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"Amour Fou" (season 3, episode 12)
In which everything that's happened in season three comes to a head.
What are David Chase's (and by extension The Sopranos') feelings on women? One of the chief beefs against the show in some quarters when it aired was that it had a low opinion of the XX set. They were either shrewish harpies who did their best to contort men in knots with their manipulative natures or easily duped simpletons who could be bought off by beautiful jewelry or, in the case of Melfi, the biggest impediment to the "Sopranos hates women!" argument, by her number one patient acting as though he might make a breakthrough. I think trying to argue Chase and the series find women to be small-minded and petty is a problematic line of thought, largely because Chase and the series find nearly EVERYone to be small-minded and petty. But if there's a character those advancing this argument can point to and say, "See?!" it's probably Gloria Trillo.
Gloria's role in the show's third season is very specific: She's there to be a fill-in for Livia, to provide the show with a way to extend one of its three or four most central relationships beyond the grave. Season three is obsessed with the ways that the past doesn't match up to the present, with the ways that life in the real world can't possibly compare to what we've imagined in our heads. To that end, Gloria is both the seeming vision of a fantasy girl and a terrible visitation from a ghost. She's gorgeous, hot to trot, and self-sufficient, but she's also clingy, desperate, and able to turn just about anything back on Tony without much effort. She's everything Tony thinks he wants in a woman, but she's also a cruel echo of the one woman whose unconditional love he could never win.
What's interesting is that "Amour Fou," one of the most purely exciting episodes in the whole run of the series, makes the argument that what Tony thinks he wants and what he actually wants (or even needs) are completely different things. (This is a constant theme in the series, and it becomes especially prominent the more we move toward the series' end.) Tony believes that Gloria is the kind of woman he wants to be with, the kind of woman who could make him happy, but as Melfi points out, the one good decision he made when it comes to women, the one woman he bears any real loyalty to whatsoever, is his wife, who goes under the magnifying glass in this episode as well. Notice that Tony first grows irate with Gloria when he finds out she drove Carmela home (in one of the episode's best scenes), but he doesn't snap and try to seriously hurt her until she has the gall to insult Carmela. It's not until Gloria rants about how she's not a housewife who can be bought off with a gaudy ring that he starts smacking her around. The scene where he does is so terrifying and so hard to watch that I'm not surprised this episode often gets pointed to by those who call the show anti-feminist. But it's not as though the show hasn't prepared us for this moment, nor does it treat Tony's actions as anything triumphant. He's an uncaged animal, defending his territory the only way he knows how.
It's rather remarkable that we've gotten this far in the series in these write-ups without doing a great deal of discussion about the marriage of Tony and Carmela Soprano. The series, up until this point, has largely framed this storyline in terms of Carmela, actually, asking openly what she gets out of this marriage and what it is about this life that is enough to keep her silent about everything she knows. But "Amour Fou" digs a little more deeply into Tony's feelings for his wife than the series has gone before. The Sopranos is many things, but it's also one of the most honest, unblinking portrayals of a marriage in all its goodness and all its ugliness in American television history. What makes this marriage work? It doesn't, not really. A lot of it is the fact that Carmela's willing to overlook lots of things in order to be able to live in comfort, but the flip side of that is also true. Tony is far from the world's best husband, but there's something very naked about how much he needs Carmela, not just to keep up appearances but also because she provides some form of stability in his life. What Carmela gets from Tony is rarely in question. What Tony gets from Carmela is harder to suss out, but in "Amour Fou," at least, it's someone to come home to.
"Amour Fou," of course, means "crazy love." It's a term Melfi uses to describe the relationship between Gloria and Tony, and this episode suggests it's largely the opposite of what he has with Carmela. The greatest sin of the Soprano marriage at this point is that it's sunk into complacency. Carmela considers leaving after what the psychiatrist told her earlier in the season, but once she talks it over with a priest who tells her to focus on the good things about her marriage and leave the bad behind, she backs away from anything so radical as utterly changing her life. She's still depressed, perhaps seriously depressed. (One thing I love about this season is how it portrays this near breakdown on Carmela's part almost entirely in the background.) But she's going to press on, in the hopes that she can somehow build a better, more stable place for Tony, hoping against hope that he'll become a better man without any real pressure. And so she starts reading up on real estate and keeps on with Tony, the gulf between them widening, despite the occasional truce, as we see in this episode. The Sopranos rarely gets credit for just how well it portrays a long-running marriage that has devolved into something like a grudging partnership. Season three may be the height of that approach.
Anyway, I mentioned above that "Amour Fou" is maybe the most exciting episode in the series' entire run, so let's deal with the situation that provides much of the episode's visceral impact. Jackie, Jr., has heard about a card game run by Eugene Pontecorvo that he wants to knock over, based on a story Ralphie has told him about how Ralphie made his name back in the day. (Am I insane, or did Tony pull off a similar stunt, which we learned about in season two?) After spending much of the day watching basic cable—including the most famous scene from Basic Instinct—Jackie, Jr., and his friends decide to go through with the half-assed plan. Things go about as well as could be expected. Christopher and Furio are at the card game, unexpectedly. Bullets begin to fly when the kids are surprised by someone coming in from the other room, and the dealer ends up dead. The getaway driver flees at the first sound of gunfire. Jackie and his friend battle their way out of the tight spot (hitting Furio in the leg in the process) but wind up outside with nowhere to go. Jackie steals a car but abandons his friend. Chris shoots the friend in the head. And now Tony knows that something needs to be done about the kid he was trying to keep from the mob at all costs.
The Jackie, Jr., storyline is the weakest link in season three, but it roars to life here, paying off a season's worth of build-up. To a degree, the problem with the storyline had everything to do with the fact that we were always aware Jackie, Jr., wouldn't stay on the straight and narrow. If everything goes as planned, there's no conflict. If there's no conflict, there's no story, and even on a less plot-driven show like The Sopranos, the writers are never going to back away from something as obvious as this. Thus, all of the time spent watching Jackie, Jr., struggle with his studies or court Meadow felt like time exceptionally wasted. It certainly didn't help that the character was so weak, with an actor who wasn't just to the challenge. This does fit into the series' overall sense that the world of the past is much more alluring and interesting than the world of the present, but it doesn't make up for boring plotting or acting. By and large, Jackie, Jr., is present JUST for this moment. When the moment comes, it's electrifying, of course (the series rarely screwed up setpieces this important), but it definitely feels a long time in coming.
"Amour Fou" is also notable for setting up a template The Sopranos would borrow for years to come. While season two's penultimate episode, "Knight In White Satin Armour," was more conventionally exciting than the season finale, "Funhouse," and brought one of the season's major story arcs to a close, "Funhouse" had its fair share of plot to get through. "Amour Fou," on the other hand, brings almost everything in season three to a head. Carmela's depression, Chris' status as a made man, Jackie, Jr.'s, aspirations, Gloria's relationship with Tony… all of those stories reach a kind of climax in this episode, with lots of other smaller bits from the season getting wrapped in here and there. Sure, Jackie, Jr., is still free at the end of the episode, and Tony is still wondering what to do about him, but by and large, the storyline is over. Jackie, Jr., has made his move, and he's overreached. The way the world used to work is no longer an option, and the best hope for Jackie, Jr., is probably a form of banishment.
So the stories have reached the point of climax, leaving the season finale to be a kind of long denouement, show us how the characters shake out, more than how the plot shakes out. It became a seasonal structure the show turned to again and again and again over the years, and it was a structure that would influence numerous other shows on television, most notably fellow HBO series The Wire. This structure for a season actually became so predictable in recent years that there's been a bit of a reaction against it from some shows. (Both Breaking Bad and Mad Men will frequently have action-packed finales, though Mad Men's finales will often have as little as possible to do with anything that came before.) In "Amour Fou," you can sense the show testing the waters, seeing how it would work to get all of the exciting stuff out of the way at once and then go forward with a few ending moments for the characters in the next week.
The episode even ends like a Sopranos season finale! The characters, united by Bob Dylan's cover of "Return To Me," go about their lives, as if nothing had happened to rock their worlds. Patsy, having just told Gloria she'd be killed if she ever messed with Tony again, talks on his cell phone and puts shopping bags in his car. Tony and Carmela hang out at home. The dark clouds haven't dissipated, not exactly, since Tony still has to make his Jackie, Jr., call, but they're starting to part. Things have worked out, again, and if Tony had to be cruel to make sure they did, well, that's what makes him good at his job.
The major balance in season three has been the question of the world as it was or the world as the characters wanted it to be and the world they actually got. While "Amour Fou" is notable mostly for its plot developments, every single one of them brings this question of longing vs. actuality to a point of crisis. Carmela wants a different husband. Jackie, Jr., wants the world his father came up in. Tony wants a fun girlfriend but ends up haunted by his mother. As Melfi would tell you, the past is always there, just beneath the surface, waiting to rise up and swallow you whole. In its own way, The Sopranos uses its structures to play these games with the audience. What we expect or what we want sometimes aren't what we get. And then, as in "Amour Fou," when we do get what we thought we wanted, it feels hollow. Knowing what you want and getting what you need are two very different things.
Stray observations:
- Who's that singing over the closing credits? Why, that's Steve Van Zandt and his band!
- Dealer Sunshine, who also appeared in the series' other big poker episode, "The Happy Wanderer," is played by famed Hollywood director Paul Mazursky. It's always bizarre to me how quickly the various film brats of the '70s latched on to The Sopranos after its first season, often clamoring for guest spots.
- Sign of the times: Hillary Clinton is still seen as a shrieking harridan by many of the women at Carmela's little dinner. On the other hand, the women are all pleased with the fact that she "set up her own thing." Those general attitudes would evolve into the higher esteem she seems to be held in today. (Being a generally well-liked senator and secretary of state can't have hurt either.)
- The getaway driver, in case you didn't catch his identity, is everybody's favorite drug dealer, Matush.
- Patsy's not generally a terrifying guy, but he can be threatening when he wants to be. I also love how much it indicates that Tony has completely forgotten about Gloria that he tosses this task to someone as relatively low-ranking as Patsy (at least in terms of the characters on the show).
- I wonder if anyone watching this episode at the time actually thought the show would make Carmela pregnant again? The show usually doesn't go in for those sorts of twists, but it sometimes will toss one or two in just to fuck with the audience. Fortunately, it's just a thyroid problem. No one needs to see Tony carting around a baby.
- I've always thought that opening in the art museum is well done. Edie Falco tearing up at the pieces of art and, later, at the dog food commercial is such a nicely done reaction.
- Thoughts on having Gloria literally say things Livia used to say? It feels a little heavy-handed to me on this viewing, but I remember being gobsmacked by it the first time I watched this episode.
- "You see, Tuesday, I'm gonna take my kid to see Raffi."
Speaking With The Fishes:
- Carmela's interest in real estate will grow to become a major plot development as the show continues, particularly in the first half of season six.
- Is this the first mention of "Feech" La Manna? He'll become a somewhat important character in season five, until the show seems to utterly lose interest in him. Still, he's played by Robert Loggia!
- This is the final living appearance of Gloria Trillo. Patsy's threats will get to her so much that she ends up killing herself. She'll appear in dream sequences and assorted flashbacks in a few future episodes.
Next week: Season three wraps up with "Army Of One," and we make a special announcement about the future of the Sopranos reviews.


text: Well, tomorrow is HQ's final official day! Please feel free to come by and have a drink on us, take one last look at some amazing art and pick up any last items you've had your sights on. There will be no tax on any sales on top of some great deals on Brixton, Lifetime and various other local and international designers. See you then!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
International education in ChinaRead more >
Dipont Education is at the forefront of changing the way education is thought about and delivered in China. In addition to establishing and managing schools with elite Chinese and international partners, Dipont also provides innovative curricular and co-curricular programming, supported by more than 600 international educators across China.
Work at DipontRead more >
We offer exciting career opportunities for international educators and operational staff in major cities across China to support us in our mission to provide quality education that equips young people for success.
Vacancies at Dipont (22)
What we doRead more >
Independent SchoolsIn partnership with exceptional schools, we have created a new model for K-12 education in China.
See more >
International High School ProgramsPartnering with renowned high schools in China, we provide complete management support in the operation of international programs.
See more >
ConsultancyOur rich insight into China's K-12 educational landscape means we are well-placed to extend our services to other schools and organisations.
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EnrichmentWe offer a range of enrichment programs that Chinese students can access after school, at weekends or during school vacations.
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InsightsRead more >
Debating the FutureSee more >
The curriculum in education: master or servant?See more >
23 Oct 2020
Journey to Dipont: Elijah's storySee more >
24 Sep 2020
What it's like to live in Zhangjiagang, ChinaSee more >
3 Sep 2020


text:
If the answer is no, I can accept that.
Hi, I wondered if you'd ever have another special where you can have the ads removed for $12 a year? I saw the special, was going to come back and pay for it and then I forgot about it.
Just checking. Thanks.
If the answer is no, I can accept that.
That would be nice c:.
I apologise for the delay in response, im currently a little busy, however alot of changes have been done on the site will be going live hopefully over the weekend.
Once these have gone live then we will consider a special promotion.
Thanks again for your response. And thanks for all your hard work!


text:
China Un-Bans Facebook, Twitter in Shanghai
Sep 24, 2013 9:59 AM PT
China is lifting its ban on a handful of heretofore banned websites within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
Included among those now considered acceptable are Facebook, Twitter and The New York Times' website.
The Shanghai Free Trade Zone, announced in July, has more free market-friendly policies than China at large. To that end, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone will entertain bids from foreign telecommunications companies to provide Internet services within the zone, sources told the South China Morning Post -- something that was impossible in the past.
The Shanghai zone is being treated as "a key proving ground for significant financial and economic reforms," the SCMP reported.
The decision to permit Facebook and Twitter within the special zone should not be mistaken as a sign that Beijing is knocking down its "Great Firewall," however. Earlier this month, China's Supreme Court announced stiffer penalties for people posting online rumors (and we're talking about the Communist Party's highly malleable definition of "rumor"). This decision has prompted popular social media personalities to tamp down their online musings.
Facebook's COO recently visited China as well.
[Sources: South China Morning Post; Tech In Asia]
Microsoft Teaming With Chinese Media Company
BesTV New Media, a Shanghai media company, announced Monday that it plans to embark on an entertainment development venture with Microsoft.
The duo, which together is investing US$237 million, plans to develop games and related services. This could be a way for Microsoft to sell its Xbox game console in China, which has long restricted video game consoles, The Seattle Times points out.
In a bulletin posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, BesTV said that it will hold a 51 percent share in the company, and Microsoft 49 percent. BesTV will choose the company's board chairman, while Microsoft will tab the CEO.
The name of the venture is "E-Home Entertainment Development." It will be registered in the aforementioned Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
[Sources: Xinhua and The Seattle Times via The Register]
Xiaomi Drops Red Star From Marketing
Xiaomi, the Chinese phone maker that recently hired Google executive Huge Barra to head the company, appears to have dropped the red star from some of its marketing mascot's attire.
In the past, the company used a bunny mascot that wore an Ushanka (one of those furry Russian hats). The Ushanka featured a red, five-pointed star, which has long been linked to Communism.
The star, though, may have been erased.
Tech In Asia spotted a star-less hat on Xiaomi's Taiwanese Facebook page. The star is also absent on materials for Miliao, Xiaomi's messaging app.
The bunny still has his red star in some images, including at least one with traditional Chinese writing, suggesting that the company could be tailoring the bunny's garb depending on where an ad is placed.
[Source: Tech In Asia]
BlackBerry Going Private
BlackBerry has agreed to a $4.7 billion deal to go private.
The $9-per-share offer, made by a consortium led by the company's biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings, comes after BlackBerry's August announcement that it was mulling going private while it searches for a way to survive in the smartphone world that seems to have passed it by.
BlackBerry shares hit higher than $148 in 2008, the company's heyday. The stock price closed at $8.82 Monday.
BlackBerry can seek better offers until November 4; the Fairfax group would be able to match any such offers.
[Source: Reuters]


text:
With a reduced staff and a shift in focus away from basic fraud, the IRS is pursuing fewer tax evasion cases than it did 10 years ago, according to an analysis released Monday by ProPublica and The New York Times. As a result, "there may never be a better time to be a tax cheat," say the authors, Jesse Eisinger and Paul Kiel.
Since 2011, Republican lawmakers have cut the IRS's budget and reduced its enforcement staff by about a third, and the audit rate has fallen even more sharply.
At the same time, IRS investigators have focused more on drug trafficking and money laundering, with basic tax issues now comprising less than half of all enforcement cases, Eisinger and Kiel found.
One consequence of the budget cuts is that the government is missing out on billions of dollars annually, with estimates of lost tax receipts from businesses alone coming in at $125 billion a year. The lack of enforcement also sends a message to taxpayers that cheating will be ignored for the most part, increasing the size of the tax gap — the difference between what the government is owed and what it receives — now and in the future. The IRS estimated that the tax gap averaged more than $450 billion per year between 2008 and 2010, with most of the lost revenue — about $387 billion a year — due to businesses and individuals underreporting income.
Read the full report at ProPublica.


text:
Nine Martyrs of Perge in Pamphilia - Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion — Tone 4
Your holy martyrs, O Lord, / through their sufferings have received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through their intercessions, save our souls!


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Saturday, October 18, 2008
A River Runs Through It
We just arrived home from a lovely afternoon at the park. The weather is insanely beautiful today and we had a great time. Colin had fun running in his awesome new sneakers that I bought at Stride-Rite yesterday. He measured for a 6.5 wide width. Colin has HUGE feet. He is getting taller and leaner and his feet are just so big!!
While at the park, we decided to walk through the trails in the woods and came across a stream. I ended up with this shot of Jer and Colin which I think is amazing. You just have to click on it to see it big and up close. I am going to cherish this picture for a very long time.
Posted by Chalna at 3:19 PM 0 comments
Friday, October 17, 2008
Running Man!
The high yesterday was in the 60's!!!! Oh, the glory! After lunch I took Colin to one of the parks in our neighborhood and we will be going back there for sure. This one is completely enclosed by a gate and is not too large. It has a basketball court attached to it, which Colin had an absolute blast running around. He loves a new wide open space more than anything! There was a puddle on the court that he stomped in and plenty of room to run. I love the second picture above...I kept trying to take his picture running and that was the best I could get. It really sums up Colin perfectly. :-) I plan to get a ball this weekend that we can take to kick around. I think he would really like that. The brisk temps forced me into putting socks on with Colin's sandals. Not exactly stylish. The tennis shoes that I bought him at Target don't work. They are too bulky and big and hard to walk in. He needs wide width shoes and I am going to have to take time out this weekend to find some good ones for fall. He needs light weight, sturdy shoes with a sole that actually bends, just like his nice sandals. I think I am headed back to Stride-Rite.
Posted by Chalna at 8:18 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
I am "SO OLD".
We have had two days of rain here and two days of trying to find fun things to do that don't involve a park. Yesterday Colin slept in until 7:30am (which might as well be noon to us) and therefore took only one nap. I took him to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and to play in their playroom. He is obviously still too small to actually climb in those, but he loves to watch other kiddos. We sat facing the kids and Colin and I shared a lunch. Afterwards we went into the playroom, which is closed off from the dining room. I was the only mom inside and a little boy immediately walked up to me. The following conversation ensued:
Boy: Hi. I'm 5.I laughed almost the whole way home. I especially loved finding out his parents were getting married. Again. ;-)
Me: Wow! What a big boy!
Boy: My little brother is 3.
Little Brother: I am THREE!! THREE! THREE! THREE!
Me: You are both big boys!
Boy: My mom and dad are getting married. Again. (rolls eyes)
Me: well. that is nice. (shifts in seat)
Boy: You look a lot younger than my mom.
Me: OH. MY. ER.
Boy: How old are you?
Me: I am 31.
Boy: (immediately becomes pale and his jaw slacks to the floor) 31?!?!?! That is SOOO OLD.
Me: I know. It really is.
Boy: Yeah. REALLY.
Posted by Chalna at 7:45 PM 1 comments
Labels: naps
Monday, October 13, 2008
Naps are my nemesis. Colin has been belligerently tired for days now. He has been crying, fussy, and generally extremely unhappy. This is not like Colin in the least and I have been so worried about him. It seemed that every day without two naps, things just got worse. Yesterday was a particularly rough day with Colin and I both so physically exhausted that the memory of the day is hazy. Today, I woke up on a mission. I decided that Colin was taking a morning nap and I was going to do everything that I could to make it happen. He woke up for the day at 6:20am and I put him down for his nap at 9:00. He protested loudly. I went back in a couple of times to replace his pacifier that he had thrown angrily across the room. After 30 minutes, I took his clean blankets out of the dryer and took them into his crib. It was so funny...he cried for another 30 seconds, realized that I had given him deliciously toasty warm clean blankies, and fell promptly to sleep. He slept for two solid hours. He woke up in a wonderful mood! We had lunch together and got our Monday grocery shopping all done with no problems. Colin was adorable and happy for the whole trip, even back to showing his dimples to anyone who would look at him. We got home and after putting all the groceries away, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try for his regular afternoon nap too. He went right down. I was really blown away. He then slept for almost two more hours. The poor little man was beyond exhausted. After waking up, he was a joy all evening. He let me cook dinner, played with his Daddy and Enzo, and laughed all night long. He ate a nice big dinner, did not cry at all, and then went right to bed at 7:30 0n the dot. So what does this mean? I DON'T KNOW! I am so confused. I just don't know where we are heading with this. I will be putting Colin down again tomorrow for the morning nap on time and play the day by ear. He was obviously in desperate need for sleep. I get the feeling that he is probably going to go back to the old schedule until he is well rested again and then go back to fighting two naps. I guess this will work itself out, but I sure do hope it does not take too long. It is hard to plan our days when I don't know what naps are going to be like, not to mention that when Colin does not nap properly, he is in such a fussy mood that I can't really run errands like I normally would. Not to mention that the poor baby is wearing himself out. I guess time will tell.
Posted by Chalna at 8:15 PM 2 comments
Labels: naps
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The following press release tells us about a black conservative Tea Party that focuses on the inner city of Houston.
HOUSTON, TX – January 6, 2011
The Crispus Attucks Tea Party will hold its inaugural meeting on January 18th, 2011 at "This Is It" Soul Food Restaurant, located at 2712 Blodgett, in the heart of Houston's 3rd Ward. Supporting "This Is It" and enjoy a buffet dinner at 5:30 pm and socialize with other guests. The meeting will begin sharply at 6:30. Guest speakers will include recently elected Texas State House Representative James Earl White, House District 12 and Anita MonCrief, National Spokesperson for AmericanMajority.com. Ms. MonCrief will be working in Houston to help the Crispus Attucks Tea Party identify and prepare Conservative candidates for upcoming elections. Representative White was recently selected by Constituents of Angelina, San Jacinto, Trinity and Tyler Counties to represent them in Texas House District 12. House District 12 is located in East Texas which was a Ku Klux Klan territory and is a predominately White House District. Texas is especially proud of the fact that Representative White's character and the content of his message carried the day and with Tea Party help he won his seat with a substantial margin. Texas continues to lead the way for all other states in many ways. Texas and America are entering a period where "Content and Character are indeed more important than Color".
This inaugural meeting will be a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday and his leadership. It will also be a celebration of all of those who blazed trails for other Americans and especially for those who have advanced the full assimilation and liberty of the descendants of America's Black slaves. America is entering a period in time where "Content and Character are indeed more important than Color" for those who prepare themselves to be competitive. That too is worth celebrating.
Please RSVP to email@example.com
Our primary objective is to break the cycles of dependency and decay that continue to anesthetize and hold captive too many Black families and neighborhoods. We provide continuing series of speakers, seminars, training and practical business support services designed to help Blacks fully assimilate into and be competitive in American society. Our objective is to teach all Americans the fullness of the history of Blacks in America and to help Blacks gain control of their lives and the destiny of their children. Only by understanding our full and true history will we all of America be liberated.
Lessons learned from decades of intrusive Social Engineering, Social Justice Policies and the Welfare State are left out of text books and routinely ignored by those profiting from them, however, they cannot be denied. One need only take a walk through what is left of our Black communities. Houston's "Sugar Hill" became 3rd Ward which was a thriving Black enterprise zone without any government programs or subsidies. Enter stage left, "The Great Society" which offered "An FDR Chicken In Every Pot" and "An LBJ Check In Every Mail Box". Now Houston's 3rd Ward looks like a war zone and Black families are almost extinct. Spawned in the '60's, these social engineering experiments, government programs and the arrogant utopian value systems which produced them, continue to produce urban decay, increasing cyclical welfare dependency, increasing tax burdens (for those who pay taxes), the demise of the Black family, fatherless homes, skyrocketing out of wedlock births, more abortions than births, a rise in Black militancy and separatist activity and theft of real political power from all of those living in Black neighborhoods.
Neither political party has been intellectually honest with itself or Blacks. The Crispus Attucks Tea Party unleashes the anesthetized political giant rendered helpless by an unending stream of government programs funded by tax dollars. Programs, welfare checks and the demise of pride and the work ethic have robbed Blacks of their identities and their dignity. They have devastated Black neighborhoods and rendered them politically and economically impotent. The Crispus Attucks Tea Party will shift political power away from race bating politicians, games of 'Three Card Monty" played by highly skilled political operators and race hustlers who base all political activities and campaigns on race. Operating within Black districts these charlatans have proven incapable of acting in the best interest of those they claim to represent.
The Crispus Attucks Tea Party is part of America's rapidly growing Tea Party movement. Starting with Houston's 3rd Ward, it will focus all of the power amassed across America by the Tea Party movement directly into targeted Black neighborhoods across America. Yes !! .. Our army operates .. "Inside The Belly Of The Beast". The Crispus Attucks Tea Party is a non-partisan, neighborhood movement. It provides a base of operations for the descendants of Black Slavery who realize that welfare checks and government dependency are key elements of their destruction. The corresponding destructive cycles have destroyed lives, families and their neighborhoods. Government dependency holds Blacks hostage. It precludes true liberty and forever blocks full assimilation. Our mission includes building series of strong neighborhood operating bases made of business people, elected officials, Constituents and Voters, living and working in "hostile areas". Intellectually honest Constituents living in Black neighborhoods want them to be safe and to thrive while becoming less dependent on the tax dollars of others. These Constituents want disciplined classrooms and globally competitive educations for their children. They want full control of the schools, stores, businesses within their neighborhoods and real futures for their children. These things will come only when Constituents living in these neighborhoods feel that they are worthy of them. The Crispus Attucks Tea Party will help Blacks take those steps forward. The Tea Party moves .. "Into The Belly Of The Beast".
The Crispus Attucks Tea Party promotes and fights for the founding principles originally defined by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Our core principles include personal responsibility, education, a constrained and transparent government, a balanced budget, self sufficiency, full assimilation and the development of viable Black businesses …. that create jobs. We identify & vet viable Conservative candidates that are willing to fight for our mission, our principles and the issues we embrace. Candidates and elected officials who are commitment to American, want to maximize the value American Citizenship, share our values and demonstrate full support of our issue oriented efforts are welcome to support them. For more information on our inaugural meeting or the Crispus Attucks Tea Party, please send inquiries to email@example.com.


text:
Perfect Microwave Caramels are the softest, creamiest, and easiest caramels you will ever make! No constant stirring, not candy thermometer, no fuss. And they absolutely melt in your mouth!
I found the recipe for Perfect Microwave Caramels in a RV add that came in the mail. Weird right? I guess I was added to the junk mail list after I went to the RV lot and halfheartedly looked at a camper one day. The saleswoman sends RV fliers to me all the time and they have the best recipes on them! It's the only kind of junk mail I like!
My Grandma made so many different kinds of candies; divinity, fudge, rocky road, hard tack. I always wanted to try making them but my Mom wasn't into making anything that required the use of a candy thermometer. Although have added a few candies to my recipe box that require a candy thermometer my favorites are the recipes that aren't quite that precise.
With a name like Perfect Microwave Caramels you know these are going to be easy. It doesn't get any easier than using the microwave. I think my boys could even handle this one!
Perfect Microwave Caramel – Instructions
First, melt butter in the microwave.
Add sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and corn syrup.
Stir together.
Microwave for 4 minutes.
Remove from the microwave and stir.
Microwave for another 4 minutes.
It's going to start getting thicker after every 4 minutes of microwaving.
Remove from microwave and stir again. Microwave for 4 more minutes.
Remove from the microwave, stir.
Perfect Microwave Caramels – Test for Consistency
Check to see if caramel has reached the soft ball stage by dropping a small ball of caramel into a glass of water.
Remove caramel from water and check to see if it is the right consistency. Even though I like my caramels extra soft I determined my caramels needed to be microwaved for one more minute. They probably could have been microwaved for 2 minutes more and still been just fine. Since I like them soft I stopped after one more minute.
So check caramels for softness and microwave another 1-2 minutes (after this 2 minutes of cooking you will have cooked it 4 times for a total of 13-14 minutes).
Once caramels have reached desired consistency add vanilla and a dash of salt and stir.
I lined my pan with parchment paper and sprayed it with baking spray. Then pour caramel mixture into pan.
Or have your helper do that job. Sprinkle them with sea salt once you have them poured in the pan.
Perfect Microwave Caramels – Storing Them
Let caramels sit until completely cooled. You can put them in the refrigerator to speed the process up if you are impatient like me!
They will firm up as they sit. Remember they will be softer if you choose to microwave them for less time and will be firmer if you microwave them longer. I'm giving you options!
Once caramels are cooled you can either cover with plastic wrap and leave them in the pan. Or you can cut them into pieces and wrap in little pieces of wax paper.
Perfect Microwave Caramels are seriously so easy to make. While the caramel was cooking in the microwave I folded laundry, emptied the dishwasher and swept the floor. What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to stand by the stove top and constantly watch and stir these caramels. All you have to do is pop them in the microwave, go do a little task, stir, microwave, do a task, stir…I loved my Grandma's candy making skills, but I'm also super happy to find a recipe that doesn't really require any skills! If you don't make any other candies this Christmas, make sure to at least make Perfect Microwave Caramels! So perfect!
Perfect Microwave Caramels
- 1 c. butter
- 2 1/2 c. brown sugar packed
- 1 c. light corn syrup
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- dash sea salt
- Line a pan with parchment paper and spray paper with baking spray. If you want taller caramels use a 9 x 9 pan. If you want short caramels use a 9 x 13 pan. If you want medium sized caramels use an in between sized pan. That's what I did.
- Use a large microwave safe bowl for this recipe. Make sure your bowl is pretty big or the caramel will boil over.
- Melt butter in bowl.
- Add brown sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk to butter. Stir to combine.
- Microwave 4 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir.
- Microwave another 4 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir.
- Microwave another 4 minutes. Remover from the microwave and stir.
- Do a soft ball test by dropping a small ball of caramel into a glass of water. Check to see how soft the caramel. is. The caramel should hold together in a ball and be pretty soft. Determine if caramel is the consistency you would like. If caramel is a little to soft still microwave for another 1-2 minutes. I microwaved mine for 1 more minute and it still produced a very soft caramel.
- Once you've reached desired consistency remove caramel from microwave and stir. Add vanilla. Add a dash of seas salt if desired.
- Pour caramel mixture into prepared pan.
- Let caramel sit until completely cooled.
- Remove from pan and cut into squares. Wrap in small squares of wax paper or store in an air tight container.
- Store in refrigerator.


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La Gloria Cubana Serie 'R' #5 Maduro
So Chris, I pulled a 5-pack of my size of choice, the LGC Serie R #5 Maduro and got started with my note taking to produce the following review just for you my friend…
I think it goes without saying that the entire La Gloria Cubana line has become a staple in the cigar industry. It has been around for years and has garnered a reputation as being a consistent and reliable smoke year after year. Truth be told, I haven't had an LGC in quite some time. My desk is typically piled high with new cigars and samples of cigars from factories and manufacturers looking for feedback on prototypes of new smokes destined eventually for full-scale production. I know, I know, I have a rough job!!
Upon pulling the first of the 5 cigars I purchased for this review, the very first thing I noticed was a wrapper that was both lighter than what I have come to expect from El Credito as well as much more veiney than what I remember. I shrugged it off and went to town first cutting the cigar with a guillotine followed by a torch to the foot and I was off and running. The first few puffs brought me back to the heady days of wandering into the CI retail store where I would stand in awe at the incredible variety of cigars to choose from. Although the smoke produced were not of the voluminous clouds I ordinarily like to see emanating from my mouth, the flavor was distinctly rich and slightly sweet. Truly indicative of a naturally fermented Maduro wrapper! A third of the way into this big boy and the burn went a bit awry with one side burning a little faster than the other which unquestionably impacted both the flavor and temperature of the smoke produced. One other note is that the strength isn't what I remember it being. There was a time when an LGC would give me cause to have a seat but certainly not this time. Reflecting back and smoking an Edge Maduro as I write this review, I believe the reason for this is the recent trend towards "super-strong" cigars. What once was full-bodied now feels more like medium to full or perhaps just medium bodied.
The Bottom Line:
While there's no doubt that La Gloria Cubana is a solid "go-to" cigar I think that the cost is somewhat prohibitive and the flavor a little, dare I say, boring. For this kind of cash I would suggest a little experimentation. Newer cigars like the Triple Ligero and Edge Maduro have enough body to put you to sleep for an entire day. Good stuff!


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Conference Tackles Relationship Between Urbanization and Food
Feeding Cities: Food Security in a Rapidly Urbanizing World, the first international conference examining the critical link between urbanization and food security, was held at the University of Pennsylvania from Wednesday, March 13, through Friday, March 15, 2013. The conference, hosted by the Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR), in partnership with the School of Veterinary Medicine, and a Penn Steering Committee representing nine schools and six centers, was made possible by support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania's Office of the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives.
With more than two-thirds of the world's population projected to inhabit urban areas by 2050, the complex issue of food security in urban environments is increasingly urgent.
"Improving global food security, especially in the face of rapid urbanization and the threat of climate change, is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, a key supporter of the conference. "For developing countries in particular, providing access to affordable, nutritious food is a crucial step to ensuring local livelihoods, good health, and equitable economic development."
The conference hinges on the perspective that experts and organizations from a multitude of sectors must come together to holistically address the crucial issues of food security and urbanization. More than 60 high-level speakers will address the decisive intersection of global food production, distribution, access, and nutrition in the context of rapid urbanization and climate change. Keynote speakers include Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat); the Honorable Udaya Gammanpila, Minister of Agriculture, Minor Irrigation, Industries & Environment of Sri Lanka; and Heather Grady, Vice President of Foundation Initiatives at the Rockefeller Foundation.
An effective solution can only be found with the input and hard work of every stakeholder; the Feeding Cities conference launches this critical first step of bringing all essential parties to the table.
"Penn hallmarks, integrating knowledge and working locally to globally, are clearly evident in this important conference," said Amy Gutmann, President of the University of Pennsylvania. "In addressing the looming, immensely complex 21st century challenge of providing healthy, affordable food to 9 billion people by 2050, the conference brings together a multi-disciplinary group of experts — scholars, public and private decision-makers, students, activists and the interested public — from all corners of the world."
Feeding Cities spanned three days and will incorporate focused breakout sessions designed to facilitate discussion on implementable and reasonable solutions to one of our modern age's fundamental challenges: how to provide a sustainable, nutritious, and affordable diet to the world's urban population. Distinguished speakers and attendees across the public, private, and non-profit sectors will assemble to engage in dialogue focused on achieving the answer to this question.
For more information about the 2013 Feeding Cities Conference: http://www.feedingcities.com


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Here's an Oregonian article by Dylan Rivera on Solarize Portland.
Solarize Northeast was initiated by local neighborhood leaders who wanted to increase the amount of renewable energy generated in Northeast Portland by working together as a community. The program is structured so that the price of solar panel installation goes down for everybody as more neighbors join the effort. Group purchasing creates a 25 to 35 percent savings below current prices, depending on how many sign up. This group discount, in addition to current available tax credits and cash incentives, gives Solarize Northeast participants a significant cost savings.
Through a competitive bidding process, Northeast Coalition of Neighbors selected SolarCity to implement the group purchase program and install the solar electric systems. SolarCity has been in business in Oregon since 2008 with offices based in NE Portland.
How it works
The Solarize Northeast program aims to install solar on over 150 homes, for over 300 kilowatts of new solar electric capacity by the end of the summer. In addition, the program hopes to increase the energy efficiency of over 100 area homes by connecting residents to local weatherization programs. Interested homeowners can choose to go solar, participate in weatherization upgrades, or both by following these steps:
1. Join online at http://solarize.necoalition.org by April 15.
2. Choose to go solar, weatherize your home, or both.
3. Attend an upcoming workshop to learn more. (See "Calendar" tab on website.)
The project contractor performs a solar assessment at each home to determine the correct size and design of the solar electric system. Installations will take place between April 15 - August 30.
Neighborhood Associations: Not just block parties, land use, transportation, parks, and crime prevention any more.


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Breaking Bread
Colorado College has embraced the liberal arts tradition with the "Breaking Bread" program, an initiative that provides support to faculty and staff who host students in their homes. Thanks to Breaking Bread, students have a unique opportunity to make real connections and establish lasting ties with the college.
Transcend the First-Name Basis
Have a burning philosophical question unrelated to the course? Ask your professor and classmates over coffee and bagels on her back porch. Loving the jokes your physics instructor cracks in class? Clink glasses and laugh with his family at their dinner table. Sit in a circle and workshop poetry on your prof's living room rug, or polish off pizzas at your swim coach's place.
Close-knit academic communities are quintessentially "liberal arts." By virtue of their size and common enterprise to teach through discussion, such camaraderie at liberal arts institutions is, in a sense, inevitable. CC takes advantage of this tradition by encouraging strong student-faculty relationships, in and out of the classroom.
Last year, students "broke bread" with professors on nearly 200 different occasions:
"Once upon a time I went to an FYE reunion dinner at Mario Montano's. Because my FYE was the Anthropology of Food, he made us a ton of really delicious, traditional Mesoamerican foods. I decided to try one of the small, orange peppers mixed in with a type of roasted pork. I casually popped it in my mouth - and it was tasty - but moments later, my mouth was on fire. As I rushed to get horchata, I ran into Mario: 'Yeah man, don't eat the pepper. It is a special pepper from the Yucatan of Mexico.' Twenty minutes and five glasses of horchata later, I recovered from my first encounter with habanero peppers."
- Ruthie Markwardt '14
"During seventh block, the Sociology of Sexuality class went to CJ Pascoe's house. We helped set up and clean, CJ did the cooking, and all was wonderful. Tasty French toast, fresh fruit, bacon, and project presentations! Everybody had 20-30 minutes to talk about research findings and hold a short Q&A session. We talked about everything from breastfeeding to online BDSM communities to masculinity and grilling - all while sitting in the living room, playing with the dog. We didn't leave until well after three hours."
- Toni Pizza '12
Information is available for faculty and staff interested in Breaking Bread.


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Braves appreciate Fernandez's apology after fracas
MIAMI -- As Chris Johnson was leaving Marlins Park late Wednesday night, he heard a whistle and realized Jose Fernandez was trying to get his attention to apologize for the role he played in the events that led to a benches-clearing argument the Braves and Marlins had earlier in the evening.
"He's a good guy," Johnson said. "He just gets on the field and he's just different. He's a different guy on the field."
The Braves have a great deal of respect for the tremendous talent possessed by Fernandez, whose 2.19 ERA stands as the fourth-best mark recorded by a rookie pitcher in the live-ball era, which dates back to 1920. But they did not appreciate the display of Fernandez's youthful emotions, which bring energy to the game and at times can be perceived as antagonizing, after he homered in the sixth inning of a 5-2 Marlins win.
"When you watch him pitch, he does a lot of things on the field you can do without," said Braves catcher Brian McCann, who got to know Fernandez when they were National League teammates during this year's All-Star Game.
Johnson said the emotions began to simmer when Fernandez smiled and looked at Justin Upton after the Braves outfielder's towering fifth-inning fly ball was caught in deep center field. Evan Gattis helped fuel the events when he stared at the solo home run he hit deep over the left-field wall to begin the sixth. Moments later, Johnson did his part to feed the fire by uttering something to the effect of "weak fastball" after hitting a long fly ball that was caught in left-center field. All of this simply influenced what transpired when Fernandez stood at the plate and admired the first home run of his career in the bottom of the frame.
McCann had some words with Fernandez when the 21-year-old crossed the plate. This led both benches and bullpens to empty, and exchange nothing more than words and a few shoves. By the end of the evening, Fernandez had apologized, and the Braves were saying there would be no lingering bad blood when they face the young phenom next year.
"It's baseball," Johnson said. "Stuff like that happens. I don't think anything is going to happen after that. We'll try to get him next time. He's a good pitcher."


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Oxygen.com Boasts 432 Percent Increase Over Season 3 Web Traffic
NEW YORK � October 22, 2008 � Oxygen's "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" season four became the series' most watched cycle ever among the coveted women 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the season -- the show averaged 277,000 A18-49, 194,000 W18-49 (besting the series' previous high in cycle 3 with 273,000 A18-49 and 191,000 W18-49) and 379,000 total viewers.
Last night's season finale saw Janice close the doors of her agency in Los Angeles to move to New York and open her dream agency. The episode averaged 234,000 P18-49, 168,000 W18-49, 104,000 W18-34 and 342,000 total viewers. "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" season four premiere on August 26 was the most watched of the series among W18-49 (238,000) and P18-49 (322,000).
Oxygen's website www.Oxygen.com boasted an impressive 432 percent increase in page views over the previous cycle three (13.4 million page views versus 2.5 million). Additionally, video streams increased 86% with 824,000 (vs. 444,000 in season three) streams this season.
Source: Nielsen Media Research, "Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" premiere episodes (06/06/06-10/21/08) Live + Same Day data stream.
Source, Oxygen.com: Page Views and Monthly Unique Visitors - Insight XE before May '08 (beginning April '03), Omniture SiteCatalyst May'08 forward; Video Streams - FeedRoom solely before June '08 (beginning August '06), FeedRoom and Omniture SiteCatalyst jointly June '08 forward.
About Oxygen:
Oxygen is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and is currently available in over 74 million homes. The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape -- creating a network targeted to younger women. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's television, with a vast array of unconventional and original programming including "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency," "Coolio's Rules," "The Bad Girls Club" and "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood."


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Over the past couple months, I have spent a fair amount of time busting out posts for the Entertainment section of Rainbowchair and have had a blast doing so. Movies and television shows have been my bread and butter, leading me to create about three or four posts a week. The only thing that has bothered me about the Entertainment section of this blog is that it doesn't cover all of popular entertainment. I consider Popular Culture to consist of four different things: television, movies, music and books. So far, I have only touched on two of those four topics, fifty percent of what Pop Culture really is. Well, that ends today!
In April, my favorite (and I mean favorite no ifs, ands or buts about it) author came out with yet another hysterical novel. The author is Christopher Moore and the novel, his thirteenth to date, is called Sacre Bleu. Every one of Moore's novels is hilarious and has its own level of brilliance and Sacre Bleu is no exception. Leaving the fictional city of Pine Cove, California, where many of his novels are set, Moore travels to Paris in this latest novel, hell bent on changing art for the world. The novel opens with the murder of Vincent Van Gogh (notice I said murder and not suicide) by the story's main antagonist, the Colorman. The murder made to look like suicide becomes a mystery that drives forward the plot of the entire novel.
When Lucien Lessard, friend of Van Gogh and fellow painter, hears of Van Gogh's death, something about it does not sit right with him. Lucien and friend Henri Toulouse-Lautrec set off on an investigation that changes art as the world knows it. Moore, as always, fills the pages with a cast of hilariously amusing characters but in this novel, most of them are based on famous artists. Monet, Manet, Renoir and Van Gogh all make appearances and become important characters in the story as well as many other artists. As Lucien tries to understand and solve Van Gogh's murder, he encounters three important things. The first two are the Colorman and a tube of blue paint and the final thing is an old flame by the name of Juliette. Taking a break from the investigation, Lucien spends days painting Juliette, losing time and almost his life. Upon the completion of the painting, Moore's traditional supernatural aspect of his novels comes into play. Lucien begins to notice that he is not the only artist to encounter the Colorman, the elusive aquamarine blue tube of pain and the love of his life beauty at the same time. In fact, most painters seemed to have encountered all three at once and, while painting the beauty, lost time just like Lucien did. The resolution of the growing mystery is a while ride through the past complete with a muse, an immortal imp, a Goddess, time travel, a set of mechanical legs, brothels, opium and of course, the color blue.
Moore proves that the scope of topics he can write about is endless. Basing a novel off of the color blue should have produced pure insanity but Moore makes completing the challenge seem easy. The pages of novel are peppered with famous paintings that Moore works into the story as well as more famous artists than I thought possible. Not stopping at just referencing art, Moore also works in literature, referencing the Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Portrait of Dorian Grey both in very amusing and clever ways. Hysterical, amusing and lighthearted from beginning to end, Moore has produced yet another masterpiece that makes me wish my words read like his. I give the novel a 9.5 out of 10 and urge every person reading this to not only read Sacre Bleu but any of the great novels Moore has produced.


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Sydney - A baseball-sized snail with an insatiable appetite for hundreds of plants including cocoa and papaya has been seized and destroyed by Australian officials, who said it posed a huge threat to local agriculture.
The animal was found creeping across a Brisbane shipping container yard and identified as a giant African snail, an East African pest capable of growing up to 30cm-long and 1kg in weight.
It is known to eat 500 different species of crops, fruits, native Australian plants and even other giant African snails, according to an Australian government website.
"Giant African snails are one of the world's largest and most damaging land snails," said Paul Nixon, acting regional manager at the department of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, in a statement.
The snail can lay 1 200 eggs a year, tolerates extreme temperatures and has few natural enemies in Australia.
It also carries parasites that can infect humans with the disease meningitis, which can in some cases be fatal.
The last major Australian outbreak of the snail was in 1977, when 300 giant snails were exterminated in Queensland in an intensive eight-month campaign of community education, baiting and snail collection.
The snail was destroyed and officials inspected the container yard and found no evidence of additional snails, eggs or snail trails.
They will continue surveillance into next week.
"Australia's strict bio-security requirements and responsive system has so far kept these pests out of Australia, and we want to keep it that way," Nixon said.


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Bjørn Lomborg and Dr. Roy Spencer to be in Fox News special tonight on climate skepticsm and green agenda
This should be good. From Fox news, video follows. Bret Baier travels across America, revealing rogue regulators, tracing the truth about the president's environmental agenda and exposing programs that could devastate our economy!


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Nope, Strega, he isn't. Good stuff.
Maybe god is a sadist.
Well the Jews have brought us the Atomic age that could kill us.
Is it assumed that they contrived a God to delude us also?
Random, Michael!
I am actually more akin to Judaism than Nicene Christianity instituted by the Pagan Constantine and his Bishop henchmen.
If you really want to be creep out, watch Paranormal Witness. They dramatize and exaggerate everything. Yet if there is iota of truth to what these families are spilling their hearts about, it is disturbing. Church going Baptist (Nicene in my book) get pounced on and beat up by a presence despite their conviction. Not a vote of confidence for the Nicene Creed.
@Michael. It seems you may be fishing with the wrong bait here. The word Paranormal sends up red flags for any thinking Atheist, so I must tell you that Evidence must be provided before any belief is given, and this included ghosts, aliens, monsters, and boogie-men.
And Constantine died a christian, fyi. He converted when he made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
From my last reading of 'Revelations', the number 144000 comes up for the limit of numbers of the 'specal people' to be allowed in heaven. One can 'learn' something from the Seventh Day Adventists.
I asked about this once during a bible study I put myself through. They did not seem to have a good answer. I expect that the writer(s) of Revelations/Bible could not count any higher before the number become 'lots'. Seems like this number would have been satisfied before 100AD, meaning everyone, inspite of their humility and good standing, would be cast into the fires of hell. Seems like this could be a 'stick/carrot' for atheist outreach in the right hands...;p)


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Man, 20, dies after lightning strike in California
LOS ANGELES >> A coroner's official says a 20-year-old man has died after lightning struck or rattled 14 people at popular Venice Beach in Los Angeles and Catalina Island.
Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz says the man was taken from the beach and pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday afternoon.
Dietz says he can't confirm whether the man was a swimmer who was pulled from the water and given CPR.
The lightning struck as rare summer thunderstorms hit Southern California.
Thirteen people, including a 15-year-old boy, were examined after the strike. Los Angeles fire spokeswoman Katherine Main says they had effects ranging from anxiety to needing CPR, although not all may actually have been struck.
Nine went to hospitals, where one remains in critical condition.
Lightning also struck a 57-year-old man on a golf course on Santa Catalina Island. He's in stable condition.


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Headlines for Thursday:
Work on research
|@1130 Doctor's appointment
|@1600 Meet with Mark
|E-mail Toastmasters - Khalid, Jackie giving speeches. Anthony presiding?
|Get fountain pen fixed
|Pick up parcel from 131 Bloor Street W before 5:00 PM
|Confirm doctor's appointment
|Reply about wiki : E-Mail from Don Marti
|Check out the Pisay Alumni thing : E-Mail from PSHS National Alumni Association
|Check out org-mode GTD article: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/GTD/orgmode.html : E-Mail from Charles Cave
|List the balls I have in the air, prioritize
|Tag cloud my site : E-Mail from Gabriel Mansour
With the number of e-mail addresses people have, I think that all business networking sites should allow people to have multiple e-mail addresses as part of their profile.
LinkedIn does this right.
OpenBC's implementation forces you to have
a business e-mail, and changing this requires re-confirmation *and*
locks you out of your account. Yes, you can set your personal e-mail
address, but it's not the same. For example, I'm known as sachac AT
ca.ibm.com and sacha AT sachachua.com . Both are equally valid for
business, and people will look for me using either address. sacha AT
sachachua.com is also my personal e-mail address, as is sachac AT
gmail.com and sacha AT sacha.sachachua.com .
Quinn celebrated her 22nd birthday party at Mariko Sushi (851 Bloor St W), which has a decent all-you-can-eat menu for CAD 14.99 (~ 20 with tax and tip). It was a wonderful evening of round-robin discussions as we introduced different aspects of ourselves. We started by giving our names and our favorite type of sushi. Fan asked what our official job titles were, then I asked people to talk about one of their non-geeky aspects. Each (re)introduction spawned other conversation, and I really enjoyed getting to know everyone at the table a little more deeply.
It was a good party held in honor of a great friend. =)
On the walk back toward Greg's Ice Cream for post-sushi dessert, Simon received an invitation from Shane to join him and a few friends for The Secret, a motivational video about the power of positive thinking. Although I had been looking forward to getting to know Richard and the rest of the folks over ice cream in the continuation of Quinn's birthday party, I also felt that it would be good to join Simon for this. It was a good decision. Not only did I have the unexpected pleasure of reconnecting with Bryan Pickle (whom I had met at one of Mike Fletcher's parties), but the video was thought-provoking.
Not that the ideas proposed in the video were new to me. I take it practically for granted that you attract what you think about, that you notice what you're attuned to, and that the universe is one of abundance. The video was flashy and fast-paced, although you'll probably want to skip the pretentious first sequence and mentally edit out some of the more over-the-top effects. Despite the distractions, though, I managed to still my mind enough to attend to the video, collecting stories, gleaning insights, and reflecting on my own experiences.
There was a short lull after the video ended, then everyone else dug into the almost-forgotten fruits. I stayed still, turning the thoughts over in my head, permitting silence to fill in the gaps and listening to how I felt instead of immediately putting things into words. This was perhaps strange to the friends who were there. Shane asked me if I didn't like the movie. I smiled and told him that it was the story of my life, that I knew what it was to grow up attracting all these blessings. Lara agreed that everyone could probably find examples of experiences that fit, and the conversation went on - but still I kept quiet, reflecting.
A few hours earlier and I could have channelled the energy of passion and excitement into the discussion, matching the tone of Shane and Lara's voices, but I was in a serene mood. I haven't yet connected with either Shane or Lara on that level, when the silences are comfortable and one speaks when moved to. I've been that way with Quinn, and Jed, and Simon - yes, Simon has his calm moments, hard as that may be to believe. <laugh>
Serenity. Those who know me primarily for my enthusiasm and who have mainly seen me on the sugar-high I get on life usually worry the first time they see me in one of my calm moods, and even those who know me well often ask me if I'm feeling down. (Trust me, if I were feeling down, you'd know!) Serenity is that quiet stillness within me and the space I create in order to discern.
And now, hours later, I have a better understanding of how I feel.
I agree with the gist of the video: the mind is powerful, our attitude shapes our life, and our feelings and intuition give us a good way to sense how well we're doing.
However, thinking about it, I've come to realize that it is not the full secret of my life. What thesecret.tv describes is not my philosophy or my way of living. There is something different, something missing...
Ah. Here is the gap. The video focuses on receiving, but does not describe the great joy I have in giving. The video describes visualizing a goal, but I also love discerning a path. The video talks about uplifting the self, but my desires go beyond myself.
In order to serve, I must take care of myself, of course. I can't help people if I am miserable; joy comes from joy. But I am confident that if I listen and extend myself, the universe will nourish me. It always has.
I do not need to manifest anything into my life. Happiness is not something that is in my future, a puzzle with jigsaw pieces that I have to find and assemble. It is simply now. I have an abundance of opportunities, and my job is to explore them. It'll be *tons* of fun!
I ask the universe for some things, but in general the world gives me things before I even know to ask for them. If I am to receive anything, I ask for the discernment to see the best things to do at a moment, the beauty in each instant, and the ways to help people explore their potential.
I dropped into the University of Toronto Career Resource Library for a few minutes before my annual health checkup. Seeing one of my to-read books on the shelf, I picked it up and skimmed through it. It's great having these resources close by!
Darcy Rezac's "Work The Pond: Use the Power of Positive Networking to Leap Forward in Work and Life" is an engaging book that focuses on a "what-can-I-do-for-you" attitude. It's a good read, and one that I'd recommend to others next to Keith Ferrazzi's "Never Eat Alone", Leil Lowndes' "How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships," and Tim Sanders' "Love is the Killer App."
I particularly like Chapter 5: Travel in Pairs. "Work the Pond" has the best tips on pair networking that I've read so far. Your tag-teammate doesn't have to be your spouse, or even a close friend. A business associate whom you would like to get to know better can make a terrific tag-teammate. if you both decide to help each other out. It's a powerful technique, and one that I'd like to help with more!
Here's an excerpt from p75:
- Tag-teammates introduce you to people they know you might be interested in meeting. Their network is working for you.
- Tag-teammates help you when you forget a person's name.
- Tag-teammates keep an eye out for each other. If one is trapped in a conversation or left high and dry, the other can come to their aid.
- Tag-teammates can sing your praises much better than you can. It's hard for you to launch into a story about yourself.
The chapter is full of practical tips, such as sitting two seats apart - that way, each of you will get to know two people but you will be close enough to build on each other's stories or rescue each other from the "cone of silence" that sometimes happens when people to either side of someone engage in separate conversations.
The book is well worth getting just for that chapter alone. Here's the quick summary:
Get the book and grab a networking buddy. I'd be happy to help at any of the networking events I go to, and I'd love to attend even more!
On Technorati: networking, book
When two people share an incredible experience, that experience is not multiplied by two, but rather raised by the power of two. It more than doubles - it's squared! A 10 doesn't become 20 - it becomes 100, or even more. Why?
Because shared experiences become stories that are told over and over again.
On page 79 of "Work the Pond" (Darcy Rezac) is a powerful example of how to build an incredible experience and get a story told not ten times, but a thousand times. The Navy invited opinion leaders to understand what the Navy does and to tell the Navy's story. They put together a fantastic experience involving landing aboard and taking off from an aircraft carrier and hanging out of top-gun pilots. But they didn't just arrange this spectacle for the opinion leaders - they were smart enough to include the spouses as well. This meant that instead of the experience becoming, "Oh, no, not the carrier story again!", it became a treasured story to be told over and over again.
I remember a story my parents told me about giving people incredible experiences. My parents understood that if you're going to give someone an Experience with a capital E, that experience would be magnified even more if they had someone to share it with. If they were the only ones to, say, go on a helicopter flight, the stories would wear thin or be almost unbelievable. If they had one friend along, though, the stories would go on and on, growing more exciting with each memory.
I've seen that among friends, too. Driving around town with the Katz brothers was *amazing*. They completed each others' sentences, refreshed each others' memory, built up each other's energy. Reliving memories with my barkada (close group of friends) brings back the fun and the laughter. (Peppy, remember all the ice cream we had after I worked on your computer?)
I really appreciate being able to share all these experiences with people. I think that's one of the coolest things about having long relationships, and I'm looking forward to enjoying that even more with my family and my friends.
Anyway. If you want to make something really special for someone, make it possible for them to share the experiences and the stories with at least one other person. =) "Remember when..." are such powerful words!
On Technorati: networking, life, relationships
Okay, you definitely have to get this book. =) Read the chapter on "Opportunity is Everywhere", too. And "Repeat, repeat, repeat." Great role models, great stories, great tips.
Actually, just go and read the whole thing.
Darcy Rezac's "Work The Pond: Use the Power of Positive Networking to Leap Forward in Work and Life". ISBN 0-7352-0402-0.
(Someday I'm going to have Amazon links...)
On Technorati: networking, book, social
I have in front of me a big yellow binder with news clippings about networking.
Awesome. You know what that gives me? Names and organizations of people who have recently written about networking...
I heart U of T! I am so building a library like this in whatever universities are near me in the future...
On Technorati: networking
From Didith Rodrigo's blog: Dr. Pablo Manalastas will be retiring in 2007.
Who's going to bounce up and down and talk about Linux? Or coach contest geeks? Or tease people about their love lives?
Doc Mana's ubercool.
In honor of Doc Mana's wonderful, wonderful service, the computer science department of the Ateneo de Manila University is setting up The Pamana Fund. I'm definitely contributing to that one. He rocks, and he's one of two teachers who were the reasons why I'm into Linux, open source, programming competitions, and all those other things that really made me grow.
When DISCS gets the contribution sorted out, I'll blog about it in more detail.
See Didith Rodrigo's blog for details.


text:
Next: ax_check_posix_regcomp, Previous: ax_check_pathname_style, Up: The Macros
This macro checks whether we can connect to a PostgreSQL server with the given data. The macro AX_PROG_PGCLIENT is required by this one. The variable $pgclient_call is set for later use in Makefiles, if you'd like to make use of this, you must do
after having called AX_CHECK_PGSQL_DB. You can then do something like the following in your Makefile.am:
@pgclient_call@ -f file.sql
If you want the user to set the data, you should support something like these configure options:
AC_ARG_WITH(pgsql-host, [ --with-pgsql-host=HOST server is running on HOST @<:@local socket@:>@], [pg_host=$withval], [pg_host=])
AC_ARG_WITH(pgsql-db, [ --with-pgsql-db=DATABASE use DATABASE @<:@tarantoola@:>@], [pg_db=$withval], [pg_db=tarantoola])
AC_ARG_WITH(pgsql-user, [ --with-pgsql-user=USER use USER @<:@postgres@:>@], [pg_user=$withval], [pg_user=postgres])
AC_ARG_WITH(pgsql-password, [ --with-pgsql-password=PASSWORD use PASSWORD @<:@none@:>@], [pg_password=$withval], [pg_password=""])
You can then call the macro like this:
AX_CHECK_PGSQL_DB([$pg_db], [$pg_user], [$pg_host], [$pg_password], [AC_MSG_ERROR([We need a database connection!])])
Download the latest version of ax_check_pgsql_db.m4 or browse the macro's revision history.
Copyright © 2008 Moritz Sinn firstname.lastname@example.com
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
As a special exception, the respective Autoconf Macro's copyright owner gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure scripts that are the output of Autoconf when processing the Macro. You need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of the Macro appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf Macro.
This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf Macro released by the Autoconf Archive. When you make and distribute a modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
Next: ax_check_posix_regcomp, Previous: ax_check_pathname_style, Up: The Macros


text:
Sunday Supper: Fennel-Rubbed Pork Shoulder With Salsa Verde
Cooking projects for people who'd like nothing more than to spend a sunday afternoon surrounded by the wonderful aromas of the kitchen.
Editor's note: Each Saturday afternoon we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
Get the Recipe
Pork shoulder is one of the most alluring, satisfying cuts of meat money can buy. Yielding enough to feed a crowd, it's forgiving of long cooking, unctuously fatty and able to stand up to flavors both subtle and bold.
This version, inspired by Tyler Florence's take in "Stirring the Pot," cooks first in a low oven, taking on the tenderness of a roast before getting a final finish—and hit of smoke—from the grill. Both approaches work on their own. (Or, a smoker will certainly do.) However, by combining roasting and grilling, you achieve the best of both worlds: tenderness and a crackly texture.
Adding allure, the meat's fatty layer gets a chance to melt to the point of buttery goodness, flavoring the meat before crisping on the grill. Just watch out for flare-ups during the final stage; placing a drip pan beneath the meat and arranging coals around it helps prevent the problem.
The briny, lively salsa verde that goes with sports a touch of sweetness from golden raisins. This cuts through the fat and lends a bright, contrasting freshness. However, feel free to make a pan gravy with juices to go with. Just deglaze with water or beer, add a healthy dollop of Dijon mustard, and reduce.
Note: Don't rule out using a gas grill. Just place the meat on the top grate of a preheated grill. This gives meat an appropriate distance from flames and allows room for a drip pan to be placed below.
Get the Recipe
Fennel-Rubbed Pork Shoulder With Salsa Verde »
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text:
I suspect all is fine with my kidneys and I'll be going for nothing. My GP is being cautious. We'll see. Because the appointment is so out of the way, I'd really like to cancel it... but I should go.
Today I wanted to make some knitting needles for my shop, but only managed two pairs. :rolls:


text:
Sign In
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aeortiz's Techdirt Profile
About aeortiz
Latest Comments
Latest Stories Submitted
aeortiz's Comments
Oct 14th, 2016 @ 1:52pm
Typo in title
Why Is North Dakota Arresting Journalists For Doing Journalism?
Hello, your friendly neighborhood proofreader/nazi here,
Journailsm vs Journalism.
My fingers type chords all the time, (I "paly" the piano) and my dyslexia does the rest.
May 6th, 2015 @ 9:56am
And they ripped off Keith Haring's art
'Get Up, Stand Up' For... Whose Rights Now?
It's interesting that the ad they created also clearly copies Keith Haring's work.
Feb 25th, 2014 @ 2:03pm
Re: Re: Re:
Venezuela Shuts Down Internet, TV Stations To Stifle Protests
The CC has an anti-Chavista "bias" if you will. But they do acknowledge the disinformation you are mentioning exists, and they don't buy it either.
Read their articles, even if you disagree. they are very informative, and much of their material can be found elsewhere on the web.
May 24th, 2013 @ 7:26am
Obama a master doublethinker
President Obama Is 'Troubled' About Chilling Effects His Own Administration Is Causing To Journalism?
His comments demonstrate his mastery of the delicate art of double think.
Two definition of doublethink from Wikipedia and 1984:
" To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget, whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself – that was the ultimate subtlety; consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink. "
" The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies – all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth "
Jan 11th, 2013 @ 7:06am
Avoiding litigation
The Flipside: Embracing Closed Gardens Like The Apple App Store Shows Just How Un-Free You Want To Be
I suspect these clauses were designed to protect Apple from litigation.
Nov 30th, 2012 @ 6:52am
Sound like the setup for a joke
Cambridge Proposes New Centre To Study Ways Technology May Make Humans Extinct
"A philosopher, a scientist and a software engineer" walk into a bar...
Nov 29th, 2012 @ 12:36pm
We the People
Justice Department Uses Red Tape To Delay Release Of Required Information On Domestic Spying Until Well After It Matters
Would this be worth petitioning in the White House's "We the People" site?
Nov 6th, 2012 @ 2:58pm
Goodbye Star-Wars Commercials
Will Disney Block Star Wars Fan-Made Content?
Would the recent appearances of Darth Vader in commercials be possible if Disney held the rights...
Aug 15th, 2012 @ 7:36am
In Mexico, major studio films never got here to begin with
Netflix Provides 'Knock-offs' After Contract With Disney Ends
The studios have such a low regard for the Latin American audience, that they never offered good movies in Netflix to begin with.
I buy Blue Ray discs of movies I like, except when they're ridiculously overpriced. So I generally wait a year or so after their release. Before that, I watch them in the movie theater and download them from torrent sites. I don't feel guilty. I'm paying at least twice for them, and waiting over a year for them.
If they were offered at a normal price, 2 weeks after release, I'm sure their sales would go through the roof in Mexico.
I refuse to buy bad movies, pay for cable, or Netflix. I don't want to encourage Hollywood to shoot itself in the foot any further.
Jun 26th, 2012 @ 7:20am
USTR Gives MPAA Full Online Access To TPP Text, But Still Won't Share With Senate Staffers
I think you _should_ use the word corruption when talking about the RIAA and the MPAA. It's the perfect word for it, and I hadn't seen it. It seems obvious now.
They're focused on infringement, while they've committed bribery and abuse of monopoly, and eroding democracy. They're the ultimate hypocrites!
If you measure the impact of infringement vs the impact of their corruption on the common good, they are the worse offenders.
Apr 26th, 2012 @ 1:19am
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bandwith and Fake Interaction
Sherry Turkle Says Technology Is Making Us Lonelier Because We Spend Less Time Alone, Or Something
I do most of my interaction on Facebook with 10 or so friends, and we do see each other in person at least every few days or so. After Google+ and Facebook introduced circles and friend lists, I put those people on a "close friends" group, and share the private stuff only with them.
When I didn't have Facebook I was nagged silly with emails from people inviting me to join. After I joined 5 years ago, I get 1-2 friend requests almost every day.
I used to be very popular (I was in a megachurch worship team in Honduras) and knew 600-800 people by name there. Besides that, I've made several hundred acquaintances in each city I've lived. Them make up the bulk of my fb friends.
I saw Shelly Turkle's most recent TED talk, which explains her attitude much better than the article does...she used to be the type who shared everything online, and advocated others to do so. She still does, but questions herself as to why.
Apr 24th, 2012 @ 3:49pm
Re: Re: Re: Re: Bandwith and Fake Interaction
Sherry Turkle Says Technology Is Making Us Lonelier Because We Spend Less Time Alone, Or Something
Not at all, I'm a "Facebook whore" with over 1000 fake friends...and that's where my opinion is coming from...I don't share my life with them nor they with me, only a babble of status updates.
I'm from Honduras by the way, but have liven in the US and now live in Mexico.
Apr 24th, 2012 @ 8:23am
Re: Re: Bandwith and Fake Interaction
Sherry Turkle Says Technology Is Making Us Lonelier Because We Spend Less Time Alone, Or Something
No, I just care about privacy...and employment in my future.
Apr 24th, 2012 @ 7:23am
Bandwith and Fake Interaction
Sherry Turkle Says Technology Is Making Us Lonelier Because We Spend Less Time Alone, Or Something
I think one reason texting, chatting, and even video chat can't replace physical human interaction is bandwidth.
When we are in the same room with someone else, neither of us can control the non-verbal information that makes up about 80% of communication according to some.
Because we only present a squeaky-clean, groomed version of ourselves in our facebook profiles, or anywhere online, we miss out on most of the data about the people we are interacting with.
The sensation of having a human being near you is also much more comforting, they can hug you (or punch you) if you need/deserve it.
Dec 30th, 2011 @ 9:26am
US Box Office Revenue Finally Drops; But Not Because Of Infringement
I agree with you that tickets are a more important metric than revenue, but not the rest of what I hear you saying. It seems to me that your apparent dislike of Mike's ideas misled you a bit.
Most of the arguments in the article are Roger Ebert's, not Mike's, and I hope you agree Ebert's opinion is not meaningless. He's the leading movie critic in the business. Both are experts within their fields.
Jul 27th, 2011 @ 7:30am
While In Cuba, Venezuelan President Supposedly Rules Via Twitter
Au Contraire, Chavez is very smart. He is a skilled strategist and orator. He has millions of followers, made mostly through promises of money and power disguised as concern for the poor and socialism.
He is, in the words of Tolkien, a "wise fool". That's what makes dangerous. He is a traitor to the poor in whose name he governs, and an enemy of democracy in Latin America. But he hides it very well.
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text:
My Philosophy
I feel that every person involved with something as important as nutritional counseling should have their own personal philosophy. And it must be credible. This is mine.
My program is interactive. It's not just what I tell you to do. It's what we decide together as a result of me getting to know who you are, and designing a personalized, individualized program that fits your own personal lifestyle.
No two people may wind up with the same dietary program. Utilizing the latest scientific research, my program offers a realistic approach to making healthier food choices to achieve goals such as weight loss, improved blood glucose control, and reduction of cardiovascular risk factors.
Diets are temporary and boring. Weight loss should be permanent, and exciting to experience, as you watch yourself take control over your life, your health, and your appearance. To achieve permanent weight loss it is essential for you to learn how to make the right food choices. Once you learn these skills, you can utilize them in any situation that is presented to you.
The same philosophy goes for controlling blood glucose. Each person is different in terms of the amount of insulin their body produces, their tolerance to carbohydrates, their activity level, and their medications. For this reason, pre-written diets just don't work.
Together we can develop an individually tailored program that results in excellent blood glucose control, and includes the foods that you enjoy eating.
The bottom line for weight loss is calorie reduction. This can be achieved in many different ways. We need to find the way that is most suitable for you. I will teach you how to make sensible substitutions so you do not feel like you are deprived, or on a diet, but yet you will still lose weight.
From busy stay-at-home moms, to traveling business executives, there is an approach for each individual that will help them to succeed, and reach their goals, by utilizing my simple swapping strategy for making better food selections.
A true lifestyle approach to weight management needs to provide you with options that are similar to the choices that you make every day, but with small modifications to help you save calories.
It is important to realize that people don't respond well to drastic changes in their lifestyles. They may try and adhere to them in the beginning, but eventually they will go back to whatever feels comfortable to them. Working together as a team, we will develop a plan and a strategy for you to lose weight, without turning your lifestyle upside down. We will work together to focus on trouble spots, and will identify small changes to make at each visit, which will most impact your weight loss and your health.
It is also important to address emotional situations that lead to eating, since food can be a powerful drug and is often abused to provide immediate gratification. Choosing food as an emotional band-aid actually adds stress to your life as eating in that way results in weight gain and negative health consequences.
Many people eat for a variety of reasons other than hunger. We will work to identify the situations that cause you to overeat, and I will help you with problem solving, avoiding triggers and changing behaviors.
During our sessions I will provide you with the tools that you need to make educated choices. Tools that you can stick with not only for the time it takes to lose the weight, but for a lifetime of weight management and good health.
Remember, … if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem seems to be a nail!


text:
Champion Lanes
200 Cleveland Ave W.
Warren OH, 44483
(330) 847-7070
Come join a league and discover the joy of friendly competitive bowling!
The goal of our leagues is to provide a fun and competitive environment that enables friends and family to participate in a sport that is as enjoyable as it is challenging. Develop your bowling skills while enjoying team camaraderie. The friendly, good-natured competitive spirit of our bowlers makes the Champion Lanes Bowling Leagues such a great way to build lasting friendships and personal pride.
Sign-ups for Fall Leagues have already begun!Contact us for available spots for your team today!


text:
To make sure you don't ignore me, I'll send you an email at a random time between 9 and 10am (you can change the time, don't worry). I'll also include some sort of Agile goodness in the reminder just for you.
I'll never spam you or share your info with anyone. You mean too much to me for that. We're friends.
Why would I do all this for you for free? Because I care.