text:
They ended up kind of being like mushrooms stuffed with spinach dip, which was quite delicious, if I do say so myself. They were fairly simple to improvise, too! (The measurements below are mostly approximations, and really just intended to indicate proportions. If you don't want to prepare as many mushrooms as we did—we had them for dinner—then just scale down the other ingredients.)
12-20 large mushrooms (We had 18 fairly large crimini)
fresh spinach (about 5 ounces)
a medium sweet onion, finely chopped
a few cloves of garlic, minced
cream cheese (about 4 ounces)
Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
dried Italian herbs
cayenne pepper (just a dash)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Clean the mushrooms by wiping them gently with a damp paper towel (or brushing with a mushroom brush, if you happen to have one of those) then remove the stems.
- Finely chop the mushroom stems and set aside.
- Combine diced onions and garlic in a lightly oiled skillet and cook over medium heat, until the onions are translucent.
- Add the chopped mushroom stems, Italian herbs, and cayenne pepper, and cook until the stems have softened a bit:
- Put the spinach on top, and stir it around until it's all cooked down and mixed in with the onions, garlic, and mushroom stems:
- Add the cream cheese, then the Parmesan cheese, incorporating them evenly throughout the vegetables, until the cheese is thoroughly melted:
- Place the mushroom caps on a lightly oiled baking sheet or dish.
- Stuff them with the vegetable and cheese mixture, dividing the filling evenly among the mushroom caps. Top with an additional sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (optional):
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown:
Hobo Mama made her stuffed mushrooms for their New Year celebration, and I think I'm going to make these again for the next celebration we have. They made me feel festive, and it was just a plain 'ole Sunday. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did!


text:
Choose your jump day...book your Own Jump Date
At Rose Road, we provide a range of specialist care and service for young people with severe complex disabilities from across Hampshire and the surrounding counties.
Raising money for your tandem skydive via an online fundraising page makes it quick and simple for your friends and family to support you. You can share the link to your fundraising page via your social media pages and through texts and emails. If you haven't done so already click through now and set-up your page.fundraising ideas
A list of charities that we are partnered with are here for you to select. Some of the charities that we work with have fundraising targets and others are self-funded by yourself, each charity we work with will state if they will contribute to some of your jump cost or if you need to self-fund your own place.
You can book individually or as a group with just a £50 deposit per person on any operational day. Some of the charities we work with have reserved spaces on pre-selected days that you are more than welcome to join.
OK you're all set – This is now the time to start fundraising for your selected charity, we recommend to set up an online fundraising page as all funds you raise will automatically go to the charity of your choice. Please remember you are unable to use any money raised to pay for your skydive and if you have a target set by the charity you have to hit this 3 weeks before the date of your jump to ensure these funds are online for the charity to see!
Charity not listed? Not a problem...
If your charity is not listed you can still book an independent charity skydive.
Book your Skydive directly with one of our team on 01722 442967

subset: commoncrawl


text:
You finished the first season of Downton Abbey in just one night and you're hard up for a new show. What should you watch? With Squrl, a video discovery app, you're never going to forget another tip, and even if you do, you'll have good content on hand to check out.
What does it do?
Squrl suggests flicks, television shows, and clips it thinks you will like, based on the interests you've selected. It pulls content across genres from music and comedy to tech and entertainment from major broadcast networks, as well as popular websites like Pitchfork, Funny or Die, and ESPN.com. Though Squrl has been on the iPad for a while, the iPhone version was just released today.
Why do we like it?
Sometimes you're sitting on the couch, browsing frantically through Netflix, then surfing over to Hulu, clicking on YouTube, then on to Vimeo, wondering what you can watch. Squrl puts all these platforms in one place, and you can also link it your Twitter and Facebook accounts to see the videos your friends are posting there. If you find something you like, you can add it to your queue for later, or watch it immediately. Download this app, and you're going to want to block out your schedule for a date with your television.
Download this app for:
The Best:
Find cool clips
The Worst:


text:
A Teaching on Refuge
by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche
The purpose of taking refuge is to experience enlightenment, because we would all like to be rid of our confusion, neuroses, and errors. There is not a single being who actually wants to be in confusion.
Since experiencing enlightenment is our goal, the first source of refuge is the Buddha. Taking refuge in the Buddha means that our purpose is to achieve the experience of perfect enlightenment, just as he did. We should understand that the Buddha did not achieve enlightenment overnight — he had to follow the path. He was originally an ordinary being, yet by following the path with diligence and enthusiasm and a sense of tremendous joy, he attained what is called SANGYE in Tibetan: Buddhahood.
In order to achieve enlightenment, we have to follow the path. The path toward enlightenment is called Dharma, so the second source of refuge is the Dharma. Dharma redirects us from what is negative to that which is positive, from the mistaken to the correct. Dharma is also healing — it heals the wounds of the mind. It heals our physical senses. Since Dharma is the path, we need to take refuge in Dharma to accomplish Buddhahood.
As much as we would all like to correct ourselves and to be free from all confusion and suffering and to experience enlightenment, without the Sangha, which means community, such a method as the path of Dharma might not be available in our time. It is because of the devotion of the Sangha that the path taught by Buddha has been passed down from teacher to student, and is still available in our time. Although we want to achieve the perfection of enlightenment, we will have no idea how to begin if we do not first depend on the Sangha.
Sangha members consist of those who are trained in the Dharma and have practised and perfected some realisation of the Dharma. Having that realisation, they are in a position to guide the new student on the path with their knowledge of Dharma. Since the realised Sangha assists in our path toward the perfection of our goal, this is our third source of refuge. As beginners, we need to depend on the Sangha.
Understanding the three objects of refuge — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha — we also need to know that there are three ways of taking refuge, which are based on our intentions. The first way is taking refuge with a mundane or worldly aspiration. It is very common all over the world for people to take refuge with the intention of experiencing happiness, success, fame in this lifetime, or a better birth in the next lifetime. Because of lack of information or knowledge of the Dharma, these people do not know how to direct themselves toward enlightenment itself. Not knowing this, they set the goal of temporary happiness in this life and a better life in their next birth. The objects of refuge are the same: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and it is possible that these sorts of temporary goals for this and the next life could be fulfilled. However, these people will not be separated from the cause of suffering, since they have not aspired to go beyond samsara. They have aimed for success, good things in this life, and a better birth, but they are still within samsara, which is a condition to experience great suffering.
An example of the importance of our goal is this: An arrow or a bullet has the power to go a long distance, but if we aim the bow or gun at the ground right in front of us, it will only go a short distance. It is not the fault of the bullet or arrow, but of our aim. When there is the preoccupation with personal well-being in this life and a better birth in the next life, these benefits may be obtained, but enlightenment will not. It is essential that we take refuge with such knowledge of the importance of intention, because obtaining refuge, as well as following the path to the accomplishment of enlightenment, is based on our state of mind.
In the second way of taking refuge, we have a sense of the nature of samsara. We understand that samsara is a choiceless state and that everything in the relative world, including our physical bodies, our friends, and our possessions is subject to impermanence. Although we would like to see everything as permanent, including the youthfulness of our physical bodies, impermanence creeps up on us gradually. As much as we try to avoid it, we cannot totally separate ourselves from this. Similarly, as much as we would like to be friends with those who are close to us, sometimes friendships end. Everything on the earth is impermanent. Seeing this impermanence, we see that what impermanence leaves us with is more suffering. We feel suffering when we see the deterioration of our bodies, things around us, and things everywhere in the universe.
Knowing the nature of samsara and with a sense of the possibility of the state of nirvana, the second form of taking refuge is to do so with the intention of liberating ourselves from impermanence and suffering. The objects of refuge are again the same: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Compared to the first way of taking refuge, this goal is much superior because at least there is the knowledge of working toward enlightenment. Still, it is not the best goal, because it is quite selfish. The practitioner has seen suffering and experienced impermanence, and therefore wants liberation for his or her self alone. This is known as the lesser vehicle tradition of taking refuge. It is called the lesser vehicle because the intention to reach liberation is only for the individual taking refuge. Taking refuge in this way has to do with the influence of the attitudes of those we associate with on the path. Friends — those with whom we associate — are very important, since they have a great deal of influence on our motivation.
The third attitude in receiving refuge is considered the proper way of receiving refuge in accordance with the particular tradition we are following, the mahayana ("maha" means greater). With this attitude, we need to learn to overcome the selfish motive of achieving enlightenment for ourselves alone and become quite courageous.
If we associate with the mahayana Sangha and are surrounded by the mahayana outlook, we may develop this courage. Those with the mahayana outlook are more courageous because they do not strive toward enlightenment for themselves alone, but toward the enlightenment of all living beings. Therefore, we also learn to accept others and all living beings on the path toward liberation.
The qualities that make us a proper recipient and practitioner of the mahayana teachings are, first, self-confidence or courage and second, wisdom. The courage or self-confidence is based on understanding that every living being is experiencing suffering. Whatever suffering we have gone through in the past, tolerable or intolerable, and whatever suffering we are going through now, all living beings suffer in the same way. They may not be experiencing exactly the same kind of pain, but they are always experiencing suffering and unfavourable conditions. All beings, indulging ourselves, try to avoid such pain and its causes but, since we are lacking in wisdom and are subject to confusion, we still always end up experiencing suffering. This is proof that whatever approach we and other beings have used in the past is not the ultimate or proper method.
Knowing that, we should include all living beings in our aspiration toward liberation, not just ourselves. Contemplate that all these living beings, through their confusion, believe they are in the proper path to happiness but, as a result of the confusion, they are not. By really understanding that everyone has suffering and confusion and is trying to overcome those problems, but that all the methods they have used have not brought them liberation, we develop the experience of limitless compassion. From this compassion comes the possibility of having the courage to guide all beings — not one or two, but all — to enlightenment. We should work to develop this compassion and courage.
Having developed that strong compassion, the next aspect is the cultivation of wisdom. Wisdom involves the awareness that giving living beings temporary happiness is not really the solution to their problem. Although it is very important to provide whatever happiness we can for beings, including ourselves, working toward just a temporary benefit is not really a solution. Therefore we must develop aspiration for the enlightenment of all living beings, which is the union of compassion and wisdom. This union of compassion and wisdom makes us mahayana practitioners.
The union of compassion and wisdom enables us to experience the burning away of our own confusion and obscuration much faster. In the absence of such confusion, realisation or development takes birth. This relates to the second syllable of SANGYE (the Tibetan word for Buddhahood), GYE, which refers to development of wisdom. The reason the union of compassion and wisdom leads more rapidly to enlightenment is similar to the way a bird flies. It can fly with two wings, but not with one. Similarly, the union of compassion and wisdom enables us to "fly" toward enlightenment. Since we have motivated ourselves to reach enlightenment to benefit and liberate beings, we continue to bring about this benefit in accordance with our goal, and our capacity to benefit beings unfolds immeasurably.
The possibility of working in the proper way toward enlightenment — motivating ourselves in accordance with the mahayana view — is taught to us by our mahayana spiritual friend. As I said, the influence, or association, is important, and spiritual friends are quite helpful. There are also those who, without having to be taught, are naturally filled with compassion — not for themselves, but compassion toward all living beings. That is an evidence that this particular individual has practised in the previous life. His or her obscurations or delusion of mind are less thick. It does not mean there are no obscurations, but there are fewer. As a result of this, these people experience natural compassion toward all beings without being taught. Therefore, we must genuinely rejoice if we have natural compassion toward all living beings.
All the countless enlightened beings of the past achieved enlightenment through this union of compassion and wisdom. All the countless enlightened beings of the present achieved that level through the union of compassion and wisdom. All future enlightenment must be achieved through the union of compassion and wisdom. Compassion and wisdom are also referred to as skillful means and primordial wisdom in the Dharma teachings. The skillfulness involved is the union of compassion and wisdom as we have discussed. That union is very important in our lives for the possibility of future enlightenment.
Instructions concerning taking refuge are given before the ceremony itself, since having the proper mental attitude during the ceremony is essential for obtaining the refuge transmission. At the time of the ceremony, there is really not much to do. You simply sit, repeat the Tibetan words, and you receive the refuge. If you do not know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what state of mind you should have, then you are simply sitting and repeating an unknown language. Since it is important not only to repeat the words but to know what you are repeating and what state of mind you should have, I have given this instruction.
If someone participates in the refuge ceremony without any knowledge of refuge, and without even knowing the words they are repeating, it would be like a bucket with holes in it. No matter what you put in, it runs out through the holes. If a person has some knowledge of refuge but is not aspiring toward enlightenment, and if they take refuge with a goal of happiness and prosperity of this and the next life, then they will have refuge, but they will be unable to reach enlightenment because they have not aspired to enlightenment. To enable you to be a perfect recipient of the refuge vow, I have given a complete explanation of the objects of refuge, and what state of mind you need to have. Particularly, it is important to take the attitude of including all living beings with a sense of compassion, and wanting to guide them to liberation. This makes you a very proper vessel, one without any holes at all. When you are a proper vessel, even if what you are putting in is a small amount, adding it to the container drop by drop every day, it is possible eventually to fill it up. You are not lacking a goal. Therefore, I have given these instructions. In order to become a proper vessel to move toward enlightenment, refuge is essential.
It is the nature of every living being, whether big or small, important or unimportant, to strive for happiness. We strive, not only a temporary happiness, but a permanent well-being of body and mind. That is not just the goal of human beings; it is very much the goal of every sentient being. We must understand the fact that we all aim toward this one particular purpose.
As I have explained, although the aim of beings is to have happiness, because of their confusion, they do not know how to obtain that happiness and how to avoid the cause of suffering. With that blindness or confusion, although every one of us (including humans, animals, birds, and so forth) has the aim of happiness, we end up with suffering.
In the hope of that happiness, we are so preoccupied for our personal well-being that we fail to see the needs of other sentient beings. As a result of this preoccupation, no matter how hard we work to provide happiness for ourselves, we always run into suffering. We are so confused that we really do not know the proper ways of obtaining happiness, and it seems that whatever we do to obtain happiness actually leads us further into the depths of suffering, pain, or frustration. The question is, what led us into such a confused state of mind?
There are two explanations for why we experience this confusion that leads us into suffering. The first is that the habitual patterns of confusion we have built up in the previous life continue in this life, because habitual patterns are very strong. These patterns we have built are very difficult to overcome unless we go through a particular training. Not having overcome them, we experience the continuation of the confusion of habitual patterns, which leads us further into the depths of confusion.
The second reason we experience so much confusion and fail to see the truth is that our associates, the influences around us, are also confused beings. When we are dealing with all the confused beings, along with having our own confused patterns from the past life, these factors in combination strongly influence us to engage in confusion rather than to come out of confusion.
A further example of how we have been confused in these ways may be given by speaking about past habitual patterns. With the confusion in the past life, we have engaged in all sorts of harmful activities which lead to the accumulation of negative karma. As a result of that negative karmic accumulation, we experience inferior birth. There are many inferior births, but the one with which we are most familiar (although there are some that are even more inferior) is the animal realm. An animal's knowledge and human knowledge are very different. An animal's capacity to learn is very limited. I am not saying that an animal cannot learn, but their capacity to learn is very limited in comparison to that of human beings. That is one example of the outcome of engaging in negative activities with the confused state of mind.
A second example concerns our friends and associates. We all know that the United States is a very civilised country and well developed in technology. People here are well educated in technical matters. But no one is born fully informed about technology, so why are Americans so well informed about this? It is because your environment is filled with technology. Since your environment is filled with technology, technology becomes quite familiar to you, and you learn about it without much effort. Similarly, all the world knows that America is well civilised, but it is very rare to hear of enlightened beings coming from this country. Why have we not heard of American enlightened beings? It is not that you do not have the potential for enlightenment, but rather that you have not had the friends or environment of enlightened beings where you might learn and become familiar with the path. Because of the lack of such enlightened society, so to speak, until now America is not well known for enlightenment.
Despite the fact that America is not well known for enlightened beings, you might ask why so many people here are currently interested in the path to enlightenment. It is very obvious that all of you, and all people who are interested in such a path, were connected to that path in a previous life. As a result of that connection in a previous life, there is still a warmth, an interest, drawing you toward a particular subject in this lifetime. Therefore, although the subject of Buddhism has not been widespread in the United States, you are intrigued with it and are interested in taking the refuge vow. I feel it is very certain that you are completing a journey that you have connected with in a past life. It is very fortunate to be able to connect with whatever you began in a previous life, in order to continue it in this life and hopefully to fulfil it. Because it is a very fortunate event, I thank you all very sincerely for your interest.
The actual process of refuge is based on your state of mind or mental attitude. When you are receiving the refuge vow, the feeling of joy and acceptance must be there in your mind as a participant. If you lack that feeling of joy and acceptance of the refuge, then the vow cannot be fully obtained, because there is blockage or rejection. You also need to realise the reason you must have the feeling of joy is that such an opportunity to have a refuge vow — the unbroken transmission of this vow — is very rare, and that this very rare, precious thing that enables you to continue your past connection in this present life is being made available to you. When you find something that is very rare and precious, naturally you are happy and joyous. You are not only happy and joyous, but with the transmission that you are getting, you try to be more accepting and appreciative. That feeling or attitude is essential while taking the refuge vow.
The proper attitude in taking refuge can be explained in three parts. I am giving such classifications based on knowing that many of you are not completely new in the Dharma, and you are not yet enlightened beings either. Because you are in between, so to speak, you are well prepared to understand these three points.
The first point is acceptance — you must have trust. This trust also has three classifications. The first is clear, open trust. Clear, open trust is based on the knowledge that the possibility of receiving the vow in an unbroken transmission is very rare. Because it is an unbroken transmission, it is very precious as well. Therefore, you have gratitude toward the master who is providing this refuge and feel very fortunate. That feeling of being fortunate is the open trust, or clear trust.
The second aspect is the trust of desire, or longing trust. Longing trust is based on knowing that not only do you want to obtain the refuge, but your goal is to practice. You want to accomplish and perfect the path. That whole aim in obtaining the refuge is longing, or desire to perfect yourself. You have a desire to eliminate all your confusion, mistakes, and obscurations and develop the qualities of wisdom and enlightenment; this is longing trust.
Finally, there is believing trust. Believing trust is defined in this way: you want to perfect enlightenment, eliminating the obscuration or confusion of the mind, but to do so, you have to have knowledge to trust the tradition. To trust that tradition, you learn and understand that all the enlightened beings in the past in India and in Tibet have practised this particular tradition. Practising this tradition, they reached what is known as the mahasiddha level, the accomplishment of enlightenment. The point here is that all the uncountable enlightened beings that we talk about (of India or Tibet) have practised this particular path and reached its goal. Therefore, you have a trust in the path, a trust in the practice itself. It has not only been given to you — it has been widely practised. Therefore, the last type or trust is believing in the path, the practice itself. Developing these three kinds of trust is essential.
The second main point is understanding that enlightenment belongs to no particular culture, kind of individual, or gender. Therefore, it is quite a mistaken view to think that enlightenment is only possible for Asian people. It is also a mistaken view to think that enlightenment is only possible for men. As long as an individual has the capacity to understand, that individual, whether from the West or East, male or female, has the capacity for enlightenment. Every individual, regardless of which culture they belong to, has different levels or strengths of neurosis depending upon their individual personality, so some of us have very strong neuroses and while others are weaker in a particular neurotic pattern. Similarly, based on individual effort, some people can achieve enlightenment faster with proper effort, and some of us may not progress so quickly, because we are not putting our effort properly into the path. The goal of those on the path is to attain enlightenment. To actually accomplish this, the first thing we need to do is to lay the proper foundation, and taking refuge is indeed the step that lays the foundation.
To further cultivate the path of enlightenment, we need to meet all the proper conditions, such as having the proper spiritual master who guides us in the proper way of practising.
Seeking refuge is not new. Beings have often sought refuge in the past as well as at present, but they sought refuge in various unenlightened objects, such as mountains, trees, rocks, rivers, or oceans. Many people have looked to these objects for a refuge, thinking that these things could provide it. As part of nature, they could provide natural energy, but because they are simply part of nature, they could not provide enlightenment. It takes an enlightened being to provide enlightenment, and since the proper guidance with a spiritual master who is fully trained in the path of enlightenment is necessary, meeting such a person is essential to further cultivate the aspiration of walking the path and reaching its goal.
Then you might ask, from who should we seek refuge? The answer is: seek refuge in Buddha, the enlightened being. You may or may not have heard the definition of Buddhahood. In English, the notion of enlightenment sometimes means simply understanding something you have not understood before. We might say, "I was enlightened by this or that explanation or information." This does not convey the meaning of the Tibetan term SANGYE, which means both Buddhahood and Buddha. The two syllables of SANGYE each have a meaning. SANG means elimination or absence. What is being eliminated, or what is absent here, is every neurosis, mental affliction, confusion — all the negative patterns. The second syllable, GYE, means "blossomed" or "fully developed." In the absence of all confusion and mental obscuration, what develops is the mind's potentials and qualities, such as wisdom and knowledge.
Is the development of these qualities temporary?. No, it is permanent. Once you have eliminated all obscuration and fully experienced or realised your own mind's qualities, you are a fully enlightened being. That is what is meant by SANGYE. It does not just mean the historical Buddha of our time (Shakyamuni). SANGYE means the elimination of faults, confusion, and the full development of wisdom qualities — which is to say, Buddhahood.
The refuge vow lays the foundation for all of our spiritual growth as we progress toward enlightenment. That foundation is made possible through the proper mental state or attitude coinciding with the transmission. Also, a gesture of devotion toward that possibility is an important factor in taking refuge. Traditionally, people make offerings such as butter lamps, incense, or a flower as a gesture of devotion and joy in receiving the vow. It is good to make such offerings, because it brings about the accumulation of merit, and is an expression of devotion, which is necessary in receiving refuge. However, if you do not want to do this, there is no obligation at all.
Despite the obligations and demands on our time that we all have, you have taken the time and developed the intention to learn about and understand the process of taking refuge. Developing the intention to take refuge is a very virtuous action, so I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your interest.


text:
Congressional report released on Boston Marathon bombings
Report includes few new details
A new congressional report on the federal investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings includes few previously unknown details of the case.
The report, released Wednesday, speculates without any evidence that bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev might have met with militants overseas months before the explosions and says it's reasonable to assume he was inspired by the activity and ideology of foreign terror groups.
It also acknowledges that the facts as known about his travel don't indicate any connection between the bombings and any outside terror network.
Much of the congressional report cites contemporaneous news articles for facts in the case, including those by The Associated Press.
Twin bombs placed near the finish line of last year's marathon killed three people and wounded more than 260.


text:
Does the NRA's New Obama Ad Finally Go Too Far?
After skirting the lines of decency for years, gun lobby pulls the president's daughters into the debate.
Has the NRA finally gone too far?
The National Rifle Association has been skirting the lines of decency for years, but the gun-rights group stoops to a new low with a Web ad calling President Obama an "elitist hypocrite." The ad criticizes Obama for giving his daughters Secret Service protection while expressing skepticism about installing armed guards in schools.
The ad is indisputably misleading, and is arguably a dangerous appeal to the base instincts of gun-rights activists.
- 4 Problems Obama Will Face In Gun Push
- GOP Targets 7 House Dems for 2014
- Who Will Replace Departing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar?
In a the 35-second video, a deep-voice narrator asks, "Are the president's kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed guards in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?"
The fact is, Obama is not opposed to armed guards in schools. Indeed, many of the nation's schools already hire security. This is what Obama is skeptical of: the NRA's position that putting more guns in schools is the only way to prevent mass shootings.
The president wants to ban assault rifles, require background checks, and ban high-capacity ammunition. He does not want to confiscate guns, despite the NRA's unsubstantiated warnings to the contrary.
There are fair arguments to be had over Obama's proposals: Redefining the Second Amendment shouldn't be done without a vigorous debate. But to drag the president's daughters into the fight, and to question their need for security, suggests that the NRA is slipping further away from the mainstream. Over-the-top tactics discredit the NRA and its cause.
Gun-rights supporters deserve a better advocate.
The gun lobby's approval ratings are plummeting, and it is losing the support of opinion leaders who should be in the NRA's corner. In a Politico column titled "The High Cost of NRA Extremism," former conservative Rep. Joe Scarborough writes, "As a longtime supporter of the Second Amendment, I had hoped their executives and lobbyists would not take an absolutist position on the issue since that would ultimately set back the cause of gun rights. Unfortunately, [NRA leader Wayne] LaPierre chose to respond as if it were 1994."
Scarborough points out that a new ABC News/Washington Post shows that a majority of Americans now support a ban on certain types of assault weapons, a shift in public opinion since LaPierre's tone-deaf response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. An overwhelming majority of Americans also support universal background checks, a national database to track gun sales, and a ban on high-capacity magazines.
In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, LaPierre famously called federal law-enforcement agents "jack-booted thugs" and compared them to the Nazis. Former President George H.W. Bush and other GOP leaders denounced the remarks. Will gun-rights supporters walk away from the NRA today?
- After Newtown, LaPierre called for all schools to have armed police officers in place. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre said.
- A shooting-range app for the iPhone and iPad branded as an "Official NRA Licensed Product" was released on the one-month anniversary of the Newtown massacre.
- After meeting with Vice President Joe Biden on gun control, the NRA accused Obama of an "agenda to attack the Second Amendment," a gross distortion of the president's position.
The ad signals the NRA's intention to fight a campaign-style war with Obama. The White House response: Bring it on.
"The president has the most exciting campaign apparatus ever built. It's time to turn that loose," Obama adviser Robert Gibbs said on MSNBC. "If the NRA has a list, then Obama for America has a bigger list."


text:
Former Arizona Senator Carolyn Allen has died at the age of 78, after suffering many years from the scourge of rheumatoid arthritis.
The late senator was hailed as a heroine by the left-stream flag carrier for our state, The Arizona Republic, and leftists on both sides of the political aisle. Allen was praised for her support of the arts and for warring against conservatives.
Allen also deserves credit for helping Democrat Janet Napolitano defeat conservative Matt Salmon in the 2002 governor's election. She helped suppress Republican support for Salmon in Scottsdale by criticizing him in public, and he lost by one percent of the vote. Napolitano, who spent Arizona into massive debt, over-performed among Republicans in Scottsdale and that made the difference in her election.
Planned Parenthood lost a great friend in Allen. In a state legislative biography booklet, she described herself as a "Planned Parenthood activist."
Intolerant of her opponents, Allen once saw the executive director of Arizona Right to Life in the state Senate lobby and bluntly exclaimed, "I didn't know they allowed crooks in here."
Allen was also a friend of Big Government, amnesty and homosexual pressure groups. While she faithfully clung to her "Republican Party" affiliation, it was the GOP platform principles she distained.
Amid a long absence from the legislature due to illness, The Arizona Conservative expressed concern about her constituents being disenfranchised and called on Allen to resign and devote herself to getting well. She later sent an email to our editor threatening him with physical harm.
The former chairwoman of the GOP legislative district in Scottsdale exhorted Allen to train up current Secretary of State Michelle Reagan, then a state representative. But Reagan was already comfortably established in Planned Parenthood's abortion camp.
Conservatives repeatedly tried to beat Allen at election time, but the liberals in Scottsdale kept re-electing her until she retired from public office.


text:
Making his first television network appearance last night on Fox News, a perfectly coifed George Zimmerman apologized for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—while in the same breath admitted he'd do nothing different if he had the chance. As Zimmerman, who appeared dazed during parts of the interview, discussed the events that led to the death of an unarmed high-school student simply walking home from the 7-Eleven, it was difficult to imagine a similar chain of events occurring if the tables were turned.
Just prior to yesterday's interview, Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O'Mara released a statement boldly admitting that part of the reason for the appearance on Fox was to raise money for his client's defense. Zimmerman has already received a pretty staggering amount of donations since his arrest this past April. So much so that in June, his bail was revoked due to the fact he failed to report at least $150,000 in an online account donated from his many supporters. What if every criminal was allowed a prime time interview in order to raise money for his or her defense?
Let's take it further. Imagine for just a moment if Zimmerman were a black man (Zimmerman is the product of a white father and Hispanic mother). He shoots and kills an unarmed white teenager because said teenager "appeared" to be acting suspicious in his neighborhood community one night. Though the now dead teenager has only a cell phone, Skittles, and iced tea on him, the black man who pulled the trigger not only gets to go home that very night, but he remains free for another 44 days, reportedly because of a self-defense law called "stand your ground." Only marches and public outcry by white leaders lead to his arrest, but he isn't in jail long. Even after it's revealed that he wasn't truthful with the court about his finances and ability to flee the country, he's freed once again and then given an extended Hollywood-style interview on a top-rated news program to tell his ever changing story.
And Zimmerman's story does change. The night of the shooting, he told the police dispatcher that Martin was running away in the rain, causing him to become concerned. Last night he told Fox News that the teen was not running but skipping in the rain. That's a big difference.
Zimmerman and his lawyer also explained to Fox News that he didn't ignore a Sanford police dispatcher's clear instructions to stay in his car and not follow the young man with the hoodie running/skipping in the rain. Zimmerman, who lived in the community, said he got out of his vehicle not to follow Martin but to check the street name for the dispatcher. Shouldn't a person so staunchly committed to safety, order, and the neighborhood watch know the street names in his own community?
Would anyone honestly give a 28-year-old black man the benefit of the doubt telling the same story when a Sanford police officer filed a report that night stating clearly that this tragedy was avoidable had Zimmerman just followed instructions and stayed in his car? Would Fox or any other major news channel dare give him 40 minutes to explain away the senseless death of someone's child who'd done nothing but walk home from the store with a hoodie on while being black? What network would offer a black man a chance to "humanize" himself in an effort to raise more money for his defense for murdering someone whom he deemed "unfit" for his neighborhood but had committed no crime? And would thousands of strangers send money to support a black man who instead of showing real remorse to the parents of the teenager killed by saying he'd do anything to avoid their child dying at his hands, actually had the gall to say on TV that it was God's will that the events of that night happened? As Trayvon Martin's father Tracy said in a statement late last night, "We must worship a different God.''
Imagine anyone being truly sympathetic to a black man who admitted he never once identified himself to the teenager as a member of the neighborhood watch, which may have given the teenager a very real reason to be afraid for his own life. It's difficult to believe anyone would be so sympathetic if the tables were indeed turned, and the faces of the accused and the deceased were reversed. But sadly, George Zimmerman is and will continue to be a hero to far too many willing and ready to believe that an unarmed young black teenager minding his own business got exactly what he deserved when he was shot to death that February night.


text:
A Russian source recently brought an obscure but disturbing article to my attention. Published last month by a little-known online journal called the Oriental Review, the piece, "Active Endeavour And Drug Trafficking," proposed that not a single gram of heroin has been confiscated on the Mediterranean Sea since the inception of NATO's Operation Active Endeavour, a maritime operation launched a month after the September 11th attacks with the mission of "monitoring shipping to help detect, deter and protect against terrorist activity."
My first thought was that perhaps this information was being torqued for some reason by the self-described "Moscow-based internet journal." But upon further research, I found that not only had Russia itself been involved in Operation Endeavour as a non-NATO country, but that the Russians had cooperated with American troops in post-9/11 anti-heroin proliferation efforts in Afghanistan.
In November 2011, Reuters quoted Russia's anti-drug czar, Viktor Ivanov, as saying that five Russian-American raids of heroin laboratories in Afghanistan, conducted over a five-month period in late 2010 and early 2011, basically represented the sum of the combined anti-heroin efforts there. Ivanov sounded frustrated by the "cumbersome" process of getting the military approval required as a prerequisite to any such raid and seemed to credit this with the demise of the Afghanistan anti-heroin efforts.
Why would Russia be particularly frustrated? The Hindu, an English-language newspaper in India, noted in a 2008 article that 90 percent of heroin in Russia and 93 percent globally was coming from Afghanistan. The article quoted Vladimir Putin as complaining as far back as 2005: "Unfortunately, (NATO) are doing nothing to reduce the narcotic threat from Afghanistan even a tiny bit ... sitting back and watching caravans haul drugs across Afghanistan to the former Soviet Union and Europe."
This background helps illustrate the larger history of Russia's exasperation with NATO inaction in curtailing the heroin trade, and it offers context to the Oriental Journal piece specifically addressing the interception (or lack thereof) of heroin on merchant ships in the Mediterranean.
But does Russia have cause to complain? Has there really been no heroin confiscated during the 10-plus years of Operation Active Endeavour? That seems hard to believe, given this claim on the website for Operation Active Endeavour: "NATO forces have hailed over 100,000 merchant vessels and boarded some 155 suspect ships. ... If anything appears unusual or suspicious, teams of between 15 and 20 of the ships' crew may board vessels to inspect documentation and cargo."
Presumably, these boardings and inspections would include the detection of some heroin or, at the very least, something that could be used to manufacture it. According to Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan who wrote an article for the Daily Mail in 2007: "Millions of gallons of the chemicals needed for (the heroin-producing) process are shipped into Afghanistan by tanker. The tankers and bulk opium lorries on the way to the factories share the roads, improved by American aid, with NATO troops."
So why hasn't NATO been confiscating any heroin or the chemicals used to produce it? I turned to a top-level American diplomat, who explained to me that, "NATO has never done anything on drug trafficking. ... (O)ur Department of Defense has consistently refused to do anything with counter-narcotics in Afghanistan."
But doesn't NATO view the curtailment of heroin trafficking as part of the counterterrorism mission, since it seems to be a major source of funding for terrorist initiatives? And indeed it is a major source of terrorism funding -- $150 million annually to the Taliban, and $7 billion globally each year, according to Russia's anti-drug czar Ivanov.
Yet the Obama administration's solution, at least for the 2013 fiscal year, is to throw $179.1 million at the Afghan drug trade through the State Department and, presumably, private contractors who bid on USAID opportunities via the federal procurement process. According to the "National Drug Control Budget: 2013": "In Afghanistan, USAID will continue to focus on reducing the production of illegal crops by promoting alternative livelihoods programs. The majority of the decreased funding in (fiscal year) 2013 is in Afghanistan, and is due to a shift away from stabilization and staple crop focused alternative development programs to those more closely integrating stabilization, alternative development, and market led agricultural development objectives."
So the Taliban is going to get out of the heroin business because someone convinces them that planting corn or some other crop is a better alternative? I'm not sure who would have to be higher on heroin to believe this would work: the Taliban "smack" farmers or the American public.


text:
[](/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/05/two-senators-were-asked-whether-obama-should-be-impeached-over-benghazi.jpg)Three days after the tenth anniversary of September 11, left-wing activist Spencer Ackerman struck a blow for Muslim terrorism by denouncing FBI training materials as Islamophobic.
The training materials dealt with such topics as the doctrinal basis for Jihad and the origins of terrorism in Islamic law. The story spread into the mainstream media, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, whose leaders had endorsed terrorist groups and helped raise money for terrorists, began pressuring the FBI to recant the threat of Islamic terrorism.
In February of 2012, Amine El Khalifi was arrested for plotting to carry out a suicide bombing in the US Capitol building. Before he began his mission, he visited the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, whose former Imam was Al Qaeda leader Anwar Al Awlaki and whose parishioners included Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Hasan. At his sentencing, El Khalifi said, "I just want to say that I love Allah."
But that did not stop the FBI from announcing a few days later that it had completed purging references to Islamic terrorism from its training materials. A month earlier, Tamerlan Tsarnaev had begun his trip to Russia and by the time he returned, the training materials meant to prepare agents for the reality of the terrorist plot that he and his brother would carry out had been buried out of sight.
Where El Khalifi had failed in Washington, the Tsarnaev brothers would succeed in Boston.
The counterterrorism information purge had been completed by the time the lead Boston bomber returned to America, but it had begun earlier under Obama.
The 9⁄11 Commission Report had freely used terms like "Jihad," "Takfir" and "Islam" to define the nature and motivations of the enemy. But the 2009 National Intelligence Strategy did not mention them. Neither did the FBI counterterrorism lexicon. They had been replaced by "violent extremism."
Violent extremism is generic. Predicting an attack requires specifics. Investigators cannot stop undefined crimes or arrest undefined suspects. The less information they have to work with, the more likely the terrorists are to succeed.
Islam is the crucial link between disparate terrorist groups from Dagestan to Thailand, from Mali to Afghanistan, from Israel to Nigeria and from the United States to Chechnya. Without the Islam factor, there was no reason to suspect that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a threat to anyone except the Russians.
The old FBI training materials had explained what Chechen, Pakistani, Egyptian and Nigerian terrorists had in common. In the new ones there was a great empty space in which facts died and lives were lost.
In 2011, the year that the Russians were warning America about Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole was issuing another kind of warning.
Cole, an Obama recess appointment, said, "All of us must reject any suggestion that every Muslim is a terrorist or that every terrorist is a Muslim. As we have seen time and again – from the Oklahoma City bombing to the recent attacks in Oslo, Norway – no religion or ethnicity has a monopoly on terror."
While Islam might not have an absolute monopoly on terrorism, it had cornered the market. If terrorism were a search engine, Islam would be Google. If terrorism were an operating system, Islam would be Microsoft. If terrorism were a mail delivery service, Islam would be the United States Post Office.
While a new generation of law enforcement officers was being indoctrinated in terrorism denial and taught to watch out for Christian, Jewish and Buddhist terrorists, the real terrorists were hard at work.
On the tenth anniversary of September 11, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev murdered three Jewish men. The authorities wrote it off as a drug murder, even though all the drugs had been left behind.
In December of that year, the White House oversaw the release of Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States. Written by an apologist for Islamic terrorism who described Salafism as a primarily non-violent movement, the report staked everything on outreach to local mosques and institutions.
The new CVE counterterrorism strategy, the non-battlefield version of the disastrous COIN program being run in Afghanistan, pinned counterterrorism strategy on working with "local partners" to counter "violent extremism." The report never mentioned the word "Jihad" and emphasized that violent extremism could come from anywhere.
CVE outsourced counterterrorism to Islamic mosques and organizations, despite their history of links to terrorism. With CVE, the United States no longer had a counterterrorism strategy; it had a Muslim Hearts and Minds strategy.
The day after the Benghazi attack, a CVE conference was held featuring discussions on how to make moderate Muslim videos go viral. Other efforts included world tours for moderate Muslim rappers. Hundreds of millions of dollars were being spent on various outreach gimmicks overseen by law enforcement officers wasting their time while terror plots were being hatched in their own backyards.
A Rand report praised the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization for bringing together Muslims, Christians and Jews and having local mosques host sessions on the dangers of the Internet. GBIO included the Islamic Society of Boston, whose mosque Tamerlan Tsarnaev attended. The Islamic Society of Boston's extensive terrorist links had been overlooked in the eagerness to find moderate Muslim partners.
The Boston Marathon attack changed nothing at all. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was given a Miranda reading, like the Christmas Day bomber and the Times Square bomber before him. Obama had attempted to give 9⁄11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a civilian trial and plotted to give Osama bin Laden a civilian trial if he could be captured alive. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's atrocities certainly did not force him out of the civilian justice system and into the custody of military interrogators who might have gleaned everything about the terrorist plot and the terrorist plots to come.
The Mirandizing of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was the final step in a counterterrorism policy of calculated ignorance and appeasement. At each step, law enforcement was pressured into trading awareness and investigation for outreach and sensitivity.
The new strategy said that the best way to fight Islamic terrorism was by not offending Muslims, but the Hearts and Minds campaign failed in Afghanistan and it failed in Boston. Pretending Islamic terrorism did not exist, did not make Muslims more willing to turn over terrorists. Instead it made law enforcement less aware of Muslim terrorist threats and cost the lives and limbs of Americans.
Terrorism cannot be fought in the dark. Each step that Obama took to blind law enforcement to the Muslim threat and to give terrorists every possible privilege has been paid for with American blood.
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.


text:
Police, politicians push surveillance post-Boston
Police and politicians across the U.S. are pointing to the example of surveillance video that was used to help identify the Boston Marathon bombing suspects as a reason to get more electronic eyes on their streets.
From Los Angeles to Philadelphia, efforts include trying to gain police access to cameras used to monitor traffic, expanding surveillance networks in some major cities and enabling officers to get regular access to security footage at businesses.
Some in law enforcement, however, acknowledge that their plans may face an age-old obstacle: Americans' traditional reluctance to give the government more law enforcement powers out of fear that they will live in a society where there is little privacy.
"Look, we don't want an occupied state. We want to be able to walk the good balance between freedom and security," Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who heads the department's counter-terrorism and special operations bureau.
"If this helps prevent, deter, but also detect and create clues to who did (a crime), I guess the question is can the American public tolerate that type of security," he said.
The proliferation of cameras — both on street corners and on millions of smartphones — have helped catch lawbreakers, but plans to expand surveillance networks could run up against the millions of dollars it can cost to install and run the networks, expert say.
Whatever Americans' attitudes or the costs, experts say, the use of cameras is likely to increase in the coming years, whether they are part of an always-on, government-run network or a disparate, disorganized web of citizens' smartphones and business security systems.
"One of the lessons coming out of Boston is it's not just going to be cameras operated by the city, but it's going to be cameras that are in businesses, cameras that citizens use," said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum. "You'll see the use of cameras will skyrocket."
Part of the push among law enforcement agencies is for greater integration of surveillance systems. For decades, law enforcement has contacted businesses for video after a crime. An integrated network would make that easier, advocates say.
Since the Boston bombings, police officials have been making the case for such a network.
In Philadelphia, the police commissioner appealed last week to business owners with cameras in public spaces to register them with the department. In Chicago, the mayor wants to expand the city's already robust network of roughly 22,000 surveillance video.
And in Houston, officials want to add to their 450 cameras through more public and private partnerships. The city already has access to hundreds of additional cameras that monitor the water system, the rail system, freeways and public spaces such as Reliant Stadium, officials said.
"If they have a camera that films an area we're interested in, then why put up a separate camera?" said Dennis Storemski, director of the mayor's office of public safety and homeland security. "And we allow them to use ours too."
In Los Angeles, police have been working on building up a regional video camera system funded by about $10 million in federal grant dollars over the last several years that would allow their network to be shared with nearby cities at the flip of a switch, Downing said.
That effort is in addition to a recent request by an LA councilman who wants the city to examine allowing police access to cameras used to monitor traffic flow. If that happens, the LAPD's network of about 700 cameras would grow to more than 1,000.
"First, it's a deterrent and, second, it's evidence," Downing said, adding, "it helps us in the hunt and pursuit."
Law enforcement experts say police need these augmented systems because the bystander with a smartphone in hand is no substitute for a surveillance camera that is deliberately placed in a heavy crime area.
"The general public is not thinking about the kinds of critical factors in preventing and responding to crimes," said Brenda Bond, a professor who researches organizational effectiveness of police agencies at Suffolk University in Boston. "My being in a location is happenstance, and what's the likelihood of me capturing something on video?"
The U.S. lags behind other countries in building up surveillance. One reason is the more than 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies that each determines its own policy. Another reason is cost: A single high-definition camera can cost about $2,500 — not including the installation, maintenance or monitoring costs.
Law enforcement budgets consist of up to 98 percent personnel costs, "so they don't necessarily have the funding for new technologies," Bond said.
There are also questions about their effectiveness. A 2011 Urban Institute study examined surveillance systems in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington, and found that crime decreased in some areas with cameras while it remained unchanged in others. The success or failure often depended on how the system was set up and monitored in each city.
While its deterrent effect remains debated, however, there's general agreement that the cameras can be useful after a crime to help identify suspects.
Cameras, for instance, allowed police in Britain to quickly identify the attackers behind the deadly 2005 suicide bombings in London. The country has more than 4.3 million surveillance cameras, primarily put in place after the IRA terror attacks.
Dozens are said to sit today around the house of George Orwell, the author of "1984," a story that foretold of a "Big Brother" society. Privacy advocates in the U.S. are concerned that the networks proposed by officials today could grow to realize Orwell's dystopic vision.
In recent years, traffic cameras used to catch scofflaw drivers running a red light or speeding have received widespread backlash across the country: An Ohio judge ordered a halt to speed camera citations, Arizona's Department of Public Safety ceased its program, and there have been efforts to ban such cameras in Iowa.
Amie Stepanovich, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Domestic Surveillance Project, said the most concerning was an integrated network of cameras that could allow authorities to track people's movements.
Such a network could allow be upgraded later with more "invasive" features like facial recognition, Stepanovich said, noting that the Boston surveillance footage was from a private security system at a department store that was not linked to law enforcement.
In many cases, the public may not be aware of the capabilities of the technology or what is being adopted by their local police department and its implications, said Peter Bibring, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
Unlike private security systems monitored by businesses or citizens' smartphones, Bibring said, a government-run network is a very different entity because those watching have "the power to investigate, prosecute and jail people."
Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams


text:
O Britain, praise thy mighty God,
And make his honors known abroad,
A Song for Great Britain
O Britain, praise thy mighty God,
And make his honors known abroad,
He bid the ocean round thee flow;
Not bars of brass could guard thee so.
Thy children are secure and blest;
Thy shores have peace, thy cities rest;
He feeds thy sons with finest wheat,
And adds his blessing to their meat.
Thy changing seasons he ordains,
Thine early and thy latter rains;
His flakes of snow like wool he sends,
And thus the springing corn defends.
With hoary frost he strews the ground;
His hail descends with clatt'ring sound:
Where is the man so vainly bold
That dares defy his dreadful cold?
He bids the southern breezes blow;
The ice dissolves, the waters flow:
But he hath nobler works and ways
To call the Britons to his praise.
To all the isle his laws are shown,
His gospel through the nation known;
He hath not thus revealed his word
To every land: praise ye the Lord.
~ Isaac Watts


text:
Sun-drenched white walls, taut wood, and trim slate-gray floors are trademarks of David Salmela's Scandinavia-inspired architecture. Add a cobalt blue conference table and precise stacks of white project boxes, and you have his Duluth, Minn., workspace. With its long, oiled birch plywood counter and raw basswood slatted rails, this jewel box of a room typifies the fresh, yet familiar approach for which the architect has become known. Salmela, FAIA, works on the main level at the long countertop, which doubles as a display shelf for models of active projects. An employee occupies the space a few steps down, and upstairs is an administrative office and storage mezzanine.
"It's really fun to work here," Salmela says of the sunny, ground-level office in his home, which won a Merit award in this year's residential architect Design Awards competition. Adding to the pleasure is the sight of ships passing in the Duluth–Superior Harbor below. "The windows at my desk are 7 feet square and 2 feet off the floor," Salmela says, "so we have an immense view of the world."


text:
Screening tests and vaccines are an important part of managing your child's health. Below are guidelines for these, for children from birth to age 2. You and your child's healthcare provider may decide that a different schedule is best for your child. But this plan can guide your discussion. Talk with your child's healthcare provider to make sure your child is up to date on what they need.
Who needs it
How often
Apgar score. These are measurements done soon after birth. They include heart rate, breathing, skin color, muscle tone, and reflex responses. This score is used to check a newborn's general health at birth.
All newborns
1 and 5 minutes after birth
High lead level
All children in this age group
Risk assessment of lead exposure at 6, 9, and 18 months. Risk assessment or blood test at 12 and 24 months. Children considered to be at risk may need more testing from age 18 months to 6 years.
Newborn screenings. This is a series of tests for metabolic, endocrine, hemoglobin, and other conditions. The tests may vary by state. Tests check for hearing loss, congenital hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria, sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, severe heart problems, and severe immunodeficiency.
All newborns. Ask your child's healthcare provider about the tests in your state.
Before leaving the hospital
Tooth decay
Children ages 6 months and older
Dental exams every 6 months. Fluoride supplements from age 6 months to 16 years for those with low fluoride levels in their water. Fluoride varnish should be applied every 3 to 6 months.
Hepatitis B vaccine
All infants
At birth, between ages 1 to 2 months and a final dose between ages 6 to 18 months
DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis)
At ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, between ages 15 to 18 months and a booster between ages 4 to 6 years
Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate
Two-dose series: at ages 2 and 4 months; booster dose between 12 to 15 months
Three-dose series: at ages 2, 4, and 6 months; booster dose between ages 12 to 15 months
Inactivated poliovirus
At ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months (and a booster at 4 to 6 years)
Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13)
At ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and at 12 to 15 months
Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
First dose between ages 12 to 15 months (and the second dose between 4 to 6 years, or before starting kindergarten)
Chickenpox (varicella)
Those infants who have not contracted chickenpox
Between ages 12 to15 months and the second dose between 4 to 6 years
Flu (seasonal); trivalent inactivated influenza
At age 6 months, and then yearly when the flu vaccine is available. The first year your child gets this vaccine, 2 doses are required.
Hepatitis A
Between ages 12 to 23 months, with a second dose at least 6 months after the first dose
Two-dose series: at ages 2 months and 4 months
Three-dose series: at ages 2, 4, and 6
*Screening guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics
**Immunization schedule from the CDC
For Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts members
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is a leading provider of quality health insurance for residents of Massachusetts. Our main goal is to make health care cost-effective by offering health insurance solutions for individuals, families, and large and small businesses at affordable rates.
Our Vision — Making Quality Health Care AffordableOur Promise — To Always Put Our Members First
To learn more about our Massachusetts health plans, please visit our Plans & Products page, where you can compare Massachusetts health insurance plans, buy health plans online, and get Mass health insurance quotes.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts also offers insurance, pharmacy coverage, and Medicare Plans for seniors; life and disability insurance through Indigo Insurance Services (a wholly owned subsidiary); and insurance for individuals aged 18-26 years. Learn more about our other insurance plans and Medicare plans, or contact a sales representative today.


text:
These cookies really live up to their name – they are perfection! Perfect Chocolate Chip cookies, made with browned butter, are one of the best I have ever made!
Today is TheBetterHalf's birthday! His golden birthday to be exact, turning 28 on May 28! I had good intentions to bake him a cake yesterday, but the weather in NYC was absolutely perfect so we spent the day at Central Park with friends. When it is 70 and sunny, being outside trumps baking! (one of the very few things that trump baking) TheBetterHalf loves chocolate peanut butter anything, but I think his second favorite dessert is classic chocolate chip cookies. So instead of a cake, I have "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies" in honor of his birthday.
I was a little skeptical of the name when I saw it on the Cook's Illustrated app – there are so many amazing chocolate chip cookie recipes out there (like this one), how are they so sure that theirs is the "perfect" one? Well after I tried this recipe, I am convinced – these are perfect chocolate chip cookies!! They are soft and chewy in the middle, crisp on the edges, and have the most amazing caramel toffee flavor! The main differences between this recipe and your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe is that it uses browned butter, more brown sugar than granulated sugar, and one less egg white. These changes help achieve a cookie with the perfect texture and flavor. And another bonus with using browned butter is that you don't have to wait for the butter to come to room temperature, making this the perfect recipe for impromptu cookie baking! It's definitely a winner!
These cookies really live up to their name - they are perfection! Perfect Chocolate Chip cookies, made with browned butter, are one of the best I have ever made!
- 1 ¾ cup (8 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 ¾ sticks)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (3 ½ ounces)
- ¾ cups packed brown sugar (5 ¼ ounces) - dark works best
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Whisk flour and baking soda in a medium bowl.
- In a 10-inch skillet (don't use a nonstick skillet if possible, because it makes it hard to tell with the butter is browned), melt 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-high heat. Once melted, swirl the pan constantly until the butter is golden brown. This entire process will take about 3 - 5 minutes, and the butter will have a nutty smell. Watch the pan closely to avoid burning the butter.
- Transfer the browned butter to a large heatproof bowl, and add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Stir until it is melted.
- Add the sugars, salt and vanilla to the butter and whisk together. Add the egg and the egg yolk and whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture rest for 3 minutes. Whisk again for 30 seconds, and then let it rest 3 more minutes. Do this one more time, until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.
- Stir in the flour mixture, then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the cookies into 3 tablespoon portions, and place onto cookie sheets, spacing the dough 2 inches apart. Bake 10 - 14 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown on the edges but still soft in the center.
Recipe from America's Test Kitchen
Can never have enough cookie recipes!
Butterfinger Peanut Butter Oatmal Cookies
Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies


text:
Gretchen Peters On Mountain Stage
Gretchen Peters makes her third appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live on the campus of the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minn. One of Nashville's most respected singer-songwriters, Peters has had her songs covered by some of country's biggest stars, including Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, George Strait and Patty Loveless. In 1995, her song "Independence Day" became a signature hit for Martina McBride, winning a Grammy, as well as Country Music Association Awards for Video and Song of the Year.
During the show, Peters recalls how surprising it was to wake up one morning to find Miley Cyrus tweeting about her song "Matador," and the sudden influx of younger Twitter followers that resulted. At first, Peters says she was dismayed, but then thought about the female artists she was listening to when she was 14: Joni Mitchell and Carole King. "Then I thought, bring 'em on — I've got something to say to these girls." Peters' latest album is titled Hello Cruel World.
Peters is followed by Julie Adams and the Mountain Stage band, with their take on the pop standard "Walk On By."
Set List
This installment of Mountain Stage was first published on Oct. 30, 2012.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text: We're bringing our monthly newsletters back and this month we are featuring stunning Dresden Trims. Our over 70 different trims are made in Germany and are precision die-cut into intricate shapes perfect for decorating cakes, cookies and cupcakes. We love using them as cupcake picks by simply affixing a toothpick with a dab of craft glue. Try using them on your handmade greeting cards or tags, atop a present, tied to a gift bag or as table decorations. To view all of the Dresden Trims in our collection click HERE. Check out the March online newsletter HERE.


text:
Full-Tilt Half Baths
Silver Lake, California
"The powder room was a place to make bold choices in a small space," says architect Jeff Soler. A carved wood cabinet that homeowners Paul Franceschi and Allison Amon had custom made in Morocco establishes the exotic look. "We wanted to bring our travels back home," says Allison. Besides the cabinet supporting the sink, a Moroccan mirror and lantern further the oasis ambience. Borrowing space from an existing office, Soler wrapped the new 556-foot bathroom with wall-to-wall glass tile for a spa-like feel.
Rust-colored ceramic floor tiles complement the sand-colored, glass wall tiles. The wall-mounted fixtures and faucet service a ceramic bowl sink. A turquoise-painted ceiling, when up-lit by a sconce above the mirror, becomes a restful canopy.
Aiming "to give the space a sporty edge," designer Kathryn Chaplow says she painted the walls of this powder room a fiery orange. Part of a modern redo of a 1980s Victorian-style house for a single-businessman client, the 757-foot guest bathroom was created adjacent to a laundry room and a rear entry. A square-trough, white ceramic sink rests atop a custom-designed metal base with a black powder-coated finish. "The sink and stand create a sculptural effect while remaining utilitarian," Chaplow adds. Transitional-style chrome fixtures complete the look.A pair of modern pendants offer flattering illumination with a subtle glow bouncing off the orange walls. The mirror is set in a stock wood frame painted to match the metal base supporting the sink. The flooring (not shown) is quartzite slate.
Chicago, Illinois
As part of an extensive renovation of a 100-year-old home in Chicago's historic Andersonville neighborhood, this bathroom was inspired by reclaimed Arts and Crafts style. Borrowing room from a closet/pantry, architects from Greene & Proppe Design expanded the width of the 5½-foot-long room from 30 inches to 6 feet, "making a more hospitable powder room with a better flow from the kitchen," says designer Paula Flanagan. A new window graces the space with light. A hammered-copper sink is set into a pigmented concrete countertop that rests on a custom wood table base. The cupboard matches nearby kitchen cabinetry for continuity. Mottled wall covering with the texture of suede is topped by crown molding; above, a painted border visually heightens the space.
Sausalito, California
The curving birch sink gives a streamlined look to this 456-foot powder room in the home of Mike and Raina Sobel. "We designed the wood shelves and credenza to complement the lines of the wall-mounted sink," says architect Barbara Brown. "The toilet features a matching wood seat. The cabinetry also echoes the look of the nearby kitchen's millwork, enhancing the visual flow. Contrasting with the bathroom's light wood tones, pewter-hued glass tiles cover one wall, floor to ceiling. A drawer beneath the sink holds linens and supplies. Display shelves create a tailored look. A slatted wood ceiling filters illumination from a skylight added to heighten the space. The mirror is inset into the tile wall.
Farmington, Connecticut
"In this powder room I wanted to create a little jewel," says designer Peter Robbin of the 556-foot bath in his own home. To create a textural enclosure off the foyer, he covered the walls with black gros-point fabric beneath a ceiling bedecked with silver tea-paper squares. To lend elegance to the vanity, Robbin had an artist paint the top of a demilune console with a faux zebra-wood finish. "The table was nice in form but it was not an antique, so it adapted well, refinished, as a sculptural base." The polished chrome hardware and undermounted sink provide a nice contrast to the wood tones. A glass-bead pendant purchased by Robbin was an inexpensive yet sparkly lighting solution to illuminate the silver ceiling.
17 Welcoming Ways to Decorate Your Front Porch
12 Fresh Spring Decorating Ideas
A Gallery Wall Is Right For Any Room
48 Classic Midcentury Modern Living Rooms


text:
|'); document.write(''); //-->
Panic in the Streets is a terrific noir thriller in the Fox studio's docu-drama style of the late 1940s. It's also powerfully directed by Elia Kazan, who extends his superior dramatic staging to the new use of authentic settings. The effort to stem an outbreak of deadly contagion paints a nervous portrait of an unstable society; the threat to America crosses all boundaries and all social classes. The suspense builds to a high pitch of excitement as Richard Widmark's frantic health official tries to find the source of the disease that could easily kill hundreds of thousands.
This is Elia Kazan's breakout film, the transitional picture between being primarily a stage director and a director of movies that move. His Boomerang! was a noir shot on real locations, but most of the action was confined to interior scenes. On this film Kazan and his writers balance Dr. Reed's normal home life with a wild manhunt in the city's older district and on its teeming waterfront; at one point they even fly out to a ship at sea. Even the bad guys are unusually credible. Intimidating menace Jack Palance (in his first movie) runs a laundromat as a front for his crooked schemes.
Still shaking his evil Tommy Udo persona from Kiss of Death, Richard Widmark plays an ordinary guy burdened with a tremendous responsibility and very little authority to carry it out. The clever screenplay introduces him beautifully - we see him being called into the office, and as his wife Nancy (Barbara Bel Geddes) talks with him, he puts on a uniform. We don't know yet what his job is and assume for a minute that he's a Navy officer or something.
Dr. Reed isolates the germ and then hands the gathered authorities (who actually show up for the meeting - what kind of city is this?) the messy problem. The police naturally resent bearing the responsibility for turning the city upside-down on the say-so of just one doctor - who has already had the body of the murdered man cremated. Widmark and Paul Douglas make a great pair of mismatched companions on an almost hopeless search.
On the other side of the law, Blackie and Fitch are convinced there's some kind of deal they can muscle in on. The hulking Jack Palance intimidates and cajoles his easily frightened partner, especially well-played by Zero Mostel. The feeling of the underworld is complete when a doctor Blackie finds does a fast fade at the arrival of the authorities ... all of these people are so slippery. This is one movie where we notice each time a character touches another or breathes too closely ... we 'feel' the disease spreading even when we can't see it.
Panic in the Streets creates an unusual noir sensibility that operates on political lines. In a free society, destructive elements like Blackie are as hard to control as a disease run wild. We don't want to restrict human rights, but even the Police Captain sees the momentary need to have a reporter held incommunicado, when it seems that breaking the story might start a panic. In Japanese thrillers like High and Low, the press and the cops work together in the best interest of the city. In 1950 New Orleans, nobody expects any such cooperation. When one of the Mayor's men excuses himself to evacuate his own family from the city, Widmark turns to Douglas and says, "Here we go ..."
Panic in the Streets is a desperate manhunt for a foreign invader - an undocumented alien killer. Part of the story seems to advocate the need for draconian measures or martial law - as Charlton Heston says in Touch of Evil, "A policeman's job is only easy in a Police State." Plague carriers Palance and Mostel are forever being compared to vermin, explicitly so in the movie's famous (if a bit too overtly symbolic) final scene.
The need to protect society against monstrous invaders is a natural for critics to propose Panic in the Streets as a right-wing allegory about Communists, as they often do for Gordon Douglas' science-fiction monster thriller Them!. The defenders of America in both movies do the same things - break rules, sweep the city, and secretly imprison individuals who might jeopardize the mission. The giant ants in Them! are ruthlessly incinerated, while the disease carried by the criminal scum in Panic in the Streets transforms them almost literally into human rats in need of extermination.
Widmark makes for a great husband and father (his son is Tommy Rettig, soon to be ten of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T) and his scenes with Barbara Bel Geddes are superb. She's conceived neither as 'the wife' or even as a supportive ornament, as in Call Northside 777. The many local non-actors in the cast blend seamlessly with the real locations, with the occasional professional ringer (like Emile Meyer of Sweet Smell of Success or Alexis Minotis of Land of the Pharaohs) fitting in perfectly.
The Fox Film Noir DVD of Panic in the Streets looks as though it were shot yesterday, from its iconic title background shot through the windshield of a car moving down Bourbon street, to the last desperate attempt by that rat Blackie to escape the authorities. There is an extra English track in 2.0 stereo, a new adapted mix, I assume. Without star billing, Jack Palance's name appears nowhere on the box, but nobody could mistake his face on the cover art, an original poster.
Noir authorities Alain Silver and James Ursini do a fine audio documentary, trading off with observations and insights that never let up. They're particularly good at pointing out the finer points of Kazan's direction, especially involved and kinetically alive action scenes that are often shot in only one or two angles, and dramatic scenes invisibly blocked to favor a camera that cuts only when necessary.
Panic in the Streets may not have the cachet of Laura or the star power of Call Northside 777 but it's easily as entertaining. I'm looking forward to more entries in Fox's noir series.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
Panic in the Streets rates:
Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum


text:
A severe case of rivalry between Pikachu and Chikorita calls for therapy sessions with Nurse Joy (schooled in Pokémon psychology at the Pokémon Institute). In such delicate matters, there's no such thing as an overnight cure, though—or is there? The following day, when Team Rocket attacks, Ash will need all his Pokémon to overcome their latest challenge.
S3 | Episode 16
For Crying Out Loud


text:
A Scottish Ballade is a setting of the traditional Scottish song, "Annie Laurie," which was written by her sweetheart, William Douglas in the 19th century. The song became a favorite of Scottish soldiers during the Crimean War. The well crafted and expressive scoring will make less-experienced ensembles sound their best.Recorded by the Roosevelt University Wind Ensemble
College of Performing Arts, Chicago, IL
Stephen Squires, Conductor


text:
HMF Performance PERFORMANCE Series Complete Exhaust Fits Suzuki, Fits Arctic cat, Fits Kawasaki - Side mount
HMF Performance PERFORMANCE Series Complete Exhaust Fits Suzuki, Fits Arctic cat, Fits Kawasaki - Side mount
Help us serve you better.
Enter your postal code to confirm your expenses as some fees vary depending on the shipping location
Your item has been added, do you want to go to your shopping cart now?View cart
This product is also sold in a kit. Do you want to shop by kit?
- Validate that parts and accessories are either compatible between each other and your vehicle.
- Make sure that you have everything to allow the installation or use of the product.
- Buy clothing that looks great together.
Contact usTel.: 1-(705) 742-6120 Fax: 1-(705) 742-9474
Setting the standard for power and value, the HMF Performance Series has been tested for over a decade with endless championships. The specially designed, unrestricted core allows the exhaust to increase power evenly throughout the entire power curve. The Performance Series has the signature HMF sound with industry-leading end cap and color options, giving you a completely custom look and sound.
- Developed for ATVs, Dirtbikes, and UTVs.
- Distributes power evenly throughout the power curve.
- Sound levels 4-6 dB over stock. (varies per model)
- 2-1/8" non-restrictive core.
- Proven with over a decade of endless championships.
Exhaust Shape : Depending on the model of the machine, the Performance Series is available in Round and Elliptical Shells.
Systems : Depending on the machine, the Performance Series is available as a Slip-On or Full System and developed for ATVs, Dirtbikes, and UTVs.
List of part numbers that are compatible with the Kimpex number :
Barcode :842345109877
Supplier number :036264606171
Kimpex catalog number :090424
List of additional OEM numbers :
- None


text:
Connecticut Diamonds
> Retail > Diamonds > CT
Related directory pages are highlighted below the Connecticut retailer listings on this page. Links to diamond retailer directory pages for adjacent states are provided at the bottom of the page. A Connecticut street map link is also included there.
Related Connecticut Page(s)
4 diamond suppliers listed in Connecticut.
Copyright © 2012-2023 RegionalDirectory.us. All rights reserved.
Click "☎ & 🔍" for mobile-friendly phone link & locator map pages.
Connecticut Diamonds Retailers
Connecticut Retailers


text:
I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.
In Sabbath's section of this week's SS lesson we read, ""And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us" (1 John 5:14, ESV)."
To me the most thrilling part of prayer is, just knowing that God hears me. I am just a grain of dirt in this magnificent universe and yet He cares for me!
Last year my apartment lease was up and I singed a new lease. I asked about a free months rent for re-signing and they said no way definitely not. I singed any way. Meanwhile I had a burden on my heart and was sharing it with God. On the first day of my new lease I was walking to the apartment office to pay my rent. I was praying about my burden as I walked. All of a sudden I found myself telling God, "if You want me to do such and such have them give me a free months rent when I get to the office". I thought, there is no way that can happen. They have already told me no." I got to the office and gave them the check. The lady looked to enter it on the computer but then paused and said, "wait a minute, it is showing no rent is due this month from you." She went into her boss' office to confirm and then came back and said, "You owe no rent this month." I can not explain this. I was told more than once when signing my lease there was no free rent. When I went in I did not ask but just gave them the check and they handed it back to me. What is more thrilling then a month's free rent is that God heard my prayer!
Many moons ago I was a Literature Evangelist selling Christian books in Oklahoma. I was leading my division in sales. However in the summer I ran into a dry spell. Three weeks with no sales. I began to doubt my calling. I had been told before what a wonderful work being and LE was, but as I continued to go with no sales I could not help but doubt. I thought maybe it was a great work a hundred years ago when they did not have radio and television to spread the Good news. One day I was driving to Tahlequah Oklahoma to show a Baptist school principal the books. As I drove I prayed to God, "If I am still doing an important work for this time please let me know." I drove on and got to the school and showed the man the books. He bought them! As he was writing out the check I was writing out the order. He paused as he wrote and said, "you know this is a very important work you are doing". I thanked him but it did not really hit me as a direct answer to prayer until he paused again and said, "and especially for this time." Chills went down my spine as I realized that this man was repeating the exact words I had used in my prayer! I went on and led my division in sales by the end of the year. What is more thrilling though is that God heard my prayer!
I have had many other direct answers to prayer. Many of them I cannot share because they involve other people who may not want them shared. Still, what is more important than getting what I ask for, is knowing there is a God who loves and cares for me, and even takes time to listen and care about what is on my heart, even though I am just a tiny speck of dust in His great universe! Of course He loves you just as much!
"Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Psalm 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son." {Steps to Christ p. 100.1}
You can find more studies and devotionals at my personal Website: InLightOfTheCross.com


text:
Click on a category to
reveal any sub-categories.
36ft. Dometic Xtreme Cable CCX633
Quantity in Basket:
Code: 10020
Price: $100.00
Shipping Weight: 6.00 pounds
SeaStar Solutions XTREME's unique design incorporates a patent-pending splined-core which allows easy movement and minimum lost motion.
Designed for complex and/or long cable runs (or to simply create a superior feel).
Simply the best cable in the business.
Ideal for foot throttle applications on performance boats/bass boats.
3300CC/33C Universal type for Yamaha, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, Tohatsu and other controls and engines with 10-32 threaded connection on both ends.
To measure cable: Inner cable end to inner cable end = Total Length.


text:
Home > News > Press Releases > 2011 > December 20, 2011 - DCF Commissioner Allison Blake volunteers at Season of Hope Toy Shop
December 20, 2011 - DCF Commissioner Allison Blake volunteers at Season of Hope Toy Shop
December 20, 2011
DCF Commissioner Allison Blake volunteers at Season of Hope Toy Shop
Sussex County program offers holiday gifts for local families
NEWTON - As part of the Christie Administration's "Season of Service" initiative, Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner Allison Blake volunteered at the Season of Hope Toy Shop at Project Self-Sufficiency in Newton, Sussex County on Friday, to assist in the agency's efforts to distribute gifts to thousands of local families in need.
The "Season of Service" was announced by Governor and First Lady Christie on Thanksgiving Eve. The initiative builds on the same commitment to community the Governor emphasized in his 2010 inaugural address with members of the cabinet volunteering their time in a variety of ways over the next month.
The Season of Hope Toy Shop is a collaborative effort spearheaded by Project Self-Sufficiency with the assistance of Pass it Along, the New Jersey Herald, Intercar Mercedes Benz, Sussex Honda, Mugs Media and hundreds of volunteers. The toy drive helps local parents who cannot afford to purchase holiday gifts for their children. Families are referred to the toy drive by social service agencies, such as the Division of Youth and Family Services, churches and other non-profit organizations.
"It is so wonderful to see people using their hearts and their talents to help better the lives of New Jersey's children and families," DCF Commissioner Blake said. "We are very thankful for the generosity of each person who has been a part of the project spearheaded by Project Self-Sufficiency, and we hope that their efforts will serve as an example for others who may find it in their hearts to support children and families in their communities."
"The Season of Hope toy drive is unique because it is run by Sussex County agencies on behalf of Sussex County families. Donors can be assured that the gifts they contribute will stay right here in our area," noted Deborah Berry-Toon, Executive Director of Project Self-Sufficiency. "The toy shop offers gifts for children of all ages, but it also offers the gift of hope and dignity to parents as they search for presents for their loved ones. We are thankful for the assistance of our partners in this effort, and we are especially grateful for the hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life who have made the Season of Hope toy drive possible for our participants."
The continued economic downturn has caused many families to turn to the Season of Hope toy drive for assistance this year. As a result, the toy drive set a goal of 10,000 items for distribution to children of all ages. Individuals, Girl Scout troops, churches, schools, civic groups and numerous other organizations rallied to conduct toy drives on behalf of the Season of Hope toy drive this year.
Project Self-Sufficiency is a private non-profit community-based organization dedicated to improving the lives of low-income families residing in northwestern New Jersey. The agency's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of holistic, respectful, and comprehensive services enabling low-income single parents, teen parents, two-parent families, and displaced homemakers to improve their lives and the lives of their children while achieving personal and economic self-sufficiency and family stability. Since 1986 Project Self-Sufficiency has served more than 18,000 families, including over 30,000 children.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF), New Jersey's state child welfare agency, was created in July 2006 as the state's first Cabinet agency devoted exclusively to serving and safeguarding the most vulnerable children and families in New Jersey. DCF includes the Division of Youth and Family Services, Division of Prevention and Community Partnerships and Division of Child Behavioral Health Services, and is focused on strengthening families and achieving safety, well-being and permanency for New Jersey's children.
For information about the Season of Hope Holiday Toy Drive, or any of the other programs and services offered at Project Self-Sufficiency, call 973-940-3500.