text:
Congressional Oversight Hearings on the Failure of Family and Divorce Courts to Keep America's Children Safe.
The Congress of the United States must immediately be proactive in ensuring the physical and sexual safety of abused children of divorce and separation.
In signing this petition we are demanding that the Congress of the United States hold congressional oversight hearings on the failure of the family and divorce courts, and then enact legislation to protect the constitutional rights of abused children, thereby keeping them safe.
Stop Abuse Campaign
This petition closed over 4 years ago
Just before Christmas when I was 7 years old, I was torn from my loving mother's arms and handed over kicking and screaming to the father who was abusing my brother and me. My Dad had fractured my...
Just before Christmas when I was 7 years old, I was torn from my loving mother's arms and handed over kicking and screaming to the father who was abusing my brother and me. My Dad had fractured my brother's skull by repeatedly slamming him into a wall. He had testified in court that he had broken my Mother's nose three times and dislocated her shoulder while my brother and I watched in horror. To make it even worse, we were denied all contact with our mother- no visits, no calls, not even letters. We loved our Mom so much and suddenly she was just gone. A family court judge had ordered a change in custody for me and my brother Zachary, based largely on the junk science of Parental Alienation Syndrome. The judge never spoke with me or my brother, yet his decision ruined our lives. This judge and the therapists he forced us to see even went so far as to tell us that we were not allowed to even talk about the abuse we continued to suffer at the hands of our father. If we did, or if we tried to show anyone our bruises, then they threatened that we would no longer be allowed to see our mother at all.
It's sad, but Jennifer's story is all too common in America's family courts. Across the country, family and divorce court judges are making decisions that are not in the best interests of the children they are sworn to serve. Contested custody cases - which make up 15% of all divorce cases in the U.S. - are often mishandled, with the worst cases resulting in harmful outcomes for children of divorce. Today, many court professionals have been mistrained to be highly skeptical of reports of domestic violence and child abuse in divorce cases. As a result, children are being taken from safe parents and forced by courts to live in the homes where they report being beaten and raped.
Research shows that when batterers request custody, 7 times out of 10 they receive it*. Even more alarming, research shows that when children report sexual abuse in custody cases, more than 9 out of 10 of them are placed in the partial or full custody of their identified perpetrators**.
Billions of our taxpayer dollars are wasted needlessly every year through this broken system. The outcome is always great suffering for the children, but as we all know, in the most dire cases, it can also lead to their deaths. In fact, a research project tracking custody-related child deaths between 2009 and 2010 identified that a total of 175 news reports were published about children being killed by their abusers during that brief two year period.
The Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence estimates that 58,000 children each year are ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents following divorce in the United States.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found that the failure of the United States to adequately organize its state structure to protect children was not just discriminatory, but also constituted a violation to their right to life.
One recommendation by IACHR is "to adopt multifaceted legislation at the federal and state levels, or reform existing legislation, including protection measures for children in the context of domestic violence. The inter-American system has affirmed for many years that it is not the formal existence of such remedies that demonstrates due diligence, but rather that they are available and effective. Today they are not.
After hearing testimony at a Congressional briefing about the abject failure of family and divorce courts to keep our children safe, Congressman John Conyers was appalled.
He later wrote: "At the Congressional briefing, as the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, I, John Conyers, called for an oversight hearing to assess where we are in our work on the impact of domestic violence on children, and what more can be done."
Click here to read Congressman Conyers complete opinion, "Preventing domestic violence must begin with the children."
The United States must be proactive in ensuring the physical and sexual safety of abused children of divorce. It is imperative that our nation's leaders fix this broken system to ensure that children like Jennifer are protected in the family courts. We demand that Congress hold oversight hearings on the need to reform the U.S. family courts.
Please sign this petition and share it with your friends. Our children are counting on us.
Follow us Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow on Google+ | Follow us on Linked in
*American Judges Association, Domestic Violence and the Court House: Understanding the Problem...Knowing the Victim, 2012
**Neustein & Goetting, Judicial Responses to the Protective Parent's Complaint of Child Sexual Abuse, 1999


text:
Product information
Pay monthly finance
For La-Z-Boy Pittsburgh 4 Seater Curved Power Recliner Sofa
(Minimum spend to make an application for finance £310.)
|Dimensions (approx)
|A Height
|104.0 cm
|40.9 inch
|B Width
|311.0 cm
|122.4 inch
|C Depth
|98.0 cm
|38.6 inch
|E Seat Height
|55.0 cm
|21.7 inch
|F Seat Depth
|52.0 cm
|20.5 inch
|G Arm Height
|69.0 cm
|27.2 inch
La-Z-Boy is a famous American sofa brand, who proudly claim to offer the world's bestselling recliner sofas and recliner chairs. ScS is very proud to have been chosen to be the only national retailer in the UK to sell the La-Z-Boy brand, offering an exclusive collection of styles and designs.
The La-Z-Boy Pittsburgh sofa collection combines luxury chenille fabric and foam seat interiors, making this a stylish and comfortable addition to any home.
With a range of modern colour options, each piece is complete with supersoft chenille fabric,contrast piping to make your sofa really stand out, foam seat interiors as standard and high back designs ensuring maximum comfort and support. Available in the collection are four sizes of static, manual or power reclining sofas, two styles of chairs and coordinating storage footstool.
Make the La-Z-Boy Pittsburgh sofa collection even more affordable and take advantage of our 4 years interest free credit offer, 0% APR representative.
- La-Z-Boy famous sofa brand
- Static, manual or power reclining sofas and chairs available
- Foam seat interiors as standard
- Split sofas available for ease of delivery
- Compact and curved sofas available to suit all room shapes and sizes
- 20-year frame guarantee
- Sofas manufactured in the UK exclusively for ScS

subset: commoncrawl


text:
OTTAWA, CANADA--(Marketwired - July 23, 2014) - Wi-LAN Inc. ("WiLAN" or the "Company") (TSX:WIN)(NASDAQ:WILN) will release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 on July 30, 2014.
Following the release of its second quarter 2014 financial results, WiLAN will host a conference call and audio webcast with
Jim Skippen, CEO and Shaun McEwan, CFO at 10:00 AM Eastern Time the same day.
About WiLAN
WiLAN, founded in 1992, is a leading technology innovation and licensing company. WiLAN has licensed its intellectual property to over 280 companies worldwide. Inventions in our portfolio have been licensed by companies that manufacture or sell a wide range of communication and consumer electronics products including 3G and 4G handsets, Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, Wi-Fi and broadband routers, xDSL infrastructure equipment, cellular base stations and digital TV receivers. WiLAN has a large and growing portfolio of more than 4,000 issued or pending patents. For more information: www.wilan.com.
Forward-looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other United States and Canadian securities laws. The phrases "will release", "will host" and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are based on estimates and assumptions made by WiLAN in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that WiLAN believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause WiLAN's actual performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation, the risks described in WiLAN's February 3, 2014 annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2013 (the "AIF"). Copies of the AIF may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov. WiLAN recommends that readers review and consider all of these risk factors and notes that readers should not place undue reliance on any of WiLAN's forward-looking statements. WiLAN has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
All trademarks and brands mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners.
Contact Information:
Tyler Burns
Director, Investor Relations


text:
The Content Query Web Part is one of the most powerful web parts which is provided by the SharePoint Server Publishing Framework (it is not available with SharePoint Foundation). It allows you to roll up information within a SharePoint site collection for display on a web page by letting you build queries through simple configuration of the different available web part properties. The Content Query web part leverages caching and performance optimization techniques and avoids the use of custom code.
While the out of the box CQWP is quite powerful you will see some that in most cases you will need extra configuration and customization. This has however become a lot simpler in SharePoint 2010 by the introduction of slots. So how does this work. Steps to get going:
- Create a new item style template file e.g. customitemstyle.xsl and upload it to the style library – see How to: Customize styles in SharePoint Server 2010 for a more detailed description. In this example I created a new itemstyle template
- Configure your Content Query web part using the different properties in the web part pane
- Export the configured Content Query web part to your desktop and modify the .webpart file. Change the ItemXsLink property and point it to the previously uploaded customitemstyle.xsl
<property name="ItemXslLink" type="string">/Style Library/XSL Style Sheets/customitemstyle.xsl</property>
- Upload the web part definition again and add it to the page. Click "edit web part" and open the web part tool pane. You will notice that within the Presentation> Styles section, you are able to select the newly created itemstyle template that you added in customitemstyle.xsl. After selecting it and clicking apply you will notice that the "CreatedBy" marker that you specified in your custom item style template is now appearing within the tool pane. These markers within the item style are called slots and can be filled with content at runtime.
Once you define slots in the itemstyle.xsl these are picked up by the Content Query Web Part and shown in the web part tool pane so that you can map these to specific fields. Using the "slots" concept you can define reusable XSL templates. This also means that you don't need to use the "CommonViewfields" property anymore as defined in SharePoint Server 2007 – this is a thing of the past (See Displaying Custom Fields in Content Query Web Parts in Office SharePoint Server 2007)
If you want to delve a little deeper and see some practical examples of the Content Query Web Part check out these links:
- What's new with the Content Query Web Part in SharePoint 2010
- Displaying a links lists in the CQWP (SP2010)
- Content Query Web Part – Common Enhancements
- http://spxslt.codeplex.com/
- XSLT Point – some XSL stylesheets to debug Content Query WebPart, Summary Links WebPart and Table of Contents WebPart
- Generating short description using the Content Query Web Part
- Adding table headers and or footers to a Content Query Web part
- Display News pages with CQWP – Part I


text:
Das Foto zeigt das Rathaus in Gemünden, von der Scherenburg aus gesehen.
Übrigens: Von hier oben haben Sie einen wunderschönen Weitblick in das Maintal.
Bikers are more than welcome in the riverside town of Gemünden. Here, where the Franconian Saale, the Sinn and in the city quarter Wernfeld the river Wern come together, also for bikers all the routes come together. With the excellent five-star Main bike path, the four-star route "From Main to Rhön" along the Sinn valley, the small but fine Wern bike route and the bike path along the Franconian Saale, the city offers the ideal starting point for touring the surrounding area.
For mountain bikers the ranges of the hills between the river valleys and the slopes of Spessart and Vor-Rhön offer various trails for diverse tours.


text:
Dinner and a Movie
Here it is the end of February, the month I most closely associate with chocolate, and I haven't posted about chocolate even once. I've thought about it. I've compared it, I've sampled it, I've even cooked with it, but for some reason I haven't written about it.
But then I found something that caught my eye, Dinner and a Movie at No Recipes and Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. I have a passion for movies and food movies in particular so I wanted to participate. And what could be a more perfect movie for a February round-up than "Chocolat"?
For this event we are free from major rules and asked to create something, anything, inspired by the movie. I suppose it could have been a healing bowl of chicken soup, an herbal remedy, healthy dog biscuits or Kangaroo Stew, but really, it seems that all I can think about when I watch the movie is chocolate and chile peppers, two things I am very fond of.
I did watch the movie again, looking for inspiration. I noticed how the movie is set in the season of Lent. In the movie Comte de Reynauld insists that the community should give up chocolate, among other indulgences, for Lent. He makes it a matter of public morality. Unfortunately as a by-product he also encourages them to give up good manners, hospitality, and an opportunity for healing as they make a show of their abstinance. He encourages them to be closed to relationships instead of reaching out in love.
Normally giving up something for Lent seems like a personal matter. It is a small reminder to focus on God as we deny ourselves some indulgence in this world. It is a personal reminder to look to what the narrator suggests, the larger lessons that need to be taught. At least that's how I think I see Lent.
Artisanal Chocolate
Thinking of creativity and chocolate takes me back to a great series by Stef at Food Interviews as she talked with Art from Amano Chocolate. Art makes small batch artisanal chocolate from single origin cacoa beans. Art is passionate about chocolate and is involved in the process from "bean to bar." The series of interviews was fascinating! I eagerly read each segment and even won some of Art's wonderful chocolate.
Since I received my chocolate, I must confess, I've been hoarding it. I've kept it in my own secret stash, waiting for just the right time to use it. Finally this felt like the right time to let it go. Still, this chocolate is special and since it is specifically made without added flavorings, so that the cocoa beans can "really speak for themselves," I wanted to use it in a recipe that was fairly pure. After some thought, I decided to make truffles.
The Recipe
I've made truffles before. I made some wonderful truffles last year. This time, inspired by another recipe in "Table for Two: French Recipes for Romantic Dining," I decided to try something both a little more rustic and a little more complex.
All of this was composed in two sizes. A single rounded teaspoon sized truffle on a small sauce tray for just a hint of dessert at the end of a meal. With coffee or liqueur this size offers a nice restrained finish to a memorable meal, without a hint of overindulgence, and offers a taste of this fabulous chocolate to a larger number of guests. I also made it in a larger full sized dessert for a more traditional ending to a dinner party or other occasion.
Chocolate Islands in Crème Anglaise
Basic Truffle
½ cup heavy cream
6 ozs chocolate, chopped
Set the chopped chocolate in a bowl.
Heat the cream over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for a minute or two. Stir the chocolate and cream together.
Place in the refrigerator to set for several hours.
When the mixture is fairly firm scoop out rounded teaspoon sized balls with a cookie scooper and roll each in cocoa powder, or use a larger 2 tablespoon sized scoop for larger truffles that you might make into a flattened egg shape. Roll in cocoa powder.
Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Crème Anglaise
From Joy of Baking
Set out a medium bowl with a wire mesh strainer.
Stir together egg yolks and sugar with a wire whisk. Set aside. (Don't let the eggs sit too long.)
In a small to medium saucepan, scald the half and half with the vanilla bean placed in it over medium low heat. (I use a three quart saucepan with high sides.)
When the half and half is just below the boiling point and bubbles form around the edge of the saucepan remove it from the heat.
Pour a small amount of the scalded half and half into the egg yolk mixture as you whisk.
When the vanilla bean is cool enough to handle, split it lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the Crème Anglaise. Whisk until the seeds are evenly distributed.
Store the Crème Anglaise in the refrigerator for several days if desired. Store it with the vanilla bean in it for maximum flavor. Remove the vanilla bean pod before serving.
Assemble dessert by scooping out a pool of crème anglaise onto a saucer or into a small dish. Drop one chocolate truffle into the pool. Sprinkle a pinch of ancho chili powder (or cinnamon if you prefer) over the truffle and into the cream. Garnish with white chocolate curls and/or other chocolate bits.
Serve and enjoy!
Note: These recipes are versatile. Other flavors might be added to the truffle mixture or the Crème Anglaise, if desired. Experiment.
For a denser, less creamy but more substantive, truffle I also tried the recipe from "Table for Two..." It takes a few more ingredients but is very delicious. I can't really say which is my favorite. I enjoyed them both. Floating in a sea of Crème Anglaise it would be hard to leave behind either island.
Chocolate Truffles
Changed slightly from a recipe in "Table for Two: French Recipes for Romantic Dining"
5 oz dark chocolate
1 teaspoon milk
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon liqueur (kahlua)
1 Tablespoon cocoa
Break chocolate into pieces and melt with 1 teaspoon milk in the top of a double boiler. When smooth, remove from heat.
Refrigerate mixture until firm, approximately 2 hours.
When chilled, scoop the chocolate mixture into flattened ovals (or ice-cream shaped scoops or other shape of your choice) of approximately 2 Tablespoons each. Roll in cocoa powder.
Chill until serving time.


text:
Designed by Georgette Dell'Orco
If this one looks familiar, that's because it is! It was on the Hoffman website for a year and a half. Now, it's ours again and we have refined the directions and added sizes!
This wonderful design makes a classically stunning quilt, and the Strip Tube Ruler™ makes it a breeze!
The pattern includes instructions for:
• Wall Hanging
• Throw
• Twin
• Queen
• King
View Fabric Requirements


text:
(a) Each nursing home subject to the provisions of this article shall hold in a separate account and in trust each resident's personal funds deposited with the nursing home.
(b) No person may use or cause to be used for any purpose the personal funds of any resident admitted to any such nursing home unless consent for the use thereof has been obtained from the resident or from a committee or guardian or relative.
(c) Each nursing home shall maintain a true and complete record of all receipts for any disbursements from the personal funds account of each resident in the nursing home, including the purpose and payee of each disbursement, and shall render a true account of such record to the resident or his or her representative upon demand and upon termination of the resident's stay in the nursing home.
(d) Any person or corporation who violates any subsection of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned in jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(e) Reports provided to review organizations are confidential unless inaccessibility of information interferes with the secretary's ability to perform his or her oversight function as mandated by federal regulations and this section.
(f) Notwithstanding §16-5C-18(b) of this code or any other provision of this code, upon the death of a resident, any funds remaining in his or her personal account shall be made payable to the person or probate jurisdiction administering the estate of said resident: Provided, That if after 30 days there has been no qualification over the decedent resident's estate, those funds are presumed abandoned and are reportable to the State Treasurer pursuant to the West Virginia Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, §36-8-1 et seq. of this code.


text:
Performance Radiator
Keeping your high performance engine cool is must especially in the heat of the summer. High performance vehicles demand a high performance aluminum radiator to keep them cool. Vivid Racing's aftermarket radiators are a great investment in the longevity of your engine. Racing radiators, high performance radiators, aluminum radiators and radiator parts are our specialty. So buy an aluminum racing radiator online with Vivid Racing. You won't be sorry you did. We back our performance radiators with a personal guarantee of satisfaction.
Now that you have decided to make that smart investment in a new performance aluminum radiator. you are going to need some more parts to complete your project. Maybe some cool looking colored radiator hoses to dress up the engine compartment. What about a radiator cap or a new radiator shroud. Don't forget the radiator fluid!
Vivid Racing carries high performance parts for almost any need. Click these links to chose from our selection of Body Kits, Big Brake Kits, Seats, Custom Wheels and Tires, Engine Parts, Exhaust Parts, Intakes, Suspension and Transmission parts.
Buy online or give one of our world class sales professionals a call at 1-480-966-3040 If you don't see what you are looking for Call Us. We can help. Vivid Racing was voted #1 in customer service nationwide!
Hands-On Experience and Professionalism is what makes us the best!
Vivid Racing carries performance aluminum radiators for most performance cars. Here are just a few.
Please use the vehicle selector at the top left if you do not see your vehicle above.
Vivid Racing carries aftermarket performance aluminum radiators from all the top manufacturers in the automotive industry. Our manufacturers include: Agency Power, Blitz, BMW, Greedy, Koyo, Megan Racing, Mishimoto Radiators, Power Enterprises, PWR, SSP, Stillen and Switzer Radiators.
LOOKING FOR OEM PARTS? We can help.
Are you tired of paying overly inflated prices that the dealers charge for their parts? Vivid Racing can save you up to 60% off the dealers prices. Click here to visit our OEM PARTS STORE.


text:
Monday marks the start of ozone season in North Carolina, but it's more a technicality than reality this year.
Regardless, it's a reminder of the potential health problems we'll all face in coming months across the region.
The ozone season stretches from April through October, and the N.C. Division of Air Quality will issue daily forecasts for the Charlotte, Hickory, Asheville, Fayetteville, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Raleigh-Durham and Rocky Mount areas.
Ozone is the state's most widespread air quality program, state officials say, and it surfaces in the summer. When ozone levels are high, people with chronic respiratory problems can experience breathing troubles. High ozone levels are most likely on sunny, calm, hot days in metropolitan areas.
Ozone also can cause damage to trees and crops.
The daily air quality forecasts offer a prediction on the level of ozone and particle pollution for the following day.
The levels range from Green (good), to Yellow (moderate), and then to Orange or Red for unhealthy levels. On Code Orange and Code Red days, people are advised to limit their outdoor activities.
When I mentioned that the start of the ozone season was a "technicality" this year, it's because temperatures have been too chilly for ozone problems. And it doesn't look as if things will change anytime soon. More colder-than-average weather is forecast for next week.
Eventually, however, the blocking pattern over the northern latitudes will break down, summer weather will assert itself, and we'll be worrying about ozone and particulate pollution again.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Ozone season starting ... technically
Monday marks the start of ozone season in North Carolina, but it's more a technicality than reality this year.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
A different way of measuring March's misery
We're nearing the end of what, by National Weather Service standards, will be the coldest March in Charlotte in more than 40 years.
The Weather Service measures monthly temperatures by compiling daily averages. In other words, you take the daily high and low temperatures, and get an average for the day. And for the month, you get an average of the daily averages.
By that measurement, we're on pace for the fifth or sixth coldest March in Charlotte history, somewhere around 5 degrees below average.
But here's another way of measuring just how miserable it has been in recent weeks -- by looking at afternoon high temperatures.
Most people don't have to deal with morning low temperatures. They're snug and warm, inside their homes or possibly already at work. Afternoon highs are a different story. We're walking home from school, getting in our cars to come home from work, trying to play scholastic or amateur sports, or doing any of a number of other things.
The point is ... we're out there, in it.
I've taken a look at how our afternoon high temperatures in Charlotte have compared to the daily averages, and the pattern is obvious.
We were mild for the beginning of winter -- through December and January, and into the middle of February. That's when a high-latitude blocking pattern became established, creating a kink in the jet stream that sent repeated bursts of polar air into the eastern United States.
Here's how our daily highs have compared to average:
DECEMBER ... 24 days above average; 7 days below.
JANUARY ... 18 days above average; 3 days average; 10 days below.
FEBRUARY ... 11 days above average; 17 days below.
MARCH ... 8 days above average; 20 days below.
So since Dec. 1, we've had above-average daytime temperatures about 55 percent of the time.
Now here's the interesting statistic:
SINCE FEB. 15 ... 10 days above average; 31 days below.
In other words, since the middle of last month, our daytime highs have been below average about 75 percent of the time. And on many of those days, highs were well below average.
It's a statistical look at the reason why many people are eagerly awaiting a warm-up.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Will it finally warm up in April?
Now that we've suffered through several weeks of unseasonably cold weather and are headed for one of the coldest months of March in Charlotte weather history, can we hope for something better in April?
The answer is "yes" -- sort of.
Climatology -- the increasing angle of the sun, the inevitable march toward summer -- will help insure that the pattern which has brought a winter-like chill to the Carolinas and the rest of the eastern United States this month will relent in April.
But don't expect the cold-weather switch to be turned off abruptly.
We'll begin to see better weather, as early as this weekend, but the progress into spring won't be smooth. And frequently in April, I think we'll be on the edge between warm weather and the chilly stuff.
First, a review.
The Greenland block -- high pressure at upper latitudes -- that some weather followers had been expecting all winter finally arrived in March. Strong high pressure in the area near Greenland blocked the typical west-to-east jet stream pattern. Instead, it created a bend in the jet stream, which nose-dived from western Canada into the eastern United States.
That brought a persistent flow of cold air into our region.
The lower end of that buckled jet stream will retreat northward, beginning this weekend. But it won't disappear.
Most meteorologists expect the blocking pattern to remain intact for much of April. The only difference is it won't be as persistent in the southern United States. Draw a line from Richmond, to southern West Virginia, across southern Kentucky, and into Missouri. Area north of that line can expect to remain in the colder air for the next few weeks, still under the influence of the blocking pattern.
Down here in the Carolinas, we'll see periods of warm weather.
But every now and then -- maybe once a week, for a day or two -- the jet stream will dive southward into the Carolinas briefly. That will bring a short period of much cooler weather, before the jet stream pushes back to the north.
It means we'll have several days in the 60s and 70s, but a back-door cold front will push into the region from the north, and we'll have two days of cold-air damming -- with temperatures in the 50s and a chilly breeze.
The best guess among meteorologists is that the pattern will come to an end in later April.
Basically, this means our weather is about three to four weeks behind schedule. These inconsistent stretches -- a few mild days, then a day or two of chill -- are more common in March.
This also means severe weather is less likely in April than later this spring. We'll talk more about this later in the week, but springtime severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are more likely to the south and west of the buckled jet stream -- in places like Arkansas, Louisiana, western Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and southern Georgia.
Monday, March 25, 2013
End of the cold in sight ... but in time for Easter?
The blocking pattern and unseasonably cold weather across the eastern United States is holding tough Monday, with a snowstorm pounding parts of the Middle Atlantic after burying the Midwest and Ohio Valley.
And it appears as if temperatures that are 10 to 20 degrees below seasonal averages will continue for the rest of the week.
But there also are signs that the end is coming for this miserable start of the spring season.
The changing pattern will begin this weekend and be really noticeable next week, if you believe what many of the computer models and long-range forecasters are dishing up.
Charlotte's temperatures this month have been well below average. We've reached average daily highs about a half-dozen days, and our overall temperature for the month is more than 4 degrees below average. To give you some perspective, we're a staggering 14 to 15 degrees colder each day this month than last March (which, granted, was the second-warmest on record).
More below-average weather is likely through Friday, with highs around 50 degrees Monday and Tuesday, then into the middle 50s Wednesday through Friday.
The first landmark -- 60 degrees -- appears reachable Saturday. That should be accompanied by plenty of sunshine, after after the morning chill wears off, the day could be quite nice.
Then on Easter, we'll have a shot at reaching our average high for the date, 67 degrees.
Easter sunrise services should be OK, with dry weather and temperatures in the lower 40s. By late Sunday, an approaching cold front could bring showers, but the day figures to be OK, on the whole.
It's next week when the computer-generated forecasts point to a warmup. Students enjoying spring break from the area's public schools could be playing in 70-degree weather several days next week. And it appears as if the trend will continue beyond that -- with an occasional cooler day mixed in.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Early Easter forecast: Not great
The combination of an early Easter and a late-season outbreak of cold weather could add up to a nasty holiday weekend.
Easter is about 10 days away, and 10-day forecasts aren't the most reliable thing in the world. But odds are that the current pattern won't end by then.
The eastern half of the United States is locked in a mid-winter pattern, with high pressure near Greenland blocking the typical west-to-east flow of systems. Instead, the jet stream has buckled, allowing very cold air to funnel from the Arctic into the continental United States.
A storm system that will cross the country this weekend will bring snow -- some of it heavy -- to the Ohio Valley and parts of the Mid-Atlantic region. For the Charlotte region, the weekend will be a chilly washout. Rain will fall Friday night and again Saturday night, and temperatures will remain about 10 degrees below average.
Often, a pattern like this lasts a few days and then breaks. But there will be no let-up next week. Colder-than-average temperatures will continue to dominate the East, and it appears as if that pattern will continue through Easter weekend. Some computer models indicate a rain-producing system will cross the area on the day before Easter, but I wouldn't worry too much about that yet. It's too early to pinpoint the development of low pressure systems.
But we likely can count on high temperatures only in the 50s.
It's starting to look as if the pattern might break a couple days after Easter. When that happens, we'll probably experience a rather rapid warm-up.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Spring? Not for 2 weeks, computers say
It's getting more obvious by the day that the atmospheric blocking pattern I wrote about Monday will have a profound effect on weather in the Charlotte region, the Carolinas, and the eastern United States for the next few weeks.
If you take the computer models at face value, it appears as if we won't see any prolonged spring weather until at least the period around April 7-10.
That includes prospects of a chilly Easter weekend, late-season frost and freeze, and even a chance of snow this weekend in the northern part of North Carolina (especially the mountains).
First, a review. The Atlantic Oscillation (AO) has gone strongly negative, and with high pressure in place near Greenland, we have a classic "blocking pattern" across the eastern United States. That means the jet stream has a big kink, allowing very cold air from Canada and points north to race southward, into the eastern United States.
At the same time, any storm system that glides from the Pacific into the continental United States will encounter this cold air, and we face the possibility of wintry weather -- even though the calendar says "spring."
Such an event is taking place today in New England, with heavy snow forecast for places like Hartford and Boston, and up into Quebec. Air travel to places like Hartford, Boston, Montreal and Portland (Maine) could be impacted.
As a series of cold fronts moves across the Carolinas over the next few days, there could be a bit of mountain snow.
Certainly, ski slope operators and ski enthusiasts will love all this. The ski season, which ended very early in 2011 and 2012, apparently will continue into April this year in the North Carolina mountains.
By this weekend, the computer models continue to advertise the development of two storm systems. It's the second system, expected to move through the area later Sunday and Monday, that bears watching. Cold air will be locked firmly in place across the Carolinas, in a "wedge" pattern as was the case Monday.
In Charlotte, for example, I could see Sunday's temperatures stuck in the upper 30s and low 40s again.
The models can't seem to agree -- as usual -- on the path of the Sunday storm. The trend seems to be pointing toward a snowfall for the Ohio Valley and Middle Atlantic. But there could be wintry precipitation north of Interstate 40 at lower altitudes.
And there doesn't seem to be any sign of a temperature recovery to average levels (middle and upper 60s) next week -- at least, not for anything more than one day at a time. The trend seems to be for below-average temperatures through Easter, and for that matter, through the first week of April.
We'll continue to watch this pattern in coming days.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Cold air floodgates opened
Snow-lovers waited impatiently throughout the winter for a strong negative Atlantic Oscillation (AO) to develop, and it never really happened.
Now, on the week when the calendar switches from winter to spring, the AO has gone strongly negative.
That's why the Carolinas -- and, for that matter, most of the eastern United States -- are in for a week of chilly weather. Someone to our north could be facing a big snowstorm later in the week, before the pattern changes.
The Atlantic Oscillation is one of several atmospheric steering patterns, and when the AO goes negative, it means steering currents are carrying cold air from Canada or even the Arctic into the eastern United States. In the winter, a negative AO puts the Carolinas in position for snow, sleet or freezing rain, because temperatures are cold enough for frozen precipitation if a storm system comes through.
The AO went negative a few times during the recent winter, but its impact was blunted by another pattern -- the Pacific Oscillation. Persistent low pressure off the West Coast often blocked cold air from pushing into the United States.
Now the Pacific pattern is not blocking the cold air, so temperatures that are well below average are likely during the next week in the Carolinas and elsewhere in the East.
And by the weekend, a couple of storm systems are expected to move across the United States.
If this were January or February, we'd be on "snow watch." But it's March. Average temperatures are almost 15 degrees warmer now in Charlotte than in early January, so an outbreak of cold air and a storm system probably means chilly rain, rather than snow.
Indications are that the cold pattern will persist for about 7 to 10 days before relenting. If this pans out, we'll have milder weather again by Easter.
But it will be chilly, especially Friday through Sunday, thanks to the long-overdue negative AO.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
(Official) winter ends with question marks
The last few days of "official" winter will end with an uncertain forecast in the Charlotte region, and that includes the weekend, meteorologists say.
Meteorological winter ended Feb. 28, but according to the calendar, spring doesn't start until later next week.
There have been a few mild days this month, but for the most part, it has been chilly and rather wet. That trend could continue later this week.
A gradual warming trend is expected to start Friday, and originally, the weekend forecast was superb. Meteorologists were predicting highs near 70 degrees Saturday and in the middle to upper 60s Sunday. That could change -- in a downward direction.
A "back door" cold front is predicted to push southward Saturday. A "back door" front is one that moves south to north, rather than the typical west to east. When back door fronts move southward into South Carolina, a cold air wedge often becomes established in North Carolina -- with a northeast wind off the ocean, lots of clouds, chilly temperatures, and a bit of rain.
Computer models are wrestling with the southward movement of the back door front. If it stays north of Charlotte, we would have a very warm weekend. If it pushes into South Carolina, our weekend weather could be chilly and damp.
The uncertainty extends into the beginning of next week.
The good thing about cool weather and rain is its impact on agricultural and horticultural interests. With temperatures remaining below average, the water evaporation rate from the soil has been a lot lower than during March 2012, which was a record-setter for warmth.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Winter is dead
Stick a fork in it.
Winter 2012-13 is finished. You might want to remember this column, in case it snows some morning in late March, but I don't see that happening.
The storm system that swept from the Midwest across West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland before going offshore earlier this week was our last chance at a real winter storm. Computer models earlier had pointed to the Carolinas as a possible target, but high pressure over the Northeast wasn't as strong as first thought. That allowed the big storm to stay north of the Charlotte region.
We certainly won't be vaulting straight into 80-degree weather. There is quite a bit of consensus among the computer models and meteorologists that temperatures overall for the next few weeks will be generally in the vicinity of seasonal averages.
Our average high temperature at this time of year is 61 degrees.
It looks as if we'll have a lot of 60s between now and the end of the month -- with a few days in the 70s and a few in the 50s mixed in.
But there is no sign of real cold weather that would allow a passing storm system to drop snow in our region.
For the record, we got 2.7 inches of snow in Charlotte, which fell Feb. 16. A trace of snow fell several other times, and we had the one January encounter with sleet and freezing rain. But we managed to avoid a devastating ice storm again. Our snowfall total was about half the seasonal average for Charlotte.
I suspect statistics will show that temperatures this winter were around average, but it seems as if we had an awful lot of chilly days, especially since mid-January. I'll look closer at the numbers in the next few days.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Wednesday -- next (last?) chance for snow
Winter is certainly not ended in North Carolina's mountains, with up to 5 inches expected this weekend in some of the higher elevations.
But time is running out for snowfall in the Piedmont and foothills.
Our Charlotte weather history is loaded with cases when snow fell in the latter two-thirds of March, but a lot of the long-range forecasts indicate warming will arrive in the Carolinas later next week, perhaps bringing an end to the chance of a sustained outbreak of cold, like we're in right now.
So what's left on the horizon for snow-lovers?
A weak system will cross the region Saturday, and it's possible a few areas could see a brief snow shower, perhaps heavy enough to coat the ground for a while. But meteorologists say the impulse doesn't have the clout of a system that moved through the Charlotte area two weeks ago, leaving a 2-inch snowfall.
Instead, Saturday's precipitation more likely will be in the form of a cold rain, or perhaps a rain-snow mix.
Perhaps snow-lovers should look to Wednesday.
A strong upper-level low pressure system is expected to cross the eastern United States on Tuesday and Wednesday. As has been the case all winter, temperatures will be at the critical point -- on the edge between rain and snow.
And has also been the case, the computer models are waffling all over the place on the track of the system. Some predictions take the storm far to the north of the Charlotte region. Others are south. Still others have the storm dumping several inches of snow in the area.
The consensus seems to be that precipitation would begin as rain, then change to snow as the storm pushes away.
It probably will be Monday before we have a better idea about this, but I'll keep an eye on things this weekend and post updates.
After Wednesday's storm, it appears as if a warm-up will arrive. I saw a discussion from government meteorologists early Friday that described Wednesday's storm as probably the last chance for measurable snow at lower elevations this season.
We could be looking at upper 60s for high temperatures next weekend, according to some forecasts.


text:
Full-featured Ubuntu online installation using kickstart by jhansonxi
This is an elaborate fault-tolerant Kickstart script for an on-line Ubuntu installation, optimized for home users, with extensive remote administration support and documentation. Not recommended for beginners.
This isn't just another trivial automated installation script although it started out that way. Basic installation presets led to integrated bug workarounds, setting defaults for many applications and servers, more features, etc. While you may disagree with some of my package choices, they were selected for my clients - not you. Change it if you have different needs. First, a little background on my deployments.
All of my clients have cheap desktop systems or laptops, usually outdated. Almost any CPU, chipset, GPU, and drive configuration. They're either stand-alone or connected together on small Ethernet networks. Some have broadband, some only dial-up (POTS). Ages vary from toddlers to senior citizens. A few are Windows gamers. This mix results in a wide variety of system hardware, peripherals, application requirements, and configurations. I've had to deal with most every type of kernel, application, and hardware bug. Every deployment unearths a new bug to fight. Some of these are Ubuntu's fault but many are upstream.
Inevitably I spend many hours doing full OS conversions to Ubuntu or dual-boot configurations. I've found that using a Live CD to install Ubuntu is about 4x faster than installing Windows when drivers, updates, and application installs are figured in. While I could set up slipstream builds of Windows I don't install it enough to bother with and the variety of versions (Home, Pro, upgrade, OEM,...) and licenses makes it impractical. Relatively speaking, I spend about 3x as long transferring documents, settings, and game/application files (scattered all over C:) to Ubuntu than I do installing either it or Windows. But I'll take any time savings I can get.
A while back, when Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) was released, I decided to streamline my installations. This wasn't just to save time. I also needed to make my installations more uniform as I couldn't remember all the various tweaks and bug fixes that I performed from installation to the next.
I had several goals for this project, not necessarily all at the beginning as some were the result of test installs, client feedback, and feature creep.
- Fix all the bugs that my clients encountered on their existing installs plus all the other Ubuntu annoyances I've been manually correcting.
- Do everything the "correct way" instead of blindly following HOW-TOs from amateurs that involved script and text file hacking that would be lost on the next update. I had to learn proper use of Gconf, PolicyKit, Upstart, init scripts, and dpkg.
- Configure all of the network features that my clients had asked for, usually file or peripheral sharing. Internet content filtering for kids was a requirement.
- Secure remote access and administration. It's bad enough when a client has a software problem. Having to waste time with an on-site visit is idiotic when it's not an Internet access problem and a broadband connection is available. The same kickstart configuration can be used for both an "administration" system as well as clients. Having them nearly identical makes both remote and verbal support easier.
- Make it easier to obtain diagnostic and status information, for me and the client.
- Research applications that meet customer needs and are stable. Configure them so the customer doesn't need to.
- Document everything, especially anything I spent significant time researching.
On all of these I mostly succeeded. There are still a few gaps but they're minor (for my deployments at least) but after working on this for 18 months I needed to get on with my life. I figure that after a few million deployments I should break even. I'm now busy updating the dozen or so I currently have.
So what's in it? The base is just a plain 10.04 (i386 or amd64) installation. Two reasons for that - it's the LTS release and I didn't have time to upgrade to newer releases or workaround their new bugs. It's supported for another year or so. I probably update it for 12.04 after it is released (and clean up my code). Highlights:
Apache. Used for sharing the public directory (see below) and accessing the various web-based tools. The home page is generated from PHP and attempts to correct for port-forwarding (SSH tunnel) if it detects you are not using port 80.
Webmin. It's the standard for web-based administration. I added a module for ddclient (Dynamic DNS). The module is primitive but usable and I fixed the developer's Engrish.
DansGuardian. Probably three months work on just this. For content filtering there isn't really anything else. Unfortunately it has almost no support tools so I had to write them. Most of these have been announced in previous blog postings although they've been updated since then. The most complicated is "dg-squid-control" which enables/disables Squid, DansGuardian, and various iptables rules. Another loads Shalla's blacklist. It doesn't have system group integration so I wrote "dg-filter-group-updater" to semi-integrate it. There are four filter groups - no access, restricted (whitelist with an index page), filtered, and unrestricted. I added a Webmin module for it I found on Sourceforge. It's not great but makes it easier to modify the grey and exception lists. Included are lists I wrote that allow access to mostly kid sites (a couple of hundred entries). The entries have wiki-style links in comments that are extracted by "dg-filter-group-2-index-gen" to create the restricted index page. There's a How-To page for proxy configuration that users are directed to when they try to bypass it.
The only limitation is that browser configurations are set to use the proxy by default but dg-squid-control doesn't have the ability to reset them if the proxy is disabled. I spent two weeks working on INI file parsing functions (many applications still use this bad Windows standard for configuration files). While they seem to work I need to significantly restructure the tool to make use of them.
DansGuardian had no development for a few years but recently a new maintainer is in charge and patches are being accepted. Hopefully full system account integration will be added.
UFW. The Uncomplicated Firewall is a front-end to iptables and there is a GUI for it. One feature it has is application profiles, which make it easy to create read-to-use filter rules. I created about 300 of them for almost every Linux service, application, or game (and and most Windows games on Wine).
File sharing. The /home/local directory is for local (non-network) file sharing between users on the same system. There is also a /home/public directory that is shared over Samba, HTTP, FTP, and NFS. WebDAV didn't make the cut this time around.
Recovery Mode. I added many scripts to the menu for status information from just about everything. Several of my tools are accessible from it.
SSH server. You make a key with ssh-keygen, client_administrator_id_dsa (should be encrypted), and include the public (*.pub) part in the kickstart_files/authentication sub-directory. It is added to the ssh configuration directory on every system. Using another tool, "remote-admin-key-control", system owners (sysowner group) can enable or disable remote access. This is for several reasons including privacy, liability, and accounting (for corporate clients where the person requesting support may not have purchase authority).
When the remote-admin-key-control adds the key to the administrator account ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, you can connect to the system without a password using the private key (you still need to enter the key passphrase). The radmin-ssh tool takes this one step further and forwards the ports for every major network service that can function over ssh. It also shows example command lines (based on the current connection) for scp, sftp, sshfs, and NFS. You still need the administrator password to get root access.
X2Go. Remote desktop access that's faster than VNC. Uses SSH (and the same key).
OpenVPN. A partially configured Remote Technical Support VPN connection is installed and available through Network Manager. If the client system is behind a firewall that you can't SSH through, the client can activate this VPN to connect to your administration system so that you can SSH back through it. Rules for iptables can be enabled that prevent the client accessing anything on the administration system. It connects using 443/udp so should work through most firewalls.
Books and guides. Located in the desktop help menu (System > Help) is a menu entry that opens a directory for books. My deployments have subdirectories with Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04 - Second Edition from the Ubuntu Manual Project and OpenOffice.org user guides. You can easily add more as the kickstart script grabs everything in its local-books subdirectory. For the end-user I wrote networks-and-file-sharing-help.html (in the same help menu).
For the installer the main source of documentation is the kickstart script itself. I got a little carried away with comments. The next major document is TODO.html which is added to the administrator's home directory. It was intended to list post-install tasks that needed to be completed since there are many things the installer can't do (like compile kernel modules). After adding background information on the various tasks, troubleshooting help, and example commands, it's basically another book. You should read it before using the kickstart script.
Scanner Server. Allows remote access to a scanner through a web interface. Simpler than using saned (but that is also available if you enable it). It had several bugs so I fixed it and added a few features (with help from a Ubuntu Forum member pqwoerituytrueiwoq). Eventually we hit the limit of what it could do so pqwoerituytrueiwoq started writing PHP Server Scanner as a replacement. For a 12.04 release I will probably use that instead. I wrote "scanner-access-enabler" to work around udev permission problems with some scanners (especially SCSI models).
Notifications. Pop-up notices will be shown from smartd, mdadm, sshd, and OpenVPN when something significant happens. Without the first two the user doesn't know about pending drive problems until the system fails to boot. I've also had them turn the system off when I was in the process of updating it and the SSH notification helps prevent that. The OpenVPN notification is mostly for the administration system and includes the tunnel IP address of the client. OpenSSH has horrible support for this kind of scripting. OpenVPN's scripting support is absolutely beautiful.
Webcam Server. A command-line utility that I wrote a GUI for. It has a Java applet that can only be accessed locally but a static image is available from the internal web server to anywhere.
BackuPC. It uses its default directory for backups so don't enable it unless you mount something else there. A cron job will shut the system down after a backup if there are no users logged in. It has been somewhat hardened against abuse with wrapper scripts for tar and rsync.
There are many bugs, both big and small, that are either fixed or worked around. The script lists the numbers where applicable. The TODO documents lists a bunch also. Some packages were added but later removed (Oracle/Sun Java due to a licensing problem, Moonlight since it didn't work with any Silverlight site I tested).
There are some limitations to Ubuntu's kickstart support. I'm not sure why I used kickstart in the first place. Perhaps the name reminded me of KiXtart, a tool I used when I was a Windows sysadmin. Kickstart scripts are the standard for automating Red Hat installations (preseeding is the Debian standard) but Ubuntu's version is a crippled clone of it. In part it acts like a preseed file (even has a "preseed" command) but also has sections for scripts that are exported and executed at different points during the installation. About 90% of the installation occurs during the "post-install" script. The worst problem with Ubuntu's kickstart support is that the scripts are exported twice and backslashes are expanded both times. This means that every backslash has to be quadrupled. This gets real ugly with sed and regular expressions. Because of this you'll see "original" and "extra slashy" versions of many command lines. I wrote quad-backslash-check to find mistakes.
The other problem is that the way the script is executed by the installer hides line numbers when syntax errors occur, making debugging difficult. I wrote quote-count and quote-count-query to find unmatched quotes (and trailing escaped whitespace that was supposed to be newlines) which were the most common cause of failure.
I've made an archive of my kickstart file, its support files, and configuration files for various services on my server for you to download (12.5MB, MD5: b5e79e6e287da38da75ea40d0d18f07f ). The script, error checking and ISO management tools, and server configuration files are in the "kickstart" sub-directory. A few packages are included because they are hard to find but others are excluded because of size. Where a package is missing there is a "file_listing.txt" file showing the name of the package I'm using. My installation includes the following which you should download and add back in:
Amazon MP3 Downloader (./Amazon/amazonmp3.deb)
DansGuardian Webmin Module (./DansGuardian Webmin Module/dgwebmin-0.7.1.wbm)
Desura client (./Desura/desura-i686.tar.gz)
G'MIC (./GMIC/gmic_22.214.171.124_*.deb)
Gourmet (./Gourmet/gourmet_0.15.7-1_all.deb)
VMware Player (./VMware/VMware-Player-*.bundle)
VMware Player is optional. It has kernel modules so the kickstart script only retrieves the first install file returned from the web server whose name matches the architecture. It puts it in /root for later installation.
The target systems need network-bootable Ethernet devices, either with integrated PXE clients or a bootable CD from ROM-o-matic.
You need a DHCP sever that can send out:
filename "pxelinux.0"
The tftp server needs to serve the pxelinux.0 bootstrap, vesamenu.c32, and the menu files. These are available from the Ubuntu netboot images. The bootstrap and vesamenu.c32 are identical between the i386 and amd64 versions, only the kernel, initrd, and menus are different. You can use my menu files instead of the standard set in the netboot archive. The most important is the "ubuntu.cfg" file. You'll notice that my menu files list many distros and versions. Only the utility, Knoppix, and Ubuntu menus function fully. The rest are unfinished (and probably obsolete) experiments. FreeDOS is for BIOS updates.
My tftp server is atftpd which works well except it has a 30MB or so limit on tftp transfers. This only affects the tftp version of Parted Magic (they have a script to split it up into 30MB parts). It is started by inetd on demand.
I use loopback-mounted ISOs for the kickstart installs and all LiveCDs netboots. Because I have so many, I exceeded the default maximum number of loopback nodes available. I set max_loop=128 in my server's kernel command line to allow for many more.
The Ubuntu Minimal CD ISOs are the source for the kernel and initrd for the kickstart install. The architecture (and release) of the kernel on these ISOs must match the architecture of Ubuntu you want to install on the target system. You'll probably want both the i386 and amd64 versions.
PXE Linux doesn't support symlinks so my ISOs are mounted in the tftp directory under ./isomnt. Symlinks to the ISOs are in ./isolnk and are the source of the mounts. I set it up this way originally because the ISOs were in /srv/linux in various subdirectories so having the links in one place made it easier to manage. But my ISO collection grew too big to manage manually so I wrote "tftp-iso-mount" that creates the mountings for me. It searches through my /srv/linux directory for ISO files and creates isomnt_fstab.txt that can be appended to fstab. It also deletes and recreates the isomnt and isolnk directories and creates the "isomnt-all" script to mount them.
The ISOs are accessed through both NFS and Apache. I originally intended to use NFS for everything but I found that debian-installer, which performs the installation and executes the kickstart script (also on the "alternate" ISOs), doesn't support NFS. So I had to set up Apace to serve them. The Apache configuration is rather simple. There are a few symlinks in /var/www that link to various directories elsewhere. One named "ubuntu" links to /srv/linux/Ubuntu. The kickstart support files are placed in /srv/linux/Ubuntu/kickstart_files and are accessed via the link. NFS is still used for booting LiveCDs (for bug testing and demos). There is also a "tftp" symlink to /srv/tftp used for local deb loading (see below).
The kickstart script itself, Ubuntu-10.04-alternate-desktop.cfg, is saved to /srv/tftp/kickstart/ubuntu/10.04/alternate-desktop.cfg after being backslash and quote checked.
Several preseed values are set with the "preseed" command at the beginning of the script. You'll probably want to change the time zone there. License agreements are pre-agreed to as they will halt the installation if they prompt for input.
Like I mentioned earlier, the vast majority of work happens in the post-install script. The executes after the base Ubuntu packages are installed. The most important variable to set is $add_files_root which must point to the URL and directory of your web server where the rest of the kickstart support files are located (no trailing backslash). The script adapts for 32-bit and 64-bit packages as needed based on the architecture of the netboot installer. There is also a "late_command" script that executes near the end of the installation, after debian-installer creates the administrator account (which happens after the post-install script finishes).
The debug variables are important for the initial tests. The $package_debug variable has the most impact as it will change package installations from large blocks installed in one pass (not "true") to each package individually ("true"). When true, it slows down installation significantly but you can find individual package failures in the kickseed-post-script.log and installer syslog (located in /var/log/installer after installation). Setting $wget_quiet to null will guarantee a huge log file. The $script_debug variable controls status messages from the package install and mirror selection functions.
The $mirror_list variable contains a list of Ubuntu mirrors (not Medibuntu or PPAs) that should have relatively similar update intervals. This is used by the fault-tolerant mirror selection function, f_mirror_chk, that will cycle through these and check for availability and stability (i.e., not in the middle of sync). The mirrors included in the list are good for the USA. These are exported to the apt directory so that the apt-mirror-rotate command can use them to change mirrors quickly from the command line or through the recovery mode menu. When a package fails to be installed via the f_ftdpkg and f_ftapt functions, another mirror will be tried to attempt to work around damaged packages or missing dependencies.
To save bandwidth the post-install script looks for loopback mounted ISOs of the Ubuntu 10.04 live CD and Ubuntu Studio (both i386 and amd64 versions) in the isomnt sub-directory via the tftp link in the Apache default site. It copies all debs it finds directly into the apt cache. It also copies the contents of several kickstart support sub-directories (game-debs* and local-debs*). This is a primitive way to serve the bulk of the packages locally while retrieving everything else from the mirrors. You need to change the URLs in the pre-load debs section to the "pool" sub-directories of the mounted ISOs in "./tftp/isomnt/".
Because loading this many debs can run a root volume out of space, the $game_debs variable can be used to prevent game packages from being retrieved. Normally you should have at least a 20GB root (/) volume although it could be made smaller with some experimentation. An alternative to this method would be a full deb-mirror or a large caching proxy.
Set the OpenVPN variables $openvpnurl to the Internet URL of your administration system or the firewall it's behind. Set $openvpnserver to the hostname of your administration system (which can have the same values as it won't be connecting to itself).
Basic usage starts with netbooting the client system. Some have to be set to netboot in the BIOS and some have a hotkey you can press at POST to access a boot selection menu. The system then obtains an address and BOOTP information from the DHCP server. It then loads pxelinux.0 from the TFTP server which will in turn load vesamenu.c32 which displays the "Netboot main menu". Select Ubuntu from the list and look for the Ubuntu 10.04 Minimal CD KS entries. Select the one for your architecture and press the Tab key to edit the kernel boot line. Set any kernel parameters you want to be added to the default Grub2 configuration after the double dash (--), like "nomodeset". Set the hostname and domain values for the target as these are used in several places for bug workarounds and configurations. Then press Enter. The installer should boot. If nothing happens when you press Enter and you are returned to the Ubuntu boot listing menu, verify the ISOs are mounted on the server then try again (you will need to edit the entry again).
If there are no problems then you will be asked only two questions. The first is drive partitioning. This can be automated but my client systems are too different to do so. Then next question will be the administrator password. After that it will execute the post-install script and late-command scripts then prompt you to reboot. Just hit the enter key when it does as Ctrl-Alt-Delete will prevent the installer from properly finishing the installation (it's not quite done when it says it is). Full installation will take 2-3 hours depending on debug settings, availability of local debs, and Internet speeds.
In case of problems see the TODO document which has a troubleshooting section. The only problems I've had installing was missing drivers or bugs in the installer (especially with encrypted drives - see the TODO). My Dell Inspiron 11z, which has an Atheros AR8132/L1c Ethernet device, wasn't supported by the kernel the minimal CD was using. To work around it I made a second network connection with an old Linksys USB100TX. The Atheros did the netboot (the Linksys does not have the capability) but the installer only saw the Linksys afterwards and had no problems using it (other than it being slow).
- Printer-friendly version
- Log in to post comments
- 2513 reads


text:
Quinine is always used with either doxycycline, tetracycline, or clindamycin for treating malaria.
You usually take quinine as a tablet (orally).
Quinine prevents the development of
malaria parasites in the blood.
To treat
malaria, you can take quinine alone for 3 to 7 days, but it is more common to take quinine along with 1 of 3 other medicines (doxycycline, tetracycline, or clindamycin) for 7 days.1
Quinine plus another medicine is used for chloroquine-resistant malaria (where chloroquine is no
longer effective against the malaria parasite).
Quinine is effective against all
species of Plasmodium.
All medicines have side effects. But many people don't feel the side effects, or they are able to deal with them. Ask your pharmacist about the side effects of each medicine you take. Side effects are also listed in the information that comes with your medicine.
Here are some important things to think about:
Call 911 or other emergency services right away if you have:
Call your doctor if you have:
Common side effects of quinine include:
See Drug Reference for a full list of side effects. (Drug
Reference is not available in all systems.)
Quinine given through a needle directly into a vein (intravenously, or IV) is not available in the United
States, but intravenous quinidine, as a substitute, works just as well.
Medicine is one of the many tools your doctor has to treat a health problem. Taking medicine as your doctor suggests will improve your health and may prevent future problems. If you don't take your medicines properly, you may be putting your health (and perhaps your life) at risk.
There are many reasons why people have trouble taking their medicine. But in most cases, there is something you can do. For suggestions on how to work around common problems, see the topic Taking Medicines as Prescribed.
If you are pregnant, breast-feeding, or planning to get pregnant, do not use any medicines unless your doctor tells you to. Some medicines can harm your baby. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, herbs, and supplements. And make sure that all your doctors know that you are pregnant, breast-feeding, or planning to get pregnant.
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor if you are having problems. It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take.
Complete the new medication information form (PDF)(What is a PDF document?) to help you understand this medication.
CitationsU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009). Guidelines for treatment of malaria in the United States. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/resources/pdf/treatmenttable.pdf.
Last Revised:
May 14, 2012
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & W. David Colby IV, MSc, MD, FRCPC - Infectious Disease
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


text:
Coming soon to a neighbourhood near you
Canada's aging & increasingly infirm population will only further stress a precariously situated system that presently consumes over half of all our tax dollars... and, is indeed... perched on the knife edge of total implosion...
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice McLachlin said that addicts are extremely sick individuals whose urgent need frequently leads to them to inject drugs with dirty needles after dissolving narcotics in dirty puddle water.Unlike, say... our courageous soldiers... these folks have chosen to "put their lives constantly on the line" in reckless, uncaring, single-minded pursuit of self-gratification.
She noted that the geographically small area is home to 4,600 intravenous drug users whose addiction means that their lives are constantly on the line.
And it's easy to see what's at the bottom of this slippery slope...
Ms. Bird, 54, is president of the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society, a group dedicated to improving the quality of life for native people who use illicit drugs. She said she smokes crack every day and would use an inhalation room if one were to open.Yeah... I bet she would. These folks spent a little less time glued to their glass pipes, their kids might not be screwed from day 1...
"42 per cent of aboriginal children under 14 live with either a lone parent, grandparent or relative. Only 58 per cent live with two parents, compared to 82 per cent in the non-native population."Hey, how about forming a group of people who improve the quality of life... for aboriginal children? Forgive me... I guess that'd cut into somebody's daily inhalation schedule.
So, my question is... given the desperate & steadily worsening state of our healthcare system... how about we do a little triage and dedicate scant, disappearing resources... towards people who actually give a shit whether they live or die?
We take care of that... all the money that's left over can go to shiny new needles, crackpipes and medically supervised spikin', snortin' & smokin'.
"I'm a shopping addict! Quick, give me your credit card!!"**********
RELATED: How long you think it'll take...
...for Dalton to go back on this statement?
In the wake of Friday's Supreme Court ruling that grants Vancouver's Insite Clinic the ability to stay open, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told the Sun the province wouldn't support such publicly-funded sites for addicts.
"We'll have to take a look at the decision," McGuinty said. "It's not in our plan, it has never been in our plan, that's not our intention to have one of those sites in Ontario."


text:
- This event has passed.
September 4, 2018 @ 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
An event every week that begins at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, repeating until June 25, 2019
Event Navigation
Invigorating yoga classes that combine breath work and asana in a flow sequence; some yoga practice experience helpful. Led by certified yoga instructor Crystal Mansfield.
Cost is only $5/class or $25.00/6 week series. Please call if you are new to class: 802-365-3649.


text:
What is an SPF record?
A Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record is a type of Domain Name System (DNS) record that can help to prevent email address forgery.
Spammers can falsify email headers so it looks like they're sending from an email address at your domain. They can pretend to be you, allowing them to phish your users for private account information, or otherwise abuse your reputation. When they hijack an email account, they alter the email header details to show the messages they're sending are coming from the true owner of the account. This can result in the account owner receiving replies and bouncebacks for mail they never sent.
Adding an SPF record can help prevent others from spoofing your domain. You can specify which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. Then, when incoming mail servers receive email messages from your domain name, they compare the SPF record to the outgoing mail server information. If the information doesn't match, they identify the email message as unauthorized, and will generally filter it as spam or reject it.
Whether your domain is registered at GoDaddy or another company, you can add an SPF record. To manage or change the service your domain uses for its website and email, see Manage DNS.
Adding an SPF record can decrease spoofing attempts to your domain, however, they are not a full-proof guarantee against all spam.


text:
My sister told me about a cupcake shop in Reno that I hadn't been to, so of course, that was the first stop Friday. Just about the cutest cupcake shop!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
My sister told me about a cupcake shop in Reno that I hadn't been to, so of course, that was the first stop Friday. Just about the cutest cupcake shop!
9 comments:
- Unknown said...
What a cute shop! I love cupcakes!
- August 9, 2010 at 3:41:00 AM PDT
- Rani said...
I've never been to a cupcake store, but I can't think of a better place to spend some knitting time. Especially is it's next to a good coffee shop.
- August 9, 2010 at 5:51:00 AM PDT
- Bubblesknits said...
Those cupcakes look delicious!
- August 9, 2010 at 7:32:00 AM PDT
- gMarie said...
What an adorable little bag! And you are totally doing me in with all the cupcake - photos, posts, and tweets! There is a cupcake shop down the block from my office - I might have to start frequenting. g
- August 9, 2010 at 8:57:00 AM PDT
- Scrabblequeen said...
If you're a fan of champagne cake, be sure to stop by Timothy's Bakery...here in my town. And don't forget to tell me you're coming, so I can join you!
- August 9, 2010 at 10:02:00 AM PDT
- gina said...
congratulations about the stitches midwest! and that cupcake shop looks really cute - cupcake fever is just starting over in England, and i haven't see any cute places like this here.
- August 9, 2010 at 11:06:00 AM PDT
- Zonda said...
Oh yum! Sure wished we had cupcake stores here..um..then again, maybe not ;) Cute bag!
- August 10, 2010 at 6:52:00 PM PDT
- SissySees said...
I think my special-order Piddleloop bag arrives today. I hope so, anyway. I'm sure THAT will inspire me to knit, or at least, to cast on a new project to live in the cute bag...
I totally embrace the cupcake trend. I don't like most traditional cakes, but cupcakes are so cute and portion-controlle... what's not to love?!
- August 11, 2010 at 7:13:00 AM PDT
- Darcys Knotty Knitter said...
That shawl is going to be gorgeous you have fabulous taste in colors and are an awesome knitter Congrats on Stitches Midwest and I have never been to a cupcake shop they look so good:)Hugs Darcy
- August 12, 2010 at 7:16:00 PM PDT


text:
This photograph is part of the series On Planet Earth, in which Jan Staller photographed construction and industrial sites and created seductive images that are reminiscent of sculptures or earth art. Staller generally photographed these sites at dawn or dusk, and was able to produce photographs breathtakingly rich in color and intensity. The subject of this image is a water-purification plant, yet it takes on a magical form that resembles a sculpture or an elegant water fountain. In these works, Staller looks for the power and beauty of monumental sculpture that can sometimes be found in objects meant to perform some workaday function.
Jan Staller, considered an influential pioneer of night photography in color, moved to New York City in 1976. It was there that he made many of his signature mixed-light photographs that appeared in his monograph On Planet Earth, Travels in an Unfamiliar Land (Aperture, 1997). Over the last decade, he has had solo shows at Alan Klotz Gallery, New York; the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, Massachusetts; MinMin Gallery, Tokyo; and Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, and participated in group shows at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, and the Hecksher Museum, Huntington, New York.


text:
I hate the Vikings. I hate few things, but I hate the Vikings. This makes me sick. It's official though, Favre is taking snaps for the Packers biggest recent rival (John David Booty had to give up his #4 jersey so Favre could have it). This is for real. Brett Favre is on the Vikings.
What does this mean? Well, first of all, it means I'm pissed off at Favre. I hate the Vikings, this just pisses me off.
I also think it means the Vikes will be very good. As I've mentioned before, because I think Favre is no longer good at handling pressure, he has to be pleased that he will be quarterbacking a team led by the best RB in the league. This will lift tons of pressure off of Favre – and when Favre doesn't feel pressure, he can be very good. He will also benefit from having a decent line in front of him.
Interestingly, before this announcement today, I was preparing to pick the Vikings to be 7-9 this year, no kidding. I just thought that Childress/Wilf had caste a storm cloud over the organization with their heavy, very public flirtation with Favre and the second either of the 2 QBs screwed up, there would have been chaos. Well, now that Favre has signed, I wouldn't be surprised to see MN make it to the playoffs, maybe even win a game at home, and then get blown out when Favre folds under pressure.


text:
|Buaraya Hotel Chiangmai, Locate in the Centre of the
city, is the number one choice for your special vacation in Chiangmai.
We are offering the highest quality guest services. Buaraya Hotel
Chiangmai with Lanna style decoration offering many facilities to ensure
your comfort.
Standard Room
No.of room: 36 rooms
Room size: 25 sq.m.
Standard room for 2 people where offers Refrigerator, Air conditioning, LCD screen TV and many other useful things like Wi-Fi internet. We have accomplished the ambience of the rooms with stylish furniture.
Superior Room
No.of room: 41 rooms
Room size: 28 sq.m.
The well-appointed bedroom attach with Northern style bathtub designed for the impressive stay and full modern facilities to favorably ease journey weariness.
Deluxe Room
No.of room: 59 rooms
The well-appointed bedroom attach with Modern Lanna style designed for the impressive stay and full modern facilities to favorably ease journey weariness.
This air conditioning 50-seat pavilion pleasantly operates from 6.30 a.m. till 10 p.m. for daily breakfast.


text:
Call Now For Immediate Emergency Service
Experts in Mold Removal, Fire & Smoke Damage, Water Damage, & Sewage Cleanup
Flood & Water Damage Restoration Services
Restoration Logistics in the Firestone area offers water damage restoration and flood services at a remarkable price. We understand that not everyone can empty their bank account just so they can get quality restoration services, especially after a disaster. Our award-winning Firestone restoration company has provided better service for over 34 years. We value our customers and excel in our field because we are the best at what we do. You can be sure that only the most qualified Firestone restoration contractors will show up on the job.
Mold Services in Firestone
Mold happens in many ways. With even the slightest water exposure, or if the temperature is warm, mold can build up and spread rapidly. No matter if you just smell mold and think there can be a possibility of mold growth, or you know for certain, our qualified team of Firestone restoration contractors will take care of it all for you. Mold can be extremely hazardous, especially black mold. You are going to want an experienced restoration company to handle the job. That's where we come in.
Firestone Sewage Services
Sewage removal and all that goes into sewage tasks can be extremely threatening. Typical mold alone is unhealthy to breathe in, but black water makes it ten times worse. Sewage is classified as black water because it encounters fecal matter. Sewage removal and all processes involving sewage should only be handled by knowledgeable and well-trained professionals with the proper equipment. Our Firestone restoration contractors meet those criteria. You can trust our accomplished team with all your restoration services and needs.
Fire & Smoke Restoration and Cleanup Services
After a disaster such as fire damage, you still must deal with the aftermath of smoke damage as well. Our Firestone fire damage services have everything from smoke and fire damage restoration, to repair, to mitigation, and much more. Breathing in smoke toxins can be unhealthy and potentially dangerous. We here at Firestone Restoration Logistics understand that you need a reliable restoration company that you can count on with Firestone's finest restoration contractors to properly and effectively give you the fire damage restoration you deserve.
Firestone, CO's Rapid Disaster Restoration Service
Restoration Logistics uses advanced techniques to deliver quick and affordable fire and water damage services, as well as mold removal and remediation. Our technicians minimize the affected areas and contain the damage so that you won't have lingering problems. With 24/7 services and certified staff, there is no finer restoration company in the Firestone, CO area.


text:
The USB UART Board features an FT232R USB-to-UART serial converter that simplifies USB-to-serial designs and reduces external component count by fully integrating an external EEPROM, USB termination resistors and a clock circuit requiring no external crystal.
Use this board for RS232 communication with modems, printers, PC applications, and various devices that use UART communication protocol.
The connection pads are unpopulated, so you can decide how to connect the board to your system. Male header pins are provided that you can solder, for typical breadboard use. In addition to the UART interface pins, the board has pads for other I/O pins of the FT232R.


text:
Pharoahe Monch (Feat. Jill Scott) - Still Standing
"Pharoahe Monch 'W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)' is out now through W.A.R. Media / Duck Down Music.". [m]
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
Rohrerstown Mennonite Church (Rohrerstown, Pennsylvania, USA)
Rohrerstown Mennonite Church (MC), located 3 miles northwest of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a member of the Lancaster Conference, started at Abbeyville about 1750 with Bishop Benjamin Hershey, three Hans Brubachers, Peter Swarr, and others on the land immediately west of Hickory Town, now Lancaster. In 1791 they moved on Brubaker land, north of Rohrerstown, where a beautiful cemetery still marks the spot. After 63 years a new meetinghouse was placed on the same site. In 1895 a brick church was built on the third site south of the square in Rohrerstown, 50 x 75 ft. This building was completely renovated in 1955-56. These churches have been the scene of the spring sessions of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference from time immemorial until 1953, when it was first held at East Petersburg. This was the home of two bishops named Benjamin Hershey, Bishops Jacob and John Brubaker, Preacher John K. Brubaker, and John Shenk. It is a part of the Rohrerstown-Millersville circuit and in recent years most of the ministers were from the Millersville area. The membership in 1957 was 173, with Christian K. Lehman as bishop, Jacob G. Hess, J. Herbert Fisher, and Paul H. Gochnauer as ministers.
Additional Information
Address: 601 Rohrerstown Rd, Lancaster, PA 17603
Phone: 717-394-0203
Denominational Affliliations:
Lancaster Mennonite Conference
Map:Rohrerstown Mennonite Church (Rohrerstown, Pennsylvania, USA)
|Ira D Landis
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Landis, Ira D. "Rohrerstown Mennonite Church (Rohrerstown, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 9 Jul 2020. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rohrerstown_Mennonite_Church_(Rohrerstown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=116295.
APA style
Landis, Ira D. (1959). Rohrerstown Mennonite Church (Rohrerstown, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 9 July 2020, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rohrerstown_Mennonite_Church_(Rohrerstown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=116295.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 353. All rights reserved.
©1996-2020 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


text:
In Greenwood Cemetery, I found some stones with a special label to indicate that a person had been a veteran. An example of the label is shown above. This monument shown above commemorates a veteran -- Ernest Tompkins. (I have blanked out the name of a person still living, son of the couple listed above.
The label indicating that they had been a veteran reminds us of the service they gave to their country.
We will remember them.


text:
South Fayette tops Imhotep Charter, takes Class AA
Record-setting quarterback Brett Brumbaugh threw for three first-half touchdowns and defensive back Conner Beck returned an interception for another score to lead District 7 champ South Fayette to its first PIAA Class AA football title Sunday with a 41-0 triumph over Imhotep Charter at Hersheypark Stadium.
Brumbaugh, who established a Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League single-season record for passing yards, connected with top-target Justin Watson on TD passes of 6 and 64 yards. Tight end Logan Sharp added a 53-yard TD reception to help build an insurmountable 35-0 halftime lead for the undefeated Lions (15-0).
Beck carried an interception 46 yards for another score with 28 seconds remaining in the second quarter. That guaranteed a running clock in the second half.
Imhotep Charter (12-3), the District 12-AA champs, was held to 60 yards of offense through 24 minutes. Brumbaugh's older brother, Christian, led South Fayette to a runner-up finish in 2010.
"I just want to thank everyone who didn't give us a shot," said Brumbaugh, who finished 18 of 25 for 299 yards. The 6-4 junior, whose brother Christian led South Fayette to a runner-up finish in 2010, completed the season with a WPIAL-record 3,910 yards and 41 touchdown passes.
"All along we knew we had the heart to do this," he said. "We're not the biggest team but you can't measure heart. We just took all their motivation early and did the job."
In a game delayed 24 hours by Saturday's snowfall, South Fayette took control on its first possession. Opening the series at its own 36, Brumbaugh engineered a 14-play march that included four offside penalties on the Panthers. Watson eventually capped the drive, hauling in Brumbaugh's toss from the Imhotep Charter 6.
It only got worse for the Panthers, who were forced to punt five times in the opening half.
"Again, I applaud those guys," Panthers coach Al Crosby said. "We just didn't get in a zone. I think last week against (semifinalist) Berks Catholic, we got our first penalty with five minutes left in the game. But I can't even point to our mistakes. They just played well."
South Fayette's second possession lasted a single play. Brumbaugh took advantage of weak coverage and hit a wide-open Sharp on a flag route with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Brumbaugh's third TD pass came on the first play of the second quarter as Watson (6 catches, 126 yards) beat his man for a 64-yard scoring strike.
The win avenged a 50-14 loss to another Philadelphia program, West Catholic, in the 2010 Class AA finale.
"Everybody said (Imhotep Charter) was a great football team, but when you play with your heart, and play with these kinds of seniors, it's something special," South Fayette coach Joe Rossi said. "Their minds were right the whole way. We wanted to change 2010."


text: "If you already have experience in basic metalwork and cold connections (riveting, hammering, texturing metal, etc.), then this is the perfect book to get you started in soldering…Page after page of detailed and easy-to-understand information, photos, and tips–and tons of gorgeous photos of author Jennifer Chin's masterful jewelry pieces–will have you online and ordering your soldering iron and supplies in a matter of hours. Turn up the heat!" —Bead Design Studio Magazine


text: Instrumental rock band Grails began in Portland, Oregon in 1999 as a bedroom project never meant for the stage. Initially consisting of Alex J. Hall and Paul Spitz on guitar, Emil Amos (also of Holy Sons) on drums and guitar, Timothy Horner on violin, and William Slater on bass and keyboards, the group first used the moniker Laurel Canyon while venturing out live on a dare and producing two EPs of recorded material. By the time they had stirred up interest and landed a deal with Neurot Records, they had changed their name to Grails and Spitz had been replaced by Zak Riles. Intact was the band's focus on all-instrumental post-rock with ancient Celtic inclinations and heavily influenced by Eastern modalities, with a multi-instrumentalist role for most bandmembers. They released two albums on Neurot: The Burden of Hope in 2003 and Redlight in 2004. Both albums showcased what were basically live recordings of the young bandmembers finding their place, sometimes battling, sometimes acquiescing, but always succeeding in capturing their signature evocative and dynamic soundscapes. That motif would eventually become more aggressive and dissonant over time, with the Celtic aspect becoming downplayed in favor of elements of prog and psychedelic, dub and experimental, perhaps due to the loss of Horner, who virtually disappeared into a life of addiction and living on the streets. In 2004, while touring Europe, Grails were invited to record at famed Southern Studios in London, culminating in Interpretations of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs from Around the World. It was Amos who introduced the three pieces they were to cover by playing them on the stereo in the band's touring van and uniting his bandmates by focusing on choices as disparate-sounding yet psychically connected as Gong, the Byrds, and Flower Travellin' Band. The experience drew the bandmembers closer together, and their nearly symbiotic unity and cohesiveness is readily apparent on their subsequent release, Black Tar Prophecies, which was first released as a series of EPs, then collected on one CD in 2006 on Important Records. In Amos' own words, "Black Tar Prophecies is the essential departure point...it's where the band finally acknowledged the experimental root of the music we had come to accidentally play together...and by acknowledging that root and embracing post-production for the first time, the group made some of the weirdest, most alien-sounding music it will probably ever make." With an album of such epic proportions showing formidable talent and unlimited potential under their belt, Grails continued to tour vigorously in the U.S. and Europe, and signed with Temporary Residence in 2006, releasing the impressive and critically acclaimed Burning Off Impurities in 2007, following it with Take Refuge in Clean Living and Doomsdayer's Holiday in 2008. The band returned to the Black Tar Prophecies with Vol. 4 in 2010. Grails changed directions radically for 2011's Deep Politics, moving beyond their post-rock/psych roots with cut-and-paste production styles and lush string arrangements by acclaimed composer Timb Harris. The album features the influences of '70s Italian film scores and obscure occult/fringe library music, which they hoped would "cultivate an immersive environment that inspired both an eternal sense of longing and an impending sense of dread." For the promo video, Grails used disturbing film footage of a dead body being dragged from a beach to the sound of Chuck Mangione's bygone hit "Feels So Good," doctored by various keyboards and eerie voices. Deep Politics became their most acclaimed release up until that point, and the band followed it in 2013 with Black Tar Prophecies, Vols. 4, 5 & 6, a deluxe collection of their mostly out of print 12"s, including three previously unreleased tracks that made up Vol. 6 of the series. After a few years of silence, Grails returned in 2017 with Chalice Hymnal. ~ Brian Way


text:
BRENTWOOD — Level 5 gymnasts from Atlantic Gymnastics Training Center (AGTC) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire recently returned home with third-place honors from the Judges Cup presented by Gymnastics at Brentwood Commons.
Eager gymnasts representing 13 teams from across the region competed in this sectional qualifier. Gymnasts scoring a total combined score of 33.00 or higher earn a bid to represent their state during the championships to be held at the end of the season.
The annual sectional was divided into two sessions: morning session for 11 years old and up gymnasts and an afternoon session for 10 years old and under.
In the morning session of the Flamingo division, Portsmouth's Lucy Ferrini took fourth on vault, eighth on floor and was recognized with eighth place in the all-around in this division.
Cailey Brickett came out on top with a first-place medal on uneven bars supported by a second-place finish on vault, third place on floor and fifth place on beam. Her combined score awarded her third place overall in the Parrot division.
The morning session continued good results in the Pineapple division Sisters Grace, Sarah and Elizabeth Toshach, and teammate Cali McDonald were all recognized.
Grace with 3rd on vault, 1st on bars, 2nd on beam and 6th on floor. Grace's combined score earned her 2nd place overall in her division. Right behind her was McDonald, who had a good showing with 3rd on beam, 4th on floor, and 8th on vault and bars; her total scored landed her third place in the all-around.
Sisters Elizabeth and Sarah also performed well; Elizabeth was 4th on vault, 3rd on bars and seventh place in the all-around. In the meantime, Sarah earned 6th on beam, 8th on floor and eighth in the all-around.
Moving into the afternoon session, Dover's Katherine Carter and Portsmouth's Jennifer Ross stood out. Carter placed in each of the four events, 6th on floor (9.00), 5th on vault (8.70), 4th on beam (9.25) and 5th uneven bars (9.05). Carter's combined scored (36.00) earned her third place in the all-around in her division. Meanwhile, Ross also did well achieving 5th place on beam (9.15) and 6th place on vault (8.55).
Excellent results continued from the afternoon session of the Pineapple division with Alysia Tellez and Grace Jenkins. Tellez was given accolades on all events with 2nd place on floor (9.05). 4th place on beam (8.70) and vault (8.70), and 5th place on bars (8.75); Tellez's combined scored awarded her with third in the all-around around for her division. Meanwhile teammate Jenkins had a stellar vaulting day, earning second on the event with a high score of 8.90.
York, Maine's Carly Mitchell had an equally successful day placing 1st on vault (9.05), 6th on bars (8.60), 8th on beam (8.60) and 7th floor (8.70). Mitchell earned fifth in the all-around of the afternoon session of the Parrot division with a combined score of 34.95.
Representing the Coconut division, partners Madison Demmons and Arianna Degenaars did well. Demmons had particularly good results, showing in all four events; 2nd on floor, 3rd on beam, 6th on vault, and 8th on bars. Combined score of 35.025 earned her fifth in the all-around. Degenaars placed 3rd on vault, 5th on floor, and 7th on bars. Her collective scored earned her eighth in the all-around.
Brickett, Grace and Elizabeth Toshach, McDonald, Carter, Ross, Tellez, Mitchell, Demmons, and Degenaars were all successful qualifying for the state championships which will be held at the end of the season.
Special recognition went to teammate Kaia Meredith, who was unable to compete due to a fractured knee. The team, which placed third among all the teams, is coached by Matt Yellis and Jennifer Pelland.