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From Jerusalem to your doorstep.
Twice a month, anywhere in the world!
I have been trying to teach myself Hebrew for a few months with different materials. Bereshit is the winner.
I really like the newspaper. As a language teacher myself, I think it is a great idea. Congratulations!
Sign up and receive an easy Hebrew article every week.
I absolutely love the paper! I spent the whole day reading it, and I believe it is a wonderful learning tool
Delighted to be receiving both publications - they are excellent and probably the single most important part of my Hebrew studies here in Australia!
I love to read and study Yanshuf. I am so glad that Yanshuf exists. It is a great help to learn this very special language, and it is always fun to read.
I am a long time subscriber to Yanshuf. I think Yanshuf is great and we use it in my adult ulpan.
Bereshit is wonderful. I read the news from Israel and learn Hebrew at the same time. The vocabulary in the dictionary is very helpful, especially after doing the exercises. I feel so much more equipped for the battle now.
HebrewToday offers easy-to-read Hebrew newspapers by subscription. Our publications are perfect for children and adults, beginners or advanced readers, who wish to learn Hebrew in a fun, effective and engaging way, while staying connected to Israel and Jewish culture.
Each issue is available with audio narration in clear, correct Hebrew pronunciation, as well as Hebrew-English dictionaries and English explanations for each article. Whether you choose the printed edition or online edition of our Hebrew newspapers, you will receive a fresh copy, hot off the press, every two weeks.
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All rights reserved to hebrewtoday.com © 2012


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Question for the Money Doctors
Question submitted on Dec 23, 2012.
QuestionI plan on transferring to a college in PA in Sept.2013. But I cannot become an official student until I transfer over my official transcript. The only thing is, I owe my old school $5,000 and I have no credit history and my cosigner has a credit score that the bank won''t accept so I cannot get a school loan to pay it off. The bank/credit union says the only way I can get a loan is if I apply for a car loan. But that seems really unwise. Are there any other options?
Establish contact with someone in the admissions office of the new school and let them know your situation. Often, a school will accept unofficial academic records (typically available on your past school's website) on the condition that you provide official transcripts prior to registration. You now have 8-9 months to pay off the $5000 owed to school #1.
Your next step should be to contact the student accounts, or bursar's office at the school to which you owe the debt. They can tailor a payment plan specifically to help you repay the balance before September. Reaching an agreement directly with the school will also prevent the debt from being sent to a collection agency. An agency will not only assess interest and fees, but will hinder communications between you and the school, possibly delaying release of your records.
Once you have the details in place with each school, you will need to find a source of income to make the payments. With no credit and no co-signer, your options are extremely limited. There are credit cards available for your financial situation - Citi, Capital One, and Discover all have student options – but it is highly unlikely that you would receive a credit limit of $5000, and interest rates will be very high. I suggest you obtain the money the old-fashioned way: earned wages through employment or your own business. You may need to get a second job if you are already working. $5000 may be a large amount of money for you, but you have roughly 32 weeks before school begins. Even a part-time job earning $10/hour for 20 hours a week would be more than sufficient to pay back your balance, and then you can begin the fall semester debt-free.
For additional information visit http://www.360financialliteracy.org/

subset: commoncrawl


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Baby sleeps …after sex?
Rob Ford didn't admit to anything else yesterday. The Iron Sheik however did challenge him to a wrestling match and promised to f-ck him up. So, there's that. It wasn't totally a bust for Canadian pride on Wednesday though. When Rob Ford doesn't deliver, Justin Bieber will.
A video has surfaced on YouTube. It appears to have been filmed by a girl who has presumably just had sex with him. While JB seems exhausted by all the sex, she can't contain her excitement. After all, we're supposed to believe that she had Bieber inside of her. And how could anyone fall asleep after that?
This apparently happened in Brazil. According to some reports, her name is Tati Neves. She may or may not be a prostitute and she may or may not be transgender. You can see more photos of her here. Tati seems really proud of herself. Well, that's where the expression "star f-cker" came from, right? You know me. I'm the first to blame this kind of sh-t on generation. But if cameras were more accessible, and smaller, back in the day, like when the Rolling Stones were lifting off, we would have seen constant post-coital photographic evidence of Mick Jagger etc too. The internet and social media did not invent boasting. Boasting is a very natural human compulsion. Technology has just made it easier.
Justin Bieber is a superstar. His life right now is sex, drugs, and rocknroll. He's not the first and he won't be the last. I recently heard a story about a very minor musician who was sucked off in the backseat of an SUV while his bodyguard was serviced by another girl in the front seat. They want it in as many different ways as they can get it. When you're that famous, and it's so available, they have to keep pushing the excitement. Ask George Clooney.
So I guess that's why JB is trying it in so many combinations and positions. One night it might be a family double shot. One night it might be with a sex worker. He gets off on it because he can. I didn't understand it last week but I realise now that it has everything to do with power. Justin Bieber doesn't have to pay for it. He pays for it because it's another way of exercising control. He pays for it to feel like he can own it. Her. Them. Everyone. And that's what gets him hard. It makes sense that a scrawny punk who has to keep convincing himself he's the Man King would need to buy that kind of superiority, right?
What's great about this video then is that the little f-cker couldn't keep up. On the one hand he's fronting like he's the player making it rain with all his money and influence. And on the other he's like a toddler who just can't stay awake anymore and passes out on the rug. How intimidating is a sleeping baby?


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Reviewed By Thomas S (marshallville, OH) —1/8/2016 5:10 AM
the best out there
There are no customer reviews for this product
Reviewed By Jeremy B (Arvada, CO) Reviewed for a 2006 Dodge Ram —12/9/2013 8:03 AM
Turbosmart makes great products in general, but this BOV is absolutely great. It's holding 80psi with no signs of leaking. The install was straight forward and was done in a couple hours.


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Traffic Accidents in GreeceDaily analysis of fatal, serious, minor traffic accidents in Police Stations Division.
Open public data for crime in GreeceContains multitudes of crimes per General Police Headquarters, by month and by type of crime.
Numbers of Municipal and Regional DirectorsLists the numbers of local and regional consultants for each municipality and municipal unity and for each region and regional unity, respectively.
Number of Greek voters per electoral district (Municipality-Region Elections ...This file contains the number of Greek voters per electoral district resulting from the Power of the Electorate (Current Fourth Revision 2010 - Municipal and Regional Elections...
Municipalities Catalogue (List of municipalities)The file contains a matching of municipalities of the country program "Kapodistrias", with new municipalities, as defined in the "Kallikrates." The version of the data is 1.1...
Mechanical Equipment Catalogues of ΟΤΑ, Prefectures and RegionsContains the inventory of the machinery equipment at OTA - prefectures and regions of the country. This registration evolned in the summer of 2010, and is presented on the site...
Electoral Sets of Municipal Elections 2010Contains the names of electoral sets and the heads of those on the 2010 municipal elections for whole Greece.
Electoral Departments 2010The list of Electional (polling)stations for Local Government Elections of 2010.
Election Sets of Regional Elections 2010Contains the names of electoral sets and the heads of those on the 2010 Regoinal Elections for whole Greece.
Assigment of pre-Kapodistrian OTA to OTA of project 'Kapodistrias' and of p..."Contains tables for matching pre-Kapodistrian Municipalities of the country into: - Geographical units of the plan 'Kapodistrias' - Communities and...
Analysis of traffic activity in Greece.Presents the analysis of road accidents in number and number of injured people per G.P.H. for the first half of 2010.


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Customers Go Wild for Customization
One of the best ways for a business to gain brand advocates is by providing their customers with personalized experiences, and one way that retailers can do this is by offering product customization technology.
For example, outerwear retailer Wild Things recently implemented Fluid's product configuration platform onto WildThingsGear.com. This technology enables consumers to design and visualize personalized sweatshirts and jackets directly from the retailer's website, and according to Wild Things CEO Edward Schmults, this gives customers complete control over their purchasing decision.
"The customer can determine the performance level of the product, the look and feel of the product and the price of the product to arrive at the configured product that best meets their need," said Schmults. "This completely redefines the nature of a technical outdoor product because is let's the customer determine what is best for them."
In fact, Fluid's technology enables consumers to customize features such as fabric type, coloring, insulation, pocket placement, logo and ID. Previous retailers who have implemented this type of technology have garnered higher customer engagement metrics, as well as increased conversion rates and average order values. Additionally, the technology allows merchants to compete on product offerings instead of price, according to Fluid's chief product officer Neil Patil. This is because the platform provides merchants with more unique items than their competitors.
It is also important to note that Fluid's product configurator is decoupled from the Wild Things site, which makes it simple to implement on partner retail sites, such as sports merchandise provider Moosejaw. Furthermore, Wild Thing's "Share Your Design" feature assists the company in spreading the word about their new offering, because it enables consumers to share their newly designed clothing creations via email, phone and social networks.
"The distinctive imagery, user-friendly 3D modeling and wide range of intuitive customizations provides our customers with a new way to connect with our brand, while enabling them to share their designs with friends and family via social networks like Pinterest and Facebook," said Schmults. "This initiative, that uses Fluid's easy-to-use software, will change how consumers buy outdoor apparel."


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It's hard to imagine something as simple as a computer desk saving your life, but as more and more studies demonstrate that sitting for extended periods of time at desks can lead to a whole host of health problems, it's time people gave more thought to their home office computer desks, as well as those they use at their workplaces.
Oftentimes, people's excuses for buying whatever is cheap or on sale for their home computer desks is that they don't spend nearly as much time in their home office as they do at their place of employment. While it's true that any person who sits at a desk for long periods of time at the office should, without a doubt, upgrade their furniture to that which is ergonomic and adjustable, it's just as important that their home office furniture be the best-suited for their body size and build but also able to adjust to allow for a standing position.
Having an adjustable computer desk at home will not only allow for every member of your family to work comfortably but to also change their position from sitting to standing, because chances are most people greatly underestimate the number of hours each week they sit levitra at their home office computer desks.
Be proactive about your health and don't let too much time sitting at a desk that's ill-suited for your shape increase your risk of some potentially serious health problems. Call Biomorph at 888-302-DESK for more information on our full range of ergonomic furniture.


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Pasta Shells with Chickpeas and Arugula Recipe
Your source for quick recipe every single week day.
Adapted from Mollie Katzen's Get Cooking
Read more: Dinner Tonight: Mollie Katzen's Pasta Shells with Chickpeas and Arugula
- Yield:serves 3 to 4
- Active time: 30 minutes
- Total time:1 hour
- Rated:
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water
- black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1/2 pound pasta shells
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups chopped arugula
In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, salt, a few cracks of black pepper, thyme, oregano, and olive oil. Add the chickpeas and the mozzarella. Toss well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt and the pasta. Cook according to the directions on the packaging until al dente. When done, drain in a colander.
Toss the pasta in the large bowl with the mozzarella and chickpeas. Add a handful of the arugula a sprinkling of parmesan and stir. Continue this process until all of the arugula and most of the parmesan has been added. The arugula will wilt slightly due to the warm pasta. Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if needed. Divide the pasta between four large bowls, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Parmesan. This pasta is great warm, but also works at room temperature.
This Recipe Appears InDinner Tonight: Mollie Katzen's Pasta Shells with Chickpeas and Arugula
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.


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NEWTOWN, Conn. — Eight of the 12 girls killed in last week's shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School were Girl Scouts. Two troops of the smallest scouts were shattered. One that had 10 members now has five. Another troop of five girls now has just two.
Girl Scouts are particularly active in Newtown, with 125 troops involving more than 700 girls, and now as the town struggles to overcome its grief, Girls Scouts are relying on their troop friendships and activities to recover a bit of their sense of normalcy.
"We were together when we were strong, and we're going to stay together now that we're Newtown Strong," said Kelsea Morshuk-Allen, a 16-year-old Girl Scout, using a term that is emerging as a sign of this town's resilience.
Small indications of that attitude are everywhere, such as the sign "Newtown Strong" that appeared under the scoreboard when the high school basketball team returned to the court Wednesday. Or the campaign to create a memorial fund from the sale of thousands of $2 "Newtown Angels" bracelets, a campaign with the slogan, "Newtown Strong. Newtown Proud." Or Kelsea's "Gone but not Forgotten" T-shirt made in a high school graphics class.
Kelsea and her friend Brooke Hadgraft, 15, met a decade ago as Girl Scout Daisies, as the troops for kindergartners and first-graders are called. Those killed in the massacre were Daisies. Now Kelsea and Brooke and their fellow scouts plan to mentor the remaining girls in the two affected troops — all of whom survived the shooting at the Sandy Hook school.
Scout leaders are planning on combining the two troops that lost eight girls into one and pairing the little girls who lost so many of their friends with Kelsea's troop of older scouts.
A monument to the lost girls is being planned, as is a major event in January, where the 3 million women and girls involved in Girl Scouts worldwide will remember the eight little Girl Scouts of Newtown.
Robbin Chaber Allen, Kelsea's mother and the chief Girl Scouts organizer in Newtown, said the mother of one of the girls who died called her and urged her to use scouting as a way of remembering the girls. Four of the mothers whose daughters were killed are also Girl Scout leaders, Allen said.
"She wanted to make sure we did something that was positive, as opposed to just being about sadness," she said. "We hope they lean on us and grow with us. We have to take this and make something beautiful come out of it."
Brooke, who like Kelsea is a sophomore at Newtown High, said she had worked with one of the girls who was killed when she was in a child development class that pairs high school students with preschoolers. In a small town with so many people involved in scouting, nearly everyone has a personal connection to someone who was killed.
"There was a lot to cry about," Brooke said. "It's a lot to recover from, but we have to get stronger, and we will. That's the truth."
The Boy Scouts are also popular here in this town of rolling hills and wide-open spaces, where the scouts camp and organize public service projects such as building houses for the poor. About 550 boys and 180 adult volunteers participate in Boy Scouts.
Two of the eight boys killed were from the same Cub Scouts pack, and three other members of the 80-boy pack lost a sibling, said Tony Vogl, a Boy Scouts spokesman. In a show of solidarity, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts from far beyond Newtown attended the funerals held here this week.
Kelsea and Brooke were at Newtown High School, about a mile and a half away from the shooting on Dec. 14 when officials declared a lockdown. A security guard ushered them out of the hallway and into the nearest classroom and ordered them to stay inside. School officials took everyone's phones to keep them from hearing news of the massacre.
The girls said they thought it was a drill, so they found seats together and pulled out their biology books to study for a test on viruses.
"Luckily, me and Kelsea were together," Brooke said.
After an hour, they heard the helicopters overhead. The girls said the vice principal came on the loudspeaker and said there had been a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and asked that students with siblings at Sandy Hook gather in a lecture hall.
Only when they got their phones back did they realize the extent of the horror. Social media was ablaze with the shootings, and kids gathered around the school to watch live streams of the news coverage.
That night, Kelsea and Brooke's troop had their Girl Scout Christmas party scheduled at Kelsea's house. They decided not to cancel so they could gather together for strength. They gave each other hugs and Secret Santa gifts and watched Christmas movies. "Everything was still unfolding, but we were together," Kelsea said, sitting at her family's wooden kitchen table, a few miles from Sandy Hook. "It was safe, and we could celebrate what we still have."
"It made us closer," Brooke said. "I was grateful that we had each other, and we have each other because of Girl Scouts."
Kelsea said that mentoring the surviving younger Girl Scouts would help them heal. She said she's not trained in grief counseling, but that doesn't matter.
"You don't have to be certified to love little kids," she said.


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Rihanna Takes Fans Behind-the-Scenes of 'Where Have You Been' Video
A makeup free Rihanna took her beloved Navy behind the scenes of her highly anticipated 'Where Have You Been' video, letting everyone in on dance rehearsals for the clip.
Not yet clad in the long wigs and costumes she teased in stills for the video, RiRi is self-conscious about her appearance in the rehearsal studio. "These overhead lights are not cute," the Bajan beauty says, shielding her face. Of course, she still looks stunning. But because she looks amazing and glam all the time, RiRi likely holds herself to a higher aesthetic standard than we mere mortals do.
In any case, Rihanna's not there to model outfits like she was at Coachella. She's there to work! "Right now, we are in dance rehearsals for the 'Where Have You Been' music video," Rihanna says, "which is — I can't tell you how rare, only because my schedule has always been so busy, it never really allowed us to spend time rehearsing and making up dance moves."
We see Rihanna busting out moves with the direction of her choreographer, making complicated coordination look nothing sort of effortless. "This one is just all performance," the 'You da One' singer said. "It's all about evoking emotion through your body." We're then treated to Rihanna dancing ferociously, flanked predominantly by male back up dancers, though some females joined later on. "We were never going to shoot this video if I couldn't do choreography," Rihanna revealed. "'Cause it would be pretty pointless," she continued of the dance track. "It would be disappointing."
While Rihanna works hard at her choreography, she plays hard, too — and that may have been why she was late to the first rehearsal … and spent the hour she would have had for a dinner break still dancing — while eating French fries!
Watch the Behind-the-Scenes of 'Where Have You Been' Video


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Chittenango Schools may close Lake Street Elementary
CHITTENANGO -- Chittenango Central School District, like many others in the area, is facing difficult financial times due to cuts from state funding. The district is discussing facility changes and the possibility of closing Lake Street Elementary or another building to keep the district solvent.
On Tuesday, community members where invited to view a presentation by Dr. Philip Martin of Educorps that outlined three different plans for facility changes. The first two proposals highlighted the possibility of consolidating building space by restructuring where district students would go to school. Both of these plans showed no real savings for the district.
CHECK IT OUT: Read the whole report here.
The third proposal was closure of Lake Street Elementary School. With this, Bolivar would become a kindergarten through fourth grade school, and Bridgeport would become a kindergarten through fifth grade school.
Closing Lake Street Elementary would save the district more than $505,000 a year. According to the Educorps report, Lake Street is also the district's oldest school and would cost the most for any required repairs.
"We definitely need to close a school due to expenses," said Chittenango Superintendent Michael Schiedo. "What we are dealing with -- what most district's are dealing with -- is a huge decline in student aid."
CHECK IT OUT: Where do Oneida Castle, Verona-Sylvan Beach elementary schools stand after being closed?
Schiedo explained that over the last five years, the district has lost more than $2.4 million in state aid.
"If we don't close a building, we could be facing fiscal insolvency," Schiedo said. "Our goal is to maintain current programs in the district and pick an option that is the least disruptive. Fortunately, we have enough space to hold our current enrollment."
Schiedo said the school's projected enrollment is showing decreases as well, and unless there is a significant increase in the district's population, there are no fears for overcrowding.
The district may consider leasing the building if the closure becomes a reality. There will be another meeting centered around public discussion in early February; an official date is to be determined.
This secondary meeting will explore other possible options and take into account any comments the district has already received. At this time, Schiedo said that closing Lake Street Elementary seems like the least disruptive option


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This tiny evening bag was made entirely out of stuff that I already had laying around in my craft room:
*the body of the bag was created from a discarded 10 3/4" x 6" leather sample, folded a couple of times to form the front, back and flap
*a closure strap made from a piece of scrap leather
*ornate second hand belt for the handle
*vintage pendant for extra adornment
*brass collar button closure
Making the body of the bag:
-I started by anchoring the collar button 3" from the top edge of the leather, then folded the leather piece so the back side without the collar button was 3" higher (this excess is what forms the bag's flap).
-Two looped tabs of scrap leather were inserted between the pieces and then all were top-stitched together. The tabs are where the bag's handle would later be attached.
Attaching the strap:
-The opposite end of the leather had a word printed on it. I knew I'd be covering it up with the vintage pendant. It made sense to position the strap's stitch marks there, as well. This way they'd both be concealed.
-I used wire cutters to clip the clasp and pin off the pendant so it could lay flat against the leather. Using an awl, I poked holes in the leather a few places around the pendant so it could be securely hand sewn into place without putting stress on the leather or my hand.
-Towards the end of the strap I made a hole with a leather punch that was just large enough to slip over the collar button and keep the bag closed.
-Attaching the handle to the two tabs was the final step.
*Bonus bracelets! Made from links left over from the handle.
From start to finish the whole project took about an hour. It's tiny enough to be a good option for me on my uber minimalist days, and much easier on the eyes than my junk all rubber banded together.
*wire snips
*needle and thread
*screw driver
*leather punch


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After a very long absence from Basia's Polish Family, I'm back, with no apologies for my absence, but with an explanation: instead of blogging, I've been researching. Genealogy has reclaimed its rightful position as the major passion in my life. As a result, I have a lot of new information about my ancestry, which I am excited about sharing here in 2011.
It seems that most bloggers post entries every day. My approach is very different. Professionally, I am a journalist. I have always believed that good journalism is based in providing new information—new facts and new insights that are hopefully helpful in understanding and navigating through life. My career as a newspaper reporter and editor disciplined me to make every word count. As a blogger, I don't write if I don't have something new to say. Last January I realized that I needed to do a lot more research before I could continue to share my family story in a way that was satisfyingly meaningful to me.
Here are some highlights of my adventures in genealogy in 2010, with a promise of blog posts to come. It's been a great year!
Y-DNA testing
In one of my early blog posts, I noted that I am descended from two Prokopowicz families. All my life, I had wondered whether my father's Prokopowicz family was related to my mother's Prokopowicz family some generations back. Now I have a definitive answer, thanks to Y-DNA testing made possible by graciously contributed saliva samples from some direct-lineage male Prokopowicz descendants. Related or not? The answer, the process, the details, the implications for future research, I will reveal all in coming weeks. All except the men's identities, of course, for privacy's sake.
mtDNA testing
After much research into different companies for the Y-DNA tests, I also did a new test of my own maternal mitochondrial DNA. Do I know more as a result than what I had learned through my original test by Oxford Ancestors nearly a decade ago? Yes and no.
Subscription databases
Did I ever mention I was weaned on shopping at Filene's Basement and Spag's, or that my parents never bought anything they hadn't researched first in Consumer Reports, or that I feel like the Great Polish Huntress brandishing coupons and bargain-hunting at stores like Marden's and Ocean State Job Lot? (If you're not a New Englander, you may have to Google these retail references.) Bottom line, I'm thrifty.
I have always made heavy use of free resources for genealogy, whether online, at libraries and archives, or at workshops and conferences. Those resources are vast, but as we know, not everything is online, and not all records are available for free. In 2010, I subscribed to a few paid database sites. Were they worth the money? Will I renew them in 2011? I'll let you know before they run out this spring.
I ♥ Listservs
I've been active on various genealogy Listservs since 1996 and the era of excruciatingly slow e-mail over 9.6 kb modems. The lists have been invaluable to my research. Though I'm still subscribed to over a dozen, a couple in particular have emerged as my clear favorites. Every year the relationships and the quality of help shared have grown deeper and richer. If you're doing Polish/Lithuanian research in today's Belarus and/or Lithuania, you may benefit from them too.
Accessible archives
Prospects for obtaining some family records from the Grodno archives—officially, the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno—seem good. If all goes well, I will have some previously unattainable documents in hand this spring. Woo-hoo!!!
Meanwhile, back at the microfilm ...
After a lapse of several years, I am again immersed in scrolling through church records microfilmed by LDS (aka the Mormons). There are new films for the Roman Catholic parishes of the Lida area—pretty exciting! But I also have reason to re-examine films I used years ago.
I have a very organized system for working with the baptismal, marriage, and death records I find in the 18th-19th-century European church registers. However, my research got interrupted a few years ago due to home and family matters and various writing projects. My notes, index cards, and file folders lay abandoned. My software got outdated. Several computers and operating systems later, I'm using a new brand of software to create a new GEDCOM from scratch. (Thankfully, out in the garage, I still have an old PC with an A drive that reads 3.25-inch disks. I just may need that sometime.)
Finally, Facebook
This has been my major foray into the social media. I don't expect to be Tweeting my great-great-great-grandmother's baptismal date anytime soon ... but who knows? What prompted me to join Facebook, what I initially expected, what I've actually gotten from it, and how I hope to use it for genealogy in coming months—as it turns out, these are all very distinct categories in my experience.
Goals for 2011
The final week of 2010 is the obviously perfect time to look ahead. There is much I hope to accomplish in 2011. The more I discover about my family's past, the more fascinated I am by the generations that came before me. More research, more travel, more contact with kindred spirits worldwide lie ahead. I hope you'll join me in my journey through the past.
Friday, December 24, 2010
3 comments:
Oh! The cliffhangers!ReplyDelete
Can you put "hang out with Sara" on the To Do list?
Right at the top, Sara! We are so long overdue it's just plain silly!ReplyDelete
Happy to have you back!ReplyDelete
We can't do it all, so I say do what you love. I'm looking forward to reading the results of your research.
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text: James Klaas wrote: > HD capture ...... HDMI/component/composite > Whether it be done through an analog connection (eg. component) or digital connection (eg. HDMI/DVI/SDI), it all falls under the realm of the V4L subsystem, not DVB. V4L API's current facilities may not even extend far enough for such applications anyway .... I'm not certain, nor really qualified to comment (so someone with a more authoritative opinion should be listened to/consulted), but I expect that this would be rather pioneering with the current API and, hence, would require some additions/extensions to be made before such tasks could be realized. > There was a discussion over on the mythtv-users forum on HD capture > that devolved into another discussion, but there was an article on > converting your HD-DVDs to Blue-Ray > (http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Convert_Your_HD_DVDs_to_Blu-Ray). They > pointed to a HDMI/component/composite capture card at > http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/. > > While I wouldn't expect this to be supported anytime soon, has anyone > even looked at this? - By chance, in that discussion on the mythtv-users forum to which you refer, did any of the contributers/posters search that m/l's own archives in respect to the Intensity? If not, then in this thread ( http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/223410#223410 ) you will see that Blackmagic reportedly expressed some openness towards the idea of Linux support. I haven't heard of anything further on the matter than that ... that doesn't mean that there hasn't been anything else said, and perhaps there is indeed some follow up ... I don't know ... but either way, that will require some searching, and that I leave as an exercise for someone else. - in regards to whether anyone around here has looked at this, I don't think any of the regulars ever have ... let alone ever considered it ... most people wouldn't even be aware of it (and the other existing alternatives ) ... in addition, it would be new territory, and likely a difficult development process ... so if there is anyone working on that device, or looking at it, its likely they are not directly associated or involved around here. - in addition to BM's Intensity and Intensity Pro, there are a few other "cheaper" solutions that are available. This thread on Doom9 (and despite its title) makes mention of them and provides examples of some of them in use: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1044824#post1044824 - as far as I know, the more expensive professional and prosumer solutions (i.e the AJA xena's, BM Decklinks, Accustreams, Bluefish444 cards etc etc) do have Linux support ... albeit, it is through proprietary SDKs or developed inhouse by the production studios using such products . There was a brief discussion about these on the V4L mailing list a few years ago; see/read through this thread: http://marc.info/?l=linux-video&m=115374256412690&w=2 - lastly, did that MythTV-users thread mention the forthcoming Hauppauge HD-PVR (component input) ? ... given that the LinuxTV developer rank does include a couple of guys from Hauppauge, and given that both of them have made mention of that device, and given Hauppauge's stance on Linux support is very positive, I'd be willing to bet that the chances of open/publicly available support for this device materializing are far, far greater than any of the other devices mentioned above.....though, bear in mind there are, of course, never any guarantees or certainties, nor am I speaking on the behave of anyone.


text:
I agree - and a note would be good to that effect! Thank you, Henrik Frystyk Nielsen mailto:email@example.com >-----Original Message----- >From: firstname.lastname@example.com [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com] >Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 12:19 >To: Henrik Frystyk Nielsen >Cc: email@example.com; email@example.com >Subject: RE: Possible new issue on interpretation of relative >URI actors > > >No problem. Although we use slightly different words, I think >we are in >general agreement. URI's reference resources, by definition. I am OK >with drawing the conclusion that any node that acts in role #A >must (or >should, if you prefer) act in some corresponding absolute URI role as >well. A consequence of this decision is, for a given absolute AbsU, a >node acting in #A and #B must act as either both AbsU#A and AbsU#B or >neither. I think we should call that out with at least a note. > >--------------------------------------------------------------- >--------- >Noah Mendelsohn Voice: >1-617-693-4036 >Lotus Development Corp. Fax: 1-617-693-8676 >One Rogers Street >Cambridge, MA 02142 >--------------------------------------------------------------- >--------- > > > > > > > >"Henrik Frystyk Nielsen" <email@example.com> >12/04/2001 01:05 PM > > > To: <firstname.lastname@example.com> > cc: <firstname.lastname@example.com>, <email@example.com> > Subject: RE: Possible new issue on >interpretation of relative URI actors > > > >I apologize if my mail seemed a bit sharp in the language - I >should have eaten something first. > >Henrik > >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Henrik Frystyk Nielsen >>Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 09:12 >>To: 'firstname.lastname@example.com' >>Cc: 'firstname.lastname@example.com'; 'firstname.lastname@example.com' >>Subject: RE: Possible new issue on interpretation of relative >>URI actors >> >> >> >>In SOAP, all we use URIs for is as identifiers. A role is >>identified by a URI which by definition identifies a resource. >>We say nothing about what the semantics or properties of that >>resource and I think this is very important that we don't do. >> >>When you pick a specific URI scheme (like for example HTTP), >>you explicitly pick a URI space with certain naming >>properties: whether it is hierarchical, whether it is >>case-sensitive, etc. etc. >> >>One might know a suggested mechanism for dereferencing a URI >>with a specific URI scheme may and if so then there is nothing >>that prevents anybody from ever dereferencing a URI but that >>is entirely outside the scope of SOAP. >> >>Dereferencing URIs is all about trust - I may trust DNS in >>order to do so or I may trust somebody else to dereference it. >>As such I don't agree that URI semantics is dangerous in >>either of the cases you mention: it is a question of how I >>establish trust in determining whether a Node can act in the >>role that it claims it can. >> >>Henrik Frystyk Nielsen >>mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com >> >>>-----Original Message----- >>>From: email@example.com [mailto:email@example.com] >>>Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 08:07 >>>To: Henrik Frystyk Nielsen >>>Cc: email@example.com; email@example.com >>>Subject: RE: Possible new issue on interpretation of relative >>>URI actors >>> >>> >>>The question is not so much about establishing a base, it is about >>>clarifying the responsibilities of a node in assuming a role. >>> >>>We have said nothing to indicate that a role is a web resource, or >>>that it is the resource named by the actor URI. For example, we do >>nothing to >>>preclude naming a role as the name of some other resource. Remember, >>>there may be a large number of intermediaries, possibly in different >>>organizations that might want to assume a role like: >>> >>> http://example.org/cachemanagers >>> >>>Any resource referenced by the URI is not general at any of the >>>intermediaries assuming the role, and it's almost surely not one >>>accessed via http or that follows the rules for the HTTP scheme. In >>>that respect, >>>one could argue that following the other rules for resources >>>is dangerous >>>as much as helpful. >>> >>>On the other hand, you might make the case that this is >talking about >>>some other resource, but that the assumed role itself is not the >>>resource. In >>>other words, there's at least in principle a resource, >>>probably at some >>>nth+1st location, and the actor attribute is referring to that >>>resource. >>>In that case, I can see why we should follow the usual URI rules. I >>>think that's about where you and I would find common ground. >>> >>>In any case, I see it as subtle enough that we should indeed say >>>something brief and clear about what's intended. In other words, to >>>say that roles >>>are indeed web resources (from which follows everything I >>>think you want >>>wrt/ naming). I'm OK with that. >>> >>>--------------------------------------------------------------- >>>--------- >>>Noah Mendelsohn Voice: >>>1-617-693-4036 >>>Lotus Development Corp. Fax: >1-617-693-8676 >>>One Rogers Street >>>Cambridge, MA 02142 >>>--------------------------------------------------------------- >>>--------- >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>"Henrik Frystyk Nielsen" <email@example.com> >>>12/04/01 10:54 AM >>> >>> >>> To: <firstname.lastname@example.com>, <firstname.lastname@example.com> >>> cc: >>> Subject: RE: Possible new issue on >>>interpretation of relative URI actors >>> >>> >>>Please have a look at the proposed text for handling xml base which >>>already discusses the question of how to establish a base URI for a >>>message and how to deal with URIs in general. Given that we already >>>have an issue for xml base I am wondering whether we need another >>>issue. >>> >>>Henrik Frystyk Nielsen >>>mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com >>> >>>[1] >http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/xml-dist-app/2001Dec/0005.h tml >> >>>In private discussion, Henrik and I tripped over the question of a >>>relative URI used as an actor. If a block has: >>> >>> Actor="#A" >>> >>>or >>> >>> Actor="A" >>> >>>and if a node decides to act in that role, is there necessarily some >>>other absolute URI in which role it needs to act? I had assumed >>"no", but I >>>think Henrik had assumed "yes", and he further believes that no >>>changes to the SOAP spec are needed, as this is implicit in the web >>>and URI architecture and the definition of a relative URI. >>> >>>I would prefer to at least be a bit clearer in the spec, say a bit >>>more about what the base URI for a message might be, etc. >>>Presumably the base >>>URI must be stable through message processing, so if you no >>>how to make #A >>>absolute, then #B must follow from that and be handled consistently? >>> >>>All of this bears some relation to the dreaded Namespace >issue (is it >>>a string or a real URI) but at least in this case nobody is >>proposing to >>>actually retrieve a resource in most cases. >>> >>>Anyway, I recommend we open an issue. Thanks. >> >> >> >> >Received on Tuesday, 4 December 2001 16:00:13 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 22:01:17 UTC


text:
Palmerton Area Library Calendar
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Event Title: Yoga Classes 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Import this event into your Outlook calendar
Yoga classes for all ages will be offered on from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Please call the teacher at 570-436-1762 for more information.
For more information on this calendar
Licensed To:
Palmerton Area Library Association


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a long-standing ruling that stopped police from initiating questions unless a defendant's lawyer was present, a move that will make it easier for prosecutors to interrogate suspects.The high court, in a 5-4 ruling, overturned the 1986 Michigan v. Jackson ruling, which said police may not initiate questioning of a defendant who has a lawyer or has asked for one unless the attorney is present. The Michigan ruling applied even to defendants who agreed to talk to the authorities without their lawyers.
The court's conservatives overturned that opinion, with Justice Antonin Scalia saying "it was poorly reasoned."
Under the Jackson opinion, police could not even ask a defendant who had been appointed a lawyer if he wanted to talk, Scalia said.
"It would be completely unjustified to presume that a defendant's consent to police-initiated interrogation was involuntary or coerced simply because he had previously been appointed a lawyer," Scalia said in the court's opinion.
Scalia, who read the opinion from the bench, said the decision will have "minimal" effects on criminal defendants because of the protections the court has provided in other decisions. "The considerable adverse effect of this rule upon society's ability to solve crimes and bring criminals to justice far outweighs its capacity to prevent a genuinely coerced agreement to speak without counsel present," Scalia said.
The Michigan v. Jackson opinion was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the only current justice who was on the court at the time. He and Justices David Souter, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented from the ruling, and in an unusual move Stevens read his dissent aloud from the bench. It was the first time this term a justice had read a dissent aloud.
"The police interrogation in this case clearly violated petitioner's Sixth Amendment right to counsel," Stevens said. Overruling the Jackson case, he said, "can only diminish the public's confidence in the reliability and fairness of our system of justice."
The Obama administration had asked the court to overturn Michigan v. Jackson, disappointing civil rights and civil liberties groups that expected President Barack Obama to reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.
The Justice Department, in a brief signed by Solicitor General Elena Kagan, said the 1986 decision "serves no real purpose" and offers only "meager benefits." The government said defendants who don't wish to talk to police don't have to and that officers must respect that decision. But it said there is no reason a defendant who wants to should not be able to respond to officers' questions.
Eleven states also echoed the administration's call to overrule the 1986 case.
The decision comes in the case of Jesse Jay Montejo, who was found guilty in 2005 of the shooting death of Slidell, La., resident Louis Ferrari in the victim's home on Sept. 5, 2002.
Montejo was appointed a public defender at his Sept. 10, 2002 hearing, but never indicated that he wanted the lawyer's help. Montejo then went with police detectives to help them look for the murder weapon. While in the car, Montejo wrote a letter to Ferrari's widow incriminating himself.
When they returned to the prison, a public defender was waiting for Montejo, irate that his client had been questioned in his absence. Police used the letter against Montejo at trial, and he was convicted and sentenced to death. He appealed, but the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence.
The Supreme Court sent the case back for a determination of whether any of Montejo's other court-provided protections, like his Miranda rights, were violated.
Louisiana Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell said the ruling will be a "serious help for law-enforcement throughout the country," making it easier for police to secure voluntary confessions.
"There is no longer an artificial presumption that the defendant has been bullied into speaking with the police when there is no evidence that it actually happened," Caldwell said.
The case is Montejo v. Louisiana, 07-1529.


text:
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text:
VivaModa necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 93 diseños de 25 diseñadores freelance.
We are a start-up company from middle Europe, from Czech republic. We have experience with other business but this project is our first on the internet. We = two friends from school (which is behind us a couple of years).
We have some other ideas for projects and this is first in row.
Our target group: Woman 25-40 years. We want focus on quality goods (news about goods) - NO ultra expensive (like phone with diamonds).
Primary targeting on woman fashion, watches, gadgets, cosmetics, traveling, modern living, ... everything for women.
We need logotype usable for webpage and like self standing. Both we would like to use in two ways:
1) "VivaModa" (for web)
2) like web adress "VivaModa.cz" (.cz is czech national domain)
What we are looking for?
No cartoon. Our logotype must be simple, easy to remember, unique, trendy .... can be elegant, can be bold. Focus on woman. Can be in magazine style. We prefer lettering before large image (ideal is VivaModa + nothing else... but it is not obligatory. As I said we are looking for idea / can be VivaModa and small pictogram)
colors: we have not any (we prefer one or two colors)
- logotype must be easy to convert to BW (black and white) version
- for web in PSD file
- we need logo in curves too (*.ai or *.cdr or importable/open PDF)
- do not use any clipart
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Daedric Prince Molag Bal, is the Cobra Commander of Tamriel, always trying to enslave the souls of the world to his will, always going about it the wrong way. He's the god of schemes, after all — not the god of carefully crafted plans.
For instance, there's an ancient prophecy in the Elder Scrolls that says Molag Bal's plans will be thwarted by the Soulless One. One would think that removing souls from people would be off the menu at that point, but no.
One can't help but wonder what other wacky schemes Molag Bal has hatched in the past. "Lure souls to a petting zoo? But Sire, you're allergic to wool!" Oh that Molag Bal.
Find out more about Molag Bal's Elder Scrolls Online schemes and his plan to merge Tamriel with his home of Coldharbour over at the Bethesda Blog.
To contact the author of this post, write to email@example.com or find him on Twitter@bunnyspatial


text:
Post Title : Design Miami Features Luxe Designs of All Styles
Image Title : Moderne Gallery Console
Posted by : Sophan Black
Category : Best Of
Original Resolution : 850 x 1275 pixel
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All the rights of image and video that are in this site are reserved by their respective owners.
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text:
Yuki Tsubota Crashes During Women's Slopestyle Skiing Final, Stretched Off Course
See Gallery
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) - Women's slopestyle skier Yuki Tsubota of Canada was taken off the course following a scary crash at the end of her second run in the finals.
Tsubota was attempting to land the third of three jumps at the end of the challenging and slushy course Tuesday when she crashed into the crest of the landing zone. The 20-year-old Tsubota slid down the hill while her skis scattered.
She laid still for several minutes while being treated by a medical team before being carried off the course. A Canadian team official said Tsubota is being examined for a possible fractured jaw.
Tsubota finished sixth with a score of 71.60 during her first run at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Teammate Dara Howell won gold.


text:
Dr. Warren Hern Statement
Dr. Warren Hern, late term abortion specialists
Most women who seek abortion services are in their early reproductive years and wish to have children in the future. In addition to a primary concern for patient safety and the avoidance of surgical complications, it is imperative to preserve the possibility of future reproduction for women seeking abortion services. This concern underscores my total commitment to safety in all aspects of abortion care.
We also see an increasing number of women who come to us with a desired pregnancy that has developed tragic complications. In these cases, the idea of terminating the pregnancy is extremely painful, but the woman and her partner have decided that it is the best choice for the future. We are especially attuned to giving these women and their families the maximum social and emotional support that they need to get through this difficult time.
To these ends, I have developed several techniques for late abortion and designed numerous surgical instruments; other physicians now use many of these techniques and instruments across the U.S. and around the world. Continuing research and development of the best and safest ways of terminating pregnancy has been a major goal at Boulder Abortion Clinic since I founded my private practice in 1975.
By its name and continued existence, Boulder Abortion Clinic makes a statement that women are free to make their own choices about their own lives, bodies, and family needs. I have been personally involved from the beginning of my medical career in advocacy of reproductive freedom, and I continue in this commitment. We have survived anti-abortion harassment and violence and shown our determination to provide these services in spite of everything. As a result, our patients are protected by the highest standards of safety and security when they come to my office.
As we have recently observed the 37th Anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, we know we have done our part to make the meaning of that landmark decision for human freedom a reality for our patients and their families. The true meaning of "family values" is the freedom to choose your own life and values with those you love.
Warren M. Hern, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
Director, Boulder Abortion Clinic


text: Hi folks, I am new to your forum, and this is my first post. I've got an old good 1989 LeSabre, it is 3.8 L V6. And now something's wrong with the carburetor, so I decided to try repairing it first, and if it won't help, then I guess will have to grab a new one. Wanted to ask you folks whether any of you tried out those Hygrade repair kits from Standard (that is the brand)? As I am kinda concerned that I've never heared that name, yet it is important to get the stuff working properly. As I'd prefer do one repair and forget the problem. Any experience with these guys?


text: Tod Hagan wrote: > On Thu, 2008-09-25 at 15:20 -0400, Robert G. Brown wrote: >> ...XML...The fundamental problem is (as Don said as well) that as far as I know >> there ARE NO really good solutions to the problem of the representation, >> encapsulation, and transmission of hierarchical data structures in a >> portable and efficient way. If you know of one, please correct me (and >> that isn't a sarcastic request but a serious one). > > I don't know if you consider them 'good solutions', but two alternatives > to XML are YAML and JSON: YAML is nice until you accidentally change indentation. Then the game is over. Having bolluxed up many fortran codes in my (distant past), I have to say "just say no" to things *requiring* indentation. In YAML's case, it suffers from the same problem with Python (yeah, I am gonna get some nasty dirty emails now). Structure by indentation is IMO *evil*. I have heard that GvR actually agrees with this, though that is 3rd order hearsay. JSON is a little more intelligent. Easier to parse. I guess, as a person who uses Perl quite a bit, I have to smile when I hear about some folks in some other language somewhere forming a team to write a parser or validator for some XML they are banging their heads on. I am spoiled by Perl's (extraordinarily) powerful tools for stuff like this. Darn ... I hope I didn't just light off a language war ... (ducks, covers, and runs) -- Joseph Landman, Ph.D Founder and CEO Scalable Informatics LLC, email: landman at scalableinformatics.com web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com http://jackrabbit.scalableinformatics.com phone: +1 734 786 8423 x121 fax : +1 866 888 3112 cell : +1 734 612 4615


text:
Winning With Customer-Driven Sales Proposals
Learn how customer-driven sales proposals can differentiate your company from the competition and help you close important deals.
Today's selling world is more competitive than ever before. In light of that fact, can your company really afford even one poor quality sales proposal? As buyers become more sophisticated, they are looking for hard cold facts and positive proof that a product or service will deliver on its promise.
Though experts insist that sales proposals are critical to the success of both the salesperson and the selling organization, many sellers still continue to discount their importance. Rather than being just a sales tool, however, an effective sales proposal helps prospects make a buying decision. At the same time, a potent proposal can sell in the absence of the sales professional by communicating all the aspects of the deal in writing. Remember, sales proposals stay in front of the buyer long after the salesperson is gone and may reach the final decision-maker even when the salesperson cannot.
Common Reasons for Rejection
Why do so many sales proposals fall short of their intended objective of closing deals? Simply stated, it's because they are written from the seller's point of view. Experts say a vast majority of companies are still using sales-driven sales proposals that do little to differentiate one seller from another.
"In this day and age, you can't have a general sales proposal approach -- they have to be customized," says Dave Lakhani, director of sales and public relations for Cougar Mountain Software, an accounting software developer based in Boise, Idaho. "No one solution is going to be a completely perfect match. The proposal has to educate the buyer, it has to show them how it's as perfect a match as they will get, and it has to justify the price in the customer's mind."
Sales-driven proposals fall short in all three categories. Their focus is on dazzling the buyer with product or service feature dumps instead of illustrating exactly how the purchase will positively impact the buyer's business environment. These types of seller-centric, boilerplate proposals often end up in a decision-maker's circular file because they cause a major disconnect between the buyer and seller. To be sure, the boilerplate proposal is a direct contradiction to the consultative selling approach many companies are now beginning to adopt. According to Robert Kantin, author of "Strategic Proposals: Closing the Big Deal" and president of KEI & Associates, a Texas-based sales consulting firm, the sales-driven proposal fails because it:
- does not include a description of the buyer's current situation or an understanding of the buyer's needs and objectives.
- makes only generalized money-making or -saving statements.
- includes only generic product or service descriptions and benefits statements.
- does not provide customer references.
- does not provide specifics on productions, implementation, installation, etc.
- does not clearly identify roles and responsibilities of both the buyer and the seller.
- often forces the buyer to estimate total fees and prices on their own.
In a nutshell, sales-driven proposals center on the seller and fail to give enough attention to the buyer's unique situation.
Customer-Driven Proposals Facilitate Sales
Customer-driven sales proposals, on the other hand, focus more on the prospect's needs and anticipating their questions. And experts agree that customer-driven sales proposals can facilitate the sales process.
"A very well-done proposal can shorten the sales cycle," says Mark Gardner, managing partner at OnTarget, an Atlanta-based sales consulting firm.
A client-focused proposal will differentiate you, it will sell you in your absence, and it will let the customer know exactly what it is you are going to do for them, explains Gardner. In this manner, customer-driven proposals help close the gap between buyer and seller expectations. More importantly, they set the right expectations for all parties from the get-go. The bottom line with sales proposals is the prospect should come away with the feeling that you truly understand their business, their needs, and how your solution will fix their problems. Customer-driven sales proposals often exceed client expectations and stand out in a crowd of boilerplate documents.
According to Kantin, customer-driven proposals facilitate the sales process because they:
- require the salesperson to gather more information about the buying organization and its current situation. Kantin says this process results in a stronger rapport with the buyer, who appreciates the seller's effort to fully comprehend the needs of the buying organization.
- require an accurate description of the product or service being sold and define its specific financial and non-financial benefits to the buyer.
- include a detailed explanation of how the product or service will impact the buyer's company.
- describe the business aspects of the deal, such as fees/prices, invoicing and delivery schedules, etc.
Anatomy of a Winning Sales Proposal
"The proposal, in the buyer's mind, may be a wrap-up of the entire sales process, clearly defining the buyer's needs, a reason for change, how the new product or service is going to make or save money for the buyer, as well as the application of the seller's product or service in the buyer's business," explains Kantin.
A winning sales proposal begins with a descriptive title. For example, if your company sells pre-selection testing for new employees, an accurate title would be, "ABC Testing Company: A Proposal to Use Pre-Selection Testing." Experts suggest, however, that a more creative effort. In this case, "Reducing Employee Turnover Through Pre-Selection Testing" would work well.
Again, most companies make the mistake of putting too much seller information up front. Kantin says it is critical for the first section of a proposal to reflect the seller's empathy for the buyer. Part one of the customer-driven sales proposal should consist of background information on the prospect and identify the improvement opportunities. This will set the stage for the next area of explanation: the proposed solution.
In this second step of the customer-driven sales proposal, it is appropriate to describe the seller's business solution. This is your chance to illustrate how your product or service will impact the buyer's business environment and how it will be implemented.
"In a consultative sales process, the proposal cannot simply present generic product or service offerings," says Kantin. "The more clearly the seller defines the application in terms of the buyer's unique situation, the easier it becomes for the decision-makers to make a buying decision."
The key is matching up your value proposition with the customer's requirements and then taking a proactive role in helping the client obtain value from the product or service being offered. This is one area where you can differentiate your proposal from the rest of those in the prospective buyer's pile.
"Look at any major market. If there was any one supplier that had the best quality, best service and lowest price, there would only be one supplier," says Jacques Werth, president of Pennsylvania-based High Probability Selling and author of a book by the same name. "But that's not what everybody wants. Some want the best service and will pay through the nose to get it."
This second section of the client-focused sales proposal should discuss your product or service benefits, both financial and non-financial. While most proposals do an adequate job of describing soft gains, experts say not defining financial benefits is a common oversight. Lakhani insists discussing the financial benefits should be a strong selling point in a winning proposal. However, Gardner warns you better know ahead of time that your number is going to be accepted by the prospect or risk rapid rejection. Don't just pull numbers out of the air -- discuss the issue ahead of time whenever possible.
Next, a call to action is in order. Experts say this is another area of weakness in many proposals. "You are sending a proposal because you want somebody to do something," says Gardner. "If you leave it to the customer to imagine or think up what they should do next, they probably won't."
In other words, you have to follow up. Ideally, you should follow up within a week just to make sure the prospect doesn't have any additional questions or concerns and to determine where they are in the sales process. The sales proposal should outline what the follow on will be, and the salesperson must adhere to it. If you don't follow your own schedule, then you've just told the buyer you are not reliable.
Now that you've identified the buying organization's problem, proposed a solution, and provided justification for your price, it is time to afford the buyer an explanation of your company's credentials. The seller's profile discusses the way you do business and may include your mission statement, customer service issues and references. Experts stress that most proposals give far too much information in this area.
"Just give enough information to demonstrate to the prospective buyer that you have the capability to actually do what you say you can do in this proposal," recommends Gardner. "It's a risk-management tactic."
Finally, the last section should contain the drier business considerations, such as detailed pricing and fee information, delivery and invoicing schedules and any other business or legal requirements specific to the agreement.
Drafting the Proposal
With this framework in mind, your first step in drafting the customer-driven sales proposal is gathering information about the prospect. If you can shape the customer's requirements in a way that more closely aligns with your company's strengths, then the proposal has a good chance of winning the sale.
Effective sales proposals are difficult to create, and not just anyone should attempt to write one. Experts say although a sales proposal is really the responsibility of the sales department, it's a good idea to have marketing involved in such a critical customer communications document. Marketing can help draft a template that can act as a foundation for a customized sales proposal.
Kantin says strategic sales proposals follow the 80/20 rule. That is, 80 percent of the wording in a company's proposal is going to be standard from one buyer to the next, and 20 percent is going to be very customized.
"It's so easy if you can put yourself on the other side of the desk, in the buyer's shoes, and ask yourself questions about what you would need to know to make this buying decision," says Kantin.
Werth points out that sales proposals are generally far more complicated than they need be -- loaded with salesy talk that comes across to the executives who read it as a lot of hype. Strategic sales proposals should be as clear and concise as possible, but the length of the document largely depends on what you are selling. For example, in the high-tech industry, proposals can be dozens of pages long. Smaller companies pursuing less complex deals, and larger companies seeking follow-on business with an existing client, however, can approach proposals in a much shorter, letter format that includes all the elements of a customer-driven proposal outlined above.
Presentation of the proposal is paramount, as it is a reflection of what it is like to do business with your company. "The proposal should look and feel like it is a proposal generated by the customer themselves," insists Gardner. "It is a great way to show how you map into their culture and that you do things the way the customer does them."
However, experts warn the presentation will count for little if the content is not up to par.
Closing the Deal
Strategic sales proposals make closing the deal much simpler because the prospect is likely to have all the details and information they need to truly compare apples to apples. As well, preparing a customer-driven sales proposal demands more buyer-seller interaction, which often results in a stronger relationship between the decision-maker and the sales professional. Still, experts say a common misperception of many salespeople is assuming that the sales proposal will close the deal for them.
"It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare a good proposal," says Werth. "But a proposal should not really be a selling document because if paper would close sales, you wouldn't need salespeople."
Copyright © 2009 by Virtual Advisor, Inc. All rights reserved.


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I've gotten a few tips about this Mikey the Chimpanzee who's apparently going to be entered in the World Seris of Poker's main event. There's some lady who travels with him, and has "trained him" to play "poker."
I have my doubts. There's plenty of video out there of Mikey "playing poker." Here's a recent clip from Good Morning America, where Mikey behaves randomly, and then his trainer claims that he recognized the pair of threes he made on the river. There's a video below from YouTube. And he's not playing poker here, but The Realests has video of Mikey absolutely ruining an achorwoman's day.
My bold prediction is that Mikey's never going to see a table. And when you can't behave well enough to sit at a table at the World Series of Poker, then you're in real trouble.
The Poker Playing Monkey [Saved by the Blog]
Realest of the Week [The Realests]


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The International Day for Biological Diversity - 22 May 2005
Message from the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan
The full-text of the message is available below:
Message from the United Nations Environment Programme , Klaus Toepfer
The full-text of the message is available below:
Ministerial Statements
The full-text of the message is available below:
United Kingdom
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The United Nations proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. When first created by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in late 1993, 29 December (the date of entry into force of the Convention of Biological Diversity), was designated The International Day for Biological Diversity. In December 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted 22 May as IBD, to commemorate the adoption of the text of the Convention on 22 May 1992 by the Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This was partly done because it was difficult for many countries to plan and carry out suitable celebrations for the date of 29 December, given the number of holidays that coincide around that time of year.
Biodiversity: Life Insurance for our Changing World
Download high resolution .pdf of the poster (4 meg file)
The United Nations has proclaimed May 22, the International Day for Biological Diversity, to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. Biodiversity is the source of the essential goods and ecological services that constitute the source of life for all. The celebration each year of the International Day for Biological Diversity is an occasion to reflect on our responsibility to safeguard this precious heritage for future generations.
As announced by Hamdallah Zedan, the Executive Secretary to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the theme for International Day for Biological Diversity 2005 is:
Biodiversity: Life Insurance for our Changing World.
The world is changing faster than ever before. Growing human populations and expanding consumption are placing great pressure on biological Diversity. This year's theme for IBD reminds us that, in addition to providing the physical conditions for all life, biodiversity also plays an important role in protecting life and making it resilient to the pressures brought about by change.
An additional focus for 2005 – the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Goals and target audiences for your IBD Day celebrations
Key messages and how they relate to Biodiversity Day
Suggested activities for IBD 2005
Appendix 1 – Possible mass communication techniques, their advantages and disadvantages
An additional focus for 2005 – the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The theme is also especially relevant for this year in the context of the launch of the biodiversity synthesis report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. This five-year programme, initiated by the Secretary-General, studied the relationship between ecosystems and human well-being. The reports findings underline the importance of biological diversity in providing concrete services upon which human life depends, including all important security and provisioning functions. In 2005 the celebrations sponsored by the Secretariat for the International Day for Biological Diversity will coincide with the launch of the Biodiversity Synthesis Report.
As part of the activities marking this important occasion, on May 19, 2005 in Montreal, Canada, the Secretariat will hold a press conference followed by a reception and will co-sponsor, with McGill University, a seminar aiming at providing an in-depth discussion of the report and its relationship to science, and policy. The participation of some of the authors of the report is expected.
The Secretariat would like to encourage Parties to hold celebrations to commemorate IBD Day and as part of these activities, to sponsor your own launches of the Millennium Assessment report.
To facilitate the organization of activities, the Secretariat has created this outreach kit, which contains key messages and suggested activities that can help celebrate the day, while also drawing attention to the findings of the synthesis report.
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Danny Biega will join the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL (Gil
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Senior captain Danny Biega of the Harvard men's hockey team agreed to terms with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL), team President and General Manager Jim Rutherford announced Wednesday. Biega will report to the Hurricanes' top minor league affiliate , the Charlotte Checkers of the America Hockey League (AHL), on a three-year contract with the organization.
Biega finished his collegiate career with 85 points on 28 goals and 57 assists in 132 games. His career games-played mark ranks eighth all-time in Harvard history, one ahead of his brother, Alex, who played from 2006-10. A third-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2010, Danny served as the 120th captain of Harvard hockey in 2012-13.
As a senior, the Montreal, Que., native picked up the third All-Ivy League honor of his career with selection to the all-league second team. Biega skated in all 32 contests for the Crimson as a senior, and regularly logged the most minutes on the team during games. A finalist for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award, Biega finished the season with nine points on two goals and seven assists, with two of those helpers coming during Ivy League play.
Biega had his most prolific year in Cambridge as a junior. In 2011-12, he received CCM Hockey first team All-America honors, was a runner-up for ECAC Hockey Player of the Year and was the named the league's Best Defensive Defenseman. He was named to the ECAC Hockey Championship All-Tournament team and All-Ivy League first team and ranked second in the nation in points per game among defensemen (1.03).
For the Carolina Hurricanes' release, click here.


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Akron Designs needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 24 designs submitted by 8 freelance designers.
Work At Home Authority
We are an Internet Marketing Company specializing in business opportunity products.
We want a site designed similar to this one
We do not have copy yet but would like the site designed. For now we will use the Title "Work At Home Authority" but that will change after we select a winner. Any logos of companies or other graphics may be used as long as it does not ruin the feel of the site.
We want it to be very clean and simple and very professional looking
Please be creative but stay close to the original design.
PSD only!


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Schedule for "Oresteia". Musical trilogy in concert performance. 2019
Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra
Music by Sergey TaneyevĀRussian libretto adapted by Alexei Venkstern after Aeschylus
PERFORMERS:ĀSoloists of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera SingersĀThe Mariinsky OrchestraĀConductor: Leon Botstein
Musical Preparation:ĀLarisaĀGergievaĀChorus Master:ĀPavel Teplov
This performance is presented in partnership with the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, New York


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Boreal's 2nd Annual Team Video Challenge
Donner Summit, CA (December 4, 2010)
The week-long filming session for the Team Video Challenge (TVC) ended on November 22nd. That's when thirteen teams feverishly went to work editing their master pieces. Given 72 hours to complete the task, each team produced an edit with the hopes of taking home a piece of the $2,500 cash prize purse.
On Friday, December 3rd, Boreal hosted the TVC viewing party up on Donner Summit. All the videos were projected onto a massive screen and the public was given an opportunity to vote for their favorite. The public vote was 1/5 of the overall score. In the end it was the deciding factor, shaking up positions and revealing a winner by a one-point margin.
bHappy Films walked home with top-honors and $2,000 cash in their pockets for documenting the epic 5-mile journey from Truckee to Boreal. Team Gremlinz took the last minute lead in the most views category, earning $500 for their efforts. Awards were also handed out for Best Rider, Best Female and Best Skier in the form of a private photo/film session for the winning crew. Best Rider went to Niko Cioffi, Best Female went to Laurie Currier and Andy McDowell earned the Best Skier award.
After seeing TVC videos all over the web, GoPro® contacted Boreal offering to give a full factory sponsorship to the team winning "Best Production". In the end Team Surface Skis will get fully-dialed thanks to GoPro®.
All the videos from the 2nd Annual TVC can be viewed on BorealTerrainPark.com. Boreal now has two terrain parks open 9am – 9pm, and the park crew is putting the final touches on the superpipe and main jumpline. For more information on Boreal check out www.rideboreal.com.


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IMO number: 9330537
1st name: ANNINA SCHULTE
flag / nationality: Liberia
owner: Schulte Thomas Reederei
completion year: 2007 / 01
shipyard: Hyundai Mipo Dockyards Ltd. Co, South Korea
yard / hull number: 0433
engine design: B&W
engine type: 7K80MC-C
power output (KW): 25.279
maximum speed (Kn): 24,0
overall length (m): 221,20
overall beam (m): 30,00
maximum draught (m): 12,00
maximum TEU capacity: 2824
container capacity at 14t (TEU): 2030
reefer containers (TEU): 586
deadweight (ton): 39.241
gross tonnage (ton): 27.779
handling gear: None
exname 1: CAP BEATRICE-11
exname 2:
exname 3:
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Organization of Islamic Conference
UAE gets Aman Union chairman post
The UAE represented by Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Exports, a unit of Department of Economic Development (DED) and managing director of Export Credit Insurance Company of Emirates (ECIE), has been elected as the chairman of executivMore…
OIC market capitalisation 'stays low'
The market capitalisation of equity markets in Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries remains low compared to other leading markets, a report said. The total market cpaitlaisation of 28 selected member countriesMore…
ITFC's H1 operations valued at over $1bn
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has carried out 36 trade finance operations with a total value of $1.253 billion in favour of 16 countries in the first half of the year. "These results reflect our continued efforMore…


text: Jeannine Hunter Lazzaro is an artist living in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. She is originally from a New Jersey suburb of Manhattan. Various life experiences brought her into teaching. The everyday challenges she confronted in her work as a teacher were an additional focus in her life. In addition to the many social and emotional aspects of working with teenagers on a daily basis, she enjoyed the freshness and vitality that comes from working with students who have not come to take for granted the visual language that artists work with. Among her many goals is to help people recognize the power of art to heal, to educate and to make connections in communities and on an individual level. She has recently rearranged her life to focus on her art. The plurality that exists today in the world of painting makes it possible to move from narrative painting, to abstract images and never leave the realm of exploring the act of mark making and the language of painting.Jeannine's passion for art has been a consistent presence in her life. Her commitment to abstraction in her early work was fueled by an urge to become lost in the experience of painting. The spiritual aspect of losing and forgetting yourself to the act of painting along with the dichotomy that exists between this selflessness and the focus on self necessary for self expression are a huge part of her work. When she was drawn to more figurative work she was not expecting to find this aspect there as well. The culmination of her work during an MFA degree was the discovery that Painting is Painting, the title of her thesis completed for this program.Education Ramapo College of New Jersey, B.A. Bridgewater State College, M.A.T. Art Institute of Boston, M.F.A. Artist Statement The artists who I worked with during my formative years as a painter were deeply committed to the tenants of modernism. Their conviction was so strong that I could not help but be influenced by them. In my youthful innocence I blindly believed my teachers and mentors and I accepted their truth as mine. In many ways I became stuck in the gap that developed between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. I will always take that with me because it is part of who I am, my explorations in paint now combine a little of both worlds. I focus on incidental and common place visual phenomenon. I am fascinated by trivial everyday items that convey a sense of what it means to live in today's world. I include these references in my work as much as possible. My work explores and documents the process of painting-the magical way that rivers of pigment flow together to form images. I am the painter, the artist and I manipulate and control this magic. My perspective of the world and life has been as an artist, a painter. What can I say in paint that has never been said before? Can I express my experience as a woman, a partner, a parent, a teacher in paint? How can I express my feelings about a person, an object, a scene, a moment in paint? Can I somehow make clear the many thoughts that I have about society or spirituality in paint? These are some of the questions that I have as an artist. My truth is to express the answers in the language of paint. A recent series of work focuses on combining the stain-painting technique with masked areas. My journey in painting led me at one time to explore the process of batik. This combination is not only appropriate to the image I am creating and my personal experience, but is relevant to the present. The "layered" aspect of society that I am so conscious of is mirrored in the digital process. Maybe this is simply the way things are, but it is so striking to me. I often feel as though I am looking through layers or strata. The present condition hiding what was there before. Yet, what was there before is still apparent. 2015


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About us
The International Peatland Society (IPS) is an organisation of individual, corporate and institutional members dedicated to the responsible management and Wise Use of peatlands and peat.
To be the leading international organisation promoting the responsible management and wise use of peatlands and peat.
To serve all those involved in peatlands and peat through the promotion, gathering, exchange and communication of knowledge and experience, by means of events and projects which address key issues, including climate change, biodiversity, the need for responsible use and restoration.
The IPS was constituted in 1968 in Quebec, Canada. Today, the IPS is registered in Finland where the IPS Secretariat also is located. Currently the IPS has 1437 individual, corporate, student and institutional members from 41 countries (2017).
What we do
To achieve its goals, the IPS via its Commissions and National Committees regularly organises conferences, symposia and workshops and publishes research results from science and industry. In general, IPS serves as a forum to get and to keep experts from different fields of business, science, culture and regulatory bodies - all dealing with peat and peatlands - in touch with each other.
IPS Flyer 2017
Strategic Plan 2016-2020
IPS Statutes (2015)
IPS Statutes (2017, not pproved by Finnish registry yet)
IPS Internal Regulations (2017)
Annual Report 2017
(small print)
IPS Annual Report 2016
IPS Annual Report 2015
IPS Annual Report 2014
IPS Annual Report 2013


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Judicial Language Project
Initiated in 2005, the Judicial Language Project was the first of its kind in the country. Created and supervised by Adjunct Professor Wendy Murphy and Professor Judith Greenberg, JLP is a project exclusively at New England Law| Boston that seeks to open the dialog about inappropriate language in appellate level sexual assault cases and offer alternatives. The goal is to identify ways in which the language used in these opinions perpetuates stereotypes and stigmatizes victims, diminishing the severity of what happened. The ultimate goal is to encourage lawyers, clerks, judges, and the community at large to be aware of the way speaking and writing about sexual assault effects our perceptions of it. By not eroticizing sexual assault, we can ensure that the line between perpetrator and victim is not blurred.
Maintaining this distinction will hopefully make the legal system more sensitive to the trauma associated with sexual assault, encouraging victims to come forward and lowering the rate of unreported sexual violence.
Students who work in this project identify the objectionable language, state why it is objectionable, and propose more acceptable ways of saying the same thing. The goal of this project is to make the public and the judiciary aware of language that is demeaning or insulting to women, children, and other victims of violence.
How do I get involved?
Every year the project takes on new students and trains them to do various tasks within the project. Students will learn how to identify inappropriate language, how to use socio-linguistic research to explain why the language is inappropriate along with suggesting appropriate alternatives. Students can even earn the opportunity to write letters to courts and lobby for change.
To get involved please e-mail student coordinator Sarah Baker '17 for more information.


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Stay In Touch
Stay In Touch • Different Strokes For Different Folks! Each person has their own way to use one, or a combination, of the tools below to stay informed. We try to present meaningful content on our sites. Even our smileys are above and beyond. So you can imagine what Valle Crucis, The Western North Carolina High Country, the Lodging and Food are like.
Part of the most excellent quality of our service is to speak your tech language. We invite you to explore the pages below to see what might suit you best. The benefits of staying in touch are that you will be more aware and faster of specials, packages, special events and fleet of foot deals. Our sites also tend to focus a great deal on our region, the Western North Carolina High Country. Talking about ourselves all the time would bore us even more than it would bore you. We think you will enjoy learning more and more about our region. Stay In Touch. We promise to paint you pictures that brighten your day.
WebSite • www.themastfarminn.com
Facebook • www.facebook.com/mastfarm
Pinterest • www.pinterest.com/themastfarminn
Google+ • www.goo.gl/llBHQ
Twitter • www.twitter.com/MastFarm
Vimeo • www.vimeo.com/mastfarminn
Historic Hotels Of America • www.bit.ly/mfi-hha
Select Registry • www.bit.ly/mfi-selectregistry
Constant Contact • www.facebook.com/mastfarm/app_141428856257


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THE MINT JULEP: The Very Dream of Drinks
by Joshua Soule Smith
Then comes the zenith of man's pleasure. Then comes the julep—the mint julep. Who has not tasted one has lived in vain. The honey of Hymettus brought no such solace to the soul; the nectar of the Gods is tame beside it. It is the very dream of drinks, the vision of sweet quaffings. The Bourbon and the mint are lovers. In the same land they live, on the same food they are fostered. The mint dips its infant leaf into the same stream that makes the bourbon what it is. The corn grows in the level lands through which small streams meander. By the brook-side the mint grows. As the little wavelets pass, they glide up to kiss the feet of the growing mint, the mint bends to salute them. Gracious and kind it is, living only for the sake of others. The crushing of it only makes its sweetness more apparent. Like a woman's heart, it gives its sweetest aroma when bruised. Among the first to greet the spring, it comes. Beside the gurgling brooks that make music in the pastures it lives and thrives.
When the Blue Grass begins to shoot its gentle sprays toward the sun, mint comes, and its sweetest soul drinks at the crystal brook. It is virgin then. But soon it must be married to Old Bourbon. His great heart, his warmth of temperament, and that affinity which no one understands, demand the wedding. How shall it be? Take from the cold spring some water, pure as angels are; mix it with sugar until it seems like oil. Then take a glass and crush you mint within it with a spoon—crush it around the borders of the glass and leave no place untouched. Then throw the mint away—it is a sacrifice.
Fill with cracked ice the glass; pour in the quantity of Bourbon which you want. It trickles slowly through the ice. Let it have time to col, then pour your sugared water over it. No spoon is needed, no stirring is allowed—just let it stand a moment. Then around the brim place sprigs of mint, so that the one who drinks may find a taste and odor at one draught.
When it is made, sip it slowly. August suns are shining, the breath of the south wind is upon you. It is fragrant, cold and sweet—it is seductive. No maiden's touch could be more passionate. Sip it and dream, it is a dream itself. No other land can give so sweet a solace for your cares; no other liquor soothes you so in melancholy days. Sip it and say there is no solace for the soul, no tonic for the body like Old Bourbon whiskey.