Nightingale

I wonder if they'd let you set up a studio type light instead of using a flash.

My mom grew up in a large family. Several of the her siblings have PhDs now, and all but one has at least a master's degree. I have 13 cousins on that side of the family. My mom was the oldest, and yes, she had to babysit sometimes, but my grandparents were always careful to make sure she had time for herself and with her friends too. She told me she never really minded babysitting, because she liked her siblings, and they had fun. Today, she's a teacher. Today, I don't think any one of my mom's siblings regrets being born into a large family. What's kind of interesting is that we don't have a lot of the problems that I see other people having with their families. I hear people saying "I hate christmas because I have to go see my family." I don't understand that. We actually enjoy spending time together. All of us. I wonder if growing up in a large family taught my mom and her siblings how to compromise and get along and agree to disagree with people who are different. Politically speaking, we're all over the map from conservative catholics and mormons to liberal wiccans and homosexual agnostics. Everyone is accepted and respected, whether we agree with their choices or not, simply because they are Family.

The state department says we've gotten over 1 billion in foreign aid and supplies. Keep in mind that many other countries simply do not have the kind of money that the US has access to. We can't expect a foreign country to give more than it could afford, anymore than our government would give more than we could afford to aid them. Also, these figures are in American dollars. Many countries, like Cambodia, for example, do not have a strong exchange rate with the American dollar. Last I heard it was about 4270 riel. You can live pretty well in Cambodia for a couple hundred American dollars a month, so what they gave, from their perspective, is more than what we perceive it as, because a dollar goes a lot farther there than it does here. As an aside, the most recent figure I could find on the tsunami relief money we sent was about $350 million (Bush asked congress for 950 million more, but I can't find if that was approved). Including cash and oil, we got $500 million from kuwait for Katrina. We've gotten over a billion dollars total, which comes close to, if not matches, what we gave for the tsunami, if the 950 million was approved and sent. So, I guess you could say we've pretty much gotten our money back.

Southern California. You've got hiking in the mountains and surfing in the ocean within an hour or so's drive. There's also Disneyland, Sea World, and some other theme parks, and we've got several national parks within a day's drive, including Yosemite, Sequioa, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley. Hollywood is about an hour away from Disneyland, and it's fun to walk around the walk of fame, and you can even go see a TV taping if you want to. Go to Jerry's Deli or Pink's hot dog stand, and you'll possibly see a celebrity or two. There are a lot of great clubs and places to go at night in LA and San Diego. Venice beach is fun during the day, and there's an international hostel not far from the beach, if you want to keep your lodging costs low and still stay in the Los Angeles area. Plus, you can visit the Perris Wind Tunnel.

I never said that it was iPod specific. However, in my experience, it's easier to do all that with an iPod than with some of the other players out there. My brother is constantly struggling with his sony player, always reading the manual, and usually cursing at it. I've never even opened the instructions for my iPod. I've never needed them. It's so incredibly intuitive, and ease of use means a lot to me. I don't want to fight with a device to get it to do what I want. The iPod just works. Consistently. My dad LOVES his iPod, and my dad is computer stupid. He uses computers like oversize typewriters and generally can't do a damn thing with them. I'm constantly getting phone calls from him about how to make his Dell do what he wants. I haven't gotten a single phone call about the iPod. Not one. He's downloading and uploading music and making playlists and everything all by himself, which is wonderful from my perspective, because he never does anything except the most basic computer stuff without help.

What I do with my iPod: play it through my car stereo using an FM transmitter use it to record my professors' lectures with a microphone attached use it as a portable hard drive for other files so I can work on them from any computer with a USB or firewire port use it to store photos drag and drop music and non-music files drag music off the iPod to other computers, iTunes not required. make and store loads of different playlists so I can listen to what I want, depending on my mood also, it lets me keep my address book/contact list and calendar/schedule with me all the time. it does so much more than just play music through headphones.

My 40g iPod was worth every penny. It's so easy to use. My brother has a sony mp3 player that was cheaper, but he's always fighting with it to get it to do what he wants. He's talking about selling it on eBay and getting an iPod. After using my iPod, my mom and dad each got one. I love my iPod so much that it inspired me to buy a mac. I now own an iBook and an iMac, all because my iPod showed me how user friendly apple products are. if you get an iPod, you won't regret it.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/08/katrina.redcross/index.html The Red Cross was waiting to move in to help. They were ready. The state wouldn't let them in. Many of the money/supplies donations by foreign countries went to the Red Cross specifically for Katrina aid. They had the people and supplies ready, but the government would not let them in to help. And as for countries giving more... Keep in mind that our economy is huge compared to most of the other countries in the world. We have a lot more money in our economy, so it's hard to draw an accurate comparison just based on dollar figures.

Lots of countries returned the favor and helped out after Katrina. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the news much. There were also other offers of aid that didn't get used. Here's a list of some countries and what they gave. Afghanistan $100,000 Albania $300,000 Armenia $100,000 Australia $7.6 million, tarps, camping equipment, beds Azerbaijan $500,000 Bahamas $50,000 Bahrain $5 million Bangladesh $1 million Belgium Medical/logistics teams, generators, water pumps Bosnia $6000 Cambodia $20,000 Canada $5 million, 2 helicopters, 32-person rescue team, evacuation flights, medical supplies China $5.1 million cash and relief supplies, 1000 tents, 600 generators Cyprus $50,000 Djibouti $50,000 Equatorial Guinea $500,000 Finland Search-and-rescue team; 3 logistics specialists France Tents, tarps, MREs, water treatment supplies, cleaning equipment Gabon $500,000 Georgia $50,000 Germany MREs, high speed pumps, forensic experts Greece 2 cruise ships Hungary $5,000 Iceland $500,000 India $5 million, 3000 personal hygene kits, blankets, sheets, tarps Iraq $1,000,000 cash Ireland $1,240,000 cash Israel Tents, first-aid kits, baby formula Italy Generators, water pumps/purifiers, tents, med supplies Japan $200,000 cash and $844,000 in relief supplies, $1.5 million in private donations. Kenya $100,000 Kuwait $400 million in oil, $100 million cash Malaysia $1 million Maldives $25,000 cash Mauritania $200,000 Mexico Transport vehicles, 1 helicopter, ambulance and medical teams, 45 truckloads of supplies Mongolia $50,000 cash Morocco $500,000 Nepal $25,000 cash Netherlands Levee inspection team to assist Army Corps of Engineers, water pumps, frigate New Zealand $1.4 million cash, search and rescue teams Nigeria $1 million cash Norway $1.54 million in relief supplies Oman $15 million Pakistan $1 million, supplies Palau $50,000, plus $50,000 in private donations Papua New Guinea $10,000 Qatar $100 million cash Republic of Korea $30 million cash, supplies Russia air transport, generators, tents, blankets, water, pumps, supplies Sao Tome and Principe $18,000 Saudi Arabia $5 million from Aramco, $250,000 from AGFUND Singapore 4 helicopters Sri Lanka $25,000 cash Taiwan $2 million cash, medical supplies Thailand Forensic experts, blankets and food UAE $100 million cash Uganda $200,000 UK relief supplies Venezuela $1 million Vietnam $100,000 Yemen $100,000 Source: State Department

Nope. Didn't look like that at all. Bright white light, looking pretty solid. I didn't have the flash on. I know that for a fact because the camera needed a new flash bulb, and I bought one when we got back to Galway. The only other person in the vacinity was my friend, who was way over on the other side of the churchyard off to one side. It was the off season, so there were very few people on the island. I guess there aren't many people who tour Ireland in february.

IIRC, the casas weren't doing a second pass. I overheard them saying to someone else who was complaining about the spots that "we have a small DZ and always get everyone a good spot in one pass." (did anyone here get a second pass out of a casa? Maybe they changed their minds later on?)

Congrats! Morgan - love the dress! Dave - cool boots!

Because some people don't believe in using animal products if it can be avoided. In many situations, there is no reason to use animal products other than preference or convenience. In pet food, the debate is still out, especially regarding cats, who generally eat more meat than dogs.

Easy. Humans have the ability to consent. Animals do not.

Jump Mullins King Air and your troubles are over Yep. I did 6 jumps out of Mullins and never once had a bad spot. Now, the casas on the other hand... I did 6 jumps out of casas and never once landed on the dropzone. My ratio of good spots to jumps: Mullins: 6/6 Casas: 0/6 Biplane: 2/2 Otter: 1/2

My brother's roommate is a girl. They get along great, and she's got a boyfriend and he has a girlfriend. her boyfriend likes the situation because Jeanette has my brother around to move heavy objects and open jars, and my brother's girlfriend likes it because he's got someone there who makes sure he has something in the fridge other than beer, and tells him when his clothes don't match and stuff. It does take a lot of trust and rock solid relationships with significant others, though. You don't want your SO wondering if you're getting it on with your roommate. There are several things to look for in a roommate: Make sure they like the same neatness level as you do. A slob and a neat freak are not going to get along. Smoker or non? Make sure they're the same as you. If you're a non-smoker, don't room with a smoker, because even if the smoker doesn't smoke in the apartment, eventually things like sofas smell like smoke. If you're a smoker, don't room with a non-smoker for the same reason. It's something to argue about that isn't necessary. Drugs and parties: Don't want a die-hard DARE graduate rooming with a pothead. Also don't want someone who doesn't like crowds rooming with someone who loves to throw parties. Talk about what's acceptable to you before you move in. Same goes for loud music, Drinking: If you don't want to be taking care of a drunk roommate, make sure you don't get a roommate who gets drunk often. If you like to get drunk, make sure that your roommate is okay with that. Cooking and grocery shopping: Do you shopping together or separately? Split the cost of household items like dish soap and toilet paper, or buy your own and label it? If you like to cook, are you willing to cook enough for your roommate too, and if so, how are you going to work that out financially with the cost of food? Is your roommate willing to clean up if you cook? Chores: Agree on this before moving in. If you both hate to vacuum, chances are it won't get done. Set up a schedule and agree to stick to it. Sex: are they gay/straight/bi, and are you ok with that? Also, come to an agreement about overnight guests. How often is ok? You don't want to have a roommate who brings a significant other over every night, so then you end up with two roommates, but you're paying 50% of the rent. Overall: Put everything in writing. Sign it and give a copy to each party. That way, expectations are clear. You'll probably never pull the document out of whatever drawer you toss it in, but just the act of discussing and signing makes people feel more responsible for what they've agreed to. And, if the other party doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, it's always good to have documentation. Remember, you don't have to be best friends. Sometimes its better if you're not, because if you're living together and hanging out together, you can get on each other's nerves. Just make sure you can live with the person.

No. However, I don't think anyone should be given the death penalty. It's a waste of money, and I think Bush has wasted enough of our tax dollars already. The thing is, even if Bush did authorize it, it's highly doubtful he'd even face charges here, and even if he did, it's highly doubtful that the death penalty would even be mentioned, much less pursued, although it is remotely possible under the US' war crimes act of 1996. If he was charged by the International Criminal Court (which can only act if the US is unwilling or unable to act), under the Statue of the International Criminal Court adopted in 1998, the death penalty is excluded from the punishments which this court will be authorized to impose, even though it has jurisdiction over extremely grave crimes such as crimes against humanity, including genocide, and violations of the laws of armed conflict. (source - Amnesty International)

I don't know if this qualifies, but I took a really weird photo in Ireland. We were at a site in the Aran Islands called "Seven Churches" which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Seven churches built almost on top of each other, with graveyards in the empty spaces between. i took a photo of a tombstone, just because I thought it was pretty. When I got home, I printed everything out without really looking through it. I handed the stack of photos to my brother, and about halfway through, I hear him say "what the hell is that?" I look at the image and it looks like there is a bright round white light floating right in front of the tombstone. I thought it was my printer being weird, so I looked at the image in the camera. Same white light. I sent the image to Olympus to make sure there was nothing wrong with my camera, and they told me that it didn't look like any errors they were familiar with, so "whatever's in the picture was probably really there" especially since I had no problems with the camera before or after this particular shot. To this day, I've got no clue what that light is.

I've got an iBook and I love it. An iBook should do everything you describe. However, if you're going to do serious video editing, you'll probably want an external hard drive also, whether you've got the powerbook or iBook. If you can, call up your nearest Apple store and find out if they have an iBook with photoshop installed (sometimes they do). If not, ask if they can install it on one for you to try. They installed World of Warcraft on an iBook for me to try. It ran great! I'm not sure if this is still true for the new generation iBooks, but previously, the biggest difference was that you could attach an external monitor to the powerbook to get more screen real estate. You could have a different image on the powerbook and the external monitor. The iBook would just mirror what was on the iBook screen onto the external monitor (there was a way to hack this to make it work like the powerbook, but it voided AppleCare, which you definitely want for a laptop).

I use my iPod to record law school lectures. It's saved my butt a few times when the teacher's been talking fast and I can't write everything down. Just wait til class is over, and play back iPod, revise notes. I also get the mac to translate my typed notes into audio files (it actually reads the text) and save it to my ipod to listen to in the car before finals. I LOVE my iPod!!!

You can get some adorable tabby (tiger-stripe) kittens from the pound or a rescue/shelter. Tabby is one of the most common fur patterns. Both my kitties are rescue, and they're the most wonderful little fur-friends anyone could have. Plus, rescue kitties cost a lot less than breeder kitties, which leaves extra money for cat toys, shots, vet visits, food, etc... Getting a rescue kitty is really a nice feeling, because not only have you gotten a wonderful furry friend, you've probably saved his/her life in the process.

It's a common misconception that a gay person will be attracted to children of the same gender. In reality, research indicates that, regardless of the victim's gender, most pedophiles (both in numbers and percentages) have heterosexual adult relationships. Straight people aren't generally attracted to children of the opposite sex, and gay people aren't generally attracted to children of the same sex, and find the idea just as repulsive as most straight people do. An attraction to adults of either gender is far different from an attraction to children.

LOL. I was referring to the reasons people marry. Today, more people marry because they're in love, or at least think they're in love, rather than for political or financial reasons.

I associate "God" (capital G) with christianity. Mainly because christianity seems to refer to its god as God. Most other religions refer to their god by another name, example: Jehova, Allah, etc. We would say that "Some ancient Egyptians worshipped Aten as their god" rather than "as their God." When "god" is capitalized and used as a proper noun, it tends to be christian.

Well, marriage was initially about ownership and property rights rather than love, but in the modern world, this has changed. Personally, I'd like to see an abolishment of the government here (US) attempting to regulate personal relationships. Seems like marriage ought to be a religious thing rather than a civil thing, since hopefully we've moved beyond the time where church and government were one and the same. Personal relationships just shouldn't be the government's business. That said, the political party referenced in the above post seems to be more than a little over the top. I doubt they'll get anywhere near 20% of the vote, mainly because people tend to be hesitant about changing the status quo, especially if the status quo is working for them personally,