Matt Said, Jay Said XXX.XXX.XXX

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />Jay speaks, Matt speaks, You listen.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5ZZme3BX7rhyphenhyphenIXvfacIlpkFDTwSYk0wEdfGOmiyWQlgl9Gw5qvbTP9AD1iqZ8nn6a1PWkCPVSvI624NeKjrZEy8Xq6k-Jz7M7MEO0BGN8sg_TRikocRL7fy42iwyH6D-4Gqv16PJuGM/s1600/JayStalker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5ZZme3BX7rhyphenhyphenIXvfacIlpkFDTwSYk0wEdfGOmiyWQlgl9Gw5qvbTP9AD1iqZ8nn6a1PWkCPVSvI624NeKjrZEy8Xq6k-Jz7M7MEO0BGN8sg_TRikocRL7fy42iwyH6D-4Gqv16PJuGM/s320/JayStalker.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><i>*ring* *ring*</i></b><br /><b>Matt:</b> Yo<br /><b>Jay: </b>*heavy breathing* what are you wearing *heavy breathing*<br /><b>Matt:</b> Oh, Schmoop it’s for you.<br /><b>Schmoop: </b>Hello?<br /><b>Jay:</b> *heavy breathing* what are you wearing? *heavy breathing*<br /><b>Schmoop: </b>Oh hi Jay!<br /><b>Jay: </b>I’m not Jay! I’m a Mysterious Stranger.<br /><b>Schmoop: </b>Oh, right. Matt, it’s for you. It’s Jay.<br /><b>Jay:</b> Dammit!<br /><i><b>*click*</b> </i><br /><br /><b><i>*ring* *ring*</i></b><br /><b>Matt:</b> Howdy Ho<br /><b>Jay:</b> I’M GONNA RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AN SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK!<br /><b>Matt:</b> Jay, what are doing?<br /><b>Jay: </b>I’M NOT JAY DAMMIT! CALL ME THAT NAME AGAIN AND SUFFERE THE CONSEQUENCES!<br /><b>Matt:</b> Jay … Jay … Jay … JayJayJayJayJayJayJayJay<br /><b>Jay:  </b>I said I’m not Jay! I’m … I’m … It doesn’t matter who I am!<br /><b>Matt:</b> You really should have thought this out better.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Bite me! I’ll cut your throat while you’re sleeping.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Well just remember Schmoop is the one on the couch and I’m in the bedroom.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Okay! Prepare to die!<br /><b>Matt: </b>Could you let me know when?<br /><b>Jay: </b>NO! That would ruin the surprise.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Okay then.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Okay then!<br /><br /><b>Matt: </b>It’s margarita night, isn’t it?<br /><b>Jay:</b> Yeah.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Maybe you should stick to wine?<br /><b>Jay: </b>Wine makes me too mellow. I lose my edge.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Well, you could probably stand to lose it.<br /><b>Jay:</b> That kind of hurts.<br /><b>Matt:</b> How bout beer?<br /><b>Jay:</b> That just makes me all sloppy and shit.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Hmm … well, margaritas it is I guess.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Or maybe just sipping on bourbon?<br /><b>Matt:</b> That might work.<br /><b>Jay:</b> Hey! Can I talk to Schmoop.<br /><b>Matt: </b>No, she’s in a good mood. I don’t want you to ruin it.<br /><b>Jay:</b> Again, that’s a bit hurtful, but I understand.<br /><b>Matt: </b>It’s the best I can do.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBAyJwUX4usYqxrmKn6tt1kA7_oNNKwcUlARWBNhc33N2i8nM_-6esds0Ru_4MStfLLOM3gigj3wpawfaCQDek46PDtaaKIwFt03jdeHpFq-mkTO30_ORv0CBwX5oH672i7G4DSKOTv8/s1600/war-on-christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBAyJwUX4usYqxrmKn6tt1kA7_oNNKwcUlARWBNhc33N2i8nM_-6esds0Ru_4MStfLLOM3gigj3wpawfaCQDek46PDtaaKIwFt03jdeHpFq-mkTO30_ORv0CBwX5oH672i7G4DSKOTv8/s400/war-on-christmas.jpg" width="275" /></a><b>Jay:</b> So War on Christmas this week?<br /><b>Matt: </b>Saturday NIGHT at 11 PM ET!!<br /><b>Jay:</b> What side are we on?<br /><b>Matt: </b>I dunno.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Both? Neither?<br /><b>Matt:</b> Something like that.<br /><b>Jay: </b>I’ve already got some material.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Really?<br /><b>Jay: </b>Yup, a couple of reports from the brave journalists covering the War.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Always useful.<br /><b>Jay: </b>They’re like Hemingway.<br /><b>Matt: </b>I hope not cause Papa sucked.<br /><b>Jay:</b> Oh yeah, I keep forgetting.<br /><b>Matt: </b>The War on Christmas is very complicated.<br /><b>Jay: </b>People need us to break it down for them.<br /><b>Matt:</b> We’ll identify the combatants and what’s at stake.<br /><b>Jay: </b>And make fun of them.<br /><b>Matt:</b> Noooooooooo. This is serious shit.<br /><b>Jay: </b>War is Hell son.<br /><b>Matt:</b> Damn right it is.<br /><b>Jay:</b> And we’ve experience a bit of Hell ourselves.<br /><b>Matt: </b>And now we’re gonna bring Hell to the masses.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Just like Doc Holiday.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Exactly. Actually, I have no idea what you mean by that.<br /><b>Jay:</b> The move Tombstone? “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynKoZD-sFi4" target="_blank">Tell ‘em I’m coming and Hell’s coming with me!</a>”<br /><b>Matt: </b>Oh. Okay then. That works. I guess.<br /><b>Jay: </b>Totally.<br /><b>Matt: </b>Alright! Another #1 show, coming right up!<br /><b>Jay:</b> Brilliant!<br /><br />There you go kids. Another fun and exciting peek into the world of IWS show prep. And, don’t forget to tune in at our new time on Saturday NIGHT at 11 PM ET for our <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/12/02/16th-annual-war-on-christmas" target="_blank">War on Christmas Extravaganza</a>! It’s gonna be a blast!<br /><br /></div>

Matt Said, Jay Said XXX.XXX.XXX

Jay speaks, Matt speaks, You listen. *ring* *ring* Matt: Yo Jay: *heavy breathing* what are you wearing *heavy breathing* Matt: Oh, Schmoo...

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AFH - What Do You See?

'Tis the season for, among other things, giving. One organization worthy of some year-end loosening of purse-strings is <a href="http://architectureforhumanity.org/">Architecture for Humanity</a>, who are "building a more sustainable future using the power of design." <a href="http://architectureforhumanity.org/whatdoyousee">What Do Yo See</a> doesn't just ask for money, it asks people to describe a vision for their own community. Check it out...<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/416RUjiBakI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br /><br />...and then <a href="http://architectureforhumanity.org/donate/form?program=What%20do%20you%20see?">DONATE</a>.

AFH - What Do You See?

'Tis the season for, among other things, giving. One organization worthy of some year-end loosening of purse-strings is Architecture for...

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Full-time Digital Cataloging Specialist - Hartford Public Library

<strong>Full-time Digital Cataloging Specialist - </strong><span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Hartford Public Library</strong></span> seeks a full-time Digital Cataloging Specialist. Reporting jointly to the Technical Services Director and the Curator of the Hartford History Center, the Digital Cataloging Specialist is responsible for the cataloging and processing of the Library’s historical collections and the development and maintenance of the classical music collections. This includes providing reference services and public program assistance in the Hartford History Center; the training and supervision of Hartford History Center staff in the proper handling of historical materials according to archival standards; original and copy cataloging of classical music records, music scores and archival collections. Position Qualifications: Masters degree in library science from an ALA-accredited program or equivalent. Minimum of three years cataloging experience. Direct knowledge and experience with OCLC Connexion and experience with an integrated library system (ILS); experience with III Millennium ILS preferred. Necessary Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Music background of knowledge of the intricacies of music. Ability to manage multiple complex projects. Historical research and archival records management skills. Experienced with Encoded Archival Description (EAD) preferred. Strong commitment to working within a team management structure. Strong commitment to public service. Strong communication and public relations skills. Thorough knowledge of selection and classification of library collection. Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of modern library systems and programs. Strong computer skills with expertise in word-processing, spreadsheet and database programs, specifically Microsoft Office Suite. Valid Connecticut driver’s license or ability to obtain upon employment. A full job description and application are available on our website; <a href="http://www.hplct.org/" target="_blank">www.hplct.org</a> and from the Administrative Offices, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103. Applications accepted until <span style="color: red;">December 28, 2012</span>. The Hartford Public Library offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience. Hartford Public Library is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hartford Public Library requires a criminal background check and a pre-employment drug screening for the applicant who is selected for the position. Applicants will be provided a copy of any positive drug test results. A criminal record does not necessarily eliminate you from employment with Hartford Public Library. Each conviction will be reviewed with respect to the offense, circumstances, seriousness, and the position for which you apply.

Full-time Digital Cataloging Specialist - Hartford Public Library

Full-time Digital Cataloging Specialist -  Hartford Public Library seeks a full-time Digital Cataloging Specialist. Reporting jointly to t...

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Job searching in a mobile world

<br /><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -30px; text-align: left;"><div class="hdr_org_bld" style="color: #ff6600; font: normal normal bold 18px/normal arial, helvetica;"><h1 id="articleHeadline" style="color: #000066; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span id="cbArticle_lblHeadline">Job searching in a mobile world</span></h1></div><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">By Susan Ricker, CareerBuilder Writer</span></b><br /><div class="cb_share_more_wrapper"></div></div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;" /><div class="ArticleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="media-image" src="http://artstg.icbdr.com/sites/all/files/styles/large/public/Job%20search%20in%20mobile%20world_0.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" /></div>Forgot to turn the lights off after you left your house? Your phone can turn them off for you. Want to deposit a check into your bank account? Your phone can take care of that. Interested in capturing videos and pictures of your family vacation? Your phone can email the album to your family and friends.<br /><br />Today, cellphones are capable of so much more than making a call. They can even help your job search. Checking out jobs using a mobile application, emailing potential employers, killing time on your phone while waiting to begin an interview, conducting an interview on your cellphone -- these are just a few of the ways cellphones have become integrated into a job search.<br /><br />From searching to interviewing to following up, here's a guide to job-search cellphone etiquette.<br /><br /><strong>Searching for a job</strong><br /><a href="http://www.theworkbuzz.com/news/8-job-related-smartphone-apps/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">Job-related mobile apps</a> are great resources to use when you're short on time. However, before sending your job application materials to a prospective company, be sure that you've done your research. Learn about the company and the open position so that your cover letter and other application materials are relevant. It may be tempting to send a résumé for every open position you find, but being choosy can be more beneficial and productive.<br />When you contact hiring managers using a mobile app or emailing from your phone, you still need to be formal and professional. You aren't texting friends, so proper grammar and spelling and complete sentences are required. Also, consider removing any automated signatures your smartphone adds to your email, such as "sent from my mobile phone." This doesn't add anything to the note and may come across as though you sent the message in a hurry.<br /><br /><strong>Interviewing for the position</strong><br />When you get contacted for an interview, consider your cellphone's role in the process. If you've listed your cellphone number as your main contact number, be aware of your surroundings when you answer any potential business calls. If you're out with friends, go to a quiet area to take the call, or return the call in a timely fashion when you can speak privately. It's not OK to text a response to the hiring manager. <br /><br />If a hiring manager requests a phone interview, consider whether using a cellphone is the best choice. Will you have strong enough service where you plan to take the call? Does your phone have a history of dropping calls? If you deem your phone reliable, choose a distraction-free location so you can focus on acing the interview.<br /><br />If you're invited to an in-person interview, use your cellphone as much as you like before you arrive. However, once you check in and are awaiting the meeting, keep the cellphone out of sight. Put it away so you can focus on the interview instead of getting distracted by a friend's text message or an intense game. If you have to use it while you're waiting, make sure to turn it off or keep it on silent once you get called in for the interview.<br /><br /><strong>Following up</strong><br />Within 24-48 hours after your interview, email or mail a thank-you note that recaps conversation highlights and expresses your continued interest in the position. While it may be tempting to shoot off an email from your phone as soon as the interview ends, it may be best to wait until you get home. That way, you can send the response that night or the next day so you stay fresh in the hiring manager's mind. <br /><br />As cellphones continue improving and becoming more crucial to everyday life, remember that professionalism and good judgment are key to making a good impression on employers. That goes for every part of the job search.<br /><em>Susan Ricker is a writer and blogger for </em><a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;"><em>CareerBuilder.com</em></a><em> and its job blog, </em><a href="http://www.theworkbuzz.com/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em>The Work Buzz</em></a><em>. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.</em></div>

Job searching in a mobile world

Job searching in a mobile world By Susan Ricker, CareerBuilder Writer Forgot to turn the lights off after you left your house? Your phone ca...

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The Late Late Toy Show!!

<span style="font-size: large;">The Late Late Toy Show is on tonight!!</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">If you are Irish, you'll know all about this.  If you are not Irish you may not be aware of this show.  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late_Late_Show">RTE's Late Late Show</a> is the longest running TV show in Irish TV history (and it is also the longsest running show in the World!!).  It has been presented by 4 presenters Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny, Gerry Ryan (presented 1 show when Pat Kenny's mother died) and is now presented by Ryan Tubridy.  It is broadcast every Friday night and includes interviews with celebrities and light discussions about current affairs along with performances by musicians.....you get the idea!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Every year on the last Friday in November, the Toy Show version of the Late Late Show is broadcast.  Have a look at the <a href="http://www.rte.ie/ten/2012/1130/latelateshow.html">RTE website</a> for the type of thing that will be on the toy show.  The other thing about the toy show is the Christmas Jumper that is worn by the host who normally wears a suit - there is always big speculation as to how hideous the jumper will be this year!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">It is a tradition for Irish people to stay in and watch the show.  Children are allowed to stay up late for it and adults devise <a href="http://passmeamineral.com/?p=1387">drinking games</a> to make it a bit more watchable!!  My twin sister and I intend to get in to our PJ's, mix up some nice wintery cocktails and enjoy some nibblies while watching the show.  Can't wait!!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The show can be enjoyed Internationally for the Irish Abroad, RTE will be streaming it live here on the <a href="http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/">RTE Player</a> 9.35pm, Irish time.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">You know the Christmas Season has arrived once you've watched the Toy Show!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Will you be watching?!!</span></div>

The Late Late Toy Show!!

The Late Late Toy Show is on tonight!! If you are Irish, you'll know all about this.  If you are not Irish you may not be aware of this ...

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feature friday on 6th street design school

Today is an exciting day for me as my little cottage is on <a href="http://6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com/2012/11/feature-friday-little-black-door.html" target="_blank">Feature Friday</a> over at <a href="http://6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">6th Street Design School</a>. Kirsten was one of the first blogs I got hooked on and I've always loved this series. Head on over and <a href="http://6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com/2012/11/feature-friday-little-black-door.html" target="_blank">check it out</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxG85IIyzT6uEn1UOnhyphenhyphenWFkaA3k0Pq6uXDmmHma1Yp_sKU8ce8gHP22ISC4nRX12VF9tksHjm4Wz60DB744oXZ14lsI1qc-1hRmg_D3WPasEzxYZwqKaKlJC5Xs_S-ZbFyJkS6-EWwtkac/s1600/kirstenheader.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxG85IIyzT6uEn1UOnhyphenhyphenWFkaA3k0Pq6uXDmmHma1Yp_sKU8ce8gHP22ISC4nRX12VF9tksHjm4Wz60DB744oXZ14lsI1qc-1hRmg_D3WPasEzxYZwqKaKlJC5Xs_S-ZbFyJkS6-EWwtkac/s400/kirstenheader.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Happy Weekend!

feature friday on 6th street design school

Today is an exciting day for me as my little cottage is on Feature Friday over at 6th Street Design School . Kirsten was one of the first b...

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Charmin Freshmates

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxT5P_TsZ_Jy56naUIo9-owgysYAxDaO5uNDNEn_BaA1HMCyJRzZ0YqSb7J-75nngx2tSta8eRu7_5pEi8WLAa3yQt8z4oTiqZB0BZ3YJNpbC7aSx8kKirYWEIHbEn_UTszAxgYGpdIr8/s1600/bk-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxT5P_TsZ_Jy56naUIo9-owgysYAxDaO5uNDNEn_BaA1HMCyJRzZ0YqSb7J-75nngx2tSta8eRu7_5pEi8WLAa3yQt8z4oTiqZB0BZ3YJNpbC7aSx8kKirYWEIHbEn_UTszAxgYGpdIr8/s320/bk-5.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">How clean is clean?!</div>

Charmin Freshmates

How clean is clean?!

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TURKEY'S INTEREST IN EU MEMBERSHIP PLUNGES

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" 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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O3ZRKBV2q0iDGCXtGBjf_n5nR0ElzW7ErqMLMN2U5DpLsJ36tJfet56x2oTEte1dzytPeDVPwm8vNKRpFNicpRjKyYpObMmFkJ3RzCsz1pZsSVZczzUXj1HM-u2M0auHbD41uAEV68nY/s1600/UE_TURK1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O3ZRKBV2q0iDGCXtGBjf_n5nR0ElzW7ErqMLMN2U5DpLsJ36tJfet56x2oTEte1dzytPeDVPwm8vNKRpFNicpRjKyYpObMmFkJ3RzCsz1pZsSVZczzUXj1HM-u2M0auHbD41uAEV68nY/s400/UE_TURK1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>THE QUESTION IS DOES TURKEY NEED EU MEMBERSHIP???……. MOST LIKELY NOT</b></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">In <span style="color: blue;"><b>June 2011 Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</b> </span>wrote: <span style="color: red;"><b>DOES TURKEY REALLY NEED THE EU</b></span> <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">After more than two decades of trying, TURKEY has all but given up on acquiring membership in the EUROPEAN UNION, where it has faced annual rejections from GERMANY, FRANCE and CYPRUS, which are concerned with EASTERN influences in EUROPE. CYPRIOT opposition stems mainly from GREECE'S position, since much of CYPRUS is under a GREEK-backed government.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Now TURKEY, which for years has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, regards itself as part of modern EUROPE but is exhibiting more of an Islamic government. And it is seriously considering giving up its efforts to join the EU if it hasn't achieved membership by 2023, a decision which could have enormous consequences, especially for EUROPE.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TURKEY: BRIDGE BETWEEN OXIDANT AND ORIENT?</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">As a bridge between East and West, TURKEY, with its Islamic orientation, has sought to be a major influence with other countries of the MIDDLE EAST and CENTRAL ASIA where Ankara had historical impact in its former capacity as the OTTOMAN EMPIRE.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The influence would be essential for EUROPE, which needs TURKEY for continued political and economic trade with the EAST. However, a number of the EUROPEAN countries, most notably FRANCE, are concerned about TURKEY'S government becoming more Islamist. In addition, TURKEY continues to deny that the massive killing in 1915 of ARMENIANS was genocide -- a position to which FRANCE has raised strong objection. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">EUROPEAN opposition to TURKEY joining the EU stems from a number of issues. </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1_7KRky9yZQB6pkOZyrdMUBKCfu-Ao_m8yAhSe8ETmyebybZSCpPQXv2vC_iIuykDNR7YefmMFi9d_m1Y31b9x8RqCDVdSD-GrDTIc3Bnkj129Dm4ksq6DzS8UV-ere5md86-Ns2H4oi/s1600/200px-Turkish_EU_accession_logo.svg_.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1_7KRky9yZQB6pkOZyrdMUBKCfu-Ao_m8yAhSe8ETmyebybZSCpPQXv2vC_iIuykDNR7YefmMFi9d_m1Y31b9x8RqCDVdSD-GrDTIc3Bnkj129Dm4ksq6DzS8UV-ere5md86-Ns2H4oi/s320/200px-Turkish_EU_accession_logo.svg_.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Those concerns included continued restrictions on civil rights, curtailment of freedom of expression, assembly and association. It also revolves around the treatment that the TURKISH government has shown to the KURDS and CHRISTIAN minorities, including journalists.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Reaction from TURKISH officials was immediate. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan complained that the EUROPEANS "probably won't string us along that long (to 2023) but if they do string us along until then the EUROPEAN UNION will lose out, and at the very least they will lose TURKEY."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">For its part, GERMANY, which has the largest TURKISH population in EUROPE, has concerns over the integration of TURKS into GERMAN society and the influx of even more immigrants should TURKEY become an EU member.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Given the resistance of major EUROPEAN powers, there is no clear path for TURKEY'S entry into the EUROPEAN UNION. Turkey is very wary about being drawn into an inter-Islamic conflict, especially in SYRIA. <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html</a>However, mutual interests and opportunities for cooperation exist with the states that surround the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. The more effectively TURKEY promotes regional stability and also asserts herself in this multi-dimensional world, the less attractive EU membership becomes." </span><br /><br />By F. Michael Maloof<br /><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">See more articles about TURKEY</span></b>: <br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkey-iran-great-silk-gold-road.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkey-iran-great-silk-gold-road.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-energy-dependency-on-countries.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-energy-dependency-on-countries.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkey-and-russia.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkey-and-russia.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/turkey-and-central-asia.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/turkey-and-central-asia.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/turkeys-double-edged-sword-policies-or.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/turkeys-double-edged-sword-policies-or.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-shiite-persians-versus-wahhabi.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-shiite-persians-versus-wahhabi.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/china-and-turkey.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/china-and-turkey.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-everyones-enemy.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-everyones-enemy.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/cyprus-and-turkey-never-ending-story.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/cyprus-and-turkey-never-ending-story.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkeys-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkeys-chess-game.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/warmongerning-between-israel-and-turkey.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/warmongerning-between-israel-and-turkey.html</a>

TURKEY'S INTEREST IN EU MEMBERSHIP PLUNGES

THE QUESTION IS DOES TURKEY NEED EU MEMBERSHIP???……. MOST LIKELY NOT In June 2011 Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring wrote: DOES TURKEY ...

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Happy St. Andrew's Day: Scotland Sucks!!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Cheeeeeers, Happy Friday, and more importantly, Happy St. Andrew’s Day to you all!!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAeMIEj2_jL9t9QZwEKgkQH4SrESw0dqQYbqgIrmSrO-reGfHcLf0O8w58DuE7NZU5jpoioaUscosIghzXSjLy_PTsdVf7YInt1jLFwxBHis5nOAKaRsv7d8bhS0PaUbbqv9rXKfkznE/s1600/Sexy+Scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAeMIEj2_jL9t9QZwEKgkQH4SrESw0dqQYbqgIrmSrO-reGfHcLf0O8w58DuE7NZU5jpoioaUscosIghzXSjLy_PTsdVf7YInt1jLFwxBHis5nOAKaRsv7d8bhS0PaUbbqv9rXKfkznE/s400/Sexy+Scotland.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>What?  You didn’t realize that today is St. Andrew’s Day?<br /><br />Hell yes my friends, and today, 5.2 million Scots already are, or will be, engaging in drunken celebrations in honor of St. Andrew, the patron Saint of Scotland.<br /><br />Drunken, whorish, Scottish ladies sporting plaid skirts, white stockings, and no underwear, will spend the day and night being hunted down like sheep by drunken, whorish, Scottish men sporting plaid skirts, white stockings, and no underwear.<br /><br />One might say that today is going to be Tartan-Palooza in the great country of Scotla----er…um…the great nation of Scot---…oh wow, um.<br /><br />Scotland isn’t really a country is it?  Not a nation unto itself either really, it’s more like…let’s see…It’s like Canada, yeah that’s it…It’s like Canada!!<br /><br />Well, no I guess not, ‘cause, I mean, c’mon…<br /><br />Canada has its own currency…its own armed forces…its own Prime Minister.  Canada is even allowed to fly their own flag, field their own Olympic teams, and negotiate directly with other governments.<br /><br />The Scottish government and her people?  What are they permitted to do on their own?  Not a damn thing other than beg for scraps from the table of the once mighty nation of Britain.  It’s sad, pathetic really.<br /><br />Oh sure today, on St. Andrews Day, the Scots will sit around the pubs of Edinburgh and elsewhere, juiced up on warm ale and tales of the glory days that lie fossilized in their collective consciousness, and scream…<br /><br /><i>“Death to England.  Death to the Queen!!”</i>, and then…<br /><br />Saturday December 1st, like most other days for the Scots, they’ll wake up on their bathroom floor with a hangover, a skirt over their face, and incoherently mumble…<br /><br /><i>“We drank the country…er nation…er…whatever we are, dry last night; could somebody please call Prime Minister Cameron down in London and plead for a new allotment of ale?”</i><br /><br />Yep, sad indeed.<br /><br />On St. Andrews Day, every Scot parties, yells, and engages in Scottish braggadocio with the gusto, courage, and fire of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and then?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Gh9p1-FhRUAiwiB96Bgu7X3MkmTkFxd8KvEX8vkzR4mZcUjSM-_m0kE2km9veWYriXb41mdyTHt2eCRLkzWUbfuoIxx2DoR20BUgN_UJFl1RqMHI1pwGRieJNAJ3yeE9qEld3uFtEKg/s1600/Sexy+Naked+Scottish+Woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Gh9p1-FhRUAiwiB96Bgu7X3MkmTkFxd8KvEX8vkzR4mZcUjSM-_m0kE2km9veWYriXb41mdyTHt2eCRLkzWUbfuoIxx2DoR20BUgN_UJFl1RqMHI1pwGRieJNAJ3yeE9qEld3uFtEKg/s400/Sexy+Naked+Scottish+Woman.jpg" width="281" /></a>The next day when their collective eyes clear, their liver discharges, and drunken remembrances of their salad days have wilted and turned gray, their bluster and nationalism will sound more like Oliver Twist in all of his girlish, pre-pubescent voice asking dutifully of the Prime Minister…<br /><br /><i>“Please sir, may I have some more?”</i><br /><br />When I think of these things, I say to myself…<br /><br /><i>“Braveheart is one of my favorite movies, but if it was based on today’s Scotland and her people, it would be called Gayheart.”</i><br /><br />Scotland sucks, and you know what?<br /><br />St. Andrew is too good for you guys.  You should adopt a new patron saint.<br /><br />Perhaps…<br /><br />St. Richard of Simmons, or…St. Mike McQueary, or…St. Cowardly Lion.<br /><br />I truly want all of you Bobby Burns loving Scots to enjoy your day today, but man…<br /><br />When you wake up tomorrow, while your alcohol induced hangover will recede over time, the hangover of knowing that you are not nearly as tough as even the Canadians will never leave your head, and knowing that fact is harder to swallow than a plate full of haggis.<br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><i>Matt-Man (A Descendent of the <b>Free</b> State of Ireland)</i><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com"><i>mattmaniws@ymail.com</i></a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue;">@MattMan_IWS</span></i></a></div>

Happy St. Andrew's Day: Scotland Sucks!!

Cheeeeeers, Happy Friday, and more importantly, Happy St. Andrew’s Day to you all!! What?  You didn’t realize that today is St. Andrew’s Day...

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Marvel at the marvellous things!

<span style="font-size: large;">The Marvel Room is back!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Every Christmas, The Marvel Room is opened in Brown Thomas.   The nicest gifts are chosen and put in to The Marvel Room.  It is such a nice experience to take a wander through the store and marvel at the marvels!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteQrINb8PeST7_kgsOl1bs2PUnJ08S_swNOmu-gZXGK0_Pk2u6an1adVeZ1tC_bYDhlDouo1DKFkGWP1aaP_TbHUdhXcwLv9Po5S647M9D1cKBdctaI-eRBtVdk3x9Ke1eWUa2w80FOaY/s1600/IMG_2642%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteQrINb8PeST7_kgsOl1bs2PUnJ08S_swNOmu-gZXGK0_Pk2u6an1adVeZ1tC_bYDhlDouo1DKFkGWP1aaP_TbHUdhXcwLv9Po5S647M9D1cKBdctaI-eRBtVdk3x9Ke1eWUa2w80FOaY/s320/IMG_2642%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>                               <span style="font-size: large;">Marvels for him!                             Marvels for her!</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1cCk51H0X2x-ZTbagWJrA22BufEl3Jk5t9lKO47ZNP2FEi9F0UqhLmskLWlxNjBLkzo8BsNULeWZKPPtqxhFhWmWt0r_p5WVtzYScQoOwnxGWTobxV6mlV_14f6_KBW_zQRge-xk9hHO/s1600/IMG_2644%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1cCk51H0X2x-ZTbagWJrA22BufEl3Jk5t9lKO47ZNP2FEi9F0UqhLmskLWlxNjBLkzo8BsNULeWZKPPtqxhFhWmWt0r_p5WVtzYScQoOwnxGWTobxV6mlV_14f6_KBW_zQRge-xk9hHO/s320/IMG_2644%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLuaOG_CUc5ZEMO8SG9e86NpuUbHEdO1GEcf91qyJDZk9MYgJSbkkurBn-TE-5BAIMd7ca9qelfmrAqjmTghPV3vdcmZPQ3Ze8uR4jMhuv5O1opc1HYGELYW56Kb-MLC5oQ122XyaM0cS/s1600/IMG_2643%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLuaOG_CUc5ZEMO8SG9e86NpuUbHEdO1GEcf91qyJDZk9MYgJSbkkurBn-TE-5BAIMd7ca9qelfmrAqjmTghPV3vdcmZPQ3Ze8uR4jMhuv5O1opc1HYGELYW56Kb-MLC5oQ122XyaM0cS/s320/IMG_2643%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2VwNA0ggvXCfCCV8rKV9hUdW62ghYbhIvhLjWjBz3o1cN8WOwCPKwVObVtF0uCBDM1I3P5Puo5rMo_hgIEVPzfFTZB739Xjtx5xqJjZy5hZjTJxsQ3FaNMdzYZfzlfaQSkkfI7KbkU_e/s1600/IMG_2647%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2VwNA0ggvXCfCCV8rKV9hUdW62ghYbhIvhLjWjBz3o1cN8WOwCPKwVObVtF0uCBDM1I3P5Puo5rMo_hgIEVPzfFTZB739Xjtx5xqJjZy5hZjTJxsQ3FaNMdzYZfzlfaQSkkfI7KbkU_e/s320/IMG_2647%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvXhlw6t2HgBduRJZzyFZYXABnPcZ5-fzI8kPj8kYTtnft4V8PRPj9Wgs3jjHwTM3X0Pr17EXG3godZuzJkhOatobFuYa6TBgwNBOxupBzh7iDtUVIszqiIaG7RLXR6j7FqvkhcFKi_Ad/s1600/IMG_2645%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvXhlw6t2HgBduRJZzyFZYXABnPcZ5-fzI8kPj8kYTtnft4V8PRPj9Wgs3jjHwTM3X0Pr17EXG3godZuzJkhOatobFuYa6TBgwNBOxupBzh7iDtUVIszqiIaG7RLXR6j7FqvkhcFKi_Ad/s320/IMG_2645%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QOHYxe8ltkpUtQRYN8KFQ6rLaWXbMrz5cixqRdWT1g6hW6UI4J2d-wOEFuKa2hOdFPm4e_jr4HnGcbNjDDZY3_6A9HynP73acuV4-4w1ytcK4g_Kq6dLJAMM63d_JxYPw2si9P4mDKhA/s1600/IMG_2648%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QOHYxe8ltkpUtQRYN8KFQ6rLaWXbMrz5cixqRdWT1g6hW6UI4J2d-wOEFuKa2hOdFPm4e_jr4HnGcbNjDDZY3_6A9HynP73acuV4-4w1ytcK4g_Kq6dLJAMM63d_JxYPw2si9P4mDKhA/s320/IMG_2648%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvimjkWYy_ak8quZgBG2jj8L3rZsAv2-2mqobpJBu1AH3kL1-kmYHuTllI8KpxB15VdQ0AUD6cyKj_PfHXi8Ig8ytULhNBUK0GT_XJbmbgI70ByZXNUqlMyTQVP2ayWpHupm5YfYHNqXP0/s1600/IMG_2649%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvimjkWYy_ak8quZgBG2jj8L3rZsAv2-2mqobpJBu1AH3kL1-kmYHuTllI8KpxB15VdQ0AUD6cyKj_PfHXi8Ig8ytULhNBUK0GT_XJbmbgI70ByZXNUqlMyTQVP2ayWpHupm5YfYHNqXP0/s320/IMG_2649%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>

Marvel at the marvellous things!

The Marvel Room is back! Every Christmas, The Marvel Room is opened in Brown Thomas.   The nicest gifts are chosen and put in to The Marvel ...

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Public Services Librarian - Asnuntuck Community College

<strong>Public Services Librarian -</strong> <strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Asnuntuck Community College</span></strong>, Enfield. Educational Assistant. Position: Part-time Temporary Public Services Librarian. Anticipated Start Date: January 25, 2013. Minimum Qualifications: MLS/MLIS degree, reference service experience, library and office technology abilities/experience. Responsibilities: The Public Services Librarian will provide reference, circulation and other duties as assigned. Hours for this position will be Monday - Thursday, 4:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. for Spring 2013 semester. Minumum Salaray: $29.88 per hour– no benefits. Deadline: <span style="color: red;">December 28, 2012</span>. Application Procedure: Send cover letter, resume and Board Application to: Human Resources, Asnuntuck Community College, 170 Elm Street, Enfield, CT 06082. Or e-mail to <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:AS-HumanResources-HR@asnuntuck.edu" href="mailto:AS-HumanResources-HR@asnuntuck.edu">AS-HumanResources-HR@asnuntuck.edu</a>. Asnuntuck Community College is an Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V. Protected group members are strongly encouraged to apply.

Public Services Librarian - Asnuntuck Community College

Public Services Librarian - Asnuntuck Community College , Enfield. Educational Assistant. Position: Part-time Temporary Public Services L...

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Webinar recordings: 'Bring Your Own Device – does it work?'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgS1ipOxS3xqRBO7lwYdfkFwBYj7vYX6XiidqDoKna_Fo6BYyEAehKfrIKEL7_HZrYFeMmwcrWLJnG_SCorrGSFDwQ3Bq6Z3uoNqBNkcerj9VwmBw1ZlDkSE1zshzaW65ryfuysojPYRo/s1600/BYOD2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgS1ipOxS3xqRBO7lwYdfkFwBYj7vYX6XiidqDoKna_Fo6BYyEAehKfrIKEL7_HZrYFeMmwcrWLJnG_SCorrGSFDwQ3Bq6Z3uoNqBNkcerj9VwmBw1ZlDkSE1zshzaW65ryfuysojPYRo/s320/BYOD2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this webinar we discussed BYOD (<i>Bring your own device</i>) which is a current buzz word. Basically instead of schools going to the expense of buying and maintaining technology devices the students are encouraged to bring their own devices from home – smart phones, laptops or tablets of one sort or another. What is your opinion on this? You would imagine that something like this wouldn’t work because of perhaps teacher skills in managing different devices or students forgetting their devices at home or not owning a device. Our two ladies in this webinar tell us what they have experienced at their respective schools..</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Our two presenters</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nina Adams is the Innovation head at St Cyprians in Cape Town and she is responsible for technology integration throughout the school. Michele Botha is the Head of the Intermediate Phase at Somerset House Primary in Somerset West and she is also responsible for technology integration at her school. In this webinar they each relate the ins and outs plus successes of introducing the BYOD approach at their schools. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to these two ladies. (Adobe Connect can be troublesome at times but these two ladies persevered). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Nina Adams from St Cyprians in Cape Town </b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vgq4sgteg6ln3JFDER27GIz6SjaOptV3ezsG3RCg0-VqV_fVWAiTHbApLmKGI0KU5EiGO5bYLm8TTsDujSnOYJ0g7bvWVmla_0GVHvGLtVvGeHC9Wz9YbJoXDJ2VGvWg0L-J1KfoaP8/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipKAAOFkx3kC7r1n3eLTgGFCmkieuk_6MKfwB1R03UzXjY4EVsd-qflqFn5VidBGiPvGCQlrITOcZLcAmyRPy0osvC5ynHgopmw-1BD0Kp0eF7cALqLF10gtYy14Ul_9ewffp5GVREr0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Title</b></u>:‘To BYODly go…’</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Webinar recording</b></u>:<a href="http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p67ctfy140o/">http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p67ctfy140o/</a> (23 mins)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Prezi Links</b></u>: <a href="http://prezi.com/mqzvyevtmkv4/to-byodly-go/" title="http://prezi.com/mqzvyevtmkv4/to-byodly-go/">http://prezi.com/mqzvyevtmkv4/to-byodly-go/</a></span> <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Michele Botha from Somerset House Primary ‘ </b></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/15438127" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="427"> </iframe> <br /><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Schoolnetsa11/byod-our-grade-67-pilot-michele-botha" target="_blank" title="BYOD? Our Grade 6&7 pilot (Michele Botha)">BYOD? Our Grade 6&7 pilot (Michele Botha)</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Schoolnetsa11" target="_blank">Schoolnet SA </a></strong></span> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Title</b>:</u> Bring Your Own Device Pilot Project”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Webinar recordings</b></u>:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Part 1</b>: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p7djdadlj3g/">http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p7djdadlj3g/</a> (3 mins)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Part 2</b>:<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> <a href="http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p2pioozxfja/">http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p2pioozxfja/</a> </span>(9 mins)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Presentation</b></u>: Slideshare presentation can be viewed above.<br /><u><b>Presentation Link</b></u>: <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Schoolnetsa11/byod-our-grade-67-pilot-michele-botha" target="_blank" title="BYOD? Our Grade 6&7 pilot (Michele Botha)">BYOD? Our Grade 6&7 pilot (Michele Botha)</a><b> </b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><br /></div></div>

BYOD webinars Webinar recordings: 'Bring Your Own Device – does it work?'

In this webinar we discussed BYOD ( Bring your own device ) which is a current buzz word. Basically instead of schools going to the expense ...

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Library Media Specialist - Niantic Center School

<strong>Library Media Specialist - </strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Niantic Center School</span></strong>. Provides the school with an enriched library-media environment containing a wide variety and range of materials that will invite intellectual probing and growth, and to guide and facilitate the learning process. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Other duties may be assigned. Instructional Services - Plans instruction to enable students to make full and effective use of a library-media facility. Diagnoses entry level skills and knowledge of students. Coordinates library-media instruction with the classroom teacher to support and supplement the curriculum. Uses evaluation instruments or procedures to obtain information to monitor student progress, evaluate the effectiveness of instruction, and take corrective action. Provides a library-media center environment conducive to students' learning and interacting. Provides opportunities for instruction in new media or delivery systems for students and faculty. Prepares bibliographies and mediographics as appropriate or required. Informs staff of new materials related to their areas of instruction. Library-Media Center Management Prepares a library-media budget. Establishes accounting procedures for monitoring the budget. Selects and acquires library-media materials to support and enrich the curriculum. Implements a process for accountability of materials. Establishes methods for scheduling classes and individuals into the library-media center. Coordinates and supervises the work of library assistants, volunteers and student helpers. Maintains statistics and issues reports as required. Interaction - Communicates effectively with students. Encourages students to feel free to express their opinions and respect the opinions of others. Is sensitive to and provides for individual differences among children. Cooperates with area school and public libraries in resource sharing and networking. Encourages and maintains the cooperative involvement and support of parents and the community. Is aware of and uses community resources when available and applicable. Professional Growth and Responsibility - Is knowledgeable of and demonstrates the Connecticut Teaching Competencies. Is involved in school and/or district-wide issues or initiatives. Demonstrates responsibility for self-growth, professional improvement, and ongoing self-evaluation. Follows the policies, procedures and curricula of the school district. Criticizes the system via the proper channels in a constructive manner. Supervisory Responsibilities: Supervises library assistants, volunteers and student helpers. Qualification Requirements: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Education and/or Experience: Master's Degree in Library Science or Instructional Technology. Two years teaching experience, K- 12 media certification from the State. Language Skills: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations. Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: Connecticut certification in School Library-Media. Other Skills and Abilities: Ability to apply knowledge of current research and theory to instructional program; ability to plan and implement lessons based on division and school objectives and the needs and abilities of students to whom assigned. Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with students, peers and parents; skill in oral and written communication. Additional duties are performed by the individuals currently holding this position and additional duties may be assigned. All interested applicants are requested to apply online at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.applitrack.com/eastlyme/onlineapp" href="http://www.applitrack.com/eastlyme/onlineapp" target="_blank">www.applitrack.com/eastlyme/onlineapp</a>.

Library Media Specialist - Niantic Center School

Library Media Specialist - Niantic Center School . Provides the school with an enriched library-media environment containing a wide variet...

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Jump Start by Robb Armstrong

<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFO3_JNphAQYtCf8Pc03ieBN9KtzAKVMmli2V0_kpvy8ESdQsxbIL48JWuM4mmLHOVyvO8nFDp1ySae6C3rDttfmlI2yFNWAFCL8NyLIhECrP-FRK_vBZDDgTmt5lgDFw01v6mrvgvhY/s1600/28-701758.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5816184595548613378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFO3_JNphAQYtCf8Pc03ieBN9KtzAKVMmli2V0_kpvy8ESdQsxbIL48JWuM4mmLHOVyvO8nFDp1ySae6C3rDttfmlI2yFNWAFCL8NyLIhECrP-FRK_vBZDDgTmt5lgDFw01v6mrvgvhY/s320/28-701758.gif" /></a></div>

Jump Start by Robb Armstrong

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Mitt Romney Shocked He Lost the Powerball

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><b>This is an IWS World News™ exclusive…</b><br /><br />Calling it “more like WEAK-Ball, <i>amIright</i>?” Former GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney is reportedly “shocked” that he didn’t win the $500 million dollar Powerball Lottery. Romney is so stunned in fact, that he is refusing to acknowledge the loss while huddling with his advisors and family. There was a large crowd of mostly middle aged and older white males who had gathered at the Super Stop and Shop on Everett St in Boston, where Romney bought the ticket, to help the former Massachusetts governor celebrate, but they are mostly sad and dejected. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdWuo0k0GvZU23N0PqUzAv6s8qoBv9TPGjatvp6sF8kcUnSOBT2-n8tEODpIF8cR3RoKD16wd_uhTjoy5_uFlNqXCW3PuyVwmSHwn6-wlBK0w-Mq2ziH-PR-Epn_K_v8WtJvV8Ut5_Ks/s1600/sad+romney+supporters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdWuo0k0GvZU23N0PqUzAv6s8qoBv9TPGjatvp6sF8kcUnSOBT2-n8tEODpIF8cR3RoKD16wd_uhTjoy5_uFlNqXCW3PuyVwmSHwn6-wlBK0w-Mq2ziH-PR-Epn_K_v8WtJvV8Ut5_Ks/s1600/sad+romney+supporters.jpg" /></a></div>“We’re all just stunned” said one aid who asked to remain anonymous because he’s embarrassed to be associated with the Romney’s, “we’ve got all these Asians who all have PHD’s in statistics and mathematics and stuff, and they assured us that we had the right numbers.” Others are still holding out hope though, some have pointed out that the drawing isn’t official yet and they have a team of lawyers ready to roll on Mr. Romeny’s order.<br /><br />Going the legal route isn’t without risk though. One member of the Romney team pointed out that they have to worry about public perception too. “What if the winner is a black or Hispanic single mother? It would be an absolute public relations disaster to go after someone like that. We have to be careful.”<br /><br />But, there are still other supporters who think it’s worth a risk. Conservative firebrand Todd Akin says a minority single mother is the perfect target to go after and take the $500 million from. “She’ll just blow it on birth control and sexy toys,” says Akin. “That’s all those people think about, you know. It’s just disgusting. I think America would be absolutely appalled to see an irresponsible woman with loose morals win something as important and pure as the Powerball.” <br /><br />Even Mitt Romney’s supporters in the media are at bit red-faced tonight. Conservative columnists Michael Barone and George Will both predicted that Romney would win the drawing. “When the ping pong balls have all come bouncing down that plastic and metal slide and lined up in an orderly fashion, Gov. Willard “Mitt” Romney will have won $500,000,000 American Dollars. I’m convinced it will happen. If it doesn’t, I’ll eat my bowtie,” said the Dean of the Washington Punditry, George Will.<br /><br />Fox News’ Dick Morris couldn’t be reached for comment this evening. He has been the most vocal over the last couple of days in certainty that Romney would win. “Unless this thing is fixed, Romney has it nailed down. I’ve been running the numbers all day in my head and I see no scenario in which Romney loses.” Morris isn’t without his critics though, Matt-Man and Jayman, hosts of the wildly popular #1 Comedy Show on Blog Talk Radio “<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank">I’m With Stupid</a>” have both pointed out that it was Dick Morris who once went on The O’Reilly Factor and declared that there was “no way whatsoever the Maginot Line can be penetrated by the Germans.”<br /><br />Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) who was Romney’s running mate has been pretty quiet. “I’m not a numbers guy, you know. It’s all just a bit too fancy and complicated for me,” said Ryan. “I’ll just concentrate on helping to put together the 2013 Federal Budget and let them work this out.”<br /><br />IWSWN™ will stay on top of this story and bring you the latest updates as we learn them.<br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><br /><br /></div>

Mitt Romney Shocked He Lost the Powerball

This is an IWS World News™ exclusive… Calling it “more like WEAK-Ball, amIright ?” Former GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney is reportedly...

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Customer Support Engineer (Troubleshoot | Diagnose | Customer support) (# 108390)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Position:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Customer Support Engineer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Location:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> ADE Vancouver, WA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Full time<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Req #:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> 108390 & 108498<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Job Description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Primarily responsible for customer service activities associated with updating, troubleshooting, diagnosing and repairing of highly complex capital equipment at customer sites and trade shows. Represents the company to the customer and assumes accountability for customer satisfaction with service. Assures operational quality of system equipment. Coordinates actions with customers to minimize down time. Provides assistance to Installation Engineers and CSE's 1-3 in resolving problems. May perform duties associated with Technical Support Engineer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p>1) Evaluates, analyzes, diagnoses and troubleshoots technical equipment problems via telephone or at customer site. Ensures equipment enhances customer production.<br />2) Repairs and updates equipment at customer facility. Evaluates equipment to determine type and extent of problem. Repairs involve board problems which can be performed using standard procedures as well as system level problems which have multiple causes and for which no standard procedures exist.<br />3) Focus on Account Management and customer satisfaction. CSE will avoid creating basic customer issues.<br />4) Uses skills as a seasoned, experienced professional with a full understanding of industry practices and company policies and procedures; resolves a wide range of issues in imaginative as well as practical ways.<br />5) Repairs of system level problems are based on CSE's technical knowledge, education and training.<br />6) CSE's may access and determine the problems existing in customers' processes such as chemical leaks or contamination, and as a result may recommend shutdown of customer fab due to unsafe conditions.<br />7) Conducts customer orientation and technical training on all aspects of equipment maintenance support for user applications.<br />8) Prepares field service reports on customer support activity and provides documentation to other supporting functions supporting functions on re-occurring problems.<br />9) Prepares quotes for customers based on labor, travel expenses incurred and parts needed. CSE's use discretion and assist regional admin in preparing quotes based on reason for equipment failure, time to prepare etc.<br />10) Cross trains and assists other field service engineers as appropriate. Provides guidance and technical assistance to Installation Engineer on installations at customer sites or on installing/dismantling demonstration machines.  Also provides guidance to less senior CSE's.<br />11) Travels by car or commercial transportation to customer facility.<br /> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Basic Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Master's Level Degree with at least 4 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 5 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kindly send your resume to <a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com">raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

Customer Support Engineer (Troubleshoot | Diagnose | Customer support) (# 108390)

Position: Customer Support Engineer Location: ADE Vancouver, WA Duration: Full time Req #: 108390 & 108498 Job Description: Primaril...

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Melt's Spreads

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShqtUOHsEDBB2rAq7I8aJRLMGonecvpjXMCnJEtWaNx34mIF8C3jXcADvWkt7Tk5zErlNOqMDCccWOKWV1CXaVf88qVda26YnPxQyuab6romsl1xDUcreaR2-xFLfkUUtWODgqysHu3Q/s1600/Melts+spreads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShqtUOHsEDBB2rAq7I8aJRLMGonecvpjXMCnJEtWaNx34mIF8C3jXcADvWkt7Tk5zErlNOqMDCccWOKWV1CXaVf88qVda26YnPxQyuab6romsl1xDUcreaR2-xFLfkUUtWODgqysHu3Q/s320/Melts+spreads.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm a member of Swaggable, and I was invited to try the Melt's spreads for free! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> What's Melt's spreads? It's a healthier alternative to butter! The flavors that I received was honey and original. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> I am all for it trying out new products, especially when it's healthy and tastes good! I haven't tried these yet, but have heard great rumors about them! </div>

Melt's Spreads

I'm a member of Swaggable, and I was invited to try the Melt's spreads for free!   What's Melt's spreads? It's a healthi...

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Book Review: Building: Louis I. Kahn at Roosevelt Island

<a href="http://www.aperture.org/shop/barney-kulok-building-book"><b><i>Building: Louis I. Kahn at Roosevelt Island</i></b></a> by Barney Kulok<br />Aperture, 2012<br />Hardcover, 80 pages<br /><br /><img alt="book-kulok.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/book-kulok.jpg" title="Building - cover and spread" /><br /><br />Last month the <a href="http://www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org/">FDR Four Freedoms Park</a> finally opened, close to 40 years after Louis I. Kahn's death, at which time he had completed most of the design. Alongside the pomp surrounding the opening came a number of reviews (all very positive) and lots of photos along the lines of <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2012/10/todays-archidose-628.html">my two</a> <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2012/10/todays-archidose-628-part-2.html">batches</a>. While photos focusing on the completed park and memorial are important, documentation of the design's realization is also valuable. For that we can thank photographer <a href="http://www.nicoleklagsbrun.com/kulok_home.html">Barney Kulok</a>, who was given access to the construction site about a year ago to document the construction.<br /><br />What I really like about the 49 black-and-white plates collected in this handsome book is the way the construction is not documented through wide-frame images capturing large swaths of the place, but through small-scale details that border on painterly abstractions. This is not a book like Brian Finke's <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2012/11/book-review-two-photography-books.html"><i>Construction</i></a>, which<i> </i>focused on the people constructing buildings; rather, <i>Building</i> attempts to give a sense of the whole by examining its parts. Yet, it's not as simple as saying that the essence of the design is found in its details, because many of the details that Kulok documents were subsequently buried or removed.<br /><br />The sum of the photos in <i>Building</i> is akin to poetry, where interpretation is open-ended because the shots don't settle for easy presentations of what we think of when we think of "construction site"—very little machinery is present, for example, and tools appear as aesthetic objects more than useful objects. I like to think that even the most mundane detail—a guideline tied to a piece of rebar driven into the earth; a haphazard assemblage of wire, cloth, and more rebar closing a hole in a chain-link fence; a piece of wood resting on concrete steps—reveals something about the specific construction process on Roosevelt Island. Each photo is a trace of human action, even as only three of the nearly fifty plates have people within the frame; they tell stories beyond the immediate moment captured.<br /><br />The most interesting plates border on the composed, and not just in terms of photography—angle, framing, aperture, etc. I wonder if a cubic piece of stone teetering on the edge of a much larger piece of stone was found by Kulok as he traversed the job site, or placed there intentionally, perhaps inspired by something he saw but manipulated to make the ideal photo. Images like these may turn on my skepticism radar, but in the end I don't think it matters if they're staged or not, because they still serve to reveal the construction. A "clean" pile of dirt on stone pavers says just as much about the filling in of the voids between stones as does a "dirty" pile of dirt on stone pavers (you'll have to trust me on this one). But the former is just a better photograph, a piece of poetry rather than part of a documentary.<br /><br />For those interested in hearing Kulok speak about the book, he'll be <a href="http://www.aperture.org/event/in-conversation-barney-kulok-and-joel-smith/">in conversation with Joel Smith</a> this evening at Aperture Gallery and Bookstore, 547 West 27th Street, NYC. The event is free and a book signing will follow the conversation.<a href="http://www.aperture.org/event/in-conversation-barney-kulok-and-joel-smith/"><br /></a><br /><br /><b>US: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597112259?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1597112259&linkCode=xm2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/buy-from-tan.gif" /></a> CA: <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1597112259?ie=UTF8&tag=aweeklydose02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=15121&creativeASIN=1597112259" target="_blank"><img alt="Buy from Amazon.ca" border="0" height="28" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/buy-from-tan-ca.gif" width="90" /></a> UK: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1597112259?ie=UTF8&tag=aweeklydoseof-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=1634&creativeASIN=1597112259" target="_blank"><img alt="Buy from Amazon.co.uk" border="0" height="28" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/buy-from-tan-uk.gif" width="90" /></a></b>

Book Review: Building: Louis I. Kahn at Roosevelt Island

Building: Louis I. Kahn at Roosevelt Island by Barney Kulok Aperture, 2012 Hardcover, 80 pages Last month the FDR Four Freedoms Park final...

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Development Coordinator (Full Time) - Hartford Public Library

<strong>Development Coordinator (Full Time) -</strong> <strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Hartford Public Library</span></strong> seeks creative and flexible individual to provide support to the Development Office. Responsibilities: the development coordinator is responsible for assisting the chief development officer with all aspects of a fund development, fundraising events, and supports all other development activities. Manages donor management data base system, responsible for raising unrestricted annual giving from individuals and corporations, donor cultivation, and prospect identification. This position supports the advancement and implementation of various development and marketing initiatives and is responsible for coordinating their execution. Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or Communication or a related field and a minimum of five years fundraising experience in non-profit or for profit sales preferred. Microsoft Office expertise required. Knowledge and experience using Raiser’s Edge and database software is needed, Familiarity with social media and Adobe Design Suite desirable. Valid CT driver’s license required. $21.40 to $31.30 per hour Job description and application are available online at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.hplct.org" href="http://www.hplct.org/" target="_blank">www.hplct.org</a> or Administrative Offices, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103. Applications accepted until <span style="color: red;">December 28, 2012</span>. Equal opportunity employer. Hartford Public Library requires a Criminal Background Check and Pre-employment Drug Testing on applicants who are selected as a finalist for the position. Applicants will be provided a copy of any positive drug test results. A criminal record does not necessarily eliminate you from employment with Hartford Public Library. Each conviction will be reviewed with respect to the offense, circumstances, seriousness and the position for which you apply.

Development Coordinator (Full Time) - Hartford Public Library

Development Coordinator (Full Time) - Hartford Public Library seeks creative and flexible individual to provide support to the Developmen...

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Blast Flip Stick

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/blastflipstick.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=8685210688&Campaign=1937617816&Uid=1264101&token=cc5309d2355d9e9b2d76825488da898f" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/blastflipstick.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=8685210688&Campaign=1937617816&Uid=1264101&token=cc5309d2355d9e9b2d76825488da898f" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> I am so excited to be a part of this campaign through Bzzagent!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> I absolutely love Cover Girl products! I love the new shades that come in the Blastflipstick!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Most of all I love how it's a two shades on one lipstick! So creative and you don't have to buy more than one lipstick if you want more than one color! </div>

Blast Flip Stick

 I am so excited to be a part of this campaign through Bzzagent!  I absolutely love Cover Girl products! I love the new shades that come i...

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santa's work is done

I know at this time of year there are more gift guides than Justin Bieber tweets, but you can stop the hunt. <a href="http://toandfrommagazine.com/" target="_blank">to & from</a> has the very best one. Remember when the Sears catalog would arrive in the mail when you were a kid and you'd go thru each and every page of the toy section? This is just like that, only way better stuff.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TN29QJ_UfHyrgMWIiioxk7QCMqSgAqRoBrdfjl3-Oe3I9Xv3SnGgfFhjsJYSiE7B9IXTFcCJsguFbqLyW7RlJyMg9A2jy-5kXhexpYfxE8SCreFS2VV-v_w-Vwp78GUKQRkfT3vVSkFV/s1600/toandfrom.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TN29QJ_UfHyrgMWIiioxk7QCMqSgAqRoBrdfjl3-Oe3I9Xv3SnGgfFhjsJYSiE7B9IXTFcCJsguFbqLyW7RlJyMg9A2jy-5kXhexpYfxE8SCreFS2VV-v_w-Vwp78GUKQRkfT3vVSkFV/s320/toandfrom.tiff" width="252" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2gxeXOFxqHyRob1Na6QkPGhVX1R6C8UgzcLAYhyBJDVpN0uYsMWttryG2z6ZArSUfI4hNlPKKG-I7mjVtDrq-q5wahSJHYv1RH3CFkcQn_l42QCpUGcpBDvBwdDo-sFjZkuqApg8gTyR/s1600/toandfrom2.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2gxeXOFxqHyRob1Na6QkPGhVX1R6C8UgzcLAYhyBJDVpN0uYsMWttryG2z6ZArSUfI4hNlPKKG-I7mjVtDrq-q5wahSJHYv1RH3CFkcQn_l42QCpUGcpBDvBwdDo-sFjZkuqApg8gTyR/s320/toandfrom2.tiff" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMKtN4-CcZk07X7YXZeHBx68j1uLmnCGC46i1AsiZNfQR5-vam2e6LWGYOzi8JFczlNpLXXJoZW7gX4i9-cxQGYKBZkSicXA6xFaKKTU8utlzTgwUbt4_muhl9RCrZ30LNN9rW8aWkyha/s1600/toandfrom3.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMKtN4-CcZk07X7YXZeHBx68j1uLmnCGC46i1AsiZNfQR5-vam2e6LWGYOzi8JFczlNpLXXJoZW7gX4i9-cxQGYKBZkSicXA6xFaKKTU8utlzTgwUbt4_muhl9RCrZ30LNN9rW8aWkyha/s320/toandfrom3.tiff" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcw_ZYWbaGser0NWIlBg-31PjY9l3pm69BsHXd6HtUfPW1jm7fhDycrGMrSJSeTJBn2krXpLe2VI4whWOTRpunCcKqK2c7k4DV2g9eCJh_O97zWgTxxx-3srXdzGnzPkw0s37RuoUDkQ2/s1600/toandfrominside.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcw_ZYWbaGser0NWIlBg-31PjY9l3pm69BsHXd6HtUfPW1jm7fhDycrGMrSJSeTJBn2krXpLe2VI4whWOTRpunCcKqK2c7k4DV2g9eCJh_O97zWgTxxx-3srXdzGnzPkw0s37RuoUDkQ2/s320/toandfrominside.tiff" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">All images via <a href="http://toandfrommagazine.com/" target="_blank">to & from</a></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://issuu.com/toandfrom/docs/holiday2012/97" target="_blank">Check it out</a>. It covers absolutely everyone on your list.</div>

santa's work is done

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Prosthetic Arms a Complex Test for Amputees - NYTimes.com

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">After the explosion, Cpl. Sebastian Gallegos awoke to see the October sun glinting through the water, an image so lovely he thought he was dreaming. Then something caught his eye, yanking him back to grim awareness: an arm, bobbing near the surface, a black hair tie wrapped around its wrist.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The elastic tie was a memento of his wife, a dime-store amulet that he wore on every patrol in Afghanistan. Now, from the depths of his mental fog, he watched it float by like driftwood on a lazy current, attached to an arm that was no longer quite attached to him.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">He had been blown up, and was drowning at the bottom of an irrigation ditch.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Two years later, the corporal finds himself tethered to a different kind of limb, a $110,000 robotic device with an electronic motor and sensors able to read signals from his brain. He is in the office of his occupational therapist, lifting and lowering a sponge while monitoring a computer screen as it tracks nerve signals in his shoulder.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Close hand, raise elbow, he says to himself. The mechanical arm rises, but the claw-like hand opens, dropping the sponge. Try again, the therapist instructs. Same result. Again. Tiny gears whir, and his brow wrinkles with the mental effort. The elbow rises, and this time the hand remains closed. He breathes.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Success.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"As a baby, you can hold onto a finger," the corporal said. "I have to relearn."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">It is no small task. Of the more than 1,570 American service members who have had arms, legs, feet or hands amputated because of injuries in Afghanistan or Iraq, fewer than 280 have lost upper limbs. Their struggles to use prosthetic limbs are in many ways far greater than for their lower-limb brethren.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Among orthopedists, there is a saying: legs may be stronger, but arms and hands are smarter. With myriad bones, joints and ranges of motion, the upper limbs are among the body's most complex tools. Replicating their actions with robotic arms can be excruciatingly difficult, requiring amputees to understand the distinct muscle contractions involved in movements they once did without thinking.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">To bend the elbow, for instance, requires thinking about contracting a biceps, though the muscle no longer exists. But the thought still sends a nerve signal that can tell a prosthetic arm to flex. Every action, from grabbing a cup to turning the pages of a book, requires some such exercise in the brain.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"There are a lot of mental gymnastics with upper limb prostheses," said Lisa Smurr Walters, an occupational therapist who works with Corporal Gallegos at the<a title="The center's Web site." href="http://www.bamc.amedd.army.mil/departments/orthopaedic/cfi/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; "> Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center</a> in San Antonio.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The complexity of the upper limbs, though, is just part of the problem. While prosthetic leg technology has advanced rapidly in the past decade, prosthetic arms have been slow to catch up. Many amputees still use body-powered hooks. And the most common electronic arms, pioneered by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, have improved with lighter materials and microprocessors but are still difficult to control.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Upper limb amputees must also cope with the critical loss of sensation. Touch — the ability to differentiate baby skin from sandpaper or to calibrate between gripping a hammer and clasping a hand — no longer exists.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For all those reasons, nearly half of upper limb amputees choose not to use prostheses, functioning instead with one good arm. By contrast, almost all lower limb amputees use prosthetic legs.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But Corporal Gallegos, 23, is part of a small vanguard of military amputees who are benefiting from new advances in upper limb technology. Earlier this year, he received a pioneering surgery known as targeted muscle reinnervation that amplifies the tiny nerve signals that control the arm. In effect, the surgery creates additional "sockets" into which electrodes from a prosthetic limb can connect.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">More sockets reading stronger signals will make controlling his prosthesis more intuitive, said Dr. Todd Kuiken of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, who developed the procedure. Rather than having to think about contracting both the triceps and biceps just to make a fist, the corporal will be able to simply think, <em>close hand</em>, and the proper nerves should fire automatically.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In the coming years, new technology will allow amputees to feel with their prostheses or use pattern-recognition software to move their devices even more intuitively, Dr. Kuiken said. And a new arm under development by the Pentagon, the <a title="The DEKA Arm research Web site." href="http://www.dekaresearch.com/deka_arm.shtml" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">DEKA Arm</a>, is far more dexterous than any currently available.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But for Corporal Gallegos, becoming proficient on his prosthesis after reinnervation surgery remains a challenge, likely to take months more of tedious practice. For that reason, only the most motivated amputees — super users, they are called — are allowed to undergo the surgery.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Corporal Gallegos was not always that person.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">His father, an Army veteran, did not want him to join the infantry, but it was like him to ignore the advice.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Corporal Gallegos grew up in Texas, raised in poverty primarily by his divorced mother. He was smart, ambitious and a bit of a know-it-all, said his wife, Tracie, who attended high school with him. A college scholarship seemed assured.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But the idea of military service called louder. "I felt I was too immature to go to school and be some brat in college," he said. The Marine Corps seemed the perfect challenge.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">He loved the corps, and the corps seemed to love him. Before deploying in 2010, he was made the leader of a three-man fire team and was sent to learn basic Pashto, the language of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">His unit, Lima Company of the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines out of Camp Pendleton, arrived in Helmand Province that September and immediately faced some of the toughest fighting of the war, losing 25 men in seven months, most from improvised explosive devices.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In October, Corporal Gallegos was walking second in a patrol through the Sangin district when he stepped into an irrigation canal, heard a boom and blacked out. When he awoke, he found himself anchored to the bottom by his body armor and weaponry. He tried to pull himself out with his right arm, not realizing it had been virtually severed just below the shoulder.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">On an evacuation helicopter, the corporal glimpsed his intact arm wrapped in bandages, giving him hope that doctors could reattach it.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">That hope was dashed at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he began the long process of recovery. His attitude, he admits now, was negative, influenced by another Marine who rarely used his prosthetic arm because it was so uncomfortable.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But then Corporal Gallegos met an Air Force amputee who was among the first at Brooke to receive targeted muscle reinnervation surgery. The airman warned him that rehabilitation would be frustrating and painful, but that the payoff would be huge.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"You wouldn't notice, unless you were looking right at him, that he was missing his arm," Corporal Gallegos said. "I was like, 'I want to be better than him.' "</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">First, though, he had to learn to cope with phantom-limb pain. A pulsing sensation like having a tourniquet applied to the arm, the pain was sometimes powerful enough to keep the strapping corporal in bed, leaving him unable to concentrate or converse.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"He's in constant pain," said Ms. Gallegos, who is in nursing school. "But he just won't complain, because he doesn't want people to ask, 'Are you O.K.?' That question really bugs him."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Over time, medication and surgeries dampened the pain enough that he could throw himself into practicing on a robotic arm. The device, he found, was a brain teaser, frustrating his efforts to make it obey. More than once, he threatened to throw it out the window.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">To motivate himself in those moments, he thought about his Marine Corps friends. Eventually he had a skin-tone silicone sleeve for his prosthetic arm engraved with the names of all 10 Marines from Lima Company who died in Sangin. Now, when he needs a lift, he looks at the arm — in the very place he once wore his wife's hair tie — and recites their names like a personal prayer.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">As he began wearing mechanical arms longer each day, his prosthetist, Ryan Blanck, decided that he might be ready for targeted reinnervation surgery. The procedure works off the natural ability of muscles to amplify nerve signals. By rerouting nerves into healthy muscle and reshaping the tissue to bring it closer to sensors in the prosthesis, the procedure strengthens the brain's signals, and hence its ability to control the machine.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Wearing the same type of prosthetic arm he had used before, Corporal Gallegos noticed the difference almost immediately. No longer did he have to think so hard about contracting various muscles: when he wanted the arm to move, it did, faster and more fluidly.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">That did not mean, however, that it behaved as he wanted. He still has problems with "cross talk," where certain nerves dominate over others. If a wrist nerve dominates, for instance, a patient may have to think about bending the wrist to make the hand close. But with repeated use, the nerves sort themselves out and the need for trickery fades, Dr. Kuiken said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For all his gains with the prosthesis, Corporal Gallegos has not overcome the embarrassment he feels when wearing his robotic arm in public. Once the hand fell off in a crowded restaurant, eliciting gasps from a nearby child. In darkened movie theaters, the Terminator-like sounds his arm makes draw startled whispers. And to this day, he will not wear short-sleeve shirts to restaurants.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Even if it is 75 degrees out, I'll wear a jacket just to avoid getting stared at," he said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For a year after nearly drowning in Afghanistan, Corporal Gallegos could not go near water, any water, even the River Walk, a restaurant-lined path along the San Antonio River. But a therapist pushed him to overcome his anxiety, first by swimming, then kayaking, then surfing.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Ben Kvanli, a former Olympian who runs a kayaking program for disabled troops, said Corporal Gallegos was an ambivalent paddler at first. But his technique was good, partly because the prosthesis forced him to use his core muscles more. And he was fast.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Fast enough, indeed, that Mr. Kvanli is encouraging him to try out for the national <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/paralympic_games/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about the Paralympic Games." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Paralympic</a> team next year.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Independence is a big part of this," Mr. Kvanli said. "He is proving something."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Fiercely self-reliant from childhood, Corporal Gallegos has struggled with losing independence after losing his arm. Suddenly, he had to ask for help with buttons, zippers and shoelaces. And he loathes asking for help.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">There are holes in his living room wall that testify to his failed attempts to hang things using his prosthetic arm. And he still cringes at the memory of barking orders at his wife while she assembled a living-room furniture set that he could not assemble himself. "Stuff is a lot more complicated," he said. "I'm still figuring out what my norm's going to be, just on a day-to-day basis."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For that reason, he no longer makes big plans for the future, as he once did. Keep it simple, he tells himself: Get out of the Marine Corps. Go to college. Learn how to tie his shoelaces with a robotic hand.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">And maybe, just maybe, become a Paralympian.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">So there he was one recent afternoon, kayaking down the sun-dappled San Marcos River, using the wrong prosthesis because he had broken his kayaking limb while surfing. Normally he is at the front of the pack, but today his arm kept slipping off and he seemed in pain as he struggled just to keep up.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Yet he said nothing that could be heard as a complaint. And at the end of the six-hour trip, he went over the 14-foot Graduation Falls, the first time he had done so in a boat. After dropping vertically into the frothing water, his kayak momentarily disappeared beneath the surface before popping out like a cork.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Eyes smiling below the brim of his helmet, Corporal Gallegos paddled to shore, hefted his boat onto his good shoulder and started the trudge upstream.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">He did not ask for help.</p><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/us/prosthetic-arms-a-complex-test-for-amputees.html?src=me&ref=general">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/us/prosthetic-arms-a-complex-test-for-amputees.html?src=me&ref=general</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Prosthetic Arms a Complex Test for Amputees - NYTimes.com

After the explosion, Cpl. Sebastian Gallegos awoke to see the October sun glinting through the water, an image so lovely he thought he was d...

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