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Employing home security cameras for your home security is a useful security tactic. You may want to use the dog but rest assured that the dog will not give precise information about the intruder. It is for reasons such as the one suggested to fully implement the use of outdoor home security cameras to take care of the security needs of the area they live in.
There are many benefits associated with installing surveillance systems in your home. With the growth of modern technology, it is possible to enter one of your video feed of the gadget or device. There are many advantages associated with these install outdoor security cameras. You can visit Arizona home security experts for attaining more knowledge about home security services.
Scare away thieves
Outdoor camera like the incredible way to prevent a thief comes to your property. In a recent study, 70% of convicted thieves have always said that the presence of outdoor cameras give them a second thought in case they want to disrupt the house. Convicted thief says that the presence of the security camera prompted their decision.
Warned Of All Came to Your House
We all want the privacy and the main requirement to recognize anyone or anything that enters our private home. With advanced security, you are sure to receive a notification to your phone when someone is detected entering the home or interfere with your property.
Employee theft
It is not difficult to believe that employees are stealing from the business, but yes, it happens, and surprisingly, many employees tend to be quite a job to start their own business after taking a sizeable amount of cash from the cash box.


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Pap and Merk…strange bedfellows?
George Papandreou may well turn out to be a true democrat. But it seems unlikely that the bailout referendum is entirely his idea.
The Greek government will hold a referendum on a new EU aid package, calling on voters to say whether they want to adopt it or not, Prime Minister George Papandreou said yesterday. The news unleashed a vitriolic reaction from opposition parties, which accused Papandreou of looking for a way out for his embattled party by dragging Greece through a further period of political instability.
"We trust citizens, we believe in their judgement, we believe in their decisions," Mr Papandreou told ruling socialist party legislators, adding, "Bigger debts bring bigger austerity, and there has been a systematic effort of disinformation by certain media and political parties."
As 60% of Greeks said – in a survey conducted last Saturday – that they view last Thursday's EU summit agreement on a new 130bn euro bailout package as 'negative or probably negative', the media are now engaged in trying to second-guess what the Greek leader might be up to: does he want to woo the Greek electorate and win…or does he want to lose and thus create a deeper EU crisis?
There had been talk of calling a referendum in some form or other, but the fact that citizens would be asked to vote on the latest bailout deal came as a shock to many Greeks. It certainly took Papandreou's backbenchers by surprise. More to the point, it has come as a catatonic shock-horror to the Brussels Sprouts.
But Finance Minister Angelo Venizelos was well aware of the plan. And Mr Venizelos is not a particular domestic ally of George Papandreou. This suggests very strongly to me that the vote idea was hatched in a more international context.
Last night, I watched as various pundits on BBC2's Newsnight opined that "the key question" in all this was whether Papandreou would lose or not. I find myself ever-more perplexed by the Beeb's sometimes willful ability to miss the point, and cover up this disability with drivel. The key point here is, quite simply, why in tarnation has Papandreou done this in the first place?
Several sites and news titles this morning are positioning the referendum call as a means by which Papandreou can 'transfer responsibility to the Greek people'. I can't see how that would help him at all. I can certainly appreciate that the move has put the Opposition on the back foot: but placing the whole fiscal recovery plan in jeopardy for temporary advantage simple doesn't ring true.
So consider for a minute what the effect would be if, a month before the referendum is due to take place, a 'no' vote looks almost certain. Setting aside the likelihood that all kinds of other brown solids will be slamming into the eurofan by then, the effect on Greek bondholders is very likely to be one of panic: now even their 50% write off would be looking distinctly queasy. It is highly likely that, in such a situation, they'd settle for a 75% write-off – in preference to Greek chaos, followed by them getting nothing back at all.
Suddenly, the Greek debt load is reduced still further. Greece's calling upon the EFSF funding is reduced and postponed. The likelihood of Germany coughing up for Greek default is also lessened. The precedent of massive debt-forgiveness is set. The chances of Spanish and Portuguese collapse thus recede. Even Italy might be saved. For once, the bankers take the biggest hit: not only is this popular with most EU citizens, many recapitalised eurobanks will survive…especially the already ringfenced German lenders.
Now there is a new deal, and the Greeks enthusiastically back its far less onerous terms in the ensuing referendum. In return for this brighter outlook, the ClubMeds stick with the EU, and acquiesce in greater control from Berlin. Papandreou not only survives in power, he becomes something of a hero.
But France's heavily Greek-exposed banks are placed in deep jeopardy, and the French Government is forced to bail them out. The country loses its Triple-A credit rating, and is – effectively – reduced to being a vassal of Germany.
Merkel's victory is complete. German revenge over France is total. The banks are given a slap and a precedent to worry about. And a stronger, Berlin-directed European Union emerges…still in possession of its additional anti-crisis firepower. Britain, meanwhile, is ever more isolated.
This isn't just speculation. Both Papandreou and Venizelos made a high-profile visit to Berlin a few weeks back…for no apparent reason. Also notable was the ease with which Greece suddenly found four weeks more money when the German's stonewalled on the new bailout tranche soon afterwards. And, of course, there was Germany's sudden discovery last week that it had 'found' 58bn euros it didn't know it had. This is not the sort of thing Germans tend to do.
Games are being played here, on one level or another. Personally, I think the chances of this sort of speculated scenario being pulled off are minimal. But I would bet the farm that some form of thinking in this general area lies behind what is, otherwise, an inexplicable decision by Papandreou. The Slog wondered some weeks ago what side-deal was being promised to the Athens mob in return for imposing appalling levels of austerity upon its people. This latest development may well represent a major clue as to why the Greek Government has remained ostensibly loyal to Brussels.
Related: EU & global events seem likely to isolate the British

subset: commoncrawl


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Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cardonnel, Adam (d.1719)
CARDONNEL, ADAM [de] (d. 1719), secretary to the Duke of Marlborough, was a son of Adam de Cardonnel, a French protestant, who had been rewarded for his services to royalty by the lucrative patents of customer and collector of customs at the part of Southampton (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1660–1, p. 213, 1661–2, pp. 504–5). The son entered the war office at an early age, where in due time he rose to be chief clerk, and in February 1693 received the appointment of secretary and treasurer to the commissioners for sick and wounded seamen (Luttrell, Relation of State Affairs, 1857, iii. 38). His connection with Marlborough quickly ripened into the closest personal friendship; he was certainly acting as secretary in the early part of 1692, and thenceforward accompanied the commander-in-chief in his several campaigns (Addit. MSS. 28917–18). From Luttrell's 'Relation of State Affairs,' vi. 160, we learn that Cardonnel was the only gentleman selected by Marlborough to attend him in his memorable visit, in April 1707, to Charles XII. In recognition of his services the duke obtained a promise from the queen that Cardonnel should succeed Walpole as secretary at war, an office for which his experience and ability well fitted him. He was accordingly nominated in January 1710 (ib. vi. 534–5), but the intrigue; of Harley prevailed, and greatly to the Duke's mortification Cardonnel was displaced by Granville, afterwards Lord Lansdowne, in the following October (Private Correspondence of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, 1838, i. 404, 407, ii. 128, 159). At the general election of November 1701 Cardonnel had been returned member for Southampton, and he continued to represent that borough without interruption in four successive parliaments (Lists of Members of Parliament, Official Return). When, however, Marlborough's overthrow was resolved on, as a preliminary step a committee was appointed to examine and report on the public accounts. Their report was demanded in September 1711, and appeared in the ensuing month of January. Sir Solomon de Medina, a contractor for to the army, stated in his evidence that from 1707 to 1711 he gave on sealing each contract a gratuity of 500 gold ducats to the duke's secretary. On 19 Feb. 1712 the house met to consider this charge and to hear the ex-secretary's defence, of which, however, no report now exists. After a long debate it was resolved that the taking of a gratuity was 'unwarrantable and corrupt,' and on the question being put, Cardonnel was expelled the house by a majority of twenty-six (Commons Journals, xvii. 97; Cobbett, Parliamentary History, vi. 1049–1050, 1094). After his fall Cardonnel did not again attempt to seek office, but lived in retirement at his house in Westminster or at Chiswick. He died in St. Margaret's, Westminster, on 22 Feb. 1719, and was buried on 8 March following at the parish church of Chiswick (Probate Act Book, 1719; Hist. Rev. 1719, p. 10; Lyons, Environs, ii. 212). His will, as of St. Margaret's, Westminster, dated 29 Oct., with a codicil, 17 Nov. 1718, was proved on 5 March 1719 (Reg. in P. C. C. 42, Browning). He married, after April 1710, Elisabeth, widow of Isaac Teale, apothecary, of St. Margaret's, Westminster (Will reg. in P. C. C. 99, Smith), but by this lady, who died in 1714, he had no issue (Letters of Administration in P. C. C. September 1714). He married seoondly Elizabeth, widow of William, the second son of Sir Thomas Frankland, bart., and daughter of René Bawdowin, a merchant of London. The children of this marriage were Adam, who died at Chiswick on 22 Sept. 1725 (Hist. Reg. 1725, p. 42; Letters of Administration in P. C. C. October 1726), and Mary, who became in February 1734, at the of fifteen, the wife of William, first Earl Talbot, bringing him, it is said, a fortune of 80,000l (Gent. Mag. iv. 107; Collins, Peerage, 1812, v. 237). Mrs. Cardonnel made a third alliance with Frederick Frankland, M.P., her first husband's younger brother, and died on 27 Jan. 1737 (Betham, Baronetage, ii. 186–7). Cardonnel's official correspondence with Stepney, John Ellis and others, is preserved in the 'Additional MSS.' at the British Museum, but contains few details of interest.
Cardonnel's uncle, Philip de Cardonnel, was also an enthusiastic adherent to the royal cause,a nd upon the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza gave expression to his feelings in a series of extraordinary poems, published with the title of 'Tagus, sive Epithalamium Caroli II Magnæ Britanniæ Regis, et Catharinæ Infantis Portugalliæ; Gallico primùm carmine decantatum, deindè Latino donatum. Authore P. D. C. Unà cum Poëmate Fortunatarum Insularum, antehàc Gallicè pro Inauguratione Caroli II conscripto,' 8vo, London, 1662. From the description given by Lowndes (Bibl. Manual, Bohn, vol. i. art. 'Cardonnel') it would seem that another and enlarged edition containing translations of pieces by Dryden and Waller appeared at London the same year. Both editions are of the rarest occurrence. The earlier issue is adorned with a frontispiece representing Catherine being drawn to shore by Neptune and attendant nymphs, while Charles, ankle deep, is rapturously surveying her charms with the aid of a telescope. Philip de Cardonnel was dead before August 1667, for on the 15th of that month his relict Catherine administered to the estate of his brother, Peter de Cardonnel, of St. Margaret's, Westminster (Chester, Westminster Abbey Registers, Harl. Soc., p. 167).
[Cal. State Papers, Dom. and Treas.; Addit. MSS. 22221, 22551, 28887, 25917–18, 29550, 29553–7.]


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Pandapalooza is "A True Family Fun Day" which begins with a family Mass, followed by our field events. This is a wonderful day to spend with the entire family experiencing fun and fellowship with others in our St. Edward School community.
Please contact the Development Office for more information on how to support this effort.


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It's typical around this time of the year to think about all you may want to achieve with your health, your career, and even your relationships.
It is also common practice to start creating or putting out a list of resolutions and goals we want to tackle.
About 60% of people believe that setting goals give them a better chance of succeeding in whatever they put their hands in.
While some people may disagree with the above statement and say that setting goals and resolutions puts you under undue pressure which then leads to a state of depression, I believe that if you set the right goals the right way, you are en route to achieving the right results.
- Goals motivate you when they are done right. They encourage you to step outside the box and do things that you would not do.
- Achievable Goals are easy to complete. When you set the right goals, you put yourself on the path that leads to attaining your desired results.
- Goals give you insight into the type of person you are.
Goals are exciting because they provide us with a clear vision for our lives and careers. They cause us to grow in new ways that we never we could. Goals make us change some things about ourselves for the better in order to achieve things we may have previously thought impossible. They lead us to change and to grow.
- Your Goals should be inspiring. They should feel you with positivity and hope when you think about them and shouldn't be draining.
- Your Goals should be believable and realistic.
- You should be able to act on your goals right now.
A bonus tip to setting and smashing your goals is to tell someone who believes in you about them. They will hold you accountable to them and will regularly check-in to see how you are getting on.


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Taxi Drive By
A taxi in drives by in Tokyo's Shibuya District
Snow Dance
A young woman makes a dance like motion to shake off some snow in Tokyo, Japan
Solitary Snow Day
A woman crosses a road in Yurakucho, Tokyo during a snow storm in February 2014
A Japanese woman on a bike rides in the bike lane at a street crossing in Tokyo, Japan.
A Sea of Umbreallas
A sea of umbrealls cross the street in Shibuya, Tokyo
The Chinese Place
A Chinese restaurant in Japan ready for customers after a snow storm.
Biking Beneath the Sakura
A lady passes by on bike beneath a row of Cherry Blossoms in Chiba Prefecure, Japan
Takadanobaba Astro Boy Wide
A businessman walks past the colorful Astro Boy poster next to Takadanobaba Station in Tokyo, Japan
A moped sits in front of a closed restaurant on a side street in Matsudo, Japan
The Japanese Restaurant
A Japanese restaurant specializing in chicken and seafood in the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Riding Through Bikan
A Japanese woman rides through the historic Bikan District in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Business In The Old Town
A man delivers goods in the historical Bikan District of Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Walking Home In The Snow
A salary man walks home in the snow during a small snow shower in Tokyo


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Let's assume that only a tiny percentage (0.01%?) of these published posts are marketing-related; that's 12,000+ new marketing articles going live every month.
(I bet even Johnny-Five would struggle with that amount of reading)
It's, therefore, hardly surprising that there's significant demand for curated lists of "marketing articles" (at least that's what we found when doing keyword research).
The problem? None of the top search results are particularly great.
So, we decided to tackle this problem head-on by putting together our own curated list of the best marketing articles ever.
The challenge + our methodology
Most existing curated lists of the "best marketing articles" fail for one simple reason:
They're too subjective.
We realised early-on in this process that should we go down the route of simply picking our own personal favourites, we'd fall into the same trap; here's how we compiled our initial list of blog posts:
- We created a list of 12 subtopics falling under the general "marketing" umbrella (e.g. SEO, copywriting, etc);
- We used Content Explorer to find popular posts within each of those subtopics;
- We manually sifted through the list of posts and plucked out the best of the best.
This resulted in a nice list of initial posts.
We then reached out to a couple hundred "experts" and asked them to share their favorite marketing-related posts of all time. The idea here was to crowdsource a list of the best marketing posts directly from industry influencers.
This didn't work too well.
Why? Because many people seemed to be suggesting their own content (it seemed like a lot of them viewed this as yet another "expert roundup" post).
Still, we added any genuine suggestions to our initial list of blog posts under the appropriate category.
We now had a huge list of 200+ blog posts, but we wanted to refine this further into a much smaller list.
We didn't want to do by hand as we felt this would add bias to the final list.
So, we decided to create a survey and leave it up to the marketing community to vote for their favourites.
We sent the survey out to our subscriber base of 47K+ people, posted it on Reddit (in /r/bigSEO), Inbound.org, and also promoted it via Facebook ads.
248 of you completed the survey.
Lastly, we sifted through all the data and compiled the list you see below.
65 best marketing articles of all time (as of 2017)
Below, we have a total of 65 marketing articles under the following 12 categories:
- General Search Engine Optimization (SEO);
- Link Building;
- Keyword Research + "Technical" SEO;
- Outreach;
- Analytics;
- Content Marketing;
- Copywriting;
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC);
- Blogging;
- Social Media Marketing (SMM);
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO);
- Miscellaneous
It's worth noting that, rather flatteringly, many people were raving about content from Ahrefs Blog. We're very proud of this, but we tried to put the spotlight on articles from other sources when compiling this list.
If you want to read the best from Ahrefs blog, you can always find an updated list on the blog homepage.
It's also worth noting that this list is aimed primarily at marketing newbies, as it will help you to quickly learn the best from the best. However, a lot of marketers today are "generalists", so if you feel your knowledge is lacking in a specific area (e.g. PPC), it'll be well worth checking our article suggestions under that category.
General Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a confusing topic.
I remember when I first started learning about SEO, I felt like one blog post would say one thing, only to be contradicted five minutes later by the next post I read.
This makes for a very steep learning curve, especially for SEO "newbies".
Here are the five best SEO articles voted for by you. There's something for everyone here, regardless of your current level of knowledge.
- The Beginner's Guide to SEO by Rand Fishkin (and Moz staff) for Moz;
- Google's 200 Ranking Factors: The Complete List by Brian Dean for Backlinko;
- The Advanced Guide to SEO by Neil Patel and Sujan Patel for QuickSprout;
- Why I Stopped Selling SEO Services and You Should, Too by Ryan Stewart for Moz;
- We Analyzed 1 Million Google Search Results. Here's What We Learned About SEO by Brian Dean for Backlinko
We didn't include these in the top five list above (as we wanted our list to be as unbiased as possible and there were quite a few Ahrefs fans among the voters), but David McSweeney's list of 200+ Actionable SEO Tips and Tim Soulo's on-page SEO analysis (of 2M keywords) were actually ranked no.1 and no.5 respectively.
It would also be fair to point out that "Google's 200 Ranking Factors" article might not be entirely accurate, so we thought we should also include a different view at Google's ranking factors: The Myth of Google's 200 Ranking Factors.
Link Building
Many people struggle with link building, especially when it comes to using outreach-based strategies (note: almost all worthwhile links will be built via outreach).
Again, it's not so much that link-building is particularly difficult; there's just a lot of shady, lazy advice scattered across the web.
This can quickly lead to confusion.
Here are five of the best link-building articles on the web (note: these five posts alone contain hundreds of amazing strategies):
- Link Building Tactics – The Complete List by Jon Cooper for Point Blank SEO (note: my updated list of link building strategies for 2017, greatly inspired by Jon's original list, received almost exactly the same number of votes);
- Link Building Case Study: How I Increased My Search Traffic by 110% in 14 Days by Brian Dean for Backlinko;
- 13 Advanced Link Building Strategies You (Probably) Haven't Used by Glen Allsopp for Viperchill;
- 19 Link Building / Outreach Strategies that WORK by Ryan Stewart for Webris;
- How Long Does Link Building Take to Influence Rankings? by Kristina Kledzik for Moz.
David McSweeney's "Noob Guide to Link Building" was actually ranked no.2. But adding it on a list above would not be very objective, as I wrote before.
Keyword Research + "Technical" SEO
It's difficult to overstate the importance of proper keyword research, yet very few people give it the time and attention it deserves.
This is true for both "newbies" and seasoned SEOs alike.
It's the same story for anything that falls under the "technical SEO" umbrella; people generally underestimate its importance and instead invest all their time, energy and resources almost entirely into link building.
This is a BIG mistake.
Here are the five articles (with the highest number of votes) relating to both KW research and technical SEO:
- Screaming Frog Guide to Doing Almost Anything by Aichlee Bushnell for Seer Interactive;
- The Best Keyword Research Tools 2017 by Lewis Parrott for Authority Hacker;
- The Technical SEO Renaissance: The Whys and Hows of SEO's Forgotten Role in the Mechanics of the Web by Mike King for Moz;
- How To Build a Keyword Matrix [and Why You Need One] by Nick Eubanks for SEONick;
- Microsoft Excel for SEOs by Mike Pantoliano for Distilled
And of course we couldn't leave that section without a mention of our own in-depth guide to keyword research: How To Do Keyword Research in 2017.
Most bloggers receive hundreds of outreach emails every week.
This makes cutting through the noise a fairly difficult task (even if you have genuinely good intentions).
Right now, my own personal blog is far from popular, but I still receive 10-20 outreach emails every week and, honestly, most of them suck.
These 5 articles will be sure help you up your outreach game and cut through the noise:
- The Pareto Outreach Philosophy & How It Can Help You Build 1000% More White Hat Links by Perrin Carrell for Authority Hacker;
- The Smart SEO's Guide to Effective Outreach by Stephanie Beadell for SEER Interactive;
- Blogger Outreach: How to Get Influencers to Promote Your Content for Free by Brian Dean for SmartBlogger;
- How We Improved Blogger Outreach Placements By 63% by Caroline Gilbert for Siege Media;
- Blogger Outreach Tips: How To Write Outreach Emails That Don't Suck by Adam Connell for Blogging Wizard
Again, not to blow our own trumpet, but Tim Soulo's email outreach post (this is definitely worth a read) was actually ranked no.1 before we excluded it.
Nothing is more important in marketing than analytics.
Without analytics, there's no knowing whether or not your marketing efforts are generating ROI (or even leading to an increase in traffic).
Google Analytics, of course, is the go-to analytics suite for most marketers, but it's also important to have a solid understand of analytics terminology (e.g. KPI's).
Here are the five top-voted analytics articles covering Google Analytics and more:
- Steal My SEO Dashboard for Google Analytics by Ryan Stewart for Webris;
- 29 Useful Marketing Key Performance Indicators by Ryan Stewart for Webris;
- Google Analytics: A Guide for Beginners by Tom Bennet for Builtvisible;
- Google Analytics For Ecommerce: A Beginners Guide by Richard Lazazzera for Shopify;
- How Google Analytics ruined marketing by Samuel Scott for TechCrunch
Content Marketing
Content marketing is more than just a buzzword.
It's a way to build trust, build authority (amongst your target customers), and ultimately, drive more sales without resorting to traditional "hard sell" tactics.
And if you're wondering exactly how you do this, it's simple:
- You create content that appeals to and engages with your target market;
- You find a way to get it in front of them.
Here are the five best content marketing-related articles with the most votes:
- The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing by Neil Patel & Kathryn Aragon for QuickSprout;
- How to Increase Website Traffic by 250,000+ Monthly Visits by Ross Hudgens for Siege Media;
- How AirBnb Is Using Content Marketing to Stay on Top by Tessa Wegert for Contently;
- How to Create a Content Strategy by Ian Lurie for Portent;
- 84-Point Content Marketing Checklist [Interactive] by Ross Hudgens for Siege Media
My previous article, "I Asked 235 People to Tweet My Article and All I Got Is This Cheerless Case Study" (from the Ahrefs' blog) was actually ranked #2. If you haven't read it already, it's well worth a read.
Copywriting is essentially moving words around to sell better
So, let's assume you have a sales page whereby, on average, you make 1 sale per 100 visitors (i.e. 1% CR).
It may be the case that by rewriting, restructuring, and/or adding/removing content from that sales page, you're able to make 2 sales per 100 visitors, effectively doubling your conversion rate.
This is the job of a copywriter.
Remember, attracting a ton of traffic is all well and good but if you can't convert that traffic into paying customers, well, you have no business.
Here are our top five copywriting-related posts:
- 6 Steps for Writing Simple Copy That Sells by Aaron Orendorff for Copyblogger;
- 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work by Brian Clark for Copyblogger;
- SEO Copywriting: How to Bootstrap a Website with This Ultra-Efficient Writing System by Perrin Carrell for Authority Hacker;
- The Definitive Guide to Copywriting by Neil Patel & Joseph Putnam for QuickSprout;
- 7 Scientifically-Backed Copywriting Tips by Gregory Ciotti for Copyblogger;
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Pay-Per-Click is a form of paid advertising where you pay a small fee every time someone clicks your ad.
Because you don't pay a penny until someone clicks your ad, you're only paying for results (i.e. traffic).
Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, and many other platforms offer this form of advertising.
However, creating a profitable PPC campaign is easier said than done, as you need to know your numbers (i.e. CR, LTV, etc) like the back of your hand.
Here are five PPC-related articles to get you started:
- What Is PPC? Learn the Basics of Pay-Per-Click PPC Marketing by Larry Kim for Wordstream;
- Beginner's Guide To Setting Up An AdWords Account by PPC Hero;
- 101-Point Guide To Master Facebook Custom Audiences by Karola Karlson for KlientBoost;
- How to Scale Facebook Ads with Automation by Sahil Jain for PPC Hero;
Blogging (successfully) really only requires three ingredients: content; traffic; and a monetisation method.
Here are five posts that will see you well on your way to making your blogging dream a reality:
- 20 Types of Evergreen Content that Produce Lasting Results for Your Business by Aaron Orendorff for Copyblogger;
- How To Start A Blog And Make Money by Matthew Woodward (for his blog);
- WordPress SEO: The Only Guide You Need by Glen Allsopp for Viperchill;
- The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging by Kristi Hines for KISSmetrics;
- Why Good Unique Content Needs to Die by Rand Fishkin for Moz
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Social media marketing is about more than scheduling a few tweets with Buffer.
It's about smart audience targeting, building trust, and ultimately, pulling leads further down your sales funnel.
In order to do this, you need to know: who your customers are; what they want; and when they want it.
Here are our five best posts (i.e. with the most votes) to get you started:
- 45 Fabulous Facebook Marketing Tips & Tricks by Megan Marrs for WordStream;
- What Are The Best Times to Post on Social Media by Neil Patel for QuickSprout;
- The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing by Andrea Vahl for Copyblogger;
- 56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest by Beth Hayden for Copyblogger;
- Ultimate Guide to Social Media Image Sizes by Kristi Hines for Social Media Examiner
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Most marketers are obsessed with getting more traffic.
More traffic = more revenue, right?
Sure, this is generally true, but there is a way to increase revenue without attracting any more traffic: increase your conversion rate.
Let's assume that you sell a $100 product and, right now, your conversion rate is 2% (i.e. 1 in 50 visitors buy your product).
If you have 1K visitors per month, that's $2K revenue.
But, if you could somehow increase your conversion rate to 3%, your monthly revenue would jump from $2K to $3K per month (without any increase in traffic).
Here are a few great CRO posts (as voted for by the marketing community):
- Holy Grail of eCommerce Conversion Optimization - 91 Point Checklist and Infographic by Pancham Prashar for Moz;
- Why "Simple" Websites Are Scientifically Better by Tommy Walker for ConversionXL;
- 6 Proven Ways to Boost the Conversion Rates of Your Call-to-Action Buttons by Joanna Wiebe for Copyblogger;
- Speed Is A Killer – Why Decreasing Page Load Time Can Drastically Increase Conversions by Sherice Jacob for KISSmetrics;
- How To Design Call to Action Buttons That Convert by Michael Aagaard for Unbounce
Marketing is an extremely broad subject.
While we did our best to break this topic into subtopics (e.g. SEO, PPC, etc.), there were a handful of articles that didn't neatly fit into any of these categories.
So, here are the top 10 most popular articles in the "miscellaneous" category:
- How Creating a Sense of Urgency Helped Me Increase Sales By 332% by Marcus Taylor for ConversionXL;
- How I Grew Mint.com from Zero to 1 Million Users by Noah Kagan for OkDork.com;
- How This Boring Business Grew Its Inbound Leads by 252% In a Year by Tami Brehse for Inbound.org;
- The Ultimate List of IFTTT Recipes for Marketers by Dana Forman for SEER Interactive;
- The Complete Guide to Understanding Consumer Psychology by Neil Patel & Ritika Puri for QuickSprout;
- How to Run Email Automation on Less Than $30 by Matthew Barby for MatthewBarby.com;
- How do colors affect purchases? [Infographic] by KISSmetrics;
- 7 Big Mistakes New Affiliate Marketers Make by Jennifer Ledbetter for Marketing Land;
- What I Learned From Developing Branding for Airbnb, Dropbox and Thumbtack by Julie Supan for First Round Review;
- The 5 Top-Performing American Apparel Ads, and How They Get PR for Free [NSFW] by Tim Ferriss for Tim.blog.
We NEED your help to make this list even better…
If you've reached this section thinking "great, but why the hell wasn't [INSERT NEGLECTED MARKETING ARTICLE HERE] included on this list!?", this is your chance to nominate it.
Clicking this link will take you to a new survey where you can nominate marketing articles that you feel should be added to our list.
We will only accept your nomination if you fill in all of the required fields (seriously, we don't want any spam!).


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My greatest book selling acknowledgement came when Mr. Alan Beechey, author of one of my most favorite books ever, bestowed a town the name Plumley in his second book starring Oliver Swithin. After selling my page flicking fingers to the bone and making his first book An Embarrassment of Corpses named 'most collectible' by a now defunct hypermodern book collecting newsletter, and sending the book into a second printing (yes, I believe I single handedly am responsible, ha ha), Mr. Beechey and I became good friends. I named a ferret after his hero, another ferret provided a photo-shoot at a signing, and I've enjoyed Mr. Beechey's sterling wit ever since.
Rather than write my usual tedious and torturous (for me, I can barely remember what day it is, let alone plots) review of the title, I am reprinting my interview with the fresh faced Beechey, from a decade plus ago. It will provide the plot and hopefully a soupcon of humor.
Finsbury, the ferret, should be couched in the living room, fighting bubbles in the bath, or nestled up on a downy pillow in bed with you. Why? Because he is the fictitious ferret in the fictitious books written by the fictional children's writer Oliver Swithin, in the very real and hilarious novel by the fabulously flesh and blood First Offender, Mr. Alan Beechey. I first spoke with Mr. Beechey on the phone when I was three thirds of the way through the proof. I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to be sure I set up a signing with this wildly imaginative author on the spot. I became just one of thousands, quite literally, that went bonkers over the very intricate whodunit, with the humor of P.G. Wodehouse. Since then the book has gone into numerous printings, received rave reviews, was chosen by Bookline, the Hypermodern mystery newsletter, as a highly collectible and great book, and recently was #3 on internet newsgroup dorothyl's year end list of favorite books.
Character, Oliver Swithin, writes children's books featuring a foul mouthed smoking ferret while keeping a day job doing basically nothing for 2 eccentric gentlemen. Oliver's uncle happens to be a Superintendent of Police and comes to his nephew's aid when Oliver's fellow writer is found dead in the Trafalger Square fountain. Bodies begin to pile up and Oliver, his uncle, and a stunning police woman Effie Strongitharm, work to unravel the puzzle. The book is peopled with simply super characters with outrageous names, and a plot line that never runs straight. After discovering 2 facets of the book that endeared me to it even more, a ferret and Alice in Wonderland references, I wrote "O fabjous day, I have found the perfect mystery" in a review. Fellow readers love the book for different reasons but what we all agree on is how funny and clever Mr. Beechey is. Mr. Beechey, which he hates to be called, is very much the English Gentleman, which he doesn't like to be thought of because he comes from a very nice working class environment and is proud of it. He was born in Hampshire and moved to West London within weeks and stayed until an adult. Due to high intelligence and a scholastic program that England no longer provides, Alan excelled himself into a better school where he studied for his O and A levels, something we anglophiles love to read about in mysteries, but I still have no clue as to what it means. We continued talking, our discussion turning to Oxford, with me trying to figure out exactly what college he attended and where it was located. What I established is it's the same college where Bill Clinton didn't inhale and where Fox Mulder and Alan received the same degree, a master in Psychology from University College at Oxford. After Oxford, he worked for a bit and then embarked to the New World. The red white and blue welcomed him and soon he was ensconced in a comfortable career and life.
Ah, but was he really? Here is where the story leads us to writing. A career path began to develop brambles, and rather than spend one's life hacking at them, he traveled a new and risky one, the road to publishing. In other words he chose to begin writing, something he had always wanted to do, but naught the time. With a painful job experience past, it opened him up to untold possibilities and of course, potential poverty, because we all know authors make no money! His ingenuity in creating a personal consulting firm, allowed him the wherewithal to start the second book he wrote, and the first published. "Sometimes career changes have to be seized as opportunities", Mr. Beechey says. The first novel was a police procedural much darker in tone and Alan couldn't reconcile that the characters kept saying very funny things. After completing An Embarrassment of Corpses found the Brits don't like to read about Brits so sold it to the US. Martha Grimes was kind enough to answer a letter sent to her from Alan asking for advice as to where to try to get it published. She then read the book, loved it, and gave a very nice jacket quote! So what bizarre thing happened to him to produce such a zany and funny story? He read. Alan's favorite author is P.G. Wodehouse. He evens remembers where he bought his first book, Carry On Jeeves, at a church jumble sale in Oxford. He told me a quote "the world is made up of 2 kinds of people, those who love P. G. Wodehouse and those who haven't read him". Next he said something I couldn't understand with his modulated BBC British accent."I didn't understand anything you just said". "Ah, good" in reply. I point out that interviewing him is rather like being in the maze at Hampton Court, you think you are getting somewhere, but alas you are right back where you started.
With the humor of P. G. Wodehouse, the whimsey of Lewis Carroll, and a style all his own, he created the fabulous inhabitants of the book. The characters names in particular are priceless. Asked where he comes up with such gems, he explained that he collects names. Whenever he sees a word or name that he likes, he simply writes it down and goes back to the list when needed. That's how Miles Lipsbury-Pinfold was born. He doesn't remember where he saw that combination name (he later recalled it was from King Lear) but does recall seeing Effie's last name in a phone book. When confronted that no one can pronounce Effie Strongitharm, he cheerfully admitted he doesn't know how to pronounce it either. He is inspired by Charles Dickens his second favorite author, for the mind boggling names. One particular favorite character of mine and others is the invisible man. Not literally unable to be seen, just sort of ignored. I inquired how on earth he come up with such an hilarious personage. It's based on his experience. "I was in an elevator when some immensely self indulgent 20–year–old girls got in after me. Chatting to each other, they backed into to me, turned around with a sort of self indulgent giggle and said sorry, didn't see you there. I'm thinking to myself, how hard is it to miss a human being on an elevator? That led to thinking about somebody who might have that happen to them all their life".
Now for Finsbury. Upon actually meeting Alan, I realized that he indeed was as witty as my mother thinks all Englishmen are, and that he actually knew very little about real ferrets. Most Brits have a very nasty image of ferrets and they are correct about undomesticated ones. He decided that for the fictional animal in Oliver's children's books that he didn't want a cuddly creature and remembered a famous segment from the BBC that had a TV presenter being bitten on the finger by a ferret and it just wouldn't let go no matter how much the man screamed in pain or shook his finger. Finsbury the character, is a wonderful depiction of bad boyness and I love him. As a fictional character in Oliver's children's books, he smokes, drinks and leads the poor railway mice down a sinful track. However, real ferrets, which are domesticated like dogs and cats, only steal socks and shoes, sleep up in the rafters of your couch and chase cats. No he isn't going to have Finsbury be the detective, nor will he speak. I think we all just heaved a big sigh of relief. Asked if Finsbury was really his alter ego, he replied "I would like to think if I had an alter ego it would be Bipedal." "It would be who?" I asked? "Bipedal." "Which one's he"? No, bipedal-walks on 2 legs rather than four. B-i-p-e-d-a-l. I yelled "Do you realize how stupid I just sounded? Although you know, it isn't crazy to think you might have a character named Mr. Bipedal, is it"?
With the pressure on him to come up with a sequel, Murdering Ministers is finished and is due out this fall.(Obviously since this interview the book's been published and can be purchased.) I can't divulge plot, but I can say that I nearly died laughing over the type of murder weapon used. He says this outing is a bit more serious than Embarrassment but Oliver and Effie and an appearance by Finsbury are guaranteed. Mr. Beechey is a very happily married man (sorry girls) and has just become the proud father of Thomas Beechey.(along with a couple more sons who are now teenagers!) He contentedly goes grocery shopping, does the laundry and loads of other domestic things. (sorry again girls). If you want to visit Alan and Finsbury go to www.beechey.com.(I need to check to make sure this still works.) I promise neither one of them will bite!
Re-reading my interview has made me hunger to read the book again. I don't read books twice as I've stated many times–but for this list I've been doing just that if I can't remember what it was about–I certainly remembered Embarrassment–but want to enjoy it fully again. Truly–if you love humor, traditional mysteries in the spirit of Christie, Sayers, with fantastic characters, and wonderful whodunit–this book delivers everything and sooooo much more–I mean–it has Finsbury, the smoking ferret!
Don't forget to check out the ever growing list of Best 100 Mysteries of All Time


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Joan Fiset and Sarah C. Townsend
This afternoon's reading features two Seattle writers reading newly published work about traumatic birth experiences. Poet Joan Fiset, author of Namesake (Blue Begonia Press), reads from her beautiful and devastating book, How It Was with Scotland (Ravenna Press), a collaboration with visual artist Noah Saterstrom.
"These pictures and words are like overheard whispers or something you almost see from the corner of your eye, or maybe even more intimate than that, like things you are hearing from inside someone's head before they are words, or memories of things they cannot quite remember. Like secret inside rustlings of longing, hope, regret and quiet beauty."-Rebecca Brown.
Joining her this evening is Sarah C. Townsend, author of Setting the Wire: a Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis (The Lettered Streets Press), a lyrical exploration of motherhood, mental illness and family ties. "Sarah Townsend's Setting the Wire is a tightly coiled and disturbingly gorgeous exploration of her postpartum mental breakdown. I devoured these pages--while willing myself to slow down so I could catch every nuance of Townsend's taut, lyrical, wise writing."-Claire Dederer.


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Dallas area home prices are seeing growth at a much faster rate than nationwide rates. In January, Dallas home prices saw a 9.8 percent increase in comparison to the start of 2015, while U.S. home prices were 6.9 percent higher in January.
The Dallas area is the number three on the list of major U.S. markets for home price gains, only being surpassed by Denver (11.8 percent) and San Francisco (11.6 percent) at numbers one and two.
Houston saw a 5.7 percent increase. Though still at an increase, it stands lower than the nationwide rate.
As the spring buying season is fast approaching, prices across the country continue to see an increase. This buying season is forecasted as being a good one due in part to low rates and a continued growth in jobs and income.
It has been forecasted that home prices will rise by approximately 5.5 percent this coming year across the nation as long as employment growth remains steady.


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Testing Rails applications on real mobile devices (both design and features such as camera access).
As more and more people start using their mobiles as their primary devices, both for personal and work purposes, we have gotten an increasing number of clients requesting features that make use of the capabilities that their mobile devices offer over regular computers. While these are certainly more fun to develop than a (let's be honest) vanilla Rails app, they can offer challenges, such as how to test them effectively.
There are plenty of ways to do so; many browsers nowadays offer a way to simulate different screen sizes, device orientations, and pixel ratios, such as Responsive Design Mode in Firefox. You can also use emulators, VMs, and services like BrowserStack. You have lots of options to simulate, but I want to briefly outline how to use real devices to test your apps running on your local Rails server. The benefits of this approach are:
- You can test on real, physical devices (if you have them), meaning that you don't have to trust the accuracy of emulators.
- You'll be running against your local development environment, meaning that you can use your standard development tools and workflow (e.g. debuggers) and you don't need to package and deploy the app anywhere first.
The easy way (99% of cases)
If your app is quite basic and you just want to test that your responsive UI design works, then you hardly have to do anything. You can expose your Rails server to serve over your home or office network, and connect to it by simply browsing to your computer's network IP address in the browser on your mobile device.
Simply start the Rails server like so:
rails server -b 0.0.0.0
Then run the following in your terminal to find your computer's IP address on your local network (it will likely look something like
ifconfig | grep inet
(On Windows use
ipconfig instead).
Then grab your phone (also connected to the same network), open the browser, and navigate to http://192.168.x.x:3000. And that's it! You will now be browsing your Rails application served by your computer's development environment to your phone over your network.
The hard way (for the other 1% of cases)
There is a key problem with the first approach, and that is that the connection will be over HTTP. Unless you want to go down the path of editing your
/etc/hosts file to resolve a domain to
localhost, creating a self-signed SSL certificate, and configuring your browser and server to use the certificate, you won't be able to run your Rails application locally via SSL (HTTPS).
The thing is, in some cases you are going to need to test your app via HTTPS. This is because modern browsers restrict access to device resources such as the camera and microphone so that they only run in a secure context. As explained by the following excerpt from Mozilla's documentation for MediaDevices.getUserMedia(), which controls access to device resources such as the camera and microphone:
getUserMedia() is a powerful feature which can only be used in secure contexts. In insecure contexts, navigator.mediaDevices is undefined, preventing access to getUserMedia(). A secure context is, in short, a page loaded using HTTPS or the file:/// URL scheme, or a page loaded from localhost.
As you can see, you must be in a secure context (a big part of which is HTTPS) in order to access this API. An exception to this is
localhost, so you can test things locally. But we need to connect from a separate mobile device.
You can see this in action by testing the value of the JavaScript expression
window.isSecureContext, which according to the documentation "indicates whether a context is capable of using features that require secure contexts". On
http://localhost:3000 from your computer, this value will be
true, and on
http://192.168.x.x:3000 from your mobile device this value will be
So, how can we easily connect to our development environments on our mobile devices via HTTPS? Enter ngrok, a service that creates a public and temporary HTTPS URL that tunnels to your locally-running development server, exposing it to the internet, which you can then open up on your mobile device. Exposing your development environment to the world might make you a little (justifiably) uncomfortable, however the tunnels are time-limited, you can sever the connection when you're done with it, and the domain is a long random string that no one is going to be able to guess. Let's set it up the easy way, via Homebrew:
brew cask install ngrok
ngrok http 3000
At this point, if you are running a modern version of macOS, it may prevent the app from running since it is an untrusted third-party application. You may have to add an exception via
System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General.
When you run ngrok, the tunnel will be established, a domain will be assigned, and you will see the following output, showing you that your ngrok domain is now ready to forward to your local development environment via both HTTP and HTTPS:
Session Status online
Session Expires 7 hours, 59 minutes
Version 2.3.35
Region United States (us)
Web Interface http://127.0.0.1:4040
Forwarding http://REDACTED.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:3000
Forwarding https://REDACTED.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:3000
The last thing you have to do is open
config/environments/development.rb, add the following line and restart the server to allow serving requests to the ngrok domain:
config.hosts << 'insert_ngrok_domain_here.ngrok.io'
If you wanted to be really fancy, you could use a regular expression, as you will get a new domain from ngrok each time:
config.hosts << /[a-z0-9]+\.ngrok\.io/
And that's it! Grab your mobile device, navigate to the ngrok domain, and your app will load via HTTPS. Since you are now in a secure context you will now be able to test your app's features that rely on being in one, such as those that need access to the camera.
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CNN's GUT CHECK | for March 7, 2013 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle
BREAKING: BRENNAN CONFIRMED AS CIA CHIEF AFTER DRONE DELAY… The U.S. Senate approved John Brennan as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency Thursday after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, ended his delay of the vote earlier in the day. Brennan was confirmed by a 63-34 bipartisan vote. – Kevin Liptak and Ashley Killough
#WINNING: RAND PAUL DECLARES VICTORY AFTER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION RESPONDS… Sen. Rand Paul said he was satisfied with a letter Attorney General Eric Holder sent to him on targeted killing by U.S. drones, in an interview with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash. "It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: 'Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?,'" the letter from Attorney General Eric Holder reads. "The answer to that question is no." That was good enough for Paul to drop his bid to block a vote on the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director.
DRONES GO LOCAL… Detroit Free Press: Drones in the sky might have their eyes on you
GUNS: SENATE PANEL AGREES TO NEW LEGISLATION ON GUNS… A bill that would toughen laws on gun trafficking and straw purchases of firearms got the OK from the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday to be sent on to the full chamber for consideration. … The committee also is considering other measures, including a proposal to ban semi-automatic guns that mimic military assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. – Tom Cohen
MARKET WATCH: The Dow Jones industrial average has set a closing record for the third straight day, finishing at 14,329.49. Earlier in the day, the Dow also climbed to an intraday all-time high of 14,354.69.
(Answer below)
In light of Sen. Rand Paul's spirited filibuster, who did the junior senator from Kentucky beat in the primary and general elections to win his seat?
MARK (@PrestonCNN) & DAN (@DanMericaCNN)
What caught our eye today in politics
We had to look no further than the CNN.com Opinion page (http://www.cnn.com/OPINION/) for a story that piqued our interest because it provided further insight into how President Barack Obama was going to approach his second term.
Jim Messina penned a column today where he tried to explain how the president's campaign is going to morph from a political operation into an advocacy organization.
"You can't change Washington from the inside," Messina wrote on cnn.com. "President Obama was criticized for stating that simple truth during the campaign, but without Americans organizing in support of the issues they believe in, lobbyists and special interests will drive the agenda in Washington."
Messina, Obama's campaign manager who is now national chairman of the newly formed Organizing for Action, argued that it was imperative the organization take on a new role to advocate the president's policies.
"At this crossroads for our economy, we can't afford business as usual," he wrote. "That's why we've formed Organizing for Action, to ensure that the voices of the majority of Americans who voted for policies that will strengthen the middle class will be heard."
Messina also made some news by revealing that restrictions would be placed on donations and noted that contributors would be named. OFA had come under fire for a fundraising plan that included access to the president for the most generous donors.
... "[E]very donor who gives $250 or more to this organization will be disclosed on the website with the exact amount they give on a quarterly basis," Messina wrote. "We have now decided not to accept contributions from corporations, federal lobbyists or foreign donors."
Obama's former campaign manager also emphasized that OFA will not work on behalf of candidates and said the "mission of this organization is to rebalance the power structure" that has been dominated by special interests.
Still, a newly restructured OFA is only going to force the president's opponents to form their own "advocacy" groups to counter his policies. In the end, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent in the next four years to enact or defeat Obama's agenda.
the LEDE
Did you miss it?
Leading CNNPolitics: Rand Paul scores points with father's skeptical supporters
Ron Paul supporters were never that trusting of his son, Rand Paul. But after last night's libertarian clinic, where Paul quoted libertarian thinkers, emphasized the infallibility of the Constitution and elevated the drone discussion, Ron Paul supporters have started to take notice – and may be changing their opinion of the younger Paul. – Dan Merica
Leading Drudge: Old Bulls Buck Rand Stand
Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster didn't thrill all of his colleagues. Almost exactly 24 hours after Mr. Paul began his information-seeking filibuster against John O. Brennan, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham took to the Senate floor to denounce his demands and say he was doing a "disservice" to the debate on drones. – Stephen Dinan
Leading HuffPo: Warren'd
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took on Attorney General Eric Holder's admission that some banks are too big for the Justice Department to prosecute, asserting that Holder's statement illustrates why the financial institutions should be held accountable. – Mollie Reilly
Leading Politico: How the White House silenced gun control groups
President Barack Obama's gun control agenda is looking more doomed by the day, but gun control advocates still haven't said a word to complain. That's no accident. – Reid J. Epstein
Leading The New York Times: Charity Takes Gun Lobby Closer to Its Quarry
Despite its low profile, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation has close ties to members of Congress, allowing its donors, who give as much as $100,000 a year, to mix with lawmakers at shooting contests, banquets and wine tastings. The food and drink at last month's gathering were paid for in part by the National Rifle Association and the trade group for the gun industry. – Mike McIntire
The political bites of the day
- The president signs the Violence Against Women Act -
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AT THE BILL SIGNING: "This is your day. This is the day of the advocates, the day of the survivors. This is your victory."
- Obama's dinner with Senate Republicans: Cordial, candid and constructive -
SEN. PAT TOOMEY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CNN: "It was a candid and constructive conversation on both sides. Most of the discussion was about fiscal issues, although it did extend beyond fiscal and budgetary issues. … This was a beginning of a process and there's a lot of work left to do."
SEN. DAN COATS OF INDIANA IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CNN: "It was a cordial dinner but it was a serious dinner. We talked about the debt and deficit and plunged into more and more debt through out of control government spending. I was glad the president took the opportunity to talk to us personally."
- Chris Van Hollen, Paul Ryan have lunch with POTUS -
REPUBLICAN REP. PAUL RYAN OF WISCONSIN IN A WRITTEN PRESS STATEMENT: "I thank President Obama for hosting a frank discussion about Washington's budget challenges. Everyone needs to be a part of this conversation. We need an open debate about how best to balance the budget and expand opportunity. I look forward to having that debate next week with specific budget proposals from House Republicans and Senate Democrats."
Gut Check Full Service: Guess who was not invited to lunch or dinner? House Speaker John Boehner, according to Boehner spokesman.
- Republicans split on Paul's filibuster, use of drones -
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN IN A SPEECH ON THE SENATE FLOOR: "I don't think what happened yesterday was helpful to the American people. We need a discussion, as I said, about how we are going to address this new form of almost interminable warfare, which is very different than anything we have faced in the past. But to somehow allege that the United States of America, our government, would drop a drone Hellfire missile on Jane Fonda, that brings the conversation from a serious discussion about U.S. policy to the realm of the ridiculous."
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL IN A SPEECH ON THE SENATE FLOOR: "Yesterday, the junior senator from Kentucky took to the Senate floor to exercise his rights as an individual senator in pursuit of an answer from the attorney general concerning the rights of United States citizens. That filibuster was extended, heartfelt and important."
- Mayors against Illegal Guns tout support for universal background checks -
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK AND THE GROUP'S CO-CHAIR, IN A STATEMENT: "Americans overwhelmingly support background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Now it's time for Congress to stand with their constituents to pass a law requiring background checks for all gun sales – and to take other common sense steps that will save lives."
What stopped us in 140 characters or less
[tweet https://twitter.com/lynnsweet/status/309708226537082880%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/309714935271788544%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/laurapcd1/status/309692169793454080%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/status/309722625771438080%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/THR/status/309468012363268096%5D
TRIVIA ANSWER from @DanMericaCNN
Even though the political climate in 2010 favored Republicans, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was far from a shoo-in for the state's open Senate seat.
Not only did Paul have to defeat Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a candidate who was backed by Kentucky's powerful Sen. Mitch McConnell, but he also had to beat Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, who put up a spirited fight against Paul.
Paul's first foray into activism – and the day that convinced him to run for Senate – was when he gave a speech on Tax Day in 2009. According to National Journal, the feel of the crowd proved to him that "something enormous was going on."
Paul, known for his libertarian leanings, has sharply questioned the Obama administration's use of drones against American citizens overseas and championed a nearly 13-hour filibuster, that ended early on Thursday, on CIA Director nominee John Brennan.
"I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan's nomination for the CIA," Paul said. "I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes."
(why aren't you in it)
Congrats to Rob Fulton (@glasshalfFULTON) for correctly answering today's gut Check Trivia question. First time winner!
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"The Dow Jones industrial average has set a closing record for the third straight day, finishing at 14,329.49. Earlier in the day, the Dow also climbed to an intraday all-time high of 14,354.69."
Trickle-up in full effect. There's no such thang as economic gravity. What goes up, don't come down....unless you're talkin' 'bout middle-class hopes.
BTW, sincere thanks to Randroid for showing his GOP/Teatroll compatriots to be the total chickensh-ts we all know they are. He might be a complete Atlas-Shrugged-nutjob, but he's at least got the courage of conviction to stand up and publicly say what he thinks and try to defend it. They don't.
The only victory Rand Paul got out of his filibuster was the success of once again showing the American public how he can waste massive amounts of taxpayers money, obstructing congress over a question everyone already knew the answer to.


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Swim Instructor
Peninsula JCC
800 Foster City Blvd
Foster City, CA 94404
Summary: The Swim Instructor is expected to teach safe and effective group and/or private swim classes for our members and are required to purpose and maintain educational standards commensurate with PJCC's quality and commitment to aquatics safety.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:
Other Functions:
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other Competencies:
Certifications, Licenses, etc.:
Swim Instructors must maintain the following:
Performance Testing*:
All Swim Instructors are required to perform the following performance test prior to employment and may be tested at any time throughout their employment.
Performance test are as follows:
$25,000 - $35,000
Welcoming with joy people of all ages, faiths, and backgrounds, our innovative Center provides programs and services designed to meet the needs of everyone from infants to seniors.
Come work out in our 50,000 square foot Byer Athletic Center; take a class at our Koret Learning Center; create a lifetime of memories for your children at our award-winning preschool or at Camp Keff.
At the PJCC we believe in a 'Wellness Your Way' approach to overall wellness. Wellness Your Way is an integrated approach to help youth and adults of all ages experience greater well-being by helping you identify your own, unique wellness formula and create a plan to put that formula to work in your life.
Your personal wellness formula serves your whole life, and it is unique to you. Your formula includes Nourish, Move and Engage activities that are the building blocks of a life well-lived.


text:
The Smart e-bikes Research Project has recently published two videos about its work, and also features on the Guardian website.
We have recently uploaded 2 videos, which were filmed during an e-bikes trial event in Brighton on 9th March 2013.
The aim of the event was to raise public awareness of e-cycling, by offering free training to members of the public, and to gather information for the research project. The event was organised by the University of Brighton and Brighton & Hove City Council, and funded by the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.
One video provides interviews with the participants at the event and captures their attitudes and insights. The other video concentrates on the nature of the project research – explaining its rationale, the trials involving a fleet of 35 e-bikes in Brighton and Hove, and the development of an open-source/sensor monitoring system that enables real-time display of rider data, plus research analysis.
The videos are available at: http://www.youtube.com/user/smartebikes
https://vimeo.com/71895660 and https://vimeo.com/71895116
A thoughtful article, written by Dr Frauke Behrendt, the Smart e-bikes Project Leader, has recently been published on the Guardian Sustainable Business partner zone, entitled "Using electrically-assisted bikes: lazy cheaters or healthy travellers?"
It is available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/electrically-assisted-bikes-lazy-or-healthy


text:
BLUE SKY: The Blessing of Writer's Block
Lisa Alden has written on Entourage and Lipstick Jungle and speaks at conferences on the art of pitching Hollywood executives. Visit Lisa's website and follow her on Twitter @lisaalden3.
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As we begin the New Year, I invite you to consider an anti-resolution that flies in the face of everything you've ever heard about creativity. While the rest of the world quits smoking, stays off Facebook, and starts some kind of cleanse, and while every writer in the world re-reads the The War of Art, vowing to rise with the roosters and write until noon EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, I invite you to DO NOTHING.
Take a deep breath. It's gonna be ok. I've worked on high-pressure television shows. I've taught in structured academic settings like UCLA, and through the years, I've encouraged writers to commit to strict writing schedules (a minimum of ten hours each week). I've espoused the value of writing "vomit pages," and I've pushed the "kitchen timer" tool (credit Don Roos) that requires you do not get up from the chair for exactly one hour, no excuses. But I've also been crippled by horrible writers block that none of these tools could cure. I once worked through the night on one scene for an Entourage episode only to bring it into the writers room the next morning, looking like a giddy zombie in Ugg boots. I handed it to the showrunner and he rewrote the whole thing in five minutes. (It was better).
For years, my copy of The War of Art,by Steven Pressfield was my dog-eared, Starbucks stained Bible. As most of you know, the book's thesis is that resistance is fear, and it is something that has to be conquered. If you look at the cover of the book, it says that it will teach you to win "your creative battle." So there's this idea that you're fighting something. Another of my favorite books, The Tools has a similar philosophy but a slightly different approach, having to do with inviting as much pain as possible into your writing process. All I'm saying is maybe it's not so crazy to think of your life's work as a little less battle and little more... fun?
The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation. (The War of Art)
I'm not against being a warrior at all. I do a lot of yoga and a big position is "Warrior 2." It's a great mindset when you go into battle. But what if your arm is hanging off the side of your body? Would it make sense to stay on the battlefield and wait for the arm to fall off or maybe walk away and get some medical attention? Maybe it's time to consider a different metaphor for the creative process that doesn't involve grinding it out with a life or death scenario. In your lifetime, how many wars have you seen that have ended well?
A little backstory... In the fall of 2008, as you may remember, it felt like the battle lines between the rich and the poor had been drawn and the stakes were our homes, our livelihood, and for many of us, our identities (if we defined them by our careers). Not only did the world economy nearly collapse, but if you were in the WGA, you were in the middle of a David and Goliath strike. As somebody who is about to start writing a web series, with benefits gained from that strike, I'm the first one to say it was worth it. But at the time, it completely freaked me out. I was the soldier on the battlefield who just stands there with his sword in the air, hoping nobody attacks me.
During those months, when I wasn't picketing (and trying to eavesdrop on Larry David), I got in the chair and tried to write. I wrote and re-wrote the first act of a movie. Every day. Eventually, I accepted that I wasn't going to make it into the second act, so I looked at my effort as something to do to pass the time, as a way to keep from panicking that I would run out of money before the strike ended and I could go back to work on the NBC show I was staffed on at the time.
The strike of course ended and I didn't run out of money. However, the showrunner on the NBC show unexpectedly replaced every single writer. Suddenly, I couldn't even write that first act.
In the spring of 2009, as staffing season approached, my agent began to pressure me for new material. A casualty of the strike was that writers rooms had gotten much smaller. People with bigger credits were taking jobs I was up for. The competition was as fierce as the panic was intense. Like a good soldier, I sharpened my sword and became determined to fight the creative battle to the death. Or until I got my next staffing job.
Day in and day out, I embraced the fear. I stayed in the chair. But it didn't work. I had come down with a paralyzing case of writers block. My shrink at the time decided I had ADD and wrote a prescription for Adderall. Over the next two weeks, I wrote like I was on fire. I came out the other end with a short story that I still consider the best piece of writing I've ever done. My agent loved it. I got lots of meetings. I watched Patton and read the Churchill letters and felt like I'd been brought into the tribe of warriors.
But the victory was short-lived. I didn't get staffed. My agent dropped me. I lost my apartment. I had gone to battle, but lost.
I was utterly defeated.
And in that defeat, my intuition had its moment. It said, "Get off the battlefield. Now." Then it told me to throw away the Adderall. "If this drug is what it's going to take to write, then forget it. You're not writing. It's not worth it."
And in that defeat, in giving in to the resistance instead of fighting it, the panic went away. And in its place my intuition became stronger.
So I offer you this crazy idea. It's okay not to write. It's okay if you don't want to. It's okay if you do want to, but you have writer's block. In fact, not writing may be the greatest course of non-action you will ever take. Consider it a sign that something else is going on that needs to be addressed. How about we stop seeing the blank page as something that has to be attacked and conquered every single day for the rest of your life and see it for what it is – simply a blank page.
Being a writer is like having homework for the rest of your life. (Credited to James Brooks)
For five years, I didn't write. I worried that I'd lost my career. I confused my career with my talent. You can't lose talent like a set of car keys that can fall down a storm drain and land in the ocean (which happened to me recently). Talent doesn't go anywhere. It can't be lost. But it does need to be respected. The perspective I have now was hard won over those five years. It's not easy seeing your friends' credits on TV shows, their pilot deals on "Deadline," or their vacations to Aspen on Facebook.
But a funny thing happened on the way to this article. Without trying to make any of this happen, I've recently been staffed on a web series, been accepted into a pretty prestigious WGA drama pilot writing program, and I'm writing this column without much stress at all.
So in three easy steps, I invite you to consider joining me in the pursuit of non-resistance and surrender. Because beyond the fear, is the idea that your intuition can lead you to places as a writer and more importantly as a human being, than you ever dreamed possible while sitting chained to a chair.
So here's a place to start...
Pick a project, any project. It exists on your computer or in your head. Ask yourself these three questions:
- Why am I writing it? Be honest if you're writing it for the money, to get an agent, or keep the one you have.
- What do I want from writing it? A feeling of accomplishment, to work out my anger over my last stupid boyfriend, to figure out what I have to say about the world…
- What do I want anybody who reads it to get from it?
I'm proud to say that because of this adventure called "writer's block" I am now a warrior of a different kind than I ever believed possible. I am a warrior who assesses the battle before I go onto the field. On any given day, that might mean writing pages, or it might mean going to yoga or watching Singing in the Rain for the millionth time. I agree with Pressfield and his tribe that the way of the warrior is not easy, but I refuse to live my life chained to anything, especially my creativity.
And so I make you this promise...
The really good writing... The writing that shines your light into the world, that gives your life the purpose and meaning every human being instinctively desires with their work, will happen if you learn to trust it a little more. Follow your intuition in your life and you can't help but follow it on the page.
Let me know how it goes. I can be reached on my blog.
- More articles by Lisa Alden
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- Balls of Steel: 7 Lessons in Outlining, First Drafts & Fear, Oh My!
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Using Your Fear to Propel Your Writing Career


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Thank you for choosing A Perfect View Construction, for the replacement of your windows and doors in your home! We are proud to offer you products and services of the highest quality and value. We also stand behind the products that we sell, which is why we offer quick responsive service and a comprehensive warranty.
Description of Warranty:
A Perfect View Construction guarantees to the original purchaser that products installed in a single family home or a multi-family home unit by A Perfect View Construction will be free of defective workmanship for a lifetime from the original installation date. If the Determination has been made that the defect or concern is attributable to our workmanship, A Perfect View Construction will repair the Defective installation or materials.
Who is covered:
This warranty extends only the original purchaser of windows and or doors from A Perfect View Construction. The warranty starts on the date that the product was installed in the home and remains effective as long as the original purchaser owns the home.
What's not covered:
- Damage or defects relating to misuse, abuse or modification of product and installation.
- Acts of nature.
- Normal wear & tear.
- Building movements or settlements.
- Failure to protect wood surfaces (Masonite or wood trim) against moisture prior to, or immediately after installation.
- Failure to maintain product under manufacturer's warranty.
- Leakage caused by modifications or poor roofs.
- Leakage caused by recent installation or removal of patio covers.
Proper care:
- If stucco repair has been done by A Perfect View Construction it must be painted within 10 days of installation.
- (Hair line cracks in stucco are common during curing process; paint will fill cracks when painted.)
- Caulking around exterior of windows is recommended to be painted to match the color of the house.
Limitations on remedies:
In no event will A Perfect View Construction be liable for incidental or consequential damages(other than to repair labor under this warranty), whether based on breach of express or implied warranty, breach of contract, negligence, strict liability or any other legal theory. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. You also have specific legal rights under the manufacturer's warranty, and you may have other rights which vary from state to state.
To obtain service under this warranty, contact us at 951-698-2885.


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About our supply chain work
We connect and support collaborations among small- and medium-sized farmers, businesses, entrepreneurs, processors, and other food and agricultural system partners.
The University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) is committed to building relationships that move University of Minnesota agricultural innovation from lab to farm to table. Our supply chain work:
Focuses on crops and systems intended to provide diversity on the landscape; protect our soil, water and air; spur innovation and generate economic opportunity.
Connects University of Minnesota researchers with community experts and innovators in Greater Minnesota.
Facilitates University interdepartmental and cross-departmental collaborations to tackle research opportunities from a systems-based perspective.
Project examples
2016, Sames, Lanthier, Carlson
Research, breeding and development of a commercially viable hazelnut adapted for the Upper Midwest has been underway for over 10 years. As perennial plants, hazelnuts provide myriad benefits to the ecological and agricultural landscape. This study, funded in part by RSDP, analyzed the Upper Midwest hazelnut industry, providing insight into potential successes and pitfalls of this new agricultural crop.
Additional Resources:
2016-18, Draeger, Carlson
This project draws on cross-disciplinary University of Minnesota expertise to build networks between researchers, farmers, culinary professionals, food entrepreneurs, and food and agricultural businesses interested in growing, testing and piloting University-developed and improved specialty crops.
Additional Resources:
2017-19, Ford, Carlson
The "Garlic Project" is a collaboration between RSDP and the Sustainable Farming Association, supported by a generous grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. This project intends to enhance existing producers' and new farmers' profitability by increasing premium garlic production in Minnesota. Producers receive training in the best production and marketing practices, expanding markets and supply chains, and conducting research on improved cultivation methods.


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Jose Abreu will miss the series against the Indians in Cleveland with a right thigh infection, according to MLB.com.
The White Sox said the thigh infection, which was serious enough to require hospitalization, is not connected to an earlier injury that sidelined Abreu in August.
Abreu went on the disabled list on Aug. 22 with testicular torsion, which originally was termed a "lower abdomen/groin area" injury.
"It was one of my testicles turned sideways and was strangled," Abreu explained through an interpreter when he returned to the lineup earlier this month. "The doctor had to perform emergency surgery to save it."
The team set no timetable for Abreu's return from the thigh infection. After the Indians series, the Sox will be host to the Cubs for a three-game weekend set beginning Friday, then close out the season with three home games against the Indians and three games against the Twins in Minnesota.
After appearing in at least 145 games in each of his first four seasons with the White Sox, Abreu will fall well short of that mark in 2018. Before this year, Abreu had been on the disabled list only once, in 2014, when he missed two weeks with tendinitis in his left ankle.
The All-Star first baseman is batting just .265 this season, 30 points lower than his career mark of .295, with 22 home runs. Despite the missed time, Abreu still leads the Sox in runs batted in (78), doubles (36) and extra-base hits (59).
Abreu's streak of having 25 home runs and 100 RBIs in every year of his career will come to an end. Only three players in major-league history — Albert Pujols, Joe DiMaggio and Abreu — reached those numbers in each of their first four major-league seasons.
[ More White Sox: Prospects like Eloy Jimenez are developing faster, being called up later ]
[ 5 things to know about new White Sox reliever Rob Scahill ]


text: When I was young I thought Bridget Jones was a joke. Ha-ha, what a load of codswallop, I laughed, as I watched her chain-smoke her way into Colin Firth's britches. But then I reached her age and found, to my horror, it's all true. Every scene is now being re-enacted by me, from the hopeless crush on the wrong man, through the never-ending quest for self-improvement, to all those bloody dinner parties.


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Celebrating the Data Revolution
The votes are in, and we?re excited to be recognized as the DataWeek Top Innovator in the category of best Platform/API, after joining the list of 2012?s Top 100 Data Innovators earlier this year. Thanks to the 500 people who voted for us amongst 85 nominees! We?ll be celebrating with other data industry leaders like Amazon AWS, Salesforce and Terracotta at next month?s DataWeek 2012 Conference & Festival in San Francisco.
Harnessing data is something we?re passionate about here at SnapLogic. Our fearless product leader, Zeb Mahmood, will even be speaking on a panel about it called ?The Future of the Business Cloud? at DataWeek on Sept 25th. In the meantime, let us know how your enterprise is using data and the cloud in new ways in the comments below!
P.S. If you?ll be joining us at DataWeek, feel free to use discount code ?DataWeek25? at Dataweek.eventbrite.com for 25% off your registration.


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Democrats hide costs, approve Maine welfare for non-citizens bill allowing DHHS to take from other programs
AUGUSTA – On paper, the bill to provide welfare for non-citizens in Maine doesn't cost anything, at least according to a decision by the Maine House of Representatives to strip the bill of its $14+ million fiscal note. That doesn't mean the spending won't happen, but now the spending will not face the scrutiny and restrictions that items that are placed in the state budget face.
The move came as the legislature was wrapping up business, after the legislature had already approved the state budget and the spending of the remaining $6 million after the budget deal was struck was also agreed to.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Drew Gattine, restores state-funded welfare benefits to non-citizens, including those who have not yet filed for asylum, in Maine's food stamps (SNAP), Medicaid and TANF programs.
Instead of actually identifying the money and putting it in the budget, the House directed Maine's Department of Health and Human Services to use existing resources to provide the welfare benefits.
That move allows administrators at DHHS to move funds that were appropriated to other programs into funding for welfare for non-citizens.
The original $14 million fiscal note was created before the new influx of migrants into Portland, so the cost of the benefits could rise beyond the original estimate in the fiscal note, which has now been modified to include no cost.
Maine DHHS manages many programs with funds which could become vulnerable if administrators run short on funds for non-citizen welfare. Those programs include supports for Maine's elderly and disabled citizens, pregnant mothers, low-income families and others.
The Maine House passed the bill by a vote of 88-59 before stripping the costs out of the bill, they then voted to strip the costs from the fiscal note by a similar margin.
The passage of the bill includes an admission in the new "fiscal note" which says "Without additional funding, the impact of these new provisions on other programs and services in the DHHS cannot be determined at this time."
That fiscal note "eliminates" the cost of more than $14 million in the upcoming two year budget and nearly $29 million through fiscal year 2022-23, but authorizes the state to spend that money anyway.
The bill has been expected to serve as the vehicle through which Legislative Democrats and Governor Janet Mills would provide funding to an influx of new non-citizens who arrived in Portland in recent weeks. Some Republicans are calling the bill a "bail out" for Portland's Mayor Ethan Strimling, who has called for more and more people to be sent to Portland from the southern border, despite the acknowledgement by some Portland officials that the city can't afford it.
Speaker Sara Gideon led the passage of the bill, voting for it in both the original passage and the amendment to strip out the actual costs.
The bill was opposed both times by Republicans and supported by Democrats, with some liberal independents joining them to support the bill.
You can read both roll call votes by clicking the links below, a "Y" indicates support of the bill, an "N" indicates opposition to the bill.
First roll call: Click here.
Second roll call: Click here.
Follow Maine Examiner on Facebook to get news and information you won't find anywhere else.


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Natural Language Semantics
Formation and Valuation
- $104.99
- $104.99
Publisher Description
An introduction to natural language semantics that offers an overview of the empirical domain and an explanation of the mathematical concepts that underpin the discipline.
This textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of those approaches to natural language semantics that use the insights of logic. Many other texts on the subject focus on presenting a particular theory of natural language semantics. This text instead offers an overview of the empirical domain (drawn largely from standard descriptive grammars of English) as well as the mathematical tools that are applied to it. Readers are shown where the concepts of logic apply, where they fail to apply, and where they might apply, if suitably adjusted.
The presentation of logic is completely self-contained, with concepts of logic used in the book presented in all the necessary detail. This includes propositional logic, first order predicate logic, generalized quantifier theory, and the Lambek and Lambda calculi. The chapters on logic are paired with chapters on English grammar. For example, the chapter on propositional logic is paired with a chapter on the grammar of coordination and subordination of English clauses; the chapter on predicate logic is paired with a chapter on the grammar of simple, independent English clauses; and so on.
The book includes more than five hundred exercises, not only for the mathematical concepts introduced, but also for their application to the analysis of natural language. The latter exercises include some aimed at helping the reader to understand how to formulate and test hypotheses.


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On Oct. 15, 2004, Mary Elizabeth Schipke entered the Oracle post office to buy a 47-cent stamped envelope. When she got frustrated with the clerk behind the counter, she told her: "God, I pray a bomb falls on your stupid, fucking head."
Almost a year later, Schipke was convicted of threatening a federal facility with weapons of mass destruction. Schipke describes what she told the clerk that day as an "imprecatory prayer"—basically, a simple curse—but that defense didn't keep her from serving a four-year prison sentence, with the last two years at Carswell, a women's federal medical prison outside of Fort Worth, Texas, that has been the subject of allegations about the questionable care of prisoners with physical and psychiatric conditions.
Although now free and on supervised release, Schipke, 51, continues to fight the federal government—this time, over a DNA sample forcibly removed from her in prison. After her release, prison officials realized that fingerprints needed to go along with the DNA sample were apparently taken in a sloppy manner. Now, the government wants a second DNA sample and a new set of fingerprints.
Schipke and her court-appointed attorney, Leslie Bowman, have taken her case to the U.S. Court of Appeals to keep the government from taking that sample—on the grounds of religious freedom. Schipke believes her DNA is connected to her soul and what she calls the Divine Maker.
"My DNA is completely unique, and it is sacred. How do I know what they'll do with my sacred DNA?" she asks.
Schipke wouldn't be in her current position if the government hadn't decided to prosecute the post-office case. Schipke says she wasn't much of a threat in 2004; she spent most of her time in a wheelchair and got by each month on disability assistance and food stamps. She says she suffers from fibromyalgia, chronic-pain syndrome and a chemical sensitivity disorder, among other illnesses.
Schipke says she often complained to the post-office staff about dangerous potholes in front of the building.
"They didn't like me much," Schipke recalls as she pulls out a transcript of the 911 phone call made by the clerk who reported the alleged bomb threat.
On the transcript, the clerk is noted as laughing while describing the incident to the 911 operator.
"I don't think you'd be laughing if you really thought I had a bomb, would you?" Schipke asks.
Schipke describes numerous incidents in prison as "torture"—including the forced retrieval of her DNA sample.
Federal facilities are required by the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to obtain DNA samples from inmates convicted of "certain qualifying offenses." Those offenses were amended in the USA Patriot Act to include acts of terrorism or crimes of violence.
Schipke was first asked to allow prison staff to take a DNA sample in December 2007, but she refused. She refused again in February 2008, March 2008 and April 2008. Each refusal came with a loss of privileges. According to the law, if an inmate continues to refuse, the sample may be collected by force—and that's what happened.
Schipke's attorney obtained a DVD made by Carswell officials that shows guards dressed in SWAT gear preparing to enter Schipke's cell. Through a small window, the camera shows Schipke holding the leg rest from her wheelchair and swinging it in the air, as she yells that she will not allow them to take her DNA. The guards move in; one each takes an arm, a leg, her head and feet, and hold her down by pressing their knees against her body.
Medical staffers quickly take blood samples and leave; then another person arrives to take fingerprints. At full volume, you can hear Schipke telling the guards to let go, because she isn't against allowing them to fingerprint her. However, she isn't released until another staffer reaches over the guards' bodies to clumsily take the fingerprints.
According to the federal prosecutors' arguments filed with the 9th Circuit, the government has a "compelling interest in obtaining the defendant's DNA," because Schipke was convicted of a serious felony offense: threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction.
The Tucson Weekly called the prosecutor on record, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Granoff, for comment. Public information officer Sandy Raynor responded that no representative was able to comment on the case.
It's a charge Schipke should never have faced, says Bowman. Others agree; in May, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief stating that while Schipke is often rude and offensive, she is not a terrorist.
The brief states: "(S)uch is Mary Schipke's lot. She is quite unlikable. She is rude, offensive and willing to make outlandish statements either to draw attention to herself or to voice frustrations with societal norms causing her perpetual grief. But she is no terrorist. At least one clerk at the Oracle post office was familiar with her abrasive conduct. Pre-9/11, Ms. Schipke's outbursts likely would have won her a misdemeanor disorderly conduct prosecution. Post-9/11, she is a convicted terrorist who presumably has a timeshare in a B-52 bomber or perhaps connections to a radical terrorist cell, that, strategic considerations be damned, seeks to bomb the Oracle post office. This case represents a sad and absurd failure of prosecutorial discretion ... that should prove a canary in the proverbial coal mine."
However, prosecutorial discretion is not the focus of Schipke's current case. Bowman explained in an e-mail that a temporary emergency stay is in place preventing the court from allowing prison officials to collect the second DNA sample. Bowman and Schipke, however, want the case to go before the Court of Appeals. If the U.S. District Court denies the stay, and/or if Schipke loses her appeal, Bowman wrote that her client may choose another appeal—and she'll also have to seek another emergency stay.
"If she refuses, a petition could be filed to revoke her supervised release. That could result in her being taken back into custody. She could also be charged with a criminal offense," Bowman wrote.
Aside from this battle over her DNA, Schipke says she's fighting for her basic survival. Because of her felony conviction, she is no longer eligible for Section 8 housing and had to reapply for disability assistance.
"They took my whole world away from me," Schipke says.


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|A Celebration of Life for Paul Bourassa will be held at Lupita's Restaurant in Barra Friday, January 24, at 3:00pm.
Happiness is…..
Knowing that life IS eternal
Souls, set free, fly away
And find those they've lost
I once thought life
Was a temporary state
But now have found joy
In knowing it goes on FOREVER
Love survives…..
On Earth…..
We strive, and work, and love
And suffer and grieve
But once freed from bodily form
Fly like angels…….
I am content
The fear has left me
I was once sad that I'd miss
All those Ive loved , will love yet
But, now I know……
Angels are real
I will take my gossamer wings
And dance on the clouds
In joy, everyone is with me
Forever and ever. Amen
— Liz Parkin
Liz Parkin is a mother and grandmother extraordinaire. She is also an artist, writer, activist/shit-disturber, peacemaker, community volunteer, friend, dancer, survivor of domestic assault, Amazon warrior and fearless with the help of her friends. Liz writes poetry and paints acrylics of and in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco as well as on Vancouver Island in British Columbia where she has lived most of her life.
Her art and poetry appear in Last Call: Poems, Stories and Art from the Costalegre (2015). Liz has a joint art exhibition planned in the new year in Barra de Navidad.
Angels are Real was composed this past Christmas Eve. Liz will read this poem at A Celebration of Life for Paul Bourassa. The Celebration will be held at Lupita's Restaurant in Barra Friday, January 24, 2020 at 3:00pm. Please bring a printed photo of Paul to help build a collage of photo memories.


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@ Utopia Place
270 Washington Street
Pembroke, MA 02359
Energy work is much better experienced than explained and this evening will be all about experiences. You will experience your own energy. You will learn tools that you can use on a daily basis to better your life; such as how to get yourself present in any moment, to feel more grounded, to tap into the joy of life.