Hero Recruitment: Windcrick

Word has spread now that the dark magic has begun to boil, that the power is spreading in distant lands, consuming people and changing them. The Mystical Five must be trained to fight them in the ways of magic, and protect not just the kingdom.....

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Windcrick?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
Darkness has begun its ominous spread in a distant land and Windrick is in need of heroes to take up arms in her defense. Be a part of the Mystical Five: people chosen to combat this evil. You along with the other chosen ones would each represent one part of a powerful magic and upon combining the powers you've learned would bring an end to any dark power that would bring Windcrick harm. You will be under the guidance of a man named, Sir Asher Cavelier as you discover destiny in the protection of Windcrick. You will fight alongside Princess Aelaera, a confident young woman who is also the heir to the Windcrick throne and heroes of this illustrious land.

A hero resides in all walks of life! Be it of common birth or be it of noble birth, the Chosen Ones would come. So step forth, oh people of the world!

TO ARMS MY BROTHERS!!! TO ARMS MY SISTERS!!! JOIN IN THE FIGHT FOR THE SAFETY OF WINDCRICK!!!

KulasLightShadow

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Police: Seattle cafe gunman may have shot self

Police approach a house in the University district in Seattle close to where a gunman killed two people and critically wounded three others at a cafe Wednesday, May 30, 2012. They left shortly after. Not long after a gunman opened fire at the cafe in the north Seattle neighborhood, a woman was shot to death in downtown Seattle and her car taken and later abandoned in Seattle's West Seattle neighborhood. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were connected. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Police approach a house in the University district in Seattle close to where a gunman killed two people and critically wounded three others at a cafe Wednesday, May 30, 2012. They left shortly after. Not long after a gunman opened fire at the cafe in the north Seattle neighborhood, a woman was shot to death in downtown Seattle and her car taken and later abandoned in Seattle's West Seattle neighborhood. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were connected. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A police officer runs across a street in the University district in Seattle close to where a gunman killed two people and critically wounded three others at a cafe Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Not long after a gunman opened fire at the cafe in the north Seattle neighborhood, a woman was shot to death in downtown Seattle and her car taken and later abandoned in Seattle's West Seattle neighborhood. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were connected. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Police block a street in the University district in Seattle near where a gunman killed two people and critically wounded three others at a cafe Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Not long after the cafe shooting, a woman was shot to death in downtown Seattle and her car taken and later abandoned in Seattle's West Seattle neighborhood. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were connected. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SEATTLE (AP) ? A gunman killed four people in Seattle on Wednesday ? three at a cafe and another in a carjacking ? before he apparently shot himself as officers closed in following a citywide manhunt, authorities said.

He was listed in critical condition at a local hospital.

Police searching for the suspect in the first shooting near the University of Washington also had to respond to another fatal attack near the city's downtown. They say a man killed a woman in an apparent carjacking and fled in a black SUV. Authorities later said they believe one man was responsible for both attacks.

"At this time, we feel pretty confident that we have the suspect," said Assistant Seattle Police Chief Nick Metz.

The latest spasm of deadly gun violence to hit the city worried Seattle's leaders and prompted police to consider increasing patrols in high-crime areas. The three deaths bring the number of homicides so far this year to 19, compared with 21 in all of last year.

Police said residents could expect a heightened police presence in the city for the time being.

Gunfire erupted late Wednesday morning at Cafe Racer, a restaurant and music venue north of the University of Washington. The gunman was described as a man in his 30s wearing dark clothes. Police have not released a suspect's name.

Police released two photos from inside the cafe, apparently taken from a security camera. One shows a man walking into the establishment, with a woman nearby reading a book. Another photo shows stools overturned, and the man standing and holding what appears to be a handgun.

Two men died at the scene. A woman from the cafe died at a hospital.

Evan Hill, who lives above the building where the shooting happened, said the cafe was an artists' collective and performance space.

"It's the strangest place to think of a shooting," said Hill, who heard four to five shots. He said he ran to his balcony and called 911, but didn't see a suspect.

On a street corner across from the cafe, friends of the victims gathered by the ivy-covered wall of an apartment building. Some collapsed in grief. The cafe's owner hugged them and commiserated.

Units of police officers marched by with rifles and shotguns, knocking on doors and checking driveways and yards in the neighborhood of single-family, bungalow-style homes, restaurants and businesses.

Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said late Wednesday afternoon that a plain-clothes detective spotted the cafe suspect in the southwestern part of the city and called for unformed officers and a SWAT team. As those officers arrived, the man put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, Pugel said.

During the manhunt, Roosevelt High School, Eckstein Middle School and Greenlake Elementary were locked down, according to the school district.

In the second shooting, the SUV that the gunman used to flee was found abandoned later. The suspect shot himself not far from where the SUV was found, authorities said.

In the last month, there have been two random killings in the city.

Last week, a man died when a stray bullet struck him as he and his family drove down a Seattle street. In late April, a woman died of injuries suffered in an apparently random drive-by shooting near downtown.

No arrests have been made in either of those fatalities.

On Saturday, a bystander was wounded near the iconic Space Needle when he was struck by a bullet allegedly fired by a gang member involved in a dispute with another man, authorities said.

Later that night, about 60 shots were fired in drive-by shootings at four houses. No one was hit.

Besides the plan to increase the number of officers on patrol in high-crime areas, police are urging people with information about shootings to come forward.

At a news conference, Mayor Mike McGinn said the spate of violence had "shaken" the city.

"It's going to take our political leaders, coming together, to give our police officers the support and tools they need to do their jobs," McGinn said.

City Councilman Bruce Harrell said leaders needed to consider everything - from changing laws to addressing the culture of violence.

"If we are to be honest, there's no easy fix," he said.

Associated Press

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Slidell Little Theatre season promoted through works of art - Nola.com

American stage and film actress Tallulah Bankhead once remarked that the only person with steady employment in the theater is the watchman. Yet, that cautionary statement does not apply to the Slidell Little Theatre, which is celebrating its 50th year of existence. Referring to their organization as "Fifty Years Strong," the nonprofit, all-volunteer organization has provided steady entertainment for lovers of the stage as well as a forum for children and adult actors.

Don Redman, vice president in charge of marketing, said that this season is inspired by looking back to celebrate the past 50 years and by pressing forward to the next 50 years. After an all-call to artists and graphic designers, the SLT board recently chose six artists to illustrate the poster and playbill in unique styles for each of the six upcoming plays.

"We have a slate of big attractions. ?Into the Woods? was the first production in 1994 in our new facility, so it has an emotional attachment for us. ?A Christmas Story? is a fan favorite, and ?Willie Wonka? has never been performed on our stage before," he said.

Redman expressed appreciation and amazement, "I marvel over all the talent that was submitted. We had so many incredible products offered to us that it was difficult to pick the final six artists."

The first play of the 2012-13 season, beginning Aug. 17, will be "Willie Wonka," and the poster was created by Joshua Heinsz, an illustrator and designer originally from Slidell. He describes himself as "being raised through SLT" and has spent time modeling and performing professionally for Walt Disney Company. He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and is now pursuing a master of fine arts degree in illustration at the Maryland Institute College of the Arts.

Heinsz?s poster depicts the play with candies wrapped in colorful wrappers stuffed inside the iconic Wonka top hat. The play data is printed on a golden ticket just as the one that got Charlie into the tightly guarded, magical, chocolate factory.

"Pippin" will follow, beginning Oct. 12. Kahra Martinez designed the poster in beautiful lettering with sweeping curves and a crown on the second letter. The crown represents the prince of the play, "Pippin," who longs to discover the secret of true happiness and fulfillment. The energetic presentation is more intellectually complex than most people realize.

Martinez is a web and mobile application designer. An animal lover, she claims to run her own empire alongside the Basset Army and the evil Kittypants Rex. Among her delights are making things, solving problems, and eating cheese to which she is allergic. She is a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in visual art with emphases in graphic design, digital art and painting.

For the end-of-year holidays, "A Christmas Story" will be presented. A well-known and beloved play about one family?s wisdom and folly guarantees to enthrall audiences with its hilarity and poignancy. The poster artist, Kristin Greenfelder, captures many of the identifiable elements of the play in her poster. A lamp made in the form of a lady?s leg, a pink bunny suit, and a Red Rider BB gun are represented in her artwork. The bespeckled main character and narrator, Ralphie, appears as the connection among all these parts.

A graduate of Central Michigan University, Greenfelder now calls Slidell home. She is an apprentice to master painter Louis Maestas of Albuquerque. Since turning over her share of a partnership in a screen printing and embroidery business, she has begun to focus on fine art and also designs stage sets, sings jingles, creates logos and illustrates books.

For the beginning of winter 2013, SLT will perform "Into the Woods" starting Jan. 18. Artist Cal DeSmith offers in his poster a contemporary artwork of bare trees and their shadows with a stylized Little Red Riding Hood looking inward. The white letters of the title are symbolically intertwined with the tree tops all on a green background. The musical weaves the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them to explore the consequences of the characters? wishes and quests. Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella are among the characters.

DeSmith is a sophomore at Southeastern, majoring in graphic design. He also enjoys painting. He said, "I appreciate the opportunity that SLT has given me to present my work to a new audience. I also thank my friends and family for their love and support."

"A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams promises to please local audiences with scenery of New Orleans. A romantic drama shakes the lives of the Kowalskis, Stanley and Stella, when Stella?s sister, Blanche, arrives via the streetcar Desire. It is desire that drives the plot and leads to the ending of the oft repeated cry, "Stella."

The poster by Katherine Klimitas depicts a Southern Belle clad in pink and headed to a balcony apartment after dismounting a green streetcar. A street sign in the French Quarter style displays the title of the play. Klimitas is an aspiring artist who began painting at age 5. She prefers watercolors and acrylic paints for depicting her favorite animals and their personalities. A recent summa cum laude graduate of Loyola University, she has a bachelor?s degree in graphic design. As an independent designer, she accepts commissions for pet portraits as well as for custom jewelry.

The final theatrical presentation of the season will be "Show Boat." It follows the lives of performers, stage hands and dock workers on the riverboat Cotton Blossom. The play follows the relationship of gambler Gaylord Ravenal and Magnolia Hawks, the captain?s daughter. It presents a love story, as well as a political statement about racial inequality.

In her artwork, Sarah Boudreaux, places a river boat as it docks along a sun-drenched orange and yellow Mississippi River. Silhouetted in the foreground, lovers embrace in a kiss under moss-laden live oak trees. Boudreaux, a Slidell native and Picayune, Miss., resident, has a bachelor of arts degree in studio art with a minor in graphic design.

Her art expressions were encouraged at Rembrandt Studio and then at Pope John Paul High School and finally Spring Hill College. She enjoys graphite, oils and colored pencils and is both a commission artist and a graphic designer at M&M Printing.

The artworks serve as invitations to join in the joy of the theater where reality is reflected in unique and captivating ways, as it has been for the past 50 years. For information about auditions, ticket prices or productions, visit www.slidelllittletheatre.org. Reservations can be made online or by calling 985.641.0324.

News about arts activities in east St. Tammany may be sent to Kathleen DesHotel, 1120 Pennsylvania Ave., Slidell, LA 70458-2008; or by email to kathleenfocused@gmail.com. All submissions become the property of The Times-Picayune and will not be returned; submissions may be edited and published or otherwise reused in any medium.

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Managing Your Personal Finance Can Lead To A Lifestyle You Can ...

It is important that you take control of your personal finances. There are Marty McSorley Jersey a number of things that you can do to help you understand your financial transactions. As you gain knowledge about your own monetary situation, you can begin to use your skills to use your money in the best ways possible.

Never co-sign on a loan for someone unless you are prepared to ungrudgingly pay for that loan yourself. Agreements like this don?t end well sometimes, and should the other person default on the loan, you will be responsible for its entirety. It could damage a relationship with a friend or family member too.

Your personal finance strategy should take into account the safety and security of your financial documents. It can be very irritating and troublesome to lose some of your more important documents. Try to keep them in a location that is safe from fire and water. They should also be well protected from theft.

Plan to pay off existing credit balances. If you can?t pay in full, pay more on the high interest credit cards and loans first, while paying the minimum on those that are costing you less. As the highest ones get paid in full, start paying more on the next highest, and so on.

If you are overwhelmed with debt take steps to generate more income. What are the possibilities Marty McSorley Jersey of taking on another part time job or trying for a raise at your current job? These are all question you must ask to adequately assess your situation and to work out a solution.

Read your mail from credit card issuers as soon as you get it, and take note of any changes to your credit card agreements. Credit card issuers must give you 45 days notice of any upcoming changes, such as increases in interest fees beyond the original agreement. Some changes you can opt out of if you do it in a timely manner.

You can improve your personal finance by obtaining the best interest rates you can for your savings accounts. While the difference in internet rates may seem to give a negligible benefit, it can definitely add up to a substantial amount over years. There are many websites that you can find online that compare savings account interest rates across a wide number of banks. Use them to find the best rates.

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It is extremely important for your personal finance that you have a method for disposing old financial documents safely. Investing in a shredder is a great way to do this. If you do not properly throw away your old files, you could be at risk of identity theft and fraud. Protect yourself by being thorough.

Use cash or a debit card instead of a credit card, especially when purchases are small. This will save Wayne Gretzky Jersey you money in interest if you are someone who does not pay credit card bills in full every month, and will allow you to purchase from vendors who may not take credit cards for small amounts.

Since money is tight for a good majority of people, they are looking for ways to manage their finances better so they can save for their future or just try to survive for now. After reading the article above you should know ways to better manage your family?s money for a Ryan Smyth Jersey better future.

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94% Marley

Director Kevin MacDonald and co-producer Ziggy Marley bring forth the most definitive look back at the life of Bob Marley, in the new documentary "Marley". From the formation of "The Wailers" and the comings and goings of different members of the band (including Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff), to Marley's dealings in Rastafarian and how it bled into his Reggae music; and also from his controversial lifestyle punctuated by being a "womanizer" (eleven children from seven different women) to his humanitarian nature, this in-depth (two and a half hour) documentary will immensely satisfy fan and novice alike. I, like many other younger American non-Rasta's, had grown up knowing Bob Marley for his more commercially catchy hits and from his countless depictions on a multitude of shirts worn by numerous Bay Area potheads. But, being a novice, going into this film I wasn't particularly interested in seeing a two and a half hour movie about the life and times Bob Marley. A story I thought I knew, and had heard, countless times before. But that notion changed rather abruptly within the first few minutes of this movie. And by the end, due to the brilliant investigative journalistic nature of MacDonald which elevates "Marley" from an average movie to a MUST SEE documentary, audiences who see this film will walk out with an in-depth appreciation for the man who wrote some of the most poetic and revolutionary lyrics in music history. "Marley" is the no holds barred dissection of a particular subject (or subject matter) which fans of great documentaries will crave (and in fact, was nowhere to be found in the films of 2011). And for a documentary that was originally supposed to be directed by Martin Scorsese, after seeing what MacDonald has accomplished here, it would be hard to imagine "Marley" being more perfectly executed in anybody else's hands. What truly sets "Marley" apart from other bio-documentaries and A&E specials is how, in a very PBS way, MacDonald uses a seemingly endless amount of archival footage, as well as interviews with almost everybody (still alive) who had anything to do with Marley's upbringing and his life as a world famous musician, as the narration. It was quite apparent that MacDonald had full access to any and all information he wanted, and as far as I could see, he thankfully took complete advantage of this fact. As audiences, we hear from Marley's family and peers about how as a young boy he was an outcast because of his mixed-race. We also hear from notable Jamaican artists and record executives, who saw his maturation into a musician that worked to bridge the gaps, not only in Jamaica (during times of war) but nationwide as well. In this way, MacDonald enables audiences to intimately know Bob Marley on every level (get your mind out of the gutter). But all the pure information aside, what MacDonald does very well here is not creating a documentary which totally sanctifies Bob Marley, much as many movies (tributes) do when celebrities with checkered pasts die. MacDonald captures recollections of Marley from both those who loved the man and those who thought him to be nothing more than a womanizing zealot, who was sadly not as politically motivated as he should have been. Final Thought: Overall "Marley" is a brilliant example of an archetype onto how all biographical documentaries should be made. Grade "A" filmmaking, in conjunction with a larger than life subject (subject matter) is what elevates "Marley" into one of the most entertaining two and a half hour documentaries I have ever seen. If you are at all a Bob Marley fan (casual or otherwise) and if you are able to, see "Marley", any way you can, before Hollywood makes a more commercialized (legacy ruining) feature film version of his life in a few years; starring Mekhi Phifer no doubt. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

May 29, 2012

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Direct mail fail ? Rantings of a sub-editor

Facts and fingers. Mostly fingers.

When you espresso-drinking types decide to grace our inboxes with a spot of direct marketing, your main goals are to pick up new clients and stimulate repeat business. Even if you don?t achieve that, hopefully you?ll still increase awareness of your brand. If your message is binned without being read, that?s disappointing. If your recipient opts out, that?s the worst?case scenario. Right?

Or how about when the targeted customer, upon reading your carefully crafted prose, froths violently at the mouth and forwards your email to, um, me, with the following comment:

?Why you would trust anyone to work with you on direct mail when their own attempt at email direct marketing is so shabby is beyond me. It?s the mix of fonts, colours, bold; the length, lack of salutation or sign off, not to mention poor sentence construction and punctuation, that make me go grrrr.?

That?s how this little treat fell into my hands. And, would you believe it, the point of the direct-marketing email in question was to market? direct mail. Ouch. A double whammy of self defeat. To see the email in all its glory, click here.?I?ve removed the company?s name and links, because I?m not a total bitch, honest.

In the interests of positivity (which is definitely a word, because the Spice Girls said so) here are five points that could have made it better:

1. Length and structure
This email is well over 1,000 words long ? that?s at least three times as long as it should be. Try to limit yourself to a maximum of 300 words, and use a three?point structure so that you don?t overwhelm your reader?s tiny mind. For example:

• Outline the client?s possible desire or difficulty
• Describe your company?s solution
• Provide the next step, whether it?s a link, phone number or email address.

2. Style and layout
Make sure the email contains clear branding ? your logo, your font, your colours. This one was so generic?looking that at first we thought it might be a scam, and had to confirm with the company that it was genuine.

When it comes to the text, don?t mix colour, underline and bold (unless you want it look like a GCSE computer skills project from the 1990s). Choose between either colour or bold, and use it sparingly ? and if you choose colour, make sure it fits with your branding and that it matches, or complements, the colour of any hyperlinks. Underline is so last century, baby; don?t do it. Also, do you really need to use block capitals? I THINK NOT.

3. Spelling and grammar
Where to start? The mistakes in this piece smack you in the face like a sack full of hammers. But here are a few of the less idiotic ones.

• Don?t refer to your company as a female, for flip?s sake. Most style guides suggest the singular (?Relfco and its partners?), but some companies prefer the plural (?Relfco and their partners?) because they think it sounds more human. Either is fine, just make sure you?re consistent.
• Remember that spellcheck is a little bastard. Only a human would know that you meant ?whereas? in the sentence: ?ROI for Direct Mail has steadily increased over the last 3 years, were as digitals has declined.?
• Read it out loud. That way you?ll spot the awkwardness of sentences such as: ?We will do all of the or part of, the work for you? ? and either annihilate them on sight (recommended), or at least improve the punctuation.
• Consider employing a professional proofreader, or at least running the document past the most pedantic person you have to hand. Not everyone will spot a misplaced modifier, but if you?re sending the email to several thousand people, some definitely will. Here?s one, where the ?its? and the ?we? disagree: ?In its simplest form, we work in partnership with local marketing experts.? Not the end of the world, but some people judge you on this stuff. Some people, eh. No-one I know, obviously.

4. Wild claims

Stay focused on what you can actually deliver, and the benefits of that to the client. You won?t win business by promising the world. Unless you can actually deliver it, of course ? in which case, I want one. For example:

• ?Mail is engaging. Consumers spend on average 10 minutes reading mailshots.? Per item? (This sounds unlikely.) In a lifetime? (Not very impressive.)
• ?It lets you have a one to one communication which delivers more emotional intensity than any other medium.? Is anyone really going to believe that receiving marketing mail is an emotionally intense experience? Delete.
• ?[Mail] affects all five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Mail is the only medium to provide the creative possibilities to engage the customers on all levels.? Yes, I often sniff, lick and listen to my letters before opening them. But enough about me.

5. Beginnings and endings

How you start and finish matters. If you?re contacting an existing client, you want them to feel valued and remembered. If you?re contacting a potential new client, remember that you?re nothing to them, as yet. And in both cases, bear in mind that unsolicited mail is rarely welcome ? so you need to be as polite, professional and to-the-frickin?-point as possible.

Use a program that allows you to address each recipient by name, and check that their name displays correctly. Most people are more likely to read on if they see ?Dear Cathy? than if they see ?Dear Ms C Relf?. Though it really is time you stopped reading my mail.

Also, make sure you sign off properly. You?re reaching out to new business ? so to whom should it reach back? And how? Be friendly, write like a real person, and give options for how to get in touch.Finally, think carefully about your final statement. Do you really want it to be ?In the mean time for more ideas, fact & fingers click on Direct Mail??

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Spend Smart. Eat Smart. ? Thirsty?

As the weather starts getting warmer, having something cold and tasty to drink is on my mind a lot.? After taking my dog for a walk, playing with my son at the park, or working in the yard, I am thirsty for something cold.? The water that comes out of the tap is just not cold enough, so what is a girl to do?

When we are thirsty, water really is the perfect choice.? It keeps us hydrated and healthy, it has no calories, and it is inexpensive.? Here is a comparison of some drinks I found (costs are from Central Iowa, April 2012):

Beverage	Calories Per 8 ounces	Grams of Sugar per 8 ounces	Cost Per Gallon
Tap Water	0	0	$0.00435
Bottled Water	0	0	$1.57
Sugar-Free Drink Mix	2	0	$2.59
Sports Drink	50	14	$4.19
Regular Soda	100	27	$4.44
Diet Soda	0	0	$4.44
Bottled Tea	0-90	0-23	$8.32
Energy Drink	0-140	0-31	$13.48
Orange Juice	110	24	$7.61
100% Fruit Juice	120	29	$7.64
Lemonade (from mix)	60	16	$1.50
Juice Boxes	90	21	$4.80
Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk	180	24	$4.17

If plain water is not for you, here are a few ideas to try:

• Freeze juice in ice cube trays and cool down your glass of water with flavored ice cubes.
• Put cut up fruit in a pitcher of water in the refrigerator ? the flavor of the fruit will flavor the water.? Oranges, lemons, limes, kiwi and berries work really well for this.
• Put water in a special cup or water bottle and store it in the refrigerator so it is easy to grab in a hurry.? Sometimes water tastes great plain when it is in a special cup.
• Add low-calorie drink mixes (such as Crystal Light) to your water.

Check out choosemyplate.gov this May through August to see what the USDA is doing to promote drinking water instead of sugary drinks.

Justine Hoover, MS, RD, LD

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Video: Wal-Mart Rolling Out Smaller Stores

Wal-Mart is stepping up efforts to compete with the dollar stores and "mom and pops" of the world, with Burt Flickinger, Strategic Resource Insight Group, and CNBC's Herb Greenberg.

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Iraq Christian heritage sites lie neglected

A stone's throw from Iraq's Shiite holy city of Najaf's airport, the remains of the celebrated ancient Christian city of Hira lie neglected and mouldering, because funds for excavation have dried up.

Three sites, discovered five years ago, are unexplored and unkempt, and officials fear the uncompleted excavation could lead to their eventual demise.

The sites, which contain mud walls and jars that are exposed to the elements, lie fewer than 100 metres (yards) from an active runway, are not fenced off and have no security except their proximity to the restricted airport area.

They form part of the ancient Lakhmid capital of Hira, on the outskirts of Najaf, 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of Baghdad.

The Lakhmids were a pre-Islamic Arab tribe that is believed to have emigrated to what is now Iraq from Yemen in the second or third century. The founder of the dynasty was Amr, whose son, Imru al-Qais, converted to Christianity.

In 266, the Lakhmids turned the former military encampment of Hira into their capital.

Establishing their empire across what is now Iraq and northeastern Arabia, they held sway across the lands that lay between the Persians -- to whom they were vassals for several centuries -- and the Romans.

They were a major force among the pre-Islamic Arab peoples, with their culture and learning spread widely and where the early Arabic alphabet was standardised.

Arab poets described Hira as a paradise on earth, with one saying that, because of the city's pleasant climate and beauty, a day in Hira was "better than a year of treatment".

Hira, which extends around 17 kilometres (10 miles) south from Najaf, remained the Lakhmid capital until 663, when Muslim general Khalid bin al-Walid conquered it on the orders of Abu Baqr, the immediate successor of the Prophet Mohammed.

"The area has historical importance, because it is rich in antiquities, including especially the remains of churches, abbeys and palaces," said Shakir Abdulzahra Jabari, who led excavations there in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

"But now, the antiquities have been neglected for a year, and they do not receive any attention, despite the fact that many Western countries are interested in Hira's history as the main gateway of Christianity into Iraq."

Hira was famous for its arable land, and for its palaces and monasteries, notably the Aoun al-Abadi Palace, which hosted visiting dignitaries, and the Al-Lij monastery.

The sites feature the historic treasures of the Lakhmid era, such as the bases of massive abbeys that include dozens of rooms, from studying halls to monastic cells and storage areas.

"Christians have lived for a long period of time in the Hira region, where they formed around one-third of the city's population, with the Al-Abad tribe the most well-known of their community," said Yahya Kadhim al-Sultani, a professor at Kufa University in Najaf's twin city.

"Hira was characterised by a not insignificant number of churches built for living in, and the practise of various scientific and cultural activities," Sultani added.

The ancient city has seen several excavations in decades past, Jabari said.

Oxford University researchers explored the site in the 1930s, and Iraqi antiquities experts carried out their own excavations in 1938, 1956 and 1957.

It was during the latter set of explorations that the Palace of Al-Khawarnaq, built during the reign of fourth and fifth century King Numan I was discovered.

But since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Baghdad's government has had bigger priorities than funding large-scale digs in a country with more than 12,000 documented archaeological sites.

Foreign exploration teams have largely avoided Iraq entirely over security fears, even though levels of violence in the country are significantly lower than their peak in 2006 and 2007.

And those who have come have largely chosen to focus on the autonomous and relatively safe Kurdistan region in the north for excavations.

"The excavation works resumed in the area in 2007. When expansion work was being done to Najaf airport, the first three sites were discovered," said Jabari.

"We have worked to save it from the (airport) expansion process."

Since then, several digs in an area of 3,000 square metres (32,300 square feet) have uncovered the bases of mud-built structures, as well as crosses etched into walls, and a piece of wax marble with the inscription, "Blessings from God, and God forgave the followers of Christ."

In 2009, the Najaf provincial department of antiquities said researchers had unearthed around 2,100 artifacts in different parts of the province, including coins, pieces of pottery and a number of buildings dating back to the Lakhmid dynasty.

"But exploration work stopped a year ago because of time limits on the project, which ran out of money, and no maintenance work has been done on the sites since," Jabari said.

He now fears that further neglect will lead to the antiquities' destruction.

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Capstar is known as a individual quantity of a pill presented to your ...

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Here's Why Google and Facebook Might Completely Disappear in the Next 5 Years

A tag cloud (a typical Web 2.0 phenomenon in itself) presenting Web 2.0 themes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia

We think of Google and Facebook as Web gorillas. They?ll be around forever. Yet, with the rate that the tech world is moving these days, there are good reasons to think both might be gone completely in 5 ? 8 years.

Not bankrupt gone, but MySpace gone. And there?s some academic theory to back up that view, along with casual observations from recent history.

Continue reading

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John Piper - Sermon Audio - NEWS: Group: ?Burmese Troops Gang Rape Woman In Church?

Source: sermonaudio.com | 2012-05-27 - 9?hours ago

Burmese troops gang raped and tortured a grandmother in a church in the latest reported case of abuse by Burma's military against the predominantly Christian Kachin minority, Christian rights activists said Monday, May 21. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), an advocacy group investigating the attacks in Burma, told BosNewsLife that the grandmother of 12 was sheltering on...

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Scottish Church Group: SSM a "Social Experiment in Which the Guinea Pigs are Children"

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The UK Press Association:

Legalising same-sex marriage would "legitimise and encourage" the existence of fatherless or motherless children, according to a report.

A Free Church of Scotland study panel examined the issues surrounding marriage, divorce and remarriage.

The study comes as responses to the Scottish Government's consultation on gay marriage are evaluated.

Referring to same-sex couples, the Free Church report said: "By getting the right to marry, they get more respectability for bringing up children (they already have the right to foster and adopt).

"This is a huge social experiment in which the guinea pigs are children. That is not fair or just to children and does not safeguard their rights. It is really being pushed in a doctrinaire way by the gay lobby without any consideration of the harm that it will do."

The church said that civil partnerships already give same-sex couples the same legal rights as marriage, and therefore there is no need to introduce same-sex marriage.

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A Gay Twitter Conversation

I wrote a post a while back about loving LGBT people.

Recently I Tweeted about the post and ended up having an interesting conversation on Twitter about it.

Here is the conversation:

And that was the end of the conversation.

How do you handle conversations like these? What did I say that I should not have said? What did I not say that I should have said? Where was I wrong? Where was I right?

If you leave a comment below, make sure you hit the little ?Twitter? bird in the Disqus comment field so that your comment gets Tweeted (might as well do FB also). Hopefully we can get more people weighing in on the conversation this way (If you don?t see either button, you need to connect your Disqus account with your Twitter and Facebook account on the Disqus website by editing your profile and selecting ?Services?)

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One Story of Infidelity | Bridge of Life Blog

One Story of Infidelity

• Any similarity to you or someone you know is just that a similarity. So many people have similar stories.

About two years ago I began working with a couple that began marriage counseling, believing that they would get a divorce. At the point they came to me, their relationship seemed to be based upon a bond of hostility. They consistently argued angrily as their main form of communication. Both said that they loved each other very much after 19 year of marriage; which let me know that there was hope for this couple.

What led them to reach out for my assistance was that the husband (we will call him Peter), confessed to his wife, (we will call her Robin), that he had been having an affair for over 16 months. At first Peter was only aware of feeling shame and Robin was only aware of feeling hurt and anger. Robin, as you can imagine, felt a gamut of emotions, rage, anger, hurt, shame, and confusion to name just a few. Peter, as we became more involved in the work, also began to feel a whirlwind of emotions, anger, confusion, resentment, hurt and shame.

As time passed and we worked on their communication, forgiveness and reconnecting, Peter began to feel quite resentful and impatient that Robin seemed unable to forgive him faster. Both Robin and Peter had the tendency to blame the other for the affair as well as anything that they did not like in the relationship. It took much hard work for them to reach the place where they could truly hear each other without wanting to prove that their version of the truth was correct for all. Once this occurred the couple began to move towards re-connecting and the work of regaining trust within their relationship.

As they moved forward, Robin and Peter began to laugh with each other in my presence as well as report back to me that they were having fun together again and having ?hot? sex.

They both shared in a session that they now believed they could and would reach their goal of rebuilding their relationship. It took several more months of intensive marriage counseling for Peter and Robin to reach the place they are now. Robin no longer blames Peter for ?the affair?. She understands her part in the weakening of the marriage and is willing to forgive Peter. She has also regained a high level of trust in him and for their marriage?s continued growth. Peter no longer feels shame and understands his motivations, actions and the consequences of them. They have come a long way from the couple that came to me thinking that they would get a divorce.

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Tropical storm ?Bud? lashes Mexico, new storm forms in Atlantic

By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, May 26, 2012 6:13 EDT

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Tropical Storm Bud lashed the west coast of Mexico late Friday, but the first serious eastern Pacific storm of the 2012 season was rapidly losing strength, giving Mexican emergency officials some respite.

However, a new storm named Beryl has formed in the Atlantic, threatening to disrupt the plans of thousands of US beachgoers taking advantage of the long Memorial Day weekend.

Mexican authorities breathed a sigh of relief as Bud displayed weaker wind gusts and lower swells than expected.

Overnight, the storm moved about 155 kilometers (100 miles) west-northwest of the port city of Manzanillo, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

It was creeping northward at 11 kilometers (seven miles) per hour, packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers (60 miles) per hour.

?Additional rapid weakening is forecast,? the NHC said. ?And Bud is expected to weaken to a tropical depression on Saturday.?

The weakening notwithstanding, emergency officials had alerted residents and prepared shelters as Bud ? which briefly intensified to a category three storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale ? made its approach.

?We are on alert, we are preparing some 120 shelters in the coastal towns,? said Colima civil protection chief Melchor Urusua.

The Mexican government discontinued a hurricane warning along the central Pacific coastline from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes, downgrading it to a tropical storm warning.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for the coast from north of Cabo Corrientes to San Blas.

The eye of the storm was expected to move near land overnight from Friday to Saturday before taking a gradual turn toward the southwest away from the coast on Sunday, according to the NHC.

Tropical storm conditions were already affecting part of the coastline.

Bud is expected to drop up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain in the Mexican coastal states of Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco and southern Nayarit, with up to 38 centimeters (15 inches) in isolated areas.

This rainfall could produce ?life-threatening? flash floods and mudslides, the NHC said.

Mexican authorities have formed a task force in Jalisco, which includes 31 all-terrain vehicles and two helicopters to deal with emergency situations as well as deliver water and emergency food supplies to towns and villages that might be cut off by flooding

?A storm surge is expected to produce coastal flooding,? the NHC warned. ?The surge will be accompanied by large and damaging waves.?

The center also said that swells generated by Bud could also produce dangerous, even ?life-threatening? surf and rip current conditions.

But as Mexico appeared to have dodged the bullet, a new subtropical storm named Beryl formed in the Atlantic off the coast of South Carolina.

Beryl, which was currently located 305 miles (490 kilometers) east of Charleston, South Carolina, was moving north at nine miles (15 kilometers) an hour, the Miami-based center said.

On the projected course, it was expected to hit the coast in one of the southeastern states on Sunday, packing winds of about 45 miles (75 kilometers) an hour.

Beryl formed just as Americans began celebrating the Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start of the beach season.

The Mexican Meteorological Service has forecast 23 tropical storms of various levels of intensity for the 2012 hurricane season. Ten of them are expected in the Atlantic Ocean and 13 in the Pacific.

?The anticipated storms will be less intense than the average,? said Jose Luis Luege, director general of the Mexican National Commission of Water.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a ?near-normal? Atlantic hurricane season is likely.

The Atlantic hurricane region includes the northern Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Agence France-Presse

AFP journalists cover wars, conflicts, politics, science, health, the environment, technology, fashion, entertainment, the offbeat, sports and a whole lot more in text, photographs, video, graphics and online.

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Just 2 in 10 Latino Students Complete Community College in Six Years

I think most reports downplay the key factors in the lack of student success. There's a general social breakdown in discipline and habits, largely cultural/socio-economic, and these are compounded by the failure of students to attain basic proficiency in their K-12 years. Top that off with a lot of kids coming from recent immigrant families, often the first in their family to attend college (so there's less linguistic and knowledge-based support in the home environment), and the basic foundation of learning isn't as strong as it might be in other demographics. It's political incorrect to say this, but it's the truth.

See the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "Latino college students in Long Beach struggle to graduate in college graduation struggle":

LONG BEACH -- Gerardo Raya enrolled in college in 2008 with the hopes of graduating in four years and scoring a job as an animator or illustrator.

But four years later, Raya is still at Long Beach City College struggling to finish the minimal coursework he needs to transfer to a four-year university.

The 24-year-old said he's had trouble balancing his work as a recreational aide for a local high school while trying to study for a full load of classes. He's had to drop classes over the years due to work conflicts and financial problems, but Raya said he's hopeful he can transfer to Cal State Long Beach next year.

"I thought I'd be done by now but it's been really hard," he said. "I didn't think it would be this hard."

Raya isn't the only student struggling to finish college. Studies show that while more students are enrolled in college, they're taking longer to graduate.

Of the students who start four-year bachelor's degree programs, just over half finish within six years, according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. Fewer than three out of 10 full- time community college students graduate with an associate degree within three years.

As a young Latino, Raya may face additional hurdles. A study released in March by the California-based Campaign for College Opportunity found that the college transfer rate for Latino students is about half that of white students -- 14 percent compared with 28 percent.

And while Latino students make up almost half of California's college-age population (age 18 to 24), they remain critically underrepresented in the state's four-year universities, according to the report, titled "Latino Students and Higher Education: California Profile."

Among the key findings:

-- Seven percent of Latinos age 25 and older held a college degree in 2009.

-- Two in 10 Latino students in community college complete an associate degree or transfer after six years, compared to 37 percent of whites.

-- Of the Latino students who graduated from high school in 2009, 16 percent met the requirements for admission into the Cal State University and University of California systems.

'Our future workforce'

Michele Siqueiros, executive director of the Campaign for College Opportunity, said the findings show a disturbing trend in one of the state's fastest-growing populations.
"Over half of the children in public schools are Latino, and these are the people who are going to make up our future workforce," Siqueiros said. "If we don't pay special attention to this group now, we can just assume this gap will continue. If we work to prepare more Latino students for college, we'll benefit as a whole society."

Siqueiros said many factors contribute to the lag in Latino graduation rates, including poverty, language barriers and lack of college information. Many Latino students are the first in their families to attend college, and while parents may have high aspirations for their children, they don't always understand the financial and academic demands of college, she said.

More at the link.

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The Church is Committed to Universal Healthcare Coverage

What about not forcing people to participate in activities, e.g. contraception and abortion, the Church finds morally abhorrent. The timing of this statement seems unhelpful to the U.S. Bishops? sterilization, abortifacient and birth-control insurance mandate lawsuit. But then again, the Bishops are actually suing for Religious Liberty. A convoluted mess?

Vatican City, 24 May 2012 (VIS) ? Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, head of the Holy See delegation to the sixty-fifth World Health Assembly, yesterday delivered an address before that gathering, which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 21 to 26 May. Speaking English, the archbishop reaffirmed the Holy See?s support for Resolution WHA64.9 on ?sustainable health financing structures and universal coverage?, which urges member States to aim for affordable universal coverage and access for all citizens on the basis of equity and solidarity.

He also recalled how Benedict XVI has emphasised the importance of establishing ?real distributive justice which, on the basis of objective needs, guarantees adequate care to all. Consequently, if it is not to become inhuman, the world of healthcare cannot disregard the moral rules that must govern it?.

Archbishop Zimowski noted that ?more countries, especially those with emerging economies, are moving towards universal coverage?, thanks also to ?good policies that promote equity. ? Therefore my delegation strongly believes that in the endeavour to promote universal coverage, fundamental values such as equity, human rights and social justice need to become explicit policy objectives?, he said.

The archbishop made an appeal for high-income countries to show greater solidarity towards poorer nations in order to overcome funding shortfalls in health. In this context he quoted the Encyclical ?Caritas in veritate? in which Benedict XVI writes: ?More economically developed nations should do all they can to allocate larger portions of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations that the international community has undertaken in this regard?.

In conclusion the head of the Holy See delegation affirmed that ?progress towards universal coverage cannot be the effort of State machinery alone. It requires support from civil society. ? With over 120,000 social and healthcare institutions worldwide, the Catholic Church is in many developing countries one of the key partners of the State in healthcare delivery, providing services in remote areas to rural low-income populations, enabling them to access services that would otherwise be out of their reach. The efforts and contribution of such organisations and institutions towards universal access, merit the recognition and support of both the State and the international community, without obliging them to participate in activities they find morally abhorrent?.

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