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A brand-new, unused, unopened video game in perfect condition in its original packaging and with all original packaging materials included. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day.
Comment:
Brand new and sealed. Game in English (cover and manual in German). Delivered within 5 working days. This game is multilanguage and can be played in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian Free delivery worldwide!
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition presents one of the best RPGs of all time like never before. Step inside the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. With a powerful combination of freeform gameplay and unprecedented graphics, you can unravel the main quest at your own pace or explore the vast world and find your own challenges.
Also included in the Game of the Year Edition are Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles expansion, adding new and unique quests and content to the already massive world of Oblivion. See why critics called Oblivion the Best Game of 2006.
Live another life in another world: Create and play any character you can imagine, from the noble warrior to the sinister assassin to the wizened sorcerer
First person melee and magic: An all-new combat and magic system brings first person role-playing to a new level of intensity where you feel every blow
Radiant AI: This groundbreaking AI system gives Oblivion's characters full 24/7 schedules and the ability to make their own choices based on the world around them. Non-player characters eat, sleep, and complete goals all on their own
New lands to explore: In the Shivering Isles expansion, see a world created in Sheogorath's own image, one divided between Mania and Dementia and unlike anything you've experienced in Oblivion.
Challenging new foes: Battle the denizens of Shivering Isles, a land filled with hideous insects, Flesh Atronachs, skeletal Shambles, amphibeous Grummites, and many more
Begin a new faction: The Knights of the Nine have long been disbanded. Reclaim their former glory as you traverse the far reaches of Cyrodill across an epic quest line
customer Reviews
5the best game that man has created
Still playing this game 325 hours in and still not bored and only done about three quest of the storyline. Wont bore you with the amount i could say cause this game is just so big and looks better than kiera knightley undressed get it now
5One of the greatest games of all time
A friend suggested I pick this up as he had spent the past year playing it on and off & it was now under £15. Being a tactics/Japanese RPG fan I really wasn't sure, but £15 isn't much of a risk these days. One hour in & all that was making me stay with it was Patrick Stewart's voice acting & the hope of some kind of adventure around the corner. Another 8 hours later, in the middle of the night, I realised I was hooked!
This game is immense - not just in the huge amount of quests and physical size of the game world, but in every sense this game is big. But don't let that put you off. You decide what to do. You decide when to do it, if you do it at all.
The character progression is so far beyond what I am used to playing JRPGs. The class you choose is only the start of it - you take this game & your character in the direction that suits you. I watched my friend play his game. He wears heavy armour, wields a huge claymore & wades in. The game has rewarded him by improving his attributes with upgrades & stat boosts that let him do all that more effectively. He's a good guy & goes around helping people out. His game world & game experience is totally different to mine. I'm a thief. I go out at night, take things from people's locked chests & do robberies to order for shady collectors & my guild's leader. I use stealth to make my way through dungeons under the noses of the bad guys. I don't need heavy armour, I have equipment that makes me harder to detect. I also have a side-line in killing people for money.
We're playing the same game but in very different ways & getting different things from it. He likes more action & adventure whereas I prefer stealth & tactics. This game lets you play how you want to play to a satisfying degree.
On no level does this game disappoint. Stick in there through the character creation & once you are let loose in Cyrodiil it's up to you what happens next.
5Seriously immersive gameplay
This is by far the best RPG available on the PS3 and the best i've ever played on any format. It's so completely immersive and open that you can play for weeks, perhaps months on end without even playing the main storyline as the world is so huge and there is so much else to do. Could lead to relationship problems as the game is so good!One thing, another reviewer mentioned a glitch regarding getting a cure after becoming a vampire, as the lady that makes your cure won't accept one of the ingredients (Bloodgrass). To solve this glitch, save your game then go to the PS3 System settings, change the language to German (Deutsch), load the disc again, load your game and for some reason the lady will accept the ingredient (Blutgrass) this time. Save your game, go back to change the PS3 system language settings to English - your game is not ruined and you'll have a cure for vampirism.Other than this glitch, the game is absolutely perfect. Enjoy!
5glitch
I love this game its one of my favorites ive had it for about 12 months but theres a major glitch with the game of the year version its somthing to do witrh the language translation (in to english) its to do with the vimpirism cure quest once all the ingredients have been gathered and u go to give them to the person who makes the potion she wont take the last ingredient therefore u cannot complete the quest so ur only option is to start all over again avoid getting bitten in the first place i didnt want to do this as id been playing 6 months however there is a way around it but it involves getting the basic copy of the game the one without the expansion and completeing the quest
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In two years, Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) has built a sewer of corruption, filled with wealthy men who acquired their riches as DDT did by cheating people. Early strong supporters justified his putrid behavior with “Give him a chance” or “I’m still waiting.” Some still cling to the belief that DDT is the Second Coming while others try to get off DDT’s ship.
Columnist Michelle Goldberg summarized DDT ‘s first two years in the Oval Office:
“Trump has turned out to be the Norma Desmond of authoritarians, a senescent has-been whose delusions are propped up by obsequious retainers. From his fantasy world in the White House, he barks dictatorial and often illegal orders, floats conspiracy theories, tweets insults and lies unceasingly. But much of the time he’s not fully in charge. He has the instincts of a fascist but lacks both the discipline and the loyal lieutenants he’d need to create true autocracy.
“The shutdown throws our crisis into high relief. For the first two years, Trump destroyed American norms, standards and conventions. Now he’s cavalierly destroying American lives.”
Fodder for DDT’s downfall:
Last night, Buzzfield raised eyebrows when it reported that DDT told his fixer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations for the Trump Tower Moscow. During his campaign, DDT said he had no business deals with Russia but arranged to meet in Russia with Vladimir Putin to jump-start the project. Cohen was also ordered to give DDT and his children Ivanka and Don Jr. detailed updates. Don Jr. also lied to Congress about his participation in the possible Trump hotel in Moscow. Witnesses revealed that the three participants in the negotiation lied when they said they had little knowledge about it. Mueller’s office stated that “specific statements … are not accurate.” DDT claims vindication, and the media questions which parts Mueller declares not accurate. Buzzfield reporting has not been wrong yet.
This past week, DDT’s sort-of lawyer Rudy Giuliani defended his boss but claimed the possibility of collusion between Russia and DDT’s campaign.
DDT may be meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un in February, but the Pentagon worries that DDT’s national security adviser John Bolton might start a war with Iran after he asked them “to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran” because a Shia militia fired rockets on a vacant lot near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis quashed the idea, but a long-time Boeing executive is now in charge of the Pentagon. Bolton’s request last year follows his long-term desire to “bomb Iran” while he wants to eradicate the United Nations.
After DDT raged about the news that the FBI investigated the possibility that he was a national security risk, officials reported that DDT concealed the records of his five largely secret meetings with Vladimir Putin, including confiscating interpreters’ notes and keeping them from discussing the meetings with other administration officials. DDT’s temper tantrum included at least six tweets early last Saturday morning from the White House with vicious baseless accusations against the New York Times, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, the FBI, and Robert Mueller. DDT did not deny the FBI report. Lack of records from the meetings violates federal laws.
Frequent threats from DDT to pull the U.S. out of NATO have expressed concerns about other countries not pulling their financial weight, but this action would be DDT’s gift to Putin. Michèle A. Flournoy, an under secretary of defense under President Obama, said that leaving NATO “would be one of the most damaging things that any president could do to U.S. interests” and “the wildest success that Vladimir Putin could dream of.” Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, said an American withdrawal from the alliance would be “a geopolitical mistake of epic proportion.” After annexing Crimea in 2014, Putin focused on separating the United States from Europe to give him control over the NATO countries. DDT first stopped former Defense Secretary James Mattis from attending the next NATO meeting and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from directly talking with NATO officials.
Mueller has turned his investigation to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), former head of the Intelligence Committee and fierce DDT defender long been suspected of leaking information to DDT. Nunes met with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and dozens of foreign officials at DDT’s Washington hotel on January 18, 2017, just two days before DDT’s inauguration before Nunes’ committee investigation opposed anyone investigating DDT and blocked subpoenas. During a fundraiser last summer, Nunes said that Republicans had to keep their House majority to protect DDT from Mueller.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) released a January 2017 DHS plan from a whistleblower connecting separation of migrant children from their parents as a deterrent to crossing the U.S.-Mexico border when the number was at an all-time low. Thousands more migrant children were separated from their parents than reported, and DHS had no plans for reunification. DHS recommended denying migrant children their legal right to asylum hearings, target parents for increased prosecutions, and require extensive background checks for sponsoring an unaccompanied migrant child to create a backlog of children forced into abusive facilities. Merkley requested an FBI perjury investigation into DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s congressional testimony that the department had no policy of separating children.
In the House, 136 GOP members voted against DDT in opposition to his removing sanctions from Putin’s friend Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch who paid millions of dollars to get DDT elected. Because 42 Republicans in the Senate had already voted to permit the lifting of sanctions, the House vote was symbolic, but 11 GOP Senators also voted against giving Putin this gift and allowing him to put more money into U.S. election interference. Senate Majority Leader supported DDT in giving the money back to Russia although he had called Deripaska a “thug.”
DDT’s trade war with China has problems: China’s 2018 trade surplus with the U.S. grew 17 percent in 2018, at $351.76 billion the largest U.S. deficit since 2006. The difference is actually larger because China doesn’t count goods that come to the U.S. from other countries.
Two years ago, DDT made his first speech after his inauguration. These are some of his failed promises since then:
Fixing poverty: No statistical drop in the U.S. official poverty rate from 2016 to 2017.
“New roads and high roads”: The failed plan in the GOP Congress was to stick states and cities with 80 percent of infrastructure costs—much higher than past years.
“Bring back our jobs … borders … wealth”: More coal mines closed in DDT’s first two years than President Obama’s first term; drop in soybean exports by 98 percent in 2018.
“No room for prejudice”: Growth of far-right extremism and far-right violence greatly increased in past two years after DDT’s expressions of bigotry.
“Education system flushed with cash”: Drastic cuts to Educational Department’s funding in DDT’s budget and public education deprioritized in favor of for-profit schools.
“All Americans never be ignored again”: Shutdown latest proof of DDT’s failure to keep this promise.
Before his inauguration, DDT made 663 promises, including 36 of them on the first day in office. He kept two of those—a hiring freeze on federal employees and a moratorium on new agency regulations—while breaking or ignoring the other 34, some of which might actually have helped people. In his first 100 days, he broke 80 promises he made before he was sworn in.
“He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar…. [He] expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself…. [He] is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
In two years, DDT has alienated all the countries in Europe, Africa, North America, and Central America and many countries in Asia and the Middle East. His threats have put the United States close to nuclear war with North Korea and Iran. His multitude of executive orders are destroying the planet, causing bad health, and eliminating democracy in the United States. The Atlantic believes that its editorial two years ago was “guilty of understatement.” Those still waiting for DDT’s “better angels” to appear should read DDT’s 50 destructive events since his inauguration.
Since the shutdown, DDT’s approval rating has dropped and his disapproval rating surged with a seven-percent increase between the two. Much of the difference comes from the loss of his base—suburban men and white evangelicals. The poll’s director said that he sees a crack in DDT’s support for the first time.
Former Trump Organization executive vice president Barbara Res said about DDT, “I see him going into a corner, I see him scratching back like a cornered animal. I think he’s afraid.”
As the Republicans work to support Russia, they are joining Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) in his attack on FBI agent Bruce Ohr. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) traveled to London to dig up dirt on both Ohr and Christopher Steel, the British former agent who wrote a dossier on DDT, but officials at MI6, MI5, and GCHQ wouldn’t talk with him. Nunes finally managed a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May’s deputy national security advisor, Madeline Alessandri. Ohr has been instrumental in fighting Russian organized crime for almost three decades, perhaps the reason that DDT wants to get rid of him because Ohr raised concerns about oligarch Oleg Deripaska named in contacts between DDT’s associates and Russia.
DDT might have been better off leaving Ohr alone. When Congress required Ohr to testify, he said that he learned from Christopher Steele that “Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump ‘over a barrel.’” DDT continues to claim that the Steele dossier was responsible for the FBI investigation into his Russian problem, but memos from both the GOP and Dems prove that the FBI had started the investigation earlier about Russian contacts of former DDT campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos before they had the Steele dossier. Ohr was not the original source of information. Ohr testified that DDT campaign aide Carter Page had met with more senior Russians official that Page admitted. DOJ officials Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein had moved him from director of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, according to Ohr, because it concerned White House meetings and interactions.
The Republicans who wanted to surveil everyone in the United States are now criticizing Ohr because of his surveillance tactics.
Democratic members of the House are asking committee chairs to review how GOP representatives got correspondence between Ohr and Steele and why they failed to go through appropriate channels to introduce the emails, notes, and text messages into the official record before reading them out loud in the hearing. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said that this information appears to have been cherrypicked by Devin Nunes (R-CA), excluding the complete correspondence. Nadler and Cummings also want “an immediate bipartisan meeting” with the DOJ to review “whether any ongoing investigations or human sources may have been compromised.”
Nunes is only one of many prominent Republicans to use the conspiracy-laden Big League Politics website using Q-Anon false theories for fundraising, some of the candidates violating campaign finance law. The website is being used to harass innocent small business by accusing them of operating child-sex trafficking rings, like the “Pizzagate” conspiracy against Hillary Clinton and a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Recent vicious targets include the Portland (OR) beloved Voodoo Doughnut. Respondents have posted maps of the chain’s locations with Portland’s plumbing locations, local schools, public transit, and airports to suggest ways that children are smuggled in and out of the stores. One member wrote, “Small submarines arent (sic) out of the realm of possibility.” The police say that they cannot do anything about the persecution, some of it generated by a former Breitbart News reporter.
Natasha Bertrand has tied together the threads of DDT’s targeted FBI and DOJ officials in his relentless attacks on people he depicts as dishonest “Democrats.” He depicts Ohr, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, and others who have had extensive experience in investigating money laundering and organized crime, especially connected to Russia. DDT’s big fear is that Robert Mueller’s team is expert in finding fraud, racketeering, money laundering, and other financial crimes. The article is well-worth a read, especially to see DDT’s connections to the crimes.
As Russia dogs DDT’s heels, he faces the week-long honoring of his nemesis, former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). After his death at the age of 81, McCain got his final wishes—DDT did not attend his funeral and two former presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, gave eulogies. DDT tried to minimize McCain’s death with the petty act of lowering the flag for only a day, but public backlash forced him to raise it again. He noticeably ignored his aides who wanted him to send out a statement about McCain being a hero while he continued his vendetta against the man who spent over five years in a Vietnam prison camp while he dodged the draft with four deferments and a bout of bone spurs. On the campaign trail, DDT called McCain a loser because he was imprisoned during the Vietnam War. “I like people that weren’t captured,” DDT said. He started his criticism of McCain in 1999 as this video shows.
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders may be collateral damage from McCain’s death. DDT supposedly joked that she was “having a nervous breakdown” because of the way she looked at him when he refused to answer whether McCain would have been a better president than President Obama. “I don’t want to comment on it,” DDT said. “I have a very strong opinion.” He left town for a campaign rally in Indiana before McCain’s body arrived in Washington, D.C. for a memorial service and then went to his Virginia resort to play golf during McCain’s funeral in Washington, D.C. today.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) may be breaking up with DDT, McCain’s replacement after McCain’s illness became terminal, because Graham criticized DDT’s handling of his former friend’s death. Graham said:
“It bothers me greatly when the president says things about John McCain. It pisses me off to no end, and I let the president know it, And the way he handled the passing of John is just — it was disturbing.”
Graham did invite DDT’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka and Jared, to the funeral.
McCain’s death hasn’t slowed down Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia and DDT. Paul Manafort’s next trial, postponed for a week until September 24, follows rumors of a possible plea deal for the second set of charges before he was convicted last week, but the two sides couldn’t work out a deal. Mueller has also received more time to decide whether to retry Manafort on the ten charges from the last trial after one person created a hung jury on these charges.
W. Samuel Patten, a Washington consultant who advised a Ukrainian political party and worked with a co-defendant of Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign lobbyist while working on behalf of a Ukrainian political party. Patten’s partner, Konstantin Kilimnik, Patten’s partner and former Manafort employee, has been indicted for witness tampering in Manafort’s case and links to Russian intelligence. Patten also worked at the Oregon office of Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL Group, to target voters in the 2014 general election. As part of his plea, Patten admitted that he steered an illegal foreign donation to DDT’s inauguration from a Ukrainian businessman.
DDT’s latest comment about Sessions, who he has tried to separate from his Senate allies with incessant complaints, is that he won’t fire him until after the general election, perhaps to avoid the appearance of obstruction of justice. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said, “My sense is the fix is in,” but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) still isn’t convinced, maybe worrying about his ability to get another AG confirmed. Donors are also complaining about Sessions and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, saying, “They haven’t represented … us well.”
DDT’s shiniest new distraction from his problems comes from his promise of a new trade deal with Mexico to replace NAFTA. The kickoff was a bit awkward when technology failed him in his conference call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto by and at his signoff when he told the president that “a hug from you would be very nice.” DDT is rushing the deal because progressive president-elect of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, takes over December 1. The clock is ticking, but the two-nation agreement may not be able to replace a three-nation trade pact, and Congress must agree.
Canada has been more reluctant, especially after DDT disparaged Canada and threatened the country with 25 percent tariffs on cars and auto parts exported from the U.S. The U.S. may be the loser because Canada is the #1 destination for U.S. products shipped abroad and the trade with Canada supports over 8 million U.S. jobs, many of them in the new “red” states. Canada also is unique because the U.S. doesn’t have a trade deficit with Canada. If the initial deal doesn’t include Canada, the U.S. will have trouble including the country later.
Most of the suggested pieces of DDT’s deal come from either NAFTA or the Trans Pacific Pipeline, but the name is new so that DDT can claim it as his own. He’ll just have to hope that people don’t see the drastic increases in prices from the deal and his tariffs if he wants to use it for getting people to vote for Republicans.
August 11, 2018
Congress is scattered across the nation on vacation, and Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) is watching TV, playing golf, and having dinner with other wealthy people at his resort at Bedminster (NJ). Robert Mueller continues his investigation, and witnesses testify to damning information about Paul Manafort. For example, he offered the position of Army secretary to Federal Savings Bank CEO, Stephen Calk, in trying to get a personal loan from the bank. Long-time friend and colleague Rick Gates reported Manafort shifting money through his offshore accounts.
DDT has bragged about how much more money black people make in wages since he was inaugurated, but he didn’t celebrate Black Women’s Equal Pay Day on August 7, the day representing how long into 2018 a black woman must work to be paid the same wages white males were paid just last year. Black women workers get 66 cents for the dollar that white men make after controlling for education, years of experience, and geographic location.
If DDT had talked about wages for black women, he probably would have lied, just as he did when he bragged that the U.S. is overflowing with “prosperity” despite “exaggerated” claims of widespread poverty. After a U.N. report that 18 million people live in “extreme poverty” in the United States, made worse by DDT’s tax cuts for the wealthy, DDT ignored his own economic analysts in exchange for a report from the far-right Heritage Foundation. One DDT economic adviser recommended that DDT say nothing about poverty because the steady economic growth, “inherited” from President Obama, “will end prob[ably] in 1-2 years.”
People in Missouri understood the importance of fair wages when they struck down a “right-to-work” law earlier passed by the legislature. The 2-1 margin of success for workers came from both urban and rural counties.
Agreeing with Supreme Court justice nominee that the president is above the law and the constitution, AG Jeff Sessions plans to ignore a court ruling to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and completely repeal and rescind DACA on his own prerogative. Sessions called the repeal one of the “lawful directives of Congress”—although that legislative body has passed no law regarding DACA. The judge had said that the government has no justification to stop DACA.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) irritated both congressional GOP members and DDT during his visit to Russia. Once against Vladimir Putin’s takeover of Ukraine and Crimea, Paul is now a full-blown Russia supporter. During his recent trip, he took a letter to Putin, but opinions differ on its contents. Paul explained that the letter highlighted how the U.S. wants to work with Russia on “countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges.” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said that DDT provided only “a letter of introduction” because Paul had requested it. Before Paul came home, he invited Russian lawmakers to visit the U.S. Capitol, but GOP congressional leaders squashed the idea. Spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said:
“Neither Congress nor the leader have invited any delegation from Russia to the Capitol. Senator Paul is the only one that I know who is discussing it.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) followed that up with “That’s not something we’ve discussed.” Both McConnell and Ryan earlier said that Putin would not be welcome at the Capitol if DDT invited him to Washington.
Russia and DDT are also upset about the State Department’s new sanctions on Russia after the Kremlin’s poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter living in England. U.S. company are prevented from exporting items such as gas turbine engines, electronics, and integrated circuits without legitimate purposes, similar to President Obama’s ban on any exports to Russia that might have military purposes. DDT objected, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited a 1991 law that mandated the sanctions. Russia has 90 days to agree to stop all use of chemical weapons and permit inspections before Pompeo exerts further measures such as withdrawal of U.S. bank loans and support for international loans, landing rights for Russian airlines, and diplomatic relations. DDT already stalled for over a month regarding congressional deadlines for other sanctions.
Sanctions against Russia will decrease U.S. exports, adding to the stress caused by DDT’s tariffs. Grifter and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed that “all this hysteria is a lot to do about nothing,” yet BMW told Ross that the tariffs could endanger 45,000 jobs in South Carolina. A ship with $20 million worth of soybeans has circled the waters off the coast of China since July 6 after it failed to beat the new tariff deadline by mere hours, placed in response to DDT’s tariffs. The ship’s $12,500 daily cost comes to over $450,000 by now, and the contents make up a small part of the $12.7 billion in soybeans sent from the U.S. to China last year. In Washington, 6,000 tons of copper are stuck at the port of Vancouver as the ship scheduled to pick it up left after China announced a 25-percent duty on the product. Estimates indicate almost one million jobs in the state could be at risk because of suppliers, port income, and wages.
The North Korea deal becomes more like fish that smells after three days. DDT never had any agreement with denuclearization, and Kim Jung-Un now insists that he will take no action until the U.S. ends the Korean War. Pompeo promises progress but won’t say what, and National Security Adviser John Bolton indicated no steps had been taken. The estimate of North Korean nuclear weapons is growing.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) was secretly taped at a fundraiser for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) giving his plan for impeaching DOJ Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein immediately after the 2018 general election. Most Republicans said that they weren’t going to impeach Rosenstein, but Nunes tells this story to woo donors and voters. DDT may not like some of Nunes’ comments on the tapes such as “sometimes we cringe on the president’s tweets.” Nunes also called releasing stolen emails, like WikiLeaks did with DNC emails, “criminal.” Rodgers won the Washington election to pick the top two candidates by only one percent, warning a serious challenge in the general election.
DDT’s lawyers are running a TV campaign in opposition to Mueller’s investigation by smearing it, claiming that DDT will be forced to lie if he goes into court, and declaring questions that are off limits—such as why he fired James Comey (check with DDT’s interview with Lester Holt) and whether he obstructed justice (check DDT’s tweets). Rudy Giuliani’s craziness continues with his invented DOJ “60-day rule” preventing Mueller from DDT’s investigation in the two months preceding the election and announcing that Mueller must finish by September. DDT is not a candidate in November 2018, and the “60-day-rule” failed to apply to Hillary Clinton when Comey announced an investigation ten days before her election. “Fair and unbalanced” Sean Hannity, as he calls himself on “fair and unbalanced Fox,” turned his three-hour radio show over to DDT’s lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow on Friday.
Tomorrow represents the first anniversary of Unite the Right in Charlottesville (VA) with a march near the White House. This image represents what white supremacists are celebrating in front of the White House and what DDT refused to condemn.
Inflation rose 2.9 percent in the last year while wages gained only 2.7 percent. U.S. “real wage” fell to $10.76 an hour last month, 2 cents down from a year ago. To many of us, 2 cents is very little, but over a year, it amounts to $41.60—important to people who make under $23,000 a year. Gas prices increased 23 percent this year, and housing, health care and automobile insurance have all gone up. Now we wait for price increases from DDT’s tariffs.
Donald Trump Jr. manufactured this visual lie when he Photoshopped “50” over DDT’s actual 40 percent approval rating. In his desperation, he failed to cover up the 40 percent. By now, Jr. removed his “fake news” from Instagram, but the internet never forgets!
Catching up on the last two weeks of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) roller-coaster events:
Will the United States go to war to support Israel? That question may be front and center now that DDT has withdrawn from the Iran agreement for that nation’s denuclearization. Israel fired on targets in Syria that were believed to be Iranian soon after DDT’s withdrawal. Claims that Iran fired 20 rockets at the Golan Heights the most extensive Israeli bombing on Syria since the countries signed a disengagement agreement after the October war of 1973. Israel has illegally occupied Golan Heights since the Six-Day War in 1967. DDT’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, are scheduled to arrive in Israel soon for the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on May 14. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has assured Israel that the U.S. will stand at its side in a fight.
DDT’s officials are circulating a report from Securities Studies Group, an organization with ties to DDT’s national security adviser John Bolton, that provides strategy for a regime change in Iran is being circulated among DDT’s officials. The plan is to stir unrest and help the Iran public to drive a wedge between the people and the nation’s rulers. The plan sounds identical to Russia’s approach to control the 2018 presidential election.
Israel’s military escalation came after DDT decided to please some of his constituents—including Vladimir Putin and Israel—by withdrawing from the Iranian deal. Russia’s economy desperately needs the rubles from the increase in oil prices if Iranian resources aren’t available. At the same time, Russia is concerned about Israel’s attacks on Iran, but DDT may side with Israel, again separating him from Putin. Perhaps DDT figures that a world war would allow him to declare military law, like in Turkey, so that he can remain dictator forever. Bernard Avishai discusses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motivations and the dangers of his country in pushing a war in the Middle East.
DDT announced his withdrawal several days before the deadline at the same time the media jumped on the millions of dollars in “pay to play” paid to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen for access to DDT. Since payments made to DDT’s personal lawyer were first announced, the amount has vastly grown, for example AT&T’s $600,000 to Cohen for access to DDT instead of $200,000. CEO Randall Stephenson called Cohen’s hiring “a big mistake,” and top lobbyist for the company, Bob Quinn, has retired. Quinn was a leader in opposing net neutrality. AT&T also paid Cohen to get approval for its $85 billion merger with Time Warner. Drugmaker Novartis agreed that its $1.2 million contract with Cohen was “a mistake.” Reports as of now show that Cohen was paid $2.95 million through Essential Consultants, the shell company Cohen set up to funnel hush money to Stormy Daniels and perhaps others. The involved companies learned about Essential Consultants because Cohen reached out to them.
In his work to guarantee never-ending war for the U.S., former VP Dick Cheney, who mythologized weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, went on Fox Business directing DDT to believe the falsehood that Iran has these weapons. He also encouraged the continuation of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (aka torture).
DDT is also hoping that people will ignore all the Russia and Cohen scandals because three U.S. prisoners have been released from North Korea. He also hopes that his talks with North Korea will result in his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, even encouraging his rally crows to chant, “No-bel, No-bel. When the prisoners arrived at 3:00 am, he said, “I think you probably broke the all time in history television rating for three o’clock in the morning.” DDT also thanked North Korean president Kim Jong-Un “ who really was excellent to these three incredible people.” They had been imprisoned for at least a year, and one of them had been sentenced to ten years’ hard labor in one of the world’s most brutal prisons. DDT plans to meet with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore on June 12.
While people become excited about the release of prisoners in North Korea, they forget the four U.S. citizens still held in Iran for longer than the newly released NK ones. DDT’s withdrawal spells disaster for these people, one of them 81 years old. Another two U.S. men are still illegally imprisoned in Turkey.
Although DDT’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani appeared on Sean Hannity only nine days ago, so much has happened that it could have been last year. Giuliani, DDT’s lawyer for one day, said that DDT had paid Cohen $35,000 a week to clean up hush money to Stormy Daniels about her affair with DDT as well as “things that might come up.” DDT first agreed that he paid off Daniels and then tried to deny that he did, going so far as to say that Giuliani “will get his fact straight.” Giuliani lacks the skill to stay quiet, a serious problem in court. (Transcript for the program.) Giuliani went on another talk show to say that he knew the payment didn’t look good immediately before the election but changed his story to say that the settlement was made solely “to protect the President’s family.” He also might be waiving attorney-client privilege by saying that he had conferred with DDT before he talked about DDT paying Cohen. About the payoff, Giuliani said:
“I don’t think the president realized he paid him back for that specific thing until we made him aware of the paperwork.”
Despite being released from his law firm and claiming “sole concentration” as DDT’s lawyer, Giuliani appeared in a Florida court today to represent a woman accused of purchasing car insurance ten minutes after her car crash. He isn’t licensed to practice law in Florida but said the woman was her personal assistant.
DDT’s staff tried to prep him in advance of any interview with Robert Mueller, but he could answer only two questions in four hours. The argument might be that an interview could cut into time for his important work in the Oval Office, but evidence indicates that he “works” less than two hours a day. DDT is still falsely accusing that the investigators are Democrats as he continues his rant against the investigation. DDT is back to saying that he wants an interview with Mueller, but most people no longer believe him.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) issued DOJ with a subpoena after he was refused extensive information about a longtime intelligence source for the CIA and FBI with the concern that the source could be jeopardized if Nunes discovers the person’s identity. Common knowledge indicates that Nunes wants the information to take to the White House. DOJ officials offered a classified briefing about his demand, but Nunes threatened a contempt charge against AG Jeff Sessions. He also has not bothered to read earlier classified information that he demanded. Nunes is under investigation for three potential campaign law violations.
Giuliani’s bombshell about DDT’s paying off Stormy Daniels intersected with DDT’s appearance for the day of prayer, causing CNBC to tweet, “Trump leads National Prayer Day event after saying he repaid lawyer for hush money to porn star.” DDT signed the “White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative” that permits religious organizations to use taxpayer money to discriminate on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, allow religious organizations to be “experts” for public policy, remove requirements that religious groups refer anyone objecting to their teachings to other programs, and use his new “faith-based office” to guarantee no blocking of “liberty of conscience” of believers. (Sounds like Sharia law for evangelicals.) The major groups wanting to deny services to LGBTQ people are Mormons and white evangelicals, 20 percent of the population. Among that 20 percent, 47 percent think that it’s wrong to refuse business based on religious convictions.
States such as Kansas and Oklahoma are already passing laws permitting adoption agencies to prevent same-gender couples from adopting children. A lesbian couple in Mississippi was denied an adoption by the state the day before they were scheduled to take their daughter home despite a court ruling that the Mississippi’s ban on same-gender adoptions was struck down by a federal judge in 2016. In another case, the state Supreme Court ruled that a lesbian couple could divorce; a dissenting justice, Jess Dickinson, is now head of the agency denying the couple their legally adopted child. Bryan Fischer, former spokesman for the American Family Association (AFA), announced on his show that only Christians have First Amendment rights and protections.
Anti-LGBTQ preacher Kevin Swanson will hold the Bible Family Conference in Washington, D.C. on August 10-11. He wants to execute all LGBTQ people and all Girls Scout leaders because they support LGBTQ and women’s rights. He also wants Boy Scouts, now called Scouts BSA because it recruits girls as well as boys, to have a “sodomy merit badge” because openly gay scouts can join the organization. The name of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) has disappeared as keynote speaker.
The six worst states for LGBTQ support are Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana, and North Carolina.
No matter how bad the Russia collusion and hacking have gotten, the Republicans have seemed rather blasé about this involvement, even supporting Russia over the people in the United States. Will these Republicans change their position if they lose their electric power? Russian hackers have been attacking the U.S. infrastructure, including electricity, water, and transportation as well as nuclear and manufacturing sectors, and the federal government is getting worried. Last summer, the news that Russia had gotten into over a dozen power plants in seven states didn’t get much attention in the first year of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) in the Oval Office. Now Russians have moved into dozens of states with their attacks on the infrastructure. Eric Chien, a security technology director at the digital security firm Symantec, said:
“We now have evidence they’re sitting on the machines, connected to industrial control infrastructure, that allow them to effectively turn the power off or affect sabotage…. They have the ability to shut the power off.”
Today’s public alert from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI warned that these hackers have been targeting U.S. infrastructure for the past two years. They started by staging malware and spear phishing at small commercial networks before obtaining remote access in energy sector networks which allowed them to collect information connected with Industrial Control Systems. At least three simultaneous Russian cyber hacking attacks are going into infrastructure controls, stealing documents and using a “troll farm” called the Internet Research Agency to spread misinformation on social media for chaos and discord, and focusing on disrupting the infrastructure of U.S. and European countries.
Last summer, Congress passed a law mandating that DDT place sanctions on Russia, but he ignored the law. A letter from 140 House Democrats asked DDT to impose these sanctions on Russia, an action that the Treasury Department took after the chemical attack on a Russian double agent in Britain followed by the death of a Russian exile. Even these sanctions are weak, because they are only on the entities and people indicted by Robert Mueller. The State Department also released a condemnation of Russia’s “campaign of coercion and violence” in the Russian annexation of Crimea four years ago this week, but no sanctions.
A serious problem for Republicans this week comes from the House Intelligence Committee GOP announcement that it closed down its investigation into the Russian scandal before finishing its job. The committee issued a brief summary with a 150-page report supposedly to follow, explaining the GOP position that intelligence agencies were wrong in its evidence of how Russia supported DDT in the presidential election. DDT saw the GOP whitewash as a vindication.
Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA), forced from leadership of the committee after he briefed White House officials on committee information, has always protected DDT, even leaking information, and announced last June that they wouldn’t find any collusion. GOP members limited topics under discussion and witnesses’ questions while following White House restrictions and refusing to investigate phone and bank records corroborating witness claims. Nunes consistently undermined Robert Mueller’s investigation with false information. The person ostensibly in charge of the House Intelligence Committee investigation claimed ignorance of George Nadar, a key witness about secret meetings in the Seychelles.
The report was so biased that hard-right GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who led the Benghazi/private email server email against Hillary Clinton said that the GOP evidence was “motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm [Clinton’s] candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed.” Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Monday that “there is evidence” showing the Russians attempted to help President Trump during the 2016 presidential election, contradicting a draft report from the panel. Rooney also warned that the government needs to act to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming midterm elections.
The GOP spin from other committee members, however, is that the intelligence community is wrong about Russian interference just as they were about Iraq weapons—ignoring the fact that the intelligence community denied “specific information” about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction before George W. Bush invaded Iraq. Then, as now with the GOP members of the “no Russian interference” group, the politicians were wrong in their perspective about the documents given them.
Deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah made an awkward statement by saying that DDT would have been aware of any such collusion if it did occur. In Shah’s words, proof of collusion would also be proof of DDT’s knowledge about it. Luckily for him, it appears to be an opinion.
Democrats on the committee had not seen the report when it was released and were not told about the conclusion before it was made public. Following the release of the GOP summary, the minority members of the House intelligence Committee released a 21-page “Status of the Russia Investigation.” The majority of the document is composed of four appendices, beginning in Appendix A with the outstanding lines of inquiry which have been partially or not at all addressed:
Hacking and dissemination of campaign emails by Russia to determine the specific of this cyber operation.
DDT’s campaign knowledge of the email hacks.
Elections security—or lack thereof.
Russian social media campaign.
Financial leverage in DDT’s business deals, perhaps for Russian money laundering and DDT’s actively negotiating a business deal in Moscow with a sanctioned Russian bank during the election, despite his assertion that he had no business dealings with Russia.
Money-laundering and foreign payments, already somewhat revealed by Robert Mueller’s special investigation which includes charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.
Post-election effects and obstruction of justice, including intervention from and lies by Michael Flynn in U.S. affairs with Russia, DDT attempts to block James Comey to investigate Flynn, and DDT’s writing a memo to cover the June 2016 meeting in which his son Donald Trump Jr. and two other senior campaign advisers intended to get damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Appendix B lists over 30 key witnesses which had not been interviewed with brief descriptions of their potential involvement which needs further inquiry. Appendix C gives over 20 entities, including Deutsche Bank, which should be sent “indispensable” documents that directly connect to Russian election interference. Fifteen other people and entities that should appear and/or present documents are in Appendix D. This list includes DDT, Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks, Erik Prince, and the White House. A key line in the most recent report from this committee:
The Minority has a good faith reason to believe that the White House does in fact possess such documentation memorializing President Trump’s conversations with Director Comey. Subsequent press reporting revealed the existence of a memorandum reportedly composed by President Trump and Stephen Miller that referenced President Trump’s communications with Director Comey.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May says that it is “highly likely” former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury, England by Russia. DDT refuses to mention the word “Russia” in connection with the poisoning although Secretary of State Secretary Rex Tillerson said that the attack “clearly came from Russia.”
Today, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster used strong language to decry Russia’s actions and blamed the Kremlin for “the abhorrent nerve agent attack” in England. It may be his last speech because rumors from the White House indicate he is to be fired by the end of the month, despite the press secretary’s denial. DDT has told Chief of Staff John Kelly that McMaster is too rigid and his briefings are too long.
Earlier, Nunes tried to protect DDT with a GOP committee memo about the Russian investigation that DDT erroneously used to proclaim exoneration for himself. It was followed by a heavily redacted response from the Democrats showing the GOP’s “distortions and misrepresentations.” Complaints that Christopher Steele’s dossier on DDT were responsible for a warrant to surveil DDT’s associate and suspected foreign agent Carter Page where shown to be totally bogus.
Meanwhile Robert Mueller is continuing his investigation, this week with subpoenas to the Trump Organization for documents, some related to Russia, in its first approach to DDT’s business affairs. Despite DDT’s denial that it has no holdings in Russia, witnesses have been asked about DDT’s business plans to build in Moscow. DDT has talked to Emmet Flood, the lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment, about hiring him. Lawyers have advised DDT not to talk with Mueller, but he may be considering an interview if Mueller restricts the scope of questioning and concludes the DDT-involved part of the investigation within 60 days of the interview. Good luck!
Meanwhile Conor Lamb defeated Vladimir Putin in a U.S. House race last Tuesday in the far southwest Pennsylvania district with an almost 96 percent white population and so badly gerrymandered that no Democrat ran against the Republican in the past two elections. DDT won that district by 20 points in the presidential election. The former representative resigned after the publicity that the anti-abortion Republican encouraged his lover to have an abortion. This news was followed by multiple stories of his inappropriate action from his staff. Murphy is a developmental psychologist with a wife and adult daughter.
The media went crazy over the ballistic behavior of former campaign adviser Sam Nunberg after Robert Mueller subpoenaed his testimony and documents about major players in the Russia scandal. Nunberg first declared that he would refuse to comply with the subpoena, especially because Roger Stone is so special to him, before he made the round of news shows and backed down after continually asking if he could be put in jail with his refusal. Tuesday ended with a delicious segment on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show. Nunberg showed up before the grand jury on Friday and testified. Grim-faced, he refused to comment afterward. While complaining on TV, he said that DDT knew about the June 2016 meeting between the Russian lawyer and his son and son-in-law a week before it occurred.
George Nadar, adviser to the United States Arab Emirates (UAE), also testified before a grand jury and is cooperating with Mueller. Nadar represented UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan at a meeting in Seychelles meeting in January 2017 with a Russian investor, a friend of Vladimir Putin. ant Erik Prince, DDT’s adviser who founded Blackwater and Betsy DeVos’ brother. Prince had wanted to set up a private military army for DDT in Afghanistan. Mueller is collecting evidence that the Seychelles meeting was to create a back-channel communication system between DDT and Vladimir Putin and foreign money for DDT’s campaign as well as Nadar’s meetings with Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon. Nadar’s testimony contradicted Erik Prince’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee about his encounter with the Russian oligarch in the Seychelles.
After the story about George Nadar broke, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) said, “I don’t have any clue who George Nader is.” Conaway is helping lead the House Intelligence Committee in the DDT-Russia scandal. In addition to his involvement with Russia, Nadar, DDT’s friend, was arrested for child pornography in 1985, including his having received a package with a film of young boys engaged in sexual acts and photos of nude boys. Reasons for the dismissal of the case are not clear.
Paul Manafort pled not guilty to all the charges against him in Virginia, but he is now wearing a second ankle tracking device, the other for Washington, because the two jurisdictions have different systems. The Virginia trial begins in July 10, followed by a September date in Washington.
DDT may have obstructed justice or tampered with witnesses by asking at least two of them—White House counsel Don McGahn and former chief of staff Reince Priebus—about their interviews with Mueller.
After head of the National Security Agency, Mike Rogers, testified that the president had not directed him to prevent Russia’s targeting U.S. elections, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to cover for DDT’s inaction, but thus far the State Department has spent $0 of the $120 million allocated to fight foreign cyberattacks on elections. Not one of the 23 analysts working in the Global Engagement Center speaks Russian, and the department has a hiring freeze. DDT is still delaying any sanctions ordered by law and denied that Russian meddling had anything to do with “our votes” in 2016. He promises a “very, very deep study” and “strong suggestions” before the 2018 midterms.
DDT keeps pushing the media to investigate the Russia collusion in the time of President Obama, and they have—with all roads ending at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refusing to release any information about Russian election meddling before DDT was elected. McConnell says that he’s “perfectly comfortable” with that decision to conceal the Russian election manipulation from the public.
Nastya Rybka (real name Anastasiz Vashukevich), an escort in Thailand, claims to have 16 hours of audio proof connecting the Russian campaign to DDT that she will release if the U.S. gets her out of prison.
Title X, the only federal grant program dedicated to comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services, will now favor programs with a focus on abstinence-only sex education and “natural” family planning methods. The over 4 million people who use this program for health department and other nonprofit community health centers, in place for almost a half century, may have more difficulty obtaining birth control or getting access to cancer and STD screenings with the new guidelines. Title X funded clinics helped people prevent 822,300 unintended pregnancies, averting 387,200 unplanned births and 277,800 abortions in just 2015.
Jeff Sessions is suing California to overturn state immigrations laws, including the program that inspects federal immigration detention centers for its rampant mistreatment and abuse by private companies. DOJ is also threatening any other states that pursue similar laws. State and local officials have complained about DDT’s ICE activities because they undermine local economies and make communities more dangerous.
DDT has decided to remove new tee markers with the presidential seal from his golf courses. [Markers at Eagle Sign, New Albany (IN) and Louisville (KY)] Manufacture or use of the seal, its likeness, “or any facsimile thereof” for other than government business is punishable by up to six months in prison. Earlier, DDT used the “family crest” that he took without permission from the family owning Mar-a-Lago.
After DDT said he talked to North Korea on the phone when he actually spoke to South Korean Moon Jae-in, he announced a meeting with North Korea in late May without any State Department or other diplomatic input, probably to draw attention from Russia or Stormy Daniels. Hours before DDT announced the talks, State Department Secretary Rex Tillerson said that talks would not be “realistic” or prudent yet. DDT put Kim Jong-un in control by elevating a rogue state to an equal to the United States—without any rewards for the U.S. The day after DDT’s announcement, the press secretary said that conditions need to be met before the meeting. Look for far more media about the meeting that may never happen.
Jared Kushner also ignored diplomats, including the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, when he met with the Mexican president.
At the Gridiron Dinner, a gathering of 65 journalists with a self-deprecating roast-like speech by the current president, DDT made all his jokes at the expense of his family, colleagues, and enemies. Before the speech, he said, “My staff was concerned that I couldn’t do self-deprecating humor.” He can’t.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA accused Stephen Colbert of being a “danger” to the nation after a segment in which Colbert showed a memo stating “Devin Nunes is a [redacted]” with the question about what the redacted word is. After trying to shut down the probe into the DDT-Russian collusion, Nunes added that Colbert, like others on the left, “attack people who are trying to get to the truth.” Colbert answered Nunes complaint by showing another segment in which he was unable to meet with the representative.
Virginia Heffernan described Ivanka Trump’s growing problems with her connections with former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who lied to the FBI; developer Felix Sater, guilty of a $40-million stock fraud scheme with the Russian mobsters; and Tamir Sapir, tied to racketeering with the Gambino crime family before he died. Ivanka brought Flynn to DDT, toured Russia with Sater, and collaborated with Sapir. Heffernan also described Ivanka’s involvement in shady real-estate projects.
When DDT hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Netanyahu said, “This will be remembered.” As the Mueller investigation gets closer to possible Russian collusion with DDT, Israeli police has recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three corruption cases, the most recent one this week. Mueller is getting closer to DDT’s corruption. “This will be remembered.”
Fond of dictators in other countries, DDT wants to emulate China after President XI Jinping wants to do away with any term limits in the Constitution. DDT praised Xi’s efforts to become “president for life” and said, “Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”
Afraid of firing people, DDT lets others discharge them or belittles them in the hopes that they will quit. Now that DDT is ready to dispense with John Kelly as Chief of Staff, he has sent Anthony Scaramucci on the talk show circuit to smear Kelly. At least that’s what the media from left to right is reporting, although Scaramucci says the story from White House insiders isn’t true.
This last week, DDT tweeted that he was asking China for ways that they could reduce their trade deficit with the United States by $1 billion. DDT’s administration figure is actually $100 billion; he was off by $99 billion. And why would China want to do this?
[Note: Survivors of the Parkland (FL) school shooting cannot get a permit for their March for Our Lives on March 24 because a student group “at a local educational institution” wants to film a talent show on the Mall on that date. That permit states, “Games will be the main activity for filming,” and equipment listed “two tables, two bikes, and jump ropes.” March for Our Lives organizers planned their rally away from federal land and in D.C., on Pennsylvania Avenue between Third and 12th streets NW.]
The increasing fury from the tweets of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT), such as his primal scream “WITCH HUNT,” has been worsened by revelations about White House policy possibly being directed by Jared Kushner’s need for money. The debt on his Fifth Avenue property, $1.4 billion, comes due next year. Investigations show possible connections between financing for Kushner’s family business and Kushner’s discussions with Qatar, Turkey, Russia, China, and the United Arab Emirates:
The punishing blockade against Qatar occurred after a Qatar billionaire decided not to invest in Kushner’s business.
Apollo Global Management loaned Kushner $184 million, triple the average size of a typical loan, after an Apollo founder Joshua Harris, advising DDT about infrastructure, met with Kushner about a White House job for Harris.
Israel’s Menora Mivtachim loaned $30 million to Kushner for additional equity in 10 Maryland apartment complexes just before DDT’s trip with Jared and Ivanka last May. Since then, DDT declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel and the move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
Kushner has now lost his high-level security clearance to a status below the White House chief calligrapher, which includes his losing access to DDT’s daily brief.
Robert Mueller’s investigation:
DDT’s attacks on AG Jeff Sessions for his handling of Sessions’ assignment of his inspector general to examine GOP accusations of FISA surveillance procedures as well as whether DDT tried to get rid of AG Jeff Sessions last summer to get control of the Russia investigation.
Whether DDT knew about Russia stealing DNC emails before the public was aware of the action and whether DDT knew when WikiLeaks was going to release the hacked emails. In July 2016, DDT asked Russia to find emails deleted by Hillary Clinton.
Whether DDT’s associate Roger Stone knew about the email information before it was public. Stone lied about not having direct communication with WikiLeaks during DDT’s campaign. Democrats asked the House Intelligence Committee to subpoena WikiLeaks messages with Stone, but Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) and the other GOP members have refused.
Nunes did release the Democratic refutation of the GOP House Intelligence Committee memo and explanation of the warrant to surveil Carter Page. A government watchdog group filed a second ethics complaint against Nunes’ leaking private information from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) to the Fox network about the Russian interference to the media. After some of Hope Hicks’ testimony was leaked, the two top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including GOP Richard Burr (NC), told House Speaker Paul Ryan about “concerns” regarding the operations of the House committee and accusations of the GOP illegal leaking.
The scariest Russian information this week came from Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency. He reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he cannot try to stop the Kremlin meddling—and perhaps control—of U.S. elections without presidential authorization—which DDT won’t give. Members of the NSC understand that DDT would perceive any discussion of the Russian problem as a personal affront. Rogers, due to retire in April, said, “President Putin has clearly come to the conclusion that there’s little price to pay and that therefore ‘I can continue this activity.’”
Vladimir Putin continues to make fools of conservatives, who he calls “useful fools.” In his latest address, Putin announced Russia has an “invincible” missile moving at hypersonic speed with an “unlimited” range that renders defense “completely useless.” He said that “any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies to be a nuclear attack on our country.” DDT had no response to Putin and saved his energy for tweeting against Alex [sic] Baldwin after his performance on Saturday Night Live.
DDT has a serious problem with his animosity toward Iran. He has incessantly threatened to sever the U.S. deal with Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons in order to please his base. At the same time, Russia, who DDT doesn’t dare offend, is building a closeness with Iran, becoming that country’s most important ally.
DDT is scapegoating former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe by accusing him of leaking information in October 2016 about conflict within the FBI and DOJ regarding Hillary Clinton’s family foundation and then intentionally misleading investigators about what he had done. The DOJ is also investigating former FBI director James Comey, his statement about closing the cases against Clinton’s email server without charges, and his decision to announce resumption of his work in this area only ten days before the presidential election. Last May, DDT asked McCabe in a meeting who McCabe voted for in that election and attacked him in tweets about his wife taking donations from a Democrat’s PAC for her political campaign. McCabe’s retirement is scheduled for March 18.
In trouble for paying legal fees defending DDT and Donald Trump Jr. in the Russian collusion, the RNC switched the monthly $37,541.67 to rent part of Manhattan’s Trump Tower. DDT’s election campaign also paid over $470,000 in rent for space at Trump Tower during 2017. Other RNC expenditures include $427,000+ expenditures at DDT’s properties such as Trump International Hotel (Washington, D.C.), Mar-a-Lago (Palm Beach), and Trump National Doral (Miami). DDT’s former bodyguard Keith Schiller collected $75,000 for “security services” immediately after Chief of Staff John Kelly fired Schiller in September, and the RNC said that he is being paid to consult on its 2020 convention site selection. VP Mike Pence’s son, John Pence, also gets over $7,000 a month for “consulting,” and DDT political ally Brad Parscale, DDT’s former campaign digital director and newly-named 2020 campaign director, got over $882,000 from the RNC in January.
Parscale sold his digital company last year for $10 million to CloudCommerce that it has not made a profit for almost ten years and spent over $19 million in investor money since it was started almost 20 years ago. At this time, CloudCommerce has $107,000. In 2006, a top executive was caught in an FBI bribery sting and pled guilty to securities fraud. Andrew Van Noy, Cloudcommerce’s chief executive, has earned less than $9,000 in each of the past three years and has faced six-figure debts from unpaid credit cards and repossessed cars while facing two real-estate fraud lawsuits. Parscale, a member of the board, hired Eric Trump’s wife, Lara, for an undisclosed amount.
DDT hasn’t said anything about the stock market since its volatility in early February, but his announcement of tariffs—25 percent on steels and 10 percent on aluminum—caused the markets to plummet again this week. A president can legally impose tariffs with proof that imports threaten U.S. national security. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross doesn’t believe in the significant “trickle-down” possibility of price hikes with taxes on imports. All DDT’s advisers and the GOP legislators opposed the move except the Commerce Department. Just days before the announcement, DDT’s former adviser Carl Icahn sold $31.3 million of stock in Manitowoc, a manufacturer relying on steel. It is the first time that Icahn trade these stocks in two years. DDT’s answer to global concerns both foreign and domestic is that “trade wars are good and easy to win.”
Traumatized by the tariffs, the GOP is also suffering from DDT’s statement:
“I like taking the guns. Take the guns first, go through due process second.”
The only gun position DDT has consistently kept this week is to arm the teachers, despite objections from diverse groups. Evidence supporting the insanity of arming teachers come from increasing news such as the “Teacher of the Year” in Georgia who fired a gun in his classroom this week, the six-year-old who found his teacher’s gun that had been left on the back of a toilet and the third-grader who reached into an armed guard holster and fired his gun.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto won’t be coming to visit DDT— Peña Nieto’s second cancellation since DDT’s inauguration because DDT won’t admit that Mexico won’t be building the wall. Mexican officials said that DDT “lost his temper” during the 50-minute telephone call; U.S. officials called him frustrated and exasperated. DHS Director Kirstjen Nielsen has canceled her visit to Mexico. Jared Kushner was in charge of U.S.-Mexico relationships.
More to come about appointments, resignations, lawsuits, etc. during Week 58.
Remember when Congress passed the last stall to the spending bill on January 22, 2018? That was the one they passed because they couldn’t meet the December 21, 2017 deadline when they couldn’t meet the October 1, 2017 deadline. No problem! They claimed they could get a spending bill in three weeks. Everyone knew they couldn’t. The House passed an unconstitutional anti-abortion bill that lost in the Senate, and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) deliver the dud memo that DDT thought would save him from an investigation. It did garner Nunes’ opponent, Democrat Andrew Janz, $300,000 for his campaign in 72 hours. And Congressional members also wandered off to West Virginia for most of a working week while hitting a garbage truck on the way.
The next deadline is this Thursday, and nothing has been done to move forward on it. Republicans promised to deal with the immigration issue but only holds the DACA Dreamers hostage. The next spending bill delay piles the bill on top of a DACA immigration deadline on March 5 and the debt ceiling, a month closer to early March because the Treasury is giving handouts to the wealthy and big corporations.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is already taking extraordinary actions to pay the nation’s bills by suspending payments into federal employee retiree, health and disability funds. This time of the year is harder on the treasury because of income tax returns. Last year’s budget deficit was $666 billion, the largest since the recession recovery in 2013.
DDT claimed that he fired former FBI director James Comey because the agency was in “turmoil, but it was the firing that created chaos within the FBI. Both Comey’s and Andrew McCabe’s firings from DDT’s politicization have been responsible for the demoralized environment that has grown only worse from the smear memo from Nunes’ memo. about the surveillance warrant request for Carter Page. Even some Republicans are withdrawing from Nunes and his memo, rejecting the idea that the memo exonerates DDT.
If not outright “misrepresenting” facts, the memo omits information about the research and documents including the background going back at least three years before Page’s involvement with DDT. In August 2013, Page bragged about being an “informal advisor” to the Kremlin. In the memo, Nunes claimed that the FBI didn’t know anything about Page’s Russian connections until Christopher Steele’s dossier of summer 2016 that was paid for by Democrats after conservatives stopped paying for the investigation into DDT.
Discovering that people were not buying his take on the FISA warrant for Page, Nunes switched his focus to George Papadopoulos, asking why there was no warrant for him. Then Nunes left out information about Papadopoulos when he said he didn’t deserve a warrant, claiming that he only got drunk in London and criticized Hillary Clinton instead of the report that he told a diplomat about getting hacked emails with “dirt” on Clinton. He even claimed that DDT had never met Papadopoulos (center left), but a small meeting with the two of them in 2016 is documented in a photo from a campaign meeting.
In an effort to take attention away from his nothing-burger memo, Nunes told Sean Hannity that the real Russian collaborator is the Hillary Clinton that weaponized the FBI against DDT. Nunes claimed that the memo shows a “clear link” between Russia and the Clinton campaign, although the memo only mentions that the Clinton campaign paid for part of Steele’s dossier. Missing from the memo—and Nunes’ talking points—is that a conservative group initially commissioned the investigation on DDT because he was obviously the GOP presidential campaign.
Ellen Nakashima explained in the WaPo that another Nunes point in the memo was also wrong: the application for surveilling Page came from a political source, according to the request. Asked about this discrepancy on Fox & Friends, Nunes said the information was not good enough because it was in small print in a footnote:
“A footnote saying something may be political is a far cry from letting the American people know that the Democrats and the Hillary campaign paid for dirt that the FBI then used to get a warrant on an American citizen to spy on another campaign.”
Failing to successfully communicate his lie about the memo vindicating him, DDT grew more desperate last Monday morning with a smear tweet about the Democratic senator from California with fake stories about his leaking information, “Little Adam Schiff …. Must be stopped!” During his tweets last weekend, DDT clearly indicated he approved the memo in order to block the investigation into Russian meddling with the presidential election.
The popularity of #release the memo came from “bots,” computational propaganda capable of sending massive numbers of social media messages which led to bots claiming they weren’t bots. The “fake” news from bots is changing behavior as shown in this detailed explanation of how a bot “personalizes” with “fake” photos and disseminates fake information about progressive causes.
The House Intelligence Committee has unanimously voted to release the Democratic memo that refutes much of what Nunes wrote. Once again, the ball is in DDT’s court. He has five days to decide whether to release or block it—probably while spweeting (sputter-tweeting?) more about Schiff “leaking” information. The committee can vote to override DDT if he blocks the release, and it can be read into the House record.
DDT has called Nunes a “Great American Hero.” The committee chair said he is keeping secret his “Phase Two” of the GOP investigation to focus on the State Department’s role in the early states of Russian investigation. Almost a year ago, Nunes recused himself from any investigations related to Russia because of an ethics charge that he was giving information to the White House. Charges were dropped last December, but his behavior may call on more ethics charges. Republicans report that as many as five more memos may appear, sure to provide more cover for DDT and avoid the nasty problems of the spending bill and the debt ceiling.
While the media buzz was primarily about Nunes’ memo, DDT set another record: today’s Dow Jones fall of 1,179 was the biggest ever, not even close to the 777 points lost on September 29, 2008. On the same day, the S&P lost its entire January gain, and the Nasdaq was down for the seventh of the last nine days. The Dow loss is on top of over a 1,000+ drop last week; the value equals a loss of over $1 trillion in the first five days of February. Although some people blame the upcoming increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, others say the reason is the rising bond market as the U.S. Treasury is borrowing more money. It has to pay for all those tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations.
Last year, investors ignored the possibilities of a trade war with China, a nuclear war with North Korea, and other fear that might have been discouraging to the stock market. The removal of regulations, especially for Wall Street, encouraged them to buy, buy, buy—driving the Dow Jones index up 10,000 points in the ninth year of its boom. Now the cheap money from global central banks may disappear with rising interest rates.
GOP said that the tax cut would cause big corporations to invest in businesses and hire more workers. Instead, corporations are sheltering more and more of their money or buying back ownership in their companies, an action that briefly drove up stocks. Rising wages and interest rates are a sign of inflation which the Fed will try to ward off by raising the interest rates again. Janet Yellen, who kept rates low, is no longer the Federal Reserve chair, and investors don’t know what the new chair, Jerome H. Powell, will do.
Energy corporations lack high earnings, resulting in the biggest drops in stock value, and health stocks were badly hurt by three large companies creating their own health care company for their employees. Tech stocks went down, and the new Apple I 8 and X phone suffered a downturn in sales. Oil prices went down. There’s not a crash, but the market may be “correcting,” a euphemism for going down.
Kellyanne Conway celebrated her one-year anniversary after inventing the term “alternative facts” by doubling down on the appropriateness of the GOP fictional perspective. In a radio interview, she decried the practice of fact-checking by saying that “Americans are their own fact-checkers” and they “have their own facts.” She added that “the stock market is something [Americans] know about because they’re part of the investor class,” forgetting that fewer than half of those “Americans” have any involvement in the stock market and pretending that the stock market equals the economy. (Maybe her next statement could be “ignorance is knowledge”?) All these people who Conway referenced will now know that the stock market dropped eight percent in as many days.
February 2, 2018
The Memo is out! For weeks, Fox’s Sean Hannity has been calling on Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) to release a document that would destroy the Robert Mueller investigation into the Russia’s collusion to win the presidential election for DDT. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who got his spin for the memo from the White House, pushed the release of misleading, inaccurate information to protect DDT with the vote of his GOP members of the Intelligence Committee, who also unanimously denied the Democrats to release any information. After the memo was approved, Nunes changed the memo because he gave it to DDT, and the White House could then make more changes, also not approved by the committee, before permitting its release.
Both DDT’s FBI director, Christopher Wray, and National Intelligence director, Dan Coats, warned DDT that the memo’s information was inaccurate and compromised classified information. DDT didn’t even read the document before he agreed to its release.
The memo accuses the FBI and DOJ of abusing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when he it obtained a warrant to surveil an adviser for DDT’s campaign because the reason was misleading. The FBI and DOJ first applied for a warrant on October 21, 2016 to surveil Carter Page. A renewal was required every 90 days. Three signers of a warrant—James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Sally Yates—have been fired; two, Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein, remain in the government. Rod Rosenstein may be fired because he might not be willing to fire Robert Mueller.
Nunes claimed that Christopher Steele, paid to prepare a dossier on DDT, told a senior DOJ official that he wanted to be sure that DDT didn’t get elected with no evidence of any bias against Page, the subject of the warrant. The memo also claims that no warrant would have been obtained without the Steele dossier, but there is no evidence about this except private testimony that others claim has been “mischaracterized.” The FBI had considered Page might be a target of Russian intelligence long before he became involved with DDT after Page met a Russian spy in 2013.
The document’s conclusion concentrates on the text messages between two FBI employees that, according to the memo, illustrated “a clear bias against Trump and in favor of [Hillary] Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated.” Yet other Peter Strzok text messages are equally critical of Clinton, and he co-drafted the letter about publicizing the text messages related to Clinton 11 days before the election, an action that may have elected DDT. With no evidence, Nunes’ memo blames the employees for leaking information to the media.
The released document had only one surprise, that George Papadopoulos was responsible for initiating the FBI investigation after he bragged to an Australian diplomat over drinks in London that the Russians have dirt on Hillary Clinton before the hack on the DNC emails became public. Concerned about the Russian involvement, the diplomat warned the FBI. Papadopoulos is testifying to Robert Mueller.
In the past, Nunes demonstrated strong support for greater surveillance, voting for the expansion of the National Security Agency’s warrantless program and helping block others who wanted to restrict the agency from spying on U.S. citizens. He also rejected a suggestion to release the FBI/DOJ request for the warrant, redacted for classified information and privacy, to show what information was used in the court affidavit.
From his ranch in Arizona, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) issued a statement about Nunes’ release of the memo:
“In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy. Russia employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro and beyond. The latest attacks against the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests ― no party’s, no President’s, only Putin’s. The American people deserve to know all the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation must proceed unimpeded. Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the lens of politics and manufacturing political sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.”
Nunes apparently jobbed out the writing of his memo. His aides wrote the document, and he didn’t even see the warrant. Only one Democrat and one Republican, plus staff, are permitted to see these warrants. Nunes assigned the task to Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC). Therefore, Nunes cannot know whether his own document is accurate. The day after Nunes announced the release of the memo, Gowdy abruptly announced that he would not be running for re-election. Swept in with the 2010 Tea Party epidemic, Gowdy became famous with his incessant grilling of Hillary Clinton over four deaths at a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi (Libya) in 2012. One of the almost dozen “interviews” lasted about eleven hours and revealed no new information. By 2016, Gowdy admitted that Clinton was not responsible. Gowdy’s other persecution of Clinton was her private email server although he himself used private email instead of a government server. He said he wants to return to the justice system, and the 4th Circuit Court has a vacancy. may have his eye on an appointment for the 4th Circuit Court. Over 40 House GOP members of the 115th Congress are already not running in this year’s election.
Nunes has used his power to cover for DDT by refusing to investigate Russian interference. He is controlling the Republicans in the House: even House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) won’t disagree with his unethical actions and claims “malfeasance” in the FBI. Nunes also announced his release of the memo when DDT said that he would not follow a law by Congress requiring new sanctions on Russia when DDT’s CIA director, Mike Pompeo, has “every expectation that they will continue” trying to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections.
The GOP promised that Nunes’ memo would be “worse than Watergate.” Watchers of Sean Hannity and Fox will have an entirely different perspective of the memo than the rest of the world. And DDT will be delighted because he gets all his advice from Fox. He told friends that the release of the memo would allow him to argue FBI prejudice against him. Most people, however, as saying, “That’s it?” The memo.
Russia This Week:
DDT backed off on his guarantee because lawyers are afraid that he’ll lie to them. Seventy-one percent of people in the U.S. agree that he should agree to an interview with Mueller, and 82 percent of them want it under oath—93 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans.
Mark Corallo, DDT’s legal team spokesman who resigned last summer from concern that he might be exposed to obstruction, agreed to meet with Robert Mueller. His testimony involves Hope Hicks, communications director, who loves DDT “like a father,” who said in front of DDT with no lawyer present that the emails written by Donald Trump Jr. leading up to the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer “will never get out.” Corallo notified the legal team about the conversation and took notes as well as sharing his concerns with Steve Bannon. DDT had insisted that the statement maintain that Jr.’s meeting was about Russian adoptions. Jr. insisted on the addition of the word “primarily” about the meeting subject.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked DDT for help before his testimony at the House Judiciary Committee to keep Rep. Devin Nunes from getting “sensitive documents.” In this December visit, DDT asked about the direction of the investigation and whether Rosenstein was “on my team,” similar to questions he posed to James Comey before he fired him and then Andrew McCabe who is also gone. DDT also proposed questions to the committee for Rod Rosenstein, including whether Rosenstein picked Mueller as investigator because Mueller wasn’t chosen for FBI director.
July 2017: Congress imposed new sanctions on Russia for election meddling with a deadline. Senate passed the bill by 98-2. DDT signed the bill with a note of protest and an angry tweet. He then missed all the deadlines.
January 29, 2018: Deadline for sanctions. Otherwise, DDT will flout Congress and violate the law. DDT announced he won’t be following the law. At the same time, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats met with two top Russian spy chiefs. Reuters found out by reading Russian media.
March 24, 2017
When Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) signed S. 442 with $19.5 billion, the NASA Transition Authorization Act, I thought, “Finally! He did something positive!” Ha! Nope. With a $200 million increase (one percent), the bill is the first time the mission does not include earth science, including climate research, diverging from six GOP administrations and five Democratic ones. DDT’s budget from last week cuts out several NASA initiatives, including the Office of Education, and terminates the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE), Orbital Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3), Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), and CLARREO Pathfinder missions. Through monitoring and predicting weather, climates, and ecosystems, these four satellites help save lives and prepare the nation for long-term changes.
The biggest failure for both DDT and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was Trumpcare’s failure, after Ryan postponed the bill on Thursday and completely pulled the bill today because it was short on votes. Ryan thought he could push it through in three weeks, passing it almost exactly one year after the Affordable Care Act passed Congress. DDT thought he could get the votes by threatening House Republicans with losing the 2018 election if they didn’t vote for it. He had already lied about convincing people to vote for the bill, and his threat picked up ten more “no” votes from representatives who wanted to completely destroy the Affordable Care Act.
Ryan decided that he could win over the scorched-earth naysayers by taking away ten Essential Health Benefits mandated for insurance coverage: outpatient care, ER visits, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and addiction treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services, lab services, preventive care, and pediatric services. Far beyond “health care light,” the bill ended up being “health care no.” That change lost less far-right voters, and it failed even after DDT sent white supremacist Steve Bannon and congenital liar Kellyanne Conway to Capitol Hill on a mission of gathering votes and passing along DDT’s threat that he would drop support for health reform if they didn’t vote on Friday.
Another huge failure for DDT came Monday when FBI Director James Comey announced that President Obama didn’t wiretap DDT’s phones in Trump Tower, as DDT claimed, but that intelligence is continuing its investigation into the possible collusion between his campaign and Russia. DDT’s source for his false contention that Britain helped the former president in wiretapping, frequent Fox guest Andrew Napolitano, has disappeared, at least temporarily, from the network, and DDT looked like a fool during his press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel when he talked about it. Fox eventually said that the network “cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary.”
In an attempt to spare DDT more embarrassment, the Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), past member of DDT’s transition team and chair of the committee investigating DDT and Russia, has called off hearings to block testimonies from former DNI director James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Nunes also backed down from his assertion that U.S. intelligence was “monitoring” DDT and his aides.
On Wednesday, the third day of hearings for DDT’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, the normally split Supreme Court overturned one of Gorsuch’s decisions in which he ruled that schools were not required to provide education for disabled students.
And DDT had other failures.
DDT, who said he would pick the “very best people,” selected Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State. During his recent Asian trip, Tillerson told the only reporter on board that he didn’t want the job but took it because “my wife told me I’m supposed to do this.” Not everyone agrees. Tillerson has dodged the press, refused to answer question, failed to defend his department from a one-third budget cut, threatened to attack North Korea without further diplomacy, bailed on some responsibilities in Asia because of “fatigue,” and then planned to visit Russia instead of attending a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. About rejecting the press, Tillerson said, “I’m not a big media press access person. I personally don’t need it.” He also failed to hold a press conference for the release of the annual human rights report. It was the first time in the report’s 40-year history that this has happened. His inaction has also led to several vacant leadership positions in the State Department. And that was just the last week.
To Tillerson, diplomacy doesn’t work so the nation is vastly increasing its military budget. According to Tillerson’s version of diplomacy while ExxonMobil CEO, he kept quiet and let governments manage their own domestic politics. This narrow definition of “diplomacy” strikes bargains on the basis of private interests. Missing are interviews, press conferences, social media, and speeches to simultaneously address and shape public and legislative opinion simultaneously in multiple countries. Without credibility from Tillerson and DDT, past allies won’t be supporting the U.S. in its hawkish moves.
DDT’s honeymoon with Wall Street may be over, gone from starry eyes to bloodshot realism. Tuesday was the biggest Dow Jones drop of seven consecutive days of decreases. On the same day, the nine biggest Wall Street firms lost $81.6 billion in value, and the wider banking industry fell about 4 percent—again the worst single day for banks since the Brexit vote in June. Last week, the Dow dropped 1.5 percent, the largest since last September. An uncertain future for Ryan’s health care plan has made Wall Street wonder if tax reform will follow the same pattern. Without the giant tax cuts for the wealthy, vast sums of money won’t be funneled back to the rich (aka investors). Tax cuts are bad for the economy but good for the bloated financial markets. With today’s 60-point drop in the Dow, Goldman Sachs stock was the worst of the 21 losing blue chips, down 1.5 percent.
DDT’s interview with the conservative Time came out with this striking cover (right). Some of his unbalanced (insane?) comments:
Evidence for President Obama’s wiretapping conspiracy: “I have articles saying it happened.”
Credibility in him: “The country believes me. Hey. I went to Kentucky two nights ago, we had 25,000 people in a massive basketball arena. There wasn’t a seat, they had to send away people.”
Belief in conspiracy theory that linked Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) father Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald: “That was in a newspaper [that] had a picture of Ted Cruz, his father, and Lee Harvey Oswald, having breakfast.”
Insistence on forming a committee to find the three million “illegal” voters costing him the popular vote victory against Hillary Clinton: “If you take a look at the votes, when I say that, I mean mostly they register wrong, in other words, for the votes, they register incorrectly, and/or illegally.”
A Gallup poll released Monday morning showed that DDT continues to break records across all age groups with his historic unpopularity. The Huffington Post reports that his job approval has fallen to an abysmal 37 percent, “lower than any other president at this point in his first term since Gallup started tracking the numbers 72 years ago in 1945.” Among millennials, DDT’s approval rating is 22 percent.
How empty is the man inaugurated last January 20? The White House posted this “official” photo of the Oval Office in the White House 1600 Daily. | {
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WASHINGTON — Salvatore Giunta, caught in a nighttime ambush in eastern Afghanistan, stepped into a “wall of bullets” and chased down two Taliban fighters who were carrying a mortally wounded friend away.
Three years later, the Army staff sergeant on Tuesday became the first living service member since the Vietnam War to receive the nation’s top military award, the Medal of Honor.
Far from the perilous ridge where his unit was attacked, Giunta, now 25, stood in the glittering White House East Room, in the company of military brass, past Medal of Honor winners, his surviving comrades and families as President Obama hung the blue ribbon cradling the medal around Giunta’s neck.
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“I really like this guy,” Obama said earlier in an off-script remark that drew applause. “When you meet Sal and you meet his family, you are just absolutely convinced that this is what America is all about.”
The Hiawatha, Iowa, man was an Army specialist on the night of Oct. 25, 2007. He and other soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment were part of a campaign to provide food, winter clothing and medical care to Afghans in remote villages.
They were ambushed from three sides in the Korengal Valley, a since-abandoned region of Kunar province after months of patrols that cost the U.S. military 42 American lives.
“The moon was full; the light it cast was enough to travel by without using their night-vision goggles,” Obama said, with Giunta standing at his side, looking straight ahead. “They hadn’t traveled a quarter-mile before the silence was shattered. It was an ambush so close that the cracks of the guns and the whizzes of the bullets were simultaneous.”
The two lead squad men went down. So did a third who was struck in the helmet. Giunta charged into the wall of bullets to pull him to safety, Obama said. Giunta was hit twice but was protected by his body armor.
The sergeant could see the other two wounded Americans, Obama recounted.
By now, the East Room was so silent you could hear a rustle from across the room. One Army officer took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes.
Giunta looked down as the president described how he and his squad mates threw grenades, using them as cover to run toward the wounded soldiers. All this, they did under constant fire, Obama said. Finally, they reached one of the men. As other soldiers tended to him, Giunta sprinted ahead.
“He crested a hill alone with no cover but the dust kicked up by the storm of bullets still biting into the ground,” Obama said.
There, Giunta saw “a chilling sight”: the silhouettes of two insurgents carrying away the other wounded American — one of his best friends, Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan. Giunta leapt forward and fatally shot one insurgent while wounding the other. The soldier rushed to his friend, dragged him to cover, then tried to stop the bleeding, for 30 minutes, until help arrived.
Brennan died of his wounds. So did Spc. Hugo V. Mendoza, the platoon medic. Five others were wounded.
“It had been as intense and violent a firefight as any soldier will experience,” Obama said. “By the time it was finished, every member of First Platoon had shrapnel or a bullet hole in their gear.”
The ceremony, which followed the formal announcement of the honor in September, was attended by members of Giunta’s family and his unit, as well as top military officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other Medal of Honor recipients also were present.
“You may believe that you don’t deserve this honor,” Obama told Giunta, “but it was your fellow soldiers who recommended you for it. In fact, your commander specifically said in his recommendation that you lived up to the standards of the most decorated American soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy, who famously repelled an overwhelming enemy attack by himself for one simple reason: ‘They were killing my friends.’ “
Speaking to reporters later, Giunta said the honor was “bittersweet.”
“I lost two dear friends of mine,” he said. “I would give this back in a second to have my friends with me right now.”
Obama called Giunta, who also has a Bronze Star to his credit, “a soldier as humble as he is heroic.”
“He’ll tell you that he didn’t do anything special, that he was just doing his job, that any of his brothers in the unit would do the same thing,” the president said during the ceremony. “In fact, he just lived up to what his team leader instructed him to do years before: ‘You do everything you can.’ “
Compiled from The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Tribune Washington bureau. | {
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Sometimes words aren’t enough. They get in the way, or don’t express what it is you’re feeling, what it is you want to get across. Eddie Garcia deals with those things. Armed with a guitar and a wide assortment of stomp boxes and electronics he releases thoughtful, internal, mood heavy music under the name 1970s Film Stock. Birds, his second album is out August 11 and we have the premiere for you right now.
There is a feeling of wanting to take flight across these seven songs, but it is flight that doesn’t ever really come. One is reminded of dreaming of bigger and better, locked in their room, wanting to leave it all but things like responsibility, physical means, or just good old-fashioned fear clip our wings and keeps us grounded to the confines of the same old life. The title song opens the album with this yearning, a wanting to be free. But it’s a song that never quite opens up and takes flight, much like our caged in protagonist. “In View” and “Slack” continue that feeling of looking ahead and dreaming but dreaming is all it is. The reality never lets it take root and develop fully. “Sling for Skeletons” lashes out at this reality. With its Carpenter like pulse underneath, it roils and simmers into an anger that wants to unleash and is dangerously close to doing so. “We’re Not Going Anywhere,” maybe resigned to the life it’s living, looks to express the beauty in the life it does have. “Walk Away” is the new day dawning. It’s now or never the guitar pleads with itself, but it can’t find it within to break free. “Victory Repeating” feels like a play on words. It does have the feeling of finally soaring but it repeats the same line over and over, like it’s trying to convince itself.
Of course, this is all highly subjective. This is the beauty of instrumental music. It is open for you to assign the meaning, to lay it over the framework of whatever structure your life has. To place it within your own context, to let it guide and soundtrack your late nights, early mornings, and in betweens. What do you hear through the notes? What feeling does it invoke deep down? There’s only one way to find out. | {
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Singapore
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Indulge in your comfort. Choose from rooms of four ethnic themes. Experience a dose of nostalgia with a touch of modernity. At Link Hotel Singapore, you get all these and more!
Located at Tiong Bahru estate, you will wake up to the sights and sounds of the heartlands at the biggest boutique style hotel in Singapore. The melodious chirping of the birds at the bird arena beckons as mouth-watering local cuisines awaits you at the nearby market.
Whatever the purpose of your stay, we aim to make you feel at home at Link Hotel Singapore. Take some time to browse our web pages for more details on the fabulous services and facilities we offer. | {
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What’s at stake in Fisher v. University of Texas?
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What’s at stake in Fisher v. University of Texas?
The U.S. Supreme Court and affirmative action at Stanford
byAnnelise Heinzon Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 10:59am
“My own view is that color-blind admissions policies come several centuries too late and at least a generation too early,” law professor Deborah Rhode told a Stanford audience, making an ethics-based argument for affirmative action. In the current case Fisher v. University of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon make a decision that could end or dramatically remake race-based affirmative action admissions at universities, including Stanford. According to legal counsel Tom Fenner, the swing vote “is likely to be Stanford alum Anthony Kennedy.”
On Wednesday, a panel of Stanford scholars and legal experts gathered at the Black Community Center to discuss Fisher v. University of Texas and its profound ramifications. Depending on the court's ruling, universities like Stanford might be significantly restricted in their ability to take applicants' race into account in admissions decisions. Such a result, the panelists argued, would have serious consequences for social equity and diversity at Stanford. The panel consisted of legal scholar Deborah Rhode, historian Allyson Hobbs, and legal counsel Tom Fenner.
“My own view is that color-blind admissions policies come several centuries too late and at least a generation too early.”
Fisher v. University of Texas puts on trial a 2003 precedent that confirmed a limited role for racial considerations in admissions decisions. Although prohibiting universities from using racial quotas, the 2003 decision allows consideration of race as part of a holistic process that includes other factors such as student leadership and family background. Supporters of the University of Texas' current policies argue that removing race from the consideration of applications will not create a better meritocracy but will almost certainly result in a rise in white and Asian representation and a drop in the representation of other student groups, especially black and Latino students. Opponents of affirmative action counter that universities should be challenged to come up with race-blind ways to sustain a diverse student population.
The case and its key players
Plaintiff Abigail Fisher sued the University of Texas at Austin, or UT Austin, after she was denied admission in 2008. UT Austin follows a Texas legislature-mandated admissions policy of granting automatic acceptance to the top 10 percent of students who graduate from Texas high schools. Over three-quarters of current UT Austin students were admitted through this practice. In the top 12 percent of her class, Fisher was ineligible for automatic acceptance, and she was also denied admission in a supplementary process that took race into consideration, along with other factors such as student leadership and family background.
Fisher’s legal team has argued that UT Austin’s “Top Ten Percent Plan” has created a sufficiently diverse student body, negating any further need for considerations of race. UT Austin and other universities, including Stanford, disagree. If prohibited from considering race, Fenner explained, Stanford might adopt best practices implemented by other schools already barred from considering race by laws such as California's Proposition 209. However, he added, those schools have not been very successful at sustaining “the educational benefits from having a racially diverse student body.”
Excluded ethics
The panelists addressed issues of social justice and discrimination largely absent from the court case itself. In 1978, the Court rejected the idea that correcting historical injustices justified affirmative action, accepting only the argument that diversity provides educational benefits for all students. As a result of this decision, UT Austin has been left to justify its admissions policies by arguing that consideration of race is necessary to achieve a “critical mass” of students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds—and to achieve the educational benefits that flow from having a diverse student body. The inability of UT Austin to pin down a definition for critical mass, opponents say, is a weak link in the university's case.
In addition to educational benefits, Rhode and Hobbs emphasized the ethics behind racial considerations. “While preferential admissions criteria in universities are only a small part of the solution,” Rhode said, “they are an extremely necessary one if we are to overcome the history of racial segregation and subordination in this nation.” Rhode also cited research compiled in the amicus briefs filed on behalf of racial preferences, arguing that minority applicants admitted through affirmative action do at least as well as others, according to various measures of academic and career success. Hobbs agreed, saying that test scores alone are not an objective or fair measurement of a candidate’s merit.
According to Hobbs, ending affirmative action could effectively “screen out” individuals with diverse skills who would contribute to workplaces or schools. It would also reinforce a history of partial citizenship by limiting access to high-level work for which a college degree is required. “History matters,” Hobbs said, “and history casts a particularly long shadow over the University of Texas.” Affirmative action is necessary, Hobbs argued, in order for society to take responsibility for the effects of long-term exclusion. Hobbs emphasized the long history of discriminatory government policies and exclusion from or limited access to certain federal programs, at times achieved by Southern congressmen to ensure local control over federal dollars to reinforce Jim Crow. The GI Bill, for example, helped widen the racial gap as white veterans used federal money to pay for college, while discrimination in college admissions kept tens of thousands of black veterans out of school. After Brown v. Board of Education, the University of Texas banned black students from residences and sports. Hobbs also cited recent incidents that demonstrate ongoing racial bias and inequality at UT Austin.
Affirmative action at Stanford
The Court may issue a narrow decision applying only to UT Austin’s admissions policies. Or, it may pass a more sweeping judgment. Fenner, who appeared on the panel as an individual lawyer and was careful to emphasize that he was not speaking as a university representative, walked the audience through several possible outcomes for Stanford. Depending on whether the court upholds UT’s admissions process, invalidates all consideration of race, or falls somewhere in between, Stanford admissions staff could have “a busy summer” scrambling to change policy before the admissions cycle begins again in the fall of 2013.
A consistent supporter of affirmative action, Stanford filed an amicus brief in the case pointing out that “race neutral alternatives” such as admitting all applicants in the top ten percent at their high schools would not work for highly selective institutions, and have not yielded racial and ethnic diversity at other institutions. Stanford integrates race as one factor among many, attempting to generate the educational benefits of a student body that is diverse in multiple ways.
Rhode ended the panel discussion by supporting the ethical importance of affirmative action in the face of resistance. “People won’t like this,” just as they did not like desegregation, she argued, but the Civil Rights Movement showed “you can change patterns through legal requirements.”
--------------
“The Future of Affirmative Action: Fisher v. University of Texas” panel discussion featured law professor Deborah Rhode, assistant professor of history Allyson Hobbs, and Stanford Deputy General Counsel Tom Fenner. The event was hosted by the Faculty Women's Forum and was introduced by Patricia P. Jones, the Dr. Nancy Chang Professor in the department of biology. The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity and the Clayman Institute sponsored the event. Co-sponsors included African & African American Studies, El Centro Chicano, Stanford Engineering Diversity Programs, Stanford Center on the Legal Profession, the School of Education, Black Community Services Center, Women's Community Center, Program in Feminist Studies, Stanford Diversity & Access Office, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Vice Provost for Graduate Education, and the American Studies Program.
Allyson Hobbs is assistant professor of American history at Stanford. Hobbs, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, researches American social and cultural history, racial mixture, identity formation, migration and urbanization, and the intersections of race, class and gender. She was a 2011-2012 Clayman Institute Faculty Research Fellow.
Tom Fenner joined Stanford’s Office of the General Counsel in 1985, and became Deputy General Counsel in 2001. In his practice, Fenner focuses on the academic areas of the university, including faculty, student, research, and policy matters. He earned his B.A. and J.D from Stanford University. Fenner appeared on the panel as an individual, not as a university representative. | {
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Vehicle Overview The Prius V joined the expanding Prius lineup in 2011 as a 2012 model. For the North American market the “V” is basically a wagon version of the regular Prius. In other markets the Prius V is sold as a three-row multi-person vehicle, which means all versions worldwide include second row seating set… Continue Reading...
Naturally racecars are about maximum performance, neck-snapping acceleration, organ-bruising lateral grip and of course enough stopping power to rip the skin off your forehead. The Porsche 919 Hybrid is one such machine, but that’s not all. Continue Reading...
Until the mid-1980s, those with large families usually bought station wagons with a who-cares-about-safety rearward facing third row of seats. But then the minivan was introduced and everything changed. For the next fifteen years, troops of kids were transported here and there in these pragmatic boxes on wheels. As is often the case though, consumer… Continue Reading...
Not even Porsche is immune to pressure from governments and customers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The legendary German sports-car builder will offer a four-cylinder engine in future versions of both its Boxster and Cayman models. Continue Reading...
Along with media from around the world auto shows host all kinds of product reveals, things like the breathtaking McLaren 650S, the intriguing Jeep Renegade and the obscenely luxurious Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe. But they all can’t be heart-stopping; sometimes you have to report on vehicles people actually drive. Continue Reading...
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an advanced simulation that projects future emissions in the United States and the results of this study are surprising. Continue Reading...
Introduced in 2013, the redesigned Ford Fusion has wowed customers and industry pundits alike with its sexy styling. The Camry, Accord and Malibu aren’t even in the same league as this supermodel sedan. Continue Reading...
As it tends to do around this time, the year is steadily drawing to a close; 2013 is dwindling like a tiki torch running out of citronella-scented oil. The last flickers are smoldering, but she burned brightly for 12 months so the end is not in vain. Lots of important car news broke through the… Continue Reading...
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Who owns the poem and knows what it means —
Who writes the questions on the test —
Who chooses what is good and what is best —
And understands the truth inside the lean?
Oh star crossed letters, I do not know
Why ever would I stop to explain
When what I know is written plain
And never made much sense to me, so
Work it out upon a word, these little steps
Into the hills, walking round the mountains
Where the bird songs should be kept
And rainstorms come — Oh, star crossed mountains
Every step is lost and lost, inept
Others say what footprints planted claim | {
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Why I won’t give a sample of my DNA to Decode Genetics
Last week I posted a picture on our Facebook page of the contents of an envelope I received from the company Decode Genetics, in which they kindly request that I give them a sample of my DNA. I made some glib remark about swabbing the dog, but didn’t really explain the full story.
Basically it is like this: Decode wants 100,000 Icelanders to give them DNA samples to put into their database. Apparently because the Icelandic population is so homogenous, our DNA contains clues as to what causes specific diseases. Decode wants to study this [indeed, Decode’s entire existence is built around studying this] and make tons of money selling their findings to pharmaceutical and other medical sector companies. BUT for Decode to be able to do so they also have to have access to our medical records.
In return for our contribution, Decode is offering to give us a t-shirt.
Let us just take a moment to contemplate this stellar offer.
/ a moment.
Now, maybe giving up my DNA and a large chunk of my privacy is all very altruistic and everything. Maybe it will help find cures for diseases and save lives. Maybe. But unfortunately there are things in this whole DNA collection shenanigans that I simply cannot accept. Here is why I have decided NOT to give Decode Genetics a sample of my DNA and access to my medical records [as if the last part wasn’t reason enough].
Decode’s little collection of samples began a day or two before their envelope arrived in my mailbox. It was kind of sprung on everyone, by which I mean hardly introduced at all before the packages were sent out. Along with the package and the forms we have to sign [and all the propaganda about how important this all is for medical research], we are told that someone will come by our house “soon” to pick up the sample.
That “someone” is in fact someone from ICE-SAR, the Icelandic Search and Rescue organization. That’s correct. Decode is using ICE-SAR, one of the most respected and best-loved institutions in Iceland, as couriers. This because Decode promises that if 100,000 Icelanders give samples, it will donate ISK 200 million to ICE-SAR. The search and rescue team can really use the funds. We know this. We also love ICE-SAR for the amazing work they do and want them to continue doing it without having to beg for donations. Which is why Decode’s manipulation is all the more effective.
So people who might be having doubts about giving away their DNA and access to medical records are effectively being told that, if they don’t take part, they are doing ICE-SAR – and by extension everyone else who might ever need rescuing – a really bad turn. Which makes them kinda bad people. Picture it: an ICE-SAR member arrives at Jón or Gunna’s home to pick up Decode’s sample, and Jón or Gunna promptly reach for the swab and guiltily provide the sample because the ICE-SAR guy is standing there waiting and who wants to deprive ICE-SAR of their ISK 2,000?
One comment I saw on Facebook was from a woman who had received her package one day, and the following day at 7 pm the ICE-SAR member was on her doorstep to collect the sample. Which brings me to another thing: the urgency with which this whole thing is being conducted. Bam bam – you get the package, then the next day someone is there asking for the sample. No time for contemplation or making an informed decision. It all has to happen NOW. And maybe that’s the whole point. Maybe it’s being done with this urgency precisely because Decode doesn’t want people to have to think about it too much.
Now let us digress for a moment, and take a wee look at Decode. It burst onto the scene in the 1990s, all through the efforts of one man, Kári Stefánsson, a MD who had the brilliant idea of turning the Icelandic nation into one big genome database. Everyone thought this was a fabulous idea, and Kári quickly got the backing of the Icelandic government. Before you could say sellmygenestothehighestbidder Decode had access to all Icelanders’ medical records. Yes they did. It was by default. Anyone who objected had to opt out. The onus was on them to do so.
I opted out.
At this time there was a massive amount of hype around Decode, and the public was urged to buy shares in the company because they were going to be huge. HUGE. Banks were practically throwing loans at people so they could buy shares in Decode. And lots of people did. Lots of people also invested all their savings in Decode shares. Then came the dot-com bust and those shares fell like a lead balloon. Kári’s salary remained one of the highest in Iceland, while those who had bought stock in his company were left practically destitute.
In the years since then, there have been bits of news every now and again about some imminent Big Breakthrough at Decode. Wery wery impressive and all that. Then, a few months ago, current affairs programme Kastljós did an interview with Kári where they asked him what all those imminent breakthroughs had actually produced. Kári stuttered, and couldn’t answer the question. Because, as it turns out, there has been hardly anything.
A few years ago Decode declared bankruptcy. Enter the US genome company Amgen, which swept in and scooped up Decode, putting still more money into Kári Stefánsson’s pocket. Only, the sale of Decode to Amgen was a tad controversial. One of the things that characterized it, according to this report, was “… the aggressive sale timeline that appeared designed to ‘inhibit potential bidders from gathering enough information to become comfortable with submitting a competing bid.’” Hm. Sounds an awful lot like the DNA collection happening right now, which inhibits potential participants from gathering enough information about the collection to make an informed decision about whether or not to take part.
Which brings us to a question: is this DNA collection, which is conducted in such a big hurry, really about medical research? Or might it have something to do with shareholders and stock prices? Because I am guessing that the DNA of 100,000 Icelanders is a fairly valuable commodity, and quite a coup if Decode Amgen manages to get its hands on it. I have no doubt that it will produce a sharp increase in share prices, if nothing else.
One last thing. When Decode swept onto the Icelandic market in the 1990s, one of its chief executives was one Hannes Smárason. He later left the company, only to become infamous in Iceland [and beyond] as one of the chief villains in the Icelandic economic collapse. No one around here trusts him. No one except Kári Stefánsson, that is. Hannes Smárason has recently been appointed CEO of a Decode subsidiary called NextGen, the role of which is to “market diagnoses based on Decode research to doctors and hospitals in the USA”. [Source here]
Yup. That’s the dude who is going to be trading in our DNA and medical records. Except I heard that he couldn’t start work just yet because he has been formally indicted by the Special Prosecutor for a economic crimes leading up to the meltdown.
Predictably there has been a major furore over all this here in Iceland. A group of academics and experts, including the head of the Centre for Ethics at the University of Iceland, have harshly criticized the collection and the way it is being executed. For me personally, the ICE-SAR involvement is the most distasteful element of the whole thing. I resent being manipulated like that, and resent that a wonderful organization like ICE-SAR is being abused in such a manner. Like many others I plan to bin the package from Kári and personally donate ISK 2,000 to ICE-SAR, in lieu of the funds that Kári, Hannes and co. would have donated on my behalf.
UPDATE: I’ve made two small amendments to the original post. I initially wrote that Decode would donate ISK 20 million to ICE-SAR, but the correct figure is 200 million. I had also written that Kári Stefánsson had taken millions out of the company and shuffled into his own personal bank account[s], but this is hearsay and not backed up by any concrete evidence. I have therefore removed it. | {
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2 September 2011
I have been a little obsessed with watching Korean dramas lately and therefore have been craving Korean food every time I see it on screen! 'You know you are a glutton when..' lol :P
One Korean snack I found particularly interesting was the Ddukkbokkie which is rice cake in a hot and spicy sauce. It is typically eaten as a snack but if you add more fillers such as vegetables, fish puffs, tofu skin, etc, it can also become a meal... which is what I have done.
Trixie and I followed the recipe from Maangchi but modified it a bit to fit what I had in my fridge. I wanted to use traditional Korean rice cakes which are shaped in long tubes, but since I had the sliced ones in my freezer already, I reluctantly substituted them for the tubes. So yeah... that's why it doesn't look very authentic :P
I first took out some frozen fish puff and oyster mushrooms.
Then, I soaked the fish puff along with the frozen rice cake and fish cake in water to thaw it out a bit.
My version of Ddukbokkie did not have the vibrant red colour you normally see in authentic Ddukbokkie because I didn't use the Korean red pepper paste. Instead, I used the Chinese hot chili paste (as shown in the picture). I also used Hon-Dashi to make the broth because I didn't have any dried anchovies, which is what you are suppose to use. If you are wondering what is inside the Ziploc container, it's just ketchup. But uh..don't ask me why it was in there :P
Yum... almost done!
I garnished it with a little bit of green onion and Ta-Da! Ddukbokkie makes great comfort food and it always warms you up inside. :) Because this version wasn't as authentic as I'd like it to be, I won't post up the instructions for how I did mine. You can follow Maangchi's recipe! When I get better at making Ddukbokkie, I will post up a better recipe for ya'll! | {
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Sermons from February 2017
In 2017, our church’s theme is “Magnify Him.” We can’t make God any bigger than he already is, but we can discover how great he really is. When we Magnify Him, we aren’t using a magnifying glass method (making something tiny look huge); we are using the telescope method (uncovering the gigantic nature of something… | {
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Where To Eat
Brick Pit, The
Restaurant
The Brick Pit is known for its moist, tender barbecue and wet ribs and has been featured on the Travel Channel's "Man vs Food," and in Maxim magazine. Located inside an unassuming, converted house, The Brick Pit boasts a custom smoker built to serve 500 pounds of meat each day. | {
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The Story Behind Sarah's Goal
Publish Date
Monday, 20 June 2016, 5:07PM
Sarah was pretty chuffed with herself when she arrived at work this week. She recounted with pride the tale of how she won Player of the Day at Football on Sunday and scored a goal. But it turned out there was more to the story... | {
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Chiropractor active in educating against drug useSponsors foundation for drug-free world
The Sussex County Foundation for a Drug-Free World helped distribute over 2,000 Truth About Drugs booklets to seventh and eighth graders at Stewart Airport’s annual Y2Kids Career Day event.
photo provided
Lafayette — The Sussex County Foundation for a Drug-Free World helped distribute over 2,000 Truth About Drugs booklets to seventh and eighth graders at Stewart Airport’s annual Y2Kids Career Day event. According to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, 2018 is on pace to far surpass drug deaths of 2016 and 2017, with an estimated 3,000 drug deaths. Having seen the negative effects of drugs on Sussex County residents, chiropractor and humanitarian Dr. M. Helena Takacs of Takacs Wellness Center located in Lafayette, sponsors the Sussex County Foundation for a Drug-Free World. The foundation is the world’s largest non-profit drug education organization in the world. According to the foundation, an estimated 208 million people internationally consume illegal drugs. “As a mother of three, it is unacceptable to see the negative impact that prescription and illegal drugs, such as heroin and pyschotropics, have had on our youth," Takacs said. "It is my passion to eradicate these societal impacts by educating our local community about these issues and this is why I sponsor the Drug-Free World Program and deliver seminars such as 'How to Know if Your Children Are on Drugs and How You Can Help Them.'”Takacs educates parents and children on the harmful effects of illegal drugs so that they can prevent a family from experiencing these horrors. These free sponsored programs are available for schools, parent groups and community organizations at no charge locally via Takacs as well as nationally via the Foundation for a Drug Free World-- which is a foundation fully supported monetarily from concerned local business owners.The foundation distributes the Truth About Drugs booklet, an informational pamphlet that details short- and long-term effects of drugs, common street names and myths that a dealer might use to make a sale. The foundation offers educational materials free of charge to educators and anyone who wants to learn more about the harmful effects of drugs (www.DrugFreeWorld.org) For more information visit www.DrTakacs.com or contact Dr. Takacs at 973-383-5052 to schedule a free educational program. | {
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There is a wide range of HD porn with Blonde on this site. New porn movies are published daily which you can watch for free and without registration. You find everything about Blonde in HD resolution here.Most releveant HD Porn by Pornblade.com | {
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addi Click by Woolly Hugs Interchangeable Knitting System
$15000$150.00
Save $50
The new, very extensive addiClick case addiClick by Woolly Hugs, will make any craft lover's heart beat faster. Developed in cooperation with the craft expert Veronika Hug from “Woolly Hugs”, it also contains original addi accessories, as well as a large range of needles. All addiClick products are compatible. | {
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Tag Archives: salinity
Salt Mouth Unlike Third Spacing of Fluids, salt mouth is one of the most common and least visible or appreciated effects of marathon swimming and can cause the swimmer great distress and discomfort, and yet it’s invisible to everyone else. Salt Mouth is the effect of salt build up on the tongue and in the…
EDIT: Yes, this post has been published twice. There was a backend problem on WordPress. Sorry. NASA just released a cool new map of the world’s ocean’s salinity. I wish we could see the North Atlantic in better detail. It’s still early days for this though so there’ll be more to come. I look forward… | {
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Travel
Reading the New York Times Travel section this weekend, I stumbled across a site I hadn’t visited. Now that I have, it is sure to become a giant time-sucker in my life. It’s called DesignTripper.com, and it’s full of carefully curated, unique vacation roosts (houses, inns, B&Bs, even yurts) and restaurants that aren’t likely to earn you any Starwood rewards points.
This led me to their post about Fair Folks and a Goat, an amazing shotgun house in New Orleans that has a boutique, a coffee parlor, a gallery and one bedroom for guests with a rotating art installation inside (the one above is by local artist t Hannah Chalew), among other things. This spot can’t be summed up in a category or two; what’s so great is the way they support local artists and craftspeople. I also loved seeing local artwork (Time Out chair – so genius – is by Sarah Ashley Longshore), combined with two of my favorite items we carry, the Blu Dot Real Good Chair and Patrick Townsend’s Orbit Light, combined with classic New Orleans shotgun architecture:
UPDATE: Since posting this, I found that Fair Folks is moving their creative action north to Greenwich Village and will be opening a new a retail boutique and design emporium featuring the works of established New York designers and talented young artists in September! Learn more here.
What are some of your favorite ways to find chic vacation spots? Do you browse through Wallpaper*, drool, rip out the pages and then start saving money? Enjoy cruising through sites like airnb and vrbo, sure you’ll find that perfect needle in a haystack while looking out for scammers and the kind of homeowners who take bathroom pictures with the toilet seat up and all of their products all over the sink (I’m not talking in a Todd Selby kind of way)? Hit your local AAA? Let discount sites like Jetsetter do the searching and the discounting for you? Post what you’re looking for on Facebook and see who has good ideas? Are you laid back enough to do the CouchSurfing thing? Have you been doing the travel agent thing since long before the interwebs were invented and swear it’s still the best and only way to go?
There are so many options out there it’s really hard to keep up; while DesignTripper does NOT handle bookings and reservations, they certainly cut down on search time for the cool spots. Please share your favorite travel search methods with us as well as favorite places you’ve stayed in the comments section – I’d love to know about your experiences, good or bad!
Did any of you feel a wave of nostalgia for a Howard Johnson’s road trip stop while watching Mad Men last night? I kept thinking of my family driving from Ohio to Cape Cod in the family truckster (a tan Ford station wagon with wood paneling and flip up seats in the way-back) and stopping for a hot dog and an ice cream cone. The bright colors, light fixtures and even the waitress uniforms actually looked retro-fresh in last night’s episode.
Somehow, the combination of pot pies and orange sherbet leads to a devastating fight between Don and Megan, and he abandons her in a HoJo’s parking lot. How could he not, with that fabulous honeysuckle dress with matching chevron coat? It was made for a HoJo’s. Girlfriend even had on matching pink sunglasses. Tory Burch has got nothing on Megan’s costume designer.
Only that devilish cad Don Draper could make the iconic Howard Johnson’s roof look sexy.
Anyway, the wave of nostalgia made me want to look into the history of Howard Johnson’s. Because I’m lazy, most of this information was compiled via Wikipedia, so take it for what it’s worth.
Howard Deering Johnson opened drugstore in 1925, but soon realized that the soda fountain was the most profitable part. He started tinkering with ice cream and the business changed direction toward becoming a restaurant that became known for fried clams.
In 1932 a second restaurant was opened, one of the first franchise deals in the U.S. The first motor lodge was opened in Savannah Georgia in 1954, and it was designed by architects Rufus Nims and Karl Koch. From there, in a nutshell, the business boomed and the motor lodges became known for their ubiquitous roadside advertisements:
In the 1960s and ’70s, there were over 1,000 HoJos across the United States and Canada.
There is a site completely dedicated to posting pictures of former HoJos, called HoJoLand.com
Then, new owners and more new owners and big changes, bland architecture and a new logo that’s no fun. The End.
Oh, P.S. Also, when you Google “Howard Johnson,” this guy is interspersed between all of the motel pictures. He’s a singer:
There are so many great places to stay when traveling, whether they be easy on the wallet, easy on the eyes or easy on our backs as we enjoy a relaxing massage. I’m going to make more of an effort to share lodging that’s full of great design with you as it crosses my path. In honor of Liz Lemon, we’re going to christen this column “I Want to Go to There.” Sadly, this amazing hotel did not cross my literal path, but rather entered my life via an email from Jetsetter.com, which is always full of tempting trips I wish I could take.
Forget the bat cave, this hotel was formerly a house of bedrooms, carved out of a cave in Cappadocia, Turkey.
Common areas even have wi-fi, though unless you are booking a local hot air balloon ride online, being on your laptop at a place as beautiful as this should be a crime.
Turkish interior designer superstar Halide Didem designed the beautiful and exotic rooms. She layered bright colors, luxe fabrics, metallic finishes and exotic shapes atop neutral and natural base of textures, a design lesson we can all take a note from.
Beautiful terraces give guests a chance to soak in the views from a luxurious perch.
Cave bedrooms are a combination of rough-hewn walls that form a cozy room with sumptuous linens; the perfect combination for a great night’s sleep.
Are there any areas or hotels on your dream trip list? Please let us know about them in the comments section!
Let’s face it, we’ve all seen so many cleverly decorated boutique hotels that it takes a lot to catch attention lately, doesn’t it? I mean, we’ve seen everything from Beetlejuice looking B&Bs to crack den chic (a certain Manhattan too-cool-for-school joint, I’m talking to you). However, as I caught up on my magazines with an old issue of W the other day, a tiny picture from “August’s Most Wanted” caught my eye (yes, I am that far behind on my glossies). It was a shot of a bedroom from the c/o Maidstone East Hampton. Let’s enjoy some fresh eye candy from their Swedish icon designed rooms (inspirations range from Eero Saarinen to Birgit Nillson the soprano, not to be confused with Brigitte Nielsen, known for Red Sonya and Flavor Flav reality shows):
This week a group of images in our Fresh New Spaces Group on Flickr caught my attention. They were the minimalist spaces from a boutique hotel in Berlin called Hotel OTTO. Here, the neutral color palette and restrained furnishings let you enjoy the view, the photography and the warm hardwood floors:
This simple bedroom contains lots of space saving tips, including using thin but colorful upholstered canvases in lieu of a clunky headboard, and utilizing swing arm sconces to save nightstand space (and of course, when you don’t have room to cram in a nightstand, these are a great solution as well).
The palette is kept very simple, letting this iconic Eames fabric get the attention it deserves:
However, if a subtle blue, gray and black palette is not for you, they’ve got some electric preppy pink and green options for you. Note the extra shelf on the nightstand, which is great for tucking away books, magazines, and even that annoying glow from a digital clock that can exacerbate an insomniac. They’ve also scooped up some of the floor space with this piece so that you can take some of that stuff out of your suitcase and really get comfortable: | {
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Tag
This Sunday died Mexican poet Jose Emilio Pacheco in Mexico City. The writer, 74, was hospitalized on Saturday afternoon. His daughter Laura Emilia Pacheco said that “he died quietly and peacefully.” She was commissioned to confirm the news. Poet, novelist, essayist... | {
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Coleophora amellivora
Coleophora amellivora Baldizzone, 1979
from Toll (1952a); upper case of a male, lower one of a female
Aster alpinus, from Baran & Rynarzewski (2008a)
case
Greyish brown, trivalved tubular leaf case with a mouth angle of 20-45°. The larva mines in the lower leaves. After the case has been tightened to the leaf, the larva, otherwise than in most other Coleophora‘s, leaves it case, and makes from this starting point a long corridor mines. | {
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Konichiwa records Translation On Other Language:
Konichiwa Records is a record label founded by Swedish pop singer Robyn. The label has only one other artist signed, Zhala. The word "Konichiwa" is derived from the Japanese greeting こんにちは (Konnichi wa), meaning "Hello" or "Good Day" (Literally "This Day Is"). | {
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About the Project
About the Project
(Grace Ioppolo)
The Henslowe-Alleyn Papers, Past, Present and Future
For over two hundred and fifty years, most of the Henslowe-Alleyn papers remained
unbound and stored in the chest in which they had lain since the founding of the
College by Edward Alleyn in 1619. Many individual documents, both large and
small, were left in their original condition: folded up into small packets (a
form of storage which preceded the use of envelopes). The volume comprising
Henslowe’s Diary began to be borrowed from the library during the 18th and 19th
centuries by the scholars Edmond Malone, John Payne Collier, and J. O.
Halliwell-Phillips, among others. In fact, during this time, some of its pages
were removed or otherwise destroyed (fragments have since been sold or auctioned
and are now at the British Library, Bodleian Library, Belvoir Castle, and the Folger Shakespeare
Library). In the early 19th century, staff at Dulwich were successful in
reclaiming the play The Telltale and the plot of the
Second Part of the Seven Deadly Sins from an auction, but over the
years many other items were dispersed (and have not yet been definitively
identified), including about one hundred play manuscripts and a number of
printed books bequeathed to the College in 1687 by the actor and bibliophile
William Cartwright the younger.
In the 1870s, the Governors of Dulwich College asked George Warner, an expert at
the British Museum, to catalogue the manuscripts. Warner spent many years
assessing the contents of the archive as he found it, expertly opening,
repairing and ordering the documents in the archive, finally having them bound
into a set of 36 volumes which he named the ‘Alleyn Papers’. He left the
muniments, some of which are extremely large in size, unbound. In 1881, he
published The Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Muniments of Alleyn’s
College of God’s Gift at Dulwich (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.).
Further discoveries at the archive were listed by Francis Bickley in the Second
Series of The Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Muniments of Alleyn’s
College of God’s Gift at Dulwich (London: privately printed, 1903).
Half of these manuscript volumes and most of the muniments concern the private
affairs and non-theatrical businesses of the Henslowe and Alleyn families, as
well as the history of Dulwich College since its inception. It is the other half
of these volumes, representing the theatrical affairs of Henslowe and Alleyn,
that are the subject of this website and electronic archive.
Less than half of the theatrical items in the Henslowe-Alleyn Papers have ever
been transcribed, and these transcriptions are largely available only in
out-of-print editions. R. A. Foakes’s 1977 photographic facsimile edition of two
volumes of manuscripts (The Henslowe Papers) had a limited
printing and only covers 20% of the relevant archive. The 2002 reprinting of
Foakes’s standard 1961 edition of Henslowe's Diary (Cambridge
University Press) has widely encouraged scholars to pursue other material in the
Dulwich archive. The archive is of value also to Museum of London
archaeologists, who are now using new technology, such as radar scanning, to
examine the original sites in Southwark and Shoreditch of various early modern
playhouses, including the Theatre, the Globe, and the Rose, and who are radically
re-evaluating their data about the building of these playhouses. Although
transcriptions of the over 2200 pages of manuscripts are not yet available in
this electronic archive and website, the members of the Henslowe-Alleyn
Digitisation Project hope that making the manuscripts themselves available as
photographic images will encourage further study and use of this very rich
resource not just by literary, theatrical and manuscripts scholars, economic, social and regional historians
and archaeologists but students, actors, directors and other theatre
personnel, as well as all members of the general population of readers who are interested
in the greatest age of English professional drama and theatrical production.
This Project is designed for research purposes only. For reasons of copyright,
images and content are not downloadable from the website or the electronic
archive, nor can any material be used, copied, circulated or reproduced in any
format without permission and acknowledgement. The copyright of all the
manuscripts in the Alleyn Papers belongs to the Governors of Dulwich College.
For digital photographs or reproductions of any of the manuscripts, for
permissions to reproduce them in any format, or for more information about the
manuscript photography, the website and electronic archive, please use see
Copyrights, Reproductions and Permissions.
The Project has been graciously supported by grants from The Leverhulme Trust,
The British Academy, The Thriplow Charitable Trust, The Pilgrim Trust, the Henry
E. Huntington Library, the Folger Shakepeare Library, the British and American
Bibliographical Societies, and The University of Reading, for which the members
of the Project remain very grateful. | {
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A Set of 6 Arts & Crafts Solid Silver & Enamel Pastry Forks by Liberty & Co. Each Fork has a gorgeous green and blue enameled design on the handle that is typical of the Liberty Style. The Forks come in their original fitted case. | {
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} |
Tea Makes Everything Better
Does a hot cup of tea REALLY make everything better? There are many cute signs which promise there’s a tea for everything. Being an avid tea drinker, I understand the meaning behind the memes.
The simple process of preparing tea is contemplative. You can’t rush tea. It has its own time schedule. Waiting for the boil of the water and steeping of the leaves, allows me to slow down and prepare my heart.
Drinking a hot cup of tea calms my nerves, soothes my spirit, and relaxes my mind. When I’m stressed it untangles me. During times of hurt, it coats my inner pain. When my mind is so crowded I’ve left no spiritual whitespace, it erases the margins and opens up the mental page I’m thinking on.
I’ve given thought to why tea makes everything better for me. I believe It positions me to slow down so I can hear God better and be stirred by His Holy Spirit.
Why not take time today to indulge in a hot cuppa and spend time with The One who can make everything better?
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Published by junesteacuptreasures
It’s true! I am a Certifed Teacup Indulgent. I have multiple China cabinets stuffed strategically with all shapes and sizes. There’s always room for one more. I love visiting estate sales, well, any type of sales where teacups might lurk. It’s a treasure hunt.
I’m an avid reader, author, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I am active in my church, a member of American Christian Writers Association, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and Christian Writers of Southeast San Antonio.
I am a Texas transplant from Michigan, and reside in San Antonio with my husband, Nick.
View all posts by junesteacuptreasures
PublishedApril 16, 2019
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4 thoughts on “Tea Makes Everything Better”
Just now, the realization hit me. June Chapko’s multiple talents have been influential in my life for over 30 years. My latest cuppa of inspiration comes from her book the Estate Sale. Once I begin reading it, I was unable to put it down until I finished it. And now, I am anxiously awaiting Book 2 of this Legacy Series.
I am doing some work for June, and I stumbled across her reference to an age-old British adage, “tea solves everything”. Cheryl and I know an Anglican-Catholic priest from England who told us a cup of tea is a great source of comfort.no matter the situation. “Oh, your home burned down? Have a cup of tea.” “oh, no! You were in an accident? Have a cup of tea.” He went on in this vein for many more minutes to further illustrate his point. And Cheryl has known for years the health advantages of drinking tea. So I was joyfully surprised to, * serendipity *, find both aspects of tea to be borne out to be absolutely true after researching June’s phrase, “tea solves everything”. It turns out reading June’s books are beneficial not only to your spiritual health but to your physical health as well. So live longer, healthier, leaner, and more stress-free while reducing your risk of heart problems and of certain types of cancer by drinking tea and by reading June’s books! https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/a-cup-of-tea-solves-everything-505302
Thank you, Hal for such a great recommendation for my book. I do have to say…reading my book will not reduce your risk of any health problems, but it will increase your risk of wanting to read book two, Legacy’s Path, coming very soon. | {
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The sizing options displayed for each framed print is for the size of the actual print. The frame and white matting will add additional width and height to make up the completed frame size. If ordered without mat then the completed frame size will be about 1.5" wider and taller. The completed frame sizes are below and may vary a bit from frame to frame so complete frame sizing is also noted on each of the item descriptions.
When ordering a two print set that is unframed be sure to order each side of the print set. So if ordering the Be Still, My Soul set, you would add the Be Still side with the desired size to your cart and then add the My Soul side with the desired size to your cart to complete the set.
When ordering the framed set there is no need to add both sides. It is already set up to be added to your cart as the double printed set.
Most domestic orders are shipped with USPS and should arrive within 3-7 business days. Prints without framing may take 7-10 business days to arrive. Framed prints are made to order and should arrive within 8-15 business days.
Furniture and some made to order items will take longer to ship. These products have delivery times noted on the description.
Once your order ships you will be e-mailed a tracking number. Please note these shipping times are estimates and are not guaranteed. If you need your order expedited, please contact us and we can let you know if the item is eligible for expedited shipping and send you a shipping quote.
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Customer satisfaction is our #1 priority and we will do our best to make sure our customers are satisfied. Many of the products we offer are made to order and we do not stock so we are unable to accept returns on these items. If you are ever unhappy for any reason with your order, please reach out to us so that we can find a solution to make it right. There are also many products we keep in stock and do accept returns. Please read the listing description before making an order to see whether or not an item is eligible for a return. You can click here to view our shipping and return policy.
Since many of our products are one of a kind, it is possible that it is gone forever! I know, very sad. But if it does not say "one of a kind" on the listing, there is a good chance we will be restocking. Click "notify me when this product becomes available" and we will send you an email when it comes back in stock!
So many of our products are created by small business and creators with their very own hands. They are hand selected companies based on excellent workmanship and values we admire.
Most of our "one of a kind" products are chosen with great care one item at a time by Mary Lauren. It is sometimes tedious, but we believe that is the best part of this little business of ours! Finding great products we think you'll love!
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Many of our pieces are one of a kind. We put so much time into creating and choosing pieces that are unique and original because we know that so many of you will love and appreciate the extra effort. | {
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Washington Widefire
The total cumulated rainfall is expected to be much below normal with a high
risk of drought in the main agricultural areas of Somalia and in parts of Kenya
and Ethiopia. Mobile Tracker Free is the application link that allows you to free monitor your children, prevent data theft and supervise the productivity of your employees. Our mobile monitoring application tracks all the activities of the target phone, such as SMS / MMS, call history, GPS position, e-mails, photos, web history and more. | {
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Join the 2018 Global Movement
with FundRazr
Create your free #GivingTuesday campaign and get social media promotion
| from October 6 to November 20, 2018 |
Create and launch your campaign between October 6 to November 19, 2018
Mention #GivingTuesday2018 in the headline or description of your campaign
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Giving Tuesday campaigns will be listed on our special Giving Tuesday promo page (live after October 20)
The page will be promoted in social media to a large audience of people interested in charitable causes (audience size is around 10 million people) and featured on Forbes and Devin Thorpe's #GTstreamathon
Potential donors will have a chance to learn more about your cause, browse campaigns and donate | {
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Walleye Warrior: Alden Hirschfeld
All throughout our lives we must face adversity. It comes in many forms: moving to a new school, dealing with a bully, managing college courses, or battling though illness to name a few. Every person that you meet, or even see, in our world have their own demons to face every day. We all fight to achieve our goals while overcoming the challenges put in our way. Professional athletes are no different in this regard, where they differ is the attention that their adversity receives. When they rise to the occasion, athletes can inspire others to do the same. One particular member of the Toledo Walleye has battled adversity like no other, and has inspired hockey fans across Michigan and Ohio. Alden Hirschfeld took the ice this season after recovering from brain surgery over six months ago. During Toledo’s first game of the regular season, he scored the Walleye’s first goal. Hirschfeld is not just a Toledo Walleye; he is a Warrior.
Hirschfeld posing with a young fan at the Huntington Center during training camp.
Early in his career Hirschfeld found great success with relatively little resistance. Alden was born in Dallas, Texas to Glen and Traci Hirschfeld but grew up in Sylvania, Ohio where he played hockey for Sylvania Northview High School. Hirschfeld captained Northview to the state title game during his senior season (2005-06), scoring 64 goals that year which earned him the Mr. Hockey Ohio award. The award is given to the top high school hockey player in Ohio. After high school Alden played junior hockey with the Mahoning Valley Phantoms, a member of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) located in Ohio, for two seasons between 2006-2008. During his junior years Hirschfeld scored 86 points with 35 goals over the course of 104 games, once again showing off his offensive prowess. This would be a recurring theme for Hirsch during his amateur career. Following Junior hockey, the next stop was college play at Miami (OH) University. While a Miami Redhawk Hirschfeld played in four seasons, appearing in the national championship game as a freshman (08-09), helping Miami win the 2011 Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) tournament, and serving as an Alternate Captain and Captain during his junior and senior year respectively. By the end of his collegiate career Hirschfeld scored 70 points over 134 games played, solidifying his reputation as a point producer. But now it was time for the pro leagues and the biggest challenge of his career.
During the 2011-12 AHL season Hirschfeld got a small taste of professional hockey when he appeared in one game for the Portland Pirates. The following year is when Alden really broke through, playing in 55 games between the AHL Providence Bruins and the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays. Then Alden finally got the chance to play for his hometown Walleye. During the offseason between the 2013 playoffs and 2014 season he joined the Toledo Walleye, where he would end up splitting games between Toledo and the AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins for the next two seasons. Hirschfeld had reached the high point in his professional career, with only the normal bumps and bruises experienced by all hockey players. By this point in his professional career he had 120 career points across 221 games played. Adversity, however, finally caught up with Alden on January 8, 2016 while playing a game for the Griffins against the Milwaukee Admirals. Late in the second period Alden suffered a seizure on the bench and collapsed. Play was immediately stopped as the medical staff attended to him. Both teams were sent to their locker rooms, and Hirschfeld was stabilized before being stretchered off the ice and taken to a nearby hospital. This was the end of hockey for Hirschfeld during the 2015-16 season, and many thought he would have to hang up the skates altogether. Testing showed that there was a malformation in the left temporal lobe of Hirschfeld’s brain that was responsible for the seizure. So Alden had a choice to make: risk brain surgery to end the possibility of seizures that could also restart his hockey career, or avoid a dangerous procedure that could lead to serious unforeseen consequences in order to be there for his family. After all, at this point in his life Alden had to be concerned for the welfare if his wife and child, his child was a little over a year old. On March 14th, his decision was set into motion and Alden underwent brain surgery.
Following Hirschfeld’s surgery he posted a picture of his scalp where the doctors performed the procedure on his Twitter account.
The procedure used is called a craniotomy, which includes the removal of a piece of skull to gain access to the brain, followed by the removal of the malformed section of the temporal lobe. Following the surgery Hirschfeld returned home to Sylvania to recover with his family. Since the procedure there has been no reoccurrence of seizures, and no emergence of surgical complications. Step one was complete for Alden, to receive treatment and recover. Next up on the list? Return to hockey. Alden began training late in May to return to the sport he loved. Motivated by family, friends, teammates past and present, Hirsch regained the strength and conditioning needed to play professional hockey. After months of work all he needed was medical clearance. And he got it. On October 3rd, 2016 Alden Hirschfeld and the Toledo Walleye announced they had agreed to terms for the 2016-17 season. He participated in the Walleye training camp and preseason games against Kalamazoo, and rode with the team down to Atlanta to begin the season on the road as a first line center. During Toledo’s first game of the year against the Gladiators Hirschfeld scored the first goal for the Walleye shortly into the second period to cut the deficit 2-1. Though the Walleye would go on to lose their opener 4-1, what Hirschfeld accomplished that October 14th night will never be forgotten by the team and fans alike. Through three games Hirsch has five points with two goals and a +/- of 4. The courage and resolve that he has shown throughout this process is profound, and nobody could think of a better way to start the year than with his goal. Hopefully he can be properly rewarded with a Kelly Cup this year. Hirschfeld stands as an inspiration to not only the Toledo Walleye, but anyone who has had to deal with adversity throughout their life. He could have let his condition beat him, instead Hirsch used it to make him stronger. Toledo’s home opener is this Saturday, October 22nd. I cannot wait to hear the crowd as Alden Hirschfeld is introduced to the Huntington Center once again. Not just as a Toledo Walleye though, as a Toledo Warrior.
Hirschfeld winning a face off during Toledo’s October 7th preseason home game. | {
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Articles
How to persuade a customer to use high-quality equipment?
At any negotiations, presentations of GPS equipment at various events and exhibitions, the most frequently asked question is "how much is it?".
Does this mean that price is the most important factor for making a purchase? Not at all, because in the B2B market the buyer spends the company's money, not his own. Therefore, the sensitivity to the price is not so high – no one is chasing for say $20 savings, it is much more important to choose a technological solution that will last for many years, and not cause a "headache".
If we are talking about the choice of GPS tracking device, among the most crucial factors are: reliability, longevity, functionality, as well as flexibility, i.e. the possibility of making improvements over time.
Choose a first-class solution
Choosing high-quality equipment, the end customer avoids additional costs for complete replacement of equipment (cheap tracking devices are unlikely to last longer than 2 years), costs for diagnostics, repairs and site visits for service.
Considering the rapid technological progress, it is much more efficient to invest in flexible solutions, with sufficient extensibility to implement any changes. Multifunctionality is a must in the context of the growth of customers' needs.
In other words, high-quality equipment operates on the "set and forget" principle. Using Galileosky tracking devices, integrators around the world get higher margins, are confident in the proposed solution, and customers remain satisfied and develop long-term cooperation. Recommending Galileosky, integrators are remembered by end users as experts who offer a high-quality and exclusive solution.
Never start negotiations with the price
One of the most important rules for winning projects is never to start negotiations with the price. Choose the best product for your customer and be confident in what you offer. Remember, the loyal customer will recommend your services to others and you will get even more projects.
Be an expert
When you know, what you sell the customer feels it. The more you know – the more customers you can attract. Keep studying the product to understand the technical characteristics and capabilities of the tracking device. Become a Galileosky expert, visiting free webinars and seminars, studying the instructions for connecting new external devices. Take the trackers for a free test to experience first-hand all the possibilities.
Be different from others
When proposing a solution, focus on unique advantages of equipment. Tell your customer about the innovative development of Galileosky – Easy Logic technology; explain the possibilities of flexible settings and configuration on-the-air. Just show the track to the customer, this is the best indicator of the quality.
Emphasize that Galileosky equipment is remarkable for a large number of inputs/outputs of different types and has an open protocol. So, you can connect and integrate various additional devices to solve almost any tasks, use monitoring software to your taste or painlessly replace one software for another.
Get to know your customer better
Having discussed the advantages of the product, try to find out what the customer needs and wants. At this stage, it is the right time not only to draw up a detailed "portrait" of the tracking device in terms of technical parameters, but also to find out the required installation time and availability of a product. Once you find it out feel free to discuss the price. Do not forget that Galileosky can provide custom-made trackers, therefore, you will not have to overpay for unnecessary functionality.
Handle the objections
Do not leave the customer's objections unanswered. "Expensive"? Explain why it is worth buying. Considering the practice of using Galileosky GPS devices, the investment pays off after the first month. The longer service life of the solution – the higher ROI is. Galileosky hardware is one of the most reliable and durable on the market. It’s estimated service life is 10 years and the reject rate is less than 1% of all released products.
The customer claims that the solution is "excessively functional"? Clarify, how easier it will be to upgrade the solution in the future, than to re-equip everything from scratch. Provide examples of more significant economic results when implementing a non-standard solution. And, finally, offer to pay only for the required functionality by ordering custom-made devices.
If, as an argument, the end user states that he does not want to use hardware and software from different manufacturers, explain that you choose only the best components of the monitoring system from companies that specialize in their fields. Thus, the system will be more qualitative and flexible.
Call the manufacturer for assistance
Do not neglect the help of the manufacturer, even if you have rich experience in transport monitoring. The personal Galileosky manager will provide comprehensive support. From assessing the technical requirements of the end user, discussing the customization conditions and to joint participation in negotiations with customers or making presentation together online.
In addition, Galileosky is ready to discuss mutual exhibiting, provides free marketing materials to partners, and redirects the requests of end customers for the purchase and installation of trackers to reliable integrators in the regions. | {
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Welcome to Stabikes Finance. We are the ultimate company that you have been looking for. Have you been looking for car financing that seeks to understand what you need? Are you tired of filling countless number of forms in the bank only to be kept waiting for long for lengthy approval processes? We have nothing but the best to offer. These include low interest rates, easy form filling, and instant approval processes. As good as it sounds; we are nothing like the time wasting institutions.
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Stabikes Finance is liable to selling clients good quality cars at reasonable prices while making arrangements to have the car dealer offer the car to the client. We help spread the car repayment over a span of months or years helping you make easy payments for the car as you use it. This has made it possible for all to have cars of their choice with ease.
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Bad credit car financing refers to the practice of offering car finance services to individuals who have a bad credit rating. Stabikes Finance is listed among the top service providers offering bad credit finance. We look into the needs of our clients and assess their ability to repay the car loan before advancing them any debt obligations. This has actually been a helpful tool in aiding many improve their credit rating and repair their credit history.
Not all with a poor credit rating are unable to repay their debts. Bad credit rating may have been caused by financial difficulties triggered by loss of job or a global financial crisis. Over time, an individual may have recovered and is able to pay back their debts well. This however does not immediately erase the bad credit record once held. Turning our focus to such possibilities has enabled us to advance car financing to bad credit debt worthy individuals.
Stabikes Finance has a wide range of packages that are ideal for bad credit car financing. These packages can also be tailored to suit the repayment abilities of the clients thus ensuring that all get deals that they can comfortably afford. Choosing to overlook bad credit history while focusing on the current repayment ability has proved to be helpful.
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There are several benefits that you can enjoy when working with Stabikes Finance. Since we are focused in customer satisfaction, we ensure that our clients are able to: | {
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Nutrients, Volume 9, Issue 9 (September 2017) Issues are regarded as officially published after their release is announced to the table of contents alert mailing list. You may sign up for e mail alerts to receive table of contents of | {
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For a MP5 clone the ones coming in from Pakistani Ordnance Factory are HK spec and ready to go. They come in as a pistol so they are ready to convert to a SBR or add a pistol brace to.
For a G3 I would go with PTR. They are well-built, reliable, built on licensed HK equipment, and can be had for under $1000. I would get the GI model since it has the deeper flutes in the chamber meaning it will be able to eat any ammo you throw at it. I used to have one but sold it to my friend because he really wanted it and I upgraded to a Vector. The fact that the Vector had the paddle release was a major factor in me getting it. | {
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Oneida (2016)
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One of the great bands of the new millennium, Brooklyn's kings of psych and drone have been exploring propulsion and repetition for nearly twenty years, lighting the way for a generation of young Kraut-noise artists. Anchored by Kid Millions' Olympic-calibre drumming, their shows might be comprised of ethereal pulses, majestic long-form jams or pummeling squalls of feedback. Whatever they pull out of their grimy pockets, it will be a heavy trip. | {
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Coaching Client of Tony Inman – Bernie successfully regained his sales prowess after a slump in confidence and motivation and achieved record sales. He and his wife successfully sold off the majority of their business and commenced semi-retirement.
Associate of Coach Tony Inman. Read Tony’s book, ‘If Life’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Doing Well’ and was inspired to re-think his work/life balance and to immediately set up his business in such a way that he could take more holidays.
*****
David Bearsley – Business Marketing Consultant and Trainer, Owner of Superior Business Networks, Perth, Western Australia.
Associate of Coach Tony Inman. Worked with Tony to co-facilitate business improvement programs. Engages Tony to host his networking groups when taking vacations.
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If you still have questions, firstly check our FAQ page for more information.
So don’t delay – Take action today. Contact Tony Inman via this website for a chat about how he can help you to move forwards in the direction of your dreams and goals!
Or telephone 0419 860 382.
About Tony Inman – ‘The Change Catalyst’
If you want to make changes in your life, but you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed, and you need a guide to help you get there, then you can trust in the experience and 'life-wisdom' of this Coach and Guide who walks the talk, Tony Inman.
Tony is a serial entrepreneur who has set up and built around 23 small businesses in a variety of fields, experiencing many triumphs, plus his share of setbacks, along the journey.
Tony Inman is also a certified and experienced Life Coach and Business Coach, a Master Practitioner and certified Trainer in NLP, certified Trainer and Assessor, workshop facilitator and presenter.
Thanks to the reach of the internet, he has been assisting clients all around the world to move forwards in pursuit of happier, more successful and more fulfilling lives.
He has recently co-founded 'ONE80degree Films'to help businesses, not-for-profits and individuals to share their stories via two-minute videos through to feature-length documentaries.
Tony and his wife Jo also have a 'side-hustle' blog, where they provide an entertainment guide; promote local small businesses in Perth; support eco and marine-eco-friendly initiatives and generally promote helping people to live healthier and happier lives. You can follow them on Facebook at ToJo Life or via www.tojolife.com.au. | {
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Community Services Specialized
This Division is comprised of 3 specialized units. The INTENSIVE SUPERVISION / SERVICES UNIT (ISU), the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNIT, and the SEX OFFENDER UNIT (SOU). Caseloads assigned to the Division specialize in Mentally Ill Offenders (Behavioral Health Court- BHC); Community/ District Station Gang Offenders, Sex Offenders, Habitual Offenders, and Domestic Violence Offenders. Officers in this Division have a specific focus on cases in these areas of discipline and provide specialized attention to cases assigned to their respective caseloads. The officers in this Division generally have lower caseload sizes and provide a level of supervision which includes a significant amount of time in the community (“field”). There are some officers in this Division such as the Mental Health / BHC officers who provides some level of services for BHC clients (both probation clients and non-probation clients) as a collaborative partner in BHC process. They have certain office hours at Citywide Case Management Services in the community to facilitate the BHC services for these clients. Members of the Division attend various Community Meetings and Crime Reduction Meetings with various law enforcement agencies to provide theses service providers with input on how probation supervision efforts could be incorporated in these community activities. Certain Division assignments have collaborative process with specialized Courts such as Domestic Violence Court to provide coordinated collaborative services for probationers. These processes require staff to work closely with these community based agencies and in some cases they facilitate case conferences with these agencies to enhance these coordinated efforts. Staff in this Division used evidence based practices in the service and supervision efforts and has worked non-traditional hours to facilitate the needs of the assigned caseloads. | {
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Daniel Talks About, Flirting, Height, Drinking Issues & Other Stuff!
Written by: Chaitra
Published: Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 10:27 [IST]
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Daniel Radcliffe, the 26 years old actor, who once played the epic role of Harry Potter, recently spoke about the much adult stuff, like flirting, girlfriend, masturbation and alcohol issues and may other things during his interview with the Playboy magazine.
The 1.65 m tall British actor opened about his struggles dealing with fame, young age drinking , his inability to say 'no', and everything about his 8 Harry Potter series. He also used the platform to talk about his girlfriend Erin Darke.
Daniel did a 20 Q and A with Playboy. Below are a few of the questions and Daniel's brilliant answers combined with his simple and down to earth attitude that caught our attention. We must say, the actor does have an excellent sense of humour.
Daniel said:
On when he drank heavily at a very young age to deal with fame ..
"Anytime I'd go out to dance, camera phones would come out. That would make me very self-conscious, and what's the easiest way to escape being self-conscious? Alcohol is a quick way of doing that. So it was related in that way."
He also added "A few years ago there was a TV ad that showed a lot of inventors, including a guy who invented the camera phone. He was smiling smugly into the camera, and I was just like, Fuck you. What have you wrought? Camera phones are definitely not my favorite."
On whether there was time to masturbate on the sets
Daniel jokingly said, "Yeah, I was like every other teenager in that sense. My favorite line about masturbation is Louis C.K.'s, something like, "I found out about it when I was 11, and I didn't skip a day." I think I started very early-before my teens. But not when I was on set."
On his height issues in Hollywood ..
The actor said, "I don't think so. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise have very different careers, and they're both about the same height as I am. I could play a soldier. The minimum height for a marine is five feet, and I'm well above that. If you're asking, ‘Can you play a really (bleeping) tall person?' No, obviously not."
On when he first met his girlfriend and flirting ..
Daniel gushed about his incredibly smart and funny girlfriend. He spoke about the time he first met her on the sets in 2013 and said "That's a wonderful record of us flirting for the first time. There's no acting going on - not from my end, anyway. There's a moment when she makes me laugh, and I'm laughing as me and not as my character."
From height to masturbating and gushing about his girlfriend, Daniel rocked the interview and nailed every single question he was asked. He can now look forward to seeing the Harry Potter protagonist in many other roles in the near future and add more fiction characters to our list of favorites. | {
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The Nuiances of Mobile App Development Companies List
The Nuiances of Mobile App Development Companies List
The History of Mobile App Development Companies List Refuted
Price should not be a determining factor when picking an app developer. Mobile applications have come to be an essential part of any business to reviews app developer com run and keep in a highlight mode. Transformative mobile applications are more than capable of altering the industry game for virtually any organization that is remarkable.
If you don’t opt for the proper mobile app development company then you’ll unable to fulfill your plans. Possessing a seasoned group of professionals makes it straightforward for the firm to provide the services to the users. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software The firm is just one of the company solution for your custom made computer software development with higher excellent integration, development, security and quality assurance.
Whenever there’s a constant shift in business environment and client preferences, company owners should now secure conscious of the hottest choices and trends. The choice can be quite tricky because there are a lot of important factors to contemplate. There are many app development businesses in the competition who tend to provide you with the best services.
For the next two years it struggled to gain a foothold in the smartphone industry. It provides the best mobile app services to their customers. With years of experience, it builds solid feature-rich apps which are secure, reliable, and easy-to-use.
Hence, below are some critical points to select the top rated iPhone app development business in India or an Android app development business in India It’s important to consult the previous projects of the organization and the revenue generated by them. It’s possible for you to find world class app developers from India with high degree of design and development wisdom and experience. Depending on the sort of your app, you might also desire a permanent tech support team to promptly find any technical issues and fix them.
Finding the Best Mobile App Development Companies List
The Android SDK also includes an emulated virtual device that’s fully functional to allow you to test out your work. The app will start uploading wirelessly. They run in a special virtual machine called the Dalvik VM.
The simplicity of upgrading app and the total usability of the framework might prove to be a challenging experience. Rename the folder to android so that it’s going to be simple to navigate. In addition, examine the problems which you might face when building the app.
The iOS Developer Center has a broad variety of tools, hints, debugging tests and guides for creating apps for practically any objective. Before development begins, you will need to detect preciselyhowyou’ll use the app. It is one of the most prospering industry worldwide that has led to the existence of more than 3 million apps.
Mobile App Development Companies List – Overview
It is crucial to nearly all businesses. The cost for doing the very same in america is very likely to be an order of magnitude higher. It has more than 100 employees, who have at least five years of experience in the industry.
Success of any company depends upon its clients’ success. Working with Code Brew offers you a couple notable benefits. It might take a couple of minutes, particularly if it’s a huge app.
The Good, the Bad and Mobile App Development Companies List
QBurst is India based one of the significant mobile application development providers. Many businesses will supply the particulars of the key projects they have worked on through their sites. Consider the length of the upkeep of the enterprise app.
The NineHertz development procedure is a well-planned and strategic approach to several modules. For the better experience in the area of technology and apps, individuals have to pick the very best platform wisely. There transparent app growth strategies have made them one of the greatest mobile app growth businesses.
Agile development is the procedure of creating software applications which follow a disciplined approach to the project administration. Android phones are a breeze to use and navigate through its platforms. Leading app growth businesses are now investing in machinery and manpower space o technologies to maximize their marketability for business enterprises nowadays.
Lies You’ve Been Told About Mobile App Development Companies List
It’s also essential for customers to understand your general mobile app development procedure, which is precisely why this section is specially devoted to outlining and describing your services. Conclusion Hence bearing in mind the aforementioned factors and points, you can pick the finest mobile application development company that may fulfill every one of your requirements. A superb market penetration program should exist for a new market as everything is not yet been explored and also the present populated market can have plenty of ups and downs too.
Ideally, the development team is involved at the start of the undertaking, but in case the technical men and women that are actually likely to construct your cellular app aren’t already on board, now’s the opportunity to bring them in. Take into consideration the way that you need your app to bring profit. To put it differently, set your app in the hands of a couple men and women in your intended audience. | {
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Since a recent Stanford study showed that students at practically all grade levels can't determine fake news from the real stuff, the push to teach media literacy has gained new momentum. The study showed that while students absorb media constantly, they often lack the critical thinking skills needed to tell fake news from the real stuff.
Teachers are taking up the challenge to change that. NPR Ed put out a social media call asking how educators are teaching fake news and media literacy, and we got a lot of responses. Here's a sampling from around the country:
Fake news "Simon Says"
In Scott Bedley's version of Simon Says, it's not those two magic words that keep you in the game, but deciding correctly whether a news story is real or not.
To start off the game, Bedley sends his fifth-graders at Plaza Vista School in Irvine, Calif., an article to read on their laptops. He gives them about three minutes to make their decision — they have to read the story carefully, examine its source and use their judgment. Those who think the article is false, stand up. The "true" believers stay in their seats.
Bedley says he's been trying to teach his students for a while to look carefully at what they're reading and where it comes from. He's got a seven-point checklist his students can follow:
1. Do you know who the source is, or was it created by a common or well-known source? Example National Geographic, Discovery, etc.2. How does it compare to what you already know?3. Does the information make sense? Do you understand the information?4. Can you verify that the information agrees with three or more other sources that are also reliable?5. Have experts in the field been connected to it or authored the information?6. How current is the information?7. Does it have a copyright?
Subtle changes
Bedley also teamed up recently with Todd Flory at Wheatland Elementary School in Wichita, Kan., to do a fake news challenge via Skype. Flory's fourth-graders chose two real articles and wrote a fake article of their own. Then, they presented them to Bedley's class in California.
The fifth-graders had four minutes to do some extra research based on the presentations, and then they decided which article out of the three were fake. Most importantly, they had to explain why they thought it was fake. Otherwise, no points.
Flory says writing the fake news article was more difficult for his students than they expected because they had to make it believable.
"It really hammered home the idea to them that fake news doesn't have to be too sensational," he says. "It can be a very subtle change, but that subtle change can have big consequences."
Every Friday, Flory's class participates in what he calls Genius Hour. His students propose a question to answer through online research. But before they took to the Internet, Flory had to walk his students through the steps: What are reliable and trusted websites? How do you effectively search on the Internet and verify information?
He uses Skype to connect his students with researchers and scientists from all over the world. He calls this "authentic research."
"It's so much more powerful for them to do some of this authentic research when they're able to hear from a scientist who's seeing firsthand the effects of climate change," Flory says. This year's class got to talk to a penguin scientist.
Flory says he's not only teaching his students effective media literacy skills; he is also helping them to be better citizens through global engagement and interaction.
Let them eat fake (news)
Remember Marie Antoinette and "Let them eat cake" — her famous line about the poor that got her in all that trouble?
Thing is, it never happened. Fake news!
For Diane Morey and her ninth-graders at Danvers High School in Danvers, Mass., that's a teachable moment.
"The media of the day didn't have Facebook, Twitter or partisan websites," Morey says. "But they did have pamphlets."
She shows her class cartoons and pamphlets from the French Revolutionary period that criticized Antoinette, and then discusses the conclusions that were made from those sources. She also includes a primary source: a letter written by Antoinette.
Morey says history is rich with examples of fake news, and since source analysis is the core of her lesson plans, she doesn't need a textbook.
"We don't study [history] to memorize Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI," she explains. "We're studying this because we can see this happening in the current-day political climate."
Morey encourages students to bring in examples of articles from today's news that don't ring true.
"Once you expose it to them," she says, "it's like a game for them, seeing, 'Hey, I'm not sure I can trust this.' "
Extra layers
For 13 years, Larry Ferlazzo has been teaching kids who are learning English how to read and write. Now, he's adding another layer: helping them figure out if what they're reading is true.
Last month, he wrote a lesson plan on addressing fake news to English language learners (ELLs), which was published in The New York Times.
He says media literacy is especially important for ELLs for two reasons. First, they're not fluent in the language they're reading, adding an extra level of difficulty in deciding what to believe. On top of that, false or exaggerated news about immigration could have a major impact on their lives.
His lesson starts off with a few examples of reliable and fake news. Then, some basic journalism stuff: Students identify the different parts of the news, from the "lede" to quotations. They enter all that into a diagram on paper so they have a visual representation of what they're reading.
That diagram eventually becomes a guide for students to write their own fake news lede that they can share with other classmates or post on a class blog.
Media consumers and contributors
In 2015, Spencer Brayton and his colleague Natasha Casey revamped a media literacy course for students at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Ill. Brayton says the key is the critical approach.
"Students come in expecting that we're going to lecture," Brayton explains. "But we have them think about certain power structures in how information is produced and how it reaches them. If they're going to understand how they're going to take it in, then they have to know how the news is going to be produced."
To take the class, students need a Twitter account. From the very first week, they are asked to follow five to 10 accounts on Twitter that promote media and information literacy, like Media Literacy Now or Renee Hobbs.
As they follow these posts and add additional ones, the goal is that they'll start to recognize fake news and other biases or viewpoints in media.
By the end of the course, Brayton says students begin to see themselves not only as creators of information, but as credible sources of information too.
The Twitter assignments encourage his students to engage with social media - retweeting, following and commenting — which Brayton says helps his students see how they play a role in spreading information to other media consumers. That means they have to take what they share more seriously.
"In looking at this issue, people seem to want a quick solution to fake news, but I'm not sure there is a solution (at least an easy one)," Brayton writes in an email. "Students need to recognize that these skills and ideas need to stay with them through adulthood, but that's easier said than done — we all fall into this trap." | {
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"There's no doubting the footballs been shite." Exactly Harry, wtf have i been saying and getting dogs abuse from you for two seasons? You haven't been saying that for two years you've been spouting 'Trust in Jose' and trying to claim that games that have been shite have been great and that every fucker is to blame but Jose. I'm not calling for his head i'm calling for better more consistent football. Give the players a chance to be attacking, creative, brave. And stop crowing about beating average or worse teams.
Jose should expect Pogba to be disiplined / capable of a variation in midfield play ,he ain't exactly asking him to play in goal or right back , he may not be as effective in that place but that's up to Jose where he gets the best out of the lad .
The jury is out on where Pogba should play but that ain't Jose's , fault for me I think he should be a numb 10 behind in the present side Sanchez, but then Jose is relying to much on Matic , has Fellani injured ( and possibly in the departure lounge) Herrera not good enough but ultimately have to use him the kid who played Sat plus Carrick finished and a makeshift Blind.
As for the MEN article the manager was criticised for publicly calling out players early season and when he gives them encouragement in public he gets a pelter too?
"There's no doubting the footballs been shite." Exactly Harry, wtf have i been saying and getting dogs abuse from you for two seasons? You haven't been saying that for two years you've been spouting 'Trust in Jose' and trying to claim that games that have been shite have been great and that every fucker is to blame but Jose. I'm not calling for his head i'm calling for better more consistent football. Give the players a chance to be attacking, creative, brave. And stop crowing about beating average or worse teams.
Belt up you big tart. What the fuck do you know about consistency. It doesn't matter how they've played you've always found time to slate Joey. End of.
I saw that Jose said something about the need to work on our "attacking dynamic", or something like that, after the last game. I'm glad that he recognises that. Sanchez is a good player who improves our forward line, but it really doesn't look like it's more than the sum of its parts, it's just three (or four) individual players doing their thing.
We were banging in the goals in the first month of the season, but our scoring rate has been gradually dribbling downward since then. In fact, after the first six games, which we did really well in, our record for the past 20 games is exactly the same as Liverpool's.
"Despite his reputation, United manager's faith in youth has put Guardiola in the shade"
It was mostly overlooked at the time, a casualty of the fanfare surrounding Alexis Sanchez's signing a few days earlier, but when Manchester United announced Jose Mourinho had signed a new contract last month, there was a line from the club's executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, praising the manager's commitment to blooding youth."He has embraced the club's desire to promote top quality young players to the first team," said Woodward, a pointed response to those who suggested the Portuguese would pay little more than lip service to the club's rich traditions of cultivating home-grown talent.Those suggestions had solid enough foundations. For all the success Mourinho's managerial career has brought him, there has been a perennial black splodge next to the box marked youth development and no one has been more aware of this than the man himself.It has felt very different at United, though, and while entrenched reputations can take a long time to change, certain perceptions are, for now at least, being challenged.There has been an understandable rush to measure Mourinho and United's every move against what Pep Guardiola has been doing at Manchester City. But while Guardiola has raised all sorts of bars this term, there is a certain irony that Mourinho - "the monster that kills the little kids" as he sarcastically described himself last week - has bought into the academy ethos in a way his great adversary, often heralded as a champion of youth, has yet to do with any particular conviction down the road.Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, and on a weekend when United supporters honoured the memory of the Busby Babes - one of the ultimate symbols of the potency of youth - there was something rather poignant about Mourinho dropping Paul Pogba and playing academy graduate Scott McTominay in the £89million man's place against Huddersfield.Before anyone hints at an ulterior motive there, it is worth remembering that Mourinho has never been one for sentiment and that McTominay had already made more starts this season than the entirety of the five academy graduates at City who have fleetingly tasted first-team football under Guardiola since August. Note, too, that Marcus Rashford has made more appearances - 90 - than anyone since Mourinho took charge at United and another academy graduate, Jesse Lingard, who has also flourished, is fourth on that list.While Mourinho was extolling the virtues of McTominay, or the "kid" as he affectionately calls him, Guardiola was whining about not having enough players in the wake of a mounting injury list and a failed move for Riyad Mahrez, and reiterated the point with a grimly petty decision to name only six substitutes against Burnley.Such arguments really do not hold much sway when you have spent £450 million in 19 months and have an academy awash with exciting talents, any number of whom would have benefited from the experience of a match-day with the first-team squad. "If you're the academy or reserve-team manager at Manchester City, you must think, 'I'm wasting my time'," said Gary Neville, the former United defender and Sky Sports pundit. "Rather than saying in an interview, 'I haven't got the players', he could say he's brought a young player from the youth team who has been wonderful this season. It's really poor. And I can guarantee you the youth-team coach and reserve-team coach at Manchester City will feel disheartened by him having six players on the bench."It was a wretched move Mourinho's critics might have once expected him to make but the tide seems to be turning. | {
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In this category you can find us all stand for the presentation of your cupcakes. Choose between different types of stands, in different materials and prices. Present your creations correctly and completely or Set a beautiful showcase. | {
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As Erick noted earlier today, my fellow Texans have a clear, distinct choice as to who will be the Speaker of the Texas House coming up this Tuesday, January 11th. Let’s be honest. There is a clear cut difference between Joe Straus and Ken Paxton. For more on that, check this site out. In spite of all the ads he has bought on Drudge, NewsMax | Read More »
As Erick noted earlier today, my fellow Texans have a clear, distinct choice as to who will be the Speaker of the Texas House coming up this Tuesday, January 11th. Let’s be honest. There is a clear cut difference between Joe Straus and Ken Paxton. For more on that, check this site out. In spite of all the ads he has bought on Drudge, NewsMax | Read More » | {
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Tag: crocodiles
Crocodiles like to lurk in the shallows, preparing to pounce. They are not, as a general rule, strong enough swimmers to go on extended ocean cruises whenever they feel like it. Despite this, these creatures managed to reach islands across the South Pacific. How?
Surfing.
A group of scientists led by Craig Franklin, and including the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, studied saltwater crocs from the Kennedy River area of Northeastern Australia for about a year for a study forthcoming in the Journal of Animal Ecology. The team tagged 20 animals with receivers to give both their position and body temperature.
They found that eight crocodiles undertook a total of 42 long-distance journeys of more than 10 kilometres [6.2 miles] per day. In 96% of these trips, the reptiles traveled with the current flow. In contrast, the crocodiles were equally likely to travel with and against the current flow when making short journeys [Nature].
The body temperature reading gave the scientists another way to verify this, besides matching croc travel habits to changing ocean currents. When the tide went against the crocs, they just hung out on the beach and their body temperature rose to 90 degrees F as they soaked up the sun. However, when the current became favorable and they went traveling, their temperatures descended to more like 77 degrees.
A thrilling set of ancient crocodile fossils have been unearthed in northern Africa. A “saber-toothed cat in armor” and a pancake-shaped predator are among the strange crocodile cousins whose bones have been found beneath the windswept dunes of the Sahara, archaeologists say [National Geographic News].
At a news conference organized by the National Geographic Society, which sponsored the research, scientists announced that the fossils represent 5 species; 3 new species and 2 that were previously known. These ancient croc ancestors, known as crocodilyforms, are unlike any crocodiles encountered in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the research team. Their findings are detailed in the journal ZooKeys.
The crocs were spectacularly diverse, and included a species that ate dinosaurs, two that grew up to 20 feet long, and two that had long legs for quick movement on land but also had long tails for swimming. The three new species are:
• BoarCroc (Kaprosuchus saharicus), a 20-foot meat-eater. It used its snout for ramming and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs for slicing dinosaurs it ate.
• PancakeCroc (Laganosuchus thaumastos): a 20-foot-long, squat fish-eater with a 3-foot long flat head with spike-shaped teeth.
Who knew that baby crocodiles are such tender little creatures? According to researchers, they start crying out for their mothers before they’ve even cracked their shells and poked their long noses out into the world: The little crocs make an “umph! umph! umph!” sound right before they hatch [Reuters]. Now a study has shown that the noises they make from within their shells aren’t just idle chatter, but instead play an important role in the hatching.
A team of French researchers studied Nile crocodiles, and found that the calls prompted mother crocodiles to dig the eggs out of the dirt. The cries also seemed to alert all the babies inside their shells that it was time to hatch, leading to a neatly synchronized hatching that could have an evolutionary benefit, researchers say. | {
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WP8: low on battery? go “ease of access”
Windows Phone comes with a “battery saver” feature that can be a life saver when you are running low on battery. This feature turns off some services while on standby and preserve battery life. When this service is on you can still receive calls and text, but apps run only when you open them and email must be synced manually.
Another way I have found to significantly extend my battery life is Ease of Access . This “side effect” IS NOT reflected in the Estimated Time Remaining which is updated when you turn batter saver on. The key to this is AMOLED.
Ease of Access allows you to turn high contrast on. This feature changes the colors for some features, and hides some of their background images. A lot of mobile phones today use AMOLED displays, which according to Wikipedia its power consumption is based on color displayed.
“The amount of power the display consumes varies significantly depending on the colour and brightness shown. As an example, one commercial QVGA OLED display consumes 0.3 watts while showing white text on a black background, but more than 0.7 watts showing black text on a white background, while an LCD may consume only a constant 0.35 watts regardless of what is being shown on screen.[10] Because the black pixels actually turn off, AMOLED also has contrast ratios that are significantly better than LCD.”
Ease of Access turns off a large percentage of the screen to black (including no lock screen image) and in the process extending battery life significantly (this assertion is based on experience no empirical measurements). In fact, I use it permanently now not only for the benefit of battery life but it makes my phone look more eccentric.
Here is what the start page looks like under both settings.
Ease of Access on
Only apps using system colors are affected when the setting is turn on.
Steps to turning Ease of Access:
Select Settings, then scroll down and select Ease of Access, turn High contrast ON. – done! | {
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Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Organisation : Karshaka Information Systems Services And Networking (KISSAN)Organisation Profile : Karshaka Information Systems Services And Networking (KISSAN) is an integrated, multi-modal delivery of agricultural information system, which provides several dynamic and useful information and advisory services for the farming community across Kerala. It is one of the leading citizen centric e-governance projects of the Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Kerala. The project was conceived, developed and managed by the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management- Kerala for the Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Kerala.
Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Organisation : Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD)Organisation Profile : Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) is an autonomous educational institution established by the Government of Kerala in 1987. The institute is registered under The Travancore – Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable societies registrations Act 12 of 1955. The management of the institute is vested with a Governing Body composed of with the Hon’ble Minister of Education, Kerala State, as the Chairman and Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education Department, Government of Kerala as the Vice-Chairman.
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Organisation : Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT - Kerala)Organisation Profile : Indian Institute of Handloom Technology is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Industries, Government of Kerala and the nodal agency in the State for giving input of Science and Technology to the traditional Handloom Textile Industry. The Institute was established and registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 in the year 1987 in the name of Institute of Handloom and Textile Technology(IHTT). Now the Institute of Handloom and Textile Technology is amalgamated to Indian Indian Institute of Handloom Technology which is working on the guidelines of Indian Institute of Handloom Technologies (IIHTs),Ministry of Textiles and Govt of India.
Monday, 7 August 2017
Information Kerala Mission (IKM) : Address, Phone & Email
Organisation : Information Kerala Mission (IKM)Organisation Profile : Information Kerala Mission (IKM), an autonomous institution under Local Self Government Department, Government of kerala has been setup with a mandate to strengthen the local self-governance through ICT applications. It is largest and most comprehensive local body computerization initiative in the country, which envisage computerizing and networking the 1209 local self government institutions in Kerala. It addresses the entire gamut of issues concerning local body governance, decentralized planning, and economic development at local economic development.
Infopark, Kakkanad, Kochi : Address, Phone & Email
Organisation : Infopark, KochiOrganisation Profile : Infopark located at Kochi, is the new IT Park being developed by the Government of Kerala. To set up this project, Government has transferred 100 acres of land which is now under the ownership and possession of Infoparks Kerala, which is an independent Society fully owned by the Government.Infopark has ambitious plans to become one of the major IT Parks in the country. With this vision, it has been growing fast ever since its inception in 2004, and within a short period of time, has attracted investments from IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Affiliated Computer Services, OPI Global, IBS Software Services and US Technology. Because of the fast growth rate achieved and strategic positioning of the Park in the upcoming city of Kochi (previously known as Cochin), Infopark is well known among the IT/ITES investors as a very potential destination. | {
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Home | Historical Sources | Scholarship | Web Resources | Search | About American Egyptomania is a joint project of the Center for History and New Media, the Department of English, and the College of Arts and Sciences Technology Across the Curriculum program at George Mason University. | {
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NEW DELHI: The aviation ministry has opposed the government’s demand for all of the Airports Authority of India’s profit for fiscal 2018 to be paid as dividend. The state-owned airport operator needs money to fund upgrades and expansion, aviation minister Suresh Prabhu said in a note to finance minister Arun Jaitley that was sent last month, said a senior government official.
“Exemption from payment of full profit as dividend has been sought on grounds that AAI has to invest a lot of money in upgrades at various airports and this money would be required over and above the money that we are planning to raise,” said the official, who did not want to be identified.
The government, through the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), has sought payment of profits in their entirety by government-owned companies as dividend. The move has been resisted by others PSUs too.
AAI has vast infrastructure plans as it looks to meet the requirements of the country’s aviation market, which has been growing in double digits for over four years now, putting pressure on existing facilities. It’s in the process of raising Rs 9,500 crore over a period of three years from the market to meet these upgrade costs. | {
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reconciliation songs
My morning introspection had a catalyst. Barenaked Ladies’ new song ‘War On Drugs.’ The song verbalizes the exact changes I’m making in myself. Letting the tug-of-war relationships of my past go, ridding myself of the guilt and shame… saying goodbye to the demons haunting me, that kept me such company. Maybe it will be dull without all this drama, and maybe it will be odd to make myself happy, like I always thought I was supposed to feel, but never seemed to be. So one point for me.
I’m listening to Coldplay’s The Sceintist as I write this. Any song where a man is starting his sentence with “I’m sorry” is a good one. A song about reconciliation. Well done. I like men who show up in the middle of the night if you’re fighting on the phone, or the guy who when you sneak out of his apartment, chases you into the street, finds you in a cab and pleads for you to please come back inside… “there are things that need to be said.” I guess I love people who can realize they’re making mistakes before they make them. Romantics who know what to do if they ever are in a relationship.
Nobody said it was easy. It’s such a shame for us to part. Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.
I love reconciliation. I just always thought it would be with a boy; I never thought I’d be reconciling with myself. | {
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Canada Wood Today | The Canada Wood Group
Construction market statistics can be used to make informed decisions on market development
Construction market statistics provide government, industry, and associations with a basis for making decisions on strategic direction and investments. For example, in the past a strong understanding of residential and non-residential statistics in Canada and the US contributed to the successful development of the wood mid-rise construction sector. Today, market statistics help guide the approach to tall wood construction.
Unfortunately, there is not adequate construction data in China at this time put forward a similar data-based strategy for market development. Better information of building size, height, and material would provide key insights into where the opportunities for wood construction are. This enhanced market knowledge would not only benefit industry, but it could provide Chinese planners with insights on how a shift to wood construction could potentially reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.
What do we know?
China already has good data available to provide us insights on the health of the construction market. For example, in 2014, China started 1.25 billion square metres of residential construction. In the same year 1.05 billion square metres of new residential construction was sold, accounting for 10.1 million housing units. When building common areas are accounted for (assuming 20% of floor area is not saleable) this puts the Chinese real estate market as a whole in relative balance in 2014.
We are also able to break this information down on a more granular level (provincial/regional/municipal). Using this approach, we know that there are vast regional differences as the ratio of construction sold –to-started varies. In Shanghai, during 2014, 1.44 square metres of completed and future residential construction was sold for every 1 metre that was started, indicating high future construction activity. On the other hand, in Shanxi the overall ratio of sales to starts was only 0.65, indicating low demand.
However, while this type of data is a good indicator of market activity, it provides little information for targeting wood building systems to specific markets.
Click on images to enlarge
Figure 1 – Ratio of residential floor area sold to started 2013/2014 (assumes 20% of floor area started is common area).
Figure 2 Number of Housing Units Sold 2014
What do we need to develop an understanding of the wood construction sector?
There are a number of key statistics that would help in the development of strategies around wood construction. It is hoped that in the coming months Canada Wood, with assistance from FPInnovations, will conduct an investigation with MOHURD to determine the feasibility of collecting additional statistics. Examples of statistics that would be useful include:
Number of buildings started
Statistics by number of storeys (floor area and number of units)
Units started
Primary construction material
In China the challenge is this data lies with thousands of local permitting offices across the country. A system needs to be developed to funnel the data into a centralized location. The next step is to collaborate with one single municipal department to learn what statistics they currently collect and to see what they are willing to share. Once we understand what is possible to do with a single jurisdiction, we can start to consider how to consolidate construction data from across the country. Through addressing statistics of common interest for both MOHURD and Canada Wood this initiative is most likely to move forward. | {
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Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tattoo Crosses
Here we have a clean and simple, and recently tattooed, Gothic iron cross tattoo. Many tattoo crosses can have a clutter and other images mixed up with them but I tend to admire the cleanliness of this one. This simple cross is basic to the Gothic Iron Cross but is rendered in a thick-and-thin beveled line that lends itself well to the tattoo medium. The stark simplicity is its most memorable attribute. It is also meant to stand for a dagger of a type, a dagger for God’s work if you will, and that is why it has a point at its bottom.
This is a very sharp looking gothic cross and I like it very much. I am the type of person who likes very slick, clean lines and for me the simpler something is, the better. If I were out and about and looking to get myself any kind of cross tattoo put on myself this is exactly what I would get. Because after seeing all of the tattoo crosses I have seen, and believe me, I have seen a lot of them, this one is what appeals to me the most.
This is a whole selection of different tattoo crosses. The style that a person may be interested in depends on their personality and the meaning they attribute to the designs. Since their are so many tattoo crosses to choose from, let me give you a rundown of the two most popular ones. It’s a good starting point for your research. The Latin Cross is highly recognizable in the world of tattoos, as it is comprised of a vertical line intersected at right angles by a shorter horizontal line positioned around 1/3 of the way from the top. This uncomplicated design is often associated with Christianity and is frequently used to pay tribute to others. One of the most attractively designed crosses is the Celtic selection, where a knot is created in the space where both lines cross. The Gothic Cross mirrors the German style of elaborate wrought iron work displayed during the Edwardian and Victorian periods. This type of cross is often used to express pain, anger, and the Goth culture. Many designs associated with the Gothic Cross utilize dark imagery, such as barbed wire and daggers. Now, that you have a little background you can do a search on the internet and see if those are the designs you like and maybe even find a few more. | {
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Had a great day here, its a proper little sun trap and out the wind. Loads to climb over and rummage round, I tried looking for stamped brick but they are thin on the ground, saw one from the high harbour as the tide was coming in, a flimsy excuse to go back again at low tide. I do reccomend this one if your in the area. Lots of Cast wheels and bits and bobs along the imediate shoreline also.
The works as you see it today is not as it was in the late 19th Century. Most of the existing site was constructed at the turn of the 20th Century and evolved from there onwards according to refinement of the techniques for making the bricks. Mining by manual endeavor lasted from around 1850 to 1914, even though the Porth Wen brick works was taken over by a German named Herr Steibel in 1906. Now Herr Steibel would never have undertaken the management of the works unless he believed there would be a profitable return for his endeavours. Poor Misguided Fool. Herr Steibel’s tenure only lasted until 1908 when a Charles Tidy took over. Progress in manufacture revealed itself in how the individual bricks were made. Unlike Herr Steibel, who had continued with the traditional moulding and wire cutting into shape, Mr. Tidy used a simple shape pressing technique that cut out a time-consuming and therefore expensive stage of production. However, because of technical – or was it personality issues, as alleged elsewhere - the quality of the final product declined markedly and the work at Porth Wen came to an end in 1914. The beginning of the First World war should have been a profitable time serving the wartime steel industry; nonetheless, it failed. The brickworks remained unused until 1924. Production struggled on until 1949 when they finally gave up the ghost. | {
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Burpee 350 for MS
ABOUT THE EVENT
Welcome all to the official Burpee 350 W.O.D. site where we will all come together on Oct 4 or 5th 2014 to do 350 burpees for time to benefit Multiple Sclerosis. This event is being held by burpees4ms and is our main fundraiser of the year. Register as an individual (firebreather) , 2,3,4 or seven person team relay (where each participant does 50 burpees till they reach 350) or partner (175 each). Come show your support to this event and make all the donation goals a reality for those who live with the affliction of Multiple Sclerosis. Buy-in for the event is $15 per person plus a small charge to cover the credit card fees. $15 goes straight to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Our 2014 goal is to surpass the $100,000 mark. Lets make a difference! $66,636 has been raised to date!!!!
Related Events
Who is coming?
Welcome all to the official Burpee 350 W.O.D. site where we will all come together on Oct 4 or 5th 2014 to do 350 burpees for time to benefit Multiple Sclerosis. This event is being held by burpees4ms and is our main fundraiser of the year. Register as an individual (firebreather) , 2,3,4 or seven person team relay (where each participant does 50 burpees till they reach 350) or partner (175 each). Come show your support to this event and make all the donation goals a reality for those who live with the affliction of Multiple Sclerosis. Buy-in for the event is $15 per person plus a small charge to cover the credit card fees. $15 goes straight to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Our 2014 goal is to surpass the $100,000 mark. Lets make a difference! $66,636 has been raised to date!!!! | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Daily Pilot
Commentary: High-speed rail project is a train wreck
By Keith Curry
1:55 PM PDT, March 21, 2014
Advertisement
As a financial advisor to governments, your job is to tell sometimes hard truths about the financial implications of public plans. Governments ignore these financial consequences at the peril of taxpayers and long-term financial health.
Unfortunately, the California High-Speed Rail Authority's financial plan, as it is currently conceived, ignores some hard truths. It would be a slow-moving train wreck that would do economic damage to California for generations.
I should know. Fifteen years ago, I was the financial advisor to California High-Speed Rail.
In 1999, the system was estimated to cost $24 billion to $34 billion and take 10 years to construct from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles. In looking at the various means available to the state to finance the project, it quickly became apparent to us that system revenues were too speculative and too far off in the future to be the basis of a financial strategy.
At that time, train fares were estimated to be 60% of airfares between L.A. and the Bay Area. It was a time when air costs were higher (pre-Southwest expansion), and the key assumption was a less-than-three-hour travel time from city center to city center. Now, flight costs are actually lower in real terms, the travel time significantly longer, and the proposed system does not come anywhere close to connecting the city centers.
In order to actually generate the construction funding required, we identified the fact that the system must seek its own dedicated funding source. Trying to use existing funding sources would simply take funds away from schools and other important state priorities. We specifically determined that trying to use state general obligation bonds would not be feasible and would exhaust the state's borrowing capacity and unfairly crowd out funding for water, highways and schools.
If the state wanted to build this project, we said, it needed to be honest with Californians and ask them to consider enacting a dedicated funding source. We advised the rail authority to give voters the ability to decide for themselves, with all the financial pros and cons on the table, whether this project was worthy.
So-called "manna from heaven" strategies, where assumptions were made about magic "private investment," would have been a dishonest approach to real project funding. At that time, a statewide quarter-cent sales tax, among other options, would have been sufficient, given the engineering estimates. Our job as financial advisors was to identify a strategy that would actually work, not one that would deceive the voters.
Of course the state ignored our advice. Then-state Sen. Jim Costa passed a general obligation (GO) bond authorization for $9.9 billion that was narrowly approved by the voters. The Obama administration briefly offered a small amount of high-speed rail grant funding. California alone bit on this offer of federal support.
State GO bonds are not a funding source; they are debt proceeds that must be paid back. The annual debt service on $9.9 billion would add approximately $650 million to the state budget each year for 30 years. While the state could receive a little over $3 billion in federal grant funds, federal requirements require repayment if the project is not completed as promised. Today's project business plan does indeed rely on "manna from heaven" in the form of imagined "private investment" once the project is underway.
In the meantime, project costs have soared as the route has been adjusted to respond to political pressure. Passenger revenue estimates drop when travel time and end-to-end accessibility are sacrificed. Even if the state was to finance the full $9.9 billion and get all the federal grants, the project would still be $55 billion short of completion, and that is an optimistic number.
Ridership constrained to just the Central Valley would produce an operating deficit, which would further exacerbate the state-funding drain. If the project was not completed as projected (a likely scenario), the federal government would seek reimbursement of its $3 billion.
The project could not be built without a tax increase in 1999, and it cannot be built today without raising taxes, which I strongly oppose. Gov. Jerry Brown should level with the voters about this hard fact before this project becomes a financial train wreck that would saddle future generations with substantial debt and no real improvements in mobility or economic growth. Let's pull the switch before it is too late.
KEITH CURRY is a Newport Beach councilman and candidate for the 74th Assembly district. | {
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For Courses
A written feature highlighting the services offered and the course layout, this helps build value to the golfer.
Golf Guide Digital Platform
WHAT IS DIGITAL ADVERTISING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
Digital advertising is the tactic of leveraging the internet and its properties to deliver promotional ads to consumers on various channels
Like its predecessor—traditional advertising—a digital ad can help tell the story of your brand. Unlike traditional advertising, digital advertising is universal and flexible, enabling you to tell your business story or feature your golf course on the channels that your buyers frequent—through text, images, video, and more. Digital advertising has evolved considerably since the first clickable ad hit the internet in 1994. Today, instead of advertising creating noise that distracts from the content your buyers want to read, digital advertising can be part of an ongoing conversation that your Golf Course or business has with its customers. Digital ads are everywhere. They can be seen on the websites your buyer visits, on his or her’s mobile phone, on social media channels, and on his or her’s smartwatch. Because advertising proliferates across so many channels, including very personal channels, you need to be more cognizant than ever before about providing useful, engaging content. Luckily, due to behavioral targeting technologies and our engaging drone video platforms, these continuous conversations are possible. And by leveraging these technologies at scale, you can nurture your buyers in a very personalized way until they are ready to become customers. As Golf Guide marketers, we may feel like we have come a long way with digital advertising, but we are still in the early stages. With digital advertising continuing to gain momentum, it is more vital than ever before to make it an integral part of your holistic marketing mix. | {
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DaVincitag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-834479566833968762012-04-20T08:28:09+02:00TypePadWoodStEx 2011 — European Engineering and Design Students At Worktag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0128777974db970c0168ea7082a7970c2012-04-20T08:28:09+02:002012-04-20T08:28:09+02:00via www.youtube.comMichal Jelinek
Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan cometh - London Life - Life & Style - Evening Standardtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0128777974db970c016302c2b51b970d2012-03-12T22:59:18+01:002012-03-12T22:59:18+01:00As Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, he is the driving force behind the firm’s products, from the Mac computer to the iPod, iPhone and, most recently the iPad. He spoke exclusively to the Evening Standard at the firm’s Cupertino headquarters. via www.thisislondon.co.ukMichal Jelinek
As Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, he is the driving force behind the firm’s products, from the Mac computer to the iPod, iPhone and, most recently the iPad. He spoke exclusively to the Evening Standard at the firm’s Cupertino headquarters.
An alternative way of reverse surfacing - Forza Motorsporttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0128777974db970c0168e7b7874a970c2012-02-21T07:05:36+01:002012-02-21T07:05:36+01:00Michal Jelinek
Car Design News - Maya webinartag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0128777974db970c0163016da94e970d2012-02-15T14:06:10+01:002012-02-15T14:06:10+01:00This webinar is focused on examining the benefits of using polygon modeling for concept development. In particular it will focus on the unique interaction that is possible between Autodesk Maya 2012 and Alias Automotive 2012 while exploring the workflow that moves data between both applications. This session will also explain...Michal Jelinek
This webinar is focused on examining the benefits of using polygon modeling for concept development. In particular it will focus on the unique interaction that is possible between Autodesk Maya 2012 and Alias Automotive 2012 while exploring the workflow that moves data between both applications. This session will also explain best practices to achieve realistic Automotive Interior parts in Autodesk Maya and will conclude with the final design being completed in Autodesk Alias Automotive.
Tatra 603 - a bit of history ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0128777974db970c0163009a71f0970d2012-02-02T19:33:03+01:002012-02-02T19:33:03+01:00... with new music and new edit. Could you believe that the original movie is 50 years old? It was made to promote the Tatra 603. Pretty long for a commercial, but great to watch.Michal Jelinek
... with new music and new edit. Could you believe that the original movie is 50 years old? It was made to promote the Tatra 603. Pretty long for a commercial, but great to watch. | {
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NHAI to develop Paradip-Daitary highway.
With Paradip-Daitary expressway in Odisha in pathetic shape, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to develop the highway on an 'Operate-Maintain Transfer' (OMT) mode, NHAI officials said.
The tender-bidding process is on to hand over the maintenance work of the highway to a private firm. The contract would be for six years to repair and maintain the highway. As the highway is in bad shape in certain patches, a local construction company has been entrusted to undertake repair till OMT bid is finalised, the officials said.
The busy highway otherwise called as Paradip-Daitary expressway incidentally happens to be the principal road between the mineral-rich areas and Paradip port, a stretch of 77 km. Replete with potholes, the highway has come under roadside encroachment at strategic traffic junctions.
A 10-KM stretch of the road, (Bhutamundai to Atharbanki), is not in a motorable condition and one has to undergo a bitter experience at many places on the road as the road is replete with hundreds of potholes.
'We have urged upon the officials to set right the road in perfect condition so as to ensure speedy travel,' said Paradip Private Truck Operators' Union President Sumant Biswal. | {
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He’s the most beautiful being, angel man. With a heart as big as the moon. The most loving, adorable man. I’ve never seen anybody as beautiful as he. Perfect perfect. We’re in love with each other, completely. He’s the strongest leader on earth today, a messenger of Allah. Most beautiful.
Islamic thought has experienced much advancement since the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); with the emergence of new schools of thoughts such as the Mu’tazila, the bewildering world of Sufism, etc. At the same time, a Muslim is inclined to ask the question: Was it true advancement? After all, knowledge as it were, was complete with the Holy Qur’an. Why search for more? – The answer is provided by the Qur’an; as Allah says to the Prophet of Islam, “Say: O Lord! Give me more knowledge! (Surah 20)”
The Prophet Muhammad had said, “Seek knowledge even if you must go to China.” Hence, the scientists and scholars of Islam left no stone unturned to seek greater knowledge about the heavens and the earth. The ordinary believers who may not spend as much time with knowledge as do the saints, scientists, and scholars; were left to answer the essential question for themselves: Who is more correct – the scientist, the scholar, or the saint? Also in Islam there are various schools of thought teaching dissimilar albeit similar modes of the five daily prayers, e.g. Hanafi, Shafi, etc. To add to the variety of practices from which to choose, the modern-day cosmopolitan youth is confronted by a host of global religions, some of which remind him about truth that is intrinsic to the soul.
Allah says in the Qur’an: “Those who believe and those who are Jews, Christians and Sabeans, [in fact] anyone who believes in God and the Last Day, and acts honorably will receive their earnings from their Lord: no fear will lie upon them nor need they feel saddened” (Surah 2). The Qur’an insists on belief in oneness of God. And so, all saints, scholars and scientists of Islam in addition to the ordinary believers have one belief in common: Belief in One God, Allah Supreme, Lord of the universe. This is the heart of Islam. Belief in Muhammad as the prophet of Islam, and beliefs in the Day of Judgment as well as the unseen world of angels are also essential.
Politicians are among the richest people on earth today, virtually selling the lives of the innocent to get richer by the minute. There are serious human rights abuses around the world, thanks to political corruption. And it’s not just Zardari whom people think is out to sell Pakistan. We know the United States is extremely corrupt. When a Harvard University professor gets away with rape in the U.S. just because the person complaining of rape is a student — you know U.S. can be considered equivalent to a jungle in Africa. See http://owurapist.blogspot.com
Here’s God’s take on things:
They say: “If the Mercy-giving had so wished, we would not have worshipped them.” No matter what knowledge they may have about that, they are still merely guessing. Or have We given them a book already which they try to hold on to?
Moreover they say: “We found our forefathers following such a community and we are merely being guided along their tracks.” Just the same We have not sent any warner into a town previous to you unless its highlivers said: “We found our forefathers with such a community, and are merely being led along their tracks.” He said: “Even if I should bring you better guidance than what you found your forefathers had?”, they would say: ‘We reject anything you are sent with!”
We have been avenged on them; see what the outcome was for those who denied [it all]! (Qur’an)
Basically, the “high-livers” are too complacent to believe in truth when falsehood is working for them so well in the worldly sense. Are the innocent destroyed with the corrupt? — No, provided that they’ve consistently opposed corruption. They should be praying against the corrupt if nothing else.
We have never acted as punishers until We have despatched some messenger: yet whenever We want to wipe out some town, We order its high-livers so they act depraved in it; thus the Sentence about it is proven to be right and We utterly annihilate it. How many generations did We destroy since Noah? Sufficient is it for your Lord to be Informed, Observant of His servants’ sins! (Qur’an)
Now both the Christians and the Muslims are expecting Jesus Christ or the Mahdi to emerge during this time. Do you think he’d side with the corrupt here or there? Would he shake hands with Obama or Bush, both engaged in perpetual war and under whose leadership countless innocents are killed day after day? Or would he side with the likes of Zardari or bin Laden?
We hurry good things up for them, yet they do not even notice it! Those who feel anxious out of awe for their Lord, and those who believe in their Lord’s signs, and those who do not associate anything with their Lord, and those who give away anything they may give while their hearts feel wary lest they should return to their Lord; [all] those compete in doing good deeds and they will soon attain them.
We only assign a soul something it can cope with. Before Us lies a Book which speaks up for Truth; they will not be dealt with unjustly. Instead their hearts are full of excitement because of this. They have other deeds besides those which they are committing, so that whenever We seize their high-livers with torment, just imagine how they bellow! “Do not roar [so loud] today; you will not be supported by Us. My signs have already been recited to you while you proudly turned on your heels away from it, sitting up nights to chatter on and on about it.” (Qur’an)
God says He would not argue with the dumb.
We have sent no town a warner unless its high-livers said: “We are disbelievers in what you have been sent with.” They say: “We have more wealth and children, and will not be tormented!” SAY: “My Lord extends sustenance to anyone He wishes and budgets it, even though most men do not realize it.”
It is not your wealth nor your children that will bring you close to Us in patronage; only someone who believes and acts honorably (will do so). Those will have a double reward because of what they have done. They will feel secure in mansions while those who were attempting to thwart 0ur signs will be paraded forth into torment.
SAY: “My Lord extends sustenance to anyone He wishes among His servants and He budgets it out. He will compensate you for anything you have spent since He is the best Provider.” Some day He will summon them all together; then He will say to the angels: “Are those the ones who were worshipping you?” They will say: “Glory be to You! You are our Patron rather than they. Instead they have been worshipping sprites; most of them even believe in them!” (Qur’an)
Corrupt governments, political leaders and/or rapist professors from Harvard University or elsewhere do not wish to believe in the devil. They are devils. In fact, a book called “UFO’s in the Qur’an” claims that the U.S. government is being run by aliens or evil spirits. That’s Skull & Bones. They tell their members they’d always be protected from corruption charges. So a Harvard University professor, just because he goes to Harvard, is told he’d always be protected from rape accusations, and no matter what crime he commits, it’s going to be ok.
But this is not the way God’s government works. This is not something Jesus would stand for. Corrupt people are going to hell, and nothing can change this fact. It’s written on their foreheads, it’s their destiny. Hell? Well, they’d see it when they get there. Jesus is not their Savior. Salvation is only for good people.
Some readers may remember the 1961 film “The Day the Earth Caught Fire”. It could be viewed as the original “climate alarmist” film as it contains all of the plot elements of our current climate alarmism scenarios: exaggerated images of a dying planet, a mainstream media newspaper reporter, technology that is feared, the Met Office, and last but not least, junk science.
A new study out of MIT predicts “a 90% probability that worldwide surface temperatures will rise at least 9 degrees by 2100.“
This is more than twice what was expected in 2003. The Telegraph reports
“Global warming of 7C ‘could kill billionsthis century‘. Global temperatures could rise by more than 7C this century killing billions of people and leaving the world on the brink of total collapse, according to new research“A similar 2003 study had predicted a mere- but still significant- 4 degree increase in global temperatures by 2100, but those models weren’t nearly as comprehensive, and they didn’t take into consideration economic factors.
So what has changed since 2003 to cause the scientists at MIT’s “Centre for Global Climate Change” to believe the world is going to boil over this century and send billions of us directly to a toasty demise similar to our featured movie?
Antarctic ice has broken the record for greatest extent ever recorded.http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/current.area.south.jpg
January, 2008 broke the record for the most snow covered area ever measured in the Northern Hemisphere.http://climate.rutgers.edu/snowcover/png/monthlyanom/nhland01.pngI added a red line below showing the reported projected rise in temperatures from the MIT models, compared with the actual observed temperature trends since the previous 2003 report. Their projections show a correlation of essentially zero.Given that the observed trends are exactly opposite what the MIT models have predicted, one might have to ask what they have observed since 2003 to more than double their warming estimates, and where their 90% confidence value comes from?
The study, carried out in unprecedented detail, projected that without “rapid and massive action” temperatures worldwide will increase by as much as 7.4C (13.3F) by 2100, from levels seen in 2000.
This study has a strong scent of GIGO (garbage, in garbage out.) MIT has one of the world’s preeminent climatologists Dr. Richard Lindzen in their Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. I wonder if the scientists at the “Centre for Global Climate Change” checked with him before firing this remarkable piece off to the press?
During the Phanerozoic, CO2 levels have at times been more than 1,500% higher than present, but temperatures have never been more than 10C higher than present. So how does a projected 30% increase in CO2 produce a 7C temperature rise in their models? During the late Ordovician, there was an ice age with CO2 levels about 1000% of current levels. Hopefully the newspaper headlines don’t accurately represent the content of the article.
The United States should not have used the atomic bomb to stop the Japanese militaristic threat during World War II, seeing that it was unnecessary to cause untold suffering unto hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Seeing that the United States is nowadays a champion of nuclear warming, it would be ironical if the nation would continue to agree with the logic of using an atomic bomb to end war. Certainly, the atomic bombs used during World War II – Little Boy (especially named for Hiroshima), and Fat Boy (detonated in Nagasaki three days after the Hiroshima bombing) – were deadly, to say the least.[1] The bombs used by the United States served to terrify the Japanese people, and therefore ended the war quicker than previously believed. However, today the United States knows that the cost that was paid by the Japanese people at the expense of a war, was humungous. It should not have happened. What if it happens in our homeland? The photographs that have arrived from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are enough to convince us that the bombing was actually unnecessary (See Appendix). If Mr. Truman were to be asked his opinion today, he might agree, although he might add that it was necessary to check the potency of those bombs for the world to stop using them altogether.
While it is a fact that the world has stopped using atomic bombs after the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing, it remains true that it was unnecessary to use the atomic bombs in the first place. It was unnecessary because we knew all along that those bombs are powerfully dangerous. Indeed, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings were a crime against humanity. Needless to say, it is essential to stop such crimes. Thankfully, still, the U.S. has realized its mistakes and today acts a spokesperson for ‘freedom from nuclear proliferation and explosions,’ which Mr. Truman had thought were actually equivalent to the harnessing of universal energies, if not the powers of God, as of the Big Bang. At the same time as the atomic bombing of 1945 acted as a revolution for humanity, and the marriage between technology and human beings – it was a “terrible” disaster. In the words of the then-unapologetic Mr. Truman, the extent of the disaster was also expected:
We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire
destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.
Anyway we “think” we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An
experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling – to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the
explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6
The experiment was not essential to conduct upon the lives of countless civilians who ended up losing their existence to Mr. Truman’s whim. The United States should simply have shown the New Mexico desert example to the Japanese, and warned them thereby. Science allows for such examples to serve as warnings. In any case, Mr. Truman was successful in that he managed to warn the Japanese alright.[3] As a matter of fact, the Americans promised the Japanese more ruin to come from the air, if the latter failed to concede subsequent to the Hiroshima explosion. Was it not reasonable for the U.S. to have waited more than three days before it also bombed Nagasaki – for the effects of the bomb to show up in greater intensity in Hiroshima, or for the Japanese to simply look upon their damages and surrender? The effects of the bomb were present the first day to boot.[4] Unfortunately, the Japanese did not concede until after the Nagasaki bombing.[5]
According to the Americans, by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they terrified the Japanese into surrender. However, it can reasonably be argued that the United States should have used its actual scientific testing of the nuclear weapon (in the Mexican desert) to scare the Japanese, instead. The U.S. could have easily reported the scientific testing in the Japanese press. Furthermore, the U.S. should not have bombed Nagasaki after Hiroshima, seeing that the effects of the bomb in Hiroshima were horrible at best. The United States is a nation of people standing by God through their world-famous Declaration of Independence and Constitution. It is quite obvious from news reports about the Hiroshima bombing alone that the attack called for the help of God. In actual fact, the attack was a miserable failure for the United States because it stopped all sense of normal life in Hiroshima in the twinkling of an eye. Quite similar to 9/11, the Hiroshima bombing was enough as warning, even if we were to give the U.S. the benefit of the doubt by assuming that the scientific experiment could not have been enough of a warning for the Japanese. The U.S. should not have gone forward with the Nagasaki bombing after inflicting a disaster similar to 9/11, but bigger in magnitude than 9/11. It was an inhumane mistake.
Fortunately, however, the United States is now wise enough to avoid such disasters in the present and the future. The world knows that the nation is capable of inflicting such a disaster, and other countries are developing similar military power in a race to rule the world. All the same, everybody now understands that it is atrocious to use atomic bombs on other human beings like unto ourselves. It is not only inhumane, but also stupid to use nuclear weapons when scientific experiments (including Hiroshima) have clearly shown the immensity of the damage that these weapons may inflict. It is, moreover, a terrible mistake to be thinking of developing such weapons. Even though they serve as good warning measures, or may be later used in an ice age; atomic bombs are atrocious to employ on people. Lastly, it is essential to realize that it is never necessary to be violent and horrible. Rather, the concepts of peace, love, and brotherhood – all emotional appeals – plus numberless varieties of logical appeals could keep us on the paths of peace and prosperity. In fact, the relationship between U.S. and Japan as it exists today is evidence that the realization has hopefully occurred.
Of course, Prophet Muhammad, peace on him, never said people should be killed for abandoning Islam. Rather, the Qur’an says, “There’s no compulsion in religion.” That’s the truth. It’s another fact that illiterate so-called Muslim men invented countless sayings in the name of Muhammad.
And, what you do is to torture, oppress and kill innocent Muslims because you can’t find bin Laden and buddies, previously the buddies of Bush, etc. You imagine that all innocent Muslims are on the side of illiterate radicals. So you become as unjust as the bin Ladens.
Hamas brainwash videos.
(Note: Jews are “People of the Book” in the Holy Koran; Zionists do not follow Mosaic law; they also kill Orthodox Jews). | {
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The Rutledge Honorary History Club celebrated its 75th anniversary
(1929-2004) at the history and political science department’s Annual
Awards Banquet on May 6, 2004. The banquet speaker was Dr. Duane Bolin,
Professor of History at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky,
whose talk was entitled “In Search of Adolph Rupp: Fans’ Delight,
Critics’ Villain, and Historians’ Challenge.” Sixty people, including
faculty, students, alumni, and friends of the university, attended the
celebration, which was planned by the club’s president, Kari Barnhart,
and its faculty advisor, Dr. Terry Lindley.
The club’s origins date back to November, 1929, when Professor Lovick
DeWitt Rutledge and his wife, Rosa Dyer Rutledge, met with a select
group of students to discuss the possibility of a history organization.
Before November was over, the club adopted a constitution and by-laws,
and the motto: “We seek historical truth and shun historical error.” It
also adopted the following purpose: “To become better acquainted with
the field of history and to become fully conscious of the place that
knowledge of history occupies in the lives of educated people.”
Initially the club was called the Union University History Club, but it
voted to change its name to the Rutledge History Club in 1942 to honor
Mr. Rutledge, who had passed away two years earlier.
In the 1970s and 1980s the club played an integral role in promoting
and administering National History Day competitions and Annual History
Contests for high school students. More recently, it raised more than
$400 for the construction of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.
C. It currently makes an annual financial contribution toward the awards
that the department offers to students in a history research paper
contest known as the Dr. James Alex Baggett History Research
Competition.
Dr. Duane Bolin of
Murray State University presents his talk on Adolph Rupp at the
department’s awards banquet; Dr. Terry Lindley is seated to Dr.
Bolin’s right. | {
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Game Green piggy online
In the present game, you need to force your hit to destroy the largest number of young characters who will travel to you. Once you start the game, you come out with a rifle. With a sight you will need to get to the largest number of targets. In order to pass to the next level you need to get to the greatest number of green characters, which will be located in front of you. | {
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friendship
ˈfrɛn(d)ʃɪp/
noun
the emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends.
a relationship between friends.
Friends. It's a beautiful thing to have friends. Right? A very precious bond between humans.
However, 'friends'... this word or this thing, at the same time, is complicated. It acts as a safe guard, but also a spear. A heart warmer, and also a heart breaker. A word that may
as naeun was walking home, her eyes widen when she saw a banner ''room for rent'' was in infront of her house. what is her sister up to?
what could possibly happen in a big house with 14 different people, with different reason to be living in a sharehouse ? love? friendship? family?
" I will make you mine no matter what and I will do anything for destroyed your relationship with him! " - Suho
" Please Suho..... forget me and move on " - Chorong
" No matter what I'll be your side and I'll be the best husband
They meet again after graduating 7 years ago.
In high school,
She hates him. Not totally. But just that particular side of him.
He hates her too. But not totally. Because she hates him at times, while other times she's nice. He doesn't know why. He just ends up teasing her whenever thet meet.
However... it's not at all so simple.
Secrets are kept from each other. Truths are being consealed because of the fakes.
Nam Woohyun. Park Choron
Myungsoo , Eunji , Woohyun and Naeun are the best of friends since they were a child . They always hang-out together , eat together , as if they're Inseparable . But one day , Eunji distant herself from them , followed by Myungsoo , L
They weren't opposites. They weren't enemies. They were capable, but no one believed they could last. He, Nam Woohyun, is the type to be dragged down by expectations. She, Park Chorong was the type to go beyond expectations. So what happens when life decides to take them on a rollercoaster ride? For the sake of their relationship, will they fight or accept their 'reality'?
It's New Year's Eve. You stare at the sky and even though everything looks the same, something in your heart tells you things are going to be different tonight.
Listen to Tom Odell Constellations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1jjhp8vtoM
"Sometimes I wonder HOW I ended up with you... you were the worst person I've ever met... but at the same time, you were the best thing that has happened to me.... **COUGH** excluding your annoying desperate remarks **COUGH** but thinking back... I guess you DID make the first move..."
- Chorong
Son Naeun is a queenka in the college while Kim Myungsoo is the kingka . Things doesn't goes well between them as well as with their squad . Naeun with Apink and Myungsoo with Infinite . Argues and fights make them closer . Let's see how they can overcome the up growing feelings between them . | {
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Stone maintained a big lead throughout this race. Graves and Hersberger
put on a good race for second before Graves dropped out on the back stretch on
the last lap while holding that place.
Heat Race for the
Fastest Half of the Cars – 10 Laps – 5 cars
Place
Driver
Automobile
Time
1
Johnny Mais*
Essex
6:09.6
2
Fred Lentz
Mercer
chassis with a Hudson engine
3
Elmer J.
Negy***
Haynes
DNF
Jake
Strickler
Hudson
DNF
Leonard Kerbs
Ford
Kerbs dropped out on the second lap with a broken wheel. Strickler
dropped out on the fourth lap with engine trouble.
Exhibition Run
Against Time – 2 Laps
Driver
Automobile
Time
Elfrieda
Mais**
Essex
1:11.6
Free-For-All – 30
Laps – 5 cars
Place
Driver
Automobile
Time
Purse
1
Johnny Mais*
Essex
19:20.2
$900
2
Elmer J.
Negy***
Haynes
500
3
Fred Lentz
Mercer
chassis with a Hudson engine
4
Leonard Kerbs
Ford
5
James I.
“Toots” Higgins****
Buick co
owned by Higgins & Tip Sealey
DNS
Jake
Strickler
Hudson
DNS
_____
Stone
Overland
Jake Strickler of Enid, Oklahoma qualified for this race but could not start
due to engine trouble. Stone qualified for this race but could not start
due to a broken hub. Mais was leading over Kerbs by ¼ lap when Kerbs had
to pit late in the race to change a tire. | {
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Linda & Richard Eyre: A big reason for not giving up on marriage
All marriages go through their ups and downs, and we have become convinced that staying married and strengthening a marriage over time are often a matter of realizing just how high the stakes are and being committed enough that we fight our way through the tough times with never even the thought of giving up or throwing in the towel.
Staying married and strengthening a marriage over time are often a matter of realizing just how high the stakes are and being committed enough that we fight our way through the tough times.
We are continuing our focus on the topic of marriage this week because of large marriage seminars we have keynoted last week and this week and next week in Phoenix, Ogden and Minneapolis.
All marriages go through their ups and downs, and we have become convinced that staying married and strengthening a marriage over time are often a matter of realizing just how high the stakes are and being committed enough that we fight our way through the tough times with never even the thought of giving up or throwing in the towel.
And for those of us in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly those with temple marriages, the stakes are almost unimaginably high. Let us try a metaphor on you that may be helpful in grasping how much is at stake and in giving us all the long-range perspective that may get us through the rough patches that every marriage experiences.
Imagine that you have started a business. Imagine that you put everything you had into the new company, all your money and all your borrowing power, and committed yourself to make that business work.
There were some good years and some bad years, but now you have had the company for some time, and in some ways you are getting a little tired of it.
And there are problems. You get audited by the IRS and have to pay some back taxes that you can’t afford. One of your employees has been embezzling from you and it is putting a strain on everything. And sometimes you feel that you don’t even really like the product you are producing and find the day-to-day process of running the business somewhat tiring and even boring.
You keep reminding yourself how much you have invested in the company — both in money and in time, and so you keep at it, slogging away and doing your best. But it just seems like things aren’t getting any easier, and more and more often you have the feeling that you should just get out — sell the company and start over. Maybe you could build a better business the next time around, one you would enjoy more and that produced a better product.
But then something happens. You have a vision one day of what the company could be worth if you held on to it and kept it going. This little epiphany overwhelms you and you fully and deeply believe that if you persevere and give it your all, the company will one day be worth not $1 million, not $100 million, not $1 billion, but $100 billion.
Now, armed not only with the motivation of all that you have put into the business, but also the motivation of the unimaginable amount that it will one day be worth, you deepen your commitment and give all you have to making it succeed.
The business, of course, is metaphorical for our marriages and for all we put into them, and for the problems and doubts and challenges we feel, and for the tendencies we sometimes have to feel like giving up or starting over with someone else, and for the inestimably huge worth that an eternal, celestial marriage will someday have.
May we all draw from both of those motivations and make our marriage commitments absolutely firm and maximize and prioritize our constant efforts to strengthen and improve this most important union of eternity.
Richard and Linda Eyre are New York Times No. 1 best-selling authors who lecture throughout the world on family-related topics. Visit them at www.EyresFreeBooks.com or www.valuesparenting.com. Their latest Deseret e-book is “On the Homefront."
Popular Comments
For when the DEAD rise, they will neither marry
nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in
heaven,(Mt 22:30
More..
9:53 a.m. Feb. 8, 2013
Top comment
ElleJay
Sandy, UT
1st - If you're in an abusive relationship, GET OUT of it fast. 2nd -
Divorce is sometimes unavoidable. If you truly feel in your heart that you have
done everything possible to make your marriage work, yet it continues to spiral
downward, you
More.. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
More British women than men think a wife's role is to 'look after her husband'
Follow the author of this article
Women in Britain think a wife’s main role is to ‘look after her husband’ a major new study has found.
The research, by YouGov, surveyed 42,000 people in 24 countries on their attitudes to gender equality. It is the first time the market reserach company has collated public opinion data on the subject.
One of the statements posed was that ‘a wife’s first role is to look after her husband’. In European countries, between seven and 18 per cent of people agreed, while in Indonesia and Malaysia more than two-thirds of the online respondents concurred.
1950s housewife Betty Draper in Mad MenCredit:
AP
Britain was the only country where more women (17 per cent) than men (16 per cent) agreed with the statement. It was also one of only two countries where more women believed the statement ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ (10 per cent, compared to eight per cent of men). The other was the US.
Seventy-one per cent of Brits thought ‘men should spend more time doing housework’ compared to 78 per cent of respondents in Middle East and north African nations (a group of 18 nations known as MENA and including Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Yemen).
Overall, the survey found a startling disparity in how the world views gender equality. In Denmark, 85 per cent agreed that men and women are of equal intelligence. In MENA nations that number was just 48 per cent.
Credit:
YouGov
Nordic countries had the most gender positive attitudes, with Sweden, Denmark and Finland outperforming the other nations questioned.
Britain ranked seventh, although YouGov pointed out that “there are two attitudes in which Britain falls behind”.
These are the statements: ‘in the world as a whole women are an oppressed group’ and ‘creating more opportunity for women should be one of the world’s top concerns’. On the latter, Britain scored higher than only Morocco, Jordan, Thailand and Algeria with just 56 per cent of respondents agreeing.
Added YouGov: “While Britain has a fundamentally progressive outlook to traditional gender roles around the home and in society, the issue is not thought of as such a high priority as it is in other developed countries, either for at home or abroad”.
Credit:
YouGov
Ninety-two per cent of British women thought the sexes should get equal pay, compared to 86 per cent of men. While 30 per cent though it would ‘cause problems if a woman earns more money than her husband’, compared to 18 per cent of British men.
The statement “it is unattractive for women to express opinions in public” was disagreed with by 90 per cent of British women and 86 per cent of men – but almost a third (29 per cent) of women in France concurred with the statement. This figure was roughly one in 10 throughout the rest of Europe.
In China, Indonesia and Thailand, more respondents agreed that ‘men and women are equal’ (84, 80 and 89 per cent respectively). In Britain, just 73 per cent agreed, although this can probably be explained by the differing standards of ‘equality’ in each country.
Fifty-eight per cent of those in China thought the pop singer Beyonce was a positive role model.
Credit:
YouGov
Worldwide, women earn 33 per cent less than men; 700 million women are victims of physical or sexual violence every year; and men own and manage around 70 per cent of all business. Of the 774 million illiterate adults, two-thirds are women.
In Britain, the overall pay gap is around 19 per cent and two women are killed each week by a partner or former partner. | {
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Elias Pettersson News
Pettersson (knee) has been activated from IR and will return to the lineup on Sunday.
Pettersson has missed the last five games with a knee issue but will return to the lineup vs. the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon. Pettersson has had a sensational rookie season, scoring 22 goals with 20 assists (42 points) in 38 games.
Pettersson (knee) will not play Wednesday vs. the Oilers.
Pettersson took part in the Canucks morning skate and is close to returning to the lineup but will miss his fourth straight game tonight. Pettersson said he’s “feeling better every day” and hopes to play on Friday.
Pettersson (lower-body) will not play on Saturday.
Pettersson left Thursday’s game in Montreal with a lower-body and will not play Saturday in Toronto. With Pettersson out, Brandon Sutter will skate with Nikolay Goldobin and Brock Boeser. Pettersson is day-to-day.
Pettersson left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Pettersson’s leg bent awkwardly in a collision with Canadiens’ rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The Canucks did not have much of an update postgame but said that they expect him to remain with them during their road-trip. Expect a more detailed update after Pettersson is re-evaluated.
Pettersson (concussion) is expected to return to the Canucks lineup on Saturday.
Pettersson missed the last six games with a concussion but will return tonight vs. the Penguins. Pettersson, who had eight points (5G / 3A) in his first five NHL games, will skate on a line with Brock Boeser and Nikolay Goldobin.
Pettersson (concussion) is still not ready to return to the Canucks lineup.
Pettersson (concussion) will not play on Wednesday.
Pettersson continues to skate and appears close to returning to the Canucks lineup, but will not be available on Wednesday. With Pettersson still sidelined, Adam Gaudette will continue to centre the second line.
Pettersson (concussion) returned to the ice for Tuesday’s practice; will travel on the Canucks two-game road-trip.
Pettersson has missed the last four games with a concussion that he suffered in Florida 10 days ago. Canucks head coach Travis Green said that Pettersson could play on the trip, which starts Wednesday in Vegas and wraps up the following night in Arizona. Pettersson had a sensational start to the season, scoring five goals with three assists (eight points) in his first five games.
Pettersson is expected to miss at least 7-10 days with a concussion.
Pettersson was forced to leave Saturday’s game in Florida after a controversial collision with Panthers’ defenseman Mike Matheson. Pettersson will remain with the team on their current road-trip—which goes through Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Winnipeg on Thursday—but will not see any game action for at least one week. Pettersson could be out longer, depending on how long he experiences concussion symptoms. | {
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Book Discussion on Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir
Oscar Hijuelos talked about his book, Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir, in conversation with Carolyn Curiel. Oscar Hijuelos is…
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Oscar Hijuelos talked about his book, Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir, in conversation with Carolyn Curiel. Oscar Hijuelos is the author of eight novels and was the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. He also has received the Rome Prize and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. Mr. Hijuelos responded to questions from members of the audience.
This was an event in the University Center’s Lake Room at the 2011 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest. close
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*The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning. | {
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November 19, 2017Canada Tour 2018We are happy to announce that we will embark on a cross-Canada tour in May 2018 with concerts all across the country. The tour will be supported by the Goethe-Institut. See our Calendar for details.
June 1, 2014Welcome to the New Subtone WebsiteCheck out the new multimedia section with audio, video and photos. In the store section you will be able to buy CDs, scores and posters.
March 15, 2014New German Jazz Competition MannheimToday, Subtone will compete as one of 3 finalists at the New German Jazz Competition in Mannheim, Germany.
February 7, 2014New CD "Roswitha's Revenge" Out NowRoswitha's Revenge, Subtone's 4th album with 9 brand new compositions has been released today on Laika Records. It is available for purchase in the store section.click here for more info
Subtone stands in the forefront of today’s young innovative Jazz ensembles. Founded in 2005 in Berlin, its members now live on both sides of the Atlantic, in St. John’s, NL, Berlin and Cologne. Through innumerable concerts at home and abroad, as well as appearances at festivals like the Bohemia Jazz Fest in the Czech Republic and Jazz Baltica in Salzau, Germany, Subtone quickly established themselves as one of the most sought-after jazz ensembles in Europe. After three acclaimed albums, in early 2014 Subtone released their 4th album “Roswitha’s Revenge” on Laika Records. Subtone is the winner of the Jury and Audience Award of the International Jazz Competition “Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon” in France.
The individual members are all accomplished performers. Collectively, they have won prestigious awards like the US National Trumpet Competition (Magnus Schriefl), the Bass Competition of the International Bass Convention (Matthias Pichler) and the Sting Ray Rising Star Award (Florian Hoefner) and have collaborated with artists and groups like the Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio, Seamus Blake, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker and the European Jazz Orchestra.
With their own imaginative compositions, the five artists offer an inexhaustible selection, from the voluminous big-band sound to a bare-essential chamber music approach. In addition to the apparent mastery over their instruments, it is above all the implicitness with which they communicate that is so striking.
What makes Subtone stand out from other ensembles is the impressive artistic connection among the five musicians. The listener perceives this intense communication and fundamental understanding among all members of the band in the very first notes.
Malte Dürrschnabel
Malte Dürrschnabel studied saxophone at the University of the Arts Berlin and at the Royal Conservatories in The Hague and Brussels. He's now a freelance musician and music teacher.
His achievements include a six-month appointment as guest professor at the Pontifica Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia and the award as best instrumentalist at the international jazz competition "Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon" in France. Malte is a sought-after lead alto player and woodwind specialist and regularly works with ensembles like the WDR Big Band Cologne, the HR Big Band Frankfurt and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
In concerts around the world on 5 different continents he shared the stage with artist like Al Porcino, Lalo Schifrin, Benny Golson, Ack van Rooyen and Theo Bleckmann. He also appears on various commercial recordings and broadcast productions.
Magnus Schriefl
Magnus Schriefl belongs to the outstanding trumpet players of the young generation. His merits as a performer include an invitation as featured soloist to the Jazz Baltica Jazz Festival in Salzau, Germany, appearances with the European Jazz Orchestra, the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra and concerts with artists like Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman and Seamus Blake. He is the winner of the 2011 National Trumpet Competition in the USA.
Magnus started playing the trumpet when he was five years old. With age 15 he joined the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra. He studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, at the Conservatoire National Supérieure de Musique et de Danse de Paris, at the Jazz-Institut Berlin and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he completed his Master’s degree in 2012.
Florian Hoefner
Florian Hoefner has been able to establish himself as a unique voice in modern jazz, both as a pianist and composer. Hailed as a “cerebral and harmonically daring pianist […] reaching toward new sonic territory” by Downbeat and a “composer-bandleader of insightful resolve” by the New York Times, Mr. Hoefner has made his mark as an inventive creator of exciting small group jazz.
With his working quartet, the Florian Hoefner group he has released 3 albums on Origin Records that have received rave reviews around the globe. Described as a “starkly picturesque album [...] that makes profound statements from quiet moments” by Downbeat and as a “total experience” by the New York Jazz Record his latest release, “Luminosity” featuring tenor saxophonist, Seamus Blake has been his most ambitious project so far. With the group, he maintains a busy touring schedule that has included over 100 dates in Europe and North America to date. After their performance at the Montréal Jazz Festival 2015, Florian was awarded the Stingray Rising Star Award.
Florian’s work as a sideman led to numerous additional CD releases including a collaboration with guitarist, Kurt Rosenwinkel on Fresh Sounds Records. He has shared the stage with the likes of Joe Lovano, Seamus Blake, Rich Perry, John Riley and Mark Nuccio.
A two-time winner of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, Florian has also contributed compositions and arrangements to many commercial albums by artists like Till Brönner, Jasmin Tabatabai and Peter Fessler. His big band compositions been performed by the New York Jazz Orchestra, the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra, the German Youth Jazz Orchestra and the DanJam Orchestra.
Florian initially began his musical studies in Bavaria, where he played the trumpet and accordion, in addition to piano. After obtaining his first degree in jazz piano from the University of Arts in Berlin, he was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to complete a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he studied with Jason Moran, Dave Liebman, and Garry Dial.
As a teacher, Florian has been active both as a private instructor and clinician, working for institutions like the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, the University of Toronto, Memorial University St. John’s, the University of Arts in Berlin, Germany, the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, Austria, and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia.
Since July 2014 Florian is a resident of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, from where he continues to embark on new musical adventures.
Matthias Pichler
Matthias Pichler is one of the finest young jazz bassists in Europe. In 2010, he won the Jazz Competition of the International Bass Convention in Berlin . Since 2005 he is a regular member of the Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio. Other collaborations include Harry Sokal, Ingrid Jensen, Dick Oatts, Jochen Rückert, Marc Copland, Kirk Lightsey and Johannes Enders. Concerts with these artists brought him to over 20 countries all over the world.
Hailing from Innsbruck, Austria he studied jazz bass at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz and was awarded Austria’s prestigious Hans-Koller Award in 2004 and 2006. In 2010 he relocated to Berlin where he is now working on a new duo project with his twin-brother Andreas on drums.
Peter Gall
Peter Gall studied drums with John Riley, John Hollenbeck and composition with Phil Markowitz, Dave Liebman and Jim McNeely. He holds a diploma from the University of the Arts / Jazz Institute Berlin and spent two years in New York City based on a DAAD-Scholarship, where he graduated with a Master Of Music from Manhattan School of Music. His performance experience includes artists like the Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Nils Landgren, Seamus Blake and Randy Brecker.
Having a passion also for styles other than jazz, Peter was a former member of NY-pop-singer Gabriel Rios' group and is currently touring with German singer and TV star Jasmin Tabatabai's (ECHO-Winner) group as well as collaborations with indie/electro-artist Enik and the German rising Indie-Rock band Balloon Pilot.
Peter appears on various recordings on labels including ACT, Freshsound Records, Enja and Skip Records and performed on prestigious festivals and stages like Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz Baltica, Bohemian Jazzfest, Munich Jazzfest and Carnegie Hall.
As a touring artist he visited many countries in the world including Austria, Czech Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, USA
...it becomes obvious quickly that it’s only about the music, about the greater picture, spirit, emotions, colors, influences that have to be processed. Not a single piece follows the head-solo-head pattern which jazz musicians use as the easy way out much too often. Too much ambition is wisely being anticipated when it threatens to impede the course of events. A solo takes places when it makes sense, when the dense textures of the compositions dramaturgically call for a release.Ssirus W. PakzadNeue Musikzeitung
This band is really one of the most innovative new bands to emerge on the jazz scene over the past couple of years, with a fresh sound, great playing by all and a very positive attitude. They have a sound of their own. These guys know how to kick it and I like it! Respect!Nils Landgren
The complexity of their solely original music by far exceeds what we are used to as improvising over a theme in jazz. In fact, it does not seems like single soloists want to distinguish themselves but that all five commission their enormous technical and musical skills to a multi-layered sound painting.Münchner Merkur, Munich, Germany
It is the sound that from the first second on puts Subtone in the forefront of today’s band concepts and keeps me at it. Five marvellous soloists leave their egos outside the studio door to contribute to something higher.Till Brönner | {
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Services
Design
Whether you need an entire re-brand, a new exhibition stand, a new brochure designed or just an invitation to your annual client drinks party – our creative team can help. Our clients come from all business sectors and range from private individuals or sole traders to large corporations. However small or large the project, we can bring it to life.
Events
Take the stress out of events and let us help. Our event management team makes sure that i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed, so you can just relax and enjoy your event – whether that’s a private party or a large corporate occasion. We treat every one as if it’s our own.
Marketing
Not sure how to best reach your audience? Need an extra pair of hands to handle a marketing campaign? Know you need to do some ‘marketing’ but not sure where to start? Our marketing professionals can handle your campaigns and delivers results on time and on budget. | {
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ALTURAS, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Northern California were battling several lightning-sparked wildfires Friday, including a blaze in rural Modoc County that forced about 120 people to evacuate.
The fire near the community of Day had burned through nearly 18 square miles of brush and heavy timber and was threatening 150 structures Friday, two days after it began. It was only 10 percent contained.
Officials were expected to send additional fire crews to supplement the 700 or so firefighters battling the blaze, which is burning in steep terrain and could be aggravated by winds and lightning from more expected thunderstorms, said state fire spokesman Dennis Mathisen.
California is in its third year of drought, which has heightened the fire danger. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services announced Friday that it has asked the state’s National Guard to activate specially trained helicopter units to help fire agencies.
“The forward deployment of these will help incident commanders and the personnel they are directing save lives, homes and personal property as well as valuable watershed by providing critical resources within a moment’s notice,” California emergency services Director Mark Ghilarducci said in a statement.
The fire in Modoc was among more than 40 that have broken out as a result of lightning strikes since Wednesday. Most were in remote areas and were not threatening homes, and many of them were quickly contained.
In Washington state, a new wildfire burning intensely amid high winds forced the evacuation of about 200 homes Friday.
Officials ordered the evacuations and closed part of state Highway 20 because of the surging fire that started in north-central Washington halfway between Twisp and Winthrop.
The Sun Mountain Lodge, a luxury resort near Winthrop, was also evacuated as a precaution.
Janet Pearce, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources, said some structures had burned. It wasn’t known if they were homes or other buildings.
Back in California, fire crews also were battling a blaze in Sierra National Forest about 60 miles northeast of Fresno that threatened dozens of homes and forced a handful of evacuations Friday afternoon.
Evacuations were ordered for some 50 houses in Arnold Meadows, but many are vacation homes and only about a dozen people had to evacuate when deputies went door-to-door, The Madera County Sheriff’s Department said.
The blaze was burning close to the Mammoth Pool Reservoir, a popular recreation spot that supplies drinking water, and crews were trying to finish containment lines on the section near the reservoir, said fire spokesman Matthew Chambers.
The blaze had burned through nearly 13 square miles and was 15 percent contained.
In Yosemite National Park, residents from about 50 homes returned Friday afternoon. They were the last remaining evacuees from a fire that had burned through 7 square miles and destroyed a home and a duplex. It was 78 percent contained. | {
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September 18/07 12:07 pm - BC Seniors Games
Posted by Editoress on 09/18/07
British Columbia Seniors Games September 14-15, Nanaimo BCCourtesy Peter McCaffery
ITT
A 16 km time trial was held on a safe, sheltered undulating, out-and back course that climbed about 100 m to the turn. Some fine performances were produced by riders in all age groups. Total entry was: 56 men and 20 women. Thanks to all the marshalls and other volunteers who did a fantastic job, to Leigh Blaney for the medical service, Dave Kenny for all those signs, and to Corey Pikett who had his first taste of timekeeping.
No times or placings currently available
Road Race
This is on a hilly 20km circuit in Cedar, starting at 9.00am at Cedar Community Hall.
Women
80+ (1Lap)
1. Olwyn Ringheim
2:32:45
70-74 (2 laps)
1. Dora Ellis
2:21:17
2. Jean Nelson
3. Mary Ellen Pakka
DNS. Helen Bourchier
DNS. Kay Ogilvie
65-69 (2 laps)
1. Sandra Olafson
1:54:53
2. Donna Nicholas
3. Audrey Sellars
60-64 (2 laps)
1. Diana Rogers
1:49:16
2. Jean MacDonald
3. Hana Garrick
4. Verena Balke
5. Terry Chalmers
6. Linda Scott
7. Ann Kantakis
8. Jan Schmidt
55-59 (2 laps)
1. Sandy Hartley
1:49:16
2. Jannie Koomen
3. Barbara Davies
Men
55-59 (3 laps)
1. Duane Martindale
1:47:30
2. Chris Hahlen
3. Michael Faulkner
4. Jacob Koomen
5. George McLaughlin
6. Robert Hagar
DNS. Michael Grant
DNF. Douglas Morley
DNS. Raymond Morrison
DNS. Brooke Parker
60-64 (3 laps)
1. John Sullivan
1:47:55
2. Des Snider
3. David Mercer
4. David Lloyd
5. Derek Steel
6. Bob MacLean
7. Bill Davis
8. Dick Allin
9. Douglas Richardson
10. Jim Henderson
DNF. Harry Balke
DNF. Roy Kregosky
DNS. Harry Balke
DNS. Malcolm Farrow
DNS. Michael Fibiger-Crossman
DNS. Bill Hutchinson
DNS. Brendan Kennelly
DNS. Bob Lindsay
65-69 (2 laps)
1. David Emery
1:22:30
2. David Steen
3. Dave Ellis
4. Matt de Nys
5. Leo Le Couteur
6. Dick Patterson
DNS. Gerry Goodleff
70-74 (2 laps)
1. Ian Mahon
1:34:27
2. Franco Crema
3. Terry Stone
4. Norman Kendall
5. John C Smith
6. Rino De Biasio
7. Cesario Cifilillini
8. Frank Ludtke
9. Robert Dumalanede
10. Gus McCarthy
11. Jim Lister
12. Torry Kier
DNS. Paul Hendricks
?. Barton Mann
75-79 (2 laps)
1. Robert Thom
1:39:55
2. Peter Blockker
DNS. Barry Ogilvie
80+ (2 laps)
1. Bob Allen
1:49:16
2. Tom Humeniuk
3. Eldo Neufeld
DNS. Doug Bentley
DNS. Harold Bridge
Hill Climb
This event was contested on a 2.15 km hill that averaged 7-8 percent grade with one 10% and one 13% section in the middle. As you can see from the times, some of the competitors did rides worthy of riders half or even a third of their age. The top men in the younger categories averaged close to 18kph! | {
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Smoke-free Father’s Day
Father’s Day is the day we set aside each year to celebrate and thank dad for his many contributions. However, one thing that should not be celebrated this year or anytime, is dad’s addiction to tobacco.
A father’s influence on his children is great, and as a dad he should want to ensure that the decisions he makes are the right ones so that they do not negatively impact his children. When dad smokes, he is not only putting his life at risk, but is signaling to his family that is okay for them to follow in his footsteps.
The Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Poverty Network (WTPPN) is working to get the message out this Father’s Day that smoking rates among people in diverse populations are decreasing at a slower rate than the overall population. Therefore it is imperative that we as a community become aware of the tobacco industry’s savvy marketing tactics that target specific areas of Milwaukee in an effort to keep dad and his family addicted.
The love a father feels from his children on Father’s Day should be enough to make him want to quit smoking and as someone who loves their father unconditionally, we should all encourage him, if he is unable to quit on his own, to give up this deadly habit. | {
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Web hosting options and trade-offs
Shopify and BigCommerce are two of the fastest growing and most well-known hosted eCommerce platforms. Ecommerce options exist on a spectrum of convenience and control. Both Web hosting options and trade-offs and BigCommerce are right in the middle of the spectrum because they bundle all the technical parts of an online store — hosting, speed, security, inventory, shopping cart and payment processing — and bundle it into a single monthly price.
But like a self-hosted eCommerce website web hosting options and trade-offs, Shopify and BigCommerce also bundle as part of your website on your domain where you have full control of product, pricing and customer experience. So unlike running a store on Etsy, eBay or Amazon — you control the build, design, and content of your store.
Even though this part of the spectrum has plenty of tradeoffs — services like Shopify and BigCommerce are an excellent option for many store owners. So the question becomes — Shopify vs. They are both excellent companies with an excellent product. Aside — I built a Buzzfeed style quiz for eCommerce platforms that grades the factors with your goals.
You can check out the quiz here. Also, a quick disclosure — I receive referral fees from companies mentioned on this website. All data and opinions are based on my experience as a paying customer or consultant to a paying customer. That said, their plan structure is just different enough to make a direct comparison a bit difficult. They have apps and themes — but both tend to be either free or expensive.
However, once you start factoring in apps, themes, credit card rates, and mid-tier features such as HTTPS and cart recovery — then Shopify is a better web hosting options and trade-offs value price for most stores. Either way — price is not the deciding factor for Shopify vs. Customer support is one of the most underestimated benefits of using a hosted eCommerce platform. Both BigCommerce and Shopify have customer support built into their monthly price.
You get access to all sorts of channels on both — everything from phone to chat to forums to email tickets. Shopify and BigCommerce both serve businesses that range from very small retailers selling niche products to multi-million dollar brands.
Both have enterprise plans I wrote about Shopify Plus here and they both have customer support teams trained to help absolute beginners. Their platform is built to web hosting options and trade-offs all retail businesses both on and offline. Shopify runs their own payment processing service and even has their own Point-of-Sale POS system so that small offline retailers can sell offline and online from within the same system. The idea is that your website is only one of many sales channels.
You can definitely run your website as your only sales channel in Shopify — but the options to sell elsewhere are already built-in. BigCommerce has plenty of integrations with eBay, Facebook, etc — but they are still treated as an extension of the website.
Both BigCommerce and Shopify are excellent platforms for beginners to enterprises. Both BigCommerce and Shopify have excellent onboarding processes and user-friendly management areas. Web hosting options and trade-offs main difference is how each backend is structured. BigCommerce has a single Dashboard where you manage everything — your products, inventory, website pages, settings, billing, etc.
Additionally, Shopify has their own lingo. If you have never run a website before and only have a small to mid-size product collection, then BigCommerce will likely make more sense than Shopify. Both Shopify and BigCommerce have almost all the tools marketing, SEO, inventory, order, etc an online store would need to be successful.
They differ though, in how they each approach adding new features. They have essential features that all store owners will need built-in. But for features that not all store owners need — they focus on making sure store owners can add feature extensions to their store as needed. They have a large and active App Store that not only has well-known extensions ie, MailChimp but also plenty web hosting options and trade-offs indie apps for every situation ie, apps for international tax and shipping features.
Web hosting options and trade-offs has an App Store for extensions as well. However, BigCommerce has a bigger focus on building lots of features directly into their software so that there is no need web hosting options and trade-offs add an extension.
For example, take selling on eBay or importing your eBay listings to your store. Both Shopify and BigCommerce can make these features happen. BigCommerce builds the feature into their backend. Shopify does web hosting options and trade-offs have it web hosting options and trade-offs in. Another example is bulk Redirects. BigCommerce has bulk upload built-in while Shopify users have to install an app to take care of it.
But if you do, you are more likely to get it in some form or fashion in Shopify than BigCommerce. Overall, if you have fairly core eCommerce needs and simply want everything to be there and to work — then BigCommerce will likely work better. Aside — this is why I recommend doing a 2-week free trial with both BigCommerce and Shopify just to click around and see for yourself. You select a base theme and then edit it to look as you like.
Most themes have a hybrid approach to editing. Small customizations colors, logos, etc require just a click. BigCommerce has a Theme Store that is rapidly growing. However, it still lacks the diversity of Shopify.
Their price points for premium themes are usually higher as well. So Shopify or BigCommerce — who is a better fit for who? Get a free day free trial with BigCommerce here. Get a free day free trial with Shopify here. I personally like the versatility and options of Shopify. They are likely a better fit for most online store owners.
If you are undecided — then take my eCommerce Platform Quiz here. It will take your preferences and tell you web hosting options and trade-offs is the best choice for your online store. I try to help people who run their own websites Skip to the conclusion here.
Price Ahh — price. Customer Support Customer support is one of the most underestimated benefits of using a hosted eCommerce platform. They have videos and screenshots for even small changes on the Dashboard whereas Shopify will have text instructions. BigCommerce comes across as more beginner-friendly. Shopify has more thorough and instructive content on running your overall business. They invest a lot of time and resources in case studies, long-form guides, tutorials, and helping your business succeed beyond just implementing a new feature.
Shopify web hosting options and trade-offs has a more well-developed network of 3rd party developers and marketers who specialize in Shopify. Customer Focus Shopify and BigCommerce both serve businesses that range from very small retailers selling niche products to multi-million dollar brands.
Approach to Features Both Shopify and BigCommerce have almost all the tools marketing, SEO, inventory, order, etc an online store would need to be successful. While the end result web hosting options and trade-offs the same, they do take a slightly different approach.
Ecommerce options exist on a spectrum of convenience and control. Both Shopify and Volusion are right in the middle of the spectrum because they bundle all the technical parts of an online store — hosting, speed, security, inventory, shopping cart and payment processing — and bundle it into a single monthly price.
But like a self-hosted eCommerce websiteShopify and Volusion also bundle as part of your website on your domain where you have full control of products, pricing, and customer experience.
So unlike running a store on Etsy, eBay or Amazon — you control the build, design, and content of your store. Even though this part of the spectrum has plenty of tradeoffs — services like Shopify and Volusion are an excellent option for many store owners. So the question becomes — Shopify vs.
They are both excellent companies with an excellent product. Aside — I built a Buzzfeed style quiz for eCommerce platforms that grades the factors with your goals. You can check out the quiz here. Also, a quick disclosure — I receive referral fees from companies mentioned on this website. All data and opinions are based on my experience as a paying customer or consultant to a paying customer.
That said, their plan structure is just different enough to make a direct comparison a bit difficult. First is your monthly store fee. Both Volusion and Shopify are generally the same. Volusion is slightly cheaper, but they web hosting options and trade-offs do not include every single feature on lower tiers that Shopify does.
Second is your store transaction fee. Otherwise, their transaction fees are the same. The third is your credit card processing fees. If you use a 3rd party processor like Authorize. If you use Shopify, you can use Shopify payments for 2. If you plan on using a 3rd party processor ie, for price or for sticking with your current providerthen Volusion will be about the same — or even slightly cheaper than Shopify every month.
Either way web hosting options and trade-offs price is not the deciding factor for Shopify vs. Customer support is one of the most underestimated benefits of using a hosted eCommerce web hosting options and trade-offs.
Both Volusion and Shopify have customer support built into their monthly price. You get access to all sorts of channels on both — everything from phone web hosting options and trade-offs chat to forums web hosting options and trade-offs email tickets. In other words, Shopify has a bit more of a learning curve to learn their system, but once you learn it — you can do more with it.
Shopify and Volusion both serve businesses that range from very small retailers selling niche products to multi-million dollar brands.
Both have enterprise plans I wrote about Shopify Plus here and they both have customer support teams trained to help absolute beginners. Their platform is built to serve all retail businesses both on and offline — but with a focus on startups or online-first businesses that want to expand offline.
Shopify runs their own payment processing service and even has their own Point-of-Sale POS system so that small offline retailers can sell offline and online from within the same system. The idea is that your website is only one of many sales channels. You can definitely run your website as your only sales channel in Shopify — but the options to web hosting options and trade-offs elsewhere are already built-in.
Their backend and terminology are all focused on the store owner who has an existing retail business and needs to bring it online. They have a robust inventory system with a focus on the operations of an eCommerce store rather than the marketing of an eCommerce store. They have a straightforward functionality to bring on team members to manage listings and inventory.
Both Volusion and Shopify are excellent platforms for startups to enterprise. Web hosting options and trade-offs Volusion and Shopify have excellent onboarding processes and user-friendly management areas. The main difference is how each backend is structured. Volusion has a web hosting options and trade-offs Dashboard where you manage everything — your products, inventory, website pages, settings, billing, etc.
Additionally, Shopify has their own lingo. If you have never run a website before and only have a small to mid-size product collection, then Volusion will likely make more sense than Shopify. Both Shopify and Volusion have almost all the tools marketing, SEO, inventory, order, etc an online store would need to be successful. They differ though in how they each approach adding new features.
They have essential features that all store owners will need built-in. But for features that not all store owners need — they focus on making sure store owners can add feature extensions to their store as needed.
They have a large and active App Store that not only has well-known extensions ie, MailChimp but also plenty of indie apps web hosting options and trade-offs every situation ie, apps for international tax and shipping features.
Volusion has an App Store for extensions as well. However, Volusion has a bigger focus on building lots of features directly into their software so that there is no need to add an extension. For example, take selling on Amazon or importing your Amazon listings to your store.
Both Shopify and Volusion can make these features happen. Web hosting options and trade-offs builds the feature into their backend. Shopify web hosting options and trade-offs not have it built in. But if you do, you are more likely to get it in some form or fashion in Shopify than Volusion.
Volusion, though, is decidedly lacking. Again — a CMS is not in itself a huge deal. Overall, if you have fairly core eCommerce needs and simply want everything to be there and to work — then Volusion will likely work better.
Aside — this is why I recommend doing a 2-week free trial with both Volusion and Shopify just to click around and see for yourself. You select a base theme and then edit it to look as you like. Web hosting options and trade-offs can do it via drag and drop or via a hybrid approach to editing.
Volusion has a Theme Store that is rapidly growing. However, it still lacks the diversity of Shopify. Their price points for premium themes are usually higher web hosting options and trade-offs well.
Volusion — who is a better fit for who? Get a free day free trial with Volusion here. Get a free day free trial with Shopify here. I personally like the versatility and options of Shopify. They are likely a better fit for most online store owners. If you are undecided — then take my Ecommerce Platform Quiz here. It will take your preferences and tell you who is the best choice for your online store.
I try to help people who run their own websites Web hosting options and trade-offs Ecommerce Platform Comparison. Skip to the conclusion here. Price Ahh — price. The main tradeoff comes from fees — And there are 3 different types of fees to consider. Customer Support Customer support is one of the most underestimated benefits of using a hosted eCommerce platform. All customer support is customized since both run on proprietary platforms.
They have videos and screenshots for even small changes on the Dashboard whereas Shopify will have text instructions.
Volusion comes across as more beginner-friendly due to onboarding and heavy consultant walk-throughs Shopify has more thorough and instructive content on running your overall business. They invest a lot of time and resources in case studies, long-form guides, tutorials, and helping your business succeed beyond just implementing a new feature. Shopify also has a more well-developed network of 3rd party developers and marketers who specialize web hosting options and trade-offs Shopify.
And often, those other platforms will actually provide support for the Shopify integrations. Customer Focus Shopify and Volusion both serve businesses that range from very small retailers selling niche products to multi-million dollar brands. Approach to Features Both Shopify and Volusion have almost all the tools marketing, SEO, inventory, order, etc an online store would need to be successful.
While the end result is the same, they do take a slightly different approach. Why not explore more? Featured Ecommerce Resources Shopify vs. No Infinite Web hosting options and trade-offs Here:
Yet once they graduate, their accounts are deleted. In the past, I have listed my favorite options, but I realized there must be more. So I asked for suggestions on Twitter.
My requirements are as follows:. If you know of others, please send me a note! This great service reimagines the late Geocities for a modern age. Instead, try Soundcloud and Vimeo, respectively. Yes, GitHub will host your static site of any size and using a custom domain for free! Having to learn git might be considered a downside. It would probably be good for you in the long run, but undoubtedly there is a learning curve. Fortunately, you can avoid the command-line completely by using web hosting options and trade-offs free GUI client.
At the free level, all repos are publicly viewable, so your entire website would be open web hosting options and trade-offs by default — no secrets here.
While traditional hosting companies charge a flat monthly rate, and then cap your total usage e. You just need a credit card. Fortunately, Paul Katsen wrote a great step-by-step guide to setting up a static site on S3.
True penny-pinchers can even take steps to optimize their sites even further. A project out of the University of Mary Washington, this service is built specifically and only for students, faculty, and institutions. Presumably, SFTP is supported yay. They are so great. Even better, this plan includes 5 GB of file space, and you can designate individual folders within that space to be served as standalone, static websites.
So, really, a FastMail account is awesome email web hosting options and trade-offs simple web hosting rolled into one. Plus, you can use SFTP to access all your files in the usual fashion.
Instead, you just ZIP up your site folder and drag-and-drop it onto their web interface. Dropbox is free, up to 2 GB, and any folder you make public is served as a static website. Cactus looks like a beautiful way to develop your site on a Mac, and it has built-in integration with S3 for publishing. Divshot is free for a single, static-files-only website including use of a custom web hosting options and trade-offsbut requires use of a command-line interface to configure your site and deploy files.
Pagoda Box is all git-powered, techie, and scalable. Pagoda Box hosts this website, alignedleft. Heroku is conceptually similar but even techie-er than Pagoda Box. But still, you can get the basic service free. Thanks to the many people who chimed in on Twitter with ideas, including John C.
Switch JavaScript back on in your web browser for the full experience. So each May, one or two seniors on the verge of graduation will ask: I want to keep my website.
Where can I host my website cheaply? My requirements are as follows: Free or cheap to fit within the budget of a student or recent grad.
We can do cheaper than that. Must support custom domains. Design students will use this for online portfolios, so they need to use myname.
Static file hosting is okay. I am looking for bare-bones here. Low-bandwidth and low-storage are okay. These are for personal sites to be viewed by friends and potential employers. SFTP access is ideal. The ideal solution would also allow SFTP connections, to maintain a familiar workflow.
Free Neocities This great service reimagines the late Geocities web hosting options and trade-offs a modern age. Cheap Reclaim Hosting A project out of the University of Mary Washington, this service is built specifically and only for students, faculty, and institutions. Thanks Thanks to the many people who chimed in on Twitter with ideas, including John C. | {
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After exercise, the 12 healthy men participating in the study were given a cup of a sweet glucose drink and tests were done to see how quickly their bodies moved this glucose from the blood to be stored in other parts of the body, like the muscle.
Those who ate breakfast before exercise cleared glucose from their blood quickest, the team found. The researchers discovered that eating breakfast before exercising not only increased the rate at which the body burned carbohydrates during exercise, but also increased the body’s ability to digest and metabolise carbohydrates eaten throughout the day.
The study also showed the carbs burned were not only coming from breakfast, but from the glycogen stored in their muscles.
The researchers thought breakfast followed by exercise may kick start the body’s carbohydrate processing and “prime” the body for quicker storage of nutrients from the meals that follow.
While the research team is continuing to study the impact of eating before exercise, for now it’s interesting to know that eating a bowl of cereal before you work out may be a great way to kick start your metabolism for the day.
Why not try these three pre-workout breakfast ideas:
Wholegrains and milk: Just like the study why not fuel up on a wholegrain porridge made with milk, or a plant-based milk? This combination is a great source of fibre and is low GI for slow release energy. The milk or a fortified plant milk can also be a handy source of calcium and vitamin B12. As the weather warms up, overnight oats topped with fruit and a splash of milk is a tasty option too. Wholegrain cereal and milk is also a breakfast winner.
Wholegrain toast with nut butter: This is a high fibre start to the day. Nut butters are a good source of protein and healthy fats, which can lower the overall GI of a meal to keep you feeling fuller for longer. Choose a nut butter with no added sugar or salt.
Fruit smoothie: Blend up your favourite whole fruits, along with milk or plant milk. If you're not a morning person, you can prep the night before by pre-chopping your fruit so your brekkie drink is ready to blend and go in the morning. | {
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AIRCRAFT ENGINEERAND AIRSHIPS
FIRST AERONAUTICAL^WEEKLY IN THE^WORLD .• FOUNDED tooo
Editor
M. P0UU3EN
Managing Editor
G. GEOFFREY SMITH Chief Photographa
JOHN YOXALL
r i
Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I I
iTelegrams : Truditur, Sefflit, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (50 lines).HERTFORD ST.,
COVENTRY.
Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry.Telephone: Coventry 5210.
GUILDHALL BTTILOTNGS,NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, 2.
Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham.Telephone: Midland 2971.
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SUBSCRIPTIONEATE8: Home and Canada:Other Countries; year, £1Year, SI 13 0.16 0. 6 months, 16a. Gel.G mouths, 18s. Od. 3 months. 8s. 6d.3 mouths, 9s. Od. • m
No. 1515. Vol. XXXIII. JANUARY 6, 1938. Thursdays, Price 66.
The Outlooks
ResolutionsT
ilS is the time of year for good resolutions, but
before they can be formulated it is usually necessary
to take stock in order to see where one has failed in
the past, no less than to derive from previous successes
encouragement for further effort. At the present moment
the expansion and re-equipment of the R.A.F. is the most
vital preoccupation of the British aircraft industry. One
may, perhaps, say that it is going on as well as could be
expected, although the fact that Germany is believed to
have produced 7,000 aero engines in 1937 and to be pro-
ducing aircraft of all types at the rate of 400 per month
gives no cause for complacency. At any rate, there is
obviously nothing that can be done about it.
If one turns from military to civil aviation, there is good
cause to be alarmed. We publish in this issue an article in
which an American correspondent lifts the veil and reveals
an activity on the other side of the Atlantic which makes
our own efforts look lethargic. And last week Capt. Wil-
cockson, Imperial Airways' well-known pilot, expressed the
view that in the matter of training of personnel, operating
experience and instrument development and use, this coun-
try is three years behind the United States. Taken to-
gether, the two give one something to think about.
Losing a LeadF
ROM the point of view of technical progress, military
and civil aviation cannot be altogether segregated,
developments in one field having their immediate re-
percussions in the other, although possibly with modifica-
tions and adaptations. It is now a good many years ago
that Great Britain established a lead in flying-boat design
and construction. That lead appears to be in very great
danger of being lost, not because of inability among our
designing staffs to produce the world's best, but through
lack of support. Until Imperial Airways placed the order
for 28 Empire flying boats with Short Brothers, no British
firm had had any great encouragement to develop civil
flying boats. The Air Ministry ordered a few boats at a
time, but could not seem to make up its mind about what it
wanted, and changes in policy occurred which did not help
towards continuity of effort.
Without regarding as other than ambitious projects which
may or may not be built some day, the two American
designs for a 55O-ft.-span flying boat and a 500-passenger
one, there is sufficient actual planning, building and test-
ing going on in America to show how much in earnest are
our cousins on the other side. Glenn Martin is developing
a 100-passenger boat of 188 ft. span, intended for trans-
oceanic commercial work; his firm has already built and
flown the 157-ft-span boat for Russia described and illus-
trated in Flight recently. Martin, Boeing and Sikorsky are
building 60-tonners for the U.S. Navy, and Sikorsky is
reported, in addition, to be developing a 50-tomier for the
Atlantic service which will carry 36 passengers when oper-
ating Atlantic ranges.
Some warning that America intended to apply herself
seriously to the flying-boat problem has been evident for
some years from the fact that her research establishments
have carried out very extensive tests on hull forms. Thus,
when the Government purse-strings were loosened, Ameri-
can constructors had ready to hand a wealth of informa-
tion upon which to base, their designs. -,-..
Although it is known that Shorts have on the drawing
board an improved version of the Empire boat, and
although there are rumours of a very large machine, one
cannot quite feel that encouragement sufficient to enable
one firm to cope with the competition from three or four
American companies is being given British firms.
ExperienceI
N the meantime, as Capt. Wilcockson pointed out, the
Americans have been steadily accumulating experi-
ence in long-range transoceanic flying-boat operation.
Although weather conditions over the Pacific are very dif-
ferent from those over the Atlantic, the operation of the
Pacific route has enabled Pan-American Airways to train
their crews in long-distance navigation, and when the
Americans come to operate an Atlantic service, they will
start with a very great advantage compared with us. Navi-
gational equipment also has been greatly developed and
thoroughly tested in actual operational conditions, com-
pared with which the very limited, although very promis-
ing, experience which Imperial Airways had an opportunity
to accumulate during ten crossings of the Atlantic is insig-
nificant. Operation of the Empire routes will help to fill
the gap, but is not strictly applicable to Atlantic conditions. | {
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The root of words like electricity, electronic, and electrostatic is the ancient Greek word elektron, meaning amber.
The Greeks used pieces of amber in jewelry. They noticed that when amber was rubbed with cloth, it attracted light objects such as hair. The amber could pick these things up off the ground,
despite the gravitational forces pulling them down. It seemed natural to attribute this behavior to the amber. Subsequently, anything that displayed similar behavior was likened to amber.
The property of amber electrostatic charging comes from triboelectric effect.
To understand the electrostatic charge, you need to think about the atoms that make up everything we can see. All matter is made up of atoms, which are themselves made up of charged particles. Atoms have a nucleus consisting of neutrons and protons. They also have a surrounding "shell" that is made up electrons. Typically, matter is neutrally charged, meaning that the number of electrons and protons are the same. If an atom has more electrons than protons, it is negatively charged. If it has more protons than electrons, it is positively charged.
Static charge is most often generated by contact and separation, or "triboelectrification." When any two materials touch and then break contact, there is an exchange of electrons; one material will be left with an excess, and the other a loss, of electrons.
Some atoms hold on to their electrons more tightly than others do. How strongly matter holds on to its electrons determines its place in the triboelectric series. If a material is more apt to give up electrons when in contact with another material, it is more positive in the triboelectric series. If a material is more apt to "capture" electrons when in contact with another material, it is more negative in the triboelectric series.
The triboelectric series is a list that ranks various materials according to their tendency to gain or lose electrons. It usually lists materials in order of decreasing tendency to charge positively (lose electrons), and increasing tendency to charge negatively (gain electrons). Somewhere in the middle of the list are materials that do not show strong tendency to behave either way. Note that the tendency of a material to become positive or negative after triboelectric charging has nothing to do with the level of conductivity (or ability to discharge) of the material.
The following list shows you the triboelectric series for many materials you find around the house. Positive items in the series are at the top, and negative items are at the bottom (compilation of a few
Internet sources)
Air Very
positive
Human hands (usually too moist, though)
Very positive
Leather
Rabbit Fur
Glass
Human hair
Nylon
Wool
Fur
Lead
Silk
Aluminum
Paper
Cotton Neutral
Steel Neutral
Wood
Amber
Hard rubber
Nickel, Copper
Brass, Silver
Gold, Platinum
Polyester
Styrene (Styrofoam)
Saran Wrap
Polyurethane
Polyethylene (like Scotch Tape)
Polypropylene
Vinyl (PVC)
Silicon
Teflon Very
negative
The relative position of two substances in the triboelectric series tells you how they will act when brought into contact. Glass rubbed by silk causes a charge separation because they are several positions apart in the table. The same applies for amber and wool. The farther the separation in the table, the greater the effect.
Practical conclusions
A common complaint people have on static electricity is that they shoot sparks when touching objects. This is typically caused because they have dry skin, which can become highly positive (+) in charge, especially when the clothes they wear are made of polyester material, which can become negative (-) in charge.
People that build up static charges due to dry skin are advised to wear all-cotton clothes, which is neutral. Also, moist skin reduces the collection of charges.
Neutral materials or those close to neutral are probably the best for peoples' living environment. The goal is to avoid
creation or exposure to a large electrostatic charge.
Amber Jewelry generally close to neutral
Despite the fact that it was amber that gave it's Greek name to electricity, amber is quite close to the middle of the table, relatively to the
synthetic negative materials, not much away from the neutral ones. Amber
jewelry, as compared to other materials used in living environment can be
considered slightly negative or close to neutral. Also, the active surface of
amber jewelry is small or very small and can't be meant as significant. | {
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"What's Your Constituency?"
Community Grade
(13 Users)
Your Grade
Welcome back to the TV Club coverage of Top Chef, which marks the fourth straight season covered by yours truly. I have to confess upfront that I’m feeling some trepidation at the start here: Partly because I felt the quality and chemistry of the competitors on Season Six set the bar awfully high for future seasons, partly because I found myself checking out early on the second run of Top Chef Masters: Season Two (which Emily Withrow covered), and partly because the beginning of every season offers a daunting 17 contestants, the vast majority of whom don’t stand a chance of winning the thing. That means a good 10 weeks of waiting for wheat to be separated from chaff, and trying to summon up outrage over, say, the 9th best chef getting bounced before the 13th best chef.
But while the grind of the early episodes is inevitable—aided by a reality-show formula that certainly isn’t getting any fresher—Top Chef is usually fun in its particulars and Season Seven brings us one major reason for optimism: Eric Ripert, genial culinary superstar and frequent guest in past seasons, has replaced Toby Young as the permanent fourth judge. I’m sure there must be someone who will miss Young’s canned quips and facile observations—and I’ll definitely miss the simmering contempt on Tom’s face whenever Toby opened his mouth—but I think most will agree this is an upgrade. My one concern about Ripert may be the “genial” part: Toby was not afraid to be candid, sometimes to his detriment, and it would be a shame if Ripert became the Paula Abdul of the panel, given more to gentle advise than slash-and-burn critiques. I’ll reserve judgment, but based on tonight’s debut, Ripert at least revealed some sharp, specific insights into how various dish succeeded or failed and that may be enough to compensate for his lack of tartness.
After the standard introduction atop a balcony with Congress as a backdrop, the D.C. Top Chef puts the popular mise en place Quickfire challenge front and center. Had everyone been asked to cook, we’d have gotten the usual mélange of dishes, with some overachievers underachieving and vice versa, and no real sense of who the contenders are this season. Granted, no challenge will tell us everything about how the season is going to shape up, but it stands to reason that those with refined knife skills are very likely to be refined in other areas. And lo, a pair of tough-talking, “alpha-male” types emerge as the persons to beat: Kenny, who zips through three of the four stages in first place (including breaking down four whole chickens at a rate of 10 seconds per), and Angelo, who ultimately wins the Quickfire (and $20,000) with his roasted wing & thigh, curry onion jam, and potato noodles.
Playing the role of hubristic culinary hotshot to the hilt, Angelo also emerges as the early villain of Season Seven, announcing his absurd ambition “to be the first contestant to win every single challenge” and likening his cooking to “an orchestra with flavors.” Still, I prefer brash, overconfident chefs who can cook to the brash, overconfident chefs who don’t know what they’re doing, and there’s the expected abundance of the latter early on. The Elimination challenge asks the chefs to divide into four groups and create individual dishes that most strongly represent where they’re from—all for the 300 or so partygoers (including The Bachelor from The Bachelor!) celebrating cherry blossom season. With the best and worst from each group up for victory and elimination, respectively, the two top Quickfire competitors, Angelo and Kenny, are given the advantage of choosing someone weak to square off against. Tactically, it’s only a minor edge, since nobody knows for sure how good or bad anyone else is yet; on a more personal level, it’s likely to cause friction between the Quickfire champs and the chefs they assume suck the most.
Surprise, surprise, the chefs who make head-slappingly stupid decisions are punished for it later. You had to know Jacqueline was in trouble when she talked about her desire to prove that self-taught cooks who cater can win Top Chef. Then she opted to serve a non-fat (or very low-fat) chicken liver mousse, which evinced mystified “Why bother?” looks from the judges even before they discovered she hadn’t strained the dish to cut back on the unpleasantly grainy texture. She was fortunate that bandana-donning wild man John was around to do something even dumber: Cook dessert, which has been such an Achilles’ heel for contestants in the past that Top Chef has created a spin-off show strictly for pastry maestros. I don’t care what deliciousness is oozing out of trees in Michigan: Maple mousse on puff pastry sounds sickly sweet in the best of circumstances. Add to that a pre-formed pastry—which, as Gail notes, represents a full third of his three-component dish—and John was doomed for an early exit.
As for the winners, Angelo so far makes good on his goal to win every challenge, orchestrating a bite of arctic char (with, sigh, a bacon foam) that wows the judges, and there’s Kenny again playing bridesmaid with a nicely layered trout with a cinnamon coffee rub. Kevin, who had made the final four in the Quickfire, too, acquitted himself well enough to be in contention with his lamb sous vide. Of the four, I’m thinking Alex might emerge as a wild card possibility: Tom is usually quick to hate deconstructed anything, but Alex’s dubious-sounding short rib/borscht combination allayed even his doubts. Too early to tell how the gelatinous blob that is the beginning of all Top Chef seasons will shape up, but at least there’s some heat at the top.
Stray observations:
• Because Bravo sends out the first episode of every season to critics, this review was posted right after airing. Won’t happen again. Future recaps will mostly likely be posted 90 minutes or so later.
• “Everything I do will be outstanding” —Angelo, asking for it.
• Proof that Kevin must be an excellent chef: His Jersey restaurant is called Rat’s, and it’s still in business.
• As noted in one of last season’s posts, I had the pleasure of dining at Seablue, where Stephen Hopcraft works as executive chef. (It’s one of two Michael Mina restaurants at MGM Grand.) Stephen wound up on the bottom four for his deep-fried ribeye, but I suspect he won’t reside there all season. Seablue offers a “fried” quartet of appetizers that includes a taste “lobster corn dog,” but what works for lobster apparently doesn’t for beef.
• Great tweet from Washington Post political columnist and all-around handsome bastard Ezra Klein on the irony of the Elimination challenge: “I feel like a challenge based on "representation" is a needlessly cruel way to start Top Chef dc. #novote” | {
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Digital Learning
ACG School Jakarta students are well prepared to face the ever-changing world that we live in today. Information Technology is an integral part of day-to-day living; therefore, students need to be able to understand and utilise these tools effectively. Students will acquire the skills necessary to select and manage digital tools that will empower them in all phases of the learning process, including research, critical thinking, creative thinking,communication, self-management and collaboration. ACG School Jakarta is a centre of leadership and educational excellence with a strong vision for learning with technology.
iPads in Primary School
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in Secondary School
Digital Citizenship
ACG School Jakarta believes in a Digital Citizenship model for supporting safe and responsible use of the Internet in teaching and learning. An important part of this is that we are able to show others what responsible use looks likewhile we are using technology in our learning. We think a good digital citizen is someone who;
Is a confident and capable user of ICT.
Will use ICT for learning as well as other activities.
Will think carefully about whether the information they see online is true.
Will be able to speak the language of digital technologies.
Understands that they may experience problems when using technology but can deal with them.
Will always use ICT to communicate with others in positive ways.
Will be honest and fair in all their actions using ICT.
Will always respect people’s privacy and freedom of speech online.
Will help others to become a better digital citizen.
Because we know this is important for us all, we ask everyone, including the staff, students, and volunteers working at the school to agree to use the Internet and other technologies in a safe and responsible way by following the rules laid out in the Responsible Use Agreement.
Managebac
ManageBac is an online planning, assessment, and reporting platform. At ACG School Jakarta, we use ManageBac to take attendance, record assessment data, plan our units, and report on student progress. Parents can login to ManageBac, where they can access student reports and attendance for their child(ren). Parent guidance to ManageBac is provided by the school. Speak to the Front Desk, DP Coordinator, or PYP Coordinator if you need support.
Students who enroll at ACG School Jakarta are eligible for Office 365 Education for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. Students use Office 365 in the classroom and learn a suite of skills and applications that employers value most. Whether it’s Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Access or OneNote, students will be prepared for their futures today.
A record of student learning is kept on the online Seesaw application. The student portfolio includes the evidence of learning in the form of photographs, videos, audio recordings and text documents. The emphasis is on the process of learning and will therefore include ongoing records, not just the final product.
Teachers post a weekly blog to Seesaw about the learning happening in the classroom. We encourage parents to view this weekly to see what has been taught as well as take note of any upcoming events.
Access for parents is available via the Seesaw Family application. For information about how you can access your child’s portfolio, please contact their class teacher. Teachers and parents may also communicate via the Seesaw chat feature built into the application. | {
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Checklist for Fiction Readers
It can be hard to get useful feedback from friends and family. The key is to ask specific questions — questions that will get them to notice their own reactions as an ordinary reader. Honest answers to these questions will prove invaluable to any fiction writer.
1) Is there anything you didn’t understand?• Was anything confusing or hard to follow?
• Was it ever hard to figure out what was going on?
• Did anything not make sense to you?
• Were the events in the story believable?
• Were you caught up in the story? Or were there things that interrupted the flow and reminded you that you were reading a made-up story?
• Did you ever get characters confused, or forget who a character was?
2) Were you ever bored?
• Were there points where your interest flagged?
• Were there parts that felt extraneous or unnecessary?
3) Did you want to know more?
• Were there characters you wanted to know more about?
• Were you left wondering ‘what happened then?’ at any point?
• Was there anything else — setting, theme, messages — that you wish had been explored more?
4) Did the characters seem real?• Were the characters believable? (Were they ever unbelievable?)
• Did you care about the characters? (Did you ever not care?)
• Which characters did you like? Which characters did you hate? Which characters left you indifferent?
5) Did anything seem like a cliché?• Did you ever roll your eyes at a plot twist?
• Did any of the descriptions or metaphors feel tired and unoriginal?
With inspiration from Orson Scott Card’s concept of the “Wise Reader,” from pp.121-124 of his book How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (Writer’s Digest Books, 1990). | {
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2010 Vuelta España – Stage 18 – Mean Green
Mark Cavendish has his third stage win of the Vuelta España, holding off a surging Haedo who nearly came over the top of Cav on the slightly uphill finish. The nervous finish caused a dramatic set-up to the final sprint with Farrar getting lost, Quickstep dropping their sprinter and Matthew Goss going deep to launch Cavendish. No change in the GC. | {
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The backwoods-gothic terrain may be familiar, but the jolts are doled out with an expert hand in “Blue Ruin,” a lean and suspenseful genre piece that follows a bloody trail of vengeance to its cruel, absurd and logical conclusion. Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier shows impressive progress from his funny-scary 2007 debut, “Murder Party,” with this tense, stripped-down tale of a Virginia drifter who finds himself in way over his head when he tries to exact payback for his parents’ deaths.
Saulnier cleverly establishes a man-on-the-run theme in his opening shot, before the action proper has even started. Thereafter the camera practically stays glued to Dwight Evans (Macon Blair), a quiet vagrant who gets by sifting through Dumpsters and sleeping in his beat-up blue Pontiac. Yet his seemingly pointless existence is marked by curious flashes of daring and resourcefulness, if not exactly great intelligence, and he suddenly snaps into action and returns to his rural Virginia hometown upon learning that one Will Cleland has been released from prison.
Making it clear there’s a score to settle without immediately disclosing the gruesome details, the script lures the viewer into an unnerving sense of complicity as Dwight follows Will and his folks to a bar and, armed with a small knife, initiates the first of several brutal setpieces. The filmmaking is clean and efficient but the killing isn’t, and in the course of his clumsy, foolhardy getaway, Dwight ends up putting Will’s entire gun-toting redneck family on his tail. In a twist that streamlines the narrative considerably, the Clelands opt not to inform the police of the attack, choosing instead to keep things “in-house.”
While Dwight’s not-so-bright actions generate some darkly humorous beats (none grislier than when he tries, and fails, to clean a nasty arrow wound), Saulnier resists turning his protagonist into an object of outright ridicule, never compromising the audience’s intense identification with this reluctant renegade. In name and appearance, Dwight is the sort of pudgy, clean-shaven Everyman more suited to an office cubicle than a shootout, and even as the arguable aggressor in this scenario, he seems to act more out of fear and protectiveness than out of a real desire for retribution.
Blair’s engaging, soulful-eyed performance succeeds by locating the sweet spot between idiot and amateur, predator and prey. Repeatedly, Dwight plans ahead, takes calculated risks and still messes up, and much of the film’s tension derives from his very fallibility, as well as his increasing awareness that none of this can possibly end well. If the climax goes inevitably over-the-top, it’s nonetheless the sort of gruesome finish the story’s steady, merciless buildup demands.
Carefully exploiting the audience’s fear of what it can’t (or can only partially) see, Saulnier’s shallow-focus widescreen compositions amp up the suspense at key intervals, as do Julia Bloch’s crisp editing, Matt Snedecor and Dan Flosdorf’s meticulously layered sound design, and Brooke and Will Blair’s ominous synth score. While Dwight is often the camera’s sole focus, warm character notes are provided by Amy Hargreaves as Dwight’s sister, who is at once grateful for and angered by his reckless actions, and Devin Ratray as an old high-school friend whom Dwight enlists to help, in one of his smarter decisions. | {
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Event Description:You'll meet our team of obstetricians, certified nurse midwives, and family medicine physicians. You can also tour our recently renovated Labor & Delivery unit and in-hospital Birth Center. You can also attend an optional tour before or after the event (5 p.m. or 7 p.m.). Please plan on arriving 15 minutes before the event to allow time to sign in. If you are planning on attending the 5 p.m. tour, please arrive at 4:45 p.m.
If you are unable to register online, please call 619-543-3168.Parking information | {
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And check out the kohlrabi slaw and Glada’s garbanzo zucchini salad in the recipe sheet!
Also, FFS will have its own filming taking place tomorrow at pick up: Kate Perkins of Perkins Films will be shooting the whole day, from the fruit delivery at 8am to the arrival of the truck from the Farm at Miller’s Crossing in the middle of the day to our 5th distribution. So, just a heads up. And thank you Kate! | {
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Your Collection: Sticker Collection
Here are some pictures of my sticker collection from late 70's forward. I worked for Cycle Five Kawasaki in Calvert county Maryland owned by Dale and Ann Norfolk the parents of Skip, Shawn, and Scott. Two of these names are household names in the MX/SX world. The other one is smart. We all collected and traded stickers and beer cans. I never bought any of these, companies either gave them out or I traded for them. Someday I am going to restore some old motocross bikes and then I will stick them.
ATTENTION READERS: WE NEED YOUR COLLECTIONS!
Do you have something cool you'd like to show off? Submit a piece from your collection as well as your name and mailing address to [email protected] and win Throttle Jockey stickers. You will be notified via e-mail if you are the winner!
*Please note that while international readers may submit their Collections, we are only able to award and ship prizes to winners within the United States. | {
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Oct 2, 2004
London Calling
And I...live by the river! etc.
Anyhoo, we're back in London, and on our last frantic day of shopping and meeting people before we fly out tomorrow night. Our sojourn is almost over!
The good news first is I checked my bank accounts and I got a nice whack of interest come through on one account which means I have cash! I can now buy my brother all the Von Dutch T-Shirts he's been barracking for! ;)
I will talk a bit about Budapest, considering I got cut off so quickly when I was in a net cafe over there.
We got up a 4am to leave Glasgow on a 6am flight. Greg, Debbie (his sister) and Julie (her Scottish flatmate) and I were all a bit bleary-eyed, andI was still a bit worried about my labyrinthitis. Luckily I was OK, just the normal sore head I get with airports and planes.
We flew down to London Luton, from where we caught our flight to Budapest. We had to wait a few hours at the airport, and Greg and I actually left a bag in storage so we didn't have to lug it around Budapest! At every castle we visited, Greg bought the guidebook, so consequently we have one very heavy bag!
Budapest was lovely. Quite a big city, with a population just under 2 million, about one-fifth of Hungary's overall people-count. It's very very smoggy though, with many older buildings black with pollution. Budapest was formed in 1873 when the towns of Buda and Pest, on either side of the Danube, merged to form one city. Most of the sight-seeing stuff is still on the Pest side.
The first day we climbed Mt Gillert on the Buda side. Gillert was priest made a saint for trying to convert the pagan Hungarians around 1000. They thanked him by putting him in a barrel and rolling him down the hill! Hence the hill of Gillert. It was a big climb up, but we were rewarded with good views of the city and of the Statue of Liberty on top. It's a giant bronze woman holding a palm frond. It was put up by the Soviets to celebrate their liberation of Budapest from the Nazis. After the communists left Budapest in 1991, they thought about tearing it down. But they changed their minds and left it there to now symbolise Budapest's freedom from the Soviets!
On Tuesday we headed out first to the Synagogue. Over 600 000 Hungarian Jews died during WWII, most in concentration camps. They have a memorial statue out the back of a steel willow tree, with the names of victims on the leaves. It was actually paid for by the American actor Tony Curtis, whose dad was a Hungarian Jew who died in the Holocaust.
We needed some cheering up after that, and boy did we get it. We walked along the Danube on the Pest side, past their impressive Parliament building, currently being cleaned, and across to Margaret island. It's a long island in the middle of the river. The first thing we came across were converted golf buggy-type mini cars, available to rent. It only cost about £3 each so bugger it, let's do it!
We rocketed around (well, as much as you can rocket at about 7 miles an hour) that island for an hour. It was the best fun. We've got some great bits on video, including when Debbie, Greg and I clambered into the buggy and took off, leaving a hapless Julie chasing us! It was great. I don't remember much else about the island but the buggy sure as hell will stay in my memory! My parents are actually going to Budapest in about a fortnight and I strongly suggest a buggy ride!
Tuesday we also decided to visit the baths. Budapest is famous for its hot springs, and there are numerous baths around town. It was a bit of a debacle because no one spoke English at the baths, and we were trying to rent towels and lockers with hand gestures! We also discovered we needed bathing caps to swim, so we had to buy them in the end, as it was cheaper than renting them? Bizarre.
The baths were lovely, and we felt refreshed. So we took off and grabbed the furnicular up to the castle district on the Buda side. We went into the labyrinths underneath - there are miles of caverns naturally carved through the hill by hot water thousands of years ago, and then used and maintained by locals. It was fun, because we had to take a gas lamp with us to see by - as in the evening they turn the lights off down there! They'd also put in for some reason, a fountain that flowed with wine! I think it was to signify the rich history of the early Hungarians. Or something.
Wednesday we took ourselves of on a 'Hammer and Sickle' T0ur. It was about 4 hours of communist talk. Our guide, Czaba (pronounced 'Chubba'), was really interesting. He was about 30, and had been lucky enough to visit Australia when he was 15, while Communism was still in place. It made him a bit of a rebel at school, following his father's footsteps. His father had been a sportsman so had been able to travel the world and see the cool capitalist stuff the Hungarians weren't getting. He was very against it, and it caused clashes with Czaba's grandfather, who was a very committed communist party member and local leader.
Anyhoo, we visited a communist era flat - just a sitting room, bedroom, small kitchen and bathroom, and narrow balcony. There are loads of big ugly concrete blocks still all over Budapest.
We also visited statue park, where famous soviet statues are now kept. It was funny seeing the statues with no artistic value - just propaganda!
Crap! My net time's out again...will write soon!
Hi to everyone, and sorry Clare and Briony for missing your birthdays! I'll try and pick you up something festive!
3 comments:
Hi Natz - glad to hear about your visit to Budapest and looking forward to seeing the video. Got your email re arrival - we will check it out and be there to meet you. Regards to all. See you soon - mum.
Thanks for post on our website. Sorry to hear you have been sick. If it makes you feel any better, Mark and I have both been sick with head colds. Mark was kind enough to share with me. I am on the end of it though luckily before we hit Rome.Happy Birthday Greg!!Talk soonAlisha & Mark | {
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noah’s ark
Tag archive for noah’s ark
Doubling up on employees may seem like a luxury, but when the pressure’s on, you’ll be glad you did. Just as Noah filled the Ark with animals two by two before the flood, you have to hire staff in twos. The alternative is that you risk being stuck at the most awkward and stressful time without someone to whom you can delegate a critical function of your gym’s operation. If you own or manage a small fitness center you always need contingency plans, especially when it comes to staffing. Large companies have all kinds of luxuries that come with the [...] | {
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Tony Christian starts upp Joneskogs 738 camaro
First start upp in Bradenton FL 2009 12 04.
Peter Rosenqvist is starting his Pro Mod Camaro
Peter Rosenqvist in Sweden are starting his Pro Mod Camaro for the first time after
he bought it from Adam Flamholc.
Rickard Asp is helping him from team Top Mod Viper.
Filmed with Canon 5D Mark II with EF 17-40 lens. | {
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BS Beaver Creek Plush Queen 12\
Building the family area so that it seems rather important to pay attention and relaxed. The warm Beaver Creek Furniture could make buddies the attendees, or relatives who arrive at visit to feel at home. Along with the nice feeling that you might, would not be pleasant if you could spend some time speaking within this room together? Organizing interior planning living by choosing a right seat, room you can begin patterns.
Selection of loving you and a suitable couch, will support the looks of a room that is living. Chair design would you choose must correspond with all the topic carried by the property itself. Beaver Creek Furniture might seem odd if a contemporary livingroom filled up with chairs contemporary and minimalist. Contemporary effect could be stronger radiated should you select a chair that's carvings along with facts that are basic that are other.
Besides getting used for interesting guests, a living room often you utilize to read guides or just relax on Sunday. A seat that has a layout may assist the overall appearance of the room. Nonetheless, the style has to be in accordance with the ease furnished. We advocate that you simply avoid overly reducing convenience to be able to get the design you enjoy.
There are numerous choices advanced layout that offers comfort as possible choose pills. So, don't be satisfied with one option only. Again, don't need to buy a couch for good design alone. In addition to the look, you need to chair Beaver Creek Furniture should be satisfied first.
In case your home is tiny, requiring the room doubles like a family-room, you should look at whether the item is tough if occupied all the time. Once your preferences are fulfilled, you can view to the design and the model. Is recommended to select a design that's not fixated by era. Therefore, although the trend modified, guest chairs won't create uninterested or looks outdated.
There are many alternatives of products that you could pick. Beginning one piece of wood to timber or material body covered with textile and foam multi-faceted. The impact wills bolster if placed in the space contemporary classic-style. However, software of lumber in a minimalist modern room can add a cozy atmosphere that is natural. | {
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Member
I had a series 1 Watch in 38mm and went yesterday and got the series 3 in 42mm and I’m unsure if it’s too big on me. They didn’t have a 42mm on display at AT&T so I didn’t realize how much bigger it was. What do you all think? Should I go down to the 38mm and pay a $45 restocking fee or does the 42mm look ok? Thanks in advance for any help!
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Genius
I had a series 1 Watch in 38mm and went yesterday and got the series 3 in 42mm and I’m unsure if it’s too big on me. They didn’t have a 42mm on display at AT&T so I didn’t realize how much bigger it was. What do you all think? Should I go down to the 38mm and pay a $45 restocking fee or does the 42mm look ok? Thanks in advance for any help! | {
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YOUR CART
Are you close to banging your head on the wall because your printer is not working like it's alleged to? If you can be like me, as an alternative to a technical as everybody else is. I realize how it can be pretty frustrating when all of sudden your reliable printer is bust like it did prior to the.
This error code is generally associated the brand new Dell 922 printer. Usually you might see the cartridge moving front and back and slamming itself against the printer. It is advisable to tighten the strings on the back of your printer after which it should work fine.
After completed all the physical features of the printer, check out if its connected within your PC or. To make sure the printer is connected properly, adhere to the USB cable from the spine of the printer towards the back belonging to the computer.
Paper jams. This is by far the most common problem encountered when printing. Reasons for this include using crumpled papers, and printer roller problems. When your paper is jammed, stop the printing operation, whenever your printer and pull the paper in the direction of the printing path; pulling it backwards might damage your printer good deal. Make sure there aren't any pieces of paper left inside the printer, and turn it back towards. This should work properly by however.
If you have a driver that previously works properly fortunately has a nice problem, maybe you need to update your printer driver. And you can now also fix most driver problems by this method. To update the driver, place go for the Windows Update website or printer manufacturer's website appear whether work involved . any updated driver, if there is, download this tool.
If that corrupt or outdated, your components will wrestle in detecting a as well as there won't be any any icon shows on the taskbar. Is actually one in the common reasons for "Printer Not Responding" crisis. In this case, to fix the problem, you only have to update your USB trucker.
This will be error message asking one to restart the printer. You need to switch trip printer and then connect it via the USB cord. Press the hold http://www.sharpdriversdownload.com/ and cancel buttons at that time. Then power on the printer again. On your LCD display you should typically the message saying 'ready for download mode'. You are able to need to initialize the firmware update process.
We've seen that when you are in possessing a version of Word there are free of charge tools which can help you convert the document proper into a PDF ebook. On all other platforms and perhaps even on Windows you can use LibreOffice or LibreOffice which will do the actual perfectly beautifully. | {
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Every 98 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in the United States.
Parenting Time Center
Umbrella Tree, a safe place for supervised visitation and exchanges.
Shelter
Temporary Emergency Shelter
Child Advocacy
Support for Children
Violence Intervention Project serves victims of domestic and sexual violence through crisis call response, emergency assistance, advocacy support, shelter, supervised visitation services and other housing support. A trained advocate is available 24 hours a day to listen, help assess needs and safety, and help locate needed resources or help in deciding if reporting a rape or an assault is the right option.We know how hard it is to take the first step or to be scared for someone you know who is in an abusive relationship. We’re here to listen and provide options in moving forward.
All VIP services are free and confidential and open to people of all genders in Pennington, Kittson, Marshall, Red Lake and Roseau Counties.
Services Include:
A safe and confidential place for victims to share their story in a private and non-judgmental environment
Safety planning
Assistance with protection orders
Accompaniment to court proceedings
Support and accompaniment during a sexual assault exam at the emergency room
Support Groups
Supervised Visitation and Safe exchanges (located in Thief River Falls)
Technology Safety Alert
Violence Intervention Project serves victims of domestic and sexual violence through crisis call response, emergency assistance, advocacy support, shelter, supervised visitation services and other housing support. A trained advocate is available 24 hours a day to listen, help assess needs and safety, and help locate needed resources or help in deciding if reporting a rape or an assault is the right option.We know how hard it is to take the first step or to be scared for someone you know who is in an abusive relationship. We’re here to listen and provide options in moving forward.
All VIP services are free and confidential and open to people of all genders in Pennington, Kittson, Marshall, Red Lake and Roseau Counties.
Services Include:
A safe and confidential place for victims to share their story in a private and non-judgmental environment
Safety planning
Assistance with protection orders
Accompaniment to court proceedings
Support and accompaniment during a sexual assault exam at the emergency room
Support Groups
Supervised Visitation and Safe exchanges (located in Thief River Falls) | {
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AVAILABLE Last checked: 51 Minutes ago!
Wisdom of the ages 60 days to enlightenment wayne w dyer on amazoncom free shipping on qualifying offers national bestseller this . Wisdom of the ages 60 days to enlightenment wayne w dyer on amazoncom free shipping on qualifying offers national bestseller this . Wisdom of the ages 60 days to enlightenment thu 17 jan 2019 151200 gmt wisdom of the ages 60 pdf 2 preface by acharya buddharakkhita the dhammapada is the. Wisdom of the ages 60 days to enlightenment english edition ebook wayne w dyer amazonnl kindle store. Wisdom of the ages 60 days to ebook bestselling author and personal development guru wayne w dyer shows us how to apply the insight of 60 of the worlds greatest | {
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Self Storage Units & Facilities in Dawson Springs, KY
Find Movers and Helpers
in Your Area
If you are looking for Dawson Springs storage facilities, then you have found the right place. Finding outdoor and indoor storage units in Dawson Springs has never been so easy. Moverscorp.com allows you to compare different Dawson Springs, Kentucky self storage units in minutes.
Computers are valuable and also very delicate items. Whether you hire professionals or move yourself, it is important to be extremely careful when packing a computer. Here are few tips on how to prepare a computer.
How to Pack a Computer
Self storage units are a cost-effective and safe way to store household and business items. Consider the following things before storing your items.Prepare Your Items For Storage
Moving artwork and antiques requires professionals who have necessary knowledge and equipment to handle delicate pieces. We do not recommend to cut corners or hire a company that is not specialized in delicate items. However, if the items are not of the high price you can consider packing and moving them yourself.Moving Antiques and Artwork
When hiring a professional residential moving company or just helpers, it's recommended to create an inventory list. Inventory list represents all of the household items that you plan on taking with you, this is done for your own protection.Moving Inventory
Moving process is always hard on someone, but when you try to cut the corners and do it cheaply it can cost you even more. Like everybody else, you don't want to spend a lot, but on the other hand, you don’t want to hire someone who is not experienced. Can cheap movers actually be trustworthy?Cheap Movers
Moverscorp.com has provided these listings which are public information drawn from the local internet directories and from our partner companies. To inquire about storage prices, availability, and units sizes please call the phone numbers listed above. Remeber, the cheapest storage unit is not always the best value. Secure and clean storage facility prices are usually higher than other places, but it's totally worth it. | {
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Dispatches from the 10th Crusade
Entries from What's Wrong with the World tagged with 'Statues'
Apparently, now that the left and the right have joined forces to start removing Confederate flags from public display, some commenters have started suggesting we need to go after street signs and statues next! This is basically insane. As bad... | {
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Where's My Size?
Customer Reviews for Freya Core Underwire Sports Bra
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Star Rating
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Size: 34H
Excellent. It is so hard to find an actually secure bra of any kind, much less a sports bra, at this size. But this one works! I feel secure, and while it's a touch constricting, it's not nearly as bad as your average sports bra/torture device.
Annie from
Height: Petite (5'3" and under)
Age: 40s
Posted: June 26,2017
Size: 38E
Some reviews indicated that this bra produces pointy result, but I took a chance and bought it. The cups and band are just right for me, lots of uplift for my age, and comfortable, the fabric is less stretchy if you prefer stretchier fabric, this bra might be too stiff for you. As to the shape of the cups, I guess I have much to fill them, so they aren't as pointy as some others said.
audrey from Manhattan/KS/USA
Height: Petite (5'3" and under)
Age: 60s
Posted: June 5,2017
Size: 36F
I discovered Freya several years ago. These "sport" bras are so comfortable that I wear them everyday. They give awesome support and difinition to your figure. I have the best service from ordering from HerRoom. The are always dependable
CJ from Holden/Mo/USA
Height: Average Height (5'4"-5'8")
Age: 70s
Posted: June 2,2017
Size: 34K
Was really looking forward to a sport bra in my size. But, unfortunately, this bra didn't work for me. My normal size is a 34HH, but knowing sports bras run small I ordered up a size to 34J. Was too small so I returned & ordered 34K. That was too small too. Liked the 5 hooks, & was comfortable, wish the cups had fit.
HerRoom Response: We suggest trying a 36J in this bra because the bra is high impact the band might be running a little tighter than a usual bra.
Kim from California
Height: Average Height (5'4"-5'8")
Age: 50s
Posted: May 16,2017
Size: 34DD
This bra provides the absolute best support for my girls. Bounce is kept to a minimum as I dance in Zumba class. I love the fit and the durability. It is my favorite sports bra.
Michelle K. from North Jersey
Height: Petite (5'3" and under)
Age: 50s
Posted: May 10,2017
Size: 36DDD
Great support and comfort
TheUndies.com from
Height: Petite (5'3" and under)
Age: Teen
Posted: April 14,2017
Size: 36
Holds perfect and hood support. No excesses under arm
TheUndies.com from
The underwire popped out in less than a month. I hand wash and line dry. No support when I exercise
Freya Response: We’re sorry this bra didn’t work for you. If you felt like it wasn’t supportive enough we recommend going down a band and up in the cup. It is also very important to rotate your bras, even sports bras. Your bras need at least a day to rest to help them last longer.
Jacqueline from 11412
Freya
AA4002
Tomima's Tip
"This bra is designed for high-impact. However, some women find it too tight. You may want to consider going up a band size and down a cup size, but you will gain some breast bounce.
"
This amazing high impact sports bra shapes the bust while offering the ultimate support and comfort. Multi-part cups shape the breasts. Made with CoolMax fabric, which dries 5 times faster, wicks moisture away from the body and feels soft against the skin.
Welcome to HerRoom, the world’s premier online lingerie authority. Founded by Tomima Edmark in 1998, HerRoom has grown from bras and panties to include swimwear, sleepwear, and beyond. We offer over 250 brands, from classic brands you love like Wacoal, Chantelle, and Vanity Fair, to some you may not have heard of—Fantasie, Prima Donna, Elomi—but are sure to love. We work hard to provide you with as much information as possible, including extensive fit information, measured drawings of each bra, and honest customer reviews. Whether you’re a 28A or a 58J, we’re confident you’ll find something you love at HerRoom! | {
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KATY Skull Rose Print Dress 8-14
Skull Roses prints are back with a boom.Skull Rose Print Dress 8-14 is a Bandeau dress that is a must have for any girl. Combine it with flats for the day, or dress up in the evening with high heels and a statement handbag to complete the look! | {
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ZTE ZMAX 2 Smartphone
ZTE USA announced the release of ZMAX 2, a second generation, budget-priced Android smartphone for $150 with AT&T. The new phone features an updated design with the same long-lasting battery and 5.5-inch HD screen at an affordable price. The phone’s price-to-feature ratio is outstanding and the flexibility of a prepaid plan only sweetens the deal.
The ZTE ZMAX 2 delivers one of the best viewing experiences with a large 5.5-inch HD display, Dolby Digital Plus Audio, a long-lasting 3,000 mAh removable battery and 4G LTE speeds.
The 8-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras capture clear, crisp images and video. Thanks to 16 GB of internal memory you have plenty of space to store content and download the latest apps to edit or share your photos and videos.
The ZTE ZMAX 2 is a premium phablet that features the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system, a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor.
Price and Availability
The ZTE ZMAX 2 can be purchased online at att.com and at select AT&T retail locations for $149.99 beginning September 25, 2015. | {
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Pierce the squash several times with a sharp knife to let the steam escape during cooking.
Microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes. Turn the squash after 3 minutes to ensure even cooking.
Place the squash on a cutting board and cut in half. Scrape the seeds out of the center of each half and discard the seeds.
Fill the hollowed squash with the apple mixture.
Return the squash to the microwave and cook until the apples are softened, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the squash to a serving dish. Top each half with 1 teaspoon margarine and serve immediately.
Notes
Acorn squash is a good source of vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber. Here it’s paired with apples and brown sugar to make a hearty dish. Serve along with whole-grain crackers and a small wedge of your favorite cheese to round out all food groups. | {
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Lung Cancer Causes You're Exposed to Everyday
If you don’t smoke, you probably don’t spend a lot of time worrying about lung cancer risks. While smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, it’s not the only one. Radiation oncologist Andrew Nish, MD, UnityPoint Health, explains the lung cancer causes you could be exposed to every day, plus the steps you can take to reduce your risk.
Lung Cancer Causes Without Smoking
Dr. Nish says about 15 percent of lung cancers in men occur in those who have never smoked and the same is true for 20 percent of women with lung cancer. Besides smoking, here are other main causes of lung cancer.
Radon exposure (second most common cause of lung cancer)
Secondhand smoke
Workplace exposure, like asbestos, diesel fumes, etc.
Air pollution, both outdoor and indoor
Chest radiation (if you’ve been treated for another cancer in the chest, such as lymphoma)
“These increase the risk of lung cancer due to exposure to an external chemical or radiation that causes damage to normal cells in the lung, which increases the risk of those cells to divide abnormally resulting in cancer,” Dr. Nish says.
Another environmental exposure in the Midwest is arsenic in ground water. Arsenic gets into the ground water and aquifers naturally from dissolving rocks. It’s recommended all private wells be tested for arsenic. Public water systems are tested and safe from arsenic.
“Almost all lung cancer is from environmental exposure with very few being from direct inheritance of a genetic mutation. Direct genetic inheritance of lung cancer risk is actually quite rare. The development of family lung cancer involves shared environmental and genetic factors among family members. Bottom line, the vast majority of lung cancers are due to environmental exposure,” Dr. Nish says.
Radon and Lung Cancer
Radon is a naturally occurring odorless, colorless radioactive gas that forms from the decay of uranium in the soil and rocks in the ground. Dr. Nish says all Midwestern states have relatively high levels of radon. For example, in Iowa, 7 out of ten homes exceed the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) radon action level of 4 pCi/L. Iowa leads the nation as far as the percentage of homes that exceed 4pCi/L.
“Even though you may not spend a lot of time in your basement, you should be concerned about radon, as it will spread throughout your house. Radon seeps in from the ground and through cracks in the foundation, around pipes and in sump pits. Once in the house, it will spread, resulting in exposure to you and your family,” Dr. Nish says.
Testing for radon is the only way to detect radon, as there are no symptoms of radon exposure. Organizations, like the EPA and American Lung Association, recommend testing your home for radon levels. If radon levels are more than 4 pCi/L, then a mitigation system should be installed. For levels between 2 and 4 pCi/L, you should consider installing a mitigation system.
Secondhand Smoke Tied to Lung Cancer
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can be harmful. Secondhand smoke will start taking a toll on your body immediately.
“All secondhand smoke is equally harmful. It doesn’t make any difference whether it came from a cigarette, pipe or cigar. All sources of secondhand smoke carry the same risks,” Dr. Nish says.
Research on secondhand smoke from vaping is less certain than for tobacco, but at this time, it’s thought the chemicals released from vaping may be just as harmful as those from tobacco.
Dr. Nish also says there are greater risks associated with secondhand smoke in pregnant women and children. Exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage, low birth weight babies, premature birth, learning and behavioral abnormalities in the child and sudden infant death in the infant. Secondhand smoke harms older children as well.
“Children exposed to secondhand smoke have more episodes of pneumonia, bronchitis, wheezing and cough and more ear infections, plus [secondhand smoke] can worsen existing asthma and can cause new cases of asthma,” Dr. Nish says.
Top Signs of Lung Cancer
Dr. Nish says the signs and symptoms of lung cancer are the same whether you are a smoker or not. The top signs of lung cancer include:
Eat an anti-inflammatory diet. Emphasize six to nine servings of fruits and vegetables. This allows the body to more readily fix damage done to lungs, as well as protects against infections.
Learn to manage stress, and sleep more. As an adult, getting eight hours of good sleep each night is important. This and stress management help our immune systems better fight off infections and eliminate cancers before they become obvious. | {
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Pages
Thursday, May 6, 2010
ICICI Bank: Back in Reckoning?
ICICI BANK: (BSE: 532174 | NSE: ICICIBANK)Seems to be back in the reckoning. YoY jump is on low base, but the steady sequential growth hints at again being the heavyweight it once was. No wonder even RBI is encouraging with more time for attaining 70% PCR. But with 67% foreign ownership, and the bank existing as ‘Indian’ only on a proposed RBI exemption, it needs to tread carefully during these times when capital markets worldwide are holding their breath on Goldman Sachs. | {
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Gastelum ran outside, trying to distract Butler, Reynolds said. Butler followed him and fired a shot but missed again, she said. Butler took about $200 from Reynolds and ran away, she said.
Reynolds said she didn't know Butler at the time of shooting, but later found out that she had bought a motor home from the suspect's sister. Reynolds testified that she was surprised the suspect called her by name in the house.
Butler is charged with robbery, burglary, attempted murder, two counts of assault with a firearm, obstructing a peace officer and a being a felon with a firearm. Court records show that Butler has prior convictions on possession of controlled substance and possession of a firearm.
To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755 or click here.
Tomoya Shimura may be reached at [email protected] or (760) 955-5368. | {
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The purpose of life, including our human life, is the evolution of consciousness. The aim of our human existence is to become as fully human as possible, to realise or make real the full potential inherent in the human condition. This applies to all levels of being human, to the biological, the emotional as well as the mental level.
Instead of seeing yourself as just a personality with a mind and a body, imagine yourself as part of an individualised life-stream that flows eternally towards increasingly higher levels of consciousness. This life-stream builds itself different personalities as vehicles for its flow of consciousness. You are one of these temporary vehicles. Your personality is temporary, the present cutting edge of your life-stream as perceived in our space-time.
The aim of your life-stream at this level is to develop a vehicle that allows the full expression of your soul suitable for travel beyond the human condition. When this is accomplished, no further personalities are needed. As an ascended being the life-stream can now traverse the trans-human conditions of consciousness.
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
This evolution of consciousness normally is a slow process and most personalities are not aware that they are part of an evolutionary growth. However, as the personality comes closer to perfection, it does become aware of its purpose and it begins to long for spiritual unfoldment. Before this spiritual awakening, the personality may already have believed in God and followed a religious faith in the traditional way. But there is a difference. In the traditional religious life the believer may try to follow the doctrines of his faith the best he can, but he basically remains on the same slow evolutionary path of consciousness.
With the spiritual awakening, spiritual growth becomes the main focus of this personality. The slow evolutionary process now becomes a spiritual revolution, not only in regard to the speed of the growth of consciousness but also in regard to the overthrow of established values. This spiritual revolution may take place within the confines of an established religion or it may happen outside a religious faith. Within a religion, these awakening spirits will sooner or later come in conflict with established doctrines. They may try to revolutionise or restore their church to its highest ideals and eventually become mystics or saints or martyrs or just start their own church or sect. Most established religions had at best an uneasy relationship with their mystics and (later) saints.
In any way, whether the awakening and subsequent spiritual growth takes place within or without an established religion, the awakening personality will begin to follow the spiritual guidance that comes from within rather than the established rules and doctrines of church and society. Spirituality is no longer something that one does on Sunday mornings or other established times and according to established rules, but rather it becomes the central purpose and focus of life. With this, we may say that the personality is now on the spiritual path.
VARIETIES OF SPIRITUAL PATHS
While the real goal of the spiritual path is the same for all, there are many different roads that one can travel and one may even travel without a road. Also the goal may be described in different terms without always recognising that it is the same goal. This is so because we all have different starting points and different preferences and opportunities. Many spiritual travellers will not expect to reach their goal in their present lifetime, while others may realise that they do not really need to travel anywhere.
Some of the better-defined roads are the different forms of Yoga, the Tao, the Gnostic teachings, the Rosicrucians and various ancient and modern MysterySchools. While the Mystics are generally regarded as a distinct group, they really travelled each on his or her own individual path. At present Ascension teachings through books and channelled guidance attract many followers. These teachings are largely individualised outgrowths from the writings of the Theosophical Society since the end of the nineteenth century.
Looked at from a different perspective, we may say that there are two different approaches that often intermingle in each individual spiritual path. One is the path of the Doer or the Magus, while the other is the path of the Knower or the Mystic. The Doer mainly works in the world as a healer, alchemist or white magician, trying to master the non-physical energies and forces. The Mystic, on the other hand, follows mainly the inner path, seeking Union with the Divine Self and in the process becomes a Knower and a teacher. However, ultimately Knower and Doer both become one.
THE PATH OF THE MYSTICS
The recorded experiences of the many mystics in all religions is of particular interest because we can learn from these what the spiritual path looks like when it is not guided by specific verbal or written teachings. Most of these individuals in past centuries did not know that there was such a thing as a spiritual path and that others had travelled the same or a similar route. They just felt a longing to come closer to God and to feel at one with Him, to melt into Divinity like a drop of water becomes one with the ocean.
Each of them had different experiences and many of them walked only part of the way, but by constructing a composite picture from a large number of their writings we can discern a distinct pattern of the typical mystical path. Few mystics seem to have travelled all of this 'typical' path, but this may be because we can see only one life-time of a multiple-life-time journey. This typical mystical path may best be described as a five-stage journey and we may easily see its relationship to contemporary spiritual practises.
1. The Awakening
The spiritual awakening is the beginning of the mystical path and also of the spiritual path in general. It may be sudden or gradual. Often it comes as an emotionally overwhelming 'mystical experience', possibly ending a period of great emotional torment and suffering. Another frequent setting is during a spiritual initiation ceremony, such as presently during water baptism for 'Born-Again Christians'.
Others may have this awakening experience during an especially intense prayer or meditation or drift gradually onto the path by attending workshops or reading spiritual books. The latter as well as others coming to the path because of philosophical considerations turn out to become like the 'mental mystics' as compared to the 'emotional mystics' who had their mystical experiences mainly at the emotional level.
This initial peak experience may last for hours or days with gradually declining intensity. Commonly it is a combination of deep feelings, such as universal love, with profound spiritual intuition or insight, although depending on the personality traits the emotional or the mental component may dominate. Also psychic phenomena are frequently involved in the form of visions and voices.
2. Purification
After the awakening the individual does not only want to repeat the mystical experience but really wants to live in a permanent state of grace close to God. However, the aspiring mystic realises that he is not yet worthy, he becomes acutely aware of his imperfections, of the impurity of his thoughts and feelings. He starts to cleanse himself of all selfish or impure desires. Commonly this is combined with periods of fasting or food denial. Medieval mystics tended to be very severe with themselves in order to 'mortify' the body and with it the unruly senses and the desires of the flesh. Worldly pursuits no longer hold any interest. Periods of prayer and meditation are greatly extended.
While this process of purification requires strong willpower and causes much self-inflicted pain, it is also increasingly interspersed with beautiful and uplifting mystical experiences that spurn the seeker on to greater sacrifices for the sake of more rapturous experiences. This purification process continues for many years. Instead of turning the spiritual energies released by the awakening experience inward to purify, it may also be directed outwards. These individuals then become religious fanatics and may remain at this level for the rest of their lives.
3. Illumination
After the Self has been sufficiently cleansed or purified and the mind remains fully focused on the presence and the qualities of the Divine, a state of illumination may unexpectedly arise. This will be similar to the experience of awakening but even more intense and longer lasting. Again, it may be predominantly emotional with feelings of indescribable Divine love, being at one with 'All That Is' and combined with visions and voices, or it may be predominantly mental with profound insights and states of pure knowing. Commonly the initial peak experience is combined with perceiving an intense or blinding inner white light.
For many months these deep feelings and insights will keep flowing in, but gradually settle into a state of a permanently raised and more intuitive consciousness. The illuminated mystic will now always remain aware of the Divine presence in everyone and everything and radiate a presence of love and goodwill. Intuitive abilities will be greatly increased. Commonly, one will receive a spiritual gift with the illumination. This may be the ability to heal or to see or to know. By developing this ability one will become a great healer, seer or spiritual teacher.
The perception of mysticism as being incomprehensible to normal, unenlightened humans is due to the fact that most mystical writings were composed by the emotional type of mystics. They focused on emotional states of being and perceived and described their visions and experiences with emotional metaphors that remained incomprehensible to the uninitiated. This is similar to the present descriptions of reality given by quantum physicists.
Life in this state of illumination is easy and full of joy, a permanent state of great happiness and contentment. It is like living in a state of grace that can never be lost again. But sometimes it is being lost.
4. The Dark Night of the Soul
There is a saying that he whom God loves most, will be given the severest tests. This certainly seems to be true of the few mystics who continue to travel further along the spiritual path even after illumination. During the long and difficult purification process the aspiring mystic gave up most of his sense attachments, the pleasure of eating, of sexual union, of bodily comfort and of pleasant company. Instead all the energies were focused only on what was perceived to be transcendental and divine.
But there was still one thing left that had not been surrendered, that is the will, the central part of the Self. To give up the will, the innate instinct for personal happiness had to be surrendered. This is called the 'mystical death' or the spiritual crucifixion. During illumination the mystic seemed to walk hand in hand with God and sunned himself in eternal Divine bliss. This makes the contrast even greater to the feeling of having lost all the former grace and glory and being totally abandoned by God to a life in abject misery.
However, gradually the Self begins to accept total surrender. It gives up itself, its personality and individuality, asks for nothing and desires nothing. Now there is total passivity and acceptance of whatever God has ordained or whatever comes. Now the mystic is finally ready for the last stage of his earthly journey.
5. The Unitive Life
Finally, by giving up everything, the mystic has gained everything. By being completely passive, he is able to be filled with the Divine Spirit. No longer does he experience the strong mood swings between divine bliss and utter desolation, he has now settled into a feeling of constant peaceful and love-filled union with the Divine. However, this is not the goal of his long journey, just a by-product. The real achievement is that the mystic is now an ideal tool or instrument of the Divine Will to be used for manifesting the Great Plan on earth.
While now the mystic still lives in the world, he is no longer of the world. He may be a great reformer, healer, inventor, statesman, educator or spiritual teacher but whatever he does is never for any small or selfish interests, instead it is always for the greater good of All That Is. He now lives a life of service. Whatever he does, he is now a spiritual master, even if that is not always apparent to the outside world. After his passing, he will be an ascended being, not needing to return to earth.
Comments on the Mystical Path
In this description it is easy to draw comparisons to the life of Jesus of Nazareth and see in it a symbolic enactment of the mystical path. The baptism symbolises the spiritual awakening, the 40 days in the desert correspond to the period of purification, followed by illumination (the transfiguration on the mountain) and selfless service in the form of a healing and teaching ministry. The experience on the cross and the events leading up to it are his dark night. While the unitive life is cut short, it is signified by the ascension and the following teaching period in ascended form.
It may also be mentioned that the described states of the mystical path do not necessarily follow one after the other but some may occur simultaneously, such as enlightenment and the dark night of the soul or purification, enlightenment and selfless work. These may coexist or alternate, causing emotional extremes over short periods. Coexistence is possible because we do not need to be perfect to reach illumination and, therefore, continue with our purification on deeper levels.
Furthermore, these extremes and the perceived sufferings are mainly the lot of the emotional type of mystics while the mental type follows a much smoother path. Both have the difficult task of giving up their attachments to gratifying the senses and surrendering their will, it is just that the emotional mystics are so much more sensitive and take things very much to heart. It also must be understood that it is not necessary to give up things, only the attachment to things but that was not always understood by those leading a life of extreme asceticism.
ASCENSION TEACHINGS
The ascension teachings are a New Age phenomenon and largely based on channelled teachings. These started with Madame Blavatsky and led to the foundation of the Theosophical Society late in the nineteenth century. The aim of these teachings is to present a greatly accelerated path to ascension.
Ascension is highlighted as the main aim and achievement of the spiritual path. Ascension means that we are no longer in need of experiences at the human level. For our continuing progress towards higher levels of consciousness we develop a spiritual light body through our ascension work. Presently ascension teachings focus mainly on guided imagery to open, balance and extend the chakra system and build a light body.
A key feature is a system of initiations as a measure of progress on the spiritual path. These initiations are to take place in our higher energy bodies and may or may not be remembered with our normal body consciousness. While there are some variations in the way of counting, the basic requirements for passing the five initiations before ascension may be described as follows.
Spiritual Awakening.
Purifying the body, learning to work with the energies and controlling the etheric body.
Purifying and controlling the emotions as well as developing a higher emotional body.
Purifying and controlling the mind as well as developing a higher mental body.
Submitting the will to Divine Guidance.
Selfless work for the greater good of humanity.
Ascension.
While formerly initiations in the physical body took place in the form of tests and rituals within secret societies, presently they appear to be incorporated as special situations in our normal life. As an example the third initiation requires us to have good control of the mental, emotional and etheric forces. In ancient Egypt an appropriate test might have been for the disciple to demonstrate that he can control an untamed lion with his mind and the lion obeying him. At the slightest sign of fear the lion would kill him.
A modern equivalent might be a diagnosis of advanced and incurable cancer. To overcome this without much outside help, one needs to use the mind constructively to guide the emotions in a positive way, release all negativity, especially be free of the fear of death and also learn to direct the life-force energies as in guided imagery. While only a small percentage of sufferers of advanced incurable diseases may have been given their disease as an initiation test, most of those who did recover from near-terminal conditions reportedly had profound spiritual experiences.
The relationship of the ascension initiations as portrayed above to the divisions of the mystical path are quite obvious. Starting with the spiritual awakening in both, the first three initiations are related to the mystical period of purification. In contrast to the yoga system of purification, which concentrates strongly on controlling the etheric energies, the mystical path does not address the etheric or life-force body directly. However, this level is purified indirectly by removing emotional energy blockages and by learning to control the emotional energies, which in turn direct the etheric life-force energies.
Illumination is the first major initiation and is the result of purifying and learning to control the mind and developing a higher mental body as the requirement for the third initiation. The fourth initiation will be passed after waking from the dark night of the soul and the fifth initiation is the result of the unitive life.
The ascension teachings portray largely a magical or doer path in contrast to the knower-based mystical path. A combination of both may in some ways be easier to follow than either one of them on its own. The severity of the mystical path can be greatly eased and progress speeded up by suitable guided imagery, while the present ascension teachings seem to neglect the purification and control of the emotional and mental bodies that feature so prominently in the mystical path. | {
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Letter to the editor: Safety, not money, counts
The decision to install a traffic camera should be based on accident report statistics that are dramatically higher than the average, not on finding revenue to replace funding cuts. Cameras should be | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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