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Understanding Self- Possession
The knowing of one's self in totality and honesty brings us face-to-face with the infinite potential within. – Frater Omen[1]
When we see a person who seems collected, confident, and stable, we may say that he or she is "self-possessed." That meaning reflects some internal mastery cultivated by the individual. This mastery is a large part of what I mean by self-possessed. I am speaking of an individual who has done the work to know himself, and who has faced himself unflinchingly and learned to love what he sees. This person has integrated many of her parts, and remains essentially the same in any situation or in the midst of any emotion. By self-possession I mean all of this and something more as well.
In various magical and shamanic traditions, people become "possessed" by Gods or Goddesses.[2] Even in Charismatic Christianity there is the concept of being "filled with the Holy Spirit" which is another form of divine possession. What these traditions do not stress is that seekers can become possessed and possessor of their own divinity, their own full self hood. In fact, without this self-possession, possession by any other force can be dangerous to mental and physical health at worst, and at least, can sometimes derail a person's quest for spiritual wholeness. Feri tradition Grandmaster Victor Anderson insisted upon not doing possessory work without having clear contact with our own God Soul first.
When given prime of place, the quest for spiritual wholeness leads to self-possession – to full human health and integration – coupled with one's own divine potential. Without self-possession, there is no chance for full and balanced enlightenment to occur. As I have mentioned, flashes of enlightenment or moments of grace may happen, but there is no foundation for them to rest upon, leaving people hungry for things beyond their ken. This is the cause of transcendent thinking: things will be better after I lose weight, or find a new job, or get the right partner, or go to heaven. In these scenarios, something always gets left behind. That something is often the seeker herself. With self-possession, seekers open to inclusive consciousness, a new concept that argues for the embrace of all parts of human existence into the fold of the spiritual quest. When all of life is included, all of life can aid what is known in magical esotericism as the Great Work of coming to know our own divinity and our life's purpose.
The Great Work is important to all magical systems stemming from ancient Alchemy. There is nothing that lies outside of this quest. Our magic includes our whole lives and in time, will come to include the life of everything in the Universe, everything held in the fabric of God Herself, the limitless divine.
Remember my definition of magic: the marriage of breath, will, and desire. By exploring these components and applying them to the self, we arrive at a place internally – and in relationship with the world – where the processes of integration will unfold. At that point, the universe steps forward to greet us.
Opening to inclusive consciousness enables us to grow into fully integrated, magical lives and to have consistent conversation with our own divine natures. This conversation will in turn help us to reach toward spiritual Adepthood and the even larger inclusiveness of this reality: immanence and transcendence are one. The microcosm is the macrocosm. Further work can, in the few who are called on, open a permanent channel to the non–dual, the great All, enabling the magic worker to become the Lover, the bodhisattva, she or he who brings extension back into form, sowing love. But that latter is the subject of yet another book, which perhaps I will write someday.
Self-possession is my hope for all people. I believe that individuals can become more than they are now, and that some of us possess a strong enough wish, with enough openness and dedication to see this process through. If you are reading this book, you are likely one of those people.
To do this work with the fullness of our beings, we must be simultaneously voracious and calm and also filled with enthusiasm, the inspiration of the Gods, for this work is the unfolding of the great mysteries. The mysteries are only hidden to us because we lack practical, applied knowledge. Engaging the work held in all deep spiritual traditions, whether Western Occultism, Witchcraft, Taosim, Sufism, New Thought, or any esoteric expression will give us a way to touch the mysteries and come closer to understanding.[3]
So much is possible we can scarcely comprehend it. But when we close our eyes, take a deep breath and reach with our whole being, we catch a glimpse, a glimmer, a sense of hope. And then we move through the layers of darkness and light that are ourselves, in order to better touch the All.
God Herself is the building blocks of all creation and the movement of all destruction. We are pieces of these processes, and reflections of workings more vast. If we can first come to know ourselves and then to connect out, we will better serve the processes of All. We will come to help all beings, animate and inanimate, visible and obscured.
It is easy to say that the seeker must just stumble upon this stage in the midst of her work. Why? Because self-possession cannot be planned. It isn't something a spiritual aspirant can schedule, unlike some other initiatory rites, rather, all the preparation he has done makes the aspirant ripe for the experience. He has laid the ground with meditation. She has primed the cosmic pump by aligning her soul. Zen teacher Baker Roshi once said, "Enlightenment is an accident, but meditation makes us accident prone." The same statement can be made for self-possession. No one cannot tell us how to do it, even Abramelin the Mage couldn't tell us how to say the necessary prayers.[4] We have to figure it out for ourselves. All that can be offered are maps. I offer what was helpful to me, cobbled together from the maps of others and that which I wrote myself along my stumbling way. There are also signposts and insights that have come from the work that followed integration. I hope these are of help to those still seeking, or those who wish to confirm the strength and stability of their own work.
So, while there is no guaranteed outcome, the map provided by this book will strengthen you, open you, and generally prepare you to receive the grace of your own Godhood.
Everything opens to he who is open. Nothing is closed to she who dares.
Possessing Yourself
To know yourself is to know your Lord. – Ibn Arabi[5]
Feri Tradition artist Anaar, says simply that our goal is becoming self-possessed.[6] Not initiated. Not holding power over other people. Not commanding forces outside of ourselves. Our goal is to possess ourselves, fully, in every moment.
Self-possession is the quality of being fully in touch with all of one's parts and aware of the relationship those parts have to our own divinity, known as our God Soul or our Sacred Dove.[7] Since the God Soul is connected to all things, establishing a constant link to this places us into concert with the All-encompassing. Self-possessed, we open fully to an awareness of ourselves as a point of matter anchoring the endless flow of spirit and energy. In this stage we not only have knowledge of our divine natures, we have active conversation with it.
This can feel like we are open to a being outside of ourselves that is a helper or guide, which is both true and untrue. The nature of our God Soul is that of being linked to the macrocosm, having access to all space and time, in the present moment. That is beyond the awareness of my body and personality parts that are settled into time and space as discrete units rather than constant flow. Because this feels beyond the scope of understanding of the rest of my human parts – my instincts, my physical form, my thoughts and opinions, my personality – it can seem that this divine and fully connected nature must be solely distinct from us. Actually, once joined with us, it makes us more fully ourselves. All the things called "I" before are shown to be simply component parts of this vital, shining whole of grace and light, matter, form, and formlessness.
In some metaphysical and occult circles, self-possession is known as Knowledge and Conversation with our Holy Guardian Angel, and because of the macrocosmic quality of this part of our soul, the Angel is also sometimes talked about as an outside entity. However, Victor Anderson, used to quip, "'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me,' means you!" He related this to the Sacred Dove, our God Soul, and he was talking obliquely about the state of self-possession and the processes of alignment that lead up to it. Still others call this finding the Authentic Self and recognize the importance of its function on the road to enlightenment.[8]
What is the upshot of this? What are we making, with this choosing, this practice, and this spiritual life? A full self. Not just our disparate personalities or drives, or our physical needs, but all of those along with the part of us that touches something even larger, and includes everything.
Self-possession is integration; we step into our Godhood.
From the stage of self-possession it becomes possible to know enlightenment. From a state of self-possession, it is possible to have greater and more consistent access to the All. From self-possession, we can leave personality behind for something greater, meet the challenger at the threshold of space and time, entering a place of unity. And from a stage of self-possession, it becomes possible to return back into personality and maintain that constant connection with the All. In this way, self-possession is the necessary precursor to a stage, rather than simply a state, of enlightenment and effective magic.
All the mystics write about this in some form or another. From the platform of self-possession, it is possible to touch the fabric of God Herself and not go crazy, not become an egomaniac, and not dissolve into a couch surfing leech. We can translate the Limitless back into the every day.
That is what is possible. The integration is a gift unto itself: to be a whole, autonomous person, living from the place of health . The Kabbalah teaches us that health rests in the sphere of Tiphareth, of Beauty.[9] It is the place of the integrated magic worker who has looked at all her parts, come into conversation with them, and done the work necessary for the Sacred Dove to descend. Grace, also known as fortune, descends upon the prepared person who can accept and acclimate to that state. That temporary state then becomes a stage from which further life and growth occurs.
This distinction between states and stages is a helpful one made by Ken Wilber.[10] When I speak of epiphanies that get eaten by life, I speak of a "state." When we align all our parts for a moment and then life throws us off course, that alignment is a "state." Full self-possession is a "stage" of alignment. It is a "stage" because even though other things come and go inside and around us, the "stage" is constant. We are aligned with our God Soul and our purpose even when upset, in ecstasy, sorrow, joy or anger. We always have the perspective of and conversation with, our divine nature.
The achievement of full possession of one's God Soul – or gaining Knowledge and Conversation of one's Holy Guardian Angel, the descent of the Genius, or connection with the Authentic Self – is both a full linkage of all of our parts and opens the door to true communication with the supernal: with God Herself, the Limitless, and also with other Beings unseen. [11]
Once we reach full possession of our God Soul, we have the chance to continue the further integration of all the parts we have previously brought into contact with each other. I advise doing the bulk of this work before achieving self-possession, or we will have a much harder time of it. For example: if one has not begun to set his financial and romantic life in order, the push to do so after possession will grow more severe, sometimes breaking the individual who hasn't done the proper preparation. For some, this feels almost impossible, raising the question of whether self-possession as a stage, rather than a temporary state, actually occurred. Sometimes epiphany and strong connection that has no foundation for a permanent connection to form does occur, but goes nowhere except to spin the person's life further into disarray. And thus we are thrust back to the ancient advice to know ourselves.
If we have built a foundation of good work, right attitude toward money, knowledge of our mental, emotional, and physical needs and of our relationship to others, and then we achieve knowledge and conversation, or full possession of our God Soul, we will be in a good position to expand into our integrated lives and to be of greater help to those around us. We will be able to rightly see what further integrative steps are necessary and have greater reach toward what lies beyond our current scope.
This is a state of greater connection, rather than the space between connection and disconnection most of us swim in, and will therefore give us greater success in all areas of life. Life will expand around us in ways either unforeseen or only previously hinted at. All will become easier. The strength of internal connection and integration brings a rightness to all things, lending a broader more cohesive view of the world and our place therein.
[1] This quote comes from an article by Hermeticus Nath (Denny Sargent) entitled "Om Mani Padme Hum: The Buddha and the Holy Guardian Angel" http://www.horusmaat.com/silverstar/SILVERSTAR1-PG23.html
[2] For a very good explication of various states of possession by spirit and divinity, see Spirit Speak (New Page, 2008) by Ivo Dominguez Jr. An earlier edition from Sapfire was published as Of Spirits.
[3] Even the philosophy of Existentialism grapples with the task of self-knowing.
[4] A classic magical text on working toward Knowledge and Conversation of our Holy Guardian Angel now has a new translation: The Book of Abramelin by Abraham von Worms compiled and edited by Georg Dehn and translated by Steven Guth. (Ibis, 2006)
[6] see www.whitewand.com or www.tombostudios.com for Anaar's work.
[7] See illustration vi of the parts of the human soul.
[8] See the work of spiritual thinker Andrew Cohen.
[9] A kabbalistic term for the center of the tree of life. There are many good sources for study of Kabbalah, including Alan Moore's Promethea series, Israel Regardie's The Middle Pillar and Lon Milo Duquette's Chicken Qabalah.
[10] A thread that appears in much of his work, it can be found in A Brief History of Everything.
[11] These various terms can be found in Theosophical works, and the writings of Iamblichus, Crowley, Andrew Cohen, and Victor Anderson.


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Our Mission
The mission of Little Stars is to Glorify God through serving our community's families and children.
The team at Little Stars joins with parents and community organizations to enrich the emotional, physical, and cognitive development of all of our children.
While offering a superior academic program and an environment that promotes self-discipline, motivation, and excellence in learning; we strive to lay a foundation of security and a love for learning that will take them into their school years and beyond.
Our Philosophy
Little Stars is reaching out to the families in our community to offer exceptional education and extraordinary childcare in Dahlonega's only Private Preschool. Small class sizes, individualized attention, top notch certified teachers, & hands-on curriculum combine to create a program that is unmatched in the North Georgia area. We are more than just childcare; we offer peace of mind, security, and an excellent education.
Our applied curriculum and enriched environments are designed specifically for the interests and developmental needs of preschool children. We sing, explore, pretend, create, and learn!
Centers are set up in each classroom to provide age appropriate activities. These include; arts and crafts, science, dramatic role playing, manipulative materials and letter and number recognition. We also provide free time and structured activities on the playground. We incorporate prayer & meal blessings and we celebrate Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas. We promote patriotism in our school and we teach and recite the "Pledge of Allegiance".
Your child will be cared for and instructed by certified teachers!
All of our lead teachers are required to have their BA, CDA, ECE, or TCC degree (or equivalent). We pride ourselves on offering the best education for your children! In addition to their certification, each staff member has taken additional courses in nutrition, child abuse prevention, fire safety, and health & safety issues.
Small Class Sizes & Low Student:Teacher Ratios
Unlike some preschools which have 22 children in one class, our largest class has only 11 children. Small class sizes mean more individualized attention and instruction. Our teachers are eager to nurture and love your infant as well as spend much one-on-one educational time with your preschooler. Come tour our school and see for yourself, our stated ratios ARE our ACTUAL ratios and cannot be matched!
Infants 1:4
Ones 1:8
Twos 1:9
Threes 1:6
Private Pre K 1:6
Our applied curriculum and extensive lesson plans link straight to the Georgia Early Learning Standards (GELDS) and encompasses each of the five learning domains. From acting out finger plays with our infants to going on a shape scavenger hunt with our two year olds, each class has developmentally appropriate goals, lessons, and activities to enrich your child's educational experience.

subset: commoncrawl


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San Diego -- Born four minutes apart from each other, Shaun and Gabe Vanderwall, Platoon 1035, Company B, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, grew up nearly inseparable.
The 21-year-old identical twins of Ludington, Mich., were always together and enrolled in the same activities since they were children.
"I guess it made it easier for our mother so she didn't have to be in two places at once," said Shaun. "That's where our competitiveness came from."
The twins would hold "friendly competitions" with each other during sporting events, trying to beat each other's times and scores. As they moved on to high school, they both joined track and swim and continued in their competitive nature.
Although the boys' friendly rivalry was taken light-heartedly, they still pushed each other to excel in any activity.
"We're brothers, we wouldn't want to see each other fail at anything," explained Shaun.
After graduating from Ludington High School in 2009 and receiving scholarships for their performance in track and swim, both soon realized how expensive college would be even with scholarships.
"Since we were good at swimming, we decided it would be a good idea to join the Coast Guard," explained Shaun. "We wanted to do something in search and rescue."
The two went to speak with a recruiter and were soon discouraged by the news they received.
"We were told that we'd have to wait two years before we could join," said Shaun. "We decided we were going to wait."
As time went on, the Vanderwall twins grew tired of their work at a local retirement home as servers and cooks. Gabe didn't want to wait any longer and went back to the recruiting center to look at a different branch of service.
He spoke with a Marine Corps recruiter and was pleased to hear that he and his brother would be able to leave sooner. He returned home with the good news to Shaun and the two enlisted in April.
"We both wanted to get on with our lives, and the Marine Corps gave us so many options with jobs and benefits," said Gabe.
The twins shipped off to recruit training aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Sept. 10 and were placed in the same platoon.
Like most recruits, the twins had a hard time adjusting to the first few weeks of recruit training, but the one thing they had was each other.
They motivated each other when times became tough and even kept up with their competitive games during training events such as the combat fitness test.
"We both received a 300 on our CFT's and our times were close," explained Gabe. "We both did 100 ammunition can lifts, our 880 was two minutes 29 seconds, but I beat Shaun by seven seconds on the maneuver under fire, I got a minute 50 seconds and he got 57 seconds."
Knowing that they could always rely on each other, they continued to push through training and were noticed individually in the platoon.
"Shaun was more of a natural leader when he arrived and Gabe was more reserved and quiet," said Sgt. Brandon Rogers, drill instructor, Plt. 1035, Co. B, 1st RTBn. "Gabe is actually the most improved recruit in our platoon."
Rogers, a 25-year-old Fairfield, Calif., native, explained that Gabe struggled in the beginning but soon started to volunteer more and take charge, but both developed into good leaders, morally and physically.
"They motivated the platoon through their actions, when there was a task that needed to be done, they'd always get it taken care of," said Rogers.
The Vanderwall twins now hold the title Marine but their Marine Corps journey isn't over yet. They are scheduled to continue Marine Combat Training at the School of Infantry aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan 8.
Once they finish training there, they will go separate ways for the first time in their lives. The two explained that it's going to be a big change in their lives, but they're ready to experience it.
"I think it will be a good experience for them," said Rogers. "I'm confident that they'll be fine on their own."


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ROME (AP) — Rome's embattled mayor was found not guilty Saturday of a charge of lying over a City Hall appointment, ending a months-long trial that had threatened her political career.
Mayor Virginia Raggi hugged her lawyers after the judge read the verdict finding no crime had been committed in the appointment of a city tourist official.
Prosecutors alleged she had lied to anti-corruption officials when she insisted the choice of the official — the brother of her top aide at the time — was hers alone. Prosecutors alleged the appointment was engineered by her aide.
"This verdict sweeps away two years of mud," Raggi tweeted. "We continue with our heads high for Rome, my beloved city, and for all citizens."
Raggi always denied the charge. If convicted, she could have faced a 10-month sentence and the loss of her position as mayor. The rules of the 5-Star Movement to which she belongs state that any member convicted of a crime can't stay in office, even pending appeal.
The end of the trial removes one hindrance to the mayor, who remains, however, under pressure over a general sense of decay in Italy's capital, ranging from the failure to remove trash from some neighborhoods to breakdowns in the city's transport system, including a fire on a city bus in the center and the collapse of an escalator packed with Russian soccer fans.
Romans vote in a non-binding referendum this weekend on whether they want the city's transport city to be privatized.


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|Minecraft Club
Event Type: Children
Age Group(s): Children
Date: 6/6/2019
Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM
Join our Minecraft Club where we mine, explore, and share strategies in the wide world of Minecraft on our own server. Each session will feature a new challenge. You must bring your own charged laptop, tablet or mobile device and have an updated and active Minecraft account.Library: Main Library
Location: James R. Garfield Room (Main - Lower Level)
Presenter: Marilyn
Status: Closed
|Please Note


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Get under Diego's Umbrella next week in North Tahoe
If you go
What: Diego's Umbrella
When: 10 p.m. Thursday, April 11
Where: Crystal Bay Club Corwn Room
Cover: Free
CRYSTAL BAY, Nev. — Diego's Umbrella covers music's mirthful idiosyncrasies: the indefatigable spirit of Gorgol Bordello and Joe Stummer, the cleverness of Les Claypool and Roger Clyne and the theatrics, dare we say, of Tortelvis.
This Camper Van Radiohead of a band brings all this to mind, but we might be too contemplative.
"The idea is to be over the top," lead singer Ben Leon told Lake Tahoe in January, "but you don't necessarily know what you're doing … There are some things in life you just don't want to know."
Maybe we should simply call it gypsy rock and, moreover, stop speaking in this perfunctory "editorial we" voice.
Last January, Diego's Umbrella got the Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room stage all to itself 377 days after sharing it with the March Fourth Marching Band on a raucous night that seemed to shake the venerable club a couple of feet downhill toward the California border.
Not even two months later, the band returns for a free show in the famous North Lake Tahoe musical venue.
Back in January, on the way to the next gig driving south on Highway 28, someone aimed a camera toward Lake Tahoe at Thunderbird Point and the image is included in a music video for song "Mexican Budapest" on a futuristic spaghetti western-themed album released last summer, "Proper Cowboy."
The San Francisco band has more local ties. It recently toured twice with Vokab Kompany, which was started by Lake Tahoe native Robbie Gallo. And last winter it played at Minden's Carson Valley Arts Council, finishing its set and clearing out in time for a fretful staff to perhaps watch a "Seinfeld" rerun.
The band, as is its bent, has a couple of new videos in the works.
Be it a video or a concert, the attitude is the same: "a plethora of ridiculousness," guitarist Tyson Maulhardt said. "It's all about having fun and letting go and not taking ourselves too seriously."
Learn more about the band at http://www.diegosumbrella.com.


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This year, Russia launched its first crossover pop stars since the days of Gorky Park—and it's done so by throwing them in jail. Pussy Riot, a feminist punk collective that staged guerrilla performances all over Moscow (culminating in a "punk prayer" in a cathedral, which got three of its members arrested), showed up on every front page from Libération to the New York Post and single-handedly revived riot-grrrl chic. Meanwhile, the fate of the three prisoners—Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, Maria "Masha" Alyokhina, and Yekaterina "Katya" Samutsevich—became an international cause, championed by everyone from Madonna to David Cameron. Sentenced to two years each on the absurd charge of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," the "girls," as everyone in Russia calls them, are getting by without the Internet, only vaguely aware of their global celebrity. GQ managed to correspond with them by slipping questions in with their lawyers. Katya's answers got confiscated. Nadya's and Masha's follow.
GQ: What is your average day like now? How do you get the news from the outside?
Masha: They have small, medium, and large cells here. We're in three different small ones. Only the large cells have in-room showers; we get showers once a week. After 6 a.m., you're not allowed to sleep under a blanket. Theoretically, until lights-out at 10 p.m., you're not allowed to sleep at all, but in practice you can lie on top of the blanket and cover yourself with your coat. Nobody can explain why; the only answer you hear to any question is "That's the rule" and "We keep to a regimen here." Every day there's an hour-long walk in a "yard," which is a concrete box with two benches and a sliver of sky between a cement wall and a plastic roof. It's all "Hug the wall" this and "Hands behind your back" that. They search our cells regularly and confiscate our drawings and notes. Why? "The rules." Pretty much the only news we get is from federal TV channels. Only now do I realize the sheer amount of lies and censorship there. When you have the Internet, you don't feel it as sharply. But once a week our lawyers bring us different news, words of support, and that helps a lot.
Nadya: Prison is a good place to learn to really listen to your own mind and your own body. I've learned to read much more deeply, for instance. For four months, I had nothing to read but the Bible, so I read it for all four months—diligently, picking everything apart. Prison is like a monastery—it's a place for ascetic practices. After a month here, I became a vegetarian. Walking in circles for an hour in that tiny dusty yard gets you into a pretty meditative state as well. We don't get much in the way of the news. But enough to get inspired.
GQ: A Moscow newspaper has printed
a vicious article about how you're
getting "VIP treatment" in prison, with massages and manicures.
Nadya: Did Auschwitz have VIP death lounges? If yes, then I suppose you can call our conditions VIP treatment.
GQ: Your closing statements in court, where you cite everyone from the Bible to Dostoyevsky to Socrates to Solzhenitsyn, have become instant classics. Some lines, like Katya's "We have already won" or Nadya's "People can sense the truth. Truth has an ontological superiority over lies"
are now as famous as your songs. How
did you manage to write these speeches with no access to any research? Were
you at least able to coordinate them?
Nadya: Our trial, as you know, was designed to be as short as possible. The judge scheduled back-to-back court sessions from ten in the morning to ten at night. Then it took a couple of hours more to get us back to the cells. There, I would eat an orange, drink some milk, and start working on my speech by night-light. To get closer to the dim lamp, I would sit on an upside-down wash basin, right under the hooks where our clothes hang. After twelve hours at the courthouse and two transfers, I wasn't in the best of states. But it doesn't take that much effort to put truth on paper. Even if your head is splitting from exhaustion, it feels kind of nice to just let go and be sincere, to have an open soul. You can even allow yourself to be a kind of idiot, like Dostoyevsky's Count Myshkin.
Masha: Here in Russia, a prisoner has no Internet access, no computer, not even a typewriter, so I wrote everything by hand: many rough drafts and then a combined "clean" draft. We read some bits of our speeches to each other during the transfer, in the unventilated, smoke-filled prison bus.
Nadya: We didn't really coordinate with each other. After putting on performances together, we had learned to understand each other without words. But in court, we had some surprising coincidences. For example, Masha's statement and mine ended up using the exact same two quotations from the New Testament.
GQ: So, were you ready to end up in here when you put on the balaclavas a year ago?
Nadya: We knew we were in a kind of risk zone. But we deliberately did things that were peaceful and nonviolent and didn't even damage other people's property. We specifically made sure not to break any laws. When people asked us if we were afraid, we'd say, "We're not doing anything illegal—and if someone decides to put us in jail, they'll do it anyway."
We acted according to Paul Feyerabend's slogan: "Anything goes." From our very first performance on, we were shadowed by the so-called Tsentr E ["Center for Combating Extremism," basically a police unit designed for persecuting political opposition], but we decided to keep going regardless of the pressure. Anything goes.
GQ: Did you think that it would be specifically the church performance that got you arrested? Your Red Square show [where Pussy Riot performed a song titled "Riot in Russia—Putin Is Chickenshit"
right by the walls of the Kremlin] seemed far riskier at the time.
Nadya: To be frank, we tried not to think about the possible arrests at all. If you start thinking about this sort of thing, you can't do anything political. Plus, we couldn't even imagine that the authorities would be so dumb that they would actually legitimize our influence by arresting us. Sure, Tsentr E tried to intimidate us by tailing us constantly. But unlike Putin, we're not chickenshit—so we didn't stop performing. The church performance was a perfect opportunity for Putin's apparatchiks to claim that our motives were religious intolerance and not political protest. This way our persecution could be framed as a righteous burning of blasphemers, as opposed to just stifling free speech.
GQ: "Pussy Riot" is a weirdly perfect band name, especially considering you're Russian. Who thought of this first?
Nadya: It's hard to even remember now. We were all in this near panic. We had just suddenly realized that there has never been a feminist punk collective in Russia and decided to create one right there. So we were all kind of manic and excited and came up with the name on the spot.
Masha: Everything is collective—the lyrics, the band name.
GQ: Did you know that your anonymous bandmates who are still at large would actually drop a single, "Putin Lights
Up the Fires," on the day of your verdict?
Nadya: I had no idea. I was also pleasantly surprised when they blasted the single [outside the courthouse] during the verdict. Masha: I had an inkling they would.
GQ: Were you surprised by the scope and the volume of Western support for you?
Nadya: I still can't shake the feeling that I've spent the last six months acting in a big-budget movie. The amount of Western support that we got is a miracle. I believe that if Russia had independent national media, our performance would be better understood at home as well. Right now we're in hell here. It's hard living in a place where everyone can hate you because of something they heard on TV. That's why every gesture of support is so important and so much appreciated.
GQ: How and when did you find out that Madonna has performed "Like a Virgin" in a balaclava, with the words "Pussy Riot" on her bare body?
Nadya: On August 7, the judge suddenly ended the session at 6 p.m., not at 10 as usual. "She's going to Madonna's show," we joked as they took us out in handcuffs, with that police dog barking at us. Next morning, as we arrived to the courthouse, our lawyers ran to us with some blurry black-and-white photos of a half-naked woman in a balaclava, with "Pussy Riot" on her back. We're like, "Oh wow, that's cool." And our lawyers say: "You don't get it, this is Madonna!" "Wow, that's REALLY cool." That was all we could even say before the judge came in, and our useless trial began again.
GQ: Does it bug you as feminists that your global popularity is at least partly based on the fact that you turned out to be, well, easy on the eyes?
Nadya: I humbly hope that our attractiveness performs a subversive function. First of all, because without "us" in balaclavas, jumping all over Red Square with guitars, there is no "us" smiling sweetly in the courtroom. You can't get the latter without the former. Second, because this attractiveness destroys the idiotic stereotype, still extant in Russia, that a feminist is an ugly-ass frustrated harridan. This stereotype is so puke-making that I will deign to be sweet for a little bit in order to destroy it. Though every time I open my mouth, the sweetness goes out the window anyway.
GQ: This is perhaps an insensitive question, but what's more useful for the progressive movement in Russia right now: Pussy Riot at large or Pussy Riot in jail?
Nadya: We will know the answer only after the next wave of protests. I would love to see that, even imprisoned, we can still be useful and inspiring. In any case, I'm happy I got two years. For every person with a functioning brain, this verdict is so dumb and cruel that it removes any lingering illusions about Putin's system. It's a verdict on the system.
Masha: At large, of course. That's why the authorities don't want to let us out. But we still have things to say, and we still want to say them. And even locked up, we're not doing too bad of a job.
"We couldn't even imagine that the authorities would be so dumb that they would actually legitimize our influence by arresting us. Sure, they tried to intimidate us constantly. But unlike Putin, we're not chickenshit."


text:
5 October 2011
The intent of this series of posts is not to blame people, but rather to point out the testbot needs full-time attention. Integral to this story are the decisions and circumstances that led me to stop working on SimpleTest in core and the "testbot" which runs on qa.drupal.org. I intend to follow-up this post with others dealing with rejuvenation of the testbot and improvements to SimpleTest. I understand some will not agree with my position, but I would like everyone to understand my reasons and intentions, and how we find ourselves in the current state of affairs. After everything is out in the open, my hope is that a useful discussion will ensue and meaningful progress will result.
Four factors led me to stop working on SimpleTest in core and the testbot:
- I no longer had gratuitious amounts of free time.
- I now had a need to make a living (and working on the testbot does not generate any income).
- The core development process being what it is led to burnout and lack of desire.
- The request to stop working on the testbot in conjunction with the Drupal 7 code freeze.
With me out of the picture, it magnified the fact that noone else worked on the testbot and, going forward, noone stepped up to take my place.
Lets start off with some background about my involvement with the Drupal testing story.
SimpleTest's journey to core
Rewind the clock back to early 2008. I had gotten involved in Drupal through GHOP and became maintainer of SimpleTest. I proceeded to perform a large-scale refactoring and cleaning up of SimpleTest. This, combined with other community efforts, resulted in SimpleTest being added to Drupal 7 core during the Paris Coding Sprint. The rapid pace at which I was able to develop SimpleTest quickly slowed as I no longer had the ability to commit changes nor make design decisions. Instead, even the most trivial changes took days or weeks to get committed. In spite of these additional challenges, I continued to diligently work on SimpleTest in core. To my dismay I discovered on multiple occasions that large changes were virtually impossible to push through the core queue, and I spent countless hours rerolling patches and refactoring code at various developers' whims. In the end, the patches simply died, but not for lack of quality or merit.
The chart shows 37 commits to the SimpleTest project before and after it was added to Drupal core. It is clear the pace of development slowed immediately and lessened further with time.
Changing course I focused on small changes to SimpleTest in core, but ran into similar throughput issues. For all intents and purposes, my ability to make contributions to SimpleTest had ground to a halt. This led me to write a blog post detailing the problem and possible solutions. I was not alone in my conclusions and many would still like to see the problem resolved. I continued to contribute to core now and then, but I was completely burned out. I even took month long breaks from Drupal as it literally burned me out to try to make any contribution to core. My burnout was not caused by overwork but was due to frustration with the exaggerated length of time to accomplish a minor commit.
Following up SimpleTest with the testbot
On a parallel track, getting SimpleTest into core turned out to be only half of the battle. Actually seeing the tests adopted and maintained remained a challenge. I led the charge to keep the tests in sync (initially doing it almost alone). The effort to create an automated system for running the tests had been underway for quite some time, but lacked the necessary volunteers and commitment to really get it off the ground. I was then asked to take over the project at which point I evaluated its status and decided to start over. I created PIFR, a plan for realizing the goal, and proceeded to rapidly make progress. Testing.drupal.org launched shortly afterward and testing became an integral part of the Drupal core workflow.
With a working system I then laid plans for a second iteration of the testbot with a number of improvements. After heavy development the second generation of the testing system was launched with a massively improved feature set.
Seeking sponsors
After graduation from high school I was no longer financially able to devote large portions of my time to the testing system or core development so I sought sponsors to enable me to continue my work. Acquia provided an internship that allowed me to focus on testing again. After successfully completing the internship I found a job with Examiner.com that allowed me to spend a portion of my time improving and maintaining the automated testing system and roll out the initial work for contributed project testing and a number of other improvements in ATS (PIFR and PIFT) 2.2. The contributed project testing with dependencies was labeled beta because it did not support specific versions and had known issues. The plan was to make a followup release to solve the issues.
Code freeze and the request to stop
After deploying PIFR 2.2, I was asked to stop making changes to the testbot to ensure stability of the testing system during the final stages of Drupal 7 development. I continued to make improvements that I planned to deploy once the freeze was lifted, but the short freeze turned into months and more months. This delay ultimately forced me to stop development before the codebase diverged too much from the active testbot.
The chart shows my combined commit activity for PIFR and PIFT and indicates the dramatic slowdown that occurred as a result of the freeze placed on the testbot.
During this time I was the only person who worked on the testbot in any significant capacity (or virtually at all). My availability for working on testing dwindled when my time with Examiner ended. This, combined with the stagnation forced upon the testbot, meant things simply ceased moving forward. The complete stagnation is seen in the long period of time between the 2.2 release and the 2.3 release of PIFR on January 28, 2010 and March 28, 2011, respectively. During that entire period of more than a year no changes were made to the testbot. When changes were finally made, they were done merely out of necessity to accommodate the git migration.
Post-freeze undeployed features
Shortly after the 2.2 release I completed a number of improvements before things came to a stand-still. Some of the recent deployments have included functionality that I had completed, most notably:
- Version control system abstraction and plugins for bazaar, cvs, git, and svn
- Coder reviews in addition to testing
- Beta support for contributed project testing with dependencies
Recent changes
As mentioned above, I had already abstracted the version control handling in the testbot and had four plugins (bazaar, cvs, git, and svn). Unfortunately, there were a number of assumptions that had to be made due to limitations with the project module's VCS integration. These assumptions had to be updated for the shiny new version control API. The changes required were very minor and did not represent any feature improvements, but were simply part of the changes necessary to complete the git migration. Randy Fay made the necessary changes and the testbot saw its first update in a very long time. A few small followups were released as part of the planned phasing out of the old patch format and such. It is interesting to note the other major components of the Drupal.org migration were contracted by the Drupal Association except the automated testing system.
Jeremy Thorson has recently been working on using the testbot's ability to perform coder reviews to help solve the woefully broken project application process which he describes in several blog posts. Again we see change coming to the testbot out of necessity rather than a focused plan for improvement. For those not aware of it, the project application queue has several hundred applications and it takes months to even receive a review. Jeremy has worked hard on improving the application process, at the heart of which is the ability to perform automated coder reviews. Providing automated reviews has been held back on multiple fronts not the least of which is finding people to get things done. This is a definite hurdle considering that only three people have every worked on the testbot code itself not to mention there is an average of less than one active maintainer at any give time.
As mentioned above, I had deployed the first stage of contributed project testing over a year ago, but was forced to shelve the follow-up deployments. The code to properly handle module dependencies fell into disarray with the git migration and required refactoring to work with the version control API. Derek Wright and I spent a lot of time hashing out the details to ensure things were properly abstracted for the project module. I completed the code, but it was never committed and thus was not maintained through the migration. Randy took it upon himself to update the code, but deviated from the agreed upon design. This choice meant the code would not be included in the project module and has a number of other ramifications. The feature was rebuilt in a drupal.org specific manner that precludes others from taking advantage of the code and eliminates the possibility of exposing the data through the update XML information. Exposing the data in that fashion would mean projects like drush, drush make, Aegir and others could discard code written to recreate this data or would now be able to support proper dependency handling. In addition, the recent deployment of dependency handling has led to large delays and instability in the testbot.
The decision to freeze the testbot in conjunction with the Drupal 7 code freeze made sense at the time. However, the extended freeze of the testbot (due to the extended Drupal 7 code freeze) along with moving SimpleTest into core had the unintended and disappointing side effect of causing the effective stagnation of the testing system. The only changes to the testbot in the past 20 months have been made out of necessity and annoyance (the git migration and the unfinished testbot integration with the project application process for new developers). During my tenure with Examiner.com, a fair number of changes were made to the testing system but not deployed on drupal.org. The module dependency code had been written over a year ago and finalized shortly thereafter but languished and was never deployed. Recently, some of these changes were finally deployed along with the git migration. All the while, I had set forth a detailed roadmap for the testing system.
The testing system had been stable and running for 3 years. Recent changes (implemented by others) have resulted in the ups and downs of the testing system. The importance of testing to Drupal development coupled with the recent instability strongly suggests the testing system requires full-time attention. The lack of feature changes since the 2.2 release of PIFR in January, 2010 is a direct result of a lack of financial testing resources, the lock-down of the testing system components, the burnout caused by extreme difficulty to make changes, and the extended freeze placed on the testbot.
Various solutions were tried to enable the continuation of work on the testbot. None represented a viable long-term solution. In the end, my father and I decided the solution was to establish a business to advance testing for the Drupal community and to create an environment where we no longer have our hands tied behind our back. In the next post, I will share the vision and passion we have for testing along with several features that could be made available to the community immediately.
Great writeup
Lars Olesen (not verified) 8 years ago
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The Drupal community needs to take testing seriously and it needs to be easier for the devoted people to get their patches into the code base.
I am curious for your new
Gys (not verified) 8 years ago
I am curious for your new initiative ! Very good of you to bend this your way. Thank you for staying with us. Drupal needs people like you.
careful on what is happening in the project application process
greggles (not verified) 8 years ago
several hundred applications and it takes months to even receive a review
There are currently 250 in a "needs review" state, so depending on your definition of "several" that is true.
I don't think the claim that it takes "months" to receive a review is anywhere close to valid. In some cases it has taken weeks. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find examples that sat for months with no review, and when you do they are usually complex modules that require external dependencies or specific knowledge to test.
Jthorson indicates on his
boombatower 8 years ago
Jthorson indicates on his blog it took months and I have seen plenty of people saying the same thing in IRC, but no doubt it is not always so.
jthorson (not verified) 8 years ago
To clarify, it is often months to get through the entire process ... up to a year in the case of some folks who didn't follow the 'migration to git' instructions posted on their applications. But this is different than the time to a 'first' review, which seemed to be averaging around 4 weeks when I applied; and the longest was 9 weeks the last time I performed a spot-check. Sorry if I was misleading. :)
@jthorson: Thanks for the
boombatower 8 years ago
@jthorson: Thanks for the clarification.
@others: Please keep in mind the primary point was things could be much better with automation and the only reason we don't have it is due to lack of resources. One of many, the next post will hit on this so more.
I know it's a subpoint, but
greggles (not verified) 8 years ago
I know it's a subpoint, but I'm getting sick of people over-stating and mischaracterizing the problems in that queue.
If we want to speak accurately about the fixes we should speak accurately about the problem.
Community resources
Steven Jones (not verified) 8 years ago
I suspect that you are always going to have a hard time finding maintainers for PIFR and simpletest, mainly because you are always going to find it hard to find someone willing to pay for testing, especially if you're not actually testing the finished product, but the framework. I.e. there's no way any of our clients would pay for us to help maintain PIFR so that their site built on Drupal was better. Maybe this is one case where the Drupal Association really does need to get involved financially, but I'd imagine that the DA has less money than everyone would like it too, and it might be too close to getting involved with development of core anyway.
Additionally, I wonder if PIFR is doomed to be unmaintainable, as most people doing testing won't want to write or use their own testing framework, they'll use something like Jenkins instead. If PIFR was a lightweight interface with some external tool, then you might find you'd get much more traction in the community, and many more people willing to help maintain the code you write. One of the main reasons that git was adopted by the Drupal community over other SCM tools was because the community seemed to go nuts whenever someone mentioned git. Maybe you need to find out how PIFR can become more useful for the Drupal community as a whole, and then re-work it light of that, and actually get somewhere other than d.o using it, and then you might find some maintainers.
Thank you for you hard work though, undoubtedly testing has made Drupal 7 a better release than ever before, and your efforts are highly valued by the community. I think we all want to see development of testing Drupal continue, and in a sustainable fashion.
That's a very good
greggles (not verified) 8 years ago
That's a very good question.
Is anyone other than drupal.org using PIFR for automated testing?
If not, why not? Should PIFR be modified so it is appealing to those organizations so they have a reason to maintain it? Should drupal.org move to the system (Jenkins, or whatever) that those organizations use?
I hope all these questions and more will be answered in post #2 :)
Actually, there are a few
boombatower 8 years ago
Actually, there are a few companies a know of since they asked me to make specific changes. Examiner, as I mentioned in the post, hired me in part to work on PIFR since they are using it. The second post will provide more details on why Jenkins is not a good (or option at all) option for drupal.org.


text:
You can't be a little bit pregnant, you either are or you aren't.- Bob Flowerdew, Radio 4's 'Gardener's Question Time', talking about organic gardening.
I've never bought into the idea of 'organic' produce - there are some solid organic principals and guidelines which I think are Good Things, like reducing pesticides and biodiversity, but Organic True Believers™ would have no truck with my post-modern woolly organicity.
I'll also say, I've never trusted the Organic High Priests like the Soil Association, whose take on organic food has been put through the PR mill, so that the perceived benefits are trotted out as fact and exaggerated and whose scientific credentials leave a lot to be desired. You'll remember, no doubt, that The Soil Association awarded Gillian McKeith its Consumer Education Award 2005 - information the Soil Assoc has decided should no longer be on their website.
The Soil Association's current resident nutritionist, Shaun Heaton, doesn't seem much better - cue Dara O'Briain's nutritionist gag.
Lines like:
Organic food contains fewer pesticide residues. []. Don't wait, as unfortunately many people do, to get diagnosed with cancer before you get interested in real food.Interesting reasoning.
Organic food contains no artificial additives such as sweeteners or colours, which a major new study has now unequivocally linked to hyperactivity, learning and behavioural problems in children.Unlike those nasty aspartame carrots that are all the rage?
Organic food contains more nutrients, as confirmed again by the largest study of its kind just released, showing 20-80% more nutrients in organics.The British Nutrition Foundation would say otherwise:
• There is no evidence to show that crops grown organically have a better nutrient content than those produced non-organically. However, it has been acknowledged that little research has been conducted to date and much of the available scientific information is out-dated or based on inadequate study design.
Historically, the cost of organic food has been considerably higher than ordinary food, but this gap has closed significantly over the last number of years. Food prices in general have risen and with the current economic credit crunch, people are tightening their belts.
What will be first against the wall? People's principals. So much so, according to The Times, that organic farmers are lobbying government to allow them to take an Organic Holiday, so that they can buy the much cheaper ordinary feed during these hard times. According the newspaper:
Sales of organic food slumped 10 per cent in the 12 weeks up to the end of November, according to the latest figures from the consumer researchers TNS. Overall food sales over the same period were up 6 per cent
To me, this idea is nonsense. One concept that has been used frequently with organic farming is the idea of sustainability. Usually this has been in the context of biodiversity, protection of hedgerows, maintaining the wildlife equilibrium etc - all good things, but in fact, of questionable importance if the food you are producing is not commercially viable. You end up with less 'conventional' land to provide more food. Sustainability means being able to sustain your business during tough times. How on earth can you forgo your principals? I don't think they'll be given leave to do this - the main problem I see is that it will be a PR disaster.
Firstly, you are offending your True Believers™, the people who have completely bought into the Organic Religion. They will not tolerate a change to the Holy Book, and it could lead to a split. The word 'organic' will lose its meaning and brand identity (Chemists would argue this has already happened once).
Secondly, you've already lost the people fleeing to Lidl who weren't true believers, and now that they've been away, it'll be difficult to get them back. The beliefs of animal welfare and no pesticides were 'nice thoughts' for them, perhaps they bought organic as a social status symbol or because they had a few extra pennies. I would have thought someone buying organic would be subject to some sort of cognitive dissonance if they went back to normal food. How could they justify their previous lavish expense? Can they really taste a difference?
How many of the farmers are True Believers™ and how many converted to organic because at one time it was a lucrative business move? Can these farmers be trusted to maintain the scrupulous organic standards when bills are stacking up and produce is not going out of the gate? This is not to characterise farmers as underhanded, merely to present the situation as being a truly difficult decision.
According to the Organic Farmers and Growers statement on the Times story, no approach has yet been made to DEFRA, although they do state:
It is, however, fair to say that the broad aims would be to allow farmland to remain organic, even if the animals on it were to be fed on non-organic rations for a limited time, thereby enforcing the removal of the animals from the organic system.
So you can have organic farmland, with normal livestock on it eating normal foodstock and when times get better, jump back into the Organic circle. Normal farmers trying to get into organic farming have to maintain their land as organic for three years before they get the cert. If you are in the year 2 of your 3 year run, does it count? IF so, it makes a mockery of the whole 3 year hoop.
Without any sense of irony, the OGF finish their statement with the following:
The industry's aim is to protect the organic system for the welfare and environmental benefits it brings and ensure that progress made in expanding this sustainable method of farming is not lost.
There's that 'sustainable' word again. Allow me to translate
The industry's aim is to sustain the unsustainable.


text: No more tears, and no more quaternium-15 for Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images Shots - Health News Johnson & Johnson Pledges To Purge Controversial Chemicals August 15, 2012 The health products giant affirmed the safety of the chemicals in question but acknowledged that hasn't been enough to satisfy some critics. The chemicals on the way out range from triclosan, an antibacterial ingredient, to others that release small amounts of formaldehyde.


text:
ttbutler necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 532 diseños de 117 diseñadores freelance.
The name of the company is Imago Solutions Limited or Imago Solutions Ltd.. Imago is Latin for "imagine" (also a butterfly but please do not submit a butterfly design). The primary service offered to clients is technical information technology (IT) security consulting (secondary is general IT, art and property). Key focus is circular flows, project lifecycles, maze or problem solving, technology, electronic data, security and customer confidence.
Imago Solutions Limited or Imago Solutions Ltd.
I've setup this company to primarily provide information technology (IT) technical security consulting to a wide variety of clients. This can include everything from website security with strong authentication technologies like fingerprint scanners or something specific like physical security procedures to protect a computer that holds people's credit card numbers. I live and work primarily in London, UK; however I've worked in the past and will continue to work all over the world and within any client marketplace.
IT security is all about trust. Some of the core concepts or terms relate to identifying a business asset or something that warrants protection then applying various trust controls to that asset. These include identification (uniquely labelling something or someone with an ID); authentication (ensuring the individual or system is who they say they are); authorization (ensuring the individual or system has a right to access or view a specific target); confidentiality (ensuring no-one other than the individual or system can see or access information that has been requested.. this typically involves encryption solutions); integrity (had information or data not been altered incorrectly.. is there trust that what someone is seeing or doing is accurate and hasn't been inappropriately modified), and finally non-repudiation (is there a way to check or verify that any change made was linked to or made by a specific individual or system). I mention this to give you some context for the types of messages or themes that my logo will hopefully convey.
To make this even more difficult, my wife and I will be using this company for other services than the primary IT security consulting. These include more general business management consulting, website design, IT consulting, painting / art and property management. These are all very different and can be unrelated, however we hope that the name we choose is flexible enough to communicate the primary business first (IT security) and secondary services as well.
- 3D effects and shading
- A logo that can be presented in color and would have a black & white option
- Something that can be used on a business card / letterhead, etc.. as well as an electronic powerpoint presentation or website.
- Something that represents the future and has a hint of technology
- Something that represents a "lifecycle".. in consulting you start with an idea, move to requirements, build something, test it, support it, operate it then start all over again. This circular pattern happens not only for IT consulting, but any of our secondary businesses as well even if the specific activities change
- Concept of problem solving and being creative. Part of IT consulting or art is all about thinking outside of the box and representing ideas in new ways to help people see or "Imagine" a new solution to a problem.http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://imagomedialtd.com/links/imago_logo_index.gif&imgrefurl=http://imagomedialtd.com/&usg=__Y2xM0J2qDhYnEZvcgnJPph0ZSX4=&h=283&w=283&sz=15&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=j-v1qYUO9QALTM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=114&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dimago%2Blogo%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1
I like the conch that is used. It represents Fibonacci's Sequence which is a mathematical representation in nature. It's both technical and represents never ending changing or evolution.
I like the idea of the dot above the i in Imago represents a planet and the circular pattern or universe around there is a great concept. With some arrows or something showing direction this could also represent the concept of circular "lifecyle" patterns. If it would be possible to make it even more 3D so what was closer was larger and some objects within the circle were smaller in the back that would be even better.. just one idea so far.
I like the 3D element of the circle.
I like the circles around the "o".. it kinda represents a lifecycle.
I like the concept of a maze and potentially having the word "IMAGO" included in the maze with several different ways to solve the maze representing several different solutions for clients. I'm not sure how this could be drawn or how it would look on something small like a business card. One other idea is to just have a maze to the left of the word imago and not use the word imago in the maze at all.. still just some ideas to kick this off.
I like the "0's" and "1's" they represent binary computer language which is technical and IT based.
- Butterfly designs.. there are a lot of imago designs which use the butterfly, however it's not very IT, technical or consulting in general so not something that we would be looking for
- Text only designs.. the consulting I do involves creating a lot of pictures for clients. These pictures can represent a technical architecture or business process, but provide a common easy way for people at all levels in a company to understand a concept (ie, from the CEO to an application coders or everyday people). So I am looking for a image.. it doesn't have to be complex, but there will need to be some type of graphic as part of the logo. http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i…n%26um%3D1
The butterfly is not something that really represents IT, security or consulting primarily so it's just not a focus for us right now.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
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text:
Ariz. schools chief cries, won't resign over blog posts
PHOENIX — Arizona public-schools chief John Huppenthal invoked the word "honor" repeatedly Wednesday before leaving his news conference in tears after apologizing for controversial Internet comments.
A short time later, a group of community leaders said the honorable thing for him to do would be to resign as superintendent of public instruction over his anonymous online blog responses that have drawn fierce criticism.
Huppenthal apologized several times during his hastily called news conference at the Arizona Department of Education headquarters in Phoenix, saying he "renounced and repudiated" the comments he had posted on blogs.
STORY:Superintendent continues to take heat for blog posts
But he was adamant that he would not resign or quit his race for re-election, in which he faces a Republican primary challenge.
"I plan to go forward in service, both in the service I'm in and on the election front," he said.
Huppenthal's posts, made under the pseudonyms Falcon9 and Thucydides, generated controversy last week after he acknowledged he had written them. In his harshest remarks, made in 2011, he called people who receive public assistance "lazy pigs" and compared the work of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger to the actions of the Nazis. Another anonymous post from 2010 surfaced this week in which Falcon9 said Spanish-language media should be shut down.
He began his news conference by saying,"I realize fervently and more powerfully than ever that all of my actions both in my official role and privately need to bring honor to the great work being done by teachers on behalf of students. They need to bring honor to principals leading schools and especially they need to bring honor to all the great work being done in this agency."
He said he was especially upset that his comments hurt the Department of Education staff.
"That hurtfulness is in a number of ways," he said. "I've thought about it deeply, especially given my comments about bringing honor to the system. Obviously, my hurtful blog comments didn't do that. ... The person I feel most for, to the point of my own tears, is my assistant."
Huppenthal then began crying. A moment later, he was whisked away, and the news conference ended.
He was referring to his chief of staff, Merle Bianchi, who has answered reporters' questions about his blog posts.
An hour after Huppenthal's appearance, business and education leaders held a news conference and called on Huppenthal to resign.
Phoenix lawyer DanielOrtega called Huppenthal's online comments "antiquated" and "ignorant."
"Huppenthal does not practice the basic ideals we expect to instill in our children," he said.
Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan, a Republican, said she thinks many Huppenthal supporters are "reeling" with emotion as they try to reconcile the schools chief they thought they knew well. She believes more will speak out against the blog posts in the future.
"He is a smart man who does good work," she said. "I was sick when I saw the posts."
In his news conference, Huppenthal addressed the 2010 blog post on Spanish media, saying that he fervently believes that speaking, reading and writing English is the best way to advance in the United States, and that he feels "less tension" about Arizona's success in teaching English now than he did four years ago.
When asked about his "lazy pigs" comment, he said: "I think a lot about economics and how do we create opportunity. ... That in no way shape or form excuses the way I expressed those sentiments. That's why I repudiate those blog comments. It's OK to talk about policy. It's not OK to talk about people."
Others involved in politics said that Huppenthal should not resign.
Huppenthal did the right thing by facing the public in a news conference and taking questions about his blogging behavior, said Stan Barnes, a consultant and former GOP lawmaker who served with Huppenthal in the Arizona Senate in the 1990s.
But his anonymous comments, although an "awful misjudgment," are not cause for resignation, Barnes said.
"Absolutely, he should hang in there," Barnes said. "It's not something to resign over, especially on the doorstep of the primary election."
It's better to let voters decide, Barnes said, adding that he chalks up some of the calls for resignation to opponents who are trying to score political points.
Huppenthal told The Arizona Republic several hours before the news conference that he is dismayed the anonymous comments came to light because one of his top motivations in the school superintendent's job is helping disadvantaged students. He is known for strong stands in favor of the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, formerly known as the Common Core Standards — which aim to prepare all students for college, technical school or jobs after graduation — technical education and charter schools that help students who might have dropped out get diplomas.
Huppenthal's work on behalf of the new standards drew praise from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was to have given him an award last week. Chamber officials canceled that plan after news stories about the blog posts appeared.
Huppenthal said he didn't mind criticism directed at him personally.
"I don't mind getting beat up; I've been in office a long time," he said. "That comes with the territory."
Huppenthal has been in political office since 1984, when he was elected to the Chandler City Council. He served in the state House and Senate before being elected to his current post.
Contributing: Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl


text:
Snow showers are expected across Yorkshire tonight as temperatures fall below zero.
The Met Office is forecasting light snow showers for the region but the flurries are only expected to lay in any depth on higher ground.
Temperatures are set to fall to -1C tonight and the windchill will make tomorrow feel like -3C. Cold air from Scandinavia is responsible for the freezing conditions, which are expected to continue across the weekend. The Met Office forecast for Yorkshire in full:
This Evening and Tonight Remaining cold and largely cloudy with further snow showers being blown in on the easterly breeze. Some slight accumulations of snow are expected across upland areas, but negligible amounts elsewhere. Minimum temperature -1 °C.
Remaining mostly cloudy with occasional snow showers, especially during the morning. During the afternoon the showers are likely to become more scattered and lighter. Feeling very cold in brisk winds. Maximum temperature 3 °C.
Outlook for Saturday to Monday
Staying cold and mainly cloudy with occasional wintry showers, these perhaps turning heavier for a time over the weekend. An increasing wind chill as easterly winds strengthen.


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You are here
Former Pharmaceutical Rep Creates Jobs in Military Apparel Manufacturing Industry
In 2006, pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough closed its manufacturing facility in Manatí, Puerto Rico leaving hundreds of people unemployed, among them, Armando Semprit.
The plant closing was partly due to the 10-year phase-out of Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code, which provided a tax credit against U.S. taxes imposed on income earned by a U.S. corporation on the island. Pharmaceutical companies originally came to Puerto Rico over 40 years ago to take advantage of Section 936, turning Puerto Rico into a worldwide pharmaceutical center that currently produces 16 of the top 20-selling drugs in the U.S.
Nevertheless, Schering was one of dozens of manufacturing plants that ceased operations in Puerto Rico over the last decade, and Semprit only one of thousands of individuals who lost their jobs. His six years of experience as a medical representative and his Master's degree in Global Management overqualified him against countless of line employees looking for jobs amidst the worst recession this economy has ever seen.
But Semprit was well prepared to take a hit. At the age of 28 he enjoyed a good salary, and had put away quite a bit for a rainy day. In order to keep himself busy while another opportunity arose, Semprit applied for insurance and securities licenses and spent the next two years hitting the pavement looking for clients.
"Because of my savings, I only worked the field part-time," Semprit says. "But within two years, most of those savings had depleted, and I started to feel unemployed."
What helped Semprit put an end to his "unemployed" feeling was reading the newspaper. As he explains it, one of his strategies when seeking new clients was to read announcements companies were making about new products that were sure to reap great revenues.
"I would visit them and advise them on where to invest their earnings," Semprit says.
It was while thumbing through the newspaper one day in March 2008 that Semprit came across and ad for a company that was selling machinery and equipment for people interested in federal contracting. This caught Semprit's attention and he paid the company a visit simply to offer his services as an investment broker, and to see first-hand the company's operations and the type of equipment it was selling. The company was Rebmar, Inc. dedicated to the manufacturing of military uniforms and accessories in Morovis, in the heart of Puerto Rico's central mountainous region. All of its industrial sewing machines and equipment were for sale. Rebmar's owner --based on the mainland-- was near retirement and looking to close operations on the island, since his children had no interest in running the company.
Reading the newspaper again the next morning, Semprit saw an article about a Business Matchmaking event the U.S. Small Business Administration's Puerto Rico office was conducting later that week with the Puerto Rico Association of Engineers and Land Surveyors.
"I went to the event to meet people and network, and also to learn about the federal contracting process," Semprit says. "I listened as presenters spoke about the great potential of the HUBZone program, of growth opportunities in Puerto Rico, and the federal government's investment in contracting."
Within a couple of weeks of attending the SBA's Matchmaking event, Semprit had visited the Puerto Rico State Department to read up on Rebmar's corporate certificates and financial statements, and later visited the company again, this time making an offer to purchase the machinery as an individual.
"I knew nothing about manufacturing," Semprit admits. "But I had to either invest the money I had left in a profitable business or find myself another job quickly."
It took about a week of negotiations, but Rebmar's owner finally agreed on a selling price that was reasonable to Semprit. The young man was becoming an entrepreneur. He incorporated his new business as Noliar Inc., engaging in the manufacturing of apparel, bags, pouches, vests, and tent and gas mask accessories for military troops. He also obtained Rebmar's list of clients, who let him know they needed someone to fulfill the contracts pending.
On April 4, 2008, Semprit began operations with five employees at Rebmar's facilities, which were housed in a building of approximately 40,000 square feet owned by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO). Soon after, Noliar completed the contracts that Rebmar had left pending, and also landed two subcontracts from a prime contractor that was manufacturing commercial products for the federal government.
Within a few months, however, PRIDCO informed Semprit that it needed the facilities for another company, and Semprit relocated his business to another PRIDCO-owned building in Morovis – this time 21,600 square feet big.
But a cash flow problem led Semprit to visit his bank to apply for a loan. It was then he learned of the U.S. Small Business Administration's 7(a) Loan Guaranty program, which provides long-term financing to acquire equipment and machinery, inventory, fixtures and accessories, renovations, purchase land, build new buildings, purchase existing businesses, and for the repayment of debts. The SBA can guarantee up to 85 percent on loans up to $150,000 and up to 75 percent on loans higher than $150,000 up to $5 million.
Semprit attended an SBA orientation session and was referred to the Puerto Rico Small Business and Technology Development Center for training, counseling and technical assistance.
"Like a good student, I took the SBTDC course on how to start a small business and went to all my classes," Semprit says. "Because of my college major, I had basic knowledge of how to prepare a business plan, but the SBTDC helped me polish it. I also learned how to do my bookkeeping, and although I hire an accountant to review the company's books, I still do all the numbers myself."
At that time Semprit ultimately didn't get a loan, but he recently obtained an SBA-guaranteed line of credit from Banco Santander Puerto Rico that is helping him establish commercial credit experience. Noliar Inc. has invested in more sophisticated equipment to be more efficient, and has fulfilled contracts for the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, among others. In addition, the company is also working as a subcontractor for Propper International, in addition to having six other clients, and foresees closing the year 2012 with $1.5 million in revenues.
Noliar –who's named after Semprit's mother "Noli"—recently obtained certification under the SBA's 8(a) Business Development program, which provides eligible socially and economically disadvantaged firms with growth opportunities through federal contracts.
Almost four years after that fateful day in March 2008, Semprit employs 28 people, a fact that brings optimism to a town like Morovis with an unemployment rate of 21 percent. Looking back at the road he's taken and the challenges he's faced as an entrepreneur, Semprit sees the glass as half-full.
"I'm still here," Semprit declares. "I'm creating job opportunities for people who probably wouldn't have had another option. I look forward to what's to come."


text:
If You Don't Like People Who Stink…
RUSH: From the U.K. Guardian , a new study has found that having a greater disgust for body odors was linked to support for Donald Trump.
So if you don't like people who stink, you like Donald Trump. The latest survey.
This article originally appeared on Rush Limbaugh


text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Having clothes made by tailors in Gaziantep Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Having clothes made by tailors in Gaziantep Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Turkey View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message La ReveJoined: 30 Jun 2012Posts: 75Location: Ici Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 7:32 pm Post subject: Having clothes made by tailors in Gaziantep Here in the Gulf countries, it's relatively inexpensive to have clothes made by tailors. I buy my own material and take my own design to the tailors. Is this service available in Gaziantep? Is it very expensive or reasonable? Back to top ossie39Joined: 18 Jan 2009Posts: 105 Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:37 pm Post subject: Turkish Tailors There are many fantastic tailors in Turkey. They mend items quickly for a very cheap price and will make your clothes to your style. You have no worries at all. Back to top parnettJoined: 29 Jun 2012Posts: 179Location: China Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 10:49 pm Post subject: I had a pair of trousers made for me by a tailor in Gaziantep, but only because he was the father of one of my students. I got them for free, or I would have never had them made. Why do you want to wear tailored clothes there? Do you think G-tep is the fashion mecca of southern Turkey? Back to top QaaolchouraJoined: 10 Oct 2008Posts: 539Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 6:37 am Post subject: La Reve is going to be working in Antep. As for why she'd want clothes tailored, I know I've never had clothes as nice as the ones I got made in Hong Kong. I afterwards learned I'd paid about three times the going rate, and if I'd haggled I'd have gotten them for less than at upscale shops in the US. ~Q Back to top YogitaJoined: 17 Jun 2012Posts: 53Location: Turkey Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 7:16 am Post subject: Tailored clothes always fit well & contour to your body once well done. Now I want some suits made too Back to top sixthchildJoined: 18 Apr 2012Posts: 298Location: East of Eden Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:10 am Post subject: Very wise, first impressions are very important in Turkey, don't look like a backpacker! Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Turkey All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Where to Begin----------------General DiscussionNewbie ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumOnline Teaching Forum Africa Forums----------------General Africa Forum Asia Forums----------------CambodiaChina (Job-related Posts Only)China (Off-Topic)Hong KongIndiaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeTaiwanThailandGeneral Asia ForumVietnam Caribbean Forums----------------General Caribbean Forum Europe Forums----------------Czech RepublicFranceGermanyGreeceItalyMacedonia and the BalkansPolandRomaniaRussia & C.I.S.SpainTurkeyUkraineUnited KingdomGeneral Europe Forum Latin America Forums----------------ArgentinaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaMexicoMexico (off-topic)PeruGeneral Latin America Forum The Middle East Forums----------------BahrainEgyptIsraelKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesGeneral Middle East Forum North America Forums----------------General North America Forum Oceania----------------Australia/New Zealand You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group Teaching Jobs in China


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text: Ok, yes: the Marines in Gearbox's officially sanctioned Aliens shooter have some cool guns. But, honestly, if you're going to pick up this game, do you really want to play as another sci-fi soldier? No, you're not. You're going to want to impale humans on your deadly tail, slash them to bits and spit acid as a Xeno. There's a few different classes of Xeno on display in the trailer, including a big, hulking varietal that wasn't ever in the Aliens movies. Good luck trying to find anyone who'll play as Marines.


text:
The view provides a front row seat to
Great Sand Dunes National Park
and 14,000-foot Crestone Peak
et back in a shady cotton wood grove beneath the majestic 14,000-foot peaks of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains lies this historic Zapata Ranch headquarters and lodge, which was established in the late 1800's. Elk, mule deer, migratory birds, eagles, and black bear also call this area home.
Our lodge is the original ranch homestead built in the 1800's. Once the ranch's main house, this log structure has been beautifully remodeled to incorporate a roomy and attractive indoor dining area with a fireplace and large windows along with a cozy sitting area. The large
deck adjacent to the dining area is shaded by mature cottonwood trees and complemented by a flower garden that allows for sweeping views of the property. The five lodge rooms are beautifully furnished and have an elegant southwestern decor that gives them the feel of home. All rooms have individual tiled bathrooms and views that are private, peaceful, and beautiful in any season.
Just outside the lodge is the log cabin bunkhouse with five private rooms, each with a full bath and their own private entrance. One room features a suite with a separate living room and wood stove. All rooms are in top order and beautifully decorated along with large comfortable beds. Windows open wide to let in the fresh mountain air and the views of the natural gardens surrounding the Inn and dunes and mountains beyond set you in a world all your own.
A fully-furnished home separated from the Inn by a lighted footpath, this building is ideal for a group of people who want a more private, secluded vacation . Each of the five private rooms has a full bath. The home features a fully-equipped kitchen, a living room with fireplace and pool table, and a spacious dining area that can accommodate larger groups. The view from the living room windows and private patio provide a front row seat to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Crestone Peak, one of the most spectacular 14,000-foot peaks in the entire Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range.
View Accommodations


text:
Looking for something exciting to do but want to stay close to home? Then drive to Southlake for three days of art, music, food and family fun at the 14th Annual Art in the Square Friday through Saturday, April 26 - 28, in Southlake Town Square.
NBC 5 and the Southlake Women's Club invite you to enjoy this FREE, three-day juried arts festival which features more than 140 national and local artists, live music, great food and much more.
"First of all, you've got to come and see the art. We've got about 150 artists, jury selected out of about 700 applicants so it's a pretty elite selection. They represent a wide variety of artwork and affordable art as well," said Sarah Close with Art in the Square. "And you've got to hear the music. We've got great music and other performances on two stages because we have the gazebo stage and the main stage and the kids areas are also fantastic so its family entertainment, great food and drink, but definitely check out all the artists."
Connecting NBC 5 to the community we serve.
Art in the Square has something for everyone. It's not just for adults. Kids are sure to enjoy the Kids Korner which includes face painting, hands on activities such as oil and crayon coloring, and much more.
Don't miss the live entertainment on both the Main Stage and the Gazebo Stage. There will be dancers, bands, storytellers, theatrical shows and vocalist – something for all to enjoy. (Click here to see schedule for both stages)
The headliner is award-winning country artist Keith Anderson. He takes the Main Stage at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
New this year is a the jumbotron.
"We've got a 12-foot screen. We'll be live streaming our Keith Anderson concert tomorrow night at 8:30. We also have lots of, about an hour of, prerecorded video with sponsors, beneficiaries, artists, food," said Carmen Evans with Art in the Square. "I've been watching it for the last three days it's a lot of fun to watch and it will be steaming also into some TVs that we've brought into beer tents."
Art in the Square has been ranked No. 8 on the list of Top 100 Fine Art Festivals in the United States by The Art Fair Sourcebook.
"This is my fifth year coming to this show and every year it never fails to excel, exceed my expectations. I mean the people who run the show do a great job, they're always improving it, the quality of the art is always impressive," said New Orleans artist Anne London. "I'm really honored to be here. And the people who come here are knowledgeable and appreciative."
The festival is an annual fundraising event created by Southlake Women's Club with proceeds designated for local charities. Since Art in the Square began in 2000, it has raised more than $1.7 million for Northeast Tarrant County charities benefiting women and families.
NBC 5 and Subway are proud media sponsors of the event.
Southlake Art in the Square
Friday, April 26: 4:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 27: 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 28: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Southlake Town Square
1256 Main Street
Southlake, TX 76092


text: Pictured here: members of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps advance through a cloud of smoke during a gas mask drill, ca. 1942. The masks, combined with the nurse's uniforms, look like something out of a 1940s comic book. These are the ladies we want saving us from peril. More at Retronaut and Adventures in Geneology.


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Tornado of Dust - 1944
The history of Leskovac can be divided into the period before and after one fateful morning in 1944. Winston Churchill's envoy to the Yugoslav partisans, Fitzroy Maclean, has given us his memories of that day:
"As the appointed hour approached, we gathered in a small group on the hillside and stood waiting. […] A mile or two away we could see the white houses of Leskovac spread out in the warm autumn sunshine. In the trees the birds twittered. From a pond came the occasional croak of a bull-frog. The cornfield buzzed with the hum of innumerable insects. It would have been hard to conceive of a more tranquil scene.
Standing there waiting, I tried to think of the German garrison and tank-crews, and not of the population of small farmers, shopkeepers and railway workers, of the old people, the women and children who at this moment would be going about their everyday business in the streets."1
Then there was "a noise of engines, at first barely audible, then rapidly growing to a roar and looking up we saw at a great height row upon row of bombers". Then "the whole of Leskovac seemed to rise bodily into the air in a tornado of dust and smoke and debris." The English Airforce, at the request of the regional partisan commander, had bombed and destroyed the centre of town. Thousands of people were killed and 35 per cent of the town was destroyed.2 This was followed by the capture of the town by partisans and the destruction of the pre-war entrepreneurial class.
Today in Leskovac, this history remains controversial: in the historical museum the section about the post-WWII history is closed, and there have been bitter debates about the meaning and background of the 1944 bombing in recent years. On the bank of the Veternica river stands a memorial stone to victims of the bombing. It was erected by the citizens only in 1991. At the entrance of the Primary School there is a commemoration to the children killed during the bombardment.
2 Director of the Historical Museum in Leskovac Dragisa Kostic. See also "The Rape of Serbia: The British Role in Tito's Grab for Power 1943-1944", by Michael Lees.
Eastern Approaches. Fitzroy MacLean. 2004.
[ / Penguin Global]
February 2007
Gerald Knaus