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Archive for category random
Why we won't have live animals at this Sunday's Christmas celebration
Posted by Luke Simmons in random on December 17, 2010
This Sunday we'll gather for one combined gathering at 10:00am to celebrate the first coming of Jesus in his incarnation. Kids will all be in the gathering with the adults and it should be fun. One thing you won't see are live animals. Here's one reason why:
HT: Josh Reich
North Point's Christmas iBand
Posted by Luke Simmons in random on December 8, 2010
This video below is a wonderfully creative Christmas medley from North Point Community Church using only iTouches and iPads. Cool follow up to this from last year.
Pray for Redemption Church
Posted by Luke Simmons in random on November 8, 2010
Below is a really well done video of Justin Anderson explaining the vision of Redemption Church, a new church being formed in the Valley as East Valley Bible Church and Praxis Church merge together. The leaders of EVBC and Praxis are good friends of mine who have shaped me and Second Mile in significant ways, and I am genuinely thrilled about the impact that this new work will have in our city.
What makes this especially unique is that almost all church mergers (like business mergers) happen in order to bail out a struggling congregation. But Redemption is the coming together of two healthy, large, financially sound churches for the sake of a bigger kingdom impact. That's not something you see every day.
Pray for Redemption as they begin this new effort, as they work out key details, and as they go through this time of transition.
Bootcamps, Baby Churches, and Boys Becoming Men
Posted by Luke Simmons in random, recommended resources on September 28, 2010
One of the great joys of my ministry has been participating in the Acts29 Network, a group of churches committed to planting gospel-centered, reformed, missional churches. This week I'm in Seattle for the Acts29 National Bootcamp, where over 500 men will come to be trained, assessed, and encouraged. My role will be to help assess potential church planters, as well as spend some good time with a few guys that I'm bringing along.
The theme for this conference comes from the new book by Darrin Patrick, Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission. I haven't read the book in its entirety, but what I've read tells me that it would be worth reading for any man — not just church leaders. Click here for the table of contents and first chapter.
If you think of it, pray for me this week that I'd be helpful to these men who are ready to make some life-altering decisions related to their ministry, and pray that God would raise up a continual generation of men willing and gifted to plant churches and keep leading the mission.
Perspective on What's Important
Posted by Luke Simmons in random on July 15, 2010
Time is precious and life is short. When people know their days are numbered, there is a clarity and passion about what's important. One of the best examples is this classic speech from the 1993 ESPYs by Jim Valvano.
College Football Under Way!
Posted by Luke Simmons in random on September 4, 2009
Every Saturday is a Sabbath day for our family, and every fall is a kind of Sabbath season of watching college football. We start at 7am with College GameDay and then revel in the day we now call "Football Freakshow." Tomorrow our Fighting Illini square off against rival Missouri. Should be fun!
To download a very cool nationwide college football schedule (the famous helmet schedule), click here.
Heading to Atlanta
Posted by Luke Simmons in random on August 10, 2009
Yesterday after our worship gathering I boarded a plane where I'm spending a week at Reformed Theological Seminary Atlanta for an intensive course on Hebrews through Revelation that's part of my Master's degree program. While I'm there I get to spend some time with a number of family members who live there (including my uncle John who founded the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch). If you think of me, pray that I'll be able to have a tender heart towards God's word and learn a number of valuable things.
See you next week!


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The Judges Launch a Monthly Column and Audio Interview for the Newsstand Publication
By Nolan Apostle
Contributing Editor
Event City Premier Magazine
Dallas-based SUCCESS Magazine unveiled its magazine redesign with its October 2015 issue already on the newsstands. This month, readers can swim with the big fish as six renowned Sharks, Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Griener and Robert Herjavec, from ABC's Shark Tank grace the magazine cover. SUCCESS takes their readers inside the minds of the celebrity investors who offer advice on how to overcome obstacles on your path to greatness and provide a guide to learn how to survive the treacherous waters of success.
"I've had my best success on the heels of rejection", says Barbara Corcoran to SUCCESS magazine, and how fitting is that for the successful Billionaire Real Estate Mogul who has definitely seen failure but has been a regular participate on Shark Tank since its premier show on August 9, 2009.
The Sharks will become a recurring feature on the magazine's monthly audio CD beginning in October as they form a partnership with the successful business magazine. They will write a monthly column that showcases the Shark Tank businesses in which they have invested. What happens after the startup leaves the show and the Sharks make their investments? The October issue offers readers "Swimming Lessons," updates on several of the most popular Shark Tank businesses and success stories. Learn the key lessons they shared with their companies that helped them go from barely scraping by to becoming multimillion-dollar business operations.
With this exclusive SUCCESS content, the Sharks give readers insight and key lessons from their entrepreneurial experiences, revealing what is possible when they apply their passions, imaginations and efforts.
"Money is never the answer to the problem-it's the byproduct of finding a solution", says Daymond John in the interview with SUCCESS magazine for their October 2015 cover story
Sharks Reveal the Surprising Upside to Obstacles
In this issue three Sharks reveal how they overcame having dyslexia and converted what could be seen as a weakness into a strength for business. Read about a study by Julie Logan of Cass Business School in London and MIT that uncovers findings as to why dyslexia is far more common among entrepreneurs—an estimated 35% of all U.S. entrepreneurs— than the rest of the general public. The surprising study shows these Sharks are not alone in their endeavor to turn a learning impediment into an asset.
"You get a lot of chances in life. Even if you fail in one, you've got to keep going", philosophical words from the "Shark with retractable teeth", and this writers favorite of all these tough business predators, Robert Herjavec, tells SUCCESS magazine.
Shark Tank Cast Provides Unprecedented Access for Oct. 2015 Issue
Coming straight off the Sony set wrapping their first day of taping for the new season of Shark Tank,SUCCESS gained exclusive access to shoot the entire cast of the Sharks for their cover photo and feature story, while at the same time getting to know the Sharks beyond the persona they portray on their show. From surprising laughs and humor to hearing exclusive insights from the SUCCESS editorial team members, the behind the scenes video from the Shark cover shoot shows readers a new side to the entrepreneurial "predators."
Watch the magazine cover shoot exclusive behind the scenes footage with SUCCESS Magazine.
Fun Facts About Shark Tank – Did you know…
Last year the hit television show selected only 150 businesses out of 45,000 applications with then only 115 airing.
While edited segments on the show run quickly between 8-10 minutes, the actual pitch time can take an hour and many even much longer before a decision is made.
SUCCESS magazine is a national newsstand publication and your guide to personal and professional development through inspiration, motivation and training. SUCCESS inspires 1.2 million readers every month, and has a total social reach of 4 million fans. SUCCESS magazine was founded in 1897 by influential thinker Orison Swett Marden which makes it one of the oldest publications today. It is owned by Plano-based SUCCESS Partners (formerly VideoPlus), founded by Stuart P. Johnson.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Kids Learn Leadership Through Hip Hop
Kids Learn Leadership Through Hip Hop
You don't have to be famous to be successful in the music industry. This is the lesson a group of at-risk teens learned at the Hip Hop Leadership Camp in Los Angeles. Reporter Jenee Darden takes a look a the free program that teaches kids business skills through hip hop.
FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
I'm Farai Chideya, and this is NEWS & NOTES.
Rappers and singers aren't the only moneymakers in the music industry. That's the message that at-risk kids are learning at a camp in Los Angeles where they're taught business skills through hip-hop music.
Reporter Jenee Darden spent a day with the teens, where they practiced everything from crafting a business plan to rapping on the beat.
(Soundbite of music)
JENEE DARDEN: It's Friday night and rap beats are blaring from a UCLA dorm. This is not a party, but another night of work for kids in the Hip-Hop Leadership Camp, a free five-day program where students learn the business side of the music industry through hip-hop.
Unidentified Man (Student): We started off with $850,000 right? I might get $15,000, and I'll give you $835,000.
DARDEN: Those are the kids from the mock company Field Goal Records(ph). Students are divided into record labels. Each has a different position, from marketing manager to president and CEO. And like real life, business doesn't always go smoothly.
Unidentified Woman #1: Hey, you're doing it wrong.
Unidentified Woman #2: I told you so.
Unidentified Man #2: What?
Unidentified Woman #1: Let me do it. Let me do it.
Unidentified Woman #2: I don't want to say I told you so.
DARDEN: The camp targets at-risk youths from 12 to 15 years old. Many students are from low-income backgrounds. Hundreds of kids apply, but only 30 are chosen. Big Paul Tubai(ph) is the director of 2Extremes, the non-profit organization that holds the program. He says the camp aims to show kids there's more to music than fame.
Mr. PAUL TUBAI (Director, 2Extremes): That's all they see is the rapper, the producer or the bouncer but not realizing that there's a whole farm of people behind that that make just as much money, if not more, that have just as much power but may not be in the limelight. But you best believe that those people in the limelight know who they are.
DARDEN: But the program also inspires kids, like 15-year-old Nico Servan(ph) from Oxnard, California. Dressed hair to toe a military fatigue, Nico says the program helped him get over his shyness.
Mr. NICO SERVAN (Participant, Hip-Hop Leadership Camp): Before the program I never talked in front of a crowd and I really never talked to people. And then after that it helped me in high school to get promoted higher in the ROTC, the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. And I had to talk in front of a whole battalion, and the battalion is like 145 kids.
DARDEN: The same goes for Brianna Smith(ph), a 12-year-old from Watts and the CEO of Field Goal Records. She says the camp influenced her to change career goals.
Ms. BRIANNA SMITH (Participant, Hip-Hop Leadership Camp): Records, I wasn't really into it. I wasn't really going this route. I was going to try to go to school, go to law school. And now it changed me because I like it and I'm starting - and I get it. And they tell me, like, Brianna that's a good thing to do and you will make a great president.
DARDEN: The camp draws hip-hop stars. This year, MC Lyte, along with music executives, stressed that the journey to success doesn't come overnight.
Ms. MC LYTE (Musician): A lot of the young people have been leaned in the direction of believing that things come easily, and that's not their fault. You know, it's media's. It's like okay, all of a sudden you see this guy pop up but you never really know his story and how long he's been working at it. And even if it's artists, you know, or executives, they should know that it takes work.
DARDEN: And the path to wealth, or bling, also takes time, says marketing executive Kevin Black. He works with top artists like Snoop Dogg, Common and 50 Cent. Kevin also deals with real estate and tells students, don't just think, show me the money but…
Mr. KEVIN BLACK (Marketing Executive): Save your money. Let me hear you all say that.
Unidentified Group: Save your money.
Mr. BLACK: The entertainment business is what it means - entertainment. When the entertainment stops, you stop. So get another business.
DARDEN: But the camp is not all business. Students also learn how to write lyrics and rap. Field Goal Records represents the group Five Knockouts(ph). Thirteen-year-old Jovanna Smith(ph) a.k.a. Tiny Knockout wrote their song.
Ms. JOVANNA SMITH (Participant, Hip-Hop Leadership Camp): (Rapping) Call me Tiny Knockout, the one and only. I can say a rhyme but not for the (unintelligible).
DARDEN: The petite Watts native says writing rhymes is not a small job.
Ms. SMITH: It is kind of difficult because you got to stay on the beat and stuff.
DARDEN: The students knocked out their families and friends during a performance at the end of the program.
FIVE KNOCKOUTS (Rap Group): (Rapping) Five knockouts got the shorty down. Tiny Knockout about to do what I do. I came to tell the boys that girls could do it too. I got much game, no need to be ashamed. They otherwise misread the rap game. My rap game connection so…
DARDEN: For NPR News, I'm Jenee Darden.
FIVE KNOCKOUTS: (Rapping) And why is it I got to do my own shout out? (Unintelligible) but the Five Knockouts.
CHIDEYA: This story was originally produced as part of NPR's Next Generation Radio project.
Copyright © 2006 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.


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The warmth of design and the performance of technology... German technology and design constitute two key factors for Teka. From inception till today , Teka has been offering outstanding features, that correspond to the philosophy of continuous development seeking the maximum quality standards in each and every decision.
Miele is a German manufacturer of high quality domestic appliances and machines for commercial applications. Best known for their quality, Miele believes that a brand is like an enduring promise that needs to be fulfilled continuously. Miele adheres to this promise with the utmost commitment. For more than 107 years, Miele stands for highest product quality. Miele, therefore means durability, reliability, security and peace of mind. As part of this philosophy, Miele avows itself to Germany as its center of production.
Siemens has been at innovation's cutting edge for over 160 years. The end games is a collection of kitchen appliances that can be mixed and matched to suit your lifestyle. All of our appliances starting with cooking products to refrigeration items to dishwashing offer a perfect balance between eye-catching design and innovative technology.
Simple Features, Dependable ValueWhite Westinghouse offers affordable, hard working appliances that you can rely on to simply get the job done. They are simple and sensible for everyday use.
For more than a century, GE has been committed to producing innovative products that change the way people live. The result of thorough research and rigorous testing, GE appliances are designed for years of dependable performance. Today, the GE tradition of quality and innovation continues.
Electrolux is a global leader in household appliances. The company focuses on innovations that are thoughtfully designed, based on extensive consumer insight, to meet the real needs of consumers and professionals. Consumer insight is the basis of all product development within Electrolux. Identifying trends in various customer and consumer segments enables Electrolux to offer attractive products


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Spring session: addresses by the Prime Ministers of Armenia and Georgia
Strasbourg, 8-12 April 2019
Adopting its final agenda at the opening of the 2019 Spring Session, the Assembly decided to hold an urgent debate on the theme "Role and mission of the Parliamentary Assembly: main challenges for the future". The Assembly held its session in Strasbourg from 8 to 12 April 2019, with addresses by the Prime Ministers of Armenia and Georgia.
Joint debates were held on stopping hate speech and acts of hatred in sport - as well as the role of political leaders in combating hate speech - and on strengthening co-operation with the UN and implementation of its Sustainable Development Goals.
Other topics discussed included promoting parliaments free of sexism and sexual harassment, the implications for human rights of social media, and a report on balancing the rights of parents, donors and children during the anonymous donation of sperm and oocytes.
The Assembly looked at so-called "laundromats" and new challenges in combating organised crime and money laundering, and took a stand on the creation of a new EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights presented her annual activity report for 2018 and took questions, while there was the usual exchange of views with the current head of the Council of Europe's ministerial body, Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Timo Soini, and question time with Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland.
At the opening of the Session, the President regretted that the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina had not transmitted its credentials within the deadline foreseen in the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, that is to say before the April 2019 part session, following the parliamentary elections held in this country in October 2018.


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One of my resolution's this year is to revamp my diet to include healthier options. I sweet talked Monica to give me a few simple tips that I could incorporate into my routine because if it is not simple I probably won't stick to it. We met for brunch with the pups and then she headed over to my apartment to see what I already had in my cabinets that would make my life healthier – and easier. What I love about Monica is not matter how busy she is (launching her new business Essence Nutrition, moving to a new pad, working with clients) she always has time for her gal pals. Of course I didn't want to be greedy with her advice so I wanted to share with you. I'll let her take it away! xo ~Ev
Nutrition doesn't have to be complicated. Leave the nutritional biochemistry to the registered dietitians (yep, had to take that gem in grad school). Here's how to simplify and streamline your eating habits so that making good food choices is as easy as (gluten-free, vegan) pie. Let's start with some basic and easy changes you can make this month.
- Start the day right with a solid breakfast. When you make a good breakfast choice, you're bound to select other healthy options for the rest of the day. You'll feel energized, satiated, and motivated to keep up the good work when you choose things like:
- plain oatmeal with some raw nuts and berries (and an almond milk cappucino, obv)
- two organic eggs cooked any style in olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil, with a side of Ezekiel toast and melon. Bonus points for adding chopped veggies to those veggies.
- In order to get lean, you have to go green. Commit to choosing two fruits per day (spice it up and choose different ones daily in order to reap the widest variety of vitamins and minerals) and three different vegetables per day. You can do a couple at lunch, and one at dinner, or vice versa.
- ask for steamed or sauteed veggies as a side at dinner
- choose a salad as an entree for lunch with dark, leafy greens like kale, chard, mustard greens, arugula, or spinach
- Do not fear fat. Happy fats (unsaturated fats) are not what make us fat, interestingly. I'd explain the science, but you'd be snoozing like Madeleine (the Essence Nutrition Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) in three minutes flat. The point is to choose the good fats and don't worry about them as much as you should worry about… dun dun dun… sugar
- add half an avocado to your lunch. Make it rain red pepper flakes on top for an anti-inflammatory kick
- add ¼ cup of raw nuts to your breakfast or use as a snack (there is literally a nut farm stashed in every purse I own)
- cook with avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil
- banish butter, margarine, spray oils, and vegetable oil
- Don't let 50 Cent (or anyone else) take you to the candy shop. Sugar is bad news bears! It rots your teeth and your insides. And it's sneaky as heck. It's in practically every cereal, granola bar, salad dressing, your latte, and even breads. Make your own muesli, vegan energy bars, and salad dressings (hello, Essence Pinterest page: www.pinterest.com/feedyouressence), use stevia drops or Stevia in the Raw in your latte, and flavor your oatmeal with cinnamon instead of sugar. The more things in wrappers you consume, the more likely you are to find added sugars lurking. I am, however, a lady of convenience and have discovered some diamonds in the rough as far as bars, protein powders, and other snacks – so holler at me for specifics!
- You don't have to do it alone! If you feel like you're drowning in a sea of coconut oil and overloaded with nutrition information from friends and the media (don't even THINK about putting butter in your coffee), I'll throw you a banana and a life vest and make it real simple for you. Let a registered dietitian guide you seamlessly toward the best nutrition life you can possibly lead. Essence's motto is "feed your essence": I believe in satiating your physical, social, and emotional hunger. I promise to help you banish the food crazy and allow you to make peace with food.
Want more bites of nutrition information? Essence Nutrition is now open in cozy Coral Gables. Visit www.essencenutritionmiami.com and visit @eatlikemonica on Instagram. FaceTime consults are available for those of us not lucky enough to live in Miami paradise.


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Mr Wong Kam Tai Kamsuo 黃錦泰先生(助理教授)
Assistant Professor
|(852) 3762 6243
Mr Wong is a professional Accountant in Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Australia. He has extensive professional experience in Accounting. Prior to serving as a university teacher, Mr Wong worked as the management in the Accounting Department of a US based company in Hong Kong and responsible for financial reporting, treasury, budgeting and internal control of the company.
Prior to joining Centennial College in April 2016, Mr Wong also has extensive experience in teaching Accounting at tertiary level for financial reporting, financial management, and business and company law etc. He also provided various trainings for multinational corporations and different departments of Hong Kong SAR Government in the areas of financial reporting, financial management and management accounting.
Academic and Professional Qualifications
Research Interests
< 返回


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PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD-Past favorites and debut performers will be joining together at Air Expo '05, NAS Patuxent River's celebration of flight, Sept. 3 and 4. The Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, headline the show.
The Blue Angels will awe Air Expo '05 guests with graceful, high-precision maneuvers of the four-plane "diamond" and fast-paced high performance maneuvers of the solo pilots in the number five and six jets. All six jets will then perform together in the renowned delta formation.
Also headlining the show will be the Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, and the A-10 East Coast Demonstration Team. Civilian performers include aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff in her Extra 300S, Dan Buchanan in his motorless Airwave glider, Dale Snodgrass in his F-86 Sabre, Eric Beard in his Yak 54, "Russian Thunder," Paul Stender is his RamJet Dodge Jet Truck, the Yak Demonstration Team, Red Eagle Air Sports, the Skytypers and Rag Wings and Radials Vintage Aircraft.
Past will meet present and future with the static displays at Air Expo '05. Displays will include historical aircraft retired from service and current models and variants being used by warfighters today.
Parking and admission for Air Expo '05 are free. Gates open at 9 a.m. The flying portion of the show begins at 11:30 a.m. and will run until approximately 4 p.m.
No weapons or explosives, coolers, alcoholic beverages, glass containers, pets, bicycles, roller blades, skateboards, scooters or backpacks are permitted on the show site. Vehicles, diaper bags, camera bags and cameras will be searched. Please do not load film into cameras before entering the show site.
NAS Patuxent River is located in the Washington region and reports to Naval District Washington for Shore Installation Management.
KR Systems and Nextel are sponsors of Air Expo '05. However, neither the Navy nor any other part of the federal government endorses any company, sponsor or their products or services.
Those who have Department of Defense identification cards and DoD automobile decals, or DoD identification cards only, enter the air station through Gate 1. All others may enter the air station through Gate 2.
Click here for driving directions to Gate 2
or use "Three Notch Rd and Great Mills Rd, Lexington Park, MD 20653" for your
mapping system.)
For more information on Air Expo '05, call 301-757-EXPO or visit http://www.navair.navy.mil/airexpo05/. Photos from the 1999 show are available at http://somd.com/photos/AirShow99/.


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ISLAMABAD, Aug 24 (APP): National Security Committee Thursday out-rightly rejected allegations levelled in the US strategy and observed that scapegoating Pakistan will not help in stabilizing Afghanistan.
The meeting of National Security Committee was held here
on Thursday to discuss the Trump Administration's South Asia
Strategy, a Foreign Office press release said.
The committee observed that Pakistan had to manage the blowback
of a protracted conflict in Afghanistan that resulted in deluge
of refugees, flow of drugs and arms and more recently in the
shape of terrorist safe havens in eastern Afghanistan from where anti-Pakistan terrorist groups continue to operate and
launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Pakistan has consistently supported all international efforts
for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan and has also committed more
than a billion US dollars for infrastructure and social development
in that country.
Pakistan has worked with both the United States and
Afghanistan to promote peace through a politically negotiated
outcome which, in Pakistan's view, remains the best option
to bring stability to this war torn country.
A prolonged military campaign in Afghanistan has
resulted in destruction and killing of hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians. Pakistan has also endorsed and supported all Afghan
owned and Afghan led initiatives for peace.
Over the years, Pakistan has worked with both the United
States and Afghanistan to promote peace through a
politically negotiated outcome which, in Pakistan's view, remains
the best option to bring stability to this war torn country.
On its own part, Pakistan has taken indiscriminate actions
against all terrorist networks and sacrificed tens of thousands
of troops and civilians in this fight.
The demonstrated security improvement inside Pakistan would
not have been possible without eliminating all terrorist hideouts.
Moreover, successful cooperation with the US in the past
against the common enemy, terrorism, reflects
Pakistan's unflinching commitment to eliminate this menace.
The committee stressed that instead of any financial
or material assistance, there should be understanding and recognition
of our efforts, contributions and sacrifices of thousands of
Pakistanis and over 120 billion US dollars of economic losses.
We consider the lives of the citizens of other countries
as sacrosanct as those of our own and therefore Pakistan
is committed to not allowing its soil to be used for violence
against any other country.
We expect the same from our neighbors. The claims of
billions of Dollars in aid to Pakistan are also misleading to
the extent that the reimbursements to Pakistan since 2001 only
account for part of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors
used by the United States for its operations in Afghanistan, rather
than any financial aid or assistance, the press release said.
Pakistan's effective counter-terrorism operations have
clearly proved that tide of terrorism can be reversed and we are
willing to share our experience with both the US and Afghanistan.
This would require working together and focusing on core
issues of eliminating safe havens inside Afghanistan,
border management, return of refugees and reinvigorating the
peace process for a political settlement in Afghanistan.
The Committee stressed that India cannot be a net security
provider in the South Asia region when it has conflictual
relationships with all its neighbors and is pursuing a policy of destabilizing Pakistan from the east and the west.
The Committee expressed deep concern at Indian policies
inimical to peace in the region including interference in
the internal affairs of neighboring countries and using terrorism
as an instrument of state policy.
The Committee condemned state-inflicted repression on the
people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and reiterated Pakistan's continued diplomatic, political and moral support for their
struggle for self determination.
The Committee reaffirmed Pakistan's resolve to protect
its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Committee underscored that as a responsible Nuclear weapon state,
Pakistan has in place a robust and credible command and control
system which has been universally recognized and appreciated.
Pakistan will continue to extend all possible cooperation to the
international community for achieving the common objectives of peace and
stability in Afghanistan and in the broader region.


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Welcome to my website!
I am a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Newcastle University.
School of Mathematics and Statistics
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
My CV is available here.
My research concerns the dynamics of stellar interiors, including the solar interior. My main interests are:
- Transport of angular momentum and magnetic flux across the solar 'tachocline'.
- Hall and electron MHD in neutron stars.
- Superfluidity and superconductivity.
- Chemical transport in stellar interiors by meridional flows and double-diffusive convection.
- Turbulent pumping of magnetic flux by anisotropic compressible convection.
- Dynamo action in laminar and turbulent flows.
- Applications of Lagrangian mechanics to thermodynamics and fluid dynamics.
I am also interested in
- Anomalous, long-range transport of angular momentum by turbulence and wave breaking.
- Instabilities in magnetized shear flows.
- Stellar structure and evolution.
- Thermoelectric effects in crystals.
More information on my research can be found using the links at the top of the page.


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Hi There! Is this Your First Time?
Register and receive FREE access to search tools including the ability to save listings and property searches and have listings sent directly to your email address. Check out our how-to page for more info.
- Price$84,900
- SQ. Feet667
- Built1977
401 9200 Mary Street, Chilliwack
Ideal location for a medical related practice, 3 blocks from Chilliwack General Hospital. Features include pharmacy in building, handicap access (elevator) both onsite and street parking. The immediate area has many apartments and condo units occupied for the most part by seniors, all within easy walking distance. This unit is setup to accommodate a medical practice with waiting area, reception area and 2 exam rooms.
Essential Information
- Price$84,900
- Square Footage667
- Acres0.00
- Year Built1977
- TypeOffice
- StatusACTIVE
Additional Information
- ZoningC2
Community Information
- Address401 9200 Mary Street
- SubdivisionChilliwack W Young-Well
- CityChilliwack
- StateBC
- Zip CodeV2P 4H6
Listing Details
- Listing OfficeCentury 21 Creekside Realty
The data relating to real estate on this web site comes in part from the MLS Reciprocity program of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver or the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. Real estate listings held by participating real estate firms are marked with the MLSR logo and detailed information about the listing includes the name of the listing agent. This representation is based in whole or part on data generated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver or the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy. The materials contained on this page may not be reproduced without the express written consent of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver or the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
Listing information last updated on June 4th, 2020 at 10:03pm PDT.


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Why most conventional portfolios make huge and often unintended bets on the stock market. How role-based investing can lead to a more balanced portfolio.
In this episode you'll learn:
- Why asset class returns and volatility are driven by changing expectations.
- How most investors are making a huge bet in stocks even though they might not be aware of it.
- The benefit and challenges of holding assets that perform well during various economic regimes.
- Why investing in commodity futures is so challenging.
Episode Chronology[0:57] David asks his question for this episode, "Is your portfolio unbalanced?"
[6:39] Changing expectations lead to market volatility
[14:12] Each market segment has inherent biases in various economic environments
[18:40] Don't be in the unenviable position of not receiving returns on your portfolio
[23:07] Why David DOES believe you can identify shifts in the financial market
[25:38] Historical vs. current cash return data
[28:23] The tools David used to evaluate potential returns
[30:14] The historical length of commodity bear and bull markets.
[33:36] David's solution to modern-day investment portfolio challenges
Show Notes
Balanced Asset Allocation: How To Profit In Any Economic Climate by Alex Shahidi
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Click here to get the Insider's Guide with show notes and an Insider only essay sent to you each week by email
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Episode Summary
Having a balanced portfolio is a key to financial success. It offers a secure future and provides a level of security to your day-to-day lifestyle. On this episode of Money For the Rest of Us, David considers the question, "Is your portfolio unbalanced?" A new member of Money For the Rest of Us Plus introduced him to the book Balanced Asset Allocation by Alex Shahidi and it was the inspiration behind this podcast episode.
Four main reasons behind market volatility
Shahidi writes, "The ultimate goal is to capture excess returns over time, with as little risk as possible. The more volatile the return, the greater the risk of capital loss." David explains that there are often unintended consequences of single-track investment strategies and that having too much of your portfolio invested in one asset class is not a good strategy.
Here are three main reasons as to why the market is volatile:
A shift in the economic environment
Shifting risk appetites
A shift in expectations of future cash rates (future path of short-term interest rates)
Every market segment has inherent biases in various economic environments
The key to avoiding market volatility is to hold multiple asset classes. These various types of assets will allow you to benefit in any type of market. For example, slowing economic growth is better for traditional bonds, while accelerating growth is better for stocks. TIPS and commodities do better when inflation is increasing. Even though most investors have a heavy bet on economic growth because of their stock-heavy portfolio, the arguments outlined in Shahidi's book encourage otherwise.
Don't be in the unenviable position of not receiving returns on your portfolio
The single most important takeaway from this episode of Money For the Rest of Us is this: Don't rely on any single asset class to provide financial returns. Shahidi writes, "Own asset classes that are as volatile as stocks, but that perform better in different economic regimes." Shahidi recommends 30% in long-term Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS), 20% in commodities, 30% in long-term bonds, and 20% in stocks. Collectively, this type of portfolio could generate excess returns above cash, although many investors might find the volatility of the underlying segments unsettling.
Why David DOES believe you can identify shifts in the market
Investing will never be 100% predictable, it's the nature of the game. But David does believe, contrary to what Shahidi writes in his book, that you CAN identify shifts in the market. Before a shift occurs there are often red flags that can be identified and researched, even if it takes a dedication to objectively watching market conditions.
Related Episodes
20: How To Allocate Your Assets
30: Are You Sure You're Diversified
217: Rebalancing, Overvaluation, Market Timing and Stock Splits
229: Stop Maximizing Your Returns Using Modern Portfolio Theory
275: Are You Over Diversified?


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Good Shepherd Anglican Church
Home Page
About Us
Who Are We?
Our Clergy
How to Find Us
Contact Us
Church Services
Pictures of our Church
Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh
Our Church Calendar
You have several options to park while attending services at Good Shepherd:
You can park on the street in front of the church if you can find a spot. On Sunday parking is free
You can park in the garage across from the church which is accessible from Chestnut Street - 347 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg, Pa. To use the elevator proceed to the third floor. Bring the ticket with you that you received when you entered the garage and we will give you a second ticket to get you out of the garage when you leave. You will need to insert both tickets to exit. Just ask a church member for a ticket.
There is a small parking lot next to an establishment called Pints - directly in front of the train station that is accessible from 4th Street. 28 4th Street, Harrisburg PA. You can park there on Sunday's for free.
Right Click on map and then click on "open image in a new tab" for a larger map that you can download or print.
© 2008 Good Shepherd Anglican Church.
Created by
. Where Ministry Clicks.


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Inspection Mirrors are ideal for searching
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galvanized steel handles, acrylic convex mirrors, plastic hand grips and
options that include an extra bright flashlight with nine (9) LEDs.
Includes: 12" diameter acrylic mirror, 50" galvanized steel handle with a
plastic grip, heavy-duty swiveling wheel carriage, an extra bright flashlight with nine (9) LEDs, and mounting clips


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Melissa Morbeck
Executive Director
As a leading authority on the subject of domestic abuse and with 18 years of Human Resources expertise, Melissa has launched key charities and programmes of work in the U.S. working with The President's Commission on Domestic Violence. In her role with the Alliance, Melissa has built a robust organisation that is recognised in the UK and worldwide as a leader in employer response to domestic violence and coercive control.
Katrina Hill
Katrina volunteers with the Alliance helping with client relations and support for the Ambassador Roundtable. Katrina has volunteered for the Alliance for over 2 years and brings a wealth of marketing and retail expertise to her volunteering. Katrina worked at the National Theatre as Merchandise Buyer and Deputy Bookshops Manager for nearly 10 years.
The honorary patron & Founder
The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, QC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth
The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, QC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth is the founder and Patron of The Corporate Alliance. She was the former Attorney General and was responsible for Criminal Justice reform whilst Minister of State in the Home Office. She was Chair of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence & helped to drive major change to address domestic violence including the introduction of Business Alliance addressing domestic abuse in the workplace, MARACs, IDVAs and Specialist Domestic Violence Courts. By working across all sectors these programmes have helped to dramatically reduce the number of reported incidents of DV and domestic homicides over the last 10 years.
Follow Patricia Scotland on Twitter
Sandi Toksvig, OBE
Sandi Toksvig is the current Patron of the Corporate Alliance. Sandi is well known to UK audiences as a broadcaster, television host and gender equality benefactor. Sandi was the host of The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4 from 2006 until June 2015. She also presented the quiz show 1001 Things You Should Know on Channel 4 television in 2012–13 and began hosting a revived series of the same channel's classic game show Fifteen to One on 5 April 2014. In 2016 she will take over from Stephen Fry as host of the popular BBC television quiz show QI.
She is joint founder of the Women's Equality Party (established in March 2015), was installed as Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth in October 2012, and is the current president of the Women of the Year Lunch.
You can follow Sandi on Twitter
Board of Trustees
The strength of the Corporate Alliance lies in its members and our Board of Trustees. Their unique passion and commitment to bringing the conversation of the true impact of domestic violence in the workplace to businesses throughout the UK has created change on this issue.
Our trustees share their expertise and knowledge, volunteer their time and corporate offices to strengthen the Corporate Alliance.
Martin Cheeseman OBE
Corporate Alliance – Chair of the Corporate Alliance
Martin has nearly 40 years experience in the housing and social care world. He has recently retired from being a Director of Housing & Community Care in the London Borough of Brent and now runs his own housing and social care consultancy.
Emma Pearmaine
Corporate Alliance – Vice Chair & Family & Legal Services Lead
Emma is the Managing Director of Ridley Hall Solicitors. Being assigned as a Partner and a Head of the Family Law Team in 2010, she was appointed as a Director of Family Legal Services by 2015. Qualified as a mediator in 2011, Emma became a member of the Family Court's Unions Group, and a Trustee for CAADV. In 2014, Emma was awarded "Lawyer of the Year" in the Modern Law Magazine Awards.
Patrick Ryan
Corporate Alliance – Trustee
Patrick joined Hestia as CEO in March 2002 from Centrepoint, where he had managed services, development and statutory income. Since 2002 Hestia has grown from a £4 million West London agency to a pan-London £24 million turnover provider of a range of services, while retaining its focus on its service users.
Patrick has significant governance experience and has been trustee of a number of local, London wide and National agencies. Patrick has chaired a range of provider fora and has also been a co-opted to sit on Local Authority Oversight and Scrutiny committees. Patrick is a UKCP registered psychoanalytic psychotherapist and a NUI graduate.
Cathy Marsh
Corporate Alliance – Trustee
Cathy was first appointed as a trustee of the Corporate Alliance in 2012, and served as Vice Chair between 2014 and 2018. She has recently been appointed as Assistant General Counsel at the Asian Development Bank, a multilateral development organisation headquartered in Manila, the Philippines. Prior to this appointment, Cathy spent 25 years as a lawyer in private practice, focussing primarily on project financing in developing markets.
Jo Tilley-Riley
Corporate Alliance – Trustee
Jo leads the Fundraising, Communications and Policy teams at Hestia. She is an expert in social sector strategy and communications, having led the communications team at Big Society Capital (where she was also founding Chair of Good Finance), worked as a communications consultant to social sector organisations and run a small digital agency that she helped found.
Jo began her career as a fundraiser, working first with the British Red Cross, and then for five years with The Irene Taylor Trust 'Music in Prisons'. She is a Trustee of Pro Bono Economics and was Chair of Relate London SE until 2014. She is a Clore Social Fellow 2015 and as part of her Fellowship was seconded with the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and published research on the impact of home raids on children.
Business leaders championing excellence
Pamela Zaballa
Prevention of Domestic Abuse Director, Hestia
Currently Pamela is working on the launch of UK SAYS NO MORE.
Pamela is Head of Women and Children's Services at Hestia and became passionate about working for women right's while working in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Then she moved to New York and started working with domestic abuse victims in Manhattan Family Court. In the UK, she held several roles as services manager and senior manager for a national provider of domestic abuse services.
Dean Royles
Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust
In 2011 Dean became the first male business champion against domestic violence and is a national ambassador for the Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network and from 2012 to 2014 he was voted the UK's Most Influential HR Practitioner. He was previously Chief Executive of NHS Employers, Director of Workforce and Education at NHS North West and Deputy Director of Workforce for the NHS at the Department of Health.
Our ambassadors
Lorna Gavin
Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Corporate Responsibility
Lorna Gavin is Head of Corporate Responsibility at Gowling WLG. Since 2006, she has been responsible for the firm's community investment programme, environmental agenda as well as working with the firm's HR team. Lorna is a current director of the Corporate Responsibility Group, an ambassador for the Alliance and is a contributor to the Heart of the City programme.
John Liversidge
UK TesSOS Manager
John leads the work of Thames Valley Partnership, TecSOS Project. In 2010, supported by the Vodafone Foundation, John commenced the TecSOS project in the UK. Provided on a not-for-profit basis, the project seeks to provide victims of domestic abuse with a specifically adapted mobile phone to summon help in an emergency. John's role has recently been expanded to cover international markets. John was awarded a Chief Constable's commendation for his work in the field.
Nicola Sharp-Jeffs
CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse
Dr. Nicola Sharp-Jeffs has been working in the violence against women and girls sector since 2006. She is Director of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) and a Research Fellow within the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University. Nicola is an expert in economic abuse (which encompasses financial abuse) as it occurs within the context of domestic violence.
Andie Michael
Department of Health, Head of Voluntary and Community Sector Engagement Team
Andie leads on voluntary sector and social investment policy for the Department of Health. She also leads the Department's Domestic Abuse Support Group for staff. Andie has been a civil servant for over 20 years, working in a number of different Government Departments. She joined the Department of Health five years ago and during that time has worked on choice policy, violence against women and children, troubled families, social investment, social enterprises, the voluntary sector and volunteering.
Deborah Jamieson, OBE
Head of External Relations-Stakeholder, User Insights and Culture Change Lead (DWP/DH Joint Unit)
Deborah Jamieson, OBE, is the Head of External Relations-Stakeholder, User Insights and Culture Change Lead for DWP and DH. Deborah is the former CEO of Eliminate Domestic Violence The Global Foundation and former Trustee for the Alliance. Deborah brings to her role many years of experience developing and managing domestic violence prevention and intervention programmes in both the public and private sector making her well positioned to lead her joint work. Previously, Deborah was Cross Government Head of Health, Work and Wellbeing Strategy Unit.
Lyndsey Dearlove
Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership Manager
Lyndsey has extensive experience in delivering domestic violence training and multi-agency working. Lyndsey is a trained Domestic Abuse Prevention Advocate (DAPA) and holds a qualification in the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assult (Women's Aid) and in the Management of Independent Domestic Violence Advocacy Services (SafeLives). During her time as the manager of the Hillingdon domestic abuse outreach service, she set up a peer support group for survivors of domestic abuse and their family members, with support from Oxford University's peer mentoring programme coordinator. The Butterfly Project now runs groups in five local authorities and in 2014 its volunteers won volunteer of the year awards for their hard work and dedication to the Butterfly Project.
Sara Hamilton
Private Sector Trustee
Sara Hamilton rejoined Morgan Stanley in 2011 as an Operations Officer for the EMEA Legal and Compliance Division. Sara previously worked for Morgan Stanley in Tokyo as a Company Lawyer. Sara previously practised as a Corporate and Company Lawyer in both London and Tokyo.
Heidi Riedel
Director of Woman's Trust
Heidi is the Director of Woman's Trust. She leads the provision of specialist, high quality, accessible services aimed at enabling women to overcome the debilitating mental health effects of domestic violence. Heidi' interests include social exclusion, health inequalities, and effective collaborative working and is committed to the fight to prevent domestic violence and to do whatever is possible to remedy the harm it causes.
Matt Hay
Managing Director – Bulbshare
Matt is a co-founder of Latimer, an award winning, London based social enterprise. Working with global brands and NGO's to grow through audience collaboration. Matt is now Managing Director of Bulbshare.
Torie Robinson
Media Evolution Ltd, Social Media Manager
Tori runs social media accounts and successful marketing campaigns for target markets on multiple platforms. With overseas as well as local clients in wealth management, telecoms & IT, Torie has a passion for effective global communications and long term business relationship development. Having experience in finance, banking, HR, FMCG, travel and charity, Torie mixes energy, communication, intelligence, and a passion for success into each client project. Torie also has a personal passion for improving awareness of mental health and epilepsy; using her social media presence and public communications opportunities to also speak for Mind & Epilepsy Action.
Claire Bethel
Public Sector Advisor
Claire Bethel recently left the Department of Health after many years. In recent years, she had responsibility for policy on the health response to victims of violence including domestic violence, sexual violence, knife crime, harmful traditional practices including FGM, gang-related behaviour and child sexual abuse and exploitation. Having policy responsibility highlighted the importance of domestic abuse in the workplace – as a result, Claire set up and chaired the Department's Domestic Abuse Support Group which raised awareness and provided support for people in the Department who were affected by domestic abuse. She was an ambassador for the Alliance and worked closely with them to promote their work across the public sector.


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Monday, October 19, 2009
More views of Edges in Houston
Posted by Jamie Fingal at 12:55 PM 2 comments:
Labels: Edges, Festival Houston
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Quilt Market book
This is the Quilt Market book - cover - that most of us don't get to see, because we attend Festival
And these pages talk about some of the special exhibits, including "Edges." Desiree Habicht's art quilt "Glass Beach" is featured. Desiree attended Market and brought the catalog to show me.
Posted by Jamie Fingal at 9:38 AM No comments:
Labels: Edges
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Upper Macungie Township
Upper Macungie Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.
The population of Upper Macungie Township was 13,895 at the 2000 census.
Upper Macungie Township is a Second Class Township governed by a Board of Supervisors which is elected at large by the qualified voters of the Township. The Board of Supervisors, elected for terms of six years each, serve both legislative and executive functions. Their responsibilities include: caring for roads and bridges, establishing commissions and authorities, and making building and zoning regulations. The Township Treasurer, appointed by the Board of Supervisors, is in charge of all township monies. Day-to-day operations of the township are carried out by full-time employees. The Public Works Department maintains approximately 110 miles of roads.
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 13,895 people, 5,128 households, and 3,835 families residing in the township. The population density was 204.5/km² (529.5/mi²). There were 5,335 housing units at an average density of 78.5/km² (203.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 92.96% White, 1.18% African American, 0.04% Native American, 4.23% Asian, 0.59% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.69% of the population.
There were 5,128 households out of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the township the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $65,062, and the median income for a family was $74,299. Males had a median income of $52,971 versus $33,490 for females. The per capita income for the township was $28,801. About 2.0% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
South Whitehall Township is best known as the home of Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, a popular area amusement park.
Public education
The Township is served by the Parkland School District.
Sources: Wikipedia, Upper Macungie Township Web Site


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From level[1] to level[2] with R and Google Analytics: ggplot2
I was very excited when the venerable, and occasionally irascible, Tim Wilson asked me to review his excellent post, "Tutorial: From 0 to R with Google Analytics". Why? I feel strongly that R has an important place in the modern analyst's toolkit. Tutorial posts with actual code will help to extend a large number of practitioners' toolkits within the Digital Analytics community.
In this post, I'll pick up on where Tim left off and describe a few useful examples (with code) of how the functionality of R can be extended with ggplot2, a popular R package. I'm not going to go back and explain everything that Tim did in his post; the assumption here is that you went through and executed his script and wound up with a plot that looks something like this:
And a dataframe that looks something like this:
What's Up with ggplot2?
ggplot2 is a flexible, powerful plotting package for R. It is flexible enough that I can use it for both exploratory data analysis and for production-level plots. I've extended Tim's script to be able to generate some plots for a very basic introduction to this extremely useful package. Download it, customize it based on your RGA access, and run it along with this example.
Let's look at the code for the basic line plot from Tim's example:
ggplot2 is a bit more complex. You invoke the plot and define its most basic properties (data source, variables) and then layer in the actual plot itself and its extended properties (which can get very dense). Much like R itself, ggplot has a steep learning curve, but it can be better understood by layering in complexity. Let's build the same chart in ggplot by executing this line:
ggplot(data = gaData, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions))
…which results in nothing! You have invoked the plot object here, but there is not plot generated because there hasn't been a plot type defined. Let's try this:
ggplot(data = gaData, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions)) + geom_line()
There is our first plot using the ggplot2 package! Finally, by adding some lines, we can "clean up" the look of this plot by "layering in" additional elements – in this case we are going to start the y axis at 0 and call the "bw" theme, which is a nice monochromatic theme which typically prints great. You can see that it is easy to organize these layers by adding them on to a previous plot definition chain using a "+". It is a good practice to add each of these directives onto a new line.
ggplot(data = gaData, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions)) + geom_line() + theme_bw() + ylim(0,NA)
With a single line change, we can plot a column (or vertical bar) chart:
ggplot(data = gaData, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions)) + geom_bar(stat = "identity") + theme_bw() + ylim(0,NA)
Or as a scatterplot, in this case looking at users vs. pageviews:
ggplot(data = gaData, mapping = aes(x = users, y = pageviews)) + geom_point() + theme_bw() + ylim(0,NA)
Let's Get Complicated
What happens when we are dealing with multiple-dimensional data? ggplot2 is actually pretty great at handling multi-dimensional data in a dataframe. Let's "complex up" the original data set by adding another dataframe with an additional dimension, Device Category:
gaDataExt <- get_ga(profile.id = viewid, start.date = "7daysAgo", end.date = "yesterday", metrics = c("ga:users", "ga:sessions"," ga:pageviews"), dimensions = c("ga:date","ga:deviceCategory"), sort = NULL, filters = NULL, segment = NULL, sampling.level = NULL, start.index = NULL, max.results = NULL, include.empty.rows = NULL, fetch.by = NULL, ga_token)
With the new data, it is relatively simple to create a multi-line line chart:
ggplot(data = gaDataExt, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions, color = device.category) ) + geom_line() + theme_bw() + ylim(0,NA)
Or a multi-faceted chart:
ggplot(data = gaDataExt, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions) ) + geom_line() + facet_grid(device.category ~ .) + theme_bw() + ylim(0,NA)
Ok, now let's "Lea Pica" this plot a little bit:
ggplot(data = gaData, mapping = aes(x = date, y = sessions, label=sessions)) + geom_bar(stat = 'identity', width = 50000) + geom_text(aes(y = sessions + .2), vjust = 0) + theme_classic() + theme(axis.line = element_line(size = 0)) + theme(axis.ticks = element_line(size = 0)) + theme(axis.ticks.length = unit(0, "cm")) + theme(axis.ticks.margin = unit(-.6, "cm")) + labs(title = "Sessions Peaked Early Last Week", x="Date", y="Total Site Sessions") + ylim(0,NA)
This really only scratches the surface – there are a whole lot of different plot types to explore (think "Tableau-level", not "Excel-level"), with a whole lot of customization. It is a very dense, very complicated piece of software.
Because everything is controlled with R code, an argument could be made that R is the ultimate distributed Business Intelligence visualization and data exploration tool, since R is based on features like replicability, portability, code transparency, and collaboration. I'll explore this idea further when I discuss what is perhaps my favorite R package, dpylr, in the next post in this series.
Suggested Reading
ggplot2 Documentation – Good luck!
The R Graphics Cookbook is the de facto ggplot2 introductory text
The Best ggplot2 Cheat Sheet, courtesy of RStudio
ggplot2's Wikipedia Page – ggplot2 was created by Hadley Wickham, whose contributions to R cannot be understated. He also created and maintains dpylr, which will be the subject of the second post in this series.


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Monday, December 19, 2016
"Person from Porlock" explained
person from Porlock was an unwelcome visitor to Samuel Taylor Coleridge during his composition of the poem Kubla Khan in 1797. Coleridge claimed to have perceived the entire course of the poem in a dream (possibly an opium-induced haze), but was interrupted by this visitor from Porlock while in the process of writing it. Kubla Khan, only 54 lines long, was never completed. Thus "Person from Porlock", "Man from Porlock", or just "Porlock" are literary allusions to unwanted intruders who disrupt inspired creativity. Posted because I encountered the term while reading Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, in which "the title character saves the world, in part by time-travelling from the present day to distract Coleridge from properly remembering his dream; if Coleridge had completed the poem an alien ghost would have 'encoded' certain information within the completed work that would have allowed him to make repairs to his spaceship in the past at the cost of wiping out all life on Earth."
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Romanian Folk Dances – Béla Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
Hungarian Folksongs – Béla Bartók: Hungarian Peasant Songs
Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
The Festival Orchestra does not simply perform Bartók; they live and breathe his music, and now invite audiences to join them for an entire evening of fantastic spiritual richness and deeply honest music.
"Iván Fischer, Márta Sebestyén, Ildikó Komlósi, Krisztián Cser and the likes make being Hungarian in a concert hall akin to being Meryl Streep at the Academy Awards gala. One simply gets used to doors opening, and the audience rising for a standing ovation," wrote a member of the Festival Orchestra's audience, following the 2017 performance of the ensemble in London.
The first part of the evening will be unique and unusual, placing original folk music collected by Bartók side by side with his own compositions. Joining the orchestra on stage for this will be the most authentic partner possible: Márta Sebestyén – whose mother was a student of Zoltán Kodály – will perform these traditional Hungarian folksongs, adding her own personal touch but preserving their original character.
The second part of the concert will not stray too far from folk motifs either, for Bartók – even while composing his only ballad opera – remained deeply interested in folk music. Bluebeard's Castle is the agitated dialogue of a man and a woman, a psychological mystery sweeping the audience away to the deepest reaches of the male soul. This soul is, in many ways, reminiscent of Bartók's lonely personality, prone to melancholy. Critics had this to say of the BFO performance: "The orchestra's performance was brilliant in every colour of the rainbow. Never in my life have I heard this many colours be brought to life. This was matched perfectly by Krisztián Cser's wonderful, velvety bass." This time, Cser will be joined by Ildikó Komlósi who is frequently invited to the greatest theatres of the world, such as Metropolitan Opera of New York, Covent Garden in London, Teatro La Scala in Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin.


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Massive open online courses (MOOCs) require individual learners to be able to self-regulate their learning, determining when and how they engage. However, MOOCs attract a diverse range of learners, each with different motivations and prior experience. We carried out a number of studies investigating self-regulated learning in MOOCs.
One study (Littlejohn et al, 2015) was an empirical investigation of learner motivations and learning strategies in MOOCs. We analysed how learners' motivations for taking a MOOC influenced their behaviour and employment of self-regulated learning strategies. Following a quantitative investigation of the learning behaviours of 788 MOOC participants, follow-up interviews were conducted with 32 learners. The study compares the narrative descriptions of behaviour between learners with self-reported high and low SRL scores. Substantial differences were detected between the self-described learning behaviours of these two groups in five of the sub-processes examined. Substantial differences in learning behaviours were detected between learners who perceived the self-regulation as good or low. Learners' motivations and goals were found to shape how they conceptualised the purpose of the MOOC, which in turn affected their perception of the learning process. A consequence is that learning in MOOCs cannot be fully understood by quantitative learning analytics alone and requires qualitative investigation of cognitive and behavioural commitments of individual learners.
Littlejohn, A., Hood, N, Milligan, C. & Mustain, P. (2015) Learning in MOOCs: Motivations and Self-Regulated Learning in MOOCs, Internet and Higher Education
Another study (Hood et al, 2015) evidences how each learner's current role and context influences their ability to self-regulate their learning in a MOOC. The study compared the self-reported self-regulated learning behaviour between learners from different contexts and with different roles. Significant differences were identified between learners who were working as data professionals or studying towards a higher education degree and other learners in the MOOC. This work provides insight into how an individual's context and role may impact their learning behaviour in MOOCs.
Hood, N, Littlejohn, A. & Milligan, C. (2015) Context Counts: how learners' contexts influence learning in a MOOC, Computers and Education [impact factor 2.059] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131515300683


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All the police recruiting video and websites you see here are produced in-house by an Epic team member, we have a firm grasp on the creative approach. Throughout the recruiting process, a budget is set, timelines are addressed, and deadlines are met. The key is communication between our company and your agency, including Human Resources and IT Departments. Epic Recruiting has been working with police departments for nearly 15 years. Having yet to come across another company that specialize in creating police recruiting videos, website and online strategies.
Understanding that the product we produce is just as important as the process. We want our clients to enjoy the experience, and we pride ourselves on providing both quality and service. As the leading law enforcement recruiting agency, our philosophy has been to always approach every project with patience and flexibility.
Modern, clean, mobile optimized, and designed from the ground up by Epic to do one thing, convert leads into applications. The recruiting website features video and photography gathered in the filed with real officers. A powerful recruiting tool, the website serves the La Habra PD 24/7 – 365, improving the Departments online presence with each and every click.
The Hayward PD website shares with recruits and the community at large the emphasis the Department places on family atmosphere. Optimized for high visibility, the site contains embedded analytic tools to capture information on visitors. This data allows Epic to retarget and track recruits, pushing them content that leads to applications.
The West Covina Police Department website serves as the central Department site as well as it's hub for all recruiting efforts. This Department website is the main point of contact the community has with the Department and reinforces the importance of projecting a positive and well managed brand online.
Although law enforcement recruiting websites can be your 24/7 recruiting machine, Epic can also create traditional recruiting tools. If your agency is looking to attend a job fair or community event, count on Epic Recruiting to create a booth and brochures cohesive with your agencies brand.


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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – A big, family friendly Dinosaur event is going on this weekend. Jurassic Quest is coming to Fair Park.
Walk among "moving, breathing, even WALKING dinosaurs" and experience the Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous periods first hand.
The main exhibit features life-size, ultra-realistic animatronic dinosaurs; Over 50 life-size dinosaurs in all. Visitors can interact with these huge creatures, learn about them and even ride a few.
It features realistic scenes, enormous dinosaurs, cute baby dinosaurs and lots of fun activities for kids of all ages.
There are huge T-Rex and Triceratops fossil digs where young paleontologists can uncover long hidden dinosaurs bones, the "Dino Bounce" area with several, towering, dinosaur theme inflatables, face painting, Dino crafts and much more!
Click here for ticket information.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Stretching Out
I've decided that I want to be able to share some of what I blog with some of my colleagues, but I don't really think that I can send them here because I'd like to maintain a shred of privacy. My solution is that I'm starting a new website, and probably most of my edublogging will be focused over there from now on. I won't completely abandon Full of Bees, because I think I need a place where I can completely let loose, but I'd love it if you would bookmark/subscribe to/comment on my new blog.
You can find it at http://gingersnapping.weebly.com/blog.html – that goes directly to the blog, but I've built and am building other elements of the website as well.
You'll notice that I've imported some of my FoB posts to the new site, but there is also a lot of new material from the end of last school year and the beginning of this one. I think you may particularly enjoy the posts about Beowulf and my end-of-year exam responses… 🙂
Also, I've linked to many of my FoB readers on my "Links" page, but that page has crashed a few times and is still giving me trouble. If you're NOT linked and would like to be, please let me know! I may have just lost your link in between edits/restores.
Canterbury – Part One
I have been – rather deliberately – NOT blogging about work this year. What's there to say? It sucks. They've completely broken our school and won't listen when we try to tell them. The number of people who are looking for a way out…. but I don't want to talk about that.
I'd rather talk about Chaucer. RIVETING, RIGHT?
Except that it is. I was so horrified that I would have to teach The Canterbury Tales this year, now that they've got me teaching juniors and seniors. I remembered "reading" them in high school myself and never wanting anything more to do with them. Blech.
But I'm actually completely falling in love with them (which, of course, is what I do with all of these pieces of literature that I failed to appreciate as a student). Before we began reading, we watched the hilarious (and fairly inappropriate, but hey – Chaucer) Canterbury Tales lecture by Mark Steel. Then we read the Prologue together, using a chart to track characterization for each of the people mentioned.
Afterward, they split into pairs and chose stories. I provided them with a modern English verse translation, very true to the Middle English version, and asked them to read it together and annotate. I warned them that they would be presenting their stories to the class, and I warned them that they'd be having more fun reading than one might ordinarily expect from 14th century literature.
"Mrs. B," said one of my favorite students – a brazen, fearless young lady – "I would just like you to know that I read out loud, and I just read, out loud, the phrase 'He grabbed her by the twat.' In class. To a group of boys."
"Congratulations," replied I.
"Uhm," said a boy, flagging me down with an uncertain expression on his face, "Does this, uh, say what I think it says?"
"What do you think it says?"
"Uh…". His face reddened.
I smiled. "Ah. I see. Probably."
Today, I upped the ante (and hopefully their comprehension) by giving them another version of their stories. This proved to be A LOT of work for me. This summer I'd acquired Peter Ackroyd's prose retelling of The Canterbury Tales from my local floundering Borders store. It's profoundly readable. Or did I mean profanely readable? I'll tell you what – I read paranormal romances, and this book still made me blush. Mostly because you just don't expect to see quite that many f-bombs and c-words in fourteenth century literature. Anyway, I desperately wanted them to read the story in a more approachable format, but I certainly couldn't hand them that, so last night I went through the entire book and ferreted out all of the Big Naughty Words. I used tiny rectangles of Post-It to censor the over-the-top language (yes, I know, I hate censorship too, but seriously, I could NOT hand out packets sprinkled with THAT word!), which involved about six hours of skimming/speed-reading, plus an hour of censoring. Then I came into work very early this morning and photocopied, ooohhhhhhh, the entire book. FAIR USE, beeches!
So to cut to the chase… today I handed out the stories and my kids are rolling in the aisles. The fart jokes, in particular, seem to appeal to their 18-year-old senses of humor. I haven't seen the girl I mentioned earlier yet – she's in my last period class – but I'm eagerly anticipating her exclamations of astonishment as she inevitably puzzles out what words I've cut out…. That class is the one that will really enjoy this version, I think, beyond the flatulence. The morning seniors are a more serious group of kiddos, and more innocent – they undoubtedly missed some of the worst of it. "Innocent" would not describe the afternoon seniors…
For Monday, they'll be putting together approximately 5-minute long presentations to tell their tales. I'm imploring them to do something creative, funny, memorable – something that will keep the rest of the class engaged and entertained, as well as informed. So far, it sounds like I won't be disappointed. I'm not entirely sure how the gorilla suit fits "The Manciple's Tale," but I'm eager to find out on Monday…
The Differences Between Classes
For those who are otherwise unfamiliar with my teaching schedule, we're on block (A day and B day) with four classes a day (for kids; teachers have three classes and one prep). My A-1 and B-4 are very strong, very academic classes. My A-2 and B-2 are very earnest, for the most part, but struggle academically due largely to LEP and attendance. And my A-4 is a schizophrenic nightmare, filled half with National Honor Society kids and half with actual gang-member juvenile delinquents.
Today I started my Midsummer Night's Dream unit, which is my very favorite part of the sophomore curriculum and one that I cling to despite other teachers' insistence of Julius Caesar's superiority. I love the goofiness of it, the dirty jokes, the shocking situations, and the happy, lighthearted way it allows us to end the school year.
And I love the way I teach it. I close my door and lower my voice, and ask my kids if they can keep a secret from the other English teachers. "I love this story so much that, even though it's against the English teacher code of ethics, I really just want to just read it for the joy of reading it and not bother with a big paper or anything. Is that okay with you guys?" Then we prep for each reading assignment by dressing up and acting out the scenes in contemporary English, read, and watch clips from Michael Hoffman's beautiful film adaptation. There are comprehension quizzes here and there to keep the kids honest, but mostly it's a celebration married to some great discussion – and in the end, the kids are maybe just a little bit in love with Shakespeare.
Before I start, I want to point out that we did NOT review anything about the Shakespearean theater or the fact that men played women's parts.
Today, we were talking about the Amazons and their matriarchal society, so that I can layer on additional understanding about the tension between Hippolyta and Theseus (and hopefully clue them in to why knowing "stuff" makes reading more interesting). I've given them a goofy history lesson about chopping off boobs and slaughtering Spartans, and explained the whole "where do they get babies/what do they do with men" situation.
First, let's look at A-1. Sharing a moment of sympathetic pain, my girls are all hugging their chests and my boys are trying manfully not to cup themselves after my cheerful point that "If the Amazons couldn't chop off the man's head, they'd probably have to chop something else off in order to keep them as a slave." I'm giving the children doe eyes and they're loving it.
A boy in the back of the room raises his hand. "Mrs. Bees, is that what happened with the men who had to play female parts in the theater in that time? I mean, didn't they, er, cut that stuff off so that they always had high-pitched voices?"
Okay – wrong. But he's remembed something from last year's Romeo and Juliet unit, and he knows something about opera history and the castratti, and he made an intelligent if wrongheaded connection. This is my A-1.
Now let's look at A-4. After the same conversation, one boy blurts out, "So, if they chopped off their weiners, aren't they a girl now?" The boy next to him says, "No, man, they don't chop your nuts." The girl in the next row wants to know how they pee, and now another boy wants to know what the Amazons did with the unwanted breasts, and whether or not they made them into ashtrays. Weiner Boy is by now holding forth on the idea that Shakespeare made guys play girl parts because he was gay and wanted to mess with little boys offstage.
I wrestle the conversation away from this subject and introduce the character of Nick Bottom and slip in the fact that he is the butt of many jokes in this play. "Okay, guys, so if it's true that in Shakespearean comedy a sword is never just a sword, what do you think about this character's name?"
"He likes to take it in the butt!"
This is my A-4.
Ah, what a difference a few hours can make.
Then again – he did remember that men played female parts!
The Martian Sagas
This turned out to be a much longer post than I'd intended; if you want to get to tonight's mini-drama, you can skip down to the line "Tonight, her family came to conferences."
One of my students is a Martian.
We call them Martians because we don't know what else to call them. You surely know the kids. They're not from here. Their minds are just… somewhere else.
Tina (as I'll call her) isn't one of those weird bright kids who defies the mold – far from it. She's not unmotivated. She's not ELL, and despite my repeated efforts to have someone investigate it, she's not SpEd. She's cheerful and sweet and and Lord save me if I can't imagine any life for her that doesn't involve ankle-length skirts and milking cows.
Tina walked into my tenth grade universe toting in fourth-grade level books (all horses and doggies and hoop skirts) expecting to have them approved for our independent reading projects, and when I gently steered her toward more age-appropriate offerings, it became clear that her comprehension was poor. Then I had her write, and that's when I realized what a Martian she truly was. This girl might walk and talk in our English-speaking world, but there was something dreadfully wrong going on upstairs with the language-processing bits.
At the beginning of the year, I contacted the SpEd English teacher and Tina's counselor, asking them to please test her to see if she could get some help or tutoring. I don't know why, exactly, but they stonewalled me. Tina had received good grades in the past – effort and smiles will get you pretty far, I guess – and so she didn't qualify without going through an intensive RTI process. I was adviced to change her seat in the hopes that this would magically improve her literacy. You can imagine my satisfaction with that response.
After our first writing assignment, I sent the following email to our SpEd English teacher and the appropriate counselor:
Thanks for your reply and for the clarification referring RTI….I'm not certain how changing her seat, etc., will help her become more literate, but I am already making accommodations where possible regarding personal book selection (she is picking books at a 4th or 5th grade reading level, and says she struggles with them).
I knew that she was below grade level in reading/writing, but it was this most recent assignment that really drew my attention. We read – as a class, with LOTS of discussion/explanation – the play Antigone. It's not a tough piece. Then I gave each student a quotation from the play, asked them to interpret/translate that quote into modern English, and explain the context of that quote in the play. Next, they needed to evaluate whether the quotation was still relevant (which I explained to them) in modern society, and provide examples. This was written into a one-paragraph, formulaic essay – basically they just needed to follow my step-by-step instructions and fill in the blanks with their own thoughts.
Here is the complete text of Tina's essay:
On page 207, line 581 – 582 of Antigone, Haemon says man's wisdom is a gift of heaven, the greatest gift of all. What this quote means is to have wisdom in the way of a gift. It has to deal with Antigone by her getting a greatest gift given to her. There was no truth in this statement because she didn't like but hanging herself. There was also no advice to it. I would have to say that it may be relevant today but not sure how it would be relevant. Why I think it's a yes would be because wisdom is a gift, and but then no because wisdom was not a gift for Antigone.
To shorten a longer story, they didn't care – her grades were okay, so Tina was okay -actual concerned teacher intervention be damned.
Little did I know that this woefully inadequate bit of writing would prove one of Tina's better examples of literacy. Let's just say it's been a long year for her. She struggled valiantly through To Kill a Mockingbird and Ender's Game, failing miserably on all assessments, doing decent projects, doing literary responses that proved that she'd looked at the pretty pictures on the covers and tried her best to glean meaning from in-class discussions.
She tries real hard and is a joy to have in class. Tina never fails to turn in an assignment, but they might as well be in Martian-ese for all the more they approximate what a tenth grade student ought to be capable of doing. (To be perfectly clear, her written work and reading comprehension is below the level of that I'm getting from my very most challenged ELL students.)
Tonight, her family came to conferences. Mom, older brother, and two younger sisters, all as peculiarly elfin as Tina – and then Dad, who is likely related to Paul Bunyan. The siblings fanned out through the room, Dad crushed my hand in a handshake, and Mom took a seat across from me with a suspicious twist to her mouth.
I went through the usual rigamarole, explaining Tina's Q3 grade (a C, which is what you get when your teacher doesn't give credit for nice personalities but grades you as if you had serious accommodations, which is what I do since the school won't do it for her) and mapping out the rest of the year. I talked about our testing "boot camp" that we'll do after spring break, and about Tina's current test scores (not passing, of course).
That's about the time that Mom launched into me.
This is getting lengthy, so I'll spare the play-by-play, but apparently she felt that as a parent she needed to notify me that I was demanding far too much of my students and that it was out of line. I could not expect a student to read an in-class book and an independent novel. If I was going to do so, I absolutely should never ask them to do any of the in-class reading at home. And – worst of all – I was making her child read books she didn't like to read!
Although she didn't say the words, "how dare you," they were very clearly insinuated.
I pulled on my professional hat, thanked her for her feedback, and did my best to explain that A) I tried to expose students to many different types of books so that it would broaden their horizons; B) students had plenty of in-class time to read, and that I really couldn't offer any more – in fact, with the last book, I deliberately made sure they didn't have any out-of-class independent reading to do; C) at the sophomore level, you really needed to be able to handle multiple texts at the same time, and D) the idea that I forced any books on my students, other than TKAM and EG, is so far from reality that it's almost insulting. I tried to draw Tina in, to hold her accountable for whatever goofy interpretation of my class she'd presented to her parents, but she just blushed and ducked her head.
On the inside, though, I was seething. It wasn't that I was angry at the mom; her baby duck was being threatened with her first real "bump in the road" and she was just trying to protect her. And I can certainly deal with criticism.
It's just that it was so unfair. My class isn't too hard. It's completely appropriate, completely on-par with the others. The problem doesn't lie with my class; it lies with Tina – and I just wanted to tell her this, tell her that the reason Tina was struggling was that Tina was not smart enough somehow to deal with sophomore content, that Tina had functional literacy issues that I couldn't begin to know how to address, and that the school was refusing to consider services.
But I couldn't find the words to tell angry elf mama and Paul Bunyan that their perfect daughter needed special education services, and so I tried to convey my point, they blustered, I told them their daughter was a joy to have in class, and they left.
Amusing visual for the evening: Tina – who might weigh seventy pounds soaking wet and who is almost certainly under five feet tall – has given up running for track/field and is instead doing discus and shot put.
I haven't posted in a long time despite the fact that there's been a lot going on. I feel entirely overwhelmed when I try to imagine catching y'all up, but I can't seem to bring myself to just skip over all of it. So I've come up with a bit of a compromise: I'll review the "highlights" from the past several weeks – in haiku form. Enjoy.
No more collective
bargaining! Evil union
members ruin schools.
Although merit pay's
proven disastrous elsewhere,
let's give it a shot!
Lay off teachers! Buy
unneeded laptops! Send cash
to school chief's cronies!
Can states be evil?
Or perhaps this state is just
criminally dumb.
Don't cry, kiddo. It's
hard to leave, but fresh starts are
priceless. We'll miss you…
Sobbing math teacher
thinks mean teachers are to blame.
Have we the same kid?
Fine – come unannounced,
first class, human chess day, and
ding my transitions. 😛
You feel teachers are
fat cat lazy union thugs.
I feel you're hellbound.
What I can say? Would
you listen if I told you
how you break my heart?
One, two, three a week?
Stop calling me a teacher;
I'm now a meeter!
Wait – I have only
fifteen days for test prep and
Midsummer? Aaa-aaaaaaahhhh!
Yes, "aaa-aaaaaaahhhh" is two syllables (at a minimum).
Lewd and Clueless
I have a lot of more serious posts to write, assuming I ever get around to it, but before I can do that I have to share something TAR-worthy.
We're doing that thing (I'm sure it has a name) where you have an inner circle and an outer circle, and they pair up and discuss something, and then one circle rotates until they find a new partner, and then they discuss a new topic or more on the first… What in the blue blazes is that called, anyway? Whatever it is, it works very well…
Anyway, we're doing that thing, which means that kids are sitting on the floor. And this kiddo in particular – we can call him Larry if you'd like – has taken the opportunity to roll up his pants legs to mid-calf. I can't resist comment.
ME: Are you trying to persuade your partner by showing off a little leg?
LARRY: Ha – yeah, I think that'll work.
ME: Rocking the man-capris today, I see.
LARRY: Yep. You know it.
ME: Is that the new fashion trend for spring? Man-capris? [To Larry's female discussion partner] I think he might ought to shave first, though.
LARRY: No way. [Rubs the leg hair on his calves.] This is my manhood here.
ME: [Blinking; heroically keeping a straight face.] That's your manhood?
LARRY: Yep.
[Girls are giggling. Larry is oblivious. A couple of his guy friends look over, smirking, probably wondering whether it would be funnier to clue him in or watch him dig himself into a hole.]
FEMALE STUDENT: That's a little disturbing.
LARRY: Okay, fine. I'll put my manhood away.
[Much dissolving into giggles.]
ME: Did you really just say that?
LARRY: What?
ME: I'm going to have to write that one down. Dear Diary. Today, one of my students said 'I'll put my manhood away.'
LARRY: Huh? Ohhhh!!!!!!
Nurse sent out an email this morning warning us that there are a lot of kids getting sent home sick with flu-like symptoms, and advising us to scrub our desks and whatnot.
Found out in our department meeting today that we have a confirmed case of – get this – scarlet fever in the school, and a probable case of H1N1 amongst the faculty.
And about second period today, I began to get that hot-behind-the-eyes, abruptly-lost-ability-to-type-or-spell, scratchy-but-not-yet-painful-throat feeling that I know all too well. Here's hoping that this germ is related to the last one I had like this, and will work its way out of my system in 24 hours… I have a class tomorrow and a long anticipated day trip on Sunday. No time for germs!


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(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden defended President Barack Obama on Sunday, saying the president was only stating "the obvious" in his "hot mic" moment with the Russian president earlier this week.
"The idea that in this election year we're going to be able to deal with an agreement with the Russians on further reducing our nuclear arsenals ... is difficult," Biden said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
At a nuclear summit in South Korea, Obama could be heard asking Dmitry Medvedev for some "space" on the missile defense system in Europe, telling the Russian president he will have more "flexibility" after the November election.
"This is my last election," Obama said. "After my election I have more flexibility."
In response, Medvedev said he would pass on the information to the incoming prime minister and former president, Vladimir Putin.
Republicans quickly seized on Obama's comment as an opportunity to criticize the president for politicizing foreign policy decisions.
Biden, however, said Sunday that Obama was referring to the challenge of making substantive foreign policy decisions in the heated political climate of an election.
"We're not going to have the flexibility to sit down and talk with people in this Congress that are going to be able to listen and be able to work with us - probably between now and Election Day," Biden said.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee also came to Obama's defense on Sunday.
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the president's private conversation was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Politics, a lot of things happen in politics. People are trying to get elected," Ruppersberger told CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. "I'm not going to make a judgment (on) what he said. I have confidence in the president and that he is going to do the right thing to protect our country 100%."
Watch State of the Union with Candy Crowley Sundays at 9am ET. For the latest from State of the Union click here.
These repubs are just looking for any glimmer of hope to feed to their rabid right wing zealots. Its like feeding fresh meet to a hungry tiger, they care if the meet is poison or not. Why should the repubs take this and make it a offensive situation towards the Russians when it wasn't necessary. Oh I forgot, rationality have no place in the rabid right party.
Mittens' open mic gaffe is worse. To label Russia our number one enemy when we are fighting a war against al Qaeda, pretty much gives Mittens the Sarah Palin stupidity award this campaign.
President Obama does not need defending. Those with brains know he was talking about the constant
obstructionism carried on by the Teapublicans. Those who have nothing of substance to say, will
jump on anything and criticize the President.
Strength over weakness = Obama over any Teapublican.
Spin it anyway you want, we who heard.... know what "flexibility" means, and will not forget when we are in the voting booth.
Just compare this to all the stupid things the last president said (and did), when he knew the mic was on. Anyone who votes for republicans this election is just beyond stupid, and has no memory. The republicans have destroyed the economy, the poor, and are now waging a war on women. Obama has done a great job, considering the mess he inherited.
This stuff happens all the time in politics. The drama queen's on the right criticizing Obama are like the boy who cried wolf. When all you do is gripe and complain and say the President is wrong on every issue and whatever he says is wrong too, most people turn you out because you are not unbiased. What probably eats these people up is when Obama does do something or says something that they agree with they lash out publicly, but inside say good job. It is sad that they cannot give him credit for anything.
So just what has Obama gotten from the Russians in the last 3 years? He unilaterally cancelled the missile defense plans with Poland. Russia doesn't support any of our foreign policy goals. Their blocking action on Syria, builiding a nuke plant for Iran. And here Obama is practically bending one knee to kiss their ring. At this point I don't trust Obama OR the Russians.
Cue the phony poutrage from the rightwing hatemonkeys in 4,3,2,1.......
And, BTW, President Obama didn't say anything every President in the last 100 years wouldn't also acknowledge. Big deals do not go down in elections years. It's kinda Politics 101 for those who missed it.
I'm so glad Obama is keeping this buffoon on the ticket.
Sorry, I can't help think that things would have been better off without Biden addressing the issue. The lame excuses from both of them make them look even weaker than before.
The Republicans will take any comment and turn it against you. This is nothing new and has been going on for longer than I care to remember. Truth and factual statements are not part of their plans. Just take things out of context or believe the latest rumor and then the GOP will use that material to their advantage and your disadvantage.
Mitt commenting here is really rich! Mitt is the KING OF BACK ROOM DEALS and clueless on all Foreign Policy.
Geneva passed a US-sponsored resolution on human rights violations in Sri Lanka. That was big win for Obama administration; India supported this resolution, getting India. Support was huge victory for US it was shocking development in the world
Did local media talk about this? NO
Did republicans talk about this? NO
That's how real world leaders talk to each other. the fact that the repugs reacted so badly to it just proves again that none of them is ready to be a world leader.
I trust President Obama, he alwsys works for America and its people.
Who wouldn't need space to focus on domestic issues in an election year?
GOP is simply out of touch with reality.


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|The Tillingham River?
We are loving our time in Rye...if we could find the right house we'd live here. We marvel at the ancient town, the architecture, the history, cobbled streets, leaded windows, delightful walks along the river Rother, with Maisie our dog dashing from one side to the other of the raised walkway. On this day we'd walked up Rye Hill to the cemetery, to hunt for distant relatives. Walking through, and back down the hill we came across this view of what I believe is the River Tillingham, winding its way through the valley...having reached the bottom I looked back and saw the stately oak tree.
|Outside Rye