text:
Speaker Pelosi Demands President Trump Take Down 'Disrespectful And Dangerous' Ilhan Omar 9/11 Video
(Gateway Pundit) – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued a statement Sunday calling on President Donald Trump to take down a video contrasting footage of the September 11, 2001 Islamist terror attacks on the United States with a comment by Rep. Ilhan Omar made last month before a Muslim audience in which she dismissed the attack as "Some people did something."
Pelosi called Trump's video "disrespectful and dangerous" and said she had directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to conduct a security assessment for Omar, her staff and family.
Appearing on ABC's This Week on Sunday morning before Pelosi spoke out, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders defended Trump's video, saying Trump does not wish ill will or violence against Omar.
Asked about President Trump's attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sarah Sanders tells @GStephanopoulos, Omar's comments are "absolutely disgraceful and unbefitting of a member of Congress and I think that it's a good thing that the president is calling her out" https://t.co/a1tf3ubh7D pic.twitter.com/1Ixdb0cYN4
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 14, 2019
Omar made her 9/11 comment in a speech to CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) on March 23 in California. Omar falsely claimed that CAIR was founded after 9/11 to protect Muslim civil liberties. CAIR was actually founded in 1994 as a front group for Hamas, according to reports on federal surveillance at the time of CAIR's founding.
Pelosi issued a statement with a dateline of London, England, that reads:
Pelosi Statement on the Safety of Congresswoman Omar
London — Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement:
"Following the President's tweet, I spoke with the Sergeant-at-Arms to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman Omar, her family and her staff. They will continue to monitor and address the threats she faces.
"The President's words weigh a ton, and his hateful and inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger. President Trump must take down his disrespectful and dangerous video."
Pelosi also posted the statement to Twitter.
.@realDonaldTrump's dangerous video must be taken down. I have spoken with the Sergeant-at-Arms to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Rep. @Ilhan Omar, her family & her staff. They will continue to monitor & address the threats she faces. pic.twitter.com/Grb9c8S18d
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 14, 2019
Trump's video of Omar and 9/11 that Pelosi wants taken down:
WE WILL NEVER FORGET! pic.twitter.com/VxrGFRFeJM
Original video clip posted April 8 by the Imam of Peace that quickly went viral.
Ilhan Omar mentions 9/11 and does not consider it a terrorist attack on the USA by terrorists, instead she refers to it as "Some people did something", then she goes on to justify the establishment of a terrorist organization (CAIR) on US soil. pic.twitter.com/ixP3BJfqxS
— Imam Mohamad Tawhidi (@Imamofpeace) April 9, 2019
Below: Rolling Stone cover photo for the March issue.
thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/speaker-pelosi-demands-president-trump-take-down-disrespectful-and-dangerous-ilhan-omar-9-11-video/


text:
Q: How to map json output from [WebMethod] to d3.js bar charts Hi I am new to d3.js.I have this following [WebMethod] in .aspx file:
    [WebMethod]
    public static List<Product> GetProductsLINQ()
    {
        List<Product> lstProducts = new List<Product>();
        DataTable dtProducts = new DataTable();
        string sqlQuery = "SELECT Product_Name, Purchase_Price FROM tblProductMaster";
        string connectionString = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["BTrax"].ConnectionString;
            SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
            SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(sqlQuery, conn);
            da.Fill(dtProducts);
            var productslinq = (from products in dtProducts.AsEnumerable()
                                select new
                                {
                                    //Product_Id = products.Field<decimal>("Product_Id"),
                                    Product_Name = products.Field<string>("Product_Name"),
                                    Product_Code = products.Field<decimal>("Purchase_Price"),
                 }).ToList();
            foreach (var product in productslinq)
            {
            //lstProducts.Add(new Product(product.Product_Id,product.Product_Name, product.Product_Code));
            lstProducts.Add(new Product(product.Product_Name, product.Product_Code));
        }
     return lstProducts;
    }

Now, how to use this output as an input to d3.js bar chart? I tried the below script by pasting it in body tag in  .aspx file but it din't help.Please provide me a solution.Thanks in Advance.
    <script>
    var d;
    var svg = d3.select("svg"),
        margin = { top: 20, right: 20, bottom: 30, left: 40 },
        width = +svg.attr("width") - margin.left - margin.right,
        height = +svg.attr("height") - margin.top - margin.bottom;

    var x = d3.scaleBand().rangeRound([0, width]).padding(0.1),
        y = d3.scaleLinear().rangeRound([height, 0]);

    var g = svg.append("g")
        .attr("transform", "translate(" + margin.left + "," + margin.top + ")");

    d3.json("WebForm1.aspx/GetProductsLINQ", function (json) {
        d=json
        d.Product_Code = +d.Product_Code;
        return d;
    }, function (error, data) {
        if (error) throw error;

        x.domain(data.map(function (d) { return d.Product_Name; }));
        y.domain([0, d3.max(data, function (d) { return d.Product_Code; })]);

        g.append("g")
            .attr("class", "axis axis--x")
            .attr("transform", "translate(0," + height + ")")
            .call(d3.axisBottom(x));

        g.append("g")
            .attr("class", "axis axis--y")
            .call(d3.axisLeft(y).ticks(10, "%"))
          .append("text")
            .attr("transform", "rotate(-90)")
            .attr("y", 6)
            .attr("dy", "0.71em")
            .attr("text-anchor", "end")
            .text("Frequency");

        g.selectAll(".bar")
          .data(data)
          .enter().append("rect")
            .attr("class", "bar")
            .attr("x", function (d) { return x(d.Product_Name); })
            .attr("y", function (d) { return y(d.Product_Code); })
            .attr("width", x.bandwidth())
            .attr("height", function (d) { return height - y(d.Product_Code); });
    });
</script>

I have referred d3.js with the following link,
    <script src="https://d3js.org/d3.v4.min.js"></script>

A: Unlike d3.csv and d3.tsv, d3.json does not accept an accessor function (or row function).
According to the API, these are the arguments of a d3.csv:

d3.csv(url, row, callback);

Compare with the argument of a d3.json:

d3.json(url[, callback])

I'm pasting your function and commenting out everything that is an accessor (row) function:
d3.json("WebForm1.aspx/GetProductsLINQ", //function (json) {
    //d=json
    //d.Product_Code = +d.Product_Code;
    //return d;
//},
    function (error, data) {
        if (error) throw error;

So, it should be only:
d3.json("WebForm1.aspx/GetProductsLINQ", function (error, data) {
        if (error) throw error;

And then, right after it, put your accessor (row) function inside d3.json as a forEach:
data.forEach(function(d){
    d.Product_Code = +d.Product_Code;
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Send Flowers for Dr. Paul
Dr. Paul G. Pechous
Read more about the life story of Dr. Paul and share your memory.
Dr. Paul G. Pechous, 90, of Dubuque, Iowa passed away peacefully surrounded by family at Stonehill Health Center on Friday, January 13, 2023.
Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 21st, 2023, at St. Raphael Cathedral.
A mass of Christian burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 21st at St. Raphael Cathedral with Msgr. Thomas E. Toale, officiating. Entombment will follow in St. Joseph Chapel Mausoleum at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Military honors will be accorded by the American legion Post #6 and the United States Coast Guard. Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory, Dubuque, Iowa is assisting the family.
Paul was the oldest of five children born to George and Celeste (Lynch) Pechous on April 29th, 1932, in Iowa City, Iowa. He attended a one-room schoolhouse through eighth grade, followed by St. Patrick's High School in Iowa City, IA. He graduated from St. Ambrose College where he did his pre-medical studies. While in college at St. Ambrose, he met his future wife Nancy, and they were married on June 25th, 1955.
After graduating from St Ambrose, he went on to the University of Iowa medical school, graduating in 1958. After medical school, he joined the United States Public Health Service, eventually completing a residency in Ophthalmology. Much of his time in the Public Health Service was spent in New Orleans. One of his highlights was spending six weeks in the North Atlantic as a ship's surgeon on a Coast Guard cutter. Paul was honorably discharged from the Public Health Service in 1967 having achieved the rank of Commander.
He and Nancy then moved their family to Dubuque to start his private practice in Ophthalmology. His Ophthalmology career began in 1967, continuing until he retired in 2014.
Paul served as President of the Dubuque County Medical Society, the Mercy Hospital Medical Staff, and the Xavier Hospital Medical Staff. He spent many years as the Dubuque local physician representative for Mercy Hospital's Corporation.
In addition to his involvement in the medical community, Paul served in other areas, including several terms on the Board of Directors for Clarke University. He was active with Dubuque County Right to Life and St Raphael Cathedral, where he was a member for 32 years. He was a volunteer pallbearer with St Vincent DePaul Society, a member of the Serra Club, and a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus.
Paul and Nancy loved to see the world. Their travels took them to the Holy Land, Thailand, Japan, Canada, and Europe. They spent over 20 years wintering in Naples, Florida. Family vacations were especially important to Paul and Nancy. They took their children on trips throughout the United States during their lifetime.
In addition to traveling, Paul's hobbies and passions included being an avid collector of Dubuque history and memorabilia, collecting clocks, the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, theater-especially Broadway musicals, gourmet cooking, genealogy, reading, and gardening (you could take the boy out of the farm, but you couldn't take the farm out of the man). Swimming was not one of his hobbies; Paul claimed to be the only member of his St Ambrose graduating class not required to pass the school swim test.
Living on the bluff in Dubuque was a dream of Paul's. He fulfilled this dream and was able to start each day watching the Mississippi River roll along from his home on the bluff.
Paul was preceded in death by Nancy just 37 days prior to his own. They had been married for 67 years.
He was also preceded in death by his brothers, Ed Pechous and Raymond Pechous, his sister Mary Ellen (Nicky) Irving, and granddaughter Brianna Pechous.
Paul is survived by his 6 children, Bryan (Krynn) of Dubuque, Iowa; Stephen of Las Vegas, Nevada; Carol (Edward) McEleney of Iowa City, Iowa; John of Dubuque, Iowa; Robert (Sandy) of Indio, California; and Annette (David) Barton of Dubuque, Iowa; his sister Margaret Goss; brothers-in-law Jerry Irving, Tom Bryant, and Bill Saunders, and his sisters-in-law Marilyn Pechous and Mary Pechous.
Paul is also the proud grandfather of twelve grandchildren, Christina (Rick), Paul (Sarah), Creighton (Sarah), Alexander (Calla), Devin (Brett), Bianca, Briana (deceased), Melina, Karina, George, Charlie, Elena, and nine great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations can be made to The Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and Dubuque County Right to Life.
St. Raphael Cathedral
231 Bluff Street
December 31, 1969-January 13, 2023

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nighthawk Custom has partnered with Larry Vickers, a respected name in the field of tactical shooting, to produce the Nighthawk Custom Vickers Tactical 1911 pistol. Built to Vicker's exact specifications, the .45 ACP, 5-inch-barreled Nighthawk Custom Vickers Tactical 1911 comes with a certificate of authenticity and a letter signed by Vickers. Serial numbers will begin with the prefix "LV." The pistol's frame has been created by Vickers and is produced by Caspian Arms. It has an integral extended magazine well, as well as a plunger tube that is part of the frame and not staked on as with other pistols, ensuring the plunger tube will not come loose.
The Nighthawk Custom Vickers Tactical 1911 also includes front and rear cocking serrations on the slide and a trigger designed by Vickers. The pistol is completely dehorned to remove sharp edges in the way Vickers has prescribed. Options include Novak, Bo-Mar, or Heinie sights and green or black Coyote Strider grips or Mil/Tac black/gray grips.
For more information, contact Nighthawk Custom, 1306 W. Trimble, Berryville, AR 72616; 877-268-4867; www.nighthawkcustom.com.


Do you want to be a Trader?
In this day and age, becoming an independent financial trader is easy. You just need some capital and a brokerage account, and voilà, you're a trader! The only problem is, trading the markets is not quite so straightforward! First steps Before anything else, you'll need to ask yourself WHY you want to become a trader. … Continue reading Do you want to be a Trader?
What is an AB=CD pattern?
Developed by Scott Carney and Larry Pesavento, after being originally discovered by H. M. Gartley, the AB=CD pattern has become an effective technique to have in one's toolbox. After months of research, back testing and also live trading, we feel comfortable presenting this setup to our readers. Just to be clear, the following is not … Continue reading What is an AB=CD pattern?


text:
Michał Klauza (ur. 5 listopada 1973 w Puławach) – polski dyrygent.

Jest absolwentem Akademii Muzycznej w Warszawie (klasa prof. Ryszarda Dudka). Potem ukończył studia podyplomowe w Konserwatorium im. Nikołaja Rimskiego-Korsakowa w Petersburgu. Działalność artystyczną zaczął w 1993, zakładając na warszawskiej Akademii Muzycznej Orkiestrę Kameralną "Concertino". Brał udział w kursach dyrygenckich Kurta Redla oraz Walerija Girgijewa. Został dyrektorem artystycznym Polskiej Orkiestry Radiowej, a począwszy od kwietnia 2016 jest dyrygentem gościnnym Teatru Bolszoj w Moskwie. Był tam autorem premier Don Pasquale i Idioty Mieczysława Wajnberga.

W latach 1998-2003 był dyrygentem w Teatrze Wielkim w Warszawie, a w latach 2004-2008 dyrygentem i zastępcą dyrektora w Welsh National Opera w Cardiff. Od 2009 do 2015 był drugim dyrygentem Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia w Katowicach, a od 2013 do 2015 kierownikiem muzycznym Opery i Filharmonii Podlaskiej. Występował na takich scena, jak Covent Garden Theatre w Londynie, czy Opera Kijowska, a w Polsce Opera Bałtycka, Opera Nova i Teatr Wielki w Poznaniu. Koncertował m.in. z takimi orkiestrami jak: Orkiestra Symfoniczna Filharmonii Narodowej, Sinfonia Varsovia, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Państwowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Federacji Rosyjskiej i Filharmonia Moskiewska. Nagrywał również dla radia i telewizji.

Przypisy

Polscy dyrygenci
Absolwenci Uniwersytetu Muzycznego Fryderyka Chopina
Ludzie urodzeni w Puławach
Urodzeni w 1973

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home » Fabricators Forum
Fabricators Forum
With the explosion of business in the granite kitchen countertop sector, many issues have come up with regard to fabrication techniques and methods, and they have been addressed at numerous stone fabrication forums. However, there are also many topics with regard to granite countertop installation, and these issues took center stage at a Marble Institute of America-hosted "Fabricator Forum," during the last edition of StonExpo.
The forum featured a panel of industry veterans that included the following professionals:
• Gasper (G.K.) Naquin, Stone Interiors - Naquin has been in the stone industry for over 30 years, and owns two large-scale fabrication facilities - one in Loxley, AL, doing 50 kitchens per week, and another in South Carolina doing 35 kitchens per week. The firm uses a "high-tech" format in terms of machinery, although all work is finished by hand.
• Chuck Muehlbauer, Technical Director of MIA - Muehlbauer has been in the stone business for 25 years. He is a member of ASTM Dimension Stone Committee C-18, chairs a subcommittee on stone selection and participates in stone testing and evaluating for ASTM.
• Ken Krebs, Tennessee Granite & Marble Co. - Krebs represented the smaller shops without CNC or large-scale equipment. His operation in Nashville, TN, runs 250 to 300 kitchens per year, with $1.5 million in volume. Fabrication is a combination of automated machinery and hand work.
• Jose Rodriguez of Total Design on Marble & Granite - Rodriguez, who is based in Dallas, TX, has been in the business for 14 years. He started his own company in 1993 with four employees and now has 125 workers. His firm fabricates 3,000 jobs per year in a range of sizes.
• Lindell L. Lummer, CTC, Malibu Art Tile & Stone - Lummer started in the ceramic tile trade in 1958, and holds a masonry and tile license in California. He has been working with stone since 1961 and has supervised large-scale work. His company is doing three to five kitchens per week in Southern California, in addition to custom homebuilding. He has also established a firm called Forensic Stone & Tile Investigators.
The event was attended by a large audience of fabricators, the vast majority of whom do their own installations. Many of those in attendance were relatively new to the trade, having six or less years of experience in the stone industry. "This is a new, large emerging industry," said Naquin, who stressed the need for education and sharing of information as well as attendance at industry trade shows and seminars. "Even if you're working in a large shop today, you likely started in a very small shop. We started with four people at my company, so even if you're in a small shop, you may have the opportunity to be a large shop as you go along."
The format of the forum allowed members of the audience to present a range of issues, which were then addressed by the panel. The following is a look at some of the topics that were brought up by those in attendance:
We are seeing issues with cabinets not being level prior to installation. The industry standard is 1⁄8 inch within 10 feet, but we're not getting this with a lot of cabinets that we work with. We've been told the best method is to shim, but sometimes I am coming up to an end piece where I have to raise up a 1⁄4-inch gap. Has anybody ever just shaved the top of the cabinetry down a bit if it has a high spot? Is there an alternative to shimming?
Naquin: In that situation, our guys do sometimes plane the top of the cabinets. As an owner of a company, I hate to deal with $100,000 worth of cabinets. I don't like our guys doing it, but it is done on rare occasions. In our company, if it's more than a 1⁄4-inch gap, we contact the owner at the jobsite and tell them that they need to adjust their cabinets or they will have this fault. If it's under 1⁄4 inch, we set it and dry-pack it with Akemi or a polyester resin underneath. Remember, you don't want it to cantilever out where you are tight in one area, but 5 feet away you have a shim. [If that happens,] you can add silicone all day long, but it's still going to be spongy. You have to dry-pack or shim the whole way.
Rodriguez: Our standard is 1⁄4 inch as well.
Krebs: To eliminate the liability of that countertop failing - or your seams popping down the road - is to make sure you reinforce all the way across the plane. If not, you're going to get call-backs on seam failures - or in the worst case, the countertop could break. Be aware to make sure that transition is filled all the way through. Our standard is the same as G.K.'s. If you're approaching 1⁄2 inch [out of level], shut it down and call the homeowner, because ultimately if the countertop fails, it's going to be your fault. And you don't want to have to rebuild the countertop and put it back in there, because that's when you start losing money.
Naquin: Following up on that, there is something called "flat" and something called "level." I have to try and lay flat with the cabinets. If my cabinets are high in one spot and I have to lift up to them, that means it's going to be too low in other spots. Your cabinets have to be flat; they don't always have to be perfectly level.
What about a corner where you have a Lazy Susan [and there is a resulting lack of support for the countertop]?
Krebs: If you have a deep Lazy Susan or a dead corner, we always bring it to the attention of the builder or homeowner. It's their responsibility to make sure that we have something to set on, because we can't let that floater hang out there without support. If it's a residential replacement job or it's hidden, we keep 2 x 4's on our installation trucks so we can set it on the wall and protect ourselves. My guys are typically not carpenters, but we try to keep enough [lumber] around so that if a situation like that presents itself unknowingly, we have the wood, a little hand saw and some drywall screws to proceed with the job. Then they don't have to stop and run out to Home Depot to buy materials for an hour and a half. Be prepared to deal with those floating corners or Lazy Susans, or the homeowner will end up screaming that their Lazy Susan doesn't spin because the granite is hanging down on the top rack. So you have to be a bit of a cabinet guy as well.
In our market in the Southeast, we're finding that with the growth rate we're seeing, [the cabinet manufacturers] don't know how to handle a lot of the issues that are coming up related to stone countertops as opposed to Formica, laminate or Corian.
Rodriguez: One thing I would like to add, is that prevention of the problem is the best solution. Our template guys go out there with a 6-foot level, and it is their responsibility to make sure that the countertops are within the standards, or they need to tell the builder or the homeowner to fix the problem. Between the time when the templates are taken and the time of the installation, there is plenty of time to fix the problem. Remember, liability is a big issue, and as soon as you start touching that cabinet, it's yours, so don't compromise yourself.
What about the seam over a dishwasher itself?
Lummer: I may be in a unique position here in California, where we work with 2-cm material. We're working over roughtop in California, which we waterproof. But much of the U.S. is working in 3-cm stone, and they are facing problems that I don't see here.
Rodriguez: One solution for that is to have our installers carry small squares or rectangle-shaped pieces of Black Absolute granite. They would be 4 x 4 or 4 x 6 inches. As you know, Black Absolute is a very strong material, and if you had a 2-cm countertop with a dropped edge, we ask our installers to place a piece of Black Absolute underneath to support the middle of the seam. Of course, we always apply a lot of sealer underneath, or a color enhancer that would have a sort of film. That will avoid [problems] moving to the surface of the countertop. But it's very important that you reinforce that seam, because otherwise there is no support there. We do the same thing with 3-cm material, and maybe we place a washer in there. Normally, there is plenty of room underneath to do this type of thing.
Krebs: We use a washer underneath as well. To do this, you take your hand saw and do an angle cut, and then you go in there and notch it. Then you take a steel washer - maybe 1 or 1 1⁄4 inches that has some mass to it - and [adhere] that washer up into the joint. That gives it some more stability. It's similar to rodding an undermount sink. The theory is the same - you're putting something in there at an angle and locking those two pieces in like a jigsaw puzzle.
Naquin: We always avoid the seams over a dishwasher. I don't always agree with what everybody says about seams over a dishwasher, because we use a poly-resin in the joint and it doesn't really fail because of the moisture that comes into it. Where you might get some failure is the vibration from a dishwasher over a period of time. I also don't like cantilevering over a dishwasher; you have to try and put some support in there. But our number one thing is to design away from the dishwasher as best we can. Sometimes with undermount sinks - where you have a long run and you still want to have some "meat" on the other side of the sink - you will actually cantilever over the dishwasher so you don't end up with a 1-inch strip somewhere. But you want to support it underneath. As long as you have it supported in the back and in the front, you should be okay, especially with 3-cm material and even with 2-cm material. In 2-cm stone, the only problem you have is carrying it to the jobsite and fabricating it. Once you install it, you are creating the substrate for it, and it's just as durable as the 3-cm material, so don't get confused. Once you install 2-cm material over a proper substrate, you don't need 1-inch-thick plywood underneath it as long as you install it properly.
We slot every joint, and when you push those pieces together, your poly-resin fills up that slot as a sort of "biscuit." But everyone needs to use a seam leveler and seam pullers. The number one complaint in our industry is seams, and it shouldn't be that way.
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to pull the seam apart [after adhering the Black Absolute granite supports]?
Rodriguez: If that was the case, you could use a torch to burn the piece of Black Absolute, and then it comes off. You have to be careful, though.
Naquin: I've used a torch for 20 years in the granite industry, but you have to make sure you don't touch the dryrock behind it, because it does inflame. Also make sure you don't have your cleanup guy with denatured alcohol standing there. The second thing is that you should NEVER use a torch around engineered stone because it catches fire. I am not knocking the product, but that's the situation.
Just recently, I used the torch method on a resin-treated piece of Baltic Brown, and we haven't had a problem. The content of resin is much less compared to an engineered stone.
Are you "hard seaming" everything with polyester resin? I worked for a company that used caulk on the joints because there was a problem with cabinets settling in new housing, and I was told that using a hard seam would actually spall the face of the granite.
Naquin: Personally, I have been using a poly-resin for 15 years. We don't use caulk at all. In fact, we consider that to be an inferior job and use it against every one of our competitors that try to do that. I never heard [of a hard seam spalling the face of the granite], and I've been in areas where cabinets are subjected to 98% humidity and 98-degree weather. Then the air conditioning suddenly makes it 40% humidity, and we've had no problems.
Rodriguez: If we know we're doing a joint where there is a possible problem, we may use less hardener, so it will take a longer time to set. When we are installing countertops, our goal is that we [essentially] have one solid piece of granite. After it is installed, it should last forever.
A lot of times, with a dark stone like Ubatuba, you'll get a seam that doesn't look quite right. Is there a proper way to get the nice shine you want?
Rodriguez: If we have that potential problem, we grind the pieces at an angle, and then we grind them straight to make the joints very thin, and on top of that, we don't use steel wool after we're finished. We use marble polishing powder with a rag, and sometimes we add a little bit of wax. Then the luster comes out.
Naquin: Jose is talking about putting a miter there and trimming the back, and you can get a tighter joint with the right look. I've also used a torch to heat it back up, and it will come back to a shine.
We're using a seam puller, and when I am done epoxying, sometimes I can still feel a little bit of the roughness. It's a real tight seam, but you can almost feel what's left of the saw cut. Has anyone taken that edge prior to installation and tried to manipulate it?
Naquin: We call that "blocking" the seam, and we do that with all of our seams. You can take a pad and lightly pass over it. When the saw grinds or cuts through the granite, some materials have more quartz that will fragment off. It has been my experience that when you block a joint, you really are not opening up the seam. If you don't block the joint with a "flaky" stone like Ubatuba, a flowing product will follow the [pattern] of the crystal. So if you block it, you tend to lose that and then you come back and skim the top, and you will have a perfectly straight line. It has been more important to our customers to have a straight seam than to have a much tighter seam. Even though the stone is touching with a tight seam, you might have those fragments. Now, the only time you see that is when you're getting the reflection and glare, but that's the style of homes today.
Rodriguez: Seams have three purposes that have to be considered. Number one has to do with the layout of the kitchen, and you want seams that [restrict] the length of a piece. We don't install pieces over 110 inches, so in case of some drastic movement, the seams will be the only thing that come apart. The second reason has to do with the size of the slabs themselves, and the third reason is aesthetics. We recommend seams where we know the customer is going to be happy. You don't want a customer to come in every morning and stare at [what they feel is] an ugly seam. You know it will be exaggerated in their mind, so you need to put it on the side or in a corner.
Naquin: There is another point here. In our business, we never turn a 90-degree corner, whether we're using a CNC machine, a [portable] router or whatever. We always put a seam there, and we instruct our dealers to sell it that way. The reason for this is that many times, cabinets are going to come off level and shrink. And if you have a 90-degree corner in a single piece - and it goes 50 inches one way and 110 inches another way - it's going to crack in the corner when those cabinets start to shrink even 1⁄4 inch. I can't patch a crack, but I can go back and re-do a seam where it separated from the poly-resin.
Say it's six months after the installation, and the customer says, "All my seams are cracking at the corner." We can go out there and re-do the seams, and the customer loves us and we go home. But if I go out there and it's cracked in the corner, and I say it's $4,200 to fix, they say we failed.
If the return is only 12 inches, that would be the point where we would typically stop. Anything more would get a seam.
Do you find that your customers prefer to see two seams at the edges of the sink rather than one in the middle?
Naquin: All the time. If there is a seam in the middle of the sink, they're going to be staring down at it every day. You need to explain to the customer that it's not simply the number of seams, or getting the least amount of seams.
The breakage factor in a center seam is much greater than using the two wings. [The countertop] becomes a "tuning fork," and as you're carrying it, there is much more breakage. Secondly, aesthetically looking at a kitchen, the last thing you want to see is a seam right in the middle. If you put two seams on the outside, they are in your peripheral vision as you look down.
Rodriguez: It is important that you educate your clients to the point that they can say, "OK, you're the professional."
Naquin: That's a very important point, and this is why you cannot let your client dictate where the seams should be. Because then if a problem occurs, your client is going to be the one who says, "What happened? You're the professional. I didn't know that was going to happen." So as a professional, you need to sell the granite, but you must also inform the marketplace on what they can expect in a job that will have the least possibility of failing. That is what the MIA is trying to address in different ways, and it can depend on the particulars of a location.
Lummer: None of these homeowners would be arguing with a neurosurgeon, so set yourself up as the professional and say, "This is the way it's done."
Krebs: It's also okay not to sell a job. As a business owner, I have instructed my salespeople that there are certain jobs and customers you don't want. If you go through the process, and the customer says, "I have a large kitchen and I want granite, but I don't want seams," you know it can't be that way, and you say, "Maybe granite is not for you." Otherwise, they're going to have to understand that seams are a part of the job, and if they are adamant to the contrary, it is best to just pack your bags, thank the customer for their time, and walk away from the job. Nine times out of 10, the customer will then realize that you are dead serious about providing them with the best product and quality that can be done - and they'll see it your way. But it's okay to not sell a job rather than get burned on the back end.
I am sometimes finding some inconsistencies in what is happening in the field and what has been documented as the proper way to install a countertop.
Muehlbauer: There are often inconsistencies with what is actually done in the industry versus what has been documented. An industry association looks at what is done in the industry, and we look for proven and reliable methods, and we document them. As the industry changes, and as practices change, the association is one step behind those changes because we wait for things to be proven. Then we make the appropriate revisions. It's no different than Webster's Dictionary. Every year, they take a number of words that come into our language, and they apply definitions to them. Webster doesn't create the words; they look for what is being used and document that usage. Associations do the same thing for means and methods and practices.
Naquin: I am very pleased with the way the MIA is handling everything now, taking into account the practices being used by us as fabricators in the field as the instructional manuals are updated.
Krebs: If you're not an MIA member, you really need to make the investment and join. When I got into the stone business 10 years ago, I didn't even know what a granite countertop was. I came into the industry because of my management ability to turn around a failing company, which I had done three times before. I needed to get up to speed on the stone industry, and I started going to the MIA seminars and learning about the trade.
With the way this industry is changing - with new materials coming into the marketplace and new fabrication and installation techniques - if you want to keep on the cutting edge and protect yourself and your business, you need to get involved and get the documentation you need. The association has a great deal of information that will prevent mistakes in the field. If you save one failed countertop because of something you picked up in the manuals or newsletters - or because you had the ability to consult with Chuck for free as a member - you've gotten your dues back many times over.
When rodding, we started out using 1⁄4-inch stainless steel threaded rods. What should the depth and width of my trench be?
Muehlbauer: From a theoretical standpoint, the epoxy capsulation of the rod should be as small as possible. The more volume of epoxy you have in there, the less effectiveness of that rod. It's not possible in a practical sense, but the ideal would be to put a rectangular rod in that kerf that would have a 10⁄1,000- to 15⁄1,000-inch void all the way around to keep the shear stress out of that epoxy. A threaded rod gives us a lot of advantage in bond because of the threads, but the effective area of that rod is a lot smaller than a smooth rod. So you may not actually see a higher performance. The use of a mildly deformed rod in theory would be the best; something with enough of a matte finish or an abraded finish to give you an epoxy bond. But in the real world, everyone is going to use round rods because they are cheaper. But the kerf you install should fit as tight as practically possible.
Krebs: There is a fairly large steel distributor in our market, and I found my best value to be 1⁄4- x 1⁄4-inch key stock. This is a harder type of steel, and it is very economical to buy in our market. If you find a metal wholesaler in your town, this is something that most metal distributors keep on hand. I am paying around $1.20 per foot. Remember, though, that when you're using a metal product, your guys need to take denatured alcohol and clean all of the oils off it before you get anywhere near the stone. And we haven't had a failure yet.
Naquin: Personally, I use fiberglass in my rodding, and it works. It really is a matter of preference, but as Chuck said, you really need to use as little epoxy as you can.
Regarding transportation, we're using a trailer with an A-frame on it to haul our products to the jobsite. Some of our competition is using a pick-up truck with a frame. What's the best method?
Naquin: A total of 99% of what we bring to the jobsite is out of a pickup truck with an A-frame. Make sure you block your A-frame down in the truck, because I have had some installers come back to our facility with an empty A-frame in the back of the truck and it "happened to fly out." For large islands in 3-cm jobs, we usually put the A-frame on a trailer because it is more difficult to get that out of a pickup truck than a low trailer, where you can roll it off.
Lummer: We shrink-wrap the material to the A-frame and then strap it to a pickup truck.
Rodriguez: We use pickup trucks, vans and also a truck with a crane, but we try to avoid trailers because they don't have the [stability], especially if you go over railroad tracks or something like that.
Krebs: I've seen a lot of trucks with wooden A-frames, but it's better to spend a few bucks and have steel A-frames built. I had a local steel fabricator make us A-frames out of 2 x 12 pressure-treated material, and it was mounted to wood so we could clamp it off. But in the trailers and pick-ups, your A-frame is exposed to the elements, so they really should be done out of metal and painted so you don't worry about warping. The same applies to the frames in your shop or in your yard.
Fabricators Forum 2003
Stone Fabricators Forum
Fabricators Forum: Coverings 2006
Online Forum: What is the Stone Fabricators Alliance?


Our favorite Happy Hour spot is hosting their third annual Margarita contest and the deadline to submit a recipe was today. Puja and I came up with our own recipes and held a tasting last night. Last year's winner was a "Thai-garita", a Thai inspired, lemongrass and Thai chili flavored margarita. So of course we went Indiaphile on the contest.
I'm a big fan of tamarind chutney. It's one of the first Indian foods I learned to make myself. It's pretty easy, you just boil tamarind pulp in water, strain it, boil the remaining liquid, add lots of sugar until it is sweet enough and reduce it until you get the thickness you want.
I figured out a while ago that you could make a tamarind version of lemonade just by taking this chutney and adding cold water. That's basically the Mexican drink Tamarindo. So that was my inspiration for my margarita. I also added a touch of lime to bring out the flavor and the ginger helped to give it complexity.
The results were great. Puja decided on the minted version of her Bombay Margarita. Sprucing it up with the mint came from her mom's take on the Indian lemonade.
Toss the mint leaves into the glass, add a pinch of the cumin salt mixture and muddle slightly to release their flavor.
Fill the glass with ice. Pour in the tequila, simple syrup, lemon juice and bitters. Stir.
Rim glass with ginger salt (make ginger salt by mixing salt with grated ginger and letting it dry out a bit).


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IL 171 at I-55 Interchange Improvement
ROADWAY STRUCTURES WATER RESOURCES
Ciorba Group provided preliminary engineering services for the rehabilitation of the IL 171 interchange at I-55 as well as a two-mile segment of IL 171. Scope included in-depth bridge inspection, Bridge Condition Reports preparation for twenty structures that have a total area of over 460 thousand square feet and two retaining walls. The scope of work also included geometric and hydraulic studies, traffic and capacity analysis, environmental studies, public involvement to complete a Project Development Report. The bridges have lengths up to 1,000 feet, with the longest span being 200 feet and included bridges on curved horizontal alignments. Bridge types include deep steel plate girders, rolled steel beam, two bridges over railroads, four multi-span crossings over the Des Plaines River and three over the Sanitary & Shipping Canal and Illinois and Michigan Canal.
Illinois Department of Transportation, District One


The federal Accountable Care Act can do no more than bring most of the nation up to the level Vermont already is at in terms of cost control.
Nevertheless, Vermont has little if any control over the rapid rise in health care costs. In the years 2000–2008 Vermont's costs doubled from $2.2 billion ($6 million a day) to $4.4 billion ($12 million a day). [Source: BISHCA page 24].
None of Vermont's legislated programs have slowed cost increases. They can't, because they are selective and non-systemic and they leave intact a system in which 30 percent of expenditures are for administration and profits, half of which are unnecessary. Studies show that the cost of the unnecessary administration is enough to cover all of the uninsured and underinsured.
[Source: "Health Care System Reform Design: Achieving Affordable Universal Health Care in Vermont," by William C. Hsiao, K.T. Li Professor of Economics Harvard University; Steven Kappel, Principal, Policy Integrity, and Jonathan Gruber, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology].


Darlington Cares is a volunteering organisation which brings together a number of the town's businesses to donate their employees' time and expertise to improve the community.
The organisation delivers its own volunteer projects and offers a broad range of opportunities across three key areas: environment, education and social justice.
Harvey & Hugo has provided social media support in kind to Darlington Cares since 2013, but in October 2017, the organisation enlisted the wider services of The Pack to raise awareness of its work.
To raise awareness of Darlington Cares among Darlington businesses and community and help increase the number of members, as well as making volunteering a behavioural norm amongst the employees of member organisations.
The six-month campaign, running from October 2017 to March 2018, consisted of campaign ideas and themes generation, four press releases, infographics, live event coverage through social media and a Queen social media package.
The press releases focussed on: the growth of the organisation; the success of the Pick, Pie and a Pint litter-picking campaign; the Christmas Appeal and a pre-event write-up for the annual volunteering fair.
We gamefied the Pick Pie and a Pint event, creating five teams, all with names linked to Darlington, and our designers produced an infographic which is used to promote how many bags of rubbish each team gathers at every event.
We used social media to engage with members and the Darlington community, as well as increasing awareness of Darlington Cares and sharing upcoming projects. We also created live event coverage of the volunteering fair.
We helped generate campaign ideas and themes, with our designers creating a Care-Ometer to visually show how many hours Darlington Cares' members have volunteered over a year and a reward scheme for the organisation's members.
Following The Pack's hard work, it was decided by the Darlington Cares board that Harvey & Hugo had produced some fantastic results, increased the awareness of the organisation and as a result, a 12-month campaign has been established.


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0724, 16 Jan 16
Around the Bend | Judy Steffes
Around the Bend by Judy Steffes
Elevate to start program to replace D.A.R.E
Last December local school administrators received letters from the Washington County Sheriff's Department about the suspension of the D.A.R.E. program. Sheriff Dale Schmidt notified 11 elementary school principals the program would end in the 2016 Spring semester; Schmidt said staffing D.A.R.E was difficult.
There's was quite a push back from the community, especially as the heroin appears to be on the rise. On Monday Elevate, a community-based resource center that focuses on drug-and-alcohol prevention, stepped up with a creative solution to try and bring back D.A.R.E.
"Our community prevention educators are ready and equipped to teach Too Good For Drugs, a research-based, age-specific Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse prevention curriculum, to students in all grade schools impacted by this decision." Elevate executive director Mary Simon said.
Too Good for Drugs is designed to, "promote social-skill development and resiliency in a fun and interactive learning environment."
A statement on the Too Good for Drugs website reads, "Students learn and practice setting reachable goals, making responsible decisions, and refuse peer pressure and influence through independent, paired, and cooperative learning activities and games."
Simon has created a GoFundMe page for people to make a tax deductible donation to Elevate to help sustain this effort.
The message on the page from Mary Simon is titled, Save AODA/Washington County reads:
Today, drug and alcohol prevention in our schools is more important than ever. At Elevate, we have been a community resource, providing prevention, intervention and support services for individuals and families struggling with the effects of substance abuse for more than 35 years.
With the Sheriff's suspension of the D.A.R.E program in Washington County schools, we hope to be a resource to those schools and kids left without drug prevention and education programming.
Parents have asked for a creative solution, and we believe we can provide it– with your help!
The starting point, financially, to get the program underway is $20,000.
New general manager at Paradise Theatre
There's a new general manager at the Paradise Theatre in West Bend as Nick Avambato, 20, has taken over for Sanford Cohen. "I want to be involved in the community," said Avambato.
A native of Delavan, Wisconsin Avambato grew up in the movie theatre industry as his father has owned theaters for 30 years. Avambato worked at the Showtime Cinema in Franklin and for the last two years he was with at a theatre in Indiana.
The Paradise Theatre webpage makes the 'Under new management' a bold statement on its front page. Avambato said that means, "We'll listen," he said. "I want the community to tell me what they want. I have a lot of short term goals; I want the theatre to be cleaner and we'll be focused on getting the word out about the movie selection via social media."
Aside from keeping $5 tickets and free popcorn on Tuesdays, Avambato said he's going to work on the theatres answering message and improving the overall image.
"You're coming to the theatre for the experience and we're going to have a better offer than sitting at home – you just can't beat a big screen experience," he said.
Applebee's in West Bend sold
The Applebee's, 2510 W. Washington St., in West Bend has been sold. GE Capital Franchise Finance Corp. sold on Dec. 8, 2015 to Broadstone Net Lease which acquired a portfolio of eight Applebee's restaurants with locations across Wisconsin.
The properties were acquired via lease assumption, and are operated by Wisconsin Hospitality Group, LLC, a multi-concept operator. BNL currently owns 22 Applebee's restaurants in seven states. The sale price was $2,266,193.
According to city records the property had a 2015 assessed value of $1,168,400. GE Capital Franchise Finance Corp. bought the property in Aug. 1, 1998 for $1.2 million.
Sale price for Country Inn & Suites
The sale price has been recorded for the Country Inn & Suites on Gateway Court in West Bend. The three-story hotel overlooking Highway 45 sold Dec. 29, 2015 to West Bend Lodging LLC for $1,538,750.
The property had a 2015 assessed value of $2,189,900. Previous owner Jim Walker bought the property Oct. 1, 2007 for $3,350,000. Country Inn & Suites recently installed new signage.
Other interior upgrades will include updated décor, styling, and amenities. West Bend Lodging Inc. said changes are necessary to make Generation Y and Millennials feel welcome by creating communal spaces equipped with quality Wi-Fi and a variety of seating options.
Truck Outfitters expanding
A new shop will be moving into the empty storefront at 1325 S. Main St. in West Bend, formerly home to Verlo Mattress. Truck Outfitters will jump one lot to the north. Douglas Geracie owns the vehicle accessory store, 1347 S. Main St. He's been considering the space next door ever since Verlo moved out in December 2015. "It's a little bigger than what we have for a showroom and it's going to put us closer to the road, because right now we're kinda sitting back a bit," Geracie said. "We'll still keep our place next door for storage and installs."
Geracie hopes to move into the space next door by Feb. 1 but said, "We'll see how it goes."
Truck Outfitters has been in business since 1996, it employs six people and is open six days a week. On a history note, prior to Verlo the big glass storefront was home to Juan's Mexicali restaurant which opened in April 2008 and was owned by partners Steve and Linda Paykel and Tracy and Jeff Ketter. Juan's was in the former showroom for Consolidated Doors, which moved to the back of the building.
Tribute to Paul Wolf at capitol in Madison
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) adjourned the State Assembly's first floor session of the year in honor of Paul C. Wolf a life-long resident of Allenton who dedicated his career to the community. As President of Sunset Farms in Allenton, Wolf lived out his lifelong passion for farming. He also devoted nearly three decades to the Allenton Volunteer Fire Department, where he served as the deputy chief of EMS for 22 years.
The following statement was read at the capitol. "Mr. Wolf's passion for his life's work and dedicated volunteer service is a wonderful example of what it means to serve one's community. His memory and service will live on in the hearts of all whose lives he touched. I extend my deepest sympathy and prayers to the Wolf family during this time."
Bridge construction underway
Crews from Janke General Contractors took advantage of the 'warmer' weather Thursday and started work on the new pedestrian bridge over the Milwaukee River. The truss bridge will connect Main Street and Vest Park in downtown West Bend to the east side of the river, Veterans Avenue and the Museum of Wisconsin Art. According to plans the bridge will have a concrete deck with prefabricated steel trusses that will be painted white.
On a side note, one of the crazy things contractors found while razing the old bridge was a boulder of shells. Bill, on the crane, said it was "tougher to break apart than concrete." He showed the size of the boulder by circling his arms in front of himself. "Haven't ever seen anything like that before," he said.
Assembly Rep. Kremer teams with Wash. Co. Supervisor on legislation
Local Assembly Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) and District 8 Washington County Supervisor Ron Naab have successfully worked on legislation that's moving to the governor's desk.
The bill is designed to ban the sale of novelty lighters to minors. It was introduced by State Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and approved unanimously by the Senate this week. The measure is headed to the Assembly, where a companion bill has already been passed out of committee. A passing vote in that chamber would send the bill to the governor for his signature.
The bill would make it illegal to sell novelty lighters to minors and prohibits the display for retail sale of these lighters in an area of a retail establishment that is accessible to the general public. Naab is president of the Badger Firefighters Association and a member of the Dodge County Firefighters Association. He was very active in lobbying for this bill in Madison.
"We appreciate Assemblyman Jesse Kremer is co-sponsor of this legislation [AB-36]," said Naab.
MOWA to host McGivern –Around the Corner preview party
Around the Corner with John McGivern – the West Bend episode will air Feb. 11 on PBS.
There will be a preview party at the Museum of Wisconsin Art on Feb. 9. "We'll have two showings including one at 4:30 p.m. and another at 6:30 p.m.," said MOWA executive director Laurie Winters.
The show is free and open to the public. This past week, Around the Corner featured a tour of our neighbor to the north, Fond du Lac. Washington County Insider reporter Judy Steffes was on scene during much of the taping of Around the Corner when McGivern and his crew were in West Bend.
On an insider note: While shooting the show open on Veterans Avenue next to the Eisenbahn Trail, a boy on his bike accidentally cracked his crotch on his crossbar and crumpled to the ground. Shooting came to a stop. Everybody turned. John Gurda asked the boy if he was OK. He said he was.
The preview party is free and open to the public.
Crowded house for Russ Feingold visit
About 120 people turned out on a chilly Tuesday night to welcome U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold to West Bend. Feingold packed them in at the Washington County Democratic Party office on S. Main Street.
Dressed in a relaxed plaid shirt and dark sport coat, the 62-year-old politician from Janesville ramped up supporters with bullet-point topics like the minimum wage, the VA, social security and student loans.
"It's terrible what's happening with young people with $28,000 in student loans," said Feingold. "This isn't just about the student, it's about the family and you realize what terrible affect it has across the generation."
Feingold shouted brief statements like "I believe we should have $15 an hour" and "I want to enhance social security and make sure seniors have what they deserve." There was rousing applause, but no details given on how he would craft those plans.
Paul and Hope Nelson had front-row seats for the speech. "We've supported him before he was elected in his first term," Paul Nelson said referencing the Feingold campaign of 1982. "I've never seen him make a mistake. He's probably the most prepared candidate I've ever seen."
After a 20-minute speech Feingold worked the crowd, shaking hands and posing for pictures.
Former West Bend alderwoman and newly retired executive director of the Washington County Senior Center, Deb Anderson said she was impressed.
"In a time when everything is so polarized, he is a voice of reason and looking out for regular people," she said.
Feingold is a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016; he's challenging Republican incumbent Ron Johnson.
Updates & tidbits
-The Albrecht Free Clinic is planning an open house for donors and the public on Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 5-8 p.m. The Albrecht Free Clinic is now located at 908 West Washington St. in West Bend. Next month the clinic will also offer dental services.
– Last Saturday, Jan. 9 one of the original owners of German's Little Red Inn died. M. LaRae German, nee Umbs was born Sept. 26, 1930. On June 28, 1952, she was united in marriage to John "Jack" German and for many years the couple owned and operated the Little Red Inn in St. Lawrence. LaRae was 85.
-Springtime in Paris is the theme for the 21st annual St. Frances Cabrini School Auction. The event is set for March 5 at the Washington County Fair Park Ziegler Building.
-Planet Mobile is growing as owner Ross Christifulli opens a second location at the Brookfield Place Shopping Strip, one block east of Lily Road and Capitol Drive. Christifulli opened his first cellphone repair shop in October 2014 at 1108 W. Washington St., West Bend.
– Help is available to families in Washington County that need assistance with winter heating bills. Contact Kay Lucas with the Washington County Human Services Department which oversees the Energy Assistance Program. The number is 262-335-4677.
-The nonprofit group Friends of the Slinger Library will host its seventh annual Casino Night on Saturday, Feb. 6 from 6-9 p.m. Advance tickets are $8 during and tickets at the door are $10. You must be 21 years of age to attend. Admission includes a bag of funny money for playing games including Black Jack, Craps, Roulette and Texas Hold 'Em. Proceeds benefit the Slinger Community Library programs and materials.
– The ice skating rink at Regner Park is open for the season. Park & Rec director Craig Hoeppner said the rink will be open and the lights will be on weekdays from 5 p.m. -9 p.m. The warming house will be open Thursday through Sunday.
-This week the West Bend School Board issued a proclamation recognizing the High School Drumline for its first-place finish at the 2015 Fresh Coast Classic at UW-Milwaukee. Band director Leah Duckert praised the drumline for its "amazing work ethic and commitment."
-There's a reunion Saturday, Jan. 23 as popular local rock band Jack Damage gets together for one more performance. The show is 8 p.m. at Stocky's Fast Track Bar and Grill, 6389 Stockhausen Lane, in West Bend. Jack Damage features songs from some of classic rock's biggest acts like Cream, SRV, Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top. An open jam session will follow.
Years ago – – Downtown West Bend
Today's history photo is courtesy historian Terry Becker who wrote, "As you may know by now, the Hausmann Building (Candyman) was built in 1894. The Washington County Pilot ~ Echo was one of the first occupants and eventually built their own building about a block south. The Pilot was very much like the WashingtonCountyInsider.com of its day. They handed out free pre-addressed post cards and encouraged locals to share information – (early cub reporters). They also loved that location near the walkway/ footbridge to the railroad depot as they could closely monitor the coming and goings in and out of downtown. The Pilot was first published in 1892. The building was later occupied by the National Tea Store and West Bend Pharmacy.
On a trivia note – can you name the building to the north of the Hausmann Building/ Pilot ~ Echo?
0724, 16 January 2016
Mark Maley	on January 16, 2016 at 11:01 am
The Theatre is dirty and the former management was confrontational and its Ben that way for years
Marcus MN Falls or Saulkville are a much more pleasant way to watch a movie that WB only gets our business in a snowstorm or on a day we really want to see a movie in a narrow time slot
The young man has a huge job ahead of him but he can take hope in that anything he does to improve the experience will be noticed
Steve Austin	on January 16, 2016 at 11:20 am
I really like that theater from the standpoint that you can see first run movies there without the big crowds of the Marcus locations. I hope the new owner succeeds there so people don't have to drive longer distances to the Marcus places.
That said I agree with Mark. The place needs a thorough cleaning and a facelift. Some cheap ideas to really improve things.
a) Massive cleaning of everything
b) Put in some decent lighting and signage in the hallways
c) Put in real live paper towel dispensers in the restrooms (somewhere I thought WI had a law requiring paper towels in restrooms partly to support our paper industry but might be imagining that)
d) Buy a new popcorn machine
Expensive idea? Make one theater a Lazy-Boy lounger theater like Marcus has with same quality furniture. I'd pay an extra $2 a ticket for that.
Mark Maley	on January 18, 2016 at 12:48 pm
Amen SA
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Tag political correctness
Context is King
December 3, 2019 December 3, 2019 Turner L. Watson Leave a comment
Disclaimer: I am wholeheartedly aboard the #MeToo train. Hell, I'm a feminist snowflake, if that's the language you want to use. Our sisters, daughters, mothers, and friends deserve better, quite frankly. However, I also acknowledge when "cancel culture" goes too far. Political Correctness usually has the noblest of intentions, but now and then it gets in the way, and creates division where there has previously been none. Case in point: the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
Here are the first two times this song was ever recorded for distribution, from the 1949 film "Neptune's Daughter." We start with Ester Williams and Ricardo Freakin' Montalban (!) doing the version we all know…the wolfish male predator and his hesitant quarry. Okay, yeah. It looks really bad. When he grabs her arm…repeatedly…to prevent her escape…oof. Not a good look. At least in the radio versions, like Dean Martin's 1959 rendition, or the (far superior) Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer version from 1949, we don't actually see the couple. We can imagine that she really does want to stay, but feels guilty, because people back in the late-40's and 50's were completely repressed, and slut-shaming was rampant…like, he's almost doing her a favor in making the decision for her. Still, when you see Ricardo essentially chase her around the room, it's a little unsettling to modern eyes.
And then we get to observe the other couple, and, uh…well, now!
I mean, come on! Showing her KNEE! Like some shameless HUSSY!
From the same film, we see Red Skelton doing a cartoonishly bad accent, and the tables have turned…his lusty adversary is Betty Garrett, and she demands, like any liberated woman, to have her needs met, by God. Years later, in her powerful "Don't Leave Me This Way," Thelma Houston expressed her similar desire thusly:
"Oh baby, my heart is full of love and desire for you
Now, come on down and do what you've got to do…"
Do what you've got to do. Yes. TELL HIM, SISTER!! That was the disco-clad Sexual Revolution in the Swinging' 70's, but even then, fairly bold. A woman? Demanding sexual gratification from her mate?! CLUTCH THOSE PEARLS!!
"Okay, great…but what's your point? That we should forgive Montalban's character for his aggressive courtship?" Well, no. Not entirely. But we have to realize that A) it was a wayyyyy different time and B) the scene exists primarily as a way to set up the much more comedic scene which follows. The Red Skelton stuff would have been somewhat humorous in and of itself…but after seeing the "male" version, it's even more impactful when Betty Garrett throws her conquest on the couch…sits on him…and turns out the light. She's in complete control, and there's not a damn thing Red can do about it. And as a viewer, we all sort of agree that he really doesn't want to anyway. And, ultimately, as things tended to do in the screwball comedies of yesteryear, everything worked out, and both couples found love. Here's the official "Neptune's Daughter" synopsis from IMDB:
Scatterbrained Betty Barrett mistakes masseur Jack Spratt for Jose O'Rourke, the captain of the South American polo team. Spratt goes along with the charade, but the situation becomes more complicated when they fall in love. Meanwhile, Betty's sensible older sister Eve fears Betty's heart will be broken when Jose returns to South America. She arranges to meet with the real O'Rourke and love soon blossoms between them as well.
This brief description leaves out that Eve is an aquatic dancer (hence the movie's title) and that she's actually partnered with a man (the omnipresent Keenan Wynn) in a swimwear company. Partnered. Equal. She is, by 1940's standards, a powerful, professional woman. Athletic, smart, cunning, and protective of her younger sister. Does it make Ricardo's Jose O'Rourke (his character's actual name, and Beto O'Rourke is totally biting his rhyme, yo) any less creepy? Not really. But it implies that Eve was more than capable of fending for herself. And that makes a huge difference; she's not some meek little virgin, not some naive waif who simply doesn't stand a chance against the machismo of a young Khan Noonien Singh. (And who among us can truly say that? Not I. I'm a 49-year-old heterosexual male, but if he wanted to chase me 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom, well, heck…no mere mortal can resist such masculinity, especially if it smells of rich Corinthian leather.) I digress. Okay, in conclusion, I'll simply say that yeah, "no" means "no." Still. But it's never wise to take isolated incidents out of context. Do the homework. Read the entire article. Watch the interview. Consider everything before leaping to condemn. And above all, relax, people. Have fun. Kiss him or her. If they slap your face, stop. Pretty simple.
Enjoy the holidays, everyone.
Sweet Christmas!
December 23, 2015 December 23, 2015 Turner L. Watson 1 Comment
I only tell you this in the interest of transparency. It's really none of your business, and most of you frankly just don't care…but the tone of this blog sort of requires a bit of backstory regarding my philosophical beliefs. They're fairly nebulous. If I absolutely had to define myself, I'd go with quantum-spiritualist. Maybe a super-agnostic. Saganite Buddhist. I believe that as we learn more about our universe via quantum physics and the exploration of space, the more we find that yes, maybe some of those philosophers that lived and taught two millennia ago were on to something. Those giants of aniquity sensed things about our universe that they couldn't quite explain, truths that they felt in their very cells, but for which they had no mechanism for exploration, other than to just ask "what if?" That's why all the really good old Greek and Roman figures happened to be scientists and mathematicians as well as soul-searchers and dreamers. They were trying to figure out the universe from both angles, and perhaps the world would be better off if we did more of that sort of thing nowadays. All that being said, I'm here to heap 100% of the credit for what we know as our traditional holiday season at the feet of our Christian brothers and sisters. They deserve it.
My atheist and new-age intellectual friends are surely interrupting with "but Christmas itself is a pagan holiday!" And they're right, of course: it goes even deeper than that and much further back in time. The Winter Solstice has been recognized by cultures since humans first started scribbling on cave walls. It evolved into Celtic and Nordic observances and then into the full-blown Saturnalia festival of ancient Rome. And that's where Christianity took the ball and ran with it.
Jesus was clearly forward of the line of scrimmage.
Early Christian leaders were a savvy group. They knew that their religion was bound to spread like wildfire simply by telling the common people about the great news: simply accept that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Redeemer, the incarnate son of the One True God, confess to him your sins, and presto! Eternal life! It really was too good a deal to pass up. But the church knew that The People enjoyed certain practices and celebrations as part of their culture that would not easily be given up. So the Christian leadership wisely said "Fine, you can keep your silly rituals. But we're totally rebranding them." So instead of pagan fertility rites involving eggs, rabbits, and other symbols of baby-making sexual intercourse, the church offered instead to celebrate renewal in a very literal sense: the return of Jesus from the dead. And of course, the Saturnalia (or, amongst the "barbaric" German and Celtic peoples, "Yule") became not only a celebration of "the return of the sun" but of the "birth of the Son." It made perfect sense. And once the emperor Constantine began establishing Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire sometime early in the 4th century, the deal was truly sealed.
That's why we have Christmas trees instead of Yule Trees. Or Holiday Trees. That's why we have Santa Claus (Greek bishop St. Nikolaos) and gift giving and such, right there in the dead of winter. Not that all of those things, the reindeer, the mistletoe, the holly, the candy canes and gingerbread houses, were necessarily Christian in origin, but because of the rapid and total spread of Christianity, these customs all fell under the same umbrella. They became universal. Sure, the Polish Santa might be unrecognizable as Swiety Mikolaj, but the idea remains intact.
Oh, that's a doll. Thank God. I thought I was going to have to write a really dark Polish Santa joke.
Christmas drives everything in December. Hanukah wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for Christmas. Nobody would have ever heard of Kwanzaa if it took place in June. They're just piggybacking on the runaway rollercoaster of goodwill that Christianity started. Jesus had momentum. Plenty of room on the Midwinter Bandwagon.
But here's where the dark clouds roll in. The sad truth is this: there have been plenty of bad Christians out there saying and doing enough stupid shit that the non-believers or folks sitting on the fence of religious belief are being driven from the church by these actions. Fighting against marriage equality, spouting hateful (and mostly untrue) things about Muslims on Facebook, thinly-veiled racism and hypocritical greed, misogyny, the abuse of children at the hands of Catholic priests…all of these things have stained the reputation of the once-infallible and all-powerful church.
Pictured: everything bad.
But let's give credit where credit is due. No, Christianity didn't invent this holiday. But they took it and gave it to the world. You don't have to be part of the church or its belief system to appreciate that. Nor do you have to be washed in the blood of the lamb in order to enjoy a cup of eggnog with friends you haven't seen in years. It's okay to enjoy everything the holiday season offers, no matter where you are in your spiritual life. And for fuck's sake, it's okay to call it "Christmas." It totally is. I mean, chances are you don't worship the Norse pantheon (although more and more Icelandic folks are doing just that) but it's still okay to use the words Wednesday or Thursday. Like it or not, Odin's Day and Thor's Day are still right there on the calendar, and even Frigga gets some love with Friday. It's fine. They're just arbitrary names for things. Just words. They can't harm you. They don't stand for anything evil; they don't commemorate a dark, bleak, tragic day in history. I also get that some of my well-meaning liberal brothers and sisters are hung-ho in their desire to shield the world from the insidious indoctrination policies of Christian evangelism. They have armored themselves in Political Correctness in an effort to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table. They really do mean well, but…dude. It's Christmas. The reason of the season. Absolutely. It just is.
The ultimate point to all this? Don't be afraid to call the holiday by its actual name. Use the word "Christmas." It's just a word. It's not even a bad word. And like it or not, the Christian church is responsible, in a roundabout way, for your vacation days around that time in December. Had Genghis Khan run roughshod over all of Europe back in his time, we'd likely still have a celebration of the Winter Solstice and the gradual lengthening of our days…we'd just call it something else. But that didn't happen. Christianity happened, thanks to the Roman Empire. So it's Christmas. Big deal. Go to church if you want. Stay home. Put up a tree, or don't. Christian, atheist, Muslim, Jew, agnostic, Sikh…it doesn't matter how you label yourself. You can still enjoy listening to Bing Crosby as a log crackles in the fireplace and children tear open gifts. And I really, really hope that you do.
Merry Christmas, everyone.


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text:
1-888-966-5288inquiry@ctvattys.com
A Professional Legal Corporation
Single, But Married?
Chua Tinsay & Vega/
Asylum: Persecution on account of Membership in a Particular Social Group
Road To Naturalization: The Story of a Devoted Sister/Mother/Grandmother
By: Aurora Vega-Buzon, Esq.
Rene, a permanent resident since 2002 is in removal (deportation) proceedings. He arrived in the U.S. on March 7, 2002 on an approved petition filed by his permanent resident mother in 1990 for a single adult child. At 28, he and his girlfriend Gina lived together and had 3 children all born out of wedlock. However, all their children's birth certificate state Rene and Gina's "date of marriage" as December 30, 1994. Gina was afraid Rene may not be able to petition for her children if they don't carry his surname. So, she asked her cousin to get a fake marriage contract from Manila City Hall and she gave a copy of that to the hospital whenever she gave birth.
During his interview at the US Embassy in November 2001, Rene told the Consular Officer he is single and has no children – he was afraid that the Consular Officer will see his children's birth certificates which all state that he and Gina are married. Rene received his immigrant visa but 2 days before leaving for the U.S., he and Gina were married by a Judge on March 5, 2002. Upon arrival in Los Angeles airport, Rene was again asked by the CBP officer at the port of entry if he is single and if he has any children. Again, he stated he's single and has no children.
In 2005, Rene and Gina had a big church wedding in Manila also on March 5 (the 3rd year anniversary of their real marriage). In 2008, and without consulting an attorney, he applied for citizenship thinking that he has more than 5 years of permanent residency. In his naturalization application, he stated he and Gina were married on March 5, 2005 (the church wedding) and listed all his 3 children. During his interview, the Interviewing Officer found out that Rene was single when he was interviewed and issued an immigrant visa in November 2001; that he was already married when he arrived in the US in March 2002; that he lied in his application for immigrant visa when he stated he has no children; and that he lied at the port of entry when he stated he's still single and has no children. Rene's citizenship application was denied on the ground he never became a permanent resident. Subsequently, Rene received a Notice to Appear that he is removable as an inadmissible alien at the time of his entry. The Government alleges that Rene used an immigrant visa for a single adult child of a permanent resident (F2B) but he was already married and longer entitled to that visa. Thus, Rene is an "inadmissible alien", and is deportable under Section 237(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA), which provides: "Any alien who at the time of entry or adjustment of status was within one or more of the classes of aliens inadmissible by the law existing at such time is deportable."
Rene is removable (deportable) as charged because while he was single when he received his immigrant visa (F2B), he was already married when he used that visa to immigrate to the U.S. Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the INA known as the "fraud provision" states "Any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure (or has sought to procure or has procured) a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or other benefit provided under this Act is inadmissible."
There is no preference category or immigrant visa for a married child of a permanent resident. Rene's mother remained a permanent resident and has not applied for U.S. citizenship because she has other approved petitions for her 2 children (Rene's brothers) who are still waiting for their immigrant visas. She's afraid that if she becomes a U.S. citizen, her 2 children will wait longer (this is incorrect and she is obviously misinformed, but that will be the subject of another article).
However, being a son of a permanent resident, Rene has an available immigration relief and can "waive" the ground for his removability under INA Section 237(a)(1)(H) – known as the "fraud waiver". Said Section allows the Attorney General to waive provisions relating to "the removal of aliens within the U.S. on the ground that they were inadmissible at the time of admission as aliens described in section 212(a)(6)(C)(i), whether willful or innocent for any alien who is the spouse, parent, son, or daughter of a US citizen or permanent resident; and who was in possession of an immigrant visa or equivalent document and was otherwise admissible at the time of such admission." In Vasquez v. Holder, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated "the effect of the fraud waiver is to transform an individual who enters the U.S. with an invalid immigrant visa to the status of one who entered as a non-preference immigrant, despite the fact that a valid nonimmigrant visa would never have been available to the individual at the time of entry". The Court also noted that the fraud waiver was enacted as a humanitarian gesture to preserve families in the U.S. with a family member who is either a US citizen or a permanent resident. A waiver of deportation for fraud or misrepresentation under the fraud waiver also operates to waive removal based on the grounds of inadmissibility directly resulting from the underlying fraud or misrepresentation.
Atty. Aurora Vega-Buzon is a partner in The Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV) – a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. The CTV attorneys will be holding regular free legal clinics at the Max's Restaurant in Vallejo, California. Call or email CTV for an in-person pr phone consultation to discuss particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; auvega@ctvattys.com
copyright Powered by Chua Tinsay Vega 2020


Alright, first of all: I've missed authorizing a few comments on some of the older entries. There are some really cool discussions happening on older entries, particularly the celebrity ones. If y'all would like to comment here with links to the entries that have comments you've posted which I have not authorized, I'll approve them all tonight. I really *love* that these years-old posts are getting so much attention!
Maybe I should look into getting a forum / conversation board set up?
Second: I'm behind on my email and facebook comments – Emails of course are top priority. I will do my best to catch these up this week. I am *not* ignoring you, I promise. Last week was very busy, what with my mother's tumour coming back, the new house, my sister's engagement. I will not be as close to my computer in the next few weeks because I'll be on the phone, packing, driving to sign paperwork, make payments, set up utilities etc.
So please forgive the tardiness of my responses.
Sessions are now booking into April! Things are starting to get busy! If you'd like to book a session, you can book in mid-late April, and in May.
And hey, the Tarot class is gaining some fans! I haven't posted the lovely feedback I've received on it (because that falls under emails) but I am so grateful for your kind words! Powerful Divination with Tarot is just $25, it's a fun-filled hour where I go through my method for using the cards, and how you can use them as a tool to strengthen your own Telepathic Communication skills!
Thank you everyone! Keep up the conversation, I'm LOVING it!


A quick and easy breakfast solution, that will leave your taste buds happy!
Preheat oven to 350. Grease your muffin tins, and layer in the veggies. Mix egg whites, egg and mrs dash and pour evenly through tins. Sprinkle with feta on top and let cook for 25 mins. I used mustard as my topping, but you may use the topping of your choice!


Massman, Bill. AmeriFlux US-GLE GLEES. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.17190/AMF/1246056.
Massman, Bill. AmeriFlux US-GLE GLEES. United States. doi:10.17190/AMF/1246056.
This is the FLUXNET2015 version of the carbon flux data for the site US-GLE GLEES.
This is the FLUXNET2015 version of the carbon flux data for the site US-GBT GLEES Brooklyn Tower.


Grosse Ile, MI (PRWEB) October 13, 2006 -- "This Girl's First Car: Teenage Girls Guide to Safe Car Care and Easy Maintenance Tips" by teenage author Stephanie Esterline was today added to the recommended reading section by the premier website for lady drivers, AskPatty.com.
Stephanie Esterline, a high school senior in Grosse Ile, Michigan, having recently published her first book, has gained substantial publicity and generated tremendous community interest.
Having her book added to the AskPatty.com website will provide a significant marketing boost, and make her book available to a wide group of readers.
Stephanie is currently seeking to open additional marketing channels, and plans to publish additional titles within the next 12 months.


text:
Marie Dressler was born as Leila Marie Koerber in Cobourg on November 9, 1869. She went on to become one of the great Hollywood movie stars of her time. Her heritage home on King street, Cobourg, now houses a small museum of artifacts about her lifehome. More on her home below.
Mini-Biography
Once you saw her, you would not forget her. Despite her age and weight, she became one of the top box office draws of the sound era. She was 14 when she joined a theater group and she went on to work on stage and in light opera. By 1892, she was on Broadway and she later became a star comedienne on the vaudeville circuit. In 1910, she had a hit with 'Tillie's nightmare' which Mack Sennett adapted to film in 1914 as 'Tillie's Punctured Romance' with Charles Chaplin. Marie took top billing over a young Chaplin, but her film career never took off and by 1918, she was out of films and out of work. Her role in the chorus girls' strike of 1917 had her blacklisted from the theatres. In 1927, MGM screenwriter Frances Marion got her a small part in 'The Joy Girl' and then a co-starring lead with Polly Moran in The Callahans and the Murphys (1927). It was a slow return in films but her popularity continued to grow. But it would be sound that made her a star again. Anna Christie (1930) was the movie where Garbo talks, but everyone noticed Marie as Marthy. In another film from the same year, Min and Bill (1930) she would receive an Academy Award for her dramatic performance. She would receive another Academy Award nomination for 'Emma (1932)'. In 1933, she would be the top box office star of one poll who could easily switch between drama and comedy. She had more success with 'Dinner at Eight' and 'Tugboat Annie' in 1933. In 1934, cancer would claim her.
Courtesy of IMDB and Tony Fontana
Marie Dressler (born November 9, 1868; died July 28, 1934) was a Canadian actress.
Born Leila Marie Koerber in Cobourg, Ontario to parents Alexander Rudolph Koerber (who was Austrian) and Anna Henderson. Being a large kid, she spent a lot of time developing the defensive mechanisms a lot of chubby kids become good at. The youngMarie Dressler was able to hone her talents to make other people laugh, and at 14 years old she began her acting career in theatre. In 1892 she made her debut on Broadway. At first she hoped to make a career of singing light opera, but then gravitated to vaudeville.
During the early 1900s, she became a major vaudeville star. In 1902, she met fellow Canadian, Mack Sennett, and helped him get a job in the theatre. In addition to her stage work, Dressler recorded for Edison Records in 1909 and 1910. After Sennett became the owner of his namesake motion picture studio, he convinced Dressler to star in his 1914 film Tillie's Punctured Romance opposite Sennett's newly discovered actor, Charlie Chaplin. Dressler appeared in two more "Tillie" sequels plus other comedies until 1918 when she returned to work in vaudeville.
In 1919, during the Actors' Equity strike in New York city, the Chorus Equity Association was formed and voted Dressler its first president.
In 1927, she had been secretly blacklisted by the theatre production companies due to her strong stance in a labor dispute. It would turn out to be another Canadian who gave her the opportunity to return to motion pictures, MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer who called her "the most adored person ever to set foot in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio."
Marie Dressler (right) with Greta Garbo in Anna Christie (1930). Dressler had a supporting role in the film as Marthy, a waterfront tramp. That same year, audiences saw her Oscar-winning performance in Min and Bill, and she soon rivaled Garbo in popularity.A robust woman of very plain features, Marie Dressler's comedy films were very popular with the movie-going public and an equally lucrative investment for MGM. Although past sixty years of age, she quickly became Hollywood's number one box office attraction and stayed on top for two straight years. In addition to her comedic genius and her natural elegance, she also demonstrated her considerable talents by taking on serious roles. For her starring portrayal in Min and Bill, co-starring Wallace Beery, she won the 1931 Academy Award for Best Actress. Dressler was nominated again for Best Actress for her 1932 role as Emma. With that film, Dressler demonstrated her profound generosity to other performers: Dressler personally insisted that her studio bosses cast a friend of hers and then largely unknown young actor, Richard Cromwell, in the lead opposite her. It was a break that helped launch his career.
Dressler followed these successes with more hits in 1933 (like the wonderful comedy Dinner at Eight, in which she played an aging and poor former stage actress) and made the cover of the August 7, 1933 issue of Time magazine. However, her career came to an abrupt end when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. MGM head Louis B. Mayer learned of Dressler's illness from her doctor and asked that she not told. To keep her home, he ordered her not to travel on her vacation because he wanted to put her in a new film. Dressler was furious but complied.
In all, Marie Dressler appeared in more than 40 films but only achieved superstardom near the end of her life. Always seeing herself as physically unattractive, she wrote an autobiography, The Life Story of an Ugly Duckling.
Marie Dressler died in Santa Barbara, California and is interred in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1731 Vine Street. Each year the Marie Dressler Vintage Film Festival is held in her home town of Cobourg, Ontario.
Marie Dressler House
212 King Street West in Cobourg, Ontario is the address where an 1833 petite cottage-house lays. The Koerber family once lived in the small home where Mr. Koerber taught music lessons and Leila Koerber dreamed of becoming famous. Today, the home is titled 'Marie Dressler House.' At one time a restaurant, then the home of the Town's Economic Development depratment, it now contains a modern Museum dedicated to Marie Dressler and will soon to be upraded to also showcase the other two Oscar winning Canadian actresses, Mary Pickford and Norma Shearer. Owned by the Town, the Marie Dressler Foundation has been given a long term lease and operates the Museum. (The History of the House here.)
Marie Dressler Web site - site dedicated to information about Marie Dressler, the Marie Dressler Foundation and Marie's home in Cobourg
IMBD Information including Filmography
Northern Stars - Complete Biography and Filmography
Wikipedia - Free Internet Encyclopedia - Biography and partial Filmography
Betty Lee. MARIE DRESSLER The Unlikeliest Star. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1997.
Matthew Kennedy. MARIE DRESSLER A Biography with a Listing of Major Stage Performances, a Filmography and a Discography. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1999.
Victoria Sturtevant. A Great Big Girl Like Me: The Films of Marie Dressler. 2009.


text:
Investec 20x20 Media Awards
The Investec 20x20 Media Awards aimed to recognise and reward excellence in Irish journalism focused on women in sport across all media platforms. 20x20 is a national campaign calling on the people of Ireland to provide more support for women's sport. Investec is an official sponsor of 20x20 and Investec created this first-of-its-kind awards scheme to help change perceptions and celebrate women's sport.
How the Investec 20x20 Media Awards worked
The Investec 20x20 Media Awards invited broadcast, print and online journalists to submit entries on women in sport via www.investec.ie/20x20 from February 2019 to November 2019 with a winner announced each month.
Entries to the awards could be submitted by nominees themselves or on behalf of journalists by editors or peers across the media spectrum.
Investec's expert panel of judges selected one media article, interview, or podcast to award each month recognising and acknowledging the journalist's contribution to women's sport. Each monthly winner received a prize of €1,000.
In December 2019 an overall annual winner was announced and awarded the Investec 20x20 Media Award Winner 2019 title - 'If She Can't See It, She Can't Be It'.
Each entry was examined by an independent panel of judges, comprising of sporting and business leaders. The 2019 judicial panel comprises: Anna Kessel (Chair); Mary O'Connor, CEO, Federation of Irish Sport; Michael Cullen, CEO, Investec; Sarah Colgan, CEO, Along Came A Spider & Gordon D'Arcy, Former Irish International Rugby Player.
Please note the closing date for submissions for the 2019 Awards has now passed. The judging panel would like to thank all those who have entered throughout the year.
In celebrating women's sports journalism the Investec 20x20 Media Awards sent out a very powerful message: women's sport is amazing, and of value. For every sports editor who's ever wondered if it's worth covering; to every coach who questioned whether girls needed encouraging, and to every sports' governing body deliberating over how much to invest in their female athletes this year, this initiative made it clear.
Anna Kessel, Investec 20x20 Media Awards Judging Panel Chair
Women's sport matters. For that very reason, it is an absolute honour to be part of these ground-breaking awards.
Overall 'Investec 20x20 Media Awards' Winner announced
Eoin O'Callaghan voted the overall Investec 20x20 Media Award winner with feature on Anne O'Brien - Ireland's first ever female professional footballer
Paul Dollery wins the final monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with a Football Family podcast for the 42.ie featuring Irish footballer, Rianna Jarrett and becomes the first podcast winner of the awards
October 2019 Winner
Mark Gallagher wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with a deep dive into the life of Claire Walsh, Ireland's record-setting free diver
September 2019 Winner
Cathal Dennehy wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with an
exceptional feature profile of 800m distance runner, Katie Kirk
August 2019 Winner
Louise Lawless wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with an article focusing on the last remaining taboo in women's sport
July 2019 Winner
Paul Fennessy wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with in depth feature on Ireland's greatest goal-scorer
June 2019 Winner
Freelancer Niamh Griffin wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with feature on the emerging importance of PE for sports participation for teenage girls
May 2019 Winner
Freelancer Brendan Coffey wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with feature on the rise of an exciting talent in Irish motorsport
April 2019 Winner
Emma Duffy wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with feature on Irish soccer's up and coming starlet, Isibeal Atkinson
Johnny Watterson wins the monthly Investec 20x20 Media Award with feature on World Champion boxer Kellie Harrington
February 2019 Winner
Eoin O'Callaghan wins first Investec 20x20 Media Award with feature on
Anne O'Brien - Ireland's first ever female professional footballer
Find out how to enter the Investec 20x20 Media Awards
Meet the 2019 judging panel
View the full terms and conditions for the Investec 20x20 Media Awards


With a view to curbing the growth of unplanned and haphazard constructions across the state, the Cabinet on Monday cleared a policy for regularization of unauthorized colonies and plots/buildings falling in unauthorized colonies, official spokespersons said.
The policy covers colonies developed before March 19, 2018, according to an official spokesperson.
As per the policy, any developer, Resident Welfare Association (RWA) or Cooperative Society can apply for regularization of unauthorized colonies. However, in the case of plots, compounding of a colony is not mandatory for the regularization of plots and plot owners can directly apply for regularization.
The policy would be applicable to the entire state, including municipal limits falling under the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, but shall not be applicable to the rest of the periphery area. This policy shall also not be applicable to the colonies having apartments.
The developer would be given a time period of four months to apply for regularisation under this policy. After the expiry of this period, a timeline of three months would be given to the concerned authorities for finding unauthorised colonies. A penalty of 20% of regularisation fee would be imposed if the applicant applies for regularisation after the expiry of time. However, any applicant who fails to apply under this policy would be penalised under the relevant provisions of the law.
The civil/criminal proceedings, if any, against the colonisers, may be suspended after receiving 25% of the composition charges. However, these proceedings would be withdrawn only after final regularisation of the colonies. All charges for regularisation colonies and plots shall be as per the previous policy, notified on April 20, 2018.
The revenue thus collected from the process of regularisation of unauthorised colonies/plots would be utilised for providing basic civic amenities to the residents of those colonies.


DeGroot Amaryllis/Paperwhite Gift kits make a thoughtful gift for friends, family, or even the perfect last-minute host gift! There is nothing quite so cozy and welcoming as having plants blooming in your home during the holidays. Amaryllis and paperwhite gift kits are available in a variety of case packs and easy to set up floor displays.


The Steam Link from Valve will no longer be in production, and the company confirmed that the device is nearly sold out in the United States.
The idea behind the Steam Link was neat enough to gain some interest—rather than playing your Steam games on a personal computer or a dedicated Steam Machine, the Steam Link was a bit of an in-between step, allowing Steam users to stream their games from their computer to their television. Valve confirmed that the last of their physical Steam Links are selling out.
As this post mentions, an app with the same name allows Steam users to stream their games onto their mobile devices. Unfortunately for iOS users, final approval for the app hit a wall thanks to Apple's terms and services.
It makes sense that Steam would focus on that application more, with that rectangular puck of a Steam Link never exactly taking off. I bought one myself during one of several sales and discounts, all which felt like desperate attempts to move units, but rarely have I actually used it. That could just be from my own nature as a console player, though I am still somewhat surprised that consumers haven't found much utility from it.
Valve appears to be giving the hardware one last hoorah, with an absurd discount going down all the way to $2.50. At the very least, they could make for cool-looking paperweights.
Apple's Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller takes aim at Valve in new statement, claiming Steam Link violated App Store guidelines.


Maybe it is little bit late for this announcement. (I just notice this conference now.) But the "Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education 2009 Second Life Conference" will be held in Second Life, from this Friday (March 27-March 29).