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The court's unanimous ruling is great reading. Here are some highlights all South Dakotans—who vandalized their Constitution with a same-sex marriage ban in 2006—should read:
On the homosexual plaintiffs... also known as neighbors and fellow citizens:
This lawsuit is a civil rights action by twelve individuals who reside in six communities across Iowa. Like most Iowans, they are responsible, caring, and productive individuals. They maintain important jobs, or are retired, and are contributing, benevolent members of their communities. They include a nurse, business manager, insurance analyst, bank agent, stay-at-home parent, church organist and piano teacher, museum director, federal employee, social worker, teacher, and two retired teachers. Like many Iowans, some have children and others hope to have children. Some are foster parents. Like all Iowans, they prize their liberties and live within the borders of this state with the expectation that their rights will be maintained and protected—a belief embraced by our state motto ["Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"].
Despite the commonality shared with other Iowans, the twelve plaintiffs are different from most in one way. They are sexually and romantically attracted to members of their own sex. The twelve plaintiffs comprise six same-sex couples who live in committed relationships. Each maintains a hope of getting married one day, an aspiration shared by many throughout Iowa [p. 7].
What do same-sex couples want?
They seek to declare the marriage statute unconstitutional so they can obtain the array of benefits of marriage enjoyed by heterosexual couples, protect themselves and their children, and demonstrate to one another and to society their mutual commitment [p. 9].
Can't those darn homosexuals just keep their relationships private and not bother the state for a marriage license?
This [district court] record included an explanation by some of the plaintiffs of the disadvantages and fears they face each day due to the inability to obtain a civil marriage in Iowa. These disadvantages and problems include the legal inability to make many life and death decisions affecting their partner, including decisions related to health care, burial arrangements, autopsy, and disposition of remains following death. Various plaintiffs told of the inability to share in their partners' state-provided health insurance, public employee pension benefits, and many private-employer-provided benefits and protections. They also explained how several tax benefits are denied. Adoption proceedings are also more cumbersome and expensive for unmarried partners. Other obstacles presented by the inability to enter into a civil marriage include numerous nongovernmental benefits of marriage that are so common in daily life they often go unnoticed, such as something so simple as spousal health club memberships. Yet, perhaps the ultimate disadvantage expressed in the testimony of the plaintiffs is the inability to obtain for themselves and for their children the personal and public affirmation that accompanies marriage [p. 9].
And what interests could the state, through Polk County, muster to justify such disadvantages?
- promoting procreation
- promoting child-rearing by a mother and father
- promoting stability in an opposite-sex relationship
- conserving state resources
- promoting the concept and integrity of the traditional notion of marriage [p. 10]
The Court declares bogus the arguments for a state interest in banning same-sex marriage:
Maintaining traditional marriage:
...A specific tradition sought to be maintained cannot be an important governmental objective for equal protection purposes, however, when the tradition is nothing more than the historical classification currently expressed in the statute being challenged. When a certain tradition is used as both the governmental objective and the classification to further that objective, the equal protection analysis is transformed into the circular question of whether the classification accomplishes the governmental objective, which objective is to maintain the classification. In other words, the equal protection clause is converted into a " 'barren form of words' " when " 'discrimination . . . is made an end in itself' " [p. 53].
Promotion of optimal environment to raise children:
...The civil marriage statute is under-inclusive because it does not exclude from marriage other groups of parents—such as child abusers, sexual predators, parents neglecting to provide child support, and violent felons—that are undeniably less than optimal parents [p. 56]....Promotion of procreation:
...The ban on same-sex marriage is substantially over-inclusive because not all same-sex couples choose to raise children. Yet, the marriage statute denies civil marriage to all gay and lesbian people in order to discourage the limited number of same-sex couples who desire to raise children [p. 57]...
...Quite obviously, the statute does not prohibit same-sex couples from raising children. Same-sex couples currently raise children in Iowa, even while being excluded from civil marriage, and such couples will undoubtedly continue to do so. Recognition of this under-inclusion puts in perspective just how minimally the same-sex marriage ban actually advances the purported legislative goal [p. 57].
...[T]he sole conceivable avenue by which exclusion of gay and lesbian people from civil marriage could promote more procreation is if the unavailability of civil marriage for same-sex partners caused homosexual individuals to "become" heterosexual in order to procreate within the present traditional institution of civil marriage. The briefs, the record, our research, and common sense do not suggest such an outcome [p.59].
Promoting stability in opposite-sex relationships:
We must evaluate whether excluding gay and lesbian people from civil marriage encourages stability in opposite-sex relationships. The County offers no reasons that it does, and we can find none [p. 61].
Conservation of resources:
Excluding any group from civil marriage—African-Americans, illegitimates, aliens, even red-haired individuals—would conserve state resources in an equally "rational" way. Yet, such classifications so obviously offend our society's collective sense of equality that courts have not hesitated to provide added protections against such inequalities [p. 61].... Indeed, under the County's logic, more state resources would be conserved by excluding groups more numerous than Iowa's estimated 5800 same-sex couples (for example, persons marrying for a second or subsequent time) [p. 62].
The Court even takes a couple pages to discuss an issue the County was smart enough not to mention—religious opposition to same-sex marriage (this is really important; bold emphases are mine):
Whether expressly or impliedly, much of society rejects same-sex marriage due to sincere, deeply ingrained—even fundamental—religious belief.
Yet, such views are not the only religious views of marriage. As demonstrated by amicus groups, other equally sincere groups and people in Iowa and around the nation have strong religious views that yield the opposite conclusion.
This contrast of opinions in our society largely explains the absence of any religion-based rationale to test the constitutionality of Iowa's same-sex marriage ban. Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring government avoids them.... The statute at issue in this case does not prescribe a definition of marriage for religious institutions. Instead, the statute declares, "Marriage is a civil contract" and then regulates that civil contract.... Thus, in pursuing our task in this case, we proceed as civil judges, far removed from the theological debate of religious clerics, and focus only on the concept of civil marriage and the state licensing system that identifies a limited class of persons entitled to secular rights and benefits associated with civil marriage [pp. 64–65].
...As a result, civil marriage must be judged under our constitutional standards of equal protection and not under religious doctrines or the religious views of individuals. This approach does not disrespect or denigrate the religious views of many Iowans who may strongly believe in marriage as a dual-gender union, but considers, as we must, only the constitutional rights of all people, as expressed by the promise of equal protection for all. We are not permitted to do less and would damage our constitution immeasurably by trying to do more.
In the final analysis, we give respect to the views of all Iowans on the issue of same-sex marriage—religious or otherwise—by giving respect to our constitutional principles. These principles require that the state recognize both opposite-sex and same-sex civil marriage. [p. 66].
You're going to hear arguments (some might say pernicious lies) to the contrary, but the Iowa Supreme Court is making clear that they are defending religious liberty. And to that, religionists of all stripes should say Hallelujah and Amen.
By the way, anyone thinking the Iowa Supreme Court would uphold unequal protection under the law should have considered the Court's history:
In the first reported case of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Iowa... we refused to treat a human being as property to enforce a contract for slavery and held our laws must extend equal protection to persons of all races and conditions. This decision was seventeen years before the United States Supreme Court infamously decided Dred Scott v. Sandford, which upheld the rights of a slave owner to treat a person as property. Similarly...[in 1868 and 1873] we struck blows to the concept of segregation long before the United States Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Iowa was also the first state in the nation to admit a woman to the practice of law, doing so in 1869. Her admission occurred three years before the United States Supreme Court affirmed the State of Illinois' decision to deny women admission to the practice of law..., and twenty-five years before the United States Supreme Court affirmed the refusal of the Commonwealth of Virginia to admit women into the practice of law.... In each of those instances, our state approached a fork in the road toward fulfillment of our constitution's ideals and reaffirmed the "absolute equality of all" persons before the law as "the very foundation principle of our government" [pp. 17–18].


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Promoter extraordinaire George Washington Kendall was born on December 29, 1881. As a young man he trained as both an ice hockey player and an amateur wrestler. It would be wrestling that stuck though, as he excelled in the amateur ranks of Montreal, Canada. Moving onto the professional level at the turn of the 20th century it wouldn't take him long to make a name for himself when on October 24, 1902, under the name of George Kennedy, he defeated Max Wiley for a version of the Lightweight Championship. I would assume it was a local version or it could possibly have been the Canadian version.
Roughly six months later Kennedy would drop that title to Eugene Tremblay. By no means was this a negative though. Kennedy, seeing the obvious potential in Tremblay, would retire from wrestling and take up as the manager/trainer for Tremblay as well as looking at getting into the promoting side of the business. The story goes Kennedy and Tremblay went to work for the Farmer Burns syndicate of wrestlers and toured the Midwest for them. George acted as a travelling trainer, publicist, and helping to relay messages to other promoters within the syndicate across towns.
A better teacher to the inner-workings of the business could not be asked for than Martin 'Farmer' Burns. Not only was Burns a famed wrestler, he also appears to have been the main promoter for much of the late 1800's and early 1900's through-out the Midwest. Kennedy quickly absorbed all the knowledge that he could, and by 1905 had acquired a business partner and established their own athletic organization up in Montreal, his hometown. They named it the Canadian Athletic Club.
When you're from Montreal it's pretty much a given that you can speak French. And it was Kennedy's bilingual abilities that really became one of his biggest assets. They allowed him to make strong connections in the surrounding Canadian areas. They also opened the doors to him traveling over to Europe where he could recruit talent. He'd be responsible for bringing some of the biggest names over to America from the continent including Constant La Marin and Raoul de Rouen. With them and others under his contract he could maintain strong talent trading relations with other promoters in America whose audiences loved seeing the foreign wrestlers go up against their homegrown heroes.
George Kennedy was not just a sensation in the realms of wrestling though. Boxing matches would find their way onto Kennedy's cards by 1908 and he'd continue to promote them reigniting interest in the sport that was still banned in the province of Quebec and many other areas. With his business ventures all just continuously increasing, it was wrestling that was still getting even more profitable for him. The landscape was changing in 1909 and new blood in the form of eager promoters were coming on the block. Together with four other promoters and Jack Curley heading up the operation, a new syndicate was born. With Kennedy's influence overseas and in Canada mixed with Curley's connections on the East Coast there was no stopping this new group of promoters.
They quickly edged out the old Burns trust and moved their way to the forefront of the North American wrestling scene. While all of this was going on Kennedy also had his eye on getting an ice hockey team. After much plotting and conniving he managed to get his hands on the Canadiens. Under the control of Kennedy there would be some controversy when non-French members were added to the team, but for the most part they had some of their most lucrative and successful years with him guiding them from the helm as both owner and manager. Something he would do until his death.
Over the course of the next several years up until around 1914 everything ran smoothly for Kennedy in all aspects. He ran regular shows from Sohmer Park in Montreal, something he'd done for years by this point. Connections with America stayed good and the trust known as the Empire Athletic Association would rule the wrestling world with not much contest from any other promoters. Things would start to crumble a little for the trust when World War I broke out in 1914 and relations with promoters over in Europe were obviously severed leaving a gap in the once rich talent pool. The trust dissolved shortly after, but all the promoters involved still had good relationships. Eventually others worked their way in as well, most notably the Stecher's, Joe and Tony, and Gene Melady, creating connections with the already established promoters.
With the wrestling scene going through some what of a quiet spell due to the on-going war, once again Kennedy decided to focus on further establishing his legacy within the Canadian ice hockey world. He and several other members of the National Hockey Association got together and decided it was time for a change. They worked together to eventually create the National Hockey League which would dominate over Canada from November of 1917.
When business started to pick back up slowly, still nowhere near what it had been before though, Kennedy was struck with illness in the form of Spanish Influenza. Today we may think, "so what?" but back then it was a major problem. Over 3% of the world's population fell victim and died due to it. There would be no quit in Kennedy and he continued to attempt to promote, manage, and live his normal routines for at least two years after first contracting it.
As you would expect business did drop for him and it was clear his mind was not completely focused on the projects at hand, which is very forgivable given the circumstances. He kept plowing forward, refusing to slow down, and in March of 1921 he attended a meeting with over fifty major names from all aspects of the wrestling business. Together they implemented minor changes to the rules of wrestling, a small glimpse at what would be about to happen the following year. Unfortunately George Kennedy passed away in October 1921 finally succumbing to the Influenza.
For the next hundred years Montreal would remain a constant hotbed of professional wrestling. There had been wrestling there before Kennedy, but it was minuscule in comparison and irregular. Once Kennedy was through with it any promoter that spent time in charge of a promotion based out of the French speaking city had George Kennedy to thank for it being an extremely generous money making area whether it was in wrestling or boxing and, well, his name will just simply never be forgotten in the annuals of ice hockey. It's a real shame that he is not more well known in terms of wrestling. George Kendall Washington was easily one of the most important promoters in all of North American wrestling during the opening years of the 20th century.

subset: commoncrawl


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I have learned more about myself, about my Savior, and about this gospel, in the last 5 days, than I have in my ENTIRE life.
My soul has done a total 360 and I already feel like a brand new person.
My third day here was one that has changed me forever and for good.
It started off as the greatest day yet, we had amazing classes, amazing personal study, amazing food, the works. I was SO HAPPY! I was o excited!!
And then zone class came, and I felt on top of the world, totally ready for it.
The few days before this I was cramming gospel doctrine in my brain so fast and hard. I was exhausted but happy. (emphasis on exhausted)
So we start to practice, and I was trying so hard to teach the discussion to my companion, but I have been having a super hard time trying to get my words out, I always go blank on what I am suppose to say. During that class, my goal was to say everything that was within that pamphlet.
The Spirit was not diggin that.
All of a sudden, I started to cry, I was SO frustrated because my companion, and everyone around me is so good at teaching the Gospel and here I am and I can't even get the words out of my mouth.
I felt like I had ZERO control of my emotions. This lasted a little while that day, and I was soooo embarrassed because I had no idea why I couldn't speak.
But the next day, I got my answer.
I was sitting In class doing personal study and I realized, I wasn't doing it right! The Lord didn't give me the gift to recite text. I remembered some of my patriarchal blessing and realized, I need to teach, the way I know how, and that is through the spirit. That is through my investigator, and what THEY need.
I felt so humbled, and at the same time, so empowered.
I realized my strengths.
I realized my weaknesses.
This place is AMAZING.
Also, lets chat about my companion. Sister Nash is the greatest blessing I have received here at the MTC. She is so AMAZING!! And she is going to NH with meeee!!!! aaahhh I just love her so much.
The day after we got here, Sister Nash and I were made ZONE LEADERS! Its the greatest blessing, I have learned so much from it!
The food here at the MTC is the greatest, but Sis. Nash and I are OBSESSED with their wraps and soup and salad. SO GOOD.
I now know why everyone says make it to Sunday.
Through the whole week you are constantly learning how to serve others, which is AMAZING.
Sundays though, they are for you.
We watched the Character of Christ by Elder David A Bednar.
It was like getting spiritually punched in the face, but in the BEST way.
This is something that I didn't know, that has for reals changed me.
While Jesus Christ was on the cross, suffering more than is humanly possible, enduring excruciating pain, he, being the ultimate example of love and service, and always turning outward, while we all turn inward, sent the COMFORTING ANGEL to his friend John the Baptist who was in jail at that time.
That struck something in me, that I will NEVER forget.
Out of all the things I have learned, felt,and experienced this week, the ONE thing that I hold most dear to my heart, Is my merciful Redeemer, even Jesus Christ.
HE IS OUR PURPOSE. To bring others to Christ.
I am so grateful for this experience and everything I am learning, and will continue to learn.
Love you all!!
Sister Lewis
p.s. for no specific reason I am going to put my MTC address on here. No reason at all...
Sister Rebekah Lewis
2007 N 900 E Unit 82
Provo UT 84602


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Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday Brunch: Greek Frittata
I wouldn't call this a classic Greek Frittata, like to one Jen over at Domestic Divas has shared or my partner in crime at NoReEATS, Carole, made. Something chock full of tomatoes, onions feta and some sort of greens. Basically a Greek salad in a frittata. Sounds delicious, right? I'm sure both versions are and I plan to try them at some point soon, either for dinner or brunch. But my take is inspired by a different Greek dish, one of my faves, Moussaka. While I was cooking up the filling from my Stuffed Baby Eggplants I knew I had too much veal, so I chopped up some extra potatoes and if I had extra eggplant I would have added that too and cooked it all up, cooked up the extra beef and tossed it all together and saved the filling I had leftover for this yummy frittata.
Greek Frittata
serves 2 -3
printable recipe
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley - chopped
1 Tbsp butter
approx 1/2 cup of leftover Baby Eggplant filling
1/4 cup crumbled Greek feta
sea salt & black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Whisk together the eggs, milk, parsley, salt & pepper. Heat an 8" non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is heated so that water beads when dropped in the pan. Lower the heat to medium low and coat the with butter, all along the bottom and sides of the pan.
2. Add the egg mixture to the heated pan. As is cooks periodically pull the cooked sides away from the pan to let some of the uncooked egg mixture redistribute and flow to the sides of the pan.
3. After a few minutes, once bottom of the eggs have set, evenly spread the the meat mixture in a single layer. Let it cook for a few more minutes, until the egg mixture is cooked 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle the feta crumbles on top and place in the oven.
4. Let cook for 10 mins or until the eggs are cooked all the way through and maybe even start to brown a bit. Remove pan from oven and carefully transfer the frittata to a cutting board. Cover with a foil tent and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. Once the frittata has rested, cut into halves or thirds and serve with a Greek salad.
I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but I love frittatas for leftovers. I'm so happy I made sure to have extra filing for this one. It a really easy way to get those flavors that were so good from one dish or meal into another. They are so easy too and come together in under 30 minutes and much like a pizza can be made with whatever you have on hand.
Do you have a favorite filling for frittata or omelet that make sure to make extra of or keep on had for an easy brekkie?
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All natural over 83 lb and 14 dress sizes weight-loss:
Before: 225 lb / size 16
After: 142 lb / size 2
I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to God for giving me the perseverance, and to my family, my boyfriend, and friends, who believed in me, provided encouragement, and unceasing faith and support during my journey and every step of the way help me live my dream.
This website and my company " Esse Libere FItness – Free To Be Fit" is a realization of 15 years of training; weight loss and weight gain, self-loathing, workout trials, and finally realization the void could not be substituted by a random class, workout, or diet. The answer is a healthy lifestyle and attitude. Everyone talks about it but few were able to realize it in their everyday life – life outside the gym.
That said, I am a proud mother of a wonderful 8-year old boy. I gained 85lb during pregnancy and the weight never came of. I had to workout and follow a healthy nutritional diet to loose the wight and keep it off. Finally, in 201 I decided to compete in the OCB Eastern Regional Competition in April 2011, and placed 2nd in the Fitness Model class. It was a big achievement and also a realization of how I would like to pursue my life's dreams. After competing, I made my decision – I decided to take the next step and get certified. The reason is, that throughout my quest for personal achievement I realized that there is still a huge confusion between training facts and methodologies. Along with an overall relentless dissatisfaction in one's physical image, a promise of a magical diet pill and a miracle short workout that will change you forever. Dependence on appetite suppressants and energy boosters were very prominent; also frustrations about eating at home with the family were clear as day. The truth is that these issues are just coming up in fitness magazines, the lifestyle changes that have to be done to prevent ones body from going into overdrive are not always considered (no matter if you are trying to gain mass for a competition, loose weight for a wedding or for health reasons). Determined to figure it out, I enrolled and successfully completed the following certification programs/trainings:
- Personal Trainer (ISSA)
- TRX Group Training Instructor License (TRX)
- CrossFit L1 (CROSSFIT)
- RKC Russian Kettlebell Trainer L1(RKC)
- Tactical Combat Training L1 Instructor (TACFIT)
- Ultimate Sandbag Trainer Certification (L.I.F.T)
- Kickboxing II Trainer Certification (ISCA)
- Boxing Trainer Certification (ISCA)
- ZUMBA L1 license (Zumba)
- Aerial Yoga Teacher Certification (Aircat)
- 200 HR RYT certification through YogaFit
- Pilates Mat L1 (Power Pilates)
- Pilates Equipment Beginner/Intermediate L1 (Power Pilates)
- Pilates Equipment Intermediate/Advanced L2 (Power Pilates)
- Reki L1 practitioner
That said, this website is a resource based on the industry research, coworkers and mentors advice, and my personal experience. It is based on a training methodology approach that I developed and successfully implemented. The methodology yields results and prevents a life of deprivation and over-training and also provides the necessary tools of practicing a healthy lifestyle outside gym. It is based on training utilizing a program that provide continuous ways to challenge our bodies along with a long-term sustainable lifestyle changes that bring vitality, strength, and vigor. Moreover, the personalization component of the approach allows EVERYONES training cycle to grow and mature while providing results that a clients was looking for but could never find.
Specifically, the tiered program design methodology consists of three inter-depended metabolic response triggers that make up the Metabolic Trigger Response Workout (MTRW®) with a continuous focus on: Flexibility & Balance, Agility & Endurance, Strength & Overload to keep clients stimulated while they achieve new levels of fitness and reach their goals. This approach is designed to continuously prevent body adaptation to training by implementing functional progressive exercises and incrementally increasing workout challenges; thus, providing continuous results, ongoing improvements, preventing plateaus, and helping anyone reach their goals.
Please feel free to browse Metabolic Training Workouts Routine library blog and Peak Optimal Performance (POP) Nutrition recipes so you too can reach your dream goal. Here you will find workouts to help you loose weight, build lean muscle, tone up for a vacation; as well as information on how to improve your flexibility through stretching, muscle flow exercises, and yoga/aerial yoga routines; and of course no health lifestyle is complete without healthy nutrition and delicious recipes – ALL FOR FREE and accessible anywhere on you PC, MAC, iPOD, Kindle.


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Diabetes, Healthcare, Meds
Rob Howe's Over-The-Counter T1D Challenge
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Photography Classes in Dover MN
Are you looking to learn about photography in Dover MN? No matter if you are a hobbyist, professional, or beginner, the best way to improve your photography abilities is through hands-on training with skilled instructors.
Minnesota features numerous accredited and recognized photography schools. Techniques taught in photography classes include lighting techniques, digital capture, outdoor photography, exposure, composition, and many other basic and advanced camera techniques. Being a skilled photographer can result in a prosperous professional career or lifelong hobby.
There are many Photography Classes in Dover MN:
- Dover Photography 101
- Dover Digital Photography Classes
- Dover Nature Photography Classes
- Dover Editorial Photography Classes
- Dover Studio Photography Classes
Dover MN Photography Classes
Rochester Community and Technical College
851 30th Ave SE
Rochester, Minnesota 55904-4999
Phone: (507) 285-7210
14.05 miles away


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These ideas and gifts say "Happy Retirement!" with creativity and enthusiasm. Since many of us are retiring younger, these gift ideas are geared towards a fun, fresh start in life.
If your retiree is hesitant about retirement, remind her that the world is full of amazing things to do besides work. Retirement is a gift that asks to be used wisely and spent freely.
"I enjoy waking up and not having to go to work. So I do it three or four times a day," said Gene Perret. Wouldn't this saying on a t-shirt, hoodie, or ball cap be a fun way to kick off retirement?
The Happy Retirement gifts in this post will encourage your retiree to leap wildly into the next stage of life with joy and abandonment. I also included several quotes about retiring, which you can include in the Happy Retirement card or speech. Oh look! Here's one now: "Today was my first day at my new job. I had to break up two fistfights, then leave work early with a black eye. This is not what I had in mind when I applied to work at a retirement home."
Happy Retirement Gifts for Coworkers or Family
The better you know your retiree, the easier it'll be to find the best retirement gift. For instance, if you know a happy retirement involves road trips, consider giving a gift that has to do with RV retirement and travel.
I also sprinkled several Happy Retirement quotes among these gift ideas, to help with the happy retirement celebration.
A Group Gift of a Plane, Train, or Cruise ticket
Can you and your coworkers or family pool your money, and surprise your retiree with a Big Trip or a Weekend Getaway? A Happy Retirement cruise or weekend might be just the ticket. Organizing an actual cruise or holiday can be difficult because of the logistics; a gift certificate for a plane ticket or a cruise voucher might be more practical.
The Classic Retirement Watch
Remember when happy retirements involved getting a watch from your company or employer? Your retiree might remember those days, even if you don't :-)
A lovely pocket watch is a traditional retirement gift idea, but it's also incredibly ironic because retirees no longer need to watch or punch the clock! A Charles-Hubert, Paris 3953-W Classic Collection Mechanical Hand Wind Pocket Watch is a beautiful gift for happy retirees, especially if they're thrilled they no longer have to punch a time clock.
"A gold watch is the most appropriate gift for retirement, as its recipients have given up so many of their golden hours in a lifetime of service." ~ Harry Mahtar.
A Happy Retirement Clock
The "Whatever" Desk Clock for Happy Retirees is a fun version of the traditional retirement watch. Who cares what time it is, now that you're retired? Happy Retirement!
Oh yes, and here's an ironic quote about giving a watch as a happy retirement gift: "When a man retires and time is no longer a matter of urgent importance, his colleagues generally present him with a watch." – R.C. Sherriff.
Happy Retirement T-Shirt
A "I'm Retired You're Not. Have Fun at Work Tomorrow" T-Shirt is a fun gift for a coworker or family member who is excited to retire.
Another funny retirement t-shirt is the one that says "RETIRED. I worked my whole life for this shirt.
Here's a great quote for early retirees: "Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples." – George Burns.
And a cute quip about going to a retirement home, from an 11 year old: Today, I sang at a retirement home with my school choir. Afterward we went to speak to the old people, just to get to know them a little. The first woman I shook hands with asked me, "Are you a boy or a girl?"
A Tower of "Happy Retirement" Treats
A Broadway Basketeers Towering Heights Gift Tower is filled with vanilla caramel kisses, chocolate chip cookies, butterscotch candies, caramel popcorn, yogurt pretzels, honey roasted cashews, salted caramel cookies, butter toffee peanuts, almond roca and more.
Gift baskets are one of my all-time favorite gifts to receive – and retirement is the perfect occasion to give a tower of delicious delicacies. Why? Because your retiree can happily enjoy every single gift in this tower all by herself. No sharesies!
A Retirement Coffee Mug
A Pavilion Mark My Words Retirement Mug that says, "Retirement…it's your time to enjoy what you've been working so hard for" is a lovely way to send off a coworker or family member.
If your happy retiree doesn't like to sit around and drink coffee, get her a Stainless Steel Travel Coffee Mug that says, "Retired – Now I'm the Boss." This is an especially good Happy Retirement gift for retirees who plan to travel after they punch the clock for the last time.
"If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up." – Tommy Bolt.
A health-related gift
If your happy retiree has recently had an operation on his back, heart, hip, or knee, read Post Surgery Gift Ideas to Help With Recovery and Healing. You'll find a huge variety of gift ideas in that article, which are specifically picked to help people who are recovering from a recent surgery. On a related note, I also wrote an article describing the most thoughtful mastectomy gift ideas for women after breast cancer surgery.
Do you have absolutely no idea what to give as a Happy Retirement gift? Ask your happy retiree's partner for gift ideas. He or she might have a better idea of how to make retirement smoothly and easily, and give you both practical and whimsical tips.
Gourmet Gift Sauces
For some people, a happy retirement is being able to experiment with new recipes and dishes. For others, retirement means no more stints in the kitchen!
The Zombie Cajun Hot Sauce Gourmet Gifts Basket Set include four 6 oz bottles of Louisiana season sauces:Garlic, Jalapeno, Habanero, and Cayenne Pepper. This is a perfect gift for retirees who want to take it easy in the kitchen, or retirees who want to learn how to cook.
A Dr Seuss Book for Obsolete Children
You're Only Old Once: A Book for Obsolete Children by Dr Seuss is an awesome "bookend" retirement gift idea, because Oh the Places You'll Go! is the gift most often given to high school and college graduates.
You're Only Old Once is the perfect gift for happy retirees who have a sense of humor – and who are kids at heart.
If your happy retiree is elderly, read 15 Creative Gift Ideas for Elderly People Who Have Everything.
Inspiration to have a happy retirement
"Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow." – Douglas Pagels."Retire from work, but not from life." – M.K. Soni.
If your happy retiree is a teacher, read my Teacher Appreciation Ideas.
What do you think of these Happy Retirement gifts, quotes, and ideas? Comments welcome below…
May you find the perfect retirement gift, and may the retirement party and plans be smooth and easy.


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This months theme is definitely appropriate. The weather is finally feeling warmer and brighter which generally makes things feel happier for me. Of course we are in England and the weather is never really certain. We were sent another box of fun craft supplies from Bostik and this month I came up with an idea. I originally wanted a weather …Read More »
Tag Archives: glue
Early Learning Centre Valentines Art Challenge
We have been challenged by Early Learning Centre to get creative all in the name of Valentines Day! And we haven't had long to do it. They provided us with the tools to let the girls imaginations run wild.I get a little stressed when it comes to getting our craft box out. Mess makes me anxious. However, this time I …Read More »
Furniture Choice Create Your Own Christmas Card Competition
I've said it over and over again that P1 is rather arty. So am I, that's why we have a ginormous art box. So it was really exciting when Furniture Choice contacted me about their Create Your Own Christmas Card competition to win a Stompa bed and they kindly sent us a fantastic array of crafty Christmas bits to help …Read More »


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The 3D CAD Design for 3D Printing workshops are designed to help expand and strengthen your knowledge and confidence with utilizing 3D CAD software for 3D printing projects. Proficient knowledge of basic use of 3D CAD software allows anyone to create innovative 3D printing activities. The variety of 3D CAD Design workshops focus on basic software functions, part development/design strategies for optimal 3D printing, and suggestive methods to measure progress in learning how to solve technical problems using 3D CAD design software. These workshops will provide you with the skills you need to create cutting-edge learning opportunities for your students.
3D CAD Design Professional Development Workshops
Autodesk Inventor Level I focuses on the basic fundamentals of how to utilize the software. Throughout the workshop you will learn how to navigate through the software and the process for part modeling. We will discuss teaching techniques while going through a variety of exercises. We will also introduce how to create project to organize related files, drafting prints and a variety of ways to gauge a students progress.
Autodesk Inventor Level II introduces some more complex capabilities of 3D CAD software and creates much more opportunities for educators to create their own cirricula. Throughout the workshop we will learn how to digitally assemble parts together for conceptual and stress-analysis purposes. We will also learn the process of creating multi-part assembly instructions including pictorial presentation, written instructions, and creating part lists.


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This is it! The first carve of the season! I have no willpower so when I saw pumpkins for sale at the grocery store I picked one up. I probably let it sit a little too long but I was able to carve it up just fine.
The crop this year:
Carve #1 – Sleepy Kitty.


text: Glad to have you gals check in and let us know you are all fine. Nancy, I had no idea those little things like parking and glass bottles could start a fire, that is amazing. I am heading to Atlanta in August and am expecting to be really hot, but since my furnace was on last week, I may actually enjoy it!


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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Safely back home...
When we joined her in Recovery, she was awake and coherent (mostly, lol). But the moment we knew she was recovering well was when we saw this...
hahahaha! ;-) Texting away with her E.T. phone home finger (pulsox). Lol!
Once we were moved into her room, her friends came to visit, and later that evening Shiloh (my middle daughter). We had a full house in that little room. Bethany was surrounded by her friends and family, and very, very well cared for by the wonderful staff at Phoenix Children's Hospital. I stayed the night with her, and was impressed by the care and attention that was given to my daughter.
On a nutritional note (haha, cuz you knew that was coming!), I was very pleased with the choices offered by the hospital. They have a huge cafeteria setup with a LOT of healthy and healthier options, then for the patients, it's done as "room service". Here's the menu...
On the back there's a fun little visual for kids to learn about how to eat healthy (which I thought was very cool). Bethany got to make her own choices (with mom's approval), and Mom was thrilled with the nutrition offered. I had my cooler. During the day, I had sandwiches (whole grain with steak for Bill and chicken for me), and apples. Later I had greek yogurt with protein powder and blueberries, dinner was a steak wrap and a grapefruit. For breakfast I had my usual oatmeal with protein powder, ground flax & cinnamon with blackberries. I used one of the plastic cups in the room and just added hot water. For my own convenience I was glad I had my cooler, but it was nice to learn that I didn't have to have it - that clean options were available.
That's my update. Again, HUGE thanks to you!!! Your well wishes meant so much to Bill, Bethany and I throughout this time! Thank you!!
5 comments:
Yipee! Here's to having your precious, healthy kiddo back! Just wait till you see her running around like crazy. :) What fun!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 29, 2012 at 9:42 AM
Glad everyone is back home and Bethany is on the mend!ReplyDelete
I'm so happy that Bethany's surgery was a success, and that you are all home as a family now, to support her through recovery. Lol... ET finger and the cell phone... you gotta love it!!!! We are all praying for you and your family over at the ECD, Chelle... thank you for sharing your personal story with us, it's so refreshing to see someone who uses NO excuses in eating healthy. I love that about you... pack that cooler and GOOOOO!!!!! Have a blessed Sunday and praying for a speedy recover for your daughter! ~KymberlyReplyDelete
stumbled onto your blog and just wanted to show some blog luv! def enjoyed this post! happy everything went ok!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 31, 2012 at 9:45 AM
So glad to hear that everything went well and everyone is home!ReplyDelete


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In looking at Karen Jilly's paintings, prints, and drawings of the past 25 years, I am reminded of the way that paintings by the 19th century British painter J.M.W. Turner so perfectly capture the spirit of the mysterious and powerful forces of a turbulent sea. In Jilly's art, a similar energy is made visible, only her subject is the turn-of-the-millennium urban landscape, the product of technological advances of the industrial revolution.During the last decade of the 20th century, Jilly focused her attention on the changing landscape of Los Angeles, with bodies of work devoted to areas of the Pacific Coast Highway that had become overpopulated with forests of telephone poles and wires, and underpasses of intersecting freeways, where an elaborate latticework of pillars and scaffolding intermingle with lumber piles and overturned hazard cones. In Jilly's hands, these typically overlooked environments are transformed into spaces of mysterious intrigue or sublime beauty. In paintings, such as Pacific Coast Highway V (1991), Jilly portrays a strip of land that borders the Pacific Ocean as the antithesis of stereotypical depictions of the coastline as tranquil and idyllic. Instead, she shows us a highly charged view of growth and change, where the natural landscape has been overtaken by the mechanics of the telephone system and the air and sky are breathing smog. Rather than respond negatively to the situation, as many would be prone to do, Jilly expresses a sense of awe and wonder over environmental change in action, applying thick, turbulent brushstrokes and contrasting the dark sooty blacks of poles and wires with the rich luminosity of a smoggy atmospheric haze.From a philosophical standpoint, Jilly's art is one that inspires us to reflect upon the cycles of past, present, and future, and the larger questions surrounding the very nature of being. In her numerous renderings of the freeway underpasses, she transforms rarely visited spaces into arenas for navigation that become metaphors for life's journey. In City of Angels VI (1991), architectural details have been obscured in the favor of dark swirling brushwork, turning the area into a haunting cave, with overturned cones signaling that we might approach with caution. Nevertheless, a light in the distance harkens us to enter. Metaphorically, the painting is like life itself. Although we may not know what lies ahead, we must go for the gold and get on board. Similar ideas are at work in Infinite January I (1998), where Jilly has used vigorous drawing to bring such vitality to a dead sunflower, a symbol for humanity, such that the imagery raises provocative questions about life after death. In Wash, Trip, Crash, Soar (2005), the artist's selective vantage point transforms an industrial structure into a cathedral-like edifice, whose central focus is the light visible through its center. In a manner that recalls the format of another 19th century painter, Caspar David Friedrich, the space of the painting is directional. As our eyes move from the material structures of the foreground to the ephemeral atmosphere in the distance, we are reminded that life is indeed transitory, it is but a beautiful moment along the continuum of space and time.
David S. Rubin
David S. Rubin is an independent curator, writer, and artist. He has been active in contemporary art for 40 years and has held curatorial posts at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; MOCA Cleveland; Phoenix Art Museum; and the San Antonio Museum of Art.


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Below is a photograph of the completed plaque for the Form of 1999. The plaque is being dedicated on May 31, 2014 and hangs in the Middle Dining Hall of Coit (The Upper) above the panels that contain the names of all the members of the Form of 1999. Below the photo is the description of the elements incorporated in the plaque design.
The central element of the Form of 1999 plaque represents the changes in St. Paul's School leadership during the form's four years, with a book for each of the leaders. Labels on the spines identify them: "X" for the Tenth Rector David Verne Hicks, "I" for Interim Rector Clifford J. Gillespie, and "XI" for Eleventh Rector Craig B. Anderson. The bookends with their inkwells and quills commemorate the beginning of the Schlesinger Writer-in-Residence program. The upper left corner features a volleyball/arrow/women's symbol, representing the New England division title wins for the girls' volleyball and cross country teams. The "G" on the computer key in the upper right refers to the incorporation of Google in 1998. The bottom left corner represents the fire in the Drury dorm in March 1999. At the lower right, a rainbow flag with the letters "GSA" marks the founding of the Gay Straight Alliance, inspired by the Chapel speech of Dustin Brauneck '99.


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The RVT: Divalicious – Thursday 3rd August
Last Thursday the great, the good and the very glamorous of the cabaret scene were at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern for a very special night.
Divalicious was a fundraiser for Cancer is a Drag held in memory of the late great Vanilla Lush who died recently. Hosted by Doctor Woof this was a night of emotional tributes but also of brilliant entertainment with the likes of Tanya Hyde, Martha D'Arthur, Mrs Moore, Miss Penny, Vicki Vivacious, Craiger Bell, Diane Horan Hill, Vanity Nightmare and many more all giving their services for free. In the end over £1600 was raised for Cancer is a Drag and more than that it was a fantastic night, that Vanilla would have loved.


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ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at email@example.com.
- Duman, Tolga M
- 1 Akis, Richard
- 1 Arizona State University
- 1 Huang, Liang
- 1 Lai, Ying-Cheng
- 1 Yang, Rui
- 1 English
- 1 Public
- Engineering
- Graphene
- 1 Applied mathematics
- 1 Complex Network
- 1 Compressive Sensing
- 1 Electron Transport
- 1 Physics
- more
- 1 Quantum Dot
- 1 System Reconstruction
- Mobile Crowd Sensing in Edge Computing Environment
- The Effect of Disability on Subjective Well-Being across the Adult Lifespan: The Moderating Roles of Age at Disability Onset and Disability Type
- Mechanically Active Heterogeneous Polymer Matrix Composites
- Attribute-Based Encryption for Fine-Grained Access Control over Sensitive Data
- 并购背景下教育行业品牌价值研究
Complex dynamical systems consisting interacting dynamical units are ubiquitous in nature and society. Predicting and reconstructing nonlinear dynamics of units and the complex interacting networks among them serves the base for the understanding of a variety of collective dynamical phenomena. I present a general method to address the two outstanding problems as a whole based solely on time-series measurements. The method is implemented by incorporating compressive sensing approach that enables an accurate reconstruction of complex dynamical systems in terms of both nodal equations that determines the self-dynamics of units and detailed coupling patterns among units. The representative advantages of the …
- Contributors
- Yang, Rui, Lai, Ying-Cheng, Duman, Tolga M, et al.
- Created Date
- 2012


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The BK Buzz is a blog and podcast dedicated to telling audio stories about Brooklyn and the people who live, work, and play here. The Buzz is all about finding the stories that you haven't heard elsewhere and the things that you wouldn't expect to find anywhere else; things that are uniquely Brooklyn, the crazier the better. The stories at The BK Buzz are told through sounds and voices because we at The Buzz believe that hearing a story is one of the most exciting and imagination-motivating ways to discover something new. We hope you will agree.
We are always looking for interesting events, places, and people to attend, visit, and meet, so if you know of someone or something that we should cover, please don't hesitate to drop us a line at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Thanks for visiting The BK Buzz, we hope you will visit often or at least subscribe to our podcast, you can find it in the iTunes Music Store, stream it through Stitcher Smart Radio, or just copy the URL of this feed into your favorite RSS reader or podcatcher. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and add us to your circle on Google+.
If you have any sounds of Brooklyn you'd like to share with us, feel free to upload them to our SoundCloud page!
Find out more about the people behind The BK Buzz!


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Strokes often get mistaken as "just a normal part of aging." It's true that the risk of stroke increases as you age, but it does not necessarily mean that strokes are an unavoidable part of your golden years.
"Up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented, which is huge," says Carolyn Brockington, MD, neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital. "You do that by identifying your own risk factors and changing them or modifying them appropriately."
Modifiable Risk Factors for Stroke
Most of the time, stroke is influenced by lifestyle factors. "We go after things we can change," says Dr. Brockington.
Hypertension: High blood pressure "is the number one reason why people have heart disease and stroke," says Dr. Brockington. "If you have [high] blood pressure, treat it." Risk factors for high blood pressure include a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and a high-sodium diet.
Diabetes: A lesser-known effect of diabetes is its destructive effect on the blood vessels, which can increase the risk of stroke. Additionally, high BP is common among people with diabetes. Here are other complications of diabetes to know about.
High cholesterol: Too much LDL cholesterol in the blood can cause a plaque buildup in the arteries, leading to a condition called atherosclerosis. This means the arteries are hardening, narrowing, and becoming less flexible, and this increases the risk of both heart attack and stroke.
Heart disease: Heart disease often goes hand-in-hand with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but it may also involve valve defects and atrial fibrillation. In fact, AFib causes one in four strokes in people over the age of 80, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Smoking: Cigarette smoking causes atherosclerosis in the neck artery that transports blood to the brain. It also raises blood pressure, inhibits the amount of oxygen your blood can carry, makes your blood more likely to clot, and promotes the formation of brain aneurysms. For these reasons, smoking doubles your risk of an ischemic stroke and quadruples your risk of hemorrhagic stroke, according to NINDS. Learn the difference between ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes here.
Obesity: A higher BMI is statistically associated with high BP, diabetes, and heart disease. Even losing just 10 pounds can lower your risk of stroke and several other conditions.
Non-Modifiable Risk Factors for Stroke
There are some stroke risk factors that are less in your control. These non-modifiable risk factors may increase your risk of stroke:
Age: Starting at age 55, the risk of stroke doubles each decade, according to the National Stroke Association (NSA). With that said, young people can and do have strokes, too.
Gender: Women have more strokes than men do each year, partially because they live longer. Learn more about stroke risk in women here.
Family history of stroke: If a parent, grandparent, or sibling has had a stroke or heart attack, your risk is also higher. This can be for a number of reasons, such as similar lifestyles or a genetic predisposition to hypertension or diabetes.
Race and ethnicity: Stroke risk among African Americans and Hispanics is twice that of white Americans, according to NINDS. This is partially due to an increased prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Another unique risk factor among African Americans is sickle cell disease, which can narrow the arteries and lead to a stroke.
Inherited medical conditions: Disorders affecting the blood, heart, or arteries can impact blood flow in different ways. For example, a patent foramen ovale—a small hole in the heart—affects one in five Americans and increases the risk of stroke, according to NSA.
What's important to remember is that having any or all of the above risk factors does not leave you "doomed" for stroke. You can still manage your risk by living a heart-healthy lifestyle and treating medical conditions that increase your risk of stroke.
What to Do to Prevent a Stroke
"In order to try to prevent a stroke, the move that anybody can do is to talk to [their] doctor and go over what their personal risk factors are," says Dr. Brockington. Then you can discuss with your doctor about the best way to reduce your stroke risk. "Sometimes it's just diet, sometimes it's exercise, [and] sometimes it's all those things plus medication."
This should go without saying, but if you have hypertension, high cholesterol, or any of the other conditions mentioned above, treat it. Even small reductions in blood pressure numbers can make a difference: In a study of nearly 960,000 people, the risk of stroke doubled for every 20 mm Hg of systolic and 10 mm Hg of diastolic BP.
Another tool in stroke prevention is aspirin. "Aspirin is what we call an antiplatelet medicine," says Dr. Brockington. "If you cut yourself now, all these platelets have to sort of clump or come together in order to create the clot. Aspirin doesn't allow them to clump as effectively. It doesn't mean that you can't clot at all, but it means that your bleeding time probably is a little off."
Doctors may prescribe aspirin to reduce the risk of stroke over your lifetime. That said, do *not* take aspirin during a stroke—it may make your stroke outcome worse.
Other options include surgery to open up the carotid artery (the main neck artery leading to the brain). This surgery, called carotid endarterectomy, can help improve blood flow to the brain.
"We want people everywhere to be able to identify what their own personal risk factors are because it's key in reducing the chance of stroke in the future," says Dr. Brockington.


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A couple weeks ago Oleg Tinkov gave an interview to Bloomberg news. Oleg was his usual talkative self, addressing a number of topics, but primarily focused on the effect sanctions were having on the Russian economy. He made it clear that the current crisis could effect Tinkoff-Saxo.
"If you push us [the Russians], eventually 80 people in Europe will lose their job because of the sanction"
It is interesting that Tinkov chooses to focus on the sanctions as the cause for Russia's troubles. Certainly they have had some effect but they are far from the primary cause. The multiple rounds of sanctions have been in place for over 6 months and have dented Russia's economy but the current Russian currency and banking crisis is driven by the rapid drop in the price of oil.
Lack of diversity in Russia's economy has been a concern of economists for years. Oil and Gas account for close to 20% of GDP and over 50% of the Federal budget. Mining accounts for 11% of GDP. As commodity prices climbed many producing countries have become dependent on this flood of cash. 8 years ago Russia only needed oil to be at $21.40 a barrel to balance their budget. By 2015 Russia's breakeven number had grown to $107 per barrel. Today oil is trading at $49 a barrel. With such a huge deficit it is easy to understand why it is oil, not sanctions, that are at the root of the current crisis.
In his interview with Bloomberg Tinkov also went after Germany, the primary driver of EU sanctions.
"Forget about Germans, they are nobody……….Who cares about Germany?"
This was followed by rather rambling attempt to diminish Germany while positioning Russia as an equal of China and the US. An interesting position given Germany's GDP in 2015 will be double Russia's and Merkel has been the de facto leader of the EU for several years.
Credit Crunch
The crisis in Russia has hit credit card companies, like Tinkoff, especially hard. One of the first casualties was Trust Bank….home of the Bruce Willis Credit card.
Tinkoff Credit Systems stock has been hammered in recent months. One year ago it traded at $15.49 a share, today it was down to $2.70. This has resulted in Tinkov seeing a significant portion of his paper wealth erased, but he is far from poor. His 51% holdings in TCS are still worth $250,000,000.
It is important to note that Tinkov is not an Oligarch, he is a self made man. When economists talk about Russia's need to diversify their economy it is entrepreneurs like Tinkov they point to as role models. Beer, advertising, banking, electronics, frozen food, his reach is broad. Tinkov is in the business of starting, building, and selling companies…..a formula that benefits from sponsoring a cycling team.
While sponsoring the Tinkoff-Saxo Cycling team may help sell credit cards in Russia there is the added benefit of promoting Tinkov, and his personal brand, in the West. This exposure helped Tinkoff Credit Systems have a successful IPO and it helps when it comes time to sell one of his many holdings to a multinational, as he has done several times in the last decade.
Shortly after his interview with Bloomberg Tinkoff-Saxo went into damage control, telling Velonews
"We are confident that everything is OK. We are going ahead with our plans for 2015, and 2016," Feltrin said. "Of course, we are carefully monitoring everything that is happening."
Tinkoff is not the only team threaten by the economic situation in Russia. Katusha, and the Russian cycling Federation, have significant exposure to the crisis. It has not been a good year for some of their key supporters
Sberbank– Stock down 70%. Target of international sanctions. Suspended providing car loans and mortgages, warning of a major crisis
Vnesheconombank–Received a $505 million infusion of cash from the government.
One of the more interesting sponsors of the Russian Federation, and on the board of Katusha, is Sergey Chemezov.
CEO of Rostec, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Cycling Federation, friend of Putin…….and target of EU sanctions. EU assets frozen and banned from travel with the Union.
In a recent interview Igor Makarov, President of the Russia Fed and owner of Katusha, detailed the significant amounts his oil and gas company puts into cycling.
"most of the costs covered by "Itera". This is about EUR 50 million per year – an amount which manages the All-Russian project to develop cycling with all its teams."
$60,000,000 a year. For cycling teams. No wonder Makarov wants results. He has made it clear that his continued investment is not guaranteed. He wants results
"A lot depends on the season of 2015, and a decision on applying for license renewal in the World Tour will be made on the basis of the performance of "Katusha" in the first half of 2015. The same answer I can give to "Rusvelo."
Makarov also indicated that the burden of supporting Russian cycling should not rest with Itera alone
"Such a financial burden to bear one Russian company can not. So I can not predict what will happen in 2016."
Given the chaos surrounding some of the team's sponsors it is understandable that Katusha gave public assurances that the team would continue, telling Velonews
"Of course, the ruble crisis affects all Russian companies and citizens, but the team [received] the signal from the sponsors that the budget and future of the team are guaranteed,"
What about Kazakhstan?
Russia is not the only cycling supporting country with exposure to the drop in the price of oil. Kazakhstan, home of Astana, also derives a large percentage of their GDP (25%) from oil however at $67 per barrel Kazakhstan's breakeven price is much lower then Russia's. Recently Kazakhstan's President assured the public they were prepared for oil to go as low as $40 a barrel. While public assurances are nice it is hard to ignore the fiasco that is Kazakhstan's largest oil field.
You may have seen this logo on the arm of Astana's Jerseys
They are the key source of funding for the Astana team, but who are they? Samruk is Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund, the recipient of the Oil and Gas revenues that make of a large potion of the countries GDP. Samruk owns most of the important companies in the Kazakhstan, including the national rail and postal service, the state oil and gas company KazMunayGas, the state uranium company Kazatomprom, Air Astana, and numerous financial groups.
With the significant drop in revenue from oil and gas, the fiasco of the Kashagan Field, and the hassle of a UCI audit few would question if Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund refocused their investment away from a cycling team. Regardless of the direction expect riders to get more letters, like those sent to Kessiakoff and Nibali
What's next?
Cycling has a long history of teams collapsing due to sponsor financial trouble. Mercury-Viatel, Le-Groupment, McCartney. Will we see similar collapses again this year? Likely not….but the days of spending $60,000,000 a year for a hobby are over. Some Russian Billionaires are already exiting their sports related holdings. Today it was announced that Mikhail Prokhorov is exploring the sale of Brooklyn Nets and Russia's National Hockey league is in serious trouble. Hopefully not a sign of things to coming in cycling.


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Sat, 22 February 2014
Jim and the Other Guy comes to you LIVE from Fleet Feet Sports in Rancho Cucamonga where Jim and Coach Bob learn some great shoe fitting tips from store owner Dave Armijo. The two also answer audience questions and add in some training tips of their own. A informative show that comes with a "little" comic relief. ENJOY!
Direct download: Fleet_Feet.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 7:58pm PDT
Adding comments is not available at this time.


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Now I'm no risotto purist, but this came out as well as any stove-top stir-a-thon risotto that we've tried to make before - the grain's stocky and tender, the zucchini flavour spread deliciously throughout and the salty fake bacon strips adding a bit of texture on top. The whole dish was maybe a little on the salty side, but that's probably down to our lazy powdered stock as much as anything else. For an easy and delicious pile of comfort food, this is a weeknight winner.
Baked zucchini and bacon risotto
(a vegged up version of Technicolor Kitchen's recipe)
2 cups arborio rice
5 cups vegie stock
60g butter
500g zucchini, chopped into little half-moons
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper
145g soy bacon rashers
Preheat the oven to around 200 degrees.
Mix together the rice, stock, butter and zucchini in a baking dish, cover and bake for around half an hour. The risotto mix comes out of the oven quite liquidy, but thickens up pretty quickly once the cheese is stirred in and it starts to cool a tiny bit.
Add the parmesan, salt, pepper and parsley and stir for a few minutes until everything starts to thicken up.
While the risotto is cooking fry up some thinly sliced strips of fake bacon to drape artistically across the clumps of risotto you dish up.


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Video: Ty Segall - "The Singer"
Watch Ty summon the ghosts of his bandmates.
Ty Segall's great new record Manipulator is out now, and we're psyched that he's just shared a charmingly paranormal video for album highlight "The Singer," directed by his frequent video collaborator Matt Yoka. Starring Segall in fabulous red pants as he summons the ghosts of his bandmates in a messy basement, it's a perfectly complimentary watch. Check it out.


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In July 2017 we successfully gained ClubMark re-accreditation for the third time. This was the first time through our Community Sports Partnership Adviser and using the Sport England on line system!
Following excellent feedback we accepted an opportunity to help film a short endorsement for the online process.
To see the video please click here.
Further details on ClubMark and ClubMatters can be found by clicking this link.


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Alan Finkel
Dr Finkel commenced as Australia's Chief Scientist on 25 January 2016. He is Australia's eighth Chief Scientist. Prior to becoming Chief Scientist, he was the eighth Chancellor of Monash University and the eighth President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).
Since commencing as Chief Scientist, Dr Finkel has led a number of national reviews, delivering the 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap, the 2017 Review into the National Electricity Market ("Finkel Review") and the 2018 STEM Industry Partnership Forum report. He serves as the Deputy Chair of Innovation and Science Australia.
Dr Finkel has an extensive science background as an entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist and educator. He was awarded his PhD in electrical engineering from Monash University and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in neuroscience at the Australian National University.
In 1983 he founded Axon Instruments, a California-based, ASX-listed company that made precision scientific instruments. After Axon was sold in 2004, Dr Finkel became a director of the acquiring company.
In 2006, he focused his career in Australia and undertook a wide range of activities including co-founding Cosmos Magazine. During his time at ATSE, he led the development and implementation of the STELR program for secondary school science.


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I know some business analysts feel like puppets. They have strings that leaders, stakeholders and other team members are pulling and directing their work. Directing which artifacts they can complete, which conversations with which stakeholders they can have and even worse, being given orders to fill! They yearn to be a real business analyst, to be free of constraints in how and what they work on to understand business needs and articulate those needs in the right artifacts for their teams. They want to be a REAL business analyst!
We don't always have strings directing us; however it can feel that way. We need some guidance on how to cut the strings to break free. How can we break free from these strings? I offer four skills to build up to be free of these strings and break away.
1. Confidence
Confidence is your Conscious. Your Jiminy Cricket guiding and directing you to be a real BA! Your ability to know the right techniques needed for analysis and to advocate to use them, regardless of the people directing you otherwise. This is your confidence! In projects past, I have been told by a project manager that I didn't need to do a current state process diagram. She was trying to pull my strings and direct how I would work. I used my confidence to cut that string and do what I needed to do. The project team appreciated the results of good analysis, and my confidence was stronger. We must have confidence to know what the right thing is and then do it. How do I gain confidence? Confidence comes from taking risks. Once you have risked challenging and shown the results of the analysis to your team you will have fewer and fewer challenges to make. Ensure you know the techniques and how to use them to gain better business outcomes. Be willing to speak up and advocate for what you need to do, know how much time you need to do it, and who you need to talk with to accomplish your work. Advocate for yourself and your stakeholders. How do I gain confidence? Here are some tips. Join a professional organization focused on business analysis! That organization is IIBA®! Join a local chapter as well. Attend webinars, local chapter events, read LinkedIn, other blogs (BAs Without Borders!), etc. to learn more and more. Be an active participant in all of those things. This will increase your knowledge AND confidence. Then practice, practice, and practice more! Keep learning, challenging and taking risks to gain confidence. I promise you that you will live through making a challenge and you will learn to advocate for what you need to do to complete your work. The first few times will be scary. Don't give up!
2. Fail and try again
We need the confidence to try new techniques or have difficult conversations. As you're practicing your confidence with tasks and speaking up, you will experience some failure. The first time we try something it likely won't go as well as we need it to. It takes courage to try again. Failing isn't the key, but what we learn from the failure is! The character Pinocchio represents the trying and failing. He became a 'real' boy only after he had some failures that taught him to be brave. There are many hard lessons that make us real. I remember years ago trying a new elicitation approach with sticky notes with a project team. It was awkward because it was the first time I had used it and the team didn't respond well. They asked me not to try it again! I was a bit crushed. I didn't use that technique with that team again. I could have chosen to never use that approach again. Instead I realized it wasn't the approach to use with this team. I practiced with peers and then tried it with another team and they loved it! I learned and now am confident with that technique. Had I not had a bad experience I may not have focused on learning the technique more carefully to ensure I learned from my first time failing. I needed to fail to succeed.
It's impossible to grow without experimentation. Most experiments fail! After many trials, the stars align and the experiment is magic! Organizations that create a culture where failure is celebrated for what it teaches us will attract the most courageous people. They will grow to trust the process and experiment. Having experiences where failure happens allows us to be real. Sharing failure on the road to success creates a learning environment. The illusion of perfection isn't real!
3. Honesty
Honest is the best policy. You can't argue with the truth. The truth will set you free. I agree with all these sayings. The puppet Pinocchio had strings that directed him and he had a visual cue to indicate when he was not being honest. His nose grew every time he told a lie! Imagine if we as humans had visual cues to indicate dishonesty! If your goal is to create distrust and fear in teams, lying is the best tool. If you want to create trust and high-performance honesty is the best tool. Telling the truth is a practice that will gain you admiration. It isn't always easy and it requires tact and empathy to be honest in conversations. We do not live in a fairy tale and things do not always go well. There are times when the truth will hurt. Don't avoid the conversation, instead face it head on. Admitting that you made a mistake or didn't meet a deadline or that you don't know requires confidence and a whole lot of trust. Strive to be honest and this will make you real. When giving honest feedback, avoid any brutal personal attacks. Stick to the facts. This will help handle the emotions. None of us want to feel like a failure, however, none of us are perfect. Failing, learning and trying again is a key to being real. Create the culture where honesty is practiced and you will be real!
4. Build a Network
In Pinocchio's journey, he has a network of people to help. The Blue Fairy is a key part of that network and represents what a mentor or guide can do for us. Your network is a complex mix of peers, mentors, mentees, project team members, any relationships that you have personally and professionally. Having mentors helps guide us on our journey to be real. We create freedom with experience. We gain experience through practice. We gain confidence to practice through encouragement. These all build on each other! As a business analyst, we are only as strong as our network. It's not who we know, it's who we know and who knows us! Creating a network is worthwhile. A network creates a return on investment when you work to grow and nurture it. It doesn't happen overnight and requires a consistent habit of relationship building. This skill may not be natural for you. It is worth investing time and energy to improve it. As part of your network, look for mentors. We can find mentors in the most unlikely ways. I have mentors I have found through formal work environments, colleagues in professional organizations, people I have met at conferences, from church, neighbors and people I have met at social functions. Never underestimate where you might find a mentor. See someone who you know is 'REAL' and ask them to help you on your journey to cut strings and become real on your own. It never hurts to ask and the worst thing that can happen is that they will tell you no. This circles back to the confidence and hard things
The combination of confidence, failure with learning and trying again plus our network allows you to be real!
Heather, a BA without Borders


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Citóg see out the year with a crash bang wallop...
A tasty triple threat-topped pudding will be served up piping hot in Galway's Cellar Bar tomorrow night as three of Ireland's finest talents play the final Citóg show before Christmas. Fellow Galwegians Dott (who appeared on the recent Xmas mixtape which can be streamed below) and So Cow will join Cork's favourite punk-folkies Trumpets of Jericho for a special edition of the weekly showcase and it's all completely FREE!
For more on Citóg visit:
Official Website -- Facebook -- Bandcamp -- Twitter
- Dott , So Cow and Trumpets of Jericho play Citóg Wednesday, 19th December
- Citóg is a weekly musician-run showcase held every Wednesday downstairs in The Cellar Bar, Eglinton Street, Galway
- For the official event visit Facebook


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Refusal to mediate not necessarily derimental to party's costs position
The Defendant, Mills & Reeve, helped Mr Swain to sell the significant shareholding he held in a company by way of management buyout. Shortly after completion Mr Swain died following heart surgery and his estate was subject to a very large inheritance tax charge. The tax charge would have been significantly lower if Mr Swain had still owned the shares rather than the proceeds of the share sale.
The Claimants, Mr Swain's representatives, accused the Defendant of professional negligence. They claimed that Mr Swain had sent to the Defendant email correspondence which, if read thoroughly, would have revealed to the Defendant that Mr Swain was about to undergo a serious heart operation. They further claimed that in light of this information the Defendant should have advised Mr Swain to delay the share sale until after the operation.
At trial the Defendant successfully defended the action on the ground that they were not under any extra duties by virtue of the fact that Mr Swain had sent them the email correspondence. However, the trial judge only awarded the Defendant 50% of its costs. This costs order was based, in part, on the fact that the Defendant had failed to properly engage in alternative dispute resolution.
The Court of Appeal did not agree with the trial judge on the costs point and ordered that the Claimants pay 60% of the Defendant's costs. It was stated that even where mediation is suggested by the court and/or one of the parties, refusing to mediate would not necessarily been seen as unreasonable if the party reasonably believed that it had a strong case, as the Defendant did on the facts.
Link: Swain Mason v Mills & Reeve [2012] EWCA Civ 498
Interested in dispute resolution services?
Disclaimer: The above case summary is derived from publicly available information and is not intended to be anything more than a statement of the author's views on the salient factors of the case. It is not intended and should not be understood to be legal advice of any sort. All views are solely those of the author and no use of the summary should be made without statements being checked against the source of information. Expert Evidence Limited takes no responsibility for the views expressed. The copyright of the summary is owned by Expert Evidence Limited but may be used with written permission which may be forthcoming on application through the contact us page. This news item is not intended to imply or suggest that Expert Evidence Limited was involved in the case, only that it is considered an interesting legal development.


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Here is an excellent article about the President's Supreme Court nominee, Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Your humble bLAWgger supports this nomination. I like her professional experience. I respect her opinions. I think it is important to have her Latina-ness on the Court. My daughters are half-Latina (the good half, of course). With the HUGE Hispanic population in America, it is about time to have one one the Court. This appointment only makes sense. Please, read about this great judge, and read up on your Court. This will NOT be Mr. Obama's last appointment . . . .
Here's the link: Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Nominee: All You Need To Know


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Orion Software Services adopts & endorses a Third Party Companys' Services in the area of Technical Assessments specifically for Software Topics/ Skills as its standard vehicle to periodically assess all its staff and also as a tool for filtering of candidates seeking jobs with us.
M/S – BrightBrains [ www.BrightBrains.in]
is the eCommerce company whose paid Tests services have been found to be of great value and utility by us in a number of ways specifically for both the Technical department as well as the HR related activities.We would recommend the services of this company's offering to any Software/IT company looking for a good SW skills assessment tool for their staff or potential candidates assessment purposes.
Orion Software Services supports, maintenance and promotes Stephenson & Associates(Europe) products.
PSApphire – a unique PC and Intranet based tool – which covers the full spectrum of upstream activities, increases effectiveness and productivity by reducing the time taken to find data and accomplish tasks. It uses a state of the art, web-based, geographic information system to provide instant access to data both in the office and from other locations.


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Friday, 12 December 2003
Your Excellencies,
1. I am pleased to welcome you at the time when you are presenting the Letters accrediting you as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of your respective countries: Denmark, Singapore, Qatar and Estonia. I thank you for the courteous words you have conveyed to me from your Heads of State, and I would be grateful if you would reciprocate by conveying to them my respectful good wishes as well as for their important mission at the service of their peoples. Through you, I greet the civil and religious Authorities of your Countries and all your compatriots. Please pass on to them my cordial and fervent good wishes.
2. The end of the civil year is a favourable period in which to analyze the world situation and the events that we are witnessing. Like all diplomats, you are eager to create links between individuals and countries, thereby encouraging peace, friendship and solidarity between peoples. You do so on behalf of your Governments that are involved in the globalization of brotherhood and solidarity, convinced that what unites human beings is more important than what divides them. The future for peoples and the hope for the world depend on respect for the fundamental human values.
3. For lasting development as well as for international stability and even for the credibility of national and international Government bodies, it is right that all who are involved in public life, especially in the context of politics and economics, should have an ever keener moral sense in the management of public affairs. Their essential goal should be the common good, which adds up to more than the total good of individuals. I therefore appeal to all people of good will, called to serve their Country, to endeavour always to put their talents at the disposal of their fellow citizens and more generally, of the international community!
4. In this period when people will be exchanging wishes of peace and happiness throughout the world, these are the wishes that I express to you straight away, for your Governments and for all the inhabitants of your Countries, as well as for all humanity. At the moment when you are beginning your noble mission to the Holy See, I offer you my very best wishes and invoke an abundance of divine Blessings upon you, upon your families, upon your collaborators and upon the Nations you represent.
*L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n. 1, 07.01.2004 p. 8.
© Copyright 2003 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


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"Emannuel Episcopal Church in Spring"
Representational painting of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church located at 16 Washington Street in historic Cumberland, Maryland. Built in 1849 on the site of Fort Cumberland, the church is built over a series of trenches. Visitors can walk through the tunnels still in existence beneath the church. The church was designed by well-known Philadelphia architect John Notman and is modeled after St. Paul's Church in Brighton, England. It is touted as one of Maryland's most outstanding examples of early Gothic Revival architecture. The church is on the National Register of Historic Places
11" x 14" watercolor
Open edition print
Click to set custom HTML


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Published on January 2nd, 2013 | by Dan
Perspective Playthrough Now Live on YouTube
DigiPen student-made puzzle game Perspective has been on our radar for some time, and once it was released last month, we knew we had to livestream it for you! Our entire playthrough is live now on our YouTube channel (be sure to subscribe!).
Check out the first video above or click here to watch the playlist for this unique and amazing game.


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Visual Arts - Artist - Fiber Artist
Website: http://amydove.com
717 273 2073
58 Zamora Street, St. Augustine, FL, 32084
I am a dyed-in-the-wool fiber artist! Being a kinesthetic and empirical type of learner; I am compelled to create and work with my hands! Fibers and textiles being tactile and malleable in nature present me with so many creative possibilities!
Hand-dyed silk and wool fibers and fabrics are the basis of my artworks. This choice comes from both tactile and aesthetic considerations.
Through felting, I build my concepts into form and dimension, while creating rich textures and patterns of saturated colors. The work of making felt is demanding physically and considerable but at the same time magical and sensuous.
Silk has luminosity – it can be sheer and translucent, letting the light through. I use the reflective qualities of silk fabrics and fibers and position them so they shimmer and create highlights. I also use shibori techniques (the Japanese art of resist dyeing and texturing) folding, pleating, binding and dyeing fabrics to achieve colors, patterns, and textures in my artwork.
A key concept in my work is Wabi Sabi, the Japanese expression of the imperfection in nature that makes it beautiful. It also conveys the impermanence of nature and the simple truths that change is the only constant, everything is in flux, and nothing is perfect.
I aspire to create lively and interactive artwork in which the interplay of light and shadows, colors and shades, movement and atmosphere, layers and textures enter into a dialog with the viewer, and change depending on where the viewer stands (and on how the pieces are mounted). I strive to let light and air through in my artworks, while movement and reflective qualities intrigue.
Being a consummate experimenter, my fiber art work has branched off in several directions as I learn and play with new approaches. My passion is for combining fiber art forms to create something new. My professional design background helps lead me in a cohesive direction but does not dictate my creativity. As I experiment, change directions, work intuitively, my work is all evolving, always changing — and like me, a work in progress. And always open to new possibilities…