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I figured that with the requirement of a published author to have a blog these days, personal matters as well as professional insights and general philosophical musings about any given topic are certainly "game" material for posting, since it's good to let your followers get to know you as a person better. And though I do not plan to be narcissistic (well, okay, not too much, anyway) and make personal matters dominate my choice of topics, this one I think is well deserved, as it's done in the honor of a close family member I just lost yesterday. That would be my grandfather, known to those who knew him–and me–personally as Thomas Nigro, Sr., who passed on yesterday after 89 glorious years of a basically good and productive life.
I think that I certainly owe this blogged eulogy to my grandfather, as anyone who knew me well personally was almost certainly aware of the rocky relationship I had with him over the course of my life. The common narrative attributed to it seems to be the usual cliche' of me taking the role of the ungrateful little punk who never appreciated all his grandfather did for him, including the fact that he let me live with him and my grandmother after my mother left their home when I was 12, and I elected to stay with them; and I was nothing but trouble for this greatly caring couple who devoted their time generously and unselfishly to raising me. Like most such stories, there is admittedly at least a grain of truth to that, as I was quite outspoken and difficult as I grew up, and my grandparents certainly went through a lot dealing with me. Of course, also like such stories, the cliche' tends to be an overly simplistic interpretation of the situation. As disrespectful and defiant of authority as I could be (and often was, I must admit), I never abused any substance (e.g., alcohol or narcotics), nor was I ever habitually in trouble with the law, and to my grandparents' credit, they didn't impose strict rules on me. As such, I had nothing to rebel against, and I stayed out of trouble by choice. However, our personal relations could be difficult, as my willful nature often made me what my family would call "mouthy," and I was mischievous in the extreme. Yes, me and the other kids in the neighborhood proceeded to terrorize it with our mischief on a regular basis, and to quote the lyrical phrase popularized by the theme song of the classic '70s sitcom All in the Family, "those were the days." Okay, for us maybe, if not for the neighbors who had to deal with a small group of kids running in and out of their backyards and hopping fences while playing chase or pretending to be super-heroes on a mission to save the world, that is.
The full truth of the matter, as I strive to be objective here, is the following: My grandfather and I were two very difficult people to deal with at times, and despite a few superficial similarities (e.g., a temper; stubbornness about our ways; an obnoxious sense of humor with a love of getting over on other people), we were very different individuals in many essential ways. Make two such people live together, and what do you get? Exactly the volatile mix one would expect, of course. On top of all that, my grandfather was quite big on the "tough love" ideology, and he could be merciless to those he disapproved of (and he was quick to disapprove of many people), even if you happened to be a member of his immediate family who cared about him greatly (yup, that included me on both counts, or is that surprising?). When I was quite young, however, my grandfather and I were best buds, and those were very happy times of my life. Since my mother was a mere 16 when she had me, and obviously still living at home, my grandparents took a strong role in raising me, often leading to a source of conflict and rivalry between my mother and them. One could argue that they "won" the conflict, considering I chose to stay with them after my mother left their home when I was 12. This gives an idea of how close I was to both my grandparents despite all the conflicts that eventually began, and which went a long way towards shaping me into the person I was to ultimately become, for better or worse.
When I reached my middle school years, it became obvious to my grandfather that I wasn't going to become the grandson he had hoped for–I was obviously destined to become Chris the Writer, instead of Chris the Carpenter, and that was not an area of interest that my grandfather was familiar with. In his day, my grandfather was greatly skilled in carpentry, cement work, plumbing, gardening, just about anything you needed your hands to do, and he could fix nearly anything that broke. I totally lacked these skills, my abilities going in an entirely different area of expertise, so to speak, but I was always greatly impressed with his natural ability at what he was good at. But he valued living a productive albeit quiet life, avoiding controversy whenever possible, which–well, wasn't the case with me. My controversial opinions (all of which I stand behind, mind you) and annoyingly natural tendency to think "outside the box" wasn't smiled upon by my grandfather, and he and the rest of my immediate family could not comprehend these aspects of me, so it resulted in a great many conflicts and fights, with my grandfather inevitably being awarded the "right by default" status due to the usual justification of me living in his house, he being generous enough to provide for me while I did nothing for him save take up space in his home, etc., et al. I won't get into the in depth discussion and analysis of the "if someone provides for you materially, you owe them unlimited deference" ideology here (but rest assured I will in a future post, since the ideology certainly does bears such scrutiny and analysis). Simply pointing out the crux of the difficulties my grandfather and I faced while living together all of those years is what's important here, as this post is intended as an honor to his memory and discussion of our relationship, and it's getting pretty long as it is.
Let me now give all credit to my grandfather where it happens to be due, in case anyone be concerned I am going to do little other than bash him along the lines of what the many celebrities do to the people who raised them in their various autobiographies (whether justified or otherwise). He was always a hard worker, sometimes maybe even to a fault, as he never hesitated to do things the hard way. He did indeed provide very well for me while raising me, and I cannot make a single complaint along those lines. Despite all of our conflicts, he almost never hesitated to provide transportation to me to various places I needed or wanted to go, and I appreciated these things more than I can possibly say. I was always concerned about taking advantage of him despite what anyone may think, and for the last three years of his life, when it became clear that old age and the health problems that so often come with it were catching up to him, I went to great lengths to secure alternative means of transportation when I needed it (it was very difficult for me to drive a vehicle due to various health problems, the main one being afflicted with a very cruel malady called chronic fatigue syndrome at an early point in my life, but I will get into more detail about these aspects of my life in future posts, as it would be getting too far off topic to delve into them here).
So the truth is, despite all the not so great personality traits which we both possessed that made us difficult to relate to and get along with each other, my grandfather was a pretty cool guy. For the past 12 years, he was generous enough to allow me to inhabit the upper apartment of his home for a very affordable rent (far less than I would have been able to get for such a big apartment from strangers, especially in the Western New York area), and I will always be thankful to him for this. He took care of family no matter what his personal feelings for them may have been, and this is something that one cannot take away from him. Once I moved out of his home and finally gained the privacy and space we needed from each other after I graduated from college and began my career as a struggling writer (finally now beginning to bear fruit, but again, that is another post), our relationship improved significantly. We started the road towards becoming best buds again, and despite the continued conflicts we had from time to time, and all the resentments and regrets one can expect to develop between two peas from separate pods living together for so long, I came to the conclusion that my grandfather was alright, and I was glad to have him in my life for so long.
Most importantly, I'm glad I got the chance to tell him that very thing last week, the last time I saw him alive, just a few hours before he had to be hospitalized for the final time, as it turned out. I deeply regret not seeing him the few days he was in the hospital, but not only do I greatly dislike the atmosphere of such places, it was very difficult for me to see him in such an emaciated condition. I like to consider myself a generally strong person, but I have to admit that some things are just beyond me, and this happens to be one of them. Understand that my grandfather was a physically powerful and energetic man well into his later years, and I was always impressed by this facet of his being, with the result being that I grew up seeing him as nigh-invincible. I never thought old age would catch up to him to the extent that it did, but over the past decade, as he went from his late 70s into his 80s, he began to physically decline, and it was very difficult for me to see this happen. It weighed very heavily on him too, as he became increasingly (and understandably) depressed and irritable over this inexorable decline. I could do nothing but sympathize with this plight of his, for I could only imagine what it was like for him to gradually but quickly lose the great prowess and energy he once had, and was well known for. He was a prideful man who was used to getting things his way and being in full control of his life, and this was not something he could deal with gracefully. Despite his enjoyment of life, he wasn't happy any more as his physical decline progressed, and in truth, he wasn't upset when the end came for him. The members of his family (including me) are very upset, of course, because we already miss him terribly. But my mother and my uncle, his two children, made the right decision in deciding not to have extraordinary measures taken to resuscitate him when the end came, nor put him on life support; he would not have wanted these things, and when my mother discussed this with me two days before he passed on, I fully agreed with her that to do that would have been selfishness on our part, and if we did such a thing, it would have been for us, not for him.
I am certain that many reading this, if not most of you, have gone through the same thing, as loss comes to all of us eventually, and I don't need to explain how difficult it is to do the right thing, rather than the self-serving thing, when it comes to parting with someone who meant so much to you, and whom you wanted to be around forever. And as I have often noted, and will certainly note again, the right decision is most often the hardest of two or more possible decisions, which is why doing the right thing can be so difficult to do in many given instances.
During his few days of hospitalization, I wanted to say goodbye to my grandfather, to let him know how sorry I was for my no small part in the difficulties we had, and how glad I was that relations between us had improved over the past decade. The 'l' word was there, but he and I weren't the type to use it without feeling terribly 'mushy' and awkward, at least between us (I have been able to use that important word with my grandmother often since I almost lost her to an aneurysm a decade ago, thankfully). That may be a "macho" fault we had, no doubt, but that was the way it is, just like we both knew we had to accept each others' stubbornness and various other idiosyncrasies, even to the very end. But I felt so much between us was unresolved, and there were other words that could be used to make how I felt about him clear. After a heartfelt discussion with my boss and BFF the same day he passed on, I resolved to compromise by writing him a letter that expressed how I felt, and how much I would miss him, and my mother agreed to read it to him the following day. Sadly, however, my grandfather didn't last another day, as he passed on at the hospice mere minutes after my mother and uncle arrived to see him later that afternoon. I will always regret not getting that letter to him, but I am determined to honor his memory in other ways, so that in the end, it won't seem so bad that he got Chris the Writer as a grandson instead of Chris the Carpenter (who would have figured, eh?).
When I was quite young and we were best buds, and he would let me accompany him on all the work he used to do around the house–fixing, repairing, and building many things while dealing with my annoying presence the entire time–he gave me the nickname "Benny," something he never really used once my childhood gave way to my problematic middle school years. Nevertheless, it stands as a memory of the happy times I shared with him back in those all but carefree days, and as such, this is the reason I gave the character in my upcoming novel Centurion the name Benny Lotherno (the last name being one of the variants of our real last name throughout history I recently uncovered via research). There will be quite a bit of autobiographical material in that novel despite being a work of fantastic fiction, and since I hope it's successful enough to be the first of many featuring that character, his first name will stand as a lasting monument in memory of my grandfather, and the good times we shared. Moreover, I plan to write a special story, intended for publication, that will likewise do him honor, this one featuring another continuing character of mine, Mike Nero, as he and his grandfather–based on guess who? (Go ahead and guess, your first one will be correct!)–will share a final adventure together that will serve as a sort of emotional catharsis for me. I do believe my grandfather's consciousness lives on in a better plane of reality (he didn't believe in an afterlife, so if I turn out to be correct, I will gain the satisfaction of one day visiting him and telling him, "I told you so!"), and wherever he now resides, no doubt happily taking advantage of the restored vigor he now enjoys as he sets off on a new adventure, I am hoping he will see that his grandson will do his best to insure that he is immortalized and never forgotten, as he was quite a special guy and I want it always to be known that despite how often we knocked heads, his grandson respects and appreciates all he did for him wholeheartedly.
I would like to ask all my followers and friends who read this to give a minute of silence in my grandfather's memory.
Thomas J. Nigro, 1923-2012


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March 1st- Mom and Dad Birthday Celebration
March 2nd- Cooper recovering from above mentioned celebration
March 3rd- Afternoon at B Wubs!
March 4th- Dinner!
March 5th-Quiet Night at Home
March 6th-Did Cooper Throw a Party Last Night?
March 7th-TGIF with an Early Bed Time
March 8th– Breakfast at the Bakery
March 9th-I Took a Walk! Outside!
March 10th-New Workout Pants
March 11th-The Snow is Melting…
March 12th-The Snow is Back!
March 13th- Breakfast at the Gym
March 14th-A Rough Week Ends with a Fantastic Friday Night Dinner
March 15th-St. Patty's Day in the City
March 16th-I Heart Fro Yo!
March 17th-Happy St. Patrick's Day!
March 18th-Post AM Workout Reward
March 19th-Office Starbucks Run on a Rainy Day
March 20th-Happy First Day of Spring!
March 21st-Playing with Cooper
March 22nd-Meridian Yoga Workshop
March 23rd- Wiener Circle at 12:30am
March 24th-Morning Workout
March 25th-Tuesday Tradition (after spin class of course)
March 26th-Sunrise through the Frost
March 27th-Rocking the 80's Curls
March 28th-Friday Night Tennis Date
March 29th-Finally Watched Frozen (with my girl Scarlett)!
March 30th-Run in the Sun
March 31st-Girls Dinner Sushi Date!

subset: commoncrawl


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How On Avail Cheap Towing San Diego?
Making the best deal for your car Cheap towing San Jose should always be your main point. You do not know how many it would take to repair your wheels while it meets with an event. Therefore you should always go for the cheaper rates. It is ever a good deal. But never agree with quality. Get the best rates for the assistance you avail. Sure everyone wants everything cost efficiently. But there are some tips and tricks that you should learn before assuming cheap rates.
Any Of The Things You Should Keep In Memory To Avail Cheap Towing San Diego.
- Compare Services Of Different Towing Companies: The is the best way to get the best deals on Cheap Towing San Diego. You can compare the rates of towing your vehicle online between two groups or several companies. Do not settle for one price alone. Be smart and execute the right choice. You would take nothing less out of it but if negative more.
- Stay Loyal: If you stay within the same Cheap towing San Jose league you may get exhibits. It is not like your vehicle would break down every day but it is ever smart to make preparations. If you ask for help, your old towing company would get at your rescue in a heartbeat. Maybe give you a cut or two. But that is not the case with new customers. For stay loyal to your towing company to Cheap Towing San Diego.
Therefore select the best towing company out complicating it. Read the referrals and listen to customer reviews as well. Several companies would consider giving you car service commissions if you are an old one there. Cheap towing is not easy to find an explanation. But once you do make sure you try your to keep it at in disposal.
- Car buyers always struggle with keeping their vehicle in good form. While many characters learn how to take charge of their car, others usually end up paying huge money on improvements frequent. Here is a list of 5 easy and essential car support tips that you must know:
1. Daily Wash And Servicing
This is probably the easiest and most powerful car maintenance tip that every vehicle owner should understand. Car group often gets covered with dirt and mud on the way, and letting it stick for a great time can destroy the frame, or decrease the production of the vehicle. This is necessary to get your car cleaned frequent or back a long lane trip. It also inhibits the growth of any type of offensive smell or germ/bug infestation.
2. Timely Fuelnge
Lube oil plays an important role in supporting the health and performance of any vehicle. Among regular usage, the oil in a car's motor loses its lubricating ability and needs to change frequently. Different car companies suggest another time-period for which the oil should be used and suggest changing it after a certain number of weeks. Negotiate your car dealer or nearby parking when you should change your car's lubricating oil.
3. Proper Tire Health
Well-maintained tires go a great way in ensuring great show from your vehicle. Cheap towing San Jose a level or air pressure in tires based on the weight of the carrier and its efficiency. This is how? it is necessary to get your car's tire pressure checked regularly. It becomes especially crucial are planning to head out for a long ride or road trip as it can help avoid any tire related failures on the road.


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ClarkeDesign has been offering graphic design solutions since 1997 to a variety of great clients! With over a decade in the industry, the following services are proudly offered:
- Web Design -
Websites, Shopify, e-commerce, banners, html emails.
- Print Design -
Business cards, letterhead, envelopes, postcard, mailers, logos.
- Identity Branding -
Logos, company color schemes, font selections, guideline creations.
- Multimedia -
CD-Roms, audio, video, splash page and navigation animation.
- Marketing Consultation -
I call this service Clar-ke-ting - marketing with my own little twist.
- Photography -
Environment shots, models and portraiture, product photos.


text: The 10th annual E-Racing the Blues 5K run/walk 10K run will be held on Sunday, October 28 in Dravo Plaza, Wilmington Delaware's Riverfront. The 10K Race will be run at 8:30 followed by the 5K run at 9:45, 5K competitive walk at 9:50 and the recreational walk at 9:55. Awards will be presented after the 10k race and then again after the 5k. Amenities include a long-sleeved t-shirt for the first 750 participants, refreshments, face-painting, and entertainment. To register or start a team, visit www.eracingtheblues.org.


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Christian Mueller
About Dr. Mueller
Christian E. Mueller received his doctorate in educational psychology from the University
of Kentucky in 2006. He earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Ohio University
in 1991 and a master's degree in counseling psychology from the University of Colorado
at Denver in 1999. While working with disadvantaged adolescents in Denver, CO, Dr.
Mueller observed how some adolescents, because of certain personality, motivational
and cognitive characteristics, seemed more resilient in their ability to cope with
and adapt to life stressors. From this, Dr. Mueller developed a fascination with understanding
and enhancing those psychological, motivational, and socio-emotional processes that
allow individuals to achieve to their fullest potential.
Broadly, Dr. Mueller's research interests focus on understanding, from a developmental or longitudinal perspective, the motivational, psychological and social processes that help transform academic potential into educational achievement, particularly in adolescent and gifted populations. A secondary research interest focuses on understanding and improving the methods that researchers employ in quantitative analysis and measurement (i.e. Rasch modeling); understanding that in order to effectively measure complex educational and psychological phenomena, empirically validated psychometric methodology is required.
Dr. Mueller's current research focuses on two main topics: a) understanding how theories of personality (i.e. identity and self-concept development) and achievement motivation (e.g. achievement goal theory) work to enhance or impede talent development in gifted adolescents, and b) understanding and improving how researchers measure complex cognitive abilities (i.e. practical intelligence and tacit knowledge) through use of the Rasch measurement model.
Ph.D. Educational Psychology - University of Kentucky - 2006
MA Counseling Psychology/Counselor Education - University of Colorado at Denver - 1999
BSC Communications - Ohio University - 1991


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Instructions for applying
Aaltonaut Minor Programme is open for all Bachelor's level students in Aalto University. There are no prerequisites for joining the minor.
1. Get Aaltonaut approved as part of your Personal Study Plan (HOPS) through WebOodi
- In WebOodi, edit your study plan through the "Study Plans" tab ("HOPS" in Finnish).
- In your study plan Minors module, search for "Aaltonaut" and add the 25 credit Aaltonaut minor to your study plan.
- You can also have as your minor in your elective courses module, by getting it approved through your study coordinator. This can be useful if you have foreign exchange as your official minor, or you wish to complete a double minor.
- Send your Personal Study Plan to your study coordinator and wait for it to be approved.
- PSPs under the status of "primary" or "being approved" are not considered approved.
- Contact your study coordinator if you have any questions related to your Personal Study Plan.
Getting your Personal Study Plan approved can be done at anytime, there is no deadline, so get the minor approved as early as possible!
2. (Optional) Join our newsletter for information about the programme and upcoming courses
We recommend you subscribe to our newsletter so that you receive all the relevant information about our upcoming courses and any important deadlines.
Completing the Aaltonaut Minor
You must complete 20-25 ECTS of Aaltonaut-eligible courses to complete the minor. There are three mandatory courses that are required to complete the Aaltonaut Minor, and three elective courses (see below for list). An example timeline for completing these courses can be seen on the About-page: 1) join Aaltonaut first-year autumn 2) complete Product Analysis first-year spring 3) complete Designing an Electronic Device second-year autumn 4) complete 2-3 other elective courses between second and third year.
Mandatory courses:
- Designing an Electronic Device for Business and Production (I-II period)
- Product Analysis (III-IV period)
- Professional Development (continuous over the programme)
Elective courses:
- Product Sustainability (I-II period)
- ADD Basics (IV-V period)
- Challenge Breakers (summer course)
- Design Your Business (summer course)
- Research Project (I-II period or III-V period, can be used to replace Bachelor's Thesis)
- Aaltonaut Communication Skills (continuous, integrated within the programme)


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In a few very simple steps, you and your friends could start your own band that's exactly like Bombshell, and release your very own record that mirrors the torrent of originality on To Hell with Motives. So now, free of charge, I will release the ingredients that go into making a band like this;
First and foremost, you must have one singing and one screaming vocalist. This combination is absolutely imperative to the success of the band. In fact, the more vocalists the better. Three vocalists? Three times the fun is what I say! The more high-pitched and out of tune the singing the better the result. Now remember, if it sounds like the ages of the vocalists are anywhere above 15, you've overdone it. The second ingredient is just as important as the first one, and that's sophomoric and overdramatic lyrics. The more mentions of blood, dying, death, love, lost love, blood, depression, angels, and blood that you can cram into each song, the better. As a general rule of thumb here, at least 30% of the lyrics in a given song should have some sort of depressing imagery and there should be no less than four mentions of blood or death. Mix and match those with love and death to maximize your fun!
Alright, so we've taken care of vocals and lyrics, but that's only half the battle. Behind every sacred dying heart in November's bloody romance, there has to be an incredibly boring arrangement of riffs. Alternate some clean chord progressions with extremely low tuning and let 'er rip. I shouldn't even have to mention this, but breakdowns are absolutely essential. If you can't picture middle schoolers in their sister's jeans spin-kicking to your live performance, go back and start over. There's no reason to settle for anything short of perfection. Combine that with some double bass drumming and you're well on your way to making this band a reality! One more step to go.
Now that you've got your sing/scream technique down, and breakdowns set up, it's time to think about the acoustic closer. After all, what third-rate Hawthorne Heights can truly say they've made an album without an acoustic closer? Exactly. Now what you'll want to first do is decide who's the worst singer out of the two or three -- that's who will handle vocal duties with the acoustic song. If he strains and his voice cracks when hitting the high notes, you've found your man! You'll really have to put some emotion into these lyrics seeing as they'll be much easier to understand. If people can't feel your pain, if they don't feel like their 8th grade girlfriend kissed another guy in the cafeteria, they won't truly connect, and everything will have been for nothing.
I hope this has been an informative guide, and if you follow my instructions exactly, you should be on the Warped Tour and in the notebooks of 14-year-old girls everywhere in no time!
In a few very simple steps, you and your friends could start your own band that's exactly like Bombshell, and release your very own record that mirrors the torrent of originality on To Hell with Motives. So now, free of charge, I will release the ingredients that go into making a band like this;


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Master of Business Administration
- CRICOS code: 0101669
What will I study?
Our Full-time MBA goes beyond the traditional curriculum of case studies and core disciplines. It includes opportunities to apply what you learn in class to real business problems through internships, Capstone projects and subjects that stretch your business acumen and creativity.
Innovation Bootcamp – Tests your entire skillset in a shark-tank scenario. You and your team brainstorm and market-test an idea and turn it into a viable business model. You then pitch to a panel of entrepreneurs to gain the confidence to disrupt markets and organisations anywhere.
Entrepreneurial Mindset – Working alongside CEOs whose companies embody the entrepreneurial spirit, you identify business opportunities, threats and issues and develop practical solutions. Participating Melbourne Business School alumni also bring networking and mentorship opportunities.
Social Entrepreneurship Project – Working in a small team, you consult on a social issue affecting a local organisation, gather and analyse consumer data and metrics to validate the problem and its drivers and project financials to find a sound solution for your client.
For more information about our Full-time MBA subjects, visit the Melbourne Business School website.


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This past summer, the DOJ announced that they were going to end the use of private prisons for government detainees. Apparently the Department of Homeland Security didn't get the memo, and they are preparing to ship all of Donald Trump's deportees to private prisons, and the industry is more than happy to be of service. The Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.
Transcription of the above video:
This past summer the Department of Justice told us that they were going to stop using private prison for any kind of federal detainee, whether it was immigration, whether it was possibly somebody who was suspect of being an aid to terrorism. The Department of Justice said, 'Look, we're done with this whole private prison industrial complex'. Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security, though, didn't get that memo because they have made the decision that they're going to start shipping illegal immigrants that need to be deported over to these private prisons. You know who's very excited about that? The CEOs who run private prisons. Stock in private prisons has risen dramatically since the election of Donald Trump because these people understand that once Trump takes office if he stays true to his promise about deporting 11 million people, you don't just round somebody up, drive them to the border, and kick them out of your car. No, no, no, no. For many, many months and some cases a year or more, they go to these prisons, these holding centers and since the holding centers in the United States are pretty much packed to the brim, they have already started using private prisons to hold illegal immigrants while their paperwork goes through, while they're awaiting their hearings, everything like that. The private prison industry makes a ton of money off of immigration.
To be honest, that's one group that does not want Donald Trump to build a wall. If fewer people come over here illegally, it's going to be fewer people in their prison and that's one of the groups fighting so hard to keep drugs like marijuana scheduled as a schedule one alongside heroin because the more people that get arrested for those little things, the more people that go over to the private prisons, the more money those private prisons get from the federal government. It is a chain reaction. Private prisons want the crime rate in the United States to stay high. They want illegal immigrants to continue flowing over our borders as Republicans like to tell us. They want people to break the law. The Justice Department a couple months ago had a good sense to say you know what, 'We're not going to do that anymore'.
These private prisons are rampant with fraud, corruption, and abuse and I mean that both figuratively and literally. Inmates are more likely to die in a private prison than a federally or state run prison. That is a fact. Three people have died, three immigrants have died in private prisons this year since October 1st only, last two months. Three people have died. They did nothing wrong. They were in the country illegally, but they were doing what they were supposed to do in the prison waiting for their hearings. Died because of the corruption within these private prisons. We, as taxpayers, are paying for that just like we pay for regular prisons.
The Department of Homeland Security's decision to continue using these prisons falls right in line with what Donald Trump wants to do. These prisons are going to see their stocks double, possibly triple, or even quadruple once Donald Trump gets sworn in because they know that they can expect boatloads, truckloads, buses full of immigrants coming to pack their prisons while the taxpayers, the federal government, keeps sending them money to hold these people who would be better off in a regular detention center or holding center, but because we're so damn just dysfunctional as a country, we can't even get those holding facilities cleared out. The private prison industry understands that. They're looking to make billions and billions of dollars off of Donald Trump's xenophobia and that should never be allowed in the United States.


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OUR VIEW: A temporary taste of book banning
The shelves at the Gadsden Public Library are a little emptier today.
Library personnel on Monday began following through on last month's announcement that books that at some point had been banned either in the United States or another country would be temporarily pulled from circulation.
They will stay off the shelves — the spaces will remain empty, aside from a notation as to why the books are missing — until Sept. 23, the beginning of Banned Books Week.
It's being done in conjunction with this year's Gadsden Reads, which has chosen a book that fits with the theme: Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." That novel details a future society in which books are banned and burned if found (the title is the temperature at which paper ignites).
The move already has caused a stir in some quarters from people who saw the word "banned" and looked no farther, and are angrily accusing the library of doing the very thing it's trying to spotlight and protest.
Library officials have said their goal is to stimulate conversation about the issue. The off-base reaction confirms such a conversation is badly needed in this community.
It's one thing to have an abstract discussion about people on the other side of the planet being denied access to books. It's different when you get hit in the face with it at home, in a country that for more than 200 years has prized free thought and free expression, but continues to see its share of efforts to ban books from school reading programs and elsewhere.
We're also not just talking about modern works whose language, frankness about sex or challenges to conventional norms offend sensibilities.
We're talking about children's books by Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak; classic novels like "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "The Great Gatsby," "Gone With the Wind," "Moby Dick" and, yes, "Fahrenheit 451"; plays by William Shakespeare; and pretty much every book that's considered holy by the world's religions, including the Bible.
Gadsden State Community College's library also is participating, in a different way. It's restricting the items, not removing them. However, anyone requesting them will have to say "why," plus anyone who wants to temporarily "ban" a book for any reason will be able to do so, no questions asked.
We wonder how many self-appointed censors will go there. We're more interested in how patrons of both libraries will respond to these temporarily barren shelves.
We rather hope they don't like it. That's the best way to ensure it never happens for real.


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|Heather on the Island of Bréhat, where she lived for many years and which she wrote about often, and where she will be buried.
A great soul passes.
|Heather on the Island of Bréhat, where she lived for many years and which she wrote about often, and where she will be buried.
So very sorry you've lost your friend, Lucy. My condolences.
Sadness, a barbarious intrusion into our life. Good to know that it will melt away and free you to tell us more about this precious soul, your friend Heather.
At times I felt that she was speaking for me. Thank you, Lucy.
Everything you told me about Heather made her seem instantly formidable and loveable at the same time. I read the poems in the books which you gave me carefully and with increasing admiration. I shall now go back to them. The film requires time to watch and absorb which I will find as a matter of priority. Yes a loss indeed even for someone who never had the good fortune to know her personally.
Anyone who responds to Psalm 121 grabs me by the lapels. Given the sweetness of both her French and English voices, I felt her singing voice was probably equally sweet; that she could have sung it and charmed me yet another way, Especially given her lack of equivocation about music: "Ah the voices, their voices," she said, referring to the Welsh choirs. And her ability to bridge the gap that defeats so many of us: "Books are like musical instruments." Let's all drink to that.
Started learning French at five. Oh virtually monoglot Britain, how you have slipped behind (but then it was a private school). Followed ineluctably by that which was self-evident: "Il fallait écrire.", confirmed in an extended metaphor about the mines representing purgatory and the Welsh hills (did I get this right?) a prelude to Paradise.
I liked "Poetry is a way of slowing down time" not in any way diminished by the adjacency of a blocking system "pour organiser les moutons." The infinitive being peculiarly French. Plus a sentiment you would no doubt go along with: "For me the kitchen was in effect the house."
At French last Friday I was reminded - ever so kindly - that regretter can also mean to miss someone. No doubt, no doubt.
I'm sorry you've lost your friend, Lucy, and so glad that thanks to you I read some of Heather's work while she was alive.
I meant to just have a quick look at the film and have just watched it right through. Wow, what a strong, still, luminous woman.
Five kids in six years and no running water - and the sea water didn't lather well - enough to render anybody formidable.
I'm moved and intrigued by her words about the importance of place and space and light, about the difficult but essential journey of crossing into another language and the power of the written word to cross over and, by implication, to outlive her.
Thank you for all of this. What a lovely memorial. And now I'll go and read her poetry again.
Sorry to hear of your loss Lucy *hugs*
Thanks all, so much, for kind words to me and for taking the time to read and listen to Heather.
Martha, Ellena and Chloë - it's a loss I shall never cease to feel, but one I knew, I suppose, was going to happen. I spoke to her on the phone a couple of days ago, she sounded tired but was very much herself, and she was, I believe, right to the end, which was at once quick and gentle, a rare blessing. So it's that rather solemn, grateful, wondering kind of grief. But I'll still miss her so!
Joe - that's a spot-on description; glad I was able to convey something of her. She could sometimes be querulous and exacting, especially when distracted by health and other worries, but there was a delightful element of impishness about her too. Many's the time I wished I could have wrapped her up and sent her to you with the books, you and she would have got on so well. Please watch the film, her French is a pleasure really; when she was first out of hospital and still poorly last year she would only speak French with me for a few weeks, and I always found it quite easy, since she had the second language speaker's careful correctness and freedom from tags and other redundancy and sloppiness.
Robbie - bless you for watching and listening with such care - you can perhaps see why I was able to indulge her a bit of snootiness about electronic reading devices! In fact, Proust notwithstanding, I never could really engage her much on food, except a bit of nostalgia about shepherd's pie and bramble jelly! And yes, regret in the sense you mention, but not in the other; on the whole, I think I can mourn her with a sense that, while not always being able to match up to her in every way, I did right by her, which I think must be the mark of a good friendship. I can't tell you how glad I am I made that 'phone call.
Jean - thanks so much for watching. That always astonished me about bathing the babies in sea water. She'd had so many struggles, before and after that time too, and always seemed to emerge from them, I knew she couldn't really be indestructible but on some level I felt she was. Yet it sounds as if she went out on the gentlest of breaths. I don't know what will happen about the bilingual edition now, it was always work in progress. Her last published new work was about 2010, I think.
What a beautiful lady, such a life and such work left for those behind. You were blessed to know her as a friend and would indeed feel a great loss. My condolences.
Strange for me to read and see this after recently losing my 87 yer old aunt, and just home from a lovely 'remembrance' with family and friends sharing stories and memories. Sigh.
so sorry for your loss, lucy. friends are miraculous and a great blessing.
i wish i understood French...
what a beautiful woman
such a lovely voice.
i am so sorry for your loss
and what a lovely thing to have, this treasure of her voice, words and images.
So sorry Lucy, what a great loss! I wish I had known this wonderful human being. but now I will look up her work which I was, shamefully, unaware of. The video is marvellous, I love her voice and manner of expressing herself - she completely takes on the French persona yet underneath, the Welshness is still there. And in that photo of her as a child one can already see the woman she became.
Je suis bien désolée!
C'est toujours triste de perdre des personnes qu'on apprécie .Cette dame parlait un remarquable français
Thanks again.
ML - She was beautiful, physically tiny but with enormous presence. A long and fruitful life, and a peaceful quick passing, but still a loss.
PC - they are indeed, and I'm afraid I don't possess them in enormous numbers, compared to many people with a better gift for friendship. Heather had a lot of friends, enjoyed people, but still succeeded in making me feel that I mattered specially, even though I sometimes exasperated her! On the other hand I could quote AA Milne and Walter de la Mare which conferred special points...
Zephyr - thank you for looking at the film - even not knowing French it conveys something of her.
Natalie - so glad you liked the video, the overlays of language and culture in her personality were fascinating and unique, I think. And of course her English was to some extent preserved from an earlier time, though sometimes she'd surprise me (and herself) with coming up with a more modern word or phrase, which she wasn't always sure of, which could be funny...
Lise - ah merci! Ça me plait que vous avez regardé un peu le film. C'était bien une dame remarquable, qui habitait notre belle Bretagne, pendant plus que soixante ans, et qui a enlevé ses sept enfants tout à fait francais, et qui avait une connaissance énorme de la culture et des écrivains francais, mais toujours sans perdre ses racines anglophone non plus. Elle me manquera.
I envy you your friendship with Heather Dohollau, Lucy. What a remarkable woman. Thank you for the film.
And now I shall go read some of her poems . . . I expect that is the proper memorial for those of us who were not lucky enough to know your friend. Sympathy, Lucy.


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For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 04/19/1983
NRHP Listing Date 11/21/1983
NRHP Reference Number 83004232
Illustrating a distinct regional personality, this Federal-period farm complex of Spring Hill is a blending of various Albemarle County vernacular building traditions. The brick portion was built in the late-18th-century. The house evolved to its present irregular form through alterations and expansions beginning in the early-19th-century with a two-story frame addition. The hilltop property includes a ca. 1765 original brick homestead later expanded to serve as quarters for farm workers. Also on the grounds are a dairy and a kitchen. Spring Hill's owners have included Michael Woods (1737-1748), an early settler; Clifton Rodes, a county magistrate and brother-in-law of Jack Jouett; Thomas Wells, a trustee appointed in 1814 (with Thomas Jefferson) to oversee the founding of the Albemarle Academy; and Charles Harper, co-founder of Charlottesville's first circulating library. Spring Hill was also the childhood home of architect Waddy B. Wood (1869-1944).
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: December 30, 2021


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I present a method to calibrate absolutely a new family of underwater bathymetric laser scanner systems that use a single target range. Depth is calculated by triangulation among the source, the receiver, and the instantaneous position of a single spot produced by a highly collimated laser beam scanned across the target. For calibration, the refractive index of seawater is used to modulate the triangulation parameters rather than use of different target ranges to calibrate for extended range operation. Exploitation of a unique triangulation configuration allows the receiver characteristics to be ignored initially so that the scanner parameters can be determined. This allows the accurate positioning of the laser spot so that the receiver, in turn, can be calibrated. This intercalibration method provides high-resolution parameterization of the source–receiver characteristics and their geometric layout within the system so that an absolute bathymetric calibration can be realized in situ. In addition, a theoretical model derived to develop the methodology can be used to characterize and optimize future designs.
© 2001 Optical Society of AmericaFull Article | PDF Article
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It seems like each day brings with it reports of a new terror attack somewhere on the planet.
Even worse is the fact that it's becoming more and more obvious that government authorities haven't got a clue on how to protect citizens from these vicious attacks.
As is often the case, the responsibility is on each of us to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
Of course, few people are properly trained in the best way to respond to an attack, which is why I've put together this article with information on how to escape from a terrorist attack alive.
Unfortunately, there's no magic formula that can keep anyone 100% safe during any emergency. But here are a few steps you can take to increase your chances of survival if caught in a deadly attack.
What You Really Need to Do to Survive a Terror Attack
The video below it a good summary of the steps for surviving an active shooter or terrorist attack.
Identify the Danger
Your main goal (at least initially) should be to escape, but to do so you need to have some understanding of where the threat is coming from.
That way, you can avoid leading yourself and others into further harm.
Try to identify where the threat is. See if they're moving and in what direction.
Keep in mind that you don't want to spend more than a few seconds on this as time is of the essence.
Also, avoid simply following the crowd as there are many cases of panicked groups running directly towards danger.
If all else fails, commit to taking some kind of action and don't freeze up.
Find the Exits
Once you've located the immediate danger, you need to find the nearest avenue to escape away from it.
Keep an eye out for exits and try to reach it while staying behind cover if possible.
It may be that your situation doesn't allow you to completely evacuate the premises, but you can find an area to lockdown and hide in.
Even in that case, you still need to stay alert and look for chances to escape if and when an opportunity becomes available.
Arm Yourself
Escape is your priority, but along the way look out for what Marines call weapons of opportunity.
These are any tools that you can use to defend yourself in case you come into direct contact with a terrorist.
For example, during a school shooting, students can use textbooks as weapons to fight attackers.
Now, a book may not be a match for a gun, but using whatever weapons are at your disposal is a much better tactic than simply submitting.
And keep in mind that there is strength in numbers as well. One book may not accomplish much, but a group of people swarming an attacker en masse could prove effective.
Understanding ALICE
ALICE is an acronym that's used to train civilians on how to handle terror attacks and active shooters.
It stands for:
Alert – Tell the people around you and the authorities about the attack.
Lockdown – Hide in a location that makes it hard for terrorists to get to you.
Inform – Stay on top of the situation as much as possible and try to keep the police informed as well.
Counter – When presented with no other option, confront the attacker.
Evacuate – Escape the situation whenever you can do so safely.
Note that this is not meant to be a list of step-by-step instructions. The response that makes the most sense will depend on the nature of the attack and the location of the terrorist(s).
Staying Positive
This may sound like strange advice, but it's important to remember what ISIS and other terrorist groups are really after when they launch these attacks.
These perpetrators want to use violence to create fear so that they can further their ideological goals.
They want people to panic and give up hope, and you need to do the opposite.
And this isn't just my advice.
Staying positive is one of the guiding principles taught to Marines as part of the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Schools.
A positive attitude and a belief that you and your family will be okay will put your instincts to work towards maintaining your survival.
This will help you maintain a level of calmness that will help you make smarter decisions in a crisis.
The good news is that you are already on the right track for keeping your wits about you during an emergency.
Gaining knowledge from resources like this blog will give you confidence. This confidence can empower you during an emergency and prevent succumbing to feelings of helplessness.
Terror groups want you to be a victim for their cause. By standing up, staying positive, and fighting back when necessary, you can deprive them of this sinister glory.
Note: The TDI Shoelace Knife is the perfect weapon to make sure you're never completely unarmed.
This isn't a survival knife in the typical sense. You don't want to use this blade to chop wood or anything like that.
What this weapon is meant for is to be a last-ditch knife. Basically, one final weapon to have up your sleeve (or tucked in your boots as the case may be) to deliver a devastating blow to a nearby assailant.
Or help you cut your way out of restraints.
It's small and lightweight but wickedly sharp.


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Roda Golf is an 18-hole par 72 course designed by Dave Thomas covering 6,177 metres of undulating terrain with lovely views. The excellent course design means that the level of difficulty can be increased depending on the marker position on its immense tees.
Property on Roda Golf is so popular because of it's proximity to the lovely town of Los Alcazares and the fact it is only a 30 minute drive from Murcia airport. Not to mention the fabulous Golf course it surrounds.


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Dean of the College of Education (COE), Robert McPherson, and the COE Alumni Association Board have awarded the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) the Friend of Education Award based on their work to promote early education. GHP's effort on behalf of early education formed a new nonprofit called Early Matters.
The Friend of Education Award is given to an individual or organization in recognition of their support of education. Each year, the Alumni Board extends the Dean of the COE the opportunity to honor an individual or organization that has proven to be a Friend of Education to the local, state or national community at the annual Star Awards event.
"We recognized the Greater Houston Partnership for their efforts to bring together a broad-based coalition of business, civic, education, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations and volunteers around early education," said McPherson. "These efforts raise awareness about the importance of high quality early education and to make a strong case for increased investment in this area."
"We are honored by the recognition and proud of the partnership and collaboration with over 65 partners in the Greater Houston community," said Veronica R. Chapa, Executive Director of Early Matters.
Just over a year ago, the coalition partners came together to research and publish Reframing Early Education: The Critical Case for Change, proposing a ten-year effort to change the way early education is approached in the region. As a result of those efforts, a backbone organization has been formed, and an Executive Director hired, to continue to staff the collective impact effort—a first of its kind in the region.
"The Greater Houston Partnership is honored to receive the Friend of Education award. Our work could not be done without the entire Early Matters Coalition and the leadership of Jim Postl and Scott McClelland on this issue," said Bob Harvey, President and CEO of the Partnership. "Early Matters reaches people at the very beginning of the education pipeline. A solid educational foundation is critical to the overall health of Houston's workforce, and we must continue to invest in those early years," he added.
Early Matters envisions a greater Houston region where young children are a part of supportive and nurturing families and are able to participate in high quality early education. Intentional early investments significantly improve kindergarten readiness, 3rd grade reading mastery, high school graduation rates, post high school education/credentialing and workforce readiness.
Early Matters is a broad-based coalition of business, civic, education, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations and volunteers. They work together to raise awareness about the importance of high quality early education and to make a strong case for increased investment in this critical, high return on investment area.
You can find the original article here


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By Kathy L. Collins
The GFWC Brandon Junior Woman's Club will host its annual Teen Forum beginning on Monday, July 29 and going through Friday, August 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The week long camp will be held at Nativity Catholic Church located at 705 E. Brandon Blvd. in Brandon.
The camp is geared toward girls who are entering sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The cost of the camp is $70.00, if reserved in advance and includes t-shirt, crafts and snacks. Cost of attendance rises to $80 at the door. Space is limited to 75 girls.
The Teen Forum is designed to give girls in middle school the tools they need to raise their awareness and their self-esteem. The camp is packed with speakers, projects and demonstrations. The speakers are varied and interesting and cover a variety of topics that are important to girls. This includes fitness, nutrition, skin care, fashion trends and more.
In addition to all of the activities and speakers, the girls participate in community service, a hallmark of the GFWC Brandon Junior Woman's Club.
Vi Zonfrelli, President of the GFWC Brandon Junior Woman's Club said, "The membership is very excited and honored to continue to offer such a rewarding program. The Teen Forum was started over 30 years ago. We want to help girls develop the tools they will need to make positive choices and decision in the situations they may face in life." Zonfrelli added, "We want them to understand that they hold the key to empowering themselves, becoming productive citizens and achieving future success."
The GFWC Brandon Junior Woman's Club is a non-profit organization that has been proudly serving the greater Brandon community for nearly 60 years. Zonfrelli said, "We are a diverse group of ladies from all walks of life who are rich in spirit and passionate about being involved in making our community better."
The GFWC Brandon Junior Woman's Club supports education by providing scholarships to two high school senior girls and by providing school supplies to Kenly Elementary School. Each year the club holds a Children's Holiday Party for over 90 underprivileged children.
For more information on the club and to register for the forum, please visit www.thebjwc.com or call Donna Griffin at 244-4758.


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I am so excited today to share a new card with a new image type for me anyway!
Have you seen these big eyed cutie pies???
Before I get into my post today I want to stop here and wish my Mother a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!!
I LOVE YOU MOM and hope you enjoy your day! Yes, my Mother reads my blog so I wanted her to know how special she is to me.
Now let's have a look at my cute little card.
I had a blast with this card.
The colors are not my normal but I do love them and with this image.
They are perfect for her. :)
She is a digi stamp by Sherri Baldy and she has two different shops on the web that you can find all of her cute little images. Now I tell you..... you will be needing a bib while looking at the image she has. They are so cute. I went through the shop and slobbered all over myself. tee hee heeeeeeee... Now mind you I am an eye person so these are right up my alley so-to-speak. :) The eyes just melt my heart!
You can find the images at her store HERE and at her Etsy shop HERE.
Have fun looking!! I did......
Stamps: #741 Messy Bessy Sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps called Everyday Mini Postage Sentiments.
Cardstock: black, yellow and white (Bazzill Cardstock)
Printed Papers: The papers that I have use are all very old and I found them in my stash. Jenni Bowlin, Paper Pizazz, Sweetwater, American Craft.
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger.. Antique, tea dye, walnut stain, Copic markers for coloring image, gel pen (White)
Embossing powders: Stampendous Ivory enamel, aged gold
Adhesives: 3M Foam Tape, Scor-Tape (available at Magnolia-licious) 3 in 1 Craft Glue by Beacon, Silicone glue any from hardware store
Ribbon: No ribbon on y card today but I did use balck tulle.
Misc: Pearls, Pearl brads, Butterfies I have painted and then heat embossed, Feathers, Black Mesh.
Tools: Stylus, Xacto Knife, Twezzers, heat gun
Dies: Martha Stewart butterfly.
Here is a closer view look so you can see the lift/paper tole better.
Challenges for my card:
A Bestie Challenge: Use a Die or Punch
2 Sisters - #141 Bingo Bash* (Embossing Patterned Paper Punches/Die cuts)
One Stop Craft - Flower Power
Sugar Creek Hollow - #60 Spring Flowers


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Sahara desert is one of the most interesting destination when it comes to experience a desert tour. Its beautiful landscapes and well-being of its inhabitants are the main factors that will ensure you to enjoy great tours especially tours from Marrakech.
Come To Morocco Agency offers a wide variety of Morocco desert
If you are looking for trips of one days from Marrakech to a tourist attractive destination, please refer to the section Marrakech Desert Trips.
Come To Morocco agency will take you up from your arrival airport until your departure airport and will make sure to you experience great Marrakech desert tours.
A short but fun Sahara desert tour that is ideal to explore the nature of Southern Morocco. The focus of this 2 days tour is on Ouarzazate and the desert of Zagora where you will experience camel ride in the dunes and spend the night in a Zagora desert camp.
3 days tour from Marrakech to Fes through the desert of Merzouga is the ideal tour for people who do not only want to see the Marrakech region. Outside Ouarzazate and the desert areas, we will also visit the Atlas Mountains. A must for those who want to see not only the desert areas but also a bit more green vegetation and magnificent mountain views.
This tour is ideal for nature and culture lovers who do not have a lot of time. Be enchanted by the cinema studio of Ouarzazate, the gorges, the desert and much more.
This tour is dedicated to Southern Morocco and its wonderful nature. Kasbahs, valleys, gorges, the desert and much more are discussed.
This tour is ideal for those who want to experience some culture. The focus is on Ouarzazate, the gorges that guide us to the desert and more. You can expect historic monuments, palm forests, oases, desert camps and mountain landscapes.
This is a tour for the people who love the sea. We tour along the coast from Asfi to agadir and then turn back to Marrakech via Taroudant.
Six days that take you through the ancient imperial city of Taroudant, the Atlas Mountains, the desert and the biggest palm grove in Morocco. Ideal to discover Morocco at a leisurely pace.
During this tour you will end up completely in the Roman atmosphere. We start in Fes and then head for the roman ruins of Volubilis, to continue the procession via the Middle Atlas to the south. We visit the desert, gorges valleys, and arrive in Marrakech via Ouarzazate.
A must for those who want to relax and become one with nature. We visit a rose valley, gorges, oases and of course Ouarzazate and its sights.
A tour of 9 days that shows you all aspects of Morocco. The beautiful beaches of the Agadir-Mirleft region, many berber villages that show you the true Morocco, a camel ride and overnight in a Bedouine desert camp, Ouarzazate and much more is on schedule.
During this trip you will first enjoy the imperial cities of Morocco. We will later make the best memories at the dunes of Erg Chebbi. We then visit Merzouga, theToudra Gorge, the dades Gorge and Skoura. From Skoura we drive to Ouarzazate, the Hollywood of Africa and finally Marrakech.
A tour that contains everything for which Morocco is known. The beautiful beaches of the Agadir region, Berber villages and the oasis of Termert, a camel ride and overnight in a Bedouine desert camp, gorges, valley of roses, Ouarzazate and surroundings, and more is on schedule.
During our desert tours from Marrakech, we want to show you not only the landscape but also the culture. Our drivers have more than 20 years of experience within the sector and are therefore the ideal persons. they are from the desert village of Zagora and thus carries the desert in their genes. Most of our tours start from Marrakech but of course this can be done to your liking. Marrakech is the ideal starting point because both the desert and the more northern regions are accessible from there. Check out the rest of our site for the best desert trips.
We have a large selection of tours through Morocco Sahara desert, including desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga. This tour is dedicated to the desert of Merzouga and the gorges we meet along the way. A visit to Ouarzazate can not be missed. An other interesting trip is the desert tour from Fes to Marrakech. This desert trip is also dedicated to Merzouga and Ouarzazate. The difference is that we visit the Middle Atlas here. For people who do not have much time, a 2 days or 3 days tour is ideal. If you really want to take the time to explore the country, then the longer tours are something for you. If you have any question, you can always contact us.
We have a wide range of marrakech desert trips and the price is therefore variable depending on what you want. There is a possibility to private tours and of course the price differs according to the luxury you want. You can always contact us to inquire about the price pf any desert tour. The larger the group, the cheaper of course. Everything is possible from a short desert trip to a 10 day tour or more. Do not hesitate to mail us if you have any questions!
Apart from what you can see on this site, we also offer personalized tours. If you know exactly what you want during your trip then you can tell us and then we can create a tour to your liking. If you want to customize a tour from our site, then that is also possible.
During our private tours, it is up to you to decide what and when it is planned. You choose how much luxury you want and we arrange the necessary accommodation and transport. The same applies to our full-day trips from Marrakech.


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(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Looks like former Yankees star and bench coach Don Mattingly won't be in pinstripes next year. The popular, early favorite to replace longtime manager Joe Torre has been passed over in favor of Joe Girardi, who spent the past season as a Yankees TV announcer after being fired last year by the Florida Marlins.
"Don was extremely disappointed to learn today that he wasn't the organization's choice to fill the managerial vacancy," Mattingly's agent, Ray Schulte, said today in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Instead, he was informed the organization offered the position to Joe Girardi."
Girardi, 43, beat out Mattingly and first-base coach Tony Pena for the job. Mattingly told the Yankees he isn't interested in a coaching position next year and he also extended congratulations to Girardi and offered his best wishes, Schulte said.
Girardi, shown above before Saturday's World Series game, was the first person to interview to replace Torre, who managed the team to the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons.
For more on the Yankees, who also lost star player Alex Rodriguez to free agency, read this report by AP baseball writer Ronald Blum.
--Paul Chavez


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
You can now drop off car seats you would like to dispose of at the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility.
The HHW is located at:360 5th Street SouthWaite Park, MN 56387(near the Stearns County Service Center West)


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March 12, 2020
A/c CompaniesOffer Heat-Relief Facilities – Heating And Air Conditioning
Load estimations, power performance, and the choice of innovation, are all discussed in the context of cooling as a system, aiding the visitor completely think about the ramifications of layout choices. Cooling System Design sums up a crucial concept and also after that discusses just how the most recent cooling innovation runs. Once you have as many details as feasible from the expenses and also have actually produced some suggestions for why the expense may be so


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Geometry Problem
Level: High School, SAT Prep, College geometry.
Click the figure below to see the complete problem 525 about Circles, Diameter, Tangent, Radius, Congruence, Measurement.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Problem: 525 Circles, Diameter, Tangent, Radius, Congruence, Measurement
Geometry Problem
Posted by Antonio Gutierrez at 3:05 PM
Labels: circle, congruence, diameter, measurement, radius, tangent
4 comments:
Note that triangle AKJ similar to triangle AEO' (case AA)ReplyDelete
So KJ/O'E=AJ/AO' or r3/r2= (2r1-r3)/(d-r2)
Develop above expression we get r3=2.r1.r2/d
Similarly we also have triangle DNM similar to triangle DGO
So r4/r1=(2.r2-r4)/(d-r1) and r4=2.r1.r2/d
Peter Tran
- c .t . e. oOctober 5, 2010 at 1:14 AM
▲AGD ~ ▲CND => DG/DN = d/2r2ReplyDelete
▲DOG ~ ▲DNM => DG/DN = r1/r4
=> r4 = (2r1r2)/d
about r3 see ▲ADE, ▲AKB
- AnonymousOctober 5, 2010 at 2:47 AM
(2*r1-r3)/r3=(d-r2)/r2 ---> 2*r1*r2=d*r3ReplyDelete
(2*r2-r4)/r4=(d-r1)/r1 ---> 2*r1*r2=d*r4 ---> r3=r4=2*r1*r2/d
- AnonymousOctober 10, 2010 at 7:12 AM
yes you are rightReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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A Utah company claims to have developed a DVD that will last 1,000 years under normal, everyday conditions. (You don't have to be a professional archivist [PDF alert!], in other words.) And while that's an impressive achievement, if it is indeed true, there's one small problem: what are the odds that, 1,000 years from now, Future People will derive any value at all from said discs?
I'd do a full-on rant, but this comment from Slashdot pretty much sums everything up:
And this assumes that in 1000 years there will be:
1. a player to play the damn thing
2. the resources to build a player to play the damn thing.
3. a screen to view it on
4. the resources to build a screen to view it on
5. the cultural interest in such behaviour (sitting and watching a screen)
6. the cultural capacity to decode and understand what the hell they're watching even if they do decide to watch it, assuming they have the ability to do so. For an extreme example, there is a non-zero probability that in 1000 years, the notion of "fiction" may well not exist, in which case an episode of "Friends" or "Seinfeld" become biographical portraits of stupid foolish people, as one needs to have the fictive distance to decode what is happening.
7. that anyone will give a rat's ass about us in a 1000 years. They may well be pissing on our graves for having ruined the planet, and these disks may simply be destroyed as examples of the evil Evil EVIL petroleum age.
8. Reverse engineering NTSC (SD or HD – just getting 29.97fps with rectangular pixels is fucked up enough) from a disc filled with microscopic pits strikes me as impossible and or pointless.
I can list many more reasons why a 1000 year disk is a waste of time, those are just a few off the top of my head.
Frankly, I think we are the civilisation that in 1000 years will be a great and tantalizing mystery. Their world will be filled with our garbage, telling them how we lived (like wasteful pigs at the trough) but they won't really know that much about what we think (because it was all digital and the technology disappeared in the die-off).
And there you have it. My personal favorite is number seven, that Future People will give a rat's ass about what we burned onto DVD in the year 2009. You can never judge a culture based entirely on its frivolities—Future People won't necessarily condemn us for having more votes in American Idol than in a presidential election, though they'd have every right to—but there's really not too much going on right now that would warrant 1,000 year long appreciation. Perhaps if scientists cured a pesky disease, but that's about all I can think of.
Will the iPhone be a big deal in the year 3009? (Will it be a big in the year 2010? Who knows.) Will Future People be impressed that your Chevy Cruze got a whopping 30 miles to the gallon? (Will Future People even know what a "gallon" is?) Will Twitter be seen as Man's Salvation and the "pulse of the planet"? (Will Future People even speak English, or Spanish, or German, or Japanese, to be able to read your Tweets?)
That's provided we don't all kill each other by then.


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From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
sSirrus is a furry artist.
sSirrus did collaborative work with Allison Reed (Javachickn) under the name Humboldt from 2007 to 2008 January.
External links[edit]
- sSirrus on Fur Affinity
- sSirrus on LiveJournal
- sSirrus mailing list on Yahoo!Groups
|This stub about a person could be expanded.


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Measuring Health Care Performance Now, Not Tomorrow
Better data on the quality of health care being delivered in the United States are urgently needed if efforts to reform the nation's health care system are to succeed.
This paper describes a "distributed data approach" to computing performance results while protecting patients' privacy. The strategy builds on the efforts of the Quality Alliance Steering Committee, a multistakeholder coalition focused on the implementation of performance measures. Instead of waiting for the government or the private sector to build large data warehouses, existing data from administrative sources, laboratories, clinical registries and electronic health records could be put to greater use now, resulting in improved patient care and spurring further advances in performance measurement. In this article researchers introduce an overall framework for achieving these goals, and describe a set of steps to accelerate and expand the availability of performance measures to improve care now.
April Issue of Health Affairs Focuses on Patient Safety and Health Care Quality
- 1. The Ongoing Quality Improvement Journey
- 2. A Road Map for Improving the Performance of Performance Measures
- 3. The Trade-Off Among Quality, Quantity, and Cost
- 4. 'Global Trigger Tool' Shows that Adverse Events in Hospitals May be Ten Times Greater Than Previously Measured
- 5. Preventing Bloodstream Infections
- 6. Measuring the Performance of Individual Physicians by Collecting Data from Multiple Health Plans
- 7. Measuring Health Care Performance Now, Not Tomorrow
- 8. Despite Improved Quality of Care in the Veterans Affairs Health System, Racial Disparity Persists for Important Clinical Outcomes
- 9. The Importance of Transitional Care in Achieving Health Reform
- 10. An Early Status Report on the Beacon Communities' Plans for Transformation Via Health Information Technology
- 11. A Comparative Study of 11 Local Health Department Organizational Networks
- 12. Public Health Performance
- 13. A Self-Assessment Process for Accreditation Preparedness
- 14. Public Health Delivery Systems
- 15. A Shot in the Rear, Not a Shot in the Dark
- 16. What Predicts Local Public Health Agency Performance Improvement?
- 17. Growth of a Scientific Community of Practice
- 18. Evolution of Coauthorship in Public Health Services and Systems Research
- 19. Resources that May Matter
- 20. Evidence Links Increases in Public Health Spending to Declines in Preventable Deaths
- 21. Public Health Financial Management Competencies
- 22. Decision Science
- 23. Public Health Financial Management Needs
- 24. Data-Driven Management Strategies in Public Health Collaboratives
- 25. Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs
- 26. Public Health Systems and Services Research
- 27. Mapping the Multidisciplinary Field of Public Health Services and Systems Research


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In the first lesson, I explained how to finally put your dreams of writing a book into play and revealed simple steps I used to turn my first book concept into a reality.
If you have not read the first post in this series, I recommend you catch up here first:
Part 1: Writing Your First Book: Fiction or Non-Fiction In One Easy Step
Today I want to provide you with a vital key that will help you move from writing the book to turning it into a career – not something most people have ever really thought about before. But if you do it correctly, you can quickly find yourself nurturing a business that can easily make $100,000 a year.
According to survey after survey, as many as 80 percent of our population feels they have a book inside them burning to get out.
Does that describe you?
Writing a book is one thing. Turning it into a successful business is another. Yet for many of today's wanna-be writers, they sit around and dream of writing the perfect book (fiction or non-fiction). The thought of turning that into a full time lifestyle business is almost an afterthought; a dream that has no merit and almost seems surreal.
Yet it's possible. Writer after writer can be found by simple looking to the best seller lists at the New York Times or even on Amazon. Writers that have become household names in a relatively short period of time.
Going from book concept to $100,000 lifestyle business can take shape in many ways.
The Novel Writer
This is the person that has the desire to become the next Danielle Steele or JK Rowling. They would love the life of a writer, sitting down to write novel after novel, each moving up on the success charts. Income is derived specifically from novel sales.
The Coach
Writing a book to you means being able to get your story out. You have something you are deeply committed to, something you've learned in great detail over the years. A medical issue you've overcome. A problem you've solved with your kids. Or a new diet that gave you the body you've always desired. The book is a way to get your information out. Yet you see that helping you start a business in which you can work with clients one on one in more detail, helping them solve their own battles with your proven system.
The Infoproduct Writer
Books are great; yet you see something even bigger. You don't want $1 to $10 for your books; you're dreaming big. You want to give a lot of information and get paid very well for it. Your goal is to write in great detail and be able to sell your information on a much bigger scale – $100, $1,000 even $10,000 or more for the detailed information you are planning on sharing with the people you can help most. But you have to start somewhere, and your first step is a good old fashioned book.
See yourself in one of the above descriptions? You're not alone. Yet for most of the 80 percent that dream about, very few will ever take the time to actually create their book. And the numbers get even fewer when turning it into a viable business model.
Start At The End
If your dreams involve writing for a living, start at the end to see how it all comes into play.
Move forward a year or two and see yourself in your dream business. What does it look like? What do you have to offer?
Lets look at the novel writer.
Her end goal is $100,000 a year business. What would it take to get there?
She can write one book and sell it 100,000 times at $1. Possible, but not probable, at least when she's a brand new novelist just starting out.
She could move her selling price and change the number of sales she needs to make. A $2 book would require 50,000 sales; a $4 book would require 25,000 sales.
It's all starting to look a little more doable, right?
Now lets add something else into the equation. What if she writes two books instead of one? Remember we're talking about a two year time period at this point. Two books would mean writing one book a year. More than doable for someone who wants to become a novelist.
And at the same time, the more novels you write, the better you will become at writing. How many of our most famous novelists spent years writing before one of their books became a runaway best seller? Even Danielle Steel had five of her novels rejected before finding her own success. To date, she has over 90 books published; that's a massive turnaround.
The more you have available, the more your readers have to buy. And if they love the way you write, why wouldn't they buy your next release?
This is how business plans are written for a lifestyle business model.
The variables can change. But once you start seeing things come together in your mind, it's easier to take the first step necessary to make it a reality.
Do you see writing a book as a way to turn your Big Idea into a viable business option? Which of the categories do you fit under – novel writer, coach or infoproduct writer? What are you doing to put your goals into action? I would love to hear your comments below or over on Facebook.


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Gmail for iPhone and iPad Update – Sharper and Smoother
If like me, you use Gmail on your iPhone and iPad, you'll notice that Google rolled out an updated user interface earlier today. The changes might seem minute, but they make a significant difference in the overall experience offered by the webapp. First change: the icons. Google updated all the graphics used in the webapp, to leverage the higher resolution offered by high end mobile devices such as the iPhone 4 and its retina display. The result is stunning, especially given that the previous generation of icons offered by gmail.com was extremely pixelated.
Second change: refresh. Instead of having to reload the page you're on to refresh your inbox or one of your conversations, all you need to do is to pull down to refresh. Simply touch the message list, drag downwards, release, and the page you're on will be automatically updated.
Third change: transitions. When you tap on a conversation, tap back to the inbox, go to the menu or go back, the view will now slide left or right. This new transition animation is smooth and sleek, and adds an additional touch of polish to the webapp. As usual, Google's engineers are working double shifts to make Gmail the most advanced web-based mail service. Simply put, with this new update, the webapp looks just as good as a native iPhone or iPad app.


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Camp Friends Coming Together For An Amazing Off Season ReunionFebruary 10, 2015
We had an amazing time this weekend at our annual Tri-State Area Camp Reunion. This was our first year bringing everyone together at the Chelsea Piers in Stamford, CT, and by all accounts the new location was a major hit! Our new venue had tons of fun things to do with camp friends, including playing indoor soccer and basketball, bouncing in a room filled with trampolines, practicing hitting in the batting cages, rock climbing, and tumbling into a massive pit of foam blocks.
After the initial excitement of seeing our Camp friends more than 300 of us gathered together to hear from Scott about the many fun plans we have for this summer (more on that in a future blog). Then we laughed and cheered together as we watched the Summer 2014 Video Yearbook, which you can view by clicking on the link below. From there we got to play, hang out, and just enjoy being with our camp friends.
Towards the end of the party we gathered to eat pizza and celebrate the 6 different friends who had birthdays this week. The whole community sang our ridiculously long and funny birthday song. Because we love our GF friends, we of course had gluten free pizza and gluten free cake on hand.
Sadly, the party was only 2 hours long, and we were soon saying goodbye to all of our Camp friends. Many, MANY campers went off to sleepovers at their friend's houses, including about 20 of our oldest kids who somehow found a family willing to house them all for the night! Many thanks to the Friedmans for making that awesome gathering happen.
We'd like to thank the more than 200 campers and their families for joining us on Saturday night, along with all of the counselors who traveled from all over the Eastern seaboard to be with us. We miss you all and can't wait to see you back in New Hampshire this coming June! If you'd like to see some of the highlights of our off season camp reunion please click on the link below.