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Europe pt. 2 Munich

As promised, I’m back. Onto Munich:

Day 1

We flew to Munich on the 4th day. It took 40 minutes. Although arriving to the airport 2 hrs early for a 40min flight wasn’t much fun, the short flight meant we had pretty much the entire day. What did we do? We spent the afternoon in the Deutsches Museum.

 Doesn’t look too impressive?….

Yep, it’s the entire compound. Deutsches (German) Museum is actually kind of a misnomer because the museum was not about German history or culture but about German science. Then again, science is history and culture for Germany. It had displays ranging from historic aircraft to instruments to biotech and mining. The museum was was absolutely massive so we only got to go to 7-6 exhibits, but even that took almost 3 hrs. Note: during summer months, some of the exhibits are closed and there is pretty heavy construction around the building.

That night, we walked around the city center and dined with one of my dad’s former class mates (more on that later)

This is the central plaza. We also went to the place where Hitler held his big Munich rally and the Church of St. Peter. We were going to climb the tower, but someone had a heart attack or something and they closed it for “emergency”. Sorry about the lack of photos, it started raining for a bit after the picture above.

IMG_8173 After walking wsa dinner at the Hofbrauhaus.

Day 2

About 1.5-2(depending on traffic) hours outside of Munich is the Nymphenburg Castle. This castle was built starting in 1869 by the last Bavarian king Ludwig II. A good portion of the design was never completed, but it was still beautiful:

20160803_131918_resized His kingly view of the village

20160803_151906_resized_1 20160803_152043_resized_1

There are also many hiking trails in the back, but we didn’t have that kind of time. To be honest, the castle was nothing too special and there were thousands of tourist, leading to an epic queue to get in. Fortunately, my dad ordered tickets online. I suggest going to the castle to look at it, take a few pics, then spend the rest of the time hiking and enjoying the scenery.

There was a bit of a traffic jam on the way back so we didn’t get back until 7 that evening. Everyone was pretty pooped, so we didn’t do anything else.

Day 3

Last day in Europe! Of course we had to cram the most possible touring into the limited amount of time. The flight wasn’t until 10pm but we agreed to go to my dad’s classmate’s house for dinner at 5. Well, where to go:

First the BMW museum/ world

 BMW world

Essentially a huge car display of the BMW group. I didn’t lear much except that commercial motorcycles can go up to 280kmph, the i8 is WAY more awesome than I expected and that BMW owns Rolls-Royce and minicooper.

IMG_8300 BMW museum

The museum was much more informative. I never knew there was so much to learn about a single car brand. We were going to tour the factory across the street, but Germans get summer vacation. I highly recommend the museum and world to anyone, whether they are into cars or not.

As it so happens the BMW complex is literally across the street from Olympia park. The park was huge, but the actual staduim was closed and most of it was turned into an amusement park 😦 It was still interesting to see the wonders of German engineering

IMG_8204 That was built in 1976!!!!!!

Since we didn’t spend much time in the park, we still had a couple of hours to spare. I am a HUGE WWII freak so naturally, we just had to go to Dachau. I wasn’t disappointed. The exhibits gave an entire overview of  the western front from an entirely different perspective. The only regret is that we didn’t have more time. Naturally, we didn’t take pictures inside. After that, it was dinner at the classmate’s house and to the airport.

Well, that’s it for Munich! I’ll be back with the food tomorrow!

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New Toys

I have mentioned in a prior post that I have a new IPhone.The commercial where people try to get really great pictures on their phone, only to have the “Error- you are out of space and can’t take this picture” message spoke volumes to me. My new phone has more space, but I also bought a flash drive to save the phone pictures and back them up to my laptop
So in honor of no photos on the phone, here’s tonight’s Zusher shot.Keep a good thought for her tomorrow….we thank you!

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57 year old married female, care-giving, loving former government employee who is writing to try to keep her sanity.

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Monday, December 31, 2012

While Waiting for Piers Morgan to Self-Deport

While sitting around waiting for Piers Morgan to self-deport because we reject his fantasy-based gun control ideas, Around O-Town Orlando links to an article originally on Pravda.  Not the New York Times, the real one: Pravda.Ru - Americans, Never Give Up Your Guns.  Complete with charmingly bad translation in places.
For those of us fighting for our traditional rights, the US 2nd Amendment is a rare light in an ever darkening room. Governments will use the excuse of trying to protect the people from maniacs and crime, but are in reality, it is the bureaucrats protecting their power and position. In all cases where guns are banned, gun crime continues and often increases. As for maniacs, be it nuts with cars (NYC, Chapel Hill NC), swords (Japan), knives (China) or home made bombs (everywhere), insane people strike. They throw acid (Pakistan, UK), they throw fire bombs (France), they attack. What is worse, is, that the best way to stop a maniac is not psychology or jail or "talking to them", it is a bullet in the head, that is why they are a maniac, because they are incapable of living in reality or stopping themselves.  (emphasis added - SiG)
Today, Russians are still under the thumb of a strongman.  They've replaced a tyrannical communist government with a tyrannical oligarchy.  Conditions are marginally better for people, but incredibly better for the well-connected.  Pravda isn't officially unamerican, but practically, the stories on Pravda blame a lot on the US.  The occasional honest reporting like this is worth keeping an eye on.

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Author Interview with Norman Oro

Norman Oro

Author The Legend of Team 9

Author Interview Norman Oro

I’d like to thank Norman for sitting down with me for this interview.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I’m Filipino-American and came to the United States when I was three years old. I loved science fiction growing up and still do. I’m 42 years old now (where does the time go?) and worked for over 10 years in Corporate America doing accounting, finance, economics and business development. I went to UCLA as an undergraduate and studied business at MIT Sloan.

What inspired you to write your first book?

I’d been doing consulting work in finance when the bottom fell out of the job market. I’ve always wanted to write a book, so rather than waiting by the phone, I decided to spend that time pursuing a dream.

What inspired you to write The Legend of Team 9?

Difficult to say. It just kind of happened. As with my first two books, Away: Beginnings and Away: Keepers of the Alliance, The Legend of Team 9 felt almost like it wrote itself. It was as though the story came to me demanding that I write it. Of course, I couldn’t turn it down.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Not a message per se. The book does deal with loss. Specifically, it deals with losing something that underpins how a society functions. I wouldn’t say, though, that the reader needs to grasp that. Mostly I just hope people enjoy The Legend of Team 9 as a science fiction adventure story. However, if they can find deeper meanings within the story that make the book more enjoyable for them, I’m all for it.

Give us an insight into your main character. What do they do that is special?

The central characters are, of course, Team 9: Richard Redding, Ingrid Grace, Bobby Gentry and Jimmy Foyer. They’re a group of explorers. Among them, Richard is the main character. What they manage to do in the book is confront a threat to their society at considerable risk to themselves. In the process, they display an admirable degree of altruism and courage. Dr. Marshall is also important as a main character to provide continuity with my other two books. He’s a man of science, who’s troubled by his involvement in developing an incredibly destructive weapon. It’s not explicit, but during the course of the story, he exorcises some of those demons.

What are your current projects?

I’m taking a break from writing for now. I avoid watching sci-fi movies and often movies in general when I’m writing, so I’m going to the local cineplex quite a bit these days. I also plan on catching a ballgame at Citifield this season and am toying with writing an app (a hobby of mine). As before, I’m seeking consulting work in finance, which I still enjoy. In the meantime, if a book idea seizes me, I’ll probably write another story.

Why do you write?

Because there are science fiction stories out there that I’ve always wanted to read, but for whatever reason they haven’t been written yet.

What is the hardest thing about writing?

Proofing. To be honest, it can be arduous and tedious, but it’s very important to me that my work shows polish. Being a self-published author makes this especially important.

What is the easiest thing about writing?

Ironically, the story itself comes pretty easily, at least for my first three books. In very general terms, they’re almost fully formed by the time I start. I don’t know if that’ll always be the case, but that’s been my experience so far.

Do you ever experience writers block?

Sometimes. Sometimes it seems there are too many ways a story can go and I don’t know which one will yield the best arc.

What is your favorite go to recipe?

I don’t really cook these days, so if I had to bring something to a party, I’d probably go out to the supermarket and get a pie, either apple or pumpkin. Those are some of my favorites. Not particularly exotic, but appealing to most everyone. If the people at the party liked Filipino food, I’d call a catering place and order some adobo. It’s a Filipino dish usually made with pork or chicken in a broth of garlic, soy sauce and vinegar. I haven’t eaten adobo in ages, but it’s another favorite of mine.

I want to thank Norman again for taking the time to sit down and answer these questions for us. To learn more about Norman and his books, Click HERE.

One response to this post.

  1. Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
    Anyhow, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!

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As part of its mandate to cater for the needs of its members, there are various ministries and fellowships established in the Church. Members are encouraged to belong to at least one of the Ministries and Fellowships:

Lively Stones

The music department of the Stone Church Mokola, (Word Alive Ministries), Under the able leadership of Gbade Adetisola, ‘a meteor in the making, so talented and committed’
The Lively Stones, The Stone Church Mokola was founded in 1993 as part of The Word Alive Ministries continue reading>>

Corporate Affairs

The ministry is in charge of publications of Church newsletters, magazines and Books. It also aims to encourage a sound reading and creative writing culture among Church members. The Church’s Bookshop is being run by this ministry also.

Counselling Ministry

The ministry is in charge of ensuring new converts are firmly grounded in the Word of God through the Believers Bible Class. Converts are also ministered to through visitations, prayers and counseling, after their conversion.

 Hospitality Ministry

The Hospitality (ushering) ministry of the Stone Church is a purpose driven ministry whose sole aim is to propagate the gospel by creating a conducive atmosphere for people to serve God, by giving them a warm reception and ensuring that they are comfortable in the Church. They are trained to express the love of God to the worshippers with a joyful countenance and disposition always. They hold an outreach annually (towards the end of the year) where they also propagate the gospel. They meet every second Saturday of the month at 5pm. New members are also welcome.

House Cell Ministry

This ministry serves Church members at a personal level in small groups called the House cells. All Church members belong to the House cell group closest to their homes. The House cells meet on Sundays for an hour of sharing and fellowship between 5.30 – 6.30.p.m. View House cell directory here

Marriage & Family Affairs

The ministry is responsible for pre-marital and post-marital counseling for Church members. Family related issues are also addressed in this ministry.

Outreach and Publicity Ministry

This ministry is responsible for sensitizing the Church about her evangelistic responsibilities though various means and methods.

Prayer Ministry

The ministry lifts up the Church and the Ministers in prayer. All Church activities are preceded by a period of praying led by this ministry.


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Rudy Giuliani will Convert America into a Police State

Debt Prison
December 31, 2007

Rudy Giuliani’s authoritarian leadership style is ideal for continuing our government’s assault against personal liberties. Between Presidential Executive Orders and Congressional Bills, our government is ramping up it’s surveillance on U.S. citizen’s. Big Brother has developed a voracious appetite for information gathered on its tax payers and continues to implement new ways of accomplishing this invasion to our privacy. Just this week CNN aired a story on the Justice Department’s tracking of U.S. citizens through their cell phones, even when the phones are turned off. Judges are giving the Department the go-ahead even if a crime does not appear to be eminent. The details for this process are kept quiet and the discretion for who qualifies as a trackee is left up to law enforcement.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement in New Orleans went door to door confiscating the guns of law abiding citizens. What worse conditions could you possibly envision for needing to protect your personal property and life – than the aftermath of that storm in a crime ridden city? These actions seem like the perfect policies for ‘law and order’ candidate Rudy Giuliani. His own words indict him; “Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want….Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority.” Giuliani made the statement in 1994 just before becoming Mayor. This sounds like the anthem for Kim Jong il of North Korea in his defense of an Authoritarian regime. Who get’s to decide the extent and meaning of lawful authority? Why Mr. Authority himself…..Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

It is the duty of all people to question the authority by which they are ruled. Where would America be today if the Founding Fathers hadn’t questioned the lawful authority of our ruling British King? What if Martin Luther King hadn’t questioned the lawful authority of Southern Laws written to deny the Black Community equal rights? As Mayor of New York Giuliani kept gun laws tight, making it nearly impossible to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Sure crime and murder rates went down while Rudy was Mayor. However, does anyone actually think that citizens applying for gun permits were the one’s committing violent crimes? Giuliani supports bans on “assault weapons” of which any semi-automatic could be classifed. He also supports all citizens be required to have a license to carry a gun (comparing it to getting a driver’s license). I can only imagine how Rudy hopes the Supreme Court will rule this Spring on whether hand guns will be allowed in Washington D.C..

Rudy is the preferred candidate for the Police State. Giuliani believes that by violating the liberty of law abiding citizens, you guarantee additional security and safety. American’s should flee from this ridiculous ideology. I’m never surprised by a Democrat’s belief that confiscating tax payer dollars for social programs is a noble cause. But when conservatives begin embracing the idea that law abiding citizens should be monitored for ‘their own safety,’ I know the future of our country is dim. Too many times I’ve heard conservatives state “I don’t care if the government monitors my phone calls; I’ve got nothing to hide!” When Guliani gets through it won’t matter, you can’t do much harm to society when all you’re allowed is a pre-Civil War musket.

This concept of preemptive strikes became popular along with the legislation of ‘preemptive surveillance.’ The government is putting together an entire system of information gathering and surveillance, designed to prevent crimes before they happen. Law abiding citizens should never have to relinquish liberty because of the actions of criminals. Our government has capitalized on our nation’s state of fear following the tragedies of 9/11. Congress justifies its actions, advertising that citizens sacrifice their liberty, to ensure that another plane isn’t hi-jacked. The institution that can best grip security is the individual private citizen.

Take an objective look at the changes implemented since 9/11. Airport security micromanages the contents of your bags while you remove clothes for shoe bomb inspections. Would any of these new laws and regulations have prevented 9/11? I sincerely doubt it. If anything, couldn’t the government have denied citizenship and entry to individuals from Muslim countries? This would have prevented the tragedy on a cool September morning, while at the same time upheld the liberties of our citizens. So we must suffer for political correctness and the ever increasing Police State. If anything, Rudy Giuliani will increase these violations of liberty and the appetitie of Federal Power over its citizens. Rudy should be rejected out right for these reasons alone.

Reason Magazine has Giuliani on the cover this month with the title “The Liberal Candidate.” Is the ex-Mayor the best that the Republican Party has to offer? If so, then Conservatives are in trouble. He combines the worst traits from both Conservatives and Liberals. Gun laws will be tightened and the surveillance powers of the Federal Government increased. In addition, Giuliani would open new doors for homosexual interests while massaging the Supreme Court with a Justice whom wouldn’t disturb women’s civil rights offered by Roe vs. Wade.

Rudy Giuliani. The Mayor of New York who put citizens in jail for washing windshields. These people would step out into the traffic, wash your windshield, and then demand you pay them. The horror….these panhandlers! Giuliani, Mr. Law and Order, put a stop to this horrific act of criminal behavior. At the same time, Giuliani supports the power of the Government to confiscate tax dollars from unwilling citizens, and pay for Doctors to cut live infants from the wombs of their mothers. Conservatives have got to love a man like that.

I’ve heard the conservative voices cry “you must have safety before you have liberty.” Where did these people come from? When did conservatives decide that an individual’s security was best protected by Big Brother? There are frightening circumstances worst than 9/11. An entire nation existing, working, and monitored for the enjoyment of rich elitists – that is my nightmare.

It’s obvious that our ever increasing Police State has nothing to do with security and safety. These programs are promoted and installed to steal your liberty and enhance the powers of the Federal Government. Want proof? While the government has ramped up it’s policing of citizens – non citizens cross our borders unprohibited. Latin, Middle Eastern, and even Chinese immigrants cross into our country illegally with each passing day. The Federal Government not only ignores it, but encourages it. Our “News” media supports these crimes as well, with constant sympathetic stories on the hardships of immigrants. Stories designed to tug on the strings of your heart – not the logic of your intellect. By ignoring our own immigration laws and creating a ‘come on down’ atmosphere, we allow Islamic fundamentalists to flank us. And how does Rudy Giuliani proclaim to solve this issue? “Illegal who?…..let’s invade Iran!!!!” This is the country where 15 of the 19 hi-jackers didn’t come from. If the government was serious about security, wouldn’t it correct undocumented immigrants before sacrificing liberty was even discussed?

The fact is, as human beings, we must accept that life is dangerous. Absolute security is impossible. The degree to which we ask Government Powers to assume security should be kept in check. With each new level of responsibility the Federal Government assumes, the liberty of individual citizens must be sacrificed. It’s a simple question. In the United States of America – where do the citizens want the power to be centered? The responsibilities of security, safety, and power should be embraced by individual private citizens as much as possible. Individuals can best navigate their way to liberty and safety.

By placing the responsibility on private citizens and companies, we’re better able to guarantee our security, not only from foreign fundamentalists – but also from a government which strives to obtain Authoritarian control over its populace.

Rudy Giuliani would further the powers of the Police State. This is not good for conservatives, nor any other American. As such, Giuliani should be exposed for what he is. A power hungry Authoritarian devoted to forcing his estranged ideology onto the citizens of this country. By increasing the Authoritarian powers of our Federal Government, he strives to undermine the tiny fraction of individual liberty that remains in our hearts and minds. For this reason he is rejected.

One response to “Rudy Giuliani will Convert America into a Police State

  1. Pingback: Hints for writing great blog posts | Debt Prison

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Well, with the price of $QQQ dropping below 57 and showing no sign of recovery, I decided to cast off both my Aug 58 and 60 call positions for less than a 1% loss.

Not only was the price of the underlying eating away at the premium, but the front month time decay was also starting to kill it (the premium) as well.  I sold my 58’s at 0.58 (1.26) and 60’s at 0.12 (0.54).

I certainly thought we would have bounced by now.  With each day of market losses and growing pessimism amongst the masses, I am becoming more and more convinced that we are going to see a sharp, blistering rally sometime soon.  Hell, if I was simply buying shares of $QQQ, I probably would have been willing to sit tight on my position for a few more days.

However, as mentioned, the time decay was killing my options.  So, I’m left to lick my wounds, try to learn from the trade and move on to other opportunities.

This entry was posted in Information, Options and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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Number of Factors Can Be Contributed to Gillespie’s Lag

Jeff Shapiro of The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a taken a look at the many reasons for Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie’s lag in the the race against incumbent Mark Warner.

Despite a new poll projecting that Gillespie is only 9 points behind Warner, the candidate still has a lot of ground to cover in the next five weeks if he wants to win the election.

In his piece Shapiro contributes Gillespie’s struggle to a number of factors including a lack of funding and poor standing among his own Republican Party, but Shapiro also notes that Gillespie may be the first person to fall victim to the effects of Bob McDonnell’s trial.

For almost five weeks, in a critical point in the campaign, the McDonnell trial blackout news stations with coverage, making it  extremely difficult for Gillespie to get out his story and name. The verdict of the case hurts the GOP candidate as it reaffirms the idea that Republicans are bought and paid for.

Along with the lack of action of campaign finance reform by Republicans puts Gillespie in an unfavorable light. It looks like he will have to do more than equate Warner with Barak Obama  if he wants to start winning public opinion.

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McDonald’s tries to kill kale

Any kale with that?

Any kale with that?

Sad to say, but it looks like Vermont’s favorite vegetable may have jumped the shark.

McDonald’s will debut kale as an ingredient in the not-too distant future as the fast-food giant continues its efforts to adapt to changing consumer preferences, according to a recent note from Janney Capital Markets.

“Possibilities include kale for use in salads, or perhaps a kale smoothie,” wrote Janney analysts in a note to clients. “More generally, McDonald’s clearly aims to raise consumers’ perception of the quality of its food. Adding kale to the menu in some way could help be a step in this direction.”

See, Mickey D’s has a problem. More and more Americans are realizing its food is shit, so they need “to raise customers’ perception of the quality of its food.”

Please note: not necessarily the actual quality… just our perception of it. And McDonald’s has no idea what to do with kale; it just wants to do something.

Kale, thanks to Bo Muller-Moore and foodies everywhere, is a powerful image shaper. Sure, it’s nutritious and all that; but its most potent effect is on “customers’ perception.” You wouldn’t get the same bang for your buck from chard or arugula or collards.

One franchisee’s director of operations said adding kale was a good move for McDonald’s, which continues to battle negative trends domestically.

“We’re here to give what our customers want,” he said. “If that’s what our customers want, we’ll give it to them.”

I guess they’ve finally gotten sick of mystery meat. Maybe this kale stuff will help.

2 thoughts on “McDonald’s tries to kill kale

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Is this the end of Rico?

Well, if this isn’t the mother of all Friday newsdumps.

After 18 months of headaches caused by Vermont Health Connect, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Friday that he’s prepared to replace the online health insurance marketplace if it fails to meet two new deadlines.

(Note: According to VTDigger, Shumlin first made his announcement on WDEV’s Mark Johnson Show. Credit where it’s due.)

Yeezus. I make a little day trip to New Hampshire, and this is what happens? I may never leave Vermont again.

“This is not an attractive option,” Shumlin’s chief of health care reform, Lawrence Miller, said at the press conference.

Miller added that “bubonic plague can ruin your day, and zombies are bad news.”

In the past I have occasionally been guilty of hyperbole, so it’s understandable if you take this with a grain of salt, but…

This doesn't end well.

This doesn’t end well.

If Vermont Health Connect fails, it is the end of Peter Shumlin’s political career.

It wouldn’t be the last act; he’d still remain governor for another year and a half. But the abandonment of VHC would be a death blow to whatever’s left of his reputation for managerial competence. And trustworthiness. He will have a simple, stark choice: Serve out his term as best he can, step aside with grace and dignity (and hopefully a big show of unity with a consensus candidate for the Democratic nomination)… or go down in a metaphorical burst of tommygun fire.

Mind, all this is contingent on the failure of VHC, which is far from a sure thing. But given its track record (and the Governor’s), today’s announcement has to send shivers down the spines of everyone who’s invested political capital in the Shumlin Growth Fund.

The song goes like this: assurances of success; bumps in the road; conditional assurances of success; postponements; failures; promises to learn lessons and do better; new plans with later deadlines; fresh assurances; lather, rinse, repeat.

We have just gone from “assurances of success” to “conditional assurances.”

The fallback plan, should VHC again fail to meet functionality targets, is a hybrid marketplace: federally supported but state-regulated. It’s not a terrible Plan B, but it would put the lie to every assurance Governor Shumlin has made about Vermont Health Connect since its launch. It would hand the Republicans a huge quantity of ammunition, and it would permanently sink Shumlin’s managerial reputation.

The Governor’s new timeline:

Shumlin said he would only deploy the contingency plan if Vermont Health Connect is unable to automatically process changes in account information by May or if it’s unable to smoothly reenroll users by October. Even then, the state would not adopt the new system until October 2016, in time for the 2017 open-enrollment period.

Oh great. So if VHC isn’t working by October, then we’ll be activating Plan B right in the middle of the next gubernatorial campaign.

And what if anything — at all — goes wrong? It drags on until after the election. If that happens, it may not matter who the Democrats nominate.

If all that happens, Peter Shumlin will not only go down in history as a failure. He’ll also be the guy who squandered a king’s ransom in political capital for his Democratic Party.

2 thoughts on “Is this the end of Rico?

  1. Ross Laffan

    It certainly should be the end of his career. I was behind the logic of spending all those millions on the exchange because it would benefit us later when single payer was implemented. but now the waste of that money is tantamount to a bridge to nowhere. The issue of single payer will be out of play for at least a decade because of Peter Shumlin. And he handed us a Republican governor in 2016 who will be in office for as long as he’d like to be.

    And let’s not for the role of the Progressive Party who inexplicably chose to give him a pass knowing full well it was suspect as to whether he would deliver. Don’t believe all their mean tweets and angry press releases. They are also responsible for the issue being banished to the wilderness.

    Lucky for Shumlin, he’ll still be a millionaire and can afford his own health insurance.

    1. John S. Walters Post author

      The sad thing is, health care reform itself has been a great success. We’ve cut our uninsured rate almost in half; it’s one of the lowest in the country. But Vermont Health Connect has driven the narrative, and Shumlin bears much of the responsibility for that.

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Archive for February, 2016

As you well know the megladon is a “real” animal and not a cryptid as such except that it is thought to have gone extinct five million years ago.

I claim that it never went extinct and that this beautiful monstrosity of the sea is still out there eating whales and giant squid as it always has.

Unlike some recent “documentaries” that claim it to be real only to then say just kidding its dead. I have no alterier motive in getting lots of traffic as the six of you who read this don’t seem to care what I put out but back to the megladon.

As the picture at the top shows they can grow to about 18 meters in length with teeth up to half a foot in length (shown below)1445812093337

These monsters of the deep have survived the mellniums by living deep in the antarctic in lakes deep below the glaciers coming out and eating migrating whales but rendered mostly harmless due to a state of mild hibernation bought on by the cold temperatures. Thanks to the rising sea levels these creatures will soon wake up fully and once morw spread terror through the seas.

Between megladon and the return of the kracken we are heading for a new age of sea monsters. I couldn’t be happier to be alive.

Jhonny pt 4

Posted: February 24, 2016 in Stories
Tags: , , , , , ,

After a week of hearing nothing from Mr Western. I didn’t know what to think I didn’t know his horrible fate yet, on the surface at least Jhonny was getting better, he came out of his room more was more talkative he even smiled periodically.  Always those to cheary smiles that left his eyes untouched. His parents bought it and thanked me for my concern and for being such a good friend and helping Jhonny through his rough patch. I didn’t bother telling them I thought it was an act so we would leave him alone. I wish I had.

This was when he started with more questions again but they seemed forced like he was asking them because it was expected. Things like whats the deadliest snake on earth? or why don’t we just bleed constantly when we get cut? These weren’t Jhonny questions and I was more worried than ever.

The next week I got word that my Grandma who lived a few hundred kilometers away had died and me and my brother packed up my old beat up toyota and went on a trip to pay our respects and comfort our mother.

It was two days after we arived that I got a call from Jhonnys parents they were almost hysterical. Jhonny had gone missing he hadn’t come home from school the day before and they thought maybe he caught a ride with me but didn’t tell them. I told them I was sorry but Jhonny hadn’t come with me and that I had no idea where he might have gone. They thanked me and hing up abruptly leaving the line beeping.

The funeral was the next day it was a good time remembering grandma Tess, afterwars I managed to convince my brother to catch a ride back with one of our cousins and set off back home to help search for Jhonny.

When I got home I went straight to Johnny’s place where I met his parents and asked what was going on.

They explained that the day after I left Jhonny hadn’t come home from school and after ringing the school they found out that he hadn’t gone to school that day at all. They rang a few of his other friends and had no answer. That was when tgey called me. After that they had called the police and filed a missing persons report. They said the cops had done a quick search of his room then sent out a couple of patrols to look for him and spread his discription state wide.

I asked if I could look in his room.  His parents aproved and I went up and had a look.

The room was littered with the books I had taken Jhonny to look for almost every surface was covered in an old archane looking tome left open to revel strange diagrams or symbols wierd sketches of creatures that couldn’t of been of earthly origin.

I couldn’t find the big leather tome Jhonny had been given and told to leave till last it looked like maybe he had taken it with him. I didn’t know why but this filled me with a sense of dread.


text:
Through The Static

July 5, 2008

Biofuels ‘causing food price rises’

Filed under: Economics,Food,Government,SeXiNeSS,World News — disciplepete @ 12:02 pm

Al Jazeera:

Biofuels have triggered a 75 per cent increase in world food prices, according to a leaked confidential report from the World Bank.

The report’s author, a senior economist at the bank, said that contrary to claims by the United States government, increased demand from India and China had not been the cause of rising food prices.

“Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption,” the report said.

Rising food prices and the use of biofuels, which supporters claim are a greener alternative to using fossil fuel, will be discussed at a G8 summit in Japan next week.

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The Darkness Within

They came to you with ease
Their poison seeping into every pore
Infecting you with their disease
You felt their words settling into your core

You weren’t the only one writing your pen
Their presence becoming evermore aware
You discovered the voices and the demons within
Numbing and soothing, making it easier to bear

You welcomed their darkness
Loathed the comfort it brought
Seeking their lullabies while you rested,
Their blackness nestling into rot

Your soul became their haven
You forgot the goodness from before
The words begin to quicken
And you wrote more and more

But it was not you pressing upon the ink
The sonnets that you composed
And the potion you continued to drink
Provided the serenity of being exposed

Your essence now belongs to them
Your soul no longer your own
The exchange of sorts is not so grim
For they thrive inside each precious bone

Your life continues so seamlessly
In this unspoken silent decree
Your demons lie so easily
You unconsciously nod and agree

Writing and writing, screaming violence
But changes never come to be
Your voice has been silenced
And your ghost, nobody sees

You belong to them, there is no escape
All of the beautiful and dark words are gone
You search and search, the room is changing shape
How long have you been so withdrawn

You must find solace in this exile
You must believe one day you will be found
Your precious words so fragile
Will be forever pressed upon your burial ground

~ Kristie Bueno

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The Reason For God

The second title on my “books that I was able to finally finish during vacation” list was Timothy Keller’s The Reason for God. A tremendous read that I highly recommend for anyone who has real questions about God and the reality of Christ as Savior, especially when you look at the hurts, confusion and chaos that is the world we live in.

The first half of the book is dedicated to methodically and logically speaking to some of the most common areas of doubt:

  • There Can’t Be Just One True Religion
  • How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?
  • Christianity Is a straightjacket
  • The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice
  • How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
  • Science Has Disproved Christianity
  • You Can’t Take the Bible Literally

All were well explained, however, I found it to be a bit “heady” (for a simple-minded guy like myself) and it required that I read it in small chunks. The second half of the book deals with the reasons for faith. This is the section of the book, as you can see by the number of quotes below, that really resonated with me.

  • The reality and weight of my sins.
  • How easily I fall into idolatry.
  • Having Jesus being the Lord of my life, not just the Savior of my soul.
  • Grace and being accepted, not because of anything I offer (which is nothing), but because of what He did (which was everything).
  • Confidence in the power of His forgiveness and that God is not mad at me, but rather radically, totally, infinitely happy with me because of what Jesus did on the Cross for me.

The Reasons For Faith

Sin is not simply doing bad things, it is putting good things in the place of God. So the only solutions is not simply to change our behavior, but to reorient and center the entire heart and life on God. (p. 178)

Everybody has to live for something. Whatever that something is becomes “Lord of your life,” whether you think o fit that way or not. Jesus is the only Lord who, if you receive him, will fulfill you completely, and, if you fail him, will forgive you eternally. (p. 179)

All other major faiths have founders who are teachers that show the way to salvation. Only Jesus claimed to actually be the way of salvation (p. 180)

If you are avoiding sin and living morally so that God will have to bless and save you, then ironically, you may be looking to Jesus as a teacher, model, and helper but avoiding him as savior. You are trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God. You are trying to save yourself by following Jesus. (p. 183)

The devil, if anything, prefers Pharisees – men and women who try to save themselves. They are more unhappy than either mature Christians or irreligious people, and they do a lot more spiritual damage. (p. 184)

Religion operates on the principle of the gospel is “I am accepted by God.” But the operating principle of the gospel is “I am accepted by God through what Christ has done – therefore I obey.” (p. 186)

When my own personal grasp of the gospel was very week, my self-view swung wildly between two poles. When I was performing up to my standards – in academic work, professional achievement, or relationships – I felt confident by not humble. I was likely to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. When I was not living up to standards, I felt humble but not confident, a failure. I discovered, however, that the gospel contained the resources to build a unique identity. In Christ I could know I was accepted by grace not only despite my flaws, buy because I was willing to admit them. The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less. I don’t need to notice myself – how I’m doing, how I’m being regarded – so often (p. 187)

The Christian’s identity is not based on the need to be perceived as a good person, buy on God’s valuing of you in Christ. (p. 188)

Some years ago I met a woman who began coming to church at Redeemer. She said that she had gone to church growing up and had never before heard a distinction drawn between the gospel and religion. She had always heard that God accepts us only if we are good enough. She said that the new message was scary. I asked her why it was scary, and she replied: If I was saved by my good works then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with “rights” – I would have done my duty and mow I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace – there’s nothing he cannot ask of me.” (p. 189)

Forgiveness means absorbing the debt of the sin yourself. (p. 199)

It is crucial at this point to remember that the Christian faith has always understood that Jesus Christ is God. God did not, then, inflict pain on someone else, but rather on the Cross absorbed the pain, violence and evil of the world into himself. (p. 200)

The fact that Jesus had to die for me humbled me out of my pride. The fact that Jesus was glad to die for me assured me out of my fear. (p. 208)

Jonathan Edwards, in reflecting on the interior life of the triune God, concluded that God is infinitely happy. (p. 227)

Paul calls Jesus “the last Adam.” As the first Adam was tested in the Garden of Eden, the last Adam (Jesus) was tested in the Garden of Gethsemane. The first Adam knew that he would live if he obeyed God about the tree. But he didn’t. The last Adam was also tested by what Paul called a “tree,” the Cross. jesus knew that he would be crushed if obeyed his Father. And he still did. (p. 230)

In fact, as C.S. Leis put it, all the adventures we have ever had will end up being only “the cover and the title page.” Finally we will be begin “Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (p. 236)

Imagine you are on a high cliff and you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you as you fall is a branch sticking out of the very edge of the cliff. It is your only hope and it is more than strong enough to support your weight. How can it save you? If your mind is filled with intellectual certainty that the branch can support you, but you don’t actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If your mind is instead filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will be saved. Why? It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch. (p. 244-245)

During a dart time in her life, a woman in my congregation complained that she had prayed over and over, “God, help me find you,” buy had gotten nowhere. A Christian friend suggested to her that she might change her prayer to, “God, come and find me. After all, you are the Good Shepherd who goes looking for the lost sheep.” She concluded when she was recounting this to me, “The only reason I can tell you this story is – he did.” (p. 251)

The Reason for God Timothy Keller. The Reason for God. Riverhead Books, published by the Penguin Group, New York City, New York. 2008.

One of the best things about a vacation is time to catch up or finish books that seem to sit on a table, desk or headboard, just waiting to be finished. Fortunately for me, I just got this opportunity. One of the unfinished books in my bag was “Indescribable” by Louie Giglio and Matt Redman.

While the entire book was filled with awe inspiring quotes, facts, scriptures and photos, it wasn’t until the last few pages that I got a small grasp of the bigness and greatness of God.

Two points related to the vastness of space – the first talking about our nearest star neighbor (not counting our sun), Proxima Centauri.

“…Let’s stick with Proxima Centauri for a moment and find a more pictorial explanation of exactly what we’re encountering here. Say we have a ballpoint pen, and for the purposes of this illustration we imagine the tiny tip of that pen to be Earth. We place this pen on the ground, and then about 15 feet away we place a ping-pong ball, which on this scale represents our Sun. Sticking to this scale, how far away to we suppose we need to place a second ping-pong ball to represent Proxima Centauri? The answer is quite overwhelming. You would need to travel approximately 1,430 miles away¹ to place the second ball. And, remember, except for the Sun, that’s our nearest star neighbor.” For additional perspective, that nearly the equivalent of measuring that pen from my hometown of Grants Pass, Oregon all the way out to Oklahoma City.

Again, describing the amount of space that is in space, Redman goes on to say,

“…As huge and impressive as stars are, they are a mere dot on the cosmic landscape. Scientist estimate the average distance between them to be around twenty trillion miles². As on astronomer describes it, ‘Place three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars.‘”³ For more perspective, according to Wikipedia, the largest cathedral in the world is St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, measuring 1,200,000 cubic meters. But hey, that’s the Vatican… we expect that to be big. Looking a little closer to home, the 4th largest Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City coming in at a “mere” 480,000 cubic meters. Imagine just three grains of sand in this massive structure and feeling “crowded”. Amazing.

  1. Illustration from Astrasurf-Magazine,
  2. T. Padmanabhan, “Ripples in the Early Universe,” Physics Education, January-March, 227.
  3. NASA, “Educational Brief: Exploring the Interstellar medium,”

Taken from Indescribable, Louie Giglio & Matt Redman. Indescribable, p. 166-167. Published by David C. Cook, Colorado Springs, CO. 2011.


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Monthly Archives: November 2007

My Pal Al

Boomboom and I got to spend some time last night with one of my oldest BF’s – Al. I’ve know this crazy cat since the 7th grade! Now that is a long time. She and her fiancee, Park, are spending Turkey Day in KC, but since we were in Tex-@ss so early, we caught them before they left. We saw their house last night for the first time – so cute! and in the *heart* of Dallas, which is great!

Al did a bunch of show-n-tell with me – she is Bridezilla, minus the zilla! I loved seeing all of it – the fur stole with her new name and wedding date monogrammed inside in blue, her tiera (which i tried on), point-n-click photos from her bridal portrait session, the beautifully calligrapher-ed enveloped, I loved all of it! Also loved meeting the dogs, Captain and Tenille 😉 Just kidding, Captain and Chopper. Capt’n is a 5 pound Pomeranian! A good solid 5 lbs, and he has a really cute face! and fluffy fur that reminds me of a teddy bear!

We are going on a cruise in Jan for her bachlorette party – I am not a huge fan of cruises, but I am excited to spend time with her and her other bridesmaids! (Incidentally, my first cruise ever was with Al, and I told her afterwards, “I’ll go on one more cruise for your bachlorette party, and then never again.” When she got engaged, she called me and said “You excited and ready to go on your last cruise ever?!”)

But what I REALLY loved was seeing how happy happy HAPPY Al is! And how much she loves Park and how much he loves her. And that all the years of drama in her life all paid off, as you know, you have to kiss many frogs to find your prince! and she certainly has – I am just thrilled for the both of them! (Boomboom likes Park a lot, so that is awesome!)

Al – you know I love ya and am just so excited to see you so happy and getting married!!!

Photos below (not from last night) – ones of the humans are from last fall, another CDS friend’s wedding.

img_0844.jpg We are way too cute!

img_0842.jpg Yay – maybe we can someday go on double dates!

arrhappy-halloween.jpg No comments needed!

We got home to Texas last night around 9pm.  The flight was not crowded – which was great!  We were in a 3 seat section, just the two of us – I felt like we had won the lottery!  We always seem to be in 3 seat sections with another person, even if the flight is not full.

In the middle of the night, I awoke due to not being able to swallow.  I always forget how dry it is here, and my sandpaper throat reminded me late last night of why I need to drink lots of water when I am here, especially after the flight down.

This morning, Marm went to work out around 830am.  At 11am, I started to get worried, and very hungry.  I felt like Boomboom and I were little baby birds, waiting for mama bird to return to feed us.  We finally went down stairs, and mama bird had all the provisions out for us!  Bread, cooked eggs, fresh juice – it was great!

When Marm came home around 1130am, she was starved – and who wouldn’t be, after working out for 3 hours!  So she made herself a salad – romaine, cheese, turkey, turkey pastrami and half a banana.  It was leftover, so why wouldn’t she put a banana into her salad?!  Very odd, but she said tasty – so that is all that matters.

Sometimes I wonder if I will turn into Marm as I get older – and I realize that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Copy cat

On Thursday night, I had an ART180 donor appreciation / cultivation event to attend. My friend, Ad, brought his wife – and she was just so cute and stylish! I loved her outfit, so demanded to know where she got it. To my surprise, it was from Forever 21 and Target! So yesterday, I went out and recreated the outfit for myself! I did tell her I was going to do so, so as not to be too Single White Female-esque.

I wore the outfit last night to a friend’s surprise bday party. My friends were all astounded at how cute I looked! and, also astounded, as it was a shift! so dress like! and i wore leggings, so felt very trendy and fashionable. Hehehe – I am good at copying! The shirt I wore under the shift had major bell sleeves, so Boomboom thought I looked like either a nun or Pilgrim. I really enjoyed the outfit, all black of course – and it was super comfy – so I will be busting it out at all the upcoming events that I can!

Not sure if I should take my friends astonishment as a compliment or be offended. Guess I am always the one in jeans and very casual, so good that I am making a bit more of an effort. Gretty – beware, you can’t depend on me to be the least dressed up one in the room anymore! Unless, of course, the event is a black tie event – as we all know, I am always “casual black tie”.

Ze Purple Wizard!

This past spring, we bought Ruby a new, mac daddy bed and blanket.  The blanket was on sale, hence the purple color. But it is SUPER soft and cozy.  We tried to give it to Ruby when we first bought it, but she rejected it.  Probably had something to do with the extreme heat and so she didn’t want to continue to sweat when she laid in her bed.

This fall, I busted out the little purple blanket and started using it as my own.  Well, Ruby did not appreciate that at all!  Very tacky, she said, to give a gift and them take it back.

So the purple blanket is back with it’s rightful owner, Little Miss Ruby.  and she LOVES it.  She literally will sleep all night on her mac daddy bed, covered in the blanket.  She never jumps on the couch or tries to come into bed with us.  She is happy as a clam, now that she is ze purple wizard!

Check her out – she kinda reminds me of a rap star…

We’ve lived in our old house (built in 1911) for 4 and a half years.  Basically none of the upstairs doors have knobs or if they do, they don’t work.  I was getting ready for supper club last night, Boomboom came home, puttered about in the basement and was upstairs for maybe 5 minutes.

“Come up here.”

I go upstairs.   He is grinning widely and proudly opening a shutting  the middle bedroom door – and the knob works!  It latches!  and even the lock works!

I am literally speechless.  My mouth is open, flies are flying in and out.

“I can’t believe we have lived here nearly 5 years, and it only took you 5 minutes to get the knob working.  Why didn’t you do this 4.5 years ago?”

“Oh, well, I had to take pieces and parts – knob from front bedroom door, latch from who-knows-where – to make it all come together for the middle bedroom door.”

I am still a little astounded.  Not that I am not grateful that the door now works, but just that it wasn’t a huge, day long ordeal with lots of cursing and yelling – that it only took a mere 5 minutes.  Everytime I go upstairs and have to use the know to get into the middle bedroom, it surprises me.

And when I go to the top of the stairs, and see the middle door closed, the back door rigged shut and the front room door barricaded with the yoga ball and box, I feel sad for little Ruby.  Her bed is in the hallway – good thing she has taken to her downstairs bed and new blanket.  Long live the Purple Wizard!

Last Day

Today was my last day at work.  Uneventful, as most everyone was off-site for training.  My fav co-worker, Tucker, was the one who introduced me to blogs.  And now I am hooked and even write one myself!  Even funnier, we both picked the same WordPress template, unknowingly!  Anyway, she does not work on Fridays, so it was just me and the 45-year-old new guy.  We ended up going to lunch, together.

Point being, I slipped out a little early, and the ending was just like leaving any other day.  Which I like – not having to deal with a lot of good-byes and /or drama.

I am excited for my new found freedom!  But I don’t think I will really be able to enjoy it, as my weekend and most of next week is already jam-packed.  Oh well, soon enough.

The Big Easy

When we finally arrived into New Orleans (via Memphis), I was super tired and maybe a little hung over. We stayed at the Ritz (very froufrou, but nice enough) right in the French Quarter. Good location, as we could walk to a lot of places!

The church was so quaint – S had gone to school there from 5th – 12th grades! We got there an hour early, as the instructions told us to “*Arrive early for a seat” – and even being that early, C’s side of the church was already half full! S looked beautiful in her dress – rumor has it that she designed it herself! And the priest that married C&S also married S’s parents – I love that! Such a great sense of history.

I love wedding cake! To look at and to eat! Yummy!

We took a tour of the city – there is actually a lot to do and see outside of drinking and what I saw as a college student!

img_1542.jpg img_1543.jpg img_1546.jpg Love the ferns and iron!

Luckily on Sunday night when the Pats played, they won!!! Despite all the horrible officiating – seemed like the referees wanted the Colts to win. Sadly, I have gotten into New England sports – I definately prefer football to baseball – I guess the nearly 5 years we have been married, something has rubbed off on me from Boomboom.

We also had to visit an iconic spot:

img_1547.jpg img_1550.jpg

I didn’t really remember what beignets tasted like, but after our mega order, I did! and they made me feel not so hot.

img_1548.jpg Isn’t Boomboom cute?! Love him 🙂


text:
Job Requirements for an freelance web programmer

Job Requirements for an freelance web programmer | tinobusiness
Job Requirements for an freelance web programmer | tinobusiness

A web programme, sometimes known as a web developer, is a person who develops and designs application with advanced web applications Internet. Programmers modify existing code, designing new products and applications and create and test the products.

Some customers may require web developers to assume the obligations of work traditionally performed by web designers. Freelance web programmers are independent and complete job tasks hired for a fee. Although no formal job requirements for a freelance web developer, many customers want to display professionalism and experience or proper education.

Education and knowledge

Although formal education is not necessary for Web programmers, some customers like to know that the programmers have completed some formal education. Certificates in web programming, technical diplomas and four-year degrees in computing, programming or technology can help gain the trust of a client. In addition to the credentials, knowledge of the field is a must. Web developers should be aware of the current structured languages such as Unix and SQL programming. They must have extensive experience in the use of HTML, XML and ECMA sequences of commands. In addition, freelance web developers should know how to use web application environments, database management, problem solving and try and create unique programs. Although a web developer may not be familiar with all the languages needed for a particular project, tutorials, workshops and manuals can help. A web developer must be willing to seek advice from other programmers, visit websites and access programming materials to solve problems that are unfamiliar resources.

Most of the knowledge acquired in the web programming work and come to complete tasks in the field. Understanding how to fix errors, improve the functions of the program and create programs comes with experience doing the work. Freelance web programmers can gain experience in a company or business first before starting on your own, or can obtain experience providing services to family and friends. In addition, communication with other web programmers and develop personal networks can help solve new problems or learn about new ideas. The independent web developers should create and maintain an online portfolio to show previous work experience and highlight the special knowledge or expertise. A portfolio is a tool to demonstrate expertise and experience.

Time management

Freelance web programmers are bound to be good stewards of time to succeed. Working at home can sometimes be difficult because of the distractions, while others can work around twenty four hours having no boundaries between work and home. The development of a work plan and sticking to it can help, careful planning and timetables are also useful in monitoring working hours and termination. The development of self-discipline in terms of hours of work is crucial to being a successful freelancer.

Office skills and business

No matter what the field, independent workers must have the skills, knowledge or expertise to manage their own business should hire consultants or employees to help experience. There are many monetary legal implications, involving office and being a freelancer. The self-employed may have to hire accountants to help with the declaration and payment of taxes, management of payroll systems and control of business accounts. Business lawyers for small businesses can help you file the necessary paperwork to the state, create contracts, obtain licenses or permits, get purchase insurance and meet the other requirements necessary for the operation of small businesses. Some freelancers can hire an office manager or business part or full to help with office tasks, billing, contracts and advertising time.

Continuous professional development and training

It is beneficial for freelance web developers keep up with the methods and readers of blogs, magazines and websites programming. It is also helpful to attend job fairs and training seminars and workshops to gain new experiences and contacts in the field. Web developers can announce new experience or knowledge on a blog, portfolio or on a business website.

Personal qualities

Freelance web programmers must have good communication skills to succeed. Self-employed workers should be able to let your customers know if problems arise in a particular job that can cause delays or scheduling problems. Similarly, developers must provide customers contracts and explain the obligations and provisions of the contract. It is important to clearly define the costs and fees. Participate in ethical business practices is also a necessity, to win the trust of customers, honest billing practices are essential and reasonable fees. It is also essential to promote an independent business for a living independently. Web developers should place ads where applicable, send mail brochures to potential customers, create and maintain blogs about professional services rendered and check websites for job.

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A Stroll through CalculusAnthony Barcellos

A Stroll through Calculus

A Guide for the Merely Curious (First Edition)
By Anthony Barcellos

Spiral Bound ISBN: 978-1-63487-179-2, 212 pages

Given its subject matter, it is amazing how easy and approachable this calculus book is. I have taught Calculus for almost 20 years, and even I was able to learn something new by reading A Stroll through Calculus. Dr. Barcellos’ ability to introduce the different calculus topics and connect them altogether in such a natural way is simply a work of art. —Martha Martinez, professor of calculus, Palomar College

It is a lovely book, and I am sure that it will introduce many people to the beauty and utility of calculus. [Barcellos] is a terrific writer. —John Thoo, professor of mathematics, Yuba College

The beginning of your book states, "calculus is about measuring things and how fast they change". It is an outstanding statement. Actually, calculus is very important and very useful; however, it is challenging and hard for many students to learn. … [Barcellos’] approach and writing style are different from some regular calculus textbooks, I am sure that many students will find that it is very helpful to them to learn calculus. — Xin-Ran Duan at American River College

A Stroll through Calculus: A Guide for the Merely Curious helps students fully understand calculus and successfully grasp its concepts. The foundational premise is that calculus is, at its most basic, about measuring things and how fast they change. The material gives non-majors an appreciation for calculus and teaches them its importance without the formal proofs needed only by math majors.

In clear, concise chapters the text familiarizes students with concepts such as the area of a rectangle, notation, and polynomials. It introduces the fundamentals discovered by Newton and Leibniz and their varied applications. Students are encouraged to engage in participatory reading by referring to the examples in the chapters and then checking each step independently.

A Stroll through Calculus is designed to supplement instruction in calculus, science, and education classes for non-math majors. It is an excellent learning tool for students in engineering, pre-medical studies, and the social sciences. It can also be used in pre-service teaching programs for educators who will need a solid background for math units they will teach.

Anthony Barcellos Anthony Barcellos holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Barcellos is a professor of mathematics at American River College in Sacramento, California, where he has taught courses in algebra, computational mathematics, trigonometry, calculus, and statistics. In addition to teaching, Dr. Barcellos has also served as the Chair of the Mathematics Department and on the Academic Senate. He is the co-author (with Sherman K. Stein) of Calculus and Analytic Geometry, published by McGraw-Hill. Dr. Barcellos is also the author of Land of Milk and Money: A Novel, published by Tagus Press.

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Intentional Group Counseling

Best Practices for a Multicultural World (First Edition)
Farah Ibrahim, Allen Ivey, Paul Pedersen, and Mary Bradford Ivey

Coming Soon!

This text introduces students to the concepts of intentionality, empathy, cultural competency, social justice advocacy, and ethical practices as they relate to group counseling. Students learn about the neurological benefits of group work, how to lead exercises focusing on culture, gender, class, privilege, and oppression, guidelines for ethical interventions, and more.

Dr. Farah Ibrahim earned her doctorate degree at Pennsylvania State University and currently serves as a professor of counseling psychology and counselor education at University of Colorado, Denver.
Dr. Allen Ivey earned his doctorate in counseling at Harvard University and is distinguished university professor (emeritus) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is a past president and fellow of the Society for Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association, as well as fellow of the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race and the Asian American Psychological Association.
Dr. Mary Bradford Ivey earned her doctorate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. A fellow of the American Counseling Association, her elementary guidance program was named one of the top ten in the United States. She has lectured widely throughout the United States and internationally, and is the author of multiple books, chapters, and articles.
Paul Pederson was professor emeritus at Syracuse University and recipient of the 2010 APA Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology Award.

Other Cognella titles by Dr. Allen Ivey:

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Picture Perfect Ride to Pitcher Pond

The days are sunny and cold, the nights in single numbers to below zero and I’m not complaining. Cracked car engines and splitting thumbs are part of this time of late winter in Maine.

Aided by the persistent polar cold, the snowmobile trails here in Lincolnville are primo for riding bikes right now. I saddled up the Pugsley early yesterday afternoon and had a fast, 11 mile ride from Steven’s Corner at the edge of Camden Hills State Park. I took the snowmobile trail out to Pitcher Pond. It’s a direct route with one turn at a T- a right that takes you over through Tanglewood 4 -H camp. I ran past the parking lot there, and took a left over the suspension bridge spanning the Ducktrap River where I eventually reached the Pond. This ride is perfect this week. A few bare spots of brown undergrowth were spotted on the trail. It’s coming -Spring !

I do enjoy the unique thrill of riding on a large body of frozen water. Ponds are of the canoe world- not biking routes.

More riding, maybe today?  The Lincolnville Mountain Goats snowmobile riders have a town map with the snowmobile trails on it.  Where next, before the freezing cold leaves us for a while?

About Tom Jamrog

I'm sixty-seven and live in the Maine woods. I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2007, the Pacific Crest Trail in 2010, Vermont's Long Trail in 2011, the Continental Divide Trail in 2013, the Camino Portugese (2016), and Newfoundland's East Coast Trail (2017) . I am outdoors every day. I offer guided backpacking trips and classes in Maine, through "Uncle Tom's Guided Adventures".
This entry was posted in Bicycling, winter biking and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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Top 5 #BlogAwesome Foodie Bloggers

Posted by aMusingFoodie in Blog, Blog Awesome Challenge on Tue, Mar 27, 2012

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About Liza Hawkins

With her down-to-earth approach to food, and a dash or two of snark, Liza enjoys eating, reading, cooking, dining and writing on a daily basis. By day, she's an insurance professional, by night she gracefully (or not sometimes) barrels through life keeping up with her blog (a)Musing Foodie, other freelance writing jobs, non-profit work, Twitter and Facebook, her kids, her husband, and whatever else happens to fill her plate. Read her blog here:

One Response to “Top 5 #BlogAwesome Foodie Bloggers”

  1. Kelly

    I LOVE the Pioneer Woman too!!! I actually watch her show every chance I get, but I cannot believe I have not clicked to see her BLOG!! I knew it existed but never took a moment to find it. Will be doing that today! Thanks for the review.


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Business Highlights

AP News
Posted: May 05, 2014 4:57 PM

Target's chairman and CEO out in wake of breach

NEW YORK (AP) — Target's massive data breach has now cost the company's CEO his job.

Target announced Monday that Chairman, President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel is out nearly five months after the retailer disclosed the breach, which has hurt its reputation among customers and hammered its business.

Experts say his departure marks the first CEO of a major corporation to resign in the wake of a data breach and underscores how CEOS are now becoming more at risk in an era when such breaches have become common.

The nation's third-largest retailer said Steinhafel, a 35-year veteran of the company and CEO since 2008, has agreed to step down, effective immediately. He also resigned from the board of directors.

AP IMPACT: Deadly side effect to fracking boom

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Booming production of oil and natural gas has led to a little-known side effect — a spike in traffic fatalities in states where many streets and highways are choked with large trucks and heavy drilling equipment.

An Associated Press analysis of traffic deaths and U.S. census data in six drilling states shows that in some places, fatalities have more than quadrupled since 2004.

The energy boom has created badly needed jobs, lifted local economies and drawn global manufacturers back to the United States. But the frenzy of drilling activity contributes heavily to the flood of traffic of all kinds that experts say has led to the increase in serious accidents and deaths.

Coke, Pepsi to drop controversial ingredient entirely

NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo has joined Coca-Cola in saying it's working to remove a controversial ingredient from all its drinks, including Mountain Dew.

The company had announced last year that it was removing the ingredient from Gatorade. Then on Monday, Coca-Cola said it is dropping the ingredient from all its drinks, including Powerade.

Brominated vegetable oil was the target of petitions by a Mississippi teenager who wanted it out of Gatorade and Powerade. The petition noted that the ingredient has been patented as a flame retardant and isn't approved for use in Japan and the European Union.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have stood by the safety of the ingredient.

US service firms grow at fastest pace since August

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service firms grew last month at the fastest pace since August as new orders and sales grew, adding to evidence that the economy is picking up after a slow start to the year.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its service-sector index rose to 55.2 from 53.1 in March. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The ISM is a trade group of purchasing executives.

The figures come after a healthy jobs report on Friday also fueled hopes for an improving economy. The government said employers added 288,000 jobs in April, the most in 2 1/2 years, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent.

Pfizer 1Q profit drops 15 pct. due to lower sales

Despite sharply lower expenses and taxes, Pfizer Inc.'s first-quarter profit dropped 15 percent, due to cheaper generic competition for multiple medicines and some promotion partnerships with other drugmakers ending.

The world's second-biggest drugmaker missed Wall Street's revenue expectations by $730 million, but narrowly beat profit expectations. Its shares fell almost 3 percent in afternoon trading.

The New York-based company has seen its revenue shrink since 2011 as inexpensive copycat pills hurt sales of about 20 off-patent drugs that once brought in billions annually, particularly cholesterol fighter Lipitor, the top-selling drug of all time with peak revenue of nearly $13 billion.

According to Pfizer, "the vast majority" of sales declines from generic competition will be over by the end of 2015.

EU expects recovery to lower unemployment faster

BRUSSELS (AP) — The ongoing economic recovery across Europe should help unemployment fall faster than previously expected, according to a new EU forecast released Monday.

In its spring forecast, the EU's executive Commission said the economic recovery is spreading across the 28-country bloc and that should help reduce the ranks of the 25.7 million unemployed.

Among the 18 EU countries sharing the euro currency, the Commission expects unemployment to drop to 11.8 percent this year and 11.4 percent in 2015. Those predictions are lower than those it made in February, when it foresaw unemployment at 12 percent this year and 11.7 percent next.

Buffett defends how he runs Berkshire Hathaway

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett remains confident in the long-term future of his company after spending the weekend with shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway.

He says critics who think it would be best to break apart Berkshire's 80-odd subsidiaries to make them easier to manage are wrong. One of Berkshire's key advantages is its ability to shift money between its subsidiaries or invest it elsewhere to generate the best returns.

The 83-year-old doesn't intend to retire, but the conglomerate is planning for the day when he's no longer at the helm.

Buffett said again Monday that all of the current CEO candidates are existing employees who understand the company's culture. While his successor will do some things differently, Berkshire's key principles won't change.

Second GM engineering exec retires in recall wake

DETROIT (AP) — Another General Motors engineering executive is retiring in the wake of the automaker's mishandled recall of small cars.

GM says Jim Federico elected to retire after 36 years with the company. Federico plans to work outside the auto industry.

Federico was in charge of vehicle performance and safety leading up to the company's February recall of 2.6 million older-model small cars for defective ignition switches. He was also the chief engineer for global small cars starting in 2010, and may have known about ongoing internal investigations into the switches.

Congress, the Justice Department and others are investigating why GM took more than a decade to recall the cars after finding problems with the switches.

Amazon introduces Twitter service

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon wants to make shopping online as easy as a tweet.

The online retailer is introducing a service that lets Twitter users add products to their carts without leaving the social media site.The service comes as Amazon seeks to make social media a bigger source for sales. Twitter also has been seeking new revenue streams beyond advertising services like promoted tweets.

Under the program, users must link their account with their Twitter account. Then they need to add the hashtag #AmazonCart when replying to a tweet that has an Amazon product link. The product will then be automatically added to their shopping cart.

Dunkin' Donuts readies to do battle in Europe

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The doughnut, that classic deep-fried American snack, is going forth to do battle with European national treats in their homelands: the Belgian waffle, the Austrian strudel and the Danish ... Danish.

After beating a retreat in the 1990s, American restaurant chain Dunkin' Donuts has been quietly building up its presence in Europe and now has 120 outlets, mostly in Germany but also in Russia, Spain, Bulgaria and most recently, Britain.

Dunkin' Donuts' head of international development Jeremy Vitaro says that the company is now looking to open stores in Denmark, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Despite the weak European economy, it thinks customers have money to spend.

By The Associated Press=

The Dow Jones industrial rose 17.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 16,530.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.52 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,884.66. The Nasdaq composite rose 14.66 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,138.06.

Benchmark U.S. crude for June delivery fell 28 cents to close at $99.48 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 4 cents to $2.91 a gallon. Heating oil lost 2 cents to $2.91 a gallon. Natural gas added 1 cent to $4.69 per 1,000 cubic feet. Brent crude, a benchmark for international varieties of oil, dropped 87 cents to $107.72 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.


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$1.2M reward for Dorner sparks dueling claims

AP News
Posted: Mar 21, 2013 10:11 PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The payout of a $1.2 million reward offered in the hunt for rogue ex-cop Christopher Dorner could turn into a fight before anyone sees a penny.

A couple who was tied up in their condominium by the fugitive and a camp caretaker he carjacked shortly afterward have laid claim to the prize, and others could be in line for much of the money that authorities hope to dole out by mid-April.

Both parties claim they provided the key tip that ultimately led Dorner to hole up in a vacant mountain cabin where he apparently took his own life after a shootout with police. He killed four people, including two police officers, during his rampage across Southern California.

While crime rewards often drive tipsters underground to protect their identity, the Dorner reward has had the opposite effect.

"Everybody's coming out of the woodwork on this one," said Los Angeles police Lt. Andy Neiman. "These people are being very public about it because they know Dorner can't come after them."

During the manhunt, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa coordinated a $1 million reward from more than 30 agencies or corporations, including the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Los Angeles Dodgers, AEG and the University of Southern California. The Los Angeles City Council and Board of Supervisors also each put up a separate $100,000 reward with its own protocol and requirements.

The slew of groups involved has made the payout process slow and bureaucratic.

"It's actually a multi-headed hydra here," said Frank Mateljian, a spokesman with the city attorney's office.

Officials are waiting on a handful of law enforcement agencies to determine who was responsible for Dorner's capture, said Vicky Curry, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office.

Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese, who is heading up the effort to identify those who helped lead authorities to Dorner, said law enforcement officers from all the agencies involved in the hunt will get together to read reports, listen to tapes and come to a consensus.

"We're not going to be swayed by the fact that we've got letters from attorneys or they say they're entitled for these reasons,' Albanese said. "We're going to make a determination as to who's entitled based on (all) the facts."

Details of the main $1-milllion reward offer were never written down and so it's not specified as to whether Dorner must be "convicted," as officials said when it was announced, Curry said. While the mayor's office is coordinating the reward, determining the recipient could be left up to the agencies doling out the cash.

The mayor and police chief have both said they hope to see the money paid out.

There is no lack of possible people to credit.

There's the man at a Corona gas station who waved down officers after spotting Dorner hours after authorities named him as an armed and dangerous fugitive. He was suspected of slaying a former police lieutenant's daughter and her fiancé outside their Orange County condominium and had posted a manifesto online saying he was killing cops in revenge for his firing from the LAPD.

There was also an elderly San Diego sailor who Dorner tied up and tried to steal his yacht.

And then there were the last civilians to see him alive.

Karen and Jim Reynolds, who were briefly tied up by Dorner in the Big Bear Lake rental condo where he hid for days, contend that their 911 call led to the murder suspect being cornered last month.

Attorney Kirk Hallam wrote to LA County officials earlier this month that "no one else is entitled to a share of the reward."

The Reynolds family disputes a claim filed by Rick Heltebrake, a Boy Scout camp ranger carjacked by Dorner shortly before the final confrontation.

There is "indisputable evidence," Hallam wrote, that Heltebrake "did not in any way, shape or form contribute to the capture of Christopher Dorner."

Heltebrake's lawyer claimed in a letter that his client notified authorities of Dorner's location, provided a description of the vehicle he was fleeing in, and "was a substantial factor in the capture of Mr. Dorner at the cabin location."

Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams


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Central New Zealand shaken by strong quake, no injuries

Reuters News
Posted: Jan 19, 2014 10:06 PM

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Central New Zealand, including the capital Wellington, was shaken by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Monday, but there were no reports of injuries, and damage was mostly superficial.

The minute-long, rolling quake was centered in the mainly rural Wairarapa region about 120 kilometers north east of Wellington, at a depth of 50 kms, government seismologists at GNS Science said.

"There's been damage to houses mainly in the (Wairarapa)area, and that includes chimneys down, windows broken," a spokesman at Police National headquarters told Reuters.

"We've had a lot of rock falls and slips on highways in the area, and the rest has been pretty minor."

The quake was felt from the middle of the North Island down through the upper parts of the South Island. More than a dozen aftershocks measuring up to 4.5 were recorded.

A large model of an eagle suspended from the ceiling at Wellington Airport to promote the Hobbit movie came down during the tremor, but nobody was hurt.

Most offices and businesses in the region were closed because of a public holiday.

The region was shaken by two large quakes of magnitude 6.9 and 6.5 August and September last year, which caused moderate damage to buildings and infrastructure, and some minor injuries.

New Zealand sits on the boundary of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, and records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year.

In February 2011 the South Island city of Christchurch was struck by a shallow magnitude 6.2 quake, which killed 189 people.

(Gyles Beckford and Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)


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Democratic leaders seek data breach documents from Target

Reuters News
Posted: Jan 23, 2014 5:14 PM

(Reuters) - Three Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent Target Corp Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel a letter on Thursday requesting documents on a data breach that affected tens of millions of Target customers.

The request from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is in advance of a hearing scheduled for next month.

"This breach is particularly significant because of its unprecedented scope and scale," the Democrats, Henry Waxman, Diana DeGette and Jan Schakowsky, wrote in the letter.

They asked Target to provide documents such as written policies on threat monitoring and network security since Jan 1, 2012, information on how much Target spent and how many people it employed for network security for certain periods and a detailed timeline of when it learned of the breach and when it informed customers.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Toni Reinhold)


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Algerian president asks people for new term

AP News
Posted: Mar 22, 2014 4:14 PM
Algerian president asks people for new term

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria's ailing president has asked the country to vote him in for a fourth term in April's elections, promising to amend the constitution and solve the country's social woes.

The letter by 77-year-old Abdelaziz Bouteflika was carried Saturday by the state news agency and said "the difficulties linked to my physical health shouldn't disqualify me." Bouteflika had a stroke last year and now has trouble speaking and is confined to a wheelchair.

There have been protests against Bouteflika's decision to seek another term but with the backing of the state, he is expected to win.

In the letter, he promised to amend the constitution to create a government "responding to the hopes of our people" as well as greater social justice.

Bouteflika first promised to change the constitution in 2011.


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Italy's Renzi cuts local government in first step of ambitious agenda

Reuters News
Posted: Apr 03, 2014 2:54 PM

By Roberto Landucci

ROME (Reuters) - Italy passed legislation on Thursday to eliminated wasteful layers of government at the provincial level in the initial step of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's ambitious reform agenda.

Renzi has said his bill would cut the number of elected politicians by 3,000 and save around 800 million euros annually, calling it "a way of restoring hope and trust among our citizens".

Italy's third premier in a year and head of the 65th government since World War Two, Renzi is also pursuing an overhaul to the electoral system to end instability that has contributed to economic stagnation and corruption in politics.

The lower house of parliament voted 260-158 on Thursday to eliminate the direct election of provincial governments in favor of handing over their management to officials selected by city councilors and mayors.

Italy's 110 provincial governments, which oversee services like the maintenance of roads and schools, have long been considered a superfluous swathe of bureaucracy whose tasks could be delegated to others.

Though the law was originally proposed by Renzi's predecessor Enrico Letta, Renzi seized on the measure for its symbolic cuts to the bloated political apparatus as a first step in his program of sweeping institutional reforms.

Many critics and even the government's commissioner in charge of cutting public spending say it will save much less. The commissioner, Carlo Cottarelli, has said potential savings will top out at 500 million euros ($685.82 million) annually.

Attempts to cut back provincial powers in past years floundered and Renzi's bill stalled in the Senate last month, forcing him to call a confidence vote to win its passage.

The move to revamp the electoral system foreshadows a much bigger challenge that Renzi - at the head of a broad left-right coalition - faces in reforming the constitution and turning the Senate into a non-elected chamber to streamline the lawmaking process. Renzi has staked his political future on its passage.

(Writing by Steve Scherer.)


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George W. Bush undergoes partial knee replacement

Reuters News
Posted: May 27, 2014 12:40 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush underwent successful surgery for a partial knee replacement, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Bush's outpatient procedure took place on Saturday in Chicago.

"He was up walking around just a couple hours after the procedure and was even able to go up and down a flight of stairs just a couple hours after the operation," said Bush spokesman Freddy Ford.

Bush, 67, a mountain biker and golfer, returned to Dallas on Monday "where he is recovering quickly at home," Ford said.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott and Chizu Nomiyama)


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South African police make record $190 million heroin bust

Reuters News
Posted: Jun 25, 2014 6:39 AM

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police have seized heroin worth more than two billion rand ($190 million) and arrested two Chinese nationals in the biggest drugs bust in the country's history, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Police officers also arrested one South African during a raid late on Tuesday at a house in Kloof, 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the coastal city of Durban, home to the Africa's largest and busiest port.

"We got a tip-off from community members and officers went to the house and found this large amount of heroin," police spokesman Thulani Zwane said.

South Africa is the continent's biggest market for recreational drugs and the use of narcotics is on the rise, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. ($1 = 10.56 South African Rand)

(Reporting by Joe Brock)