function validate_required(val){return (val!=null && val!=""  && val!=" -- please choose -- "  && val!="mm/dd/yyyy"  && val!="hh:mm");}

function clean_text(txt){
	var str = new String(txt);
	str = str.replace(/&/g, "&");
	str = str.replace(/£/g,"£");
	str = str.replace(/</g, "&lt;");
	str = str.replace(/>/g, "&gt;");
	str = str.replace(/"/g, "&quot;");
	str = str.replace(/(&#8220;)|(&#8221;)|[“”\u8220\u8221]/g, "&quot;");
	str = str.replace(/(&#8216;)|(&#8217;)|[‘’\u8216\u8217]/g, "\'");
	return str;
}

function refreshCaptcha(imagename)
{
	var img = document.images[imagename];
	img.src = img.src.substring(0,img.src.lastIndexOf("?"))+"?rand="+Math.random()*1000;
}
function effectBlinkIn(){
	$(".blink").
		fadeOut(800).
		fadeIn(800, function(){
			$(".blink").fadeIn(800).fadeOut(800, effectBlinkIn());
		});
}
$(document).ready(
	function(){effectBlinkIn();}
);