text:
This is Cuppy, isn't she the cutest little thing you've ever seen?!
This is Cuppy's family, notice her good looking husband and beautiful children! She's a lucky gal!
...and this is Cuppy's extended family! Ahh... they are taking over the world!!
Cuppy comes from a long line of Cupcake Bites from Bakerella! Check out Martha Stewart's Cupcake Bites for a video on how to make them.
1 box of cake mix, your choice of flavor (I used Devil's Food).
1 container of ready-made icing (I used Vanilla)
Almond Bark/Chocolate (I used white almond bark and chocolate almond bark)
M&Ms and Sprinkles for decoration
Waxed paper
You begin by baking the cake in a 9 x 13 pan according to directions. Let it cool for several hours or overnight. Then you crumble the cake in a large bowl. I used my electric mixer to crumble up the cake.
Then you dump in the tub of icing and stir the mixture together. Slowly but surely, the icing will totally incorporate into the cake and the mixture will be totally uniform in color.
Grab pinches of the mixture and roll them into balls, my dough was really sticky at first so I put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before rolling it into balls. My balls were a heaping scoop from my 1/8 measuring cup that I rolled around in my hands. Then you place the cake balls into the fridge for a couple of hours OR into the freezer for a little while. You want them to be nice and firm. Not frozen solid, but not mushy.
To make cupcake pops, you need miniature flower shaped cutter. (Well, you don't have to have it. You could probably sculpt the balls into the shape you need. But this way's faster and more foolproof.) My cutter comes from a Wilton Flower Shaped Fondant Cutter set I purchased at JoAnn's. Grab a cake ball and roll it in your hands to form a slight oval shape.
Insert the cake ball into the cutter so that part of it sticks out the other side.
Then use your fingers to push the cake out from the bottom then pull it out of the cutter, it has a cupcake shape! Cute.
Once all your balls are cupcake shaped put the tray in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes so they can harden up again (it's difficult to dip them in chocolate if they are sticky).
Now, while your mini cupcakes are in the freezer, you need to melt your chocolate. Chocolate or Almond Bark from the baking aisle at the supermarket works great! Just cut your bark into pieces and pop it into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30-second increment. When the chocolate is melted, hold the formed cupcake ball in your hand and dip the base into the chocolate. Immediately turn it upside down to allow it to slightly drip downward. Place it face down on a sheet of waxed paper.
When the chocolate is set dip it into a different color of melting chocolate (I used white and pink chocolate). Dip it just up to the level of the chocolate base; try not to go beyond that. Immediately turn it over to allow the white to drip slightly. If there are large gaps that don't fill in, you can use a toothpick to pull the white down just a tad. Finally, just pop an M & M on top, and sprinkle with cute, colorful sprinkles.
These were fun to make and so cute to look at! Oh yeah, they were delicious too!
It makes you sad to eat them, bye bye Cuppy!


text:
CRESTVIEW � Free counseling services are now available to military families with children attending several Okaloosa County schools.
CRESTVIEW � Free counseling services are now available to military families with children attending several Okaloosa County schools.
Students attending Crestview High School, Shoal River Middle School and Antioch and Bob Sikes elementary schools can receive help from the Child and Youth Behavioral Military and Family Life Counseling program. The service also is available at Eglin Air Force Base's Family Readiness Center.
Whether a parent is away on duty, or a child has difficulty adjusting to new settings, 18 full-time, certified counselors are available for support, said Larry Lumpkin, a school liaison officer at Eglin AFB.
"There was quite a need for this program, (particularly) in the Crestview area," he said, referring to military growth from the 7th Special Forces (Airborne) Group, in addition to military families from Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field and Duke Field. "The (military) children in this area are good candidates for this program."
Crestview High School Principal Bob Jones has already noticed how the school's two counselors have integrated with students.
"They are usually in hallways and lunchrooms talking with students," he said. "They also attend several of our football games ... they have already made themselves a part of our community."
CHS guidance counselor Karen Jeanette said the Military and Family Life counselors are a welcome addition.
"They�ve been a great asset for student referrals, as some students speak with the MFLC (counselors) first and then are referred to their current school counselors for further assistance," she said in an email.
"In addition, the MFLCs typically have more time to work individually with students on concerns that arise outside of school, allowing us to help focus on academics and personal/social concerns inside school."
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Our latest Car-Toon straight from the 2012 Detroit Auto Show: Okay, since the MKZ Concept was unveiled, there's been lots of talk around about how it'll kill Lincoln, how its moustache/grille looks like John Wilkes Booth's, and so on.
So this pretty much had to happen. The cigar was my idea since we all know how much the MKZ likes to smoke.


text:
Salford Accountants
Are you looking for an accountant in Salford or firm of accountants in the Salford area? Then look no further. M Seitler & Co offer all the skills, resources and expertise you could need.
We can help in many areas including tax returns and VAT returns, tax advice and tax planning, accounts preparation and mortgage application assistance
As established accountants in the area we have worked for many clients in and around Salford. Our offices are conveniently located in Salford so we can come out and meet clients as often as they need.
Salford has a thriving business community , and so is inevitably home to many companies in need of an accountant to help them develop their business and reduce their tax liabilities to a minimum.
We are well integrated into the area and enjoy a close working relationship with local business owners, ensuring they get the success and profitability they deserve.
Our Location
Please visit our contact page giving details of our location in Salford.
However we pride ourselves on a personal service and are happy to come and see you to discuss your accountancy requirements, the tax advice you need and provide you with a fixed quote.
If you are thinking of re-locating your business or opening a new outlet , then we highly recommend Salford. We can provide you with detailed information about Salford, the business opportunities available and can put you in touch with other recommended local professionals. Please contact us for more information.
More information about Accountant Services for all Salford businesses on our website…
Please visit our accountant services page.
Next Step:
Please contact us if you need further advice, have any questions about our services, would like a free consultation or a fixed fee quote.


text:
The Browns Shuffle
Scroll down: Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter Marla Ridenour discusses the Browns' management shuffle with ideastream's Tony Ganzer
Joe Banner joined the Browns in 2012, not long after Jimmy Haslam bought the team. At the press conference Tuesday announcing his decision, Haslam cast the shakeup as a choice he and Banner made together – to streamline team top brass.
"Alec Sheiner, as I mentioned earlier, will run our business side and remain as president," Haslam said. "Mike Pettine will obviously be the head coach. And Ray Farmer will be our GM. We will not have a CEO, and those three people will report directly to me."
This apparently completes a housecleaning that began with last December's firing of head coach Rob Chudzinski, who had just completed a dismal 4-12 season. Mike Pettine, defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, was hired in January to replace him.
Haslam admitted his team had fallen far short of expectations since he took ownership in 2012, and that he bears some responsibility.
"I will tell you, I underestimated this," he said. "It's a learning curve to be an NFL owner. And if you want to look at me as a work in progress, that's fair to say to do. And I will tell you this, these are the last of the major changes we're going to make in the organization."
But he said he'll continue, in his words, to tinker.
Reporters pressed Haslam to account for what the shakeup may have done to the team's image. These big staffing changes come just after the team asks for $30 million from the city of Cleveland to help pay for major stadium upgrades -- and as the team looks to Cuyahoga County taxpayers to extend a sin tax for more repairs.
Haslam declined to answer questions about the FBI probe of his company Pilot Flying J, which is accused of defrauding customers through a rebate scheme. Several employees have pleaded guilty in the case.
And Haslam said the idea that the team appears dysfunctional is a creation of the media, and that he's got a promising team with dedicated fans.
Akron Beacon Journal sports writer Marla Ridenour says the team was dysfunctional. She says she was stunned that the announcement came so soon, but that Haslam did the right thing.
"I would argue that this is fixing the dysfunction," Ridenour said. "They had an organizational structure with three guys, essentially, Banner, Lombardi and Farmer supposedly having input on personnel along with the new coach. This is in my mind going to clean that up."
New GM Ray Farmer said swift changes in staff are something you've got to expect in pro football. And he promised to take the Browns back to the days when they were winners.
"Cleveland has a rich and proud tradition," Farmer said. "Cleveland was very successful when it first took flight as a football organization….so moving forward, the idea in my mind is to get back to who Cleveland was originally slated to be, which is a championship-level football team."
Fans eating lunch in downtown Cleveland tried to make sense of the news of another big change for the Browns. For Jim Graham, it sounded like more of the same.
"As a Browns fan my whole life, I'm tired of hearing of shakeups that are supposedly going to make the team better and not investing as much time, energy or emotion into it anymore," Graham said. "I have no confidence that anyone they hire is going to do anything dramatically differently."
But Crystal Hall said change is what the Browns have got to do.
"Anything can help. So maybe this might be a positive for the Browns for right now," Hall said.
GM Ray Farmer offered perhaps the most straightforward take on how the Browns can improve. He said they need to get better at winning.
With reporting by Brian Bull and Tony Ganzer.


text:
Keep your automation system in control with a complete range of push button switches from RS Components. We work with key suppliers like EAO and Apem to stock a large selection of push buttons and accessories including lamps, LEDs, lenses, sockets and contact blocks
With a wide selection of through hole and surface mount options, our range of tactile switches from TE Connectivity is extensive and ideal for a range of applications.
View The Range
RS is continually expanding its market leading range of Electronics, Automation & Control and Maintenance support products
DesignSpark Electrical is our new, free electrical CAD software. The latest addition to the DesignSpark set of tools, this is a bespoke electrical CAD solution for engineering professionals looking to save time and create error-free designs.
Download DS Electrical Today


text:
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Hearty Bacon Clam Chowder
Another annoying question is "soup or salad?" In what world is this an okay question to ask? How is that even answerable until you know all the possibilities! Not all soups are the same! Chicken noodle is not crab bisque. It is not. I probably wouldn't order chicken noodle unless I was super sick, but then I probably wouldn't be in a restaurant to begin with. So it just wouldn't happen. And not all salads are the same! What lettuce is being used? What other things are on the salad? What dressings do you have? These are all critical pieces of information for us to have to make an informed decision! Anyways, I'm not sure I've come anywhere close to talking about this clam chowder, except to say, it's hearty, it's bacon-y, and given a choice between this soup and almost any salad, I'd have to go with the clam chowder.
3 cups half and half
1 cup whole milk
1 sprig thyme
8 peppercorns
2 peeled garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
extra virgin olive oil
6 pieces of bacon, chopped
2 russet potatoes, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small shallots, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
plus more olive oil if needed
8 ounces clam juice
1/2 cup white wine
2 (6.5ounces) cans of chopped clams
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
Gently heat the milk, cream, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, and sprig of thyme in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Don't let the mixture boil. Once the mixture is very hot, take off heat and let the aromatics infuse the milk for 20 minutes.
In a small pot, melt the butter, then whisk in the flour. Keep stirring, until it begins to bubble (about 2 minutes or so). Take off heat and set aside.
In a large pot, pour a bit of olive oil in to cover the bottom, and get the oil nice and hot. Add the bacon, and let it crisp up (about 5 minutes or so). Once it has crisped up, remove from the pan using tongs. Set on a paper towel. Add in the chopped potatoes. let the potatoes cook in the bacon fat for a bit (about 3 minutes or so). Then add in the celery, carrots, shallots. Cook (feel free to add more oil if needed) until the potatoes have begun to brown. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Stir in the white wine. Reduce, then add the clam juice, and cans of chopped clams. Add in the the infused milk and reserved flour mixture (roux). Stir, and cook until the vegetables have achieved the desired tenderness, and the chowder has become thick. Add the salt and peppers, and adjust seasonings.
21 comments:
I dread the soup or salad question too. :sReplyDelete
But I'd certainly want several bowls of this chowder! Salad schmalad.
Delicious bowl of soup!ReplyDelete
You can be as grinchy as you please if you give me some of this soup!ReplyDelete
As the temperatures are dropping, more chowders like this will come in handy. Thanks for sharing!ReplyDelete
Nothing quite like some delicious soup, no questions asked ;)ReplyDelete
Choc Chip Uru
Soup or salad is a complicated question. It's for true.ReplyDelete
Michael would be ALL OVER this. Clam chowder + bacon?! Ohhh yeah!
I grew up with chowdah in Maine but I don't think it ever looked this good. Gorgeous photos!ReplyDelete
Oh, boy, does this look fantastic...I'd pick your clam chowder over any ol' salad, for sure!!!!ReplyDelete
I always have to go for the Clam Chowder regardless of the salad choices. If Clam Chowder is on the menu, then that's my pick :DReplyDelete
As a New Englader I give this chowda my seal of approval - it looks delicious!ReplyDelete
Given a choice I would pick this soup of yours.ReplyDelete
I'm a total Halloween grinch too! I can never figure out what to dress up as. I just stay at home and eat all the treats. Now this soup is amazing! it looks so hearty and comforting! And I would choose this over a salad any day of the week!ReplyDelete
I didn't grow up here so I always dream about dressing up for fun on Halloween and become someone else (watching too many movies and shows on TV). However, after I came here I realized that most of the costumes are all sexy outfits (anything can be sexy, crazy!)! So I'll be me, but my kids are so excited about Halloween already. :) I love your clam chowder. I always order if it's on the menu!ReplyDelete
I'm all over the bacon spike. For someone who doesn't like mollusks (i.e. me) clam chowder is something I've always eaten and loved (maybe my dislike of mollusks is psychological?). Either way, this looks awesome.ReplyDelete
I'm actually very picky about my soups and salads because they're so easy to make at home, that when I eat out...it's usually not worth it to get one! LOVE this chowder though. Definitely worth it.ReplyDelete
Creamy and hearty! Perfect for the soup weather we have over here.ReplyDelete
This reminds me-- I was just complaining about a salad at a restaurant the other day. No complaints about this soup though. Looks great for a chilly fall day!ReplyDelete
LOVE soups when the weather gets cold! And anything with bacon in it..I'm totally all for it :)ReplyDelete
Jenn, I happen to be a Halloween ba humbug, too. I just can't see wasting my money on a costume I'm never going to wear again. Honestly, I'd rather buy food.ReplyDelete
This soups sounds absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to try it. I love chowda!
Sounds perfect for early spring.ReplyDelete
This is such a nice addition thanks!!!
غلا الروح
شات صوتي
شات الغلا
صوتية الغلا
غلا الصوتيه
شات الروح
شات صوتي غلا
شات صوتي
شات غلا
إشتراكات الصوتي
قوانين الصوتي
فعاليات الصوتي
برامج صوتيه
شات غلا
سعودي كام الصوتي
شات تمنيتك
شات غلاتي
شات صوتي
شات غلاي
إشتراكات الصوتي
دلع ون
حبي كول
شات أميره الصوتي
وه الغربيه
نايس كام
شوق كام
سحر الكون
بنت ابوي
بوابة العرب
عرب كول
شات صوتي
شات صوتي
انحراف كام
شات مغربي
عذاب كول
شات صوتي
شات كول
شات الغلا
كشف تسرب
تسرب المياه بالرياض


text:
Marcus Tudgay and James Maddison hit second-half goals as Coventry ensured League One survival with a 2-1 victory at Crawley - a result which sentenced the West Sussex club to relegation.
Crawley, who realistically had to win to stand any chance of staying up, were on course to do just that when Mathias Pogba headed them in front just after the break.
But fit-again Tudgay headed Coventry level 17 minutes from time and substitute Maddison settled the issue with the winner in the last minute of normal time.
Coventry, who needed a point to stay up, began brightly and skipper Jim O'Brien was in an off-side position when he bundled in an early John Fleck free-kick.
Midfielder Fleck was off target from the edge of the area before Sky Blues goalkeeper Lee Burge held a Josh Simpson chip following a free-kick by Lee Fowler.
Crawley's leading scorer Izale McLeod drove over a shot from 20 yards after O'Brien became the first booking of the game for a late challenge on Lewis Young.
Keeper Burge was forced to save low down from Marvin Elliott before Coventry striker Nick Proschwitz missed a penalty a minute from the interval.
Proschwitz stepped up after Tudgay was brought down by Gavin Tomlin, but his weak spot-kick was saved by veteran Danish keeper Brian Jensen diving to his right.
Crawley broke the deadlock three minutes after the break through Pogba, who headed in a deep cross by Tomlin at the far post.
Tudgay hit back to equalise after 73 minutes by heading into the top left-hand corner of the net following a cross by O'Brien.
And substitute Maddison clinched victory in the last minute with a low shot into the centre of the net after a pass by Frank Nouble.
City survive but Red Devils go down
Marcus Tudgay and James Maddison hit second-half goals as Coventry ensured League One survival with a 2-1 victory at Crawley - a result which sentenced the West Sussex club to relegation.


text:
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
Director of Resident & Fellow Exchange Program, Montefiore Medical Center
Director of Research & Clinical Fellowship Program, China Division of Einstein Global Health Institute
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Jing Song, a certified anesthesiologist, clinical and basic science researcher and resident educator. She was a visiting research scientist of Vanderbilt University, participated in extensive basic research and studies of immunoglobulin gene VDJ rearrangement regulation using molecular biology tools. She also is a visiting professor and a preceptor of graduate students in Wen Zhou Medical School of China. Her research studies are focused on gene analysis for oncogenicity and precision medicine. Dr. Song has more than ten years' experience in mentoring and couching residents in Montefiore Medical Center for clinic works and IRB proved research projects. Under her mentoring and support, many residents have greatly improved their experience and quickly adapted the anesthesia clinical environment. She has helped many residents successfully to present research studies in scientific meeting and to publish the results in medical journals.
Dr. Song has been developed collaborations with multiple medical schools in China. She has been involved in designing and implementing international resident education and health promotion projects in Shanghai and established International Resident & Fellow Exchange Program and Research & Clinical Fellowship Program between Montefiore Medical Center /Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Medical School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
Research & Clinical Fellow Program Participation Guidelines
Montefiore Medical Center
111 East 210th Street
Bronx, NY 10467
Tel: 718.920.4316 / firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
CHICAGO - Brandon Paul looks at the rest of the Illinois roster and sees no reason why the Illini can't compete in the Big Ten.
At this point, who can argue?
Tracy Abrams scored a career-high 27 points and No. 12 Illinois tuned up for conference play with an 81-79 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
The Illini (13-1) saw an 11-point lead shrink to one in the closing minutes but they prevailed after falling to Missouri in the Braggin' Rights game a week earlier - their first loss under coach John Groce. Their next game is the conference opener at Purdue on Wednesday, and Paul believes they are ready.
He sees more confidence and more talent than in recent years.
"I just feel like we have a lot more weapons and a lot more confidence, not only in myself but the guys that I play with," Paul said. "They come in with the mindset that they're going to compete every game and play hard and what's going to dictate the end of the game is how we play."
They had to scratch and claw for this one, and things got real tense when Frankie Sullivan buried a 3 for Auburn (5-7) to make it 68-67 with 4:29 remaining. Illinois then hit 13 of 18 free throws the rest of the way for a rare win at the United Center, where they had dropped three straight and five of six after winning 18 in a row.
They can thank Abrams.
The sophomore guard came up big on a day when Paul was off target, going 6 of 11 from the field and 13 of 15 from the free throw line while eclipsing his previous high by five points.
Paul, meanwhile, finished with 13 points but hit just 3 of 12 shots. He missed all five 3-point attempts and the Illini again struggled from the outside, going 4 of 15 after hitting 8 of 32 against Missouri.
Even so, they head into conference play on a winning note.
"We going to stay level," Abrams said. "We're going to try to execute our game plan."
Sullivan led Auburn with 21 points. Rob Chubb scored 13, and Allen Payne chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds. But the Tigers committed 20 turnovers - six by Chris Denson and five by Sullivan - even though Illinois wasn't pressing.
"They didn't press us one time, and we had over 20 turnovers," coach Tony Barbee said.
He called that "just inexcusable," and Sullivan wasn't about to argue.
"We were just being lazy with the ball, not executing," Sullivan said. "It was more us (making mental mistakes), because they weren't really pressuring us."
Josh Wallace hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer for Auburn to make it a two-point game, but by then, the Illini had sealed the win.
Both teams hit 16 of 30 shots in the first half, but Illinois took a 47-42 lead with Abrams scoring 16 points. He hit two free throws with 4 minutes left in the half to break a 39-39 tie and start a 14-5 run that stretched into the second half.
The only points for Auburn during that stretch came on a three-point play by Wallace with 2:22 remaining before halftime and two free throws by Chubb with 17:15 left in the game before D.J. Richardson hit two of his own for Illinois, making it 53-44.
The Tigers went more than 7 minutes without a field goal before Sullivan's layup with 15 minutes remaining. But Paul answered with a wild one of his own, flipping the ball over his shoulder and into the basket as he slipped near the baseline.


text:
Early Zionists in the 1920s helping to resurrect Israel as the land of milk and honey
In response to my plea for more pictures about Jews as survivors, not victims, Murray Lawrence forwarded me these incredible pictures from his father showing the 1920s in Tel Aviv, when he was working on construction projects there. I'm just blown away by these images. I've prefaced each image with the information Murray Lawrence included.
1. Father at a tar or asphalt barrel – he's the short one, fresh from Romania by way of Istanbul and Alexandria. A historian friend of mine told me that a good deal of construction in the city in those days was done by Romanian Jews:
2. Father and friends at the beach, perhaps from the same construction crew. They clearly do not fit the conventional image of a shtetl Jew:
3. Construction site in Tel Aviv, early 1920s:
4. Neve Shaanan Street under construction. Wikipedia says that the neighborhood was founded in 1922 and that it is now a major transportation hub that includes both the old and new bus stations in Tel Aviv. It also notes that the street, whose name means "peaceful abode" in Hebrew, is the main one in that quarter and is now a bustling pedestrian mall. Hence, by stark contrast, it became a prime target of suicide bombers, who killed 37 people and wounded 170 between 2002 and 2006:
5. Group photo at a building site, father in makeshift head-dress, probably taking his cue from his Arab friends, one of whom invited him to his wedding some time in the late '20s, only to warn him soon after not to attend, because a local sheik had just forbidden further contact with Jews:
6. Boating party, most likely at some point on the Yarkon River as it flows through Tel Aviv. The practical idealism of these young people, their love of life, and sheer civilized natures never cease to impress me:


text:
Direct Install
Let us pay up to 70% of your energy efficiency upgrade.
Sometimes, the biggest challenge to improving energy efficiency is knowing where to start and how to get through the process. Created specifically for existing small to medium-sized facilities, Direct Install is a turnkey solution that makes it easy and affordable to upgrade to high efficiency equipment. We will provide you with a FREE energy assessment and a participating contractor will work with you to cut your facility's energy costs by replacing lighting, HVAC and other outdated operational equipment with energy efficient alternatives.
The program pays up to 70% of retrofit costs, dramatically improving your payback on the project. Entities owned or operated by municipalities, counties, K-12 public schools, and customers located in Urban Enterprise Zones or Opportunity Zones may be eligible for up to 80% of the cost of the installed measures.
In 2019 the Direct Install program surpassed $200 million in incentives provided since its inception.
Measures eligible for Direct Install are limited to specific equipment categories, types and capacities. Boilers may not exceed 1,500,000 Btuh and furnaces may not exceed 140,000 Btuh. Limitations on packaged HVAC, motors and other equipment also apply. Larger capacity equipment may be eligible for financial incentives through NJ SmartStart Buildings.
View a step-by-step description of the program or read the Program Guide to understand what to expect. This program fact sheet is available in both English and Spanish.
Turnkey Process - A network of selected participating contractors address your project from start to finish, beginning with an assessment of your facility, and ending with the installation of eligible energy-efficient equipment.
Minimal Cost - Your share of the project's cost could be as low as 30%, in which case the program pays the remaining amount. With incentives so dramatic, your upgrade project can very quickly pay for itself.
Fast Turnaround Time - Project installations are typically completed within 90 days from the time of scheduling your energy assessment.
Ongoing Savings - Your new energy-efficient equipment will provide savings for years to come through dramatically reduced energy costs on your monthly utility bills.
Ready to Get Started? Locate the contractor that serves your area.
Use this form if you are interested in this program and would like a participating contractor to contact you.
Do you have a contractor you have worked with in the past that you would like to use for your Direct Install project? Learn more.


text:
Search Results
There are 4 item(s) tagged with the keyword "Recalls".
- Displaying: 1 - 4 of 4
- 1. Anti-Second Amendment Leftists Trying to Recall Sheriff Joe Arapaio
Here we go again. Zealots from the Left, headed by Randy Parraz, want to neuter our Second Amendment Rights. They do not believe you have the God-given right to protect yourself, your family, or your property. What better way to accomplish this than to remove a strong defender of the Second Amendment, Sheriff Joe Arpaio? Sheriff Arpaio is one of 290 sheriffs (at last count) across America who have vowed to uphold and defend the Constitution against Obama's unlawful gun control measures.
There are 3,000 sheriffs in America, so you can see why Sheriff Arpaio is such a threat to those who don't believe law abiding citizens have the right to bear arms.
Parraz and his band of Leftists tried but couldn't defeat Arpaio in November 2012. And so they have resorted to using the "shot full of loop-holes" Recall method to get rid of the Sheriff. And so, we will be subjected to another media circus, including the usual headlines, photo ops, and steady stream of quotes from Randy "Mr Respectful" Parraz, compliments of his fawning entourage of Peter Pans who call themselves "reporters."Click here to read more
- 2. The Silent Dismantling of our Republic
One of the most feared aspects to the Founders in creating a government was the realization that men, who come into power either by force or by election, nearly always seek more and more power until they approach kingly status. Over a period of several decades, and with historical experience as well as their own good thinking, the Founders eventually employed several techniques to minimize the possibility of that happening in their new government. Separation of powers, checks and balances, frequent elections--all these devices were implemented to curb the human tendency to concentrate power in the few.Click here to read more
- 3. RECALL: Latest Tool of the Left to Take out Conservatives
Sound familiar? Recalls have become the newest best friend of Leftists who want to rid themselves of their opposition. In Wisconsin, Democrats initiated 9 Recalls last summer. They're at it again. This time Wisconsin Democratic Chairman Mike Tate wants to punish Governor Scott Brown for his proposal that took away collective bargaining rights of public employees. Recall Against Gov. Scott Brown (R)Click here to read more
- 4. Recall of Senator Pearce Spearheaded by Far Left
Did you see this article written by Rachel Alexander on 9/14/2011? She's the editor of the Intellectual Conservative. The article was spotted on TownHall.com, a national conservative blog.Click here to read more
- Displaying: 1 - 4 of 4


text:
We named these amiable amphibians Rosemarie and Hilaire, after the friendly neighbor who shared the pattern with us, and Hilaire Belloc, the author of the poem that accompanied the pattern:
The Frog
Be kind and tender to the Frog,
And do not call him names,
As "Slimy skin," or "Polly-wog,"
Or likewise "Ugly James,"
Or "Gap-a-grin," or "Toad-gone-wrong,"
Or "Bill Bandy-knees":
The Frog is justly sensitive
To epithets like these.
No animal will more repay
A treatment kind and fair,
At least so lonely people say
Who keep a frog (and by the way,
they are extremely rare).
The Purl Frog measures about 7 1/2 inches long.
Click here for The Purl Frog Pattern Pieces and a set of printable directions.
one 1/2 yard Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric
patchwork pins
3/4 cup of dried mung beans, lentils, or buckwheat
two beads for the eyes
- Wash, dry, and press the fabric for the frog.
- Using the Purl Frog Template, cut two Frog Bodies from the fabric.
- Pin the two pattern pieces right sides together.
- Stitch a 1/4 inch seam around the frog, beginning at the inseam of one leg and finishing at the inseam of the other, leaving a gap at the base of the body. Remember to back stitch at the beginning and end of the seam.
- Clip into the curves of the arms and legs to ease the fabric a bit, then turn the frog right side out.
- Fill the frog about 85% full with dried beans.
- With needle and thread, hand sew the hole closed.
You may choose to embroider the eyes. We chose green beads and sewed them on with closely matching thread.
Sew the beads to the top of the head, toward the seams, to imitate a frog's wide-set eyes.
Enjoy your new frog friend!


text:
ALTAMAHAW � The first Ace Speedway championship of Jason Payne�s racing career arrived not amid triumph, but rather a roiling scene that threatened to become a mob.
A Friday night of season finales reached a surreal climax, with suspense hanging heavy in the air as track officials worked to determine an almost too-close-to-call finish, then bickering, fighting and ultimately chaos breaking out on the track in response to the scoring decision.
In the end, there was Payne, jogging with his arms spread wide, proudly displaying the Limited Late Models championship banner and beginning to enjoy his first Ace title in front of the rows of spectators who pressed against the fence that separates the grandstands from the asphalt track.
He celebrated minus the customary throng that crowds around Ace�s podium finishers because the fans had been locked out. The gate on the fence was chained, things by then already incensed and crazy enough, with a brawl seeming imminent and sheriff�s deputies on their way.
�It about got stolen from us,� Payne said, glancing over his shoulder, where feet away Boo Boo Dalton�s team and supporters continued a raging dispute.
�It�s bullcrap,� Dalton said.
Haw River�s Payne barely finished second in the second 30-lap feature to barely clinch the Limited Late Models title by two points, the slimmest of margins on Dalton, who swept the events for his 13th and 14th victories of the season and nearly pulled off last-gasp rally with the final laps of the season winding down.
For the second year in a row, this division�s championship was decided between these rival drivers on Ace�s last night of points racing. This time, Payne denied Dalton, the 18-year-old from Liberty, what would have been his third title in four years.
The racing was close and dramatic. The fallout was wild and unruly.
Dalton used some timely bumper tag to win Friday night�s opening 30-lapper, muscling his No. 50 Chevrolet back ahead of Payne�s No. 9 Ford on the final lap, just after Payne had pulled off a pass for the lead � at that moment an apparent winning move � with less than three laps remaining.
That Dalton victory trimmed Payne�s points lead to four, or two positions on the race track, with the decisive nightcap remaining.
Payne called his shot after placing second in the first race.
�I�m going to win this race and win the championship,� he said. �Mark it down.�
Meanwhile, Dalton was flicking tears from his eyes in Victory Lane and contemplating what would be needed to overtake Payne in the next race.
�We can�t hold nothing back,� Dalton said. �We�ve got to do what we�ve got to do and this car�s got to get better.�
In the second 30-lapper, Payne was poised to deliver a breakaway and secure his first championship in a veritable blaze of glory. He led from the start and had built a comfortable advantage at the front of the 16-car field when, suddenly with less that five laps left, slower traffic derailed the coronation.
It had to be a nightmare scenario for Payne. The pack of five lapped cars that he encountered forced him to dial back and weave inside and outside, as Dalton and teammate Jason York gave chase, quickly gaining precious ground in second and third position.
Then Chase Hunt�s No. 13 car emerged as a significant impediment. Instead of giving Payne�s faster, leading car room to maneuver past, which is a standard procedure, Hunt essentially became a rolling roadblock as Dalton and York continued to close.
On the last lap, Payne�s lead now evaporated, the title now twisting in doubt, Dalton dived his car to the inside and raced side-by-side before carving out a pass for the lead with the checkered flag looming. Reidsville�s York was there, too, glued to the lead cars in the No. 58 Chevrolet that looks nearly identical to Dalton�s No. 50.
As they came to the finish line, Dalton, who was leading and of course won, appeared to slam his brakes, mashing the three cars into a wad beneath the checkered flag in what smacked of an attempt to help York nudge past Payne.
Had that happened, had York finished second and Payne finished third, Dalton would have tied Payne in the final points standings and claimed the championship by way of a tiebreaker � his division-best victory total on the season.
Here�s how Payne explained the ending, while he stood beside the crumpled front end of his No. 9 car.
�We were a straightway ahead,� he said. �We had the dominant car, until the �13� wanted to block us. The �13� held me up on purpose. He blocked me so he could help the �50.� I should�ve wrecked him, but I�m a clean driver.
�And the �50� wanted to slam on brakes in front of me. Boo Boo brake-checked me. Hard.�
And that brought Payne to this conclusion.
�Hey, I still won it,� he said.
Seconds later, Dalton said: �We raced clean. We done everything we could do to win the race. It ain�t our fault that they�re crying over this. They just can�t stand to get outrun.�
Ace�s electronic scoring system determined that Dalton won the decisive nightcap, with Payne in second, barely ahead of York in third. It took several extremely tense minutes for that verdict to be rendered. And when the decision came down, the madness exploded.
Dalton�s father, who serves as his crew chief and spotter, snatched the championship banner from Ace general manager Brad Allen, who was delivering it to Payne and his crew. That sparked a heated standoff between Allen and Jay Dalton, the father of the driver.
Fights broke out in various pockets there on the frontstretch of the track.
A crazed-looking male spectator wiggled inside the fence (that soon was locked) and jumped from the higher, concrete wall that rings the top of the speedway down onto Jay Dalton, like a professional wrestler off the top rope. The man threw punches and scratched at Dalton�s face.
Boo Boo Dalton had to be restrained multiple times by multiple guys. A scuffle erupted in the direction of the pits and Boo Boo Dalton took off that way before being diverted.
Some fans pressed against the fence cheered. Others heckled. There were children crying. Everybody seemed to voice some sort of opinion. It was bedlam.
�That�s the sore losers that they are,� Payne said. �You saw him jerk the banner out of Brad�s hand.�
▪ In the twin 25-lap Modifieds races, Jerry Scott overcame crash damage on the fourth lap of the first race, and the scare that accompanied that wreck, and clinched his sixth title in the division since 1990 and ninth overall at Ace.
The Corbett Ridge veteran�s finishes of fifth and second made him the champion, after beginning the night with a six-point lead on Randy Butner.
That shrank to four points after Butner�s fourth-place finish in the opening 25-lapper was a spot ahead of where Scott came in.
The three-car crash on the fourth lap of the first race bent parts on the front end of Scott�s No. 88 car and injected a degree of uncertainty for him.
But that dissipated when Gary Young Jr. wrecked Speedy Faucette on the eighth lap of the second race, moving Scott up to third in the running order.
He then passed Pfafftown�s Butner on the ensuing double-file restart and rode in second position while Brian King put the final touches on his sweep of Victory Lane for his sixth and seventh wins of the season.
Butner faded to another fourth-place finish in the second race.
▪ In the twin 15-lap Extreme Cars races, Barry Wilson secured the division title with a victorious sweep, his sixth and seventh victories of the season.
The Stokesdale driver led Michael Neal by just two points in the championship chase entering Friday night.
Wilson turned the division�s top qualifying performance into a wire-to-wire win in the opener, creating some breathing room and increasing his points lead on Burlington�s Neal to six points.
Neal placed third in both events.
▪ Friday nights other winners at Ace were Blayne Leydig and Will Raber (twin 25-lap USAC Midgets).


text:
SHANGHAI 2013 - Nissan Friend-ME Concept teased
Nissan has issued the following press release:
- Innovation and excitement to be brought to life at Auto Shanghai 2013
- First concept car with key input by Chinese designers to star; 20 exciting vehicles to be on display
- Shanghai motor show website to be launched for all to stay updated on the latest news from Nissan
HONG KONG, China (March 27, 2013) - Nissan is set to excite Auto Shanghai 2013 with the global unveiling of their new concept car, Friend-ME, on April 20. Chinese designers working at Nissan Design China in Beijing were fully engaged in the design and development process of Friend-ME, which features an unique center console that allows "Four Seats, One Mind Connectivity" - equal information sharing among all aboard. Friend-ME is designed for the vibrant, young generation in China, one of most exciting segments in the fastest-growing automobile markets in the world.
Among the 20 vehicles displayed, Nissan (China) Investment Co., Ltd., together with Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-PV) and Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd. (ZNA), will showcase new and exciting models such as the Nissan GT-R, Quest and Murano. Also featured at Nissan's booth will be its recently-launched global sedan, Teana.
Besides the car displays, an Innovation Wall will allow visitors to develop a deeper understanding of the technologies behind the wheels, and experience the unique driving sensation that Nissan vehicles have to offer. In a special Teana technology corner, all-around details of the new luxury sedan, from driving performance to comfort and safety, will be highlighted.
Auto Shanghai 2013 will mark Nissan's first deployment of its new global exhibit space design for motor shows in Asia. The new design was first used this January at the North American International Auto Show 2013 in Detroit. The booth is designed to immerse guests completely into a Nissan world, appealing throughout with sight, sound, touch and even smell, with a new green tea-inspired "Nissan fragrance."
2013 will also mark a commemorate year for Nissan. Since the first Nissan vehicle arrived in China, Nissan has grown deep roots in the country. This year, ZNA and DFL achieve key milestones, marking their 20th and 10th anniversaries, respectively. Nissan looks forward to many more years ahead in the country and is committed to continue delivering innovative and exciting products to the Chinese community.
Look for the latest from Nissan at its more than 2,300m2 exhibit area from April 20 (press day) to 29 in Hall E3 at the Shanghai International Exhibition Center. Also stay tuned online for the most current information about Nissan at Auto Shanghai 2013 through our new website at: www.nissan.com.cn/minisite/autoshow_2013SH. The site will roll out on Thursday, March 28 and will be updated weekly with our latest information, including exciting stories about our products and motor show stand, as well as exclusive previews of Friend-ME.


text:
i took my wife for her first over night hang last weekend.
a near by winery (Round Peak) has a camp-out every year, so i asked her to go and she said okay. we had a great time and now she's hooked on hammocking!
so i need another UQ for us.
i have been lusting after a 3/4 UQ all sumer long. and now i have the perfect opportunity to add another WL UQ to the fleet.
we'll be taking it for a test in a couple of weeks, at the Grayson Highlands Fall Festival hang. we can't wait!


text:
COVER SIDEBOX- Winston himself: Portrait of the artist
O. Winston Link; the "O" stands for Ogle
Born: December 16, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York
Died: January 30, 2001, outside a train station (really!) in Katonah, New York. Driving to a doctor's office, he pulled over and suffered a heart attack.
Trained: As a civil engineer
Hint o' future: Served as photo editor of both the student newspaper and the yearbook at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
Career: Public relations; commercial photography
Inspiration for shooting trains: During WWII, he worked as a photographer at a secret military lab adjacent to the Long Island Railroad.
Inspiration for shooting N&W steam: On assignment in Waynesboro in 1955, he learned that America's last steam railroad would soon go diesel.
Art: Reportedly never considered himself an artist
Effort: 1955-60, over 20 trips totaling 270 days
Equipment: Large-format camera and extensive self-designed lighting systems, often using hundreds of flashbulbs and up to 3/4 of a mile of cable for a single shot
Cost: About $125,000 out-of-pocket in current dollars
Cooperation: N&W president R.H. Smith allowed unlimited access.
Audacity: N&W once sent a loaded passenger train back 10-20 miles so Link could get a better shot.
Acclaim: Slow in coming
Request: That a museum bearing his name open in Roanoke, historic home of the Norfolk & Western Railway
Books: Steam, Steel & Stars (1987); The Last Steam Railroad in America (1995)
Cameo: As a locomotive engineer in the 1999 boy-and-his-rocket movie, October Sky
O. Winston Link (left), his lights, and an early assistant named George Thom


text:
Quick Shots column on White Sox, Cubs and bandwagon-hopping Doug Collins.
Baseball Prospectus reports the White Sox easily lead the American League in percentage of their runs scored on homers at 51 percent. The Sox also ranked first in 2005 and 2006. And the White Sox are third in the majors in ERA. Homers, walks and starting pitching were the undervalued building blocks A's general manager Billy Beane stressed in "Moneyball." It's hard to call GM Kenny Williams a "Moneyball" man with Chicago's $121 million payroll. Williams does a good job, but his little moves (Carlos Quentin) work better than his big moves (Nick Swisher, Orlando Cabrera). Pitching coach Don Cooper deserves the lion's share of the credit. The man who once turned Esteban Loaiza into a 21-game winner has five White Sox pitchers ranked in the top 30 in the AL by Baseball Prospectus. And pitching was supposed to be the Sox's weakness. Odds favor Cubs and Sox Baseball Prospectus weighs teams' current records, stats and talent and comes up with their odds of making the playoffs, adjusted daily. As of Friday, the White Sox were given a 64 percent chance of winning the AL Central, and the Cubs 60 percent in the NL Central. The oddest odds? The Angels were preseason favorites and lead the AL West, but they are given only a 23 percent chance of winning. The second-place A's, who have outscored teams by 28 more runs than Anaheim, are favored at 66 percent. Why don't Cubs sign Lofton? If the Cubs want a left-handed center fielder, they should sign Kenny Lofton. He is 41 and has little power, but he batted .335, .301 and .296 the last three years. The Cubs may need a center fielder — Reed Johnson, Jim Edmonds and Felix Pie have combined to hit .239 with 3 home runs — but they don't need more power. Chicago leads all of baseball in runs and is tied for eighth in homers. And the better you hit, the less you need power. The White Sox need homers because they're batting .248. But when you have seven guys batting close to .300, as the Cubs do, you can have big innings without homers. The Cubs don't need a savior in center, just another guy who gets on base. Like Kenny Lofton. Fickle coach wrong choice The Bulls call Doug Collins and he says he doesn't want to coach. The Bulls then win the draft lottery. Now Collins calls the Bulls, asking to coach. Chicago says yes. I always liked Doug Collins as a coach, but I don't like this. Who wants a bandwagon hopper to lead your team? Matt Trowbridge's Quick Shots on Sports appear Sundays. He can be reached at 815-987-1383 or email@example.com.


text:
Christopher Buck
Prof. Buck initially encountered questions related to political theory (What is freedom? What is justice?) as a member of his high school debate team, and he has been asking them ever since. Similarly, his interest in environmental and social justice issues began with his involvement in advocacy organizations as a senior in high school as well as throughout his college experience. The opportunity to pursue these passions together through teaching and research amongst a community of intellectually curious students and colleagues is what brought him to St. Lawrence in the first place. Grateful for the way in which the professors he had as an undergraduate sharpened his critical thinking skills, Prof. Buck strives to have the same impact on the St. Lawrence students enrolled in his courses.
In addition to teaching Introduction to Political Theory every semester, Prof. Buck offers the following seminars on regular basis: Ecology and Political Thought, Political Theories of Violence and Nonviolence, and Comparative Environmental Politics.
Prof. Buck has published articles in the journals Sartre Studies International and Environmental Politics, as well as in The Encyclopedia of Political Thought (Wiley-Blackwell 2014). He is currently working on a book manuscript that explains how the method of critical theory can contribute to the revitalization of environmental movements in times of crisis.
Outside of the classroom Prof. Buck enjoys cycling, baking, playing Scrabble, and singing karaoke.
Examples of my work as a visiting scholar or guest at another institution:
Presentations, Exhibitions, Performances and Published Work:
- "Exchange Value," "Fordism," and "Political Ecology." Encyclopedia entries in Michael T. Gibbons (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Political Thought. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).
- "The Utopian Content of Reification: Adorno's Critical Social Theory of Nature." In Crina Archer, Laura Ephraim, and Lida Maxwell (eds.), Second Nature: Rethinking the Natural Through Politics (New York: Fordham University Press, 2013).
- "Postenvironmentalism: An Internal Critique." Environmental Politics, Vol. 22, No. 6 (November 2013), pp. 883-900.
- "Fanon, Sartre, and the Case for Slavery Reparations," Sartre Studies International, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Fall 2004), pp. 123-38.
Regularly Taught Courses:
- GOVT 206(W): Introduction to Political Theory
- GOVT 291 SEM: Comparative Environmental Politics Research Seminar
- GOVT 343: Ecology and Political Thought
- GOVT 345: Political Theories of Violence and Nonviolence
Sample Student Projects Supervised:
- "The Religious Individual: A Kierkegaardian Solution to the Problem of Advanced Industrial Society"


text:
Live cattle futures settled Friday with mixed trade, as most contracts were steady to 45 cents higher. Fed cattle futures were 2.5% higher this week. Feeder cattle futures were also mixed on Friday, with contracts 62.5 cents lower to 12.5 cents higher. Jan was up 0.85% on the week. The CME feeder cattle index was down 9 cents on January 10 at $145.46. Wholesale boxed beef prices were lower on Friday afternoon. Choice boxes were $1.50 lower at $212.46, with Select down the same amount at $206.27. USDA estimated WTD FI cattle slaughter at 626,000 head through Saturday. That was 14,000 head above the same week last year. Most of Friday afternoon's cash trade was around $124, with a few $123 live and $197 dressed sales thrown in the mix.
Feb 19 Cattle closed at $124.975, up $0.100,
Apr 19 Cattle closed at $126.375, up $0.450,
Jun 19 Cattle closed at $117.200, down $0.175,
Jan 19 Feeder Cattle closed at $146.125, down $0.625
Mar 19 Feeder Cattle closed at $144.900, down $0.175
Apr 19 Feeder Cattle closed at $145.750, up $0.075
--provided by Brugler Marketing & Management


text:
Krista Park
Olympic/World Championship experience:
- 45th place — 2011 UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships, Champery, Switzerland
- 27th place — 2010 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, St. Wendel, Germany
National Championship experience:
- 3rd place — 2010 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships, Breckenridge, Colorado, Elite Women
- 2nd place — 2010 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships, Super D, Granby, Colorado, Elite Women
- 4th place — 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships, Granby, Colorado, Elite Women
- 10th place — 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships, Granby, Colorado, Elite Women
Career Highlights:
- 3rd place — 2011 Bonelli Park, San Dimas, California, Cross-Country
- 4th place — 2011 Mellow Johnnys Classic, Dripping Springs, Texas, Cross-Country
- 5th place — 2011 USA Cycling Pro Cross-Country Tour women's overall standings
- 47th place — 2011 UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Cup Series
- 9th place — 2011 Cyprus Sunshine Cup #2, Afxentia - Macheras Forest, Cyprus, Cross-Country
Points of Interest
- Park and her husband, Todd, live in a recreation vehicle and spend most of their time in Durango, Colo., Santa Fe, N,M. and Tucson, Ariz.
- They duck hunt and trained their labrador retrievers to compete in hunt tests.
PersonalKrista Park delivered newspapers as a 13-year-old girl and while she is not ready to attribute her cycling success to that, she does lend credence that it may have helped with some bike handling.
Growing up, Park skied, hiked, backpacked and played co-ed soccer before finding cycling. As a collegiate, Park joined her husband on trips to go duck hunting, fly fishing, camping and training their dogs to compete in hunt tests. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering, Park took a job with Motorola in Georgia.
Some of her co-workers invited her to join them on rides and she became serious about it. Before long, they quit their jobs in Georgia, sold their house, bought a recreation vehicle and moved west. The plan was for Krista to look for a job, but that was postponed as cycling grew into a passion.
Park credits her husband, Todd, for allowing her to pursue her career as a professional cyclist, "Without him believing that focusing so much time on cycling makes some sort of sense, I couldn't do this."
Todd's belief in Krista paid dividends in 2011 as the results began improving. Krista placed third in the Bonelli Park Cross-Country race, fourth in Mellow Johnny's Classic en route to finishing the season fifth on USA Cycling's women's Pro Cross-Country Tour standings. Her performance through the season earned her a spot on the team representing the United States at the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships in Champery, Switzerland, where she finished 45th.
She enjoys living in the recreation vehicle as it allows her to "focus on finding all the social cycling/fitness events in all the towns we 'live' in. Every week I am riding, doing yoga, or dining with folks I've never met in places I've never been. This lifestyle keeps things fun and interesting."
Krista also volunteers with Trips for Kids and visits schools to help get kids into cycling, become more confident and comfortable with the bike.
This Article Published November 30, 2011 For more information contact:


text:
National 4-H Week will be held Oct. 7-13, and La Plata County is celebrating the programs youths who have made an impact on the community and are stepping up to the challenges of a complex and changing world.
On Friday, 4-H youths will kick off National 4-H Week early to connect with the community at the annual Pine River Valley Heritage Days Trails End Chili Supper. This will take place at 7 p.m. at the Old Middle School Gym in Bayfield.
The La Plata-Montezuma County 4-H Livestock Judging Team will be there to raffle off three great prizes to raise money to attend workouts and contests in preparation for representing Colorado at the National Western Stock Show early next year. The prizes will be a locally raised and processed whole pig, a locally raised and processed ¼ beef and a Husqvarna 240E chain saw. Tickets cost $1.
A big thanks goes to Semler Farms, Sunnyside Meats and Cox Conoco for the donations.
Recent findings from Tufts Universitys 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development indicate young people in 4-H are three times more likely to contribute to their communities than those not participating in 4-H.
Notably, the Tufts research discovered that the structured learning, encouragement and adult mentoring that 4-Hers receive play a vital role in helping them actively contribute to their communities. In La Plata County, more than 300 4-H members and 100 volunteers are involved in 4-H.
4-H has allowed me to build self-confidence and be an active member of my community, said 4-H County President Michael Semler, from Bayfield.
Also during National 4-H Week, hundreds of thousands of youths from around the nation will complete a single, innovative experiment on 4-H National Youth Science Day, which will be held Wednesday. The 2012 National Science Experiment, 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge, explores how robots can be used to preserve and protect the environment, while offering a glimpse into the future of science, technology, engineering and math.
We are pleased to announce that La Plata County 4-H has received funding from the La Plata Electric Association Round-Up Foundation to create a Mobile Robotics Lab to serve our community through our 4-H S.T.E.M Outreach Initiative. This will add a great resource to school enrichment and after-school activities in our region.
Young people in 4-H are a living, breathing, culture-changing revolution for doing the right thing, breaking through obstacles and pushing our country forward by making a measurable difference right where they live.
Learn how you can join the Revolution of Responsibility at www.4-H.org/revolution.
Finally, last weekend, we hosted our Annual Achievement Night at the fairgrounds with great success.
More than 150 awards were given, ranging from food preservation to overall supreme large livestock.
The majority of awards totaling more than $2,000 were purchased locally to support local businesses.
It will be an exciting 2012-13 4-H year with lots of leadership, life skills and educational opportunities for our youths.
firstname.lastname@example.com or 382-6463. Greg Felsen is La Plata County 4-H youth development agent.


text:
"Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tonys. Now Twitter has the...Shorty Awards" – The New York Times
There's a something called the Shorty Awards that, according to their mission statement, "…honor the best people and organizations on Twitter. These unique awards are for the Twitter community, by the Twitter community. Online voting is public and democratic, culminating in an awards ceremony that recognizes the winners in 27 official categories as well as those in brand new crowd-sourced ones."
Sounds good to me! If you are on Twitter, you can follow this link and give some Shorty love in the food category! Thanks!


text:
Black students made up 16 percent of Flagler students but accounted for 31 percent of the in- and out-of-school suspensions in the 2010-11 school year.
PALM COAST — The federal Office of Civil Rights is investigating a complaint that black students in Flagler County are "being pushed out of schools" through harsh disciplinary measures.
Community youth advocate Keyontay Humphries and attorney Stephanie Langer from the Southern Poverty Law Center met with residents during a NAACP meeting Tuesday night at the African American Cultural Society.
Last summer, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced it had filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights against Flagler County and four other Florida school districts: Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa and Suwannee.
The office notified the Montgomery, Ala.-based civil rights organization that it had launched a formal investigation into the Flagler case, which it does not do with every complaint, Langer said.
"It's not that often that they'll open a full investigation," she said.
The Flagler complaint dealt with the "disparate impact of the disciplinary policies in Flagler County on the African American population in Flagler," she said.
Black students made up 16 percent of Flagler students but accounted for 31 percent of the in- and out-of-school suspensions in the 2010-11 school year, the complaint states. Black students accounted for 69 percent of those expelled.
School district attorney Kristy Gavin said by phone Tuesday afternoon that the district has responded to a list of 26 questions from the office. Most of the questions were about the district's disciplinary policies, she said. A few pertained to three students singled out in the complaint.
"The students that they cited as being disparate — they were provided the same process and protocol that is followed regardless of race, color creed," Gavin said.
Langer said the SPLC complaint was "clean and narrow," and the organization has no intention of taking the school district to court.
"This is not a case about money," Langer said. "We have not sought attorney's fees. It's all about changing the system in a positive way."
Langer and Humphries said they'd like to discuss the matter with school staff and this complaint "puts pressure" on the school district.
School officials say they contacted the two organizations after Humphries spoke during an NAACP meeting in March, but Humphries said she felt the district was trying to dispute the data, not resolve the problem.
"At this point Flagler has not said they will sit down at the table with us," Humphries said.
Reached by phone Tuesday night, Superintendent Janet Valentine said she wasn't aware of the Tuesday meeting until a reporter contacted her earlier in the day. Nobody representing the district spoke during the meeting. The district is taking the complaint seriously, she said.
'We did not feel in any way that we have done anything that would lead to an overrepresentation of discipline of minorities but it certainly makes us look at our procedures,' Valentine said.
The district disciplinary review committee, which includes school administrators from across the district, looked at the complaint, Valentine said. The schools are taking a more proactive approach to discipline, which includes linking students with attendance issues or other problems with mentors or social services.
"What we want them to know is we take it seriously and we're doing our due diligence as far as reviewing our practices," Valentine said.
The complaint also points out a lack of black staff members in Flagler schools. Blacks totaled about 4 percent of teachers, 15 percent of principals and 25 percent of assistant principals during the 2011-12 school year.
"We're asking that they actively recruit minority, qualified candidates," said Linda Sharpe Haywood, president of the Flagler branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Althea Civil, whose 11- and 8-year-old daughters attend Rymfire Elementary, said she recently saw a child younger than 12 years old arrested at a park for throwing rocks at another child.
"It deeply affects me because that could have been my child," Civil said about the incident.
Civil is a detention deputy for the Flagler County's Sheriff's Office, but she was not representing her employer at the meeting. She said she did not feel her own children have been treated unfairly because of their race, but was concerned about the number of children and teenagers arrested in Flagler.
"I'm not shocked by it because I work in law enforcement, so I see the the things that are happening, but I'm devastated," Civil said about the statistics included in the Southern Poverty Law Center complaint.


text:
Document Management Solutions for Tax and Accounting, Finance
Get fast, efficient & error‑free tax form completion with PDFfiller. We help tax professionals find, complete, sign & submit the most commonly used business and personal tax forms in half the time.
Make it simple to send, manage, and track all of yourdocuments with PDFfiller.
Learn Why More than 75,000 Tax Professionals Use PDFfiller for Paperless Document Transactions
Sign Documents Electronically
Sign documents with up to ten colleagues, customize signature orders, and track signatures as they come in.
Save Time
Save time and minimize errors in tax reporting by using PDFfiller to help with quarterly estimates, wages and taxes withheld, business, income, and tax form revisions.
Look Good
Produce professional-looking and error-free tax forms in half the time with fillable forms.
Reduce Search Time
Save time finding and filling financial forms, legal business forms, federal tax forms, and other IRS documents.
Store Past Returns Online
Keep secure and accessible digital records of tax return forms from the current and previous years.
Avoid Retyping Data
Avoid retyping data and customize documents for your company's use by creating resusable tax form templates.
Use Cases
PDFfiller Fulfills the Needs of Tax ProfessionalsBetter Than the Competition
Our document management tools make completion, storage, and revision of your federal tax returns faster and more affordable than ever.
|No Need to Download Software
|Sign Online
|Track Sent Document
|Search Form Online
|Edit PDF
|Free Mobile App
|Unlimited Cloud Storage
|Annotate Content
|Fax Online
|Embedded Signing
|Document ID
|Add Watermark, Page Numbering, Date
|Erase in PDF
|Rearrange Pages
|Add image
|Integrate to Salesforce, SharePoint, Google Docs, Office 365
|Create Fillable Fields
|Fill Forms in Bulk
|Host Fillable Form
|Two-Factor Authentication
|Enhanced Document Security
Get Everything at a Fraction of the Cost
Tap into Our Free Resources to Learn How PDFfiller Can Benefit Your Industry
Collecting Client Financial Information with PDFfiller
PDF, 328 kb
Completing and Distributing Financial Forms Digitally
PDF, 370 kb
Save Money and Time with the Right Digital Document Platform
PDF, 417 Kb
Manage the Full Document Lifecycle for Individuals, Small Businesses and Enterprises
Some Great Tax Businesses That Use PDFfiller
Solve all your PDF problems


text:
Bill Murray Will Voice Baloo in Disney's 'The Jungle Book' Movieby Thomas Chau | PopCrush
Bill Murray has been hired to lend his voice as Baloo in Walt Disney Pictures' 2015 live-action movie, 'The Jungle Book.' The film is based on the famous Rudyard Kipling novel.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Murray will be joining an all-star voice cast which already comprises of Christopher Walken as King Louie, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Idris Elba as Shere Khan and Ben Kingsley as Bagheera.
Each actor will be voicing a CGI-animated character that will interact with 10-year-old Neel Sethi, who has been cast as Mowgli.
Disney's 'The Jungle Book' won't be the studio's first attempt in adapting the novel. In 1967, Disney released an animated feature, which is perhaps the most famous adaptation of the book. The studio also previously adapted 'The Jungle Book' as a film in 1994, but was criticized for diverging away from the source material.
The new 'Jungle Book' film will open on Oct. 9, 2015 and will be helmed by 'Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2′ director Jon Favreau.
Celebrities Who Look Like Disney Characters


text:
We currently need two team owners in the League of Reds Nation.
We are looking for experienced fantasy baseball players who are willing to commit to the league for several years. First shot will be given to established Redszone members who are not already in one of the 3 (or more?) leagues hosted by Redszone members.
The league is composed entirely of Redszone members. The league is in its 5th year now and we still have most of our original team owners. It is a 5x5 roto (not H2H) 12-team dynasty league on Yahoo with 30 man rosters and 30 keepers. It is a friendly yet competitive league full of active owners. We do not allow trade vetoes. There are daily lineup adjustments. We have a 5 round draft each Spring that is a slow draft with a 10 hour timer per pick. The league is free to play and there is no prize money. We play for pride and Redszone bragging rights!
You can learn more about our league here in our thread: League of Reds Nation
Send me a PM or post here if you are interested in playing.


text:
h1ack wrote:WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? I'm saying that the money we donate is not a political issue- it is a moral issue, and that we should all give more. Do you have a problem with that?
Are you saying there aren't greedy people on the left? Did you know that conservatives give tons more to charity than liberals?
Talk about fallacious- you insulted my writing plenty but you never debated ONE point I made- NOT ONE!
Try a fact based response this time around.
Dude calm down. Try not freaking the fuck out this time around. From what i saw, sanddbox was merely complimenting your work.


text:
The U.S. state of Delaware marks the letter "Y" on the driver's licenses of sex offenders. Louisiana emblazons the words "SEX OFFENDER." Here in California, a politician running for state attorney general is trying to bootstrap a victory in next week's primary election with a copycat proposal.
Imagine the shame and humiliation when the young store clerk asks for your ID to verify your credit card signature. It's just one more brick in the wall of internal banishment, which -- as law professor Corey Rayburn Yung has pointed out -- is radically changing the face of American culture.
Of course, shaming and banishment are nothing compared with the murders driven by this hysterical and counterproductive scapegoating. Take the unfortunate Florida man who was beaten to death with a baseball bat in his own home by two men who thought he was a convicted sex offender. As it turns out, the elderly gentleman had no criminal record whatsoever; he just happened to share the same name as a sex offender.
Some may dismiss that murder as the rash act of a couple of drunken hooligans. But, as I blogged about back in 2007, such vigilanteism is not uncommon. It is fueled by the rhetoric of our presumably rational leaders -- politicians, policy makers, even mental health experts. In my primary election voter's guide, almost every candidate down to the dogcatcher is promising to make the world safer from sex criminals like Phillip Garrido.
The current freneticism is linked to the case of John Gardner, who raped and murdered teens Chelsea King and Amber Dubois in San Diego. As I noted in my April 3 post on that case, politicians would rather point fingers than accept the limitations of the science of prediction. In a plea bargain that saved his life, Gardner has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His fate is sealed, but the forensic repercussions are just beginning. First up, politicians have approved a $250,000 probe aimed at uncovering flaws in the state Department of Mental Health's practices of screening paroling prisoners to detect sexually violent predators.
Dangerous expansion proposed for MDO law
An especially troublesome piece of forensic fallout from the Gardner case is a proposal by the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB), created by California's legislature in 2006 to systematize oversight of the state's sex offenders. The Board has issued a report, at the governor's request, that contains a shocking claim and recommendation:
"Changes to the Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO) Commitment Law Might Have Permitted Gardner to Be Committed to a Mental Hospital And Prevented Further Crimes"
Wow! What does the MDO law have to do with sex offenders?! For readers who are not familiar with it, California's Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO) law was enacted in 1986 to protect the public from prisoners who upon release would pose a substantial danger of physical harm to others due to a severe mental disorder. In this case, "severe mental disorder" means just what it sounds like -- a genuine psychiatric disorder (most typically of psychotic proportions) that significantly impairs functioning.
Apparently, Gardner was flagged as a possible candidate for MDO commitment because he received some mental health treatment while in prison. But he was found not to meet the criteria for involuntary hospitalization under that law. As the forensic expert who evaluated him before his trial in 2000 had noted, he had no psychotic disorder; he was "simply a bad guy who is inordinately interested in young girls."
News accounts have stated that the two MDO evaluators (one from the Department of Corrections and the other from the Department of Mental Health) differed as to whether Gardner had a severe mental disorder. In such cases, a prisoner is not hospitalized unless two independent evaluators from the Board of Prison Terms agree that he meets the criteria, and in Gardner's case this second pair of evaluators also reportedly split.
Based on its skimpy information (they admitted that they had not verified the news reports about Gardner's MDO evaluations), the Board is recommending two radical changes to existing law:
- Amend the MDO law (and remember, this law does NOT target sex offenders!) so that a prisoner is involuntarily hospitalized when a second set of evaluators comes back with a split opinion.
- Eliminate the current right of people committed under the MDO law to an annual review by the courts; "the MDO commitment system should mirror the system which now commits sexually violent predators (SVP's) for an indeterminate term."
Remember, the MDO law was not designed for sex offenders. It is meant to civilly incapacitate paroling prisoners with bona fide psychiatric disorders that make them violent. Yet these folks in the sex offender arena want to fiddle with this law in order to remove the meager procedural safeguards that protect the mentally ill from indefinite detention.
Given its timing, this proposal may not be as illogical as it might superficially appear. It comes just in time for an upcoming court hearing on whether the state can continue to handle civilly committed sex offenders differently than other civilly committed ex-prisoners.
On Jan. 28, in response to a challenge by a civilly detained sex offender named Richard McKee, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state "has not yet carried its burden of showing why SVP's, but not any other ex-felons subject to civil commitment, such as mentally disordered offenders, are subject to indefinite commitment" [my emphasis]. The state's top court sent the case back to the original trial court to give the government "the opportunity to justify the differential treatment in accord with established equal protection principles." That hearing, coincidentally enough, is pending in San Diego Superior Court.
Wouldn't it be convenient if the state changed the procedure for other civilly committed ex-felons to treat them similarly to sex offenders, just in time for the McKee hearing? Voila -- problem solved!
Is the current Mentally Disorder Law too lenient?
Consider this scenario:
"Josiah" has a chronic psychosis. He hears voices and is religiously preoccupied. Although normally peaceable, he had one bad day back in the 1990s, during which he raved at passing cars and even hurled a few small rocks. Fortunately, no one was injured. Josiah passively obeyed the commands of passersby to lie on the ground and wait for police.
Josiah was arrested. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge and went to prison. After some time, he paroled from prison. Despite continuing homelessness and mental illness, he did not engage in any further violence. However, he was briefly returned to prison for a minor, nonviolent parole violation. Upon his re-release, he had the misfortune of being evaluated by MDO Evaluator X, who has a higher-than-average rate of "positive" opinions. Dr. X opined that Josiah posed a substantial risk of physical harm to others by reason of his chronic psychosis.
Dr. X's counterpart at the Department of Mental Health, Dr. Y, disagreed. He did not believe Josiah was dangerous, because he lacked any pattern of violent conduct. No matter. On the basis of only one psychologist's opinion, Josiah was whisked off to the state hospital. (Contrary to the impression left by the SOMB report that two additional tie-breakers are required when the initial two evaluators disagree, a second pair of evaluations is only required when evaluators differ on certain of the six criteria.)
Although he was well behaved and never assaultive, in the hospital Josiah remained religiously preoccupied, carrying his Bible everywhere and reading from it incessantly. Based on his religiosity and his rejection of psychotropic medications, hospital clinicians believed he remained dangerous, and opposed his discharge. So, he languished in the hospital for seven years. Finally, an attorney effectively challenged the state's claim of dangerousness, and a judge ordered Josiah released. He was 57 years old.
Under the current MDO law, people like Josiah can get trapped in the state hospital system. Josiah is not a sex offender, and -- unlike Gardner -- most sex offenders in prison are not even eligible to be screened under the current Mentally Disordered Offender law. Yet now, because of an isolated but highly publicized crime, along comes a proposal that would penalize mentally ill prisoners, most of whom -- like Josiah -- are poor people without the financial resources to stand up for their rights.
Time and time again, here's the way the story goes:
- An exceedingly rare but highly troublesome event occurs.
- A knee-jerk scramble ensues to find the cause and affix blame.
- Existing laws are impulsively altered.
- Unintended consequences ensue, most of them harmful.
It's too bad the SOMB members don't just stand up to the governor and legislature, and admit that the emperor has no clothes: Screenings are not magic. They will never be capable of predicting the future with 100 percent certainty, and eliminating all potential risk.
The false positives dilemma
When something goes wrong, politicians look for an easy fix, no matter how impractical, meaningless, or even harmful it may ultimately prove to be. As an Associated Press report noted in reference to the driver's license idea, "It's unclear how the measure might have helped Gardner's victims."
So true. Similarly, critics who claim the parole screening process was faulty are denying the unfortunate reality that even the most rigorous screening would not have saved Gardner's victims, because Gardner had no red flags. Paroled in 2005 from a six-year prison term for two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a 13-year-old acquaintance, he looked like a garden-variety sex offender, one of many tens of thousands in California alone. He didn't come close to meeting the criteria for involuntary commitment as a sexually violent predator.
Gardner was a "false negative," someone who looked low risk but was not. Unfortunately, to eliminate all false negatives (called "Type II errors" by statisticians), one would have to vastly increase the rate of "false positives," or Type I errors, in which people are identified as at high risk when they really are not. In other words, if you reduce the risk of one type of error, you increase the risk of the other. And since the overwhelming majority of convicted sex offenders are never apprehended for another sex crime, any imperfect system geared toward identifying the small minority who will reoffend will wrongly flag many more who will not. (Most sex offenses are committed by men who have never before been apprehended, so they are not affected one way or the other by such identification efforts.)
Preventively detaining literally hundreds of thousands of aggregately low-risk men based on what a few of them might (or might not) do in the future would be unconstitutional. And on a practical level, it would be fiscally impossible. Ironically, Kansas -- the state whose pioneering sexually violent predator law withstood a constitutional challenge that paved the way for similar laws in other states -- recently suspended its SVP screenings because the process had become too costly. Strapped for cash, Kansas Department of Corrections officials decided to save $22,500 a month by stopping all psychological evaluations of paroling sex offenders. (They also closed four prisons and two boot camps and curtailed programs for offenders.)
I've said it before, but it merits repeating: Random danger is an unavoidable part of life. Sometimes, despite all of our efforts at public protection, bad stuff will still happen.
(2) Type I and II errors is courtesy Tim Wilson ("Gilligan on Data" blog);
(3) "Behind the Bars" from Squibs of California, public domain (courtesy of Indiamos)


text:
We continue our conversation with Alan Cooper at Sue and Alan's warm and welcoming ranch in Petaluma, CA, which, in addition to themselves, is home to sheep and chickens, a cat named Monkey, and a farmer who works the land.
Part 2 brings us up to present-day, and discussions around the applications and fundamentals of Goal-Directed Design that support its success at Cooper and beyond.
From Theory to Practice
CK: Okay, so having established the foundation of Goal-Directed Design in Part 1 of our conversation, let's fast forward now to after you started your company, Cooper Software. How has GDD figured in?
AC: Basically you find one person, understand their vision and their final desired end state, and then make them ecstatically happy about reaching their end state. That is the essence of Goal-Directed Design. And what you need are two things: 1) Find (or synthesize) the right person and 2) Design for that person. At a place like Apple, Steve Jobs was already that right person, and they needed look no further. For us at Cooper, a team of trained designers needs to synthesize the representative user, called a persona.
CK: Can you say a little more about Personas and their context in the process?
AC: Personas are the end result of going out in the field and researching the users and patterns that indicate what their desired end state is. Then we create the archetypical persona and walk that archetype through a scenario, like a test flight simulator using a proposed solution. And when your persona's needs are satisfied in multiple scenarios, you know you are on the right track.
Designers at Cooper can go into healthcare, tech, or jet engine design, wrap their head around it and articulate the representative user's desired end state, and from there identify the right problem to solve. Then synthesizing form just becomes the work, not magic at that point.
CK: I've heard you talk about pair design being part of the success of this goal-directed process. Can you touch on that a bit?
AC: Yes, at Cooper Goal-Directed Design is enhanced by our practice of pair design. Rather than wrestling with a problem alone, externalizing the problem with a partner usually yields the most success. And building on that, it turns out pairs work most effectively in particular combinations of skills. We found that designers tend to naturally fall into two camps, and we ended up calling these designers Generators and Synthesizers. You could think of the Generator as the driver and the Synthesizer as the navigator. You need both of them to get where you're going, and it's not that the Generator can't navigate or the Synthesizer can't drive, it's just that if you try to navigate while you're driving you might crash into something, and you'll go slower, and you might miss turns. And if you try to drive while you're navigating, you're going to end up not taking the most optimal route, and you might forget to stop for gas when you should, and you might end up backtracking.
In the early days when we were inventing these roles, we were a little more prescriptive about them, with the Generators always at the whiteboard and the Synthesizers taking notes, but as this became successful we realized we didn't have to be so doctrinaire about it, they could switch roles and become much more fluid and even more effective. But in principle, the Generator is usually saying, "we could do this! and we could do that!" – coming up with ideas, and Synthesizers have the analytical role to question each idea and build and shape it.
CK: For a lot of designers the places where they work are not so receptive to pair design because they don't think it's efficient.
AC: That's true. And what those places are missing is that in this post-industrial age, efficiency is less useful than effectiveness. Apple, for example, is ridiculously inefficient. They spend money to work and re-work a problem and other companies would say they are wasting it. But Apple knows that saving money doesn't lead to success, making their customers ecstatically happy leads to success. And of course success leads to money. But getting internal buy-in and support is certainly an issue for many. At Cooper we offer training in Design Leadership that helps with this.
CK: I have a feeling questions around that post-industrial business model could spark a whole conversation in itself. As we wind up here, I'm wondering if you know of a good case study that demonstrates Goal-Directed Design in action?
AC: I do! SketchUp is a great example. It's an architectural sketching tool, and it's complicated and powerful, and it has a learning curve, and it's definitely not for everyone, but I love the program because the design is brilliant – at the macro level and the micro level. I used SketchUp to design the new chicken coop here at Monkey Ranch.
At the macro level they understood exactly the problem they were trying to solve. Other modeling programs like AutoCAD are painfully counter-intuitive, with a learning cliff, much less a learning curve. You have to be a professional to want to bother to use one of those tools — there is nothing coherent, you just have to memorize about 80 tools.
With SketchUp, I know from their website and video and blogs that they used Goal-Directed Design. Their vision was not to displace AutoCAD, instead they had in mind this idea of an architect who has just presented the initial design of a building to the client, and the client says, "I love it! Could you make this stairway a little wider?" And in the AutoCAD world, it goes like this: "yes, we'll have the drawings back to you in three days." But in the SketchUp world, the architect says, "sure," and clicks the extrusion tool on the side face of the stairway, stretches it out another foot, the staircase is wider, and everything in the model instantly adjusts to fit. That was their persona, their scenario, and that was the goal direction. So that's from a macro point view – they understood that they weren't trying to create an architectural drafting program that competed with set piece giant architectural drawings.
Also, at th
e micro level, they designed their controlling interface as a coherent system. Throughout the interface everything is consistent, all of the interactions have the same fundamental grammar. If you understand how one tool work works you understand all of the tools. And they anticipate the exacting needs of architectural planners, understanding just when you need to type in numbers or simply move the lines. This profound understanding of how you can build an interface permeates everything they do, and that's a great example of successful Goal-Directed Design.
CK: That's an inspiring example.
AC: It is. In the decades since Cooper conceived of Goal-Directed Design, the benefits of this practice have really been lasting and measurable. Project teams are able to start out with a shared understanding of goals and achieve early consensus on the design problem. And because designers develop empathy for the people who will use the product, they are able to focus on the right priorities. In the end, training and support and development costs are significantly reduced, and consumers experience ease and delight in the products.
CK: I think that's the perfect note to end on. Thanks, Alan, for kicking off Cooper's Masters In Conversation series, it's been great to talk with you!


text:
This exclusive edition T-Shirt, designed by Melanie Viola, comes with a numbered and signed certificate of authenticity. Premium jersey, relaxed fit, 100% polyester, this unique all over print t-shirt has no white creases and does not fade after washing. Printed, cut and sewn in USA.
|AChest (in/cm)
|BLength (in/cm)
Minimalistic and trendy abstract artwork with circle geometric shapes.
Berlin, Germany


text:
Djokovic, Federer win in Paris, Azarenka doesn't
PARIS (AP) -- There was a moment, a little past 4 p.m. on a dank and dreary Sunday at the French Open, when the gray sky above appeared to be falling on some of the best of the best.
A listless Novak Djokovic, looking very little like someone ranked No. 1 and bidding to become the first man in 43 years to win four consecutive Grand Slam titles, was trying to work his way out of a two-set deficit against 22nd-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Even more astonishingly, a flummoxed Roger Federer, owner of a record 16 major championships, was trudging to the sideline after dropping his first set against 109th-ranked David Goffin of Belgium, a 21-year-old kid thrilled merely to be sharing Court Suzanne Lenglen with his idol. Goffin, it must be noted, was a "lucky loser" -- a player beaten in qualifying who got to make his Grand Slam debut only because someone else withdrew.
By that point, one significant upset already was complete Sunday: The No. 1-seeded woman, Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, was headed home after losing to No. 15 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-6 (4), busting a racket on the way out the door.
Asked afterward what she'll do to recover from the defeat, Azarenka replied sarcastically, "I'm going to kill myself," then added: "This tournament is over for me. What's to recover from?"
It seemed reasonable, if ever so briefly, to ask in the afternoon whether the tournament might soon be over in the fourth round for Djokovic and Federer, too. In the end, of course, the answer was no.
For quite some time, Djokovic missed shots this way and that, then shook his head or yelled at himself or spread his arms wide with palms up as if to ask, "What's going on here?" He finished with 81 unforced errors in all, exactly his total for his first three matches combined. But Seppi's not nearly as accustomed to these stages or stakes, and Djokovic pulled out a 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory, his 25th in a row at a major tournament.
"One of those days where ... nothing is working," Djokovic said. "I could not get into the rhythm."
He began to turn things around by breaking serve to begin the third set, and he kept on doing that, nine times in all.
"Maybe I could have started the third set better. I could have done a little more there," Seppi said. "But he returns very well, and gets serves back almost always, which makes things difficult."
Djokovic recognized that part of his problems early on had to do with better-than-expected play by Seppi, who knocked off No. 14 Fernando Verdasco to get past the third round at a major tournament for the first time.
So after they shook hands at the net when Djokovic finally closed out the 4-hour, 18-minute win, the Serb applauded Seppi and pointed toward the Italian, telling the crowd to salute him.
The third-seeded Federer, the 2009 champion at Roland Garros, did that one better after his 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory, giving Goffin a tap on the head and a pat on the backside when they were done playing, then hugging him at the crowd's behest during an on-court interview.
What a thrill for the Belgian, who unabashedly spoke earlier in the tournament about having photos and posters of Federer up in his bedroom as a child.
"I've had an extraordinary week," said the slender Goffin, who might be mistaken for a ball boy. "The icing on the cake was to play here against Roger."
Once Federer seized control in the second and third sets, the outcome never really seemed in doubt. In the last set, Goffin won one point with a touch volley, then raised his index finger -- signaling No. 1 -- and, to the delight of roaring spectators, bowed to all four corners of the arena.
Later, Goffin explained, it felt as though "the stadium was on fire."
Federer's quarterfinal opponent will be No. 7 Tomas Berdych or No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro, whose match was suspended because of darkness with 2009 U.S. Open champion del Potro ahead, two sets to one. Djokovic, meanwhile, will face No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or No. 18 Stanislas Wawrinka, who also will resume Monday, with Tsonga leading 4-2 in the fifth set.
In the women's quarterfinals, Cibulkova earned a spot against U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, who ended 19-year-old unseeded American Sloane Stephens' best Grand Slam run 7-5, 6-4. No. 21 Sara Errani of Italy beat two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-0, 7-5, setting up a match against No. 10 Angelique Kerber of Germany, a 6-3, 7-5 winner over unseeded Petra Martic of Croatia.
Azarenka's loss means that Maria Sharapova, scheduled to play her fourth-round match Monday, can move up to No. 1 in the rankings by reaching the final.
Asked what went awry, Azarenka replied: "Pretty much everything, really. I don't know how to describe my performance, really, today. It wasn't satisfying at all. ... But I guess it happens."
Even to the best of the best.
Federer found the wind troubling on a day the temperature was in the 60s, but he made sure to compliment Goffin.
"He's got great potential in terms of his touch and the way he reads the game," Federer said. "I'm impressed."
Whatever happens for the rest of Goffin's tennis career, no matter what life has in store, he'll always be able to say he got to play against his favorite player, one of the greatest in history -- and took a set off him, no less.
Goffin will always have this day.
"I will never forget this moment," Goffin said. "I hope I will have a lot of moment like this."


text:
1. Your name - I respond to far too many names online. XP Use Tiffany.
2. Your email address - email@example.com
3. The name of your comic - Between Places
4. Your comic's URL - http://betweenplaces.comicgenesis.com
5. Why your comic is KeenElven material - The main villains are elves. Shay is an elf, and she is a main character. Avante is an elf and is also a main character and mutually they effect the other non-pointy eared main characters in various ways as the story progresses but for me to expand would be spoilers. All the non-pointy eared main characters are in general, fighting against E.L.F.s, the main villains, who are 'extrodinary life forms' but in general look like elves as we expect them to. Mostly. Not all of them. There's an elf king and a princess and enough to do with elves that I'm using ELVES: ONLY OCCASIONALLY POINTY-EARED XENOPHOBES/NOT JUST HOMICIDAL MANIACS as my catchphrases sometimes.
Admittedly most, if not all of my elves are evil (or at the very least, ambiguous), but SHH.
In general, though the elves are evil, they're a main feature of the comic, and I think the opposite take (not graceful, gorgeous, gracious lovers of nature and the universe... rather, destroyers of all life, cruel, ambiguous and generally chaotic or self-centered AND NOT DROWS) might be a good addition to the dropdown.
Plus. Pointy ears? Pointy ears.
It's focused on elves, just not... uh... NICE elves.
6. Your banner (200x40 jpg, gif, or png). -
7. A short text ad for your comic - The elements must band together to save the planet Mysada from extrodinary life forms, more commonly known to the people as elves...
I've added the code to my links page and it'll go up when I next update.


text:
A tech analyst said that the iPhone and iPad are killing off the PC market and pointed to the first hard evidence of the phenomenon in schools.
While Mac shipments to schools fell 0.1 percent, PC sales fell 13.9 percent, what Charlie Wolf of Needham & Company calls "definitive evidence" that the iPad is eating up PC sales, according to Fortune. The proof? Apple sold about a million iPads to schools.
Wolf also suggested that Mac will do better than PCs simply because of iOS crossover.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
"Notwithstanding its premium prices compared to the prices of Windows PCs," Wolf wrote, "we expect that the Mac will continue to grow faster than the PC market, propelled by the twin halo effects emanating from the iPhone and iPad."
One analyst doesn't make a trend, but Wolf's sentiments are similar to several others before him. The iPad has made some serious inroads into business and should be taken as a substantial threat to the PC market. Unless manufacturers start making some competitive tablet computers to battle Apple, they could possibly not just lose the battle but also the war..


text:
A few days ago, I overheard a conversation between a guy who works at a swanky restaurant in Hayes Valley -- let's call him Jordan -- and some of his friends. Hayes Valley is a central neighborhood in San Francisco where many of the big performing arts institutions and venues are located, including the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, The Herbst Theatre, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The San Francisco Jazz Center and the San Francisco Ballet. It's also where some of the city's best restaurants are to be … [Read more...]
You are here: Home / Archives for the San Francisco Symphony