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The Difference Between UL Listed and UL Recognized
Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 by Paige DiAntonio
Do you know the difference between UL Listed and UL Recognized Approvals?
Read more...
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Halogens - A Mixed Message?
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FIT-221L: The Environmentally Friendly Choice
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Crosstalk and Noise Levels
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text: S&T, in partnership with the DHS Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, improved the LRBAA's business practices to make it easier for industry to work with S&T and provide innovative solutions for the Homeland Security Enterprise. The new LRBAA features transparent communications, a streamlined submission and review process, and reduces the submission to award timeframe by five months. In this video, DHS S&T Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary Bill Bryan and DHS Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa discuss the collaborative LRBAA modernization efforts and improvements to the LRBAA website.


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White House Spokesboy slash liar, Scottie McClellan, the man with the worst portfolio since Terik Aziz was forced to defend Saddam Hussein in public, continued in his third day of his very good Ron Zeigler impression. (Though, in truth, we noticed the similarities long before the rest of the Leftie Pundits seem to have. And huge kudos to John Amato at C&L for getting up the video from a 1973 CBS report with an earily similar ring to it!) He "continued to stonewall on questions surrounding Karl Rove and the Plame case", as Editor & Publisher described it.
Here are a few of the most surprising exchanges. The likes of which led Jon Stewart on The Daily Tuesday to suggest that someone must have "secretly replaced the White House Press Corp with actual reporters."
McCLELLAN: Again, we've been round and round on this for a couple of days now. I don't have anything to add to what I've said the previous two days.
Q That's a different question, and it's not round and round --
McCLELLAN: You heard from the President earlier.
Q It has nothing to do with the investigation, Scott, and you know it.
McCLELLAN: ... This is all relating to questions about an ongoing investigation, and I've been through this.
Q If I wanted to ask you about an ongoing investigation, I would ask you about the statute, and I'm not doing that.
McCLELLAN: I think we've exhausted discussion on this the last couple of days.
Q You haven't even scratched the surface.
Q It hasn't started.
McCLELLAN: Again, this is a creative way to come out to the same kind of questions.
Q You're right, it is, and I want an answer.
Wow. Are we dreaming? Where did those guys come from? And where have they been for the last 4 and a half years???


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Wednesday, December 10, 2008
On Kubek, Frick and Cheek
We've previously stated that we're not going to hop onto this perpetual treadmill of rage about Tom Cheek's exclusion because frankly, this is going to go on for years. There are other ways to honour Tom Cheek, and we doubt that the man himself would look kindly upon another rage-filled blog post about this year's snubbing.
That being said, we have mixed feelings about the 2008 winner, Tony Kubek. As a Jays fan, he was without question a great influence on our early appreciation of the game. The team of Kubek and Don Chevrier is arguably the best TV tandem in the history of the franchise, and their descriptions of the Jays' rise to prominence through the 80's are etched indelibly in our memory.
Kubek was economical but pointed with his critiques of both teams on the field, a fact that got him in hot water when he and Bob Costas made allegedly derogatory remarks about the 1989 Blue Jays' chances of making a comeback against the Bash Brother-era A's. Costas stated that Elvis had a better chance of a comeback, and the fact that our "hometown" colour guy didn't speak up on behalf of the home side sent thin-skinned Canadian fans into paroxysms of indignance. (And, of course, Costas was right in his own irritatatingly smug way.)
Kubek never returned to the Blue Jays' booth, and walked away in digust from the game in 1994. It strikes us that while we have gauzy happy memories of those old Labatt's Blue Jays Baseball on CTV broadcasts, we wonder what people would make of Kubek's analysis now. Would he be pilloried as some old school analysts are? Would there be a Fire Tony Kubek blog?
So what's the downside of Kubek winning? Perhaps the most salient point that we've read on Kubek's induction came from Neate at Out of Left Field:
"This award is for broadcasters, not members of the jockocracy who actually didn't ride the coattails of their athletic career, which can be said of Kubek (it also applies to Alan Ashby on the FAN 590). Hey, let's put Joe Morgan in the broadcasters' wing of the Hall next season, even though he's already in as a player, just to make sure.
This a sports nerd's bias, but fact you were a player should not even be mentioned. It rubs it in the face of every trained broadcaster who came up the hard way, past, present and future, making a profession of their passion."
There's a lot to that, and when you start to look forward at some of the ex-player analysts who are on the horizon, you have to wonder if they won't start to squeeze out the men by their sides who called the games.
A last word on this goes to Kubek himself. According to the Globe's William Houston, this year's honoree said that he wished that Tom Cheek, the man who sat one booth over from him for 15 years as a Blue Jays broadcaster, was "standing alongside me."
5 comments:
- Darren Priest said...
Well done, Tao.
- December 10, 2008 at 3:43 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
Great post. You're bang on. And based on that last quote by Kubek, he is one classy mother sucker.
- December 10, 2008 at 3:54 PM
- The Ack said...
It's been a great offseason. Fantastic.
PS - anyone else read that Cito has already written off 2009?
"we'll be a good team in 2010"
"we have a chance to be a real thorn in the side of some teams this year"....
- December 11, 2008 at 10:34 AM
- Darren Priest said...
I just read that. So we're spoilers already? And the DJF writer seemed to think anyone expressing disappointment is a dickhead.
I wonder how strict the staff at Rogers Centre will be about people moving down to better seats that are sure to be empty this summer...
- December 11, 2008 at 2:46 PM
I wonder how strict the staff at Rogers Centre will be about people moving down to better seats that are sure to be empty this summer...
- December 12, 2008 at 11:02 PM


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Newsletter Issue #678November 26th, 2012
Over the past couple of weeks, it does appear that I have spent more time and space covering Microsoft than usual, simply because the company's focus on integrating PC and mobile operating systems has become so polarized. While some people, and even Consumer Reports magazine, have praised Windows 8 and the controversial Modern UI touch interface, others sharply disagree. To them, Windows 8 is a disaster in the making, and a huge mistake. Microsoft's hubris on wanting the same interface for traditional PCs, tablets, and smartphones may cause no end of grief when it comes to the company's bottom line.
It may take until the holiday season passes before it's possible to assess how Windows 8 might fare going forward. While it might seem logical to PC makers that lots of gear will be sold in the next few weeks, there are already sharp discounts designed to move hardware quickly. A fire sale, or just the hedging of bets? Microsoft is obviously hoping for the latter.
Now on this week's episode of The Tech Night Owl LIVE, we focused on the latest tech news and views from Apple and other companies with a special emphasis on Windows 8, and the tepid early reaction to Microsoft's efforts to establish what they call the PC+ era.
You heard from veteran tech columnist Ted Landau, who writes for The Mac Observer and Macworld, usability guru Jakob Nielsen, who has actually put Windows 8 through a series of intense tests with a panel of experienced PC users, and Avram Piltch, the Online Editorial Director of Laptop magazine.
During our session with Avram, he spent a fair amount of time describing his reactions to Nielsen's survey and how it very much vindicated his opinions about Windows 8. And, remember, Avram tends to be favorably disposed towards Microsoft
On this week's episode of our other radio show, The Paracast: Gene and Chris remember Jim Moseley, the UFO field's court jester and editor of "Saucer Smear," who died on November 16. His close friends join us with their anecdotes about Jim's amazing life, including Tim Beckley, Jerome Clark, T. Allen Greenfield, Geneva Hagen, and Bob Zanotti.
Now I realize most of you never heard of Jim Moseley, but he was one of my closest friends, someone I knew from a very early age and, indeed, my first employer before I entered broadcasting. For that and other reasons, I felt he deserved special treatment and respect on our "other" radio show.
Special Sci-Fi Update! Earlier this month, our second sci-fi novel, "Rockoids II: The Coming of the Protectors" was released. The novel continues the exciting adventures of the unique characters introduced in the first novel in the series, "Attack of the Rockoids." Rather than retread the same ground as some sequels do, the story moves forward in unique directions. My son, Grayson, and I had lots of fun writing the story, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It's available in both print and Amazon Kindle editions. Why Amazon? Well, since Kindle software is available on various platforms, we only had to make one version to satisfy as many readers as possible.
On this week's episode of our other radio show, The Paracast: Gene and Chris present author PMH Atwater, who has engaged in an extensive study, spanning four decades, of near-death experiences. The discussion will include her three near-death experiences dating back to the 1970s, how her life changed as a result. We'll also cover some of her books, including "Near-Death Experiences, The Rest of the Story," and "The Big Book of Near Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die."
Now Shipping! The Official Paracast T-Shirt — Now with New Design! We're taking orders direct from our new Official Paracast Store, where you can place your order and pay with a major credit card or PayPal. The shirts come in white, 100% cotton, and feature The Paracast logo on the front. The rear emblem states: "Separating Signal From Noise." We've also added a huge selection of additional special custom-imprinted merchandise for fans of our show, along with a redesigned storefront.
Conspiracy theories are often entertaining. The conventional explanation about an episode, usually a tragedy, is really a cover-up. There are actually other reasons why things happen that don't necessary depend on a lone gunman, or some haphazard event over which we have no control.
Certainly in our unique corner of the world, we wonder why Microsoft and Windows chief Steve Sinofsky parted company. Maybe he really just wanted to get out of the rat race, after 23 years at the company, and enjoy his life. Sure, being a high pressure executive can take its toll on a person, and perhaps his family life suffered as a result. Since he is also a very rich man, perhaps it all made sense.
That's the optimistic way to look at the situation, but maybe Microsoft simply got tired of dealing with an abrasive personality, and used the completion of a key assignment, the release of Windows 8 and the Surface tablet, as an excuse to send Sinofsky packing. It's not as if he needs to worry about getting an unemployment check.
Another theory has it that Sinofsky was shown the door because of the perceived massive failure of Windows 8. Even avid Microsoft fans have been highly critical. Perhaps, but there's also the theory that Sinofsky had been groomed as, or expected to be,the successor to CEO Steve Ballmer. So it could have been a case of bad timing and office politics.
Regardless, it's fair to expect that Microsoft will continue to sell and support Windows 7 for a number of years yet. It's very questionable that the enterprise will want to risk potential productivity losses and high retraining expenses by adopting Windows 8. Considering that the forthcoming Office 2013 actually exists in the desktop layer of Windows 8, and pays scant lip service to touch, why should anyone bother with the new interface when a perfectly serviceable OS is still available? And that assumes a company isn't just going to stick with Windows XP.
Now when it comes to the Apple universe, you sort of expect that an older version of OS X will disappear quickly after a successor appears. That was certainly true of Lion with the arrival of Mountain Lion in July.
On the other hand, it's been reported that millions of Mac users insist on running OS 10.6 Snow Leopard on their computers, even though it was released way back in 2009. That, in the Mac universe, is an eternity. Evidently you can now order an installation DVD at Apple's online store for $19.99, shipping included. That's $10 cheaper than the original price, and the same amount Apple charged for the 10.1 update for OS X early adopters in 2001.
At the same time, sales of Mountain Lion reportedly slid quickly after the rush of early adopters had downloaded their copies. So is this a huge Apple misstep, or just a sign that many Mac users have other priorities, or won't bother with a new OS till they buy new Macs? Is it possible that OS 10.8 isn't a compelling upgrade compared to Lion, or were so many Mac users jaded by the adoption of some iOS features that they opted to stick with the tried and the true?
After the initial round of maintenance updates, Snow Leopard has emerged as quite a snappy and reliable OS. More to the point, the controversial iOS-inspired changes are nowhere to be found. But the larger issue is the simple fact that you can still run PowerPC apps on Snow Leopard, courtesy of the Rosetta translation software. For reasons known only to themselves, Apple excised Rosetta from 10.7 and 10.8.
This is actually a huge issue for a number of Mac users. I have one client, a textbook author, who continues to require Word 2004, a PowerPC app. His dilemma is nothing unusual. While you can now get an Intel-savvy version of Intuit's Quicken financial software, for example, there are loads of other important and mission critical apps that will never, ever be upgraded. Snow Leopard remains the only option.
So in the larger scheme of things, keeping Snow Leopard around makes perfect sense for Apple. The sales of OS X aren't huge cash cows because of the low price of admission. When these customers buy new Macs, they'll be presented with the latest OS anyway. It's a situation totally unlike the one Microsoft confronts because of near-endless backwards compatibility of Windows and PC hardware.
So it will probably still take years before Windows XP really fades from view around the world, whereas Snow Leopard's market share will steadily erode. In short order, only a small number of Mac users with older hardware will continue to use it. By restoring Snow Leopard to the Apple Store, Apple merely made a logical choice, just as they made the logical choice to continue to sell Final Cut Pro 7 when the reinvented Final Cut Pro X met stiff resistance in the marketplace.
One of the huge downsides in building custom manufacturing processes for new products is that Apple will inevitably have problems meeting early demand for a hot selling item. So, there's still a two-week backlog at Apple's online store for the iPad mini and the iPhone 5. But if you shop around, you might even get instant gratification on most configurations of either. Indeed, if you don't object to refurbished hardware, you can save $100 on an iPhone 5 at AT&T, assuming the one you want is available.
On the other hand, you still can't place an order for the 2012 iMac, either the 21.5-inch version or the 27-inch model. The former was promised for November, and time is running out. The latter was expected in December, and there has been no change in the promised delivery timeframes. I suppose if the smaller iMac ships on November 30, Apple has kept the promise.
Despite claims of delayed delivery because of the complicated manufacturing scheme, Apple recently insisted the iMac was on schedule. So we'll see. Regardless, shipments will reportedly be constrained for a while, so it's not expected that the new model will be a huge factor in holiday quarter sales, unless a bunch of them can be shipped before the end of the year. But since 80% of Mac sales are confined to note-books, maybe it won't be a huge problem. After all, where do customers go if their new iMac isn't ready? It's not that they will rush to buy a Dell all-in-one instead.
Some might suggest that Apple should have found some way to ship these products earlier. Maybe it didn't make a whole lot of sense to seriously revise the iMac right now. Maybe do it next year, with sufficient time for a production ramp that wouldn't harm holiday sales. On the other hand, the existing iMac came out in the middle of 2011, so sales were likely on the decline anyway. Besides, it's not always easy to predict how sophisticated manufacturing steps will fare as production quantities increase. That Apple does as well as it does under the circumstances may be considered almost a miracle by some. Besides, why should Apple's creativity be sidelined because a product is hard to build?
After all, how many of Apple's competitors are busy perfecting new manufacturing processes and parts configurations? Most take off-the-shelf stuff, make a few visible changes to the case, package it and ship it. I suppose Microsoft used some innovative designs with the Surface tablet, but it's a larger question whether their design choices made a whole lot of sense. There are even reports that the touch keyboards are fraying for some within a short time. That hardly makes a customer feel warm and fuzzy towards Microsoft, and the Surface may already be a hard sell.
Of course, with the recent severe drop in the stock price (and it's on an uphill climb once again), it's been easy to attack Apple for real or imagined purposes. Production bottlenecks would only be a part of the misery factor, assuming there are serious problems yet to be solved. If the iMac's delivery date is moved off till next year, that development might appear to vindicate the critics who crave doom and gloom for Apple. But that's a company you shouldn't bet against.
The Tech Night Owl Newsletter is a weekly information service of Making The Impossible, Inc.
Publisher/Editor: Gene Steinberg
Managing Editor: Grayson Steinberg
Marketing and Public Relations: Barbara Kaplan
Worldwide Licensing: Sharon Jarvis
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text:
Gov. Snyder signs legislation to increase penalties for animal fighters
Animal fighting now a racketeering crime in Mich., property, money can be seized
LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder has signed legislation to increase penalties for people associated with animal fighting and animal cruelty crimes.
"This legislation provides law enforcement the tools they need to put a stop to animal fighting," Snyder said.
Read: Detroit rapper charged with dog fighting in court.
The Bills:
Senate Bill 356, sponsored by state Sen. Rick Jones, allows for the seizure of homes and automobiles in cases involving animal fighting where the property either directly or materially contributed to the crime.
- Senate Bill 358, sponsored by state Sen. Steve Bieda, adds animal fighting, shooting and baiting to the list of racketeering crimes. The bill provides prosecutors with tools to stop animal fighting, making it punishable by law to conspire with, aid or intimidate anyone to commit an animal fighting crime for financial gain.
- House Bill 5789, sponsored by state Rep. Andrea LaFontaine, gives law enforcement the ability to shut down any venue found to be associated with animal fighting. The bill also allows for the removal and sale of any personal property found within the premises.
The three bills now are Public Acts in Michigan.
More headlines:
Bill awaits Governor's signature to allow once-endangered wolves to be hunted in Mich.
Animal rights activist gets 6 months for WSU trespass
SeaWorld defends park as dolphin bites girl.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Gary Oldman joins Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
- Bang Showbiz
- 1 March 2013
Gary Oldman will join Andy Serkis in Matt Reeves' sci-fi sequel 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' as a man struggling to survive the global monkey takeover
Gary Oldman has joined the 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' cast.
'The Dark Knight Rises' actor has become the latest star to sign on to Matt Reeves' sci-fi sequel, set 15 years after the events of the James Franco-fronted 2011 film, 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'.
Gary will play Dreyfus, a man who leads a human colony struggling to survive in San Francisco after society has been eliminated by the ape-borne flu seen spreading at the end of the last movie.
He joins returning cast member Andy Serkis, who is reprising his role as CGI-enhanced intelligent ape Ceasar, the leader of the monkey rebellion.
'Zero Dark Thirty' actor Jason Clarke and 'The Road' star Kodi Smit-McPhee also recently joined the film's line-up.
James Franco has denied being involved with 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes', claiming his cameo role was scrapped after Rupert Wyatt - who directed 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' - pulled out of directing the film.
He said: "I was going to be a small part of the next one... There was one scene, between Caesar and my character, maybe even just like on a video that was left behind, but then a lot of things happened, like [former Fox co-chairman] Tom Rothman who was a big part of the first movie, left.
"Now Rupert's not a part of it so I don't know. My guess is I won't be in it. Nobody's talked to me since Rupert left."
'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' begins filming this month in New Orleans for a May 2014 release.


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Wheelman (PlayStation 3) review
"You'll have plenty of opportunities to go up against both gangsters and police as you tour Barcelona. Because Milo is a wheelman, many of the stages naturally involve a lot of interaction with other vehicles at high speeds. Besides leaping from ride to ride, you can stick to the one you currently have and use it like a battering ram. Much of the surrounding environment is more destructible than your current set of wheels, so you'll generally get to exchange a few bumps with your opponent as trees, motorcyclists and park benches fly to either side of your grill like hay swept away by a hurricane."
Staff review by Jason Venter (April 17, 2009)
Jason Venter has been playing games for 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words.
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DURHAM � Rodney Hood hasn�t played a game for the Duke men�s basketball team, but his leadership skills developed enough during a redshirt season that he�ll be one of the captains for the Blue Devils in the upcoming season.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Friday that Hood, a redshirt sophomore, and senior guard Tyler Thornton are the captains.
�I�m not surprised about Rodney,� Krzyzewski said of the player who suited up for Mississippi State as a freshman emerging in a leadership role.
Hood becomes the third sophomore to be a Duke captain, with Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus holding the title in the 2006-07 season.
�It means a lot to me to be named captain, just for the coaching staff and my teammates to have that much respect for me,� Hood said. �I�ve just got to be me and continue to lead the younger guys and lead by example. Coach doesn�t want me to do anything I haven�t been doing. That�s one of the reasons I am captain, leading by example and helping my teammates when they�re in need. I�m not going to try to create a new identity just because I�m playing now.�
Hood practiced with the Blue Devils last season after averaging 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 2011-12 with the Southeastern Conference team. He was often the best player in Duke�s practices last season.
�We�ll see now with � the pressure on,� Krzyzewski said, noting the different approach from a practice-only situation that Hood dealt with a year ago.
Krzyzewski said he expects Hood and freshman Jabari Parker, who�s also a forward, to be the team�s most dynamic players.
Thornton has averaged 3.1 points and 1.7 assists per game across 104 outings with Duke. He has started 28 games.
Duke is holding a practice open to the public from 10-11:30 a.m. today. Spectators can view the practice from the upper level of Cameron Indoor Stadium.


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Global exposure: 'Fourth Grade' film racks up honors
It may not yet have achieved world peace, but a locally-made film has gotten a world stage. John Hunter, the star of World Peace & Other Fourth Grade Achievements as well as the creator of the game that inspired the film, joined such luminaries as Bill Gates, retired Army General Stanley McChrystal, and film critic Roger Ebert as featured presenters at the exclusive TED Conference last month in Long Beach, California.
"He got a standing ovation," says the filmmaker, Chris Farina.
Talking to audiences who'd ponied up no less than $3,500 per seat, Hunter's appearance may have helped the picture rack up new achievements since the film first screened in Charlottesville in February 2010.
"It's beyond our wildest dreams where this film is going," says Farina. "Five years ago, we were scrambling to come up with money to shoot at our local school. Now we're getting calls from Korea."
Indeed, the film has aired on South Korean televisions stations as well as on Al Hurra, a mideast competitor to Al Jazeera. Farina says he's currently negotiating a deal with an American broadcaster, which he hopes will help pay off debt he's still carrying from the film's estimated $120,000 budget.
The connections the two men made at TED are also bearing some fruit, says Farina, who will fly with Hunter to California later this month for two screenings: one in Palo Alto and another at an educational summit in San Francisco. The film will also appear at Harvard University on April 26, and at a fundraiser in Asheville in early May. In June, it'll show at a conference put on by the Aspen Institute, a Colorado-based nonprofit attracted by the game that puts students in the position of world leaders.
Farina says the whirlwind of activity is overwhelming, but he and Hunter are ready for more.
"We still very much feel like this is just beginning," says Farina. "Even if the monetary issues don't resolve, we know that the other part– the more important part– is succeeding."


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on "North Country: The Making of Minnesota"
February 22, 2013
A relief on the MN State Fairgrounds features the same motif used in the official State Seal.
My favorite Chinese take-out place has a map of its delivery area taped to the wall.
I've studied it at least once a week for years, waiting for my order to be up. Because I live just a couple blocks away, it's a map of my Minneapolis neighborhood.
A few weeks ago, I was drawn into the map by the thrill of something truly new. Suddenly missing its familiarity, the map was layered now with too many horrors and ironies and personalities to trace.
It now covers about half the area Major Plympton cordoned off in 1839 for the Fort Snelling Military Reserve. Deciding that an "era of good feeling" was at an end, the Major slapped a ruler across a map of what is now the Twin Cities, and carved out the area he would command.
Previous Fort Snelling commandants had encouraged French Canadians, mixed bloods, and various refugees to make their homes there, where I make mine today. But in 1839, they suddenly had to vacate onto nearby land recently promised by treaty to the Mdewakantons.
Plympton cited military necessity, but he and his fellow officers and the Fort's physician had all heavily invested in land claims within the boundaries of the new reserve.
Apparently, they failed to anticipate that economic activity would halt as soon as the area was cordoned off, so that the nearest point on the Mississippi River outside their reserve would become St. Paul — the new State Capitol and regional center of trade.
And then, my Hunan shrimp and egg rolls were ready.
I had just finished reading Mary Lethert Wingerd's book, North Country: The Making of Minnesota.
I'd postponed reading it for a long time, partly because it's 3 lbs 9 oz — like a Webster's Collegiate Dictionary — and it actually hurt a little to hold and read. I think those months of handling the thing softened its edges enough for me to finally take it up.
But then, reading it was never in doubt. Wingerd's only previous book was one of the best reading decisions of my life.
Claiming the City: Politics, Faith, and the Power of Place in St. Paul was a history of St. Paul's civic identity. That is, it traced who the people of St. Paul saw themselves as being and how their identity evolved over time, shaped by economic, ethnic, and religious power.
After Claiming the City, the place I'd lived for 20 years seemed newer to me than the day I first arrived. And the older the structures, the newer they seemed.
You can't imagine the impact the book had on my Victoria Theater efforts and, especially, on my understanding of "Moonshiner's Dance."
Apparently, I wasn't alone. North Country was commissioned to mark the state's 150th birthday with A Big Serious History of Minnesota. Such a tome hadn't been written in over 40 years.
Given this grand opportunity to make a lasting mark, Wingerd chose the kind of modest approach that makes for good history.
North Country asks how the State of Minnesota emerged out of the vast woodlands and prairies of the Dakota people. To find answers, Wingerd focuses intently on the Native American-European encounter. Minnesota was the product of a series of evolving interactions.
In Wingerd's telling, the particulars of those interactions dissolve any sense of inevitability in their outcome.
For example, the book traces the rise and fall of Minnesota's border cultures, such as the Metis, who occupied a genetic and economic space between Native Americans and the French fur traders. Such cultures flourished across North America for a little while, but Minnesota's formed very early and persisted very late, evolving into an important force in the state's making.
I was pretty struck by the Metis, who appear at first glance like some sort of forgotten 1700's steampunk enclave, especially in light of Kirsten Delegard's masterfully compiled and annotated illustrations.
Ultimately, the (real) Metis emerge as one of Minnesota's many roads not taken — once-viable alternatives to either the domination of Minnestoa's Native population by Europeans, or the preservation of some timeless prehistoric idyll.
This is a recurring theme of the book — the abandoned options for a Euro-Native encounter that could have benefitted everybody more than it did, including the supposed victors.
The book culminates with Minnesota's war between the Dakotas and US forces, and the state's subsequent genocidal reaction. By then, this lack of inevitability, those roads not taken, are a profound and agonizing subtext. "Cataclysm on the Minnesota" is the chapter title.
I've always been vaguely aware that various place-names in the city of Minneapolis came from Longfellow's romantic poem Hiawatha. They're printed on that map in my Chinese take-out restaurant.
But in North Country's epilogue, the meanings of these place-names, and of the places themselves, telescope enormously.
I'd never quite appreciated that Minneapolis had used "a literary cult that attracted followers from all reaches of the globe" to help construct a new historical identity for the state.
The epilogue — "Pasts Remembered, Pasts Forgotten" — treats memory and amnesia about Minnesota's past as active projects undertaken in the service of specific goals.
I worry about potential readers assuming North Country is a depressing litany of genocidal crimes. On so many levels, it is another project entirely, likely to enliven your relationship with your immediate environment, as it has mine.
Mostly, I'm grateful for its becoming, maybe inadvertently, the final event in its own story of forgetting and remembering, and of the common good abandoned and reclaimed.


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Repairs to council property
Fife Council is responsible for keeping the structure and outside of your home in good repair and for most of the major repairs. See separate document for Council and Tenant responsibility.
Reporting repairs
You must report any damage to your home or any repairs required as soon as possible.
Information required from tenants:
- your name, address and contact telephone number
- access details or arrangement to pick up keys
- as much detail as possible on the type of repair/damage
- how the damage occurred
What caused the damage?
Where the need for repairs or replacement arises as a result of damage caused by misuse or neglect by yourself (the tenant), people living with you or visitors to your home – then you will be responsible for the cost of any repairs if you wish to have the work carried out by Fife Council. You will be advised of the estimated cost when you report the repair.
You will also be given the choice to arrange to have the work carried out privately by a suitable qualified tradesman or contractor, and pay them yourself. If you choose to do this, the completed job must be inspected by a Housing Maintenance Officer to ensure it has been carried out satisfactorily.
You will not be charged for work caused by vandalism (not caused by persons mentioned earlier) provided you have reported the incident to the Police and can give a crime report number to Local Services or the Contact Centre.
You will not be recharged for any item which needs repaired or renewed through wear and tear.
What happens next?
Depending on the type of repair required, a Housing Maintenance Officer may be requested to inspect the damage. The HMO may also take photographic evidence for reference should the recharge be disputed later on. Once a repair is identified as being your responsibility, we will send you our standard recharge letter which will detail the repair required and the estimated cost. There will be an administration fee of £10.00 added to the cost of the recharged work and the total will be subject to VAT. You will be asked to sign the acknowledgement slip as acceptance of the responsibility of the recharge and to send it back to us. If the repair is not of an emergency nature, we will wait until you return the signed authorisation before issuing an order for the work.
If you wish to appeal against the recharge or the cost, you can contact the person who issued the letter. They will then pass your appeal to their line manager and then the Housing Officer (Repairs Support) for consideration. You will be advised of their decision in writing.
The cost advised initially may change before an invoice is issued depending on the work or materials required to complete the repair. When the job is complete we will raise a Debtors Account in your name and arrange to have an invoice sent out to you. If you cannot pay the amount in full, you can make an arrangement to pay by instalments.
Again, if you wish to appeal against the recharge or the cost, you can contact the person who issued the letter. They will then pass your appeal to their line manager and to the Housing Officer (Repairs Support) for consideration. You will be advised of their decision in writing.
Do you have house insurance?
Tenants are strongly advised to take out adequate insurance to cover fire, water and other accidental damage to house contents, and to ensure that the value of insurance cover is maintained at a realistic level. Fife Council offers tenants the opportunity to insure their home contents against fire, theft and flooding, with a low cost insurance scheme. Application forms are available at your Local Services Centre.
Care of Communal areas
The responsibility for repairs to council owned houses and common areas is shared between the Council and the tenants.
What are you responsible for?
You and the other residents should keep the following clean and tidy:
- Shared stairwells
- Shared garden
If you fail to take your turn in cleaning the stairs, your Local Services Advisor may set up a rota for your block. If you still do not do your share of the cleaning we can arrange to have the work done and charge you for it. This will not apply if you are charged a service fee in your rent.
If you share a garden with others you must make sure that it doesn't become overgrown. You are not allowed to remove, chop down or destroy any trees, bushes or hedging without our permission.
Items which should not be stored by you
Due to health and safety reasons you are not permitted to store any of the following in any outhouse, shed, garage or in a communal area:
- Bottled gas
- Paraffin heaters
- Petrol
- Flammable/explosive materials
If you know of anyone who is doing this, please notify your Local Services Advisor at your Local Services Centre.
What responsibility does an owner-occupier have?
Owners and private tenants have the same responsibilities as our tenants, it is in their interest to take their share in keeping the common areas clean and tidy.
Who can help?
If you wish to know more about care of communal areas, you should get in touch with your Local Services Centre.
For advice on repair and maintenance issues concerning owners or private tenants contact:
- Mutual Owners Team 01592 583510
What we are responsible for?
As the landlord we are responsible for repairing and maintaining all communal areas. This will include fencing, main front doors, stairways, door entry systems, stairwell electrics, lifts etc.. However if any damage has been caused by tenants or residents, or their household or visitors, the above recharge process would be used.
Repairs - Temporary Accommodation
Where possible we will carry out improvement works and major repairs whilst the tenant remains in their home.
However, there will be certain situations such as when the health and safety of the tenant would be at risk or there are extensive works which cannot be carried out with the tenant in the property. Where this is the situation for major repair or improvement works we will arrange to move the resident to a suitable decant property. This will be on a temporary basis and tenants will return to their permanent tenancy when works are complete.
Faults and Repairs
Tel: 03451 55 00 11 Contact Faults and Repairs online


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Support the Glass Message Board by finding a book via book-seek.com
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Thanks Kevh.I will get to work and post when decent. Again thank you.Jemimamoon
Unlike some people I feel these sort of weights, which I think are often considered 'beneath' the attention of 'real' collectors, are well worth collecting, purely for aesthetic reasons.
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All of this is taking place as the category is showing signs of life and price pressure and price erosion may be ebbing. US sales of household cleaners in food, drug, mass market, rose a little more than 2% to nearly $3.2 billion for the 52 weeks ended Jan. 27, 2013, according to SymphonyIRI, Chicago.
Meanwhile, unit sales declined 1.6% to little more than 1 billion, as the average price per unit rose $.11 to $3.01 (see chart). At the same time, raw material prices have flattened and may even decline a bit in the second half of 2013, according to industry observers. That's all good stuff for marketers who have been squeezed by rising raw material prices and retailers intent to hold the line on price increases.
While the overall picture has improved in the household cleaning space during the past year, clearly some categories have performed better than others. For example, sales within the long-suffering specialty cleaner/polish segment jumped 17.90%, as marketers promoted the ease-of-use of their formulas. That same easy-to-use benefit provided a lift for the oven/appliance degreaser segment as sales rose more than 12%.
Now SC Johnson, a segment leader, is hoping to provide the same lift to other categories with the recent introduction of Windex Touch Up Cleaner.
"People are very passionate about cleaning, but the way they clean today has evolved and we've introduced brand innovations along the way. Our research consistently shows that our Windex users want three main things: value, convenience and efficacy," said Kelley Semrau, senior VP-global corporate affairs, communication and sustainability.
Time-Strapped Cleaners
According to Semrau, SC Johnson recently did a deep dive into the "convenience" attribute and discovered a real opportunity to deliver a new user experience around quick cleaning solutions, especially in bathrooms and kitchens. The result: Windex Touch-Up Cleaners, which are available in a fresh scent bathroom variant and a kitchen variant in a citrus scent.
"Windex Touch-Up Cleaner is a new way to quickly clean those frequent little messes to help prevent them from becoming bigger chores," she explained.
Social scientists are quick to point out that today's on-the-go family has little time for mealtime let alone time to clean up after that quiche. But quick cleanups save time and help make weekly cleaning more manageable. That's why Windex Touch-Up Cleaner is meant to stay out on the counter or wherever you need it, so cleanups can naturally become part of a consumer's daily routine without slowing her down, according to SC Johnson, which maintains that Windex Touch-Up Cleaner is a revolutionary, new way to clean. It is the only product of its kind, specifically designed to stay out where you need it, so you can clean life's everyday messes when you need it. Not only does it conveniently clean and shine, it also kills 99.9% of common household bacteria, and works on a variety of hard surfaces, according to SC Johnson.
Windex Touch-Up Cleaner, available in kitchen and bathroom variants, is intended for all those quick cleanups around the home.
Clorox knows a thing or two about bacterial killing—after all, that's the hallmark of bleach, the company's flagship product. CEO Don Knauss recently told analysts that stopping the spread of infection is one of the megatrends shaping his company. Other trends include value and green products as well as the growing strength of the Hispanic consumer.
Stopping the spread of infection drove Clorox bleach sales during the recently concluded flu season, which proved to be unusually bad, as the flu vaccine proved to be ineffective.
"We called it 'give your home a flu shot,'" explained Knauss. "All wipes, cleaners and bleaches were co-merchandised and category sales rose 7% through January. Category sales are strong and accelerating."
The company hopes to keep that momentum going as the rollout of compact versions of Clorox bleach was completed in March. Where the compact version was already available, Clorox reported a 10-point improvement in sales. But there are other benefits to compaction. Clorox can get 23% more units on shelf, which boosts margin by 300-500 basis points. Moreover, Clorox hasn't lost any shelf space due to its compaction, according to Knauss.
Delighting Consumers
Best of all, compact Clorox is attracting new users to the category as consumers under the age of 35 are giving bleach a try for the first time, according to the company's data. Clorox is finding new avenues of growth, too. Thanks to the acquisition of HealthLink in January 2012, the company is placing more Clorox products in doctor and dentist offices around the country.
To improve the value proposition everywhere, Clorox recently unveiled its "smart tube" technology for its Formula 409 all-purpose cleaner, Clorox Clean-Up and Tilex Mold & Mildew cleaner. The built-in tube gets all the way to the bottom of the bottle to dispense all of the cleaning formula. The improvement enabled Clorox to get a 5% premium for products that utilize the smart tube technology.
The smart tube is the latest in Clorox's bid to win via its "Desire. Decide. Delight." Strategy; i.e., getting consumers to choose Clorox products over a competitors 60% of the time, which is a demonstrable win, according to Knauss.
"Five and a half years ago, 15-20% of our products had that demonstrable win. Now 50% of our products win," said Knauss. "We are growing share because we are delighting the consumer. That's how we're getting market share in a tough environment with premium products."
Another megatrend that's impacting Clorox's business is green products. The company was one of the first mainstream household care companies to jump into the green segment when it launched Green Works. The timing could have been better, as the introduction coincided with The Great Recession. But now Green Works is gathering steam.
"As the economy improves, we are seeing more robustness in the green category," explained Knauss.
Method's Acting
The folks at Method would certainly agree with that assessment. According to the company's estimates while green represents just 3% of the $7.5 billion (retail) household cleaning market, sales of green products are growing 5-6% a year. More impressive, Method's sales are growing more than 20% a year, according to Michelle Arnau, general manager, Method.
Method expanded its hard surface cleaner range to tackle a variety of surfaces such as granite.
Method has expanded its agreement with designer Orla Kiely
to include all-purpose cleaner.
"It has to work. If it doesn't, you won't get repeat business," observed Arnau. "Then, we go a step further and promise an experience through our fragrance, our packaging and our nontoxic ingredients. Moms and pet owners really connect with our brands because we promise happy, healthy homes."
Ideas such as pumps for laundry and dish detergents that enable moms to use just one hand to dispense products endear customers to the Method brand. Similarly, Method's spray fabric softener format lets users throw away the dryer sheet and reach for the trigger sprayer instead. Four shots on a laundry load and its good to go in the dryer and good for the environment too, since there's no sheet to throw out, according Arnau.
More recently, in October, Method introduced Smarty Dish Plus a 3in1 monodose dish detergent that works exceptionally well in hard water. Smarty Dish Plus debuted in Target before rolling out elsewhere in January. Now, Method is supporting the brand with a sampling program with Target.
"People are always skeptical that a natural product will work. We've shown them that Smarty Dish Plus works as well as Cascade Complete," insisted Arnau. "My mantra is cleaning without compromise."
Last month, Method teamed up again with Orla Kiely to roll out products packaged in containers with the fashion designer's touch. Four new patterns will be available for a limited time in hand wash, dish soap and all-purpose cleaner. Scents include tomato vine, white nectarine, honeysuckle and cloudburst in Kiely's oval spot, wallflower, multiflower spot and square flower patterns, respectively.
"Dish detergent is one of the first green products that people try. It's an obvious connection," noted Arnau. "Then they move on to the bathroom where efficacy is a bigger challenge and skepticism (about great products) remains."
Method was one of the first to roll out a natural antibacterial cleaner, based on thymol, in 2010. In 2011, the company reworked the formula, switching out the thymol-based technology in favor of a citric acid-based disinfecting formula for kitchen and bath.
"Thyme is an effective ingredient, but the fragrance is challenging; it is very strong for some consumers," said Arnau.
Method has rolled out an array of successful products, but Arnau said better environmentally-friendly technology is necessary to introduce effective drain cleaners and aerosol-alternatives.
Effective Cleaners for Generations to Come
The folks at Seventh Generation, however, beg to disagree. The company has created a solid franchise that's built on biobased ingredients and company executives say the technology keeps getting better and better. So much so, that they are confident all formulation hurdles will be cleared.
"There are no challenges that we can't overcome," noted Nicholas Guastaferro, director of marketing, Seventh Generation. "There are challenges that we are still trying to crack, but we know there are solutions."
Seventh Generation, in fact, recently developed a model that looks at the company's portfolio 3-5 years out and Guastaferro insisted that technology already exists makes these products feasible.
"The time to market might be longer," he told Happi. "But Tim Fowler (VP-R&D) and his team are leading us with bio-based ingredients."
The Seventh Generation team is working to drive water out of its formulations. No specific moves have been made, but obviously refills and concentrates will both play key roles in a program that Guastaferro maintains takes a consumer-centric approach.
Similarly, Seventh Generation is expanding its business by supporting its base home and laundry care business then looking to adjacent categories to see where opportunities lie. For example, Seventh Generation expanded its home cleaning offerings last year by introducing cleaners for granite, stainless steel and wood surfaces, noted Brendan Taylor, senior brand manager. Most recently, Seventh Generation added a lemon-scented variant to its dish detergent line and larger SKUs will debut later this year.
Guastaferro maintained that the company's best opportunities for growth come from optimizing the existing products offered and then exploring adjacent categories that make the most sense from a consumer standpoint. He insisted that the green market has yet to reach its full potential because barriers to green still remain. For example, some consumers still believe that conventional products work better than green cleaners. But over the past five years, Seventh Generation has reformulated its line so that they are as good or better than conventional products, according to Taylor.
"Fowler had us look at all the products in our line to make sure that we were meeting consumer expectations."
Seventh Generation has been in business for 25 years; during that time the company has learned more about the efficacy of plant-derived materials as well as what the consumer wants.
"We maintained a growth trajectory during the recession," said Guastaferro. "Now we are experiencing more growth by focusing on our base products and expanding into adjacent categories."
Those efforts are paying off. For example, Seventh Generation's dish liquid is the best-selling SKU at Target. More recently, the company introduced an entire line of organic products in Whole Foods, including a liquid dish soap.
Seventh Generation executives maintain that the green category still has room to run, insisting that more consumers are starting to understand that their homes' indoor air quality can be impacted by the products they use to clean.
"The only thing that is stopping momentum in the category is poor performance," said Guastaferro. "We see conventional players launching subpar products or they're not being transparent. That incriminates the entire category."
Regardless of what its competitors say, Clorox's CEO said his company is leveraging the robustness within the green category. Overall, Clorox's green business is growing 10% a year, according to Knauss.
Looking Elsewhere
That's good, but only half of the 20% gain that Clorox is seeing from its international business. "We focus on midsize countries, just like we focus on midsize product categories," explained Knauss.
In recent years, Clorox has expanded international distribution from 5 to 30 countries, with an emphasis on Latin America, a region with a "well-developed bleach habit," according to Knauss.
In Latin America, 70% of bleach is used for cleaning applications and just 30% is used in laundry. That's nearly an exact opposite of the market breakdown in the US. To improve its business in Latin America, Clorox is implementing SAP in 12 countries.
In 2014, Clorox will celebrate its 100th anniversary. To make sure the company is around for years to come, executives will unveil its 2020 strategy in October.
Following its acquisition by Ecover in 2012, Method has more resources and the ability to expand globally too.
"Ecover is a leader in sustainable manufacturing, especially within the supply chain," said Arnau.
Global coverage is complementary as well, as Ecover is a player in Europe and Method's business is US-based.
Arnau said the takeover feels more like a marriage than an acquisition.
"We have independence and remain a maverick in the categories we compete," she said. "Ecover is a lot like us, but can take us to the next level. We want to be the world's largest cleaning company."
New from RB
Lysol's been around for more than 100 years. The brand equity is so strong, in fact, that it's expanding into foaming hand cleaner after entering the hand soap category in 2010. New Lysol Touch of Foam hand soap provides 10 times more protection against germs than the leading national competitor, while "moisturizer-enriched micro-bubbles" leave hands feeling soft and comfortable, according to Reckitt Benckiser executives.
New Lysol Touch of Foam
In this case, Lysol Touch of Foam promises to get hands germ free without drying them out. Lysol Touch of Foam is available in three fragrance variants: Creamy Vanilla Orchid, Rose & Cherry in Bloom and Wild Berry Bliss. The 8.5oz pump retails for $2.99-3.49, and the 25oz refill retails for $4.77-5.19.
To get the word out about Lysol Touch of Foam, RB has embarked on a 360° campaign that includes TV and print ads as well as tie-ins with designer Cynthia Rowley to develop new Lysol packaging, a mobile campaign traveling throughout the South, Midwest and East Coast portions of the US, and an indepth campaign in Walmart nail salons, where the Lysol Touch of Foam logo appears on mani and pedi mats. Finally, RB is reaching out to 5000 bloggers to promote Touch of Foam.
"Social media is important and bloggers are a very important component," explained Rizzo. "They get people talking about the product and they are a very credible source of information. We're trying to get consumers to try the product via some non-standard methods."
Issues with Impact
Formulators and suppliers have stepped up their game when it comes to innovation. However, regulators and non-government organizations have stepped up their activities as well.
Chris Cathcart, president, CSPA.
According to CSPA president Chris Cathcart, the association's top issues include air quality, ingredient disclosure, chemical management issues, green chemistry and reform of the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA).
"Air quality issues continue to be one of our highest priorities with a great deal of emphasis on ozone nonattainment in California and in various other states," said Cathcart.
CSPA will continue to negotiate new VOC regulations for consumer products in various states, including California's 2013 Amendments and a new Utah regulation, and will also be engaged this year in scientific research on low vapor pressure (LVP) compounds with California Air Resources Board and the update to the California State Implementation Plan. Other key initiatives will include working with retailers on VOC compliance assurance, and joining with Ozone Transport Commission states to recommend updates to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control's National Consumer Products Regulation, according to Cathcart.
In the area of ingredient disclosure, CSPA initiated a voluntary ingredient disclosure program, Consumer Product Ingredient Communica- tions Initiative, to further promote transparency of the industry and align with the EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) program. In addition, CSPA has published the second edition of the Consumer Product Ingredients Dictionary, which continues to serve as a leading tool to standardize and define ingredient nomenclature for companies engaged in the industry's voluntary program, according to Cathcart.
The patchwork of state laws as it relates to chemical policy is creating significant concerns with CSPA members, particularly in the areas of chemical management, green chemistry and TSCA.
"It is extremely difficult to formulate and market consumer products that are different for individual states," said Cathcart. "We believe the trend will continue at the state level and even likely move to the local units of government until TSCA is modernized. CSPA supports a federal model that all of the states can follow."
On chemical management issues, CSPA continues to monitor EPA's significant new use rules on chemicals that have emphasized the lack of information on how and if a chemical is used in consumer products, according to Cathcart.
"While this activity has not directly impacted our members, we recognize the potential implications," he told Happi.
Regarding green chemistry, Cathcart said CSPA supports the innovative goals of green chemistry; however, imposing a patchwork of state laws under the guise of green chemistry (or "safer chemicals") will have the opposite effect. He said the California Safer Consumer Products Regulation is a critical focus of CSPA, along with Washington State efforts on Alternatives Assessments.
Finally, on behalf of its members, Cathcart said the Association has played an active and constructive role in the TSCA modernization process to ensure that the revised statute—or current regulation at the EPA—strikes a balance between the need for chemical management oversight and the need to protect the ability of the consumer products industry to innovate and commercialize consumer products and protect proprietary information.
"We will continue to engage on TSCA as opportunities present themselves to work with the EPA, Democrats, Republicans, our industry colleagues and partners in the NGO community," Cathcart asserted.
The Evolving Marketplace
Despite all the challenges, the $80 billion dollar consumer specialty products industry remains strong and CSPA remains strong with it, said Cathcart.
"CSPA added 25 new companies last year, and we continue to see new members joining our organization. We also have a 97% retention rate. The industry is healthy and growing."
The Association will update its membership next month at the 2013 CSPA Midyear Meeting, May 7-10 in Chicago. To register, visit www.cspa.org. This year's theme is "The Evolving Marketplace," and features a keynote presentation by economist Steven D. Levitt, co-author of "Freakonomics" and "Superfreakonomics." The meeting will include division sessions as well as InnoVention 2013, the two-day B2B event for the household and institutional products industry.
Prior to the Midyear meeting, on May 6, CSPA's Cleaning Products division will conduct a cleaning products intermediates seminar. The full day course, led by industry experts, provides participants with a deeper understanding of ingredient selection and the issues related to the optimal development of sustainable cleaning products, according to CSPA.


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From the wonderful website Origini dei Cognomi Italiani :
Chiricosta/Ciricosta - Chiricosta seems specific Ardore (RC) and the nearby Sant `Ilario Ionian Ciricosta is typical of Melicucco Rosamond and always in Reggio.
*Assumptions provided by Alexis Bruno Bedini
Surname exclusively in the area Locri (RC) - Gerace (RC) with a high incidence in the city of Ardore (RC).
The data in my possession is a noble family originally from Locri (RC). Etymologically speaking in the dialect Reggio "Chirico" is the top of something.
*Assumptions provided by Stefano Ferrazzi
The origin of surnames and Chiricosta Ciricosta in fact be found in the Greek dialects of the south, where the expression Chiri / CIRI Costa (from the greek kyrie Costas) literally means Mr. Costa (as in surnames such Serantoni, Sergianni, Sernicola, etc.): French, in fact, is a greek name of tradition and beyond Greece itself (which is still in use as a personal name), it seems that at one time enjoyed a reputation in our country ( for more explanation on the name, see French surname).
As for names in question, then, is the cognominizzazioni personal names of the founders.
And for a list of Chiricosta Births from Ardore please visit The Calabria Exchange - Ardore


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|"I had a good time. Fausto was a great teacher in the morning and Pat in the afternoon.
|"The teachers at inlingua Malta are very helpful. The way they present their lessons is creative and lets the student participate" – Gleb Tegin – Russia
|"I keep improving after every lesson and the school environment is very welcoming and comfortable." – Daria Kaudaurova – Russia
|"It was the best decision for me to come to Malta. I had a good educational experience during my stay. My teachers helped me a lot to improve my English knowledge" – Makki Mo – Libya
|"learning English with inlingua is fun because you make new friends and can practice your English with many students" – Agnese Ceccarelli – Italy
|"Teachers treat you very nicely and help you develop yourself every step of the way" – George Dobez – Czech Republic
|"With the inlingua learning process I learned a lot within three weeks and our teacher is incredible" – Mohammed Shligh – Libya
|"I really love your school. It helped me a lot in English. This year I got mark 14 (= 1= A) in English at my school report! I thank you a lot!! (Now there are some steps less to my good maturity.) I really look forward seeing you maybe next year or the year after. Special greets to Maria and Pat! Yours Anna" – Anna-Maria Kehrer – Germany
|"The best place to study English and maybe to win a lottery :)"- Francesco Carabelli – Italy
|"I sat for the Cambridge CPE course in December 2013 and passed right away. 🙂 I highly recommend the school to anybody who wishes to learn English in a professional and fun way. Thanks inlingua!"- Linus Finck – Germany
|"It was a very interesting and useful course for me. I learned a lot of important vocabulary and had the opportunity to practice my speaking with very nice teachers!" – Polina Bortsova – Russia
|"It was really usefull to improve my English. There are small groups and high interaction between teacher and students"
– David Bordes Ortola – Spain
|"I think the best English school in Malta – «inlingua»! I was at this school 2 times (Winter Vacation – 2 weeks; Summer Vacation – 2 weeks). In that short time spent at the school, I learned a lot and met interesting people! It was a very great and rewarding experience for me. I've had a lot of practice English! I loved the lessons at school – we were talking, doing exercises, and more. All the teachers are very good and if you do not understand something, they are always ready to explain everything to you! I recommend this school to everyone! I love you, inlingua!"- Valeriya Deytseva – Russia
|"The language course are good and the teachers are very nice people. The most thing I like about inlingua Malta is the people in inlingua are friendly and nice"- Ali Hasen Eljunaedi – Libya
|"I raised my level of English by speaking about different topics with my teacher. There are several factors I like about inlingua Malta: possibilities to chose lessons for all members of family, location, school's brend"- Alla Delis – Russia


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Retire Here, Not There: California «
For the more than 36 million Americans who will turn 65 in the coming decade, the best cities and towns for retirement now have a much higher bar to clear. They can't just be great places to live—they also have to offer great value. In our "Retire Here, Not There" series, we survey every state to find less-expensive alternatives to the best-known retirement destinations.
On a postcard, California looks like the perfect retirement destination. On paper, the picture is a little more cloudy. With a cost of living that's more than a third higher than the national average, superhigh unemployment in many areas, and the country's sixth-highest tax burden, the Golden State may be out of reach for many seniors, say financial advisers. Take Santa Barbara, one of the state's most popular hot-spots for seniors. While residents take pride in the city's Spanish adobe architecture, arts scene and many boutiques—all within a short drive to one of the fasting-growing wine regions in America—they also pay for the pleasure. Living costs are more than twice as high as the national average, while the median home costs roughly $700,000, compared with about $200,000 for the average U.S. home.
But retirement experts point out that there are other retirement-friendly gems in California that offer lower prices—and, perhaps more important for people who want to live in a thriving community, they also have peppy economies. The four hot spots below boast a lower cost of living and cheaper housing than the California norm. They also have plenty of perks for older people, including dynamic scenery, some of the world's best golf courses and a number of cultural attractions. And while these places are still pricier than some other parts of the country, California doesn't tax Social Security payments, says Glenda K. Moehlenpah, an adviser at San Diego-based Financial Bridges: those savings can at least partially offset some of the higher costs of living.


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The Little Sisters Fund Benefit
Thursday, May 4, 2006, 7-10 PM at the Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, New York City-- The Little Sisters Fund Benefit, a special event to raise funds for the Little Sisters Fund, an educational scholarship fund for at risk South Asian girls. The evenings event raised nearly $40,000. HOSTED BY JANE GRIFFIN & TREVOR PATZER. BENEFIT COMMITTEE: Timothy Armenta, Anne Ziegler, Jane Griffin, Ashley Wick, John Griffin, Gilda Carrillo, Ashley Herman, Kathryn Forest, Benjamine Parent, Katherine Armenta, Alex Scarsini, Cynthia Jamieson, Jennifer McDonald, Sebastian Stubbe, Ludovic Hood, Alisa Newman Hood, Douglas Wurtz, Michael Larocca, Elizabeth Meigher (Quest Publishing), Kevin Wilson, Tatiana Papanicolaou, Harrison Lefrak, Chandler Willett, Mukang Cho, Patrick Sloane, Alexandra Wilkis, Lindley and John Pless Tickets: $150 Patron Ticket, includes 7 PM Private Champagne reception sponsored by Veuve Clicquot | $75 Junior Ticket, cocktails and music, reception 8-10 PM To learn more about the organization, keep posted about future fundraisers and make donations vist the web site at: http://littlesistersfund.org/ PHOTO CREDIT: ©Manhattan Society.com 2006 by Christopher LondonRead More


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The Making of Music (Part 5)
I emerged from 1,000 years of music tired but exhilarated. Burrowing around in its history, I was reminded how ludicrous it is to suggest that the classical traditional is petering out. Someone who doesn't like Birtwistle, say, or John Adams will listen for a moment and cry 'It's over', with the kind of scream that Brian Sewell lets loose when he confronts vulgarity on canvas, as he does frequently.
Why should we believe that in our time, uniquely, the urge that has shaped music in Europe for centuries will dry up; or that original musicians, with a compulsion to write, will stop being born? It doesn't make sense: Adams is one of the best-selling classical musicians of our time in the world; Birtwistle is in danger of becoming a national institution; and Peter Maxwell Davies, once shocking, is now Master of the Queen's Music.
For everyone who has a hang-up about the shadow of Schoenberg or post-war modernists, there are listeners for the best of contemporary music, most of them young. The effect of the growing-up of rock in the 1970s was to produce a generation with sensitive ears. They like experiment, and they like bravery. And the links across the tradition are secure.
When Steve Reich explored minimalism in the '70s he went back to Pérotin, the greatest of the 12th century Notre Dame composers. The night Georg Solti died a producer on the Today programme asked how we should sum him up. I said that he was taught to play the piano by Bartók, taught to conduct by Toscanini and conducted the music at Richard Strauss's funeral. From there it's a short step to Wagner and Beethoven.
Moreover, the discoveries go on. I'm reminded, having written 60 programmes and a book, how past riches are always being revealed to new audiences (as you read this someone will be hearing a Bach cantata for the first time) and history tells us that the urge to write, to strive for originality, has shaped our culture. It won't stop now, because it can't.
The Making of Music was broadcast on Radio 4 and is now available as a BBC Audiobook
Audio clip: The Making of Music – Where We Are Now
Related links:
The Making of Music (Part 1)
The Making of Music (Part 2)
The Making of Music (Part 3)
The Making of Music (Part 4)
- Article Type: | Article |
- Article Category: | World of Music |


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This week's Tuesdays With Dorie assignment, the Parisian Apple Tartlet, has got to be the fastest and easiest recipe in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook, Baking From My Home to Yours. It takes no longer than 5 minutes to assemble, and in about half an hour, there's dessert! If you do what I did, make 4 tarts with different types of fruit, then you add about another 5 minutes to the assembly time. And that's it! Perfect for me this week, as I am extra-busy, and this recipe fit right into my crazy day on Sunday.
And to match the short recipe, this post will be uncharacteristically brief. You can all breathe a sigh of relief!
n.o.e.'s notes:
- Dorie's recipe calls for store-bought all-butter puff pastry. I located a 1 lb box at Trader Joe's. From reading this week's P&Q I gathered that having a strikingly easy assignment wasn't as welcome to some of my fellow bakers as it was to me; there was lots of discussion about making puff pastry at home rather than reaching for a handy box of Trader Joe's, or Dufour, or even good old Pepperidge Farm. I'm very impressed with their energy, and no doubt I'll be even more impressed with their pastry! Someday I may try making my own, but for this week I was grateful to open a box and be done with it.
- I cut my tartlet circles using my little tartlet molds, which are just under 4".
- I peeled the apple and the peach but left the skin on the plum.
- My tarts were pretty juicy, especially the plum one ,which ran all over the baking sheet. They were a tiny bit soggy on the bottom, so in the future I might not use the silicone or the double cookie sheets (I keep my cushion-aire baking sheet in the oven and just put everything I bake on it). And maybe do something about that juicy fruit!
- A few minutes before the end of baking I sprinkled some more brown sugar on the tarts, so they'd be pretty.
the verdict:
These tarts were good, and I'll have to say, they have a special place in my heart because of how easy they are!
We thought that we would like the peach ones the best (which is why I made two of them) and we did enjoy them. What's not to like about ripe peaches and warm pastry? But we liked the other fruits even more. My husband preferred the apple. I could not get him to taste the plum - he claimed that he was too full! What? When has that ever stopped dessert at our house? Anyway, I loved the plum. This particular plum was quite tart, which was a nice contrast to the rich and refined pastry. I think that I'll sprinkle on some cinnamon along with the brown sugar next time I bake these.
As I was eating my tart(s) I was trying to figure how how to evaluate the recipe. It was quite delicious, but certainly not in the same league as the French Pear Tart or the Tartest Lemon Tart. But the sheer simplicity of the recipe (well, for those of us who used the boxed puff pastry, that is!) helps these tarts to cut closer to the front of the line. I was reminded of the blog Effort to Deliciousness, where Margot evaluates recipes based on a combination of effort and, well, deliciousness. While I can't replicate Margot's scientific approach, I can say that this recipe delivers - both in taste and appearance - far beyond the 5 minutes it takes to throw it in the oven.
Thanks to Jessica of My Baking Heart for picking this delicious dessert for us this week.
Here's a little sneak peek at the TWD recipe for two weeks from now...!