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I came across this poem recently. It's published in the The Runner's Literary Companion.
Poetry is sort of like opera for me: I don't get it most of the time and, as a result, it ends up making me feel bad about myself. So I avoid it. But sometimes I happen across something that clicks, at least in the poetic realm (hasn't happened yet in the operatic one).
I thought about this poem while finishing up my last 1000m interval yesterday morning. I especially like the final verse.
This Runner
by Francis Webb
This runner on his final lap
Sucks wildly for elusive air;
Space is a vortex, time's a gap,
Seconds are shells that hiss and flare
Between red mist and cool white day
Four hundred throttling yards away.
Each spike-shaped muscle, yelping nerve,
Worries, snaps at his stumbling weight;
He goes wide on this floating curve,
Cursing with crazy hammering hate
A rival glued to inside ground
Who flogs his heart, forces him round.
Friends, here is your holiday;
Admire your image in this force
While years, books, flesh and mind give way
To the sheer fury of the source.
Here is your vicious, central shape
That has no need of cheer or tape.
Filed under: inspiration, reading |


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All News Releases By Date
EPA Launches New Mapping Tool to Improve Public Access to Enforcement Information / Mapping feature supports the White House Regulatory Compliance Transparency Initiative and improves public access to information
Release Date: 09/30/2011
Contact Information: Stacy Kika (News Media Only), email@example.com, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the release of a new mapping feature in EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. As part of EPA's ongoing effort to improve transparency, the EPA and State Enforcement Actions Map will allow the public to access federal and state enforcement information in an interactive format and to compare enforcement action information by state. The map will be refreshed monthly to include up to date information about the enforcement actions taken to address violations of air, water, and waste laws.
"EPA is committed to providing the public with easy to use tools that display facility compliance information and the actions EPA and the states are taking to address pollution problems in communities across the nation," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "EPA is proud to announce our latest effort under the President's White House Regulatory Compliance Transparency Initiative and we will continue to take steps to make meaningful enforcement and compliance data available as part of an open, transparent government."
Map users can choose the year, the media (air, water, waste, multiple), and whether they would like to display enforcement information for actions taken at the federal level, state level, or both. Users can then click on a state to view facility locations and click on a facility to list its name, the environmental statute the facility has an enforcement action under, and a link to a detailed facility compliance report.
ECHO provides integrated searches of EPA and state data about inspections, violations and enforcement actions for more than 800,000 regulated facilities. Now in its ninth year, ECHO recently received its 10 millionth data query and has completed a record year of more than 2 million queries. President Obama recognized ECHO in his January 2011 Presidential Memorandum on regulatory compliance, as a model for transparency for other federal agencies to follow.
Enforcement and Compliance History Online: http://www.epa-echo.gov
Presidential Memorandum – Regulatory Compliance: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/18/presidential-memoranda-regulatory-compliance
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.

subset: commoncrawl


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Format: PDF Book and Online Directory
Number of Pages: 90
Year published: 2021
Serial Number: 382
Member/Non-Member Price: 35.00 / 35.00
The ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools consists of an online directory of dental schools (the ADEA Dental School Explorer) updated yearly and a PDF publication (ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools 2021-2022 for Students Entering in Fall 2022 or Fall 2023) updated every two years (the next update will be released in 2023). Even if you're not applying to dental school in the next year, the information can help you get an early start on your research and preparation..
The online ADEA Dental School Explorer provides data on U.S. and Canadian dental schools. The information—which can be viewed on your computer, tablet or smart phone—is searchable by key word and filterable by institution type, predental program and location (state, territory or province). The online tool also allows you to make bookmarks and notes, compare profiles from up to four schools and add your own deadlines to an interactive calendar.
Each dental school profile includes:
The PDF book (updated every two years) contains a wealth of information, including:


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Oh, the dance. There's something romantic and sexy about slow dancing. Holding someone close, inhaling their fragrance…bodies close. Today I chose seven paragraphs from my current release, Howdy, Ma'am Bk #1. Velia and Caulder have only known each other for a short time, but he understands the hell she's been through. The attraction between them both is getting harder to deny. A sudden memory leaves her apprehensive…but a real hero comes to her rescue. I played the song, "One Day my Prince will Come", over and over while writing this scene.
"It's hard to dance to this music. Not exactly what I'm used to," she whispered, standing close enough to smell his cologne.
Caulder spoke low. "Shh, close your eyes and follow my lead."
She succumbed to his embrace, resting her head against his chest, standing straighter to be nearer his shoulder. His scent enticed her closer, the same sultry fragrance he wore when they met. She closed her eyes and let him take her away in dance. She wanted to remain in this position, enjoyed being held. Could the others be right? She caught sight of her bare ring finger then straightened and moved her head from his shoulder. Although it was a good thing, and she wasn't second-guessing anything, she still felt overwhelmed with the loss of a relationship. Albeit she had no love left for Justin, she mourned something. She couldn't tell exactly what, but a feeling of loss lingered.
"Everything okay?" Caulder held her tight around the waist and whispered close to her ear.
"A sudden memory is all." Velia leaned against him once again.
"Have no fear tonight. Let me help you escape for a time." He lowered his voice to a near whisper. "No ties, no bounds—one warm body to hold you on the dance floor is all. Enjoy it until it's over." Caulder squeezed her hand a little tighter and pulled her closer against him. "Let yourself go for now. Give yourself a sense of peace, even for a short time. I promise that's all—let me show you some comfort…for tonight."
Velia relaxed when they played the next song— She let him hold and guide her in dance. He was right. No bindings, no ties, just a warm body to hold. She closed her eyes and held him tighter while they swayed to the music.
Don't forget to visit with the other participants in #MySexySaturday Blog Hop
Join us each Saturday at My Sexy Saturday…expect to have your senses titillated with hot writing, tame to sensual to explicit, from authors near and far.
Post 7 paragraphs or 7 sentences or 7 words. The choice is yours. It can be from a WIP or something you already have published.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials say they're delaying a policy that would allow passengers to carry small knives, bats and other sports equipment onto airliners.
The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that the policy change has been delayed to accommodate feedback from an advisory committee made up of aviation industry, consumer and law enforcement officials.
John Pistole (PIH'-stohl), head of the Transportation Security Administration, proposed the policy change last month, saying it would free up the agency to concentrate on protecting against greater threats. TSA screeners confiscate about 2,000 small folding knives from passengers every day.
The policy was to go into effect Thursday. The TSA's statement said the delay was temporary, but no new date for implementation was provided.
The policy has been fiercely opposed by flight attendants' unions.


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Daily Puzzles 07 Movers 07
There will be ten puzzles per page unless specified.
Take your time and have fun, and do not try to cheat by looking at the answers.
If you would like more puzzles, the author has published the following two books which are available on Amazon.com.
DISCLAIMER: This webpage contains products with affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, xqinenglish.com will receive a small commission. You will not incur any extra cost when buying from an affiliate link.
Click here to return to the menu for this section.
Unless specifically mentioned, Red would be the first to move.


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Contact Film Review
The blogger otherwise known as the Scientist Gone Wordy and I return for another go at this duo post series for ours. This time wandering back to the science-fiction genre, which dawned it all anyway. Setting our telescopes on the one person who made the word 'Cosmos' join the vernacular of the 80s. As Wikipedia described him, the novelist also happened to be an "American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences". His name was Carl Sagan.
Known to many for his PBS miniseries, sourced by his wildly popular science book, it drew the curiosity of viewers in the millions worldwide. In fact, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage was the program that in turn transformed another cardinal number into the pop culture catchphrase ("billions and billions") of the time. His science-fiction book, Contact, involved, natch, the contact between our Earth-bound human civilization and extraterrestrial life, became a 1985 national bestseller.
As usual, my colleague will examine the standalone novel later adapted to film twelve years later, which I will review. Rachel's book review can be found here:
A brief synopsis of the film: Dr. Eleanor Arroway has a career job perfectly suited for her talents. "Ellie", a radio astronomer, has long been interested in life of the most faraway lands imaginable — those on extraterrestrial worlds. Fostered since childhood toward such things, she's a passionate, if frustrated, advocate for science and the wisdom for this type of search. So, when a distant radio transmission arrives on Earth, from the vicinity of the star Vega, Ellie and her devoted colleagues find vindication in separating the signal from the noise, and the skepticism. But, a coded message lay within the broadcast, an invitation. An extraordinary one, which will take a leap of faith, as it were, to accept.
[spoiler warning: some key elements of the film could be revealed in this review]
"I know you must think this is all very unfair. Maybe that's an understatement. What you don't know is I agree. I wish the world was a place where fair was the bottom line, where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing was rewarded, not taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world."
I've probably seen Robert Zemeckis' film Contact at least a half-dozen times now since its initial release in 1997. Always picking up something new with each subsequent screening. What was found this instance, you ask? It was catching the reference of which Space Shuttle was in orbit at the time Vega's signal was first intercepted. It was the Endeavour. That would be the same one that cruised our city's streets last year on the way to its new home. It's all in keeping with a film that still fascinates me.
I'll admit, I've been overly critical of Robert Zemeckis ever since the Y2K rollover. Perhaps it was his over reliance on computer effects in some of these productions. Maybe it was the questionable projects that drove it. Or, trying out a type of animation that marked some of his 21st century films and made me think I was watching dead people walk about, way before everyone and their mother put out a zombie film. I'm being too harsh, I know it. Criminy, we all know you can never have too much of Tom Hanks. Who am I trying to convince?
Compare his recent films to 1997's Contact and something becomes apparent. A few of us think the latter stuff pales. What came next for Zemeckis after this movie? What Lies Beneath in 2000. I rest my case.
The adaptation of Carl Sagan's first fictional novel was one of the rare cases where the film gave the source material a really good cinematic turn. Carl, ever the teacher, layered his book with so much fact, along with an absorbing idea of how actual contact with extraterrestrial life might happen, to be truly intriguing. Sufficiently, I suppose, to make his conjecture a must-read among science enthusiasts and laypeople, which I finally did before this most recent revisit. Zemeckis and crew may have done it one better by distilling the book's essence down to a two and half hour movie experience.
It's certainly a journey film, that's for sure. One worth taking, you ask? For Sagan's initial idea of it all, I'd say yes, but YMMV. It gave a surprisingly even-handed debate on religion and science, faith vs. reason in the bargain. I'd commend writers James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg for their translation to the screen. Yes, there are special effects galore employed in the film (Zemeckis' intro for the film surely a worthy effort), but these don't distract, for the most part. Ultimately lending themselves to telling a good story than being something so fecking cool to look at (reading Irish crime of late has affected my speech, I fear).
Looking back on both the novel and film, I can spot the significant changes, cuts, and compromises made in this adaptation. Not a surprise really, but I was more taken with the director's and writers' approach with the source material this time around. Certainly, when it used the political terrain of the time to condense the tale around to frame it within Bill Clinton's administration. Locking the film into a point in time that, back then, could have been seen as a detriment as soon as the Presidential Election year of 2000 clicked into view.
Now, I'd say that was a blessing. Hindsight, go figure. Yeah, I'll be mixing tone and terms in this review. So? Just another fascinating element. The screenplay also promoted Occam's Razor as a crux in the tale to skewer not only Ellie's counterpart (and love interest) but also the protagonist herself by the same logic in the course of her passage. Besides, any fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean would surely realize the principle, the 'razor' used to remove the unwanted, was in any case (paraphrasing)
"…more what you'd call "guideline" than an actual rule"
That said, the film, like the source, offered a wonderful zeal when it came to the science on display to bolster its speculative fiction. The film surely attempted to stay as grounded in the real world as the novel — Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico and New Mexico's Very Large Array in Socorro put to great effect. But especially so when it came to the behavior of the characters, both good and bad. With a cast as well endowed as this — Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, Tom Skerritt, William Fichtner, John Hurt, Angela Bassett, and David Morse — how could it not?
Of course, Contact lives or dies for the movie viewer with its star Jodie Foster. If you don't buy her as a driven, intelligent, and passionate scientist, then it's not going to work for those watching…terrestrial or extraterrestrial. I'd say she pulled it off. Although, the parallels with her quintessential role from eight years earlier, Silence of the Lambs, seemed a tad heavy-handed in this production. An aspect filmmakers certainly 'tweaked' from that of the material.
Let's count them off, shall we? Orphaned care of a widowed, loving father who happens to die early. [check] She's an attractive, fiercely astute, and relatively young woman battling her male cohorts in a field she's less than welcomed in. [double-check] Helped along through the minefields byway of visits with a genius-intellectual renegade slash benefactor. No, not Hannibal, but a S.R. Hadden — John Hurt chewing scenery as good or better than Anthony Hopkins as Lecter. It seems pretty clear, doesn't it? [triple-check]
It only got better. Give her a Jame Gumb to overcome — Tom Skerritt taking full advantage of his covetous characterization of prickly (or should we just drop the 'ly'?) David Drumlin and James Woods' scheming Michael Kitz as this version's Paul Krendler nemesis and we're almost set. Finally, have William Fichtner pose as her steady confidant Ardelia Mapp — believe me, it works here — and you could easily map this all out so anyone mistakenly calling our heroine Clarice wouldn't raise an eyebrow.
"Wanna take a ride?"
I feel that harshness creeping back in. It shouldn't as I have a distinct fondness for the creative Zemeckis intervention in this Sagan story. It really did play more spectacularly across his big screen instead as described on Carl's page, even if it was in condensed form. The shift of Palmer Joss as Ellie's romantic interest even offered a better science vs. religion context and contrast care of charismatic early work by Matthew McConaughey, too. As a whole the film remains an engaging enterprise care of the craft employed by a director (on a roll before the wheels came off) and a great cast that delivered on an unexpected tale, even all these years later.
Perhaps, Contact was not what genre fans would describe as typical science-fiction fare. That would be a good thing. The quality movie fans have come to expect from Hollywood of late not close to tipping anybody's 'thinking' meter, particularly for adolescent males. Little wonder Sagan deployed a smart woman as his protagonist to lift the story's caliber.
No sinister aliens (acting more like humans all too often) in conquest for land and resources. Plucky Earthlings with ray guns (or light-sabers), you-know-what implanting chest-bursting embryos, or writing inane malware for upload to an alien mothership (yeah, I looking at you Independence Day) being the expected need not apply here. No, this film seemed more intent on attaching a heart and a soul to an intellect for a journey of discovery. This work more a character study, primarily through Ellie, of those on the receiving end of a radio transmission from the stars, weighing hope vs. fear in reaction. The gist being (re-tasking a quote from another sci-fi film):
"You have to look with better eyes than that."
Parallel Post Series
27 Responses to "Contact Film Review"
Excellent review! This may be my fave Jodie Foster performance. I found very believable as a driven scientist and her verbal sparring with Matthew McConnaughy was well done.
I'm glad you mentioned William Fichtner – he's cast wonderfully against type in CONTACT. Usually, he plays heavies in films and so it was great to see him play such a different role.
I like this film much for the same reasons I love CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND… that it offers up benign aliens instead of the usual aggressive evil ones that want to wipe us out.
It is also a special film in that it's one my dad and I bonded over. He used to be a math/computer teacher and would always grumble at science fiction movies that get the math/science wrong and always singled out CONTACT as a film that got it right, esp. in the area of prime numbers.
Excellent write-up. With this and the previous post about the opening, I now really want to visit this film again. I always really liked it but I think I might just enjoy it even more now.
Lovely review, as always! Interesting highlight on Ellie's character type… I wonder if that was the "Hollywood" aspect of the film… not trusting this female lead to hold the movie together so making her more like a previous successful venture. She and Clarice certainly have things in common but if you take Ellie straight from the book she's not such a clone.
I think this is a fantastic adaptation. The source material is huge in scope and getting that down to a good movie that can be watched repeatedly is so impressive to me. I have some quibbles but they are so minor that it's easy for me to forget them while watching.
I think Jodie Foster in the part is perfection. I wish there were many more such roles for her in film that I could go back to.
I could have done without Joss as a love interest and I realize it would have been difficult but I would have preferred the travel companions like in the book. I'm not a huge fan of the ending in either (just too heavy handed with the whole science/religion thing) but I found it better with 5 folks taking the trip rather than one.
Interesting that both the movie and the book really dated themselves…
It was great to go back to this title!
I've never seen Contact though the concept very much appeals to me and I like Jodie Foster. I need to get this one on my Netflix queue.
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An A to Z Co-host blog
I've been trying to sing the praises of Contact for many years. Zemeckis, like the film itself, is far too underrated in my opinion (although I totally agree that he's let himself down a bit since What Lies Beneath – perhaps a little ego crept in there). Contact's a wonderful film and I think that comes chiefly from Zemeckis's portrayal of Jodie Foster's character, and her determination to find "something" more to our world and our universe. It is a terrific performance from Foster and while the ambiguity (or lack of definitive answers) of the ending probably turns some people off the film, I think it works perfectly in that we are left with the same level of wonder that drove Foster's character to find the answers she sought.
Is that Back to the Future on the big screen? I would love to see it at the cinema. I do have vague memories of seeing Back To The Future Part 2 in the theater – one of the first films I saw at the cinema – but I'd love to see the first one.
Great review. I saw the movie before reading Sagan's book and agree that it's interesting to check out the differences. I think the movie was wise to focus on Ellie and not have a group venture into space. They streamlined the story and really put us with her for the journey. I've watched Contact a bunch of times and still enjoy it every time. I forget about the great visual moments (the opening, the star show after Ellie meets her father, the wormhole journey, etc.), and they still work today.
[…] Contact […]
[…] Roger Ebert's 2011 "Great Movies" review It Rains… You Get Wet 2013 review […]
[…] Contact […]
[…] Contact […]
[…] Contact […]
[…] of Sherlock Holmes and William of Occam (who is readily known to those of us who've watched Contact). Add in Michael Lonsdale, F. Murray Abraham, William Hickey, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Ron Perlman, […]
[…] get Best Picture. Also taking repeat nibbles of this, along with The Fifth Element, Face/Off, Contact, Gattaca, and especially Starship Troopers and Jackie Brown, […]
[…] Carl Sagan's novel that haunts the '90s with Jody Foster's mesmerizing performance. One of our Duo Posts examined it a couple of years ago, to boot. And for its 20th anniversary, Germain Lussier crafted a […]
I was taught Relativity by a professor that was a student in Kip Thorne's class back in the 90s (yeap, the Nobel prize winner last year and the scientist behind Interstellar) when he mentioned that Carl Sagan just called him and asked him to review the draft of ..Contact to make sure it was scientifically correct.
One of the best sci-fi films of all time.
[…] (and the late 90s in general) was a fuckingly brilliant year for sci-fi. "Contact", "Mimic", "Men in Black", "Gattaca", "Fifth […]


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Mo'Ne Davis tossed a shutout in Philadelphia's 8-0 win over Delaware, sending her team, the Taney Dragons, to the Little League World Series. The 13-year-old struck out six batters and allowed only three hits and three walks in her incredible performance.
Davis will become the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series in its 68-year history. Another girl, Emma March from Canada's Region Champion will also play in the LLWS — the third time that two girls have played in the same LLWS.
According to Philadelphia Magazine, Davis has played with the Anderson Monarchs, a travel baseball team in South Philadelphia from the age of seven. Her fastball, according to the article, registers at a whopping 70 mph.
Earlier this month, Taney manager Alex Rice said she's so skilled he feels comfortable putting her at any position.
"She didn't just make the team," he told The Patriot-News. "At times, she'll carry the team."


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There are a few Stonehenge-like sculptures and fountains scattered around the cities of the world, but we hadn't heard of this one until Mr. Dean Travchav Phillips posted it in the Clonehenge Facebook group. Nice find, we must say! Happily, this brings us to 80 large permanent replicas, and you know what that means, right? It means you live on a planet with an incredible number of Stonehenge-obsessed maniacs! What could be more fun??
We know little about this fountain except that it's in the center square of Lanjaron in southern Spain, and the name of the sculptor is Ramiro Megías. There is a page about the inauguration of the sculpture/fountain here. Its title is something like Living Fountain, or Fountain of Life, and it is meant to bring together the timelessness of the stone with the moving waters and figures of children, along with the old couple who seem to exemplify lasting love. See a photo from another angle here.
The timeless and the momentary—that's what we're all about here at the Clonehenge blog: the timelessness of Stonehenge and the fleeting moment of enjoying that Stonehenge cake; the eternity it takes us to get around to doing a new post and the seconds it takes you to read it and forget it. It's the balance of life.
Trilithons in a way represent balance, the two sides supporting the lintel evenly to create a structure that has an impact greater than its parts. Maybe that's part of why people all over the world build Stonehenge replicas. We have records of large permanent Stonehenge replicas on every continent. Wherever modern man goes, Stonehenges follow. It's a strange phenomenon. Someone should write about it!
We did discover one distressing thing, however. We were looking at available emoji for our iPad keyboard and what did we discover but—AN EASTER ISLAND HEAD!!! No Stonehenge emoji, but they have an Easter Island head (aka moai)? Who ARE these people? We have to find some way to demonstrate that Stonehenge replicas are way more prevalent around the world and in the human psyche than moai. And also get a Stonehenge emoji added to the lexicon, so to speak. Whom do we contact? This needs to happen, and soon!
Luckily, we never lose our focus and wander off topic.
So, until next time, then, henge nerds, happy henging! (And hang onto your henging hats—because some unprecedented and really fun henging news could be in the offing, taking henging to a whole new level! Stay tuned.)


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Judge Andrew Napolitano was Fired from his popular Fox Business tv show Freedom Watch. Freedom is banned in America.
Censorship and media control is unfolding in the Establishment's desperate attempt to shut down detractors.
The White House run and George Soros funded Media Matters have recently attacked Pat Buchanan and Judge Andrew Napolitano.
According to Alex Jones, the 8 executives of NewsCorp who were arrested have been blackmailed to not investigate Operation Fast and Furious, DOJ Holder and Obama.
Rupert Murdoch's being blackmailed to shut down any "liberty" kind of talk that threatens the Globalist's takeover. Liberty is banned.
Goodnight America.


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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With re-election behind him, President Bush was meeting Thursday with his Cabinet.
The president planned a news conference following the session at 11:05 a.m. ET. CNN plans live coverage of the event.
Attorney General John Ashcroft could be one of the first Cabinet members to leave the administration.
Sources close to Ashcroft told CNN Thursday that they believe it is most likely the attorney general will submit his resignation in the near future, possibly within the next two weeks.
Bush laid out an agenda for his second term on Wednesday after declaring victory in a speech to jubilant, flag-waving supporters at the Ronald Reagan Building, three blocks from the White House.
Bush said his administration will focus on economic recovery, fixing an outdated tax code, improving Social Security, building on education initiatives and helping the emerging democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan. (President Bush declares victory 'historic')
"I'm proud to lead such an amazing country and I'm proud to lead it forward," he said. "Reaching these goals will require the broad support of Americans."
Bush also called for unity and reached out to supporters of his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry.
"When we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America," Bush said.
"We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it."
Kerry called Bush Wednesday morning to concede defeat after initially holding out hope that uncounted provisional ballots could give him an edge in Ohio, which would have given him the electoral votes needed to win the election.
"We talked about the division in our country and the need, desperate need, for unity. ...Today, I hope we can begin the healing," Kerry said in a speech Wednesday at Boston's Faneuil Hall. (No remorse in Kerry's call for unity)
Republicans also added to their majorities in Congress.
In the Senate, they gained four seats, none more significant than that of Democratic Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who was defeated by former U.S. Rep. John Thune. (GOP increases control in Senate)
Other key Republican takeovers were in Louisiana, where Rep. David Vitter was set to become the state's first GOP senator since Reconstruction, and in Florida, where Mel Martinez defeated Betty Castor to take retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Graham's seat.
Democrats had a few bright spots. In Illinois, state Sen. Barack Obama won by a large margin over Republican Alan Keyes. And Democratic Attorney General Ken Salazar won in Colorado over Republican beer magnate Pete Coors.
In the House, Republicans had a net gain of at least four seats, including a pickup of five Democratic seats in Texas, where a redistricting plan pushed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay redrew the state's map to make it more Republican-friendly. (Republicans build on House majority)
On the Democratic side, Melissa Bean defeated longtime GOP Rep. Phil Crane of Illinois, the Republicans' longest-serving congressman. In Colorado, rancher John Salazar -- the brother of Ken -- defeated orchard owner Greg Walcher in their House race.
In Georgia, attorney John Barrow knocked out incumbent GOP Rep. Max Burns.
Two of the House's 435 seats remained undecided, both in Louisiana, where the final winners will be determined in December runoffs.
CNN's John King, Suzanne Malveaux and Kelly Wallace contributed to this report.


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This screening uses a simple breath test to measure the amount of oxygen a person consumes to determine the number of calories they utilize in a day at rest. This is your resting metabolic rate (RMR) which can represent up to 75 percent of the calories you burn in a day if you are inactive or lead a sedentary lifestyle. Other things that have an impact on your metabolism include fever, illness, high fitness, obesity and active weight loss.
Wellness Services at Sterling Regional MedCenter offers metabolism screenings several times each month. The 30-minute screening will measure your oxygen consumption and help you determine a personalized calorie budget. The cost is $30.
Screening date for June is Wednesday, June 13, starting at 7 a.m. Call (970) 521-3260 to make your appointment.


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Q: Exactly what type of head and neck cancer do I have? Where is it located?
Q: Why did I get this cancer?
Q: What stage is the cancer?
Q: What are my treatment options? Which treatment do you recommend for me and why?
Q: Have you discussed my case at a Multidisciplinary Team meeting and what were the recommendations?
Q: What are the possible side effects of treatment in the short- and long-term? How can they be prevented or managed?
Q: Will the treatment affect my ability to eat, swallow, or speak? Will I need a feeding tube?
Q: What will happen if I don't have any treatment?
Q: How much will the treatment and/or operation cost? Will Medicare or my health insurance cover it?
Q: What follow-up tests will I need? How often will they be?
Q: Am I suitable for any clinical trials?
Q: What lifestyle changes (diet, exercise) do you recommend I make?
Q: Who can I call if I have any problems or questions?
Q: Where can I find emotional support for me and my family? Is there a support group or psychologist you can recommend?
Q: If I wanted to get a second opinion, can you provide all my medical details? Do you mind if I get a second opinion?
Thank you for signing up to the latest news from Head and Neck Cancer Australia.


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Prayer request from ministry for all those who lost their lives, were injured, lost their homes, those who are afraid, those involved in the rescue effort and all those supporting and praying for their families, friends, Christians and all those impacted by the tornado's hitting Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Carolina, Alabama and Ohio.
Father, we do not always understand Your way, but have faith Your plan is always for good and we know You will bless all those injured and afraid after this disaster with the of Your Holy Spirit. We pray You will bless all those impacted with the understanding and comfort only Your Holy Spirit can provide.
We pray in faith in Your Word:
Ephesians 1:9-11 "God has now revealed to us His mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill His own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ — everything in Heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything workout according to his plan."
Psalms 23:4 "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."
2 Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Luke 1:37: "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Jeremiah 33:3: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
Isaiah 41:13-14: "For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
We have complete faith You bring us home immediately to You when we leave this world and know You will welcome home all those who died with open arms!
1 Corinthians 15:51-57: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye….we shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed…and this mortal shall have put on immortality… thanks be to God, which giveth us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Romans 8:31-32: "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
In Your Name God our Father, Christ and Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit we pray, Amen


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Experienced Michigan Attorneys
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We adopted the following firm Mission Statement: ...enthusiastically committed to helping you achieve your personal and business goals through timely, responsive legal service... characterized by excellence.
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Corporations and LLCs
When establishing a corporation, there are two different types of corporations you can charter, with major differences and advantages to each. Setting up a smaller business as an LLC can offer you important protection against liability in the event of disputes with customers or vendors. Michigan Lawyers & Attorneys is ready to serve your legal needs when you are ready to set up your business as a Corporation or Limited Liability Company (LLC). Before you decide which type of business entity to establish, it is essential that you have expert legal, accounting and taxation advice on which type of legal setup is best for your particular business operation.
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Litigation is the legal process for resolving a civil or commercial dispute through the courts. It is defined as the act of bringing or contesting a civil lawsuit to determine and enforce legal rights, and results in a judicial decision.
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Estate planning is the formal process of setting up legal documents including standard wills, living wills, power of attorney agreements and trusts in order to plan ahead for dispersal of assets and guardianship and protection of children in the event of your death, or for medical care and end of life choices if you become disabled or otherwise incapacitated.
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Wills And Trusts
Correctly setting up a comprehensive will, with a trust when necessary, is the most effective way to protect your assets and family after your death, ensuring that family members in particular need are taken care of, and minimizing estate tax obligations while also ensuring peace of mind for everyone involved.
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Real Estate Law is a specialty area of law covering all the federal laws, Michigan state laws, local regulations and legal codes related to real estate, which is legally defined as land, and any immovable improvements on that land, such as buildings. Real estate law therefore covers purchase and sale transactions, leasing or rental agreements, property development and management, and commercial property use.
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Tax Law
Tax Law is the specialty area of law that deals with the federal and state laws and regulations governing personal taxes and estate planning, business taxes and even tax preparation.
Everybody wants to pay only what they really owe in taxes and wants to make sure they take advantage of every strategy, break and deduction available to them at tax time.
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Probate Law
Probate Law is the specialty area of law that deals with the disposition of a person's estate after they have passed away. This is always a difficult and trying time and at Michigan Lawyers & Attorneys we will be glad to help assist you in all areas of probating your loved one's will and estate.


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Compare and contrast people:
First, tax cheats are bad people.
Tax cheats steal from us all. Every dollar they save in tax from these tricks is a dollar we have to pay, borrow, or cut – a dollar we don't get to spend on schools, hospitals and state houses. The government should make these companies pay their fair share. And if the present government refuses to do so, because they are on the side of the tax cheats, we should elect one that will.
And he's right. That money you save by aiding and abetting a tradeperson's tax fraud? That's money that would normally go to schools, hospitals, and public services. You might as well be going down there and smashing some windows yourself.
So, I support this campaign: people should pay what they owe, and not commit tax fraud.
Goff's statement that
No one knows exactly how much is lost by people dodging their tax – but it's been estimated in the billions.
is carrying an awful lot of weight here.
Like Goff, I want to see those loopholes closed and that avoidance stopped. People should pay their fair share, and those who don't are cheats and parasites
This is the cost of having great chunks of our economy owned by foreign tax cheats: not only do the profits go offshore, but they do so in ways which rob the government of revenue, and therefore us of public services.
Got the idea? Avoiding paying your taxes to a sovereign government, even if you what you have done to do so is completely legal makes you an evil person(tm).
Now this week National announced that they will be arresting people who had cheated the New Zealand government out of it's revenue. We're talking people who have moved overseas to maximize their incomes, but owe the government money, but have made no effort whatsoever to pay.
You'd think that this sort of crack down would be music to the ears of someone so worried about New Zealand's tax base. I mean, these people aren't structuring their affairs to keep the money off-shore, (which is perfectly legal) they actually have signed agreements with the New Zealand government to pay the money. Yet in spite of having signed contracts, the government has offered to negotiate and that offer has been treated with contempt.
In other words, the morality of this situation is pretty one-sided.
So Idiot would be really happy to see the government announce it's taking this "threat to government revenue" so seriously. Yea right:
And what National's policy will do is make sure they can never come home ever again. They can't come home for christmas, because they'll be arrested. If a New Zealand family member gets sick, they'll have to choose between their family and their freedom. They won't be able to come home for funerals. All of that is inhumane, vindictive and punitive, but it gets worse: they won't be able to do business here, because they'll be arrested. And they won't even be able to move back home, because if they come back for a job interview, the government will throw them in jail.
Here's my take: you cheat your taxes, you go to jail. You cheat your student loan repayments, you go to jail. (You legally avoid changing your taxes, bad on you – but it's up to the government to change the law.)
In short: cry me a freaking river. If you find yourself unable to return home because you're wanted by the authorities, you should have not broken the law in the first place. If you owe on your student loan, you should talk to the IRD today (ok, not today… perhaps Monday).
Hey, maybe that might have been the point of the law? Gee…
But on the other hand, if people are calling you out for avoiding taxes, just find some way of converting it to a student loan. Because "gaming the system" is ok – because as long as you actually agreed to pay the money, it's a-ok with the left to avoid payment.


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Diamond Bar, CA – EchoAce, a free online marketplace that allows customers to order directly from thousands of restaurants at a great discount, has announced an exciting event to allow medical personnel and first responders at UC San Francisco Medical Center to receive a free Jamba Juice drink during the Thanksgiving week from Monday, November 23 and Friday, November 27, 2020.
As medical personnel and first responders continue to battle on the coronavirus pandemic's frontlines, this one-week event is a way to honor and thank healthcare workers for their continued support within the local community. As COVID-19 cases continue to surge and filling hospitals, this event thanks to those doing God's work to save lives during this public health crisis.
"EchoAce is excited to announce this event for healthcare workers and first responders at UC San Francisco Medical Center," remarked Mike Hoang, Regional Sales Manager of EchoAce LLC. "At EchoAce, we provide an innovative way for thousands of restaurants to sell directly to consumers at significant discounts and find independent delivery services. Our goal is to help thousands of restaurants in the Bay area to survive by saving millions of dollars during this difficult time. This mission is no exception for healthcare professionals, and we hope to fuel them with a fresh Jamba Juice during the Thanksgiving week."
To receive the discount*, start by downloading the EchoAce app at https://echoace.app.link/upMmh26RX9 or by scanning the following QR code
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EchoAce, a free online marketplace, has created a new environment where customers, restaurants, and delivery drivers can meet without middlemen taking 30%-40% of the profit from restaurants. This allows thousands of restaurants to sell directly to consumers at a significant discounts. EchoAce revolutionizing the restaurant industry by cutting out the middleman while providing high-quality and efficient services. Learn more about EchoAce by visiting EchoAce.com.
* Discount drink value up to $4 per customer. One per customer. Quantity limited. Must present UCSF or first responder ID when picking up the order.
Media Contact
Company Name: EchoAce LLC
Contact Person: Mike Hoang
Email: Send Email
Phone: 415-966-6697
Address:3333 S. Brea Canyon Road
City: Diamond Bar
State: California
Country: United States
Website: echoace.com


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My 3 guys
Father's Day was a lot of fun this year. We went to Amelie's for a nice breakfast, played around at Discovery Place in Charlotte, ate an early dinner at Tupelo Honey (oh-my-yum!), and then went to Studio Movie Grill at the Epicentre to see X-Men.
Love this pic! Hayden's photo bomb makes me LOL every time I look at it.
The way to my hubby's heart is gifts (and homemade cookies). He is like a little kid in that respect. We gave him a couple of Tommy Bahama shirts (since he will never buy them for himself), beer soap (yes, you read that right, lol), a new beer glass, Aveda shampoo & conditioner, and a beer shirt.


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Before the Dawn by Georgia Rose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Before The Dawn is book two in the Grayson Trilogy. It crosses romantic suspense with mystery. Emma Grayson is the equestrian groom at Melton Manor Estate. To the locals this is a working farm estate, but inside it's an external force for MI6 to use. Top man Cavendish and his family are now targets for a ruthless organisation known as the Polzin family after the team recently put a stop to a branch of their human trafficking business.
Retaliation from the Polzin is expected and security on the estate steps up, as does the relationship between Trent and Emma. Caught between wanting to protect Emma and doing his job Trent finds letting Emma look after herself a challenge.
With a breach of security it's up to Emma and her horses to try to protect the children and her own survival instincts kick in when they are most needed.
I loved the jump straight into the action from the start of the book, it kept me reading and eager for the story. The setting and military use of surnames makes recognising characters easy, perhaps a little added background to some of them would help readers picking this book up as their first read of the trilogy. For my own tastes I would like to see the romantic boundaries stretched further with a few more details to the passion scenes, this would give more depth to the characters of Trent and Emma and really get the readers behind two good characters. Looking forward to book 3 and the final chapter of this trilogy.
Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
View all my reviews on Goodreads


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An imaginary conversation between a critic (me) and a cult winemaker
The critic: But why will you not submit your wine to my blind tasting?
The winemaker: Because I don't believe in the "beauty contest" of a blind tasting. The only way to properly appreciate my wine is to taste it at the estate, with me the winemaker, and with a full understanding of what we are trying to accomplish.
I understand your point of view. But can't you see that the sole objective of wine reviewing is to actually taste the wine in and of itself, without the distorting effects of environment and knowing what the label is?
Perhaps that is true for others, but not for me. That is not why I make wine, nor is it how I wish for critics to taste my wine.
So you're saying the only way to properly appreciate your wine is to do so in the full knowledge of what it is.
Can you concede that, under such circumstances as you propose, the wine would probably strike the critic as better, than if he tasted the wine under blind conditions?
Possibly. But you overlook another point: Let's say that the critic has high expectations on visiting the property, which is very famous and has a long history of producing great wine. Then the opposite of what you fear might occur–namely, that the wine failed to live up to his high expectation, and the review therefore would suffer.
I can see your point. But it strikes me as extremely unlikely. A great winery always makes great wines. Except in the event of a catastrophe, it seems impossible for a critic to visit a great winery and fail to give the wine a glowing review, especially if he knows what it is.
I think you still fail to see my point. We put everything we possibly can into creating our wine. It is the product of many years of labor, on the part of the most talented team I've been able to assemble. The wine is a work of art–not simply a liquid inside a bottle. Besides, no normal person drinks wine the way you propose–from a paper bag with no knowledge or understanding of what it is. That is counter to the entire concept of a great wine.
And yet, suppose the wine has certain minor flaws: maybe it's a bit thin, or too sharp, or too fruity. Maybe the oak has been applied with a heavy hand. Maybe the tannins are hard and will never resolve. These things all are important to point out to consumers, but if the critic tastes the wine openly, with you, at the estate, then what we call "tasting room bias" will occur. These relatively minor flaws, which would instantly be apparent under blind conditions, run the risk of being undetected, with the glamor and psychological perturbations of tasting at the winery.
That may be true, but consider this: If I send you my wine and you taste it blind, in a flight of its peers, it will no doubt achieve a respectable score. Let's say in the mid-90s. Do I really need yet another 95-point wine? All the other critics, who come here and taste it openly with me, will give it 95 points, maybe even 97 or 98 points. Therefore, I have absolutely nothing to gain by sending you the wine.
That is not true. It's better for you to have more high scores, not fewer. After all, some of those critics who visit with you may someday turn against you and give your wine 87 points. Wouldn't it be better from a marketing point of view to have a 95 point score to tell people about?
The people who buy my wine don't care about scores. They're on my mailing list because they love my wine. We would never use a critic's score to promote our wine. That would demean everything we're trying to do.
I don't believe that. There's a reason why your wine is in high demand, and that's because certain critics gave it high scores. You can't have it both ways.
Well, I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. However, I do respect your ability as a wine critic, and I'd be happy to host you at the winery anytime you want. We can taste whatever you want: current releases, barrel constituents, older wines. Even if you're not able to review them in your magazine, at least you'll have the opportunity to understand what it is we're trying to do.
Thank you. I'd like that. And perhaps, someday, you'll change your mind, if for no other reason than out of sheer curiosity.
Maybe! But I doubt it.
Winemaker: "If you personally open the bottles, then put them in the bags yourself, how could you possibly NOT know what you are tasting?"
"After all, some of those critics who visit with you may someday turn against you and give your wine 87 points."
This is an alarming statement if it's true;that for reasons other than poor wine quality, a critic might "turn" against a producer and assign an arbitrarily bad score based on something other than wine quality?
PAWineGuy – exactly what I was thinking…
You blog regularly about the refusal of "cult" winemakers (Harlan, Screagle, etc.) to "submit" their wines to you for blind tastings.
Considering the list of "cult" wines isn't terribly large, why doesn't Wine Enthusiast purchase these wines for you, so you can taste them single blind? None of these wines are impossible to acquire. And I'm sure WE readers would love to see your (blind) reviews of these wines.
Yeah, I know, Brewer won't send his wines to anyone. He and Chad Melville make the same contentions in support of their policy. It's their policy. The way around that is to order (and pay for) the bottles yourself.
That said, the bigger concern is that, when face to face with the reviewer, a winemaker can try to convince (sometimes aggressively) the reviewer the wine has organoleptic properties it simply does not. Or, that it deserves a higher score than it got.
87 Points, Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide: Very Good, Often Good Value, Well Recommended
That said, "organoleptic properties" is something I plan to incorporate into a back label very soon, it's just got to be done.
Roger sez: "This is an alarming statement if it's true;that for reasons other than poor wine quality, a critic might "turn" against a producer and assign an arbitrarily bad score based on something other than wine quality?"
This is an easy one as to "why". A change in style. Back in the early days (by crackey), both BobLindquist and SteveEdmunds and AdamTolmach made big/extracted Syrahs that were/still are the favorite style of Parker. Over the yrs, both Bob & Steve have strived for a more balanced/elegant/less alcoholic/less extracted style of Syrah. Both were taken to the woodshed by Parker for their Syrahs not being as "good" as they used to be. And given lower scores. AdamTolmach has been ratcheting back extraction/alcohol levels on his wines and was recently accused by Galloni of allowing his yields to get too high…an accusation that's easily refuted by Adam's numbers.
I expect PaxMahle will also be taken to the woodshed because of his style change. To my judgement, all four of those winemakers are perhaps making the best wines they ever have. Just not in Parker's favored style anymore. Some of my favorite winemakers hang out in the Parker woodshed.
I see the point, and I agree that the "cult" winemaker sounds like a terrible snob. But on the other hand, Wine Enth. is also sticking unreasonably to its "principle" of not paying for bottles. Actually buying a few of these cult things for blind tasting would then become a subversive act. Just do it, Steve.
You say that a wine critic can have a bad day and that this could effect scores. What happens in these instances? Do you re taste the wines or invite fellow wine colleagues for a secon opinion?
Tom Hill, great comments. I am a friend of Adam's and could not agree with you more!
Thrilled to hear WE is going to be purchasing more wines! That's great news for consumers.
I've long thought that publications like WE and WS are equally to blame for the cult wines refusing to submit for blind tastings… after all, nothing is preventing anyone from purchasing the wines.
Thanks for the clarification, Steve. Makes sense.
Steve said: "I would never ask for anyone else's opinion." Trusting your palate is important; how long did it take for you to arrive at this level of confidence, and you're never interested in what ST, JS, or RP has to say about a wine you've reviewed?
To be fair, Adam's scores were between 87-94 from the Wine Advocate on 22 different wines. And Wind Gap's 10 wines ranged between 88 and 94. If that's the woodshed, then I've lived in various woodsheds (including our host's) my entire winemaking career.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
Why do people in the industry persist in using the terms 'cult wine' and 'cult winemaker'? It's disrespectful to the individual and the winery. The term is derogatory in every way and shows a great lack of understanding of the wine industry. Small production wines made by a good winemaker don't make them 'cult-like', any more than small-batch brewers and their beers or vegetables grown by local farmers and sold at farmers markets.


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Praise be to Allah.Allaah says, enjoining kindness towards one's wife (interpretation of the meaning):
"and live with them honourably"
[al-Nisa' 4:19]
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "And treat women with kindness, and treat women with kindness." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5186; Muslim, 1468.
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The best of you is the one who is best to his womenfolk, and I am the best of you to my womenfolk." Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3895; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami', 3314.
Undoubtedly consulting one's wife and listening to her advice and accepting it is part of living with them honourably and treating them with kindness. It softens her heart and makes her feel that she is playing a role in the family and that she is responsible for her family, especially if the man finds that his wife has wisdom and common sense, and has intuition, and she does not jump to conclusions or let herself be swayed by emotions.
Moreover, the benefits to be gained by consulting one's wife and accepting her opinion, or not doing so, may vary according to the topic concerning which the wife is being consulted and asked for her opinion: is her emotional nature going to affect her view on this matter or not?
It may also vary according to the nature of each of the spouses and how much wisdom and common sense each of them has.
If the husband thinks that it makes sense to reject her opinion or he thinks that her view is mistaken, he has to be kind in the way in which he rejects her opinion or advice, and he should not accuse her of being silly or say that her opinion is worthless, and he should explain to her what is correct, as much as he can.
Look at the story of al-Hudaybiyah and what happened there, then you will understand the value of consulting a wise and smart woman. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made a treaty with Quraysh and agreed to go back, and not enter Makkah that year, he said to his companions: "Get up and offer your sacrifices." But not a single man among them got up, until he had said that three times. When no one got up, he entered upon Umm Salamah and told her what had happened with the people. Umm Salamah said: "O Prophet of Allaah, is that what you want? Go out and do not speak a word to any one of them until you have slaughtered your sacrifice and called your barber to shave your head." When he did that, they got up and offered their sacrifices.
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This points to the virtue of consultation, and that it is permissible to consult a virtuous wife.
Also think about the story of Moosa, and how Allaah caused him to be raised in the house of Pharaoh, and how much blessing there was in the advice of Aasiya, the wife of Pharaoh (may Allaah be pleased with her), of whom Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And the wife of Fir'awn (Pharaoh) said: 'A comfort of the eye for me and for you. Kill him not, perhaps he may be of benefit to us, or we may adopt him as a son.' And they perceived not (the result of that)"
[al-Qasas 28:9]
In the same soorah there is the story of the two women at the well of Midyan, and how one of them said to her father (interpretation of the meaning):
" 'O my father! Hire him! Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy'"
[al-Qasas 28:26]
Look at how wise she was, and how she knew who was the best qualified to be hired and entrusted with work, and what a great blessing this advice brought to her family.
And Allaah is the Source of strength.


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Brian Kelly has withdrawn from running as write-in for 2018. He favors Lou Barletta because govt. needs to return to the people! Bob Casey does not represent ordinary Pennsylvanians. Like Bernie Sanders, Casey is a pro-death socialist. Lou Barletta has Kelly's 100% endorsement. Kelly put this web site together in 2012 when he ran against Bob Casey. Casey would not debate Kelly because he preferred to hide in Scranton. Check the record.
To be modified


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I love the cottage-casual look of butcher-block countertops in the kitchen, and every magazine I look at features them. They don't seem very practical, however. I have a small, galley-shaped kitchen and would love to use them. Would it look strange to have one side butcher block and the other side tile? How do you maintain them and keep them clean? What are their pros and cons?
Marianne Warren
Looking for countertop ideas? See all your options, plus get design tips.
Dear Marianne,
I, too, love the look of butcher-block countertops in the kitchen and, contrary to what you think, they are very practical.
More From Country Living
I called on Becky Hewing, the customer service manager at John Boos & Co., who was able to point out some interesting facts about their Hard Rock Edge-Grain Maple countertops. These countertops are both easy to clean -- "nothing but soap and water" -- and virtually maintenance-free, as long as you treat them like any other countertop material. For example, just because your countertop is wood doesn't mean you should cut on it -- you should still use a chopping block or cutting board.
Becky recommends periodically oiling your butcher-block countertops with John Boos Mystery Oil or pure mineral oil -- both are food-safe. According to Becky, people often don't realize that with laminate or solid surfacing, if the countertop gets damaged, chipped or burned it can be difficult and costly to repair. However, with butcher block, all you need to do is lightly sand out the scratch or burn and apply mineral oil.
As for mixing countertop materials in a small kitchen, wood is a neutral, warm, surface material -- it blends with anything.
John Boos & Co. offers three countertop materials: Hard Rock Maple, Red Oak and their newest product, Lyptus, a dark wood similar to cherry. It is an exotic wood that is ecologically responsible and comes from a renewable forest. These countertops are 1 1/2 inches thick and come in lengths up to 12 feet and in standard countertop widths. If you don't want to commit to an entire counter of butcher block, John Boos sells a Hard Rock Maple Baker's Top -- a 1 3/4-inch-thick countertop with 4-inch risers (which are essentially backsplashes) on three sides. These countertops come in 4- to 12-foot lengths and standard countertop widths. Prices start at $32/sq. ft.
Check out www.johnboos.com for more information and to find a dealer near you.


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Страница: 1/13
Contents :
Introduction 3
Part I 3
Part II 5
Part III 7
Part IV 8
Part V 9
Part VI 10
Part VII 12
Part VIII 14
Part IX 15
Welsh language guide 18
List of used sources 21
It is the eighth wonder of Wales that is the most wondrous of them all, the survival of the Welsh language in the face of almost impossible odds.
Sometime in the seventh century, a Welsh Bishop heard an Englishman's voice on the bank of the River Severn and was filled with foreboding at the sound He recorded his unsettling experience thus: "For the kinsman of yonder strange-tongued man whose voice I heard across the river. . . will obtain possession of this place, and it will be theirs, and they will hold it in ownership."
The bishop was wrong. More than twelve centuries have passed since the strange tongue of the Saxon was heard on the borders of Wales, centuries during which the ancient tongue of the Bishop and his fellow Britons had every opportunity to become extinct and yet which has stubbornly refused to die. The survival of the native language is truly one of the great wonders of Wales, to be appreciated and marvelled at far more than any physical feature or man-made object, and far more than the so-called seven wonders of Wales.
It is a something of a shock when visitors travel from England west into Wales, for, almost without warning, he may find himself in areas where not only the dialects become incomprehensible, but where even the language itself has changed. The roadside signs "Croeso i Gymru" (accompanied by the red dragon, the ancient badge of Wales) let it be known that one is now entering a new territory, inhabited by a different people, for the translation is "Welcome to Wales" written in one of the oldest surviving vernaculars in Europe. For amusement with the language, after getting used to names such as Pontcysyllte, Pen y Mynydd , or Glynceiriog, one can take a little detour off the main route through Anglesey to Ireland and visit the village with its much-photographed sign announcing the now-closed railway station:
To account for the abrupt linguistic change from English into Welsh, one must journey far, far back into history.
Part I
It was about 1000 BC that the Celtic languages arrived in Britain, probably introduced by small groups of migrants who became culturally dominant in their new homelands, and whose culture formed part of a great unified Celtic "empire" encompassing many different peoples all over Northern Europe. The Greeks called these people, with their organized culture and developed social structure Keltoi, the Romans called them Celtai.
In spite of the fact that they were perhaps the most powerful people in much of Europe in 300 BC, with lands stretching from Anatolia in the East to Ireland in the West, the Celts were unable to prevent inter tribal warfare; their total lack of political unity, despite their fierceness in battle, ultimately led to their defeat and subjugation by the much-better disciplined armies of Rome. The Celtic languages on Continental Europe eventually gave way to those stemming from Latin.
The Celts had been in Britain a long time before the first Roman invasion of the British Isles under Julius Caesar in 55 BC which did not lead to any significant occupation. The Roman commander, and later Emperor, had some interesting, if biased comments concerning the native inhabitants. "All the Britons," he wrote, "paint themselves with woad, which gives their skin a bluish color and makes them look very dreadful in battle" (De Bello Gallico). It was not until a hundred years later, following an expedition ordered by the Emperor Claudius, that a permanent Roman settlement of the grain-rich eastern territories of Britain begun in earnest.
From their bases in what is now Kent, the Roman armies began a long, arduous and perilous series of battles with the native Celtic tribes, first victorious, next vanquished, but as on the Continent, superior military discipline and leadership, along with a carefully organized system of forts connected by straight roads, led to the triumph of Roman arms. In the western peninsular, in what is now Wales, the Romans were awestruck by their first sight of the druids (the religious leaders and teachers of the British). The historian Tacitus described them as being "ranged in order, with their hands uplifted, invoking the gods and pouring forth horrible imprecations" (Annales)
Реферат опубликован: 10/11/2007


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The Beach Bums are the best…for now
The Traverse City Beach Bums are the best team in the Frontier League. I know that's a pretty bold statement, but with a record of 64-32 at the end of the regular season, they are statistically the best. Now comes the hard part…winning the playoffs. They start their quest on Wednsday taking on the Souther Illinois Miners, and will then hopefully take on the winners of the Gateway Grizzlies/Florence Freedom series. It was probably no suprise, either, that the Beach Bums were named the Frontier League Organization of the Year. Contributing to the Bums win/loss record, was the fact that they led the league in overall attendance with 160, 581, and average attendance with 3, 491 per game. The roster also includes the winner of the Morgan Burkhart Award, given to the Frontier League's MVP in Jose Vargas. He has broken many of Traverse City's offensive records this season, and was one home run short of setting a league record of 30 home runs and 100 RBI's. Vargas ended the season with 29 dingers, and 100 RBI's right on the nose. He also hit .290 for the season. The team also includes four post-season Frontier League All-Stars. Chase Burch was named as the All-Star first baseman after hitting .304 with 17 home runs and 76 RBI's. Ryan Still was named as the All-Star second baseman, after hitting .301 with 110 walks. This set the league record for bases on ball in a season. Vargas is the league's All-Star third baseman, for putting up his great numbers, and in the outfield, Jeff Flagg is defiantly an All-Star. He hit with power all season, knocking 20 over the wall with 83 RBI's. Bums manager Gregg Langbehn seemed pretty proud of his team and what they accomplished so far.
"The Beach Bums are honored to be represented in several postseason categories," Langbehn stated the the Bums website. "Like we have said all along, when you surround yourself with good people, the right people and quality players, good things will come of it. Burch, Still and Flagg all are deserving of being on the post-season All-Star team. Their contribution have been significant to this squad. Jose (Vargas) is well deserving of the FL MVP. Without question he earned that award."
Something good also happened for Langbehn, too, as he was given the Roger Hanners Award given to the Frontier League Manager of the Year. His team's 62 wins this season ranks fifth in the FL history books.
"As a whole, we are proud and honored to receive these awards," Langbehn said. "It would not happen without the support, hard work, and determination of every person associated with the Beach Bums and all of our families. These are all organizational awards."
Photo courtesy of the Traverse City Beach Bums


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From NSF Multimedia Gallery: "Granular materials — like sand, rice, or powdered pharmaceuticals — are everywhere, yet their behavior is poorly understood. In some ways behaving like liquids, in other ways behaving like solids, such materials have unique properties and pose unique questions to answer. From clogged coal hoppers to powdered-snow avalanches, scientists and engineers are gaining new perspective on the fundamental nature of grains. In this video, see some of the latest research into the behavior of granular materials."
Prof. Bulbul Chakraborty's group website


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Last month President Obama said in a speech, "I'm proud of the fact that under my administration oil production is higher than it has been in a decade or more." Last year in the second presidential debate, Obama made the same claim, and when Mitt Romney pointed out the facts that debunked it, Obama sniffed, "What you're saying is just not true. It's not true." As the Wall Street Journal reports, the Congressional Research Service now confirms that Obama cleverly lied both times. But the real question is, do any of those Obama voters care? And if not, why not?
They can't say Obama didn't lie. The facts on oil production show that Obama shamelessly tried to take credit for the 1.1 million barrels per day increase since 2007 that happened in spite of, not because of, his policies. According to the CRS, "All of the increased [oil] production from 2007 to 2012 took place on non-federal lands." On federal land, production fell more than 23% between 2010 and 2012. The federal share of oil production fell from 31% in fiscal 2008 to 26% in fiscal 2012. Similarly, the feds' share of natural gas production went from 27.8% in 2007 to 15.5% today. Nor is it any mystery why federal oil production has fallen. Obama's drilling moratorium after the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, and his snail's-pace process for awarding permits on federal land––process time increased 41% from 2006 to 2011––has held back oil production to gratify the sensibilities of deep-pocketed environmental romantics like the Sierra Club.
As Bob Dole wondered during the 1996 presidential race, "Where's the outrage?" Where are all those fearless investigative reporters, the self-styled watchdogs of the public weal, who claim to hold politicians accountable when they lie and mislead on the scale this president has? But taking credit for increased oil production is small beer compared to the still festering scandal surrounding the administration's response to the murder of 4 Americans, including an ambassador, in Benghazi last summer. The legacy media have shown little interest in ferreting out why the President, his ambassador to the U.N., his Secretary of State, and various flunkeys and flacks made multiple public claims that the murders resulted from a spontaneous demonstration sparked by an obscure Internet video.
Indeed, this patent attempt to spin bad news should have been chum to those reporters constantly circling politicians and sniffing out scandal. Nor did you need Sherlock Holmes to figure out the motive. Obama has staked his foreign policy bona fides on the claim that "al Qaeda's on its heels" and "al Qaeda is on the run," that the death of Bin Laden and continuing droning of al Qaeda operatives had contained that terrorist threat, and that the foreign policy of "leading from behind" in Libya and promoting Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt would serve America's interests and security without the interventionist excesses of the Bush administration and its wrong-headed wars. Confronting the truth about Benghazi would have exposed Obama's foreign policy blunders and the truth he wanted to hide: al Qaeda is active and growing, and overthrowing Gaddafi released tons of advanced weapons into the hands of terrorists while leaving behind a failed state.
The same media that turned a shabby campaign scandal like Watergate, a type of hardball politics unexceptional in American history, into an existential threat to our freedom and democracy, has been AWOL on Benghazi. Where's Bob Woodward now? He's too busy recycling anonymous gossip and squabbling with White House factotums who find his tone objectionable. Meanwhile the death of our ambassador, the dangerous failures of the president's foreign policy, and the patent lies told to cover-up these failures are all ignored.
So much for the media, whose partisanship is so persistent and obvious that it has become a dog-bites-man story. So we know why they are ignoring the scandals and lies and other sins of the Obama administration that, under a Republican, they would have burned through the whole Brazilian rainforest to report. As Jennifer Rubin wrote in January, "The media, in failing to doggedly seek answers, share in this shameful episode and have contributed to the complete absence of transparency and accountability. Nothing but blatant bias can explain that." But where is the outrage of the American voter? Why didn't some of the 5 million voters who put Obama over the top last November feel outraged enough by the Benghazi debacle and cover-up to question their support?
This is the key question for those plotting a Republican comeback. Are there too many "uninformed voters" who are ignorant of the facts damning the Obama administration? Then how do we inform them? Given how easily information is available to those who want it in an age of 24⁄7 cable news and the Internet, it's hard to imagine what new messaging technique or device will get people to pay attention who clearly don't want to. Scarier still is the prospect that people know and don't care. They see the administration peddle half-truths and lies to cover-up a deadly attack on our fellow citizens caused by the president's incompetence, and simply don't care. The death of Christopher Stevens to them is not an affront on the dignity and honor of the United States, one to be punished. It is just another statistic, like a highway death, one of those sad things that are the cost of doing business. Poking around in the cause of it is unseemly, as Hillary Clinton said when she yelled at the Senate hearing, "Was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make?"
That last question, by the way, itself should have generated a firestorm of outrage and demands for her resignation. Whether the Secretary of State doesn't indeed know "what difference" it makes, or does know and was trying to evade inconvenient truths by resorting to sentimental bluster, she should have been fired. On the contrary, the lapdog press lauded her "fiery moment," as ABC put it, and her approval numbers reached 61% after her outburst before the Senate, making her the most popular politician in the country.
Clearly, something is missing in a critical mass of American voters when assaults on our interests and security abroad arouse no righteous anger either at the perpetrators or the politicians who caused the attacks and then tried to misdirect the citizens about the real causes for partisan electoral advantage. Something is missing when voters shrug away patent lies about oil production, and ignore policies that are hampering an industry that can create jobs and radically change our foreign policy calculus by liberating our energy needs from thug regimes who use our dollars to attack our interests. So what's missing?
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.


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DETROIT (WJBK) – Detroit voters go to the polls Tuesday for the primary, or will they?
D. Etta Wilcoxon, who is running for Detroit city clerk, said the city's election process right now is illegal.
"We're thinking that it cannot be held as things currently stand, and we don't see an avenue for Ms. Winfrey to cure this difficulty. She should've done it months ago," Wilcoxon said.
Wilcoxon is facing incumbent Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey.
A lawsuit filed Friday alleges the Detroit Election Commission has not approved the election inspectors.
Winfrey is chairperson of the Election Commission
Read more: https://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23034324/lawsuit-filed-over-detroit-election-inspectors#ixzz2b50LgI5B
Read more https://www.michronicleonline.com/index.php/news-briefs-original/13875-lawsuit-filed-over-detroit-election-inspectors


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To get to my starting point, I need the following preamble. I have always considered myself to be ideologically motivated, to possess a strong political philosophy through which I interpret the world. This happens to put me on what is conventionally called the left, a designation I'm happy to acknowledge, albeit one that someone who runs a blog in Israel (and is as conventionally right-wing as I am left-wing) called "part of the sane left". However, events over the last decade or so have made me consider myself the very model of moderation, rationality and, indeed, pragmatism, compared with those I'm going to be talking about and who are supposed to be on the same "side" as me.
Let me start with a quote from a hero of mine, Nick Cohen, because it indicates the topsyturvy world we live in. This is from one of his Observer columns (15 July 2012). He says "Is opposition to reaction reactionary? Or a loathing of religious bigotry, bigoted? To slam 'Islam as oppressive of gay and women's rights', said a Guardian columnist last week, is to manifest the 'progressives' prejudice'. True liberals did not criticise illiberal religion. They denounced criticism of prejudice as prejudiced."
Truly, we have gone through Alice's "Looking Glass" into a parallel world, except that it is, as was hers, the mirror-image of the one we thought we lived in. It used to be, not very long ago, that illiberalism, wherever it came from, would be routinely condemned by the Left. This meant that even those in the Third World who breached human rights would be condemned for such activities. Now, at least some on the Left want us to understand that there are different, and acceptable, standards of human rights in the Third World. I coined a phrase (probably not original, however I can but hope) for one website comment, that an attack on academic freedom anywhere was an attack on it everywhere. Just substitute 'human rights' for academic freedom, and you will understand exactly what I mean and where I'm coming from.
Allow me to illustrate this further with another passage from Nick Cohen, this time from 27 May 2012 (also in The Observer). It dates to a time when Tony Blair was still Prime Minister (2007) and still able to appear as a good liberal, in the widest sense of that word. He was being interviewed by John Humphrys, and Blair refused to concede to Iran a different notion of democracy from the one we take for granted. Thus, the following brief exchange is instructive (I've edited it even more than Cohen did):
Blair: "There is a global struggle in which we need a policy based on democracy…"
Humphrys: "Our idea of democracy?"
Blair: "I didn't know that there was another idea of democracy…"
Humphrys: "If I may say so, that's naive…"
Blair "…democracy [means] you can get rid of your government if you don't like them."
Humphrys: "The Iranians elected their own government…"
Blair: "Hold on, John, something like 60% of the candidates were excluded."
I'm not trying to suggest that John Humphrys believed what he said about democracy: he was (and is) a journalist doing his job, but his words are indicative of what too many on the Left are, these days, prepared to say. And Blair put up a fair defence of representative democracy: note his comment that he "didn't know that there was another idea of democracy".
So there you have my starting point: the first quote from Nick Cohen, which sums up the thesis of his book "What's Left?", asserting that part of the Left, which used to be the proud defender of everyone's human rights and a doughty fighter for freedom and equality, being prepared to suggest that, really, just about everything is relative. This is confirmed by John Humphrys, who is merely repeating an attitude increasingly common on this side of the political divide.
How has this happened, and where does it lead? Many argue that this change in the Left (to the extent that it is a change) began to happen after Israel had the temerity to successfully defend itself from what it saw as the threat of annihilation in 1967. Many who had, until then, been staunch defenders of Israel began to change their tune now that Israel appeared militarily secure. This is reflected in a Guardian article written by Michael Frayn at the time which argued, tongue in cheek on his part, that if only Israel had lost, the world would have been so sympathetic… I would want to argue that it might not, actually, be that much of a change: we have this aphorism, attributed to August Bebel, 19th century German Social Democrat, that "antisemitism is the socialism of fools".
In turn, this leads to the astonishing sight of some British trade unions attempting to promote boycotts (probably in contravention of British equality laws) of what, under Tony Blair's approach, is a democratic state, a member in good standing of the United Nations, for alleged breaches of human rights, while being prepared to ignore, or even condone, far worse breaches by other states. And, of course, to fail to even realise that this is what they are doing.
This first came into sight for me when my then trade union (the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education) started to pass resolutions calling for a boycott of Israeli (and only Israeli) universities, back in about 2000. It didn't really help when a colleague of mine, then on the National Executive, argued that I should have seen what the resolution looked like before amendment: I suggested that this was about as comfortable as African-Americans felt when confronted by so-called US liberals: they were the ones who would hang you from a low branch! It only got worse when my union amalgamated with the Association of University Teachers to form the Universities and Colleges Union. The attitudes generated are typified for me by the following: on 27 July 2007, the online version of the British Medical Journal held a poll on whether to boycott Israeli universities or not. Tom Hickey, a long-serving member of the UCU Executive wrote the following, in support of the boycott: "In the case of Israel, we are speaking about a society whose dominant self image is one of a bastion of civilisation in a sea of medieval reaction. And we are speaking of a culture, both in Israel and in the long history of the Jewish diaspora, in which education and scholarship are held in high regard. That is why an academic boycott might have a desirable political effect in Israel, an effect that might not be expected elsewhere."
Note the, hopefully unconscious, conflating of Jews and Israelis, which is an antisemitic trope in itself, as well as the potentially racist assumption that only Jews and Israelis really care about their children's education. Despite his attention being frequently drawn to it, Hickey has never re-visited, explained or apologised for this.
We also have a respectable British political party, The Greens, deciding that the European Union Monitoring Commission on Racism working definition on antisemitism should be dropped from its statement of principles. This definition stated, inter alia, that it was for the person who was allegedly discriminated against to say whether this had happened or not, not for some third party to decide for them. As an aside, this is, of course, just the starting point for any further action. The Green Party decided, however, that its Executive knew better than any alleged victim whether this had happened or not. Substitute "racism" for antisemitism, and see whether this makes any sort of sense. Or, come to that, whether they would have dared to even think in these terms. UCU has now, also, dropped the EUMC working definition.
Further, we have that bastion of the "progressive left", Ken Livingstone, literally embracing someone like al-Qaradawi, a noted homophobe and misogynist (to say nothing of being antisemitic) and claiming that he is supporting progressives in the Middle East. You have to understand that I am a recidivist Labour voter: I continually re-offend. However, I am far from ashamed that I have voted, twice, for Boris Johnson and that I didn't vote for the Labour candidate in the last general election: she was (still is) the Assistant General Secretary of Unison, which had recently passed a boycott motion. There was no way I wanted her for my MP. Perhaps we might talk later of the so-called "Livingstone Formulation" (a term coined by David Hirsh, founding editor of the website Engage, formed to fight the academic boycott of Israeli universities).
The situation on the left is further muddied by the existence of groups such as Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP) – a bit like being againstsin, something we're all in favour of – and Independent Jewish Voices, a group of which the author and journalist Linda Grant said, having perused the list of signatories in The Guardian, The Times and The Jewish Chronicle, and noted their claim that they were denied a voice by the Jewish establishment (whatever that meant and whoever they were), that "many of [the signatories] are but a phone-call away from an op-ed in The Guardian or The Independent". What these groups do, intentionally or otherwise, is to allow Left anti-zionists to argue that there are these voices on the Jewish left who say these things, so it's alright for them to say the same. This attitude ignores, of course, the fact that any and every survey taken of British Jewry shows overwhelming support for the right of the State of Israel to exist, most often in a two-state situation.
Why is it that it is only Jews who are to be denied a state of their own, when no-one questions the right of there to be something like 30 Moslem states, let alone however many there are that claim to be Christian? Or, as Maureen Lipman noted, in a brief discussion on Radio 4's Today programme with fellow actor Roger Lloyd-Pack concerning the Habimah Theatre production of The Merchant of Venice at The Globe, "It's always the Jews, isn't it".
Brian Goldfarb


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Attendance is up big time at this year's auto show opening weekend at Cobo Center in Detroit.
More than 100,000 people enjoyed the opening day of the 2013 North American International Auto Show on Saturday. That's an 11.9 percent increase over the first day of the 2012 show's turnout of 92,106 and the strongest opening in eight years, according to Jim Seavitt, 2013 NAIAS chairman.
On Sunday, the trend continued with 105,509 spectators, compared to 102,918 in 2012.
Show organizers expect more traffic on Monday as Martin Luther King Day is celebrated and some people have the day off of work. Wednesday is Education Day with more than 5,000 students expected to learn about auto-related technologies.
The most popular attractions at the event include the driving simulators at Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Toyota, along with interactive exhibits.
But without question, many in the crowd came to see the new Corvette.
'People actually ran to it when the doors opened,' NAIAS Vice Chairman Bob Shuman said in a statement.
The nine-day car extravaganza runs through Jan. 20. Ticket prices are $12 for adults, $6 for seniors, $6 for children ages 7-12; and children under 6 are allowed in free. For a complete schedule and more information, visit www.naias.com.