text:
They were swimming at the neighborhood swimming pool. Not many people there as there were exams going on for the rest of the primary school students. They played with each other heartily with much laughter and chitchatting around. At about 2.45pm, all of them decided to come to our home to play.
There were five of them. Only one girl was joining. The rest were boys. They were all gamers and connecting each other through the online game – such as: Growtopia, Team Fortress 2, etc. – apart from being classmates and schoolmates at the same level.
As they entered my son's room, it was suddenly filled with chlorine smell left from the swimming pool that absorbed into their hair and skin. They immediately occupied the room and played the computer games. But since there was only one computer, perhaps the rest got bored. They asked my permission if they could go to level 2, to play at the playground. I let them go. However, in less than 10 minutes, all was coming back home. It was starting to rain despite the sun was shining brightly.
They ended up playing the Xbox game. It's kind of cute listening to their conversation. Btw, it was first time that my son brought back such quite number of friends home. Usually there was only one or two coming. You know, it wasn't easy to get permission from their parents in such young age. As now the exam had over, they gained slightly much freedom.
Hmm… I was thinking how if I cooked some food for them. I mean, kids usually would love to have meal after tired playing. I was asking them if they would love to have some food afterward. All of them refused shyly. Perhaps they were still quite full from their afternoon lunch and didn't want to trouble me. But I would love to prepare something for them.
I checked onto our fridge. There was minced pork inside the freezer. There was yellow and red pepper inside the fridge too, plus white onion at our dry store. Settled! I told Baobei that I'd be cooking Spaghetti Bolognaise with minced pork.
One of his friends was vegetarian and he refused to eat. I told him that I'd cook separately for him using the vegetable and pasta, plus egg maybe. However, he kept refusing and told me many reasons, such as: that he was on diet, that he didn't like to eat Italian food, that he didn't like spaghetti, and so on. Haha… such a determination in such young age!! Well done boy! Your parents would be very proud of you knowing this. It was very contrary with my son who would eat everything! Yes, you saw it right, he eats everything and never refuse anything!!! Hahaha… :D
So, while they were playing, I was busy preparing the food inside the kitchen. Usually I cooked only during weekend and when I had mood. It's been quite some time since I cooked. Sometimes I was lazy and just wanted to eat outside. But yesterday I had this eagerness to cook for them as to make them happy.
At 6pm I started preparing their meals. The sizzling sound and the aromatic garlic smell with butter was coming out and attracted them. One by one came out from the room and in a while all of them gathered surrounding the dining table. I baked the toast with garlic, butter and some salt, making delicious and crispy garlic bread using the wholemeal bread. They were no longer refusing dinner but instead holding their saliva coming down from their mouth.
To distract them, Baobei was offering drink to them. I cooked two portions each at one time to get the more flavor taste. The portion was quite big for kid like them. But it's better to offer them more than giving them too little, that's what I thought. So everybody had quite a big portion, except the Vegetarian boy. He requested the bread, but it's finished already. He ended up eating a packet of crackers. I think he got hungry too looking at the food in front of him as their friends started eating.
|Baobei and his friends ^^
They were once again chit chatting while eating and once I finished cooking for my hubby and mother-in-law; one of the boys came to the kitchen with stacks of empty plates. Whoaa!!! That was fast!
According to my hubby, only the skinny girl didn't finish the food but she took few slices of garlic bread. Looked like she loved it! My son asked him what to do with the leftover food left by the girl and my hubby told him to share it with the rest of the boys. He ended up sharing the leftover with another boy and they all finished the portion. Wow, didn't expect that they all finished it despite the big portion that I scooped! So, don't undermine the growing up boys' appetite!!! :)
Once finished. They all got ready to go back home. I was concentrating with my meal at the living room. Suddenly, I heard one of the boys was saying, "Thank you for the treat." I was puzzled and thinking to whom he was talking to. I lifted up my head to where the sound came and I saw him smiling at me.
Oh… those simple words had melted my heart. And the rest of the children, before they were going out through the gate, they were also saying 'thank you' repeatedly. I was so touched! I felt that my hard work was paid off. They all knew about the gratitude feeling and I didn't expect to hear it from kids like them. I kept replying them, "Your welcome, your welcome…", as they left the house.
I just hoped that this would leave them with simple but good memory of being together creating small circle of friendship, before they were all separated into different Secondary school in two more months' time. Good luck all of you and all the best!!! And thank you for coming! Please come again!!! :)


text:
2019 Textron Off Road Stampede 4
Black with Fire Red
Textron Off Road
Stampede 4
An 80HP EFI engine precision-tuned to explore and dominate. An unrelenting suspension system that keeps you comfortable all day long, and a driving experience designed to make an off-road journey feel like a ride in your pickup. Fully customizable, fully reliable and ready to take on any challenge.
Model Features
- 80HP EFI Engine
- Electronic Power Steering
- On-Demand AWD
- 59 lb-ft of Torque
- Four-Wheel Double A-Arm Suspension
- Front and Rear Sway Bars
- 30 cu-ft of Storage with Industry-First Extended Cab
- Standard Hood Rack
Key Features
- Power: 80HP, 846cc EFI Engine; 59 lb-ft of torque; Durable forged crankshaft and connecting rods; Dry sump oil system for increased oil life
- 80HP and 846CC Engine: An optimal power-to-weight ratio helps you do more, more efficiently.
- Electronic Fuel Injection: Our EFI engine delivers the right amount of fuel at the right time.
- Suspension & Handling: Four-wheel Double A-Arm suspension; Front and rear sway bars; On-demand AWD drivetrain; Electronic power steering (EPS); 11.25-inch ground clearance
- Precision Tuning: An engine precision-tuned by hands and minds that made engines for high-performance sports cars.
- Four-Wheel Double A-Arm Suspension: Precision-tuned four-wheel independent suspension features 9.5-inches of travel in the front and 10.5-inches in the rear.
- Front and Rear Sway Bars: Sway bars reduce body roll while cornering, so you get all the handling you need without sacrificing a smooth ride.
- Driver Experience: Industry-leading LCD screen; Contoured, bench seating; 10-sq-ft opening for easy entry/exit; 40-inch field of vision for unobstructed views; Standard full-coverage doors; Seat belt speed regulator
- Spacious Seating: We put 39 inches between the ROPS and seat, and another 31 inches between the instrument panel and seatback.
- Industry-Leading LCD Screen: Get instant feedback on fuel level, engine temperature, RPM, gear position and diagnostics from our industry-best 5.25-inch x 3.25-inch LCD display.
- Hauling & Storage: Customizable extended cab; Specialized safe storage for guns, bows and tools; Industry-leading storage space; 2,000-lb towing capacity; 600-lb capacity tilt bed
- Specialized Storage: The extended cab offers custom-built compartments for guns, bows and tools, so they stay safe, secure and easily within reach.
- Reliability: Robust 12-month warranty; Advanced, aggressive durability testing; U.S. manufacturing in Thief River Falls, MN; Backed by the power of Textron
- Industry-Leading Storage Space: Between the bed, dash pockets and extended cab, Stampede™ boasts 24 cubic feet of storage in 2-passenger models, and 30 cubic feet with the addition of underseat storage in 4-passenger models.
Engine & Drivetrain
- Engine Type: Liquid-Cooled 4-Stroke, Twin Cylinder Single Overhead Cam, Gas Engine
- Horsepower: 80HP
- Displacement: 846cc
- Drive Train: CVT
- Drive System: On-Demand AWD
- Fuel System: Electronic Fuel Injection
- Gear Selection: Dash-Mounted Cable Shifter (H,L,N,R,P)
- Front Differential: Automatic Locking Overrunning Clutch
- Rear Differential: Selectable Locking
- Total Capacity: 1500 lb. (680.4 kg)
- Bed Load Capacity: 600 lb. (272 kg)
- Towing Capacity: 2000 lb. (907 kg)
Steering & Suspension
- Steering: Electronic Power Steering, Tilt Steering Wheel
- Front Suspension: Double A-Arm with 9.5-inch (24.1 cm) Travel, Performance Shocks
- Rear Suspension: Double A-Arm with 10.5-inch (26.7 cm) Travel, Performance Shocks
- Brake System: 4-Wheel Hydraulic Disc Brakes with 9-inch (22.9 cm) Rotors, Dual Piston Calipers
- Parking Brake: Park in Transmission
- Front Tires: 26 x 9 - 14, Kenda Off-Road Performance Tires
- Rear Tires: 26 x 11 - 14, Kenda Off-Road Performance Tires
- Wheels: Black Steel
- Overall Length: 158 in. (401 cm)
- Overall Width: 58 in. (147 cm)
- Overall Height: 75 in. (190.5 cm) (w/o Roof); 76.5 in. (194.0 cm) (w/ Roof)
- Overall Weight: 1920 lb. (870.9 kg) (Dry)
- Wheelbase: 117.2 in. (298 cm)
- Ground Clearance: 11.25 in. (28.5 cm)
- Fuel Capacity: 9.5 gal. (36 L)
- Storage Capacity: 30 cu. ft.
- Bed Dimensions: 32 x 49 x 11.7 in. (81.3 x 124.5 x 29.7 cm)
- Hitch: Standard/2-inch (5 cm) Receiver
- Instrumentation: Adjustable Backlit LCD, 12V DC Outlet, USB
- Headlights: Low/High Beam
- Seating: Contoured Bench Seats
- Storage Components: Cargo Dump Bed, Underseat Storage, Extended Cab Storage Space, Glove Box
- Additional Features: 3-Point Seat Belts, Seat Belt Rev Limiter, Standard Doors, Steel Tube ROPS, Front-Mounted Steel Brush Guard, Passenger Grab Handle, Headlights, Brake Light, Customizable Speed Controller
- Standard Accessories: Hood Rack
- Engine Type
- 4-Stroke, Twin Cylinder Single Overhead Cam, Gas Engine
- Displacement
- 846cc
- Cooling
- Liquid
- Fuel System
- Electronic Fuel Injection
- Front Suspension
- Double A-Arm, Performance Shocks
- Front Brakes
- Hydraulic Disc Brakes with 9 in. (22.9 cm) Rotors, Dual Piston Calipers
- Front Tire
- 26 x 9 - 14, Kenda Off-Road Performance Tires
- Rear Suspension
- Double A-Arm, Performance Shocks
- Rear Brakes
- Hydraulic Disc Brakes with 9 in. (22.9 cm) Rotors, Dual Piston Calipers
- Rear Tire
- 26 x 11 - 14, Kenda Off-Road Performance Tires
- Dry Weight
- 1920 lb. (870.9 kg)
- Wheelbase
- 117.2 in. (298 cm)
- Front Travel
- 9.5 in. (24.1 cm)
- Rear Travel
- 10.5 in. (26.7 cm)
- Ground Clearance
- 11.25 in. (28.5 cm)
- Fuel Capacity
- 9.5 gal. (36 L)
- Box Capacity
- 600 lb. (272 kg)
- Towing Capacity
- 2000 lb. (907 kg)
- Drive System
- On-Demand AWD
- Colors
- Black with Fire Red

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|/* POSIX compatible signal blocking.
|Copyright (C) 2008-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
|Written by Eric Blake <email@example.com>, 2008.
|This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
|it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
|the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
|(at your option) any later version.
|This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
|but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
|MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
|GNU General Public License for more details.
|You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
|along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. */
|#include <config.h>
|/* Specification. */
|#include <signal.h>
|#include <errno.h>
|#include <stdint.h>
|#include <stdlib.h>
|/* This implementation of sigaction is tailored to native Windows behavior:
|signal() has SysV semantics (ie. the handler is uninstalled before
|it is invoked). This is an inherent data race if an asynchronous
|signal is sent twice in a row before we can reinstall our handler,
|but there's nothing we can do about it. Meanwhile, sigprocmask()
|is not present, and while we can use the gnulib replacement to
|provide critical sections, it too suffers from potential data races
|in the face of an ill-timed asynchronous signal. And we compound
|the situation by reading static storage in a signal handler, which
|POSIX warns is not generically async-signal-safe. Oh well.
|- We don't implement SA_NOCLDSTOP or SA_NOCLDWAIT, because SIGCHLD
|is not defined.
|- We don't implement SA_ONSTACK, because sigaltstack() is not present.
|- We ignore SA_RESTART, because blocking native Windows API calls are
|not interrupted anyway when an asynchronous signal occurs, and the
|MSVCRT runtime never sets errno to EINTR.
|- We don't implement SA_SIGINFO because it is impossible to do so
|POSIX states that an application should not mix signal() and
|sigaction(). We support the use of signal() within the gnulib
|sigprocmask() substitute, but all other application code linked
|with this module should stick with only sigaction(). */
|/* Check some of our assumptions. */
|#if defined SIGCHLD || defined HAVE_SIGALTSTACK || defined HAVE_SIGINTERRUPT
|# error "Revisit the assumptions made in the sigaction module"
|/* Out-of-range substitutes make a good fallback for uncatchable
|signals. */
|#ifndef SIGKILL
|# define SIGKILL (-1)
|#ifndef SIGSTOP
|# define SIGSTOP (-1)
|/* On native Windows, as of 2008, the signal SIGABRT_COMPAT is an alias
|for the signal SIGABRT. Only one signal handler is stored for both
|SIGABRT and SIGABRT_COMPAT. SIGABRT_COMPAT is not a signal of its own. */
|#if (defined _WIN32 || defined __WIN32__) && ! defined __CYGWIN__
|# undef SIGABRT_COMPAT
|# define SIGABRT_COMPAT 6
|/* A signal handler. */
|typedef void (*handler_t) (int signal);
|/* Set of current actions. If sa_handler for an entry is NULL, then
|that signal is not currently handled by the sigaction handler. */
|static struct sigaction volatile action_array[NSIG] /* = 0 */;
|/* Signal handler that is installed for signals. */
|static void
|sigaction_handler (int sig)
|handler_t handler;
|sigset_t mask;
|sigset_t oldmask;
|int saved_errno = errno;
|if (sig < 0 || NSIG <= sig || !action_array[sig].sa_handler)
|/* Unexpected situation; be careful to avoid recursive abort. */
|if (sig == SIGABRT)
|signal (SIGABRT, SIG_DFL);
|abort ();
|/* Reinstall the signal handler when required; otherwise update the
|bookkeeping so that the user's handler may call sigaction and get
|accurate results. We know the signal isn't currently blocked, or
|we wouldn't be in its handler, therefore we know that we are not
|interrupting a sigaction() call. There is a race where any
|asynchronous instance of the same signal occurring before we
|reinstall the handler will trigger the default handler; oh
|well. */
|handler = action_array[sig].sa_handler;
|if ((action_array[sig].sa_flags & SA_RESETHAND) == 0)
|signal (sig, sigaction_handler);
|action_array[sig].sa_handler = NULL;
|/* Block appropriate signals. */
|mask = action_array[sig].sa_mask;
|if ((action_array[sig].sa_flags & SA_NODEFER) == 0)
|sigaddset (&mask, sig);
|sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &mask, &oldmask);
|/* Invoke the user's handler, then restore prior mask. */
|errno = saved_errno;
|handler (sig);
|saved_errno = errno;
|sigprocmask (SIG_SETMASK, &oldmask, NULL);
|errno = saved_errno;
|/* Change and/or query the action that will be taken on delivery of
|signal SIG. If not NULL, ACT describes the new behavior. If not
|NULL, OACT is set to the prior behavior. Return 0 on success, or
|set errno and return -1 on failure. */
|sigaction (int sig, const struct sigaction *restrict act,
|struct sigaction *restrict oact)
|sigset_t mask;
|sigset_t oldmask;
|int saved_errno;
|if (sig < 0 || NSIG <= sig || sig == SIGKILL || sig == SIGSTOP
||| (act && act->sa_handler == SIG_ERR))
|errno = EINVAL;
|return -1;
|#ifdef SIGABRT_COMPAT
|if (sig == SIGABRT_COMPAT)
|sig = SIGABRT;
|/* POSIX requires sigaction() to be async-signal-safe. In other
|words, if an asynchronous signal can occur while we are anywhere
|inside this function, the user's handler could then call
|sigaction() recursively and expect consistent results. We meet
|this rule by using sigprocmask to block all signals before
|modifying any data structure that could be read from a signal
|handler; this works since we know that the gnulib sigprocmask
|replacement does not try to use sigaction() from its handler. */
|if (!act && !oact)
|return 0;
|sigfillset (&mask);
|sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &mask, &oldmask);
|if (oact)
|if (action_array[sig].sa_handler)
|*oact = action_array[sig];
|/* Safe to change the handler at will here, since all
|signals are currently blocked. */
|oact->sa_handler = signal (sig, SIG_DFL);
|if (oact->sa_handler == SIG_ERR)
|goto failure;
|signal (sig, oact->sa_handler);
|oact->sa_flags = SA_RESETHAND | SA_NODEFER;
|sigemptyset (&oact->sa_mask);
|if (act)
|/* Safe to install the handler before updating action_array,
|since all signals are currently blocked. */
|if (act->sa_handler == SIG_DFL || act->sa_handler == SIG_IGN)
|if (signal (sig, act->sa_handler) == SIG_ERR)
|goto failure;
|action_array[sig].sa_handler = NULL;
|if (signal (sig, sigaction_handler) == SIG_ERR)
|goto failure;
|action_array[sig] = *act;
|sigprocmask (SIG_SETMASK, &oldmask, NULL);
|return 0;
|saved_errno = errno;
|sigprocmask (SIG_SETMASK, &oldmask, NULL);
|errno = saved_errno;
|return -1;


text:
Merge, Outline
A Merge sign may be used to warn road users on the major roadway that merging movements might be encountered in advance of a point where lanes from two separate roadways converge as a single traffic lane and no turning conflict occurs. A Merge sign may also be installed on the side of the entering roadway to warn road users on the entering roadway of the merge condition. The Merge sign should be installed on the side of the major roadway where merging traffic will be encountered and in such a position as to not obstruct the road user's view of entering traffic.
Federal Highway Administration Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, 2003 Edition (including 2004 and 2007 revisions) (Washington, DC: United States Department of Transportation, 2007)


text:
0 Min Ago Posted by Admin Jake
For only $5 or $10 bucks per instrumental, we'll deliver you the WAV format or Stems for any track that you discover on TruMental. Details inside.
Nov 08, 2013 Posted by Hydro
A sequel to a classic is tricky. Let's see if Eminem can pull it off. This is a track by track review of "The Marshal Mathers LP 2."
Jun 20, 2013 Posted by Hydro
On a sad excuse for a Saturday Night, I decided to listen to a newly leaked version of Kanye West's latest album, Yeezus. The following review was typed out in real-time over Facebook.
May 12, 2013 Posted by Hydro
Years of neglect has left rap music in a state of disrepair. I know you hear it too. Our expectations for quality and thoughtful lyricism are slowly eroding away while the rap game descends from an art form to a novelty. Don't you think it's time for an intervention?
Apr 05, 2013 Posted by Hydro
With the birth of the slogan/idea of "Keeping It Real", some generations have inadvertently killed the realism in popular Hip-Hop culture. Together, we'll explore the evolution of "real" while asking, "Where did we go wrong?"
Feb 08, 2013 Posted by Hydro
Dust off your No Limit tank chain, make sure it's All Gold... Everything, and enjoy another diatribe from somebody who's not afraid to tell the truth about the state of hip-hop.
Jan 29, 2013 Posted by Hydro
You've now been granted a front row seat for the most horrific scene in all of hip-hop: A RAPPER GETTING OLDER. Witness as I transform from a passionate student looking towards the future of his culture into a older figure struggling to accept the fact that the music & art form he loves has unofficially left him behind. Enjoy a candid (and mildly delusional) commentary on everything hip-hop related. By everything, I mean whatever is bothering me at the time.
Dec 29, 2012 Posted by The Leik
Come inside, be entertained, and learn how to take your music to the next level. This is my introduction and the beginning of a series of thought streams that will help make you an even better creator. Let's build together. -The Leik
Nov 16, 2012 Posted by Admin Jake
In 2013, we 'll be changing the name of our site to TruMental. Leave a comment and let us know what you think of the new site name and logo.
This work by TruMental.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at TruMental.com. More permissions: License Agreement.


text:
- Home
- News
- Sports
- Opinion
- Obituaries
- Features
- Special Sections
- Classifieds
- Public Notices
Area firefighters stayed busy extinguishing blazes that erupted Friday and continued through the weekend at various sites in Brunswick County.
Phillip Inman, county ranger for the North Carolina Forest Service, estimated about 30 fires broke out over a four-day period.
One of the largest ones burned along Alligator Road in the Ash area, Brunswick County Fire Marshal Scott Garner said.
More fires flared up in Supply.
"It's across the board," Inman said Monday. "We've had a number of woods arson fires."
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The Brunswick Beacon, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


text:
Texas lawmakers want Christian groups to be permitted to use Christian themes, prayers, speeches *without seeking consent* in every single military veteran funeral statewide. But that's not how the story is being told.
I love being in the military, and I consider it an honor to serve this country. It makes me sad to hear about something like this. At least three Texas-based U.S. congressmen (all of whom self-identify with the Tea Party) are using military funerals for political gain: Ted Poe (R-TX) and John Culberson (R-TX), and Michael McCaul (R-TX).
And to top it all off, McCaul, Culberson and Poe are lying about it all.
They are 'standing up for' a few private groups who like to officially incorporate their Christian prayer and ceremonies at the funerals of military veterans. The problem is, well… there is no problem! They just need to be absolutely sure that their religious statements are actually welcome.
Basically, these groups just need to have it in writing that the families are Christians and/or willing participants. Then they can actually be a part of the official ceremony, with the cased flag, 21 gun salute, taps, etc. As tough as it might sound for them to get a grieving family to sign a prepared statement, it's all for the sake of upholding the U.S. Constitution that all members of the military served to protect.
""Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
So basically, the government can't sponsor unwanted religion in the government-run funeral service. But these groups are most certainly allowed to disregard the wishes of these families by simply waiting until after the short government-run ceremony to use all the unwanted sectarian language they want. This would obviously be disrespectful, but I'd literally fight for their right to do this (hoping they wouldn't actually do such a thing.)
Slippery Permission
The VA has been even more gracious to the groups with a 'default compromise'. They even offered to let these fringe third-party organizations participate in every official ceremony as long as they either: a) do not infringe on the establishment clause, or b) get written confirmation that such a 'free exercise of religion' is actually wanted by the families. Either one!
Quite reasonable. Just get a permission slip! But no… "It's my party and I'll lie if I want to"
"This is shocking," he said. "[It is] really abhorrent to our veterans that they can't have a proper military burial and not refer to God or Jesus Christ." – Rep. Michael McCaul
Wrong. They can and do have those references. It's abhorrent that Jesus Christ would be brought up at non-Christian veterans' funerals by weird little organizations who clearly can't be bothered to check with families ahead of time.
"The federal government should not have a policy of being anti-religious especially at a religious ceremony – a burial of one of our veterans." – Rep. Ted Poe
My funeral will not be religious. Do I not deserve respect? Does the Constitution I fought for not deserve respect? Nothing is anti-religious about this policy. You are actually anti-consent and anti-permission slip. But that wont sell, will it?
Responding to the astro-turfed faux controversy, the Department of Veterans Affairs annihilated their critics.
The idea that invoking the name of God or Jesus is banned at VA national cemeteries is blatantly false. The truth is, VA's policy protects Veterans' families' rights to pray however they choose at our national cemeteries…
Most people would agree that it is wrong for anyone to impose their religion on a Veteran's family without their consent, especially during a deeply personal burial service…
I guess these lawmakers would rather have 'default permission' granted to these Christian organizations. Thus putting the burden on the grieving families of non-Christian or disinterested military veterans. If they even know about it ahead of time, they *might* be able to stop it.Notably, Rep. Culberson co-sponsored legislation (H.Con.Res.199) that would have allowed teacher-lead and coach lead-prayer in public schools. He also voted to abolish the entire federal public school system… (!?)
Christian prayer over my dead body.
Worse still, if their efforts were somehow successful, would mean that several Christian groups would have a central part in the funerals of potentially every military veteran. Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim veterans being buried in Texas: this means you!
My official military 'home of record' is Texas, where I was born and raised. I may very well end up being buried there some day. As an atheist and as a soldier, I care deeply about our Constitution being subverted like this. I am shocked that Texas' U.S. Reps are attempting to ensure that my funeral is going to feature a state-sponsored Christian message.
I promise you that if my family had to endure this sort of treatment, it would not be a pretty scene. I know my wife and sister would both be quite vocally outraged, and certainly not alone. I doubt they'd get 30 seconds into their ceremony before being shouted down, and rightfully so.
But why kick up an anthill like that anyway? Who the hell do these people think they are? If they really can't be bothered to find out if somebody even wants their goofy ceremony, they should do it after the real ceremony. Or preferably not at all.
Kathleen Johnson – First Sergeant (US Army, Retired) is the former Military Director and current Vice President of American Atheists. She brought this story to my attention, sharing my outrage. Currently employed in Texas, Kathleen is right in the middle of the storm. She's still teaching me the ropes, but these issues are being watched very closely at American Atheists, I assure you.
I don't think they've really even thought this all the way through.
They are arguing for the right of any form of religious speech at state funerals. Rock Beyond Belief was formed partially in response to a "we would support any other group" line of reasoning. I can't imagine that a group of atheists would ever do this sort of thing, despite the Public Forum solution the proponents seek.
I'm aware of a certain group that just might be interested in participating in the funerals of dead soldiers. And they are all lawyers. And they are fresh off a victory in the Supreme Court of the United States about this very topic.
These Texas lawmakers are basically setting the stage for Westboro Baptist Church trolls to not only protest at funerals of dead soldiers, but to be an official part of the ceremony.
These legislators are in virtually vote-proof districts for the most part. But you can still help. Be more informed, and spread the information. Their 'controversy' would be laughable if it wasn't so offensive. Hopefully the journalists over at 'no-atheists-in-Fox News' will get ahead of this and quietly drop it from their talking points.
Or better yet, the rest of the media will start covering the real story. Some politicians want to sneak religion into government, and they want to do it at my funeral on your dime.


text:
5 Unexpected Thanksgiving Sides/
Despite all the hype around turkey and roasts this time of year, Thanksgiving is really made by the side dishes. Everyone knows the established canon (cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc.), so here are some adventurous dishes that would not be out of place next to your golden bird. All of these recipes are vegetarian, too, so they are sure to please a wide range of guests.


text:
Searching for "Moonrays Solar Powered LED Owl Light Garden Stake (Code:062964922132)" ...
/ 5
Product Reviews of 062964922132
Submit a review
Would you like to submit a review for this product?
Submit a review for this product.
Information regarding the items are compared based on input acquired from article numbers and item keywords. Once you jump to the external online retail site, the actual item and conditions may be different. When making a purchase, please make sure to confirm the items and conditions at the external online retail site. Please note that items that do not come up in the search results may be lower in price, and the list price may fluctuate.
WALMART.COM SM is a service mark of Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.


text:
Less than two years after President Obama set off a boom in Cuban travel by relaxing restrictions on "people-to-people" educational trips, Obama's Treasury Department has again tightened restrictions, forcing cancellations and delays that have put dozens of educational group trips in limbo.
Though Treasury officials have said little about reasons for the move, it follows complaints by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) about "rampant abuses" in the program, which is intended to foster "meaningful interaction between travelers and inviduals in Cuba."
The slowdown apparently began May 10, when the U.S. Treasury Department stiffened the requirements for the renewable one-year licenses that allow educational tour operators into Cuba. Jeff Braunger, program manager for the Treasury Department's Cuba Travel Licensing, said in an e-mail that the application process was tightened "because of reports we received" about licensed trips failing to meet government standards.
Tour operators say a handful of organizations have been granted renewal of their licenses, including Elderhostel's Road Scholar program, Grand Circle Foundation and the UCLA Alumni Assn. That leaves dozens of others in doubt as the peak Cuban travel season approaches.
At least one major educational tour operator --Insight Cuba, which was criticized specifically by Rubio -- says its license has lapsed, forcing 22 layoffs. Smithsonian Journeys is going through with a Nov. 9 Cuba trip, but has canceled a Nov. 30 departure because its license (not yet renewed) will expire while the trip is in progress. Many other groups, including National Geographic Expeditions and Stanford's alumni group, face the prospect of canceling trips if renewals are not granted soon.
"It's odd," said Janet Moore, owner of Long Beach-based Distant Horizons, a travel service provider that has operated people-to-people programs in Cuba for UCLA alumni, Harvard alumni, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and about 15 other U.S. academic and arts groups in the last year.
She acknowledged that different groups might offer trips with different merits. But the programs she works with have comparably high standards, Moore said, and so far only the UCLA alumni group has had its license renewed.
For the moment, Moore said, it appears the license-renewal process "has just stopped." If no more renewals are granted before the Cuban travel season begins in November, Moore said, dozens of groups will have to scrub their Cuban plans, and the number of Americans on Cuban people-to-people trips could fall from more than 10,000 in the last year to perhaps 3,000 next year.
Meanwhile at the Treasury Department, spokesman John Sullivan said Wednesday that "the program remains robust." In an email the same day, Treasury Department Cuba Travel Licensing program manager Jeff Braunger said the department had issued about 140 licenses to people-to-people tour operators since early 2011 and that "we are doing our best to process both first-time applications and requesting to renew existing licenses… It is our goal to respond in a timely manner."
Sullivan and Braunger did not address more detailed questions about reasons for the crackdown, the number of applications in the pipeline and the target timetable for processing them.
At Stanford University's alumni travel organization, three Cuba trips are planned for 2013. But until officials renew Stanford Travel/Study's license, the group's website on Wednesday listed the Cuba trip as "in development" with details "not yet finalized."
At National Geographic Expeditions, which has 12 Cuba trips planned between November and June 2013, the website on Wednesday labeled those trips "wait list only." A note added that these trips "will operate subject to renewal of our People to People license by the U.S. Department of the Treasury."
At Insight Cuba, the New Rochelle, N.Y.-based group that carried about 3,000 travelers to Cuba between August 2011, and June 2012, president Tom Popper said he had been trying in vain to renew his license since March 19.
The group filed to renew its license on that date, Popper said, then was told to refile the application under the new May 10 guidelines, and did so on June 26.
"What used to be 10-page application for us turned into a 174-page application," Popper said.
On June 30, the group's existing license expired. Since then, Popper said, Treasury staffers have asked for more information but haven't said when or whether the license might be renewed. Unable to take deposits or arrange tours, Insight Cuba in August laid off 22 employees, Popper said.
Meanwhile at the UCLA Alumni Assn., "I know a lot of schools have applied, but I don't know of any others getting a renewal," said Christel Pailet, the association's travel director. She said her group took about 200 travelers on six sold-out trips to Cuba in 2012, "more travelers than any other university in the U.S."
The UCLA alumni group applied for renewal on April 16, Pailet said, then resubmitted on May 22 after the new guidelines were released. On July 20, the Treasury Department renewed the license through July 31, 2013, she said.
How detailed was her application? Eight pages.
"If I knew why we got renewed and others didn't, I'd certainly tell you," Pailet said.
The Treasury Department program explicitly excludes trips that are "primarily tourist-oriented." Tour operators that fail to meet guidelines face civil penalties of up to $65,000 per violation. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) regulates the trips, which have long been subject to political tides.
The Communist-run island nation has been largely off-limits since the U.S. announced a trade embargo in 1962. President Clinton approved people-to-people trips and loosened restrictions in the 1990s. President George W. Bush cut back the trips in the 2000s. President Obama loosened some restrictions for students and religious groups in early 2011 and others later.
But in late 2011, Rubio denounced the oversight of the program, quoting two Insight Cuba trip itineraries and their frequent mentions of salsa-dancing and meetings with Cuban government representatives.
Saying that the program "borders on indoctrination of Americans by Castro government officials," Rubio called for reforms and said that confirmation hearing of Roberta S. Jacobson --Obama's appointee to the post of assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs -- could make a fine opportunity for more discussion of the subject.
On March 23, the Miami Herald reported that Rubio had dropped his opposition to Jacobson. On March 30, Jacobson was sworn in.
Six weeks later, OFAC tightened the people-to-people travel requirements. Since the handful of renewals that were granted between then and late July, Distant Horizons' Moore said, she's unaware of any further renewals.
Still, she added, "I'm an optimist. I'm thinking they're going to come through."


text:
Last week I made plans to have lunch on Tuesday with an old friend who lives in Cincinnati. She recommended we meet at Rock Bottom at Fountain Square. According to GoogleMaps, Fountain Square is a short .3 miles (6-minute walk) from the Duke Energy Convention Center and two main conference hotels. The square is home to several other restaurants, the Tyler Davidson Fountain and a Graeter's Ice Cream shop. So, there are nearby food choices beyond the hotel restaurants and the conference center lunches. Great!
|from GoogleMaps - click the map for a better view
Speaking of mobility, FamilySearch and NGS are sponsoring free WiFi in the conference center for attendees! If you've ever been to a conference without WiFi and where cell service was weak to unusable in the conference center (like it was for AT&T users last year in Charleston), you know how fantastic this is. Information about access to the network will be included with registration materials. There is also free WiFi available at Fountain Square.
I've been through the conference program several times and have most time slots narrowed down to one session. I'm one of those people who has to do that in advance or I'd end up standing in the hallway spinning in circles between every session. That doesn't mean I won't change something on the fly, I probably will, but I need to have a plan. (FYI, the conference app allows you to select more than one session for a time slot. If you're still wavering on some, you can have all of your possibilities marked for easy reference.) The handouts for my selected sessions (and a few maybes) are loaded to my tablet so I can refer to them if needed during a presentation.
Whether you are going to NGS 2012 or not, you can keep up with the latest news and happenings by following blogs and social media. The NGS Conference blog has a list of 2012 Official Blogs on the upper right hand side of their home page. There seems to be a good number of bloggers who didn't register for that designation so also check out the list at GeneaBloggers. Many attendees will be posting to Facebook and Google+ throughout the conference but Twitter will likely be the place to get the most up-to-the-minute information from NGS. Just follow the #ngs2012 hashtag. If you haven't used Twitter, this would be a great time to start. Set up an account and follow the NGS hashtag this week to get a feel for what you've been missing. Don't forget to review the official NGS Conference Social Media Policy before you start posting.
Oh and one more thing. If you are flying into "Cincinnati" for NGS, welcome to Kentucky. (The airport is in Kentucky. You knew that, right?)


text:
The fate of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud remains uncertain after suspected US drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 10 militants on Thursday. While local media reports have indicated that the strike may have killed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, the group's spokesman issued a statement saying that the leader was present, but unharmed by the missile strike.
As the US escalates the war in Afghanistan, eliminating key players such as Mr. Mehsud has become a more intense focus. The US, however, rarely confirms attacks in Pakistan, and it is often difficult to verify whom the attacks kill. After a drone attack killed former TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud in August, the group denied his death for weeks during an apparent succession struggle.
The reach of Mehsud goes well beyond Pakistan. In a recently released video, he appeared alongside the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian intelligence officer in Afghanistan. A senior Pakistani security official told the Pakistani daily Dawn that the TTP leader had been the target of Thursday's attack and "has probably been killed."
"It is immaterial to say how many have been killed in the attack. The important thing for us is whether Hakeemullah is amongst those killed," the official said, requesting he not be named.
Pakistani officials have spoken out publicly against the drone attacks saying they violate the nation's sovereignty and provide support for the militants, but in private government officials are said to condone the drone operations, reports the BBC. Since the beginning of this year there have been at least six suspected US drone attacks in the restive North Waziristan region of Pakistan.
Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal writes that the current pace of suspected US air strikes in Pakistan is "unprecedented." Since the US began conducting drone attacks in Pakistan in 2004, there have never been more attacks within a 15-day period. Additionally, since this summer, the US air effort in Pakistan appears to be shifting from South Waziristan to North Waziristan. Over the past six weeks, US drone attacks are believed to have killed five senior Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters on Wednesday that he had established some "red lines" with Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, that he hopes the US will not cross. Mr. Qureshi also warned that if the US intensifies its drone attacks or launches any ground operations in Pakistan, it will harm relations between the two nations, reports The Daily Times of Pakistan.
Despite the continued tensions surrounding the drone strikes, President Barack Obama and his advisers say that Pakistan is at the center of their fight against Al Qaeda and Islamic extremism. Agence France-Presse reports that administration officials say they cannot win the war in Afghanistan without the help of their counterparts in Islamabad.
The United States is increasing pressure on Islamabad to tackle militants who use its soil to launch attacks in Afghanistan and American officials have said that the highly secretive drone programme has eliminated some top fighters.
More than 700 people have died in drone strikes since August 2008.
See also:
In Yemen, a university tied to 'American Taliban' and underwear bomber
The Christian Science Monitor
Afghan market bombing kills 20: army general
Agence France-Presse
Iraq war veteran arrested over 'violent' rap song
The Telegraph


text:
Release Date: August 23, 2013
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Attention admirers and followers of Western New York cuisine: The University at Buffalo's students, its affordability and overall warmth weren't the only things on campus to grab national attention during President Obama's dramatic visit.
Also attracting network kudos: UB's presidential cake.
For sure, this was not just any cake. This one, displayed and served subtly in the national press area – adjacent to the obligatory wings and more progressive healthy choice roasted vegetables – was a cake fit for a president. "Welcome President Obama," the culinary calligraphers at UB's Three Pillars Catering wrote with patriotic-colored frosting.
In the forefront of the commemorative 24-by-18-inch cake (chocolate and vanilla marble with ample buttercream frosting) was UB's baked version of the presidential seal – in frosting, of course -- complete with an eagle with a shield at its breast and holding ceremonial arrows in its talons.
Included in the steady stream of the stories and dispatches filed by the scores of reporters attending Obama's speech was one on the cake. It left a deep impression on CNN Senior White House Photojournalist Mark Walz, who entitled his CNN political ticker post "In the eye of the cameraman: This takes the cake": http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/22/in-the-eye-of-the-cameraman-this-takes-the-cake/
"In all my years of covering the President," Walz wrote, "I've never seen a caterer present a sheet cake like this one pictured here. At lunch, Three Pillars Catering brought out a marbled cake with a welcome message and the Presidential Seal. The decorating alone took them an hour and a half, according to Laurie Richeal of Three Pillars. How'd it taste? While it looked good enough to eat, I stuck to my diet and took a pass… the 'road food' covering this beat adds up."
Walz's discipline over not tasting the cake notwithstanding, his approving blog post was a sweet treat to Campus Dining, who supervises Three Pillars Catering and won kudos for their staff's hospitality as well as its hot meal.
"It's not every day that Three Pillars Catering gets to make a cake for a Presidential visit to the University at Buffalo," said Raymond Kohl, marketing manager for UB Campus Dining & Shops. "So when the opportunity arose, Laurie Richeal, bakery manager, and her team went to work to create a memorable delectable."
The cake wasn't the first time UB's catering service notched national attention. A few years ago, culinary celebrity Rachel Ray featured a farewell meal for the departing high school graduate who is college bound in her Every Day with Rachel Ray magazine, with UB pennants and admissions office stationery adorning the layout. In tribute to the magazine spread, UB Campus Dining immediately put together a special campus meal featuring the dishes Ray used in her magazine, and invited students and members of the community to a one-time-only, dining experience.
And the campus' newest facility, the Crossroads Culinary Center, has earned accolades both on campus and off campus for its scope, selection and style.
Walz's musing about Three Pillars' catering didn't stop with the cake.
"I first started covering the White House beat for CNN in 1988, during President Reagan's last year in office," he wrote. "Ever since then, through all 50 states and 80 different countries, I've followed the man that lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. At most of those presidential events, a local caterer is hired to supply meals for a hungry press corps as we have little time to run to get anything (paid for by the news organizations) and as a result we are well fed.
"Most of the time local fare is highlighted. In New Orleans, I have had jambalaya and ribs in Memphis and Buffalo wings in Buffalo, New York. Yes, today I am in Buffalo, at the University at Buffalo. It's the first stop of President Obama's two-day bus tour through New York and Pennsylvania."
For Kohl, seeing the full-color picture of his staff's cake on the CNN site was a perfect ending to an exhausting but memorable and successful day.
"I certainly felt very proud for our bakery and catering department," Kohl said. "Just to create something that drew national attention from someone who is experienced, been around and who travels with the president so much. For him to make those comments, it was fantastic."
Charles Anzalone
News Content Manager
Education, Educational Opportunity Center, Law,
Academies, Honors College, Student Activities
Tel: 716-645-4600


text:
This listing includes 24 paper straws in yellow, green, pink and gold. Perfect for a tropical or pineapple or flamingo themed party!
I accept direct checkout and paypal.
I generally ship everyday monday through friday, with some exceptions (sick kids, long weekends etc.). Most items, such as supplies, straws, bags etc ship within a day or two. Custom made items such as hats, banners, cupcake pics etc. can take up to two weeks to ship. If you need something rushed, please convo me, I can usually make it happen! All rustic wood items take 3 weeks to ship, if an item is needed sooner, please convo us to see if you can squeeze you in!
All sales are final, if an item is lost or damaged, please convo me so that we can work together on a solution.


text:
|Aztec calpolli temple
In the State of Morelos, where I worked prior to Calixtlahuaca, there is abundant documentation of the presence and importance of calpollis. A series of detailed census lists (house-by-house interviews) were recorded in Nahuatl in six communities in Morelos, and these provide the most detailed accounts of calpolli organization from anywhere in central Mexico. The sites I excavated in Morelos matched up very closely to the size and structure of calpollis in these documents. In my current book, I identify the calpolli as a major source of the stability, success, and prosperity of the communities I excavated in Morelos.
|Calpollis at Cuexcomate, in Morelos
First I checked the major books and article on social organization in the Toluca Valley at the time of the Spanish conquest. If calpollis were present, these historians would mention it. But the only time calpollis were mentioned in these works was when authors were talking about general patterns of social organization in central Mexico, not about specific places in the Toluca Valley.
Then it occurred to me (this afternoon) that perhaps if we did not have the Morelos census data, it might be harder to identify calpollis in Morelos. If that were the case, then the missing calpollis in the Toluca histories might not mean very much. So I took a spin through the major works on 16th century social organization in Morelos. I found that these authors regularly talked about calpollis, even when they were not drawing on the census documents. I found a few quotes from documents that mentioned calpollis. So, unlike the Toluca Valley, many historical studies of Morelos had identified calpollis, independently of the census documents. This strengthens the argument that if calpollis had been present and important, there would be more discussion of them in the 16th century documents.
Then I realized that I needed to check the major literature on the Aztec calpolli in general. Sources like Lockhart and Carrasco had surprisingly little to say about specific calpolli apart from the Morelos census data. But a major paper by Luis Reyes García (1996) listed lots of examples of the use of the term calpolli. In fact, he has a whole list and discussion of mentions of the calpolli in central Mexico outside of Mexico City. The towns are scattered all over Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcalla, with a single occurrence in Toluca (in 1533). But it turns out that the lone Toluca calpolli reference describes communities of commoners who moved into the Toluca Valley from the Basin of Mexico after the Valley was conquered by the Mexica emperor Axayacatl. Not surprisingly, these migrants kept their native calpolli organization when they settled in Toluca. That leaves only one possible mention of a calpolli in the Toluca Valley, from a document from Zinacantepec in 1574, cited in an article by Megged. The context is not clear from his article, however.
On the basis of this quick review, it looks to me like the calpolli was not a regular unit of social organization in the Toluca Valley and Calixtlahuaca in Postclassic or early colonial times. This is by no means a firmly-established finding, and I will keep trying to test it; my next step is probably to talk to some of the historians who know the Toluca documents well.
But if this finding holds up, what does it mean? Right now I will only say that the lack of calpollis would suggest that local social organization at Calixtlahuaca was very different from the patterns I found in Morelos. And now it is time for all of us project members to think about the possible implications of this for our understanding of Calixtlahuaca.
Some sources on the calpolli
Carrasco, Pedro (1972) La casa y hacienda de un señor tlahuica. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 10:235-244.
Hicks, Frederic (2010) Labor Squads, Noble Houses, and Other Things called "Barrios" in Aztec Mexico. Nahua Newsletter 49:13-21.
Lockhart, James (1992) The Nahuas After the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Reyes García, Luis (1996) El término calpulli en documentos del siglo XVI. In Documentos nahas de la Ciudad de México del siglo XVI, edited by Luis Reyes García, Celestino Eustaquio Solís, Armando Valencia Ríos, Constantino Medina Lima and Gregorio Guerrero Días, pp. 21-68. CIESAS, Mexico City.
Smith, Michael E. (1993) Houses and the Settlement Hierarchy in Late Postclassic Morelos: A Comparison of Archaeology and Ethnohistory. In Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica: Studies of the Household, Compound, and Residence, edited by Robert S. Santley and Kenneth G. Hirth, pp. 191-206. CRC Press, Boca Raton.


text:
Early in my freshman year of high school, I came home to find my mom sitting on her bed, crying. She had snooped through my e-mail and discovered a message in which I confessed to having a crush on a male classmate.
"Are you gay?" she asked. I blurted out that I was.
"I knew it, ever since you were a little boy."
Her resignation didn't last long. My mom is a problem solver, and the next day she handed me a stack of papers she had printed out from the Internet about reorientation, or "ex-gay," therapy. I threw them away. I said I didn't see how talking about myself in a therapist's office was going to make me stop liking guys. My mother responded by asking whether I wanted a family, then posed a hypothetical: "If there were a pill you could take that would make you straight, would you take it?"
I admitted that life would be easier if such a pill existed. I hadn't thought about how my infatuation with boys would play out over the course of my life. In fact, I had always imagined myself middle-aged, married to a woman, and having a son and daughter—didn't everyone want some version of that?
"The gay lifestyle is very lonely," she said.
She told me about Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, a clinical psychologist in California who was then president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), the country's largest organization for practitioners of ex-gay therapy. She said Nicolosi had treated hundreds of people who were now able to live "normal" lives.
I read through the papers my mom had salvaged from the trash. They were interviews with Nicolosi's patients, who talked about how therapy helped them overcome depression and feel "comfortable in their masculinity." The testimonials seemed genuine, and the patients, grateful. I agreed to fly with my father to Los Angeles from our small town on the Arizona-Mexico border for an initial consultation.
The Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic was on the 13th floor of a modern building on Ventura Boulevard, one of the San Fernando Valley's main thoroughfares. Nicolosi's corner office had emerald-green carpet and mahogany bookshelves lined with titles like Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far and Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth. Middle-aged with thick, graying black hair, Nicolosi grew up in New York City and spoke with a faint Bronx accent. Brusque but affable, he put me at ease. When my father and I first sat down, Nicolosi explained what he meant by "cure." Although I might never feel a spark of excitement when I saw a woman walking down the street, as I progressed in therapy, my homosexual attractions would diminish. I might have lingering thoughts about men, but they would no longer control me.
Nicolosi's acknowledgment that change wouldn't be absolute made the theory seem reasonable. His confidence in the outcome made me hopeful. Until I had spoken with Nicolosi, I had resigned myself to the idea that, desirable or not, my life would have to accommodate the fact that I was gay. But maybe this was something I had power over.
For the last half of the session, I talked with Nicolosi alone. "Tell me about your friends at school," he said. I said I had two close female friends. "Male friends?" I admitted that I had always had trouble relating to boys my age. When I was in grade school, I preferred helping the teacher clean the classroom during breaks instead of playing sports.
"Are you open to therapy?" Nicolosi asked. "If you don't think this is working, you can stop anytime."
I agreed to start weekly sessions by phone. After our one-on-one meeting ended, I joined some of his other patients for group therapy. I was by far the youngest person there. The other men—four or five altogether—were in their forties and fifties and talked about their years in the "gay lifestyle," which had yielded only unhappiness. They wanted normal, fulfilling lives. They were tired of the club scene, the drug use, the promiscuity; their relationships didn't last; they complained that gay culture was youth-obsessed. If that was what being gay meant—and with 30-plus years on me, they would know—then I wanted to be normal, too.
I left the office with a copy of Nicolosi's most recent book, Healing Homosexuality, and a worksheet that categorized different emotions under the rubrics of "true self" and "false self." The true self felt masculine, was "adequate, on par," "secure, confident, capable," and "at home in [his] body." The false self did not feel masculine, was inadequate and insecure, and felt alienated from his body. This rang true. I had been teased throughout my childhood for being effeminate, and as a lanky, awkward teen with bad skin, I certainly was not at home in my body.
Another sheet illustrated the "triadic relationship" that led to homosexuality: a passive, distant father, an overinvolved mother, and a sensitive child. I was closer with my mother than my father. I was shy. The story seemed to fit, which was comforting: It gave me confidence that I could be cured.
According to Nicolosi, identification with a parent of the other gender is out of step with our biological and evolutionary "design." Because of this, it was impossible to ever become whole through gay relationships. I wanted to be whole.
On July 13, 1998—the same year I started therapy—a full-page ad appeared in The New York Times featuring a beaming woman with a diamond engagement ring and wedding band. "I'm proof that the truth can set you free," she proclaimed. The woman, Anne Paulk, said that molestation during adolescence led her to homosexuality, but that she had been healed through the power of Jesus Christ. The $600,000 ad campaign—sponsored by 15 religious-right organizations, including the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, and the American Family Association—ran for several weeks in such publications as The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times. Robert Knight of the Family Research Council called it "the Normandy landing in the culture war."
With few voices to challenge the testimonials, reporters transmitted them as revelation. Newsweek ran a sympathetic cover story on change therapy, and national and regional papers published ex-gays' accounts. My mother might not have so easily found information about ex-gay therapy had the Christian right not planted this stake in the culture war.
The ad appeared 23 years after the American Psychiatric Association (APA) declassified homosexuality as a mental illness. As a consequence of that decision, extreme forms of reorientation therapy—aversion therapy involving electrocution or nausea-inducing drugs, for instance—had stopped being used. A small group of therapists continued to practice talk therapy that encouraged patients to see homosexuality as a developmental disorder, but they remained on the fringe until the Christian right took up their cause. This was a calculated political move. Instead of fire-and-brimstone denunciations from the pulpit, the ex-gay movement allowed the Christian right to couch its condemnation of homosexuality in a way that seemed compassionate. Focus on the Family called its new ex-gay ministry Love Won Out and talked about healing and caring for homosexuals.
The ex-gay movement turned the rhetoric of gay rights against itself: Shouldn't ex-gays be able to pursue therapy and live the lives they want without facing discrimination?
The two largest groups that provide ex-gay counseling are Exodus International, a nondenominational Christian organization, and NARTH, its secular counterpart. If Exodus is the spirit of the ex-gay movement, NARTH is the brain. The organizations share many members, and Exodus parrots the developmental theories about same-sex attractions espoused by NARTH. Together with the late Charles Socarides, a psychiatrist who led the opposition to declassifying homosexuality as a mental illness, Nicolosi formed NARTH in 1992 as a "scientific organization that offers hope to those who struggle with unwanted homosexuality." By 1998, the group was holding an annual conference, publishing its own journal, and training hundreds of psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors. Nicolosi remains NARTH's most visible advocate.
There are no reliable statistics for how many patients have received ex-gay treatment or how many therapists practice it, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ex-gay therapy enjoyed a legitimacy it hadn't since the APA removed homosexuality from its diagnostic manual. Exodus had 83 chapters in 34 states. Its president, Alan Chambers, claimed in 2004 that he knew "tens of thousands of people who have successfully changed their sexual orientation." Nicolosi appeared often on programs like Oprah, 20/20, and Larry King Live. Whether or not the Christian right's alliance with the ex-gay movement had constituted a D-Day in the culture wars, it had successfully challenged the prevailing idea that the best choice for gay people was to accept themselves.
After our initial meeting, I spoke with Nicolosi weekly by phone for more than three years, from the time I was 14 until I graduated high school. Like a rabbi instructing his student in understanding the Torah, Nicolosi encouraged me to interpret my daily life through the lens of his theories. I read in one of Nicolosi's books, Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality, that he tries to position himself as a supportive father figure, typifying the sort of relationship that he believes his patients never had with their own father. I indeed came to see him this way.
We mostly talked about how my damaged masculine identity manifested itself in my attractions to other boys. Nicolosi would ask me about my crushes at school and what I liked about them. Whether the trait was someone's build, good looks, popularity, or confidence, these conversations always ended with a redirect: Did I wish I had these traits? What might it feel like to be hugged by one of these guys? Did I want them to like and accept me?
Of course, I wanted to be as attractive as the classmates I admired; of course, I wanted to be accepted and liked by them. The line of questioning made me feel worse. Nicolosi explained, session after session, that I felt inadequate because I had not had sufficient male affirmation in childhood. I came to believe that my attraction to men was the result of the failure to connect with my father. Whenever I felt slighted by my male friends—for failing to call when they said they would, for neglecting to invite me to a party—I was re-experiencing a seminal rejection from my father. Most guys, I was told, let things like that roll off their back—an expression of their masculine confidence—but I was hurt by these things because it recalled prior trauma.
My parents were surprised at how the therapy blamed them for my condition. Initially, Nicolosi had told them they were one of the cases that did not fit the mold of the "triadic relationship"—in other words, that my sexual orientation was not their fault. Once it became clear that Nicolosi held them responsible, they disengaged. They continued paying for therapy but no longer checked in with Nicolosi regularly or asked what he and I talked about. I was happy to defy my parents. Whether the grievance was that my curfew wasn't late enough or that my parents didn't give me enough money, I had a trusted authority figure validating every perceived injustice. Any complaint became evidence of how my parents had failed me.
As I progressed in therapy, I felt that I was gaining insight into the source and causes of my sexual attractions. The problem was, they didn't go away. At Nicolosi's urging, I told my best friend that I had to distance myself from her. Instead, Nicolosi encouraged me to form "genuine nonsexual bonds" with other men. He paired me with another one of his patients, Ryan Kendall, who was my age and lived in Colorado. We spoke by phone every few days.
Most of our conversations were mundane. We talked about our friends and people we didn't like, recounting every high-school travail and triumph. But we frequently deviated from the therapist-approved, buddy-buddy talk that was supposed to repair us. We flirted, a novel experience for me; there were no openly gay people at my high school. Ryan and I described what we looked like to each other. He said he had brown hair and eyes and was short but cute; I said I was tall and skinny (but left out my bad skin). We promised to send each other pictures, though we never did.
"What would Nicolosi say?" we'd ask. It became a regular refrain, an acknowledgment that we were misbehaving. Part of the bond we developed was in our shared rebellion against our therapist. For me, it had less to do with opposing ex-gay therapy than with the giddy thrill of defying authority. Ryan was convinced that change was impossible—"Nicolosi's a quack," he once said. Despite my transgressions, I still believed in Nicolosi's theory. But my relationship with Ryan evinced a larger problem: While I was uncovering how my relationship with my parents continued to shape my inner life, I was still attracted to men. I chatted with older guys on the Internet and on a few occasions met them.
I felt guilty about this but trusted Nicolosi enough to admit I had been "experimenting." He told me to be careful of meeting men off the Internet but that I shouldn't dwell on it or feel guilty. He said my sexual behavior was of secondary importance. If I understood myself and worked on my relationships with men, the attractions would take care of themselves. I just had to be patient.
Late into my last year of high school, Nicolosi had a final conversation with my parents and told them that the treatment had been a success. "Your son will never enter the gay lifestyle," he assured them.
A few weeks later, our housekeeper caught me with a boy in our backyard. This marked the end of therapy for me. My parents were convinced it had failed because Nicolosi had blamed things on them rather than on my being teased by my male peers as a child. They sent me to another therapist. I had one session but refused to continue. While I still accepted Nicolosi's underlying theory about why people were gay, I believed that all the talking in the world couldn't change me. When I left for Yale, my mother sent me off with a warning: Were she to discover that I had "entered the gay lifestyle," my parents would no longer pay for my education. "I love you enough to stop you from hurting yourself," she said.
In 2001, the year I started college, the ex-gay movement's claims received a significant boost. In 1973, Columbia professor and prominent psychiatrist Robert Spitzer had led the effort to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness. Four years after Stonewall, it was a landmark event for the gay-rights movement. But 28 years later, Spitzer released a study that asserted change in one's sexual orientation was possible. Based on 200 interviews with ex-gay patients—the largest sample amassed—the study did not make any claims about the success rate of ex-gay therapy. But Spitzer concluded that, at least for a highly select group of motivated individuals, it worked. What translated into the larger culture was: The father of the 1973 revolution in the classification and treatment of homosexuality, who could not be seen as just another biased ex-gay crusader with an agenda, had validated ex-gay therapy.
An Associated Press story called it "explosive." In the words of one of Spitzer's gay colleagues, it was like "throwing a grenade into the gay community." For the ex-gay movement, it was a godsend. Whereas previous accounts of success had appeared in non-peer-reviewed, vanity, pay-to-publish journals like Psychological Reports, Spitzer's study was published in the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Spitzer's study is still cited by ex-gay organizations as evidence that ex-gay therapy works. The study infuriated gay-rights supporters and many psychiatrists, who condemned its methodology and design. Participants had been referred to Spitzer by ex-gay groups like NARTH and Exodus, which had an interest in recommending clients who would validate their work. The claims of change were self-reports, and Spitzer had not compared them with a control group that would help him judge their credibility.
This spring, I visited Spitzer at his home in Princeton. He ambled toward the door in a walker. Frail but sharp-witted, Spitzer suffers from Parkinson's disease. "It's a bummer," he said. I told Spitzer that Nicolosi had asked me to participate in the 2001 study and recount my success in therapy, but that I never called him. "I actually had great difficulty finding participants," Spitzer said. "In all the years of doing ex-gay therapy, you'd think Nicolosi would have been able to provide more success stories. He only sent me nine patients."
"How'd it turn out for you?" he asked. I said that while I stayed in the closet for a few years more than I might have, I ended up accepting my sexuality. At the end of college, I began to have steady boyfriends, and in February of last year—ten years after my last session with Dr. Nicolosi—I married my partner.
Spitzer was drawn to the topic of ex-gay therapy because it was controversial—"I was always attracted to controversy"—but was troubled by how the study was received. He did not want to suggest that gay people should pursue ex-gay therapy. His goal was to determine whether the counterfactual—the claim that no one had ever changed his or her sexual orientation through therapy—was true.
I asked about the criticisms leveled at him. "In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques are largely correct," he said. "The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more." He said he spoke with the editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior about writing a retraction, but the editor declined. (Repeated attempts to contact the journal went unanswered.)
Spitzer said that he was proud of having been instrumental in removing homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. Now 80 and retired, he was afraid that the 2001 study would tarnish his legacy and perhaps hurt others. He said that failed attempts to rid oneself of homosexual attractions "can be quite harmful." He has, though, no doubts about the 1973 fight over the classification of homosexuality.
"Had there been no Bob Spitzer, homosexuality would still have eventually been removed from the list of psychiatric disorders," he said. "But it wouldn't have happened in 1973."
Spitzer was growing tired and asked how many more questions I had. Nothing, I responded, unless you have something to add.
He did. Would I print a retraction of his 2001 study, "so I don't have to worry about it anymore"?
The ex-gay movement has relied on the Spitzer study as the single piece of objective evidence that therapy can work. The need for that evidence became more pressing in the early 2000s, when a cadre of gay-rights bloggers began to scrutinize the movement, ready to expose any hint of hypocrisy. There was plenty of material.
John Paulk, Love Won Out founder, chair of the board of Exodus International, and husband of Anne Paulk, was spotted and photographed at a Washington, D.C., gay bar. Richard Cohen, the founder of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays)—intended as the ex-gay counterpart to PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)—was expelled from the American Counseling Association for ethics violations. Michael Johnston, the founder of "National Coming Out of Homosexuality Day," was revealed to have infected men he'd met on the Internet with HIV through unprotected sex.
A member of NARTH's scientific advisory board ignited controversy by suggesting that blacks were better off having been enslaved, which allowed them to escape the "savage" continent of Africa. Shortly thereafter, the board of NARTH removed Nicolosi, who was still president. In 2010 it was revealed that NARTH's executive secretary, Abba Goldberg, was a con man who had served 18 months in prison.
Therapists associated with NARTH and Exodus were accused of sexually assaulting clients or engaging in questionable therapy practices. Among them were Alan Downing, the lead therapist of JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality), who made his patients strip and touch themselves in front of a mirror; NARTH member Christopher Austin, who was convicted of "unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly caus[ing] penetration of" a client; and Exodus-affiliated Mike Jones, who asked a patient to take off his shirt and do push-ups for him.
The movement also suffered several high-profile defections. John Evans, who had founded the first ex-gay ministry outside of San Francisco, renounced change therapy when a friend committed suicide after failing to become heterosexual. Former ex-gay Peterson Toscano, who was involved in the movement for 17 years, founded Beyond Ex-Gay, an online community for "ex-gay survivors." In 2007, Exodus co-founder Michael Bussee apologized for his role in starting the organization.
Partly as a response to the resurgence of ex-gay therapy, mainstream professional organizations also took a harder stance. From 2007 to 2009, the American Psychological Association conducted a review of all the literature on efforts to change sexual orientation. Judith Glassgold, the chair of the task force that produced the report, said the group found no scientific evidence that ex-gay therapy works. In fact, they found that it runs the risk of making patients anxious, depressed, and at times suicidal. "It provided false hope, which can be devastating," Glassgold said. "It harmed self-esteem and self-regard by focusing on the psychopathology of homosexuality." The APA now tells its members they should not engage in the practice.
In the past few years, even Exodus has begun to show cracks in its support for ex-gay therapy. The organization has softened its rhetoric, encouraging its ministries to promote celibacy rather than change in order to live in concert with their religious values. The group no longer talks about "Freedom from Homosexuality"—its motto—but about the nobility of continuing to struggle against same-sex attractions.
Exodus has also begun to distance itself from NARTH. In September of 2011, Exodus removed references to Nicolosi's books and articles from its website. In January, Exodus president Alan Chambers spoke at a meeting of the Gay Christian Network. When asked about the possibility of gay people changing their sexual orientation, Chambers—who'd once claimed that he knew of thousands of success stories—said "99.9 percent" of those who had attempted to rid themselves of same-sex attractions had failed.
There are other signs of decline. Attendance at Focus on the Family's Love Won Out conference, the movement's largest annual gathering, has dropped. Focus on the Family recently sold Love Won Out to Exodus. Ex-gay activists have less of a presence at religious-right events. Twenty years after NARTH's founding, the movement has lost its luster.
I've come to know a number of Nicolosi's former patients and others who underwent therapy with NARTH members. Part of an informal alumni network of ex-gay dropouts, we see one another occasionally at conferences and interact in the blogosphere. Perhaps the best known is Daniel Gonzales, who writes for the website Box Turtle Bulletin.
Nicolosi had also asked Daniel to participate in Spitzer's study. When Daniel left therapy, he thought he had gained valuable insight into his condition but eventually gave up trying to resist his same-sex attractions. "I wasted one and a half years of my life on the therapy," he said. "For a long time, the things Nicolosi said about gay relationships continued to haunt me." His relationships with men continually failed because he was convinced, as Nicolosi had told him, that they would fall apart as soon as he began to feel comfortable with them, at peace with his masculine self.
Nicolosi's ideas did more than haunt me. The first two years of college, they were the basis for how I saw myself: a leper with no hope of a cure. I stayed in the closet but had sexual encounters with classmates nonetheless. I became increasingly depressed but didn't go to mental-health counseling for fear that a well-meaning therapist would inform my parents that I was living the "gay lifestyle."
I planned for what I would do if my parents decided to stop paying my tuition. I would stay in New Haven and get a job. I would apply for a scholarship from the Point Foundation, which gives financial aid to gay kids whose parents have disowned them. I would not go back to Arizona. I would not see an ex-gay therapist.
I spent hours in front of the window of my third-story room, wondering whether jumping would kill or merely paralyze me. I had a prescription for Ambien and considered taking the entire bottle and perching myself on the ledge until it kicked in—a sort of insurance.
I am not sure how it all came to a head. Perhaps it was academic pressure combined with the increasing conflict between my ideals and my behavior. But in the spring of my sophomore year, the disparate parts of myself I had managed to hold together—the part of me that thought being gay was wrong, the part that slept with men anyway, the part of myself I let the world see, and the part that suffered in silence—came undone. I slept in 20-minute spurts for two nights, consumed with despair. I eyed the prescription bottles on my dresser with anxious excitement. I had reached a point at which I feared myself more than what would happen if I were gay.
Realizing how close I was to impulsively deciding to kill myself, I went to the college dean's office and said I was suicidal. He walked me over to the Department of Undergraduate Health, and I was admitted to the Yale Psychiatric Hospital. During the intake interview, I had a panic attack and handed the counselor a handwritten note that said, "Whatever happens, please don't take me away from here." I had signed my full name and dated it. More than anything, I feared going home.
It was gray and cold my first night at the hospital. I remember looking out the window of the room I was sharing with a schizophrenic. Snow covered the ground in the enclosed courtyard below. Restless, I gathered a stack of magazines from the common area and flipped through the pages, noticing the men in the fashion advertisements. I tore out the ads and put them in a clear plastic file folder. I lay down in bed and held the folder against my chest. "It's OK, it's OK, it's OK," I murmured.
I indeed had to go home for a year before returning to school. By then my father, who flew to New Haven the day I committed myself, realized that therapy—and the pressure he and my mother had placed on me—was doing more harm than good. "I'd rather have a gay son than a dead son," he said.
The ordeal was a turning point. While it took years of counseling to disabuse myself of the ideas I had learned while undergoing therapy with Nicolosi, it was the first time I encountered professionals who were affirming of my sexuality, and the first time I allowed myself to think it was all right to be gay.
Ryan, my therapy partner, was even more deeply affected. Two years ago, I came across his name in transcripts of the lawsuit against California's ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, in which he testified about the harm therapy with Nicolosi had caused. Afterward, I friended him on Facebook.
We recently met in person for the first time at a restaurant on Manhattan's West Side. It had been 12 years since we'd last spoken on the phone. At 28, Ryan had just moved to New York City from Denver to start his undergraduate studies at Columbia. He looked like he does in his Facebook pictures: solid and short, with a shaved head and large brown eyes.
Ryan had initiated dependency-and-neglect proceedings against his parents at age 16 to escape ex-gay therapy. That's when we fell out of touch. He dropped out of high school and lived intermittently with friends, then with his brother until his house was foreclosed on. Ryan had been homeless at times. He had a series of short-term jobs and for a period dealt drugs to make money but was broke most of the time. For food, on a few occasions, he filled a shopping cart with items and then ran it out of the grocery store. "I was beyond control," he said. "Something just broke in me. I was trying to destroy myself because I had internalized all the homophobia from therapy."
When did things turn around for him? A few years ago, he said, he landed a job working in an administrative-support position at the Denver Police Department. It was then that he started getting involved in gay-rights causes. "The Prop. 8 lawsuit was the first time I felt people really believed in me," he says. "I was surrounded by smart, important people, and they paid attention to me."
I could relate to that: Being at Yale was the first time I felt validated by smart, important people. I asked Ryan what he would say to Nicolosi if he were at the table.
"I'd ask him why he doesn't just stop."
I couldn't help wondering what Nicolosi would say to me, or Daniel, or Ryan. Does he feel as though he failed us? Does he think we failed him? Has hearing the stories of his former patients posted all over YouTube and the blogosphere changed his thinking? I decide to call him to find out.
I am anxious about talking to Nicolosi again, afraid of what our conversation might bring back. He knew me as an adolescent better than my parents or friends did.
When I first reach Nicolosi on the phone, he says he remembers me well and that he is surprised that I "went in the gay direction. You really seemed to get it." The conversation is quick. He is between clients, so we arrange to speak a few days later.
I call and tell him I'm recording our conversation. "I'm recording too," he jokes, "in case you say, 'Nicolosi said that gays are sick weirdos and they're perverted and they all should go to hell.'"
I chuckle. He's just as I remember him—irreverent, warm. He says he's been thinking about me since I called. I ask why, if he was so sure I had "got it," I never experienced change in my sexual orientation.
Nicolosi says his techniques have improved—now his patients focus more on the moment of sexual attraction instead of speaking generally about the cause of homosexuality. Therapy, he says, has become more effective. But part of the reason it failed for me, he says, was also that I was stuck: There were not men I could bond with, and my parents did not understand me. It's the same thing he told me throughout high school.
What about people who don't fit his model? "After almost 30 years of work, I can say to you that I've never met a single homosexual who's had a loving and respectful relationship with his father," he says. I had heard it all before.
I'm thinking, as he speaks, that for all his talk about understanding the homosexual condition, what it feels like to be gay is beyond Nicolosi's experience. For him, changing one's sexual orientation is a hypothetical proposition. He's never lived it. Only his patients have had to face the failure of his ideas.
I mention Ryan and tell Nicolosi he blames him for destroying his family. Nicolosi says he doesn't remember Ryan. But he is defensive about taking any responsibility. "For all this concern about how I damage people, where is the damage? We're currently treating 137 people. Over 30 years, don't you think there'd be a busload of people who are damaged?"
I asked him what he remembers about me. "All I can do is visualize a teenager in his room in a hot small town," he says. "You would talk to me about the loneliness, the kids at school—you really had no friends. You desperately wanted to get out."
He is trying to draw me out, get me to talk to him openly. He is the therapist, and I am once again his patient. I am reticent. I tell him I did end up leaving Arizona.
"And I encouraged you, right?" he says. "Quite honestly, Gabriel, I hope you see me as someone who didn't make you feel worse about yourself, someone who did not force you to do or believe anything about yourself that you didn't want to."
It's true that while in therapy, I did not feel coerced into believing his theories. Like nuclear fallout, the damage came later, when I realized my sexual orientation would not change. I could have told Nicolosi about my thoughts of suicide, my time in the mental institution. I could have told him that my parents still don't understand me but that I'm grown up now and it has less of a bearing on my life. I could have told him that I married a man. But I realize it wouldn't be of any use: I've changed since I left therapy, but Nicolosi has not. For years I shared my innermost thoughts and feelings with him. Now I want to keep this for myself.


text:
Cognitive development
Prentice-Hall, 1977 - Psychology - 286 pages
Cutting-edge and "big-picture" in perspective, this popular introduction to cognitive development focuses on both the fascinating nature of children's thinking and the excitement and change in work in this area. Using an integrated topical approach, it explores the developmental aspects of social cognition, perception, memory, and language. Theoretically balanced, it considers the full spectrum of approaches--from Piaget's developmental stages, to information-processing (including connectionism), dynamic systems, contextual, theory-change, neo-Piagetian, evolutionary, neuroscience, and constraint approaches. Infant Perception. Infant Cognition. Representation and Concepts. Reasoning and Problem Solving. Social Cognition/Theory of Mind. Memory. Language. For anyone interested in child development, including parents, students, and those in psychology, social work, education, etc.
From inside the book
51 pages matching reason in this book
Where's the rest of this book?
Results 1-3 of 51
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ability acoustic dimension acquired acquisition actions adolescence adult assimilation attention baby basic become behavior centration changes Chap cognitive development cognitive growth cognitive processes cognitive system concrete-operational conservation course described developmental developmental psychologists differentiation earlier early childhood environment example experience experimenter fact Flavell formal-operational function human identity imitation infant initial input instance interesting kind knowledge learning logical look means memory strategies ment mental metacognition metamemory middle-childhood mnemonic object concept object permanence older ontogenesis patterns perceptual person Piaget Piagetian possible present problem psychological psychologists questions reason recall referent rehearsal relation remember retrieval schemes semiotic sense sensory-motor sequence seriation skills social attachment social cognition sort specific speech perception spontaneously Stage stimulus storage structure subjects symbolic task situation theory things thinking tion transitive inference understanding verbal versus visual visual percepts visual system Wohlwill young child younger
References to this book
Cognitive development
John H. Flavell,Ellen M. Markman
Snippet view - 1983
All Book Search results »
Development in Judging Moral Issues
Limited preview - 1989


text:
May God Almighty prosper you and bless you in all areas of your life and prosper you and bless you in all departments of your life.
May this day be filled with wonders, joy and happiness. You will know no sorrow, pains or anguish.
I pray that as you grow, that God Almighty will increase you in knowledge, wisdom and understanding. And most importantly in His deep love of God's abundant mercy and love.
🌸 Happy Birthday 🎂


text:
Deer season is over, but there are still many quarries for the outdoor sportsman or wannabe to enjoy this "Free Hunt" weekend.
This weekend, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will offer "free hunt days," which offers a chance for unlicensed hunters to get into the field.
Deer season in South Carolina ended on Tuesday, but all existing seasons, bag limits and methods of take still apply, DRN said. DNR strongly suggests that all hunters check the "2012-2013 Rules and Regulations" for more information and pertinent changes to related law.
Free hunting days are available only to South Carolina residents and apply to all lands in which hunting is allowed, including private lands and Wildlife Management Areas throughout that state that are not otherwise closed to hunting.
South Carolina residents are legally allowed to hunt without a state hunting license, WMA permit or Migratory Waterfowl Permit (formerly State Duck Stamp), according to DNR.
They do not waive any Federal requirements for a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (Federal Duck Stamp), to hunt migratory waterfowl and does not open WMA's that were not previously open for hunting.
DNR is also sanctioning a "Youth Deer Hunt Day" on Saturday. Hunters ages 17 and younger can hunt deer as long as they are accompanied by a licensed adult 21 or older. Only the minors may take or attempt to take game, and license requirements are waived for the youth hunter.


text:
The art of war.
Maybe you think Pikachu would look better with some big
tentacles." Perhaps you want to create a mighty dragon named Trogdor to
burninate some villagers."Or
maybe you just want a walking, dancing pair of butt cheeks.
At long last, there's a tool for your dark, creative desires: Magic
Pengel, a monster creation and fighting game."While the game bits aren't
up to speed, the doodles you create can be as rewarding as your own imagination."
Long ago, the Spirit of Creation made Man and Doodles." Man was given the
gift of free will, while Doodles were granted a free body, the ability to be
manipulated and altered by those with the gift." You are one of the few gifted
with the power to create Doodles." With these powers, you must free the realm
from a cruel king.
power of Doodle creation lies in Magic Pengel's Doodle Sketchbook."
While the menu interface is a little clunky, creating a Doodle creature is pretty
easy." As someone with a good working knowledge of 3D design programs, I'm pretty
impressed by the ease and reward in making a creature." The various steps of
design, modeling, texturing and animation are all rolled into one.
You begin by creating an outline for the body; the game automatically turns
your shape into a 3D object." After creating an ample body, you can select and
draw in the other features." When you first start playing, you can only add
limited parts; as you beat major challenges, you earn the ability to draw in
legs and other appendages.
The animations for the creatures are preset, but for the most part they work
well enough." Since you designate which part is part while creating your
creature, the game knows enough information to swing the arms and bounce the body."
If there is a major animation error, such as parts clipping into one another,
you can preview the animations and make corrections."
The abilities of your beastie are dependent upon the colors you use." As you
compete in battles, you earn more colors for your palette." The size of your
creature is still capped by a line limit, but as you increase in level, you
will be allotted more lines to increase your creature's size and abilities.
After you've made a drawing of mass destruction, it's time to make it fight."
The battle system of Magic Pengel works on a system similar
to rock/paper/scissors, but instead it's attack/magic/block." Attacks break
through blocks, blocks bounce back magic, and magic negates an attack.
A creature with a major statistical advantage will practically always win,
but when two Doodles have similar characteristics, the key to winning are the
second and third moves when you must try to react off their initial attacks.
A selection cannot be done twice in a row, so after one attack, there are only
two possible next moves for your opponent to make.
Problematically, this means there's too much random uncertainty, since each
of the three has a relatively equal statistical margin for defeat." Once you
make one mistake, the odds of another are greater. It really is just like playing
a game of rock/paper/scissors, and usually that game only lasts for about 10
the basic three moves, there is also a charge to boost the subsequent attack
and refill some life energy." I find this move less strategically sound since
it leaves you open to any of the other three moves." Even if you refill some
health, you are leaving yourself at risk.
Thankfully, Magic Pengel keeps the focus on creature creation
and development." Losing matches doesn't end the game; the game rewards you
with more color points just for trying." Eventually, with enough playing, you'll
wield a mighty beast and trounce the competition.
Navigating the environments of Magic Pengel is done through
a first-person interface." While the controls are similar to the dual-stick
setup of any console first person shooter, the environment is filled with invisible
walls and limiting rails."
What's really annoying is the fact that in order to save or work on your Doodles,
you must truck all the way back to your seaside shanty." When you want to fight
in minor tournaments to build up your skill, you must go to one arena; when
you are ready for the major matches, you must trek all the way to the other
side of town. Getting around is more taxing than immersive.
Magic Pengel would have been much better as a PC game." The
first-person interface would have worked better and it would have been easier
to trade Doodles.
Nonetheless, the images and visuals are bright and colorful, using a cel-shaded
look reminiscent of
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker." But the framerate isn't nearly as
smooth, nor are there the vivid effects of Wind Waker. The
Doodle creations look much cheaper than the environments, but I guess that's
part of the charm.
The music isn't particularly memorable, but the voices work well, especially
since most people are speaking directly to you. I only wish the lip synching
was better.
Magic Pengel is stuck in a tenuous spot between target age
groups." Even though the bright colors and designs point towards a younger audience,
I doubt most will have the patience to make a good monster."And for anyone older,
the appeal of a dancing butt only lasts for so long.
Magic Pengel certainly stands out as an innovative piece
of software. But as an actual game, it isn't so hot. The painting is cool and
the characters are likeable, but this is more about your own imagination than
your own fun."