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It's that time of year again to visit with our loved ones, shop 'til we drop and, yes, watch our mailboxes fill up with Christmas letters from all the parents who have given birth to the world's most brilliant and successful children.
The letters go something like this:
Sara, 8, has the lead in our community play, Aaron, 10, was recently voted the most gifted and talented child in school and now that Emily is 3, she's started reading. Between ferrying the kids around to school, church and extracurricular activities, Beth gave birth to our fourth child in September. He's already beginning to crawl! Howard has been promoted to CEO of The World. We took three vacations last year to tropical paradises (see attached photos). We are truly blessed, and may God Bless You.
While many families send Christmas newsletters as an easy, friendly and convenient way to keep in touch with a large number of acquaintances, recipients don't always interpret every message as spreading holiday cheer.
"One year I received a letter from someone who said his child was in the GATE program in school and then he spelled out in parentheses what that stood for so we'd all understand his kid was Gifted and Talented," says Ted Pack, a Modesto, Calif., computer programmer and father of three.
Fed up with all the over-the-top bragging, Pack, who has been writing Christmas newsletters of his own for more than 30 years, started a Web site with tips on how to write tactful, entertaining holiday letters.
We won't mention that DUI
"I strongly discourage bragging because I think everyone, me included, hates the bragging newsletters," he says. "But I also understand it. If one child get the lead in the play and another gets a DUI and 200 hours of community service, which are you going to write about?"
However tempting it is to brag (a.k.a. "highlight the positive"), though, boastful Christmas letters usually do nothing but contribute to the already overflowing pot of destructive "social comparison" that is rampant among parents, says psychologist David Elkind, a professor of child development at Tufts University in Boston.
"Comparing kids starts at age 2 and never seems to end," he says. "Parents compare when their kids talk. They compare sports, grades, schools and on and on. We're a very individualistic, competitive society."
Elkind says many parents buy into the competitiveness so much that they push kids too hard, especially with early academic programs. Being an early reader or mastering the alphabet or numbers becomes material to brag about at the playground, birthday parties or in the Christmas letter.
"Most of the letters are written for the person sending them, not the recipient," says Elkind. "They make the sender feel good about their children, family and themselves."
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Not everyone views this as a bad thing, however.
"I started sending Christmas letters four years ago when I got remarried and had a new baby," says Kathryn Alice, a love and relationships guru in Venice, Calif., who conducts dating seminars around the country. "We have a blended family and I started doing it as a way to present ourselves as a family to the world. I think of it just like a family portrait. Our kids love it."
Alice, who is now the mother of four boys ranging in age from newborn to 17, concedes that she would never focus on the year's negative experiences but she also doesn't feel that letting readers in on her family's achievements and travels is exactly bragging — or taking anything away from anyone else.
"I just view it as a convenient way to catch people up with our lives and what we're doing. It's also spreading a positive message," says Alice, author of "Love Will Find You." She believes sharing her good news reassures others that they, too, can find happiness.
She always clears what she's writing with her husband and older children first though. "I generally sit down with them and say, 'From my perspective this is what's going on in your life. Is it OK to write that?'"
That's a key step, says developmental psychologist Marvin Berkowitz, a professor at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
"It's a great parenting practice and it empowers a kid's voice," he says.
Are my parents hypocritical nuts?
Don't be surprised, though, if teens refuse to be written about, he says, and beware the trouble that can ensue if the picture you paint doesn't add up for a child.
"If you want your children to be honest — which, hopefully, most enlightened people would — parental modeling is a critical piece in what kids become. If kids see parents being dishonest — even if it's in a Christmas letter — they're more likely to be dishonest," he says. "They may also think, are my parents nuts? Jerks? In general, they'll probably see you as a hypocrite and devalue you."
Bottom line: Bragging doesn't just annoy and offend others. It also can affect the kids in a negative way.
"The little kids pretty much uniformly love bragging because preschoolers, in the vast majority of cases, have a highly inflated self-esteem," says Berkowitz. Preschoolers will also generally get their fair share of reprimands so bragging ("Look at how well she paints!" "She's such a fast runner!") does little harm.
By the time children get to elementary school, however, their self-esteem is more realistic. The real task for this age and older is to figure out that they can produce quality products and acts. Parents need to be their reality check and let them know where they truly excel, says Berkowitz. If you're going to talk about their accomplishments at home or the park (with other parents who genuinely seem interested in hearing it), be careful not to exaggerate them.
Also, remember that in general nobody (except maybe The Donald) wins friends by boasting.
"Accomplished and talented people don't want to alienate others by making them feel inferior," says John Allen Mollenhauer, a life coach in Maplewood, N.J. So if you really want a winner kid, perhaps you should aim to pass along the fine art of modesty.
Pack says it's OK to focus on some of the family highlights in your Christmas letter, just leave out the obnoxious, boastful bits. Most recipients want to hear how your lives are going overall, what you've been up to, what grade the kids are in and what their interests are. But leave off the details of the report cards and sporting triumphs.
Of course, we all have a select few people for whom we should feel free to pull out all the bragging stops — be it during the holidays or any other time of the year.
"There is something I call guilt-free bragging," Berkowitz says. "That's when there's someone — a grandparent or an aunt and uncle — who truly gets as much or more enjoyment as you do out of your children's exploits. It's perfectly fine to brag to them because they live for this stuff."
Save the hyper-glowing, multi-paged letters for these folks.
Victoria Clayton is a freelance writer based in California and co-author of "Fearless Pregnancy: Wisdom and Reassurance from a Doctor, a Midwife and a Mom," published by Fair Winds Press.
© 2013 msnbc.com. Reprints


text: Tom Ryaboi stands on two cables connecting skyscrapers in Toronto, Canada. The 28-year-old is one of the pioneers of rooftopping, which sees members scale tall buildings to take pictures of the streets below. To achieve these breathtaking photographs, he often has to evade security guards and dogs.Picture: Tom Ryaboi/Barcroft Media

subset: commoncrawl


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This week in Fish: A lost Mozambique Seabream
It has been a big week. Highlights include the receipt of a Mozambique Seabream that was caught in a surprising location and a fact sheet about an unusual habitat for small fishes - sea slugs.
New images
Dusky Leatherjacket, Paramonacanthus otisensis
Flathead Gudgeon in an aquarium
Flathead Gudgeon, Philypnodon grandiceps
Mozambique Seabream, Wattsia mossambica
Seram Blenny, Salarias ceramensis
New FAQ
Are sea slugs goby hosts? This page shows some amazing images of a shrimp and goby on a sea slug. It also discusses the three kinds of symbiotic relationships found in fishes - parasitism, mutualism and commensalism.
New fish indices:
Antenariidae - Anglerfishes
Eleotridae Gudgeons
Lethrinidae - Emperors
Monacanthidae - Leatherjackets
Ogcocephaliidae - Batfishes


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Latest News
Lake Wylie baseball star born without fingers on left hand
The kid loves baseball.
So much so, Jacob Martin dares hitters to swing from 45 feet before sliding his hand in a glove. The Lake Wylie 11-year-old plays five positions. He bats right, throws right, fields right. He steals bases on cue, fabricates runs on the base paths.
"It's just fun," said Jacob, a Griggs Road Elementary fifth-grader. "I started playing T-ball when I was 4."
The Martin family looks for activities where Jacob, who was born without fingers on his left hand, can excel.
Baseball was a hit from day one.
"There's not that much contact," he said, "so I can play longer and not worry about getting hit."
Except maybe by a liner back through the box.
"I have to put the glove on my right hand after I pitch the ball," Jacob said. "I have to do it quick so I'm ready, especially if they hit it up the middle."
His father, Gerry Martin, attributes the fact his son isn't treated differently than other players to a welcoming Lake Wylie Athletic Association. Jacob's skill may have something to do with it, too.
"He's kind of a rock star around here," said coach Tim Will, adding that it took about four games for most people to notice Jacob's different style of play. "Parents finally came up and asked me, is he playing one-handed?"
Jacob once struck out seven batters in three innings, surrendering just one hit. He plays middle infield, center field.
On Thursday his second place Pirates squad started its playoff run in the five-team league.
Will coached Jacob the past two seasons, after passing on him the first time Jacob came up for draft. Jacob singled and scored the game winner against Will's team late in that first season.
"I said, 'I won't do that again,'" Will said.
Jacob began pitching with his glove on the dirt, then under his arm. Now he pitches and puts the glove on in one fluid motion. Playing the field comes even more naturally.
"If I field it I just yank my glove off, take the ball out and throw it to whatever base," he said.
The biggest challenge, not uncommon to kids Jacob's age, is putting up with dad. Gerry works in digital media and video production, with enough footage of Jacob's games for a documentary series.
"Every time I turn around there's a camera in my face," Jacob said.
Jacob plays spring and fall seasons. Gerry practices with his son on off days.
The idea to try baseball came when a friend found a Jim Abbott figurine at a yard sale.
Abbott, baseball's most famous example of the condition he and Martin share, pitched in the majors for a decade and threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees.
Jacob, brought into Red Sox nation by his Boston-based grandmother, groans. But he sees Abbott's career in Youtube clips as proof Jacob's left hand doesn't have to hold him back.
"His favorite sport is baseball," Gerry said. "He pitches and he hits. He runs the bases. As he grows older, I'm trying to help him with his confidence level."
Gerry plans to spend his summer looking for a high school program. Not a baseball team, but a class of students and a teacher who might want to help grow that confidence in Jacob.
There's a national movement to 3D print prosthetic, functional hands for kids like Jacob. They can cost less than $100.
"It's definitely a disruptive technology that's changing the world of manufacturing," Gerry said.
Gerry wants to partner with a school in York County. He has similar cases showing how it works. He could find a 3D printer himself, but likes the model of other kids working with manufacturing or technology students.
"Coming from his father won't be as cool as it would be with these cool high school kids," Gerry said.
Gerry wants to tackle the project as his son heads to middle school, a time when students can feel isolated by their differences.
If Jacob feels any different now, he doesn't show it. He takes his swings and takes infield like anyone else. He shoos at rainclouds.
He's a bottom line ballplayer, who can't think of much else he'd rather do with his time. Or of any good reason why he can't.


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We invite you to come and stay a while!!!


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Porch Stories: A Grandmother's Guide to Happiness
Jewell Parker Rhodes was left in the care of her father and his mother when her own mother abandoned the family. Grandmother Ernestine's house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was home to four other grandchildren as well. And while its crumbling bricks, lack of air-conditioning, and neighborhood rodents meant that life was anything but easy, the family house was filled with love. Everyone on their street knew and loved Grandmother Ernestine; men would tip their hats and children would rush up for a hug any time she was outside.
No one loved Grandmother Ernestine more than Jewell, who would pass up a movie with her cousins to sit outside on Ernestine's front stoop and listen to her stories and her words of comfort. Jewell would later move out West to live with her mother and father as they reattempted marriage. But that was a short-lived experience. Before long, she was back in the loving arms of her grandmother, whose wisdom and warmth gave all of her children the tools to overcome the ordinary and extraordinary challenges life brings. Porch Stories, described by Rhodes as "an intergenerational love song," is a loving tribute that is at once candid, courageous, and reverent -- a literary portrait of family love that readers from all walks of life can see in themselves.
Product Details
|Atria Books
|Publication date:
|Product dimensions:
|7.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)
About the Author
Jewell Parker Rhodes, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction, including Voodoo Dreams, Season (formerly titled Voodoo Season) Yellow Moon (formerly titled Yellow Moon), Magic City, Douglass' Women, Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors, and The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Nonfiction, is the Virginia G. Piper Chair in Creative Writing and artistic director of the Virginia G. Piper Center in Creative Writing at Arizona State University. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Read an Excerpt
Always. Don't let folks think you're trash. No trash in you."
"Jewell, child. Wear clean underwear.
Always. Don't let folks think you're trash.
No trash in you."
"Grandma!" I giggled. I couldn't have been more than eight.
Close to midnight, Grandmother and I were sitting on the porch. No, not really a porch. We were too poor for that. We were sitting on a stoop, a series of steps leading up to a front door with a vestibule to provide temporary shelter from the Pittsburgh winters. But the double set of doors locked in too much heat during sweltering summers. Our house lacked air-conditioning. Only fans, with steel mill soot settling as soon as you wiped them clean, stirred the humid air. It was too hot to sleep in the three-storied, crumbling brick house. So the family spent long summer nights sitting on the steps.
"Going to the porch," we'd say. "Sitting on the porch." "On the porch," we'd coo, feeling expansive, like we lived in an oasis rather than an industrial ghetto.
When it rained, our porch became a wet, slippery gray. But that didn't dampen our ownership pride. Anchored by the six concrete steps and foot-long landing, we, kids, lived recklessly and joyously.
On our porch we played jacks. In front of it, we played hopscotch, our squares drawn with colored chalk. We never fretted about skinned knees, bone-jarring hops.
When traffic slowed, we'd play Double Dutch in the street. Sometimes Grandmother would join us, and I'd laugh outrageously, thrilled to see her hair bobbing, her skirt and white apron ballooning like a girl's, before she'd go into the house to fry chicken or smother chipped beef with gravy.
We thought we were a typical family -- though nothing like the Dick and JaneI'd read in my first-grade readers. They were white, we were brown; and nobody we knew said, "See, Spot, run."
Grandmother and her husband, Reverend, Rev for short, ruled the roost. Rev was stepdad to my father and aunt, both single parents (my dad, divorced; my aunt, widowed because of a barroom brawl). Brother and sister had returned to their mother, children in tow. Two daughters for Pop -- me and my sister, Tonie; a daughter and two sons (all under six) for Aunt Delores -- Aleta, Jerome, and James. All of us folks strained the contours of the house. There was never a place to just be. Never any privacy. You were always running into, stumbling over someone. The bathroom was the only place that guaranteed solitude, but even then, a knock would arrive and a thin voice call, spiking high, "I've got to go. Please."
Dad worked day shift; my aunt worked nights as a nursing assistant. Rev, on weekdays, poured molten steel and, on weekends, preached gospel for any church in need of a temporary preacher.
Grandmother, stuffing us with food, surrounding us with love, was the glue holding us all together.
Our Pittsburgh sky was always overcast with gray steel flakes. Our roads were broken cobblestone with faded metal tracks for clackity-clack streetcars. Fourth of July, we placed cherry bombs in the tracks, hearing them burst while the driver cursed and clanged his bell.
Inside our house, there was always a warm glow. A sense of forgiveness, understanding that we were children and were expected to raise a ruckus.
Grandma could holler, "Pick up your shoes"; "Scrape your plate"; "Don't slide down that banister again"; "Watch your mouth!" and make us still feel loved.
At night, our neighborhood became mythical. A long, thin street with weak streetlamps, bright fireflies, and soulful aromas of collards and fatback, fried onions, and sugar snap peas. A magical place where for an all-too-brief time, Grandmother raised me and taught me about life.
I didn't realize we were poor. Didn't know that other neighborhoods didn't have rats as big as cats. Wasn't everyone behind in taxes, mortgage payments yet, no matter what, paid the two dollars for burial insurance and fifty cents to hit the numbers?
"I dreamt number eight -- play that."
"Six. Nine. Two. Six-nine-two. Rolls off your tongue like butter."
"My daughter's birthday is eleven July. My birthday's five August. One-one-five. That oughta win at least a dollar."
Whoever hit the numbers gave a chitlin' party. Grandmother won the most, so she always kept a supply of frozen chitlins, hot sauce, and crackers.
"Cleanliness is godliness," she'd say, defrosting the chitlins under cold water. I swore I'd never eat those nasty, smelly things. Pig innards. Old-time slave food. The leftovers that Master threw to his overworked slaves. But all the adults loved them, even though Grandmother had to wash them not once but twice, then three times clean.
Still, I knew what Grandmother meant.
Cleanliness meant you and your house were in order. Grandmother fought the never-ending struggle with soot, with mounds of laundry (including my father's bloodstained butcher uniforms), with flatware caked in dried grits, and greasy frying pans that needed scouring. The house was never clean. It was more than one woman could handle -- struggling to care for an extended family. Grandmother couldn't work fast enough, hard enough to keep her house and nine bodies clean. But she fought the good fight.
"Let me see your ears."
I'd bow my pig-tailed head and fold my ears forward.
I polished my patent leathers before church too. Took pride that my nails shined. My underwear was clean. And my shoes sparkled and clicked from metal taps on the heels.
When I was dumped into the bathtub with my sister, Tonie, and cousin Aleta, I never played splash, only scrubbed my knobby elbows, knees, and picked the lint from my belly button.
Was I Grandmother's favorite child? I like to think so. But it's a lie.
"Grandma don't play favorites. I love you all." Her children. Her children's children. Her neighbors. Her neighbors' children. Everyone was God's children. And Grandmother loved us all. Each and every one.
And because of her loving, the whole neighborhood loved her back. Called her "Grandma." Men would tip their hats, boys would sometimes bow, and girls and women would kiss her cheek like she was rare. And she was.
"Evening. Fine evening, Mrs. Thornton."
"Yes, praise Lord."
"It's been another good day."
"So saith the Lord: 'Be blessed and ye shall receive.' "
"Grandma Thornton, I love you."
"I love you too."
"Can I borrow sugar?"
"Anytime, baby. Anytime."
"I think I'm pregnant."
"Put your feet up. Call on the Lord."
Grandmother would listen to any troubles, but never gossiped. She was better than the confessional. She'd tell us children to "run and be hush" while she listened to secrets sinners were reluctant to tell God. Grandmother was in the flesh; nonetheless, when the session of confessing was done, Grandmother would remind the sinner, "Jesus loves you."
Summer nights, after a while, my youngest cousins would swoon, dry up like petals burned by too much sun. Rev would carry them to bed. A boy-child would be tucked under each arm. Afterward, he'd shuffle down the stairs and sit at the dining room table for hours, smoking Camels and drinking cold black coffee. This was a signal for Aleta and Tonie to scoot inside to watch late-night movies. Cagney, always a gangster, shouted, "Stick 'em up"; Bob Hope, goofy and drab, played a ukelele. They liked it best when Fred Astaire danced and spun his Ginger Rogers.
Grandmother and I would sit on the stoop, on the misnamed porch, studying the stars, the cars that turned onto our street, and neighbors, like us, trying to escape the heat. Sometimes, we'd snap pole beans for tomorrow's dinner, or wave fans with photos of a white Christ crucified. Or a rosy-cheeked Mary looking serenely at her baby.
If I pressed her, Grandmother would play hand clap games. "Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack. She asked her mother, mother, mother...for fifty cents, cents, cents...to see the elephant, elephant, elephant..." My small hands smacked against her calloused hands: "Jump over the fence, fence, fence..."
When I tired of Miss Mack, I insisted we do a few rounds of "A sailor went to sea, sea, sea to see what he could see, see, see..." I must've driven Grandmother mad. Yet she always said yes to my silly games. "Jewell, child, yes." Hearing Grandmother whisper those three words summed up all my comfort, my joy at being safe within the boundaries of her love. "Jewell. Child. Yes."
Even when Grandmother was young, I believed she was old. Truth be told, life had taken its toll on her body -- diabetes, high blood pressure. Her upper register was filled with fake porcelain teeth. Years of sacrifice as a single parent (before she married Rev), then more years of making sure her children's children had -- whether it be food, medical care, a roof over their heads -- had taken its toll. Only ageless thing was her love. Her spirit was young like her soul.
I cherished my outside time with Grandmother, pinching myself both to stay awake and for sheer happiness at being alone with her.
I always sensed Grandmother was happy, too, enjoying her respite from the day, even though she'd be up again by six.
"Tell me stories."
"I've told you before."
"Tell me again." And she'd hug me to her bosom and never fail to oblige. "Did I tell you the blackbird's tale?"
"Yes. Tell me again. Tell me like you told me the first time."
She'd smack her gums. And I swear a hush fell shimmering, straight down from the sky.
"This is an old, old tale. My mother told me. Her mother told her."
We were cocooned on the porch: Grandmother, sitting tall on the top step; me, sitting one step below, my chin even with her knees.
"Blackbirds were the slaves who flew back to Africa. Every time you see a blackbird, you should think of a slave who set himself free."
"Have blackbirds always been ex-slaves?"
"No. Didn't begin until two centuries ago. Eighteen hundreds, down in Alabama. Hundreds of slaves were picking cotton, suffering under Master's care, all of them singing about the need to go. Singing about 'Crossing the River Jordan.' Or 'Go Down Moses, let my people go.' All these Christian songs they'd been taught. They sang, too, about trains and 'How long they'd been gone? Baby, how long?' But only so many could take the Underground Railroad. Only so many could escape. Most just sang, mournful, wailing, filled with never-ending yearning.
"The oldest slave was a spell man. He knew about herbs, how to mix possets and teas. One day, when the sorrowful songs seemed to rock the sky, the old man put down his hoe, shouting, 'Children, remember. Remember who you be.'
"The slaves were bewildered. They'd forgotten who they were. Couldn't remember any name before they were called Sally. Mary. Tom or Joe.
"The old man, his back bowed, crisscrossed with scars, looked at the dulled faces, the thin men and women, hands calloused from cotton, the children, heavy-lidded and tired, and said, 'Time to go. Time to go.' He whispered his African name in the nearest slave's ear. Whispered his name deep down into the other slave's soul. Then, he raised his arms toward the sun and flew. Just lifted off the ground. His arms became wings. His back grew feather-down. His legs elongated into feet with talons. 'High,' he said. 'High beyond the horizon. I'm free.'
"Other slaves began whispering their African names. Olun, Nambi, Membe, raising their arms and believing in their power to fly. Straight at the sun. Through puffs of clouds. No worries about wings burning off. Just soaring, straight and high. Far into the sky.
"The overseer was bewildered, riding his horse, cracking his whip like a madman. Threatening any slave who tried to rise. He knew Master would fire him for even one slave lost. He grabbed John's foot, only to have talons draw blood. 'Kailila,' John cried, long and hard, the vowels turning into a high-pitched screech. The overseer shook his fist at John/Kailila. Shook his fist at the swarm of blackbirds diving through clouds, creating swirls of black on bright blue sky.
"When there was a flock, over two dozen slaves turned into sleek blackbirds, they turned as one and headed east -- back across the ocean, the wide, wide expanse of restless waters, to the African shore."
"All the slaves flew?"
"No, some slaves were left behind. They wished the blackbirds well. Clapped their hands. Shouted out a farewell song."
"Didn't they cry?"
"Sure they did. Sometimes too much pain can make you forget pieces of yourself. Forget your homeland, the people you loved. Slavery's outrageous curse. But the remaining slaves were left to tell the tale. Like my grandparents. They saw the blackbirds fly. They told the tale, passing it on and on and down to me. Me, passing it to you."
"Did the blackbirds become human again?"
"You mean when their feet touched the soil?"
"Yes," I sighed, wishing my arms would become wings and I could fly into the night sky, soaring above tenement houses, Pittsburgh's three rivers and rolling hills.
"Yes, but some of the slaves, having crossed the sea, preferred to fly. They no longer wanted to be on land where they could be captured and resold. They preferred life as winged creatures, feeling the sun bake their black wings.
"Sunshine never scorches them. They never fall. Never drown in the sea. Just call -- sometimes with pain, sometimes with alarm -- sometimes with plain melancholy. Some say they call for their lost families, for mothers and fathers they couldn't return to, for brothers and sisters enslaved. Sometimes they call -- caw -- hurting, because they feel the depth of human pain. They remember their buried pain, piercing way down deep, just as they remember their original names. Some say they call for all the slaves that died at sea. Those that never survived the crossing.
"Most times, slaves were tossed overboard if they were too weak, too sick to fetch a good price. Sometimes, whole cargos -- men, women, and children -- were drowned when a British ship chased the slavers. No cargo, no crime. Their caw-cawing keep the drowned souls from feeling lonely.
"What blackbirds like best is sitting in a treetop, atop a wire, or on a scarecrow's hat, watching the neat rows of growing corn. Sun, Earth, and Water keep on providing. Blackbirds keep true to their freedom. Before sleeping, before tucking their heads beneath their wings, they give a special call -- caw-caw. Caw-caw. Call-call."
"Call, what? What do they say? What's the cawing mean?"
"That's the secret. Call. Caw-caw. Some say the birds keep repeating their African names. They say they do it before sleep, to make certain they won't forget. In case they ever decide to be human again.
"Some say the blackbirds caw/call, carrying tales. They call for you and me to travel homeward, to hold on to our selves despite hardship, despite pain. They caw-caw for us to pass down tales, down through the generation. They caw-caw for us to call upon our human selves to remember old truths...to remember a time when our ancestors left bitterness and pain, and rose up and flew as glorious blackbirds."
Each night Grandmother would tell a different tale...then, on Sunday, begin all over again. Sometimes she'd tell the same tales, sometimes she'd tell old tales redone. Sometimes there'd be an unexpected story. New and fresh beyond measure.
Porch stories didn't happen September through May. School nights were bland, filled with getting ready for tomorrows that echoed the same old day. Only during oppressive summer nights, when heat and humidity made the air too thick to breathe, did the soul-stirring stories arise. Each year, they'd change a bit, as if the stories changed according to my age. Different details would be filled in from six to eight or eight to ten. In truth, Grandmother's stories were for all ages. But the tales themselves were like labyrinths, mazes, where the meaning wasn't always clear.
Everything came with a maxim:
"Reap what you sow." "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." "Do good and it'll fly right back to you." "Catch your spirit up in a world of joy." "The dead are with us. You're never alone. All things alive." "Nobody in the world better than you. You no better than anyone else. We all a 'mixed-blood stew.' " "Cry, then get on with it." "Signs everywhere. Pay attention." "Scratch a wall, somebody dies." "Burn your hair, for if a bird finds it, uses it for its nest, your hair will fall right out." "Small actions mean something." "Every good-bye ain't gone." "What's worth holding on to in this world sometimes can't be caught. Can't be held." "Babies mean life."
"Jewell, child, what goes around, comes around."
"Reap what you sow."
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Do good and it'll fly right back to you."
"Catch your spirit up in a world of joy."
"The dead are with us. You're never alone. All things alive."
"Nobody in the world better than you. You no better than anyone else. We all a 'mixed-blood stew.' "
"Cry, then get on with it."
"Signs everywhere. Pay attention."
"Scratch a wall, somebody dies."
"Burn your hair, for if a bird finds it, uses it for its nest, your hair will fall right out."
"Small actions mean something."
"Every good-bye ain't gone."
"What's worth holding on to in this world sometimes can't be caught. Can't be held."
"Babies mean life."
I didn't understand half of what Grandmother said. Just marveled at her throaty laugh, her smacking gums. Her kind eyes. Tough hands.
I felt like the black sky was going to swallow me up -- warm, comforting in its infinity and blackness. The complicated labyrinth of stories would never end. A communion existed between us; I knew how to be quiet, in love with Grandmother's words and stories. Our small stoop became a universe.
She taught me how to live.
Be in love with your good self. Wear clean underwear. Don't let anyone ever think there's trash in you.
Remember your name. Who-you-be.
Be in love with your good self.
Wear clean underwear. Don't let anyone ever think there's trash in you.
Copyright © 2006 by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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I really enjoyed reading this book. I have shared it with my Mother and Mother in-law in which both are from Pittsburgh.


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White House
For many in military, Shinseki remains an American hero
As the words left President Barack Obama's lips on Friday that he had accepted the resignation of retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki as secretary of veterans affairs, a pained groan emerged from a crowd of troops, veterans and civilians who'd gathered around television sets at the Pentagon.
Even as calls grew in Congress for Shinseki, 71, to step down, and details emerged of an effort to misreport scheduling delays for patient appointments, many in the uniformed military had remained decidedly in Shinseki's camp, convinced that an American hero _ maimed in Vietnam and humiliated for publicly questioning Iraq policy during the Bush administration _ was being made a scapegoat.
His resignation does not fix the intractable problems that have plagued the Department of Veterans Affairs for decades, Shinseki supporters said; perhaps it will make them worse. Particularly galling to some in uniform was that Shinseki was well known for loving the soldiers he commanded and that he had risen to become the chief of staff of the Army, the highest-ranking Asian American in U.S. military history.
"GEN(R) Rick Shinseki gave his all in the service of his nation. He will be missed," Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tweeted upon learning the news.
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a friend of Shinseki, said that Shinseki was right to resign because he, rather than the VA's problems, had become the focus. But McCaffrey said it would be hard for anyone to make much headway in solving the VA's problems before November's midterm elections. Politics will hinder real change.
"I would be surprised if you could find someone in military who doesn't look up to him. But that doesn't mean that he is a political infighter that would deal with Congress, the media and these semi-independent systems in the VA," McCaffrey said.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, like Shinseki a Vietnam veteran, struggled Friday while in en route to Singapore to answer what should happen to Shinseki, just hours before the president's announcement.
"I leave the politics of it to others. But I've made it very clear where I am as a veteran on this, where I am as a secretary of defense _ this has to get fixed and this is as high a priority as this country has, taking care of its veterans," Hagel told reporters. But he also had kind words for Shinseki. "General Shinseki is a war veteran, disabled; lost part of his foot in Vietnam. And I think he understands . . . what our veterans deserve."
To be sure, there are those who reject Shinseki's claims that he did not know about the litany of problems that led to missed care for 1,700 veterans at the Phoenix VA hospital and investigations into similar issues at 42 other VA medical centers nationwide. A damning inspector general's report Wednesday confirmed that the Phoenix VA had cooked its books to make waiting times look shorter than they were. The American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, and conservative group Concerned Veterans for America called for Shinseki's resignation.
But to some of those who served alongside him in uniform, Friday's announcement marked the fourth time in Shinseki's career that he has been wounded in the service of his country. This time, it was because he did the same things that had made him such a successful Army commander _ he trusted those around him, reacted calmly to crisis, and when learning of a problem tried to address it through channels.
"There is nothing left to say. He is the fall guy," said one commander at the Pentagon who declined to be quoted by name because he did not want to be seen as questioning a presidential decision.
Shinseki, they said, was not responsible for systemic problems in the VA like a decades-old computer system, the failure during the Bush years to modernize as hundreds of thousands from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began clamoring for VA care, or for the seeming lack of integrity within the ranks of the VA, where the cooked books helped lower-level administrators earn bonuses.
In Vietnam, Shinseki sustained shrapnel wounds in the shoulder and chest, returned to combat, then lost part of his right foot when a landmine exploded. His grace in dealing with his wounds resonated with the last generation of soldiers.
Often, in talking about his injuries in Vietnam, Shinseki would say: "Twice in my career I have been carried off the battlefield on the backs of soldiers."
When the next generation of troops came back from Iraq and Afghanistan with missing limbs, wondering when the phantom pain, when the body's expectation that a missing part would return, would stop, he quietly would counsel, "It doesn't."
He rose swiftly through the ranks to command the 7th Army and U.S. forces in Central Europe. As chief of staff of the Army, he created the Stryker brigades, assembled around agile new vehicles designed for urban warfare. In Iraq, especially, they became critical forces.
But it was his comments in the 2003 run-up to the Iraq War that, to some soldiers, made him a national hero and symbol thoughtful resistance to the growing warpath. Calling on his experience as a commander of peacekeeping troops in Bosnia, Shinseki told the Senate Armed Services Committee that "something in the order of several hundred thousand soldiers" would likely be required for postwar Iraq, not the few thousand that the Bush administration had predicted.
A few days later, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz publicly contradicted him, saying "the notion that it will take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq are wildly off the mark."
Branded an unwelcome whistleblower, Shinseki lost influence within the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the remaining months of his four-year term, which marked the end of his military career. Three years later the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Gen. John Abizaid, acknowledged that Shinseki had been right.


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The skinny on celebrity chefs' prepared foods
What do you think of mass-market prepared food by "celebrity chefs"?
In the past few months, food stars Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) and Lidia Bastianich have launched branded lines of prepared meals. Garten's are frozen and are widely available in supermarkets; Bastianich's are refrigerated and sold exclusively at Whole Foods.
I tried four of Garten's nine "Sauté Dinners for Two": creamy chicken stew, beef Bourguignon, garlic and ginger chicken, and penne with five cheeses. All are prepared on the stovetop in a skillet and require the addition of water or oil, some stirring and a degree of attention. All cost $7.99 and serve two.
The chicken and beef dinners weren't terrible, but they had the canned, salty taste and gluey sauce of airplane food.
The penne was the best of the lot, but it was markedly less good than if I'd boiled my own pasta and added a jarred sauce.
If Garten's portrait and signature didn't adorn the packaging, I would never have associated her with such an unremarkable meal.
Another disappointment
I was even more disappointed in Bastianich. "I use only the freshest and highest quality ingredients," she writes on the labels of Lidia's Homestyle Meals.
"Food is nurturing and a way of connecting, so it is with love that I make these Italian classics for your table."
All six of the meals cost $9.99 and serve one. I gave three a test drive. First up, lemon chicken, "light and lemony fresh, this dish is made with all-natural chicken, capers and plump green olives then elegantly topped with lemon slices."
The flavor was OK, but there was something odd about the chicken, the pieces had a funny grain, like they had been stuck together from smaller pieces.
I consulted the ingredients.
"All-natural chicken" turned out to be "chicken breast filets," which, in turn, contain "chicken breast meat, water, wheat flour, salt and pepper. Chicken set in hot soybean oil. Soy lecithin used as a processing aid."
Plenty of prepared-food manufacturers — not to mention delis and restaurants — start their dishes with processed meat products made by big manufacturers such as Tyson Foods. But Mama Lidia? When she's charging me 10 bucks for two little filets?
The turkey meatballs were dry and tasteless. Six of them cost $9.99. I'd save my money and buy a container of Shady Brook Farms turkey meatballs, $3.49 for 12 moist and savory ones.
Bastianich's lasagna with chicken Bolognese sauce was acceptable, but no way worth $9.99 for a small portion.
Growing their brands
I have admired both Garten and Bastianich for years. Unlike showier personalities, they both seemed to believe that, armed with good ingredients and a well-written recipe, anyone could cook great food. Both established themselves in the culinary firmament first through their bestselling cookbooks and then through their television shows. (Bastianich is also a partner in a number of excellent restaurants and the Italian food market Eataly.)
Cookbook buyers and cooking-show viewers represent two distinct consumer groups: The former cook, the latter may not. A culinary star looking to "grow her brand" may well wonder what she can sell to fans who like to watch food prepared on TV but don't like to make it themselves.
In 2006, Ina Garten launched Barefoot Contessa Pantry, selling baking mixes and condiments. Through her subsidiaries Lidia's Kitchen and Nonna Foods, Bastianich sells pasta, sauces, cookware (through QVC) and more. And now, prepared food.
There is your answer.
We're revamping our Comments section. Learn more and share your input.


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Denver, Colo., Oct 2, 2013 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- A new book on the Holy Father gathers insights and recollections from 20 people across Argentina who knew Pope Francis as a seminarian, priest and bishop in Buenos Aires.
"A Pope who is constantly surprising people with his gestures, words and teachings comes from somewhere, has a background," said editor and translator Alejandro Bermudez, "and that's what the book tries to explore."
"Pope Francis: Our Brother, Our Friend" ([Ignatius Press]("http://www.ignatius.com/Products/OBP-H/pope-francis-our-brother-our-friend.aspx")) records personal recollections from twenty individuals who personally knew the man who became Pope Francis.
Shortly after Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope in March, Bermudez – who heads both Catholic News Agency and ACI Prensa, the largest Catholic news provider in Spanish – traveled to Argentina to conduct interviews with those who had personally known the Holy Father.
The result, Bermudez explained, is "the mosaic of a complex, rich personality that can help us understand the concerns, the experiences, the convictions and spiritual motivations behind the decisions and style of Pope Francis."
The book offers memories and reflections through the eyes of 10 Jesuits who lived close to Pope Francis in Argentina – as peers, professors or those receiving spiritual direction from then-Fr. Bergoglio.
These accounts are enriched by the testimony of 10 other individuals who knew the Pope, Bermudez explained, "from a prestigious politician to a lowly beggar, from a rabbi to a priest working in the slums."
Fr. Ángel Rossi, S.J., who was a student of then-Fr. Bergoglio and is now superior of the Residencia Jesuita community in Córdoba, described the Pope as "a very skillful man."
"I say that he is a mix between a desert saint and a brilliant manager, a combination that normally isn't very common," the priest explained in the book.
"He is a man with great intelligence, and also with academic and scholarly intelligence, but above all I think of that special perception which previously the monks used to call the 'cardiognosis': the gift of knowing peoples' hearts."
A 62-year-old beggar in Buenos Aires said that Fr. Bergoglio "cared for me, he cared for us, he knew all of us."
He recounted how Pope Francis, as a priest and later as a bishop and cardinal, would ask for prayers.
"I always liked to greet him because he always gave a smile. He never greeted seriously or in a bad mood," the beggar recalled, adding, "We miss him here."
"He was a person who went from giving spiritual assistance to someone, to speaking on the phone with a bishop or some important person, to washing clothes in the laundry or to the kitchen or where they raised the hogs," said Fr. Fernando Cervera, S.J., whose spiritual advisor was then-Fr. Bergoglio.
He added that the Pope had been very involved with the students in the classroom as well.
José María Poirier, director of the Catholic magazine "Criterio," said that as a cardinal, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the publication's 80th anniversary and told the staff members to "be on the cultural frontiers, do not expect the intellectuals to come to you; you be the ones going out to meet the non-religious intellectuals, the non-Catholics and non-Christians."
The great "paradox" of Pope Francis, said Poirier, was that despite his tremendous work with the poor of Buenos Aires and his contributions to interreligious dialogue, he consciously chose to keep such a low profile that "he was almost invisible in the eyes of the city."
"Pope Francis: Our Brother, Our Friend" is now available in English from [Ignatius Press]("http://www.ignatius.com/Products/OBP-H/pope-francis-our-brother-our-friend.aspx").


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At the height of its prosperity in the early 19th century, the little island of Nantucket was the foremost whaling port in the world. Its harbor bustled with whaling ships and merchant vessels; chandleries, cooperages, and other shops crowded the wharves. Burly ship hands loaded barrels of whale oil onto wagons, which they wheeled along cobblestone streets to refineries and candle factories. Sea breezes carried the smoke and smells of booming industry through town as its inhabitants eagerly took care of business. Shipowners and sea captains built elegant mansions, which today remain remarkably unchanged, thanks to a very strict building code initiated in the 1950s. The entire town of Nantucket is now an official National Historic District encompassing more than 800 pre-1850 structures w… Read More
ithin 1 square mile.
Day-trippers usually take in the architecture and historical sites, dine at one of the many delightful restaurants, and browse in the pricey boutiques, most of which stay open mid-April–December. Signature items include Nantucket lightship baskets, originally crafted by sailors whiling away a long watch; artisans who continue the tradition now command prices of $700 and up, and antiques are exponentially more expensive.
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BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — Somerset County Park Commission Lord Stirling Stable has announced the dates for the Summer Horse Care Workshops 102 and 103, designed for individuals who are seeking to gain knowledge and confidence around horses through a combination of non-riding activities and hands-on experience.
Horse Care Workshops 102 and 103 will be held at Lord Stirling Stable, 256 South Maple Avenue in Basking Ridge, New Jersey beginning Saturday, July 27, 2019 (providing weather does not delay currently running programs). Classes will meet for 5 consecutive Saturdays. Workshop 102 will meet from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon and Workshop 103 will meet from 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M.
Students in Workshop 102 will build upon their experiences in Workshop 101, which is a pre-requisite for this class. Advanced topics including nutrition, clipping, bandaging, and basic conformation will be explored, and the important roles the farrier and veterinarian play in a horse's life will be discussed. Workshop 103 will further develop care and management skills while increasing knowledge of equine behavior. Workshop 102 is a pre- or co-requisite for 103. The classes may be taken concurrently. There is no riding involved in either program.
Registration is now open and will be available up to the opening day of the Workshops as space permits. Fee is $60 for Somerset County residents and $90 for non-residents for either Workshop.
For additional information or to confirm program start date, please call Lord Stirling Stable at 908-722-1200, ext. 5010. Individuals with a hearing or speech impairment can call NJ Relay Service at 711.
Information on this event and other Somerset County Park Commission activities may be found on the Internet at www.somersetcountyparks.org.
See more Equestrian news at www.TAPintoHorses.net
See equestrian events at https://www.tapinto.net/sections/horses/events
Contact TAPinto Horses at email@example.com
Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TAPintoHorses/
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Orange-Glazed Pork Chops
Serves 4
A new collection from Canadian Living magazine, 150 Essential Beef, Pork and Lamb Recipes (Transcontinental Books, $29.95), starts with an explanation of basic cuts of meat, from expensive through economical, and goes on to offer well-tested recipes for each meat.
If pork chops are among your regular dishes and you're interested in varying your preparation of the mild-tasting meat, this recipe is an easy one. It can also be used for chicken breasts or thighs. Serve with your choice of green vegetable and potatoes or rice.
4 bone-in pork chops, 1 3/4 pounds (800 g) total
Pinch each of salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup orange juice
Hazelnut green beans (see note below)
Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil over medium heat. Cook pork until juices run clear when meat is pierced with a fork but just a hint of pink remains, from 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
Drain fat from the pan. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil over medium heat and cook garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and orange juice and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring often, until mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 6 minutes.
Return pork and any juices to the pan and cook, turning chops once, until glazed with sauce, about 2 minutes. Serve with beans.
For hazelnut green beans: Cook 1 pound (500 g) fresh, trimmed green beans in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 clove minced garlic, a pinch each of salt and pepper, and 1/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts.


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Sarah Sharp
Sarah Sharp
Sarah Sharp has taken a leading role in the setting up and progress of Chicycle, a Chichester cycle campaign and cycling development group, and in setting up Chichester and District Cycle Forum, because she recognized a lack of cycle campaigning and cycling initiatives in Chichester.
Sarah's energy, hard work and enthusiasm have engaged a large number of members of the community in cycling events, and her campaigning has achieved 3000 signatures on a 20's plenty petition and the adoption of 20's plenty as Chichester City Council policy.
Sarah has done a phenomenal amount of work in 2010, building Chicycle from nothing into not only an active and effective campaign group but also a community initiative, supporting local adults and children to build cycling into their lives, through projects such as led rides and public events. She is extending her engagement to include children from families without a cycling culture by setting up a Bike Club at a local primary school.
Sarah is an inspirational person who has decided to take responsibility for making Chichester a better place through cycling. Her productivity, creativity and ability to enthuse others are amazing.


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Welcome to MTSU Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi
Welcome to the web site of the MTSU Chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. If you have received an email of nomination, please follow the online instructions included in the letter to become a member. If you have any questions after browsing the site, contact a chapter officer.
Our next initiation ceremony is Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. in the Student
Union Building (STU) Ballroom 250D. A reception will follow in the same room.
The primary objective of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is the recognition and encouragement of superior scholarship in all academic disciplines. By drawing its membership from all fields of study within the academic institution, Phi Kappa Phi also serves as a unifying force in higher education.
The Society was founded to cultivate a deep appreciation and respect for scholarship and is convinced that in recognizing and honoring those persons of good character who have excelled in scholarship, in whatever field, it will stimulate others to strive for excellence.
Moreover, the Society serves the interests of the student capable of excellence by insisting that in order to acquire a chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, an institution provide the means and atmosphere conducive to academic excellence.
Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society, not an honorary society or fraternity. Membership is earned; it is truly an honor to be invited to membership.


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Welcome to The BGMS Media Center
Recent Reviews
- Skinny
The book Skinny is a phenomenal book. I recommend that you would read it. It has multiple suspense scenes. :)
- Someone like you
I think this what happens in this book could happen in real life.
- The heretic's daughter : a novel
This is a great book to read if you are into realistic fiction. It is about a family who overcomes lies, defeat, sacrifice and love.
- Sabotaged
This book was one of the best books I have ever read. It is a thrilling adventure. 10/10
- Harry Potter and the deathly hallows
This book was my favorite one out of the series, 10/10.
- The Dark Hills divide
This book was better than the normal book but not the best I loved it but there were some things I didn't understand and some very cool little facts I found out as well. all in all a great book. you ...
- Tunnels
This book was okay but it had some flaws. It took a while to get to the plot and it was kind of boring. It's also extremely long.
- Inheritance, or, The vault of souls
This book was really good since there was a lot of action but you have to have a good patience. This book will help you reach your AR goal and you will have a fun read
- The fault in our stars
I loved the book! I wish there was a series to it because it left me with a lot of questions.
- Diary of a wimpy kid : the long haul
I thought The Long Haul was a very interesting book,It was very funny and amusing i can not wait for the next book.
- What happened to goodbye
This book was a fantastic read! All of Sarah Dessen's novels create a realistic atmosphere that is relatable and discusses real issues that allow the reader to dive into the novel.
- The city of Ember
This book was mediocre. It lacked a feel to it. That lights just continued to go off. The book became interesting once they left the city.
- Lawn boy
It is the best story in the whole world, because it's about a kid who makes a lot of money. His grandma gives him a riding lawn mower for his birthday. He has so much business he has to hire others ...
- The Quest Begins
This book is an amazing adventure that plays through your head like a movie. The author did very well describing a lot of the details and I'm quite sure that when you pick it up you will never want ...
- The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
Set in Zimbabwe, 2194, The Ear, the Eye and the Arm are 3 detectives who are on a search for the children of General Matsika. I especially liked reading about Dead Man's Vlei, a wasteland that had ...
- Find more reviews...


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Carbondale Schools
The Town of Carbondale is located in Garfield County at the confluence of the Crystal and Roaring Fork rivers and the junction of State Highway 82 and 131. Carbondale's horizon is dominated by the 12,953 foot tall Mount Sopris several miles to the south of town. The town is characterized as a base camp for recreation enthusiasts and includes hiking, biking, golfing, kayaking, and world-class fly fishing. In winter, excellent cross-country skiing is just outside of town at Spring Gulch. The U.S. Census Bureau stated that the city population of Carbondale was 6,427 in 2010. For more information on Carbondale visit the Carbondale Chamber site.


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b.Please, check this letter. I really need your help, because i am not native speaker and I can make mistakes here. (Everyone, including accomplished native speakers, make mistakes. I have suggested some minor changes, but in general, yours is a great letter. )
It is my immense pleasure to recommend one of my best students, Ms. Alla XXXX, into XXXX Project for the next academic year.
I have known Ms. Alla XXX, since 2004 when she was attending my courses in "Information Systems for Management" in the Department of System Analysis and Decision Making Theory. Both in class and during office hours I was impressed with her knowledge and professionalism. During the course of studies, her grades were exceptionally good. Alla assimilates new material very well; she has got a well developed ability for logical thinking.
In order to achieve the highest grades and my deepest respect.She has demonstrated very strong technical skills and pulled most of the weight on the programming assignments (which were done individually).This alone is a very strong endorsement for her abilities. I must also comment on Alla's exceptional academic performance. In my opinion, she can be classified in the top 5%, which is undoubtedly the result of her hard and enthusiastic work.
In addition, her ability as a leader among other students and her confidence in a variety of challenges
hadbrought her praise not just from me, but also from other members of the department.
I know also of Alla's continued interest in programs related to international economics and finance. I feel confident that she will continue to succeed in her studies. I believe the Master's Program will give her an opportunity to deepen the knowledge of Public Administration and European Integration as well as the possibility of using the experience gained in the research work.
Innovations are the key to development and
developmenttake place through the sharing of knowledge and experience. Mobility is very important for countries with an economy that is just beginning to develop. Young specialists of these countries have a huge opportunity to get experience in the implementation and use of innovation through mobility programs and in the case of Ms XXX in sector of Public Administration and European Integration.
I have
strongextreme confidence that Ms. Alla XXXX is an excellent candidate for your program. And I'm(try not to use contractions in formal correspondence) I am sure you will find her to be a student whose talents will only shine further through your graduate program. It is my hope that you will accept her request for admission to your university. Feel free to contact me if you require further information.
Respectfully submitted,
Student or Learner


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POMONA — An Ontario woman is accused of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter following a solo-car crash that left a 19-year-old passenger dead early Sunday, authorities said.
Raelene Martinez, 20, was arrested following the 1:38 a.m. crash in the 1500 block of San Antonio Avenue, Pomona police Sgt. Christian Hsu said in a written statement.
One of her four passengers, identified by Los Angeles County coroner's officials as Sarena Vargas, 19, died following the crash. Police said she was from Upland.
Martinez was driving a Toyota Camry north on San Antonio when she lost control of the car, police said.
"Her vehicle struck several parked cars and rolled over," Hsu said.
The Upland woman died at the scene, he said.
Martinez and the three other passengers, described as an 18-year-old Ontario man, a 19-year-old Upland man and a 23-year-old Ontario man, were hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, police said.
"Evidence at the collision led officers to suspect Martinez was under the influence of alcohol while driving," Hsu said.
Officers from the Pomona Police Department's Major Accident Investigation Team are handling the investigation.


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STORIES OF HAITI....April 13, 2010
(HN April 13, 2010) --- Just days after Haiti's devastating 7.0 earthquake struck on January 12, 2010 - HUM Advisor Dr. Judy Kuriansky boarded a plane to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with her colleague from Port-au-Princes' Good Samaritan Center - Father Wismick Jean Charles - where she then hopped a bus to Haiti's capital. In her suitcase were all the medical supplies she could carry; even when the airport gate agent told her she couldn't take them on board, she pleaded for the people of Haiti.
Dr. Kuriansky was no stranger to disaster - she had done this trip before to help victims deal with the lasting effects of trauma. At Ground Zero in NY, in Asia at tsunami sites, to war ravaged countries where people live on with their haunting memories. Kuriansky knew that saving lives was crucial even in these early hours, but so was saving minds and hearts. This is her video diary from just three days after the crisis began.


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United States Military Vehicle General: Guns, G*vins, and Gas Turbines
Tied, in Mechanized Warfare
Recommended Posts
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By Mighty_Zuk
I realized we don't have a topic for a proper discussion of what future AFVs should look like, in the style of a general AFVs discussion rather than country-specific threads.
I spotted a revived potential need for future MBTs - a coaxial autocannon to replace the coaxial MG. The reason? An APS neutralizer.
Here's my short post on why I think it should happen:
I didn't add it there, but I see lasers as a potential alternative. However, I don't think they're viable because of the power required to properly neutralize an APS's components, especially if these components are dispersed, or worse yet, effectively camouflaged. An autocannon will be able to disable not only the APS but other external components all at once.
Similar to the engagement method showcased by Russia where they fired 2 Kornet missiles (almost) simultaneously to defeat an APS, a hypothetical mode of operation could include firing a burst of 2 KETF shells at a target prior to firing a main gun shell.
An additional alternative could be to use a single main gun ABM shell that would initiate outside the scope of the APS's engagement range (e.g engagement range is 30m so it initiates at 50m), but it would have 2 main issues that are a longer time to kill a target and a greater consumption of ammunition (up to a 3rd of ammo would have to be allocated to ABM munitions strictly for anti-armor operations).
By Sturgeon
I'll start off with a couple Pathe videos:
By EnsignExpendable
Volketten on the WoT forums posted some XM-1 trials results.
Compare this to what the Americans claimed the XM1 will do:
Seems like the XM1 really didn't earn that checkmark-plus in mobility or protection.
By JNT11593
So National Geographic has a mini series airing right now called The Long Road Home. I'm curious if any else is watching it right now. The show is about black Friday, and the beginning of the siege of sadr city in 2004. It's filmed at Fort Hood with cooperation from the U.S. Army so it features a lot of authentic armor. The first couple of episodes feature Bradleys quite heavily, and starting with episode 4 it looks like Abrams starting getting more screen time. It's pretty cool if you want to see some authentic tanks and vehicles as long as you can stand some cheesiness and army wife shit.
Edit: Just realized I posted to the wrong board.


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Commentary: Life's good in gun-crazy Florida
Almost. Almost a massacre. Almost a college campus horror. But last week's thwarted killing spree had no discernible effect on Tallahassee's gun fetish. Almost mattered almost not at all.
James Oliver Seevakumaran amassed 1,000 rounds of ammunition. He smuggled two firearms into his University of Central Florida dorm room, a High Point .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and what police described as an American Tech 22-magnum tactical rifle, which has the look, if not quite the lethality of a higher caliber assault weapon. But it would be plenty efficient for slaughtering unarmed kids. Police said Seevakumaran packed two 28-round magazines for his rifle. Almost as an afterthought, he stuffed a backpack with four homemade bombs.
And he had a plan. A checklist for killing. Last on his list, the would-be gunman had scrawled, "Give them hell."
UCF campus police chief Richard Beary told reporters that early Monday morning the 30-year-old Seevakumaran had pulled the fire alarm, knowing that fellow residents of Tower 1, a seven-story dormitory, would spill out into the hallways and down to the common areas, where they would be clumped together for easy targeting. "Anybody armed with this type of weapon and ammunition could have hurt a lot of people here, particularly in a crowded area as people were evacuating," the chief told reporters.
But his roommate, Air Force veteran Arabo Babakhani, emerged from his bedroom and was confronted with Seevakumaran wielding the gun. Babakhani slammed the door in the gunman's face and called 911. Police arrived quickly. "We think the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet," Beary said. Instead, he shot himself in the head.
"It could have been a very bad day for everyone here." Chief Berry added, in something of an understatement.
Instead of another school massacre, the incident would be categorized with the 20,000 firearm suicides reported in the U.S. in a typical year. That might be an epidemic in some countries, but in the U.S. gun suicides are hardly in the national conversation.
"It's a tragedy, but it's not an unspeakable tragedy," said UCF President John Hitt. Indeed, Florida's legislative leadership had nothing to say about UCF's near miss with mass murder.
Later that same day, just 10.5 miles west of the UCF campus, a school resource officer at Orlando's Glenridge Middle School acted on a tip and looked inside a seventh grader's backpack. What he discovered was yet more evidence of Florida's pervasive gun culture.
The 12-year-old had brought a 9 mm MAC-10 pistol to school, though the word "pistol" hardly describes this particular firearm. It was a semi-automatic version of those artless black metal machine gun pistols, the grease guns so popular with American gangsters. Killers love the compact MAC-10s because so much firepower can be concealed under a coat. Or in a child's backpack.
Orlando police said the MAC-10's 30-cartridge magazine was fully loaded. Police later tested the gun at the firing range and found it was fully functional, ready to kill. The child also brought a conventional .380-caliber pistol, though, small blessing, the second weapon was not in working order.
It was a Monday fraught with terrible possibilities. None seemed to register with the NRA-controlled legislature.
Senate President Don Gaetz, who controls the senate agenda, said last week he would leave all the questions about gun legislation to the discretion of the chairman of the senate Criminal Justice Committee, Sen. Greg Evers of the Panhandle town of Baker. Which is about like leaving the question of whether to ban chocolate ice cream up to your 5-year-old.
In 2009, the NRA bought space on 32 billboards in northwest Florida featuring a giant photo of Evers in a camouflage outfit, clutching a gun, with the proclamation, "I am the NRA."
The Herald's Toluse Olorunnipa dutifully asked Evers last week if he would countenance any sort of gun measure during this legislative session, though everyone in Tallahassee knew what Evers would say before he said it. Especially Gaetz (who once joked that his idea of gun control was "a steady aim."). Evers said, "I don't see any controversial bills that we need to bring up or any bills dealing with guns that need to be moved."
Everything's just dandy, here in gun-crazed Florida. According to Olorunnipa, a proposed repeal of the so-called "docs versus Glocks" law has no chance. The 2011 legislation outlawed the right of doctors to ask patients or patients' parents about firearms in the homes. Doesn't matter if the physician's confronted with a suicidal teenager. Or an utterly unhinged patient. No chance for that bill. Not in this legislature.
A bill to restrict gun show sales to licensed dealers was also deemed good as dead, along with another piece of legislation that would modify the NRA-backed Stand Your Ground self-defense law, despite all the well-documented unintended consequences.
A gun bill that would require universal background checks for gun purchases can't get out of committee. This, despite a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday that found 91 percent of Floridians supported the concept. But 91 percent support is not enough, in our Democracy, to thwart the will of the NRA.
(The NRA has indicated it might support a bill that would bar firearm purchases to mental patients who voluntarily commit themselves, closing the loophole in the state law that bans sales to the involuntarily committed. This coincides with the NRA national strategy to defuse anti-gun sentiment over the Newtown massacre by restricting firearm sales to the mentally ill.)
A couple of other legislative proposals would tax firearms sales and direct the proceeds to fund either mental health or school safety programs — an almost laughable concept in Florida. Guns and taxes in the same paragraph? Never.
Olorunnipa counted two dozen gun proposals languishing in the legislature. And two dozen nevers. Rhymes with Evers.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the NRA has similarly beaten back proposals to ban assault weapons and limit magazine capacity. The organization also opposes a federal background check, claiming such a thing would lead to a secret national registry and confiscation.
National polls indicate 88 percent of the American public supports background checks. But the NRA trumps the national will. Despite the brutal carnage of school children in Newtown. Or the (according to the Huffington Post) 2,243 gunshot deaths since the Newtown murders.
If awful scenes of so many dead elementary school children has so little effect on national gun legislation, you can imagine how much attention an almost gun massacre at UCF is getting in the Florida legislation.
Almost none.


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Amber Nichols led Liberty with three goals against Davidson on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Todd Drexler)
Despite a hat trick from senior captain Amber Nichols, No. 4 seed Liberty fell to top-seeded Davidson, 17-8, in the semifinals of the Big South Lacrosse Championship on Friday afternoon at Richardson Stadium. The Lady Flames conclude the season with an 8-10 overall record, marking the highest single-season win total in program history. Davidson improves to 11-6 and advances to Sunday's title game against the winner of No. 2 seed High Point and No. 3 seed Longwood.
The Wildcats jumped on the scoreboard quickly, scoring a pair of goals in the opening 45 seconds of the contest. Davidson added two more scores to extend its advantage to 4-0, forcing Liberty head coach Regan Denham to use a timeout with 4:20 expired in the first half.
Davidson pushed its advantage to 6-0, before Kacie Fogle tallied the Lady Flames' first marker of the game. The sophomore weaved through the Wildcats' defense and whipped a shot into the top-right corner of the goal to pull Liberty within five, 6-1.
Two more goals by Davidson made the score 8-1. The Wildcats' eighth tally came from Ann Fucigna. It was the junior's 50th goal of the season.
At the 15:57 mark of the first half, Nichols recorded her first marker of the game and Liberty's second of the contest, closing the deficit to six, 8-2.
The Wildcats ended the half on a 4-0 run, taking a 12-2 lead into the break.
The Lady Flames found the back of the net first, coming out of halftime. After a Morgan Becker shot hit the post, Liberty regained possession and worked the ball to Nina Dunay. The junior raced into the center of the arc and fired a shot into the top of the goal. Dunay's first score of the day cut the Davidson lead to nine, 12-3.
Nichols continued her strong play on the afternoon, notching a hat trick by scoring Liberty's next two goals of the contest. Davidson matched Nichols' scores with two of its own, making the score 14-5 in favor of the Wildcats with 19:36 remaining in the game.
Davidson recorded the game's next two scores, pushing its advantage to 11 goals, 16-5, with 14:15 left in the contest.
The Lady Flames outscored the Wildcats, 3-1, over the remaining minutes of the contest. Jen Freymond scored off of a Kallie Britton assist at the 7:15 mark. Liberty's final two tallies came from its top two scorers on the season. Dunay notched her second goal of the game, and 29th of the year, before Becker put her 28th marker of the season into the net at 1:26. Sam Struss assisted on both goals, giving her a team-best 21 helpers on the year. For the game, Liberty held the advantage in shots, 28-23, and draw controls, 17-10. The Wildcats held the edge in ground balls, 20-16, and caused turnovers, 6-3.
In goal, Liberty starter Kristen Masullo notched a pair of saves. Kristin Boland started the second half and tallied one save in over 10 minutes of action. Jessica Melby tallied nine stops in between the pipes for Davidson.


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Individual / Age Group
Phase 1: $250.00 USD (From registration opening to Jan 2nd, 2019)
Phase 2: $300.00 USD (From Jan 3rd, 2019, to May 31st, 2019)
Phase 3: $325.00 USD (From June 1, 2019, to Sep 13th, 2019)
Phase 4: $350.00 USD (From Sep 14th, 2019, until registration closing)
Relays - Cost per athlete
Phase 1: $150.00 USD (From registration opening to May 3rd, 2019)
Phase 2: $175.00 USD (From May 4th, 2019, until registration closing)
Important Information:
Registration for this event is personal, non-transferable, non-refundable and it is valid for this edition only. It is forbidden to hand your number to another person or to participate with someone else´s number; to do so may lead to a sanction of up to 12 months.
Each participant must pick up their race kit in person and must show a valid picture id (i.e., passport, driver's license or visa).


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Signed Giclee, 8.5"x11" on Archival Matte Paper...Psalm 91:11
"For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways".
This is one of the most popular of the "Bible Verse"paintings this artist is known for!
If you would like the Bible Verse written around the outside of the print by the artist, please indicate...there is no extra charge!


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We're using a Google Apps domain where I work, and I have a strong suspection that it's not possible to share anything with other people unless I send them a link.
What I do:
- I create a document
- I use the "share" button to set sharing to our domain (I check "everyone from XXX domain can access the document". I don't check "people from XXX domain who have the link", as I want it to work even without distributing the links.)
Then, my colleague goes to our Google Docs, and doesn't see the document anywhere in his list. When he types the document's name into the search box, nothing comes up. After I send him the link, he can access it fine.
What do I have to do to make it work the way I want (e.g. for people to see the document even without getting the exact link)?


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(AP) — The California Institute of Technology has announced the appointment of physicist Thomas F. Rosenbaum as its new president.
Rosenbaum is currently the provost and John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago.
Caltech said Thursday that the 58-year-old Rosenbaum will succeed Jean-Lou Chameau, who served as president from 2006 to 2013.
Rosenbaum is an expert on condensed matter physics. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University and both a master's degree and doctorate in physics from Princeton University.
Rosenbaum will take over at Caltech on July 1, 2014, from interim president and provost Edward Stolper.
Rosenbaum's spouse, Katherine T. Faber, will join the Caltech faculty. She's currently the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University.


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The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system
What is the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system
The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system is a method of paying income tax and national insurance contributions. Your employer deducts tax and national insurance contributions from your wages or occupational pension before paying you your wages or pension.
Wages includes sick pay, maternity or paternity pay and adoption pay. You pay tax over the whole year, each time you are paid, rather than paying tax in one lump sum. Your employer is responsible for sending the tax on to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Each pay day you will get a pay slip setting out your pay, tax and national insurance contributions and any other deductions from your pay. If you get a pension, you may not get a payslip for every payment.
At the end of the tax year, you will get a form P60 which sets out the total amounts paid to you and deducted from you for the previous tax year. A tax year runs from 6 April one year to 5 April the following year.
If you pay tax on your wages or occupational pension under PAYE, the PAYE system can also be used to collect the income tax on any other taxable income you have. For example, if you pay tax under PAYE on an occupational pension, the tax due on your State Retirement Pension is collected through PAYE by deducting tax from your occupational pension. The PAYE system can also be used to collect tax due on other sources of income such as untaxed interest or rent. It can also be used to collect other money that you owe to HMRC, such as overpaid tax credits, tax debts from previous years and unpaid self-employed national insurance contributions.
How employers use tax codes to deduct tax under PAYE
HMRC uses a tax code to tell your employer or pension provider how much tax to deduct from your wages or pension. If HMRC does not have enough information to issue a full tax code, your employer or pension provider will be told to use an emergency tax code until more information is received and the tax code can be adjusted – see under heading Emergency tax codes.
Most PAYE codes are made up of a number followed by a letter:
- the letter relates to the type of allowance(s) you are getting (see below)
- the number shows the amount of income you have as allowances which may be set against tax (see below).
The letter in the tax code
The letter in the tax code, which shows which tax allowances you are receiving, will be one of the following:
L if you were born after 5 April 1948 and eligible for the basic personal allowance. You will also be given this code if you are being taxed on the emergency code.
P if you were born between 6 April 1938 and 5 April 1948 and entitled to a full age-related personal allowance
Y if you were born before 6 April 1938 and entitled to a full age-related personal allowance
T may be allocated for a number of reasons. These include:
- where you request it, because you do not want to reveal your actual code
- you or your partner were born before 6 April 1938
- there is a reduced age-related allowance in the code.
K This code is used if your total tax allowances are less than the total deductions to be taken away from your allowances. If your untaxed income is from benefits in kind, pensions, interest or social security benefits, you may be given a K code.
BR if you have not been given any allowances and tax will be deducted at the basic rate. This code may be given if you've got more than one job or pension or when you start your first job and your employer is waiting for a tax code
NT if you do not have to pay tax. This code does not include a number.
DO if all your income from this job or pension is taxed at the 40% higher rate (usually used if you've got more than one job or pension)
OT no allowances have been given or remain after other adjustments have been made. Tax will be paid at the basic rate or higher rate, depending on the level of income
You can find more about tax codes on the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk.
The number in the tax code
The number in the tax code represents the total of all available allowances, less any amount to be deducted to cover other income or benefits.
For more details about the number in the tax code, go to the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk.
Where to find your tax code
If you are given a PAYE tax code, it will be shown on:
- a notice of coding sent by your tax office – see under heading Notice of coding
- your pay slip
- your pension statement if you're getting an occupational pension.
Emergency tax codes
The tax office may not be able to give your employer a tax code to allow them to deduct the right amount of tax over the whole year. In this case, the tax office gives your employer an emergency code with which to tax you. An emergency code assumes that you are only entitled to the basic personal allowance and your PAYE tax code will include the letter L, which shows that you are only receiving this personal allowance. It does not take into account any other allowances and reliefs you may be entitled to.
You will stop being taxed on an emergency code when the tax office sends your employer or pension payer a correct PAYE tax code, and gives your employer details of previous earnings and tax paid in that tax year. This enables your employer or pension payer to deduct the correct tax in future and refund any overpaid tax caused by the emergency code. Moving to the correct code may mean you owe tax for the earlier part of the year but HMRC will tell your employer to only deduct reasonable amounts. You may therefore have to pay back some tax later on. If at the end of the tax year you think you have paid too much tax because you've been taxed on an emergency code, you should claim a refund by writing to your tax office.
Alternatively you will stop being taxed on an emergency code at the start of the new tax year. In the new year, your employer or pension provider will usually start deducting tax cumulatively, that is, when deducting tax your employer will take into account the amount of tax you have already paid in that year.
You can find more information about emergency tax codes on the GOV.UK website at:www.gov.uk.
You can get further information from the Low Income Tax Reform Group.
Notice of coding
A notice of coding shows your tax code if you are going to pay through the PAYE system. The notice is usually sent out in January or February for the tax year beginning on the following 6 April. The code shown in the notice is given for that tax year only. The notes that come with the notice of coding explain how the code is worked out.
Not everyone gets a notice of coding each year. It depends on what allowances and reliefs you are claiming and whether these tend to change from year to year. If the only changes are the increase of allowances in the Budget or any change in the tax rates, your employer or pension provider will include these automatically in your wages or pension and you won't get a notice of coding.
For more information about your notice of coding, go to the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk.
You should check carefully that you have been given all the allowances and reliefs that you are entitled to claim and that all your income has been taken into account. If help is needed, contact HMRC on the telephone number shown on your Notice of coding. You can also get help with checking your notice of coding from the Low Income Tax Reform Group.
Self Assessment
If you have income which is not taxed by deductions from your pay or pension under PAYE, you will probably need to complete a tax return form in order to provide HMRC with the details. This is called Self Assessment. Income that is not taxed under PAYE could include:
- income from renting out a room
- income from self-employment
- other untaxed income.
You must tell HMRC if you receive taxable income in addition to any income you pay tax on through PAYE. They will tell you whether you have to complete a tax return form.
If you want to check that you are paying the right amount of tax, or if you think you may have overpaid or underpaid tax, you should contact HMRC on the Taxes Helpline, 0300 200 3300 (Textphone 0300 200 3319).
For more information about Self Assessment, including details of the deadlines for sending in your tax return, see Self Assessment.
For help with Self Assessment, contact the HMRC Self Assessment Helpline on 0300 200 3310 (Textphone 0300 200 3319).
Paying HMRC debts with PAYE
HMRC can take money out of your pay to collect money you owe them, but there are limits to how much they can take.
If you earn less than £30,000 per year, HMRC can collect up to £3,000 per year.
If you earn over £30,000, HMRC can take more than £3,000 - the amount they can collect per year will increase depending on how much over £30,000 you earn.
The maximum amount of debt HMRC can collect in a year is £17,000 - you'll only pay this much if you earn over £90,000.
HMRC can't take more than 50% of your pay to collect a debt you owe to HMRC.
Change in circumstances
If your circumstances change during the tax year, for example, you have a new source of income, you must inform HMRC in writing as soon as possible.
For more information about particular changes in circumstances, see Pay As You Earn: common problems.


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Urticaria and LoratadinePatientsVille
Urticaria Symptoms and Causes
Hives are red and sometimes itchy bumps on your skin. An allergic reaction to a drug or food usually causes them. Allergic reactions cause your body to release chemicals that can make your skin swell up in hives. People who have other allergies are more likely to get hives than other people. Other causes include infections and stress.
Hives are very common. They usually go away on their own, but if you have a serious case, you might need medicine or a shot. In rare cases, hives can cause a dangerous swelling in your airways, making it hard to breathe - which is a medical emergency.
Check out the latest treatments for urticaria
➢ urticaria treatment research studies
➢ Loratadine clinical trials, surveys and public health registries


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Introduced June 2017
Anything you can do,
you can do better.
No matter the task, the new iPad Pro is up to it — and then some. It offers far more power than most PC laptops, yet is delightfully simple to use. The redesigned Retina display is as stunning to look at as it is to touch. And it all comes together with iOS, the world's most advanced mobile operating system. iPad Pro. Everything you want modern computing to be. Now even, well, better.
Wi‑Fi models: 1.03 pounds (469 grams)
Wi-Fi + Cellular models: 1.05 pounds (477 grams)
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*Assisted GPS and GLONASS
*Pay with your iPad using Touch ID within apps and on the web
10.5‑inch iPad Pro
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Accessibility features help people with disabilities get the most out of their new iPad Pro. With built-in support for vision, hearing, physical and motor skills, and learning and literacy, you can create and do amazing things.
Features include:
Operating ambient temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
Operating altitude: tested up to 10,000 feet (3000 m)
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