slw asked:


The ring is a 14K gold mens with Mason Emblem and small center diamond on top. It has the # 32 on the side. Size is approx. 8-10. My Grandmother has it and someone told her it was a Collectors ring worth quite a bit of money. She wants me to list it in a local Bulletin Board for sale, but we have no clue what to ask for it. There are no appraisers close to where we live. Any help would be appreciated. I have looked on other sites but most of them are new rings and their customer service reps only know about what they sell.

Ian Koch asked:


The George Mason University also referred to by locals and students as simply “Mason” or “GMU”, is one of the popular universities that has five campuses for its courses. The campuses are spread in three counties such as Arlington, Prince William, and Fairfax. Different courses are offered in different campuses. The campuses of this university are Fairfax Campus, Arlington Campus, Prince William Campus, Mason in Loudoun, and the Ras Al Khaimah Campus.

“The university traces its roots back to the 1950s when it was part of the University of Virginia system. It became an independent university (but still publicly funded) in 1972. Its faculty boasts Nobel Prize-winning economists James M. Buchanan (1986) and Vernon Smith (2002). Another economics professor, Walter Williams, is well-known as a syndicated columnist and occasional guest host of the Rush Limbaugh radio show. The law school is ranked among the top 50 in the United States.

While GMU is newly independent, it has been growing rapidly, with a 2003 enrollment of 28,246 students it is now the largest university in the Commonwealth. GMU serves mainly the Northern Virginia community and as such is a popular destination for returning students and part-time students.

As a result, many students are older than 18-22. In 2003, about 76% of full-time GMU students were commuters.

The school’s sports teams are called the Patriots. The university’s men’s and women’s sports teams participate in the NCAA’s Division I, and are in the Colonial Athletic Association. The school’s colors are green and gold.” (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Most of the courses of this university are offered in the Fairfax Campus. The university is just a few minutes away from Washington DC. Courses are available for different academic fields. Some of the fields in which courses are available are Public Policy, Law, Visual and Performing Arts, Information Technology and Engineering, Life Sciences, Conflict Resolution, and Law.

Several graduate and professional programs are available with the university. Advanced Research centers and Laboratories are also available to pursue education. This university has an excellent website that has more information about the campus and the courses offered.

Admissions for freshmen, Transfers, and International are available in the George Mason University website. Depending on the type of admission the procedures may vary slightly. For freshmen the scores of the American College Test (ACT) and/or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) might be required. A personal essay may also be asked.

If you are a student who does not speak English at home then you might be necessary to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Apart from these basic requirements you might be asked some other documents for the admission. For more details on the admissions for the different categories check the information available in the University’s website.

Other George Mason University’s campus resources like Bookstores, Career Services, Libraries, Patriot Center and the Center for Arts are also available within the campus. You can access information about these resources from the website also.

Michael Porfirio Mason asked:


The Six Elements of Picking Up Girls

This G Manifesto is extremely important. This data, up until now has been highly guarded information, and revealing it could probably get me in trouble. It’s not unlike when Chinese Martial Artists started to reveal the secrets of hand to hand combat and self-defense to westerners. A lot of them got paid visits from the heavies over there. So don’t take this data sheet lightly. And don’t worry about me…desert eag (and Rugers for minor maneuvers), plus I got The Garduna behind me…..So here are The Six Elements of Picking Up Girls:

Sizzle.

This is very important for the opening. You have approach girls with snap, swagger and energy. You need to have a purpose and pitch something that is exciting, fresh and unique. For instance, pitching 3 ringside seats to a Title Fight to a couple of exotic dancers in a Gentleman’s Club is going to have some Sizzle on it (make sure you sit Girl-Boy-Girl). But know your audience; pitching a girl on an afternoon in The Turf Club at the Racetrack might seem like a good pitch on a Hollywood actress girl, unless she volunteers for PETA during her off-time. The gear you wear helps a lot. A custom, light grey Paul Smith suit (with ticket pocket) with purple pinstripes, Lilac pocket square by Brioni and a light Resort Style Armani shirt with Crocodile loafers by A. Testoni will give you that added zip that you need. Focus helps give you Sizzle. When I am picking up on a girl it might seem extremely effortless to the untrained eye. In reality, I am incredibly focused. Sometimes I am so focused I am basically clairvoyant…..with extra sensory perception…..hell, some days I can move objects, like telekinesis when I am picking up girls. Important note: girls always talk about how the like “bad boys” (their language not mine). But you can cross the line; I remember hanging out with a girl in a café during the day and two hitters came after me. It escalated into a full-blown daylight street shootout. The girl, completely unharmed, (who always said she liked “bad boys”) disconnected her phone when I tried to call her a few days later. So the lesson is, don’t push the “bad boy” thing too far. (again, girls lingo not mine)

Control.

Like any good MC that has Mic Control you need to control what is happening. For instance, don’t follow a girl you are trying to swoop to some bar that has a crappy band playing that her ex-boyfriend is in. You have to call the shots. Otherwise you could very easily end up Behind Enemy Lines. You make all decisions on where you are going and who you are rolling with. You need to know what moves to make during all hours of the day and night. Know what restaurant is best. Where the underground spots are. You need to dictate the action. Remember, part of what a night is scored on is “effective aggressiveness” and “ring generalship”. Don’t be afraid to walk away from the whole deal either. The key to this is having plenty of girls in your Pipe. You don’t even have to ask to know that my Pipe stays full like Mark Twain and General Macarthur’s.

Rapport.

This one is tough. Let’s face it, G’s and most girls have very little in common. Most normal girls don’t like Boxing, hanging out with underworld figures, eating extremely fattening foods, listening to the sound of money being counted in a money counter, negotiating gem prices, drinking wine like we are about to start prohibition again, Swooping as many girls as possible, planning heists, living a life of leisure, and being an all around jet-setting international playboy. When a girl asks you “What do you like to do for fun?” You can’t really respond with “Picking up on Girls” as an answer. (Side note: Thru an unofficial study, I have found out that many Female G’s, yes they do exist, are Bi-sexual, and because of this, saying “Picking up on girls” can be an acceptable answer). You need to find some kind of common ground, hard as it may be at times. For instance, most white girls have some Irish blood in them, so if you’re Irish at all, Bingo, there you go. Know a little about Zodiac Signs as well. News just in, girls like talking about signs, especially exotic dancers. There is a reason fly cats in the 70’s worked the sign game. In the new millennium, however, you can’t really ask girls flat out “what’s your sign?” There guard is up on that stuff. It’s better to lead girls “down the canyon” on this. Simply put, tell a girl you just had your birthday, ask a girl when her birthday is, and within two minutes, she will be asking you what your sign is. Every time. Worst case scenario, ask a girl what her favorite animal is and say it’s yours also. Just find some something in common…….Skippy.

Trust.

Trust usually falls in line from Rapport. But still you have to work on it. Usually this is the part when you really have to put on your lying cap. For instance, if you were in a baseball bat fight with the Baseball Furies the night before, you probably want to leave it out of the conversation. Or if a girl asks you “how many girls you have slept with?” It goes without saying, that you don’t tell the truth. I remember a time when I was a young Prototype G and a girl I was swooping asked me, “how many girls you have slept with?”. I remember I responded “I don’t know, like fifty” thinking I would say a “low” number (in reality at that time it was probably about 3 to 4 times that). I remember her reaction and the funny look she had on face when I said, “fifty”. Incredibly and naively, I remember thinking that she gave me a weird look because it was such a low number (And in reality it is, if you go out a lot, you can swoop 50 fly girls in 2 months…) The next time I called her, her number was disconnected. It wasn’t until I ran into her a few months later, (at one of my Bases of Operations at the time), that I realized that she thought that number was extremely high. It wasn’t the first or the last time a girl has called me a “pig” (her lingo not mine). Skillfully, I talked my way out of it, on the fly, and ended up closing the account. A come-from-behind knockout a la Rocky Graziano. Side note: The best answer the dreaded question “how many girls you have slept with?” is, in the sincerest way possible “I have been with a few very important girls in my life…..” And leave it at that. Trust me.

Urgency.

You have to make things happen fast when you are picking up girls. Every moment that goes by after you have gotten a girls phone number or made a date with her is hurts your chances. It’s a similar concept to “time erosion” with options trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Or the Chicago Board of Trade, or CME for that matter. It’s like a depreciating asset. The chances of a girl “coming to” from the hypnotism of your game starts to wear off. Always make plans with girls that night or the next. Collapse time frames.

Greed.

One of the Seven Deadly Sins. Many theorists say it’s the most important of the deadly sins. “Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind.”Gecko. And greed — you mark my words — will not only save the G’s, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA………The Rest is Up to You.

Side Note:

In addition to Resort Style. On the west coast, summer style is very casual (I am primarily referring to the southern part). Don’t fall for it. People might think you are excessive and wrong for wearing a $2700 custom Italian suit in summer. Keep in mind this is made by skilled Italian craftsmen (I would call the guys who work on my suits Artists) who put about 50 hours of labor into it. Yet these same people think that think you are being excessive and wrong for wearing it, are wearing a Logoed Surf T-Shirt that costs five cents to make my some kid with missing fingers in some child labor sweat shop in some far-flung Tin Pot Republic. And they pay like $80 for the stupid T-Shirt! And I am the one being excessive and wrong…….Go Figure…..

Michael Porfirio Mason

AKA The Peoples Champ

The Guide to Getting More out of Life

http://www.thegmanifesto.com

(Want to see something in The G Manifesto? Send suggestions to thegmanifesto@yahoo.com)

insomnia1169 asked:


I preserved peaches in 2006 (mason jar, water,sugar,cinamin, clove) and forgot them. Found them last night and i am wondering if they are safe to eat.

Mason Tanner asked:


(c) 2008 Mason Tanner

The United States leads all other countreis in the use of fossil fuels. This is dependence is an addiction that will take a great deal of time to solve. Fossil fuels take millions of years to form from decaying organic materials which means that they are not renewable. Oil, natural gas, and coal are all examples of fossil fuels that we use all too often. The knowledge exists which makes this use obsolete as it is environmentally destructive and very expensive.

The burning of fossil fuels is the number one producer of greenhouse gases that is causing more solar energy to be trapped causing temperatures, on average, to increase. To deny global warming is to deny that carbon dioxide is, in fact, a greenhouse gas which is beyond dispute at this point in time. CO2 traps heat and we produce a lot of it so this excess CO2 traps more heat. This is not complicated. The atmospheric concentration of CO2, a greenhouse gas, is increasing every day. This raises concerns that solar heat will be trapped and the average surface temperature of the Earth will rise in response. If we make needed changes today most scientists believe that we will be able to avoid total disaster which is unavoidable if we continue our present course.

Fossil fuels are used to run vehicles as well as produce electricity. As was previously mentioned, fossil fuels take millions of years to form in the ground and are in no way renewable. Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy, so once they are used up, they are gone. As old supplies are used up, new sources are found which causes even more problems as new drilling operations create more environmental problems.

The average person in the United States consumes about 12 barrels of oil per year. This is precisely the reason that the US as a nation is overly dependent on foreign oil. While the United States does have its own supply of oil, it doesn’t compare to what the Middle East has to offer. So in order to meet the demand, we have to increase the supply. The only way to do that is to buy it from other countries - usually either Venezuela or Saudi Arabia.

The increased levels of fossil fuel use in this country has given birth to the green movement urging people to start exploring alternative forms of energy to avoid depleting our fossil fuel supplies completely. The ideas behind this movement have become popular lately as there is much cause for concern. The main reason that people are suddenly concerned about the use of oil is the recent drastic increase in price. As we enter a period of economic sluggishness, oil prices continue to rise. This puts many in an impossible situation.

If we can reduce our use of fossil fuels and start looking at alternative sources of energy, we not only improve the quality of the environment, but we also reduce our dependence on other countries for our energy resources. It is entirely possible to do this, however, sadly the U.S. government stalls progress. Reducing fossil fuel use is entirely possible and will require a grass roots movement of people all over the world demanding change. This, in itself, will reduce use and also will encourage governments to act on this important issue.