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Normanton Park 鑫悦府
Latest Unit Sold: #12-69 | See the Balance Units Chart
Due to safety measures, all Normanton Park Showflat viewing is strictly by appointment with 1 DAY advance notice.
- Latest Updates
- 11-12-2021: Book an Appointment to view Normanton Park Show Flat and get Direct Developer Price + Discounts.
- 11-12-2020: Latest: View 1 Bedroom + Study Virtual Tour here.
- 11-12-2020: Latest: View 2 Bedroom Virtual Tour here.
- 11-12-2020: Latest: View 3 Bedroom Virtual Tour here.
- 11-12-2020: Latest: View 5 Bedroom Virtual Tour here.
- 11-09-2019: Interested to get an unit, check out our Normanton Park Price List
- 09-09-2019: Check your loan eligibility by using Maximum Loan Eligibility Calculator (TDSR) in this website.
- 02-09-2019: Understand why Normanton Park efficient layouts are a hit with buyers by checking out our floor plan in this website.
- 01-09-2019: Download and view Normanton Park E-Brochure in this website.
- 31-08-2019: Download and view the Normanton Park Floor Plan.
- 19-08-2019: Read more: Condo Rents Rise 1%
- 16-08-2019: The Normanton Park Gallery have been updated. Check them out!
- 01-08-2019: Early Bird VVIP Discount registration is now open. Get VVIP Preview Pass
- 22-07-2019: Updated Site Plan for Normanton Park released.
- 18-07-2019: Normanton Park Location Map have been updated.
- 09-07-2019: You can now see the entire development with the newly released Normanton Park Video.
- 03-07-2019: Want to find out more on the Masterplan in Queenstown? Read the Queenstown URA Masterplan.
- 27-06-2019: Full Project Details for Normanton Park have been updated!
- 18-06-2019: Read more on the award winning developers behind the development of Normanton Park.
Normanton Park Developer
Normanton Park is proudly showcase to you by Kingsford Huray Development Pte Ltd, which was sold via collective sales back in Oct 2017 at a cost of $830.1m, translating to a land price of $969 per square foot per plot ratio (psfppr).
The parent company of Kingsford Development Private Limited, broadly known as "Kingsford Development", is Kingsford Group, which operates mainly on real estate activities in various cities of China and Australia.
Realizing the potential of Singapore's property market long term prospective, the Group established Kingsford Development in Singapore in 2011 to focus on various businesses such as real estate development, manufacturing as well as property management. The developer first residential development in 2012 was Kingsford Hillview Peak situated at Hillview Avenue and consists of 512-units. It was eventually sold out in 2016. Kingsford Development then won 2 plots of land from Government Land Sales (GLS) along Upper Serangoon View in November 2013 and subsequently amalgamated both land and launched Kingsford Waterbay in March 2015. It consists of 1,165 residential units, a child care centre and retail shops.
Normanton Park will comprise of 1,862 residential units, ranging from 1-bedroom to 5-bedroom over 9 towers each 24-storey tall and 4-bedroom strata landed houses. It is one of the largest development in Singapore with a huge land site of 684,500 sqft. There are a total of 7 retail shops and 1 restaurant situated next to the entrance of the development which will provide much convenience to the residents.
With a breakeven price of $1580 psf, Normanton Park pricing is expected to be launched around $1750psf during preview sales.
Normanton Park Location Map
Normanton Park condo is situated near to Kent Ridge Park, with its road name sharing the same name as the development itself. It is in District 5, the Rest of Central Region (RCR) of Singapore and across the road of Science Park 1, where plenty of tech companies and laboratories are situated.
One unique selling point of this new launch is its strong location attribute. Normanton Park location is strategically position in between two major transformation of Singapore, the One-North Business Park, which is the "Silicon Valley" of Singapore and the future Greater Southern Waterfront. Future owners and investors can expect steady appreciation of their property over the next decade as supply are limited in this area currently and demand are strong due to the large inflow of high-tech job opportunity within the vicinity.
Commuting between Normanton Park and public transport network is convenient too. Kent Ridge MRT station (CC24) is only a short 3-minutes' drive away from this development. On top of that, the developer of Normanton Park will be providing 2-year of free shuttle bus from TOP date to both Kent Ridge and Buona Vista MRT stations. For daily grocery needs, One @ Kent Ridge at NUH Medical Centre is the nearest mall where NTUC supermarket is situated, together with retail shops and other Food and Beverage establishments.
For those who drove, Star Vista, Holland Village and Tanglin Halt and Mei Ling Market and Food Centre are less than 5km driving distance away.
You can find out more of nearby amenities within the vicinity by exploring our Normanton Park location map here.
Normanton Park Show Flat
Due to the current situation, no walk-in will be entertained. You are strongly encourage to book our Normanton Park showflat appointment one day in advance to avoid any disappointment as our daily slots are limited due to the capacity restriction.
For appointment booking, you can either fill up your interest via our appointment booking form online or simply dial our showroom hotline at +65 6100 1116. One of our appointed Developer Sales Team will contact you within an hour to confirm your appointment during office hour. While many potential buyers have the wrong perception that commission is payable during the purchase of a new launch development, it is on the contrary as the sales team will be paid by the developer instead.
After the preview sales, all remaining sales on the balance units at Normanton Park will be purely based on first-come-first-buy policy. For reservation of unit via phone call, it will be not more than 2 hours and is subject to management's approval. The pricing of Normanton Park stated in this official site is also subject to change or increase with further notice and it is best to check with the Sales Team prior to booking of unit.
With various cooling measures implemented over the years by the authority, it may sound complex to most new launch purchasers, especially those who has an existing residential property on hand. Certainly, our Normanton Park condo appointed Sales Team will be able to provide you with sound advice specially catered for your current situation. Therefore, make an appointment with us now via our online form in order to benefit from a fruitful discussion at Normanton Park showflat.
Garden Home of The City
As Normanton Park condo is strategically situated a few minutes' drive from One-North, it is a perfect development for investors and home-buyers who work near to this high-tech cluster. Rental yield is expected to be healthy with such strong tenant based with good upside capital appreciation over the years.
Dubbed "Garden Home of the City", Normanton Park aims to create a mesmerizing lifestyle living experience with plenty of greenery, landscaping and Amazon River inspired freestyle pools within the development. With a humongous land site of 684,500 sqft, there are 8 swimming pools in total, which is the most across Singapore that consist of a 150m pool, 2 50m lap pool, 3 tropical pools, a kid and family pool. With a wide range of water-based common facilities and aquatic features, prepare to fill up your weekend with cooling and sparkling fun with your loved one. To further enhance the tropical set up, numerous lawns and pavilions can be found within the project to provide you with relaxation area and shades.
You may refer to Normanton Plan site plan for more information.
A Newfound Precinct Where Talents Are Residing
Normanton Park is located at city fringe, Queenstown Planning Area, in district 5 of Singapore. This district is one of the new hotspots in recent years due to the booming and maturity of One-North Business Park, which is Singapore very own Silicon Valley that houses many research and developer (R&D) firms and high technology companies in field such as infocomm technology (ICT), biomedical and media industries. It was developed by JTC Corporation back in 2001 and master planned by Zaha Hadid Architects that spanned over 200 hectares of land. It has fast become the undisputed second Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore that has more than 50,000 executives showcasing their talent.
Across One-North is our iconic Singapore Science Park 1 and 2, a campus-like business space with a strong vibrant community that is a melting pot of start-up companies, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and Regional Headquarters such as Shopee, Johnson & Johnson and Thomson Reuters where talented individual connects and collaborates with one another.
At the southern coast of Singapore, which is a few minutes' drive from Normanton Park Singapore, is Mapletree Business City (MBC). It is one of the largest integrated business developments in Singapore that comprises of 1 office tower, 7 blocks of business park and 1 retail F&B cluster which offers a combination of 2.9 million sqft of premium office, business park and retail that provide the right ingredients of a successful business city in Singapore. Prominent MNCs included SAP, HSBC and the headquarter of Google Asia Pacific.
For those who drive, Normanton Park is well connected to various Expressway. Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) is right in front of this new launch, which connects you to Marine Coastal Expressway, Central Expressway (CTE) and Pan-Island Expressway with great ease. There are free shuttle buses provided by the Developer during the first two years from TOP date, they will shuttle you to both Kent Ridge and Buona Vista MRT stations.
You can view and download Normanton Park e-brochure and Normanton Park floor plan here.
Book An Appointment to view Normanton Park ShowFlat & get VVIP Discounts (Limited Time), Direct Developer Price, & Hardcopy E-Brochure. Guaranteed with Best Price Possible.
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A recent Esquire interview with Bill Clinton didn't get as much attention in the blogosphere as I might have expected, or maybe I missed it. But it's a fascinating article in many respects. For one thing, Bill Clinton still has it, that damnable facility with language that drives his enemies and detractors to distraction. Nevertheless, for all of his political skills, which are formidable, there seems to be a blind spot where Republicans are concerned or maybe he sees the lengths that others are willing to go but he's made up his mind not to go there. The conversation he had with one of his impeachment foes, former Representative Bob Inglis, is an example of this:
So he came to me and he said, "I just want you to know, when you got elected, I hated you. And I asked to be on the Judiciary Committee in 1993, because a bunch of us had already made up our minds that no matter what you did or didn't do, we were going to find some way to impeach you. We hated you. You had no right to be president." And he said, "That's wrong." And he said, "I'm sorry." And he now meets with a group in South Carolina with a woman he once defeated, Liz Patterson. Very commendable thing.
In one sense, he was blindsided by this irrational hatred from the Republicans when he first came into office. Maybe that's the problem. Bill, the politician, can handle rational behavior, the pulls of different ideologies. He gets that kind of hardball politics. It's the meaningless, destructive, selfish kind of politics that elude him, the tearing down just because you can. Call me naive but I kinda like that in my politician.
There's a lot to still like about Bill. Some of his ideas about work shows that he's still learning and there is still an openness about where the future can take us in the area of workplace flexibility. I am in complete agreement that we should adopt the military's method of teaching people new skills every couple of years. I know this helped me quite a bit when I went back into the lab for my last year of work. I relearned how to do experiments hands on, learned an entirely new but related area of study and best of all, was able to add my previous experience to my new experience. The result was greater than the sum of the parts, especially because I had the added advantage of working on the same protein in a different capacity. It was a revelation to me, renewed my interest in science, and triggered something in my brain that we think we lose when we get older. I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is not true. So, my advice to employers is not to write off people who have been in the same job for years. Change it up, if they are willing. You'll be encouraging flexibility and building a knowledge pool of expertise. In fact, I would predict that your chances of hitting on something truly innovative will be increased. Of course, this should be encouraged and not forced.
Bill has something to say about the Occupy movement as well. He's for it. But he also says that the occupiers should come up with 3-4 statements or demands. Now, I know that other people have made this kind of suggestion before and I agree that it's somewhat premature to be asking this of Occupy. But let's consider this suggestions from Bill's point of view.
In my humble opinion, Bill and Hillary Clinton have a very well developed worldview. You may not *like* that worldview or find that it doesn't gel with your concept of what a politician is or should be or whatever. But this worldview is internally consistent. That is, the Clinton's have a philosophy about how the world operates and what it takes to meet your goals. Their approach to politics and policy is based on this worldview. A glimpse of this can be seen in Hillary's book "It Takes a Village". If you believe that the community you construct has the biggest impact on a child's life, your policies will reflect that as well as the approach you take to dealing with members of that community. That worldview was also evident in their approach to healthcare in the early 90s. Back then, health insurance was a problem but we saw it from a personal point of view. Cost and access were the problems. I think the Clintons saw it differently. If you have a well developed worldview of how people, business and politics work, it isn't difficult to project into the future and see that the costs of health care were unsustainable and would eventually have a severe impact on business.
It was a glimpse of this worldview at Hillary's breakout session at YearlyKos2 in 2007 that I found so appealing. This internal consistency and study allowed Hillary to define the problem and develop policies to address this problem and stay within this worldview. This is their biggest strength. I think this is also the Clintons' weakness because it relies on rationality and clearly defined goals and the Republicans introduced a measure of senselessness into that worldview.
I'm not sure how to derail the Republicans and make them see reason but if you have a worldview, you must find a way to put that senselessness and selfishness in its proper place and learn how to incorporate it. Capitulating to it in the hopes that you will be able to reason with it clearly didn't work in 2008. I think the Clintons keep learning. They aren't perfect but they've been working on this stuff for a long time.
Now, what does this have to do with Occupy? Occupy has a great starting point. How do you address income and social inequality and make life more rewarding for the 99%? Without a consistent worldview your demands may end up looking like a laundry list of various complaints that don't relate to one another. They will be easy to shoot down. Your spokespeople won't know how to defend them. I looked at Occupy Science's facebook page a couple of weeks ago and despaired. The participants were in full react mode without bothering to find out how modern science research and business work. Without that knowledge base, you can not make sensible demands or craft good policy. It's not enough to be angry and act like an injured party. You need to understand the nature of the problem. This does not mean all of the complexity. It simply means, how do the components relate to each other so that you know which buttons to push to get the desired endpoint. That goes for all of the other important issues as well.
What is your worldview? In your world, what are the things that relate to one another? How do you account for human nature? What are the things that make people do good? How do you encourage people to do those things? What is valuable? What is democratic? Is democracy even a desired endpoint? I hope it is but have we thought about this problem thoroughly to convince ourselves that this is true? What are our premises? What do we have to work with? What is the role of business, government, religion, ethics, nature? It's a very philosophical problem and it takes most people a lifetime to figure this out. The problem is, we don't have a lifetime. We have only a few months. Therefore, we may have to borrow someone else's starting point.
Who might we call on? One possibility is Baruch Spinoza, the 17th century Dutch Jewish philosopher who had a very well developed worldview. Unlike other philosophers who tackled one weighty question at a time, Spinoza had a comprehensive worldview that melded human nature, ethics, psychology, politics and theology and he did it at a time in history when all of these things were in conflict with each other. There are some parallels between Spinoza's Europe and our modern day that make him a pretty good starting point. In fact, the other philosophers of the enlightenment drew heavily from Spinoza's works. Was he perfect? No. Some of his ideas are limited by the examples he had on hand. There was no American revolution and the ideas of Adams, Jefferson and Franklin. And yet, our founding fathers incorporated Spinoza's ideas into our country's working documents.
When I was taking philosophy courses decades ago, we read Decartes and Hume and Kant but skipped over Spinoza. There's really no satisfactory answer for why this is except that Spinoza was a radical enlightenment thinker whose unconventional view of god might have scared conventional philosophers away. But if you're looking for a starting place to base your demands, you could do worse than adopt Spinoza's method of constructing an internally consistent worldview that incorporates nature, politics and man.
For more information about Spinoza, there are a couple of youtube videos that might be useful. For a lite overview of Spinoza, try this In Our Time podcast. I like this kind of thing but it might not be your cup of tea. This two hour discussion of Spinoza is particularly juicy:
Don't be put off by the moderator. He's the only one who talks in this hesitant style. The other panelists are more fluid.
Filed under: General | Tagged: Baruch Spinoza, Bill Clinton, ethics, Occupy, worldview |

subset: commoncrawl


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Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, a member of the Texas House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations, says newly revealed emails from the University of Texas System back up his belief that Gov. Rick Perry should ask Dallas businessman Wallace Hall to resign as UT regent. The select committee has been investigating Hall for possible impeachment for abuse of office for engaging in a "witch hunt" of UT-Austin President Bill Powers.
The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday that Hall sent angry emails to UT Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa just prior to Cigarroa's retirement announcement, berating him for not taking action against Power and UT's chief financial officer, Kevin Hegarty. Larson says the emails are more evidence that Hall is intent on finding a reason to oust Powers.
"This whole deal has been orchestrated by Wallace Hall and a couple of other regents to get rid of Bill Powers without the support of the (entire board of) regents. They have gone about it in a way that is disruptive to the UT System." Larson, a member of the legislative committee investigating Hall, said Hall's actions have hurt the "credibility of UT," and inflicted stress on "two gentlemen who have done great things for the UT System."
Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, who co-chairs the select committee called the emails "troubling." She said the committee would be issuing a report on its investigation into Hall within the next few weeks.


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Bored with your job? Feeling like you are capable of more? Looking for a challenge? Wanting to get into the exciting world of collegiate athletics, but not sure how to go about it?
Well, look no further than here.
(h/t The Dispatch-online)
UPDATE: Somebody at the AJ-C website has a sense of humor. Here's the current (1:50 PM) title to the link to the Duke HR website story: Cutcliffe answers Duke's Web ad for coaching post
AJ-C: He did it. So can you.


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[Contact info]
…crystal clear waters, impressive waterfalls…
The island of Samothraki is a unique destination. It is rich in archaeological monuments of great beauty, as in vathres and waterfalls of Fonias, to name only one of the innumerable streams that run through the island. Equally unforgettable is the mystical environment of the archaeological site, the impressive coastline at Pachia Ammos and Kippoi, the underwater treasures and, naturally, the imposing Mount Saos ideal for mountain trekking.
Samothraki is home to the famous "Nike of Samothrace" statue which today is housed in the Louvre, but also to the mystery cult of Kabeiroi that gave the island fame in antiquity. Its abundant water sources, rare flora and endless streams that form impressive waterfalls compose a rare, exotic landscape registered under the Natura 2000 network of protected areas.
Samothraki is as ideal for experienced mountain climbers, as for those who enjoy just walking along the banks of creeks in a setting of unbelievable beauty. For the fans of extreme activities there is plenty of opportunity for canyoning in a splendid environment among waterfalls! Underwater sport afficionados will get a thrill out of the island's seabed which is just as impressive as its magnificent mountain.
The island's camping grounds, Greece's only natural campsite, spread over a 20.000m2 area covered with plane trees reaching all the way to the sea. Campsite visitors have the opportunity to live close to nature and experience a truly natural lifestyle. The hot springs close to the village of Therma are known since the Byzantine times for their therapeutic qualities.
Samothraki has great beaches, most of them covered with "crokales" (black pebbles) and some sandy beaches in its southern part. Saint Paul arrived at this island on his way from Asia to Europe; at Paleopoli you may visit the Apostle's "stasidi", a religious monument that was built to commemorate the Saint's visit.
The wide variety of swimming options -either in thermal waters, the sea or "vathres", lakes formed by waterfalls, offers visitors a unique opportunity for rejuvenation and relaxation in an environment abounding in waters and greenery that takes them on a journey in a special, apocalyptic way. The clean beaches, age-old plane trees, lush vegetation, crystal-clear waters, impressive waterfalls and the mysterious "vathres" offer exotic vacations along with gastronomic pleasures.
A delicacy of the island, the local goat meat, is prepared in many ways; fresh fish, traditional homemade dishes prepared with locally grown ingredients, along with local products such as cheese made with goat or sheep milk, the exclusice of Samothraki "praousti" (a type of green/yellow prune) spoon sweet, traditional "haslama" (semolina cake), local honey, wine, "tsipouro" (white distilled spirit) and top quality olive oil are some of the "must taste" delicacies of Samothraki available at the island's taverns where food quality is always superb.
With its alternative cafes, traditional taverns, crystal waters, natural treasures and serene landscape, Samothraki gives the impression that time has stopped. It is a unique alternative tourism destination that will satisfy the most discerning visitor.
Copyright (c) Hellenic Sun Editions


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New York, August 3, 1861.
To the Editors of the Sunday Mercury:
You have, no doubt, given me up as one of those numbered with the dead or missing in the late advance, and engagements, and retreat, all of which I have been in, and, no doubt, think I tried to do my duty; however, I will let others judge of that, and endeavor to give you as good a sketch as I can from memory, as I lost my bag and books (but not my implements of war, which many did), and, of course, I will make some mistakes, which I think my friends of the Seventy-ninth will excuse, when they know that it is a severely-wounded soldier that writes it.
Since I wrote you last, we have been advancing from place to place in Virginia, and as nothing of importance happened until we reached Centreville, except that the road was barricaded in several places with trees, which was soon cleared by our pioneers, and the sight of several camps deserted, in some which the fires were still burning – all of which, to us, was the cause of much prospecting on what a set of cowards we had to encounter, but which was set at rest by our arriving, on Thursday, July 18th, at about two miles west of Centreville, where, at midday, we were run (not marched) in at double-quick time, which was the order, for the last three miles; and when we drew up in line of battle, we were more ready to fall down than fight, although the spirit was there; but we had no fighting to do, as the enemy's cannonading soon ceased. The troops that were engaged in close quarters with the enemy were ordered to retreat, and our brigade (i. e., Sherman's) to cover the rear, which we did, having in the Seventy-ninth only one man wounded, in the Sixty-ninth, three men wounded, Wisconsin Second, 1 killed; at the battery, two of the gunners were killed. The New York Second Volunteers suffered most; but the whole of it only amounted to a good skirmish.
We retired to Centreville about 4 P.M., as near as I can guess, having no time-piece; then we were marched through the village, taking a road leading westward for about a mile, and there encamped in an open field, until Sunday morning at 2 A.M., at which time we started for the big Bull Run, which we understood very little about, and of which our higher officers, be they generals or gomerals, seemed to know far less. We marched about five miles. When passing through and to the outer or westerly side of a large wood, we got the first sight of the enemy on the rising ground beyond the river. We halted there for about an hour, Col. Sherman, at the same time, trying to discover their batteries by firing shot and shell, which all fell short. We then got the order to march, which we did, crossing Bull Run in double-quick time, and up the hill through a very thick pine wood of small trees, the Sixty-ninth on the right, the Wisconsin Second next, the Rochester Thirteenth next, and the Seventy-ninth (our own) next; another brigade followed, whose I know not. Suffice it to say, on emerging from the wood, the Sixty-ninth attacked the right flank of the enemy (then engaged with our troops, who attacked them from the north), and before the whole brigade got out of the wood and formed, had them completely routed and flying in all directions; but it proved to be only a feint, so as to get us to following them to hotter quarters. The line of battle then was formed on the hill from which the enemy was driven (and where we ought to have intrenched ourselves until we found out their strength), and from which I must say that the grandest scene of my life appeared to me, although awful in the extreme. For a time all was still as death in the ranks.
Our artillery opened upon them with a fury, doing great execution – the shot and shell falling in their midst, their batteries at the same time playing upon us, but generally falling short – their whole army being now (as it appeared to us) only a few scattered regiments in full retreat, when our generals or gomerals, like the fish with the fly, snapped the bait, and gave the order to advance, which was duly obeyed. An attack on their batteries was ordered, the Fire Zouaves taking the lead, covered by a troop of United States cavalry, who, when the first volley was fired upon the Zouaves, wheeled and galloped off, striking terror to the hearts of many brave men. The Zouaves poured volley after volley among the enemy. but having as yet no support, withdrew, although quickly, yet in good order, and formed on the brow of the adjacent hill, and nearer the enemy than the cavalry even dared to go. The panic, at the same time, took hold on another New York regiment, then lying in the road over which the horse and Zouaves passed, who fled in consternation out of the strongest position on that field, and not even waiting to get a chance to fire off their guns at the enemy, who took the precaution not to follow at this time. our position was then changed from the back of a hill about two hundred yards from the same road, but to the left and rear of where that last regiment run from, our right resting near that ill-fated hospital, which was said to be burned on account of no flag being flown on it, and where we could not see what happened at the next attack on the batteries; but it soon came to our turn – the whole Sherman Brigade being marched in along with the Zouaves on the right; and as it would be hard to say to what I saw happen ourselves. Our portion was to attack the right of the enemy, which we did. When at twenty paces from their batteries, they having taken correct aim, the enemy poured into us the most deadly volley that has ever been showered on an army since killing with powder was invented, and in which volley many of our best and bravest fell. Col. Cameron had but uttered the words, "Give it to them, my brave Scotch ladies!" which I distinctly heard, when the word rang along the line, "The colonel's dead!"
Captain Brown fell at the same time. All of which happened quicker than time it takes me to tell it. But suffice it to say, that the Seventy-ninth never faltered; but gave and took as coolly as ever did the regiment from which they take their name. Twice did they rally on the field, and drove back three times the fresh regiments of the enemy, at the same time they received the musketry of the masked batteries from right and left by oblique firing (the deadliest of all firing); nor did they leave the ground until several minutes after the retreat was sounded – the Sixty-ninth and the Zouaves acting in the same cool and decisive manner. During the last charge I was taken from the field, having given way from loss of blood from a wound I received in the beginning of the action; and feeling a little refreshed, after getting a drink of water at a small brook in the valley below (and at which place I saw resting themselves several prominent members of the Seventy-ninth, a number of whom are now in New York; showing holes made in their clothes by themselves, telling of the narrow escape they had, and how many they killed; but whom, I am led to believe, were never in the engagement, and when told to go back refused to go – they may rest assured that they will be exposed as soon as the regiment returns). I proceeded toward the second hospital (the first being crowded). The second was also crowded; but I got a place under a tree, and got the wound dressed and the bleeding stopped; but the doctor could not take the time to extract the ball. I ate a cracker, drank some water, and, after resting a little, joined in the general stampede which followed, coming back by the northern road toward Centreville, and which proved, afterward, to be the safest, as on the other, or direct, road the rear was attacked by cavalry, and several taken prisoners, amongst them Captain W. Manson, First Company – which place we passed about one hour after, and arrived in Centreville, about eight or nine o'clock, where I entered the hospital for the night, sending the man who conveyed me – by resting my weight on his arm – on after the regiment, as I felt perfectly secure, there being two regiments covering our retreat half a mile below Centreville. I there got the ball dug out, and lay down and slept sound until morning.
At daylight rose; looked for the two regiments that covered us the night before; they were gone; had left at 2 A.M. on Monday; was told that the rebel cavalry had visited us at 3 A.M., and had gone to Fairfax, which I reached about 1 P.M., seeing nothing to disturb me, the road being literally covered with wagons, provisions, and the implements of war, such as swords, muskets, cartridge-boxes, knives, etc. Passed a captain and lieutenant of another regiment; asked them where was their company or regiment; said they did not know, which I believed, as they looked like men who knew nothing. Traveled until within three miles of Arlington, when an Eighth-Regiment ambulance wagon picked me up, and took me into the hospital of the Brooklyn Twenty-eighth Regiment, where I found several of our wounded, and where I, as well as all the others, received the kindest treatment and care from Dr. P. B. Rice and assistant, as well as from the Hospital Steward, Geo. G. Holman, whose attentions for two days and nights were unceasing. The services of such men are invaluable to a regiment; and, I must say, are rarely to be found.
On Wednesday, we moved into Washington, into several houses in Massachusetts avenue, Sixth street. Our tents were brought over on Friday, and we moved into camp on Saturday, on which day I left for New York. Arrived in Philadelphia at 9 P.M.; put up at the Continental Hotel, J. E. Stevens & Co. proprietors; went to the office for my bill at 4 P.M. on Sunday; found some friend had paid it; but on asking Dr. Gross, who visited me twice while there, for my bill, it was only five dollars – paid it. He is a strong Union man, lives corner of Eleventh and Walnut streets, and has a son in the army. Left with the 5 1/2 train for New York; arrived home – where I now am – at 11 P.M., and where I expect to be confined for a month to come. I now find, on arriving in New York, that a statement is going the rounds that we, while in Columbia College, destroyed furniture, pictures, etc. – in fact, everything that appeared not in accordance with our views of religion. I pronounce the whole an unmitigated falsehood, and I refer the authors of the same to the president of said college, who, when we left there, stated to the officers of this regiment that he was sorry that we were going to leave, as we had conducted ourselves with more propriety than even the Sixty-ninth had done. I may also state, that in our regiment there was, and is, many good Catholics, whom, I am certain, would have let the writer of this know had anything of the kind occurred.
And now as to a Colonel of our regiment. I find that Secretary Cameron has appointed Governor Stevens, who on Tuesday last, was presented to the regiment – they being drawn up in line – and who, when he gave the first command, was answered with silence – not a man took notice of him. The fact is, they want a colonel of their own choice, and will have him.
And I would caution all interested in this regiment to beware of imposters here in New York, as plenty are going around representing that they belong to the regiment, and were at the battle, and work on the finer feelings of the afflicted for their own nefarious purposes. One has already been arrested by the activity of Capt. Wm. Bruce, 280 Eighth avenue, and is now receiving his deserts. Captain Bruce is always ready and willing to do anything for the regiment, and is one of those men in whom both officers and privates of the regiment has entire confidence.
Excuse the length of this letter, and believe me to be your sincere friend,
One of the Seventy-ninth Regiment, N. Y. S. M.
{This correspondent received a musket-ball through the collar bone, and was extracted at the bottom of the shoulder blade. We shall be happy to give his name and address to any one desirous of seeing the gentleman. – Ed.}
New York Sunday Mercury, 8/4/1861
William B. Styple, ed., Writing and Fighting the Civil War: Soldier Correspondence to the New York Sunday Mercury, pp. 36-38


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Video: Last-Minute Tax Tips: English
For this and other videos, see: YouTube/IRSVideos
IR-2011-43, April 12, 2011
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An extension gives you an additional six months to file your tax
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The IRS expects to receive approximately 10 million extension
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In the early 20th century the search for our ancestors - the supposed "missing links" between man and the animal kingdom - was a crucial task in the new emerging field of human palaeontology. First results came from Germany with the discovery in 1907 of a jaw with mixed characteristics between apes and humans - a good start, but scientists wanted something even better.
Only a year later some workers discovered strange bones in a gravel pit near the village of Piltdown in southern Sussex. They consigned the bones to the local lawyer, antiquarian and amateur geologist Charles Dawson.
Dawson initiated with the help of Arthur Smith Woodward, Keeper of the Geological Department at the British Museum, a private prospection campaign in the gravel pit. Dawson already had experience in digging up fossils, many of which he donated to the museum, and he was a respected fellow of the Geological Society.
Between June and September 1912 several fragments of a human skull, along with bones of Pleistocene animals, like elephant, mastodon and beaver, were discovered. Finally during a "warm summer evening" (Woodward) the two men found a jaw, fitting to the human skull.
Woodward worked secretly on the reconstruction of the entire skull. It resembled that of modern man, except for the part where the skull is attached to the spinal cord and the slightly smaller cranial capacity, with an estimated brain volume of 1070ccm (about two-third of modern humans). The jaw was indistinguishable from that of a modern, young chimpanzee, except by the presence of two molars identical to human ones.
December 18, 1912 Woodward presented the reconstruction to a large audience and suggested that the fossil - dubbed by the press later Piltdown Man - represents an evolutionary missing link between ape and man, since the combination of a large brain with the jaw of a monkey seemed to support the notion that the main characteristic of human evolution was the early development of a large brain. The reconstruction was harshly criticized, especially by non-british anthropologists and archaeologists.
Many of these experts noted that the fragments didn't fit or even necessarily belonged together. The anatomist Arthur Keith at the Royal College of Surgeons produced a reconstruction quite identical to a modern man (Homo piltdownensis). Marcellin Boule, a French archaeologist, affirmed in 1921 that the remains belong to two different species - if it was not entirely a hoax. This conclusion was supported by the American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller, who attributed the jaw to a still unknown species of chimpanzee, informally named Pan vetus. The German anthropologist Franz Weidenreich examined the remains and reasserted that the presumed fossil was simply a modern human skull and an orang-utan jaw with manipulated teeth.
But in the end there were no conclusive evidence to assert that the entire story was a fake and the British scientific community accepted the new species as Eoanthropus dawsoni.
Over the years further discoveries were made at Piltdown: bones of animals, a bone tool that resembled a cricket bat (!) and supposedly two more skulls. It was in 1915 that Dawson claimed to have found fragments of a second skull (called Piltdown II) in a not specified locality; however Woodward himself seems never to have visited this supposed site. Dawson died in August 1916, leaving Woodward with the heredity of Piltdown, who in 1917 continued to present material to support the alleged Piltdown Man.
Fig.1. A typical missing link. "The Man of La Chapelle-aux-Saints: an accurate reconstruction of the prehistoric cave man whose skull was found in the Department of Correze." Reconstruction by Frantisek Kupka, published in the journal "L´Illustration" (1909), based on the work of Marcellin Boule on the Neandertal skeleton discovered in 1908 at La Chapelle-aux-Saints (department Corrèze in central France).
In the next three decades discoveries on the African continent seemed to contradict the hypothesis based on the genus Eoanthropus. Ancient biped hominids were found only in Africa and the cranial capacity of these species did not differ significantly from those of chimpanzees - bipedalism evolved before a large brain.
In October 1948 the geologist Kenneth Oakley decided to apply a new dating method and analyzed the fluorine concentration in the bones of the Pleistocene animals found at Piltdown. While the bones contained up to 3% fluorine, the Piltdown skull showed a concentration of just 0,2%, it was not possible that both the bones as the skull lay underground side by side for thousands of years.
This seemed the end of the Piltdown Man, but in light of recent discoveries on the evolution of humans some scientists re-evaluated the status of Eoanthropus dawsoni. The fossil bones of Homo floresiensis of Indonesia, the genetic analysis of the human remains of Denisova in Siberia, controversial early H. sapiens teeth discovered in Israel and bones of an unknown hominid from China have shown that the early model of a unique migration wave out from Africa, which lead to our modern species, was too simple. It is however possible that diverse migration waves occurred over time and that single populations of hominids evolved separately in various forms - this could possibly explain also the repeated sightings of large biped and apelike creatures all around the world in recent times, evolved parallel to - and hiding from - us.
For Eoanthropus this means that it is possibly a descendant of a late migration wave, as supported by the relative young age inferred by the low concentration of fluorine. The strange combination of a large skull and an apelike chin is according to the hypothesis of Professor Shlibovitz, one of the leading experts of missing links, an atavistic phenomenon - "primitive" characteristics of ancestors still encoded in the DNA re-emerging in more recent species, like legs on whales. Absolutely coincidentally today also other important missing links, ignored until now by science, are discussed on "Tetrapod Zoology".
The preliminary results of the new research, announced in February 2012, and the official (re)recognition of the species Eoanthropus dawsoni can be accessed for free following this link.


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Matthew T. Mangino: NACDL Report: Defendants 'are being coerced to plead guilty'
This week the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) issued a report on the "trial penalty." According to the report defendants "are being coerced to plead guilty" because the penalty for exercising their constitutional right to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial is "simply too high to risk."
According to the NACDL's website, the report identifies and exposes the underlying causes of the decline of the federal criminal trial and puts forth meaningful, achievable recommendations to address this crisis.
In the report, NACDL examines sentencing and other data underlying the fact that, after a 50-year decline, fewer than 3 percent of federal criminal cases result in a trial.
Former Eastern District of New York Judge John Gleeson authored a foreword to the report suggesting, "Putting the government to its proof is a constitutional right, enshrined in the Sixth Amendment; no one should be required to gamble with years and often decades of their liberty to exercise it."
Judge Gleeson is the same judge who told the New York Times in 2014,"Prosecutors routinely threaten ultraharsh, enhanced mandatory sentences that no one — not even the prosecutors themselves — thinks are appropriate." Judge Gleeson said the way prosecutors use trial penalty, "coerces guilty pleas and produces sentences so excessively severe they take your breath away."
The report contends that trial by jury has been replaced by a "system of pleas" which diminishes, to the point of obscurity, the role that the framers envisioned for jury trials as the primary protection for individual liberties and the principal mechanism for public participation in the criminal justice system.
Guilty pleas have replaced trials for a very simple reason: Individuals who choose to exercise their Sixth Amendment right to trial face exponentially higher sentences if they go to trial and lose.
Faced with this choice, individuals almost uniformly surrender the right to trial rather than insist on proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The report contends that defense lawyers spend most of their time negotiating guilty pleas rather than ensuring that police and the government respect the boundaries of the law.
Beyond a reasonable doubt — the bedrock of the criminal justice system — plays no role in an alarming number of cases. What this means is that an insignificant number of offenders heading off to state or federal prison were proven guilty of anything. Sure, those defendants acknowledged their guilt by choosing to enter a guilty plea; but shouldn't the most revered legal system in the world provide something more in terms of protection for those accused of a crime?
On the other hand, can the criminal justice system function without plea bargains? The plea bargain, however unpopular or unseemly, is a much needed tool in the administration of justice. If the plea bargain were to disappear the criminal courts would grind to a halt. Several years ago, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said plea bargaining determines "who goes to jail and for how long. It is not some adjunct to the criminal justice system. It is the criminal justice system."
Why shouldn't there be a trial penalty? What reasonably prudent defendant, represented by a reasonably competent attorney, would plead guilty if she knew a conviction at trial would bring the same penalty as pleading guilty. A defendant would have nothing to lose by going to trial. The number of trials would increase as would the direct appeals and collateral challenges. A system that is already overburdened would be pushed to the limit.
The question is how to balance the fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution with the mechanics of the criminal justice system? The NACDL report may well be a first step in finding that balance.
— Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His book The Executioner's Toll, 2010 was released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino.


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Great things afoot in the MySQL community
tl;dr: The MySQL community rocks. Percona, XtraDB, Drizzle, SSD storage, InnoDB IO scalability challenges.
For anyone who lives and dies by MySQL and InnoDB, things are finally starting to heat up and get interesting. I've been banging the "MySQL/InnoDB scales poorly" drums for years now, and despite having paid Enterprise licenses, I haven't been able to get anywhere. I was pretty excited when Sun bought MySQL since their future is intrinsically tied to concurrency, but things have been pretty slow going over there this year.
But the community has finally taken up arms and is fighting the good fight. It's (finally!) a great time to be a MySQL user because there's been lots of recent progress. Here're some of my favorites (and highlights of work left to do):
I can't sing Percona's praises enough. They're probably the most knowledgeable MySQL experts out there (possibly even including Sun). Absolutely the best bang for the buck in terms of MySQL service and support – better than MySQL's own offering. (If I had to guess why that is, I'd bet that MySQL/Sun don't want to step on Oracle's toes by fixing InnoDB – but >99% of what we need is related to InnoDB. Percona has no such tip-toeing limitations.) Let me quickly count the ways they've helped me in the last few months:
- They knew of a super obscure configuration setting "back_log". Have you ever heard of it? I hadn't. But we started seeing latency on MySQL connections (up to *3 seconds*!) on systems that hadn't changed recently (exactly 3 seconds sounded awfully suspicious, and sure enough, it was TCP retries). After going through every single kernel, network, and MySQL tuning parameter I know (and I know a lot), I finally called Percona. They dug in, investigated the system, and unearthed 'back_log' within an hour or two. Popped that into my configuration and boom, everything was fine again. Whew!
- We have servers that easily exceed InnoDB's transaction limits. Did you know InnoDB has a concurrent transaction limit of 1024? (Technically, 1024 INSERTs and 1024 UPDATEs. But INSERT … ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE manages to chew up one of each). I know all about it – I've had bugs open with MySQL Enterprise for more than 2 years on the issue. What's more, these are low-end systems – 4 cores, 16GB of RAM – and they're no-where near CPU or IO bound. It took MySQL months to figure out what the problem was (years, really, to figure out all the final details like the different undo logs for INSERT vs UPDATE). Their final answer? It'll be fixed in MySQL 6. 😦 Note that 5.1 *just* went GA after years and years. On the other hand, it took Percona one weekend to diagnose the problem, and 13 days to have a preliminary patch ready to extend it to 4072 undo slots. Talk about progress! (And yes, we want Percona to release the patch to the world)
- Solving the CPU scaling problems. These have been plaguing us for years (we have had some older four-socket systems for awhile … now with quad-core, it's even worse), and thanks to Google and Percona, this problem is well on its way to being solved. We're sponsoring this work and can't wait to see what happens next.
- XtraDB. This is the biggy. So big it deserves its own heading….
Oracle's done a terrible job of supporting the community with InnoDB. The conspiracy theorists can all say "I told you so! Oracle bought them to halt MySQL progress" now – history supports them. Which is a shame – Heikki is a great guy and has done amazing work with InnoDB, but the fact remains that it wasn't moving forward. The InnoDB plugin release was disappointing, to say the least. It addressed none of the CPU or IO scalability issues the community has been crying about for years.
Luckily, Percona finally did what everyone else has been too afraid to do – they forked InnoDB. XtraDB is their storage engine, forked from InnoDB (and then turbocharged!). We're not running it in production yet, but we are running all of the patches that went into XtraDB and I can tell you they're great. We're sponsoring more XtraDB development (and yes, we made sure Percona will be contributing anything they build for us back to the community) with Percona, and I'm sure that'll continue.
I've already blogged a bit about Drizzle, but it sure looks like Drizzle + XtraDB might be a match made in heaven. Drizzle can be though of as a MySQL engine re-write with an eye towards web workloads and performance, rather than features. MySQL 4.1, 5.0, and 5.1 added a lot of features that bloated the code without offering anything really useful to web-oriented workloads like ours, so the Drizzle team is ripping all that stuff back out and rethinking the approaches to the things that are being left in. Very exciting.
The advent of "cheap enough" super-fast SSD storage is finally upon us. I've got Sun S7410 storage appliances in production and they're blazingly fast. I have a very thorough review coming, but the short version is that even with NFS latencies, we're able to do obscene write workloads to these boxes (let alone reads). 10000+ write IOPS to 10TB of mirrored, crazy durable (thanks ZFS!) storage is a dream come true. Once you mix in snapshots, clones, replication, and Analytics – well, it just doesn't get much better than this.
(Don't get sticker shock looking at the web pricing – no-one pays anything even remotely like that. Sign up for Startup Essentials if you can, or talk to your Sun sales rep if you can't, and you can get them much cheaper. I nearly had a heart attack myself until I got "real" pricing. Tell them I sent you – enough Sun people read this blog, it might just help 🙂 ).
So, all in all, there's been an awful lot of progress this year, which is great. CPUs are finally scaling under InnoDB, and we finally have storage that isn't bounded by physical rotation and mechanical arms. Unfortunately, great CPU scaling plus amazing IO capabilities isn't something InnoDB digests very well. As is common in complicated systems, once you fix one bottleneck, another one elsewhere in the system crops up. This time, it's IOPS. It was eerie reading Mark Callaghan's post about this last night – I'd come to the exact same conclusions (from an Operations point of view rather than code-level) just yesterday.
Bottom line: Despite having ample CPU and ample IO, InnoDB isn't capable of using the IO provided. You can bet we'll be working with Percona, Google and Sun (read: sitting back and admiring their brilliant work while writing the occasional check and providing production workload information) to look into fixing this.
In the meantime, we're back to the old standbys: replication and data partitioning. Yes, we're stacking lots of MySQL instances on each S7410 to maximize both our IOPS and our budget. Fun stuff – more on that later. 🙂
UPDATE: Just occurred to me that there are plenty of *new* readers to my blog who haven't heard me praise Google and their patches before. Mark Callaghan's team over at Google definitely deserves a shout-out – they've really been a catalyst for much of this work along with Percona.
On Why Auto-Scaling in the Cloud Rocks
In high school, I had a great programmable calculator. I'd program it to solve complicated math and science problems "automatically" for me. Most of my teachers got upset if they found out, but I'll always remember one especially enlightened teacher who didn't. He said something to the effect of "Hey, if you managed to write software to solve the equation, you must thoroughly understand the problem. Way to go!".
George Reese wrote up a blog post over at O'Reilly the other day called On Why I Don't Like Auto-Scaling in the Cloud. His main argument seems to be that auto-scaling is bad and reflects poor capacity planning. In the comments, he specifically calls SmugMug out, saying we're "using auto-scaling as a crutch for poor or non-existent capacity planning".
George is like one of those math teachers who doesn't "get it". I was tempted not to write this post because he gets it so wrong, I'd hate to spread that meme. SkyNet auto-scales well. No humans at SmugMug are monitoring it and it just hums along, doing its job. Why is it so efficient? Because I understand the equation. I know what metrics drive our capacity planning and I programmed SkyNet to take these into account. It checks an awful lot of data points every minute or so – this isn't simply "oh, we have idle CPU, let's kill some instances." (I would argue that, depending on the application, simple auto-scaling based on CPU usage or similar data point can be very effective, too, though).
SkyNet has been in production for over a year with only two incidents of note and SmugMug has more than doubled in size and capacity during that time without adding any new operations people. How on earth is this a bad thing?


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Capote's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' sells for $306K
AMHERST, N.H. (AP) — Truman Capote's 1958 typed manuscript of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with the author's handwritten edits has sold for about $306,000 at auction to a Russian billionaire.
The manuscript, expected to net at least $250,000, was offered for sale online by Amherst-based auction house RR Auction.
RR Auction says the winning bidder is Russian retail billionaire Igor Sosin, who plans to display it in Moscow and Monaco.
Capote's handwritten notations include changing the femme fatale's name from Connie Gustafson to the now-iconic Holly Golightly.
Its plot — built around a woman who supports herself through trysts with wealthy lovers — was scandalous. Harper's Bazaar bought serialization rights, then balked at its explicit content. Esquire magazine purchased it from Harper's and launched it to its 1961 silver screen adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn.


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May 22nd, 2013
Carol Burnett to receive Mark Twain prize for humor
Being the recipient of the 2013 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor must be the feather in Carol Burnett's legendary comedy cap.
The TV hall-of-famer has already starred in the lauded - we're talking 25 Emmy wins, here - comedy "The Carol Burnett Show," not to mention her eight Golden Globes and Peabody Award, among other honors.
But on October 30, Burnett will have to make more room on the mantle. The beloved star will be presented with the prestigious Twain prize on that day at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Previous recipients of the Twain prize include Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Richard Pryor.
In a statement, Burnett quipped, "I can't believe I'm getting a humor prize from the Kennedy Center. It's almost impossible to be funnier than the people in Washington."
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Proud Grandma
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This is a listing for a sublimation transfer. You must use a professional heat press to press the transfer onto your garment. Recommended 100% polyester for vibrant colors however you may also use 50% or higher polyester.


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The boardwalk of Deauville is legendary, tempting visitors to tread in the steps of the stars of cinema in between a spot of fabulous shopping in the town's prestigious stores and a visit to the number one attraction in Normandy – the Mont-Saint-Michel. However, as extraordinary as it is, this icon of monastic art doesn't totally eclipse other exceptional Norman treasures.
When you visit Normandy you'll discover bucolic countryside where delicious cheeses abound, majestic cliffs steeped in myth, and unspoiled seaside towns immortalised by the painters of the Impressionist movement. There are immense sandy beaches, some of which are memorials to key events of the Second World War.
At Omaha Beach, near Colleville-sur-Mer, 9387 surnames are recorded on simple white crosses planted in an ocean of pristine lawn: An homage to the American soldiers of World War II who fell during the Battle for Normandy in 1944. Between Sainte-Marie du Mont and Ouistreham, five Normandy landing beaches safeguard the memory of the largest amphibious and airborne operation of all time. And in Caen, at the Peace Memorial, extraordinary museography plunges visitors into the dark atmosphere of the greatest conflict in history.
Go back much further in time to 1066 and The Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, conquered England. The almost thousand year old history of the dramatic events is captured in the Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-metre-long embroidered chronicle and an incredible masterpiece of Romanesque art.
Make your cinematic debut in Deauville! Just head to the famous boardwalk: 643 metres of wooden walkway which hosts the movie elite each September for the American Film Festival. Think Hollywood Hall of Fame meets Normandy as the names of the finest in film are featured alongside Deauville's Art Deco boardwalk beach huts…
Located in a beautiful bay, the remarkable silhouette of the castle perched atop a rocky island is an unforgettable sight. If you visit Normandy then you're sure to want to visit the Mont Saint-Michel. But how do you reach it when it's cut off by the tide? One way is to take a free shuttle bus that drops passengers off just 400 metres from the entrance.
But, for the most glorious views of the island, the best way to visit is on foot via the pedestrianised bridge. When you arrive, climb steep stairs which rise between the quaint shops and medieval courtyards to reach the highlight of Mont Saint-Michel: The Abbey. This major site of Christian pilgrimage has witnessed 13 centuries of history. Visit the former dining hall with its imposing chimneys, the scriptorium, refectory and cloisters from where you will have the most beautiful views over the bay.
When you visit Normandy, you walk in the footsteps of Claude Monet, considered a leader of the Impressionist movement. He spent the winter of 1868 painting in the port of Etretat and was drawn by its beauty to return many times. The changing light and vistas on the dizzying white chalk cliffs inspired several artists to capture its splendour on canvas. But it was at Le Havre that Claude Monet created Impression, Sunrise - the painting which gave its name to the aesthetic movement. Facing the sea, the Museum of Modern Art André Malraux - MuMa Le Havre reflects this artistic birth: The Impressionist collection is the second most important in France after the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Monet lived in Le Havre and explored the Normandy coast from there for several years. But, it was in Giverny, a small village in the Eure not far from Paris, that he settled in 1883, sealing the link between Normandy and Ile-de-France, the two cradles of Impressionism. In Giverny, the Claude Monet Foundation today ensures that the artist's house and gorgeous gardens are preserved as they were when he lived there. Don't miss a trip to the Musée des Impressionnismes when you visit Giverny, here you'll discover how the movement achieved global recognition.
Complete your exploration at the beautiful Castle Museum at Dieppe harbour, where the vogue for sea bathing in France was born. Impressionism is well represented here with works by Pissaro and Boudin who was himself a native of Normandy.
You can't have great Norman cheese without great Norman cows. They're a breed renowned for the quality of their milk. Normandy's cheeses often have distinctive aromas, just think of Camembert which originated in a village of the same name. Since it was adored by Napoleon III, it's success had the royal seal of approval. Click here to discover all about Norman cheeses.
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This utilitarian denim jacket has an asymmetric neckline to show off its cozy lining made from an upcycled faux sherpa
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Machine wash cold with like colors. Line Dry. Do not bleach. Warm iron if needed.
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Channing, William Ellery
Channing, William Ellery, 1780–1842, American Unitarian minister and author, b. Newport, R.I. At 23 he was ordained minister of the Federal St. Congregational Church in Boston, where he served until his death. He was a leader among those who were turning from Calvinism, and his sermon at Jared Sparks's ordination in Baltimore (1819) earned him the name
the apostle of Unitarianism.In 1820 he organized the Berry St. Conference of Ministers, which in 1825 formed the American Unitarian Association. Channing's plea was for humanitarianism and tolerance in religion rather than for a new creed. Not only a great preacher but a lucid writer, Channing influenced many American authors, including Emerson and other transcendentalists and Holmes and Bryant. Channing was not by nature a controversialist and never allied himself with the abolitionists, but his writings on slavery helped prepare for emancipation. In his denunciations of war, his discussion of labor problems, and his views on education, he was ahead of his time. His works (6 vol., 1841–43) passed through many editions.
See his Life … with Extracts from His Correspondence (ed. by W. H. Channing, 3 vol., 1848); biographies by J. W. Chadwick (1903), M. H. Rice (1961), and J. Mendelsohn (1971); R. L. Patterson, The Philosophy of William Ellery Channing (1952, repr. 1972).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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When someone mentions a holiday in Greece, the first thing that pops up in most people's minds is sandy beaches and sparkling clean water. With a coastline 13,676 kilometers long, there is certainly a beach to suit every taste. However, Greece is also known for its capital
There are many cycling enthusiasts willing to take the challenge in a foreign country. Greece has many cyclists of its own and a plethora of agencies renting bikes or offering bike tours. All you have to do is decide how you want to do it; on your own or with a group. Since
Right in the heart of this modern city lie the ruins of an ancient civilization. As you head towards the city centre, you cannot miss the majestic hill of the Acropolis, a world heritage site. Sitting proudly at the top of the hill, is the famous columned structure of the Parthenon, which was built in honor of the goddess Athena. The hill and surrounding area abounds with the splendid remains of the past such as the ancient theatre of Herodes Atticus, the Erectheion and the Agora, the marketplace of ancient
Along the way, you will find people and places to accommodate you on your tour. There are many roads that are off limits to cars as well as wide pedestrian pathways that are bicycle-friendly. Of course, during high season, the streets are dotted with people from all walks of life who come here to see the sights and experience the culture. The cafes and many eateries overflow with tourists while the locals, most of them fluent in English, are friendly and welcoming. Various artists and musicians are also there to entertain the crowds and shops spilling over with beautiful souvenirs.


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|Home > Florida Then & Now > Vocabulary Predict/Confirm Strategy
Vocabulary Prediction/Confirmation
This strategy will aid students in vocabulary development. It can be used in all the content areas and promotes self-directed learning.
The students are given a worksheet with three headings on itvocabulary, prediction, and definition.
The students copy from the board the vocabulary words under the heading vocabulary.
- Under the prediction heading, the students write their predictions of each vocabulary words meaning.
The students read the text from which the vocabulary words were derived.
Using contextual clues, the students write what they think the definitions are under the definitions heading. These may be the same as their predictions.
The students check their definitions with a dictionary for accuracy, and make any corrections necessary under the definition heading.
|Home > Florida Then & Now > Vocabulary Predict/Confirm Strategy
Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2002.


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Amicable Separation?
Andy Langford
June 21, 2014
Who am I?
I am Wesleyan. I love John Wesley, our Wesleyan history and theology.
I am Orthodox. I believe in the Trinity and the Holy Scriptures contain all that is needed for salvation.
I am Inclusive. My congregation in Concord welcomes gays, lesbians, African-Americans, Whites, southerners and northerners into membership and leadership.
I know our general church. For thirty years I have been a church bureaucrat, participated in eight general conferences, been elected by this annual conference five times, now serve for the fourth time on the general church connectional table (previously General Council on Ministries).
I believe that our denomination is only an autonomous entity but part of the global Wesleyan movement and a part of the Church universal (see ¶ 6).
I even own a copy of the 2012 United Methodist Book of Discipline.
In other words, I am United Methodist.
Is amicable separation possible? Of course. It has happened in our past.
In the early 1800s, the African Methodist Episcopal Church withdrew with the blessing of our denomination.
The Methodist Protestant Church congregations withdrew over slavery.
In the 1800s, the Methodist Episcopal Church South withdrew, along with all its property and institutions.
The holiness movement created separation.
Just a decade ago, the Puerto Rico Annual Conference, a full member of the UMC, created an autonomous, independent denomination.
Amicable separation is possible.
Will amicable separation happen over homosexuality? I doubt it.
General Conference, with the increased participation by Central Conference delegates, especially from Africa, is growing more global and more conservative.
The general conference will not vote in 2016 allow clergy to conduct same sex unions. Clergy will be expected to remain celibate in singleness and faithful in marriage. Marriage will only be allowed between a man and a woman.
The Judicial Council, an unaccountable power unto itself, will not consider amicable separation possible under our current Discipline, but will not announce this until the final day of general conference.
Follow the money. The Central Conferences and the general church agencies want the continual financial support of all the United States churches, especially the large contributions from the South East and South Central Jurisdictions. We have the money and they want us to stay.
The forces for union are stronger than the powers to separate.
Let us be honest. Almost every pastor and congregation violates our common practices in ways minor and major without consequences. That will continue.
Some churches hold raffles! Raffles are not allowed by our Social Principles.
Some pastors conduct same sex weddings. A clear violation of the Discipline (¶ 341.6) as "unauthorized conduct."
Some pastors re-baptize persons baptized as infants and call them professions of faith. By Discipline (¶ 341.7) actions that are "unauthorized conduct."
Some bishops clearly have violated their consecration to uphold the Discipline of our denomination by honoring clergy who have violated our Discipline (¶ 401 & 414).
Are these acts of schism? I do not think so. These people are faithful to their conscience (which they consider higher than their vows of obedience to the denomination.
Therefore, trials are not the answer.
So what do I see in the near future? My personal perspective.
Persons who want full inclusion of all persons will accept only full inclusion without any limits. They celebrate diversity without limits. We should follow the cultural changes happening among us. They understand their position to be an act of biblical justice. They cite the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15) as opening the church to all persons. "Love" is the heart of the Gospel. This is the direction of the Connectional Table.
Persons who want to conserve the traditional language will not allow any deviation from the Articles of Religion and other core doctrines. We should resist all accommodation to secular culture. They cite biblical authority and church history. If God at created us male and female for each other, and Jesus blesses marriages, and the Church is the bride of Christ, our denomination cannot challenge the Word of God. See the Group of 80 proposal to separate and the Timothy Tennant proposal to separate and multiply.
Most United Methodists are somewhere in the middle.
Because everyone on both sides is absolutely convinced that they have the moral high ground, no one will compromise. Many compromises will be offered. All comprises will fail.
Everybody — left, right, and middle — will be unhappy, even angry and hostile toward one another.
The 2012 General Conference was ugly. The 2016 General Conference will be even more ugly.
What is lost? We have lost our focus on making disciples.
We talk primarily about human sexuality not the salvation of individuals and reformation of society. Holiness of self and community are secondary.
Every congregation is full of sinners in need of transformation and our culture increasingly wanders far from the kingdom of God. Yet, so much of our time focuses only on one topic that calls to battle political forces on both the left and the right.
This lost of focus is especially true at the general church level. At the last Connectional Table meeting, we spent over half of our time debating inclusion of gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, trans-sexuals, and queers. That issue is not part of the primary task of the Connectional Table.
We spent almost no time talking about making disciples. At the general church level we have lost our way.
What is my way forward?
Change will never come from general conference. Top down never has worked nor ever will work.
We began as a grass-roots movement from below. We must become a grass roots movement again.
The essential connectional body of our denomination is not the general church but the annual conference, such as our wonderful Western North Carolina Annual Conference (¶ 33). Clergy are not members of the general church but members of an annual conference.
Annual conferences such as ours must take charge and lead the way. Bishop Michael Coyner has proposed such an alternative in "Is the Answer in Our Polity" at the website "Ministry Matters."
Our WNC annual conference has exceptional episcopal and conference leadership. We have great pastors, some on the left, others on the right, and many, many in the middle. We have almost 300,000 wonderful laity. We all want to remain in dialogue and communion with one another.
The property of local congregations are held in trust for whom? Not the general church but the annual conference. (¶ 7 and ¶2503). The UMC does not have a legal presence.
Pensions are not the property of the general church but are held in trust by the General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits for annual conferences and the clergy who hold their membership within the annual conference. Watch what happens when one of our conferences is unable to pay its pensions and GBPHB tries to take money from other conferences to make up the difference; then we will truly see how well the global connection works or does not.
Now is the time for local congregations to distance themselves from the general church and general agencies and the loss of focus on making disciples.
The proposal to allow annual conference autonomy on some subjects (such as around the issue of sexual ethics) opens the door, but it should also include autonomy around finances, social principles, and all other issues.
Will we then be United Methodists? Yes.
But we will be united in name only.
We must focus on our Western North Carolina Annual Conference and its focus on making disciples here.
In 2015, our WNC conference has been asked to contribute almost $6 million in its budget to support a dysfunctional general church and its agencies. Why are we giving $6 million to institutions that only want to fight over an issue that has no solution?
Instead, the United Methodist Discipline does not prohibit and our conference rules allow congregations to reallocate that $6 million. We can give those monies to our own annual conference for congregational vitality, new church starts, missions regional and global, and more.
We can begin this new future within the Western North Carolina Conference.
If you want to be United Methodist, I encourage you to join my congregation and reallocate your monies away from a general church that will get uglier and more divided.
Will we divide? No. What then shall we do? Focus our attention and money on this annual conference and be faithful to our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ.


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There are two ways to stop Caudium:
Kill Caudium with a -9 signal. If you do this Caudium will restart. Actually it will be restarted by the start script.
Kill Caudium (with kill(1)'s default TERM signal) . In this case, Caudium will stop cleanly. If you use Caudium 1.2 and later, you can use the caudiumctl command. A man page for caudiumctl should be available on your system.
In both cases Caudium will stop only after a few moments.
On Debian GNU/Linux, you can use the following commands to manipulate the server status:
# /etc/init.d/caudium stop # /etc/init.d/caudium start # /etc/init.d/caudium restart


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Adapting the Evidence for 2020 and Beyond
MDRC has studied a number of strategies for helping students stay in college and succeed there. Lessons from some of these models may be readily adapted to support students and close equity gaps now and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This Issue Focus offers three lessons taken from MDRC's evaluations.


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Pam Wurst struggled for years to lose weight.
One of the triggering points for her to finally shed pounds was when a 5-year-old child patted her stomach and asked: "When is the baby coming?"
"I about died," she said. "I wasn't even remotely pregnant, just really overweight."
Wurst, a 39-year old instructional designer, artist and consultant from Marietta, Georgia, lost about 100 pounds, starting from 264 to a low of 155. She lost most of her weight in the first nine months and has kept the majority of the weight off for more than six years.
iReporter Seth Leigh of San Tan Valley, Arizona, a computer programmer, has also struggled with his weight. He says he found the motivation to lose at least 110 pounds in nearly seven months so he could return to the Army National Guard in 2010 as an officer. (He has lost 135 pounds to date.)
He was 40 1/2 when he started his weight loss regimen. "I was facing an age deadline to get back and knew that once I turned 42 years old, it would be forever too late," he said.
The new year represents a time to create resolutions and for many Americans, weight loss will be high on their lists.
And while Wurst and Leigh's weight loss stories are a success, experts say most people will fail at following through on their resolutions.
Clinical psychologist Mark Crawford of Roswell, Georgia, says some people sabotage themselves by not being clear on their goals.
He offers some tips for getting it right.
1. Be specific about your goal.
"Saying that you want to lose weight is way too general," Crawford said. "You should set specific goals, like you want to lose 5 to 10 pounds."
2. Set a realistic goal.
Make sure you set something achievable and sustainable.
3. Establish a plan to reach your goal.
"Say things like I'm going to exercise four times a week, and I'm going to eat smaller portions," said Crawford.
4. Set a time frame to reach your goal.
"Thirty days is a manageable goal to start with, and then go from there," he said.
Above all, Crawford says stay the course.
"You will make mistakes," he said. "You will have slip-ups, it is part of it." But never use it as an excuse to give up.
A website supported by the National Institute of Health notes "the key to successful weight loss is making changes in your eating and physical activity habits that you can keep up for the rest of your life."
And even if you don't need to lose weight, it's a good idea to follow healthy eating and exercise habits to keep you healthy throughout your lifetime.
How did Wurst and Leigh shed pounds?
When Wurst first started her journey, she set a goal of fitting into a size 14.
"I didn't know how long it would take, but I felt like I could accomplish that in a year and I did," she said. She now wears a size 10 or 12, which exceeded her plan.
Wurst said when she first started losing weight, she set a goal of exercising six days a week, and three of those days were 22 minutes of cardiovascular moves. After a few months into her Body-for LIFE-program, her job required her to travel a lot and she cut back her workouts to three to four days a week.
Wurst changed her eating habits, too, and stopped eating junk food. She tries to set a goal of eating four to six small meals a day to speed up her metabolism.
Her meals often include proteins with portions the size of her palm such as fish, chicken, nuts, tofu, mushrooms and eggs. She eats carbohydrates such as multigrain rice or multigrain crackers. Wurst tries her best to avoid processed foods and soda.
Leigh had a different plan to shed his pounds. At the height of his exercise program, he spent up to five hours a day working out. His routine included walking, biking, swimming, lifting weights and burning calories on a treadmill or Stairmaster.
The iReporter restricted his diet to about 1,500 calories a day.
"I didn't have any time to waste or any days when I could afford not to exercise and eat properly if I wanted to qualify with the right weight for the Guard," he said.
"I had a few times during that heavy-duty weight loss period when I would go out and ride 20 miles on my bike at 11 p.m. or midnight, because I hadn't exercised yet that day and I wouldn't let myself go to sleep having missed a day," he noted.
Both Wurst and Leigh were motivated to reach their goals, but experts differ on their opinions on how much exercise is necessary and what type of foods to eat in order to lose weight.
For those of you planning a weight-loss program in 2011, consider guidelines the National Institute of Health offers on its website to help you get started.
Losing weight can be a challenge
Wurst said before her big weight loss, she tried a lot of methods to lose pounds, including drugs prescribed by her doctor.
"In 2000, they tested my thyroid and found it to be very slow, and I was prescribed 300 mg of Levoxyl a day and told it would help," she said.
Six months later, she returned to her doctor in tears and said the drugs weren't helping.
"My doc shrugged it off and said 'fat people are jolly.' " she said. "I was heartbroken."
She struggled for a few more years until a friend visiting from Tampa, Florida, in 2004 helped her get started on the diet and exercise regime he used.
"At last, I finally found a program that worked," she said.
Leigh said he struggled for years as a heavy person and said he weighed more than 300 pounds for about an 11-year stretch.
For him, the motivation to achieve a dream is what it took to finally get him back to better health.
"I would imagine myself standing, in a nice new suit, in front of the Officer Selection Board, answering their questions about why I wanted to get back into the Army National Guard," he said.
"I must have imagined that interview with the board a hundred times while working out," Leigh noted.
Both Wurst and Leigh say the best part of their journey is they are now happier people than they were before the weight loss.
"I feel great and love to tell people about my story," said Wurst.
Source: CNN