I am so impressed with Butler Pediatrics! We just had to have some work done for my 3 1/2 year old and they could not have been more professional, while helpful and reassuring at the same time. They made it a positive experience for my daughter, who now loves going to the dentist! She even told me she had dreamed about going! Dr Butler also did excellent work on her teeth, while being conservative in her approach and not doing anything serious beyond what was necessary. Thank you so much to the whole Butler Pediatrics team!
I would recommend this office time and time again. They always make my kids feel so welcome and are so patient and caring to their cleaning needs. My oldest had to have a procedure done that we did not expect and she was so calm and comfortable with all of the staff. It was amazing. Their office are also so beautiful and welcoming. Best place for kids!
I bring three of my children to this practice and all of them have had nothing but good experiences. Everyone is so caring and friendly. The kids feel comfortable and easily cooperate. We've been to pediatric dentists in the past that just didn't know how to put kids at ease- not the case with Dr. Butler and her staff! Their bedside manner is excellent and it helps make our appointments a breeze! And their treatment plans are honest. I don't ever feel like I'm being ripped off or they are trying to make extra off of unnecessary treatments. I feel like they always have my kids' best interest in mind. So glad to have found this place!!
This place is what every pediatric dentist should be like. Dr Butler is amazing! She is honest, truly cares, no funny busyness like other dentist! I am truly grateful she exists !!! And I am lucky enough to have her as our children's pediatric dentis. This is combining from Mom a mom of two and of autistic 2.5 year old.
I've been bringing all my kids here for about 5 years. Dr. Butler is an incredible, passionate and super fun dentist and her staff and assistants are top notch. Her office space is amazing and suitable for ANY kid. They go above and beyond for kids with special needs and those kids (and their parents) who need extra grace. Kids who may be frightened always leave with smiles. The cleanings are fun and the dental work has always been very well done.
The people who work the office are very unwelcoming. It feels similar to walking into a tow truck shop. I don't recommend this place at all!
Dr. Butler and her entire staff are very pleasant, efficient and really good with children. My daughter is competitive swimmer, she has bad stains on her teeth, and Dr. Butler got all the stains out. We've been with Dr. Butler for atleast 6yrs, always happy with the outcomes.
Dr. Gloria and her staff are the most amazing group of people. They made my son feel welcome and safe. He is usually shy and introverted but he was throwing high 5's and smiles by the end of his visit. There is no fearing the dentist when you visit Butler Pediatric Dentristry.
Dr. Butler and her team are great with kids of all ages. My child has had a great experience from her very first visit as a toddler up to present day. I highly recommend Butler Dentistry to anyone.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


PETALING JAYA: The Attorney-General Chambers has filed criminal charges against subsidiaries of investment bank Goldman Sachs and its key employees over the handling of bonds issued by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) totalling USD6.5bil (RM27.2bil).
Attorney general Tommy Thomas said that charges were filed against Goldman Sachs' former Southeast Asia chairman Tim Leissner and former 1MDB employees Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.
He added that banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa would be charged shortly.
Thomas said Leissner and Ng had conspired with Low, Loo and others to bribe Malaysian public officials in order to procure the selection, involvement and participation of Goldman Sachs in three Bond issuances.
He also said that the Goldman employees had not only received part of the misappropriated bond proceeds, but also received large bonuses and enhanced career prospects at the bank and in the overall investment banking industry.
"The charges arise from the commission and abetment of false or misleading statements by all the accused in order to dishonestly misappropriate USD2.7bil (RM11.3bil) from the proceeds of three bonds issued by subsidiaries of 1MDB, which were arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs," he said in a statement on Monday (Dec 17).
Thomas said the three bonds were the 10-year USD1.75bil (RM7.32bil) issued by 1MDB Energy Limited, the 10-year USD1.75bil (RM7.32bil) issued by 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited and the 10-year USD3bil (RM12.6bil) issued by 1MDB Global Investments Limited.
Thomas added that the investment bank had benefited by receiving underwriting and arranging fees of approximately USD600mil (RM2.5bil), which was higher than market rates and industry norms.
Thomas also said the Offering Circulars and Private Placement Memorandum for the Bonds filed with the Labuan Financial Services Authority had also contained statements which were false, misleading, coupled with omissions of material.
"Offering Circulars and Private Placement Memorandum are serious documents, intended to be relied on, and, in fact, were relied on, by purchasers of the bonds.
"The scheme designed and crafted by the accused to fraudulently structure the bonds for ostensibly legitimate purposes when they knew that the proceeds thereof would be misappropriated and fraudulently diverted by the accused themselves was planned and executed in order to defraud the Government of Malaysia and the purchasers of the bonds," he said.
Thomas said their scheme had contravened Malaysia's securities laws, particularly, Section 179 of the Capital Markets and Services Act, 2007 (Act 671).
"Malaysia considers the allegations in the charges against all the accused to be grave violations of our securities laws, and to reflect their severity, prosecutors will seek criminal fines against the accused well in excess of the USD2.7bil (RM11.3bil) misappropriated from the Bonds proceeds and USD600mil (RM2.5bil) in fees received by Goldman Sachs, and custodial sentences against each of the individual accused: the maximum term of imprisonment being 10 years," he said.
He said that if no criminal proceedings are instituted against the accused, their undermining of the financial system and market integrity will go unpunished.
"Having held themselves out as the pre-eminent global adviser / arranger for bonds, the highest standards are expected of Goldman Sachs. They have fallen far short of any standard. In consequence, they have to be held accountable," he said.


It's been a long time coming, but I finally got a semi-working new site.
I started a new job at Northrop Grumman on November 6. The project I will be working on is in the process of moving up here, so there isn't much to do yet. I've basically been studying for a Cisco cert, surfing the web, and a little coding. I decided to put my mind to use and make a new website. This time, though, I would make a _real_website. Instead of static HTML pages like I used before, I was going to make a site with PHP and MySQL. That makes more sense for a blog style design anyway. So for the first week or so I designed the db, entered the data into it, and started the coding to display the information. Once I had a plain text version working, I started on the visual design. This part took just as long. I started by making a the header graphic, which was pretty easy. Then I needed to choose the right fonts and get them to look right. That took longer. But eventually I had a nice header graphic.
Next was to design the physical layout of the page. I started with an HTML/CSS template to get everything looking right, then I incorporated it into the PHP code. Next up was the links to different sections of the site. I remember seeing translucent tabs on the old Mozilla site and liked that idea. So I decided to implement my own version of that. However, my version proved to be much harder. The Mozilla version (and other translucent tab examples) used a solid color background on which to set the tabs. My background, as you can see, is an American flag. So none of the examples would work correctly. I had to get a little creative; taking out all of the opaque colors on the tabs and using precisely sized "corner" images. Then, set the DIV opacity and I'm in business.
Next up was the left side links. I don't have much for there yet, but I could use some little "badges" to show pertinent information. So I got/modified badges for Linux (the hosting platform), Apache (the web server), MySQL (the database), PHP (the programming language), CSS (the style language), XHTML 1.1 (the markup language), and the Creative Commons License (to make sure people use content from my site appropriately). Everything looked great!
I thought that I should look at the site in IE to make sure everything worked. I previously made sure the template worked, which it did. But, with the addition of the left DIV, the tabs disappeared. I mean, the code was there, but the tabs weren't. I tried hiding everything I could to see if they were behind an element. No dice. The problem ended up being that IE didn't like the left DIV being floated. I had to position it absolutely, then the tabs reappeared. Weird, huh?
So anyway, I'm now working on an admin interface. I am making this post through the "New Blog Entry" interface. I still need to make the "Edit Blog Entry" and "Edit Section" interfaces. Those should prove to be rather rough. I mean, the actual coding to make that happen won't be, but the way I designed the site makes it hard to keep the chrome while doing postbacks. I'll have to think this one out a little bit.
After the admin interface comes the part everyone's been waiting for... comments!


text:
A Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
by eeggert · December 13, 2018
One of the most ironic things about Hillary Clinton is that she had the reputation of someone who always shaded the truth but ended up taking the most flak for when she spoke it. Her comments about the "deplorables" who supported Trump may not have been the wisest idea politically but the rise of the alt-right under Trump has proven her to be correct. Her warnings about Trump's Russian connections were largely ridiculed at the time but have proven to be prescient. But perhaps the comment she was most harshly criticized and ridiculed for was her comments describing the Whitewater/Lewinsky/Paula Jones/Ken Starr/impeachment saga as the result of a "vast right wing conspiracy", a claim that was subsequently largely proven to be true.
Clinton might want to trot that expression out again in order to describe the extensive efforts from the inordinate numbers of Republican operatives in contact with the Russians and engaging in potential and admitted campaign finance violations, as well as other crimes, all in an effort to get Donald Trump elected. There are now at least 16 significant Trump associates who had contact with the Russians during the campaign. The list includes:
Paul Manafort
Rick Gates,
Donald Trump, Jr
Carter Page
Erik Prince
It also includes lesser figures like J.D. Gordon, a friend of Maria Butina, Avi Berkowitz, Kushner's long-time friend, and Michael Caputo, a Roger Stone protégé.
That list does not include:
Ted Mallach, Roger Stone's reported contact with Julian Assange
Aaron Nevins, a Florida GOP operative who received DNC info from Guccifer 2.0
David Keene, David Clarke, and Paul Erickson, who connected the Russians with the NRA and the evangelical community
Sol Annuzis, a well connected GOP operative with links to the NRA, RNC, Mercers, and Cambridge Analytica
Rick Dearborn, longtime aide to Jeff Sessions
Peter Smith, GOP operative who tried to contact Wikileaks about Hillary's emails
A so far unnamed GOP Congressional candidate in 2016, reportedly Brian Mast, who received DNC data from Guccifer 2.0
Ben Carson, who, while not in contact with the Russians, reportedly introduced the Trump campaign to an Israeli voter manipulation firm
In addition to those individuals essentially soliciting foreign interference in our election, there were also numerous other Trump associates and Republican operatives that were involved in ensuring that any of the women with whom Trump had had dalliances over the years were paid to keep silent before the election. Beyond Michael Cohen, that effort also involved David Pecker and the National Enquirer, which concurrently ran a remarkable number of pro-Trump and anti-Clinton stories during the campaign, and Keith Davidson who fraudulently represented two of those accusers.
It is also becoming apparent that the Trump campaign was illegally coordinating its political messaging with the NRA, which spent more money on the Trump campaign than on any other candidate in their history. In fact, the NRA spent more than Trump's own Super-PAC. The source of all that money remains shrouded behind the wall of secrecy that protects the Association's dark money PAC but there have been reports that much of it came from the Russians.
The coordinated political messaging was run through National Media, which was employed by both NRA and Trump campaign. Often the same people at National Media were used to execute that political strategy. Ads were place by both organizations on the same stations on the same programs with similar ratios by the same people at National Media. If the Trump campaign bought two ads, the NRA bought one and vice versa. As one former head of the Federal Elections Commission said, "I don't think I've ever seen a situation where illegal coordination seems more obvious. It is so blatant that it doesn't even seem sloppy". How many individuals at National Media were involved and who they are has yet to be determined, as has the individuals they were coordinating with at the NRA and the Trump campaign.
As opposed to those individuals, there are others whose name we do know that knew of the connections to the Russians and/or the ongoing campaign finance violations and abetted them. These include:
Sam Nunberg, Randy Credico, and Jerome Corsi, all Stone's protégés
Alan Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's CFO who helped Cohen set up the shell company in order to make the hush money payment
Charles Kubic, Joseph Schmitz, Walid Phares, Bert Mizusawa, and Gary Harrell, who all attended the March, 2016 meeting where Papadopoulos discussed his Russian connections
Sam Clovis, whom Papadopoulos also contacted about his Russian connections
I'm sure this is not a complete list and I'm sure readers can add to it. But, as it stands, this is a list of nearly 40 names that were involved in questionable and criminal activities to help the Trump campaign or knew of that activity and did nothing. And the list does not include Trump himself, nor does it include those who abetted obscuring these actions after Trump's election or engaged in the pay-to-play that is a feature of the Trump transition and presidency. And virtually every one of those 40 have lied about their involvement at one time or another.
Jeffrey Toobin, in his summary of the Starr/Jones impeachment saga, described it as a conspiracy that may not have been directed by one individual but all the characters in it were driven by the same goal. In this case, there is clearly more coordination between the parties and the link to virtually all of them, of course, is Donald Trump.
Next story The Racketeer, The Evangelist, And The Pool Boy
Previous story Rigging Elections

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home / Analysis / The Henry Jackson Society and scaremongering with AIPAC
The Henry Jackson Society and scaremongering with AIPAC
Posted by: Laura Stuart in Analysis, Politics, UK 13/03/2013 2 Comments
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is North America's most vociferous pro-Israel lobby group. This week Alan Mendoza of Britain's Henry Jackson Society offered an interesting glimpse into what appears to be one of the main preoccupations of his organisation; namely, scaremongering about Muslims. The Henry Jackson Society has been described as a "neoconservative think tank" which, claims Sameh Libdeh, acts in Britain on behalf of Israel's right-wing Likud Party.
The society absorbed another far-right think tank called the Centre for Social Cohesion in September 2011. Spinwatch produced a report called "The Cold War on British Muslims" which investigated the roles of the Centre for Social Cohesion and Policy Exchange in whipping-up fear of Muslims in Britain and America. A recent report by HJS, "Al Qaeda in the United States", was featured in a sensational report on Fox News, no doubt aiming to divert attention from men with long beards in Afghanistan to the all-American Muslim boy next door. No wonder there are so many attacks on Muslims and their places of worship in the US.
The Henry Jackson Society's list of advisors and staff is a veritable who's who of those pushing an anti Muslim agenda with Executive Director Alan Mendoza at the top. One ex-contributor to the HJS, academic Marko Atilla Hoare, has claimed that Mendoza got rid of all the founder members of the group in what he describes as a "putsch". Dr. Hoare left the HJS after it took what he said was a rather alarming lurch to the right. His website points out that the society "includes among its Trustees Michael Gove, the current Secretary of State for Education, and it is alleged to have influenced the foreign policy of David Cameron and William Hague. It currently serves as a secretariat, at the House of Commons, to the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Transatlantic and International Security and for Homeland Security."
Thus do we begin to get a glimpse of the possible influence that the Henry Jackson Society may have on government policy at Westminster.
Mendoza's speech to AIPAC included the perceived threat to Israeli interests in Europe because of immigration and a rising Muslim population. Can you imagine the furore if anyone stood up and started to talk about the threat from a rising Jewish population? The presumed "threat" to Israeli interests has to be increasing Muslim awareness of what Israel is doing to the Palestinians in the territory occupied in 1948 and 1967.
It has to be assumed that Muslims having their own media sources outside of the largely pro Israel mainstream are often in possession of facts about the real situation in Palestine and Israel's murderous policies towards Palestinians that Mendoza and his masters would prefer the European public not to hear. Even worse, from Israel's perspective, is the fact that the people of Europe might not only see through Israeli "hasbara" (propaganda) as a result of greater interaction with Muslims, but also realise that the neocon propaganda about Islam and Muslims generally is nothing less than scaremongering.
Rather strangely for a European, Mendoza told AIPAC, "There also is the whole concept of defending one's country that seems foreign to Europeans… who truly believe talk is the answer." At a stroke, he discounted himself and his own country from any links with Europe, which I find rather disturbing; Mendoza talks about Europeans as some sort of "other". Even more worrying is that he appears to be giving tacit support to violence, state or otherwise, as the way to resolve international conflict. Does this mean that he defends Israel's murderous policy of assassinating those whom its government wishes to silence? What about Israel's genocidal policies against the Palestinians? Does he support those?
A poll carried out by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre suggested that Israel is indeed, in the view of most Europeans, the biggest threat to world peace. Rather than condoning the actions of such an aggressive country, surely Mendoza should be asking when Britain and America will stop sacrificing our young men and women in unjust and unlawful invasions of Muslim lands to protect Israel and Israeli interests.
Continuing his anti-European tirade to AIPAC, Mendoza accused the European Union of being "obsessive about finding a just and peaceful solution, a two-state solution" to the conflict in the Holy Land. It must be very inconvenient for the likes of Mendoza and AIPAC's apologists for Israel (a state with a massive standing army funded largely by US tax dollars at a time when US citizens are seeing public services and benefits cut by Washington) that there are Americans and Europeans who prefer a peaceful solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict instead of the "war-war, not jaw-jaw" approach that they prefer. It is clear that Israel's vision for a peaceful solution, what might ironically be called a final solution, is that it controls as much of historic Palestine with as few Palestinians on it as possible.
AIPAC, and Mendoza, probably have no need to worry and can sleep easily knowing that most government ministers in Britain are "Friends of Israel". Indeed, it was reported that two British MPs were in the AIPAC audience listening to Mendoza's speech. One, Andrew Percy, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole has been described as one of his party's "most rebellious MPs". On this issue, however, he appears to be keen to toe the pro-Israel line, being very keen to let Americans know "that about 70 per cent of the Conservative Members of Parliament support Israel and are concerned" about threats to the state.
As a British citizen I must say that I am more than concerned about how much organisations like the Henry Jackson Society can influence Conservative Party policy; the party is, after all, the main partner in our governing coalition. Keeping the numbers of Muslims in Britain and Europe down is clearly a priority for the HJS, not because of any existential threat to the UK, but because of the influence they could have on government policy towards Israel and its illegal expansionist policies in the occupied Palestinian territories. The government should be open about how far pro-Israel lobby groups in Britain are influencing policy; we need to know that our officials are acting in Britain's best interests, not those of Israel.
Sources:www.islam21c.com
Islam21c requests all the readers of this article, and others, to share it on your facebook, twitter, and other platforms to further spread our efforts.
Laura Stuart
Previous: Proactivity; a figment of the past
Next: Highest Hits
About Laura Stuart
Housewife, Human rights activist & revert to Islam
yusaf
I am sure this same website reminded us that according to a Hadith – talk by Sh. Hadad i believe – there will be a Genocide of muslims in europe??
Well the cogs are being put in place via the far right organisations – throughout europe.
Once these organisation called for 'all foreigners' to be sent 'home' – now ALL these separate and independent organisations are suddenly and at the same time calling for 'muslims' to be …… well we know the end result and their intentions regardless of wht they actually say….. genocide.
Everyone is awake – except the muslims themselves.
May Allah swt have mercy on us.
Islamic Faith
Islam is the fastest growing faith in Britain. Hundreds and thousands of Brits are reverting to Islam. By the middle of this century, over half of Brits would be Muslims.
New research has shown more women convert to Islam than men – in fact, they account for 60 per cent of conversions. They believed that they should be a force for good by building bridges between the Muslim and Non Muslim communities in order to understand Islam better.
Examples of women who have left high powered jobs in the city, educated women who mostly found out about Islam independently via books, the internet or discussion with Muslims; seem to be the picture that is portrayed in this study. This clearly demonstrates a clear pattern of converts who while non Muslim rethought their lives and actively sought to reject secular values, for a belief system offering spiritual and worldly guidance in order to regulate life in a meaningful and fulfilling way. The rejection of materialism and decadence seem to be some of the catalysts in making that change.
One of the most high-profile examples is Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth, who recently announced she had adopted the faith after a trip to Iran. The conversion of Lauren Booth will have a positive impact, despite claims that it is just attention-seeking. It will encourage people to convert, unless they idolise her, but I think that it will educate people and make them more interested in learning about Muslims. It's all about having a look at the Quran with an open mind, without presumptions and assumptions…Then would the reader understand what the beautiful religion is
all about….
Increasing numbers of young, university-educated women in their twenties and thirties are converting to Islam. Well – educated white women are more likely to convert to Islam than other groups. Through wearing modest clothing, all the way to a head scarf, it's no longer about how you look, It's getting free from this idea that you are defined by your dress size." At the London Central Mosque in Regent's Park, women account for roughly two thirds of the "New Muslims" who make their official declarations of faith – and most of them are under the age of 30.
The question is why are so-called liberated women choosing Islam. Such women are part of an intriguing trend. They seek spirituality, a higher meaning, and tend to be deep thinkers.
While 9/11 has led to a western military and ideological onslaught on Islam, 9/11 has also been the catalyst for increasing numbers, born and bred in the west, to question and reject western values and convert to Islam.
It is also of no surprise that no matter what policies or narrative is pushed by governments, writers, thinkers or elements of the media to try and reason away such conversions as 'fringe', 'coercion' or 'blind following,' this trend will continue in a world that seeks to understand the extent to which Capitalist liberal values have failed man in every sense and left a void which can only be filled by the truth!
"I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of
its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to
possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which
can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him – the wonderful man
and in my opinion for from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the
Saviour of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the
dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems
in a way that would bring it the much
needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad
that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to
be acceptable to the Europe of today." [G.B. Shaw, THE GENUINE ISLAM, Vol.
1, No. 81936.]
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
RT @AHakimIdris: The Western companies are turning a blind eye to #China, & #Muslim countries are failing to speak up. Today, those who are… 11 mins ago


text:
A Genetic study of Neuronal Signaling, Glutamate Accumulation,
and Stroke-Like Neuro-degeneration in C. elegans
Our brain is buzzing with neuronal activity. Nerve cells relentlessly fire information at one another, releasing powerful stimulating molecules in the process, such as the neurotransmitter Glutamate. How do we keep order in this mayhem? How do we clear the synapse of Glutamate, and prevent it from spilling over between neuronal circuits? Glutamate is also a dangerous neurotransmitter, because its accumulation in the synapse is toxic to the surrounding neurons. Indeed, insufficient Glutamate clearance during stroke/brain ischemia causes neurodegeneration in a process called excitotoxicity. What are the pathological events that happen in excitotoxicity? Can we find ways to stop or slow-down the degenerative process once it started?
These are some of the questions that we study in our lab. To help us tackle these complicated topics, we use the microscopic, free-living nematode C. elegans. Although these worms look very different from humans, they provide an excellent animal model system, because cellular and molecular events are highly conserved in evolution and are very similar in nematodes and humans. C. elegans research offers a simplified core version of these conserved signaling cascades, and a set of very powerful research tools. Since these nematodes are transparent, we can use optogenetics to study neuronal activity in intact animals while we modify their ability to clear Glutamate from their synapses. We can use genetic analysis and a battery of readily available mutant strains to follow the process of excitotoxic neurodegeneration, and determine critical steps. Furthermore, we can examine the balance between these neurodegenerative processes and pro-survival signaling cascades that provide neuroprotection. The use of C. elegans therefore allows us to illuminate basic principles in neuronal neurophysiology, neurodegeneration, and neuroprotection, principles that could provide guidance in the understanding of similar processes in higher animals.
• RESEARCH
• PEOPLE
• LAB PHOTOS
• Neuro@CCNY
Itzhak Mano, Ph.D.
Physiology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience
The CUNY School of Medicine at City College
The City University of New York (CUNY)
Center for Discovery & Innovation (CDI), room 3-382
85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY 10031
Lab: (212) 650 5334
Fax:(212) 650 7726
E-mail: imano@ccny.cuny.edu
Open PostDoc Position
Physiol. Pharm. & Neurosci, City College, C. elegans @ CUNY
The Mano Lab
Department of Physiology, Pharmacology, & Neuroscience
Sophie Davis Biomedical School, City College, The City University of New York.
Created By Omer Mano


text:
You can start with arbitrary JVM Memory options.

~~~ puppet
aem::instance { 'aem' :
  source       => '/path/to/aem-quickstart.jar',
  jvm_mem_opts => '-Xmx4096m'
}
~~~

**AEM will be configured as defined in the [Minimal Example](/docs/aem-instance/Minimal.md), with the following changes:**

* Start with 4G of Heap

## Specify JVM Memory w/ Perm Gen Example

If you're running on Java 7 or lower, you may still need to specify Perm Gen size:

~~~ puppet
aem::instance { 'aem' :
  source       => '/path/to/aem-quickstart.jar',
  jvm_mem_opts => '-Xmx4096m -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m'
}
~~~

**AEM will be configured as defined in the [Minimal Example](/docs/aem-instance/Minimal.md), with the following changes:**

* Start with 4G of Heap Memory and 1G of Perm Gen space.


text:
Goals and Achievements
BYRON HERBERT REECE SOCIETY
The purpose of the Byron Herbert Reece Society is to preserve, perpetuate, and promote the literary and cultural legacy of the Georgia mountain poet/novelist, Byron Herbert Reece. In addition to enhancing both knowledge of and appreciation for his writings, efforts will be made to honor his way of life, with particular emphasis on his love of nature and his attachment to farming.
Broad Goals
Promote a wider distribution and accessibility of all publications related to the life and works of Reece, including his books and correspondence and all biographies and anthologies. [THROUGH PUBLICITY AND ACTIVE BOOK SALES, THIS EFFORT IS ONGOING.]
Make a concerted effort to utilize to greater educational advantage the tapes of his readings and such productions about him as the Emmy-award winning film "The Bitter Berry," reader's theatre scripts of his life and literature, and any additional educational materials produced by the Society or other interested parties.
Complete the oral history project in which persons who knew Reece, including family members and close friends/correspondents, are interviewed for the purpose of acquiring information and insights concerning the writer and his personal history. [TWO DVDs PRODUCED; ADDITIONAL VIDEO-TAPING UNDERWAY.]
Based on the oral history interviews, establish a permanent collection of the pertinent recollections by producing additional DVDs, CDs, tapes, books, or other written records. [FAITHFULLY YOURS: THE LETTERS OF BHR; VOICES: FINDING BYRON HERBERT REECE video/dvd; written accounts of several Reece acquaintances.]
Plan an annual meeting of the Reece Society, which includes a special program featuring scholarly, dramatic, or informative presentations that emphasize specific aspects of the Byron Herbert Reece legacy. This event should have both educative and inspirational intent. [EIGHT SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS HAVE BEEN HELD TO DATE.]
Encourage the creation of original musical/dramatic compositions and productions based on Reece's life and literature. [JIM CLARK'S "The Service of Song" CD, consisting of 12 Reece poems set to music — available for purchase through the Society.]
Explore all avenues for convincing the decision-makers to include samples of Reece's poetry in textbook anthologies at both the high school and college levels.
Follow through on the lease obtained to the Reece family property on Wolf Creek by pursuing a long-range plan of development in which this site will become an interpretive center featuring Reece, his works, and his way of life. This venue is known as The Byron Herbert Reece Farm & Heritage Center. [WORK HERE IS ONGOING; APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF OF THE TOTAL PROJECT IS COMPLETED, FUNDING IS BEING SOUGHT TO COMPLETE THE PROJECTED SITE FACILITIES.]
Create a long-range plan for funding the farm development project as well as other goals, projects, and programs of the Society. [ALMOST ONE-HALF OF THE GOALS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED.]
Make a special effort to introduce Reece and his works to institutions of learning, from secondary schools through graduate schools, and throughout the local region, the southeast, and all across the nation. [A MAJOR PROJECT WELL UNDERWAY, LED BY THE REECE IN THE SCHOOLS COMMITTEE.]
Conduct an inventory to determine all of the important Reece memorabilia, archives, and objects of biographical or cultural interest that are available to the Society, and decide how and where to display these. [PARTIALLY COMPLETED]
Provide an ongoing forum for all persons interested in and devoted to the Byron Herbert Reece way of life and lyrical tradition – a forum that enables the legacy of Reece to be enlivened and his rightful place in the literary world enhanced. [THE SOCIETY HAS PARTICIPATED IN AND CONDUCTED A NUMBER OF SUCH FORUMS.]
Continue to enlist individual and corporate members of the Society, thus ensuring an ever larger base of persons interested in preserving his legacies. [ONGOING WITH INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS; CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP HAS NOT BEEN CULTIVATED.]
Enlist the cooperation of local organizations like historical societies and chambers of commerce in achieving our stated goals. [SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF THIS CAN BE CITED.]
Make application to the Georgia Historical Marker Program of the Georgia Historical Society for an historical marker about Reece, to be placed at the family home site on Highway 129. [THE MARKER WAS INSTALLED AND DEDICATED IN JUNE OF 2006.]
Petition the Georgia General Assembly to name Reece "Georgia's Appalachian Poet/Novelist " and to designate Highway 129 from Blairsville to Neels Gap "The Byron Herbert Reece Memorial Highway." [ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S HR 295, PASSED IN 2005.]


I'm not dead! Still working but I needed a little break.
A king card is coming. Louis XIII style (French king), not really the style of the usual cards!
The final artwork will come really soon, as the original drawing (of course).
See you very soon and thank all of you!
yves POILEVE and Jacob Rooks like this update.


Benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH), a condition that affects half of men older than 60, is related to increased prostate gland size and a reduced flow of urine from the bladder. To test the effectiveness of the pine bark extract Pycnogenol on BPH, researchers from Italy's D'Annuncio University divided 75 men with the condition into three groups: One was given 150 milligrams a day of Pycnogenol, another received standard non-drug management and the third was given conventional drug treatment. The researchers found that urination frequency, urgency, intermittency and nighttime occurrences significantly improved after 60 days of treatment among the pine bark extract group.


text:
Q: group by one field and count the matching fields I have a triple join that looks like this:
   select DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d'), (Tags.TagName)
    from Posts
    join PostTags
            on Posts.PK_PostID = PostTags.FK_PostID
        join Tags
            on Tags.PK_TagID = PostTags.FK_TagID
    where Tags.TagName = 'Money'

The result looks like this:

But I want it to be grouped by the date, and then next to it the number of times the tag is used. I can't figure it out. Something like this:
2012-12-26 10
2012-12-27 4

A: Without a fiddle, I believe what you want is this:
    select DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d'), count(Tags.TagName)
    from Posts
    join PostTags
            on Posts.PK_PostID = PostTags.FK_PostID
        join Tags
            on Tags.PK_TagID = PostTags.FK_TagID
    where Tags.TagName = 'Money'
    group by DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d')

A: I don't have your tables, but try this:
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d') as PDate, COUNT(*) FROM Posts
JOIN PostTags ON Posts.PK_PostID = PostTags.FK_PostID
JOIN Tags ON Tags.PK_TagID = PostTags.FK_TagID
WHERE Tags.TagName = 'Money'
GROUP BY PDate

See http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/counting-rows.html for more detail

A: This is a simple aggregation query.  I've chosen to write it by using your query as a subquery, although this is not strictly necessary:
select thedate,
       sum(case when tagname = 'Money' then 1 else 0 end) as NumMoney
from (select DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d') as thedate, (Tags.TagName)
      from Posts join
           PostTags
           on Posts.PK_PostID = PostTags.FK_PostID join
           Tags
           on Tags.PK_TagID = PostTags.FK_TagID
     ) t
group by thedate

A: well you have to use a group By clause, and if the tag name is in the output, you must gropup by the tag name as well. (otherwise, if there are multiple rows with same date but different tag names, which tag name should be output for the one row with any specific date?....
 select DATE_FORMAT(p.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d'), (t.TagName),
      Count(Distinct t.tagname) tagCount
 from Posts p
     join PostTags pt
        on pt.FK_PostID - p.PK_PostID
     join Tags t
        on t.PK_TagID = pt.FK_TagID
 group by DATE_FORMAT(p.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d'), (t.TagName)

If there can be multiple rows with same date but different tag names, you want the count for each distinct tagName, then you need to group by tagname too.   is this what you want ?

A: You will need to SUB-SELECT the group by as follows:
SELECT T.*, Tags.TagName
FROM (select DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d'), PostTags.FK_TagID, count(*) PostsCount
from Posts
join PostTags
        on Posts.PK_PostID = PostTags.FK_PostID
group by DATE_FORMAT(Posts.PostDate, '%Y-%m-%d'), PostTags.FK_TagID) as P
inner join Tags
        on Tags.PK_TagID = P.FK_TagID

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Salani ist der Familienname folgender Personen:
 Adriano Salani (1834–1904), italienischer Typograf und Verleger
 Corso Salani (1961–2010), italienischer Schauspieler und Regisseur
 Lucy Salani (* 1924), transgeschlechtliche Überlebende eines Konzentrationslagers

der Name von
 Salani (Atua), Ort auf Samoa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Since the Folly reopened in 1982, the Grand Lady of Twelfth Street has relied on dedicated volunteers to give their time and keep her shining. Today the Folly hosts over 100 performances a year and the demand for volunteers, both in the theater and the office, is higher than ever. If you have a love for our 119-year-old theater, good music, or just want to give back, we invite you to join our team!
Interested? Shoot us a message!
Fill out the form below and a Folly Team Member will follow up with you!


New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced that a special snow goose hunting season will begin March 11 in most areas of the state. Federal and state regulations were amended last fall to allow this special season, under the authority of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to control certain wildlife populations.
Populations of snow geese (also referred to as "light geese" because of their white plumage) have grown to historic highs, and their feeding has negatively impacted natural vegetation found in coastal marshlands during breeding, migration and winter.
The Atlantic Flyway population of snow geese, composed mostly of "greater" snow geese, increased from approximately 50,000 birds in the mid 1960s to more than 1 million birds in recent years. Most of these birds pass through New York during spring and fall migrations and spend the winter in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Wildlife managers have been concerned about the impacts of too many birds for many years and they have recommended a population goal of 500,000 in the Atlantic Flyway.
New York has had a lengthy hunting season for snow geese for many years, but until now, federal regulations did not allow the season to be open after March 10, when large numbers of birds begin migrating north from their wintering areas. From mid-March to mid-April, more than 100,000 snow geese may spend time in New York, fueling up for their return to the Arctic breeding grounds. During the normal season, hunters harvest 5,000-10,000 birds annually.
Snow geese numbers have increased dramatically for various reasons. The availability of waste grains on agricultural fields has provided a vast new food supply for these birds. Second, continuation of restrictive hunting regulations during the 1970s and 1980s allowed the population to grow while hunter harvest rates declined. These two factors resulted in a higher reproductive rate, a higher adult survival rate, and offspring that were in much better condition to survive.
Concern about the overabundance of snow geese has been growing for years. An international "Arctic Goose Habitat Working Group" concluded in 1998 that action was needed to limit the greater snow goose population. However, it took more than a decade to fully implement the recommendations of this group. In November 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized rules establishing a "Conservation Order" that allowed an increase of snow goose hunting across the country. Similar regulations have been in place in many Midwestern states and Canadian Provinces, including Quebec, since 1999. Harvest of snow geese has more than doubled in those areas and the population growth rate has been reduced.
Under the new state regulations, any person who has migratory game bird hunting privileges in New York, including a valid Harvest Information Program ("HIP") confirmation number, may take snow geese and Ross' geese (a smaller but nearly identical species) in the Western, Northeastern, Southeastern, and Lake Champlain Waterfowl Hunting Zones from March 11 through April 15, in addition to the regular snow goose hunting seasons in each zone. Areas where large numbers of snow geese occur at this time of year include the Finger Lakes region and the upper Hudson and Champlain Valley regions. A special season was not implemented on Long Island because of the limited number of appropriate areas.
All migratory game bird hunting regulations and requirements apply to the taking of snow geese during this spring harvest period, except that use of recorded or electrically amplified calls or sounds is allowed as is the use of shotguns capable of holding more than three shells.
Harvest reporting is also not mandatory, but any person who participates must provide accurate and timely information on their activity and harvest if requested by DEC, which plans to survey a sample of program participants to estimate hunter activity and harvest.
Open from March 11 till April 15.
Shooting hours are from 30 minutes before sunrise till sunset.
Bag limit is 15 per day; no possession limit.
Electronic calls and unplugged shotguns (more than three shells) are allowed, although non-toxic shot must be used.


text:
#include "Globals.h"
#include "Application.h"
#include "ModuleRender.h"
#include "ModuleWindow.h"
#include "ModuleInput.h"
#include "SDL/include/SDL.h"

ModuleRender::ModuleRender()
{
	camera.x = camera.y = 0;
	camera.w = SCREEN_WIDTH * SCREEN_SIZE;
	camera.h = SCREEN_HEIGHT* SCREEN_SIZE;
}

// Destructor
ModuleRender::~ModuleRender()
{}

// Called before render is available
bool ModuleRender::Init()
{
	LOG("Creating Renderer context");
	bool ret = true;
	Uint32 flags = 0;

	if (VSYNC == true)
	{
		flags |= SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC;
	}

	renderer = SDL_CreateRenderer(App->window->window, -1, flags);

	if (renderer == nullptr)
	{
		LOG("Renderer could not be created! SDL_Error: %s\n", SDL_GetError());
		ret = false;
	}

	return ret;
}

update_status ModuleRender::PreUpdate()
{
	SDL_SetRenderDrawColor(renderer, 0, 0, 0, SDL_ALPHA_OPAQUE);
	SDL_RenderClear(renderer);
	return UPDATE_CONTINUE;
}

// Called every draw update
update_status ModuleRender::Update()
{
	// debug camera
	int speed = 5;
	/*
	if (App->input->GetKey(SDL_SCANCODE_UP) == KEY_REPEAT)
		App->renderer->camera.y += speed;

	if (App->input->GetKey(SDL_SCANCODE_DOWN) == KEY_REPEAT)
		App->renderer->camera.y -= speed;

	if (App->input->GetKey(SDL_SCANCODE_LEFT) == KEY_REPEAT)
		App->renderer->camera.x += speed;

	if (App->input->GetKey(SDL_SCANCODE_RIGHT) == KEY_REPEAT)
		App->renderer->camera.x -= speed;
		*/
	return UPDATE_CONTINUE;
}

update_status ModuleRender::PostUpdate()
{
	SDL_RenderPresent(renderer);
	return UPDATE_CONTINUE;
}

// Called before quitting
bool ModuleRender::CleanUp()
{
	LOG("Destroying renderer");

	//Destroy window
	if (renderer != nullptr)
	{
		SDL_DestroyRenderer(renderer);
	}

	return true;
}

// Blit to screen
bool ModuleRender::Blit(SDL_Texture* texture, int x, int y, SDL_Rect* section, float speed)
{
	bool ret = true;
	SDL_Rect rect;
	rect.x = (int)(camera.x * speed) + x * SCREEN_SIZE;
	rect.y = (int)(camera.y * speed) + y * SCREEN_SIZE;

	if (section != NULL)
	{
		rect.w = section->w;
		rect.h = section->h;
	}
	else
	{
		SDL_QueryTexture(texture, NULL, NULL, &rect.w, &rect.h);
	}

	rect.w *= SCREEN_SIZE;
	rect.h *= SCREEN_SIZE;

	if (SDL_RenderCopy(renderer, texture, section, &rect) != 0)
	{
		LOG("Cannot blit to screen. SDL_RenderCopy error: %s", SDL_GetError());
		ret = false;
	}

	return ret;
}

bool ModuleRender::BlitFlipH(SDL_Texture* texture, int x, int y, SDL_Rect* section, float speed)
{
	bool ret = true;
	SDL_Rect rect;
	rect.x = (int)(camera.x * speed) + x * SCREEN_SIZE;
	rect.y = (int)(camera.y * speed) + y * SCREEN_SIZE;

	if (section != NULL)
	{
		rect.w = section->w;
		rect.h = section->h;
	}
	else
	{
		SDL_QueryTexture(texture, NULL, NULL, &rect.w, &rect.h);
	}

	rect.w *= SCREEN_SIZE;
	rect.h *= SCREEN_SIZE;
	SDL_RendererFlip flip = SDL_FLIP_HORIZONTAL;
	if (SDL_RenderCopyEx(renderer, texture, section, &rect, 0, NULL, flip) != 0)
	{
		LOG("Cannot blit to screen. SDL_RenderCopyEx error: %s", SDL_GetError());
		ret = false;
	}

	return ret;
}

void ModuleRender::DrawRectangle(SDL_Rect* rect, float speed) {
	SDL_Rect dstrect;
	dstrect.x = rect->x * SCREEN_SIZE + (camera.x * speed);
	dstrect.y = rect->y * SCREEN_SIZE + (camera.y * speed);
	dstrect.w = rect->w * SCREEN_SIZE;
	dstrect.h = rect->h * SCREEN_SIZE;

	SDL_RenderFillRect(App->renderer->renderer, &dstrect);
}

void ModuleRender::ResetCamera() {
	camera.x = camera.y = 0;
	camera.w = SCREEN_WIDTH * SCREEN_SIZE;
	camera.h = SCREEN_HEIGHT* SCREEN_SIZE;
}


Intro: Take a minecart ride in a haunted gold mine under the infamous Ghost Mountain. What awaits you inside is magic, mystery, death... and redemption! Ghost Mountain is an epic 12 minutes long roller coaster ride in a dark underground mine, filled with dreamlike scenery and magical, abstract landscapes, with fast and slow sections, indoor and outdoor areas and many surprises.
Review: The good news is Ghost Mountain Roller Coaster is better than many, many other VR coasters out there. The developer has taken the time to make sure the rides physics feel realistic, its smooth as possible and has even take the time to make sure all the support struts of the ride look as they would be in real life. While it is long in ride time there is only 1 singular path. Sure you get 4 different seats to enjoy it in, but it is still the same ride over and over again. I would have liked it to be a little cheaper than it currently is but for those of us who enjoy our VR coasters, this is one that is well worth taking a look at.


text:
Ents24 Blog
Monday 26 Jan 2015
Ents24 Staff: February Picks
It may be the shortest month, but this February is bursting with treats, and we've been busy adding tens of thousands of events to Ents24 for you to discover.
Here are our full February listings!
To help you navigate your way, we've also handpicked a few of our favourite events happening in February. Take a look and click on the title of anything you fancy to be taken directly to tickets!
Graham recommends:
Music: Mariachi El Bronx
Mexican alter-ego of hardcore rockers The Bronx are back in the UK in February. A perfect first date gig (kind of) for any new couples around Valentine's Day. Any band with the word 'Mariachi' in their name deserve your money.
Comedy: Katherine Ryan
Catch the Canadian comedian at intimate venues across the UK in February, before she cracks the bigtime and starts performing massive headline shows.
Doug recommends:
Music: DJ Shadow + Cut Chemist
DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist play records taken from the most important record collection in Hip-Hop, Breakbeat, and sampling in general. Afrika Bambaataa has collected over 40,000 records, containing the original version of almost every sample from the golden age of Hip-Hop, and you get to hear them played out for the first and possibly last time in years.
Music: Scott Bradlee + Postmodern Jukebox
Jazz, country and classical interpretations of modern songs, with a talented collection of musicians and singers.
Alex recommends:
Music: The Jesus and Mary Chain
80's/90's Alternative post-punk shoegaze heavyweights returning to a venue near you... don't miss the chance to see these melodic feedback merchants before they hangup their amps for good.
Comedy: Mark Thomas
Exposing stupidity and corruption at governmental and corporate level, and somehow blending it with humour and a genuinely huge dose of passion - These unique shows are bound to leave you laughing, educated and inspired.
Mark recommends:
Music: Levellers
As a former rock violinist myself, I couldn't help but notice that Levellers are on tour this month. Hugely influential band, and very much still active, having now chalked up ten studio albums.
Comedy: Alan Davies
The dying embers of February see Alan Davies kick off his 'Little Victories' tour, which continues throughout March. I saw his 'Urban Trauma' stand-up show on VHS many moons ago, and as a long-standing fan of Jonathan Creek and QI I'm very much looking forward to the Yeovil gig.
Kids: Octonauts And The Deep Sea Volcano Adventure
My eldest daughter is a huge fan of this collection of English-speaking domestic animals (and animate vegetables) who inexplicably command a submarine charged to 'Explore! Rescue! Protect!' the ocean's various inhabitants. Honestly, I have no idea how it would translate to stage, but I know at least one little girl who would like to find out.
Xander recommends:
Music: Seven That Spells
Psychedelic monk rock with close harmonies and undertones of probable madness. Currently touring their new album "The Death And Resurrection Of Krautrock: IO", fans of throat-singing apply within!
Music: Sleaford Mods
"Music for the working class downwards" but playing in Oxford anyway, Sleaford Mods consist of sparse electronica and a shouty man who expounds a kind of social commentary. Loud, abrasive, sipping Fosters, coming to a town near you.
Dannii recommends:
Circus/Theatre: Circus of Horrors
This band of circus freaks are sure to entertain with skills such as knife throwing, sword swallowing, hair hanging, and death-defying aerialists.... Just perhaps not for the faint of heart!
Music: Jungle
These awesome electro-funk-soul masters appeared on the music scene last year shrouded in mystery, and they have been tearing up the charts and burning dancefloors nationwide ever since. Get yourself to one of their gigs and drop it like it's hot!
Music: Blackalicious
Catch this alternative hip hop dream team while they're on tour in the UK, expect uplifting and positive vibes with a dose of eccentricity.
Chris recommends:
Comedy: Alun Cochrane
Alun takes his 'Me Neither' tour around the UK in Feb, as well as appearing on a handful of multi-act bills to boot. The Guardian described his comedy as having 'real craft and creativity... results that satisfy both the comedy purists and those who simply want big laughs on a big night out'.
Adam recommends:
Comedy: Stewart Lee
Pillar of the alternative comedy community Stewart Lee continues to workshop material for his next BBC TV series, deconstructing and toying with the form of stand-up itself. We caught some of this rawer, unpredictable set at its' London residency recently, but February sees him take his caustic and considered wit around the UK, with handfuls of tickets still available.
Comedy: David O'Doherty
February sees four more dates for miniature keyboard and life enthusiast's show 'David O'Doherty Has Checked Everything'. Peppering stand-up based largely around his frustration with commerce with off-kilter keyboard songs that have become his calling card, O'Doherty's new set is a watertight delight.
Music: Marmozets
Riding the crest of critical acclaim from the UK's rock press for their debut 2014 album 'The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets', this family affair (made up of two sets of siblings) will traverse the country, laying waste to venues with their captivating blend of singalong vocals and guttural, corrosive riffs. Time to catch the future of British rock in intimate venues - perhaps for the last time?
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The Dreams and Realities of an RV in Retirement
Thoughts from owners, experts and would-be buyers of recreational vehicles
by Aaron Kassraie, AARP, January 24, 2020 | Comments: 0
pchoui/Getty Images
En español | Many retirees quip that they often find themselves busier in retirement than ever before. One way some retirees (and near-retirees) are staying busy is hitting the road in recreational vehicles.
About 10 million U.S. households own RVs, and the majority of those owners have traditionally been over 50, according to the RV Industry Association (RVIA).
Ownership rates by age group cited by RVIA are highest among Americans ages:
45-54 (11.4 percent)
65-74 (8.8 percent)
75-plus (5.5 percent)
Sales of RVs have grown steadily since the Great Recession, hitting an all-time high in 2017.
If you are getting close to retirement — or already there and looking for new ways to spend your retirement — here are some considerations from others in the RV world about purchasing a house on wheels.
The RV lifestyle
"RVers are friendly people. When you go to a campground, if you don't know people, you will," says Jeremy Puglisi, an author of books about RVing and cohost of the RV Travel Atlas podcast. "Everyone introduces themselves. Everybody's friendly."
In response to the increase in RVers, the number of campgrounds around the country is growing from today's 18,000. RVers' expectations are also growing.
"The RV industry is pushing to continue to expand, improve and upgrade campgrounds in national parks and on federal lands," says Kevin Broom, director of media relations for RVIA. "A lot of those campgrounds were constructed in the 1950s and '60s and haven't really kept pace with the modern RVs." Dump stations, often found at campgrounds, are essential for RV owners, who need to empty waste holding tanks.
Parking is another ever-present challenge for RV owners, especially when campgrounds are few, full or far between. But it's part of the lifestyle. Some truck stops, big-box retailers, churches, hotels, movie theaters, casinos, rest stops and other roadside locations will allow overnight parking. To be sure, check with the specific location so you won't get a ticket or a surprise knock on your door. Websites including RV Camping and Free Campsites can help find places to camp and park.
Price ranges for new RVs
• Folding camping (pop-up) trailers:
• Truck campers: $6,000-$55,000
• Conventional travel trailers:
• Fifth wheel trailers:
• Types B and C: $60,000-$150,000
• Type A: $60,000-$500,000
Source: RV Industry Association
Freedom of the road
David Schaum, 53, of Reston, Virginia, is a new empty nester, and as he and his wife approach retirement, they want to find new activities together.
"We both enjoy the outdoors. We both have really started working out, getting back into shape and hiking. So the places where we go hiking in the mountains has brought about an interest in possibly having a camper that allows us to stay out in the mountains for a few days," Schaum says. "The funny thing is, I'm in the hotel business, so I can get a hotel wherever I go for free."
For many, the most attractive part about owning an RV is being able to travel where you want, when you want. Kathy Dolan, 67, a longtime RVer from Haymarket, Virginia, says she and her husband "like to go to the campgrounds, go gallivanting in the towns and meeting people. Then we take it to another place."
Naturally, an RV makes the nomadic life easier, since you already have your stuff with you, perhaps even your pets.
"You have more mobility," says James Mercer, 60, of The Plains, Virginia, "and if you want to go somewhere, everything you need is packed right into that vehicle. All you need to do is buy food, and just get in and go fill up with gas." Mercer and his wife, Raejean, 57, are retired and looking into possibly buying an RV.
"Most people have the dream to see the country and all the things they couldn't while they were busy with their working lives," says Tom Dewalt, a sales consultant for Airstream, a manufacturer of travel trailers. "We represent the opportunity to explore the country, see everything: art, all the heritage and historical sites, all the natural wonders of the United States. And there's plenty of them."
Realities behind the dream
Mike Miles, 70, a Maryland resident, says he and his wife would like to buy an RV to drive cross country and visit their kids. He's hesitant about making a purchase because "there's a lot of stuff on the internet saying things break easily, you can't get it fixed."
Dolan, the veteran RVer, can't dispel that fear. "When you have a motor home, you spend a lot of time in the repair shop," she admits. "Get used to that."
At the same time, don't let mechanical concerns and the seeming complexities of an RV be a deterrent from the lifestyle if it is something you'd really like to take on, says Puglisi, the RV author and podcaster.
"Don't be afraid to ask for help at a campground," he says. "Campers are friendly people. A lot of RV owners are handy people."
As for the expense, though the initial purchase price and ongoing maintenance certainly add up, it's also important to calculate the potential savings on travel and vacations that can come with an RV over time.
"You don't have to pay for airfare. Campgrounds average in price at $40 a night," says RVIA's Broom. "You don't have to eat in restaurants three meals a day. You can eat out when you want, but you can also prepare your own foods."
A study by CBRE Hotels Advisory Group, commissioned by RVIA, estimated that a couple vacationing in an RV could save between 8 percent and 53 percent, depending on the type of RV. The study weighed the costs of traditional travel such as airline tickets, hotel rooms and meals out, versus the unique costs of RV travel, such as fuel. Pop-up camper trailers offered the most savings, while large Class A and Class C motor homes offered the least.
More on Retirement
What to know before buying an RV
Retirement do's and dont's from day one
Why a financial checkup should be on your 2020 resolution list?
WayForth Home Transition Management
Free consultation and follow-up plan


So…Baseball is Back! On March 28, 2014, we got our season off to a quick start, in a big way. I thought Tim and I had been to every MLB stadium. In fact, I'd been to 37 (all current plus 7 closed) and Tim had been to 34. But over the winter we heard of an opportunity to add an old, new MLB stadium to our list: Stade Olympic (a/k/a Olympic Stadium) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. We decided to make a weekend of it and, when my wife wasn't up for the driving, we invited our old roadtrip buddy, Avi Miller.
…popped in "Cowboy" Joe West's "Blue Cowboy" album, and started driving north.
We bunked at the beautiful La Quinta Inn in Latham, NY for the night, and then hopped back in the car and drove into the Great White North on the morning of March 28th. With my US-based GPS out of commission, we got lost driving into Montreal. But our ship was righted with the help of a helpful gas station/garage manager.
Olympic Stadium was three miles (or maybe it was kilometers??) away from our hotel, but it was incredibly easy. The boys wore their winter jackets (which meant I got to lug them around all night inside the stadium), but they were not needed because it was possible to go from our hotel room to our seats at the game without ever going outside. Also, the Metro was fun because it runs underground like a traditional subway train, but it runs on tires – it's like a bunch of huge electric buses linked together.
So, after bording at Berri-Uqam and whizzing by Beaudry, Papineau, Frontenac, Prefontaine, and Joliette, we hopped off the train at the "Pie-IX" stop (a/k/a the "Half Felix" stop – actually, only we call it that, I think).
Oh, yeah, look at that – there was snow everywhere. We thought we needed to walk outside to the stadium, but Avi had the bright idea of going back inside and seeing where that hallway would lead us since it seemed to be heading right to the stadium. And it did head right to the stadium.
It took a second or two to realize, but once we noticed the table and garbage cans (behind the signs), it was evident that the signs were marking the bag check point to get into the stadium. So we took our place at the left side of the sign in the above photo.
Standing to the right of the same sign was the mild mannered Quebecer pictured above with Avi and the boys. His name is Michel. He's a member of MyGameBalls.com and he recognized us all when we walked up. We started chatting and ended up spending a lot of time with him over the weekend. He's a quality dude. And it was great to meet him. This was a special day for Michel. He's been to about 15 or so MLB parks in the U.S., but the Expos left town when he was about 6-7 and he'd never attended a game at his hometown's MLB ballpark.
Michel let us in on the bad news that the stadium wouldn't open until 5:30. That mean we had about an hour and a half to wait.
…and started checking them off as we spotted them. There were Expos fans everywhere. There were also a bunch of Mets and Jays fans since they were the teams playing. But we also quickly spotted Pirates, Braves, Dodgers, and Rangers fans.
The crowd started to grow rapidly.
…of a lot of those interview.
…he's pretty much "at home" at a ballpark.
Oh, look, there is Chris and Natalie (above, behind Tim).
See that yellow line with the arrow pointing to it in the photo above? At 5:15'ish, they waved us by. There was a mini-frenzy. We thought we were heading into the ballpark, but really we just rushed up to and then were stopped at that yellow line (where there actually was a yellow line on the ground).
We stood there for the next 15-20 minutes.
But then he did it. "On veut 'baseball! On veut l'baseball! On veut l'baseball!On veut l'baseballOn veut l'baseball" (repeat, repeat, repeat…).
The TV cameras and running over immediately! Then an usher (the one at the left side of the yellow line in the photo two above) came over and told Jose Vidro a better way to say it in French.
"On veut du baseball! On veut du baseball! On veut du baseball!" (repeat, repeat, repeat…).
It was pretty cool. Definitely, unlike any baseball stadium gate experience we've ever had. With all of the chanting and the video cameras and the flash bulbs popping, the anticipation to enter the stadium was palpable, you could feel it all around.
And then we got the word, and every rushed forward, with Tim running along with me and Kellan sitting on my shoulders. There were no scanners so the lady had to rip our ticket stubs (it was 2004 Montreal ticket technology), and then we ran through unfamiliar concourses to what felt like it should have been the third base side.
Eventually, we popped out of a tunnel just above the third base dugout. The Mets were on the field taking BP. We ran down to the dugout to see the action close up.
Bob Geren was playing catch in front of the dugout using two baseballs. As we approached, I called out a big "Hey, Bob!" An usher on the field, apparently unaware that it is okay to speak to players and coaches, reprimanded me.
Avi laughed, he couldn't believe I was reprimanded for saying hi to Geren.
Geren didn't mind. He finished playing catch within one minute, and he immediately turned and tossed one of the balls to Tim (he caught it) and the other to Kellan (he scooped it off the top of the dugout). The first ball was a 2013 World Baseball Classic commemorative baseball and the other was an Angels' 50th Anniversary baseball.
(By the way, I'm not a fan of "does it count" debates. We wouldn't "count" balls from normal spring training games, but this was an exhibition game with 46,000+ crazy fans at a 27-year official MLB ballpark. You better believe we're "counting" these baseballs).
Anyway, we started heading out toward LF and taking lots of pictures.
Once we got out to LF, Michel taught us how the fans slam the seats down to make an incredibly loud *clack* *clack* *clack* sound. When they really got going, Tim commented (and he was right on) that it sounded like a train rattling through the stadium.
So he is the deal. I absolutely love domed baseball stadiums. The Kingdome is my all-time favorite stadium because it was my baseball home for the first two decades of my life, and it was glorious. I loved the Metrodome. I loved Tropicana Field.
…I officially fell in love with Stade Olympique!!!
I mean, come on!? How amazingly beautiful is that?? Have you ever seen something like that at a Major League ballpark? (No! No, you haven't, unless you've been to Olympic Stadium).
So, my understanding (from Chris Hernandez) is that the LF seats are on a hinge (so to speak) in the LF and RF corners, and they swing forward to form the outfield bleachers for baseball games, or they swing back into the gap shown above to accommodate soccer.
Whatever the reason, I absolutely loved this massive (behind the scenes) dead zone. Truly a beautiful sight.
Oh, yeah, while we were out in LF checking everything out and watching BP, a stadium worker guy kept going down a flight of stairs on the CF end of the bleachers to retrieve homeruns that cleared the LF bleachers. He'd then give the balls to fans. He ended up giving Tim two baseballs, one was another Angels' 50th anniversary ball and the other was a Dodger Stadium 50th anniversary baseball.
By the way, I did not see a single non-commemorative baseball used during BP either at this game or the game the following day.
That's a scene you don't see much at an MLB game, huh? Those fireworks were for Blue Jays post-homerun celebrations.
After BP, I took a quick selfie before the boys and I headed off to explore (Avi was off exploring on his own…or maybe with some of the other guys…at this point).
The tunnels in the LF bleachers excited through long ramps (that you can see in the *dead space* photo above) that lead into the lower, field lever concourse (there are two different concourse for the field level – this one that is accessed through mid-field level tunnels and another accessed by walking all the way to the top of the field level).
All of the food places had their menus in French (I wondered all weekend what "arachides" and "croustilles" are…I could figure out "biere"). The other thing (above to the right) with the green door opening is the weird restroom set up. They were all in the middle of the concourse and had ceilings that did not reach the concourse celing.
As we walked toward the infield, there was a ton of stuff in the concourse (most of which came out blurry in my photos). There were games, info booths, photo booths, Expos booths, Blue Jays souvenir booths, and food stands of all sorts.
…and a Tim Horton's mascot suiting up in the restroom.
We decided to get some food. We got in a line that had hot dogs (which was conveniently listed in English). The line was taking forever. It wasn't moving at all. Then someone behind the counter yelled something in French. I had no clue what was going on. Turns out they were out of hot dogs and needed to prepare more. This would be a common theme.
…was walking down the ramp. He came over and asked if we were the Cooks. He recognized us from this blog. (Hi, Max!) We chatted for a few minutes. He's a ballpark chaser and was very happy to be at Olympic Stadium (but, I think, it wasn't his first time).
These ramps were different than most of the ramps at the ballpark. We'll see some of the others later.
…who (two pitches later) tried to bunt his way on base.
I thought Kellan was really tired, but it turns out he felt a little under the weather, which resulted in a lot of napping during the first half of this game.
One funny thing that happened while we were up in our seats is that a fan started chanting "Let's Go Blue Jays!" When no one in the crowd followed his chant, he yelled something to the effect of "That's why you guys don't have a baseball team anymore! Enjoy your baseball team guys!!!" It seemed very un-Canadian of him. I thought these guys were supposed to be the most polite people in the world?
Two cross aisles cut the field level at Olympic Stadium is cut into three parts. Those yellow tunnels at the bottom of the middle section take you out to what I previously called the "lower field level concourse." But you could also follow stairs all the way from the field up through all three parts of the field level to an "upper field level concourse" behind the top part of the field level.
Elsewhere, there was a 300 level (suite level) concourse and a 400 level (upper deck) concourse.
After about three innings, we headed down to the 400 level concourse because Tim wanted to explore. The 400 level concourse was naturally divided into two parts, which I'll all the front (field-facing) and back (exterior-facing) sections.
…while the front half was clogged with numerous seemingly endless lines snaking their ways to the various food and drink stands (like this make-shift biere stand).
Check out the huge flat surface (complete with table and chairs) on top of/behind the scoreboard in centerfield. How weird is that? And what in the world is the purpose??
By the way, see the black boards to the left? That is the boundary with the construction zone.
Oh, yeah, see all the smoke in the picture (above the RF bleachers)? We totally missed it because we were in the concourse, but Jose Bautista blasted a home run to LCF (that apparently went right over Chris's helplessly outstretched arms). That made the score 2-1 Mets in the bottom of the fourth.
He just sat on my shoulders holding it for a while until he finally told me to eat it.
Eventually, Kellan needed to head to the restroom. He was acting like he was sick and I was getting nervous. I really thought we needed to leave the game and head back to the hotel so he could rest in bed, but there was a problem. We had no clue where Avi was. Because we were in Canada, neither of our cellphones worked so I couldn't call him. As Kellan headed into a stall claiming he needed "privacy," Tim and I stood outside the stall and discussed what we would do. The plan was to meet behind the third base dugout after the game. But Avi could be anywhere at this point. My only thought was to find Chris and Natalie who we hoped would be in section 402 (where their seats were located) and have them relay to Avi after the game that we had already headed back to the hotel.
And for the rest of the night, totally normal, non-sick feeling Kellan was back.
By the way, while we were in the restroom, Travis d'Arnaud hit the second homerun of the game (in the top of the seventh inning) to make the score 4-2 Mets.
And then we headed off to get Kellan a popsicle, but this time it was a real popsicle, which I thought would be better for him if he was still feeling sick'ish at all.
In the photo above to the right, those are the insides of the black windows that are at the bottom of the exterior of the stadium.
That's former-Mariner and international baseball sensation, Munenori Kawasaki, in the process of smacking a single. He and Maicer Izturis (who was already on base) later scored on a game tying single by Edwin Encarnacion.
Finally, we made it out to deeeeeeeeeeep LF, to the seats that would be the top part of the field level if the LF bleachers were pushed back. Most of these seats were not sold, and were actually roped off. But the usher did not seem to care if people disregarded the rope.
This is, personally, one of my favorite panoramas I've ever taken. From the rest of the stadium, the CF area just looked like a black batters' eye and a scoreboard, but from this view we got a behind-the-scenes peak, literally behind the batters' eye and scoreboard.
And as a bonus, we got to watch Bobby Parnell warm up in the eighth inning (in the closer of the two make-shift bullpen).
From this cross-aisle, we could just barely see over the LF bleachers to watch the batter-pitcher matchup. Of course, the view of LF was a *bit* obstructed. But what really makes that last picture just perfect is the "Tim Hortons" sign. As far as I know, Tim Hortons is the most Canadian thing in the world (although, from my limited sampling, Tim Hortons seems to be much better represented in Ontario than it is in Quebec). Finally, check out the seats *under* the field level seats. Those are pretty cool.
We had been hanging out right where Kellan is standing in that photo for the last 10-15 minutes. There was so much to see, I couldn't get enough of it. At one point (while Parnell must have been taking a break between warm up pitches), Mets bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello looked over and exchanged some waves with the boys while he was still in his crouch behind home plate.
When Parnell got called into the game, "Rac" walked over to the short fence just off the edge of the bullpen "grass." He was right in the middle of the length of the bullpen, by the light tower. It was clear that he was contemplating whether he could toss us Parnell's warm up ball. That last picture is a little misleading, it looks sort of close. But, trust me, this was a long way away. Not only was it a long distance, we were two levels above Rac.
I pulled the glove off my head, popped the pocket with my fist and extended my arms to give Rac a big target. I also scooted back a bit so I wouldn't be at the railing – I sort of lined up with a closed off tunnel to the concourse. Rac made some exaggerated grabbing-his-shoulder-and-rotating-his-arm gestures as if to say, "I don't know if I can make it up there!" And then he unloaded a perfect throw. The ball sailed above me, arched like a low lower on its descent, and then it went directly in line with the lights on the far side of the stadium. I stuck out my glove hoping I would be able to fend off the lights. And then the ball emerged from the lights and smacked into my glove.
It was truly one of the coolest toss ups I've ever been a part of or even witnessed.
We all yelled big *THANK YOUS* down to Rac.
Parnell got out of the eighth and the game moved to the ninth tied 4-4.
Do me a favor, click on that last panorama to see the enlarged version. See the RF bleachers. Do you notice how there are just a two ushers wearing bright yellow sweaters? One is in the CF corner (above the "W" of the "Westjet" show and another in the tunnel between the Rolaids and Jack's Links signs. Just remember that, because that is the "normal" amount of bleacher ushers.
We wandered around a little bit looking for Avi (who should have been easy to spot due to his bright orange Orioles jersey). We found some other O's fans in our quest, but didn't see Avi quite yet.
Okay, now click on that photo, too, to enlarge it. See the RF bleachers?? I now count at least eight yellowe-sweater-clad usher in the bleachers, all scattered through the front cross-aisle in the CF-most part of the RF bleachers. It's sort of hard to tell, but you can subtly notice that for the most part they are all leaning forward looking over the railing.
We did not know at the time. But just before I took this photo, a 40'ish year old (and probably intoxicated) Blue Jays fan climbed up the railing in a failed effort to start the wave, and he ended up falling over the railing to the concrete floor below. I've read articles saying it was anywhere from a 20 foot to a 50 foot fall. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and I've never heard an update. Hopefully he is improving. His fall would have an impact on the rest of the weekend.
Tim went down and joined them for the rest of the game while Kellan and I took it in from the cross-aisle, where no one cared that we were standing.
In the bottom of the ninth, Muni Kawasaki hit a double and eventually scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Jonathan Diaz.
We lingered as long as we could before Chris, Natalie, Michel, Avi, the boys and I all headed to the Metro, which was an absolute zoo. Avi and I had pre-paid passes and Kellan was free, but we though we needed to buy a return fare for Tim (who had been comp'd on our way out to Pie-IX by a Metro worker who seemed to like us. The line was too big for Chris and Natalie, they went to another station down the block. The rest of us waited through an incredibly long line to buy Tim's return fare. Michel volunteered to do the talking (in French). When we got to the front of the line, we found the same lady who had comp'd Tim going the other way. This time, she told us that it was free for Tim because it was after 6 p.m.
So we all rode the Metro back downtown.
With the caveat that we were the Mariners fans that we saw, all we needed on Saturday was to find fans of the Rays, Rockies and Cubs. Pretty good!
I walked most of those 7.61 miles with Kellan on my shoulders…and my back was about to pay the price.
All-in-all, it was an incredible first day of the baseball season for us. We had an absolute blast and we couldn't wait to get back at it the next day.


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Remember video stores in the 80's and renting VHS tapes? Seems such a long time ago. Ky was working in a video store in Cincinnati when LADY IN WHITE was released briefly in theatres and then on home video in 1988. This non-gory ghost story is our next Rialto Recommends. Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frank witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago. Shortly afterward he finds himself stalked by the killer and is soon drawn to an old house where a mysterious Lady In White lives. As he discovers the secret of the woman he soon finds that the killer may be someone close to him. As Roger Ebert said "LADY IN WHITE tells a classic ghost story in such an everyday way that the ghost is almost believable, and the story is actually scarier than it might have been with a more gruesome approach." While the Chicago Tribune said "LaLoggia clearly loves his chosen medium: He has a passion for filmmaking-for ferreting out unusual angles, for planning elaborate camera movements, for designing elaborate special effects-that sometimes leads him way over the top. Yet it's the extravagance of his gestures that gives Lady in White its character and imaginative force." LADY IN WHITE is available to rent for a modest fee from Vudu, Redbox, and AMCTheatresOnDemand HERE.
Jason Presson
Len Cariou
Jared Rushton