text:
Voting Rating:

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Thanks For The Mansplainin'

Dear Sir,

I happened upon this comment you posted on a Facebook thread: "if you consider yourself as a 'college educated white woman' and are not going to vote for Donald Trump only because of his offensive words 11 years ago then you are not considering things from an 'educated' view, you are considering things from emotional view."*

Really? Gosh, thanks for mansplainin' that to this college-educated white woman and all the other women who may not have realized their crazy lady hormones could be affecting the way they vote. What would we do without single white guys like you pointing out when we're not being so smart?

Let's pretend for a minute that there's a college-educated white woman who's not aware of Drumpf's racist comments that consistently imply people of color all live in slums and ghettos, his refusal to pay people money earned for work he hired them to do, his threat to not only create a national database of Muslims, but also to deport them. Let's pretend she doesn't know about charges of fraud brought against Trump University, his claims of being a philanthropist despite any credible proof to back up his boast, and his refusal to release his tax returns. Let's pretend this woman also doesn't know about his many appearances on the Howard Stern show making lewd comments about women and sex, the rape charges his first wife brought against him that were only dropped as part of her divorce settlement, or the civil case making its way through the courts by a woman claiming Drumpf raped her when she was thirteen. Let's even pretend she has no idea about the women who keep coming forward with further allegations of groping and assault that you so blithely brush off as suspect.**

In fact, let's pretend none of those things exist at all (a lot of Drumpf supporters are already doing this, so it shouldn't be too hard), and your college-educated white woman decides not to vote for Drumpf based solely on the words he used eleven years ago. I'll tell you why that's still okay.

As a college-educated white woman who has a loving husband, lives in one of the safest cities in the entire United States, and is fortunate enough not to be one among every four women who's been sexually assaulted, let me give you some insight to the thoughts that go through my head every day.

If I plan to go for a run alone, will I be okay if it's not light out? Is it safe to wear my headphones on while I run today, or is this trail so secluded that someone could attack me from behind, and I wouldn't hear him coming? Did I nod and make eye contact with that guy who just passed me, so he knows I could identify him if I had to?

If I walk to my car alone in the dark, here's what I have to do: Make sure I'm not on my phone, carry my keys in a defensive position and keep my car locked until I'm next to it, and then only unlock the driver's side. When I'm alone, I have to always be aware of my surroundings, who's in them, and what kind of vibe I'm getting from any man who's nearby. I'm 5'3". The chances of my being able to ward off an attacker are pretty slim, so I have to trust my instincts and take preemptive actions to stay safe.

These are things I do as a college-educated white woman who's been catcalled, touched inappropriately, and had lewd things said to her, but never been sexually assaulted. These are things every woman--no matter her race or education level--does in some way or another. I can't imagine what other thoughts about protecting myself would go through my head every day if I had been the victim of a sexual assault.

As the mother of three daughters, I have to walk a fine line between keeping them safe and not teaching them to be afraid. I never want them to fear men or think people are inherently evil. They have a father who shows nothing but respect for women, so they don't always realize there are men who think nothing of talking of women as objects, rating their worth on a scale of one to ten based on what they look like and/or the size of their breasts. Men who feel their sex gives them the right to "explain" why a woman is wrong if she doesn't support the same candidate as them. Men who feel entitled to interrupt and speak over women, and worst of all, men who feel entitled to put their hands on women whenever they want.

I have to teach my daughters all the same things I've had to learn to protect myself. I have to ask myself if they will be okay walking a block to a friend's house after dark, and whether they will be safe once they get there if I don't know the friend's father or brothers. I have to ask myself that question even if I do know them. I have to ask myself that question if that father or brother is related to me. I have to ask myself that question because one out of every four girls is sexually assaulted before she's eighteen.

So you want to tell me and my fellow college-educated white sisters that a vote based on words Drumpf used eleven years ago is based on emotion rather than actual understanding of the issue? Let me give you a little education.

Saying "I want to grab (fill in the blank with any body part belonging to a woman a man might be tempted to touch)" is locker room talk. It's crude and beneath any man, especially one running for President, but not criminal.

Saying "I grabbed (fill in the blank with any body part belonging to a woman a man might be tempted to touch)"*** is admission of a crime. It's assault.

You still want to label a decision to not vote for a man because of his words as an emotional one? Fine. You know what emotion is driving that vote?

Love for myself. Love for my daughters. Love for my friends and family members who have been assaulted by strangers, relatives, friends, boyfriends, acquaintances, and husbands. Love for those I don't know who have been victimized. Love for the thousands who will be.

And as long as we're making conjectures about what's driving the opposite sex to vote the way they're voting in the face of what we think is irrefutable evidence they shouldn't, I'll posit this. If you're voting for Drumpf because you've listened to right-winged radio talk show hosts yell about and name call Hillary Clinton for the past thirty years, then I'd say your vote is emotionally driven also. The difference is, the emotion driving your decision is fear.

In a choice between love and fear, I think I'll go ahead and let love be the emotion that guides me.

A White, College and Issue-Educated Woman Who Had No Intention of Voting For HRC Until Drumpf Became the Republican Candidate

* Spelling and grammatical errors in this quote are all original to the quote. Any others you find throughout this post are all my fault.

** Talk to a female you know who's been groped or sexually assaulted (it won't take you long to find one), and ask her if she told anyone right away and why not. Then try to imagine being sexually assaulted yourself, and be honest about how willing you would be to relive that experience by telling someone else about it or trying to bring charges against the person who did it.

***We know the words he used. They don't need to be repeated here

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Yay For Fans!

I'm dusting off the old blog for some exciting news!

I'm a published author! Look! Here it is:

Isn't it cute? (No, those aren't my feet or Shawn's feet. Our feet are not fit for book covers).

I've had a lot of people send me pictures of Pride and Politics as they're reading it on beaches or airplanes or lounging around on their couches. I've also had people send me pictures of it in when they've seen it in bookstores and catalogs. I love it! Every text or email I get makes me so happy.

It also makes me want to spread the joy and give something back.
June 1 - June 8, post a picture of Pride and Politics on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter, and you'll be entered in a contest to win a signed copy of Pride and Politics, in addition to

A signed copy of Love at First Note, by Jenny Proctor. Why? Because I loved it, and Emma Hill in Love is a musician like Summer Knight, except she's a professional violinist. So, really, she's like a more refined, fancy version of Summer. I think you'll love it too.

But there's also this prize:
The Legend of Johnny Cash

Summer loves The Man in Black (who doesn't??), and a lot of the songs she plays or uses for ringtones are on this c.d. It's like your own personal soundtrack to listen to while you're reading Pride and Politics.

You'll get a whole heap of points for posting your pictures of Pride and Politics on social media, but THAT'S NOT ALL!

Jenny Proctor is having a give-away too where not only will you have another chance to win both of our books, BUT ALSO, you'll get more points for entering her contest! You can't lose!

So know that I love and appreciate you, and GO ENTER HERE!   And right HERE FOR JENNY'S!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Death Be Not Dignified, and Maybe That's Okay

My Facebook feed is filling up with likes for a CNN story about a woman with terminal brain cancer who has chosen to "die with dignity." She has set a date to take a prescription that will end her life before the cancer can.

Her story is touching. She is newly married, she loves to travel, she wants a family. All of these have been cut short by cancer, along with every other dream she had for her life. It's the cruelest of blows.

But she is fighting back. Not only is she getting the upper hand on death by choosing her own date to die, she's also fighting for every American to have this right. Right now only five states have Death with Dignity laws allowing doctors to prescribe life-ending meds for the terminally ill. She wants every state to have similar laws.

I have to admire her for using the little time she has left to spread a message she believes will help others.

But I don't agree with her.

I spent ten months watching my aunt die of ovarian cancer. Here's what I know about that kind of death: there is no dignity in it. None.

The hair and appetite loss were nothing compared to the pain no meds could soothe. I spent days with her where she spoke broken words through gritted teeth, fighting to sit upright. Her once round body morphed into a skeleton with loose flesh and dry, scaly chemo hands. Thoughts escaped her like wind-blown dandelion fluff. Always within reach, but never close enough to grasp.

Toward the end, she spent as many days in the hospital as out of it, until finally, she came home to die. I went to visit her on one of those last days before hospice came; a day when she writhed in pain and clenched my hand and her sister's hand, waiting for the searing in her nerves to stop. To hold her hand or rub her arm only caused more pain. Even to touch her hurt. Three of us had to help her to the bathroom, a ten second walk that stretched to ten minutes.

That was the worst day. But even then, she managed to smile when I said something funny.

I went back a few days later. Hospice had come, morphine was being administered, and a hospital bed occupied a corner of the family room. After the pain she'd been in the last time I'd seen her, I expected to see her in bed. Instead, she was sitting on the couch looking more alive than she'd been in weeks. Looking almost alive enough to cut through the air of waiting that hung heavy in the room. Waiting for someone to die is as painful as watching it.

She couldn't talk. The level of morphine it took to keep her comfortable also kept her too high to communicate rationally. She waved me over and held out her small, frail hands. I don't remember the color--orange or pink--but her fingernails were painted. Her fingernails were always painted.

I took her hands and she pulled herself up. I thought she wanted help somewhere, but instead she pulled me into her arms. I could feel every vertebrae in her back and there was no cushion left on her shoulders, but there was strength in that embrace.

And love.

And gratitude.

And every word her heart held that her mouth couldn't say.

Let's be honest, suffering and pain suck. No one wants it. Not for ourselves, and especially not for our loved ones. But what would life be without it?  What happens when we, as a people, decide life is only worthwhile if we can avoid suffering rather than learn from it.

I'm a firm believer in the value of paradoxes. Without pain, how do we know pleasure? Without evil, how can there be good? Without doubt, is there any need for faith?

And without suffering, how do we learn compassion?

How did Mother Theresa become Mother Theresa? How did she develop the kind of compassion it took for her to spend her life ministering to others? She surrounded herself with suffering. She didn't sit in a church talking about what to do for the sick, the poor, the destitute, the dying. She surrounded herself with them.

We don't  have to be Mother Theresa to learn compassion, and I'm not advocating for unnecessary suffering.  But I worry about the implications of making dignity the most important part of death. I worry about what lessons we miss learning if we're not willing to see the journey to death all the way through--when we cut it short before it gets too hard. Determining a date to die is a lot easier than determining whether we're finished doing all the good we may do.

If my aunt had cut her journey short--cut it off before she needed hospice or before she became a "burden" to her loved ones, I would have missed the greatest lessons she had to teach me. I can feel greater sympathy for this young woman and her family because I know what lies ahead for her and them. I haven't suffered the physical pain, but I know the heartache. I've felt that. I still feel it. And I'm a better person because of it. But it took the hardest part of her journey to teach me those things.

My aunt's death was long. It was painful. It broke my heart. But, oh, how grateful I am that I got to take that walk with her.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Dear New York Times

Guess who made headlines in the New York Times...

I mean, not me specifically, but Mormon women did. I happen to be one of those, so of course I had to read these articles published back to back last week. Missions signal a Growing Role for Mormon Women and this one Mormon Women Flood of Requests.

The problem with writing about a religion is that if you are a practitioner of a particular faith it's hard to report without bias or to be seen as credible even at your most unbiased. On the other hand, if you're an outsider to a religion you're reporting on a culture you're not a part of, using a language you don't speak. Every religion has it's own language, but Mormonism's is particularly hard to understand because we use a lot of familiar terms but define them differently than other Christian faiths. (Hence the cry of "you're not Christian" you just heard from some Christians who may stumble upon this little blog).

For the most part the co-writers of both these articles did a fairly good job of speaking our language, they got some things wrong. Usually that doesn't bug me, but since their articles devolved from an interesting discussion about how the rise in women missionaries is changing the face of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, into a story about a small contingent among millions of Mormons who would like to see women ordained to the priesthood, I feel like a little interpretation is in order.  (To be clear, my interpretation = my interpretation and understanding of Church doctrine through years of study and prayer on this topic. It is in no way official).

Please don't get me wrong. I am not being critical of the woman who are calling for ordination. I'm frustrated by the way their fight for what they see as greater power and authority diminishes the power and authority women already have. But while I don't support their cause, I fully support them in their right to ask, even demand, what they see as a necessary step toward equality within the Church. My understanding of the priesthood doesn't make me think they will be successful in their fight for ordination, but I empathize with their need to fight for it nonetheless. They are bringing to light changes that can, and should, be made so that men and women more fully realize the power in the priesthood as they use it together.

But back to the articles themselves and some problems with them. Let's start with this quote:
To revise female roles in the church threatens what many see as the very foundations of the faith, which dictate that men are ordained as priests at the tender age of 18, taking the title “Elder,” while women, who can never progress beyond “Sister,” are considered holiest and most fulfilled as wives and mothers.

The "foundations of the faith" they're referring to, I suppose, are our beliefs and practices regarding the Priesthood. To be clear, however, our faith and church has one foundation: Jesus Christ. That's it. Everything we do goes back to our belief in His atonement and resurrection.

Of course, since Christ not only holds the Priesthood, but is the priesthood, it is an essential part of our foundation. Here's where things get tricky, though. Our definition of priesthood may closely match that of Catholics and Protestants, but our inferred meaning does not, and neither does our application of the Priesthood. The Priesthood can never be a career path for either a Mormon woman or man. No eighteen year old boy ordained an elder can choose to serve in certain positions that may move him up the ranks to President some day. The purpose of the priesthood is simply to bless the lives of others. While only men within the Mormon church are ordained to administer the priesthood, it is through the priesthood that both men and women do as Christ did: bless the lives of others.

Boys are ordained priests at the age of 16, not 18, while they still hold only the Aaronic, or lower, priesthood. Their responsibilities are pretty limited but do include the authority to bless the sacrament each Sunday and perform baptisms if asked to do so. They must be ordained as Elders before participating in the highest temple rituals (we call them ordinances), but are only called Elder while serving missions or if they are called (askED to serve--this is different from askING to serve) in the Quorum of Seventy or as an Apostle.

Do there seem to be some inequities here? On the surface, yes. But you know who can enter the temple and officiate in the same ordinances as men without being ordained to the priesthood? Women. So are there inequities in that also? Not when you stop defining equality as sameness (2 + 2 and 3 +1 both equal the same thing even though they look different, right?).

In a church whose doctrines include those of eternal progression--meaning we continue to learn and grow forever--and agency--meaning we choose how much we learn and grow-- the idea that women "can never progress beyond 'Sister'" doesn't really work. Our progress is neither dependent upon another person, nor upon any titles given. Our progress is only dependent upon ourselves and the choices we make. To progress in the Church does not mean moving up the ladder like it does in the business world. Since our clergy is a lay clergy and callings (positions we're ASKED to fill) are often based more on inspiration than ability, a secular view of progress doesn't fit the Mormon definition, whether it's applied to women or men. There's no ladder to climb in Christ's church, nor should there be.

But for those who place importance in titles, there is another one women can be known by. I am currently serving as the Young Women President in my congregation. This means I am called to be the women's leader over girls age 12-18 and, as such, I am referred to as President by my bishop (pastor of our congregation) and his two counselors, as are my female counterparts in the women's and children's organizations and my male counterpart in the young men's organization. The young women themselves, however, call me Sister, just as the young men call my counterpart, Brother. The title of president is only important to me in that it sends the message to my young women that  my responsibility to them is equal to that of the Young Men President over the boys (this is a rare instance where  sameness does translate to equality).

As for the charge that women are "considered holiest and most fulfilled as wives and mothers," consider this statement by President Harold B. Lee given in 1974 and quoted by President Howard W. Hunter twenty years later in General Priesthood Meeting which only men attend: “The most important of the Lord’s work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.” Did they mean Mormon men should have home-based businesses? That they should find careers they advance in within their homes? No.

Our theology teaches that families are eternal, God is, literally, our Heavenly Father, and we lived with him before coming to earth. Since God is giving mothers and fathers responsibility for His children and we will have to report back to Him about how we fulfilled this responsibility, is there anything more holy or more fulfilling (or frustrating) for a man or woman than marriage and children? I have never heard any Church leader ever say that a man will be more fulfilled by remaining single and pursuing worldly success rather than getting married and becoming a father.

See how reporters can miss all the context behind the syntax when they report on a culture they're not part of in a language that sounds like their own but isn't? I try to remember this every time I read about another religion.

Here's another example, and it's a biggie:

But when asked how they felt about women joining the priesthood, which would allow them to assume religious decision-making authority, Ms. Ensign and Ms. Scott shook their heads and let out nervous giggles. “I already have way too much responsibility,” Ms. Ensign said.

First of all, it's Sister Ensign and Sister Scott. If you're going to make a big deal about women only being able to hold one title in my church, you probably ought to use that one title. While I rarely call my fellow sisters, Sister, the female missionaries are always referred to as Sister. It is a title of respect that is the equivalent of Elder when referring to male missionaries. To give them a secular title like Ms. is to diminish the importance of the work they are doing for our church, which is what you're article started out about.

Secondly, let me put some context behind this often misunderstood statement, "I already have too much responsibility." And this one "I don't want to go to any more meetings." And all the other ways Mormon women say "I don't want the Priesthood" that make me crazy because they are so easily misinterpreted as statements of submissiveness.

Do you know what women can do? Everything. Do you know what Mormon women actually do? EVERYTHING. Seriously. Look around. The Mormon woman you know is the one running the PTA, or the classroom, or the book fair or whatever else at your kid's school. She's the one you work with who also puts in a lot of unpaid time at her church. She's the one who just signed the sheet that went around asking for volunteers for whatever it is. She's the one bringing you dinner tonight. She's the one you can count on to follow through when she says she'll do something.

And do you know why?

Because she knows that what she does matters, even if it's something small and unworthy of recognition. She knows that her power comes, not from someone ordaining her, but from her innate ability to influence the world for good.

Let me give you some examples of how we use that influence and how it works in conjunction with an ordained male's responsibility to administer the Priesthood.

It starts with our belief in Adam and Eve and our understanding of who Eve was; an understanding that is increased as men and women officiate in temple ordinances. In our theology, Eve is not the weaker sex who gave into temptation and thus is to blame for the world of sin every person is born into. Rather, Eve is the women who thoughtfully partook of the fruit that allows all of mankind the blessing of mortal life. She made the decision to leave the Garden of Eden in order to have children, knowing she and they would face hardships, trials, and temptations, but also knowing we need these things to progress and live with God our Heavenly Father again. She used her influence to help Adam see that eating the fruit was not only necessary, but also part of God's plan.

Original sin? We don't have that in our doctrine (check out our Article of Faith #2). Which means we also don't share a basic belief of other Christian faiths. A belief that scores of religious men have used for centuries to justify the mistreatment or subjugation of women.

Here's a more personal example of how a woman's power to influence is as important as an ordained man's responsibility to administer. When I was fourteen I attended a special youth meeting that centered around the standards of morality the Church teaches. I sat next to a friend of my mom's, Christine Funk, as the priesthood leader assigned the topic of chastity gave the infamous "a white rose touched turns brown" talk. He ended by recounting how when he got married he sent his wife's former young women leader a dozen white roses to thank her for teaching his wife this very important lesson.

I sat through that talk convinced I was that brown wilted rose because I had kissed a boy when I was twelve. I had denied my future husband the privilege of sending any of my young women leaders a dozen white roses. Even worse, I had committed a grievous sin from which there was no return because I had kissed a boy on the lips on a dare. And since it was too late, what was the point of even living the standards being taught? What kind of man would want to marry me anyway?

I can't tell you the hopelessness I felt before Chris leaned over and said to me, "I can't believe he just said that. That does not take into account the Atonement or repentance."

With those two sentences a woman who had no official "authority" over me changed the course of my life. She taught me correct doctrine by following a feeling  to say something she had no idea how much I needed to hear. Her influence had more power than the priesthood authority of Brother So and So who was fulfilling an administrative assignment in an earnest, though woefully misguided, way.

My husband has administered priesthood blessings to a number of my friends whose own husbands were either out of town when the need arose or were unworthy to do so because they'd chosen not to live up to the standards required to administer. (Meaning, just because they were ordained doesn't mean they had the authority to use their priesthood office). On one occasion he went to my friend's house to help our bishop give her and her children blessings of comfort during a very difficult time caused by the choices of her husband and their father. Within minutes he called me to come over and help. They were so distraught he had no idea what to do.

After my husband and our bishop gave the blessings, I held my friend and her children. I shared my feelings about Christ's atonement and forgiveness while they, my husband, and my bishop listened. My words and my husband's blessings couldn't fix the problems caused by another husband and father's poor choices, but they did bring comfort. Together we used the power of the priesthood to administer, to influence, to love and to bless the lives of others.

We've had other experiences like this where he has used his power to administer in conjunction with my power to influence and nurture to bless the lives of others. These opportunities have taught us the importance of not only fulfilling our separate responsibilities, but also working together to do so in order to more fully realize the power in the priesthood. If I were ordained to administer priesthood blessings, my friends would have asked me to lay my hands on their heads instead of my husband. But then how would he have served them? When would he have learned how indispensable husbands and fathers are without the opportunity to step in when other men couldn't or wouldn't live up to their responsibilities?

I could give you a hundred other examples of women using their influence to bless the lives of others without being ordained to do so. Like the first counselor in my Young Women presidency who is a vice president at an international company. She has used her power to influence for good both in the workplace and the church by changing people's perceptions of childbirth from something to fear to something to embrace. She has used her pregnancy to teach our young women to see the connection between the agony and suffering women go through to give mortal life to God's children and the agony and suffering Christ endured to provide eternal life to God's children.

Or my young women who had the courage to report the disparaging and inappropriate remarks about women a popular teacher at their high school was making, leading to his dismissal. I can give you the examples of my mother, my grandmother, my aunts, my friends, and my sisters who have had as great an influence in my life as any man ordained to the priesthood.

Women can do everything. That doesn't mean they should.

So, Ms. Reporters, when you quote a Mormon woman saying she doesn't "want the responsibility" of the Priesthood, this is the context behind it. It's not that we don't want it, it's that we already have it. It just looks different from what you, or even Mormon women themselves, think it should.

If women want to use their influence to stand in a line for a meeting, no harm can come from that. They need to be heard. Women need to be heard. More importantly, they need to embrace their power and use it.

So while I won't be standing in any lines, here's how I will embrace my power and use my influence. I will fight to change outdated conversations about chastity so that no young women who doesn't have a Chris Funk sitting next to her will feel worthless. I'll fight to change conversations about modesty so the words "modest is hottest" are never used and reverence, love and respect for our bodies is emphasized. I'll teach girls the need for education and careers along with the divinity of marriage and motherhood. I'll do whatever it takes for women to recognize and be recognized for the miracles we perform every single day just by being women.

And if some day our living prophet receives a revelation that women should be ordained, I'll step up and do what's asked of me. Just please don't call me to be the financial clerk. I watched my husband muddle his way through that calling for three and half years and. . .

 I really don't want that responsibility.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Fear for Free

Take that elf down from the shelf, friends, Christmas is over. I don't have one of the little guys so I have to mark the end of the Season of Using a Naughty Overpriced Plastic Doll to Scare Kids into Behaving in a different way. Mainly by daily threatenings to return all gifts to Santa. (But since 2/3 of my children are no longer believers and 1/3 has a bad case of selective hearing, my threats are nothing more than idle if even heard).

Here's a question for you Elfers out there though:

How does a naughty elf encourage good behavior?

I mean, I get that it's fun to have him/her do silly things every night (actually this a lie because the thought of having to remember to do one more thing EVERY NIGHT in the month of December and then to have to make that one more thing a creative one, STRESSES. ME. OUT.), but how does that translate into outright fear of misbehavior?

Take for instance, this picture:
Shelf Elf
really, Pinterest?

Every morning this is the conversation I have with my children, "WILL YOU PLEASE PUT THE CAP BACK ON THE TOOTHPASTE SO IT DOESN'T GET ALL OVER THE COUNTER?? AND SQUEEZE FROM THE BOTTOM. SQUEEZE. FROM. THE. BOTTOM!!" How could this possibly help lower the toothpaste covered counter incidents in my home?  My heart is pounding just looking at this picture because, really, I don't have enough kid-created messes to clean up, I'm going to make some of my own? Do you know when this would be cleaned up at my house? June. Maybe. If my ultimate goal is to scare my kids into never misusing toothpaste again, how could this possibly help?
Or here's another Pinterest suggestion:
Funny & Creative Elf on the Shelf Ideas - much needed!!!
Have your elf steal from you. Because it's not enough you paid $30 (if you got a deal)  for this creep, now he's going to take your cash, charge up your credit card, AND teach your kids it's okay. This is the guy Santa's sent to keep an eye on them, right? So either Santa's been snookered just like everyone else who's bought into Elfie/Mr. Jingles/Harvey (or whatever pseudonym he's using at your house) or Santa's standard have seriously slipped.
Or how about this:
Cute website for elf ideas.
You want to know what my kids' reaction to this would be? Not, "Mommy, mommy look how funny Elfie is!" or "Can I drink syrup through a straw too?" No, their reaction would be "Straws as a syrup delivery device? Why did I never think of this before? Who needs pancakes or waffles? Let's cut out the middle man! Girl 2, you get the straws. Girl 3, you watch for Mom while Girl 2 and I drink our breakfast. If there's any left, you can have some too."
Call me dense or clueless or the meanest mom ever, but I just don't get it. I mean, I'm not against fear. I'm pro-fear. Kids should be scared into being good. But how does a mirror defacing, purse invading, syrup sucking doll accomplish this? Especially when he's kept in a box for eleven months out of the year.
Here's how it's always worked at my house (and the house I grew up in). The kids have a week after Christmas to get all their fighting and naughtiness out without too much retribution. Hopefully they're distracted enough by all their new crap that things don't get too out of control. But starting January 1st, Santa's elves start watching again. But only Mom can see them. They're always peeking in windows somewhere. And they're are windows everywhere. Go ahead, think of somewhere without windows (okay, outside, but the elves are already out there). Dungeons, right? And let's see a kid misbehave in one of those.
The elves are always watching. ALWAYS. And there's more than one of them.
Fear can be free, my friends. Free. All you have to do when naughtiness is about to erupt is calmly say, "Oh, I think I just saw an elf peeking in the window." Stops them in their tracks. Now the focus has gone from being bad to being outright scared of something they can't see but can see them. Fear of the unknown, people, is the greatest fear of all.
Follow your statement by quietly signing a few of the creepier lines from Santa Claus is Coming to Town. "He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good. SO BE GOOD FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"
Boom. Elves go from rosy cheeked pranksters to a cross between Edward Cullen and Chucky.
Happy New Year and You're Welcome.

WARNING! This method may not actually induce good behavior. Side effects include nightmares, fear of dark hallways, fear of being alone, fear of windows, desire for window coverings, and fear.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Mormonism for Drunks

Last weekend I went to Vegas to see my friend Kelly from Cleveland.
We went cooler places than the airport,
but we forgot to take pictures at those places.
It was one of the few bright spots at the end of a hard year. And, let me tell you, Kelly from Cleveland knows how to do Vegas. There's no hanging out in her mother-in-law's basement like yours truly. Nope. There's shopping, and eating good food, and winning money, and staying at nice hotels.

This is not how I do Vegas.

But Kelly from Cleveland let me live vicariously through her, asking me be her personal shopper and buying me a delicious steak at a restaurant with singing frogs and waterfalls that was not Rainforest Café.* I did, however, miss out on the club with the ladies taking waterless baths and the man wearing the bear head who may or may not have worked there.

Again, this was not my typical Vegas visit to the in-laws.

Kelly's husband Chris and her friend Kathleen also ate delicious steak  with us and later her friend--I'll call him Drunk Larry (mostly because his name is Larry and because he was, in fact, drunk)--showed up to drink some wine and eat our delicious leftovers. We had a very fine time and Larry--as he himself pointed out--was hiLARRYous.

During our lively conversation there were some questions asked/statements made about Mormons. I did an okay job of answering them, but now that I've had a few days to think them over and Larry's had a few days to sober up, I think I'd like to give it another go. I'll leave it to anyone who wasn't at that dinner who may read this blog to guess which questions asked/statements made were from the one among us who was not entirely sober.

You're a Mormon? Where did you park your horse and buggy?
At Brigham Young's house...back in 1858.

The typical form of transportation used by Mormons now looks like this:**
Based on this picture, 2 out of 9 Mormon children will have broken arms at any given time.
Is there such a thing as a Mormon high school?
Yes, in some parts of Utah and Idaho. Except it's called public school and isn't actually owned by the Church.
In many parts of the world though, high school age kids attend what we call seminary which is usually held in our church buildings. This is religious instruction that generally happens before school where there isn't a high concentration of Mormons. In Utah, Southern Idaho and parts of Arizona this instruction takes place during the school day in seminary buildings located near high schools and is officially known as released time. It's part of a student's class schedule, but no credit is given for the course. Except in Heaven.

Are there black Mormons?
Yes. Here's one right here:
There are more, but I'm not gonna lie. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints--just like most other predominately white Christian churches--has a difficult history when it comes to Black Americans and because of that we don't have nearly the number of black members I would like to see us have. I found this cool site though, if you want to know more about black Latter Day Saints.

Are there gay Mormons?
Yes there are members of the Church who struggle with same-sex attraction. This one is hard because of our belief that gender is eternal and that marriage is between a man and a woman (as a side-note, not all faithful members agree with this). Sex outside of marriage is also considered a sin, thereby resigning someone attracted to another of the same sex to a life of celibacy if he/she wants to remain a fully practicing Mormon.
It's a difficult subject and one that the Church has not always been sensitive to or open about. I think this website is a huge step in the right direction toward a more compassionate approach to same-sex attraction.

Do Mormons get Botox?
At least one of us does:

Have you seen Book of Mormon, the musical? Is the history in it right?
I haven't seen it so I don't know for sure. But if it's about a fourteen year old boy named Joseph Smith who, in 1820, read in James 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him, decided to put that scripture to the test by asking God which church to join and was answered over a number of years with visions of God, Jesus, and angels and actual gold plates from which we get our Book of Mormon that does not include any dancing, singing, or stages; then yes, the history is correct.
Even telling you about it makes me think, this must sound crazy to someone who hasn't heard it before.
But no crazier than a virgin giving birth to the son of God and that same son coming back to life after three days and a lot more people (including me) believe those stories.
You can read Joseph Smith's experience in his own words here. It's kind of long and doesn't have the same humor as Matt Stone and Trey Parker's version, but I'd venture to say it's better.
Does your Mormon God (fill in the blank):
My Mormon God does the same thing as your Jewish/Catholic/Muslim/Christian/whatever God. They're all the same guy, we just recognize and worship Him in different ways. Mormons are different than other Christians in that we don't believe in the doctrine of the trinity. We believe God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings and that God and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone.
There's a lot of people who don't like that about us, but I'm okay with that.
If I were a Mormon I wouldn't have lost my phone.
It's true if you were Mormon you probably wouldn't have been drunk, making it easier for you to not lose your phone. But Mormons lose things too.
We even lose things bigger than cells phones. Like jobs or homes or spouses. Sometimes we even lose children. Bad things happen to Mormons just like they happen to other good people. And life can be hard and sometimes we're sad.
But we have this scripture from the Book of Mormon (not the musical) that helps: 2 Nephi 2:25 aAdam bfell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
And we have our belief that there has to be opposition in all things. In order to know joy, we have to know misery, in order to feel pleasure we have to feel pain, in order to love we have to grieve.
It doesn't necessarily make things easier when we have hard times, but it brings some peace knowing God isn't mean and basically just wants us to be as happy as He is.
There were more questions, but I can't remember all of them and some of them weren't entirely appropriate. Basically it comes down to this: Mormons look a lot like you. Except without the alcohol or coffee. Or the cursing (at least not as much). And maybe a few other things--like more kids--but not always. (For the record, Drunk Larry has one more of those than me).
So there you go. A little slice of Mormonism in a nutshell.
A very small slice in a very small nutshell.
There's really a lot more and you could probably find a lot better answers in some other places, like But feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I will be happy to answer them if they're asked in a way that doesn't hurt my feelings.*** (Hard questions I'm okay with. Mean questions I'm not--I'm funny that way).
* Also there was fry sauce to go with our magically delicious French fries which gives me hope that the fry sauce phenomenon has crossed the Utah border and is finally making it's way West toward me.
** Most Mormons do not actually drive red Econo-vans. That was a joke... they're usually white.
*** To be clear, my Cleveland friends' questions did not hurt my feelings. Drunk Larry's surprise at finding himself dining with a Mormon was an entertainment highlight of the summer. And my summers are pretty entertaining.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

One Last Good-bye

I got this puzzle for Christmas:
If I knew how to do that magic with pictures where you circle something important and draw an arrow to it, I would circle the place in the right hand corner that says 1000 Pieces. 1000 is a lot when it comes to puzzle pieces. Especially if you don't like puzzles.
But if someone you love has cancer and she gives you a puzzle, you do that puzzle. Because there's nothing else you can do. (In case you haven't heard, there's still no cure for cancer). And I figured if my aunt could survive a surgery wherein most of her insides were removed and then chemo on top of that, I could probably do a 1000 piece puzzle.
So I spent a few weeks (we'll call them January) sitting at my dining room table trying piece after piece until I fit two, then three, then four and the image of Christ came together. I thought a lot about Him as I built that puzzle, knowing He answers prayers, hoping He'd answer yes to mine, fearing He couldn't.
I got about 900 pieces in when my cousin's kids came over and this happened:

See those pieces on the outside? Those are the pieces I had left. See that pile in the middle? Those were all put together. See that half-finished border? That's what remained in tact when the three year old decided to play "waterfall." Can you believe I still love that kid? You would if you knew him.
I looked at that pile of pieces for a few days, not ready to put them back in the box, but also certain I couldn't start over.
It was about that time my aunt got the news her cancer was back. Not that it had ever really gone away, but we'd been fooled for a few weeks into thinking it had. I was with her that day. We hugged and we cried and then, we planned. "Let's make photo books for your grandbabies," I said. "It will give you something to do." Something to leave behind was left unsaid, but understood.
Then I went home and started sorting those pieces, ready to start over.
I finished the puzzle in February, working overtime to get it done before the cousins came over--just in case the little one wanted to play waterfall again.
If I could do that magic circle thing I'd point out the two empty spots. The two missing pieces never found. I suppose there's an analogy there--something about Christ being able to fill our missing pieces. I don't know. I do know you can't ever really finish a puzzle without all the pieces.
That didn't keep me from leaving it on my dining room table for months. Every time we had company my husband would ask if we could put it away, but I'd say no and so we fed our guests around it. I kept hoping to find the last two pieces, just like I kept hoping for a miracle, even though I could see the cancer winning.
I took the puzzle apart and put it back in its box two weeks ago after my aunt hugged me goodbye. The pieces weren't found and I didn't get the miracle I wanted.
But I'm grateful for all the unexpected blessings along the way.
In the end, the missing pieces weren't important. I could still see who's in the picture.


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Truncated: length

WARC-Type: response

text:
Back To All News

Alum named CEO of Society of Women Engineers

September 25th, 2013

The Society of Women Engineers is pleased to announce that Deputy Executive Director Karen Horting, an NIU alumna, will lead the world’s premier organization for women engineers as its executive director and CEO beginning January 1, 2014.

“Karen will bring fresh ideas and a new perspective to the role of executive director and CEO while at the same time, maintaining good continuity between staff and volunteers. Karen’s intimate knowledge of SWE and her past performance make her the ideal choice for our next leader,” said Stacey DelVecchio, SWE’s president.

Horting joined SWE nine years ago and has transformed the organization through her many contributions. She has been tasked with overseeing all aspects of fund development for the global organization, building the Corporate Partnership Council into a thriving panel of more than 70 influential organizations within the industry. Horting was also instrumental in molding much of the Society’s portfolio of offerings for those in the engineering industry, including professional development, K-12 outreach, the SWE Annual Conference and SWE’s international expansion.

In addition to her significant contributions to SWE, Horting brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and fund development. Prior to joining SWE, she served as the director of strategic planning at New York Academy of Sciences where she oversaw development activities and long-range organizational planning. Her experience also includes time at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). There, she managed both marketing and fund development on a global level for Science’s Next Wave, a ground-breaking career development website for graduate students and postdocs in science, math and technology. Her previous experience also includes more than 10 years in the paint and coatings industry in a variety of technical service and marketing functions.

Horting holds a bachelor of science in biology from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Additionally, she earned a Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the CAE Commission of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

“Having Karen in this role will allow SWE to seamlessly continue the work we’ve started on our new strategy,” DelVecchio said. “We are excited to have her in this role and look forward to the future with her.”

Horting will take over the position currently held by Betty Shanahan, the organization’s leader for 11 years. Shanahan will remain at SWE into early 2014 to assist with the leadership transition.

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-09
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for February 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Oh hello.

We didn’t see you there. But we’d love to hear from you.

Whether it’s for cheers or jeers, we always like to hear feedback.

If you see a chat widget in the bottom right-hand corner, you can do a live chat with one of us to get immediate support.

Thanks for taking the time.

Name *


text:
Payment types accepted   MyTinyWorld | MyTinyWorld Logo
Your Shopping Basket
Basket is Empty
Select Currency
Member Sign In | Free Sign up
 Dolls House Home  Dolls House Shop  Dolls House News  Dolls House Previews  Dolls House Gallery  Dolls House Contact
BLOG | Info | Whats New | Resources | Nail Art | Top Searches | Top Views | Wish List | Help
  MyTinyWorld Product Detail Page
Special Offers
Dolls House Miniature Seed Packets
dolls house miniature signs and posters
Products --> Components --> Doors

4 x Dolls House Miniature Internal White Painted 4 Panel Doors

Dolls House Miniature  | 4 x Dolls House Miniature Internal White Painted 4 Panel Doors
View:  Enlarge  | Full Screen Item ID: 16216
Price:  £24.00
Material:  Wood MyTinyWorld help page
Size:  173mm High x 74mm Wide x 9mm Deep MyTinyWorld help page
Availability:  Very Good
This product was added on 22-10-2016 and last edited on 11-10-2016

Search by these related terms
MyTinyWorld help page
11-10-2016Dolls House MiniatureAccessoriesWoodDoors1:12th Scale
4 x Dolls House Miniature Internal White Painted 4 Panel Doors
A lovely 1:12th scale 4 panel white painted internal door with a frame.

This accessory is part of our affordable range of dolls house miniature components. These Items have been prepared for you to either stain or paint depending on the scheme of your dolls house both inside and out.

View larger picture or View a supersized picture

Components: We are constantly adding new, high quality dolls house miniature Doors and Windows to our extensive range so that you have the best possible range to help you finish off your miniature scenes.
Wood: General mixed type bulk wood used to make furniture and accessories. Normally used in machine made miniatures. Look for products made from hard wood for the highest quality.
Share this page on   Facebook Icon  Facebook  Twitter Icon  Twitter
Goto to Main Products Goto Components Return to Doors

International Shipping
We ship our entire range of Dolls House Miniature products internationally. All Parcels outside of the UK are shipped with a recorded signed for or tracked service.

Customers in the USA and Europe please check with your post office if your parcel is not received within 2 weeks. We have an increasing number of returned items due to customers not checking with their post office.For additional information please see our help page.

Product Size Information
Please note that all of our products unless stated are specifically designed for dolls house enthusiasts and miniaturists and are accordingly produced in either 1/12th or 1/24th scale.

Please refer to our help page. for further information in relation to scale we produce items in to avoid disappointment.

Product Pricing
Price does not include postage and packing. Please check our shipping rates for current prices. Customers purchasing from outside the EU are not charged Value Added Tax (VAT) all other customer are able to log into their account and print a VAT invoice.

Returns Policy
Purchases may be returned within 14 days of receipt at your expense unless made to order and in the case of faulty goods you have one month. Please see help page for full details of conditions and your rights.

| FAQs
| Links
| Postage
| Privacy
| Terms
| Help

graphics-logo.png   fire-fly-logo.png   wood-logo.png   nail-logo.png   paper-logo.png

Website, code, contents,logos and photographs Copyright MyTinyWorld 2006-2017(C)
MyTinyWorld, Unit 22 Ross Road, Northampton, NN5 5AX, United Kingdom, Telephone: 01604 589818


text:
Over 25.000 tasting notes

One of Norway's largest wine tasting note archives, containing more than 25.000 tasting notes. All tasted by one taster, not a panel, so Norway's most consistent archive as well. To find tasting notes? Search; mywinesandmore "wine name" on google, to find all notes from one property.

Friday, 30 November 2012

3 times Vin Santo

2005 Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Vin Santo del Chianti Classico:
Amber brown. VA nose overshadowing nuts and raisins. Freshish acidity and maderized dried fruits. Browning apples and bananas. 84

2006 Cantagallo Millarium Vin Santo del Chianti Montalbano:
Amber with deep golden rim. Starting out with VA notes but blew off to more raisiny, nutty and caramelized notes. Dried apricots and honey. Freshish acidity, rounded, sweet and mellow. A bit short. 86

2004 I Veroni Vin Santo del Chianti Ruffina:
(only about 800 bottles made) Amber. Figs, raisins, almonds and dried fruits. Fresh acidity, soft, sweet and rounded texture, good length. 89

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.


text:
Voice Actor Comments on Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC

Lance Henriksen, voice of Admiral Steven Hackett in ME3, commented to G4 about what fans can expect from the new Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC set to be released this summer.'s Cassidee Moser has the details.

Read Full Story >>
The story is too old to be commented.
TekoIie1742d ago (Edited 1742d ago )

I will forgive Bioware depending on how good this extended cut is. It needs to show what happens right after the final battle and then i would like them to show us what happens to the galaxy based on our decisions.

Do the Krogans die out? Do the quarians and geth play nice? These questions need to be answered but not with a simple yes or no answer.

user54670071742d ago

The only way I can forgive Bioware is if they decide to continue where Shepard got hit by Harbingers laser...basicaly make it so they use the indoctrination theory because to me it's the only way out of the terriable plothole filled ending they gave us, hell it's the only way that would make sense of it all

neoandrew1742d ago

If Harbingers loses the indoctrination attempt (destroy option) he dies, cuz he revealed this mind trying to do this and has become vulnerable, the fight is really in shepard and harbinger mind together, if you choose destroy you win and harbinger is forced to destroy his kind, he no longer controls his actions.

Nimblest-Assassin1742d ago

But its my solution... its full proof... I facepalmed so hard at that logic and the 3 stupid choices...

I choose destroy, and then realized after... oh shit I just killed Edi and plunged the galaxy into a technological dark age

There are so many confusions with the ending, like when Anderson dies no matter what, people say if he is still alive the ending changes... but no matter what he dies...

I just want all of these plot holes explained

BattleAxe1741d ago

Even with the extended cut DLC, this game will be remembered for having one of the worst endings in gaming history. How Bioware could create such a rich and expansive universe with such a fantastic storyline, and then end the trilogy on such a poor note just doesn't make any sense.

SneeringImperialist1742d ago (Edited 1742d ago )

The DLC is going to have to be massive to satisfy everyone. They also need to add more harbinger! when i heard the reaper on Rannoch say "Harbinger speaks of you" and when i saw him land on earth i was expecting there to be some sort of menacing conversation with him at some point lol.

ChickeyCantor1742d ago (Edited 1742d ago )

"Do the Krogans die out? "

No...I saved them.

"Do the quarians and geth play nice? "
No, i mean yes the geth are helping the Quarians with the vital immume system....O wait

TekoIie1742d ago

What i mean is a short "movie" at the end of the game showing what happens (not to the characters) but with galactic relations between all the races.

For example, if you cured the genophage but killed Wrex on Virmire then i think its guaranteed that the krogan would start a war. On the other hand Wrex would keep the peace and i want to know how this ties into the story.

What if you sacrificed the quarians for the geth or vice versa (or made peace). Basically i want to know the overall outcome of ALL descisions collectively that could have affected the ME universe.

ChickeyCantor1741d ago

I know what you meant.
I guess I was just saying that they would need to make actual endings instead of a RGB barrel.
And they won't.

But the fact I've worked up to the point where the galaxy is in hands. Minus the reapers of course. And then you have to make a choice that completely nullifies your progress...

It just feels so...At this point I just don't think any good will come from it.

kent800820071742d ago (Edited 1742d ago )

Ha! You'll forgive them, like it actually matters to anyone

MrBeatdown1742d ago (Edited 1742d ago )

I'd rather not see how things with the Krogan and things like that play out. One of the things I always liked about the series was going into the next game to see how decisions played out long term. I'd rather see those kind of things saved, so we can see how the galaxy changes from game to game. I think they did a good enough job progressing and providing an element of closure to those particular aspects of the story as is.

Plus, with the quarians and geth, that's something affected by the ending. I think if Bioware were to be too clear on what happens when you choose a particular ending, it diminishes the weight of the choices at the end. Shepard is supposed to go in and make this decisions almost blindly. I think if Bioware were to be too clear on some things, the "right" choice would be too apparent, which to me, is especially important for a series that puts a lot of emphasis and trying to make the right call in situations where you don't have all the answers.

I would definitely like the events of the ending to be fleshed out more though... Where everyone was and what they did. I didn't find the ending bad. I liked the choices. I think they just need to address what may or may not be plotholes, and wrap it up better than they did.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1741d ago
Dark111742d ago

Meh , I already finished the game and moved on ..

TheBlackSmoke1742d ago

Sure smells like entitlement up in here..

soundslike1742d ago

inb4 the circle jerk

"You don't get it!"

"Its not about this! Its about that!"

"but but but they pwomised!!"

kent800820071742d ago

"You shut up!"
"No you shut up!"
"They owe us!"
"...You shut up!"
"No you shut up!"

Story of the internet

Gamer-Z1742d ago (Edited 1742d ago )

I finished this game and traded it in a long time ago. There really wasn't any point in keeping it and playing it again with that horrid ending.

WitWolfy1741d ago

I love how everybody assumed we hated the ending thanks to (SPOILER) Shepard dying.... Where it was actually all about plot holes and those useless war assets which didnt help ANYTHING really...

Ripco_Keller1742d ago

You know what happens? In every ending? You wipe out all of civilization. How do I know this? Because in the last dlc for ME2 you blow up a mass relay in Batarian space, and it literally destroys the entire solar system it was stationed in. And at the end of ME3, every ending destroys every mass relay in the galaxy. So every solar system with a Mass Relay is obliterated, and surrounding solar systems in their star cluster are cut off from the rest of the galaxy, plunging everyone into an intergalactic dark age.

Pain_Killer1741d ago

A bit wrong here my friend!

The Mass Relay we hit in the Arrival DLC had its core destroyed by the asteroid collision which resulted in the loss of the Batarian controlled territory.

However, In ME3 the Relays are charged up with the crucible's energy fired from the citadel, Hence the relays dissipate that specific energy depending on your choice.

The star system isn't destroyed instead absorbed by the charged energy dissipated by the citadel. Your statement would only be correct if we had a low EMS where we saw the Earth getting vaporized by the charged beam, that would also apply for other systems. They would only get destroyed/vaporized in that case.

Hope this solves the misunderstanding of Destruction of relays for ME fans. :)

P_Bomb1741d ago

Technically he's no more wrong or right than you, Pain_Killer.

Unfortunately, nothing you just said was in the endings I saw, it's just fanfic honorably trying to do its best to fill in the gaping holes BioWare blew through an otherwise crazy enjoyable narrative. Like the Indoctrination Theory, a get out of jail free card they'll properly squander for more Matrix Revolutions.

I really, really want this DLC to succeed. As it stands, it's like they outsourced the last 20 minutes to Ubisoft, who also can't seem to wrap up a story proper to save their lives (various Splinter Cells, Assassin's Creeds, FarCry2, Prince of Persia '09). Bizarre.

Show all comments (34)
The story is too old to be commented.


text:
Far Cry 3 Review (Game Freaks 365)

Far Cry 3 is the full package. It's an open-world shooter with hours of enjoyable entertainment, action sequences that rival the best in the industry and unquestionable production value. The few flaws that the game has, including some repetitious aspects and relatively weak online multi-player, are more than compensated for by the game's strengths.

Read Full Story >>
The story is too old to be commented.


text:
The Fate of the Belmont Family is Revealed in an Epic Battle Against Dracula

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate is now available at retail stores in North America and South America exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS system.

Read Full Story >>
The story is too old to be commented.


text:
Functionalization Workbench

By AbderRahman N Sobh1, Chen-Yu Li1, Nahil Sobh1, Aleksei Aksimentiev1

1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Using molecular dynamic simulation - explore the interactions between a molecular structure and substrate when they are linked together.

Launch Tool

You must login before you can run this tool.

Version 2.1c - published on 22 Nov 2016

doi:10.4231/D3GM81Q11 cite this

Open source: license | download

View All Supporting Documents


text:
Analysis of Techniques for Measuring Carrier Recombination Lifetime

By Richard Keith Ahrenkiel

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO

Published on

Rapid, accurate and contactless measurement of the recombination lifetime is a very important activity in photovoltaics. The excess carrier lifetime (Δn(t)) is the most critical and variable parameter in the development of photovoltaic materials. Device performance can be accurately predicted from the lifetime measurement of the starting material. However, there is no single measurement that directly measures the bulk lifetime as all measurements are based on a device model.

A primary issue is that the lifetime is a function of excess carrier lifetime, and measurements must be linked to an injection level. The most common measurements are based on either photoconductive (PCD) or photoluminescence (TRPL) decay. PC decay senses the product of excess carrier concentration (Δn) and mobility (μ (Δn)). This mobility variation must be included in order to extract the true excess carrier lifetime. TRPL works best for direct band gap materials and therefore is not applicable to silicon. For polycrystalline materials, shallow traps distort the measurement and must be included in the analysis of the data. Finally, surface and interface recombination have profound influence on most measurements and must be minimized for accurate measurement of the true bulk lifetime.

Both techniques and analysis methods will be discussed in this seminar. Typical sample measurements will be shown, including representative thin film and wafer materials that are currently popular in the photovoltaic community.

Richard K. Ahrenkiel Dr. Richard K. Ahrenkiel is a Research Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. He is also a Consultant and Research Fellow Emeritus at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he worked from 1981 to 2005. Prior to NREL, he worked at Eastman Kodak Research laboratories, and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Ahrenkiel’s area of specialization is the measurement and characterization of photovoltaic cells and materials, and he is one of the world experts in the area of carrier recombination and carrier lifetime. He invented a unique technique for measuring the excess carrier lifetime in materials. This technique, named Resonance-coupled photoconductive decay (RCPCD), has been extensively applied to silicon and non-silicon materials. Dr. Ahrenkiel received a B.S. degree in Engineering Physics and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Sponsored by

Cite this work

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

  • Richard Keith Ahrenkiel (2013), "Analysis of Techniques for Measuring Carrier Recombination Lifetime,"

    BibTex | EndNote

Birck Technology Center, Room 1001, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN


text:
Naruto-Fanon Central Wiki

Sea Gate

1,866pages on
this wiki
Add New Page
Comments0 Share

This article, Sea Gate, is the property of Kaitan.

Sea Gate
Sea Gate
Name Sea Gate
Kanji 海門
Rōmaji {{{romaji}}}
Literal English Sea Gate
Type Supplementary
Classification Ninjutsu, Shio SpiralHiden
Parent jutsu Eight Gates
User(s) Yakedo Shio

The Sea Gate is another inner "gate" linked to the Eight Gates, forcing the body to use the brain's entire capacity through chakra. The user is granted the mental capacity of a computer until it wears off. They are capable of analyzing techniques, abilities and movements at superhuman speeds while the gate is open, as well as formulate excellent battle plans within moments, becoming in effect instant geniuses and strategists far and away past those hailed as "genii" for the technique's duration.

Overuse of this technique, forcing the brain to operate at peak efficiency, can cause lasting mental degradation and damage. Due to some of the more well-known effects being mental degradation, skewed reasoning, and insanity, it has been theorized this is the cause for Yakedo's parents' militarization program.

  • It shares the same romanisation as the Gate of Opening, (開門, Kaimon).

Ad blocker interference detected!

Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers

Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected.


text:
The Independent, 20 December 2013

I'm not usually a gambling woman, because I am not one of life's natural winners, unless the game is Scrabble. I've never even been inside a casino, so if James Bond ever wants to impress me, he's going to have to meet me in a museum or the park, or somewhere else where people are wearing sensible shoes and warm coats. When those books of raffle tickets arrive from Crisis or a donkey sanctuary, I just donate the money and throw the tickets away. Which, now I come to think of it, has probably reduced my chances of ever winning anything in a raffle still further.

But last week, I was genuinely tempted to buy a lottery ticket for €100. I would have had a 1 in 50,000 chance of winning a Picasso (L'Homme Au Gibus), worth a shiny million dollars. Everything about this lottery was brilliant. The chance to win a Picasso is infinitely more exciting than a cash prize would be. Don't get me wrong — I'd like a huge cheque — but there is something amazing in the idea of owning a work of art, albeit a minor one, by a major artist.

On top of that, the money raised (€5 million, if every ticket was sold), goes to an organisation determined to save the ancient city of Tyre, in what is now Lebanon. If there is a more romantic thing to raise money for, I can't imagine what it is. Tyre was the home of Dido, driven by her murderous brother, Pygmalion, from there to Carthage, where she fell into a doomed love affair with the Trojan prince, Aeneas. Virgil's version of her story is the most beautiful part of the Aeneid (which isn't exactly short on high points). So to call the campaign to save it a good cause rather undersells it.

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to buy a ticket, because I realised that losing out on a Fiat Punto (which is what the donkeys occasionally offer) is easy: I don't even have a parking space, what would I do with a car? But losing out on a Picasso would really have hurt. As it turns out, the winner was Jeffrey Gonano, a man from Pennsylvania who was looking for something to hang on his wall. Gonano works in the fire sprinkler business, which means that if even one person didn't die in a fire because of his work, he's contributed more to society than many art collectors.

Surely this is the right way for charities to raise money now. No more bathing in baked beans or pounding the streets on fundraising marathons: art investment looks like a lot more fun. In idle moments, I sometimes play the Thomas Crown game, when you work out which artwork you like so much you'd consider stealing it from a museum. For me, it's a yellow and orange Rothko (currently held in a museum in Buffalo, who have probably just added my name to a list). I used to feel guilty that I wanted it so much: it goes against my belief that all great art should be where everyone can see it. But I only have to look at a reproduction of it to hear Nina Simone singing Sinnerman (the soundtrack to the great Thomas Crown heist scene) in my head.

And, now I'm on the subject, there's a beautiful little bronze bird from Pompeii in the Capitoline Museum which I'd probably try to swipe on the same trip. He sits on an intricate bronze branch and he would fit in my handbag, no trouble at all. I'm clearly a recidivist in the making. But maybe it's not entirely my fault if I keep thinking about taking artworks without the owner's consent. Art theft is everywhere at the moment: from Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch to Derren Brown's crack team of pensioners who half-inched a Chapman Brothers painting from a seemingly secure gallery on Channel 4 last week. So perhaps I'm not alone in my fantasy of owning a masterpiece. Anyway, next time a piece of art is up for grabs, I'll stop being a coward and buy a ticket. I'll worry about the insurance later.

Christmas cards can be a minefield of passive-aggression. There are the ones which arrive in mid-November, reminding you that you haven't even thought about Christmas yet, and still have a mouldering pumpkin on the windowsill from Halloween. Then there are the ones which contain a round robin, explaining the many achievements of the children of someone you wish you'd never met. But all of these are knocked into a cocked party hat by Hammersmith and Fulham council, who sent out cards telling residents to pay their rent. Merry Christmas to you too.

Obviously, the message isn't itself unreasonable: it is more important to have a roof over your head than a riotous Christmas. But renters already know this: they're not skint because they can't count, they're skint because rent is cripplingly expensive. And a rent reminder in the form of a Christmas card is beneath even Mr Scrooge.


text:
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Tags Posts tagged with "Sajin de Vass"

Tag: Sajin de Vass

Parliamentarian Sajin de Vass Gunawardena was further remanded till July 7 after being produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court today. Gunawardena is in remand...

shop giay nuthoi trang f5Responsive WordPress Themenha cap 4 nong thongiay cao gotgiay nu 2015mau biet thu deptoc dephouse beautiful


text:
Failed to connect to MySQL: () The National Statistical Concern

National Statistical NatStat

Games of Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Player Statistics
Team Statistics
Sign Up or Log In
Were you a subscriber prior to March 2016? Please read this!
8 pageviews remaining today.
National Statistical is ad-free and 100% funded by subscriptions.
Do you find our resources useful? We've got options.


text:
Industrial Tubes, Pipe, Fittings, Flanges & Forgings

Top Quality Pipe Fittings and Forgings from Leading Manufacturers

Request A Custom Quote
Industrial Tubes, Pipe, Fittings, Flanges & Forgings Metal Products Steel Buttweld Fittings Industrial Pipe Industrial Flanges

About United Metals

As an authorized agent for some of the best steel manufactures in the world, United Metals provides the Power, Oil & Gas, and Subsea industries with a wide range of Tubes, Pipe, Fittings, Flanges, Forgings and Special Components to meet their needs.  Custom and or special orders are available for these industries.

Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Subsea

Learn About Our Industrial Pipe Manufacturers

Steel Buttweld Fittings

Contact United Metals Today For A Steel Buttweld Pipe Fittings Estimate
United Metals provides a variety of steel buttweld fittings for your industrial needs. We provide buttweld fittings in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel, and other materials. These quality manufactured buttweld fittings are ideal for use in the petrochemical, power generation, chemical and oil and gas industries.

We provide buttweld pipe fittings in numerous shapes like 90º elbows, reducing elbows, 45º elbows, tees, reducing tees, concentric reducers, eccentric reducers, caps, stub ends, crosses, reducing crosses, and 180º LR and SR return bends.

Steel Buttweld Pipe Fittings
90° ElbowsTees
45° ElbowsReducing Tees
Reducing Elbows Return Bends
Caps Concentric Reducers
CrossesEccentric Reducers
Reducing CrossesSpecial Radius Bends
Stub EndsSpecial Flow Tees

Industrial Pipe

Contact United Metals Today For An Industrial Pipe Estimate

Welded and Seamless Forged Industrial Pipe

Specializing in all Grades and Sizes
Manufacturers: M.E.G.A. and Rivit

Industrial Flanges

Contact United Metals Today For An Industrial Flange Estimate

United Metals provides industrial flanges for the petrochemical, refinery and power industries.

Carbon, Stainless Steel, Nickel Alloy, and Titanium Industrial Flanges

Sizes: 1/2” up to 60” all classes
Standards: International standards and customer drawing
Flanges Types: Welding Neck, Slip On, Socket Welding, Blind, Threaded, Lap Joint, Orifice flanges
Manufacturer: Officine Santafede


text:
Guess Who’s Playing In The Super Bowl: Renewable Energy

Posted by NAW Staff on December 04, 2013 No Comments
Categories : New & Noteworthy

PSEG, the parent company of New Jersey-based utility PSE&G, is partnering with the NFL Environmental Program to provide green power for Super Bowl XLVIII, the first Super Bowl held in the New York-New Jersey metro region.

For every megawatt-hour of electricity used to power the event, PSEG says it will purchase and retire one renewable energy credit (REC) on behalf of Super Bowl XLVIII. This will include the electricity used at Met Life Stadium, the AFC and NFC team hotels and Super Bowl Boulevard – a public event associated with the Super Bowl – located in Times Square in New York City.

According to PSEG, its REC purchase will include New Jersey solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) equal to a four-week output of PSE&G's 3 MW Kearny Solar Farm. The remaining RECs have been purchased from Community Energy Inc., a certified Green-e Supplier, sourced from the Jersey-Atlantic City Wind Farm.

‘By purchasing wind and solar RECs locally, PSEG has added more value to this project,’ says Jack Groh, director of the NFL Environmental Program. ‘In addition to providing green energy, purchasing locally puts money into the local economy and can help finance construction of additional renewable energy capacity in the region – something that will have a lasting impact beyond Super Bowl XLVIII.’

Leave a Comment


text:
Sigma Announces Company Changes

Posted by NAW Staff on February 25, 2008 No Comments
Categories : FYI

Sigma Ventures, a composite and metal products manufacturer active in the wind energy market, has changed its name to Sigma Industries. The new name confirms Sigma's strategy of operating manufacturing facilities and developing new products, according to the company.

Following the adoption of this new corporate name, common shares of Sigma Industries will trade, under ticker symbol SIC on the TSX Venture Exchange.

In order to pursue its growth strategy in the U.S, the company also announced the creation of a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary called Sigma US Industries Inc.

‘This new entity will be a key element in achieving our growth objectives,’ says Denis Bertrand, president and CEO. ‘In fact, we are actively pursuing our efforts to acquire companies involved in our existing markets and susceptible of broadening our technological and client portfolios. With roughly 70% of our sales in the United States, the necessity to further strengthen our relationships with our clients, through increased proximity of our respective facilities, and to better match up our cash inflow and outflow in foreign currency justifies our quest.’

Leave a Comment


text:
The entire park was remodeled for last season
by IrishTrpt07 (2013-03-20 19:24:35)
[ Delete ]   [ Edit ]   [ Return to Jake's Field ]   [ Show All Thread ]   [ Ignore Poster ]   [ Report Post ]   [ Highlight Poster ]   [ Reply ]

  In reply to: Game times also changed---7 pm Fri, 4:30 pm Sat, 11 am Sun  posted by ShermanOaksND

Turf was put in, you can walk the complete ways around the field, the old building that sat past the outfield is now a team shop, there's a splash park for the kids, etc.

The owner was quoted as saying "if people leave not knowing there was a game, then we did our job".

That said, the park looks really nice.

The contents of this post represent the views of the author. NDNation.com is not responsible for its contents.


text:
Alternative Adventures: How to Switch up Your Saturday Routine

| Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Some of us enjoy crowding into tiny dorm rooms and fist pumping until two AM. Others, however, are underwhelmed by the party scene and overwhelmed by headaches and nausea on Sunday morning. But what other options are there? Architects may not want to spend every weekend night bonding at Bond, and the rest of us may not want to spend Saturdays studying it up at Club Hes.

The good news is that Notre Dame has much to offer to creative souls who crave alternative adventures on weekend nights.  If you are part of the 99.9% of the Notre Dame student body who likes to sing, go sing “Soaring, Flying” while swinging on the Sorin porch. Then, sprint through Stonehenge and the Reflecting Pool. There may not be water, but that’s a minor detail.

If you are lured to North Quad by the music blasting in Zahm, feel free to have your own dance party outside on the grass. You will actually have space to move, and you will elicit giggles and stares from those passing by. After you have sufficiently warmed up your dancing feet, swing by Swing Night at Lafun and learn how to perform a Pretzel. Then, go eat a pretzel, because you will have worked up an appetite.

If you want to relive your childhood days, venture out to the playground at the Morris Inn and take a ride on the slide. Then, lace up your skates at Compton and show off your skills. If you’re like me, you’ll think you know how to perform an Axel spin because you watched “Ice Princess” eight times. Unfortunately, it will not seem as easy as Michelle Trachtenberg made it look and you will end up falling on your butt. It’s okay though, because after hobbling off the ice, you’ll have an excuse to sit and sip hot cocoa.

While taking it easy on the bench, you’ll spot a Folk Choir poster and make the best decision of your life by deciding to go to the Concert of the Missions. You’ll forget about your throbbing ankle and sprint to the Basilica to procure a place in the front pew. In my entirely unbiased opinion, the Folk Choir concert will be the highlight of your night. It’s not like I’m in Folk Choir or anything.

After the show, you’ll be inspired to dust off your guitar and have a jam session with your friends. If you prefer to sing solo, you can learn how to harmonize with yourself by singing three notes at once. It is a difficult skill to acquire, so it may take hours of practice. However, it is a highly sought-after skill in the job market, so it will be a worthwhile investment.

After your throat is sore from belting out ballads, you’ll pop a throat lozenge in your mouth before popping up some popcorn. You’ll lie on the floor with your roommates and attempt to watch Lord of the Rings for the third time without falling asleep. Per usual, though, you’ll fall asleep as soon as they make it to the Mines of Moria and never find out if they escape, though you can infer that they make it out alive since there are two more books in the series.

You’ll wake up on Sunday morning with buttery fingers, feeling surprisingly rested and ready to tackle Stats. While walking to the library, each landmark you pass will remind you of a different adventure you had last night. You’ll smile to yourself, and the people you pass will wonder if you’re smiling at them and try to remember how they know you. They won’t realize that you were the girl dancing outside of Zahm.

Tags: ,

About Erin Thomassen

I am a freshman double majoring in the Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) and French. PLS (aka the Notre Dame Book Club) is the history of ideas through literature, philosophy, math and science. It was the perfect major for me, because I couldn't possibly choose one subject and hurt the other subjects' feelings. French was also a natural pick, since I have been prancing around my house under the pretense of performing ballet for eighteen years. If someone asks me what I do in my free time, I will tell them that I run and read. What I actually do is eat cartons of strawberries and knit lumpy scarves. If you give me fresh fruit, we will be friends. If we become friends, I will knit you a scarf for Christmas. It may be lumpy, but it will be in your favorite color. And if enough people become my friend, lumpy scarves might just become a trend.

Contact Erin


text:
Julius Bloch

Full Moon

lithograph,ed.12,image size: 10X12 3/4"pencil signed

The Farmyard
1844-1902, American

Oil on canvas, 15 x 21 1/2 inches, c. 1880s, attributed to John Appleton Brown, partial monogram lower left corner, in a period frame. John Appleton Brown was born in Newburyport, Ma and studied painting with Albert T. Bricher and Benjamin C. Porter, then traveled to Paris to study with Emile Lambinet. He became known for his Barbizon inspired landscapes of New England and images of apple orchards, earning himself the nickname "Appleblossom Brown." Brown was a member of the Society of American Artists and the National Academy of Design.

The Good Samaritan
1846-1897, French

Etching, image size: 8 7/8 x 7 1/4 inches, plate size: 10 13/16 x 9 inches, plate signed lower right, after Decamps.

Three Figures
1899-1974, American

Graphite on paper, image size 18 1/4 x 18 3/4 inches, signed in pencil lower left, framed


text:
Saturday, October 31, 2009

"The ones that stay on" - is the tag line on this 1979 package of stage warts. Two of the warts didn't stay on as advertised as they've fallen to the bottom of the package. I guess we can give Woochie Industries a pass, because it has been 30 years.

1 comment:

Leland Batson said...

Do you have anymore Woochie products from before the company was sold to Cinema Secrets? I'm Paul Batson's son and I would love to see pics of them if you do. Few exist today.

Leland Batson


text:
9 healing items that would definitely kill you in real life

Posted on 10/14 16:05 in | 0

If you're a guest in someone else's home, don't go through all their drawers looking for money. If you see a turtle, don't stomp on it. If you need to escape from a bunch of armed dudes, don't leave a nudie mag on the ground and expect them to hunker down and leer at it while you make your escape. Video games teach us all kinds of lessons that would be unwise to carry over to real life - but You'll feel better if you just use X healing item might be the most deadly of all.

Seriously, it's a wonder that video game characters are still standing after all the unrefrigerated poultry they consume, pills they pop, and anomalous drugs they inject into their veins. Can you imagine what would happen if you, a mortal creature of flesh and bone, tried to nourish yourself with these pick-ups? Well, you don't have to - I already did. Click on for some cautionary tales of healing items that would totally, totally kill you in real life.

Leave a Comment

Captcha image


text:
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided PC patch 11 released

Posted on 11/04 15:39 in | 0

An eleventh patch for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has been released on PC today, adding new things to Breach mode and addressing a few more lingering bugs. It takes the game to v1.11 build 616.0_P11.

The patch notes are a little vague about what new things are in Breach, referring to UI improvements and new achievements but staying light on specifics. As for the main campaign, this patch should fix an issue where Jensen is compelled to draw a weapon after exiting a terminal or PC.

Black artifacting problems when “SSR, MSAA 2x and Stereoscopic 3D” are enabled have been addressed as well, and there’s a nod to general “performance improvements” on both DirectX 11 and 12. Here’s the change log.

Leave a Comment

Captcha image


text:
Properties for Sale in Telford, Aqueduct, Telford, Shropshire

Showing 1-9 of 9 properties for Sale in Aqueduct, Telford, Shropshire

4 Bedrooms Detached House for sale

Ellis Peters Drive, Aqueduct, Telford, Shropshire.

With a detached double garage: a beautiful detached family home which has been updated throughout with a rear conservatory. hallway, cloaks/wc, cloaks cupboard, living room, dining…

£225,000 OIRO

5 Bedrooms Detached House for sale

7 Sambrook Close, Stirchley, Telford, Shropshire, TF3 1RT

A fantastic opportunity to purchase this unique & most impressive five bedroom detached family home with spacious living accommodation, perfectly positioned in a quiet cul-de-sac,…

4 Bedrooms Semi Detached House for sale

Churncote, Stirchley, Telford, TF3

***versatile family home*** with generous room sizes throughout incorporating entrance porch, entrance hall, guest cloaks/wc/utility, sitting room, lounge, conservatory and kitchen…

3 Bedrooms Semi Detached House for sale

Catherton, Telford

This semi detached property offers spacious and well presented internal accommodation to include : hallway, downstairs cloaks, lounge, large kitchen / diner, three double bedrooms…

3 Bedrooms Property for sale

Birchmore, Brookside, Telford, TF3

***well presented*** mid terraced property that is an ideal family home. the accommodation comprises porch, entrance hall, kitchen/diner, lounge and conservatory to the ground floor…

3 Bedrooms Property for sale

Bishopdale, Telford, TF3

***well presented*** family home in brookside. the accommodation comprises, porch, through hallway, breakfast kitchen, lounge, conservatory and guest cloaks/wc to the ground floor…

£89,950 OIRO

3 Bedrooms Terraced House for sale

132 Bishopdale, Brookside, Telford, TF3 1SG

Internal inspection is essential for this much improved well-presented, and spacious three bedroom mid-terraced family home, in the popular residential area of brookside. the property…

£79,995 OIRO

1 Bedroom Flat for sale

60 Mount Pleasant Drive, Stirchley, Telford, Shropshire, TF3…

Investors only tenanted at 475.00 pcm we are delighted to offer this well-planned, charming one bedroom first floor flat that has been much improved by the current owners, located…

Thinking of selling or renting your property?
Get a instant valuation today!

Free Instant Valuation

Find out if you are charging enough rent or what your property would be worth if you were to sell now

Share with your friends

Send to a FriendSend to Friend Icon

Register For Free

Create an account for free today to unlock some great features of Net House Prices.

Check your credit rating Instant House Valuation


text:
NetSuite Software Solutions for Consulting FirmsSimplify Operations with Integrated ERP and Professional Services Automation (PSA)

Today’s consulting practices in Singapore face the challenge of meeting perfect staff allocation and delivering projects profitably on time and within budget, while successfully meeting customer expectations. Meanwhile, non-billable administrative processes, including resource management, invoicing and business planning, and related costs result in decreased efficiencies and foregone productive hours. With NetSuite consulting services solution, you can eliminate redundant administration while achieving real-time visibility to increase utilisation rates, project profitability and improve collaboration across your offices and practices around the world.

Optimise Staff Allocation

Assign the right resources to the right project at the right time.

Grow Profitability

Benchmark projects with dashboards, identifying profitable teams and budgeted versus billed time.

Improve Collaboration

Share important project data and intellectual property simply across offices and practices.

Automate Time and Expense

Increase productivity with mobile expense management and automatic approvals which link directly to ERP/financials.


text:
IT Services

NetSuite Software Solutions for IT Services Companies

To succeed in today's increasingly global and competitive environment, IT services companies in Singapore need to meet the challenges of increasing resource utilisation and decreasing operational costs to maximise profitability. NetSuite ERP and professional services automation (PSA) software allows IT services organisations to gain a real-time view into opportunities, resourcing and financials to assist streamline business operations and deliver consistent high quality service that grows profitability.

Optimise Staff Allocation

Identify and assign the right people to the right job at the right time.

Improve Client Relationships

Successfully manage client expectations by sharing detailed and real-time project reports.

Empower Virtual Teams

Share documents and get project updates in real-time, from different locations and time zones with NetSuite's single cloud-based software.

Grow Project Profitability

Review timelines, resourcing requirements and project profitability to develop more accurate quotes and identify key areas for margin improvement.


text:
Saturday, December 11, 2010

Re-thinking Policy

The only way to fix the economy is to get rid of some debt -- a lot of debt, actually. But remember, it is private-sector debt that holds our economy down. Not public debt. So it is private-sector debt that must be reduced.

When at last we do that, if ever we do, the economy will grow like gangbusters again. With 30 years' of growth incentives in place? There'll be no way to stop the growth!

But when we finally get the economy growing again, we have to do things differently. We have to fight inflation differently. We can no longer expect the Fed to restrict the quantity of money, and curse them when they don't, and curse them when they do.

We must demand from the Fed a quantity of money adequate to support the existing level of economic activity. This will be a much greater quantity than we had, at least greater than we had before the Quantitative Easings.

We must demand from policy that it encourage credit-use for growth, but not for everything. We must expect the Fed to provide sufficient money to support the existing economy, and Congress must understand that credit is only for growth.

And we must invent a policy that uses accelerated repayment of debt to draw money out of circulation when we need to fight inflation, which is always.

The point of these changes is to get monetary stumbling-blocks out of the economy's way, so the economy will perform as we know it can.

charlie said...

First visit and I'm going through the links and I'm at this point. How does the fed get money into the economy. You are not saying they do it through quantative easing are you. I thought it was by Govt. spending into the economy, and that would be Congress not the Fed. Maybe I haven't read far enough.

The Arthurian said...

"How does the fed get money into the economy"?

That's a good question, Charlie.

Here's how it seems to me. When the Federal government spends more money that it takes as taxes, it puts money into the spending stream. But this is not newly created money. It is money that somebody had, that they wanted to tuck away in savings.

What happens by deficit spending, really, is not an increase in the quantity of "money stock" but rather a change in the composition of the money stock. Money that was in savings, or money that was going into savings, instead goes into the spending stream. Deficit spending increases the ratio of circulatings-to-savings.

In a separate operation, the Federal Reserve may decide to "monetize" some of the Federal debt. The Fed prints new money (or pushes a button on a computer, or whatever) and uses the new money to buy Treasury securities that someone in the private sector is willing to sell.

The Federal Reserve adds to the money stock, and at the same time reduces the stock of Treasury securities outstanding.

The Federal Reserve action increases the quantity of money; but the Fed deals with savers. Money set aside in Treasury securities is money saved. When the Fed prints money and uses it to buy those securities, the Fed is paying that money to savers. It's not the same as putting money into circulation.


text:
Anyone who has towed a caravan and encountered a ‘snaking’ situation, where the caravan swings from side to side, knows just how scary such an experience can be. There are some ways to lessen the risk of such scenarios, such as not loading heavy items towards the rear of the caravan, but motor home manufacturer Heku has come up with an interesting design called the Carcamp that's designed to enhance stability even at high speeds.

The somewhat bizarre looking Carcamp is the result of coupling a specially fitted housing unit with a standard Opel Astra, which is probably not the first car to spring to mind when looking at motor homes. The housing unit is attached to the car by two “sideways” towbars, to give a snug fit between it and the car. This flush fit results in an aerodynamic profile that Heku claims gives the Carcamp its stability and the ability to travel safely at speeds of 120-140 km/h (75-87 mp/h). The aerodynamic shape also assists in the vehicle’s fuel economy.

Although the Carcamp looks like it could be hard to maneuver, by placing the rear axle of the housing unit as close to the rear of the car as possible, Heku says it has been able to provide handling similar to a large sedan. And since the housing unit isn’t welded to the car, it is just a matter of removing a few screws to leave it behind and scoot around town in a regular car. As an added bonus Heku says the Carpool is considered as one entity, so there shouldn’t be any additional tax or insurance costs.

Heku offer the Carcamp in a number of different configurations ranging in length from 5m to 6.65m and heights from 2.65m to 2.99m. Prices start at EUR€45,480 (approx. USD$65,066 at time of publication) for the 100 hp/74 kW T494, and top out at EUR€55,700 (approx. USD$79,687) for the 130 hp/96 kW T674. A 157 hp/116 kW Multijet Power Turbo-diesel Engine is also available for a EUR€1,970 (approx. USD$2,818) surcharge.

View gallery - 12 images


text:
The ESA has tested a novel system that may allow the agency to safely land rovers on Mars using a quadcopter-like dropship. A fully automated, proof of concept Skycrane prototype was created over the course of eight months under the ESA's StarTiger program, with the system's hardware largely derived from commercially available quadcopter components.

The primary challenge for the Dropter project development team revolved around creating a system that could successfully detect and navigate hazardous terrain without the aide of real-time human input. This is a vital feature for any potential rover delivery system, as it is impossible to create a directly controllable sky crane due to the distance between the operator and the vehicle that creates a time lag between command and execution.

Therefore the new rover delivery method had to be designed around an autonomous navigation system. Initially the dropship navigates to the pre determined deployment zone using GPS and inertia control. Once in the vicinity of the target zone, the lander switches to vision-based navigation, utilizing laser ranging and barometers to allow it to detect a safe, flat area upon which to set down its precious cargo.

Once such a site is identified, the lander drops to a height of 10 m (33 ft) above the surface and lowers the rover with the use of a bridle, gradually descending until the rover gently touches down on the planet's surface.

The culmination of eight months of development took place at Airbus’s Trauen site, located in northern Germany, where the concept dropship was put through its paces in a 40 m (131 ft) by 40 m (131 ft) recreation of the Martian surface. During the test, the lander managed to successfully use its navigation systems to safely transport a mock rover to the chosen target zone, whereupon the delivery vehicle assessed and selected a flat, safe landing site, and deployed the rover using the 5 m (16 ft) bridle.

Now, with the concept a proven success, the agency and its partners can focus on further developing the dropship for heavier, more realistic payloads.

The video below displays footage of the prototype dropship during the test at Airbus’s Trauen facility.

Source: ESA