Category Archives: Uncategorized

New Pipe Organ Sounds Echo of Age of Bach

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The organ, the Craighead-Saunders, is a unique instrument, not only because of its lovely sound, but also because it is a nearly exact copy of a late Baroque organ built by Adam Gottlob Casparini of East Prussia in 1776. The original stands in the Holy Ghost Church in Vilnius, Lithuania.

There is no other contemporary organ quite like the one at Christ Church…. More…

On Coming Back as a Buzzard

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I KNOW, COMING BACK AS A CROW IS A LOT MORE ATTRACTIVE. If crows and buzzards do the same rough job—picking, tearing, and cleaning up—who wouldn’t rather return as a shiny blueblkvulture crow with a mind for locks and puzzles? A strong voice, and poem-struck. Sleek, familial, omen-bearing. Full of mourning and ardor and talk. Buzzards are nothing like this, but something other, complicated by strangeness and ugliness. They intensify my thinking. They look prehistoric, pieced together, concerned. I might simply say I feel closer to them—always have—and proceed. Because, really, as I turn it over, the problem I’m working on here, coming back as a buzzard, has not so much to do with buzzards after all….

On Coming Back as a Buzzard | Orion Magazine

Palm Beach bank teller allegedly stole nearly $20,000

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Palm Beach bank teller allegedly stole nearly $20,000

Police say Siggins had gone through bundles of $100 and $50 bills used to stock his drawer and had replaced all but the top and bottom bills with singles.

Siggins, who began working at the bank in February 2008, told investigators he didn’t think he’d get caught.

Hello? Earth to Gregory? What about the people who got those bundles? Wouldn’t they notice?

Password Security

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Just a reminder:

Make sure you create unique passwords to help keep someone from breaking in to your accounts. Here are a few tips for creating your password, and keeping it safe courtesy of Google and y’r ob’d't s’v't:

  • Never tell anyone your password.
  • Never write down your password. Even though your password will look random to others, think of a way to remember it so that you don’t have to write it down.
  • Change your password periodically.
  • Don’t choose a dictionary word as your password. Be creative.
  • Include punctuation marks. Mix capital and lowercase letters. Use numbers. A variety of characters makes it harder to guess a password.

Remember that a dictionary word can be cracked by a program running on an ordinary PC in a couple of seconds, with the right software (readily available on the Web).  Use something like the first letters, capitalization and punctuation from a favorite quote:

Fazya,ofbfutcann,

(Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation,)

Use something less common than that, but you get the idea.

Swine Flu — No Need To Panic

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Good article. (I wrote it.)
clipped from open.salon.com
Hysteria has already begun with the recent news of the swine flu outbreaks in Mexico, the US and Canada. I have spoken to people who say that they intend to wear face masks in public as soon as a case of the flu has been reported in our state. Others have stated that they will take further extreme measures, such as remaining home if “things get bad.”

There is no denying that the possible spread of an especially dangerous strain of influenza is a matter of concern. Very young children, old folks like me, and people with suppressed or otherwise compromised immune systems are at real risk, but only if they actually contract the disease.  Fortunately, there are simple precautions that can be taken to minimize the chances of contracting any airborne disease, and of passing it on to others.
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EPA Will Put Teeth In Emissions Regulation

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The move, coming almost exactly two years after the Supreme Court ordered the agency to examine whether emissions linked to climate change should be curbed under the Clean Air Act, marks a major shift in the federal government’s approach to global warming.

Former President George W. Bush and his deputies opposed putting mandatory limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases for years on the grounds that it would harm the economy; Congress is considering legislation that would do so but it remains unclear whether it can pass the proposal and enact it into law in the near future.

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com
The Environmental Protection Agency today proposed regulating greenhouse gas emissions on the grounds that these pollutants pose a danger to the public’s health and welfare.
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Obama Won’t Charge Torture Agents

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…unless they are shown to have acted in bad faith.
clipped from www.washingtonpost.com
In the fullest account to date of the questioning of al Qaeda suspects, government officials issued long sought documents that catalogue a list of tactics — from sleep and food deprivation to beatings — that Bush lawyers said comported with the law. The memos, which date to 2002, contain few redactions, despite a fierce battle within the Obama administration about the benefits of releasing the information.
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Beneath the U.S. Obsession With Cuba

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clipped from crackerboy.us
The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), a group vehemently opposed to the Cuban government, came out in favor of easing the U.S. isolation of Cuba last week. The move opens the possibility that the United States might shift its policies toward Cuba. Florida is a key state for anyone who wants to become president of the United States, and the Cuban community in Florida is substantial. Though the Soviet threat expired long ago, easing the embargo on Cuba has always held limited value to American politicians with ambitions. For them, Florida is more important than Cuba. Therefore, this historic shift alters the U.S. domestic political landscape.
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