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I was sitting at my desk in middle school taking a test. My hands had always been cold; dubbed "The Hands of Death" by my older brother. In fact, often when I was chilly (which was all day, every day) I would put my hands on the back of my father's neck which I had found was always warm. I had seen an episode of Smallville in which the villain, through some radioactive experiment, had been genetically mutated so that he had to steal body heat to warm up. I felt like that was the future I had to look forward to.
But this particular day, I felt something I hadn't experienced before. My hands began to tingle and turn moist. It slipped down my pen and as I looked in bewilderment, I noticed something frighteningly odd. They were a bright red, a color I had never seen skin turn before comparable to the color of raw beef. The veins on the top of my hands stood out, a bright purple. And my fingers had swollen to the size of small link sausages. The stiffened up and burnt as if I was running them under water that was too hot. I searched for something, anything, that would cool them down so I grabbed the metal bar on my desk. It felt like ice. It took a good thirty minutes before they cooled down to their typical chilly temperature.
The same thing happened a good ten or so times before I alerted my mom that something was wrong with my hands. Though she was concerned, she wasn't immediately worried so she scheduled a doctor's appointment about a month out. Meanwhile, my feet began do the same as my hands. It came to a point where my hands and feet were more often red and scorching than purple and freezing. It was painful, embarrassing, and scary. I had no clue what my body was doing. When it came time for my appointment, the doctor said it sounded like a vascular-spastic disorder called Raynaud's Syndrome. She prescribed a hand cream, but the ingredients were so rare that none of the pharmacists in our area were able to make it.
My hands and feet began to swing viciously between the beet red and icy purple. Many times, the tips of my fingers and toes would turn a gray color with cold and in a matter of minutes would heat up to the point where beads of sweat would drip off of them. When they got that hot, I would hold ice packs until they began to cool down; sometimes it took up to an hour until the temperature dropped.
A few years later I went to a podiatrist who had treated Raynaud's before. He told me that he needed to do tests to make sure I didn't have any auto-immune disorders commonly linked with Raynaud's such as arthritis. In the meantime, I was to take Aspirin daily to thin my blood out so it could squeeze through veins that had tightened closed during fits of spasms. Unfortunately, it didn't change anything. The next appointment it was confirmed that I didn't have arthritis and my blood count was normal; however, my blood pressure was fairly low. The doctor said it may also be a possibility that I had Erythromelalgia, exactly the opposite of Raynaud's disorder. See, with Raynaud's ,vascular spasms choke blood flow and cause a drop in temperature due to a lack of blood flow. But Erythromelalgia causes fingers and toes to overheat due to a pooling of blood in these areas also due to a lack of blood flow. I felt stuck; I just wanted to know what was wrong with me.
He put me on a blood pressure medication for the calcium channel blockers which were supposed to relax the veins and prevent such dramatic spasms. The first week on the medication was miserable. My blood pressure, already abnormally low, had dropped significantly and my brain didn't receive the flow that it needed. I fell over several times, I wasn't able to see straight when I was walking, and any exercise wore me out completely. However, I noticed no difference in my hands and feet. After I had finished the bottle of medication I quit taking it. The next appointment, the doctor took a different approach. He prescribed hats.
I was literally told I had to wear a hat to prevent heat from escaping. Being the diva that I am, I was devastated. The first day I spent searching for any hat I wouldn't mind wearing in public. The very next day, I went to school in a pink knit hat avoiding stared and questions. At one point I tried to turn that root of embarrassment into a point of pride, "bragging" that I was allowed to wear hats in school. In the end I wasn't any more proud; in fact, I just felt like a freak. I mean, who gets prescribed hats? Only people who are afraid to hold other people's hands because they're embarrassingly hot or cold. Only people who try to hide their hands in pictures and videos because they're obviously always discolored.
There was one time I was at a boyfriend's house having dinner with his family. During prayer we all held hands and I was next to my boyfriend's older brother. My hands burned and moistened, but I tried to ignore it and I held his hand with as much false confidence as I could manage. After prayer, Nathan, then 22, blurted out "Well, Lauren sure is hot! She's sweating like a pig over here!" I know I turned crimson and no one came to my defense. I'm guessing no one else thought it was a big deal or thought much of it. But to me, I would rather people pretend that my hands and feet don't exist. Whenever I'm cold or hot, someone always feels it's their responsibility to point out how discolored my skin is, as if i couldn't tell already. All I can say is "Yes, yes they are red. They do that sometimes."
Within the past year they've gotten better. They only act up when I exercise or get nervous. Perhaps I'm becoming normal again, or maybe I'm just getting better at ignoring my problem. But no matter how used to it I get, I know other people will never get used to it. I will always get " Wow! You're hands are cold!" or "Your feet are really red." And I suppose that's what really bothers me even more than the physical pain. I mean, I know that no one means to be offensive or hurtful, but I'm aware that sweaty, beet red hands are repulsive. The last thing anyone wants is for their unavoidable faults to be called out.


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A scathing account of the notorious political career of Peru's president from 1990 to 2002, The Fall of Fujimori shows a seemingly sincere man's reign of corruption and scandal, violence and murder. Using terrific news video and once-in-a-lifetime interviews including a telling session with Fujimori himself, Ellen Perry's documentary is a frightening portrait of power run wild.
Ellen Perry has struck the magic chord, documentary-wise, with The Fall of Fujimori; every step in this man's career is covered by actual news footage, requiring only a few statements by journalists to fill in the blanks. Ex-wife (and now Peruvian congresswoman) Susana Higuchi is used sparingly, but Alberto's star-struck and opportunistic daughter Keiko (also now a congresswoman) is so transparent an interview subject that she practically gives away the game on her own. In broadcast file tapes, when her mother rebels citing Alberto's outrageous corruption and duplicity, Keiko goes on camera to publicly ask why 'mother is being so heartless to the family.'
The recent history depicted in The Fall of Fujimori is particularly chilling in that it reminds us of our own situation. To fight dedicated revolutionaries Fujimori conspires with the villainous Montesinos to form Death Squads and inquisition-like Star Chamber military courts -- the 'Dirty War.' Power corrupts, and the two of them concurrently run a 'terror war' against opposition and dissent in Peruvian society. With news outlets censored, Fujimori's popularity rises; only later do we find out that Fujimori and Montesinos are suppressing the political opposition with bribes and threats, even bombing one senator's house. Once Fujimori dismisses democratic safeguards and runs his government in secret, the door is open to corruption, false arrests, kidnappings and murder.
The video offered to illustrate all this is breathtaking. We see the actual Death Squads in action and watch as the Dean of the Lima Bar Association is threatened and beaten by soldiers on the street. The equally repulsive Shining Path guru Abimael Guzmán is 'premiered' to the press wearing a silent-movie style prisoner's outfit, chained inside a giant iron cage like King Kong.
Ms. Perry's Ace in the hole is her interview with Fujimori himself. The now-elderly little man negotiates a Japanese airport, addresses a group of Japanese conservatives (to promote his book about defeating terrorism) and dines with friends including the hotelier who will later become his wife in exile. The inoffensive-looking Fujimori talks carefully around his scandals, acting amused that such absurd calumny against him could ever be believed. He has a telltale habit of pursing his lips and refocusing his eyes after some questions, that gives us the impression of a man weighing how effectively he has lied.
We become convinced that the documentary is not part of a conspiracy against the ex-president because all concerned describe him as a micro-manager who worked daily with Montesinos on many issues. Fujimori denies having much contact with Montesinos, at which point Perry cuts to home video footage of the two men discussing what seems to be a secret deal right at the Fujimori dinette table. Alberto guardedly asks his son Hiro (who is behind the camera) if he is recording audio ...
Needless to add, a lot of this material must be seen to be believed. The sight of Fujimori climbing the stairs of the liberated Japanese Embassy, stepping proudly over the dead bodies of the rebels, is priceless.
The Fall of Fujimori is briskly edited and careful to fully identify all the players and concepts. It certainly does not promote the rebels, and shows us the bloody aftermath of an apartment building blown up by The Shining Path. Editorial tricks are avoided, but a Latin version of the theme from Zorba the Greek is repeated a couple of times over scenes of police brutality and massacres.
Cinema Libre's DVD of The Fall of Fujimori is handsomely presented in a good enhanced transfer. The video footage from Peruvian television looks particularly great. Audio is in Spanish and English with some Japanese. Extras include an Ellen Perry commentary, an interview with her conducted by Leonard Maltin and deleted scenes dealing with the suppression of the Peruvian press and Montesinos' arms deal with Columbian rebels. A text update extra tells us where the main 'players' are as of June 2006.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
The Fall of Fujimori rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Commentary and interview with director Ellen Perry, deleted scenes, 'character' updates
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: October 9, 2006
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subset: commoncrawl


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Shrews in seventh heaven
Shrewsbury Town smashed seven past Northampton Town at the Sixfields Stadium.
Managerless Northampton were 3-0 down at half time with a brace from Mark Wright then a goal from Terry Gornell on the stroke of half time.
The Cobblers started the second half well and clawed a goal back through Ben Tozer. The last ten minutes of the game saw five goals - four of which for Shewsbury to record a 7-2 away win.
Shrewsbury boss Graham Turner, was somewhat modest about his team performance "It's a great result but just another three points towards our tally which we hope will be enough at the end of the season to take us up. Now we must look ahead to Morecambe next week."
David Lee, Northampton's Caretaker manager said: "The players need to have a long hard look at themselves. They let themselves down but they don't become bad footballers overnight. It was poor decision-making and some bad defending."
Elsewhere in league two Southend and Crawley both registered wins to remain top two in the league. Southend beat struggling Dagenham and Redbridge 3-2 in a thrilling tie while Crawley beat Oxford United 4-1 with two goals in ten minutes from Tyrone Barnett getting them off to a perfect start.
Burton Albion scored twice in injury time to win 3-2 against Hereford at Edgar Street. Aaron Webster and Billy Kee both found the net when it seemed the game was out of reach in order to claim all three points and more their side up to 4th in the table.
Third-place Cheltenham scored twice in the second half to record a comfortable home victory over Port Vale. Darren Duffy's 55th-minute penalty got Town on their way and Luke Summerfield found the net on 69 minutes to secure the win.
Max Clayton came off the bench to score a dramatic winner for Crewe and clinch a 2-1 victory after Morecombe looked to be heading to their second successive home win.
Rotherham recorded a 3-2 away victory at the hands of struggling Bradford City at the Coral Windows Stadium. City were heading for a 3-1 defeat before Michael Flynn scored from the spot deep into stoppage time.
Eunan O'Kane's early second half brace was enough to earn Torquay three points over Plymouth at Plainmoor. A sixty-ninth minute goal from Danny Stevens saw Torquay go 3-0 up before Will Atkinson pulled a goal back for Plymouth in the 78th minute.
Swindon Town rescued a draw away to AFC Wimbledon to extend their unbeaten run to ten games. Wimbledon looked the most likely to go on to win but it wasn't to be and the points were shared.
Two first half goals from Frank Nouble and Chris Whelpdale for Gillinghm were enough to see off a late rally from Aldershot Town. Scott Davies come off the bench for Town to score and make way for a late rally at The EEB Stadium.
Barnet secured a crucial 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers to pull away from the drop zone, whilst Macclesfield Town and Accrington Stanley shared the spoils at Moss Rose.News Now - Sport News


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The CIMA Plenary is the highest authority within CIMA. Here you will find all documentation for the 2019 CIMA Plenary meeting. The agenda and many other useful documents may be found in the Documents and reports page or on the FAI portal at: https://www.fai.org/page/cima-meetings. Proposals for amendments to Sporting Code Section 10 are made in their own part of the wiki. If you're wondering what the CIMA Bureau has been up to since the last plenary, see [CIMA Bureau - 2019 business]
The agenda will be published shortly after the deadline for proposals (see below).
A registration page will be set up before the meeting.
Date 21-23 November, Ramada Majestic Hotel, Bucharest, Romania Schedule of events
In the build-up to this meeting, they are all in the Calendar which you can subscribe to on your PC, mobile phone Etc.
Recently Updated


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Saving The Internet Through Storytelling/
Today's guest post is by John S. Johnson. The Harmony Institute, a research group that John runs, is offering a free new guide to help combat the Telecom's tales in their efforts to end net neutrality. Here he explains a bit of the why and wherefore you need to download it (for free!) and read it NOW. In 2010 it's easy to forget how profoundly the Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate, interact and access information. When you logged on this morning to check your email, bank statement, or local news you may not have noticed that there are very few limits placed on the sites and services you have access to. While some people must crash the couch of their best friend to catch the latest HBO release, since he's subscribed to all premium cable channels while they're still stuck with rabbit ears on their TV, no one has an edge over anyone else when it comes to what we can access on the Internet.
Yet this principle of net neutrality that allows all sites, services and applications on the Internet to have equal access to consumers, and vice versa, is being fundamentally threatened. Today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is looking to revise rules that have kept Internet Service Providers (ISPs) at bay for decades. These companies, like AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon, would love to become the gatekeepers of the Internet, reserving preferential bandwidth for those sites and services that make them the most money.
And I can guarantee you HopeForFilm is not one of those sites. While offering thoughtful critique of the film industry, HopeForFilm, like most online communities that have sprung forth from inspiring ideas that can only be fostered online, will perish if service fees force all but the super-rich from accessing and producing online content.
While there's a broad coalition of supporters that lobby for responsible telecommunications reform ensuring net neutrality, the issue has been bogged down for years in technical and policy jargon. The conversation has stayed behind closed doors, not because it won't have a drastic and potentially life-altering effect on Americans, but because those leading the fight for net neutrality have predominately favored petitioning Washington over telling the compelling story of how the loss of an open Internet will affect our daily lives.
Recently my research group, the Harmony Institute, published a communications guide that hopes to bring much needed attention to this pressing issue. FTW! Net Neutrality For The Win: How Entertainment and the Science of Influence Can Save Your Internet was written to inform people working in a diverse range of fields, including media and entertainment, on the looming threat posed to the open Internet. The guide is part of our mission to harness the power of entertainment and mass media to tell stories about key social issues, such as the fight for net neutrality, that will resonate with a broad audience and promote action.
The guide explains how we can use the untapped potential of narrative to increase support for net neutrality. Telling stories about how vital the open Internet is to our livelihoods is the key to getting people to take notice and take action. Using recent polling results and behavioral science theory, the guide offers seven communication recommendations that can be applied to new media projects, as well as existing media campaigns.
I truly believe that today is the day for you to invest in igniting a broader, more passionate conversation about net neutrality. It may be easy to allow this concern to take a back seat when an unstable economy, violent conflict abroad, and an environmental catastrophe dominate our headlines. But you realize that the open Internet, safeguarded by net neutrality, influences how we understand and interact with almost everything else we care about, it's clear that maintaining our rights in this respect is not only a personal, but also a national priority.
So, how do you get started? I encourage you to download Net Neutrality For The Win today, and become part of the rapidly growing community of Americans who care deeply about preserving the open Internet for all. Its free and it will help you be more persuasive with your friends and readers, online and offline around this issue that is going to affect each of us. Get your free manual here: www.savemyinternet.com [link: http://savemyinternet.com]
The New York Times profiled John and The Harmony Institute earlier this week.
John S. Johnson is the Director of the Harmony Institute, a research group that studies the application of behavioral science to communication in media. He consults with media creatives, socially conscious film funds, and production companies to help their work achieve concrete, positive change in specific target constituencies. Johnson is also the co-founder of Buzzfeed.com, a trend detector and platform for transmitting contagious media. In 1997, he founded EYEBEAM, a MacArthur and NEA funded non-profit art and technology laboratory in New York City. John is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and editor of a book in production titled "The Atlas of Art and Capital: Business Models of Art Production for Artists from 340BC to the Present".


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Microsoft has released its monthly update for September 2007. Four updates are included, with one designated critical, and three important. One previously included patch to Sharepoint Server was not released.
The four included patches are MS07-51, MS07-52, MS07-53, and MS07-54. MS07-51 is the "Critical" patch, and affects remote code execution under Windows 2000 SP4; XP and Vista users are not affected.
MS07-52 and MS07-54 also deal with remote execution in a wide variety of Visual Studio and Windows products. Windows Messenger 8.1 is not affected by MS07-54, but other versions of MSN are. As for MS07-53, it's an elevation of privilege attack that deals with Windows Services for Unix in Win2K, XP, Server 2003, and Vista.


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451 3rd Avenue, SUITE 1
Fax: 570-288-7130
Kingston Office
1081 Oak Street
Fax: 570-288-7130
Pittston Office
Alcohol and Your Child: What Parents Need to Know
ASDs Family Handout—Behavioral Challenges
ASDs Family Handout—Discussing the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) With Your Child
ASDs Family Handout—Early Intervention Services
ASDs Family Handout—Emergency Information Form For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)
ASDs Family Handout—Financial Assistance and Related Programs for Families
ASDs Family Handout—Gastrointestinal Problems
ASDs Family Handout—Guardianship
ASDs Family Handout—Health Care Transition: Moving From Adolescence to Adulthood
ASDs Family Handout—Inclusion: Elementary School
ASDs Family Handout—Inclusion: Middle and High School
ASDs Family Handout—Intervention Approaches Used for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
ASDs Family Handout—Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine
ASDs Family Handout—Lab Tests
ASDs Family Handout—Medications and Your Child
ASDs Family Handout—Nutrition and Eating Problems
ASDs Family Handout—School-based Services
ASDs Family Handout—Seizures and Epilepsy
ASDs Family Handout—Sibling Issues
ASDs Family Handout—Sleep Problems
ASDs Family Handout—Talking About Sexuality for Parents of Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders
ASDs Family Handout—Teaching Social Skills
ASDs Family Handout—The Medical Home for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
ASDs Family Handout—Toilet Training
ASDs Family Handout—Vaccines
ASDs Family Handout—Visiting the Doctor
ASDs Family Handout—Wandering Off (Elopement)
Bullying: It's Not OK
Child Sexual Abuse
Choosing Quality Child Care: What's Best for Your Family?
Crying Child - 3 Months and Older
Dangers of Secondhand Smoke
Discipline and Your Child
Drug Abuse Prevention Starts With Parents
Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia
Everybody Gets Mad: Helping Your Child Cope with Conflict
Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents: Information for Children and Parents
Growing Independence: Tips for Parents of Young Children
Help Stop Teenage Suicide
Helping Your Child Cope With Death
Helping Your Child Cope With Life
Hitting (Spanking)
Home Drug Testing: What Parents Need to Know
Imaging Tests: A Look Inside Your Child's Body
Important Information for Teens Who Get Headaches
Inhalants: What You Need to Know
Learning Disabilities: What Parents Need to Know
Listen, Refuse to
Marijuana: What Parents Need to Know
Mealtime Hassles
Morning Hassles
Newborn Reflexes and Behavior
Ratings: Making Healthy Media Choices
Sibling Relationships
Sibling Rivalry
Smokeless Tobacco: What You Need to Know
Substance Abuse Prevention
Talking With Your Teen About Sex
Talking With Your Young Child About Sex
Tattooing and Body Piercing
Teaching Good Behavior: Tips on How to Discipline
Teen Dating Violence: Tips for Parents
Teen Suicide, Mood Disorder, and Depression
Temper Tantrums
The Risks of Tobacco Use
Thumbs, Fingers, and Pacifiers
Toilet Training
Urinary Tract Infections in Young Children
What is a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician?
What Is ADHD?
What is Clean Intermittent Catheterization?
What Is Your One-Year-Old Telling You?
What to Do for ADHD
Your Child's Mental Health: When to Seek Help and Where to Get Help
Pediatric Associates of Kingston, LLC


text:
image from vibe.com
Barely three years old, MTV launched its first video music awards in 1984. They handed out the awards on September 14 at New York's Radio City Music Hall in a show hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Akyrokyd. The big nominees of the night were The Police's "Every Breath You Take" (winning for Best Cinematography) and Herbie Hancock's "Rock-It", each with eight nominations. Cyndi Lauper received nine total nominations for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (6) and "Time after Time" (3).
Hancock was the big winner of the night taking home five trophies (Special Effects, Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Art Direction, Editing). The Cars took the prize for Video of the Year with "You Might Think". Best Male Video went to David Bowie's "China Girl" while Lauper's "Girls" won for Best Female Video. ZZ Top's "Legs" garnered the award for Best Group Video and their "Sharp Dressed Man" snagged Best Direction.
Other "Moonmen" awards – they were nicknamed for the astronaut statuette inspired by MTV's then-logo – went to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (Best Overall Performance, Best Choreography, Viewers' Choice), the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" (Best New Artist), Van Halen's "Jump" (Best Stage Performance).
In addition to performances from Bowie and ZZ Top, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis & the News, Rod Stewart, and Ray Parker Jr. all performed. However, it was Madonna who stole the show with her performance of "Like a Virgin" during which she slunk around on the floor in a wedding dress.
Note: seven of the videos which won awards that night appear on the DMDB list of the top 100 videos of all time: "Thriller" (#2), "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (28), "Every Breath You Take" (29), "Rock-It" (30), "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" (34), "You Might Think" (39), and "Legs" (97).
Resources and Related Links:
- Dave's Music Database: the top 100 videos of all time
- MTV: 1984 Video Music Awards
- Wikipedia: 1984 MTV Video Music Awards


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Billionaire Says Her Kids Aren't Fit for Inheritance
If you ask the rich about the biggest problem created from their wealth, they will usually say their kids.
Most of today's self-made rich didn't grow up with money (surveys show 75% of millionaires didn't inherit their wealth). And today's rich parents expect their kids to grow up with middle-class values– just as they did.
It's a noble goal. But when those parents are flying the kids around on a private jet or giving them a Mercedes for their Sweet 16, it should come as no surprise that their kids lack the same work ethic and hustle as a middle-class kid.
And so wealthy parents today face an inevitable choice: leaving boatloads of money to kids who aren't good with money.
Gina Rinehart, the Australian mining billionaire, has cracked open the debate with a strange court battle winding its way through the Australian legal system. In short, Ms. Rinehart inherited a mining empire from her dad. Her three kids were also left with a stake in the family trust. Yet Ms. Rinehart shut them out of their ownership stakes, and now the kids are fighting back.
Court documents cited in the Australian media show that Ms. Rinehart believed the kids weren't fit to manage their fortune. She said none had ever held a real job, unless it was given to them by the family. "None of the plaintiffs (her children) has the requisite capacity or skill, nor the knowledge, experience, judgment or responsible work ethic to administer a trust in the nature of the trust in particular as part of the growing HPPL Group," she claimed in court papers.
She added that the kids are "manifestly unsuitable" to manage the fund and that it would be in the "best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work."
Ms. Rinehart may well be right. But it raises a natural question: who raised these kids? And if Ms. Rinehart played a role, isn't she basically using her own parenting as the reason to cut them out?
Granted, kids are only partially shaped by the parents. But for a rich parent to criticize their kids as lacking a work ethic seems, well, a bit rich.
Do you think it's fair for rich parents to criticize their kids for being spoiled?


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Series: KUED Productions
Preparing for Disaster: Starting Now
Download: Utah Emergency Preparedness Guide (PDF 1.2mb)
A geological feature known as the Wasatch Fault spans from Southern Idaho to Central Utah. Roughly 80 percent of Utah's population lives along the fault, often in unreinforced masonry homes such as brick.
The one-hour documentary includes interviews with the victims of the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes, Hurricane Sandy and the Herriman, Utah wildfires. From their stories, along with advice from emergency experts, viewers learn practical tips for starting their own personal emergency plans.
Taking an all-hazards approach to emergency preparedness, Preparing for Disaster demonstrates how to create emergency communication plans, and walks viewers through the process of building a 72-hour kit. The program also highlights community efforts to organize and prepare, including a look at the earthquake plan at Salt Lake City's Madeleine Choir School.
Build or Purchase a 72 Hour Kit
Information reposted from 72hours.org
After a major disaster the usual services we take for granted, such as running water, refrigeration, and telephones, may be unavailable. Experts recommend that you should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least three days. Store your household disaster kit in an easily accessible location. Put contents in a large, watertight container (e.g. a large plastic garbage can with a lid and wheels) that you can move easily.
Your basic emergency kit should include:
- Water – one gallon per person per day
- Food – ready to eat or requiring minimal water
- Manual can opener and other cooking supplies
- Plates, utensils and other feeding supplies
- First Aid kit & instructions
- A copy of important documents & phone numbers
- Warm clothes and rain gear for each family member.
- Heavy work gloves
- Disposable camera
- Unscented liquid household bleach and an eyedropper for water purification
- Personal hygiene items including toilet paper, feminine supplies, hand sanitizer and soap
- Plastic sheeting, duct tape and utility knife for covering broken windows
- Tools such as a crowbar, hammer & nails, staple gun, adjustable wrench and bungee cords.
- Blanket or sleeping bag
- Large heavy duty plastic bags and a plastic bucket for waste and sanitation
- Any special-needs items for children, seniors or people with disabilities. Don't forget water and supplies for your pets.
Utah Preparedness Resources
|State of Utah Department of Emergency Services
|Utah Department of Health
|Be Ready Utah
|Utah Citizen Corps / CERT Training
|Utah's Medical Reserve Corps Programs
|Utah Chapter, American Red Cross
|Utah Emergency Preparedness Guide
(Link to our booklet as a PDF)
|Rocky Mountain Power (Outages & Emergencies)
(877) 548-3768
|Questar Gas (Line breaks, Leaks, and Odors)
(800) 541-2824
Emergency Planning
|Daily Bread, Freeze Dried Food Storage
|Build a 72 Hour Kit
|Family Emergency Plan
National Resources
After the Disaster
|Recovering from Disaster
|Family and Friends Safe and Well Registration
|Mobile Phone Use During an Emergency


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Squash and Rice Casserole (Vegetarian or not)
Submitted by Teresa G.
I am finally back to cooking after what felt to me a lifetime away! We all have journeys in life – up and down – boy it felt good to get back to recipes and my Instant Pot.Notice in the photo, my elderly cat Valentina is savouring the smells coming from my latest dish. She is hoping for a taste, however, I keep reminding her she is NOT a vegetarian! She does like to keep a watchful eye on my cooking!As it is fall, there are plenty of harvest vegetables from your gardens and from the stores….a huge variety of pumpkins, squashes to be had! So good for you. Here is what I tried and was delighted with:
Squash and Rice Casserole – Pressure Cooked in an InstantPot
- 2 tbsp of oil (do not waste your olive oil as it loses in value when heated – becomes like any other oil. Olive oil is great cold) One large or two smaller onions peeled and finely chopped (food processor)
- 2 sticks of celery finely chopped (food processor)
- 2 carrots, washed and finely chopped (food processor)
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped (food processor)
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1 tsp dried or fresh thyme (this also was from my garden)
- 6-8 white mushrooms quartered or leave out if you do not like mushrooms
- 2 – 3 cups of vegetable stock if vegetarian – chicken broth if not . PLEASE READ BOTTOM NOTE ABOUT RICE WATER RATIO* About 9-10 ounces of brown rice – I use California brown as it cooks fast
- 27 ounce tin of chopped tomatoes, liquid and all Flesh of squash – I used a smaller butternut squash and a medium sized zucchini – one of my friends substituted pumpkin and it was very good. I peel the squash, deseed it and cut into one inch cubes Salt and pepper
- In the Instant pot I put the sauté function on medium and I heat the oil. I sauté the onions, celery, carrots and red pepper for about 5 minutes.
- I now add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and heat for another minute. Then add the mushrooms and stir for 1 minute. Add the rice, mix it all together. Transfer all into a crock, corningware or metal bowl – any bowl that will fit the pressure cooker with a lid or that can be covered with aluminum foil. *Add the tomatoes and the 2-3 cups of stock for a sticky rice. If you prefer your rice NOT to be sticky use one cup rice to 1 ¼ cups of liquid. Take into account liquid in the can of tomatoes. Now stir in the squashes.
- Put about an inch and a half of water into the pressure cooker. Place the bowl with all the ingredients mixed on a flat trivet into the pot. Cover the pot with a lid or tightly with aluminum foil. Place pressure cooker lid on securely and pressure cook on rice setting. If you are really saavy you can leave the ingredients directly in the pressure cooker pot but you may risk burning on the bottom if the water ratio is incorrect. I have done this…..thank God for the InstantPot Stainless steel pot…so easy to clean up if that happens.
- It is done, colourful and delicious.
3 Responses to "Squash and Rice Casserole (Vegetarian or not)"
Oh, my, I got busy and forgot to try it. But I will! Thanks for the reminder.


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Adrian Santangelo
From ForensicsWiki
Revision as of 17:53, 24 April 2012 by Adrian Santangelo (Talk | contribs) (Adjusted "Deputy" title slightly.)
He currently owns and operates Interpreting Technology, an information technology consulting firm. In Feb 2012, he was sworn in as a Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy, commissioned for computer crime and forensics. The eventual goal is to branch out as a law enforcement team leader for digital forensics, focusing on northwest Washington state. Currently held (or close to acquiring) certifications include: MCP, MNE, A+, Security+, Network+, MCSE, CCNA, CEH, CISSP, CCE, EnCE, CHFI
On this wiki, Adrian Santangelo is known as User:Adrian Santangelo.


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Pepper-spraying has already become a meme and a part of holiday shopping. Now it's a trend on high school campuses as well.
The Times reports that a student at Banana Kelly High School in the Bronx pepper-sprayed at least 14 people today, including students and the principal. NBC puts the number of victims at 20 or more, and says four to five were hospitalized. This is the third New York City school pepper-spraying since the beginning of November — previous incidents in the Bronx and Harlem affected over 20 students in total.
There's no word yet on why the Kelly High student thought it was a good idea to spray his or her classmates and principal, or whether criminal charges will be filed. But it seems clear that since its use against Occupy protesters, pepper spray has become a popular weapon for kids and enraged shoppers alike. Good thing it's just a food product.
Students, Principal Overcome By Pepper Spray At School [NBC New York]
Students And Principal Are Pepper-Sprayed At Bronx High School [NYT]
Earlier: What You Should Know About Pepper Spray, The 'Food Product' That Can Kill You
Image via hd connelly/Shutterstock.com


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Widnes Vikings, Halton Stadium, Lower House Lane, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 7DZ
The Early Years
The Farnworth & Appleton Cricket Club was formed in 1871 and four years later the members decided to embrace the burgeoning football code. At their fourth annual evening party in the Drill Hall, Widnes, in November 1875, club Chairman Henry Lea "gave a short account of the club since it commenced about four years ago, and indicated that they had now started a football club in conexion (sic) with it, and hoped all would join".
The first known game for the new Farnworth and Appleton FC was in Widnes in January 1876 played under rugby rules against Northwich Victoria. A few weeks later a return match was played at Drill Field, Northwich, under soccer rules. Vics won both games. These are the only two known fixtures in that truncated first season.
By May 1876 the club had changed its name to Widnes FC and the cricket side of the organsiation had disbanded, presumably to concentrate on football activities. By the late 1870s the club was being referred to as "The Chemicals" - subsequently shortened to 'The Chemics'.
The club played at a number of grounds before moving to the present site at Lowerhouse Lane in 1895.
In 1895, Widnes were founder members of the Northern Union which broke away from the rugby union to create the sport of rugby league. The first game was an away fixture at Canal Street, Runcorn which was lost 15-4.
During the early years, the club often struggled financially and often had to sell players to balance the books. The strength of junior rugby league in the area meant the club had a steady stream of local talent to offset the losses.
Between the wars
The team's first ever success came with the winning of the Lancashire League trophy in the 1919-20 season. This did not lead on to better things, however and the twenties saw the club almost go to the wall. Local rivals Warrington donated their share of the traditional Easter and Christmas derby matches to keep Widnes afloat in 1927-8.
It was around this time that the Kingsway housing scheme posed the real threat of the club losing its ground. After several years of fund-raising, made especially difficult by the advent of the great depression, the sum of 3250 pounds was raised to save the ground. This came at the cost of a stipulation that the ground could be sold only to the local council, for the original price. This factor affected the club's attitude to ground improvements for many years. The ground (newly named Naughton Park, after the man responsible for the fund-raising) was opened in 1932.
A major boost for the club and town was Widnes' first ever trip to the Challenge Cup Final, staged at Wembley for only the 2nd time. Their opponents were local rivals St.Helens, a team of stars, including 3 New Zealanders. By contrast, Widnes contained 12 locals and 37 yr old giant South African George Van Rooyen. Saints scored after 6 minutes to take a 3-0 lead, but Widnes hit back with a penalty try, a further try and a penalty to take a 10-3 half-time lead. A scoreless second half meant Widnes had won the cup.
One of the stars of the game was loose-forward Jimmy Hoey who, in 1932-3, played in and scored in all 40 games of the season, a record which was not equalled by any player for 26 years. Widnes became the first club to make 2 trips to Wembley, with a loss to Hunslet in the 1934 cup final. The side was composed entirely of local players, with nothing having been spent on transfer fees.
In 1935-6, the team came close to being RL champions. Having finished 3rd in the table, Liverpool were defeated 10-9. Widnes then lost to Hull, in the championship final, a defeat partially attributed to the loss of key players Silcock and McCue to the already departed GB tour squad. A third trip to Wembley came in 1937, with an 18-5 win over Keighley. The team for this win contained 12 Widnes-born players with the odd man out being from Runcorn (2 miles away). This was to be the last success for some time, with the advent of world war 2.
The post-war years
Veteran captain Tommy McCue led the club to its first ever Lancashire cup win, with a 7-3 victory against Wigan in 1945. Back at Wembley in 1950, the team was beaten 19-0 by Warrington. During this period, the club reverted to selling its players to richer teams. One exception to this was stand-off Frank Myler, who set a club record with 34 tries in the 1958-9 season. The 1964 Challenge cup campaign was certainly one of the high points in the team's history. No team has ever played more games in reaching Wembley. In the first round, 2 replays were necessary before beating Leigh. Liverpool were beaten in the second round, then Widnes played Swinton before 19 000 at Naughton Park. A 5-5 draw meant another replay, which was scoreless. A second replay was watched by 21 369 and was won 15-3 by Widnes. A semi-final against Castleford was the result and this was drawn 7-7. 28 732 watched the replay, which was won by Widnes. A wembley crowd of 84 488 saw Widnes win the cup for the 3rd time with a 14-5 victory. This was the club's only success in the sixties.
Cup Kings
The seventies saw the first really outstanding Widnes team. A host of young local players (eg Reg Bowden, Mick Adams, Ray Dutton, Eric Hughes, Keith Elwell, Doug Laughton) developed into the "Cup Kings", a golden age for the club. The first cup-final was a loss in the 1971-2 Lancashire Cup. The following 2 seasons, the finals of the BBC2 Floodlit trophy were reached. The first real success came the year after that, though, with a Challenge Cup Final game at Wembley in 1975. Widnes had already won the Lancashire Cup by beating Salford that season. The cup final, versus Warrington, was won 14-7.
Widnes visited Wembley in the following two seasons, losing to St. Helens and then Leeds. However, this was made up for by victories in the Lancashire Cup and John Player Trophy. The season after this (1977-78) saw Naughton Park's first ever league championship. The team went through the season unbeaten at home in the league. There were also trips to the John Player and Premiership finals.
The 1978-79 season saw no less than 4 cups come to Widnes - the BBC2 floodlit trophy, Lancashire Cup, Premiership and a win at Wembley over Wakefield Trinity in front of a crowd of 93,218. Other notable achievements of the season were those of Keith Elwell and Mal Aspey who each played in all 50 of the team's games.
The season after this saw Widnes beat Bradford in the Premiership final, but come second to them in the league and John Player Trophy. The Lancashire cup was won for the fifth time in the seventies.
The Eighties
The decade started with a Wembley win over Hull KR in 1980-81, the club's fifth appearance in seven Challenge Cup finals. The season after this, Widnes again returned to Wembley, to face Hull FC. Widnes led 14-6 with less than 20 minutes to go, but the game finished 14-14 and Hull won the replay 18-9 at Elland Road. The team maintained it's record of winning a cup every season by defeating Hull 23-8 in the Premiership final. The next season saw Hull again beaten by Widnes in the Premiership final.
The 1983-4 season saw appearances in the finals of the Lancashire Cup and John Player Trophy and another Wembley appearance, this time against Wigan. A comfortable 19-6 victory saw the Chemics fourth Challenge Cup win in 9 years. There were no further successes until the 1987-8 season.
The Laughton Years
Former captain & coach Doug Laughton returned to the club in January 1986 and began a series of signings of players from both other clubs and from rugby union. One of his first captures was Martin Offiah, who in his first season (1987-88) scored a club record 42 tries. The team went on to win the championship that season, clinching it with an exciting 16-6 victory over local rivals St. Helens on Easter Monday. This just left a draw required from the last game away to Hunslet, which was duly won by over 50 pts. St. Helens were then beaten in the Premiership Final at Old Trafford, a game in which Scotsman Alan Tait made his debut.
The 1988-89 season saw the club achieve it's greatest ever media coverage with the signing of rugby union star Jonathan Davies from Llanelli. Wigan were beaten in the Charity Shield but had their revenge in the Regal Trophy Final. The Championship came down to the last game of the season, a capacity crowd at Naughton Park saw Widnes beat Wigan 32-18 to win the title for the second year running. The Premiership was again won, with over 40 000 at Old Trafford to see Hull beaten 18-10.
The following season saw Widnes play at Anfield, beating Wigan 27-22. However, the high point of the season and perhaps the history of the club was the world club challenge victory over Australia's Canberra Raiders. A shambolic trip to France to play Le Pontet saw Widnes chosen as the Northen Hemisphere representatives to meet Australia's Grand Final winners. The raiders took a 12-0 lead but were then swept aside as Widnes stormed home 30-18.
The nineties saw further Premiership appearances and a disappointing Challenge Cup loss to Wigan in 1993 under ex-GB coach Phil Larder. However, the key features of the mid-nineties for the club were the twin threats of bankruptcy and exclusion from the newly formed Superleague.
The club's precarious financial situation was obvious by the early nineties and to balance the books, over 25 first team players were sold to other teams. This resulted in the club sinking to 12th in the division one table, avoiding relegation. When the RFL announce that a new 12 team Superleague was to be formed a chaotic period ensued in which the club was out, then in, then out, then in merged with local rivals Warrington and then finally out again. Further player and coaching departures ensued and it was a much weakened club which struggled in the new first division, the club's first season in it's 100+ year history outside of the top flight. The club's first ever finish in the relegation zone followed.
During this time, great strides were taken off-the-field, with more prudent business policies followed and the complete rebuilding of the playing arena. Funded primarily by the local council, the club (which became a limited company) and the national lottery, the old stands, terraces and facilities were demolished to be replaced with a state-of-the-art all seater stadium. This was also re-named from Naughton Park to the Halton Community Stadium.
Recent Years
The Stadium was renamed the Auto Quest Stadium after sponsorship was gained from the Car Dealership Auto Quest which had a showroom in the town. The time the Vikings have spent in the Northern Ford Premiership have been pretty dire to say the least with only really one season, 1999, where any sort of potential was shown. In 1999 Widnes only narrowly missed out on a place in the Grand Final. They were finally promoted to Superleague under coach Neil Kelly in 2001. Their debut season in Super League was in 2002, Superleague VII, and the Vikings surprised everyone by narrowly missing out on a play-off place, and finishing 7th.
The following season saw them consolidate with a 9th place finish, but in 2004 they avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth, with Castleford's defeat to Wakefield on the final day of the season saving Widnes' fate. But they had no such luck in 2005, and with 2 teams being relegated in 2005, Widnes' job was made tougher, and they eventually went back down to the second tier of the English game.
They built a new team in preparation for the 2006 season in National League 1 under coach Steve McCormack, who led Whitehaven to two consecutive NL1 Grand Finals. The club reached two successive Grand Finals and won the Northern Rail Cup in 2007, a season which saw much turmoil when on the day of the first game of season Stephen Vaughan announced he would be stepping down as Chairman because of the "apathy" of other board members with regards to board meetings and at the end of the campaign the Club went into administration.
After a period of uncertainty the Club was bought by local businessman Steve O'Connor in partnership with Halton Borough Council. A series of re-building both on and off the pitch took place as the Club bid for a Super League licence but was not one of the 14 successful applicants.
In 2009 the Club again won the Northern Rail Cup giving it the opportunity to apply for a Super League licence in 2012.
On 31 March 2011, the Vikings were awarded a Super League licence by the Rugby Football League for the 2012-14 seasons.
Club honours
Rugby League Champions
1977-78, 1987-88, 1988-89
Challenge Cup Winners
1930, 1937, 1964, 1975, 1979, 1981, 1984
Runners Up, 1934, 1950, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1993
Lancashire League Winners
Lancashire Cup Winners
1945, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1991
Runners Up, 1929, 1940, 1956, 1972, 1982, 1984
Regal Trophy Winners
1976, 1979, 1992
Runners Up, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1989
Premiership Winners
1980, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990
Runners Up, 1978, 1991
Western Division Championship
Runners Up, 1962-1963
BBC Floodlit Trophy Winners
Runners Up, 1973, 1974
Charity Shield Winners
1988, 1989, 1990
European Champions
World Club Champions
Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final Winners
National League 1 Grand Final
Runners Up, 2006, 2007
Northern Rail Cup Winners
2007, 2009
Runners Up, 2010
Player and team records
Most tries in a match: 7 by Phil Cantillon vs York Wasps, 18 February 2001
Most goals in a match:14 by Mark Hewitt vs Oldham Roughyeds, 25 July 1999, Tim Hartley vs Saddleworth Rangers, 7 March 2009
Most points in a match: 38 by Gavin Dodd vs Doncaster Lakers, 10 June 2007
Most tries in a season: 58 by Martin Offiah, 1988-89
Most goals in a season: 161 by Mick Nanyn, 2007
Most points in a season: 434 by Mick Nanyn, 2007
Most career tries: 234 by Mal Aspey, 1964-80
Most career goals: 1083 by Ray Dutton 1966-78
Most career points: 2195 by Ray Dutton 1966-78
Most career appearances: 587+4 by Keith Elwell 1970-86
100+ Tries
234 Mal Aspey 1964/65 - 1979/80
199 Eric Hughes [Centre] 1969/70 - 1983/84
181 Martin Offiah 1987/88 - 1990/91
161 David Hulme 1980/81 - 1996 & 2000 - 2001
151 Stuart Wright 1976/77 - 1986/87
144 Frank Myler 1955/56 - 1967/68
120 John Devereux 1989/90 - 1997
118 Andy Currier 1983/84 - 1992/93 & 1997
114 Phil Cantillon 1999 - 2003
112 Dennis O'Neill 1966/67 - 1978/79
111 Johnny Gaydon 1961/62 - 1971/72
110 William Thompson 1956/57 - 1964/65
108 Derek 'Mick' George 1971/72 - 1981/82
107 Darren Wright 1985/86 - 1996
106 Tommy McCue 1931/32 - 1948/49
103 John Basnett 1981/82 - 1986/87
102 William Reid 1909/10 - 1926/27
101 James "Jimmy" Hoey 1922/23 - 1934/35
150+ Goals
1072 Ray Dutton 1965/66 - 1977/78
708 Mick Burke 1978/79 - 1986/87
434 Jonathan Davies 1988/89 - 1992/93
395 James "Jimmy" Hoey 1922/23 - 1934/35
389 Robert Randall 1960/61 - 1964/65
383 Harry Dawson 1951/52 - 1962/63
295 Mick Nanyn 2007-2008
243 John Myler [9] 1976/77 - 1988/89
213 John Sale 1951/52 - 1957/58
209 Robin Whitfield 1961/62 - 1967/68
207 Arthur Pimblett 1957/58 - 1961/62
202 Mark Hewitt 1998 - 1999
201 Andy Currier 1983/84 - 1992/93 & 1997
195 Peter Topping 1927/28 - 1939/40
167 Colin Hutton 1945/46 - 1950/51
162 Harry Taylor 1908/09 - 1921/22
Team records
Biggest victory: 90-0 vs Coventry Bears, 21st April 2018
Worst defeat: 74-24 vs Bradford Bulls away, 7 August 2005
Highest attendance: 24,205 vs St Helens, 16 February 1961


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It's perhaps unsurprising that some of the same people that deny the overwhelming data on climate change also happened to deny the overwhelming data presented by Nate Silver of the New York Times about the likely outcome of the election yesterday. Silver, the sports-statistician-turned-poll-analyzer, used aggregate poll data and analysis to show that Obama had consistent leads both electorally and in the popular vote. Many Romney supporters derided Silver and his forecast model, citing outlier pro-Romney polls from Gallup and Rasmussen and using their megaphones on Fox News and the Drudge Report to make it seem like the country was poised to vote for Romney.
Sound familiar? The same process of "Nate Silver Denialism" seems to be at work with climate change denialists on the right. As with the focus on right-leaning polls, climate denialists cherry-pick outlier weather events, such as cold snaps in the spring or summer, to obfuscate global trends. They ignore the overwhelming evidence on global warming the same way pundits disregarded aggregate polling data. And they use media machines to create an alternate reality, whether it's about an impending Romney victory or doubt that the planet is warming. In both cases, their zeal to find data that confirm their biases hijacks a rational assessment of the evidence.
The ultimate poster child for this dynamic is George Will. The same pundit who derides climate change scientists as "alarmists" also predicted a Romney landslide, complete with a Romney win in the Democratic stronghold of Minnesota. In both cases, he ignored all the contrary data to justify the outcome he wanted. Others on the right fit the same pattern of Nate Silver and climate change denialism, including Michael Barone, Laura Ingraham, and Newt Gingrich (to be fair, a few conservative pundits who failed miserably at electoral prognostication do in fact admit climate change is real and caused by humans).
Last night, Silver's forecasts were confirmed, and reality caught up with the denialists. So will the magnitude of their erroneous predictions cause them to rethink how they analyze other data-driven issues like climate change? I'm not getting my hopes up. But events like Hurricane Sandy show that there are other ways that reality can start to pierce the denialist bubble. And as Democrats develop a new agenda for 2016, my guess is that climate change — or at least a national renewable energy and energy efficiency policy — will rise to the top. At some point, reality prevails. At least I hope it will.


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Highlands Scrub Natural AreaBroward's last substantial remaining sand pine scrub communities
The site was placed on the Urban Wilderness Advisory Board's inventory in 1996 as a candidate for Urban Wilderness Area designation. It will also serve as a trailhead for the proposed Dixie Greenway Trail. The original site, purchased by the county through the 1989 Environmentally Sensitive Lands Bond issue acquisition program, was later supplemented with additional acreage obtained through the 2000 Safe Parks and Land Preservation Bond Referendum.
34.27 acres
Formerly known as the Jungle, the Highlands Scrub Natural Area consists of approximately 34.27 acres and is located in Pompano Beach east of and adjacent to North Dixie Highway just north of East Sample Road. Highlands Scrub is considered one of Broward's last substantial remaining sand pine scrub communities. This rare type of community, unique to Florida, is one of the most imperiled in the state, and only two percent of such habitat remains in Broward County.
The "scrub" is home to many rare and endangered species of plants and animals. The site is characterized by loose white sand with a canopy of sand pine and scrub oak and a subcanopy of saw palmetto, small scrub oaks, gopher apple, and prickly pear cactus. Other groundcovers found in more open areas include jester lichen, scrub mint, deer moss, rosemary, pawpaw, and staggerbush.
Among the site's wildlife are the five-lined skink, six-lined racerunner, gopher tortoise (a protected species), gray fox, northern cardinal, and migratory bird species.
Site amenities include an 1,800-foot nature trail, a shelter, seating areas, interpretive areas, a covered information kiosk, picnic tables, and interpretive signage. Wildlife observation is encouraged, although bicycles, inline skates, skateboards, and motorized vehicles are prohibited on the trails. As with all natural area sites, pets are not allowed.
EcoAction Days (October through May)
Volunteer workdays help keep our natural areas clear of garbage and invasive plants. They're held on the fourth Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon. Closed-toe shoes are required, and long plants and long sleeves are suggested. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gloves, hats, sunscreen, insect repellent, and drinking water. Ages 13 to 17 must have a parent or guardian's signature on the registration form prior to participating. Volunteers under the age of 13 may participate, but only if accompanied by a parent or guardian. High school students can use the hours from these workdays toward their required community service hours. Check the volunteer Web page for the latest workday registration form. Preregister by calling Quiet Waters Park at 954-357-5100.
Environmental and Scouting Programs
Getting people of all ages involved in the appreciation of nature is the focus of many of the programs at Helene Klein Pineland Preserve. Opportunities include activities for boy and girl scouts, children's programs, school field trips, private group tours, and more. Call 954-357-5113 for more details and to make reservations.
School Groups
This roughly 34-acre natural area abounds with learning opportunities for students of all ages. From outdoor laboratory experiments to group-learning exercises, we can ensure students receive the information they need while having a fun experience.


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Jamar Rogers Eliminated, Juliet Simms Advances for Team Cee Lo on 'The Voice'
Juliet Simms advanced to next week's finals on tonight's (May 1) elimination/results episode of 'The Voice,' where she will represent Team Cee Lo Green. Early on favorite Jamar Rogers was sent home as a result of the combined voting of Cee Lo and America. It's worth mentioning that Simms, a powerhouse rock vocalist who reminds us of Janis Joplin, thanks to those husky pipes, will be the sole female in the finals. So if you are all about girl power...
Before revealing that he gave Simms 60 points to Rogers' 40 points, Cee Lo, wearing a crimson handkerchief to represent Team Red, proclaimed that he would forever love both of his contestants. He was completely blown away by Simms' performance last night, which is why he swung the pendulum in her favor with the point tally. He didn't fully connect with Rogers last night, but did say that he has always been a frontrunner and favorite of America. It felt like Cee Lo was giving Simms the edge since she was the underdog and he tends to like those types. That and the fact that she can sing her lungs raw.
America did thumb the scale in Simms' favor, as she took the vote by a large margin, a well.
Simms will be the lone lady in the thick of the sausage party, er, competition, as the finals commence next week. Will she be Season 2's winner? Could be.


text:
imagineinternet needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 50 designs submitted by 34 freelance designers.
Need a new logo before posting the web design contest
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
Sterling Search Group, LLC, specializes in identifying and placing accounting and finance professionals. They have a 10 year track record of success across industry sectors such as — Public Accounting, Healthcare, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Non-Profit, Utilities, Retail, Professional Services, Real Estate and Construction. They work strategically with their organization's team to create and conduct effective searches to identify the right candidates. They also work with industry professionals to create and implement a uniquely tailored career search to identify the right career opportunities.
Target market: 80% women, 28-50 years old, active, driven, well educated, advanced degrees, family focus, involved in their community and into business — "real people, not just suitsâ€.
Colors and style: stick with business/corporate colors, such as blues, maroons, greens, etc. No gray or silver please. Other colors may be considered if they meet the criteria. Logo design should reflect a sophisticated, contemporary, high-quality, professional character — clean and crisp but not boxy.
Will also pay by Xoom.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Daily Challenge
Daily Challenge:
20 Barrier Lateral jumps (see the link)- use a box, spot in the floor , yardstick, etc….whatever you have-http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BarrierLateralJump.html
20 Pull ups- ( use a desk, table or whatever you have access too)
20 Vertical Leg crunches (1.Lie on the floor and extend the legs straight up with knees crossed. 2.Place your hands behind the head for support, but avoid pulling on the neck. 3.Contract the abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor, as though reaching your chest towards your feet.4.Keep the legs in a fixed position and imagine bringing your belly button towards your spine at the top of the movement.)
4 Rounds for Time!!!


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The Céspedes saga
While the Cuban defector broke in with the Oakland A's, his family endured a harrowing struggle to reach the U.S.
Marooned on a tiny Caribbean island, family members of Oakland A's star Yoenis Céspedes feared their journey would end right there under a baking sun.
Their effort to follow Céspedes from Cuba to the United States had gone horribly wrong, leaving them abandoned for two days on a strip of sand more than 600 miles southeast of Florida.
The 10 travelers, including a baby, had no water. They had neither food nor shade. They resorted to catching and cooking an iguana and a seagull, with foul results.
As time wore on and dehydration set in, there were hugs and goodbyes. Estela Milanés, Céspedes' mother, walked away from her huddled loved ones and lay down alone in despair.
Then salvation arrived in the form of a yacht. And the travelers lived on, continuing an odyssey of nearly two years that ultimately reunited them with Céspedes.
The budding baseball star had fled Cuba with these same people, in search of a prosperous life. He had split from the group and made it to America sooner - reaping a financial bounty and excelling on the game's biggest stage - while his family took a longer and much more difficult route.
Their travels included four countries, six boat rides, two trips to jail, an immigration raid, accusations of human trafficking and a dispute with a Dominican baseball agent.
In the end, the Céspedes family story - told for the first time in The Chronicle - reflects the extraordinary challenges faced by Cuban players who come to the U.S., the stress it puts on their families, and the opportunity that awaits them all.
"Thank God, I'm fine now, at Yoenis' side," his mother said through an interpreter. Milanés, 45, who suffers from high blood pressure, said her greatest anxiety now comes when she watches her son play baseball.
"Ten minutes, 15 minutes and I'm fine," she said. "It goes away."
Céspedes will be on center stage Monday in New York, taking part in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game festivities at Citi Field. His hitting prowess has made him a contender to win the sport's annual home run hitting contest.
And the friends and family members who fled with him from Cuba will also be in New York. Céspedes, 27, is chartering a jet to fly them in from Miami - quite a contrast from their harrowing travels the previous two years.
A young star
Céspedes was born to play baseball. His father, Cresencio Céspedes, was a Cuban League catcher who separated from Milanés around the time his son turned 1. Milanés was a star softball pitcher for the national team whose extended family helped raise her only son as she traveled to tournaments.
She made Céspedes his first bat out of a tree branch, polishing it with glass. She was his first coach. Even today, Céspedes calls her for hitting tips.
By the time he was 10, the boy's talent was so apparent that he was sent to a state-run school 50 miles from home. But he did not dream of playing in the major leagues. "Cuba doesn't really give you the possibility of playing in the big leagues," he said.
Céspedes played eight seasons in the Cuban winter league, but his big splash came at the World Baseball Classic in 2009, when he hit .458 in six games. The performance should have ensured him prominence on the national squad, yet for some reason he fell out of favor in 2011, much as the Los Angeles Dodgers' new Cuban star, Yasiel Puig, did a year later.
Céspedes wanted to quit after he was assigned to Cuba's third team for a tournament in Venezuela.
"I told them that I wanted to play on the first two teams and if not, I'm not going play," Céspedes said. "I told my mother, and she told me not to stop playing like that. That I should go on the trip to Venezuela. And that when I got back, if I wanted to, we'd take a boat and leave."
"I only said those words so he wouldn't stop playing baseball," Milanés explained. "I never thought about it seriously. But he took it seriously."
The defection
Céspedes had been approached for a couple of years by Cuban fixers for Latin American baseball agents, commonly known as buscons. Céspedes would tell the fixers, "I'm never going to leave."
But things changed after his national team snub, and he said he soon connected with Edgar Mercedes, a well-known agent in the Dominican Republic. Thus began a series of steps in the journey - few of which went smoothly.
In the summer of 2011, the family prepared to bolt, renting a house on the coast, but Milanés and several others were apprehended on a beach. Céspedes was in a separate car and watched the arrests, then slept in the car that night. His mother was held for four days.
"They asked me about him," Milanés said of her son. "Supposedly, I didn't know what he was up to. I told them he had left for training."
Two days later, in a freak driving accident, Céspedes struck a bicyclist who crossed in front of him. The cyclist died of a heart attack hours later, Céspedes said, but police ruled he was not at fault.
The incident did provide Céspedes an excuse for not being in training. When he spoke to baseball officials, he said, "I told them that because this accident happened, I couldn't get my head around training."
A week later, Céspedes and six others were off on a 23-hour boat ride to the Dominican Republic.
Free agency
Céspedes' departure prompted interrogations of his relatives in Cuba, they said, and one was jailed for three days. Later, three of them left in a second boat.
In the Dominican Republic, the future looked bright. If a Cuban baseball player defects straight to the U.S., he becomes eligible for the major-league baseball draft. But a player who establishes residency elsewhere can become a free agent. And that's where the riches lie.
Mercedes, the agent, set up the family with a place to live in the city of Santiago, put Céspedes in training and paid him $3,500 a month.
He stoked interest in his client with "The Showcase," a YouTube video that called Céspedes a historic talent and showed him swatting home runs, sprinting shirtless and bench-pressing 350 pounds. Major-league scouts arrived in droves.
Céspedes established residency in the Dominican in January 2012. A month later, the A's signed him to a $36 million, four-year contract, the biggest ever for a Cuban defector. Granted a visa as an athlete, he was in Arizona for spring training by March.
But Céspedes could not extend visas to his relatives, who would have to apply and wait. Complicating matters, Céspedes and Mercedes entered into a bitter feud over how much of the A's contract the agent should receive.
As the 2012 big-league season began, Mercedes called a news conference to say Céspedes "stopped taking our calls." Céspedes said he had always planned to pay what he owed.
The dispute ended this year with a Dominican court ordering Céspedes to pay 22 percent of the contract, though Céspedes said he successfully argued that the fee should be calculated after taxes.
Mercedes - who did not return telephone messages from The Chronicle - never spoke to Milanés and the other family members during the dispute, but they said they felt threatened by him and feared he would use their immigration status as leverage.
They moved three hours away from Santiago to the city of La Romana, where they felt safer. The group now numbered 10 after one of Céspedes' cousins had a baby girl, naming her Yaenis.
At one point, Milanés said, she received a bogus immigration letter at her home, threatening deportation. "I was afraid they would deport us back to Cuba," Milanés said. "God knows what would have happened to us if we had stayed."
Once again, the Céspedes family decided their best course was the sea.
With Céspedes now playing for Oakland, the group slipped away in August 2012 and headed for Turks and Caicos, a British island territory 600 miles southeast of Miami, long known as a way station for fleeing Cubans and Haitians.
The trip on a small boat, Céspedes said, was one of several moves arranged by friends in Miami and elsewhere - allies he declined to name.
The voyage lasted 12 hours and ended short. At 6 a.m., the two drivers stopped at an uninhabited islet, little more than a patch of sand much smaller than a baseball field, due to rough seas and fear of a helicopter flying overhead.
The drivers refused to press on. But their passengers did not want to turn back, figuring they would be rescued soon enough. So they disembarked, with the drivers promising to call for help when they returned to the Dominican.
Céspedes' relatives had a half dozen small water bottles and larger containers of water and formula for Yaenis, who was 6 months old. They made a tent from a tarp left by the boat drivers and shaded the baby beneath it.
When they got hot, they dipped in the water. At night, to fight the cold, they lit a fire. And they huddled together in the sand to sleep.
"By the second day," Céspedes' cousin Aliuska Pérez, 29, recalled, "we were losing hope."
That day, Ivan Ortiz, 37, another cousin, caught an iguana, skinned it and grilled it. But it was raw and tough, and no one could stomach it. Ortiz also brought down a seagull with a rock and cooked it, with similar results. The group caught two crabs, with two women digging out a bit of meat for sustenance.
Mostly, they sat, stared at the ocean and waited. And waited.
Out of touch
Back in the U.S., Céspedes was putting together an impressive season that would earn him second place in the voting for American League Rookie of the Year. He would finish with a .292 batting average and 23 homers.
"When I would get to the stadium, I would do my best to forget all these problems and concentrate on the game," he said. "When I left the stadium, I couldn't help worrying about it again."
The days when the family was lost at sea were the worst. He knew his loved ones had been en route to Turks and Caicos when all communication ceased. He was playing on the road at the time, he said, but he was consumed with worry.
"I didn't know," he said. "Those three days, I knew nothing."
After two full days, the men and women on the islet feared they wouldn't hold on much longer.
"By the third day," Pérez said, "we had no strength left. We could barely speak. We were hugging each other, praying to God someone would show up."
And then, at 7 a.m., a yacht sailed up to the key to pick them up - possibly due to the efforts of the drivers who had left them.
Six hours later, they were in Turks and Caicos, where, Milanés said, members of a prominent family stamped their passports and found them a rental home. The plan, they said, was to seek residency and, once again, try to emigrate to the U.S. legally. But their troubles were far from over.
Locked up
On Oct. 2, 2012, Milanés was at the house where they were staying in Turks and Caicos, preparing to watch the A's playoff-clinching game against Texas. Suddenly, the house was raided and the group was taken into custody as illegal immigrants.
The territory's Sun newspaper reported that the case began when authorities followed a speed boat from Cuba to a waterfront home. But Céspedes suspects his former agent was involved, saying Mercedes had made trips to Turks and Caicos.
"It was someone who knew us, who knew everybody's names," Milanés said.
The family now numbered 12, after the arrival of a third boat, this one straight from Cuba. Some of the younger members of the group, along with their mothers, were soon released, but the rest were held for 103 days in a detention center as officials investigated what they suspected was a human trafficking ring.
The detention center in Providenciales is well-known for its poor conditions, prompting four Cuban inmates to sew their lips together in protest this year.
"We had nothing, nothing to clean ourselves with," said Nairobis Milanés, 43, Estela's sister.
"Not a towel, not a toothbrush," Estela Milanés said. "No sheets."
The group filed for asylum with the United Nations in December, and a month later they were released on $20,000 bond. They were allowed to live on their own while the U.N. refugee agency studied their situation.
George Missick, the family's attorney in Turks and Caicos, said he believed the asylum application would have been granted. But one day he got a phone call - his clients were gone. They had once again left via boat, this time headed to the U.S.
"It's all a moot point, I guess," he said. "That's probably the ideal location they wanted to get to, in any event."
Final stop
On March 9, Céspedes' family members arrived in Miami after a final furtive boat trip - three days aboard a yacht. Cubans who safely reach the U.S. are free to enter and can apply for residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.
"As soon as you set foot on land, your problems are over," Milanés said of landing on a beach in south Florida. "The nightmare was over."
"That was the best part," Pérez said.
Céspedes, overjoyed and relieved, left spring training and flew to meet them two days later, surprising them while they were sleeping. He had not seen his mother for more than a year.
Many friends and relatives remain in Cuba, however. Milanés dreams of the day she can return to her homeland to visit her mother, her brothers and her 4-year-old grandson - Céspedes' son, also named Yoenis. Milanés proudly shows photos of the little boy, who looks just like his father - and even has a swing just like him.
Asked if it's tough not to see his child, Céspedes said, "Just imagine."
He met the boy's mother when he was 14, they were together for nine years, and they are on good terms. He and his son talk on the phone every two or three days. Céspedes sends him videos of him playing, and when the boy talks to Milanés, he asks, "Did my dad make any home runs?"
"I hope to have him with me someday," Céspedes said.
In January, Cuba began allowing baseball players and other defectors to return to visit - though only after they are gone for eight years - under reforms brought by President Raul Castro, who succeeded older brother Fidel in 2008.
Milanés and the rest of the family settled in a home in Miami, but they make frequent trips to the Bay Area to see Céspedes and cook him the Cuban food he has missed. They have new lives, and Céspedes is clearly proud of the role he played in making it all happen.
"I'm playing the best baseball in the world, and I can help my family in any way I want to," Céspedes said.
"What can I tell you?" Milanés said. "The best. The best you can imagine."
Susan Slusser and Demian Bulwa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com Twitter: @susanslusser, @demianbulwa


text: Submitted by chris_hunt on Wed, 2018-02-07 10:04 Fly Tying Trout Magazine Vote Up Down +86 + Screen Shot 2018-02-07 at 11.00.03 AM.png Loon's Matt Callies ties some great flies, and he's really good at making it look easy. I've got a saltwater trip coming up, so I've been watching the Loon fly-tying series for some baitfish pattern ideas, and I haven't been disappointed. Basic Deceiver Video of Basic Deceiver Above, Matt ties the Basic Deceiver, a super-simple pattern that predatory fish absolutely love. But, as you'll see, Matt is adamant that this pattern isn't just for saltwater angling. Lots of fish prey on smaller fish, snd the Basic Deceiver is a great pattern for everything from trout to bass and, in smaller sizes, panfish and the like. Give it a whirl and see if you're not inspired to tie up a dozen or so. — Chris Hunt