Attended: Bill Luther-president / Erik / AJ / Susan / Mike /Jim / Cheryl / Barbara / Cat.
November general meeting was discussed. Members will present pictures of trips this past year.
Erik presented speaker for Jan.-Don Martin will talk on snow shoes. Tim Motte and Mike Rock will present. Erik will present if needed.
The newsletter was discussed. The idea of putting the newsletter on the web the month it is published was discussed. This will be done until April and see if this affects renewals.
Cat discussed free training for rolling instructors. Jim made a motion to go ahead-passed.
Discussed signing waivers-It was decided that if information outside of a program comes up a person should talk privately after the meeting.
Cat discussed organizing an entry level cold water paddle. She also brought up bring in instructors to offer classes for a reduced rate and hold as pay as go.
Cat will be depositing money from the rolling clinics.
Should be thinking about the grants that will be considered for next year. In Feb. or March they will be announced.
Jim proposed trip leader T shirts-Chick Noreau will be contacted for the designs. Motion made and passed.
AJ will contactBill Hahn about the By-Laws.
Susan discussed the picnic and stated she had done everything AJ had done before. She did include that the board should start planning earlier. The board discussed changing up the picnic perhaps a clam bake with a place to paddle. More water and tea and leass soda are needed for next year.
RICKA doing river clean up is difficult. The club might want to to join up with Friends of the Blackstone. RICKA does need a conservation chair.
Honorary memberships were discussed. There was disagreement among those present. Discussed giving a ticket to the dinner plus the volunteer of the year trophy. It would start in 2012 and not be retroactivie. If a person getting the volunteer of year trophy can't come to the picnic the ticket would be forfeited. This will be put on the web. Charlie made a motion for this and Cheryl seconded.
Discussion of RICKA having a fund for members in need. This was voted down by all members present.
how to keep members past the first few years after they join. Jim said about one half of the membership have been around for more than 10 years.
membership. Ideas discussed: keeping members and recognizing long term members.These ideas will be discussed at the next meeting.
--Alternate site for executive board meetings. The president will determine the place for the executive board meetings. Places should be of no cost to RICKA. Asprey Boat House/Save the Bay/Community Boat House were discussed.
It is time to contact dealers to see if they can present programs.
Jim discussed the new SNEP site. The board voted Jim $43.20 to register his site.
Jim volunteered to produce a list of paddler preferences.
Future programs-November will be a member slide show. Erik will do January and Tim Motte will get something for Feb. and March.
Discussed member meeting programs for the Fall. September would be weather and Erik possible for October.
Cat reported on training Carl Ladd would offer in the Fall. Cost would be $350. a day for up to 6 students. Two instructors would be needed for 12 people -the cost would be $600. There was discussion about non-members taking part in RICKA activities. There was a motion for Cat and Carleen would call people who want to participate to pay dues.
PayPal discussion-Jim discussed how Pay Pal works and how it will save him additional work. Remains to put PayPal on the web site.
There was discussion of removal / repair of the Bondsvile Dam. No blanket answer could be found.
Picnic discussion-Susan said there was an extention on the date for the party to August 20. Caterer wants a close estimate. It was decided to add 6 extra to the final total. The volunteer of the year bio will be sent to Erik.
ex-president photo. Awards will be done before the dinner.
--Reports on training and safety classes. Mike Rock's class needs to have more encouragement. Jim put up a motion to charge $20 for training . This was withdrawn for further discussion. Leaders of trips need to practice rescue techniques. The wilderness and FA was given by Osprey. It was a 2 day class. July 23 Greg Pacquin (BCU 2 star)giving a paddle class. Posted on web. Discussion was brought up about are we training elite paddlers to be more elite or people to benefit the club? The question was also raised about if RICKA wants to put out any more money this year for training?
-There was discussion about getting more sea kayakers to attend executive board meetings regularly.
-SNEP links were discssed Jim will talk to Mark Roberts to get his link removed.
-The board discussed outfitter offers to RICKA members. Caryl Salisbury wrote a statement about it and it was given to Erik.
The Girl Scouts representatives were introduced to the e-board. They discussed the canoe racing team from Camp Hoffman and how they competed at the General Clinton Regatta and placed in the sprints. They representative had originally wanted a canoe with the money they were asking RICKA for . They changed to asking for money to purchase 5 bent shaft paddles for their racers. Jim and Cat will contact Kayak Center and Osprey to see if they can get matching funds in order to get 6 paddles.
AJ discussed the party plans so far. Papers are being signed-Becky's is reserved. The cost will be $12.50 -Bill made a motion to cover the expenses.
AJ will get contracts signed, but he needs assistance. Awards were discussed-Susan and Tom will handle. Erik Johnson has the 2010 volunteer of the year. Volunteer of the year for 2011 should be from outside the board.
Grants from RICKA information will be put on the web with a list of past receipents.
The board discussed an ask the paddler column for the newsletter and web. If people have questions send to Cat and she will forward to the right person for an answer.
There was a discussion about using past presidents as mentors. A list of past presidents will be put in the newsletter.
Alan presented a motion to get Jim Cole as a signer on the checking account and set up Pay Pal. Motion passed by all that Jim will remain a signer as long as he needs to be and Bill Luther to be on as long as he is president.
RICKA message board traffic has gone down.
At the start of the meeting Bill Luther said that it was the choice of the president that the executive boards are to start having more fun at the meetings. There is to be less in-fighting and start enjoying what we are supposed to be about. The executive board e mail should be considerate and we should respect each others ideas.
Erik is the new newsletter editor and he wants articles for the newsletter. It was suggested that a column be started for the newsletter. This would be paddle tips or suggestions.
Training for RICKA members will be organized by Cat. She hopes to organize training for FW/ WW/ and Sea Kayak and on the completion the club will pay half and the members the rest.
Donation status The information will be removed from the web page. Bill will make revisions. A motion was made by Bill and passed by all that Bill will send $250. to Last Green Valley for stream gages.
Membership deadlines-the By laws give members 3 months to renew. Jim wants to limit it to 2 months. He will send post cards as renewal reminders.
RICKA on Facebook-it was determined that it would help membership. Motion was made to have Andy and Susan establish a page and work it for a few months.
Bill Luther wants to finish the by laws in October and November.
Summer meetings6/20 Stump Pond / 7/18 Wakefield Pond /8/15 Providence River.
Board voted to raise speakers fee (Jim made motion and it was passed by all.
Summer party was discussed. AJ reminded all that he posted planning for organizing the party.
Treasurer's report was approved as postd to the board site.
Topic-PayPal cost per membership-to renew for another year.
The FEBRUARY, 2011 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING was cancelled due to severe weather.
Motion-Cat will pay Paddle America Club membership at the 18 month rate.


We like to think we are in control of the world and our destiny, and so resist the prospect of radical change - says Melissa Sterry.
Many of the visions we create to describe humanity's future push away the idea that radical change can and will happen, instead reassuring us that we are in control of the world and our destiny.
The intelligence of living systems teaches us a very different story of change and how to navigate it. In many of the oldest, living macro species we find fauna - and in particular flora - that have evolved to not merely survive, but to thrive on environmental change. Take for example, the world's hardiest species, the Tardigrade, which despite being one of the world's smallest animals is amongst its foremost resilient. Commonly known as the water bear, this tough little creature can endure temperatures as cold as −272 °C and as high as 150 °C. And, if that's not impressive enough, despite its microscopic size, it can withstand years without food or water, ionizing radiation many times that of a human, and can even survive in space.
In nature, change is a constant. It can't be controlled because it's borne of complex relationships and there are innumerable ways forward. What would happen if, rather than fearing change, we embraced change in this way? As far as our energy system goes, I think we'd be managing the system very differently: rather than seeking to maintain stability by tweaking the system in the belief we can accomplish a gradual transition, we'd be intentionally fostering resilience, rebirth and renewal.
How might we adapt our energy system to persist through different environmental states? What would the energy system look like if, like nature, we explored how disruption may enable the emergence of more evolved solutions that enable us to mimic life's efficiency?


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When the fellows in Nitobi, the original firm who created PhoneGap later acquired by Adobe, had been asked about the way forward for PhoneGap, they mentioned the proper state of affairs might be that PhoneGap would not be required. They expected that the path leading to browsers having access to native choices would continue, thus making the existence of instruments similar to PhoneGap (contributed to the Apache Foundation as an open supply later named Apache Cordova, which is the muse to PhoneGap) unnecessary.Sadly, the expectations on System APIs in Net browsers have not been fulfilled and there are various circumstances by which native development is required. Generally, completely using a local strategy or by enhancing hybrid utilized sciences with native plugins.
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You'll both pay your tuition costs in full sooner than the course begins, or chances are high you may go for a two-part price plan for programs 9 weeks and shorter. And Pinterest not too way back (March 2012) modified their phrases of service and took out the half the place they are free to promote the content material that's posted.


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After leaving the television industry in 2004, Paula was searching for a meaningful career. That's when she met Dave Kolquist, former Junior Golf Director. He introduced her to The First Tee of Denver and its programs and mission. She was hooked. She jumped at the chance for a purpose-filled career.
Paula brings her people skills, energy and enthusiasm to everything she does. Whether it's inspiring kids through mentorship training, or being an advocate for the program. It's her dedication for helping others, especially youth, that drive her to bring people together to improve lives of the youth in surrounding communities.
If Paula's not out on the course helping kids meet their full potential, she can be found fostering the growth of The First of Denver. Under her direction, programs have expanded, the Board of Directors has become an affective group that furthers the organization's mission and kids in the program have consistently have better grades, attitudes and attendance to show for their participation.
Dan has always been drawn to two things: golf and helping kids. He began his golf career in 1997 as a professional club builder. In 2002 Dan was introduced to The First Tee of Denver. From the beginning he understood the importance of this program, personally and its potential to touch the lives of so many more. Dan will tell you, "I was the first kid saved by The First Tee of Denver." It's this heartfelt passion that drives him to spread the benefits of the program to as many kids as possible.
As Director of Operations, Dan has the responsibility to ensure the organization runs smoothly, whether that's preparing budgets, designing program schedules, or introducing new programs, such as the Club Building Program. He brings his 15+ years' experience and expertise to this program where he teaches kids to build their own clubs, but more importantly valuable math and science lessons that they'll keep long after they outgrow their club.
The game of golf has always been a passion for Nick. He channeled his passion into becoming a golf professional where he quickly found his niche, working with juniors. Nick first brought his talents to The Nike Golf Learning Centers and authored the Colorado PGA's Tee-It-Up-For-Life in-school program. The next year he became the Director of Junior Golf for Kennedy Golf Course and ran one of the most successful programs in the state. In 2008, Nick realized his place was helping at-risk youth and became program manager for a Denver non-profit that introduced golf and life lessons to at-risk youth.
Nick will bring his golf talents and desire to help at-risk youth to further enhance The First Tee of Denver's programming and expand the organization to new courses and even more kids. The only thing that Nick enjoys more than teaching kids golf and the inherent lessons built into the fabric of the game is his four-year old son, Gunnar.
From the time Erica started kindergarten she knew wanted to be a teacher. Helping and teaching children had always come naturally to her. After 6 years of teaching, she decided that she wanted to help impact children's lives in a different way.
Erica started working with The First Tee of Denver as a liaison between the school and the program. After seeing the impact the program had on her students and school as a whole, she knew she wanted to be a part of the bigger picture. Erica brings her expertise in teaching and ability to connect to kids and their families. Erica is excited to help further enhance The First Tee of Denver's programming to reach even more kids.
The First Tee has always been a special place for Zach. He first began taking classes with The First Tee at the age of 10. Later on this progressed into a job as a Junior Coach, Caddie, and Instructor through the program. After graduating high school Zach stayed involved with The First Tee while pursuing a degree from the University of Colorado as an Evans Scholar. The Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship is a full tuition and housing college scholarship for golf caddies that is renewable for up to four years. Selected applicants must have a strong caddie record, excellent grades, outstanding character and demonstrated financial need. However, being away at school did little to diminish Zach's true passion for working with kids.
As the Marketing Communications Manager, Zach brings both passion and experience to many different aspects of The First Tee. Since his first involvement, the programs through The First Tee have grown immensely. His skills both on the course, as well as behind the scenes through pieces like technology development and lesson design look to grow the organization even further.
After her grandfather and brother introduced her to the game of golf, Arri knew the sport was going to change her life. She grew up in Belen, New Mexico, a small town just south of Albuquerque with Tierra del Sol Golf Club as her backyard. She attended Western New Mexico University where she earned her BA in sociology and competed on the women's golf team. After graduating in spring of 2014, she moved to Denver to not only find her niche in the golf industry, but to make a difference in a community fresh and new to her. Arri started working for the The First Tee of Denver at the beginning of 2015 for our in-school programming and fell in love with the organization. She continued to work with on course classes, became a Players' Club coach and Lead Instructor, to now being a Program Coordinator. As a Program Coordinator, Arri hopes to not only utilize her knowledge of the game of golf to teach kids about the sport she loves, but continue the on-going success of what the First Tee of Denver offers to youth. Although there was not a First Tee chapter in her hometown, Arri was fortunate to have a strong support system not only from her family but from her community who assisted her in getting her to where she is today. Arri is excited to be able to give back to kids here in Denver who're just like her growing up and is in hope to grow more opportunities through the First Tee of Denver.


text:
By Tim Wintermute
Ezra looked out the window from his vantage point behind the desk. The Prairie Star Church was on the highest point for miles around and the window of the Pastor's Study opened out onto the empty parking lot to the west where he had a clear view of the distant Sangre de Cristo mountains etched in the deep blue sky. Unlike the Christmas before when a blizzard had struck, there wasn't a flake of snow on the brown prairie. For anyone looking at this scene from the small town of Beulah Junction and its sparsely populated surroundings it was the high spire of the Church that dominated the landscape. Not just during the day but also at night when the powerful light shining from the top of the steeple was the brightest star in the firmament over southeast Colorado's high plains. Not that there were many people who would be looking. Beulah Junction had lost more than two thirds of its population and the small town had shrunk to the size of a village since Ezra's arrival as a young pastor right out of seminary almost fifty years ago. During that time the Church's congregation had declined as well and if it wasn't for an endowment and Ezra's own savings the doors would have closed, the light would have been turned off leaving a dark hole where the Prairie Star had once shown.
Well, Ezra thought, with the Covid 19 pandemic there was an excuse for no one attending the Christmas Eve two weeks away. Of course, he had practice preaching to an empty church since the only person who sat in the pews of Prairie Star regularly was Iker "Ike" Elizondo, the owner of a sheep ranch whose first time was last Christmas Eve during the blizzard. Saint Drogos, the Catholic Church Ike was a member of, had been closed by the Diocese and he wasn't about to drive on the snow covered roads to attend Midnight Mass in Picketwire. He'd come regularly since then, declaring that Prairie Star was now his parish church. More like a perish church, Ezra grunted.
Ike's pick-up truck had pulled into the parking lot while Ezra was looking out the window so he wasn't surprised when a few minutes later there was a knock on his door. Ezra put on the mask that he kept in the top right hand drawer and told him to come in. Even with a western bandanna crawn up over his nose, Ezra knew Ike was smiling. "Merry Christmas," Ike said, cheerily.
"Christmas, yes, but merry I'm not so sure of," Ezra said, frowning behind his mask.
"You need to get in the spirit, Ezra. Tis the season to be jolly," Ike said cheerfully as he moseyed over to a chair that was against the wall, six feet from Ezra and sat down.
"What's so jolly about with a Coronovirus Christmas? Everyone's isolated so they won't infect one another and even churches are limited to twenty five percent occupancy."
"At least they aren't closed like the bars."
"I don't think any of the regulars who would have spent Christmas Eve at the Dead Shot Saloon will show up here, even if we're the only Church in town," Ezra's said, the mask muffling his sigh. "I suppose I shouldn't be complaining about the limit since we can't even fill one percent of the sanctuary for Sunday services for years."
"The sanctuary seats four hundred so I'm afraid you're only a quarter percent."
"Hey, have you heard about that church in La Junta that has been holding services at the drive in theater? People can stay in their cars so there's no occupancy limit. They even provide popcorn."
Ezra nodded. "Before the pandemic their services were held at Lucky Strike Lanes and people who attended could stay afterwards and bowl for free."
"Holy bowlers," Ike chuckled loudly. "I heard that after their Christmas Eve service they're going to have a double feature of Christmas movies."
"Me? Drive all the way to LaJunta on Christmas Eve? I'm going to be right here with you. Besides, the only double feature I'd watch is two showings of It's a Wonderful Life and I've got that on a DVD."
Ezra nodded. His late wife Louise and he used to watch it every year. She said that the star, Jimmy Stewart, reminded her of Ezra. As the congregation dwindled he started feeling less like Jimmy Stewart and more like George Bailey, the character he played, who was going to throw himself off a bridge because all of the members were leaving the building and loan society he ran. At least the people who left Prairie Star when they moved out of the area didn't ask for their tithes back. He said to Ike, "Then it's just you and me…again."
"Just like old times," Ike said.
"Just like every time."
"Now Ezra, doesn't the Bible say something about when two people get together then Jesus is there?"
"In Matthew 18 verse 20 Jesus says where two or three gather in my name there am I with them," Ezra replied, happy that he could at least remember the verse.
"Looks like you've got a visitor," Ike said pointing toward the window.
"You mean Jesus?" Ezra surprised himself with a laugh.
"Only if Jesus drives an RV," Ike replied. Ezra swiveled his chair around to face the window, where a large RV, towing a small car had just parked.
"They must be senior citizen tourists who want to look at the Church." Ezra said getting out of his chair. A minute later Ezra opened the door to greet the visitors. Standing there were three people, two men and a woman, who were less than half the ages of the silver haired couple he'd expected.
"Do you need directions?" Ezra asked, assuming that was the only reason they would have stopped.
"We're looking for Reverend Beeman. We were told that he's the minister for this church." The woman said, her blue eyes sparkling above the colorful cotton mask she wore.
"That's me."
"And I'm Ike Elizondo," Ike said, reaching out his arm and then jerking it back when he remembered that the pandemic had nixed handshakes.
"I'm Melinda Bright and this is Bhas Gupta and Cass Cohen ," she answered. "I hope we're not interrupting you but if you have a few minutes we have something we'd like to discuss with you."
Minutes, I've got all the time in the world Ezra could have said, but instead he answered, "As it so happens, I'm free at the moment."
Since there wasn't room in his Study for all of them to sit six feet apart, Ezra led them into the fellowship hall. After being seated in folding chairs that Ezra and Ike hastily arranged in a wide circle that observed the required social distances, Melinda explained that all three of them were friends who met while working for hi-tech companies in Silicon Valley."
"We made an insane amount of money, but it didn't make us happier," Bhas said.
"We were depressed, in fact." Cass added.
Melinda continued. "The companies we worked for made billions using the Internet to make it easier for people to waste their time and buy things they don't need. Meanwhile people who could really benefit from the Internet didn't even have access. So we started talking about doing something that would make a real difference in people's lives and found out that there are parts of the country, mainly rural, where there's no Internet access at all…"
"Then the pandemic happened," Cass said.
Melinda nodded and said. "And that has made this digital divide even worse. Now it's the Digital Grand Canyon. People who need medical care aren't able to get it in person so telemedicine is really important and that requires access to the Internet."
"And kids need the Internet because the schools are closed and everything has switched to remote learning," Bhas interjected .
"Anyway, you get the picture," Melinda said. "We started looking for a way to use our knowledge to bridge the digital divide to benefit others rather than ourselves and the billionaire owners of the companies we worked for."
"And we discovered," Bhas said. "Fixed wireless that uses towers to beam wireless waves to where people live providing Internet access in sparsely populated rural areas. Cable and phone companies don't want to provide service in rural areas because laying cable for broadband Internet service, which is what people need, isn't profitable."
"That's when we decided to quit our jobs," Cass said. "And help bring fixed wireless to rural communities that needed it. We bought that RV to travel and live in and we bought the equipment that would be needed, which is what's in the trailer that we tow."
"We had everything we needed except a place in need," Melinda said. "So we researched places where we could offer our service. Since fixed wireless waves are beamed in a straight line to the dishes that receive them it doesn't travel very far in areas where there are obstacles in its path, like mountains. We looked for rural areas that were pretty flat in order to reach as many people as possible. Southeastern Colorado and western Kansas are pretty flat and there's no Internet service. Even the cell service is spotty."
"Spotty," Ike blurted. "Heck, this is a cell cemetery with all the dead spots we have," Ike said.
"When we looked more closely at this area we found out that a high speed fiber optic cable had been installed from Picketwire to Beulah Junction just before the Pandemic. It was installed to provide high speed Internet access for the medical clinic and the school."
"This seemed like a good place to start," Bhas said. "Because we can connect the antenna we install on the tower to the fiber optic cable. That will provide plenty of bandwidth."
"The problem is we need a tower," Melinda said.
"A really tall tower," Cass said. "That can send out a beam for miles in every direction. After we drove here from California we spent a day looking for a tall tower in this area and couldn't find anything."
"When it got dark we decided to give up and move on to Kansas. Then we saw a light that was brighter than any star and when we got closer we saw that it was on top of your steeple…"
"Your steeple is a very tall tower," Bhas added.
"It's the tallest between here and Picketwire," Ike said. "Folks can see the light for miles. It shines like a prairie lighthouse. That's why it's called Prairie Star."
Ezra, who had been listening quietly, suddenly stirred in his chair and asked. "Are you saying that you want to use our steeple as an antenna?"
All three nodded their heads in response. Melinda said. "I need to add that the Internet service needs to be affordable so that everyone can have access regardless of how low their income is."
"Incomes are pretty low in these parts," Ike said.
"So it will need to cost next to nothing," Cass said.
"Make that nothing for a lot folks around here."
"In other words you want to use the steeple for free," Ezra said.
"It would sure help," Melinda answered. "We can donate our time and the equipment, but…"
"When do you need to know?" Ezra asked, cutting her off.
"If you agree we can begin installation right away. It turns out that the fiber optic line we mentioned runs right past the Church."
"I know, they dug a trench and I signed an easement."
Bhas said. "Then all we need to do is connect a line to it and run it up to the antennas that we will attach to the top of your steeple."
"At the same time we're doing that we'll start distributing and helping install the receiver dishes to anyone who wants Internet," Cass said.
"How long will all that take?" Ike asked.
"If we start right away we could be finished by Christmas."
Ike turned to Ezra and said. "Now wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present for everyone, Ezra."
"Of course," Melinda said. " That timeline assumes that you could sign the agreement today and you probably need to have your lawyer look it over and your board and, maybe even the congregation approve it."
Ezra answered quickly, "We don't have a Board of Trustees anymore and the congregation is me and Ike and he's a Catholic and as Pastor I can only vote when there's a tie."
"So neither of us can vote?"
Ezra turned to Ike. "Fortunately I have the authority to make decisions on my own when there aren't enough members for a quorum and there hasn't been a quorum for years. Even if you can't vote what do you think?"
"I'd be lying if I didn't tell you it would be great for me to be able to Zoom with Louise and the kids and grandkids on Christmas. I'm not just thinking about myself, though, lots of other folks would be able to be with their families and friends."
Except me, Ezra thought, closing his eyes and bending his head. The only person he could share Christmas with was Ike and he didn't need the Internet to reach the first pew where he'd be seated in an otherwise empty sanctuary on Christmas Eve. He looked up and was surprised to see that everyone's head was bowed. Ezra said, a smile gracing his lips, "Where do I sign?"
When Ezra walked up to the pulpit two weeks later on Christmas eve he was surprised to see a wrapped present on it.
"You didn't have to get me a present, Ike."
"I didn't. It's from the three Silicon Valley Santa's. That's what I call them. They asked me to put it there and said you should open it before you started the service."
Ezra carefully removed the wrapping revealing a laptop computer. On top of it was a note instructing him to lift the lid. As soon as he lifted it the computer screen lit up and there was a large button with a message to click it with the cursor. When he did the screen dissolved and he was looking at himself on the screen. Behind him was a full choir in gowns. He quickly turned around and looked. There was nothing but the cross. When he looked at the computer faces filled the screen. Many were people he recognized that lived in the area but others he'd never seen before. "What is this, Ike?"
"That's your choir and congregation thanks to the Internet coming from the Prairie Star steeple up there." Ike looked up at the vaulted ceiling. "Actually, there's no Zoom choir, it's just a background. Can't have real people standing next to each other and singing with this Pandemic going on. But those people you're looking at are real. As soon as people got connected to the Internet for the first time a Zoom invitation to this service popped up."
Ezra peered closely at the faces on the screen. "I don't recognize all of these people."
"That's because folks sent the invitation to other people who don't even live around here and those people passed it on to others and…, well, at least five hundred people signed up and some of them are from other countries. That's more people than you can fit in these pews, even if they were all as skinny as a rail. In fact it's more than can fit on the screen all at once so you need to scroll to see everyone. They can all see you, though."
"This is unbelievable," Ezra said, scrolling through the faces.
"It's not unbelievable, Ezra, it's Christmas," Ike answered with a jolly laugh. "Now when you're ready just unmute the audio and video and start preaching."
Ezra looked down at what he had written, turned the top sheet face down, unmuted the audio and video, looked at the screen and said, "Three Magi came from the west coast bearing gifts…"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
CLG Dhún na nGall > News > News > Update Return to Play Guidelines Released
Update Return to Play Guidelines Released
PRO Donegal
With underage training resuming on April 26th and inter-county returning on Monday, GAA HQ have sent out details to clubs and counties relating to the safe return to games.
INFORMATION FOR CLUBS
Return to Training Non-contact training for underage teams in pods of 15 will be permitted from April 26th next in the 26 Counties. Our clubs in the North have returned in pods of 15 this week. "Underage teams" means any registered team at U-18 level or below. Updated Guidelines for a Safe Return to Gaelic Games can be accessed on the Donegal GAA website under the Wellness tab or via the link below:
https://donegalgaa.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SAFE-RETURN-TO-GAMES-March-2021-Update.pdf
The key control measures remain completion of the online education module (which you can access here) and completion of the Health Questionnaire before each session (link to Health Questionnaire is here) or under the Wellness tab on the Donegal AA website. It is also important to remember that all indoor facilities must remain closed at this time, both North and South of the border.
Attendance at Training In general, only players and coaches of the relevant team should attend any training session. One Parent or Guardian per child (or per family if more than one child is attending from a particular family) is permitted to attend in a safeguarding /supervisory capacity involving any team in the U-18 or below age group, should they consider it necessary. However strict social distancing and public health guidelines should be adhered to at all times. In particular, it is important that parents do not congregate in groups before or after sessions, outside of what is permitted in current Government regulations. Any person wishing to attend our underage training or games including coaches, parents, players and spectators shall be subject to the provisions of the Code of Behaviour (Underage).
INFORMATION FOR COUNTIES
Return to Training Inter County Senior Hurling and Football panels are permitted to return to collective, full contact Training from Monday, April 19th. An updated set of Guidelines for inter-county teams can also be found under the Wellness Tab on DonegalGAA.ie and at the following link:
https://donegalgaa.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-Guidelines-for-Inter-County-teams.pdf
A key message from our Covid Advisory Group is to avoid indoor gatherings wherever possible. For instance, it is permitted to use dressing rooms or hold meetings indoors, but we would strongly encourage you to explore alternatives or minimise usage as much as possible. Keeping the majority of your interactions outdoors is the key measure to follow if you wish to ensure the safety of players and support personnel.
U20/Minor/Academy Squad Training For clarity, Counties are asked to note that the current exemptions for underage club training and senior inter county teams DO NOT extend to U20, Minor or Academy squads; only players from a county's Senior Panel are currently covered by the player injury scheme. Return to Training dates for underage inter county panels are contingent on further relaxation of Government restrictions – the GAA will advise further once any new information is made available.
Challenge Games The current relaxations to Government restrictions do not permit Challenge games to take place (unless between members of the same panel). We have been advised that this will be the position until May 4th at the earliest. We are seeking to have this position revisited as part of any further relaxation of Government restrictions and we will communicate further with Counties as soon as we have any additional information in this context.
Use of Gyms It is now permitted to open County owned gyms for members of the County Senior Hurling or Football panel as required. If gym work, or aspects of it, can be conducted outdoors, then risk of transmission of the virus is dramatically reduced. Ideally Gym activity indoors should be conducted on an individual basis or in very small groups.
Inter County players may also use their relevant Club Gym for individual training as long as they are following the advice in the Inter County Return to Training and Play document.


text:
Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 59F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..
Cloudy. Low 34F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
State attributes another 44 deaths to COVID-19
As of this advisory, there are 341,364 cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
4,256 is today's seven-day rolling average for the number of new cases reported.
There are 44 additional deaths identified to report.
One in Cherokee County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
Two in McIntosh County, two females in the 65 or older age group.
One in Muskogee County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
Four in Wagoner County, one female in the 65 or older age group, one male in the 50-64 age group, two males in the 65 or older age group.
In Muskogee County, 7,554 cases have been reported, with 57 deaths. In the city of Muskogee, there have been 4,028 cases with 46 deaths.
One in Beckham County, one female in the 50-64 age group.
One in Bryan County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Cleveland County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
Two in Comanche County, two males in the 65 or older age group.
One in Grady County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Le Flore County, one male in the 50-64 age group.
Four in Oklahoma County, one female in the 36-49 age group, one female in the 65 or older age group, two males in the 65 or older age group.
Two in Okmulgee County, one male in the 50-64 age group, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Osage County, one female in the 50-64 age group.
One in Pawnee County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
One in Rogers County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
18 in Tulsa County, one female in the 36-49 age group, eight females in the 65 or older age group, one male in the 50-64 age group, eight males in the 65 or older age group.
One in Washington County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
One in Woodward County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
There are 2,848 total deaths in the state.
Information: https://oklahoma.gov/covid19.html.
COVID-19 Oklahoma Test Results
Cases 341,364
*Total Cumulative Negative Specimens to Date 2,548,026
*Total Cumulative Number of Specimens to Date 2,881,102
Acute Care OSDH Licensed Facility Hospitalizations 1,684
Other Types of Facilities Hospitalizations 172
Total Cumulative Hospitalizations 19,199
Total Cumulative Deaths 2,848
*The total includes laboratory information provided to OSDH at the time of the report. As a result, counts are subject to change. Total counts may not reflect unique individuals.
***The purpose of publishing aggregated statistical COVID-19 data through the OSDH Dashboard, the Executive Order Report, and the Weekly Epidemiology and Surveillance Report is to support the needs of the general public in receiving important and necessary information regarding the state of the health and safety of the citizens of Oklahoma. These resources may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be used in any way that would determine the identity of any reported cases.
Data Source: Acute Disease Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health.
*As of 27 a.m. Jan. 13.
Surveillance Report
Osdh Licensed Facility Hospitalizations
Osdh Dashboard


Taken with my lovely new camera 🙂 A Sony A5000, a compact system camera so it can do the posh auto settings but I can have some close manual control if I want it, as well as swapping lenses. When I can afford any other lenses. I absolutely adore it.
Flowers – don't ask me what kind!


text:
California , CA smaller cities , CA small cities
Stockton main city page
95205 Zip Code (Stockton, CA)
95205 Zip Code (Stockton, CA) Detailed Profile
Cities: Stockton, CA (51.49%), August, CA (13.75%), Kennedy, CA (6.17%)
County: San Joaquin County, CA
Land area: 9.1 sq. mi.
(average).
Production car care products
Downtown Stockton Homeowner Association
Larry Beard Co
Bachelor's degree or higher: 5.1%
Graduate or professional degree: 1.1%
Unemployed: 11.4%
Median household income below state average.
Median house value significantly below state average.
Unemployed percentage above state average.
Hispanic race population percentage above state average.
Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly below state average.
26,40777.4%Hispanic or Latino
2,8208.3%Black
2,4467.2%Asian
2510.7%American Indian
850.2%Native Hawaiian and Other
Only 17% of California homes affordable to teachers (169 replies)
My daughter is moving to Stockton (16 replies)
Bad area's of town in Stockton? (7 replies)
Relocating to Stockton California area. (17 replies)
100% urban population.
According to our research of California and other state lists, there were 151 registered sex offenders living in 95205 zip code as of January 17, 2020.
The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in zip code 95205 is 251 to 1.
California median age:
(% of AGI for various income ranges: 80.3% for AGIs below $25k, 84.8% for AGIs $25k-50k, 80.9% for AGIs $50k-75k, 83.5% for AGIs $75k-100k, 65.1% for AGIs $100k-200k)
(% of AGI for various income ranges: 0.2% for AGIs below $25k, 0.2% for AGIs $25k-50k, 0.4% for AGIs $50k-75k, 0.3% for AGIs $100k-200k)
Ordinary dividends: $1,851 (reported on 2.6% of returns)
(% of AGI for various income ranges: 0.1% for AGIs below $25k, 0.1% for AGIs $25k-50k, 0.1% for AGIs $50k-75k, 0.1% for AGIs $75k-100k, 0.9% for AGIs $100k-200k)
Profit/loss from business: +$9,450 (reported on 10.0% of returns)
Taxable individual retirement arrangement distribution: $9,603 (reported on 2.1% of returns)
(% of AGI for various income ranges: 3.2% for AGIs below $25k, 5.6% for AGIs $25k-50k, 10.8% for AGIs $50k-75k, 11.5% for AGIs $75k-100k, 14.5% for AGIs $100k-200k)
Charity contributions: $2,138 (reported on 8.0% of returns)
(% for various income ranges: 64.9% for AGIs below $25k, 69.9% for AGIs $25k-50k, 68.2% for AGIs $50k-75k, 65.6% for AGIs $75k-100k, 73.7% for AGIs $100k-200k)
Taxable dividends: $1,366 (reported on 4.0% of returns)
Net capital gain/loss: +$22,473 (reported on 3.2% of returns)
Profit/loss from business: +$8,487 (reported on 9.0% of returns)
(% of AGI for various income ranges: 0.1% for AGIs $10k-25k, 0.1% for AGIs $25k-50k, 0.1% for AGIs $50k-75k, 0.3% for AGIs $75k-100k)
(% of AGI for various income ranges: 7.2% for AGIs below $10k, 4.5% for AGIs $10k-25k, 10.3% for AGIs $25k-50k, 14.6% for AGIs $50k-75k, 17.0% for AGIs $75k-100k, 11.0% for AGIs over 100k)
Stockton Zip Code Map
Household received Food Stamps/SNAP in the past 12 months: 2,934
Women who had a birth in the past 12 months: 468 (216 now married, 248 unmarried)
Housing units in zip code 95205 with a mortgage: 2,590 (81 second mortgage, 88 home equity loan)
Notable locations in zip code 95205: Oakmoore Golf Course (A), Salvation Army Corps Community Center (B), Fair Oaks Library (C), East Side Fire Station Number 1 (D). Display/hide their locations on the map
Shopping Center: Eastland Plaza Shopping Center (1). Display/hide its location on the map
Churches in zip code 95205 include: Full Gospel Assembly of God Church (A), Church of Christ (B), Eastside Presbyterian Church (C), Faith Tabernacle (D), Hermosa Pentecostal Temple (E), Second Baptist Church (F), Christ Temple Church (G), Church of All Nations (H), Church of God Seventh Day (I). Display/hide their locations on the map
Cemeteries: Stockton Rural Cemetery (1), San Joaquin Cemetery (2), Hebrew Cemetery (3). Display/hide their locations on the map
Parks in zip code 95205 include: Stribley Park (1), Union Square (2), Constitution Park (3), Hott Park (4), Friedberger Park (5), Gianone Park (6), West Jackson Park (7), Sousa Park (8). Display/hide their locations on the map
1,8821939 or earlier
Bedrooms in owner-occupied houses and condos in Stockton, CA (95205)
Bedrooms in renter-occupied apartments in Stockton, CA (95205)
Cars and other vehicles available in Stockton, CA (95205) in owner-occupied houses/condos
Cars and other vehicles available in Stockton, CA (95205) in renter-occupied apartments
74$200,000 or more
241No cash rent
Unemployment: 11.4%
21.6%2,806Carpooled
0.3%35Taxi
0.1%7Motorcycle
1.1%146Other means
Neighborhoods in zip code 95205:
Airport neighborhood
August neighborhood
Civic District (Civic Center District) neighborhood
Downtown neighborhood
East Stockton neighborhood
El Pinal neighborhood
Fair Oaks neighborhood
Garden Acres neighborhood
Gleason Park neighborhood
Kennedy neighborhood
Mariposa neighborhood
Mormon neighborhood
North Stockton neighborhood
Northeast Stockton neighborhood
Park District neighborhood
South Stockton neighborhood
Southeast Stockton neighborhood
University District neighborhood
University Park neighborhood
Waterloo neighborhood
Wilson neighborhood
4,369 spouses, 14,291 children (13,561 natural, 160 adopted, 571 stepchildren), 1,604 grandchildren, 1,014 brothers or sisters, 779 parents, 1,231 other relatives, 1,896 non-relatives
In nonfamily households: 3,640 (1,398 male householders (1,095 living alone)), 1,310 female householders (971 living alone)), 934 nonrelatives
In group quarters: 293 (26 institutionalized population)
Size of family households: 1,703 2-persons, 1,884 3-persons, 1,864 4-persons, 1,460 5-persons, 574 6-persons, 418 7-or-more-persons
3,802 single-parent households (1,110 men, 2,692 women).
57.6% of residents speak Spanish at home (59% very well, 12% well, 17% not well, 11% not at all).
1.4% of residents speak other Indo-European language at home (42% very well, 18% well, 33% not well, 8% not at all).
4.4% of residents speak Asian or Pacific Island language at home (43% very well, 30% well, 19% not well, 8% not at all).
Foreign born population: 11,988 (32.1%)
3%El Salvador
3%Burma
1%Indonesia
1%Nepal
0%Austria
1%African
0%Portuguese
There are 47 Medical Specialists in Zip Code 95205.
MARCIS DIESEL SERVICE INC (2973 LOOMIS RD in STOCKTON, CA)
STATE MASTER (California - Hazardous Waste Tracking) - HAZARDOU WASTE PROGRAM
Business NAICS classification: GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR.
Organizations: MARCIS DIESEL SVC INC (CONTACT/OWNER) , MARCIS DIESEL SVC (CONTACT/OWNER)
J B MANAGEMENT L P (4101 ARCH ROAD in STOCKTON, CA)
Business SIC classification: COMMERCIAL PRINTING, LITHOGRAPHIC
Organizations: J B MGMT L P (CONTACT/OWNER)
MC GILL AIRFLOW CORP (1747 E CHARTER WAY in STOCKTON, CA)
Business SIC classification: SHEET METALWORK
Business NAICS classification: SHEET METAL WORK MANUFACTURING.
Alternative names: MCGILL AIRFLOW CORPORATION
MARLEY COOLING TOWER COMPANY THE (150 N SINCLAIR AVE in STOCKTON, CA)
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System NON-MAJOR (Tracking pollutant discharge elimination systems) - permit
TSD (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (tracking hazardous waste)) - notification
Business SIC classification: WOOD PRODUCTS
Organizations: UNITED DOMINION (CONTACT/OWNER) , THE MARLEY COOLING TOWER COMPANY (CONTACT/OWNER)
Alternative names: UNITED DOMINION
KEARNEY KPF (1624 E ALPINE AVE in STOCKTON, CA)
Small Quantity Generators, between 100 kg and 1000 kg of hazardous waste/month (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (tracking hazardous waste))
TSD (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (tracking hazardous waste))
Business NAICS classification: SWITCHGEAR AND SWITCHBOARD APPARATUS MANUFACTURING.
HARLEY MURRAY INC (1754 E MARIPOSA ROAD in STOCKTON, CA)
Business NAICS classification: TRUCK TRAILER MANUFACTURING.
MOORE TRUCK LINES (3400 NEWTON RD in STOCKTON, CA)
TRANSPORTER (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (tracking hazardous waste))
Organizations: TRUCK INVESTMENT CO BEST WAY INVESTMENT (CONTACT/OWNER)
MENDEZ TRUCKING (2945 CARPENTER RD in STOCKTON, CA)
Organizations: JOSE MENDEZ (CONTACT/OPERATOR)
A-1 EXTERMINIATORS (805 E HARDING WAY in STOCKTON, CA)
ACCURATE AUTO BODY (3166 N WILSON WAY in STOCKTON, CA)
Organizations: BRYAN GROSS (CONTACT/OWNER)
AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE (247 W CHARTER WAY in STOCKTON, CA) . Federal Facility
Organizations: MICHAEL NILLSEN (CONTACT/OWNER)
Alternative names: LIFE MEDICAL FLEET SERVICE
H K M MACHINE AND FABRICATION (2150 E FREMONT ST H K M in STOCKTON, CA)
Organizations: TERRY KRAUSE GARRY MEYLING (CONTACT/OWNER)
EUROPEAN MOTORS (3250 N WILSON WAY in STOCKTON, CA)
Population in 1990: 31,314. Population change in the 1990s: +2,806 (+9.0%).
Out of people who lived in different counties, 50% lived in California.
Out of people who lived in different houses, 4% moved from different state.
64,555Health technologists and technicians
38,115Transportation occupations
Companies with biggest federal contracts located in this zip code (STOCKTON, CA):
PDM STEEL SERVICE CENTERS, INC (3535 E MYRTLE ST) : $156,262 in 18 contracts from 2003 to 2006
Contracts for Plate, Sheet, Strip, Foil, and Wire; Precious Metal, Metal Finishing Equipment, Plate, Sheet, Strip, Foil; and Leaf, Miscellaneous Construction Materials, and more by Army, Bureau of Land Management, Navy, Bureau of Prisoners/Federal Prison System, and others
Signed by year: 2000: $0; 2001: $0; 2002: $0; 2003: $4,224; 2004: $21,569; 2005: $74,008; 2006: $56,461.
$36,697 with Army for Plate, Sheet, Strip, Foil, and Wire; Precious Metal. Taking place in NV. Signed on 2006-01-04. Completion date: 2006-01-17.
$25,410 with Bureau of Land Management for Metal Finishing Equipment. Taking place in NV. Signed on 2005-12-13. Completion date: 2006-02-28.
$19,622 with Navy for Plate, Sheet, Strip, Foil; and Leaf. Signed on 2006-02-28. Completion date: 2006-03-15.
DELTA RELOCATION SERVICES, INC (1925 EL PINAL DRIVE; small business)
$156,238 with Defense Logistics Agency for Other Cargo and Freight Services. Signed on 1999-10-01. Completion date: 2000-11-07.
FLEET TIRE INC (3730 N WILSON WAY; small business) : $133,740 in 5 contracts from 2003 to 2006
Contracts for Tire Rebuilding and Tire and Tube Repair Materials, Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding of Equipment -- Tires and Tubes, Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding of Equipment -- Ground Effect Vehicles, Motor Vehicles, Trailers, and Cycles by Defense Logistics Agency
Signed by year: 2000: $0; 2001: $0; 2002: $0; 2003: $45,000; 2004: $45,000; 2005: $45,000; 2006: -$1,260.
$45,000 with Defense Logistics Agency for Tire Rebuilding and Tire and Tube Repair Materials. Signed on 2005-10-14. Completion date: 2006-09-30.
$45,000 with Defense Logistics Agency for Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding of Equipment -- Tires and Tubes. Signed on 2004-10-01. Completion date: 2005-09-30.
$0 with Defense Logistics Agency for Tire Rebuilding and Tire and Tube Repair Materials. Signed on 2005-10-14. Completion date: 2006-09-30.
CARL CRUTCHFIELD CONSTRUCTION, (2655 EAST MINER AVENUE, SU)
$45,500 with Defense Logistics Agency for Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding of Equipment -- Valves. Signed on 2003-10-09. Completion date: 2003-11-21.
ANDERSON MOULDS INCORPORATED (3131 E ANITA ST; small business) : $33,905 in 2 contracts from 2005 to 2006
$29,952 with Defense Logistics Agency for Ophthalmic Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies. Signed on 2005-07-08. Completion date: 2005-07-29.
C & R FENCE CONTRACTORS INC (3007 LOOMIS RD; small business)
$19,778 with Defense Logistics Agency for Fencing, Fences, Gates and Components. Signed on 2006-03-22. Completion date: 2006-04-14.
MCGILL AIRFLOW LLC (1747 E CHARTER WAY; small business)
$18,020 with Army for Pipe, Tube and Rigid Tubing. Signed on 2006-05-09. Completion date: 2006-05-19.
R & S ERECTION TRI-COUNTY, INC (1705 E CHARTER WAY STE 4; small business) : $13,952 in 3 contracts from 2004 to 2006
$6,120 with Defense Logistics Agency for Miscellaneous Items. Signed on 2004-11-04. Completion date: 2004-12-10.
$4,720 with Defense Logistics Agency for Miscellaneous Construction Materials. Signed on 2006-04-19. Completion date: 2006-05-22.
RIGHETTI ENTERPRISES (1627 E CHANNEL ST; small business) : $11,499 in 2 contracts from 2004 to 2005
$6,633 with Air Force for Miscellaneous Engine Accessories, Nonaircraft. Signed on 2005-09-07. Completion date: 2005-09-30.
$4,866 with Army for Transport Vessels-Passenger And Troop. Signed on 2004-06-30. Completion date: 2004-06-25.
STANLEY ELECTRIC MOTOR CO INC (1520 E MINER AVE; small business)
$7,931 with Air Force for Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding of Equipment -- Electric Wire, and Power and Distribution Equipment. Signed on 2005-08-05. Completion date: 2005-08-12.
Construction: Site Preparation Contractors (250-499 employees: 1 establishment, 20-49 employees: 1 establishment, 10-19 employees: 1 establishment)
Wholesale Trade: Other Grocery and Related Products Merchant Wholesalers (100-249: 2, 20-49: 1, 10-19: 1)
Construction: Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (50-99: 1, 20-49: 6, 10-19: 2, 5-9: 5, 1-4: 5)
Accommodation and Food Services: Limited-Service Restaurants (20-49: 6, 10-19: 5, 5-9: 4, 1-4: 10)
Other Services (except Public Administration): Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance (20-49: 5, 10-19: 1, 5-9: 5, 1-4: 12)
93 people in correctional residential facilities
59 people in group homes intended for adults
13 people in workers' group living quarters and job corps centers
5 people in group homes for juveniles (non-correctional)
146 people in agriculture workers' dormitories on farms
9 people in other group homes
6 people in halfway houses
6 people in nursing homes
6 people in homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse
Vehicles involved in fatal accidents: 11
Persons involved in fatal accidents: 32
(Based on 12 full and 6 partial tracts)
LOANS ORIGINATED 346 $108,153 182 $81,920 117 $130,920 11 $22,438 0 $0 123 $73,473 0 $0
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 22 $111,082 35 $71,062 17 $125,909 5 $31,186 0 $0 34 $61,016 0 $0
APPLICATIONS DENIED 54 $108,854 55 $56,734 158 $131,561 37 $57,952 6 $217,333 48 $69,893 0 $0
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 50 $103,656 38 $69,821 101 $123,323 22 $55,060 0 $0 39 $55,362 2 $169,505
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 18 $83,950 5 $83,706 20 $146,307 3 $109,343 0 $0 4 $241,885 0 $0
LOANS ORIGINATED 269 $139,219 281 $89,682 182 $129,746 35 $69,180 3 $423,893 184 $84,701 3 $96,060
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 15 $160,588 63 $118,208 92 $182,578 11 $134,264 1 $1,000 44 $112,157 4 $27,998
APPLICATIONS DENIED 69 $146,098 156 $108,289 629 $190,288 114 $85,812 4 $396,545 142 $123,086 2 $17,815
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 57 $144,275 52 $97,804 125 $190,458 44 $112,043 4 $241,960 48 $128,735 0 $0
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 5 $111,548 26 $114,798 50 $181,497 10 $44,550 0 $0 16 $119,418 0 $0
LOANS ORIGINATED 14 $244,862 484 $182,541 1,173 $187,387 170 $120,829 6 $272,503 314 $177,456 2 $168,510
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 2 $242,900 203 $176,109 397 $203,343 43 $133,053 0 $0 77 $210,205 4 $45,845
APPLICATIONS DENIED 5 $189,000 359 $191,703 1,635 $225,714 277 $138,182 9 $452,842 234 $209,316 5 $202,032
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 7 $283,116 119 $190,583 577 $207,310 66 $146,710 1 $371,000 104 $187,686 0 $0
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 0 $0 85 $202,648 199 $238,283 9 $131,049 0 $0 34 $212,167 0 $0
LOANS ORIGINATED 9 $251,674 1,495 $183,977 2,363 $196,745 420 $147,691 2 $329,210 541 $188,676 4 $130,253
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 2 $167,245 338 $198,892 676 $208,588 98 $151,160 2 $546,205 156 $211,237 3 $98,627
APPLICATIONS DENIED 4 $301,950 929 $185,625 1,830 $228,574 372 $119,573 1 $600,000 352 $216,407 9 $63,661
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 1 $77,000 421 $184,483 1,111 $213,011 112 $154,009 0 $0 171 $191,734 2 $148,450
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 0 $0 89 $187,127 289 $221,522 15 $128,475 0 $0 47 $191,083 0 $0
LOANS ORIGINATED 10 $189,477 2,312 $175,038 2,755 $181,850 383 $138,626 10 $540,685 693 $177,447 4 $137,150
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 5 $220,610 520 $180,141 530 $181,477 57 $141,152 0 $0 148 $174,694 2 $138,665
APPLICATIONS DENIED 2 $206,985 970 $172,686 1,629 $186,994 311 $121,411 1 $130,500 319 $180,929 19 $98,751
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 1 $142,980 584 $185,230 1,389 $191,831 147 $135,754 0 $0 183 $226,136 4 $150,408
LOANS ORIGINATED 60 $178,379 1,576 $139,980 2,354 $134,776 243 $103,932 24 $333,247 606 $136,824 5 $73,122
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 3 $199,730 355 $147,714 521 $136,346 63 $96,483 0 $0 129 $133,468 5 $110,602
APPLICATIONS DENIED 10 $178,467 545 $144,828 1,299 $133,444 219 $75,083 6 $573,660 205 $132,692 5 $143,784
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 8 $206,570 263 $167,065 841 $135,355 74 $100,339 0 $0 105 $151,297 1 $219,000
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 0 $0 77 $128,668 494 $136,235 14 $95,491 0 $0 56 $132,394 0 $0
LOANS ORIGINATED 126 $146,946 826 $117,751 2,618 $106,232 93 $33,830 7 $301,286 469 $102,942
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 10 $149,661 208 $130,671 446 $110,857 14 $27,624 0 $0 77 $112,847
APPLICATIONS DENIED 10 $136,768 312 $109,674 1,407 $112,493 148 $28,821 9 $371,424 165 $106,160
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 14 $106,832 114 $139,518 716 $111,281 32 $50,173 2 $457,380 79 $115,264
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 0 $0 33 $147,199 138 $104,627 1 $25,000 2 $259,000 18 $153,428
LOANS ORIGINATED 224 $122,487 590 $95,717 1,626 $93,060 103 $32,200 11 $1,037,754 321 $89,377
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 15 $117,569 137 $117,430 287 $94,313 24 $17,175 0 $0 60 $89,670
APPLICATIONS DENIED 11 $131,956 196 $102,618 770 $89,121 106 $24,786 1 $278,030 104 $81,332
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 31 $119,149 79 $115,447 467 $98,987 17 $40,883 2 $184,000 45 $106,807
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 1 $120,860 32 $102,778 270 $101,675 2 $69,515 0 $0 17 $75,819
LOANS ORIGINATED 250 $103,634 513 $75,318 1,011 $82,791 73 $20,407 4 $158,840 257 $68,553
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 29 $104,172 85 $78,958 171 $67,993 14 $23,819 2 $80,000 36 $77,176
APPLICATIONS DENIED 28 $107,317 176 $83,281 676 $75,911 142 $19,555 2 $96,000 104 $67,644
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 27 $98,697 84 $73,914 441 $81,013 41 $31,231 1 $259,870 45 $63,172
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 10 $91,798 19 $55,189 99 $77,438 2 $49,855 0 $0 14 $68,600
LOANS ORIGINATED 266 $86,784 412 $71,310 345 $56,531 58 $23,731 8 $253,638 126 $53,186
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 28 $81,115 48 $67,824 64 $52,000 24 $22,188 0 $0 7 $67,354
APPLICATIONS DENIED 47 $86,163 170 $68,666 485 $59,897 118 $25,402 4 $164,778 54 $63,893
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 36 $82,964 78 $79,746 214 $58,401 16 $25,613 0 $0 26 $59,635
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 1 $53,340 25 $69,972 157 $68,119 0 $0 0 $0 24 $65,548
LOANS ORIGINATED 158 $75,093 120 $54,737 299 $54,488 34 $26,495 0 $0 91 $47,713
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 12 $83,670 21 $82,020 72 $52,153 14 $19,067 0 $0 17 $54,711
APPLICATIONS DENIED 17 $82,277 77 $55,399 354 $62,754 48 $17,349 1 $247,180 74 $58,081
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 36 $80,991 40 $74,160 175 $62,778 6 $34,082 0 $0 34 $55,924
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 2 $76,245 5 $57,464 62 $57,597 0 $0 2 $136,090 10 $66,427
LOANS ORIGINATED 33 $91,330 3 $88,337 2 $63,815
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 2 $75,780 4 $326,040 0 $0
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 5 $158,228 0 $0 2 $73,820
LOANS ORIGINATED 93 $223,041 108 $267,067 7 $178,854
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 6 $256,475 10 $345,790 0 $0
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 51 $113,681 25 $126,888 18 $63,633
APPLICATIONS DENIED 17 $172,184 2 $104,750 0 $0
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN 8 $99,398 0 $0 1 $71,490
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 0 $0 3 $64,167 0 $0
LOANS ORIGINATED 214 $101,447 63 $108,128 18 $80,166
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 35 $85,027 17 $119,581 7 $72,790
LOANS ORIGINATED 151 $76,518 27 $68,554 8 $53,553
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 23 $56,410 3 $50,127 3 $70,440
APPLICATIONS DENIED 0 $0 3 $95,217 0 $0
FILES CLOSED FOR INCOMPLETENESS 2 $56,835 0 $0 2 $56,835
LOANS ORIGINATED 43 $68,514 30 $71,199 2 $47,655
APPLICATIONS APPROVED, NOT ACCEPTED 2 $51,610 2 $90,195 0 $0
APPLICATIONS DENIED 4 $69,828 1 $67,000 0 $0
William 224 72.5 years
James 213 69.5 years
Robert 176 66.8 years
Charles 143 73.2 years
Frank 121 73.6 years
George 120 75.5 years
Smith 134 71.7 years
Johnson 105 71.6 years
Lopez 47 71.7 years
Garcia 46 72.7 years
Wilson 46 75.0 years
Martin 46 72.5 years
Davis 42 69.6 years
AutoZone 1 MasterBrand Cabinets 3
Burger King 1 McDonald's 1
El Pollo Loco 1 Payless 1
GNC 1 Rite Aid 1
Goodwill 1 Starbucks 1
Haworth 1 T-Mobile 1
KFC 1 Taco Bell 1
Kmart 1 U-Haul 2
Kroger 1 UPS 3
Little Caesars Pizza 1 Walgreens 1
Long John Silver's 1
Discuss Stockton, California (CA) on our hugely popular California forum.


I'm baaaack. Yeeeeeey. And oh my god guys, I can't even begin to tell you how amazing Paris was. God, I love this city so much.
First of all, the architecture is so freaking beautiful. I mean, the whole city feels like a huge museum. There are so many sightseeing points and even when there's no palace, historic building or gallery near you, all of the residential buildings are literally breathtaking. The whole city is so romantic, you can really feel it in the atmosphere. And we had the cutest apartment ever. Seriously. It was one of three rooms in a huge building that all belong to one big apartment complex. It felt like we were actually living in Paris, in our own little, cute flat. We had to climb the coolest and narrowest spiral staircase ever to get to our own room. And the most amazing part was the little french balcony we had. I immediately fell in love with it. And I can tell you, having breakfast in the middle of Paris on the cutest balcony ever while looking over the city and watching other people starting their day while the sun is shining in your face is literally the best way to start your own day. I miss the balcony, I really do.
Apart from that I seriously, overly fell in love with the city. It's beautiful, cute, historic, really damn elegant and it just glows. If I had to describe it in one word, I'd probably say decadent. The whole city is pure decadence. Every day we would walk around long after midnight, strolling around the city and looking at the buildings glistening in the city lights. I can't decide when Paris is more beautiful – at daytime or at night. It's such a tough decision. And I think I took like about 800 pictures, most of them are photographs of buildings. Paris really drew me into the whole street photography stuff and I just let myself fall into it. So please excuse the massive amount of pictures (right down below).
But what did we do? Actually, I think we had the perfect mix of everything. We pretty much walked around the whole day, we didn't even buy a card for the metro. I think mum is still a little bit "mad" at me for dragging her around all day and night. But hey, this way we literally saw everything. We visited museums, of course took a look at the most important sights like the eiffel tower – which I absolutely love -, we went shopping, enjoyed the amazing food, sat in bistros and watched people walk by and live their lives and just spent time in Paris, basically. Oh and we drove to Giverny for one day to visit Monet's garden and house, you know the famous painter. He's one of my faves and when I found out that you could actually walk through the garden where he painted his famous works, I just had to put it on our to-do-list.
What I also loved is the amount of art and culture that is packed into the city. Literature, art, music, photography, fashion – all in one single place. It's crazy. And all the famous people who lived there, like Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Picasso. You can really sense the history while walking the streets of Paris and even more so when visiting the most amazing places like the historic bookshop Shakespeare & Company or the Café de Flore. That's one of the things I enjoyed most on our trip. Every few minutes mum and I basically had to stop and google things we just came across to know more about the city and it's fascinating history.
Oh, and another really mind-blowing thing happened. Now that I can't decry it because it already happened, I can finally tell you that me and my mum seriously got our tattoo appointments in Paris. Yes, I know, how freaking crazy is that? I still can't believe it, no joke. Let me tell you the little story of how we got an appointment that actually would have never been one. A few weeks before our trip I stumbled across the artist Carin Silver who works at a tattoo studio in Paris called Les Maux Bleus. You can probably guess what happened afterwards. I actually had the wish of getting a new tattoo done for quite a while now and when I saw that Carin even specialized in doing exactly what I dreamed of – flower bouquets and thin lines – I completely went crazy. Unfortunately I had to wait quite a while for a reply and after some mails the studio told me that she was completely full the week we would visit Paris. And yes, I was sad. Really sad. So, after a few days we were already in Paris, at 11 pm at night, right in front of the eiffel tower. Did you know that it sparkles at night for 5 minutes? It's so damn beautiful. Anyways, after sharing that amazing moment, mum and me realized that my phone was blinking, meaning that I had received a text. It was a mail. From Carin. Telling us that she had found literally the perfect appointment for us both. I couldn't believe my eyes. And I still can't. I now have the most beautiful flower bouquet on my right arm and I couldn't be happier with it. But I'll tell you more about the appointment in one of my next posts.


I will be eating dinner tonight with my lovely writing friends Delilah and Moira…on a bed. Delilah is taking us to Supperclub where we will recline roman style and feast our eyes on a cabaret show.
The conference is going very well. I placed second in the Hearts Through History contest and I'm thrilled because my friend and critique partner, Courtney Milan, took first. Yay, Courtney! I've received quite a few requests for Filigree and Shadow from agents and editors and that's really the whole point of the conference so Lenora is a happy girl.
Tonight we're off to karaoke at The Mint (one of my old stomping grounds) with a bunch of ladies including the lovely vixens Lacey, Eden, and Shelli. Bliss!
I'll try to remember to bring my camera this time.
I'm so sorry we didn't meet up with you there (unless you went later?) I came home early! It was too much for me–I was exhausted! I loved getting to see you, though! You are a sweetheart!
I know…so sad! Our dinner took way longer than I thought it would. I hope you had a great conference! See you at the Emerald City one.
It's nice to stumble upon a blog of someone who into stop-motion! That's my passion, right there. Has been since 1992. What are your favorite stopmo films? I'm partial to Will Vinton's shorts and specials.
Next Next post: Yay Courtney!!!


Asian equities finished mostly lower on Thursday, with rising bond yields boosting finance stocks in Japan and Australia, though Chinese markets experienced selling pressure ahead of a week-long holiday.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed up 0.5%, recovering from Wednesday's declines when companies paid dividends. Shares of banks and insurers, which are large holders of U.S. government bonds, drove gains in Tokyo shares.
Overnight, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys posted their biggest one-day gain since March, after Republicans in Washington released a plan to overhaul the tax code, which they hope will help economic growth. Those yields rose further in Asian trading on Thursday.
"The plan leaves scope for details to be adjusted, allowing compromises and resultant conciliation, which is likely to boost its chances of getting passed," said Mizuho Bank analyst Zhu Huani.
Banking stocks also drove Australia's benchmark index higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.1%.
Chinese markets faced selling pressure ahead of a week-long break. The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to a six-week low amid declines in property developers, Tencent (0700.HK) and China Construction Bank (0939.HK) .
"People are hesitating to buy shares in the market given holidays next week," said Ivan Ip, a stock strategist at UOB Group in Hong Kong.
Already, Chinese stock investment flows to Hong Kong are down. Hong Kong's biggest share listing of the year posted a strong debut on Thursday. ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance (0672.HK) , a Chinese insurer, opened up 16%, but ended up just 9.2%.


text:
JOJO CAPECE - Author & Artist
Portofino Souvenir
All Roads to Rome
All Roads Lead To Rome, sizzles with the kaleidoscope of the Italian Network of Power chronicling the life of American expatriate, Bébé Deverton.
Interview with Jojo Capece
What inspired this story?
"History, art and diverse Italians inspired me. I began writing the book in 1993, continuing research until its publication in 2011. My want was to write the definitive story of Italy today bringing Italian life alive on every page."
Although this is fiction, there are facts about Italy most people don't discuss.
"A candid chronicle has been my challenge."
What about Italians?
"The philosophy of Italians is unique, coupled with their passion, political situation and economic crisis at the present time. People confided in me and overlapping histories became a tapestry. I used composite characters, blessed the chance to be observant and had the opportunity to know extraordinary people. Every day I kept a diary."
Is the book autobiographical?
"Some will call it fact, some will call it fiction. This is not my memoir although it might read as a memoir in some chapters particularly when my protagonist becomes a sculptor. I couldn't have written ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME unless I experienced some of the moments and understood the composite character of Bébé Deverton. An author's responsibility is to entertain readers, not to bore them. I kept this in mind permitting my pen to have free license to create a candid, witty and compassionate book."
What brought you to Rome?
"Art and history called me to the Eternal City, no different from my last trip made close to publication date. Italy contains 60% of the world's art treasures, my eye is continually satiated in Italy exactly as it was decades ago. Beautiful weather, great food and fascinating people contributed equally with art, history and the tempo of Italian life to keep me in Rome a dozen years."
Did you know the historical figures that appear in your novel or did you invent the incidents and what they said?
"My novel is based on researched facts, what I saw and heard, what I discovered and whom I met referring to 'historical figures.' To protect certain people, they are not mentioned by name. In other instances, the name I gave them in Italian reflects the character of their soul."
How do you view women's equality in Italy today?
"Although women's equality is low by standards set by the Human Rights Commission at 74%, the other side of the spectrum is no one is more important in Italy than one's Mother. They can and do get everything from their families. Privileges from the country of Italy are another matter for Mammas and working women. Like women everywhere, their voice is being awakened. It is a different voice than before, when I first began living in Italy."
Are Italian Men better lovers?
"Italian men know how to flirt. It begins when they flirt with their Mamma and receive all they want as a child. They have a way with words and are not in a hurry to woo a woman. I cannot speak about them being better because I am not an expert on international lovers. Italian men, like men everywhere, want male supremacy. They are charming, sexy and speak with honeyed words."
Politics is an important part of ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME. What do you believe is the political position of Italy today?
"I am no genie, nevertheless, Italy will always be Italy and little will change how they tally their books, accept graft, make 'deals' and exclaim their position with passionate rhetoric to seize what they want. It is ingrained in Italians to barter and make arrangements. Berlusconi is one of the remarkable characters of our time. The more one studies him, the more one understands he has been naughty, but he has his fingers on the pulse - his pulse - and the street cleaner who wishes to be him. Unless an exceptional person can change the problems I dilate in my novel, I venture to say Silvio Berlusconi has not met his political demise with his decision November 8, 2011 to step down as Prime Minister due to the debt crisis of Italy. He is the richest man in the country, worth over $6+billion and will rise to the occasion to demonstrate he wants to improve Italy's current problems, avoid prosecution and keep his immunity."
What about the trilogy? What are your plans?
"The second book of the series and an outline of the third was penned when I lived between England and Mexico. Copious notes were transported to and fro and my timetable is to have book two appear at the end of 2012 and book three the following year. If I'm lucky!"
When did you first know you wanted to write and be a storyteller?
"Around five years old, my dearest possession was a book of Grimm's Fairy Tales. I wanted to memorize all the stories read to me. Also, my Italian heritage brought dramatic enactments of tales to entertain children. Writing came later, practiced in my life-long diaries and studying the technique of great authors."
Who are your favorite authors?
"Balzac, Lawrence Durrell, Oscar Wilde, Lampedusa, Dostoyevsky the list goes on, Dorothy Parker, Orwell....then there is Boccaccio, Fellini, Dante, Ovid..."
What is your biggest challenge writing?
"Keeping my private life running smoothly when my writing life wants to take all my time."
Jojo Capece. 2016 All Rights Reserved


RAWALPINDI: Shadi Khan was once a proud soldier fighting the Taliban, but today he quivers in pain, socks bagged around metal pins after a bomb blew off his legs on Pakistan's deadliest battlefield.
His unit had arrested 10 Taliban operatives and killed another eight, and was heading back to base camp in South Waziristan when the bomb exploded. That was August 2010. He is still in hospital.
"It was as if I had been shot. It was a huge pain. Both my legs were blown up and I was injured in the stomach. I was conscious for the whole thing, but after around three hours I passed out," he says.
One soldier was killed and Khan was the most seriously wounded out of four who were evacuated to a field hospital. He's since had multiple operations and both his legs have been amputated above the knee.
"Now I'll go home and just connect to my God. I'll remember him. I'm still young, but I can't walk at my home, where the land is rough. What else can I do? Perhaps I can teach students, if I can get a job in any school." Under US pressure to root out Taliban and al Qaeda-linked networks in its northwest and districts on the Afghan border, more than 2,795 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in fighting since 2004. Another 8,671 have been wounded.
Those official statistics overshadow the more than 2,403 foreign, mostly American, soldiers who have been killed in 10 years in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's war has also ignited revenge bombings that have killed another 4,200 people since July 2007, destablising the nuclear-armed country and forcing the establishment to fight hard against homegrown Taliban.
Khan is a patient at Pakistan's Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFIRM) in Rawalpindi, the country's only hospital of its kind that helps maimed and disabled soldiers rebuild their shattered lives.
Their best efforts barely make the pain better for Khan. His family is in the southern province of Sindh, hundreds of miles away, and he has received only one visit – from his father – since he was injured.
"I got some irritation," he said, shaking. His new legs were fitted only four days ago. An earlier pair didn't fit and had to be changed.
Staff say they are desperately short-staffed and under-equipped. With only 100 beds and 147,000 troops committed in battle across the northwest, the work load has grown tremendously.
Major General Akhtar Waheed, head of the hospital, said 750 patients are treated each day. He lists his main staff as five specialists, 13 general nurses, three psychologists, two speech therapists and 10 physiotherapists.
While the military has agreed to help build a new block to raise the number of beds to more than 150, it is only in the planning stage.
Major Zahid Rustam has been staggered by how much things have changed in the six years he spent training in Australia, Britain and the United States.
"Oh my God, the work load has tremendously increased. When I went, you know, we used to find some patients who had a fall or something like that, but now we have a lot of amputees. We have a lot of spinal cord injured patients.
"We have a lot of work, a lot of work." Compared to hospitals in Pakistan, AFIRM has impressive facilities, is hygienic and seemingly well run. But compared to hospitals where Rustam and other medical officers have trained, its staff are over-stretched.
"We need people who are specialised," Rustam told AFP.
"We have like only three occupational therapists in the whole hospital and where I've been working, one ward would have like 10-15 occupational therapists, so how are we going to do?" Lieutenant Colonel Khalil Ahmad says staff work to rehabilitate soldiers to their fullest possible capabilities, but the brutal reality for the most seriously wounded is early retirement and even life in a wheelchair.
It can take six months to a year for an amputated soldier to be fitted with a prosthetic limb. Officers who can stay in uniform are priorities.
Sayed Altaf Hussain is one of the lucky ones. He lost his foot in battle on November 26, 2009 but has been allowed to return to duty in North Waziristan, even if in his own words he does "nothing much".
He is 34-years-old and has served in the army for 14 years.
"I can't quit right now. I've got four years left. I want to complete, so I can get my pension otherwise I'll lose out financially." Despite risking his life for his country, Hussain receives a salary of just 14,670 rupees ($174) a month to support a family of 14.
"There's been a lot of inflation in Pakistan and it's very hard to manage.
"I joined the Frontier Corps to defend the country number one and number two because there is poverty and we need to do something to earn money." Some of the more seriously wounded are taught data entry or skills that officers say can turn them into assistants for mobile repair men, electricians, mechanics or tailors.
But when AFP asked to visit a wounded soldier who had been discharged, at home, to see how he was coping, the military refused refused permission.
Major General Waheed concedes that the consequences of horrific injuries have a "massive impact". "It affects the whole family, even in the troops because so many soldiers from this unit, or this platoon, have been affected and so that's naturally quite disturbing. "Once you rehabilitate them, train them in a specific job, give them something to do, I think the impact becomes much less, quite less," he said. For some parents, brought up on the doctrine that India was public enemy number one, the war against the Taliban is not one that Pakistan should be fighting in the first place.
Colonel Abbas watches as his once talented commando son, Captain Qasim, is helped into a wheelchair after a physio session. Thanks to therapy at the hospital, he can now walk a little after a brain injury that left him on a ventilator for two months.
Thanks for reminding us about this tragedy! Lets help Imran Khan and PTI to end this war.
Excellent article.The media must provide such information to general public so that they know how much PAK ARMY has suffered because of this American WAR.Still they have the cheeks to question the sacrifices of our brave soldiers.It is because that our corrupt political leaders continue to stash away the borrowed money in their foreign accounts.Shame on them.
I think you are mistaken Asad. Imran Khan can put pressure on the Govt. to stop the figiting, he may even be able to pressurise the NATO to call it quits - but he cannot do anything about the Taliban. And withdrawing will make the Taliban more powerful and if ignored may eventually take over your country - is that what you want ?
Surely they were forgotten until DAWN decided to cover this story. All us Pakistanis are eternally grateful to the young men and women who risked their lives to keep us all safe from the menace. DAWN in my opinion is better than the rest of the Pakistani media and I would be even happier if instead of setting a sad and complaining tone in its journalism, DAWN's story should be in a positive, revealing and praising tone. Don't ask someone to lead, be the one with the attitude to lead. Lead the change you want in your country! The title of this article should not be "Forgotten victims of Pakistan's Taliban War". It should be "Discovering heroes of Pakistan's Taliban War".
Indeed a very moving article.Cannot our wealthy Pakistanis deposit their contribution for this hospital.Especially those who go overseas,official and private.Educational instituitions must know more about this herculean task.Why dothey spend money on debates and plays,they should be helping the disabled.


text:
How To Prepare A Business Plan That Is Useful In Practice
Have you ever seen one of those 50-page business plans that go into detail about every conceivable aspect of a still purely theoretical business? You probably have, since those business plans have been the industry standard for decades.
Yet, in a world where words like lean and agile are becoming the new norm for startups, 50-page business plans look a bit out of place, and with a good reason.
It's a fact that creating a plan is very helpful for a new business. A study of more than 10 thousand businesses shows that ventures grow 30% faster on average if they create business plans.
However, another study indicates that innovative startups in more dynamic environments benefit from shorter planning. The reason is simply – innovative startups are less familiar with their business environment and more particularly - the exact needs of their customers. This means that the plan is likely to change often, and the more detailed the plan, the higher the chance it deviates from reality.
10 Reasons Why Your Economic Development Website Isn't Attracting Remote Workers
These 10 reasons why your economic development website isn't attracting remote workers may be why you're experiencing a lack of success. NEARLY 62% of employees already work remotely at least part of the time, and that number continues to grow as social distancing and COVID safety protocol remain intact. It's of prim...Continue Reading
Experts say potential Austin Samsung plant could be biggest in state history — why some are concerned
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A massive investment may soon be coming to Austin: Samsung Austin Semiconductor is considering building a multi-billion dollar chipmaking plant at its campus in north Austin. Documents with the Texas comptroller show the company filed an application for Chapter 313 property tax breaks from the Manor Independent School Distric...Continue Reading
Texas Leads The Nation As No. 1 State In Exports For 19TH Consecutive Year
AUSTIN — Texas ended 2020 as the No. 1 exporting state in the United States for the 19th consecutive year, more evidence of the strength and resilience of the state's economy, said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Corporation. "Texas has developed a remarkable track record of economi...Continue Reading


On behalf of Law Office of Alexander Alvarez posted in construction litigation on Wednesday, January 24, 2018.
When you build a home or building, you want to know that you have one of the best, most cost-effective contractors around. You want to know that you're getting your money's worth and that you're not being taken advantage of.
In reality, there are many "bad" contractors who abuse their positions. They may take their time on projects in a way that "runs the clock," which ends up costing you more money. Others may never complete the project at all, leaving you to foot the bill with another contractor when you have no choice but to complete the work.
Between poor workmanship and unreasonable delays, there are many reasons to be at odds with your contractor. You can fight back, though.
To start with, it's probably time to fire the contractor. Don't waste more of your time or money on someone who isn't doing what you expected. Your contractor might challenge you on getting fired, since it could be a breach of contract.
As long as you can show that he or she broke the contractor agreement, you can take steps to fire him or her. Take note of the things that have been done that you find don't live up to your original contract. Send a return-receipt letter to the contractor itemizing those problems and request that they're resolved within a certain amount of time. If they don't do so, then state that he or she is in breach of contract and that you'll be terminating your original agreement.
You can also go through arbitration, if you don't want to fire your contractor. Arbitration allows you and the contractor to present information and evidence supporting your side of the case. The arbitrator then decides who is in the right or wrong. The Better Business Bureau does arbitrate for a small fee, which can be beneficial. Attorneys can represent you during the hearing as well.


Use 4-space indentation, and no tabs. 4 spaces are a good compromise between small indentation (allows greater nesting depth) and large indentation (easier to read). Tabs introduce confusion, and are best left out.
Wrap lines so that they don't exceed 79 characters. This helps users with small displays and makes it possible to have several code files side-by-side on larger displays.
Name your classes and functions consistently; the convention is to use CamelCase for classes and lower_case_with_underscores for functions and methods. Always use self as the name for the first method argument.
PySALT uses Sphinx for automatic documentation generation. In order to do this please follow these conventions.
"""This is a sample module."""
"""This class generates test objects.
cross referencing, modules, classes, functions and methods.
type (e.g. String.). Description of parameter.
A long description of the program.
Estimate of load on system.
The tasks referenced in SEE ALSO need to have documentation themselves.
All tasks in SEE ALSO must be on the same line in order for the parser to correctly generate links.
This is an example "/path/to/some/file.txt", and "parameter='something'" option.
PySALT error handling is based on Pythons build in exception handling. This basically works in the following way. If an error occurs an Exception is raised this will cause the program to fall through untill either the exception is caught by an except statement or the program terminates. The except statement can catch an error and do something with it. It may simply do some cleanup and quit or it can undertake a specific action (such as replacing division by zero error results by Inf values).
salterror contains a tree structure of exceptions derived from Exception. The class SaltError is the top level of this tree and an error of this type should be raised if it does not fit into any of it's child classes.
A header with the date and time the method was called is automatically added and the text is displayed in the terminal and written to the specified logfile. Errors derived from SaltError which reach the end of the with block are also caught and logged after which the program automatically exits. When the debug parameter is True a backtrace containing usefull information for developers is written to the logfile as well. Furthermore the context manager automatically logs the call to the function in which it is contained allong with the parameters used to call it.
The program tries to execute the statements in the try block and if an error of the type SaltIOError occurs the code in the except block get's executed. See the python exception handling pages for more information.
This section explains a bit more about the idea behind the error handling mechanism in PySALT. The basic premisis is that there are three kinds of errors.
Errors that are expected to occur and should not cause the program to stop. For instance when one of the stars is not found in a particular frame you just want the frame to be skipped.
Errors that are expected to occur but the program cannot continue correctly. For instance when a user gives a non existing filename as input or the file cannot be opened because of wrong permissions. This should log an error the user can comprehend and quit.
Errors that are unexpected. By definition these errors constitute programming bugs and should cause the program to stop with some type of error message usefull to the developer.
In order to handle all three cases in a consistent manner the salterror introduces a tree of exception classes. As in the whole of Python the top level error class for PySALT e.g. SaltError is derived from Pythons build in Exception class. All errors of the first two categories should raise an exception derived from SaltError this means that giving SaltError as an exception type to accept will cause all expected errors to be caught leaving only the unexpected errors which will still cause the program to crash as required. Catching also all unexpected errors is considered bad programming because the containing program can than no longer insure if everything went ok (this includes the shell which was used to launch pyraf in pipeline mode).
Try, except blocks can be used to catch errors that should not cause the program to crash and handle them accordingly. All SaltError derived errors that remain are caught and handled by the logging context manager.
starts the logging context manager. Uppon reaching this line the function saltsafelog.logging() is executed.
The code in this function first creates a SaltLog object. This object has methods which write messages, errors and warnings to a logfile adding a header with the current date and time automatically.
Then logging() uses object introspection from the Python standard library inspect module to get the names and values of all the parameters of the function in which logging() is called (so the function containing the with statement). This information is written to the logfile using the message() method from SaltLog.
Then a try block is started and the control is passed back to the calling function by yielding the SaltLog object as log (a function that yields a value instead of returns it is called a generator function and this function returns to the point right after the yield statement when called again). The whole program just runs and may use the methods from the yielded log object to also write messages or warnings to the logfile (avoid writing errors directly using the error() method, rather raise errors).
When an exception derived from SaltError is raised which is not caught by some except block (so this should be case 2) the program will fall through and return to the try block in the logging context manager. The error will be caught by it's except statement and the error message plus an additional backtrace (if debug=True) will be written to the logfile. After that the program terminates normally.
As of PySALT version 0.40 the standard toolkit used to build Graphical User Interface or GUI programs is PyQt4. This is a set of Python wrappers arround the commonly used Qt UI framework. Qt, developed by Nokia, is the free and open souce cross platform GUI toolkit used to build KDE as well as many commercial applications.
In order to work with these packages you need a working installation of Qt version 4.0 or higher as well as PyQt4 itself. All major Linux distributions include binaries for both systems and there is a simple DMG installer for Mac OSX.
PyQt is very easy to work with especially if one is used to other GUI programming toolkits. A graphical user interface consists of a set of objects called widgets which are combined to form new widgets (for instance a text label widget ("do you want to quit?") combined with two push button widgets (ok/cancel) forms a dialog widget which may be used in combination with other widgets to form a program. The widgets themselves are all simply instances of classes which define how they look and behave. Qt comes with a lot of build in widgets for commonly used elements such as: radio buttons, check boxes, line edit boxes, etc. Custom widgets can easily be created by subclassing an existing widget class.
For a quick and easy introduction to PyQt4 see the PyQt4 tutorial.
All interfaces can in principle be hand coded. For small programs this is usually fine, but for larger projects this can be quite time consuming. Qt comes with a program called Qt designer to simplify this task. With designer you can create your interface widget using simple drag and drop. You may add and position elements and set default values. It is even possible to define basic interactions between elements in your widget such as: if this checkbox is clicked then hide that text input box. This is great because it allows you to separate the design of the user interface from the program code thereby making it much easier to change something without having to do a full rewrite. Also it allows users to test the interface before any code has been written so you can experiment with different designs.
In principle you should not need to rebuild the tools since the resulting Python modules are already included in the repository. However if you are a PySALT developer and want to make changes the following procedure should be followed.
The user interfaces for PySALT have all been created using Qt designer. These interfaces are saved as .ui files in the lib/ui directory. In order to modify the interface simply open the corresponding .ui file in Qt designer and make the desired modifications.
If you want to include additional icons in your GUI you should save them as .png images in the lib/ui/icons directory and add them to the resource file lib/ui/icons.qrc. This file also needs to be compiled using pyrcc4. pyrcc4 is PyQt's equivalent to Qt's rcc utility and is used in exactly the same way. pyrcc4 reads the .qrc file, and the resource files, and generates a Python module that only needs to be import ed by the application in order for those resources to be made available just as if they were the original files.
Clean up module to use proper error handling and remove unnecesary code.