...and regular reader merciless has requested another Harry Potter post to start a new Harry Potter thread in the comments. I have a post almost finished, but I'm having internet connection problems tonight and I'm not sure how soon I'll get too frustrated to continue and shut down the computer for the night. Fortunately, the movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , opened tonight, so let's make this a Harry Potter movie thread. For starters, anyone who's already seen it or who sees it over the next couple of days, what say you? Thumbs up or thumbs down? benetton treviso ow are the new cast members, particularly Helena Bonham Carter? How does this one compare to the previous Potter films? Everyone else, favorite movie? Favorite actor? Alan Rickman and Snape fans, feel free to open up your fan club again.

Shortly, my son and I are off on retreat . With a degree of caution, I confess this will not be a Christian retreat. It is a Zen Buddhist retreat, in Derbyshire. A Vietnamese Zen Buddhist retreat. I am being sent there by the Saturday Times, so it is half work, half holiday. It began as a freebie, then the organisers carefully explained to me the philisophy behind the concept of "dan". Something similar exists in Islam, and it is comparable to tithing in Judaism and Christianity. Clearly it would not be within the spirit of the retreat to stand by our rights to claim our freebie, even given the page or so of free publicity they will be getting blog video n return. (Picture by Sylvan Mason ) So The Times is making a donation. It is almost unheard of in newspapers for some journalists actually to pay for a holiday, but if it was going to happen to anyone, it was going to happen to me. Religious journalism is possibly the only vocation in national newspaper journalism where the spiritual rewards exceed the material ones. So why did I choose an obscure Zen Buddhist retreat when I was given a choice of any? I didn't. It chose me. My one stipulation was that I should be able to take my four-year-old son. It is possible that there are family-friendly Christian retreats, somewhere, but none of them had offered places to Times journalists for our retreat supplement. As one expert on Christian retreats explained to me: "Most people go on those retreats to get away from their children.

Shortly, my son and I are off on retreat . With a degree of caution, I confess this will not be a Christian retreat. It is a Zen Buddhist retreat, in Derbyshire. A Vietnamese Zen Buddhist retreat. I am being sent there by the Saturday Times, so it is half work, half holiday. It began as a freebie, then the organisers carefully explained to me the philisophy behind the concept of "dan". Something similar exists in Islam, and it is comparable to tithing in Judaism and Christianity. Clearly it would not be within the spirit of the retreat to stand by our rights to claim our freebie, even given the page or so of free publicity they will be getting in return. (Picture by Sylvan Mason ) So The Times is making a donation. It is almost unheard of in newspapers for some journalists actually to pay for a holiday, but if it was going to happen to anyone, it was going to happen to me. Religious journalism is possibly the only vocation in national newspaper journalism where the spiritual rewards exceed the material ones. pay per click search engine o why did I choose an obscure Zen Buddhist retreat when I was given a choice of any? I didn't. It chose me. My one stipulation was that I should be able to take my four-year-old son. It is possible that there are family-friendly Christian retreats, somewhere, but none of them had offered places to Times journalists for our retreat supplement. As one expert on Christian retreats explained to me: "Most people go on those retreats to get away from their children.

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Shortly, my son and I are off on retreat . With a degree of caution, I confess this will not be a Christian retreat. It is a Zen Buddhist retreat, in Derbyshire. A Vietnamese Zen Buddhist retreat. I am being sent there by the Saturday Times, so it is half work, half holiday. It began as a freebie, then the organisers carefully explained to me the philisophy behind the concept of "dan". Something similar exists in Islam, and it is comparable to tithing in Judaism and Christianity. Clearly it would not be within the spirit of the retreat to stand by our rights to claim our freebie, even given the page or so of free publicity they will be getting in return. (Picture by Sylvan Mason ) So The Times is making a donation. It is almost unheard of in newspapers for some journalists actually to pay for a holiday, but if it was going to happen to anyone, it was going to happen to me. Religious journalism is possibly the only vocation in national how to install water softener ewspaper journalism where the spiritual rewards exceed the material ones. So why did I choose an obscure Zen Buddhist retreat when I was given a choice of any? I didn't. It chose me. My one stipulation was that I should be able to take my four-year-old son. It is possible that there are family-friendly Christian retreats, somewhere, but none of them had offered places to Times journalists for our retreat supplement. As one expert on Christian retreats explained to me: "Most people go on those retreats to get away from their children.

Actually, I did _not_ bail him out. He had lots of people stepping in but it ended up being his gf's cousin. Gobs of money was collected on the $1200 bond to get him out within happy mother's day few more days (I owed him about $125 for taking care of my "tab" at the store so I paid him). What complicated things for him--not me :) was that the Cook County jail was on lock-down for the weekend due to multiple escapees...in multiple escapes. It's not a nice place and for once I can feel a bit sorry for my son (though he seems none the worse for wear--not too much risk when everyone ' cept the guards is in lockdown). Jim My son has a bit of a story to tell in terms of him not having committed any real act that was unlawful on the night in question but unbeknownst to him his long-ago-lost State ID card started getting used by his "friend" Jose Joe who, on the night in question got stopped with an unregistered car and used Jim's my son's ID while Jim was right there in the car! LOL! Then a very old warrant for underage drinking ( Jim My son is currently 2 weeks from his 23rd BD) popped up on the new, improved backgroundchecker and the warrant's so old that whammy! huge bond--but as Jim my son cheerfully relates--the girl in the car--the girlfriend of the friend who had been for some time apparently using Jim's my son's ID in order to pass for 21, she had five! old warrants and got nailed for a $5500 cash bond. She's still cooling her heels.

Felix Salmon deploys me as a weapon in an internecine struggle with his fellow Portfolio magazine writer Russ Mitchell Kevin Maney by blogging a piece of our coffee yesterday at Strada, at the corner of Bancroft and College, in Berkeley: Finance Blog - Market Movers by Felix Salmon: How to Deal With Rising Healthcare Costs - Portfolio.com : Russ Mitchell weighs in on the subject of healthcare today, and specifically the problem that healthcare technology is driving prices up so far and so fast that at present rates it won't be all that long until there's no money left over for anything else. Mitchell's solution... is, in a nutshell, better healthcare for the rich.... "A real menu of health care packages, so people can choose from a variety of programs matching their needs with their ability to pay, from merchant account credit card services asic Mazda to luxury Mercedes. Employees (and the government, for the uninsured) can decide what packages they'll provide for how much."... By coincidence, I'm in Berkeley myself right now, and took the opportunity to have coffee yesterday with Lance Knobel and Brad DeLong.... Brad painted a picture of people having spare eyeballs and kidneys stored... in a hospital basement... to... replace the existing ones if they failed for whatever reason.... I'm sure I'll get the details wrong, but in a nutshell, Brad would like to see a health insurance plan or plans in which the deductible is very large: 20% of any individual's pre-tax income in the previous year. Insurance would...

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...and regular reader merciless has requested another Harry Potter post to start a new Harry Potter thread in the comments. I have a post almost finished, but I'm having internet connection problems tonight and I'm not sure how soon I'll get too frustrated to continue and shut down the computer for the night. Fortunately, the movie, Harry curb ramp otter and the Order of the Phoenix , opened tonight, so let's make this a Harry Potter movie thread. For starters, anyone who's already seen it or who sees it over the next couple of days, what say you? Thumbs up or thumbs down? How are the new cast members, particularly Helena Bonham Carter? How does this one compare to the previous Potter films? Everyone else, favorite movie? Favorite actor? Alan Rickman and Snape fans, feel free to open up your fan club again.

...and regular reader merciless has requested another Harry Potter post to start a new Harry Potter thread in the comments. I have a post almost finished, but I'm having pc technician training nternet connection problems tonight and I'm not sure how soon I'll get too frustrated to continue and shut down the computer for the night. Fortunately, the movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , opened tonight, so let's make this a Harry Potter movie thread. For starters, anyone who's already seen it or who sees it over the next couple of days, what say you? Thumbs up or thumbs down? How are the new cast members, particularly Helena Bonham Carter? How does this one compare to the previous Potter films? Everyone else, favorite movie? Favorite actor? Alan Rickman and Snape fans, feel free to open up your fan club again.

Felix Salmon deploys me as a weapon in an internecine struggle with his fellow Portfolio magazine writer Russ Mitchell Kevin Maney by blogging a piece of our coffee yesterday at Strada, at the corner of Bancroft and College, in Berkeley: Finance Blog - Market Movers by Felix Salmon: How to Deal With Rising Healthcare Costs - Portfolio.com : Russ Mitchell weighs in on the subject of healthcare today, and specifically the problem that healthcare technology is driving prices up so far and so fast that at present rates it won't be all that long until there's no money left over for anything else. Mitchell's solution... is, in a nutshell, better healthcare for the rich.... "A real menu of health care packages, so people can choose from a variety of programs matching their needs with their ability stamina products inc o pay, from basic Mazda to luxury Mercedes. Employees (and the government, for the uninsured) can decide what packages they'll provide for how much."... By coincidence, I'm in Berkeley myself right now, and took the opportunity to have coffee yesterday with Lance Knobel and Brad DeLong.... Brad painted a picture of people having spare eyeballs and kidneys stored... in a hospital basement... to... replace the existing ones if they failed for whatever reason.... I'm sure I'll get the details wrong, but in a nutshell, Brad would like to see a health insurance plan or plans in which the deductible is very large: 20% of any individual's pre-tax income in the previous year. Insurance would...

...and regular reader merciless has requested another Harry Potter post to start a new Harry Potter thread in the comments. I have a post almost finished, but I'm having internet connection problems tonight and I'm not sure earth satellite view ow soon I'll get too frustrated to continue and shut down the computer for the night. Fortunately, the movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , opened tonight, so let's make this a Harry Potter movie thread. For starters, anyone who's already seen it or who sees it over the next couple of days, what say you? Thumbs up or thumbs down? How are the new cast members, particularly Helena Bonham Carter? How does this one compare to the previous Potter films? Everyone else, favorite movie? Favorite actor? Alan Rickman and Snape fans, feel free to open up your fan club again.