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Applications are now open for the 2017 Aurealis Awards judging panels.
Please read the following information carefully before submitting your application as we cannot make exceptions to the requirements.
We are seeking expressions of interest from Australian residents who would like to judge for the 2017 Aurealis Awards. Judges are volunteers and are drawn from the Australian speculative fiction community, from diverse professions and backgrounds, including academics, booksellers, librarians, published authors, publishing industry professionals, reviewers and enthusiasts. The only qualification necessary is a demonstrated knowledge of and interest in their chosen category (good time management skills are also essential).
All judges must be willing and able to read electronic entries in either mobi or epub format, which we accept in all categories. Graphic Novel entries may also be submitted in PDF. Print is still sometimes sent by entrants but we no longer require it.
Panel sizes may vary among categories – and from year to year – depending on the perceived workload required and the availability of judges for a particular category. However, each panel will consist of at least three judges, one of which will be the panel convenor.
Being an Aurealis Awards judge involves reading entries for one panel (which may comprise more than one category). This may consist of several dozen novels and/or more than a hundred short stories / novellas in the process of evaluating the year's entries. The reading load can become quite heavy at the end of the judging period although we endeavour to obtain works as soon as they are published. Judges may keep their reading copies of entries. Convenors of each panel are also required to participate in the judging of the Convenors' Award for Excellence, which involves additional consumption of material.
The Awards are currently under the auspices of the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation. We aim to offer judges complimentary or discounted entry to the annual Awards ceremony for current judges, but this cannot be confirmed at this stage.
Categories are:
- Science Fiction Novel
- Science Fiction Short Story / Novella (two categories judged by one panel)
- Fantasy Novel
- Fantasy Short Story / Novella (two categories judged by one panel)
- Horror Novel / Novella / Horror Short Story (three categories judged by one or two panel, depending on availability of judges)
- Young Adult Novel / Young Adult Short Story (two categories judged by one panel)
- Children's Fiction
- Collection / Anthology (two categories judged by one panel)
- Illustrated Book/Graphic Novel
The Aurealis Awards accepts electronic entries in all categories. Judges must be willing to accept and read entries in this format. Willingness and ability to read electronically is an essential aspect of the judging role.
It is vital that judges be able to work as part of a team and meet stringent deadlines. Most of the judges' discussions are conducted via a private online forum or email.
Entries to the awards close in early December, with all work published between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017 eligible for entry. Shortlists from each panel will be required by February 2018 (firm dates will be advised), and prospective judges should be aware that this may be an intensive process.
Dates for Judging (to be confirmed):
- May/June 2017 – entries open
- Early December 2017 – entries close
- December 21 2017 – final entries must be received by judges
- February 2018 – shortlists and finalists must be decided
- March/April 2018 – Awards ceremony (details to be advised)
All discussions are confidential between the judges in each panel and the judging coordinator and/or the Aurealis Awards management team, as required. The Aurealis Awards judging coordinator will have no input into these decisions except to mediate panel issues.
Judges from previous Aurealis Awards processes are welcome – indeed encouraged – to re-apply. But, in the interests of transparency and impartiality, no one may judge the same category for more than two consecutive years, and a break of two consecutive years is required before a judge can reapply to be a judge in that particular category again.
Please provide the following information to Judging Coordinators Tehani Croft and Katharine Stubbs at email@example.com, by 7 May, 2017.
- Name
- Postal Address
- Email Address
- Telephone number
- Preferred judging categories (please provide at least three options, in order of preference).
- Willing to act as a panel convenor (Y/N).
- A paragraph or two detailing relevant experience and reasons you would like to be a judge for the Awards.
- Preferred e-file format – all judges must nominate either mobi (for Kindle) or ePub (with the understanding that files may also be occasionally received in print, PDF or rtf).
The judging positions are open to Australian residents only.


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If you were waiting for the "fiscal cliff" to be resolved before trading up to a roomier house, it may be time to jump. But if you were cooling your heels before snapping up that hot new car, we regret to inform you that it may be better to wait a little longer.
This is because nearly every interest-rate watcher agrees that short-term loans, like auto loans, will stay low and perhaps even dip a little. Being patient may lower the monthly payment on your new ride, and may even allow you to save a little more to put down.
The housing picture is a little more complicated. Economists have been predicting mortgage rates to rise slightly this year, reflecting the meager but steady growth in the job market and the economy at large.
"A lot of uncertainties that would convince people to hold Treasurys are settling down," said Mike Fratantoni, the Mortgage Brokers Association's vice president of research and economics, citing a pause in Europe's long-running debt drama, fiscal cliff deal and "frustrating, but consistently growing" job market. "Some of the fears are going away," he said.
The MBA expects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will break above four percent, from its current average around 3.5 percent, in the second quarter of 2013, and will rise to 4.5 percent by the end of the year.
And that prediction was made before last week's kerfuffle over the December Federal Reserve meeting minutes, which showed the deficit hawks on the Fed board losing patience with continued quantitative easing.
Even if, as most observers believe, the Fed continues to keep rates low, Fratantoni thinks the reaction to the minutes shows the market won't wait until the Fed acts before hiking rates. "Put it this way: Everyone is now sitting on the edge of their chair when a Fed official is talking," he said.
Everyone doesn't necessarily include Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com, who dismissed the bump in Treasurys inspired by the Fed chatter. "It doesn't change my forecast," said McBride. "I think we'll give most or all of that back because of the uncertainty about the debt ceiling and coming spending cuts."
"With the fiscal cliff averted," McBride said, "the economic fundamentals are going to reassert themselves. We still have slow-growth economy and we're not adding jobs at a breakneck pace. It's more like a break even pace."
McBride predicts that the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage will rise slightly through the year, but stay below 4 percent.
That makes 2013 a good time, said McBride, to put off your big house purchase and keep stashing away cash for your down payment.
Complicating the picture is the recent revival in home prices. In some warm weather markets like Las Vegas and Miami, prices have risen more than 20 percent over last year; the broader S&P/Case-Schiller Home Price Index shows the property values gaining a more modest 4.3 for the year ending in October. If your local market is heating up, it may be cheaper to make the leap to that bigger house now.
Fratantoni expects 2013 will be an active year for first-time homebuyers, who will be induced to make the switch to owning by skyrocketing rents. Those trading up, he added, will be encouraged by the idea that they can make up the losses of the last half-decade by investing in an advancing market.
But if you're not ready, it's no time to panic. The relatively small increases in mortgage rates and housing prices (depending on where you are looking) are low enough that, unlike the boom years of the early Oughts, waiting to buy will mean spending a few hundred dollars more a year, not thousands.
Meantime, the low-rate environment is conducive for prospective homebuyers to restore credit ratings damaged during the financial crisis and knock down existing debt, which will help you qualify for lower rates. It's also a good time to shop around for credit cards with lower rates. "It's a good time to trade away a double-digit interest rate for a single-digit rate, provided your credit score is above 700," McBride said.
Don't have plans to make a move? You can also take advantage of the current credit climate by capitalizing on the improving value of your home. "You are going to see lenders competing to make home equity loans," said McBride.
All you have to do is sit back and wait.

subset: commoncrawl


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No. 39; Updated March 2017
Mental illnesses in parents represent a risk for children in the family. These children have a higher risk for developing mental illnesses than other children. When both parents are mentally ill, the chance is even greater that the child might become mentally ill.
The risk is particularly strong when a parent has one or more of the following: Bipolar Disorder, an anxiety disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia, alcoholism or other drug abuse, or depression. Risk can be inherited from parents, through the genes.
An inconsistent, unpredictable family environment also contributes to psychiatric illness in children. Mental illness of a parent can put stress on the marriage and affect the parenting abilities of the couple, which in turn can harm the child.
Some protective factors that can decrease the risk to children include:
Medical, mental health or social service professionals working with mentally ill adults need to inquire about the children and adolescents, especially about their mental health and emotional development. If there are serious concerns or questions about a child, it may be helpful to have an evaluation by a qualified mental health professional.
Individual or family psychiatric treatment can help a child toward healthy development, despite the presence of parental psychiatric illness. The child and adolescent psychiatrist can help the family work with the positive elements in the home and the natural strengths of the child. With treatment, the family can learn ways to lessen the effects of the parent's mental illness on the child.
Unfortunately, families, professionals, and society often pay most attention to the mentally ill parent, and ignore the children in the family. Providing more attention and support to the children of a psychiatrically ill parent is an important consideration when treating the parent.
If you find Facts for Families© helpful and would like to make good mental health a reality, consider donating to the Campaign for America's Kids. Your support will help us continue to produce and distribute Facts for Families, as well as other vital mental health information, free of charge.
You may also mail in your contribution. Please make checks payable to the AACAP and send to Campaign for America's Kids, P.O. Box 96106, Washington, DC 20090.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) represents over 10,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists who are physicians with at least five years of additional training beyond medical school in general (adult) and child and adolescent psychiatry.
Facts for Families© information sheets are developed, owned and distributed by AACAP. Hard copies of Facts sheets may be reproduced for personal or educational use without written permission, but cannot be included in material presented for sale or profit. All Facts can be viewed and printed from the AACAP website (www.aacap.org). Facts sheets may not be reproduced, duplicated or posted on any other website without written consent from AACAP. Organizations are permitted to create links to AACAP's website and specific Facts sheets. For all questions please contact the AACAP Communications Manager, ext. 154.
If you need immediate assistance, please dial 911.
Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.


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Story highlights
Extreme endurance challenges growing in popularity
Amateur athletes and celebrities joining professionals on start line
The 42km marathon run used to be considered the ultimate test
Many of these endurance events take several days to complete
While obesity rates soar in the developed world and we live an ever more sedentary lifestyle, the flip side to this health time bomb is the paradox that more and more amateur athletes are taking on extreme endurance challenges.
Running a 42km marathon is still considered a huge achievement, but "weekend warriors" have now turned in their droves to Ironman Triathlons.
For the uninitiated, that's a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle race and the marathon to finish.
And the more offbeat the challenge, the more entrants seem to be attracted.
In Telford, England each year thousands of people take part in an eccentric event called the Tough Guy Challenge, which involves a 12km run and assault course in freezing winter conditions.
Just to make it more interesting, the organizer sets fire to parts of the course and puts in barbed wire fences and muddy bogs. Yet they come back year after year to be subjected to this torture.
Worn out just thinking about it?
The Tough Guy Challenge is a relative breeze in comparison to an Ironman race in Norway with arctic temperatures for the swim in a fjord, biking through a mountainous range, then finishing the 42km run at the top of a 1,880m peak.
That's the challenge awaiting competitors in the Norseman, one of 50 events featured in a book, the World's Toughest Endurance Challenges, by Richard Hoad and Paul Moore.
Triple Ironman
Despite the pain and the hours of preparation, such endurance events are strangely addictive.
Briton Mark Kleanthous has competed in 34 Ironmans – including the most famous of them all in the blistering heat and brutal winds of Hawaii – two double Ironmans and one Triple Ironman.
Since the mid-eighties, the 51 year-old has finished over 450 triathlons, making him almost certainly the record holder in that respect, not to mention the small matter of 75 mere marathons.
"The longer the event, the more the mind takes over, in a marathon it is probably only 10% mental in a Triple Ironman, with sleep deprivation, it must be at least 40% mental strength to continue," Kleanthous, who now coaches and mentors athletes who take on these challenges, told CNN.
Kleanthous took just under 46 hours of continuous action to complete his solitary Triple Ironman attempt.
"After swimming, cycling and running a total distance of 521 miles I had no facial hair growth for 10 days," he said. "I think it was my body's way of saying I am shutting down."
But there can be a darker side to this type of challenge.
Sleep deprivation
"I have known ultra endurance athletes to commit suicide within months of finishing sleep deprivation events," said Kleanthous.
"In events lasting days with no sleep for one or two hours per day athletes have hallucinated and believed they have seen friends or family cheering them by the side of the roads.
"One competitor believed he saw his parents and it was only after the race he realized he had hallucinated because his parents were dead."
Read: Tips from an Ironman world champion
Despite these warnings, it does not stop the rush to compete in events like the Marathon des Sables, which is also featured in the 50 challenges.
It is a near 200km run in the blazing temperatures and freezing nights of the Sahara Desert – with a two-year waiting list to compete.
Many competitors are inspired by the exploits of superstar endurance athletes such as four-time Hawaii Ironman world champion Chrissie Wellington of Britain.
Mind games
"Of all the body parts we train, none is more important than the mind," she told CNN.
"There is an obsession in triathlon with tracking how far and how fast we have gone in our latest session. People think that if their training log is in order, then so must be their preparation.
"But it's when the discomfort strikes that they realize a strong mind is the most powerful weapon of all," added Wellington.
Not all the most famous endurance challenges are multi-sport events, but swimming the English Channel or cycling the near 5,000 km in the Race Across America are still grueling tests.
Extremes of temperature also play a part from the Four Deserts Marathon challenge to the South Pole equivalent at -40C.
High altitude is the enemy in the Yak Attack, a mountain bike race through the Himalayas, while a head for heights is required in the Red Bull X-Alps where competitors paraglide and trek from Salzburg to Monaco across the European mountain range.
Celebrities have also begun to embrace the idea of sporting endurance challenges.
Charitable aims
British comedian David Walliams swam the English Channel for charity and topped that by completing the 224km of the River Thames in eight days.
Olympic gold medal winning rower James Cracknell finished 12th in the Marathon des Sables, and then attempted to swim, cycle, run and row between Los Angeles and New York before he was hit by a petrol tanker in Arizona.
It nearly cost him his life, although he has returned to adventure and endurance challenges to raise money for good causes.
Kleanthous is full of admiration for anyone who finishes just one of these events, but then really threw down the guantlet:: "What if someone attempted to do all 50 of the challenges? "


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After having her first complaint dismissed, exonerated former RIAA target Tanya Andersen refiled an amended complaint in her malicious prosecution lawsuit against the record labels earlier this month at the judge's request. Instead of filing an answer to Andersen's complaint, the RIAA is asking the presiding judge to dismiss the new complaint. Should the judge choose not to dismiss the "verbose, confused and redundant complaint," the RIAA would like some additional time to file a response.
The RIAA's request was made in a filing late last week, one in which it argued that Andersen's attorney, Lory Lybeck, ignored the judge's instructions. Andersen has filed a "massive" 108-page, 353-paragraph amended complaint that the RIAA says is "long on rhetoric, hyperbole, and scandalous allegations" and does not heed the judge's direction to file a "plain and concise" complaint.
Although the record labels were willing to spend well over two years prosecuting their unsuccessful lawsuit against Andersen, they are now seeking to resolve Andersen v. Atlantic "as expeditiously as possible." One such expeditious resolution would be a dismissal of Andersen's new complaint, the RIAA argues, citing a couple of cases where refiled complaints where dismissed for not following a judge's directions. "Indeed, under very similar circumstances, complaints significantly shorter than that filed by Plaintiff have been dismissed for failure to comply with the district court's order granting leave to amend and Rule 8."
Andersen was originally sued for copyright infringement by the RIAA in 2005. After the labels decided to dismiss the lawsuit, she fought back with her lawsuit which accuses MediaSentry, the record labels, and the RIAA of negligence. The RIAA and the Settlement Support Center that handles the settlement letters are also accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress, RICO violations, conspiracy, unlawful trade practices, and a handful of other wrongs.
Tanya Andersen
In an interview just before the amended complaint was filed, Lybeck told Ars that he planned on taking advantage of the discovery process to look into agreements between the RIAA, its member companies, MediaSentry, and the Settlement Support Center. The RIAA's latest filing shows that it is poised to fight attempts at discovery tooth and nail, as the labels believe that "the vast majority" of Andersen's allegations can be addressed with "little or no discovery."
After reading through the RIAA's filing last week as well as a 68-page transcript of the February 13 hearing where Judge Anna J. Brown dismissed Andersen's first complaint, I decided to reread the "massive" 108-page amended complaint filed by Andersen (all of the documents are available on PACER; Threat Level also has a PDF available, and David Kravets covered the RIAA's filing on Friday). Part of the massiveness the RIAA objects to comes from Lybeck's attempts to adhere to the judge's instructions to explicitly lay out both the allegations and claims for release. The vast majority of Andersen's 18 claims for relief go into a fair amount of supporting detail. (The 18th claim seeks an injunction barring the RIAA from "continuing to engage in criminal investigation of private American citizens.")
Both parties would like to see this case wrapped up quickly (but obviously with different results). Given the scope of Andersen's amended complaint and the RIAA's response seeking (at the very least) additional time to respond, that appears to be an unlikely outcome.
In a docket entry made today, Judge Anna J. Brown noted her agreement with some of the RIAA's criticism's of Andersen's amended complaint. Andersen will have until April 10 to file a third amended complaint "consistent with the Court's directions during the hearing on February 11, 2008" if she desires, with a status conference scheduled a few days later.


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Knights of the Tarot Series
Today we celebrate the release of Knight of Pentacles, book three in Nina Mason's Knights of the Tarot series. Unlike the first two books in the series, which Nina revised and re-released on May 24, Knight of Pentacles has never been released before.
Knight of Pentacles, an erotic PNR/UF set primarily on Scotland's Black Isle, tells of the romance between Sir Axel Lochlann, who guards the portal into Avalon, and Jenna Cameron, the daughter of a witch who hasn't yet discovered her powers. Their love story is based on the old Scottish ballad of Tam Lin, which plays an important role in the book.
Here's the blurb:
The future looks bleak for Jenna Cameron when, after a five-year engagement, her fiancé breaks it off the night before the wedding. Hoping to regroup, Jenna decides to drive alone to the cottage on Scotland's mysterious Black Isle where they were supposed to spend their honeymoon. When her car breaks down, Jenna wonders if her troubles can get any worse. Then, while cutting through a secluded glen, she sees a handsome man bathing in a waterfall. The next day, she learns the man she saw is the faery knight who guards the portal into Avalon, the otherworld island ruled by Morgan Le Fay. Jenna, ready to be rid of the virginity she's saved in vain, offers herself to Sir Axel Lochlann, the shaman knight of Faery Glen. From that moment on, she finds herself inside a faery tale complete with druids, goblins, runic magic, and vampire owls. She also discovers powers she didn't know she had—powers she can use to break Sir Axel's bonds to Queen Morgan. First, however, she must persuade Axel to put his desire to be free ahead of his duty to the queen he's sworn to serve and obey.
Here's a little more about the Knights of the Tarot series:
Knights of the Tarot, a four-part series, was born of a relatively simple concept. Nina wanted to write a paranormal/fantasy series incorporating different forms of divination. Tarot cards, astrology, runes, numerology, and the like. From that kernel grew the overarching storyline. The heroes of this contemporary paranormal series are Scottish noblemen of times past who were taken by the faeries into Avalon to serve as breeding drones to the queen, the legendary Morgan le Fay. Each of the books tells the story of a particular knight and the heroine whose love saves him from his unhappy existence.
Each hero grapples with a different relationship with their cruel and selfish queen. Callum Lyon, the knight of book one (Knight of Wands), is free of Morgan's influence, having escaped Avalon after faking his death. Leith MacQuill, the knight of book two (Knight of Cups), was expelled from Avalon after the queen discovered his affair with one of the ladies of her court. To punish Leith, Morgan cursed him so any women he should fall in love with in the future would die.
In Knight of Pentacles, Axel Lochlann is still enslaved to the queen, who he serves as a guardian of the portal between the mortal and immortal realms.
The Knight of Swords (book four) is Finn MacKnight does not yet know he is destined to fulfill an ancient prophecy telling of the queen's overthrow by a natural-born drone.
The knights are blood-drinking shape-shifters who can assume the form of any creature, real or mythical, but generally take the form of their alter ego. Callum's preferred form is a lion, Leith's is a Kellas Cat, Axel's is a gyrfalcon, and Finn's is a jaguar.
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Haven't read the first two books in the Knights of the Tarot series?
No worries. Both are on sale this week for only 99 cents!
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Axel Lochlann, the hero of Knight of Pentacles is a Highlander of Viking descent who uses runes for divination and magic. For those who don't know what runes are, they're the letters of an alphabet called the Futhark, the first system of writing developed and used by the Germanic peoples.
More than just letters to make words, each rune is an ideographic or pictographic symbol of some cosmological principle or power. When written together in various sequences, the powers can be invoked to cast protective spells. Individual runes carved into stones, bone, or wood are used to seek the guidance and wisdom of the Old Norse gods, especially Odin, who discovered the runes after hanging upside down for nine days from Yggdrasil, the Old Norse tree of life .
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Order Knight of Pentacles today for a chance to win the beautiful blue-onyx runes pictured above. To enter, simply email your proof of purchase to firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Here's an excerpt from Knight of Pentacles:
As the sputtering engine gasped its last, Jenna Cameron set her forehead against the steering wheel and groaned. Could this day get any worse? As if it weren't enough her world had turned upside down, now her car decided to quit in the dead of night on a desolate stretch of road with no bloody cellular signal.
If not for the dream she'd had last night, she'd be Mrs. William Comstock right now, on her way to the honeymoon cottage she'd rented with the man she'd waited five long and frustrating years to marry.
The thought of William sent a chill through Jenna. In the dream, she'd seen herself driving off the edge of a cliff. She was married to William and utterly miserable. As her car soared over the edge of the precipice, she heard her mother's voice. "The right man is out there, waiting for you to find him. But it will never be if you bind yourself to a man you don't love."
As soon as she awoke, she rang William. When she told him about the dream, he said, as she'd secretly hoped he would, "I was willing to overlook that your mother was a witch because I believed your father had safely guided you away from the path of darkness, but now I see that, like her, you have been led astray. I pray someday you will embrace the Light of God, Jenna. I truly do. But, for now, I cannot risk my own immortal soul by marrying someone so susceptible to the darkness."
William, a Presbyterian pastor like her father, blamed everything he did not understand on the devil.
As relieved as Jenna was to have escaped, the sudden change of course had thrown her life into chaos. Expecting to be married, she'd given up her job and flat in Edinburgh and, consequently, was left with no source of income and nowhere to live.
So, she was on her way to the rented cottage in Rosemarkie, a small seaside town on Scotland's Black Isle. Since she couldn't get her deposit back, it seemed like a good idea to use the cottage to reflect and regroup.
Coming all this way alone had suddenly lost its appeal, but here she was—and wallowing in self-pity was not going to solve anything. According to the Google map she'd printed out, she wasn't far from her destination. She might as well suck it up and walk the rest of the way. When she got there, she could ring a garage about her car.
Grabbing her purse, her forest-green wool cloak, and the battery-powered torch she kept in the glove box, she climbed out of the car and set off along the rural tree-lined road, which was dark and a little spooky. No cars passed her in either direction. Crickets chirped all around and small rustlings from the surrounding woods startled her sporadically. Senses alert, she stopped repeatedly to check her mobile for a signal.
Her heart pounded and, despite the chill in the air, she was sweating under her cloak and sweater. The only good thing she could say about her present predicament was that her fear of being torn to pieces by wild animals had temporarily eclipsed her other worries.
She didn't know how long she'd been walking when she came to an old stone bridge. Just beyond was a sign. She shone the beam of her torch at the words carved into the wooden plaque.
Faery Glen.
Jenna took heart. She'd read something about the glen on the website for the cottage, so she shouldn't have much farther to go. Unfortunately, she needed to pee rather urgently. Might there be somewhere to go in the glen?
Venturing into a forest in the middle of the night might not be the smartest thing she'd ever done, but her bladder was bursting and she wasn't about to tinkle by the side of the road. Just because no cars had gone by since she'd started walking, didn't mean one wouldn't appear the moment she dropped her knickers. Besides, there was a carpark abutting the glen, so there might be a public lavatory there as well.
Up above, the sky was an indigo canvas splattered with specks of white, some larger than others. She crossed the small asphalt lot. Finding no bathroom, she squatted in the bushes. When she'd finished her business, she shone the torch into the glen. Everything outside the beam was pitch black. Water ran somewhere nearby. Thirst drew her down the footpath. All that crying had made her as parched as a dry sponge.
I'll only go a little ways, find the stream, and take a wee sip.
The hollow clomp of her footsteps disturbed the silence as she crossed a wooden bridge. On the other side, the path curved sharply. In a clearing just beyond the turn were the falls. In the silver light of the full moon, the cascading water reminded her of the bridal veil she might never get a chance to wear.
Then, she saw him. A man in the pool below the falls. He was stark naked, soaking wet, and had his back to her.
Alarm electrifying every nerve ending, she stepped back into the shadows. Her first thought was that he might be a homeless man who'd taken refuge in the woods. He had a beard and long hair, so it seemed the most logical explanation. Her next thought was that he might be performing some sort of ritual. She was on the Black Isle, after all, in a place called Faery Glen on the night of a full moon, so his being a New Age warlock or druid didn't seem all that infeasible. A long shot, perhaps, but not meters outside the realm of possibility.
When curiosity overrode her apprehension, she stepped closer to get a better look at him. The moonlight bathing his glistening physique revealed a tall, slender frame with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and a shapely bum. Wetness and poor lighting made telling the color of his hair impossible. Light brown, maybe, or dark blond. She started a little when he bent over and shook his head like a dog. As he threw it back, he raised his muscular white arms to push the clinging wet hair off his face.
Despite her long engagement and having achieved the ripe age of twenty-five, she'd never seen a naked man before. Not in the flesh, anyway, and watching this one bathing in the wild was making her feel things she shouldn't. The prospect of being caught spying on him was even more unsettling.
Ducking behind the thick trunk of the nearest tree, she watched as he continued his bath. Drunk on a tart cocktail of shame and lust, she took in the graceful slope of his shoulders, the long muscles supporting his serrated spine, and the alluring dimples just below the small of his back. His beautiful form and the way the moonlight sparkled on the droplets clinging to his skin made her pulse race and her knees weaken.
A strong urge to touch him welled up inside her. How badly she wanted to run her hands over every glistening curve and indentation of his manly form—both for prurient reasons and to absorb some of his confidence the way plants absorbed sunlight. As exposed as he was to the elements, he seemed admirably comfortable in his skin.
She'd never felt that at ease with herself, even when alone. All her life, she'd been made to feel inferior. As much as she didn't want to believe that she was, part of her did.
Mesmerized by the man in the pool, she went on watching. Something told her he was like her mother. Esoteric rather than religious. Open-minded instead of rigid. Accepting, not judging. She couldn't say how or why she sensed this about him. She only knew she felt it deep down in some instinctive part of her psyche.
Hope fluttered in her heart. Could he be the one her mother spoke of in the dream? Scoffing at her romantic delusions, she smashed the thought with the rock of reason and headed back to the footpath.
About the author:
Nina Mason is an incurable romantic who strives to write the same kind of books she loves to read: those that entertain, edify, educate, and enlighten. In addition to the Knights of the Tarot series, she is the author of Royal Pains, an erotic historical series following a Scottish duke and duchess through the hedonism and intrigues of the Restoration period, and Sins Against the Sea, a paranormal romance steeped in the myth and magic of the Scottish Isles.
Born and raised in Southern California, Ms. Mason currently lives with her family in Woodstock, Georgia. When she isn't writing, she makes art dolls and works as a consultant for Pure Romance, a line of relationship-enhancement products.
Visit Nina's website: http://ninamasonauthor.com
Follow Nina on Facebook: http://facebook.com/ninamasonromance
Follow Nina on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ninamasonauthor
Subscribe to Nina's newsletter: https://vr2.verticalresponse.com/s/authorninamasonsnewsletter


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Halo Degree Decal - Business
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Fabrication: They have a UV laminate to protect from scratching, rain and sunlight.
Note: The hangR logo watermark is for image protection only and will not appear on actual decal.


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Here's a list of the episodes with more than one possible half pendant location:#2: The Golden Cup of Belshazzar - Heart Room or Swamp#3: Galileo's Cannonball - Wall Climb or Heart Room#6: The Golden Cricket Cage of Khan - Wall Climb, Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or Torch Room#14: The Lost Logbooks of Magellan - Wall Climb or Heart Room#15: The Moccasins of Geronimo - Heart Room, Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or Tomb of the Ancient Kings#25: The Stone Marker of Leif Erikson - Treasure Room or Torch Room#28: The Mask of Shaka Zulu - Heart Room, Treasure Room, or Torch Room#30: The Silver Saddle Horn of Hannibal - Heart Room or Tomb of the Ancient KingsWhich one do you guys think is the correct location for each?
I don't have a high-resolution copy of that episode. Wasn't it already confirmed that it was in the Jester's Court?
They would if only there was a paid YouTube channel with the complete series. If there was, the episodes would be in perfect quality like the ones I have on iTunes. And hey, weren't what we saw in "The Bent Shaving Pan of Jedediah Smith" and "The Marble Armrest of Xerxes" the half pendants?
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General News
Warner Bros. Consumer Products Unveils Licensing Program For 1960's Batman Classic TV Series At Licensing Show 2012
Holy Licensing Program, Batman! Warner Bros. Consumer Products unveiled today, in advance of Licensing Show 2012, a new licensing program inspired by the classic 1960's television series, Batman. The program will feature captured photography from the live-action series, as well as the illustrated character art inspired by the series' animated opening sequence, and will incorporate the vehicles, gadgets and catchphrases that have made the show a cultural phenomenon.
The Batman Classic TV Series celebrates an incarnation of Batman that for many fans was their first introduction to 'The Caped Crusader' and his many friends and foes,"said Brad Globe, president, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. "This new licensing program captures the playful and stylish spirit of the iconic Batman while bringing a fresh look that will appeal to the Batman enthusiasts and nostalgic fan base, as well as to a new generation of fans."
As part of the new licensing and merchandising program, licensees will have the chance to bring to life some of the most recognizable elements of Batman, including the "Dynamic Duo" of Batman and Robin and an arsenal of archenemies such as The Penguin, The Joker and The Riddler. Batman's famous high-tech gadgetry will be featured in the program such as the Bat-phone, the Bat-zooka and the Bat-signal, along with other ultramodern tools – and don't forget the famous Batmobile.
WBCP now has the rights to license the likenesses of the actors from Batman as part of the Batman Classic TV Series licensing program. Throughout the duration of the 120-episode run of Batman, the venerable actors of the series include Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, Cesar Romero as The Joker, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Vincent Price as Egghead and Eartha Kitt as Catwoman, among many others.
"This is an incredible moment in the history of Batman, as the incredible roster of talent and famous characters, including the Rogues Gallery of infamous villains, and the unforgettable creative elements from the series, have never before been brought to life through such a licensing program," added Globe.
With only the Batmobile from the classic television series currently licensed by WBCP, this is the first time in decades that the show's beloved characters and unforgettable themes are back on the streets and will give fans the chance to capture their favorite moments. The Batusi is back!


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Taste of Thailand 3 – "Chiang Mai's Delicate"
– Aromatic Thai red curry with roasted duck served with steamed jasmine rice
– Delicious Thai fishcake with sweet child sauce
– Thai coconut Ball dessert "Ka Nom Tom"
Thai food is renown for its delicate balance of sweet, sour, spicy, salty and bitter flavours. In this class, you will experience all of those flavours and learn how to use them. Start with Aromatic Thai Red Curry – you will be making this from scratch so you will be able to make it for years to come!- followed by delicious Thai Fish cafe and Thai coconut balls which sweet tooths will love!


text: Sen. Barack Obama is going where millions of voters spend their evenings - their own living rooms - when he stars in a 30-minute paid commercial Wednesday night on national TV that will serve as his big media finale in the 2008 presidential race.The Democrat's unusual coast-to-coast pitch to voters - with a price tag some have suggested is in the $3 million range - is another reminder that after two years of campaign ads, events and stump speeches, even the closing arguments in this campaign are breaking boundaries.The Obama ad - part biography, part campaign commercial - will be hard to miss. It will be broadcast locally at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS5 - between "Access Hollywood" and "Deal or No Deal" - and also on NBC affiliate KNTV and BET.This is the first time a major-party presidential candidate has bought 30 minutes of time for a single commercial on national TV.Michelle Obama, speaking Monday night to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show," said it will put her husband "all over the place ... but I don't know what they're calling it.""This was always a great idea - to make sure that if something bad happened, if there was an October surprise, you had a place holder where you could ... deal with a game-changing event," Obama supporter and fundraiser Wade Randlett said this week. "But in the absence of that - God willing - you have the opportunity to do what Barack started yesterday (Monday), which is to bring the process full circle."With just six days until the election and polls showing Obama leading Sen. John McCain by anywhere from 6 to 14 points in national polls, Obama supporters like Randlett say the Illinois senator's big buy on the national media stage is not just a campaign commercial and is not just targeted at swing states or undecided voters. They say it's about making an appeal to all Americans about what lies ahead if he becomes president."What (Obama) said from day one what this campaign was always about, was to ... put it in context," said Randlett. "This is about bringing the country together, getting past race and ideology - and getting ready for the hard work."Bob Gardner, a San Francisco ad man and GOP strategist who helped create media for Republican President Gerald Ford in 1976, notes that H. Ross Perot, a Reform Party presidential candidate in 1992, bought half an hour of TV time to explain to Americans how he would "get under the hood" and fix the system.He drew as many as 16 million viewers for those televised lectures, which were complete with pointers and charts.But Gardner also notes that as the ad man for Ford, "we did live 30-minute (TV) shows in battleground states in the last 10 days. We called it "President Ford's Traveling TV Circus."Gardner said that in that election - before cable TV and the Internet were widespread - the concept was more simple: "You'd go to Philly and put on a half-hour show with highlights of the campaign. And the emcee of the show was (former sportscaster and baseball player) Joe Garagiola," who served as the kind of "Joe the Plumber" everyman of the era, Gardner noted. "After the filmed highlights, Garagiola would interview Ford."Obama's effort, Gardner says, can make sense - especially for a campaign that is up in the polls and flush with cash."If you've got it, you might as well flaunt it," Gardner said. "I'm sure it will focus on his themes. There will be talking heads ... and 'man on the street' interviews, probably with white blue-collar workers. They'll try to assure these groups that he's acceptable."Unlikely to make an appearance, he predicts, will be some of the more liberal members of Democratic party, including "(House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid, (Democratic National Committee chairman) Howard Dean, (Massachusetts Rep.) Barney Frank or (Connecticut Sen.) Chris Dodd." They might only remind voters, especially those in the middle, he said, of the pressures Obama may face from his own party once elected.Golden Gate University marketing professor MichalStrahilevitz says that Obama's big show still "has one potential downside ... it reminds everyone that Obama has a lot more money and that John McCain is definitely the underdog."Since Obama opted out of the public financing system - leaving him free to raise and spend money with no limits - the Democrat has held a decided advantage over McCain, who has had to pull ads from states like Michigan to stay under his $85 million spending limit.But throughout the campaign, Obama has - in his communications and "selling" strategy - managed a more consistent and more consistently reassuring approach than McCain has offered, Strahilevitz said.While Obama has stuck to the economic issues as central, "McCain has muddled his message more," she said."The fact that his emotions seems to go up and down is really an issue when most Americans ... are scared," she said. "And when you're scared, you don't want to be around someone who is. You want, 'Everything is going to be OK; we will get through this.' "Author and communications expert Ruth Sherman says Wednesday's media blitz by Obama could have some voters, especially those who are facing home foreclosure and tough economic times, wondering, "Why is he spending all this money? It could look like excess, overkill."But the 30-minute show could also provide an effective platform for Obama to "show who he is and what his life has been like ... so people can understand he's not the elite the other side is trying to portray." SOURCE:SFGATE.COM


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In 1950, former Royal Air Force officer Tony Sale built a 6-foot-tall humanoid robot, one of Britain's first, from the scraps of a crashed bomber. After spending 45 years stored in a garage, it's walking just fine.
Tony Sale is now 79, but he built his first robot, George, in 1940 when he was just 12 years old. As he grew so did George—subsequent versions of the robot grew taller and more complex, adding a moving jaw to simulate speech and a radio remote control.
Sale joined the air force in 1949, teaching pilots how to use radar at the RAF Debden base in Essex England. During this time he constructed his largest and most sophisticated George to date, building the robot out of aluminium and duralumin from a Wellington bomber that crashed near the base. It was six feet tall and used two motorcycle batteries that allowed to walk, turn its head, move its arms, and sit down.
Though six-foot George gained some attention in the press, computers at the time weren't advanced enough to make him an "intelligent" robot, Sale explains and eventually George was packed away in his creator's garage. Until recently:
I dug him out of the garage where he had been standing for 45 years...I had a fair bit of confidence he would work again and luckily I was right. I put some oil on the bearings and added a couple of new lithium batteries in his legs, switched him on and away he went. It was a lovely moment.
Awwww! What a nice robot reanimation story. Now Sale's donating George to the The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, which Sale himself helped found. A much nicer home for a historic robot than a garage, I'd say. [DailyMail]


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Hello Bacon Lovers! Today I have my Guest Chef and friend Raz back in the kitchen with me!
Yes indeed – it's my buddy and pal Raz from FRIENDSFUREVER. Raz is joining me again today because his Mom Miss Sharon sent us a FABULOUS baconized recipe that we absolutely MUST SHARE with all of you. I thought it would be nice if Raz would help me out as we make this goodie for all of you today in the Castle………….
I'm trying to give you all a lot of FUN and tasty recipes for the holiday season – snacks, appetizers – anything goes! Ready?
Spiced Bacon Nuts
- 3 cups mixed nuts (roasted and salted)
- 5 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add nuts to pan and coat with oil. Stir until peanuts are warm. Add in chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, salt, and cayenne powder. Stir in bacon and gently stir until well coated.
- Remove from heat and drain on paper towels for about 10 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Now I must say that if there's too much HEAT in this recipe for you (spicy stuff) then you surely can cut back on the amounts OR even leave out any of the hot stuff that your tummy would be mad at you for using. After all, food is NOT torture – it's FUN!!!
My Mom makes what she calls "spiced nuts" every year at Christmas and they are SWEET – they do not have any "kick" to them. That's why this is a very interesting variation – not only does it have bacon in there for some nice salt but there's a little sugar and lots of spice. Since my Mom loves nuts that have sweetness to them, she used TWO tablespoons of brown sugar in this recipe. It's TOTALLY up to you. Recipes are GUIDELINES so decide what you want and go for it.
Raz, it's been a blast cooking with you today! Now that you're an experienced Guest Chef you know you are welcome any time at all here in the ROYAL KITCHEN!!! Thanks for the help and please give your Mom a hug from me for sending in the recipe.
See you all next week for more bacon fun in the kitchen!!


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Luckily for Walter Eikrem, it does not appear Norwegian wolves care for Creed.
The 13-year-old was walking home from the school bus stop in the town of Rakkestdad this week when he noticed something on the hillside near his family's farmhouse, according to Germany's Der Spiegel magazine.
At first he thought they were dogs, but he soon realized they were wolves - four of them - the magazine said, citing Norway's TV2.
The boy, remembering that his mother had told him never to run from wolves, pulled the headphones out of his mobile phone and cranked up the volume on the tiny speakers.
He was listening to "Overcome" by Creed, an arguably Christian rock band, and apparently, the wolves were not fans.
(Initial reports indicated Walter shooed the wolves away with a Megadeth song, but the blog at Gibson guitars cleared up the confusion.)
"They just turned around and simply trotted away," he told the TV station, according to Der Spiegel. "The worst thing you can do is run away because doing so just invites the wolves to chase you down ... but I was so afraid that I couldn't even run away if I'd wanted to."
To be fair, Walter was yelling at the top of his lungs and wildly flailing his arms, so it's tough to say exactly what made the wolves decide the boy might not be delicious.
His mother told the local paper that she was going to pick her son up from school because she knew there were wolves in the area, but she got carried away shopping, Der Spiegel reported.
"I have a completely guilty conscience," she said. "The previous evening, we saw three wolves on the edge of the forest when we were putting our horses in their stall. The horses were panicky."
Um, thanks, mum? … Well, OK, scratch that. Perhaps sarcasm is a little harsh for the woman who taught young Walter never to run from wolves.
People do need to know about wolves before they comment. They don't normally attack humans, but do stay away from them and from noises.And the boy's mother is a bunhole. Also "Creed" in Scandinavia -- what the heck ! Teach the child to listen to a real music , before it's too late.
FreedomDZ is funny. You want him to franticaly wave his arms? and scare the opponents?
"To be fair, Walter was yelling at the top of his lungs and wildly flailing his arms, so it's tough to say exactly what made the wolves decide the boy might not be delicious."
So it wasn't the song at all? Why say it was the song and then say it wasn't?
i em from norway and thet was on the tv chanel tv2 and nrk......(www.nrk.no)
it clearly wasn't a megadeth song, Wolves fuvking love megadeth and they would have just circle pitted around him
REAL SHOOTING IN UTOYA or NORWEGIAN "AFTERLIFE" $$ FLASH MOB !!? stateofterror.blogspot.com/ or stateofterror.wordpress.com/ REAL TEARS OR TEAR GAS AND PURE THEATER ON FACES OF MANIACS !!? OSLO POLICE or COMMUNIST/LIBERAL CRIMINALS WHO WERE PREPARING FOR ACT OF TERROR AGAINST NORWAY AND EUROPE ALMOST HALF DECADE(collecting proofs and photos) AHEAD !!? WILL THERE BE APOCALYPSE NOW(Abomination) OR TOTAL RESISTANCE(civil war) !!? No doubt about bombing in Oslo, but what about shooting in Utoya !!!?
ARIZONA = UTOYA and STOLTENBERG = BREIVIK (90 minutes vs 30 and for government vehicles or police even 20 minutes the most) !!!
If it was megadeth, it would have had to have been "She Wolf"


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By Meredith Wadman of Nature magazine
Early on 21 September, Francis Collins called Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in Washington DC, with news that the animal activist had been waiting for. Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), told Pacelle that the agency is to cease funding the troubled New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) in Louisiana, and will retire the 110 NIH-owned chimpanzees there.
The decision leaves just over 300 chimpanzees available for invasive research in two other NIH-supported research centers, and comes nine months after an NIH-solicited report from the US Institute of Medicine found that most invasive chimpanzee research was scientifically unnecessary.
In a statement, the NIH on 21 September said that the remaining population of chimpanzees can adequately serve current research needs, which include testing of monoclonal antibody therapies.
The NIH says that by August 2013, ten of the NIRC's NIH-owned animals will be relocated to Chimp Haven, a federally funded sanctuary in Keithsville, Louisiana. The other 100 will move to the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, where they will be off limits for invasive research but accessible for behavioral studies and research using information collected through routine veterinary care.
The San Antonio centre currently houses 141 chimpanzees. The only remaining centre for NIH-funded invasive chimp research is the Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research in Bastrop, Texas, which has 167.
Safe haven
Pacelle welcomed the NIH's decision, calling it a "significant step forward in our goal toward ending invasive experiments on chimpanzees". However, the HSUS — which in 2009 released an undercover video investigation that exposed repeated episodes of animal mistreatment at the NIRC — is pushing for more of the center's animals to be sent to Chimp Haven.
The NIH says that the forested 80-hectare sanctuary will be at or near full occupancy with the addition of the ten NIRC animals, but the HSUS argues that the NIH should pay for more infrastructure at Chimp Haven to allow it to house more chimpanzees.
The NIRC's longstanding contract to support NIH-owned chimpanzees was worth US$1.2 million in 2011. The current contract will expire in August 2013 and will not be renewed. The program's principal investigator, Thomas Rowell, left the post of NIRC director in August.
But the NIH decision does not mean the end of the NIRC, which houses roughly 240 privately owned chimpanzees, and more than 6,000 macaques and other monkeys. The centre has a full roster of industry clients. "We look forward to expanding services and capabilities to support federal and private research and continuing to work with the NIH," says Aaron Martin, communications director for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which owns the research centre.
The NIH is not the only US agency backing away from chimpanzee research. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a 10 September letter to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an activist group based in Washington DC, that it no longer funds chimpanzee research. The CDC, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, had as recently as 2010 been funding viral hepatitis studies in young female chimpanzees.
The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, a bill introduced into the US Congress in 2011, would phase out all federally supported invasive research on chimpanzees and retire the government-owned animals to sanctuaries.
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on September 21, 2012.


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Beyond the 25th: Celebrating the Season of Christmas
- Kimberlee Conway Ireton Author, Circle of Seasons
- 2008 9 Dec
The Origins of Christmas
The celebration of Christ's birth did not become a Christian holy day until the fourth century. Then December 25 was chosen in part because of its connection to pagan solstice celebrations—the idea being, perhaps, that the Feast of the Nativity would give Christians something to celebrate during these raucous pagan festivities or would make Christianity more palatable to pagans.
Whatever the pragmatic reasons for choosing this date, the church's choice was also theological and symbolic: how better to embody the mystery of the incarnation than by celebrating the birth of the Word, the Light of the World, the Son of God, in the middle of the darkest time of year?1 "The light shines in the darkness," the apostle John writes (John 1:5), and so the Feast of the Nativity was appointed for one of the very darkest days of the year.
By the twelfth century, Christmas was the most widely celebrated holy day in Europe. This is reflected by the three masses held on Christmas Day in the Middle Ages. These three masses corresponded to the three births that medieval Christians saw in the Nativity of Christ. The first birth occurred in the Godhead before time began, and so the midnight mass, shrouded in darkness, celebrated the "creative fecundity of the Father" in begetting the Son in eternity.2 The second mass was at dawn, its morning light mirroring the coming of light into the darkness of the world in the celebration of the "maternal fruitfulness" of Mary as she birthed Jesus, the Son of God, into the world.3 The third mass, at noon, celebrated the birth of Christ in the souls of each individual Christian through the "fertile indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of humankind." 4
In those days, Christmas did not end when midnight struck on December 25, and even today in more liturgical churches, Christmas is a season of the church year, its twelve feast days spanning from Christmas Day through Epiphany on January 6.5 The twelve days of Christmas are among the most joyous of the church year. The liturgical color of these days is white, symbolizing the light of Christ as well as his purity and innocence, and sometimes gold, symbolizing Christ's kingship and triumph over sin and death.
A Long, Slow Christmas
"Midnight on Christmas Eve," writes Wendy Wright, "is the still, silent point of the entire Advent and Christmas season." 6 We are not used to silence. Our lives are encased in sound: the radio, the TV, Muzak in the grocery store, car horns, car engines, ringing cell phones.
Throughout December, we are bombarded with Christmas songs wherever we go, whatever radio station we tune in to. Christmas specials fill prime-time TV slots. By the time Christmas Day arrives, many people are sick of Christmas. They just want it to be over with. December is too full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. No wonder people experience post- Christmas blues. One friend of mine says she has to spend all of January recovering from Christmas.
But what if we have been faithful to observe Advent? What if we have been waiting with joyful expectation through the weeks of December for the advent of the Christ? What if we have been preparing our hearts to receive the greatest gift humanity has ever been given?
In that case, midnight on Christmas Eve really is the still point when Advent silently turns into Christmas, when our waiting is finally over and the One for whom we have been waiting appears in our midst.
Gathering for a candlelit Communion service on Christmas Eve is one of my favorite childhood memories, and it continues to be one of the most treasured rituals of my year. Walking through the brisk, cold night from the car to the candlelit church, the anticipation is palpable. The dimly lit church is filled with poinsettias—and candles. As we enter the darkened sanctuary, each person is handed a small taper. We listen again to the Christmas story. We sing, at last, the Christmas carols we have been waiting through all of Advent to sing. We receive Communion. We pass the light, the only sound the murmur of soft voices. "Jesus Christ is the Light of the world," we whisper to one another as each person's candle kindles another's until the church is bright with the flames of hundreds of candles. And then, at midnight, we raise our candles high and sing "Joy to the World." It is Christmas! The waiting of Advent is over, and we rejoice: the Lord is come!
When I was a child, my sister and I would leave the church after the Christmas Eve service exuberantly, wild with excitement that Christmas was finally here. It was usually foggy in the middle of the night in California's Central Valley, thick blankets of cold pressing on us as we walked (or rather, my parents walked; my sister and I skipped and hopped and ran) back to our car. Once home, we did not open gifts. Instead, we cuddled up in front of the fireplace and drank hot cocoa before heading to bed.
Though many of my friends would come to the Christmas Eve service having already opened their presents, in my family, the opening of gifts was reserved for Christmas morning. My father's mother had died on Christmas Eve, so the day was a painful one for him. He wanted to honor her memory by refraining from the distraction of opening presents.
Now that I'm grown, I also refrain from opening gifts on Christmas Eve, in part because I grew up that way, but also because my husband's birthday is December 24. I want him to have the chance to celebrate his birthday without it being co-opted by Christmas. So Doug is the only one who gets to open gifts on Christmas Eve, and they're wrapped in birthday paper, not Christmas paper.
Some people have grown up with family traditions of opening one or all presents on Christmas Eve, and this can certainly be meaningful. One family I spoke with chooses to open their Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve because their oldest daughter was born on Christmas Day, and they want her birthday to be a separate celebration from Christmas. She, therefore, is the only one who gets to open presents on her birthday. The challenge for us is to reflect on our practices, as this family has done, and filter them in light of the rhythm of the church calendar.
As Anna, the mother of two college-age sons, said, "There's a lot of tension in observing the church year. You find you're really bucking the culture. And this is more true during Advent and Christmas than any other time of year." She recounts a particularly "disastrous" Christmas morning fifteen years ago, which changed the way she and her family celebrated Christmas:
"There were piles and piles of paper and boxes. Everybody was glassy-eyed by 9 a.m. I found myself sitting there in the middle of the chaos, almost in tears, thinking, 'This is awful!' "
From then on, she and her family spread their gift giving over the twelve days of Christmas. "People thought we were nuts, but I found it really diffused the wretched excess of Christmas Day. The guys opened one present each day, and then they could read that book or play with that toy, rather than throwing it aside right away in order to open something else."
There were other, unexpected benefits as well, both environmentally and financially: they recycled wrapping paper ("It became a bit of a joke," Anna says, "to see how many times we could use the same piece of wrapping paper"), and they shopped after-Christmas sales for their gifts for the latter days of Christmas.
Hayley, the mother of two school-age boys, also spreads the giving of gifts over the twelve days of Christmas, but she wants the focus of those days to be on Christ rather than on the gifts. To this end, she has purchased twelve ornaments, one for each day of Christmas. Each ornament represents a name of Jesus and has a Scripture passage that corresponds to it. Every evening during Christmas, one of her sons chooses an ornament, hangs it on the Advent wreath that sits in the center of the dining table and reads the Scripture.
In addition, Hayley brings out the Magi for her crèche on Christmas Day, starting them in a back room or the corner of the kitchen. Over the course of the twelve days, the boys move the Magi and their camels ever closer to the manger and the stable, thus preparing them for the culmination of Christmas in the celebration of Epiphany, but also reminding them that Christmas is about seeking—and finding—Jesus.
Christmas—the season, not just the day—is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, a time to be lingered over and delighted in. If we as the church have been actively waiting through the weeks of Advent for the coming of Christmas, then, unlike our cultural counterparts, we will not be ready to simply toss aside the Christmas season along with the wrapping paper and ribbons on December 26— and we will not need to. We will have eleven more days to celebrate with joy what my pastor calls "a long, slow Christmas."
Taken from The Circle of Seasons by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. (c) 2008 by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove IL 60515-1426. www.ivpress.com.
Kimberlee Conway Ireton lives in a cozy home in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood with her husband and two young children. She has written for Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, ThoughtfulChristian.com and Relevant magazine's Deeper Walk blog.


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2010 has been the year I regained my love for blogging, rejuvenated my blog, and even launched a new, separate blog.
After blogging since 2003, I had kind of lost interest. I was posted halfheartedly and rarely. Then something changed. I found a new blog design (free, of course!), and started blogging again on a regular basis.
At first, it was mainly re-runs from past years. Then I found other blogs that featured gorgeous pictures and welcoming atmospheres, and I took some cues from them. Suddenly I was finding all sorts of things to blog about!
Hardcore reading addict that I am, I decided to start a separate blog that is solely about books and reading--Cindy's Book Club. I think it's interesting and fun, and I would really appreciate it if you'd check it out!
I truly enjoy blogging. I've always been an aspiring writer, and what better way to indulge that love? It's like having my own personal little magazine, where I can pretty much write about whatever I want.
I want to say a great big thank-you to those of you who read this blog. Yes, my goal is to increase readership, because I'm not content to just project my thoughts out into the ether. Words need an audience, and I so appreciate those of you to take the time to read mine.
I'd like to wish all of you a very wonderful and blessed 2011. Thanks for reading "Notes in the Key of Life"!


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I am out of the 200 word a day groove and at a loss for a new challenge, so I shall return to one of my original challenges, and give you a few more dribs and drabs from The Writer's Devotional by Amy Peters.
I am no longer going to synopsize the weeks (she breaks the book down into 52 weeks with 7 "lessons" a week), but instead I will find a kernel of wisdom to share from each of the 52 weeks. Without further ado, my first kernel of wisdom:
"Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted." ~ Jules Renard
This gem of a quotation fits me to a 'T'. So many times I have been in a group and someone will say "Let's go around the circle and have everyone tell us their plans for Christmas" or "let's share what we plan to do for the rest of our lives" or "why don't we all give a short dissertation on world peace."
I am exaggerating a bit here to make a point. But whenever I hear one of these "let's share" proposals, I want to skulk out of the room until everyone is done sharing. I sit nervously awaiting my turn—trying to form some thoughts that will sound interesting, or at least not insane. Many times I will fluff off my turn, and say "ditto" to what the person before me has said, even though I will not be taking a ski vacation, building a boat, or saving the world, one African country at a time.
I seem to be able to express myself so much better in the written word than the spoken. And because I am not fleet of foot when it comes to speaking, I get interrupted a lot and never really seem to finish a thought.
As a columnist for a small town paper, I come across as friendly and approachable, and sometimes witty (or witless—whichever you prefer), but when people stop me in the grocery store thinking that I have the same persona as my writing style, I often think they are disappointed, and walk away thinking that I am not quite who they thought I would be.
When you write, there is no fear of interruption, or saying something stupid off the top of your head. If you make a fool of yourself in writing, at least it has been spell checked!


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Executive Summary | Contents | How to obtain this publication
Additional Information
Release: 15/06/2009
Despite progress in recent years, there is growing evidence that OECD countries are not on track to reach some of their key environmental goals. Achieving these goals is often difficult because of insufficient compliance with regulatory requirements.
So far, environmental compliance and enforcement has attracted relatively little attention from national environmental authorities in OECD countries, compared with efforts to optimise the design of environmental policies and instruments. This has often led to inadequate consideration of likelihood of compliance and of the enforcement capacities required to meet environmental policy objectives.
This study is a first attempt to examine in a systematic way a range of environmental compliance assurance systems. It engaged environmental authorities in six OECD countries – Finland, France, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States – and two major emerging economies – China and Russia – in a comparative analysis of their compliance and enforcement instruments, the ways in which they are applied, and the results achieved.
The report is intended to provide policy makers, environmental regulators, and other stakeholders with:
Executive Summary (English and Chinese)
Chapter 1. Compliance Assurance as Part of the Regulatory Framework
Chapter 2. Management Aspects of Compliance Assurance
Chapter 3. Compliance Promotion
Chapter 4. Compliance Monitoring and Assessment
Chapter 5. Non-compliance Response
Chapter 6. Conclusions
Chapter 7. Finland
Chapter 8. France
Chapter 9. Japan
Chapter 10. Netherlands
Chapter 11. United Kingdom
Chapter 12. United States
Chapter 13. China
Chapter 14. Russian Federation
How to obtain this publication
Readers can access the full version of Ensuring Environmental Compliance: Trends and Good Practices choosing from the following options:
Related Material
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"Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?"
On March 19, I was one of 40 state senators in the Georgia legislature who voted in favor of placing the above question on the general ballot this fall.
On Nov. 6, as a citizen of Georgia, I will be voting in favor of this amendment.
If approved, the state constitution will be amended to allow the General Assembly to create state charter schools that will operate under the terms of a charter between the state Board of Education and a charter petitioner. The amendment requires that all state charter schools be public schools and cannot include private, sectarian, religious or for-profit schools or private educational institutions.
Amending our state's constitution to include this provision became necessary because of a 4-3 decision by the Georgia Supreme Court last year ruling that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission was unconstitutional because it violates the "special schools" provision of the Georgia Constitution.
The "special schools" provision of the state constitution was included in 1966, when the constitution was redrafted and said that local boards of education were given the authority to establish "one or more area schools, including special schools such as vocational-trade schools, schools for exceptional children, and schools for adult education."
During the 1983 redraft of the constitution, these provisions were changed to the current form, which says that the General Assembly is authorized to create special schools in such areas as may require them, alone or with local boards of education. However, unlike the 1966 redraft, there was no further language in the 1983 redraft as to what constitutes a "special school." Because of this omission, the Supreme Court ruled that the commission violated this provision.
The constitutional amendment being voted on in November will expand upon the "special school" provisions by explicitly defining state charter schools as one type of special school.
Created by legislation in 2008, the commission was formed in reaction to local school boards rejecting charter petitions. According to some officials at the time, petitions were rejected because "they didn't like the competition."
Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, the commission approved 16 state charter schools. All of these were invalidated after the ruling and forced to seek approval from local boards or the state BoE.
While the amendment is supported by many state leaders — including Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston — it is opposed by some school-board members, the Georgia PTA and state school Superintendent John Barge.
Many educators cite the loss of funds for opposing this amendment. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Not a single dollar will be taken out of the traditional public school system. A state charter school is a public school and is funded with state dollars, only without taking away money from public schools. When approved by this commission, no local tax dollars go toward state charter schools, which receive 62 percent of the funding that is spent per student by traditional schools.
In fact, a closer look reveals that a state charter school actually frees up more local money for other students since state charter schools don't require local funding.
Others oppose this amendment because they claim out of state for-profit companies will benefit from the creation of state charter schools. This is total fabrication, since state law requires that public charter schools be run by local, nonprofit boards made up of parents and community members.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, opponents claim that the commission will take away from local control. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. All charter applications must first go to the local school boards for consideration. Only those that feel they have been unjustly denied will appeal to the commission.
In fact, voting in favor of this amendment will give the ultimate local control: It will give parents more options and allow them to be more involved in the decision making process in public education.
Now that's local control.
Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, can be reached at 404-656-5109.
"Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?"


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Helping Kids Grieve
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-DgyPLH7sM
Coping with the death of a loved one brings enormous challenges for the whole family. Grieving may never completely end, but working through the difficult feelings can become easier with time. Through support, open conversations, and finding ways to keep the person's memory alive, families can begin healing together.
Find an Activity
Discover printables, videos, and more on topics to help the families you work with.
Just Remember
Your care and comfort help your child face all kinds of challenges.


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The Electrophoresis Laboratory at Geneva University Hospital has developed or improved various parts of the 2-D PAGE making process as well as post-separation analysis techniques. You may read the following protocols:
Learn about the MELANIE 2D PAGE computer analysis packages.
If you want to learn about the 2D PAGE technique, you may visit our laboratory and be taught by our experts. Please contact Jean-Charles Sanchez.


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(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators recommended on Tuesday that healthcare professionals stop prescribing combination drugs that contain more than 325 milligrams of acetaminophen per tablet, capsule, or other dosage unit, citing the risk of liver damage.
Limiting the quantity per dosage unit will reduce the risk of inadvertent overdose, which can lead to liver failure, liver transplant and death, the Food and Drug Administration said. It cited the fact that no available data showed that taking more than the recommended dose provided benefits that outweighed the added risks. (http://link.reuters.com/nen95v)
Inadvertent overdose from combination drugs containing acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol in most countries outside the United States, accounts for nearly half of all cases of acetaminophen-related liver failure in the United States, the agency said.
Combination acetaminophen products are commonly prescribed to patients to treat pain from acute injuries, post-operative pain, or pain following dental procedures.
In January 2011, the FDA asked manufacturers of combination drugs containing acetaminophen, sold globally under trade names such as Tylenol and Panadol, to limit acetaminophen doses to no more than 325 mg in each tablet or capsule by January 14, 2014. (http://link.reuters.com/hyn95v)
Some of these products still remain available, the agency said.
The FDA also suggested that pharmacists who receive a prescription for a combination product with more than the recommended dose contact the prescriber to discuss using a lower dose.
In the near future, the FDA plans to institute proceedings to withdraw approval for combination drugs that remain on the market, it said in a statement.
Acetaminophen, one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States, is widely used in both prescription and over-the-counter products to reduce pain and fever.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bangalore. Editing by Andre Grenon)


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Washington (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president on Tuesday, after repeatedly evading questions on the Republican presidential race for months.
Citing his role as chairman of the GOP national convention Boehner has refused to comment on the Republican contest, but Boehner acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday "it's clear now that Mitt Romney is going to our nominee."
Boehner said Romney's economic policies "contrast sharply with the failed economic policies of President Obama."
"I will be proud to support Mitt Romney and do everything I can to help him win," Boehner told reporters after he met with House Republicans to discuss the November elections.
Although Romney has not locked up the delegates he needs to officially take the mantle as the GOP nominee, talks between his campaign and top Congressional Republicans have started.
According to a senior GOP leadership staffer, policy aides to Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have had two conference calls recently with a member of the Romney campaign to discuss items coming up on the Congressional calendar. This aide stressed these discussions have been confined to items coming up on the legislative agenda.
"There have been conversations between some Congressional Republican leadership offices and the Romney campaign's policy staff about Congressional scheduling," this aide told CNN.
Cantor endorsed Romney right before his home state of Virginia held its primary last month, but the two top Congressional GOP leaders – Boehner and McConnell – avoided commenting on the lengthy battle for the nomination, until Tuesday.
McConnell also formally endorsed Romney on Tuesday, telling reporters on Capitol Hill the Republican Party is "behind him."
During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" earlier this month, the Kentucky senator predicted Romney would be the party's nominee and said "he's going to be an excellent candidate."
Looks like Boehner has been on another bender.
Endorse a candidate when it is down to 2 candidates....pathetic. No wonder his tenure as Speaker has been a monumental failure.
Ah, yes. The endorsement we've all been waiting for.
Let's all remember that the House of Representatives is up for election every 2 years. Boehner and Cantor both have an election to win in November. And Boehner is from Ohio. Ohioans are not really giving Republicans a warm fuzzy feeling after their attempts to stifle collective bargaining, and the other legislative attacks on voting rights, womens' reproductive rights, etc. Virginia passed an ultrasound bill, as have many other states. Hope you aren't counting on the womens' vote Eric. I feel thier futures are far from certain. We will see in November.
"Polls have Romney over Obama by 2-3 points. A GREAT starting point for Romney!!"
And other polls have him down by more. Do you guys just make sure to look only where you expect to find information that will confirm your bias? Seriously...Obama's up by +3.0 in the average and two of the polls putting Mittens on top have severe credibility issues due to methodology problems (Rasmussen) and blatant bias (Faux):
Rasmussen Tracking 4/14 – 4/16 45 46 Romney +1
Gallup Tracking 4/12 – 4/16 43 48 Romney +5
CNN/Opinion Research 4/13 – 4/15 52 43 Obama +9
Reuters/Ipsos 4/12 – 4/15 47 43 Obama +4
FOX News 4/9 – 4/11 44 46 Romney +2
ABC News/Wash Post 4/5 – 4/8 51 44 Obama +7
IBD/CSM/TIPP 3/30 – 4/5 46 38 Obama +8
AVERAGE: Obama +3
Truth wrote on page 2:
Democrats don't understand ANYTHING about the economy, except how to WRECK it.
I guess that explains why it was in such great shape when Reagan took over. (growing)
I guess that explains why it was in such great shape when George H. W. Bush took over. (stagnant)
I guess that explains why it was in such great shape when Clinton took over. (stagnant)
I guess that explains why it was in such great shape when George W. Bush took over. (booming)
I guess that explains why it was in such great shape when Obama took over. (complete free fall)
The Real Truth and Nothing But the The Real Truth.......nothing but slime and complete ignorance from this below plant level IQ embarrasment of CONservative putrid ideas.
The Real Truth and Nothing But the The Real Truth says: BWAHAHAHHAHAHA......complete lack of cranial mass...
Fair is Fair wrote:
Looks like someone is attacking character instead of facts...
What facts? "Democrats don't understand ANYTHING about the economy, except how to WRECK it."
If you mean that fact, I agree with it. Cannot dispute it. Democrats do understand how to WRECK the economy. The trouble is that it has been the Republicans who are the ones who actually go out and do it.
romney, the gop is going to kill any chance you have in 2012