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Prophetic Words for 2019
by Larry Sparks
Learn More | Meet Larry Sparks
The Process of the New Wine
Robert Henderson
- On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
- —John 2:1-11 NKJV
In this story I believe we have a prophetic word for 5779/2019. There is a release of glory, power, and new wine coming into the earth. The Lord is taking the tasteless, insipid, and odorless realms of our life and transforming them into life more abundantly. He is also taking that which the church has been offering to the world and changing it into that which is life-changing and culture shaping.
There are several things that were involved in this first miracle of Jesus. First, this miracle happened at a wedding. A wedding speaks of a place of covenant. Covenant is necessary for houses to be built. Houses are what the Lord uses to rule the earth. Among other places, in Isaiah 2:2 we see the importance of houses.
- Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it (NKJV).
The mountain of the Lord's house is established and ruling over all other mountains. This speaks of a governmental people who are allowing and disallowing things in the earth on a very high level. This is the Church/ecclesia. The problem is that these kinds of houses cannot be formed and functioning without covenant. People's lives coming together in covenant relationships that are unbreakable allow this level of authority to operate. In 5779/2019 there will be a new level of covenant that allows these kinds of houses to be built and operating. As a result of this, a governmental release of God's judicial order and justice will be seen in the nations.
Jesus' turning the water to wine also prophetically speaks to us that it is His heart for the party to continue. In the natural scheme of things, there was nothing earth-shaking hanging in the balance. A wedding festival might have ended prematurely without more wine. Perhaps you may have lost the zest for life. Maybe you no longer relish the beauty of living and loving life the way you once did. When Jesus turned the water to wine, He was voting for the party to continue. Jesus intends to bring the joy and zest of life back to His people and cause them to rejoice. Proverbs 15:15 tells us that when we have the joy of the Lord, we are in a continual party:
- All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast (NKJV).
There is coming in 5779/2019 a new dimension of joy and excitement in the Lord. Depression will wane, anxiety will diminish, and those afflicted by oppression will be freed. Jesus will turn the water into wine. There will be a societal outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord that not only will rival but will exceed the Charismatic Renewal and Jesus People Movement of the '60s and '70s. Whereas there has been only the water of religion and the seeker-sensitive movement, there will now be the power and glory of Jesus, the manifested Christ. The Spirit and Bride say come to the Bridegroom (see Rev. 22:17). There is a passion arising in the spirit realm causing a cry to come forth for the manifestation of His glory. The best wine of the Spirit of the Lord has now been saved for the last. In the mercy of the Lord, God will visit His people and inheritance again and the cultures of the earth will shake with His presence.
Another thing that is prophetically relevant in this story is Jesus at first refused to do anything about the shortage of wine. When, however, the servants showed a willingness to obey whatever He said, Jesus' attitude toward the situation changed. He went from clearly not feeling any level of responsibility in the matter to moving in faith to see water become wine. We must know that willingness and obedience move the heart of God. If we want the Lord to move and manifest His glory, it is a willingness and obedience in us that will draw this out of the Lord. We must repent anywhere we have exhibited a stubborn and self-willed heart and allow ourselves to be brought to brokenness and surrender. When we do, the glory and power of the Lord will be seen. I prophesy a new level of brokenness and repentance in the Church from the fear of the Lord. I declare that there will be humble broken people filled with the boldness of the Lord in 5779/2019.
The other thing I see for 5779/2019 is an increase of the hidden ones' function that gives birth to this which is being prophesied. It was the servants who knew how the miracle happened. All the rest only got the benefit of it. The servants, however, through their obedience caused it. There is a new passion arising in the hidden ones who, through their obedience in prayer, will see the water turned to wine.
The Master of the feast commented on the best wine being saved for last. However, it says the servants knew where it had come from. They knew the price of obedience they had paid to fill six containers that would hold 20 to 30 gallons apiece. They had the sweat on their brow, the blisters on their hands, the ache in their backs, and the exhaustion of their obedience testifying to the price of this miracle. Those who think the suddenlies of God happen without human effort or obedience are sadly mistaken. The suddenlies are not suddenlies to those who have caused them. They have a history of obedience with God in prayer, intercession, weeping, and travail that has moved things in the spirit world to allow everyone else to marvel at what has occurred.
God is coming in 5779/2019 to greatly empower the servants behind the scenes. He is placing much honor on the hidden ones who are producing what is necessary for the water to be made wine. Those who have been held in low or no esteem will have the honor of the Lord thrust upon them in this hour.
I also hear the Lord saying that He is coming to refresh the weary and the fatigued. The weak shall say I am strong. I hear Zechariah 12:8:
- In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them (NKJV).
God is coming with His defense for those who have been afflicted and attacked. Those who are feeble will become as David, the mighty warrior of God. Those who are as David will become like God, even like the Angel of the Lord who goes before us. I say to the weak, in 5779/2019 arise and step into your strength. For you will do exploits in the Name of the Lord! Your days and times of weakness and ridicule are over. It is an hour to arise and shine, for your light has come.
About Robert Henderson
Robert Henderson is a global apostolic leader who operates in revelation and impartation. His teaching empowers the Body of Christ to see the hidden truths of Scripture clearly and apply them for breakthrough results. Driven by a mandate to disciple nations through writing and speaking, Robert travels extensively around the globe, teaching on the apostolic, the Kingdom of God, the "Seven Mountains," and most notably, the Courts of Heaven. He has been married to Mary for 40 years. They have six children and five grandchildren. Together they are enjoying life in beautiful Midlothian, TX.
2019: The Year of the Decree
Jennifer LeClaire
I decree and declare." These are four words we hear prayer warriors cry out in the heat of the battle—but often without an experiential revelation of the power of a decree.
In 2019, God will demonstrate the power of a decree with rapid breakthrough following. He is pouring out revelation on Job 22:28 to believers who can believe Christ's delegated authority positions us as more than priests who petition—but kings who decree and see an immediate response in the natural realm. I heard the Lord say:
- "Far too many of My people are begging Me to do what I've already promised I would do. Far too many are making supplication, bargaining with Me to do My revealed will, petitioning and crying out from a place of hope instead of faith. But I am calling My body to rise up and decree what I have already said, to prophesy what I've already said, to declare what I've already said, and to see My will and My Kingdom established in the earth. There is a time for every purpose under heaven. There's a time to pray the prayer of faith. There's a time to war with a prophetic word. There's a time to make supplication. There's a time to release the prayer of consecration. But in this season I am demonstrating the power of a decree released by the leading of My Spirit through a heart of faith. Decree a thing and it shall be established."
Job 22:28 assures us, "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways" (KJV). Different translations shed interesting light on this verse. For example, the New International Version tells us, "What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways." The Contemporary English Version puts it this way: "He will do whatever you ask, and life will be bright."
The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition expounds on this truth a little more: "You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways." And The Message assures, "You'll decide what you want and it will happen; your life will be bathed in light."
What Is a Decree?
We can decree the Word of God or the revealed will of God through prophecy. There is power in the Word of God. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word will never pass away (see Matt. 24:35). His Word is life to all those who find it and healing to the flesh (see Prov. 4:22). His Word will add length to your life and give you peace (see Prov. 3:2). The grass withers and the flowers fade away, but the Word of God will stand forever (see Isa. 40:8). His Word is spirit and life (see John 6:63). His Word is truth (see John 17:17). His Word is pure, like silver tried in a furnace, purified seven times (see Ps. 12:6).
Hebrews 4:11-16 explains:
- Let us labor therefore to enter that rest, lest anyone fall by the same pattern of unbelief. For the word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no creature that is not revealed in His sight, for all things are bare and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who was in every sense tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us then come with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (MEV).
A decree is more than a positive confession. A decree is an order usually having the force of law, according to Webster's dictionary. God expects us to follow His decrees (see Lev. 18:4). The enemy is also bound to obey a prophetic declaration in the name of Jesus, the name at which every knee must bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (see Rom. 14:11).
You Are a Priest and a King
Believers have a duality of standing in the role of both kings and priests. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (see Rev. 17:14). Who are these kings who report to the King? We are. Revelation 1:6 says He has made us "kings and priests to His God and Father" (MEV). Let me share with you a few scriptures that bring this point home.
- For if by one man's trespass death reigned through him, then how much more will those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17 MEV).
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may declare the goodness of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9 MEV).
Priests don't have power in government. Kings do. Governmental intercessors don't pray with a priestly anointing alone; they pray with a kingly anointing. Still, most intercessors stand in the role of priest. We need to understand when to make the shift between the priestly mantle and the kingly mantle—when to operate in the anointing of the priest and the anointing of a king.
Kings have a domain in which they exercise authority (see 2 Cor. 10:3). Kings have power and influence. Kings are warriors who defend a nation against its enemies. Kings govern and uphold laws. Kings oversee administrations. Kings establish order and maintain peace, when possible. Kings judge and decree. Throughout the Bible we see kings issuing decrees:
- We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed. Afterwards, our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, so He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and carried the people away into Babylon. However, in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, King Cyrus made a decree to rebuild this house of God (Ezra 5:11-13 MEV).
We see what happened next in Ezra 6: "Then Darius the king issued a decree and a search was made in the house of records, where the treasures were stored in Babylon" (Ezra 6:1 MEV). King Cyrus' decree was found and Darius enforced it.
Decrees Cannot Be Undone
In the book of Esther, King Ahasuerus made a decree that his wife, Vashti, could never enter into his presence again (see Esther 1:19). She never did. Haman later persuaded Ahasuerus to issue an evil decree to wipe out the Jews (see Esther 3:8). Ahasuerus could not undo his original decree, but Esther convinced him to issue a second decree that gave the Jews a right to defend themselves against enemy attack (see Esther 8:11).
In Daniel 3, we learn that King Nebuchadnezzar issued a decree "that every man who hears the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music should fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace" (Daniel 3:10-11 MEV). That decree could not be undone, and it landed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in a fiery furnace, but God delivered them from the evil decree.
Later, King Darius' officials unknowingly convinced him to make a decree against Daniel:
- "All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the officials, the counselors, and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be altered." Therefore King Darius signed the writing, even the decree (Daniel 6:7-9 MEV).
Daniel refused to compromise. Darius didn't want to throw him in the lion's den but he could not negate the decree. When he saw the power of God in Daniel's situation, Darius made another decree:
- Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth. "Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, enduring forever; His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and His dominion shall be forever. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions" (Daniel 6:25-27).
Again, Job 22:28 assures us, "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways" (KJV). Gazar is the Hebrew word for decree. It means, "to cut, divide, cut down, cut off, cut in two, snatch." When we decree, we are cutting off the enemy's plan and establishing God's will. God Himself declares:
- For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11 MEV).
My prayer is that you will learn to discern in any situation when it's time to pray as a priest and when it's time to pray as a king. In this year, God is demonstrating the power of a decree because a decree can be the tipping point to a bowl filled with intercession.
About Jennifer LeClaire
Jennifer is senior leader of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, FL, founder of the Ignite Network and founder of the Awakening Blaze prayer movement. Jennifer formerly served as the first-ever female editor of Charisma magazine and is a prolific author of over 25 books. You can find Jennifer online or shoot her an email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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The Art of Tea team and I recently wrapped up from a weekend at The World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. Steve taught a three-hour class on tea blending and two of his blends (Passionfruit Jasmine black tea and Brûlée Mint rooibos) won awards in the North American Iced Tea Championship. Perhaps it was the combination of desert heat, a weekend brimming with tea, and one of the world's best wine scenes, but something inspired me to share a few summery, pairing-friendly iced tea recipes with you here on the Art of Tea blog. Brew these iced teas at home or at your tea business… or convince your favorite restaurant to serve them with the pairing suggestions below.
Brûlée Mint on Ice
Brûlée Mint is an award-winning, caffeine-free rooibos blend. When iced, it has a perfectly balanced, naturally sweet flavor profile that appeals to everyone from tea connoisseurs to kids. Brew iced Brûlée Mint with these easy instructions:
1 cup (250 mL) filtered or spring water
2 Tbsp. Brûlée Mint
1 cup ice cubes
1) Bring the water to a boil.
2) Brew Brûlée Mint for five minutes.
3) Remove the leaves and pour the brew over ice.
4) Serve immediately.
Makes approximately two servings (1.5 cups/350 mL).
For an added treat, pair Brûlée Mint on Ice with lamb tagine, dark chocolate French macaroons or lavender-sea salt caramels.
(Almost) Classic Iced Tea
Art of Tea's award-winning Classic Black makes a fantastic iced tea. Its Nilgiri base produces a fragrant, crisp, clear brew, while its Yunnan golden buds add an alluring, chocolaty depth that's rare in iced teas. Blended with sugar and lemon, it takes Southern sweet tea to a new level. Brewed with vanilla sugar and orange, it becomes a sophisticated, satiating iced tea unlike any you've ever tasted. Here's how to make our (Almost) Classic Iced Tea:
1 cup (250 mL) filtered or spring water
1 heaping Tbsp. Classic Black
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tsp. Madagascar vanilla sugar (or coconut palm sugar with a few drops of pure vanilla extract)
1.5 cups ice cubes
1 wedge orange
1) Bring the water to a boil.
2) Brew Classic Black for four minutes.
3) Remove the tealeaves.
4) Stir in the vanilla sugar and orange juice.
5) Pour the mixture over ice.
6) Add the orange wedge and serve immediately.
Makes approximately two servings (2 cups/475 mL).
For an added treat, pair this modified classic with Kansas City-style barbecue, fresh peaches or cardamom-vanilla pudding.

subset: commoncrawl


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Oct. 30, 2005
NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University relied upon a consistent rushing attack and outstanding defense to defeat MIT, 47-7, at Toppa Field on Sunday afternoon. The Seahawks rushed for a season-high 302 yards, on the heels of a minus-39 team rushing performance last week, and scored seven touchdowns with seven different players en route to the victory.
Salve Regina's defense forced MIT quarterback and reigning NEFC Offensive Player of the Week, Rick Mancuso, into throwing five interceptions. Salve Regina began the scoring midway through the first quarter when quarterback Robert Higle connected with Antonio Guzzo for a 28-yard touchdown reception. Later in the second quarter, the Seahawks went up 14-0 on a Carl Frye one-yard rushing score.
MIT countered with a long drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown by Muamba Muanankese, but it would be the final time that the Cardinal and Gray reached the end zone. With five seconds left in the first half, Higle completed a three-yard pass to Louis Ravanis to give Salve Regina a 21-7 lead at the intermission.
The second half was dominated by the host Seahawks. Scott Peters and Brad Russo ran for scores of 4 and 28 yards, respectively, extending Salve's advantage to 34-7 in the third quarter. Gary Galvao later hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass and Dan Demers wrapped up the scoring with a nine-yard rushing touchdown. James McQuinn had two interceptions for Salve Regina while Glen Geesman recorded three sacks for MIT (all in the first half). With the win, Salve Regina improves to 2-5 (2-3 NEFC Boyd), while MIT falls to 3-5 (2-3 NEFC Boyd).
The Engineers travel to Endicott next Saturday for the final game of the regular season. Kick-off is at 12:00 pm.


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Photo: www.google.com
When we came across the photo yesterday of Lindsey Stone raising her middle finger at the Arlington National Cemetery, we decided to pass on making comment or adding to the viral storm around it. Gawker's refreshingly reasonable question was, should the woman in the picture, Lindsey Stone, have her life ruined over the photo?
We figured she had enough on her plate without us adding to it.
When my reporter Geoff and I, both military veterans, closed the page, we rolled our eyes and got on with the day.
But as outrage grows — leading to posts across the Internet and Facebook groups devoted to getting her fired — I feel compelled to defend her.
Stone was at the cemetery on an office trip. She's pretending to be neither silent or respectful next to a sign that demands she be both. As in, "Look it says I can't. But I am." I get it. I remember standing on the wall of a deep gorge in high school that had the words Do Not Stand here painted on it. I took a picture of my shoe beside them. These are silly, immature, little rebellions.
Stone also apologizes in a followup Facebook post: "Whoa whoa whoa… wait. This is just us, being the douchebags that we are, challenging authority in general. Much like the pic posted the night before, of me smoking right next to a no smoking sign. OBVIOUSLY we meant NO disrespect to people that serve or have served our country."
More importantly, if Lindsey Stone wants to rip on the Tomb of the Unknowns, me, my service, or the hundreds of mutilated troops I served with at Walter Reed Medical centre, she should be able to do so without fear of retribution. Freedom like that is what we fought for, and respecting other opinions is part of what the military tried to teach all of us who served.
The blind adoration of the military and its personnel is getting creepy, and I'm talking from the inside looking out. While correcting the ugly way Vietnam veterans were treated is good, the over-compensation needs to stop. Putting on a uniform doesn't change who you are, and questioning institutions and individuals, including the military and its troops, is good and healthy.
Aaron O'Connel, a Marine officer and instructor at the Naval Academy, had this to say about the topic in a NYT op-ed a couple weeks ago that definitely warrants a full reading:
Like all institutions, the military works to enhance its public image, but this is just one element of militarization. Most of the political discourse on military matters comes from civilians, who are more vocal about "supporting our troops" than the troops themselves. It doesn't help that there are fewer veterans in Congress today than at any previous point since World War II. Those who have served are less likely to offer unvarnished praise for the military, for it, like all institutions, has its own frustrations and failings. But for non-veterans — including about four-fifths of all members of Congress — there is only unequivocal, unhesitating adulation. The political costs of anything else are just too high. …
Uncritical support of all things martial is quickly becoming the new normal for our youth. Hardly any of my students at the Naval Academy remember a time when their nation wasn't at war. Almost all think it ordinary to hear of drone strikes in Yemen or Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. The recent revelation of counterterrorism bases in Africa elicits no surprise in them, nor do the military ceremonies that are now regular features at sporting events. That which is left unexamined eventually becomes invisible, and as a result, few Americans today are giving sufficient consideration to the full range of violent activities the government undertakes in their names.
Stone has genuinely apologized, and so has her father. Her employer also publicly responded, distancing itself from the situation. Maybe a little gracious dignity is in order and the lady should be taken at her word.
If anyone thinks that's asking too much, check out the comments on the Fire Lindsey Stone Facebook page to see that just maybe this "Uncritical support of all things martial" has gone far enough.
Now: Check out this badass firefight that comes 'Danger Close' >
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Campaign on forced adoption records
The woman who inspired Oscar nominated film Philomena is to lead a campaign aimed at shaming the Irish State into opening secret records on 60,000 forced adoptions.
Philomena Lee's extraordinary story of her 50 year search for her late son Anthony has become the catalyst for a renewed battle to get access to birth certificates held by churches, religious orders, private agencies and health authorities.
Sixty years after the Irish Government legalised forced adoption for unmarried mothers, files still remain closed.
Philomena's harrowing story is one of tens of thousands from stolen generations hidden from society in Ireland's erroneously named Mother and Baby Homes.
"They told Anthony I had left him at two weeks old, that I had abandoned him. I reared him to three and a half years, he was a lovely little boy," she said.
"But I never got any answers to anything. I never knew anything about him at all. It was very sad to find out he had passed away but at last I had found him.
"I did feel very sad and I still do, if only I had met him once more, put my arms around him and given him a hug. I do feel sad about that, but it was circumstance. I pray to him every day, I talk to him."
Philomena became pregnant aged 18 and gave birth to a son in July 1952 in the Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Aged three the mother and son were forcibly separated and he was sold for adoption to the US.
One compassionate nun secretly took 12 pictures of Anthony as a baby for her.
With her daughter Jane Libberton they have founded the Philomena Project, a campaign spun out of her story and the success of the award-winning film, to lobby Irish, UK and US politicians and the United Nations to force the release of birth records.
The film tells Philomena's tragic search for her son who she finds out has died but been buried in the home in Roscrea where he visited several times to try and find his birth mother.
She is planning to attend the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles where the film is in the running for four awards including best picture, and best actress for Dame Judi Dench.
"The film does really relate to my story. I seriously hope that Judi will get an Oscar for it, she played me so well. Lots of funny bits in the film, laughter and tears," Philomena said.
"We found out we had a lot of things in common - a sense of humour and a few other things, but she was a lovely lady."
The scandal of forced adoptions in Ireland has been put on a par with the Magdalene laundries - Catholic and state sanctioned workhouses for poor, disabled or "fallen" women or others convicted of petty crimes. Women received a state apology last year.
The conditions in the Mother and Baby Homes have been described by campaigners as beyond inhumane with some mothers only allowed to see their children for one hour a day. Women were forced to give up their birth names and take a saint's name and were given no records of what happened to their child.
It is also alleged that some children were used in illegal vaccine trials.
Philomena, who worked as a psychiatric nurse in England for 30 years after fleeing Ireland after Anthony's forced adoption, said she does not want any other mother or child to face a wall of silence when searching for records.
She also said she does not bear any malice against the nuns.
"I saw so much hurt and pain caused through anger. I thought 'why am I angry? I have to let it go, let it fade away'. My anger left me and of course I forgive them," she said.
"I have still got my faith and I still believe."
The Irish Government continues to refuse to act on the issue over access to records citing the Constitution and a court ruling stating that no-one who was adopted has an automatic right to information on their birth parents.
Susan Lohan, co-founder of Adoption Rights Alliance, said Ireland's politicians will now be held to account at home and abroad thanks to the film's success and the new campaign.
"Philomena has acted as a touchstone now to give this more publicity. We think the vast, vast majority of children were taken without their mother's consent and we need to talk about forced adoption. This is about people's own identity," she said.
"The burden of shame has to be transferred away from the women."
Martin Sixsmith, author of The Lost Child of Philomena Lee which led to the film, said: "Philomena's story is not a story about the past but it continues today with many women who went through this forced adoption, legal but forced adoption, in the the 1950s, '60s and early '70s."
Philomena spoke out about illicit adoption in Ireland at the Golden Globes awards in Los Angeles earlier this month and warned thousands of mothers and children were still waiting for justice.


text:
This question already has an answer here:
I love my Nikon d7000, takes great images. I upgraded from a 6MP D50 and one thing I was not prepared for was the huge amount of disk space that collections of 16MP files were going take up. I use Aperture 3 and now Lightroom 5 for my photography workflow. Both are great but the real bottleneck is deciding how and where to archive the RAW files. I've tried backing up LR catalogs to cloud accounts but there were literally 45k files that had to be transferred and whole process was incredible show because of the amount and size of the files. The best thing I'v come up with is to just use an external drive but in this cloud age there has to be a better way, no?


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In addition to specifying the resume device on the kernel command line, an additional parameter is required. The additional parameter is '''resume_offset=<Swap File Offset>'''. This same parameter must be included in ''/etc/suspend.conf'' as '''resume offset'''.
In addition to specifying the resume device on the kernel command line, an additional parameter is required. The additional parameter is '''resume_offset=<Swap File Offset>'''. This same parameter must be included in ''/etc/suspend.conf'' as '''resume offset'''.
Below is an example of ''/etc/suspend.conf'':
Below is an example of ''/etc/suspend.conf'':
Revision as of 08:23, 21 January 2012
Template:Article summary start Template:Article summary text Template:Article summary heading Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary end "Hibernating" or suspending to disk writes all the running processes to the disk (typically to the swap partition), then completely powers down the machine. This resembles suspending to RAM, but while a machine suspended to RAM still requires a small charge from a battery or power source, a hibernated machine does not and can remain hibernated indefinitely. This advantage comes at the cost of additional time needed to hibernate and to resume, since disks (especially HDD swap partitions) write and read slower than RAM.
This guide focuses on hibernate-script (see the pm-utils page for the alternative), a frontend used with the uswsusp ("userspace suspension") and tuxonice (formerly known as suspend2) hibernate backends. Uswsusp generally works without requiring a patched kernel but should be used with initrd/initramfs. Tuxonice requires a modified kernel, but works without initrd/initramfs and also allows suspending to a swap file if a user does not have, or does not want to use, a swap partition.
- 1 Installation
- 2 Uswsusp method
- 3 Tuxonice method
- 4 Hibernate tricks with the hibernate.script
- 5 Combining suspend to disk with suspend to RAM
- 6 Take action based on events
You can install hibernate-script from the AUR.
Uswsusp method
The userspace method lets you resort to some advanced suspension abilities included in vanilla kernels > 2.6.17.
Install uswsuap
You need two userspace tools, called s2disk and resume, which do what their names say. They are both included in the AUR package uswsusp-git (which includes also s2ram, see Suspend to RAM ). If you had installed yaourt, you can do like this:
yaourt -S uswsusp-git
Editing /etc/suspend.conf
On the contrary, you need to edit the s2disk configuration file, called /etc/suspend.conf. It is essential that you modify the resume device parameter:
resume device = /dev/sda3
It needs to point to your swap partition: in this case, the third partition of a primary pata-sata drive. It is also a good thing to enable compression, because this speeds up greatly your suspension/resume routine.
Note that it is important that this configuration file be edited *before* recreating the initramfs (done below). Presently, the initramfs build process reads this configuration file, and embeds the current resume parameter. If not changed from the default '<path_to_resume_device_file>', this causes problems such as seeing, on bootup:
# Could not stat the resume device file '<path_to_resume_device_file>' # Please type in the full path name to try again or press ENTER to boot the system.
If you have experiencing this problem, simply edit the file as appropriate, and then rebuild the initramfs.
Another line that you may want to add to the configuration file is:
shutdown method = shutdown
This explicitly configures the system to shutdown instead of reboot.
Recreate the initramfs
Now you need to recreate an initramfs with the new hook. So edit the /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file. In the HOOKS list add the uresume hook (it is different from the resume hook, which is on the contrary required by the tuxonice method). You should put it immediately before the filesystem hook. When the hook is executed the device file for the swap partition (which you have defined in /etc/suspend.conf) needs to exist (the standard udev hook will take care of this). Now proceed to regenerate your initramfs:
# mkinitcpio -p linux
You need to adjust this command according to the kernel you plan to use and the name of the initramfs in the grub configuration. Anyway you should not need to modify anything in the grub configuration.
Suspend to file support
uswsusp also supports suspending to a swapfile (and perhaps a dedicated hibernation file). The procedure is identical to using a swap partition with these exceptions:
In addition to specifying the resume device on the kernel command line, an additional parameter is required. The additional parameter is resume_offset=<Swap File Offset>. This same parameter must be included in /etc/suspend.conf as resume offset.
To obtain the offset, you can check Swap file resuming
Below is an example of /etc/suspend.conf:
snapshot device = /dev/snapshot resume offset = 4694016 resume device = /dev/sda3 #image size = 350000000 #suspend loglevel = 2 #compute checksum = y #compress = y #encrypt = y #early writeout = y #splash = y
Where sda3 is the partition that the swapfile resides and 4694016 the <Swap File Offset>. Remember to change these values with your own.
Support for splash screens
The uswsusp-git package does not provide support for splash screens: for Fbsplash there is the uswsusp-fbsplash package and for Splashy the uswsusp-splashy-git package in the AUR. For splash see the HOWTO and README in the source tarball for details if you want to modify the PKGBUILD yourself.
Setting the suspend method
If you use hibernate-script, your preferred suspend/hibernation method can be set in the file /etc/hibernate/hibernate.conf. If you list several methods, the first one will be used. Note that hibernate can also be used with Suspend to RAM or vanilla swsusp).
For Uswsusp use:
TryMethod ususpend-disk.conf
If you use pm-utils: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pm-utils#Using_another_sleep_backend_.28like_uswsusp.29
Or just try to do it like:
# echo "SLEEP_MODULE=uswsusp">>/etc/pm/config.d/module
Now you could try to suspend directly calling s2disk from the command line:
# s2disk
However, this is highly likely to fail, because some services could need to be stopped, some modules unloaded, etc. Thus it is probably necessary to resort to a userspace tool which calls internally s2disk, like Pm-utils since version 1.1 (which is now in core) or hibernate-script. See below about details for defining the ususpend-disk method as default in /etc/hibernate/hibernate.conf. For the moment being, remember that you can define specific options in /etc/hibernate/ususpend-disk.conf and, after having configured also /etc/hibernate/common.conf, you can suspend to disk with the uswsusp method with the following command:
# hibernate -F /etc/hibernate/ususpend-disk.conf
Support for encryption
- generate a key with the suspend-keygen utility included in the package;
- write the name of the key in /etc/suspend.conf;
- uncomment or add the following line in /etc/suspend.conf
encrypt = y RSA key file = <path_to_keyfile>
- build a new initramfs with the uresume hook just before the filesystem one.
Tuxonice method
There is a dedicated Tuxonice page which covers the basics of installing and configuring Tuxonice.
Hibernate tricks with the hibernate.script
This is a brief overview of the hibernate script. If you want to tweak it further, examine the common.conf and suspend2.conf files further and read the excellent and exhaustive man pages for hibernate and hibernate.conf.
Editing /etc/hibernate/common.conf
The options in this file are used with any hibernation method (actually, the file is sourced by the configuration files of each method) and also by Suspend to RAM when accomplished with the hibernate-script. This file is complex and well commented. The man page hibernate.conf describes adequately all the options. Here, we can only stress the most commonly useful parts.
Uncomment the lines for any filesystems that have the potential to change while your computer is suspended (for example shared partitions with windows like vfat or ntfs ones). They will be remounted upon resume. Otherwise you would risk corrupting the filesystems.
### filesystems # Unmount /nfsshare /windows /mnt/sambaserver # UnmountFSTypes smbfs nfs # UnmountGraceTime 1 # Mount /windows
If you do not explicitly restore the volume levels, ALSA may have the sound channels muted after resuming. If this happens, look for:
### services
/etc/hibernate/common.conf and change the line just below to:
RestartServices alsa
The alsa service will be stopped before suspension and restarted after resuming: the sound channels and volumes will be as before. You may want to restart other problematic services here.
A common issue is that some drivers do not support suspension, that is they do not work properly after a suspension cycle or even they prevent the system from suspending or resuming properly. In these cases (which should be reported - at least for modules in the vanilla kernel - to the firstname.lastname@example.com mailing list, so that they can be fixed upstream) you can unload the module before suspension and reload it after resuming: the hibernate-script can automatize this routine with the LoadModules and UnloadModules options. Actually, the hibernate-script already unloads some problematic modules, listed in /etc/hibernate/blacklisted-modules, so you can also add the modules in that file.
To re-connect to networks after rebooting, you may want to add:
OnSuspend 25 netcfg2 -a OnResume 20 netcfg-auto-wireless <your-network-interface>
This will disconnect from all networks, then should automatically choose the correct one. If you use another way to connect to a network (such as netcfg2 <profile-name> then of-course, put that there instead.
One 'gotcha' to watch out for is the priority level you put on your user-commands, this won't work:
OnSuspend 5 netcfg -a
You'll need to set the priority as 05 instead. Its normally best to use something within the range of 20-50 for your user scripts.
If you need/want to eject all PcCards before suspending and reinsert them after resuming, change the EjectCards setting in common.conf:
### pcmcia EjectCards yes
This is necessary on some laptops, if the pccards stop working after resume.
Finally, the most problematic aspect is constituted by the video card: its status needs often to be restored after resuming. In other cases, it is necessary to switch from X to the console. The following options in /etc/hibernate/common.conf will probably fix these issues (whose symptom could be a frozen machine or only a black display after resuming):
### vbetool #EnableVbetool yes #RestoreVbeStateFrom /var/lib/vbetool/vbestate #VbetoolPost yes # RestoreVCSAData yes
### xhacks #SwitchToTextMode yes #UseDummyXServer yes #DummyXServerConfig xorg-dummy.conf
You can uncomment one or many of them in order to see if the problem is solved. In order to use the first block of options, you need to install the vbetool package from the extra repository. Each of the option is documented in man hibernate.conf. Please note that it is very important to try all the different combinations of these options before than anything else, becaause the problems with the display are the most common source of troubles in a suspension cycle.
NVIDIA specific settings
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card and use a driver version >177, you need to add the following line to /etc/hibernate/tuxonice.conf
ProcSetting extra_pages_allowance 7500
A value lower than 7500 might also work on certain systems, though 7500 should be a working default. Setting this option should allow you to hibernate and resume without any additional X hacks. You will also need to comment out the nvidia module in /etc/hibernate/blacklisted-modules for this to work.
The suggested value for extra_pages_allowance for driver versions <177 is 0:
ProcSetting extra_pages_allowance 0
This setting has also been reported to help with the binary ATI driver.
If you have an AGP Nvidia card and are using the binary driver, you might also have to add the following line to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Option "NvAGP" "1"
Suspending with fglrx
Following addition to /etc/hibernate/suspend2.conf is required:
# For fglrx ProcSetting extra_pages_allowance 20000
Dropping disk caches
- From: drop_caches introduction
As a way to speed up suspending, you can free the memory used for disk caches so there will be less to write to the disk. Just add something like this to the common.conf:
OnSuspend 00 sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
Combining suspend to disk with suspend to RAM
If your motherboard or laptop supports Suspend to RAM, you can combine it with suspend2. This will result in the following behavior:
- When you call hibernate, your system will suspend to disk and after that suspend to RAM instead of powering down.
- When you turn your system back on, it will resume directly from RAM (which only takes a few seconds)
- If your battery fails in the meantime (and the image in your memory is therefore lost), you will be able to resumes from disk.
This can be done both with uswsusp and with tuxonice.
With uswsusp, you should use s2both. You can also call s2both from the hibernate script (with all its richness of options), resorting to the ususpend-both.conf method. Please note that s2both works only if s2ram (see Suspend to RAM) works in your system. There is no way to force it to work if your laptop model is not whitelisted in s2ram. See Suspend to RAM for instructions about how to whitelist your laptop in the local copy of s2ram and how to report that your laptop suspend to ram properly so that it is whitelisted in the next uswsusp release.
To do it with tuxonice, edit /etc/hibernate/suspend2.conf:
## Powerdown method - 3 for suspend-to-RAM, 4 for ACPI S4 sleep, 5 for poweroff PowerdownMethod 3
For this to work, your computer must be able to use suspend to RAM also without s2ram.
Take action based on events
Tuning hibernate-script for context sensitive modal operation. You need to have Template:Package Official installed.
Edit the following file
# This is called when the user presses the power button event=button/power (PWR.||PBTN) # To Hibernate uncomment the following line #action=hibernate # To Suspend uncomment the following line #action=suspend
After closing lid
Edit the following file
# This is called when the user closes the lid event=button/lid # To Hibernate uncomment the following line #action=hibernate # To Suspend uncomment the following line #action=suspend
You can also install lidsleep which includes the file altered to use pm-utils and suspend to RAM.
Alternatively you can edit
/etc/acpi/actions/lm_lid.sh this is the file that is executed when the lid state is changed
#!/bin/bash # lid button pressed/released event handler #laptop mode helps minimized hdd activity test -x /usr/sbin/laptop_mode && /usr/sbin/laptop_mode auto # get the -xauth variable so we can access the display XAUTH="$( ps -C X f | sed -n 's/.*-auth \(.*\)/\1/p' )" if [[ -z $XAUTH ]]; then # if XAUTH is blank try another way to get it XAUTH="$( ps -C xinit f | sed -n 's/.*-auth \(.*\)serverauth.*/\1Xauthority/p' )" fi #Find out if the lid is open or closed if grep -q open /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state; then # the screen is on, forces it to be on ACTION="on" XAUTHORITY=$XAUTH /usr/bin/xset -display :0.0 dpms force $ACTION else # screen is off, forces off ACTION="off" XAUTHORITY=$XAUTH /usr/bin/xset -display :0.0 dpms force $ACTION # script waits for 10 minutes sleep 10m # checks to make sure screen is still closed if grep -q closed /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state; then # if it is, then it suspends to disk s2disk else # or it turns it back on XAUTHORITY=$XAUTH /usr/bin/xset -display :0.0 dpms force on fi fi
The script turns the monitor off or on. But if the screen is left shut for 10 minutes, it will suspend to the disk automatically.
man sleep for more info on the sleep command.


text:
Who Is Wall Street's Next Jamie Dimon?
David Weidner looks at who might be waiting in the wings that has Jamie Dimon's clout as an advocate for the financial industry, and says it's a tough search. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... the Street lacking leader is now the Jamie diamonds once impenetrable than a year has been cracked heel is the next to stand out among the masters of the universe ... MarketWatch columnist David Weidner joins us this morning from San Francisco David thanks for getting up early with us this morning ... Baghdad will thank the much ... yet we get things the next day we got out of the Jamie Dynan if Dell I didn't hear and leading out Wall Street have JPMorgan Chase but ... certainly not in the same light that he was say a year so I'll so what's gone what's happened here ... his chief executive chairmanship role at J P Morgan Chase and talking about ... is ... his role as a spokesman for the industry ... the capital though ... the first recognizable figure the ... most clout ... and of course the reputation has taken a big ... increase ... over the last year with the London whale ... Beach to ... the big trading loss ... with the issue ... of the mortgage securities ... with the interest rate ... scandal and J P was wrong that so ... there's a lot of people ... are inside the bank ... of the industry and in the public at large were just kind of tired and Jamie Dunn is a very forceful ... but you know ... sometimes ... somebody who is the charismatic can come up with all the characters ... depending on circumstances and I think a lot of people that ... are tuning Emre tuning American he certainly ... other reports that you know he's using his clout Washington so yet if the Senate subcommittee actually said that he misled investors ... and the public in the third pretty harsh statement coming from the asset the Senate subcommittee that booking in seventh ... grade in the real big change from even just your go with ... interest when Reggie retirement would go for a congressional panel ... and audience ... If ... the little that you know they were saying thank you you know that on their Grella ... can never say no thank you Mr Diamond now receive your mortgage ... so ... I do not under any leaders out there and to add and say what the boss Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs or Michael Corbat Citigroup are they in the same when our staff here right now ... that's the question and so far ... the problem with those and those people in those institutions is for all of them are new so they have ... been around long enough ... secondly in other institutions are some damage ... you know the Skittles at the Goldman Sachs mortgage issues in the end of America ... Citigroup you know they received the biggest bailout from the banks ... in the in another problem is is that they're just your friends the Celtic there's there's fewer CEO ... which nobody ... you know we have four or five ... banks that basically are making bags for global banks in this country ... and ... that's that's three small pool to choose from and are looking for somebody to step up and be a ... leader ... so honestly I mean it but the reality is that the industry's best opportunity ... for better or worse ... because he had the personality ... and ... the industry doesn't everyone is ... an avid so it is indicating it would come off the financial crisis where ... it was so much expose as December that people call shenanigans that went on on a Wall Street and Peck in part led to where we were the debts that set the industry Fallon yet ... to say there so few leaders are coming out in India having being the leader Jamie diming even come off a little tarnished in a manner that is hitting the public's trust in the system is is getting is gonna get better after the crisis there is even getting worse ... well they overseeing is room for further easing the financial industry warts and all who read this you know every every day ... I was making mistakes every brokerage firm was was dealing ... in securities and training that ... in retrospect was ... inappropriate or questionable ... you know he ... will know what we're seeing the true nature the industry and energy retirement ... was no better or worse than anybody else he had his arm ... his institution at a ... loss so I think in some ways ... the the is the ... the industry itself ... needs to repair its reputation ... by going on and and and being better clients and doing their work and not getting caught so many scandals ... and ... coal are its worst producing people ... who have clouds that can go ... to the case of Washington in a main street ... Wall Street isn't that terrible ... first they have to ... make it not terrible but actually ... it ... I think they can name brand ones out there ... every month or so or another so it's another investigation more insider trading ... so ... the strategically not the worst ... and never missing leaders and purge ... market or ... acted staff table thanks for getting up and having that second and third cup of coffee and candy away we appreciate it ... Chelsea ...


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text:
SHREWSBURY � A Worcester man was killed when his car hit a tree on Main Street Tuesday night.
Jonathan C. Ball, 23, was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center � University campus after the crash, according to Shrewsbury police.
Mr. Ball was the only occupant in a car that was traveling east on Main Street at about 10:05 p.m. Tuesday. Police said the car crossed over the westbound lane, continued off the roadway, and hit the tree. The crash occurred just below St. John's High School, the press release said.
The accident remains under investigation by Officer Michael A. Vitols, and Sgt. Michael A. O'Connor.
Aaron Nicodemus can be reached at email@example.com


text:
Saturday, December 15, 2007
A sea of pain
This Economist Magazine article confirms my personal experience that value investing is in a sea of pain at the moment. The reasons are quite different from the last time (during the dotcom era) when value investing was in the doldrums. This time around, people are not full of euphoria about the prospects of growth stocks -- they are just getting increasingly gloomy of value stocks which seem to be getting cheaper by the minute.
Posted by Ernie Chan at 4:21 PM
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text: Welcome to Beyond Beautiful by Heather! An on location luxury freelance makeup and hair artistry service located in the heart of beautiful Savannah, Georgia. I am Heather Ferguson, the artist that you would work with for your special event. My passion for my artistry has grown stronger every year over the 18 years in this wonderful line of work, and I am forever cultivating my art to fit the ever changing trends that would be fresh and distinctive for each client! Featured in "BRIDES" magazine as a preferred wedding vendor of the South East as well as in Savannah Weddings Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, The KNOT & more. I hope you will take a moment to browse the galleries of my work, read reviews from sweet past clients, view pricing and check out my media page and follow me on Instagram! I truly hope to hear from you soon!! XO


text:
2013 Nov Highlights
Once a month, we highlight departments and programs from across the
college that have great things happening motivated by a desire to
improve student learning.
November 2013
Wendy Miller -- Fashion Faculty
"Our goal is to have the majority of the students achieve all of the SLOs for each class they pass, and not to have students pass a class by completing only 70% of the SLOs."
FASHION DEPARTMENT LINKS COURSE SLOs TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
As part of the refinement and mapping of the Fashion Department program-level SLOs, the faculty in the different program areas met to discuss what students need to know to work in the industry, and what we are teaching in the various classes we offer. We identified some gaps, and made plans to address them either through new classes or revisions of old classes. We assessed our classes for continuity of skill development, and re-crafted our course SLOs to reflect our decisions. We have revised or completely re-written almost all of our core (required) course outlines over the last 10 months.
Part of this project has involved linking student achievement to our course SLOs. Our goal is to have the majority of the students achieve all of the SLOs for each class they pass, and not to have students pass a class by completing only 70% of the SLOs. Our approach has been to limit ourselves to 4-6 SLOs per class in most cases. And, instead of having SLOs link to specific content or project assignments, we have designed each project we assign to address most of the class SLOs. This gives the student an entire semester and 3 or 4 projects to master the skills or concepts contained in each SLO. If a student does not successfully master the SLO in the first project, they may learn from that failure and master the skill or concept in the second (or third) project. As a CTE, skill-based program, we recognize it can take students several attempts to get it right.
For example, the course SLOs for our intermediate apparel construction class are
- Construct intermediate level garments from challenging fabrics, including bias, plaids, slippery fabrics, and stretch wovens
- Select appropriate fabrics and notions for different types of garments
- Plan pattern layouts and garment construction sequences to minimize waste
- Apply complex construction sequences and modular construction techniques in constructing multiple types of garments
- Employ appropriate seams, edge finishes, hand-stitches, fastenings or closures for shirts, pants, skirts, and/ or dresses
- Use appropriate machines for construction and finishing
Students are assigned several specific skill samples, and also construct 3 different garments during the semester (a lined skirt, a men's dress shirt, and a pair of stretch jeans). Each of the SLOs applies to each of the projects. If a student gets 60% on the first project, 80% on the second, and 90% on the third, they will have both passed the class, and successfully mastered all of the course SLOs.
Christopher Kox -- Chair, Library Information Technology
"We are emerging a better department for this... Adjunct faculty feel valued and ...more strongly identified with the students, the department and the college ..."
I have to admit I was brought kicking and screaming into the SLO world last year, not least in perceiving the bulk of effort for a small department to fall squarely on the shoulders of our full time faculty of one. However, in the process what I found was that my adjuncts, who are all engaged in demanding professional careers of their own, took the business of teaching very seriously, and saw in the process of proposing learning outcomes, the mechanism for their measurement, the actual gathering of evidence and the interpretation of data, very responsibly, seriously and I should add – very effectively. The more important upshot of this -- a bonus really -- was that in this, the following year, now burdened with the revision of a dozen senile course outlines, my faculty took to fully engaging in the process of revision, taking upon themselves work even in semesters where they do not have assignments. Their commitment has ensured that we are effectively communicating the nature of discipline, drawing clearer the boundaries of ideas when needed, but finding refreshing the adjacent content if not the outright intersections. We are emerging a better department for this, in process, in content, in clarity and in the effectiveness of teaching, no less than in the measurement of learning.
"Concretizing SLOs has sharpened my focus in addressing the
real questions, challenges, and skills students can take with them
into the library profession, long after the class is over."
-- Jerry Dear, Instructor, Library Information Technology
"Working on SLO assessments has caused me to focus more deeply
on course content; it has prompted spontaneous discussions with
others both in and outside of the department. I feel more confident
bringing my questions and observations forward when I know that
others are as concerned with student learning as I am. I love
working in Library Technology and contributing to improving
students' health literacy."
-- Peggy Tahir, CCSF Adjunct Instructor, Librarian, UCSF
"On the whole, the process has been very good not only for
creating a more coherent body of courses, but more importantly, for
building team work within the department. The adjunct faculty feel
valued and thus more strongly identified with the students, the
department and the college which they serve."
-- Chris Kox, Chair, Library Technology
Terence Chuck and Ellen Conaway – Faculty – DSPS
"We learned from our assessments…. follow-up phone calls did not help… time lag [did]."
Increasing our impact:
A few years ago we analyzed student transcripts and found that 57% of students who completed CCSF learning disability testing and qualified for accommodations improved their non-PE GPA over the course of the year that followed their testing. As part of our program outcomes, we wanted to raise that number. We decided to investigate whether or not students were actually using the accommodations for which they qualified. We developed a checklist to use with the students who met state guidelines and qualified for one or more accommodation based on the testing. At the final test results conference, the LD Specialist thoroughly explained why each recommended accommodation should help the student to do better in school, and the student explained them back as we completed the checklist. The LD Specialist used various resources to look into whether or not students used accommodations within five weeks of that meeting. We found that 56% of students used accommodations after five weeks of learning that they qualified for services. 8% more used accommodations the next semester (bringing numbers to 64%). It was an improvement; but, we still wondered: what was going on with that last one-third of students? We will explore that question in our next assessment cycle.
Lessons we're learning:
There were two things we learned from our assessments that will help us to know where to put our energy to improve our counseling service. One is that follow-up phone calls did not help. No student began using accommodations after a reminder. Another very helpful discovery was that if the student met with a LD Specialist one day to hear test results and then waited a few hours or days and then met with a DSPS counselor to find out how to access accommodations, he/she was much more likely to use the services. The time lag helped. We suspect it was information overload, or not having time to process the information and get clarification some time later. This concrete result of information-overload also helped us to formulate our next assessment plans. We will discuss accommodations before testing begins and give the student time to think about the benefits of accessing those accommodations if she/he qualifies for same.
The future:
We are adding a new focus: in addition to "what students are learning" during our counseling sessions, we're also looking directly at how effectively we are providing our services. In particular, we are developing a new assessment tool to gather data on how well our current counseling staffing levels are meeting the standards necessary to provide legally mandated DSPS Services.


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ORLANDO, Fla. — More magic is coming to Walt Disney World's Fantasyland.
This powerful new breed of sorcery can transport ordinary vacationers into the storybook world of some of their favorite Disney characters.
A massive shower of industrial-strength pixie dust has more than doubled the size of Fantasyland and transformed the area behind Cinderella Castle into a sprawling Enchanted Forest — real trees, by the way — that brings all the new elements together.
It's the biggest expansion in the 41-year history of the Magic Kingdom. This isn't just an expansion; it's an immersion.
When you enter this elaborately detailed new land, you get the oddest sense of deja vu, as if you've been here before. In fact, you have — on the big screen.
Now you can walk into the frames from some of your favorite Disney films and experience the music, the smells, the sights and sounds for real.
With a wave of the wand, New Fantasyland, as Disneyites are calling it, officially opens Thursday. I got an early view with the November "soft opening," and that preview did not disappoint.
Remember the awe that washed over you the first time you laid eyes on the spires of Cinderella Castle? Get ready to double that feeling the first time you spy the Beast's Castle and Prince Eric's Castle.
"Your vacation at WDW is really defined by your time at the Magic Kingdom," said Chris Beatty, senior creative director of "Imagineering" on the project. "And Fantasyland is the heart of the Magic Kingdom." That's the reason Disney expanded Fantasyland.
Just beyond new castle walls lies the Enchanted Forest, a pivotal setting in many Disney stories. It's the gateway to a painstakingly accurate re-creation of Belle's entire world from "Beauty and the Beast."
Maurice's cottage sets the stage for "Enchanted Tales with Belle," a revolutionary meet-and-greet with costumed characters. A wall mirror spectacularly transforms into a glowing portal whisking you from Maurice's workshop to the Beast's library.
An amazing life-size talking Madame Wardrobe is only a precursor to meeting Belle herself as well as what I think is the most lifelike audio-animatronic yet: a flamboyant Lumiere.
In the distance, across a foreboding stone bridge, the Beast's Castle majestically rises above the trees. The entrance and lobby are just as dark and ominous as in the film, each straddled by large, grotesque gargoyles. But as you venture through the various castle rooms, the atmosphere becomes warmer and inviting.
Tucked inside, the Be Our Guest restaurant offers seating for 550 in three elaborately themed dining experiences, each with their own magical flair.
The stunning Ballroom makes jaws drop (just watch the guests' faces as they enter) with its three amazing crystal chandeliers, the lavish ceiling fresco and the magical snow falling outside the 18-foot-tall arched windows.
Breathtaking. But then, that's what the Imagineers intended.
"The richness of all the characters and storytelling in 'Beauty and the Beast' is really something we wanted to offer to our guests," Beatty said. "We wanted to stay true to the stories that we're trying to tell and make an emotional connection with our guests."
It does! The West Wing feels appropriately dark and menacing. A mesmerizing holographic rose slowly rotates under a glass bell jar. Nearby, a portrait of the prince, clawed by the angry Beast, hangs above a fireplace.
Every 15 minutes, a petal falls from the rose, a clap of thunder resounds, lightning flashes, and the portrait momentarily changes to the Beast, a truly stunning effect. Don't miss this!
As you enter the Rose Gallery, the dramatic orchestral score of the Ballroom seamlessly segues to the tinkling of a music box, apropos as you now face a 7-foot-tall music box with statues of Belle and the Beast twirling amid paintings and tapestries of the various "Beauty" characters.
Though the restaurant is a formal dining room in the evening, it starts the day with fast-food service, and it does so with a flair never seen at WDW before. In the Beast's parlor, you're given a "rose" — actually a radio-frequency device stamped with a rose — and you order your food by swiping oversized touch-screen kiosks. Then take the rose to any empty table within the three rooms.
A few minutes later, a server delivers your order in an elegant glass-encased cart. No more schlepping trays of fast food from a serving window and searching for a table.
This truly is a groundbreaking dining experience. Be sure to examine the gorgeous stained-glass window on your way out of the castle.
No visit to Belle's world would be complete without seeing her village and stopping at Gaston's Tavern. Outside stands a gaudy statue of Gaston.
Inside, antlers are used liberally in his decorating, as well as a portrait over the fireplace that captures all of Gaston's arrogance. Grab a pint of LeFou's Brew (apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow), then actually meet Gaston, who will gleefully spread more than a little love for himself.
My advice? Watch "Beauty and the Beast" just before visiting. You'll be amazed at the massive amount of detail infused by the Imagineers.
"New Fantasyland was truly a team effort between all facets of Disney Imagineering," Beatty said. "But it's not just the Imagineers. It's all the teams in WDW — the costumes, the food, the merchandise — who came together to bring these great stories to life."
Towering at the edge of the Enchanted Forest are the spires of Prince Eric's Castle, home to New Fantasyland's premier attraction, Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid. This meticulous likeness beckons guests into an elaborately decorated queue, incorporating rock work, waterfalls, the grotto and Ariel's treasure trove. These elements start the story before you get inside.
Once you board your clamshell vehicle, this E-ticket attraction takes you on a magnificent five-minute retelling of Ariel's entire story, with all of the incredible music and songs performed by 183 colorful audio-animatronics characters, including a spectacular almost 8-foot-tall Ursula with her steaming caldron and crystal ball. Built on the former home of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, look for the hidden homages concealed throughout the impressive queue.
Then mosey on over to Ariel's Grotto to meet the costumed mermaid character herself.
Off on the eastern edge of the Enchanted Forest lies Storybook Circus, which opened earlier this year (see sidebar).
Get this; even more magic is coming. The Princess Fairytale Hall opens next year, creating a permanent home for meet-and-greets with all the princesses who don't have homes elsewhere in the Magic Kingdom.
Then, in 2014, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train debuts as a kid-friendly roller coaster that weaves its way through the Dwarves' diamond mine on an innovative ride system that allows each car to swing independently.
Keep your eyes peeled for both Snow White and the Evil Queen; they'll be there too.
After that, who knows what's next for New Fantasyland? That's the beauty of the beast. Walt Disney's Florida kingdom just keeps on expanding.
Single-day tickets are $89 for ages 10 and older, $83 for 3 to 9. Multiday tickets are better values.


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Researchers have developed a bolometer using bilayer graphene with a bandgap tuned by electric fields.
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Publish Date: 01 September 2012
CREOL at 25: A Full Spectrum of Achievements
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- Turkish Grand Prix
Hamilton leads McLaren 1-2 as Red Bulls self destructLaurence Edmondson May 30, 2010
- Quotes:
Hamilton delighted to 'take the battle to Red Bull'
- News:
'Disappointed' Horner refuses to lay blame
- News:
Vettel insists he was not to blame for collision
- Race:
- Turkish Grand Prix
- Championship:
- FIA Formula One World Championship
- Drivers:
- Fernando Alonso
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- Jenson Button
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- Lewis Hamilton
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- Michael Schumacher
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- Sebastian Vettel
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- Mark Webber
Lewis Hamilton led home team-mate Jenson Button for a McLaren 1-2 in the Turkish Grand Prix, capitalising on a collision between the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel as the pair appeared on course for another dominant victory.
Webber recovered to take third but looked livid on the podium as he reflected on what might have been. The incident happened entering turn 12 on the 41st of 58 laps as Vettel had a run on Webber down the long back straight and attempted a move up the inside for the lead. Webber pushed Vettel close to the grass but the German kept his foot in and then drifted back across the track for the entry to turn 12. The pair clipped wheels with Vettel coming off significantly worse and suffering a rear puncture and suspension damage that put an end to his race.
The McLarens took the lead as a result, but the race was far from over. After Hamilton and Button had been told to save fuel, Button attempted a move on Hamilton into turn 12. Hamilton put up a fight and they went through the next two corners wheel-to-wheel. Button managed to hold the lead out of the final part of the chicane but Hamilton had a better exit and barged his way back past into turn one. Button had to concede ground and ran a wide to avoid an accident. A curt reminder to the pair over their radios ensured the remaining laps were less eventful.
From that point onwards the action at the front died down and Hamilton, Button and Webber held formation to finish one-two-three. In fourth was Michael Schumacher with a season best result ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. Robert Kubica finished a respectable sixth for Renault and, although he looked quicker than Rosberg at times, never got a run at the Mercedes for position.
Adrian Sutil recovered well from a slightly disappointing qualifying position to score two points for Force India in ninth. He pulled an impressive move on Kamui Kobayashi in the closing stages to take tenth, making use of the long back straight to slipstream the Sauber into turn 12. Kobayashi eventually finished in the top ten but only after Petrov's accident dropped him down the field. Outside the points, Pedro de la Rosa acted as a rear gunner to his Sauber team-mate and held off Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso in the final laps.
Only four other cars retired alongside Vettel, with both HRTs ending their races in the garage and the two Lotuses succumbing to hydraulic faults.


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PRODUCT DETAILS Materials: White Finish, Chrome Highlights, Frost Glass Bulb: T5 14W Fluorescent (included) Colour Temperature: 4000k
DIMENSIONS Length: 650mm Height: 85mm Projection: 60mm
Brand: Cougar Lighting
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At Lighting Lighting Lighting we believe that everyone has the right to beautiful lights, no matter what your budget is. Shop online securely, 24/7 from our huge range of pendant lights, lamps and LED downlights. Renovating, Building a new house or simply like a change? Our stock is always changing and we have all the latest styles and trends that will sure to impress.
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Lighting Lighting Lighting will endeavour to ship items as soon as possible. At your time of purchase, please notify us if you require your order within a specific time frame in the product enquiry form or give us a call and we will assist you in the best way possible.
We charge a flat rate shipping cost of $25.00, however if you are located in, Western Australia or within a rural area in Australia and your item/s weigh over 9kg your shipping total will be at a higher rate. Please contact us if you wish to receive a quote first.
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Please note: Standard postage fees apply to all return orders. Where the return relates to a faulty item, the replacement product will be sent out to you, at no charge, within 5 working days from the date we receive the faulty product.


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Well it's April 8th and my 3 nesting blocks are up and ready with fresh lined tubes.
I also put up a big can filled with some dried Japanese knotweed reeds i harvested last Fall- those are in all different diameters so it will be interesting to see anyone come to those.
But my cocoons are still in the fridge. Even though we will have more than 3 days in a row this week of over 50F, there is truly almost nothing blooming yet, no willows or maples or dandelions, not my crab apple tree yet...nothing. Even the honeybees are just barely bringing in any pollen, and they forage several miles out, unlike masons. I strongly feel my bees will not find enough in their forage radius to live on yet, so I'm keeping them chilled a while longer. Another good indication to wait is that there is no activity yet at the nesting blocks from any wild neighborhood mason bees, so I don't think any have emerged yet in the wild. Last night was around 25F.
I have about 50 tubes of cocoons, but I figure each tube may only have an average of 3 viable bees emerge successfully. I estimate low.
They are split between eastern blue orchards (Osmia lignaria) and the little brown Osmia taurus, an import from Asia which is now locally abundant.
I also have 10 cocoons of horn-faced bee from Dave at CrownBees.com.
Lastly, there is one lonely filled tube from the 'mystery' bee that got filled in a smaller diameter tube later last summer, and plugged with chewed green stuff- I suspect a leaf cutter bee of some sort. I can't wait to see if that one in particular emerges!
I am using 'emergence boxes' that are the boxes that bank checks arrive in, with a small cut out hole in one end for the bees to get out. I will tie these to the nesting blocks. This is so the bees will emerge and then find the fresh tubes available right there, and not likely be able to find their way back into the check-box to re-nest in the old dirty tubes.
Now I just need to wait for a few trees or flowers to start blooming so I can set the cocoons out...


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Legoland Florida has announced that its World of Chima expansion will have its grand opening on July 3.
The Winter Haven theme park's expansion will include an interactive water ride called the Quest for Chi, which will have onboard water cannons. The new section is based on a line of popular Lego toys.
Lego characters were used in downtown Orlando and Tampa to make the announcement on Tuesday.


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We won a landslide victory, gaining 56 seat out of 59 , almost 95% of the Westminster Scottish seats. The three main unionist parties are each reduced to a token single member in the Commons. This is unprecedented, and the benefits are very tangible indeed.
Westminster benefits of having 56 SNP MPs
Scottish National Party will chair the UK Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and Scottish Affairs Select Committee. However, there were earlier indications that Tories and Labour will attempt to abolish the Scottish Affairs Committee.
The party will be entitled to £6 million over the next Parliament because it took so many seats in the election. It will receive between £1 and £1.2 million from the Treasury each year in what is known as short money.
"The GE2015 landslide vote is not a mandate for a referendum" NICOLA
If more than 50% of the electorate voting for a party committed to independence get 94.9% of the seats for their country is not a virtual mandate for independence, what would be?
(I covered some possibilities in my May 1st blog before the election.)
Nicola's argument, quite deliberately, rather dances round this key point, by saying that some very significant event or events - e.g. BREXIT - the exit of UK from the EU - would be required to reactivate the question of a referendum. She rests her assertion on the related facts that
1) the manifesto did not commit to a referendum and did not make independence a core issue, and
2) a proportion of the electorate voting SNP (unknown) must have included voters who voted NO in the 2014 referendum and still firmly wish to remain part of UK.
That group had every right to vote in the belief that, although they were voting for a party whose core long-term objective is independence, the Scottish electorate firmly rejected independence on September 18th 2014 and the SNP accepted that democratic result, and both the former and the current First Ministers had expressed personal views that there would be no referendum in a generation, however one defines that. But those views were personal, albeit widely shared, and they could not bind the people of Scotland, as both Nicola and Alex Salmond have subsequently stated.
NICOLA "The People decide"
Although Nicola is right to say that, democratically, the people decide on independence in a referendum, their ability to do so only comes if the independence party they support explicitly commits to independence during the lifetime of the Scottish Parliament - if elected - in their manifesto before the 2016 election. (The People, in practice, decide very little, except at the ballot box, and once in a while, during revolutions!)
In other words, if Nicola and the Party place such a commitment in the 2016 Holyrood manifesto and win decisively, the aggregate case for an independence referendum would be well-nigh unanswerable.
She won't, because whatever these figure say about a mandate to call a referendum, there is no certainty that she would win. Alex Salmond, a risk-taker and a gambler, took the political gamble in the 2011 manifesto - and was right to do so. The risk is huge – another NO vote would kill independence aspirations stone dead – or lead to something that no one would care to predict …
We came close to winning. But Nicola is not a political gambler: she will only take carefully judged risks with a high chance of success in the light of the previous failure. She will seek to get more powers, something close to federalism, and will postpone independence till Scotland is independent in all but defence and foreign affairs.
The $64,000 question is - will the SNP's massive membership permit the Party to exclude such a commitment from the 2016 manifesto or will they pass branch resolutions demanding one?
Nicola's authority and popularity are at their very peak right now, but another mood may develop which, while retaining respect for her and her authority, begins to lose the fan/celebrity awe – a mood in which members are prepared to constructively flex branch muscles, and democratically question strategy. That, after all, is how party democracy is supposed to operate.
Will it happen? Who knows? Despite the massive membership, as any Branch Chair or Secretary knows, at any given time only a small minority of members are actively committed to attending branch meetings and influencing branch democracy. But in the SNP, on key decisions, the entire branch can vote online or by post, as for example on the selection of candidates for election.
Additionally and perhaps crucially, there are still campaigning organisations out there committed to independence who are not necessarily SNP supporters or members, e.g. Radical Independence, Common Weal, the Scottish Socialist Party, and party politically unaligned activists and voters, and also supporters and members of nominally unionist parties who nonetheless may support full independence or devomax or federalism within UK.
Depending how event unfold in the next 11 months, and dependent on how Scottish Labour – and its ousted MPs – re-group and re-define themselves, all sorts of possibilities exist.
And of course, there are the trades unions, the STUC and campaigning groups within them, not to mention a number of groups who campaigned for YES banner under a variety of identities.
What we have is an unprecedented and varied mass movement - a mass engagement of the Scottish electorate, with its own hydra-headed structure, united by a core desire for political change in Scotland, but with significantly different views of what it should be and how it should be brought about.
Those who wonder how it will behave in the post-referendum, post-GE2015 phase we are in now, in the 11-month lead-up to the 2016 Parliamentary election might find illumination – or cause for alarm – in Eric Hoffer's unique 1951 book The True Believer
Interesting times …


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If there is one thing we know how to do here at The Packer Ranter, it's party. Even John Johnson has been know to loosen the tie at his company picnics, and by loosen the tie, I mean running half naked screaming, "Go, Pack, go!" through the softball field while the marketing and accounting departments play. Never a dull moment here at The Ranter.
Therefore, we have taken it upon ourselves to throw a party this weekend…well, in addition to our normal weekend festivities. This Sunday we are having a coming-out party for Justin Harrell. Conspicuously absent from the field this season and most of last, Harrell will more than likely see his first action Sunday against the Titans after two back surgeries. Coach McCarthy said that Harrell is in the best shape he's been in since being a Green Bay Packer. Well, that's good news for Packer fans, but let's be honest, he hasn't set the bar very high. At the every least he will give The Picket Fence, Jolly Johnny, and Cole Miner a much needed breather every few plays. Robert, John, and I welcome you back, Justin, and hope you can contribute like the 16th pick that you are. Packer fans will finally be able to put this "bust" discussion to bed. That said; don't for a second think you have a free pass, #91. We don't throw parties for just anyone, and we will be watching you like John watches player interviews on Packers.com, with an eagle eye.
Fear The Rant!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Harrell Party
3 comments:
The bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 we bought last year to celebrate Harrell's first sack might finally be cracked. I bring it, but I'm leaving it in the Tercel - been burned too many times before.ReplyDelete
Damn, I didn't mean they should cut KGB to bring up Harrell.ReplyDelete
You will be missed, Kabeer. Good to know he doesn't bear any ill will:
Class act for sure.
- AnonymousOctober 23, 2010 at 3:44 PM
I had been arguing with my close friend on this issue for quite a while, base on your ideas prove that I am right, let me show him your webpage then I am sure it must make him buy me a drink, lol, thanks.ReplyDelete
- Kris
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