The president of disconnect

A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/us/shooting-reported-at-washington-navy-yard.html?pagewanted=all">tragedy unfolded on Monday in the Washington Navy Yard</a> that ended in the death of 12 victims and the 34-year-old gunman. Areas of D.C. were locked down. The Nationals baseball team postponed their game until the next day. Seven victims were identified: Michael Arnold, 59; Sylvia Frasier, 53; Kathy Gaarde, 62; John Roger Johnson, 73; Frank Kohler, 50; Kenneth Bernard Proctor, 46; and Vishnu Pandit, 61. Families were shattered.<br /><br />Columnist Maureen Dowd was shocked that President Barack Obama seemed to basically overlook the obvious heartache that so many were feeling as he went about the business of delivering a speech, writing in the <i>New York Times</i> that he is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/opinion/dowd-losing-the-room.html?_r=0">Losing the Room</a>: <br /><blockquote>President Obama also gave a speech Monday, talking at the White House while the drama unfolded at the supposedly secure Navy Yard nearby. He could have posted his original remarks on the White House Web site and replaced them with a cri de coeur on gun control, or comfort for the shaken city. The 12 who died were, after all, under his aegis as workers in a federal building.<br /><br />But, jarringly, the president went ahead with his political attack, briefly addressing the slaughter before moving on to jab Republicans over the corporate tax rate and resistance to Obamacare.<br /><br />Just as with the address to the nation on Syria last week, the president went ahead with a speech overtaken by events. It was out of joint, given that the Senate was put into lockdown and the Washington Nationals delayed a night game against the Atlanta Braves, noting on its Web site, “Postponed: Tragedy.”<br /><br />The man who connected so electrically and facilely in 2008, causing Americans to overlook his thin résumé, cannot seem to connect anymore. </blockquote>Noting that even Democrats are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the President for a variety of reasons, Ms. Dowd added:<br /><blockquote>Obama still has a secret weapon: Congressional Republicans, who might yet shut down the government or cause a cataclysmic default and make the president look good. </blockquote>I sincerely hope that does not happen for <a href="http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2013/08/strong-opposition-to-government.html">reasons I have written about before</a> and <a href="http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2013/08/ny-times-on-gop-shutdown-threat.html">opined about by <i>The Times</i></a>. Been there, done that, got our behinds kicked to the curb by the American public.<br /><br />And then there's this:<br /><blockquote>Unlike Bill Clinton, who excels at boiling down complex arguments to simple ones, Obama prefers to wallow in the weeds, reminding people that he’s the smartest man in the room and expecting their support because he feels he is only doing what’s complicated and right. </blockquote>This president, much as I've tried to see it, does not emit compassion during tragedies. Obviously Maureen Dowd sees the same.

Barack Obama Bill Clinton compassion government shutdown Maureen Dowd New York Times tragedy Washington Navy Yard The president of disconnect

A tragedy unfolded on Monday in the Washington Navy Yard that ended in the death of 12 victims and the 34-year-old gunman. Areas of D.C. we...

Read more »

First morning of 30s in my corner of Augusta County

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpnF0u1CXybkzosX2FTii4iwVt-XYgehKEcIVBnYLQZeuVYhDWE5mdlYrMpMYb57lt6d-SgIW12nBP03PdgTNPUPNgePVjbmyyrQ35ssudb7Qk90EMjMx_xIh0xWQxjoftDdikg9DgB_U/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpnF0u1CXybkzosX2FTii4iwVt-XYgehKEcIVBnYLQZeuVYhDWE5mdlYrMpMYb57lt6d-SgIW12nBP03PdgTNPUPNgePVjbmyyrQ35ssudb7Qk90EMjMx_xIh0xWQxjoftDdikg9DgB_U/s400/2.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Update:</b> On this thermometer the temperature dropped to 38.5 while an outdoor thermometer read 37. Either way, it's in the 30s which is <i>cold.</i> Fall officially arrives Sunday.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdy_l2bZBfsENBSSvAfXkhAc-g5jy68DYosVBVXdC-E3moPPkNCH8f1dc1r2rSwtjSxIq7Fj93_x4Ua0txbp33QF8gmHaIK6FjQqZMwYcjkavztFDDLnKcD_vF30ETM06CWYvN5gmsglX/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdy_l2bZBfsENBSSvAfXkhAc-g5jy68DYosVBVXdC-E3moPPkNCH8f1dc1r2rSwtjSxIq7Fj93_x4Ua0txbp33QF8gmHaIK6FjQqZMwYcjkavztFDDLnKcD_vF30ETM06CWYvN5gmsglX/s400/1.jpg" /></a></div><br />By 6:00 it had dropped to 39.4 ... will it go lower? Fall's first day of temps in the 30s. Get out those sweaters because it's fall in the Shenandoah Valley....<br /><br />Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />Brrrr<br />September 18, 2013

Augusta County Shenandoah Valley First morning of 30s in my corner of Augusta County

Update: On this thermometer the temperature dropped to 38.5 while an outdoor thermometer read 37. Either way, it's in the 30s which is ...

Read more »

vessel sinks - yes or no

I've got vessel sinks on the brain.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOxMf3R-PWHDDjOBbvAMm2YiDdMtH_gDPU1ea_D86sKEP7RwazBsi-i3dl9u2I1g9eh0bitgSD-snywIxuZVsA-zb-0HkRihuGDHD70NnIe4F3ZTKW7ckLAWQpZ3ADNC6VgZooA6tBBba/s1600/26d254527f578a26ae5943c62822de46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOxMf3R-PWHDDjOBbvAMm2YiDdMtH_gDPU1ea_D86sKEP7RwazBsi-i3dl9u2I1g9eh0bitgSD-snywIxuZVsA-zb-0HkRihuGDHD70NnIe4F3ZTKW7ckLAWQpZ3ADNC6VgZooA6tBBba/s640/26d254527f578a26ae5943c62822de46.jpg" width="530" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205652464263/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> via Passion Decor</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qjIOzm9U8IsTsuwZ2Wse20cjvOBQTksCVSk9cZCpNuef0laatGivvQ-fXf2HvrtCw6haCBbH6wQVhTyzXV6lGic-HgVOxvfYdXKQwt5gUM94-24yH9yDwpo-FrpcXhGU5dV-SW-KS08X/s1600/e61f6e7eaf1d64bedad660ad665871c2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qjIOzm9U8IsTsuwZ2Wse20cjvOBQTksCVSk9cZCpNuef0laatGivvQ-fXf2HvrtCw6haCBbH6wQVhTyzXV6lGic-HgVOxvfYdXKQwt5gUM94-24yH9yDwpo-FrpcXhGU5dV-SW-KS08X/s640/e61f6e7eaf1d64bedad660ad665871c2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205652318460/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> via South Shore Decorating Blog</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmlFClObP4eV0njOxeKAccLNHMUcA_q_9YnzBotBnR8pIn3JAXwB1tgD9HOt5xS3e_lsnBaLocwoCtYCb6fDc71MLJqqgF44_QoM59vrn4f14fBCSDzXWLX9PFMo9eNgUxH4RnzhYN_Ku/s1600/9324514899b1ac7cba6d75d796b921dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmlFClObP4eV0njOxeKAccLNHMUcA_q_9YnzBotBnR8pIn3JAXwB1tgD9HOt5xS3e_lsnBaLocwoCtYCb6fDc71MLJqqgF44_QoM59vrn4f14fBCSDzXWLX9PFMo9eNgUxH4RnzhYN_Ku/s640/9324514899b1ac7cba6d75d796b921dc.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://paloma81.blogspot.com/2013/03/ldv-house-tour-mark-d-sikes.html" target="_blank">Mark D Sikes</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHm8cj43JNYRZXvd4p5t1RagPPEmqIxalKZxYxjqSNDpwrpk2Nu-uCWFTZQ7E5zpK_ImDD0UyK_7EnGVgZitkxhIoWM8ceUIrYptr_sfPgn26PXJ6Y7Z6LkN3bvDqYXWuq90ukxfo_5wFb/s1600/5a89efa90afec77b31e5a62c30373031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHm8cj43JNYRZXvd4p5t1RagPPEmqIxalKZxYxjqSNDpwrpk2Nu-uCWFTZQ7E5zpK_ImDD0UyK_7EnGVgZitkxhIoWM8ceUIrYptr_sfPgn26PXJ6Y7Z6LkN3bvDqYXWuq90ukxfo_5wFb/s640/5a89efa90afec77b31e5a62c30373031.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.houzz.com/pro/amayhg/andrea-may-huntergatherer" target="_blank">Andrea May</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMf-lnARHf1o_Spq3B47JcadO5zyyfnzTQj9PDaNlvN4XSjpt6ubTXlKLM45EtMRyQjqQxRkYYUdEjhGlCfLa9ZsOMaE-56zxKyntgGSFv89m9rK1QUJSReeJMM8f0Put4cTM4_BT593YY/s1600/2c57463a1ada27052e353dce348bf381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMf-lnARHf1o_Spq3B47JcadO5zyyfnzTQj9PDaNlvN4XSjpt6ubTXlKLM45EtMRyQjqQxRkYYUdEjhGlCfLa9ZsOMaE-56zxKyntgGSFv89m9rK1QUJSReeJMM8f0Put4cTM4_BT593YY/s640/2c57463a1ada27052e353dce348bf381.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205651392369/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwAiqiOLMX7KOxgM5swSeVgO6T-bPVRLl_3YKd1XodcbtAsQuBc4IJxyR2_1UpbqjNkzJi0rsZoS0dYoMUEy9plHw-Co_KnvjmtoIGqVv4ZlPIJvexQtm1lv5wYeoLXuN51P2q4b7_0lQ/s1600/185b282ee4570db273c64e384e910ef2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwAiqiOLMX7KOxgM5swSeVgO6T-bPVRLl_3YKd1XodcbtAsQuBc4IJxyR2_1UpbqjNkzJi0rsZoS0dYoMUEy9plHw-Co_KnvjmtoIGqVv4ZlPIJvexQtm1lv5wYeoLXuN51P2q4b7_0lQ/s640/185b282ee4570db273c64e384e910ef2.jpg" width="418" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205651272037/" target="_blank">via</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfZWoyDrpVZXusZbP_hZG7v88FUSHsB7K7L0lHBGT00IAJ2zQB5S72y8-lBo-cWlNomqQvhmvWMFtqJzBc3R8AupXFxMVSTfxyHwKYk8UUgnHIBetr-UdiVtEkpaEO-qTSMtR2j759VIi/s1600/Sarah's+House+Season+3+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfZWoyDrpVZXusZbP_hZG7v88FUSHsB7K7L0lHBGT00IAJ2zQB5S72y8-lBo-cWlNomqQvhmvWMFtqJzBc3R8AupXFxMVSTfxyHwKYk8UUgnHIBetr-UdiVtEkpaEO-qTSMtR2j759VIi/s640/Sarah's+House+Season+3+(2).jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/" target="_blank">Sarah Richardson</a></td></tr></tbody></table>What do you think?  Do you have one? Are they messy/hard to keep water contained? Any you recommend?

vessel sinks - yes or no

I've got vessel sinks on the brain. Pinterest via Passion Decor Pinterest via South Shore Decorating Blog Mark D Sikes Andrea May via ...

Read more »

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/18/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.sortmybox.com">SortMyBox — Organize your Dropbox</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you use Dropbox for automating your assessment and grading there are so many wonderful tings you can do with Sortmy box. For example, if you have a "turnin" folder that all students can access, you could sweep the files out of there and put it in a private folder for grading. Or, you could move all picture folders to a certain place. This is a very cool app for organizing dropbox, expecially if you want to consolidate pictures or videos.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/dropbox">dropbox</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/cloud">cloud</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/techintegrator">techintegrator</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/dropvox/id416288287?mt=8">DropVox - Record Voice Memos to Dropbox for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on the iTunes App Store</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you want to record voice memos to Dropbox, Dropvox will do that for you.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/dropbox">dropbox</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edtech">edtech</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/dropbox-tools/">20+ Tools To Supercharge Your Dropbox</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Awesome article on very cool things you can do with Dropbox. Some of these can save teachers a lot of time.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/dropbox">dropbox</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/cloud">cloud</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sync">sync</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/techintegrator">techintegrator</a></p> <ul class="diigo-comments"> </ul> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.jotform.com/dropbox/">Dropbox Forms: Receive files from your web site to your dropbox!</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">This app creates a form where the data goes to your dropbox. I know that there are a lot of form makers out there, but this one is a great one if Dropbox is your go to app or if you use it to assess.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/dropbox">dropbox</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/app">app</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/forms">forms</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/18/2013

SortMyBox — Organize your Dropbox If you use Dropbox for automating your assessment and grading ther...

Read more »

I'm Glad To See You Too!

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj02YJW9TkV5SFypHf56VObAikyX3DWpvUrjtGpnGgKqvOaSECSnTTIM-hAv6xcxFZhdql9WRJQakb2oCV5OUh2bZ3ZW_SSZZuT1dJbAiwc6QzzGtN6Gx89yoGwbvCM-_MjJWngH90gN4t/s1600/http:__www.lolterest.com_public_pinimages_1364104223.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj02YJW9TkV5SFypHf56VObAikyX3DWpvUrjtGpnGgKqvOaSECSnTTIM-hAv6xcxFZhdql9WRJQakb2oCV5OUh2bZ3ZW_SSZZuT1dJbAiwc6QzzGtN6Gx89yoGwbvCM-_MjJWngH90gN4t/s640/http:__www.lolterest.com_public_pinimages_1364104223.jpg" /></a>

I'm Glad To See You Too!

Read more »

Now Turn Sony Bravia T.V in to Smart T.V

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Now with the help of new Bravia Smart Stick you can turn you basic Bravia in to a Smart TV. Sony unveil the smart stick for its Bravia HDTV, through this you can connect with internet. Plug the device in to Bravia’s HDMI port and go ahead to set internet connection on your TV.<br /><br />                                    <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CriB5vKHxLk/UjllHpjUuLI/AAAAAAAAAW4/oMVuFdttHow/s1600/Screen-Shot-2013-09-17-at-10_37_27-AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="sony smart stick" border="0" height="118" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CriB5vKHxLk/UjllHpjUuLI/AAAAAAAAAW4/oMVuFdttHow/s1600/Screen-Shot-2013-09-17-at-10_37_27-AM.png" title="" width="320" /></a><br /><br />The Smart Stick from Sony is like the Google’s Chromecast but this device have more features in comparison of Google Chromecast.<br /><br />With the help of Smart tick you can download Apps from Google Play. Device is also capable to play videos from YouTube and have also right of entry to Amazon Instant Video. The Smart Stick have its own remote to control it. Google TV along Netflix apps and features like voice search support, browsing and picture at same time in two different window on your display are also active features of Smart Stick.<br />On the other hand in Google’s Chromecast, you should need smartphone or tablet to use as a remote for Chromecast. In chromecast you have limited options for watch video from internet. The Google’s device is currently support Netflix and YouTube with Pandora on the way.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EHPlbtNUrOI/UjllYHGY1aI/AAAAAAAAAXA/hSkY-x47rBQ/s1600/Sony-SmartStick_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="sony smart stick" border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EHPlbtNUrOI/UjllYHGY1aI/AAAAAAAAAXA/hSkY-x47rBQ/s1600/Sony-SmartStick_1.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></div><br />Sony Smart Stick’s price is $149 which is $100 more than the chormecast. Chormecast’s price is only $35. Sony’s Smart Stick will work with only Sony’s Bravia TV with the model year of 2013.<br /><br />Image: Sonyblog<br /><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/100638775997274345522" rel="author">Anil Swami</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/100638775997274345522" rel="author"><br /></a></div></div>

Google chormecast googleplay sony Bravia youtube Now Turn Sony Bravia T.V in to Smart T.V

Now with the help of new Bravia Smart Stick you can turn you basic Bravia in to a Smart TV. Sony unveil the smart stick for its Bravia HDTV,...

Read more »

There Is a Club And You Ain't In It

Ever hear of something called "Diplomatic Immunity'?<br /><br />It's real.<br /><br />Here is a quirky example of something similar right here in Washington State,<br /><br /> <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/16/it-law-washington-state-lawmakers-dont-get-speeding-tickets/?intcmp=latestnews"> <b> It's the law: Washington state lawmakers don't get speeding tickets</b></a><br /><br /><blockquote>Washington state legislators headed to work can't get speeding tickets -- or so says the Washington State Patrol and at least one local police department. <br /><br />A spokesman for WSP says Washington lawmakers are constitutionally protected from receiving noncriminal traffic tickets during a legislative session, as well as 15 days before. A spokeswoman says The Tacoma Police Department abides by a similar policy. <br /><br />State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins says the privilege not only applies to moving violations near the state Capitol in Olympia, but potentially anywhere in the state. <br /><br />The logic? Detaining lawmakers on the road -- even for the time it takes to issue them a speeding ticket -- may delay them from getting to the Capitol to vote.</blockquote><br />Theoretically one of these weasel fuckers could be all the way across the state and get pulled over and all they have to do is lie through their teeth and say they are trying to get to the Capitol to vote. Washington isn't a little state either. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN9ryH73LV_9fNJb_GIzawWgXqG5Xh21XvVdPVi8WftId1Zb-nLS8jkwDhbKQ_BPjDcelRDDyZ2RswubSCvz9NdUP2AUmuVmzUcMpWowbLSxsPNYjKBhCUjbSnj76OlcMNkUASMGsQqGM/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN9ryH73LV_9fNJb_GIzawWgXqG5Xh21XvVdPVi8WftId1Zb-nLS8jkwDhbKQ_BPjDcelRDDyZ2RswubSCvz9NdUP2AUmuVmzUcMpWowbLSxsPNYjKBhCUjbSnj76OlcMNkUASMGsQqGM/s640/12.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Shit, in some parts of this state I wouldn't bet the cops wouldn't give them an escort to the county line.<br /><br />I'm sure this is some throwback law from when the state wasn't that old but works for a nice get out of trouble free card for the worthless bastards.

There Is a Club And You Ain't In It

Ever hear of something called "Diplomatic Immunity'? It's real. Here is a quirky example of something similar right here in Was...

Read more »

Download any web video as an MP3 or an MP4!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEYp8HXfISZ8G3xsMg9VpWUBvigfjmSI3y5NQtJiVmtDqbBJtHDi_O-KVMqZtJ7dwOcGMP_dkhvl-XX01CW41n43FeDyXJs-zNfcghvWYXYcHLTj0yn5xwRyM4e-jEIjsvBFGSwcemYU/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3YBQNas6e6-VguF_faaWX2h3mzYVy-Lab5OKDzdZab9oLC1uxkDu3kAEQUBJGvIeBepfIoos0NrAxHshVkMKwttJzLp6luHsPxivTEDYowcXg5rycRRbamTgkv-3wMbGjlag4y_csBo/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="140" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I discovered this Freemake video converter by accident the other day, tried it out and really, it is amazing. You can download any video in a number of different formats. Thank you Freemake! Up to now I have been using Keepvid to download YouTube videos, but this Freemake application goes further in that you install it on your computer and you can download any web video (not only YouTube videos) it seems in a number of different formats depending on what you choose.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the example below I chose to download a YouTube video as an MP4 and also MP3 to get to grips with Freemake. Once Freemake is installed on your computer and you use it for the first time, it gives you the option for installing an audio converter where, once again, you can choose various options. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I must say that I got a bit confused with names at times…sometimes Freemake calls this video converter a YouTube Downloader, sometimes they refer to it as a MP3 Downloader and sometimes they call it a Video Converter. Whatever the name confusion – it works well!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/26274688" style="border-bottom: #ccc 0px solid; border-left: #ccc 1px solid; border-right: #ccc 1px solid; border-top: #ccc 1px solid; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="427"> </iframe><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/download-web-videos-with-freemake-video-converter-free" target="_blank" title="Download web videos with Freemake Video Converter (free)">Download web videos with Freemake Video Converter (free)</a> </strong>from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">Fiona Beal</a></strong> </div></div>

Freemake Video Converter Web tools Download any web video as an MP3 or an MP4!

I discovered this Freemake video converter by accident the other day, tried it out and really, it is amazing. You can download any video in ...

Read more »

Global STEMx Education Conference starts on Thursday 19th – all online

<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/AVvXsEjeTbgn1v8Pr-Cb8ZbRB0HlvmxuUFQ_Zk_YctcYxO_WMhUKI-h7EXBvcjM-e_JDL1kaC_RV6e99ymNVSnu67uz3HyXNAcIyBFASS122Es7q9ZyIpOw0oAXJSi32PtuDSuZbeJ-6dAuHenk/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHYPbcSFJi8-BdOu44yQhzDpOlbER17uxZja6abOzqoYzjB2HaAiFRqX7RQFcTHK0kbpaxjDPHtA-iHHMvx2ldo05M8rUgqu-LlA7bg4qUIFtSjw1SXIb2QNNN0YV3v8X6VaEo08D0SQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Global 2013 STEMx Education Conference is the world’s first massively open online conference for educators focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, and more. The conference is being held over the course of three days, <strong>September 19-21, 2013</strong>, and is free to attend!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">What can you expect?</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve Harragon (http:/<a href="http://www.stevehargadon.com/">www.stevehargadon.com</a>) writes:<br />”Our first ever <a href="http://www.stemxcon.com/">Global STEMx E</a>ducation Conference starts this Thursday, and it's going to be AWESOME. We have 178 accepted practitioner sessions on science, technology, engineering, math, and more; as well as sixteen terrific keynotes; all starting 24 hours a day at 11am US Pacific Time Thursday. Don't miss out--all sessions are free, and all are being recorded as well for free viewing indefinitely afterwards. Sign up for information and the schedule at <a href="http://www.stemxcon.com/">http://www.STEMxCon.com</a> (and check out the <a href="http://stemxcon.com/page/attending-schedule">very cool page</a> that lets you see all the conference events in your own time zone!).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">The Global Education Conference Network website</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This website gives all thee details. Visit The Global Education Conference Network at: <a href="http://www.globaleducationconference.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network">http://www.globaleducationconference.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How to follow the Stemx Conference</b></span><br />It's amazing how you can follow virtual conferences using technology these days. Linda Lindsay, a librarian from Hawaai has written a great post on her blog entitled ‘ <span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.mauilibrarian2.com/2013/09/7-ways-to-follow-stemxcon-sept-19-21.html#.UjlA9sb8kVU">7 Ways to Follow STEMxCon Sept. 19-21, 2013’</a> in which she lists the various options for attending virtually. </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span><br /><br /></div>

conferences Global STEMx Education Conference starts on Thursday 19th – all online

The Global 2013 STEMx Education Conference is the world’s first massively open online conference for educators focusing on Science, Technolo...

Read more »

My Life as a Winner

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Hola winners and losers! Monday afternoon I was just hanging out, minding my own business when I heard a knock on the door. It was the FedEx delivery guy with a package from Random House. I was perplexed because I hadn’t order a book, but when I opened the package I realized what had happened. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">A few weeks ago I had signed up through Facebook for a chance to win an advance copy of Bill Bryson’s “One Summer: America, 1927.”  I’m a HUGE Bill Bryson fan so I made sure to point out on the entry form that I not only wrote for a blog, but I co-host the<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank"> #1 comedy show on BTR</a>. My clever plan worked and I won!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQy50sdmEAvJuLRzLWHJK8CsdQejyEwUGAunwKwv7nUWpKFbkJS5Bbs04vHIF9ULaOrxkJhK7RLMmRJ94MpkEEVqKlSSzrl2r5vskH3aFdqOA_HPbBiAcZ-TEmU5GdhQQNmaaAHCMNNEy9/s1600/Bill+Bryson+One+Summer+Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQy50sdmEAvJuLRzLWHJK8CsdQejyEwUGAunwKwv7nUWpKFbkJS5Bbs04vHIF9ULaOrxkJhK7RLMmRJ94MpkEEVqKlSSzrl2r5vskH3aFdqOA_HPbBiAcZ-TEmU5GdhQQNmaaAHCMNNEy9/s400/Bill+Bryson+One+Summer+Book.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">After I got the book it suddenly hit me that I have a long history of winning when it comes to drawings… <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In third grade I won a goldfish at the Halloween carnival at school. I don’t remember if I named him/her but when I got home I put him/her in a big glass bowl filled with water. In the morning the fish was dead. Poor thing was probably old and died of natural causes in his/her sleep. Over the years I’ve considered getting another goldfish but decided against it because the pain of losing old whatshis/hername was just too much. That and goldfish don’t cuddle with ya. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">My sophomore year of high school I won a prize at a football game. They would draw numbers and if any of those numbers matched the one on the program you had you won. Well, my number was called and I won a big wool blanket. Unfortunately it was sooooooo damn itchy that I ended up never using it and finally throwing it out. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">During my senior year Dr. Pepper was running a promotion where some lucky people who bought a 12 oz can from a vending machine got a t-shirt and .50 to get another Dr. Pepper. So, one day I gave it a whirl and TA-DA! I won the t-shirt. Sadly, it was a size small so I gave it to Cheri Curtis who was a sexy little thang. I didn’t get anything more than a “thanks” from her though so I was hardly worth it. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When I was in college I actually won a truck from Don Nelms Chevrolet! Well, it was a 20 year old truck that was really beat up and wouldn’t start. They finally got it started for me and it turned out it was one of those old “three on a tree” standard shift trucks. I almost got killed trying to drive home. I sold it for $300 but it cost me $200 to get it registered and shit. Wasn’t worth it. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">After the truck though my luck improved…  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">At an old job once I won a drawing among all the people who had perfect attendance for a 90 day period. I won a $10 gift card to Taco Bell. Oh yeah! Tacos were only .40 cents in those days so that worked out great! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSRgUXxC5d5RLTh4Qwm8qkmyLOOgaIvvMFth0V8RhEEFHtmHQU6SGvmlhq-sDbaYgKMFT3LOAS-PNJ9IYPtJrnNbt8YwE9v9Po7sywYdMD6f0srkZIoSwvqsqgOqLgKoIaVTyFfU1DNC06/s1600/Taco+Bell+Food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSRgUXxC5d5RLTh4Qwm8qkmyLOOgaIvvMFth0V8RhEEFHtmHQU6SGvmlhq-sDbaYgKMFT3LOAS-PNJ9IYPtJrnNbt8YwE9v9Po7sywYdMD6f0srkZIoSwvqsqgOqLgKoIaVTyFfU1DNC06/s400/Taco+Bell+Food.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The “Friends of the Library” held a drawing a few years ago and I won a really sweet roadside emergency kit. It has tools, gloves, a flashlight, battery charger, jumper cables and those little orange triangle things to place on the road to warn motorists of a car on the shoulder. I’m convinced my having this thing in the truck is the reason I haven’t been stranded on the side of the road lately. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">On top of all that, now I win the latest book by one of my favorite authors. Dam, things really are looking up for me. I think I’ll start buying lottery tickets. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/jayman68" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In other news we were all treated to our first ever Canada Report last Sunday on IWS Radio. Jamie from the Hammer is our Canadian Correspondent and she was AWESOME so you should totally check it out...</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fRKCW2IHDaY" width="420"></iframe><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

My Life as a Winner

Hola winners and losers! Monday afternoon I was just hanging out, minding my own business when I heard a knock on the door. It was the FedEx...

Read more »

A HERESY AGAINST THE POST-MODERN FAITH: CHURCH MATTERS

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>917</o:Words> <o:Characters>4314</o:Characters> <o:Company>Episcopal Diocese of Nevada</o:Company> <o:Lines>139</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>130</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>5101</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> <o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--> <!--[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>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <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]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="276"> <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" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Calibri;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">This is a heresy against the post-modern faith in individualism and subjectivity. I claim that Church matters – not some spiritual universal Platonic form of Church, but the flesh, blood, brick, and mortar church with budgets, property committees, altar guilds, vestries, clergy, and (to quote Kazantzakis) “the full catastrophe” – even bishops. I claim that religion – not subjective spiritual feelings but religion with its stories, traditions, rituals, sordid history, and moral confusion is good for politics, not the corrupter of intrinsically good secular souls. I claim religion makes us better.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Let’s start with a bit of history. George Washington’s farewell address was a roadmap for the future of democracy. He said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." Alexis de Tocqueville concluded that America’s capacity for democracy rested on our unusual level of religiosity. Even irreverent and sometimes licentious old Ben Franklin penned an essay, “On The Necessitie Of A Publique Religion.” Parker Palmer has brought the notion up to date in his book, <i>Healing The Heart Of Democracy. </i>Palmer argues that the current dysfunction in government stems from a weakness in civic associations, particularly churches. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">I base my case on the sociology of Robert Putnam in his book, <i>American Grace. </i>Putnam has verified through solid social science research that “Religious Americans are, in fact, more generous neighbors and more conscientious citizens.” We aren’t perfect. He has his criticisms of us. We ought to be considerably more tolerant of each other. But we are doing some things right. All of the facts below come from Putnam’s research. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Let’s start with how we spend our time. Should we spend our time doing good in church or real good in the secular world? It turns out to be a false dichotomy. Of those people who do volunteer work in church, 91% also do volunteer work in secular programs. Of those people do who not engage in church work, only 31% give any of their time to secular causes. Volunteering in church almost triples the likelihood of volunteering in secular civic programs. It seems the Church somehow shapes our characters in ways that change what we do. One thing Church inclines us to do is volunteer in our community. (But wait there's more).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now to the “M” word – money. Even those who still love the Church don’t want us talking about money, certainly not asking their people for it. Generosity is a good thing, so we might encourage people to give money to a secular charity, but not to support the work of the Church. That kind of thinking by Church folks has succeeded in secularizing charitable giving considerably. The percentage of charitable giving that goes to the Church has plummeted in the last 15 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">But do secular causes actually come out better? Or are we killing the goose that lays their golden egg? Of all givers to religious causes, 88% also contribute to secular causes. Of those who do not give to religious causes, only 40% give to secular causes. When one looks at percentage of income given away, religious people are four times as generous as non-religious people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">It turns out religious people are more likely than non-religious people to:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">                                                                                                                                        <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Give to a charity<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Work for a charity<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Give money to a homeless person<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Give excess change to a shop clerk<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Donate blood<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Help someone outside his or her own household with housework<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Spend time with someone who is “a bit down”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Allow a stranger to cut in font of them<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Offer their seat to a stranger<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Help someone find a job<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Look after the plant or pet of another while away<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Carry a stranger’s belongings<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Give directions to a stranger<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Let someone borrow an item of some value<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lend money to another person.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">It is the orthodoxy of post-modernity that religious observance doesn’t matter. It’s what you do out in the world day in and day out that matters. There is a huge truth in the part about what you do in the world. But the fallacy is the part about religious observance. It’s another false dichotomy. Religious observance and doing good in the world are positively correlated. We can’t prove cause and effect. But the correlation is clear as bell. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">What this means for me is simple. Church matters. It makes us better than we would be without it. It is often my job to deal with Church folks at their worst. And God knows we have faults a-plenty. But Putnam convinces me that for all that is tiresome and frustrating, petty and sometimes vicious, in the life of the Church, it nonetheless makes us kinder, gentler, more generous human beings. Like St. Anselm's, my faith is often in search of a reason. This is a pretty good reason. The only proof of any religion is the moral proof, the kind of people we become through living out if it. It looks like we are doing better than I had thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Oh, another point, it looks like religion isn’t all in our heads. The behavioral changes brought about by religion don’t correlate to different dogmas or truth claims. They correlate to involvement in the faith community. You can’t do it on your own just by believing the right stuff or praying real hard or meditating your way into a zone. The hard truth is: it takes those other people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--EndFragment-->

A HERESY AGAINST THE POST-MODERN FAITH: CHURCH MATTERS

This is a heresy against the post-modern faith in individualism and subjectivity. I claim that Church matters – not some spirit...

Read more »

CDC Threat Report: 'We Will Soon Be in a Post-Antibiotic Era' - Wired Science

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just published a <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(0, 124, 165); text-decoration: none; outline: none; ">first-of-its-kind assessment</a>of the threat the country faces from antibiotic-resistant organisms, ranking them by the number of illnesses and deaths they cause each year and outlining urgent steps that need to be taken to roll back the trend.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">The agency's overall — and, it stressed, conservative — assessment of the problem:</p><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Each year, in the U.S., 2,049,442 illnesses caused by bacteria and fungi that are resistant to at least some classes of antibiotics;</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Each year, out of those illnesses, 23,000 deaths;</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Because of those illnesses and deaths, $20 billion each year in additional healthcare spending;</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">And beyond the direct healthcare costs, an additional $35 billion lost to society in foregone productivity.</li></ul><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">"If we are not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era," Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC's director, said in a media briefing. "And for some patients and for some microbes, we are already there."</p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); position: static; z-index: auto; ">The report marks the first time the agency has provided hard numbers for the incidence, deaths and cost of all the major resistant organisms. (It had previously estimated illnesses and deaths from some families of organisms or types of drug resistance, but those numbers were never gathered in one place.) It also represents the first time the CDC has ranked resistant organisms by how much and how imminent a threat they pose, using seven criteria: health impact, economic impact, how common the infection is, how easily it spreads, how much further it might spread in the next 10 years, whether there are antibiotics that still work against it, and whether things other than administering antibiotics can be done to curb its spread.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">Out of that matrix, their top three "urgent" threats:</p><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or CRE, a set of ICU germs that are resistant to almost all antibiotics: 9,000 infections per year, 600 deaths</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, which currently responds to only one drug: 246,000 infections per year</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Clostridium difficile</em>, which is growing in resistance to one class of drugs, but more important, serves as a marker for the use of other antibiotics: 250,000 illnesses, 14,000 deaths.</li></ul><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">There are 12 resistant bacteria and fungal infections in a second category, which the agency dubs "serious" (requiring "prompt and sustained action"); they include the hospital infections <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Acinetobacter</em>,<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em>, and VRE; the foodborne organisms <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Campylobacter</em>, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Salmonella</em> and<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Shigella</em>; MRSA; <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Candida</em>, a fungal infection; and TB, among others. The last category, "concerning" (requiring "careful monitoring and prevention") includes rare but potent vancomycin-resistant staph, VRSA, as well as strains of strep resistant to two different categories of drugs.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">For each organism, the report explains why it is a public health threat, where the trends are headed, what actions the CDC is taking, and what it is important for health care institutions, patients and their families, and states and local authorities to do to help. It also makes explicit where the trend of increasing and more common resistance is taking the country, outlining the risks to people taking chemotherapy for cancer, undergoing surgery, taking dialysis, receiving transplants, and undergoing treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">(The report also — and this is so important that I'll take it up in a <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/cdc-amr-rpt2/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(0, 124, 165); text-decoration: none; outline: none; ">separate post tomorrow</a> — tackles the issue of how agriculture, as well as healthcare, contributes to the increase in resistant organisms nationwide.)</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">The report lists some serious concerns the CDC has regarding how well resistance is monitored: in "gaps in knowledge," it specifically names limited national and international surveillance, as well as the lack of data on agricultural use of antibiotics. And it calls for action in four areas: gathering better data; preventing infections, through vaccination, better protective behavior in hospitals, and better food handling; improving the way in which antibiotics are used, by not using them inappropriately in health care or agriculture; and developing not just new categories of antibiotics but better diagnostic tests so that resistant organisms can be identified and dealt with sooner, before they spread.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">In an interview before the report became public, Frieden said that some of these actions are already happening. "My biggest frustration is the pace of change," he told me. "Hospitals are making progress, but it's single digits in terms of the number of hospitals that are being very proactive.  The challenge is scaling up what we know works, and doing that fast enough so that we can close the door on drug resistance before it's too late."</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">I talked about the report's calls for action to Dr. Ed Septimus, who is a professor of internal medicine at Texas A&M Health Sciences Center in Houston and a frequent spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the professional group for the physicians who usually treat resistant infections.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">"We have gotten some action in Congress," he said, mentioning the GAIN Act, which passed and offers incentives for drug development, and the STAAR Act, which aimed to improve surveillance and antibiotic conservation, but did not pass. "The FDA is considering regulations  that would allow a special designation for drugs for unmet needs, and resistance would qualify; and the NIH has prioritized research on resistance higher than it did 10 years ago. So there is movement — but in terms of funding, it is a slow difficult process.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); ">"Still, there are things we can do without funding," he said: hospitals could create their own stewardship programs, and could work with nursing homes, whose patients bring some of the most resistant organisms into hospitals but who usually lack the budget for infection prevention.</p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); position: static; z-index: auto; ">"It's up to us to make the recommendations in this report happen," Septimus said. "If we do nothing but say, 'Here's the problem,' then the problem will continue to grow."</p></div><a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/cdc-amr-rpt1/">http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/cdc-amr-rpt1/</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

CDC Threat Report: 'We Will Soon Be in a Post-Antibiotic Era' - Wired Science

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just published a  first-of-its-kind assessment of the threat the country faces from ...

Read more »

Bargain Alert

<span style="font-size: large;">Half price breakfast in Marks & Spencer's, Grafton Street all this week.</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I will be partaking in breakfast this Friday after 6.30am Bikram Yoga Class! (Wish me luck - it's the first time I've done yoga this early)</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJ9VE1CReqsvkl4sidnEgq61aF2cIpEIHHu3fYOIt3FnCsAQZ5-H7WzZIqmhGtIkFlc-S_K5IIvzhwIVZil9UnbJV6OGYxbme29GGDREPGU9NoijNlCgG7PJVrvOqaGsaNGPDKktzGNvY/s640/blogger-image-1353647689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJ9VE1CReqsvkl4sidnEgq61aF2cIpEIHHu3fYOIt3FnCsAQZ5-H7WzZIqmhGtIkFlc-S_K5IIvzhwIVZil9UnbJV6OGYxbme29GGDREPGU9NoijNlCgG7PJVrvOqaGsaNGPDKktzGNvY/s640/blogger-image-1353647689.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div>

Bargain Alert

Half price breakfast in Marks & Spencer's, Grafton Street all this week. I will be partaking in breakfast this Friday after 6.30am B...

Read more »

Marquez workers to continue fight for Teamsters

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anti-union bosses at the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford, Calif., have thrown everything at their Teamster workers in an effort to crack their resolve. But employees there are not backing down.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though the unscrupulous employer recently decided against recognizing the union, </span><a href="http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/marquez-union-supporters-press-on-despite-setbacks/article_2247ffe6-1fb0-11e3-a9ef-0019bb2963f4.html" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">workers on Oct. 4 will vote</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to continue their fight for fair wages and safe working conditions. The company has not bargained in good faith since workers decided to join the union in August 2012, and talks have stalled. Marquez went so far as to </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/marquez-brothers-now-stalling-in.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">spread lies that Teamsters were going to call a strike</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, even though such an action is up to the workers themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Most workers make $9 an hour at the plant. The union’s bargaining unit initial sought $12 hour, but later lowered it to $11.50. The company, however, never budged beyond $9.10.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If sabotaging negotiations wasn’t bad enough, Marquez went further. </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/04/employers-brutal-union-busting-tactics.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They hired an expensive union-busting law firm to tail a worker who testified</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> at a legislative hearing in Sacramento back in March. Although lawmakers called out the company and attorneys for their actions, the worker – a mother of four – was later fired.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Partly because of that case, </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/09/teamsters-tout-approval-of-worker-intimidation-bills.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">state legislation was enacted earlier this month</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that bars employers from intimidating immigrant workers for reporting illegal pay or working conditions by threatening to call immigration officials.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marquez workers said they are ready to continue their fight. Cheese weigher Juan Cruz said:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If we win, we’ll be sending a very strong message to the owners.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teamster strong!<o:p></o:p></span><br />

Marquez Brothers Teamsters union worker intimidation Marquez workers to continue fight for Teamsters

Anti-union bosses at the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford, Calif., have thrown everything at their Teamster workers in an effor...

Read more »

Today's archidose #706

Here are some photos of the <a href="http://sokolblosser.com/visit-us/experiences.html">Sokol Blosser Winery Tasting Room</a> (2013) in Dayton, Oregon, by <a href="http://www.alliedworks.com/">Allied Works Architecture</a>, photographed by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/">stvdg</a>. For more on the project see this week's <a href="http://www.world-architects.com/en/projects/42778_Sokol_Blosser_Winery_Tasting_Room">Building of the Week feature</a> at World-Architects.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/9744060924/" title="#sokolblosser #alliedworks by stvdg, on Flickr"><img alt="#sokolblosser #alliedworks" height="612" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7295/9744060924_619e4676b7_z.jpg" width="612" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/9752613404/" title="#sokolblosser #alliedworks by stvdg, on Flickr"><img alt="#sokolblosser #alliedworks" height="612" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/9752613404_09c41fc045_z.jpg" width="612" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/9752671183/" title="Untitled by stvdg, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="612" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/9752671183_378813475f_z.jpg" width="612" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/9741614721/" title="#sokolblosser #alliedworks by stvdg, on Flickr"><img alt="#sokolblosser #alliedworks" height="612" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/9741614721_ed8904623d_z.jpg" width="612" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/9756225676/" title="#sokolblosser by stvdg, on Flickr"><img alt="#sokolblosser" height="612" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/9756225676_e334a2105a_z.jpg" width="612" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #706

Here are some photos of the Sokol Blosser Winery Tasting Room (2013) in Dayton, Oregon, by Allied Works Architecture , photographed by stvd...

Read more »

My Fucking Internet Connection Was Out, Again.

This has been an ongoing problem ever since I moved into this fucking place.<br />I, or rather, my wife, had the repair guys out here two or three times and they couldn't find anything wrong.<br />The sonofabitch goes on the blink and stays out until it damn well feels like coming back on.<br /><br />I finally got pissed off last year and called the motherfuckers and reamed some ass.<br />I told them to send somebody out here that knew what the fuck they were doing because there IS a problem and I want to know what the fuck it is.<br />I'm tired of playing nice with you assholes and getting shined on.<br /><br /><br />You send somebody out here while I am here so I can talk to the guy and you can quit blowing smoke up my wifes ass.<br /><br />So, bigger than shit a van shows up and this young guy gets out while I am here before I gotta go to work.<br /><br />He starts in where the cable comes to the house.<br /><br />I'm thinking you should start at the fucking pole and work your way in but whatever.<br /><br />So he is taking connections apart and I am fucking around in the garage because that's where all that shit is.<br /><br />He gets up on a ladder and takes a connection apart and looks at it. Nothing wrong there.<br /><br />He goes to put the fucker back together and gets shocked,....<br /><br /><br />Houston, we have a problem.<br /><br />TV cable is not supposed to have 110 volts running through it obviously.<br /><br />So he starts tracing the cable with a hand held gizmo that detects electricity by the electric field around the wire.<br /><br />After a bit he calls the guy they should have sent out in the first place, the old guy who has seen it all.<br /><br />He shows and up and they put their heads together for a minute and then the real diagnosis starts.<br /><br />They followed the cable through every room in this house, front to back.<br /><br />Somewhere, inside the motherfucking walls, it is either rubbing up against a live wire, or what my personal thoughts are, some dickhead ran a screw or a nail into the wall that went through the 110 line into the cable and shorted them together.<br /><br />Short of yanking every cable out of the wall there is zero chance of ever finding where it is so here I sit.<br /><br />This is a rental house and neither I nor the owner wants to go through all that..<br /><br />If it was my house it would already have been done.<br /><br />I'd have yanked every inch of that shit out until I found it and been done with the irritating fucking thing.<br /><br /><br />So my lack of posting is not just me being a lazy fuck, this time......<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCi342RjZTWPJCh7SiHzb1zBUd04DWlbLuegHw-uGPBmSwRvXTvfbXhCbPgw4mpR_3S1-6PkGa_RcvCzUejiL6AeiLUfqknbu2uZArr4TiL0ixL1S0i4e2OddmdDwkwmfkKYHeLK8CTPFf/s1600/http:__www.photoshoproadmap.com_Photoshop-blog_wp-content_uploads_2013_08_steammmm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCi342RjZTWPJCh7SiHzb1zBUd04DWlbLuegHw-uGPBmSwRvXTvfbXhCbPgw4mpR_3S1-6PkGa_RcvCzUejiL6AeiLUfqknbu2uZArr4TiL0ixL1S0i4e2OddmdDwkwmfkKYHeLK8CTPFf/s640/http:__www.photoshoproadmap.com_Photoshop-blog_wp-content_uploads_2013_08_steammmm1.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />

My Fucking Internet Connection Was Out, Again.

This has been an ongoing problem ever since I moved into this fucking place. I, or rather, my wife, had the repair guys out here two or thre...

Read more »

Teamsters celebrate Truck Driver Appreciation Week

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fAwWgZQIVn39gZG4g-Z4fTngm0-f-io2vPqGRXfno-5i94w7R3yHnw2EnknJn0gcFPdtgAZQt92VembWIewS60huc9ztTUoZ5pwXBdqIN8C0HhV1YlH_6njlvZq4K8BKoxDgFey45TM3/s1600/Knights+of+the+Highway+(2).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/AVvXsEi_fAwWgZQIVn39gZG4g-Z4fTngm0-f-io2vPqGRXfno-5i94w7R3yHnw2EnknJn0gcFPdtgAZQt92VembWIewS60huc9ztTUoZ5pwXBdqIN8C0HhV1YlH_6njlvZq4K8BKoxDgFey45TM3/s320/Knights+of+the+Highway+(2).jpg" width="285" /></a></div><div>We're celebrating <a href="http://www.trucking.org/Appreciation_Week.aspx" rel="nofollow">National Truck Driver Appreciation Week</a> over on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/teamsters" rel="nofollow">Facebook page</a> with photos old and new of trucks and truck drivers. Many of our readers posted some great comments, which we thought we'd share with you:  </div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/westendorchestra">James F. Giles</a> Everything everyone in America owns, eats, or uses got here on a truck - thanks, Teamsters. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/richard.lapointe.771">Richard Lapointe</a> Made the seniority list in Feb 1971 in Cambridge, MA and retired last year with an awesome pension after 42 years of service with several companies. God bless the Teamster's Union. It's always been the working class that made this country great. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/nunzio.santuccio">Nunzio Santuccio</a> Keepem rolling !!!! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ray.roehrig">Ray Roehrig</a> Retired Local #500, Philadelphia, PA. Proud to be a Teamster! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/greggjodi.gomes">Greggjodi Gomes</a> I am proud to be a part of Local 407 Truck Drivers Union Cleveland ,Ohio--- thank you for all you do for me and my family !! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mike.porchiazzo">Mike Porchiazzo</a> Truckers make the world go around! It's a long lonesome road in the lifetime of a trucker! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jenjen726leo">Jennifer Young</a> proud daughter of a Teamster Driver!! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/larry.katra.73">Larry Katra</a> My stepdad was a union steward and saw him save many guys jobs over the years.The Teamsters was a great union and still is. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/frank.milatzo">Frank Milatzo</a> In '62 I was just learning how to drive big rigs, joined the Teamsters 25 years ago after freight: got deregulated and couldn't make any money as an independent trucker. Best move I ever made </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/lenore.lopez.7">Lenore Lopez</a> I appreciate truck drivers, I wish more employers would respect the physical and mental demands of the job. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/wayne.robertson.77964">Wayne Robertson</a> Funny how when I'm on 2 wheels I worry less about them than I do the soccer mom in the grocery-getter. But I'm not invisible to them, and the living they make depends on their safety and courtesy!</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sandie.hawley">Sandie Hawley</a> where would we be without truckers, God bless em. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.mansfield.90">Jennifer Mansfield</a> My Daddy, Oklie J Huggins, 1928-2008. Teamster Truck Driver for 44 yrs.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ken.caccamise">Ken Caccamise</a> I have a story about the old days and how different than they are today. Today we have spring loaded brakes. When the air brake lines are disconnected from the tractor the brakes are set, that means "on." Back years ago before spring loaded brakes when you lost air the wheels freewheeled, brakes off. A retired union O/O I spoke with this summer was in the middle of a story when he said something that caught my ear. The story was about running NYC. Just below Mount Pocono on PA 611 there's a steep downward grade. A tractor trailer's drive shaft snapped off coming down that grade and went threw the decking behind the cab cutting the brake lines, loosing all the brakes. The driver crashed and was killed. Talk about a dangerous job. I will say that without the Teamster's these problem might still exist today...</blockquote>

Teamsters trucks Teamsters celebrate Truck Driver Appreciation Week

We're celebrating National Truck Driver Appreciation Week  over on our Facebook page with photos old and new of trucks and truck driver...

Read more »

Moral Monday protests gain momentum in North Carolina

<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsWNwFDljhnwZTYe7PucGGLImGYLBdqQ4uJyIevjAS0YgfMAmxX4nsq50u40gaB3BYf5XixdGCqLUW6fr83Emqt9PgSvS4slVjsUyJ2EOq8abQpwIRpZSLfBxBQQMToy2XjIIT7Ezrtz4/s1600/9-16moralmonday1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="They marched around the governor's mansion in Raleigh." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsWNwFDljhnwZTYe7PucGGLImGYLBdqQ4uJyIevjAS0YgfMAmxX4nsq50u40gaB3BYf5XixdGCqLUW6fr83Emqt9PgSvS4slVjsUyJ2EOq8abQpwIRpZSLfBxBQQMToy2XjIIT7Ezrtz4/s400/9-16moralmonday1.jpg" title="Students held signs protesting the policies of Gov. McCrory and the Legislature." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students took the lead on the march around the governor's mansion.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two Moral Monday events drew more than 500 people who protested North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and his legislative allies for curbing voting rights, slashing education spending and refusing federal dollars to expand Medicaid. The rallies held yesterday marked the 18th week since late April that North Carolinians gathered to protest the state</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> government’s actions. About 925 people were arrested during the demonstrations for nonviolent civil disobedience. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At a </span><a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/16/3202013/college-naacp-groups-bring-new.html" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">youth-led demonstration in Raleigh</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, some 250 people marched around the governor’s mansion to demand a roll back on </span><a href="http://www.teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/teamsters-participate-in-largest-moral-monday-protest.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the voter suppression and education cuts enacted</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in July. Some also carried three children’s coffins to honor the memory of four little African-American girls killed in a Birmingham, Ala. church bombing 50 years ago yesterday during the height of the civil rights movement in the South.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>College students from around the area came to the protest to show they are concerned about the state’s future. They held signs reading “We will fight for our future,” “Reinvest in public education,” and “Take your hands off our voting rights.” Dylan Su-Chun Mott, a member of the University of North Carolina’s Student Power group, said </span><a href="http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2013/09/moral-monday-0917#print" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">students need to stand up and be heard</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[The UNC-system Board of Governors] is trying to tell us that the only thing we are in school for is to get jobs. … More importantly, we are learning to be fully participatory citizens in this, our great democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Meanwhile, </span><a href="http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_8a8ab91c-1f3e-11e3-bf27-001a4bcf6878.html" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">about 300 people gathered in the small town of Wentworth</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in north-central North Carolina. to protest education and Medicaid cuts. The event was held in the district of Senate leader Phil Berger.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rev. Nelson Johnson of Greensboro’s Beloved Community Center said that Berger and other elected officials have forgotten the main purpose of government:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"> Mr. Berger, government and our democracy is supposed to work for the people and not against the people.</blockquote> Week after week, North Carolina residents are pushing back on an agenda crafted by <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/02/heres-billionaire-trying-to-destroy.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">state budget director Art Pope</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, a multimillionaire who helped underwrite the campaigns of Gov. McCrory and his cronies in the Legislature. It is largely modeled on the pro-corporate, anti-worker platform of the </span><a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">American Legislative Exchange Council</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">McCrory says the changes will help everyone in the state, </span><a href="http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/09/12/your-handy-guide-to-the-seven-most-common-myths-from-the-gop/print/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the numbers just don’t bear this out</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>In fact, they show the state spent $100 million less on public schools, cut taxes only on out-of-state corporations and the wealth and made benefit cuts that hurt low-income citizens, not help them.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ncnaacp" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">next rally is scheduled for Yadkinville</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on Sept. 23.</span></div></span></div></span>

ALEC art pope education cuts Gov. McCrory Medicaid Moral Monday North Carolina voter suppression Moral Monday protests gain momentum in North Carolina

 Students took the lead on the march around the governor's mansion. Two Moral Monday events drew more than 500 people who protested Nor...

Read more »

The Main Weight Loss Surgery Options Fort Worth TX Have

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Helene Norris</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>If you are looking for weight loss surgery options Fort Worth TX hospitals can provide you with anything that you need. Obesity is becoming a major problem. Many medical resources have similarly been channeled towards handling this manageable condition. If things get out of hand, a surgical procedure can always come in handy, although it should be the last choice. Patients, however, have a verity of techniques to choose from.<br /> <br /> Individuals can always go for gastric sleeve when they are looking for long-term options. This procedure does not involve the use of implants or even rerouting of the intestines. Instead, it employs the use of laparoscopic techniques to get rid of as much as 60% of the volume of the stomach. The portion left is small and can only accommodate small amounts of food.<br /> <br /> Once the patient has recovered, another operation such as gastric banding or gastric bypass can be performed. This will lead to even increased efficiency of reducing weight. One needs to be monitored carefully by the assigned surgeon to reduce health risks.<br /> <br /> Gastric banding is another alternative. This minimally invasive procedure involves limiting the amount of food allowed into the stomach. The upper gut is enclosed by a silicone gastric band with an expandable inner collar. This forms a pouch that that leads to the intestines. The food, therefore, stays longer in this region and one does not feel any hunger.<br /> <br /> Because the procedure uses laparoscopy, only small incisions can be made into the stomach as opposed to cutting one large hole. There are only to techniques used in this treatment that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The most available is the Lap-Band System, but the Realize Band is also becoming quite common.<br /> <br /> Gastric bypass very quick results, but is also a long-term solution. It is a simple procedure that simply involves the size of the stomach being reduced to a desirable level. This method also relies on laparoscopy. The walls of the actual stomach are used to create a side pouch. The intestines are then conveyed to enter into this section.<br /> <br /> The patient can stay for many hours without taking food, as he/she will be feeling full. In most cases, significant results are noticed just within 24 months. By five years, the individual should have a stable body size that can be maintained in the long-term.<br /> <br /> If one has undergone gastric bypass but they are still gaining weight, then they can try revisional bypass. This is expected in some patients, but further gains can be stopped through this procedure. The problem is normally the enlargement of the pouch. Endoscopic surgery is the most common remedy, which involves the insertion of instruments to reduce the size of the pouch and the small intestine.<br /> <br /> Another new minimally invasive surgical procedure is gastric plication. This technique can reduce the capacity of the stomach to just about three ounces. It does not use any implants and it is also reversible because it does not involve the removal of portions of the stomach. No rerouting and reconnecting is required as well.<br /> <br /> You can surely not run out of <A href="http://www.antoniocastanedamd.com">weight loss surgery options Fort Worth TX</A> hospitals have. However, you need bariatric surgeon to guide you. This will ensure the best results.<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>You can visit the website <a href="http://www.antoniocastanedamd.com">www.antoniocastanedamd.com</a> for more helpful information about The Main Weight Loss Surgery Options Fort Worth TX Hospitals Can Provide </div><br /> </div><br />

The Main Weight Loss Surgery Options Fort Worth TX Have

By Helene Norris If you are looking for weight loss surgery options Fort Worth TX hospitals can provide you with anything that you need....

Read more »