by referencing them through that table class. You can choose to do your own customizations here or just copy and paste mine if you like, here is what my edited $fields array looks like the rest of the function shouldn't need anything changed:
$fields = array( 'author' => '

' . 'NAME( <input id="author" name="author" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author'] ) . '" style="width:100%"' . $aria_req . ' />		', 'email' => 'EMAIL (HIDDEN) <input id="email" name="email" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author_email'] ) . '" style="width:100%"' . $aria_req . ' />

', 'url' => '', ); $required_text = sprintf( ' ' . __('Required fields are marked %s'), '*' ); $defaults = array( 'fields' => apply_filters( 'comment_form_default_fields', $fields ), 'comment_field' => '
MESSAGE<textarea id="comment" name="comment" rows="5" aria-required="true"></textarea>
', 'must_log_in' => '
' . sprintf( __( 'You must be logged in to post a comment.' ), wp_login_url( apply_filters( 'the_permalink', get_permalink( $post_id ) ) ) ) . '
', 'logged_in_as' => '

' . 'NAME( <input id="author" name="author" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author'] ) . '" style="width:100%"' . $aria_req . ' />		EMAIL (HIDDEN) <input id="email" name="email" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author_email'] ) . '" style="width:100%"' . $aria_req . ' />

', 'url' => '', 'comment_notes_before' => '', 'comment_notes_after' => '', 'id_form' => 'commentform', 'id_submit' => 'submit', 'title_reply' => __( 'Leave a Reply' ), 'title_reply_to' => __( 'Leave a Reply to %s' ), 'cancel_reply_link' => __( 'Cancel reply' ), 'label_submit' => __( 'PUBLISH' ), );
Notice two things I did in the above example. First, I used my name, Ian, in the class name. I do this in many ways throughout scripts that I edit. If you do this all the time, you can very easily locate any changes you have made to any script simply by doing a text search for your name! I find it comes in very handy, especially if you don't remember so good like me sometimes. Would you remember a script you edited over a year ago? I wouldn't, but with this practice, I can easily find out if I made changes to a script and where they are in no time at all.
The second thing I want to point out in the above code is the last line. Notice where it says "label_submit"? That is where you can change what text appears on the submit button. It took me a minute to find this, so I thought I'd point it out to anyone wanting to change their own button text for the submit button. I changed mine to "PUBLISH" as you can see above. Then you can change the style from style.css by editing the CSS declaration for the submit input of that form or reference it by the table it's in if you can't find it. Another handy tip I like to use for scripts like this is this: If you have a hard time distinguishing the HTML in the midst of all that nasty PHP code, just look at the resulting page in any browser by using the view source feature. Then you can see just the HTML without all the PHP wrapped around it and can more easily locate the code you need to change even though you still need to make the actual change in the PHP file.
Edit index.php
Now open your index.php file from the current theme folder. You need to find the area where comments are shown within the WordPress loop. Of course each theme has different mark up, but you should be able to recognize the loop if you have worked with WordPress for long. If not, it should be commented. The code we are looking from within the loop is the parts that make up the comments. A common problem you will run into with many themes, including the default twentyeleven theme is that they use a template for the loop and you cannot dissect it easily enough. To solve this issue we recommend replacing the loop in your current theme with a very basic one I will provide below:
A Basic WordPress Loop Example:
The below loop has all of the elements you would want to change clearly labeled and available instead of hidden in other WordPress files or templates. Use this if you cannot figure out how to customize your own loop:
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?> <article <?php post_class() ?> id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?>
 <?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . '/_/inc/meta.php' ); ?>
 <?php the_content(); ?>
  <?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '
'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments »', '1 Comment »', '% Comments »'); ?>
 <?php endwhile; ?>
Using a loop like the basic one above, you can easily determine where the comments will be displayed. Simply search for the word "comments" and you will soon find the comments_popup_link function which indicates that comments will be shown there. So go right above that and add something like this:

COMMENTS

  <?php $comments = get_comments( array( 'post_id' => $post->ID, ) ); $noofcom = count($comments); ?>
 <?php if($noofcom<10){echo "0";} echo $noofcom; ?> <img id="comment_arrow<?php echo $numb; ?>" style="margin-left:-4px;margin-top:12px;" src="ian_pics/comments_closed.png" onclick="showComments('<?php echo $numb; ?>')" />
 	 	  <div id="commentno<?php echo $numb; ?>" style="display:none">
 <?php $commentnumber = 1; foreach($comments as $comment) : echo "
"; if($commentnumber < 10){echo "0";} echo "$commentnumber	 {$comment->comment_author}	 	{$comment->comment_content}

"; $commentnumber++; endforeach; ?>

 <?php global $post; $post_id = $post->ID; $args = "";//array of fields for comment form see codex for assistance with this! comment_form(); ?>

When you are done adding the above code, you can erase the code that displayed the comments before because this replaces that code. So if you are using our loop example above, delete the line with the comments_popup_link function in it. I realize that's a lot of code for just comments, but it is fairly simple really and it gets the job done. All is does is adds a header for the comments area, makes an array for the comments, counts them and numbers them before displaying each one. You can customize this as you see fit. If you use the exact code above, you will need the line image and the arrow images. You can make your own line in any drawing program by just drawing a straight line anywhere from one to ten pixels wide and one pixel high whatever color you want to make it. Then you have your arrow from earlier, but you need one for the closed position too and then you will be all set. If you are advanced enough at PHP coding, you can probably write your own code like this or even improve upon it, but this is what worked for me, so good luck developing your own look and feel for your comments.
Adding Style
Now that you have made the necessary changes to your comments form and index.php file, it's time to go make corresponding changes to your style.css file. Some styles you will surely want to change will be:
The submit button which can be accessed with input[type=submit] or as I did, with #submit because the name/id of the submit button in this case is "submit" Which can be determined also in the $fields array shown above. Just look for the id_submit variable towards the bottom. That defines the id of the submit button for the comments form. Here is how I styled mine:
#submit { position:relative; display:block; border:0px; background-color: #FFFFFF; font-family:'Conv_Gotham-Bold'; color: #939598; font-size:18px; float:right; margin-right:10px; }
Oh, and don't' forget the hover effect too:
#submit:hover { position:relative; display:block; border:0px; background-color: #FFFFFF; font-family:'Conv_Gotham-Bold'; color: #009ce3; font-size:18px; float:right; margin-right:10px; }
You may need to tweak it a bit for your situation but that should get you started.
In addition to the submit button's style, I also changed the styles for the input elements and the text like so:
.comment-form-ian label { font-family:'Conv_Gotham-Bold'; display:block; color: #939598; font-size:12px; } .comment-form-ian input{ border: 0px; background-color: #E6E7E8; margin-bottom: 10px; } input{ height: 22px; } .comment-form-ian-message label{ font-family:'Conv_Gotham-Bold'; display:block; color: #939598; font-size:12px; } #comment{ background-color: #E6E7E8; width:100%; border: 0px; margin-bottom:5px; } textarea{ padding:5px; } .parentesis {/*needed to align parentesis(()) in comment labels*/ font-size:125%; }
Then I added styles for the additional hide/show comments part and the number of comments like this:
.noofcomments{ font-family: 'Conv_Gotham-Bold'; font-size:48px; color:#939598; margin-left:-3px; margin-top:-15px; letter-spacing:-2px; border:0px solid red; } .commentno{ font-family:'Conv_Gotham-Light'; color:#939598; } .commentauth{ font-family:'Conv_Gotham-Light'; color:#414042; }
Okay, that should be all the styles you need to add to your style.css sheet, but don't forget to notice how I reference each. You can determine this by looking at the code in the fields array from above to see how each style declaration corresponds with the element in the style sheet. Of course it helps to have a good understanding of CSS.
Next, you also need to manipulate the wp-comments-post.php file if you want to have the effect work as mine does. Otherwise you may get some unorganized comments due to the fact that WordPress will try to use default settings for showing comments that will result in using other files that we have not customized. But my solution works great because it all revolves around using the index.php file to show comments from the comments template within, but by default, WordPress sometimes will use other templates, so this is the fix for that. In the very bottom of wp-comments-post.php make the last several lines follow my example here:
$comment = get_comment($comment_id); do_action('set_comment_cookies', $comment, $user); $iansloc = "index.php"; $location = empty($iansloc) ? get_comment_link($comment_id) : $iansloc . '#comment-' . $comment_id; $location = apply_filters('comment_post_redirect', $location, $comment); wp_safe_redirect( $location ); exit;
Notice again how I used my name in the variable $iansloc so I can find it later? You can name your variable similarly, just be sure to catch each occurrence of it at the bottom of the file as I have done above. By changing the location in this argument to index.php, we prevent the comments from being displayed in the wrong template after submitting a new comment. Slight modifications may need to be made for some themes, but this should work in most cases.
One final edit to your header.php file and we should be done! Go to your header.php file and add the following code somewhere inside the head tag at the top of the page. It will also work if you place it right after the get_header function in your index.php script:

That is the function you need to make the comments open and close when clicking on the arrow. You will need to make your own arrow in your favorite graphics program or download one from the internet, they are easy enough to find. Try to Google arrow with images selected in Google as the media to search and you will get hundreds of them.
Finishing Up
Okay, you have made all your changes, modified your style sheet and now it's time to upload everything and test and debug. Hopefully it will all work according to plan, but be prepared to fix syntax errors and typos in your code as you should always be prepared to do. After uploading, try adding a comment and see how it displays. Make sure they work from all posts. If you have pages on your site, as well as posts, you will probably have to edit another script or two in order for them all to work as planned, but the methods used already in this tutorial should also work for those pages as well, so have fun with your comments section. It should look a lot less drab after you make these customizations. Once you have your comments section the way you want it check out these effective tips on how to get comments for your blog.