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Your Daily Horoscope

Be creative in applying your forecast to the actual circumstances of your life.
By Beth Koch Rosato   |   June 24, 2014 at 4:00 AM

Today is Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Sun..... 2nd degree Cancer

Moon..... 00 degree Gemini

Mercury..... 26th degree Gemini, retrograde

Venus..... 1st degree Gemini

Mars..... 15th degree Libra

Ceres..... 20th degree Libra

Jupiter.....25th degree Cancer

Saturn.....17th degree Scorpio, retrograde

Uranus..... 16th degree Aries

Neptune..... 7th degree Pisces, retrograde

Pluto..... 12th degree Capricorn, retrograde

Eros..... 9th degree Capricorn

Lunar Node..... 26th degree Libra, retrograde

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Communications seem to have a life of their own today. Gossip and rumors fly at the speed of light while facts tend to plod along. A change of scenery is refreshing.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Bank accounts can benefit when extra time and attention are devoted to business today. Squabbling over trivial matters can detract from an encounter that is in all other ways romantic.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): No two tasks are likely to be similar today. Variation is the spice that flavors activities as anything but dull. Mind and emotions flow well together at work, play and in romance.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Psychic senses tingle. You may feel as if you are on the verge of a new discovery, phase or adventure. A reminder of home or of the distant past is difficult to overlook. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A social venue or special event provides a chance to showcase extroverted qualities. New ideas are acquired by mingling with astute or creative types. Love has a "shout from the rooftops" vibe. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The energy required to tackle a big job is available. Once you get into motion today, you tend to stay in motion until it is "mission accomplished." LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You are able to cover twice the ground in half the time when you are sufficiently motivated today. There are profits to be made and hearts to be won. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Over-reliance upon what's untested or untried can be risky today. A full understanding of potential consequences can help you or a loved one make a more well-informed decision. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The message sent by a love interest is almost certain to grab your attention today. Over-analyzing the obvious can be a poor use of time at work, school or in a discussion group. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In the right hands an obstacle becomes a non-issue. You are excited by a prospect that someone else finds dull. Coordination and managerial skills are valuable assets. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Resentment grows when unnecessary entanglements complicate a picture. Adopting a detached attitude comes naturally if you find yourself unexpectedly confronted by unreasonable demands today. A relaxing pastime can be unusually competitive.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Common sense solutions are useful around the house or when attempting to resolve a family dispute. The kernel of wisdom at the heart of a familiar legend could prove educational.

These interpretations are based on the aspects and positions of the planets in relation to each sun-sign. They indicate the general mood and issues of the day as you experience them. Be creative in applying your forecast to the actual circumstances of your life.

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Mine That Bird wins Kentucky Derby

May 2, 2009 at 8:56 PM
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LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 2 (UPI) -- Long shot Mine That Bird won Saturday's 135th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with jockey Calvin Borel on board.

Mine That Bird was kept along the rail around the turn for home and went past his last rival at the top of the stretch. He won by 6 3/4 lengths over Santa Anita Derby champ Pioneer of the Nile.

Illinois Derby winner Musket Man was third and Arkansas Derby champion Papa Clem fourth. The 7-2 favorite Friesan Fire finished next to last.

Mine That Bird covered the 1 1/4 miles on a sloppy track in 2:02.66.

Mine That Bird was a 50-1 long shot in the 19-horse field. The 3-1 I Want Revenge was scratched Saturday morning with an injured left front ankle.

It was the second Kentucky Derby victory for Borel, who also won in 2007 with Street Sense. Borel won Friday's Kentucky Oaks with Rachel Alexandra by more than 20 lengths.

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MLB: San Diego 6, St. Louis 4

Sept. 12, 2012 at 1:44 AM

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The San Diego Padres continued their late-season surge Tuesday with a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Logan Forsythe and Alexi Amarista had two RBI apiece in San Diego's sixth win in their last seven starts.

Edinson Volquez (10-10) lasted 5 1/3 innings and walked six batters but still got the win with three runs – two earned – on four hits.

Cameron Maybin and Yonder Alonso also tallied RBI for the Padres.

David Freese had a solo home run for the flagging Cardinals, who have lost five of six and hold a one-game lead over the Dodgers in the race for the final NL wild card berth.

Adam Wainwright (13-13) suffered the loss after allowing five runs -- two earned -- on five hits over six innings.

San Diego committed three errors in the game and St. Louis had one gaffe.

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U.S. feds probe congressional memo theft

April 27, 2004 at 10:48 AM

NEW YORK, April 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. attorney for New York has been asked to investigate how 4,670 confidential Democratic party files were obtained by the Republican party.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Manhattan's top federal prosecutor, David Kelley, will lead the probe based on a call from lawmakers from both parties to avoid a Washington-based investigator.

In March, the Senate sergeant-at-arms concluded in a 65-page report that two Republican staff aides had engaged in widespread, unauthorized and possibly illegal spying by reading Democratic strategy memoranda on a Senate computer system, the New York Times said Tuesday.

The report said in an 18-month period, the aides improperly read, downloaded and printed the files concerning Democratic tactics in opposing many of President George Bush's judicial nominees.

The two aides implicated in the affair have both left the Senate.

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Outside View: Pakistani politics: Perils and paradoxes

By HARLAN ULLMAN, UPI Outside View Commentator   |   May 8, 2013 at 12:04 AM

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- This weekend, many tens of millions of some 200 million Pakistanis will elect new national and four provincial governments. The elections are a remarkable milestone due in large measure to President Asif Zardari's political navigational skills in the most roiled of waters.

This is the first time in Pakistan's history that an elected civilian government has completed a full five-year term and will be replaced democratically.

At this stage, the only likely outcome is continued Pakistan Peoples Party control of the Senate and its 104 seats as only one-third of the senators are up for re-election.

Most polls rank Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslin League (N) party as the favorite possibly winning 90-100 out of 342 seats in Parliament, far short of a majority.

Zardari's PPP, led by his son Bilawal, and Cricket hero Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will most likely vie for second or third place. A host of smaller parties will win handfuls of seats.

Voter turnout in the last election in 2008 was about 55 percent. Whether larger numbers of women and youthful voters will swell the ranks is unclear. Conventional wisdom suggests that a surge helps Imran's PTI. However, conventional wisdom in Pakistan is often an oxymoron.

Meanwhile, the Tehrik-iTaliban Pakistan and other militant groups are disrupting the elections killing off candidates largely from PPP and Awami National Party lists.

A few analysts suggest that given the devolution of power to the four provinces, provincial elections may prove more important than the national vote. However, the geostrategic challenges of the region and Afghanistan in particular are so great that while this theory might relate to domestic economic issues, the next government in Islamabad will be crucial in shaping South Asia's security for good or for ill.

Presidential elections are schedules for later in the year. The four provincial assemblies and the two houses of the national government, not popular votes, will decide whether Zardari stays or goes. And recently returned former President Pervez Musharraf is a non-issue currently under house arrest.

Those wanting PPP to go contend that PML-N will win the largest plurality and form a coalition government intent on fixing the myriad economic and social issues threatening Pakistani well-being. The presumption is that Nawaz has learned from his two failed premierships and succeeding what is viewed as a largely unsuccessful PPP government, ultimately will win public support.

But many don't see Nawaz as either reformed or as a reformer. Much as PPP was forced by coalition politics to bring minority parties into a huge and largely dysfunctional cabinet, so too will PML-N face similar realities.

Many also distrust Nawaz's anti-Americanism and pro-Saudi position that could too easily succumb to religious fundamentalist influence, much as did Gen. Zia al-Haq's rule of nearly 30 years ago veered, Pakistan in that unfortunate direction.

Regardless, the army almost certainly will stay out of politics. Selecting the next army chief of staff to replace Gen. Ashraf Kayani, already twice extended, will go smoothly. Several highly qualified candidates are in play including for the post of chairman of the Joint Chiefs, a position less important in Pakistan than in other countries.

One key question is how the election will affect the Zardari-Nawaz relationship. The presidency is a weak and largely ceremonial office. Zardari maintains power through control of the party.

If PPP loses the Assembly, obviously Zardari will likewise lose authority. However, Nawaz may need PPP to form a coalition government. Under those circumstances, who knows what sort of deal may transpire. After all, Zardari went out of his way in 2008 to bring Nawaz and PML-N into government.

But it is the perils and paradoxes of Pakistani politics that hold greater sway. PTI could make a surprisingly stronger showing. While the religious parties have attracted very minor electoral representation, that might change. And the strength of various PPP candidates could indeed produce a long-shot victory.

The United States has taken an understandably hands off approach. Privately, it views the current government as weak and lacking in competence, preferring to deal with the army. And some in the U.S. State Department say Nawaz would make a better partner.

They are wrong. If the United States wasn't happy with PPP, a PML-N coalition won't prove better.

A hung Parliament is also possible. Under the Constitution, the president can set a deadline for establishing a government. But would that work? As the U.S. Congress seems incapable of governing if the sequester and budget are illustrative, why would Pakistan fare better?

Governance is thus crucial. Given the immense challenges and dangers facing Pakistan from worsening insurgencies to growing economic woes, no matter who is elected, will that team be able to govern with any degree of success? Pakistan is about to find out.

(Harlan Ullman is chairman of the Killowen Group, which advises leaders of government and business, and senior adviser at Washington's Atlantic Council.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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UPI POY 2008 - Entertainment
Actors Steve Carell (C), Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson (L) attend a photocall for "Get Smart" at Claridges Hotel in London on July 10, 2008. (UPI Photo/Rune Hellestad)
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Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, professional wrestler and philanthropist currently signed with WWE, primarily featured on its Raw brand. He is often credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Johnson was a college football player. In 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson. He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), originally known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in the company's history. Johnson was quickly given a push as a heroic character in the WWF, originally billed as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock". He would subsequently turn into a villain as a member of the Nation of Domination in 1997. Two years after he joined the WWF, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company's history for his engaging interviews and promos.

Johnson won a total of 16 championships in WWF/E. This included nine World Heavyweight Championships (the WWF/E Championship seven times and the WCW/World Championship twice), two WWF Intercontinental Championships, and five times as co-holder of the WWF Tag Team Championships. He was the sixth WWF/E Triple Crown Champion, and the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Dwayne Johnson."


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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Create Your Story Giveaway Opportunity

A Lucky Ladybug

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ARV $42.90 each
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Click HERE to sign up and for more html info.

M.O.O.N. has now added several perks/discounts for frequent participation in our events but you must be a member of our Facebook group to be eligible.  Please visit the M.O.O.N. group if you are a blogger and would like more information regarding these perks and other group events.
**If you are a company and would like to see your brand advertised in a M.O.O.N. event similar to this please contact

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Monday, September 16, 2013

Madison Wood Gym Set Giveaway!

As many of you know I am in the process of building a tree house for my boys. It's been fun so far and I'm looking forward to continuing to work on it with them and, one day, finish it. But when I see pre-built play structures like this one I wonder if it wouldn't have been better just to buy one like it. I mean, they look like they would be fun for four boys, right? :)

In the end though I think the tree house will be better. I'll have bonding time with my little ones and it will definitely be unique. No other tree house on earth will be like it.

Now I know that not everyone enjoys building things so for those of you who don't (either because you really don't like or simply don't have the time) here's a cool giveaway I came across for you. I love that insurance is included too. Good luck!
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Value $329.98 + Insurance for 2 years $52.99
(if is not available, winner can pick any Gym set up to $390.00 with insurance include)

September 16 to October 7

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  NYSavingSpecials is responsible for prize.  If you have any question about this giveaway please send an email to  All entries are optional, if you do any of the tasks with multiples entries, even if you do one entry you can get the extra entries,. but if the winner tasks is a tasks you did not complete, a second winner will be chosen. If the winner tasks is the one you did you will be the winner.

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UPMC/University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
Patients and medical professionals may call 1-800-533-UPMC (8762) for more information.

UPMC Media Relations

University Of Pittsburgh Department Of Critical Care Medicine Receives Two Grants Focused On Approaches To Increase Organ Donation And Procurement

PITTSBURGH, September 4, 2003 Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicines Department of Critical Care Medicine have received two three-year grants totaling more than $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the agencys initiative that supports social, behavioral and clinical intervention programs that will lead to increased organ and tissue donation.

John A. Kellum, M.D., associate professor of critical care medicine, will receive a total of $947,925 to evaluate whether an experimental device can help improve the quality of organs in brain-dead donors before they are removed for transplantation. Michael DeVita, M.D., associate professor of critical care medicine and medicine, will receive $578,911 over the next three years to conduct a study that aims to help hospitals and organ procurement organizations (OPOs) better identify donors after cardiac death.

The two Pitt grants are among 13 awarded by HHS. Eight grants were awarded through the HHS program, Social and Behavioral Interventions to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation, and five, including the two Pitt grants, were awarded through HHSs Clinical Interventions to Increase Organ Procurement. These grants seek to evaluate clinical interventions that have the potential to increase the number of organ donors and the number of organs recoverable from existing donors.Study looks at devices potential for improving organ quality.

About half of all organ donors in the United States are deceased donors, the vast majority of whom are declared brain dead before their organs are donated and removed. While not completely understood by researchers, the process of brain death itself can compromise the quality and function of organs before they are even removed. After brain death, an unknown process triggers cells to release certain molecules called cytokines as part of a massive inflammatory response. CytoSorb is an experimental device that Dr. Kellum and colleagues will evaluate in donors to determine its ability to absorb these circulating cytokines before they invade tissue and impair organ function. Its main component is a cartridge containing millions of beads made of a special polymer that is designed to remove cytokines from the blood stream. A similar device made by the same manufacturer, RenalTech International, LLC, is being tested as an accessory to hemodialysis in patients with kidney failure.

By the end of the three-year study, the researchers hope to have observed 114 potential and actual donors who have been treated with the device before organ recovery. The researchers also will follow an estimated 225 recipients who receive organs from 60 of these donors. If the device proves effective, the team anticipates more organs per donor will be deemed viable for donation and transplantation and that graft function in recipients who receive organs from donors treated with the device will be improved.

Two medical centers and two organ procurement organizations are participating in the study: the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC); the University of Texas at Houston; and the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE), the OPO serving western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and an area in southern New York; and the LifeGift Organ Donation Center in Houston.

Study aims to increase donors after cardiac death.

Compared to brain-dead donors, donors after cardiac death represent a very small subset of the total number of deceased donors. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, 167 of the 6,081 deceased donors in 2001 were from donors after cardiac death, also referred to as nonheart-beating donors. Dr. DeVita and colleagues hope that by validating criteria used to identify donors after cardiac death, the process will become more standardized and more OPOs will engage in the procurement of organs from such donors, helping to expand the overall size of the donor pool.

The study also may help to identify the real and perceived obstacles to increasing the number of donors after cardiac death and provide a method that will allow transplant outcomes using organs from these donors to be compared in a more uniform and meaningful fashion.

The researchers will collect data on 500 critically ill intensive-care patients who are undergoing withdrawal from life-sustaining treatment. Participating sites are UPMC (UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Shadyside and Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh) and the University Hospitals of Cleveland. CORE and the Epidemiology Data Center at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health are collaborators as well.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, there are more than 82,000 patients currently awaiting organ transplants in the United States. In 2002, 6,187 individuals died on the U.S. organ transplant waiting list because the organ they needed was not donated in time.

UPMC | Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit

For help in finding a doctor or health service that suits your needs, call the UPMC Referral Service at 412-647-UPMC (8762) or 1-800-533-UPMC (8762). Select option 1.

UPMC is an equal opportunity employer. UPMC policy prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected group status. Further, UPMC will continue to support and promote equal employment opportunity, human dignity, and racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. This policy applies to admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in UPMC programs and activities. This commitment is made by UPMC in accordance with federal, state, and/or local laws and regulations.

Medical information made available on is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely entirely on this information for your health care needs. Ask your own doctor or health care provider any specific medical questions that you have. Further, is not a tool to be used in the case of an emergency. If an emergency arises, you should seek appropriate emergency medical services.

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The act of preying on young men by a woman past the appropriate age of a Cougar.
That old woman is Saber-Toothing hardcore.
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Shanaynay's cousin from Africa, who has given up wandering the desert naked for ghetto-fabulous weaves and super long fake nails.
Check out Shanaynay and Shakareeka walkin' up the street. Man, I can't believe you actually fucked that bitch!!
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When someone types Shut your fingers up in an online conversation they want you to stop typing because the conversation is turning awkward or uncomfortable and they want you to change the subject.
- Girl, I wanna see you moving your ass.

- What? "Shut your fingers up!"
by WilVzla November 08, 2011

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to listen to the funniest American Sports podcast available on itunes!
oh my god I was yankin off last night, they were really ripping the Yankees!
by maximusuk October 30, 2011
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US And Canada Report

Metal Roofing In Toronto by CanaSeal

Metal Roofing In Toronto by CanaSeal

When you need your metal roof sealed professionally, there’s only one service to call

CanaSeal has been known throughout the Toronto area for phenomenal services, including radon mitigation, basement sealing, and more; the gem of CanaSeal’s premier services is the adept skills of professionally repairing metal roofing with high-grade material.

Through extensively impressive metal roof sealant technology, CanaSeal offers a guarantee to protect your metal roof from leaks. Your roof is arguably the most important part of your home; it protects you from the elements when all else fails. It deserves proper care and maintenance to continue providing that protection. Leaks are the first sign, quickly leading to more severe damage.

With CanaSeal, you not only get the choice of CanaSeal brand roof sealant, but also a wide variety of other sealants to choose from; each of them ensure the longevity and integrity of your metal roof. Not only with CanaSeal carry out the order to coat and protect your metal roof from the wrath of Mother Nature, but also can do so in an environmentally friendly way. Apart from that, the perks of using roof sealant can’t be ignored.

CanaSeal guarantees no tear-offs, and products are applied cold. More often than not, there is no disposal in the application of roof sealants. You can even choose from an array of products based on perm rating. Other services they offer: radon gas protection, basement waterproofing.

Industrial Roofing

Whether your metal roof is residential or industrial, it doesn’t matter—CanaSeal is equipped to deal with metal roofs of every type. You can research any roof sealant companies in the Greater Toronto Area, and you’ll still find yourself coming back to CanaSeal. Expertise displays itself broadly. With over 1,500 satisfied customers, it’s easy to see why they’re gaining momentum every day.

Homeowners trust CanaSeal above any other brand. Nothing speaks experience like a long history of fully satisfied clients, each living underneath the promise of quality and expertise that you get with the CanaSeal name. When you think about the integrity of your home for your family’s livelihood, you think quality. You want the best of the best.

Competitive Pricing

CanaSeal works with you, for you, and for a greener planet. Their own brand of sealant is eco friendly, and completely safe. No VOCs. No toxins. All earth-friendly, water-based solutions are available under the competitive pricing promise. Quality first and foremost. CanaSeal guarantees your satisfaction above all else, putting their brand name on the line with every single project.

What Your Really Get

When it really comes down to the choice of where to put your money, and whom to trust to get the job done efficiently and effectively, you needn’t look any further. CanaSeal offers the latest in application technology. Their specialized equipment gives you the quality and weather adjustable coating your metal roof has needed. Each project is guaranteed to endure long lasting effects, preventing the elements from wriggling their way between your roof, and your peace of mind. You’ll get no better protection for your metal roofing in Toronto than Canaseal.

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User manual Philips MCD735/93

If you found this page, you probably have a problem and you need a user manual for the device Philips MCD735/93. Be sure to check that it is the user manual to exactly the device that you are looking for. In our database Philips MCD735/93 it belongs to the category DVD Player. A user manualPhilips MCD735/93 is taken from the manufacturer, a Philips company - it is an official document, so if you have any doubts as to its contents, please contact the manufacturer of the device Philips MCD735/93 directly. You can view the user manualPhilips MCD735/93 directly online or save and store it on your computer.

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In addition to the user manual Philips MCD735/93, we also provide a support panel to help you solve your problems with Philips MCD735/93. If you have any questions, you can ask them in the form below. Other users viewing this website will have the opportunity to help you solve your probem with Philips MCD735/93. Remember that you can also share the solution. If you solved the problem yourself, please write the solution to the problem with Philips MCD735/93 - you will surely help many users by doing so.

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xrumer blast warrior

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宇多田ヒカル News : Hikaru's Mother, Keiko Fuji has passed away
Posted by Q on 2013/8/22 12:30:00 (7096 reads)

Keiko Fuji, also known as Junko Utada, has died today. She was Hikaru's mother, as well as a singer herself in the 1970s.

From all the fans, our sincere condolences to Hikaru and the Utada family.

>> Japan Times

On Monday the 26th, Hikaru and Teruzane posted statements on Hikki's Website in the messages section.

The following is a translation of Hikaru's message by 'a_kikoo':

"On the morning of August 22nd, my mother took her own life.

There have been many speculations going around, so please let me talk about a few things.

For a long time, she had been suffering from a mental illness. With that disposition, it was very difficult to get her to receive treatment on her own will. I was always troubled about what to do as her family, and what would be the best for her.

Since I was little, I've watched the progression of my mother's illness. As her symptoms got worse, her distrust for people including family continued to grow, she became uncertain between reality and fantasy, and lost control over her own emotions and actions. I was just tossed around by it and wasn't able to do anything.

I wish that my mother has been released from her longtime suffering. At the same time, I am too sad and my sense of regret only grows.

She was misunderstood a lot... she was a coward but had a strong spirit, she was filled with a sense of justice, she loved to laugh, was quick in thinking, impulsive and dangerous like a child, careless that you couldn't leave her alone, and more lovely than anyone else. Even though I have many sad memories, she is laughing when I think about her.

I feel proud that I am my mother's daughter. I am very thankful that I was able to meet her.

I've received many heart-warming words and realized that I am supported by many people. Thank you very much."

August 26, 2013
Hikaru Utada

Translation of Teruzane's statement:

(The following translation is by 'luminaire' from JPOP Central)

An update, and words of thanks

With regards to the late Utada Junko's suicide, I would like to sincerely apologise, both as representative of the agency to which she belonged to and as her former husband of 25 years, for all the trouble and inconvenience this incident has brought about to all those concerned in the various industries, to the fans of Fuji Keiko, and to the fans of Utada Hikaru. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks for all the kind words and well-wishes sent to both Utada Hikaru and myself.

As per the wishes of the deceased as expressed in her will, both an all-night vigil and a funeral were not carried out. (Translator's notes: Seems like there will only be a cremation.)

Ever since I met her, I recognised that there was some degree of emotional instability within her, but instead of seeing it as a mental illness, I simply came to terms with it by viewing her as a uniquely "whimsical" person, and perceived it as something I could deal with adequately enough.

It was when Utada Hikaru was around 5 that these emotional changes started becoming more noticeable. She would launch aggressive words and actions towards my mother, the late Takeyama Sumiko, and even Hikaru and myself soon became the targets of her attacks. However, her emotional changes were frequent, and days where she'd go, "Sorry, I've caused trouble again", and reflect on her actions a few minutes after her outbursts continued on for a long period of time. When her suffering became more frequent, she was advised on numerous occasions after being examined at hospitals to undergo appropriate treatments, but this advice instead caused her to develop feelings of mistrust towards me. In the end, I believe that her suffering became a lot graver as the years went by and she continuously refused treatment.

In these twelve recent years, she lived life as she pleased, going on vacations and trips when they came to her. She got an American visa that allowed her to stay in the country for a maximum of five years upon entry, and made New York her base, frequently travelling to the European countries, various parts of America, and Australia as and when she felt like it.

While living such a lifestyle, she would call Hikaru and myself regardless of the time of day and without any prior notification; while there were times where she'd ask "How're you doing?" and the conversation would continue on normally, there were also times where she'd yell at us for no apparent reason, and we were very worried about her, her mental condition speaking to us very plainly through her words.

The last time I spoke with Junko was on the 14th August this year. It was her who called me. This time, it was one of the few occasions where Junko's voice had a cheerful tone and she sounded energetic. It lasted eight minutes, including some small talk, and after accepting a few requests from her, I hung up the phone. And eight days later, she committed suicide.

It is impossible to know whether Junko made an active decision to take the leap, or whether it was an act of impulse. All I can say is that I am filled to the brim with regret for having been unable to help her in her situation, and with sadness for having lost someone dear to me.

I would like to express my gratitude towards everyone who has watched over Utada Junko and Fuji Keiko with all their love on her behalf. Thank you all very much.

The time I spent with Junko is firmly engraved into my memory, and will never fade away.

26th August, 2013

Teruzane Utada

Here is a translation of Hikaru's second statement, from September 5th:
(translation by Nuuk)

Dear all who gave your support to Keiko Fuji for many years

Please accept my sincere gratitude to you on my late mother's behalf. Thank you for all your support and help for a long time.

I would like to tell the following to all who still kindly care about my mother.

My mother's real name was wrongly reported in the latest articles. It is not Junko Abe, but Junko Utada. My mother wished to keep Utada's surname, not her maiden name Abe even after she divorced my father, so she kept herself in my father's family registry. They were deeply bonded no matter if they are married or not. My mother had been keeping in touch, not only with me, her daughter but also my father until just before her death. My father is one of the few that my mother would turn to till the last.

I suppose the people of Shinjuku police station decided that my father should identify and receive my mother's body, by taking such facts into account. My father played this role with intolerable pain, on behalf of me who was in no state to go to Shinjuku police station that day.

Some people wished to see my mother's body, but I was obliged to decline such requests respectfully. I would like to take this oportunity to apologize to you for the inconvenience. It was my decision as the chief mourner, by considering my mother's feelings.

I guess there might be some people worrying about my mother, or having a doubt in mind by hearing the report that no funeral service is going to be conducted but cremation only, in the whirlpool of various information(which most likely contains inaccurate ones too). It is reported that there were no notes left, but there exists a will written early this year. The will is very my mother, written in a very frank manner, leaving no room for different interpretations. Based on the content of the will, we are trying to send her off in a style that follows my mother's wishes as close as possible.

My mother had this policy of not attending the funerals of relatives and acquaintances, but praying for them instead in her own fashion, in her private time. I hope that, if you know my mother well, or think of what's best for her, then you would understand she was not the type of person who would show a preference for those events like funeral ceremonies or memorial services.

I myself have been a fan of Keiko Fuji. I am still a fan of her, and I will always be.

September 5th, (Heisei) 25

Utada Hikaru

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Your first visit?

senior center

Driving Directions: We hold Sunday services at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center, located at 22900 Market Street,  Santa Clarita, CA 91321. Click here for an area map. For driving directions from your location, click here.

Parking: Our parking lot is located in front of the building. There are a number of handicapped spaces available. The lot tends to fill early, but there is street parking available on Market Street adjacent to the building.

Attire: We are a diverse congregation. Some people dress up and some dress casually. Wear what feels comfortable to you.

For Families with Children: Youth Religious Exploration classes are offeredRE for children in kindergarten through high school. Your child(ren) are most welcome to join us.  Children are welcome in the service, though most are in our Religious Exploration classes.

Greeting: Each Sunday, our Greeters  will invite you to stop by the Welcome Table to get a nametag and sign our Visitor Book.

Service: Inside you will find a hymnal and Order of Service. Please feel free to sit wherever you are most comfortable. We have assisted listening devices and large print hymnals available to enhance your visit. Our services last about an hour and include opening words, music from our choir, hymn singing, an offering, and a sermon.

coffee1 After Service: After the service, we invite you to join us for coffee and refreshments. This is a great time to meet our minister and members of our congregation, and learn about our social justice programs, upcoming events, and activities. Don’t forget to stop by the Welcome Table to learn more about the Church, sign up for the newsletter, and much more!welcome


text:
"Cutting Straight to the Truth"

Review this material to see if what we require fits your willingness to serve on our team. Don't let all this information be overwhelming, we would love to talk with you and see where you might best serve.

All volunteers, students, etc., who operate chainsaws within the scope of their duties will be trained and

certified. All those who have not met the requirements of this policy shall not operate chainsaws EXCEPT for training purposes and only then under the direct supervision of a person approved, in writing, by a Chainsaw Certification Coordinator.

A Risk Assessment or Job Hazard analysis must be accomplished prior to any chainsaw use, including any field work as well as training.

This policy is established not to encourage large-scale, complex falling activity by Valley Chainsaw volunteers on a regular basis, but to provide for the safety of the volunteers who use chainsaws and fall trees on a limited or occasional basis.

It is recognized that the volunteer chainsaw operation is a hazardous operation essential to accomplishing the  mission of cutting, clearing and removing debris. The purpose of this policy is to provide direction for the safety of all volunteers operating chainsaws in the performance of their duties.

All  personnel who operate chainsaws in performance of their duties are required to meet the standards set forth in this policy.

The standards set forth in this policy meet or exceed the national standards. Volunteers who are certified under this policy will be recognized under the Valley chainsaw operator policy.

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There are several levels of responsibility which are necessary to ensure safe and effective operation of chainsaws by employees.

Director / NEON VEST on site

Responsible for issuing policy and providing for staff support and resources necessary to implement policy requirements. Responsible for issuing additional policy if local conditions  Certification Coordinator, commitment to training/certification, and compliance with and administration of the policy.

Field Office Manager/Division Chief

Responsible for implementation of state and district policy at the Field Office or Division level. This individual has the ultimate authority in determining whether or not an employee will be trained and certified as a chainsaw operator and to what class of certification. Responsible for communicating training/certification requests from first-line supervisors to the District/OSO Certification Coordinator.

Responsible to ensure volunteer operators are provided with proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and trained/certified for the tasks they are expected to perform involving chainsaws. This includes monitoring of volunteers assigned tasks, forwarding requests for operator and completing an employee job hazard analysis.

When hazardous practices or at-risk behaviors are observed by the first-line supervisor or reported to him/her by another employee, it is their responsibility to immediately intervene to correct the situation. This may involve revoking the employee's operator certification.

Responsible to wear and maintain their personal protective equipment (PPE) and operate chainsaws only within the scope of their duties, certification and ability. The ultimate responsibility for personal safety rests with the employee. This includes the right to refuse an assignment for a task beyond the volunteers certification, judgment, and/or ability.

Responsible for ensuring operators are certified at a level commensurate with their demonstrated ability and experience as described in the Chainsaw Certification Policy. The certifier has complete authority to limit the scope of the certification commensurate with the volunteers demonstrated ability and experience. This means the certifier may impose time, project, or size limitations at their discretion and shall have the authority to revoke certification at any time.

Certifiers must demonstrate satisfactory communication skills and the ability to transfer and relate concepts to others. They must also possess current knowledge of policy and regulations pertaining to chainsaws and related equipment.

Certification Coordinator

The Certification Coordinator is also responsible for the training and certification of certifiers. Responsible for management, coordination and facilitation of the Valley Chainsaw Program at the field level.

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Operators are required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) while operating chainsaws. Each chainsaw placed into service must be equipped with a chain brake and must otherwise meet the requirements of ANSI B175.1-1991 "Safety Requirements for Gasoline-Powered Chainsaws" and the requirements of this policy. All PPE will meet appropriate  standards as set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Bureau.

The following minimum PPE is required for chainsaw operators:

  • Hardhat
  • Eye protection
  • Hearing protection
  • Gloves
  • Chainsaw chaps
  • Non-skid boots/shoes (lug soles or caulks)
  • Appropriate field attire

All chainsaws, axes and wedges used by Valley Chainsaw volunteers will meet or exceed appropriate safety standards.

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Operators will be certified in accordance with Valley Chainsaw Certification Policy. Certification records will be kept on file.

Classroom Instruction

Initial classroom instruction shall typically last 6 to 8 hours. The certifier shall introduce and review Valley Chainsaw policy and procedures, proper maintenance and care of a chainsaw, proper chainsaw technique (brushing, bucking and felling), and the use of required PPE.

Field Exam

The field exam portion of the certification process shall be under the guidance and supervision of a certifier. The session shall focus on the hands-on chainsaw operation in the practices of felling, brush cutting, and bucking of material not to exceed 8 inches in diameter.

At the end of the course, the students will be required to complete a written exam and a field test successfully to obtain the certification. Any required additional field training will be determined by the certifier based on the trainee's previous experience and field examination.

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All operators/certifiers will be re-certified as follows:

  • All Volunteers Not to Exceed TWO Years
  • Re-certification will consist of a minimum of two hours classroom review and a minimum of two hours of field-tested exercises under the supervision of a certifier.

It is recognized that a diameter limit is not the only measure of an employee's skill when falling and bucking. The emphasis in recertification is to be placed on demonstrated ability and knowledge. The refresher shall include but not be limited to the following:

  • General Safety
  • Equipment and Standards
  • Educational Resources and Materials Field Exercises

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Disaster Relief

Thank you for donating to the Valley Church Disaster Relief efforts.

4343 Fuller Road
West Des Moines, IA  50265

Follow Us

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Looking for a specific mailing address, email, phone or fax number?

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financial intermediaries

I appreciate Steve Randy Waldman, who writes the excellent blog Interfluidity.  Even before I started blogging, while I was at RealMoney, we interacted over CPDOs, along with Alea, and several others that were onto the scam.  That was a fun time, because aside from the Canadian rating agency Dominion, there was no one else questioning the idiocy of the AAA ratings aside from a few bloggers — we are the conscience of Wall Street, but that doesn’t mean that we get any pay as a result.  We write these things as a public service.

Recently, he wrote two  articles on financial intermediation.  Now I’d like to try my own thoughts on the topic.

Financial intermediation has two purposes: transactions and safety.  People want to buy and sell, but don’t want to have a currency where its value shifts radically day-to-day, which would complicate their decisions considerably.  They want a stable unit of account, and don’t want the possibility that they lose a lot of money as a result.  (Yes, during conditions of hyperinflation that boundary disappears, but that’s because they are already losing value already each day from holding the formerly “safe” transactional asset.  They get more careless on the intermediary, because of the risks of holding the safe asset.)

The second goal is safety/preservation/growth of purchasing power.  Can I park money or a short to long amount of time and be assured that when the term is up, I will:

  • Receive receive back as much or more in purchasing power terms.
  • Reduce my risks or the risks of those I care for from death and other calamities.

Financial intermediation leaves money on the table.  It does not seek the best investment outcome, but takes a lesser return, so that goals can be achieved with greater certainty.

Now, that provides an advantage to the financial intermediaries.  It means that they get cheap funding under most conditions.  Now, can they invest it over the likely lifetime of the funding and not lose money?  That’s a lot of what solvency regulation is about in banks and insurers.   Because financial promises made can’t be easily analyzed for quality by those that offer money, there are two responses by the government:

  • Capital rules (which vary by liability and investments)
  • Insurance, so that users don’t have to worry about loss.

And, for what it is worth, 12 years ago I played a large role in setting the rules for Maryland life insurers in place, both writing the law, and explaining to the legislators how it protected the public interest.  (Hey! Passed unanimously on the first try, and with the d-word! (Derivatives)  My bill allowed risk mitigation but not risk taking with derivatives.)  The then-governor dressed like a mafia don at the bill signing, for what it is worth… My boss and I and our external and internal legal counsels spent a lot of time on this, but I was the prime mover on getting it done.

As an aside, sitting around in hearings in Annapolis, not knowing when your bill will come up is a chore.  If you know me well, you know I brought work to do, and if that wore out, good books to read.  I was never sitting there with nothing, bored. In the process I learned that Johns Hopkins owns Maryland, but declines from making that public, except when they care. ;) When they spoke up, the legislature rolls over and asks for a scratch on the tummy. Arf!

Sorry, got lost in reminiscing.  Can I say that it was weird?  (I will leave out my dealings with the Department of Insurance, which were surreal.)  I’m not political for the most part, but in the end, the Maryland life insurance investment code is one of the best of the 50 states.  Kind of sad that we don’t have more life insurers here.

The last three paragraphs were quite a detour.  Let me take a different tack.  Yes, intermediation is opaque; that is true by necessity.  Depositors and insureds do not know how their money is invested.  I am here to tell you that that is a feature and not a bug, because the regulators know you can’t analyze the safety of your deposited assets.

In most things, I am a libertarian, but in areas where average people can’t ascertain truth or or falsehood, I support some form of regulation.  Financial promises fall under that rubric, because they are hard to discern.

To close this off, my main point is this: people want financial intermediation, particularly during the bear phases of the financial cycle.  They want to be protected, and transact, and save.  It is reasonable that the government regulates this, because the ability to make future promises that people rely on is valuable to society as a whole.


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Valuation-Informed Indexing #115

by Rob Bennett

I was greatly disappointed by the response we saw from leading figures in the investing field to the stock-market price crash of 2008. I have been writing about the dangers of Buy-and-Hold investing for 10 years now and I have seen how difficult it is to get people to open their minds to new investing ideas once they have become emotionally addicted to strategies that for the length of a bull market seemed to be paying off. The months immediately following the crash were the big exception. We had an opportunity then to change minds. We blew it.

A number of well-respected figures (including John Bogle, Burton Malkiel and Warren Buffett) stepped forward to advise investors not to panic. This is of course in itself a 100 percent appropriate response. We were at risk of falling into a Second Great Depression at the time and millions of people very much needed to hear reassurances that the sky was not falling. So there was some good done with the statements that were made. Still, I think there were important mistakes made and that the leading figures need to learn from those mistakes and be sure not to repeat them following the next crash.

The core message put forward by Bogle, Malkiel and Buffett was that following the crash stocks were “on sale,” that prices would inevitably rise again and that it was a mistake to flee the market. It is certainly true that stocks offered a better long-term value proposition following the crash than they did before the crash. So the message in part was a positive one. However, there were three big problems.

One, it was not true that stocks were on sale following the crash. The P/E10 value at the lowest point was 13. That’s only a wee bit lower than the fair-value P/E10 value of 15. We should have been telling people that it had been a long time since stocks had been selling at anything close to fair-value price levels and that this represented a significant buying opportunity. We should not have been telling people that stocks were on sale. This set up false expectations. Stock prices need to fall a long ways from where they stand today for stocks to be on sale. Many do not realize this and part of the reason why they do not realize it is that they were in the wake of the crash comforted by the idea that prices had fallen far below fair-value levels.

Another big mistake was the failure of the leading figures in the field to let people know that stocks would likely be performing poorly for a good number of years to come. We have never recovered from a bull market by living through a single price crash. The P/E10 value has in the wake of every earlier secular bull market fallen to 7 or 8, a 65 percent price drop from where we stand today. How many of today’s investors know this?

I of course understand that the primary goal in the minds of those who were speaking out was to avoid panic. I presume that their motivation in presenting a rosy picture of the future was to offer reassurance. I don’t think that is at all a smart idea to overdo the reassuring words, however. To tell investors in 2008 that the worst of the bear market was over was akin to a doctor telling a patient with a cancer that has not been cured that the future is bright. That’s the message that the patient wants to hear and that’s the message that the doctor wants to tell but that’s not at all the right message to send. Truth matters.

It matters a lot. Why? Because people don’t seek reassurance only one time in a secular bear market (there are always multiple price crashes in secular bears). People are going to need to hear soothing words when prices crash again. And it is going to be harder to get them to believe the soothing words offered when they recall that the soothing words offered in 2008 did not prove out.

I am not suggesting that we should have filled people’s minds with visions of doom and gloom. The aim should be the opposite of that. The aim should be to build within people a real confidence in the future. That can be achieved with words that are 100 percent true. Yes, we are likely to see another crash. But the long-term value proposition of stocks really did improve dramatically with the 2008 crash. And the long-term value proposition of stocks will soar in the wake of the next crash. We could have told investors what to expect and reassured them in a lasting and real way.

The third big mistake was not to reveal to investors the true cause of the crash. People who are worried want to know why the thing that is worrying them came to cause such trouble. The 2008 crash presented a great opportunity to let people know that we made a mistake as a society by permitting the bull market of the 1990s to get so out of control. We need to face the issue sooner or later. There is never going to be a time when it is going to be the easy thing to do. People were looking for leadership in late 2008 and talking straight on the primary cause of today’s troubles would have been a good way of winning their confidence and respect.

The next crash is going to be scary. People had surplus assets in 2008. The crash scared them but most believed that they could make it through to the other side. The next crash will hit a society that has been feeling battered financially for years. The sense of panic and hopelessness will be far greater. It is critical that respected figures say the right thing to restore confidence quickly.

More happy talk will not do the job. We need to tell people that bull markets are a deception. We need to tell people that the funny money that they thought they had earned in the 1990s was all part of a game of Let’s Pretend and that that money is never coming back.

It’s by taking in the disheartening news that people’s hearts will be opened to hearing about all of the exciting discoveries about how stock investing works that we have learned about in recent decades and have been keeping secret out of a concern than telling the true story will make the Buy-and-Hold advocates look bad.

Rob Bennett has explained What’s Wrong (and Right) with Using Historical Stock Data to Predict Returns. His bio is here.


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Following London Mayor Boris Johnson’s press conference on Monday that called for the closure of Heathrow Airport, executives for the busiest airport in the world have fought back today with their proposal to expand the airport that runs at nearly 99 percent capacity.

Heathrow Fights Back in London Airport Wars [Part II]

Though the mayor himself did not dub his choice for an artificial island on the Thames River that would offer four runways to Heathrow’s existing two, it was pretty clear that that was how he would prefer London move forward to expand and continue functioning as the major European airport. While nearly 100,000 people are affected by noise generated by the London giant, executivess from Heathrow believe that they can expand the airport by a runway (or two) and still lower noise pollution and complaints.

Given the amount of time that Heathrow has been in operation, it’s tough to take “neighbors” complaints without a grain of salt. Did they not hear the planes when they looked at their potential purchase, did they not know of the airport’s existence?

Heathrow Unveils Their Rebuttal to the Mayor

Today Heathrow executives unveiled their rebuttal to the mayor and the Davies Commission, which will ultimately take their findings to Parliament after the General Election.

Three schemes (schematics) for a third runway would increase the maximum flights from 480,000 to up to 740,000 a year. Heathrow bosses say this would maintain Heathrow as a “Premier League” airport and “win the race” to be Europe’s leading aviation hub.

A fourth runway would push the number of flights towards a million, according to analysis of figures in Heathrow’s “A New Approach” masterplan.

But the proposals, which include a Terminal 6, sparked an immediate backlash from residents’ groups, with warnings of a new High Court battle to derail them.

Third Runway Option To The  Southwest

As reported by a number of English newspapers last month, one of Heathrow’s preferred third runway options is to the southwest of the existing airport in the Stanwell Moor area.

Costing £18 billion, it would be partly built on reservoirs and need a section of the M25 to be tunneled.

The other favored development is to the northwest, while the third possibility is to the north. Heathrow’s chief executive Colin Matthews said: “After half a century of vigorous debate but little action, it is clear the UK desperately needs a single hub airport with the capacity to provide the links to emerging economies which can boost UK jobs, GDP and trade.”

“Today we are showing how that vision can be achieved whilst keeping the impact on local residents to an absolute minimum.”

Some areas, including Richmond, Putney and Windsor will experience less aircraft noise, under all of Heathrow’s third runway plans, though others would suffer more including to the south of West Drayton and an area west of Staines.

“Today we are showing how that vision can be achieved whilst keeping the impact on local residents to an absolute minimum.”

See Part One HERE


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Bill Miller Discusses His Favorite Housing Stocks [VIDEO]

Legendary Fund Manager Bill Miller of Legg Mason Capital Management, says bull markets rest on economic growth, adequate liquidity, and valuation. Miller also believes we are at the beginning of a long housing bubble.

not at all. it’s a market that i think is roughly fairly valued in the sense that it’s around 15 times earnings. which is about the average in the post war period. the market rarely spends time at kind of the average. the average multiple is part of a journey. it usually starts at a low multiple, ’09, and goes to a high multiple like we saw in 1999 or 2000. the odds are that the multiple actually rises over the next several years. the market will be more dangerous at that level than it is right now. bull markets rest on three things. economic growth. we have that. two is adequate liquidity. the fed told us yesterday they’re going to keep rates pinned close to zero for the next couple of years. and then three is valuation. valuation is certainly not demanding on an absolute basis. and it’s extremely attractive compared to bonds. in what sectors, what companies do you think are extremely good places to be for cycle as it plays out? it’s interesting. one of the groups that’s done the worst this year are the home builders. they did terrifically well in 2012. gone to sleep this year. most of them are down this year because the 30-year mortgage is 100 basis points higher than a year ago. there’s no question we’re at the beginning of a long home building cycle. lennar put up stellar numbers yesterday. valuations are reasonable. if you realize the market is at an all time high, many stocks at an all time high, pulte homes a t a peak last time was $50. it’s now $18. i think both those stocks will get there. pulte homes, if it takes it two years to get to where it was in the spring you’ll make 50%. it’s incredible to think about these names getting back to where they were during the not just boom but bubble. you’re not worried that’s asking too much to assume that they get back to those levels? those levels were a function — the housing market was clearly in a bubble then. but what — what put those companies up, those home builders up were new homes. housing starts. if you look at how far down the housing cycle went, we went down the lowest level of starts in 50 years. so right now we’re going to have about 900,000 housing starts this year if we’re lucky. and the normal would be about 1.4 million. that’s from the cycle from 2010


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Economic opportunity ends First Nation culture of dependence

Ellis Ross, Special to The Vancouver Sun

In 2003, I was first elected to Haisla Nation Council and I was intent on opposing just about every economic development project coming our way, from fish farms to natural gas. Fortunately, experienced councillors suggested that before I took any hard and fast positions I consider unbiased facts and the community’s social situation.

It didn’t take long before the full extent of our community’s problems hit home, angering and saddening me at the same time. Before my political career, I was one of those who applauded political speeches on unemployment, poverty, independence, and the relationship between First Nations and the Crown. But it was clear that 30 years of speeches and government programs had changed nothing for the average Haisla person who just wanted a job. Unemployment was still at 60 per cent, housing was based on handouts from Ottawa, and, worst of all, substance abuse and suicide were commonplace and were destroying our people’s hopes for a brighter future.

I was fortunate to have found work outside of my reserve for most of my adult life, but there are only so many jobs in depressed economies, and the long-term jobs were kept out of our reach by organizations associated with the corporations set up in our territory. The result was our young men and women either had to leave home for employment or stay home and accept seasonal work (and unemployment insurance) or welfare. Leaving ancestral homes is a hard decision for First Nations people to make. The land is connected to our protocols, our culture, and to our past.

Many reasons have contributed to the demise of our peoples and communities, but perhaps the foremost is the culture of dependence. Dependence in our case was from the top down — from a council dependant on government funding to the individual band member being dependent on council or welfare.

Our people are not lazy. Our traditional culture was one of hard work to bring in food, resources, and wealth. Perhaps our culture has not worked so well with non-Haisla culture, but our work ethic cannot be questioned.

If poverty is the only lifestyle you know, it is very difficult to realize there is a way out. Any band member who is watching development and wealth generation in his territory without having an opportunity to be a part of it is going to grow resentful.

Those First Nations that are succeeding — strong employment levels, healthy communities, few social ills — appear to have gained a level of independence, and have achieved it mostly through economic development. Discussions in these communities increasingly concern shift work, double time, new bosses, and how paycheques will go toward the next hunting trip or holiday vacations.

The Haisla now have many proposals in front of us that we have to consider. When we look at these proposals we have to find accurate information in terms of impacts, benefits, and feasibility. Sub-topics might be rights of way, fracking, logging practices, financing, permitting, corporate structures, emissions, land ownership — the list goes on. We do have to consider the future, but we also have to consider the present situation our membership is in and try to put them in a position where they can help themselves.

So far, the outlook has been positive. Our people have jobs. They have hope. They are confident about their futures. The despair that comes with poverty is slowly disappearing, but we have more work to do to ensure their confidence can be sustained. We know that to become a strong independent nation, we need to have strong independent members.

We will continue to look at the contentious issues that are in front of us. We will work with the Crown and the development proponents to resolve issues, but we can never lose sight of why we’re working around the council table and in boardrooms in Vancouver and Victoria and Ottawa — our members need a future.

What we have achieved to date has not only helped our members but has boosted the region and the non-aboriginal community in ways that we have not yet even started to measure.

Ellis Ross is the elected chief councillor of the Haisla Nation in Kitamaat Village.

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Opinion: Papert led revolution in learning

Michael Maser, Special to the Sun

Twenty years ago, computer use in education was still in its toddling stage: There was no Wi-Fi, Wikipedia, Google or online learning that wasn’t quirky or cumbersome. Classrooms were home to screeching modems, teachers fumbling with computer discs (with two megabytes of memory!), and smarty-pants students helping to troubleshoot tech problems, which occurred frequently.

Nonetheless, 1993 marked the publication of a visionary book, The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer, by MIT mathematics and education professor Seymour Papert.

In the book, Papert, who had cut his teeth working as an understudy to educational luminary Jean Piaget in Paris and subsequently pioneering the LOGO computer language (for children) at MIT, advocated the use of computers in schools with young children as a “Knowledge Machine” in ways that went far beyond the applications he perceived and criticized in conventional schooling.

This Knowledge Machine, he wrote, presupposed a new theory of learning he coined as “Constructionism” that synthesized revised insights into human development, systems theory (cybernetics) and how we think about learning (epistemology).

Rather than being pigeonholed as overly futuristic, Papert rooted the ideal constructionist as a historic and culturally distinct jack-of-all-trades or bricoleur who could competently analyze and solve problems with tools on hand like a travelling tinkerer.

The computer, he wrote, “very significantly enlarges the range of opportunities to engage as a bricoleur or bricoleuse in activities with scientific and mathematical content.”

In The Children’s Machine, Papert asserted that the most significant learning was motivated by deep, personal passion to explore, discover and create — uniquely by each student — a process that was diminished by externally imposed agendas. He urged educators and administrators to use computers in support of individualized learning and release children and youth to discover the world and themselves through computer use wedded to authentic experiences. His favourite examples were about his own life as well as kids tackling real issues in their own communities.

As a journeyman educator in 1993, I read the The Children’s Machine and thought it was brilliant. Eschewing conventional teaching, I enlisted to help lead the revolution through the launch of Virtual High, an innovative and independent learning program for teens in Vancouver, with a fellow conspirator, the late, award-winning educator Brent Cameron.

In the ensuing 20 years, I have seen many initiatives come and go, from the launch of B.C.’s costly “Flagship Schools” of the mid-1990s (incorporating state-of-the-art computer tech into a half-dozen secondary schools) to the recently minted “21st Century Skills” now gripping educational headlines across the continent, and I think most of them sell Papert’s remarkable vision short.

I believe Papert — who suffered a career-ending traumatic head injury in 2006 — would be excited about the potency of developments like YouTube, Open Source and Minecraft to directly engage learners in what he would recognize as “constructionist” environments.

But I think he would protest the extent to which schooling — assisted by computers or not — continues to be largely dominated by a mindset presupposing young people will not learn unless they are taught, and how few freedoms are offered students to self-direct their own learning.

In 1993, Papert lamented that computers in schools were being consigned to deliver curriculum and perform tedious tasks that stifled learning far more than inspiring it. Accordingly, I am confident he would fume today to see computerized multiple-choice questions form the basis of so much standardized testing from primary school through post-secondary and from which B.C. is not exempt.

I think Papert would likewise consider insufficient the “Flipped Classroom” — a popular notion today that has students logging onto the Internet outside of the classroom to review notes provided by teachers and using class time for face-to-face interaction on subject matter.

I conjecture that Papert wouldn’t accept this as sufficient, but would advocate “flipping” the classroom to empower students as teachers.

I think the vision of The Children’s Machine by Papert remains compelling and worthy grist for the personalized-learning initiative forged by former education minister George Abbott and still being tentatively advanced by the Ministry of Education.

In his book, Papert writes, “I am convinced that the best learning takes place when the learner takes charge.”

To re-engage the invigorating, pioneering spirit of Seymour Papert, I urge educators and education administrators to dust off copies of The Children’s Machine and be prepared to be inspired anew.

Michael Maser is an educator and director of SelfDesign Learning Community, a B.C. independent school. His book, Learn Your Way!, was published in 2011.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.


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10 Valentine’s Crafts

by Kelsey Norwood

in Crafts,Tutorials

Here are some fun Valentine’s projects I’ve found here and there:

1. Heart Bookmark from Martha Stewart (Thanks for sharing the link, Jenny!)

2. Valentine’s Pennant and Card from J Caroline Creative.

3. Make a Love Box from KidoInfo.

4. Candy Cane Hearts from Skip to My Lou.

5. Make a Beaded Valentine’s Day Card from West Coast Crafty.

6. Valentine Mailbox from The Berry’s Patch.

7. Valentine’s Day Countdown Calendar from Creating Post it Notes.

8. Easy Valentine’s Day Card via Suite 101.

9. Love Coupons via Suite 101.

10. Mrs. Buttersworth Valentine via Thrifty Fun.

Enjoy these great ideas!

{photo from Creating Post it Notes}

{ 1 comment }

1 Kellie February 10, 2009 at 7:46 am

Thanks for the links, there are some fun ideas there.

{ 1 trackback }

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In Defense of Foxhole Atheists

It’s no secret that conservative Christians dominate the U.S. military, but when higher-ups start talking about conversion missions, it’s time to worry. The author meets a group of soldiers who aren’t having it.
By Wathiq Khuzale/Getty Images.

One Monday in May, I was setting off from Washington to Colorado Springs, home of the United States Air Force Academy. I had kindly been invited by the academy’s “freethinkers association,” a loose-knit group of cadets and instructors who are without religious affiliation. As I was making ready to depart, and checking my e-mail, I found I had been sent a near-incredible video clip from the Al Jazeera network. It had been shot at Bagram Air Force Base last year, and it showed a borderline-hysterical address by one Lieutenant Colonel Gary Hensley, chief of the United States’ military chaplains in Afghanistan. He was telling his evangelical audience, all of them wearing uniforms supplied by the taxpayer, that as followers of Jesus Christ they had a collective responsibility “to be witnesses for him.” Heating up this theme, Lieutenant Colonel Hensley went on: “The Special Forces guys, they hunt men, basically. We do the same things, as Christians. We hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down. Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them in the kingdom. Right? That’s what we do, that’s our business.”

The comparison to the Special Forces would seem to suggest that the objects of this hunting and hounding are Afghans rather than Americans. But it’s difficult to be certain, and indeed I am invited to Colorado Springs partly because chaplains there have been known to employ taxpayer dollars to turn the hounds of heaven loose on their own students and fellow citizens. As the Bagram tape goes on, however, it becomes obvious that Afghans are the targets in this case. Stacks of Bibles are on display, in the Dari and Pashto tongues that are the main languages in Afghanistan. A certain Sergeant James Watt, a candidate for a military chaplaincy, is shown giving thanks for the work of his back-home church, which subscribed the dough. “I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out,” he beamingly tells his Bible-study class. In another segment, those present show quite clearly that they understand they are in danger of violating General Order Number One of the U.S. Central Command, which explicitly prohibits “proselytizing of any religion, faith, or practice.” A gathering of chaplains, all of them fed from the public trough, is addressed by Captain Emmit Furner, a military cleric who seems half in love with his own light-footed moral dexterity. “Do we know what it means to proselytize?” he asks his audience. A voice from the audience is heard to say, “It is General Order Number One.” To this Sergeant Watt replies: “You can’t proselytize but you can give gifts.… I bought a carpet and then I gave the guy a Bible after I conducted my business.” So where’s the harm in a man who is paid by the United States government to be a Christian chaplain strolling condescendingly through the souk and handing out religious propaganda as if it were a handful of small change or backsheesh? Probably not much more damaging to the war effort, or insulting to Afghan sensibilities, than the activities of the anonymous torturers who have been found operating elsewhere on the Bagram base. But it is taking the axe to the root of the United States Constitution, never mind General Order Number One. (Neither of these seems to be in force locally: no action against the uniformed missionaries has been taken.)

The film was originally shot by Brian Hughes, a maker of documentaries and a former member of the United States military who had fought in the Gulf War. It was made available to James Bays, one of Al Jazeera’s more experienced Afghan reporters. By the time I had landed in Colorado Springs, later that day, I expected that the thing would have become a national story and that the cadets, perhaps most especially the freethinkers club, would be talking about it. But I was mistaken twice. Only a few fringe anti-war malcontents had made anything of this outrageous clip, and there was a general shrug when I mentioned it. “That sort of thing happened to me a lot in Afghanistan,” I was told by Carlos Bertha, a veteran of the war who now teaches philosophy to cadets and who helped organize my talk. “I used to complain and sometimes the word would come down to lay off, but it was always ready to start up again.”

He was talking, however, about in-your-face Christian-fundamentalist displays at the entrance to the chow hall. Perhaps local Afghan hired helpers would have to see these, too, but the propaganda wasn’t being inflicted directly on them. So the question becomes two related questions: Is there a clique within the United States military that is seeking to use the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as an opportunity to mount a new crusade and to Christianize the “heathen”? And does this clique also attempt to impose its beliefs on young Americans in uniform, many of whom may even be Christian already? If the answer to either question is “yes,” then we are directly financing the subversion of our own Constitution and inviting a “holy war” where we will not be able to say that only the other side is dogmatic and fanatical.

To take the questions in reverse: A few years ago I wrote a book that mentioned an astonishing state of affairs at the Air Force Academy. But don’t take my word for it. An official usaf panel of inquiry, reporting in 2005, admitted that the commandant of cadets, Brigadier General Johnny A. Weida, had sent out an academy-wide e-mail reminding all hands of the upcoming and exclusively Protestant National Day of Prayer. He had further informed cadets that they were “accountable to their God” and came up with an ingenious call-and-response chant that went like this: “Jesus … Rocks!” Evidently quite a warrior. The head football coach, Fisher DeBerry, had improved on this only slightly by staging locker-room prayer-pleas to “The Master Coach” and hanging out a banner that read, “Team Jesus.” A screening of Mel Gibson’s incendiary, Jew-baiting homoerotic extravaganza, The Passion of the Christ, had flyers in its favor placed on every seat in the Air Force Academy dining hall. A Pentecostal chaplain warned cadets that they should accept Christ or “burn in hell.” About the latter incident, the air-force investigative panel decided to be lenient, on the perfectly good grounds that such language is “not uncommon” in this denomination. And that, I suspect, is part of the problem to begin with: unexamined extremist Christian conservatism is the cultural norm in many military circles. One Lutheran chaplain at the academy, Captain Melinda Morton, resigned from the service after being transferred for protesting that the evangelical pressure was “systematic.” And, despite the tolerance for Pentecostal hellfire rants, by no means all forms of expression could be indulged; a nonbelieving cadet was forbidden to organize a club for “freethinkers.”

That has now changed as a result of the indoctrination scandal, which is why I was able to be at the Springs. The academy’s chaplains still would not allow our meeting to take place on the base, but that was fine by me, as it meant we could all meet out of uniform at the Old Chicago pub downtown. The last survey of student opinion found that of the 4,400 cadets, 85 percent were Christian of one kind or another, 2 percent were declared atheists, 1.5 percent were Jewish, 0.4 percent Muslim, 0.3 percent Hindu, and—note this—9.3 percent either indicated no allegiance or identified themselves as “other.” According to all measurements of opinion, the latter is the fastest-growing minority in the United States, and only slightly under-represented at the Air Force Academy. (The Pew report on the subject says that unbelievers in the armed services overall represent a higher percentage than that of the general population: this would track with my experience and disprove that silly old line about there being no atheists in foxholes.)

I am still not going to give any real names of cadets attending my little event: there were about 20 of them, mostly males. Two of the group, one Baptist and one Mormon, had given up their faith since enlisting at the academy. The others fluctuated between doubt and agnosticism and straight-out unbelief. They were good-humored, outspoken, and tough-minded: the sort of people who make you proud of being defended by a volunteer military. According to most of them, the situation had improved since the last scandal, or rather because of it. In an acronym-dominated world, the school’s spire (Special Programs in Religious Education) could now include meetings for unbelievers, but even so an S.C.A. (Scheduling Committee Action) had to be approved before they could be allowed to meet with your humble servant in a pub overlooked by Pike’s Peak. It seemed weird to me that people willing to fight and die for the United States should be treated as if they were children (or do I mean members of a “flock”?).

They all told me that they felt quite able to stand up to peers and community members who wanted to evangelize them. (The Colorado Springs area is home to James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” campaign, as well as to the fragrant Reverend Ted Haggard, crusader and, when entwined with male hookers, meth buyer as well.) What they would object to would be evangelizing from higher up. And there is ever stronger reason to think that, at the Pentagon, the fish rots from the head. It emerges that during the invasion of Iraq, one of Donald Rumsfeld’s directors of intelligence, Major General Glen Shaffer, began to attach fiery biblical excerpts to the photographs that accompanied the daily briefings. For example, on one document delivered to President Bush by Rumsfeld there was a picture of an F-14 “Tomcat” on the deck of a carrier, with the accompaniment of verses from Psalm 139: “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast, O Lord.” Over a photograph of Saddam Hussein appeared the words, from the first Epistle of Peter: “It is by God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” (I pause to note that this suggests that General Shaffer had no idea what hellishness Saddam Hussein had actually, apart from his inexplicable failure to accept Jesus as his personal savior, been responsible for.)

More alarming still is a book called Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel, by an air-force lieutenant colonel named William McCoy, publicity for which describes the separation of church and state as a “twisted idea.” Nor is this the book’s only publicity: it comes—with its direct call for a religion-based military—with an endorsement from General David Petraeus.

It is outrageous that brave and intelligent young officers, seeing such theocratic absurdity rampant among the top brass, could suspect even for a second that their road to promotion was a longer one unless they acquiesced in this use of public resources for the promotion of (a single) religion. And if that thought can arise in a military academy or the corridors of the Pentagon, how much more oppressive is it when the volunteer is far from home, on the frontier, on a firebase, or aboard a submarine or a carrier, and being told that this time the objects of conversion are also the people we supposedly came to rescue from the Taliban and al-Qaeda? Captain Melinda Morton was, before quitting the Air Force Academy, a missile-launch commander. She believes that there is a fusion between the two types of proselytization. The evangelicals, she told Jeff Sharlet—whose work on this has been path-breaking—see the whole military as “a mission field. They wanted to send their missionaries to the military, and for the military itself to become missionaries to the world.” If this bizarre ambition came anywhere close to being realized, it would make civilian taxpayers into mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for an armed but unelected religious elite, and it would make our soldiers into unwitting pawns in a very dangerous game where they were considered expendable cannon fodder for Christ. The only certain winners would be the death cultists of jihad, who are already marveling at their luck in being proved right about the Americans as “crusaders.” This is as near to mutiny and treason as one could hope to sail and still wear the uniform.

And please do not think for a single second that, if proselytizing in our armed forces is permitted to extremist Christians, the precedent will not be taken up by other fanatics as well. There was a time when a man named Abdurahman Alamoudi was operating freely in this country, and even being deployed as a “moderate” Muslim spokesman by the State Department. More than once received at the White House, he also helped found an outfit with the intriguing name of the Muslim Armed Forces and Veteran Affairs Council, which was used to select Islamic chaplains in the armed services. Mr. Alamoudi’s run of luck ended in 2004, when he was given a long sentence in federal prison for activities related to terrorism. Since then, serving officers like the now famous Major Nidal Malik Hasan have had to go online for their extremist spiritual advisers, such as the fugitive preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who issued a general religious permission to shoot down U.S. servicemen only a short time before Major Hasan rose to his feet and sprayed his fellow countrymen at Fort Hood. Awlaki later praised the gallant major as “a hero.” This was not the only evidence of an early-stage attempt at setting up jihadist penetration of the ranks, but, yet again, the authorities decided to treat Major Hasan’s alarming statements as if they were protected religious speech rather than early warnings of the effect of a homicidal theology. A psychiatrist gives a lecture at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, on the government’s dime, and exclaims proudly that Muslim fighters love death more than we love life … Not very Hippocratic.

Throughout modern American history, the armed forces have been a great engine for assimilation and integration. Segregation of blacks was abolished in the services long before it was done away with in the wider society. Hispanic soldiers who are not yet full citizens have won many awards for bravery in the field. Women—not always approved of by religious fanatics—have risen to occupy serious command posts at all levels. (Discrimination against homosexuals, another religion-based prejudice, remains official, but that is a political decision, not a military one, and even the British services now recruit gay men and women, so change is probably not far off.) It would be an unimaginable catastrophe for America if the ranks became an arena of contestation between competing religious sectarians, and the effect on morale in the field would be disastrous also. It is of high importance to stop it before it can get started, and this means applying the principle of church-state separation right across the military spectrum.

James Madison was the co-author with Thomas Jefferson of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom, which became the basis of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Not accidentally the first clause of our Bill of Rights, this amendment unambiguously forbids any “establishment of religion” in or by these United States. In his “Detached Memoranda,” not published until after his death, Madison even wrote that the appointment of chaplains in the armed forces, and indeed in Congress, was “inconsistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principles of religious freedom.” He could never have foreseen a time when state-subsidized chaplains would be working to subvert the Constitution, and violating their sacred oath to uphold it. Let us be highly thankful that we have young soldiers and sailors and air-force personnel who, busy and devoted as they already are, show themselves brave enough to fight back on this front too.

Christopher Hitchens is a Vanity Fair contributing editor. Send comments on all Hitchens-related matters to hitchbitch@vf.com.