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BTC – Please check out slashdot's amazingly funny synonym drop down menus.
Archive for the 'search and siezure' Category
TSA Mandates GA 'Self-Pat-Down' ProgramPosted: April 4, 2011 in body scans, search and siezure, tsa
"New Internal Cavity X-ray Technology for Airports"Posted: February 26, 2011 in body scans, search and siezure, tsa
REDUX: Comfort and JOY as TSA gets an audit for Christmas!Posted: December 22, 2010 in DIY Government, search and siezure
Here is second life for news that matters:
Appeals Court Holds that Email Privacy Protected by Fourth Amendment
FBI defends raids on Texas data centers
DHS Seized Domains Based On Bad Evidence
WMATA bag searches make transit less safe, not more
+ "Dragnet Searches on DC Transit Prompt Local Advocates to Mobilize"
Auditors question TSA's use of and spending on technology
Net Neutrality passes with FCC regs
Article 13 and PFC Bradley Manning
"PFC Bradley Manning, unlike his civilian counterpart, is afforded no civil remedy for illegal restraint under either the Federal Civil Rights Act or the Federal Tort Claims Act."
Downsize D.C. Now that Real ID's hubs have been defunded, let's REPEAL REAL ID!!
EFF's Constructive Direct Action Against Censorship
Bank of America's whistleblowers need you to volley for more protections
CIA pulls SWIFT one to get peek at your bank recordsPosted: December 2, 2009 in CIA, European Union, global banks, search and siezure, surveillance
c/o Presstv.ir [CLG]
European Union governments have given in to the pressure and appear set to make a last-minute agreement with the United States to allow its intelligence agencies to monitor bank accounts and transactions across the bloc.
Actually, the EU has been clandestinely allowing US intelligence agencies to have access to these financial records since 2001, allegedly to fight terrorism.
However, EU citizens were outraged when this invasion of privacy was revealed in 2006.
Now, however, interior ministers and security officials of the 27-member bloc are going to meet on November 30 to make a decision on legally allowing the United States to have access to bank data across the EU.
According to Spiegel Online, the EU interior ministers gradually succumbed to the "massive" pressure exerted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US ambassadors in Europe, who pressed governments like door-to-door salespeople.
"They pulled out all the moral and political stops," one EU foreign minister quipped.
Germany was initially opposed to the agreement but came around this week, and a recalcitrant Austria, one of the last holdouts, followed suit.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, who is from the new coalition government, told German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberg, who belongs to the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), that he would not block the US proposal in Brussels.
There will not be a German "no" vote, but instead, he will simply abstain, Spiegel Online reported.
In what many Europeans say is a surreptitious move, the final decision on the issue is going to be made one day before the Lisbon Treaty comes into effect on December 1, since the treaty would allow the European Parliament to have a say in the matter. :::MORE HERE:::
Animal ID opponents still seek end to programPosted: November 24, 2009 in NAIS, national ID, New Hampshire, search and siezure
LINCOLN, NH – A 100-group coalition — in letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to Congress — urges that the National Animal Identification System be dissolved completely and that all 100 organizations look forward to working with USDA to enhance our nation's animal disease preparedness in a manner that builds upon our past successes and respects the interests of U.S. livestock producers and consumers.
In the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, Congress reduced NAIS funding to $5.3 million, but did not specify how those funds were to be allocated.
The letter to Congress, sent Nov. 18, asks to support the limited use of NAIS funding to shut down the program, and to refocus the agency on measures that truly improve animal health.
The 100 groups recommend that USDA:
— Formally withdraw all pending rulemaking initiated by the agency to advance NAIS and pay the associated costs;
— Pay all existing contractual obligations and NAIS-related costs that USDA incurred prior to Sept. 30, 2009;
— Pay all costs associated with transferring the computer hardware acquired by USDA as part of NAIS to state animal health agencies, to enable state agencies to improve their ability to communicate among agencies in the event of a disease outbreak; and,
— Pay all costs associated with providing the people of the United States and Congress with an official, comprehensive report on all of the testimony USDA received at each of the NAIS listening sessions held throughout the country in 2009. ::: MORE HERE::
DHS Privacy Report Downplays Laptop SearchesPosted: September 29, 2009 in border, DHS, laptop, privacy, search and siezure, technology
See Also TechDirt's article:
DHS Reveals Some Data On Border Laptop Searches
The Department of Homeland Security has released to Congress a report detailing its privacy activities from 2008 through 2009, offering a glimpse into the department's work on a variety of privacy fronts, including the searches of laptops and other electronics devices and the government's gradual embrace of social media.
The 99-page report (PDF available here) reads as a laundry list of DHS privacy initiatives during the past year and a half, containing a helpful appendix of three pages of acronyms.
In the area of border security, the department defended its use of RFID technology in developing enhanced drivers licenses to facilitate border crossings under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection unit has come under fire from civil liberties groups for searching the contents travelers' electronic devices, particularly laptops.
The new report downplays the frequency of this practice. From Oct. 1, 2008 through May 5, 2009, for instance, DHS reported that of the 144.4 million travelers CBP authorities encountered at U.S. ports of entry, just 2.2 percent (or 3.1 million) were subject to a secondary search. Of those, just 1,947 were forced to submit their electronic devices to search.
In some instances, those searches entailed nothing more than turning the device on to ensure that a cell phone is in fact a cell phone, a laptop a laptop, etc. (A handful of federal buildings in Washington, such as the Federal Communications Commission, maintain the same practice. The White House and the Capitol complex buildings do not.)
DHS reported that 696 travelers' laptops were subject to inspection from October through May, and of those, only 40 were put through an in-depth search that would inspect the content on the devices.
On the social media front, the DHS Privacy Office said that it had taken up President Obama's mandate to incorporate new technologies into the government's operations, but noted that it faced challenges addressing the tangle of privacy concerns that come in tow.
"Social networking tools are an effective means by which the federal government can communicate with the public, but the government use of the tools may raise a myriad of complex legal, security and privacy issues," the report said.
To get the ball rolling, DHS held a public workshop in June to serve as a forum for addressing the privacy concerns regarding social media in government.
DHS representatives also participated in a Web 2.0 subcommittee dispatched by the Federal CIO Council and convened several internal workshops to sort through the privacy issues associated with new media tools.
The department has posted a site documented its forays into the Web 2.0 world here.
Additionally, the report talked up DHS' role in working with the administration's team commissioned to review the federal government's cybersecurity apparatus and establish recommendations to balance the security of U.S. digital infrastructure with privacy protections.


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For quite some time, I've been hinting that Sanity Vacuum was getting an overhaul. I'm pleased to say that The ABACUS Protocol is returning to the literary world on November 25.
Why November 25?
It was November 25, 2011 that I finished the first draft. November 25, 2013 would have been my Dad's 70th birthday. In a way, it represents how my writing has come full circle. I'm back to being in control of my writing and my future. I have a hard road ahead of me, but I'm going to win.
That said, here's the cover and blurb for Sanity Vacuum!
Sanity Vacuum Synopsis:
Vivian Skye just finished university, and qualified for her first-choice internship. Not many would consider the distant and isolated Extra-Galactic Observatory cushy, but it's a dream come true for Vivian. Hailing from the low-tech planet of Aurora, she studied hard for this opportunity—and to leave her old life, and planet behind.
Her assignment is simple: perform a routine upgrade for the station's supercomputer, quIRK. Her reception isn't a friendly one, and eccentric quIRK becomes her only friend. However, the station's administrator, Bryce Zimmer is obsessed with quIRK—he suspects that the station's computer may have achieved sentience, something explicitly prohibited by the ABACUS Protocol. Compounding their issues, Bryce's traumatic and privileged past makes him distrust Vivian from the beginning. Desperate to keep control, he sabotages quIRK in order to eliminate Vivian. But, his plan threatens to consume the entire station and send them into the unknown void of intergalactic space.
Vivian must struggle to survive not only Bryce's megalomania, but also the emerging artificial super intelligence that is quIRK. Can Vivian and quIRK learn to trust each other and work together, before it's too late?
Sanity Vacuum is book one of The ABACUS Protocol.
As always, mailing list subscribers get it first! I'm also looking for more spots for my upcoming blog tour. If you're up to hosting, I want to talk to you!

subset: commoncrawl


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Toronto Public Library Gets Set to "Make Some Noise" with Bruce Peninsula, Timber Timbre, Katie Stelmanis and Grand Analog
Published Oct 07, 2009"Shhh!," the uptight Librarian, bespectacled and cardiganed, used to hiss as she pointed irritably at the "Quiet" sign, or at least that's what the old funnies comics had us thinking. Well, no more: as part of the ongoing "Make Some Noise" initiative, the Toronto Public Library has announced a batch of in-house musical performances from some prominent members of the city's independent music scene.
Exclaim!-approved acts Grand Analog, Bruce Peninsula, Katie Stelmanis and Timber Timbre will all be performing at three of Toronto libraries in November.
Grand Analog will play at the College/Shaw branch and then hold a DJing workshop later, also at College/Shaw. At North York Central Library, Bruce Peninsula and Timber Timbre will play together as part of a Polaris Music Prize nominee set (what, no Fucked Up?).
According to the press release, youth collections librarian Lisa Heggum is "excited to bring the library's local music CDs to life. Any hip-hop band that features the venerable kazoo in their music has got to be worth checking out. And Bruce Peninsula and Timber Timbre were both nominated for the Polaris Prize this year, so you know that's going to be a great show."
The "Make Some Noise" initiative has been in effect for four years now, during which the Toronto Public Library has collected a vast amount of music that they urge patrons to borrow as regularly as they do books. "The collection demonstrates the library's commitment to the local music scene in much the same way our collection of local and Canadian fiction demonstrates our commitment to the local literary scene," says Heggum.
Additionally, the library has worked with both Soundscapes and Exclaim! to ensure that the libraries stay on top of up-and-coming talent.
For more information on the "Make Some Noise," you can visit the newly launched section of the Toronto Public Library website here.
Confirmed performances and workshops so far:
Thursday, November 5, 8 p.m.
Make Some Noise concert in the stacks with Grand Analog
College/Shaw Branch, 766 College St. (east of Ossington)
Saturday, November 7, 8 p.m.
Make Some Noise concert with Polaris Music Prize nominees Bruce Peninsula and Timber Timbre
North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge St. (North York Centre subway)
Tuesday, November 10, 7 p.m.
The Art of DJing Make Some Noise workshop with Grand Analog
College/Shaw Branch, 766 College St. (east of Ossington)
Friday, November 20, 8 p.m.
Make Some Noise concert with Katie Stelmanis
Bloor/Gladstone Branch, 1101 Bloor St. W. (east of Dufferin))


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With apologies to "Mama" Cass Elliot, the road is definitely a place for a lady - especially when it's the "road to WrestleMania", and the lady is former UFC champion "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey. Because it's clear from Rousey's appearance in the closing minutes of WWE's annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, that she has every intention of going down that road.
Presumably, she'll face whichever champion Asuka - who won the right to challenge either RAW champion or Smackdown champion Charlotte Flair, by winning the first ever Women's Royal Rumble - doesn't. Unlike earlier in the night, when winner of the Men's Rumble, Shinsuke Nakamura - announced he'd be facing AJ Styles at Mania after his win, Asuka never got the chance to declare her intention. She was in the ring with both champions and was going to choose, but instead Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" filled the arena, announcing Rousey's arrival. The world's most dangerous woman came down the ramp in a leather jacket and T-shirt resembling that of her hero and namesake, WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and entered the ring. After trying to shake hands with Asuka, who brushed her hand away, Rousey looked over both champions, smiled an enigmatic smile, and pointed deliberately at the large WrestleMania sign hanging in the arena. She left the ring and walked over to Stephanie McMahon, who had been at the commentary table for the match, worldlessly shook her hand, and then went back up the ramp, smiling and pointing at the sign.
While it was no surprise that Rousey would be going to WWE, both parties had been playing it cloy as to whether she would be there tonight. Her arrival marks another chapter in the company's revolution, which is best represented by the fact that the women's rumble was the show's main event, with the men's going on midway through the show.
Whereas the returns of Misterio and Ziggler are expected to last, it's likely that many of the surprise entrants in the women's match were one-time appearances only. Though, based on their time in the ring, many of them could certainly hang with today's roster, as all of them seemed to be as good as in their prime. In fact, at times, it looked like many of the women of yesteryear were looking too strong against the current crop. Two of the leaders of that crop, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, started this match. They barely got started when Sarah Logan came in, followed by Mandy Rose. Hall of Famer Lita returned to the ring as number 5, and despite the #TimesUp belt she was wearing, it looked like time has had no affect on her - as she quickly eliminated Rose.
Royal Rumble - Full Results
Preshow Match 1: Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, and Kalisto vs. TJP, Jack Gallagher, and Drew Gulak
This match started off at about 5:25pm, and the announcers made a point of noting that the doors had just opened and people were trickling in. As if to pre-emptively explain if the crowd was quiet for this one, when it's really because nobody cares about the 205 division. The trio of luchadors started off dominating the motley crew of villains. The first big moment of the match saw them hit simultaneous moonsaults from the same corner post onto their opponents on the floor. But then they went to a commercial break and when they returned, the bad guys had grounded Lince Dorado, and punished him for a while. Gulak tried to convince Gallagher to not do a move off the ropes, but Gallagher tried it anyway, and crashed and burned. This allowed Dorado to tag out and the masked team took over and things picked up. Dorado hit a sweet somersault dive to the floor. After a few reversals, Kalisto hit the Salida del Sol on TJP and got the pin.
Winners: Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, and Kalisto
Match Rating: 7/10
Preshow Match 2: Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs. The Revival
This one started off pretty smash-mouthed, with the two teams' styles complementing one another pretty well. Some good, sneaky teamwork let the Revival take control, and they took turns working over Anderson's knee. This continues for a while, and eventually Gallows tries to help his partner. He ends up eating a corner post on the outside, leaving Anderson prone to a double-team and a chop block to the knee, leading to a pinfall.
Winners: The Revival
Match Rating: 7/10 (not a great match, but points for its old-school presentation)
Preshow Match 3: Bobby Roode (c) vs. Mojo Rawley - United States Championship match
This was an open challenge, and the crowd was less than pleased to see Rawley accept it. Seriously, in Philadelphia, they couldn't find an ECW original? Hopefully the lameness of this surprise isn't representative of who will be surprise entrants in the Rumble match. Rawley used his power to take control, but after some trash-talking, got felled by a Spinebuster. That left him dazed and prone for a Glorious DDT that looked pretty sloppy, which we'll blame on Rawley because he's awful.
Winner and still US Champion: Bobby Roode
Match Rating: 5/10 (7 for Roode, -2 for Rawley)
Match 1: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. AJ Styles (c) - Handicap match for the WWE Championship
Winner and still WWE Champion: AJ Styles
Match Rating: 7/10
Backstage, Owens and Zayn complained to Shane McMahon about the loss, noting that Owens hadn't tagged in, so the referee shouldn't have counted. They asked Shane if he'd allow the decision to stand and therefore screw Kevin over by bad refereeing. He answered, simply, "Yep." A great edit saw them snap back to the crowd just as Owens started a blood-curdling scream of protest.
Benjamin and Gable took early control with some clever double-teaming, but eventually the Usos were able to reverse the momentum, including with a pair of flying dives by Jey on both opponents, while Jimmy recovered from the beatdown. A neat sequence of moves ended with a close kickout by Jimmy after a Paydirt from Benjamin. Later, Gable hit a moonsault off the top to the floor landing on both Usos. Some confusion as to which Uso was legal saw Gable nearly get pinned after eating a big superkick, but he was able to barely get his shoulder up. After some more "twin magic", Gable ate a Malachi Crunch Superkick combo and got pinned. 1-0 for the Usos. Gabriel and Benjamin took out Jimmy early in the second fall with a Doomsday Device type move on the floor. They then tried to put Jey away, but out of nowhere, he rolled up Shelton with a small package and got the surprise win, to retain in two straight falls.
Winners and still Smackdown Tag Team Champions: The Usos
Match rating: 7/10
Match 3: Men's Royal Rumble Match
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Match Rating: 8/10 (not a great Rumble, but the final four stuff was really good)
Backstage, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon are celebrating their brand's win, while Stephanie McMahon and Kurt Angle have to look on. Steph and Kurt give credit to the blue guys (no, no the Blue Meanie, sadly), but say that RAW will be well-represented later on.
Next comes a shameless plug for KFC, as they have a Rumble with the winner as the next Colonel. This was a Rumble with a bunch of guys in Colonel Sanders costumes in a Rumble. The last two were Miz and Rusev. But then a surprise final entrant came in - "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, in full Col. Sanders regalia. He won by eliminating The Miz and Rusev. Whooooooo! This was harmless but dumb, then turned awesome when Flair got in there, for the ridiculous cheesiness of the whole thing.
If you've watched RAW for the past few weeks, you've seen this match too many times. The crowd was dead for this one. Early on, the most interesting stuff was the disagreements breaking out at the commentary desk, with everyone ganging up on Booker T and crapping all over him and his bad commentary. Rollins got beaten up for a while, but every time he went to his corner, Jordan had been attacked by The Bar - including being knocked silly after being run into the ringpost - and wasn't able to be there to receive the tag. Making this effectively a handicap match. Rollins toughed it out, though, and finally put down both of The Bar with a double frogsplash. Jordan tagged in, but was still too dazed to compete, and tagged himself out immediately. Rollins had to go in there again, but he was easy pickings for The Bar, and they put him down for good.
Winners and new WWE Tag Team Champions: Sheamus & Ceasro
Match Rating: 3/10
This started off ugly, with all three hitting slobberknocking shots on each other. Braun hit Brock with a really stiff knee to the face that looked pretty gross. Brock returned the favour by punching Braun stiff in the face. THe match spilled to the floor and Braun clocked Brock with the ring steps. He then went back in the ring and set up some tables. Kane tried to chokeslam Braun, but Braun blocked it and gave Kane one of his own. Brock then took Braun to Suplex City, but Braun left town and powerslammed Brock through a table. Kane then put Braun through one. Later, Brock tried to pin Kane, but Braun simply picked him off of Kane and sent him to the floor. Outside, Brock got out of Braun's clutches, and put Braun through the announce table with an F-5. He then turned over another announce table right on top of Braun. Kane then tried to capitalize by attacking Brock, but he got caught and dumped onto and through the third announce table. The match then went back into the ring where Braun hit Brock with a few powerslams, before Kane broke up the pin and threw Braun to the floor. Braun tried to get back in, but Brock whipped Kane into him, sending Braun to the floor for good. Brock then F-5'd Kane in the centre of the ring and got the pin.
Match Rating: 5/10 (not good, but it was fun to watch, in hopes that Brock and Braun would really come to blows)
Match 6: Womens' Royal Rumble Match
Winner: Asuka
Match Rating: 7/10
Bob Kapur likes ham sammiches. E-mail him some recipe ideas at email@example.com.


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I remember going to the Sears Center in 2006. It was the grand opening for the arena, and Duran Duran was playing. I arrived at Chicago's Midway airport in the middle of a rainstorm. Traffic was horrendous. It took Amanda and I, along with my sister and another friend, what seemed like forever to make the trip from the airport to the Marriott nearby the arena that would serve as our hotel room for the night.
We were late getting to the hotel and even later to get ready. We had to grab dinner pretty quickly. If I remember right – we were rushing our poor waitress at the hotel's restaurant to "please hurry, we have tickets to Duran Duran!" In our haste to get from the car into the venue, Amanda and I both left our cameras behind. At the time, we thought this was a travesty.
The show was outstanding. Amanda and I danced like crazy from our what – 9th row? – seats. The arena was beautiful, and the band was on fire. Just days prior, like perhaps two or less, the band had put out a statement announcing that Andy would no longer be working with the band. It was a tough time for all Duranies, regardless of where one sat on the issue. Questions swirled throughout the community, "Who would be the guitar player?", "Could the band still go on?", "Whose fault was it that Andy quit?", "What would happen next?" The band seemed to answer many of them that night. It was a strong show, and this was not a band that was going to just lie down and die.
Amanda and I were enthusiastic, even through sadness as the Fab Five came to a resounding halt. Again. While our cameras were useless to us in our car, my memories of this show are so clear. It remains one of the best shows I've seen. Likely, this is because I didn't view a single second of the show from a viewfinder or phone screen.
Along with my sister and another friend, Amanda and I truly plotted like crazy for this trip to happen. Originally we were just going to go to the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans, and had the entire trip planned. My husband had even given me his blessing to go! Somewhere along the way, Duran Duran announced this show at the Sears Centre. Sure, I could have skipped the show and gone straight to New Orleans, but that is pretty much the same thing as telling an alcoholic they should skip the vodka and just drink the mixer. (My apologies to the teetotalers and members of AA out there…but you get my point, don't you?)
Emails flew fast and furious between the four of us in the weeks leading up to this date in Chicago. Tickets were secured for the Sears Centre even though rearranging my travel plans without more pain to my wallet seemed impossible. I begged, borrowed, and pleaded with my husband to just let the trip be my birthday gift (a regular tactic of mine). Finally, between the genius of my sister and Amanda, plans came together. As a result, there we were, sitting in traffic on the I-90, screaming at cars to let us pass because we were on our way to see Duran Duran. Good times.
The next day proved to be crazier than the day before in Chicago traffic, but that's pretty much how traveling to see this crazy band goes. I only regret the shows I haven't gone to, not the ones I spent following this insanity.
…And you all wonder why I continue to bring up vodka on this blog. Gee, I don't know!?!
Good memories of the Sears Centre.


text: Set dashboards as your Home You can set dashboards instead of homepages as your Home. With this setting, the last dashboard you selected appears when you navigate to Self-Service > Homepage, or click the logo on the upper left corner of the platform. Before you beginWhen dashboards are set as your Home, you can no longer navigate to homepages under Self-Service > Homepage or the company logo. The most recently selected dashboard is always loaded. You cannot specify a specific dashboard as your Home. Mark a dashboard as a favorite to easily navigate to the dashboard. Procedure Click the gear icon () to access System Settings. On the General tab, select Dashboards in the Home section. When you navigate to Self-Service > Homepage, Self-Service > Dashboards, or click your company logo, the last dashboard you selected appears.


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Lilly López remembers vividly the day she became a true believer in conflict resolution training for kids. It was 1989 and López was working for the Resolving Conflicts Creatively Program (RCCP) at the Board of Education, teaching Red Hook students to mediate problems with words, not fists. She'd taken a group of her black and Latino students to a Greenpoint park, and several white youths began taunting them with racially charged comments.
"The white kids were trying to start a fight with one of my black kids," López recalled recently. She proposed that several of her students conduct a mediation. "I told the white kids this is something we use to deal with anger. They had never heard of it," López said. Her mediators laid out the ground rules: Each person tells his or her side; no name-calling or insults; and all parties agree to reach a peaceful solution. The mediators then asked the aggrieved parties in turn the basic questions: How do you feel about hearing these things? Is there another way you could have handled this? What could you do to change the situation? "Not only did they all feel better, but the white kids joined us in the park," López said.
For 17 years, the RCCP was part of the Board of Education, earning national acclaim for its success in city classrooms. No more. Last July, departing schools chancellor Harold O. Levy chopped the RCCP office and its $1.79 million budget and dispatched the eight-person staff. López was among many RCCP supporters who learned after the fact about the RCCP office's death. "If anything, the school system should have put more funds into teaching students and teachers how to deal with conflict and hostility," López said. "Now is the time."
Debra Schaller-Demers, head of RCCP's parent training, launched a lobbying campaign that restored the budget for conflict resolution programs. But the central office and staff are history. Now the money is disbursed to school districts to spend on conflict resolution programs or other things, including hiring guidance counselors. That worries RCCP supporters. "The district knows not how to administer the money," said Lorraine Jackson, an RCCP parent trainer. "We have to pray the districts do not misuse or mismanage the funds. What we need is an RCCP office."
Tom Roderick, executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility Metro Area (ESR), and co-founder of RCCP, questions the school system's commitment to conflict resolution. "The RCCP office was providing services free of charge to scores of schools. Some districts are now using the restored funds to fill budget gaps." Roderick said. "With all the cuts coming down, you can hardly blame them."
Closing the RCCP office would be cause enough for alarm. But in an ironic twist, new schools chancellor Joel Klein wants to use conflict resolution programs as a punishment, forcing misbehaving students to attend weekend or evening sessions as a sanction. On November 25, 2002, Klein announced Operation Safe Schools in response to several incidents of violence at high schools. Klein will deploy 129 more security guards and add surveillance cameras in 11 high schools. His redefinition of conflict resolution programs as punishment baffles RCCP proponents. "They are looking to use conflict resolution as a reactionary model," said Manny Verde, who was on the RCCP staff. "To take incorrigible kids and make them do conflict resolution on the weekends—how will a child who is out of control respond to that?"
Department of Education spokesperson Margie Feinberg denied that the office's elimination would hurt programs. In response to critics' concerns about the chancellor's commitment to conflict resolution programs, she read a statement from Benjamin Tucker, head of the Office of School Planning and Safety. It said in part: "It is incorrect to assume there is less emphasis on conflict resolution. Quite the contrary, these programs remain a priority.. . . These programs are not in any way punitive, but rather designed to help insure that children do not become criminalized should they commit further acts of violence."
The RCCP was created by Tom Roderick and Linda Lantieri in 1985 as an antidote to a rising tide of school violence. With its small budget and staff, the RCCP office never reached all public schools and was never mandated as part of curriculum. But in 17 years, the RCCP staff trained more than 6000 teachers, who in turn taught more than 200,000 students the principles of peaceful mediation. The curriculum, tailored for grades K through 12, teaches clear communication, listening, expressing feelings, dealing with anger, cooperation, and appreciating diversity. Peer mediation training for students and teacher coaching were also part of the mix. Debra Schaller-Demers ran workshops for parents to complement students' lessons. "I discovered over the years that they are global skills and very useful in parenting," Schaller-Demers said.
Principal Mary Buckley Teatum of P.S. 217 in Brooklyn adopted the RCCP curriculum five years ago and it has transformed the culture of her school. Buckley credits much of the success to support from Donna Connolly, an RCCP trainer until the office closed. "This is a program that can turn a school around if everyone buys into it," said Buckley. She described her Ditmas Park school as a "mini-UN" where students get along well and student mediators resolve disputes. "Children who are mediated feel so good," Buckley said. "We had children who were problematic and we've made them mediators. It changes their self-esteem."
Principals like Buckley are brimming with stories about how the RCCP curriculum creates a safe learning environment and reduces lunchroom free-for-alls. While the city has never studied the impact of conflict resolution programs on school violence, one study shows that RCCP improves students' academic performance and raises those all-important test scores. In a 1999 evaluation of RCCP, Dr. Lawrence Aber of Columbia University's National Center for Children in Poverty found that the more conflict resolution lessons students received the less aggressive behavior they exhibited and the higher they scored on standardized tests. "New York historically has been a leader in addressing children's emotional and social needs. So cutting the RCCP program flies in face of evidence," said Dr. Aber.
The end of the RCCP office has already affected programs in schools. "Normally, RCCP is chugging away by now," said Lorraine Jackson. "People would normally make schedules for us in October." Jackson worked in six Brooklyn school districts last year, training guidance counselors and family workers for RCCP. But now district administrators won't tell her how they plan to spend their RCCP funding. "If the districts don't start giving out the money by January, how will they be able to use it by June?" she asked. "They're going to take what they didn't spend and they are going to stick it in that Black Hole of Calcutta called their budget."
While Chancellor Klein didn't axe the RCCP office, his actions on violence prevention don't bode well, say supporters of conflict resolution strategies. If the office was cut to save money, how will Klein pay for more surveillance cameras and another 300 school security guards this spring? DOE spokesperson Feinberg said the cost of cameras for the selected high schools is being assessed. When asked the cost of cameras in a high school that already has them, Feinberg did not respond. But a spokesman for one company that provides school security cameras, Total Recall Corporation, said the cost of installing a closed circuit camera system in a typical high school could run from $25,000 to $500,000.
"You begin to wonder what people's understanding of conflict resolution is," said Arthur Foresta, head of the principal-mentoring program at New Visions for Public Schools and former principal of P.S. 261 in Brooklyn. "A lot of smart people at the education department don't seem to appreciate it. Maybe politically or in the public eye, coming on tough with a heavy hand has greater appeal."
Foresta has a point. Resorting to metal detectors, surveillance cameras, and guards quiets the clamor after a publicized incident at school. But the truth about school violence is more nuanced. Police statistics on school crimes released October 7, 2002, showed a 14 percent drop for the year in the six major crime categories—assault, robbery, rape, burglary, grand larceny, and homicide. And crime rates at the 10 highest-crime schools dropped by an average of 46 percent for the year. Among those schools are five—Tilden, Erasmus, Truman, South Shore, and Prospect Heights—that Klein has slated to get surveillance cameras. Why crime dropped there is a question Chancellor Klein should be asking.
Lorraine Jackson has some answers for Chancellor Klein. "Conflict resolution ought to be part of the curriculum in every school," she said. "Not cameras. They'll get torn down. Kids will put gum on them. Kids could fight on the corner, down the block from the school. It's not an issue of installing 5000 cameras. RCCP has been studied and it raises test scores. They're killing the goose that lays the gold egg."


text: London - Being assigned to work with Team South Africa at the 2012 London Paralympic Games was considered one of the hottest tickets in town, according to the volunteers who were lucky enough to have the pleasure. There were 70 000 "Game Makers" from diverse backgrounds, working at the summer Games made conspicuous by their purple and pink outfits seen everywhere around the Olympic Park. They were at underground and overground stations, at every entry point in the Park, checking tickets and accreditations, confiscating liquids (including my bottle of cough mixture), helping with directions and, among the many other tasks, the lucky ones drove the fleet of sponsored cars. But the volunteers deployed to ferry about the South African athletes were all in agreement that they had hit the jackpot. "It was like getting Jamaica in the Olympics because we've got Oscar Pistorius and Natalie du Toit in our team," said Janice Smith from Bromely in Kent. "The variety of the job has been amazing and we've had the opportunities to go to the stadium and all the over venues and do such different things. "I took someone for a scan and saw their baby growing in their womb and I've had to take tickets to athletes' parents so they could concentrate on their race. "Driving a BMW has been exciting for me as I would never normally do that and attending all the receptions has been great." Smith said the highlight for her was pretending to be an athlete at the rehearsal for the opening ceremony and her second best moment was walking the athletes to the real opening ceremony. "They were doing their African chants and dancing in their wheelchairs," said the professionally trained nurse who works as a clinical risk manager. "It was wonderful and they made so little of their disabilities - it's been really amazing watching that. "The worst thing was driving for four hours in the heat and finding out it was all for nothing, but even that doesn't matter because it has just been amazing to have this opportunity." Janki Patel, a pharmacist from Ealing, in West London said had spoken to other volunteers and realised just how lucky she was in her temporary job. "Talking to other delegations, I think we got the best deal out of all of them," said the 25- year-old. "The South Africans have involved us in everything and none of the other volunteers have had that. "The assistants with the US team have been bored because the US brought all their own help and didn't want anyone else doing things for them. "But we've been encouraged to go with the team everywhere - we've gone with them to their receptions, like at eKhaya, they've given us tickets when they don't need them and they've made us part of the delegation. "You don't want to be with anyone else." Patel said she had spent a fair bit of her time with the cycling team, driving them to their training venues and generally helping out. "I didn't just drive them to the training venues, I had to assist during the training which was really great," she said. "I got to see them in action, either guiding them around the new route, ensuring their safety in the traffic or sitting with the coach in the car during the their time trials which was really cool. "I don't think I've had any downfalls. Literally, it's been amazing and I've made so many new friends and, of course, I've got many new facebook additions. "The best thing is talking to and hearing their stories. It inspires you and makes you feel better about yourself. "I love it - I want to be South African, that's how much I love it - and I'm going to cry when it's over because I don't want to go back to work."


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Saturday, September 29, 2018
City National Arena
1550 S. Pavilion Center Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89135
3:00pm - 5:00pm
JA The Arthritis Foundation is excited to partner with the City National Arena to skate into the fall and get some desert relief for our fall JA Day!!
City National Arena is the Las Vegas Golden Knights Practice Facility. The Arthritis Foundation will have our own private room overlooking the Arena AND thanks to an amazing JA Family, we will also have food provided!
This is a free event, but registration is required.
JA Days are a great experience for children with juvenile arthritis (JA), their parents, caregivers and siblings. The greatest benefit of these programs is getting to meet and network with other families who are affected by JA and share some of the same feelings, experiences and concerns. It's a place to exchange ideas, give and receive encouragement, make new friends and know you're not alone.
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Stress evolution following the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake: Consequences for afterslip, relaxation, aftershocks and departures from Omori decay
Geophysical Journal International
By: C.-H. Chan and R.S. Stein
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: Publisher Index Page
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
We explore how Coulomb stress transfer and viscoelastic relaxation control afterslip and aftershocks in a continental thrust fault system. The 1999 September 21 Mw = 7.6 Chi-Chi shock is typical of continental ramp-d??collement systems throughout the world, and so inferences drawn from this uniquely well-recorded event may be widely applicable. First, we find that the spatial and depth distribution of aftershocks and their focal mechanisms are consistent with the calculated Coulomb stress changes imparted by the coseismic rupture. Some 61 per cent of the M ??? 2 aftershocks and 83 per cent of the M ??? 4 aftershocks lie in regions for which the Coulomb stress increased by ???0.1 bars, and there is a 11-12 per cent gain in the percentage of aftershocks nodal planes on which the shear stress increased over the pre-Chi Chi control period. Second, we find that afterslip occurred where the calculated coseismic stress increased on the fault ramp and d??collement, subject to the condition that friction is high on the ramp and low on the d??collement. Third, viscoelastic relaxation is evident from the fit of the post-seismic GPS data on the footwall. Fourth, we find that the rate of seismicity began to increase during the post-seismic period in an annulus extending east of the main rupture. The spatial extent of the seismicity annulus resembles the calculated ???0.05-bar Coulomb stress increase caused by viscoelastic relaxation and afterslip, and we find a 9-12 per cent gain in the percentage of focal mechanisms with >0.01-bar shear stress increases imparted by the post-seismic afterslip and relaxation in comparison to the control period. Thus, we argue that post-seismic stress changes can for the first time be shown to alter the production of aftershocks, as judged by their rate, spatial distribution, and focal mechanisms. ?? Journal compilation ?? 2009 RAS.
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| 18.8°C Dublin
Weight loss is all in the brain... or at least some of it is. Dr Ailis Brosnan, who specialises in diet psychology, gives Áilín Quinlan 15 strategies to train your brain to shed pounds
1 'See' yourself thin and enjoy the feelings of success
First, create a clear mental picture of how you will look at your desired target weight. Next, write down how you want to see yourself by the end of your chosen weight-loss period. Finally, allow yourself to consciously feel the joy of your weight-loss success.
"Feel proud, confident and happy about this picture of yourself," advises Dr Brosnan, who has a Master's degree in Health Promotion and Wellness Management, and a Doctorate in Health Sciences (Psychology). "Emotions and feelings are very strong drivers for where you want to get to."
Do this continually, she recommends: "This helps to create a strong vision of you at your ideal weight and keeps you focused on that vision.
"Your thoughts and feelings are centred on where you want to go, rather than where you are now."
2 Create a Vision Board
A vision board is a collection of words and images that inspire you. "It might be a picture of you when you're young and looking great, or photographs of fruit and vegetables. It's simply a visual representation of your vision and goals," explained Brosnan.
Creating a vision board will help you stay focused on success because it acts as a daily reminder of the new reality you want to create for yourself, she explains: "Every time you look at it, you should be inspired to continue to move toward your vision of your ideal weight, your new story, your new reality."
3 Know Your Why
What's motivated you to commit to losing weight? It may be a health scare, a family wedding, or the fact that you want to be a better role model for your kids.
"Successful participants in Operation Transformation have very strong reasons as to why they want to lose weight," says Brosnan.
So consider your deep-down weight-loss motivation, she advises: "Write this down, because on the tough days, you can pull out your 'why' and that gets you going again."
4 Create healthy habits
The secret to a healthier lifestyle is to create new habits, explains Brosnan, who earned her PhD with the development of a special physical activity programme for overweight women, which had positive outcomes for participants in terms of fitness and weight loss.
However, creating a habit involves effort - and over a relatively prolonged period. It takes conscious daily repetition of a new behaviour, such as some form of exercise. In fact, it can take up to 21 days before your new behaviour becomes habitual.
Keep the changes small - for example, exercising for at least 10 minutes a day, but do it every day. Once a habit is formed, it's much easier to keep it up as you're no longer as reliant on sheer willpower.
5 Think Thin, Talk Thin
Having the right mindset - and using the right kind of language - are probably some of the most important things you can do when trying to lose weight. What you think and the language you use is very powerful, Dr Brosnan warns.
"As best you can, keep your thoughts and words in alignment to your goal," she advises.
"Don't keep saying: 'I'll never lose weight - sure I just have to look at cake and I put on weight', if your goal is to lose weight. Instead, she suggests, repeat positive statements or affirmations such as: "Every day I am getting slimmer and slimmer."
This can help reframe your thoughts.
6 Learn from your mistakes
Research shows that when people self-monitor in relation to their progress towards a goal, they're more likely to achieve it, says Brosnan. So it's about setting the goal, monitoring your progress in relation to the goal and taking appropriate action to keep you on track - either rewarding yourself if you achieve your targets, or tweaking your behaviour if you fall temporarily by the wayside.
"Rather than beating yourself up if you didn't have a great day or week, take a step back and look at what went wrong and learn from your mistakes. Figure out how you'd deal with a similar situation if it were to happen again," she suggests.
7 It's not all or nothing
Losing weight is not a case of either being 'on the wagon' or 'off it', emphasises Brosnan. In fact, she believes, that's exactly the kind of mentality we need to let go. Instead, understand that weight loss is about adopting the philosophy that the more healthy choices you make the better. "It's about creating a healthy lifestyle. Look at it as a series of choices you make throughout the day. The idea is to make as many healthy choices as you can. Start to see your efforts one decision at a time - if you don't make a healthy choice for lunch, that's okay, learn from it, move on and make a healthier choice for dinner."
8 Eat mindfully
"Eating 'mindlessly' means you'll come to the end of a bag of crisps without even realising you've eaten them! You'll therefore want to eat more because you haven't been present for the experience of eating them."
Mindfulness plays a big role in weight loss, says Brosnan - whether it be mindful eating or being mindful of your inner chatter.
"It's about bringing attention to your food and being present while you are eating."
9 Call a HALT
Sometimes we can't, or may not want, to deal with negative emotions such as loneliness or stress, so we choose high-fat/high-sugar foods as a distraction from how we're feeling - or as a comfort. However, this creates a vicious cycle, Brosnan explains, because such foods disrupt our blood sugar levels. When this happens, our bodies release more stress hormones - thus causing us to eat more of these unhealthy foods.
If you suddenly feel the urge to eat unhealthy food, try the HALT method. Ask yourself what's driving you to eat: are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? Once you've recognised the real driver, it can help lessen the obsession with comfort eating.
10 Reward Yourself... appropriately
When you achieve your goals, whether they're short-term or long-term, it's important to acknowledge your achievements and reward yourself. But make sure your reward moves you toward your goal - new sports gear would be a better choice than chocolate cake. Focusing on your success helps keep you motivated toward your goals.
"Research tells us that it's important to reward yourself when you reach even smaller or short-term goals, but a lot of people tend to reward themselves with the very thing they're trying to avoid."
11 Have a solid morning ritual
Getting a good start to your day gives you the psychological boost you need to keep chugging along that chosen healthy path. The best way to achieve a good start is to create a positive morning routine - this is the time of the day that you have most control over and so, can ensure you achieve the things you plan for yourself with little or no distraction. This is a time you can fit in meditation, setting an intention for the day, giving gratitude, exercising, preparing healthy food etc.
12 Don't weigh yourself
Don't become obsessed with the numbers - it's not always helpful, says Brosnan, who only weighs her clients on week one, week four and week eight of their eight-week programme.
Weight loss is a complete lifestyle change, not a short-term quick fix, she emphasises, so you have to look at it in the long term.
"As people start to exercise and do strength training, they can gain muscle and lose fat," she warns, adding that this means a genuine healthy shift in body weight may not show up on the scales - and people can become discouraged.
13 Curb cravings
Many cravings are down to our physiology and the habits we've formed. "Eating high-fat, high-sugar and refined flours can create an addiction," Brosnan explains. So here are some useful anti-craving techniques:
* Choose to have what you are craving, but less of it (but you have to have control)
* Choose a healthier alternative (chocolate-covered rice cake rather than a chocolate digestive)
* Don't have it at all - simply avoid it
* Things that help with avoidance are to sit it out (cravings often dissipate after 10-15 minutes), drink water, distract yourself (exercise works), remove yourself from the situation, call a friend, brush your teeth or even listen to some uplifting music.
14 Practise the great art of self-discipline
Self-discipline is actually habit-forming: "When something is a habit, we no longer rely on willpower to engage in the necessary behaviour or make the right decision," explains Brosnan.
Easier said than done, but, she adds: self-control is really just like a muscle that needs exercise and strengthening. Each time you resist temptation, you're developing stronger self-control and wiring yourself for success.
15 Get Support
Research shows that having practical, emotional and psychological support from those around you means you're more likely to succeed with your programme. The support can take a variety of forms, from someone doing the dishes so you can go for a walk after dinner, to a friend who will join you for a run, to someone you can call for motivation when you are having a challenging day. Get clear on what types of support you need and ask those who can help you.
Social pressure can work for or against you, so make sure you hang out with like-minded people.
■ Dr Ailis Brosnan will be among the speakers at the Mind, Body, Spirit and Yoga Festival, March 18-20 at the RDS, Dublin. Tickets cost €12 or €30 for a three-day pass. For details or to book, seemindbodyspirit.ie
■ For more details on Dr Ailis's healthy living programmes, see yourhealthylivingcoach.com/online-weight-loss-program as well as yourhealthylivingcoach.com/ailis-brosnan
Health & Living
Mothers & Babies
We all know that it can be so difficult to fit in that hour at the gym or to get time to squeeze in a Pilates class, especially if you have young children and sleep is a priority. You'd like to lose weight or get fit, but it's hard enough just to fit all your work and family life commitments into the day, so why not look at it differently and exercise with your child?
Health & Wellbeing
Cardiovascular disease (CVD)remains the number one killer worldwide. It is the number one killer in Ireland. It is called a lifestyle-related disease as most cases can be prevented by adopting positive lifestyle changes. According to the World Health Organisation, diet is the most modifiable risk factor to reduce the incidence and prevalence of CVD.


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My genealogical research has been enhanced through the use of DNA studies. Several relatives have kindly submitted their DNA to help me gather both known and unknown branches of the family tree. Increasing numbers of people are testing their own DNA for different reasons. Some methods of analyzing the results are provided by the testing companies themselves, while other tools are being developed by (extra)ordinary people.
This weekend I had the pleasure of learning about a new tool developed by Kitty Cooper: Chromosome Mapper. (This is for autosomal DNA results and not Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA tests.) I was introduced to the idea of colorfully mapping the chromosome by Jim Owston. The purpose of mapping a chromosome is to visually identify which pieces of DNA came from which ancestor, thereby helping you identify ancestors in common with your genetic distant cousins.
[Here's the short technical aspect: to use the Chromosome Mapper, you first need to have your autosomal DNA tested, obtain the results, and then identify ancestors in common with some of your matches. From there, you need to create an Excel spreadsheet of the matches and the MRCA (most recent common ancestor). If no close relatives have tested and you have not identified the MRCA of any match, then you cannot map your chromosomes.]
My father, David Lutter, has three cousins tested from his mother's side and one cousin from his father's side, so the common ancestors were already identified. Plugging their numbers into the Chromosome Mapper produces a useful visual tool.
When a distant genetic cousin matches David and one of his known close cousins on the colored areas shown above, we know which branch of the family holds the common ancestral line.
|Ancestral fan chart (Family Tree Maker 2012)
DNA matches on the blue areas of David's DNA come from the Dunn/Winterton branch of his family tree.
|Distant DNA cousins who match David on the orange areas of his chromosome map come from the Neil/Cook branch of his family tree.
|DNA matches that fall on the red areas of David's chromosomes come from the Cummings/Duryea branch.
In the fan charts above, the females are indicated in pink and the males in blue. The chart extends to David's great great great grandparents. Please note the white boxes, indicating an unknown ancestral line. It is entirely possible that the most recent common ancestor of David and a distant genetic match lies beyond this unknown area.
The Chromosome Mapper allows for a lot more ancestors and colors, so I plugged in my own matches using my mother's and father's matches. (I omitted my paternal third cousin, once removed. I share no DNA with him from our known common ancestors, Mary Neil and Calvin Cook. Instead, we share a small segment that I inherited from my mother. At this time, we do not know the common ancestors of my father's third cousin and my mother, but by testing my mother's cousins, we know that the match will be in her Joyce/ODonnell branch.)
Several chromosomes show two colors in the same area because they are showing both the maternal and the paternal sides of the chromosome. I think that this is so neat to be able to visualize which areas of my DNA came from which ancestors- people I can never meet because they are long gone.
Both of my parents have tested their DNA, so most of my matches can be quickly assigned to either the paternal side or the maternal side. A few people match me but neither parent, while several people match both my parents! My grandparents are all deceased, so dividing my parent's matches into their paternal and maternal sides becomes challenging. Testing cousins from different branches of the family tree narrows down the possible areas in which to look for a common ancestor to a distant genetic match.
While studying my Chromosome Map versus my father's Map, I realized that I will have overlapping or common areas of match on my maternal line. This is because all of my mother's relatives who tested descend from the same set of ancestors, Delia Joyce and Patrick ODonnell. 23andMe provides a mapping function, limited to three comparisons. Here is my map of my maternal matches (one person in each category).
Areas of Jody's DNA in common with descendants of specified ancestors.
And here is the same mapping from Kitty's Chromosome Mapper:
With the goal of narrowing down which branch of the family holds the Most Recent Common Ancestor, I would prefer to see the areas where I match the most distant generation (a set of great great grandparents/dark blue) dominate. The longest segment appears instead of the shorter segment, regardless of generation. Any DNA from these great grandparents (green) was passed down to me through their daughter (light blue), so those two colors actually represent the same branch. The useful function is to further differentiate the DNA from these great grandparents (Delia Joyce and Patrick ODonnell) into my great grandfather (Frank ODonnell). I can manipulate which information I put into the Chromosome Mapper. By adding the areas of match for two cousins of my grandmother's generation, the DNA that they both share with me combines into extended dark blue areas, representing some of the DNA I inherited from my maternal great grandfather, Frank ODonnell.
|Chromosome Mapper by Kitty Munson
Jody compared to two descendants of equal relation to this ancestral couple (cousins of Jody's grandmother).
This DNA tool visualizes all of their DNA into one cohesive color and segment.
Great work, Kitty.


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Is to ask yourself: "What are three things that will come up to block me from achieving my New Years … [Read more...]
Archives for 2011
Really Inspiring Interview with Sarah about Abs, Kettlebells, Strength, Health, Food, and Overcoming Life Challenges
One of the biggest requests I've gotten on the blog is more interviews with "real people". Sarah … [Read more...]
Kettlebell Turkish Get Up Lesson
Lauren Brooks, RKC Team Leader, doing a 53lb (24kg) Turkish Get Up: Neghar Fonooni, RKC Level 2, … [Read more...]
Eat This: Post Turkey-Day Damage Control
Here is a low carb, high protein, high veggie 14oo calorie meal plan: 126g of Protein, 82g of … [Read more...]
World's Dumbest Thanksgiving Diet Advice
Every year I cringe when I see these article titles: "How to have a guilt free … [Read more...]
How To Kettlebell Clean, with Kiera Newton, RKC Team Leader
If you are going to work out with kettlebells, you MUST get good at the kettlebell clean. The … [Read more...]
Metabolic Resistance Training vs Metabolic Conditioning
Ok so you want to check this out - get the scoop on what Metabolic Resistance Training, and how … [Read more...]
#1 Question I Get About Intervals
"Hey, thanks for the daily "nudges" [re: the email series that comes with the 21 Day Kettlebell … [Read more...]
The Bulking Up Myth (ultimate infographic)
Massive thanks to Supergirl for making this awesomeness happen! -Josh … [Read more...]
What To Do With Your Extra Halloween Candy
My Friend and Fat Loss Expert Josef Drops Halloween Candy Knowledge on DC News: Skip ahead in the … [Read more...]
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Pellas Journey
In 1925, Pella began a journey that would forever change the innovation and practices of the window industry. Pella doesn't simply craft and install windows, we do much more. With professional practice in environmental strategies, Pella has created a sustainable company to help guard the environment and produce a refuge for homeowners in Kingston and all over the place.
It all started with an initial investment in the Rolscreen Company, where Lucille and Pete Kuyper used their Dutch heritage to energize a new era of innovative window screens – and the notion of Pella was born. Eventually taking over the company, their goal was to use technology, but in a practical way to eliminate those daily little hiccups for homeowners everywhere. It was just the beginning for the Kuypers, the window industry and over 100 creative patents to come over the years.
There were several impressive, widely used products developed under the Pella name, such as the sliding glass door and several window styles. Pella is a company that persisted through the Great Depression and World War II, which illustrates the Kuypers' drive and passion for greatness, all while sticking to the basics and doing things the right way.
From replacement windows to sliding doors and window fashions, Pella offers each homeowner a different experience depending on what they look for in their vision of home. Our reliable professionals at Pella Windows and Doors work for you every day to bring your dream to life so that you can enjoy every day from your Kingston residence.
The goal of Pella Windows and Doors is to make you satisfied as a homeowner in Kingston—but in a responsible manner. As an environmental representative, Pella focuses on forest management and recycling through the replacement window process.
In addition to Pella's strong work ethic, we are also efficient. ENERGY STAR®, a government energy efficiency program, is a partner with Pella. In fact, Pella has won the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year nine times since joining in 1999.Pella Windows and Doors upholds the traditions of hard work and classic creation that simply make life less complicated, and a lot more beautiful, for homeowners in Kingston. For more information or help with your next window replacement, visit us at our showroom in Kingston or call us at 845-663-1025.
Schedule Now!


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Motion in stillness
Always shifting into balance
Multiple loci within and without, shifting connections across distances
Riding the edge of balance
Hold the space patiently, present, solid as the rock I stand on, ancient as the rock I stand on. Steady. High. The water rushing below sweeps everything with it, a formidable challenge to the balance. I sing the flow within me as I move into stillness.
Challenging the balance
All the elements intersect in me.
I recognize the power at the crossroads,
the delicate shift that opens other worlds
whirlwinds of power
Bells, rattles, sticks and stones
Rhythms resonate in the bones
Music singing with the stream, the wind, and the songs of the birds
Can I maintain the dance of balance in the everyday world of people?
Will they let it be?
What does my presence speak to you?
Will you remember?
Working on the far side of the creek with Shavon, high along the path, Jumatatu saw all of us, but was invisible. I never saw him. This reminds me that my first explorations in the Wissahickon involved trying to become invisible through harmonizing with the environment. So much of the work is about moving into resonance, fine-tuning energy, focusing in.
Jennifer Morley joined us. Like Jumatatu, she was working towards invisibility. Pepón has captured her image--- tall as the trees, reaching, grounded, resonant.
Photos: Pepón Osorio


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The questionnaire takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and we recommend that you double check the information you provide to ensure there is no delay with your application for residency.
An associate from Resident Research, LLC may contact you for additional information during the verification process. Please respond promptly so the background verification can be completed as quickly as possible so as not to delay the approval process.
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We all know that Skype is very popular and is used by millions of people all over the world. But keep in mind that Skype has many alternatives – programs that can be used for internet chat, video and audio calls. In this article we'll take a look at 8 of these Skype alternatives. Note that the information in this article may already be outdated if the companies have changed their services. For most recent information, check in their websites.
ooVoo – Except the standard audio calls, the program allows video calls with up to 6 users. The free calls anyway, are with only 1 person at the same time. You can import contacts from email accounts and from several social network sites. Audio and video call recording (paid), file sending (free for up to 5MB) and text messaging are some of the other features in ooVoo. You can even use the online version (free) if you do not want to install ooVoo on your computer.
TinyChat – This Skype alternative does not even need an installation. It is basically a website, in which you can register and create chat rooms or join already existing ones. You can make audio and video calls too. You can make conference calls with up to 12 people and the way I get it, it is all free.
iChat – The program is part from the Skype alternatives for Mac and it comes as part from the operating system Mac OS X. It offers chat, video calls with up to 3 users and audio calls with up to 9 users. iChat works with MobileMe and AIM. Other features are: file sending, SMS forwarding, incognito mode, loading more than one account at the same time and others.
Windows Live Messenger – It also offers chat, audio and video calls, but except that we have HD video calls. The program can be used only by Windows Vista and Windows 7 users. For now there is no option to call landlines.
Google Voice – This is a service by Google, that offers free calls in USA and Canada. At least from Google promise that this will be true until the end of the year 2011. An unique feature is the ability to transform audio calls into text messages. Also you can set the program in a way that when you get a call, your home or office telephone rings, depending on who is calling. International calls are paid, but pretty cheap. There are other features too, like: conference calling, SMS to Email, call blocking and others.
TokBox – This is another web based application, that does no require installation. Just register in the website and that is it. You can make video calls with up to 20 people in the same time and for free. There are also paid subscriptions for even larger video conferences. You can also import your contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, FaceBook and others. Another interesting feature is the sharing of YouTube videos inside the interface of the program. A downside of TokBox is that the video calls are with not that high quality.
FaceTime – This is another Skype alternative from Apple. FaceTime is made for Mac computers and for iPhone 4 and iPod. It allows video calls on full screen and with a picture within the picture (so you can see yourself while you are talking).
Of course there are many others Skype alternatives, but I think that these 8 are some of the most popular and will be enough if by any chance you decide to abandon our favorite Skype ;).


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Funding Opportunities
15 of 15 Results
Bioscience Innovation Fund
Learn about financing opportunities to help commercialize biotech breakthroughs from this $200 million fund.
Brownfields Remediation
Explore this one-stop resource to learn more about all the different types of support available to promote brownfield redevelopment in Connecticut.
Connect to CTNext for ways Connecticut can help you drive your business to the next level through crowdfunding.
Energy Asssistance
Review a variety of incentive programs that may be able to assist your business with energy conservation and energy cost management.
Federal Financial Resources
Let the Connecticut Small Business Development Center help you explore federal financial resources available to entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Lending Partners
Discover funding opportunities from state, federal and private lending programs.
Manufacturing Assistance Act
Discover powerful state incentives and technical support through this landmark piece of legislation.
Manufacturing Innovation Fund
Get targeted assistance for a wide range of industries via this $75 million state fund.
Manufacturing Innovation Fund Apprenticeship Program
Supports a combination of on-the-job training and classroom instruction for apprentices in Connecticut's manufacturing industry.
Manufacturing Innovation Fund Voucher Program - MVP
Access financial assistance for eligible manufacturers in the form of a matching grant from $5,000 to a maximum of $50,000.
Minority Business Funding
Learn about a special loan fund and other resources that enhance access to capital for minority businesses.
Pre-Seed Financing
Learn how early-stage companies can obtain up to $150,000 in funding through Connecticut Innovations.
Small Business Express
Get details on funding options and business development services for small businesses.
State Trade Expansion Program (STEP)
Learn about assistance designed to help Connecticut's small business community thrive in the global marketplace by increasing the value of small business exports.
Technology Talent Fund
Explore this $10 million fund as a resource for both workers and employers to ensure Connecticut has the workforce talent needed to fuel growth in its tech sectors.


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At times, you may be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. There's no need to also add the weight of a heavy coat or jacket.
Unless Prince Charming is around to assist you with putting it on or taking it off, you'll want to consider the weight when choosing a new coat or jacket. Be kind to your shoulders, elbows and hands.
Fortunately, there's now a wide selection of stylish offerings available, so finding something lightweight shouldn't weigh heavily on you.
Puffer jackets are a great cold weather option and they are now styled not to make you look like their namesake – puffy.
In my closet, you'll find an eclectic assortment of all-weather coats and jackets – Gore-Tex®, cashmere blends, wool, non-puffy puffer jacket and arctic fleece.
Baby, I'm warm inside!


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Personal Membership (monthly)
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Automatically renews on the same date of each corresponding month
Subscription can be cancelled at any time
Subscription fees are non-refundable
Once you have purchased your membership, you can access all webinars from the Member Plan link at the top right of our website.
Not from the USA? Use our currency converting tool to help calculate exchange rates from your country.Currency Converter


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AustraliaSuper fund members unhappy about insurance price hikes
ANZ sells off life insurance business for $2.8b
500 staff will move to Zurich after the sale as part of the bank's plan to simplify its operations.
Wayne Andrys was so happy with his super fund LUCRF that a decade ago, he convinced his wife to move her savings across to it.
"I said to my wife, 'Come over to LUCRF, it's a really good superannuation fund,'" he said.
"I thought it was the superannuation for us into the future."
For the entire time they have been with LUCRF, Mr Andrys and his wife Elizabeth have been paying for life insurance. For Mr Andrys, who is 63 and works as a storeman, his $162,000 life insurance coverage costs him $7.68 a week.
Crusaders star Will Jordan confirms Super Rugby future
Star Crusaders fullback Will Jordan has confirmed his Super Rugby future by signing a new a new three-year deal with the Crusaders. The re-signing of the 21-year-old ends speculation of a potential move to the Highlanders, who are looking to replace departing long-time, France-bound fullback Ben Smith. Although currently out of action due to a foot injury, the former 2017 World Junior Player of the Year nominee has been in spectacular form for the Crusaders in his debut Super Rugby campaign, scoring eight tries in as many appearances.
Ms Andrys, who is 61, has $264,000 cover because her white-collar job is seen as less risky.
Mr Andrys said he wanted to make sure his wife and family were looked after if anything happened to him.
"The reason for the death cover was to cover any outstanding bills and debts that are there. And there's a few there, and I'm sure most of the members are in the same boat," he said.
But in April, the Adelaide couple received unwelcome news.
LUCRF said it was repricing its insurance and members aged over 55 would now be paying more and getting less.
Mr Andrys' premiums were to jump from less than $8 per week to more than $11 per week.
Meanwhile, their coverage was being slashed. Mr Andrys' cover would drop from $162,000 to just $54,000, while Ms Andrys' cover would drop from $264,000 to $96,000.
Record deal: Starwood snaps up Chatswood's Zenith Centre for $438.2 million
US giant fund manager Starwood has cemented footprint in Australia after paying $438.2 million for the Zenith Centre office complex at Chatswood.
"It really is a joke and a slap in the face to all those people that have worked hard all their lives knowing they had that security blanket sitting there for them," Mr Andrys said.
"It's been taken from underneath them."
After contacting LUCRF to register their anger, they received a second letter from the fund.
It said they could keep their level of cover but at a cost.
Instead of paying $7.68 a week, Mr Andrys would need to pay $34.27 a week — a nearly 450 per cent increase.
His premiums would cost nearly $1,800 a year.
"Our coverage is going to drop dramatically, our payout figures are going to drop dramatically," he said.
LUCRF was unavailable for an interview, but in a statement to 7.30 said "recalibrations undertaken by LUCRF Super aim to evenly and fairly reflect the true cost of insurance cover as the membership's profile evolves over time".
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"The changes introduced will make insurance fairer by ensuring young members do not unfairly pay more in order to subsidise claims made by older members."
But Mr Andrys was not satisfied with the company's response.
"My argument is you didn't show due diligence to your members 10 years ago, when you should have been making adjustments then. And that's just purely bad management," he said.
'I was gutted'
LUCRF has around 160,000 members and said 80 per cent of its members would be positively affected by the change.
But that meant roughly 32,000 members would be worse off than they were previously.
In Melbourne, Pamela Oldfield and her husband Bernard are both 63 years old and are being hit by the changes.
They have their superannuation with LUCRF and said their life insurance provided peace of mind.
"Because it's still a safeguard for if one of us passed, and they are covered, and they've still got this other bit of income coming in as well as covering funeral costs and stuff like that," Ms Oldfield said.
Two women, one name, and the $11k super swap
A woman says she's had to change her name after authorities repeatedly confused her with a stranger with whom she shared a name and a birthday. Skylar Atwood was born Jessica Taylor on January 9, 1992, as was another Jessica Taylor whom Skylar now lives just 50km away from. Two years ago, Skylar started getting strange calls from finance companies, stating she had a different email with a different name. © A Current Affair Skylar Atwood was born with a different name, but official mix-ups led to her changing it. "I went to look at my super in my mygov account and tried to merge them all together," she said.
Their insurance premiums were due to drastically hike on July 1.
Ms Oldfield's $53,1400 coverage would go from costing $2.56 a week to $11.42 a week, while Mr Oldfield's $26,570 coverage would go from costing $1.28 a week to $6.40 a week.
"I was gutted more than shocked," Ms Oldfield said.
"I thought, how can these people do this? We've been paying it all our lives.
"Here we are now coming near retirement, and maybe we'll never use it, but you don't know.
"You can't see into the future."
Big changes coming to super
Xavier O'Halloran is an expert on superannuation with consumer advocates Choice.
"I've got a lot of sympathy for the people that are getting shocked with huge premium increases," he said.
"It comes across as really unfair. And I think a lot of the communication from the superannuation funds could have been better to explain why these prices were necessary."
He said LUCRF's previous insurance model was unusual and unfair.
"The way the insurance product is structured across this fund is quite unique," he said.
"A lot of funds will price in terms of risk, whereas this fund has pretty much had a flat rate across their entire membership."
But LUCRF was not the only superannuation fund rejigging its insurance offering.
Norway's $US1 trillion ($AU1.4 trillion) sovereign wealth fund to dump billions in coal investments
The world's largest sovereign wealth fund will divest from a slew of coal companies and oil explorers and producers, after Norway's parliament approved tighter investment rules.
There will be major changes to all superannuation accounts from July 1, with a suite of reforms called "Protecting Your Super" due to begin.
People who have multiple superannuation accounts will no longer automatically take out insurance on all those funds.
One reform will make insurance opt-in for consumers whose accounts have been inactive for 16 months. This means less accounts paying insurance premiums — which means insurance costs will go up for some people.
"Some of the changes related to protecting your super are seeing premium rises across the board. And that was expected," Mr O'Halloran said.
"Because a lot of the duplicate funds are getting taken out of the system, it means that there are less funds and less premiums going into the hands of insurance
LUCRF said its changes to prices have nothing to do with these reforms, and that they came about because of an independent review of their insurance offering.
'No single rule applies to all super funds'
Bernie Dean is chief executive of Industry Super Australia boss, which represents superannuation funds like LUCRF. He said each fund must individually decide on the best pricing structure for their insurance offering.
"There's no single rule that applies to all super funds," he said.
"Super funds can have very different memberships. We have some super funds that have aging memberships and others that have very young demographic.
"The Government's changes recognise that these decisions are best left for the trustees of funds. And when it comes to not-for-profit and industry super funds, specifically, it's the members' interests that really drive that decision-making."
He said now is a good time for members to contact their funds to make sure they have got the right product.
"What we're finding is that many people are realising for the first time that they've had insurance within superannuation and that insurance might not have been appropriate for them. So by turning off that insurance, or modifying it, they're actually getting a boost to their super account," he said.
Pamela Oldfield said LUCRF's hikes are too big and unfair, so she will be dropping the insurance.
"We are going to fill out the form and say cancel it," she said.
"And we're also looking into our superannuation, looking at other options to move that on too."
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Grieving a Loss
The death of a loved one can be a traumatic and emotionally overwhelming experience. At St. Joseph's Hospice, we understand that grief is a natural and necessary accompaniment of loss and we offer a variety of supportive care programs and services that help individuals and families adjust to the loss(es) associated with the death of a loved one. St. Joseph's Hospice compassionately supports the emotional, spiritual and social well-being of individuals and families along their palliative care journey. Our intention is to connect, educate and support our clients by:
- Giving responsive care to each person and/or family as they move through their unique journey
- Providing an atmosphere of respect for each person as they address their life meaning and purpose
- Encouraging healing and growth through participation in quality services
- Offering a place of solace where hope can be restored under the guidance of trained and empathetic staff and volunteers
If you have experienced a loss due to illness within two years and are a resident of London, you are welcome to reach out to our Community & Supportive Care team for more information.
Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.
C.S. Lewis
Thanks to the generosity of our donors and community partners, all programs and services are offered at no charge for residents of London, Ontario. If you or a loved one is living with a terminal illness, or have had a loss due to illness in the past two years, we are here for you.
Contact us to hear more about our services and programs:
Amanda Laframboise
Supportive Care Administrative Assistant
Phone: 519-931-3474
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Monthly Program Calendar
Programs and services are available for those living with a terminal illness, their family, caregivers, and the bereaved. Learn more about our monthly program calendar here.Download February's Calendar
Whatever stage in the palliative care journey you or your loved one may be in, you are not alone – we are here for you.View Our Resources
Spiritual and Religious Care
Spiritual companionship, prayer, and reflection, or connection to one's religious community, facilitated by Spiritual Care Volunteers and Staff.View Our Mission, Vision and Values


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When it comes to advertising on AdWords (or other search engines networks), it's all about "Location, location, location". It doesn't matter about how good your advert is, if your advert doesn't appear in the right places, it won't perform well.
- AdWords location targeting places your ads in geographic locations that you choose, such as: countries, areas within a country, a radius around a location or postcode, or location groups.
- Location targeting helps you focus your advertising on the areas where you'll find the right customers, and restrict it in areas where you don't – which could help increase your return on investment (ROI) as a result.
Target ads to geographic locations
It pays to reach your customers where they are and where your business can serve them by using accurate location targeting. You can set and then adjust your location targeting settings in most advertising systems.
I often get asked to identify the best geographic areas for targeting from addresses of previous or existing customers. It's easy enough to do when the number of customers is small, but when it is in the thousands it can get tricky.
Geocode location data
Geographic data that describes a location must be geocoded in order to place it on a map.
In the past, the process of outputting customers to a Google map was time-consuming as it required help from developers to geocode location data via a third party service.
This was a common issue for marketers, but thankfully a much quicker and easier option is now available; using Google Fusion Tables.
Visualise hundreds of locations in minutes
Visualising a large table of locations is now much easier thanks to Google Fusion Tables. Similar to pasting a description of a location into Google Maps, Fusion Tables automatically begins geocoding when you visualise the location on a map. Google Fusion Tables also allow you to import data from an Excel spreadsheet and display it on a map.
Pictured below is an example of a map created using Google Fusion Tables. The map – created in just a few short minutes – shows hundreds of plotted customer postcodes.
Note: Maps with hundreds or thousands of addresses or postcodes will take longer to generate.
Build a map in 5 easy steps
- In Google Drive, start a new Google Fusion Tables document. If you don't have the Google Fusion Tables app installed, click on New > More > Connect more apps.
- To import a table with postcodes into Google Fusion Tables, browse for a file with postcodes on your computer. (I used a delimited .txt separated file, but you can also upload Excel or Google Drive spreadsheets)
- Press 'Next' and Google Fusion Tables will start processing and geocoding your data.It may take a few hours to process thousands of postcode entries.When geocoding finishes, the table will load with a new tab called 'Map of xxx'.
Using this map you can start setting up geo targeting in AdWords targeting by looking for cities or counties which appear heavily populated on your map.
Advertising on AdWords is extremely expensive, and the market is getting more competitive by the day. The ability to focus your advertising on the areas where your customers really are is critical for running a well performing advertising campaign and to achieve a good ROI as a result.
Try this quick and easy technique to visualise locations of your customers.
It may take minutes, but it could save thousands!


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Tag Archives: WordPress.com
5 years at Automattic!
On August, 24th, 2009, I posted the following on this very site:
Today is the most beautiful of days. I'm not talking about the weather, but about a feeling that is currently impregnating every single fiber of my professional being. See, today marks the beginning of my trial phase (contractor) as Automattic's newest full-time systems wrangler.
I became employee #40-something (of now 259) as of September 21st that year, and in that span, I was part of the following teams (listing employees still with us today):
- Systems, with Barry, Demitrious & Pyry.
- Short stint as the "special projects" guy, before we started being big enough to have teams.
- NUX (WordPress.com signup, new users experience, domains, etc), with Nikolay.
- Janitorial (internal tools), with Andy, Matt, MT, Nick & Rose.
- Triton (WordPress.com UX), with Andy (again), Bob, Greg & Payton.
- Team I/O (APIs & partnerships), with Kat, Kelly, Joey & Justin.
- DotOrg (WordPress core development), with Alex, Andrea, Andrew, Cami, Ian, Jen, Jerry, Konstantin, Mark & Ryan.
There is nothing I would change about the last 5 years. I've met incredible people, worked on amazing projects, traveled to fabulous locations, all while trying to democratize publishing, change the way people work, and be the best dad/person I can be.
So thanks to my Automattic family, and here's to five more years. :)
The WordPress Song. By the Latin Robert Downey Jr. ?
Join us on the bright side! "We want you: Automattic is hiring in 2013"
As Krista so eloquently wrote it:
We expect to hire 60 new Automatticians in 2013. We're a distributed company: Automatticians work from home, their local coffee shop, co-working spaces — the location in the world where they're most comfortable and productive. Our hiring pool is planet Earth.
Via We want you: Automattic is hiring in 2013 — Blog — WordPress.com.
Matt Mullenweg & Om Malik – LeWeb Paris 2012
If you weren't sure why I work at Automattic, here's why. And if you weren't sure why you should be using WordPress, here's why too. Two birds, one stone thrown. :)
Quoting "Ode to the Blogosphere"
Social media? Yes, but not like Facebook and not like Twitter.
Blogging is people taking the time to write or photograph or paint their lives, their loves, their passions.
WordPress.com Metro app for Windows 8
Microsoft just released Windows 8 Consumer Preview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Guess what's already running on it? Announcing the WordPress.com Metro app.
I was lucky enough to be on the Automattic team who developed the app, and got to interact with the internal Windows 8 team at Microsoft while doing so. Needless to say, it was both challenging and motivating, to say the least. Win 8 is pretty darn spiffy, which is saying a lot coming from a hardcore Mac and Linux user. :)
Oh, and yes, good habits die hard: the app is indeed open sourced, and released under the GPLv2. I wonder how many more OSS apps got featured not once, but twice by MS in their live worldwide demo? :)


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Having wrapped up a year of marketing celebrating its centennial, Oreo is onto its next creative push, with a major new campaign dubbed
The fanciful, animated, decidedly upbeat campaign -- Oreo's first from The Martin Agency -- focuses on presenting humorous, imagined scenarios about how sharing an Oreo might transform negative outcomes into more positive ones.
The creative approach is intentionally childlike, but aimed at adults.
The first 90-second spot, which debuted on Sunday's "Mad Men," wonders if giving an Oreo to the Big Bad Wolf would inspire him to bring the pigs' "cool stuff" and help them build a deck, rather than blowing their house down ("Would they not get killed?"). It also wonders if a vampire given an Oreo would not act "so undead…Would he thirst for milk instead?," and if sharks might opt to share their Oreos with baby seals.
The campaign's catchy "Wonderfilled Anthem," written by Martin Agency creative director Dave Muhlenfeld, is performed by singer/songwriter Adam Young, a/k/a Owl City. Young was chosen because his style of music "embodies optimism and a carefree nature," according to Oreo parent Mondelez International.
The spot (which has 90-, 30- and 15-second versions) can be viewed -- and the theme song downloaded -- through Oreo.com. The spot and song are also on the brand's Facebook page and YouTube. One day after its posting on YouTube on May 13, the 90-second version had more than 82,000 views.
The campaign aims to remind adults how a small thing like an Oreo can brighten their perspective, Oreo Brand Director Janda Lukin told CreativityOnline. "Kids already have a sense of wonder in how they see the world, but adults have to be reminded of that," she said. "The stories are going to resonate with different people, but overall, it's an adult campaign."
Launching the spot on the dark, cynical "Mad Men" provided contrast to drive home the point. The show was also chosen because it has a very loyal audience that is also very engaged in social media, Lukin said.
The campaign's TV spots will run through September (new creative -- including new song interpretations by other upbeat performers -- to be introduced along the way).
Other components include digital and cinema ads, radio promotions to introduce the new Oreo song in the top 10 media markets, ongoing Facebook and Twitter engagement, public relations and some "big stage" events, according to Mondelez.
One such event took place today (May 14) in New York City, where more than 500 a capella singers -- including Pentatonix, winners of NBC's "The Sing Off" -- sang the "Wonderfilled" song in locations across the city. The event culiminated with a sing-a-long with Owl City in Union Square. Oreo shared video highlights from the event on Vine throughout the day.
Oreo has enlisted local a cappella groups to stage similar events in Chicago and Los Angeles on May 16 and 17, respectively.
Other agency partners in the campaign are 360i (digital/social), Weber Shandwick (public relations) and MediaVest (media).
This is an absolutely wonderfilled ad. I usually can't stand commercials,but I've plaed this ad over and over. It makes me smile, but more importantly, it made me go out just to buy Oreo cookies. I don't usually buy anything because of an ad, and soe times I'll even stay away from a product because of their ads. (Those drug commericals with all the horrible side effects come to mind. I'd rather have red scratchy skin than oh, I don't know, lymphoma?!
Anyway, great ad, kudos. Lizmassaro


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The Washington Nationals, who have won two straight division titles and three in the past four years, need a miracle to make the playoffs this season.
On Monday night, the Nationals (76-74) visit the Miami Marlins to start a quick two-game series.
The Nationals enter Monday in third place in the NL East, trailing the division-leading Atlanta Braves by 7.5 games.
The Nationals are also six games out of the second and final wild-card spot with just 12 contests left on their schedule. Worse yet, the Nationals trail five teams in the wild-card standings.
"It's a bummer we're not winning games," Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper told the media recently. "That's the biggest thing on my mind."
If Harper is disappointed, imagine how the Marlins feel. Miami (58-91) has the worst record in the National League and the third-lowest win percentage in the majors.
Miami hasn't won consecutive games since Aug. 24-25, and the Marlins have gone 5-13 in that span.
Monday's pitching matchup features a pair of 25-year-old rookie right-handers: Miami's Trevor Richards against Washington's Erick Fedde.
Richards (3-9, 4.85 ERA) has struck out at least seven batters in six of his 22 games this season. He has a below-average fastball (90.8 as opposed to the league norm of 93.1 mph). But he survives on a nasty changeup.
Lately, though, it appears teams have figured him out. In his past seven starts, Richards is 0-4 with a 6.68 ERA.
Perhaps a good omen for Richards is the fact that he pitched six scoreless innings the only time he faced the Nationals at Marlins Park this year, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Fedde (2-3, 5.12 ERA), a Las Vegas native, was Washington's first-round pick in 2014, coming out of UNLV.
His best pitch may be his hard (94 mph) slider, and this will be his first-ever start against the Marlins, so there could be an adjustment required of Miami hitters.
Fedde is coming off his best start of the season, holding the Philadelphia Phillies scoreless for 5 2/3 innings on Tuesday, striking out nine while allowing just two hits.
One of the batters Fedde will have to pitch carefully to is Marlins right fielder Peter O'Brien, a 6-4, 235-pounder who has massive power but has yet to get his major league career untracked at age 28.
A former University of Miami star, O'Brien was picked up by the hometown Marlins earlier this month and has two homers and five RBIs in his past three starts.
"We're going to get him extended playing time as we finish up," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of O'Brien. "He has a good approach and a feel for his game, which is that he can hit the ball out of the ballpark."
Indeed, O'Brien hit 26 homers in 2013, 39 in 2014, 32 in 2015 and 29 in 2016. He hit just 16 homers last year but has 32 this season in a bounce-back campaign.
Still, out of all those homes, only eight have come in the majors, where his career OPS is just .699.
"I'm looking to have quality at-bats," O'Brien told the media on Sunday when asked about his approach. "Consistency is the main thing."
Harper, of course, is Washington's big bat. He has 97 RBIs, 97 runs scored and 118 walks. He is on track to become just the sixth player since 2014 to record 100 in each of those categories.
A free agent after this season ends, Harper -- who turns 26 next month -- needs to drive in two more runs to tie his career high.
"I'm not worried about my numbers because I am who I am," Harper said. "That sounds bad, but I am. On any given night, I'm able to do things that are special."
Harper hit just .214 with an .833 OPS in the first half of this season. But since then, he has hit .305 with a .985 OPS.
The Nationals, who have won seven of their past nine games, have ridden the hot bats of Harper, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto, among others.
Rendon has reached base in 25 consecutive games, hitting .330 during that span. He hit his 20th homer on Sunday, marking the third straight season he has reached that milestone.
Soto, 19, has reached base in 21 consecutive games. That ties Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for the second-longest streak by a teenager since 1920. Mel Ott, who had a 22-game streak in 1928, owns the record.