As a former reporter and editor, I am a news junkie. So when my husband gave me the day-after-Christmas gift of time for a long bath, I grabbed all the papers from the past few days and headed for a soak. But I quickly regretted my choice of reading material.
In the post-Christmas glow, the papers seemed especially grim. First I read the story of Bethlehem, virtually empty and devoid of celebration. None of the news from overseas seemed any cheerier. Closer to home, and what put me over the edge, was the story of a baby killed in the crossfire of a dispute in Carrboro on the afternoon of the 24th, including the odd detail of the sheriff unable to find the baby's mother by late that night.
Finally, I read the obituary of the news we had heard on Christmas Eve, the death of Paul Montgomery.
He was one of the area's best jazz pianists, but to those in my generation from Raleigh, he will forever be simply "Uncle Paul," the host of a children's TV show from the WRAL studio. He was my earliest brush with fame, good for bragging rights on my school playground, because he went to my church and was friends with my parents. Even with my mediocre memory, I could still draw a detailed picture of the show's studio, from the vantage point of the audience bleachers. It was a funny, warm show, gentle like Mr. Rogers or Captain Kangaroo, and so unlike the junk on kids' TV today.
For all the talk in this country about how precious our children are, we have such a hard time walking the talk, and I just couldn't escape that thought as I dumped the papers. I thought about how early I started reading Raleigh's newspapers, and then about how little I was reading now would be OK for my own son to read — now just at age 3, but even years hence. And I thought about a typical kid's day nowadays: We wake them at 6 a.m. so they can board a school bus at 7 for a 30-minute ride when they're 5 years old, then keep them running with other activities designed, we tell ourselves, for their enjoyment and enrichment, when for joy what they need is a passel of friends to ride bikes with. Meanwhile, we feed them junk, tolerate it when schools peddle vast quantities of Twinkies and Cokes in the cafeteria, allow schools to get away with just 30 minutes a week — a WEEK! — of p.e., and then agonize over obseity rates.
Whew. All I wanted when I got done with my pile of papers was to cuddle with my children and keep them safe and innocent for another year. Knowing that I couldn't completely do that, I gathered up my son and brought him into the kitchen.
The simple process of scooping and dumping flour and salt, whisking oil and sugar and eggs, paring one long swirl of apple peel to my son's delight — all this brought me back to a more moderate view of the world. I can't protect my children from everything, and sooner or later my son will discover who SquareBob is, and find Spiderman infinitely more interesting than Thomas the Tank Engine.
But I can give him the roots that he needs when he's ready to spread those wings. Just as I think it's important to create food memories for your kids, I know the kitchen is one of the best places to pass along a full sense of home and family. Get your hands busy, and your mouth follows; talking seems so much freer when eyes are focused on a measuring spoon than when staring at each other. From my 3-year-old, I get a fanciful story of his dreams last night; from me, he gets an equally dreamy one about Andrew, our 6-year-old, bedtime-story pitcher for the Phillies.
With luck, our stories will change, but we'll keep telling them 10, even 20 years from now. I learned so much more than cooking wisdom in my teenage kitchen conversations with my mother; I'm sure I shared more with her at those moments than any other time together. To this day, when I'm struggling with something and she's not available for advice, I carry on conversations with her in my head while I cook, in the hope of finding the answer (and more often than not, I do).
Advice columnists lecture us on sharing suppers together as a family several nights a week to pass along values and teach your children table manners and conversation. Amen to that, but I'd also bet that the prep and cleanup matter even more in keeping relationships close.
And that's another reason why heating a few frozen dinners just won't cut it. Make something from scratch, and your day slows down, opening the door to relaxed chats. If that's not enough of a reason for you, go back to that bit about 30 minutes of p.e. At the very least, give your hands and heart a workout by the stove.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 14th, 2003 at 1:00 am	and is filed under Columns - Old columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


Right one is on a mount of some kind.
I really like that sword and that mount. For the people that haven't been around that long and haven't read the old docs: The strongest swordsmanship skills and swords would come from this region and hence this would be the kingdom, whose strenght would always have laid in its legendary swordmen.
Here's another pic of the Nomad's sword and a field bottle. I'll add some other relevant things later + some new sword/cleaver/axe/dagger models.
godnight. it's 00:13 CEST now. only 6 hours of sleep left.
I sincerely like everything in Mkael's nomads concept art. They have their nice particular style. We don't have to go for real nomads, we can just adopt our style so I guess the clothes could fit without problems, well that's my opinion at least.
The sword and field bottle are wonderful, I'd really like to pixelate them, but I'm sure some other pixel artist could do a better job. Everyone feel free to give it a try.
iru: I've already seen most of the tiles, but I like the sand, the small rock and the columns (trunks?). I think sand could use more variation, maybe something like small dunes, some vegetation, more rocks or whatever else you can think of. I know you're working on the tents, Mkael should be working on some concept art of them, maybe you'd want to wait for it.
Anyway I'm glad to see summer's holidays are over and everyone is back to work with very nice results Go on this way people.
Irukard: Really good all around, the only potential issue is that the perspective at the base of the trees is side-on, rather than from an upward "45?" angle. The pillars/statues are great, in fact I would go so far as to say they may well be the equal of professional nintendo art.
The trees would be too, save for that perspective issue I mentioned - you can fix it by having some roots stretch out from the base point at an angle.
The "highlight the facing edge" trick is a large part of what makes those pillars look good. You've learnt it well - do keep using it.
Mkael: Nice work on that line art, there. You have a good eye for creature shaping and costuming, and I think your style fits a game like this very, very well.
Jetryl wrote: Thumbs up on everything!
EDIT: I uploaded to tiles tent concept art. It's out of style, a bitt odd, and too blured in some places. I used dynamic lightening, so shaders can look a bit strange.
and here is my question: Are shape and size fit to game?
i wrote: .Are shape and size fit to game?
Well it'd be better if we had a set of tiles, out of which we could build a tent of any size, instead of a "tent object". The same applies to everything: if we have interjunctionable tiles, we can build more with less.
In real life tents aren't really extendable. The smaller tent shown in I's tileset wouldn't make sense if it got much bigger. The structure wouldn't be believable. Consider the differing structures of the biggest tents you've ever seen, circus bigtops, medium sized ones like I's, and the smallest, camping tents. When the size is changed too much the whole structure changes.
P.S.- When you highlight the facing edge, you're making the light source, the player's view, and the object in a straight line. Therefore... shouldn't there be no visible shadow because it's behind the object?
I'm talking about constructing a more complex tent out of the same building blocks, for example an octagonial ceremonial tent..
And that applies to everything we have, for example the desert cliffs that are in use at the moment aren't really interjunctionable and a person cannot be very creative with them. But I agree, the post shouldn've been directed at the tent, it was a bad example. This has been a long and exhausting day for me.
Sorry if i made that comment seem negative, yours was a very good tip but just not on the tent. i agree that everything (else) should be tilable/extendable.
I sincerely like a lot the first one, even if someone told it looks a bit orc-ish and wow-ish.
If those supporting wooden posts around the sides were made a lot longer and the cloth still draped to the top of them, it might give a very cool, dramatic look.
Ultim wrote: If those supporting wooden posts around the sides were made a lot longer and the cloth still draped to the top of them, it might give a very cool, dramatic look.


text:
NGC 7731 ist eine Balken-Spiralgalaxie vom Hubble-Typ SBa im Sternbild Fische auf der Ekliptik. Sie ist schätzungsweise 135 Millionen Lichtjahre von der Milchstraße entfernt und hat einen Durchmesser von etwa 65.000 Lichtjahren. Gemeinsam mit NGC 7732 bildet sie das gravitativ gebundenes Galaxienpaar Holm 813 oder KPG 590 und zusammen mit drei weiteren Galaxien die NGC 7757-Gruppe (LGG 482).

Das Objekt wurde am 27. Oktober 1864 von Albert Marth entdeckt.

Weblinks
 SIMBAD Astronomical Database

Einzelnachweise

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Visibility is being blamed on an accident Saturday between a Yahama snowmobile and Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.
RCMP say the collision happened just before 4 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 59 and Provincial Road 317 in the RM of St. Clements.
According to police, the 20-year-old male snowmobile driver from Winnipeg was attempting to cross the highway eastbound when he was hit by the northbound truck driven by a 49-year-old Winnipeg man.
The truck flipped onto its side and ended up in the eastbound median of PR 317.
The snowmobiler was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while the driver of the truck was treated on scene and released.
Northbound traffic on Highway 59 was blocked for about 40 minutes while police investigated.
Alcohol is not considered to be a factor in the crash.


Want to give a big shout outs to my homies from the 718 team. I also want to give them a big congratulations on their new business endeavors in Manhattan. Conquering the concrete jungle of NYC. These people are hands down the best at what they do. That of course is getting you into the car of your dreams, or something close. Go check them out on the web at 718 All Access Website.
When logged on check out what they can do. All you need to do is get them your information through their website and a financial specialist will contact you.


This week started spectacularly, and crumbled a bit at the end for me, which is why I'm going to start with the end of the week, so that when you finish reading this, you will be reminded of the good, and not the bad.
Yesterday, we came home to Jacmel from the Savanette. By the time we arrived, I was already pretty tired and looking forward to a day off. However, before I had even entered our yard, I was told that one of our puppies (our dog Baloo had a surprise litter in August) could barely stand. Mandarin, one of the girls, was laying on the porch and having troubles lifting her head, so I sat with her for a while and helped her to take in some food and water. Once she did, I was able to get her standing and walking a bit, so I thought that maybe she would recover well.
I finally walked inside our house, only to find a little puddle of dark brown water waiting for me under the freezer… The last time that happened, Jamie & I had returned from a week long trip to the Savannette and discovered that everything in our freezer had defrosted and rotted while we were away, so I was definitely not looking forward to dealing with the mess again.
Thankfully I had a meeting to get to, so I left the freezer to wait a little longer, and headed out. When I returned a couple of hours later, Mandarin was much worse than before, so I tried calling the local vet. Sadly, by the time I was able to get a hold of him, she had taken a turn for the worse and passed away before I could even get her loaded in the car. By this time it was already 11:00 pm and I was completely exhausted. To top it off, I realized that even if I'd had the energy, I couldn't bury her because we had left all of our shovels and picks in the big truck back in Savannette! I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. In the end, I ended up wrapping her in plastic bags and sticking her in the freezer for the night, since I already knew I'd be throwing everything inside of it away.
Which brings me back to this past week.
I know many of you may have been reading the updates throughout the week, but this post will be more of a recap of it all, and a description of the work moving forward.
Last Saturday, I hit the road to go to the Savannette with my guys, not really having a plan of exactly what we were going to do. I went with 4 tarps, and tools to do whatever we could. By the end of the week, one tarp was on the clinic, one tarp went with Smiley to his house, one went to Reginald so his family can move back home instead of staying in the MIA guesthouse, and one went to Joanes, who randomly came out to meet us.
Joanes is a carpenter from here in Jacmel who uses our tools and workshop whenever he has furniture to build. He's a great guy, and his family lost their home out near Torbeck, which was quite close to where we were at. He came to visit us, and I was able to give him a tarp and an advance on building a kitchen table for us someday in the future, so that he could help his family right now.
Since that was all the tarps we had, our initial plans were to (a) clear trees, and (b) get the clinic back open to treat any medical issues that may arise in the community.
Each morning we loaded up the truck with guys, machetes, and our chainsaw and worked from about 7-12, which is when it would get too hot to do much more. Our priorities were trees that were blocking the road or were on houses, so for now, we skipped many large trees that will need cleared someday, so that we could get the most important things done. In exciting news, we did manage to build temporary rafters and get a tarp secured over the clinic before we left, so it should at least be able to function again.
Securing the tarp on the clinic roof.
In the afternoons, I started surveying the community, and by the end of the week (with lots of help from Gala Calisto), we managed to survey about 80 houses and identified some of the greatest needs in the community.
Out of 80 houses, over 70 need tarps.
When Gala and Susan Frame came to help from Jacmel, they brought with them 30 more tarps, which we handed out to where we felt were the biggest needs. Honestly, handing out tarps was more exhausting than working with the chainsaw crew. Even though the ones receiving them were quite grateful, it was difficult to not be discouraged by the amount of people surrounding us, creating problems for us by demanding a tarp for their house, or accusing us of breaking promises (which we never made, as we were clear to state at each house that we could not promise anything at all and were only collecting information for now). It's part of the reason we are short on pictures from the survey and tarp process, because we didn't want to take photos of any houses that we could not give aid to while we surveying, and because we were too busy to get the camera out during the distributions. However, we did at least manage to capture a picture at the one house where we actually helped put the tarp on.
Gala had noticed that this woman did not seem to have anyone to help her clear the rubble in her house, so we figured she would need help putting the tarp on as well. Her house was actually in better condition than most that we gave tarps to, but we were trying to pay attention to who had family helping them out as well as evaluating the house itself.
Honestly, though, the struggles of tarp distribution were completely expected and understandable, and everyone did eventually calm down and respect our decisions. And as we left on Friday morning, they thanked us for all the hard work that was put in, and made sure we know they're are looking forward to us returning in the future.
Looking forward, I had a meeting with some of the local supporters here in Jacmel last night. Gala, Susan, and Matt and Julie Reichard (from Carlisle, PA, working with Freedom Global Outreach) have been very supportive and are contributing financially to this relief project as well. We decided that this week would be set aside for rest and logistics. We are searching out prices for lumber, tin, tarps, and some school supplies, as we noticed that many of the childrens' notebooks for school were destroyed by water damage.
Flooded Classroom at MIA School.
I also talked on the phone for a while with my brother, and have been in contact with Kim Conrad, as both of them are planning to come down here and help out with the relief work. I will actually be trying to get to PA next week to see Jamie and Mara for a bit, before getting back into relief mode.
Due to the need to rest and recoup, I will not be making it to all the churches and groups that support us while I am home, but I will be announcing one evening when I will be sharing what is going on down here. It will most likely take place at Crucified Church, though I don't know what night yet. The following week, I will return to Haiti and a small team from Johnstown will be joining me, including Jeremy Barclay, Josh, Sean, and a possible fourth person, who is currently trying to get time off from work. Unfortunately I can't take anyone else right now as our Isuzu will only carry 5 people with luggage from PAP to the Savannette.
– Get more tarps. We hope to bring at least 100 tarps to the community for distribution, because that is the fastest and most economical way to address the need for rain protection in the houses. We'll be buying tarps in Port Au Prince for ~$22, and will add some materials to tie the tarp down into place. If any of you would like to help sponsor some materials, $25 will get a tarp on a house that already has rafters in place, or about $60 should allow us to get lumber to put up supports under the tarp as well.
– Put a permanent roof on the clinic. We have a structural engineer designing a truss layout for the clinic, so the plan is to build trusses and get the permanent roof in place before Dr. Jay arrives with a medical team on November 12.
– Continue with the tree cutting. We will be sending out teams each morning to cut more trees, but now we will also start hiring our machete crew instead of taking volunteers. These people need income, so we want to sponsor them to work on a project that will help their families and their community. Paying the men will probably be about $10/man/day if you would like to contribute to that as well.
– Re-evaluate the community needs. After we have taken a week off, we will get a chance to see who has the means to rebuild themselves, and who does not. Those who are capable of working, will already have started to do so by the time we return, which will help us to identify those in the greatest need. We will certainly not be promising anything to individuals yet, but we have plans that we could build a secure 8'x10′ single room building for about $450. The hard part is that the same money could tarp 18 roofs, or pay for 45 man-days of labor, so we will have to see a significant need to decide that an individual needs a new shelter.
We will also keep an eye on the health and food supply of the community, as they are currently not a problem, but either one could quickly take a turn for the worse. Cholera is popping up in some regions which could cause disastrous results, and most of the agriculture in the area was decimated, so the food supply may see a significant reduction soon. Pray that neither of these situations arises, but, if they do, we will respond accordingly.
– Minister, not just work. I have reached out to Pierre, our pastor here in Jacmel, to see if we can get a couple people from our church to join our team with a focus on talking to residents and addressing their spiritual needs in this traumatic time. Please pray that God would send the right people for this job as I feel that having Haitians minister to Haitians will be even more effective than if our team tried to do it through translators.
When Josh's team leaves, I will be picking up Kim Conrad the following day at the airport and we will return to the Savanette to continue working. This will also be a convenient time to resupply. The details of what we will work on will depend on the outcome of the previous week of work. We will look to collect some things in the US while I am home, but I won't know exactly until I get there.
If you are interested in helping, right now finances are the biggest support we need. We will use it to buy materials locally since importing things is not only slow and expensive, but this way we support the local economy as well.
Thank you for all of your support, and for taking the time to read these scattered thoughts… We need your prayers for the Savanette, and for wisdom and strength for ourselves as we continue this ministry.
We're 3 days into our disaster relief work in the Savannette area.
Each day we've started at about 7am and cut trees until noon, by which time the heat is unbearable enough to force us to retreat (and recover) for a couple hours, somewhere safe from the sun's beating rays.
We've been working hard to clear roads and chop down trees that fell on top of houses first, since that is a high priority. I can see that this task is going to take a while, so the chainsaw as well as plenty of manpower are going to be needed for a long time… I'm already thinking that once we get to a point where we have the roads cleared and trees out of people's houses, it may become an avenue to hire some of the local men to work with us to continue cutting up the fallen trees.
On the topic of roofing, I am excited that a structural engineer has offered us his expertise and is currently working on plans for a new roof truss for the clinic. We've also had word of a donation coming in to help with buying supplies for it, which is wonderful news as well. There have been several mild injuries around here that could become infections if not treated, so we want to get the clinic functioning again as soon as possible. The engineer is also going to help me work up what rafters should look like on the various houses that are broken, as I would really like to make sure that any roofs we end (re)building are strong and sturdy.
Many people would like to restore their damaged houses, but I must admit that I'm scared to rebuild a house whose concrete blocks got knocked over in the wind. However, I also probably can't convince them not to rebuild it the same way (at least not very easily), so I'm trying my best to come up with modifications that would at least make the structures safer, while still using some of the same building methods they are used to.
Speaking of which, we will need to buy lumber and tin soon. As we've been cutting, we've tried to keep our eyes open for any wood that we could scavenge, but I'm beginning to realize that it's not a practical plan. Turns out that most of the trees that fell are terrible for construction because the are too soft.
I also have yet to come up with a solution for the people whose houses were completely decimated, but I am working on getting prices to try and do at least small wooden shacks with tin walls as temporary shelters.
In other news from today, just as I was leaving to drive down into Les Cayes to get internet, we finally received reinforcements! Susan Frame and Gala Calisto had driven out from Jacmel to help us out a bit and deliver much needed supplies. So now we at least have some tarps, nails, roofing screws, etc. The plan is still to try and split into 2 crews, with one team working on tarping houses, and the other continuing clearing roads, while I send Gala to talk to the community and survey more houses for damage, since she speaks Kreyol much better than I do.
Aid is a very tricky thing though.
As I surveyed houses these past couple of days, I encountered a wide array of reactions.
At each house I would explain that "we are here to help", but that we came with tools and manpower only, and that "we have few supplies and cannot give new tin roofing to everyone". Surprisingly, some of the worst reactions I got were from people whose houses weathered the storm the best, as they seemed to think they are entitled to free supplies.
On the other hand, some of the best reactions came from families whose houses were flattened and were glad to have any help at all come to the area.
We have been quite clear to everyone that we came with little, and we can promise nothing, but what we do have (tools and manpower), we will gladly give.
Most people are extremely grateful.
As we were chainsawing today, we encountered a couple who had retired from their work in the US and moved back to Haiti. They had a giant tree fall on their house, which we were able to clear. They fed us bread, water, and even some AK100, which is a Maize-based porridge sort of thing, as a thank you.
Although it has been hot and tiring (and still a bit overwhelming), it's moments like these that bring a smile to a weary (and very dirty) face. It's kind of funny that since I'm the only one with a chainsaw, I'm also the only one at the end of the day completely covered in sawdust, but it's all good.
Apparently the signal isn't good down here, and my battery is low, so for the time being, Jamie is playing the role of secretary.
Today, we spent a good part of the day cutting trees, trying to clear the road and salvage any wood that might be helpful. I must say I was glad to dust off our old chainsaw which had been sitting dormant for the past few years and finally put it to some good use. We definitely got more work done than if we only had machetes.
In the afternoon, we were finally able to start surveying the surrounding area to get a better idea of the damage left behind by Hurricane Matthew. From what we've gathered, there have been no deaths, but only by the grace of God. Out of the 42 houses we visited, only two were "fine". 11 of them were completely totaled, with nothing to salvage or even put a tarp over, and the rest of them are in desperate need of roofs as they're currently unlivable, even for the Haitians.
Thankfully, we should have some tarps arriving on Tuesday as two more friends from Jacmel are coming to help us out. Susan Frame and Gala Calisto will be bringing much needed supplies including machetes, roofing screws, plumber's tape, nails, peanut butter, etc. The plan is to split into two crews, with one team continuing to survey the community, and the other one degaje-ing some makeshift shelters. "Degaje" is a Kreyol term that pretty much means "make do with what you have" or "do what you got to do", which is pretty fitting as we'll be trying to build some shacks out of the tarps, downed breadfruit trees and whatever else we can find that might be useful. We still have no idea what we will do for the houses that are completely destroyed, but at least it's a start.
I'll admit, when I first got here, I was feeling overwhelmed by the devastating needs around me. But as I see people (both local and abroad) coming together to support us and this community, I'm greatly encouraged, and reminded once again that God is good, and faithful to provide.
I'm in the Savannette (NW of Les Cayes), which is the first place I ever served in Haiti.
I came here knowing it got hit hard and that the school, clinic, and church lost their roofs.
I still wasn't prepared for the fact that the majority of people lost their entire houses.
I could spend a month just doing chainsaw work, but instead, we will start building shelters with whatever we can claim out of the fallen trees.
Right now, we need tarps more than anything.
Actually, I take that back. We need wisdom that only god can provide. There is no good way to make a priority list. This is not the worst situation in Haiti right now, but, if its left alone, it could certainly start catching up.
We also need a miracle. Here I am with 8 sacks of rice, 4 tarps, and some scattered lumber. If Jesus fed 5000 with a few loaves and a couple fish, maybe this can work out, but only by His hand.
Give me wisdom, you know just what to do.
Today I rode down to the Operation Blessing Headquarters in Tabarre, Port Au Prince. On the drive, we saw some downed trees and power lines, but the roads have already been cleared.
The haitian community is quick to respond, and strong, they can handle downed trees fairly quickly with machetes, and they are doing that well.
Port Au Prince looks good (mostly).
The rivers are quite dangerous and have claimed some housing and property. Hopefully no lives were lost there, but we won't know for a while.
I've asked some friends about road conditions and there is flooding in Leogane that would not be passable by car, and that Scott Payne stood at the bridge to Lavaneau for a while (which is passable), but saw no cars coming to Jacmel from the north, which sounds like the road may not be passable, although it could be that no one can even get to Dufort to start heading south.
I have checked in with the guys, and read more reports from Jacmel. It seems that most things were spared in Jacmel. In the words of Waly, God was protecting Jacmel. Kara at Hotel Cyvadier said they survived fine, despite being oceanfront.
Similar to hear, there are trees and power lines down, and some tin roofing missing from houses.
Unfortunately, all of Haiti was not so lucky.
Dame Marie has been completely out of communication for over 24 hours, and is completely cut off from the rest of the country by flooded roads. It is a community of 40,000+ that was hit hardest by the storm. Operation Blessing, MAF, and many other organizations are working on how to get aid out to this isolated and devastated community.
I have heard reports of chest high water in downtown Les Cayes, and the river is high, fast, and terrible.
Another missionary said that he thinks every piece of tin in Les Cayes is gone and every tree is down. It may be an overestimate, but it gives an idea of the amount of destruction.
Sadly, the road between Petit Goave and Grand Goave suffered a broken bridge, so there is no way to get help by truck yet.
Will keep you posted as more is learned.
Operation Blessing (www.ob.org) is working on relief efforts from their base in PAP, trying to find a way to get to the south.
Maxima is going to start building emergency shelters again, though they run about $3000 per house. They are rated to Cat 3 hurricanes, and have stood well for the 6 years since most of them were installed after the earthquake. We MAY try to work with them in the future, but I'm not sure we'll have the budget to keep up with the need.
We will be working on getting west to help out as possible, hiring our guys as labor to provide relief as we go.
It is tricky to update about different places in Haiti right now. A lot of the information on facebook must be fact-checked as there are pictures being spread from past events, such as Tropical Storms Jaoquin and Sandy, and even pictures from other places, such as Kingston, Jamaica. I THINK all of the following is accurate, but I cannot guarantee it.
For our family: We're enjoying our time with the Lotz family.
It has been a day of strong winds and heavy rain, but the house is dry and safe. There have been 10-20 trees fall within the view from our porch, including one which had a trunk over 20″ in diameter, but there was never anything that threatened the house we are in. Thank God for keeping us safe through this.
For our guys: At our house, the guys were reporting that everyone is safe, and the only damage that has been reported are to the Almond tree (in the front yard of our house), and the Breadfuit tree (which is by the stairs in the workshop), but neither damaged our property.
For Fort Jacques area: This is the area I can speak most definitively about, though I still only know what we saw from the porch. That is many downed trees, and a few houses with roofing tin flying off. This area is mostly large houses, so everything should be easily reparable for the residents, though it made for a cold and wet day. Power lines are down all over the place. It is a surprising bonus that since grid power was not on, it was safer for everyone when the power lines went down.
For Jacmel: Reports were moderate all things considered, though all of my reports are coming from ex-pats and what they can see from their compounds. I'm sure once we get out we will find that there was a lot of tin roofing ripped off of houses, and water damage all around. We know that trees were getting knocked down on ex-pat compounds so I'm sure they're getting knocked down everywhere. Likely there were major mudslides as well, but I haven't heard any reported. The rivers are extremely high and dangerous, including a large area that is typically marsh/swampland adjacent to Sarah Wallace's compound. This likely means that Lavalle, Lavanneau, Bainet, and other cities in the mountains west of Jacmel are cut off from supply routes until the water receeds, assuming the (newly completed) bridge has not been damaged.
For Les Cayes: I'm hearing bad reports. The river is high and dangerous, cell phone coverage is mostly out, and there is extensive flooding throughout the town. More importantly, there are reports from Petit Goave that a bridge is out on National Route 2. This will mean that everything to the south and/or west of Petit Goave, including Miragoane, Les Cayes, and Jeremie, is cut off from the rest of the country until a safe detour is constructed. I have seen some terrible pictures of flooding, and reports of shoulder-high flood waters, but I have not confirmed them yet For Cote D' Fer: I haven't heard any reports, but it is likely isolated at this point completely if Route #2 is out, and the river is impassable from Jacmel.
For Grand Goave: All my friends seem to have checked in OK, so that's good, but I don't know any more than that. Considering a bridge was destroyed in Petit Goave, which is only one town over, flooding is probably pretty high in Grand Goave's river as well.
For Port Au Prince: I have seen pictures from downtown Port-Au-Prince, as well as the Grise River between Tabarre and Santo, showing extremely high water levels, but I'm not sure of much else. With the amount of rain that has been falling, all lowland areas will be impacted by flooding, and that will be serious.
Moving Forward: This could have been a lot worse, but it is still very devastating, especially to the South and West of Haiti, the poorer communities, and the infrastructure. There will be many, many people who lost their houses and their possessions. Even more will have had significant damage, such as lost roofing on their houses. Disease, especially the risk of cholera or mosquito borne diseases, will likely jump in the next few weeks as everything is wet and the little "proper" sanitation that existed in the effected communities is likely destroyed.
Additionally, clean water will be even harder for people to get. The agricultural community probably lost most of their crops due to the high winds. And the lack of supply routes will compound the agricultural problems to cause food shortages, and make getting supplies to rebuild, and even just clear debris, more difficult.
I will try to return to Jacmel as soon as possible. Probably the roads will not be passable yet, though I can't be sure. If they are, that is awesome. If not, I will try to catch a plane down there when the airports are open. At that point, we'll get the house secure enough for Jamie and Mara to return, then get to work clearing roads and helping people dig out.
Relief teams would be more needed in the South and West. It would be premature to plan them until more evaluation is done. Financial support will be needed for all organizations that are working in Haiti to recover quickly, and to help their neighbors recover. Smaller organizations tend to be the most efficient, and the fastest, at distributing funds. Many have learned lessons after the earthquake on how to respond most effectively without undercutting local business, which combines the economic issues. For example, it is important to buy local to get money back into local hands and allow those people whose businesses survived to rebuild and help their neighbors to rebuild.
Additionally, it will be best to hire locals to do the work, when possible, so that they will have money to rebuild their own places as well. Obviously, at F1 we will use any money as wisely as possible, seeking to help re-establish infrastructure and provide jobs, but I would also recommend donations to Operation Blessing, Mission of Hope International and other organizations working in the South and West. I did have really good experiences with Samaritan's Purse's emergency shelters back in 2010, so they also seem like a decent choice to support, even if they are a "big" organization.
However, despite landing in PAP at 5pm on Wednesday, I am still in PAP and have not made it to Jacmel.
Yesterday, we went shopping, and everything was great on that end. We finally own a 25 kVA transformer, and an air conditioner, which I will work on installing once we get home.
We also picked up solar panels and batteries for some new missionaries in the Leogane area that the guys will start building racks for as soon as we get back.
However, Gayly picked me up in the F150, and it needs brake work done, and new front tires, before we head back over the mountain. Thankfully, we still had a place to stay for another night, and I was put in touch with a good shop to get the brakes worked on. It is run by an american and staffed by haitians. Overall, it seems like they are the mechanic's version of the F1 workshop, so it's nice to see other people doing this.
For today, we'll get the brakes fixed and go home, but we will have to continue to work on the truck once we get there, as they pointed out that is also needs air/oil/fuel filters and an oil change, and the engine is running rough so we'll probably get new fuel injectors as well.
I was considering retiring this truck, but since the Big Truck (the Chevy) doesn't have air conditioning, this is our best vehicle for picking up batteries and solar panels from PAP, so we'll work on fixing it again.
It's gonna be a busy couple weeks before Jamie, Mara, and Mom get here, but I'm looking forward to it.
For anyone keeping track (or trying to), the last 4 months or so have not gone according to our original plans.
In our minds, Jamie was going to be in the US for the month leading up to Mara's birth, and a month afterwards, then she was going to visit Finland so Mara could meet her extended family, and I was going to head back to Haiti.
But God had different plans in mind.
In the end, our 2 month departure from Haiti became more like 5, but it's been great, even if my guys back in Jacmel may not be so sure yet.
Our Finland plans didn't work out as intended, so I "had" to travel with Jamie and Mara over there, which was pretty great if I'm honest. I kinda wanted to go all along, but was trying to be fiscally responsible and that her mom could take care of her while she was there. Then, her mom's plans changed, and some dear friends chipped in to cover the additional costs of me heading over as well.
Then, the biggest delays to getting back to Haiti came because God provided our "new" vehicle.
Today, I dropped off our 2000 Isuzu Trooper at the docks, loaded with baby stuff and tools. We didn't make a big deal about gathering the stuff to put in the truck this time because we realized that we needed to be quite selective with our limited space, but we certainly used up every cubic inch we could safely secure in the back of this thing.
And now, it's time to head back to Haiti.
I'm excited (to get back to work with the guys), terrified (about what may have broken while I've been gone), nervous (to bring our daughter with us into the most politically unstable Haiti I've ever experienced), and relieved (because as great as it was to stay with my parents and catch up with friends, it will just be nice to get "home" and settle into life with Jamie and Mara in Haiti).
I'm also ready to move forward again.
I've been confused about direction lately, and I think it was mostly that I was overthinking things.
I wanted to get more involved in discipleship and building a church since they were "more evangelistic" than what I was doing. I felt like I wasn't doing enough.
But you know what? I'm an engineer. And I'm actually a pretty good one. God has put me in a position to learn and grow into a role in Haiti that is quite unique.
And everyday, I get to work with Anderson, Gayly, Fleury, Waly, and Bouki, and we may even pick up some new people.
I'm looking forward to getting more involved in aiding other ministries again.
I was getting weary of that. Mostly because of the turnover I've seen.
We've made new friends, only to say goodbye after a few short months.
It's crazy, because I moved to Jacmel to be with the missionaries there, and now there's only a handful of us that remember what 2011 was like.
And for a while, all of that had be growing weary.
But you know what, our day to day life is still a worthwhile ministry, even if I was starting to doubt it. It may not be glamorous, but it is good.
I am looking forward to getting back to the workshop and working with my guys.
We have more ministries to help, including a few solar setups on the docket, and I've got more ideas to try with them so that we can develop their skills, and the technology to help other missions in Haiti as well.
And I'll have a role in New Perspectives Church which Pierre and Lorphene have started. It may not be flashy, but God calls us to a daily walk with Him, taking care of each day as it comes, and I'm ready to continue that journey.
On Monday, April 4th, at 7pm, Jamie delivered our little girl, and now we are blessed and excited to introduce her.
Born weighing 8lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long, she arrived after a rather long labor and we are thankful to all of you who were praying for us through this time that God was able to sustain Jamie through the process.
Mara has several stories behind it, but it is a name that God put on Jamie's heart before we even knew we were pregnant. In our minds, Mara is short for "Maranatha", which was used as a greeting in the early church meaning "Come, Lord Jesus", reminding all to look forward to his return. It is also a reference to East Africa where Jamie grew up, or specifically, the game park know as "the Mara" (Maasai Mara).
Linnea is a good Scandinavian name, but is also a reference to Lynn, which is my middle name as well as my dad's.
As many people have asked what this does to our plans, we will continue to follow where God leads, including the fact that He has lead us to Haiti for this season of life. We look forward to introducing our little girl to her new "uncles" Anderson, Waly, Gayly, Fleury, Bouki, and Daniel.
Please continue to pray that God would give us wisdom regarding what work we should be doing, when (and where) we should be traveling, and for favor regarding getting proper paperwork for Mara and (hopefully) letting her and Jamie visit her extended family in Finland.


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Home/Healing & Reconciliation
Healing & ReconciliationBarb Summers2020-10-07T14:36:41-04:00
Justice Ministries
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action
Ministries with Indigenous People
Doctrine of Discovery
All this from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,
and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
In 1994, The Presbyterian Church in Canada adopted the Confession to God and to Indigenous people for its role in the Indian Residential School System. The church is committed to walking with Indigenous people on a journey toward reconciliation and living out the spirit of its Confession.
The Healing and Reconciliation Program was established by General Assembly in 2006 to assist The Presbyterian Church in Canada in restoring right relations with Indigenous people. The program provides resources to raise awareness among Presbyterians about the impact of colonialism on Indigenous people and supports initiatives that build relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Staff in Justice Ministries and members of the Healing and Reconciliation Advisory Committee work with Presbyterians at all levels of the church to foster leaders committed to promoting reconciliation efforts in their congregations and in their communities. The church works with ecumenical partners in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action, including support for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Our Confession
Confession Study Guide
Healing and Reconciliation Seed Fund
Statement on Indigenous Spiritual Practices
While all the Calls to Action are significant for all Canadians, there are those that directly name the churches. What do these specific Calls to Action mean and how are Presbyterians responding? Our Church Responds.
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
In June of 2019, Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was released. The report found that genocide has been and continues to be committed against Indigenous people in Canada.
A study resource, Why Work To Decolonize?, was produced in collaboration between the PCC's National Indigenous Ministries Council and the Life and Mission Agency (Justice Ministries), to help people understand the overall themes of the report and learn what can be done, both by individual Christians and in wider society, to pursue justice and reconciliation going forward.
Why Work To Decolonize? Study Guide on National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Acknowledging Traditional Territory
A guide to assist congregations and courts of the church to incorporate an acknowledgment of traditional Indigenous territory into worship, meetings and other gatherings.
The Blanket Exercise
The KAIROS Blanket Exercise explores the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. Blankets arranged on the floor represent the land. Participants begin to see the impact that colonization and loss of land has had on Indigenous people as the blankets are folded up and removed. The activity invites participants to consider how to begin to heal broken relationships and what their next steps toward reconciliation will be.
Watch a video about the Blanket Exercise
If you are interested in learning more, hosting the Blanket Exercise, or becoming a facilitator, please contact Katharine Sisk (ext. 250).
Healing & Reconciliation News
Sarah Curd2020-10-23T12:46:01-04:00
Remembering Chanie Wenjack on October 23, 2020
Sarah Curd2020-10-23T12:46:01-04:00October 23rd, 2020|Categories: Healing & Reconciliation, News|Tags: Justice for Indigenous Peoples|
Systemic Racism: When an Individual's Words Illuminate the Space in Which They're Said
Sarah Curd2020-10-01T16:21:56-04:00October 1st, 2020|Categories: Healing & Reconciliation, Justice, News|Tags: Justice for Indigenous Peoples|
Every Child Matters: Reflecting and Praying on Orange Shirt Day, September 30
Sarah Curd2020-12-23T09:48:14-05:00September 29th, 2020|Categories: Healing & Reconciliation, Justice, News|Tags: Justice for Indigenous Peoples|
Explore more about healing and reconciliation…
Ideas for Youth
Here are some ideas for ways to encourage the youth in your congregation to get involved in healing and reconciliation:
Start small. Introduce them to the concept of acknowledging traditional territories at church events.
Lead them in the Blanket Exercise or—better still—invite them to help you lead the Blanket Exercise in your congregation.
Invite Katharine Sisk, Healing and Reconciliation Program Coordinator , to meet your youth group in person or over Skype.
Liturgical resources, including suggested orders of service, sermon illustrations, church school activities, bible study and prayers are available in the following liturgical resources.
A Time for Hope (2016) and Accompanying Slides
We are One in the Spirit (2010)
Healing & Reconciliation Liturgical Kit (2007)
Also, use the Blanket Exercise as an interactive way to explore the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Click here for moreJustice Ministries resources.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Steve and Bill at D5
I would like to thank The News Room for this great clip of the interview between Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, and Bill Gates, founder and long-time leader of Microsoft. These two are often seen as arch enemies, but the way they conducted themselves on stage, they seem to be =old friends, and to have a lot of respect for one another. They talk about their intertwined pasts, the present state of computers, and their individual views of the future.
Here's the video, enjoy as the titans of Silicon Valley share the stage at D5.
Again, I'd like to thank to good folks at The News Room for this clip. The News Room is a website that provides access to all kinds of news footage from agencies around the world. They provide these free of charge. They also offer a CPM based reward program for showing their footage. You can earn from $1 up to $4 per thousand page impressions, just for embedding one of their videos, just like the one I did here. It was free and easy to do so, just like embedding a YouTube or other online video. I just had to create a free account, and tell them where to send the money. It's a great system.


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Your target comes from Springfield in Massachusetts. Their last used mode of communication was a Miscellaneous delivered by Sprint.
Advertisement for legal company for credit repair. They got my number from Facebook.
Stateslist / State: Massachusetts / 413 / 413-504 / 413-504-83
Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, 535 U.S. 467, is a United States Supreme Court case in which Verizon Communications. Verizon Communications v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP, often shortened to Verizon v. Trinko, 540 U.S. 398, is a case decided by the Supreme. Rhode Island, but Verizon sold off service in the northern three states, which as of 2020 are served by Consolidated Communications. After the Bell System. Verizon South, Inc. is a Verizon operating company providing local telephone services to portions of Virginia and North Carolina in the United States. Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission may refer to: Verizon Communications Inc. v. FCC a 2002 United States Supreme. Verizon Pennsylvania LLC, formerly traded as Bell of Pennsylvania, is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Pennsylvania. The company was founded. Frontier Communications of the Carolinas LLC is an operating company created in 2009 when some assets of Verizon South were split off and sold to Frontier. Frontier Communications ILEC Holdings, Inc. is a company created by Verizon Communications in 2009. The company, sold to Frontier Communications on July. Served by Verizon Virginia. Frontier Communications purchased Verizon West Virginia. Hum is a vehicle diagnostic and tracking system from Verizon Communications. The system is composed of two devices: a diagnostics reader which connects. Verizon Delaware LLC, formerly The Diamond State Telephone Company, is the Bell Operating Company of Delaware, and small parts of southeastern Pennsylvania. The 2016 Verizon workers' strike was a labor action in the United States involving about 40, 000 Verizon Communications landline and Verizon Fios workers. Virginia, and Virginia. Today, three of the companies are owned by Verizon Communications: The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, The Chesapeake. Roughly covers 11% of the US population that is provided by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S. carriers to offer fiber to. Upon CenturyTel's purchase of lines from Verizon Communications. The lines in Alabama were split from Verizon South and Contel of the South, which were. Verizon Maryland LLC is Bell Operating Company owned by Verizon Communications serving the state of Maryland. Its headquarters are in Baltimore. The company. The Verizon strike 2000 took place on August 5, 2000, in New York. Nearly 85, 000 unionized Verizon workers went on strike to protest Verizon's plan to.
Telecommunications company. Before being purchased by and later absorbed by Verizon Communications. XO provided managed and converged Internet Protocol network. Verizon Business is a division of Verizon Communications based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey that provides. Frontier Communications of the Southwest Inc. is a Frontier Communications operating company providing local telephone services to former Verizon California. Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission was a 2014 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit case vacating portions of the FCC. CEO of Verizon Communications Inc. His telecommunications career began more than 40 years ago when he joined New York Telephone, one of Verizon's predecessor. Instances of the K-root of the Domain Name System. On January 27, 2011, Verizon Communications announced it would buy Terremark Worldwide for $19 a share, in a. On June 30, 2000, Bell Atlantic acquired GTE to form the current Verizon Communications, with the corporate headquarters remaining the same 1095 Avenue. Florida LLC is a Frontier Communications operating company providing telephone service in Florida to former GTE and later Verizon regions. Frontier Florida. Company of Frontier Communications serving Indiana and Michigan. It was originally owned by Contel, and later purchased by GTE, Verizon, and then sold to. Counsel of the telecommunications company Verizon Communications until her retirement in 2015. Since leaving Verizon, she is a practicing attorney in the Washington. Frontier California, Inc. is a Frontier Communications-owned operating company providing telephone service in former Verizon regions. This included Southern California. In 2010, when the original Verizon North, whose service region included Pennsylvania, was sold to Frontier Communications, the original company became. Northern New England, a subsidiary of Consolidated Communications. The company was created following Verizon's 2008 sale of its telephone lines in Maine, New. Individually, thus making Verizon New Jersey the state's first statewide competitive cable company. Bell System Verizon Communications NYNJTT ATT: History:. Johnny Diaz; October 5, 2011, Globe Staff Cable collision course - As Verizon rolls out TV service, it faces formidable competitors: Comcast and local. 1997 to satisfy Federal Communications Commission requirements regarding the GTE-Bell Atlantic merger that created Verizon. GTE operated in Canada. And companies it acquired from Verizon Communications which are grouped under its subsidiary Frontier Communications ILEC Holdings.
The companies operate. Becoming Verizon Communications. At this point the company's name was legally changed to Verizon North, Inc. In 2009, Verizon Communications created a. Following its purchase of the Hawaiian Telecom Inc. assets of Verizon Communications. On July 2, 2018, Cincinnati Bell purchased Hawaiian Telcom Holdco. States. In 2000 Verizon was formed after a merger by Bell Atlantic and GTE, with CODETEL continuing. Cheaper than Verizon with the downside being speeds will be throttled if Verizon subscribers in the area are busy on the network, giving Verizon subscribers. Vestberg is a Swedish businessman and CEO of Verizon Communications, where he has worked as executive vice president of the company's. Verizon High Speed Internet is a digital subscriber line Internet service offered by Verizon. It allows consumers to use their telephone and Internet. Is an American businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications, a company he joined in 2000. McAdam earned a bachelor's degree. Fíos, a parish in Parres, Spain Verizon Fios, bundled home communications service offered by Verizon Communications in the US FiOS from Frontier, the. Preparing to sell to FairPoint Communications in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In 2008, the company was spun off from Verizon and merged into FairPoint. Atlantic became Verizon Communications, resulting in the new name Verizon West Virginia, Inc. On July 1, 2010, Verizon spun off New Communications Holdings, . Did not change its official legal name under Verizon ownership. On February 5, 2015, Verizon Communications announced a sale of its wired telecom operations. Known as Verizon West Coast, Inc. until 2010. Upon its sale to Frontier Communications, the company gained its last name, Frontier Communications West Coast. The 2009 Verizon Festival of Speed was the fourth round of the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series season. It took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May. York City. Bell Atlantic acquired GTE on June 30, 2000 to form Verizon Communications, the merger being first announced in April 2000. NYNEX also operated. Form Verizon Communications, made Verizon Wireless the nation's largest wireless communications provider. For the joint venture, Verizon Communications owns. Verizon Communications announced that it had acquired Vessel, and that it would be shut down on October 31. Vessel's team was hired to revamp Verizon's.
Springfield ➹
Massachusetts ➹
Springfield ➶
Massachusetts ➶


New York, August 31, 2009--A magistrate in Zambia issued a summons today for the entire editorial staff of the southern African country's largest independent newspaper to appear in court on Wednesday on contempt charges, according to local journalists and news reports. The ruling was prompted by an op-ed commenting on the prosecution of the paper's news editor.
The Post published on Thursday an op-ed by a U.S.-based contributor, Cornell University law professor Muna Ndulo, which was critical of the ongoing criminal prosecution of Post News Editor Chansa Kabwela. Kabwela faces charges of circulating obscene materials after sending Zambian officials photographs of a woman giving birth without medical aid outside the University Teaching Hospital, which was affected by a health care worker strike at the time. Editors decided the pictures were too graphic for publication but felt it important to raise awareness among government leaders about the human impact of the strike.
Today, Magistrate Charles Kafunda, who is overseeing Kabwela's case, formally cited Ndulo and Post Editor-In-Chief Fred M'membe, a 1995 recipient of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award, for contempt in relation to the original dissemination of the photos, according defense lawyer Sam Mujuda. The magistrate summoned the rest of the staff in relation to the op-ed. The charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, Mujuda said.
"With each judicial action, Zambian authorities make this into a bigger story worldwide," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "Summoning an entire editorial staff over an opinion piece exposes the absurd lengths authorities are going to harass The Post."
Earlier this month, Zambian journalists took to the streets to protest at least 21 incidents of harassment this year, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa. A magistrate recently lodged assault charges against a member of the ruling party for harassing Post reporter Chibaula Silwamba and Anthony Mulowa, a journalist for the state-run Times of Zambia, according to local news reports. The case is scheduled to go on trial on September 17, according to Silwamba.


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The executive organ of the State refers to
asked Mar 2, 2022 in GK by ShreeHarpale (110k points)
closed Mar 8, 2022 by ShreeHarpale
1. every citizen of the country exercising universal adult franchise
2. the elected representatives
3. a group of people responsible for implementing laws and running the government
4. the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts
answered Mar 2, 2022 by PrashantPandey (59.9k points)
selected Mar 2, 2022 by ShreeHarpale
Correct Answer - Option 3 : a group of people responsible for implementing laws and running the government
The organ of government that primarily looks after the function of implementation and administration is called the executive.
The second but most powerful organ of the government is the Executive.
It is that organ that implements the laws passed by the legislature and the policies of the government.
At the State level, the executive comprises the Governor and the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.
Thus, we can conclude that the executive organ of the State refers to a group of people responsible for implementing laws and running the government.
The executive is often involved in the framing of policy.
The executive branch is not just about presidents, prime ministers and ministers.
It also extends to the administrative machinery (civil servants).
While the heads of government and their ministers, saddled with the overall responsibility of government policy, are together known as the political executive, those responsible for the day to day administration are called the permanent executive.
Who is included in the Executive organ of the state?
asked Sep 18, 2022 in Social Science by KrushnaBhovare (81.6k points)
administration of the state
Who are included in the Executive organ of the state?
The Executive organ of the government ……. .
asked Sep 17, 2022 in Social Science by AnmolSingh (85.0k points)
Which organ is considered as permanent executive?
asked Mar 1, 2020 in Political Science by Sonu01 (51.1k points)
Civil Service/Bureaucracy refers to the _____________ executive.
asked Dec 22, 2021 in Political Science by RidhiKumari (35.8k points)


You can enter online via the relevant pages on this website. Just look for the register button next to the relevant ride.
Do I have to purchase the items at the feed stations?
Feed stations will have a variety of items to purchase around each route.
Can I enter the event on the day?
Yes, as long as the capacity for the ride you want to enter has not been reached. It will make your life much easier if you sign up in advance though.
Can I raise money for any charity?
Yes, you are welcome to raise money for whichever charity you wish, although we would love it if you would raise for our official event charity, When You Wish Upon a Star.
Where is the start venue?
The Victoria Embankment in Nottingham which is easily accessible on your bike and has great local transport links. Visit the Transport Information page under The Event page for more detail.
Nottingham train station is less than 1 mile away from the start/finish.
I registered a while ago, when will I receive my rider info pack?
Rider information packs will be sent out approximately 2-3 weeks before the event.
I will not now be able to take part in the event, can I get a refund?
We are happy to provide a refund minus the admin fee of £7.50 up until Friday 4th May 2018. After this date, we're afraid there will be no refund or credits issued.
My friend and I registered at different times. Can we still start and ride together?
Yes, providing you have both selected the same start time during the entry process.
What do I do if I experience problems with payment during online entry?
You may have some difficulty paying if you are attempting to do so from work and you have a stringent firewall in place. Try from home and if you are still experiencing problems, give us a call on 0115 9683327 and we'll be happy to help you.
What is in my rider information pack?
Your rider number (to be attached to your front, outermost layer of clothing), an event information booklet that tells you all you need to know and an event sponsorship form.
What items are served at the feed stations?
Various items are served at each location, but they will include tea, coffee, cakes and biscuits, water. At Car Colston, there will also be a BBQ in operation offering breakfast rolls for the earlier riders and burgers for those getting there in time for lunch.
What shall I do if I do not receive my rider info pack?
Come along to the Registration area on the morning of the event.
Registration will open on the morning of the event from 6.00am. We recommend you arrive at least 30 minutes before your individual ride's start time.
What time does the event close?
The event will officially close at 6:00pm.
Where do I pick up t-shirts?
T-shirts will be available from the Registration point.


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Zeichentheorie
Peirce: CP 8.368 IV.: Icon, Index, Symbol.
Peirce: CP 2.276 An Icon is a Representamen whose Representative Quality is a Firstness of it as a First. That is, a quality that it has qua thing renders it fit to be a representamen. Thus, anything is fit to be a Substitute for anything that it is like. (The conception of "substitute" involves that of a purpose, and thus of genuine thirdness.) Whether there are other kinds of substitutes or not we shall see. A Representamen by Firstness alone can only have a similar Object. Thus, a Sign by Contrast denotes its object only by virtue of a contrast, or Secondness, between two qualities. A sign by Firstness is an image of its object and, more strictly speaking, can only be an idea. For it must produce an Interpretant idea; and an external object excites an idea by a reaction upon the brain. But most strictly speaking, even an idea, except in the sense of a possibility, or Firstness, cannot be an Icon. A possibility alone is an Icon purely by virtue of its quality; and its object can only be a Firstness. But a sign may be iconic, that is, may represent its object mainly by its similarity, no matter what its mode of being. If a substantive be wanted, an iconic representamen may be termed a hypoicon. Any material image, as a painting, is largely conventional in its mode of representation; but in itself, without legend or label it may be called a hypoicon.
Peirce: CP 2.283. An Index or Seme (séma) is a Representamen whose Representative character consists in its being an individual second. If the Secondness is an existential relation, the Index is genuine. If the Secondness is a reference, the Index is degenerate. A genuine Index and its Object must be existent individuals (whether things or facts), and its immediate Interpretant must be of the same character. But since every individual must have characters, it follows that a genuine Index may contain a Firstness, and so an Icon as a constituent part of it. Any individual is a degenerate Index of its own characters.
Peirce: CP 2.292 A Symbol is a Representamen whose Representative character consists precisely in its being a rule that will determine its Interpretant. All words, sentences, books, and other conventional signs are Symbols. We speak of writing or pronouncing the word "man"; but it is only a replica, or embodiment of the word, that is pronounced or written. The word itself has no existence although it has a real being, consisting in the fact that existents will conform to it. It is a general mode of succession of three sounds or representamens of sounds, which becomes a sign only in the fact that a habit, or acquired law, will cause replicas of it to be interpreted as meaning a man or men. The word and its meaning are both general rules; but the word alone of the two prescribes the qualities of its replicas in themselves. Otherwise the "word" and its "meaning" do not differ, unless some special sense be attached to "meaning."


NETHERLAND INDIES :INTERNATIONAL REPLY COUPON 171/2c MALANG'40 & Waldhaus Pmk.
NETHERLAND INDIES Jp Occup : 21 x Kon 40c Rep Ind & T Ovpt (MNH) Corner block.
NETHERLAND INDIES Jp Occup : 16 x Kon 30c Rep Ind Ovpt, in Gutter Pairs (cto).
Netherlands Indies Japanese Occup: 4x12 Diff SUMATRA stamps on Paper w/ Sp Chop.


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title: "Problem from Random Iterated Functions"
---
Here's a simple problem discussed by Persi Diaconis and David Freedman which motivates the beautiful [theory of random iterated functions](http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~census/511.pdf), a way of thinking about Markov chains that unifies diverse ideas from math, physics, and statistics.

The particular problem is to estimate the stationary distribution of the Markov chain $X\_{n}$ defined on $[0, 1]$ by the following procedure: Let $X\_{n + 1}$ be uniformly distributed on the interval to the left of $x\_{n}$ with probability $1/2$, else draw $X\_{n + 1}$ uniformly from the interval to the right of $x\_{n}$.

More formally, $X\_{n}$ is a Markov chain with the transition kernel

$$
\begin{aligned}
k(x_{n}, x_{n + 1}) &:= \frac{\mathbb{1}(x_{n + 1} \in [0, x_{n}])}{2 x_{n}} + \frac{\mathbb{1}(x_{n + 1} \in (x_{n}, 1])}{2 ( 1 - x_{n})}.
\end{aligned}
$$

This chain is irreducible and aperiodic, so converges to a unique stationary distribution $\pi$. To find it, recall that $\pi$ is a stationary distribution for a chain with kernel $K$ if and only if $\pi K = \pi$. Hence, $\pi$ must satisfy

$$
\begin{aligned}
\pi(x_{n + 1}) &= \int_{0}^{1} k\left(x_{n}, x_{n + 1}\right)\pi(x_{n}) dx_{n} \\
&= \frac{1}{2}\int_{x_{n + 1}}^{1} \frac{\pi(x_{n})}{x_{n}} dx_{n} + \frac{1}{2} \int_{0}^{x_{n + 1}} \frac{\pi(x_{n})}{1 - x_{n}} dx_{n} \\
&= -\frac{1}{2}\int_{1}^{x_{n + 1}} \frac{\pi(x_{n})}{x_{n}} dx_{n} + \frac{1}{2} \int_{0}^{x_{n + 1}} \frac{\pi(x_{n})}{1 - x_{n}} dx_{n}.
\end{aligned}
$$

Applying the fundamental theorem of calculus, we find that the stationary distribution $\pi$ is the solution to the ODE

$$
\begin{aligned}
\frac{d\pi(x)}{dx} &= \frac{1}{2}\left(-\frac{\pi\left(x\right)}{x} + \frac{\pi\left(x\right)}{1 - x}\right).
\end{aligned}
$$

To solve this ODE, we integrate

$$
\begin{aligned}
\int \frac{\frac{d\pi(x)}{dx}}{\pi\left(x\right)} dx &= \frac{1}{2}\int \left(-\frac{1}{x} + \frac{1}{1 - x}\right) dx \\
\implies \log\left(\pi\left(x\right)\right) &= \frac{1}{2}\left(-\log\left(x\right) - \log\left(1 - x\right)\right) \\
\implies \pi\left(x\right) &\propto \frac{1}{\sqrt{x\left(1 - x\right)}}.
\end{aligned}
$$

Hence, we find that $\pi$ must be the [arcsine distribution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcsine_distribution).

This result might be a little surprising: we start with a scheme that uniformly choose between two uniform distributions, and end up with a stationary distribution that is far from uniform. However, consider that, if $X\_{n}$ is already close to one of the edges, then $X\_{n + 1}$ has a 50% chance of being *even* closer to that edge.

Below, we have include code for taking samples from $X\_{n}$. Further, we illustrate the convergence of samples from an instance of the $X\_{n}$. We notice that the histogram begins to take on the characteristic heavy-tailed shape of the arcsine distribution as the sample size becomes larger and larger.

An instance of samples converging to the arcsine distribution.

{% highlight r %}
next.point <- function(x.prev) {
    u <- runif(1)
    if (u <= 0.5) {
        x.next <- runif(1, 0, x.prev)
    } else {
        x.next <- runif(1, x.prev, 1)
    }
}

sample.n <- function(n, x0 = 0.5) {
    x <- vector(length = n + 1)
    x[1] <- x0
    for (i in 2:(n + 1)) {
        x[i] <- next.point(x[i - 1])
    }
    return(data.frame(x))
}

data <- sample.n(10000)
{% endhighlight %}

{% highlight r %}
library(ggplot2)
library(animation)
saveGIF(for (i in 1:500) {
    data.cur = data.frame(data$x[1:(20 * i)])
    colnames(data.cur) <- "x"
    print(ggplot(data.cur) +
        geom_histogram(aes(x = x), binwidth = 0.01) +
        ggtitle(paste(20 * i, "points sampled")))
}, img.name = "samples_plot", outdir = getwd(), interval = 0.15)
{% endhighlight %}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The game is a sequel to Star Trek: Alien Domain which debuted four years ago. Here is the description of the new game: "The story evolves in Star Trek: Alien Domain Incursion, as players find themselves on the other side of the Bajoran Wormhole, in the Gamma Quadrant. Players will have the option to join either the United Federation of Planets or the Dominion, a military superpower indigenous to the Gamma Quadrant. Both factions must not only face each other, but also must prepare to face 8472's forces from Fluidic Space.
"Star Trek: Alien Domain Incursion features fierce competitions between squadrons: groups of players battling their rivals for control of vital resources. Star Trek: Alien Domain Incursion also features larger fleets than the original Star Trek: Alien Domain.
The official trailer for the game can be found below. To play the game, head to the official game site located here.


text:
Turn Your Next Car Purchase Into a Vacation
If you treat shopping from afar as a "car-cation," it can deliver lasting memories and a car you love.
Philip Reed
Car buyers who are willing to think outside the box can find rare and bargain-priced cars by doing a nationwide search and turning the buying process into an exciting road trip.
For example, Mark Holthoff located a rare 1979 Mercedes-Benz 280E in Santa Rosa, California. He flew there with his teenage daughter, and they drove the 400 miles back home to Los Angeles along the rugged Pacific Coast.
"Not only did I bond with my daughter, but I bonded with the car," says Holthoff, editor at Klipnik.com, a community website for used-car enthusiasts.
Regional pricing differences
The cost of cars in different areas can vary sharply, says Julie Blackley, communications manager at iSeeCars, which aggregates used-car listings.
Case in point: iSeeCars data shows that a buyer in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, could save $4,000 on the price of a year-old Honda Accord in Miami and drive it back home. Used-car prices are low in Miami, Blackley says, and it's a great vacation destination.
Buying a car sight-unseen can be tricky. And when you figure in airfare and hotels, it doesn't always save you money. "A thousand dollars ships a car a long way," Holthoff observes.
But if you treat it as a "car-cation," it can provide lasting memories and a car you love. Here's how to buy that diamond in the rough and get it home safely.
10 steps to a fly-and-drive vacation
Cast a wide net. Use car finder tools on Craigslist, car club sites and AutoTrader to search for rare, bargain or hard-to-find new cars with an unusual combination of options or a rare color. If you're searching for an older vehicle, target areas where ice and snow won't rust cars.
Run a vehicle history report. Holthoff recommends buying a plan from a service like Carfax or AutoCheck that allows multiple vehicle history reports. The reports will help you quickly rule out cars that have problems such as damage from an accident or significant mechanical issues.
Visit an online community. People who already own the model of car you want are the best source of information around potential problem areas. Many are willing to share their purchase prices as well. Google "owner forum" and the car make and model name.
Check the price. Some sellers ask unreasonably high prices that would require too much negotiating to make the purchase worthwhile. Use pricing guides and look at ads for comparable vehicles to get an idea of the right price range to expect. Blackley says iSeeCars offers a free tool with a market report showing pricing in the area.
Contact the seller. "You're not just looking for a good car, but also a good seller," Holthoff says. Find a seller who is informed, transparent and communicates well. Review all the specs with the seller and find out if they have the car's title in hand. (A loan adds a few extra steps to the process.)
Have the car inspected. Using Yelp, locate a mechanic that specializes in the make of car you're buying. Ask if the seller would take the car to a mechanic to have it inspected at your expense. In Holthoff's experience, most sellers are willing to provide this extra service as long as you are a serious buyer. Use the mechanic's inspection report to negotiate the right price. Remember that, if you plan to drive the car home, you will want to have any critical work — such as installing a new set of tires — completed before you leave.
Book your flight. Arrange a convenient time to arrive so you can conclude the deal that day. Some sellers might even be willing to pick you up at the airport.
Arrange financing and insurance. Your current insurance policy will temporarily cover your new car, but you should compare insurance rates in advance. If you need to finance your car, a preapproved car loan gives you flexibility at a dealership. If you are buying from a private party, you'll need to agree ahead of time on a preferred way to pay.
Get your paperwork in order. Visit the DMV website. Every state is different. You may need temporary license plates or a trip permit. On the drive home, have proof of insurance, a signed bill of sale and title applications handy in case you're pulled over.
Re-inspect the car. Before you hand over the money, make sure the car lives up to the seller's description. If you find an undisclosed problem, "It's far better to book that flight back for a few hundred dollars rather than end up with a car that's not what you really wanted," Holthoff says. But if you've done your due diligence up to now, there shouldn't be any surprises.
That's it. The drive home is your vacation, and while you may want to explore, you don't want to tempt fate.
"Stick to the beaten path and don't do a lot of hot-rodding," Holthoff advises.
That way, if something does go wrong with your new purchase, you can more easily get help. And keep a pen and pad at hand — by the time you get home, you'll probably have a list of little squeaks and rattles to repair.
About the author: Philip Reed is an automotive expert who writes a syndicated column for NerdWallet that has been carried by USA Today, Yahoo Finance and others. He is the author of 10 books. Read more
How Much Can You Afford to Spend on a Car?
5 Reasons to Say No to 72- and 84-Month Auto Loans
The Cheapest Car Insurance for January 2022
Talk Yourself Out of Buying a New Car
Dive even deeper in Auto Loans
Auto Loans for Good and Bad Credit
Auto Loan Calculator: Estimate Your Monthly Car Payment
by Philip Reed, Shannon Bradley
Auto Loan Refinance Calculator: How Much Can You Save?
by Philip Reed
Explore Auto Loans


text:
Treasury to Bail out Fannie & Freddie
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Federal officials on Sunday unveiled an extraordinary takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, putting the government in charge of the twin mortgage giants and the $5 trillion in home loans they back.
The move, which extends as much as $200 billion in Treasury support to the two companies, marks Washington's most dramatic attempt yet to shore up the nation's housing market, which is suffering from record foreclosures and falling prices.
The sweeping plan, announced by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, places the two companies into a "conservatorship" to be overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Under conservatorship, the government would temporarily run Fannie and Freddie until they are on stronger footing.
"A failure [of Fannie and Freddie] would affect the ability of Americans to get home loans, auto loans and other consumer credit and business finance," Paulson said at a press conference in Washington. "And a failure would be harmful to economic growth and job creation."
Fannie (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500), which were created by the U.S. government, have been badly hurt in the last year by the sharp decline in home prices as well as rising mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. All told, the two firms have racked up about $12 billion in losses since last summer.
On Sunday, officials stressed that both Fannie and Freddie will be open for business on Monday morning, although the firms will have undergone a dramatic facelift by then.
Freddie CEO Richard Syron and Fannie CEO Daniel Mudd will no longer run the agencies, while the FHFA will assume control of the boards. Regulators took care not to foist blame on the two executives, adding that they would stick around to help with the transition.
Syron and Mudd will be replaced by two finance veterans charged with restoring the mortgage titans to health. Herb Allison, the former chairman and CEO of pension provider TIAA-CREF, will head Fannie Mae. Allison formerly served as president of Merrill Lynch.
David Moffett, who served as vice chairman and chief financial officer of U.S. Bancorp until early 2007 and then joined the Carlyle Group private-equity firm as a senior adviser, will take over Freddie Mac.
At the same time, dividends on both common and preferred shares will be eliminated in an effort to conserve about $2 billion annually. All of the firms' lobbying and political activities will be halted immediately and charitable activities reviewed.
In addition, the Treasury Department announced a series of moves targeted at providing relief to both housing and financial markets.
Paulson said Treasury would boost housing by purchasing mortgage-backed securities from Freddie and Fannie, as well as offering to lend money to the companies and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. The home loan banks advance funds to more than 8,000 member banks. (Read what Paulson said.)
The Treasury, with fellow regulator FHFA, will also buy preferred stock in Fannie and Freddie to provide security to the companies' debt holders and bolster housing finance.
The government, in agreeing to backstop the firms, said it would receive $1 billion in each company's senior preferred stock. The government will also receive a quarterly dividend payment and the right to own 79.9% of each company.
Sunday's announcement brings an end to months of speculation about the fate of the two firms. Shares of Fannie and Freddie, which have fallen more than 80% as of the end of Friday's session, were hammered this summer among concerns they would need to raise additional funds to cover future losses or need to be taken over by its federal regulator. Investors feared that either step would reduce or wipe out the value of current shareholders' stakes.
In mid-July, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve announced steps in to make funds available to the firms if necessary and Congress approved the sweeping proposals later that month.
Shortly thereafter, regulators stepped up their review of Fannie and Freddie. Paulson announced in August that he had tapped Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) to help him examine the firms.
Sources familiar with the matter told Fortune that Morgan Stanley had determined that both Freddie and Fannie faced "meaningful" capital issues before deciding last week that government intervention was necessary. Morgan Stanley has called a firm-wide meeting on Monday morning to explain the deal.
Officials ruled out a capital infusion - a less drastic option than convervatorship - after considering questions such as whether the government would have to keep putting money in and how best Treasury officials could protect taxpayers, according to one of the sources.
In the end, the route taken amounts to "a timeout, not a liquidation," says the source. "Conservatorship leaves all options open for the next administration."
Following an exhaustive review, FHFA's Lockhart said Sunday that the two companies could not continue to operate without taking "significant action."
Fannie and Freddie have become virtually the only source of funding for banks and other home lenders looking to make home loans. Their ability to do so is crucial to the recovery of the battered home market and the broader U.S. economy.
The two firms buy loans, attach a guarantee, then sell securities backed by the loans' income stream. All told, they own or back $5.4 trillion worth of home debt - half the mortgage debt in the country.
Reaction to the news
The Treasury-FHFA plan, which was widely anticipated after financial markets closed on Friday, drew praise from regulators, lawmakers and some market experts.
President Bush called the move "critical" to the housing market recovery. "Americans should be confident that the actions taken today will strengthen our ability to weather the housing correction and are critical to returning the economy to stronger sustained growth in the future," he said.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who along with Paulson has led efforts to help get the U.S. housing market and the broader economy back on track, endorsed the move by Lockhart and Paulson.
"These necessary steps will help to strengthen the U.S. housing market and promote stability in our financial markets," Bernanke said in a statement.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said that Paulson had "threaded the needle just right" with the plan, noting that it will likely be met with praise from other lawmakers.
At first blush, Wall Street seemed encouraged by the news, although the true test will come when financial markets around the globe open Monday. Pimco's Bill Gross, a widely followed bond fund manager, said that the Freddie-Fannie plan was the right move.
"This is a significant step and almost exactly what we had hoped for," Gross told CNNMoney.com Sunday.
In addition to confirming the government's sovereign credit rating, Standard & Poor's affirmed its sterling AAA rating on both Fannie Freddie on the news, adding that its outlook for the two firms is stable.
The cost of the government intervention remains unclear however. Experts argue that it will depend in large part on the structure of the rescue, the direction of home prices and mortgage default rates.
Still it seems almost certain it will run into the billions and will most likely eclipse such other high-profile government bailouts including than the Federal Reserve's $29 billion backing of Bear Stearns assets when it was taken over by J.P. Morgan Chase.
Paulson said that the cost to taxpayers would largely depend on the future financial performance of Fannie and Freddie.
Another unintended yet unavoidable consequence may be the impact to the nation's banks.
Some of the nation's largest financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Sovereign Bancorp (SOV, Fortune 500) own a big chunk of the estimated $36 billion in preferred shares of Fannie and Freddie, according to research published last month by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, an investment bank that specializes in financial firms. Those stakes are at risk of being wiped out as a result of Sunday's announcement.
Top banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve as well as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said in a joint statement Sunday that a limited number of smaller institutions have significant preferred share holdings in Fannie and Freddie. They added they are prepared to work with these institutions to come up with a plan should they need to raise capital.
Still, the rescue of Fannie and Freddie could go a long way toward its intended aim - bringing stability to the housing market while making it easier for consumers to obtain affordable mortgages.
Posted by Chismillionaire at 8:38 PM 0 comments


Fishing Archives - GetGoing NC!
Volunteers work to clear trail at Vade Mecum.
Another hot summer weekend is on tap. Appropriately, we have some hot ideas on how to spend it.
Father's Day is Sunday. A thought or three on how to appropriately celebrate this weekend.


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In today's blog post, we're going to talk about one of the hardest things you can possibly do: summon the willpower to work out when you just feel like 'Netflix and chill' all day.
I'm going to give you 4 steps that will help you start exercising, even when you feel too lazy or too tired to work out.
First of all, let's be real: We've all felt like not exercising. Maybe you had to stay up all night because your daughter had a stomach ache. Or you went out for a couple of drinks with friends and ended up closing the bar last night. No matter what happened, there are days when you just don't feel like working out!
So, what can you do to get into the mood and start to?
1. Ask Yourself: Is It My Mind That's Tired, or My Body?
Here's the difference: If your mind is tired, you're probably having negative thoughts, one of which, my friend, is that you're too tired to work out. That's right. More often than not, it's your mind that's pulling the strings.
To check if it's your body that needs rest, tune into it. We're busy all day long, working on computers, not getting enough movement or physical exercise.
Then, we go back home, just to start staring at our phones and binge-watching on YouTube videos and Instagram pictures, not giving our minds a rest or our bodies a challenge. No wonder we're mentally and physically tired all of the time!
There are many ways to tune into your body: You can find a quiet place and meditate. You can play your favorite music and start to dance to it. You can do your favorite yoga and stretching exercises. Last but not least—and yes, you guessed it right—you can work out.
Since you're trying to tune into your body, I think that a 5-minute meditation will give you clarity of whether you're physically tired or just mentally exhausted. Here are 3 guided 5-minute free meditations for you.
Working out is not the easiest thing to do, especially when you're feeling tired. Nevertheless, you will significantly improve your motivation to exercise when tired and efficiency if you focus your mind on the end result; not the problems.
Just think about the endorphins that are going to flow through your body after a workout, the sense of joy, peace, and happiness, the feeling of being alive and ready to conquer the world. Doesn't sound bad, does it?
If you have trouble motivating yourself to work out, then visualize yourself exercising. Close your eyes and imagine that you've already completed your workout.
Feel the energy flowing through your body, the feeling of having accomplished something great today, the reward of taking care of your health. Breathe slowly and deeply, emerge yourself into the fantasy, and once you feel a bit better, go to step 3.
What do I mean by this? If your idea of exercise is going to the gym, then put on your gym clothes. That's it. Now, make the next step: put on your shoes. Then go outside. And so on, and so on, and so on, until you finish your workout. By the time you get back home, you will be wondering how it all happened.
The trick is to turn this big, scary, action (like working out) into small, bite-sized steps that won't overwhelm you and you will find the willpower to do them, one by one.
There will be days when you won't feel like working out—and that's okay. Don't beat yourself up about it! If it happens from time to time, embrace it. We all have bad days and, sometimes, we feel like crap without being able to do much about it. But talking down on yourself won't do you a favor.
Be compassionate with yourself. Get to the root cause of the problem: are you really tired or have you bottled up some feelings or obsessive thoughts that you need to let go of? We all suffer from that from time to time. After all, we're only human. The important thing is to acknowledge it and do something about it.
Let's say you haven't slept well in the last couple of days and you don't feel like working out today. That's completely normal, if you ask me!
Now, pause for a second, and notice your inner narrative: that little voice on the back of your head. What do you say to yourself if you skip a workout? Do you feel like a loser? Are you judging yourself too harshly?
Instead of being your worst critic, become your own cheerleader! You don't feel like working out today? Fine! You'll work out tomorrow.
You can even trick your brain by finding an activity that will still get you active without the resistance you're feeling towards exercising in particular. Play a favorite song of yours and dance it out! Or go on a walk with your pet around the block or just by yourself with your headphones and your favorite podcast.
There are many ways to move your body and you don't have to necessarily work out all the time. If skipping exercise is something that doesn't happen often, it's perfectly okay to take a day off.
But if you struggle with constant procrastination and you feel too lazy to do anything about it, I can help you out. Book a free session and we'll come up with an action plan. I will keep you accountable in the next 3 months and by the end, I'm sure you'll be able to continue on your own.
P.S. Share in the comments below: what do you do to motivate yourself to work out?


text:
A very simple TCP/IP proxy server in Ruby.

tcpproxy was inspired by Alexander Demin's article:
[The Beauty of Concurrency in Go](http://pragprog.com/magazines/2012-06/the-beauty-of-concurrency-in-go).

tcpproxy is a very simple Ruby program that implements a TCP/IP proxy server.

This is not production software :-) I built it to explore a number of Ruby features:

* Threads
* Sockets
* Command Line Interfaces (CLI)

For CLI, I used David Copeland's excellent [Methadone](https://github.com/davetron5000/methadone) along with his wonderful book, [Build Awesome Command Line Applications in Ruby](http://pragprog.com/book/dccar/build-awesome-command-line-applications-in-ruby]).

## Usage

In the following example, tcpproxy listens on port 8888 for connections to google.com. At the end of the session, you'll find details about the conversation in a file named, tcpproxy_datetime.log, where datetime is the date and time of the conversation between client and server.

	ruby tcpproxy google.com:80

## Installation

Install it yourself as (TODO: Upload to RubyGems):

    $ gem install tcpproxy

## Contributing

This application is too simple to really make a contribution, but if you wish, please:

1. Fork it
2. Create your feature branch (`git checkout -b my-new-feature`)
3. Commit your changes (`git commit -am 'Add some feature'`)
4. Push to the branch (`git push origin my-new-feature`)
5. Create new Pull Request


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Passport Health offers a range of exam solutions. From the simple to the complex, we're here to support your client's specific exam needs. Whether it's a pre-travel physical, pre-employment exam or a routine check, Passport Health's expert staff is here to help.