American Academy of Pediatrics Backs Gay Marriage - NYTimes.com

<div><div class="articleBody"><nyt_text><p itemprop="articleBody">The <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_academy_of_pediatrics/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about American Academy of Pediatrics" class="meta-org">American Academy of Pediatrics</a> declared its <a title="AAP's policy statement. " href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2013-0376">support for same-sex marriage</a> for the first time on Thursday, saying that allowing gay and lesbian parents to marry if they so choose is in the best interests of their children.</p></nyt_text></div><div class="articleInline runaroundLeft"><div class="inlineImage module"><p class="caption">Dr. Travis Kidner, who is in a same-sex marriage, with his children Zoe (being carried) and Nicholas in Los Angeles on Wednesday </p> </div> </div> <div class="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody"> The academy's new policy statement says same-sex marriage helps guarantee rights, benefits and long-term security for children, while acknowledging that it does not now ensure access to federal benefits. When marriage is not an option, the academy said, children should not be deprived of foster care or adoption by single parents or couples, whatever their sexual orientation. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> <a title="The AAP's scientific review of the literature. " href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2013-0377">The academy's review of scientific literature</a> began more than four years ago, and the result is a 10-page report with 60 citations. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> "If the studies are different in their design and sample but the results continue to be similar, that gives scientists and consumers more faith in the result," said Dr. Ellen Perrin, a co-author of the new policy and a professor of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/pediatrics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about pediatrics." class="meta-classifier">pediatrics</a> at Tufts University School of Medicine. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> Other scientists called the evidence lackluster and said the academy's endorsement was premature. <a title="Dr. Marks' review of APA's brief on gay parenting. " href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X12000580">Loren Marks</a>, an associate professor of child and family studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, said there was not enough national data to support the pediatric association's position on same-sex marriage. "National policy should be informed by nationally representative data," he said. "We are moving in the direction of higher-quality national data, but it's slow." </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> The academy cited research finding that a child's well-being is much more affected by the strength of relationships among family members and a family's social and economic resources than by the sexual orientation of the parents. "There is an emerging consensus, based on extensive review of the scientific literature, that children growing up in households headed by gay men or lesbians are not disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents," the academy said. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> A large body of evidence demonstrates that children raised by gay or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive and social functioning as peers raised by heterosexuals, the academy said. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> One study in England compared 39 families with lesbian mothers to 74 heterosexual parents and 60 families headed by single heterosexual women. No difference was found between the groups in emotional involvement, abnormal behaviors in children as reported by parents or teachers, or psychiatric disorders in them. Both mothers and teachers reported more behavioral problems among children in single-parent families than two-parent ones, whatever their sexual orientation. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> A 2010 study of children born to 154 lesbian parents in the United States compared mothers' reports of their 17-year-olds to a national sample of age-matched peers. The mothers' reports indicated that their sons and daughters had high levels of competence and fewer social problems, compared with their peers. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> "Marriage strengthens families and benefits child development, and it also increases a parent's sense of competence and security when they are able to raise children without stigma," said <a title="Dr. Nanette Gartrell" href="http://www.nllfs.org/about/nanette-gartrell/">Dr. Nanette Gartrell</a>, the lead author of the study and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> The research on same-sex marriage has limitations, experts note, including the relatively small sample sizes of gay or lesbian parents even in long-term studies. Many studies have relied on parental assessments of their children's well-being, and there is relatively little data about the well-being of children raised by gay men compared with lesbians. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> "Many studies compare wealthy, well-educated lesbian mothers to single heterosexual mothers instead of married couples," Dr. Marks said. "This matters, because children from married families do better on numerous outcomes including psychological and physical health and avoidance of high-risk behaviors than children of single-parent families." </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> Timm Ryan-Young, a 48-year-old married Brooklynite and father of Zelia, 6, found the academy's support of same-sex marriage reaffirming. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> "Whenever a formal institution validates or confirms that a same-sex family is valid," he said, "and there are no measurable negatives to it, or deterrents to it, it means a great deal, frankly." </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> Dr. Travis Kidner, 36, a surgeon in Los Angeles, and Hernan Lopez, 42, a media executive, married in 2008 and adopted Nicholas, 2 1/2 years old, and Zoe, 21 months. "It's important for kids to know they are from a stable home and that their parents are married," Dr. Kidner said. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> The pediatrics academy's support for same-sex marriage heartened him. "The arc is in our favor now," he said. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> Another reason same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, the academy said, is that divorce law provides for a legally structured arrangement for visits and custody. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> "If people can't get married, then they can't get divorced," Dr. Perrin said. "That legal system that exists to protect our most vulnerable, namely children, isn't in play."        </p></div></div><div><br></div> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/health/american-academy-of-pediatrics-backs-gay-marriage.html?">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/health/american-academy-of-pediatrics-backs-gay-marriage.html?</a>

American Academy of Pediatrics Backs Gay Marriage - NYTimes.com

The American Academy of Pediatrics declared its support for same-sex marriage for the first time on Thursday, saying that allowing gay a...

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Kaiser Permanente Is Seen as Face of Future Health Care - NYTimes.com

<div><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">When people talk about the future of health care, Kaiser Permanente is often the model they have in mind.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The organization, which combines a nonprofit insurance plan with its own hospitals and clinics, is the kind of holistic health system that President Obama's <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival news about healthcare reform." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">health care law</a> encourages.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Kaiser has sophisticated electronic records and computer systems that — after 10 years and $30 billion in technology spending — have led to better-coordinated patient care, another goal of the president. And because the plan is paid a fixed amount for medical care per member, there is a strong financial incentive to keep people healthy and out of the hospital, the same goal of the hundreds of accountable care organizations now being created.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Over the course of the last 15 years, they've been just going into high gear and doing everything right," said Dr. Thomas S. Bodenheimer, a health policy expert at the University of California, San Francisco who recently chose Kaiser as his own health plan.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Yet even with all of its effort, its chairman and chief executive, George C. Halvorson, acknowledges Kaiser has yet to achieve the holy grail of delivering that care at a low enough cost. He says he and other health systems must fundamentally rethink what they do or risk having cost controls imposed on them either by the government or by employers, who are absorbing the bulk of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about health insurance and managed care." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">health insurance</a> costs. "We think the future of health care is going to be rationing or re-engineering," he said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Mr. Halvorson is convinced that Kaiser's improvements in the quality of care save money. But he also says that the way to get costs lower is to move care farther and farther from the hospital setting — and even out of doctors' offices. Kaiser is experimenting with ways to provide care at home or over the Internet, without the need for a physical office visit at all. He also argues that lower costs are going to be about finding ways to get people to take more responsibility for their health — for losing weight, for example, or bringing their <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/blood-pressure/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Blood Pressure." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">blood pressure</a> down.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"The <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/morbid-obesity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Obesity." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">obesity</a> work is incredibly difficult," he said. "It's very, very hard to move the needle."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Other health care experts say that while Kaiser has a place in the future, whether it is the best model for the country's health care remains unclear. "They have not translated some of their strengths into better prices," said David Lansky, the president and chief executive of the Pacific Business Group on Health, which represents employers on the West Coast, many of whom purchase coverage from Kaiser for their workers.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">And there are other concerns, such as whether an all-encompassing system like Kaiser's can really be replicated and whether the limits it places on where patients can seek care will be accepted by enough people to make a difference. Or whether, as the nation's flirtation with health maintenance organizations, or H.M.O.'s, in the 1990s showed — people will balk at the concept of not being able to go to any doctor or hospital of their choice.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"The more you restrict the patient's ability to do what they want, you risk reigniting the backlash we had in the past," Mr. Lansky said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In many ways, Kaiser has been ahead of the curve on health care for decades. Started by a surgeon running a tiny hospital near Desert Center, Calif., to serve construction workers, Kaiser became an H.M.O. with its own doctors and hospital in the mid-1940s and expanded beyond California over the next 50 years. But, as H.M.O.'s fell out of favor, it was forced to leave states like New York, Connecticut and Texas.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But Kaiser persevered, and its membership, which peaked in 1998, is now about the same as its previous high of 9.1 million, about three-quarters of whom are in California. It still operates in a half-dozen states from Maryland to Hawaii and is looking to expand in the Mid-Atlantic region, where membership had been dropping.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The organization, with some $50 billion in annual revenue, owns 37 hospitals and employs 17,000 doctors, all on salary. And its integrated model is in favor again. Hospitals across the country are buying physician practices or partnering with doctors and health insurers to form accountable care organizations, or A. C.O.'s, as a way of controlling more aspects of patient care. Doctors are also creating so-called medical homes, where patient care is better coordinated.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The days when doctors, hospitals and other providers are paid separately for each procedure will disappear eventually, health experts say. Instead, providers will have financial incentives to encourage them to keep people healthy, including lump sums to care for patients or provide comprehensive care for a specific condition. "All of care is going to move down this path, and it has to," Mr. Halvorson said. "Medical homes are doing it; the very best A. C.O's are going to figure out how to do it."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The move by hospitals to buy physician practices is being viewed cautiously by health experts, who say there are downsides to the creation of large health care systems that may be motivated by the desire to increase their clout in the market, making it easier to fill beds and charge the insurers more for care. "They become these huge local monopolies," said Dr. Robert Berenson, a health policy expert at the Urban Institute.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But having an integrated system seems essential to the success of Kaiser and a handful of similar, if smaller, organizations, like Intermountain Healthcare in Utah and Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, although some work with doctors whom they do not employ. In California, Kaiser controls nearly every aspect of a patient's care, from providing the <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/mri/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about MRI." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">M.R.I.</a> for a diagnosis to filling a prescription at one of its pharmacies to running a hospital where the patient undergoes surgery.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"We have all the pieces," said Philip Fasano, Kaiser's chief information officer. "Anything a patient needs you get in the four walls of our offices," he said. As a result, while Kaiser can point to an analysis done by Aon Hewitt, a benefits consultant, showing that its plans are typically at least 10 percent less expensive than others, especially where they control all the providers, its costs are more like the average in places in Ohio, where it does not have its own hospitals and offer as broad a range of services.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">And some patients outside of California, where Kaiser operations are less concentrated, complain about being forced to travel for treatment by Kaiser providers. Arva Priola, a 62-year-old Kaiser patient in Fredericksburg, Va., said her Kaiser doctors "are wonderful," but that the plan recently started requiring her to get some treatments where they had physical facilities.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">To get IV <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/antibiotics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about antibiotics." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">antibiotics</a> after surgery, for example, she recently had to drive an hour and a half to a Kaiser office in Tysons Corner, Va. "Who wants to drive when you're sick?" she asked. Kaiser says it is adding more services closer to Fredericksburg.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">A California state agency recently criticized Kaiser for the long wait times its members had for <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/mentalhealthanddisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about mental health and disorders." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">mental health</a> services and for providing inaccurate information about what services it provides. Kaiser says it has corrected the misinformation and is working to reduce and better track member wait times.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Where Kaiser has a head start that others may have difficulty catching up to is its use of electronic records and technology systems for tracking patient care.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">When Dr. Jennifer Slovis, a Kaiser internist in Oakland, recently saw a patient, she was able to spot that the patient had an abnormal blood test several years ago. By reading through the patient's medical history, she determined he was now overdue for an M.R.I. to check the status of a growth in his brain. She was able to e-mail his endocrinologist and schedule the necessary tests without the patient having to make an appointment with the specialist or her having to make her own diagnosis. "It saved a lot of starting over," she said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In the last five or so years, Kaiser has also been using the information to identify those doctors or clinics that excel in certain areas, as well as those in need of improvement. The organization has also used the records to change how it delivers care, identifying patients at risk for developing bed sores in the hospital and then sending electronic alerts every two hours to remind the nurses to turn the patients. The percentage of patients with serious pressure <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/gastric-ulcer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Ulcers." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">ulcers</a>, or bed sores, dropped to well under 1 percent from 3.5 percent.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"The tool is an enabler to give information to people who give a damn," said Dr. Jack Cochran, the executive who represents Kaiser's physicians through the Permanente Federation.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Mr. Halvorson, the Kaiser chief, who plans to retire at the end of this year, says the organization is providing evidence to other health systems that re-engineering works. "All of that adds up to better care and cheaper care," he said.</p></div></nyt_text></div> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/business/kaiser-permanente-is-seen-as-face-of-future-health-care.html?">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/business/kaiser-permanente-is-seen-as-face-of-future-health-care.html?</a>

Kaiser Permanente Is Seen as Face of Future Health Care - NYTimes.com

When people talk about the future of health care, Kaiser Permanente is often the model they have in mind. The organization, which combines a...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 03/21/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teachers-and-technology.aspx">How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Take time to read this PEW research about teachers and how they are using technology in their classrooms. It is shocking that 73% say they or their students use cell phones to complete assignments. I wish they had separated out this number to know exactly how many let their STUDENTS use their cell phones. To me, this number shows the tide has turned.  Some of the highlights of the research: "Mobile technology has become central to the learning process, with 73% of AP and NWP teachers saying that they and/or their students use their cell phones in the classroom or to complete assignments More than four in ten teachers report the use of e-readers (45%) and tablet computers (43%) in their classrooms or to complete assignments 62% say their school does a “good job” supporting teachers’ efforts to bring digital tools into the learning process, and 68% say their school provides formal training in this area Teachers of low income students, however, are much less likely than teachers of the highest income students to use tablet computers (37% v. 56%) or e-readers (41% v. 55%) in their classrooms and assignments Similarly, just over half (52%) of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class, compared with 35% of teachers of the lowest income students"</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></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 03/21/2013

How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms | Pew Research Center's Internet & Ame...

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The JayManHate™ Bracket

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Hola y’all! It’s time once again for us to fill out our NCAA Tournament brackets. Tradition has it that I fill out my <o:p></o:p><b>JayManHate™ Bracket</b>. I pick schools by choosing which one I hate the most. I won’t pick every single game here. I’ll just review the brackets and pick the finals of each Regional, the Final Four and the Champion.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Midwest: </b> In the Midwest Finals we’ve got Missouri vs. Duke. Are you kidding me? Hell, they make me not even think about Memphis and I hate them like a fat kid hates running.  How am I supposed to choose between these two? It’s like choosing between Hitler and Satan! You’ve got Missouri and their long line of never winning anything vs Duke and their long line of good-looking, rich players winning everything! That seems like an easy choice, but despite never being relevant Mizzou thinks they are EEEEE-LEEEEEET! God they’re fucking annoying!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Pick: Missouri </b><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/AVvXsEhU9lcMIh2FiPwnx-r6IZhIPIsu6I5qRYcziIlk_jqeKt9hZQtuOVqwFjnKz3kWpv0PCynw9wVMN1MgAxVNBMr95FHQfsuz0P8rtQtRsWkHP7Glkoqrf5F-NxHWqUuuOb3ytjwj5mf0xBo/s1600/Missouri+Sad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9lcMIh2FiPwnx-r6IZhIPIsu6I5qRYcziIlk_jqeKt9hZQtuOVqwFjnKz3kWpv0PCynw9wVMN1MgAxVNBMr95FHQfsuz0P8rtQtRsWkHP7Glkoqrf5F-NxHWqUuuOb3ytjwj5mf0xBo/s320/Missouri+Sad.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>West:</b> There’s a lot to hate in the West bracket. You’ve got Kansas St, Gonzaga, Pitt, Ohio St and of course Notre Dame. After hours of angry debate with myself I’m going to narrow it down to Kansas St vs Ohio St. This is similar to Mizzou vs Duke in that Kansas St is even more irrelevant than Mizzou, but they think they are the greatest program in the history of America. Also, KSU fans make San Francisco Giants fans seem nice and friendly. Ohio St, on the other hand, has brought insufferableness to levels even Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees fans couldn’t imagine. What a battle of douchiness we have here folks. I guess I’ll go with the douches I know best and hate most though. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Pick: Kansas St. </b><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/AVvXsEj_r7738eEX3fGftAwFuf2_zgOn_5N4xVMgcynQvrKK1PMLI7-Rx6PXbSEtF4kY5iTx-_KNvDDr8siwKSJLEUeeSiFaNYV4sHcLacVuaVdvTgzRnTtwaRDVXXWxaHK8YuwS52BPQXsPcj8/s1600/Bruce+Weber+Crybaby.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_r7738eEX3fGftAwFuf2_zgOn_5N4xVMgcynQvrKK1PMLI7-Rx6PXbSEtF4kY5iTx-_KNvDDr8siwKSJLEUeeSiFaNYV4sHcLacVuaVdvTgzRnTtwaRDVXXWxaHK8YuwS52BPQXsPcj8/s320/Bruce+Weber+Crybaby.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>South:</b> There are only two schools in the South bracket that I hate. Looks like Oklahoma and Florida will meet up in the Sweet Sixteen in an epic Battle of Shitbags! Look at this match up! Both states are full of gun-toting, backwards-ass rednecks. The only thing that saves Florida is they have beaches. Oklahoma doesn’t allow porn and you can only buy 3.2 beer cold.  Fuck that! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Pick: Oklahoma </b><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/AVvXsEghKmeDruPzjkCcZifUdRX3rokwIKkeNeNwXS1QDoZcPijwuWOyrqls8_6ScePUCUh-AkNgcc09gHV_he0VHHpwWbx4I7D8gE0pZTOs29y47vN3ti80nPqRKd3j65zQswHFyheuSkP76as/s1600/OU+Sooners+Fan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKmeDruPzjkCcZifUdRX3rokwIKkeNeNwXS1QDoZcPijwuWOyrqls8_6ScePUCUh-AkNgcc09gHV_he0VHHpwWbx4I7D8gE0pZTOs29y47vN3ti80nPqRKd3j65zQswHFyheuSkP76as/s1600/OU+Sooners+Fan.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>East: </b>There’s a lot of hate to be had in the East bracket. Indiana considers themselves basketball royalty and even though I like the way they play their coach is one of the biggest dickheads in the world. I have above average level hate for Miami, Syracuse (and their bullshit zone defense) and N.C. State. But, there’s one school that I have special amount of hate for. Hate that has grown exponentially over the last two years as their fans and the pathetic slobbering media have annoyed me to no end...<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Pick: Butler </b><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/AVvXsEgmvSdAby3eM_bHt_kOyn7yARfxrV12NECTY7SuQ3hJZHk2eGiIX2vF24Czd-reMMJYqEQkBAe3mgOzKmYS7l2OLQ1jeQw3Kn0R61PvSzb2R0ahekAgdLl-KvSWrcp0oU8cowKDb8foM8E/s1600/Butler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvSdAby3eM_bHt_kOyn7yARfxrV12NECTY7SuQ3hJZHk2eGiIX2vF24Czd-reMMJYqEQkBAe3mgOzKmYS7l2OLQ1jeQw3Kn0R61PvSzb2R0ahekAgdLl-KvSWrcp0oU8cowKDb8foM8E/s1600/Butler.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, final four of the JayManHate™ Bracket is:  <b>Missouri v Kansas St. and Butler v OU</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wow! What an awesome battle that Mizzou/KSU game will be. The whining, victimization, finger pointing, fit-throwing by coaches, players and fans will be surpassed only by what you see at a daycare when every single baby didn’t get his/her nap. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Butler/OU is a pretty interesting matchup too. You’ve got the “We’re so much better than you and play such a superior sophisticated and intellectual brand of basketball” of Butler vs the “We’re better Americans and superior Christians than you” of Oklahoma. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hmmmmm …. This isn’t easy, but I think the Finals of the JayHateMan™ Bracket is ... </div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Missouri vs Butler </b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What’s left to say about these assholes? Every last one of them can eat a bag of dicks. I don’t even know what “eat a bag of dicks” means, but I see it on the internet all the time and find it funny. Again, after hours and hours of RAGE BUILDING I have made my choice. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The winner of the JayManHate™ Bracket is ... </div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">MISSOURI!!!!  </span></i></b><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/AVvXsEjBOBwnbLUhK9cstBN8Xhef6oEm3teOUKkPaQ7i9DRnHigz2n3wL13BsFcWmoJgaka4tVfDT3JxUs9H1lUcMRLuaCN2jXXhFRNfZyiUQ7qgvP_npdVTw6LvW0oIKwnj359ATASRijB2lyA/s1600/Classy+Missouri+Fans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBOBwnbLUhK9cstBN8Xhef6oEm3teOUKkPaQ7i9DRnHigz2n3wL13BsFcWmoJgaka4tVfDT3JxUs9H1lUcMRLuaCN2jXXhFRNfZyiUQ7qgvP_npdVTw6LvW0oIKwnj359ATASRijB2lyA/s400/Classy+Missouri+Fans.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Congrats Fuckwits! You earned it! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws">@Jayman_IWS </a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

The JayManHate™ Bracket

Hola y’all! It’s time once again for us to fill out our NCAA Tournament brackets. Tradition has it that I fill out my  JayManHate™ Bracket ....

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Protein Bakery Review and Giveaway

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisxJlaROaJRnx3ppChuQas4tM3PjV5d7xTk_P2g0urgEDkOXCcxRi0xlaKnZBREKSmeWmD5NCUbLjlURazyRXGbzOMNU5JtGoE3K5mLPBM5Ix0SenCajAZxOR1LjWqsKVAbo5KM6BQdcI/s1600/protein+bakery+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="56" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisxJlaROaJRnx3ppChuQas4tM3PjV5d7xTk_P2g0urgEDkOXCcxRi0xlaKnZBREKSmeWmD5NCUbLjlURazyRXGbzOMNU5JtGoE3K5mLPBM5Ix0SenCajAZxOR1LjWqsKVAbo5KM6BQdcI/s320/protein+bakery+logo.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was sent some deliciously baked goods from a wonderful company by the name of <a href="http://proteinbakery.com/">Protein Bakery</a> for review.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You're probably thinking how come the name Protein Bakery especially when they are baked goods such as cookies and brownies.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They got their name by coming up with a way to make cookies and brownies healthy by adding protein whey in the process of baking these delicious treats  for a healthier alternative!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You know how when you eat sweets such as cookies,cake, pie or even brownies you feel like you just want to eat more?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well these wonderful tasty snacks are rich in protein that make you feel satisfied and prevents spikes in blood sugar levels. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their treats are low in gluten, high in fiber and packs a lot more protein than your average decadent treat!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Serving up baked goods with all natural ingredients since 1999!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXl0oRvQ2z4FYTl6jZNEGlPhyJ6gPylKc3uA_HU703VoaapzZhh2wHkkDqlwcbtzDhitkaqfTSdZyGIQU-ya_3n3R2fW2963YGDbJ_SnMn2gwJvEOX5vhpceEqrNpVCwJ17x4eiilnIsM/s1600/Protein+Bakery+package.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXl0oRvQ2z4FYTl6jZNEGlPhyJ6gPylKc3uA_HU703VoaapzZhh2wHkkDqlwcbtzDhitkaqfTSdZyGIQU-ya_3n3R2fW2963YGDbJ_SnMn2gwJvEOX5vhpceEqrNpVCwJ17x4eiilnIsM/s320/Protein+Bakery+package.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I opened the box I just knew I was going to love their products!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just the way the box was presented said it all.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wrapped carefully in this beautiful tissue paper and the goods were in their own little packages, I just knew I was in for a treat!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbhW-Lv3S-dvbosEoNjyZl_zEgjNWSRlmxXH11hRoQa5dCWztwwTWFNeC64XY7ayrFq006prvvH7z2C8-lyCXYnMqQSwjF5JNr6NAI7H00LWJn06HlQZqw_9342YrM1qybPBDm3zLDfk/s1600/Protein+Bakery+Cookies+and+brownies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbhW-Lv3S-dvbosEoNjyZl_zEgjNWSRlmxXH11hRoQa5dCWztwwTWFNeC64XY7ayrFq006prvvH7z2C8-lyCXYnMqQSwjF5JNr6NAI7H00LWJn06HlQZqw_9342YrM1qybPBDm3zLDfk/s320/Protein+Bakery+Cookies+and+brownies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just love the way that the package comes wrapped in the polka dotted tissue paper so knowing how I am I just had to snap a photo of the cookies and brownies displayed inside of the box!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why not have a close up of these delicious baked good?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts:</span></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Delicious</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All natural</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">packed with protein</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">wheat flour free</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You so need to check them out online and order some, they have a ton of flavors in cookies and their brownies!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Brownies:</u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Espresso Brownie with Cappuccino Chips</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peanut Butter </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wicked Mint </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Walnut</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Blondie's:</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Black and White</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peanut Butter</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coconut Walnut Dark Chocolate Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cookies:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Chocolate Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Chocolate White Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ginger Oatmeal Raisin </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oatmeal Chocolate Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oatmeal Cranberry</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peanut Butter</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peanut Butter White Chip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They also carry their brownies in minis! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ_li7Pa_R6pqBo5Ivur4ymDyT5c94GYaos0fDWwqa8Xv_Nrr2M_s1A3CZFAKeqp6k8tylyH-Kcr-t-yFgu_uotAFl91BWA9mUCRG_f-IM60_ZqYLSXCZOoPkGon5LtG3ozK0-f3ZSjc/s1600/Protein+Bakery+coconut+walnut+dark+chip+blondie+brownie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ_li7Pa_R6pqBo5Ivur4ymDyT5c94GYaos0fDWwqa8Xv_Nrr2M_s1A3CZFAKeqp6k8tylyH-Kcr-t-yFgu_uotAFl91BWA9mUCRG_f-IM60_ZqYLSXCZOoPkGon5LtG3ozK0-f3ZSjc/s320/Protein+Bakery+coconut+walnut+dark+chip+blondie+brownie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mom and I wanted something sweet so we decided to try the Coconut Walnut Blondie Brownie with some Vanilla Bean ice cream on the side.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am in love with coconut and it's even better with chocolate!</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The best of all though it's baked to perfection with delicious all natural ingredients.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The taste was outstanding!</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The exotic flavor of coconut paired with the velvety smooth texture of chocolate and the airy cake like texture of the brownie was pure heaven!</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I mean how do they do it?!</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These brownies are so delicious, not hard at all in the centers or the sides!</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One lucky winner will receive a package that's a $45.00 value of 10 mini brownie blondies and two ginger cookie 2 packs!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are insanely good and you don't want to miss out!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>All you have to do is follow these guidelines to enter to win!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>*GIVEAWAY RULES*</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1. Are you a brownie or a cookie person?</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Want an extra entry?</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2.  Must Follow my blog.</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>3.Then also follow me via Twitter, here. <a href="https://twitter.com/kelli_bliss"> https://twitter.com/kelli_bliss</a></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>4. then Re tweet my post about the giveaway and if you tweet on your own make sure you use #ProteinBakery</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>5. leave me a link here to your tweet.</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>6. Like their face book page as well </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/proteinbakerycookieswithmuscle?fref=ts" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.facebook.com/proteinbakerycookieswithmuscle?fref=ts</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Order them here : </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://proteinbakery.com/collections/brownies">http://proteinbakery.com/collections/brownies</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Follow Them on Twitter</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/proteinbakery">https://twitter.com/proteinbakery</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Due to FCC guidelines:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Protein Bakery sent me their cookies and brownies in exchange for a product review. However, All the opinions expressed here are my own.</span></div></div>

Protein Bakery Review and Giveaway

I was sent some deliciously baked goods from a wonderful company by the name of  Protein Bakery  for review. You're probably thinking ho...

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CYPRUS BAILOUT

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0abX2U3r13S7WI2AItVqnNqcypqAbiA8IayG6aDcTEy_hkEENsFQYmDi2XKJjNHjsHPgC3OJDdP5H1xaPm036cbB9hesu9Ca9eJsZ1zyUQTqfasJq6U-oPaGoJQwu5cCUo64wxG4hJSi/s1600/BF_vXMUCYAE10Yo.jpg+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0abX2U3r13S7WI2AItVqnNqcypqAbiA8IayG6aDcTEy_hkEENsFQYmDi2XKJjNHjsHPgC3OJDdP5H1xaPm036cbB9hesu9Ca9eJsZ1zyUQTqfasJq6U-oPaGoJQwu5cCUo64wxG4hJSi/s400/BF_vXMUCYAE10Yo.jpg+large.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title"> </h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">CYPRUS BAILOUT: STUPIDITY, SHORT- SIGHTEDNESS, SOMETHING ELSE?</span></span></h3><div class="entry">This post from Cyprus.com addresses some important misperceptions about the background leading up to the bank bailout impasse in Cyprus, including the alternatives that were available that were perversely bypassed. I also have a separate post due to launch shortly, but this article is an important stand-alone piece and debunks quite a lot of conventional wisdom.<br /><br /><i><b>Cross posted from <a href="http://www.cyprus.com/cyprus-bailout-stupidity-short-sightedness-something-else-.html">Cyprus.com</a> </b></i><br /><br />A quick run-down on the impressively stupid handling of the “Cyprus bailout” by the EU.<br />And, before we go on, we should note that the on-the-ground situation for visitors and tourists is perfectly fine – Cypriots are not prone to rioting and even though the banks are closed, the ATMs still work. We are all at work and things are otherwise proceeding normally.<br /><br /><b>First, some background that most people know partially but not completely:</b><br /><br />1. The Cyprus sovereign has not been particularly profligate. <b>Debt to GDP as late as last year was in the low 70% range, lower than Germany, etc</b>. While the last Communist government ran unnecessary fiscal deficits, the new government was elected with a more or less ‘austerity’ orientation<br /><br />2. The issues with the Cyprus sovereign have come from the bailout of the banking system.<br />The banking sector in Cyprus is being portrayed in the mainstream press as a monstrosity of risky banks for Russian mobsters. I think it is important to put it in context:<br />(a) <b>Banking <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD5">assets</span> are about 7.1x GDP relative to the EU average of 3.5x GDP and similar to Ireland and Malta.</b><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">Luxembourg, by contrast, where Anglo-Saxon firms do their tax arbitrage has banking assets of 21x GDP. </span>So, Cyprus’s exposure is similar to that of an economy that has large <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">financial</span> services sector, but that still has a real economy too. <span style="background-color: yellow;">It is not Luxembourg nor the Cayman <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD4">Islands</span> nor the Bahamas nor the Channel Islands and so on.</span><br />(b) Further to this point, 20B of the 70B of deposits are non-EU (aka Russia/CIS) which, while meaningful (28%), hardly dominate the system<br />(c) The banks are almost 100% deposit funded (something that regulators across the world have been encouraging because deposits tend to be sticky if you take care of them).<br /><br />3. Q: So, given all that, why do the banks need a bailout?<br />A: <b>Primarily due to their exposure to Greece, Cyprus’s neighboring economy, both on the commercial side, but most importantly and most critically because of the Greek Government Bond EU restructuring (this accounts for about 40-50% of the capital needs) which Cyprus signed up for in the spirit of EU / Greek solidarity. It was understood at the time that there would be some protection in exchange for this later on otherwise, Cyprus should have taken a harder line at the time such as ensuring the that Greek branches get covered by the Greek bailout.</b><br /><br />4. Not all the banks are in the same condition.<br />(a) Cyprus has two money-center type banks: Laiki (Popular) Bank and Bank of Cyprus.<br />(b) Laiki was purchased by a Greek vehicle (Marfin Investment Group) backed by Gulf money. Marfin’s purchase of Laiki took Laiki from being a fairly conservative local bank to being highly exposed to Greece. Laiki is definitely insolvent and needs to be restructured.<br />(c) Bank of Cyprus has been more conservative vis-a-vis Greece, but still has meaningful exposure. It is conceivable that, given time, Bank of Cyprus could survive.<br />(d) Beyond the main two banks, there is Hellenic Bank (a much smaller bank with much less Greek exposure), Cyprus Development Bank (no Greek exposure), the Co-ops (no Greek exposure) and the Cyprus subsidiaries of foreign banks (aka, Russian, English, etc banks), also with no Greek exposure.<br />(e) All the local oriented banks (BoC, Laiki, Hellenic, Coops) have exposure to the local <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">real estate market</span> that went through a bubble during the 2000-2009 period. This exposure however is not short-term and could be resolved over the period of years. It is a problem, not a crisis, and is offset by the fact that the two main banks have quasi-monopolistic earnings power locally. Given the time and some financial represssion (a la the United States) and the local issues would be manageable.<br /><br /><b>Now, let’s go to the current situation:</b><br /><br />5. Three weeks ago, <span style="background-color: yellow;">Cyprus elected a pro-EU, pro-Merkel, pro-austerity president (Anastassiades) to replace the anti-EU, anti-Merkel, anti-austerity president it previously had (Christofias).</span> The population recognized the need for austerity and sent to Europe the person it believed would be the most acceptable to the troika.<br /><br />6. Last Friday, on his first <span style="background-color: yellow;">visit to the troika, Anastassiades was ambushed when the troika said to him</span>: “<b><i>Agree to depositor bail-in as part of the financial package or the ECB will cut off funding to Laiki on Tuesday</i></b>” causing a surprise collapse of your banking sector.<br />Unsurprisingly he agreed under that 4am-in-the-morning pressure, though Parliament is now doing its democratic duty and pushing back. In the meantime, the banks are on ‘bank holiday’. The Troika is re-spinning the story, but all you need to do is read the newpaper articles from Saturday and the public statements on Saturday to see that this was the case.<br /><br />7. Now, it is important to note that the Tuesday deadline is completely arbitrary. Cyprus applied for a bailout nine months ago and has a major bond payment this summer, so the only reason for the ‘rush’ was to ambush him on his first week on the job so to speak and force passage of the bill through Parliament before markets open. In the spirit of this ambush, Russia, which has been asked to restructure its sovereign loan to Cyprus, and has been told that they would be a part of any bailout found out about the approach in the newspapers which did not improve their mood.<br /><br /><b>The Important Stuff:</b><br /><br />Now, let’s get to the meat of the situation. Most of the international analysis of the ‘bail-in’ has been, quite frankly,<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> very sloppy</span>, along the lines of ‘depositor bail-ins are not ideal, but Cyprus has naughty Russian money-launderers so serves them right – it is only fair that these fatcats pay for the bill’.<br />While superficially pleasing, this is misguided along half a dozen lines.<br /><br />8. You never, ever, ever, hit insured depositors.<br /><b>That damage is done and it is EU-wide. There is now precedent that in the EU, deposit insurance can be end-runned via a ‘wealth tax on the deposits you had in the bank at 4:59pm on Friday afternoon’</b>. While this may be legally not a violation of deposit insurance (aka the bank did not fail, the government grabbed your money), it is a violation of the spirit and will be challenged both under the Cypriot constitution and the European Court of <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">Human Rights</span>.<br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">It is also completely clear that this was not something that the Cyprus government invented – it was forced on them by the Troika. </span>As late as the prior week, both the President and Minister of Finance said: “<span style="background-color: yellow;">No depositor haircuts — this is the stupidest idea in the world for the EU</span>”<br />Whether or not there is a bank run tomorrow in Spain, the system damage has been done — look for funding cost to rise for any risky EU bank next time there is a hint of a crisis. The funding costs will be orders of multiples higher than any ‘savings’ here.<br /><br />9. You should basically never hit non-insured depositors either. For all its free market capitalism, the US extended $13T of guarantees to things like money-market funds to avoid outcomes like this. <span style="background-color: yellow;">But in the EU, they are willing to risk lack of trust in the banks over 5B euros.</span><br /><br />10. There is nothing resembling a proper order of default here. As far as I can tell, people who have not been wiped out yet include: bank shareholders, bank bond holders, sovereign bondholders.<br />The rationale, broadly speaking, of why they have not been hit is “It is hard and they might sue us” as if restructuring and insolvency was otherwise a dinner party or we might only save 1-2B that way (as if that is not meaningful in the context of a 5B haircut…)<br /><br />11. What is even more absurd is that this is not a bail-in of Depositors of Bank A to rescue Bank A, but a bail-in of Depositors of Banks A-Z to rescue Depositors of Bank A (Laiki), B (Bank of Cyprus) and C (maybe some small amounts to the others).<br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">This is one of the reasons that the Russians are howling mad. There are 3B dollars of Russian money in a subsidiary of VTB in Cyprus, a perfectly solvent Russian bank. As far as I can tell, they will be haircut in order to bail out Laiki, a bank that they never deposited money in.</span> <span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>On the contrary, the depositors in Laiki’s branches in Greece (aka a totally insolvent bank in a much more insolvent sovereign) will not be haircut</b>.</span><br />There is no conceivable creditor prioritization in which this makes sense nor does it teach you anything about moral hazard or fairness. In fact, the only thing it might teach you is: “only put deposits in countries that control their Central Bank” because there is no logic or analysis that could have predicted ex ante that a depositor in VTB-Cyprus was more likely to be haircut than a depositor in Laiki-Greece (the latter being 100x more risky than the former).<br /><br />12. <b>We should also address the “Money Laundering” point. There might be some true money laundering in Cyprus just like there is at dozens of Western banks (HSBC, Standard Chartered, and so on).</b><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">There are also legitimate tax reasons for investment in Russia to be routed through Cyprus (BP Russia is also a Cyprus company for example) for well-known and transparent tax treaty reasons, no different than Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Bahamas, Delaware, Nevada and so on</span>. Someday the whole world financial system might be restructured so there is no tax arbitrage, but that day is not today and why the EU is so “concerned” on Putin’s behalf about whether or not Russian companies are tax-arbing their offshore operations is beyond me.<br /><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>When the EU figures out how to prevent Google, Apple, Starbucks and friends from operating in their countries and routing all the earnings tax free to the Caymens through a double-Irish Dutch sandwich, then perhaps they can help Putin out with his tax collection work</b></span>. In any case, Putin certainly does not seem to appreciate the ‘assistance’ here.<br /><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">Germany is having a completely surreal domestic election discussion about not bailing out wealthy Russians as if this was the key issue at play here or even an issue at all</span>. Put Laiki in resolution and treat it like a normal bank bankruptcy and see who wants to bail it out – you might be very surprised to see that the Russians do, in fact, want to buy it themselves.. In any case, it certainly does not suggest that we should blindly attack depositors in Cyprus banks whose only ‘crime’ using the same banks as people who may or may not have over-optimized their Russian tax bill any more than you should haircut a retail HSBC customer because HSBC facilitated Mexican drug cartel money.<br /><br />13. “Large” Account holders:<br />The large account holders (large being defined as above 100K) are not just fat-cat hedge funds (as if 100K makes you a fat-cat) but the operating accounts of basically every business of size in Cyprus.<br /><i>BoC and Laiki are the whole money center system of Cyprus and basically you cannot transact business in Cyprus if you are of any size and avoid them.</i><br />So, the chaos that is going to emerge when checking accounts, payroll accounts, escrow accounts, pensions, trusts, payments-in-transit and so on are arbitrarily haircut is going to be massive – both in disrupted business operations and small business bankruptcies, but also in thousands of legal disputes.<br /><br />14. Even despite all the arbitrariness above, at least it solves the problem right???<br />Absolutely not. You will haircut 10% of deposits on day 1 to make up a capital shortfall and promptly watch 30% of the rest of the deposits flee the country, leading to a much bigger capital hole that Europe will have to fill.<br />In addition, this will severely cramp Cyprus’s main economic driver the last 2 years (selling real estate, tourism and accounting services to Russians) so any concept that it will make the debt “more sustainable” comes from a lunatic place in financial modeling. <b>Cyprus is a 78% services-based economy. So, if you assume that GDP growth is exactly the same before and after you confiscate the assets of your clients, well, I have a solvent Cypriot bank to sell to you…</b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="color: red;">This is so obviously risky, that the more paranoid commentators believe it is a deliberate plan by Germany to end up as a multi-deca-billion creditor to Cyprus to which the pledging its oil and gas reserves is the only solution.</span></span></span> I don’t think this is the case, but boy it is getting hard to believe that they are this short-sighted.<br /><br />See:  <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/cypruss-financial-crisis-and-its.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/cypruss-financial-crisis-and-its.html </a><br /><br />15. We are not suggesting that Cyprus should not feel austerity. If you want to do a wealth tax, then pass a wealth tax, calculate it properly (on wealth, not on liquidity on a given day) and collect it. Or issue subordinate government bonds tied to gas revenue to the local population. And restructure everyone below on the priority chain. And ask Russia to contribute to the bail-out as part of protecting its depositors. Or do a proper workout of Laiki (it is much easier to make the case to the Russians that depositors in Laiki should get haircut given that its financial insolvency has been common market knowledge for a while). And so on.<br />But don’t arbitrarily, in the dark of night, out of the sight of democratic processes, try to make a grab into the whole banking sector. It makes a mockery of rule of law and the Eurozone.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br /></div>

CYPRUS BAILOUT

  CYPRUS BAILOUT: STUPIDITY, SHORT- SIGHTEDNESS, SOMETHING ELSE? This post from Cyprus.com addresses some important misperceptions about...

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Your elementary students are overweight? Power Rangers to the rescue!

<b id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQPcYIOEQOMC0VM7jS0KiEdqxFuSfrpcasypFiEJqFBx5exyHsveIOV9myAstJxl7_INKG-3jhCWHv4ErjkQyPFIjtLaszLyZ964MXCFuLdalnxI8w0ZHAbFh_zNzBvYVYvo_Flf6LQLm/s1600/pr2013_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQPcYIOEQOMC0VM7jS0KiEdqxFuSfrpcasypFiEJqFBx5exyHsveIOV9myAstJxl7_INKG-3jhCWHv4ErjkQyPFIjtLaszLyZ964MXCFuLdalnxI8w0ZHAbFh_zNzBvYVYvo_Flf6LQLm/s320/pr2013_poster.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://empower.powerrangers.com/sites/default/files/Power%20Rangers%20emPOWER%20Challenge%20Teacher%20Kit.pdf">Download </a>the Power Rangers Empower curriculum.<br />Enter <a href="http://empower.powerrangers.com/teacher-sweepstakes">the sweepstakes</a> to have the Power Rangers<br />come to your school.</td></tr></tbody></table></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week when I kept Children’s church, the children said they didn’t want to play “Mother May I” but could they play <b>Power Rangers.</b> Each 4 year old was a ranger and had a job and role to do. Interestingly, when I was approached by a potential advertiser that uses PowerRangers to promote healthy living and habits, I was already primed and keen because I know that children are already play and pretend to be Rangers. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This curriculum is perfect for younger children and should be one you email to your elementary teacher friends. You could adapt for other ages as well.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As a person who has struggled with maintaining a healthy weight, this topic is near to my heart. We HAVE to create engaging, powerful health content to use with children and after reviewing this material, it is a GREAT start (and it is free.)</span></span></span></div><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The<a href="http://bit.ly/emPOWERbusyteacher"> emPOWER program</a> takes the “teamwork, confidence, health, and physical activity” motto’s of the Power Rangers and puts it into a free curriculum for you to use in your classroom. </span></span></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the creators of the program:</span></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Power Rangers emPOWER Challenge program provides teacher-approved in-classroom activities aligned to national curriculum standards for grades 1-3, utilizing the Power Rangers to inspire kids to eat healthy, exercise, and develop teamwork and confidence.  The program provides resources, recipes, and tips for parents, too.”</span></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://empower.powerrangers.com/sites/default/files/Power%20Rangers%20emPOWER%20Challenge%20Teacher%20Kit.pdf">Download the free kit now.</a> [PDF]</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each "Power Rangers emPOWER Challenge" classroom guide contains:</span></div><br /><ul style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Classroom activities that introduce important life skills and help build healthy habits</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Student worksheets to distribute to your class with exercises that build verbal skills</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A parent mini-magazine that explains the program and provides healthy recipes</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A certificate of completion for participating students</span></div></li></ul><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw-R16h3DCog1oIwArrwY_6wv3ZPW5XTnCya6CXGTcA6KlFl-Oup-Yk0BLNkGLpX0BgaSrBGe1lAAlZG_AVuh15DZdOP9W-eX7k5zZjkIWdrnY4dsALxKYdWOR_JzpdhpCLZdxM9v-6U4/s1600/pr2013_activity4+thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw-R16h3DCog1oIwArrwY_6wv3ZPW5XTnCya6CXGTcA6KlFl-Oup-Yk0BLNkGLpX0BgaSrBGe1lAAlZG_AVuh15DZdOP9W-eX7k5zZjkIWdrnY4dsALxKYdWOR_JzpdhpCLZdxM9v-6U4/s320/pr2013_activity4+thumbnail.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you can also apply to have the Power Rangers come to your school!</span></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The P</span><a href="http://empower.powerrangers.com/teacher-sweepstakes" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ower Rangers emPOWER Challenge School Sweepstakes </span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">will award a $5,000 donation and a visit from the Power Rangers Megaforce to the winning school or nonprofit after-school program. Make sure to download the kit and enter your local elementary school or after-school program in the sweepstakes! </span>Registration is open until March 31st.</span></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enter the P</span><a href="http://empower.powerrangers.com/teacher-sweepstakes"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ower Rangers emPOWER Challenge School Sweepstakes</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> today - and let us know if you've been implementing the program in your classroom how it's worked.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The students love the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Power Rangers</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and I am glad they are using their social cred with the younger generation for a good cause. I hope if you’re a teacher in grades 1-3 that you’ll </span><a href="http://empower.powerrangers.com/sites/default/files/Power%20Rangers%20emPOWER%20Challenge%20Teacher%20Kit.pdf"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Download the free kit now</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and tell your friends. You can </span><a href="http://ymiclassroom.com/lesson-plans/power-rangers-empower/"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">download each piece separately</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as well. Thanks.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"></b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, I’ve accepted this organization for one of the few advertising spots on my blog because I like the program, it is an important cause, and this organization is providing free resources for teachers. That is a great fit.</span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.018686966504901648" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do you teach students about healthy living? Please share in the comments what you are doing and also, how you like this program. I'd really like to get your feedback.</span></b></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-------</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Disclosure of material connection:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> This is a "sponsored post." It is something I do sometimes for those who are advertisers on my website. (So don't contact me for one unless you want an advertisement.) The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I have used or reviewed personally and believe will be good for my readers. I'm disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."</span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></b>

Your elementary students are overweight? Power Rangers to the rescue!

Download the Power Rangers Empower curriculum. Enter the sweepstakes to have the Power Rangers come to your school. Last week when I kept C...

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Pigeon Forge Fire Smolders After Monday Rain

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Pigeon Forge Fire Smolders After Monday Rain" src="http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2013/03/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pigeon Forge, TN – The forest fire that once stretched across 300 acres dwindled down to less than a single acre after a full day of around-the-clock efforts and an evening rain Monday. The fire damaged over 70 cabins at the Black Bear Ridge Resort and several private structures sprinkled throughout the heavily forested area not far from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sevier County Emergency Management Director John Matthews told <a class="external" href="http://www.wbir.com/news/article/260508/2/Fire-officials-still-enforcing-evacuation-orders-for-Pigeon-Forge-fire" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Fire down to less than an acre, evacuation soon to be lifted">a local television station</a> that people who want to check on their property and try to recover their belongings may be allowed back into their cabins today. The badly damaged areas will remain closed. Families lost a range of items, from clothes to expensive electronics and priceless mementos, but fortunately there was no loss of life.</div><div style="background-color: white; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div style="margin: 2px 10px 10px 0px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="410" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="adblade_ad_iframe" scrolling="no" src="http://web.adblade.com/impsc.php?cid=1818-1466442841&url=http%3A//www.inquisitr.com/579006/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders-after-monday-rain/&rnd=1363791769347&output=html" vspace="0" width="260"></iframe></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The forest fire began as a house fire at around 4:00 pm on Sunday and peaked around 300 acres later that day. By Monday morning, crews had <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/578384/pigeon-forge-fire-continues-to-burn-doubles-damage-in-east-tennessee/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.inquisitr.com/578384/pigeon-forge-fire-continues-to-burn-doubles-damage-in-east-tennessee/">reduced the fire to half of its size</a>, but the fire continued to break through containment and <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/577367/pigeon-forge-fire-decimates-resort-town-in-tennessee/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.inquisitr.com/577367/pigeon-forge-fire-decimates-resort-town-in-tennessee/">work its way up the hill</a>. An evening rain arrived that reduced the fire to less than five acres. By Tuesday morning only a few scattered fires remained, consuming less than an acre.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Over 100 firefighters from up to 30 fire departments responded to the crisis from areas throughout East Tennessee. The Tennessee Army National Guard loaned two Black Hawk helicopters to the effort, which airlifted 60 loads of water from Douglas Lake to diminish the fire burning just outside Pigeon Forge. Only a few firefighters remained Tuesday morning to monitor the remains.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A state of emergency was declared Monday and the American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at the Pigeon Forge Community Center for residents displaced by the fire. Volunteers organized a command center at the local Calvary Baptist Church.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The majority of the cabins affected were lost. 59 cabins were completely destroyed, and another 16 were damaged. Those whose properties remain intact will be escorted to try to retrieve their things. Law enforcement will still maintain a quarantine around the cabins burned by the fire due to safety concerns.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pigeon Forge is a resort city with a population of around 6,000. The city is home to Dollywood, the popular tourist attraction co-owned by <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/tag/dolly-parton/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Dolly Parton</a>, which was never threatened by the fire. The bulk of the <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/577351/tennessee-wildfire-threatens-popular-tourist-destination/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" title="Tennessee Wildfire Threatens Popular Tourist Destination">Pigeon Forge fire</a> took place in the heavily forested mountainous area outside of town.</div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />Read more at <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/579006/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders-after-monday-rain/#khjgGz2UOe2bbPKp.99" style="color: #003399; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">http://www.inquisitr.com/579006/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders-after-monday-rain/#khjgGz2UOe2bbPKp.99</a> </span></div>

Pigeon Forge Fire Pigeon Forge Fire Smolders After Monday Rain

Pigeon Forge, TN – The forest fire that once stretched across 300 acres dwindled down to less than a single acre after a full day of around-...

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UCF Gunman's To-Do List Ended With 'Give 'Em Hell'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The University of Central Florida student who planned to massacre his fellow students had ordered more than $700 worth of weapons online, including two packages of ammunition, gun shooting DVDs, and accessories for his weapons that arrived on campus after the attack had already been thwarted.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The packages contained even more ammunition for the attack that former UCF student James Oliver Seevakumaran, 30, planned to carry out Monday morning shortly after midnight.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">He already had a handgun, assault rifle, high capacity magazines, and four homemade bombs he hoped to use on fellow students after pulling the fire alarm and forcing them into the crowded hallways, according to police.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">University Police Chief Richard Beary said today that Seevakumaran had written out a detailed list of the actions he hoped to take Monday night and crossed off the items as he went, including getting drunk at a bar called Mad Hatters and pulling the fire alarm. Police confirmed that he did both.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The last item on the list was "give 'em hell," but Seevakumaran killed himself before killing any fellow students, Beary said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/university-central-florida-body-bombs-found-18755260" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">University of Central Florida Narrowly Avoids Tragedy Monday</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">According to cops, the former business student pulled the fire alarm shortly after midnight, causing campus police to respond to the Tower 1 residence hall. He then returned to his apartment, where he pointed a rifle at roommate Arabo Babakhani.</div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_image_feature" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="PHOTO: James Seevakumaran is seen in this undated handout photo from University of Central Florida, where he was found dead in a dorm room on March 18, 2013 from an allegedly self-inflicted gunshot wound." border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_ufc_seevakumaran_kb_130318_wg.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5px; padding: 0px;" title="" width="199" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/image_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="photo_credit" style="color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">Courtesy University of Central Florida</div><div class="photo_caption" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">James Seevakumaran is seen in this undated... <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">View Full Size</a></div></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_1]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/WNT/abc_wn_gutman_0631_130319_wa.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">UCF Student's Massacre Plot Foiled: Roommate's 911 Call <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_2" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_2]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/abc_gma_thomas_130319_wa.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Alleged University of Central Florida Massacre Thwarted <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_3]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/abc_gma_muller_121120_wa.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Teen's Alleged Bomb Plot Revealed in Cell Phone Video <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Babakhani quickly hid in the bathroom and called 911 before Seevakumaran had a chance to shoot.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"As soon as the fire alarm happened, I open my door, I think something is burning on the stove. I open my door and I see my roommate with an assault rifle. I didn't stop and look, I slam the door in his face so he couldn't harm me. As soon as I open the door he just raised the rifle on me," Babakhani told ABC News.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Babakhani said Seevakumaran was a loner.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"For the most part if you said anything to him he would ignore you, he would stare off in the distance and pretend like you didn't exist. But he made eye contact with me when he pulled the gun on me. That was the best eye contact I ever had with him. He looked me dead in the eye and raised the gun," Babakhani said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"I thought he went after my roommate but I didn't hear a struggle. Then I heard pops and then silence," he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">University police responded to the apartment and, in a dramatic video shown at a press conference today, spent tedious moments trying to find the right key to enter Seevakumaran's room while the fire alarm sounded around them. Upon entering, they found Seevakumaran dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Officers quickly backed out of the room where Seevakumaran's body was. Police said that he had four homemade IEDs that were laced with shrapnel in a backpack in his room, in addition to the guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The suspect had a American Tactical .22 caliber assault rifle and a High Point .45 caliber handgun and high capacity magazines, including a drum magazine similar to the type used in the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Police discovered today that Seevakumaran had two additional packages that he never picked up at the campus post office that included a sling for his rifle, a magazine, and DVDs on shooting and using lasers with weapons.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Beary said that the suspect spent at least $700 on the weapons and ammunition for the attack.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Seevakumaran had purchased his guns online and picked them up at a local Orlando federal firearms dealer, according to Beary.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Police said they were still investigating the incident but that there was no discernible motive for the planned attack.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"></div><h3 style="font-size: 15px !important; margin: 0px 0px 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Last Item on Gunman's List Was 'Give 'Em Hell'</h3><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Seevakumaran had been a student at the university from fall 2010 until December 2012, but he did not re-enroll for the 2013 semester. He was in the process of being evicted from the dorm when he killed himself. University officials said that it should not have taken as long as it did to evict Seevakumaran, but that the school took pains to be "compassionate" to students who had nowhere to go.</div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_image" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="PHOTO: A police officer shows a picture of a gun similar to the one found in a University of Central Florida dorm room, March 18, 2013." border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/abc_ucf_campus_threat_mi_130318_wg.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5px; padding: 0px;" title="" width="199" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/image_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="photo_credit" style="color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">ABC News</div><div class="photo_caption" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">A police officer shows a picture of a gun... <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">View Full Size</a></div></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_1]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/WNT/abc_wn_gutman_0631_130319_wa.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">UCF Student's Massacre Plot Foiled: Roommate's 911 Call <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_2" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_2]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/abc_gma_thomas_130319_wa.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Alleged University of Central Florida Massacre Thwarted <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Babakhani said that his roommate was a loner.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"For the most part if you said anything to him he would ignore you. He would stare off in the distance and pretend like you didn't exist. But he made eye contact with me when he pulled the gun on me. That was the best eye contact I ever had with him. He looked me dead in the eye and raised the gun," Babakhani.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">His roommates said they had never seen him with guns or weapons.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">University police have stressed how the number of weapons and ammunition could have led to mass tragedy.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"Anybody armed with this type of weapon could have hurt a lot of people there, particularly in a crowded area as people were evacuating," Beary said. "It could          have been a very bad day."</div><br /></div>

UCF Gunman's To-Do List Ended With 'Give 'Em Hell' UCF Gunman's To-Do List Ended With 'Give 'Em Hell'

The University of Central Florida student who planned to massacre his fellow students had ordered more than $700 worth of weapons online, in...

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