text:
Rochester Mn Catholic Church Mass Times
Born Oct. 10, 1925, in Rochester, she was a daughter of the. 9:30 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. in St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 1409 Pennsylvania Avenue, Monaca.
Spirituals Of Harry T Burleigh Low Voice He heard things in my voice that I had no idea were there. There will be selections by Harry T. Burleigh, born 150 years ago. Adolphus Hailstork and Robert L. Morris, both 75 years old, also will. Classical music in America wasn't new — but it needed a reboot. The music he found here included
Michael John Pehler was born to Eugenia (Konkel) and Henry Pehler on January 3, 1944 in Winona, MN. He was raised in Rochester. Memorial Mass: Monday, August 17, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in St. Joseph's.
died Wednesday, January 2, 2019, at Madonna Towers in Rochester, Minn. Funeral service and Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday, January 11, 2019, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic.
Elizabeth "Betty" Shackle Thursday, May 30 Visitation: 10:00am Funeral Mass: 11:00am Click here to view guest book. Elizabeth(Betty) Cassady Shackle, age 95, passed away peacefully on May 17, 2019, with family at her side while holding her son Tom's hand.
All youth in Grades 8-12 are invited on a field trip to St. Paul to visit with the Little Sisters of the Poor. We will meet at St. Mary's parking lot at 1:15 pm and will return by 9:00 pm.
Ss Peter and Paul Catholic Church 105 N 5th Street Mankato, MN 56001 (507) 388-2995 [email protected] Fax (507) 388-7661
Catholic Church Rochester MN Minnesota Church of the Resurrection Perpetual Adoration Apostolic Christian Youth Faith Formation Confession Reconciliation Parish
Get access to studies, movies, talks, kid's shows and more. Sign in at sjsmst.formed.org by clicking 'Watch Now'.
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." MT 9:36 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I.
Joshua David Bastyr passed away unexpectedly on Thursday May 30th, 2019 in his hometown of New Prague, MN. He lived his life as a loving father, son, brother, partner and friend.
Elizabeth and Ed lived happily in Rochester the rest of their lives. They enjoyed traveling together, and had many laughs and good times with friends. Elizabeth was a devout Catholic, a Charter.
A very warm welcome to the parish website of St. Joseph the Worker in Mankato and Holy Family in Lake Crystal. We are parishes located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester in.
His favorite times were family times. There will be a Funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Friday, June 16, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Rochester, officiated by Rev. MSGR Gerald A. Mahon. The.
packed a church in Rochester, Minn., for the funeral of four devout churchgoers who authorities believe were hacked to death by a 16-year-old family member. Two bishops and more than a dozen priests.
St. Charles Borromeo, Holy Redeemer and St. Aloysius Catholic Churches
She was a member of the Rochester Agriculture. She ran a tight ship, strict at times, but always loving, making sure that her children were all raised with the loving assurance of the Lord as their.
Zulkiewski, 71, passed away February 18, 2018, at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, MN following complications from an extended illness. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Nicholas.
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church – helping to bring Jesus Christ to the city of Rochester, MN. It seeks to foster the spiritual growth of our parishioners through the celebration of the Sacraments, catechesis, community life, and personal prayer. Like our patron saint, we strive to rebuild the Church and to console the heart of Jesus by serving our neighbors in need.
He really enjoyed getting together with his Cargill co-workers and going to St. Paul Saints baseball games or attending happy hours that many times. A funeral Mass will be offered Friday, April 24,
Seventh Day Adventist Church In Maryland Free SDA History International Association of Free Seventh-day Adventists / Berean Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists is the oldest Free Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was incorporated in 1916 by Elder Lewis C. Sheafe, a pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Elder Sheafe formed Berean Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists to help its members deal with the
A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated in memory. Memorials are suggested to Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 11 Fourth Ave. SW, Rochester, MN 55902; or the Mayo.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Waseca, MN. Features include parish news, Mass and Confessions schedule, bulletins, parish calendar, descriptions of all parish programs and much more!
20, 2017, at Mayo Clinic Hospital—St. Mary's Campus, Rochester. Catholic Church, Lake City. Interment will be in St. Felix Cemetery, Wabasha. Family and friends may call one hour before the Mass.
Paul is survived by his wife, Cathy (Tomlinson) Sherwood, whom he married on September 13, 1969 in Allegan, MI; 6 children, Adam (Vianey) Sherwood of Indianapolis, IN, Steven (Sara) Sherwood of.
Bob enjoyed bowling, playing cards, camping and good times with family and friends. Bob is survived by two sons, Robert (Lisa) Hughes of Rochester. Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Dec.
Hastings, MN 55033, Mary, Mother of the Church Catholic Community — Marian Shrine Fund and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. Mass stipends are also welcome. Special thanks to the staff at.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church 810 S. Cedar Ave Owatonna, MN 55060 Tel: 507-451-1588 Fax: 507-446-9979. St. Mary's School. Religious Education
A Memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Rochester, MN with Rev. Thomas Loomis officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to.
On August 26, 1967, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Norm married his best friend and the love. and sisters-in-law Lynn (Paul) Larsen of Rochester, MN, and Susan Seeger of Naples, FL; nieces, nephews.
Following retirement, he moved from Munster, IN and lived in Cape Girardeau, MO, Rochester, MN, Sheridan and Little Big. and on January 19th a funeral Mass at St. James the Less Catholic Church at.
Catholic Church in Rochester, MN. Catholic church with a school. Introducing Our New Summer Intern, Rebekah Crowley! Hello! My name is Rebekah Crowley and this summer I will be working here at Holy Spirit as the summer intern!
← Viking Death Prayer From The 13th Warrior
Christ Church Junior School Sowerby Bridge →


text:
~Signature MemberAssociate Member~
Nature & Wildlife Art
Wallhanging
100.00cm H x 120.00cm W
Year Completed:
Original for Sale:
Available as Ltd Edition:
Artist will donate 15% to Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) from sale of this work.
The Orangutan is another beautiful species now critically endangered because of human behaviour. I read that we share 97% of their DNA and yet we have destroyed 80% of their habitat. I want people to look into the Orangutans eyes and identify with him. I donated £100 from the sale of this original painting to go towards helping Orangutans.
Available Editions of this Artwork
Edition Info
Edition Price
No Place Like Home | Giclee (signed/numbered) 95 100.00cm H x 120.00cm W $450.00 USD
Artwork Inquiry (with Artist)
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Artists for Conservation (AFC) – the world's leading artist group supporting the environment, representing 500 of the world's leading nature/wildlife artists from 30 countries.
AFC's mission is to support wildlife and habitat conservation and environmental education through art that celebrates nature.
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© 2020. Artists for Conservation Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. "Artists for Conservation", "AFC" and the butterfly logo are registered trademarks of Artists for Conservation Foundation, Inc. AFC International Foundation is a registered charity in Canada (860891761 RR 0001) and a registered Society in the province of British Columbia (XS-0059826). The artists featured in this site are Signature Members of the Artists for Conservation Foundation www.artistsforconservation.org. All artwork images featured on this site are owned by the artist and protected by international copyright laws. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Jinling Library () is a Nanjing Municipal Library, founded in 1927, located at the former Pingjiangfu Chapel. Originally, it was called Nanjing Special (No.1) Popular Library. In 1928, it changed its name into Nanjing No.1 Municipal Library, and in 1930 to Nanjing Special Municipal Demotic Library. It was then moved to the Pan Palace. Jinling Library merged with the Domestic Science Museum in 1932 and was renamed as Nanjing Municipal Library the following year. On , after the Japanese troops took over Nanjing, the Pan Palace, together with the library, was badly damaged and most of the books were destroyed. In 1952, Nanjing was demoted from the national capital to the capital of Jiangsu Province. Six years later, the Municipal Government decided to reestablish the library. In October 1980, the library was completed and open to the public at 262 Changjiang Road. The new pavilion had been constructed since 2005 and was open for trial in 2009. Jinling Library, with a total of two million books, is now located at 158 Leshan Road, Jianye District.

Transportation
The library is accessible within walking distance north west of Olympic Stadium East Station of Nanjing Metro.

See also
Nanjing Library

References

External links

Libraries in Nanjing
Education in Nanjing
Libraries established in 1927
Library buildings completed in 1980
Library buildings completed in 2009

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
This article is more than 5 years old
Assisted dying: leading doctors call on Lords to back legalisation
Twenty-seven leading figures write to every peer urging them to back Lord Falconer's private members bill on assisted dying
Denis Campbell and Dominic Smith
Tue 15 Jul 2014 12.56 EDT First published on Tue 15 Jul 2014 12.56 EDT
Lord Falconer's bill would allow adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to receive help to end their lives, subject to their fulfilling strict criteria. Photograph: Alamy
Leading doctors have called for terminally ill patients who are suffering "unendurably" to be able to end their lives with doctors' help, in an 11th hour attempt to persuade the Lords to back such plans.
Twenty-seven senior figures, including 11 present or former presidents of royal medical colleges and a former NHS medical director, have written to every peer urging them to back Lord Falconer's bid to legalise assisted dying, which is due to come before parliament on Friday.
"We believe it would provide the option of relief to a small but significant number of patients who suffer unendurably during the terminal days or weeks of a difficult illness despite the best that palliative care can offer," they write.
More than 100 peers are already scheduled to speak in the debate, which will be the first on a bill to legalise assisted dying since 2006.
The doctors include Sir Richard Thompson, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, which represents the UK's 30,000 hospital doctors; Sir Michael Rawlins, the former chair of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which sets standards in the NHS; and Dr Graham Winyard, who was the NHS's medical director in England from 1993 to 1999. All 27 have expressed their views in a personal rather than representative capacity.
The letter has been organised by Sir Terence English, a former president of the Royal College of Surgeons, who is also a patron of Dignity in Dying. The signatories ask peers to recognise "that the narrow scope of the bill does not allow for assisted suicide when the patient is not terminally ill, as is practised in Switzerland, nor for voluntary euthanasia, as in Belgium and Switzerland, where a doctor administers the lethal medication".
The doctors seek to refute one of the biggest objections to Falconer's private member's bill by stressing that it would "minimise the potential for coercion by others and ensure that the decision to end life is taken solely by the patient". The bill would allow adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to receive help to end their lives. Two doctors would independently confirm the patient's state of health and that he or she had made an informed decision to die. One of the two doctors would then provide the drugs with which the patient would end their life, if he or she asked for them.
Rawlins said that as he would end his own life if he became gravely ill, everyone in that position should have the same right. "I strongly believe that, subject to appropriate safeguards, people whose lives have become intolerable from physical illness should be helped to die. I myself, under such circumstances, would most certainly seek to do so, and as a pharmacologist I would have the knowledge of how to do it. It would therefore be hypocritical of me to deny others the same opportunity."
Another signatory, Professor John Ashton, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, told the Guardian earlier this month that doctors should be prepared to act as "midwives" to help terminally ill patients die days or weeks early.
Assisted dying would empower patients, the doctors write. "We hope that assisted dying or, as some would have it, physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, will become legal and thereby allow dying patients who meet the criteria to have this degree of control over the final days of their life. The alternative is for them to have to consider a number of unpalatable options, including help from friends or relatives or travelling abroad to die without the advice and support of a sympathetic physician."
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, revealed at the weekend that he had changed his mind on assisted dying. He said he now supported it "in the face of the reality of needless suffering. In strictly observing the sanctity of life, the Church could now actually be promoting anguish and pain, the very opposite of a Christian message of hope", he said.
The current archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, however, has said Falconer's bill is "mistaken and dangerous". The church wants the peer to withdraw his bill and a royal commission to investigate the issue.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Royal College of GPs (RCGP) are both opposed to assisted dying. In their most recent surveys of their members' views, 73.2% of hospital doctors and 77% of family doctors said they were against legalising it.
Dr Maureen Baker, the RCGP chair, said: "Terminal illness is an extremely stressful time that causes many patients to become depressed and frightened. The college is opposed to a change in the law to permit assisted dying because it would be impossible to implement without eliminating the possibility that patients may be in some way coerced into the decision to die."
It is also worried that legalisation would be the start of "a slippery slope" which would lead to the right to an assisted death being extended to those who could not consent on grounds of capacity and those who are severely disabled.
Christian groups also criticised the dctors' intervention.
Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for the campaign group Care Not Killing, said: "These are a number of doctors who are contrary to the vast majority of the medical professionals who do not support assisted suicide and euthanasia. When it is discussed by doctors, as it was at the British Medical Association conference, it is always rejected. The letter is nothing new, and previous iterations of it haven't come to anything."
Andrea Minichiello Williams, the chief executive of Christian Concern, said: "This bill masquerades as compassionate but would quickly become an instrument of oppression of the most vulnerable in society. There is all the difference in the world between removing treatment and actively killing someone. Once that line is crossed we open the floodgates to cruelty and abuse.
We must not allow doctors to move from practising care to facilitating death. If we do, we break the bond of trust and place those who need doctors most at the greatest risk from them."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The government believes that any change to the law in this emotive area is an issue of individual conscience and a matter for parliament to decide, rather than government policy."
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Lord Avebury to urge Lords to support controversial assisted dying law
Ex-MP for Orpington, who suffers from incurable blood cancer, supports legislation as 'potential beneficiary'
David Cameron 'not convinced' over assisted dying bill
PM speaks of worry about legalising euthanasia, but says he would be very happy for Commons to debate issue
Church of England split over assisted dying as debate looms
Consensus on women bishops set aside as Lords examine Falconer's bill, after support from Desmond Tutu and Lord Carey
Assisted dying bill must not stall in Lords, urges former lord chancellor
Lord Falconer of Thoroton calls on supporters to vote down any attempt to pass wrecking amendment on sensitive issue
Desmond Tutu plea for 'assisted dying' before historic Lords debate
Former Ofsted chief Chris Woodhead 'considered starving himself to death'
Former archbishop lends his support to campaign to legalise right to die
More more on this story


text:
package org.hisp.dhis.dxf2.utils;

import org.hisp.dhis.common.IdentifiableObjectManager;
import org.hisp.dhis.common.IllegalQueryException;
import org.hisp.dhis.commons.util.TextUtils;
import org.hisp.dhis.dataelement.DataElementCategoryCombo;
import org.hisp.dhis.dataelement.DataElementCategoryOption;
import org.hisp.dhis.dataelement.DataElementCategoryOptionCombo;
import org.hisp.dhis.dataelement.DataElementCategoryService;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;

import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;

/**
 * @author Lars Helge Overland
 */
public class InputUtils
{
    @Autowired
    private DataElementCategoryService categoryService;

    @Autowired
    private IdentifiableObjectManager idObjectManager;

    /**
     * Validates and retrieves the attribute option combo. 409 conflict as status
     * code along with a textual message will be set on the response in case of
     * invalid input.
     *
     * @param cc the category combo identifier.
     * @param cp the category and option query string.
     * @return the attribute option combo identified from the given input, or null
     * if the input was invalid.
     */
    public DataElementCategoryOptionCombo getAttributeOptionCombo( String cc, String cp )
    {
        Set<String> opts = TextUtils.splitToArray( cp, TextUtils.SEMICOLON );

        // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
        // Attribute category combo validation
        // ---------------------------------------------------------------------

        if ( ( cc == null && opts != null || ( cc != null && opts == null ) ) )
        {
            throw new IllegalQueryException( "Both or none of category combination and category options must be present" ) ;
        }

        DataElementCategoryCombo categoryCombo = null;

        if ( cc != null && ( categoryCombo = idObjectManager.get( DataElementCategoryCombo.class, cc ) ) == null )
        {
            throw new IllegalQueryException( "Illegal category combo identifier: " + cc );
        }

        if ( categoryCombo == null && opts == null )
        {
            categoryCombo = categoryService.getDefaultDataElementCategoryCombo();
        }

        return getAttributeOptionCombo( categoryCombo, cp );
    }

    /**
     * Validates and retrieves the attribute option combo. 409 conflict as status
     * code along with a textual message will be set on the response in case of
     * invalid input.
     *
     * @param categoryCombo the category combo.
     * @param cp the category option query string.
     * @return the attribute option combo identified from the given input, or null
     * if the input was invalid.
     */
    public DataElementCategoryOptionCombo getAttributeOptionCombo( DataElementCategoryCombo categoryCombo, String cp )
    {
        Set<String> opts = TextUtils.splitToArray( cp, TextUtils.SEMICOLON );

        if ( categoryCombo == null )
        {
            throw new IllegalQueryException( "Illegal category combo");
        }

        // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
        // Attribute category options validation
        // ---------------------------------------------------------------------

        DataElementCategoryOptionCombo attributeOptionCombo = null;

        if ( opts != null )
        {
            Set<DataElementCategoryOption> categoryOptions = new HashSet<>();

            for ( String uid : opts )
            {
                DataElementCategoryOption categoryOption = idObjectManager.get( DataElementCategoryOption.class, uid );

                if ( categoryOption == null )
                {
                    throw new IllegalQueryException( "Illegal category option identifier: " + uid ) ;
                }

                categoryOptions.add( categoryOption );
            }

            attributeOptionCombo = categoryService.getDataElementCategoryOptionCombo( categoryCombo, categoryOptions );

            if ( attributeOptionCombo == null )
            {
                throw new IllegalQueryException( "Attribute option combo does not exist for given category combo and category options" );
            }
        }

        if ( attributeOptionCombo == null )
        {
            attributeOptionCombo = categoryService.getDefaultDataElementCategoryOptionCombo();
        }

        if ( attributeOptionCombo == null )
        {
            throw new IllegalQueryException( "Default attribute option combo does not exist" );
        }

        return attributeOptionCombo;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
/*
 * FavoriteImpllinks.h
 *
 *
 */

#ifndef TINY_CPP_CLIENT_FavoriteImpllinks_H_
#define TINY_CPP_CLIENT_FavoriteImpllinks_H_

#include <string>
#include "bourne/json.hpp"
#include "Helpers.h"
#include "Link.h"

namespace Tiny {

/*! \brief
 *
 *  \ingroup Models
 *
 */

class FavoriteImpllinks{
public:

    /*! \brief Constructor.
	 */
    FavoriteImpllinks();
    FavoriteImpllinks(std::string jsonString);

    /*! \brief Destructor.
	 */
    virtual ~FavoriteImpllinks();

    /*! \brief Retrieve a bourne JSON representation of this class.
	 */
    bourne::json toJson();

    /*! \brief Fills in members of this class from bourne JSON object representing it.
	 */
    void fromJson(std::string jsonObj);

	/*! \brief Get
	 */
	Link getSelf();

	/*! \brief Set
	 */
	void setSelf(Link  self);
	/*! \brief Get
	 */
	std::string getClass();

	/*! \brief Set
	 */
	void setClass(std::string  _class);

    private:
    Link self;
    std::string _class{};
};
}

#endif /* TINY_CPP_CLIENT_FavoriteImpllinks_H_ */


She dared not move for fear of what was happening, which was equal to the fear of it not happening. Nonetheless, Jules moved closer, her eyes never leaving her best friend's.
j'aimerai savoir faire ca! pour le bonheur de mes hommes!!!!
she looks trashy with all those tats and piercings -- big turnoff. but at the 5:30 mark when he starts pumping hard and shouting while he cums, that is HOT.


Flerovium is radioactive and has the symbol Fl and the atomic number 114. The element is named after Russian physicist Georgy Flyorov, who founded the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, where the element was first discovered in 1999.
Element 114 has a 30-second half-life, which is much longer than element 112's. This is evidence of the "island of stability" that was predicted to occur around element 114 (where the combination of protons and neutrons would combine to make a stable structure).
A beam containing 48Ca was aimed into a244Pu target to make this atom.
The name Flerovium was adopted by IUPAC on May 31, 2012.


, we choices the best selections together with best resolution only for you, and this images is usually considered one of pictures choices in our finest graphics gallery in relation to How Do I Type A Resume. Lets hope you'll enjoy it.
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For those of you who always think 'someone else should comply but me!', or 'i am okay because i can get a wheelchair physically into my store but everyone else is liable!', take it seriously. The government is notorious for not taking its own rules seriously, but the law is the law. Not even the city gets away with this!
The city of Los Angeles is unprepared to meet the needs of the disabled in the case of a disaster and is discriminating against them by failing to include the disabled in its emergency preparedness plans, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Siding with disability-rights groups who sued the city on behalf of an estimated 800,000 disabled L.A. residents, U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall found that Los Angeles doesn't have a plan to notify and evacuate the disabled or provide them with transportation and shelter in a disaster.


text:
Sharing Knowledge & Insights
This section is for medical professionals interested in our training programs, referring a patient, accessing research and reports, or learning more about CME.
Home > For Medical Professionals > Training Programs > Pharmacy Residency Program
Advanced Practice Clinician Fellowship
CRNA Training Site
Medical Laboratory Science Program
Nurse Externship
Rehabilitation Services Students
North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo offers a Post-Graduate Year 1 (PGY1) residency.
The NMMC residency program received accreditation by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) in July 1994.
The PGY1 pharmacy training at NMMC provides the resident with the depth and breadth of skill of an experienced practitioner. Our 12-month program offers post-graduate training that centers on the development of the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to pursue rational drug therapy.
In addition to required areas of study, the program offers a broad range of elective rotations and additional learning experiences through the 12-month position.
PGY1 Program Purpose: PGY1 pharmacy residency programs build on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and outcomes to contribute to the development of pharmacists responsible for medication-related care of patients with a wide range of conditions, eligible for board certification, and eligible for postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency training.
For more information about NMMC's Pharmacy Residency Program, email us.
Award-Winning Staff
13 Pharmacist of the Year Award Recipients from the Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP)
12 Technician of the Year Award Recipients (MSHP)
7 Board-Certified Pharmacists
9 Young Pharmacist of the Year Recipients (including NMMC Residents) (MSHP)
7 MSHP Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award Recipients (MSHP)
4 Innovative Practice Awards
4 Preceptor of the Year Award recipients (University of Mississippi)
4 Fellows of The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
2 Fellows of The Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Clinical Science Teaching Award (University of Mississippi)
AACP Crystal APPLE Award
Albert E. Rosica, Jr. Memorial Award
Integrated Clinical Services
Pharmacists at NMMC are a vital part of the health care team and have one very important goal: to improve the total well-being of the patient. Our pharmacists work with all members of the health care team to achieve that goal. They practice their profession in an environment where their opinions and services are valued and where they are an integral link in a patient's plan of recovery.
Unit-Based Care Model
Clinical Pharmacy Services
ADR Reporting/Reviewing
Anticoagulation Program
Discharge Medication Counseling
Drug Usage Evaluation
Investigational Drug Program
Medication Histories
Pain Management Programs
Patient Education Programs
Pharmacokinetic Dosing & Monitoring
Specialty areas of practice include:
Acute Care Pharmacy Services
Ambulatory Clinics
Diabetes Treatment Center
Home Infusion Services
Home Health/Hospice
Managed Care Pharmacy Services
Neonatology Services
Oncology Services
Women's Hospital Pharmacy Services
Student Training
Associated Schools of Pharmacy
University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi
Union University, Jackson, Tennessee
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama
Adult Medicine I and II
Ambulatory Care I and II
Medication Safety/Medication Management/Drug Policy
Medical Intensive Care/Infectious Disease
Surgical Intensive Care
Central Operations I and II
Longitudinal Rotations
Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee
Ambulatory Care II
Example Resident Schedule
Register for ASHP Resident Matching Program and submit application materials to phORCAS by December 31
Candidates must be a graduate of a college or school of pharmacy accredited by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) and hold a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree prior to admission to the residency program
Weekend Staffing Requirements
Weekend staffing is designed to allow the resident to develop his/her skills in providing clinical pharmacy services while gaining proficiency in central pharmacy distribution.
Residents are currently expected to practice pharmacy one to two evenings per week and every fourth weekend.
Wes Pitts, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP, FMSHP
Dr. Pitts received his Pharm.D. Degree from the University of Mississippi and was named Fellow of ASHP in 2014. He is highly involved in both state and national pharmacy organizations. Dr. Pitts has extensive experience in implementing and improving clinical service collaborative practice agreements, managing performance and safety improvement initiatives for medication management, and improving technology integration into provider workflows. He serves as the NMMC Pharmacy Specialist in Diabetes and Informatics. Dr. Pitts is a Clinical Assistant Professor for the University of Mississippi and Union University Schools of Pharmacy and has precepted many Pharmacy Students, and is the residency preceptor for the practice management and Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee required rotations.
Holly Griffin, PharmD, BCPS
Residency Program Director and Advanced Practice Pharmacist
Dr. Griffin completed her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 2017. Upon graduation, she completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at NMMC in 2018. After residency, Dr. Griffin joined the NMMC team as an advanced practice pharmacist, and she now serves as Residency Program Director. She is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist, and her current clinical practice area is in adult medicine. Dr. Griffin is a Clinical Assistant Professor for the University of Mississippi and a residency preceptor for a required internal medicine rotation.
2021-2022 Residents
Austin Fitts, PharmD
PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident
Dr. Fitts is a New Albany native who graduated from the University of Mississippi with both his undergraduate and doctoral degrees. His clinical interests include pediatrics, oncology and informatics. His goal is to finish his residency and pursue a career as an oncology specialist. He enjoys playing video games, writing music and going to concerts. You can email Dr. Fitts here.
Logan Magana, PharmD
Dr. Magana completed his pre-pharmacy studies at Itawamba Community College and the University of Mississippi. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi in 2021. A Tupelo native, his clinical interests include adult medicine, infectious disease and nutrition. He enjoys gaming, going to the gym, and being with his friends and family. You can email Dr. Magana here.
Luke Pannell, PharmD
Dr. Pannell, a Pontotoc native, completed his pre-pharmacy studies at Itawamba Community College and the University of Mississippi. He received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 2021. He enjoys spending time with family, playing/watching tennis and going on beach trips. His clinical interests include oncology, psychiatry and adult medicine. You can email Dr. Pannell here.
Will Stepp, PharmD
Dr. Stepp completed his undergraduate education at Itawamba Community College and the University of Mississippi. He received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi in 2021. Originally from Oxford, he is an avid Ole Miss Rebel fan! His clinical interests include critical care, cardiology and endocrinology. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with his wife, Grace. You can email Dr. Stepp here.
Rachelle Carter, PharmD, BCOP, BCPS
Advanced Practice Pharmacist
Dr. Carter received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi (1994) and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from The University of Arkansas (2002). In 1997, she completed a pharmacy practice residency at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. She is currently a preceptor for APPE pharmacy students at Union University and University of Mississippi and for PGY-1 residents electing an oncology rotation. Dr. Carter is an active member of the Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSSHP), Mississippi Pharmacist Association (MPhA), American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), and Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA).
Katie Clark, PharmD
Dr. Clark completed her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 2015. Upon graduation, she completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at NMMC in 2016. After residency, she joined the NMMC team as an Advanced Practice Pharmacist. She has experience as a pharmacist for the cardiology and CV surgery units, and she currently practices on the general medicine and step-down units. Currently, she manages the anticoagulation service collaborative practice agreement at NMMC. Dr. Clark is an adult medicine preceptor for pharmacy students at the University of Mississippi. She is also a residency preceptor for the adult medicine rotation for the residency program at NMMC.
Katie Collier, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Collier received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2013 and her Doctor of Pharmacy in 2016 from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. Upon graduation, she completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC) in 2017. After residency, she joined the NMMC team as a staff pharmacist working an evening position in central pharmacy. She has experience as a pharmacist for outpatient hospice as well as the cardiology/CV surgery units. She currently practices as an advanced practice pharmacist on a 50-bed general medical floor at NMMC. Dr. Collier is an Adult Medicine preceptor for APPE students at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. She is also a co-preceptor for the Adult Medicine I required rotation for the residency program at NMMC. Dr. Collier is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and is an active participant on both the Internal Medicine Section and the Medicine Service Line Operational Group (MSLOG). Dr. Collier is a member of ASHP, MSHP and ACCP.
Neeley Cox, PharmD
Dr. Cox received a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree at the University of Mississippi in 2008, and Doctorate of Pharmacy degree in 2010. She then completed her PGY-1 residency at NMMC in 2011. Dr. Cox's professional experience has been in orthopedic surgery (trauma and Joint Replacement Center), neurosurgery and pediatrics. Currently, she manages the nutrition support collaborative practice agreement at our facility, and leads our multidisciplinary nutrition support team. Dr. Cox has served on the board of MSHP as vice president and other committee seats. She is a residency preceptor for our pediatrics elective rotation.
Lori V. Eschete, PharmD
Dr. Eschete obtained her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2002. She then completed an ASHP accredited pharmacy practice residency at North Mississippi Medical Center in 2003. After completing her residency, she accepted a clinical pharmacy specialist position at NMMC with emphasis in surgical services. She currently serves as a critical care pharmacy specialist in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit as well as coordinator of the OR satellite pharmacy. She manages the pharmacy driven Pain Management Service as well as the Pharmacokinetic Dosing Service for NMMC. She is an active member of the NMMC Surgical Service Line Operations Group and multiple Surgical Committees within the hospital system with particular interest in surgical and anesthesia care. Dr. Eschete is a Clinical Assistant Professor for the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and a Clinical Preceptor for Union University School of Pharmacy. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family which includes her husband, Jai and three children, Nathan, Brennan and Corinne as well as her church family. She is also a triathlete who enjoys living an active lifestyle in Tupelo and surrounding areas. She is also a preceptor for the required surgical intensive care rotation.
Samantha Graddy, PharmD
Central Operations Pharmacist
Dr. Graddy received her bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science in 2015 and Doctor of Pharmacy in 2018, both from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. She went on to complete a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice residency at Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, MS. After residency, she joined the NMMC team as a staff pharmacist in the central pharmacy. With this role, she has experience with clinical and drug information services including robotics, sterile compounding (including USP 797 and USP 800), drug distribution systems and after-hours clinical consults. Dr. Graddy currently practices as one of NMMC's IV lab pharmacists. She is a Central Operations preceptor for pharmacy students at Union University. Dr. Graddy is also a residency preceptor for the Central Operations rotation for the residency program at NMMC.
Philip Kelly, PharmD
Pharmacy Services Manager
Dr. Kelly received his bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Mississippi State University in 2014. He received his Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2018 from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. He joined NMMC after graduation as a PRN pharmacist, working in both inpatient and outpatient/clinic settings. He received specialty training in hazardous and non-hazardous sterile compounding from CriticalPoint in Totowa, New Jersey in 2019. He now serves as the sterile compounding operations manager for NMMC-Tupelo as well as the NMMC Women's Hospital pharmacy manager. Kelly is a residency preceptor for the required central operations rotation.
Kaley Kennedy, PharmD
Dr. Kennedy received her bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science in 2013 and Doctor of Pharmacy in 2016, both from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. She completed a PGY-1 residency following the completion of graduation in 2017 at NMMC. She currently practices as the clinical pharmacist on both the general medical floor and step-down unit. She serves an active role for the outpatient hospice team and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Readmissions Committee. Dr. Kennedy is an adult medicine preceptor for APPE students at the University of Mississippi. She is a residency preceptor for a required adult medicine rotation.
Alix McCay, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. McCay completed her bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical sciences in 2016 and Doctor of Pharmacy in 2019 from the University of Mississippi. She completed a PGY-1 residency at Huntsville Hospital in Alabama. After completing residency, she joined the NMMC team and now serves on one of the general medicine units. She has experience all over the health system in areas such as adult medicine, central pharmacy, surgery, intensive care, L&D and NICU pharmacy, community pharmacy and ambulatory care. She serves as a preceptor-in-training for the required adult medicine rotation. Dr. McCay is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and has a special interest in infectious disease.
Kim McCrory, PharmD
Dr. McCrory received her bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science (1999) and Doctorate of Pharmacy (2001) from the University of Mississippi. She completed a Master of Business Administration in 2020 from Blue Mountain College. She completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency in 2004, and a year of intensive training in internal medicine with a focus in infectious disease in 2005 at NMMC. She currently practices in the medical intensive care unit and serves as the pharmacy leader for the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. Dr. McCrory is the residency preceptor for the required ICU and elective infectious disease rotations.
Marcie Parker, PharmD
Dr. Parker currently practices with the behavioral health unit and pulmonary step-down unit. After completing her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 2016, she joined the NMMC team as a PRN pharmacist for three years before transitioning to her current full-time role and has experience throughout NMMC including central pharmacy, OR pharmacy, intensive care units, general medical floors, community pharmacy and ambulatory care. Dr. Parker is a residency preceptor-in-training for a future elective rotation in behavioral health.
Adam Pate, PharmD, BSPS
Clinical Assistant Professor, The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy
Dr. Pate is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Pate received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi in 2009, then completed a PGY-1 residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He maintains an active ambulatory care practice site in New Albany and provides chronic care management and annual wellness visit services to patients. He is actively engaged in the profession and is a member of MSHP, MPHA, ASHP and AACP. He is a preceptor for our required ambulatory care II rotation.
Sarah Phillips, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Phillips received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi in 2017. Upon graduating, she completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at NMMC in 2018. She then joined the team at NMMC as an Advanced Practice Pharmacist. She has worked with the cardiology and CV surgery units along with surgical services and centralized pharmacy services. She currently practices on one of our general medicine units. She is the education chair for our residency program and manages the hospital's adverse drug reaction service. She is a preceptor in training for the required adult medicine rotation for the residency program at NMMC.
Hunter Reeves, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Reeves received his Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi in 2014. He then went on to complete his PGY1 Pharmacy Practice residency at NMMC in 2016. Reeves is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and is an active participant on both the Cardiology Section and the Heart Failure Readmissions Committee. His current interests include cardiology and emergency medicine. Reeves currently serves as unit-based pharmacist for the cardiology unit, and is the residency preceptor for the cardiology elective rotation.
Katy Anna Richardson, PharmD
Dr. Richardson received her bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Mississippi. After teaching high school for a year at New Albany High School, she attended The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and received her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree in 2011. After graduation, Richardson went on to complete a PGY1 residency at NMMC (2011). Her professional experience includes emergency medicine, med/surg, GI/GU, rehabilitation and bariatrics. She currently serves as the clinical pharmacist for NMMC's med/surg and GI/GU units, as well as inpatient rehabilitation. She is an active member of the Trauma Neuro Team.
Grant Smith, PharmD
Dr. Smith received his bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular miology from Mississippi State University, and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi. He completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center under the mentorship of Dr. John Hall. He has 10 years of experience in various settings including community, poison control and long-term care. Dr. Smith currently serves as the unit pharmacist for the medical/nephrology unit directing both the renal drug dosing service and epoetin dosing service, and is a residency preceptor for the nephrology elective rotation.
Amanda Pitts Summers, PharmD
Clinical Operations Manager, Specialty Pharmacy
Dr. Summers graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and completed graduate work at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences with a 4.0 GPA. She has been named Pharmacist of the Year two times during her career by the Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and most recently, her team received the Innovative Practice Award from MSHP this year. Summers is a life member of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association, volunteers at the Good Samaritan Free Clinic in Tupelo, serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor for the Ole Miss Pharmacy School, and is a member and past president of the Itawamba Community College Alumni Board of Directors.
James L. Taylor, PharmD, FASHP
Dr. Taylor earned his bachelor's degree in pharmacy in 1991 and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2000, both from the University of Mississippi. He began his career with NMMC after graduation in 1991. He has clinical hospital experience managing cardiology, geriatric, neonatal and nephrology patients. Since 2001 he has served as a faculty member at the Family Medicine Residency Center where he teaches family practice residents and medical students. He is the Ambulatory Clinical Pharmacy Manager for NMMC and provides clinical pharmacy services for the Connected Care Alliance ACO. He serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor preceptor for both the University of Mississippi and Union University and is the ambulatory care preceptor for pharmacy residents at NMMC.
Emily J. Tschumper, PharmD, MS, BSPS
Dr. Tschumper received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Winona State University (2009) and her Master of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from The University of Mississippi in 2011 and 2015, respectively. In 2016, she completed a pharmacy practice residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. Tschumper is a Clinical Instructor for the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, and residency preceptor for the elective emergency medicine rotation. Dr. Tschumper is an active member of the Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSSHP), and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
Dereck Young, PharmD
Dr. Young currently leads the continual survey readiness team for Joint Commission Medication Management compliance. He obtained both his bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science and Doctorate of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. Young serves as a clinical pharmacist for the inpatient Acute Stroke Unit. His responsibilities include clinical monitoring of patients, ordering diagnostic lab tests and adjusting pharmacotherapy utilizing P & T-approved collaborative practice agreements. Young also serves as a member of the residency advisory committee as well as precepting students during their Medication Management experience. He is a residency preceptor for the required medication management/medication safety and drug policy rotation.
All residents receive employment benefits through North Mississippi Health Services.
Life In Tupelo
Education Tupelo is a family-oriented city with a strong education system. The Tupelo Public School District was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Ford Foundation and been cited as an exemplary public/private partnership in education by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Two major universities, Mississippi State University and The University of Mississippi, as well as two community colleges, are located within 60 miles of Tupelo. Opportunities for academic enrichment, appreciating the arts and enjoying Southeastern Conference (SEC) athletics are available through these universities.
Arts Tupelo is one of the few cities its size to support a symphony orchestra. The Community Concert Series highlights nationally known entertainment several times each season. Tupelo Community Theater presents numerous productions each year in its own theater building located in the heart of downtown. Gumtree Museum of Art offers a wide range of contemporary and traditional art exhibits.
Entertainment Each spring, Tupelo hosts the Gum Tree Festival, which includes a juried art exhibition, songwriting and writing competitions and a variety of entertainment. The Gum Tree 10K run is one of the largest foot races in Mississippi. The Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo specializes in exotic animals with the first ones coming from Canada. Some of the exotic animals include monkeys, a Bengal tiger, an African lion, a reticulated giraffe, an American black bear and a reptile section. Feature attractions to the park include a live pony carousel, horse trail rides and petting zoo complete with pigmy goats, miniature horses, sheep and other friendly animals. The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association regularly provides free outdoor concerts, festivals and many other events. The most significant landmark of Tupelo's modern history is a modest, two-room house where the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley, was born on January 8, 1935.
Recreation Year-round sporting events for all ages are available, including baseball, basketball, golf, gymnastics, softball, soccer and swimming. Numerous parks in Tupelo offer activities such as swimming, tennis and just relaxing. Several state parks and recreational areas are within an hour of Tupelo that offer outstanding boating, fishing, skiing, hunting and camping. The headquarters for the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, which connects Nashville and Natchez, is located in Tupelo. The Natchez Trace offers scenic trails for hiking and cycling. For shoppers, Tupelo offers The Mall at Barnes Crossing and many specialty boutiques. Within the downtown district are a variety of stores that offer many one-of-a-kind items. Learn more about Tupelo.
American Cancer Society Honors NMHS with 2021 Access to Care Advocate Award January 13, 2022
NMHS Welcomes Dr. Story Back to the Family January 11, 2022
Tapscott Embarks on Retirement Adventure January 11, 2022
The NMHS Marketing Department Receives Three Maggie Awards January 11, 2022
NMMC to Offer Free Smoking Cessation Class January 10, 2022


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WHAT THE HALL — PUT IT IN TEXAS?
October 11, 2015, 8:50 pm
Filed under: New National Soccer Hall of Fame, Uncategorized | Tags: Dallas Cowboys, FC Dallas, Friday Night Lights, Frisco, Glenn Myernick, Houston Texans, Kasey Keller, Lone Star State, Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, National Baseball Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, NY, Oneonta, Paris, Sigi Schmid, Texas. FC Dallas, Toyota Stadium, TX
Record-setting U.S. international goalkeeper Kasey Keller, collegiate, national youth and pro coach Sigi Schmid and the late Glenn Myernick, a former U.S. youth coach, were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. [October 3]
Comment: The ceremony for Keller, who went in as a player, and Schmid (builder) and Myernick (veteran) was held in Seattle because the original National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York, shut its doors in 2010 for lack of money. There is no brick and mortar soccer hall of fame in this country.
But wonderful news: Eleven days later came the announcement that the Hall will be reopened in Frisco, Texas, as part of a package of improvements to FC Dallas' Toyota Stadium.
On second thought, not wonderful news at all. There is no historical connection between soccer in the United States and the State of Texas, let alone the city of Frisco. Despite strong soccer participation figures there, Texas is gridiron football country. It's where the TV series about high school football, "Friday Night Lights," was set. An average of 156 boys at every one of the Lone Star State's 1,065 high schools play football. It's where every real Texan genuflects at the gridiron alter on Saturday afternoon ahead of his or her favorite college's game, then repeats on Sunday before the Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans kick off.
Beggars can't be choosers, but perhaps the closest thing to a shrine to American soccer should've gone to a state, area or city with a soccer history second to none, or at least second to some. As it is, moving the National Soccer Hall of Fame to Frisco, Texas, is like moving the National Baseball Hall of Fame to Paris.
FOR WHAT THEY'RE WORTH: $157 MILLION PER MLS TEAM
Filed under: MLS team values by Forbes, Uncategorized | Tags: Andrea Pirlo, Avaya Stadium, Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, David Villa, DC United, Didier Drogba, Don Garber, ESPN, FC Dallas, Forbes magazine, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Frank Lampard, Houston Dynamo, Kaka, LAFC, Los Angeles Galaxy, Major League Soccer, Miami Fusion, Montreal Impact, NBA, NBC, NBCSN, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, NFL, NHL, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City, Steven Gerrard, Toronto FC, Univision, Vancouver Whitecaps, WNBA
The average worth of Major League Soccer clubs reached $157 million in 2014, up 52 percent from the previous year, according to a valuation by Forbes magazine.
Topping the list were the Seattle Sounders at $245 million, while the Colorado Rapids, worth $105 million, brought up the rear. The biggest mover was DC United, whose value increased 97 percent, from $71 million in '13 to $140 million last year. Average team worth was $103 million in 2013, nearly triple what Forbes valued the teams five years earlier.
Eight of MLS' then-18 clubs turned a profit in 2014, led by Seattle's $10 million. The biggest loser was the New York Red Bulls at $9 million.
2014 valuation of MLS clubs, plus revenue and operating income*:
1. Seattle Sounders — $245 million, $50 million, $10 million.
2. Los Angeles Galaxy — $240 million, $44 million, $4 million.
3. Houston Dynamo — $200 million, $26 million, $5 million.
4. Portland Timbers — $185 million, $35 million, $4 million.
5. Toronto FC — $175 million, $32 million, -$7 million.
6. Sporting Kansas City — $165 million, $29 million, $4 million.
7. Chicago Fire — $160 million, $21 million, -$6 million.
8. New England Revolution — $158 million, $25 million, $7 million.
9. FC Dallas — $148 million, $25 million, -$3 million.
10. San Jose Earthquakes — $146 million, $13 million, -$1 million.
11. Philadelphia Union — $145 million, $25 million, $2 million.
12. New York Red Bulls — $144 million, $22 million, -$9 million.
13. D.C. United — $140 million, $21 million, -$1 million.
14. Montreal Impact — $128 million, $22 million, -$3 million.
15. Vancouver Whitecaps — $125 million, $21 million, -$6 million.
16. Columbus Crew — $112 million, $18 million, -$4 million.
17. Real Salt Lake — $108 million, $17 million, $1 million.
18. Colorado Rapids — $105 million, $15 million, -$3 million.
*Operating income before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization.
Forbes cited a number of reasons for the league's surging team valuation, including:
o Growing attendance, which through July averaged 21,000, as MLS continued to widen the gap with the NBA (17,800) and NHL (17,500) in that department. That average projects to total attendance of 7.2 million in 2015, thanks in part to the addition of new teams in New York and Orlando. The 2013 total was 6 million.
o An influx of overseas talent that picked up in 2015 with the arrival of the likes of Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Villa and Didier Drogba–a clear indication that owners are willing to spend to enhance the product on the field.
o More soccer-specific stadiums throughout MLS. The latest was San Jose's Avaya Stadium, which opened in March, and DC United plans be in new digs by 2018. Like United, the Earthquakes' value has doubled since '13.
o The end of a TV deal with ESPN, NBC and Univision that paid MLS an average $30 million per year. The new deal, in which Fox replaced NBC, pays $90 million a year. Hardly NFL figures, or even NHL figures, and average viewship of 232,000 this year on Fox Sports 1 trails even the WNBA, but that represents a 65 percent improvement over NBCSN's average audience of 141,000. [September 19]
Comment I: Total team worth of more than $2.8 billion for a league that as recently as 2002 nearly went under. No wonder there were no signs of panic when MLS Commissioner Don Garber, during his "State of the League" address in December, revealed that the league was losing more than $100 million a year.
Comment II: Being part of MLS is still far from being a license to print money, but no wonder the owners of LAFC, which won't begin play until 2018, paid a league-record expansion fee of $110 million to try to succeed where it predecessor, the ill-fated Chivas USA, failed. By comparison, the Miami Fusion, one of the league's first two expansion teams, paid $20 million in 1997 to join MLS.
KLINSMANN EXPLAINED . . . OR NOT
Filed under: Juergen Klinsmann, Uncategorized | Tags: 2006 World Cup, Alamodome, Baerum, Berti Vogts, Bobby Warshaw, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Claudio Reyna, CONCACAF Gold Cup, Denmark, England, FC Dallas, Fox Sports, German National Team, Ireland, Joachim Loew, Jordan Morris, Juan Agudelo, Juergen Klinsmann, Liga MX, Major League Soccer, Manchester United, Mexico, MLSsoccer.com, Norwegian first division, Portugal, Rob Stone, San Antonio, Stanford University, Swedish first division, Switzerland, U.S., U.S. Soccer, U.S. U-17s
Stanford University sophomore Jordan Morris scored four minutes into the second half and his replacement, erstwhile striker Juan Agudelo, applied the clinching goal in the 72nd minute as the U.S. defeated Mexico by that familiar score of 2-0 in a friendly played before a sellout crowd of 64,369 at San Antonio's Alamodome.
The 20-year-old Morris, who made his international debut in November at Ireland, became the first college player to start for the U.S. in two decades. Agudelo hadn't played for the U.S. since November 2012 and hadn't scored since March 2011.
With the match not on the FIFA international schedule, the U.S. lineup was dominated by Major League Soccer players while Mexico was largely a Liga MX side.
The U.S. is 13-5-5 against Mexico since 2000, 17-11-9 since 1990 and 19-33-14 since the two nations first met in 1934. [April 15]
Comment: Just a friendly and just a warm-up to this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup between two sides missing their biggest names, many of whom stayed with their overseas clubs. U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann had this to say to MLSsoccer.com a few days before the match, which was played a couple of weeks after the Americans lost at Denmark, 3-2, and earned a 1-1 draw at Switzerland:
". . . It is a great opportunity for everyone (individually) to show where they are right now, where they are at this stage with MLS teams, down in Mexico, and just show us at what stage you are. And then obviously the closer we get to the Gold Cup the more we kind of define things."
And because of logistics, Klinsmann and his predecessors have had to play the hand they're dealt when it comes to personnel, rounding up European-based starters for one friendly, then European-based bench sitters and MLS and Liga MX players for another. (Playing outside the FIFA international window, like the Mexico game, only makes things more difficult.) But in his nearly five-year tenure as U.S. boss, Klinsmann has established not just a revolving door but a spinning revolving door to his team's dressing room, frustrating observers who would like to see him, at the very least, settle on a back line so those four souls don't have to introduce themselves to one another before every kickoff. They might even learn to play as a unit.
True, the U.S. got a shutout victory in San Antonio with yet another eclectic group, but that quote and that game only made a recent online article by Bobby Warshaw all the more interesting. A 26-year-old midfielder for Baerum of the Norwegian first division who played for the U.S. U-17s, FC Dallas and two Swedish first division clubs, Warshaw wrote:
"Juergen Klinsmann is a tough cat to understand sometimes, but his comments prior to the U.S. men's national team game with Switzerland shed a little light for me. Whenever Fox Sports' Rob Stone asked a question about the team, Klinsmann put the emphasis on the players. He never mentioned team goals. Rather, he kept referring to the players, suggesting that 'the players have the opportunity' and 'it's a big time in their careers.' It annoyed me.
"That doesn't answer the question, Juergen. Why are you putting the weight on the players here? You're always criticizing the players. He asked about the TEAM. How are you going to prepare the TEAM? You're the man in charge.
"It seemed he was missing the boat.
"And then I remembered back to one of the first conversations I had in a European locker room. I had been there for a week on loan from my Major League Soccer team. I started talking to a guy in a nearby locker about his career. He said he didn't want to be with the club long; he was going to move on to a bigger club soon. It seemed a strange thing to tell a teammate.
"I realized Klinsmann wasn't shirking responsibility in the interview. He was making a statement that reflects his view of the game, and it's something I think I've failed to understand about the coach: The European football culture where Klinsmann was raised revolves around individual ambition. Personal success means more than team accomplishments.
"It's a funny feeling around a European locker room. Everyone is happy to be on the team, but everybody also wants to be on a different one. A lot of the players have one foot out the door as soon as they step in. If a European player could pick between a trophy at the end of the season and moving on to a bigger club, he would choose the move. And it's all perfectly accepted. It's a strange way to conduct a team. (I can't imagine what it's like to play for a feeder club like Ajax, where not a single person really wants to be on that team.)
"Every player in Europe has a small sense he will someday end up in Manchester United red. Seventy-five thousand fans, Champions League, multi-million-dollar deals all feel within your reach.
"In MLS, the ceiling seems so low. The league office won't sell you; it has no incentive to. You work hard to get some playing time and then become a starter. Hopefully the team rewards you with a new contract, but it's not likely. They pat themselves on the back for getting a good deal within the salary cap. They tell you to sacrifice for the team. You chug along.
"In Europe, the sky's the limit. It's an incredible feeling. It only takes one game or one good run for someone to spot you. The next morning your club sells you to pay the electric bill. You move up a step in a matter of days.
"It changes the way you see the game. Winning isn't the be-all and end-all. You don't play to win the game . . . . You play because you're personally ambitious. Ambition drives performance. And if everyone plays well, then the team wins the game. That drive, that ambition, that personal selfishness helps players, and the team, perform.
"This is strange to Americans. We hate to think anyone is playing for himself. We loath selfish players. And that's one of our disconnects with Klinsmann. Klinsmann doesn't view it as selfish. He sees it as natural, if not necessary.
"The way you talk about the team doing well is to talk about the players playing well. All of a sudden, 'the players have the opportunity' makes a lot more sense. It's the individual's drive that moves the team forward.
"But players still need direction and game plan, neither of which Klinsmann seems to provide. Emphasis on a player's individual ambition aside, at some point coaching needs to be done.
"Klinsmann has a general view of the team that we don't seem to like. Some wise person in history surely said that hatred is fueled by ignorance–and seeing Klinsmann through this European lens at least helps us understand the man a little more. But who knows, maybe that understanding simply gives a little more merit to the hatred.
"Klinsmann grew up in a sporting model different than the one touted in the United States. I don't think it explains everything, but it explains a little."
Warshaw is certainly right in that Klinsmann's outlook runs counter to American sensibilities. The U.S. sinks or swims as a team; for decades, it has been a one-for-all, all-for-one outfit out of necessity. Go down the list of the USA's greatest upset victories–from England in 1950 through Portugal in 2002 and beyond–and in every case the whole was greater than the sum of its parts compared to the individual international stars they defeated.
And U.S. Soccer has even had to stand its approach to youth soccer on its head in an effort to match the player development methods of top soccer-playing nations. When Claudio Reyna was appointed the USSF's youth technical director in 2010 (a year before Klinsmann took the helm of the national team), his curriculum could be summed up by this quote: "We care about how many players you develop rather than how many trophies you win." It was refreshing . . . and altogether Klins-ian.
So the focus now is on the individual, not the team. It can only be hoped that when these sparkling individuals reach the national team, it is Berti Vogts who can help the rugged individualist Klinsmann turn a collection of talent into a unit, supplying Warshaw's "direction and game plan." With Klinsmann under fire for his selections and methods and tactics, it was Vogts who was brought aboard two months ago as technical advisor to do for Klinsmann, perhaps, what Joachim Loew did for him at the 2006 World Cup when Klinsy was German National Team boss. Vogts, an unselfish, blue-collar player nicknamed "The Terrier" would've been Warshaw's prototypical American, a guy playing for the team, not to move up the soccer ladder. Vogts, after all, toiled 15 seasons in the Bundesliga, all with the glamorous Borussia Moenchengladbach.
MLS FINDS ROAD GOALS ARE NOT KRYPTONITE
Filed under: Away goals rule, Uncategorized | Tags: Brad Evans, Bruce Arena, CenturyLink Field, Clint Dempsey, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, Juninho, Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy, Major League Soccer, NASL, NBA, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, NHL, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders, StubHub Center, Village People
The Los Angeles Galaxy lost to the Seattle Sounders, 2-1, on a frigid night at CenturyLink Field but won the Western Conference final on away goals to advance to Major League Soccer's championship game.
The Galaxy, which a week earlier took the first game of its home-and-home series, 1-0, will return to the StubHub Center on December 7 to play host to the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup final. New England defeated the New York Red Bulls, 2-1 and 2-2, in the Eastern Conference finals for a 3-2 aggregate.
Brad Evans, in the 26th minute, and Clint Dempsey, six minutes later, scored to give the Sounders hope of reaching their first MLS final, but nine minutes into the second half L.A. midfielder Juninho pounced on a deflected corner kick by Landon Donovan and ripped a shot in off the left post for his first goal in 13 months. [November 30]
Comment: The last stupid MLS idea has died peacefully of natural causes.
And we don't mean the Columbus Crew's decision to dump its Village People logo once and for all (that's called "re-branding").
MLS finally succumbed to the use of the aways goals rule this playoff season, and the world did not come to an end. Both the Eastern Coference semifinals and finals were decided on aggregate goals, as did one Western semifinal, won by L.A. over Real Salt Lake. And when the Galaxy walked off the CenturyLink Field at the final whistle after the road leg of its Western Conference final, the partisan Sounder crowd of 46,758 accepted the fact that its side, winners on the night by a goal, were losers overall.
Some in the media here didn't quite know what to make of this new gimmick, although it's used in cup competitions the world over. "Rules of the road lift Galaxy into the final" read one newspaper headline. Another: "Galaxy's Goal is One for the Road." But a worthy winner was produced. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena called the concept of the away-goals rule–an incentive for the road team to attack in the first leg–"garbage," and it certainly didn't inspire Seattle to produce an away goal or two in the first leg. But no one at CenturyLink exited wringing their hands over an injustice. Everyone knew the rules going in. In fact, the Sounders were the first team in MLS history to advance on away goals, eliminating FC Dallas nearly three weeks earlier in the Western semifinals (1-1 in Texas, 0-0 at home). And there was no effect at the gate: MLS drew a record average attendance of 19,151 during the regular season–once again better than the NBA and NHL–and 21,275 during the playoffs. Not a tremendous accomplishment, unless one recalls the days in the not-too-distant past when most MLS post-season matches drew crowds embarrassingly smaller than many regular-season games.
Americans fans, apparently, have been more adaptable than MLS gave them credit for over its 19-season run. Or at least they were tolerant. They've had to endure earlier MLS playoff concoctions, such as the ponderous best-of-three-games playoff. And the ridiculous "first-to-five-points" system. Once it got to the simple home-and-home formula in 2003, it counted road goals equal to home goals, perhaps in the belief that a romp by the visiting team in the opening leg would kill interest in the second leg.
Fans here also–some of them–survived other MLS innovations, like the silly countdown clock, and they survived leftovers from the old NASL, like the shootout, back when it was believed that American DNA made it impossible for folks here to understand, let alone appreciate, the concept of a draw. Perhaps the seamless debut of away goals signals the end, once and for all, of its "unnecessarily creative" period.
MLS: DRAWN AND MORE THAN QUARTERED
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chicago Fire, ESPN, FC Dallas, Fiorentina, Italian Serie A, Major League Soccer, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, MLS Cup, Montreal Impact, NBC, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, North American Soccer League, Philadelphia Union, Toronto FC, Univision
This Saturday, Major League Soccer will kick off its 17th season, tying it with the old North American Soccer League (1968-84) as the country's longest tenured national pro soccer league. With the addition of its 19th club, the expansion Montreal Impact, the league will play 323 regular-season games, 17 more than in 2011. The climactic MLS Cup is scheduled for Saturday, December 1, making this the league's longest campaign in its history. And for the first time, every match will be televised, thanks to ESPN, Univision, new partner NBC and various Canadian networks. [March 7]
Comment: Another set of milestones for a league that a dozen years ago was in danger of falling flat on its back, but for those who care about what goes on down on the field, perhaps we'll see some improvement in the standings, where wins and losses are in danger of being surpassed by ties, draws and deadlocks.
Last season, with 18 MLS teams each playing 34 regular-season games for a total of 306, a whopping 106 of those matches ended in a tie. That's 34.6 percent, or more than a third. The New York Red Bulls and Chicago Fire registered 16 draws apiece, breaking the record of 14 set the previous season by FC Dallas. Toronto FC and the Philadelphia Union were next at 15, and another nine teams posted 10 draws or more. In fact, 11 teams finished with more ties than victories, including all those who made up the bottom nine.
Is there a trend in place? In 2010, in a 16-team MLS, only three clubs hit double digits in ties, and just one club, the New England Revolution (5-16-13), had more ties than wins. Teams each played 30 games that year and they racked up 58 draws–24.1 percent of all results.
To a disdainful general American public, soccer and ties are almost synonymous. But compare MLS with the Italy, the land where, as popular perception would have it, the scoreless tie was invented, and games are so tight, oftentimes so negative, that the players walk onto the field hoping for that one, blissful penalty-kick call. Yet in 2010-2011, Serie A's 20 clubs, each playing 38 matches, had 97 ties in 380 games–25.5 percent, just more than a quarter of all results. Half of the teams tied at least 10 games, led by Fiorentina, with 16.
"We're not going to eliminate ties from Major League Soccer, but we have way too many ties and way too many zero-zero ties," MLS Commissioner Don Garber told the Newark Star-Ledger in July, as the draws were piling up at an alarming rate. "What could we do as a league to make it more valuable for a club to play to win every game as opposed to playing for just a point? We're looking at what those initiatives could be. And that is a league initiative."
[For the record, Commissioner, of those 106 ties last year, 27 were scoreless.]
What's troubling here is that not only has MLS not taken concrete steps to reverse the trend (meaningful player bonuses for victories, perhaps?), it has offered little in the way of explanation beyond praising its parity and competitiveness.
MLS is catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to intimate stadiums and boisterous followings, thus creating in many cities the home-field advantage factor that was so missing in the league's first decade. As a result, however, is MLS also becoming yet another league in which teams are more than happy to escape most road games with a single point? If that's the case, it's all the more reason for the league to take the necessary steps to foster a climate in which those large, loud and loyal followers go home happy on a more regular basis.
SO-CALLED 'BECKHAM EXPERIMENT' HAS BEEN WORTH IT
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: "The Beckham Experiment." Giants Stadium, AC Milan, Arsenal, Beckham Academy, Carlos Valderrama, CONCACAF Champions League, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, David Beckham, David Ferreira, Denilson, Dwayne De Rosario, FC Dallas, Home Depot Center, Houston Dynamo, Jamie Moreno, Lamar Hunt U.S. National Open Cup, Los Angeles Galaxy, Major League Soccer, Marco Etcheverry, Mike Petke, MLS Comeback Player of the Year, MLS Cup final, NBA, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Queens Park Rangers, Rafael Marquez, Robbie Keane, Rodney Marsh, Tab Ramos, Thierry Henry, Tottenham Hotspur
A pair of two-time Major League Soccer champions, the Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy, will meet Sunday, November 20, before a sellout crowd at the Home Depot Center outside Los Angeles in the 2011 MLS Cup final. Kickoff will be at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST (ESPN and Galavision). [November 13]
Comment: The game could mark David Beckham's final appearance in the U.S., and that's not a good thing.
The 36-year-old English icon's five-year, $32.5 million contract with the Galaxy expires at the end of the year, and among Beckham's reported suitors are Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur and even Queens Park Rangers.
If he leaves, despite the Galaxy's reported interest in re-signing him, what sort of grade does the so-called "Beckham Experiment"–the title of a rather premature book on his MLS adventure published a couple of years ago–deserve?
Call it a high "B"; not quite a low "A". That's an "A-" for overall effect, dragged down by an "S" (satisfactory) for effort.
There were just as many highs as lows over the five-year period. More than a quarter-million Galaxy/No. 23 jerseys were sold before Beckham was even introduced as a member of the Galaxy, a media event that attracted 700 journalists. As advertised, there were memorable free kicks that produced goals, and that crowd of 66,000 that poured into Giants Stadium to see the man with the educated right foot make his Big Apple debut. There also, however, were injuries, plus the controversial loans to AC Milan and training spells with Arsenal and Tottenham that caused many to question Beckham's commitment to his American team. The collapse of the much-vaunted Beckham youth academy in L.A. didn't help. So mixed has been the Beckham legacy in MLS that he earned–or was saddled with–the 2011 MLS Comeback Player of the Year award for assisting on 15 goals in 26 games a year after a torn Achilles limited him to just seven league appearances in 2010. Oh, and no MLS championships or U.S. National Open Cups or CONCACAF Champions League trophies.
Nevertheless, Beckham will forever be linked with a brief period in MLS history when things went from flat to positive, from indifference to optimism. The year before Beckham's arrival, the league had 12 teams, too many of them troubled. The charter U.S. internationals and key foreign starts like Carlos Valderrama and Marco Etcheverry who had given the teams their initial identities back in 1996 had retired. It wasn't, to quote Rodney Marsh's assessment of English soccer in the early '70s, "A gray game played on gray days by gray men," but it was close.
The creation of the so-called Beckham Rule–the introduction of the designated player exception that allowed teams to reach beyond their salary cap and sign marquee foreign players like Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Denilson (sorry, FC Dallas), Thierry Henry, Rafael Marquez and, most recently, Robbie Keane–changed all that. Beckham's arrival and how it lured other big names to MLS added the necessary flesh and blood to the brick and mortar as MLS grew by six clubs and added an impressive list of soccer-specific stadiums.
Most Americans aren't aware that MLS (17,872) has surpassed the NBA (17,323) and NHL (17,132) in average attendance; that the expansion team fee has ballooned from $10 million, pre-Beckham, to $40 million; that the league's most recent TV rights deal, with outsider NBC, hit $30 million for three years. What they do know is that they can name one soccer player–David Beckham–where before they didn't know Tab Ramos from Jamie Moreno from Mike Petke. Back when the league was just trying to gain any sort of traction, back when the Galaxy was 11th out of 13 teams in 2007 (9-14-7) and 13th out of 14 the following year (8-13-9), people were talking and writing about Becks, or at least the photogenic Becks and wife Posh.
And that's why Beckham will be missed if he chooses to close out his playing career elsewhere. If and when he goes, don't count on the general American public and the typical U.S. sports columnist or commentator to magically shift their attention to Dwayne De Rosario or David Ferreira or even Henry. In that sense, Beckham has proved to be irreplaceable.
PERHAPS A GOOSE AT THE GATE?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Argentine Primera Division, BMO Field, Brazilian Campeonato Serie A, Colorado Rapids, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Dutch Eredivise, Earthquakes, English Premier League, FC Dallas, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga, Giants Stadium, Italian Serie A, J-League, Kansas City, Lockhart Stadium, Major League Baseball, Mexican Primera Division, Miami Fusion, MLS, MLS Cup final, National Hockey League, NBA, New York Red Bulls, NFL, Pizza Hut Park, Qwest Field, Red Bull Arena, San Jose, Seattle Sounders, Spanish La Liga, Tampa Bay Mutiny
Two clubs that have never won a league championship, the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas, will meet Sunday, November 21, at Toronto's BMO Field in the MLS Cup final. [November 20]
Comment: The MLS report card came in last month and the results were mixed as TV ratings remained flat while attendance improved by 7.7 percent.
Average league attendance was 16,675, thanks in part to the Seattle Sounders, who increased Qwest Field capacity and saw its attendance jump from last season's 30,897 to 36,173 in '10. The New York Red Bulls, who moved from the cavernous, lifeless Giants Stadium (12,490 average last season) to the sparkling Red Bull Arena (18,441 this year), also helped get MLS above its overall average of 16,037 in 2009. In all, the 2010 numbers were the third-best in the league's 15-year history, behind the novelty-inspired 17,406 of 1996 and 2007's 16,770.
Where does this place MLS as a gate attraction? It's far behind the world's best-attended soccer league, Germany's Bundesliga (42,790), but as soccer leagues go, it's not far down the list. Next is the vaunted English Premier League (34,088), followed by Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, Mexico's Primera Division, Argentina's Primera Division, France's Ligue 1, Holland's Eredivise, the J-League, the Campeonato Serie A of soccer-crazed Brazil, and MLS. And in the U.S., the NFL, whose teams play eight home games a year, leads at 67,508 in 2009, followed by Major League Baseball (81 home games per team, 30,213 average in 2010). The battle for third is tight, with the NBA (41 home games per team, 17,110 in 2009-10) ahead of the National Hockey League (41 home games, 17,004 in 2009-10) and MLS. (You could pick nits, regarding number of games and stadium/arena capacity, but it would have to start with baseball's total attendance of nearly 80 million compared to pro football's 17.4).
Not bad for a league that nearly shuttered its doors after the 2001 season, when its winningest team, the late, unlamented Miami Fusion, averaged an abysmal 11, 177 at Ft. Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium, a converted high school football stadium. MLS contracted that winter, killing off the Fusion and its other poorly supported Florida cousin, the Tampa Bay Mutiny.
It is hoped, then, that a win by Colorado or Dallas inspires a spin at the turnstiles in 2011 for at least one of the finalists. Despite each being blessed with new, soccer-specific stadiums, only 13,329 a game turned out for Colorado at Dick's Sporting Goods Park this season–12th-worst in the 16-team league–and just 10,815 supported Dallas at its Pizza Hut Park. After Sunday night, soccer fans in Dallas-Ft. Worth or Denver can't use a lack of a champion as an excuse not to support the home town team.
[A note regarding MLS's bottom-feeders: Kansas City (10,287), which played its home matches in a minor league baseball park, and San Jose (9,659), confined to a small college football stadium, brought up the rear. K.C. (2000) and the original Earthquakes (2001, 2003) have each won the MLS Cup, so a title isn't a cure-all at the ticket window.]


Breezy In Bloom: Where's Breezy?
I wish I could capture the look of shock and awe on your faces as I pop up in your reader or on your "Next" button. Wait, what? You didn't even notice that I haven't posted in over a month. Whatevs.
Anyway, let me fill you beezies in on where I have been lately. I know you think I was probably off doing something super fun and fantastic, but unfortunately that's not the case. Most of you know that I started a pretty intense workout schedule back at the end of August, which was definitely taking up a lot of time, but I was still able to blog about it. But then I decided to take a Basic Income Tax Preparation course through H&R Block.
I know, you are probably like, "Wait, I thought you said you weren't off doing something super fun and fantastic? That sounds AMAZING!"
Well, if that was the only thing I had going on in my life, which luckily it is not, it probably wouldn't have been so bad. But since I also work a 40 hour week and then was working out 6 days a week, it was a little cray-cray for my liking. Notice I said I was working out 6 days a week. And no, I haven't finished the workout program....yet.
Apparently the only class they offered at Block that worked around my day job was the accelerated course. 7 weeks of classes on T/Th evenings from 6-9pm and Sat/Sun mornigns from 9am-Noon. Oh, and you know that shiz in college when teachers tell you that for every hour of class you should have an hour of homework? Pretty sure that never happened...until NOW. Seriously, I have never been such a studious person. I have been diligent in reading every chapter and doing all the exercises and haven't missed a class except the first one for my friend's wedding.
Needless to say, about halfway through the class I had a mini-meltdown and realized I couldn't do it all and that Phase 3 of my workout schedule would have to wait until class ends. That day is finally on the horizon. We have our final this Saturday and I have senioritis like a mofo. I just want to get it over with and get the heck out of town.
Oh yeah, my friend sent me a text a couple of weeks ago asking what I was doing on the 19th because she has a hotel room in Tahoe. I told her, "I have my final in the morning, but that would be an awesome way to celebrate that it's all over!" So now I get to go have a girls' overnight in Tahoe to celebrate the accomplishement of being done with this class.
The whole thought behind taking the class was being able to do seasonal part-time tax preparation with H&R Block. I had my interview with them last week and will probably hear from them after they get my stellar results from the final. I am kind of thinking long-term with this whole thing if it all works out. Maybe someday we have a child and I want to stay home, but can do this part-time/seasonally and by then I will be doing more involved returns which will bring in more money. We shall see. It's also something I can do later in retirement or something too.
So, anywhooooo, that's why I fell off the face of blog-land and I am hoping to get more wedding pics and honeymoon recaps up on the blog in the coming weeks/months (oh yeah, remember when I got married?).
Welcome back! :) Good luck on your final, and have a blast in Tahoe!!!!!
What a whirlwind! Congratulations on all of your endeavors, and welcome back.


Forget about al-Qaeda and state-sponsored radicalized Muslims, the newest Boogeyman that the US government wants the American public to fear are our own US veterans.
The US Armed Forces are preparing to fight what they call "rahowa" or racial holy war. They claim that white supremacists are joining the military to infiltrate and overthrow what is referred to as the Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG). Academics are proposing that the infiltration scheme includes white supremacists hiding their ties to neo-Nazi groups is secret in order to get passed screeners when applying for the armed forces in recruitment offices.
In reality, there is a great deal of former and current soldiers who have realized that our government has been takeover by the global Elite who are the front for the Zionist Movement that have been working in the shadows to instill global governance.
The mainstream media are using the false flag attack on the Sikh Temple because the patsy, Wade Michael Page was a US veteran who was purported to have ties to white supremacy groups according to the FBI-sponsored Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The Pentagon has banned military involvement in any group they deem a threat to the agenda of the US government. Author Matt Kennard has written about how the US military would recruit members of supremacy groups when they could not fill in their ranks by normal means with what was called a "moral waiver".
The SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are working with the military to train soldiers on how to spot extremists in their ranks. These "watchdog groups" point out that some soldiers have tattoos that could be construed as racist.
We can look back at assassination attempts on Obama and see a pattern. They all have been US veterans who were somehow tied to white supremacy groups. This sets the stage for what could be the biggest false flag since 9/11.
Anton Caluori, resident of Federal Way in Washington State, was arrested by the Secret Service who were assisted by paramilitary police, for making threats against President Barack Obama. Caluori showed police his handgun when they came to his door.
Caluori was a US veteran with an impeccable record. His mother told the MSM that her son has a legal permit for a handgun and that he had never done anything wrong before.
A neighbor who refused to be identified also remarked that Caluori was a quiet man who never bothered anyone; however he was being taken to a psychiatric hospital to be evaluated.
Another arbitrary witness claimed that Caluori was wearing an "ammunition belt like Rambo" when he met with the police.
Curiously, the FBI says Caluori sent a threatening email to the FBI's general email address, according to Emily Langlie, US attorney spokesperson. The details of the email are being kept secret; however Langlie believes that it was a clear threat to kill Obama.
Brian Leary, Secret Service spokesperson in Washington, DC, said that Caluori assaulted one of the police officers that came to arrest him. Leary goes on to say that the email Caluori allegedly sent was "alarming".
According to Schorck, the police who accompanied the Secret Service claim that Caluori had improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in his apartment. The bomb squad was called to the scene. Although no explosives were found, the police continued to tout that they believed it was a viable threat.
This latest threat against Obama has justified the previous fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist groups who are upset about having an African-American president. Although Congress passed legislation in 1994 stating that US Presidents would not have Secret Service protection during their lifetime, Obama has had federal agency protection in anticipation of an assassination attempt. Despite the fact that the majority of the "threats" have been negative commentary criticizing Obama's presidency, the Obama administration is convinced that a white supremacist will become a viable threat to Obama's life.
In 2008, Shawn Robert Adolf and Tharin Robert Gartwell were arrested in Denver, Colorado for allegedly stating racist views against the Obama during a meth binge. The two men had rifles, sniper scopes and were reported to be focused on killing Obama before he could become the Democratic Presidential nominee.
That same year, a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina was arrested after having made known his supposed intentions to kidnap Obama and "inflict harm" while being in possession of a military grade sniper rifle.
In the MSM, a story about a Washington, DC police officer that made a threat against the First Lady to fellow officers surfaced, yet just as quickly disappeared. Over breakfast, the officer allegedly said he would shoot Michelle Obama, the showed a picture of a gun he'd use on his cellular phone. Although the officer was not identified the idea was placed into the social meme. And it follows the plans cited by the DHS informant and lends credibility to his story.
In 2010, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis published a report entitled Rightwing Extremism , wherein domestic extremists, particularly white supremacists, were proposed to be the newest and most dangerous threat to the US since al-Qaeda.
The DHS wanted to instill the idea that veterans were being recruited to become "right-wing extremists" upon returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Janet Napolitano intimated that military veterans could become instruments of domestic terror. When Napolitano's comments were met with public distain, the DHS amended their assertion that extremist groups were highly-marked; but rather it was a lone wolf type that would carry out the biggest act of domestic terrorism.
A DHS whistleblower states that there is a planned false flag attack that will involve a staged assassination attempt on Obama linked to a white supremacist that will incite a race war. Because of the violence, the US government will have to implement martial law to control the population.


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Honda listened to everyone complaining about cookie cutter cars and brought a lovely, quirky box on wheels that is ready to do whatever you want to. Honda envisioned a blank slate for the public to build on so that you can make your Element fit the schedule no matter what your daily plans may be.
1. What other car will let you do this?
This is seriously rad and a lifesaver if you find yourself stranded on a remote highway or just in need of impromptu camping.
You saw the penthouse view in the last one, but now it's time to check out the first-floor digs. Two floors of living under the trusty Honda badge? Yes, please!
Whether it's a camper, a bike or ATV rack, or a boat, the Element can tow them all. Sure you could do the same with a Pilot or a Ridgeline, but then you also have to deal with driving a larger vehicle that may not fit the rest of your lifestyle.
4. The power of hot bread!
Ever wanted to turn your car into a toaster? Want to adorn your car with your favorite food? This Element is so hot it's serving up fresh toast daily.
Throw in your four-legged friends or just some messy cargo and don't worry about any dirt, grime, or debris. This is because the interior floor was made to be cleaned easily and can even be hosed off.
The Element is the perfect car for those with too many friends and not enough seats to go around. Add on the side step and tell your adventurous buddies to get a good grip on the "Oh S*%t" handles for the ride.
The resale on these cars are SOLID — like NFL running back slamming into you as you reach for the last hot wing solid. You won't just get a fun, versatile vehicle when you pick up an Element, you'll also be making a sound investment.