The game EVE Online is a scary place for those of you who are new to the game. Rumors of pirates and ore thieves abound in high sec and you must be on your guard. However, as you fly around avoiding the lower security regions of space, there are a few spots on your map that remain distant, almost mysterious, as you avoid them at any and all costs. These spots are the lawless regions of space, where alliances claim territory, players fight, and anything can happen at any moment.

This exciting region of New Eden is known as 0.0. It is where Concord can't save you, gate camps are an hourly routine, and bright red circles mark the spots on your map where hundreds of players have met an untimely end. It may sound scary to most new players or high-sec miners debating entering it for the first time? Well, it really isn't. Having flown with Agony Unleashed for over a year, I can honestly say I love it and am more comfortable in X-7 than in any station in Jita.

Why? Well, In 0.0, you are free. Free of Concord, free of hundreds of players, and free to set your own destiny. Granted, other players are out there too and can freely pop you in a heartbeat. But that is the beauty of it. It is the untamed wild west, where fortune, power, and glory are right for the taking and few have yet to reach out and grasp it. You could be alone for hours, ratting, mining, or hunting your prey and suddenly, with the snap of your fingers, a target appears. You find each other and the deadly dance begins. Destroyed or victorious, the adrenaline rush is real. If you have yet to experience 0.0, you have never truly experienced the full potential of EVE.

We challenge the coldest heart to remain unwarmed by the above video.

In honor of Independence Day (and faithfully honoring the great American tradition of selling things by linking them to Independence Day) we are delighted to remind you of our marvelous voyage America's Historic Atlantic Shores in September '09, which sails to Portland, Newport, Annapolis, Yorktown, Colonial Williamsburg, Charleston, Savannah, and West Palm Beach.

But that, really, is incidental to two remarkable articles we've found, which will bring you reflective smiles during your barbeque tomorrow. The first is a book review of The Road to Monticello by Keven Hayes, which considers "Thomas Jefferson, gentleman scholar." Hayes, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, reminds us that the Declaration of Independence didn't appear spontaneously from Jefferson's head like Athena from Zeus's noggin. Our ginger-haired third President was a bibliomaniac, an astoundingly voracious reader and book collector -- a vast, prodigious talent when the art of buying books meant more than a search on Amazon.com.

As a novice lawyer in Williamsburg, Virginia's capital, in the 1760s, Jefferson could only obtain books through the local newspaper, the Virginia Gazette, whose owner imported them from Europe. Even in this Colonial backwater, however, he was able to obtain the two-volume folio of Guiccardini's history of Italy, a masterpiece of Renaissance historiography. It is a vivid demonstration of the international reach of the Republic of Letters. For an educated man with money and the right contacts, the Atlantic Ocean was no barrier to book-buying.

Still, for Jefferson to get the books he wanted, in the right format and at the right price, required work. Whenever he visited a new city, Mr. Hayes shows, Jefferson made a beeline for the bookshops. He knew all the booksellers in Philadelphia and New York, and made contacts with dealers in England, Germany, and France. During his time in Paris, Jefferson recalled, "I devoted every afternoon I was disengaged, for a summer or two, in examining all the principal bookstores, turning over every book with my own hand, and putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science."

Now this, we attest, is what a real Presidential Library should look like.

...the sheer number and variety of titles that Jefferson devoured. As a law student, he read "Coke upon Littleton," the classic treatise on English law; as a novice farmer, he studied Jethro Tull's standard guide, "Horse-Hoeing Husbandry"; in his leisure hours, he read the melancholy poetry of Ossian, which enjoyed a vogue in the 1760s. As a legislator in Virginia, and later at the Continental Congress, Jefferson made use of treatises on natural law — Grotius's "De Jure Belli ac Pacis," Pufendorf's "Law of Nature and Nations" — whose concepts are reflected in the Declaration of Independence. While drafting the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, which he considered one of his proudest accomplishments, Jefferson read Milton's "Reason of Church-Government" and Shaftesbury's "Letter Concerning Enthusiasm."

And this doesn't even scratch the surface: Jefferson read constantly, copiously, in many languages. (He even designed a rotating bookstand that allowed him to consult five books at a time.) Naturally, as an Enlightenment philosophe in good standing, he knew French long before he was posted to France as America's ambassador. He also read Italian and Spanish, which he taught his daughters using "Don Quixote" as a textbook.

Like most Virginia planters, Jefferson studied Latin and Greek as a boy; unlike most, he actually learned them, and used them for the rest of his life. Studying the marginalia in Jefferson's law books, Mr. Hayes discovered apposite quotations from Herodotus and Euripides, in the original. Much more unusually, however, Jefferson was also a student of Anglo-Saxon. At a time when the language of "Beowulf" had not yet entered the college curriculum, Mr. Hayes writes, Jefferson's "sizable collection of Anglo-Saxon books included nearly all of the important studies of the language." He studied the Bible in polyglot editions that included Hebrew and Aramaic; he read the first translations of Indian and Persian literature, just then appearing in English. To amuse himself in retirement, Jefferson even bought Robert Morison's "Dialogues and Detached Sentences in the Chinese Language, With a Free and Verbal Translation in English."

It's an extraordinary read, and shows us the life of Thomas Jefferson's mind -- his biographia literaria -- the vast range of knowledge which informed the mind that formed our country.

Meanwhile, in the Washington Post, George F. Will does a fine job reminding us July 4, 1776 is something of an arbitrary date to define "The American Revolution." On May 19, 1775, for example, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina were up in outrage, if not yet in arms, about the Vestry and Marriage Acts of 1769. These acts levied fines upon Presbyterian ministers who were marrying colonials -- because, of course, any deviance from the Anglican Church just wasn't cricket. The county convention was just about to figure out what do do when the news (FINALLY!) arrived from Lexington and Concord.  On May 20, 1775, Mecklenburg's convention declared:

We the citizens of Mecklenburg County do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country. . . . We do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people . . . to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.

Sound familiar? Thomas Jefferson's voracious reading apparently encompassed this this missive from Mecklenburg, too

]]> http://angeronmymind.wordpress.com/?p=384 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:32:40 +0000 Carlos R. Todd http://angeronmymind.wordpress.com/?p=384 If inappropriate displays of anger is creating problems in your personal life or work environment but you don’t have the time to attend classes on a weekly basis our one day class may be a great option.

Attend our anger management one day class every other Sunday.  Class includes the assessment workbook and certificate of completion. Click here to see our class schedule. Couples receive half off for one partner. If travel is a concern we offer our classes classes through video conferencing live online. Therefore you can participate in our Sunday class from home. Visit www.masteringanger.com or call 704-804-0841 for information on all our other services including private coaching, anger management assessment and couples conflict classes.

Carlos Todd,LPC

President, Conflict Coaching and Consulting, PLLC

1 Varje människa ska ha friheten att självständigt söka efter sanningen om vad hon ska tro på. Hon svarar själv inför Gud, inget skrå av själasörjare får träda emellan.

2 Religion ska befrämja endräkt utan att strypa den mänskliga mångfalden.

3 Religion ska vara i harmoni med vetenskap och sunt förnuft. En tro som betraktar varje textrad i en gammal skrift som gudomlig är inte sund och kan vara farlig.

4 Frigörelse från alla slags fördomar som uttrycks genom ord och handlingar som skadar eller kränker en medmänniska.

5 Universell och obligatorisk utbildning för alla människor på jorden.

6 Rättvisa: jämställdhet mellan könen, jämlikhet mellan världens olika folk och mellan olika generationer.

7 Ett universellt språk som används parallellt med modersmålet lärs ut till alla på jorden.

8 Samverkan mellan vetenskap och religion: en andlig dimension ska finnas med när människorna söker ekonomiska, ekologiska, hälsomässiga, demografiska m.fl. lösningar.

9 Ett världssamhälle där alla är världsmedborgare ska inrättas. Ett världsparlament, en världsregering, en högsta domstol och andra världsövergripande institutioner tillskapas.

10 Universell fred ska möjliggöras genom avrustning och en världsövergripande förståelse för att enhet i mångfald är den enda framkomliga vägen för mänskligheten.

De processer som leder fram till världsenhet har Gud förklarat och startat genom Sina budbärare Báb och Bahá'u'lláh. Att riva upp den nuvarande, sjuka världsordningen, för att göra plats för en ny är en oerhört omskakande omvandling som omfattar mycket mänskligt lidande. Denna process kommer att i Guds rätta tid frambringa den mindre freden. Den Mindre freden är det politiska förenandet av världen. Mänskligheten kan vid den tiden liknas vid en kropp som är förenad men utan liv.

Den andra processen, som är bahá'íernas uppgift, innefattar uppgiften att blåsa liv i denna förenade kropp och att skapa sann enhet och andlighet. Detta arbete når sin höjdpunkt i den Allra Största Freden.

Bahá'íerna måste koncentrera sina krafter till att bygga upp bahá'í-tron och dess administration. De kan för närvarande inte ändra eller hjälpa världen på något annat sätt. Om de blir indragna i de problem som världens regeringar eller politikerna strider om kommer de att vara förlorade. Men om de bygger upp bahá'í-mönstret kan de erbjuda det som botemedel när alla andra försök att lösa världens problem har misslyckats.

Bahá'íerna anklagas ibland för att hålla sig borta från sina medmänniskors "verkliga problem". Denna anklagelse kommer vanligen från idealistiska materialister för vilka det materiellt goda är det enda verkligt goda. Men vi har många exempel på att människor inte alls mår bra trots att de lever i länder som utvecklat en hög materiell standard. Inte förrän de andliga förhållandena förändras kan det bli någon varaktig förändring till det bättre i de materiella angelägenheterna. Att ge sig in i tävlan om att göra slut på en efter en av världens onda ting är för en bahá'í bortkastad . Den bahá'í-troendes hela liv är inriktat på förkunnandet av Bahá'u'lláhs budskap, på återupplivandet av sina medmänniskors andliga liv, på att ena dem i en gudomligt skapad världsordning, en andlig världscivilisation.

Carlos Todd, LPC

Anyway, while there, I had the opportunity to speak with some Hendrick staff, and to see the newly renovated museum and gift shop. Hendrick completed these renovations shortly before the May races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, just in time for the huge crowds that came out to support their favorite drivers and buy their merchandise. Hendrick staff noted that the crowds were noticeably larger this year, partly due to the addition of Dale Jr. to the roster.

The staff also showed us the Team Center, a large meeting space perfect for corporate and special events. In fact, they were preparing for a wedding reception to be held there this weekend. The new museum and gift shop is gorgeous - I wish I had had my camera with me. Beautiful cars and displays shine as if they are cleaned every day, and the merchandise tantalizes you into wanting to buy something. I encourage any NASCAR fan to visit it - you may not walk in a fan of Hendricks' teams, but you may walk out a fan - at least of this wonderful facility!

It's been a while since I've written about the zMax Dragway @ Concord, but that doesn't mean construction hasn't been zooming along! Yesterday we drove by the construction site, and were amazed to see the stands and part of the structure already up! It wasn't hard to imagine those stands packed with people as they will be in September for the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals.

So what's new at the Dragway site? On Wednesday, NHRA Top Fuel drag racer and North Carolina resident Doug Herbert (above) stopped by for a media event and to check on the progress of the construction. Under Herbert's watch, construction crews were pouring the 3,000 cubic yards of concrete that will make up the four-lane drag strip.

The Dragway, known as the "Bellagio of drag strips" will be only the third track on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series to feature a concrete quarter-mile racing surface and the only four-lane track on the national circuit. During a recent visit, NHRA competitors, including 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force, raved about plans to construct zMAX Dragway's quarter-mile entirely of concrete.

"It's a huge expense, but, if you're going to do it, do it right and that's what Bruton Smith is all about," said Force. "When you got all concrete, the transition never comes into play. We all know exactly what we've got. It's 'gorilla' and you throw everything you got at it. National records will be set here in Concord at zMAX Dragway."

Most drag strips have concrete for the first 660 feet or less, but the transition from concrete to asphalt often upsets the traction of the rear wheels, making the car unstable for drivers as they barrel toward speeds in excess of 300 mph down the 1,320-foot track.

"Any time you eliminate transitions on a track, you are lessening the chances for your race car to become unsettled," said five-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher. "With any kind of luck, the weather will be nice and cool in September and we can fly down the track and give the fans an exciting show. We're counting down the days until we arrive in our new market."

Three-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. agreed with Force and Schumacher that speeds will be extremely fast at zMAX Dragway and chances are good that national records will be broken during the Sept. 11-14 NHRA Nationals. "We look forward to having 1,320 feet of concrete," said Coughlin Jr. "It allows us more of a consistent grip all the way down the race track. It should be smooth as glass and what that means is fast times for fans.

We're going to be into September, so there's a good chance that Mother Nature could have some 60 degree cool days and we'll love that. We'll light the record books on fire." Pouring of the concrete racing surface is scheduled to last through July 3. Due to the summer heat, all pouring will occur late in the evening and throughout the night. The zMAX Dragway @ Concord will open in grand fashion by hosting the NHRA Nationals Sept. 11-14. The four-day event will be the first of six races in the playoff-style NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship, featuring competitors in all four professional categories: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Four-day tickets for the inaugural NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway @ Concord start at $99 for adults and $20 for children ages 12 and under. Each event ticket is also a pit pass and can be obtained by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS or online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.

(click to enlarge)

Jim Scala, Owner
1937 MacDade Blvd.
Woodlyn, PA 19094
Phone: 610-358-4772

Click here for More Info on Bette's Party Rentals

Your Virtual Main Street: Bette's Fun Center

As cameras estão em bom estado geral, acompanham capa original, cd de instalação e o cabo para transferência de fotos e vídeos.

Aceita cartões de memoria SD nunca fiz o teste para descobrir a capacidade máxima, mas já foi utilizado 2 gb nela sem problemas. Com dois gigas cabem mais de 1000 fotos na resolução máxima.

Quantidade: 2 cameras

Se você se interessar deixe comentario ou envie email para leandrobracaroto@msn.com que poderemos negociar. Preço inicial R$ 100,00 cada.

		A Concord Eye-Q 3040 AF possui um sensor CMOS de 3 megapixels, zoom digital 4X, tela LCD de 1,6 polegadas, foco automático para facilidade de disparo a qualquer distância, 7MB de memoria interna, video clips AVI, e um modo macro para fotografias a pouca distância. A Concord Eye-Q 3040 AF utiliza cartões de memória SD/MMC, um dos mais populares e fáceis de encontrar no mercado. A Q 3040 AF é uma das primeiras câmeras em combinar a ultima tecnologia de sensor CMOS com uma alta resolução nos espelhos das lentes de foco para um controle de exposição preciso. Esta tecnologia cria claras e precisas fotografias e impressões de altíssima qualidade.
	Características

	Megapixel:		3.1 MP			Zoom Digital:		4 x
	Zoom óptico:		-			Tipo de Câmera:		Compacta
	Tipo de Display:		Display LCD - matriz ativa TFT - 1.6" - colorida			Formato de imagem:		JPEG
	Tamanho da imagem:		1632x1224			Formato de vídeo digital:		AVI
	Grava vídeo:		Sim			Flash da câmera:		Embutido
	Distância focal:		9 mm			Abertura da lente:		F/2.8
	Bateria suportada:		2 x AA bateria alcalina ( incluso )			Altura x Largura x Profundidade:		6,4 cm x 10,4 cm x 3,2 cm
	Peso:		115 g			Tipo sensor óptico:		CMOS
	Total de Pixels:		3100000			Tamanho do sensor óptico:		1/2"
	Sensibilidade à luz:		ISO 100			Modos de Cena:		Quadro de filme
	Controle de Exposição:		Automático, programa			Modos de Balanço de Branco:		Automático, pré-ajuste
	Memória integrada:		Flash - integrado (memória soldada - 7 MB )			Modos de flash:		Modo suplente, modo automático, modo de flash desligado
	Eliminação de olhos vermelhos:		Sim			Lente:		Lente - 9 mm - f/2.8
	Ajuste de foco:		Sem foco			Distância focal mínima:		1.25 m
	Categoria de focalização:		20cm			Temporizador automático:		Sim

We decided to go to Steeplegate Mall to check some sale racks. (I always shop locally, but there's nothing like a mad dash through Target or pawing through 50% off racks at Lands End.) In every store we received great service - greetings from a salesperson, offers of help, and no lines at the cash register. It was a little disconcerting, but you couldn't beat the customer service!

पांव उठ सकते नहीं मंज़िल-ए-जाना के ख़िलाफ़
और अगर होश की पूछो तो मुझे होश नहीं

अब तो तासीर-ए-ग़म-ए-इश्क़ यहां तक पहुंची
के इधर होश अगर है तो उधर होश नहीं

मेहंद-ए-तस्बीह तो सब हैं मगर इदराक कहां
ज़िंदगी ख़ुद ही इबादत है मगर होश नहीं

मिल के इक बार गया है कोई जिस दिन से 'जिगर'
मुझको ये वहम है शायद मेरा था दोष (?) नहीं

ये अलग बात है साक़ी के मुझे होश नहीं
वर्ना मै कुछ भी हूं एहसानफ़रामोश नहीं

जो मुझे देखता है नाम तेरा लेता है
मै तो ख़ामोश हूं हालत मेरी ख़ामोश नहीं

कभी उन मदभरी आँखों से पिया था इक जाम
आज तक होश नहीं होश नहीं होश नहीं

Singer: Jagjit Singh
Lyrics: Jigar Moradabadi, Abdul Hameed 'Adam'

जिसने ये दर्द दिया है वो दवा भी देगा
लादवा है जो मेरा दर्द-ए-जिगर होने दो

ज़िक्र रुख़सत का अभी से न करो बैठो भी
जान-ए-मन रात गुज़रने दो सहर होने दो

वस्ल-ए-दुश्मन की ख़बर मुझ से अभी कुछ ना कहो
ठहरो ठहरो मुझे अपनी तो ख़बर होने दो

Singer: Jagjit Singh

नग़्मे थे हवाओं में जादू था फ़िज़ाओं में
हर साँस ग़ज़लफ़ां था कल रात जहां मै था

दरिया-ए-मोहब्बत में कश्ती थी जवानी की
जज़्बात का तूफ़ां था कल रात जहां मै था

मेहताब था बाहों में जलवे थे निगाहों में
हर सिम्त चराग़ां था कल रात जहां मै था

'ख़ालिद' ये हक़ीक़त है नाकर्दा गुनाहों की
मै ख़ूब पशेमां था कल रात जहां मै था

Singer: Jagjit Singh
Lyrics: Khalid Kuwaiti

CDs on the other hand are the new bane of my existence.  To take the plastic off, you must first find somewhere to get a hold on since there is nowhere to make a nice simple slice with the exacto knife.  Be careful not to be so exuberent in your tearing off of the plastic that you crack the case itself, as I did with at least two cases (that I noticed).  Once you have removed the first layer of plastic, you must now grapple with that stupid plastic sticker that covers 80% of the top of the case.  Unlike the ones on DVD cases, these do not like to come off as one whole piece, but rather as about 20, each more irritating than the last.  But even if you manage to get the sticker off without chucking the whole thing across the room, 9 times out of 10 there will be sticky residue left behind.  All in all, the record companies have no idea how to package their CDs.  I wish I could say thank goodness for digital music, but considering that's a bit hard to lend out for a week or two at a time, I fear the library will continue to buy and lend out CDs.

My other tale of woe comes from two days ago.  This is exam week at the local high school, so the library, which is normally closed on Sundays in the summer, opens its doors from 10am to 10pm for all high school students (and any other patrons who wander in - we're not going to turn people away!).  Since this is a break from the normal schedule, the library has parent volunteers manning the desks and such, but, for the circulation desk, where knowledge of the computer system is necessary, they need someone with some experience to help out, which is where I come in.  I got to spend 10 hours at the library on Sunday, and got a nice chunk of my book read in the process (and I got to meet some adorable kids with their fathers - it was Father's Day after all!).

To keep busy when I simply couldn't stand sitting on my bum in a slightly uncomfortable chair anymore and there were no patrons in sight, I would check in books and file them for shelving.  This is where the woe comes in.  Remember Roald Dahl, beloved author of such classics as Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and of course the BFG (among many others)?  Well, guess what?  He wrote "filthy" novels (that's the adjective I remember from the book cover) for adults as well.  I have no issues with people writing those sorts of books, but for a well-known author of children's books?  Maybe I'm just a prude, but I think that's just wrong.  At least use a pen name!  What if some kid was searching for Roald Dahl books and came across one of his adult ones and, not knowing any better, started reading?  That's absolutely something I would have done!  :sigh:  What is the world coming to when you can't even trust favorite childhood authors to have moral standards?

Yeah, yeah..."Sleep Train" Pavilion. Maybe I'll call it that if they give ME a free mattress...

I freakin' LOVE The Police. Got a picture of me and Stewart Copeland on my wall, I still give my Mom grief about how she didn't take me to see their huge show in Oakland on The Synchronicity tour (which, to be fair, wouldn't have made sense because I hadn't gotten Mtv yet, so everything sucked except KISS and Abba. Don't ask.) But I got a cool tour shirt and I still have the ticket stub. And my parents took me to see KISS three times, first time in second grade (Dynasty tour!), another time on Easter and the third time on my Dad's birthday--which I apologized for years later. So The Police getting back together last summer was the chance to catch up on live, in person worship...but tickets were something like three hundred bucks. I love The Police, but I ain't funding their retirement accounts, so I passed, got to hear from friends how amazing they were, felt guilty for not taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to see my musical heroes reunite.

But like KISS, another once in a lifetime opportunity emerges, The Police at Shoreline in Mountain View AND Concord Pavilion. Flash over to Ticket-screwyouoverahundreddifferentways-master.com and fantasize about seeing The Police at a reduced rate. Because surely they wouldn't charge the same price for tix, having been here a year earlier. The hype has mellowed a bit, but there's still a bit of gold to mine. So let's see what it would cost me to see The Police at Concord...

Ticket: $225.50. Decent seat where I can see the band, but far from front row. I like how they sneak the extra .50 into the price, as if I'm gonna say, "What a deal--normally these would go for $226!" If only they'd gone down to $224.99 I would have been sold.

Convenience fee: $18.75. I need to get an explanation of this convenience crap. I'm ordering the ticket all by myself online. I gotta drive myself to the venue, show them my ID. It's not like they carry me to my seat!

BUILDING FACILITY: $6. What the hell is this? You telling me this that the $225.50 doesn't include this expense already? So what happens if they don't charge this fee, the lawn turns yellow? The hard plastic seats don't get their gum scraped off?

Then there are the fees Ticketmaster neglects to mention:

Parking in unmaintained dirt lot: $20.

A cup of Budweiser that equals half a can: $10-20.

Sitting around thousands of sweaty, deodorant-free people who stand up and block your view when the show starts? I know you expect me to say "Priceless", but I despise those commercials. Or maybe it's just the narrator's voice that bugs me...as if life is so calm and peaceful when you're spending yourself into a mountain of debt on frivolous things.

Do the math...$280.25, round up to three hundred if I want to get a second beer and a hot dog. If I dare bring a date...my God! Six hundred bucks for a two hour show? There's some serious crack smoking going on behind the scenes of these venues. Three hundred bucks and I MIGHT see the band, more likely have to watch them on video screens. That's how much it costs to be in the same room with your favorite band, though you'll be lucky if the guy with the appetizer tray walks by.

Eventual DVD of concert: $10-20 bucks.

Cellphone video snippets of show on Youtube: Free! Though the sound quality sucks.

The Fillmore is where it's at. Tickets average $50 (still a lot, but I gotta get out sometime), beer still a ripoff, but you're guaranteed a decent view of the band and most of the time you get a cool poster as you leave, as I did for the Ministry gig a few months back.

Yoshi's in Oakland is where it's at. Jazz! $15-50 bucks gets you into a small, hip club where you can see the best players in the world! And get this...if you go to the first show you can get into the second show of the night for FREE if it's not sold out. You know how cool it was to worship Mike Stern, Dennis Chambers and Richard Bona for three hours? My jaw got sore, hitting the floor so many times.

But I want to worship The Police, darn it! So here's what I gotta do...call up their management, tell them I have a friend who's dying of a rare disease with a name so complicated I can't pronounce it. Can The Police put on a benefit at The Fillmore so he can raise the cash to pay for the advanced medical procedures. They can't say no to such a request, I get in free because I have to be moral support (immoral support?) for my friend, I get to see the band up close with a fraction of the sweaty people!

Score.

Jim Scala, Owner
1937 MacDade Blvd.
Woodlyn, PA 19094
Phone: 610-358-4772

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YCH is pleased to announce that our in house civil engineer, B. Steve Whaley, PE, has obtained his license to practice Civil Engineering in the State of South Carolina by the South Carolina State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. 

Steve is a 1986 Graduate of UNC-Charlotte with a BS in Civil Engineering and has been licensed to practice civil engineering in North Carolina since 1997.

Steven May be contacted at stevew@ycharch.com 

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It seems that a hell of a lot has been happening in the world of EVE Online while I was out today. Over the last 12 hours, there has been over fifty news articles posted to the downtime news page. There are just so many events (and possibly more coming), there's no way I can link to and talk about them all individually. So below is a timeline of sorts of the many events with the newest story at the top. I'll keep an eye on the downtime news page and update the timeline as news events are posted.

• 9:07 EGT (EVE Game Time) - BREAKING NEWS: Minmatar-Thukker Fleet Reappears in Yulai – Stargates Shut Down
  Mysterious Minmatar-Thukker armada re-appears, seems to be at least twice as big as before. CONCORD shuts down all gates leading into Yulai
• 9:38 EGT - Eyewitness reports from inside Yulai
  Reports are filtering in to various news networks from eyewitnesses on the scene, who are now trapped inside the system of Yulai.
• 10:08 EGT - Mass panic in Yulai
  Mass Panic has taken hold in Yulai and waves of civilian ships have been spotted leaving stations in a bid to escape Yulai, ignoring CONCORD intructions to stay clear of the locked down stargates.
• 10:13 EGT - CONCORD BUREAU STATION UNDER ATTACK
  Dozens of Dreadnaughts from the Minmatar-Thukker fleet open fire on the CONCORD Bureau Station while smaller escort warships open fire on CONCORD vessels. Eye witnesses report massive casualties on both sides before transmissions are jammed.
• 10:58 EGT - First images of battle in Yulai
  Scope News manages to wire a compressed packet from Yulai through an independent local transmitter. Images are distorted but explosions can be seen ripping through the CONCORD Station. CONCORD reinforcements arrive at the fight with every passing minute.
• 11:10 EGT - Major CONCORD network outage reported; Yulai connections reopen
  CONCORD's cluster-wide data network suffers a severe and unprecedented outage. Communications to Yulai re-established. Small engagements break out in the system between civilian ships and local law enforcement but CONCORD assistance is nowhere to be seen.
• 11:15 EGT - Servant Sisters of Eve urge calm
  Sister Elaya Selnaarei urges the the cluster not to panic amidst the pandemonium in Yulai.
• 11:18 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: CONCORD BUREAU STATION DESTROYED – CONCORD DISABLED
  Scope News confirms that the CONCORD Bureau Station has been destroyed and that all rapid defence capabilities of the police agency have been disabled.
• 11:45 EGT - Scope data recorder salvaged, images recovered
  An independant pilot finds the wreckage of Scope's on-site media shuttle and salvages the data recorder. Images are found that show the horrific battle between CONCORD and the Minmatar-Thukker fleet unfolding.
• 11:50 EGT - Markets crash across the cluster
  SCC-run markets in stations across the cluster come to a grinding halt following the destruction of CONCORD Headquarters.
• 11:53 EGT - Trade hub turning into a warzone
  With CONCORD out of commission the Jita is struck hard by pirates trying to take advantage of the lack of defence for all traders now leaving the biggest trade hub in EVE.
• 12:01 EGT - Majority of CONCORD Assembly delegates accounted for
  After a frantic search of the Yulai system following the sudden and devastating assault from the combined Minmatar-Thukker fleet, multiple evacuation shuttles are secured by search and rescue teams.
• 12:17 EGT - REPORT: Minmatar-Thukker Armada Invades Ammatar Mandate
  Minmatar-Thukker warships engage and destroy several Ammatar Fleet patrols in Jarizza, a system in the Derelik Region. The unprovoked attack appears to have completely caught the Ammatar Fleet by surprise.
  
• 12:34 EGT - Inner Circle Tribunal evacuated
  The Inner Circle Tribunal station orbiting Yulai VIII report that that a full evacuation has been completed, and that now only military personnel remain aboard the station. Several CONCORD shuttles are spotted heading to an unknown location on the planet's surface.SOE ships already on scene join local CONCORD forces in a valiant attempt to rescue any survivors on the CONCORD Bureau Station. No sighting of the Minmatar-Thukker task force has been made in Yulai since the attack.
• 12:45 EGT - Minmatar populace takes to the streets
  Shortly after news of the attack in Jarizza hits the networks, hundreds of thousands of Matari take to the streets in planets across the cluster, avidly watching the news feeds. The general Minmatar populace appear to be in a state of sheer confusion.
  The other three Empires are still reporting a complete diplomatic black out from the Minmatar Republic
• 13:03 EGT - Mandate technician speaks of Jarizza assault
  A maintenance technician who was present in the Jarizza system delivers an eyewitness account to news networks of the situation unfolding in the system.
• 13:05 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: Minmatar-Thukker Ragnarok Titan Jumps into Jarizza, Dropships Reportedly Landing on Halturzhan
  A surface invasion of the sixth planet of Jarizza, 'Halturzhan', is underway following the arrival of a titan-backed Minmatar-Thukker armada. Thousands of dropships have landed on the planet, which just days ago was reported to harbor large populations of Starkmanir slaves.
• 13:10 EGT - Footage of Jarizza attack released
  An Echelon Entertainment film crew inside Jarizza releases startling images of the initial moments of attack inside the system.
• 13:34 EGT - Minmatar populace shocked by defection rumors
  The confusion of Matari across the Republic rises to new heights as rumors of Ammatar Consulate Governer Ana Utulf’s urgings to defect filter across the cluster. Expecting a bloody confrontation with the Ammatar to free their once-lost tribe, there was widespread shock as reports stated an overwhelming lack of resistance.
• 13:36 EGT - REPORT: SECOND MINMATAR-THUKKER ARMADA INVADES AMARR EMPIRE
  Heavy fighting is underway in numerous locations throughout the Kor-Azor Region as a second titan-backed Minmatar-Thukker armada invaded the Amarr Empire. Kor-Azor’s independent security forces are defending against the onslaught on both land and in space, but the Minmatar-Thukker forces are overwhelming them with sheer numbers.Although the attack marks the first time in history that a foreign power has invaded sovereign Amarr territory, Imperial Navy warships have not yet moved to intercept them.
• 13:45 EGT - Slave-lynching on Sarum Prime
  The planet 'Mekhios' becomes the scene for mass public executions as Amarrian ground forces attempt to remove the threat of rebellious slaves before they are exposed to Insorum by the invading forces.Reports are coming in that Minmatar-Thukker forces are rapidly approaching the Sarum core worlds, with little in the way to slow them down
• 13:48 EGT - REPORT: THIRD MINMATAR-THUKKER FLEET DETECTED IN DOMAIN REGION; FIERCE FIGHTING REPORTED OVER SARUM PRIME
  In what eyewitnesses are describing as an "epic, violent clash between empires", the Imperial Navy engages a third Minmatar-Thukker fleet over the third planet of the Sarum Prime system, 'Mekhios'.
• 13:51 EGT - Minmatar invasion leaves trail of destruction
  As Imperial Naval Command continues to analyze incoming data and co-ordinate the Navy's response strategy, information leaked from various sources is painting a picture of the trail of destruction left by the invading Minmatar fleet. Invading along multiple fronts, the fleet reportedly faced little in the way of credible resistance to its seemingly unstoppable advance.
• 14:01 EGT - Chaotic scenes of celebration across the Republic
  Across the Republic, Matari on the streets, now numbering in the millions, erupted into frenzied celebration as news of the invasion of the Amarr Empire broke. Riot Police were almost overwhelmed as even more citizens flooded city streets, shouting war cries and firing weapons into the air.
• 14:12 EGT - REPORT: “MASS MURDERS” REPORTED AT MINMATAR REPUBLIC GOVERNMENT FACILITIES
  Scope News obtaineds confirmation of the mass-murder of hundreds of municipal and regional government officials and throughout the Minmatar Republic. The assassins, believed to be aligned with the same Minmatar-Thukker strike force invading the Amarr Empire, are allegedly leaving evidence of the victim’s complicity with Amarrian intelligence services with each corpse.
• 14:18 EGT - Amarrian forces in disarray following Andrub attack
  Not long after the assault on Andrub, reports from eyewitnesses across the Kor Azor region filter back claiming a "frightening lack of cohesion" in the already troubled Imperial forces.
• 14:17 EGT - REPORT: MINMATAR-THUKKER TASK FORCE ARE MINMATAR ELDERS
  Scope News has learns that the Minmatar-Thukker force which is responsible for igniting a war in New Eden are the Minmatar “Elders”, the legendary ancient leaders of the original seven tribes. If true, this claim would validate the Republic’s official denial of involvement with the Amarr invasion, and of the Republic Fleet’s defensive posturing along the Amarrian border.
• 14:27 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: CALDARI NAVY TASK FORCE CROSSES FEDERATION BORDER, INVADES GALLENTE SPACE
  A Caldari Navy task force crosses the Federation border in what is unmistakably a large-scale invasion of Gallente space.
• 14:30 EGT - "Opportunistic Vultures" cleared from battle sites
  As the Amarr Navy attempts to rally their forces and regain some co-ordination, reports are coming in of marauding salvagers picking over the broken remains of the Amarr and Minmatar ships at battle sites that have now fallen silent.
  Amarrian reaction forces arriving at the scene, too late to make a difference, have begun to clear the area of these scavengers.
• 14:43 EGT -Mass Panic in the Federation
  As news breaks of a Caldari invasion of Federation territory, mass panic spreads like wildfire across the Gallente Federation. Starports are crammed full as citizens attempt to flee from the Caldari advance.
• 14:49 EGT - News of Elders ignites mass-celebrations.
  Moments after The Scope news agency reported rumors of the legendary Elders leading the assault in the Amarr home worlds, frenzied celebrations in the Republic hit new levels of chaos. Millions of Matari erupted into widespread rejoicing, pushing the crowded streets of major cities to their limit. Riot police on many planets were seen breaking ranks as they joined the tumultuous celebration.
• 14:50 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: CALDARI NAVY TASK FORCE LOCKS DOWN LUMINAIRE
  The Gallente Federation capital system of Luminaire is locked down from the inside by the Caldari Navy and an accompanying task force composed of thousands of ships. Witnesses describe sighting capital ships representing every mega-corporation and at least one Leviathan titan in the armada that smashed its way into the system.
• 14:56 EGT - Gallente Senate convenes emergency session, declares war on Caldari State
  Senate leader Mentas Blaque convenes an emergency session of the federations's legislative body.
  The only item on the agenda for the emergency session was the decision of how to respond to the Caldari incursion into Gallente space. In an unprecedented unanimous vote - the fastest in Federation history - every Senator present elected to approve the declaration of war.
• 15:01 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: CALDARI NAVY BOMBARDS CALDARI PRIME, DROPSHIPS LAND ON SURFACE
  The Caldari Navy-led task force that locked itself inside the Luminaire System ilanded "hundreds of thousands" of dropships onto Caldari Prime following a systematic orbital bombardment of strategic defense emplacements all over the planet.
• 15:12 EGT - Caldari citizens respond to invasion
  Workers and managers have laid down tools and headed for the nearest broadcast screen to watch the proceedings, and reports indicate that Gallente flags are being solemnly burnt all across the State.
• 15:18 EGT -Partisan violence erupts inside State borders
  Reports are coming in of widespread anti-Gallente violence in major cities across the State, as vigilante groups raid recently-closed businesses and residences that once housed Federation expatriates. Another eyewitness account has alleged that almost 1,000 State citizens of Gallentean origin on Urlen II also met a violent end at the hands of angry mobs. Conflicting reports state that once news of the Federation invasion broke, the Gallentean-born citizens armed themselves and "started shooting whoever they saw."
• 15:18 EGT - REPORT: FEDERATION NAVY CONVERGING ON TIERIJEV AS CALDARI MECHANIZED INFANTRY ATTACKS TOVIL, ARCURIO
  The Federation Navy abandons its attempts to break the Caldari Navy’s blockade in Luminaire deploys "all spaceborne military assets" to the isolated Caldari system of Tierijev.
• 15:32 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: FOIRITAN ORDERS FEDERATION NAVY TO STAND DOWN
  President Souro Foiritan ordereds the Federation Navy to call off its attack on Tierijev and issues a general order to “cease all hostile actions against the Caldari Navy”. This shocking revelation is believed to have been issued following a direct conversation with Caldari dictator Tibus Heth.
• 15:47 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: TIBUS HETH CONQUERS CALDARI PRIME, FOIRITAN CEDES CONTROL
  Tibus Heth, the dictator whose mercurial rise to power has shocked New Eden, has just raised the flag of the Caldari State over the city of Arcurio on Caldari Prime, in the Gallente Federation capital system of Luminaire. Although the path to Gallente Prime was clear, Heth did not consider it as a "show of good faith".Terms of the negotiated "truce" stipulate that Mr. Heth’s sovereignty claim is for the planet of Caldari Prime alone, and not for the system of Luminaire.
• 15:57 EGT - Mordu's Legion mobilizes
  The Pure Blind region has erupted into full action as ships bearing Mordu's Legion insignias are converging from all corners to gather in force at their headquarters in 5ZXX-K.
• 16:01 EGT - Guristas attack FedMart warehouses in Vlillirier
  Two storage and warehousing facilities belonging to FedMart, the largest retail corporation in the world of EVE have been attacked by forces believed to belong to the Guristas pirates. The raiding force included a large number of transport ships, and it is clear that the Guristas were intent upon plunder after sweeping away the few customs forces and naval pickets guarding the system.Also present in the system were a number of Wiyrkomi storage and warehousing facilities, though these remained unmolested by the pirates, leading many to speculate that the Caldari State gave tacit approval for the raid. This speculation is further reinforced by the fact that the few Wiyrkomi Peace Corps forces present in the system did not respond to distress calls issued by FedMart personnel.
• 16:05 EGT - REPORT: IMPERIAL NAVY RETREATS OVER SARUM PRIME
  The Imperial Navy has unexpectedly withdrawn all of its warships from the colossal fleet battle over the skies of Mekhios. In what was largely being described as a "brutal stalemate" between the two armadas, the fighting came to an abrupt halt as Imperial Navy warships disengaged en-masse and warped away from the Elder Fleet, which made no attempt to pursue the fleeing defenders.
• 16:17 EGT - Caldari citizens celebrate at return of homeland
  As news of Tibus Heth’s astounding victory in reclaiming Caldari Prime broke across the Caldari State, citizens took to the streets. Numerous corporations suspended the rest of the work day, allowing employees to take part in the celebrations.
• 16:20 EGT -As the dust settles, countless Gallenteans dead on Caldari Prime
  Since the cease fire order has been issued hostilities are coming to an end on Caldari Prime. A few shots can be heard at a distance but as this is reported even they are being silenced as the order from President Foiritan is spreading. With the Gallente troops laying down arms, Tibus Heth's soldiers are securing their objectives, setting up fortifications and rounding up prisoners.
• 16:24 EGT - Blood Raiders sighted in The Bleak Lands
  Taking advantage of the current turmoil around Sarum Prime and the retreat of the 7th Fleet from The Bleak Lands region, the Blood Raiders have allegedly launched opportunistic raids on numerous stations.
• 16:25 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: JAMYL SARUM SIGHTED OVER SARUM PRIME
  Reports are flooding Amarrian comm channels that the royal heir Jamyl Sarum has arrived on the battlefield over Mekhios with an escort of just twelve battleships. Jamyl Sarum was killed five years ago in the Succession Trials following the death of Emperor Heideran.
• 16:27 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: MASSIVE EXPLOSION DETECTED OVER MEKHIOS
  A massive explosion has been detected over Mekhios. All news feeds covering the conflict have been incapacitated by the detonation, and no data will be available until these systems are restored.
• 16:39 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: ELDER FLEET OVER MEKHIOS DESTROYED
  Scope News has obtained visual confirmation that the Elder fleet over Mekhios has been destroyed.
  The presence of Jamyl Sarum just moments before the explosion has yet to be confirmed, and no trace of her or her escort ships was spotted near the wreckage.
• 16:47 EGT - Khanid Kingdom fortifies borders
  In a recent announcement King Khanid II declared martial law throughout Khanid Kingdom, in response to the cluster-wide turmoil. "All Khanid border systems are being reinforced by the Royal Khanid Navy," announced the King in his address to the nation.
• 16:51 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: IMPERIAL NAVY EMERGES IN KOR-AZOR REGION WITH JAMYL SARUM, ELDER FLEETS RETREATING
  Elder fleets operating in the Kor-Azor Region of the Amarr Empire and Derelik Region of the Ammatar Mandate are retreating towards Minmatar Republic borders.
  The resurgence of the former heir, long believed dead, is confirmed to be among the pursuing Imperial vessels and appears to have inspired the Amarrian counterattack.
• 16:53 EGT - Defiant holding action buys critical time
  Only minutes ago with the Elder-led taskforce in full retreat, camera drones on scene in the system fed live footage as elements of the fleet pulled away from the task force and positioned themselves around the stargate while the rest of the taskforce continued its rapid retreat.
• 17:00 EGT - BREAKING NEWS: CONCORD RESTORES COUNTERTHREAT CAPABILITY, ISSUES GENERAL WARNING TO CEASE HOSTILITIES
  CONCORD has restored NEOCOM broadcast capabilities and has issued a general warning to all the nation-states of New Eden to cease all "non-sanctioned" hostilities.
• 17:24 EGT - REPORT: SARUM HALTS AT MINMATAR BORDER, CHAMBERLAIN KARSOTH DISAPPEARS
  The Imperial Navy has halted its pursuit of the Minmatar Elders at the Vard stargate in the Ezzara system, heeding the warning broadcast on the NEOCOM just moments ago by CONCORD.
  Court Chamberlain Dochuta Karsoth was last seen shortly after the Elders’ invasion of the Ammatar Mandate. The Ministry of Internal Order is reportedly "exhausting every measure" to locate him.
• 17:52 EGT - REPORT: ELDER FLEET ALLOWED TO PASS THROUGH REPUBLIC SPACE UNCONTESTED
  In an apparent snub of CONCORD’s bounty offer, the Republic Fleet refused to attack Elder warships as they retreated through Minmatar space. Thousands of Elder warships passed through stargates and jump portals towards the general direction of the Great Wildlands while Republic Fleet warships continued to patrol the Amarr border. Most of the Elder warships displayed signs of extended battle damage.Unconfirmed reports place the number of slaves rescued by the Elders in the "tens of millions", and that the entirety of the Starkmanir population in the Derelik Region was recovered.

Sorry for the somewhat disorganised look of the timeline, it's the best I can do with this particular Wordpress layout as I cannot change it myself. I did my best but leave me a comment if you find it hard to read.

Fly safe.

From The New York Times: Gas prices are going up, the economy is going down, and it seems hard to justify a vacation when many of us are glad just to have jobs. But now, more than ever, we need to take a break — a real break, not just a long weekend — from our stressed-out lives.

But, it turns out, even before the downturn, a lot of Americans were working through their vacation time, taking fewer and shorter holidays.

A global study by Expedia.com found that about a third of employed Americans usually do not take all the vacation days that they are entitled to, leaving an average of three days on the table.

This is not so unusual. About a quarter of the workers in Britain do not take all their vacation time, and in France a little less. The only difference is that the British get an average of 26 days of vacation and the French about 37 — compared with our 14 days, Expedia.com said.

According to John de Graaf, executive director of Take Back Your Time, a nonprofit organization that studies issues related to overwork, 137 countries mandate paid vacation time. The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn’t.

Here are some more depressing figures: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that about a quarter of all workers in the private sector do not receive paid vacation. And the Conference Board, a private research group, said the number of Americans who said in April that they were going to take a vacation in the next six months is at a 30-year low, according to their regular consumer survey. Only 39 percent of those responding said they would go away on holiday over the next half year.

That is the lowest figure since 1978 and reflects a general decline since 2000, when, in April of that year, 49 percent said they were planning a getaway in the next six months.

But really, should you just stay home, relax in front of the television, read a novel, do a few day trips?

Well, vacations are not simply a luxury. There is increasing evidence that they really are necessary for good health.

Using information from the Framingham Heart Study, which started in 1948, researchers looked at questionnaires women in the study had filled out over 20 years about how often they took vacations. Those women who took a vacation once every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took at least two vacations a year, said Elaine Eaker, a co-author of the study and president of Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises, a private research company.

The study, published in 1992, was controlled for other factors like obesity, diabetes, smoking and income, Ms. Eaker said, and the findings have been substantiated in follow-up research.

“It shows how the body reacts to a lifestyle of stress,” she said. “This is real evidence that vacations are important to your physical health.”

Another study, published in 2000, looked at 12,000 men over nine years who were at high risk for coronary heart disease. Those who failed to take annual vacations had a 21 percent higher risk of death from all causes and were 32 percent more likely to die of a heart attack.

So forget about cutting down on cholesterol and exercise — I’m off to the Bahamas.

Well, no. But even if you don’t have heart problems, a vacation of at least one week — and preferably two weeks to really unwind — can help you relax and sleep better. Mark Rosekind, president and chief scientist at Alertness Solutions, a scientific consulting firm, has worked with NASA pilots and astronauts on sleep issues.

In 2006, he was commissioned by Air New Zealand to see if he could scientifically measure the benefit of a vacation. He asked a group of 15 people who were flying from the West Coast of the United States to New Zealand for vacations lasting a week to 12 days to wear a wrist device that monitored quantity and quality of sleep — for three days before the trip, during the vacation and three days afterward.

They kept a sleep diary and took a vigilance test to determine how good their reactions were before, during and after the holiday.

The participants were also hooked up to a brain monitor during the 12-hour flight, and other variables, like health, jobs and gender were factored in.

Here’s what he found. After a few days on vacation — and it usually took two to three — people were averaging an hour more of good quality sleep. And there was an 80 percent improvement in their reaction times.

“When they got home, they were still sleeping close to an hour more, and their reaction time was 30 to 40 percent higher than it had been before the trip,” Mr. Rosekind said.

The trick, these days when going on vacation, is not only to physically remove yourself from your normal routine, but mentally as well. Checking your BlackBerry every few hours or rushing to the nearest Internet cafe doesn’t cut it.

For 10 years, the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University has conducted a study looking at what is called “respite effects,” which measure relief from job stress before, during and after vacations.

Professor Dov Eden, an organizational psychologist who has conducted the study, found that those who are electronically hooked up to their office, even if they are lying on the Riviera, are less likely to receive the real benefits of a vacation and more likely to burn out.

Here’s one trick. My neighbor Mark had a colleague who was a workaholic. But when he went on vacation, he made sure to go where there was no cellphone or Internet service.

Mr. de Graaf sees a solution to the vacation deprivation problem, even if it’s a long shot. His organization is working with Congress to consider national legislation requiring paid vacation time. He is hoping that such legislation, currently called the Minimum Leave Protection, Family Bonding and Personal Well-Being Act, will be introduced next year. It calls for a mandated three weeks of vacation every year.

“It’s tough, there’s no question about it, but there’s a lot of interest in it,” Mr. de Graaf said. “There’s less business opposition for this leave than sick leave or parenting leave because it’s more predictable.”

He estimated that it could add an extra 2 percent to 4 percent to the labor costs of a business, but “that would be balanced by less turnover and maybe less sick days.”

Now that I’ve made such a case for vacations, maybe it’s time to acknowledge that in some cases, these trips — particularly with entire families in tow — can be stressful in their own way. The joys of a holiday can also include lugging around a ridiculous amount of paraphernalia, jet-lagged children sobbing on airplanes, hotels that looked wonderful on the Web but are in reality next to a construction site.

Back in 1979, a journalist, Lance Morrow, wrote an article in Time magazine about how rising gas prices were curtailing the annual family vacations. (Sound familiar?) He noted that “the real danger of the vacation lies in its capacity to compress all family conflicts into an exquisitely focused drama.”

And some years before that, the humorist Robert Benchley wrote that “traveling with children corresponds roughly to traveling third class in Bulgaria.”

William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota, said that “vacations tend to create memories more than any other family activity, and the bad times are some of the best memories.”

He said he remembers, for example, being at the Jersey Shore when he was a child and his father stepped on a shell that sent him to the hospital.

“I got to ride in the ambulance,” Mr. Doherty said. “That was great.”

The trick, then, is to have a vacation that enhances family bonding, but not too much. I’ll let you know how that works out after our Cape Cod trip this summer, where we will be joined by my sister, her husband and three children and my parents.

Vacations Are Good for You, Medically Speaking
The New York Times
06/07/08
By ALINA TUGEND

From what we are getting from Scope, the Yulai CONCORD Bureau has been destroyed. A Ragnarok TItan was jumped into Yulai and from what reports say, it activated it's DD.

CONCORD is now unable to respond to any reports of aggression in hi-sec, leaving the only law and order able to respond being the automated sentry guns around stations and gates, and the various faction Navies who aren't really equipped to deal with this.

People here are really panicking, none more so than traders- the station market has collapsed following a global (universal?) shutdown on the markets. People are losing billions, and this is just the start. I am fortunate in that respect, as I don't have much going on at the moment.

We are being told to stay docked, as CONCORD cannot protect us. Already, Jita is apparenly beset by pirates who have been waiting for this day for a long time. I am not moving anywhere for the moment, thank Jove I was docked when this started.