text:
First some light purple in his head for a few highlights. Male goldeneye are black and white, but their feathers have an iridescent quality in the light.
The reflection of the duck in the water needs to be slightly off-color and value from the actual critter, so I tackled that with a brownish color.
A little bit more carving, and then the black.
Here's a close-up of the duck.
But there's a dilemma. Now that the duck is finished, the piece just doesn't seem to have the WOW factor that I saw in my head. It's a nice print, but does it make you go "ooooooh"?
My initial idea was to celebrate the abstract quality of the water reflection. The on-the-fly decision to add the woodgrain was exciting, but I don't know if it confused the concept.
The good news is that both blocks are still largely intact. I could potentially put one more darkish color in the reflection and see if that brings little more oomph to the image. I think there are 18 good prints to work with, so I could spare a couple as experiments.
I think it was Leonardo da Vinci who said "Art is never finished, only abandoned." For now I'll just sit with this piece for a couple of days and see if satisfaction grows.
In the meantime... yeah. I started another one.
|Embiggenable version, if you'd like to contemplate solutions with me.
Or maybe you like it just the way it is....


text:
In recent months I have been asked to ensure we are auditing both successful and failed logins, not just failed logins. It is simple enough to open SSMS, connect to the instance, right click on the server, chose properties, click on security and then check the proper radio button. When putting together or most recent updates to our server installation guide I decided to spend the few minutes to research how to make this change with few steps.
In my case I need this to be both failed and successful logins. I will execute the following code within SSMS.
EXEC xp_instance_regwriteN'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE', N'Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer',N'AuditLevel', REG_DWORD, 3
Notice I am updating the registry and setting the AuditLevel to a 3. What are the other options?
None = 0
Successful Logins Only = 1
Failed Logins Only = 2
Both Failed and Successful Logins = 3
Here is a visual as well.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I've often been accused of being an "old soul". I shouldn't even say "accused", I suppose, because I embrace the title.
I enjoy things from simpler times. From music, to art, to lifestyle, I enjoy simply and "tried and true". I'm a traditionalist, too often steeped in a sense of nostalgia.
Of course, this trait comes out quite often in cooking or baking.
I'm drawn to old recipes. Simple ones. Thus, there is nothing more treasured in my recipe library than the recipes handed down from my Nana Virzi. She passed away a year or so after my wedding, but she lives on in these recipes.
There's a back story here, and a box of hundreds of recipes, but that story, it's not for today. Today, I would like to talk of cheesecake.
A couple of years back, I asked my Aunt Claudette to send me what she had of my grandmother's recipes. In the mail, I received photocopies. Recipes, written in my Nana's handwriting, and the letter that originally accompanied my aunt's request for the knowledge.
They're beautiful. I treasure them. Among the ones sent, was a recipe for Amaretto Cheesecake.
Thus, when I saw that this month's Bake Together (brought to us by the lovely Abby Dodge) was cheesecake, I knew I had to finally make this recipe. It's simple, unfussy, and I can envision my Nana serving it at a dinner party. It's a little taste of a time gone by.
Amaretto Cheesecake
Serves: 8-12
Inspired by: Abby Dodge's Vanilla Cheesecake and my Nana
Ricotta is added in this cheesecake, making it closer to ricotta pie than tradition cheesecake. It's wonderful, and don't forget to add a little more Amaretto if you like. I did.
- 1 1/2 cups coarse graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 stick of butter, melted
- 1 15oz. container of ricotta cheese
- 1 8oz. pkg of cream cheese, softended
- 4 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup Amaretto
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspon salt.
- Grease a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
- Combine crumbs and butter, press into the bottom and sides of the springform pan.
- Chill crust for at least an hour.
- While crust is chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Now, beat together ricotta and cream cheese until smooth.
- Add in remaining ingredients, beat until smooth again.
- Pour into the crust/pan.
- Bake 60 minutes or until full in middle.
- Cool 20-30 minutes in pan, then remove to cool on a wire rack.
- Cool completely (I like putting it the fridge) before serving.


text:
The Sony SNC-VM601 Indoor Vandal-Proof Mini Dome Network Camera delivers a wide range of features and a high level of performance with a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024, a frame rate of 60 fps, and improved sensitivity thanks to the Exmor CMOS sensor.
This camera features the IPELA ENGINE EX signal processing system that allows the camera to provide advanced features such as high frame rate and improved image processing with View-DR, XDNR, and DEPA Advanced. View-DR at 130 dB captures objects clearly, even under harsh lighting conditions, such as strong backlight or high-contrast conditions. XDNR (eXcellent Dynamic Noise Reduction) allows the camera to capture clear, low-noise images in low-light conditions. DEPA Advanced Intelligent Video and Audio Analytics triggers alarms according to user-defined rules. In-camera analytics are enhanced by additional features such as Face Detection, Left Object, and Removed Object Detection.
This camera offers high sensitivity with a minimum illumination of 0.05 lux in color mode and 0.04 lux in B/W mode. It can be powered by PoE (IEEE 802.3af-compliant), 24 VAC ±20%, or 12 VDC ±10% for easy installation.


text:
NESARA News
April 16, 2012
Now that we know the Federal Reserve is a privately owned, for-profit corporation, a natural question would be: who OWNS this company? Peter Kershaw provides the answer in "Economic Solutions" where he lists the ten primary shareholders in the Federal Reserve banking system.
1) The Rothschild Family – London
2) The Rothschild Family – Berlin
3) The Lazard Brothers – Paris
4) Israel Seiff – Italy
5) Kuhn-Loeb Company – Germany
6) The Warburgs – Amsterdam
7) The Warburgs – Hamburg
8 ) Lehman Brothers – New York
9) Goldman & Sachs – New York
10) The Rockefeller Family – New York
Now I don't know about you, but something is terribly wrong with this situation. Namely, don't we live in AMERICA? If so, why are seven of the top ten stockholders located in FOREIGN countries? That's 70%! To further convey how screwed-up this system is, Jim Marrs provides the following data in his phenomenal book, "Rule By Secrecy.
"He says that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which undeniably controls the other eleven Federal Reserve branches, is essentially controlled by two financial institutions:
1) Chase-Manhattan (controlled by the Rockefellers) – 6,389,445 shares – 32.3%
2) Citbank – 4,051,851 shares – 20.5%
Thus, these two entities control nearly 53% of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Doesn't that boggle your mind? Now, considering how many trillions of dollars are involved here, and how the bankers are WAY above our "selected" officials in Washington, D.C., do you think the above-listed banks and families have an inordinate amount of say-so in how our country is being run? The answer is blindingly apparent.
Where does the money come from?
We all know that the Federal Reserve CORPORATION prints money – then loans it, at interest, to our government. But wait until you see what a total scam this process is. But before we get to the meat of this issue, let's remember one thing about the very essence of banking – primarily that money should have some type of standard upon which its value is based. In the case of America, we operate on what is called a "gold standard" (i.e. our money is backed by gold).
So, with that in mind, let's look at how money is actually created, and at what cost. If the Federal Reserve wants to print 1,000 one-hundred ($100) bills, their total cost for ink, paper, plates, labor, etc. would be approximately $23.00 (according to Davvy Kidd in "Why A Bankrupt America"). Now, if you do the math, the total cost of 10,000 bills would be $230.00 ($.023 x 10,000). But, and here's the catch – 10,000 $100 bills equals $1,000,000! So, the Federal Reserve can "create" a million dollars, then LEND it to the U.S. Government (with interest) for a total cost of $230.
00! That's not a bad deal, huh!
The banking industry calls this process "seignorage." I call it outright THEFT. Why? Well, regardless of the immense profit margin ($1,000,000 for $230), plus the huge interest payments, our government then needs to STEAL the American people's money to payoff their debts via a Mob-like agency called the IRS. So the bankers steal from the government, then the government turns around and steals from the people. I'm no genius, but who do you think is getting screwed in this process? US – the people at the bottom rung of the ladder.
What's worse is that – now catch your breath – there's NO MORE gold left in Fort Knox! It's all gone. In other words, the GOLD STANDARD that our financial system was based upon is now an illusion. We can't convert our money into gold — only other currency. The entire underlying basis for our money is now a lie – a sham. The Federal Reserve has become so arrogant that they've become a literal MONEY MAKING MACHINE, creating currency out of thin air! So that's where the Fed gets their money – they literally make it, then lend it to us so they can make even MORE money off of it.
Money As A Religion
The above-detailed process has become so ridiculous that William Grieder, former assistant managing editor of the Washington Post, wrote a book in 1987 entitled, "Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country" that details how the Controllers have conditioned us to accept this absurd situation.
To modern minds," he writes, "it seemed bizarre to think of the Federal Reserve as a religious institution. Yet the conspiracy theorists, in their own demented way, were on to something real and significant. The Fed did also function in the realm of religion. Its mysterious powers of money creation, inherited from priestly forebears, shielded a complex bundle of social and psychological meanings. With its own form of secret incantation, the Federal Reserve presided over awesome social ritual, transactions so powerful and frightening they seemed to lie beyond common understanding.
Mr. Grieder continues, "Above all, money was a function of faith. It required implicit and universal social consent that was indeed mysterious. To create money and use it, each one must believe, and everyone must believe. Only then did worthless pieces of paper take on value.
Do you get it? MONEY is an ILLUSION! Why? Because the gold standard upon which our money is supposed to be based has been eliminated. There's no more gold in Fort Knox. It's all GONE! Now, money really IS only paper!!! In the past, money was supposed to represent something of tangible value.
Now it's simply paper!
Taken one step further, many of us don't even use paper money any more! Why? Well, here's a scenario. Many places of employment directly deposit their employee's paychecks into the bank. Once the money is there, when bill time comes around, the person in question can write out a stack of checks to pay them. Plus, when they need gasoline they use a credit card; and groceries a debit card. If this person goes out for dinner on Friday night, they can charge the tab on their diner's card. But what about the tip? They simply scribble in the amount at the bottom of the check. So far, the person hasn't spent a single dollar bill. Plus, if you bring electronic banking into the picture, we've virtually eliminated the use for money.
And, God forbid, what happens when encoded microchips are implanted into the backs of our hand?
In essence, money has become nothing more than an illusion – an electronic figure or amount on a computer screen. That's it! As time goes on, we have an increasing tendency toward being sucked into this Wizard of Oz vortex of unreality. Think about it. Americans as a whole are carrying more personal debt than in any other time in history. Plus our government keeps going further and further into the hole, with no hope of ever crawling out. But we have less and less actual MONEY! We're being enslaved by the debt of electronic blips on a computer screen! And 70% of the banks that control this debt via the Federal Reserve exist in foreign countries! What in God's name is going on? As author William Bramley says, "The result of this whole system is MASSIVE debt at every level of society.
We're getting screwed in a sickening way, folks, and the people doing it are demented magician-priests that use the ILLUSION of money as their control device. And I hate to say it, but if we allow things to keep going as they are, the situation will only get worse. Our only hope … ONLY HOPE … is to immediately take drastic action and remedy this crime.
Aaron Russo on The Federal Reserve & How to Shut it Down
let the Truth be known..
let's abolish the federal reserve, please
Historical Outline
1st: Martial Law is declared by President Lincoln on April 24th, 1863, with General Orders No. 100; under martial law authority, Congress and President Lincoln institute continuous martial law by ordering the states (people) either conscribe troops and or provide money in support of the North or be recognized as enemies of the nation; this martial law Act of Congress is still in effect today. This martial law authority gives the President (with or without Congress) the dictatorial authority to do anything that can be done by government in accord with the Constitution of the United States of America. This conscription act remains in effect to this very day and is the foundation of Presidential Executive Orders authority; it was magnified in 1917 with The Trading with the Enemy Act (Public Law 65-91, 65th Congress, Session I, Chapters 105, 106, October 6, 1917). and again in 1933 with the Emergency War Powers Act, which is ratified and enhanced almost every year to this date by Congress. Today these Acts address the people of the United States themselves as their enemy.
2nd: The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 created a "municipal corporation" to govern the District of Columbia. Considering the fact that the municipal government itself was incorporated in 1808, an "Organic Act" (first Act) using the term "municipal corporation" in 1871 can only mean a private corporation owned by the municipality. Hereinafter we will call that private corporation, "Corp. U.S." By consistent usage, Corp. U.S. trademarked the name, "United States Government" referring to themselves. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 places Congress in control (like a corporate board) and gives the purpose of the act to form a governing body over the municipality; this allowed Congress to direct the business needs of the government under the existent martial law and provided them with corporate abilities they would not otherwise have. This was done under the constitutional authority for Congress to pass any law within the ten mile square of the District of Columbia. Follow this link to see the effect of the District of Columbia Act of 1871.
3rd: In said Act, Corp. U.S. adopted their own constitution (United States Constitution), which was identical to the national Constitution (Constitution of the United States of America) except that it was missing the national constitution's 13th Amendment and the national constitution's 14th, 15th and 16th amendments are respectively numbered 13th, 14th and 15th amendments in the Corp. U.S. Constitution. At this point take special notice and remember this Corp. U.S. method of adopting their own Constitution, they will add to it in the same manner in 1913.
4th: Corp. U.S. began to generate debts via bonds etc., which came due in 1912, but they could not pay their debts so the 7 families that bought up the bonds demanded payment and Corp. U.S. could not pay. Said families settled the debt for the payments of all of Corp. U.S.' assets and for all of the assets of the Treasury of the United States of America.
5th: As 1913 began, Corp. U.S. had no funds to carry out the necessary business needs of the government so they went to said families and asked if they could borrow some money. The families said no (Corp. U.S. had already demonstrated that they would not repay their debts in full). The families had foreseen this situation and had the year before finalized the creation of a private corporation of the name "Federal Reserve Bank". Corp. U.S. formed a relationship with the Federal Reserve Bank whereby they could transact their business via note rather than with money. Notice that this relationship was one made between two private corporations and did not involve government; that is where most people error in understanding the Federal Reserve Bank system—again it has no government relation at all. The private contracts that set the whole system up even recognize that if anything therein proposed is found illegal or impossible to perform it is excluded from the agreements and the remaining elements remain in full force and effect.
6th: Almost simultaneously with the last fact (also in 1913), Corp. U.S. adopts (as if ratified) their own 16th amendment. Tax protesters challenge the IRS tax collection system based on this fact, however when we remember that Corp. U.S. originally created their constitution by simply drafting it and adopting it; there is no difference between that adoption and this—such is the nature of corporate enactments—when the corporate board (Congress) tells the secretary to enter the amendment as ratified (even thought the States had not ratified it) the Se3cretary was instructed that the Representatives word alone was sufficient for ratification. You must also note, this amendment has nothing to do with our nation, with our people or with our national Constitution, which already had its own 16th amendment. The Supreme Court (in BRUSHABER v. UNION PACIFIC R. CO., 240 U.S. 1 (1916)) ruled the 16th amendment did nothing that was not already done other than to make plain and clear the right of the United States (Corp. U.S.) to tax corporations and government employees. We agree, considering that they were created under the authority of Corp. U.S.
7th: Next (also 1913) Corp. U.S., through Congress, adopts (as if ratified) its 17th amendment. This amendment is not only not ratified, it is not constitutional; the nation's Constitution forbids Congress from even discussing the matter of where Senators are elected, which is the subject matter of this amendment; therefore they cannot pass such and Act and then of their own volition, order it entered as ratified. According to the United States Supreme Court, for Congress to propose such an amendment they would first have to pass an amendment that gave them the authority to discuss the matter.
8th: Accordingly, in 1914, the Freshman class and all Senators that successfully ran for reelection in 1913 by popular vote were seated in Corp. U.S. Senate capacity only; their respective seats from their States remained vacant because neither the State Senates nor the State Governors appointed new Senators to replace them as is still required by the national Constitution for placement of a national Senator.
9th: In 1916, President Wilson is reelected by the Electoral College but their election is required to be confirmed by the constitutionally set Senate; where the new Corp. U.S. only Senators were allowed to participate in the Electoral College vote confirmation the only authority that could possibly have been used for electoral confirmation was corporate only. Therefore, President Wilson was not confirmed into office for his second term as President of the United States of America and was only seated in the Corp. U.S. Presidential capacity. Therefore the original jurisdiction government's seats were vacated because the people didn't seat any original jurisdiction government officers. It is important to note here that President Wilson retained his capacity as Commander in Chief of the military. Many people wonder about this fact imagining that such a capacity is bound to the President of the nation; however, When John Adams was President he assigned George Washington to the capacity of Commander in Chief of the military in preparation for an impending war with France. During this period, Mr. Adams became quite concerned because Mr. Washington became quite ill and passed on his acting military authority through his lead General Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Adams was concerned that if war did break out Mr. Hamilton would use that authority to create a military dictatorship of the nation. Mr. Adams averted the war through diplomacy and the title of Commander in Chief was returned to him.
(See: John Adams, by David McCullough, this book covers Mr. Adams concerns over this matter quite well. Mr. Adams was a fascinating man.)
10th: In 1917, Corp. U.S. enters W.W. I and passes their Trading with the Enemies Act.
11th: In 1933, Corp. U.S. is bankrupt, they force a banking holiday to exchange money backed Federal Reserve Notes with "legal tender" Federal Reserve Notes the Trading with the Enemies Act is adjusted to recognize the people of the United States as enemies of Corp. U.S.
12th: Some time after 1935, you ask Social Security Administration for a relationship with their program. With the express purpose of generating Beneficiary funds to United States General Trust Fund (GTF) the Social Security Administration creates an entity with a name (that sounds like your name but is spelled with all capital letters) and an account number (Social Security number). They give you the Social Security card and let you know that the card does not belong to you but you are to hold it for them until they want it back. If you are willing to accept that responsibility over the card you activate the card by signing it, which gives you the ability to act as the fiduciary for the cards actual owner Corp. U.S. and you can use the card's name and number to thus transact business relations for the card's actual owner. You are also to note that though the card verifies its agency (you as the single person with authority to control the entity so created) it is not for use as identification. On review: notice the Social Security Administration was the creator of the entity, they offered you the opportunity to serve its Trustee capacity (by lending it actual consciousness and physical capacity), they gave you something (the card) that does not belong to you to hold in trust and they reserved the actual owner of the thing (Corp. U.S.) as the beneficiary of the entity—by definition, this only describes the creation and existence of a Trust. More importantly: the name they gave this Trust is not your name, the number they gave the Trust is not your number and your lending actual consciousness and physical capacity to this Trust's Trustee capacity does not limit you or your capacity to separately act in your natural sovereign capacity in any way—what you do, when you do it and how you do it is still totally up to you.
13th: In 1944, under the Bretton Woods Agreement, Corp. U.S. is quit claimed to the International Monetary Fund, and becomes a foreign controlled private corporation.
14th: In 1962, considering the states were forced to carry out their business dealings in terms of Federal Reserve Notes (foreign notes), which is forbidden in the national and State constitutions, out of the necessity the states began protecting themselves from the people by forming corporations like Corp. U.S. Accordingly, those newly formed corporate state administrations began adopting Corp. U.S. suggested uniform codes and licensing structures that allowed better and more powerful control over the people, which thing the original jurisdiction governments of this nation had no capacity to do. Our Constitutions secure that the governments do not govern the people rather they govern themselves in accord with the limits of Law. The people govern themselves. Such is the foundational nature of our Constitutional Republic.
15th: By 1971, every State government in the union of States had formed such private corporations (Corp. State), in accord with the IMF admonition, and the people ceased to seat original jurisdiction government officials in their State government seats.
Now, having stated these historical facts, we ask you not to believe us, but rather prove these facts for yourself. We then ask you to contact us and share your discovery with us.
When you find there is no error in this historical outline, then remember these simple facts and let no one dissuade you from the truth.
The Bottom Line: when you speak about these private foreign corporations remember that is what they are and stop calling them government."
hope … ONLY HOPE … is to immediately take drastic action and remedy this crime.
Our 4th of July Super Sale has been extended! Get double Patriot Points and free shipping on the hottest items!


text:
|Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange
previous taxon |
next taxon
Jepson Interchange (more information)
©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
Perennial, shrubs, trees, sometimes dioecious
Leaves generally opposite, simple, generally entire, generally deciduous; stipules 0
Inflorescence: cyme or racemes, generally umbel- or head-like, sometimes subtended by showy, petal-like bracts
Flower generally small, generally bisexual; calyx generally 4-lobed; petals 0 or 4(5), free; stamens generally as many as and alternate petals; ovary inferior, chambers 14, each 1-ovuled, style simple, stigma 14-lobed
Fruit: generally drupe or berry
Seeds generally 12
Genera in family: ± 12 genera, ± 100 species: especially n temp (also s tropical, subtropical). Cult as ornamental (Cornus, Aucuba ); some timber species. Genera diverse; many have been treated as constituting families, but trend is to treat Cornaceae broadly
Reference: [Eyde 1987 Syst Bot 12:505518]
Perennial, shrubs, trees
Leaves generally opposite or whorled, simple, generally deciduous; both ends generally tapered
Inflorescence small, head- or umbel-like, and surrounded by showy bracts (or cyme, large, open, lacking showy bracts)
Flower generally minute; sepals 4, fused at base; petals 4; stamens 4, attached to receptacle; style 1, thread-like, stigma simple
Fruit: drupe; stone 12-chambered
Species in genus: ± 50 species: n temp (rare in s hemisphere); many cultivated as ornamental, some for autumn color. Some fruit used for jam, syrup
Etymology: (Latin: horn, from the hard wood)
Divided by some into at least 6 genera.
Shrub generally 1.54 m
Stem: branches reddish to purple, ± glabrous to minutely strigose; older stems grayish green, generally glabrous
Leaves deciduous; blade generally 510 cm, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, paler beneath, sparsely strigose, veins 47 pairs
Inflorescence: cyme, strigose
Flower: petals 24.5 mm; style 13 mm
Fruit 79 mm, white to cream; stone smooth to grooved on face, furrowed on sides
Ecology: Many, generally moist habitats
Elevation: < 2800 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, White and Inyo Mountains
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, e N.America, Mexico
Highly variable complex with many local forms, treated broadly here. Sspp. intergrade widely
Horticultural information: IRR: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; rather INV.
Plant ± rough hairy
Flower: petals 34.5 mm; style 2.53 mm
Fruit: stone generally 3-ridged on faces, furrowed on sides
Ecology: Habitats of sp.
Elevation: < 2500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, Montana
Synonyms: C. o. (Torr. & A. Gray) Coville


text:
There's beginning to be a lot of buzz about The Hill, perhaps the oldest established African-American neighborhood in the country. Read three recent articles in the Star Democrat at the links below:
More details from 'The Hill' come to light
More digs planned for 'The Hill'
What's more, the neighborhood's two historic African-American churches, both of which hosted speeches by Frederick Douglass
when he visited Easton, are slated to receive preservation funds in Governor Martin O'Malley's budget this year.
If you are interested in learning more about The Hill, donating towards the preservation and archaeological work, or getting involved as a volunteer, please visit the Historic Easton web site or send us an email!


text:
Renteria hopes Veras can win back closer job
CHICAGO -- The Cubs have not had a save situation in six games since Jose Veras lost his job as the closer, and in a perfect world, manager Rick Renteria would like to see the right-hander back in that role.
First, Veras needs to get in a game and pitch.
Renteria told Veras on April 12 that he was no longer the closer after blowing a two-run lead against the Cardinals the day before. Veras is 0-2 in save situations this season.
The only pitchers to convert save situations so far are Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop, both 1-for-1. James Russell is 0-for-1. The Cubs have the fewest saves in the National League with two.
"We still have a lot of guys in our 'pen who can be managed through those particular innings," Renteria said Sunday. "I think we'll continue to keep our eyes open. We certainly want to make sure we give Jose a chance to get back into the role and try to find situations we can allow him to work.
"He needs to work," Renteria said of Veras, who was called on in relief Sunday in the seventh, his first appearance since April 11. "We're going to do our very best that he gets into a comfort level. We need all those guys. In baseball, you don't eliminate guys, you need them all."
Besides Strop and Rondon, Renteria said Justin Grimm is another option in save situations. The manager will go with matchups for now. He'd like Veras to win the job back.
"Veras was brought in to be our closer," Renteria said. "We want to make sure he's given an opportunity. He's working very hard on certain things but he still has to get out there on the hill in game situations to get comfortable."
Renteria and Veras talk about the situation.
"Sometimes, the light turns on and you feel good about yourself and you want to go out and do it," Renteria said. "It takes a special person to go out and close the games. Do I think all the guys are capable of doing it? Absolutely. We still have to find ways to incorporate all of them."


text:
The chill tonight reminded me of winters in China. It was hard to escape the cold since we walked everywhere, to classes, to the bus stop, all over downtown.
"Duoshao?" was a question I was asked by Chinese men more than once when walking around the city. Duoshao means "how much?". I myself asked the question often, of street vendors, where haggling over prices was expected, and really, is considered part of the fun. Although I was never a very good haggler and didn't particularly enjoy the practice.
But they were asking how much for me.
Dalian is in northern China, and although a large city (over 6 million), you'll find few white foreigners, so my friends and I were somewhat of a novelty there. Being so far north, it's very near Russia, and Chinese men sometimes mistook me for a Russian girl. And the common perception was that the Russian girls living there were either modeling or prostituting themselves, or both. Whether or not that perception was based on any truth, I don't really know.
"Wo shi laoshi," I would reply, politely.
I am a teacher.
They would nod, just as politely, as if they hadn't just asked if they could purchase my services. There was no embarrassment on their part, at least not that I could see. Just the open curiosity I had become so familiar with.
|St. Sophia's, Harbin, China (left); Ice-covered trees in Jilin, China (right)
I suppose after a while these things didn't bother me so much anymore. I was accustomed to the culture. I became used to having people want to touch my curly hair, stare intently at my green eyes, even tug on my eyelashes to see if they were real. Personal space was a luxury, rarely experienced. I became used to these things, although there were days I wanted to hide and be invisible. Or at least be able to blend in a little.
My students were just as curious in the beginning, but since we saw each other every day, we were very comfortable with each other, and they became very protective of me. I became extremely good friends with many of my students - after all, at the time, I was only 4 years older than some of them.
One winter evening, I had come from downtown back to the campus by bus, and was walking back from the bus stop to my apartment. The students' dormitories were right next to the teacher apartment buildings. It had begun snowing earlier that day and the snow was piling up quite a bit. When I saw one of my students leaning out a window to call out to someone, I impulsively scooped up a handful of snow and launched a snowball at him. Ever notice how one snowball causes a chain effect of many, many snowballs? After a huge snowball fight between students and teachers lasting the rest of the evening we were all exhausted.
|Jessica and I in Jilin, China (top); Rocky Mountains, Colorado (bottom)
|Rocky Mountains, Colorado (top); Heather in Harbin, China (bottom)
Winters in China were long and bitterly cold. Dalian is a major harbor city, and the wide expanse of coastline brought a dry and biting wind off the salty sea, a wind that cut right through many layers of clothes, down to the long underwear I wore under my clothes. The apartments were heated, but barely so. Heat wasn't something we were able to control or regulate - it was turned on mid-November and turned off around March. And during the winter months, it only cycled on (through radiators) for about an hour each morning and evening. The buildings were extremely cold, to say the least, and I always slept with an electric space heater running.
One Christmas morning, I woke up to find an icicle protruding from my kitchen faucet!
Further north, closer to the Russian border, it was even colder; Harbin is famous for their beautiful ice festival every winter, and we traveled there twice to see it. The second time, though, I couldn't help wondering if the ice sculptures were worth enduring those below-freezing temperatures again! I remember wearing long underwear, jeans, plus another pair of pants on top of those, 3 or 4 pairs of socks, at least 7 shirts, coat, 2 pairs of gloves, scarf, hat... and still being cold.
|Lake McIntosh, Longmont, Colorado (left); St. Theresa's Cathedral of Changchun, Jilin, China (right)
On a typical Saturday, my friends and I would walk a quarter mile to the bus stop then ride the bus for 30-40 minutes until we reached downtown Dalian; once there, we'd spend hours walking around to all the shops and malls at Victory Square, zhongshan Square, Xinghai Square . The walking helped to keep us warm.
If we got hungry, there were the street vendors selling a tempting array of snacks like fried bread, spicy meat on a stick, frozen fruit... One of my favorite snacks, though, were the steamed buns. Piping hot from their fresh steam bath, the soft, pillowy steamed dough was filled with a variety of meat and vegetables. When you took a bite, the broth inside the bun would dribble down your hand, begging to be licked off it was so good. I've never tasted steamed buns quite like those - they must have a well-kept secret.
For the first time I made these myself, in a bamboo steamer I recently bought at our Asian market in Denver, but so far have only used to steam tortillas for fish taco night. The recipe came from my Asian cookbook, and the buns were really easy to make with a simple yeast dough and a pork and green pepper filling. Mine turned out much bigger than I expected, so next time I'll either make them smaller or steam them immediately after shaping the buns, instead of letting them rise a second time.
I took the first bite, and told Jamie how it took me back, long before he and I ever met, to the bustling streets of Dalian, eating a steamed bun on a cold and windy winter day.
Chinese Steamed Pork Buns
printable recipe
- 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup (scant) very warm water
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 green pepper, seeds and ribs discarded, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Make the dough:
In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sugar, yeast and 1/2 cup of the warm water. Let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers.
Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl. With the dough hook, stir the mixture on low, gradually adding the remainder of the water (no need to use all of it if you don't need to), until a soft dough forms. Knead on medium low for 10 minutes.
Turn the dough out into an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Make the filling:
While the dough is rising, get your filling ready. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet, then add the green pepper, celery and green onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and the pork, breaking up the meat. Cook until the pork is beginning to brown. Sprinkle with the cornstarch and sugar; add the soy sauce and the sesame oil. Cook for several minutes until pork is browned and the mixture is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Assembly and Steaming:
You will need some kind of steamer, large enough to hold all the buns, and kitchen twine. I used a two-layer bamboo steamer, lined with parchment paper to keep the buns from sticking, set over a pot of boiling water. Get the water simmering while you assemble the buns.
Punch the dough down and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide into 8 equal pieces for larger buns (they do get much larger as they steam, though) or 16 pieces for smaller buns. Roll each piece out into a circle of dough about 5-6 inches in diameter. Spoon some of the filling into the center of each piece of dough. (I did this in steps, first rolling out all the dough, then setting them all out, and dividing the filling equally, so that I didn't end up with too much or too little filling.)
Gather the dough up and tie loosely with a piece of kitchen twine. Set the buns in the steamer, leaving a little room between each, as they will rise and puff during the steaming. Steam for 30 minutes over steadily boiling water. Serve buns immediately.
Yields 8 large or 16 medium buns.
Recipe adapted from Pork-Stuffed Steamed Buns, from The Chinese and Asian Kitchen Bible by Sallie Morris and Deh-Ta Hsiung.


text:
Introduced in 2011, the A7 Sportback immediately presented a unique attitude for Audi. A German luxury car manicured using the athletic yet aerodynamic proportions of a sports car, the five-door product proved popular. Aside from the North American version of the Audi SQ5 crossover presented in Detroit, the 2013 North American International Auto Show played host to the world debut of the next step up for the premium five-door. Attracting great buzz, the 2014 Audi RS7 Sportback met the media and prepares to be greeted by car-loving crowds ahead of its retail release.
A fun, even practical design, the Audi A7 Sportback was combined with a formidable supercharged 3-liter powerplant for its arrival in dealerships. Receiving Audi's S performance line treatment for the 2013 model year, the Sportback was even an extra sense of personality. 19-inch alloy wheels, S tronic gearbox, a sport rear differential and some defining aesthetic touches have merged with the 420-horsepower, eight-cylinder TFSI engine to create the Audi S7 Sportback. A five-door part of a recently created market segment for vehicles fusing coupe-like attributes into sedan-style vehicles, ultra high performance competitors such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG and the Porsche Panamera Turbo S has left the Audi behind. With 560-horsepower, the Audi RS7 Sportback is the pavement-burning quattro runner needed to send the ultimate message in the language of performance.
Doing the A7 Sportback-derived body style credit, Audi has dropped a highly tuned version of their 4.0 TFSI V8 engine under the hood of the RS7 Sportback. A twin-turbocharged powerplant, relative boost pressure reaching 1.2 bars is fed through a dual twin-scroll unit. Turbocharged air is also coordinates with an intercooler right before it contributes to the RS7's engine output. The 2014 Audi RS7 Sportback's maximum 560 horsepower is planted at the higher end of the engine rev spectrum between 5,700 and 6,700 RPM. Only an R8 GT supercar can equal the RS7 Sportback's horsepower credentials in the Audi brand line-up. In contrast, the 4.0 TFSI engine's 553 pounds feet of torque kicks in at 1,750 RPM for authoritative pick up and go. Translating into vehicle performance, the Audi RS7 Sportback's engine allows acceleration times from 0 to 60 miles per hour to be reached in 3.9 seconds. When taken to top speed, the RS7 Sportback will be measured at 189.5 miles per hour.
When the Audi RS7 Sportback is cruising at steady speeds, the cylinder on demand system on the eight-cylinder powerplant temporarily commissions a shutdown for half its combustion chambers. Effectively running as a four-cylinder vehicle, the cylinder on demand function on the Audi RS7 Sportback preserves around 10 percent of the vehicle's fuel consumption. Start-stop technology is combined with the high-tech 4.0 TFSI V8 powerplant to net high performance with more than acceptable gasoline-burning efficiency. Fuel economy for the Audi RS7 Sportback is appraised at 24 miles per gallon.
Channelling power through an eight-speed tiptronic the 2014 Audi RS7 Sportback is propelled by an enhanced quattro all-wheel drive system. The lockable center differential includes a separate oil cooling unit to better regulate fluid temperatures under what could be extreme driving conditions when 560 horsepower is in play. An optional sport differential can be added to the RS7 Sportback allowing performance-oriented control of the rear axle. Torque vectoring software and electronic stabilization control are at the forefront in assuring the Audi RS7 Sportback remains surefooted. The Audi's RS7 ride and handling is balanced by either a sport suspension plus system with dynamic ride control or air suspension. Both types of suspension systems present adjustable characteristics through Audi drive select.
Behind either 20-inch forged wheels or one of three available sets of 21-inch cast wheels, braking promises the harness the RS7 Sportback's free spirit. Standard vented discs with six-piston calipers will nicely decrease the Audi's momentum. If an owner's intentions with the Audi RS7 Sportback involve heavy starting and stopping, choosing the optional 16.54-inch carbon fiber ceramic brake discs is probably the best course of action.
With all the high-performance mechanicals, the addition of the RS7 badging to Audi's Sportback body foretells a multitude of stylistic as well as aerodynamic improvements. Granted an all-new front fascia, the aggressive 2014 Audi RS7 Sportback look presents larger side air inlets and the ornamental use of the "quattro" name under the license plate frame. A high-gloss honeycomb grille and matt aluminum pieces also accent face of the RS7 Sportback. Xenon plus or all-LED headlamps are found for illuminating the path of a moving RS7 Sportback as the front splitter cuts through the air. A power-extending spoiler and rear diffuser at the back of the Audi RS7 Sportback balances the aerodynamic manners of the five-door. Ten exterior colour choices are available to RS7 Sportback buyers including an exclusive Daytona gray finish treated with a matt effect.
Accomplishing a firm sport appearance outside, the Audi RS-trimmed vehicle continues to express its performance message inside. Decorated with a generous use of aluminum-look and carbon accents as standard, the materials lining the interior of the Audi RS7 Sportback deliver a stylish, high quality finish. If purchasers of the RS7 Sportback desire a different look, customization is available to augment the cabin appearance. Four seats upholstered in a choice of Alcantara/leather or a Valcona leather allows passengers inside of the Audi RS7 Sportback to ride with individualized pleasure. Standard interior equipment on the RS7 Sportback includes three-zone automatic air conditioning, MMI navigation plus and an Audi premium sound system.
In the preferential driver seat of the Audi RS7 Sportback, black-on-white gauges in the instrument panel are clearly visible through the three-spoke leather steering wheel. The front RS sport seats incorporate additional side bolstering to secure the driver when making more daring (though legal) maneuvers. Head-up display and power adjustable front seats with a memory function come at an extra cost on the Audi RS7 Sportback.
A 2014 model year car, details of the Audi RS7 Sportback's sale availability and price have not been made official with the Detroit unveiling. While not guaranteed, it should not come as a surprise if the RS7 Sportback's price tag pushes six figures. Despite this assumption, Audi would not be complacent to assume they may have created another hot performance product.
Information and photo source: Audi AG


text:
NEW YORK — Hollywood's latest films performed tepidly at the box-office on Oscar weekend, with Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" returning to the top spot in its third week of release.
The Universal comedy earned $14.1 million on the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, enough to regain the box-office title after losing it last week to 20th Century Fox's "A Good Day to Die Hard," the Bruce Willis action sequel.
With a cumulative total of $93.7 million, "Identity Thief" is the biggest hit so far in 2013. Though the film has been badly reviewed by critics, the road trip duo of McCarthy and Jason Bateman has proved popular at the multiplexes, where no other comedy has been around to challenge it.
More than anything, "Identity Thief" has proven the stardom of McCarthy, following her breakout performance in "Bridesmaids."
"The holding power of a film always gives you an idea of the strength of its concept or its star," said Nikki Rocco, Universal head of distribution. "In this case, it's both."
With the industry gathering for the Oscars on Sunday, it's always a weekend where moviegoers' attention goes more to the Academy Awards than the movie theater. For the fifth week in a row, the box office was down as compared to last year's business
One of the two new films in wide release, Lionsgate's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson action film, "Snitch," opened with $13 million. That was a decent but not strong showing for "Snitch" in a year where action films have largely fared poorly.
Though "A God Day to Die Hard," the fourth film in the franchise, led the box office last week, it slid 60 percent in its second week to $10 million. Earlier action films from Arnold Schwarzenegger ("The Last Stand" ), Jason Statham ("Parker" ) and Sylvester Stallone ("Bullet to the Head" ) performed worse.
The other new wide release was the Weinstein Co.'s "Dark Skies," a PG-13 horror film starring Keri Russell. It debuted with $8.9 million.
The down weekend was unlikely to dampen the Oscar celebration. The nine best picture nominees have largely fared well at the box office. This weekend, eight of them are in the top 21 films.
For the first time since the category's number of nominees was extended in 2009, six of the nominees grossed more than $100 million domestically: "Argo," "Lincoln," "Les Miserables," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Django Unchained" and "Life of Pi." "Zero Dark Thirty" missed narrowly with $91.6 million going into the Oscars.
"It's one of the best performing groups of nominees I've ever seen," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "Great night for Hollywood, tough day at the box office."
A box-office bump could follow for Sunday's big winners, though any benefit might be better found overseas, where some of the films are still expanding. The best picture favorite, Ben Affleck's Iran rescue thriller "Argo," is already out on DVD in North America.
McCarthy's 'Identity Thief' tops box office again
NEW YORK — Hollywood's latest films performed tepidly at the box-office on Oscar weekend, with Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" returning to the top spot in its third week of release.


text:
جزئیات محصول:
Powered by built-in battery which is charged by solar panel automatically.
Durable indoor&outdoor decoration lighting,excellent for Xmas ,fairy,wedding and party decorations.
Low power consumption,environmental protection.
Daytime:charge,light up at light automatically.
Solar panel: 2V 170mA
Solar panel size: 67*67mm
LED quantity: 100LEDs
Mode: 8modes
Color: white/blue/multicolor/warm white/pink/purple
Charging time: 6~8hrs
Working time: 8~10hrs
Length: 12M (lead wire:2M),10cm each led.
Waterproof: IP65
Weight: 300g
Note:we offer different style of led lighting such as curtain light,icicle fairy lights, copper wire string lights,meteor lights,projection lights etc,please contact us if interested,thank you.
Why choose us?
1. We offer quality LED light products with resonable price.
2. Within 24hrs fast response if any question of products or price.
3. Every order we pack carefully,with good carton to prevent the product from damage.
4. We will find the best shipping such as DHL,UPS,TNT or Fedex,fast delivery,save your time and money.Big order will be sent by sea.
5. Any issue once get the products,we will try our best to solve the issue for you.
6. We can do custom led lights with custom box,custom logo,we have our professional team to make
customized products,package and printing/etching logo.
7. Any other related products you need we would try to prepare for you.So come to us,you will be happy to do business with us!


text:
Assad, avaaz.org, Bloomberg, Gaza, HRW, Human Rights Watch, ICG, International Crisis Group, Israel, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, NATO, Obama, Open Society Institute, Responsibility to Protect doctrine, Reuters, Soros, Syria, U.N. Secretary General Ban, U.N. Small Arms Treaty, United Nations
Now that the dust has settled from the election (like it would have mattered who won). Let's start with a recent article and do a bit more in-depth reporting on 'who is who' and finish with the latest gun-grab attempts.
Here is a recent article on World Net Daily as an exclusive titled
Obama's Benghazi Investigator Tied To Libya Bombing It is a good article, worth a read, but as with most articles, fails to follow the 'actors' that it mentions.
The first mentioned in the is the International Crisis Group, labeled as having the doctrine that NATO uses, as an excuse to bomb and invade countries in the Middle-East. The doctrine, which NATO uses is called the Responsibility to Protect and here is there latest article on the website. As usual, they are pushing a United Nations 'global norm' and by looking at the map on the website you can see their area of interest. One of those is Syria, which is experiencing 'foreign rebels' trying to topple the government of Assad, though the people themselves support Assad.
To fully express the United Nations' involvement in this organization, look no further than The Opening of the 67th United Nations General Assembly statements on September 18, 2012. Note the countries involved with signing this statement and understand that with Obama being re-elected, and his administrations past stance on Syria; war involving NATO countries is just around the corner. Note on the face of their website Syria is in their cross-hairs.
In the past, Soros was exposed as a main trouble maker in Syria through an organization he funds called Avaaz.org. The same can be said of the International Crisis Group, which Soros funds through the Open Society Institute and sits on the organization's Executive Committee
Also remember that another 'voice' of George Soros, Media Matters, has been supporting Obama all along. Romney talked tough on Iran, but Syria is the flash point for the next war, that could easily become the World War that the globalist's want so badly. That war will drag in Iran, Russia, China and possibly Pakistan; as has been revealed in prior posts.
Another institution prominently displayed in the article at WND is Human Rights Watch. In their video, titled About Us they show propaganda about Syria by using crowds cheering the Syrian government of Assad, rather than against Assad. This is rather obvious after the first minute of this film, as it shows the long banner carried by the Syrian people in the prior video. They are just careful to edit out any depictions of photos in the crowd of Assad. Once again we see George Soros through the Open Society Institute as a major funder of this organization; along with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation which showed in the funding of International Crisis Group as well.
To fully show the Zionist intent of all of these organization, they never shred a tear for the people of Gaza. Not one word against Israel is to be found in any of their literature, and yet the people of Gaza have been impoverish, imprisoned, segregated from the rest of Israel and the world through blockades on medicine, food and fuel at the hands of the Israeli government.
Gun Grabbers
With the election now behind us, and the Obama Administration retaining its office, Obama will be emboldened by the election to continue his agenda on the right to keep and bear arms. An interesting article, fictitious as can be, from Rothschild's Reuters News organization claimed that after the Obama re-election a new round of talks on the U.N. Small Arms Treaty would begin on March 18th of 2013. The article is fictitious in that the treaty was signed on September 7, 2012 in a secret session beginning on August 29, where U.N. Secretary General Ban Ban made an impressive comment "Two important sources of growth are increased spending by United States civilians on small arms and their ammunition . . . ". How more blatant can it get, this treaty is aimed at Americans. The article on Reuters goes on to state a blatant lie "We will not accept any treaty that infringes on the constitutional rights of our citizens to bear arms".
The Reuters' article never mentions the secret meeting, Rothschild's news organization is pretending this is new.
Keystoliberty was the first website to post this news, while the others slept with no research into the treaty and its signing. Reuters is now setting the stage for gun confiscation; slowly at first, and announcing the next round of talks 2 years early from the original date of 2014. But what can be expected of Reuters, a completely control news source by the Zionist Rothschild. They basically announced what has already occurred on September 7, of 2012.
Being pre-warned of the United Nations General Assembly would meet and pass the treaty near the election; it didn't happen, it appears to have to be been put on hold over hurricane Sandy. Once it has been passed by all the countries in the world, where firearms are not legal to own, it will come before the Senate as a treaty. If they pass it before the new Senate is seated, it will be a lame-duck session of the Senate expected to sign the treaty. If the Senate refuses to pass it, there is nothing to stop Obama from issuing a new Executive Order to enforce it. Please remember, the Senate did not vote for Agenda 21, it became an Executive Order of Bill Clinton.
Another group out to grab firearms is Mayors Against Illegal Guns funded in part by Mayor Bloomberg of New York. The following commercial aired during the election.
Here is a look at this members of this organization. If these mayors are in charge over your city, fight their agenda and send them back to the unemployment line.


text:
On the Friday before Christmas, I was on my home from work and looking forward to dinner and a movie with Julia. I had a pair of Rieslings chilling back at the house, but wasn't in the mood to cook. I was instead in the mood for something very specific: Vietnamese soup. She'd never had phở before, and I was looking forward to that particular culinary introduction as well as satisfying my own craving for some thinly sliced beef in hot broth with lots of other goodies.
We started off with gỏi cuốn and tương xào followed by phở gà for Julia and phở tái bò viên for me. (Or those soft rice wrapper rolls with shrimp and lettuce, chicken breast and chicken broth for her and sliced beef plus meatballs in my bowl.) The joy of phở is customization, and she kept hers light and simple while I went crazy with a little bit of every ingredient and some additional Sriracha sauce. Outstanding dinner, made even better by the Riesling. I tried the wines before the soup and once with the soup before I added additional heat. Both performed well at all stages of dinner.
2009 Clean Slate Riesling
$11, 10.5% abv.
Lightly sweet with with medium acidity. The nose has hints of peach and orange blossom, but nothing is terribly strong. It is an easy-going and extremely affordable white wine with a long, pleasant finish. Julia preferred this one, and I thought it was a great contrast to the bean sauce that came with the rolls.
2009 Weingut Hans Lang Riesling Dry Erste Gewächs
Hattenheim Wisselbrunnen, Rheingau
$50, 13% abv.
Erstes Gewächs means "first growth" and is a relatively new VDP classification denoting a quality dry wine from the top vineyards in Germany. Petrol and wet rocks with light green apple hints in the background. Low acidity, dry, with excellent balance. As it warmed, it developed some lovely earth tones and a wonderful depth. Long finish, highly recommended. My favorite of the two, though toward the end of the meal the Sriacha and jalapeño slice blocked out some of the more subtle tones in the wine.
This is by no means a new wine pairing idea, but it was really delicious and the wine contributed to making an already great dinner even better. Which is what wine is supposed to do.
Note: These wines were received as samples.
26 December 2011
3 comments:
- Thomas said...
Low acidity?
Can you elaborate? I'm curious whenever that description falls to a Riesling.
- 27 December, 2011 11:23
- Benito said...
Rounder fruit flavors with a soft mouthfeel and an earthy character. Not sharp and tart at all, but quite good.
- 28 December, 2011 07:56
- Thomas said...
Your descriptor (Rounder, et al) is an arrow at the mouth-feel and I understand it well, but that does not necessarily mean it is a low acid wine. Perhaps, it simply is a well-balanced wine.
The reason I bring the subject up is that "low acid" has implications regarding a wine's future.
- 29 December, 2011 06:57
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
France's Intelligence Agency's headquarters can be seen on Google Maps.
Why didn't French president François Hollande join the storm of criticism from EU member countries when it was revealed that the United States' PRISM electronic surveillance program was spying on all internet traffic passing through the US? Perhaps because he knew that France has a similar program, alleges French newspaper Le Monde .
"All of our communications are spied on," reports Le Monde, citing unnamed intelligence sources. Data is gathered by the DGSE, France's intelligence agency , and stored on a supercomputer capable of handling "tens of millions of gigabytes," which is housed in the basement of the DGSE's headquarters.
The DGSE is known as "the firm" ( la boîte ) in France, and the Paris building that houses it nicknamed "the swimming pool" ( la piscine— it happens to be near a competition swimming complex.) Some spies who work for the organization (link in French) call it "the service" ( le service .) Notably, while the DGSE is currently blurred out on the satellite view of Google Maps, as of February 2011 its distinctive shape was clearly visible.


text:
Free shipping on all orders above $100!
Taxi Of London
Product Information
Number of pieces
Difficulty level
For ages
8 and up
Shop all nanoblock® models in our London collection.
For those interested in travel, history and architecture, the nanoblock® Sights to See series brings block building to a scale never seen before! Recreate the wonders of the world with nanoblock® - the original micro-sized building block. The smallest part is a mere 4x4x5 mm!
Each nanoblock® set comes with spare blocks, a display baseplate and detailed step-by-step building instructions.
Related productsView all
Schloss Neuschwanstein


text:
124I-FIAU Imaging in EBV and KSHV Associated Cancers
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00982449
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : September 23, 2009
Last Update Posted : September 17, 2018
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Hodgkin Lymphoma Non Hodgkin Lymphoma Kaposi's Sarcoma Gastric Cancer Nasopharyngeal Cancer
|Other: FIAU-PET-CT-2 Other: FIAU-PET-CT-4
|Not Applicable
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|12 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Basic Science
|Official Title:
|Study of Imaging of Viral Thymidine Kinase Activity in EBV-Associated and KSHV-Associated Malignancies
|Actual Study Start Date :
|December 2010
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|July 2013
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|July 2013
Active Comparator: 4 mCi of I-FIAU
GROUP B 1-3 days after any chemotherapy that may activate viral TK, 4 mCi of I-FIAU are administered, followed 2 - 4 hours later by FIAU-PET-CT-4.
Other: FIAU-PET-CT-4
1-3 days after any chemotherapy that may activate viral TK, 4 mCi, rather than 2 mCi, of I-FIAU are administered, followed 2 - 4 hours later by FIAU-PET-CT
Other Names:
Active Comparator: 2 mCi of I-FIAU
GROUP A 1-3 days after any chemotherapy that may activate viral TK, 2 mCi of I-FIAU are administered, followed 2 - 4 hours later by FIAU-PET-CT-2.
Other: FIAU-PET-CT-2
1-3 days after chemotherapy, subject get I-FIAU 2 mCi, then have FIAU-PET-CT done 2 - 4 hours after I-FIAU
Other Names:
- To evaluate the potential for enzymatic targeting as evidenced by the ability to image 124I-FIAU tracer uptake in tumor at baseline and following chemotherapy or biologic therapy with agents that may induce viral TK activation. [ Time Frame: Baseline, Days 1-3 post chemo ]
- To describe changes in viral DNA in plasma as a function of chemotherapy and the association with imaging by FIAU-PET [ Time Frame: Baseline, pre chemo, post chemo, day 8 post chemo ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 75 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age 18 years or older.
EBV-positive or KSHV-associated malignancy, including but not limited to:
- EBV+ Hodgkin lymphoma
- EBV+ non-Hodgkin lymphoma or lymphoproliferative disease
- Primary effusion lymphoma
- Kaposi's sarcoma
- EBV+ gastric cancer
- EBV+ nasopharyngeal cancer
- Measurable disease (at least one lesion measuring > 2 cm in longest axis).
- ECOG performance status of 0, 1, or 2.
- Patients must be able to lie flat for at least 60 minutes and fit on PET-CT scanner.
For post-therapy imaging with FIAU-PET, treatment with standard or investigational agents that can potentially activate herpesvirus TK, including but not limited to the following. Concurrent radiation therapy is permissible:
- Platinum compounds (for example, cisplatin, carboplatin)
- Anthracyclines (for example, doxorubicin or pegylated doxorubicin)
- Tubulin disrupting agents (for example, vincristine, vinblastine)
- Rituximab
- Gemcitabine
- Cytarabine
- Histone deacetylase inhibitors
- Bortezomib NOTE: Patients who would not receive bortezomib as part of their usual care may receive a one-time dose of bortezomib for the purpose of imaging with 124I-FIAU and FIAU-PET-CT.
- AST and ALT < 3 X upper limit of normal, unless attributed to tumor, obtained within 2 weeks prior to registration.
- Serum creatinine < 2.0 mg/dL, within 2 weeks prior to registration.
In patients who will receive bortezomib for imaging purposes only:
- Total bilirubin < 1.5 X upper limit of normal, obtained within 2 weeks prior to registration.
- Platelet count > 70,000 / mm3 obtained within 2 weeks prior to registration.
- No pre-existing peripheral neuropathy greater than grade 1.
Exclusion Criteria:
- End-stage liver disease unrelated to tumor.
- Known active or chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection.
- History of iodine hypersensitivity.
- Chronic renal insufficiency requiring dialysis.
- Women who are pregnant or breast feeding.
- Foreseen inability to comply with study requirements.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00982449
|United States, Maryland
|Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
|Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
|Principal Investigator:
|Richard Ambinder, M.D.
|Johns Hopkins University
|Responsible Party:
|Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
NA_00032681 ( Other Identifier: JHMIRB )
P01CA015396 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|First Posted:
|September 23, 2009 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|September 17, 2018
|Last Verified:
|September 2018
|Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
|Plan to Share IPD:
EBV+ malignancies
KSHV+ malignancies
HIV-associated lymphomas
Hodgkin Lymphoma
nonHodgkin Lymphoma or
nonHodgkins Lymphoproliferative Disease
Primary Effusion Lymphoma
Kaposi's Sarcoma
Gastric Cancer
Nasopharyngeal Cancer
Sarcoma, Kaposi
Stomach Neoplasms
Hodgkin Disease
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Neoplasms by Histologic Type
Lymphoproliferative Disorders
Lymphatic Diseases
Immunoproliferative Disorders
Immune System Diseases
Neoplasms, Connective and Soft Tissue
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms
Digestive System Neoplasms
Neoplasms by Site
Digestive System Diseases
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Stomach Diseases
Herpesviridae Infections
DNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Neoplasms, Vascular Tissue
Pharyngeal Neoplasms
Otorhinolaryngologic Neoplasms
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Nasopharyngeal Diseases
Pharyngeal Diseases
Stomatognathic Diseases


text: Yikes! Morgan Freeman was involved in a serious car crash in Mississippi last night. He had to be airlifted from the scene of the accident to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn. We hope Morgan and his female passenger are both OK! • Nikki Blonsky's Hairspray costar, Brittany Snow, defends Nikki and her father's assault arrest last week by repeating how good of a person Nikki is over and over. Meanwhile, an actual celebrity, Zac Efron, spoke to Nikki after her arrest "for awhile." • American Idol executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, has jumped off the Idol sinking ship and is shifting his attention to his other show, So You Think You Can Dance. [TMZ, People, TMZ]


text:
I guess it's safe to say that last week I had a post go viral and while I have experienced some small degree of Internet success before, this was like nothing that had ever previously happened.
It got so crazy that a friend actually messaged me and said she was worried about me. I reassured her that I was fine.
"But the comments!" she said.
"I ignore them," I told her.
Because I do. And so should you. And you and you too.
Trust me, I get that this can be extremely difficult. For like the first fifteen minutes of my article being viral I was truly tempted to read and respond to comments but then my better sense took hold and I went and played with my daughter and convinced myself that none of it existed. Because honestly? It doesn't.
Comments on the Internet aren't real. They don't matter. They rarely (if ever) make any actual difference in our lives unless, of course, we let them. They are like the noise of a traffic jam. Picture yourself trapped on a giant, crowded parking lot of a freeway in Los Angeles during rush hour in a rainstorm where everyone has road rage and PMS and probably caffeine withdrawal too all at once. Imagine the sounds of the honking horns, the yelling, the skidding and braking, tires squealing. But also imagine yourself safe inside your car, ignoring the noise, turning up some NPR and waiting it out. That's what you have to do with comments on the Internet, be they on facebook, in a forum or a Facebook group, the comments section of a blog post or any other form of online communication.
The opinions of total strangers are inconsequential. They are to be taken in stride. A lot of them are seriously bat shit crazy. Case in point: someone managed to somehow, God help them, make my back to school post about the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. I kid you not. That takes some skill. This person was like an advanced level Internet troll to make a leap like that. I was sort of impressed.
Last week my article ended up on the Huffington Post and I was so excited. Having a piece on there has been a long term career goal of mine and I was prepared. My friends started calling me up and asking me if I had seen the comments on there and oh my God people were calling me names!!!
I never read a single one of them. I don't really care if people were calling me names because first of all these people are strangers, their behavior reflects more poorly on them than it ever could on me and I just don't care.
The first rule of fight club, I mean writing for Huffington or any other big online publication is "NEVER READ THE COMMENTS."
You know those jail scenes in movies where someone has to walk through a corridor of cells and the prisoners inside are all going totally ape shit yelling and screaming, spitting, throwing poop and hurling insults? That's Huffington's comment section and you've got to walk through there unscathed, pretending none of it exists. Don't dare engage with the rioters or someone's going to reach out through the bars and wipe his jizz on you. Do not make eye contact with the prisoners under any circumstances.
That's how I maintain my sanity most of the time, but although I have a pretty much iron will about this sort of thing, it can still be hard, and my experience last week has me thinking.
We all need to stop being such assholes on the Internet.
But, duh. That's kind of obvious, right? I think we all know this already as it applies to others, but not to ourselves. So I decided to make a handy guide.
Are You Being An Asshole on the Internet?
1. Are you arguing with a total stranger?
2. Are you mad because someone on the Internet is wrong?
3. Did you read something that pissed you off on the Internet and decide that you needed to respond to it immediately? Like NOW.
4. Were you personally offended by something someone else said or did on the Internet?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions you need to get off of the computer immediately, get a popsicle and go outside and no, you can't bring your phone. You need a break. You are most likely being an asshole on the Internet. If you look up you might see the underside of a bridge because you could very well be a troll.
If you have determined (as hard as it is to admit) that you are at risk for being an asshole on the Internet, please read the following words of advice.
How to Stop Being an Asshole on the Internet
1. Take a deep breath. Step away from the computer or phone or whatever freaking device you are using to be an asshole on the Internet.
2. Gain some perspective. There are many many people in the world who have different opinions than you and that is okay. There are people with different aesthetic preferences, different ideas of what is funny, different thresholds for finding things offensive and different backgrounds that all contributed to their differing worldviews. And we are all going to be okay in spite of this.
3. You aren't going to change anyone's mind by arguing with them on Facebook or in a comments section. I know this is a hard truth to bear, but suck it up and face the facts. Arguing never convinces anyone. It just makes them more mad and more defensive.
4. Pointing out that someone else is wrong doesn't automatically make you right.
5. If you really want to change people's minds and opinions, don't worry about them at all. Live your own best life and be a role model. For example, if you are a vegan animal rights activist, instead of shaming meat eaters and arguing and calling them all murderers, how about let them taste your yummy vegan food? Let them see how healthy your glow is and how great you feel. Then when they ask your secret, tell them it's because you don't eat animal products and leave it at that. If they ask about it, answer their questions. And if they don't ever ask and keep eating steaks? Who cares? Keep doing the thing you love and feel is best for you.
6. Many of the bloodiest Internet arguments I've seen have been between parents with different views on how to best raise kids. Let me end this shit right now. First, kids are pretty resilient. The fact that I survived my childhood and grew up to write this post is testament to that. Second, there's a very wide margin of error in child raising. If children are loved, fed and sheltered they're pretty much going to be okay. If you are really worried about the well being of children then take your smug ass of the computer and save the kids who actually need it, you know, the ones who live in poverty and abuse in our inner-cities and impoverished rural areas. Help the kids who live in shelters, the kids whose mothers' boyfriends beat the crap out of them, the kids who have no access to fresh fruits and have to eat a bag of Cheetos for dinner. Stop bitching out some bedraggled, middle class mom with a blog who stopped breastfeeding after a week and switched to formula and channel your venom into fixing a world where children in the projects actually choke to death on cockroaches. How about that?
7. We are all on our own paths in life. We learn at our own pace through different experiences. Many people's belief systems, especially the ones you think are really messed up, were cemented at a young age. Many people believe the things they do because they were born into certain belief systems. Often, we inherit our opinions from our cultures, religions and families. Sometimes our beliefs are sealed by fear. Some people will be able to change their minds and others won't. That's just the way it goes and you and your online raving isn't going to make much of a dent, so have compassion and try to put yourself in someone else's position, imagining how or why they believe what they do and then leave it alone.
8. Go do something fun. Please. Get out of the house and engage in some real-life, face to face positive human interaction.
9. Make this your new mantra: Just because someone says something doesn't make it true.
10. In the event that you have posted something on the Internet which has inspired comments understand this: no matter what it is, 1/3 of people will love it, 1/3 will be indifferent and 1/3 will hate it. Out of the 1/3 that hate it, a significant portion is likely to
be insane. It's not personal. It's kind of a numbers game and you can't please everyone.
11. By next week the people you're arguing with are likely to have completely forgotten you anyway so who cares?
12. Your opinion, rant, diatribe, etc. ultimately doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. If you are passionate about a topic then go out and actually do something. Take action. You might think that commenting is taking action but it's not. It can be the start of action in the best possible scenario, but usually it isn't.
13. When you bitch someone out, call them names, wish ill will to the mothers of people you have never met and will never meet, you are, alas, only reflecting poorly upon yourself and not the other person. How you act and what you say is always only about you.
14. Audrey Hepburn, the embodiment of grace and class would never have sat behind her keyboard for three hours calling a woman in Nebraska a stupid, twat-licking whore. I'm sorry, but it never would have happened. So before you type, take a moment to ask yourself "Would Audrey Hepburn have said this?" And if the answer is no, which it probably will be, then don't say it. Move on. Be elegant and eloquent like Audrey.
15. Have some ice cream (and yes, I am aware that by including this that someone somewhere is going to read it and blame me for furthering the obesity epidemic and I am fine with that.)
16. And for the love of God, if after all this you still feel you must insult someone or express your distaste for something someone has written, please proofread and check your spelling. Okay?
26 comments:
- Simple Living Los Angeles said...
I've come to the conclusion that people have no lives...
It's not what people say that bothers me..... It's HOW they say it. Punctuation, capitalization, spelling, sentence structure, subject/verb agreement.... that kind of stuff. I don't mind people writing in the manner they might speak. I just hate it when ignorance and stupidity are so evident. And the thing is... they don't even know it. But, I never comment. What would be the use of it. I feel very "trollish", now.
I'm excited to see the comments on this post.
- JoeinVegas said...
What - you ignore my comments? Oh, now I'm just going to have to
Oh, hmm, fudge ripple in the freezer, hmm
- luksky said...
I love this. I believe a lot of (most) people use the internet as a shileld to spew all their emotional baggage all over their chosen victims.
- Unknown said...
Way to be Sweetie!
- Kristen, spinning said...
I agree wholeheartedly and I read somewhere (this is a theme of mine, the I read it somewhere but for the life of me have no idea where) that we need to stop being anonymous. So I have started signing my full, real name. And I wish that you couldn't comment on things unless you had to use your name. I know, I know, there would be ways around it. But surely they could figure something out, these computer wizards? I mean, they can send me targeted ads, right? News organizations should be the first to disallow anonymous. Signed, most sincerely, Kristen McLeod. You can also find me at www.kristenspinning.blogspot.ca.
- Kristen, spinning said...
p.s. congrats on the viral blog thing. it was fantastic. showed up all over my FB page before I even found it on Huffpost. -Kristen McLeod
- Heidi S said...
- Wide Lawns said...
Never Joe.
I think everyone is an a$$hole on the internet sometimes. But it's funny you should post this now, because I had been planning to post a comment about your viral post, though last time I looked it had about 30 comments. The bento boxes and handcrafted Disney character sushi, along with the tales over the top birthday parties, has been under my skin. It's almost as if kids are exotic pets. I wish moms today were spending more of their time and talent as activists--whether about pollution, climate change, violence in schools, or any other cause that will use their talents and nurture their kids' future. Less boredom and more fulfillment for the moms, more independence for the kids.
- Alison said...
You. Rock. That is all.
- Unknown said...
I think we're all overwhelmed with the influence and overwhelming impact that social media is having. There is no balance. There is no sanity. There is one freedom, as you say: walking away. Taking breaks from it. Not taking it too seriously. Having a balanced life where you actually get out in nature or throw a ball instead of clicking keys all day. We're all consumed with growing numbers and increasing our influence and working long hours to make our mark in some way. It's crazy alright. I am on a techno diet, have been for a while. So my website won't grow as fast, who cares. I want a balanced healthy life, and that's a difficult pursuit for all of us in 2014. So Good for YOU. Go get 'em and don't worry about 'em. Let's all watch our manners, be kind, and enjoy our frigging lives :)
I almost feel as though I shouldn't comment. I generally don't follow blogs but I do yours because i Googled how to do something once and your site came up. I was hooked by your top paragraph. Is your new book out on nook yet? I refuse to buy anything on Amazon because (rant omitted :)). SG in NJ
- Jenny Kanevsky said...
Yes. What you said.
- MrsTDJ said...
Totally awesome post!! I ignore lots of comments, especially the one with bad grammar and typos.
Congrats on going viral and getting into the Huffington Post. It was only a matter of time. Sometimes I think we seek out the things that will irritate us: If sanctimonious atheists irritate me so much, then why do I follow Richard Dawkin's tweets??
Hi Victoria! Wide Lawns still rocks, and we love you!!! Janet from Chicago
Very well said. I'm one of those people....I said something to you on your blog without thinking several years ago. You had a very witty reply, and I truly apologize for taking out my personal issues on someone I've never met, or who has never offended me. I wish you well, and thanks for posting this...it's very inspirational, and will remind me to think before I post when I'm angry at myself and at things I can't control. Be well.
This is...AWESOME! I wish everyone on the internet had to read this before they are allowed to post. Granted, for the truly flaming nutballs it wouldn't make a difference...but it might make the mostly rational think for a moment or two. Cheers!
Very well stated. I am one of those jerks who took something you posted years ago personally, and wrote something not so nice. I'm very sorry, and you so put me in my place. :) I still regret it, and I still love your writing. You've made me stop and think. I can still be a jerk, but I am trying to live my life and not take out my issues on the internet. Great post, and best wishes to you. Be well. :)
I stumbled upon your blog after a friend linked one of your posts on FB. You say interesting things, and I like a lot of them. I think there's a place for debating strangers, but the trick is to talk to them as if you'd talk to someone face to face, I think. When people go batshit webtroll on me, I tend to call them out very specifically on their actions and then bounce. At the very least, the "lurkers" might see the exchange and I'll have set a good example. How do you eat an elephant? ;)
Very well said, and shared on facebook
Well said, and timely. A few months ago I saw that some people were commenting on the back to school stories you shared. I thought, really? Are you kidding me? You took the time to write a funny and very true account and these so-called upstanding folks are criticizing you? Over this? Yeah, life's much too short. I nearly chimed in to let them have it, and I, like you, figured it was a waste of time on a waste of space.
You're fabulous and I was tickled when I saw your observation on Huffington Post. Now, if you could just get that book published! I like to lie around and read and I don't want to buy a Kindle, a Nook or whatever else is out there. I like books! Made out of dead trees! :)
- Geri said...
I just found you through the Momastery blog... trying to figure out the viral post!? Love your blog...the name of it... the way you write. You, too, are a truth teller! Excellent post. Agree with other comment that I wish everyone had to read this before using internet. I also loved how a couple people apologized for previous comments... good job people! :)
- Unknown said...
Hi, Victoria! My name is Liz and I'm a student in Dyanne Martin's creative writing class. Professor Martin recommended I read your memoir _Amateur Night at the Bubblegum Kittikat_ seeing as how we are starting writing projects and I have chosen the brilliant option of writing my entire life's fuckery on paper. She informed us that you will be making an appearance in our class and I am thrilled! I thoroughly enjoyed your book, as well as your blogs, and I look forward to meeting you. Keep doing what you're doing and don't let the bastards grind you down!! You've got a fan in me.
About Me
- Wide Lawns
Blog Archive
- ▼ 2014 (39)
- ► 2013 (59)
- ► 2012 (65)
- ► 2011 (134)
- ► 2010 (132)
- ► 2009 (182)
- ► 2008 (212)
- 15 Minute Lunch (My Mom Thinks He's Funnier Than Me)
- A Mom, A Blog, and the Life In-Between
- Anne Nahm
- Be a Fan of Wide Lawns on Facebook
- Bitchypoo
- Blue Lotus (stuff about Japan!!!)
- Boodatude
- Bye Bye Pie
- Catherinette
- Consultant Calamities
- Cryptomundo (in case they catch the Loch Ness Monster)
- Green
- Just Humor Me
- Living In Muddy Waters
- Miss Kitty
- Miss(ed) Manners
- My Friend Hollye's Photography
- No Telling
- Norman
- One Mean MFA
- Plain(s) Feminist
- Platypus
- Sex and the Beach
- Slash Food
- South Florida Daily Blog
- Spooky's Skewed View
- Sprink
- The Insane Waiter
- The New Girl
- Violent Acres
- Whiskey Marie
- Why Architects Drink


text:
Warning! This page documents an earlier version of Telegraf, which is no longer actively developed. Telegraf v1.14 is the most recent stable version of Telegraf.
Telegraf is entirely input driven. It gathers all metrics from the inputs specified in the configuration file.
Usage Instructions
View usage instructions for each input by running
telegraf -usage <input-name>.


text:
A few weeks ago I flew to Chicago, hopped into a rent-a-car, and navigated my way on the tangle of interstate highways to the now mostly former industrial region in the northwest corner of Indiana just off lowest Lake Michigan between the towns of Whiting and Gary. The desolation of human endeavor lay across the land like nausea made visible, but more impressive was how rapid the rise and fall of it all had been. Not much more than 150 years ago this was a region of marshes, dunes, swales, laurel slicks, and little backwater ponds of the huge lake. The forbidding flat emptiness of the terrain made it perfect for running railroad track, and before long much of the heavy industry that epitomized the modern interval opened for business there, downwind from the pulsating new organism called Chicago. The storied steel mills of Gary are gone, and the numberless small shops and sheds that turned out useful widgets exist now, if at all, as ghostly brick and concrete shells along the stupendous grid of highways. The one gigantic enterprise still going was the BP oil refinery, originally the Standard Oil operation, a demonic jumble of pipes, retorts, and exhaust stacks that sprawled over hundreds of acres, with flared off plumes of leaping orange flame from gas too cheap to sell lurid against the Great Lakes sunset in a lower key of rose and salmon pink. The refinery was there to support the only other visible activity in region, which was motoring. In a place so desolate it was hard to tell where everybody was going in such numbers on the endless four-laners. Between the ghostly remnants of factories stood a score of small cities and neighborhoods where the immigrants settled five generations ago. A lot of it was foreclosed and shuttered. They were places of such stunning, relentless dreariness that you felt depressed just imagining how depressed the remaning denizens of these endless blocks of run-down shoebox houses must feel. Judging from the frequency of taquerias in the 1950s-vintage strip-malls, one inferred that the old Eastern European population had been lately supplanted by a new wave of Mexicans. They had inherited an infrastructure for daily life that was utterly devoid of conscious artistry when it was new, and now had the special patina of supernatural rot over it that only comes from materials not found in nature disintegrating in surprising and unexpected ways, sometimes even sublimely, like the sheen of an oil slick on water at a certain angle to the sun. There was a Chernobyl-like grandeur to it, as of the longed-for end of something enormous that hadn't worked out well. Yet people were coming and going in their cars from the welfare ruins of East Chicago to the even more spectacular tatters of Gary, where the old front porches are disappearing into prairie grass and the 20th century retreats into the mists of mythology. For a while, I suppose, people were interested that the Michael Jackson nativity occurred there, but that, too, is a shred of history now merging with the fabled wendigo of the Wyandots and the fate of the North American mastodon. You might draw the conclusion that driving cars is the only activity left in certain parts of the USA. Many of the ones I saw in this forsaken corner of the Midwest were classic beaters occupied by young men in pairs searching, searching, searching. It takes a certain special kind of mental bearing to persist in searching such a place for something that is not there. I was never so glad to get out of a place than those hundred-odd square miles of soured American dreamland. I was driving too, along with everybody else, on the Dan Ryan Expressway (US I-94), and for about 20 miles or so, from Pullman to the West Loop, the traffic barely pulsed along, like the contents in the terminal portion of the human gastrointestinal tract. This is what remains out in the Heartland of our country: a place so dire that you want to race shrieking from it and forget what you saw there. I have a feeling that its agonizing return to nature - or what's left of nature - will not be mitigated by anything Barack Obama or Mitt Romney might propose to do. I wouldn't want to be around when the driving stops.____________________________________
My books are available at all the usual places.
Read more posts on Kunstler.com »


text: "An atmospheric, richly evocative history of modern Cuba. . . . Mr. Symmes digs like a reporter and writes like a novelist."—The New York Times Book Review"Symmes is . . . a superb journalist. His interviews with the Dolorinos form a priceless archive of the Cuban diaspora and argue for the importance of the storyteller's art." —The Washington Post"Vividly original. " —The Boston Globe"What [Symmes] has is heart, and his observations are on the money. A travel writer, Symmes delivers a muscular prose and a keen sense of detail." —The Miami Herald


text:
The Kohls Cares for Kids initiative has several hilarious Skippyjon Jones books (written by Judy Schachner)available for purchase, with some of Skippy's favorite amigos to go with the books. Kohls is supporting children's health and education initiatives nationwide that donates 100 percent of the net profit from every purchase of Kohls Cares for Kids products.
Included in this promotion :
Skippyjon Jones – We meet Skippyjon Jones, a Siamese cat who's got a vivid imagination and a mama who wants him to be a cat. Each is full of silly wordplays, tons of fun rhyming, and lots of Spanish phrases. Children delight in this stories about the lovable Skippyjon Jones!
Skippyjon Jones, Class Action – Skippyjon Jones sneaks into doggy obedience school.
Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House– Skippy is in his room for time-out hides from Bobble-ito with his amigos
Skippyjon Jones, Lost in Space – Skippy is off to prove that Mars is red because it's covered in spicy red pepper.
Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones – Skippyjon Jones heads into dinosaur land to find Skipposaurus. This book and the Skipposaurus plush are available exclusively at Kohls.com!
There are also a backpack for kids and notecards featuring images from various Skippyjon Jones books, and some cookbooks available to support Kohls Cares for Kids: Campbell's Best-Loved Recipes and Crock-Pot Busy Family Recipes.
I'm actually going to order a few of the backpacks- we like to do some school supply donations each year and a $5 backpack is the PERFECT price- plus our help goes a bit further with the proceeds going to children through Kohls as well.
One reader will win a set of the Skippyjon Jones books, one plush from the set, and a cookbook from Kohls Cares for Kids!
Loading Entry-Form
I received a sample of this product to facilitate my review. Opinions are my own.


text:
Sorry, the page you're looking for cannot be found
If you've typed a page URL please check it for errors, then try again.
Alternatively the following information may help you find what you were looking for.
- Use the site search (top right) to find specific information.
- Browse the site - if you position your cursor over the main navigation you can see a list of the content within each section
If you have any questions or problems, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Real-time crash, performance, and business analytics for every native app - whether built on the Appcelerator Platform or directly via iOS or Android SDKs.
Learn from the leaders of the mobile world. Hear first-hand how Appcelerator customers deliver amazing mobile experiences with the Appcelerator Platform.
New to the Appcelerator Platform or mobile apps? Here's everything you need to get moving quickly.
You need to deliver with both speed AND quality. Mobile test automation lets you continuously assess app quality and behavior across all your platforms so as your apps change, your quality doesn't.
Targeted. Concise. Powerful. Quick Bites give easily consumable info on the topics that matter most to the community. Explore and learn.
Jeff Haynie, CEO of Appcelerator, delivers the tiConf US 2014 keynote.


text:
Cornmeal Parker House Rolls
My mom deserves the credit for making this recipe a family tradition. These sweet tender rolls have been on every holiday table at her house for as long as I can remember. —Lisa D. Brenner, Harrisburg, Nebraska
Total TimePrep: 40 min. + rising Bake: 15 min.
Makes2-1/2 dozen
- 1/2 cup butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups 2% milk
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- Optional: Olive oil and balsamic vinegar
- In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the sugar, cornmeal and salt. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 5-10 minutes or until thickened. Cool to 110°-115°.
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add eggs and cornmeal mixture. Beat in enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll out to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Brush with melted butter.
- Using the dull edge of a table knife, make an off-center crease in each roll. Fold along crease so the large half is on top; press along folded edge. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
- Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pans to wire racks. If desired, serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Nutrition FactsNutrition Facts: 1 roll equals 137 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 26 mg cholesterol, 122 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fat.
Every product is independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Recommended Video
Dec 23, 2018
Lots of flavor. Stayed moist for the next day also.
Apr 15, 2008
Remove the cornmeal and you can use the roll dough as bread loaves.


text:
In my previous diary entry, I was all gung-ho and optimistic about actually improving SBCL's support for Unicode; "not all of this is implemented yet", I said. Shortly after beginning to implement the UTF-16 external format, I discovered that the compiler, on x86 only, was miscompiling memory accesses where the offset was of the form (+ variable constant). Because of the release cycle, I then felt that I had to address that (and certain other miscompilation issues that people noticed), with the result that the major achievement in SBCL's Unicode support in the hot-off-the-press 1.0.31 release is that
the EBCDIC-US external-format is now supported for octet operations (as well as for stream operations).Lucky EBCDIC users.