Imagine you’re an entrepreneur and someone tells you that the future of your business depends on whether or not someone picks a plastic ball with your name on it out of a lottery machine. Sounds crazy, right? Not in the marijuana industry!

Both Arizona and Washington use some kind of lottery system to award marijuana licenses to businesses, and Guam might use a lottery system in the future. In addition, some states allow municipalities to approve or ban some types of marijuana-related businesses from operating within their borders. These municipalities grant their own licenses to marijuana businesses, and some of them, like Long Beach and Santa Ana in California, use lottery systems, too.

I remember when I was in college, and there was a lottery system used to pick dorm rooms for my sophomore year. I didn’t like it at the time. Of course, I might be biased because I was one of the last 10 unlucky people to see their names drawn out of the lottery machine. However, in hindsight, it makes sense. How else do you rank who gets to choose a dorm room first if all other factors are equal? It was the fair way to do it.

Fast forward to today, and I’m watching the lotteries for marijuana licenses that are happening in different parts of the country. In the marijuana industry, all other factors are not equal. As an entrepreneur, I don’t like it.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening.

The Licensing Process When the Number of Marijuana Licenses is Restricted

Many states restrict the number of licenses granted to dispensaries, cultivators, processors, and testing labs. Some restrict the number of all of these license types while others only restrict the number of specific types of licenses – most often the number of dispensary licenses. States use one of three different processes to grant those licenses: competitive, lottery, or qualified lottery.

With the competitive licensing process, marijuana businesses submit applications (with application fees) that are rated based on quality in a variety of areas such as proof of capitalization, inventory control plan, operations plan, detailed policies and procedures, security plan, criminal record, and local support. Every application is rated using the same criteria, and applicants with the highest scores are granted licenses. Yes, there can be problems with how applications are rated as we recently saw in Pennsylvania and Florida, but this is still the process used by most states that have approved medical and/or recreational marijuana.

In the lottery process used in Arizona and likely Guam in the future, marijuana businesses submit applications with their application fees. All applications that meet the minimum requirements (e.g., they don’t violate the required buffer zone between the business and a school) are put into a lottery. Winners are picked at random with little or no consideration of qualifications. Those winners receive licenses.

Qualified Lottery

A qualified lottery works like a regular lottery where qualifying applications are chosen at random and those applicants receive licenses. However, the qualifying criteria is much more specific and strict than in a regular lottery. Typically, applicants have to meet high standards to make it into the lottery. Washington State uses a qualified lottery system, which is a hybrid between the competitive and lottery processes.

The Problem with Marijuana License Processes

Aside from the obvious problem of the most qualified businesses not always getting licenses when lotteries are used, there is also the problem of awarding licenses based on luck rather than merit. With a lottery, you’re getting a business that meets minimum qualifications rather than one that you’re certain did the most planning to build what can become a sustainable business.

Consider this – seven months after 20 marijuana license applicants were granted dispensary licenses by lottery in Santa Ana, California, only two of those dispensaries had opened. Would the story be different if a competitive application process was used?

However, the competitive process isn’t perfect either. Ratings are subjective and sometimes, applicants gather large sums of money and political favors to increase their chances of securing licenses. It’s far from a perfect system, and it’s wrought with lawsuits. Of course, the lottery process isn’t immune to lawsuits either.

In a young, growing industry, being first to market (or early to market) presents a significant advantage. Yes, most states that restrict the number of marijuana licenses will probably add more licenses in the future giving more businesses a chance to enter the industry, but for now, a restricted number of licenses means an oligopoly is forming in many states.

This is in stark contrast to states that do not restrict the number of marijuana licenses. For example, Colorado doesn’t restrict the number of licenses and has granted hundreds of them. Ultimately, the market will decide which businesses will last in Colorado.

Think of it this way. In Connecticut, there are nine dispensary marijuana licenses per 400,000 residents. In Colorado, there are 528 dispensary marijuana licenses per 10,416 residents. Yes, the Colorado market is more mature and residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana last year while only medical marijuana is legal in Connecticut. Naturally, Colorado has more dispensaries at this time. However, the question is this. In which state will the free market decide which businesses make it? If you answered “Colorado,” you’re right.


Celtic Mythology and the Religion of the Ancient Celts

  • by Charles River Editors, Jesse Harasta
  • Narrated by Daniel F. Purcell
  • 2 hrs and 7 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook

Publisher's Summary

The Celts are one of the most well-known groups in Europe and one of the least understood. Depending on which classifications are used, the Celts are also one of the oldest civilizations in Europe. In the centuries before Christ, the Celts were spread out across much of continental Europe, and though they are mostly identified with Gaul, evidence suggests they also spread as far as Portugal. Though they were spread out across Europe before the height of the Roman Empire, most people associate the Celts with the British Isles today, particularly Ireland and Scotland. After they had been relegated to those smaller regions as a result of the Romans and other migrations, the culture of the Celts as it is currently understood began to congeal during the Early Middle Ages, and Celtic culture, folklore, and legend have all become inextricably intertwined with Irish history and British history as a whole.
Historically, Celtic cultures differ from their English and French neighbors in a number of ways, including social organization, language, values and economic systems, but one of the most captivating of these has always been their myths. Celtic Myths, which can be read in translation without needing special training in grammar, are more accessible than the Celtic languages, and unlike the other distinctive features that have faded over the centuries, myths still have their immediacy and power when read today. While much has undoubtedly been lost from the ancient Celts over time, medieval manuscripts help scholars understand how Celtic myths have reached the form they have today. Like many ancient belief systems, Celtic mythology shares Indo-European roots, meaning Celtic beliefs have cousins in related societies like the Norse, Greeks, Romans and Slavs, with a foundation of shared mythmaking that goes back several millennia.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful

Not any of the myths

if you are looking for the actually stories/ myths of the ancient Celts then this isn't the one to get.
It was a history of the Celts and origins of the language and where they were from etc. Was still a pretty good listen!
Read full review

- Nik

An average attempt!

Rather sadly in true American fashion the book contains small but damaging errors. I say damaging because students and American pagans then go on to expand on these inaccuracies causing even more erroneous confusion and arguments in future research! Sadly this subject has suffered a lot of misleading information sadly most from the US. There are errors in pronunciation of most names. This aside, if you know the pitfalls and mistakes, the book is fair but if you don't know the subject find a book of more academic research and authority.
Read full review

- Amazon Customer

Book Details

  • Release Date: 18-05-2015
  • Publisher: Charles River Editors


Movements: Beat Poets

So I recently watched the Chilean movie ‘No!’ which details the plebiscite in 1980, in which the country overthrew a particularly nasty dictatorship. One thing that really inspired me about the film was the way that media played a huge part in the campaign; people literally ‘used their words’, and completely changed the direction of the country.

I love the idea that literature can be so powerful, so I’m starting a little series of posts under the title of ‘Movements’, talking about literary movements that worked to positively affect their society. Today we’re starting with the Beat Poets!

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking
for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night

-from ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg was an American poet (among many other things) who graduated from Columbia University in the 1940’s. It was at university that he made friends with Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassidy, and William S Bourroughs. These men would all be leading figures in what would come to be known as the ‘Beat Generation’, or the ‘Beat Movement’.

In part, the movement was a response to the end of World War Two, and a protest against the Vietnam War. Most Beat literature was popularised during the 1950’s, and was concerned with criticising a lot of core cultural aspects of America. Its essence was the questioning of the mainstream, and defying the norms of culture and of literature.

Ginsberg wrote:

Although this was never a huge movement in terms of the number of participators, it was highly influencial, and it has been argued that the hippy movement of the 1960’s found its roots in Beat Poetry.

Many writers involved with this movement were also very interested in meditation, Eastern religion, and hallucinogenic drugs; they were looking to reach a higher consciousness, and were not content to remain within the traditions of their society.

Got up and dressed up
and went out & got laid
Then died and got buried
in a coffin in the grave,
Yet everything is perfect,
Because it is empty,
Because it is perfect
with emptiness,
Because it’s not even happening.

– from ‘Mexico City Blues’ by Jack Kerouac

Is this movement something you’d heard of before? Do you have any favourite poems from this group? And what other movements would you like to see a post about?

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day!


Data protection law specialist Kathryn Wynn of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind, said that a previous increase in the maximum level of fine that could be issued for civil breaches of the DPA had prompted organisations to take the issue of data protection seriously.

She said that as part of its current review of criminal sanctions under the DPA being undertaken by the Ministry of Justice, the government should consider strengthening the civil monetary penalty regime under the Act too.

"In 2010, when the ICO was first handed the power to issue civil monetary penalty of up to £500,000 to organisations that breach the DPA, there was a marked change in businesses' attitude towards data protection," Wynn said. "Businesses began taking more seriously the need to put in place appropriate security against the loss or theft of the personal data they were responsible for, and they also improved the due diligence they conducted on third party processors' handling of the data too."

"However, it still remains the case that for the very biggest companies, a fine of £500,000 would represent a drop in the ocean and a small part of the overall costs those organisations would encounter if they experienced a major data breach," she said. "There would be another step-change in the seriousness with which organisations address data security if they could be fined a more significant sum. It could even act as a driver towards a market shift in the enhancement of cloud providers' security offerings since organisations would have a greater onus on ensuring data security when they are outsourcing processing and storage to a cloud provider."

"Changes to the civil monetary penalty regime are already envisaged under the EU's draft General Data Protection Regulation. A similar approach to the one envisaged under those rules, where the level of penalty organisations could face for a data breach would be calculated on the basis of a percentage of their annual turnover, would act as a major deterrent to non-compliance from the largest companies and drive better data protection practices across industry. This would in turn better prepare organisations for compliance with the new Regulation when it is finally introduced," Wynn added.

Earlier this week justice minister Simon Hughes said that the UK government had begun a review of the sanctions available for breaches of the DPA. He said the review would help it "decide whether to increase the penalties as the law permits".

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed to that the review is concerned with the criminal sanctions regime under the DPA, rather than the penalties available in civil cases.

The current penalty for committing a section 55 offence is a maximum £5,000 fine if the case is heard in a magistrates court and an unlimited fine for cases tried in a crown court.

Under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act (CJIA) the justice secretary has the power to introduce new regulations that would allow a custodial sentence penalty to be available for the offences under Section 55 of the DPA, but those powers have yet to be used. In 2008 the Act came into force without those powers being immediately available.

In a speech given at the ICO's Data Protection Practitioner Conference in Manchester on Monday, Hughes said that information commissioner Christopher Graham has argued "eloquently" for the powers under the CJIA to be invoked and confirmed that a review had been started within government on whether to do so.

"Serious misuse of personal data by any sector causes significant distress and damage to ordinary citizens and undermines public trust in public institutions and business which in turn can undermine economic growth," Hughes said.

The justice minister also confirmed that the government would change the law to "prohibit a person from requiring someone else to produce certain records [relevant to those individuals] as a condition of employment, or for providing a service, other than where the relevant record is required by law or where it is justified in the public interest". This is colloquially known as a forced subject access request.

"The powers to ban enforced subject access requests, under the yet-to-be-enforced Section 56 of the DPA, are less relevant than they may be been previously," Wynn said. "This is in part because, in the context of criminal record checks, organisations can follow a process for obtaining relevant information for their checks through the Disclosure & Barring Service and do not need prospective new staff to submit a subject access request to the police which would reveal all the information held about those individuals."

"Additionally, businesses are less likely to require individuals to submit a subject access request with other organisations when seeking to agree a contract with those individuals over the provision of services. In the age of big data, they do not need individuals to carry out subject access requests to find out more about them. It is instead increasingly common for individuals to volunteer information or alternatively allow companies to track their preferences and activity if they are offered access to innovative goods or services in return, or a cheaper or better value product offering," she said.

"Where the Section 56 powers may have an effect is in the claims management industry where companies often require individuals to submit a subject access request with other organisations to uncover evidence they can use in acting on behalf of those individuals in making claims against those organisations," Wynn added.

Biting the hand that feeds IT © 1998–2017


Community CirclePeople use drugs, legal and illegal, because their lives are intolerably painful or dull. They hate their work and find no rest in their leisure. They are estranged from their families and their neighbors. It should tell us something that in healthy societies drug use is celebrative, convivial, and occasional, whereas among us it is lonely, shameful, and addictive. We need drugs, apparently, because we have lost each other.

~Wendell Berry~

It may be useful to first notice what community is not.

For those readers seeking to inhabit or establish an eco-village, Diana Leafe Christian has written extensively about creating healthy living communities in her two remarkable books, Finding Community and Creating A Life Together. Her work offers magnificent tools for creating intentional communities and dealing effectively with conflict.

The shadow is a word first used by psychologist Carl Jung to describe an unconscious part of the psyche that we disown or insist is “not me.” It consists of aspects of ourselves of which we are unaware—some of which may range from unequivocally repugnant to virtually angelic. A majority of communities fail because they do not grasp the necessity of doing shadow work or lack the skills for doing it. The shadow eventually emerges, or perhaps erupts, in all meaningful human relationships, and shadow work must be done both internally and externally whenever people are interacting or living in community.

When someone says or does something with which we feel some discomfort, we must check in with ourselves and first of all notice the feelings we experience—disappointment, anger, hurt, fear, or any other emotion. Before blaming the other person or becoming offended, it is useful to ask oneself what one’s own part in the interaction might be. For example: How might I have participated in creating this interaction? This requires an honest effort to look within and ponder the situation, and the answer may not come through the intellect. However, if we are willing to stay with the feelings and the question of “what is my part?” we may discover a significant piece of the shadow that is asking for our attention.

Usually, our first reaction when we experience a mis-communication or an uncomfortable exchange is to attempt to “fix” it by dialoging with the person(s) involved. While communicating directly with the other about the exchange may be necessary at some point, we rarely engage ourselves in the process first. That is to say, it is generally more useful to explore what is happening inside of ourselves first before dialoging further with the other person. We can do this by simply staying with the question: What is my part in this? To facilitate our exploration, we can journal about the interaction, we can utilize some form of art such as drawing or painting, or we can go more deeply within through meditation or some type of inner listening.

The Earth Community

We face a defining choice between two contrasting models for organizing human affairs. Give them the generic names Empire and Earth Community. Absent an understanding of the history and implications of this choice, we may squander valuable time and resources on efforts to preserve or mend cultures and institutions that cannot be fixed and must be replaced.

What then is the soul of community?


Tech Report CS-93-51

Backtracking Without Trailing in CLP(${\Re}_{\rm Lin}$)

Pascal Van Hentenryck and Viswanath Rasachandran

November 1993

Constraint logic programming (CLP) is a generalization of logic programming where unification is replaced by constraint solving as the basic operation of the language. The combination of constraint solving and nondeterminism (approximated by backtracking) makes these languages appealing for a variety of combinatorial search problems. Existing CLP languages support backtracking by generalizing traditional Prolog implementations: modifications to the constraint system are trailed and restored on backtracking. Although simple and efficient, trailing may be very demanding in memory space, since the constraint system may potentially be saved at each choice point.

This paper proposes a fundamentally new implementation scheme for backtracking in CLP languages over linear (rational or real) arithmetic. The new scheme, called semantic backtracking, does not use trailing but rather exploits the semantics of the constraints to undo the effect of newly added constraints. Semantic backtracking reduces the space complexity by an order of magnitude compared to implementations based on trailing and makes space complexity essentially independent of the number of choice points. In addition, semantic backtracking introduces negligible space and time overhead on deterministic programs. The price for this improvement is an increase in backtracking time, although constraint-solving time may actually decrease. The scheme has been implemented as part of a complete CLP system (about 20,000 lines of C) and compared analytically and experimentally with an optimized trailing implementation. Experimental results indicate that semantic backtracking produces significant reduction in memory space, while keeping the time overhead reasonably small.

(complete text in pdf or gzipped postscript)


Thursday Brunch

Sally Mousa talks to the food panel about the essential dishes everyone should be able to make by the time they’re 30.

Sally Mousa talks bushmeat, pizza acrobatics and chocolate with the food panel.

Claire Sharrock welcomes Michelin star winning chef Atul Kochhar to the studio with the Battle of the Chefs crew, followed by cheese master and Guiness world record holder Patrice Marchand.

Suzanne welcomes Michelin starred chef Chris Galvin into the studio to speak about his upcoming restaurant in Dubai with Riath Hamed and Orit Mohammed joining the panel.

Suzanne takes a trip to Ireland to learn about the Irish Food Board’s programme to build a sustainable future for Ireland’s agriculture industry.

on air


Sabtu, 24 Mei 2008

Chess, Strategy and Tactics

Herbeth Spencer was the first person who introduced the term survival of the fittest, eternal hostility as the form of the competition to remain in the life. That he poured in his book of Principles of Biology during 1864 alias 200 years was more previous.

According to Spencer, the competition law in surviving only did not happen in the world of biology, but also in the world of economics. Moreover, Charles Darwin revealed the competition to continue to live was the law of the history of the universe of the iron law of selection in his theory of evolution.

Therefore, might be considered to be the life of humankind and nature was results of the eternal struggle. Whoever won, he will continue to remain. They who lost will be cast aside and were crushed by the iron law of history.

The game of the chess was perhaps liked because of resembling the simulation of the competition in the real life. Especially the law and the history of humankind of the iron law of nature: survival of the fittest, the competition law to continue to survive.

In the world of the competition, the truth although being not strong enough for each living creature to continue to remain. Was needed several other conditions took the form of the strength, intelligence, the tactical and strategic superiority in order to continue to be able to remain in the life.

Then the life, as in the case of the game of the chess, was a collection tactics and the strategy continually.

In the game of the chess -- as in the case of in the physical war, the competition for economics, or the political revolt -- a tactic is usually interpreted as a step immediately to respond to the opposing attack. Tactics were carried out to restrict the choice of the opponent so as to increase the position profit for the person/this player in the time for a moment.

Because of this the understanding of tactics was different from the strategy. Srategi needed several stages/the step to realizes. Because of that more took up time. His aim moreover if not deceived the opponent. So as the careless opponent and lost because careless anticipated the attack.

It is not surprising if the tactics experts and the world strategy liked this game. For example the leader of the Russian revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin or the founder of the Cuban country, Fidel Castro. Moreover Karl Marx, and general who never lost in battle, Napoleon Bonaparte's.

So, this article will head other articles tactics and the strategy in the game of the chess in this medium.

in chess we trust
the writer

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‘Kill the Subways’: the US Republican revolt and the politics of public transport in Australia

US Republicans are sick of urban ‘elites’ and want to take their public transport funds away. Vittorio Sciosia

There is a high level of bipartisan support for public transport investment in Australian politics. Parties of all colours are willing to promise rail schemes and bus improvements (in marginal electorates), fare restructures (targeting outer suburban seats) and improved management of public transport (to highlight past government failings) to win elections. Get public transport wrong, as in NSW or Victoria over the last decade, and it has dire political consequences.

The House Republican’s Transport Bill

The US has had a remarkable bipartisanship on transport as well, with Republicans and Democrats for 30 years both locking in 20% of national highway trust income from gas taxes to support public transport initiatives. But now that’s all over.

Congress is fiercely debating a $260 billion US National Transportation Bill, which needs to be passed by 31 March 2012. The Republican Party has deliberately targeted public transport for major cuts in the transport budget.

House Republicans in February introduced a bill that would commit all national highway trust monies to be spent on roads and bridges, with only an emasculated one-off sum for public transport and other programs. The cull even includes cost-effective schemes that deal with dangerous traffic at primary schools in problem locations.

Since its emergence, the House bill is losing support, with a softer Senate version likely to proceed. But it shows a deep cleavage in ideology around cities and urban transport priorities in the US. The Republicans are deliberately selling themselves as the pro-road, gas-guzzling, anti-urban party.

Australians of all sorts either use public transport or want it on hand. Josh Janssen

Given public transport relies on large subsidies from the state, with services often targeted to meet social needs, it is an obvious target for radical small-state ideologues like the Tea Party. But proposing to take away funding for buses and trains allows Republicans to metaphorically whack environmentalists, inner-city liberals, and black communities around the head, and appeal to their core constituency in the suburbs of the US.

Why Australia is different

Such a political move wouldn’t work here. Polls regularly show public transport is greatly desired in Australia’s inner-city and outer-suburban electorates alike, despite public transport use being low the further you get from the central city.

There are some explicit anti-urban political leanings in Australia’s suburban heartlands, most notably in reactions to urban densification (apartment towers) that often cut across class and some ethnic lines. But these leanings aren’t as pronounced as in the US, and public transport is not viewed as only an inner-city concern.

Though pro-roads policies are often pitched by politicians, the healthy state of Australian federal and state budgets allows the parties to offer suburbanites and the inner-city public transport improvements that win votes. Unfortunately, the way they proceed often leads to problems.

Chasing votes vs. good transport policy

Let us focus on just three of the more obvious challenges that emerge.

The first is the difficulty in promoting service improvements based on buses and better integration. Though the most obvious low-cost “solution” for many fringe areas of our cities may be carefully timed feeder buses to more frequent rail services in the suburbs, it’s a hard sell.

Are massive ferry subsidies providing upper-class welfare to the residents of Rose Bay and Vaucluse? RedMGB/Flickr

Far easier is to pitch a tangible object of desire like a light rail or suburban rail extension - a veritable “transport of delight”. The Greens recent promotion of a well-intentioned but clumsy light rail scheme in Perth is but one obvious example of this problem.

Second, investments prioritised on the basis of getting votes are often sub-optimal. Places that vote consistently for one party get overlooked in public transport election commitments. Just look at Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, destined soon to be the largest city in Australia without a line-haul dedicated public transport system.

When public transport becomes upper-class welfare

Third, public transport largesse is often heaped on wealthy neighbourhoods in the inner-city. Our cities still focus so much commercial and residential activity in central areas, and our planners haven’t thoughtfully decentralised some of that development to suburban activity centres. So the clamour for expensive “congestion-busting” transport projects in the inner-city is unstoppable.

But some of the provision is clearly upper-class welfare and this is where suburban passions could get aroused. The subsidies to keep certain Sydney ferries running on low-patronage routes to high-income suburbs like Rose Bay are a case in point. Such routes are, on a per-service or per-passenger basis, some of the most subsidised urban public transport routes in Australia.

There are many other Australian transport projects and programs that are questionable in equity terms, from tram extensions and high-quality bus routes that are gifted to private urban development projects, to struggling public bicycle hire schemes (which would be fine if they were working), to light rail and metro proposals that barely leave the central business district.

Given the nature of our democracy, it’s hard to see much of this changing in the near future. But we need to overcome these challenges and get more from our public transport dollars, for all our benefit.


Laptop Computers And Laptop Insurance

Deciding on the Best Laptop Insurance At the present time, countless gizmos are incredibly popular to the people spanning various ages. Laptop is but one illustration of these influential gadgets. Almost all of our transactions, whether are personal or business related, are dependent while using availability of our laptops. For many people, it is a special destination to keep confidential items like files, records, multimedia materials as well as other essential data. Undoubtedly, it is but one important thing we have to accomplish our daily tasks. The importance and high cost of running a laptop have pushed virtually all laptop proprietors to buy laptop insurance to shield their possession. Manufacturers warranty is just not enough anymore. Most often than not, they do not cover accidental damage and theft which can be very rampant today. Even their offer of warranty is nothing compared to laptop insurance. Before you buy laptop insurance, it is important that you research first. As with any insurance - house, life and auto, you ought to get as numerous information that you can to be sure that you are receiving the best from your policy. Use search engines like yahoo as the starting point in researching, then join forums to confirm where most users buy laptop insurance. When all your research is done and youre knowledgeable about this kind of insurance, you happen to be ready to your buy laptop insurance. When getting an agent or calling an insurer, remember that most laptop insurance get their own fine print you need to read and understand. You need to pay special care about what sort of incidents are addressed by your policy. Learn the terms by heart so you will never be duped by insurers. Restrictions might be developed in details in it which means you better get those reading glasses and study them as carefully that you can. When purchasing a laptop insurance policy, customers may not realise that merely when you purchase the protection they may not be relieving themselves in the responsibility to generate some payment toward the replacement item. Like vehicle insurance, it has an excess charge that you simply are responsible for paying laptop insurance when claiming on your own laptop - however, this can be generally far below the expense of having to replace them.


Samu: Work service; meditation in work.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Did Nikola Tesla Eat Mindfully?

It's been a while since I felt moved to write a post on mindful eating, but this week I had a great visit with one of my favorite Sangha's and enjoyed a great reminder of the value of mindful eating WITH people, AS a Sangha (community).

As I'm coming up on the end of three years since I discovered "Savor" by Dr. Lilian Cheung and Thich Nhat Hanh, mindful eating is a part of my daily life.  I'm far from perfect, and too often find myself wolfing down my lunch because I'm in a rush, or buying a sweet dessert treat when I don't even want one, but these moments are rare indeed, and only ever when I'm not being mindful.  All in all, the 110 pounds I lost has stayed off, and the lifestyle (both around food, and my Buddhist path) have stuck.  Big time.  So I'm very pleased.  I eat mindfully daily but, due to the nature of my job and life, I often eat alone.  Eating mindfully - WITH - a community of other people also observing mindful eating practice, is something I rarely get the opportunity to do.

So, this past week, I found myself once again in the fine company of the Honey Locust Sangha of Omaha, Nebraska.  When I visited them about a year or so ago, I was welcomed warmly and made friends with Mike McMahon who leads the group.  Mike was very willing and helpful to me with advice on how to run a Sangha, and my own Sangha at that time was probably brand new, or perhaps hadn't fully started up yet.  I can't recall.  True to his, and the Honey Locust Sangha's, history they welcomed me warmly in to their group.

By sheer luck I happened to be working in town the week that they had their teacher, Brother Chan Huy, with them from Canada to lead their annual retreat.  The retreat was coming up this weekend (as I write this) and during the week leading up to it they had a public Dharma talk which fell on the night I arrived in town.  That Dharma talk was wonderful, and even gave me a really great insight, or better way of understanding, Emptiness.  I'll save that, perhaps, for another post as it's not related to mindful eating.

Anyhow, on the second night I was in town the Sangha had a Pot Luck Dinner at one member's home.  They graciously invited me to join them and I was so deeply honored, I was beside myself.  Visiting a Sangha's meditation night is one thing, being invited to their private dinner with their teacher is quite another. It's this very quality that makes them so special and which makes Mike such a good example of how to facilitate a Sangha.

I arrived just in time for everyone to plate up and have a seat.  They announced that we would have a 10 minute "Noble Silence" period during which we would eat mindfully, then we would go around and share some discussion (we shared stories from a member who had recently visited and worked with an orphanage in India, stories from the travels and teachings of Brother Chan Huy and his trip to Vietnam, and they kindly asked me to share some about my own Sangha).  A timer was set, a bell invited to ring, and the mindful eating began.

I bowed, and took a moment to breathe in, and out, and check in with my body.  I sat at the end of the table, between the fireplace and the door to the outside deck.  Each was a few feet to either side of me.  A wintry mix had been falling and the deck was rapidly collecting an inch or two.  Taking stock of my body, I felt the cool left side in contrast to the toasty, wonderfully-warm, right side near the fire.  I felt my feet firmly on the floor. I gained that whole-body-at-once sense that one sometimes gets where I could feel everything all at once.  Then I brought my focus to my breathing.  I breathed in and out a few times, and raised my fork.

All of this had taken place in the space of a few moments, and already the present moment awareness was so clear and intense as to be dazzling.  I think I was the only one who brought a dish not home-made, as I was staying in a hotel and had no time or facility for cooking.  I brought a pretty nice Tabbouleh from Whole Foods, and it was good, but lacked that home-made-quality that the other dishes had.  The other dishes were each amazing!  I didn't get to try everything, but I had a spinach salad that was spectacular, some amazing asparagus with roasted potatoes, some sort of delicious tomato soup I think.  And several other items. Each of them were wonderful.

Even with the concentrated effort at slowing my body and mind down before starting, I found I was eating quickly at first.  I slowed more.  I took a bite, placed the fork down, chewed mindfully tasting the flavors of each of these dishes.  Sometimes I was aware of the overall flavor, at other times I was keenly aware of the flavors individually.  I was aware of the textures.  I was aware of all of the elements and human effort that was contained within each bite.  The ten minutes seemed to last for hours, and I mean that in a good way.  Hours of delicious awareness.

I was aware of the room.  The other practitioners eating at their various rhythms.  The sounds in the house.  The sounds from outside, though muffled by the slushy mix, were present.  My favorite part was the ever present contrast of temperatures between the left and right sides of my body due to my fortunate seat by the fire.  There was the low hiss of the fire.  The feeling of the fork in my hand and the fabric of my jeans in the absence of the fork, as I placed my hand on my knee.

All of this, and much more. And it was beautiful.  Over all of that, like the snow covering the deck outside, was a sense of deep gratitude for being invited and welcomed by this lovely Sangha, also a sense of gratitude for this practice that has so altered my life. And, over the top of even those feelings, another feeling that is more difficult to describe.  I can only best describe it as a connecting energy of some sort.  You often get this feeling when you meditate with a group, I think.  I do anyhow.  This energy is one of the many reasons, and certainly - in my mind - the primary one, which makes a true live Sangha so valuable.

There is a quality to mindfulness as a group of human beings, side by side, that creates a sort of feedback loop.  A sort of humanity fueled Tesla Coil, or Resonant Transformer, that electrifies, intensifies and transforms the energy one cultivates on one's own.

"Tesla Coil (Resonant Transformer): the near field wireless transmission of electrical energy between two coils that are tuned to resonate at the same frequency. The equipment to do this is sometimes called a resonant or resonance transformer."

I think, if you wanted to sound just a little sappy, you could label this poorly with a single word.


Cluster sets - a system of combining max efforts in groups of reps across smaller sets divided by short, incomplete rest periods.
I'll show you how it is possible to generate the same wattage using an easier gear with the added benefit of sparing glycogen.
For beginners, it is probably best to focus on building a powerful hip hinge movement before moving on to the kettlebell snatch.


17 May 2016

I used to write more.

I used to write more about the kids.

When they were small, the stories were funny and easy. Now, as they are teens, I'm writing less.

The stories are theirs to share. I'm hesitant to do so. They have heartbreak and happiness. They have stress and fun.

But they are on social media now. I am leery of sharing. It is their story. No longer is it only mine.

That's bittersweet, but it is life. I'll share as I can, when I can.


Marilyn Musgrave

The Honorable Marilyn Musgrave was an activist long before she ran for office. She devoted herself to her family and stood strong for the values she holds so dear. She was the president of her local Right to Life Chapter and served on the local school board, standing strong for academic rigor and respect for parents and taxpayers. After working hard as a volunteer for the campaigns of conservative candidates through the years, she ran for the Colorado House in 1994 and won the primary; then went on to unseat a two term Democrat in the general. She served two terms in the House and one term in the Colorado Senate before running for the United States House in 2002. She served three terms representing the 4th District. In the Colorado Legislature Marilyn was a champion for the sanctity of human life, lower taxes, gun rights, and traditional marriage. She continued her fight to defend these values for her six years in Congress. She currently serves as the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Susan B. Anthony List and is also the Director for the group’s National Pro-life Women’s Caucus. She and her husband Steve are also enjoying life in Colorado with their children and grandchildren.

Marilyn Musgrave was appointed to the Commission by Speaker of the House John Boehner.


Does Severs Disease Require Surgical Procedures?

posted on 16 May 2015 10:47 by bawdytheory9203

Sever?s disease is a common cause of heel pain, particularly in the young and physically active. Just before puberty the calf bones typically grow faster than the surrounding soft tissue, which means the Achilles tendon is pulled uncomfortably tight. This can lead to an injured heel. Treatment includes relative rest, modifying activities and teaching the young person how to manage the condition when a flare-up happens. Sever?s disease is self-limiting and rarely causes long-term problems.

Non Surgical Treatment

The simplest form of treatment is rest. Symptoms usually peak during activity. If the growth plate of the heel is allowed ample rest time and the amount of pressure is reduced, circumstances will improve. To aid in decreasing pain and swelling, wrap the heel with an ice pack. Your podiatrists at Advanced Foot & Ankle of Arizona will provide you with the perfect guide to recovery. After examination of the affected foot, time taken off from physical activity may be recommended. Stretching exercises and physical therapy will help strengthen the tendons and muscles surrounding the growth plate.

Surgical Treatment


When was the Alhambra built?

The Alhambra

The Alhambra was first mentioned during the reign of Abdullah ibn Muhammad (888-912) when it was referred to as a primitive small  red castle where the Arabs sought refuge after being defeated in one of their battles with the Muladies. It was then largely abandoned until the 11th century when it was rebuilt in order to protect a Jewish settlement on the Sabika hill. Major reconstruction, however, was undertaken during the Nasrid dynasty (1212-1492) and it is this that we can see today.

Serious work on the Alhambra began in 1238 under the command of Sultan Muhammad I Ibn Nasr and in only one year, the ramparts had been completed, water had been brought from the river and a water channel built.

Carlos V

Juana la Loca

When Queen Isabel died in 1504, her will stated that her daughter Juana should succeed her on the throne. Unfortunately, Juana suffered from schizophrenia and this wasn’t helped by her husband Felipe’s frequent affairs. Following his death after short illness (though some believed that he had been poisoned by Juana’s father, Fernando), Juana went mad and her father Fernando acted as regent until his death in 1516.

Emperor Carlos V

After Fernando’s death, Carlos became King and he was to become one of the most powerful rulers in the world. In 1520, he was crowned Carlos V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, an empire on which “the sun never set”. When his father Felipe died in 1506 he became Duke of Burgundy and ruler of the Netherlands, and on the death of his grandfather Fernando, he became King of the Two Sicilies and of Spain. His plan was to establish his court and residence in Granada to commemorate the Catholic Monarchs conquest of the Moor’s last stronghold and with this aim, he commissioned the Carlos V Palace.

Having become a European leader after a power struggle with France, he decided to retire and split his empire between his brother Fernando and his son Felipe. In 1556, his son became King of Spain and Carlos retired to a Spanish monastery in Yuste where he died in 1558.

What happened in the years after the Moors surrendered?

King Fernando

Queen Isabel

Cardenal Cisneros

Queen Juana ("La Loca")

King Felipe II

What happened in the War of Granada?

A brief history of the Nasrid Dynasty


Blue Holes to Infinity Falls: 13 Natural Swimming Pools

As the mercury rises it’s hard not to daydream about taking a dip in the cool, crystal-clear blue-green waters of some imagined paradise. These photos of 13 absolutely incredible natural swimming spots around the world, from a deadly pool atop 360-foot falls to a mirage-like oasis in the desert of Arizona, will have you booking a flight or at least searching for a cool swimming hole close to home.

Devil’s Pool, Victoria Falls, Zambia

(images via: oddity central)

Tat Kuang Si Waterfall, Luang Prabang, Laos

(images via: manymoonhoneymoon, yeowatzup)

Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas

(images via: national geographic,

Is this 1,000-foot-wide, almost perfectly round ‘blue hole’ in the Caribbean astounding or what? Especially when you learn that it’s 400 feet deep. Dean’s Blue Hole, located about 60 miles from Belize City, is the opening to what was once a dry cave during the Ice Age, which flooded when the ice melted and the sea level rose. It’s a favored spot for free divers, who plunge to great depths with no more equipment than their own two lungs.

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Pleasantly warm at temperatures between 98 and 102 degrees Fahrenheit, Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spring, attracts thousands of bathers every year. The water is rich in minerals like silica and sulfur, reputed to help some skin ailments. The lagoon is actually fed by a nearby geothermal power plant; the water comes up from the ground near a lava flow and is used to power turbines before it ends up in the pool.

Ginnie Springs, Florida

(images via:,

Yangbajain Hot Springs, Tibet

(images via:,

Even in the middle of winter, the water at Yangbajain Hot Springs in Tibet is 70 degrees. Just like Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, this pool is fed by natural hot springs which are harnessed to produce geothermal power, which provides much of the energy used by the capital city Lhasa.

Little River Canyon, Alabama

(images via:

Havasu Falls, Supai, Arizona

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Mabinay Spring, Negros Oriental, Philippines

(images via: waysabel, luis llanera)

On the island of Negros Oriental in the Philippines is Mabinay Spring, a shady spring-fed lake surrounded by ancient trees. With free admission and easy accessibility, the cool spring is understandably popular with local residents and visitors alike.

Sliding Rock, Brevard, North Carolina

(images via: parke ladd, mountain moose)

Zoom down 60 feet of smooth rock into an icy-cold mountain-fed swimming hole at Sliding Rock, located off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Brevard, North Carolina. A long-popular ‘natural water park’ for locals, stairs and a handrail leading to the top have been added in recent years and lifeguards keep watch during the summer for safety. The pool at the bottom is 6-7 feet deep.

Natural Saltwater Swimming Pools, Azores

(images via: wicked good travel tips, panaramio, azores whales,

Hemmed in by rocks, natural saltwater swimming pools have formed all along the coasts of the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the pools are nothing more than that, while others have been given concrete walls, steps and handrails to make them official. The pools allow all the joys of swimming in the ocean, but none of the violent waves that can make laying back and relaxing a little difficult.

Jellyfish Lake, Palau

(images via: echeng, Sky Chick Adventures, National Geographic, meremail, National Geographic, National Geographic)

Over 12,000 years ago in the island nation of Palau, jellyfish were trapped inside a cove when a rock island joined with the mainland, and over time, the body of water became a marine lake. This lake basically turned into jellyfish heaven, a safe place with few predators where the marine creatures could multiply freely – and that they most certainly did. More than 10 million of them occupy Jellyfish Lake, and the best part (for us, at least) is that their ability to sting went away as it was unneeded, so humans can safely swim among them.

Zacaton Cenote, Mexico

(images via:,

The world’s deepest water-filled sinkhole reaches an amazing 1,112 feet into the earth. Fed by a freshwater thermal spring, Zacatón Cenote measures over 328 feet across and is a notable diving site and was explored robotically by NASA to determine the depth. It’s unclear whether it’s actually possible to get to this epic swimming hole and take a dip, but we can dream, can’t we?


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POL 215 Week 4 DQ 1 and DQ 2 (UOP) To Purchase This Material Click below Link FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT Week 4 DQ 1

National events often affect state and local governments, especially in budgeting. How have national events affected your local government? Have your local officials handled these challenges well or poorly? Why do you think so?

Week 4 DQ 2 How has the candidacy of Michelle Bachman who I believe is from your state impacted Minnesota on a state and local basis if at all?

Pol 215 week 4 dq 1 and dq 2 (uop)