text:
May 1, 2012
Just A Space
140 comments:
Bag and arm piece are just fantastic!!ReplyDelete
WOW!!! LOVE that dress. You have impeccable style.ReplyDelete
You have a new follower.
BTW... Thank you for the sweet comment on my blog. Hope you will stop by again soon.
And far to be too wild-type this dress (spontaneously) evokes me an as subtle as understated way to flirt with stratospheric-like Heights of stylishness I Must add Dear !ReplyDelete
à Bientôt, AntoineReplies
Thank you so much! But this is skirt and t-shirt :)Delete
обожаю космические принты! в эти выходные побегу на охоту за ними =)ReplyDelete
Искренне желаю Вам удачной охоты!)Delete
You look amazing!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you, Laura! :)Delete
I love this!! You look gorgeous and now I know why the prints are so amazing and unique.. because they are real!!!ReplyDelete
YEAH!!! Thank you! :)Delete
Wow ! Your dress is fabulous and this pics are so beautiful.ReplyDeleteReplies
It's t-shirt and skirt. Thank you! :)Delete
You look very beautiful, your dress is so nice honey:)ReplyDelete
Thanks! It's t-shirt and skirt :)Delete
Love your "dress" it's amazing!!ReplyDelete
Thank you, my darling!Delete
Oh my you are so beautiful with a great sense of style. Love your dress.ReplyDelete
Thank you!)Delete
It's t-shirt and skirt :)
- AnonymousMay 01, 2012 11:49 PM
you're so stunning!ReplyDelete
i'd like to following you ;)
- AnonymousMay 02, 2012 1:47 AM
want it!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 02, 2012 1:51 AM
thanks for your nice comment! I really like your style.ReplyDelete
You look amazing. You are so pretty and your style is great!ReplyDelete
Following you - hope you like my blog and follow back :)
X, Ancia
visit OVERDIVITY &
join my Facebook FanpageReplies
Thank you! Welcome! :)Delete
Perfect!!! I love it!!!!ReplyDelete
Thank you, my dear!! :)Delete
SUch a beautiful dress and you pull it off so well!! Amazing look :) xo akikoReplyDelete
Style ImportedReplies
Love, love, love this outfit! Great print! Thnx for your comment! I'd love us to follow each other on gfc, bloglovin and facebook. I already started following you on gfc! Let me know when you follow me on the other so I can follow you right back! Have a nice day!ReplyDelete
Thank you so much, my dear!! :)Delete
très très jolie tenueReplyDelete
Вам очень идут платья,смотритесь волшебноReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks for your lovely comment.i love your outfit.i'm your new follower,hope you can follow me.ReplyDelete
Thank you, Natalie! Welcome! :)Delete
So wonderful!!!ReplyDelete
The Golden Bun | new post | follow meReplies
Thank you, Vicky!Delete
Wow I love your dress!!!ReplyDelete
Have a good week!
Besos, desde España, Marcela♥
You look gorgeous!! Amazing dress! Beautiful "bracelet ring"ReplyDelete
You have a lovely blog, maybe you want to follow each other, on GFC and bloglovin? I'll follow you back for sure :)
Have a great day!
"Dicas de saúde, beleza, e exercício físico"Replies
Thank you so much! But it is t-shirt and skirt, not dress. :)Delete
Oh wow very great article and lovely pictures with it ;) xx NiniReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you, Nini! :)Delete
Hi! Thanks for your lovely comment :)ReplyDelete
Your blog is very interesting!
I love everything, you have a great sense of style and is very beautiful *.*
I will follow you
Thank you so much for such wonderful words!! <3Delete
very cute dress ;)ReplyDeleteReplies
It's t-shirt and skirt. Thank you! :)Delete
amazing dress!ReplyDelete
wish I had it too.. Kane's galactic print got me all obsessed.. awesome look.. great stylingReplies
It's t-shirt and skirt, not dress. :)Delete
Thank you so much!
мне кажется наряд тяжелым! а вы такая хрупкая! .....этот наряд подчеркивает вашу женственность!ReplyDeleteReplies
Разве может быть шифон тяжелым? :)Delete
At first I thought it was a model in that photo- you look really amazing, I love your dress and that little vintage bag :)ReplyDelete
Thaaaank you, dear Dominika!!!! :)Delete
Thanks so much for your visit, your comment on my last post and to be my newest follwer!! I follow you too!ReplyDelete
New outfit post on my fashion blog: I'm waiting for u!
In love with your style :DReplyDelete
Thank you a lot for your sweet comment!
What about following each other? :)
Kisses :)
Love your outfit :) Russian has got interesting letters:) I like it :D. Visit my blog Dear ;*,if you'd like to follow each other, let me know it ;*ReplyDelete
Thank you so much, sweetie!! :)Delete
niceeee !ReplyDelete
I love Christoper Kane... you look really amazing.ReplyDelete
thx for your sweet comment ;)
Actually beautiful. Hoping to do astrophysics at uni so this is close to my heart ♥ beautiful blog! xoxReplyDelete
--Char xx
Thank you sooo much!! <3Delete
Cute and beautiful blog!ReplyDelete
I love it!
- AnonymousMay 03, 2012 1:26 AM
you're amazing!ReplyDelete
That shoes are wao...well...and the sunnies...and the dress...hahahaReplyDelete
YEAH!!! Thank you! :)Delete
Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my blog, thought I'd return the favor!ReplyDelete
Love that look! The skirt, top, shoes, belt, everything...you put it together well and it looks perfect!
Following you now and would love it if you'd follow me back too!
♥ Duckie.
Thank you so much, dear Duckie! <3Delete
in love with your dress and bag! both so awesomeReplyDeleteReplies
It's t-shirt and skirt, not dress. Btw thank youu so much! :)Delete
adorable.. nice i love it! new follower :))ReplyDelete
wow, i must say i really love your blog and those outfits. I'll follow you! step by my blog if you'll have a minute :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you so much, dear! <3Delete
whoa i love your blog and i follow :)ReplyDelete
thanks for message in my blog and follow xoxo
Thnks for ur sweet comment in my blog!
Cute blog~ :D
Thank you, sweetie! <3Delete
hello there, love every photos you has been taken. you have a great siteReplyDelete
please check mine,
thank you ;)
- AnonymousMay 03, 2012 1:44 PM
I'm French and Russian, my name is Anna too! :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Nice to meet you, Anna! :)Delete
the dress is amazing, and you look so great!!!ReplyDelete
The Glamour AvenueReplies
It's t-shirt and skirt. :)Delete
Thank you!
love it! <3ReplyDelete
Lovely dress!I love your sun glasses!ReplyDelete
You look verry pretty!
Thanks Anna for the commnet on my blog!x
beautiful dress :):) i'm following you, visit my blog if you want :)ReplyDelete
It's t-shirt and skirt. Btw thank you! :)Delete
You look stunning,love the Christopher kane collection xxxReplyDelete
Thank you very much :)Delete
I love if it is proper to say this cosmos prints , very different. Thank you on sweet comment :) Kiss !!!!!!!!ReplyDelete
Very nice photos!!ReplyDelete
I love your dress!Replies
Thank you so much! :)Delete
that dress is amazingReplyDelete
The dress is amazingly awesome. And I love your heels. <3ReplyDelete
Thank you! :)Delete
But it's t-shirt and skirt. :)
galaxy print is always awesome!ReplyDelete
Love your look and your shoes :)
thank you for visiting and dropped a comment on my blog, really mean a lot!
let me know if you want to follow each other :)
Wulan Wu on http://bootsydoopsy.blogspot.com
Love your pics, love this style!!ReplyDelete
Beautiful dress....
Thank you very much! :)Delete
amazing look dear!would you like to follow each other? I'll be very glad!ReplyDelete
Thank you, dear Fabiana! :)Delete
Beautiful dress!!ReplyDelete
It is t-shirt and skirt! :)Delete
AMAZING STYLE!!!ReplyDelete
Cool blog!
I'm waiting for you on mine!
Thank you, Giorgio! :)Delete
- AnonymousMay 05, 2012 2:19 AM
perfect look!ReplyDelete
You look gorgeous! It's my first time on your blog and I love it :)ReplyDelete
Thank you soooo much, Joanne! :)Delete
really good combination! I have this heels too and I love them. U look beautiful:)ReplyDelete
amazing dress *-*ReplyDelete
T-shirt and skirt! :)Delete
Beautiful dress :) xxReplyDelete
Thank you for stopping by and following my blog. I'm following you back. xx
Lovely! I saw a print like this once and bought it for a trip to a crater in Arizona. I'm a new follower. Follow back?ReplyDelete
Wow! Thank you, Mandy! :)Delete
wow i love this look stunnning and wow i love ur bag wow...i need to start saving up..ReplyDelete
Thank you, sweetie! :)Delete
Thank you! :)ReplyDelete
Thaaank you very much! :)ReplyDelete
T-shirt and skirt, not dress! :)ReplyDelete
You've got a lovely blog and the pictures and outfits are just my type!ReplyDelete
I also like how you chose to make it half English half Russian :)
Thank you so much!! :)Delete
Are u a model? you are so beautiful :) I love the t-shirt and the skirt!ReplyDelete
fitflops clearanceReplyDelete
nike air huarache
michael kors handbags
kobe bryant shoes
yeezy sneakers
yeezy boost 350 v2
chrome hearts
ralph lauren online
jordan retro
air jordan
los angeles clippersReplyDelete
cheap jordans
mlb jerseys
texans jerseys
converse shoes
steelers jerseys
michael kors outlet online
arizona cardinals jerseys
bears jerseys
michael kors handbags,michael kors handbags clearance,michael kors clearanceReplyDelete
air jordan retro
air max thea
kobe basketball shoes
adidas neo
toms outlet store
skechers go walk 3
huarache shoes
hogan outlet online
hogan outlet online
kobe basketball shoes
adidas ultra boost uncaged
fitflops sale clearance
yeezy boost 350 v2
lacoste outlet
fitflops clearance
adidas stan smith
michael kors outlet
ray ban sunglassesReplyDelete
ray ban sunglasses
longchamp outlet
dolce and gabbana outlet
ugg outlet
kate spade handbags
gucci outlet
washington redskins jerseys
oakley sunglasses
ugg outlet
I would like to be your pen friend...You can write me email on email@example.com forReplyDelete
Jaipur escort
Jaipur escort
Jaipur escort
Delhi escort
Guwahati escort
Guwahati escort
Guwahati escort
Guwahati escort
Lucknow escort
Aerocity escort


text:
Free forum : Forum for the Monster Hunter Wiki. . Free forum : Monster Hunter Wiki Forum
free, forum, monster, hunter, wiki, gaming, 3dsxl, playstation, xbox, mobile, #capcom, nintendo, something, best, game, ever, #best, #monsterhunter, #monster, #hunter, #3ds
Resident Evil Forums
directors, free, forum, resident, evil, help, cheats, server, games, gaming, xbox, windows, sony, microsoft, #capcom, ubisoft, konami
Free forum : An RPG based on Capcom's hit fighting game series.
forum, mugen, pulse, gaming, flamekyo, mortal, kombat, street, fight, king, fighters, marvel, #capcom, fighting
Video Games Community, information on wii, xbox, ps3, psp, rpg, ds games
video, games, xbox, nintendo, #capcom, sega, sonic, halo, zelda, forum, gaming
Gaminglect is a forum for gamers from all previous gens to the current. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, etc.
gaminglect, sonic, mario, konami, #capcom, nintendo, sony, microsoft, sega
MegaMan Legends 3 will see the light of day.
free, forum, project, legends, megaman, rockman, dash, trigger, voltnutt, #capcom, game, videogame
A webforum dedicated to everything and anything. The Path
anime, manga, comic, books, marvel, #capcom, movies, teen, titans, roleplaying, avatar, halo, zombies, horror, evil, dead
Free forum : discuss nintendo, yoshi, capcom, and sega.
The Real Place For Real Gamers Gaming Gear - Gaming Forum
forum, gratuit, gaming, gear, #capcom, gaminggear, real, place, gamers
Bramblefang's video game forum. Discuss Nintendo, Capcom, Sega, and all other video game publishers you love.
free, forum, bramble, gamers, video, games, pokemon, legend, zelda, mario, forums, bramblefang, videos, flash, super, smash, bros., brawl, kirby, metroid, mother, star, halo
Forum for gamers in general mostly based around a couple of very popular Nintendo and Capcom games (Monster Hunter and Pokémon) It will focus on gaming, writing and possible roleplayin
youtube, pokemon, certainly, gamer, forum, monster, hunter, minecraft, gamers, general, mostly, based, around, couple, very, popular, nintendo, #capcom, games, (monster, pokémon), will
An RPG which is based upon the setting of Capcom's Megaman X series.
forcemetal, irregulars, which, based, upon, setting, capcom's, megaman, series

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Starting a Lifelong Passion: Intro to Fly Fishing
Wondering How to Fish from a Boat? Key Tips for Success
Select a state to find fishing and boating information:
Get A Fishing License
Get started fishing today, purchase your fishing license online, check regulations and more.
Register A Boat
Register your boat today. Learn how to register your vessel, boating laws and more.
Get Started in Minutes
All the fishing resources you need in one place to learn, plan, and equip for a day on the water. Check the latest Covid-19 updates before heading to the water.
Learn More
Find Places to Fish & Boat
Boating and fishing is the remedy we all need! Our interactive Places to Fish & Boat Map is your go-to resource for local opportunities and fishing spots near you.
I am an Angler
Read these inspiring stories from anglers from all walks of life. The water is open for everyone and anyone.
It's easy to learn how to fish, get fishing tips on each step-in learning how to fish.
Plan your next saltwater fishing adventure with your family and friends.
Freshwater fishing is one of the types of fishing that is ideal for beginning anglers.
You can fly fish anywhere, from the shore of a lake or from a boat on the ocean waves.
Ice fishing is a unique experience that allows you to fish on a lake or river.
Learn how to boat safely and responsibly with these tips from our boating experts.
Do you like this content? Subscribe to our Newsletter and get all the information you need to learn, plan, and equip for your next fishing adventure.
Sign-up to receive our monthly newsletter with interesting blogs about fishing and boating. Get fishing tips and tricks and read personal stories from anglers who live and breathe fishing and boating. Learn new fishing skills, boating resources, fishing etiquette, conservation and more.
Please complete the following fields to subscribe to our newsletter.
What information would you like?


text:
So what is 5G, exactly, anyway?
Well, if you're asking about "exactly," it doesn't exist yet.
Oh, that helps me a lot.
Sorry. But the best answer to your question is probably that 5G is sort of a catch-all name to describe the next generation of carrier wireless technology that's going to be slinging tweets and videos and connected home signals from the internet to your smartphone or your smartwatch or, really, any smart object you've got handy.
So why's it better than 4G? Haven't we had enough Gs?
Oh, not hardly. You see, 5G – like 4G, and the rest of the Gs, in fact – is entirely a marketing term, meant to give an overview of a certain generation of carrier wireless tech. Most of what we've got in this country that we refer to as 4G is called LTE, although regular LTE isn't quite 4G, according to standards groups, and LTE Advanced.
It's a marketing term, but it's also a standard? What?
It's confusing, without question. The standards body that's responsible for wide-area – that is to say, carrier – wireless technology is 3GPP, and while they've codified a set of capabilities that qualify as "4G," they're not done doing the same thing for 5G.
+ RELATED: 2016 – the year 5G wireless testing really took off +
So when are they going to be finished with that?
Best guesses from the experts are that the standards work at the International Telecommunication Union and the subsequent reference designs from 3GPP – which these groups undertake in partnership with basically everybody who has a stake in what the eventual technology will look like, including gadget makers, carrier equipment manufacturers, the carriers themselves, and many more – around 2018 or 2019.
So that's when we'll see 5G?
Not exactly. A standard is just a definition of what a 5G system is supposed to do, it's not an actual technical design for that system. While there's a lot of testing and development underway already – and we could even see the odd piece of "pre-standard" 5G technology released here and there – 5G tech won't take the consumer market by storm until 2020 at the earliest, and possibly not until 2023 or later.
The big question, then – what's it going to look like when it gets here?
"Cool," in a word. 5G wireless is going to be complex and powerful, able to handle both the raw bandwidth demands of the near future and the huge increase in the number of connected devices, as cars and refrigerators and light switches join smartphones and tablets on the airwaves. It'll use lower-frequency radios to cover large areas, like now, with lots of optimizations to permit more connections per access point, as well as larger numbers of millimeter-wave base stations to provide enormously fast throughput speeds to areas of dense demand.
That is cool.
No kidding.
MORE: 5G wireless slowly, carefully taking shape
This story, "What we talk about when we talk about 5G wireless" was originally published by Network World.


text:
Masa is made by boiling raw corn in water with calcium hydroxide, then grinding. You then make tamales or tacos with it. On an industrial scale, they dry it and sell it as the instant masa mix (just add water) you may be familiar with.
How does this help us? If we can boil corn to soften it, then use our Corona to get a nice uniform paste, maybe we can boil our wheat berries to soften them, making them much easier to grind evenly.
Step 1) Place wheat berries into a pot (size of which depends on how much wheat you're using)
Step 2) Add enough water to cover, with 2-3" of standing water above the submerged berries.
Step 3) Bring to a boil while stirring.
Step 4) Reduce to a simmer. Simmer for exactly 15 minutes.
Step 5) Strain off liquid.
Step 6) Crush the softened berries in your Corona-type mill.
|Left: Wheat berries that were boiled before milling.
Right: Un-boiled, milled wheat berries.
Both bags contain the same total amount of wheat berries.
|The boiled and ground wheat berries. You can see that the pericarp is mostly intact.
|A close up of the boiled and ground wheat berries. The pericarp is intact. The endosperm has been ground to flour.
|A close-up of the unboiled, ground wheat berries. Notice the poor, irregular grind.
[Imaginary FAQ]
Why boil for exactly 15 minutes?
5 minutes is too short. The berries will still be hard and a pain to grind. 10 minutes is better, but you'll shred most of the pericarp. 15 minutes gave the best results.
Wait, what's a pericarp?
"Pericarp" is the name for the outer covering of a fruit.
But isn't wheat a grain, not a fruit?
A wheat berry is the fruit of a wheat plant, in the broadest sense of a "fruit." Barley and rye have husks covering their pericarp. Wheat lacks a husk. This is one reason why barley and rye are easier to brew with; the husk forms a natural filter bed for sediment during lautering.
Why should I care if I shred the pericarp?
Because wheat doesn't have a husk, using large amounts of wheat in a mash can lead to a slow or stuck lauter. If we can keep the pericarp of the wheat mostly intact, the pericarp will act like a husk, and help us filter the wort.
If the grain is wet, won't that clog up my mill?
If you're using a two-roller mill, that is possible, but it may not. If you use a Corona-type mill, it won't. Be sure to strain as much liquid as possible, but don't worry if the grain is still damp.
Ok, so the wheat looks prettier, but does it brew better?
When I use this method, I see a faster lauter and clearer wort. The intact pericarp will make rice hulls unnecessary, even when using a large amount of raw wheat. Boiling the wheat has the secondary benefit of (partially?) pre-gelatinizing the wheat, making conversion quicker and easier, without the need for a cereal mash.


text:
Skip section navigation (navigation may have changed)
Section navigation
The environment and your health
Everything around you affects the way that your body works and grows. This includes the sun, water, air, chemicals, and even noise! There are many things in the environment that are good for you, such as clean water and air, vitamin D that comes from the sun, and healthy foods. But there are also some hazards in the environment that can hurt you. These include dirty air or water, too much sun, really loud noises, and chemicals. By learning about hazards in your environment, you can take charge of your health and help clean up the earth at the same time!
This section of girlshealth.gov tells you all about the earth and how it is part of your health. You can learn about:
- How you can help protect the environment
- How sun tans work and why they can hurt you
- Where drinking water comes from and why we need to keep it clean
- How the air gets dirty and how you can protect yourself from it
- Chemicals in your home and in products you use
- How loud noises can hurt your hearing
Remember: it's up to each of us to do our part to keep the earth — and ourselves — healthy. You can start making a difference today by learning about environmental health and helping us get the word out to others!
What do these words mean?
When talking about the environment, we sometimes have to use words that can be long or hard to understand. Here is a little bit more about some hard words in this section:
Chemicals. (Say: KEM-ih-calls). Chemicals can be natural (like iron, silver, or mercury) or can be made by people (like cleaning supplies or bug spray).
Environment. (Say: en-VYE-URN-ment). The environment is everything around you. The air you breathe, water you drink, the ground you walk on, and food you eat are all part of your environment. It's important that you know what things in the environment can affect your health and what you can do to help protect yourself and your family.
Hazard. (Say: HA-zurd). A hazard is a kind of danger that could hurt you.
Pesticides. (Say: PESS-tih-sides). Pesticides are chemicals used to kill pests such as insects, rodents, weeds, mold, and bacteria. Yet, these chemicals can also cause health problems in people.
Pollution. (Say: puh-LOO-shun). Pollution is putting something into the environment that makes it dirty.
Content last updated July 20, 2010


text:
Mayhem Flyer Template
The photos used in the preview image are not included in the download, they are purchased stock images. Contact me if you want info on them.
The PSD file is setup at 1275px x 2175px (4×7" with .25" bleeds) CMYK 300DPI
The PSD file is very well organized, with color coded groups and layers named appropriately.
The main folders that will require most customization are highlighted in different colors.
The fonts used in the design are:
HelbaInseratDB: which can be downloaded here -http://ttfonts.net/font/20034_HelbaInseratDB.htm
TheNautiGal ROB : which can be downloaded here – http://font.downloadatoz.com/font,11556,thenautigal-rob.html
I hope you like the design,


text:
Bibs Supreme silicone pacifier | Coral
* * Bibs pacifiers are sold individually
WARNING!! Actual pacifier color may vary from color seen on official photo provided by BIBS. The colors are more accurate in the photo which shows all the available colors.
The Bibs Supreme silicone pacifiers, elegant and comforting for baby. They are offered in two sizes (0-6 months and 6-18 months) suitable for children 0-18 months.
Your baby will love the orthodontic silicone nipple.
The shape of the pacifier allows air to circulate around the child's mouth, thus limiting irritation and humidity on the skin.
They can be paired with our pacifier clips to complete the look of your mini.
Sterilize the pacifier before first use. To sterilize, dip the pacifier in a bowl with boiling water. DO NOT STERILIZE IN MICROWAVE OR DISHWASHER. These sterilization methods could damage the silicone nipple. If water does get inside the nipple, squeeze the nipple firmly to remove the water.
Clean and sterilize the pacifier daily.
Check the product before each use, especially if the child has teeth. Validate that no part is damaged. Immediately discontinue use if the product is damaged. Do not leave the child without adult supervision when using the pacifier.
Replace the pacifier after 3 to 4 months of use for safety and hygiene reasons.
Never leave the pacifier exposed to direct sunlight, near a heat source or in a disinfectant solution.
If the pacifier accidentally gets stuck in a child's mouth, gently remove it. The ventilation holes are specially designed to prevent suffocation.
The pacifier is made of orthodontically shaped silicone. The shell is made of lightweight, strong and safe polypropylene.
The product meets the European standard EN 1400 + 1
Created and made in Denmark for 30 years.


text:
SMF - Just Installed!
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
TRJ, I'm sure you know which six temple runs I was referencing with those blunders.Not knowing how to hit an actuator: John Henry's Lost HammerGoing in circles: Golden Cricket Cage of KhanRetreating towards the exit from where the frontrunner left off: Keys to the AlhambraPassing up the artifact: Golden Pepperoni of Catherine de' MediciMaking the monster monkey: Mysterious Manuscript of Mary ShelleyDropping the artifact on the way out: Broken Trident of PoseidonAlso, do you think it would have been fair if the prizes had only gone to David? From what I've read here on this forum, the Enormous Feather run would have been if Purple Parrots broke the tie or if David had a smarter and faster female teammate. Is Karisa not only guilty for her episode's temple run not being a win but also for her team's poor pre-Temple Run performance score?
Also, is it safe to say that the following episodes would have had the temple team's Temple Game opponents do better in the Temple Run?John Henry's Lost Hammer (Orange Iguanas)The Keys to the Alhambra (Silver Snakes)The Treasure Map of Jean Lafitte (Red Jaguars)The Lost Lion Tail of Little John (Silver Snakes)
Page created in 0.047 seconds with 17 queries.


text:
Hey, are you looking for a little extra work? Not the kind of work that generates income. I'm not talking about stuffing envelopes from home or selling a kidney. I'm talking about honest-to-goodness WORK, the kind that builds character without building equity.
Archive | Humor
The Look
By Gordon Caulkins on May 22, 2010 in Suburban Scrawl
Something inside my cell phone busted loose. It requires a good deal of shaking before it will perform acceptably. (Don't try this with babies). Given that my current cell phone contract is expired, I thought I'd explore my options for phone service with a new iPhone or Android. Stop #1 was the phone store in […]
Ninja Pollen Disease
By Gordon Caulkins on May 3, 2010 in Suburban Scrawl
Well, the results are in. After employing the services of two doctors, an audiologist, two ENTs, two radiologists, a chiropractor, a naturopath, a dentist, and a small army of supporting professionals (nurses, phlebotomists, lab technicians, and those people who hide your medical records where the doctor can't find them) I discovered that my hearing loss […]


text:
Street Preacher, Tony Miano, member of John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church thinks this is how to stop abortions and win people to Christ.
Tony Miano yells at two women outside an abortion clinic. They are not happy and use colorful language in response. How should a Christian respond?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galations 5:22-23
Around the :55 mark in the video, Tony yells to one woman:
"Why do you set aside your femininity to act like a man? You're acting like a man, STOP IT. YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A MAN STOP IT! STOP IT!! Man, you just have a trashy mouth, don't you?"
(Language warning)
Romans 2:4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?


text:
This post could be entitled, "So many dumb bureaucrats, so little time," but let's have some fun and turn it into a contest. Which bone-headed decision by a local government best exemplifies mindless bureaucracy, politically correct nonsense, and government waste?
Contestant Number One is Sgt Brian Albert of the Baltimore County Natural Resources Police, who fined two men $90 each for the vicious, horrible, nasty crime of …(please don't faint)… rescuing a deer. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. Two hardened criminals used an inflatable raft to free a helpless animal, but they flouted the law by not wearing life jackets. Since I already did a blog post about a man being fined for rescuing a wounded deer, I guess the moral of the story is that bureaucrats don't like Bambi.
Contestant Number Two is the Metro Police in Washington, DC, which has decided to harass random travelers by searching their bags before they board the subway. This is akin to the TSA's mindless bureaucracy – but even worse. There surely are nut-jobs who would like to blow up Americans, but they could do that on a bus, on a crowded street during rush hour, or any other place where a large number of people are gathered. Heck, they can drive a car into a crowd. Good intelligence by the CIA and FBI is the way to stop these crackpots, not empty security theater that makes life more difficult for law-abiding people.
Contestant Number Three is the St. Paul School District in Minnesota, which has turned all schools into "sweet-free zones." This ban also applies to salty foods, however that is defined, and deals "a blow to booster clubs and parent organizations, too, which won't be able to sell hot chocolate, doughnuts, candy bars and cookies at school events." I actually agree with Michelle Obama that American kids are overweight, but I also know that government intervention isn't going to solve the problem unless we want a police state that bans video games, TVs, computers, and the other technological developments that are responsible for sedentary kids.
Contestant Number Four is Battlefield High School, in Haymarket, VA, which disciplined 10 unrepentant gang members. What did these thugs do to warrant detention? Brace yourself and make sure no children are looking over your shoulders, because these hoodlums belong to a particularly nasty group called the Christmas Sweater Club and they got in trouble for handing out miniature candy canes. One school administrator (Mrs. Grinch?) explained that "not everyone wants Christmas cheer," thus turning Jay Leno's parody into reality.
So who wins the prize? I'm not technologically advanced enough to include a poll with this question, so the only thing we can really conclude is that governments do dumb things. That's true at the national level, the state level, and the local level.
I just wish I could write like Dave Barry. He had a hilarious column many years ago that was based on various examples of government stupidity. This post is more likely to make you cry rather than laugh, which is not good at this time of year. Nonetheless, feel free to comment if you think one of these stories stands out.


text:
Creating a backup of your data is a simple, essential component of any serious installation. Adaptive Server Anywhere includes utilities to help minimize data loss in case your data becomes corrupt as a result of media failure, power outage, or other failure.
Backups of Adaptive Server Anywhere databases can be performed through the dbbackup command line utility, SQL, or Sybase Central. Both full backups and incremental backups can be performed, and they can be performed either online or offline (that is, whether the server is running or not, respectively). In addition, backups can be performed both from the server side and from the client side.
A full backup makes copies of the main database file and the transaction log file. While it's the most basic and essential type of backup, it usually isn't practical to regularly perform full backups of large databases. As a result, incremental backups are commonly used.
An incremental backup makes a copy of the transaction log alone. It takes place as part of a cycle that begins with a full backup, which is then followed by a given number of incremental backups. Since only the transaction log is copied, an incremental backup uses less time and resources, making it particularly suited for large databases. Keep in mind, though, that the more time you leave between full backups, the greater the risk of losing data in the event that one of the transaction logs becomes unusable.
An online backup is performed without stopping the database server. It provides a consistent snapshot of the database, even as the database is modified. Online backups are useful for databases with high availability requirements, but they won't complete until all active transactions are complete.
In contrast, offline backups are performed once the database server has been shut down. They're useful for when the database can be taken down on a regular basis. You make offline backups simply by copying the pertinent files to another location using the cp command in a terminal window.
In either case, both full and incremental backups can be performed.
An online backup can be performed from a client using the dbbackup command line utility. This is known as a client-side backup, and it puts a backup of the database on the client machine.
An online backup can also be performed on the server by issuing the BACKUP statement in SQL. Server-side backups are generally faster, owing to the fact that client-side backups usually depend upon transport across networks.
The command line utility for making a backup of your database is dbbackup. Its syntax is as follows:
dbbackup [ switches ] directory
directory specifies a destination directory for the backup files. Some useful switches include the following:
-c is used to specify a connection string to the database to be backed up
-d creates a backup of the main database file only
-t creates a backup of the transaction log only
-r renames any previous transaction log backups and creates a new one. It is necessary for replication systems.
-x deletes any previous transaction log backups and creates a new one. It should not be used in replication systems.
For example, if you were creating your first backup, you would want to create a full backup of MyDatabase. To put it in ./backups, use the following command:
dbbackup -c "uid=DBA;pwd=SQL;dbn=MyDatabase" ./backups
The next few backups could be incremental backups, so use the following:
dbbackup -t -r -c "uid=DBA;pwd=SQL;dbn=MyDatabase" ./backups
If you prefer to back up your database from Interactive SQL, the SQL statement is BACKUP DATABASE. You must have DBA authority to use BACKUP DATABASE, whose syntax is as follows:
BACKUP DATABASE DIRECTORY backup-directory [ WAIT BEFORE START ] [ DBFILE ONLY ] [ TRANSACTION LOG ONLY ] [ TRANSACTION LOG RENAME [ MATCH ] ] [ TRANSACTION LOG TRUNCATE ]
To make a backup from Sybase Central, open the Utilities folder under "Adaptive Server Anywhere 7" and double-click "Backup Database" to open a dialog box which will guide you through the backup process.
You should regularly use either Sybase Central, SQL, or the dbvalid command line utility to validate a backup of your database in read-only mode, and, if errors are found, make repairs against the original database. Never make changes to a backup database! To read more about validation, see "Validating a database" and "Validating a transaction log" under the Backup and Data Recovery chapter of the Adaptive Server Anywhere User's Guide.
Depending on the way your database and its backups are set up, and the status of your files after a media failure, there are several possible processes involved in how you go about recovering data. For information on how to recover data in various situations, see the Backup and Data Recovery chapter of the Adaptive Server Anywhere User's Guide.


text:
What can literary fiction teach us about recent revelations that the National Security Agency has aggressively been gathering massive amounts of data on American citizens? The novel one usually turns to, of course, is George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with its terrifying vision of the Thought Police. Even President Obama, in response to questions about the NSA, has been forced to deny that the government has engaged in "Big Brother" tactics. Orwell's book, however, isn't the most compelling or accurate literary prediction of modern surveillance. That award goes to a less obvious title: J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien's most potent and intimidating image of centralized surveillance, the Eye of Sauron atop a tower, taking in the whole world, has resonated with those who are paranoid about government monitoring. But it's Sauron's vulnerability that has the most relevance for America today. Consider the basic premise of Tolkien's trilogy: a small group of dedicated subversives willing to sacrifice their lives slips in under the surveillance system of a great power, blends in with an alien population, and delivers a devastating blow to the heart of its empire, leaving its security forces in disarray and its populace terrified. Even a tower or two crumbles to dust. Far from being covert, much of this operation is conducted in plain sight, with the great power aware of its enemies' existence, if not their intent. Given its prescience about modern-day terrorism, Tolkien's vision offers at least three lessons for present-day America.
1. All-Seeing Is Not All-Knowing
The most salient fact about Tolkien is not that he was a fantasist, but that he was Catholic: His Christian beliefs drove him out of realism and into a world of orcs, ents, and Dark Lords. That's why The Lord of the Rings has been dismissed, as Edmund Wilson put it soon after the book's publication in 1954, as "a children's book which has some how got out of hand." Yet the world he created allowed Tolkien to address problems that conventional realism had seemingly abandoned. The most important of them was the distinction between omnipotence and omniscience. In Orwell's work (as well as that of other dystopian writers like Aldous Huxley and Yevgeny Zamyatin) those two terms are nearly synonymous: The Thought Police always know what Winston Smith is up to. But for a believer like Tolkien, only God can know everything. And in Sauron, Tolkien is able to imagine a figure of godlike power and seemingly infinite resources, but crippling interpretive fallibility.
Sauron's main problem, in a nutshell, is a lack of empathy: He is unable to conceive of anyone possessing a set of values fundamentally different from his own. For Sauron, power—embodied by the one ring—is self-evidently a good in itself. Therefore anyone who possesses the ring will attempt to use it and thus fall into his clutches. The thought that someone might choose instead to destroy the ring (and possibly destroy himself in the process) never crosses Sauron's mind. He suffers from a crippling case of "confirmation bias"—a fundamental problem for every intelligence agency. We see the things we want to see, which is a problem when one's enemies have worldviews utterly different from one's own.
2. The Enemy Controls the Plot
Tolkien's second lesson for us: Surveillance is typically reactive. Intelligence professionals try to anticipate and counter the actions of their opponents; this leaves them on the defensive. For all our justifiable fears of the "watchers," the advantage is often on the side of the watched. Every act of surveillance entails a struggle over meaning, narrative, and plot, with the infiltrator often creating the story in a way that exploits the surveillance mechanism's weaknesses. In The Lord of the Rings, determined individuals (Frodo, Gandalf) with an adequate understanding of the enemy's blind spots are able to rebel in plain sight.
This isn't to say, however, that Tolkien was naive about the very real abuses of totalitarian power. Quite the opposite: He was every bit as repelled by the KGB and the Gestapo as Orwell or Arthur Koestler. In this respect, the most interesting sections of LOTR are the final chapter of Book IV and the first of Book VI. This is the sequence in which Frodo and Sam slip past "Homeland Security," as it were, and evade the vast security apparatus on the borders of Mordor.
It is here that we get Tolkien's canniest depiction of Mordor's workaday employees: the orcs—Sauron's TSA agents, to continue the metaphor. Here is a conversation Sam overhears between two of them about Frodo, who has been captured:
"What is it, d'you think? Elvish it looked to me, but undersized. What's the danger in a thing like that?"
"Don't know till we've had a look."
"Oho! So they haven't told you what to expect? They don't tell us all they know, do they? Not by half. But they can make mistakes, even the Top Ones can."
"Sh! … They may, but they've got eyes and ears everywhere; some among my lot, as like as not. But there's no doubt about it, they're troubled about something. … Something nearly slipped."
Isn't this a more convincing depiction than Orwell's hyperefficient Thought Police (or Zamyatin's Guardians) of how power actually works in a surveillance state? Without in any way shorting the terror of living under the secret police, Tolkien captures the way that power mistrusts its own agents, and how it deprives them of information. He captures both the cynicism and paranoia of surveillance work—and also how, in this mix of suspicion, disgruntlement, and incompetence, things do slip through. The security apparatus, of Mordor or the United States, is only as strong as its weakest link, and weak links abound.
3. The Louder the Noise, the Fainter the Signal
As a common saying in the intelligence community would have it, processing raw intel is like drinking from a fire hose. Most dystopian authors cheat their way around this problem, ignoring huge swathes of the population to get the volume of information down to garden-hose levels. Huxley lops off "eight ninths" of the populace through eugenics. Orwell imagines the proles—85 percent of Oceania—to be politically neutered and not worth watching. By contrast, Sauron, like the NSA, has no such luxury. As Tolkien understands, nothing is harder to parse than visible anonymity. And that is the state Frodo and Sam remain in, so long as they don't wear the ring.
How to recognize the treacherous or psychopathic needle in the haystack? As recent months have proved, it's not so easy. Our surveillance state, in contrast to Orwell's, has had its share of failures. A dangerous assumption underlies many contemporary debates about government surveillance: the assumption of interpretive competence. Without diminishing the seriousness of the recent NSA revelations, Tolkien is finally more convincing about why total surveillance often fails than Orwell and his endless progeny are in imagining its inevitable success. That's at once some small comfort and reason for concern.


text:
Ben Francisco's three-run homer helps Phillies take 2-1 series lead
ST. LOUIS -- Charlie Manuel guessed right, twice.
Tony La Russa, well, he wound up getting second-guessed. And on his 67th birthday.
Pinch-hitter Ben Francisco and closer Ryan Madson made their manager's moves look smart, and the Philadelphia Phillies held off the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Tuesday for a 2-1 lead in their NL playoff series.
"To steal a game here, if worse comes to worst, we come back home and we've got another game with Doc (Roy Halladay) on the mound," Phillies slugger Ryan Howard said. "We put ourselves in a great situation."
Francisco batted for Cole Hamels and broke open a scoreless game with a two-out, three-run homer off Jaime Garcia in the seventh inning. The Cardinals stuck with Garcia instead of opting for a pinch-hitter with two on and two outs in the sixth. Garcia struck out, then lost his pitching touch.
"Well, it didn't work, so that's bad managing," La Russa said. "I'm watching him pitch and was really pleased. I thought he was the guy to continue pitching and I knew the matchups were in our favor. ... It didn't work."
Madson earned his first multi-inning save of the year. He got Allen Craig to ground sharply into a double play with the bases loaded to escape in the eighth, then worked around Yadier Molina's RBI single in the ninth.
Manuel's reasoning: "I figured the game was on the line, and we had to stop them."
The Phillies, favored to win it all after a franchise-record 102-win season, can finish off the wild-card Cardinals in Game 4 on Wednesday, with Roy Oswalt opposing Edwin Jackson.
The Cardinals are all too familiar with the win-or-else proposition. They won the NL wild card on the final day of the season, erasing a 10½-game deficit on Aug. 25 to overtake the Braves.
"Listen, we flip the page and come back ready to play with the same energy we've been having the last six weeks," said Albert Pujols, who had four hits. "We've been in this situation before."
Francisco's shot on a 1-0 fastball from Garcia was only his second hit in 19 postseason at-bats. He hit six homers this season, the last on May 25 against the Reds.
Francisco had been preparing for that moment against a lefty, and Manuel said after the game that he might have stuck with Francisco even if the Cardinals had changed pitchers.
"I didn't know it was a homer, I knew I hit it good," Francisco said. "I saw it bounce over the fence and just pure excitement, pure joy."
Hamels struck out eight in six scoreless innings and reversed a disturbing trend after allowing nine homers in September, with a pair of doubles by Pujols the only extra-base hits. He's a franchise-best 7-4 in the postseason with a 3.09 ERA.
"You don't want to make mistakes, you don't want to leave the ball over the plate," Hamels said. "Every pitch mattered, every inning mattered. I knew I couldn't let it get out of hand."
The Cardinals frustrated a season-high crowd of 46,914 by stranding 14 runners. They set a National League record with 169 double-play balls this season.
"Sometimes you're going to get a bunch of hits, sometimes you're going to get no hits with men on base," Pujols said. "I don't think Allen hit a ball that hard all season like he did with the bases loaded."
Ryan Theriot also had four hits for St. Louis, a heavy underdog in this series. The Cardinals had runners in scoring position in six innings but came up empty despite three hits in the eighth, including a pinch-hit single by Matt Holliday in only his second appearance of the series.
The Cardinals' decision to let Garcia bat with two on and two outs in the sixth backfired in a big way. Garcia struck out on Hamels' 117th pitch and wasn't the same in the seventh.
The Phillies, held to three hits to that point, doubled that total in the seventh. Shane Victorino led off with a single and moved up on a passed ball before Carlos Ruiz was intentionally walked with two outs. Francisco, who had been 1 for 9 against Garcia, deposited a 1-0 fastball in the visitors' bullpen in left-center.
Francisco was clutch at the end of the year, getting seven hits in his last 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Lefty vs. lefty percentages, even against Howard, allowed Garcia to elude trouble until the seventh.
Chase Utley singled with two outs in the sixth, breaking a string of nine straight batters retired by Garcia, and went to second on a wild pitch on an 0-1 delivery to Hunter Pence.
The Cardinals elected for an intentional walk at that point, and the move paid off when Howard, who is 2 for 15 with a homer and an RBI against Garcia counting the playoffs, tapped out weakly to first.
Garcia was at only 74 pitches through six, but needed 26 more in the seventh.
Hamels was up to the task as well, striking out David Freese with two runners on to end the first. The 2008 World Series MVP also got Garcia on a groundout with two on to end the fourth.
Game notes
Phillies leadoff man Jimmy Rollins had two hits and is 7 for 12 (.583) in the series. ... Garcia threw first-pitch strikes to his first 10 hitters. ... The Cardinals stole three bases in the first four innings. They totaled 57 in the regular season, second-lowest in the majors. ... Placido Polanco singled in the ninth, ending an 0-for-29 slump against St. Louis in the postseason. He was 0 for 17 with Detroit in the 2006 World Series. ... Counting the postseason, Theriot is 10 for 24 against Hamels. ... Pujols and Theriot became the 11th and 12th Cardinals to get four hits in a postseason game. ... The Phillies have five pinch-hit homers in the postseason, the last by Matt Stairs on Oct. 13, 2008, in the NLCS at Los Angeles.
PHI Wins 3-2
Game Information
- Umpires:
- Home Plate Umpire - Jerry Layne
- First Base Umpire - Angel Hernandez
- Second Base Umpire - Gary Cederstrom
- Third Base Umpire - Chad Fairchild


text:
Sardine Factory in Monterey celebrates 45 years
The Sardine Factory celebrated its 45th anniversary on Wednesday in Monterey as the restaurant known around the world.
Before it was a restaurant, it was many things.
"It was a ballet studio, it was a Spanish hall, it was a boxing ring, it was the first YWCA. It's a wonderful place with a lot of memories," co-owner Ted Balestreri said.
The Sardine Factory's namesake stems from the historical Cannery Row. The building was a canteen for factory workers. There's still an old menu hanging on the wall, if you know where to look.
The Sardine Factory of today wasn't always so glamorous. When co-owners Balestreri and Bert Cutino first opened on October 2, 1968, there were only 72 seats and the famous captain's room. The conservatory and wine cellar were just a distant dream.
In 1971, Clint Eastwood's "Play Misty For Me" was released. The film, about a disc jockey stalked by a female listener, featured a few scenes shot right in the bar.
"Clint, since this was his first movie and he was doing it with his own money, he was only going to shoot one scene, but we talked him into doing more than one and fortunately, we did get those scenes," co-owner Cutino said.


text:
New 2022 Winnebago Industries Towables Micro Minnie 2108FBS
Travel Trailer
Stock #3784N
Favorite RVs
Save your favorite RVs as you browse. Begin with this one!
Extremely happyBought my travel trailer at Bill Eads RV in Rocklin and am extremely happy with the experience. Everyone was friendly, knowledgeable, and I never felt pressured. This is my first travel trailer and they were very thorough in explaining everything inside and out. Had to come back in to have a couple
Thank YouExcellent service even on a rainy day. Thank you
Appreciate your helpHad roof repairs in my RV. They did an exceptional job above and beyond my expectations.
We are here to help!
Bill Eads RV is not responsible for any misprints, typos, or errors found in our website pages. Any price listed excludes sales tax, registration tags, and delivery fees. Manufacturer pictures, specifications, and features may be used in place of actual units on our lot. Please contact us @916-624-7600 for availability as our inventory changes rapidly. All calculated payments are an estimate only and do not constitute a commitment that financing or a specific interest rate or term is available.


text:
Family feud: How to deal with sibling rivalry
Dinnertime is approaching, and you wonder what point of contention will cause the rugrats' knock-down, drag-out fight tonight. Who gets the blue cup? Or whether one piece of carrot cake is a sliver bigger than the other?
The inane bickering and jockeying for position as the favorite child can take a toll on you as a parent. But whether it's vying for the title of fastest bike rider or arguing over what video to rent from Blockbuster, garden-variety sibling rivalry is part of everyday life for brothers and sisters.
And, despite the temptation to step in, most of the time it's important to let the kids learn how to resolve their differences without an adult intervening.
"In the spirit of good parenting, we end up sitting there counting fries to make sure that each child has the exact same number, but I'm not a proponent of strict 50-50 adherence," said Dr. Paul Mullen, psychology professor at North Central College, Naperville, Ill. "A little discrepancy can be beneficial. It prepares them to handle the inequities that inevitably crop up later in life."
However, in the meantime, toddlers and young school-aged kids are at a stage in their moral development where there's a hypersensitivity to right and wrong, causing them to blow out of proportion any perceived slight.
"That's especially the case if they feel like a sibling is receiving preferential treatment," said Mullen, who specializes in children and adolescents. "They aren't at all open to explanation to why other considerations should be taken into account — it's very cut and dry in their minds. It's a travesty if fairness standards is not followed to the 'T.'"
Experts believe it's tough cookies. Dr. Asmat Jafry, a family psychiatrist at Edward Hospital's Linden Oaks Medical Group in Illinois, said it's healthy for children to have to share possessions and attention.
"It's good preparation for putting to use the turn-taking concept you need in school waiting for the teacher's help and to use the group glue stick or pencil sharpener," she said. "Kids from single-child homes tend to have difficulty getting along with peers because they haven't built up a frustration or rejection tolerance."
So by nipping any potentially negative interaction in the bud, you might be putting your kids at a disadvantage by not allowing them to deal with common social issues or practice conflict resolution.
Aggravating factors
A new baby, a move, the transition from one school level to another or a new job for you all coincide with ch-ch-ch-changes. So routines are affected, making kids more irritable, needy and aware of anything that diverts your attention.
"Hallmark events cause (sibling rivalry) to rear its ugly head or worsen if it was a pre-existing issue," Mullen said. "Parents can expect a change in the severity during these times, but it's usually temporary because the child is going to acclimate to the new set of circumstances or age and mature."
Red flags
If a repetitive underdog scenario develops, you should intercede. According to Jafry, if a younger or more passive sibling is being pushed around, it's important to make sure their self-confidence isn't damaged. If overly aggressive behavior persists or if a child says, "I wish I was in a different family" or "I wish I was never born," seek counseling.
How to deal
Don't become Judge Judy.
"Parents tend to mediate right away in the interest of keeping peace, but that sends the message that the kids need to plead their case to you and await a ruling," Mullen said. "From a behavioral standpoint, adults unknowingly reinforce the thought that crying to mommy or daddy is the most viable option rather than encouraging them to work it out on their own."
Battle of Toy
If the kids are fighting over a ball, rather than taking it away, articulate the quandary for them: "There's one ball, and this is why you're arguing, so what are we going to do?" Trust that they will do the right thing.
Time to shine
If one all-star sibling just won a soccer trophy or participated in a ballet recital, don't stretch for something to praise the other about to even the score. It's OK to celebrate a child's accomplishments. Just make sure you're acknowledging subtler, less tangible achievements — like helping another person without being asked — of the other sibling.
Preventative measures
Spend quality one-on-one time with everyone. Establish a special date night where you go to the movies or out to eat so that each child has your undivided attention.
More help
Visit www.handinhandparenting.org or read "Becoming the Parent You Want To Be" by Laura Davis and Janis Keyser.
Naperville Family


text:
I was at a reading for Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan when he mentioned off-hand that it would be a trilogy… with an illustrated guide to the world he was building, in the style of the Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World.
Now, there are a lot of reasons that I liked the Spiderwick guide—I'm a big fan of Tony DiTerlizzi, for instance—but the deep reason is that I'm gonzo for apocrypha. Those sorts of bits and extras that deepen worldbuilding, whether they are art books like Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series or in-world mythology like The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The icing on the cake with The Manual of Aeronautics is that Keith Thompson does the art for it, as he did for the series.
[Read "The Manual of Aeronautics: The Art of the Leviathan Trilogy" on Tor.com]


text:
Jan. 17 — "Introduction to QuickBooks I" will be offered by the Small Business Development Center at Butte College.
Details: 9 to 11 a.m. at Paradise Ridge Family Resource Center, 6249 Skyway. Cost: $30 in advance, $40 at the door. Reservations: 895-9017.
The workshop focuses on navigating through QuickBooks, business terms, company file, preferences, balances and more. A certified public accountant and QuickBooks advisor is the trainer.
Jan. 17 — The 13th annual Economic Forecast Conference will be sponsored by the Center for Economic Development at Chico State University.
Details: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Gold Country Casino event center, 4020 Olive Hwy., Oroville. Cost: $79. Reservations: 898-4598 or www.cedcal.com.
Featured speakers include Harry Moser on "The Reshoring Initiative;" California State Controller John Chiang; Robert Eyler, Sonoma State University economic department chair.
The conference includes breakfast and lunch, the main program before lunch, and breakout sessions after lunch.
Jan. 17 — Chico Chamber of Commerce annual dinner.
Details: 6 p.m. at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 1075 E. 20th St., Chico. Cost: $75 members, $100 nonmembers. Reservations: 891-5556.
Installation of officers and annual awards presentation.
Jan. 22 — "Using Emerging Technologies to Market Your Business" will be offered by Small Business Development Center of Butte College.
Details: 9 to 11 a.m. at the center in Red Bluff, 332 Pine St. Cost: $30 in advance, $40 at the door. Reservations: 895-9017.
Topics include website maximization strategies, search engine optimization, social media including Facebook, Twitter and blogging, video tools and more.
Jan. 30 — A series of workshops for new and proposed businesses is being offered by Small Business Development Center at Butte College.
Details" 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the center, 2480 Notre Dame Blvd., Chico. Cost: $50 in advance, $60 at the door.
The four-part series provides information for individuals thinking about starting a new business or newly opened. Topics include orientation, market analysis, cost analysis and business plans, start-up costs.
Jan. 31 — The 2013 Business Summit, featuring the "state of the city" address, is being planned by the Chico Chamber of Commerce.
Details: 1:30 p.m. at Chico Community Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave., Chico. Cost: free, but reservations are required: 891-5556.
The event offers problem solving with community leaders, and a progress update on the 2012 Summit, and an update on the economic development action plan. City Manager Brian Nakamura will provide the state of the city.
Jan. 31 — ServeSafe Food Safety Training and Certification is being offered by Small Business Development Center at Butte College.
Details: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the center, 2480 Notre Dame Blvd., Chico.


text:
March 10, 2011 — -- By the third grade, Dan Pardi of Norwood, Mass., could say he'd collected more than 100,000 baseball cards. And that he'd survived cancer.
"At 7, you don't know what's going on," said Pardi, who'd been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the most common forms of childhood cancer. "At that age, you think that every kid goes through it."
Now 23, Pardi said his college friends couldn't believe he'd ever had cancer -- and survived. "When I went to college, I told my friends I'd had childhood cancer and people thought, really? You don't look it," said Pardi, who was treated at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. "I didn't know there was a look to cancer."
Now, just like Pardi, more people can call themselves cancer survivors. Nearly one in 20 Americans over the age of 20 is a cancer survivor, thanks to advances in early detection and treatment, according to a new analysis by the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It's really quite staggering, and it's quite wonderful," said Dr. Stephen Edge, medical director of the breast center at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.
The CDC defines a cancer survivor as anyone at any age who has ever been diagnosed with any form of cancer and may have undergone treatment during or before 2007. By this criteria, nearly 12 million Americans could call themselves cancer survivors in 2007, up from 10 million survivors in 2001, according to the report. Fifty-four percent of survivors are women, and close to 46 percent are men.
But an increase in the number of cancer survivors does not necessarily mean that there are a higher number of new diagnoses of cancer, said Edge.
"If incidence stays the same and we have better treatment, then of course prevalence would go up," he said. "But that's nothing to worry about. It just means survival for a longer period of time."
Breast, prostate and colorectal cancer are among the most common cancers, accounting for nearly half of all cancer diagnoses. And nearly half of all survivors of every type of cancer were diagnosed with the disease as adults.
Since children are not screened for cancer, the increase in childhood cancer survivorship stems from early treatment and advances in treatment. Today, 75 percent to 80 percent of children with any form of cancer can expect to survive.
"The majority are now surviving, whereas a decade or so ago they didn't," said Linda Jacobs, a registered nurse and director at the Livestrong Survivorship Center of Excellence and Living Well After Cancer program at the the University of Pennsylvania. "That can be said for many cancers at any age, depending on the type."
Suriviving Cancer: It Takes a Village
Survivorship for both adults and children means more than overcoming the cancer itself. Many experts said the surprising number of survivors is a wake-up call to all physicians in every specialty to not only understand their patients' cancer history but also the long-term effects of the disease and the treatment.
"The current thought is oncologists take care of cancer patients," said Dr. Lisa Diller, clinical director of pediatric oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. "But cancer is not a lethal disease anymore, and now maybe the oncologist is no longer the center of a patient's health care."
The chances of cancer reoccurring depend on the form of cancer. Many cancer survivors endure long-term health effects, including infertility, osteoporosis and even post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of some cancer therapies. Some may also experience secondary cancers as a result of some types of treatments.
"These effects manifest themselves unrelated to their cancer," said Diller. "The people who provide primary care in this country will need to know more about how to care wholly for cancer survivors."
Many larger medical centers, especially specialized cancer centers, are doing just that. Messages poured in to ABC News' Medical Unit from more than 25 medical and cancer specialty centers across the nation, describing comprehensive survivorship programs. The programs work with health care providers from various subspecialties who help assess a survivor's medical and mental health needs after treatment.
"It's important to understand the cancer you had and the risk of recurrence or other health concerns," said Diller.
Unlike support groups, many of these programs offer individualized after-treatment plans for survivors. The University of Chicago Medical Center runs a sexual medicine clinic to help women who have survived breast or gynecological cancer regain their sexual independence.
Experts Say After-Cancer Care Crucial to Survival
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles conducts a program that helps survivors overcome "chemobrain," a term used to describe adjustment disorders, and cognitive and learning disabilities, which can be side effects of extensive chemotherapy.
"I think there is hope for many. Despite diagnosis, people are surviving because of treatment options and supportive and follow-up care," said Jacobs.
Pardi said he was surprised to hear the number of survivors was so high -- especially since he recalled that his aunt, who had lung cancer, did not survive -- but was glad to hear there were more like him.
"Ever since I've been in remission, I haven't felt like cancer is a part of my life," said Pardi, who said he continues to receive routine screenings and annual follow-up care for his childhood leukemia.
Pardi said he'd kept his baseball cards and, with help from his oncologist, traded in the cancer.
"I really think the real definition of cancer survivor," said Pardi, "is someone who can almost 100 percent put the cancer behind them and move on to live just as full a life."


text:
After last week's tragedy at LAX, can we all agree to stop beating up on the men and women of the TSA who are just trying to do their job, which is to protect you and me from being killed?
Can we stop behaving like spoiled children, thinking we have a God-given right to show up late for airplanes, forgetting to unpack the penknife in the bottom of the suitcase, and wearing shoes and boots that take forever to get on and off?
Sure, I know what it's like to get in the wrong line — and worse. I've had the ridiculous experience of being detained for a secondary check by TSA agents who know exactly who I am (big fans of Fox News in that case). But I was traveling on a series of one-way tickets, and that's how it works.
According to Amie Stepanovich of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the TSA "is seen as another administrative step. We used to be able to walk through metal detectors and get on an airplane; now we have to go through long search lines before we can leave."
True enough. We used to race through metal detectors and get right on the plane, but that was before four planes were hijacked, before we caught a would-be bomber with an explosive device in his shoe, before we became so painfully aware of the extent of terrorism and hate and our own vulnerability. Sure, there may be better ways to protect us; that is a legitimate debate. But the public discourse about the TSA has gone way beyond the confines of legitimate and productive debate.
Wrongly, the TSA has become the butt not simply of humor but of ridicule and vilification, portrayed as petty voyeurs who have no business looking us up and down. Such vilification isn't just unfair; it's dangerous.
Those who have studied hate crimes know this to be true. "When people or institutions are vilified on national television and in the public square, you often see people latch on to them as enemies to be destroyed," Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center told reporters.
There is no good reason for Paul Ciancia to have so hated the TSA. But there were a lot of bad reasons, and those who have crossed the line in their attacks on the TSA should, quite simply, stop. I'm talking about folks like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has raged against the TSA for "groping toddlers and grandmothers," and Matt Hawes of the Campaign for Liberty, who raged that "the government literally has its hands in our pants."
No, no one told Ciancia that the answer was to start shooting, and no one is arguing that the loudmouths are responsible for the death of a husband and father who went to work every day to protect the rest of us. But enough is enough. Words have power. Vilify public servants, and the crazy people out there — and there are too many of them — will turn those words into weapons.
So enough. Paul and his pals aren't responsible for the death of TSA agent Gerardo Hernandez, but they should be on notice that their rhetoric is dangerous. They need to grow up and shut up before more people die.
Put your laptop in the bin. Take out your liquids. Put your hands up. No one is interested in groping grandmothers and toddlers. They're looking for weapons. They're trying to save lives. They deserve to be protected. They deserve to be thanked. And this week, sadly, one must be mourned.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.


text:
So, after watching some 5 movies (they were all very good) on a tiny screen in an aeroplane, there I was, in San Francisco, where the disciples, or possibly, descendants, of Gary Fisher display their mad skills by doing long wheelies in front of Alcatraz:
And, first of all, I gotta tell you, Finland is a developing country when it comes to bicycling as a form of traffic. In San Francisco they have it much better. For instance, SF drivers, in general, don't try to kill bicyclists in traffic. They don't act like jerks. They stop in intersections and let bicyclists go first, if they have the right of way. In SF, the bicyclists ride on bike lanes or among the traffic, and they are mostly treated with respect. It's not scary riding a bike there.
Anyway, after renting a bike (from Blazing Saddles), I headed for Marin County. I was kind of aware that to get there, you have to cross the Golden Gate bridge:
After crossing the bridge, I was faced with the fact that I really should've taught myself to use the Garmin 705 bike computer I had borrowed from a friend for the journey earlier. But based on what I'd like to call an internal compass, and some might call blind luck, I did find a trailhead:
The bike: Marin Mount Vision 5.8. Not a bad bike. The one I had had a couple of flaws: a freehub that tended to stick and make a noise on descents, and a seat post that kept sliding down. And just like the guy told me at the rental shop, the bottle will get very dirty in the holder.
The terrain was mostly fire road, i.e. technically easy, dry, sandy road. The hard part was all the climbing - I'm not really used to having to climb for tens of minutes at a time on granny gears to get on a hilltop. In southern Finland, the hills are really minuscule compared to these real ones.
There was some singletrack as well, but it was technically easy as well. Where's all the mud, roots, rocks and trees? Is this really mountain biking?
In the distance there's Mount Tamalpais, on top of whiche the shrine of Gary Fisher resides in, if I'm not mistaken. But that's for the next day.
There seems to be some not too bad apartments on the hillsides as well. I guess one could live here for a while, if absolutely obliged to to do so.
This is what the typical climb looks like. And it goes on and on. And, for an albino such as yours truly, there was more than enough sun as well. BTW, notice the writing in the sky. There was an air show over SF. Can't tell what it spells though.
After some 6 hours of bicycling, there's Golden Gate again. And there are some significant hills in the city as well. Ok, I admit it: I had to push the bike on some of the steepest hills on my way to the hotel.
There's nothing like pizza after a day of mountain biking. Ok, there is. It's beer. But one wouldn't suffice without without the other. So, I think we all can agree that the perfect combination of sustenance and refreshment post-bicycling is pizza and beer.
The hotel didn't have a special safe bicycling holding space so I just kept the bike in the bathroom. Did I mention yet that I was going to ride for two days?
Although perhaps sadly lacking in mud, the Bay Area makes up for it in dust:
Those aren't leggings, I tells ya. Some of it might be tan line, though.
So, the next day, to conquer Mount Tamalpais, and to find the holy shrine of Gary Fisher they keep telling me about. In reality, it wasn't really this misty. I must have breathed in the camera lense or something.
Now, between these two pictures there's an inpicturable period of pain that includes finding the trailhead in a nice-looking suburban neighbourhood, and then climbing up hillsides for some 70 minutes straight. I'll always be looking back to that pain with yearning.
On the mountain top, I finally found what I honestly believe was the shrine of Gary Fisher:
And let me tell you, a can of cold Coca-Cola has never tasted better than when purchased from the Coke machine beside the shrine of Gary Fisher on top of Mount Tamalpais. God bless America!
In the SFO airport there was a cool display of the history of mountain biking. The coolest museum exhibition I've ever seen (and I've seen at least two). Here are the original mountain bikers:
And the original mountain bikes:


text:
Today our following post appears on Montana Cowgirl as a guest analysis. Update: Includes statement from Corey Stapleton following post.
GOP Gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stapleton's latest ad, by highlighting elderly opponent Rick Hill's various policy failures, accuses him of having "too much baggage" to effectively govern Montana. The direct "baggage" in question includes supporting a state sales tax, chairing a board that supports Obamacare, and receiving "sweetheart real estate deals". Among the indirect baggage (displayed in the ad on various pieces of luggage) is Jack Abramoff (Hill received substantial campaign donations from Abramoff, a lobbyist convicted of bilking tens of millions of dollars from Native American tribes), Ponzi Scheme (Hill fell victim to a Ponzi scheme and lost millions), Vietnam (Hill is allegedly a draft dodger) and Worker's Comp (the program Hill claims to have reformed boasts the highest rates in the nation). Not only has Rick Hill failed to deny any of these allegations, the Democrats conducted a fact check of the points made in Stapleton's ad and determined it was factual. Hill has consistently been absent from primary season's conservative debates… perhaps to avoid answering tough questions.
What does Stapleton have to lose by "going negative" in this ad? Unfortunately for Hill, sometimes the truth is negative and when one files to run for political office, ALL past actions are fair fodder. Stapleton was smart to focus on Hill's various political inadequacies. If he had instead created an ad to hit Hill personally by further exposing his extramarital affair with a Sip N' Dip cocktail waitress, or Hill's ex-wife publicly stating that Hill had abused her emotionally and had criticized her appearance and lack of education, perhaps such a piece would qualify as an attack ad, and one taken right from Hill's own playbook.
From High Country News:
"Rick Hill was so far behind in the polls last winter that his two Republican primary opponents said Hill wasn't even a contender for Montana's one seat in the House of Representatives. So Hill tried something. He went negative. He attacked his Republican opponents, who both complained he was being nasty and unfair when he called them tax-and-spend liberals in bad disguises. But the strategy worked. Hill rallied in the final weeks of the campaign and won the primary with 44 percent of the vote, eight points more than his closest opponent."
Hill's record is chock-full of relevant accomplishments, there is no need to attack him personally. For instance,
- Hill edged out 433 other competitors to win the dubious honor of runner-up in the Worst Boss in Congress contest, which took into consideration that Hill had once thrown a letter opener at an aide and screamed "I don't eat deli" when a staffer brought him the wrong type of sandwich.
- Hill's infamous criticism of childless opponent Nancy Keenan– Keenan had no choice in the matter due to a hysterectomy, an experience she called "devastating".
- Hill's abysmal voting record
- Hill's ties to Triad Management, Inc; a shadowy shell group accused of numerous campaign finance law violations. After Hill expressed to Triad a need for a third party to attack opponent Bill Yellowtail for "wife beating", the management firm funded brutal campaign ad attacks on Yellowtail. Particularly hypocritical was Hill's statement "I stood up for my kids, he left his." considering Hill's refusal to leave a seedy lounge after his wife discovered him carousing with his younger lover while his young children waited in the car.
Vilifying Hill by citing any of his aforementioned imperfections seems more like educating voters than attacking an opponent. Montanans have a right to hear the good, bad and in this case, the ugly truth about our candidates. Rick Hill represents the worst part of the Republican party- the lobbyist fourth branch of government and for decades has said one thing and done another–all the while profiting handsomely off the political system. When Rick Hill quit Congress, more Montanans viewed him unfavorably than favorably, Stapleton's ad addressing Rick Hill's "baggage" simply reminds them why.
UPDATE: Corey Stapleton has released the following statement:
campaign's latest ad "Baggage", which highlights some of my opponent Rick
Hill's public choices. I hide behind no lawyers, no employees, no spokesmen
who can say whatever–and then recant the following day (as we just saw with
Brock Lowrance, Hill's campaign manager, switching his narrative from "not
only false but entirely fabricated" to admitting Hill did own the Helena
properties referenced as "Sweetheart Real Estate Deals".)And of course, Rick Hill has not made any statements denying the bags. It's
important to know, as governor, the contrast of my openness and Hill's hiding
behind spokesmen and lawyers, is germane to the character and integrity issues
brought up in 'Baggage', and further underscores our argument of his
unelectability as Governor. We think it's important to have transparency and
openness in our political leaders. I will be that kind of Governor.I strongly stand by the 'bags' in our ad:"Vietnam": Selective Service record enclosed.
"Obamacare": Actions, not words. When you sit on a board of directors you
are accountable for the actions of the organization. When a ship runs aground
the captain is accountable, regardless. This is a big deal in leadership, and
I feel passionately about this bag because it displays Hill's hypocrisy: Blue
Cross Blue shield is one of the biggest financial beneficiaries of Obamacare.
They spent $9.7 million in 2009 alone, lobbying for Obamacare. They currently
have filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court—supporting the
'individual mandate' which is the backbone of Obamacare! It is what it
is–Blue Cross/Blue Shield supported and is supporting Obamacare. And Rick
Hill bragged on two occasions of "chairing a board of directors for one of
the largest insurance companies in America" at Republican Lincoln Reagan
dinners that I attended in 2011. I took his statement at his word. If it is
untrue that he chaired, but was rather a director, that is because we based
our statement on his. And all directors of the Board are accountable to Blue
Cross's actions.
I copy and paste right off Google (Mar 26, 2012):
Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Mass. filed amicus brief in support of Obama's
health-care law –In SCOTUS case, Obamacare has industry allies 26 Mar 2012
Lawyers from the health insurance and hospital industries have petitioned the
Supreme Court to save President Obama's health-care law from a constitutional
challenge by 26 states and a small-business group, while other big-business
lobbies have stayed neutral. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts filed an
amicus brief with the court in support of Obama's Department of Health & Human
Services. The insurer writes that it played a central role in crafting Mitt
Romney's Massachusetts health-care law that served as the prototype of
Obamacare… On the question of constitutionality, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of
Massachusetts argues that the individual mandate is "a valid exercise of the
Commerce Power because Congress had a rational basis for concluding that, in
the aggregate, the practice of self-insuring for the cost of health care
substantially affects interstate commerce."
My plea to Montana: Do not be fooled by the entities or politicians who hide
their actions behind confusing words and legal mumbo jumbo. Blue Cross is a
good company, but their corporate structure allows them scalability when it
suits their purpose and deniability when it doesn't. We need leaders to hold
both our corporations, unions AND our government accountable.
"Sweetheart Real Estate Deals": Rick Hill admitted on Aaron Flint's "Voices
of Montana" radio show last year to a caller's question regarding such real
estate. Hill responded that he hadn't had that property "since 2002 or 2003".
"$400 million tax": Hill lobbied for passage of former Gov. Marc Racicot's
sales tax proposal.
"Workers Comp": Hill routinely takes credit for his role in the 1990's
workers comp overhaul…fastforward: Montana's Workers Comp was routinely
panned as one of the worst in the country in the 2011 Legislature. If you
want credit for the fix you get credit for the failure, too.
"Jack Abramoff": Congressman Hill received donations from Jack Abramoff.
"Ponzi Scheme Lawsuit": Rick Hill constantly touts his success in business on
the campaign trail. He made millions of dollars in the insurance business,
but then lost those millions in the investment business. Victim or Baggage?
You decide..because I can't—Hill's pre-emptive lawsuit, and his role in the
investment scam, won't be determined until sometime after the Primary
election–when it would be too late for Republicans to act (should they
nominate Hill). Montanans deserve to know why Hill filed a lawsuit several
months after filing for office. See enclosure
"Lobbyist": Rick Hill was a registered lobbyist for the past decade, since he
left Congress.
All of the bags in "Rick Hill's Baggage" are tied to public records. While
"Baggage" might be tough on Hill, it is fair.
Corey Stapleton
Candidate for Montana Governor


text:
Story highlights
Clash between Hong Kongers and Chinese tourists after Chinese toddler filmed urinating on street
Angered Chinese netizens call for a boycott of Hong Kong on June 1
Other Chinese calling on parents to let their children relieve themselves in public en masse in response to the outcry
Urine and feces have been a hot topic among Hong Kongers the past week, leading to Chinese netizens calling for a boycott of Hong Kong on June 1.
It all began with a dispute between locals and Chinese mainland tourists over a toddler who reportedly answered the call of nature on a Hong Kong street.
Videos of the clash went viral over the last week, stirring online uproar in both Hong Kong and the mainland, prompting Foreign Policy to brand the incident "bladdergate."
Several video clips capturing the alleged event have spread around the Internet.
In one, seen by CNN, A Hong Konger can be seen yelling "We have called the police," while the enraged father asks, "Do you have kids? Don't your kids need to pee?"
The mother claimed not to know where the toilets were.
MORE: China's first tourism law comes into effect, tourists issued manners guides
Some locals came out in the parents' defense, saying, "Don't scare the kid. It's not a big deal."
The fiasco ends when the police arrive.
The parents were arrested on suspicion of theft and assault, but were not charged.
Under Hong Kong's Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation, no person in care or custody of any child under 12 years of age shall permit, without reasonable cause, such child to answer the call of nature in public places.
The man was released unconditionally while the woman was released on bail and has to report back to the police in mid-May.
READ: Chinese tourism: The good, the bad and the backlash
The boycott pledge
Where to celebrate World Toilet Day
When news of the clash hit the Internet, many Chinese netizens called out Hong Kongers for their perceived lack of empathy and for filming the urinating toddler.
Hong Kongers countered that it was uncivilized for Chinese parents to let their kids urinate on the street.
One Chinese netizen on a popular Chinese forum, Tianya, pledged to boycott Hong Kong from June 1.
"If us, the mainlanders, stopped traveling to Hong Kong for months, they will come begging us to go back," he said in his declaration.
"We are not entirely sealing off Hong Kong but just to show them we are god as we are the consumers."
Some netizens agreed with the action while some said it might be a conspiracy to stir conflicts between the two parties as Hong Kong 2017's universal suffrage's public consultation is on the way.
Hong Kong has been fighting for a universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017, which has in the past been chosen by a small group of elites and said to be influenced by the Chinese government.
On the other hand, similarly irritated Hong Kong netizens were thrilled at the prospect of a boycott.
"Who cares for your money, you who think shopping is an act of charity," said one commenter on Apple Daily, a local news website.
"Remember to keep your promise and never come to Hong Kong again."
Another said, "It's the first movement both Hong Kong and China support!"
READ: International hotels race to woo Chinese market
China's first tourism law comes into effect
Mass urination?
The fiasco has escalated to another, smellier level.
Another pledge on the same forum was posted under the heading "Declare war on Hong Kong's civilization!"
The poster asks Chinese tourists to let their children relieve themselves on the streets of Hong Kong during the upcoming Labour Day holiday, which spans a week from May 1.
Hong Kong netizens called for a photography competition on Facebook in response, telling locals to take photos as evidence if toddlers are seen relieving themselves in public places.
Sohu, a popular online news outlet and platform in China, even conducted a survey on the incident, asking: "A mainland toddler spotted urinating on the street of Hong Kong was reported to the police. What do you think?"
Out of more than 260,000 responses, about 40% said they consider it a prejudice against mainlanders by Hong Kongers.
Another 40% thought it's understandable that a child would urinate on the street if there's a line of people outside the washroom.
Global Times, a tabloid owned by the state news media People's Daily, quoted academics on the case.
"Some Hong Kong citizens, especially the young, have no cultural identification with the mainland and they have always seen mainlanders as uncivilized people," said Zhu Shihai, a professor from the Central Institute of Socialism, in the Global Times.
Zhu dismissed the incident, saying Hong Kongers were being "overdramatic, in this case."
Zhang Dinghuai, a professor at the Contemporary Chinese Politics Research Institute of Shenzhen University, told the Global Times that people with vicious intentions have deliberately upgraded a simple incident into a conflict.


text:
10 November 2020Issue archive | Send to a colleague| Print-friendly page| Visit our website|
Your name
Your email address*
Recipient name
Recipient email address*
Here is the link to a newsletter I want to share with you:
The SFA is part of Ibec clg which is registered in Ireland. Registration No. 8706. Website www.ibec.iePublished by Ibec @2020. All rights reserved. Directors: Alastair Blair (President), Frank Gleeson, Gerry Collins, Edel Creely, Paraic Curtis, Kari Daniels, Cathriona Hallahan, Anne Heraty, Imelda Hurley, Oliver Loomes, Eugene McCague, Pat McCann, Danny McCoy, Francesca McDonagh, Liam O'Donoghue, Anne O'Leary, Dalton Philips, Siobhán Talbot, Kevin Toland.Registered address: 84/86 Lower Baggot Street Dublin 2Phone: +353 (0)1 605 1500 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Website: www.sfa.ie


text:
Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
It's winter 2014, and the next presidential race is very far away. But already, the top contenders for the White House are positioning themselves for the spotlight - in what will be a crowded and exciting race.
Once dubbed the "Savior of the Republican Party," Sen. Marco Rubio is among the head of that pack. The freshman from Florida made a passionate push for immigration reform in 2013, and in recent weeks, he's been polishing his foreign policy credentials, becoming a vocal critic of the regime in Venezuela and its crackdown on protestors. While his Latino roots and young, fresh face could make him appealing to the GOP, he has a long road ahead to prove he's a capable executive and mature leader.
In the first of our "The 2016 Contenders" series, Wolf Blitzer sat down with Rubio for an extensive interview, about national security, politics, foreign policy, and the White House. Check out what he has to say about foreign policy and decide for yourself - does he sound like presidential material to you?
RELATED: Rubio undecided on 2016, but says he can beat Hillary Clinton.


text:
Don't forget recent Mideast history
Perhaps if America had a successful track record in the Middle East, President Obama's appeal for a "limited" attack on Syria might carry more weight. But because our attention span in the region increasingly resembles that of a fidgety 4-year-old, an examination of recent history is in order.
Consider Iran. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter supported toppling the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Whatever the shah's shortcomings, who believes the theocratic government of the ayatollahs, which replaced him, was better than the one we helped overthrow? At least the shah was not pursuing nuclear weapons or fighting proxy wars like Syria.
Or Iraq. In 2003, President George W. Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein and rid the country of weapons of mass destruction. Remember the Iraqi refugee codenamed "Curveball"? He was the main provider of "intelligence" that Saddam was pursuing WMDs. No WMDs were ever found. In 2004, "Curveball" was officially classified a "fabricator" by the CIA; too late for those thousands of Americans who died or were wounded. Now, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say we can trust the intelligence on Syria. Do you?
Even if the videos showing dead Syrian children are real and the intelligence is accurate, that is still not sufficient reason to attack Syria. Given our experience with Iran and Iraq -- and the increased likelihood that growing instability in Afghanistan, Libya, possibly Egypt and even Lebanon might turn out unfavorably for the U.S., what makes anyone think history won't repeat itself?
Anyone who has spent time in the Middle East knows things are not always what they seem. Alliances and loyalties shift depending on who is most likely to win a power struggle. The secular West doesn't fully comprehend the religious motivations of extremists who claim to love death more than life. Getting killed by missiles launched by people they regard as "infidels," they say, transports them to paradise. How does America deal with that?
Former Israeli diplomat Yoram Ettinger wrote to me in an email: "The Syrian threat to vital U.S. interests ... is a derivative of Iran's regional and global megalomaniac aspirations. The focus must be on the source and not on the derivative! Shifting attention from Iran to Syria provides Iran with extra time to develop nuclear capabilities."
Exactly. The Middle East is imploding and if the U.S. continues with the fiction that it can make things better, or that freedom "is the hope of every heart," as former President Bush likes to say, we will be sucked into its vortex with no escape. A recent headline in The Weekly Standard, which editorially favors a strike against Syria, branded the region "The Muddle East." Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, writes, "... Obama's sensibilities -- his early friendly outreach to Muslim despots and Iran, his reluctance to apply pressure to authoritarian Muslim rulers, and his obvious discomfort with the moral challenges of American power -- made him particularly diffident. Barack Obama is now the American everyone in the region loves to hate."
Having proved the wrongheadedness of pacification ("pacification" also failed in Vietnam), the president seeks authority to push forward and repeat the mistakes of the recent past.
The war we are in has less to do with Syria than with transnational forces like the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaida. Ettinger writes that these radical groups "(aspire) to sweep the Middle East and beyond, first and foremost the remaining pro-U.S. Arab regimes such as Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing Gulf states."
They will then come here. In fact, Clare M. Lopez, writing for the Gatestone Institute, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit international policy council, maintains there is ample evidence they have already infiltrated America, Great Britain and other parts of Europe (http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3672/muslim-brotherhood-us-government). A limited strike on Syria will do nothing to stop them. Learning from history, listening to what they say and watching what they do and confronting this evil, rather than trying to pacify it, is America's best option.
Email Cal Thomas at email@example.com.


text:
Dying for a Nobel? Winners snag prizes at older ages
The Nobel Prize is supposed to be the ultimate mark of scientific achievement. Now it has become a mark of something else: endurance.
New research shows that the time lag between a notable scientific discovery and the Nobel Prize for that discovery has escalated sharply over the past century. Before 1940, roughly 10% to 15% of physics or chemistry laureates had endured a wait of more than 20 years between their discovery and the prize. But since 1985, 50% to 60% of laureates have waited that long. The lag time has also risen, though not as steeply, for winners of the Nobel for physiology or medicine.
If the trend continues, the gap between discovery and award will become so long that by the end of the century, many worthy scientists will die before they make the trip to Stockholm to receive their Nobels, says study co-author Santo Fortunato of Aalto University in Finland. The Nobel is not awarded posthumously.
"Delay is increasing for all disciplines," Fortunato says. "But I assume that trend will have to change, because otherwise there will be ... this progressive extinction of laureates before they get the award."
One such extinction has already taken place. In 2013, two theoretical physicists — one 84, one 81 — won the prize for papers published in the 1960s that paved the way for the discovery of the subatomic particle called the Higgs boson. But Robert Brout, who co-authored one of those papers, did not appear on the Nobel stage with his colleagues. He died in 2011 at age 82.
A century ago, Nobel prizes could occasionally be won in less time than it takes today's scientists to earn a Ph.D. The 32-year-old Frederick Banting, for example, was awarded the Nobel for physiology or medicine in 1923, a few years after embarking on the experiments that led to the isolation of insulin. The average wait time in the 1920s for any of the scientific Nobels was about a decade.
Now the time between discovery and being handed a medal by the king of Sweden averages almost 30 years for physics laureates and 20 to 25 years for winners in chemistry and physiology or medicine, and not even Fortunato and his colleagues, who published their findings as a letter to the editor in the journal Nature, can say exactly why. Perhaps the pace of significant new findings has slowed, Fortunato says.
"If you're rewarding discoveries … further in the past, that perhaps means there haven't been big things lately," he says. "You're perhaps forced to recognize (discoveries) that at the time you really didn't think were worth being recognized." He says it's also possible that the opposite is true: The number of landmark discoveries is rising, forcing the Nobel committees to dip into the past to reward deserving work passed over in earlier years.
The new study's results seem reasonable, says Matthew Wallace, a historian of science at the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management in Spain, who was not involved with the new research. But he thinks the long lag times may be due to the changing nature of the scientific enterprise, which over the past century has become fragmented and multi-disciplinary.
"It does take time for the dust to settle, for there to be unanimous agreement on a particular discovery," Wallace says. The trend toward longer waits "just reflects how hard it is to pick a winner."
The new results "could perhaps have been anticipated," Gustav Källstrand, senior curator of The Nobel Museum, says via e-mail, because of the growing number of nominees for the prize and the rise in life expectancy. While it's true that scientists who deserve the prize may not receive it, he adds, "given that the prize is only awarded to no more than three persons in each science category each year, that is already the case."
It's unclear whether the dragged-out process has a negative impact. Perhaps scientists become discouraged after decades of waiting for a Nobel, says economist Bruce Weinberg of Ohio State University. On the other hand, research on math scholars found they became less productive after winning the top mathematics prize, he says.
"It may be the case that … if you string them along longer, they actually work harder and are more productive," he says. "You're keeping them hungry for longer."
That assumes, of course, that those waiting for a Nobel keep working. By the time Richard Heck received the chemistry Nobel in 2010 for work he'd done about 40 years earlier, he was 79 and had retired to the Philippines to relax and grow orchids.
"I don't think this is going to change my life," Heck told reporters after learning that he'd won the world's most prestigious scientific honor. "I'm too old."