text:
Walkout: The Tree of Life
Tree of life: I'm never normally bothered by how arty or pretentious a film gets – if anything, it usually makes a film at least a little interesting… Despite this my cinema buddy and I endured around 30 minutes in to this before we realised that there was nothing on the screen that could hold down the film and tie together all of the random imagery that we were seeing. Entire segments featuring dinosaurs, stellar galaxies, wildlife, nature, scenery… for what purpose? Could someone please explain this to me? The Tree of Life takes the idea of a 'narrative' and clubs it in the face until all that's left is a few recurring characters at 20 minute intervals. Non-linear storytelling can also be awesome, but if you could find the story in this, you're a better man than I.
Despite being hooked in by Pitt and Penn, we realised there was around another 1 hour 50 minutes (total runtime of 140 minutes) – this was definitely a case of Tree of Life 1, Paragraph Film Reviews 0.
Alternative plans – 2 bonus hours of Call of Duty: Black ops.


text:
Why the Breville YouBrew?
Most drip machines simply drip water over the coffee grounds to make coffee, but coffee needs to be steeped in hot water for full-bodied taste. The Breville YouBrew began with the question: how do you brew the perfect cup of coffee from a drip coffee machine?
The Breville YouBrew makes it possible for you to make your ideal cup of coffee with its unique coffee brewing system. In the single cup mode, the Breville YouBrew holds the coffee and water together for a stronger, more flavorful cup. The process is similar to how a French Press coffeemaker works, which allows the coffee and water to steep together for 4 minutes before drinking. This gives you more control over the flavor of your coffee. Simply choose your favorite bean and roast, choose your preferred strength, and choose your ideal flavor profile, and the YouBrew's intelligent Brew IQ system does the rest. Your choice, your coffee nirvana, Breville's YouBrew.
This is how the Breville YouBrew stands apart: it simplifies coffee-making but still makes it possible for you to customize your perfect cup.
A single-serve coffee machine that can multi-task
Single-serve coffee machines have made brewing coffee more convenient, but many of them don't offer much flexibility in cup size, steeping time, or the amount of grounds used (especially if you're using pre-manufactured coffee pods). The YouBrew navigates all the variables that make the perfect cup of coffee, from customizing brew strength (by adjusting the amount of coffee grounds used) and flavor (by varying the steeping time) to measuring and heating the right amount of water.
You're also not limited to just one cup of coffee; the YouBrew can be used to brew both single-cup servings and multi-cup servings. The Breville YouBrew can brew from around 7.5 oz up to 12 cups of coffee, ensuring that you'll never have more—or less—coffee than you need. No matter how much water or how many coffee beans you put in the machine, you can adjust the amount of coffee made since the YouBrew measures the volume of water and beans used before making each batch. No more arguments over the last cup, no more wasted coffee. You can brew into a cup, travel mug, or carafe—the YouBrew makes it easy no matter the size.
Coffee how you like it…
People who love coffee know what they love: whether it's strong, bold, smooth, or delicate, coffee aficionados have their preferences. How can one coffee machine cater to their needs? The YouBrew allows you to adjust the strength and flavor profile of your single-cup serving. Seven different strength settings from mild to strong to intense and a choice of five different flavor profiles from light to bold give you more control over how much flavor is extracted from the grounds. Based on your preferences, the YouBrew adjusts the volume of coffee beans ground and the steeping time needed for your perfect cup. Don't know what you like, or change your mind frequently? With the YouBrew, you can experiment with different strengths and flavors until you find the one that's just right for you.
|YouBrew Glass
|12-cup double wall stainless steel thermal
|12-cup glass
|Warming plate?
|Yes, 2 hour auto shut-off or manual off
|Bean hopper
|0.5 lbs
|0.5 lbs
|Water tank capacity
|12 cups
|12 cups
|Ability to select less than in tank?
|Strength settings (varies amount of grinds)
|Flavor settings (varies steeping time)
|5 (only in 'Single Cup' setting)
|5 (only in 'Single Cup' setting)
|Compatible with the glass replacement carafe?
|Gold tone filter, cleaning brush for grinder and coffee chute
|Gold tone filter, cleaning brush for grinder and coffee chute
|Brews into a cup, travel mug, and carafe?
|Brew pause?
|Auto start?
|Cleaning alert?
|Stainless steel; parts that come in contact with water and coffee are BPA free
|Stainless steel; parts that come in contact with water and coffee are BPA free
…Coffee when you want it
Some like it hot, some like it even hotter—and with the YouBrew thermal carafe, even coffee from the pot several hours old is still hot. Brew a pot when you get up and you can keep drinking it all morning. Not a morning person? The YouBrew can be programmed to start making coffee at a specific time, making it easy to get started in the morning. Simply program it the night before, make sure that it is full of water and coffee beans, and coffee will be waiting for you when you get up. The YouBrew's built-in burr grinder measures out and grinds the amount of beans necessary for the size and strength that you've selected, so no matter when you brew it, your coffee is as fresh as possible (though it's still an option to use pre-ground coffee, if that's your preference). If you're in a hurry when you're making a carafe of coffee, the Brew Pause feature allows you to pour a cup for yourself in the middle of the brew cycle so you don't have to wait for the whole carafe to finish. It's coffee that's ready to go when you are.
Designed with the consumer in mind
Save money with the YouBrew: the YouBrew was designed to deliver freshly brewed coffee with none of the added cost (or waste) of coffee pods, so it's friendly to your pocket and the environment. The YouBrew is made from attractive stainless steel, making it not only durable but beautiful. Though taller than the average coffee machine to accommodate the burr grinder, the YouBrew can brew into a variety of cups, including tall travel mugs. And even with the YouBrew's numerous options, it is easy to use. The blue back-lit LCD display is intuitive to use, showing size, strength, and flavor preferences in addition to the amount of water left in the reservoir and the time left until brewing is complete. The YouBrew is also easy to clean, reminding you to clean the filter and notifying you when it is necessary to go through the cleaning process of descaling. Coffee has never been simpler: enter your favorite settings and a fresh cup of coffee is literally a button push away.
Product Features
- Built-in burr grinder grinds the perfect amount of beans for your preferred coffee strength, so your coffee is as fresh as possible every time you brew. A cleaning brush for cleaning the grinds chute (stored under the hopper), and a removable grinds catcher makes cleanup easy.
- Easy-fill water tank. Red float shows when the tank is full, and the amount of water in the tank is displayed on the LCD screen.
- LCD display with easy-to-understand graphics informs you of the phase of the brewing cycle (pre-heating, steeping, or brewing), counts down the brewing time, shows the amount of water in the tank, and notifies you if the machine needs to be cleaned.
- Single cup or carafe buttons allow you to choose the amount of coffee brewed, from around 7.5 oz. to 12 cups
- Adjustable brew strength and flavor profile, to tailor each cup to your specifications
- Autostart program allows you to program the YouBrew Glass to automatically start brewing your coffee in the morning
- Gold foil filter is included with the machine, but a paper filter can be used as well
- 12-cup glass carafe is included with the machine for larger servings. Built-in warming plate keeps the carafe warm after brewing.
- All the materials that come in contact with coffee or water are guaranteed to be BPA free

subset: commoncrawl


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Former Rockford gang leader seeks prison release
ROCKFORD — Has Karl Fort spent enough time behind bars?
Fort, 46, is serving a life sentence in a minimum security federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin. Twenty years into his term, Fort is the subject of an online petition drive to reduce or commute his sentence.
Some today won't recognize his name. But in 1993 everyone knew about Karl "Shortdog" Fort.
Daily gang-related violence on the city's west side, 25 homicides and the shooting of a Rockford police officer pushed violent crime to record levels in 1993 in Rockford.
Winnebago County Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro, who then headed the Rockford Police Department's detective bureau, recalls 300 shooting victims in the city that year.
"We were getting midday shoot-outs in the middle of the street where you'd show up and there were multiple rounds being fired back and forth," Iasparro said. "You would have one or two or three victims shot."
Peel away the facts surrounding the 488 assaults, 682 batteries, 785 robberies and 3,995 burglaries recorded that year, and you'll find a common theme: crack cocaine. Rival gangs were at war here over distribution of the drug, and Fort, the local leader of the Black Gangster Disciples, was widely considered the man responsible for bringing crack to Rockford.
Fort was accused of shooting a man over a pool game. He was arrested and already in jail two days before an early morning July 28, 1993, raid at the homes of Gangster Disciples. About 250 local, state and federal law enforcement agents carried out the raids — in what was dubbed the "rout at dawn" — and arrested 30 people accused of being part of the gang's drug distribution network.
In the year after the mass arrests, 29 of the 31 defendants, including Fort, were convicted of federal offenses.
A 1993 charge of aggravated battery with a firearm was dropped by state prosecutors because the federal drug conspiracy charge carried a stiffer penalty of life in prison. That's what sent Fort to prison in 1994.
Fast forward 20 years. A petition at change.org has gathered signatures from more than 360 people seeking to have Fort's case reviewed. Supporters want his sentence reduced or commuted.
It's not clear whether Fort created the petition, but one online post reportedly written by him reads:
"When I was sentenced on November 21, 1994, the sentencing guidelines were mandatory; meaning judges had very little room to exercise discretion, but today under the fair sentencing act we would not have received the mandatory life sentence. Neither crack cocaine amendments allowed relief, and none of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions have a retroactive application that allows me any relief.
"At my sentencing hearing, my judge commented that hopefully in the near future, Congress re-examine the differential of powder and crack cocaine."
A Facebook page, Justice for Karl Fort has more than 500 likes and is asking residents to sign the petition and write a letter appealing to President Barack Obama to commute his sentence the same the way he wielded presidential powers to commute the sentence of one of Fort's co-defendants, Reynolds Wintersmith.
'A crack in the dam'
In December, the president commuted the sentences of Wintersmith and seven others from around the country serving what he and many others considered unjustly harsh sentences for drug crimes. The commutations were granted because the prisoners had been sentenced under a system treating convictions for crack cocaine offenses more harshly than those for powder cocaine.
Wintersmith, who was a 17-year-old nonviolent first-time offender when he was sentenced, had served 20 years before he was released in the spring.
Upon word of his commutation, his attorney, MiAngel Cody, told the Chicago Tribune, "His case has sort of put a crack in the dam for the thousands of nonviolent lifers who have been banished from society. It's not just for Reynolds. It's a recognition that those injustices can be corrected, and it's not too late."
U.S. Attorney John McKenzie of the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, prosecuted Fort's case in federal court in Rockford. He declined this week to comment, other than to say, "We thought the judge's sentence was appropriate at the time."
Iasparro said the cases of Wintersmith and Fort are different because of their levels of involvement in the drug trade.
"He was a young kid. He wasn't in a leadership role," Iasparro said of Wintersmith. "I understand the sentencing provisions are being looked at. ... But that's not for the leadership of these criminal organizations. That's for someone who might be a young person who got caught up in this. But for the most violent offenders, the federal sentencing provisions were the only thing that was able to address that significant violence that was taking place in the neighborhoods."
Those who remember
Westside resident Patrick Mack, 50, not only remembers Fort but claims he got Fort into selling drugs as a teenager. Mack has an extensive criminal record of his own.
He said Fort had served more than enough time in prison.
"He didn't commit no murder," Mack said.
Fort was charged with attempted murder in 1991 for spraying a house on Chestnut Street with bullets from an Uzi. And in 1992, he was charged with felony aggravated battery with a firearm. Both cases were dismissed because of uncooperative victims and witnesses.
Mack didn't criticize Fort for his involvement in gang violence and drug sales in the city, but he did say Fort was a young man who spent his money lavishly and selfishly.
"He had to have two cellphones, a pager, fancy clothes, $7,000 rims. He could have spent that money and started a restaurant or something and helped out some of the other people around here."
Lawrence Blakely, 62, who's lived on the west side for 37 years, said he had signed Wintersmith's petition and echoed Mack's sentiments about Fort.
"It don't make no sense for him to get life in prison," he said. "People murder people and get out in six or seven years."
Seventh Ward Ald. Ann Thompson-Kelly also remembers the turbulent early 1990s in Rockford. She is uncertain whether Fort should be released or remain incarcerated.
"Is he going to come back to the community? What did he do with those 20 years in prison? What did he accomplish?" Thompson-Kelly said. "What does he plan to do when he gets out? I've got 100 questions."
Iasparro vividly recalls the April 14, 1993, ambush of Rockford Police Officer Sherry Glover during the period gangs were wreaking havoc in Rockford. Glover was shot five times by Gangster Disciple Antonio "Bingo" Craig as she finished writing a police report in her squad car. Glover, who was struck once in the head by the gunfire, miraculously survived but no longer works for the Rockford Police Department.
Iasparro said the shooting was a statement to police and to the community that the Gangster Disciples had taken ownership of the area if not all of the west side.
"It was dangerous for the citizens of the community. It was dangerous for law enforcement," Iasparro said. "Sherry nearly gave her life for this. Their intent was to kill Sherry Glover, but God allowed her to live. You could walk down the 1100 block of West State Street the night that Sherry was shot and you could feel the danger in the air."
Chris Green: 815-987-1241; firstname.lastname@example.com; @chrisfgreen


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The report Medical Device Market in Singapore to 2020 - Market Size, Development, and Forecasts offers the most up-to-date industry data on the actual market situation, and future outlook for medical devices in Singapore. The research includes historic data from 2009 to 2015 and forecasts until 2020 which makes the report an invaluable resource for industry executives, marketing, sales and product managers, consultants, analysts, and other people looking for key industry data in a readily accessible document with clearly presented tables and graphs.
The report helps answer the following questions:
- What is the current size of the medical device market in Singapore?
- How is the medical device market divided into different types of product segments?
- How are the overall market and different product segments growing?
- How is the market predicted to develop in the future?
- What is the market potential compared to other countries?
The latest industry data included in this report:
- Overall medical device market size, 2009-2020
- Medical device market size by product segment, 2009-2020
- Growth rates of the overall market and different product segments, 2009-2020
- Shares of different product segments of the overall market, 2009, 2015, and 2020
- Market potential rates of the overall market and different product segments
The market data is given for the following product segments:
Surgical, medical and laboratory sterilizers
Electro-diagnostic equipment
Ultra-violet and infra-red ray equipment
Tubular metal needles and needles for sutures
Catheters, cannulae and needles
Dental instruments and appliances
Ophthalmic instruments and appliances
Other medical instruments and appliances
Massage and psychological aptitude-test equipment
Therapeutic respiration equipment
Breathing appliances and gas masks
Artificial joints
Other orthopaedic and fracture appliances
Dental fittings
Other artificial parts of the body
Hearing aids
Pacemakers for stimulating heart muscles
Computed tomography equipment
Alpha, beta and gamma radiation equipment
Parts and accessories for radiation equipment
Medical and dental X-ray equipment
Medical furniture
Among the key reasons to purchase include the following:
- Gain an outlook of the historic development, current market situation, and future outlook of the medical device market in Singapore to 2020
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- Save time and money with the readily accessible key market data included in this PDF format industry report. The data is clearly presented and can be easily incorporated into presentations and internal reports.


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January 24, 2013
Associated Press
The New York Knicks have surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers as the most valuable team in the NBA, according to Forbes' annual study.
Boosted by renovations to Madison Square Garden, the Knicks' value increased 41 percent to $1.1 billion. The Lakers were second at $1 billion.
The report released January 23 estimated the average NBA team's value at $509 million, a 30 percent increase from last year.
The Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks round out the top five.
The Milwaukee Bucks were the least valuable at $312 million. The Nets' value increased 48 percent to $530 million, ranking ninth, after their move from New Jersey to Brooklyn.


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I'm on a first date with William, and I don't feel like myself. I'm not laughing, I'm not leaning forward eagerly, I'm not lobbing question after question at him. My love coach, Annie Lalla, has told me to stop all of that and pretty much everything else I do to make the inherently awkward inaugural date moderately comfortable for myself. And given that this is a bike date—yes, we're riding bicycles—I'm not exactly uncorking a bottle of Merlot. Where I see it as a coping mechanisms for staying relaxed while interacting with a new person, Annie sees it as a schtick that's keeping me from being my most authentic self—and even from true love.
During our first session together, she calls me out for using "an impenetrable veneer of persona to manipulate the way the interaction goes" on dates, so I never find myself "cornered, vulnerable, exposed, uncomfortable, confused, looking dumb."
More From ELLE
Honestly, I'm terrified of conversational silences. But it occurs to me that the fairly thick veneer serving as my protection could also be standing in the way of intimacy. I don't want to get hurt, and bad dates can hurt. "That's okay," Annie reassures me that I'm not the only one. "You're just trying to protect yourself. Instead of that, shelve your fear and allow yourself to be reinvented anew in this moment, without having to be whoever you were yesterday."
Annie's specific instructions for my date with William are painful. I feel cruel and uncaring while sitting stone-faced through his sardonic musings. I want him to like me, and I'm concerned that without my generous and obvious appreciation of his humor, he won't. I fear that he won't find me intriguing without my arsenal of journalistic inquiries. Since he's asking all of the questions, does he think that I just want to talk about myself? Does my cool body language ("lean back, lean back," orders Annie) turn him off?
It's exhausting. But afterward? Just as Annie predicted: I have a totally new perspective. Sometimes you don't even realize how much of a schtick you put on until it's taken away.
I've realized that my approach to dating isn't the most authentic, nor is it the most satisfying. I'm now careful not to laugh just to fill up silence. I really try to give the guy a chance to earn it. And while I do plan to ask questions (I'm a journalist, it's torturous not to), I now see that giving him verbal space to play offense—instead of just defensive responding—isn't such a bad move either.
As fascinating as I found the first date anti-autopilot exercise, unearthing this pattern was valuable insomuch as realizing it's a symptom of a much deeper problem. Perhaps the biggest obstacle between me and the relationship I seek, is my deep-seated insecurity that should a man discover my flaws, he will no longer love me, which manifests a disheartening quest for perfection. My house must be perfect, my body must be perfect, my career must be perfect, my friendships must be perfect, and my Google search must be perfect.
During one of her exercises, Annie has me mess up my perfectly made bed, re-arrange my fluffed pillows, throw my folded blanket to the floor as "homeopathic amounts of disorganization." I can feel my heart palpitating, the disorder is physically uncomfortable. I feel a loss of control.
"Perfectionism is an invisible shackle keeping you back from being free and letting others be free around you," Annie says. "Imperfect is real, raw, wanton, and sexy." Then I learn one of the most important lessons of my adult life: Until I'm okay with my own imperfection, no one else can be.
I'd been living my life knowing that I wasn't perfect and ashamed of it, afraid that everyone would catch on and judge me the way I'd been judging myself. Meanwhile, I was desperately seeking unconditional love. Annie has me look in my big white floor-length mirror—actually look—and see the girl inside of me, the girl I would never judge so harshly. I begin to understand what my perfectionism had done to me and how the very walls I had put up to block others from seeing my messiness had actually kept them away. I was messy, deep down, but that mess was beautiful.
In that moment, I thought to myself for the first time, you know what? I'm pretty great, just the way I am. I realized that one day, someone will love me unconditionally—not because I've finally figured out how to be perfect, but because I've finally showed them my imperfections.
And they'll think it's beautiful, too.
Julia Allison stars in Bravo's Miss Advised, which airs tonight at 10 pm EST.
Got questions for Julia? Ask them in the comments section below, and she'll respond to each one here.


text:
8 Servings
Step 1
Combine dates, walnuts, 3 tablespoons honey, orange peel, and cardamom in processor. Blend until paste forms.
Step 2
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. If using 17 1/2x12 1/2-inch phyllo sheets, place stack of 8 phyllo sheets on work surface. Halve stack crosswise, forming 16 sheets, each 12 1/2x8 3/4 inches; arrange in 1 stack. Or if using 13 1/2x8 1/2-inch phyllo sheets, stack 16 sheets on work surface. Cover phyllo stack with plastic wrap, then damp kitchen towel. Remove 1 phyllo sheet from stack and place on work surface; brush with melted butter. Top with second sheet; brush with butter. Starting 1 inch from edge at short end of phyllo, spoon 3 tablespoons date mixture in dollops in row parallel to edge. Mold date mixture into log, leaving 1/2-inch border at edges of phyllo. Roll up date log in phyllo, enclosing filling and forming roll (filling will be exposed at ends). Transfer to baking sheet; brush with butter. Repeat with remaining phyllo, butter, and date mixture. Bake until golden, about 23 minutes. Cool on baking sheet.
Step 3
Spoon yogurt into small bowl (or 8 individual bowls); drizzle remaining 1/4 cup honey over yogurt. Place 1 phyllo roll on each of 8 plates. Serve with honey-yogurt for dipping.


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During the last six weeks I've spent countless hours mudding, cementing, painting, and lifting pieces and parts of something called The Compassion Experience.
It's a traveling, interactive exhibit that allows you to journey through the lives of three real-life children who are affected not only by extreme poverty, but also by the Compassion ministry.
We're taking roughly 3,100 square feet across America over the next few years so you can see, feel and experience what kids all over the world experience every day.
There is a handful of us traveling with the tour.
We're here to help tell your stories.
What moves you, what angers you, what gets you excited? And what you want to do after you've gone through the tour?
Periodically, over the course of the tour, you'll see updates from me about my journey and that of our team. We each have unique stories of how God called us to this tour.
But there is one thing we all have in common: God very clearly called each of us to be part of the story He's writing.
My story starts with my first job right out of college. I worked for an artist management company in Nashville, Tenn. and loved it. It was a dream job.
Unfortunately, due to the economy, I was laid off from that job and, subsequently, two more. I didn't have much choice but to return to Colorado and move back in with my parents.
I dreaded this move. I hadn't had a great experience living there during my high school years and the last thing I wanted was to be looking at the same walls my 16-year-old self had looked at.
But during this time, God was stirring my spirit. He was gently whispering into my locked-up heart the truth about who He is and who I am.
I wrestled with the desire to do what God created me to do and the difficulty of figuring out how to do it. In the midst of this, I started working at Compassion. I had the privilege of working with some amazing people who saw the things I was good at and wanted to help me flourish.
Murmurings about this "Mobile Experience" started to float around the office. I heard that they were looking for people to tour with it, to interact at churches and events and tell the stories of children who live in extreme poverty.
My heart raced.
Was it possible that all the things I had done previously were coming together to allow me to do that thing God had created me to do?
Yes, it was possible.
And I can tell you that living in middle of who God created me to be as I travel with the Compassion Mobile Experience is more than I could have ever dreamed or imagined.
If we're in your neighborhood, please come check us out and say hello. Here's where you can find us:
Facebook: facebook.com/compassionexperience
Instagram: compassionexperience
Website: compassion.com/change


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In 1998 Virginia Tech was 5-0 and thinking National Championship when they inexplicably lost at home to Temple as 35 point favorites after leading 17-0 at the half. Afterwards Va Tech defensive end Corey Moore famously said, "we're the laughingstock of college football right now, and deservedly so."
Well today it is us Georgia Bulldogs who are the deserved laughingstock. Damn. Just, damn.
1. This is what happens when your allegedly great school turns out Junior High School AV Club quality 30 second commercials that are played during NCAA football games year after year after year. Clearly a case of chickens coming home to roost.
2. Holy shit, perhaps I was a bit off in my analysis of The Princeton Review on-site reviewers. What if they named UGA the #1 party school based on this video?
3. It just got a hell of a lot harder to ever make fun of Georgia Tech. Granted, they massively outweigh us in the quantity department, but in the quality department this is up there with anything they have done, if not worse.
4. These orientation leaders make my orientation leaders from summer of 1992 look like the Hells Angels. I'm just glad these were not my orientation leaders back then, or I may well have immediately withdrawn and gone to another school.
This makes the cast of "Glee" look like Genghis Khan & his army
Let's be clear: this is NOT International Bad Line stuff. This is a boat that sinks just west of the 180 degree latitude marker and will rest there for all eternity- as bad as bad can get without becoming IBL bad--->good.
Anyone embarrassed by the recent #1 party school in America designation needs to seriously check themselves- this is the most embarrassing thing to happen to UGA since the Jan Kemp affair.
(h/t to Orson Swindle for bringing this to my attention)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
University Of Georgia AV Chickens Come Home to Roost
Labels: Dawgs, Perspective, Potpourri
2 comments:
At least this is not HOT! HOT! HOT! I kept thinking that your uncool flipping to cool theory. It never happend on this one. ---Brain
- Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 9:05:00 PM PDT
- Kanu said...
Yes, Brain.
I would rank HOT! HOT! HOT! #1, this #2, and NICE PICK! #3.
No offense to the AV departments at Appalachian State and UConn, but suffice to say, this is not company we particularly want to be keeping.
- Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 1:11:00 PM PDT
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text:
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Forest Jack
Posted by Rot at 7:50 AM
Labels: flickr.com, jack o'lanterns, macwagen, photography, pumpkins, smoke bombs
2 comments:
- girl6 said...
ohhhh such a Gorgeous Grinner!!..
- October 9, 2012 at 8:35 AM
- Shani said...
Awesome picture! I need to carve some pumpkins.....I NEED to carve some pumpkins! We want to use a decent amount for our display this year.
- October 9, 2012 at 8:45 AM
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text:
The Standard Taxi by VPG Auto has been working the publicity circuit for a while now, but it appears AM General may step up to actually produce it. With the likely death of the Hummer H2, AM General will have excess capacity at its Mishawaka, Indiana plant. Assuming VPG can secure financing, they'll be able to start building the taxis next year. Details and full release after the jump.
The Standard Taxi would be the first purpose-built taxi since the Checker Marathon, and the design offers some advantageous features. The strange-looking vehicle has easily replaceable body panels for simple maintenance in the urban environment. The low-floor configuration means it'll take wheelchairs and scooters, so the cab should also see use as a paratransit vehicle. And, most importantly, the cab can hold four passengers as well as an heiress-level of luggage. Expect a new, less awkward design for the production version.
Newsletter Announcement
We are very proud to announce that we have teamed up with AM General LLC to build our vehicles. AM General® is located in South Bend, Indiana, where it has manufactured the HUMVEE® (High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle) for the military since 1985. AM General's product heritage includes the venerable HUMMER® H1 and they currently assemble the HUMMER H2 which is marketed by General Motors Corporation. Our vehicle production is scheduled to begin in 2009.
Quality and Performance! Our groundbreaking agreement with AM General will benefit owners, operators, drivers, and the riding public. We looked at several manufacturing possibilities over the past year and we chose AM General because of its excellence in building vehicles and its vast experience in procuring parts and vehicle components, engineering and validation processes, service parts logistics, maintenance planning, warranty service and administration, and launch of production vehicles. More details to come in our next VPG newsletter!
Explorer 2-Person Inflatable Kayak
Comfortable for anyone
Nnjoy the water but don't want to deal with the hassle of traditional kayaks? This is portable, lightweight, and easy to store when not in use.
[VPG Autos via Hummer Guy]


text:
TWO DAYS IN JUNE John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours that Made History by Andrew Cohen.
In June 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been president of the United States for almost two and a half years. That spring he is grappling with the two seismic forces of the early 1960s: the proliferation of nuclear arms and the struggle for civil rights. On two consecutive days, in two lyrical addresses, he appeals to Americans to see both the Russians and the "Negroes" as human beings.
His speech on June 10 leads to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the first arms control agreement of the Cold War. A day later, his next speech on June 11, leads to the famous Civil Rights Act of 1964, a watershed in American history. In lily-white, Cold War America, this kind of language is unprecedented, if not almost subversive.
Andrew Cohen, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, evokes the writing of William Manchester and Theodore White as he presents a president pivoting dramatically and decisively on the two biggest issues of his time. Based largely on hours of unseen documentary film shot in the White House and the Justice Department on these two days, as well as fresh interviews and a rediscovered draft speech. Two Days in June elegantly captures Kennedy at the high noon of his presidency in new, rich, granular detail.
Read more at SavvyBookWriters.com/two-days-in-june/
Our WordPress blog https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/ has been moved to our web domain at: http://www.savvybookwriters.com/blog.
As we cannot transfer thousands of subscribers we will re-blog for a while. If you want to get these valuable tips in the future, please sign up when the pop-up window shows up after 10 seconds on the new site, to make sure you won't miss any articles in the future. THANKS


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Premium design & quality
The CP-ABP150 is exceptionally durable, elastic and strain-resistant thanks to its high-quality nylon composite construction. The stylish design is also available in three slick colours – gold, grey, and pink.
Wide-diameter cable for 5x faster charging
Sony's wider diameter cables offer a faster charging speed. With compatible devices, Sony's USB cables support up to 2.4 A input/output, for up to five times faster than other cables which support 0.5A (USB2.0 specification).
Long-lasting and durable
The CP-ABP150 cable lasts three times longer than conventional USB cables thanks to their wide diameter and the use of quality materials. Tested to withstand over 10,000 bends and 10,000 connection cycles, for safe and reliable performance with both charging and data transfer.
Ideal for every location and situation
Available in 1.5m (5ft) length, this cable is ideal for office or home use, or on the go. Use it for PC data transfer or USB charging from wall-plug AC adaptors, portable battery chargers and car chargers.
High speed data transfer
Enjoy fast data transfers speeds of up to 480Mbps.
Compatible with USB Type-A and Micro USB
Charge and transfer data from USB Type-A ports to a wide range of Micro USB devices.
Designed for safer charging
Sony USB cables are USB-IF (USB 2.0) compliant for enhanced safety, dramatically reducing the risk of fire, overheating and disconnections compared with other USB cables.


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Wet weather and severe storms will keep extreme temperatures at bay in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic this summer, according to AccuWeather.com.
Unlike the summer of 2016, when drought conditions gripped the area, this summer will bring on-and-off wet weather to both regions.
"Especially in June and July, we should see some showers and storms from time to time," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said.
That moisture will help to hold back extreme and prolonged heat, Pastelok added.
"I think we'll have some hot weather, but it won't be as prolonged as we saw last year a couple of times," he said.
Nevertheless, the Hudson Valley area may end up with slightly more 90-degree days than normal - although still fewer than last year.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.


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Thursday, June 27, 2013. The first photo was taken in the late morning, I think; the second as I left work at 5:00; the third half-way home.
Later, Kate & I went to Appleton for a bite to eat and noticed the drama in the sky as we left the restaurant. We drove north instead of home, seeking higher ground and expansive view -- straight into it, getting our storm-chaser on!
It was pretty amazing, very exciting, and also a little scary as lightning lit the sky and the clouds shifted and changed. Katie was concerned when it looked as though little funnels might be forming; I was concerned when the clouds turned a sickly yellow-green.
We snapped some pictures on our mobile devices, then it started to rain and we drove home in a downpour.
Fun times!
I'm serious!


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Four rescued baby pilot whales have been taken to SeaWorld Orlando after washing up on a Florida beach. The whales, one male and three females, are the only survivors of a mass stranding that left 18 other whales dead.
On Saturday (Sept. 1), a pod of 22 short-finned pilot whales turned up at Avalon State Park Beach near St. Lucie on Florida's east coast. Volunteers and environmental officials responded to the scene to try to keep the whales — the largest of which was more than 25 feet (7.6 meters) long — hydrated and shaded.
But 17 died or had to be euthanized. The remaining five, all young whales, were brought to a rehab center at Florida Atlantic University's (FAU) Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. There, they were treated for malnutrition, dehydration, stress and infection, FAU officials said.
One of the whales died Monday around noon after a rapid decline in health, according to FAU; a necropsy, or animal autopsy, was performed Tuesday. The other four were taken to SeaWorld Orlando early Wednesday and placed in a quarantine area, where they will be cared for and tube-fed, a statement from the marine park explained. The caretakers hope to return the whales to the wild eventually, but a statement from FAU said the outlook for their survival "remains guarded."
Authorities are investigating the cause of the stranding and expect to get the dead whales' autopsy results in the next several weeks. Some officials speculate that one of the dominant adult whales became ill, stranded itself and the rest of the pod followed. Pilot whales live in pods of between 15 to 50 individuals and they tend to stick together — and that means even when one of the whales becomes ill or injured.
For instance, in May 2011, more than 16 pilot whales stranded in the lower Florida Keys. "They tend to strand in pods, they stick together, if one is sick, the whole pod is going to strand," Anne Biddle, media relations director for the Marine Mammal Institute, told LiveScience at the time. And in 2003, some 25 pilot whales were stranded in the Keys.
Scientists say many factors could cause a mass stranding of whales, including disease, loud noises (from oil and gas exploration, Navy sonar, and even natural events like earthquakes), toxins or simple confusion.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.


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Offering 1 hour long one-on-one appointments aimed at getting you back to your active lifestyle by decreasing pain, improving strength and flexibility, and addressing mechanical dysfunctions. No two people are alike and your treatment plan will be tailored to your needs.
30480 Stagecoach Blvd, Evergreen, CO 80439
Phone: 303-594-8348
Fax: 303-600-7873
Stay up to date, learn valuable tips on health and wellness and get special offers from The Functional Farmacy.
Any and all information found on this website DrChristinaFick.com or ChristinaFick.com is for general educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as medical advise. Medical advise can only be given to an established patient where a medical examination can be made and a treatment plan is discussed. Dr Christina Fick is not a primary care physician and any and all concerns should be discussed with your primary care physician. We are not liable for any self treatment. © 2012 by Evergreen Medical Acupuncture, LLC. All rights reserved.


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Barrie and I met in the school lunch line in the fall of 1975, two third-graders united by a mutual aversion to Tuna Surprise. When she scrunched up her nose and pretended to gag, I knew we were kindred spirits. For the next three decades, Barrie and I would share Barbies (Malibu), magazines (Tiger Beat with Shaun Cassidy centerfolds) and music (Madonna). We'd meander through malls and endure disastrous double dates.
And every summer we'd lie by the pool, sprawled out on beach blankets, greased up with baby oil, soaking in the warmth of carefree youth and endless sunshine.
In 2001, after a spot on Barrie's back was diagnosed as melanoma, we chided ourselves for our lack of foresight and reckless teenage sun worshipping. "What were we thinking?!" Barrie said.
More From Woman's Day
"We weren't," I reminded her.
The doctors were certain the cancer hadn't spread, that the surrounding lymph nodes were healthy and clear. We truly believed she'd dodged the bullet.
We spent eight more summers together after that, Barrie and I sitting under sun umbrellas, wearing floppy wide-brimmed hats as our sunblock-drenched children (two for her, four for me) splashed happily together in the backyard swimming pool. Her son Alec, 15, and daughter Molly, 11, were lucky, Barrie would say. They'd inherited her husband's olive complexion and deep brown eyes. They'd be less susceptible to the sun's harmful rays than she had been.
And then, without warning, Barrie's melanoma returned, this time with a vengeance. Five months later, Alec and Molly's beautiful fair-skinned mommy was gone. She was only 42.
Soon after Barrie's death, my cell phone rang showing her number, her smiling picture flashing on the screen. Startled and somehow hopeful, I answered the call.
"Sharon," said a little girl's voice, "it's Molly. Can we go do something together?" The question at once touched and broke my heart. My own kids were occupied for the afternoon, so I headed over to get her.
Barrie's husband, Mark, greeted me at the door with a hug. Molly scurried up behind him, applying a fresh coat of strawberry lipgloss.
"How about a movie, Mols?" I asked. She nodded eagerly. Alec decided to come too.
"Thank you," Mark whispered tearfully as his children climbed into my car. "Barrie had amazing friends."
"Barrie was an amazing friend," I told him.
We went to see the latest Disney flick. A fun film for the entire family, the reviewer had said. He'd apparently failed to notice the dark, scary death scene 10 minutes into the show. Molly grabbed one of my hands a moment before Alec grabbed the other. The hands that would have been their mother's had she only been there. We didn't let go until the closing credits.
At first, I tried desperately to avoid the subject of Barrie (and more broadly, mommies) with Alec and Molly. It was as if I were doing some kind of conversational acrobatic routine-back handsprings and cartwheels all around the elephant in the room. But Barrie's children couldn't stop thinking about their mother any more than I could.
"Tell me about your wedding," Alec asked me, seemingly out of the blue, about a week after Barrie's funeral.
"My wedding?" I thought it was an odd question for a preteen boy.
But when I saw the longing in Alec's eyes, it made perfect sense. Barrie was a professional party planner-my 1991 wedding had been her first real gig. Alec didn't really want to hear about my nuptials; he wanted to hear about his mom. I gingerly lifted my guard and let my memories of Barrie flood in.
I told them about how their mom "just happened" to have spare pantyhose in her purse to replace the ones I'd ripped, and how she'd bribed the ring bearer with bubblegum to keep his finger out of his nose as he walked down the aisle. As they listened to these sweet, simple stories, Alec and Molly seemed to smile more honestly than they had in some time, doused in relief and in their mommy's essence.
Barrie was gone, but we could still feel her. She no longer spoke, but if we closed our eyes and listened hard, we could hear her. In that moment, as I shared long-ago memories of her, I realized that the three of us needed to talk about Barrie to begin to heal-but it would take time.
Perhaps to keep her mind occupied with simpler matters in the wake of her mother's death, Molly began decorating bottle caps. She'd cut out tiny pictures from magazines and paste them into the caps, or embellish them freehand with curly doodles, then display the caps on her windowsill like a brightly colored rainbow.
Blessed with her mom's entrepreneurial streak, Molly quickly turned her bottle cap hobby into a burgeoning business. I walked into her room one day and found that she'd set up shop, with her caps priced at 52¢ apiece (so people would let her keep the change, she'd confided).
In wistful awe, I watched her organize her merchandise into thematic displays and carefully count the money in her toy cash register. It was as if Barrie and I were 8 all over again, playing together in her childhood room.
But Molly also embodied the grownup Barrie. When space ran too short to accommodate the "make your own bottle cap" station she'd envisioned, she matter-of-factly moved the business to the basement. The same no-nonsense style that had driven her mother's success steered Molly, too.
How odd it seemed that I'd known this child since she was born without realizing how closely she mirrored her mom. Sure, I'd recognized Barrie's smile and spunk in her daughter from the start, but Molly resembled her father, Mark, far more at face value. I hadn't ever thought to look further.
Nor had I noticed the subtle similarities between Alec (dubbed Mark's "mini-me") and Barrie. His attention to details that others often overlooked, like birthdays, birds' nests and family photographs; his quiet charisma and honest emotions; even the way the family dog, Rocky, who'd long been Barrie's shadow, stuck to Alec like glue in her absence. The more time I spent with him and his sister, the more I saw my dear friend in each of them.
Several months after Barrie's passing, I took both of our broods out to dinner. Considering the roller coaster of emotions we'd been riding of late, I wasn't surprised to see Molly, who was happy as a clam when we sat down at the table, seemingly subdued as she looked at the menu. Still, I hadn't expected her to dissolve into tears when I asked what she'd like to order. She shook her head and stayed mum.
"Chicken nuggets," her older brother offered, sensing my confusion. "That's all she ever gets."
Then I understood. Molly's mommy would have known that. She wouldn't have had to ask.
"You know," I said, intent on lightening the mood, "I hear this restaurant makes a mean Tuna Surprise."
"Ewww!" Molly squealed. She wiped her eyes before scrunching up her nose and pretending to gag.
As I looked at Barrie's children, sitting among my own at the table, I thought about how our relationship had so markedly changed in such a brief time. How the sweet and common connection of being someone else's mother and someone else's kids had evolved into something intense and vital to us all.
Barrie's picture still pops up on my cell phone whenever her daughter calls me. And each time it does, I am awestruck by the absolute perfection of the metaphor. Through Molly and Alec, I speak to Barrie; through me, perhaps, she speaks to them. Kindred spirits, indeed.
SHARON DUKE ESTROFF is a writer living in Marietta, GA.


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Rose flavoured Dates – Falooda
About: This is a very easy to make dessert and a great way to impress your guests without boring them with the usual desserts.
Falooda is a popular desert served with basil seeds, falooda sev, rabdi, rose syrup and kulfi or ice cream. Here in this recipe I have sweetened the milk with dates. If you like it to be served as sugar free/diabetic friendly then skip ice cream and rose syrup just use dates as a sweetener and serve with fruits, nuts, noodles and sabza seeds.
Health benefits: The basil seed gets extracted from basil leaves, which alleged as one of the most beneficial herb, running outstanding in response from olden days. The basil seeds and the basil leave both works marvellously to treat and cure several health complications. The seeds of basil found helpful to mend and promote efficient immune function.
Yields-2 -3 servings
Preparation time- 10 minutes
Waiting time-1 hour (to serve chilled) Ingredients:
- Low fat Milk- 2 glasses
- Brown thin noodles-1/4 cup
- Dates- 8-10 (seeded and chopped)
- Sabja/basil seeds-2 tbsp
- Rose syrup- 3-4 tbsp
For serving:
- Chopped pistachio (or any nuts of choice)
- Ice cream (optional)
- Pomegranate
Preparing sabza seeds:
- Soak the sabza/basil seeds in 1 glass of water for 10 minutes.
- After soaking time-drain all the excess water and set aside.
Preparing milk:
- Place dates in the blender with few tablespoon of milk and ground to smooth paste.
- Add this dates paste to milk stir well and then chill it in the refrigerator until served.
- Soak noodles in hot water for 15-20 minutes
- Once the noodles are soft drain, cut them into small 1 inch pieces and set aside.
- Once everything is ready start assembling falooda:
Setp 1 – Divide the soaked basil/sabza seeds equally into 2- 3 glasses Step 2 – Now add 1-2tbsp of noodles. Step 3 – Add 1-2tbsp of rose syrup (add less or more as per taste) Step 4 – Then pour the cold milk
- Garnish with nuts and pomegranate and serve
- Top it with a small scoop of ice cream and then garnish with pistachio, pomegranate.
- Serve immediately.
- I used boiled and cooled low fat milk.
- Sweetness can be adjusted as per the taste.
- Layering of falooda can be personalised.
- Basil seeds are also popularly known as chia, subja or tukmaria seeds, selasih, etc.,
Posted on May 28, 2015, in Dessert, Indian, International, Sweets and tagged 5 ingredients dessert, chinese brown noodles falooda, Dates rose faloods, no-sugar falooda, quick and easy indian dessert, rose faloods, wheat vermicelli falooda. Bookmark the permalink. 38 Comments.
what is dates? nd where do u found it?


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Breakside Brewing Bottles Oregon Fruit Beer
Beer and fruit have a long shared history. Fruit was the original ingredient used to stimulate fermentation, millennia before the popularization of hops, and the sweetness of the sugar and the flavor of the fruit allowed for a wide array of beer varieties and styles.
Today, brewers have rediscovered the benefit of fruit in the brewing process. Adding fruit to the beer during fermentation can not only impart the unique flavor of the fruit to the final product, but it can also add more fuel for the yeast to consume (in other words, more alcohol). Portland brewers are have lead the charge in the resurrection of the modern fruit beer—for evidence, look no further than the 4th annual Portland Fruit Beer Festival, set to take over Burnside Brewing Company June 6-8 with more than 25 breweries brewing a wide variety of complex fruit-powered sips. Tickets are now on sale!
Salem-based Oregon Fruit Products recently sought to capitalize on the fruit beer trend with the development of fruit purees marketed specifically for brewers and breweries. To better understand the needs of brewers, OFP initiated a collaboration with Portland's own Breakside Brewing: "It's a small idea, but a great one," says David Lakey, president of the Oregon Fruit Products. "We had been selling fruit purees to brewers for the past ten years, but last year, we decided to up our game and work directly with a brewery."
Ben Edmunds, head brewer for Breakside Brewing known for his adventurous beer experiments, views the partnership as an unqualified success: "We ended up with beers that really shoot for the high end of what fruit beers have to offer."
Breakside currently has three collaborative fruit beers ready for summer release, soon to be available by the bottle and on tap:
Blackberry Baltic Porter
Porters themselves are traditionally a darker beer, but Baltic Porters are actually a version of Imperial Stouts (extremely dark). If that wasn't serious enough, this beer was aged in bourbon barrels, so expect a higher alcohol content beer with a strong essence of bourbon attached. Adding blackberry purees to the barrels imparts a deep and rich fruit flavor to the beer, along with chocolate notes and satisfying smoothness.
Gooseberry Tart Wheat
Inspiring my beer-hating mother to exclaim "I actually like it!", this beer is the perfect summer afternoon sipper. Wheat beers are lighter in body, with lots of foam and essences of bananas, orange peels, and cloves (think Hefeweizen), created by the special type of yeast used during fermentation. Breakside chose to utilize the less common "sour" method with this wheat beer, adding gooseberry purees to the fermentation process to give the beer a mild tartness.
Sour Cherry Kriek
Now we get to the real geeky stuff. Inspired by the fruit Lambic style of beer from Belgium, this beer is more reminiscent of a cider than a beer. It's sour and tart, with a nice bit of brett-fueled funk, but is also mellowed by a fruit-forward sweetness thanks to the addition of two different cherry purees to the barrel aging process. Krieks are known for their extended fermentation process, so expect this release to show up on Breakside's tap list last of the bunch.
Breakside Brewery
820 NE Dekum St (restaurant)
5821 SE International Way, Milwaukie (brewery and taproom)


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There's something in the air." With these five words, Steve Jobs opened the 2008 Macworld conference.
Jobs is often cited as one of corporate America's greatest presenters, and that's simply because he understands one thing: how to tell a story. Like any great sales pitch, an effective PowerPoint offers a compelling narrative; it elicits an emotional response from the audience, even if the subject is, say, debt consolidation, or finance derivatives.
The trick is to understand how to engage your listeners, keep them focused, and use the right visual imagery to convey your message. So whether you're pitching an idea to investors, introducing a new product to your clients, or simply reviewing your company's quarterly results, a great PowerPoint presentation will leave your audience feeling inspired.
Creating a great PowerPoint is simpler than you might think. More often than not, you don't need to be a great designer, writer or orator to come up with an attention-grabbing presentation. What you do need, however, is an understanding of how to capture an audience's focus—and perhaps a bit of their imagination. Here are a few tips on how to create a PowerPoint that your audience won't forget.
Dig Deeper: 10 Ways to Make a PowerPoint Presentations Powerful
Creating a Great PowerPoint: Create a narrative.
"One thing I like to do is make sure there's a logical story," says Janet Bornemann, the creative director of PowerPoint Studio, based in Acton, Massachusetts. Bornemann, who designs PowerPoint presentations for corporate clients, says that just like any piece of good writing, there needs to be a beginning, middle, and an end to your presentation. Traditionally, in the beginning of the presentation you tell the audience what you plan to cover, in the middle of the presentation you tell them, and in the end, you tell them what you've told them. One clever tip Bornemann recommends is to use five words per line, and five lines per slide.
Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist and Inc. contributor, has his own technique for creating a storyline for an entrepreneur's PowerPoint presentation to investors. His method, which he calls the 10/20/30 rule, is a great way to structure your presentation's story. "It's quite simple," Kawasaki wrote on his blog, How to Change the World. "A PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points."
Kawasaki's recommended structure for any entrepreneurial presentation is as follows:
1. Problem
2. Your solution
3. Business model
4. Underlying magic/technology
5. Marketing and sales
6. Competition
7. Team
8. Projections and milestones
9. Status and timeline
10. Summary and call to action
Regardless of a specific structure you choose for your presentation, your story needs to accomplish three goals: frame the issue, present the challenge, and explain how you will solve the problem.
Dig Deeper: Pump Up Your PowerPoint Presentations
Creating a Great PowerPoint: Less is more.
At some point or another, we've all sat through a PowerPoint presentation flooded with an endless stream of bullet points, sentences, or even full paragraphs. It may seem obvious, but according to Bornemann, this is one of the biggest—and most common—mistakes made by presenters. And when the presenter lists too much detail on the slides, few people will be able to retain any of it.
A great presentation "should really just give the highlights," says Bornemann. Steve Jobs, for example, is famous for using virtually no text at all— an icon of a new product or two or three "big picture" words will suffice. "People are afraid to use a slide with one word, but it has merit, because we have to process information before we go on to the next idea," Bornemann says. It's also good to segment presentations in places where your audience's mind can sum up—and process—the information, so that they're actually able to think about what you're telling them.
"It's very important for the mind to be able to rest on an idea or a thought, so if it's a constant flow of words, people will grow tired," she adds.
Jim Confalone, the founder and creative director of ProPoint Graphics, a graphic design studio based in New York City, says that people simply stop paying attention to slides with too much text on them. "It becomes like wallpaper," he says. In other words, it becomes easy to tune out.
Your audience needs to digest information. Don't be afraid to linger on a slide or create a slide with just one picture and nothing else. Taking risks like these will help sell your presentation to your audience, and keep them from getting that "glazed over" look of boredom.
Dig Deeper: 4 Great PowerPoint Tools
Creating a Great PowerPoint: Branding is key.
Clip Art: the enemy of any great PowerPoint presentation. When assembling slides for a presentation, Clip Art, slide transitions, and other tacky animations are an easy way to pollute your brand's message. While they're easy to use, they make your brand seem generic and outdated. After all, anyone with Microsoft has access to the same catalogue of images, and more than likely has seen it all before.
"You don't want to have a circus of effects," says Bornemann. "Be consistent with colors and fonts. Focus on the message—everything has to have a reason." And, she adds, "effects 'on steroids' don't have a reason."
It's also easy to fall into the trap of overusing charts and graphs to illustrate a point. However, if the graphic doesn't support the information or push the presentation forward, it's not necessary to the 'story.' "As soon as it turns into an arbitrary thing, we throw it out," says Confalone. "If the content is not there, nothing you do is going to work. "
Dig Deeper: Making Your (Power) Point
Creating a Great PowerPoint: Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse once more.
The presentation on the screen is just as important as the speaker's presentation off the screen. When giving the PowerPoint Presentation, it's essential to add a little flavor to the speech.
"Most speakers get into presentation mode and feel as though they have to strip the talk of any fun," Carmine Gallo, a communication coach, wrote in his Business Week column recently. "If you are not enthusiastic about your own products or services, how do you expect your audience to be?"
According to Confalone, there are two ways a speaker can fail in his or her presentation: a lack confidence, or a misconception about what the audience will retain from the speech.
The only real way to boost confidence is to practice. If you spend 15 hours putting together the presentation, spend another 15 practicing it. Don't rely too much on notes, since the audience will be looking at you to engage with them—not your script.
Confalone also stresses to his clients that most viewers will walk away from a presentation with only the very key points. Therefore, it's essential not to confuse your audience with the minutia or details that are best left for a handout.
All PowerPoint presentations are trying to sell you something, even if it's just an idea, product, or the presenter himself. A "boring" topic is no excuse for a "boring" presentation. "Sexy or not, you need to distill the key points in the conversation," Confalone says. "That element of persuasion is the key to it."


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Network management plays a very crucial role in a business setup. This function looks at monitors, secures, controls, coordinates, plans and deploys all the resources in a business. Network management concerns the managing of all of these roles. A properly thought-out network management plan encompasses programs that include CMIP, Netconf, Java Management Extensions, WBEM and Transaction language. You can learn more about these components or programs when you visit this website.
Routing is considered as the most important area of network management. Routing denotes the process defined by the system administrator as the chosen path within a computer network that the users will use to send data back and forth among the computers connected to this network. Click here to see a pictorial representation of such a computer network. Forwarding is the process that allows users to pass data from their terminals to the terminals of other users connected to the system.
It is impossible to speak about network management without mentioning security management. Security management secures the network against intruders. Unauthorized access to the network can expose the whole network to serious infringements. The access of crucial parts of the network must be secured by using security features that can only be decrypted by personnel with that level of access.
There are numerous network management solutions available in the market. For you to get value for your money, you will need to select a network management system that will afford you maximum benefits and keep your cost low. You can visit this website and compare different network management solutions. This will give you a wide variety of network management systems from where to make your choice. You should also ensure that you have t right software for your system so as to ensure that the system functions as it should.


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There are many opportunities on goodreads to tell people about your book. The most common is an "authors promotion folder" they exists in just about every group and this is an open invitation to tell others about what you've written. Other possibilities are threads to announce book signing, new releases, etc.
I cringe when I see how poorly these are executed by most writers. They usually look something like this:
Hey guys I have a just finished a book called Me and Rover and I'd love for you to check it out. It's about a boy and his dog and the adventures they go on. Thanks!What a wasted opportunity!! Here are some pointers for your post:
- Subject of post : Title of book/series and your short (4 word tagline
- Make it easy on them. For god's sake your post MUST have goodreads links to your book/books and to your author page. More about this in a minute.
- Have covers of your book
- Tell them about your book - make it "just right" not too long or too short
- Samples - every post should have a place where they can read samples of your work
- Establish credibility
Some groups have a folder where an author has a post per book/series etc. As mentioned above this has to have your title (book or series) and your VERY SHORT tagline. This way even if people don't click into the link, you at least had an impression. I see so many people's posts that say something like: New fantasy adventure or my latest book. Here are some examples I've used:
- Basic - The Riyria Revelations: Unlikely Heroes...Classic Adventure
- Freebie - The Viscount and the Witch: FREE Riyria Short Story
- Announcement: The Heir of Novron: Named #2 Most Anticipated Release of Q1 2012 by Fantasy Book Critic
Every book and every author has a goodreads link that looks something like this:
- [author:Michael J. Sullivan|2063919]
- [book:Heir of Novron|11100431] or [bookcover:Heir of Novron|11100431]
Just having a picture of your books really elevates your product listing. I suggest if you have a series you put all of them in single image (Maximum width = 430). Don't forget to link these to a meaninful page (either your author page on goodreads or your "book" page on your website.) Also don't forget to use bitly so you know how many times the image is seen.
As in the above example, the person didn't say enough. But more often than not people ramble on longer than they should. You need ONE paragaraph of hopefully no more than 200 words. If you have multiple books in a series, then have one "overview" paragraph for the series and one paragraph for each book.
This section should be updated frequently as you gain more and more credentials. In the beginning it may just be some quotes of others (bloggers or readers). If you get awards or high acclaim then add them in as well. If you start to get some serious numbers on Amazon or goodreads - use those. Basically what you use this section for is to give people a reason to "trust" that your books are worth looking at. Make sure that if you are using a quote provide a links so they can "see for themselves.
Okay, now each situation is going to be different but let's look at the post I use for Michael's books:
Hello all, I'm Michel J. Sullivan and I want to thank you for the opportunity to tell you a bit about my books. For those that don't know the original books in the Riyria Revelations are now out of print as the series is being re-released by Orbit (Fantasy Imprint of #2 Publisher Hachette Book Group).
RIYRIA REVELATIONS: Unlikely Heroes...Classic Adventure
There's no orphan destined for greatness or ancient evil to destroy…just two rogues in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a cynical thief, and his ex-mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living performing dangerous assignments for petty nobles…until a simple job to steal a sword finds them framed for the murder of the king. And so begins this simple tale that uncovers a conspiracy far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.
I wrote all six books before releasing the first, and five of them were published by a small imprint run by my wife. They did well...I sold 70,000+ copies, and have 2300+ ratings and 500+ reviews here on goodreads. Now, they are being re-released as a trilogy in 3 consecutive months: Nov, Dec, and Jan. The "older" books that you might be more familiar with are here:
"Filled with adventure and clever dialog and featuring a pair of not-quite-heroes whose loyalties to each other provide them with their greatest strength, this epic fantasy showcases the arrival of a master storyteller." -- Library Journal
Hair-raising escapes, flashy sword fights, and faithful friendship complete the formula for good old-fashioned escapist fun." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Wintertide (A++) is the second top-rated combo (with The Emerald Storm) of 2010 for me and establish the series as one of the best traditional epic fantasies currently being published and a top 10 novel of mine." — Fantasy Book Critic
Please consider adding one (or all) of the following to your shelves and let me know what you think of them, good, bad, or indifferent all I ask is for honest opinions....thanks!
Michael J. Sullivan: Theft of Swords | Heir of Novron | Rise of Empire
Let's look at this post and why I did what I did:
- You need at least a two-line introduction to your post (as you're picture will be to the left of it and it is good to use your name AND a link to your goodreads author profile.
- Series name and headline followed by a SHORT description (168 words)
- Covers of the book that goes to Michael's book blog page
- The next paragraph/set of pictures is specfic for Mihael's situation. You of course wouldn't have this. The reason I have it in here is most people on Goodreads are already familiar with these books. Also Michael has a LOT of reviews and book sold. I say once you get above 5,000 books you can start bragging with that and 500+ ratings and 100+ reviews are worth mentioning
- A button that takes them to a page to read samples. I'll talk more about how to "construct" this page in the future but this is essential.
- Reviews to establish - third party validation notice I'm using the "big names" in the industry and the genre.
- Closing: Quick access to GOODREADS links to his author page and the books. This makes it easy for them to add them to their shelves.


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One-Stop Shop for Contractor Books
We have all of the contractor books available for contractor licensing exams, NASCLA accredited exam, and certifications across the United States. Contractor resources made simple with recommended book bundle packages for general contractors, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, subcontractors, and building inspectors. We pride ourselves in having the most up to date information from International Code Council (ICC), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), American Concrete Institute (ACI), American Railway Engineering and Maintenance (AREMA), American Water Works Association (AWWA), PSI Exams, Prometric Exams, and Pearson VUE.
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International Building Code 2018


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Perhaps it seems strange that in a document on the Word of God (Page 5), Pope Benedict would place a special emphasis on silence. Silence, after all, is the absence of words, is it not? Is it possible to find God's word in silence?
The pope says, "God's silence prolongs his earlier words. In moments of darkness, he speaks through the mystery of his silence. Hence, in the dynamic of Christian revelation, silence appears as an important expression of the Word of God."
Our society is not lacking in words. Words pour forth from TV screens, the Internet, newspapers, books and a million reports. In today's avalanche of words, words lose their power. There are so many words that they wash over us, failing to penetrate deeper than a passing awareness.
Can words still move the heart or stir us to deeper convictions? Through love or friendship they can. But even there, we are prone to superficiality. Love can only be made real if we step out of the buzzing, furious torrent of activity and encounter each other with a silent smile.
There, outside the frenzy, words can regain the depth of their meaning and power. Only there can we encounter the Word of God. We are in danger of treating God's words like other words - rushing through Scripture, replacing quality with quantity, hurrying through the liturgy so we can run off to our next activity.
But the pope says, Be still, be silent. "God's silence prolongs his earlier words." Our silence can also prolong God's words. "Only in silence can the word of God find a home in us, as it did in Mary, woman of the word, and, inseparably, woman of silence."
Pope Benedict says liturgy requires silence. The music needs to stop; the speaking should pause. We cannot celebrate and live God's word if it has not found a home in us, a home built on the foundation of silent pondering.
This is especially true for the laity, we who are called to permeate society with the spirit of the Gospel. We cannot give what we do not have. If we jam our lives with activity and fail to reflect on God's word, we are like noisy gongs or clanging cymbals.
The pope recommends the practice of lectio divina (Page 5). He even describes the steps in such sacred reading. To know what a Bible verse or story is saying to me, I need to take time with it, question it and let it speak to me. Lectio divina can lead one to encounter Christ, to let his word sing in my heart and then to move me to faith-filled action.
In reading the Gospels, we may fail to notice all of the times Jesus stopped to pray. The Incarnate Word still needed to seek out the Father's will and to encounter him apart from the crowds.
What then of us, we whose hearts are distorted and whose minds confused? How much more do we need to hear God's word in silence?


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Here it is. Enjoy.
Just a tease, Stay tuned:
Part I: How David Chase killed Tony Soprano: A look at the directing and editing in the final scene and the "Never hear it Happen" concept laid out by David Chase. Plus a closer look at why the other theories about the end just don't hold up.
Part II: What does Tony's death mean? How the themes of the final season and all 86 hours of the show lead to a family dinner in a small diner in New Jersey.
Part III: The Symbology of Holstens.
Part IV: The final season and "The Godfather".
Part V: How 9/11, terrorism and the U.S. war in Iraq unlock the keys to the final scene in Holstens.
Part VI: Miscellaneous "Fun Stuff" that could only be created by David Chase.
Part VII: "The Public Enemy" and "Goodfellas" influence on the end of The Sopranos.
This will be an amazing piece that even David Chase will be reading. Keep checking back.
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!


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OLPC Courseware Review
This article is a stub. You can help the OLPC project by expanding it.
There is a body of Open Source courseware that already exists. Please evaluate these programs and write a detailed review on this page. If you know of a program that should be reviewed, add it to the list.
Note that some of these existing projects may need to be ported in order to be usable. For instance changing the GUI from KDE to GTK. Please note this in the reviews.
Courseware to be Reviewed
Detailed Reviews
- package
Interactive Geometry
- handbook.
- Direct manipulation + macros + python.
- Unclear whether internationalized or not.
- KDE's attempt to replace KSEG, Dr.Geo, KGeo(dead), etc. But seems to currently be missing much.
- Requires Qt3.
- manual.
- Direct manipulation + macros. No programming language.
- Internationalized.
- Java
- docs
- Direct manipulation. Macros planned.
- Internationalized (at least the docs are).
- Award winning. Wiki. I tried a mandrake rpm on a x86_64 2ishGHz redhat (current). The UI was sluggish. And had minor problems (an unreadable menu). 310MB memory. Otherwise nice. Resource usage makes this a non-starter, yes?
- "only works under VisualWorks". A non-commercial version of VW is available, but requires registration. So it seems a deal would be required. The VisualWorks product manager's email is on the webpage. Perhaps Isard might be ported to squeak.
- Manual.
- Direct manipulation + macros + smalltalk.
- Unclear if internationalized (but I haven't even looked at the source).
- Java
- Internationalized? ENglish-ification of the website doesn't seem to be working, so its hard to tell how much is available in other than german.
- Linux installers (with and without jre) failed on an up-to-date x86_64 redhat. No rpms.
- Looks interesting, and rich. But java.
- Java
- Java
- Looks long dead. Java.
Other topics
- 3D "Interactive" Geometry
- 3D (may be a performance issue?)
- Python programatic interface. No direct manipulation for construction. (Someone needs to write a GUI wrapper;).
- Interesting in its own right, but not a competator for an olpc "interactive geometry" package.
- Interactive Geometry
- Kig(KDE) seems a locus of future progress, and is python scriptable. But it is not as featureful as others. If we need GTK, then Dr.Geo(GTK,may be dying). KSEG(Qt3) or Dr.Geo(GTK,may be dying) might be added for features. But I've not actually used any of them yet! GeoGebra is nice but probably doesn't fit on olpc. --18.104.22.168 13:20, 12 January 2007 (EST)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_geometry_software


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A large number of Mac users are reporting that installing OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) is causing a major drop in battery life on MacBook Pros and Airs. Those users have been posting about battery life problems in Apple's support forums ever since Mountain Lion's launch on July 25, but it appears that Apple is now actively investigating the issue.
Users claim that battery life reported by their systems is significantly lower after installing Mountain Lion—in some cases, it's nearly half of what was reported under Lion. The batteries themselves also seem to drain noticeably faster, with more than one user claiming that it was possible to watch the battery indicator drop in capacity.
Some potential explanations include file permission errors, increased CPU use while applications are idling, and network access issues. But despite these theories, no clear fix has been identified yet.
This week, however, Apple began contacting users who have reported the problem in its support forums. Support representatives from Cupertino have been asking users to log activity monitor data and gather system information in order to determine a cause for the problem. (Apple did not respond to our request for comment on the issue.)
My own unscientific tests on Friday morning suggest that battery life may indeed be lower under Mountain Lion on a 2010 MacBook Air. Previously, while running Lion, the system would typically report about 4.5 hours of battery life with my usual set of applications open. With Mountain Lion installed, it now reports just under 3.5 hours under the same conditions, a roughly 20 percent reduction. The battery also appears to lose 1 percent charge every 2 minutes, which is roughly equivalent to the expected run time of just under 3.5 hours.
More tests are needed to prove conclusively that Mountain Lion does drain batteries faster, however, and hopefully Apple's investigation will turn something up. Have you noticed a decline in battery life since installing Mountain Lion? Let us know in the comments.


text: Used to be that to experience bacon vodka, you'd have to persevere endless rounds of punk rock at Double Down (we'll never forget the night the bottle ran out and we got to suck on the bacon — way nastier than a mescal worm). But now you can sip the stuff in your own home, to the dulcet sounds of Ella Fitzgerald. A Seattle company, Black Rock Spirits, has finally concluded two years of recipe testing based on the concept of "meat and potatoes" (bacon and Idaho russets, that is), and they've officially launched Bakon Vodka: "Pure. Refreshing. Bacon." As of now, the liquid pork is only available in Northwestern states, but rest assured, the makers are working on wider distribution, meaning New Yorkers will eventually be able to experience Primus's concept of "pork soda" (bacon vodka and Coke?). Check out If It's Hip It's Here's list of other recently launched brands, including something that's truly gross: Ed Hardy vodka.


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"The media…is by far the most powerful agency in shaping people's perspectives on social and political issues" [Vincent Browne, Irish Times, 18/04/12]
Discussing the highly concentrated ownership of Irish media on the eve of Gavin O'Reilly's departure from Independent News & Media, Vincent Browne makes a statement his former editor Geraldine Kennedy would be proud of. Yet gone are the days when the Irish Times could credibly boast to be 'leaders' or 'shapers' of public opinion, save for a small subset of influential south Dubliners.
Successive campaign failures over the last few years, including the Lisbon Treaty and more recently the household charge, have shown the limitations of the media's agency to sway public perspective. On the other hand, the media's ability to influence or at least reinforce government thinking on certain important policy issues has not been undermined. Successful campaign wishes for austerity budgets since 2008 have been granted, with politicians responding to the media "call to arms" by throwing caution to the wind, "sticking to their guns" and delivering the required "tough medicine" over and over.
This dynamic makes the case of the household charge "fiasco" all the more interesting. Here again the media and government collaborated in a campaign, this time for a new tax. Which, three weeks since its introduction, only 900,000 have registered to pay, from a total of 1.7 million liable. A lacklustre result you might say, but not one that's completely spin resistant. The Irish Times made the sensible point:
"the campaign [for] modest household charge has been a fiasco. yet about half those liable have paid up".
Although this glass-half-full enthusiasm can't completely disguise the campaign's "abject failure". It's fair to say the public were decidedly un-shaped.
While this campaign was clearly a joint government-media effort, the responsibility for failure to shape public opinion has since been laid squarely at the door of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition. The Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner all rounded on the ministers responsible, questioning the "technical weakness" of the policy implementation and decrying a plan "marred by confusion and incompetence" which resulted in "sloppy injustice". The "inept" handling revealed "systemic incompetence", leaving "[h]uge swathes of the population simply hav[ing] no idea how to go about paying the charge, even if they wanted to".
The Irish Examiner's Mary Regan called it a "fiasco that left close to a million households un-registered for the charge." Causing an Irish Times editorial writer to worry that "nobody in Government appears very concerned at the way its policy looks like going down in flames."
Politicians could well be forgiven for thinking they got a raw deal. The media, according to the knowledgeable Browne, is the "most powerful agency in shaping people's perspectives on social and political issues". Yet even on this issue, one it fiercely campaigned for, it refuses to acknowledge its share of the blame for this "serious embarrassment". It is as if it is oblivious to its own agency, except of course where the result is welcome.
A further interesting aspect to the mass household charge avoidance is the various narratives that have been created around it, to justify it and to explain it's non-payment. Almost all of these narratives side step the context of 4 years of austerity, a number of "courageously masochistic" budgets, mass unemployment and renewed emigration. They have instead attempted to frame the tax as a historical anomaly which needed to be rectified. And it's failure as a) an inadequate policy implementation or b) a cultural and historical deviance unique to Ireland. The equitability of the tax itself is considered primarily in the context of what scale the charge should be as opposed whether it should be introduced at all, i.e. complete acquiescence to the ECB / IMF plan. At a fundamental level the media and the political establishment are on the same page, dissent in this context is simply strategic.
Politically speaking, the PR narrative of the household charge was carefully developed in line with this consensus. In the beginning it stressed the historical requirement for charge, while perhaps chiding the unfairness of the €100 blanket amount and when the whole thing went belly up it dismissed the widespread avoidance as non-politically motivated, a simple failure to read the instructions properly. There is of course an important reason why this narrative is preferred, there's a very real fear that this scale of avoidance could turn theoretical fears of austerity beginning to buckle into cold reality.
So reporting reflected this need to slow "traction" of the "message that austerity isn't working", because a "failure to collect the tax could send out a message that the fiscal austerity programme is starting to slip". An unacceptable eventuality when there is only one economic recovery game in town. As the Irish Independent's James Downey explains: "Our masters are emphatically right about one thing. We have to accept the austerity programme." Which is the sort of "unbiased clarity" PR man Paul Allen was presumably calling for in his Irish Independent critique of what he sees as the media's inclination for "emotionally driven reaction" to the crisis.
Meanwhile the media were simultaneously citing the absence of protest as evidence of silent acquiescence to the austerity programme and at the same time the presence of protest as a kind of infantilism, acted out by an 'irrational electorate' against a "petty target".
Stephen O'Byrnes blamed "[a] kind of victimhood or entitlement culture [that] has gone unchallenged by too many media outlets."
An Irish Independent editorial writer called it "nothing more than another manifestation of our ongoing culture of civic irresponsibility."
Breda O'Brien dusted off a copy of Freud and told us: "People feel hopeless and fatalistic and, therefore, refusing to pay something such as the household charge feels positive and good. In reality it is a distraction from far more important issues."
Presumably the same issues Stephen Collins was referring to when he began campaigning for a Yes vote in the referendum on the European Stability Treaty back in February – "[the household charge will] obscure the real issues". To put it bluntly, as only the Irish Examiner's Jim Power can, "It is time people copped on to the realities." Echoing Justice Minister Alan Shatter's considered advice to the country a day earlier – "get a life".
Those who supported the protests were, invariably, little more than "disingenuous" "opportunists" exploiting the issue as a "ticket for their re-election". Their "left-wing outrage" was standing in the way of an "act of social progress", with fringe politicians "pursu[ing] power at the expense of responsibility". According to Matt Cooper opposition figures were just "overjoyed that they have an opportunity for major protest." This "self-serving hypocrisy", we were told, "expos[ed] the shallowness and self-destructive nature of Irish politics." While the Irish Independent warned those drawn in by this "selfish individualism" that "they shouldn't complain if after lying down with mongrels they wake with fleas."
The contrast between these dissenting left wing politicians and those who have "develop[ed] the new level of maturity" required for governing couldn't be more stark. As Brendan Keenan explains: "If anyone can sell the public austerity it's Michael D".
The "worrying" thing is, a poll on voting intentions carried out last week indicated a fairly dramatic swing in preferences from the main political parties to independents and minor parties. The Irish Times was especially incensed, it's editorial headline read, "A pattern of alienation", before the writer went on to explain the public's "growing disillusionment" in the patronizing manner you come to enjoy as an Irish Times reader.
The protests themselves were not-nearly-large-enough in scale, failing to impress Dan Hayden and Colin Scott, the Irish Times' experts on how to get people to pay tax. Yet that's not to say they didn't generate some column inches. The Irish Independent was especially excited, with at least one journalist seemingly mistaking Galway for Homs or Benghazi. At the Labour Party's annual event just over a week ago an "angry mob…stormed Garda barricades".
John Drennan described how only a "thin blue line" stood between the conference delegates and the protesters. The Gardai were forced to use pepper spray "to hold the crowd back", with some journalists caught "in the crossfire". At another protest demonstrators "attempted to attack" Environment Minister Phil Hogan's car, mercifully the Minister "did not appear to be in any danger."
These protesters had clearly misunderstood the Irish Independent's headline advice in late 2011 – "This is not a time for timidity". On the contrary, to be "courageous, radical and imaginative", as the Irish Times explains, is to "stick resolutely to the path of fiscal consolidation".
Which brings us to the reasons why people chose not to pay the charge. If it wasn't the "the Government's astounding incompetence in the household charge affair", it was something deeper. A cultural explanation for a uniquely Irish problem, much like our "unique love-affair with property", which as it turns out isn't that unique at all.
The Irish Examiner's Fergus Finley was "absolutely convinced" he had identified the true reason, concluding that "it would be a mistake to assume that the reason people didn't pay was ideological, philosophical, or political. It was cultural." While other papers variously flip-flopped between the "technical weakness" explanation – the "methods of payment" were "unnecessarily complicated" – and the historical anomaly explanation – "people…are horrified at the notion of paying a property tax in any guise". A revelation many of those who paid exorbitant stamp duty charges during the bubble years can no doubt sympathize with.
Other commentators simply cited relevant economic equivalences: "Every other European country has property and service charges. Why should this State be different?" and "The reality is that Ireland is one of the few countries in the developed world where some form of residential tax is not paid." A compelling logic that it is rarely made with respect to Ireland's corporate tax rate.
This kind of obfuscation sought only to disguise the reality that the charge is firmly embedded in the austerity programme. Not only is it a requirement of the 'bailout' 'agreement', it is part of the political and economic orthodoxy that has secured power post-2008. The 'general unfairness' of the austerity programme features in a number of columns, however what is placed between is for the most part entirely consistent with government and ECB / IMF policy. These empathic book ends are little more than sugar to help the "tough medicine" go down.
The household charge is fundamentally a condition of ECB / IMF monetary lending, just like the universal social charge, just like the repayment of Anglo's debts and just like the closing of hospital wards. A widespread refusal to pay the charge represents a problem for the establishment. This is clearly not the impression the government and it's ECB / IMF partners want to send to 'the market'. Austerity, according to the ECB, is Plan A to Z, there are no other options.
One of the few places where you can read this kind of honesty is the business pages, a space less tolerant of political spin. The Irish Independent's Donal O'Donovan cited a financial analyst's concern that "resistance to the household charge had registered with investors abroad as a possible indicator that the perceived success of austerity here could be reaching its limit."
The consequences are clear, if it cannot be sold to the public and adequately enforced, the house of cards of which the EU 'bailout' is built could come tumbling down.
The foundations are already beginning to shake. Even austerity zealots such as the Irish Times' Dan O'Brien are beginning to express doubts as to whether the programme will work in the end: "Austerity may fail in southern Europe and Ireland". Clearly mindful not to follow in the foot steps of his predecessor, Marc 'The Best is Yet to Come' Coleman.
The same sentiment has been expressed countless times over the last few years, not just by respected economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, but by proponents of the policy themselves.
The IMF's April World Economic Outlook stated: "Austerity alone cannot treat the economic malaise in the major advanced economies."
The IMF's Poul Thomsen said in January 2012 with respect to Greece: "We will have to slow down a little as far as fiscal adjustment is concerned."
IMF economist Olivier Blanchard said in December, according to Business Insider's layman translation: "aggressive austerity — apparently only makes the problem worse".
And in September last year the IMF "called on the US and Europe to abandon fiscal austerity and switch to stimulus measures, warning that the global economy faces a "threatening downward spiral"."
Perhaps like the Nobel prize winning economists and the "radical" political dissenters, the public is beginning to realize what has been abundantly clear for years now to those "47% of [Credit Union] customers [who] have about €100 left after paying their bills", that 'there is no alternative' doesn't mean there is no alternative, it means they don't want us to imagine one. Far from being disillusioned and alienated, it's possible the public are beginning to see more clearly.


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Found this awesome story/video trailer of the amazing Californian rider and Compton's finest and couldn't help to share.
The Williams sisters, dr.Dre & I hope soon American cyclists other than Lance, become as influential as the inspirational Bahiti is. Ride on!!
Found/From here.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Posted by MELI. at 7:00 AM
Labels: los angeles, personal story, video, YouTube
3 comments:
I think that is the first man in lycra that I have found attractive : )ReplyDelete
wow, this guy is so inspriational and the video/this post totally ties into a lot of what has been going on upstairs for me in the past few weeks. something, upon which i will to expand on veryveryveryvery soon.ReplyDelete
i wonder what they do in SF...hmmmm. ;)
thanks for sharing meli!
I apologize. I know I'm commenting on old posts, but I just found this site and love it so much that I'm working my way back to the beginning.ReplyDelete
Anyway, Adrienne, YES! The first and only man. (Sorry, Lance.)
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Waking this morning to a splendid 3G signal in the desert from my iPhone's Hotspot, I finished up my previous night's review and uploaded it. As I went to publicize the piece I got an "alert" from applemac.us saying that a porn site "pornjizz" was attempting to hack my system. It warned that stopping my browser or restarting my computer would cause valuable information to become more accessible and to stop what I was doing immediately and ring the support number – 1-844-608-4612.
Alarm bells ringing in my mind, I did indeed cease and desist my publicity efforts and rang the number. The first clue that told me something was wrong here was the lack of Apple-ness by the chap who answered the phone. Indian, as in from India or Pakistan, he was polite enough but answered as technical department and not with his name.
I read off the message on the screen and he immediately informed me that they could take care of my problem with little fuss and I did not need to do a thing. Okay, I responded slowly, what happens next, the technician then read me off a url which I needed to type into my search engine, it was: www dot fast support dot com.
The second alarm went off because there was an obvious lack of Apple anywhere in the address provided. The third and final alarm, which by this time sounded like a fire alarm on steroids, was the next thing out of the technician's mouth.
"We will take control of your computer and fix the problem in minutes."
*Freeze Frame.*
I thanked the chap for his help and told him that my phone signal was fading and needed to ring him back. He offered to ring me back within the next 10 minutes. I thanked him and when he rang back, explained that I could not use my laptop and my phone at the same time and would ring them later.
Ringing the real Apple support number which is a 1-800 number…always…I got the familiar Apple answer where I was informed how long my wait would be, asked certain questions, sent to the right department and when the technician came on the line she gave me her name. The lovely lady informed me that yes this was a scam where they could charge you for the amount of time they took to "fix" your problem.
I pointed out that they also wanted to take control of my laptop which would have given them access to all my information. She congratulated me on recognizing that it was a scam and for calling them to double check.
Speaking earlier to the fake technician at no time did he ask for my serial number or what Apple product I had. He also zoomed in on the "let us take control of your computer" bit. With nothing but an on-screen alert, which claimed to be from Apple, and a 1-844 number he expected me to let him access my computer.
Not happening mate.
Looking at the site later the thing looks genuine enough but it is not, just as the real Apple folks.
So be advised there is a new scam in town. I assumed it was a Chrome issue but Stephanie at Apple assured me that the message was showing up on Safari as well. So consider yourself warned, if you see a message from applemac.us with the following number attached 1-844-607-4612 disregard the information and do not bother to call the number. Completely ignore the fast support dot com instructions, if you do ring, and do not let anyone you do not know or trust take control of your computer or laptop.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the above urls have been spelled out since I could not get WordPress to stop putting a link to the fraudulent site in my article.
10 June 2015
Michael Knox-Smith


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Forty years ago, one of Dr. Stephen Hauser's first patients was a young Harvard Law School graduate and White House aide with a case of multiple sclerosis that raced like a brush fire through her brain. She quickly lost her ability to speak, swallow, and breathe. She got married in a wheelchair in her hospital room, tethered to breathing and feeding tubes and dressed in her wedding gown.
"We had nothing to treat her with," recalled Hauser, now director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California, San Francisco. It was such a searing moment for the young doctor, then at the beginning of his neurology training, that he decided to dedicate his career to MS research.