*sigh*
ah well, supposedly they're saving $1,000,000 per year by closing the centers. I suppose fiscal responsibility is a good thing, so I can't fault them for trying to balance the budget... however... they could have waited til the end of the year! Argh!
Source: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?28057-Drat-budget-cuts-are-annoying
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A Prophecy, The Dark and Light Fae, 4 neutrals and a War... ~Literate RP'ers only~ Many spots open
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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."The Lost Ones and The Prophecy"
I would love to join this ?
Which faceclaim would you like to reserve?
Just curious, but do we get to choose who we fall for? Just wondering cause I noticed some character have it already set, while others dont.
most of the characters you will be able to choose who you fall for...there are just certain ones that fall for eachother
Ok just checking, and I am interested and really thinking about joining, however I am still unsure. For 1 all the face claims that I know (and really like) are taken lol Though that is nothing new. The other problem I am having is deciding weather to be human or a dark fae. So that leads to my other question (sorry, I tend to ask a lot of them), what is the purpose of the humans?
like one could be connected to the fae some how, like in the show their is a human that works as a doctor for the good fae but she has to because they are trying to find a way to save her girl friend that is in a coma...
or like the neutral girl could be a friend of one of the neutrals...
and the human witch would most likely be used for her magic and also a tool to get to the other humans/neutrals if need be.
edit: we are not really wanting to change face claims but if you tell us who you want we might consider it...it just took awhile to do the faceclaims.
Also keep in mind the Dark side could always be forcing a human to work for them..?
Pop out ^.^
"Sometimes I wish for falling, Wish for the release,
Long for falling through the air,To give me some relief.
Because falling's not the problem, when I'm falling I'm in peace.
It's only when I hit the ground.
It causes all the grief."- The Fallen Ones
Ah ok, well I like the human witch idea, however I am not very good at girl x girl pairings. Nothing against them at all, just me personally, I'm not very good with them.
As for the face claim, I understand that completely and will refrain from doing that. I also understand (and bet) it took a looonnnnggggg time to do the face claims.
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Maintain your septic tank regularly. You can easily buy certain chemicals that accelerate decomposition and avoid overflowing. When you plan home improvement make sure you do not tamper accidentally with your septic tank. If you need to get a detailed plan of your house and be extremely carefully to avoid costly damages.
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If you have chosen to have a gravel driveway and you have weeds growing through your stones there are some ways to prevent this from happening. A weed barrier is a good way to go about getting rid of the culprits. You do not have to get rid of all of your gravel to do it, you can put it over existing gravel and add new!
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You should look into making minor house repairs prior to putting your house on the market. This includes things like fixing a cracked tile, a hole in a wall, or a squeaky door. Issues like these may make the potential buyer worry that you have not taken care of the house properly and may make the buyer wonder what worse things are being covered up.
For a temporary and inexpensive way to childproof the edges of fireplaces, tables, and other objects, try using foam pipe insulation sleeves, which are pre-slit sleeves of cushy styrofoam. You can cover the sleeves with tablecloths or throws to disguise the do-it-yourself bumpers until your child no longer needs them.
An important tip to remember with real estate is that when you are making improvements to your house, you should not date it with fashions that are on their way out. This is important because while something may look nice for the time being you should always be forward thinking, especially if you do plan on selling your house.
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Source: http://answers.apostoliccm.com/2012/07/tips-to-make-you-happy-with-your-home-improvements/
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The acrimonious presidential campaign eases back into action Monday after a weekend pause for the nation to absorb the shock of a horrific mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater.
The massacre stalled a race for the White House that has become increasingly heated in recent weeks. President Barack Obama, Republican rival Mitt Romney and their advisers are now weighing how soon after the shootings to resume their attacks or whether to temper the tenor of the campaign.
"There's not a playbook for this," said Jen Psaki, Obama's campaign spokeswoman. "Just like everybody, we're taking this day by day."
Both campaigns were keeping their largely negative television advertisements off the air in Colorado, a key battleground state in the November election. The Obama campaign said it would not advertise in Colorado for the rest of the week; Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said the Republican's ads in the state would be down at least through Monday.
The campaigns pulled the ads Friday, part of a widespread dialing back of election year politicking after shootings that left 12 dead and dozens more injured. The candidates and their surrogates also canceled campaign events and media interviews for much of the weekend.
Romney made a low-key return to political activity Sunday night in northern California, where he courted Republican donors at three campaign fundraisers. Romney told supporters he would tone down his political rhetoric, at least for the night, in "keeping with the seriousness of the day." The former Massachusetts governor avoided attacking Obama by name.
Obama on Sunday dashed for Aurora, Colo., the site of the shooting. He spent nearly three hours in emotional private meetings with the families of the dead and also met with some of those injured in the attacks.
"I hope that over the next several days, next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence that ends up marring this country," Obama said.
Romney said Obama's trip was "the right thing for the president to be doing on this day."
From Colorado, Obama flew to San Francisco to start a previously scheduled three-day trip that includes a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nev., campaign fundraisers in California, Oregon and Washington state, and a speech to the National Urban League convention in New Orleans.
But the campaign cancelled a rally planned for Portland, Ore. Officials said they felt the tone of the larger event would be inappropriate.
Romney also spent Sunday night in San Francisco following his fundraisers. Like Obama, he was to return to campaigning in earnest Monday, with a roundtable discussion with small business leaders and a fundraiser in southern California.
The Obama campaign launched the week with a video entitled "Welcome Home Our Veterans," which touts Obama's record on veterans issues includes personal testimonials from former servicemen and women who thank him for supporting troops. The film takes special note of Obama's work to wind down and end the U.S. military role in Iraq.
Much of Romney's week will be focused on America's role abroad. He'll deliver a foreign policy-focused speech at the VFW convention Tuesday. The next day he will launch his first trip abroad as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. He's expected to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in London and meet with foreign dignitaries in England, Israel and Poland.
The Colorado shooting halted the campaign in the midst of a particularly negative stretch. With the race deadlocked less than four months from Election Day, both camps have been ramping up their attacks as they seek to gain an edge.
The Obama campaign, trying to overcome the weak U.S. economy, has pummeled Romney's business record and financial secrecy. Led by Obama himself, the campaign has pushed the wealthy Romney to release more of his personal tax returns and raised questions about whether his tenure at the helm of private equity firm Bain Capital coincided with outsourcing and bankruptcies.
Romney responded with his own harsh criticism, attacking Obama as anti-private sector for saying: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." The Romney campaign used the phrase in an ad last week.
Friday's shooting also put fresh focus on the issue of gun control, which has played virtually no role in a race focused on the economy.
Last year, following the killing of six people and wounding of then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Obama called for a series of steps to "keep those irresponsible, law-breaking few from getting their hands on a gun in the first place." But Psaki, his campaign spokeswoman, said it was "too early to say" whether the president would propose any new gun control policies following the Colorado shootings.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Steve Peoples at http://twitter.com/sppeoples
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/campaign-resumes-pause-colorado-shooting-072420813.html
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Though he decided against shutting down Penn State's football program in the wake of its child sex-abuse scandal, NCAA President Mark Emmert will announce Monday morning broad and substantial sanctions that will severely affect the program for years, an NCAA official with knowledge of the penalties told USA TODAY Sports.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the NCAA has not yet announced the sanctions, says some of the penalties could be non-traditional.
In addressing a case unprecedented in nature and scope, Emmert made a decisive and ground-breaking move, turning to the Division I Board of Directors and NCAA executive committee rather than use the enforcement process the NCAA typically applies to rules violators, according to the NCAA official and another person familiar with the case who is a former NCAA investigator.
The NCAA official said both the board of directors, comprised of 22 university presidents and chancellors, and the executive committee had directed Emmert to look into the Penn State case and to offer recommendations on penalties, which he did. Emmert received broad approval from both groups, the official said, to impose sanctions and bypass the usual investigation process.
Emmert's move is a strong response to a case of misconduct unlike any the association has seen in its history. Rather than view the scandal as an enforcement matter for the infractions committee, which typically acts as judge and jury in NCAA investigations, Emmert saw it as so serious it warranted action by those with more overarching power over the membership.
Emmert will announce the sanctions against Penn State at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis at 9 a.m. ET today, one day after Penn State officials removed coach Joe Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium. Appearing with Emmert will be Ed Ray, president of Oregon State and chairman of the NCAA executive committee.
A report by former FBI director Louis Freeh found that top university leaders, including Paterno, who died in January, covered up information for years that could have stopped Sandusky's attacks on children. Penn State's punishment likely will range from postseason bowl bans and scholarship reductions for the football program to other non-traditional sanctions that the NCAA has the authority to impose. In a statement Sunday, the NCAA said it will impose "corrective and punitive measures."
The NCAA's move to take action on the case is unusual because the issues involve a cover-up of criminal activity rather than a violation of typical association bylaws. No obvious on-field competitive advantage was gained by the misconduct. Some questioned the rush to hand down a decision.
"I am completely in the dark," said Anthony Lubrano, a newly elected Penn State board of trustee member. "I am so frustrated as a trustee. It is really disheartening. I am hearing the same things the (media) are.
"It is unforgiveable that Mark Emmert feels he needs to make an example, if what is being reported (is accurate). Joe Paterno is not responsible for pedophilia in America. Louis Freeh reached an (erroneous) conclusion."
ACC commissioner John Swofford, who had no details on the pending sanctions, on Sunday said the case as "goes well beyond anything related to athletics." Swofford said many individuals working in college sports have wrestled with how to sanction Penn State.
"I don't know if there's anything to compare it to," he said. "So it's uncharted waters ?a tragedy from every angle, starting with the young kids that were victims. And the question is, where do you put something like that in terms of NCAA violations, recruiting violations or that type of thing."
Unchartered territory for the NCAA
The case is unprecedented ? Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of abuse ? and the NCAA underscored the point in departing from its typical investigation protocol.
Said former longtime NCAA enforcement head David Price in an email to USA TODAY Sports: "On the surface, they seem to be separating the issue from the enforcement process. ? I am curious to learn what they have decided and what process they are using."
Emmert, who at one point said he had not ruled out shutting down the program for a period of time, told Penn State in November that the NCAA would be examining the exercise of "institutional control."
Only one major college football program, Southern Methodist in the late 1980s, has received the so-called death penalty. Several NCAA former investigators have said that one of the reasons why the death penalty has not been imposed since is because of the devastating effect it had on SMU's football program, which has had three winning seasons since 1986.
According to the NCAA database of major infractions cases, the longest postseason ban issued in major college football has been four years, to Indiana starting in 1960.
Sunday's announcement by the NCAA brought mixed reaction in the Penn State community.
Said Michael Robinson, who helped lead Penn State to the 2005 Big Ten title: "I know the NCAA felt like it had to do something, but Jerry and this scandal ? it gave us no competitive advantage, you know? We had no idea. ? The NCAA, when it talks about docking scholarships, bowls, wins or whatever, the death penalty, I look at it as if you were doing something to create a competitive advantage. That wasn't the case here."
Said William Earley, a retired Wall Street executive who made five-figure donations to Penn State for 20 years: "Is the punishment expected? Yes. Is it deserved? Yes. It is the beginning of the whole rehabilitation process. Just like taking down the statue. You can't avoid it. It is a perpetual reminder of doing the wrong thing. This is one of the ugliest episodes in American sports."
And former Penn State standout Matt Millen said: "Here is what disappoints me: What are they basing it on? They didn't conduct an investigation. They are going off a report the university paid for. So the university's own words killed them.
"Doesn't the NCAA have an investigative arm? Isn't that what they are supposed to do? ? This looks to me like the NCAA is doing it while it is hot. There are some positives: The fact that they are being this swift can help with recruiting ."
According to the version of first-year coach Bill O'Brien's contract available on Penn State's web site, O'Brien, whose base salary this season is $950,000, cannot terminate the agreement because of sanctions against the program without having to give the university a sizeable buyout payment. O'Brien has been steadfast in his commitment to Penn State amid the widening scandal.
Just the beginning of sanctions?
Two former chairmen of the NCAA infractions committee as well as former NCAA investigators said last week that the Penn State case, while reprehensible, might not qualify as an enforcement issue.
"You might argue that by what Sandusky did do and by what Penn State did not do, that it is a violation of ethical conduct, but I don't think I have ever seen it used in that fashion," former infractions committee chairman David Swank said. "My opinion would be that it is not (an enforcement issue). There are other venues to take care of the problems that occurred at Penn State, and one of those is not the NCAA."
Chuck Smrt , who was on the NCAA enforcement staff for more than 17 years, said that the NCAA involvement in the case could open a Pandora's Box for the organization in the future regarding criminal activities on campuses across the nation.
"Then the next time an athletic staff member at another school is involved in criminal activity, are you going to look at whether other staff members were aware and followed up on that?" Smrt said. "When a coach is involved in criminal activity, does every school then need to review who knew what along the way and assess whether there has been unethical conduct? Or does it relate only to the significance of the criminal activity? And then, well, where do you draw that line?"
The former investigators and former infractions committee chairman Tom Yeager said that Penn State was eligible for the death penalty even though it is not a so-called repeat violator ? more than one major rule violation within a five-year period ? because all punitive options are on the table in cases involving major rules violations.
The NCAA penalties could be just the beginning of sanctions for Penn State. The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education are conducting investigations into the school's actions in relation to the scandal.
Also, athletics director Tim Curley, who is on leave, and former vice president Gary Schultz await trial on charges of failing to report child abuse and lying to a grand jury but have maintained their innocence.
And the sanctions will have far-reaching ramifications for the current Penn State players, who had scheduled a meeting for 10 a.m. Monday, according to Twitter reports.
Contributing: Thomas O'Toole, Jeffrey Martin, Steve Berkowitz, Jon Saraceno, Brent Schrotenboer.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/PsH3wmNN1E8/1
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CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As a gay black man growing up in Chicago's infamous Cabrini Green public housing project, Arick Buckles knows first-hand how the stigma of HIV can keep people infected with the virus from seeking treatment.
It took him six years after he tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, to get care. By then, Buckles was frail and wore turtleneck sweaters to hide his severely swollen lymph nodes.
"I didn't want to accept it was the HIV that was disfiguring my face, my neck. It was visible," Buckles said. He finally sought care after suffering pneumocystis pneumonia, a lung infection that strikes HIV patients as their immune systems weaken.
The predominantly black housing project where Buckles grew up was such a hub of crime and poverty that the city tore it down several years ago.
"We thought growing up in Cabrini Green that it was a gay disease. If I were to disclose my status, I felt my homosexuality would be outed," said Buckles, 40, who was so fearful of that prospect that he kept his HIV status, and his sexual orientation, in the closet.
"It's looked upon as disgraceful" in the black community, he said.
Buckles' tale is still too common, despite widespread U.S. efforts to foster awareness of the virus that causes AIDS and its treatment over the last three decades, says Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"Stigma is a huge issue," Fenton said. It can keep people from getting tested, and for those who know they are HIV positive, it can keep them from getting the treatment they need.
He said stigma affects a broad swath of communities in different forms, but for many blacks in America, it exists on top of poverty, poor access to treatment and poor outreach for effective prevention services.
HIV transmission rates have fallen from 130,000 new infections per year during the epidemic's peak in the mid-1980s to 50,000 a year, a level little changed since the mid-1990s.
Part of the problem is that many Americans are infected and do not know it. Of the estimated 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, nearly one in five of those individuals remain undiagnosed.
Up to 44 percent of new infections are clustered in 12 major cities, including Chicago, Washington, New York and Los Angeles, CDC data show. Within these communities, HIV rates are highest among blacks, Hispanics and gay and bisexual men of all races.
CDC researchers will present the latest U.S. data this week at the International AIDS Society's AIDS 2012 conference in Washington, where scientists will gather to discuss better ways to prevent, treat and seek a cure for the disease.
BLACKS, GAYS AND HIV
According to a report released last week by the Black AIDS Institute, black gay and bisexual men make up one in 500 Americans overall, but account for one in four new HIV infections in the United States.
It found that by the time a black gay man reaches 25, he has a one in four chance of being infected with HIV. By age 40, he has a 60 percent chance of being infected.
Fenton said there is nothing unique about blacks that make them more vulnerable to HIV infection. Once higher infection rates are seen in a community, the chances of new members becoming infected are simply higher.
"What we believe is that the infection is becoming concentrated in these minority groups as a reflection of the social and structural drivers of health inequalities overall," he said.
A CDC study published on Friday in the Lancet medical journal found that black men who have sex with men in the United States are 72 times more likely than the general population to be HIV-positive.
HIV-positive gay and bisexual black men in the United States are 22 percent less likely than other HIV-positive gay and bisexual men to get treatment, the team said. They are also less likely to have health insurance, which is key because HIV drugs lower the amount of virus in the body and can significantly reduce the risk of transmission.
Lack of access is just part of the story in the African American communities Buckles now serves as an outreach worker at Chicago House, a social service agency that provides housing and support services to HIV-affected and at-risk families.
"We figure if we get these people housed, they are able to address their HIV status," he said.
MORE TESTS, MORE HOPE
In Washington, a city with one of the highest infection rates in the country, CDC has been working with local health officials to increase testing.
Local health officials launched an HIV screening program in 2006 that expands testing to places like the department of motor vehicles, where individuals can get tested while they wait for a driver's license.
Since its start in 2006, HIV testing in Washington is up 400 percent, rising from fewer than 30,000 tests in 2006 to 122,000 in 2011.
At United Medical Center in the predominantly black, southeast part of the nation's capital, nurses saw they needed to reach a wide range of people who ordinarily may not get tested. They began offering free HIV testing through the center's emergency room 24 hours a day.
Patients get immediate results and those who test positive are connected with care before leaving.
Donna Landers, a 47-year-old grandmother, sought emergency care at the clinic for abdominal pain in October and agreed to have an HIV test as well. She had a negative test just two months earlier, so her positive result was a shock.
"I was stunned," said Landers, who is black. She believes she got the virus from her husband.
Although she felt quickly embraced by the clinic's staff, many others judge her, including some relatives, Landers said.
"My sister used to hug me; now she don't."
Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, who sees patients at the center after they are diagnosed, said more doctors need to make testing routine, especially in the black community.
"There's no reason why I should test someone for diabetes and high cholesterol and not HIV," she said.
Fitzpatrick, who is black, said many of her patients have full-blown AIDS because they've avoided or delayed treatment. She sees religious influences making many people in the black community wary of discussing HIV and sex. They consider it a gay-only issue.
And the young gay men she sees are so convinced they will get HIV anyway that "they're not terribly concerned about it."
(For a graphic, see http://link.reuters.com/quf59s)
In New York, a group of mostly black, gay and HIV-positive men is trying to break the silence by handing out condoms and trying to educate other young gay men at risk.
Sexy With A Goal, or SWAG, is an affiliate of the AIDS Service Center of New York City. The group hopes its efforts will help young men understand "safer sex is sexy."
NEW EFFORTS
The CDC just launched a new national campaign aimed at overcoming the stigma called "Let's Stop HIV Together." Ads start running this week in six cities heavily affected by HIV, with others to be added later.
Other federal efforts may help. The Food and Drug Administration this month approved the first at-home HIV test that some experts say may help reach people who don't want to be seen at a clinic.
In June, CDC launched a two-year pilot program to offer HIV testing in community pharmacies and retail clinics in 12 urban areas and 12 rural areas with high rates of HIV and low access to testing.
Researchers are also trying new tactics. One new study funded by the National Institutes of Health offers gift cards to patients who follow-up a positive HIV test result with treatment and continue to take their medications.
Wafaa El-Sadr of Columbia University in New York City, who is leading the trial, said it's not yet clear if financial incentives will work, but they are willing to try new approaches if it helps patients follow through.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, said researchers do not know enough about how to reach those most at risk.
"They're still, relatively speaking, a disenfranchised population. Many of them are in inner cities; many of them don't have access to healthcare," he said.
Dr. David Malebranche of Emory University School of Medicine treats HIV/AIDS patients from a predominately black neighborhood in Atlanta. Researchers are just starting to understand that ending America's HIV crisis will mean addressing the same lack of healthcare access that puts blacks at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes, he said.
"We're realizing it's not just unprotected sex by itself. When you compare people of different genders, ages, races and sexual orientation, rates of unprotected sex are pretty comparable. So it's got to be something more."
(Editing by Michele Gershberg and Eric Beech)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-blacks-gay-straight-biggest-struggle-hiv-050144772.html
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?Had someone been prepared and armed they could have stopped this ?bad? man from most of this tragedy. He was two and three feet away from folks, I understand he had to stop and reload. Where were the men of flight 93???? Someone should have stopped this man. Someone could have stopped this man. Lives were lost because of a bad man, not because he had a weapon, but because noone (sic) was prepared to stop it. Had they been prepared to save their lives or lives of others, lives would have been saved.
All that was needed is one Courages (sic)/Brave man prepared mentally or otherwise to stop this it could have been done. When seconds count, police are ony minutes away. My prayers are with all of those suffering from this sensless (sic) act, may God be with them in this moment of pain and heartache.
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A sailor and an airman were among those killed in a theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., early Friday, family members and military officials confirmed Saturday.
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