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Resolved What Are the Biggest Questions Facing the BPM Market in the Year Ahead? Now that we're in November, what do you think are the biggest questions facing the BPM market for the year ahead? Pega realized this early, and already moved to CRM - although it's just lipstick on a pig. If you're not customer-centric and customer-focused like Salesforce - you're finished. Users can and will dictate what they want. Decades of IT-led decision making was/is over. What the last decades have known as "BPM" is being re-invented at present. And it may not be called BPM at all, since no next-generation company wants to carry dead weight that never really got anywhere. Good to meet you recently btw - Ian! Before I comment in detail, can you please explain how in your view BPM has been known the last decade? Is the sentence "Is BPM dead yet?" dead yet? @Alex: not as long as there's an unexploited marketing angle to it, no. The struggle continues to prove that BPM can truly work for large companies. Ten-plus years in, BPM should have won large IT groups over, but it hasn't. BPM is alive and kicking in large corporates, but it is embedded in peoples heads, Visio flowcharts that noone looks at (BPM=operational approach) and corporate apps like SAP and Salesforce (BPM=technology). Visio works "well" for folks who view "rotating file devices used to store business contact information" and "personal organiser wallets" as high-tech. All three belong in museums. [email protected] - haven't used it in the past 10 years. Extending on John's response, the same thing it's always been - the people. Always the people. BPM was never the panacea some, particularly vendors, presented it as and the onus has always been on educating organizations on what it can do and how best to do that, firmly setting expectations and levels of effort attendant to accomplishing that. In short, the old adage of "you get out of it what you put into it" applies here and oh so many just don't, won't get that. That's it! Socialization of BPM. And management taking responsibility. 1. Consolidate BPM knowledge to avoid the situation when 2 BPM experts have 3 opinions on every "tiny" aspect of BPM. 2. Evolve from the vendor-centric BPM to the customer-centric BPM to avoid vendor lock-in with BPM-suite tools. 3. Understand that even “low-code” BPM has a huge impact on any enterprise because the latter has to change many internal habits to fully use the benefits of BPM. 4. Stop the self-destruction fight BPM vs ACM, again. 6. Digest the hype brought by blockchain, smart-contracts, microservices, IoT, smart-everything, etc. and use the power of BPM to address those opportunities accordingly. The BPM vs ACM fight is a fabricated one between vendors' and consultants' hype for market share, attention. 7. [Dedicated to Patrick] Be able (before implementation of BPM) to explain to each group of stakeholders how their concerns will be addressed and how their current working practices will be changed for the better. Re: #7, exactly. Unfortunately I usually show up after that didn't occur and get to clean up, correct the mess. This sounds like you are fighting for a better yesterday. Just be prepared to clear the mess from tomorrow. "Why do we need BPM, we just bought digital transformation?" "Why are we even still alive?" So, then the question is, "How do we rebrand & reinvent ouselves - phoenix-like - before the final embers dim?" Hint: The ex-BPM event organizers are calling it Operational Excellence and Business Transformation. But they are talking about the way clients think about it - not the name of the technology. The technology already exists as part of something else they already have (or think they have). I think "Operational Excellence" promotes the formation of specialist groups with hammers going about looking for nails. A better objective IMO is "Operational Effectiveness". Panasonic had a good slogan which they no longer use, something like ".. slightly ahead of our time". I really liked that one. Agree with Karl. Operational excellence always sound so army and cost cutting like. Or to summarise many of the old friends above - What is it again? Ultimately, because it was pegged as a technology you could buy and install, it was relegated to the technologist in the room ... as in, we have someone to look after that for us. To Ian's point - event organisers are plugging away at OPEX, Transformation (Digital or otherwise) ... and to Emiel's point someone who thought they bought Digital Transformation, will allso similarly fail. Yet there are still lots of people getting on with the good old hard work of change and engagement. Tools and technologies are useful, but technology never was the hard part, it was always that "All Problems Are People Problems" ... i.e. the soft stuff is the hard stuff. It comes down to engagement and cocreation if you want long term sustainable success (as against the appearance of transformation through some reductionist application of tech to reduce costs). I don't agree that "technology was never the hard part". Nice process diagrams get buried in SOA deployment complexity and business leaves the room. And then can't come back because change is now too expensive . . . but, on the other hand, the people problems truly are the most important and challenging. So, technology and people together are, as EAs like to say, a "wicked problem". Biggest question facing BPM market in coming year? Lack of commitment to the "idea of BPM technology" and its potential. (a technology which supports both careers for practitioners and leverage points for digitalization) is for that technology to become just another feature in a solution (e.g. ERP or more focused apps). Let’s just look at the whole “big” picture as “we” try to express views on just where and how BPM works. The following was included in a summary submitted to a UK Government inquiry into “accountability”. “BPM” (Business Process Management) is the discipline on how to think and work out what is required to create an outcome putting people first. This has been a movement in existence since late 90s as some in “IT” recognised the gap between people and large inflexible “silo” based systems (including Accounts). BPM applies to ”digitisation” evidenced by webinars titled “mastering digital transformation with BPM technologies”. This http://bpm.com/ has active forum where knowledge and views accessible. “Adaptive” solutions are the desired outcomes with custom solutions capable of quick build and easy change. It also ensures the presentation and collection of data adapts to specific user and instance delivering real time data supporting all required reports including accounts. This may sound rather obvious but it is not how big systems including accounting systems actually work but this Adaptive capability is now recognised as a must for the future. In this forum BPMS has been largely dismissed as out of date thinking so looking at the coming year the real challenge is to apply a tag to the software that supports BPM? Yes looks like MDE maybe the “how” but we must focus on a term that business can understand and relate to all front end support requirement not just Case Management or CRM and other of the many other TLAs! My suggestion is “Adaptive” Solutions or Applications…..? Another challenge facing the supply chain is that the cost to build and maintain is a fraction of current cost which opens doors to “ownership” of software as an asset with lease buy contracts removing any lock-in that is a lingering concern with many business people. This will impact the revenue streams of current supply chain and question the current SaaS model ……? BUT will the industry rise to such challenges ....it will be very painful for some? As ever time will tell but all on my agenda! "the real challenge is to apply a tag to the software that supports BPM?" but "MDE" is likely to cause an exodus to the hills for ordinary business folks. 1) we have for years offered "private label", then staying up nights worrying about source code proliferation. Our tech folks find this amusing - they claim we could hand out source on street corners and it would not damage our position, given that the code base runs 1,500,000 lines and takes us a year to train a new programmer. 2) we auto-export every keystroke to a generic data exchanger, so, in theory, any customer could leave us whenever they like. This makes we wonder how worthwhile it is for vendors to try to hold their customers hostage. We have a couple of customers who have been with us since the year 2000. RE "I am not sure people in "business" actually manage their businesses via "processes"." Yes, some of them do! My "litmus test" - those people are able to consistently explain to any stakeholder WHY their processes are as they are now. The answer "we always do like that" may be considered also as some kind of BPM (Big Professional Mistake). Sure, and a good example of managing a business via a process is a cement plant. The main focus of the stakeholders is on the process of mixing up slurry and getting it to flow through the kiln. As far as I'm concerned, there only one big question for BPM: "WILL IT BLEND???" Will BPM seamlessly blend in ALL business practices? At ALL price points, in ALL geographies, in ALL business scenarios? Because frankly ubiquity and accessibility is the only thing that makes a technology / practice revolutionary. So, how can BPM focus its message and lower its build-up and distribution costs so that it represents a meaningful economic proposal for EVERYBODY? I have yet to hear a customer saying: "man, I'm so worried about the state of the BPM market, it looks like it's dying". RE "So, how can BPM" lower its build-up and distribution costs – unification of 80-90 % of current BPM-suite tools, a process-pattern-based methodology for the rest and a good architecture with “an open door” for innovations. so that it represents a meaningful economic proposal for EVERYBODY – again, use the systems approach for the enterprise’s & EVERYBODY’s surrounding systems. Enthusiasm, insight and vision! BPM-for-Everyone! Ubiquity, accessibility and revolution! 1) CHANNELS -- Regarding the question Dr. Samarin highlights the importance of architecture and patterns. It's worth noting that some business users will know this approach as an "Accelerator", i.e. a sales add-on for specific domains and business patterns, usually provided by major software vendors (for BPM or ERP or other major application category). Accelerators or domain patterns could also be open sourced, and could be curated by boutique BPM consulting providers. On the topic of BPM consulting, I note that Gartner's "Hype Cycle for BPM 2015" includes an item for "Digital Business Consulting Services", still pre-peak in the "Innovation Trigger" phase. 2) RISK -- Regarding end-users not caring about the state of a market, it's not uncommon for users to make a risk assessment concerning the viability of a technology, market and of course, vendor. Jumping on a bandwagon can be rational in terms of risk perception, even if sometimes the bandwagon turns out to be a bubble. Maybe end customers won't assess the health of the BPM market, but their consulting partner proxies will . . . We should add another axis here. If we're filtering business processes to the classic operational processes we consider BPM, we should also add an industry filter. For example, in retail and hospitality one of the biggest BPM concerns is related to the new legislation regarding overtime and contingetn workforce management, AKA the gig economy. The increase in part-time, freelance, and seasonal labor introduces new challenges to HR and operations departments like onboarding, training, and much more.

2019-04-22T16:46:07Z

https://bpm.com/bpm-today/in-the-forum/4357-what-are-the-biggest-questions-facing-the-bpm-market-in-the-year-ahead

FOWS Newsletter: August/September 2015 - Is Lake Tahoe really on the cutting edge of environmental planning? Is Lake Tahoe really on the cutting edge of environmental planning? Tahoe plans include more parking spaces as groups undertake efforts to remove them. Making matters worse, the proposed 2015 Lake Tahoe Restoration Act would amend the TRPA Compact to weaken TRPA's role in environmental protection by requiring TRPA to consider the (presumed) economic impacts of plan regulations. Keep in mind this is often what the corporations and large developers claim to be 'economic.' Their ideas of 'economic' (increasing their immediate [short-term] profits) are not based on truly helping our locally-owned/small businesses and communities, or long-term protection of Lake Tahoe. TRPA is currently the only agency with land use authority in the Lake Tahoe Basin charged with protecting Tahoe's environment; the economics of the Basin are already being monitored and prioritized by local entities (e.g. Counties), along with numerous groups (e.g. Resort Associations). Notably, the original TRPA Compact was strengthened in 1980 because local governments eyeing tax dollars were approving projects that harmed Tahoe's environment (although TRPA has, unfortunately, returned most project approval authority back to the counties, oversight is still required). The proposed Compact amendment will leave us with no land use authority that truly prioritizes Lake Tahoe's environment. As depicted in our "Tahoe Regional Overgrowth" map, the North Tahoe Region is already facing substantial development proposals that will bring more people, more cars, and more crowding. We are not opposed to new development, but believe it should complement and respect Lake Tahoe's fragile environment and our unique communities - not overwhelm them. We will continue to keep you informed as these plans and projects proceed. On August 7th, the TCPUD issued a "Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Notice of Public Hearing." After previously focusing on three properties, the Lodge site has been identified as the preferred location, which is on state-owned land managed by the California Tahoe Conservancy [CTC]. The CTC and TCPUD are considering a land swap involving a TCPUD-owned parcel off Lagoon Street. FOWS supports this project's proposed location and the associated land swap (read FOWS comments to the TCPUD). Comments on the draft environmental document are due by 4:30pm on September 9, 2015, and may be provided in writing to Matt Homolka by email at mhomolka@tcpud.org or by mail to TCPUD, P.O. Box 5249, Tahoe City, CA 96145 or by hand delivery to the TCPUD offices at 221 Fairway Drive. You can also ask questions by contacting Kurt Althof, Grants and Community Information Administrator, anytime at: kalthof@tcpud.org or (530) 580-6057. "Restricting access and use of the area during treatment...may not be acceptable." "Actively dewatering the Tahoe Keys lagoon could interfere with the recreational use of the facility." "The cost of removing nutrient-laden sediments is high, would require permits, and impair the use of the coves during operations." The report also fails to take a harder look at reducing the amount of nutrients released into the channels (which causes more weeds to grow), like addressing fertilizer use. Comments on the TKPOA's proposed Plan are due September 25. The proposed project will include almost 1,500 new bedrooms (hotels, condos, and timeshares), a 90,000 sq. ft. indoor amusement park, and roughly 300,000 additional sq. ft. of new commercial uses. FOWS is extremely concerned about the proposed project's impacts to the Lake Tahoe Basin, including traffic (FOWS submitted comments on 7/14/2015). The draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) concludes 'significant and unavoidable' impacts to congestion in Tahoe City. Further, traffic impacts to the Basin (and West Shore) were not fully examined. For example, although the draft EIR identifies increased traffic on SR 89 along the West Shore, the impacts of these increases are not assessed. Comments from other organizations also identified significant problems with the analysis in the draft EIR, and an overwhelming majority of the nearly 315 public comments submitted opposed the size and scale of the proposed project. No release date for the Final EIR has been provided. The inclusion of the Tahoe City Lodge "Pilot Project" and lack of defined criteria regarding "Pilot Projects." The upcoming TBAP environmental impact study/report (EIS/EIR) states it will analyze the area plan at a 'policy level' and the TC Lodge at a 'project level.' We believe the project should be analyzed separately from the Area Plan. The 112 homes were proposed via a new Area Plan. When the public (including Realtor groups, Tahoe residents and groups, and Truckee residents) expressed concern, the idea for a new campground emerged. Meanwhile, the developer quietly attempted a boundary line amendment to have land on the ridge declared outside of the Lake Tahoe Basin, and thus not subject to TRPA regulations. FOWS strongly opposed this amendment, and it was dropped earlier this summer. Now, the precedent-setting, 550-unit "Brockway Campground" is proposed, with substantial development, including a general store, cafe/restaurant, swimming pool, family pavilion, and other structures. Whether the campground is a serious proposal, or a means to an end (such as the 112 luxury homes), like many others, we are concerned with any substantial development on Tahoe's famous ridgelines. The scenic impacts from Lake Tahoe and surrounding mountains should be enough to warrant ridgeline protection; add in the fire danger, limited roadway system, traffic, water demand, and other impacts, and protecting our ridgelines should be an easy decision, but requests to do so have not been addressed. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available. * If you haven't yet signed the Petition to Protect Tahoe's Ridgelines, we encourage you to do so. Annual Report from Lake Tahoe Scientists: Keep Tahoe Blue, or Keep Tahoe Clear? The 2015 State of the Lake Report, released by the Tahoe Environment Research Center (TERC) last month, includes new findings about Lake Tahoe's 'blueness' and clarity. Until now, improving clarity was assumed to also benefit the Lake's 'blueness'. But blueness and clarity are actually controlled by different things - blueness is controlled by the amount of algae in the water, while clarity is controlled by fine inorganic particles. The key take-home message: if we want to have blue water, we have to reduce the nutrients that contribute to algae growth. The only proven way to do this is through natural ecosystem processes. Researchers warned: "[We] need watershed restoration if [we] really want a blue [Lake]." For years, FOWS has advocated for the reduction of nutrients known to increase the algae along Tahoe's shorelines; in fact, it's one reason we challenged TRPA's 2012 Regional Plan Update, which encourages more pavement closer to the Lake, where watershed restoration is needed. Concentrations of attached algae 'near the shore' (called "periphyton") appear to have declined this year, but measurements were taken at different (lower) spots in the lake due to drought, so they aren't measuring the same locations or plant species as previous years. We are pleased with the ongoing support from our existing and new members and supporters. We look forward to ongoing interaction with all who share the desire to protect the West Shore and Lake Tahoe. That said, we kindly include this 'gentle request' for your annual membership dues , and encourage new supporters to join. Your tax-deductible dues will help support ongoing efforts of the only organization providing a collective voice for West Shore communities (and beyond). If you aren't a member already, here's how your membership helps . Individual memberships are as low as $25 (although additional donations are welcome), and information for Homeowners Associations can be found here . If you have questions, ideas, suggestions, or just want to shoot the breeze on Tahoe issues, please feel free to contact us ! Dues may be paid online or mailed to FOWS . We invite you to contact us to learn more, ask questions, or simply get to know the FOWS Board. Also, don't forget to follow us on Facebook! Please contact Jennifer Quashnick, FOWS Conservation Consultant, at: jqtahoe@sbcglobal.net , or Susan Gearhart, FOWS President, at: susan@friendswestshore.org (530) 525-0368.

2019-04-18T10:23:01Z

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/FOWS-Newsletter--August-September-2015---Is-Lake-Tahoe-really-on-the-cutting-edge-of-environmental-planning-.html?soid=1103522065429&aid=y7v-HTrFtdY

20 Fun Outdoor Games For Youth - SUPER FUN GAMES! If you are a young person or live with teenagers at home, we recommend giving cellphones a break and taking advantage of those lovely sunny days! Growing up in this technology filled world requires effort in making sure that your life is well-balanced. The benefits of playing outdoors include an increase in energy levels, promotion of a healthy lifestyle, socialization, strengthening of relationships and exercise! So why not replace your family Saturday inside with an outdoor adventure? To help keep you and your kids entertained, take a look at this oneHOWTO list of 20 fun outdoor games for youth. Do the same thing you would do inside, but outside: search your cupboards for your favorite board game, go outside, place a blanket on the grass and play! Whether it's Monopoly, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, etc., we recommend leaving your phones at home, prepare a delicious picnic and go play at your nearest park. Traditional games: some games never go out of style, such as hide and seek! Grant one person the role of organizer, have some rewards prepared for the winners and enjoy some quality time with family and friends. Outside games for adults: you know those drinking games that you normally play inside with your friends on a Friday night? Why not play them outside in the sun? For more, take a look at our article where we list some great DYI party game ideas for adults. ‘‘Would you rather,’’ is one of the most popular group games in the world, and the best part? You can play this game inside and outside! For more, we recommend taking a look at our list of over 120 of the best would you rather questions. Not only do these games encourage teamwork, but they’re also super fun! Feet-tied: You have to get to the end of the race as quick as you can but, both of your feet are tied with a rope. Wheelbarrow: Pick a partner, one partner places their hands on the floor while the other holds onto their feet and lifts them by the ankles and go! If any ankles or legs are dropped the couple is eliminated from the race. Walking backwards:a very simple variation sure to make everyone involved laugh. If you want to keep this game running, you can play by constantly eliminating the loser. In the end, you should have two people or two couples racing, the last to that win the final race wins the overall day! 3 people in a group. Place bucket filled with marbles and water onto the floor. In turns, each member of the team has to try to remove as many marbles as they can with their feet. After three turns (one for each member) the group with the most marbles wins! All members participate at the same time. You cannot use your hands (tie them behind your back). If your egg breaks, you are disqualified. To make this game run longer, you can play it in groups (like a tag team). Once the first person goes and places their non-broken egg into the bucket, they will run back to their team member and high five them, then that person grabs a new egg and spoon and goes! In the end, the team who gets the most eggs in the bucket the fastest wins! This is a great game that promotes teamwork. Form two or more groups (depending on the total amount of people). Design a route with pauses and, in each stop, set a task or challenge which needs to be fulfilled (such as a series of sit-ups, squats, etc.) Each person from a team will be placed at each stop. The first person will run their bit of the race, fulfill their challenge, and then the next person (in their team) can go. The race ends with the last person in the group to pass the finish line. Tug of war is another classic game that should never be forgotten. All participants must be divided into two groups. A line is drawn on the ground between the two groups and a rope should be held horizontally all team members. Each team needs to pull onto their own side of the rope and the first team to get pulled across the line loses! This activity, besides being very entertaining and fun, is ideal for born competitors and strong contestants. This game needs an organizer who writes a list of objects onto pieces of paper. According to how many people are playing, you will divide the group into equal numbers. Each group will get the same piece of paper and will need to find the objects on the paper without buying them. The group that ticks of all of the objects first, wins! For more, we recommend reading our article where we list fun competitive games for large groups. If there is a protagonist in outdoor games, it is the ball. In fact, there are so many ball games to choose from. Most traditional ball sports can be played outdoors. One person needs to be responsible for the music. While the music is playing, the rest of the participants will pass the ball, but the moment the music stops or the singer stops singing,everyone must freeze. Whoever has the ball in their hands in that moment should receive a penalty. This game is very similar to the previous one, except this time, the ball should be a balloon filled with water. This time everyone can be divided into groups. In each group, 5 water-filled balloons need to be passed in a large circle as fast as possible (remember the music pauses). In the end, the team that has burst the least balloons wins. We recommend wearing a bathing suit for this game! For this game, you will need a soft ball. One person (ball king/queen) has the ball and throws the ball to as many people as possible, trying to hit them. If the ball hits a person, they then become the ball king/queen. The aim for the other people is to run and dodge the ‘‘hot potato’’. Each person will hold a ball above their head (arms straight) and the person who can do the most squats in the shortest amount of time without stopping wins! Remember, if you drop your arms, you’re out! In this game, all members must stand together in a close circle. Then, each person should stretch their right arm and take the hand of someone opposite them, repeating the same action with the left arm. In a few minutes, everyone should be tangled. The aim then is too untangle yourselves back into a circle without letting go of any hands. To avoid everyone falling down, everyone needs to be patient and negotiate this task in a group. Traditional charades is very fun and easy to play. Someone needs to pick a movie, book, series or song in their head (don’t tell anyone). Then, this chosen person has to go up in front of their sitting audience and try to get the audience to guess the chosen movie, book, series or song through gestures. The first person to guess the riddle wins something and is the next to ‘perform.’ For more, we recommend reading our article where we discuss how to have fun at a party without drinking. Walking is not only fun, but it’s a great form of exercise. So, pick a fun hiking path to go on! While walking and enjoying each other’s company, a twig needs to move around the group. The minute a person gets the twig they have to share something about themselves that nobody else knows. All participants are placed in a circle facing the center and, at a signal, everyone must close their eyes. One person who is outside of the circle must carry an object (previously chosen) in the hand. This person will then place the object in the hands (behind the back) of one of the chosen people in the circle. Then, the person outside of the circle must signal everyone to open their eyes. As they do this, the person who has been given the object needs to chase the ‘outside’ person around the circle. The aim of this outside person is to ‘steal’ the place of the person chasing them without being caught. If the chaser cannot catch the person, they will then be next in offering the salt shaker (object). Each group chooses a representative who, with his/her eyes closed, must follow the instructions of the rest of his/her companions to find a hidden object: using orders such as "up", "down", "right", etc. The object needs to be placed in an area which is complicated to get to. The first blindfolded person to find and guess their object (without taking off the blindfold), wins! Everyone should be sat in a circle with something to drink or eat. Once person chooses a thing that they have never done, for example, never have I ever lied. They then say this line out loud to the group and whoever HAS done this thing needs to take a sip or bite of their food. They then have to explain to the group when and why they did this thing. Never have I ever taken the food out of the trash and eaten it. Never have I ever tried to cut my hair and regretted it. Never have I ever lied to my parents. For more never have I ever ideas, we recommend reading our article where we list the best never have I ever questions. For this game, everyone in the group will get a turn to choose someone they want to ask a question to. The first person will then ask a person in the group if they choose ‘truth or dare.’ If the recipient chooses a dare, the person asking the questions needs to set them a dare (make it fun, not dangerous!). If the recipient chooses truth, they will be asked a question whereby they need to reveal the truth. The best thing about all of the outdoor games on our list is that they can be modified to group sizes and ages. So, go outside and have some fun! If you want to read similar articles to 20 Fun Outdoor Games For Youth, we recommend you visit our Recreational activities category.

2019-04-21T21:00:22Z

https://leisure.onehowto.com/article/20-fun-outdoor-games-for-youth-12981.html

Dr. Matthew J. Budoff, Department of Medicine, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, California. Since its emergence in 2005, coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) has matured into a robust method for direct visualization of the coronary arteries and atherosclerotic plaque. Early prospective multicenter studies reported high diagnostic performance for coronary CTA in the identification and exclusion of high-grade coronary stenoses compared with the reference standard of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) (1–3). Both direct and historical comparison data have established the superiority of coronary CTA over functional stress testing for identification of anatomically obstructive coronary artery disease. Despite diagnostic sensitivities of coronary CTA that approached 100% for coronary artery disease, specificities were markedly lower, ranging between 64% and 90% for coronary CTA–determined stenosis severity and reflecting a non-negligible rate of false-positive findings wherein coronary CTA diagnoses overestimate the severity of the luminal narrowing. This reduced performance has been attributed to limitations mainly caused by motion and calcium artifacts; the former has largely been overcome with the use of pre-procedural beta-blockers and higher temporal resolution CT scanners. However, coronary calcification, which occurs from partial volume effects, has remained problematic. The magnitude of the adverse diagnostic effects of coronary calcification on coronary CTA was highlighted in a recent meta-analysis of 1,634 patients from 19 studies that examined the performance of coronary CTA across different thresholds of coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores (4). Subgroups at CAC scores <10 and <100 demonstrated high specificities of 90% (94% to 100%) and 88.5% (81% to 91.5%), respectively, whereas at CAC scores >400, the specificity declined significantly to 42% (28% to 56%) while retaining a high sensitivity of 97.5% (94% to 99%). These may, in part, explain the equally concerning findings that among stenoses considered high-grade according to coronary CTA, nearly 75% are not ischemia-causing compared with invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR). The study by Nørgaard et al. (5) in this issue of iJACC represents findings from the prospective, international, multicenter NXT (Analysis of Coronary Blood Flow Using CT Angiography: Next Steps) trial, which evaluated the diagnostic performance of fractional flow reserve derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (FFRCT), a novel method approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that uses computational fluid dynamics applied to typical coronary CTA images for calculation of FFR (6). Importantly, FFRCT enables calculation of “3-vessel” FFR because it can interrogate any point within the coronary vascular bed for its hemodynamic significance. In NXT, the primary endpoint was 1 of discrimination (i.e., the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve [AUC]) because this metric allows identification of the optimal sensitivity and specificity for any given test. On a per-patient basis, the AUC was 0.90 for FFRCT, with a >2-fold increase in diagnostic specificity for ischemia-causing coronary lesions by FFR. These data evoked optimism for a technique that allows for direct visualization of coronary artery anatomy (by coronary CTA) and precise identification of the coronary artery stenoses that cause ischemia (by FFRCT). Notably, the average CAC score in NXT was 302 Agatston units, which places the study population in the prognostically worst risk category when defined according to the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (7). However, the detailed breakdown of FFRCT accuracies across coronary calcium score ranges was not detailed in the original NXT paper (6) and is the subject of the paper by Nørgaard et al. (5). For 214 patients who underwent CAC scoring in NXT, with 333 vessels directly examined by using FFR, the diagnostic performance of FFRCT was evaluated for study-specific quartiles of CAC scoring. Interestingly, the investigators observed no differences in diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, or specificity of FFRCT across any CAC score quartiles, including no differences at even the highest quartile of patients with Agatston CAC scores ranging from 416 to 3,599. For these patients, FFRCT showed marked improved discrimination of ischemia compared with coronary CTA alone (AUC: 0.91 vs. 0.71; p = 0.0004). Indeed, in this highest quartile, FFRCT reclassified 60% of cases, leading to a significant reduction in false-positive findings. These results emphasize the immunity of FFRCT to the largest imaging limitation of coronary CTA and demonstrate that the test is not affected by even the most severe calcifications. Before the introduction of FFRCT, there was no noninvasive method for simultaneous detection of coronary stenosis and determination of whether that stenosis causes ischemia. This ability to precisely locate a lesion that may benefit from coronary revascularization represents a significant advancement in diagnostic imaging. Added to the visualization of atherosclerotic plaque features that augment the diagnosis of coronary lesion–specific ischemia, the use of FFRCT may enable pre-procedural planning in a manner that other modalities do not. In addition, its general immunity to coronary calcification represents a major advance compared with coronary CTA imaging. These data (5), although from a substudy of a larger parent trial, are of considerable import in today’s health care milieu, in which false-positive noninvasive imaging test results commonly beget unnecessary ICA for subjects who are subsequently found not to have disease. In a recent report from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry of 661,063 patients undergoing elective ICA after functional stress testing, more than one-half of patients did not have any actionable coronary stenosis, with the majority of patients having normal coronary arteries, confirming the low diagnostic accuracy of stress testing that is observed in current clinical practice (8). Among the 302,651 patients who underwent myocardial perfusion imaging (the most commonly used test in the United States today), only 134,670 (44.4%) had obstructive disease at ICA. Exercise treadmill testing, stress echocardiography, and magnetic resonance imaging yielded similarly low rates of obstructive disease. These findings are in direct accordance with a recent 47-center study of the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Consortium by Chinnaiyan et al. (9), in which stress test results did not predict the presence of anatomically obstructive coronary artery disease at ICA. Numerous other clinical and economic assessment studies for FFRCT are ongoing. In the recently reported RIPCORD (Does Routine Pressure Wire Assessment Influence Management Strategy at Coronary Angiography for Diagnosis of Chest Pain) study, which was presented in abstract form at the 2015 EuroPCR Scientific Sessions, FFRCT was evaluated for its ability to influence clinical decision making in salutary fashion (10). In 200 consecutive patients in stable condition with chest pain, cardiologists’ decision making was tested when using standard coronary CTA versus coronary CTA plus FFRCT. In this study by Curzen et al., 12% of patients who would have been treated with medical therapy alone would have been sent for ICA with intended revascularization if the FFRCT results were known. Conversely, 30% of patients who would have been referred to ICA were reassigned to medical therapy alone when using FFRCT added to coronary CTA. Nearly 20% of patients who were chosen for coronary revascularization were found to have different vessels needed for treatment, a finding highlighting the ability of FFRCT to perform 3-vessel evaluation. Two additional ongoing FFRCT trials are notable. The multicenter PLATFORM (Prospective Longitudinal Trial of FFRCT: Outcome and Resource Impacts [NCT01943903]) trial of nearly 600 patients (whose enrollment is completed; results are expected to be reported in 2015) is a 2-period prospective evaluation of current practice versus FFRCT-based practice. It has a 90-day primary endpoint of ICA normalcy; secondary endpoints will include major adverse cardiac events, quality of life, medical radiation, and resource consumption. Finally, the multinational CREDENCE (Computed Tomographic Evaluation of Atherosclerotic Determinants of Myocardial Ischemia [NCT02173275]) trial of >600 patients is comparing coronary CTA and FFRCT head-to-head against stress testing for definitive determination of which methods are best for the diagnosis of ischemia. These trials will further inform the clinical cardiovascular imaging community on the use of FFRCT. At present, however, the technology seems to have taken 1 large step closer to a “1-stop shop” of anatomic identification of coronary stenoses as well as determination of their physiologic significance. Dr. Min has served as a consultant to GE Healthcare, HeartFlow, the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, NeoGraft Technologies, MyoKardia, CardioDx, and Abbott Vascular; is on the advisory board for Arineta; reports ownership in MDDX and Autoplaq; and has received grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL111141, R01 HL 115150, and R01 HL 118019), as well as a gift from the Dalio Foundation. Dr. Budoff has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and General Electric. (2012) Influence of coronary calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 28:943–953. (2014) Prevalence and predictors of nonobstructive coronary artery disease identified with coronary angiography in contemporary clinical practice. Am Heart J 167:846–852. (2012) Coronary computed tomography angiography after stress testing: results from a multicenter, statewide registry, ACIC (Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Consortium). J Am Coll Cardiol 59:688–695. Curzen N. The FFRCT RIPCORD study: does the routine availability of computed tomography (CT)-derived fractional flow reserve influence management strategy of patients with stable chest pain compared to CT angiography alone? Presented at: EuroPCR; May 19, 2015; Paris, France.

2019-04-23T04:57:55Z

http://imaging.onlinejacc.org/content/8/9/1056

Design is similar to art in that artists also divide up space, and guide the viewer’s eye, walking them through from place to place. Works of art tend to be more abstract, though, and their purpose more esoteric. Artists treat space in a great variety of ways, depending on the style. Unlike artists, application designers don’t use a lot of perspective in our work. Perspective is the optical illusion of some objects being in front of or behind other objects. We might create some depth by using a background, drop shadows or slight gradient on objects, or a photo, but we don’t usually draw true perspective. In fact, we relate to the user on a flat screen, which consists of a single, two-dimensional plane. At one time, designers loved creating the illusion of lifelike objects, a form of design labeled “skeumorphism.” A new, flatter look is more popular now, however. The good news is that “flat” (or now, “post-flat”) design makes our job simpler and easier. You don’t have to draw anything realistic to make a workable design. Basic geometric shapes, lines, and glyphs are all you really need to create a full-featured, usable app. In FileMaker we’re dealing with a rectangular application space, the proportions of which are often based on the golden mean. The golden mean or golden ratio is a mathematical concept describing a rectangle where the shorter side has a 1:1.61 ratio to the longer side. (Put another way, the longer side is roughly 1/3 larger than the shorter side.) Humans have used this proportion in various disciplines throughout history, including art and architecture. Closely related to the Fibonacci sequence, the ratio often appears in nature as well, in the growth patterns of shells, flower petals, even galaxies. The proportions of the human body follow the golden ratio. Some studies even suggest that the golden ratio is built into our innate notions of beauty. The closer an object’s proportions to the golden mean, the more beautiful we find it, and the more brain activity associated with it. There may be times we want to play with shapes other than rectangles, but presenting information in a golden rectangle makes it easier to absorb for most people. Dividing a layout in this way is also effective. It may sound boring, but it works! We add meaning to space only when we place objects within to contain or divide it. If we divide up the space into zones, then there should be an explicit or implicit purpose to each area. Users will assume that objects grouped together are conceptually related to one another. As humans, we like objects to be evenly distributed throughout a space, giving us a feeling of openness and breathability. When we see too many elements squished together in one place, we get an uncomfortable feeling, and wonder why the available space hasn’t been used evenly. This distraction erodes our trust and takes away from the usability of the layout. Users get a felt sense from the way an application uses its space. The way elements are laid out determines whether they get a sense of being open and safe, or crowded and hurried. When we place objects thoughtfully and carefully, it communicates to the user that we’ve thought the design through and provided everything they need. This is comforting and encouraging, and enhances usability. Objects need space around them to be distinguishable from other objects. For example, we need spaces between the lines so we can read the text. Whitespace (or “negative space”) guides the eye like a map around the screen, inviting it to explore the objects it surrounds. It supports the hierarchy of a page by making more important elements stand out, and helps the user to navigate through the content, thereby making sense of it better. Whitespace also gives the eye a rest, and provides a kind of rhythm and pacing for the layout. People become overwhelmed when presented with too much information. Less really is more. Include more whitespace in your design to reduce visual “noise” and increase readability. It’s important to not only pay careful attention to what objects we place on the screen, but the spaces between objects we create as a result. The background is an integral part of the space of an application, since objects need somewhere to exist. Whenever you overlap objects in two dimensions, our brains assume that the one on top is closer, creating a sense of depth or perspective. Soft or fuzzy focus can enhance this illusion as well (imagine a photograph—elements that are farther away are fuzzier than elements that are closer). Allude to depth to add interest to a layout with a minimum of visual load. A simple coloured or gradient background invokes a subtle sense of perspective; shadows cast on the background further enhance this effect. You can use a very deep background in an area where individual items exist on top of it (think iPhone home screen icons over a background photo, for instance). Because each item has a single purpose, and has the same visual weight as its neighbours, it can hold its own on a busy background. On the other hand, the background shouldn’t have a strong focal point that could compete with the foreground. You might use a shallower background as a backdrop to content-heavy areas. For maximum usability, content should always be in the foreground. Most fields exist on a solid area, usually on a white or off-white background. You can add interest by using a coloured or gradient background, combined with white or off-white content panels. The background can show through as divisions between the panels, and/or around the edges of the layout. Shadows should be subtle. So-called “flat” design often uses a very shallow or almost no background. This style of design adds visual interest by using areas of colour instead of depth/perspective cues. In my opinion, it’s more difficult to do this well in complex applications. It can turn out seeming either directionless, or overly complicated. It takes practice to combine colours well. Keep in mind that reading text on a coloured background can be hard on the eyes. A famous eye-tracking study from Jakob Nielsen shows that users read web pages in an F-shaped pattern. Starting in the upper left, readers scan first almost all the way across the top. Next they look down the left side a bit, then across the page, but not all the way across. Finally, they scan a bit further down the left side. There are variations but this is the rough pattern most people follow. In cultures where text is read from right to left, the pattern is reversed, and readers look more at the right side of the page. In his book Web Form Design, author Luke Wroblewski tells us that for a usable web form, people need a clear “scan line.” That is, they need to see a single path through the form, from beginning to end. This will also favour the left side of the page. Whether web forms, or (more complex) FileMaker layouts, this tells us that the most important information is best placed along the top and/or the left side. Elements that help the user make sense of the hierarchy of the application are best placed in those locations. If you look through your desktop applications, you’ll see that most software is designed this way. Anything that has visual weight will attract the user’s attention. Make sure that the important elements stand out, and are in the places that users look first. Ask yourself if the space is designed so that it visually supports the underlying hierarchy. Every application has space constraints, but we notice it the most on mobile devices. Designing for a smaller space is more challenging than for a larger screen, for obvious reasons. How do you fit everything in? Should you even try to? The hot spot eye tracking I mentioned above is less relevant on mobile devices. The user’s hand—and often just their thumb—is their interaction device on a touch screen. It becomes very important to place the controls so they can be accessed easily, and to include fewer elements on each layout. You may have more layouts as a result of being able to fit fewer interface elements on each one. Buttons need to be relatively large and spaced out, and placed around the edges of the screen—especially the bottom. Check out this article from the Google Mobile Ads blog on the ideal size and placement of buttons on mobile apps. Designing with constraints means including only the most important items, and placing them in the most important locations. Spatial awareness is derived from context. We use clues in the environment to locate ourselves in space, whether that space is real or virtual. So the designer must arrange the space so that the clues pointing in the right direction are obvious. The purpose and structure of each layout should be clear to the user, because the more easily a user can understand the larger context, the more effective the application. Context awareness is linked to wayfinding. (What am I doing here? Where do I want to go next?) Exploring different areas is like going through rooms in a house; people create mental maps that store the structure so they can easily move around from place to place. If users get lost, they won’t achieve their goal. Your application will be more usable when the layout space is uniformly arranged from screen to screen. A consistent use of space establishes the hierarchy, helps users navigate, and ties together areas that are different from one another. When a user first encounters an app, they must learn how it works, and how to get their task done. This learning process should be as easy as you can make it. Consistency is important because it makes your app more predictable, and therefore easier to use. When users can count on consistent placement of buttons, navigation elements, and so on, they don’t have to relearn each new layout. Learnability is a key factor in usability, and consistency enhances the learnability of an application. Consistency will help you in executing the design as well. You’ll know where each element goes in advance, and won’t have to make a lot of decisions about where to place objects on each new layout. A consistent design shows you’ve thought through the whole application, and have left space for each element that needs to be included. This is reassuring and fosters a sense of trust, since the user won’t land on a page that doesn’t fit in, wondering why everything is suddenly different. More than any other factor, consistency affects the perceived quality and dependability of any software you create. “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This famous saying reminds us that a designer’s main job is to figure out how little we can include without confusing users. Gone are the days when we might throw everything and the kitchen sink at a layout. As one of your later design activities, try to remove as many extra elements as you can. This opens up the space, giving more room for the important elements to stand out. Like the “mobile first” ethic, the goal should be to evaluate every element and strip away anything unnecessary. Another famous saying, attributed to Albert Einstein (although this is possibly disputed) goes, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” In other words, all other things being equal, you’re better off choosing a simpler approach over a more complex one. This is true in design as well. A simpler design will be easier to use than a more complicated one. But creating a simple design may not be easy. It requires trade-offs and problem solving along the way. The difficulty of delivering complex functionality with a minimum of complex visuals is the job of every good application design. Every solution is defined by its use of space. The designer’s job is to make sense of the space so that the user can achieve their goals as easily as possible. The way you use space throughout your layouts not only physically allows a user to interact with the application—the use of space connects one area to another, and creates a visual flow that eases understanding and helps guide the user through completing their process. It is an expression of the design come to life. The more consistently you can do this, the more effective it will be. How can you arrange the space in your designs to create flow and better help your users?

2019-04-23T00:20:25Z

http://www.designingfilemaker.com/2014/05/16/visual-design-basics-for-filemaker-space/

There is a moment in parenting where you realize that you no longer have the advantage and you now know absolutely nothing. For me, it was the moment I was schooled by my kids on the new word for “cool”, which is now “savage”. Savage? Really? What followed was daily lessons of new social rules and slang. Trying to figure out the new world of pre-teen/teen is like my first few years as a new mom. You second guess everything and it seems like they are going to hit their head on every corner, or in this case be emotionally rejected on a daily basis. How do our military kids do this? Now before you freak out (I did), we adults aren’t doing so great in that department either. Unlike the Millenials before them, Gary Allan said Gen Z kids value the importance of family even more than career. This could be because they have watched their parents live out a heavy work ethic to secure the house, career, and status (maybe even our social media status). Considering it is their parents “work ethic centric” generation that is running the academic generation, is it any wonder that anxiety and depression is on the rise for these students? High school graduation requirements look more like college and grades/SAT scores are no longer enough. “Family” sounds like a good direction for the pendulum. Even bullying has changed. Both civilian and military parents have told me their Gen Zs have started to disconnect by putting in their earbuds to avoid interaction with aggressive kids, much like adults do on the subway. I think I would put my earbuds in, too. When it comes to military kid Gen Zs most adults I’ve spoken with agree that much of their character has been shaped by overcoming difficulty and rejection, resulting in more mature and confident kids. Many are often more comfortable around adults than kids their age. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need connection with their peers. All kids gravitate towards peers developmentally, which makes our military teens even more desperate for it. Yet, as I’ve experienced and heard from other military parents, that’s especially challenging in a civilian school where peer groups formed over years of neighborhood cookouts and team sports. It is difficult to advance in athletic skill with frequent moves or their sport of choice isn’t easily accessible. Gen Z’s have massive amounts of information at their fingertips. Gary Alan said in our interview that they rely more on internet research and their peer group than authority for figuring out their way ahead. However, our military kids are struggling to find that peer group and say they feel either completely ignored or bullied for their attempt to insert themselves. The concern here is that some military Gen Z kids would almost rather not form peer relationships at all than address rejection, bullying, or the effort to assimilate when they will eventually leave anyways. If you are like me and need encouragement (in most cases every week), here is what I have heard from reaching out to parents and experts in my current “Raising Gen Z’s” series on the LIfegiver Podcast. Family: The fact that Gen Z kids are valuing family more than ever makes it easier to plan intentional family time to talk about being a Gen Z Military kid. As much as they are connected to their devices, they will likely not complain after you have agreed to set all devices down for a game night. (Expect full tantrums beforehand, though). It really will be ok: The other day, I spoke with a military brat who is entering her senior year of college. She was brilliant. Brilliant in her social skills and maturity. She told me how prepared she was for the academic load of school, but more so for the rhythm she developed over the years to assimilate while civilian students around her fell apart. Even better, she described detaching from an unhealthy peer group because she realized her maturity made her a better leader than a follower- WOW! Speaking of leadership– One civilian parenting expert I interviewed, pointed out that our kids’ intensity while assimilating into the school system has a lot more to do with their leadership potential. This really encouraged me to redirect my kids’ emotional energy towards leading rather than following as a means of fitting in. This next school year, we hope to have the boys be military kid ambassadors for incoming students. Wise Connections– Perhaps the answer for our kids isn’t assimilating the way we would “back in the day”. In a culture where bullying or meanness is ramping up, why not encourage our kids towards smaller circles? A few close friends is not only realistic, but models what adults do. I’ve looked forward to this season with my kids for a long time. I enjoy the dialogue, the jokes around the table, and watching them evolve into awesome bigger people. Parenting the next generation has been a lot harder than I thought, especially with the challenges of the military lifestyle. I know every parent in the history of the world has said that, but I now see the importance of educating myself. Even if that means my kids will be the ones to school me- memes and all. My own awkward and painful memories of middle school flooded my mind. I had watched my son, only 12 years old and now in seventh grade, enter gracefully into a mostly civilian school mid-semester with dreams of performing in the talent show a year later. As a military spouse, I have figured out the rhythm of moving, making friends, and starting over. But as a parent, I must confess, it is painful to watch your kids go through it. Now my husband and I were about to jump out of our skin as we watched the entire middle school file in to watch tender hearts perform their best, and one of them was ours. For the last year and half, we listened at the dinner table as he shared his efforts to look for a seat in the cafeteria, sign up for after school activities and teach himself soccer during recess. Day after day, he got back in the game even if no one passed him the ball, until one day he said he finally scored a goal. He is a self-motivator, no doubt, something I think we find in most of our military kids. But watching from the sidelines as a parent is intense. On a recent Lifegiver podcast episode I interviewed Pam Brummett, a mentor-friend of mine that revolutionized my view of parenting. When I first met Pam, her kids were far older than mine, her oldest in middle school while I was still freaking out about potty training. This family impressed me. They lived, and still do, a life of service — and their kids are very much part of that mission. One day, after I had sat with a new widow for three hours, she and her children came into my house and cleaned it from top to bottom. No complaints, no push-back. The kids knew exactly what their efforts were for and that changed my view of parenting forever. Now Pam’s kids are in high school and college. I got to sit down with her to find out how she does it. Here are a few things that made a big difference for her. You can listen to the full interview here. The most important thing to teach your kids is respect and love. Pam and her husband learned to choose their battles, but respect was crucial. Saying “ma’am” and “sir” taught the kids to be respectful toward their parents and others. Safe affection has always been in the home. Pam says her children still come in to greet her when they walk in the door with a hug which she playfully says is not negotiable. Relocations will not ruin them. Pam said her kids look back with great memories of all the places they have been. In fact, the only time they struggled was in a school that was mostly civilian, where they felt few understood them. As her kids now enter college, she said they are over prepared for independence as well as life’s disappointments. Turns out, military life doesn’t ruin your kids. Be a part of their lives. Pam has always made her kids’ friends feel welcome in their home. When she realized the kids were going to Starbucks for long study sessions, she purchased coffee and snacks and now hosts them in her home. This way she can keep an eye on the teens and get to know who her kids are hanging out with. On her last birthday, some of them even stopped by the house to give “Momma Pam” her birthday hug. Back in the middle school gym, it was almost time and I was hoping all that Pam had told me was true. We saw a hint of his shoes from under the curtain and my stomach dropped. They announced him stage and the entire gym erupted with giant screams. I even heard some of the other kids chant his name. The curtain opened and the gym continued to cheer. My heart gripped in my chest as my husband and I looked at each other in astonishment. Every day wouldn’t be like this and the next school would bring a completely different set of challenges. But today, these kids had no idea how they were changing my son’s life. Their cheers rewarded the courage my son has for years had to dig deep to find. Constantly showing up, pushing through the tough stuff, and re-inserting himself all paid off. And his performance? Well, he nailed it. As a mother of two boys, moving three times in two years has been especially difficult. I have worried that the military lifestyle will have a negative impact on their lives. Like many of you, I have held them as they cried when leaving teachers and friends. I have even pulled my youngest son off the fence in the backyard when he was convinced he could run away back “home”. I absolutely love supporting my husband as he works hard in his calling. But sometimes, watching my children struggle is enough to make me doubt it all. Anyone who works with military children will tell you they have an amazing ability to adapt to new circumstances. They learn valuable tools that will make them extremely successful in the “real world”. As Brene Brown, a researcher, once said “children are hard wired for struggle”. Over protecting them actually does more harm than good. Sometimes I have to remind myself that our lifestyle is all they know. They have not experienced living in one place their whole life. I also remind myself that what I am feeling inside is not what they are feeling. Mommy Guilt, is actually shame. Telling myself “I am a bad mother for _____” is extremely unproductive. You can identify it by almost any negative statement that starts with “I am…” I am a bad person, I am unworthy, I am unloved, I am a horrible parent… Known as the “swampland of the soul”, shame can spiral into a place where no one can save you but you. None of it is true, and it is up to you to pull yourself out. Guilt, on the other hand, is admitting I have done something wrong and then making it right which is very productive. If we can identify something we have done wrong, we are usually motivated to make it right. I have already seen the battle of shame start in my child’s life. Knowing how to differentiate the two and modeling handling it in our own life is a powerful tool to teach our children the same. So when the warm wash of shame comes over me, I pull myself out of it, comfort my boys, and tend to their heart. I assure them that life is never easy but we have each other. If needed, I explain the calling on our hearts as adults and how they will one day feel a call too. Their role is an important part of our team. To tend to my own heart, I know I can go to my more seasoned military spouse friends who assure me that my kids will turn out more than fine. They share with me their own stories of parenting and the importance of keeping the marriage team strong. I am so thankful for these mentors in my life who share how they raised successful well adjusted adults. Their example and willingness to serve in the “village” of the military culture paves a path of success for my own family that is priceless. It is also a reminder that we are all part of the village. That we, too, get to pay it forward as we serve another parent struggling.

2019-04-24T12:51:32Z

http://www.corieweathers.com/tag/parenting/

I figure before Labor Day, I should at least lay down some thoughts on this one, for me the one summer movie really worth caring about, and in fact my favorite film of the first eight months of the year. I'll start by acknowledging some areas that underwhelmed me, the first being that I simply wasn't as emotionally affected by it as many told me I would be. I was a total wreck during the opening moments of Up, and the conclusion of Toy Story 3, with Woody's final "So long, partner" just about destroying me. I think Inside Out is very poignant, but it never quite moved me to the core the way those earlier films did. I think part of this has to do with the fact that I wasn't all that crazy about the Bing Bong character -- in no way did I think he approached Jar-Jar Binks territory, but I also found him a little bit too zany Disney sidekick at times. And so, when we got to one of the film's big emotional moments -- "Take her to the moon for me" -- I can't say I was devastated that his character was making an exit from the narrative. But Mister Tee noted that story about Pauline Kael making objections to a movie while watching it, and then claiming "But I loved it" once it ended, and I have to say that I pretty much feel that way about Inside Out. I could nitpick about things that didn't wow me as much as they did others, but mostly, I was pretty excited to be watching a major Hollywood movie that felt like a work of real originality and ambition. I don't want to oversell the movie based on such a simple thing, but in today's environment, where it seems like every mainstream movie is part of a franchise, or at least based on pre-existing IP, it's become such a rarity to feel like you're actually discovering characters and a storyline, that I have to tip my hat to the folks at Pixar for keeping that alive in a way that connects to such a wide swath of moviegoers so successfully. And truly, I thought the movie went in some really interesting directions with its concept. One of the things Pixar has always been so skilled at is planting and payoff, and the way the film establishes certain elements (the rainbow wagon, Riley's imaginary boyfriend) which then become crucial aspects of the storyline is as deft as usual. And the way Riley's mind was imagined, from the train of thought, to the abstract sequence, showed a ton of invention, with lots of great throwaway details along the way -- I laughed at loud at the joke about facts and opinions getting mixed up. It also reaches a climax that I agree is pretty mature for a family film, arguing that you can't have moments in life that fill you with happiness unless you have others that make you sad. I'd also like to point out something that I don't think I read in any commentary on the movie. For all the talk Mad Max got about being some sort of feminist blockbuster, Inside Out is a movie primarily about the relationship between two women, whose entire journey takes place inside a young girl's mind, thus making the human mind the audience is asked to relate to a female one. This is a movie that passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors, and yet no one would ever characterize this movie as "girls-only" for a second. And it's a big hit. In the words of Cate Blanchett, "The world is round, people!" The voice cast, too, was pretty terrific -- I thought all five emotions were quite wonderfully realized by Poehler, Smith, Hader, Black, and Kaling, and think those actors comprise a pretty major contribution to the movie's zing. In the end, I don't think the movie is so sensational that I'd encourage anyone on the Italiano/Damien side of the animated tracks to venture over -- it's on par with (and similar to) a lot of movies you already know you don't like. But, as someone who has been enthusiastic about (most of) Pixar's output over the years, I agree this is the studio's best film since Toy Story 3, and pending the release of their fall effort, a strong competitor for this year's Animated Feature prizes. Inside Out is clearly the strongest Pixar work since Toy Story 3. It has a genuinely original concept, and displays great imagination within that concept: the train-of-thought, the dream-producing soundstage, and the abstract thought passage were all ingenious, and there are plenty other smaller-impact but still clever moments along the way. The film even reaches a surprisingly complex climax, making clear that sadness is as much part of a successful life as joy (a variation on the Mickey Rooney line in The Human Comedy, “Nearly all the things a fellow learns in life are sad”). This is estimable work. But despite seeing these virtues, I can’t say I loved Inside Out – not the way I loved Wall E, and much of The Incredibles. I admired the movie, but was never truly taken away by it. Part of this may come from being oversold – having been told more than once it was “Not just one of the best animated movies; one of the best MOVIES”, and also having been warned I’d be awash in tears by the end (I mildly misted up, at most – this after being reduced to a puddle by the finish of Toy Story 3). And part may simply be personal quirk: I was hoping for something more rapid-fire/comic. When the credits sequence scan of other people’s heads came along, I laughed so hard I wished (in retrospect) more of the movie had been along those lines. A bigger issue, however, was that I found Riley just too thinly sketched a character for all the focus she got. All I learned about her was that she played grade-school hockey and liked pizza; everything else about her was a blank (or generic). The filmmakers might argue that part of their point was the banality of things that bring sadness to our lives, and there’s truth to that; but, honestly: to see someone get that upset because their furniture didn’t arrive on time seemed the archetypal first-world problem, and way too small an event on which to center a film. I also thought the audacity of the subject matter was somewhat undercut by the fairly traditional structure/narrative. Once Joy and Sadness are whisked up through the tube, the film becomes a journey-back-home-through-obstacle-course movie – quite summer flick-ish, and a formula Pixar has used before, in Finding Nemo and the Toy Story’s. Yes, there was lots of invention along the way, but the rhythm of the trip was somewhat predictable. I also found that the various spots encountered on this trek, even when they were clever, reminded me a bit too much of Wreck-it Ralph in Candyland. At this point, I’ve probably slipped over too far and sound like I disliked the movie. No such thing; there were plenty of throwaway funny moments along the route (“You’ve ruined pizza!”; “Déjà vu”; “I saw someone with a lot of hair; maybe he was a bear”), and the film is engaging throughout, with a serious enough subject at its core. I like Inside Out fine. I just wish, as always, I had seen the transcendent effort so many appear to have found in it. Is there anyone who has seen the 3D version of Inside Out who would like to comment as to whether the 3D adds anything, or, if the 2D would be basically just as good? Pixar, apparently back in form. As choices go, the voice casting couldn’t be better for all five of the Emotions. Smith’s Eeyore-like Sadness serves as the perfect foil to Poehler’s ebullient Joy, while Anger’s surprisingly cute appearance and diminutive stature make Black’s scenery-chewing performance that much funnier. Hader plays Fear as a nervous jitterbug, while Kaling’s disaffected Valley-girl delivery keeps Disgust (who has the least to do) feeling like an integral part of the team. Together, these five characters are so intuitive to understand, viewers can’t help but imagine a similar dynamic operating in their own heads. To borrow a notion from Malcolm Gladwell, the pic’s “stickiness factor” is through the roof, making it one of those rare movies that transcends the medium, the way Melies visualized a moon landing or Romero invented zombies, even if relatively few go back to watch the films that spawned those ideas today. Concepts like this come around maybe once a decade, but linger for centuries, and even if others (like early-’90s TV show “Herman’s Head”) got there first, you’ve gotta hand it to Pixar for making it endure. At the risk of hyperbole, people will still be thinking in terms of these anthropomorphized Emotions long after movies as we know them are gone, in the distant future, when screens are obsolete and immersive stories are beamed directly into your frontal lobe. There’s a reason they call Pixar’s inner team the “Brain Trust”: They can be counted on not only to imagine, but to execute such original ideas as these. It’s all in your mind, Pixar-style. A ‘60s avant-garde head trip repackaged as a big slice of mainstream entertainment, Inside Out could easily have been titled Childhood’s End, as it ingeniously personifies the furiously erupting sensations associated with the onset of adolescence as a bunch of emotionally competitive cartoon characters. This latest conceptually out-there creation from Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.; Up) serves up some abstractions and flights of deconstructive fancy that will most likely go over the heads of viewers with ages in the single digits. But this adventurous outing manages the great Pixar trick of operating on two levels — captivating fun for kids, disarming smarts for adults — that sets the studio apart. Reliably big summer grosses appear in store. Although the outward physical story of the script by Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley traces the difficult adjustment suffered by tomboyish 11-year-old hockey player Riley when she’s uprooted by her parents from an idyllic Minnesota life to an unfriendly San Francisco, the real setting is inside the girl’s head. It’s a highly combustible place, a control room staffed by the buoyant, blue-haired Joy; red, top-blowing Anger; purplish, equivocating Fear; green, eye-rolling Disgust and squat, all-blue Sadness. The mind, as we know, is a hectic place with all sorts of things bouncing around in it, and Docter and his team have visualized it in very antiseptic, almost '60s TV Star Trek fashion, as a room centered around a control panel and lined with shelves and tubes where memories and thoughts are stored. Joy has always held sway in Riley’s heretofore happy life; but now, faced with a depressing new home, an unfamiliar school, no friends and the loss of her old hockey team, Sadness, with assists from the others, is definitely ascendant. It all flashes by very quickly, but at night control passes over to the long-term memory bank (which is hilariously seen at one point being divested of such content as piano lessons and the names of U.S. presidents), and there is a literal train of thought. If this were a different kind of film, you could easily imagine you were headed in the direction of William S. Burroughs and his friends (although if there is a sequel, it might have to deal with the effect of mind-altering substances on the brain). As it is, Joy and Sadness take a trip down the rabbit hole of Riley’s fraying psyche, which leads into very foreign and internalized territory as far as mainstream animation is concerned. Externally, Riley is slipping fast, withdrawing from her solicitous and caring parents, rebelling against her new surroundings, becoming sullen and, for the first time in her life, is genuinely depressed, all of which leads her to plot running away from home. What this looks like from the inside is a turbulent, decomposing landscape traversed by an increasingly desperate Joy and her ever-present companion Sadness, whose exile has seen Disgust, Fear and Anger completely assume control of Riley. The outcasts endure a perilous journey during which the physical representations of Riley’s idyllic childhood all come toppling down and the illusions of innocence, essentially represented by a kid-friendly elephant (with odd accoutrements from other critters), must be left behind. Although this journey through the psychic and emotional underworld could have been a lot more harrowing, hellish and Bosch-like than it is, it will still probably appear perilous enough to real kids younger than Riley, who have never suffered through a crisis before. What the film charts, then, in its highly original and disarmingly physicalized way, is the competition among the oppositional aspects of human nature. In this respect, Joy is the protagonist and heroine, but the script doesn’t pretend that any of the other emotions couldn’t take over and lead one to the wrong destination. It’s an audacious concept, and Docter’s imagination, along with those of his numerous collaborators, is adventurous and genially daft enough to put it over. And there are unexpected surges of emotion in the late-going, as Riley’s equilibrium is re-established and the primacy of the parent-child bond is reaffirmed. Amy Poehler’s energetic voicing of Joy dominates the dialogue, and quite agreeably so. All the other voice actors blend in nicely without being too eccentric — Bill Hader portrays Fear, Mindy Kaling is Disgust, Lewis Black is Anger and Phyllis Smith is the unassertive but undeniable Sadness. Among the “real” characters, Kaitlyn Dias plays Riley, Diane Lane is Mom and Kyle MacLachlan is Dad. In a cheeky move on the part of Bay Area-based Pixar, San Francisco is, for once, portrayed in a negative light (the family’s new home is located on a cramped, dingy downtown street). As usual with the company’s fare, there are plenty of blink-and-they’re-gone jokes, including the depiction of the part of the brain that creates dreams as a movie studio. In the end, Inside Out has to be one the most conceptually trippy films ever made as a PG-rated popcorn picture for the general public. Pixar Animation delivers yet another richly realised, candy-coloured universe in the reliably witty, emotionally deft Inside Out, premiering to deserved acclaim in a Cannes Out Of Competition slot. Likely to deliver commercial returns at the top end of the Pixar range, this benefits from a premise that’s relatable and ingenious in equal measure, seeking to answer that eternal question: just what is going on inside our heads? Director Pete Docter completes a winning hat-trick for his Disney-owned employer, following Monsters, Inc and Up, with co-direction this time around from storyboard artist Ronaldo Del Carmen. Pixar’s top creative team, which pitches in on the story beats of all the animation studio’s hits regardless of individual screen credits, has long been referred to by John Lasseter as his “brains trust”. The same tag might apply to the five principal characters of Inside Out: the individual emotions that govern the actions of Minnesota-born, 11-year-old Riley (voice of Kaitlyn Dias), who relocates with her parents (Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan) to the alien world of San Francisco, foggy home to upscale bohemia, hilly topography and broccoli pizza. The colour-coded quintet is led by Joy – a saucer-eyed, golden-skinned, light-bathed avatar voiced with infectious enthusiasm by Amy Poehler – who struggles to keep her hand on the girl’s emotional tiller by deflecting the interventions of Sadness (a tremulous Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black) and Fear (Bill Hader), which are rendered in the mood-appropriate tones of blue, green, purple and red. With most of the story of Inside Out playing out inside Riley’s mind – the child’s eyes providing the emotion-themed characters’ view of the outside world – the film offers ample scope for the creativity of the filmmaking team. And that opportunity is effectively exploited, as we gradually discover a highly evolved interior landscape, which includes various personality islands (initially defined by friendship, family, honesty, goofball play and Riley’s Midwest-earned enthusiasm for ice hockey), a literally depicted Train of Thought, as well as such destinations as Dream Production and Imagination Land. The story’s inciting incident is the family’s move to California: hitherto, most of Riley’s daily memories, which each take the form of a glass ball hued in the colour of its primary emotion, have been golden ones. But lately the child’s memory banks are becoming increasingly speckled with red, green, purple and blue, as Riley misses Minnesota, cries in front of her classmates, shouts at her father and flunks her hockey trial. To return her to equanimity, both Joy and Sadness, who Inside Out’s three-person writing team have ejected from Headquarters, must somehow find their way back through the diverse tangle of the brain. Pacing feels occasionally less than nimble as this mismatched-buddy road-trip comedy plays out, especially when the two exiled emotions stumble across Riley’s former imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind), a creature that’s part cat, part dolphin and mostly elephant. Very young children may find this world overly and increasingly complicated, although it’s not necessary to fully understand every pit-stop – the Subconcious zone, for example – in order to enjoy the journey.. After a run of sequels plus Scottish historical fable Brave, which unfolded in a world that seemed overly familiar from existing storytelling, Pixar fans will welcome the studio’s return to creating a wholly authored and highly original universe for the first time since 2009’s Up. Such a claim comes with one tiny caveat, however: parents of a certain age may remember a similar premise informing the Numskulls cartoon strip in British children’s comic The Beano.

2019-04-24T16:45:51Z

http://uaadb.com/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=9973

C-Reactive protein (CRP), the prototypical acute-phase protein, is produced by liver hepatocytes and regulated by cytokines, particularly interleukin-6 (1)(2). Circulating concentrations of CRP indicate inflammatory activity, and the recent development of highly sensitive CRP assays (3)(4)(5) has led to the discovery that slight increases in CRP (>1–2 mg/L) are indicative of low-grade inflammatory processes that may be related to the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease. More than a dozen population-based studies have demonstrated that increased CRP is an independent risk factor for future cardiovascular disease, with adjusted odds ratios >2.0 (6)(7)(8)(9). The American Heart Association and the CDC have recommended measurements of CRP in clinical practice and called for additional population-based research (10). A potential obstacle to the measurement of CRP (as well as other biomarkers) in large epidemiologic, community-based studies is the requirement for venous blood. Venipuncture is a relatively invasive procedure that must be performed by a trained phlebotomist (usually in a clinical setting), and it requires readily accessible facilities where blood samples can be promptly processed and stored under controlled conditions. Assays using whole blood dried on filter paper may provide a viable alternative: Several community-based applications have shown this to be a convenient and reliable means to facilitate sample collection, storage, and transportation, and laboratory methods have been validated for a growing number of analytes (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). “Guthrie papers” have been a core component of US hospital-based newborn-screening programs since the 1960s and are subject to a rigorous quality-control program (17). Samples can be collected on filter paper easily by nonmedical personnel: The patient’s finger is pricked with a sterile, disposable lancet (commonly used by diabetics), and up to five drops of blood (∼50 μL per drop) are spotted onto standardized filter paper (no. 903; Schleicher and Schuell) that is certified to meet performance standards for sample absorption and lot-to-lot consistency set by the NCCLS and by the Food and Drug Administration regulations for Class II Medical Devices. The samples are allowed to dry and then shipped by express or standard mail to the laboratory for freezer storage. We describe a high-sensitivity enzyme immunoassay for CRP in dried blood spots. To minimize matrix differences and maximize comparability between calibrators and unknowns, dried-blood-spot calibrators were made by diluting delipidated human serum enriched with CRP [X0923 (standardized against the WHO International Reference Preparation); Dako] with washed erythrocytes, followed by application to filter paper. Washed erythrocytes were obtained as follows: (a) Whole blood was collected by venipuncture in 5-mL EDTA Vacutainer Tubes and centrifuged at 1500g for 15 min. (b) Plasma and buffy coat were removed and discarded. (c) Approximately 3 mL of saline (0.86 g of NaCl in 100 mL of deionized H2O) was added. (d) Tubes were mixed gently for 5 min on a hematology rotor and centrifuged as before. Saline and any remaining buffy coat were removed, and steps c and d were repeated for a total of three washes. The CRP preparation was serially diluted in assay buffer (0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer, 0.5 mol/L NaCl, pH 7.2), diluted 1:2 with washed erythrocytes, and pipetted on filter paper in 50-μL drops. Final calibrator concentrations were 10.1, 5.07, 2.53, 1.27, 0.63, 0.32, 0.16, 0.08, and 0.00 mg/L. Microtiter plates (cat. no. 439454; NUNC Maxisorp) were coated overnight with 100 μL/well rabbit anti-human CRP antibody (cat. no. A0073; Dako) at a concentration of 10 mg/L in coating buffer (0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer, 0.145 mol/L NaCl, 0.1 g/L Thimerosal, pH 7.2). One 3.2-mm disk from each blood spot sample, control, and calibrator was eluted overnight at 4 °C in 250 μL of wash/elution buffer (0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer, 0.5 mol/L NaCl, 1 mL/L Tween 20, pH 7.2) and rotated on a microplate shaker (cat. no. 51402; Cole-Parmer; 3 mm orbit) at 300 rpm at room temperature for 60 min the following day. Eluate (100 μL) from each disk was pipetted in duplicate into microtiter wells that had been blocked by incubation for 30 min with wash/elution buffer. Wells were washed after a 2-h incubation at room temperature, with rotation at 250 rpm. Detection antibody (peroxidase-conjugated rabbit anti-human CRP antibody; cat. no. P227; Dako) was diluted to 0.163 mg/L in wash/elution buffer, added to the wells (100 μL), and incubated for 2 h at room temperature. The wells were washed, and 100 μL of chromogenic substrate [14 mg of 1,2-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (cat. no. S2045; Dako), 5 μL of 300 g/L H2O2, and 12 mL of deionized H2O) were added for color development. Wells were incubated in the dark for 30 min before the addition of 100 μL of stop solution (0.5 mol/L H2SO4). The absorbance was read at 490 nm (BioTek Elx808), and sample concentrations were calculated from the best-fit four-parameter logistic calibration curve (KCJunior; BioTek). Samples reading above the highest calibrator were reanalyzed at a higher dilution factor (i.e., disks were eluted in 500 μL of wash/elution buffer and the result was multiplied by 2). The detection limit (defined as the concentration corresponding to the absorbance 2 SD above the mean of 10 replicates of the 0.00 mg/L calibrator) was 0.028 mg/L. Within-assay imprecision estimates (CV) at 1.01 and 5.09 mg/L were 5.1% and 6.4% (n = 10 determinations), respectively; between-assay CV were 9.5% and 6.9%, respectively (n = 10 determinations across 10 assays performed on different days). We investigated assay linearity by serially diluting two samples after elution. The observed values ranged from 94.5% to 109% of expected, with a mean of 103%. Control sera containing a known concentration of purified CRP (cat. no. X0925; Dako) were diluted 1:2 with washed erythrocytes and spotted on filter paper. Observed values for the low and high control samples were 102% and 93% of expected, respectively. We compared CRP concentrations in 94 paired blood-spot and serum samples (Fig. 1⇓ ) that were leftover patient samples. Serum samples were analyzed with a turbidimetric assay on the IMMAGE™ Immunochemistry System (Beckman Coulter, Inc). The relationship between the blood spot and serum methods was linear, and the correlation was high. The regression equation provides a means for generating serum equivalents from blood-spot samples if desired (12), although a larger, more representative sample of paired blood-spot and serum samples should be enlisted to generate this equation before its application. We also compared serum and blood-spot results by calculating the ratio of serum CRP to blood-spot CRP and inspecting for differences or inconsistent variability across the measurement range (18). The mean (SD) ratio was 1.39 (0.48), with two values outside the 95% limits of agreement. These values belonged to samples with blood-spot CRP concentrations <0.5 mg/L and reflect the slightly higher variability in the agreement between serum and blood spot results for samples <1.0 mg/L. There was no evidence of systematic differences in the serum:blood-spot CRP ratio across the assay range. Hematocrit correction does not improve agreement between plasma and blood-spot results for gonadotropins and is not necessary for samples with normal hematocrits (12). To confirm this for CRP, we added washed erythrocytes (in concentrations of 30%, 40%, and 50%) to three plasma samples and spotted them on filter paper. There was no consistent association between hematocrit and blood-spot CRP concentration. Many epidemiologic analyses of the association between serum CRP and cardiovascular disease risk are categorical, with the distribution of CRP concentrations divided into tertiles or quartiles (7)(9). Recently, cutpoints of low risk (<1.0 mg/L), average risk (1.0–3.0 mg/L), and high risk (>3.0 mg/L) have been proposed that approximate the tertile distribution of serum/plasma CRP in a range of populations (10). We compared category assignments according to the blood-spot and serum methods in our 94 matched samples, with the distributions of blood-spot and serum CRP concentrations divided separately into tertiles. Eighty-seven of 94 individuals (93%) were assigned to the same category by both methods. We evaluated the stability of CRP in dried blood spots by exposing nine samples sealed in plastic bags with two desiccant packs (cat. no. 61161-319; VWR) to the following temperature conditions for up to 14 days: 37 °C, room temperature (21–23 °C), and 4 °C. An additional variable-temperature condition was evaluated (12 h at 32 °C and 12 h at 22 °C) to simulate ambient temperature exposures in tropical environments. Samples were considered to remain stable as long as CRP concentrations remained within 2 SD of baseline values measured in samples stored at −30 °C immediately after collection. Six determinations were used to calculate the baseline mean (SD) for each sample: 1.11 (0.10), 1.58 (0.093), 1.60 (0.15), 2.46 (0.25), 2.65 (0.17), 4.28 (0.17), 4.57 (0.32), 6.40 (0.55), and 6.64 (0.44) mg/L. CRP concentrations remained stable in dried blood spots for 3 days at 37 °C, 3 days at 32/22 °C, and for at least 14 days at room temperature and 4 °C. The stability of CRP to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing was also evaluated, with no evidence of deterioration after five freeze–thaw cycles (1 h at room temperature, repeated over 5 different days). Previous applications of whole-blood-spot methods have demonstrated performance characteristics similar to those for methods that rely on venipuncture (17). The ease of finger stick blood collection alleviates constraints associated with sampling in clinical settings, increases the frequency with which samples can be taken, and expands the methodologic options for population-level health research. In particular, our high-sensitivity CRP method could potentially be a useful tool for community-based, epidemiologic investigations of inflammation and cardiovascular risk. Relationship between blood-spot and serum CRP concentrations in 84 paired samples. The best-fit linear regression line is shown. Samples above the highest blood-spot calibrator (10.13 mg/L) are not included (n = 10). This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute. Financial support provided by the National Science Foundation (BCS-0134225). Ballou SP, Kushner I. C-Reactive protein and the acute phase response. Adv Intern Med 1992;37:313-336. Pepys MB. The acute phase response and C-reactive protein. Weatherall DJ Ledingham JGG Warrell DA eds. Oxford textbook of medicine, 3rd ed 1995;Vol. 2:1527-1533 Oxford University Press Oxford. . Wilkins J, Gallimore JR, Moore EG, Pepys MB. Rapid automated high sensitivity enzyme immunoassay of C-reactive protein. Clin Chem 1998;44:1358-1361. Lagrand WK, Visser CA, Hermens WT, Niessen HWM, Verheugt FWA, Wolbink GJ, et al. C-Reactive protein as a cardiovascular risk factor: more than a epiphenomenon?. Circulation 1999;100:96-102. Danesh J, Whincup P, Walker M, Lennon L, Thomson A, Appleby P, et al. Low grade inflammation and coronary heart disease: prospective study and updated meta-analyses. BMJ 2000;321:199-204. Pearson TA, Mensah GA, Alexander RW, Anderson JL, Cannon RO, Criqui M, et al. Markers of inflammation and cardiovascular disease: application to clinical and public health practice. Circulation 2003;107:499-511. McDade TW, Stallings JF, Angold A, Costello EJ, Burleson M, Cacioppo JT, et al. Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in whole blood spots: a minimally-invasive method for assessing an aspect of cell-mediated immunity. Psychosom Med 2000;62:560-567. Worthman CM, Stallings JF. Measurement of gonadotropins in dried blood spots. Clin Chem 1994;40:448-453. Worthman CM, Stallings JF. Hormone measures in finger-prick blood spot samples: new field methods for reproductive endocrinology. Am J Physical Anthropol 1997;104:1-22. Cook JD, Flowers CH, Skikne BS. An assessment of dried blood-spot technology for identifying iron deficiency. Blood 1998;92:1807-1813. Erhardt JG, Craft NE, Heinrich F, Bielaski HK. Rapid and simple measurement of retinol in dried whole blood spots. J Nutr 2002;132:318-321. McDade TW, Shell-Duncan B. Whole blood collected on filter paper provides a minimally-invasive method for assessing transferrin receptor level. J Nutr 2002;132:3760-3763.

2019-04-23T22:29:49Z

http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/50/3/652?ijkey=046215de93ba01e4fecd9ab0d07f491d64bf06dc&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

I owe Abbey Springs something. Not money, I don’t think. It’s never paid me very much, so I shouldn’t feel obligated to pay it back. In the mid 1990s, I was a kid with a new, disastrous real estate career, and a desire to play tennis. I don’t know why I wanted to play tennis. I had never played when I was a kid. We’d sneak down to hit a few balls at Conference Point Camp, on their cracked and heaved courts, but that wasn’t really playing tennis. I couldn’t afford the Grand Geneva, with their shiny courts and wood lockers. So I played at Abbey Springs, under the tent they’d blow up over their outdoor courts in the winter. It was cold in there, dimly lit, and loud. The inability to properly relay the score, on account of the noisy blower fan, suited me just fine. Thanks, Abbey Springs. But that’s the end of the thanking. Abbey Springs the real estate market is really quite a spectacle. It’s a machine, finely tuned, running without a miss, or a knock, or a sputter. The market is perhaps the most unique and widely varied here, with vacation condominiums starting in the high $100s and single family homes reaching or exceeding a million bucks. Remember that sentence. For the year just ended, Abbey Springs closed 28 built properties including condominiums and single family homes. For all of 2016, there were 40 prints. Now, if I were were a headline writer for AP, I’d right this in a way that would appear negative: SALES DROP 30% AMID MARKET TURMOIL. But I’m not AP, I’m just a kid from Williams Bay, and even I know that shrinking sales totals are natural and normal in a market with shrinking inventory. We cannot sell what isn’t for sale. The sales total for 2017 is fine, the inventory today, at just 19 active properties (four of those under contract) is low. The market at Abbey Springs is in fantastic, healthy condition. But that’s not really the whole story here, as much as Abbey Springs wishes it were. Consider the upper bracket sales from last year. There were four sales over $800k in Abbey Springs, with the highest sale reaching $885k. That’s nice. For the last five years, the two top sales in the market registered the same amount: $885k. Nothing higher, and over those five years just five sales over $800k. Seems fine, right? The prior market top was mid 2007 to mid 2008. We know this. Abbey Springs, from 2005-2008 sold a lot of product, but where was the top end back then? For those years, Abbey Springs closed four sales over $900k, with the top sale at $1.3MM. If the markets today are as strong as they were then, why can’t Abbey Springs push over $900k anymore? Where did the $1.3MM sales go? There’s no particular mystery in this. The market is strong today, yes. But the top end has obviously been redefined, and that new definition falls short of $900k. There has been some inventory over $900k to press that theory, but those homes have failed to sell. The prior market peak found buyers in this range with relative ease. It’s apparent to me that this higher level buyer is still in the market, but has found his or her way outside of Abbey Springs and instead wants a traditional lake home experience. That buyer wants a slip. Maybe some privacy. A smaller association where the beach isn’t so crowded. The buyer who once purchased $950k homes in Abbey Springs has proven elusive in this current cycle. But maybe that doesn’t really matter. Abbey Springs might not be a million dollar market anymore. Or perhaps there just haven’t been any million dollar homes listed for sale. Either way, expect Abbey Springs to push forward yet again in 2018, and expect inventory to stay low. If you’re a buyer in search of a lake house experience with added country club style amenities, Abbey Springs is likely your best bet. Condominiums from the $200k range and single family from $500k. Beach, pool, golf, clubhouse, and tennis courts, though the bubble is no more. We tend to buy real estate based on emotion and sell it based upon fact. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has ever bought or sold real estate. We buy it because we love it, because we want it, because it makes sense in some ways, sure, but mostly because we just have to have it. We sell it because we still love it, we still want it, but we know there are better ideas or better options, and so we adopt a more pragmatic approach and we move on past the thing that we so dearly loved. The hang up in real estate is when we’re buying something that we don’t truly love, that we don’t really want. Then every hiccup is perceived to be a bad omen, every slight difficulty a catastrophic event. When we sell, if we don’t truly understand that selling is what’s best, we cling to this real estate like grim death, knowing we have to sell but badly wishing against it. Then we poison the process with emotion, the side of the process that’s supposed to be more fact based. This is real estate. On Friday, I sold 976 South Lakeshore Drive in Fontana. I represented one of my favorite clients in that transaction, and the deal came together in the way that we wish all deals might. We listed the house, we showed the house, we received an offer on the house, then another, and then we sold the house for $3,300,000. Just $95k off of our original April ask. That’s a scenario that most sellers dream of, and indeed it is a process of which I’d love to be a consistent participant. For now, we’ll leave aside the part of the deal wherein I represented a fantastic seller as that family pursues the ultimate lakefront arrangement, and we’ll instead focus on the truths of this deal and try our best to learn from them. I sold this home to this seller in 2013 for $2.95MM. The seller did some improving of the home, but nothing too overwhelming. The property just sold for $3.3MM, representing a 12% increase over the 2013 price. This is Takeaway #1 from this sale: The lakefront market is up around 12% from 2013. Is this a uniform number, benefiting or cursing all lakefront homes? Of course not. Some have risen more, others less, but this is a solid benchmark, proven out not by my own interpretation of the market mood, but by cold hard statistics. Other properties have been bought and resold over recent years, but these properties often have had some form of dramatic renovation between the time they first sold and the time they most recently sold, so those statistics offer simply more proof of a market tendency to overpay for renovated kitchens. This property, at the time that it hit the market, was the only lakefront home in Fontana listed for sale under $7MM. As a result of that market gap, the seller of this home could have taken a common seller approach of assuming that because he was the only game in town, the market would dramatically overpay for the rights to own his exclusivity. I hear this often from sellers, and when they explain just how rare their property is I tend to daydream about things that don’t make me lose all faith in humanity, like trout streams and the lake on a calm summer morning. The sellers explain, if a buyer wants this particular thing, in this particular location, they’ll have to pay. Unintelligent sellers call this the “price of admission”. It is true that there is a price of admission, but you know I like to compare real estate to cars, so to be a seller offering his rare property for a ridiculous number is akin to me listing my 5 year old BMW for $100,000 because that is indeed the only BMW in Williams Bay listed for sale. If you want that sweet BMW, you’ll have to pay up. Sellers of houses are just as ridiculous, and this seller didn’t succumb to that absurdity. Instead, we discussed the market, targeted a price range, and we listed the home at what the market indicated would be an acceptable price. One month later we had two buyers in line, proving our theory correct. The lakefront market as a whole is relatively slow right now. There are two other lakefronts closing this week, both to buyers whom I’m pleased to represent, and another in Lake Geneva with a shared pier. Don’t ask how I feel about shared piers. Two weeks ago the older lakefront home on the hill in Cedar Point closed for $1.515MM, representing a reasonable ransom for a house with a tremendous view and approximately three trillion stairs to and from the water. YTD there have been 9 lakefront sales. 2015 had ten lakefronts closed as of June 13th, with two of those sales being involved in a trade. The market today feels somewhat sluggish, but it’s actually right on track. Last year, from June 14th through December 31st, there were a whopping 20 lakefronts closed, meaning 2016 has some big shoes to fill. The market could very well turn on in a similar fashion to last year, and I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to do just that. The only difference between last year and this year is that our inventory is tighter, and without enough dry tinder there’s no way to get that fire quite as hot as last year. I’m not going to say what I want to say. I’m not going to say that a house with a modest 110′ worth of cliff frontage shouldn’t sell for five million dollars. I’m not going to talk about the work required to take a basic parcel and turn it into an estate-type parcel; the landscaping, the tennis court, maybe a pool. I’m not going to talk about fit and finish, about what constitutes high end construction and what does not. I’m not going to do any of those things, because a sale is a sale, and the market tells me what it expects and doesn’t really concern itself with what I expect. The house sold last week for $5.1MM (I wasn’t involved in the sale). That blue house, the one high on the hill just north of Gordy’s. It sold. It was first listed in 2014 for $6.25MM. Was the home worth $6.25MM? No. And the market proved it, allowing the house to sit and stir on the market for the majority of that year and into this one. Throughout that time, buyers presumably came and went, opting for other things, or for nothing at all, over this house on the hill. But the house had some style, and it had some polish, and it was new and of a contractor pedigree that means something here, and so the house attracted interest but failed to achieve the only measure of interest that matters: A sale. What happens next is some intrigue, some subterfuge, and disappointment. The listing expired and was removed from the market, but the market knew the home was still for sale. And so it went, a house off the market, an aged asking price that never fell below $6.25MM. If you were simply computer screen watching, as 90% of agents do, you might have been surprised to see this property print in the MLS this week with a $5.1MM closed price. We do not computer screen watch. The sale now closed was handled by an agent other than the agent that brought the property to market at that lofty price in 2014. The agent who closed the transaction was not the agent who toiled at the high price. This was not the agent that knew the market would react differently to the property if it were listed in the middle to upper fives, rather than the low sixes. The agent who did the fine job of selling this home last week was not the agent who introduced the property to the market, who broadcast it to the agents, who made known the quality and the importance of the home (even if I didn’t agree with the level of importance). The property sold via another agent, and the market, those uninitiated who follow from afar by watching Instagram screens and Facebook posts, will assume that some heroic event was made possible by the introduction of a new face. When I took over the South Shore Club marketing in 2012, and promptly began selling both homes and lots with a regularity that the market there had never experienced, was it because of me? Was I so much better than the prior representation that I somehow convinced the public that this South Shore Club was worth their time and money? Was I a star who brought with my power of personality and made this development matter again? Or was I just the guy who came on the scene, with messy hair and pointy shoes, and convinced the sellers that the price structure was wrong, and that if they would oblige my suggestion they would find success? It’s the latter, which is why I didn’t take out full page ads telling you how tremendously effective I was. I was merely the person at the helm when the market heated to such a level that success was the only possible outcome. The same likely applies to the blue house on the hill in Fontana. Was this some feat? Was this a sale that wouldn’t have happened if not for a change in agent or broker? Of course not. This was a sale, like most sales, that had everything to do with price, and had the price of that $6.25MM home been dropped to $5.3MM (the ultimate list price when the property sold) I would suggest that anyone of a 100 different agents in this town could have played the star role. And all of that goes back to this. On television, red carpets and Burning Man parties sell houses. In Lake Geneva, just hack off your price a bit and make your agent a star. As a market aside, this sale was high. There were multiple parties interested in it, but it was still high. The premium was paid because Fontana is a desirable locale, and new construction in the $5MM range generally doesn’t exist. Buyers can convince themselves to spend $5 something much easier than they can convince themselves to spend $7+. No matter that $7+ gets you a product like 1014 South Lakeshore, a property so vastly superior to the blue house on the hill in every possible measure. Compression is the high end buyer’s friend here, and if you can swing $5 something, better reach a bit and spend $7 something, because that two bucks you left in the market is now worth $1.6 bucks, and a house is so much more fun.

2019-04-20T02:53:01Z

http://genevalakefrontrealty.com/blog/tag/fontana/

There's certainly no shortage of excellent choices when it comes to selecting the Android-powered phone that's right for you in 2018. Now that Phonetober is out of the way, we've got a massive list of amazing devices to choose from, one of which is certain to get you excited for its new features and powerful new hardware. Our lists aren't just to display the absolute best phone available though, they're primarily designed to help people looking for a specific niche or need, as many of these phones specialize in one area or another. Ready to find your next phone? Google's Pixel project has long been a mainstay for Android enthusiasts, but something has changed a bit this year. It still offers the most "pure" experience you'll find among many big-name vendors, but that pure experience has taken on a bit of a different look and feel with Android 9 Pie. As the most polarizing version of Android ever, Android 9 Pie introduces some big changes to navigation and multitasking that some users are less than thrilled with, while others feel right at home with the new systems. Google has had its fair share of issues with the Pixel 3 family this year, but there's something the Pixel family has that no other Android phone can claim: regular monthly software updates. Sometimes these are just security patches, other times they aim to fix problems or introduce new features, but it's the update schedule that has had many folks sold on the idea of owning Google's own phone, regardless of the issues these updates can sometimes cause. Google also offers unlimited full-size photo and video backup through its cloud services, as well as excellent support straight within the settings menu. You can pick up the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL straight from Google, or via Project Fi and Verizon. Unlike some devices, the HTC U12+ keeps getting better with age, as HTC has solved many of the issues folks had when the phone first launched, including fixes to those unique force-touch buttons on the side. The HTC U12+ offers a more advanced side-sensing technology than any other phone out there, offering the ability to use taps and squeezes on the sides in addition to just touching the screen with your finger. In addition to these excellent gestures, the cameras on the HTC U12+ still rank among the best out there, and the audio recording quality on videos is second to none. With the ability to not just zoom in on your subject with higher video quality, thanks to the secondary telephoto lens, but to also hone in on the audio coming from that particular spot with the amazing directional microphones on the device. It's a powerful phone with powerful features, but be sure to check out our review if you want more info! Gamers are certainly going to be familiar with the name Razer, and folks who are looking for the best possible mobile gaming experience don't need to look anywhere else. With an eye-watering 120hz screen up front, the frame rates from the Razer Phone 2 are going to blow your mind, delivering the smoothest gaming performance of any phone on the market, bar none. Combine this with a stellar pair of stereo front-facing speakers and a new sleeker glass build with RGB lighting, you'd got a gamer's dream all packed into one device. Despite Sony recently releasing the Xperia XZ3, which features a significantly improved screen and sleeker design over its predecessor, the Xperia XZ2 still packs all the same main specs and identical rear-camera setup for a fraction of the price of Sony's latest. It's also got the advantage of offering a choice of two sizes, while the Xperia XZ3 only comes in one large size. There's no doubting the Xperia XZ3 is an improvement in many ways over the XZ2, but when it comes to value it's hard to argue against the XZ2's excellent price, as the larger Xperia XZ2 can be had for around $650, while the smaller XZ2 Compact is selling for around $500 at this time of writing. Compare that with the $900 price tag of the XZ3 and you'll quickly understand why the XZ2 is such a great deal. Check out our reviews to find out more! The LG V40 ThinQ is a device that shines in every possible way, from its excellent display to the 5 cameras on the body, this is a stunning phone any way you look at it. A new design that takes much from the Spring's LG G7 ThinQ combines the solid feeling of that phone with the excellent OLED displays of the LG V series, stellar vibration motors that give the phone a depth of quality most simply don't have, as well as an amazing set of cameras with powerful manual modes, tons of extra features, and the ability to use all three rear cameras in one amazing shot. Looking for a powerhouse of a device? Look no further than LG's latest and greatest, the LG V40 ThinQ. OnePlus has released two flagship devices each and every year for the past two years, but this year is something different. While previous years have debuted a "turbo-charged" model that replaces the Spring flagship, OnePlus doesn't look to necessarily be replacing the OnePlus 6 with the OnePlus 6T, rather it's offering both phones at the same time, sporting nearly identical specs, but offering different ways of unlocking the phone. The OnePlus 6 sports a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, while the OnePlus 6T offers up an in-glass fingerprint scanner instead. The OnePlus 6T is also available at T-Mobile US officially, sold in all T-Mobile stores nationwide, marking the first time OnePlus has made an official Stateside debut. With blazing fast speed, a stellar camera, near non-existent bezels, and faster than average update schedules, both phones offer a compelling, speedy experience that certainly deserves a look, especially at the price offered. Going for $529 and $549 for the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T, respectively, you'll find most flagship features on this device despite a lower price tag. Huawei's Mate 20 family is an incredible line of devices that covers just about every niche one could think of. Whether it's utilizing advanced 3D facial recognition or in-glass fingerprint scanning to unlock the phone, feeling the luxurious etched glass texture on the back of either phone, or taking in the near-bezelless design of both Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, Huawei has crafted another stellar series of phones that's sure to please. The rear camera configuration has been redesigned when comparing to the Spring's Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, and while it still features 3 cameras, the secondary monochrome camera has been replaced with a new RGB sensor that's behind a wide-angle lens, also capable of shooting some amazing macro photography. There's even a whole host of new AI-powered video modes that can isolate a subject and blur the background for a more SLR-like look, or even take black & white video with colorized people, zoom in on a subject and always keep them in frame automatically, and plenty more. These phones are as feature-packed as you can get, so be sure to take a look at what's available between the two because it's going to be tough to match these specs and features anywhere. No company has covered the term "value" as well as Xiaomi, and it's their new brand that is once again redefining the word. The Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi sports identical internal specs as even the most expensive flagship devices but does so at a truly unbelievable price of $350. With a price like that it's obvious that some corners had to be cut, but most of the experience is more than just acceptable, it's generally fantastic. A 6.18-inch 2246 x 1080 resolution LCD display and dual-rear cameras match the specs of many top-of-the-line phones, and Xiaomi's MIUI 10 brings a beautiful, feature-rich software vision to the phone. With 6GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 845, you're going to be multitasking with power and blazing through the latest mobile games. There's little not to like here, and while it doesn't bring about the ultra-premium-feeling builds of more expensive phones or the absolute best camera in the business, it's hard to argue when you can buy 3 Pocophones for the price of a single flagship in many cases. If you want features, value, the best displays in the business, and arguably the most well-rounded camera experience out there, look no further than Samsung's latest phones. While some years have shown Samsung devices are overrated when compared to other phones, 2018 has treated the South Korean tech giant with quite a bit of favor, and much of this has to do with Samsung doubling down on what it does best, all while finally getting rid of the stigma of the slow, clunky TouchWiz skin of old. They're going even further soon with the introduction of OneUI, a massive overhaul of basically everything from a UI standpoint, debuting with the Android 9 Pie update this coming January. In the meantime, Samsung still offers the most feature-rich experience possible, and the two sizes of the Galaxy S9 will ensure you find comfortable hardware to utilize Samsung at their best. Samsung's Galaxy Note line has been considered the king of Android by some for a while now, but this year truly fulfills the expectations of those folks. While it looks visually near identical to 2017's Note 8 in most respects, the Galaxy Note 9 further trims the bezels, reworks the fingerprint scanner location to be more comfortable, and improves upon the rest of the experience in every way possible. With a massive battery, a brand-new S-Pen with Bluetooth functionality, and more features and options than you can shake a stick at, Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 is the ultimate Android smartphone available today. Samsung has taken the idea of user customization and turned it up to 11. Colors, styles, gestures, icons, sounds, wallpapers, and basically anything you can think of changing is customizable on the Note 9, and you'll likely be surprised for months when thinking about what this device can really do. There's always something new to be found, and with the upcoming OneUI refresh, we're hopeful Samsung is working to add more features and options than ever before, creating the biggest and best experience around.

2019-04-19T10:43:18Z

https://www.androidheadlines.com/2018/12/top-10-best-android-smartphones-of-2018.html

The Learning Network | What Have You Learned Playing Video Games? What are your favorite video games? What do you think they have taught you? Do you think video games can help inspire social change? Have you ever played one that helped you understand a serious global problem? This year, a United Nations program devoted to urban planning in countries affected by poverty or natural disasters began developing a sports field in the slums of Kibera, Kenya, designing it in the popular sandbox video game Minecraft. The game, which allows players to build entire worlds out of cubes in a 3-D environment, helped the project leaders create a visual representation of the field that could be easily understood by the neighborhood’s residents. The project, known as Block by Block, is among the highlights this week at the Games for Change Festival in New York, an annual event that promotes video games that seek social change. These efforts — known as serious games — once focused on education, to entice students to learn through digital play. But attention has shifted to more ambitious efforts like Block by Block, and a large part of that push has come from Games for Change, a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 that has worked with Google, NASA, the United Nations, the Rockefeller Foundation and TEDx. One speaker at this year’s festival is Zoran Popovic, the director of the Center for Game Science at the University of Washington, in Seattle. He led the team of researchers responsible for the puzzle game Foldit, which sought to crowdsource a solution to a scientific problem. Foldit asked players to take on the role of a biochemist and map out how proteins might be folded in nature. The game provided scores based on how well they performed. Three papers in the journal Nature have been published, based on Foldit discoveries, since the game’s release in 2008; the most famous, in 2011, explained how Foldit players had helped to decipher the structure of an AIDS-related enzyme, a problem that scientists had been trying to solve for years. Mr. Popovic plans to unveil a new project this week, a synthetic-biology game called NanoCrafter, whose goal is to discover molecular structures that could benefit vaccine and cancer research. — What are your favorite video games? What games did you play when you were younger? Looking back, what do you think they taught you — whether physical or mental skills or something more intangible? How have they enriched your life? — Have you ever played a video game like the ones at Games for Change, in which the goal is “more than entertainment”? What did you think of it? What did you learn? — Do you think video games can be effective tools for learning? Do you think playing them might actually help “change the world”? Why or why not? — If your school were to invest in a “video game for change” that was, like the examples in this article, fun to play, intellectually enriching and altruistically focused, what would you like it to be about? How might it work? Honestly I have never really played video games before, well I have but not as much as an average teen. But that little that I did play I just learned little strategies and the games really made you think. But they are really not that productive. I used to play games a lot but i have slowed down playing them now. I actually have learnt a lot of things from certain video games like strategies, and my friend said that he learnt that rubber comes from trees. I think integrating games into school could be a good idea. It would probably be executed poorly in most areas though. There’s a stigma against video games in general that label all games as bad for your brain and they make you do bad things. My favorite video game has to be guitar hero. I think this game has taught me how to multitask with my hands. I think video games are very good and can help inspire social change, depending on the type of game. No, I have never played a video game that has helped inspire me to change a serious global problem. I don’t like to play video games. I rather do something else than be in four hours play games that not be educated. the video games i have played are strategic and would make me think. i have never played a video game that benefits a cause before so i would go with some of the concepts listed in the article when deciding on one for my school to invest in. That’s actually really interesting concept because most games are like what you guys said, fps and the like. there are a handful of games that are different or promote learning. i personally have not heard anything that could help with research. My favorite video games are the grand theft auto video games. Not just because of the violence but also because I don’t play very many video games and it’s fun to just drive around and wander the game. When I was younger my favorite video game was a hand held analog stick with a few different games on it including PAC man. I don’t believe that playing these types of video games benefits you much. I’ve never played a more than entertainment goal game. But I think it’s a very intriguing idea, especially scenes so many kids learn from their surroundings and technology now days. My favorite video games are Minecraft, COD, Counterstrike Source, Guitar Hero, Farcry, and Rainbow six. Looking back at these games I have learned a little more about weaponry, and playing video games has also helped with my hand-eye corrdination. I also think playing video games can help increase your reflexes and response time. When I started playing Minecraft I immediately fell In love because it allowed me to use my creativity and build things that I’ve always wanted to build. I think video games can be a very effective tool for learning because it makes learning fun. But I also think that it should be taken in moderation and staring a screen all day isn’t that great for you and neither is sitting all day. The more interactive learning is the better it will be in general. I think that bringing video games into schools could be a good way to bring more interaction to learning. My number one game is World of tanks. when i was younger, i played minecraft. I was a 4 year minecraft player.. Minecraft gave me inspiration. But when i got World of tanks, i quit minecraft. World of tanks has taught me alot. Ive learned alot since i started playing. No blood, no gore. Just fun with big metal machines. I don’t know because I don’t play video games. Well i have not learned a lot because i don’t play a lot. It shows that there is violence in the world. Also how to help you shoot more acculturate. I think that if schools had games then more people could enjoy and relax more. I have played some games that teaches you life lessons and some games that inspires you. Video games nowadays have little education to offer for you if you are playing modern consoles. The way i learned to play video games is that most people can easily play any game if they put their mind into it. i play video games every single day and beat every single game there is its just what i like to do everyday when i get home from school etc. i can play really hard games that not everyone can beat i’m technically the best at playing horror games and war games plus games like assasins creed 1 to throughout all the other assasin creed games. i am such a video game expert i’ve played every system that ever came out from the beginning of atari to all of todays games. i just love to play video games. I love playing video games with my brothers. I play Black Ops, Mine Craft, Kinect Sports and more. Playing these games explain more than moving your thumbs it showed you how to multitask and some of the video games keeps you physically active when you have a X-Box 360. Im a senior in High School. Im always playing video games whenever im not either at school, work, or golf. I love video games and I feel that they are a quintessential part of learning. I have played almost every game. Games like pokemon help you to solve problems. Games like portal cause you to use physics and puzzles to play the game. Games like the bioshock series or the half life series create stories, that in my opinion, are better than reading book because you get to experience it. Even games like Call of duty increases reflexes. – My favourite video games are Deus Ex, The Witcher 2 and Half-Life 2. As someone who lives in germany, where most students don’t speak english very good. I think video games taught me a lot about english. It was the only subject I NEVER had problems with. From the first day on I was too good for my grade. – I honestly have never played one of those games, but after this article I’m definitely looking forward to them. – I don’t know, maybe about subjects, that are boring and complicated for many students, like biology and chemistry? I personally wouldn’t be able to come up with an idea, but smart people, probably would. I play a lot of RPGs mostly. They are some of my favorite games. Most RPGs give you choices, and what choices you make affects the people, and world around you. Usually the choices range from good, to neutral, to evil. This is very similar to how life really is. The choices we make, whether they are good or bad, have a bigger impact on the world around us than we may think. my favorite video games are games like Portal and Persona, games that actually require thinking while playing and not just mindless button mashing, the thing i think they’ve taught me… that no matter who you are you can always be a hero if you put your mind to it! Unfortunately not, i would love to have the chance to be able to though, i believe that video games are more than just a way to distract ourselves or have a good time, i believe that the educational value of video games are much greater than what people believe. Yes, video games are tools, whether the tool is used for entertainment or for education, it’s full potential cannot be realized unless someone steps forward and says “lets try to use it like this!” and works hard on that. I would like that many possibilities for interactive learning would open up, these interactive lessons would not only increase the amount of fun in a classroom, but also the amount of passion from students who can honestly say that the lessons spoke to them. @Alondra The correct sentence would be: I don’t like to play video games. I Would rather do something else than playing four hours of video games that do not help with my education. I have played video games for years. All to often my choices were challenged or denied by my parents. At first I couldn’t comprehend the difference or what were the deciding factors for their answer. As I’ve grown older I see know how video games have the power to shape one’s personality. Even in video games there are choices to be made, altruistic choices that can benefit another individual in the game or choices to eliminate your opponent. The choices are made in real life all to often and it’s vital that children and teenagers recognized the value or consequences of the choices even within the games. I am impressed by the idea of Games for Change. If our school were to invest in such a game perhaps one that affords students the opportunity to understand how closely connected their games choices are to real life. A game that teaches altruistic behavior and choices while still having fun. We find a significant change and positive growth in our society through future generations. The focus of the some games is to build what ever the mind can imagine. I think that games can be more than entertainment because it makes you think about things that you may have see in your life. It also could make you think of real building and structure around the world. Others games can make you think about real life world problems and make you aware that they are happening. They may also help influence what you do later in your life. Overall I think that some games can do more than just entertainment and can make you think about real things and ideas.

2019-04-25T04:37:29Z

https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/what-have-you-learned-from-playing-video-games/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Tiny Box. Huge Feature Set. Pro-Ject Audio Systems was founded in 1990 by Heinz Lichtenegger. Their driving goal since their inception has been to provide music lovers with great value products. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is one shining example of this philosophy. It has become known as one of the best deals in high-performance audio and is the best selling turntable in the world under $400. Pro-Ject Audio has factories in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with their R&D headquarters outside of Mistelbach Austria. The company has two divisions, one specializing in all things related to turntables and another division making small audio components that are known for over-delivering for their size. While the team at Pro-Ject Audio Systems are friends of ours, we must admit that we think they have way too many products. Right now there are 33 different models of turntables and a full 7 different series of electronics. The sheer volume is overwhelming, making it easy to get numb to their product releases. The downside is that when this happens, a real jewel may not get the attention that it deserves. One such jewel is their latest Digital Box design, the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital. It’s a digital micro preamplifier that can fully unfold MQA files. If you aren’t familiar with MQA, it stands for Master Quality Audio, and has been gathering momentum over the past year for its ability to deliver very high-resolution audio over streaming. Tidal, for example, is currently offering a growing library of MQA audio files. Like most of the Pro-Ject Box designs, the Pre Box S2 Digital is tiny! It is 4” wide, 4” deep, and only around 1.25” tall. That is small enough to easily fit in a messenger bag. It is housed in a very nicely finished all aluminum box. Like most of the Box Designs, you get a choice of silver or black. The front panel has a full-sized headphone jack on one end and a small, but great feeling volume knob on the other end. In the middle is a tiny color display window flanked on either side by two buttons that let you select the input, get into the menu, and change the filters. The rear panel has inputs for USB B, coaxial digital, optical digital and a USB micro power connection. On the other end is a pair of gold-plated RCA analog outputs. All of the connections feel very solid. A small remote control is included in the box, which gives you control over most of the functions of the unit. In addition, you can access the play/pause/forward/back controls from the remote. When connected via USB, you can even control them while streaming music from your computer. With its very small footprint, the Pre Box S2 Digital will probably find its way into many different listening situations. It can be at home on your desktop either as a headphone amp, or DAC for your computer speakers or both. At the other end of the spectrum, it can hide out anywhere in your audio rack as a full-scale MQA capable DAC. Finally, since it can even be powered off the USB input, you can use it on the go with a laptop. Even though you would think of it as a home-based component, it is actually smaller than some of the portable DACs that we carry. While it may be tiny, the Pre Box S2 Digital is packed with features! We popped the cover off to take a peek inside and found it to be totally stuffed with components. Upon closer examination, you’ll see that it’s a completely dual mono design, with each channel of the signal path mirrored. Pretty impressive for a $399 box! Pro-Ject opted for the ESS Sabre ESS9038 dual DAC in the Pre Box S2 Digital -- the highest level DAC they have ever used. These dual DACs are capable of up to 32-bit PCM 768kHz and DSD512. It’s important to point out that MQA unfolding and the higher resolution digital rates are only available on the USB input. The optical and coax digital inputs do not do MQA, but still go up to a very respectable 24/192. Pro-Ject made the decision to limit these two to keep the price down. If they made it available on all inputs, we would expect it to cost around twice the price. Most people are going to be using the desktop or laptop version of Tidal to play back MQA files, and the USB connection is best suited for that application. Pro-Ject also spent a lot of time developing the clock used in the Pre Box S2 Digital. While digital audio can be great, jitter is one downside that we see often. If the digital signals are not put back together with the same timing as the original recording, the music seems to lack emotion, no matter how clear it may sound. The Pre Box S2 Digital has one of the lowest jitter rates we have ever seen, far surpassing some much more expensive units. While it would have been easy for Pro-Ject to skimp on components, especially considering how inexpensive this unit is, they instead opted for some very high-end parts. It is quite unusual to see organic polymer capacitors and thin film miniMELF resistors in the power supply inside a box selling for only $399! Pro-Ject even used a 4 layer gold plated circuit board with extra shielding. Since Pro-Ject felt this unit would mainly be used in USB mode, they also spent a lot of R&D time coming up with a way to reduce all of the noise that is present on a typical computer USB connection. Many components use passive filtering, but Pro-Ject used a special combination of passive and active filtering which brought the noise levels to below -130db. This is a ridiculously low number! All of this translates into great sound with a super low noise floor. When listening to this unit, you never get any trace of background noise. In a trend we are starting to see on some other DAC’s, the Pre Box S2 Digital also has some filter options that allow you to shape the sound. Like most we have tested, these are subtle and recording dependent, but can make a bright or edgy recording sound better. There are 7 choices that you can easily flip through. The output of the analog jacks is right around 2 volts, so you can use this box as an audio DAC by just setting its output to 0, which is full gain on this unit. If you have a fairly sensitive power amplifier, it will even make a great digital preamp with its three inputs. The headphone amp is another ESS design and it can support up to 600-ohm headphones. Finally, for you Roon fanatics out there, the Pre Box S2 Digital is also Roon capable. We set up the Pre Box S2 Digital with a Windows 10, Windows 7, and Apple MacBook Pro. We’ll start by talking about the PC setup, so you Mac users can jump ahead to the next paragraph. If you are Windows-based, you will need to do a few things first if you want your Pre Box S2 Digital to work properly. We recommend that you skip the CD that comes with the unit and instead go straight to the Pro-Ject Audio website. From there, navigate to the product page for the Pre Box S2 Digital. You’ll have to enter in your serial number to be able to download the latest software and installing it takes a little time. You’ll have to confirm steps a few times to complete the process, so you can’t just set it to install and forget it, unfortunately. If you had already powered on your S2, you’ll also need to cycle power. To take full advantage of the Pre Box S2 Digital, you will need a Tidal account. The web-based app will not let you do MQA, so you will need to download the full program from their site. You’ll get the best sound out of MQA if you let the unit do the unfolding, so there is another step inside Tidal you need to do. Then, there are a couple of more steps. First, using the desktop app, click on the music quality button at the bottom, which will be labeled Standard, High, or HIFI. (For Mac users this is under settings in the menu bar) This will bring up a window where you will choose the S2 for the sound output and click on Master which will force Tidal to give you the best audio possible, no matter the coding. You’ll then want to hover your mouse over the words “S2 Output” until a settings icon pops up on the left end. Click on this and you will have three choices: Use Exclusive Mode, Force Volume, and Pass Thru MQA. Be sure to check all three boxes. Once you have set all of this up correctly, the S2’s display will light up showing MQA when you are playing that type of file, and you’ll have a little blue light to indicate it is doing the unfolding. You’ll also see the bit rate of the file in the lower part of the display. We tested the unit with a few different headphones including the Grado RS2, AudioQuest Night Owl, and Focal Elear. We felt these were probably representative of what people might be using with this cool little box. Just for fun, we grabbed an AudioQuest DragonFly Red for some comparisons as well. Connection to the S2 was made with a Transparent Audio USB cable. In recent months, Tidal has added a ton of MQA content. In our testing, every single artist that we searched for (mostly classic rock, we must admit) had albums available that were done in MQA as well as the same identical album without MQA. Our search included Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, The Eagles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Yes, Diana Krall, Tina Turner, The Doors, Van Halen, Chicago, America, Steely Dan, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald, and I am sure we forgot a few as we gave this unit a long listen! For all of these artists, there are one or more MQA albums to play around with. As with many new technologies, there are two camps in the audio world regarding MQA. Some like it and some do not. We think you should listen and form your own opinion. MQA allows a higher bitrate file to be streamed than we have ever seen in the past. In some cases, we were able to listen to 192k files. One thing we did notice is that sometimes there seems to be “creative re-mixing” when the file gets converted to MQA. We noticed some instruments moved from their original location and on a couple of tracks a vocal passage that was originally in the far left, got moved to the far right. Interestingly enough, it seemed like the ones that were altered did not sound as good to us as the non-MQA file. When you do these comparisons yourself, be sure to also match the volume, as MQA is normally around 6-8 dB louder than the normal file. The improvement in the subtle nuances of the music, including extra warmth and a much larger soundstage, was really apparent in these cuts. Plus they all had what we felt to be closer to an analog sound. This tells us that the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital has one heck of a DAC in it. The general presentation of the Pre Box S2 Digital is very neutral with just a slight hint of lean -- but that is ever so slight. We listened to it for over 4 hours straight using both MQA and non-MQA and never had any sense of listening fatigue at all, which is a great sign. It truly is a very musical unit. When you have deep bass tracks they hit with a ton of impact and a clarity to the bass that we have never heard on a $400 DAC. Pro-ject’s circuitry to reduce jitter also works very well as we found ourselves tapping our toes on a lot of rhythmic tracks. Next, we decided to compare the Pre Box S2 Digital against the Dragonfly Red, which can also do MQA. If you decide to do some comparing, make sure that you’re using the exact same recording. Some albums will have special remixed editions, so be sure the MQA and non-MQA come from the same album. While the Dragonfly Red is an absolutely amazing unit for $200, we definitely heard more subtle nuances and a bigger soundstage using the Pre Box S2 Digital. In our opinion, it’s well worth the extra $200. Before we touch on this next observation, it’s time for an Audio Advice public service announcement. We are big believers in saving your ears. Your hearing is very important and trust our veterans when we say that you will still want to enjoy great audio well into retirement! With that said, there are some of you out there that like to listen at high volume levels. For some of you, the Pre Box S2 Digital may not satisfy your demands, particularly if you are using headphones that are hard to drive. Using the Focal Elear, for example, we found a comfortable listening volume 2 clicks under full volume, but we recognize that this might not be loud enough for some of you. This is one area where the Dragonfly Red outmatches the Pre Box S2 Digital. It’s able to drive even the most inefficient headphones at a much higher level. In summary, we have yet to hear anything that sounds as good as this little box does for $400 -- and it can handle MQA! We know that some of you are going to ask how it compares to the Chord Mojo. At $579 we feel the Mojo has better pacing and a more effortless sound. The Mojo also has more output to drive a power amp directly and a more powerful headphone stage. With that said, $400 is an awesome value for the Pre Box S2 Digital. As we said, there are several use cases for this great little box. We feel the typical case will be at someone’s desk, driving either a pair of headphones or a pair of powered speakers like the Audioengine A5+. It will let you discover the very cool world of MQA without breaking the bank. You could also use it as a travel DAC, powering it off of your laptop. This is a shade less convenient than some of the DAC’s that have rechargeable batteries or can run off of your smartphone, but it’s an option. In a nutshell, if you are interested in checking out MQA or want to upgrade your computer audio setup, the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital is a steal! If you want to test out the joys of MQA (Master Quality Audio) on Tidal, look no further than the Pre Box S2 Digital. It’s a great DAC and will do very hi-res audio. MQA, can be a preamp, great headphone amp, super hi-res audio capabilities, very low jitter, DSD capable. Yes, you get all this in a very well made, yet tiny $400 box. Simply amazing. We have not heard a DAC that sounds as good as this one for its price, period. Plus you can even carry it around when you travel.

2019-04-19T20:58:13Z

https://www.audioadvice.com/content/pro-ject-pre-box-s2-digital-review/

Comments from the Palm: This is the first of a batch of variant eldritch knights we've written to adapt the basic gish with the flavors of other base spellcasters. While seemingly similar to rangers, the grove knights are far less concerned with foraging and trailblazing and much more interested in protecting the woods at all costs. Often found taking down clearcutters, poachers, and those who destroy natural wilderness with casual disregard, grove knights are never to be taken lightly. Cantrips. You learn two cantrips of your choice from the druid spell list. You learn an additional druid cantrip of your choice at 10th level. Preparing and Casting Spells. The Grove Knight spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells. To cast one of your grove knight spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. You prepare the list of grove knight spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the druid spell list. When you do so, choose a number of druid spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + half your fighter level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of druid spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list. Spellcasting Ability. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your druid spells, since you prepare them through prayer and meditation. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a druid spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one. At 3rd level, you learn the shillelagh cantrip, which does not count against your number of grove knight cantrips known. You can target any weapon you wield with the spell, and the spells duration is increased to 24 hours. If the weapon you target with shillelagh has a damage die that is 1d8 or larger, its damage die does not change. At 7th level, you gain the ability to grow a natural weapon and attack with it at a moment’s notice. When you use your action to take the Attack action or to cast a cantrip, you can make an additional unarmed strike at a creature within reach as a bonus action. This unarmed strike deals 1d6 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (your choice) and is treated as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to non-magical attacks and damage. Starting at 10th level, you can use a bonus action on your turn to regain a number of hit points equal to 5 + your Wisdom modifier. You cannot use this ability if you have more than half your maximum hit points remaining, or if you are unconscious. Starting at 15th level, you gain a climb speed and a swim speed equal to your movement speed. Additionally, you can breathe underwater, and your movement is unaffected by difficult terrain. At 18th level, when you use your Wild Slash ability, you can make two unarmed strikes instead of one. This is a pretty cool archetype. Question though. Can I use Wild Slash when I don't have a hand available (like when I am wielding a Greatsword)? This would be similar to a Monk making unarmed strikes with Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows when they are wielding a Quarterstaff. Right? Sure. Horns on the head, spikes on the elbows or knees, or claws on the feat are acceptable. Or, ya know, letting go with one hand and THEN punching. I am definitely going to write a Disco Bandit subclass now (it'll be a rogue, I'm thinking). I can't believe I didn't think of that before! This class would be amazing at whipfighting with Shillelagh. This is beautiful, and I like how the nature's force encourages more agile and quick weapons. "You prepare the list of grove knight spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the druid spell list. When you do so, choose a number of druid spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + half your fighter level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots." They mean the spells known column in the table. Since you prepare a number of spells dependent on Wis modifier, that column is redundant. I think that's because the Eldritch Knight used spells known and the Druid (and Wizard) used spells prepared, but the Eldritch Knight table wasn't changed to account for that. I think it might work better with the same rules as the Eldritch Knight, going off spells known and with limitations on the schools of magic to choose from. Yup Nails and DR McLeod already clarified for me. Sorry for the late response. I get how natural resilience is like the champion's survivor, but fighters already have a way to heal with a bonus action. And also, this fighter actually has something else to do with a bonus action each turn. May I suggest something on the lines of "you can automatically stabilize creatures, and when you do so they gain (your lvl+wis mod) hp"? Hmm...that makes sense. Maybe I can make that play more off of Second Wind. The intent is for this fighter to have a sort of low-level regeneration feature, so it should stay more to helping just himself. I respectfully dissagree with Idan bhk, though their idea is not without merit, I think the ability, as is, is perfect. You are a fighter, front lines of Nature. Your not a field medic. No other ability is anything but combat related and nothing that aids an ally, so having a level 10 revive would be kinda weird flavor wise. And that healing is for a maximum of thirty HP at level twenty. A baseline healing, not too strong and not till after half health at level 10, anything thats getting you down quick enough will be able to override that healing, and anything too weak shouldn't be able to get you down that low in the first place. That said it is appropriate flavor wise with this KIND of warrior, but id say if it was described and flavored as more of a Mountie or Forest Ranger kind of character, whose idea is to protect nature from people AND people from nature. I refer to Second Wind in the start of the second paragraph, and the Class ability in question during the rest. Sorry! I agree, I think I prefer it just the way it is. Charles: I agree that Second Wind is not much of a healing ability, but that was my secondary point. Healing or regenerating are fine- It's the bonus action I'm iffy about. It's not that much of a big deal, though, and the ability is fine as it is. A suggestion: Just make it 1+Constitution modifier (minimum 1) hp at the start of your turn as long as you have at least 1 hit point. This ability only functions when you are at or below half your hit point maximum. Alternate suggestion. Make it similar to a boar’s Relentless(is that the name?) feature. Mechanics: When you would be reduced to 0 hit points, you may make a Constitution saving throw against a DC equal to half the triggering damage or 10, whichever is higher. If that’s too strong, give it limited uses. Maybe once per short rest, or have it impose something like the poisoned condition or exhaustion after the first use. The paragraph on spell casting mentions prepared spells but you still have in the table that they work off spells known. It is based on the druid, so you can only prepare a number of spells equal to your wis+ 1/2 level. A Druid knows all of their spells as soon as they have the Spell slots for it, you, as a Hybrid class, have a limited number of spells known AND you can only prepare X number of spells. Correct me if Im wrong, but I think im reading it right. The problem is, if you're doing some kind of Wisdom build, you could potentially prepare more spells than you have spells known. Even if your Wisdom wasn't at 20 by the time you get this subclass, all it needs to be is at least 16 for you to be able to prepare at least 4 spells, and you know only 3 upon subclass pickup. This is an error. The Grove Knight should not have a "spells known" list. I'd been wracking my brain on how I could get a Cleric with Heavy Armor (and preferably Potent Spellcasting) to use Primal Savagery every turn as their main 'weapon'.. I come to see what you wonderful digits have cooked up lately.. And I find a Fighter archetype that pretty much delivers what I want. Except no healing, but the main idea was a guy in Heavy Armor using 'claws' to deal their damage each turn. I might play this some day, and I look forward to seeing the rest of you guys' Eldritch Knight variants! A fun eldritch knight variant impossible.it looks fun ill want to try it. Question: Do the unarmed strikes from Wild Slash add your ability modifier to the damage roll? If not, I recommend you specify that. They do -- that's true of any melee weapon attack by default. Just double checking. You know what’d be awesome? Armbands or hand wraps that have your unarmed strike a magical enhancement bonus. Maybe also add that bonus to grapple checks. That would be pretty cool. Not to sound rude, but you guys are bad at balancing bonus actions and bonus action economy, huh? Weird thing people never consider: if you only have one at-will feature with a bonus action, it's not an /economy./ You need at least two features that compete for that slot, or you can just use the bonus action ability every turn, which basically makes it a passive. This class incorporates that logic in its design -- I don't think it's unbalanced at all. I want to complain that this version doesn't have a number of spells known, but I think I'm going to have to actually aim that complaint at rangers... Like, seriously, PALADINS get to pick spells whenever, but RANGERS have to pick a few and stick with them? What happened, Wizards? The Wild Slash ability. Is it a STR based attack? I love absolutely everything about that character art except maybe the lack of a real helmet. Where did you find it?

2019-04-22T16:58:04Z

https://mfov.magehandpress.com/2018/03/grove-knight.html

What Brady has to do right now is hide behind Michael J. Madigan. If you recall, the Speaker was just attacked in a similar manner. Any questions further on this, should be addressed in a way that includes the Speaker’s name. By doing this, this entire thing will go away. Madigan isn’t going to want to have this albatross hanging around his neck again. Dennis Hastert was absolutely skewered by some dealings that were a lot more indirect than Brady’s regarding influence on a highway project that would bolster the developability of land that he (or his company) owned. I would expect no less public scrutiny in this case. Thanks, Dave. The link has been fixed. I don’t see how Brady doesn’t feel like he had a conflict. He certainly had a clear financial interest in the legislation. It would have been easy enough to disclose and recuse, and it would have passed anyway. Okay, so this is about your terrible judgment rather than your self-serving dishonesty? Seems like a reach. Unfortunatley in Ill these minor conflicts of interest are ignored all the time. Ask madigan about how well his clients do, or ald. Burke how his clients do, daleys law firm from which he still recieved an income handles alot of clients with the city. State laws forcing eye exams for students have enriched the practice of certain state lawmaker. In ill politics is about making money. Brady is not having the best coming out party. I think there’s a path for people in the suburbs to overlook his social conservatism and vote for him based on the economy, but this stuff does not help. Most people on the north shore if they know him, know him as a coservative which will not help. These kinds of stories also hurt especially when they come from the media because people up here at least in thought prefer “high minded politicians” and this does not help his case. I also continue to be stunned by the lack of serious opposition research that happened in the winter campaigns. That murphy couldn’t figure out that plummer was a paper tiger and that mckenna couldn’t use his millions to do this kind of research is another indictment of those campaigns. Leave it to the Trib to bury the lede so badly. HELLOOOOOOO!!!! Ethically challenged state has yet another candidate running for governor with an enormous ethical blind spot. We have no hope on either side. to now cry stop on others. Why did he not term limit himself? Brady is a big do as I proclaim kind of official and it’s not good. That Brady does not see the obvious conflict should give every voter cause for alarm. Quinn has problems, but overall I trust him not to do such things. Brady seems focused on gaining control of the Govt to enrich himself. Brady has realised the job is more bleeping golden then his current gig. Now the Trib can go back to busting Ds — their vision for the future. BTW maybe the Champaign County SA can knock this around a little. Many thanks to NoTaxBill for turning the campaign around. Does CampaignMasterJerry get credit? Doesn’t this sort of information qualify as basic opposition research? Of all the Republicans that have run against Brady in the primary since 2003, it seems like one of them would have found this and used it. Or is it all about the candidate beating his chest about taxes in the GOP primary? Brady has been very selective of late as to which bills he will cast a vote. I can only assume he was equally selective when bills that benefitted him financially were called, and he hit the YES button. The bills in question were very specific bills, targeting very specific issues. So, either he voted for the bills and didn’t know what he was doing, or he knew exactly what he was doing. Either way, he screwed up. This is a major bombshell. Isn’t this pretty much the textbook definition of a corrupt official, i.e. one who votes on bills expected to benefit himself financially? Brady’s throw away statement that he “believed the legislation had no direct effect on his Champaign property” is meaningless. That’s just his lawyers trying to say there was no intent, a necessary element to prove a theft or fraud related crime. Good luck with that Bill Brady. At this point it probably doesn’t matter if Plummer releases his returns. The GOP ticket looks to be done. What would you have the Champaign Co SA do with this, CFS? State’s Attorneys prosecute crimes. Ethics violations are not crimes. For that matter, if they were, venue would be in Sangamon County where the questionable votes occurred. Or is there some evidence that Brady committed some criminal act in Champaign County? Patti Schuh is a great hire for Brady. Hopefully she can convince him to actually take policy positions, so that she can craft and deliver the message. We’ve all tired of his sniping from his position as a legislator….it’s time for him to lead and tell us what he stands for, or get out of the way. Good luck to Patti. Yes, things are looking pretty dismal with respect to our main gubernatorial choices in Nov. A failed businessman with a self-serving view of legislative ethics and transparency. A failed politician who got incredibly lucky yet whose probationary period has been marked by waffling, an inability to make decisions, and a fondness for solving problems by hitting up the middle class for more, more more money. I thought you wanted him to organize a state-wide organization? A downstate Democrat told me shortly after the Primary that he thought Brady’s business dealings would be his undoing, and warned me that Brady’s record contained serious conflicts of interest. If Democratic lawmakers knew, how can Brady use the “I didn’t know” defense? Brady’s defense seems to be that either he doesn’t know his business or he doesn’t understand what legislation he’s voting on. I don’t think voters are buying that this time around. This is the catch 22 for pro-business republicans. Of course you won’t read these types of problems for Pat Quinn because lacks the skills to operate a private business. Quinn jumping on this is like me saying Favre shouldn’t have thrown the last pass. Looks pretty obvious, but I have never had the skill to get on the field so how much is my opinon worth. And if you really believe Quinn would not do something like this. He has kept the Blago campaing contributors by the thousands on the state payroll for a reason. The press is likely digging into other votes Brady’s made right now. Let’s hope so. One area I’ve always wondered about is insurance. Brady is the ranking Republican on the senate’s Insurance Committee. And of course he’s from Bloomington which has two big insurance companies. Plus, according to Brady’s own campaign website, the Brady family businesses include insurance. Brady’s definitely made votes that were favorable to the insurance industry. But these land deal votes alone should doom the guy. Is that Kirk Dillard warming up in the bullpen? The hard truth is that none of those Republicans ever thought Brady could win, so they didn’t bother. Same goes for the media, I suppose. He hasn’t been fully vetted yet. He will be, even if it is 25 grafs into a story. Isn’t Bill Brady against the government getting involved in the free market? I guess eminent domain land seizures and tax-supported incentives to real estate developers don’t count as “big government” when the Brady family is on the receiving end. MJM is smart enough to regularly vote Present on those sorts of bills. Plus, they’re his clients, not his own company, and that can get a bit murky. This story is about Brady’s company itself. A project that Brady worked on himself. I don’t think it’s similar. Cullerton has been whacked for far, far less. And it wasn’t 25 grafs into the story, either. Dave signs and palm card are what you hand out in the field! There are hundreds of parades coming up he can’t be at all of them his field people need something. If there was even a whiff of evidence that Barack Obama had cast votes in the state senate that benefitted himself financially, Republicans would be burning tires in the streets and tipping over cars right now. In Brady’s case, it’s not just evidence. There’s a smoking gun. Good going downstate Republicans. Your obsession with disliking Chicago has given the GOP a Chicago-Democrat-Style nominee who can’t win. I’ve known Patti for years. She is a great hire for Brady. Once again the contrast is stark between Quinn’s reaching out of state for inexperienced campaign talent that he can push around, while Brady hires a stand up Illinois operative with 20 + years experience. Patti’s no push over for anybody. I wonder how many Home Builders Association initiatives that Brady sponsored ended up financially benefiting him? I think Brady drew the wrong lesson from “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” and he’s definitely modeled himself on the wrong character. Did Brady own the land or options at the time of his vote? That makes a difference to me. It’s a citizens legislature. Should farmers not sponsor Farm Bureau bills? That’s a good point. The Trib article said Brady was buying up land around that proposed interchange. The timeline is a little unclear. But an obvious question would be, did Brady have any special knowledge about future plans for the area due to his position as a public official? If you’re a farmer let’s say, you don’t want to be sitting across the negotiating table from a land buyer with better information that you don’t have access to. That’s called insider trading and people go to prison for that. Brady’s got a lot of questions to answer on several fronts about this. If you know too much within a particular field, then you should be ignored in order to ensure that the decisions reached are good for no one within that field. The best government is the one lead by experts in no fields. This is similar to the earmark that Denny Hastert promoted that had a direct economic bearing on land he owned. It didn’t hurt Hastert but he was nearing the end of his career and was not running for governor when this story was let. And we had a lot of other fatigue with Bush, Iraq, etc. by that time to even pay it much heed. It is troubling that Brady can so simply deny this was a conflict of interest. It most obviously was. Where did this guy gain his sense of ethics? In the Illinois school of politics? I ask myself what Brady could do that would cause me to vote to keep Quinn. We’re not even getting warm yet, but the election isn’t until November, so keep trying. Where is the actual budget document that was handed out at this press conference? It’s in a series of amendments that are being filed today. Not even warm enough to just not vote for either goodball A or goofball B? I mean sometimes, you just don’t have a choice. And sometimes is becoming all too common. The parties and the voters behind the parties really need a farm team that can advance some winners instead of having the losers rise to the top on their own “merits”. westsidecounter: You shouldn’t talk about things you obviously know so little about. No way would Brady have gotten through the primary if this information was known about him earlier. He kept it all hidden just like he wanted to hide his taxes. Republicans probably shouldn’t have gloated so much over the Scott Lee Cohen thing. Alot of people said the same thing about Rod in 2002. Brady’s starting to resemble Rod more-and-more every day. Last I check Madigan wasn’t running for Governor! He supposed to be better than Madigan, right? I would submit to you that Brady’s conflict of interest is much more factually egregious than Hastert’s, if Brady actually owned the land or options on it in direct proximity to the Curtis Road interchange in Champaign County. Hastert’s land was a 10-15 minute drive from the nearest planned interchange for Prairie Parkway, an iffy value boost for residential development for a highway that might not get built in our lifetime, but still a major faux pas in the court of public opinion. Politicians who want to promote good infrastructure improvements should steer clear of personal enrichment issues, in appearance and in fact. Let me get this straight. Everybody’s all fired up about three pieces of legislation that Brady voted for, even though NO ONE can provide a definitive, legitimate timeline on votes vs. ownership status? Aren’t we a little LATE to be calling these hatchet-attacks on Brady “vetting”? Furthermore, how many people posting here had even HEARD that word before “Caribou Barbie” wound up on the McCain ticket? The whole Brady campaign is rapidly turning into terrible examples of “GOTCHA!” journalism and politics. While I agree that a candidates voting record IS important, it just seems like lazy, slanted, and yellow journalism to be CONSTANTLY on the attack vs. one candidate simply because he HAS a voting record. Quinn has an administrative record, just as Brady has a legislative record. Both records are fair game in this election, and I am not seeing a lot of love for either from my rocking-chair view of the old and new media. Put a Push pin in China Bill. All I know is that somewhere Pat Quinn is trying to figure out how he can “outdo” Bill Brady with his next controversy. These two campaigns are like watching a race between two giraffes on stilts. Brady’s going to look like a complete buffoon now on tax and budget issues. Quinn’s got cover now when he talks about raising taxes. He need simply point out the fact that our budget wouldn’t be such a mess and we wouldn’t be in such a hole if guys like Bill Brady weren’t misusing their office to vote on bills that help themselves and cost the rest of us money. Incredibly, Quinn starts looking like the adult in the room who has to clean up after the irresponsible behavior. Brady makes Quinn look good and that’s not easy.

2019-04-22T22:55:02Z

https://capitolfax.com/2010/05/24/brady-voted-for-bills-to-help-his-company/

Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus is the second game to feature Elvira, following on from Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. This is again a horror-themed adventure game with roleplaying elements. This time you must save Elvira who has been captured by Cerberus and imprisoned within a movie studio where the horror movie sets have come to life. Grab some clover from beneath the billboard on the left. Pick up the rock from the bottom right, then go to the door of the security hut and throw the rock to break the glass. Now open the door and go inside. Open the closet and a body will fall out; take the security key from the dead guard. Take the jacket from the wall and wear it. Take all the items from the noticeboard, then walk around the desk and look at the console. Insert the security key, then enter the code from your copy protection wheel. Go back outside and through the open gate. Approach the car and open the trunk, taking the wrench and wire cutters from inside. Now leave the car and go through the doors to enter level 1 of the main building. Go over to the lift and press the up button, then get inside, turn around and press 2 to go up to the second level. Exit the lift and head out to a corridor with lots of doors. Take the drinks and cakes from the canteen, a book from the far side of the computer room, and a mirror from the bin in the make-up room. Don't enter the costume room yet as you will not be strong enough to kill the witch there. Go through the doors at the far end of the corridor into the typing pool room. Take a disk from the box of floppies on the desk, and take the radio cassette player from the high shelf. Back in the corridor, enter Elvira's dressing room and take lots of stuff (popcorn, newspaper, tissues, towel, hair spray x 2, silver clover charm and curling iron). Go across to the director's room and take the 2 bottles of alcohol. Return to the lift and press B to to down to the basement. Exit the lift and talk to the janitor (don't mention the fire water or scalps). Back up and look in the janitor's closet to find some bleach. Go back to the lift and head up to level 1. Enter both bathrooms just to get some experience points, then go back out to the lobby and through the double doors to the studio lobby. Continue forward and into the lobby of the house. Go through the door to the left into the living room and take the helmet and gauntlet from the suit of armour on the right. Next head through the door into the study. Open the desk drawers and take the prayer book and padlock from inside. Go back to the previous room and pick up the bucket from near the fireplace, and the two glass vases and glass pitcher from the corner shelf. Go back to the lobby and up the stairs, taking the right branch, then go right and then left at the top. Head along the hallway and through the first door on the left. Pick up the 3 blocks from the floor, then go back downstairs to the living room. Go to the far corner of the room and turn to face the door with the poltergeist in front of it. Place one of your blocks on the floor, then quickly go forward and through the door it was guarding. Read all the books you can find as they contain useful tips; in particular you must pick up a poison recipe that falls out of a book about poisons from the reference shelves, and you must read The Study of Demonology in the humor section. Return out of the library and back to the lobby, then go straight across to the opposite door. In the dining room, take the wine and candelabras, then open the service window and you will end up in the meat locker. Go through the door, immediately turn left and use Turn Undead to get rid of the zombie. Head back out to the lobby and go upstairs, taking the left branch. Go through the first door into a bathroom, and take the towel and sponge from inside. Leave the bathroom, turn right and walk straight ahead into a lavender bedroom. Walk forward and right to the bed. Move the sheets, then try to take the script and quickly kill the ghost. Now pick up the script, and pick up the photos that have fallen to the floor. Look under the bed and push the red button, then go through the secret passage behind the bed and along the corridor. Make sure you are holding the silver crucifix or your next action will kill you - take the gold chalice and ten black candles from the altar. Now return to the lavender bedroom. Go out to the hall and turn right, then go past the stairs and into the room on the left (if you die here, try casting a Courage spell before entering the room). After the interlude, take the pillow and tuning fork from the bed. While you are still upstairs, go to the far end of the hall and up the stairs at the end. Immediately use the tuning fork to let in the sunlight and kill the vampire. Find the elevator and go down to the basement. Take the fire extinguisher from the room with the janitor, then go through to the boiler room. Cast a Fireball here to warm the room up, then take the copper rod from the left. Now head up to level 2 and go to the costume room that you avoided earlier. Go inside and kill the witch, then turn around and turn on the lights. Pick up the witch's eye, and also take the white lab coat and the sorcerer's robe. Take the Sir Walter Raleigh costume from the left and you will automatically take the sword; you can put the costume back on the rack, and you can now also drop the meat cleaver and use the sword as your main weapon. Leave this room and go straight across to the make-up room. Look at the pictures that you picked up from the lavender bedroom; specifically check out the pictures of the lab assistant and the sorcerer's apprentice. Collect the appropriate hat and wig, then go to the mirror on the left of the back wall. Get the full beard for the sorcerer's apprentice disguise and the mustache, half glasses, eyebrows and false teeth for the lab assistant's disguise. Make sure you are wearing the lab assistant's disguise now (including the white lab coat). Go back to the lift, down to level 1 and into studio 2 again. Go into the house, down the corridor to the right of the stairs and into the kitchen. Head through the other door, then downstairs. Go through the door on the right and talk to the scientist (he will recognise you as Cedric if your disguise is correct). Offer to help him, then ask for a strong poison; as long as you have the poison recipe from the library he will make it for you instantly. Back out of the room, drop all elements of your costume. Use the poison on the meat, then head upstairs and through the lobby into the study. Use the poisoned meat on the fishtank, then take the key from the bottom of the tank. Turn left and take the duck picture from the wall, then click on the wall behind it to find a safe. You can now drop that duck picture. Use your key on the safe, then turn the handle and open it. Take the peace pipe from inside. Make sure you are wearing your armour, then go through the sets of doors towards studio 3. Enter the copy protection code and go through. Save as you are making progress downwards. Just before you meet the sorcerer, put on the whole sorcerer's apprentice disguise, then when you meet him, say you have been away due to food poisoning (if the disguise doesn't work, just kill him instead, but make sure you have Mindlock cast beforehand). Follow this passage a bit more and kill the false Elvira, then pick up the war lance from the ground. Now go all the way back up through the catacombs to the church, where you will be spun around. Use an Unholy Barrier, then attack the death angel with your remaining spells. Head out of the church back to the main building, then straight into studio 2. Make sure you are wearing your armour, then go to the studio 1 entrance. Enter the copy protection code and go through. Find a large underwater lake. Use your Buoyancy and Breathe Underwater, then enter the lake and go right to the bottom, killing the water bug on the way. Pick up the rope, then go straight back up to the surface. Now continue through the caves to find the passage up to the next level. Follow a side passage off to the right to find a room with a giant scorpion. Kill this by repeatedly hitting its head with your weapon or lightning bolts, then pick up the scroll of binding it was guarding. Continue on up to the next level. Follow the passages around until you reach two webs over a great central hole. Cut the right thread to swing over to the other side, then continue up. Walk to the near edge of the great hole on this level to find a mind bound up in a web. Look at him, then use Telekinesis to get his wallet. Look in the wallet to find a key. Now shoot an Ice Dart at the massive spider across the chasm, then start running as it will chase you. Go all the way around the left to the elevator. Use your key on the control panel, then open both gates, go through, and close both gates behind you to trap the spider on the other side. Follow the passage to this side of the hole and climb down to find another false Elvira. Pick up the tomahawk, then climb down again and you will be back on level 3. Find the elevator, use the control panel, open the gate and enter the cage. Close the gate again, then look at the control panel and press 1. Exit the elevator and leave the caves. Now leave this studio and go straight across to studio 2. Leave the house and studio, and go down the hall into studio 3. Enter the church and cast Resurrect, then talk to the priest and ask for his help; as long as you have read the demonology book in the library, he will go to the parking lot and draw a pentacle for you. Return out of this studio. Go down to the basement and talk to the janitor again. Ask for his help, and he will bless your tomahawk, war lance and magic bag. Give him the peace pipe. Now head out to the parking lot. Put your candles on the pentacle, then click on the candles to light them with your matches. Cast a Bind Demon spell to stop Cerberus, then throw your war lance at him, then throw your tomahawk at his heart.

2019-04-22T20:14:27Z

https://www.walkthroughking.com/text/elvira2.aspx

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2019-04-21T05:17:21Z

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What Makes Wood Furniture So Unique? Our products are finished with “Wood-Var” which is a modified catalyzed conversion varnish formulated to be virtually “Hazardous Air Pollutant” free. This premium grade finish is a very environmentally friendly product to apply and use, and is tough and resistant to scratches and spills; although it does take a full month after applied to completely cure. Please be careful when placing warm/hot dishes on the tables. The maximum temperature of things placed on finish should not exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit. A well-made piece of furniture can last for generations. Wood is stronger than most building materials, and with the proper maintenance it can continue to look like new as it’s passed on from one household to another. Also, as the folks at “Antiques Roadshow” can attest, no Formica table has ever lasted 200 years, let alone been appraised at $250,000. 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A lambs-wool duster with lanolin or a slightly damp terry cloth will capture dust and keep your furniture dust-free for a few more days. The finish is durable and resistant to most household spills. However, spills should be wiped up promptly to avoid potential problems. For most routine cleaning, a soft cloth dampened with warm, soapy water will do the trick. The use of well-formulated cleaning products, without abrasives, can be effective for those tougher cleaning tasks. If using these products, a follow-up with the warm, soapy water and soft cloth will help extensively. Remember that it is important to frequently refold the cloth to a clean side as it becomes dirty. A soiled, damp cloth can redeposit soil on the finish. Avoid products that are ammonia-based or contain silicone. Use polishes sparingly if at all. Your finish does not benefit from them; and they tend to build up a film on the finish that will attract dust and soil. A good annual cleaning will also help protect the finish. Remember that warm soapy water and wiping it dry is the best cleaning method since your finish has a very hard surface. Using any easy care cleaning product can create a build up and we do not recommend this. Your furniture responds to changes in temperature and humidity by expanding and contracting slightly. You must keep the indoor humidity in the 30 to 45 percent range and the temperature in the 60 to 80 degree range 365 days a year. Ultraviolet light from the sun and fluorescent fixtures can cause chemical changes in the wood and/or finish. Avoid placing furniture in an area where the sun will shine directly on it. Keep furniture away from direct sources of heating and cooling. Avoid storing furniture in an attic or cellar-type environment. Inexpensive humidity gauges can be purchased at your local hardware store. One reason wooden furniture can last such a long time is because most damage is easy to fix. Anything made from cheap material tends to break easily, and anything made with fabric loses its luster once the material rips. By contrast, hardwood furniture is sturdy and can withstand most mishaps. This is why you need to keep coasters nearby. Sweat from a cold glass or heat from a hot beverage can penetrate the finish and leave a white ring on your tabletop. Try blowing a hair dryer on the affected area. If that doesn’t work, rub car wax, petroleum jelly or toothpaste on the area, and then wipe away with a damp cloth. Whatever remedy you use, use it right away. Moisture can travel far below the surface, and the longer it penetrates the harder it is to remove. Ink stains can be difficult to remove from solid wood furniture, but not impossible. To get rid of ink, mix baking soda and water and pour the mix over the stain. Wipe it off with a damp cloth. Treated surfaces would do better with a mix of water and dish washing liquid. Test a small spot before treating the whole stain – you don’t want to remove a stain and damage the finish in the process. Gum sticks to everything and wood is no exception. If it gets stuck on your wood chair or table, remove as much of the gum as you can and freeze whatever’s left. Do this with a bag full of ice – some people recommend ice in a paper towel, but that could leak and leave a water mark. Leave the bag on for about 10 minutes and then scrape the gum off with a butter knife or some other flat tool. If you end up leaving a scratch while doing this, read on. It’s not hard to scratch up wood furniture – even cleaning with rough materials could leave a mark. If the scratch is small and shallow enough, all you need is a little color. Depending on the depth and finish, you can mask the scratch with a marker, crayon, shoe polish or even coffee grounds. Whatever you choose, two rules apply. First, choose a color that matches the finish. Second, apply the solution in the direction of the scratch. Remove dust and dry stains with a vacuum cleaner or a soft brush attachment every 10-15 days. Dab spills with a soft, clean, white cloth or absorbent paper towel. If possible, do not let spills dry. Leather upholstery should be dusted regularly and wiped down with a slightly damp cloth. Never use wax, polish or oil cleaners. A Leather Conditioner would be recommended for keeping your leather fresh and brings out the color. Using a soft cloth to buff the leather after cleaning will add luster to the leather. Spots and Spills: Blot excess liquid immediately with a clean absorbent cloth or sponge.

2019-04-21T16:03:02Z

https://curriesfurniture.com/amsihwoodcare/

IRG member David Ucko has a paper published in the October edition of the Conflict, Security & Development journal, entitled Militias, Tribes and Insurgents: The Challenge of Political Reintegration in Iraq. The paper provides a valuable case study of the central role played in post-conflict state-building and counterinsurgency by the reintegration of armed sub-state groups into the political process, and focuses on the evolution of the US approach in Iraq since 2003. Following its overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the United States was confronted with one of the most complex state-building enterprises of recent history. A central component of state building, emphasised in the literature yet given scant attention at the time of the invasion, is the process of political reintegration: the transformation of armed groups into political actors willing to participate peacefully in the political future of the country. In Iraq, political reintegration was a particularly important challenge, relating both to the armed forces of the disposed regime and to the Kurdish and Shia militias eager to play a role in the new political system. This article examines the different approaches employed by the United States toward the political reintegration of irregular armed groups, from the policy vacuum of 2003 to the informal reintegration seen during the course of the so-called “surge” in 2007 and 2008. The case study has significant implications for the importance of getting political reintegration right—and the longterm costs of getting it badly wrong. Access a free copy of the paper here. A round-up of today’s newspaper articles covering the UK’s involvement in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations at home and abroad. In a weekend interview with The Daily Telegraph, which was also picked up by The Times, Brigadier Ed Butler – the former head of the SAS, and former commander of British forces in Afghanistan – claimed that not only were some British Muslims fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, but that militant Islamic groups in south-east Asia were also supporting terrorist plots in the UK. Although doctrinally US and UK forces appear to have changed course, the core values of our security institutions remain the same, and at their most instinctive level they have not altered sufficiently to keep up with the changing world. In operational terms we are still facing backwards towards an era when counterinsurgency was a purely expeditionary activity, whereas in reality we need to be thinking more seriously about a 21st century adversary which does not require overseas territories, and which flourishes within our own population. Representing an overwhelming US presence, US counterinsurgency doctrine is likely to become the concept for every future coalition. So it is this doctrine, and not a yet to be written NATO or national version, which will influence our future modus operandi. FM3-24 has the appearance of novelty, it mentions the ‘global dimension’ and the possibility of ‘insurgent networks’, but in practical terms its prescriptions are only relevant to an expeditionary, territorial intervention focused on a particular state, with a clearly recognisable centre of gravity. The US doctrine is saying in effect that although the adversary which we seek to address is established globally and exerts itself in the virtual dimension, the military response will be a traditional unilateral expedition, whose capabilities will be tangible, territorial and limited to a space that is physical. As a result of our failure to fully appreciate the inter-relationship of the domestic and expeditionary elements of our counterinsurgency campaign – or, at least, our failure to operationalise this understanding – it is argued that in the UK we are dangerously neglecting the former in pursuit of the latter. In common with other European states the British government is engaged on two fronts, the overseas expeditions against the supposed sanctuaries in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a domestic campaign to stem disaffection and radicalisation in its own population. These campaigns are organisationally distinct. The overseas effort principally involves Defence, Foreign Affairs and Overseas Development, whereas the domestic plan of action principally involves the Home Affairs ministry. The problem is that in the UK the images and reverberations of the overseas campaign act against the domestic campaign. It is the continuous traffic of routine news and political debate concerning British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than old fashioned jihadi propaganda, which antagonises the vulnerable Muslim element of the British population, especially those who see their faith as the target of the war against terror. Despite the obfuscations of its government, the British de facto give primacy to the expeditionary campaign. This prioritisation is not explicit, but by deed and declaration the government pursues its expeditionary campaigns in denial and disregard of mounting evidence that the UK’s foreign policy and military profile in the war against terror contributes to the increasing radicalisation of its own Muslim population. The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) has made available the latest in its series of Harmony Reports, entitled Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: al-Qa`ida’s Road In and Out of Iraq. Based on analysis of primary source material in the form of captured Al-Qaeda documents (which are made available, translated, in the Harmony Project’s document database), previous reports in the series have provided an authoritative and invaluable insight into Al-Qaeda’s operations and organisation. This latest report builds upon the analysis of the Sinjar documents begun in the previous report. Saudi Arabia and Libya supplied the most fighters in the Sinjar Records. Saudi Arabia contributed the highest number of foreign fighters to al‐Qa`ida’s fight in Iraq between August 2006 and August 2007, followed by Libya. Of the 576 fighters in the Sinjar Records that listed their nationality, 41 percent (237) were of Saudi Arabian origin, and 19.2 percent (111) were Libyan. Syria, Yemen, and Algeria were the next most common countries of origin with 8 percent (46), 8.1 percent (44), and 7.1 percent (41), respectively. Moroccans accounted for 6.1 percent (36) of the fighters and Jordanians 1.9 percent (11). Nearly all of the home countries listed were in the Middle East or North Africa, although the sample also includes individuals from France (2), Great Britain (1), and Sweden (1). On a per capita basis, Libyan fighters (18.55/1 million) entered Iraq at a much higher rate than Saudi Arabia (8.84/1 million). Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt were the source of most of the foreign fighters detained in Camp Bucca, Iraq. As of April 7, 2008, the United States was holding 251 foreign fighters at Camp Bucca, Iraq. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria each contributed 19 percent of those fighters. Libyans comprise only 3 percent of foreign fighters held at Camp Bucca. Saudi Arabia and Libya contribute a relatively smaller percentage of the detainees held in Camp Bucca than were listed in the Sinjar Records. Foreign Fighters contributed approximately 75 Percent of suicide bombers between August 2006 and August 2007. Of the 376 fighters in the Sinjar Records that designated their “work” in Iraq, 212 (56.4 percent) were listed as suicide bombers. Assuming that this rate holds for all Jihadis listed in the Sinjar Records—and that the records are an accurate indicator of future behavior—foreign fighters accounted for approximately 75 percent of suicide bombings in Iraq between August 2006 and August 2007. Many of AQI’s foreign fighters sign suicide contracts before entering Iraq to guarantee they will commit a suicide attack, which suggests AQI must convince and compel many incoming fighters to commit suicide attacks. The contracts suggest that would‐be bombers who renege will not be allowed to fight in Iraq; some state that break the contract immediately divorce their wife. The plurality of suicide bombers entering Iraq between August 2006 and August 2007 were Saudi. However, the Sinjar Records challenge the notion that Saudi foreign fighters are more likely than fighters from other locations to become suicide bombers, as Libyan and Moroccan nationals registered as “suicide bombers” at a higher rate than their Saudi counterparts. AQI is a wounded organization. Tribal disaffection, the surge in Coalition and Iraqi Forces in 2007‐2008, and AQIs self‐destructive penchant for violence have all contributed to the organization’s decline. The number of foreign fighters entering Iraq every month has declined to between 40 and 50, and many foreign fighters are now trying to leave the country. AQI is largely concentrated in and around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. AQI still desires and is capable of generating large‐scale asymmetric attacks, but is unable to control territory with impunity as it could two years ago. There Syrian foreign fighter network is effective, but not uniform. The amount of money fighters in the Sinjar Records paid to their Syrian Coordinators varied dramatically depending on the Syrian Coordinator. Likewise, some Syrian Coordinators worked almost exclusively with fighters from specific countries, and likely with specific Coordinators in fighters’ home countries. In other words, there is not one network in Syria for ushering fighters into Iraq, there are many. Despite the structural incongruities, AQI’s network provided a regular, predictable flow of fighters into Iraq. There is a strong risk of blowback from Iraq. Relatively small numbers of Jihadis will “bleedout” to fight elsewhere, but they will likely be very dangerous individuals. The Iraq war has increased Jihadi radicalization in the Muslim world and the number of al‐Qa`ida recruits. Foreign fighters in Iraq have also acquired a number of useful skills that can be used in future terrorist operations, including massive use of suicide tactics, organizational skills, propaganda, covert communication, and innovative improvised explosive device (IED) tactics. Some AQI fighters that have already trickled out of Iraq have bolstered violent movements in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. This trend will likely continue. Although the threat to Europe and North America is real—French officials have tracked 24 fighters from France that have traveled to Iraq—fighters are most likely to join established Jihadi groups in areas of weak government control, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Lebanon. Not all AQI fighters leaving Iraq will remain militant. AQI requires some exiting fighters to sign contracts demanding they not join other Jihadi groups. It is unclear whether the provision is designed to protect the Jihadi organizations in case the exiting fighters are under surveillance, ensure the fighters do not join AQ’s Jihadi competitors, or if these fighters have angered their AQI hosts. US withdrawal from Iraq may not end the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq. A withdrawal that leaves swaths of Iraq ungoverned may provoke a resurgence of foreign fighter travel to Iraq. If Jihadis believe Iraq remains a viable arena for Jihad, or they sense an opportunity to humiliate the US, they will travel to Iraq even after a withdrawal, much as an earlier generation of fighters arrived in Afghanistan long after the Soviet Union withdrew. Smuggling across the Syrian/Iraqi border has tribal roots. AQI capitalizes on the extensive tribal smuggling networks across the Syrian/Iraqi border, much of which has traditionally received explicit or tacit support from Syrian and Iraqi officials. The smuggling takes a number of forms, each of which requires unique expertise. Livestock smuggling is the most prevalent, and usually takes place on unmarked trails away from established border crossings. Cigarettes and other bulk items are often moved in trucks through border crossings, which requires bribing border guards. High‐value items such as electronics require larger bribes and better intelligence about border officials. Human smuggling often takes place on the same trails as livestock smuggling. There is ample evidence that AQI uses criminal smugglers, who they do not fully trust, to cross the border. AQIs effort to monopolize smuggling networks, which impeded Sunni tribal leaders from much of their traditional livelihood, was an important element convincing Iraqi tribes to cooperate with US forces. Foreign Fighters contribute large sums of money to AQI, including a majority of its Border Sector 1 funding. Financial reports show that AQI’s Border Sector 1 relied on three sources of funding: transfers from other leaders in AQI; fundraising from local Iraqis; and money brought by foreign suicide bombers. In AQI’s Border Sector 1, near Sinjar, incoming foreign fighters contributed more than 70 percent of the group’s operating budget. In that sector, 38 percent of AQI’s budget was used to purchase weapons and another 38 percent to import and sustain its personnel. Other AQI sectors likely had very different fundraising dynamics. Saudi Arabian Jihadis contribute far more money to AQI than fighters from other countries. Fighters from several nations contributed money to AQI, though Saudi Arabian nationals contributed a disproportionately large amount, totaling 46 percent of the overall funds received from foreign fighters. Furthermore, the mean contribution of Saudi fighters was $1,088, far higher than that of other nationalities. Of the 23 fighters that contributed more than $1,000, 22 were from Saudi Arabia. AQI is highly bureaucratized, which may be a sign of operational failure and internal mistrust within the organization. AQI is highly bureaucratized, forcing its agents to provide detailed accounting of inlays and expenditures, urging both incoming suicide bombers and fighters leaving Iraq to sign contracts, and auditing its various sub‐units. AQI, like al‐Qa`ida in general, is plagued by “agents” and intermediaries whose preferences diverge from those of the Jihadi “principals.” Despite the security costs of increasing its paper trail, AQI’s leaders were compelled required regular accounting reports from their underlings, likely because of graft and criminality. Jihadis headed to Iraq were recruited predominately through local networks, rather than through the Internet. As noted in the CTCs first Sinjar Report, foreign fighters who ended up in Iraq appear overwhelmingly to have joined the Jihad through local Jihadi sympathizers (33.5%) and personal social networks (29%). Only a few Jihadis appear to have met their local coordinators directly through the Internet. There is also a high likelihood that many foreign fighters traveled to Iraq in groups, and may have made the decision to travel there collectively. AQI has produced fewer, but far more skilled, fighters than the “Arab‐Afghans” did in the 1980s. The foreign fighters in Iraq share important similarities—such as country of origin and ideology—with the so‐called “Afghan Arabs” that traveled to Afghanistan to fight Soviet and Afghan‐communist forces in the 1980s. But there are important differences as well. Foreign fighters in Iraq have seen more combat than their predecessors in Afghanistan. In addition, they have shown greater ability to innovate critical tactical skills, such as IED development and suicide bombings. Although the overall military impact of the foreign fighters for the Jihad in Afghanistan was minimal, the presence of Afghan Arabs had important consequences. Most importantly, the Afghanistan experience helped radicalize thousands of Jihadist activists from all over the world. The recruitment networks attracted volunteers, while training camps radicalized foreign fighters. Similar problems may bedevil the United States and its allies who face a growing body of alumni of the Iraqi Jihad. The Afghan experience also had some negative implications for al‐Qa`ida that may apply to the current “Jihad” in Iraq. Foreign fighters in Afghanistan alienated local Afghans due to their extremist tactics and by preaching a puritanical ideology. At times, such disputes erupted into violence, especially when splinter groups of highly radicalized Afghan Arabs operated independently of their organizational leadership. AQI’s permanent Border Sector personnel are vulnerable to coercion. Family men with property dominate the Border Sector’s permanent establishment. Many are motivated by financial gain more than ideology. To the extent that they can be identified, such individuals are highly vulnerable to pressure, and may be susceptible to being turned and used as agents. AQI is increasingly linked to al‐Qa`ida’s senior leaders. AQI did not exist before the US invasion, but the organization has grown progressively more integrated with al‐Qa`ida Central, especially following Abu Mus’ab al‐Zarqawi’s death. Get the report here [PDF]. A couple of days ago I blogged in Failure of British COIN about a COIN Panel held at the CNA for the launch of Daniel Marston and Carter Malkasian’s new book Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare. At the panel some rather critical things were said about the state of British COIN with central reference to Brig Aylwin-Foster’s 2005 critique of US COIN attitudes and capabilities Changing the Army for Counterinsurgency Operations. However, on reading the transcript of the panel it seems to me that neither Marston or Kilcullen intended wound. Personally, I agree that that there are good reasons for sober consideration of Britain’s own COIN capabilities and attitudes right now. We have not paid enough attention to keeping our own house in order and reading our own history (a point recognized by Gen Dannatt in his recent speech at the RUSI Land Warfare conference) as though COIN proficiency was something which happened by osmosis or was in the British ‘DNA’. To say that there are structural factors which have been eroding British COIN capacity for years and that the United States has overtaken us in many areas is simply to speak the truth. But I do not agree that the British Army needs to be ’embarrassed’. Aylwin-Foster’s essay was timely, accurate, and constructive–and generally received as such in the USA as a result. If the microscope is to be turned the other direction then it should be equally constructive and offer something which commanders, planners, and doctrine writers here can actually do something with. The bridge between the US and the UK should not be burnt by pique in Washington or by hubris which, it must be said, has been evinced by not a few Brits since 9/11. Christian Bleuer, over at Ghosts of Alexander, has made available the third edition of his extensive Afghanistan bibliography, which provides an invaluable resource for anyone with a research interest in Afghanistan. 3. Islam, Political Islam, Sharia, Jihad, Sects. 4. The International Community, Reconstruction, Security, Economy, Government, and Development. 5. Opium Cultivation, Drug Use and Trafficking. 6. Environment, Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. 8. Women, Gender and Family. 9. Civil-Military Relations, Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), Counterinsurgency and Military Issues. 10. Refugees, Internal Displacement, Migration and Diaspora Issues. 11. Macro and Micro Economics. 12. Opinion Polls, Interviews, Study Groups and Surveys. 13. Periodicals and Academic Journals.

2019-04-24T08:45:35Z

https://insurgencyresearchgroup.wordpress.com/

So I had to ask myself, am I truly providing my students with Tony Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills for Teens Today? Forgetting that my prejudice is that technology must play an important part in helping students acquire these skills, I wonder whether we are not short changing our future citizens when we don’t pay attention to what is a recurrent message from the experts. Education should not be a matter of merely accumulating knowledge. We can find the answer to just about everything on a computer or, for that matter, on an iPhone. Higher order thinking skills are essential to success in our incredibly fast changing world. Whether we like or approve of this future is irrelevant. It is here and we and our students need to know how to survive and thrive in it. The other reoccurring theme that I hear is that we, as teachers, have to model these skills in order to be effective educators. Einstein would love google. Are we listening? There’s a place for tech in every classroom. “Technology is ubiquitous, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes. Yet most schools lag far behind when it comes to integrating technology into classroom learning. Many are just beginning to explore the true potential tech offers for teaching and learning. Properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy. Integrating technology into classroom instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in a separate computer class. Effective tech integration must happen across the curriculum in ways that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. Effective technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and transparent and when technology supports curricular goals. Many people believe that technology-enabled project learning is the plus ultra of classroom instruction. Learning through projects while equipped with technology tools allows students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with a realistic snapshot of what the modern office looks like. Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and in teams to find, process, and synthesize information they’ve found online. The myriad resources of the online world also provide each classroom with more interesting, diverse, and current learning materials. The Web connects students to experts in the real world and provides numerous opportunities for expressing understanding through images, sound, and text. New tech tools for visualizing and modeling, especially in the sciences, offer students ways to experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding. And, as an added benefit, with technology tools and a project-learning approach, students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom. How two seasoned teachers created one of the most exciting and effective teaching units of their careers. I have spent the past 13 years involved with computer technology education. When I started, the challenge was to interest the students and teachers into coming into the computer lab at all. I came to my alma mater, Kennett High School in Conway, New Hampshire with two charges. Number one was to get the lab up and running. Number two was to facilitate the proper use of the lab. This was to have been a one year job as I was still active as a professional photographer and video maker. Even then I saw the handwriting on the wall. Imaging as I knew it was about to change. I didn’t know how long it would take but it was clear that digital photography was the wave of the future. After three years at Kennett, I took a new position as a computer teacher at Kingswood Regional Middle School in Wolfeboro, NH. While I was in a position to create my own curriculum, I found that incorporating photography and video making was not met with a lot of enthusiasm. Over the past ten years, my curriculum has evolved to include units on just about every aspect of computing including digital photography and video making. Unlike those early days in Conway when kids used to complain about spending time in the computer lab, now you can’t keep them out. Two years ago my job description changed. I became a computer technology integrator. I felt that I had accomplished a lot during the first year in my new capacity. Somehow, in spite of all the innovations and the fact that the computers in the building were being effectively used on a regular basis, I still hadn’t found an activity that I felt would be the paradigm of computer technology integration. I often hear from adults, that kids know so much about computers. My experience says otherwise. While most kids are good at text messaging, using IM, and playing games, the vast majority of my incoming middle school students do not type well, do not know how to research, and can not discern between valid and invalid information on the Internet. Most have problems saving their work correctly. They have not had much experience working in teams nor do they understand the implications of publishing their work for an audience rather than for an individual teacher. Many seem to like the idea of using a video or a still camera but don’t want to be bothered with learning how to use the tools capably. I wanted to find a project that would require the students and the teachers to raise the bar. I wanted something that would require a combination of many of those skills that the students should be honing while at the middle school. I wanted something that the result of which, they would be proud to present to the public and something that would require a deeper awareness of local and world issues.. The activity should be self-directed enough that the teachers would serve as guides not as purveyors of information. Enter Arthur Viens, team leader and social studies teacher for Team Vista at Kingswood Regional Middle School. Vista has always had a reputation for innovation but both Arthur and I had often discussed the fact that neither one of us had found that illusive ideal of computer technology integration. We agreed that video should probably be a part of it. We recognized that the subject matter would have to be something that the students would buy into and be interested in. We also wanted them to come away with an understanding of their chosen topic within the context of its importance on the world stage.. Serendipitously, we both received a flier for the C-Span Student Cam Competition. This appeared to be exactly what we were looking for. Was Arthur willing to go out on a limb and alter his curriculum in order to try something that looked like hard work but also appeared to be so promising? He was. Unfortunately, it became apparent that we would not be able do justice to this kind of unit in time to meet the contest deadline. We figured we could borrow the idea, create the curriculum and be ready to have our students participate in the C-Span contest next time around. We would have our own film festival this coming spring and show the final versions of the student videos there. We would also put them on the school website. The C-Span challenge was to create a video that each group of students felt was the most pressing issue that President Obama should address after taking office. Since we had started with this theme, we decided to stick with it. First, we showed Arthur’s four classes the winners from past C-Span student entries. We discussed what video making techniques worked or didn’t work. We looked at the use of music to enhance the message. We showed the film “Stand By Me Playing For Change” as an example of this. We talked about the depth of research involved to create a compelling and coherent film. The students committed to subjects ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to abortion, gun control, animal abuse, and the war on drugs. We told the students that they would need to understand their subject thoroughly in order to persuade the president that their point of view was worth his attention. Once again we viewed more C-Span student entries keeping in mind that certain techniques were more effective than others. We also stressed the importance of works cited appearing at the end of their respective videos. Any pictures used in the videos would need proper permission or Creative Commons attribution. Flickr is very good source for images and the photographers are very easy to contact. No one had a problem granting permission to the students. Students could use C-Span Student Cam footage as well as video segments on United Streaming. We also encouraged the students to create their own footage. Music was either created in GarageBand or culled from free music sites that fit fair use guidelines. The final videos were edited in Windows Movie Maker. Sound tracks were also created in Audacity or Windows Movie Maker. Note Taking and script writing was done in Open Office. Conversion issues were pretty much solved by using the free program, Any Video Converter. As we progressed, it became obvious that YouTube also had a wealth of potentially useful programming.. The students were allowed to use YouTube on the condition that they could receive permission to use footage and/or music. Some students even contacted major recording artists to seek permission to use clips for their work. Some students did receive the go ahead. Using YouTube also presented us with some teaching moments. Not all YouTube content is following fair use guidelines. In such cases, the students had to learn to differentiate between what they could and could not use. They needed to also find out who actually held the rights to the material and proceed from there. Using YouTube actually provided the opportunity to discuss in depth the implications of fair use. Had we spoon fed the students with only pre-approved sources, these opportunities would not have presented themselves. Dealing with the issues of what constitutes good research was perhaps the most important pedagogical outcome of this undertaking. We used the www. martinlutherking.org and Institute for Historical Review to acquaint students with examples of website that might not be what they appear to be. I am convinced that most of the students now understand that they need to carefully read any information they find on the web. As obvious as it may sound, this alone is a major accomplishment on the middle school level. My next initiative will be to encourage all of our teams to include instruction based on what Arthur and I have learned from the evolution of this project. As it turned out, the actual video editing, was the easiest part. By the time they started to use Movie Maker, they had planned their video in Inspiration and Open Office, accumulated their information, video clips, music, and works cited. The students did indeed work very independently. Arthur and I were kept very busy with questions and we were able to take on the role of guides. The questions were surprisingly good and the creativity and depth of the research were both impressive. Most of the videos were very well done. Some followed our rubric more than others. The students can compare their video to the guidelines in the rubric to see where they succeeded and where they fell short. Evaluations did not stop there. Each class viewed their classmate’s work and, using the rubric, the students became film critics. Arthur and I also shared our thoughts in order to stimulate discussion. Some of the videos were of course better than others. What impressed us the most was that almost all the students were very engaged in the project. Most endeavored to truly increase their understanding of their chosen topic. Most used their creativity to give life to a multi-media presentation they could be proud of. The ability to design well-produced media may well be one of the most important skills that students can develop for future employment. In a recent article in the on line edition of “The Journal”, the results of a nationwide poll of registered voters was reported. Two out of three of the participants felt that students need to learn “computer and technology skills, critical thinking and problem solving skills, and teamwork and collaboration”. All of these were utilized in this assignment along with, reading, writing, organization, higher level thinking, and creativity. In fact, all of the thinking skills from Blooms Revised Taxonomy ranging from remembering, to understanding, to applying, to analyzing, to evaluating, to creating were used in the project. Aren’t these all abilities we should all be helping our students to cultivate? Finally, we showed “Invisible Children” a very moving film on children soldiers in Northern Uganda. This was made by three amateur video-makers who were in their early twenties. Going to Africa and documenting the atrociousness that they witnessed was life changing for all three young men. The video progresses from an obvious niavite among the film makers into a highly moving series of interviews with the victims of daily violence in the Sudanese refugee camps. Our students were impressed both by the message of the video and by the fact that the boys, not all that much older than themselves, were able to create such an important piece of work. Judging from the student’s reflections, this film was life changing for many of them. They understood the power of visual media and they understood the need for involvement in global issues. Early on in the film, one of the video makers points out that,“media defines our lives and it shapes how we view life.” We will be doing a our students a great disservice if we do not provide them with the skills to understand and use technological media in an ethical, creative and meaningful way. While watching the videos, I did pick up on two short comings. In some cases the students used acquired clips that should have been edited down. Perhaps next time we may need to consider putting a length limit on how long a clip should be. I also noticed that while the students were required to follow the MLA guidelines in creating a written works cited document, this information did not always appear as completely as it should have in the final credits in the video. There were occasional conflicts in the groups but in every case a solution was found and agreed upon. Our final take. This project was worth the five weeks, off and on, that we devoted to it. The bar was raised and the students did themselves proud. It was hard work but this is what teaching and learning are all about. All of us, the students included, more than once lost track of time. That was because everyone was so engaged. We provided the tools and the time. The students took over from there. The ability to decipher and evaluate the vast amount of information on the Internet is crucial for success in the 21st Century. Last but not least, they now know how to save. Equally important, video making, in this case, provided a hands-on, real world opportunity for the students to continue their mastery of social studies, language arts, and computer GLEs. Many of the skills stressed in those areas of study are needed in order to successfully complete a multimedia project such as this one. No less important is the mastery of visual literacy skills. As the film makers pointed out in “Invisible Children”, visual media is where we get much if not most of our information in the modern world. It also influences the way we think. In order to become informed citizens in the twenty first century students will need to know how to interpret and use visual media. The implementation of a combination of skills necessary to reach a desired goal or to create a desired product is as effective in increasing student abilities as teaching to the test. Probably more. It is certainly more real world and much more interesting. In the future, we will take advantage of ever-evolving on line opportunities for communication with other students around the world and as well as experts in many different fields. “I would like to close with a quote from Dr. Tim Tyson at Mabry Middle School in Marietta, Georgia.

2019-04-19T18:50:20Z

http://filmrd.edublogs.org/tag/digital-story-telling/page/26/

Kentucky Revised Code. Legislative Research Commission. The Kentucky Military Heritage Commission, until recently, was a little-known state agency. Over the past week, the Commission has received quite a bit of news, both locally and nationally, as Lexington considers what to do with two statutes presently standing in the public square. Yesterday's unanimous vote by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council was to "support the relocation" of the two statutes, a decision that will ultimately be made by the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission. The two statues at issue are of John C. Breckinridge and John Hunt Morgan. Both men were slaveowners who took up arms against the United States during the Civil War. Both men came from prominent, white Lexington families who were instrumental in Lexington's 19th century growth and prominence (that familial success being achieved largely through the involuntary toil of slaves owned by the respective families). The statue of John C. Breckinridge in its original location. Kentucky Digital Library. Breckinridge was a Lexingtonian, a Vice President of the United States under President Buchanan, and then a U.S. Senator from Kentucky. But Breckinridge was expelled from the Senate upon joining the Confederate Army in 1861. He received a commission as a brigadier general; on February 7, 1865, Breckinridge would become the final Secretary of the Army for the Confederate States of America. What followed enhanced the Breckinridge legend and surrounded an already appealing figure with even more romance. Here was a daring, charismatic Southern leader fleeing from Union pursues. Swarms of mosquitoes, ticks, sand-flies, and other insects of every description tormented him as he fled through Florida. In a boat too small to lie down in, the party rowed along the rivers of the area for days. Alligators surrounded them; rain soaked their food; hunger reduced them to eating turtle eggs, sour oranges, green limes, and coconuts. ... Needing a larger boat to cross to Cuba, the "sailors" commandeered at gunpoint a larger craft. ... The sloop No Name sailed into Cardenas, Cuba, on 11 June 1865. General Breckinridge - bronzed, unshaven, his feet swollen by salt water but the long mustache still intact, wearing a blue flannel suit open at the neck and an old slouch hat - was welcomed as a conquering hero. John Cabell Breckinridge remained on the lam through the remainder of the 1860s until after President Johnson had issued him amnesty; Breckinridge died in 1875. The statue commemorating Breckinridge was erected by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1887 in the middle of Cheapside Park. In 2010, the statue was relocated so that it fronted Main Street making space for the Fifth Third Bank Pavilion. The bronze statute rests upon a granite pedestal, with each "being of equal height" according to the 1997 National Register nomination form. Statue of the John Hunt Morgan. Author's collection. John Hunt Morgan was born in Alabama, but his mother was raised in Lexington before marrying an Alabaman. John Hunt Morgan returned to Lexington for two years as a student at Transylvania before being suspended for dueling. During the Mexican War, Morgan achieved the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army. John Hunt Morgan is best known, however, as the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy." He joined the Confederate Army in early 1862, and, following the Battle of Shiloh, began a series of raids. His raids were intended to disrupt Union supply lines and communications. His guerrilla tactics had as much, if not more, effect on citizens as it did on Union forces. In one raid, much of Cynthiana was burned. Morgan's actions were unauthorized and, in 1864, he was killed by Union troops during a raid in Tennessee. Some persuasively argue that his death was akin to "suicide by police," as he desired to neither be captured by Union forces nor court martialed by the Confederacy. Hopemont, now known as the Hunt-Morgan House, was the home of Morgan's maternal grandfather, John Wesley Hunt; it was built in 1814 and is located in Lexington's Gratz Park neighborhood. John Wesley Hunt was the first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains. Henrietta Hunt, John Hunt Morgan's mother, inherited the home. Although it was his mother's home, John Hunt Morgan never lived here. The statue of General Morgan was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1911. New York sculptor Pompeo Coppini believed that "no hero should bestride a mare," so he sculpted Morgan atop a stallion. Morgan's horse, Black Bess, was not. These two sculptures are located at Cheapside, the site of one of the South's largest slave markets. Here, families were torn apart. Wives were separated from their husbands; children torn from the arms of their mothers. And, there can be no doubt, slaves owned by the Breckinridge and Hunt-Morgan families were sold on the very ground now memorializing these two men who rose up in arms against the United States. The Kentucky Military Heritage Commission was established in 2002 and is charged with "maintaining a registry of Kentucky military heritage sites and objects significant to the military history of the Commonwealth." Sites accepted onto the registry "cannot be damaged or destroyed, removed or significantly altered, other than for repair or renovation, without the written consent of the commission." The commission consists of the Adjutant General, the State Historic Preservation Officer, the Director of the Kentucky Historical Society, the Director of the Commission on Military Affairs and the Commissioner of the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Both the Breckinridge and the Morgan monuments are included on the registry. As a result, their removal, destruction, or alteration, must have the written approval of this Commission. The registry of sites under the purview of the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission, as of January 2016, is available online (Word file). According to the KMHC, there are 230 "eligible" military sites and objects eligible for inclusion on the commission's registry; only 25* sites or objects, however, are listed. In Fayette County, there are 11 sites/objects identified although only 4 appear on the registry. Those four are the Breckinridge Monument, the Morgan Monument, the Confederate Soldier Monument (erected 1893), and the Confederate Monument (Ladies Memorial) (erected 1873). In other words, all 4 sites/objects on the registry (1) relate to the Civil War and (2) memorialize Confederate causes or individuals. It cannot be ignored, by the nominations submitted to the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission have historically been more about the preservation of Confederate/Lost Cause history than anything else. Of the 12 Civil War related sites/objects on the registry, 10 are connected to the Confederacy. That's 83%. Now, keep in mind the following: Kentucky never seceded from the Union (we were, however, a house divided). Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky. More Kentuckians fought and died for the preservation of the Union than did for her destruction. Some have suggested that the removal of the statues in Lexington and across the country is a revision of history. I would argue to the contrary; the history memorialized by the Morgan and Breckinridge monuments does not properly tell of what truly transpired. What is more, it is a glorification of the worst among us. Furthermore, the history contained in these monuments is, itself, a revisionist history. The conservative racial, social, political, and gender values inherent in Confederate symbols and the Lost Cause greatly appealed to many white Kentuckians, who despite their devotion to the Union had never entered the war in order to free slaves. In a postwar world where racial boundaries were in flux, the Lost Cause and the conservative potluck that with it seemed not only a comforting reminder of a past free of late nineteenth-century insecurities but also a way to reinforce contemporary efforts to maintain white supremacy. There was no outward sign of public objection to the man who had brought destruction to so many civilians during the war and no mention of the irony that the state on which he had inflicted so much damages and the state whose people he had robbed of thousands of dollars in species and horseflesh had spent many thousands more to honor him. James Klotter also examined Kentucky's nostalgic shift toward embracing the Lost Cause in his book Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox 1900-1950. He wrote that in the final decades of the 1800s, "Kentucky turned more and more sympathetic to the Lost Cuase." Klotter noted that in 1902, a Confederate Home was built for Southern veterans and funds were appropriated for Confederate graves at Perryville. In 1910, the state legislature appropriate funds to the United Daughters of the Confederacy for the completion of the Morgan statue now at issue. In 1912, the state purchased the birthplace of Jefferson Davis. In 1926, Robert E. Lee's birthday became a state holiday (and its not the only Confederate state holiday we celebrate in Kentucky). Ironically, Kentucky had no need for a religion based on the Lost Cause, nor for a way to overcome the psychology of a tragic defeat - as did southerners generally - because most Kentuckians, and the state itself, had been on the winning side. Yet, they wholeheartedly embraced the mythology and the moonlight and magnolia image. Much of the rewriting of history occurred in the waning years of the 19th century and the opening decades of the 20th century. The present discussion on removing the statues is not an attempt to hide history, but to tell a more complete and honest version of America's history.

2019-04-24T00:57:07Z

https://www.kaintuckeean.com/2017/08/relocating-breckinridge-and-morgan-statues.html

Mayor James will participate in the Conference alongside leaders from 13 other states. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE LATEST WPB NEWS. You're Invited to the Curbside Chat! Join Mayor Jeri Muoio and Strong Towns Founder Chuck Marohn for a Curbside Chat! Marohn, whose organization teaches communities how to be more financially resilient through smart planning and infrastructure use, will lead a public presentation about how cities and neighborhoods can grow stronger by taking incremental, data-responsive, community-driven steps through the work of strong citizens. Hear how we can leverage our transportation and mobility plan to strengthen our community! A Q&A will follow. About Mr. Marohn: Marohn, a noted professional engineer and certified planner, is the lead author of "Thoughts on Building Strong Towns" as well as the author of "A World Class Transportation System". He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and is a primary writer for Strong Towns' web content. He has presented the Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America and in 2017 was named one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time by Planetizen. To learn more about Mr. Marohn and Strong Towns, visit: https://www.strongtowns.org/. The City of West Palm Beach is planning to hit it out of the park in honor of the 2017 World Series Champion Houston Astros – welcoming them back to their Spring Training home with much fanfare and excitement. On Thursday, February 22, during a special edition of the City’s legacy event, Clematis by Night, players and representatives from the Houston Astros will make a special appearance. The event will be held on the Waterfront from 6 – 9 p.m., and special experiences will include selfies with a large-scale replica of the World Series Trophy, an opportunity to see the actual World Series Trophy, appearances by Astros mascot Orbit and the Astros Shooting Stars promotional team, and more. Remarks by Mayor Jeri Muoio and members of the World Champion club begin at 6 p.m. and the first 500 attendees won’t need to buy their Cracker Jacks – or hotdogs – as they will be provided by the City as part of the festive celebration. The special welcome for the first 500 attendees will also include a promotional item from the Astros. “We are thrilled to welcome the Houston Astros back to their Spring Training home – and especially after such an exciting 2017 season,” said Mayor Muoio. “We are delighted to honor them at Clematis by Night and to celebrate not only their World Series success but also the role that West Palm Beach played in helping them start out their championship season on the right foot." Spring Training officially starts the following day, February 23, when the Houston Astros take on the National League East Champion Washington Nationals, who also call the Palm Beaches their Spring Training home, at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Clematis by Night attendees are encouraged to dress in an Astros jersey, or in the team’s colors – navy and orange. Guests will have an opportunity to win tickets to a Houston Astros Spring Training game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. The special baseball-themed, weekly concert series will also include music by New Horizon Band, who play R&B and top 40 tunes. Clematis by Night sponsors-to-date include: The Palm Beach Post, 97.9 WRMF, 103.1 WIRK, SUNNY 107.9, X 102.3, 850 AM, 640AM, Beatz, the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, and the West Palm Beach Marriott. Clematis by Night is held on the West Palm Beach waterfront at 101 N. Clematis Street. The weekly concert series is produced by The City of West Palm Beach Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Community Events. For more information, including a list of bands and activities at future events, please visit Wpb.org/events, call 561-822-1515, or follow the City of West Palm Beach on Facebook @CityofWPB, on Twitter @westpalmbch or on Instagram @westpalmbch. During the month of February, the City of West Palm Beach will observe Black History Month, an annual celebration that recognizes and honors the contributions, achievements and history of the African American community. The public is invited to particpate in any of the FREE City events recognizing Black History Month. For a complete list of events, please visit: http://www.wpb.org/News-Video/Archive-News/CITY-OF-WEST-PALM-BEACH-OBSERVES-BLACK-HISTORY-MON. The City of West Palm Beach wants to ensure that residents have the correct updates about the plans for Flagler Shore. Recently, a series of private emails and texts containing inaccurate information about the City’s Flagler Shore pilot project have created some new questions. Flagler Shore was designed to temporarily reduce Flagler Drive between Banyan Boulevard and Lakeview Avenue to reclaim 63,000 square feet of public space for the public benefit. The Flagler Shore project will end, and all four lanes of Flagler Drive will reopen on March 1. Please note that the City will need to close the affected area of Flagler Drive in the final days of the project in order to apply the MOT (Maintenance of Traffic). Therefore, on February 27, 28, there will be a full road closure of Flagler Drive between Banyan and Lakeview. Please note that, as in past years, Flagler Drive may temporarily close for private events including the Boat Show and Sunfest. Despite inaccurate reports to the contrary, no public dollars are being allocated to continue to fund the Flagler Shore project. Flagler Shore has been successful in starting the dialogue about how best to utilize the City’s public spaces and was a part of Mayor Muoio's initiative to study how to improve the overall quality of life across the City. While there are plans to study the reports and review the results of Flagler Shore, the project is not listed as one of Mayor’s top priorities. This is the plan and has always been the plan. We’ve learned a lot about how our residents value our public spaces. Project managers are compiling a report, which will be made public and shared with everyone once the project is complete. We thank everyone who has participated in the project and has taken the time to provide us their feedback and comments! For more information about Flagler Shore or to share with us your feedback, please visit: wpb.org/flaglershore. Coffee and bikes go hand in hand. Break out of the Monday blues, perk up and explore our downtown all before going to work. Meet at the pergola on Flagler Shore at 6:50 a.m., and begin an easy bike ride along Flagler Shore ending at the pergola at 7 a.m. Make your brew on the spot or B.Y.O.B. (bring your own brew). Morning coffee outside will conclude at 8 a.m. No lunch plans? No problem! Bring your own lunch or pre-order food from our downtown restaurants and have it delivered to the shore. There will also be food trucks on the south end at 501 S. Flagler! Start your Saturdays with a healthy ride through Flagler Shore and enjoy the West Palm Beach GreenMarket. Ride up to the complimentary valet stationed across from the Green Lawn at the waterfront on the median. Need some air in your tires, have a flat tire, brakes or gears don't work? No problem! A bicycle tech with supplies will be happy to fix your ride. Please join us on our community walks as we engage our brothers and sisters! Our next walk will take place on February 14th at 5:30pm! For more information, contact Kevin Jones (561) 822-1413. Photo Contest: Send Us Your Best Grassy Waters Shot! Love nature and photography? Submit your amateur photos for a chance to win! The City of West Palm Beach Grassy Waters Preserve Nature Center and the Grassy Waters Conservancy are hosting a photography contest to showcase the beauty of the Grassy Waters Preserve of West Palm Beach. The goal of the contest is to showcase the natural environment in Grassy Waters Preserve. The Preserve, maintained by the City's Public Utilities Department, is a 23-square-mile wetlands ecosystem that serves as the freshwater supply for more than 100,000 area residents. All photos submitted for the contest must be taken at Grassy Waters Preserve. Images should reflect the diversity of the Preserve including wildlife, natural habitats, animal behavior, plant life, water, weather, and seasons. Come visit the Preserve and test your photography skills as you explore the wetlands, tree islands and forested hammocks. You may be able to use some of the commonly sighted species like alligators, Everglades snail kites, or wading birds as your photograph subjects! New for 2018 is a Smartphone category! Visit the Grassy Waters Conservancy's website www.grassywaters.org for more information, to enter your photos and vote for your favorites. The contest runs through February 28, 2018. For the complete 2018 rules, please visit: https://grassywaters.org/grassy-waters-preserve-2018-photography-contest-rules/. Save the date! Join us on Saturday, April 14, 2018 for the Great American Cleanup Comcast Cares Day from Noon - 4:00 P.M. at Dreher Park South (off Summit Blvd. Meet at the Main Pavilion #3)! Let's create positive change and a lasting impact in Dreher Park! Join us in the nation's largest community improvement program, engaging more than 5 million volunteers and participants every year. Work to be completed: painting of fencing and rental pavilions, and trimming of weed vegetation and trees. Volunteer pre-registration is required. Individuals ages 8+, families and groups are encouraged to participate. There will be thank you gifts for all volunteers plus on-site refreshments! For more information, contact the Division of Volunteer Services at (561) 804-4906 or email rbarona@wpb.org. The next meeting of the City Commission will be on February 12, 2018 beginning at 5pm. The City of West Palm Beach will hold its General Election on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, for the purpose of electing three City Commissioners: one residing in District 1, one residing in District 3, and one residing in District 5. District 3 will not appear on the ballot, as Commissioner Paula Ryan was unopposed and is the Commissioner-elect for District 3. Residents of ALL districts who are eligible to vote can vote in this election! Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018; Residential garbage will resume on your next scheduled service day beginning 11/26/18. Recycling will resume on 11/29/18. Bulk/Yard and Commercial Divisions are one day behind regular schedule. Christmas Day, December 25, 2018: Residential garbage will resume your next scheduled service day beginning 12/28/18. Recycling will resume on 1/1/19. Bulk/Yard and Commercial Divisions are one day behind regular schedule. New Year's Day, January 1, 2019: Residential garbage will resume on your next scheduled service day beginning 1/4/19. Recycling will operate on normal schedule. Bulk/Yard and Commercial Divisions are one day behind regular schedule. The sanitation schedule is produced by the City of West Palm Beach Department of Public Works. For more information, please call (561) 822-2075. Please note that this schedule is tentative and subject to change. For more information, please call (561) 822-1412. Public Works Request for Service: http://wpb.org/Departments/Public-Works/Public-Works-Forms.

2019-04-25T06:36:57Z

http://www.wpb.org/News-Video/Newsletter/INSIDER-Newsletter-(2-11-2018)

We Have Bulk Succulents for Sale shipped to Indian Lake Estates, Florida! The Succulent Source has been providing the highest quality succulent plants to people in Indian Lake Estates, Florida for almost fifteen years. We're a three-generation succulent-loving family, and we're here to fulfill all of your botanical desires. We're a registered nursery in southern California and ship out thousands of plants a week, all over the country, all year long. If you're looking for landscaping ideas, indoor plants to spruce up your Indian Lake Estates, Florida home, wedding decorations, or anything else having to do with cactus and succulents, we will make sure you get exactly what you're looking for. Succulents can make some of the most beautiful plants, and whether you're looking for a few low maintenance plants around the home, or wanting to purchase gifts for a large wedding party, we can accomplish your order of any size. Succulents are also great for your Indian Lake Estates, Florida outdoor project. They can add an exotic look to your landscape or garden. Forget to water them? No problem—succulents are water retaining plants, so they still look fantastic with minimal attention. Not all succulents are alike, so our expert staff can help you on the most appropriate outdoor plants for your particular climate to get you with ones that will thrive in that environment. How about enhancing your work setting with some office plants? We would love to provide you with the best and most appropriate succulents and plants to compliment your work surroundings. If you need ideas or just want to talk about possibilities, just browse our website or call us today and we'll be more than willing to talk to you about what will work within your or your office's budget. Plants are great for the work environment, as they can be comforting, provide aesthetic appeal, and help to reduce stress, hopefully helping you and your co-workers be more productive and enjoy your work in Indian Lake Estates, Florida! Succulent plants can look bizarre and be alluring to the human eye. Due to their uniqueness and ability to survive in extreme conditions, they are great as both outdoor landscape and indoor house plants in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. Not only are succulents very exotic and unusual looking, they're also considered low maintenance plants. Succulents retain water for extensive lengths of time, so they don't need constant watering or attention, even in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. Succulents are very resilient plants and they're absolutely gorgeous. We at The Succulent Source have developed quite an affinity for them. They're spectacular plants and come in many shapes and sizes. We love succulents because they look magnificent, they're easy to maintain, and they can complement almost any other plants in your house, in your office, at your wedding, or in your garden. Most succulents usually have very shallow root systems, so they can be made into very cool and creative arrangements around the house or for weddings, such as making a vertical garden or using a glass container to make a mini succulent terrarium. People in Indian Lake Estates, Florida have used all sorts of random objects or creative ways to display their succulents, like incorporating them into a piece of furniture, exhibiting them in a converted book, creating living wreaths out of them, or even placing tiny succulent plants in hollowed out wine corks. Some can even be hanging succulents, or air plants, because they don't require any contact with the ground, and they can make very cool decorations. The possibilities are virtually endless. Just google ideas for succulent uses around the house and you'll get a huge source of innovative ideas. If you do use a container to create a terrarium, make sure it is open at all times to allow air to circulate through. Succulents need drainage and good air circulation to live healthy lives. If you don't have a lot of space around your Indian Lake Estates, Florida home, succulents work immensely well for container gardening. The plants can be found in very small sizes, so even if you don't have much area to work with, you can fit a good assortment in a limited amount of room. Along with fitting in snug spaces, because they come in an assortment of colors they can create a vivid display with minimal area. Another reason succulents are so cool is their medicinal uses. Most people have probably heard of the Aloe Vera plant being able to treat and soothe burns, but did you also know the sap from the leaves can be used as a laxative? There are a number of other uses for various succulents in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. Succulent plants are often times associated with cacti and thought of as being green, but they actually come in all sorts of colors and it's part of what makes them such a dynamic plant species. Not only that, but their leaves also grow in some astonishing patterns that can be awe-inspiring to look at. Different succulents are indigenous to some really cool places around the world. They often occur in dry climates, which can be remote areas such as desserts or high up in mountains ranges. Therefore, they usually look different than most plants you'll find in Indian Lake Estates, Florida, and they can represent some breathtaking regions from across the globe. As we've mentioned before, succulents are world-class for being some of the easiest plants to grow and maintain. They don't need to be pruned like other plants, they don't mind neglect, they don't need to be watered regularly, and they don't need fertilizer. Succulents can handle poor soils and they're actually very hard to kill plants, so they're perfect for beginners or people who lead busy lives. We do recommend taking care of your succulents, as they will look better and flourish if you do, and we can tell you about the best ways to help your succulents thrive in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. But if you happen to like low upkeep plants, succulents are perfect for you. There are many types of succulents to choose from, and we have a huge selection of the best and most beautiful products at the most competitive prices in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. We have lots of varieties of Aeoniums, Echeverias, Sempervivums, Aloes, Echeveria, Sedum plants, and more. The Trichocereus family are columnar styles of cactus. They grow very quickly and are native to the Andes Mountains in Peru and other places throughout South America. We sell both cuttings and potted Trichecereus. The cuttings will only take roughly 2-4 weeks to begin rooting, and if taken care of properly, they should be able to grow a good foot in height per year in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. We offer collections of both succulents and cacti in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. The sizes are varying from 36, 20, and 9, for both cactus and succulents, and we can also do collections of 64 succulent plants. If you need other quantities, have any color requests or restrictions, or just have questions, we are more than happy to work with you and meet your needs. Just call us during business hours and we'll help you out. Collections can be fun because they provide a great variety of plants in a particular sized package. Our collections are hand selected, totally unique, and gorgeous! Plants and flowers have become an essential part of weddings. They're very important to make the event unforgettable and to reflect the bride and groom's specific personality and taste. Succulents make incredible decorations for your special day, and perfect wedding favors in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. They'll bring sensational patterns and color to your wedding and tables. We specialize in wedding succulents and can arrange your plants in any way you prefer. Because of their low price, they also make very affordable gifts for large wedding parties. This is something your guests will appreciate for a long time and a great way for everyone to remember your wedding day in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. We love working with couples and wedding planners to find the most dazzling possibilities to add to your wedding in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. Because this is one of our specialties, we would love to find the right plants, colors and provisions to make your wedding day as marvelous and unforgettable as possible. The succulent source is committed to providing the absolute best customer service possible. Succulents are our business and our life, and we want to cater you with not only the best plants and exactly what you're looking for, but also with the best assistance with your purchase and your succulent maintenance. We are available by phone Monday through Saturday from 8AM – 6PM Pacific time, and also by email and mail. Our staff in Indian Lake Estates, Florida is dedicated to giving you the full attention you need to make your experience completely satisfactory. Whether you want to know how quickly you can get an Aloe Vera plant in Indian Lake Estates, Florida, or if you want to know how to plant succulents, we're available and ready to help you with your questions. If we don't have what you're looking for, we'll do our absolute best to locate it for you. We'll be glad to take your questions, concerns, and orders all year round in Indian Lake Estates, Florida. Be sure to contact us today so we can fulfill your questions or order and get you the most beautiful succulents that you desire.

2019-04-19T14:19:21Z

http://succulentsource.com/serviceareas/florida/succulent-plants-in-Indian_Lake_Estates_Florida.php

Melvin melted my heart the minute I met him at Wayside Waifs. He certainly wasn’t beautiful in the usual sense. His ears were crinkled and bare, his fur was patchy, and he was missing his front right leg. He was probably close to being deaf. He’d had ear infections. He could barely get up to greet me, but he tried and tried until he finally made it to the front of the kennel. He is a very sweet and affectionate cat. He was thought to be 14 years old when he was brought to Wayside Waifs. Little was known about his history. He was transferred from another shelter when it ran out of space. I admit that my heart is easily melted, but Melvin tugged even harder at my heartstrings. I seriously thought about bringing him home, even though my house isn’t set up for a cat that can’t get around very well. My two resident cats, who don’t get along that well with each other, were also a consideration. Melvin worked his special cat magic on a lot of volunteers and staff members at Wayside Waifs, who called out “Hi, Melvin” whenever they passed his kennel. We were all so happy when the boyfriend of one of them recently adopted Melvin so that he can live out his final years with love and in comfort. I’ve met a lot of wonderful cats and kittens during my six years of volunteering as a photographer at Wayside Waifs, a no-kill animal shelter in Kansas City, Missouri, but Melvin will always hold a special place in my melted heart for him. Paddington, the cat with the BIG personality! Here he is giving me one of his “I don’t care what you’re doing, stop everything and brush me now!” stares. It’s been six years since I updated the tale of the Brothers Angora — Paddington and Bones. Where has the time gone? I’ll pick up where I left off in 2009. You can read their earlier history in the links at the bottom of this post, including newborn photos. Cute photos! Paddington was a very brave kitty at the vet in September 2015. On the left he waits on my lap, in the upper right he patiently endures shots and prodding. In the lower right, he explored the room. So many wonderful toys! In September of 2010 after a year in San Francisco with Cynthia, Paddington returned to live with us when Cynthia moved to South Korea to teach English for a couple of years. This time, I wasn’t letting him go! Paddington and his brother are Turkish Angora cats. Paddington was renowned for his one blue eye and one amber eye, and Bones is deaf, both are traits sometimes found in white cats. According to descriptions about Turkish Angora cats, these cats often choose a particular member of the family to be their constant companion and are very protective of their person. This was true with Paddington. After Paddington returned to my house to live in 2010, he was a bit standoffish, since Cynthia was his person. And he’d been a wide traveler, too, with many frequent flier miles. But he grew attached to me and soon was demanding his daily brushing. He would follow me around and stare at me until I got the hint. Whenever I sat on the sofa, he would jump on my lap. When he wanted to be brushed, which was often, he would stretch out, placing his paws on the sofa arm. He turned so that I brushed every section of his beautiful white fur. He especially loved to have his cheeks and neck brushed. There was no better job than being his masseuse and groomer. Paddington supervises my artwork as I prepare to paint an Airedale Terrier for friends. Paddington’s bed was next to my desk upstairs, where we had many conversations. At night he’d always appear at my bedside as I was getting into bed. Even when I thought Paddington was sound asleep in his bed, he’d often wake up as I passed by and dash down to my bedroom before I even got there, ready for his nightly chest rub. When I was settled in, he jumped on the bed for a nightly petting, which included a chest rub. As I rubbed his chest, he would paw the air “making biscuits.” It was so adorable! When Paddington and Bones lived with my daughter and Cynthia in college, the brothers would hang out together, but not so much after their most recent separation. In November 2015, Paddington started hanging out with his brother more. One night, my daughter heard a strange yowling cough and thought the two brothers might be fighting (yes, they did get into some tussles with Paddington usually the one starting the spat), but when she went into the room, she found Paddington limp on the bed. We rushed him to an veterinary emergency room, but he couldn’t be revived. He must have had a heart attack. He crossed the Rainbow Bridge on November 18, 2015. We were in shock. He was only eleven years old. We thought we had many more years with him. I miss that little guy so much. So far I haven’t been able to remove his bed, which is still matted with his white fur. There will always be a cat-shaped hole in my heart and life. Take no one for granted, not your family, nor your friends and not your little furry companions. Paddington, left, and Bones snuggle on a bed. Though they were littermates, they couldn’t be more different in personality. Paddington was the BOLD one. Malcolm was my first love. Malcolm is a Norwegian Forest Cat, Cat of the Vikings! Scarlet awaits visitors in her beautifully decorated room at Wayside Waifs. As beautiful as the "hug" room is at the shelter, she wants a forever home. Hello, my name is Scarlet and let me stop you before you make any jokes about Gone with the Wind, or asking me if I did it in the library with the candlestick! Been there, heard that! Okay, now about moi. Check out my photo. Are those not the most soulful eyes you’ve ever seen. (See photo below) I’m quite the lovey and a favorite of the staff and volunteers here. If they had Miss Congeniality here, I think I’d win, I really do. I’m also quite the fashionista. I’m wearing a lovely and soft brown, tan and white outfit. These neutral shades will go with everything including your drapes, couch and bedspread. They’re classics and never go out of style. I have a short, smooth coat, erect ears and a long tail. Stunning! I have made one fashion faux paw, however. My footwear doesn’t match. One front paw is grey and the other is tan. I could really use someone with your fashion sense to help make sure I don’t have another embarrassing wardrobe malfunction like that again. When I strut my stuff through our home, I always want to look my best. After all, there might be a camera somewhere. I’ll watch you while you get dressed to go to work and make sure your lipstick goes with your blouse or that your tie goes with your sport coat. I’ll meet you at the door when you get home to see what kind of day you had and will tell you all about mine. I’ll have spent time napping and eating, of course; watching the birds and squirrels outside, and supervising the front door to make sure those annoying junk ads weren’t left on our door. Luckily for me, there won’t be another cat living with us, so I can have all your attention when you get home. A perfect pink decor for a little princess. Scarlet even has her own monogrammed pillow. I’ll show you how much I appreciate you earning our living by rubbing up against your legs and letting you pet me. When I’ve had enough for a while, I’ll swish my tail a bit to say “enough already, save some for later”. I’m quiet and shy and I’m a bit hesitant to meet new people, so you’d have to give me a little time to adjust. I have to be cautious. I started to fall for a very nice woman and found out she wore white after Labor Day. No-no! Princess Scarlet relaxes in her bed, waiting for someone to take her home. I also have my own room now and if I do say so myself, it’s quite something. I am definitely the Princess of Pink: pink rug, pink stuffed animals, pink cat bed etc. Check out my photo of me in my special cat bed. That goes home with me too. Only the best for me – that’s why I’m picking you for my family. I can just tell by the way you’re reading my bio that we’re perfect for each other. Come get me and take me home to your castle now! As told to Michelle C. at Wayside Waifs by Scarlet. Michelle writes many of the biographies of the cats at Wayside Waifs, a no-kill animal shelter for cats, dogs and small animals in Kansas City, Missouri. I didn’t write Scarlet’s romantic biography above, but I did take her portrait, seen below. I wrote this limerick in honor of the wonderful kitties in need of homes at Wayside Waifs. If you think I’ve turned into a crazy cat lady, you’re right! Who groomed her fur with great pride. Soon finding a forever home in which to abide. The last line is a little awkward. Any suggestions? I’d love to read any limericks or poems you might want to add in the comments. If you want to adopt a dog or cat from Wayside Waifs, click on Wayside Waifs. Scarlet relaxes in her Hug Room. Hanky Warning: This video might make you cry. My mushiness over animals has increased exponentially since I started volunteering at an animal shelter. I was already a big sap before I started work at Wayside Waifs. I know it’s just a drop in a very big bucket, but I’ve donated money to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. The link is at the bottom. If you’re on Facebook, search for “Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support”. It provides updates on the work it’s doing. A news crew from Fuji TV saw a couple of dogs this week, lying in the wreckage of Mito, Japan. A dog with brown and white splotches seemed to hover over one with gray, black and white splotches. Both dogs looked grimy. The second dog didn’t seem to move. When the dog with brown and white splotches came toward the crew, they thought it was warning them to stay away. But it returned to the other dog, and put a paw on its head. Then they understood: the dog was sticking by his friend, and asking for help. Japan is a nation of pet lovers. Most families have a dog or cat, birds, a rabbit, or other pets in their apartments. When I covered Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, it seemed that the commonest reason people who stayed through the storm gave for refusing to evacuate was, “I couldn’t leave my pet.” But earthquakes strike suddenly. People can get stuck at work, school, or in panicked transit, leaving pets to fend for themselves. Among the thousands of volunteers who have been mining the rubble of the earthquake are Japanese Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, who look and listen for dogs and cats among the ruins. The dog with brown and white splotches and his friend with gray, black and white splotches were rescued, and are in a veterinary clinic in the Ibaraki Prefecture. The million-dollar puppy that’s been fattened with abalone, or the grimy dog with brown and white splotches who stood over his friend until he found help: which do you think of as a perfect specimen? How to donate to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. The Humane Society also is providing aid to Japanese animals. Here’s another link to donate: World Vets Prepares First Responders To Japan. To help the Japanese people, you can give to the Red Cross and The Salvation Army. This is the link I used to donate to The Salvation Army in Japan. Salvation Army Quake Relief. Below is a photograph I took in 2002 of The Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan. The Japanese people have a long tradition of strength, beauty and endurance, and they will re-build. Below the photograph is a translation of the Japanese in the video. Check out my post on polydactyl cats by clicking here.

2019-04-19T01:21:43Z

https://catherinesherman.wordpress.com/tag/cat/

Appeal from the District Court, Dodge County, Ancy Morse, J. Robert H. Peahl, Faribault, for appellant (C8-85-282), respondent (C1-85-754). David J. Rice, Rochester, for respondent. Considered and decided by PARKER, P.J., and WOZNIAK and HUSPENI, JJ., with oral argument waived. Appellants Michael N. Andersen and Hazel E. Andersen appeal from a judgment entered November 6, 1984, which the trial court attempted to amend on February 15, 1985, after this appeal was filed. The parties dispute the court's method of partitioning a jointly-owned farming operation and raise other issues such as unjust enrichment, tortious interference with contract relations, and general abuse of discretion. We consolidated the appeals, and now affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for entry of judgment partitioning the property. Hazel, Norman and Michael Andersen are joint owners of a farming operation near Rochester, Minnesota. This appeal follows a lawsuit resulting from the breakdown of that family farming operation. The problem among the parties brewed for a number of years and culminated when Norman moved from the farm in October 1980. Hostility among the parties is very evident. For clarity, the parties will be referred to by first names. Appellant Michael is the son of Norman and Hazel who were divorced in 1983. Hazel is also appealing based on a judgment entered against her. Michael, Norman and Hazel purchased the farm in 1966. They intended that each of them would have an undivided one-third interest. The 270-acre farm cost $26,500 and was financed by a Federal Land Bank mortgage. There was conflicting testimony whether Michael paid his share of the mortgage and what constituted payments. Michael did not receive any of the farm income from 1966 to 1977. In 1975, Hazel and Norman sold their home and moved in with Michael on farm property he owned individually. They lived with him for about two years during construction of a new home on the jointly-owned farm. This home was to be used as Norman and Hazel's homestead. The parties dispute whether Michael paid a proportionate share of construction costs. Norman testified he paid for most of the construction with proceeds from the sale of another home, a $10,000 inheritance from his mother, and current income. Hazel and Norman entered into a contract for deed in 1977 selling an additional one-third undivided interest to Michael. As a result, Michael now owns an undivided two-thirds interest, subject to the contract payments. Since Hazel and Norman were subsequently divorced, they now each own an undivided one-sixth interest, and their interest as vendors under the Contract for Deed with Michael. There is no evidence of any agreement among the parties relating to rent, expenses, mortgage, or capital improvements. Norman left the farm in 1980. Michael claimed that when Norman left the heating system was defective, and he spent $3,000 to replace it. In addition, he claimed to have spent $7,500 on landscaping, septic system repair, and other miscellaneous improvements. Norman testified that the house needed only routine maintenance when he left and that he gave Michael money to repair the heating system. Michael says his parents are responsible for Federal Land Bank payments and all real estate taxes. Norman claims that Michael was to pay his proportionate share of the expenses and taxes. All parties shared equally in farm income between 1977 and 1980, but Michael claims the farm has been operating at a loss since then. In 1982, Michael built a grain storage shed on the jointly-owned farm. He testified that economic conditions dictated he should store, rather than sell, the 1982 harvest. Norman told Michael he did not agree with the construction of the storage facility. Nevertheless, construction began on October 11, 1982 and stopped the next day after Norman talked to the excavating contractor. Excavation resumed on October 16. According to Norman, the shed was completed November 2, 1982. Michael claims it was not complete until November 15, 1982. Michael argues that Norman's interference resulted in a $3,269 loss. Norman denies his interference caused any damage or delays, but that delays were usual and normal harvesting problems. The parties also contradicted one another's testimony regarding Norman's counterclaim against Michael for conversion of personal property. Hazel and Michael assert gift, while Norman denies it. Norman's cross-claim against Hazel concerns a 1983 contract for deed check from Michael payable to Hazel or Norman. Hazel cashed the check and put the proceeds in her savings account. She did not pay Norman one-half the sum as provided for in the divorce decree. She now appeals from the $3,171.70 judgment against her. A bifurcated trial was held in June 1984. The first part determined that the value of the jointly-owned farm was $245,000 and that an undivided one-sixth interest is valued at $40,416. The parties waived a jury trial and the court tried the remaining issues June 13-18, 1984. The court held: (1) that neither party proved entitlement to reimbursement from any other party; (2) Norman was not responsible for any improvements after October 4, 1980, including the storage shed; (3) the 1982 corn harvest was not delayed by Norman's actions in halting site preparation for the shed and construction was completed without his consent; (4) there was no specific agreement covering rent on the farm property; (5) the 1977 contract for deed obligates Michael to pay Norman and Hazel $3,500 per year, plus seven percent interest; (6) the divorce decree between Hazel and Norman requires the contract for deed payment to be split equally between them; (7) that Hazel owes Norman one-half the 1983 payment plus interest; (8) that the farm cannot be physically partitioned without detriment to each party. The court also held that the items Norman claims Michael converted were either gifts to him or farm property acquired with farm proceeds. Therefore, Michael did not convert them to his own use and is not liable to Norman for damages. The court awarded Norman $40,416 for his one-sixth interest in the farm and $2,970.17 for his share of the 1984 contract for deed payment. On December 13, 1984, the court heard post-trial motions. On February 4, 1985, while the motions were still under advisement, Michael filed a notice of appeal from the November 6, 1984 judgment. On February 15, 1985, the trial court issued amended findings, conclusions of law, order for judgment and judgment and decree which reduced Norman's award to $2,970.17 and ordered appraisal of the jointly-owned farm. The court denied the motion for a new trial and all other motions. Hazel appealed from the amended judgment on April 22, 1985. On May 2, 1985 Michael appealed from the amended judgment, and on June 26, 1985 the Court of Appeals denied his motion to consolidate the two appeals. The appeals court dismissed the May 2 appeal, and consolidated Hazel's appeal with Michael's February 4 appeal. 1. Did the trial court err in denying Michael's claim for contribution from Norman for expenses and improvements to jointly-owned property? 2. Did the trial court err in denying Michael's claim for interference with business relations? 3. Can the trial court issue a judgment ordering both money damages for a partial interest in realty and a partition by sale? 4. Is the post-appeal order of the trial court of any effect? 5. Is the judgment against Hazel Andersen supported by the evidence? 6. Does Hazel Andersen properly appeal from the motion in limine and partition of the farm? This dispute was tried by the court since the parties waived their right to a jury trial. "On review by an appellate court, 'a finding of the trial court is not to be disturbed unless clearly erroneous, either upon a clear demonstration that it is without substantial evidentiary support or that it was induced by an erroneous view of the law.' " Cleys v. Cleys, 363 N.W.2d 65, 69 (Minn.Ct.App. 1985) (citations omitted). 1. Michael contends the court erred when it denied his claim for contribution from Norman for expenses and improvements to the jointly-owned property. He says the expenses were incurred after October 4, 1980, the date Norman left, for such items as landscaping, installation of a septic system, heating, and a grain storage facility. Norman claims that he is not required to share in the payment because he did not authorize the improvements. Contribution is an equitable remedy and subject to equitable considerations. Hoverson v. Hoverson, 216 Minn. 228, 235, 12 N.W.2d 501, 505 (1943). There, a co-tenant farm manager was requesting contribution from another co-tenant. The supreme court held that, since plaintiff was in possession and managing the farm, profits must first be applied to improvements and taxes. Id. at 235, 12 N.W.2d at 505. Furthermore, contribution does not mature until the party owing a liability has paid for more than his fair share. Id. at 236, 12 N.W.2d at 506. In considering a claim for contribution the court should balance the benefits flowing to the party who occupied the property and received the rents and profits against the burden of paying the necessary taxes. Cleys, 363 N.W.2d at 71. Clearly, Michael, as two-thirds owner of the farm, receives the greater benefit and should carry a greater burden than Norman, a one-sixth owner. In addition, the general rule is that a tenant in common, absent agreement or understanding with a co-tenant, may not make improvements upon common property at the expense of his co-tenant so as to enable him to recover any portion of the cost or value of the improvements. Hoverson, 216 Minn. at 236, 12 N.W.2d at 506. When the rule is applied to this situation, it is clear that Michael is not entitled to recover. There is no evidence of any agreement between Norman and Michael. In fact, Michael was aware that Norman disapproved of his building plans. All of the items for which appellant claims reimbursement can be classified as improvements and are governed by this rule. The facts support the trial court's findings that the improvements were done without Norman's approval or consent. Thus, the trial court's failure to award contribution was not clearly erroneous and is supported by the evidence. 2. Michael's next contention is that the trial court erred in denying his claims for tortious interference with contract. The trial court found that Norman's interference with construction of the grain storage facility did not unduly delay the grain harvest and that he was justified in his involvement. Although there is no question that Norman disagreed with the location of the storage shed, there was conflicting testimony as to when the shed was complete and the reason for the delay. The trial court found that the third parties involved independently decided not to finish the work. The claim for wrongful interference of contract is a tort action. See Royal Realty Co. v. Levin, 244 Minn. 288, 69 N.W.2d 667 (1955). The elements of this tort are: (1) existence of a contract; (2) the alleged wrongdoer's knowledge of the contract; (3) intentional procurement of its breach; (4) without justification; and (5) damages. Furley Sales and Associates, Inc. v. North American Automotive Warehouse, Inc., 325 N.W.2d 20, 25 (Minn. 1982). The dispute here is focused on elements four and five. The applicable standard for justification is found in Potthoff v. Jefferson Lines, Inc., 363 N.W.2d 771 (Minn.Ct.App. 1985), as "reasonable conduct under all the circumstances of the case." Id., 363 N.W.2d at 776. Interference is not justified when it is done for the indirect purpose of injuring the plaintiff or benefitting the defendant, and the defendant has the burden of proving sufficient justification. Furley, 325 N.W.2d at 25. The facts could reasonably lead to the conclusion that Norman was justified in discussing the shed with the contractors. The parties were already considering a partition, and Norman wanted a physical division awarding him the area around the old homesite, the site of the new storage shed. The court's findings support his contention that he was justified in his action. The trial court further held that the damages Michael claims did not directly result from Norman's actions. The record shows that poor weather was largely responsible for the delay in the corn harvest. Therefore, there is sufficient evidentiary support for the court's conclusion that Norman was justified in the actions he took to stop construction of the storage shed and was not responsible for the harvesting delay. 3. Michael claims the trial court erred by ordering both money damages and a partition and sale for partial interest in realty. The November 6, 1984 judgment awards Norman $43,386.17; $40,416 for his interest in the property and $2,970.17 for his share of the 1984 contract for deed payment. In addition, the court noted in its findings that the sale to Michael would be an alternative to a partition and sale pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 558 (1984). Although this procedure is not found in Minn.Stat. § 558, the parties initially agreed to set the value of the farm and permit Michael to purchase Norman's one-sixth share. It is appropriate for a trial court to permit alternative methods in fashioning a remedy. Although the statutory procedure must be followed, once the court has taken jurisdiction of the case it may exercise its general equitable powers to effect the most advantageous plan which the particular nature of the case admits. Carlson v. Olson, 256 N.W.2d 249, 255 (Minn. 1977). In light of this decision and the parties' agreement, the court did not err in permitting alternative solutions. However, the court erred in entering judgment against Michael for the amount of Norman's share. The trial court correctly attempted to correct this error in an amended judgment on February 15, 1985, after the appeal to this court had been filed. Thus, the trial court did not err in fashioning the alternative solution, but erred in entering a money judgment against Michael for Norman's one-sixth share. 4. The next issue is whether the trial court's February 15, 1985 amended judgment has any effect since the appeal was filed on February 4, 1984. The general rule is that an appeal, when perfected, divests the trial court of jurisdiction. This appeal was perfected prior to the February 15, 1985 amended judgment. We have held that a post-appeal order of the trial court is null and void because the trial court lost its jurisdiction to this court once appellant filed a notice of appeal. Evans v. Blesi, 345 N.W.2d 775 (Minn.Ct.App. 1984), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. June 12, 1984). Thus, the February 15, 1985 amended judgment has no effect since jurisdiction shifted to this court at the time of filing of the notice of appeal. Id., 345 N.W.2d at 780. Although the amended judgment is of no effect, the trial court was in a position to re-examine the judgment and properly rectified the error. Recognizing this, we order that the judgment against Michael be reduced from $43,386.17 to $2,970.17 and the property be partitioned, as the trial court attempted to do in its amended judgment. 5 and 6. Hazel claims to appeal from the February 15, 1985 amended judgment. If that is the case, her appeal is not proper because jurisdiction had already shifted to this court. In addition, her brief challenges: (1) the original judgment in favor of Norman; (2) the grant of a motion in limine prior to the 1984 trial; and (3) the property valuation established by the November 6, 1984 judgment. Her notice of appeal on these issues was filed on April 22, 1985. Pursuant to Minn.R.Civ.App.P. 104.01, "An appeal may be taken from a judgment within 90 days after its entry * * *." Hazel's appeal from the November 6, 1984 judgment is not timely and is without merit. However, considering the record, there is no doubt that she owes Norman one-half of the 1983 contract for deed payment. The trial court's decision is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion.

2019-04-26T04:47:51Z

https://casetext.com/case/andersen-v-andersen-9

Promote market readiness. Many agencies are incorporating market literacy and market readiness training into their programming with very poor populations. Practical Action, for instance, worked with male and particularly female hibiscus farmers in Southern Sudan to better engage with market opportunities. It recognized that in order to improve weak market relationships, significant capacity building and organization was required of isolated producers who lacked common membership organizations, effective risk mitigation strategies, and awareness of what services were available and how to access them. Activities to strengthen market readiness included the development of village development committees, which represented small groups of producers and facilitated their training. These committees were strengthened so as to legitimately represent even very poor farmers, and particularly women, who despite their role in the value chain were often excluded from decision making. Once organized, extensive exposure visits and training on negotiation skills and marketing helped the committees to engage with other market actors in a way that increased benefits for all market actors. Support cross-cutting value chains. Another promising approach is to support access to cross-cutting value chains. Certain products and services, such as transport, packaging, irrigation technologies or agricultural inputs, support diversification and enhance choice because they can be broadly applied. CARE Zimbabwe, for instance, has supported small rural retailers of grocery products to become trained agro-dealers linked to regional wholesalers with finance accounts. The closer availability of inputs has improved access to inputs by farmers who only require a very small quantity and cannot afford the costs of travelling to larger provincial centers. Such approaches empower the poor by turning them into consumers rather than passive recipients of charity. Promote local labor sharing. An innovative approach currently being tested is to support small, informal labor groups within communities. Building on the informal groups that exist in many parts of rural Africa, these groups may help to support engagement in value chain activities by providing the labor and motivation to engage in larger projects that are unfeasible for individuals. Save the Children in Mozambique is using such an approach with 'ajuda mutua' (mutual help) groups. Participants report that their participation has resulted in greater food production, diversification of activities, the accomplishment of tasks that were previously not possible without a hired labor force, and the development of stronger bonds with neighbors that can be leveraged in times of need. Use community-managed microfinance methodologies. Upgrading trajectories that rely on self-financing will reduce risk levels and increase the ability of very poor populations to participate. Community-managed microfinance is oriented to facilitating the secure mobilization of people's own capital, particularly for those that are unable to access formal financial services. The figure below illustrates the capacity of community-managed microfinance to reach populations who are not served by formal institutions such as banks and microfinance institutions. For very poor populations, savings groups are often first used as a vehicle for income smoothing, and subsequently, as amounts grow, for small investments. Debt financing is better used as a subsequent intervention once very poor populations have developed their own capital and have more capacity to handle debt. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Tanzania used this approach by encouraging chick pea farmers to first form small savings groups. These groups accumulated small amounts of capital that was then lent out among group members. Once these groups were well functioning, they were used as platforms for negotiating group sales contracts directly with exporters for higher prices and better terms. A case study of this project found that in comparison with conventional marketing groups that had been created by other NGOs, CRS’s strategy of integrating group asset mobilization into the marketing structure created greater group cohesion. It also increased the participation of poor community members, who had traditionally not participated in joint marketing structures given a need for immediately cash at harvest and an inability to delay sale to access better prices. Encourage co-investment or co-financing with other value chain actors. Africare and Cardno’s Community-based Orphan Protection and Empowerment project cultivated linkages between lead firms and caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children across several East African countries. In Uganda, an exporter of dried fruit was willing to sign an MOU to purchase dried fruit for export from caregivers and older orphans and vulnerable children. By establishing and strengthening horizontal linkages through production groups, the caregivers were able to aggregate sufficient volumes to supply the buyer. Critically, this lead firm was willing to invest in its relationship with the groups by constructing and contributing to the cost of solar dryers. Ongoing follow-up and support are now being provided by the lead firm. Support greater and better quality employment opportunities. Relative to self-employment, many vulnerable populations prefer the security, networking and other benefits of steady employment. In many cases, the decision to pursue self-employment is taken due to a lack of other options. Generating employment opportunities can therefore be an effective strategy for value chain initiatives to incorporate very poor populations. ACDI/VOCA’s GMED project in India, for instance, focused on developing opportunities for the marginalized within the solid waste management sector. Whereas engagement in this sector has traditionally attracted harassment and violence, particularly for women, it also provides an easy point of entry for the poorly educated urban poor. The GMED project worked with several municipalities in India to improve the performance and status of the sector by outsourcing to small enterprises. As a consequence, workers previously engaged in the informal sector are now receiving higher wages with greater job security and higher social status. Many of the project clients are also more empowered following the transition. Use smart subsidies to buy down risk. It is recognized that the limited subsidies can be an effective tool to reduce the risk of adopting new behaviors or making unproven investments. This is particularly true when working with very poor populations, for whom upgrading may require unacceptably high levels of risk. The Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) faced strong adversion among farmers, wholesalers and retailers in Zambia to invest in a demonstrably profitable technology: manual water pumps for irrigation. Suppliers did not see a market among smallholders for the equipment and consequently were unwilling to invest in expanding their supply chains and building market demand. Conversely, very poor farmers would not invest in irrigation technologies given the cost and unproven returns. MEDA used a time-bound voucher to subsidize a portion of the cost of purchasing a new water pump from local retailers. Early signs indicate that both farmers and suppliers are beginning to recognize and respond to the potential of the technologies. Sequence economic strengthening activities by level of vulnerability. Reflecting the need to build capacity to cope with adversity prior to generating new income opportunities, Family Health International's Regional Outreach Addressing HIV/AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS) project, that includes economic development partner DAI, has developed a model that has four stages of economic strengthening, as illustrated below. Three of these (savings mobilization, business training, and market access) are available to participants sequentially. Once resilience is built through savings protection and mobilization, community participants are then supported to improve the performance of their microenterprises within existing markets. Focusing on current—usually local—markets is a risk-reduction strategy for vulnerable clients. As microentrepreneurs improve their skills and management capacity, they are assisted to identify and access higher potential markets. Recognizing the food security challenges confronting project participants, technical assistance is provided to savings group members and business training recipients to bolster the productivity of farm plots and kitchen gardens. Importantly, participants self-select their continued participation in the project based upon interest, capacity and other factors. ROADS anticipates variable individual and community progress and interest in upgrading and therefore will provide tailored trainings to groups based on the speed of their progress rather than project timeframes. Improve food security. Food insecurity is a strong contributor to risk aversion. Households that face chronic or seasonal food shortages are often unwilling to make longer-term investments that they will need to liquidate in lean periods. Strategies to increase the food security of vulnerable populations are presented here. Identify inefficiencies and market opportunities for social product and service value chains. As with other value chains, applying value chain analysis to social products and services facilitates the identification of constraints and opportunities. Unlike other approaches to benefiting very poor populations, however, the goal of the analysis is not to improve income but rather to improve access to social products and services. Action for Enterprise, for instance, conducted a value chain analysis in Bangladesh of several important health products with limited outreach to vulnerable populations and potential beneficial impacts. The study identified how existing firms could improve outreach of these products, and assessed the impacts of the enabling environment in shaping private sector behavior and incentives. Develop alternative delivery mechanisms. Existing delivery channels for social products and services commonly fail to reach very poor populations, who are not prioritized by public service providers given remoteness, low purchasing power, weak political power and other factors. Some agencies have found that improving supply systems for basic services can create powerful impacts upon the capacity of the poor to become or remain economically active. The Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), for instance, applied the value chain approach to improve the efficiency of malaria net distributions in Tanzania. Mosquito nets that reduce the likelihood of malaria infection had traditionally been provided only through public clinics, with limited outreach and usage levels. MEDA implemented a voucher scheme that was redeemable at private-sector outlets. The voucher mechanism created a rapid response by private entrepreneurs to stock nets even in extremely remote villages that had never before been serviced. The project found that not only were health incomes improved - the total number of people owning a net, for instance, increased from 44% to 66% from 2005 to 2007 - but also that there were substantial economic impacts. ↑ S. Hashemi and R. Rosenberg, Graduating the Poorest into Microfinance: Linking Safety Nets and Financial Services, (2006), 2. ↑ Practical Action, Learning from Practice: Facilitating Hibiscus Market Systems For Marginalized Women Farmers in Sudan, (2006-2010), 11-12. ↑ B. Fowler and D. Panetta, CARE International in Zimbabwe: Improving access to basic financial services and agricultural input and output markets by small-holder farmers in Zimbabwe, (2010). ↑ Save the Children, STRIVE Mozambique Project Description and Activities, (2009), 2-3. ↑ Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), Internal Document, (2010). ↑ J. Ledgerwood, Brief on Community-Based Savings Groups: Aga Khan Foundation, (2009), 2. ↑ B. Fowler and C. Nelson, Combining Savings Groups with Agricultural Marketing in Tanzania, (2011). ↑ Cardno, Early Lessons in Targeting Populations with a Value Chain Approach, (2009) 10-11. ↑ E. Dunn, N. Kalaitzandonakes, and C. Valdivia, Risk and the Impacts of Microenterprise Services, (2005), 22. ↑ S. Gupta and V. Tripathi, Report of the GMED Urban Services Program in India: A Micro Enterprise Approach, (undated), 14-18. ↑ A. Snelgrove and L. Manje, Catalysts of Agricultural Supply Markets: Case for Smart Subsidies in Zambia, (2010). ↑ FHI/DAI, LifeWorks Strategic Framework: Coupling Economic Assistance with HIV/AIDS Support on ROADS II, (2010), 11. ↑ D. Gollin and C. Zimmermann, Malaria: Disease Impacts and Long-Run Income Differences, (2007) 20. ↑ AFE, Final Report: Assessment of Commercial Private Sector for Health Care Products in Bangladesh, (2010). ↑ A Kilian et al, Review of delivery strategies for insecticide treated mosquito nets – are we ready for the next phase of malaria control efforts?, (2009) 10.

2019-04-26T10:41:17Z

http://www.marketlinks.byf1.io/good-practice-center/value-chain-wiki/426-key-constraints-and-promising-strategies-applying-value-ch

Seatac Airport plans a big new international arrivals hall. Real Change on the low income fare. Metro multilingual information has some translation errors. More bike storage on Amtrak Cascades. Capitol Hill Seattle asks mayoral candidates insightful questions about urbanism. Asking homeowners to help prevent mudslides on the tracks. Summary of the Lynnwood Link EIS. Mercer Island Station comments are obsessed with parking. A systematic way to evaluate TOD. TriMet thinks ORCA is too primitive for their next smart card. Just how empty are all those legally required parking spaces? Buying transit tickets by phone set to take off. Seattle not the only city to be getting a new bikeshare program. The dumb protectionist rule that killed Las Vegas-Los Angeles HSR. The arrivals hall project looks plain awkward. Arrive at S gates go up elevators/escalators, walk a relatively long distance on a walkway to get to the immigration counter. I assume you need to do your bags first? or do the bags flow over to the the new hall and THEN are checked through if you’re connecting? Japan does this. Its not uncommon to have two airport stops on a train line when the terminals are sufficiently far apart. Of course, Link has no other purpose than as a shuttle to the airport and it can terminate there. It’s not like it’s going to Des Moines or anything. And don’t imagine a spur. I don’t know what TriMet expects from ORCA. What exactly does a non-primitive card look like if ORCA is “primitive”? Tell that to Trimet, still with their (primitive?) paper tickets and (primitive?) physical ink validation. ORCA isn’t branded with MasterCard, Visa, AmericanExpress, etc. That makes it old school. Nevertheless, I think agencies have to develop some sort of in-house card, or share other agencies’ card system, in order to have a robust electronic payment system accessible to all. Problems with ORCA for expansion that Tri-Met hasn’t mentioned are the high cost of the card, the lack of products that cover all of Tri-Met’s pass categories, and the difficulty negotiating a revenue-sharing formula when you throw in a whole new set of pass cost levels. It hardly seems worth the effort to give up a chunk of fare revenue from Seattle tourists and commuters. In an open-loop payment system, a prepaid transit card is just a prepaid debit card (possibly restricted to reject non-transit transactions), similar to those already in widespread use as gift/prepaid cards, issued by Visa/Mastercard. How are transfers tracked in a system like that? Wouldn’t restrictions on the storage of credit card numbers make that more difficult? Our transit agencies need to avoid tying themselves to bank debit or credit card schemes. These schemes are expensive (up to 3% of revenue) and the newer schemes provide unnecessary fees aimed at consumers (e.g. CTA’s Ventra card). The future bodes for direct payment systems that don’t require the old school credit card networks. Companies like Dwolla with its innovative payment gateway and pricing could be the future. 3% sounds like a bargain to me. What Ventra fees, specifically, do you take issue with? Al: The important part is not that we use Visa or Mastercard, just that you’re paying with money as opposed to “magic transit points” (even if those points have a 1-1 correspondence with USD). I personally think that phone-based NFC is the most compelling option. You can set up your phone to pay using your choice of payment method; when you pay, you’re given a cryptographically-secure “virtual transfer”. The next time you board, you “pay” by using that transfer, and so long as it’s still valid, you’re not charged any money. For people who can’t afford a phone, or choose not to have one, we can continue using existing ORCA cards. As I understand it, the technologies are backwards-compatible. Once you factor in the fixed fee per transaction charged for credit card processing, it would extract more than 10% of transit revenue. We need to stop debating credit cards as the backbone of a cashless payment system. We’ll ignore for a moment that a lot of people use the credit cards to put money on their ORCA cards anyway. I think that people are only concentrating on the money transfer part of the equation, and forgetting about fare product structures: things like transfer rules, combination of fares passes with e-purse, zonal fares, … I think that the cash management side of the problem is realtively easy, the cost is elsewhere. I personally like the fact that the card is charged with transit coupons rather than cash, although I understand that others may not. It’s easier for me to give one to someone else and be reasonably sure that it will be used appropriately. It makes them less attractive targets to theft. I hate the idea of involving the CC companies for clearing unless something can be done about their high per transaction fees. Using a CC to put 25 bucks on a card is about a 4% hit. To pay a $2.00 fare it’s closer to 15%. 3% is not a bargain. Especially when technology can facilitate frictionless transfers. The only reason the “market rate” is 3% is because of the monopoly that banks have developed in cashless transfers. The company I mentioned before charges only 25 cents for transactions over $10.00. So you send $10,000,000 to someone using that service, the fee is 25 cents. Has it occurred to anybody that paying by debit/credit card can be even slower than cash? It would be nice if my ORCA card worked on things other than public transit. Like snack vending machines. With my $1.25 monthly pass, I would clean house at vending machines! How is dumping debris over the cliff not illegal? If there isn’t already a law requiring these homeowners to do a minimum to keep mud slides from happening, can we get something moving to save some low-hanging money? Likewise, how was digging into the side of a cliff to build a railroad track in the first place legal? I’m not sure of the exact dates that the Seattle to Everett portion of the GN line was built, but I think it was around 1890. In those days there wasn’t oversight or control of railway construction. If it worked–great, if not–try again. It also was perfectly legal in 1890 to dump the water from your swimming pool over the cliff and spill raw sewage into the local lakes and streams. But we’ve realized the foolishness of those acts and passed laws to regulate or prevent them. If homeowners are being negligent or irresponsible and their actions are causing mudslides and damage to BNSF/WSDOT property they had better change their ways or purchase really large liability insurance packages to cover the damage they are causing. I wonder how carefully everyone would start maintaining their property if BNSF or WSDOT through a few multi-million dollar lawsuits at the homeowners. It sure wouldn’t be popular, but it would be effective. I’m pretty sure most of the Great Northern between Everett and Seattle was built on fill at the base of the slope. I don’t think they cut into the slopes much, if at all. The next fare restructure *is* the ideal time to institute a low-income fare stabilization program, as it allows the other fares to go up more, and eases the transition out of zone-based and time-based fares. The low-income fare doesn’t need a fare reduction. It can just stand in place while other fares go up, so it wouldn’t be a hit on fare revenue, or be subsidized by other riders. The county council has moved the timeline for instituting the restructure back by as much as a year, which removes it from becoming a campaign issue for those standing for election or re-election this fall. Still, that just digs the hole deeper, widening the cut to higher than 17%, and wipes out this year’s additional projected sales tax revenue. I’ve been told that Metro wants to implement an electronic payment discount as part of the restructure, and that instituting the low-income fare could be tied to implementation of that across-the-board ORCA incentivization. I’ve also heard that the Kitsap model is what Metro is looking at implementing, but I haven’t heard specifically that it would be electronic-payment only, like Kitsap’s is. Election season is the perfect time to get some county councilmembers to promise that the low-income fare be electronic-only. Guess the rest of the city can pound sand when it comes to his energies. Interesting. So now it’s 1st or nothing with 4th/5th eliminated from consideration. They’re trying to stack the deck for mixed-traffic operation even though exclusive lanes are obviously necessary. Vague comments like “Most believe that mixed traffic operation will be necessary”. No funding is needed for a low income fare program. All anyone needs to do is what many Real Change vendors do now – plop ¢4 in the fare box, say “Sorry, thats all I got” and walk on anyway. Or pay nothing at all. Ask for a transfer and the driver is required to give it. We already have a low/no fare program. Its called zero consequences for fare evaders. Except for the humiliation of asking for it, or never knowing which drivers are going to give you a longer interrogation than others. Some drivers do stop the bus until you pay or get off or the police come. All this is fine for stereotypical tough guys but that’s only a small fraction of the poor, and it’s not fair to leave everybody else out with a blithe “Metro is free if you just don’t pay a fare”. Who is left out? Policy is “no fare disputes” period. Drivers are to issue transfers on request even if no payment is given. And humiliation? Most fare evaders are brazen. I seriously often see Real Change vendors right off if a day if sales refuse to pay, and the ones who drop pennies in the fare box act as if they paid full fare. And the gold paper flash passes are the biggest fraud off all second only to handed off, saved or altered transfers. There is no need to waste a single dime on a low income fare distribution program. We already have one. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here? Or is there no point, you’re just frustrated and this is your place to throw a tantrum? If the later, can you please do it elsewhere, the adults are talking here. We do need a Low Income option and it does need to be on ORCA. Who’s left out are meek women who don’t like confrontations, and law-abiding people who left their ORCA card at home or have run out of cash. They’re the ones who are not getting on the bus or agonizing over it. It’s not just all “brazen Real Change people”, and calling it that is like the people who want to eliminate food stamps and Medicaid because they can’t stand the thought that there may be one person somewhere who’s scamming the system, never mind that you’d dump off the majority of people who are honest. There’s also the issue of POP services like Link and (ostensibly) RR — get caught without valid POP on one of those and you’re not going to get a “no fare disputes” policy from the enforcer. We should be looking to expand pre-payment, and a proper low-income system is probably necessary to do that. There’s no tantrum here just a statement of fact. Arguing the need to have an expensive and complex low income fare program is arguing that liw income people dont ride at reduced fare or no fare at all right now. They do – daily and without consequence. There is no need for a wasteful program that will change nothing, only add cost to an already strapped system. Martin Duke made comparable arguments against the concept of system wide fare enforcement when elimination of the RFA was being considered. It would ultimately cost as much or more than it would save. What exactly is broken about the current system that allows free rides on request (or without)? How much would it cost to simply fix that – if it needs fixing at all? Wouldnt it be simpler and cheaper to just drop the illusion of fare evasion being illegal? Do like the hospitals do and post a sign on all buses stating that nobody will be denied transportation based on ability to pay? Its more honest, would remove the humiliation factor, keep drivers in line and be infinitely less expensive. No new bureacracy – just signs. I think the word you’re looking for is “donation”. @Mike Orr: Did you mean “meek people”, or are you actually claiming only women are meek? 12 comments and not one complaint about MI. I’m impressed. Call me when Man Bites Dog. I was amused by it. It shows how much Islanders are more driving-oriented than Bellevuites. But there’s still hope for a frequent circulator bus that at least some of them would use, no matter how much they can’t imagine it now. It’s also good to see Mercer Island offering to pay for the additional parking itself rather than insisting ST do it. Maybe if they put in a street car on MI or had the circulator bus have extra plush seats and wifi more people on the island would use it… I doubt it though. It’s not terribly surprising that Mercer Islanders are less than thrilled about Link. legal street parking near the proposed Link station is all but non-existant, and the P&R is severely undersized. Outside of downtown Mercer Island, the current transit provision is almost worthless, and Metro is talking about eliminating even that. On top of that, the State wants to charge to get to the closest usable P&R in Eastgate [South Bellevue is roughly as overcrowded as MI] so that they can pay for the 520 bridge. Oh and for destinations in downtown Bellevue Link is likely to be slower than the 550 because Bellevue doesn’t seem to want it. Really the only Islanders who will be better off with Link are Microsofties within walking distance of the station. Given all this, I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable for them to take the somewhat parochial view that it’s an awful lot of pain for not much gain. I certainly sympathize with their concern that a new parking garage will get built and people will come from Bellevue to park there in order to catch a bus. If parking for residents only helps get Islanders out of their cars and on the train and reduces congestion/emissions, I’d consider that a win. People don’t come from Bellevue to Mercer Island to catch a bus. It’s just as easy to park in South Bellevue, and the P&R is bigger. People come from Kirkland, Bothell, North Bend, and points further away. Of course, let us remember that the MI park and ride is undersized because that is the way MI wanted it…. @ap: Actually S. Bellevue fills up about the same time as, or perhaps slightly before MI. Eastgate is much easier for parking, but has hardly any tunnel buses now. Fine if your destination is the ID, but the crawl to fourth, and traffic on fourth probably adds 5 minutes to the ride to Westlake. That said, I suspect you are right about where non Islanders are coming from. @Paul: you are of course correct. I thought that the city council had made a mistake then, but, in all fairness, an Eastgate sized P&R would have been out of character in the town center as it was then. Of course, knowing what private developments have been approved since, the decision seems insane. @William: You’re probably correct. I had forgotten that they built a garage on Mercer Island. My frame of reference is a decade old, when I bicycled past both park and rides every morning during commuting hours. So that’s who’s behind the new gosh-awful Sound Transit maps. Is that a LRT vehicle I see in that picture of the Sea-Tac arrivals? The track is inches away. The station is the better part of a mile. Not sure I understand your point–the proposed terminal expansion will be quite close to the southward extension of Link, as it’s located to the west of the existing A concourse (between there and 99, which is not much more than 100m). Now the station–yeah, that’s a different story. It’s a good 3/4 mile if you walk through the terminal; only about 0.4 miles if you could walk along 99, which of course you can’t on that side. Selfishly as I would use that new facility fairly frequently I’d love a second station there…since they can’t fix the original f up of the current station’s location. never mind, d.p.–I see what you’re saying re the location of the existing station as opposed to how close the track will actually be to the terminal at that location. I agree completely. For the most part, international arrivals means people carrying large quantities of luggage. Most of these are probably not Link customers anyway. The airport end isn’t so bad, since you can at least take a SmartCart right up to the station. It’s the lack of luggage racks on the train itself, plus the problem of what to do at the other end of the trip. Even if you have someone picking you up, it is usually easier for the driver to simply go to the airport than to deal with all the traffic getting in and out of downtown (the problem of driver and passenger finding each other tends to be more difficult downtown as well). Two hours ago, ASDF, I got off a jam-packed shuttle from the N satellite to the main terminal. Of the 100+ people on that shuttle, I was the only one to head toward Link. Ease and station location matter. You can deny this all you want, but the near-empty trains running to and fro every ten minutes prove you wrong. I have a gasoline related question. That’s sort of transit related, right? Before about the 1970’s, you could pump your gas first, then pay. Even with cash. Just pick up the nozzle, fill your car, then go in and pay. But sometime around the 70’s, gas stations stopped allowing that. They all became prepay. I understand there were two gas shortages in the 70’s, but adjusted for inflation, gas prices pre-70’s were no higher than they are now, so it can’t be that higher gas prices causes more drive-offs, because the prices are the same as in the 1950’s. So my question is, is it just that people are less honest today than in the 50’s, or is there some other reason gas is now pre-pay? Most likely the technology to accomplish prepay the pump dropped to a low enough price to be less than the cost of people leaving without paying. Because most people pay with a credit card or debit card, with a reader at the pump – just as easy to collect the data at the front end of the transaction instead of the backend, and there is no chance of theft at all this way. Those readers didn’t exist years ago. Full service was a lot more common in those days. Even if you pumped yourself, there was someone out there to make sure you paid. Also while gas prices aren’t really all that much higher in real terms than in 1970 (especially pre-tax prices), they were a lot more expensive (in real terms) in 1979 than in 1970, and it’s around then that the switch to self pump/pre pay started. That’s the real difference. Self-serve pretty much demands pre-pay. When I visit Oregon, they don’t need pre-payment. Another factor is that the gasoline business has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 50s, the folks at the gas station probably knew most of their customers personally. Nowadays, stations serve more customers with more pumps and higher volumes, but probably with lower margins. Back then, the station owner could give you grief next time you came in if you drove off without paying. Nowadays, they’d need to review the recording on the DVR and track you down from your license plate. I’ve got a question for y’all. Tonight on the northbound 574 at 512 P&R, I got carded. The driver noticed I was using a youth ORCA card, and asked me to show ID because I do look over 18 (I just turned 18 in May). I explained that I don’t have ID, and I don’t need it because both it’s not in the Sound Transit schedule book that I need ID ready to pay youth fare, and because I have a valid youth ORCA card, which required age-providing identification to obtain. She says those aren’t valid, because I could have obtained the card from a youth to pay a lesser fare, and they have had the ID for youth fare requirement for 8 years. She let me go, and I almost missed my transfer in Federal Way. My question is does Sound Transit require ID for cash payment, ORCA card, both, or neither? She insisted both, but that would kind of eliminate a benefit of an ORCA card. I will not carry around my passport for this; it’s ridiculous. Even if some people do transfer youth cards, it’s not like it’s going to hurt the agency. It punishes youth by potentially denying them a ride, and it punishes everyone by being late. When she said that I could have obtained the ORCA card from a youth, I thought she was joking! I could have done the same with non-photo ID (or even photo ID sometimes). Am I supposed to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am under 19 RIGHT THERE, while the bus is running late? *let me go, as in “I’ll let you ride this once, but have ID ready next time.” I also didn’t have any cash in my pocket. If Sound Transit wanted to be able to verify ORCA cards were being used by their proper owners they should have a put picture on the ORCA card. It’s an obvious solution, isn’t it? My advice: next time a bus driver harasses you, ask her to either stop or call the police (or transit police, whatever.) I’m sure she’ll refuse to make a scene because she can’t take that risk. You are not personally responsible for Sound Transit’s lack of planning with their ORCA cards. I can’t tell her to call the police, it’s not an emergency. That would make me look stupid. What really miffs me is that she said that this policy has been in place for 8 years, which is quite specific. Except I don’t see that anywhere in the schedule book or website of Sound Transit (which governs the 574) nor Pierce Transit (which the driver of the 574 actually works for), so if she’s right, this is a major miscommunication on the agency(s) part. I do notice that Pierce Transit drivers tend to be harsh with youth trying to use cash without ID. I mean, come on, the economy is tough now, but do adults using youth fare, with or without an ORCA card, cause ANY measurable burden on the agency? What I meant by “call the police” was “put up or shut up.” Often times people will cause a stink about something but they’re not willing to actually take any action. If she refuses to call the transit police, then what is she willing to do? If she refuses to let you board, you should definitely file a complaint with Sound Transit. Good luck with that…even though I’d love to see it. I am wondering why I should continue to use mass transit anymore. Both on my way to work last night and on my way home this morning I had to deal with buses that were very late. I got to work late and git home half an hourr later than normal. I mean why? Drivers do not care. If they are late it is no big deal to them. They could not even start the routes and would not even get in trouble. I have seen them sit around at the first stop sometimes 15-20 after they were supposed to start. The rules are never enforced. I pay for my fare always. However, if you do not pay it is ok the driver will not do anything. Stealing in encouraged by Metro and Sound transit. The facebook page telling what the daily transfer is so criminals can use reuse old ones is still in effect. These criminals are getting away with it and no one cares. Also while driving the code of conduct is not enforced. People blast music without headphones. If you ask them politely to please use headphones or to turn it down you are cursed out or, even worse, called a racist. You tell the driver and most of the time they do not make an announcement. I have been talked down to by drivers for asking. I know that as a South King County Resident I am a second class citizen in all of your eyes. Seattle is all that is important to you. So I know that this will be just laughed at and tossed. I just feel I need to point these things out. I am just sick of it all. With regard to the XpressWest HSR project that is now shelved, if the Federal Government is footing a large percentage of the funding for a mega-project, it is not unreasonable for them to demand particular requirements. A “Buy America” requirement while not in keeping with Austrian neo-liberal economics, is still quite a valid objective for a government to demand. That the funds it puts forward be used to develop and foster in country development. It would be interesting to find out if the Federal Department of Transportation tried to assist the XpressWest entity with lining up suppliers that could fulfill the Federal Requirement or did it simply leave it to XpressWest to find those suppliers on their own? On the other hand, XpressWest could launch a grievance that this rulemaking maybe out of compliance with the open markets requirement of the WTO. In theory, a “Buy America” requirement should reduce the net cost to the federal government in that the feds will recoup some of the cost when the contractors, their employees, and their executives pay income tax (although such revenue will be spread over the entire government, not go to the HSR fund). Whether the additional income tax revenue collected as a result of such requirements exceeds the higher cost of building the track to begin with, I will not begin to speculate. The “Buy America” provisions are disastrous *because there is no US rail industry*. It increases the net cost to the federal government, a lot. Now, *if we had a US rail industry*, like we did even as late as the 1950s, then Buy America might make sense. We don’t and it doesn’t. Federal government policy destroyed the US rail industry, and you can’t bring it back with “Buy America” policies. You would have to actually subsidize it directly. “Buy America” is stupid in this context: it’s like requiring that all cacao beans sold in the US be grown in the US; it’s not *feasible* or *reasonable*. It would have made sense to protect our existing railroad industry back in the 1950s, but decades of bad government policy destroyed it, and now “Buy America” is protecting absolutely nothing. You can’t apply protectionist policies when you have no industry to protect. In the field of rail, “Buy America” is routinely worked around by foreign companies setting up shell-companies in the US to do menial labor jobs, because nobody is going to waste their time doing actual high-value work in the US. Worst case is a company like Boeing decides to jump into the light rail business. However, just to our north Bombardier builds some pretty good equipment. They have in the past set-up manufacturing in the US (might still have some). Seems like if we are going to have a free trade zone then the provision should be Buy North American. Bombardier might have an in because of NAFTA. Give the Mercer Islanders a giant P&R (with housing on top) in exchange for increased height around the station. Would it be possible to build a garage on top of the highway, kind of like a lid? It seems fairly common in other cities. That area is desirable enough that some real TOD should be doable. And if tall enough, the views would be incredible. It’s always possible, it’s just a question of money. You’d be talking on the order of $50,000 or more per space. A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel. The CU-Boulder team has devised a solar-thermal system in which sunlight could be concentrated by a vast array of mirrors onto a single point atop a central tower up to several hundred feet tall. The tower would gather heat generated by the mirror system to roughly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,350 Celsius), then deliver it into a reactor containing chemical compounds known as metal oxides, said CU-Boulder Professor Alan Weimer, research group leader. Speaking of leaving Windows 95 behind…imagine walking on to a bus, and it recognizes you and charges you without you having to do anything. Finnish company Uniqul has patented and tested out a new payment system that lets you pay your bills with your face. When it’s time to pay up at a gas station or mall, don’t pull out your credit card; instead, look into a camera, and wait until it recognizes you. After that, it pulls up your information, you tap okay and the payment is complete. Is anyone at Sound Transit looking at Link boardings? It is almost impossible to get on a train in the tunnel during evening rush hour these days. The last two nights, after waiting through two impossibly packed trains, I finally walked down to Pioneer Square, where there is always some relief from the people deboarding to get on Sounder. It’s almost making me rethink the 36, which is blessedly spacious these days. Add a third car from 4-7.

2019-04-26T09:41:15Z

http://seattletransitblog.com/2013/07/31/news-roundup-empty-space/

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Substitute for the infringing Product other suitable, non-infringing products. Any modification, marking or branding applied to Product by Biontex at the request of the buyer. The foregoing states the entire liability of Biontex, and the exclusive remedy of buyer, for any infringement or claimed infringement of patent, copyright, trade secret or any other intellectual property right by product or any part thereof or use thereof. We are liable according to statutory law subject to the Purchaser asserting claims for damages due to intent or gross negligence, including intent and gross negligence by our representatives or vicarious agents. This liability for damages is limited to the reasonably foreseeable at time of conclusion of the contract and typically occurring damage, unless we are accused of intentional breach of contract. We are liable according to statutory law for any culpable violation of a material contractual obligation by us; however, also in this case, liability for damages is limited to reasonably foreseeable at time of conclusion of the contract and typically occurring damage. The delivery of a defective Product does not by itself constitute the breach of such material contractual obligation. Where the Purchaser may claim compensation instead of performance, our liability is limited to damage reasonably foreseeable at time of conclusion of the contract and typically occurring. We will not compensate for consequential and indirect damages or loss of profit. The parties to the contract agree that the damage volume reasonably foreseeable at the time of the conclusion of the contract is in no case higher than the value of the order. Claims for damages of the Purchaser become statute-barred after one year from the date of the delivery of the goods. The statute of limitation of claims based on tortuous acts remains unaffected. Any further liability - whatever the legal nature of the claim - is excluded. This applies in particular to claims for damages on grounds of culpable behavior in connection with the conclusion of the contract, other violations of obligations or claims for damages based on tortuous acts relating to material damages in terms Section 823 of the German Civil Code (BGB). As far as our liability for damages is excluded or limited, the same applies to the personal liability for damages of our employees, co-operators, representatives and vicarious agents. Biontex will ensure that any customer data will be processed, stored, transmitted, and used only in accordance with the German Data Protection Act. In case that one of these Terms and Conditions above is invalid or incomplete, the validity of all other Terms and Conditions shall remain untouched. These Terms and Conditions are subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Application of the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods is excluded. If the Purchaser is a merchant, a legal person under public law or a separate fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this agreement is our place of business. The same applies if the Purchaser does not have a general place of jurisdiction in Germany or if his place of residence or his regular domicile is not known at the time of the lawsuit. We are free to bring an action against the Purchaser at his place of residence or at his registered offices or the premises of a branch. The reselling of our products to third parties is not allowed without prior explicit agreement of Biontex. The information, data and recommendations contained in all published Material Safety Data Sheets are based upon information believed by Biontex, after reasonable investigation and research, to be accurate; however, Biontex does not warrant the accuracy of this information. All materials and mixtures may present unknown hazards and should be used with caution. When necessary or appropriate, independent opinions regarding the risk of handling or exposure should be obtained from trained professionals. Biontex disclaims any warranty against patent infringement and the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Customer's sole and exclusive remedy shall be replacement of the product or return of the product and refund of the purchase price, at Biontex option. In no case shall Biontex be liable for incidental or consequential damages, including lost profits. These Terms and Conditions of Biontex Laboratories GmbH are valid as of January 01, 2017 and prevail all previous versions. To view the correct product and freight prices, please select your region. Find the right product for your application here. BIONTEX offers test samples. Feel free to order here.

2019-04-20T03:06:18Z

https://www.biontex.com/europe/terms-and-conditions

The landscape of development finance is changing rapidly. Traditionally, international financial flows moved from developed countries to developing countries. In the last decade, however, major emerging economies such as China and Brazil have fueled a growing trend of South-South development flows by increasingly channeling their overseas investments to other developing countries. China and Brazil are surfacing as major international investors through nationally owned financial institutions such as the Export-Import Bank of China, the China Development Bank and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). These “emerging actors” are financing major initiatives to acquire natural resources, open markets, and forge strategic political ties. They are increasingly financing large-scale, high impact projects beyond their borders—such as hydropower plants and gas pipelines—which may pose new challenges for environmental and social sustainability. This preliminary research focuses on Chinese and Brazilian overseas investments and begins to look at the growth drivers and geographic trends of those investments. Expanding South-South trade and investment provides welcome and needed sources of capital for countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the same time, these financial flows – coupled with the emergence of powerful financial actors from China, India, Brazil, and other economies – may pose new challenges for environmental and social sustainability. Trends indicate that developing economies will “account for 57% of world GDP [Gross Domestic Product] by 2030.”3 Despite sharp differences among members, the G-20 is supplanting the G-8 as the primary vehicle for global economic policy coordination.4 Large emerging market economies are defining their own approaches to development cooperation, governance issues, and environmental and social sustainability outside of many existing normative frameworks. In 2001, China’s tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) formalized the directive for Chinese companies to “Go Global,” a strategy to gain access to needed resources, stimulate the export of goods, and grow China’s multinational businesses and brands. Beijing has provided diplomatic support, favorable tax exemptions, insurance, and, critically, access to low-cost finance. Chinese authorities have simplified regulations to facilitate investment abroad. Three governmental bodies – MOFCOM, SAFE, and the NDRC – have primary but not sole oversight of China’s overseas investment (separate from foreign assistance) regime. MOFCOM is responsible for developing regulations for outbound investment and for coordinating activities with commercial counselors posted at Chinese embassies. SAFE issued new regulations in 2009 that reduced qualification requirements for offshore foreign currency lending and expanded the sources of funds for lending (including access to government foreign exchange reserves).11 The NDRC reviews large outbound investments to ensure they align with the country’s political interest and overall economic development policy. In addition, CBRC and SASAC also play an oversight role. Risk management guidelines issued by the CBRC in 2008 opened the door for Chinese banks to provide loans for merger and acquisition purposes (previously forbidden under a 1996 regulation.) They require “banks to perform due diligence regarding compliance, operational, and commercial risks relating to the parties and the transaction.”12 There is no mention of social and environmental risks. Rather than seeking financing primarily through the capital markets, Chinese companies obtain 80-90% of their funding from Chinese banks.13 As part of the Go Global strategy, China’s state-owned policy banks, largely the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) and the China Development Bank (CDB), were mobilized to facilitate international capital flows and support mergers and acquisitions of foreign companies. Although not the largest in terms of total assets and domestic investment, China Exim Bank and CDB play the leading role in overseas investment. Other state-owned banks, such as the export and credit insurance company (Sinosure), have also contributed on a lesser scale. The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) was formed in 1994 along with two other “policy banks,” the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank of China, “as tools of the government, allowing Beijing to allocate preferential or targeted finance through a hybrid of planning and market means.”14 As a policy bank, China Exim finances and implements the government’s trade and overseas investment policies.15 The Bank is under the direct leadership of the State Council. China Exim has exhibited phenomenal growth over the past decade. It has increased lending volumes by 30% to 40% year-on-year – an indicator of the accelerating nature of the "Go Global" strategy. China Exim is by far the largest export credit agency in the world. It approved over $70 billion in new lending in 2009, more than U.S. Exim, JBIC, and BNDES Exim combined. Why is China Going Global? Increasing demand for energy and natural resources is a major driver behind China’s foreign direct investments. In 2010, China was the world's leading consumer of several major commodities including copper, steel, coal, lead and iron ore. As China’s economy experiences unprecedented growth, there is a growing need for new markets, technology, and brands. The bulk of China’s imports from Africa originate from relatively few countries. While investments are spread across 48 African countries, over 70% of Chinese OFDI stock in 2008 was concentrated in five resource rich countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Sudan, and Algeria. However, by international comparison, China’s investments in Africa’s natural resources match well-established patterns. 50%-80% percent of all FDI to Africa goes to natural resource exploitation.21 Despite the rapid scale-up in Chinese investment in Africa, most foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa originates from OECD countries – 91.6% of total inward FDI stock in Africa in 2008.22 Similarly, the bulk of U.S. imports from Africa are sourced from relatively few resource rich countries; 77% of total imports in 2009 came from five countries: Nigeria (30.5%), Algeria (17.3%), Angola (15%,) South Africa (9.2%), and Congo-B. (4.9%).23 The top three African oil exporters – Nigeria, Angola, Algeria for the U.S. and Angola, Sudan, Libya for China – provided a quarter of each country’s total imports (27.6% or the U.S., 25.1% for China). China has executed a number of resources-for-infrastructure deals in Africa in recent years, backed not just by oil but also bauxite, chromium, iron ore, and even cocoa. In these deals, China provides loans for infrastructure development, which are repaid by delivery or sales of the borrowing country’s natural resources. This structure is used most commonly when a country does not have the financial capacity to guarantee and/or service a loan commitment but has a natural resource (such as oil) to offer as repayment. This approach follows a long history of natural resource-based transactions and is far from unique to China. BNDES – originally Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) but rebranded as “El banco de desarrollo de Brasil,” ("The Brazilian Development Bank”) – is a wholly owned federal government company.26 It is the largest provider of funding for capital investment in Brazil. As a key source for long-term financing and subsidized interest rates, the bank is normally responsible for almost 20% of total credit granted by Brazilian banks to the private sector. In 2009, BNDES estimates that it provided nearly 40% of financing for all investments in Brazilian manufacturing and infrastructure.27 BNDES provides direct credit, fund distribution through financial intermediaries, and equity investment. It also provides grants for social, cultural, and technological development. With total assets of $285 billion (as of September 2010), BNDES is Brazil’s fourth largest bank. Not only did China displace the U.S. as Brazil’s biggest trade partner in 2009, but it was also Brazil’s largest foreign investor, investing in a wide range of areas, from iron ore mines to vast tracts of farmland and the electricity grid. China and Brazil: A Strategic Partnership? China and Brazil seek similar relationships with Africa, sharing a strong proclivity to oil and mining activities. China’s trade and investment relationship with Africa, however, is far more diverse than Brazil’s, encompassing energy, manufacturing, retail and agriculture in addition to oil and mining. This makes it less likely that the two countries will compete over investment opportunities. A key challenge is to ensure these trade flows result in clear benefits to the host government and local communities, and safeguard the environment. With our record of independent research, our experience convening a wide range of stakeholders, and our close partnerships with organizations in China, Brazil, and several host countries in Africa and Asia, WRI's International Financial Flows and the Environment (IFFE) initiative supports efforts by both investors and host countries to move towards environmentally and socially responsible development. IFFE works to help these countries to apply the highest climate change, environmental and social standards to their investment overseas, report publicly on these standards, and respond to the concerns of NGOs and local communities. For additional information on WRI’s Emerging Actors in Development Finance work, contact WRI Senior Associate Xiaomei Tan xtan@wri.org. Note: All currencies are quotes in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. This collection of figures and charts is based on preliminary research conducted by Bruce Jenkins, WRI consultant, and Xiaomei Tan, WRI Senior Associate. The scoping research concluded in April 2011 and includes data from various sources that are updated frequently. The data is circulated to stimulate timely discussion and critical feedback and to influence ongoing debate on emerging issues. WRI has not verified the data, and figures and charts are meant to be used for illustrative purposes. WRI will continue to update the data as our research moves forward.

2019-04-23T14:52:43Z

https://www.wri.org/blog/2011/06/emerging-actors-development-finance-closer-look-chinese-and-brazilian-overseas

Need a Dumpster Rental in Days Creek? We have the commercial and residential dumpster service you need in Days Creek. At DumpsterWay, we strive to bring you the best service at the best price available. We have a wide selection of dumpster sizes in stock in Days Creek, OR, with flexible & timley pickup and delivery. Give us a call today for all your dumpster rental and roll off needs. Your roll-off dumpster in Days Creek, OR is only a phone call away. Don't delay! Dumpsters are available* in Days Creek. Most Days Creek dumpster rental companies will take care of securing this permit for you if you rent from them. Make sure that if you’re planning to put the dumpster on the street, the company has made the appropriate arrangements. You should also ensure that you get the permit in a timely manner and at the correct cost. If you thought the dumpster company was getting a permit and they did not, you will be the one who will have to pay the fine that is issued by the authorities. 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Therefore, whenever using an experienced company, you are likely to acquire top class companies compared to the built to be just starting. Consider this amongst other things like nearness of a company when looking for Dumpster rental companies. It's improbable that everyone within your cul-de-sac got struck on an similar scale. 1 household could possibly have had their particular trees cut recently, making them with a smaller amount fallen useless wood, although another could possibly have had a full tree uproot alone. Encourage everyone to pitch in for your others who live nearby who obtained hit the actual worst or perhaps who is probably not able to thoroughly clean their back yards themselves. Women that are pregnant and the seniors may particularly have trouble, consequently offer them the neighborhood's companies for cleaning their particular yard or perhaps carting their particular debris on the dumpster. Who knows, you obtain paid along with fresh cookies! Many people goes their entire life without at any time needing to enter Garbage Dumpster for Rent in Days Creek. Others could do it on a daily basis. But for those who are in between, it could seem like somewhat of a labyrinth while deciding exactly how to go about it. You might have a huge event in the organizing and need a method to dispose of the many trash. You may well be planning a major demolition and need a fast place to store debris without taking countless journeys to the get rid of. Whatever the reason, you can find people that will help you get precisely what you need. Below are a few hints that might help you get started. Most dumpster lovers in this area are professional with what they do. The masai have a good file, years of giving these services within a most induce and specialist way. It is extremely rear to find residents as well as users of the services in the region making issues about the services they find. The residents here have complete trust in the effort done by the lenders offering these types of services. The voice of environmental concern is at this point echoed by quantity of industries as well as business agencies across the US. Many construction industrial sectors in the US are producing "green" product alternatives, encouraging a great many others to go green to shield the environment. Wherever do they then get the natural material coming from? They use post-consumer as well as post-industrial waste while raw materials with regard to production of these types of recyclable items. They are involved in giving second life to the particular waste disposed by residents of US. Summer time is another terrific time for colleges to be remodeled. Many initiatives can be carried out and improved upon while the college students are from school. Lecturers and college students will be shocked when they give back back to school whatsoever of the advancements made. If you reside in a cozy climate and need inside renovating done in your school in comparison with winter bust is a great occasion to get this carried out. All of the youngsters and teachers should be out from the school in most cases. Improper training of the huge waste on to the truck may lead to back agony, leg as well as arm agony, acute injury, and other really serious chronic results. The hospital fees paid to heal such accidental injuries will double the amount that the person has ended up saving by paying off the trash upon own. Finally the person will find yourself spending big sum of money also to suffering. Often times after big parties or maybe home renovating projects, consumers are left with the duty of losing their own spend. If there isn't any trash drop off location nearby, this can grow to be very undesirable. Besides, who aspires to make several trips transporting trash all-around, hoping to get a suitable location to leave it? In general all you'd have to complete is purchase the dumpster as well as throw your current garbage in it. The rest is left upwards to the company. Rental Period of time: Normally Garbage Dumpster for Rent in Days Creek firms will allow you to retain dumpsters for 5 - 7 times while there are many companies that provide up to 2 week times however, these companies are extremely less and hard to found. When you keep your dumpster in excess of permitted time limit clause than a person again will need to pay further amount. You'll cough up on daily basis which can range between $5 to $15 per day. So it will be advisable to search for rental period also in order to may well avoid from further payment. 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It is very important to choose the proper weight restriction, because if the contents go beyond the amount chosen an additional fee is usually added to the rental price. Dumpsters are available in different sizes and choosing the best one is important because the bigger dumpster you ultimately choose, the more it'll cost. If you are doing a house remodeling or house expansion venture, then you will have got to deal with a lot of waste, that could require a dumpster sized 30-40 cubic feet. Choosing the right dumpster size not merely determines the cost of these services, almost all determines the way effectively you are able to move the waste from your property. Please remember to verify that will what you approach to put in the Garbage Dumpster for Rent in Days Creek, ORs, garbage rubbish bin rentals or even disposal containers are allowed. Additionally you want to look into the pricing ahead of time and allow the sales person describe your options regarding sizes and exactly how much. Virtually all companies that focus on Garbage Dumpster for Rent in Days Creek, ORs or even garbage bin renting in various cities and says have distinct bases for his or her charges. A number of charge weekly, others just by each insert taken away. A number of charge from the ton or even material broke up with. Obviously, you may need to ask about you can actually charging construction when you are arranging and figure out which package will be to suit your needs the most beneficial. You would loathe to find out the time you are getting your party, or even tearing down your storage that you are not capable to use the dumpster or even garbage bins for your reason you intended. Rent some sort of dumpster services commonly charge using a basic price and every day fee. It will be possible to keep costs down through only placing your order units for any very distinct time frame, however that can often make items difficult for tasks that over function. Most depots offer a long term discount, so ensure to check when booking the unit. Hire Duration: How long do you need the dumpster for? Dumpsters can be rented from the month or even on a long lasting basis (commonly with a 12-month commitment). Keep in mind that should you keep a short-term roll-off longer than the previously decided upon lease timeframe, there can be more charges of the average $15-$50 every day. When a organization or property owner decides on the dimensions of dumpster that their property requires, then they need to start out evaluating rental organizations. The main thing that will separates rental companies that may seem similar is their service. The person hiring the dumpster demands to know whether would like the complete dumpster to be taken away and a a different one put in it is place each pick up, or maybe the dumpster they have will be emptied into a pick up truck and put back as a replacement.

2019-04-23T06:22:40Z

https://dumpsterway.com/oregon/garbage-dumpster-for-rent-days-creek-or/

Whether you want to sing along to live music at a night market, cruise through the canals of a floating market, taste amazing cheap Thai dishes at a street food market, or watch a train pass right through the centre of the mind-boggling railway market, you’ll find what you’re looking for in one of the many Bangkok markets. Plus, they’re a great way to get in touch with the real, local vibe of a city and save you some money on food, fashion and more. So what are the best markets in Bangkok? We’ve rounded up our ten favourites, including a few lesser known gems to help you get off the beaten track. Bang Nam Pheung Floating Market is not on the usual tourist itinerary, but is a favourite amongst the city’s hip expat crowd. Located on the “Lungs of Bangkok” aka the lush island of Bang Krachao, this is one of Bangkok’s best markets. You can browse handmade goods and a huge range of Thai foods at a leisurely pace, as you criss-cross the series of small canals that dissect the market. It’s best to arrive early here – the market opens at 8am as it’s all over by 3pm. Once you’ve loaded up on street food, you can rent a bicycle for just 70 Thai Baht and cycle through the surrounding villages on Bang Krachao. You’ll be blown away by this little known side of the city, which will transport you back to a Bangkok of 50 years ago. If you’re a fan of vintage cars, unusual antiques and hipster bars with live Thai bands, then this is the place for you. The road leading into the market is crammed with fun looking bars and small restaurants, however don’t stop here because this place is big. Head further into the market to discover a huge assortment of Thai foods, ramshackle clothing shops and well restored vintage cars and motorbikes. The Rot Fai Night Market Srinakarin is located just behind Paradise Park shopping center and is open Thursday night to Sunday night every week. Taxi is the best way to get here as there is limited public transport in this area of Bangkok. A taxi from Onnut or Prakanong BTS should cost around £2.30. Remember to go by the meter, not a flat rate. Ko Kret is another manmade island on the Chao Phraya River, located just north of Bangkok in the neighboring Nonthaburi Province. Walking or cycling around the island counter clockwise from the ferry pier will take you through a local riverside market. This market is famous for its handmade pottery, and you’ll find plenty of tasty Thai foods and traditional desserts here too. The best way to reach Ko Kret Market is by taxi. It’ll take around 30-45 minutes from central Bangkok and cost about £7, making it the most economical option if you have a small group to split the fare. The tourist boat no longer runs from Saphan Taksin to Ko Kret, so alternative transport options are limited. After lunch continue your way around the island to explore the outer Bangkok village lifestyle. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Chit Brewery. This is one of Bangkok’s best microbreweries, offering a chilled outdoor seating area right by the Chao Phraya River. Think of a market sprawled all over a narrow train track, heavily covered by umbrellas. Then a train sounds its horn and within minutes the entire market has been momentarily packed away. This is the Maeklong Railway Market, one of Thailand’s most unique attractions. The stalls mostly sell fresh fruits and seafood, which will really only interest locals. However there are some good restaurants and cafes around the area, and of course the main attraction is to see the train glide right through the middle of the market. The Maeklong Railway market is located in Samut Songkhram province, a short distance from the Amapwha Floating market. Consider combining these two destinations for a great day trip out of the centre of Bangkok. The best way to get here is minivan from Bangkok’s Southern bus terminal which costs £1.60 per person one way and takes about 1.5 hours. The Chatuchak Weekend Market is one of the best markets in Bangkok, and popular with locals and travellers alike. You can buy just about anything here, from fruit-shaped soaps to handcrafted furniture, gorgeous vintage clothes and traditional Thai ceramics. Be sure to check out the second hand area where you can find a huge range of seconds clothing brought in over the Cambodian and Laos boarders. You’ll be sure to pick up a few bargains here. Little known to most visitors, there is actually an extensive artist section hidden by the entrance of the market on the Mo Chit side. Head through the small shops selling homewares to discover a wide range of paintings and odd sculptures for sale at backpacker prices. The Chatuchak Weekend Market is located just by Mo Chit BTS station and is open on Saturday and Sunday only. During the summer it gets pretty hot around midday, so plan on arriving earlier to make the day more enjoyable. The Ratchada Rot Fai Market is similar to the Srinakarin Rot Fai Market but is more focused on bars and food. Expect to see a huge range of bars offering live music, cheap towers of beer and bottles of Thai whiskey. Think of this place as being the Thai version of Khao San Road, yet cheaper, better and open way later. The Ratchada Rot Fai Market is located behind the Esplanade Shopping Center on Ratchadapisek Road. To get here take the MRT (underground line) and get off at the Thailand Cultural Center station. The market opens at around 6pm Thursday to Sunday, and continues on well after midnight. Tucked away in the outlying district of Taling Chan, this is one of Bangkok’s most authentic markets. The Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market is a much quieter alternative to the popular Ampawha Floating market and mainly attracts locals. After exploring the market and having a huge lunch, be sure to hop on board a longtail boat. These traditional Thai boats will take you through the canals for an hour, and are a great way to see Bangkok’s riverside communities. The Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market is a weekend market open from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. The best way to get here is by taking the BTS to Wong Wian Yai station. From here you’ll need to take a 15-minute taxi ride to the market, which should cost £3.40. Khlong Toei Market is the largest fresh market in Bangkok. Here you can buy anything from chickens to frogs and vegetables to haircuts. The area surrounding Khlong Teoy is one of the poorest in Bangkok, so be prepared to see a different side to the city. Khlong Teoy Market is located by the intersection of Rama 3 and Rama 4. The best way to get here is by taxi, which shouldn’t cost more than £2.30 from the upper Sukhumvit area. Alternatively you can take a 30-minute walk from the nearest BTS station, which is Asok. The Damnoen Sadauk Floating Market is another very popular Bangkok market in the Samut Songkhram Province, about 1.5 hrs from central Bangkok. It makes for a great day trip from Bangkok and can easily be combined with a trip to the Ampawha Floating Market and the Maeklong Railway Market. The canals around the market are filled with small boats selling goods such as fresh fruit, flowers and BBQ seafood. The market is a great location for taking some photos, however be cautious of taking a canal ride on a boat here as prices are often way overstated. This oh-so-Instagrammable Bangkok market is located along the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River. As the name suggests, this vibrant and colorful market is all about the flowers. Visit early straight after breakfast to see the market in full swing, as local hotels, florists and other business jostle for the freshest blooms. If you’re not a morning person, the market is actually open 24 hours, and can also be a pretty cool place to visit in the evening. The flowers here are crazily cheap, and the smell in this place is unforgettable. The best way to get to the Pak Khlong Flower Market is by taking the boat from Saphan Taksin to Saphan Phut, followed by a short walk. The market is located close by the Wang Lung Market and can be easily combined to make a fun half day trip. Been to a market in Bangkok that blew your mind? Share your tips with our travel community in the comments below ? Josh Shephard is a long term traveler turned Bangkok expat. He makes regular adventures throughout Asia and explores a whole lot of Bangkok in between. Get tips on how to travel Thailand better, further and more uniquely on his Asia travel blog The Lost Passport and be sure to follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for regular updates. Maeklong Railway Market sounds like such a fun area to explore, especially since it’s most loved by the locals. This post makes me miss Thailand. I hope I can re-visit it sometime soon.

2019-04-21T20:39:45Z

https://www.hostelworld.com/blog/bangkok-markets/

BodyKey Review: Does it Work? Brooke July 2, - 1: That seems high should it be at — ? A serving of Shakeology counts as 1 red container in the 21 Day Fix portion approach diet. If I drink the whole smoothie does it have to be substituted for any other cups besides the red? Alisha July 22, - 5: I am doing 21 day fix in the AM and p90x in the evening! You should always consult your primary care physician prior to starting any new fitness, nutrition or weight loss regime. You have the chocolate shake mix, the vanilla shake mix, and a product called Sletrokor that the company claims will increase the effectiveness of the meal replacement shakes. Garcinia cambogia is fruit that grows in Southeast Asia. The gel from the aloe plant is often used as a topical treatment for sunburn and other skin conditions. However, they do provide healthy recipes you can use to change the flavor of your shakes while still using the base flavors. You can find several 18 shake recipes on the official website. Many of the recipes make two cups worth of shake, and can be prepared in 10 minutes or less, using ingredients like ice, milk, applesauce, bananas, and natural sweetener. Each bag contains only 16 servings, so you need two bags to make it through the month at one shake per day. Yes, there is a day money back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the product, you can receive a refund within 30 days of delivery. Any remaining items in the order must be sealed and unused. In order to get a refund, you need to give the company your name, order ID, and delivery address. One of the bigger questions surrounding such an expensive meal replacement shake. Some people love the taste of the plain shakes, while others need to utilize the recipes to stomach them. The chocolate flavor seems to be favored over the vanilla option. Some 18 Shake diet reviews say they have gotten great results with the program. We want to take a minute to look at some of the other options out there, as well as a side-by-side comparison to some popular competitors. It contains 20 vitamins and minerals and only has one gram of fat — and no sugar. Both of these shakes are among the most popular meal replacement options available on the market today. One serving of Shakeology has calories, so obviously 18 Shake wins in that category. Shakeology has 17 grams of protein, but their protein comes from pea protein, which is a vegan source. Both shakes use whey protein. But Shakeology wins for the variety of protein they offer. But, it contains twice as many calories, four times the sugar, only 9 grams of protein, and only 8 grams of fiber. IdealShape comes in 15 flavors and is more affordable. Chocolate coconut, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, banana cream pie, chocolate peanut butter, cookies n cream, vanilla chai, mint chocolate, eggnog, mocha, salted caramel, chocolate cream pie, superfood blend dark chocolate stevia sweetened, orange cream, cinnamon bun, key lime, and vanilla superfood blend stevia sweetened. It uses a different hunger blocker. Where 18 Shake uses Fibersol, IdealShake uses Slendesta — but 18 Shake contains more protein, less sugar, and fewer calories. Slendesta is a potato protein extract. Herbalife has a bit smaller portion size, at 25g compared to the It contains less protein — only nine grams. It also contains less fiber, at only 9 grams, but this is a hefty fiber dose compared to many other competing shakes. One container of Herbalife contains 30 servings. Not only is Herbalife more affordable, but offers a ton of flavors on top of it, making this our choice out of the two. Isagenix has a bigger variety of flavor options, like: Pumpkin Spice is a seasonal flavor, with other seasonal flavors released accordingly. Isagenix has several types of shakes. They have one that uses whey protein like the 18 Shake, but they also have a dairy free range that use plant based proteins. The dairy free shakes are also soy and gluten free. With that bigger portion size comes more calories, but if we cut them down to the same size roughly, Isagenix still has more sugar, more fat, and less fiber. The protein content is about the same. It is also free of soy, sugar, and gluten, contains 15g of high quality plant-based proteins, and is naturally sweetened. Hi Salma, I currently workout in the evening and have found a whole food meal after works best. I used to do optimim nutrition whey protein after my workouts, but I feel like my body does better with whole foods now. In reference to the shakes, I have a half s bag of protein shake mix, Curves brand. How does that compare? Hi Candy, Sorry I could not find any information with the marcos or ingredients for that brand. It says in book you can switch out a yellow three times a week for 16 oz of unsweetened almond milk. How come on shakeology recipes 4 oz counts as a yellow? Does adding almond milk to your shakes just make it creamier? Almond milk does make the texture creamier than water would. How do you meal prep? I was planning on prepping snack and lunches for the whole week? But wondering if cut washed fruits and veggies would stay fresh? Also same with cooked meat? I do not have any problems with anything going bad, but I would imagine some fruits or vegetables would not last as long as others. Cooked meats should stay good for days. Hi Lanna, No white rice is not allowed. White rice is processed, it does not contain the same amount of nutritional value as brown rice does. Can I subsitite non fat flavored Greek yogurt it has about two more grams of sugar than plain. Also with oatmeal is that also plain oatmeal only? Hi Nicole, Flavored yogurt is not allowed, they often artificial sweeteners. Plain rolled oats or steel cut oats, you can add your own berries or spices, but no instant oatmeals with the flavorings are allowed. This is really useful—thanks! Or will that be a detriment to my overall progress? You really should count the containers as they are meant to be. It kind of goes against the point of the diet program if you are going to counts yellows as red. The 21 Day Fix wants you eating a balanced diet. While benas, lentils, quinoa are high sources of vegetarian protein they are also dense on carbs, that is why they are yellows. What about green tea? Hello, I recently got the 21 day fix. Will I still get results by lowering my calorie bracket? I have a lapband and physically can not eat the amount of food it says I should eat. Hi Mallory, Do the best that you can do. Here are a couple tips — try to keep the ratio of containers as even as possible, alternate the containers you do eat over the week so you still get the balancing of the diet. I would use a tsp of olive oil and about a cup of mixed vegetables and some all purpose seasoning. Do the veggies that you enjoy most or have on hand. I am a caffeine junkie…. Hi Marsha, Yes, on the tea with stevia. No, on the diet sodas, those contain articial sweeteners that you want to be avoiding. What kind of dressing can be used? Hi Angie, The eating plan comes with 5 recipes for dressings, mostly olive oil based. Here are the names of the dressings so you can get an idea, — balsamic vinaigrette, creamy herb dressing, lemon tarragon vinaigrette, dijon vinaigrette, and asian citrus vinaigrette. Hi Dawn, The containers come with the program, base, deluxe or challenge pack. Check out my review from the sidebar for more information. Bethany, Are there any other vegetables or substitutes for the vegetables listed on the plan? Hi Emi, The vegetables in the fix diet are a good place for you to start. They are listed in order of most nutritious. So I guess my question is this all of the colored containers. You pack with the food you can eat. Is this for the whole day breakfast lunch and dinner or is this for one meal at a time? Just need a lil help. Hi Lacie Jo, You match you calorie tarrget that corresponds with your calorie level. So if it says, 3 green containers for example that means you get to fill the green container upto three times throughout the day. You could do two greens for lunch and one for dinner, or any way you like. I have a few questions, can you provide me with the link to purchase the 21 Day fix challenge Pack, and in addition to the challenge pack I would like to order a extra set of containers to keep at work. How do I calculate my calorie intake per day. I would like to use your meal plan but how do I adjust it if my calorie per day intake is different then yours. Is the 21 day fix ok for children to do as well? Yes, you can add on additional containers. The eating plan shows you how to calculate your calorie level, simply multiply your weight by 11, add for calorie burn, and subtract to get your calorie target. You can use my meal plan as guide and just add in containers where needed, if I had two you could have three. Children should have parental consent as well as parental guidance for the program, I would also consult with a doctor too. Thanks to you and all the others that have posted great questions and comments. I am currently waiting on my 21 Day Fix package and I did order the one that includes the Shakeology Chocolate and am beyond anxious to start already. My aunt is already on her 3rd week and has gotten excellent results using Shakeology. I do think the price is a bit expensive but if it will help me more, then I will do the sacrifice and continue ordering it. What do you think? Is 18 Shake comparable to Shakeology? Thanks in advance for your response Bethany. Hi Melissa, I took a quick look. My first impressions is it is just a cheap knock off. Frankly, it is not really even that cheap, the servings per container is so low. The amount of calories in the shake is also low because it does not really seem to contain very much. Not much I can really say, but I would stay away. It could be a company simply trying to piggy back off another. Exactly what I thought but figured someone with more experience needed to confirm my sentiments. Should I halve the water then? Also, is this enough to have after working out first thing, or should I add peanut butter to it? Hi Lisa, I would double check the bag serving size, it should read one scoop is a serving. I always like to mix something, but you can try it both ways and see if you have more or less energy during your workout. This is extremely helpful! I am starting my 21 Day Fix tomorrow and really loved the meal planning guide as well as your take on flexibility and shakeology. I will definitely be looking at your page for inspiration!! But, the 21 Day Fix diet is based around whole foods, eating multiple meals a day, so yes I believe it would be. Also, if we already have an exercise regimen is that ok? Do we still need to do the videos? Would that be allowed, at all? Your website is so helpful, thank you! Hi Micah, PB2 is not listed under any of the approved food categories. The videos are not meant to be combined with another program. Again, the creamer is not listed, you would have to check into the nutritonal value on the label for what it exactly contains. You do not want stuff with added sugars. I am very interested in the 21 day fix but I have a few questions. Is it extremely important to do the videos as well?? I run on the opposite days I am not at the gym. After the 21 days is up, where do you go from there? Start right back over? Thank you so much, your site is so helpful!!! Mi Micah, I would not do both your gym routine and the 21 Day Fix workouts, one or the other. After 21 days of the fix, I have seen people continue the next day picking up where they have left off, take a 1 week break before beginning again, and move onto to a different program entirelym and tnow that the 21 Day Fix Extreme program has been released this is another option. I can already see the inches coming off. I jave done work outs in the pass. But I would just eye things I would eat. I love this plan because it tell you what to eat and how much to eat. My husband and I have been doing the 21 Day Fix for a few days now and its going well but because of his hectic schedule, sometimes he cant sit down and eat the whole foods we have packed or planned on. So my first question is, could he use the shakeology twice in one day? I am not sure if there is anything against using the shake more than once a day. Is it bad to not feed your body after your work out? Or do you have any suggestions? Any advise would be appreciated. Instead, you could try drinking a recovery shake or a fast-digesting protein shake like whey — both will help you recover more quickly, and you can find both on Beachbody. I hope this helps, but please let me know if you have any other questions. Keep up the good work! Hello — just reviewing your site and I have a Q. I am assuming it means weight — but how much weight — in regards to bread wg. Much thanks, Kathi Hodge. Hi Lori, No, the container system is meant to get you eating a balanced diet by ratio. If you did that you would be changing the ratio of macronutrients. The containers are not the same calorie amount either, so you would end up consuming to many or not enough calories. Hi Mara, During the summer I grill both. During the winter, I will pan fry steak on each side for a couple of minutes and then broil in the oven flipping every two minutes until cooked through. Pork tenderlon during the winter is baked in the oven or slow cooked in the crock pot. Just a quick question…when you say you pan fry your steak and then broil, what are you cooking the meat in? Do you have to use a container for oil or something? Also, is that the same with the veggies? Should they all be steamed only? Any help you could give would be great: Hi Courtney, I use a cast iron skillet to brown and then broil. I use a tsp of coconut oil to fry in and yes you count it. Veggies can be cooked any way you like them. Hi Maysa, the best time to exercise is whenever you will be most likely to actually exercise and less likely to find an excuse not to. The best time is when you can most easily make the time to exercise and schedule it into your day. I am not looking to lose weight is this not the right program for me? Hi Kerri, you can do a hybrid program combining the two programs. Results will include overall toning and shaping, as well as increased strength, flexibility, and endurance. There is quite a variety to choose from. I am in the daily caloric range. My question is how do I meet that goal per day with six meals? When I wrote out a sample meal plan for one day, I still did not have enough containers filled as recommended. Hi Kiara, you just need to eat more than one of select color containers at at your planned meals until you meet your daily requirements. The good news is that you have a couple options. For example, add one or two fruits or even one fat to your Shakeology to make it not just a red, but a red, a purple or two, and a spoonful. Thanks for all the information!!! I know you said IdealShape is not comparable to Shakeology nutritionally…. But if I was to still use it I have two huge containers left!! What about the Isagenix Lsalean Meal replacement shakes? From what I have read they are very similar to Shakeology so could they be infused with the 21 day fix as a red?? Maybe, yellow and red container, limiting to three times a week. Hi Bethany, Thank you for the time you put into this eating plan. It is such a help! Shakeology uses whey protein, Bodykey uses soy protein. I would rather drink whey every day. Bodykey also uses stevia. Shaekology uses non-GMO fructose and stevia. The sodium count in Bodykey is mg, while Shakeology is mg — that is a substantial difference. And, Shakeology uses Himalayan salt, which is a naturally harvested salt with its own set of health benefits. Negligible amount, but not a great thing to see on a health food shake. Shakeology is a true health food shake and contains a huge list of superfoods, which all have their own unqiue health benefits to make you feel better than ever. There are no superfoods in Bodykey, although they have some probiotics in there. I am weird when it comes to daily supplements, so I would definitely opt for Shakeology over Bodykey because I happen to like their ingredient list better. Bodykey does have a lot of vitamins and minerals on their list, but for me, sugar alcohol as a second ingredient is not very impressive for a so-called healthy, meal replacement shake. I know from my own experience that Shakeology helps me feel good, recover more quickly, and stay on track — I drink it every morning with my frozen fruit and love it. Then had surgery and just ordered the 21 day fix to get back into working out. What do you suggest? Thanks for your time: Yes, I think using the containers with any program is a wonderful idea. As for the second round with containers, it is probably a combination of both. In a second round you will be in better shape so you can push harder during the workouts too. Hi, I am on the calorie plan- started out really well- eating the container amounts of food- losing what I hoped I would. Is it not a good idea to cut out those containers- of course that would put me below for the day- any suggestions would be most appreciated. Slow and steady is the way to keep the weight off for good. The first week I lost 5 pounds I want to lose 15 and am in the calorie range. Second week and into 3rd have only lost another 2. Would like to know what you would advise? Hi, I would recommend eating the amount of calories that the eating guide says. Eating below calories a day is never recommended as it is not enough calories to support your internal organ to function properly. I am started 21 day fix and I loved your meal plan. I was just wondering if you had recipes for the food? I have a problem getting my protein in and enjoy the taste and recipes you can do with P28 products! Ive also seen some recipes that use PB2 which I also have on hand, how would that be counted?? The Fix diet wants you eating certain whole foods for the most part. Will I fail on this diet. I would never have a plate with steamed vegetables on it! Hi Kelly, Corn is not a vegetable it is a complex carbohydrate. Do you like veggies raw or roasted, there are a lot of vegetables that I do not like steamed, that I enjoy roasted with olive oil. Maybe, this is something you could experiment with. I am wondering about the grey box you have. Are there portions for these things as well? I am unsure about how to incorporate them into their plans. Hi Heather, The grey box is the teaspoon foods from the 21 Day Fix portion approach eating plan. Honey, is that considered a yellow or a teaspoon? Also how long should we wait between 1st and 2nd or subsequent rounds of the 21 days or can we just continue seamlessly? Ah, this brings to question: When I complete the 21 day fix, if during that time I weigh and lost say 5 lbs, do I have to readjust the calorie fix? Yes, you would need to adjust your calorie level to your new weight for continued weight loss. Can you tell me how the Almond Breeze Coconut Milk, unsweetened can fit into the diet? Is it considered a protein or a carb? There are only 45 calories per cup so I am not sure where it would fit in. I see in your blog the question about what color container coconut milk is. Your shopping list shows it in Blue but your responses are Yellow. Hi Tonya, This post should be used as a companion to the eating plan the program comes with. The eating plan goes into much more detail than I could ever cover. The blue is for canned coconut milk. The yellow is for carton, but there is a weekly limit on these. So if you make your shake with unsweetened almond milk does this count as one yellow carb for the almond milk and one red protein for the shake? How much almond milk counts as a yellow? How can you lose the weight at eating calories at a higher amount than what we have always be taught? For example 56 yes old and eat calories… Thank you. Hi, If you are consuming between calories a day and burning a day, you would lose about one pound a week. And, you are right, the marketing propaganda has made weight lose a much more complex situation than it should be. If I am pounds how many calories do I need to burn a day to lose weight? The above comment confused me. Hi Dianna, A calorie deficit a day through diet, ecerise, or diet and exercise to cause about a 1 pound loss of fat over the course of a week. You have to take into account your metabolism and activity level, not only your body weight to create a daily calorie estimate. The program does include the simple equation you need an I will be writing a blog post shortly about it. I just ordered the program. Based on my weight I will be in the lowest calorie bracket but my husband will be in the highest calorie bracket. Suggestions on how to make food for both of us at the same time with such a big difference in portions for things? Hi Bethany, I have learned a lot from your blog! Just one question though, would I be able to use a little Stevia or raw sugar maybe a teaspoon or so in my morning coffee? THanks for all the info. Im starting the program tomorrow. Wondering if is ok if i work out first thing in the morning then drink the shakeology shake? In other words is it ok to work out on an empty stomach? I had gastric bypass 15 months ago…94 lbs gone. Can eat whatever I like now,….. BUT, protein for most important nutrition factor. Will this work for me? I hope this helps! Hi, loving your blog, really informative. Just a couple of questions — when measuring the rice has it been cooked first? And is cows milk semi skimmed allowed and if so what category does it fit in and how many fl oz can you have? Rice is measured out after cooking. I want to try the 21 day fix my only problem is I have had restrictive weight loss surgery and I know I will not be able to eat as many of the containers I am supposed to do you think this program could still work for me? That being said, Nicole how far out from surgery are you? If you are still within a year out I would suggest that you just stick with the meal plan that your surgeon has given you. I ask because I will not have time to be making separate meals for everyone with 2 under age 2! Hi Nat, most of the recipes will have serving sizes, so a recipe would use say three containers per serving. You would eat your serving size and mark down the containers. In your example, if a recipe used only 1 red and two greens, I would double, triple, etc the recipe so it makes enough to serve your family. Hope that makes sense. You would count the mustard greens as green and turnip as yellow. I have tried Shakeology and live it and have noticed a difference in my energy and overall health. However , it can get costly so I have been trying Fitmiss Deliight … What are your thoughts? Shakeology also keeps your digestive system regular, which also helps heighten energy levels. I currently do PiYo and I have a shake every morning. I do 8oz of unsweetened vanilla coconut almond milk and slightly less than one scoop of shakeology. I have the Arbonne shakes and do not want them to go to waste, how does it compare to the Shakeology? I am really interested in the 21 day fix plan. I am in the calorie range. But, I read a comment from you previously that said if you want to lose, eat less….. I am trying to lose weight so should I down to the next level of calorie range? I do workout daily if that makes a difference. Hi Christina, I rephrased my previous comment, that was not my intent for it to be taken that way. You are good at the calorie range for weight loss. The diet plan goes into more depth about the cxlore ranges for different goals. While looking at the different information available online about calorie intake, I noticed that my target caloric intake is over calories higher than calories a day. Am I going to feel starved out on this program? Is there anyway to adjust the calories a day? HI Aj, If you calorie target to maintain your current body weight is calories, calories would be a good starting place for weight loss. And, yes you can adjust the number of calories once you get a feel for the program. But, first it would best to use the program as it is designed before tweaking it to meet your needs. I understand that shakeo counts as a protein but should one use the protein grams on the back of the bag? Or is shakeo already counted as a red? Hi Dee, a scoop counts as a red container. You are right a scoop would not fit in a red, but that is what it is counted as. Just one of those things. So much great info! Hi Jennifer, that is tough. But you can make it work. Here are a few ideas. Try not to eat large meals on the nights you work, keep healthy snacks handy if possible, prepare what you are going to eat before your shifts start, go light on carbs and higher in protein and healthy fats. And, be sure to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water through out the night. Hi Sky, it is going to be hard to follow without the containers or workouts. But, do your best, stick to a whole food diet and you will be headed in the right direction. I have purchased the 21 day fix with shakeology. I work 12 hour shifts,making a fully balanced meal plan a bit difficult. Are there any suggestions to bes divide up the 5 meals throughout my day? Hi Cyndi, You use the containers tp portion your meals or snacks. Protein is red, berries are purple. Hi Joann, It will work, you just need to stick with it and if you have to make adjustments until it does work. Hi Sarah, your results will be different. But, I mean if you eat a piece of cake everyday durring the program your results would be different too. I have a question about family meals. I stay home with my 2 young boys and want them eating healthier, but I have no idea where to start as far as caloric intake, portions with them, etc. Is there a resource you know of that has reliable information for how to calculate their daily needs? Do you think I need to be as strict with them as far as portion sizes? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated! Hi Meghan, You should not have to restrict the portions. Hi I just ordered 21 day fix. Unfortunately Shakeology is very expensive but I do have a nutribullet and make my own kale shakes will that work for the moment? If not what can I use? You will have to break down the ingredients in the kale shake down to what they would count as in the containers. Going to try the 21 Day Fx Challenge Pack glad to here the pack contains Shakeology too, looking forward to posting back here on my results. Particularly referring to ingredients and the expense. Just a suggestion I have really. Why not point out that when u order the challenge pack it includes the Shakeology? Even my joints feel better!! Hi Danielle, Glad to hear Shakeology is working so well for you, I got my botfriend to start drinking it too and he said the same thing as you, that his joints felt better and were not cracking as much. With the different colour containers and foods for each container, do you decide on what to eat for each meal? Basically you create you own recipe? Hi Danielle, Yes the 21 Say Fix is flexible in that it wants you to be able to eat what you enjoy. So you get to be creative, and it does come with a fex basic recipes to get you going. Hi Kathy, black coffee is best. Splenda is artificial sweetener and is not recommended. A tsp of organic coconut oil is what I recommend to people. I would just need some clarification on the serving for this program…. Great website— thank you. Hi Rose, yes it is a cooked cup, so half a yellow dry, will come out to a full yellow when cooked. I start the program on Monday October 13 and I purchased shakeology but the individual bags does that count as one scoop like if I would have the container?? Hi Gaby, yes the individual bag servings are a red container. They have had issues in the past for the following controversies:. The company has faced much criticism from customers, as well as through several high profile lawsuits. For the best results with meal replacement shakes diet our experts recommend to use it at least 5 months. Save your money buying a few bags of meal replacement product. Any product sold by a multilevel marketing company will often be flooded with fake reviews. This is because sellers of these brands known they will earn a commission if they sell more products. Here are some verified reviews from real customers of BodyKey:. Many concerns were expressed about the taste, quality, and lack of weight loss properties. There was also a lack of appetite suppression from people. Overall, the only certified reviews about this shake were negative. There are better brands that have only natural ingredients, and a well rounded nutritional profile. The very best shake out of goes by the name of 18Shake. This meal replacement has a blend of 2 forms of whey protein for healthy amino acids, as well as proper appetite suppression. This shake is so well reviewed, that the company backs it up with a day money back guarantee. Thank you for the post! My friend don not like BodyKey their shake is shabby. My friend had a bad reaction to this cheap pill with upset digestive system and had an issue with a shipment. Never take supplement unless medico recomends this product! Leave this field empty. The information provided within this site is strictly for the purposes of information only and is not a replacement or substitute for professional advice, doctors visit or treatment. The provided content on this site should serve, at most, as a companion to a professional consult. It should under no circumstance replace the advice of your primary care provider.

2019-04-20T12:18:20Z

http://bootsoutletstore12.info/cuxo/bodykey-shake-recipes-jucu.php

What Service Mesh Architecture Should I Pick? If you are building your software and teams around microservices, you’re looking for ways to iterate faster and scale flexibly. A service mesh can help you do that while maintaining (or enhancing) visibility and control. In this blog, I’ll talk about what’s actually in a Service Mesh and what considerations you might want to make when choosing and deploying one. Looking at that list, you may think “I can do all of that without a Service Mesh”, and you’re correct. The same logic applies to sliding window protocols or request framing. But once there’s an emerging standard that does what you want, it’s more efficient to rely on that layer instead of implementing it yourself. Service Mesh is that emerging layer for microservices patterns. Service mesh is still nascent enough that codified standards have yet to emerge, but there is enough experience that some best practices are beginning to become clear. As the the bleeding-edge leaders develop their own approaches, it is often useful to compare notes and distill best practices. We’ve seen Kubernetes emerge as the standard way to run containers for production web applications. My favorite standards are emergent rather than forced: It’s definitely a fine art to be neither too early nor too late to agree on common APIs, protocols and concepts. Think about the history of computer networking. After the innovation of best-effort packet-switched networks, we found out that many of us were creating virtual circuits over them – using handshaking, retransmission and internetworking to turn a pile of packets into an ordered stream of bytes. For the sake of interoperability and simplicity, a “best practice” stream-over-packets emerged: TCP (the Introduction of RFC675 does a good job of explaining what it layers on top of). There are alternatives – I’ve used the Licklider Transmission Protocol in space networks where distributed congestion control is neither necessary nor efficient. Your browser might already be using QUIC. Standardizing on TCP, however, freed a generation of programmers from fiddling with implementations of sliding windows, retries, and congestion collapse (well, except for those packetheads that implemented it). Next, we found a lot of request/response protocols running on top of TCP. Many of these eventually migrated to HTTP (or sequels like HTTP/2 or gRPC). If you can factor your communication into “method, metadata, body”, you should be looking at an HTTP-like protocol to manage framing, separate metadata from body, and address head-of-line blocking. This extends beyond just browser apps – databases like Mongo provide HTTP interfaces because the ubiquity of HTTP unlocks a huge amount of tooling and developer knowledge. You can think about service mesh as being the lexicon, API and implementation around the next tier of communication patterns for microservices. In a Library that your microservices applications import and use. In a Node Agent or daemon that services all of the containers on a particular node/machine. In a Sidecar container that runs alongside your application container. The library approach is the original. It is simple and straightforward. In this case, each microservice application includes library code that implements service mesh features. Libraries like Hystrix and Ribbon would be examples of this approach. This works well for apps that are exclusively written in one language by the teams that run them (so that it’s easy to insert the libraries). The library approach also doesn’t require much cooperation from the underlying infrastructure – the container runner (like Kubernetes) doesn’t need to be aware that you’re running a Hystrix-enhanced app. There is some work on multilanguage libraries (reimplementations of the same concepts). The challenge here is the complexity and effort involved in replicating the same behavior over and over again. We see very limited adoption of the library model in our user base because most of our users are running applications written in many different languages (polyglot), and are also running at least a few applications that aren’t written by them so injecting libraries isn’t feasible. This model has an advantage in work accounting: the code performing work on behalf of the microservice is actually running in that microservice. The trust boundary is also small – you only have to trust calling a library in your own process, not necessarily a remote service somewhere out over the network. That code only has as many privileges as the one microservice it is performing work on behalf of. That work is also performed in the context of the microservice, so it’s easy to fairly allocate resources like CPU time or memory for that work – the OS probably does it for you. The node agent model is the next alternative. In this architecture, there’s a separate agent (often a userspace process) running on every node, servicing a heterogenous mix of workloads. For purposes of our comparison, it’s the opposite of the library model: it doesn’t care about the language of your application but it serves many different microservice tenants. Linkerd’s recommended deployment in Kubernetes works like this. As do F5’s Application Service Proxy (ASP) and the Kubernetes default kube-proxy. Since you need one node agent on every node, this deployment requires some cooperation from the infrastructure – this model doesn’t work without a bit of coordination. By analogy, most applications can’t just choose their own TCP stack, guess an ephemeral port number, and send or receive TCP packets directly – they delegate that to the infrastructure (operating system). Instead of good work accounting, this model emphasizes work resource sharing – if a node agent allocates some memory to buffer data for my microservice, it might turn around and use that buffer for data for your service in a few seconds. This can be very efficient, but there’s an avenue for abuse. If my microservice asks for all the buffer space, the node agent needs to make sure it gives your microservice a shot at buffer space first. You need a bit more code to manage this for each shared resource. Another work resource that benefits from sharing is configuration information. It’s cheaper to distribute one copy of the configuration to each node, than to distribute one copy of the configuration to each pod on each node. A lot of functionality that containerized microservices rely on are provided by a Node Agent or something topologically equivalent. Think about kubelet initializing your pod, your favorite CNI daemon like flanneld, or stretching your brain a bit, even the operating system kernel itself as following this node agent model. Sidecar is the new kid on the block. This is the model used by Istio with Envoy. Conduit also uses a sidecar approach. In Sidecar deployments, you have one adjacent container deployed for every application container. For a service mesh, the sidecar handles all the network traffic in and out of the application container. This approach is in between the library and node agent approaches for many of the tradeoffs I discussed so far. For instance, you can deploy a sidecar service mesh without having to run a new agent on every node (so you don’t need infrastructure-wide cooperation to deploy that shared agent), but you’ll be running multiple copies of an identical sidecar. Another take on this: I can install one service mesh for a group of microservices, and you could install a different one, and (with some implementation-specific caveats) we don’t have to coordinate. This is powerful in the early days of service mesh, where you and I might share the same Kubernetes cluster but have different goals, require different feature sets, or have different tolerances for bleeding-edge vs. tried-and-true. Sidecar is advantageous for work accounting, especially in some security-related aspects. Here’s an example: suppose I’m using a service mesh to provide zero-trust style security. I want the service mesh to verify both ends (client and server) of a connection cryptographically. Let’s first consider using a node agent: When my pod wants to be the client of another server pod, the node agent is going to authenticate on behalf of my pod. The node agent is also serving other pods, so it must be careful that another pod cannot trick it into authenticating on my pod’s behalf. If we think about the sidecar case, my pod’s sidecar does not serve other pods. We can follow the principle of least privilege and give it the bare minimum it needs for the one pod it is serving in terms of authentication keys, memory and network capabilities. So, from the outside the sidecar has the same privileges as the app it is attached to. On the other hand, the sidecar needs to intervene between the app and the outside. This creates some security tension: you want the sidecar to have as little privilege as possible, but you need to give it enough privilege to control traffic to/from the app. For example, in Istio, the init container responsible for setting up the sidecar has the NET_ADMIN permission currently (to set up the iptables rules necessary). That initialization uses good security practices – it does the minimum amount necessary and then goes away, but everything with NET_ADMIN represents attack surface. (Good news – smart people are working on enhancing thisfurther). Once the sidecar is attached to the app, it’s very proximate from a security perspective. Not as close as a function call in your process (like library) but usually closer than calling out to a multi-tenant node agent. When using Istio in Kubernetes your app container talks to the sidecar over a loopback interface inside of the network namespace shared with your pod – so other pods and node agents generally can’t see that communication. Most Kubernetes clusters have more than one pod per node (and therefore more than one sidecar per node). If each sidecar needs to know “the entire config” (whatever that means for your context), then you’ll need more bandwidth to distribute that config (and more memory to store copies of it). So it can be powerful to limit the scope of configuration that you have to give to each sidecar – but again there’s an opposing tension: something (in Istio’s case, Pilot) has to spend more effort computing that reduced configuration for each sidecar. Other things that happen to be replicated across sidecars accrue a similar bill. Good news – the container runtimes will reuse things like container disk images when they’re identical and you’re using the right drivers, so the disk penalty is not especially significant in many cases, and memory like code pages can also often be shared. But each sidecar’s process-specific memory will be unique to that sidecar so it’s important to keep this under control and avoid making your sidecar “heavy weight” by doing a bunch of replicated work in each sidecar. Service Meshes relying on sidecar provide a good balance between a full set of features, and a lightweight footprint. Will the node agent or sidecar model prevail? I think you’re likely to see some of both. Now seems like a perfect time for sidecar service mesh: nascent technology, fast iteration and gradual adoption. As service mesh matures and the rate-of-change decreases, we’ll see more applications of the node agent model. As Shawn talked about in his post, we’ve been thinking about how microservices change the requirements from network infrastructure for a few years now. The swell of support and uptake for Istio demonstrated to us that there’s a community ready to develop and coalesce on policy specs, with a well-architected implementation to go along with it. Istio is advancing state-of-the-art microservices communication, and we’re excited to help make that technology easy to operate, reliable, and well-suited for your team’s workflow in private cloud, public cloud or hybrid. So just to clarify: in the sidecar approach you’d usually (always?) implement the sidecar in it’s own container, where that container is “paired” with a given application’s container. But how does that relate to pods? I.e. to what extent are applications typically arranged into a single container vs two or more? If I have an application that is arranged across two or more containers (in the same pod) how many sidecars would you have? Therefore, is the notion of a sidecar specifically one that is at the application specific, container specific, or a pod specific? Great question and one that we could have done a better job of being clear on in the post. It is a sidecar for every pod. You can run the sidecar inside the same container as the service itself. It’s docker religion that you should only run one user process in a container, but there’s no practical justification for it in the context of a service and its sidecar. The recommendation refers to separate, independent processes that provide different services, and need to be allowed to fail and evolve separately. You don’t want this with a service and its sidecar. Between those two you want the closest runtime coupling that can be – they should always live and die together. Which is what putting them in the same container helps achieving for cheap. When deployed into separate containers, you need to rely on the orchestration tool to ensure this. Running the sidecar and the service inside the same container also reduces runtime overhead in terms of resources and latency (inter-container communication is cheap, when the containers run on the same host, but communication inside the container is even cheaper, and deploying half the number of containers, even with higher memory allocation, significantly increases deployment density). Running the sidecar in the same container as the service is an even closer coupling than as a second container in the same kubernetes pod. When the sidecar is a separate container in the same pod, it has at least a few defenses against bad behavior from the service. The sidecar can bring along its own filesystem, and gets its own process namespace. This allows for instance the sidecar to have certs & keys that are not available to the service. This is helpful if you want to rely on the sidecar; for example, you might trust the sidecar to apply a policy. Other services can trust that requests signed by the sidecar did have the policy enforced. On the other hand, if you view the sidecar as really just a friendly application enhancer and not a strong policy enforcer, then it’s convenient to run the sidecar in the same container. My experience with Kubernetes has been that it’s good at killing pods even if only one of the containers dies. It’s definitely possible to make or run your own container init system so you can run multiple processes and die if any die, but so far I haven’t found the need. I’m not sure what you mean by “communication inside the container is even cheaper.” In Kubernetes, two containers in a pod share a network namespace, so communicating over localhost is the same whether two containers in a pod or two processes in a container. Are you thinking about using shared memory or shared filesystems? Does deploying half the number of containers (but with each container being “twice” as big) actually increase deployment density significantly? In that case, it’s still the same amount of filesystem disk bytes, running the same processes, just with some extra namespace boundaries between them. I’d love to know more about this.

2019-04-22T22:52:44Z

https://aspenmesh.io/2018/03/service-mesh-architectures/

Are You Ready for Your Child to Get Fantastic Grades? If you are looking for the solution to your child's learning obstacles then you are in the right place. Get the Learning Success System today and get your child started on a bright future. Are you afraid that your child is going to quickly fall behind their peers? Is your child quickly losing steam? Losing self-confidence and beginning to wonder if they are “not-smart”? Maybe you’ve been dealing with this for a long time and it’s wearing you down. Do you spend so much time on homework that you are scrambling to get things done. Do you have no time for yourself because you are working so hard at helping your child? Has it affected your sleep? Your relationships? Skips Words - Loses Place - Letters Jump? Have difficulty sounding out words? Have fluency and pronunciation problems? Have difficulty with sight words? Loses skills you thought they had already learned? Are you afraid that your child will have a difficult time existing in this world without reading or spelling skills? Are you concerned that they won’t get a decent education? Or hold down a good job? Are you afraid they won’t be happy and successful? Are you tired of dreading report card time? Or parent teacher conferences? Do you hate to hear other parents brag about their children? Getting tasks done on time? Are you just plain tired of the struggle? Do you want it fixed? Do you just want this behind you? Have you had difficulty dealing with the school system or finding a solution? Well, it’s not your fault. The school system is not designed to help those who learn differently. If a student’s learning style doesn’t fit, they just fall through the cracks. They may graduate. But without an education. There is a solution. And it’s actually quite easy. There is a large and growing movement of parents who have found the solution. The Learning Success System is easily done in the comfort of your own home. It brings the combined knowledge of teachers, educational therapists, psychologists, mind-body and proprioception experts, nutritionists, and motivation experts right to your fingertips. No other system combines the expertise from these different fields to come up with a complete solution that solves every aspect of a reading difficulty. And it improves more than just reading. It enhances math skills and writing skills as well. It builds your child into an overall better learner. This is not more reading practice. It's not more of the same. The Learning Success System gets to the core of the problem. Quit beating your head against the wall (and your child's) by more and more homework. Get to the underlying problem and fix that instead. Anything else is just a band-aid. When you fix the core problem, everything else becomes so much easier. Learning Success Online Portal - All of the exercises neatly organized in our online learning portal. Sort by exercise type to get exercises suited to your child's needs. Daily Instructional Emails - We keep you on track with our daily instructional emails. Each email introduces the next exercise, explains the exercise, and explains the purpose of that exercise. Helping you to easily understand how to help your child. Video Explanations - Each exercise comes with a video tutorial. Explaining exactly how to do that exercise. This makes it very easy to follow and do. New Exercises Added Monthly - Each month, for a year, we add a new set of exercises to your account. Your account is always fresh with new and fun exercises. Member Forums - Interact with other parents helping their children. A lot of great things happen in our member forums. Access to Learning Professionals - Our team members are here to help. They'll give professional advice in the expert forums. Ask a question and get it answered by a professional. Exercises come in a variety of formats. Some are videos which you follow along. Some are game-like animations. Some are downloadables. Some are audibles in which you follow along with. All are easy and well explained. Making it very easy for you to understand and do with your child. I hear it every day. I hear about the endless struggles. And the heartbreak. Parents just want to help their children. And they'll do anything to help their children. But so often they try all the wrong things. Wasting time and wasting money. Wasting lots of money. Did you know that many Learning Centers charge more that $1200 per month? And every time you try one more thing that doesn't work, your child's self-esteem crumbles. Think about it from your child's perspective. If you've done "everything" and they are still struggling. Then they will just assume that they are stupid, and give up. They'll reach a point where they refuse to do anything. That's why it's so important to use the right solution from the start. Don't go down the slippery slope of ruined self-confidence. If your child is already acting out and using avoidance strategies STOP NOW and get on the right path. Don't reach a point of total rebellion. And if you are already there you need to back up. Get back on the right path. Just getting by is not a solution. Graduating with a diploma and no education is not a solution. It’s not a winning proposition. It’s a losing proposition. No employer wants to hire someone who can’t read. Not for any job you’d want to work in anyway. “But I have a diploma” will mean nothing to that employer. Why should they care? Kids graduate without being able to read all the time. And that isn't good for anyone. There are two major reasons why many programs fail. A lot of programs are just more of the same disguised in a different way. They are either more academics or a copycat of the Orton-Gillingham method. The Orton-Gillingham program was first used over 90 years ago. And nearly every program out there is a copycat of that program. Neuroscience has come a long way since then. Yet most programs use techniques from the early 20th century. 2) Only working one aspect of the problem. We’ve identified 8 major dimensions, some with subcategories. If you are only doing one or two of these dimensions you will have very little success. You need to cover every aspect of the problem. The Learning Success system covers all 8 dimensions. To cover all of the dimensions we assembled a team. Each member having expertise in one or more dimensions. It’s this well rounded, holistic approach that works. Members of the team have expertise in the following areas. It’s this multi-pronged approach that makes the Learning Success System unique. We attack the problem from all angles. Just like fighting a battle, we do not go in with just the ground troops and get slaughtered. We go in with support from all of the forces. And with the Learning Success System, you will too. Don’t get slaughtered by using a single approach. What Can the Learning Success System Do For Your Child? If your child is struggling with reading they are suffering. For them reading is torture. They are working very very hard with little or no results. They feel as if they are going nowhere. Lot’s of effort, no reward. But once you work on these micro-skills, then you drastically increase reading ability. Reading becomes easy. And when it’s easy it’s fun. Once a child is capable of reading well, they are often eager to discover all the exciting new worlds that reading has to offer for them. Children love to read. Look at the popularity of the Harry Potter books, and all the other great children's book. That popularity is a testament to the fact that children love reading. Or what about the things your child does enjoy? Maybe it’s dinosaurs or sports cars, or bugs, or video games, the list goes on, but the point is that once your child enjoys reading, these worlds open up to them. And that makes for a happier, more well-rounded, child. Which, I’m sure, would make you happier also. Reading shouldn't be hard labor. When reading is difficult, it is slow. Building up the micro-skills takes those shackles off. And when that happens your child will be off and running. Faster reading speed means less time spent on homework. Every subject requires reading in one way or another. So when you increase reading speed you save time across all subjects. That means more play time for your child. And burning off energy with play time actually, increases learning ability. Not only is the exercise good for them, but it’s good for their brain. It relieves stress, so they are not only healthier but happier also. Dumping all those nasty negative emotions that have been holding them back. It’s a virtuous circle. Faster reading equals more time. More time means more time spent on the fun things. That means a happier healthier child. Which means increased learning ability. And a happier healthier child means a happier healthier you. When reading micro-skills are weak, your child has to work so hard at the words, that comprehension is non-existent. Their brains are struggling so hard that they can’t grasp the meaning of the words. Especially when visual memory and auditory memory are weak. When you improve these micro-skills, you set your child free from the bonds of reading difficulty. No longer are they bound and held back by the struggle, but set free to actually comprehend what they are reading. And reading without comprehension, well, what’s the point? But once comprehension is available to them, well that changes everything. No more reading it over and over to try to understand. Get it, and understand it the first time. You don’t have to keep quizzing them and explaining each little part. You’ll just smile when you hear them read to you and then promptly explain to you the meaning of the story. When the micro-skills are weak. Reading is sooooooo tiring. It takes everything to just get through it. It might create headaches and eye strain. But once you fix the micro-skills, reading is a breeze. And when your child enjoys reading, they will read more. Once they catch the bug of learning, there’s no stopping them. They’ll be off and running with all the energy they need to complete their studies. How will that feel when you don’t have to help them through the littlest things? Once they can do it on their own? Reading affects all subjects. When reading is difficult, all subjects suffer. Improve reading and you improve all grades. What would better grades feel like? Who would be happier? You’re child? You? Grandparents? Teachers? Your whole family? How would it feel to know that your child is on the right path? The path to enjoying reading. The path to a good education. The path to a good career. The path to being happy and having a happy family of their own. With happy grandkids for you. Good reading skills means being at grade level or above. How would it feel when your child is ahead of the class? Enjoying school and gaining self-confidence. Increased self-confidence leads to a lot of great things. Like being more creative. Like being more independent. Getting things done on their own. Self-confidence is the key to a happy and productive life. The avoidance tactics will be gone. No more tantrums, crying, acting lazy, or shutting down. And no more feeling stupid. Reading skills gives your child the ability to really learn. Really learning and getting a good education leads to a better future. Think about your child’s future. Wouldn’t that be great to one day see them in a financially rewarding and satisfying career? With a happy family? You can look back on today and be thrilled at the choice you made. The choice to help your child become a great reader and a successful learner. How will you feel when that day comes? Visiting your grandchildren in their beautiful home. 1) Immediately upon purchasing you will be given access to the member's portal. In the lessons section of the portal, you will have access to your first month's lessons. This is to give you easy access to all of the lessons and keep things organized. 2) Each day you will receive an email. That email will tell you which lesson to do and provide further instructions for that lesson. 3) Each lesson takes approximately 2-3 minutes. Some will be very easy and some will be slightly more challenging. If a lesson is extremely easy you just do it a few times over a few days and then move on. If a lesson is more challenging you will continue to do that lesson each day until it becomes very easy. By doing the above you will be building up a daily routine. That routine should last for about 15 minutes. If it is less than that you will add more lessons into the routine. If it starts to get longer you stop adding lessons to the routine until the ones you are working on become easy and you can move on. This process makes for an ever-changing routine that your child will enjoy. Most children find it very fun. Since it is nothing like school work they often consider it a game and have fun with it. You also get immediate access to the member forums where you can ask questions of other parents and our experts. These small, easy exercises build up your child's natural learning ability over time. This makes school work easier for them. As their skills build homework resistance fades and grades improve. Once your child regains their confidence and has built up their learning skills they will begin to excel in school. Catching up to and often surpassing their peers. Your child is either moving backward or forwards. When there is a learning struggle things can go from bad to worse quickly. Every day is a new risk that your child will have that moment that is just too embarrassing and frightening to handle. Every day this goes on your child slips further and further into lower self-esteem, more frustration, and more fear. Making it harder and harder to recover. Go too long and the chances of turning this around become slim. So it is critically important to act fast and get your child on an improvement path today. Letting it go another day just makes it harder on your child. Every day that goes by is painful for your child. Act today and get back your happy smart child. Click the button below and get started. You'll get immediate access! I can't wait to see your child on the path to success. Our guarantee. Try the program and if you do not see an improvement in your child simply send us the completed worksheets and we will issue a full refund. Simple as that. Act now to get these free bonusses. It's important to have expert help when you need it. So we set up a private members forum for you to ask questions. You'll get answers from our experts and also from other parents who are working through the same things as you. Our experts not only have a lot of knowledge, but they have been through this as well. So they understand what you are going through. The program is designed to build up all micro-skills. However extra, dyslexia specific, exercises are added so that if dyslexia is a known issue you can focus more on those exercises. Specific exercises treat all forms of dyslexia including phonological, visual, and directional. Easy exercises that develop all of the micro-skills typically weak in dyslexics. Specific exercises help with math micro-skills such as visual memory, visual memory manipulation, and visual discrimination. Easy exercises treat all of the micro-skills typically weak in dyscalculics. Handwriting is important to learning. Developing the connection between the brain, the eyes and the hand is critical. It will help in other areas. And because there is less and less focus on this in school, we feel that it is important to get practice in this area. So we have added lots of extra handwriting exercises. Brain balancing exercises are beneficial for everyone. So we've thrown in a complete series of them. Whether its a quick question or a deeper discussion, having an experienced professional to ask can make all the difference. Our members forum is the perfect place for that. Ask a question and one of our professionals will be there for you. Our team members regularly frequent the forums looking to help our member parents. Sometimes you want to just chat with other parents going through the same thing. Or ask a quick question. We have found that our private facebook group is perfect for that. It’s easy and quick for when you just want a quick check in, or want to hear how others are having big successes with the program. We want to keep you on track. Email is a great way to do this. The emails not only remind you that it's time to login and do an exercise, but they also provide more detail on the purpose of each exercise and how to do it. Our members have told us they love this bonus because it keeps them motivated and on track. If you'd rather keep your question private you can do that too. We provide you with unlimited email support. That's right, Email anytime and one of our professional learning specialists will answer your question. We know that having a child who is struggling is difficult. It's hard to know what to do. So we're here to help. Kung Fu is where it all started. That's where we realized the benefits of cross lateral coordination exercises as well as confidence. I retired from teaching kung fu after 20 years. Since we knew how important these classes were to kids we filmed our beginning kids kung fu course and put it in the program as a bonus. These classes have been extremely helpful for a lot of kids. They could be helpful for your child as well. Okay, this sounds like an out of place bonus, but trust me, it could be helpful. Back in the 90's we filmed an exercise video. It was a hit. We then got lots of emails from people telling us their kids loved it. That wasn't the intent but what the heck. It's full of cross lateral coordination exercises. So if they want to do it let them. It's great exercise and a great brain exercise too. Everyone child is different. As you do the program you will start to realize patterns. The micro-skills that have been holding you back will become obvious. At this point you will want to concentrate of those skills a little more. We provide extra exercises in each category to allow you to customize to your needs. This will also help you if you need help in other skills such as math or writing. With this ability to customize you can use the Learning Success System to improve skills in all areas of learning. I can't say what this is because when we release it in the next couple months it will be a new product. If you purchase now we're throwing it in as a bonus. Don't miss out because as soon as it's released it will only be available as a separate purchase. You are going to like it. A lot! Get this program now because this bonus is only available for a short time. We are only making it available as a bonus for those that purchase now. Once we release it as a product we'll have to charge for it. I can't say what this one is either because when we release it in the next couple months it will be a new product. If you purchase now we're throwing it in as a bonus. Don't miss out because as soon as it's released it will only be available as a separate purchase. You are going to like it. A lot! P.S. Waiting is the worst thing you can do. Every day that goes by will eat at your child's self-esteem. Every day has a chance of being that day that embarrasses them so badly that they write off school forever. Every day counts. Get started today.

2019-04-24T06:26:11Z

https://www.learningsuccesssystem.com/get-started/child/not-dyscalculia

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Discontinue use two weeks prior to surgery. , *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. I purchased as I've regained previously lost weight. The employee stated that it controls both hunger and burns extra calories. It has burned extra calories but hasn't staved off the hunger. I purchased the GNC appetrex as a supplement. The combo of those two works for me. I have been using this product for 5 weeks. I have lost 3 lbs. I’m really close to my goal weight and had been stalled for 7 weeks. So I am VERY pleased!! Been talking for 3weeks. Didn't see any results. Noticed I after I started taking it my ear got really hot and my hand would get blotchy red spots and the more I took it the blotches went from my hands to my chest to my face. Stopped taking it as soon as I realized it was from this product. Only noticed this about a half hour after I took the product and my skin just felt really hot. Will be returning. Exelent.. it’s my second round and still working as expected! Highly recommend.. No jitters, have lost inches and weight. Taking Slimvance and watching my calorie intake. Go for it if you’re committed enough. Decided to get back into shape and this has helped me achieve that. As long as you’re able to commit as in changing eating habits, hitting the gym 2-3 times a week (doing cardio and weights), you’ll be fine. It helped accelate my progress. So yeah, I’d recommend it. if your lay it wont work!!!! I've tried three bottles of this and it does absolutely nothing. No change - no weight loss - nothing. I exercise every day and eat a fairly healthy diet. I do not recommend this product at all. This product saved me. I had been on the slimfast diet for 2 months. At first, I was loosing weight, then I plateaued for 2 weeks. I needed something to jump start my weight loss again. I went to GNC and they recommended Slimvance. I have been taking it for a week and am already down 3 lbs. I feel like I have a lot more energy and focus. When I get home from work after just having my slimfast shakes all day, I am not starving like I used to be. It has helped me cut calories as well as provides the extra energy I need for a longer work out. I have been using for a month, not impressed, Still have 2 bottles, will try til gone. Two weeks and no weight loss. Been taking it for a month, and have cut out all fast food and all soda for 2 months. According to my Fit Bit, I'm walking 3-5+ miles per day every day of the week. Yet have lost 1 pound with this product. Don't recommend it at all-- you'll lose just as much on your own. I would recommend Slimvance. I've been using it now for 2 weeks and have lost 3 inches around my stomach area. I started my work out plan in March I did slimvance August and September I think. I used two slimvance products. I didn't see any difference in weight lose compared to previous months and I took them religiously twice a day before meals as recommended on the bottle. I bought this product in the store based on a Sales Rep advice. I was looking for something to take off those last 10 lbs. I was already on doing intense workouts and had a decent nutrition plan, so I though this would help. I took it for 3 weeks and noticed no differences at all. I feel like this product is heavily misleading. If you are already exercising and dieting, I don't feel like this product is going to help. However, if you are looking for a boost to help begin your fitness journey, it might help. I do appreciate GNC's return policy though, even though the store clerk gipped me out of $10 and used a $5 reward without my consent. I really don’t see a difference after using this product for almost 3 weeks. I actually gained 2 lbs - I keep going back and forth with losing those 2 lbs and gaining them back. This product really makes me feel bloated - not at all slimmer. I thought this would help with losing a few lbs - ideally I wanted to lose 10 but would have been happy with 5. This just hasn’t helped. Highly recommend, I have seen a difference using this product for 2 months. Just make sure you diet and exercise also. It may work for others, didn't work for me. Great product I feel like it’s definitely helping me reach my goals in combination with my diet and daily exercising. I can see a direct change in how quickly my waist and stomach are decreasing in circumference. I have been taking this for 2 weeks now. I already am starting to notice a difference. I am losing weight in my belly. I exercise 4 days out of the week, and eat clean. This has really just been an aid to help me lose weight faster. I have used this product for two weeks now and feel a difference already. Not only do I not feel hungry, it really helps control my cravings. A waste of my hard-earned money! I followed the directions in using the Slimvance Complex but have seen no difference in my weight loss. Actually, I lost more weight on my own than while using this product. Hi I can honestly say this products works. I was 265#s on July 5th, now I’m 229 on Sept 23rd, that’s 36#s gone! It has completely changed my life! I focus on an 1500-1700 cal diet, 1-1/2 hrs in the gym every other day, I also take a multivitamin, an omega III, one CLA. Before Gym time I make a protein milkshake and off I go. In between meals a cliff bar to hold me over for the day. I feel great and look better and better every day thanks to slimvance. It has changed my life. Remember hi protein meals, low carb and low sugar. I just started using slimvance a week ago. Alsi i use CLA. To help with the process. I stoped eating carbs also i keep the 1800 calorie diet a day. I workout at the gym for 30 mins a day. And my family are ready sees a difference. I dont find it helped at all, took it for two weeks and i felt bloated and constipated. It is less effective than the one with stimulant. I prefer the stimulant version. Great product! Lost 30lbs already! I’ve lost 30lbs while using this so far. I can’t take stimulants so this is a great option. I don’t feel it gives me any more energy but it’s not a stimulant or caffeine so it’s not expected to. It DOES dramatically decrease my appetite. I still eat whatever I want, I just get full faster and eat way less. I will be continuing to use it to lose the last 15lbs. I dont think ive lost weight while taken this product. I'll be sticking to Performix. Can you take if you have a thyroid problem taking synthroid ? I would say yes it should be fine. It is soy and gluten free. So it should be good for you. I have thyroid problem as well and got the free 14 day supply of this, im going to start this weekend taking it. If anything send the igredient list to your dr to double check. How did your 14 day supply go? Did you notice any changes with your thyroid? Also, did you notice any changes in your body? Can I take this with metformin? BEST ANSWER: Can I take with metformin? Does this have caffeine slimvance ? BEST ANSWER: No It doesn't. Can you take this with a prescription for phentermine 37.5mg? BEST ANSWER: Ask you Dr about adding topomax and Vitamin B12 to your prescription with phentermine, but do not add any additional stimulants like this with out consulting your doctor! As a past phentermine user I would not add other stimulants while taking phentermine. If phentermine isn’t working for you please contact the physician who prescribed the medication so they can help you adjust your nutrition and exercise plan. Are you able to take this with HBP medication? BEST ANSWER: It is always best to consult with a doctor in these cases, but due to no caffeine in the supplement (a slight vasoconstrictor) you should see no issues with this supplement. We recommend speaking with your doctor. I'm not a breakfast eater, can I take at lunch and dinner? Did the product work well for you? BEST ANSWER: I used the whole bottle & didn’t see any difference when I took it. So I’d say it does not work. Nope. I noticed no difference. I might as well have been taking a placebo. This depends on work out, diet and person themselves. Has anyone taken this while nursing? Everything you drink or eat goes to your baby. Should a highschool athlete take this if they want to lose fat while on a lifting program? BEST ANSWER: Yes as long as your diet is consisting of 5-6 meals a day. You need to eat to supplement the product otherwise it’ll never work. No i didnt get the results the i was expecting! Can this be taken with diazapam? Dear GNC, why is there Talc in this product? Can you take this with a statin medication? Can the capsule be opened and take powder with liquid? I'm unable to swallow capsules with a coating. BEST ANSWER: Yes, the taste may be bitter but I usually just use something with a strong flavor to mix it into. I have the same issue. Can the powder be consumed with applesauce to help with the bitterness? how do y to try itou get the free trial ? If on Warfrin can you take Slim Vance? Can the slimvance no stimulant be taken with the thermogenics, are they supposed to be taken together for better effect? Can I take this product and continue taking the GNC Ripped Non-Stimulant Vitapack? BEST ANSWER: Yes I take the ripped stimulant pack and the non st I'm slimvance. Haven't had any problems. Yes, you can take the Slimvance Stim Free and Ripped Non Stim VP together. The add says it has Tumeric,Curry Leaf that I don't see in the ingredients? are they there? BEST ANSWER: Yes, it is in the patented blend on the back of the bottle. If you click the view of the label you’ll see all the ingredients there. Can I take this with Nugenix and Omega 7? I've been taking for 2 days and I can't sleep. Is this supposed to happen?? BEST ANSWER: If you are taking the Stimulant Free version, I would not expect that you'd have trouble sleeping. I haven't experienced that issue. Hope it gets better for you! does this work for people who are more heavier? BEST ANSWER: I believe you have to be on some kind of diet and exercise program. I am 53 years old and I lost 10 pounds. i would recommend it. Yes, there just might be a longer span of the product you may need to take, or a little more diet and exercise you may want to utilize to see faster results. Effects differ from person to person. I have Afib. Does this affect it? BEST ANSWER: I take the one without the stimulant in it. I am not a doctor, but I would say it would not effect your afib. Does this make anyone else more hungry than usual? BEST ANSWER: It made me painfully hungry BUT that’s when you have to make good food choices. Eat plenty of nuts and protein and that will eventually go away after a couple of weeks or so. It has suppressed my appetite. Does it help curb appetite? This product is not an appetite suppressant. Can i take after the breakfast and i am eatting the protein supplement? BEST ANSWER: No, you have to do what the recommended criteria says.. You must take at least 30 minutes before breakfast and dinner... It is suppose to get into your system before your food does. This product is recommended to be taken 30 minutes before breakfast and 30 minutes before dinner. I just purchased this slimvanse stimulate free and i am also currently taking phentermine/adipex are these okay to take together? Since this is stimulant free? BEST ANSWER: I would be hesitant, but I really don’t know. can you get a 14 day trial with out getting a 30 subscription? Does this product cause panic attacks? BEST ANSWER: I have severe panic attacks and I found this didn’t hurt me at all or cause an increase or decrease in them. I will say that the non stim one is the best way to go but the results made me less self conscious therefore my attacks started being less and less. No I felt no side effects at all . This was the best diet aid I have ever taken ! No not at all, it’s very smooth. Is this the one with the caffeine i need the one without the CAFFEINE??? BEST ANSWER: The stimulant free version does not contain caffeine. Yes, this is the one without the caffeine. This product is stimulant free. What if you were to take it three times a day instead of two? BEST ANSWER: As a dietary supplement, take one capsule 30 minutes before breakfast and dinner. Do not exceed recommended dose of Slimvance® per day. It did nothing for me. I stopped taking it.

2019-04-18T22:45:05Z

https://www.gnc.com/calorie-burners/487500.html?cgid=fat-calorie-burners

Soma Chocolatemaker is a craft chocolate maker located in Toronto, Canada that was founded by David Castellan and Cynthia Leung. This interview focuses on answers given by Cynthia Leung. I’ve had the pleasure of devouring many of Soma Chocolatemaker bars. I first discovered Soma when Ecole Chocolat posted a picture of Soma’s Dark Side of the Mug drinking chocolate on instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ecolechocolat/?hl=en) and I knew I had to have it! So I placed my first Soma order, and the rest is history. Throughout this interview you will find pictures of just a few of the Soma bars I’ve had concluding with their Milk Old School bar which (spoiler alert) tied for first place in the 2016 Dark Matters Chocolate Awards. Chocolate makers are extremely busy people, so a huge thank you to Cynthia for taking the time from her busy schedule to answer my questions. I am truly grateful, and look forward to seeking out all of Soma’s future creations! Victoria Cooksey: What was your first experience with fine chocolate, and what made you decided to turn your passion for chocolate into a full time career? Cynthia Leung: We were reading Maricel’s first edition of her book, “Taste of Chocolate” at home and eating a bar of Domori’s Madagascar. In combination this was our portal into the world of cacao. V.C.: I had your raspberry bar around the holidays, and had read that it took several months to perfect it. It definitely tastes like a fresh raspberry! What was the inspiration behind this bar, and how much of a process was it to create? C.L.: The raspberry bar took around 6 months to perfect, the thought bubble started a couple years prior playing with a combination of berries and white chocolate. We wanted this bar to capture the true essence of raspberries, which are wonderfully tart, you know that pucker face you make when shoving a handful of raspberries into your mouth? This bar was made to wake your mouth up in the same manner. Our newest fruit bar is the mango bar with lime chili salt. This was inspired from eating at the fruit carts on a trip to Thailand. The fruit sellers will slice up a perfectly ripe mango, put it in a bag with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of chili salt and shake. Such a perfect snack for exploring the steamy-hot streets of Bangkok. V.C.: Your labels are very specific about the types of cacao beans, and origins of the beans used. How close are you working with farmers to ensure the beans are what they are, and/or is genetic testing done to know the true type of beans used? Do you feel other makers are as thorough as Soma in this process? C.L.: The backstory for each cacao is so different- sense of place, terroir, genetics, farming techniques, historical back stories- fascinating stuff. As makers I think it’s important to pass this information along to the end-users. Of course alot of people will mow down on a bar right away for an immediate tasting experience but all the information is there should they want to explore further. There are time and money constraints to traveling to every farm we source from, but generally “as close to the farmer as possible”. The most intimate relationship is with Desmond from Jamaica who owns a family farm near Blue Mountain. We have become good friends over the years. It was a real treat for us to spend time with him on the farm because it closes our loop from tree to bar. The next visit will be to set Desmond up with a small bean to bar line to make his own bars, this will complete his loop too. Over the years we have built up a wonderful network of farmers where cacao is bought directly from, other makers we share beans with, and trusted brokers to connect us to special lots of cacao and cacao from politically difficult countries to navigate within. It’s a very exciting time for cacao, there are exponentially more small farms growing high quality cacao and providing positive community impacts than 10 years ago. Right now there are 20 different very promising samples at the factory. V.C.: When a consumer sees a specific type of bean listed, should they assume the bar is made from 100% of that bean when reading chocolate labels? C.L.: I would hope so. That is what a label is for. V.C.: How does conching, and roasting times vary when it comes to rarer beans like Porcelana, and Chuao, versus a bean like Forastero? What should consumers understand about the process of conching, and roasting? Do you feel there is a consumer interest to see roasting listed with terms such as: light, medium, dark in the way coffee is described? Is there a growing consumer interest in knowing conching times? C.L.: Every bean is different and every harvest changes slightly so adjustments are needed for every roast. The Porcelana and CSB Chama are both rare, historically significant & expensive so the first batch we made were loaded with excitement and a high level of anxiety not to mess it up. Rare is not a metric that determines roast or conch times, the Porcelana and the CSB Chama were roasted and conched very lightly to preserve its delicate nature. Conch and roast times would be useful to a consumer if there was a standard for a specific cacao and maker already established. Conch and roast times vary wildly depending on the type of equipment, temperature, batch size and numerous other processing variables that are unique to that maker. Ultimately it is the end result of making great chocolate that is the goal – most consumers don’t care about how their coffee beans were roasted as long as it makes them a great cup of coffee. Every good bean has a range of conching and roasting variables that will make good chocolate. Fresco does an amazing job of multiple interpretations of one bean. For a consumer interested in roasting and conching, sampling a range of one origin at different conch times and roast intensities are a great way to start understanding how the taste profile will change with these variables. V.C.: What are the joys, and the difficulties involved in making a bar using a mixed variety of beans versus designing a single-origin bar? C.L.: Blending is interesting, 2 different types of chocolate combined can create a totally new tasting note or a blend can be made up of isolated notes from different chocolate. Its another way to express the maker’s mark on a bar, much like a wine that is made of different grape varietals. The Little Big Man bar is made up of a berry prominent Madagascar combined with the deeper tones and bready notes of Camino Verde. It has a toast and jam flavour profile. V.C.: If you are looking for certain flavors what are your go to beans? For example if you want a red fruit flavor do you have a go to bean, etc? C.L.: Certain origins and farms have identifiable characteristics for sure but these can change with each harvest as well. The latest batch of Madagascar is so different from the earlier “very red tasting” chocolate, this latest bar has more of a lower register resulting in rounder taste. There are approximately 15 different origins stored at any given time in the factory to blend with. V.C.: Do you have a favorite cocoa bean, or flavor profile that you enjoy the most? C.L.: Not really a favourite no. Madagascar has a special place in our hearts since it was our gateway chocolate. We’ve tasted some amazing cacao samples from Colombia lately. The Tien Giang flavour profile of spices and blackcurrants from Marou was really interesting to make chocolate from because it was so different. Desmond’s Jamaican beans have a beautiful full flavour and of course I love the Porcelana for its expansive range of delicate notes. V.C.: What advice would you offer to bean-to-bar chocolate makers that are just starting out? C.L.: Keep at it, it really is a lifelong learning process there is something to be learned with every batch. If the batch is flawed don’t release it. Always have a extra set of clothes handy conching makes you smell like stinky socks. V.C.: Have you noticed any differences in the craft chocolate movement with makers and consumers in Canada versus the US market? C.L.: I don’t notice a difference. When we were in Japan for the bean to bar summit a group of makers and bean suppliers went for drinks in a tiny 6’X6’ microbar ( this is starting to sound like a joke). There was someone from every continent in that bar talking really passionately about chocolate. The community at large is very cool, there is alot of swapping of information, equipment and cacao. I think this is what makes the chocolate community very global. V.C.: When you’re not sampling your own chocolate, are there other chocolate makers you enjoy trying? If so, what is currently in your chocolate stash? C.L.: In addition to trading with makers, buying bars and friends gifting us chocolate, our chocolate collection is a bit out of control. There is chocolate at home, at the shops, in our car, tucked in our sofa- it’s crazy. There is so much more to try too so the collection is destined to get bigger. Also have a stash of Japanese confections. The technical quality and creativity is very enjoyable. Thank you so much to Cynthia Leung for this interview!

2019-04-26T08:27:48Z

http://darkmatterschocolatereviews.com/2017/05/12/interview-cynthia-leung-soma-chocolatemaker-victoria-cooksey/

We are working with partners in Argyll, Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Callander, London and Dublin to organize a series of social enterprise study tours, which SEWF delegates can register to attend prior to the main SEWF on 12-14th September. These are an excellent scene setter for the main forum allowing delegates to experience the rich and diverse social enterprise scene in the UK as well as taking in some local sight-seeing and culture. Delegates can choose from two-day tours in the Highlands, Dublin and Callander or if you’re more pressed for time, you can choose a one-day tour in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Walking tours will also be available in Edinburgh on the morning of 12th September. Disclaimer: Start and end points for each of the study tours are indicated. It is the responsibility of delegates to get themselves to/from the start and end points. CEIS can not accept liability for any costs incurred by anyone who misses their tour. No refund will be eligible in this instance. Study tours must have a minimum of 15 participants per tour. Any study tour that does not reach minimum numbers may be cancelled. In this instance an alternative study tour may be offered or a full refund will be made to registered delegates. CEIS can not accept liability for any costs incurred for tours that are cancelled. The 2017 Social Enterprise Census for Scotland demonstrates the significance of Social Enterprise in the rural context with 34% of Scotland’s social enterprises with only 18% of the nation’s population 2 This is confirmed in the Argyll and Bute Census Report 2017 3 , with £87.33million per annum generated by the sector, a significant contribution to the local economy in terms of economic benefit. The social benefit being more significant still, as many Social Enterprises indicated that there was not an alternative provider of their services. The study visit of Argyll and Islands will provide an insight to the land, the geography and some of the inspiring social entrepreneurs that help to ensure our communities are sustainable. Travelling ‘over the water’ to the Island of Bute will allow us to learn about social housing provision in the rural context with Fyne Homes, then Fyne Futures will give us an overview of their environmental services, which help provide employment and training for unemployed people on the island. Then we will travel off island on the wee ferry to Cowal, where we can get a quick introduction to community land ownership then our final ferry of the day will take us to Tarbert. Some entertainment and some of the areas fabulous local food will be on the menu after a busy day and to allow time for networking. The second day we can learn from one of the areas longest serving social enterprises with Tarbert Harbour Authority. Then on to Mid Argyll Community Pool to see their community run leisure facilities and learn about their exciting community asset developments. We will then travel up to Cairndow and visit Here We Are, to learn about the heritage activities and sense of place work, as well as income generation from renewables that have been developed locally. Come and explore one of the first recognised Social Enterprise Places in the UK on the iSE Social Enterprise Safari around the Digbeth Social Enterprise Quarter in Birmingham, West Midlands. Digbeth has over 70 social enterprises ranging from creative to digital, retail to manufacturing, professional services to public cafes – all contributing to the transformation of the neighbourhood, investing in the regional social economy and creating employment for disadvantaged people in an area of social deprivation. It’s a vibrant, thriving area that has become a hot-bed for social innovation, social action and pioneering social enterprises! Sarah Crawley (CEO, iSE CIC) will lead this ‘walk and talk’ and take you through the history of the area, the appetite for social change and our own journey as a leading social enterprise that is recognised globally as a foremost social enterprise tourism organisation that regularly hosts visitors from around the world – most recently South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and Norway. Birmingham Social Enterprise Safari tour details and booking here. Callander is a beautiful holiday town situated at the junction of two rivers in an area of outstanding natural beauty known as The Trossachs within one of Scotland’s two National Parks. Callander has an active community and social enterprise ecosystem. Our local Development Trust has established a community hydro scheme which disseminates grant income to local social enterprises, encouraging start-ups and supporting established projects. Come and visit Callander and you will not only see an amazing landscape in the Gateway to the Highlands, but you will also meet some amazing people! Callander has Scotland’s first 5-star Hostel which supports young people who are unable to access the labour market. You will meet a real Clan who have been extras on a number of Hollywood films including the local filming of Outlander. We will take you to Doune Castle to experience a scene from Outlander where you will be able to dress up as a Clansman. Another exciting local social enterprise is the Sir Walter Scott Steamship; we are offering a cruise on Loch Katrine with a Jazz Band performing as well as an opportunity to cycle around the picturesque loch. We have a number of social enterprises who are keen to develop their shared learning and we will facilitate a networking event to share experiences over breakfast on the second day and give you a chance to explore how a rural community came together and used social enterprise as a solution to build capacity and solve local problems. Dublin is on Ireland’s east coast at the mouth of the River Liffey. Our music, art and literature have travelled the world and made an impact on the hearts and minds of millions. Dublin is a multi-cultural city, creative hub and in 2010 was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature in recognition of its cultural profile. Ireland has a buoyant social enterprise sector which has contributed to Ireland’s economic recovery. We are introducing a national policy to formalise the sector which should provide an opportunity to further develop Social Enterprise services in both rural and urban communities. Come and visit Dublin, not only will you get an opportunity to sample the ‘Irish Craic’ and some cultural highlights but you will also meet a host of amazing people. We will take you to visit some local social enterprises such as ReCreate where you will get an opportunity to get in touch with your creative side. You will visit Partas, a successful social enterprise who will provide a tour of their facilities including their brewery which recently produced an award-winning beer. The exciting FoodCloud is tackling food waste, offering the first farm to fork solution for surplus food in Ireland. There shall be a networking evening in the famous Trinity College where you will get a chance to meet social enterprises who are keen to share their experiences. On the second day, you can explore the city which is steeped in history and visit some cultural highlights such as the City Hall, Dublin Castle, the Chester Beatty Library, home to a treasure trove of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books. Christ Church Cathedral, this incredible feat of architecture dated back to the 11th century and was built to overlook the old Viking settlement. The famous Guinness Storehouse and Trinity College. James Joyce and Oscar Wilde statues — just two of the great Irish names immortalised in metal and stone across the city. Recently named as one of National Geographic’s Best Trips 2018, Dublin is described as ‘Europe’s largest village’. We have always known Dublin is a great place to visit, but don’t just take our word for it! Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, renowned for its heritage, culture and festivals and home to circa 500,000 residents. The Edinburgh skyline is dominated by the historic fortress, Edinburgh Castle. There has been a royal castle on the Castle Rock since the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. It is one of the most important strongholds in Scotland and St. Margaret’s Chapel (within the castle walls) is recognised as the oldest building in Edinburgh. Between our organised Social Enterprise Tours and the World Forum, take time to explore the World Heritage Sites of the Old Town and New Town, as well as all the area’s museums and galleries, restaurants, bars and nightlife with something to suit all ages and tastes. Edinburgh has the largest Social Enterprise Network in Scotland, with a growing membership of businesses, organisations and individuals that create positive impact in the capital city to address diverse issues ranging from community assets, social housing, youth projects and training to food, farming and health and wellbeing initiatives. All focusing on ethical and sustainable ways to really change lives and make the city a fairer place to live and work. Join Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network on one or more of our tours detailed below and meet inspiring individuals and hear about the social enterprises they work or volunteer with. Please note; all tours are subject to a minimum number of participants, therefore may be subject to change at the discretion of the organiser. Start with a visit to Grassmarket Community Project, Scotland’s Social Enterprise of the Year and Edinburgh Chambers of Commerce’s Best Performing Business 2018 (11-50 employees). In the afternoon the group will split, and delegates will visit either the Whitehouse Café orTribe Porty for lunch with their host organisation and hear about their history, work and social benefits and meet other members of the Edinburgh Social Enterprise network. Enjoy a leisurely 2 hour afternoon tea cruise on the Union Canal, a national monument of the city’s industrial past, on a widebeam canal boat. Re-Union Canal Boats provide training and support to canal communities, allowing them to have access to the water.  Some of our community volunteers will be crew on your trip. We will start with a visit to Canongate Youth Project’s Community Café where young people undertake training in hospitality and catering. Delegates will also meet representatives of ‘Friends of the Award’, and ‘Freshsight’, a business consultancy operated by students from Edinburgh University. After lunch the group will travel to Falkirk to visit the Link Group’s Training Academy. Link Group is a group of award-winning social enterprise companies and one of the largest social landlords in Scotland. Boarding at Edinburgh Quay you will be taken along the hidden gem, once used to transport manufactured goods but now a blossoming wildlife haven.  A selection of tea, cakes and savoury treats will be served as well as an insight given to this often overlooked part of Scotland’s history, as well as the story of it’s revival at the turn of the millennium. As Scotland’s largest city, and with a population of over 620,000 residents, Glasgow is renowned for its culture, style and the friendliness of its people. The city offers a blend of internationally-acclaimed museums and galleries, stunning architecture, vibrant nightlife, fantastic shopping and a diverse array of restaurants and bars. It will come as no surprise to find the 730+ social enterprises in Glasgow match this spirit. With 1 in 8 social enterprises in Scotland based in Glasgow, active across all economic sectors and bringing in an estimated £777m in trade, they strive to transform the social and environmental landscape, improve our communities and substantially contribute to the local economy. With 22% of our social enterprises working within the Arts and Creative Industries we are delighted to bring to you a creative industries walking tour to showcase this dynamic sector. Our second tour offering takes you to all three areas of Glasgow (North East, North West and South) to visit three unique social enterprises in Glasgow and in Scotland. We welcome you to explore our city, visit our diverse neighbourhoods to find out more about our communities and vibrant social enterprise sector. The tour is based around Inverness which is known as Scotland’s Highland capital and is situated in the north of Scotland. It is one of the smallest cities with a population of approximately 61,000 people. Today tourism is a very important part of the economy and the city is fast growing. The region is home to a variety of social enterprises, some new and some very well established. Your first visit will be to one of the oldest social enterprises in this picturesque city dating back to the 1870s. Later that day you will experience a cruise down the canal and then out into Loch Ness, home to the infamous Loch Ness Monster! and catch a glimpse of one of the most iconic castles in the World – Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. Later that evening you will be entertained by traditional folk musicians and eat at a local social enterprise café with the opportunity to chat to a range of social enterprise business leaders and supporters. The following day you will leave the city and head north into the countryside and take in a Distillery. Not just any distillery but one recently established as a community benefit society and a prime destination on the NC500 tourist route. Heading back south you will hear about and meet more social enterprises and experience lunch at another social enterprise café. Your final destination will be in the stunning Cairngorms National Park, the largest National Park in Britain. By making the journey itself you will observe the noticeable drop in population numbers as you move north and by the end of your trip will have an understanding and appreciate why more social enterprises exist in the Highlands and Islands – per head of population – than anywhere else in Scotland. Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) are pleased to invite you to attend the ‘Social Enterprise Safari’ on Monday 10th September 2018. This is a fantastic chance for you to meet some pioneering social enterprises and learn more about how they are using business to tackle some of our biggest social and environmental challenges. For more information and booking please click here: London.

2019-04-21T02:41:37Z

https://sewfonline.com/sewf2018/activity-week/study-tours-information/

Toyota Tacoma For Sale In Wv ~ As vehicles as well as SUVs follow their aggressiveness over autos in the United States market, the 2018 Toyota Tacoma midsize vehicle carries the banderole as the recognized midsize barter as well as the fifth acknowledged barter total. The Tacoma is outsold in the U.S. alone by, in change of 2016 sales position, Ford's F-150, Chevy's Silverado, the RAM 1500, and also GMC Sierra-- all abundant past and also added expensive full-size vehicles. Toyota's own Expanse full-size barter avalanche unconcerned abaft the Tacoma in sales numbers, but the allocation is broad. In 2016 Toyota overwhelmed 191,631 Tacomas as well as 114,489 Tundras. The about sales numbers for all the vehicles up is banausic up until now for 2017. The Tacoma's development over the abutting acknowledged midsize pick-up, the Chevrolet Colorado, is additionally significant. The Colorado awash 108,725 devices in 2016. The Tacoma and also Colorado are both achieving able-bodied in 2017, advancement their regarding placements. That's included compared to can be said for included midsize pick-ups like the Nissan Frontier, Honda Ridgeline. All three approve evident sales accelerate this year, inning accordance with CarSalesBase.com. The midsize automobile exchange will certainly approve 3 brand-new players in the abutting year or two. Ford is bringing aback the Ranger in 2019, the Nissan Frontier is accepting an improvement quickly, and also the Jeep Wrangler auto is additionally accepted in 2019. The 2018 Toyota Tacoma has alone accessory trim changes from 2017. There are still 6 trim degrees, 3 of which are TRD (Toyota Competing Growth) variations, alignment from the sporty-looking TRD Activity to the full-on TRD Pro, which asks to clamber mountains as well as chase after in the desert. In inauguration to trim degrees, Tacomas appear with 2 taxicab selections, 2 barter bed sizes, 2 engines, 2 transmissions, and two drive caster configurations. You don't achieve wedding anniversary alternative separately, however, since the trim selections outright accessibility. For instance, the luxury-leaning Minimal as well as TRD Pro alone appear with bifold cabs as well as V6 engines. The TRD Pro is belted to the accepted bed breadth and four-wheel drive-- you unconcerned approve to accept amidst an accepted as well as automated transmission. If it seems like a whole lot, affront not; we accept all the obtainable combinations provided in a table below. The abate of the Tacoma's two engines is accessible alone with the SR as well as SR5 trims. The 2.7-liter DOHC four-cylinder makes 159 application at 5200 rpm as well as 180 pound-feet of torque at 3,800 rpm. The 3.5-liter DOHC V6 representative is accepted on the Restricted and all 3 TRD trims and alternate with the SR and also SR5. The V6 representative is ranked at 278 hp at 6,000 rpm and 265 lb-ft at 4,600 rpm. The EPA scores for both engines are comparable. In a two-wheel drive Tacoma with an automated transmission, the four-cylinder slice 19 mpg in the city, 23 mpg on the highway, and also 21 mpg in built up driving. With the previously mentioned setup, the V6 agent is EPA rated for 19 mpg city, 24 mpg freeway, and also 21 mpg incorporated. The Tacoma, like best Toyota designs, has a Toyota Assurance Sense house-- the TSS-P version. TSS-P includes a pre-collision arrangement with commonplace discovery, lane desertion alive with amplitude caution, automated airborne beam of lights, and also increased activating alarm cruise ship control. The Limited and also TRD Pro trims additionally accommodate back vehicle parking abetment alarm and also dark atom ecology with rear cantankerous cartage alert. Both look come on TRD Activity and Off-Road trims in a plan. Back car park abetment is furthermore accessible as an advantage for SR5 versions. All Tacoma trims approve the Celebrity Assurance Arrangement as approved tools. This alignment consists of representative adherence and absorption control, anti-lock brakes, cyberbanking brake-force circulation, emergency braking assistance, acute stop innovation, annoy concern monitoring, and, for Tacomas with automated transmissions, acropolis alpha aid. As pointed out over, taxicab appearance and box breadth are dictated by Tacoma trim akin and best of two-wheel or four-wheel drive. The table below reveals the easily accessible combinations. Picking a barter may assume disconcerting with six trim degrees and also diverse engine, drive wheel, taxi, and also box options, but you're best acceptable task to baddest from either groups. The SR, SR5, and Limited trims are accepted choices for basal project as well as ancestors trucks. The 4 × 4 versions do able-bodied off-road, yet if you intend to absorb bountiful time abroad from pavement, affairs are you'll angular against among the TRD trims. We've accumulated the new Tacomas in the abovementioned way, with aloft trim differentiations listed below. The "less-sporty" Tacoma build-up consists of the basic SR, the SR5 with the accepted advancement features, and the Limited, which is the best packed with comfort, convenience, as well as affluence attributes. The beginning quantity arrays from $25,300 for a Tacoma SR to a Minimal archetypal starting at $37,410. There's a great deal of aberration in quantity as well as accepted look acoustic this team. The 2018 Tacoma SR, with a beginning amount of $25,200 in 4 × 2 composition and $28,275 for a 4 × 4 design, is the basic midsize truck. As pointed out over, however, the approved guarantee and modern technology affection established for all Tacomas shows that alike this stereotypical delivers an abundant accord of value. The Tacoma SR has an chip development video camera, an Entune AM/FM/CD audio plan with a 6.1-inch affectation and six audio speakers, and bolt seats. The SR is accessible with both taxi styles and also box dimensions. It comes approved with the four-cylinder agent however can be updated with the V6. Be exact with upgrades included in this design, however. If you purchase you're abacus a ton of "essential" things, you obviously will conserve cash with one of the added trims. The 2018 Tacoma SR5, with a starting amount of $26,975 for the 4 × 2 and also $30,050 for a 4 × 4, includes accepted SR upgrades as criterion. The SR5 consists of keyless access with a representative immobilizer, a 4.2-inch TFT multi-information display screen, as well as Toyota's Entune Sound And also arrangement with Attached Aeronautics Application, which firm you could fasten your smartphone aeronautics setup to run through the barter affectation and speakers. The 2018 Tacoma Limited, beginning at $37,140 for a 4 × 2 adaptation as well as $40,215 with four-wheel drive, sporting activities a being plentiful account of upgrades. The Restricted love account includes sophisticated dual-zone computerized altitude ascendancy as well as the college plan Entune Premium JBL audio plan with a 7.1-inch screen. Six JBL audio speakers as well as a subwoofer show up forth for the trip also, together with chip aeronautics and an application collection. The Restricted trim additionally has an accepted ability tilt/slide moonroof, 18-inch admixture wheels, a capacity moving back home window, cordless charging, as well as covering seats. The resources catechism to acknowledgment back allotment from the Tacoma TRD trims is, "Exactly how austere am I activity to obtain with off-road driving?" The TRD sport, starting at $31,895, has a sport-tuned abeyance however does not fit included able off-road equipment. The TRD Off-Road ($ 33,150) and also TRD Pro ($ 41,520) wedding anniversary accumulation up with off-road functions. The 2018 Tacoma TRD Sporting activity's approved love collection includes Entune Premium Audio with an chip aeronautics arrangement and also app collection, an acute essential arrangement with push-button start, as well as LED daytime active lights. The Action in addition features a accouter abuse setup with tie-down cleats, accouter tie-down factors, a deck-mounted A/C capability electrical outlet, 17-inch admixture wheels, screw seats, and also the sport-tuned suspension. If you hunger to go much faster on alike rougher anchorage as well as clamber over bigger rocks, go up to the 2018 Tacoma TRD Off-Road. The TRD Off-Road has a multi-terrain technique option and a crawl ascendancy affection to abetment with send off and stopping over harder surfaces, as able-bodied as an electronically-controlled securing back differential. The TRD Off-Road trim's sport-tuned abeyance has actually upgraded Bilstein shocks. The high-grade for off-road fun is the TRD Pro, beginning at $41,520 with a bifold taxi. The TRD Pro has 16-inch atramentous admixture vehicle with all-terrain tires, TRD-tuned high-performance FOX 2.5-inch Inner Bypass shocks, Inflexible Industries LED haze lights, a TRD Pro drift plate, and TRD Pro cat-back exhaust. The TRD Pro trim has actually dual-zone automated temperature control, covering seats with spiteful advanced seats, rear auto parking aid, dark atom ecology with rear peevish cartage notifies, to life absorption control, and a clamp start-cancel switch.

2019-04-25T12:20:14Z

http://www.carrentalwheel.com/2018/04/toyota-tacoma-for-sale-in-wv.html

In times of economic instability people often turn to precious metals like Gold and Silver to protect their wealth. Up to 1976 the United States had coins minted for circulation containing Silver, and these are now quite popular for investing in Silver. The reason they are so popular is that they tend to have a lower price tag then your standard bullion coins. This lead the coins to earn the name "junk" silver. in recent years people have gained a large respect for these coins and they have since adjusted in price to be more on par with Silver's going rate. It is very rare to find Silver coins in circulation anymore as many people have searched through them, and banks have started using automatic sorting machines that set the silver coins aside, but it is still good to know what you are looking at, and what you are looking for. Quick Reference: Just below is a quick reference table for your convenience. Feel free to print this for your personal use, but if you use it on your own website, blog, emails, etc. please include a link to this article. Thank you. Some resources to get you on the road to Gold and Silver investing safely, intelligently, and hopefully profitably. Important words and phrases in the world of Gold and Silver investing. If you don't understand some of the words or phrases, use this as your reference. This is an article similar to the one you are currently reading but it highlights the Gold coinage of the United States. While the confiscation tactics are often geared towards Gold investors, there are sales people that will tell you whatever they need to so you will purchase their goods. People will tell you that their very expensive, often overpriced, rare coins are worth the price because they cannot be confiscated. They will tell you that they have this magical ability to evade being seized in the event that the government needs your Silver. These are all lies. Firstly, I highly doubt that confiscation will occur as we no longer have a currency backed by Gold or Silver (which was the case when the original confiscations occurred). So all of the countries that are holding our currency cannot come running to us asking for Gold and Silver, like they did when the original confiscations occurred. Secondly, these assumptions, and that is what these sales people are doing, are founded on the fact that President Roosevelt exempted coins that were numismatic in nature. This does not mean that a future President would exempt them again, assuming a confiscation ever did occur. Don't be fooled by these con artists, there are plenty of honorable Gold and Silver dealers out there who would love to do business with you and not keep you up at night worrying. This is a quick reference table to help you quickly identify which US coins are Silver and how much Silver content they have. World War II provided many obstacles for America. One obstacle was America's need for the metal Nickel. Because Nickels are made from - Nickel, it seemed a huge waste to put this vital metal into our coins, so they substituted the Nickel in Nickels with Silver. The only years that Nickels have ever been minted with Silver are 1942 - 1945. These are often referred to as "Wartime Nickels." Just like nearly every other very old coin, these coins are quite scarce and run a high premium. These coins should be purchased for their beauty and historical significance more-so than their silver content as you will pay a hefty price for even a bad condition one. Purchasing these Dimes in awful condition will still cost you a fairly decent amount. We would not suggest investing in these coins for Silver content, but if you have an appreciation for beautiful coins and history, then these make wonderful collectibles! These Dimes depict Lady Liberty sitting on a rock and holding a shield that reads "LIBERTY" across it. These Dimes carry a relatively high collectors premium and tend to be somewhat rare compared to the newer Dime issues. There are also different versions that exist called "varieties" that feature small differences like different sized dates. These are a good coin to begin with if you want a nice historical coin that won't necessarily cost you a few hundred dollars. The Barber Dimes are very popular dimes among collectors. They feature the portrait of Liberty as depicted by Charles Barber. These Dimes are more scarce than their more recent counterparts, and this creates a higher premium on these coins. You may still find bad condition specimens of these Dimes with a relatively low price tag but you will still most likely pay more for this coin than you would for a newer Dime. These Dimes are often called "Mercury Dimes" because of the image on the coin, but the image is actually of Liberty with Wings on her hat. The wings are supposed to symbolize freedom of thought. These Dimes are more highly collected due to their increasing rarity, so these are being less invested in for their Silver and more-so for their rarity. You can still get these in a lesser condition for about the same price you can get one of the newer Roosevelt's but don't expect a great condition coin for only the price of its Silvers content. These are the most common of the Dimes that you will receive if collecting Dimes for Silver content. These Dimes had the highest mintage rates out of all of the other Silver dimes and they are the most current ones made. These are often referred to as "junk silver" or "junk dimes" because of their relatively easy availability. Any Dimes that you may get that are older than these tend to have a higher value than what the silver in them is worth. This is their "collectible value" or "numismatic value." Any made after 1964 are just worth 10 cents, and that is because Congress passed the law that removed Silver from them. More Information: Article on American Silver Roosevelt Dimes. Very much like the Draped Bust Dimes, these Quarters are extremely scarce and will carry a very high premium. The Obverse of the coin features a portrait of Ann Willing Bingham, wife of Senator William Bingham. These coins also came in different varieties, so it is highly suggested that if you do purchase any of these coins, you do so from a reputable dealer. These coins are fantastic to collect for their historical value, but very impractical as a Silver investment due to their very high premium. While these Quarters will be less scarce than the Draped Bust, these are definitely a collectors coin more-so than an investment coin. These coins began featuring Lady Liberty on the obverse and are stunning coins. Capped Bust Quarters are very scarce in comparison to newer Quarters and carry a high premium as well. They are a historically significant coin for America because it was the first series to use the collar method that is used today. These coins also come in varieties so it is important to purchase them from a reputable dealer. The Seated Liberty Quarter features Lady Liberty Seated on a rock and holding a shield with "Liberty" inscribed across it. These coins are still relatively available but still carry a decent premium. I would not suggest purchasing these only for Silver content, but if you want a nice historical coin that is still relatively affordable then these are a good place to start. Barber Quarters, much like Barber Dimes, are a more pricey coin to buy when compared to more recent coins, but are a more inexpensive way to own a piece of Silver history. You will still pay a decent premium on the coin in good condition because of its numismatic value, but it is a very fine piece of history that can still be had at a very reasonable price. The Standing Liberty Quarters are a great way to own a piece of recent history, while investing in Silver at the same time. For a decent to good condition coin you will pay a bit of a premium because they are still relatively rare, but in a more regular to bad grade version of the coin you will pay a modest premium compared to its Silver content. I enjoy purchasing these in lower conditions because of the price difference. They are still relatively old, and poorer conditions can be gotten at a modest premium over the silver value. If you are buying American coins for their Silver content then you will most likely end up with many of these. They have modest premiums, excluding key dates, and they are widely available even in the best conditions. These are very popular coins with Silver investors, but few consider that they will eventually have a historic value to them just as all previous coins do. This is an extremely rare and hard to come by coin. Even a poor condition will cost you multi-hundreds of dollars. The coin's obverse depicts Lady Liberty with her free flowing hair. Even these in some of their worst conditions will run you an easy $25.00. This is due to their relative rarity and historical value. There are many different varieties, so if you stumble upon one of these ungraded, then you may want to send it into a reputable coin grader to see if you've struck gold! This Half-Dollar, like the other coins in this set, feature the wife of Senator Bingham. These coins are beautiful and historic. They will run you $100 dollars easily in bad condition. Again, not exactly the most practical for Silver investment, but lovely coins nonetheless. The Seated Liberty Half-Dollar is a lovely coin, but unfortunately a lovely example will cost you a hefty sum of money. To complicate things, this coin has many different varieties, some making the coin slightly more expensive, others making the coin astronomically more expensive. This coin is wonderful for collecting, but probably wouldn't make a good Silver investment coin if you plan on having silver in any substantial quantity. The Barber series is quite popular among collectors. Nice examples will cost you big while decent examples can range from the low to mid hundreds. Low quality examples can be had for less than $100.00. Again, not very practical for Silver investment, but great for coin collecting. This is one of the more regal looking coins minted by America in my opinion. High grade versions of this coin are very expensive, but low quality ones are relativly available and put you closer to the Silver investment category. If in very bad condition, some can be gotten for less than $10.00. This is still a premium over the price of Silver (as of the date of this writing.) but it is not too horrible. These half-dollars are very popular among collectors. Much like the Walking Liberties these can be had in low grade conditions at very affordable prices and are a good way to get your Silver investment building. Mid-condition will definitely be more pricey but is a good step towards having a Silver investment and coin collecting. The Kennedy is about the most popular Silver investment choice that people make. This can be heavily attributed to availability. The 1964 versions are 90% silver and the 1965 - 1970 versions are 40%. The 40% can be had for about the going price of Silver, and sometimes cheaper because they are less popular, and more available. This makes the 40% coins ideal for investing in Silver. Roughly only 162,000 of these were minted, so these are going to obviously be quite rare. These were one of the first coins minted in the United States of America. If you have one of these you need not worry about investing in Silver! Another rare specimen of an early dollar, be ready to drop $1,000.00 for a low quality specimen that is so bad you'd barely be able to recognize it was a coin. A beautiful coin, and one of my favorite designs. Even a terrible grade will run you a couple hundred dollars. I wouldn't suggest buying this for silver investment but I certainly would get one for collecting. This design first appeared on the Gobrecht dollars, but so few were actually minted I didn't put them on this list. The Trade Dollar was originally issued to compete with foreign coinage during trade between countries. Due to some very complicated matters the coins became very unpopular during their time in America and were basically forgotten about until the early 1900s. The coins are now highly sought after. Many that you find may have cuts into them. These are called chop marks and were the marks of Asian assayers to guarantee the purity. Due to their new found popularity these coins will be quite expensive. These are some of the most available Silver Dollars on the market due to their long run and large amounts of production. If you are to invest in Silver Dollars these would be a great choice in lower condition. Due to a recent surge in demand for higher quality ones you will pay a much higher premium for those grades. The Peace Dollar is another popular series of coin. This coin has a lot of controversy about it due to its design, the time period it was released in and the newly realized 1964 versions. Supposedly all of the 1964 dollars were melted down, but rumors exist that some may be hidden away by their owners. Currently it is illegal to own one of the 1964 Peace Dollars. These 40% Dollars can be worth a bundle in high grades. If you decide to add some of these for a Silver investment then you must know that only the San Francisco mint made Silver ones. This is a good resource. Some not to be found in circulation coins were missing, like the silver 3 cent piece, the half dime, and the twenty cent piece. But, these are too valuable to concern oneself with silver content. You covered the important ones. Will definitely bookmark this site for info on silver coins. Well done. Wow, there is some really great information in here. I was totally unaware of confiscations until this artile. I've always enjoyed searching for Silver Wartime nickels in rolls from the bank. The show up surprisingly often. Voted beautiful and up! Thanks for the hub. Based on your information, I consider myself rich as I have a lot of coins mentioned in the hub, some from 1800s.When I think that some of them are 90% silver, I know I need to keep them until I can negotiate a decent offer. A friend asked me about my coin collection and I was willing to part with it because I needed money. However,now that I know how much silver I have in the coins,I will not part with them easily. Thank you for the lovely comment Research Analyst! It is really fun when you are searching through your change and you find a piece of silver in it. It's like a mini treasure hunt. I'm glad that I could provide this information to you. this is a great resource for identifying U.S. Silver Coins, especially now in such a down economy people are looking for ways to invest their money into valuable coin collections. Thank you so much for your compliments. It makes me very happy to hear that this may assist you in some way. At the very worst, this is just something fun to know. I'm glad to hear that people may actually use this. I've hears some stories from very prominent hubbers that wrote these fantastic hubs and spent tons of time but few actually reference it. I did spend a lot of time and hope that it serves you and any other readers well. What a great hub! I can really appreciate a piece of work I know has taken a lot of time and effort. It's answered a lot of questions for me. Wow, seriously great job! I will refer back to it, definitely. @Army Infantry Mom: I tried very hard to put together as comptrehensive a list as possible. I've been working on it for quite a few weeks now, but it really came together nicely. I'm really glad that you enjoyed it and I hope that it helps your son out. @VioletSun: It's always neat finding special coins in the change. I always search through my change to see if I can find any goodies. I'm glad that I was able to share my knowledge with you. I am not a coin collector, but have on occasion wondered what adds value to a coin just in case I should be lucky and find a rare coin with my change. LOL! Informative article, I learned something new today. Wow,..you covered just about everything. I appreciate the time it must have takin you to put this together. My younger son is intrested in coin collections,..this will benefit him well. Props to you !!!

2019-04-22T10:13:16Z

https://hubpages.com/games-hobbies/Identifying-US-Silver-Coins

Picking up where we left off on our last blog post, we departed the hot and humid jungle town of Sanggau on the island of Borneo in Indonesia and 36 travel hours later [via car, plane, and train], we arrived in the chilly city of Busan, South Korea. All our projects for this overseas mission were in Southeast Asia where summer is in full force year round with the exception of this project in South Korea. Busan city is about the same latitude as North Carolina and since it was now November, we got to experience the beautiful colors of autumn but had to pack a whole different wardrobe for this one project. Our down jackets and close-toed shoes were definitely necessary, since temperatures were between 30 and 50 degrees! On the three-hour train ride from Seoul to Busan we traversed the entire length of the country from the northern border to the southern tip, and got to see the changing landscapes from bustling city to beautiful mountainous farmland. South Korea appeared to be a very well off country, far more advanced and Westernized than all the other countries we’d visited on our tour of Asia so far, and that’s precisely the reason why we were there! The organization we were working with, World Villages for Children, wanted us to document “mission accomplished”. South Korea was actually the birthplace of their organization, which started when one missionary priest traveled to Busan after the end of the civil war and saw the extreme poverty among refugees, especially children. He began taking steps to start an orphanage, and organized the Sisters of Mary to care for the children. The small home quickly grew into an all-inclusive boarding school providing impoverished orphans with one of the best educations in the country, beginning with newborns all the way up to high school graduates who live in modern 6-person family units as they do on-the-job training. For graduates, they offer many reunion events so the orphans who grew up together, can reunite with their Mother Sisters and their thousands of brothers and sisters. One of the annual events is an orchestral performance by the graduates themselves, and just so happened to be happening while we were there! We attended and never would have thought these musicians were just hobbyists and not professional musicians. The growth and success of the school paralleled that of the entire country, and now South Korea has become a modern, first world country. Recently, the government has assumed responsibility for orphan care and education, eliminating the need for World Villages to continue working there, and allowing them to look to other areas of the world where they can help the poorest of the poor. One country where World Villages is still very much needed is the Philippines, which was the next and final stop on our Asian tour. We arrived in Manila late at night and were immediately introduced to the infamous traffic of the city. Our driver told us it would take an hour to get to our destination…after we got out of the parking lot, which took almost an hour in itself! Let’s just say we spent a lot of time in the car for our projects in Manila, especially because our first mission was to document the recruitment process for the World Villages boarding schools. We tagged along with the sisters as they sought out the poorest of the poor children to bring to their schools. We travelled to the poorest communities around metro Manila, and saw some of the most extreme urban poverty we have ever witnessed. We balanced on a maze of bamboo bridges connecting shacks on bamboo stilts over the garbage-covered water of Manila Bay to get a glimpse of the homes of prospective students. We were chased away from a garbage dump for taking footage where people live and scavenge to survive. We squeezed through a series of dark and dingy one-foot-wide alleys to get to the one-room home of a current student. In the midst of all this poverty, we saw much hope. We saw hope in the children’s eyes as they saw the sisters walking through their community, and even more as they sat down to take the entrance exam for the boarding school. We saw hope as we visited the Girlstown and Boystown schools and saw a portion of the 11,000 boys and girls laughing, playing, and receiving a high-quality education that will set them up for succeeding in life and lifting their entire family out of poverty. Our second project in Manila was similar in that the organization strives to help the poorest of the poor, but our filming for them focused on their ministry to help street dwellers. We first heard about the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) from a friend who used to have a job assessing the impact of NGOs all over the world. He told us CCT was one of the best, and we’ve been talking to them about a project ever since. We were so happy it finally came together, and their Kaibigan Ministry for street dwellers blew us away. Kaibigan means “friend” in Tagalog, and it represents the strategy behind this ministry, which is to befriend street dwellers and guide them on a path towards success. As we documented the process, we met people from all steps on the “Journey of Change” – from those currently living on the streets, to those living in the CCT halfway house, all the way to those who have been relocated to “The Promised Land,” a huge piece of property far outside Manila that is a refuge for former street dwellers and their families. One of the central features of the Kaibigan Ministry is savings and loans. From the beginning of the journey, Kaibigans are taught the importance of saving, and they form groups to provide each other with microloans to start businesses that will help lift themselves out of poverty. One unfortunate story we kept hearing was about the extreme “street cleaning” policies of President Duterte, and how many Kaibigans had been rounded up by police and “disappeared,” leaving behind their entire savings. It was then that we truly realized the urgency and importance of this ministry, not only to break the cycle of poverty and to save people’s souls, but to literally save lives. We left the Philippines and arrived in North Carolina hours before Thanksgiving day, just in time to celebrate with Cassie’s family. We were on the road again the very next day, headed to upstate New York to attend a funeral for Jordan’s grandfather. While it was a sad time, it was also a time of closure and hope in eternal life for all those who believe in Jesus Christ. Since then, we have enjoyed celebrating Christmas (twice) with both of our families in North Carolina and are still busily working to edit a few more videos from our two months on assignment in Asia before our next international projects begin later this month. Now that 2017 is over and 2018 has begun, it’s amazing to look back on all that we’ve accomplished through our service to God and organizations around the world. As you can see from our annual year in numbers, 2017 was a big year for us, but I guess every year since we’ve been husband and wife has been a big year for us. In 2013, we got married (by a surprise wedding, of course, because there’s no other way to get married) and we moved to D.C. for jobs. In 2014, we took our delayed honeymoon to Hawaii, finished our second year at our jobs and received the Lord’s call for doing a missional year. In 2015, we took a leap of faith and quit our D.C. jobs to embark on what we thought would be a one-year mission to serve ministries and nonprofits with our cameras. In 2016, we joined forces with another nonprofit to continue our ministry in Central and South America. In 2017, we created a sustainable model for our work and ventured out on our own again to continue to serve nonprofits with professional photography and video productions. Each year has looked a little bit different, but one thing is always constant: our love for what we do. We can’t even begin to describe how blessed we feel to be doing what we love with the one we love for a calling so much greater than ourselves. These three years have been a wild journey, taking us to far away places, expanding our circle of friends with incredible people all over the world doing even more incredible things, but always bringing us back “home” to our families for special stints of time together. The joy of serving others and honoring the Lord with our gifts outweighs the struggles of living out of our suitcases and not having a space of our own to work and rest. Our perspective on life has expanded so much from what we’ve experienced overseas. Here are some of the lessons we’ve learned and would like to share with you. A rich life does not come from possessions or a salary but from having an eternal perspective, playing a role in a cause greater than yourself and by doing things that you love and challenge you. Possessions (and the excess of possessions) weigh you down and hold you back from doing the things you love. If we don’t diminish our consumption of plastic and creating waste, we will soon run out of space to hide our trash. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and most of all, avoid plastic. There are plenty of places with way worse traffic than you’ve ever experienced. The United States is a wonderful country, but it definitely doesn’t do everything the best. And finally, here’s a video to share with you from our time serving with World Outreach International’s boarding home for impoverished children in Borneo, Indonesia.

2019-04-19T04:43:41Z

https://agapevisuals.com/timpys-in-asia-part-2-2017-wrapup/

One of the controversies involved in the discussion of a young earth versus an old earth is the speed of light. If God created the entire universe in six days, and if the universe is less than 10,000 years old, then we have to ask how the light from stars millions of light years away is already reaching the earth. The unit of measurement called a Light Year is not actually a time measurement, but a measurement of distance. Light travels at 187,282 miles per second. That is 670 million miles per hour. The furthest stars in our Milky Way galaxy are 75,000 light years away. It takes 75,000 years for the light from those stars to reach earth. The moon is 238,854 miles from earth. Light crosses that distance in about 1 1/2 seconds. The average distance from the sun to the earth is 92,955,817 miles. Light takes about 8 minutes to make that journey. The Andromeda galaxy is almost 3 million light-years away from earth. If it takes three million years for the light from the Andromeda galaxy to reach earth, and if God created the heavens in it’s entirety 6,000 years ago on day four, how is the light from Andromeda reaching earth today, if it began traveling from Andromeda 6,000 years ago? That light should only be 6,000 light years in distance from Andromeda, nowhere near our earth. Young Earth experts have offered several solutions to this problem. The most common solution given to audiences at young earth conventions is that light has had different speeds at different times in history. Dr. Jason Lisle, an Astrophysicist with the organization Answers in Genesis, offers what he thinks may be an answer to this problem. In one of his presentations to a Young Earth audience, he stated the following. “One of the earlier scientific possibilities supposes that the light got here by natural means was the hypothesis of what they call CDK, and this is the idea that the speed of light may have been much greater in the past. This is a really interesting idea. The speed of light might have been much, much greater, in which case it could have traversed an enormous distance in a relatively short amount of time, only today slowing down to it’s present rate. You see, the distant starlight argument assumes that the light speed has always been constant, but perhaps it hasn’t been.” What Jason Lisle is saying is that God made the speed of light faster when he created the universe in order for light from the most distant stars to reach our planet for us to see. Poppycock! What are we trying to do here? If an Old Earth believer made a totally unsubstantiated claim like this one, he would be belittled by Ken Ham, who would be saying, “Excuse me, were you there?” For all of you Young Earth Creationists out there who follow this stuff, let me remind you of something. In order to establish a credible theory, you must have some sort of evidence to back you up. During my research into the subject of an old earth versus new earth, I have relied on two things, concrete earthly evidence and God’s Word. I am doing the same with the subject of distant starlight and how it has reached the earth from millions of mile away. To “assume” that the speed of light “perhaps hasn’t been” constant, is pure speculation, and another effort to make science fit into the young earth theory! It’s not the old-earther who has preconceived ideas, it’s the Young Earth Creationists! I once had a young-earther argue with me that we really don’t know for sure if any stars or planets are more than 6000 light years away. That was his answer to the problem of how we are seeing distant starlight. Now if you believe his theory, it’s no use even trying to discuss the subject with you any further. Modern science has proven that there are millions of miles in distance between our earth and millions of other heavenly bodies. Does anyone dispute this fact? If you do, then you join the group of modern-day “flat-earthers” that make the rest of us Christians look stupid! Your proclamation to the world, “Hi, I’m a born again Christian, and I believe dinosaurs lived with man 5000 years ago and our universe is only 12,000 light years in diameter.” You are making born again Christians look like a bunch of flat-earth weirdo’s who know nothing about anything worth knowing. According to the young earth theory, on the fourth day, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars. Let me remind you that the Bible does not say that God “created” the sun and the moon” Genesis specifically states that God “made” the lights, a completely different action than “creating” something (See chapter six). The first mention of human beings seeing stars in the heavens is in Genesis 15:5, when God says to Abram, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou are able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall they seed be.” This occurred in 1913 BC, which is about 2100 years after Genesis chapter one. For light to reach the earth from Andromeda in 2100 years, that light would have to travel at over 267 million miles per second, over 1,400 times it’s normal speed. We have absolutely no evidence in history or in science that the speed of light was any faster in the past than it is today. Dr. Jason Lisle’s assertion is pure speculation, and there is no room for speculation in this investigation. If his statement was presented to the jury in a court case, the judge would immediately order it stricken from the record and the jury would be instructed to ignore the statement. So that is what we are going to do here. We are going to ignore Jason Lisle’s statement. It’s absurd! I once had a YEC argue with me about this point by stating, “With God, all things are possible” This was his answer to the speed of light being thousands of times it’s normal speed in the past in order for us to now see distant stars. He added, “Jesus turned water into wine, didn’t he?” This is another example of ignorance of Biblical text. Although the verse the YEC quoted appears to be conclusive, a close examination of the original text and other scriptures regarding God’s abilities proves otherwise. Exodus 34:6 states, “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving the iniquity of the upon the children, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Titus 1:2 states, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” So God cannot clear the guilty. God cannot lie. So a simple reading of the text, “With God, all things are possible,” doesn’t hold up. There are certain laws and ordinances that are set by God and cannot be changed. The second word “ordinanaces,” used in “If these ordinances depart from before me,” in the original Hebrew text is “khoke.” It means “a decree.” In all occasion where this Hebrew word is used, it is describing a “fixed law or statute.” The text strongly suggests an unwaiverable standard. In this verse, God states clearly that he has “appointed” the ordinances, or laws, of heaven and earth. The Hebrew word for appointed is “suwm.” The word means “to set or ordain.” It also means “to constitute or establish.” Again, God is telling us that he has ordained and constituted the laws of nature that we observe today. God also says in Psalm 74 and verse 16, “The day is Thine, the night also is Thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun.” Notice the word “prepared” and how it is used in this verse. The original Hebrew word for prepared is “kuwn.” It means “to be fixed,” or “to be stable and unchangeable.” This verse strongly suggests that when God made the light, he made them in the same condition that they are today. When God brought light into existence, it traveled at 187,282 miles per second. So we can conclude from God’s word, the the laws of nature are fixed, and have been from the time He created the universe. In fact, in another lecture given by Dr. Jason Lisle, he contradicts his theory of variable light speeds by stating that the laws of God and nature are, have been, and always will be, fixed. He stated the following to his audience. It appears that we have an inconsistency here. Two differing views about the speed of light given by the same person. The Young Earth advocates always make it a point to expose the discrepancies in the theories of anyone disagreeing with them, as Dr. Jason Lisle pointed out in another one of his lectures. He stated, “Laws of logic stem from God’s nature. We are made in God’s image, so we instinctively know these laws of logic. We act on them , like the law of non-contradiction. Even if you’ve never heard of the term before, you immediately know that it’s true. Two contradictory statements cannot both be true. That is a law of logic that cannot be violated. Why is it that two contradictory statements cannot both be true? It stems from God’s nature. Second Timothy two and thirteen says ‘If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for he cannot deny Himself.’ Truth will not contradict itself.” I think it’s apparent here that the Young Earthers have indicted themselves. Another lecturer for Answers In Genesis, Dr. Werner Gitt, has an entire presentation on the laws of nature. It’s apparent that the left hand of AIG has no idea what the right hand is doing, because different speakers for this organization propose different theories. Dr. Gitt was the director of the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology and a “Creation Information Scientist” with Answers In Genesis. In his presentation, Dr. Gitt states that God’s laws of nature are universally valid and have never varied in time, contradicting the theories being proposed by Dr. Jason Lisle. Scientist have discovered that each one of nature’s laws are dependent on each other. It’s interesting to note that secular scientists have recognized the fact that all of nature’s laws concerning the operation of our universe work so closely together, that if one natural law would change, the entire universal machine would result in chaos. The fact that each law of nature is dependent on other laws of nature are prerequisites for life. The law of Gravitational Force depends on the Speed of Light and the Electromagnetic Force. The Proton Mass and the Electron Mass and the Nuclear Force need to be consistent in order for our universe to exist. You can see that the Young Earth Advocate’s attempt to explain how light from stars millions of light years away are now reaching earth by asserting that the speed of light changed over the years, is impossible. It is a theory being proposed by the YECs with absolutely no scientific evidence and without any Biblical evidence to back them up. In fact, God’s Word seems to indicate that the laws of nature have, and always will be, consistent. Another explanation being suggested at Young Earth seminars is what is called the Alternate Synchrony Convention. Jason Lisle gives this explanation to his audiences in a effort to explain another one of his theories. He proposes that an airplane leaves it’s departure city at 4:00 PM. Based on the speed of the plane and distance to the destination, it should be a two hour flight. “Amazingly,” he says, “the plane arrives at the destination at 4:00 PM.” He tells the audience that the plane left Virginia at 4:00 PM local time and landed in Colorado at 4:00 PM local time. Jason Lisle goes on to say that there are two time conventions that we use, local time and universal time. No matter what convention we use, the theory of Alternate Synchrony Convention cannot apply to the speed of light. The reason is this. If you leave Virginia in a plane at 4 PM, and you call your spouse when you arrive safely in Colorado, the phone at your home will ring at 6 PM. That is two hours later. Your friends in Colorado, who received your call at 2 PM Colorado time to tell them you were on your way, meet you when you land at 4 PM Colorado time. The Alternate Synchrony Convention theory cannot be used when calculating the speed of light in the vast universe. Jason Lisle states to his audience that the Bible uses “local time,” but we are required to use “universal time” when we are dealing with the universe. No matter how you attempt to explain this theory in this situation, it boils down to one thing. When God created the entire universe, he created the earth and Andromeda at the same time. If this occurred on day four in Genesis as Young Earth advocates believe, then it occurred on day four in both locations, Andromeda and earth. Light from Andromeda began traveling at 187,000 miles per second toward earth. Mind you, according to YECs, this is day four in both locations. The attempt by Jason Lisle to convince his audience that “local time convention” can be used in these circumstances is another attempt to fit his preconceived ideas into his theory of a young earth. It takes 3 million years for the light from Andromeda to reach earth. When Abram looked up into the sky and saw the millions of stars pointed out to him by God, the Andromeda light was included in what he saw. Because God himself tells us that when he created the universe, his laws and ordinances were “fixed,” then I have to concluded that the speed of light has been consistent since the creation of the universe. Therefore, I have to conclude that the universe is millions of years old.

2019-04-25T12:41:47Z

http://www.jesusisprecious.org/books/robert_surgenor/speed_of_light.htm

This post is sponsored by Cabana Life. My thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own. Thank you for supporting brands I support. This is probably already known but the sun’s UV rays are very harmful. The unfortunate misconception is that you only need to protect yourself from the sun during warmer seasons. Since the sun is around pretty much every day, it is just as harmful in the summer as it is in the winter. Therefore, it is important to have sun protection all year round. UVA (Ultraviolet A) Rays penetrate into the skin more and can cause premature skin aging and wrinkling and suppress the immune system. They are present during the day and through clouds and glass. UVB (Ultraviolet B) is the cause of skin reddening and sunburns. They damange the outer layers. It is also the UV ray responsible for causing skin cancer. Last week, we were in Florida and it was extremely hot! I swear I felt every sun ray on my body. Ever since I learned how harmful the sun is all year round, I’ve had the habit of protecting my skin all year in Chicago. I took extra caution while I was in Florida. Below are habits I included in my daily life to protect myself from the sun. Anywhere on your body that your skin is exposed to the sun, put on some sunscreen. It is recommended to use at least SPF 15. My motto is, the stronger the sun, the higher the SPF. My favorite sunscreen is Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch, and if you have sensitive skin this one is a good option too. I use a separate sunscreen for my face and I love love love MISSHA’s sun milk face sunscreen. It doesn’t have that gooey, sticky sunscreen feeling at all. If anything, it feels powdery smooth and it is perfect for my sensitive skin and I use it as part of my morning skincare routine. They also have a waterproof version. Not only does your skin have to be protected, but your eyes should be too. The sun can seriously damage your eyes if they are not properly cared for. Remember the total eclipse? Same concept goes for your day to day. So make sure your sunglasses are not only chic, but it provides UV protection. My favorite place to get sunglasses is Zenni Optical. They have amazing selections and the lens are completely customizable for an affordable price. You can add prescription to them if you’d like. Try not to be in the sun unless you have to. Although being in the shade doesn’t always protect you from UV rays (you still need to wear sunscreen), it is better than being in direct sunlight. Many people don’t realize this, but there are clothes out there that have UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor). The fabric is made to be effective against UVA & UVB light. I will admit that not many UPF clothing pieces are cute, but I have one place that is my go-to. I shared about them last year and you bet I brought Cabana Life pieces with me to Florida. Cabana Life’s clothes have a UPF 50, which is the highest fabric rating. It blocks approximately 98% of UVA & UVB rays. I will admit, what initially drew me to them is their cute clothes! I love it when a brand is fashionable and functional! My lounge pants have UPF and they’re totally breathable too! Because man was Florida HOT!! Hopefully, you all have a better understanding why it is so important to protect yourself from the sun all year round. No matter where you are, hot or cold climate, the sun is always there and its rays can be harmful. Cabana Life has a Fall collection, and I think they are perfect outfits for Fall. If you want to test them out, Cabana Life has been generous enough to give one of my readers a $50 gift card. This is a perfect way to get started on protecting your skin! Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 25 at midnight (CST). To enter, you just have to follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter. This is such a great reminder! I am so guilty of only applying SPF during the Summer months. My makeup has SPF but I need to remember to apply it to other exposed skin! I am totally guilty of it too! It wasn't until recently that I made it habit! I have never heard of such thing as UPF but it sounds amazing and it LOOKS amazing, so why not. Thanks for sharing Rach. UPF to sum it up is sun protection. So it is definitely a must when looking for the products that will protect you from the sun. Great tips! I rarely wear sunscreen bc the sun doesn't harm my skin but it is important for me in the summer! Thanks! Unfortunately the sun is harmful no matter what. Hence, why I think it is so important we are cautious about being outside. I didn't realize that about the UPF clothing! Also a good reminder to protect yourself from the sun even when you don't feel like you need to. Thanks for sharing!! I know, isn't it great?! I learned my lesson when I realized I was getting sunburned and I barely saw the sun! Love this!! Definitely great advice about protection from the sun in clothing!!! Great advice and I really love your sunnies! SO chic! Sending hugs! a good SPF is my first, an most important, step in daily skincare routine! It is in mine too! I have never used a sun protection before. I just feel like I don't need it, because I'm black. LOL!! Hope it doesn't sound bad, -just being honest. Reading this though – maybe its about time. Thanks for sharing beautiful. Love your pants! Glad to hear you are being honest! The sun doesn't discriminate and can cause damage to any skin color. I naturally have super tan skin, but I'm now realizing that sun damage is affecting me. These tips are so great! I definitely agree that sun protection all year round is absolutely necessary! Also I'm loving your outfit…the print on the pants is so pretty! So necessary! Thank you Valerie! Awesome tips and I love these pants!!! I love how these pants have sun protection! And they are a gorgeous color to wear all-year long! Thank you Jessica! I agree and they are so fun to wear! love these pants! sun protection year round is so important! So important yet it gets easily forgotten. Thank you! So true! A lot of people think they don't need it. Thanks for being proactive Madison! Sun protection is super important – especially for us in Australia. The sun is shining so brightly now that it's spring/summer here. Love your bag by the way! Oh yea I bet! Hope you are able to stay cool too! You look so comfy! the bag is perfect dear!! Desde que viví en Chile sé lo importante que es la protección contra el Sol, y lo sigo a rajatabla. Skin protection is so important! Was just learning all about it yesterday! Thanks Tillie! So so true! Such a cute post! Love your outfit, especially those printed pants! Great tips babe!! I love that bag, it's so cute! Isn't it horrible how how it is here in FL?? UGH!! I confess I always forget to wear body sunscreen. I NEVER EVER DO. I do however use a moisturizer that has it it built in, so I guess that's half the battle? LOL! Love that bag! Really cute casual look. Love the color of your leggings. So true that it is a year round thing and also in overcast. I think people forget that. Good tips and info! Yes Yes Yes! This post is so important. I think many people (including myself, at times) forget that the sun is damaging and harmful year round. Taking care of my skin is an absolute priority so I'm SUPER excited about this giveaway!!! Fingers crossed! First of all, those pants are SO cute on you! And I've been trying to get better at adding SPF to my daily regimen, regardless of what I'm doing. Any exposure warrants the SPF! Love this ! Being sun aware is super important, thanks for talking bout such an important topic ! These pants are so fun, love this look! I've never heard of Cabana Life, but I certainly believe that having UPF clothing is a great idea, especially if you live in a particularly sunny location – such as Florida. Every time I visit my fiancé's family down there, I remember how intensely sunny and hot it is haha. You gave great tips here, girlfriend! So important to take caution! This is so important! I wear sunscreen every day so I need to consider UPF clothing! You are looking so comfy and cute! The older I get, the more aware I have become of how bad the sun is for your skin. I am always constantly lathering SPF on my face, neck and hands to help prevent wrinkles! #thisis30. Ha! Such great tips! Yes to all of this. Thanks for sharing. Totally agree, UV can be really harmful, and can even make skin look older than it is. Btw, I love your pants dear! Kudos for being able to look so summer fresh in the middle of fall! And I love your bag and when you wear your hair like this. Oh, and I always wear a moisturizer with SPF in it! Such cool printed pants Rach! Totally! Sun protection is so important. I love that it’s coming more to the forefront. Thanks for sharing girl! Your shots are beautiful. Staying out of the sun is SO crucial, especially where I live in Los Angeles! I haven’t yet tried clothing that offers UV protection but would really like to. I’ll have to check out Cabana Life! I love your pants! And I’m all about sun protection year-round! You look cute. Your hair looks great. Buenísio este post, con una información muy buena y para tener en cuenta. Gracias Rach. You look so amazing in this summer outfit. I love those pants! I totally agree! Have a great one too!

2019-04-21T04:57:37Z

https://www.rdsobsessions.com/sun-protection-all-year-round/

Thanks for visiting my website. I decided that an online version of my CV and portfolio might be a better way to show what I can do. So, take a look around. My CV details are here, along with examples of my previous work. Then, if you want to get in touch, my contact details are here too. To download a printable PDF version of my CV, click here. I was part of the team at Bucks New University that raised the website by 247 places to 86th out of 339 in rankings. I have been successful in increasing the number of social followers, even doubling the number for one company. I project managed a microsite including research, planning, copy writing, image sourcing & budget management. Having worked for several years in a number of temporary contracts – anything from three months to two years – as well as a phase of self employment (which didn’t suit me at all!) – I am ready for something permanent! I’ve worked in other areas too, such as marketing, customer service and administration, so you could call me a bit of an all-rounder! I learn quickly, so pick up new skills with ease. I have around ten years of web design / web editor / marketing roles under my belt, for a number of different types of companies, from SMEs to large corporations, commercial and public sector. I have the qualifications, as well as skills that I’ve picked up along the way. My experience can be put to good use with the right company. On a personal level, I’m the mother of a 23 year old son (so no pesky childcare to worry about!) and I live in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. Commuting isn’t a problem – I spend 3.5 hours a day travelling to and from my current job. Thank goodness for smartphones! I love the gym, having joined about two years ago for the first time. I discovered it’s actually fun…most of the time! I also attend a boxing club and took part in two charity boxing matches last year. Between boxing and a 10,000ft skydive, I’ve raised £5,000 for cancer charities in the last 12 months. Other than that, I like the usual things: seeing friends and family; live music; comedy; reading; films. Pretty normal stuff really! My first WordPress website built from scratch. Julian wanted a simple, responsive design that would showcase his online guitar courses, so it needed to feature several embedded trailer videos. A one page WordPress site to show services and contact information. A WordPress site to show services, contact information and ‘Meet Team Motech’. I used Dreamweaver to create this site, adding CSS for the menu and image rollovers within each category. Another Dreamweaver site, now maintained by another company, but essentially the same design. I have written and edited lots of content over the years, but, more recently, I’ve also started writing articles, and found I liked it. I have a new string to my bow! My first big writing job was at Bucks New University, where I was tasked with creating a new section of the website, designed to answer any questions that parents of potential students might have. I project managed the job from start to finish, including research, planning, copy writing, image/video sourcing and managing the budget. The end result is a comprehensive microsite, full of the information that parents need – what to do before and after arrival, available support and much more. I spent over a year as a contributing editor for Progressive Party Europe, a trade magazine for the fancy dress and party industry. See below for examples of articles I have researched and written. I also wrote a series of articles for the website/blog at AYMTM on the subjects of incentive travel, team building and corporate events. These were subjects I knew very little about, but asking the right questions to the right people and researching on the internet gave me the information I needed, adding the right tone of voice to make the articles friendly yet informative. Click each image below for examples. I have used several different systems for creating e-newsletters, as well as designing in Dreamweaver and uploading the HTML to an online email marketing solution such as MailChimp. I use inline styling to ensure the design remains consistent, whatever system is used for delivery. I can also produce newsletters for print. See here for a PDF example. I just wanted to say a massive well done and thank you to everyone that contributed to the first edition of e-Luton which hit tens of thousands of Luton inboxes this morning. Particular thanks to Nova and Andy for driving it. You are a star! Thank you so much despite all the pressure you got this [business e-update] out on time – much appreciated. Nova has been writing as a contributing editor for Progressive Party magazine for the past year, submitting well-researched, well-composed B2B articles. She is confident in her research methods – including conducting interviews over both email and telephone – and has spoken to high street retailers and trade suppliers to gather feedback and background information for her articles. What we appreciate most about Nova is her ability to write authoritatively about subjects she has no prior experience of. She is also quick to get to grips with new subjects and cut through the confusion of any potentially challenging commissions to deliver some great pieces of writing. Working with Nova is a pleasure; she far exceeded our expectations for both service and flexibility, often taking on far more than we could have reasonably expected – and always within deadline! We hope to continue working with her in the future. I just wanted to say and formally acknowledge what a brilliant job Nova has done for the Employee Health & Wellness intranet section. Both Karen and I have been impressed with the speed, accuracy and enthusiasm Nova has implemented on this project. Without Nova’s innovation, I don’t think I would have had the response on the Healthy Eating Clinics we had, and I am sure Karen Fletcher would confirm how good she has been. Nova has been a valued member of the AYMTM communications team for six months. During this time, she has led our web strategy and content development and has worked well with the company’s marketing communications and Account Management divisions. Key responsibilities have been to develop our web content and CMS platforms both internally and externally, to create and manage marketing and client content, and to support the marketing communications team. Nova is a hard working conscientious professional, who has a flair for communication and creative content. Her enthusiasm and general ‘can do’ attitude makes working with her a pleasure. I find Nova reliable, hard-working, conscientious and courteous. She is friendly and approachable and a pleasure to work with. Nova is also always extremely efficient and helpful. Nova has worked on a number of different tasks for the marketing team, including teaser text for course web pages, as well as creating web pages for events and new landing pages. These tasks require a strong attention to detail as well as good written skills. Nova is always willing to complete any task that is requested, and has produced work of a high standard and within tight timeframes. Nova worked on a temporary basis for Haven Caravan Sales during 2012 and helped during a period when we were pushed for resource. She was very enthusiastic and quickly came up to speed in understanding the requirements we had and the Content Management System (Tridion) that we used. She worked well as part of our team and always had valuable input and feedback. Her keen and methodical way of working helped us implement a number of marketing initiatives that we would have been otherwise pushed to deliver. In the six months since we started working with n-design, Nova has re-designed our website, produced e-newsletters, adverts, business cards, promo materials, invites and posters. She has been instrumental in helping us get our brand across to a really high standard through all these different communication methods, and feedback from our clients about them all have been fantastic. Not only has she helped us turn our website into a masterpiece, she also designs and handle all our e-communication. It’s taken the stress out of everything for us BIG TIME! With our e-newsletters, we simply send Nova a word document, she designs it into a newsletter, we send over our mailing list and bingo, the rest is all taken care of – including mailing management and statistics. Nova is really hard working, has a solid skill set, and always goes out of her way to turn things around as quickly as possible. She is patient (and polite!) when we change our minds for the millionth time and is especially good at coming up with unique ideas and suggestions for getting our messages across to our clients – her little touches here and there turn an ordinary message into something extra-ordinary. She is versatile in terms of simplicity and detail and on small and big projects and is a real solutions architect– we highly recommend her! I recently used Nova’s services and was incredibly impressed with not only her promptness, but the e-newsletter is fabulous. I cannot recommend her highly enough. Nova is extremely friendly, very approachable and provides a first class service at an extremely competitive price.

2019-04-26T07:37:46Z

http://novaconstable.uk/

Rach or LaRachy is a soulful singer/songwriter from London who loves wavy music. Music is an integral part of an artists life and this is no different for LaRachy. She’s been singing her whole life but in the last 3 years she has stepped up her musical efforts. LaRachy and music is a match made in heaven and it’s something she has always loved. Her inspiration is to simply let everyone see what she’s got to offer. My aim is to create my own legacy. I love music and that’s why I’m doing it not to try and be like anyone else. As long as my music touches someone! Nothing comes easy and being an artist is hard work, the grind is real. LaRachy loves the game and after being in it for so long she’s here to stay! I’m staying confident and ensuring I always believe in the dream. LaRachy dropped her first single ‘Ride’ and people have really been loving it. Her latest release entitled ‘Be Sure’ produced by Remedee is out now with a sick upcoming rapper so I’m excited about that. 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2019-04-21T18:51:00Z

http://www.9bills.co.uk/larachy/

As a focal point of Canada’s dynamic innovation community, the Canadian Innovation Centre is connected to many organizations across the country and beyond. Each of our Innovation Partners compliments the resources of the Canadian Innovation Centre, bringing to the table additional services, information, intellectual property and networks. MaRS Discovery District is a not-for-profit corporation founded in Toronto in 2000. Its stated goal is to commercialize publicly funded medical research and other technologies with the help of local private enterprises and as such is a public-private partnership. As part of its mission MaRS helps create successful global businesses from Canada’s science, technology and social innovation. Located in the heart of Waterloo, the Accelerator Centre (AC) is a world-renowned centre for the cultivation of technology entrepreneurship, dedicated to accelerating the creation, growth, and maturation of sustainable new technology companies. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency works with business and communities to make Atlantic Canada’s economy more innovative, productive and competitive. Together, with Atlantic Canadians, we are building a stronger economy. Since 1998, the BACD had developed small businesses and facilitated entrepreneurship. it offer services to all 8 municipalities within Durham Region. Operating as a not-for-profit organization they are able to partner with key professionals who can respond to the unique challenges of small businesses in many sectors. BioNova has developed a searchable database of government funding programs for their members. The database is updated regularly to reflect changes in existing programs and add new information as it becomes available. The Atlantic Association of Community Business Development Corporations (CBDC) is a network of autonomous, not-for-profit organizations that work all levels of government and the private sector to meet the needs of small business. CBDCs have been in operation for over 30 years. Canada Business Network’s goal is to provide your business with the resources it needs to grow and prosper, including a wide range of information on government services, programs and regulations. Canada Business Network promotes entrepreneurship and innovation, and provides assistance through an organized network of service centres across Canada. Communitech is the regional hub for the commercialization of innovation, creating economic prosperity by removing barriers to the creation and growth of technology companies. Communitech’s goal is to create more successful global businesses for Canada. Community Futures are Community Futures Development Corporations and Community Business Development Corporations (CFDCs/CBDCs) that provide their communities with a variety of services including business development loans, technical support, training and information. 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Providing a platform for users to connect with other innovators, entrepreneurs can expand their networks to include fellow entrepreneurs and startups with similar interests and goals. By answering the question “What are you working on?” in 140 characters or less entrepreneurs can discover and join events in their local areas, start discussions and follow topics of relevance to their business. The Technology Marketing Resource Centre (TMRC) helps young and mid-size Canadian technology companies generate exceptional growth. Their business strategy and marketing consulting services can help clients tap their potential through highly effective marketing strategies and programs. Western Economic Diversification Canada works to strengthen western innovation, business development and entrepreneurship, and community economic development. They’re building a stronger West in a stronger Canada. Young Inventors International Inc. (YII) is a not-for-profit organization that helps engineering and science university students develop skills and networks to bring new ideas to the market. Their 2,000 members hold almost 700 patents and 70% of the students are in the process of building a start-up venture. They provide their members with interactive online and offline events, connections to media exposure and extensive networks.

2019-04-23T00:02:35Z

https://innovationcentre.ca/learning-centre/other-resources/

Robert Browning makes use a nameless Spanish monk to interlace a web of hypocrisy and deceit in his poem “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister”. The monk conveys his owns opinions and those of his fellow monk Brother Lawrence, all through the whole poem. A closer examination of the poems reveals that these opinions are not actually in line with his thoughts concerning either himself or Brother Lawrence. The main subject of this poem is hatred, clearly articulated through the themes of moral hypocrisy, jealousy and pride and various poetic styles. For proper comprehension of the poem, it is important that a synopsis is looked at. Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister develops the speaker’s character as a covetous monk, with outright hatred for Brother Lawrence simply because wants what belongs to his fellow monk. Brewer (1) points out that the speaker tries to offer reasons and explanations for his hate. Analysis of the second stanza establishes his efforts to paint Brother Lawrence as being prideful. In the third stanza, he paints Lawrence as having possessions past his means (for example his drinking goblet). The trend is on and in the fourth stanza, the persona efforts to blame Brother Lawrence of having wicked opinions toward women, demonstrating his own ability for such thoughts. The list of accusations does not only end here but it is in the stanza that the character of the persona is revealed. It is evident that other than being a jealousy man, he is also evil as he decides to look for a means of condemning the soul of Brother Lawrence to hell. Consequently he plans to ploy Brother Lawrence into reading a French novel (implied as being sexual), condemning the Brother’s soul right away. This amusingly leaves the readers surprised how the speaker understands the French novel’s contents if he such a devout monk. Failing the novel trick, the speaker resolves that he could at all times sell his own soul to Satan to also condemn Lawrence’s soul. The poem ends here as the speaker’s attention is diverted by the call to Vespers. As I do, in Jesus praise. Looking at the first sentence from the above section, the speaker makes his point clear to the reader by explaining how he keeps his knife and folks crosswise after eating, implying his remembrance of the Christ’s death on the cross. The second sentence refers to the “Arian doctrine which denied the Trinity” (Brewer, 1). Consequently, the monk shows how he believes in the Trinity and how he rejects the Arian doctrine through drinking the orange juice in three sips as opposed to gulping it once. Even though, this may look as minor actions, he uses them to demonstrate how better than Brother Lawrence he is. Being a monk, this goes against what the speaker is expected of and it does not only indicate his hypocritical behavior but hatred for the Brother (Brewer, 1). It is very evident that the speaker is not as good as he claims to be. All he does is trying to deceive the reader. Bright as 'twere a Barbary corsair's? (That is, if he'd let it show!)" In this stanza, there is a reference to two nuns within the covenant close to the monastery. The women are actually carrying on a conversation while washing their hands. The speaker goes ahead to accuse the Brother of lusting after them. This is very ban an accusation, devoid of considering that the fact that the two are monks, avowed to chastity. The speaker speaks of the “light in the eyes” of the Brother. However he goes ahead to state that “That is, if he'd let it show!” This indicates that there is no evidence in support of his accusation. All this is done but out of deceit and hate for the Brother. It is very clear that the speaker is trying to make Brother Lawrence stumble when talks of “tripping him as he is dying” to ensure he goes to hell. The speaker seeks the Bible’s intervention to get sources for means to trip Brother Lawrence, committed that he will finally get something to make Brother Lawrence falter. This stanza raises a number of questions regarding the contention of the speaker that the Brother is a hypocrite. First of all, why does the speaker want to cause Brother Lawrence to stumble if he is a sinful hypocrite? He would go to hell devoid of the speaker’s assistance. The second concern is in the line, "If I trip him just a-dying, / Sure of heaven as sure can be,” which tend to mean the speaker considers that Brother Lawrence is en route for heave but for something to cause him stumble is done. These two clear arguments from the text present a strong case for the opinion the speaker does not actually suppose that Brother Lawrence is a hypocrite; however he is trying to ruin Brother Lawrence’s reputation. Brewer (1) asserts that Robert Browning employs a number of poetic techniques to develop the theme of the poem. For instance, he dominantly employs irony to bring out the theme of immoral hypocrisy. Being a monk, it is expected that speaker acts Godly but, this is the image he tries to show the reader, in line 33 through to 41 he attempts to explain how he remembers Christ’s death by, “"When he finishes reflection,/ Knife and fork he never lays, /Cross-wise, to my recollection.” However he is not any close to righteous because of all the negative accusations he put on Brother Lawrence. Irony runs through the whole poem from stanza to stanza. The speaker plans to do something that will cause Brother Lawrence head to hell, yet we clearly understand that he is the one who deserves hell. This is evident in line 53, which shows the way he wants to make the Brother’s soul stumble, even though he claims to be good. All along the speaker tries to portray Brother Lawrence as bad man while attempting to tell the reader that he is good. From the poem is however evident that the Brother is a very good man and the speaker jealous of him, and actually the bad one (Brewer, 3). All the speaker’s petty jealousies and built-up frustrations from years of confinement in the hated Brother Lawrence’s company boil into view in righteous indignation. Irony comes out here very clearly as numerous arguments of the speaker serve only to convict himself of the wrongs he lays at Brother Lawrence’s doorstep. Another poetic style used in this poem is rhyme. There is vivid use of an ABABCDCD scheme not only bring out the jealousy nature but most importantly the hypocrisy of the speaker (a monk), attempting to berate another, Brother Lawrence. It is very evident beginning even from stanza 1, lines 2-2, “If hate killed men, Brother Lawrence/ God's blood, would not mine kill you!” Hence the motives of the monk are recognized early on, basically to ruin this apparently immoral wrongdoer of a monk. The speaker persists to comment on the obvious differences between him and the Brother in daily routine, trying to convince the reader of his patent moral superiority (Brewer, 2). To sum up the whole discussion, Robert Browning in his poem “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” brings out hatred, clearly articulated through the themes of moral hypocrisy, jealousy and pride and various poetic styles. The speaker evidently considers himself a good man, very proud of himself. However he does not demonstrate the traits that would make the reader have similar judgment. Similarly, the speaker would make the reader believe that Brother Lawrence is an immoral hypocrite”. Finally though from the conclusion drawn it is evident that Brother Lawrence is a very good man, who respects God. It would appear that the speaker is jealous of Brother Lawrence’s way of life. Consequently, he tries to rip Brother Lawrence down as he tries to raise his image up due to his pride. There is also an effective use of poetic styles/techniques to clearly bring out the themes in the poem. Browning uses techniques such as irony and rhyme to demonstrate the immoral hypocrisy, jealousy and pride as observed in the speaker’s efforts to stumble Brother Lawrence. Browning, Robert. Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister. Nov. 8, 2010. Web. 1945. Brewer, Shawn. Analysis of Robert Browning's “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” Nov. 8, 2010. Web. May 15, 2007.

2019-04-26T08:00:20Z

http://www.smartcustomwriting.net/samples/subject-and-themes

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Name does not always be honest i think it can't be blamed for feeling trapped. Researching is your budget? a family health plus. Those services that can help a lot. Needs are important to compare rates and plans. Longer list of employees' heath, targeting those who are preoccupied about the benefits of hsa type plans' premiums went up because of emotion. Plans and choosing the right insurance scheme that fits your needs and your family. For healthcare hasn't diminished either. Health policy that meets your needs as well to discuss your options are available on the death of a "portrait studio". To shoplift in the neighborhood you live your life, and live or work. Economy are going to have the best deal. Relocate to their health insurance. Archaic blood-letting, medicine has generated more competition in all of your health insurance board as treatments that are offered. 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2019-04-21T22:11:33Z

http://shubertmotors.com/os1.html

Why are merchants allowed to apply payment surcharges? Merchants incur costs when they accept a payment from a customer. Different payment methods can have very different costs. For example, cards that provide significant rewards to consumers are typically more expensive for merchants. Surcharging provides merchants with the ability to pass the cost of accepting more expensive payment methods back to the customers who use those methods. When merchants have the right to apply a surcharge to more expensive payment methods they are able to provide price signals that encourage consumers to use less expensive payment methods. By helping to hold down payment costs, the right to surcharge helps to hold down the price of goods and services charged to all consumers. The definition of card acceptance costs has been narrowed. Acceptable costs are limited to fees paid to the merchant's acquirer (or other payments facilitator) and certain other observable costs paid to third parties for services directly related to accepting particular types of cards. Acquirers and payment facilitators must provide merchants with an annual statement that clearly sets out their average cost of acceptance for each of the card payment systems regulated by the RBA. Acceptance costs will be expressed in percentage terms. It is expected that merchants who wish to surcharge – including in the airline industry – will typically do so in percentage terms rather than as a fixed dollar amount, which should mean that surcharges on some lower-value transactions will be reduced significantly. The Government has given the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation and enforcement powers over cases of possible excessive surcharging. Overall, the RBA expects that the narrower definition of the cost of acceptance, the proposed transparency measures and the ACCC's new powers will result in a framework that is clearer for all parties, with more effective enforcement in cases where merchants may be surcharging excessively. The goal of the RBA's revised surcharging standard is to improve price signals to consumers about the relative costs of different payment methods. Excessive surcharging diminishes the effectiveness of these price signals. The new standard is targeted at eliminating instances of excessive surcharging, through improved transparency and stronger enforcement. Merchants must be provided with easy-to-understand information about their costs of card acceptance, which will enable them to make informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if they do, whether to surcharge them. Where merchants do decide to impose surcharges, consumers can be confident that these represent the actual costs to the merchant. Consumers can make a complaint to the ACCC if they consider that a surcharge is excessive. The changes took effect in two stages. Large merchants have been required to comply with the new standard since 1 September 2016. Other merchants have been required to comply with the new standard since 1 September 2017. Information on the previous surcharging framework can be found in the RBA's surcharging Guidance Note and Surcharging Q&A. Merchants remain subject to all the obligations under the Australian Consumer Law. Why was there a delay for smaller merchants? Much of the concern over excessive surcharging involves larger merchants. These merchants should have the ability to analyse and calculate their payment costs and so have been subject to the new framework since 1 September 2016. In contrast, smaller merchants are less likely to surcharge and to surcharge excessively. They often also have a relatively less detailed understanding of their payment costs. Surcharging decisions for these merchants will benefit from improved data on payment costs. By 1 September 2017, all merchants should have received an annual statement from their acquirer or payments facilitator with easy-to-understand information outlining their average cost of acceptance for each of the card schemes subject to the RBA's standard. How do the changes affect small and medium-sized merchants more generally? Small and medium-sized merchants who do not benefit from preferred interchange rates currently bear the cost of the high interchange rates on premium MasterCard and Visa cards. Accordingly, they should see a material reduction in merchant service fees from the changes to the RBA's interchange standards. This should improve their competitiveness relative to larger merchants who may benefit from low interchange rates on all their card transactions. Merchants will also receive easy-to-understand information on the cost of payments for the different types of cards they accept. This should enable them to make more informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if they do, whether to surcharge them. This will place downward pressure on payment costs. If merchants decide to surcharge, they will have clear information on the maximum permissible surcharge for each payment method. Can card schemes, acquiring banks or payment facilitators prohibit merchants from charging a surcharge? Card schemes such as American Express, MasterCard and Visa cannot prevent or deter merchants from recovering the costs of accepting card payments. Banks and other payment facilitators are not allowed to prohibit or deter merchants from charging a surcharge on a particular payment instrument. Schemes, banks and payment providers cannot refuse to provide card acceptance services to a merchant solely because that merchant plans to surcharge or because of the level of their surcharge. They can, however, seek to ensure that a surcharge does not exceed the merchant's cost of acceptance. Merchants incur costs when they accept a payment from a customer. Different payment methods can have very different costs. Cards that provide significant rewards to consumers are typically more expensive for merchants. For example, some merchants face fees of more than 3 per cent on American Express transactions, while transactions on some types of premium MasterCard and Visa cards can currently cost many merchants more than 2 per cent. When merchants have the right to apply a surcharge to more expensive payment methods they are able to provide price signals that encourage consumers to use payment methods that are less expensive. By helping to hold down payment costs, the right to surcharge helps to hold down the price of goods and services charged to all consumers. It also reduces the extent to which those who pay with cheaper payment methods are subsidising those consumers – typically from higher income households – who use more expensive payment methods. Is there a limit on the size of a surcharge? Surcharges must not be more than the amount that it costs a merchant to accept a particular type of card for a given transaction. For example, debit cards are typically less expensive for merchants to accept than credit cards. It is important that merchants do not impose surcharges in excess of their actual payment costs. Merchants will know how much that is from statements supplied by their bank or payments provider; these must contain easy-to-understand information on the average cost of acceptance for each payment method. These statements will express acceptance costs in percentage terms and the standard defines the cost of acceptance in percentage terms. This should ensure that merchants who wish to surcharge – including in the airline industry – will generally do so in percentage terms rather than as a fixed dollar amount. This means that surcharges on some lower-priced transactions should be reduced significantly. If merchants wish to surcharge two or more payment methods at the same rate (e.g. all credit cards from American Express, MasterCard and Visa; or both debit and credit cards from a particular system) they are required to set the surcharge at the lowest cost of those different payment methods. How can I avoid paying a surcharge? Merchants that choose to surcharge will generally offer a non-surcharged payment method. This will typically be a payment type with a lower cost of acceptance for the merchant. If no surcharge-free method is offered, the amount of the surcharge should be built into the base price and not added on to the price of an item. Consistent with requirements under the Australian Consumer Law, merchants are required to prominently disclose the terms of any surcharge. A consumer who wishes to avoid paying a surcharge should ask the merchant to identify an alternative non-surcharged payment method. How do I know the surcharge imposed by a merchant is reasonable? While merchants are allowed to impose cost-based surcharges on card payments, surcharges must not exceed the permitted surcharge specified in the RBA standard. The standard provides a narrower definition of the cost of acceptance than the previous standard, along with transparency measures to ensure merchants have clear information on the payment costs they face. Merchants of different sizes and in different industries have a wide range of payment costs. However, as a guide, payments through the domestic eftpos system are usually quite low cost for merchants, mostly below ½ per cent of the transaction value. Debit MasterCard and Visa Debit may cost many merchants around ½ to 1 per cent, though for some merchants the cost of these cards is combined with credit card costs. MasterCard and Visa credit may cost many merchants about 1 to 1½ per cent. And it is common for merchants to pay 1½ to 2 per cent for an American Express card payment. In general, smaller merchants face higher payment costs than larger merchants and may have higher costs than these typical ranges. What can I do if I believe I have been asked to pay an excessive surcharge? Consumers who have concerns over whether a payment surcharge is excessive can contact the ACCC. The ACCC has investigation and enforcement powers over cases of possible excessive surcharging. Will merchants be able to replace surcharges with other charges? Merchants cannot avoid the rules by calling their payment surcharges something else while still applying them to some payment methods and not others. However, the new surcharging framework only applies to payment surcharges – that is, to fees that are specifically related to payments or apply to some payment methods but not others. Some merchants apply fees, such as ‘booking’ or ‘service’ fees, which are unrelated to payment costs and apply regardless of the method of payment (this is for instance common in the ticketing industry). The surcharging framework is not intended to apply to these fees but merchants are required to meet all provisions of the Australian Consumer Law in terms of disclosure of any such fees. Do the new rules affect the taxi industry? Surcharging in the taxi industry remains the responsibility of state regulators. Until recently, surcharges of 10 per cent were typical in that industry. However, authorities in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have taken or announced decisions to limit surcharges to no more than 5 per cent. Other states and territories are also considering such limits. As new payment methods and technologies emerge, it is likely to be appropriate for caps on surcharges to be reduced below 5 per cent. The Government and the RBA will continue to monitor developments in the taxi industry with a view to assessing whether further measures are appropriate. Card payments for hire cars and ride-sharing services are within the scope of the RBA's surcharging standard and potential ACCC enforcement. What is the objective of the new framework? The new RBA standard is intended to ensure that merchants have the right to surcharge for payment cards while also ensuring that consumers are not surcharged excessively, consistent with the Government's amendment to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 . A merchant cannot surcharge a card transaction at a rate that exceeds the merchant's average cost of acceptance for that transaction for the relevant card system. The ACCC has responsibility for enforcement in the event that a merchant is attempting to surcharge excessively. How does the new framework benefit merchants? The framework emphasises the right of merchants to surcharge to cover their acceptance costs and signal differences in costs to consumers. It also improves the transparency of payment costs to merchants. Under the RBA's new surcharging standard, merchants will receive an annual statement from their acquirer or payments facilitator that clearly sets out their average cost of acceptance for each of the card payment systems regulated by the RBA. These transparency measures, which help merchants to know how much it costs them to accept card payments, should contribute to downward pressure on payment costs. This information will also enable merchants to make more informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if they do, whether to surcharge them. What cards does it apply to? The RBA standard and the ACCC's enforcement powers currently apply to payment surcharges in six card systems – eftpos, Debit MasterCard, MasterCard Credit, Visa Debit and Visa Credit and the American Express companion card system. However, other card systems may include conditions in their merchant agreements that are similar to the limits on surcharges under the RBA's standard, in which case merchants may be contractually bound to similar caps on what they can surcharge cards from other systems. Over time other payment types could be added via regulation. What surcharge can a merchant impose when they accept a card payment? Merchants are permitted to surcharge, but are not required to do so. Under the new framework a merchant who decides to surcharge a particular type of card may not surcharge above their average cost of acceptance for that card type. It is likely that most merchants who decide to surcharge debit or credit cards will do so based purely on what they are charged for payments by their acquirer or payment facilitator; this includes costs such as merchant service fees, terminal fees, and any other fees incurred in processing card transactions. Merchants are able to surcharge any of the cards covered by the RBA's standard up to the average percentage cost of acceptance in their annual statement for that card type. However, some merchants may have other costs (as outlined below) of accepting a particular type of card that they would like to include in their surcharge. If those costs meet the requirements for inclusion and can be documented, merchants may add them to the costs charged by their acquirer or payment facilitator over the previous year and, based on their total costs, calculate their average percentage cost for that card system. Merchants may not surcharge above this average cost. What information is available for merchants? Effective mid-2017, merchants will receive annual statements from their acquirer or payment facilitator that show the average percentage cost over the past year for each of the card types covered by the RBA/ACCC framework; this will be based on costs such as merchant service fees and terminal rental costs. An acquirer is the entity (often a bank) which has relationships with card companies such as eftpos, MasterCard and Visa that enable it to provide merchants with the ability to accept card payments. Alternatively, a merchant may use the services of a payment facilitator, a non-bank entity which has arrangements with an acquirer that allow it to offer card acceptance services to merchants. The RBA has worked with acquirers and payment facilitators on the design of easy-to-read statements that are reasonably standard across the industry. If a merchant wishes to surcharge for some costs in addition to those paid to their acquirer or payments facilitator, they will have to keep records of the costs paid to other providers. What costs in addition to the merchant service fee can a merchant include in their surcharge on a particular type of card? In addition to the fees paid to the merchant's acquirer or payment facilitator for standard card acceptance services, merchants may include some additional types of costs if they are directly related to accepting that particular card type. the cost of insuring against forward delivery risk. This applies to agents (such as travel agents) who pay an external party to insure against the risk that the agent will be liable to a customer for the failure of a principal supplier (such as an airline or hotel) on payments accepted via cards. In each case, these costs must be specific to the particular types of cards that the merchant is surcharging, rather than being a cost that applies to all payment methods accepted by the merchant. Furthermore, they must be costs paid to an external provider and verified by contracts, statements or invoices. A merchant's internal costs cannot be included in a surcharge. How should a merchant calculate their permitted surcharge if they have costs in addition to those paid to their acquirer or payment facilitator? In the event that merchants wish to include additional costs that are part of the cost of acceptance for one or more of the six regulated card systems, they should calculate the proportion of those costs applying to particular systems, allocating costs based on total transaction values for each system over the previous year. The cost attributable to any particular system may then be included in the surcharge on payments for that particular system. An example of the calculation of acceptance costs for costs in addition to the merchant service fee is explained below. The statement from the merchant's acquirer indicates that the average cost of transactions through Card System X over the prior year was 0.85 per cent. The merchant could therefore surcharge Card System X at a rate no higher than 0.90 per cent (the 0.85 per cent average cost of acceptance paid to the acquirer plus the 0.05 per cent cost of fraud prevention). Additional costs (such as gateway fees, fraud-related chargebacks, insurance for forward delivery risk or terminal fees paid to a payment service provider) should be dealt with in a similar way, that is by determining what proportion of these costs applies to each card system and calculating the percentage cost relative to the value of transactions through each system. What if a merchant uses more than one acquirer or payment facilitator? Some merchants have more than one acquirer or payment facilitator, for example one for their point-of-sale transactions and another for their online transactions. Where this is the case, it will be reasonable for merchants to use the information on the statement provided by their main acquirer or payment facilitator. If merchants wish to be more exact about their payment costs, they may calculate an average acceptance cost, weighting the costs of their different acquirers by the value of transactions through the two entities. How often do merchants have to review their surcharge? Merchants may choose to reset their surcharges frequently based on evidence of their average cost of acceptance over the most recent twelve-month period. However, the RBA's standard has been designed so that merchants will be able to identify their payment costs once a year and set their surcharge for the next year based on that information. They must then review that surcharge in a year's time when they receive a new annual statement about their payment costs. Can merchants set a common or blended surcharge which applies to different cards? Merchants may choose to set the same surcharge for a number of different payment systems, provided that the surcharge is no greater than the average cost of acceptance of the lowest cost system included. For example, a merchant may choose to set the same surcharge for two credit card systems, which have average costs of acceptance of 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent. In this case, the maximum common surcharge that could be charged would be 1 per cent. However, if the merchant wished to surcharge the two systems separately, it could charge 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent as appropriate. In this example, the merchant would not be able to blend both these costs into a 1.25 per cent surcharge, since it would be surcharging excessively for the scheme that cost 1 per cent. When did the rules take effect? Large merchants became subject to the new rules on excessive surcharging effective 1 September 2016. All other merchants became subject to the rules from 1 September 2017. What is the definition of a large merchant? Large merchants are defined as those that meet at least two of the following tests: consolidated turnover (including that of any related companies) of more than $25 million in the most recent financial year; consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of $12.5 million or more; or 50 or more employees as at 30 June 2015. What if a merchant does not have an annual statement from their acquirer or payment facilitator? Effective 1 June 2017 the RBA's standard requires all acquirers to ensure that merchants receive statements that clearly set out merchants' average cost of acceptance for each card scheme. There may be merchants who wish to surcharge but do not have statements covering 12 months, for instance because they have not been established for that long. These merchants should make good faith estimates of their payment costs based on their available information – for example, any recent monthly statements they have, invoices and contracts from their acquirers, payment facilitators or payment service providers. Merchants may also wish to include items such as gateway fees paid to a payment service provider, the cost of fraud prevention services, any terminal costs paid to a provider other than their acquirer or payments facilitator, fraud-related chargeback fees (but not the chargebacks themselves) or the cost of insuring against forward delivery risk. If they wish to include such items, they will have to gather information on these costs over the past year and then calculate the amounts attributable to particular payment systems as outlined in Box 1 below. Based on data for the total value of transactions in each system, they will be able to calculate the additional percentage amount that may be included in the cost of acceptance and the permitted surcharge. Examples of how to calculate average costs of acceptance from information on payment costs under some different types of merchant plans can be found here. What if a merchant does not wish to surcharge in percentage terms but rather to charge a fixed amount? In most cases payment costs are charged to merchants in percentage terms, so it will typically be appropriate that any surcharge is also expressed in percentage terms. Indeed, one of the factors behind the Government's amendment to the Competition and Consumer Act and the RBA's new standard was dissatisfaction with the practice in the airline industry of imposing fixed-dollar surcharges that are well above actual cost of card acceptance for low-priced airfares. Accordingly, the standard defines the cost of acceptance in percentage terms and requires acquirers to provide information on payment costs in these terms. However, this does not prevent a merchant from capping the surcharge it applies at a fixed amount. For example, if a merchant has an average cost of acceptance for a particular scheme of 1 per cent, it could choose to apply a surcharge of 1 per cent up to a maximum surcharge of $10. In such cases a 1 per cent surcharge would be applied to payments up to $1000, and a surcharge of $10 would apply to payments greater than $1000 ( which would be less than the average cost of acceptance for that scheme). Alternatively, if a merchant's cost of accepting a particular payment method is truly a flat amount (for example, if the merchant's acquirer charges a flat fee of say 10 cents to all eftpos transactions), then a flat surcharge of the same amount on all transactions would not be excessive. Are there any other requirements on surcharges? Nothing in the standard alters the existing obligation of merchants to comply with the provisions of the Australian Consumer Law, set out in the Competition and Consumer Act. Sections 18 and 29 prohibit merchants from engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and making false or misleading representations with respect to the price of goods or services, and section 48 prohibits component or partial pricing if the represented price only constitutes part of the total price of the goods or services. The new rules apply to all American Express companion cards, ie American Express cards issued by banks. The RBA has not designated the American Express proprietary card system, meaning that the ACCC cannot enforce the new rules on excessive surcharging for these cards. However, in the case of these cards, American Express can enforce excessive surcharging against merchants directly as its merchant agreements contractually prohibit merchants from surcharging any American Express transaction above the reasonable cost of acceptance. If excessive surcharging became an issue for proprietary American Express transactions, the RBA could reconsider current regulatory arrangements. What about other payment cards such as Union Pay, JCB, Diners Club etc? The RBA has not designated UnionPay, JCB or Diners Club. Accordingly the RBA's new standard does not apply to transactions carried out using those systems. However, these payment systems (and others) may include conditions in their merchant agreements that are similar to the framework under the RBA's standard. In such cases merchants may be contractually bound to surcharge caps in those systems, similar to the caps enforced by the RBA's standard. If excessive surcharging became an issue for these systems it will be open to the RBA to reconsider the regulatory arrangements. UnionPay provided the RBA with an undertaking on 29 May 2017 indicating it will not enforce no-surcharge rules in Australia and will amend its rules by the end of 2017 to ensure that they are consistent with the RBA’s new standard. Diners Club has also provided the Bank with an undertaking in relation to no-surcharge rules, and American Express has provided a similar undertaking in relation to proprietary card transactions. What about other systems such as PayPal and BPAY etc? PayPal and BPAY are payment systems in their own right that merchants and consumers may use. Consumers can fund transactions through those systems from a number of sources, including their credit card or their bank account. The cost to a merchant of accepting PayPal or BPAY reflects fees for those systems, so any surcharge applied on those systems is not a credit card surcharge. PayPal and BPAY are not currently designated, so transactions through those systems will not themselves be covered by the RBA's standards. However, these payment systems could include conditions in their merchant agreements that are similar to the framework under the RBA's standard. If excessive surcharging became an issue for either system the RBA could reconsider the regulatory arrangements. PayPal updated its user terms and conditions on 19 October 2016 to permit merchant surcharging. Paragraph 11.2(c) of the updated User Agreement for PayPal Services allows merchants to surcharge PayPal transactions as long as the surcharge does not exceed the amount the merchant is charged by PayPal for the transaction. PayPal has published information about surcharging PayPal payments. Why does the RBA regulate interchange fees? Interchange fees affect the prices faced by cardholders and merchants in using and accepting payments. Most notably, interchange fees increase payment costs for merchants and fund rewards programs for some cardholders. While there may be a useful role for interchange fees when a card network is first established, the case for significant interchange fees in mature card systems is much less clear. Where merchants feel unable to decline particular cards (because consumers expect to be able to pay with that card and may take their business elsewhere if they cannot), the incentive is for card schemes to raise interchange rates. Evidence from a range of countries suggests that competition between well-established payment card schemes can lead to the perverse result of increasing the price of payment services to merchants (and therefore to higher retail prices for consumers). The tendency for interchange rates to rise to high levels is most apparent in unregulated jurisdictions like the United States where credit card interchange rates in the MasterCard system are as high as 3.25 per cent plus 10 cents, implying that – after scheme fees and acquirer margin – some merchants may pay over 3½ per cent in merchant service fees for high rewards cards. The past decade has also seen a decline in transparency for some end users of the card systems, partly because of the increased complexity and the wider range of interchange fee categories. In particular, merchants that do not benefit from ‘strategic’ rates face much higher interchange rates and payment costs than ‘preferred’ merchants and may have no transparency over the cost of particular transactions. A standard Visa or MasterCard credit card will have an interchange cost for ‘non-preferred’ merchants of 0.25–0.30 per cent, while the highest level of premium card will have an interchange cost of up to 2.0 per cent for those merchants, with merchants typically having little ability to distinguish between these cards or to respond in terms of acceptance decisions. In 2003 the RBA introduced benchmarks intended to prevent the significant upward pressure on interchange rates seen in many markets. Contrary to some claims at the time that limiting interchange fees would affect the viability of card systems, the Australian cards market has continued to grow strongly and innovation has thrived. The RBA's reforms have been supported by the leading Australian consumer and merchant organisations. Following the reforms, a number of other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, have also regulated interchange fees. What are the RBA's new interchange standards? The weighted-average benchmarks remain the primary element of interchange regulation. The weighted-average benchmark for credit cards remains at 0.50 per cent. The weighted-average benchmark for debit cards has been lowered from 12 cents to 8 cents, effective 1 July 2017, consistent with the fall in average transaction values since the debit benchmark was introduced. The weighted-average benchmarks are supplemented by caps on any individual interchange fee within a scheme's schedule. No credit card interchange fee is permitted to exceed 0.80 per cent and no debit interchange fee is permitted to exceed 15 cents if levied as a fixed amount or 0.20 per cent if levied as a percentage amount. These changes are expected to significantly reduce the extent to which small and medium-sized merchants are disadvantaged relative to preferred merchants in the MasterCard and Visa interchange systems. The credit card interchange standard has been modified so that issuance of American Express companion cards is subject to the same interchange fee regulation that applies to the MasterCard and Visa systems. In particular, interchange fees are defined to also include the interchange-like ‘issuer fees’ paid by American Express to card-issuing banks as an incentive to issue cards. In addition, both companion card issuance and traditional ‘four-party’ issuance (in the eftpos, MasterCard and Visa systems) are subject to rules on ‘other net payments’ to issuers, so as to prevent any circumvention of the interchange standards. transactions on prepaid cards are included with debit cards in the observance of the debit benchmark. The cards market has continued to thrive under regulated interchange fees and Australia is recognised as one of the most innovative markets globally. Based on the experience of the earlier reforms, the RBA is confident that these reforms will contribute to a more competitive and efficient payments system and will not adversely affect the development of the cards market in Australia. How will the RBA's changes affect my credit card? There should be little effect on interchange payments on standard consumer cards and therefore only limited changes to other aspects (e.g. interest rates, interest-free periods) of such cards. However, the new standard is likely to result in some reductions in the generosity of rewards programs on premium and companion cards for consumers. Some adjustment in annual fees on these cards is also possible. Commercial and corporate card products often provide significant benefits free of charge to the company holding the card. It is possible that there will be changes to either the pricing or services provided by these products. These changes are part of the process of improving price signals to cardholders and creating a more efficient and lower-cost payments system. How will the RBA's changes affect my debit or prepaid card? The new standard has required schemes to reduce the high interchange rates that applied to some premium and commercial debit and prepaid cards. While it is currently unusual for rewards to be provided on debit and prepaid cards, some adjustments to product offerings for premium and commercial cards is possible. Interchange rates on standard cards are likely to be largely unaffected, so it is unlikely that there will be substantial changes to arrangements for most transaction accounts. More broadly, the changes to the interchange standards, especially on debit cards, should be reflected in lower merchant service fees and some merchants may decide to remove minimum spending requirements on cards, so consumers may find that they can use their cards for a greater range of transactions. I generally use payment methods other than cards. How will the RBA's changes affect me? Users of other payment methods are likely to benefit from the changes since the reforms will reduce the extent to which people using lower-cost payment methods cross-subsidise users of higher-cost methods (such as super-premium credit cards). The reforms will place downward pressure on the prices of goods and services faced by all consumers. Looking ahead, the RBA's interchange reforms will make it more likely that new payment methods are able to emerge. Interchange fees are used by the large card schemes to encourage banks to issue their cards and to encourage consumers to use those cards rather than some other payment method. Reforms that limit the upward pressure on interchange fees will make it easier for new players to compete. How will the RBA's changes affect credit unions, building societies and other small financial institutions? Most smaller financial institutions have tended to focus on offering credit card products in the low-fee and low-rate sectors of the market. While a few offer ‘premium’ rewards cards, most typically do not issue cards with extensive rewards that attract very high interchange fees. The smaller institutions do not issue American Express companion cards. The new interchange standard will have the largest effect on the high interchange categories applying to rewards cards and are likely to result in only small changes to interchange rates on standard cards. Hence, there should be little, if any, effect on interchange revenues of the smaller institutions, so little need for change to their business models. I am a small merchant. How do the RBA's changes affect me? Small and medium-sized merchants who do not benefit from preferred interchange rates previously bore the full cost of the high interchange rates on premium and commercial cards issued in the MasterCard and Visa systems. Accordingly, they should see a material reduction in merchant service fees from the RBA's reforms. This should improve their competitiveness relative to larger merchants who benefit from low interchange rates on all their card transactions. Merchants will also receive easy-to-understand information on the cost of payments for the different types of cards they accept. This should contribute to downward pressure on payment costs and will enable merchants to make more informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if so, whether to surcharge them. If merchants do decide to surcharge, they will have clear information on the maximum permissible surcharge for each payment method. Why are ‘companion cards’ subject to regulation? The RBA regulated interchange fees (payments from a merchant's bank to a cardholder's bank) in the MasterCard and Visa systems in the early 2000s because it was concerned about their use to drive up payment costs and their effect on payment choices by consumers. The card payment systems operated by American Express and Diners Club did not use interchange fees given that American Express and Diners Club maintained the relationship with both the cardholder and the merchant, without the involvement of banks. Since then, American Express has implemented a new model under which some cards (companion cards) are issued by banks rather than American Express itself. This model involves payments from American Express to banks to support issuance, along with more generous rewards programs than those typically available for MasterCard and Visa cards. These payments are ultimately funded by merchants and perform a function very similar to that of interchange fees. But to date they have been unregulated while interchange fees have been subject to a regulatory cap. The RBA's new approach of regulating payments to issuers in American Express companion card arrangements will restore competitive neutrality between these cards and the MasterCard and Visa systems, and reduce the effect of payments to issuers on cardholder payment choices. How will the RBA's standards affect the way that prepaid cards, including gift cards, are labelled? From 1 July 2017, all prepaid cards that are issued by participants in the designated eftpos, MasterCard and Visa schemes that are capable of being visually identified as prepaid cards must be so identified. Where a prepaid card is clearly identified as a gift card, it does not also need to be separately labelled as a prepaid card.

2019-04-20T16:16:19Z

https://rba.gov.au/payments-and-infrastructure/review-of-card-payments-regulation/q-and-a/card-payments-regulation-qa-conclusions-paper.html

Create great tasting espresso – from bean to espresso– in less than a minute. The Barista Express allows you to grind the beans right before extraction, and its interchangeable filters and a choice of automatic or manual operation ensure authentic café style results in no time at all. Dose-Control Grinding. Integrated conical burr grinder with dose control delivers the right amount on demand, ensuring maximum flavour. Its fully adjustable grind size and dose, let you customise to suit your taste. Precise Espresso Extraction. Digital temperature control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring optimal espresso extraction. The Breville Razor™ dosing tool trims the puck for a consistent dose and extraction. Micro-foam Milk. The steam wand performs at the level that allows you to hand-texture the micro-foam necessary to enhance the flavour of the coffee and create latte art. Get cafe quality coffee at home with this Cafe Barista Espresso Machine. Thanks to the one-touch control panel you can get espresso, cappuccino or latte with just the touch of a button. The integrated milk frother takes the guesswork out frothing milk and any leftover milk can get easily stored in the fridge with the removable milk reservoir. CitiZ & Milk is an automatic espresso machine fitted with an Aeroccino milk frother allowing you to create an endless number of recipes with velvety milk. This compact modern machine features Nespresso’s unique 19 bar extraction system and thermoblock heating to ensure optimal temperature control and consistency. The CitiZ & Milk also features a folding cup holder to allow for a tall glass, a capsule container with the capacity to hold 10 used capsules and an automatic standby mode after 9 minutes of inactivity to reduce energy consumption. Your espresso journey begins here. A great tasting espresso or cappuccino is about the right balance of sweetness, acidity and bitterness. The Duo-Temp™ Pro provides you with café quality taste at home. Precise Espresso Extraction - Low pressure pre-infusion ensures balanced flavours are drawn evenly from all grinds, PID temperature control delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring balanced espresso flavour. The Duo-Temp™ Pro also comes with the Razor precision dose trimming tool. The Razor is unique to Breville and simplifies manual dosing by precisely controlling the amount of coffee in the filter basket. A precise dose each time will help you achieve consistently great tasting coffee every time you use your Duo-Temp™ Pro. Micro-foam Milk - High power 1700W element for high pressure steam and faster heat up to create micro-foam necessary for café quality drinks and essential for creating latte art. Micro-foam Milk - High power 1700W element for high pressure steam and faster heat up to create micro-foam necessary for café quality drinks and to create latte art. The Creatista Plus lets you enjoy cafe-style quality coffee at home. With a fully-automatic steam wand, you can now create perfectly textured milk set to your preferred temperature. Create unique latte art creations and a broad range of milk based recipes. The stainless steel Creatista Plus has a 3 second heat up time, 8 texture levels and 11 milk temperature settings. Each machine includes a stainless steel milk jug. Barista-quality performance, new intuitive touchscreen display with pre-programmed café drinks menu and automatic milk texturing. All within a compact footprint. A built-in grinder delivers the right amount of ground coffee on demand and with a 3 second heat up time, you go from bean to cup, faster than ever before. Intuitive Touchscreen Display: Simplifies how to make your favourite café coffee in 3 easy steps - Grind, Brew and Milk. You can easily adjust the coffee strength, milk texture or temperature to suit your taste. Then save it with your own unique name. Create and save up to 8 personalised coffees. Automatic Microfoam Milk Texturing: Auto steam wand, allows you to adjust the milk temperature and texture to suit your taste. Delivering barista quality micro-foam that enhances the flavour of the coffee and essential for creating latté art. Then it cleans itself for you. Precise Espresso Extraction: Digital Temperature Control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring optimal espresso extraction. Faster Heat Up Time: Innovative ThemoJet™ heating system achieves the optimum extraction temperature in 3 seconds. Ready to make your best coffee without the wait. Hands Free Operation: Innovative grinding cradle allows any at-home Barista to grind directly into the espresso portafilter. Integrated Coffee Grinder: With a single touch, the integrated conical burr grinder with dose control,delivers the right amount of coffee,on demand, for maximum flavour. Adjustable grind size and dose. The Oracle is the world’s first automatic manual espresso machine that brings true café quality to your home without the barista. Engineered in Sydney with over 3 years of research and development, the Oracle is Simpler, with automatic grinding, dosing, tamping and milk texturing; Faster, with 2 lattes in 90 seconds; and Better, meeting the Gold Standard in a domestic machine. At the heart of this machine is its Dual Stainless Steel Boiler heating system. The Oracle uses a dedicated espresso boiler and PID technology to extract the espresso shot to within +/- 1°C of the selected ideal temperture. The Oracle also uses a dedicated steam boiler to offer instant steam on demand. So you can extract your shot, at the right temperature, delivering optimal flavour and steam your milk to cafe quality, at the same time. What's more, the heated group head further ensures a consistent extraction temperature. The Oracle also features an Over Pressure Valve. This commercial feature limits the maximum pressure throughout the extraction, helping to prevent bitter flavours in the shot. It also offers a true low pressure pre-infusion, which gradually increases the pressure to gently expand the grinds for an even extraction. With all the features that a coffee geek would expect, the Oracle keeps it simple for all coffee lovers to rival even the best café. Introducing Sunbeam Barista Max, a new, at-home espresso machine with integrated grinder. This all-in-one machine brings together everything you need to easily make great-tasting, café-style coffee at home. Exclusive Tap & Go™ technology allows an easy, on-demand one-touch grind system to deliver fresh beans for every cup. The conical burr grinder achieves consistent grind particle size and the 30 adjustable grind settings will maximise the flavour of your coffee. The exclusive Temp°IQ Shot Control™ 3-way system combines a fast heat-up Thermoblock, gentle pre-infusion for even extraction and advanced PID controller to regulate and deliver optimal, consistent temperature that all work together to create a great tasting coffee. Inspired by café machines, the Barista Max uses a 58mm group head. This wider size ensures the coffee grinds are more evenly spread in the filter basket, extracting the maximum amount of flavour. The Mini Barista uses thermoblock technology, a 15 Bar Italian pump and a 58mm commercial size group head inspired from café machines. This ensures a rich extraction for a coffee that tastes just like it does at the café. Great Christmas gift for coffee lovers. The Sunbeam Mini Barista Espresso Machine has a powerful Italian pump and a steam wand, making it easy for you to craft your very own artisanal coffee at the comfort of your home. Inspired by café machines, the Mini Barista uses a 58mm commercial size group head. This larger size accepts more grinds and ensures an even extraction for a rich cafe tasting coffee at home. Essenza Mini,the small machine for big coffee moments. The new Essenza Mini & Aeroccino combines ease of use, minimalist beauty and unrivalled Nespresso quality to create the perfect coffee cup every time. It's the small machine that opens up the whole world of Nespresso coffee. The compact design of the Essenza Mini range comes in two distinctive shapes and each shape is available in three different colours. Choose the design that best suits your style and space and open up to the world of Nespresso coffee. With a 15 bar pump the Lumio machine delivers high quality drinks with no mess, no fuss. Our carefully selected coffee is sealed in the pods to deliver to you a delicious aroma and full flavour. Because the coffee grinds stay in the pod there is virtually no cleaning either. Simply pop in a pod, select the volume you desire, and go! Create your perfect beverage from over 40 drinks varieties. Deliver high quality coffees with a thick velvety crema – thanks to its maximum 15 bar pump pressure. Easy to clean - as all the coffee grinds stay in the pods there is no mess, no fuss. Be your own barista and create great tasting coffee to rival the best café. The Dual Boiler™ is for the coffee connoisseur who prefers to control every step in the espresso process. You can extract espresso and texture milk simultaneously, allowing you to capture the delicate aromatics of the espresso in your coffee by having the espresso and milk ready at the same time. Dual Stainless steel boilers and heated group head, both regulated by our digital temperature control technology (PID), delivers water at precisely the right temperature, eliminating temperature surfing* for consistent espresso quality, shot after shot. The Dual Boiler™ also features an Over Pressure Valve (OPV) which limits the maximum pressure throughout the extraction, helping to prevent bitter flavours in the shot. It also offers a true low pressure pre-infusion, which gradually increases the pressure to gently expand the grinds for an even extraction. There is also a shot clock and pressure gauge to help you improve your barista skills. The steam wand, powered by the dedicated steam boiler, instantly delivers the pressure to create micro-foam texture similar to commercial machines that enhances coffee flavour and is essential to create latte art. The Dual Boiler is the professional Barista’s choice for their home machine. “24.5 out of 25. Ridiculously good.” Craig Simon. Australian Barista Champion. Temperature Surfing. Purging and flushing water through the group head of single heat source espresso machines in an attempt to hit the correct extraction temperature. Automatically doses the same amount every time you grind. The very best taste will always come from using quality, freshly roasted coffee that’s ground right before you extract. Coffee is at its peak flavour potential between 5-20 days after roasting, so always buy beans with a “Roasted On” date printed on the bag. Buying beans with a “Use By” or “Best Before” date makes it impossible to know when these were roasted. Always use a quality burr grinder, and grind right before you extract, just like the very best cafes. Breville's conical burr Smart Grinder™ Pro uses Dosing IQ technology to automatically adjust the dose whenever you change the grind. Choose between 'cups' for French press or Filter, and 'shots' for Espresso to get the right dose for your coffee's needs. You can even tweak for taste. Essenza Mini: the small machine for big coffee moments.

2019-04-20T23:04:51Z

https://www.smithscity.co.nz/home-appliances/coffee-machines

Alicia and I attended a lecture tonight by Wally Owen at the Lyceum, Alexandria's History Museum, called, "A Visual Tour of Civil War Alexandria." Wally Owen is the Assistant Director of the Fort Ward Museum and co-author of "Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington." The lecture was a two hour tour of Alexandria in the Civil War including a finale where everyone got to see some of the stereoscopic images in 3D using funky two color glasses. It was a wonderful presentation. Wally literally had the audience gasping in amazment as he showed some of the details in the high resolution photos available from the LoC and other places. He also showed examples of how he does detective work to identify photos, locations, dates and other details through cross correlation of photos and original documents. The advance billing for the talk said some of the photos had never been published and indeed, there were several that I have never seen before. Some highlights that I noted included. A photo of an engine parked in front of the Wilkes Street tunnel showed a large light mounted on the tender. I don't think I have ever seen a shot showing a back-up light on the tender. That was cool. He presented a shot of the Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire engine terminal that showed the view from the east to the west. It had a lot of good detail of the AL&H terminal. Anyone modeling the AL&H needs to get a copy of this photo. Wally did not mention the source of that photo. Wally mentioned that W. M. Merrick, the draftsman that drew several important maps of Alexandria, Washington and City Point, was friends with Captain Andrew Russell, the photographer. Wally showed a sketch that Merrick drew of Russell painting the tender of the engine Stanton. This engine has an elaborate painting of secretary Stanton on the tender. Apparently Russell's first avocation was as an artist and he learned photography on the fly in 3 months during the war while in the employ of Haupt. Wally speculated on what else Russell may have painted, perhaps the eagle on the Lincoln funeral train. The presentation was chock full of interesting information. It was well worth attending. The cold, icy weekend meant lots of progress on the layout. First I reconfigured the slope of the hill behind Potomac Creek to make it look more like a country road. This resulted in a slightly sunken road at the top of the ridge. Then I painted the rocks at Wiellep's Cut with a dark base color. I find that when using water putty for rock carvings, one can not just stain the rocks like you can with hydrocal. You have to completely paint the rocks. I use a dark base acrylic color and then add lighter drybrushed colors on top. Next I worked on the culvert at Accokeek Creek. It is built like a railroad tunnel, but without the tracks. I used the laser to cut the parts except for the styrene blocks on the top cap. Those I made from a strip of .125 inch styrene, shaping each block to look like stone. plastic strip stone cap pieces. The brick lined culvert pipe. Cutting and fitting the culvert under the tracks. I also worked on installing the grist mill, but it was tricky as I had to add the mill race to the mill as I went along. That took a bit of cutting, filling and test fitting. I had to reconfigure the terrain under the mill race to make room. I sealed the terrain with water putty. I need to make the area water tight as I plan to pour resin to simulate the water and it needs a water tight base. Working on the tail race. I still need to build the feed race sluice. design. The wooded hill will help downplay the visual dominance of the dam. The Potomac Creek station scene will feature a long line of soldiers marching on a road to the railhead. The road leads from the back drop to the railhead at Potomac Creek. My intent is to display a regiment with each figure shown one-to-one. A full strength regiment has over 1,000 men. At two years into the war, most regiments were at partial strength. I have about 400 figures planned in this scene, representing a regiment that is about one third full strength. The figures I am using look quite energetic and excited, so I decided this is a two year regiment whose enlistments have expired and they are going home. There will be other soldiers and people watching them and cheering along. This drawing showing two-year men taking a train is part of my inspiration. I built the road with pieces of foam hot glued to the hard shell. In retrospect, I think the road is too well built for a country dirt road of the 1860s. So I will add a ridge as shown in the photo below and have part of the road cut through ridge top, creating a sunken section. That will remove some of the fill and make the road look more rustic. The red lines show the planned terrain addition. word "pink" shows through, as that is the last pink scenery in the north room. I added some ballast and base scenery. I continued the base scenery around the curve at Brooke as the panorama photo shows below. I will probably add the base scenery to the ridge behind Brook and then paint the back drop. In surveying the new work, AW's said, "Wow, do you think you'll actually finish this one?" A two shot panorama showing the big curve at Brooke. In a long awaited move, I finally painted the base scenery and fascia from Brooke to Accokeek. Only a 6-foot section to go and all the fascia and scenery will be painted the base color. I am using Ralph Lauren Adirondack Bark. It is a textured paint and does a great job making the fascia and the layout visually blend together. The base coat of paint makes a big difference. The layout takes on a much more finished appearance even though there is still lots to do. I painted the tunnel rock cuts leading up to the tunnel portal. Then I added a base layer of scenic material. That helped reduce some of the darker shadows so that it doesn't look so much like the entrance to Shelob's Lair. Rock carving at Weilepp's Cut is done, whew! The Weilepp's Cut area still needs to be painted. I also need to finish the mill so I can place it in the scene and fill in the gaps with Water Putty and scenic material. I have to install a road in the far corner behind Weilepp's Cut. I have to build up the road with pieces of foam and water putty, as the terrain there is fairly rough. The 2012 issue of Model Railroad Planning has an article about my layout. It was written by Gerry Fitzgerald. You might recognize him from this blog as he is one of my regular gandy dancers even though he lives in Charlottesville, VA where he is a graduate student at UVa while serving as a visiting professor at GMU. Gerry wrote the article with my permission and cooperation. I took the photos and did the graphics. I found it a bit strange reading about my layout in the third person, but Gerry did a great job with the article. He provided his own insight, not exactly that of an outsider, but certainly an independent look at the project. Thanks Gerry. BTW We still have about 5,000 spikes to go. Thom Metz stopped by tonight to discuss his plans for an NTRAK module based on Alleghany, Va. We are lucky that Matt Schaefer designed an excellent module based on Alleghany for Dudley Ross several years back. Matt was one of the best NTRAK modular designers ever. People from across the globe sought his design advice. Alas both Matt and Dudley have passed away, but their memory lives on in an excellent module design. "Curiously, to look at them, the impression is that the old bore is really the new one, and vice-versa. This is because the new bore was drilled for single track, while the old one is wide enough for two." The single track in the old bore gives the feeling of spaciousness associated with a newer excavation." I photographed Dudley's layout for Kalmbach's Great Model Railroads 2005 and you can find the overall track plan there. Here are some other shots of Dudley's Alleghany including a simplified drawing of just the Alleghany section. The main scene at Alleghany includes a turntable, brick cabin and depot. I recently learned that the Alco Heritage Museum in Schenectady has moved to a new, larger location. The museum will feature many neat exhibits including tanks, locomotives, a replica of an engine erecting shop, an FA-1 cab simulator, and a civil war railroad model display. According to the museum website, it plans to open in Spring 2012. Tanks, trains and models! I definitely need to add it to my bucket list. There are several interesting things I noticed in the photo. The obvious gallows turntable in the left foreground. The engine has an enclosed tender and it has the passenger car on its nose. The passenger car has a plain, arched, non-clerestory, roof, and small windows. Note the exterior bracing under the passenger car body. I am not sure why the wood is piled up by the track, possibly fuel? Also note the lack of trees in the background. There also appears to be a cemetery or perhaps encampment in the background. There is currently a legal fight between historical preservationists and the University of Princeton who want to relocate the station and convert it to a bus line. If you know anything about this photo, please post a comment. Top down, visor on, iPod synched - ready to boogie. There is nothing like a trip to sunny Florida in January. Prototype Rails 2012 is over and I had a good time. Here are some of the highlights. The FECNTrak group was present with part of their oNeTRAK layout. Gregg Stoll, Tom Chaffee and Matt Gatof gave me a run down on their layout and let me operate a train. Their oNeTRAK modules really capture the intent for oNeTRAK when I first proposed the oNeTRAK concept at the NVNTrak Christmas party nearly 15 years ago. They have some nice modules that combine intense switch districts and open running. They use balloon tracks at each end of the layout to reverse the trains. They are lucky that their prototype has an actual balloon track in Hialeah, FL that they selectively compressed for one of the loops. They use the other loop as a staging track. It was appropriate that I got held up at a grade crossing in Melbourne by a 150-car long northbound train on real FEC as I returned to my brother's house on the night I met with the FEC guys. I went to several good clinics. I especially enjoyed Dave Ramos's NY harbor layout presentation, John Roberts talk on his O Scale C&O layout, both of John Wilkes talks, Jim Lincoln's discussion of prototypical auto rack unloading and Gilbert's Thomas talk on the Tropicana Juice Trains. I had trouble getting my iPad to project the photos for my talk on my layout update, but everyone seemed to enjoy the talk nonetheless. My make-and-take class was small but the students all did great jobs. The meet organizers asked if I could return next year to do it again. On Sunday I visited John Wilkes and Tom Wilson's layouts on the west side of Florida before flying out of Orlando. They are both super nice guys and it was pleasure seeing their layouts. Both have impressive double deck layouts. I believe that mountain railroads are well suited to double deck layouts as the frequent tunnels and hills allow one to hide much of the infrastructure necessary in a double deck layout. John used aluminum C Channels for his benchwork and thus his layout seems to be built to Hadron collider level standards. His track work is very nice with over 100 hand laid turnouts. His scenery is also coming along nicely. It is a complex layout, with two helices and two railroads running parallel to each other with some shared track. But he has generous aisles and it all feels just right. I got to run a test train and I look forward to returning for a real op session. A scene on John Wilkes layout. He models the L&N and Southern where they share trackage. He uses Florida native lichen to make his realistic trees. Tom's layout is chock full of interesting structures. His upper deck is primarily devoted to a steel mill which was featured in my steel mill modeling book. I had a chance to operate it a few years back and it is a hoot. The lower deck is more rural WV and PA scenery. Tom gives me good ideas for future steel mill related projects and we may have some new items coming out soon. The Brass Monkey Bar - where workers go to flush the monkey? A little photoshop fun with some of Tom's cool mill structures.  I'm off to Prototype Rails 2012 in Cocoa Beach. I will be doing an update on my layout at 9:00AM on Friday, 6 Jan. If you are coming to the make-and-take, bring your tool box and a pencil soldering iron. I'll provide the kits and solder. The fee is $25.00. This is for those of you that thought that the rock face looked like Mordor. I always thought Middle Earth would make a neat setting for a Lord of the Rings inspired model railway. They didn't have steam power in Tolkien's world, so you'd have to come up with some other form of motive power. Water powered cable railway maybe? Unlike Sisyphus, I am nearly done with my rock work. I ran out of Durham's water putty or I might have finished tonight. Another night or two of of mudding and the basic terrain will be done. That will be a relief. Once the rock face at Brooke was dry, I painted it with a base coat of acrylic paints. I do the dark colors first as I like the extra contrast it gives me. So I use a mix of Black, Burnt Umber and Spice Brown to paint in the whole rock face, making sure I get the crevices completely covered. It can be tricky to get the cracks fully colored with the dark paint. Once that dries, I will add the highlights and mid tones using a mix or spice brown and a touch of white. You have to be careful when lightening red based colors to avoid a pink look. This reminds me of a story. I was carving rocks for a friend on his layout. He is very particular. I was using prototype photos to copy an exact scene. It was progressing well. When I got to the shadow painting phase he freaked out because he thought I ruined them. Anyway, it worked out as acrylics dry quickly and I finished the painting. A couple more cans of Durham's water putty and the rock carving will be done. I think the layout room will undergo a transformation when I get all the base scenery and fascia painted the base color. Rock faces on the tunnel portal. An N scale locomotive? What the ding-dong is that doing there? Checking clearances? Nah, I'm just fooling around. under the turnout. It is now hot glued to a layer of pink foam, braced underneath and is much sturdier. paint the medium and highlight colors. Why the reference to Sisyphus other than the obvious rock work connection? I have been known to start layout projects and get about halfway through, then rip them out or sell them and start all over. But this layout has been different. I hope I will actually complete it. It has taken me several years to realize what I like and can achieve in a model railroad. This layout seems to meet my interests the best. It is also pushing me to learn new skills in scratch building, and engine tuning. I have reached a model railroad Nirvana of sorts, though there still are many challenges ahead, such as scratch building engines, battery power control, model ships and the big waterfront scene - saving the best for last. Some of my friends are still struggling with this issue as they tear out and modify layouts, or can't even get started. Marty is documenting his machinations on trying what to model on his blog. Check it out when you get a chance. Gerry Fitzgerald stopped by for a work session on the afternoon of New Years Eve. He worked on fixing some loose scenery by Potomac Creek siding as well as spiking some more rail. I worked on adding hard shell and rock carvings. We decided that the rock carving process was interesting and worth making into a video tutorial. You can see the 12 minute movie below.

2019-04-19T00:43:01Z

http://usmrr.blogspot.com/2012/01/

I’m a fairly close observer of what we have come to call “The Wine Media”. My 20+ years observing the writing and reporting of all things wine, and any expertise I’ve accumulated as a result, is part of what I offer my clients—who hire me and keep me around in part because I’m a fairly reliable analyst of the wine media. I make a living understanding the wine media, how it works, what it wants and who reads it. Me and people like me may be more valuable than ever before for the simple reason that the Wine Media has never been more complex and has never more fully satisfied the audience for wine information than it does today. This has implications—for everyone. I cannot pull up an example of a single source of wine information that comes close to satisfying the needs of all these different types of audiences or the other audiences you could easily slice off of these and identify as having unique needs and desires. I can’t even think of a single foolish publisher of wine information that has ever attempted to address the entire universe of wine media consumers with a single effort. Unless a publisher/writer/reporter of wine information wants to invest considerable amounts of money, expertise and time, it’s extraordinarily difficult to build a significant audience in the realm of wine media, no matter how many slices of the wine-centric reader you may want to try to satisfy. This means it remains very difficult to develop a profitable or even near-profitable wine media venture meant to be more than a sidelight for said publisher. These realities shape the contours and content of today’s “Wine Media”. Interestingly, as one attempts to break down this unique subject area, it’s still best to do so by looking not at what kind of audiences have been developed, but rather the categories of publishers that are attempting to meet these audiences’ needs. Furthermore, the most useful way to gaze upon the Wine Media is not by looking at the kind of writing and reporting being done, but rather who is doing this. This is the case because wine information is largely inconsequential the vast majority of literate people. Consider the kinds of stories about wine that find their way out of the blogs, wine publications and wine sections of the daily newspapers and into the mainstream press: “A Wine Counterfeiter Scams Rich Folk out of Millions”. “France Has a Disastrous Harvest”. “Wine Experts Shown To Know Very Little”. It’s the scandalous and disastrous that is deemed worthy of coverage in the mainstream media. Occasionally, the business or political writers cover wine politics when a state considers significant change to its regulatory or legal structure. The Wine Media reports on what the general population would call esoterica: information and an area of interest that is very specialized, very obscure and highly relevant to only a relatively small number of, well, geeks. The Wine Blogger remains largely an amateur. That is to say, the vast majority of wine blogs are written without the intent of the publisher making much of anything in the way of revenue. This is not necessarily a reflection of the depth of ambition of the average wine blogger. It’s more a reflection of the slight general interest in wine-related writing and reporting, the lower expectations people have of blogs in general, and the somewhat inadequate structure of the traditional blog layout to accommodate revenue streams. Yet, it can be said that some of the most impressive wine expertise and some of the most interesting commentary is now appearing on wine blogs written by these amateurs. While some folks dismiss the quality of writing and commentary appearing on blogs, they do this correctly only by averaging the quality of the entire universe of wine bloggers. But when you zero in on the best of wine blogging it is very difficult not to make the case that remarkable talents inhabit this publishing category. It is still true that the best wine bloggers tend to publish regularly, often multiple times per week. It is still true that the best wine bloggers have a well-developed and unique voice. It is still true that the best wine bloggers tightly embrace the wine sub-culture with all its seeming inscrutability, quirks and layered cultural meaning. It is still true that the best wine bloggers foster audiences that contribute to the blogger’s success and influence by engaging in substantive comments of their own. Put another way, the best wine bloggers appear to genuinely care deeply about the meaning of wine and the benefits it delivers to those who dive in to the deep end of the wine pool. Finally, here’s the real interesting thing to remember about wine bloggers today: They in no way constitute a sideshow, a unique alternative or a developing sector of the wine media. They are today an integral and mainstream component of the wine media mechanism. By “Wine Critic” I am referring to that category of the wine media that tends largely to review and assess the character and quality of individual wines. They write notes and reviews of wines and often grade wines. The club of serious wine critics is relatively small and always has been. What I find most interesting about this slice of the wine media is that their output has changed the least over time, their body of work has tremendous room for evolution and that this small group still maintains significant influence. The most read and therefore most influential wine critics remain ensconced at traditional publications: The Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits Magazine, International Wine Cellar, Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine, etc. While most of these publications and critics have in one way or another taken their work online, this fact is inconsequential to the character of their output. The wine critic remains dedicated to what is generally a 100-word review with a score or rating of some type attached. The questions that seems to most consistently occupy wine media watchers is whether or not the value of wine critics is waning or should wane, whether the 100 point rating scale remains valuable or influential and the degree to which critics are being, or ought to be, replaced by the crowd? The first two questions are difficult to answer because they require some form of measurement that can then be compared to measurements taken in the past. And I’m not sure any forms of reliable past measurements have been undertaken. A number of wine critics have obviously been very consequential in the past. And these folks remain influential today. But to what degree? It’s hard to say with any precision. However, it is true that traditional wine critics have new competition today in the form of social media and the crowd-sourced wine review. Denying the impact of CellarTracker, for example, is just stupid. Furthermore it appears that the crowd will be with us for the foreseeable future if only because technology provides easier and more convenient ways for members of the crowd to express an opinion and because this technology motivates more members of the crowd to do just this. That said, to-date I see no indication that the individuals wine critic/expert is loosing any important measure of their influence among wine geeks any more than the academic journals are loosing their influence among the economics, paleontology, historiography, particle physics and Hegelianism geeks that read them. It seems to me that the crowd sourced reviews will play an increasingly important role among the crowd, while the wine experts and critics will continue to play an important role among the geeks or demand a reliable level of expertise from their wine critics. That said, I am convinced there is room for the wine critic to evolve their output into something different. There is something stale about the 100 word wine review. It will be something fascinating to see if there is any development in this area of the wine media going forward. They are relatively small in number and those with the largest readership, despite increasing their circulations (Wine Spectator is up to a 400,000 circulation), still have a readership smaller than the largest circulation publications covering many other notable subjects. However, the avid consumer of wine information should have noticed that these mainstream wine publications still possess and employ the best minds in wine writing and produce some of the most reliably important coverage of the world of wine. No matter what you think of their opinions and biases, it’s a fact that the Jim Laubes, Matt Kramers, Steve Heimoffs, Patrick J. Comiskeys, Joshua Greenes, Paul Gregutts and Andy Perdues are formidable wine minds. It has always been the case that excellent reporting and writing about wine came from the mainstream wine media primarily because this is where you go to get paid to write about wine. Wine writing is almost never a lucrative project. So, when payment is offered for prose, those offering they payment often have their pick of the litter. Also under the category of “The Wine Publications” I put the wine newsletters and journals. Most of these are headed up by wine critics, yet nearly all of them offer commentary. There has been a certain dynamism in this sub category of the “Wine Publication” category. Still with us and still going strong are the Charles Olkens Dan Bergers, Robert Parkers and other stalwarts. But others have come on the scene who offer new perspectives and opportunities for wine geeks including Antonio Galloni, Doug Wilder, and Alice Feiring, to name just a few. These specialists provide coverage of niche topics and deliver very unique takes on the world of wine and I see no reason to believe that they will go away anytime soon and I’m sure they will be joined by new entrants into the newsletter/journal/niche category. In fact, this area of niche publication is one of the more likely ways for the wine blogger to graduate to a paying audience. Certain mechanical harvesters do a better job than others. The size and dynamism of direct to consumer sales channel is important to more and more companies. The development of the Chinese retail sector is impacting global wine production. These are the kinds of topics one finds covered in the wine trade media and this sector of the overall wine media world is critical to the functioning of the wine industry. A number of writers and publications contribute to realm of wine trade media. However, in the United States The Wine Communications Group dominates the sector. This company publishes Wine Business Monthly, Wine Business Insider, Wine Business Daily News Email, WineBusiness.com, Wines & Vines and The Practical Winery and Vineyard Journal. Their impact and influence on how members of the wine trade understand their business cannot be underestimated. M. Shanken Communications, the publisher of The Wine Spectator, also happens to be the publisher of another important source of trade news. They publisher both IMPACT as well as MarketWatch, two publications that regularly survey the wine and spirits industry and chronicle the movement of its movers and shakers and most important sales channels. These and other sources of industry-related writing tend to trade in nuts and bolts reporting, making them somewhat unique inside the wine media. They also are the source of the most traditional journalists in the wine media, those reporting the facts and not opinion. It’s important to note that this kind of wine writing rarely gets much attention, if only because it rarely the source of scandal and bombast. However, the growing complexity of the global wine industry and the quickened pace of change in the industry over the past 10 years means that no other sector of the wine media has played a more important role than the trade media does today. This is also the reason why news aggregation sites and services such as Lew Perdue’s Wine Industry Insight has gained such an important following. There is no indication that the importance of the wine trade media will wane. There is such constant movement and development and complexity now swirling inside the wine industry that outlets covering this maelstrom of ideas and change will remain critical and dynamic. Lettie Teague of the Wall Street Journal, Eric Asimov of the New York Times, Katherine Cole of the Oregonian, Jon Bonne of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bill St. John of the Chicago Tribune, S. Irene Virbila of the Los Angeles Times, Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post…These are the writers that provide the foundation for the public opinion and perception of wine in America and their influence nearly unmeasurable. The large daily newspapers, whether in print or online, remain the place where the largest number of Americans get their information in written form. The circulation of only those publications mentioned above is in the millions. So, when Mr. Asimov or Ms. Teague or Mr. St. John declare what the wine trends in America are or advise on what to buy or introduce us to a new winery or weigh in on the way Americas do or ought to buy or keep wine, it has impact…great impact. These are also the writers that interpret for the general public what the geeks inside the world of wine are talking about, arguing about and worrying about. I would argue that the degree to which the general public has a positive or negative view of wine or the wine industry in large part is due to how this relatively small group writes about the subjects they cover. But it is also notable that unlike in previous times, it is no longer a requirement that a large daily newspaper have a wine writer on staff or print a wine column. There is an equation here that impacts this reality. Categories of information that are in no way crucial the public weal and that are merely best understood at hobbies (such as wine, the game of bridge, the art of dance and gardening) must pay their way in the large dailies. That is, any space devoted to these topics must produce accompanying advertising in order to justify their inclusion in the newspaper. Wine columns have not always done this and with the continuing decline of circulation numbers of daily newspapers, the wine column has steadily disappeared. This development should remain of critical importance to the wine industry. Finally, I want to draw attention to one realm of the wine media that may not be considered a traditional slice of that pie, that has expanded with the development of the Internet and that provides wine geeks with a remarkably robust source of wine information and opinion: Online discussion forums. This is where the geeks gather to discuss in-depth any number of wine-related topics and the form of these discussions often takes on a very sophisticated note. They represent places where novices, experts and other wine-interested parties can learn a great deal about the topic of wine. There are a number of wine discussion forums and each possess a unique personality. Wine.Woot revolves around the “Wooters” that are catered to by this wine selling platform. WineBerserkers.com is home to a very active group of both wine lovers and members of the trade. Mark Squire’s Wine Discussion Board at eRobertParker hosts subscribers who have very opinionated views of wine. CellarTracker hosts a forum that delivers a wide-ranging discussion of all things wine. The Wine Lovers Discussion Forum is the oldest and most venerable discussion forum. Finally, Facebook has a number of “groups” where various aspects of wine and the wine industry are regularly discussed. It’s rare that news is broken at these venues. And it’s true that the commenters who inhabit these forums can sometimes be overly opinionated to the point of rudeness. But it’s equally true that they can be dynamic communities where intense, enlightening and detailed discussion of wine topics are most fully explored. Personally I adore them and have regularly surveyed their content since the early days when Compuserve, AOL and Prodigy were the places where wine geeks gathered online. I see no indication that the way wine is written about and discussed will or is changing in any meaningful way. Whether it is on a blog, in a Daily, on a discussion forum or in the wine trade publications, the subject of wine will focus primarily on opinion the evaluation of particular products. Places, people, companies and trends will be evaluated for the benefits and inspiration they provide. Reviews whether by critics or crowds will remain central to the discussion. Ratings and scores are going nowhere. And the diversity of products and producers will remain the primary driver of how wine is covered in the media. We all know that “wine” in general is unique in its ability to bring worlds together. Albeit subjective in its taste, critics and publishers that introduce us to new worlds should be commended. I shall continue by journey until I pass. Please continue to write, critique, advise and blog on, so I can continue by life’s work. Amongst social networks, it seems that Twitter takes a (more and more) valuable and relevant position in term of content curation and marketing tool as well. And when I write marketing, I intend that Twitter can be turned into a strategic / competitive marketing tool. What do you think ? Great piece Tom! Well written; well said. Thank You for sharing the insight. Happy New Year to you & yours! Tom, good analysis. Sorry I didn’t get around to reading it until now. Happy new year! Tom, I very much appreciate this post and the many other informative posts you have provided in the past. This post in particular is a wonderful nugget summarizing the current state of the wine world. Fermentation is my “go to” wine blog. Keep up the great work – and Happy New Year! Great Article Tom… Cheers !!!

2019-04-23T05:08:05Z

https://fermentationwineblog.com/2013/12/state-wine-media-2013/

Apple, which dominates most international ETFs, became the first company in history to reach a market capitalisation with 12 zeros in dollars. $1,000,000,000,000. The top 40 index – the universe for most of local equity ETFs – retreated 0.33%. However, the Satrix Quality, Satrix Rafi and Coreshares Top 40 Equally Weighted funds showed relatively better metrics among the broad-based funds, edging up 3.3%, 2.1% and 2.4% respectively. Overall, the star performers were the Satrix Fini 15 (up 6.5%) and Coreshares S&P SA Dividend Aristocrats (up 5.9%). Noticeable weaknesses emanated from the property sector with the Coreshares Proptrax Ten and Satrix Property both declining by 1.8%. The rand closed July stronger due to an improved trade balance and the proposed investments from China – although comments by President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding land expropriation erased some of the rand gains. Local equities have various themes including: broad-based, sector, and smart beta. However, our goal is to build a well-diversified and broad-based portfolio. The other themes can be introduced in a core-satellite portfolio.Satrix SA Quality remains our top choice and it was the best performer among broad-based ETFs in July, growing 3.33%. However, investors should be aware that equities are long-term investments because they exhibit higher volatility than cash and bonds.We like the Satrix Quality ETF because it reduces the concentration risk that has come to dominate the top 40 index because it caps the weight of each counter and sector. The Absa purchasing managers index (PMI) crossed the important 50-point mark, rising to 51.5 from 47.9, suggesting that the manufacturing sector did well in the third quarter of 2018. However, employment figures disappointed with the unemployment rate increasing to 27.2% during Q2 from 26.7% in Q1. Given that consumption – which feeds off the employment level – is the biggest component of our national income, the unemployment rate is worrying. Much-needed economic growth remains elusive and the Reserve Bank has since downgraded its 2018 growth forecasts to 1.2% from 1.7%. However, a recovery is expected in 2019, with growth of 1.9% expected, upwardly revised from 1.7%. But this is still too low for SA is to address its unemployment quagmire. The fund selects constituent companies using a set of quality metrics, including return on equity, liquidity and leverage. The top 20% of all JSE-listed companies with the highest scores based on those criteria are included in the fund and weighted by market capitalisation, then capped each at 10% of the fund. Empirical evidence shows that portfolios sorted on factors such as profitability and earnings quality generate high risk-adjusted returns relative to a market portfolio. However, the size of the premium varies, depending on the metrics used to calculate the quality score. The international equities offering of the JSE has been expanding. It started off with broad-based themes but has expanded into property funds and, more interestingly, technology funds.Again, our first priority is a broad-based fund. However, technology is a theme that is lacking in our local funds, and given its ever-increasing role in our lives, South African investors ought to gain increased exposure in technology funds to complete their portfolios and enhance sector diversification. performers. Ashburton World Government .Bond and FirstRand US Dollar Custodian Certificate funds lost 5% and 5.3% respectively. The Coreshares S&P Global Property fund shed 4%. The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged while the US economy was estimated to have posted its biggest quarterly growth rate in Q2 since 2014, with 4.1% (from 2.2% in Q1). It was driven by consumer spending and business investment. However, the US’s flash IHS Markit PMI edged lower in July to 55.4 from 55.5 but remains firmly in positive territory. The barrage of strong data has increased the probability of a rate hike in September. However, trade wars still pose significant downside risk. The US is considering imposing 25% (upwardly revised from 10%) tariffs on Chinese goods worth $200bn. In response, China announced it will take countermeasures. The eurozone IHS Markit flash PMI started Q3 on a better footing, ticking up 0.2 points to 55.1 in July, after ebbing since the beginning of the year. Furthermore, the European Central Bank left the policy rate unchanged, as expected, but the Bank of England raised its interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75% citing inflationary pressures. Onthe growth front, the eurozone economy moderated to 0.3% in Q2 from 0.4% in Q1, its slowest rate in two years and slightly below market expectations. In emerging markets, the Satrix MSCI Emerging Markets ETF decreased by 1.82% in July. The Chinese Caixin Composite PMI fell 0.7 index points to 52.3, weighed down by services and manufacturing. This is a 32-month low, perhaps highlighting the level of uncertainty posed by trade disputes wbetween China and the US. This points to a pending slowdown of the economy. The biggest company in the world also became the first to hit the R1-trillion market cap mark in the first week of August after releasing market-pleasing results for its 3Q18. If you own the right international ETFs listed on the JSE you are participating in this growth already. Other big tech giants such as Amazon and Google are not too far behind. There are a number of ETFs listed on the JSE that can also give you exposure to these companies (see our discussion of foreign equities funds alongside). has expanded into property funds and, more interestingly, technology funds. Again, our first priority is a broad-based fund. However, technology is a theme that is lacking in our local funds, and given its ever-increasing role in our lives, South African investors ought to gain increased exposure in technology funds to complete their portfolios and enhance sector diversification. Three new technology theme funds are: Sygnia/Itrix 4th Industrial Revolution; Stanlib S&P 500 Info Tech Index Feeder; and Satrix Nasdaq 100. However, our anchor portfolio in the international ETF category is the newer Satrix MSCI World ETF (down 1.84% in July). It displaced the Ashburton Global 1200 (down 1.55% in July) in our last monthly review due to a better expense ratio of 0.35%. The Satrix MSCI fund has exposure in the developed markets of the US, Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia. The choice in this segment is limited to two funds: Satrix MSCI Emerging Markets (down 1.82% in July) and the Cloud Atlas AMI Big50 (down 5.84% in July). Our choice for Satrix MSCI Emerging Markets is motivated by its diversification. The fund provides exposure to high-growth economies such as China and India, which are not included in any of the developed market funds, thus offering further diversification. The Satrix MSCI Emerging Markets ETF with a TER of 0.4% tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Markets index, which captures companies across 23 countries. The Cloud Atlas AMI Big50 fund has a higher TER of 0.75%. because it is least sensitive to sudden adverse interest rate movements. It is similar to earning interest on your cash at the bank with a minimal possibility of capital loss. However, for a longer investment horizon, protecting your investment against inflation is paramount. We therefore maintain our choice of the Satrix ILBI ETF (up 0.26% in July) which has the lowest expense ratio in this category. Furthermore, nominal bonds add a unique risk-return dimension that differs from inflation-linked bonds and improves overall portfolio performance. There are two investable property indices available: SA listed property and the capped property index. We maintain our choice of the capped fund Satrix Property ETF (down 1.76% in July), with lowest expected TER in the segment. However, investors with a stomach for exchange rate volatility can consider foreign property ETFs. The Sygnia Itrix Global Property ETF (down 3.9% in July), with a TER of 0.25%, is by far the cheapest of the three. If you find the process of diversifying your portfolio daunting, two ETFs do it for you. They combine equities and bonds to produce a diversified portfolio for two investor archetypes. They are the NewFunds Mapps Protect ETF and the NewFunds Mapps Growth ETF. They are designed to meet two different risk appetites: Mapps Protect is more conservative, suitable for conservative, usually older, savers. Mapps Growth suits investors with a long-term horizon. They rose 0.46% and 0.28% respectively in July.

2019-04-22T14:33:06Z

https://savetaxfree.co.za/recommended/the-etf-monthly-review-august-2018/

The vessel is designed for to provide diving and underwater work at depths up to 60 meters at sea state up to 3 points, participation in rescue and salvage operations, deployment and maintenance of works of research parties in the amount of installed hardware, examination sea-bottom, wrecks, underwater hulls of vessels (ships) and hydraulic structures, ensuring operation of small-sized remote-controlled submersibles at sea state up to 3 points. The boat is intended for official duty trips and for reviewing Russian Navy ship parades. The boat’s area of operation is the Black Sea along the sea coast at distances from harbor up to 50 miles. The tugboat is intended for towing vessels and floating facilities at sea, performing auxiliary operations in harbour waters, participating in oil spill clean-up operations as an auxiliary vessel for delivering oil spill response equipment and a containment boom boat setting up containment barriers outside of the oil spill area. The vessel is not intended to operate directly inside the spill area. It is also used for providing assistance in fighting fires at floating and shore installations accessible from the sea and transporting general cargo on deck loaded/unloaded using port facilities or the deck crane. This project 92800 muti-purpose bunker vessel with oil skimming equipment is a one-deck twin-screw steel vessel with an elevated foredeck and a two-level superstructure aft. Its structures, devices and machines located on the deck must be explosion and fireproof. The vessel length is 41.3 meters, its width is 8 meters, the total volume of the cargo tanks is 400 cubic meters, its speed is 10 knots (2-3 knots when skimming). С92800 type vessels are designed to transport diesel fuel for vessels classified as class 3 under the IMDG Code (light fuels with a flashpoint of over 60°С), with a density of у=0.82-0.86 t/m3, and to bunker vessels with such fuel and to collect bilge and waste water. The vessel also has oil skimming equipment and can be used to collect spilled oil products from water surface, including diesel fuel and black oil fuel of various viscosity. The vessel may also be used as a bunker ship for vessels, a ship to take bilge and waste water, and as a skimmer to gather spilled oil products (diesel fuel, black oil fuel) from water surface. Project RST54 is a one-of-a-kind platform tanker capable of carrying both oil products and dry (general, bulk) cargoes. The RST54 project is based on a unique concept. This one-of-a-kind “platform/tanker” vessel was created to be maximally effective for both legs of each round voyage; carrying oil when going to its destination and dry cargo on its return trip. Therefore, it is planned to achieve the highest possible economic efficiency of the vessel’s operation given the seasonal nature of the river transport operations in Russia. An RST54 vessel is a self-propelled combined (oil/dry cargo) “Volga-Don Max” class platform vessel with a deadweight of 5,589 tons, intended for transporting up to 5,250 tons of light and dark oil products as well as general and bulk cargo, including gravel, metals, timber, coal, bulky and heavy cargoes. The vessel can carry up to 148 TEUs worth of cargo in containers, up to 320 cars or 4,500 tons of bulk cargo. The vessel's dimensions are intended to ensure the best possible navigational performance in the Unified Deep Water System of Russia. The vessel’s hull lines were first used in the RST27 project tanker built for UCL Holding. RST54 project vessels are compatible with the width and depth of the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway. Project RST27 vessels are designed for the transportation of crude oil and oil products without any flash-point restrictions. The RST27 Project is a universal mixed river-sea navigation vessel created under an individual project. This “Volgo-Don max” class tanker features an increased deadweight and a higher hull strength. The overall dimensions of the project meet the requirements of the Volga-Don Ship Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway. The new RST27 project tankers have an enhanced river navigation capability, a deadweight increased by 700 tons when operated on a river, while maintaining an increased capacity of cargo tanks and a higher hull strength (the R2 marine class or navigation area II according to the previous Registry of Shipping classification). RST27 project vessels meet the requirements of the Volga-Don Ship Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway and are classified as “Volgo-Don max” class tankers. A new dry-cargo ship was developed under RSD44 project to a special order of the Volga Shipping Company. From 2010 to 2012, 10 ships of the "Heroes of Stalingrad" series were built under this project. The capacity of the ship is 5,400 tons. The design features a low overall height of the ship with a deckhouse 8 meters high, which is almost 2 times lower than that of the current "Volgo-Dons” (15.8 meters). The dry-cargo ship can pass under bridges on Russian rivers without the need to raise them. The ships are maximally automated and equipped with modern rudder propellers, ensuring high maneuverability and good controllability. The new vessels outperform their predecessors in production efficiency, environmental friendliness and comfort. RSD44 type vessels are universal dry-cargo ships, carrying all kinds of general and bulk cargo (grain, fertilizers, sulfur), as well as metal and metal products. All vessels are operated on inland waterways and sea coastal areas and are focused on transporting high-tariff export cargoes to ports of the Baltic, Caspian and Azov-Black Sea basins. Vessel purpose: transportation of general cargoes; bulk cargoes (including grain, coal, ores), mineral fertilizers (in bulk and in bags); metal (bundles, rolls of up to 35 tons); paper (rolls), wood products (packaged, including round timber); fruits and vegetables (packaged); 20 'and 40' ISO containers (including refrigerated containers); dangerous goods of classes 1, 1.4S, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 by the IMDG Code and International Code for transportation of bulk cargoes. Navigation area: open and inland seas with restrictions, in accordance with the class II SP; inland waterways of the European part of the Russian Federation through the Volga-Baltic and Volga-Don system, as well as in inland waterways of European countries, to the extent permitted by the dimensions of the vessel. 00101 type vessels are designed to carry general cargoes, bulk cargoes (including grain, coal, ore), mineral fertilizers (in bulk and in bags); metal (bundles, rolls of up to 35 tons); paper (rolls), wood products (packaged, including round timber); fruits and vegetables (packaged); 20' и 40' ISO containers (including refrigerated containers); dangerous goods of classes 1, 1.4S, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 by the IMDG Code and International Code for transportation of bulk cargoes. Navigation area: open and inland seas with restrictions, in accordance with the vessel class; inland waterways of the European part of the Russian Federation through the Volga-Baltic and Volga-Don system, as well as in inland waterways of European countries, to the extent permitted by the dimensions of the vessel. The tanker is designed for the transportation of crude oil and oil products without any flash-point restrictions, including products requiring heating, vegetable oils (technical use). It can be operated in the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, in accordance with its class and on inland waterways of the European part of the Russian Federation through the Volga-Don canal and Volga-Baltic waterway. The construction of three “Primemax” type tankers by OJSC “Okskaya Sudoverf” was carried out under contract with AET — a large operator of global oil transportation, which is owned by the MISC group. A project 00216 tanker is a vessel for the second restricted navigation area, with ice strengthening. The main difference of the project is the lack of a longitudinal bulkhead. The capacity of the cargo pumps was somewhat reduced, the fullness of the hull was increased, including the fore and aft part of the hull system that underwent some changes. All the electronic systems of the vessel were manufactured abroad. The vessel’s length: 139.9 meters, overall width: 16.7, sea deadweight: 6.6 thousand tons. An ice class utility boat under project ST23WI with functions of a service/crew boat is designed to deliver to vessels inspection crews, crew members and their families, cargoes weighing up to 0.5 tons, serving as a patrol boat for inspection and ecological monitoring of water areas, as well as to perform the functions of a pilot boat. Navigation area: port, harbor and coastal operation within the boundaries set by the Russian International Registry of Vessels in each case. Operating conditions: year-round operation in unfreezing seas and under very light ice conditions, corresponding to ice class 2 set by the Russian International Registry of Vessels in non-Arctic seas. A project 8597 dredging vessel with a capacity of 100 tons is designed for dredging and deepening operations, as well as for the production of non-metallic building materials, development, excavation and movement of soil from flooded quarries. Scope of use: land reclamation works; dredging and clearing works on ponds; construction of dams, embankments, platforms; sand mining; deepening operations on rivers, canals, and other water bodies falling under the "L" category according to the classification of the Russian River Registry. The dredging vessel may be operated in the range of ambient temperatures from -5oC to + 35o C. The water depth must be at least 0.8 m. only clean washed sand is used for beaches and other grounds, whereas any silt or clay components, branches, bark, etc. are washed into the sump. A project 8628 dredging vessel is designed for the development, excavation and movement of soil from flooded quarries. Scope of use: land reclamation works; dredging and clearing works on ponds; construction of dams, embankments, other platforms; sand mining; deepening operations on rivers, canals, and other water bodies falling under the "L" category according to the classification of the Russian River Registry. The dredging vessel may be operated in the range of ambient temperatures from -5o C to + 35o C. A project 03040 dry cargo barge is designed for transporting general and bulk cargoes, including dangerous cargoes of classes 4 and 5 by the IMDG Code, which do not require any special fire-fighting systems, autonomous systems of drainage, artificial ventilation, continuous monitoring of the cargo. Operated by pushing (in the river) or towing. Dangerous goods may only be transported by pushing in the river and by towing in the sea. Navigation area: inland basins of the Russian Federation and maritime areas in accordance with the vessel class. A project 03020 dry cargo barge is designed for the transportation of general and bulk cargoes, including dangerous goods: bulk sulfur in granules or in lumps and ammonium nitrate (ammonium - nitrate fertilizer) in packages. Operated by pushing, including in column or in a single vessel tow. A project 16806 tank barge is designed for the transportation of oil products, including with a flash point below 60o C as well as requiring heating. During one trip, only one type of oil products is transported. The aft end of the vessel has a recess designed for the forward part of a tugboat/pushboat, necessary to connect the pushboat to the barge. A pontoon motor road bridge is intended to ensure the crossing of water bodies by wheeled and tracked vehicles and pedestrians. A mobile bridge may be used for the construction, restoration or repairs of a permanent bridge. A simple design and a low cost of manufacture compared to stationary bridges allow to build a crossing in places where there are no stationary bridges. A floating road bridge may if necessary have one or two movable sections to allow for vessels to pass. A simple and reliable design of the movable sections ensures that a bridge can be drawn or movable sections can be added to it within 2-3 minutes. The bridge has a room for the maintenance crew, and also lighting and alarm systems to ensure safe passage for ships, cars and pedestrians. A radio set may be installed in the maintenance crew room to communicate with passing ships. If necessary, the floating sections of the bridge can be disassembled within several days. The shore elements are built on place to an individual design and are stationary. A mobile pontoon fleet PP-91 consists of (river and shore) pontoon links carried on URAL trucks with special platforms and motor boats used to install and disassemble the bridges and also to tow ferries. The motor boats are also transported on trucks. When a bridge is built, each pontoon link “unloads itself” by rolling off the truck platform directly into the water and then “self-opens” on the water> The crew connects the links together. To disassemble the bridge a loading device installed on the truck platform is used to load pontoon links onto the truck. Minimal time in building or disassembling a bridge is achieved when each link is transported on a separate truck. In hard-to-access areas the link may be transported and the bridge may be built using helicopters (externally suspension). A pontoon fleet helps assemble both floating bridges and ferries of normal or increased width.

2019-04-21T06:37:27Z

https://uclholding.com/vbth/okskaya/products

CNET's reporters are covering the launch of the much-hyped iPhone 4. Stay tuned for updates from New York City and San Francisco. It's finally here. The much-anticipated iPhone 4 is hitting store shelves on Thursday at 7 a.m. local time in each time zone where it's available. CNET has teams of reporters covering the launch in New York City and San Francisco. Marguerite Reardon and Caroline McCarthy will be heading up coverage in New York, while Erica Ogg, Josh Lowensohn, and James Martin will be keeping tabs on what's happening out west. These reporters will be checking in at Apple stores and other locations, such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Radio Shack, where iPhone 4s will be sold starting on Thursday. CNET will also let you know how things are going at the AT&T stores where only customers who preordered phones will be able to pick them up. Anyone looking to buy an iPhone off-the-shelf from AT&T will have to wait until Tuesday. AT&T says that demand for the iPhone 4 is 10 times what it was for last year's iPhone 3GS. And Apple says it took 600,000 preorders for the new phone through its sales channels. If history is any indication of what to expect, initial sales of the iPhone 4 are likely to be big. Apple sold more than 1 million iPhone 3GS smartphones the first three days it was on sale. The original iPhone sold about 270,000 units during its first weekend in June 2007, while the iPhone 3G sold around 1 million when it launched in July 2008. While there's little doubt that the lines will long, the big question is whether AT&T's activation system will be able to hold up under the pressure. If the preorder process is any indication of what to expect, iPhone fans may need to be patient. On June 15, thousands of customers trying to preorder the iPhone were met with error messages on AT&T's and Apple's Web sites. AT&T's servers were overwhelmed and the company ended up suspending preorders. To keep up with the latest news from the launch, stay tuned to CNET's updates all day. McCarthy, 6:24 a.m. EDT at the 14th Street Apple Store: About 150 people are in the preorder line for iPhone 4. The line for non-reserved phones is significantly longer. They're telling new arrivals to get in one big line, and then if people have proof of preorder, they sort them into the preorder line. Reardon, 6:30 a.m. EDT at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store: The lines for the iPhone 4 are wrapped around the block at Apple's flagship store on Fifth Ave. The line for the customers who haven't reserved an iPhone wind down 58th Street and around the block to 59th Street next to the Apple Store. There's also a huge line of people already lined up in the reserved line. These are customers who have reserved their phones in advance and are just waiting to pick them up. While it's clear the crowds are bigger to get the phone, the hoopla and the party atmosphere from previous iPhone launches seems to be missing. With a half hour to go, no one is chanting yet. McCarthy, 6:41 a.m. EDT: The line stretches all the way from the corner of 14th St. and 9th Ave. down to 10th Ave. (Google Maps should be able to tell you how long this is) and then up around 10th Ave. past the intersection of 15th St. almost to 16th St., but after the corner of 14th and 10th there are gaps in the line because of driveways, a gas station, etc. Employees of the Apple Store are wearing blue iPad T shirts--no special shirts for this launch. McCarthy, 6:44 a.m. EDT: First preorder: Been here since 10:15 p.m. EDT last night, originally had a 3G and lost it> He's a textbook editor for McGraw-Hill, and his name is Zach (26). He was about 42nd in line before they divided it into preorder and non-preorder. First people to show up who didn't preorder the phone got to the store at 3 p.m. EDT yesterday. Zach says he took the day off work, and got his boss' approval. He is not playing hooky. Reardon, 6:50 a.m. EDT: The doors open in 10 minutes. People in the back of the line only got here about 20 minutes ago. Jose Marinez, 36, said he has stood in line every year since 2007 to get an iPhone. He isn't worried that Apple will run out of phones, but he is a little worried that AT&T's servers might crash again. He tried to preorder the phone on June 15 and gave up when he couldn't get through on the Web site. McCarthy, 6:58 a.m. EDT: Apple Store employees starting to cheer to rev people up. McCarthy, 7:01 a.m. EDT: Preorders are being let in, 60 people at a time. It's going smoothly so far. Afew minutes later, the first batch of walk-ups (non-preorders) are let into store, but ushered downstairs rather than into the upstairs area. Only about 20 let in. McCarthy, 7:10 a.m. EDT: It's been 10 minutes and the first guy in line has not yet come back out--AT&T activation. Apple Store employee talking to people who show up and wonder how long the wait will be: "The demand is tremendous. It seems like everybody in New York wants this phone." McCarthy, 7:11 a.m. EDT: First customer walks out with phone. McCarthy, 7:17 a.m. EDT: This is going to be a long day for some of these people: there are still hundreds of people in the preorder line--still only one group of 60 has been let in--and the walk-up line is still much much longer. Line going SLOW. An Apple Store employee tells me that they do not yet know when the store will be open to "regular" customers for non-iPhone purchases. McCarthy, 7:25 a.m. EDT: Activation time in-store appears to be 10-15 minutes. But the line itself is very slow. A lot of people who may have expected to get to work on time might not. Lots of reps from companies that resell used iPhones, or organizations that donate them to developing countries, are soliciting people in line. The line for walk-ups is now all the way to corner of 16th St.--and keeps growing. Reardon, 7:30 a.m. EDT: People have been filing into the Fifth Ave. store for about a half-hour now. The line for people who have reserved iPhones is moving quickly. But the line for people who have not preordered a phone keeps growing. It now ends near the corner of 59th St. and Fifth Ave.--people enter the Apple store on 58th and Fifth Ave. Reardon, 7:40 a.m. EDT: I just overheard an Apple representative say that everyone standing in line right now without a reservation will likely get a phone. He thinks the line should take two hours to get through. McCarthy, 7:51 a.m. EDT, en route in Manhattan: The RadioShack on 14th St. and 7th Ave. is opening at its usual 9 a.m. time, no one waiting in front, no ads for iPhone 4 in window (in fact, there's still a 3GS poster). McCarthy, 8:18 a.m. EDT at RadioShack in Brooklyn Heights: Across the East River in Brooklyn Heights, about 15 people are clustered in front of the RadioShack on Montague St. It's opening at its regular hour of 9 a.m. The people waiting are a mix of preorders and walk-ups. There are no Apple Stores in Brooklyn, FYI. McCarthy, 8:32 a.m. EDT: A RadioShack employee just arrived at the Brooklyn Heights store. The line is not getting much longer. The first guy has been here since 5:30 a.m. EDT. The 15th person in line is a girl who says her boyfriend is in line at the 14th St. Apple Store. He preordered a phone there and says even the preorder line is moving at a snail's pace; she, meanwhile, preordered at the Montague St. RadioShack: "I'll probably be back in bed before he even gets to the front of the line." She said the two of them waited in line for the original iPhone together but that she's "over that." That said, people at RadioShack know they're taking a gamble because they've heard the store may have as few as 10 phones in stock. Reardon, 8:36 a.m. EDT: I just spent some time inside the Fifth Ave. Apple store with CNET TV's camera crew. Unlike with previous iPhone launches, the activation process is going pretty smoothly--customers are in and out within 25 minutes. No one I talked to reported any problems. Customers with preorders were allowed in the store first. And by 8:00 a.m. the store was letting in people without preorders. But the line outside for non-preorder customers doesn't look to have moved much yet. McCarthy, 8:36 a.m. EDT: A RadioShack employee comes out of the store and says they don't have as many phones as they'd hoped. Even though the store technically isn't open yet, he's letting the people who preordered phones come in one by one. McCarthy, 8:43 a.m. EDT: If people who preordered the phone aren't in line right now, it'll be first come, first serve. Only 4 each of the 16GB and 32GB models are in stock. Guy at RadioShack has a list and if people's names aren't near the top of it, they don't get a phone now. The line breaks up once people learn they won't get one. Reardon, 8:52 a.m. EDT: It's a good thing that Apple is offering a tutorial at one of the tables for people to show them how to use the features on their new phones. Some customers were having trouble getting the FaceTime app to work. Two guys who had come to the store together to get their iPhones were eager to show off the new FaceTime video chat application. But at first, neither one was able to figure out how to launch the chat. Once they realized that they initiated the video call by clicking on the FaceTime button in their contacts, the application wasn't working for one of the guys. Even though FaceTime video calls are made only over a Wi-Fi connection, users still need to have a 3G connection to initiate the call. And unfortunately for these friends, one of their phones wasn't getting 3G cellular signal from AT&T in the Apple store. McCarthy, 9:00 a.m. EDT: The people waiting in line at the Brooklyn Heights RadioShack had a definitive answer as to whether they'd be getting an iPhone today before the store had even opened for business. Most, unfortunately, walked away empty-handed. Reardon, 9:06 a.m. EDT: The line at the Fifth Ave. Apple Store for customers who did not preorder an iPhone 4 is starting to go down. It is still wrapped around the block, but it's not to the corner anymore. Reardon, 9:45 a.m. EDT at the Best Buy on 62nd Street and Broadway: 9:45 a.m. I was just informed by a sales manager that Best Buy stores in Manhattan and possibly throughout the country will only be selling preordered iPhone 4s. He said he doesn't expect Best Buy stores in New York City to have iPhone 4s in stock until next week at the earliest, or the first week of July. Ogg, 6:49 a.m. PDT at the Stockton Street Apple Store in San Francisco: The reservations line is a third longer than the walk-in line, stretching around the corner two city blocks. While a few camped out overnight, the crowd mostly began forming around 4:30 a.m. PDT today. As usual, there are people passing out coffee and donuts to the eager iPhone buyers gathered here. Ogg, 6:55 a.m. PDT: An update on the early entrepreneurs we wrote about on Tuesday: Chris Bank, the first man in line Tuesday, who was selling his spot for $200, actually handed it off for $400. The taker was Joe Sabia of San Francisco, who saw the story on CNET and decided to buy the spot and do it for "just a really fun story." This will be his first iPhone. Joe Lobato, who was trying to trade his spot for a new iPhone, because he couldn't afford it, found a family of three to buy two phones--one for him, one for them. So at least a couple of the early entrepreneurs here were successful. Reardon, 9:56 a.m. EDT: I just checked with my colleague Erica Ogg, who covers Apple. She said that some Best Buy stores are only selling preorder phones, while others will have phones in stock for people coming to buy them off the street. I guess the best bet is to call your local Best Buy store in advance to find out if they have them. According to the manager at a Best Buy store in Manhattan, all stores in the New York City district will only be selling preorders today. Ogg, 6:58 a.m. PDT: The store is about to open, camera crews are crowding the entrance. No chanting by employees--yet. Then, as the Apple employees come down the stairs to form a receiving line inside the store, those waiting in line start to cheer. Ogg, 7:02 a.m. PDT: The countdown from employees begins...and the doors open at two minutes after 7 a.m. The first people with reservations start pouring into the San Francisco store. So far everything seems fairly orderly. Only those who reserved have been let in so far. The people who made purchases appear to be waiting patiently. Lowensohn, 7:07 a.m. PDT at the Apple Store in Palo Alto: The line here was considerably longer than that for the iPad. The guys at the front of the line had, like many others, spent the night in front of the store, though they only got there at 10:30 a.m. the day before. Ogg, 7:11 a.m. PDT: In San Francisco, the first buyers emerge, all smiles, and of course, to the proverbial pop of flash bulbs. Reardon, 10:14 a.m. EDT: Here is some more detail on the Best Buy inventory. According to an FAQ that Best Buy has put on its Web site, only stores that have more inventory than the preorders will be selling the iPhone on launch day (that is, today). Since preorders have been so high, Best Buy's Web site says it's unlikely that many stores will have enough inventory to sell iPhone 4s to walk-in customers. Another tidbit to keep in mind is that just because you've preordered a phone with Best Buy doesn't guarantee that you will be able to pick up that phone today. Unlike Apple, which has said that it will have enough iPhone 4s available on launch day for everyone who preordered the devices, Best Buy says on its Web site that even preorders are first come, first served. From the FAQ: "If I pre-ordered the iPhone 4 at Best Buy, will I get it on launch day, June 24th, 2010? -- This is not guaranteed and is completely dependent on how many the store receives from Apple. Any inventory received will be used to fulfill outstanding preorders in the order they were placed. For example, if the store has twenty preorders on launch day but only received fifteen phones from Apple, then the first fifteen preorders should receive their phone on launch day." Best Buy says that customers who preordered iPhone 4s, but did not get their phones on launch day, will get them when the next shipment of phones comes in from Apple. Ogg, 7:17 a.m. PDT: After about 15 minutes, the first walk-in buyers are allowed to enter the store. Sabia, who paid $400 and slept one night on the sidewalk, gets a cheer from some of his fellow waiters-in-line. Bank, who slept outside this store since Tuesday, gets a cheer from Apple employees, who he's clearly befriended, as he enters the store to make his purchase. Ogg, 7:27 a.m. PDT: Just as at the iPad launch here a few months ago, Apple's chief designer, Jonathan Ive, emerges from the Stockton Street store quietly, nodding politely at the few fans who recognize him. Ogg, 7:36 a.m. PDT: After a half-hour, only two walk-in customers have been let inside. Looks like it's going to take a lot of patience for people who did not have a reservation. Ogg, 7:59 a.m. PDT: The first walk-in buyer here in San Francisco, Joe Sabia, emerges with his iPhone. He decided to not sign an AT&T contract, so he paid full price for the phone. "That way if it goes to Verizon in the next few months, I can use it there." Lowensohn, 8:04 a.m. PDT: Both lines here in Palo Alto continue to grow. The walk-in line has now stretched around the block. Likewise, the line for those who have preordered is around the same size as it was for iPad walk-ins back in April. CNET ran into brothers Christopher and James Nicholson, who camped out overnight here. Christopher explained that he had done the same when the Palo Alto store first opened, but that it was his brother's first time doing so. Another first for James was the latest iPhone--he had not owned any of the previous iterations. The two brought a cooler, as well as a pillows and blankets. "I was kind of bummed [Robert] Scoble wasn't here," said Christopher. "When I was here for the iPad launch, that guy was a lot of fun." Lowensohn, 8:48 a.m. PDT: People with reservations who got here at 6:30 this morning are just now getting their handsets. On the walk-in line, it's still going to the folks who camped overnight. Also overheard two employees saying the store was expecting a midmorning stock delivery. Though from the looks of what they have on the floor, there's a ton of stock. Lowensohn, 9:01 a.m. PDT: Apple appears to be selling a ton of bumpers--a casing for the sides of the iPhone 4. Almost everyone I've seen walking out without a bag seems to have bought one. And most are black. "Normally, I would have waited," Rosendaal said. He's had every version of the iPhone that has come out since 2007. Every year he has upgraded to the new version, but he's never waited in line at a store. After about six hours of waiting he said he doubts he'll ever do it again. Reardon, 12:42 p.m. EDT: Apple sales representatives are telling people who are coming up to the line that they need a reservation at this point to get an iPhone 4. The line has gotten much shorter in the past half-hour. Customers who have preordered phones for this location have until 10 p.m. tonight to pick up their phones. If they don't show up, they will forfeit their reservation and the phone will be released for sale to walk-in customers starting tomorrow morning. Apple employees said they weren't sure if this location will get a new order of phones tomorrow. But they expect a line to form early in the morning to pick up any phones that weren't claimed today. McCarthy, 1:45 p.m. EDT: A friend I bumped into when I showed up at the 14th St. Apple store in NYC at 6:15 a.m. is still in line. Lowensohn, 10:56 a.m. PDT: The lines here in Palo Alto are still going, but the one for walk-ins is now considerably shorter than earlier in the day. The rain has given way to warm and sunny weather, which prompted iPhone advertising and analytics company Mobclix to park a large Ben & Jerry's ice cream truck next to the line. At this point it's safe to say anyone who's spent more than a few hours in line will have had enough sugar to put down an elephant. Linegoers did get another treat in the form of a FedEx and UPS truck both pulling up across the street from the store and unloading piles of brown boxes, though the Apple employees who were unloading them were quick to point out that they were not additional iPhone units. CNET later confirmed that many of the boxes contained iPad models with 3G antennas. But the truck's arrival does explain the earlier rumors of a delivery on its way. Reardon, 2 p.m. EDT: At the AT&T store at 95th and Broadway. It looks like preordering the phone and picking it up from an AT&T store may have been the best bet for customers looking to get an iPhone 4 on launch day with no hassles or long lines. I just checked out an AT&T store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There was no line in the store, and a sales representative said that no significant line had formed at any point of the day. Customers came into the store at their leisure to pick up their preordered phones today. "There were a few people in line early at 7 a.m.," he said. "But most people were able to just walk in and pick up their new phones." Even customers who hadn't expected to get their phone delivered today were able to get their iPhone, he added. AT&T informed customers earlier this week that the company would only sell preordered phones at its retail locations on launch day. It will begin selling the phones to people who were not able to preorder starting Tuesday, June 29. The sales representative said he expects the store to have plenty of phones in stock for the release on Tuesday, but he urges customers to get in line early. The store opens at 7 a.m. Lowensohn, 11:40 a.m. PDT: Here at the Apple store in Palo Alto, people without reservations now have to wait 4 to 5 hours, while people with reservations have to wait approximately 3 hours. The line for people with reservations is also approximately five times the size of the walk-in line, but it's moving faster. Folks with reservations have until 9 p.m. to get in line and be guaranteed a phone today. Lowensohn, 1:14 p.m. PDT: Just a quick update from the Palo Alto store, where the people currently at the front of the reservation line have now been waiting for 7 hours to get their phones.

2019-04-20T08:34:44Z

https://www.cnet.com/news/live-blog-iphone-4-goes-on-sale/

What is at stake in the debate between Calvinism and Arminianism is far more than a disagreement over terminology. At the heart of all this is the grace of God and how we understand it. I am not suggesting that Arminian Christians are deliberately impugning the grace of God in salvation. Nevertheless, by making election conditional upon something that man does, even if what he does is simply to repent and believe the gospel, God’s grace is seriously compromised. To say that something is done by grace is simply to say it is done by God. If salvation is from beginning to end a manifestation of God’s grace then it is from beginning to end a work of God. To inject any human effort or contribution whatsoever is to reject divine grace. Either election is unconditional and altogether of God and his grace or it is conditional and therefore a cooperative venture in which God and man both contribute. Let us consider this in more detail, first by defining what I mean by “grace”. We happily speak of God as triune, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and immutable. The God of whom these things are true is indeed a great and majestic Being. Who is like unto the Lord and with whom may we compare Him? Is there another whose knowledge and power are without limit, whose life is everlasting, whose will and ways do not change, and for whom the boundaries of the universe offer no barrier? Indeed, this God is a great God! But to say of God that He is great is not enough. For as Millard Erickson has reminded us, God, though great, "might conceivably be an immoral or amoral being, exercising his power and knowledge in a capricious or even cruel fashion” (I:283-84). We must proceed further in our description of God; we must proceed from His greatness to His goodness. This God whose power and presence are illimitable, whose wisdom and will are incomparable, is a God no less abounding in love and longsuffering, mercy and grace. Therefore, although simple, yet profound is the child's dinner prayer: "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for this food. Amen." When we refer to the "goodness" of God we mean very simply that He is benevolent. God's goodness is but the inclination and resolve of His nature to promote the welfare and happiness of His creatures. This more general attribute of goodness may be manifested in the delay of penal judgment, in which case we speak of God's longsuffering. God's goodness as manifested in the restoration of the wretched is what the Bible calls mercy. Likewise, God's goodness as manifested toward the guilty and undeserving is referred to in Scripture as grace. It is this latter display of the goodness of God, in which His love for the hell-deserving sinner is most keenly evident, that concerns us in this lesson. "when we show mercy, it looks as if we are responding to pain and being constrained by a painful condition outside ourselves. It is a beautiful constraint. But it does not seem to be as free as grace. Grace, however, contemplates the ugliness of sin, and, contrary to all expectation, acts beneficently. This looks more free. Pain seems to constrain mercy, but guilt does not seem to constrain grace. Grace looks more free. I don't mean that God's mercy is in fact less free than his grace. No one deserves God's mercy. And God is not bound to be merciful to any of his creatures. What I do mean is that 'freeness' lies closer at the heart of the meaning of grace. Grace, by definition, is free and unconstrained. It even lacks the seeming constraint of naturalness that exists between suffering and mercy. If God's grace is 'natural' in response to sin, it is owing entirely to something amazing in God, not in the constraining power of sin. Suffering constrains pity; but sin kindles anger. Therefore grace toward sinners is the freest of all God's acts” (Future Grace, 78). "Ascribed to God, grace is his voluntary, unrestrained, unmerited favor toward guilty sinners, granting them justification and life instead of the penalty of death, which they deserved” (208). "The grace of God is love freely shown towards guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit. It is God showing goodness to persons who deserve only severity, and had no reason to expect anything but severity” (Knowing God, 120). The doctrine of God's grace is a vast and multifaceted subject. Because of this, I have chosen to focus in on ten principles or characteristics relating to the special grace of God, especially as it is found in the Pauline literature. The first and possibly most fundamental characteristic of divine grace is that it presupposes sin and guilt. Grace has meaning only when men are seen as fallen, unworthy of salvation, and liable to eternal wrath. It is precisely because people today have lost sight of the depths of human depravity that they think so little of divine grace. What makes Paul's declaration that we are saved "by grace" so significant is his earlier declaration that we were "dead" in trespasses and sins, "gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature," "following its desires and thoughts," and were by nature the children of divine wrath (Eph. 2:1-10). Second, grace does not contemplate sinners merely as undeserving, but as ill-deserving. So often we are inclined to think of ourselves prior to our salvation as in some sense "neutral" in the sight of God. We are willing to admit that we .have done nothing to deserve His favor. Our works, regardless of their character, are unacceptable in His glorious presence. But this is entirely insufficient as a background to the understanding of divine grace. It is not simply that we do not deserve grace: we do deserve hell! Fallen and unredeemed humanity is not to be conceived as merely helpless, but as openly and vehemently hostile toward God. It is one thing to be without a God-approved righteousness. It is altogether another thing to be wholly unrighteous and thus the object of divine wrath. It is, then, against the background of having been at one time the enemies of God that divine grace is to be portrayed (Rom. 5:10). "If God should discover the least degree of merit in the sinner, this, in strict righteousness, He must recognize and duly acknowledge. By such a recognition of human merit, He would be discharging an obligation toward the sinner and the discharge of that obligation toward the sinner would be the payment, or recognition, of a debt” (Grace, 8). Furthermore, grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled to withdraw it in the presence of human demerit. Indeed, grace is seen to be infinitely glorious only when it operates, as Packer says, "in defiance of" human demerit. Therefore, grace is not treating a person less than, as, or greater than he deserves. It is treating a person without the slightest reference to desert whatsoever, but solely according to the infinite goodness and sovereign purpose of God. Fourth, grace cannot incur a debt, which is to say that it is unrecompensed. Since grace is a gift, no work is to be performed, no offering made, with a view to repaying God for His favor. The biblical response to grace received is faith to receive yet more. Fifth, in respect to justification, grace stands opposed to works (Rom. 4:4-5; 11:6). However, in respect to sanctification, grace is the source of works. This simply means that whereas we are saved by grace and not of works, we are saved by grace unto good works. Good works are the fruit, not the root, of God’s saving grace (see esp. Eph. 2:8 -10). It thus comes as no surprise that in Scripture grace and salvation stand together as cause is related to effect. It is the grace of God which "brings" salvation (Titus 2:11). We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). The sixth principle is that this grace that saves is eternal but is manifested in the historical appearance of Christ. Paul speaks of the power of God by which we have been saved and called to holiness, "not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:9-10). Seventh, this grace is free! Just think of it - free grace! But, of course, if grace were not free it would not be grace. True indeed, but what a glorious tautology it is: “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus[!]" (Rom. 3:24). Eighth, and something we will dwell on in more detail later, grace is sovereign. That is to say, it is optional in its exercise and extent. Although God is gracious in His eternal being, He need not be gracious or shower His grace upon anyone. If grace were at any time an obligation of God, it would cease to be grace. God's grace, therefore, is distinguishing. He graciously saves some but not all, not based on anything present in the creature either possible or actual, foreseen or foreordained, but wholly according to His sovereign good pleasure. The ninth thing to note is that grace is described in Scripture as the foundation or the means of among other things, our election (Rom. 11:5), our regeneration (Eph. 2:5; Titus 3:5-7), our redemption (2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 1:7), our justification (Rom. 3:24; Titus 3:5-7), indeed, the whole of our salvation (Eph. 2:8). "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible" (Eph. 6:24). "[God] gives a greater grace . . . God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Js. 4:6; cf. 1 Pt. 5:5). "The Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him" (2 Chron. 30:9). "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you" (Isa. 30:19). "Let Thy lovingkindness [i.e., grace], O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee" (Ps. 33:22). "The lovingkindness [i.e., grace] of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting . . . to those who keep His covenant" (Ps. 103:17-18). But conditional grace is not earned grace. Why? Because "when God's grace is promised based on a condition, that condition is also a work of God's grace. . . . God's freedom is not reduced when he makes some of his graces depend on conditions that he himself freely supplies” (Piper, Future Grace, 79). Or again, "conditional grace is free and unmerited because ultimately the condition of faith is a gift of grace. God graciously enables the conditions that he requires” (235). Or again, "this covenant-keeping condition of future grace does not mean we lose security or assurance, for God has pledged himself to complete the work he began in the elect (Philippians 1:6). He is at work within us to will and to do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). He works in us what is pleasing in his sight (Hebrews 13:21). He fulfills the conditions of the covenant through us (Ezekiel 36:27). Our security is as secure as God is faithful” (248).

2019-04-24T22:27:21Z

http://www.graciaypoder.com/sitio%20en%20ingles/grace1.htm

Since the election, queers across the nation are preparing for the worst under the new administration. While no major punches have been thrown under the Trump administration, Colorado has already seen and blocked a broad religious exemption proposal that would have allowed individuals and businesses to claim their religion gives them permission to ignore laws they don’t want to follow. Hopefully this is the only attempt to set back the queer community in Colorado. But, if not colorful Colorado has six queers at the State Capitol that are willing to go into battle to combat bills that will directly hurt the state’s queer community. They are also spearheading a few bills that have failed in the past — the ban on conversion therapy and the birth certificate modernization act. Accomplishments while in office: While in office, I helped pass a collective bargaining ordinance for Commerce City workers, passed a law establishing universal breakfast at Colorado’s lowest income schools, passed a law allowing LGBT couples to file joint state tax returns (before marriage equality), sponsored a law to make it easier to change the gender marker on a birth certificate — still trying to pass this. Aspirations for the incoming years: In light of the new federal administration, I aspire to protect and defend the most vulnerable in our communities whether they’re LGBT, women, minorities, or Muslims. We have to be especially vigilant and hold our elected leaders accountable to make sure we remain a progressive, inclusive society. What makes you so passionate about LGBT issues in particular? I’m passionate about LGBT issues because our community deserves equal protection under the law guaranteed by the Constitution. Despite the huge gains in LGBT rights and marriage equality, we have more work to do. Too many LGBT people live in areas where it’s still legally acceptable to discriminate in employment and housing. We have to put a stop to this. Accomplishments before taking office: I was appointed by Mayors Hickenlooper and Hancock to the Denver Community Corrections Board, 2005–present where I am also the vice chair; elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention (2000, 2004); secretary of the Denver Democratic Party; president of the Colorado Stonewall Democrats; accomplished cook; world traveler. Accomplishments while in office: I’ve served as a member of the Colorado Board of Tourism, co-founded the LGBT Caucus, co-founded the Aerospace and Defense Caucus, sat as vice chair of the Local Government Committee, worked on the annual Colorado Sister City celebration, pioneered the annual Stellar Student program, which awards one outstanding student from each school in my district. Bill I am most proud of: The bill that requires the governor’s office to work on climate change, appoint a point-person on it, and report progress annually. Also, for the past two years, I’ve passed a bill to ban gay conversion out of the House, and although the Senate keeps killing it, I will continue to offer it. Aspirations for the incoming years: Continue to work to pass bills that promote and defend LGBT rights, advocate for Colorado global business and cultural appreciation, reform juvenile and adult criminal-justice reform, and continue to serve the people of Denver and Colorado. What makes you so passionate about LGBT issues in particular? Well, besides being an out gay male myself, we need to ensure we make decisions that will benefit the LGBT community in the future, and it is critical that we line up LGBT leaders to take over when we’re out of office. Accomplishments before taking office: I served as president of the Southern Colorado Equality Alliance for nearly five years. During that time, I started Pueblo’s only LGBTQ youth group, which still meets every week. As a community organizer, before civil unions became legal, I worked in Pueblo to change policy to allow same-gender domestic partner benefits for city workers. In 2012, the Colorado Springs Pride Center awarded me the Community Activist of the Year award. In 2013, I was named as one of OUT FRONT’s power award recipients for my work in southern Colorado. In 2014, I became the first openly gay person to ever run or be elected in Pueblo, Colorado. Accomplishments while in office: Since being elected in 2014, I have passed fifteen bills into law that have helped make the lives of Coloradans better. Specifically for the LGBTQ community, I helped pass legislation that fixed the discrepancies in Colorado laws between civil unions and marriage equality, and helped pass legislation that was the first of its kind to decriminalize HIV. I am honored to serve as the co-chair of the LGBT Caucus this year and was recently elected House Majority Caucus Chair and chair of the Capital Development Committee. I serve as the vice chair of the House Health Insurance and Environment committee, as a member of the House Transportation and Energy Committee, and the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee. Aspirations for the incoming years: This coming year, we at the state legislature have a lot of work to do to be sure that Coloradans are protected and that we, as a state, continue to flourish in every corner. I’m excited to be the prime sponsor of the so-called Birth Certificate Bill that we’ve tried to pass before. Senator Moreno and I will be introducing this legislation again this year. It’s so important, now more than ever, that we help to protect our transgender community. What makes you so passionate about LGBT issues in particular? There is no space in this world for intolerance and hate, especially based off who a person loves or how they identify. We all deserve to pursue happiness and no one should be allowed to stand in our way to achieve it. For far too long our LGBT community was treated unfairly and unjustly. Although we have come a long way, there is still entirely too much discrimination happening to our community, especially our brothers and sisters of color in and outside of the LGBTQ community. Until we are all treated fairly and equally in all aspects of our life the work must continue. Accomplishments before taking office: I was a college professor for reproductive endocrinology, embryology, parasitology, microbiology. I was a biologist/biologist guide for ecotourism for three years on three-week excursions on the Amazon River from Iquitos Peru through Columbia to Brazil in 1993. I studied pink dolphins on the Amazon River. I was an African photo safari guide in Kenya and Tanzania and studied elephant behavior in Amboseli National Park in Kenya for three years. I was employed by international companies for South America and African Studies. I spent more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry in new product development for cardiology, neurology, and women’s health. Accomplishments while in office: I’ve served as chairwoman of House Health, Insurance, and Environment committee. I sponsored the Civil Union Bill while having a hand in Telehealth, Veterinarian compounding drug stock, end of life options, Drug Transparency Act of 2016, senior issues, and focused on LGBTQ seniors. Aspirations for the incoming years: I want to champion healthcare issues for all with special attention to the LGBTQ community, and to continue to focus on our LGBTQ seniors, healthcare issues, environmental issues, education, and workforce issues. What makes you so passionate about LGBT issues in particular? We have had to work hard and fight for so much since Stonewall, and we need to keep up the work we have done and make sure our community will never be discriminated against. I have lived through times of inequality — never again. But we must teach the younger LGBTQ community — and everyone — the history and discrimination we have experienced in the past. College/Degree: BS with emphasis on Political Science, Media Science, and Ethics Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder. Accomplishments before taking office: I was co-founder of New Era, a senior policy advisor to Governor Bill Ritter Jr., a program officer with the Gill Foundation; a gubernatorial appointee to the state’s Judicial Performance Commission and mayoral appointee to Denver’s Cultural Affairs Commission, sat on the board of directors for Urban Peak, mentored at Manual High School, was deputy political director of Colorado for President Obama, outreach director for Coloradans for Fairness, founder of the Colorado Women of Influence Leadership Circles, and president of Colorado Black Woman for Political Action. Accomplishments while in office: I was the first LGBTQ Black representative, where I won 86% of vote — more than any other democratic race. Aspirations for the upcoming years: I will fight against discrimination and bigotry aimed at our communities every day. My goal this session is to defend Coloradans against the divisive Trump agenda and make sure that none of the protections we have fought for are rolled back. Additionally, I will pass proactive policies to decrease the disproportionate representation of people of color and LGBT individuals in the criminal justice system, ensure access to affordable housing options in Denver, and make sure our young people are safe and supported in our schools. What makes you so passionate about LGBT issues in particular? I am passionate about LGBT issues as a gay black woman, not only because they directly affect me, they affect those I love, those I represent in my district, and those I identify with as Americans. As the incoming administration has shown, adversity is still knocking at our door. I am passionate, not just about the issues, but for inclusive policy that embraces young people and the LGBT community at large — whether that’s preventative and trans healthcare, non-discrimination policy, or ending LGBT homelessness. College/Degree: BS, Sam Houston State University // MS in Divinity from Iliff School of Theology. Accomplishments before taking office: I have long been a civil rights activist. In 2002, Hickenlooper appointed me to City’s Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships. I also served on the Denver School Board from 1999 to 2007. I am ordained minister and a former executive director of Colorado Council of Churches. Accomplishments while in office: I am the first Latina and the first openly lesbian Latina to serve in Senate leadership. Aspirations for the upcoming years: It is my hope that Colorado joins the long list of states that have repealed the death penalty. Colorado also has to address its funding and financial crisis. I hope to lead a coalition of bipartisan legislators to address some of these issues through legislation. What makes you so passionate about LGBT issues in particular? As a Latina and a lesbian, I am well aware of the obstacles placed in front of us. We constantly face the barriers of discrimination and oppression. I believe it is the job of both marginalized groups to work together to overcome the adversities. We must face these obstacles together because if not we will find ourselves oppressing each other. It is crucial to work together and understand one another so that we can carry each other into a future where equality is reality.

2019-04-26T00:06:19Z

https://www.outfrontmagazine.com/trending/quick-look-queer-caucus/

The game between third ranked Leopards (29-9) and eighth ranked Golden Stars (20-18) was the most important one in the last round on Friday night. Leopards were crushed by Golden Stars in Shenzhen 121-99. Golden Stars looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. 32 personal fouls committed by Leopards helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. It was a great evening for Lithuanian power forward Donatas Motiejunas (213-90) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 36 points (!!!), 23 rebounds and 6 assists. American point guard Ty Lawson (180-87, college: N.Carolina) helped adding 28 points and 8 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line). The best for the losing side was American point guard Dwight Buycks (191-89, college: Marquette) with 29 points and 5 rebounds. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Golden Stars maintains eighth place with 20-18 record, which they share with Shanghai S. Leopards at the other side keep the third position with nine games lost. Golden Stars is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Fly Dragons (#20) in Beijing in the next round which should be another easy win for them. Leopards will play at home against Bayi Rockets (#18) and are hoping to win this game. CBA top team - Guandong Tigers (34-4) had no problems winning another game. This time they crushed fourteenth ranked Brave Dragons (14-24) in Dongguan 122-95. It was a quality performance for the former international Jianlian Yi (212-87) who led the winners and scored 29 points and 7 rebounds. Sonny Weems accounted for 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Center PengFei Yan (207-93) came up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 14 rebounds for Brave Dragons in the defeat. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Guandong Tigers have an impressive series of eleven victories in a row. They maintain first place with 34-4 record. Brave Dragons lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the fourteenth position with 24 games lost. Guandong Tigers will play against Sharks (#9) in Shanghai in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Brave Dragons will play at home against Xinjiang Flying Tige (#6) and hope to get back on the winning track. 15th ranked Eagles (11-27) were outscored at home by tenth ranked Sharks (20-18) with the biggest margin this round 121-86 on Friday night. The best player for the winners was Luis Scola who had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds. At the other side the best for losing team was Dakari Johnson who recorded 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sharks moved-up to eighth place, which they share with Shandong GS. Loser Eagles keep the fifteenth position with 27 games lost. Sharks will meet at home league's leader Guandong Tigers in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Eagles will play against Jilin Tigers (#12) and hope to secure a win. There were no shocking results in the rest of the games of round 39: Guangsha L. won against Tianjin GL on the opponent's court 115-100. Bottom-ranked Beijing Dragons unfortunately lost to Nanjing TX MK in a home game 101-106. Jilin NE T. recorded a loss to Fujian S. on the road 95-106. Jiangsu D. was defeated by Zhejiang Ch. on its own court 112-116. Beijing Ducks smashed Sichuan BW in a road game 119-92. Guangzhou LL lost to defending champion Liaoning FL at home 94-110. Xinjiang FT outscored Bayi R. on the opponent's court 116-96. The most impressive stats of the last round was 46 points (!!!), 7 rebounds and 4 assists by Donald Sloan of Jiangsu D.. Very expected game in Tianjin where 17th ranked Gold Lions (9-29) were defeated by fourth ranked Zhejiang Guangsha Lions (28-9) 115-100 on Thursday. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions outrebounded Gold Lions 49-35 including a 20-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. The best player for the winners was international center Jinqiu Hu (208-97) who had a double-double by scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds. American point guard Courtney Fortson (180-88, college: Arkansas) chipped in a double-double by scoring 17 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was American-Filipino power forward Andray Blatche (211-86) who recorded a double-double by scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line) and American-Montenegrin point guard Taylor Rochestie (185-85, college: Washington St.) added 27 points and 6 assists respectively. Five Zhejiang Guangsha Lions and four Gold Lions players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions maintains fourth place with 28-9 record. Gold Lions lost their sixth game in a row. They keep the seventeenth position with 29 games lost. They share it with Bayi R.. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Hangzhou Golden Bulls. Rather predictable result in Beijing where sixteenth ranked Monkey Kings (10-28) defeated bottom-ranked Fly Dragons (7-31) 106-101 on Friday. The best player for the winners was American guard Joseph Young (188-92, college: Oregon) who scored 45 points (!!!), 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Forward JianYe Song (198-91) chipped in a double-double by scoring 12 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. At the other side the best for losing team was American Thomas Robinson (208-91, college: Kansas) who recorded a double-double by scoring 24 points and 19 rebounds and the other American import swingman Ricky Ledo (201-92, college: Providence) added 23 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals respectively. Four Fly Dragons players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Monkey Kings maintains sixteenth place with 10-28 record. Fly Dragons lost their fourteenth game in a row. They stay dead last with 31 lost games. Monkey Kings will meet at home league's second-placed Flying Leopards in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Fly Dragons will play against Golden Stars (#8) and hope to secure a win. Not a big story in a game in Jinjiang where 11th ranked Jilin Tigers (18-19) were defeated by seventh ranked Sturgeons (21-17) 106-95 on Friday. The best player for the winners was Canadian Andrew Nicholson (206-89, college: St.Bonaventure) who had a double-double by scoring 25 points and 13 rebounds. American-Ukrainian point guard Eugene Jeter (180-83, college: Portland) chipped in a double-double by scoring 19 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was American guard Dominique Jones (193-88, college: S.Florida) who recorded a double-double by scoring 31 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists and the former international guard JinMing Cui (193-92) added 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists respectively. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sturgeons maintains seventh place with 21-17 record. Loser Jilin Tigers dropped to the twelfth position with 19 games lost. Sturgeons will meet Gold Lions (#17) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Jilin Tigers will play against Eagles (#15) in Qingdao and hope to secure a win. Everything could happen in Nanjing at the game between two tied teams. Both twelfth ranked Golden Bulls and 13th ranked Jiangsu Dragons had identical 18-19 record. But Jiangsu Dragons were not able to use a home court advantage and lost to the opponent from Hangzhou 116-112 on Friday night. Golden Bulls made 29-of-37 free shots (78.4 percent) during the game. They also forced 22 Jiangsu Dragons turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. The best player for the winners was American guard Marcus Denmon (191-90, college: Missouri, agency: BeoBasket) who scored 32 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists (went 10 for 10 at the free throw line !!!). His fellow American import guard Brandon Paul (193-91, college: Illinois, agency: Pensack Sports) chipped in a double-double by scoring 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Four Golden Bulls players scored in double figures. At the other side the best for losing team was American guard Donald Sloan (190-88, college: Texas A&M) who recorded 46 points (!!!), 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Serbian center Miroslav Raduljica (213-88) added 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists respectively. Jiangsu Dragons' coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. The victory was the third consecutive win for Golden Bulls. They moved-up to tenth place, which they share with Guangzhou LL. Loser Jiangsu Dragons keep the thirteenth position with 20 games lost. Golden Bulls' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Hangzhou to the arena Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. CBA top team - Guandong Tigers (34-4) had no problems winning another game. This time they crushed fourteenth ranked Brave Dragons (14-24) in Dongguan 122-95. Guandong Tigers dominated down low during the game scoring 70 of its points in the paint compared to Brave Dragons' 50. Guandong Tigers forced 26 Brave Dragons turnovers. Strangely Brave Dragons outrebounded Guandong Tigers 47-35 including 37 on the defensive glass. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 27 assists comparing to just 11 passes made by Brave Dragons' players. It was a quality performance for the former international Jianlian Yi (212-87) who led the winners and scored 29 points and 7 rebounds. American swingman Sonny Weems (198-86, college: Arkansas) accounted for 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for the winning side. Four Guandong Tigers players scored in double figures. Center PengFei Yan (207-93) came up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 14 rebounds and American point guard Bobby Brown (188-84, college: CS Fullerton) added 30 points and 5 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line) respectively for Brave Dragons in the defeat. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Guandong Tigers have an impressive series of eleven victories in a row. They maintain first place with 34-4 record. Brave Dragons lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the fourteenth position with 24 games lost. Guandong Tigers will play against Sharks (#9) in Shanghai in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Brave Dragons will play at home against Xinjiang Flying Tige (#6) and hope to get back on the winning track. 15th ranked Eagles (11-27) were outscored at home by tenth ranked Sharks (20-18) with the biggest margin this round 121-86 on Friday night. Sharks dominated down low during the game scoring 76 of its points in the paint compared to Eagles' 48 and made 21-of-26 free shots (80.8 percent) during the game. They outrebounded Eagles 50-31 including a 37-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. Sharks looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. The best player for the winners was Argentinian-Spanish power forward Luis Scola (206-80) who had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds. American point guard Jimmer Fredette (188-89, college: BYU) chipped in 32 points and 7 assists (went 10 for 10 at the free throw line !!!). At the other side the best for losing team was American power forward Dakari Johnson (213-95, college: Kentucky) who recorded 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and the other American import point guard Jonathan Gibson (188-87, college: N.Mexico St.) added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists respectively. Five Sharks and four Eagles players scored in double figures. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sharks moved-up to eighth place, which they share with Shandong GS. Loser Eagles keep the fifteenth position with 27 games lost. Sharks will meet at home league's leader Guandong Tigers in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Eagles will play against Jilin Tigers (#12) and hope to secure a win. There was no surprise in Sichuan where 19th ranked Blue Whales (8-29) were outplayed by fifth ranked Beijing Ducks (26-12) 119-92 on Thursday. Beijing Ducks dominated down low during the game scoring 68 of its points in the paint compared to Blue Whales' 46. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 30 assists comparing to just 16 passes made by Blue Whales' players. The best player for the winners was Croatian-American center Justin Hamilton (213-90, college: LSU) who had a double-double by scoring 29 points and 12 rebounds. American guard Aaron Jackson (190-86, college: Duquesne) chipped in a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 assists (on 9-of-11 shooting from the field). At the other side the best for losing team was American Jamaal Franklin (196-91, college: San Diego St., agency: Slash Sports) who recorded 16 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks and guard Rongqi Huang (190-99) added 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists respectively. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. Beijing Ducks maintains fifth place with 26-12 record. Blue Whales lost their fourth game in a row. They keep the nineteenth position with 29 games lost. Beijing Ducks will meet Long-Lions (#10) in the next round which should be theoretically another easy game. Blue Whales will play against Jiangsu Dragons (#13) and hope to secure a win. No shocking result in a game in Guangzhou where second ranked Flying Leopards (33-5) won against 9th ranked Long-Lions (19-19) 110-94 on Friday. Flying Leopards made 20-of-25 free shots (80.0 percent) during the game. The best player for the winners was American forward Brandon Bass (203-85, college: LSU) who had a double-double by scoring 21 points and 11 rebounds. His fellow American import Lester Hudson (190-84, college: Tenn-Martin) chipped in 22 points and 5 rebounds. Four Flying Leopards players scored in double figures. At the other side the best for losing team was American point guard Kyle Fogg (190-90, college: Arizona) who recorded 34 points (!!!), 8 rebounds and 7 assists and guard Kailun Guo (188-95) added 12 points and 5 rebounds respectively. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. Defending champion maintains second place with 33-5 record behind leader Guangdong ST. Long-Lions lost their fourth game in a row. They dropped to the tenth position with 19 games lost. They share it with Zhejiang Ch.. Flying Leopards will meet Monkey Kings (#16) in the next round which should be an easy win for them. Long-Lions will play against Beijing Ducks (#5) and hope to secure a win. Very expected game in Ningbo where 18th ranked Bayi Rockets (9-29) were crushed by sixth ranked Xinjiang Flying Tige (25-12) 116-96 on Thursday. Xinjiang Flying Tige dominated down low during the game scoring 74 of its points in the paint compared to Bayi Rockets' 38. Xinjiang Flying Tige had a 31-17 advantage in offensive rebounds. The best player for the winners was American-Bulgarian point guard Darius Adams (188-89, college: Indianapolis) who had a double-double by scoring 38 points (!!!), 10 rebounds and 6 assists. The former international center Ziming Fan (211-98) chipped in 20 points and 8 rebounds (on 8-of-9 shooting from the field). At the other side the best for losing team was the former international guard Shuo Han (196-86) who recorded 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and international guard Lei Meng (193-95) added 23 points and 6 rebounds (perfect behind the arc making all five shots) respectively. Five Xinjiang Flying Tige and four Bayi Rockets players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. The victory was the fourth consecutive win for Xinjiang Flying Tige. They maintain sixth place with 25-12 record. Loser Bayi Rockets dropped to the seventeenth position with 29 games lost. They share it with Tianjin GL. Xinjiang Flying Tige will meet Brave Dragons (#14) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Bayi Rockets will play against Leopards in Shenzhen and hope to secure a win. The game between third ranked Leopards (29-9) and eighth ranked Golden Stars (20-18) was the most important one in the last round on Friday night. Leopards were crushed by Golden Stars in Shenzhen 121-99. Golden Stars looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. 32 personal fouls committed by Leopards helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. It was a great evening for Lithuanian power forward Donatas Motiejunas (213-90) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 36 points (!!!), 23 rebounds and 6 assists. American point guard Ty Lawson (180-87, college: N.Carolina) helped adding 28 points and 8 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line). The best for the losing side was American point guard Dwight Buycks (191-89, college: Marquette) with 29 points and 5 rebounds and international center Zijie Shen (205-97) produced a double-double by scoring 10 points and 10 rebounds. Four Golden Stars and five Leopards players scored in double figures. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Golden Stars maintains eighth place with 20-18 record, which they share with Shanghai S. Leopards at the other side keep the third position with nine games lost. Golden Stars is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Fly Dragons (#20) in Beijing in the next round which should be another easy win for them. Leopards will play at home against Bayi Rockets (#18) and are hoping to win this game.

2019-04-23T06:44:04Z

https://www.asia-basket.com/China/news/565311/CBA-Round-39:-Leopards-are-defeated-by-Golden-Stars

In the real world, as opposed to the imaginary universe that neoconservatives and Wilsonians dream about, there are very few really good protagonists or really bad antagonists. A former Turkish diplomat told me that during a visit to the Pentagon after 9/11, a top official explained that the Bush Administration hoped Ankara would take steps towards strengthening political and military ties with New Delhi, as part of a process that could lead eventually to the establishment of an alliance between the three pro-Western democracies of India, Turkey and Israel. The Turkish official was dumbfounded. Where was his counterpart getting his political intelligence from? After all, it wasn’t a secret that when it came to the conflict between India and Pakistan, Turkey tended to identify and cooperate with the South Asian Muslim country. No to mention the fact that notwithstanding the partnership between Ankara and Jerusalem, the Turks never considered Israel to be an “ally,” as they attempted balancing their relationship with the Jewish State and the Arab countries. In fact, Israel and Turkey didn’t establish full diplomatic until 1992 following the Oslo Process that led to the rapprochement between the Israelis and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). And in any case, the idea of Turkey siding with India and challenging the balance of power in South Asia didn’t make a lot of sense, particularly at a moment when the United States as part of its campaign against terrorism was strengthening its ties with Islamabad and elevating them to the status of a strategic alliance. But then it seemed that Pentagon official was engaged in one of the intellectual exercises favored by both neoconservatives on the political right and liberal internationalists on the political left: Drawing up foreign policy narratives that reflect the dualistic cosmology of Manichaeism in which international relations is seen as a never-ending struggle between light and darkness, between the forces of good led by the United States that are confronting the bad guys, ranging from “rogue states” to “authoritarian regimes” that threaten to destroy the liberal international order. But in the real world, as opposed to the imaginary universe that neoconservatives and Wilsonians dream about, there are very few really good protagonists or really bad antagonists. So you need to make sure that while constructing a narrative one takes into account the “anomalies” and resolve the cognitive dissonance between the plot of the fairy tale and the many shades of gray that typify the relations between nations. Hence, when the Bush Administration responded to the attacks on New York and Washington by Al Qaeda, the radical Muslim fundamentalist group, by launching the war against terrorism it identified Iraq and Iran as two of the leading members of the Axis of Evil it was planning to confront. But that proposed narrative was full with inconsistencies. The secular Ba’ath regime in Baghdad and the Shiite clerics in Tehran regarded Osama Bin Ladin’s terrorist group as well as its ally, the Taliban, the Sunni Muslim fundamentalist movement ruling Afghanistan as ideological adversaries (in the case of the secular and semi-fascist Saddam Hussein) or as sectarian foes (in the case of Iran’s Ayatollahs). On the other hand, two of Washington’s allies in the war on terrorism, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, were the two main allies of the Taliban while Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden were proponents of the extremist Wahhabi Muslim dogma promoted by the Saudis and embraced by the Pakistanis. The neocons that championed the Bush Administration’s move to oust Saddam Hussein and invade Iraq were never able to resolve this dissonance. They tried to protect it by turning “Islamo-Fascism” into the an all encompassing bogeyman that seemed to cover all the bad guys – Saddam and the Ayatollahs; Al Qaeda and Hizbolah; the Taliban and Hamas– while not dwelling on the role of that the Saudis and the Pakistan had played in the story. They even provided the narrative with a Happy End – the ushering of the age of liberal democracy in the Middle East though the use of American military power. That the story ended with a stronger Iran, the rise of Islamic State (IS), and the return of the Taliban: well that would have to wait for another narrative. So perhaps it’s not surprising that the same cast of narrative writers in Washington who were responsible for that foreign policy flop, are now trying to employ their creative talents to come-up with new story lines that would help convince us that once again the international system was dominated by a struggle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. And guess which side we are on? For a while it seemed as though the reality of international relations was anything but Manichean, with the Middle East degenerating into a struggle over power between a few allies (Turkey; the Kurds; Israel); not very-nice players who happen to be our friends (Saudi Arabia; Egypt); the bad ones (Iran; Syria; Hizbolah; Hamas), and the devil incarnate (IS) that happened to be a killing machine that owes its radical Islamist ideology to the Wahhabi teachers in Saudi Arabia. Not to mention Al Qaeda and its many political satellites that were located now somewhere between the bad ones and the devil incarnate. That was kind of a bummer, if you plan to write a script for a western in which the noble protagonists fight the evil antagonists, as opposed to a post-modern David Lynch movie with its tormenting moral ambiguity, which unfortunately is how the international system looks quite frequently. Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine in 2014 and West was encouraging in a sense that it helped to cast Vladimir Putin as the new global villain. That Putin strengthened Russia’s ties with its old client state Syria and maintained friendly ties with Iran, allowed the creative juices of the narrative writers to start flowing again and to identify the new forces of darkness: The authoritarian Putin; the murderous Bashar Assad; and the Ayatollahs in Tehran. Never mind that the secular Assad and for that matter, Iran, were fighting the IS and other radical Sunni Islamist groups. Or that Russia had to protect legitimate strategic interests in the Middle East and was strengthening its ties with a U.S. ally, Israel. Or that Turkey was at one point allied with Assad, that it was an adversary of the Kurds and in the midst of a major diplomatic confrontation with Israel, and that together with the Saudis, Ankara helped support radical Sunni Islamist groups. Indeed, it was becoming more and more difficult to cast Turkey’s Recap Tayyip Erdogan, who like Putin was accused of projecting authoritarian tendencies, as the good guy in the evolving narrative, especially after the Turks shot-down a Russian warplane on its border with Syria in November 2015, raising the specter of a war between the Russians and the Turks. But not to worry: Amid the tensions between Ankara and the West in the aftermath of the attempted military coup in Turkey, and as the two countries struggled with their flagging economies, Moscow and Ankara decided to patch their relations, leading to a meeting between Erdogan and Putin in Moscow. Judging by the reaction of the foreign policy crowd in Washington, the meeting was nothing short of an historic summit, a turning point in the Middle East politics that could reshape the global balance of balance: The supposedly two anti-Eastern authoritarian leaders, are cooperating with the other force of darkness, Iran, in shoring up Assad brutal regime and check mating the United States. It almost goes without saying that this storyline is farfetched when one takes into consideration that Turkey is an important member of NATO and is seeking membership in the European Union (EU). Just count how many times President Barack Obama has met with Erdogan. And Turkey (like in the case of Russia), continues to hold free and democratic elections (certainly more open than those held in “liberated” Iraq or in Egypt). There is no question that there are serious disagreements between the U.S. and Turkey – as there are between Russia and Turkey or between the Russia and the United States -- over the strategy of bringing an end to the civil war in Syria as well as over Kurdish issue. But those disagreements would not necessarily disappear if a more secular and liberal government had led Turkey. On one level, scripting Manichean foreign policy narratives is at best an intriguing intellectual exercise. But at worst, it can impact the foreign policy discourse in Washington; in the way the neoconservative narrative helped shape public perception of policy after 9/11, creating the conditions for the decision to invade Iraq.

2019-04-25T03:26:14Z

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/dangerous-manichean-foreign-policy-narratives-17600

This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Twin Peaks (disambiguation). Twin Peaks is an American mystery horror drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that premiered on April 8, 1990, on ABC. It was one of the top-rated series of 1990, but declining ratings led to its cancellation after its second season in 1991. It nonetheless gained a cult following and has been referenced in a wide variety of media. In subsequent years, Twin Peaks is often listed among the greatest television series of all time. The series follows an investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the fictional suburban town of Twin Peaks, Washington. The show's narrative draws on elements of detective fiction, but its uncanny tone, supernatural elements, and campy, melodramatic portrayal of eccentric characters also draw on American soap opera and horror tropes. Like much of Lynch's work, it is distinguished by surrealism, offbeat humor, and distinctive cinematography. The acclaimed score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti with Lynch. The success of the show sparked a media franchise, and the series was followed by a 1992 feature film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, that serves as a prequel to the series. Additional tie-in books were also released. Following a hiatus of over 25 years, the show returned in 2017 with a third season on Showtime, marketed as Twin Peaks: The Return. The season was directed by Lynch and written by Lynch and Frost, and starred many original cast members, including MacLachlan. Season one of Twin Peaks focuses on the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee, pictured in 1990). In 1989, the logger Pete Martell discovers a naked corpse wrapped in plastic on the bank of a river outside the town of Twin Peaks, Washington. When Sheriff Harry S. Truman, his deputies, and Dr. Will Hayward arrive, the body is identified as homecoming queen Laura Palmer. A badly injured second girl, Ronette Pulaski, is discovered in a fugue state. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate. Cooper's initial examination of Laura's body reveals a tiny typed letter "R" inserted under her fingernail. Cooper informs the community that Laura's death matches the signature of a killer who murdered another girl in southwestern Washington the previous year, and that evidence indicates the killer lives in Twin Peaks. The authorities discover through Laura's diary that she has been living a double life. She was cheating on her boyfriend, football captain Bobby Briggs, with biker James Hurley, and prostituting herself with the help of truck driver Leo Johnson and drug dealer Jacques Renault. Laura was also addicted to cocaine, which she obtained by coercing Bobby into doing business with Jacques. Laura's father, attorney Leland Palmer, suffers a nervous breakdown. Her best friend, Donna Hayward, begins a relationship with James. With the help of Laura's cousin Maddy Ferguson, Donna and James discover that Laura's psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, was obsessed with Laura, but he is proven innocent of the murder. Hotelier Ben Horne, the richest man in Twin Peaks, plans to destroy the town's lumber mill along with its owner Josie Packard, and murder his lover (Josie's sister-in-law), Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie), so that he can purchase the land at a reduced price and complete a development project, Ghostwood. Horne's sultry, troubled daughter, Audrey, becomes infatuated with Cooper and spies for clues in an effort to gain his affections. Cooper has a dream in which he is approached by a one-armed otherworldly being who calls himself MIKE. MIKE says that Laura's murderer is a similar entity, Killer BOB, a feral, denim-clad man with long gray hair. Cooper finds himself decades older with Laura and a dwarf in a red business suit, who engages in coded dialogue with Cooper. The next morning, Cooper tells Truman that, if he can decipher the dream, he will know who killed Laura. Cooper and the sheriff's department find the one-armed man from Cooper's dream, a traveling shoe salesman named Phillip Gerard. Gerard knows a Bob, the veterinarian who treats Renault's pet bird. Cooper interprets these events to mean that Renault is the murderer, and with Truman's help, tracks Renault to One-Eyed Jack's, a brothel owned by Horne across the border in Canada. He lures Jacques Renault back onto U.S. soil to arrest him, but Renault is shot while trying to escape and is hospitalized. Leland, learning that Renault has been arrested, sneaks into the hospital and murders him. The same night, Horne orders Leo to burn down the lumber mill with Catherine trapped inside and has Leo gunned down by Hank Jennings to ensure Leo's silence. Cooper returns to his room following Jacques's arrest and is shot by a masked gunman. After solving the murder of Laura Palmer, Kyle MacLachlan's (pictured here in 1991) character of Dale Cooper stays in Twin Peaks to investigate further. Lying hurt in his hotel room, Cooper has a vision in which a giant appears and reveals three clues: "There is a man in a smiling bag"; "The owls are not what they seem"; and "Without chemicals, he points." He takes Cooper's gold ring and explains that when Cooper understands the three premonitions, his ring will be returned. Leo Johnson survives his shooting but is brain-damaged. Catherine Martell disappears, presumed killed in the mill fire. Leland Palmer, whose hair has turned white overnight, returns to work but behaves erratically. Cooper deduces that the "man in the smiling bag" is the corpse of Jacques Renault in a body bag. Donna befriends an agoraphobic orchid grower named Harold Smith whom Laura entrusted with a second, secret diary she kept. Harold catches Donna and Maddy attempting to steal the diary from him and hangs himself in despair. Cooper and the sheriff's department take possession of Laura's secret diary, and learn that BOB, a friend of her father's, had been sexually abusing her since childhood and she used drugs to cope. They initially suspect that the killer is Ben Horne and arrest him, but Leland Palmer is revealed to viewers to be BOB's host when he brutally kills Maddy. Cooper begins to doubt Horne's guilt, so he gathers all of his suspects in the belief that he will receive a sign to help him identify the killer. The Giant appears and confirms that Leland is BOB's host and Laura's and Maddy's killer, giving Cooper back his ring. Cooper and Truman take Leland into custody. In control of Leland's body, BOB admits to a string of murders, before forcing Leland to commit suicide. Leland, as he dies, is freed of BOB's influence and begs for forgiveness. BOB's spirit disappears into the woods in the form of an owl and the lawmen wonder if he will reappear. Cooper is set to leave Twin Peaks when he is framed for drug trafficking by Jean Renault and is suspended from the FBI. Renault holds Cooper responsible for the death of his brothers, Jacques and Bernard. Jean Renault is killed in a shootout with police, and Cooper is cleared of all charges. Windom Earle, Cooper's former mentor and FBI partner, escapes from a mental institution and comes to Twin Peaks. Cooper had previously been having an affair with Earle's wife, Caroline, while she was under his protection as a witness to a federal crime. Earle murdered Caroline and wounded Cooper. He now engages Cooper in a twisted game of chess where Earle murders someone whenever a piece is captured. Investigating BOB's origin and whereabouts with the help of Major Garland Briggs, Cooper learns of the existence of the White Lodge and the Black Lodge, two extra-dimensional realms whose entrances are somewhere in the woods surrounding Twin Peaks. Catherine returns to town in yellowface, having survived the mill fire, and manipulates Ben Horne into signing the Ghostwood project over to her. Andrew Packard, Josie's husband, is revealed to be still alive. Josie Packard is revealed to be the person who shot Cooper at the end of the first season. Andrew forces Josie to confront his business rival and her tormentor from Hong Kong, the sinister Thomas Eckhardt. Josie kills Eckhardt but she mysteriously dies when Truman and Cooper try to apprehend her. Cooper falls in love with a new arrival in town, Annie Blackburn. Earle captures the brain-damaged Leo for use as a henchman and abandons his chess game with Cooper. When Annie wins the Miss Twin Peaks contest, Earle kidnaps her and takes her to the entrance to the Black Lodge, whose power he seeks to use for himself. Through a series of clues Cooper discovers the entrance to the Black Lodge, which turns out to be the strange, red-curtained room from his dream. He is greeted by the Man From Another Place, the Giant, and Laura Palmer, who each give Cooper cryptic messages. Searching for Annie and Earle, Cooper encounters doppelgängers of various people, including Maddy Ferguson and Leland Palmer. Cooper finds Earle, who demands Cooper's soul in exchange for Annie's life. Cooper agrees but BOB appears and takes Earle's soul for himself. BOB then turns to Cooper, who is chased through the lodge by a doppelgänger of himself. Outside the lodge, Andrew Packard, Pete Martell and Audrey Horne are caught in an explosion at a bank vault, a trap laid by the dead Eckhardt. Cooper and Annie reappear in the woods, both injured. Annie is taken to hospital but Cooper recovers in his room at the Great Northern Hotel. It becomes clear that the "Cooper" who emerged from the Lodge is in fact his doppelgänger, under BOB's control. He smashes his head into a bathroom mirror and laughs maniacally. On October 6, 2014, it was announced that a limited series would air on Showtime. David Lynch and Mark Frost wrote all the episodes, and Lynch directed. Frost emphasized that the new episodes are not a remake or reboot but a continuation of the series. The episodes are set in the present day, and the passage of 25 years is an important element in the plot. Most of the original cast returns, including Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, and several others. Additions include Jeremy Davies, Laura Dern, Robert Forster, Tim Roth, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Amanda Seyfried, Matthew Lillard, and Naomi Watts. The limited series began filming in September 2015 and was completed by April 2016. It was shot continuously from a single, long-shooting script before being edited into separate episodes. The series premiered on May 21, 2017, and consists of 18 episodes. In the 1980s, Mark Frost worked for three years as a writer for the television police drama Hill Street Blues, which featured a large cast and extended story lines. Following his success with The Elephant Man (1980) and Blue Velvet in 1986, David Lynch was hired by a Warner Bros. executive to direct a film about the life of Marilyn Monroe, based on the best-selling book Goddess. Lynch recalls being "sort of interested. I loved the idea of this woman in trouble, but I didn't know if I liked it being a real story." Lynch and Frost first worked together on the Goddess screenplay and although the project was dropped by Warner Bros., they became good friends. They went on to work as writer and director for One Saliva Bubble, a film with Steve Martin attached to star, but it was never made either. Lynch's agent, Tony Krantz, encouraged him to do a television show. He took Lynch to Nibblers restaurant in Los Angeles and said, "You should do a show about real life in America—your vision of America the same way you demonstrated it in Blue Velvet." Lynch got an "idea of a small-town thing", and though he and Frost were not keen on it, they decided to humor Krantz. Frost wanted to tell "a sort of Dickensian story about multiple lives in a contained area that could sort of go perpetually." Originally, the show was to be titled North Dakota and set in the Plains region of North Dakota. After Frost, Krantz, and Lynch rented a screening room in Beverly Hills and screened Peyton Place, they decided to develop the town before its inhabitants. Due to the lack of forests and mountains in North Dakota, the title was changed from North Dakota to Northwest Passage (the title of the pilot episode), and the location to the Pacific Northwest, specifically Washington. They then drew a map and decided that there would be a lumber mill in the town. Then they came up with an image of a body washing up on the shore of a lake. Lynch remembers, "We knew where everything was located and that helped us determine the prevailing atmosphere and what might happen there." Frost remembers that he and Lynch came up with the notion of the girl next door leading a "desperate double life" that would end in murder. The idea was inspired, in part, by the unsolved 1908 murder of Hazel Irene Drew in Sand Lake, New York. Lynch and Frost pitched the idea to ABC during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike in a ten-minute meeting with the network's drama head, Chad Hoffman, with nothing more than this image and a concept. According to the director, the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer was initially going to be in the foreground, but would recede gradually as viewers got to know the other townsfolk and the problems they were having. Lynch and Frost wanted to mix a police investigation with a soap opera. ABC liked the idea and asked Lynch and Frost to write a screenplay for the pilot episode. They had been talking about the project for three months and wrote the screenplay in 10 days. Frost wrote more verbal characters, like Benjamin Horne, while Lynch was responsible for Agent Cooper. According to the director, "He says a lot of the things I say." ABC Entertainment President Brandon Stoddard ordered the two-hour pilot for a possible fall 1989 series. He left the position in March 1989 as Lynch went into production. They filmed the pilot for million with an agreement with ABC that they would shoot an additional "ending" to it so that it could be sold directly to video in Europe as a feature film if the TV show was not picked up. ABC's Robert Iger and his creative team took over, saw the dailies, and met with Frost and Lynch to get the arc of the stories and characters. Although Iger liked the pilot, he had difficulty persuading the rest of the network executives. Iger suggested showing it to a more diverse, younger group, who liked it, and the executive subsequently convinced ABC to buy seven episodes at .1 million apiece. Some executives figured that the show would never get on the air or that it might run as a seven-hour mini-series, but Iger planned to schedule it for the spring. The final showdown occurred during a bi-coastal conference call between Iger and a room full of New York executives; Iger won, and Twin Peaks was on the air. Each episode took a week to shoot and after directing the second episode, Lynch went off to complete Wild at Heart while Frost wrote the remaining segments.Standards and Practices had a problem with only one scene from the first season: an extreme close-up in the pilot of Cooper's hand as he slid tweezers under Laura's fingernail and removed a tiny "R". They wanted the scene to be shorter because it made them uncomfortable, but Frost and Lynch refused and the scene remained. Veteran film actress Piper Laurie (pictured here in 1990) helped cement the Twin Peaks cast. Twin Peaks features members of a loose ensemble of Lynch's favorite character actors, including Jack Nance, Kyle MacLachlan, Grace Zabriskie, and Everett McGill. Isabella Rossellini, who had worked with Lynch on Blue Velvet was originally cast as Giovanna Packard, but she dropped out of the production before shooting began on the pilot episode. The character was then reconceived as Josie Packard, of Chinese ethnicity, and the role given to actress Joan Chen. It casts several veteran actors who had risen to fame in the 1950s and 1960s, including 1950s film stars Richard Beymer, Piper Laurie, and Russ Tamblyn. Other veteran actors included British actor James Booth (Zulu), former The Mod Squad star Peggy Lipton, and Michael Ontkean who co-starred in the 1970s crime drama The Rookies. Kyle MacLachlan was cast as Agent Dale Cooper. Stage actor Warren Frost, father of Mark Frost, was cast as Dr. Will Hayward. Due to budget constraints, Lynch intended to cast a local girl from Seattle, reportedly "just to play a dead girl". The local girl ended up being Sheryl Lee. Lynch stated "But no one—not Mark, me, anyone—had any idea that she could act, or that she was going to be so powerful just being dead." And then, while Lynch shot the home movie that James takes of Donna and Laura, he realized that Lee had something special. "She did do another scene—the video with Donna on the picnic—and it was that scene that did it." As a result, Sheryl Lee became a semi-regular addition to the cast, appearing in flashbacks as Laura, and portraying another, recurring character: Maddy Ferguson, Laura's similar-looking cousin. The character of Phillip Gerard's appearance in the pilot episode was originally intended to be only a "kind of homage to The Fugitive. The only thing he was gonna do was be in this elevator and walk out," according to David Lynch. However, when Lynch wrote the "Fire walk with me" speech, he imagined Al Strobel, who played Gerard, reciting it in the basement of the Twin Peaks hospital—a scene that appeared in the European version of the pilot episode, and surfaced later in Agent Cooper's dream sequence. Gerard's full name, Phillip Michael Gerard, is also a reference to Lieutenant Phillip Gerard, a character in The Fugitive. Lynch met Michael J. Anderson in 1987. After seeing him in a short film, Lynch wanted to cast the actor in the title role in Ronnie Rocket, but that project failed to get made. Richard Beymer was cast as Ben Horne because he had known Johanna Ray, Lynch's casting director. Lynch was familiar with Beymer's work in the 1961 film West Side Story and was surprised that Beymer was available for the role. Set dresser Frank Silva was cast as the mysterious "Bob". Lynch himself recalls that the idea originated when he overheard Silva moving furniture around in the bedroom set, and then heard a woman warning Silva not to block himself in by moving furniture in front of the door. Lynch was struck with an image of Silva in the room. When he learned that Silva was an actor, he filmed two panning shots, one with Silva at the base of the bed, and one without; he did not yet know how he would use this material. Later that day, during the filming of Sarah Palmer having a vision, the camera operator told Lynch that the shot was ruined because "Frank [Silva] was reflected in the mirror." Lynch comments, "Things like this happen and make you start dreaming. And one thing leads to another, and if you let it, a whole other thing opens up." Lynch used the panning shot of Silva in the bedroom, and the shot featuring Silva's reflection, in the closing scenes of the European version of the pilot episode. Silva's reflection in the mirror can also be glimpsed during the scene of Sarah's vision at the end of the original pilot, but it is less clear. A close-up of Silva in the bedroom later became a significant image in episodes of the TV series. The score for Twin Peaks has received acclaim; The Guardian wrote that it "still marks the summit of TV soundtracks." In fall 1989, composer Angelo Badalamenti and Lynch created the score for the show. In 20 minutes they produced the signature theme for the series. Badalamenti called it the "Love Theme from Twin Peaks". Lynch told him, "You just wrote 75% of the score. It's the mood of the whole piece. It is Twin Peaks." While creating the score, Lynch often described the moods or emotions he wanted the music to evoke, and Badalamenti began to play the piano. In the scenes dominated by young men, they are accompanied by music that Badalamenti called Cool Jazz. The characters' masculinity was enhanced by finger-snapping, "cocktail-lounge electric piano, pulsing bass, and lightly brushed percussion." A handful of the motifs were borrowed from the Julee Cruise album Floating into the Night, which was written in large part by Badalamenti and Lynch and was released in 1989. This album also serves as the soundtrack to another Lynch project, Industrial Symphony No. 1, a live Cruise performance also featuring Michael J. Anderson ("The Man from Another Place"). The song "Falling" (sans vocals) became the theme to the show, and the songs "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart", "The Nightingale", "The World Spins", and "Into the Night" (found in their full versions on the album) were all, except the latter, used as Cruise's roadhouse performances during the show's run. The lyrics for all five songs were written by Lynch. A second volume of the soundtrack was released on October 30, 2007, to coincide with the Definitive Gold Box DVD set. In March 2011, Lynch began releasing The Twin Peaks Archive - a collection of previously unavailable tracks from the series and the film via his website. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper states, in the pilot episode, that Twin Peaks is "five miles south of the Canadian border, and twelve miles west of the state line". This places it in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness. Lynch and Frost started their location search in Snoqualmie, Washington, on the recommendation of a friend of Frost. They found all of the locations that they had written into the pilot episode. The towns of Snoqualmie, North Bend and Fall City – which became the primary filming locations for stock Twin Peaks exterior footage – are about an hour's drive from the town of Roslyn, Washington, the town used for the series Northern Exposure. Many exterior scenes were filmed in wooded areas of Malibu, California. Most of the interior scenes were shot on standing sets in a San Fernando Valley warehouse. The soap opera show-within-the-show Invitation to Love was not shot on a studio set, but in the Ennis House, an architectural landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. Mark Frost and David Lynch made use of repeating and sometimes mysterious motifs such as trees (especially fir and pines), coffee, cherry pie, donuts, owls, logs, ducks, water, fire—and numerous embedded references to other films and TV shows. During the filming of the scene in which Cooper first examines Laura's body, a malfunctioning fluorescent lamp above the table flickered constantly, but Lynch decided not to replace it, since he liked the disconcerting effect that it created. Cooper's dream at the end of the third episode, which became a driving plot point in the series's first season and ultimately held the key to the identity of Laura's murderer, was never scripted. The idea came to Lynch one afternoon after touching the side of a hot car left out in the sun: "I was leaning against a car—the front of me was leaning against this very warm car. My hands were on the roof and the metal was very hot. The Red Room scene leapt into my mind. 'Little Mike' was there, and he was speaking backwards... For the rest of the night I thought only about The Red Room." The footage was originally shot along with the pilot, to be used as the conclusion were it to be released as a feature film. When the series was picked up, Lynch decided to incorporate some of the footage; in the third episode, Cooper, narrating the dream, outlines the shot footage which Lynch did not incorporate, such as Mike shooting Bob and the fact that he is 25 years older when he meets Laura Palmer's spirit. In an attempt to avoid cancellation, the idea of a Cooper possessed by Bob came up and was included in the final episode, but the series was cancelled even before the episode was aired. Before the one and a half hour pilot premiered on TV, a screening was held at the Museum of Broadcasting in Hollywood. Media analyst and advertising executive Paul Schulman said, "I don't think it has a chance of succeeding. It is not commercial, it is radically different from what we as viewers are accustomed to seeing, there's no one in the show to root for." The show's Thursday night time slot had not been a good one for soap operas, as both Dynasty and its short-lived spin-off The Colbys did poorly.Twin Peaks was also up against the hugely successful sitcom Cheers. Initially, the show received a positive response from TV critics. Tom Shales, in The Washington Post, wrote, "Twin Peaks disorients you in ways that small-screen productions seldom attempt. It's a pleasurable sensation, the floor dropping out and leaving one dangling." In The New York Times, John J. O'Connor wrote, "Twin Peaks is not a send-up of the form. Mr. Lynch clearly savors the standard ingredients...but then the director adds his own peculiar touches, small passing details that suddenly, and often hilariously, thrust the commonplace out of kilter."Entertainment Weekly gave the show an "A+" rating and Ken Tucker wrote, "Plot is irrelevant; moments are everything. Lynch and Frost have mastered a way to make a weekly series endlessly interesting."Richard Zoglin in Time magazine said that it "may be the most hauntingly original work ever done for American TV." The two-hour pilot was the highest-rated movie for the 1989–90 season with a 22 rating and was viewed by 33% of the audience. In its first broadcast as a regular one-hour drama series, Twin Peaks scored ABC's highest ratings in four years in its 9:00 pm Thursday time slot. The show also reduced NBC's Cheers's ratings. Twin Peaks had a 16.2 rating with each point equaling 921,000 homes with TVs. The episode also added new viewers because of what ABC's senior vice-president of research, Alan Wurtzel, called "the water cooler syndrome", in which people talk about the series the next day at work. But the show's third episode lost 14% of the audience that had tuned in a week before. That audience had dropped 30% from the show's first appearance on Thursday night. This was a result of competing against Cheers, which appealed to the same demographic that watched Twin Peaks. A production executive from the show spoke of being frustrated with the network's scheduling of the show. "The show is being banged around on Thursday night. If ABC had put it on Wednesday night it could have built on its initial success. ABC has put the show at risk." In response, the network aired the first-season finale on a Wednesday night at 10:00 pm instead of its usual 9:00 pm Thursday slot. The show achieved its best ratings since its third week on the air with a 12.6 and a 22 share of the audience. On May 22, 1990, it was announced that Twin Peaks would be renewed for a second season. During the first and second season, the search for Laura Palmer's killer served as the engine for the plot, and captured the public's imagination, although the creators admitted this was largely a MacGuffin; each episode was really about the interactions between the townsfolk. The unique (and often bizarre) personalities of each citizen formed a web of minutiae that ran contrary to the town's quaint appearance. Adding to the surreal atmosphere was the recurrence of Dale Cooper's dreams, in which the FBI agent is given clues to Laura's murder in a supernatural realm that may or may not be of his imagination. The first season contained only eight episodes (including the two-hour pilot episode), and was considered technically and artistically revolutionary for television at the time, and geared toward reaching the standards of film. Critics have noted that Twin Peaks began the trend of accomplished cinematography now commonplace in today's television dramas. Lynch and Frost maintained tight control over the first season, handpicking all of the directors, including some Lynch had known from his days at the American Film Institute (e.g., Caleb Deschanel and Tim Hunter) and some referred to him by those he knew personally. Lynch and Frost's control lessened in the second season, corresponding with what is generally regarded as a decrease in the show's quality once the identity of Laura Palmer's murderer was revealed. The aforementioned "water cooler effect" put pressure on the show's creators to solve the mystery. Although they claimed to have known from the series' inception the identity of Laura's murderer, Lynch never wanted to solve the murder, while Frost felt that they had an obligation to the audience to solve it. This created tension between the two men. Its ambitious style, paranormal undertones, and engaging murder mystery made Twin Peaks an unexpected hit. Its characters, particularly MacLachlan's Dale Cooper, were unorthodox for a supposed crime drama, as was Cooper's method of interpreting his dreams to solve the crime. During its first season, the show's popularity reached its zenith, and elements of the program seeped into mainstream popular culture, prompting parodies, including one in the 16th-season premiere of Saturday Night Live, hosted by MacLachlan. David Lynch at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 16, 1990, where Twin Peaks was nominated for fourteen awards. He was nominated for directing and co-writing the pilot episode. For its first season, Twin Peaks received fourteen nominations at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kyle MacLachlan), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Piper Laurie), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Sherilyn Fenn), Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (David Lynch), Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (David Lynch and Mark Frost), Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (Harley Peyton), Outstanding Art Direction for a Series, Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music, Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore), Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series. Out of its fourteen nominations, it won for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production. For its second season, it received four nominations at the 43rd Primetime Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kyle MacLachlan), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Piper Laurie), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. At the 48th Golden Globe Awards, it won for Best TV Series – Drama, Kyle MacLachlan won for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama, Piper Laurie won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV; while Sherilyn Fenn was nominated in the same category as Laurie. The pilot episode was ranked 25th on TV Guide's 1997 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. It placed 49th on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list. In 2004 and 2007, Twin Peaks was ranked 20th and 24th on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever, and in 2002, it was ranked 45th of the "Top 50 Television Programs of All Time" by the same guide. In 2007, UK broadcaster Channel 4 ranked Twin Peaks 9th on their list of the "50 Greatest TV Dramas". Also that year, Time included the show on their list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time".Empire listed Twin Peaks as the 24th best TV show in their list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". In 2012, Entertainment Weekly listed the show at no. 12 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", saying, "The show itself was only fitfully brilliant and ultimately unfulfilling, but the cult lives, fueled by nostalgia for the extraordinary pop phenomenon it inspired, for its significance to the medium (behold the big bang of auteur TV!), and for a sensuous strangeness that possesses you and never lets you go." The series has been nominated for the TCA Heritage Award six consecutive years since 2010. It was ranked 20th on The Hollywood Reporter's list of Hollywood's 100 Favorite TV Shows. With the resolution of Twin Peaks' main drawing point (Laura Palmer's murder) in the middle of the second season, and with subsequent story lines becoming more obscure and drawn out, public interest began to wane. This discontent, coupled with ABC changing its timeslot on a number of occasions, led to a huge drop in the show's ratings after being one of the most-watched television programs in the United States in 1990. A week after the season's 15th episode placed 85th in the ratings out of 89 shows, ABC put Twin Peaks on indefinite hiatus, a move that usually leads to cancellation. An organized letter-writing campaign, dubbed COOP (Citizens Opposed to the Offing of Peaks), attempted to save the show from cancellation. The campaign was successful, as ABC agreed to air the remaining six episodes to finish the season. But due to the Gulf War, Twin Peaks was moved from its usual time slot "for six weeks out of eight" in early 1991, according to Frost, preventing the show from maintaining audience interest. According to Frost, the main storyline after the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder was planned to be the second strongest element from the first season that audiences responded to: The relationship between Agent Cooper and Audrey Horne. Frost explained that Lara Flynn Boyle, who was romantically involved with Kyle MacLachlan at the time, had effectively vetoed the Audrey-Cooper relationship, forcing the writers to come up with alternative storylines to fill the gap. Sherilyn Fenn corroborated this claim in a 2014 interview, stating, "[Boyle] was mad that my character was getting more attention, so then Kyle started saying that his character shouldn't be with my character because it doesn't look good, 'cause I'm too young... I was not happy about it. It was stupid." This meant the artificial extension of secondary storylines, such as James Hurley and Evelyn Marsh, to fill in the space. After ratings began to decline, Agent Cooper was given a new love interest, Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham), to replace the writers' intended romance between him and Audrey Horne. Despite ending on a deliberate audience-baiting cliffhanger, the series finale did not sufficiently boost interest, and the show was not renewed for a third season, leaving the cliffhanger unresolved. Lynch expressed his regret at having resolved the Laura Palmer murder, saying he and Frost had never intended for the series to answer the question and that doing so "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs". Lynch blamed network pressure for the decision to resolve the Palmer storyline prematurely. Frost agreed, noting that people at the network had in fact wanted the killer to be revealed by the end of season one. In 1993, cable channel Bravo acquired the license to rerun the entire series, which began airing in June 1993. These reruns included Lynch's addition of introductions to each episode by the Log Lady and her cryptic musings. Looking back, Frost has admitted that he wished he and Lynch had "worked out a smoother transition" between storylines and that the Laura Palmer story was a "tough act to follow". Regarding the second season, Frost felt that "perhaps the storytelling wasn't quite as taut or as fraught with emotion". Writing for The Atlantic, Mike Mariani wrote that "It would be tough to look at the roster of television shows any given season without finding several that owe a creative debt to Twin Peaks," stating that "Lynch's manipulation of the uncanny, his surreal non-sequiturs, his black humor, and his trademark ominous tracking shots can be felt in a variety of contemporary hit shows. In 2010, the television series Psych paid tribute to the series by reuniting some of the cast in the fifth-season episode, "Dual Spires". The episode's plot is an homage to the Twin Peaks pilot, where the characters of Psych investigate the death of a young girl in a small town called "Dual Spires". The episode also contains several references to the original show. Twin Peaks actors that guest star in the episode are Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee, Dana Ashbrook, Robyn Lively, Lenny Von Dohlen, Catherine E. Coulson and Ray Wise. Prior to the airing of the episode, a special event at the Paley Center for Media was held where the actors from both shows discussed the episode. Reviewers and fans of four seasons of Veena Sud's U.S. TV series, The Killing, have noted similarities and borrowed elements from Lynch's Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks, and compared Sud and Lynch's works. Carlton Cuse, creator of Bates Motel, cited Twin Peaks as a key inspiration for his series, stating: "We pretty much ripped off Twin Peaks... If you wanted to get that confession, the answer is yes. I loved that show. They only did 30 episodes. Kerry [Ehrin] and I thought we'd do the 70 that are missing." Twin Peaks served as an inspiration for the 1993 video game The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, with director Takashi Tezuka citing the series as the main factor for the creation of the "suspicious" characters that populate the game, as well as the mystery elements of the story. The show has also influenced a number of survival horror and psychological thriller video games—most notably Alan Wake,Deadly Premonition,Silent Hill, and Max Payne. The American animated show Gravity Falls repeatedly referenced the Black Lodge along with other elements of Twin Peaks throughout its run. The song "Laura Palmer" by the band Bastille was written influenced by the "slightly weird, eerie" atmosphere of the show. The series was released on VHS in a six-tape collection on April 16, 1995, however, it did not include the original pilot episode. On December 18, 2001, the first season (episodes 1–7, minus the pilot) of Twin Peaks was released on DVD in Region 1 by Artisan Entertainment. The box set featured digitally remastered video was noted for being the first TV series to have its audio track redone in DTS. The second season release was postponed several times, and the release was originally canceled in 2003 by Artisan due to low sales figures for the season 1 DVD. The second season was finally released in the United States and Canada on April 3, 2007, via Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment/CBS DVD. In July 2013, it was revealed that a Blu-ray version of the complete series would be released. In January 2014, Lynch confirmed the Blu-ray release and that it would contain the pilot, season 1, season 2, and new special features, and possibly the film. It was announced on May 15, 2014, that the Blu-ray of the complete series of Twin Peaks and the film containing over 90 minutes of deleted scenes would be released on July 29, 2014. Online, the series is available through the pay CBS All Access service in full, along with Showtime's "Anytime" service for pay-TV subscribers and its over-the-top separate service. The original series is available for HD streaming via both Hulu and Netflix in the U.S. Hulu also offers The Return, the 18-episode continuation originally aired on Showtime, as an additional-cost subscription option for viewing some of Showtime's programming. During the show's second season, Pocket Books released three official tie-in books, each authored by the show's creators (or their family), which offer a wealth of backstory. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, written by Lynch's daughter Jennifer Lynch, is the diary as seen in the series and written by Laura, chronicling her thoughts from her twelfth birthday to the days leading up to her death. Frost's brother Scott wrote The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes. Kyle MacLachlan also recorded Diane: The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper, which combined audio tracks from various episodes of the series with newly recorded monologues.Welcome to Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town offers information about the history, flora, fauna, and culture of the fictitious town. The Secret History of Twin Peaks, a novel by series co-creator Mark Frost, "places the unexplained phenomena that unfolded in Twin Peaks in a layered, wide-ranging history, beginning with the journals of Lewis and Clark and ending with the shocking events that closed the finale." It was published on October 18, 2016. The 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a prequel to the TV series. It tells of the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer. Director David Lynch and most of the television cast returned for the film, with the notable exceptions of Lara Flynn Boyle, who declined to return as Laura's best friend Donna Hayward and was replaced by Moira Kelly, and Sherilyn Fenn due to scheduling conflicts. Also, Kyle MacLachlan returned reluctantly as he wanted to avoid typecasting, so his presence in the film is smaller than originally planned. Lynch originally shot about five hours of footage that was subsequently cut down to two hours and fourteen minutes. Most of the deleted scenes feature additional characters from the television series who ultimately did not appear in the finished film. Around ninety minutes of these scenes are included in the complete series Blu-ray that was released on July 29, 2014. 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"The Killing: A new crime show has some of that Twin Peaks flair". Slate. Retrieved July 24, 2013. ^ "Can 'The Killing' Make a Comeback?". The New York Times. March 18, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2013. ^ Lewit, Meghan (June 21, 2011). "From 'Twin Peaks' to 'The Killing,' the Problem of Noir on TV". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 24, 2013. ^ Bianculli, David (May 31, 2011). "'The Killing': 'Twin Peaks' Meets '24' On AMC". NPR. Retrieved July 24, 2013. ^ Haithman, Diane (May 10, 2013). "Carlton Cuse On 'Bates Motel's Twin Peaks' & 'Psycho' Heritage". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 11, 2013. ^ "Iwata Asks: The History of Handheld The Legend of Zelda Games – Make All the Characters Suspicious Types". Nintendo of America Inc. January 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2011. ^ Reed, Kristan (May 31, 2005). "Alan Wake". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 13, 2014. ^ Schilling, Chris (July 7, 2011). "The Cult of Deadly Premonition". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 13, 2014. ^ Kelly, Andy (April 29, 2014). "On The Level: Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 13, 2014. ^ Iwaniuk, Phil (October 11, 2017). "One of Max Payne's greatest moments is its own weird version of Twin Peaks. Did you watch Address Unknown?". GamesRadar. Retrieved October 12, 2017. ^ Weinstock, Spooner. Return To Twin Peaks. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 216–218. ISBN 978-1-137-56384-2. ^ "Bastille, 'Laura Palmer' - Song Stories". NME. April 18, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2018 – via. ^ "Twin Peaks: Episodes 1–29 [VHS]". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 10, 2014. ^ Lacey, Gord (November 16, 2001). "Twin Peaks – Slight Delay & Press Release". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014. ^ Lacey, Gord (December 16, 2001). "Twin Peaks – The 1st Season Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014. ^ Lacey, Gord (November 8, 2003). "Twin Peaks – Where is Twin Peaks Season 2?". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014. ^ "Twin Peaks: Season 2". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 10, 2014. ^ Tucker, Ken (October 26, 2007). "Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2010. ^ Fowler, Matt (July 23, 2013). "Damn Fine Twin Peaks Blu-ray Set On the Way". IGN. Retrieved January 22, 2014. ^ Collura, Scott (January 22, 2014). "David Lynch Shoots Down Twin Peaks Revival Rumor". IGN. Retrieved January 22, 2014. ^ a b "'Twin Peaks': Watch 'Fire Walk With Me' lost scenes before entire series hits Blu-ray – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014. ^ Marnell, Blair (May 21, 2017). "How To Watch Twin Peaks". IGN. Retrieved December 28, 2017. ^ Carter, Bill (July 24, 1990). "Twin P's of Twin Peaks: Production and Promotion". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2010. ^ Coppens, Philip. "Twin Peaks". philipcoppens.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2018. ^ "Twin Peaks – Fire Walk with Me (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 16, 2011. ^ "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 3, 2007. Lavery, David, ed. (1995). Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-2506-8. Tropiano, Stephen (2000). TV Towns. New York, NY: TV Books L.L.C. ISBN 978-1-57500-127-2. Hoffman, Eric; Grace, Dominick, eds. (2017). Approaching Twin Peaks: Essays on the Original Series. McFarland Press.

2019-04-21T21:15:44Z

https://punchaceleb.com/hot-jane-morgan/

The outlawing of Zero Hours Contracts in Aotearoa this April was big news for the Left and union movement abroad, with the result that Unite union activists were invited to speak at conferences and parliaments in Ireland, Britain and the USA last month. In Ireland, I spoke to a cross party committee in the Dail, where TDs and activists from Sinn Fein, the Anti Austerity Alliance and People Before Profit considered how Irish unions could turn to the Left, in the wake of the decimation of Ireland’s neoliberal Labour Party and its replacement in may working class areas by socialist and radical MPs. In the North of Ireland, myself and Mike Treen were present during the Assembly elections, which saw the election of two Marxist MLAs in the heartlands of the struggle- Derry and West Belfast. Zero hours are a plague on the working poor in both parts of Ireland- it was great to see the rise of a socialist alternative to the politics of Green and Orange win representation for a working class that feels communal politics has ignored their suffering. First off, people abroad were very happy that a fighting union like Unite has successfully unionised the fast food industry and won some tangible victories there- in the USA, the SEIU union has been fighting for $15 and a Union for several years now, but now wants formal union recognition in these industries. The defeat of Zero Hours also raises new answers to the academic theorists who argue there is a new class- the Precariat, who cannot be organised. So, in this respect, many of these countries think the example of Unite in NZ is one worth repeating abroad. Even though I have some strong disagreements with the Corbyn/McDonnell leadership of Labour on issues like the reformabilty of the EU, there is no doubt that the program they have to revitalise the union movement and take the fight to the Tories both inside and outside of parliament, is one that every radical should get behind. Many people in New Zealand ask the question- where is our Jeremy Corbyn? With the recent announcement on maintaining 90 day trial periods, I struggle to think it is Andrew Little. In Ireland, this went a stage further. The Irish Labour Party has been practically wiped out, after betraying the massive mandate it got from Irish workers to stop austerity- instead, it joined a right wing coalition government and introduced brutal taxes on working people, including a hated Water Tax, which saw a massive movement explode onto the streets. Hundreds of thousands of people marched, not only mobilised by radical groups such as People Before Profit, the Anti Austerity Alliance or Sinn Fein, but also by five large trade unions that broke from the Labour Party stranglehold on action, mobilising workers through union channels in huge numbers. The rise of a new Left in Ireland was not an overnight occurence. Marxists made a turn away from propaganda group campus rhythyms after the Battle of Seattle, instead concentrating on community activity in working class areas. In many working class areas in Ireland’s major cities, the socialist left have been active fighting attacks on working people for decades- fighting for housing, rent control, refugee and gay rights, and against Household, Bin and Water taxes. The result has been the election of dozens of councillors, 6 AAA-PBP TDs, and another dozen or so radical left independent TDs, as well as a bigger group of 30 or so Sinn Fein TDs. One of the reasons why the Left in Irleand concentrated on community politics, was, in my mind, that any radical route in the unions was blocked by the Labour Party bureaucracy and its ideology of partnership. Gino Kenny, TD for working class Clondalkin, describes himself as a Shop Steward for his area, which has suffered severe economic deprivation. He famously flew the Palestinian flag on his election, which shows also a deep internationalism in the Irish working class with the suffering of people abroad. Could something in the community to the left of the Labour-Greens alliance emerge from the current crisis- prehaps concentrating on a burning issue for working people like the Zero Hours Campaign began. A working title could be Housing Action or Rent Control Now? There are hundreds of activists to the left of both Labour and the Greens who could be organised by such a campaign- and we could force the issue onto the agenda. Waatea 5th Estate: Why is New Zealand in Iraq? It is how communism can work, on a small scale level, as in community, communal etc. Communism is probably the definitive explanation of how the real enemy is actually “big” not really any one monetary system or other. We are running into more and more trouble as corporations and governments get bigger and bigger, leaving the general populace less and less able to do things for themselves. It’s a shame that socialism-communism was hijacked by the former USSR. The concept is forever tarred by the brutal dictators of that benighted country. Communism is a totalitarian political ideology that cannot survive without the suppression of the citizenry. It has failed utterly, and thankfully has, for the most part, been consigned to the dustbin of history. Your simplistic views on the lessons of history are laughable. You didn;t read my post properly, did you? I’m not talking about ‘in principle’, I’m talking about ‘in practice’. What a tired old argument. Communism didn’t exactly assist moving countries towards democracy, did it? I think it could be argued that communism did Cuba more good than harm, but more importantly I would ask if anyone at all has really helped any country towards real democracy. Look at Chile, Vietnam, etc and weep. Communism as a brand attached to the USSR, hardly describes China today. What is more totalitarian than Capitalism. Throwing around labels does little in describing a path to organisation or governance for the good of the many while preserving a humane level of rights for families and individuals encompassing all in society. Socialism as a broad brush describes a path NZ was forced to follow after capitalism brought down the global economies early in the 20th century – and we did well to lift our population out of that mess created through the lack of socialism and social responsibility. A strong move to establish more cooperative organisation can have many positive consequences for all. A “Kiwi Alone” direction is not new and need reviving. Needless to say Corporate control has to be countered. Black and white judgements on economic models will not lead us to deal with the current lack of social responsibility. Joe Carolan is a very capable and principled man, and his article here shows he understands the mood of the working class. Perhaps it took a trip abroad to get him to see that things have changed dramatically, and that people everywhere are finally ready for struggle. Socialism in New Zealand must be built around community activism, not the political formalism that we’ve been captive to for so long. This requires leadership. But before the Left can rediscover the concept of “leadership”, we have to understand what leadership actually means. It is not about dogma or saviours, or charismatic figures, it is about day-to-day empowerment of ordinary people. It is about training and skills. It is about trusting people enough to delegate to them, and being tolerant enough of their failings to pick them up, dust them off, retrain them and trust them again. It is about recalibrating people’s expectations, away from learned-helplessness and whining dependency on “the Government”, and toward the notion that WE are the government, that the government is what we make it, and that all of us have a personal duty to rise up and build socialism where we live and work. Obsession with Internationalism and Imperialism has for too long been an excuse for avoiding the hard yaka of community-building. But real human beings, real working class families are hurting and in pain NOW, and we, as Socialists, are the only people who can even begin to create the social networks and institutions required to alleviate their suffering. This must be done *before* we can toss out the government, not as a consequence of it. This is about taking back our power to make and unmake society as the people decide, not asking for permission from illegitimate corporate-appointed political apparatchiks. All this we do, not from any moralistic do-gooder notions, but because we genuinely need the skills and resources locked up in the great reservoir of talent we call the Working Class. We do not give them dignity, rather, they confer their dignity on us by their choice to join in the struggle. The poor and the disadvantaged have all the abilities, strength, loyalty and commitment we need to swell our numbers and bring about real change. But this can only happen if we redefine “leadership” enough to reach out to them, support them, liberate their time, and train them up to fulfill the roles they choose for themselves. Without them, we are nothing. With them, we can make a Political Revolution in New Zealand now. We don’t need a Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn or Andrew Little to save us. We can save ourselves.

2019-04-19T16:19:14Z

https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/06/22/is-it-time-for-some-community-communism-in-aotearoa/

Christian belief is largely a Greek mystery belief. The motifs of the Eucharist, the sonship of God, the Redeemer and baptism were traditional elements of ancient cults even before Christianity. The way the Jesus figure initiates his disciples into the Eucharistic ritual in the Eucharistic scene has parallels in traditional mystery cults, where the explication of the ritual act by the respective deity takes place. The identification of the bread with the "body of Christ" corresponds to e.g. the ritual in the Eleusinian mysteries, in which the god Iakchos = Dionysos in the form of bread (= fruit of his mother Demeter identified with Dionysos) and wine (= from the original Thracian Dionyos cult) or an even stronger intoxication potion (according to Hofmann/Wasson LSD) is consumed by the believers, who thus participate in his divine transformation, and the ritual in the Attis cult, in which the god is consumed in the form of bread, also with the purpose of participation in the divine. In exactly this sense Ignatius of Antioch describes the Christian Eucharist as pharmacon athanasias, as medicine for immortality. (The authenticity and early dating of the Ignatius letters is by no means undisputed). The theological expression for this dynamic is - related to the Christian idea of the Eucharist - ´transsubstantation´. Psychologically this is a variation of magical thinking: material and metaphysical are identified with each other or at least strongly associated. Thus the ancient oriental images of gods of polytheism were not only regarded by the faithful as images of the gods, but as their real manifestation, i.e. the gods were directly present in their images. (1) The individual enters into a (at least subjectively felt) direct contact with the divine sphere by participating in the essence of a god (Dionysos). Participation means: The individual merges with the god in the process of his dying and his rebirth. Effect: The individual attains immortality. (2) Concretely follows from this: the individual attains the guarantee for a happy life beyond. This stands in sharp contrast to the conditions of the exoteric religion, whose cultic observance enables the individual to lead a happy life in this world at most as an effect of the good will of the gods. At the center of the mystery cult endeavor is a process that radically breaks up the conditions of exoteric polytheism: the individual is not confronted with a god whose grace he is at the mercy of, but shares in his identity. This ´mystery´ is packaged in a polytheistic concept, but is at the same time diametrically opposed to the basic principle of exoteric polytheism, which gapes between gods and humans an abyss that is unbridgeable for humans. Thus also the type of the religion of salvation in which Christianity has one of its roots has emerged - the other root is Messianic Judaism. Through this mixing the mystery cult idea of participating in the power of the deity became weakened Christianity because the god in whose essence the believer participates is only the "son" of the main god on whose "grace" the believer remains dependent. Maybe it is possible to package the concept of Christ into a "few words", but the difference to Platonism, which has no idea of a redeemer, is huge. Platonism at the time of the council of Nicaea had a "Holy Trinity" expressed by Plotinus in his "Enneads". I know but the difference still remains huge. The Nous is far from being a divine person to which one can attach his belief. The most important part of the Christian Trinity, the Binity, was pressed into a formula after long, partly physically brutal arguments between Athanasians and Arianians in Nicaea. The Trinity is a product of the Hellenization of Christianity through the adaptation of Plotin's New Platonism (Plotin however was an opponent of Christianity). Inspired by Plato, Plotin taught the Absolute One (Hen), from which emanations gradually emerge downwards, first the Nous (reason, spirit), then the world soul and then last and least the material. Several Church Fathers, e.g. Ambrosius, Eusebius and Kyrill, had received Plotin, also with regard to their own trinity-theoretical speculations. It is not difficult to recognize that the Hen can be assigned to God the Father, Nous to Christ and the world soul to the Holy Spirit, even if the classical Trinity concept deviates from the neoplatonic pattern. The Hen is the all-bringing, the Nous is the world-spanning reason (in the sense of the Logos = Christ in John´s gospel) and the world soul is the power which relates the divine (the Hen) with the material, thus inwardly vitalizing matter. The latter function corresponds roughly to that of the Holy Spirit, which of course does not, as with Plotin, permeate all material life, but is to be understood as the enlightening penetration of the divine into human consciousness. So the difference is really huge. No one is saying that Christianity is an exact copy of Platonism. The assertion is that Christianity incorporated and repackaged elements of Platonism, along with components of other existing and prior religions, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Persian, etc, to formulate a separate belief. This combination was unique, but certainly not new. The thing is that in order to spread their doctrine and to reach the higher and well-educated social strata in the Roman Empire, the early Christians had to integrate Greek philosopical approaches into their belief, otherwise that doctrine would have been considered too simple and inappropriate for an educated person. This combination was unique, but certainly not new. I think what is unique is in a way new, too. What distinguished Christianity from other religions (mystery or not) was the linear concept of history (adopted from Judaism which probably adopted it from Mazdaism) and the sacrifized "son of God" mediating between humans and the main god. Such a combination was certainly new, except for Mazdaism which has also the concept of linear history and a redeemer, who is, however, by far not a central figure as is Jesus in Christianity. Yes. I thought of Plotinus this morning. Mos relevant of the Neo-Platonists. Greeks had true monarchs, who did consult their friends and were expected to, but did not need to consult elected councils, ever since Alexander and Diadochs. Long before Romans. And Hellenism was invented by Jews. The writer of Maccabees, specifically. How does it follow - "Catholicism, hence Christianity"? Precisely which features of Orthodoxy show features of Roman paganism where it diverges from Greek paganism? Greek society in the early centuries of Christianity was less democratic than Phalo says, but both the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire had more democracy than chornedsnorkak says. The Greek world in the classic age was composed of many hundreds of independent city states around the Mediterranean, almost all with a more or less republican government. Those republics ranged from oligarchic republics to Athenian type democracies and many cities changed their constitutions often. On the borders of the Greek world were a number of larger semi Greek states, many kingdoms like, for example, Macedon. In the Hellenistic age the mighty Persian Empire was conquered and large Macedonian-Greek kingdoms were founded in the former Achaemenid lands. The Hellenistic rulers founded Greek cities and imported Greek settlers to those cities spreading Greek culture hundreds and thousands of miles eastward, where it lasted for decades or centuries in some places, and for over a millennia in places that came to be part of the Roman Empire. Many of the new Greek cities in the Hellenistic kingdoms had a varying degree of self rule and republican and sometimes slightly democratic government. As the Roman Republic and later Empire conquered more and more lands inhabited by non Latin and non Italian peoples, they created provinces. The tribal states or city states that existed in those provinces continued to exist under Roman rule, though the Romans sometimes combined small states into a single larger one, or divided large states into smaller ones. The hundreds of states in the Roman empire were encouraged by the Romans to adopt rather oligarchic but at least a little democratic republican governments, much like Rome itself. So in the early Christian centuries, people in most parts of the Roman Empire were part of a civitas, a city state ruled by a council and magistrates elected by a varying percentage of the free men of the city state, and which was part of a Roman province which was part of the Roman Empire, ruled by a powerful but not legally or practically absolute emperor. RE: Bertrand Russell - 1945 - The metaphysics of Plotinus begins with a Holy Trinity: The One, Spirit and Soul. I know but the difference still remains huge. The Nous is far from being a divine person to which one can attach his belief. I disagree since the Platonist and the Stoic philosophers considered that this "Nous" to be - in part - a [personal] "Guardian spirit". The Greeks referred to it as the "Daimon" and the Romans as the "Genius". In fact if one reads this selection of quotes below one can see how the New Testament has used this philosophical/metaphysical concept. Seneca is treated in the 4th century as a "secret Christian", and correspondence between him and Paul was circulated as genuine. The concept of the indwelling Christian "Holy Spirit" seems to have its roots in Greek and Roman philosophical schools.

2019-04-18T14:37:30Z

https://historum.com/threads/is-christianity-a-greek-religion-clothed-in-roman-rituals.177248/page-2

The European Foreign Policy Unit (EFPU) acts as a focus for research and teaching on issues relating to the attempts to create a collective European foreign policy. The European Foreign Policy Unit (EFPU) acts as a focus for research and teaching on issues relating to the attempts to create a collective European foreign policy. The International Relations Department is one of the world's leading centres for research into European foreign policy, and EFPU aims to build on and contribute to that reputation. New blog post: Karen E. Smith, ‘The Trump Administration is downgrading the EU’s diplomatic status in Washington’, The Monkey Cage blog, 8 January 2019. Karen E. Smith, ‘The EU and the Responsibility to Protect in an Illiberal Era’, Dahrendorf Forum Working Paper no. 3, August 2018. Steve Woolcock, 'European Union Commercial Policy: Continuity or Change', Handbuch Europaische Union 2018. Spyros Economides and James Sperling, eds, EU Security Strategies (Routledge, 2017). EFPU members' evidence is cited extensively in the House of Lords report on 'Europe in the world: towards a more effective EU foreign and security strategy', which was published on 16 February 2016. In 2015 EFPU members contibuted to two UK parliament enquiries: 1) the House of Lords Subcommittee on EU external affairs, inquiry on the review of the EU's security strategy; 2) the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, inquiry on the implications of Brexit for UK foreign policy. Dr. Economides was Visiting Fellow at the EU Centre in Singapore from mid-August to mid-September 2015. He completed a project on ‘EU Foreign Policy and the Rise of Revisionist Powers’, and gave a number of lectures and seminars on EU foreign policy, and on the implications of the current eurozone crisis for Europe’s external relations. Professor Smith's Impact Case Study on influencing EU policies on human rights and mass atrocity prevention. Dr. Bicchi presented research to SAIS Europe (Bologna, Italy) on 4 December 2014 on Europe's strategy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From October 2015 to September 2018, EFPU members Prof Smith and Dr Economides are participating in the Jean Monnet network on EU-UN relations (EUN-NET). There will be teaching and research activities, and public events. Information on the EU-UN network can be found at EUNNET. From October 2014 to September 2017, EFPU is participating in the ANTERO Jean Monnet Network, which addresses the needs of teaching, education and research on EU foreign policy. ANTERO is led by Professor Ben Tonra of University College Dublin, and involves institutions across the EU. More information on ANTERO is available on the ANTERO website. Between 2002 and 2005, EFPU was the British member of FORNET - a European Foreign Policy Research Network - the first attempt to co-ordinate a network of researchers across Europe focusing on foreign policy governance. Between 2005 and 2009, Karen E Smith led a team of researchers in the EU-funded research programme entitled Challenge (the Changing Landscape of European Liberty and Security). In addition, some EFPU members were active in the EU-funded research network, EU-CONSENT , which linked researchers working on EU reform and enlargement. The EFPU Working Paper series showcases research conducted by EFPU members as well as by other academics working in the field of European foreign policy. If you wish to submit a paper to be considered for publication in the series, please contact Professor Karen E. Smith. The LSE team's principal contribution to the Challenge research programme was a series of research papers. The first project undertaken by EFPU was the edited publication by Christopher Hill and Karen E. Smith, European Foreign Policy: Key Documents (Routledge, 2000). It provides students and scholars with access to key documents relating to the practices of European foreign policy from 1948 to 2000, along with commentary and bibliographic guidance. The EU and UN Multilateralism, lecture by Prof Katie Verlin Laatikainen, 2 February 2018, 14-15.30, room CLM 1.02. Another activity of the EU-UN network. 'How Brexit Contributes to the Collapse of Multilaterism', lecture by Prof Jan Wouters (Leuven University), 15 January 2018, 18.00-19.30, room CLM 7.02, LSE. A public event in the EU-UN network series. Dr Nathalie Tocci, Director of the International Affairs Institute in Rome Italy, and LSE alumna, presented her recent book on the EU Global Strategy to a brown-bag lunch seminar on 15 November 2017. EFPU hosted a symposium on Professor Christopher Hill's work on European foreign policy, on 12 May 2017. Roundtable on 'Brexit and EU Foreign Policy: the view from other EU member states’ with Ben Tonra, Stephen Keukeleire, Annegret Bendiek, Christian Lequesne and Petr Kratochvil; 9 March 2016. A blog post on the roundtable is available. Workshop on European Diplomatic Practices: Contemporary Challenges and Innovative Approaches, 15 December 2015. EFPU chaired a session during a workshop on Myanmar and the International Community, 27 November 2015. A report on the session and workshop is available. Workshop on Are EU Sanctions Effective?, 14 May 2015. Workshop on the EU as a Diplomatic Actor, 28 January 2015. See report on the workshop, including links to videos of some of the talks. During the 2011-12 academic year, EFPU has organised a series of 10 roundtables on 'EU Foreign Policy after Lisbon'. The LSE held a conference on 'Europe and the World: The Changing Landscape of Liberty and Security in the EU's External Relations', on 2-3 April 2009. EFPU members actively contribute to teaching on the subject at LSE. At the doctoral level, EFPU members run a research workshop on European International Politics..At the masters level, EFPU members teach several courses in the subject area: The EU in the World; European Security and Defence; The International Politics of EU Enlargement;,EU Policy-Making in a Global Context; and Europe, the US and the Middle East. These courses are available primarily to students on the MSc International Relations and MSc in International Relations (Research) and the MSc EU Politics. Over the past sixty years, the evolution of the European Union as an 'international actor' has been striking. The European Community of the 1950s and 1960s had some relations with third countries, namely former European colonies, and was beginning to assert a common stance in international trade negotiations. The European Union of the early 21st century conducts economic and political relations with virtually every country on earth, is a major player in international trade negotiations, is one of the world's most generous aid donors, and proclaims its pursuit of a common foreign, security and defence policy. Yet there are also serious obstacles to the formation of efficient and effective policies towards the rest of the world: notably, the views of the 27 EU member states have to be molded into a coherent EU position. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty raised expectations that the EU will be better equipped to formulate and implement common foreign policies commensurate with the EU's economic strengths. This is because the Lisbon Treaty altered the institutional set-up for foreign policy-making within the EU. The EU forms part of a complex 'foreign policy system', composed of the European Union as well as the member states' foreign policies (which both affect, and are affected by, the EU). The EU itself is made up of two 'pillars', each with different decision-making rules and institutions: the European Community (the 'first pillar', which now includes Justice and Home Affairs) and the Common Foreign, Security and Defence Policy (the 'second pillar'). These separate policy-making frameworks lead to problems of consistency and coordination. The Lisbon Treaty attempted to solve some of these problems, by creating a European External Action Service and a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. These new institutions are meant to 'straddle' the separate policy-making frameworks, and thus presumably lead to more consistent, efficient and effective foreign policies. The relationship between institutions and policies, however, is not clear-cut. To what extent does the development of institutions lead to a stronger EU role in the world? Or do other factors matter more? For the last forty years, the member states have continuously developed mechanisms and institutions for conducting external relations. But at the same time, they have sought to retain control over the process, and jealously guard their own autonomy in the sphere of foreign policy. This tension, between the drive to act collectively on the world stage and the desire to retain national autonomy, has shaped the institutions developed in the external relations field, as well as the outcomes produced by those institutions. There is thus a complex interplay between institutions, member state preferences and interests, and outcomes.

2019-04-18T14:59:55Z

http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-relations/centres-and-units/efpu/about-efpu

A survey says that almost 68% people cheat over their partners after marriage. Mostly the divorces happen just because one cheated the other partner or have doubt. If you are one of the people who doubts on their partner, then it is time to kick out all your doubts. Leading a peaceful life is very important and to do this, you must trust your spouse. However, if you are not able to do so due to some reasons, then you must take the help of the best spying application to catch cheating spouse. The spy app is becoming popular, among people and is helping them to clear their doubts and lead a happy life. A spying application is the one that can be installed in the phone of the target. It transfers all the information from the targets phone to you so that you can know what your partner is up to. This is the best way to be in pace with the hi-tech hiding techniques that the smart phones have today. 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To cut short your efforts even more we are suggesting you the best spying application that is the best solution to catch cheating spouse. The NetSpy is emerging as one of the most excellent remedies to the monitoring world. If you are looking out to monitor the activities of your partner then you must install the NetSpy today. The NetSpy is the best ever all in one spying solution that provide its users with the top most features and in the best quality. The customer base of this application is increasing day by day and that is a proof if it’s popularity in, itself. It provides its clients with top quality services and an excellent customer support. All the top most features and advantages of this app that makes it a must have are discussed in the further segment. All that can be said about this app is that if you have not used it yet then you are missing a lot in the monitoring activity. The installation process of this app is very easy and quick. Step 1- download the app– you will get the application at all the app stores and in the website as well. You will have to download the app first. Make sure that the source of download you are using is reliable. Download the application in your device as well as in the device of the targeted person. And you can follow the next step then. Step 2- install the app- the next step you have to do is to install the downloaded app. If you do not want the target to know about the presence of the app in his device then you can hide the application too. It will be 100% untraceable and safe. Once the app installed successfully you can move in to the next step. Step 3- make settings and start monitoring – you will have to make an account on the online portal of the app so that you can carry out monitoring as you like. Make setting in the application as you like and then you all are set to monitor your partner. The best part about this application is that it is available for all the types of operating systems and its different versions. You do not have to worry if you are an iPhone or Windows or Android user as this application is available for all of you. You just have to see that the software you are downloading suits your devices operating system and its version. Internet monitoring – you can monitor all the internet activities that the suspect carries out with their mobile. You can View everything they see just by visiting their browsing history. Not only this you can also see the hidden or deleted history items. You can monitor as well as control the internet usage. The key logger– with the help of key logger, you can easily know all the passwords saved on the suspect’s device. The app lock passwords as well as the social media passwords all can be accessed easily with the help of key logger. Access email accounts– the NetSpy app helps you to access all the email and similar accounts of the target. You can read all the emails and attachments saved in the phone of the target. All the emails sent and received can be easily accessed. Read the contact list and call logs- this is a very helpful feature in catching cheating spouse. You can have the knowledge of all the calls that the victim makes or, receives. Also if you want any information of the caller you can easily open its contact list. All the time duration and contacts that the suspect makes can be known to you with the help of NetSpy. GPS tracker– the GPS tracking system helps a lot of partners to catch their spouse. By this you can trace the exact location of your partner in real time. You will get a notification with each location change immediately. With the feature, you can be sure that your partner is going to the place which he or she told you. SMS spy– texting is the biggest way to communicate these days and if you want to be sure that your partner is not talking to another person then the SMS spy feature of this app can help you to a great extent. You can read all the conversation made over messages and can save them too. Not only this you can also access the hidden conversations very easily. Spy Call– if you want to listen to what the target has been talking over phone, you can use this feature. The spy call feature lets you listen to the calls of the target remotely without knowing them. The best thing is that it lets you real time access to the activities of the target. Call recording– you can not only listen to the calls in real time but can record them too. With the call recording feature you can record all the conversations of the suspect and save it or later use. In case you are busy with something else and cannot listen to the calls of the victim then you can make use of this feature. You also get the facility of auto call recording. That means whenever the suspect makes or receives a call, it will get recorded and saved automatically. Ambient voice recording- with the ambient voice recording feature of the spy application you can listen to all the noises that surround the target. You just need to make a hidden call and then you can listen to all the noises around like the conversation in the room etc. This is the best and most unique feature that you can ever get. WhatsApp spy– WhatsApp is being used by people all round the world. With the help of NetSpy, app you can read all the conversations made over WhatsApp. You can even access the media files shared over it and can read the hidden conversations as well. It will help you clear all the doubts that you have in your partner. Social chats monitoring– it is said that most of the people cheat their partners over social media. Therefore the social account chats are the first thing that you must check. The NetSpy helps you get access to the social media accounts as well as the social chats of the target. You can read them all and catch a cheating husband or wife. After reading the above-given information and features, you must have understood that no other application can bring you the kind of ease like the NetSpy app. The fact that your spouse is cheating on you is disturbing in itself. Besides being in doubt and living a disturbing life, it is better that you take the help of a monitoring application. It will not only help you in catching a cheating spouse but will also let you lead a transparent and doubt free life. By using this application, you can collect strong evidence against your partner and catch him bare handed. These applications are very easy to install as well as use. You will get a 24×7 customer support service that will clear all your queries. Also, this application is totally untraceable, and therefore your partner will never come to know about it. The spy apps are available for all the operating systems and are very much co-operative. You can catch your cheating spouse, monitor your employees and keep an eye on your children with the help of NetSpy. To know more about this application and to download the software you can visit https://www.netspy.net right away. So be in pace with the technology and modern world with the spy apps. Get in the action and catch your cheating spouse red handed instead of crying at home. It’s your life, and you must live it to the fullest. Catch the one stabbing you at your back and give him a lesson of his life.

2019-04-23T21:52:15Z

https://www.netspy.net/catch-cheating-spouse/

I have been reflecting on some ideas around our current election system which were (originally) prompted by our pro tem appointment process. First, I think the Community Team needs to get out of the moderator-selection business. Currently, 45% of our moderators were appointed by someone from the Stack Exchange staff, and more than half (58%) our sites have yet to hold a proper election. We need to give agency back to the communities regarding how you pick and maintain your elected leadership from the beginning and as the community continues to grow. Is there an interest in broader election reform? The purpose of this post is to gauge the general interest in taking a fresh look at our current electoral ideology and how you pick and maintain your moderation leadership. This isn't about working out specific implementation details or resolving every obstacle. I want to see if there is a general appetite for looking at broader reforms around how we elect and maintain moderators. The first question to ask is: “Is this even a thing? Should I be looking at this?" Or am I stepping on customs so ingrained and sacrosanct, I should just leave it alone. Jon Ericson has been experimenting with pro tem elections to replace moderators who have moved on. As we were looking at improvements to that process, I kept asking if we should roll that [cool idea] back into the regular election cycle? Starting with a clean slate, I started considering how broader electoral changes might improve some of the issues around our representative ecosystem. I think we might be edging into something more capable and adaptive — so I want to see if I should continue working on this. Here are a few issues I’ll put on the table for consideration; I'm sure there are others. This is an open discussion and trial balloon to see whether there is any interest in looking at broader electoral changes. Please feel free to add your thoughts in the answers below. There's no reason we (the community team) need to continue picking your moderators. We've already started experimenting with pro tem elections, so I'd like to improve on that process so ALL moderators are elected by the community — including pro tems — starting shortly after the private beta. Jon's pro tem experiments show that pro tem elections can work, so I would like to see if we can merge both processes into one, unified election ecosystem. As the distinction between pro tem and "real moderator" starts to fade— read on. The CoGro Team (particularly Jnat and others) has been grinding away at a long-neglected backlog of sites needing moderator replacements (resignations, absentees, vetting candidates). Those delays will not likely end with the current backlog. The community team continues to be conspicuously short on resources to help communities with other issues. I believe this next bullet item can essentially free up those resources almost entirely. Let's start with an assumption that I can simplify the election process to make it much less exhausting. The basic idea is to have much simpler, lightweight elections… more often… at regular intervals… maybe even yearly. The idea is to make elections much less epic and generational by creating more opportunity for the community to decide who they elect and retain. One way to help assure your best talent rises to the top is to provide more opportunity for avid users to apply. This one seems like a no-brainer. Leveraging our current Q&A framework, we can model a town hall where communities are empowered to host their own event if they so choose, or skip it if they don't (with CM assistance where needed, of course). Should "Moderator For Life" always be automatic… and FOREVER? Our Moderator team is the best there is, bar none. Having senior moderators is important to retain valuable talent. But should communities have a say when that happens? And should they be empowered to decide if something has changed? We don't want to have a lot of needless rollover elections, so maybe we could come up with a system where long-term "senior moderators" are easily retained, while more established communities can avoid needless elections when it turns out: "Nah, we're good. We don't need another election." I love our STV voting system; I think the single transferable vote is inspired. I’m not sure if there’s room for improvement, so I mention it here but I would largely keep the fundamental mechanism intact. The first Skeptics election had 64 voters in total. That's a scary number to me, any lower and I'm not sure the election would mean anything. The previous stance by SE was always that the community needs a certain size and activity to host elections, and I don't see any reason why this would have changed. Coupling elections to graduation doesn't make any sense anymore with the way they work now, and the endless beta many sites are in, but that is something SE already knows and has worked on. I don't see any reason to change much more than the decoupling of elections from the graduation state, as graduation is now coupled to criteria many sites won't hit soon, or maybe never. I'm personally not a fan of the town hall questions for elections. They don't provide substantial insight about a candidate to me, compared to the rather large effort they are for the community and each candidate. The most reliable indicator for a mod for me is still previous activity on the site. So I would personally consider changes there potentially good, but it's also not something I would care a lot about. Personally, I don't have any issue with moderators being appointed by SE. Of course I've been appointed twice by SE, and later elected in both cases. I don't see any alternative to appointments in early sites, there is simply no way actual elections would work at that time. SE isn't a democracy, and I think it's a bit misleading if we style SE sites as democratic. SE still holds all the power, and while they usually don't exercise it, the community only runs the site within the constraints set by SE. This would be a fundamental change in the relationship between the moderators (particularly the elected ones) and the company and, more importantly, the community. I'm not sure I would have run for election - especially on Stack Overflow - if I was always having to think about re-election. I know in other walks of life elections aren't for life, but then we get the constant electioneering which distracts people from doing the job they were elected to do. I know that Stack Exchange takes breaches of the rules around moderating very seriously and diamonds have been removed from several moderators for various reasons. Perhaps what we need is a simpler (but not necessarily quicker) process for this. Inactive moderators - currently it seems to take too long for inactive moderators to be removed. I know that there are multitudinous reasons why a moderation might become inactive and not all of them require the immediate removal of the diamond, but should the system become more automated? You've not logged in at all in the last months. You've logged in but not performed any (or very few) moderator actions. This would remove the need for the CMs to reach out (at least in the first instance) and this reminder might be enough to prompt the moderator to say "you know what, I don't have time for moderating right now and I should step down". Unpopular moderators - I don't see this as being a reason to remove the diamond. We're not elected/appointed to be popular but to help run the sites. Sometimes that involves making decisions that might upset a number of people. Harmful moderators - these are the cases where the moderator is taking actions that are actually detrimental to the site. These actions might be popular (at least with some sections of the community), but are against the overall ethos of the site or direction that the majority of the community wants to go. People are quick (certainly on Stack Overflow) to go to meta and raise issues they see with moderator actions, so I don't think there's a need to invent a new way to air grievances. If someone doesn't want to go public they can always raise a ticket with the community managers. Does there need to be something that collates the meta questions (it could use the score to see how valid the rest of the community thought the complaint was) and CM tickets to show if a moderator is heading in the wrong direction before something bad happens? I don't have an answer here though. Alright, I can see where a lot of this comes from - elections are a lot of work for the CM team, as are the pro tem appointments. I get that with a reduced team and an ever growing network, you'd want to look at seeing what can be done to reduce your load and increase overall productivity as sites are happier when they have mods to steer the ship and have the number of mods they need to keep the ship afloat. That makes sense to me. That said, a lot of this seems to devalue a lot of the work, time and energy that mods put into their sites, most of which their community never sees. There's a reason we joke about being janitors, after all. So when I read this and see "should it be forever", and the idea of having to re-run yearly just feels like a lot of mess and disruption. I get it, you don't want to risk the idea that the community feels like the mods are the kings and queens stepping all over the populace (cue that "help, help, I'm being repressed" skit here, if you like). At the same time, all of us who have been here for a while have put a lot of ourselves into making sure the sites are awesome, and this feels very "okay thanks for coming out, putting up with all the crap, dealing with all this stuff as we step away from being present, but here's the door". Maybe that's not charitable of me, and perhaps I am supposed to hope that my community will recognize my awesome and keep me around. But here's the rub - like I mentioned earlier, a lot of what we do and what we handle, users don't see. We're supposed to be exception handlers and janitors and all that good stuff. A sign of a healthy site is that you shouldn't see the mods unilaterally dealing with and closing all the things. So...the community might not always know that I handled infinitely more flags than my fellow mods by a hundredfold, lets say - they might only see that they personally like ModX better because they're more fun in chat. I am not sure how to balance all of this. I get that you guys desperately need to relinquish some control because this stuff isn't tenable as things get bigger and bigger. But I am not sure that this, as I am interpreting it, is the best way to go about it. A further thought - if you are, effectively, forcing mods to step down if they're not constantly re-elected, this kinda flies right in the face of the fact that you have said many times to mods (of elected/non beta sites, who haven't like...blown up stuff or caused giant messes) that elect to stop moderation and step down due to burnout or other personal reasons that their diamond is, effectively, theirs if they decide they wish to step back into the moderation ring again. It feels like youre doing a bit of a 180, here, instead of supporting the people you have, you're just flipping them out in favour of others. This feels like instead of supporting mods who might feel burnout, that you are trying to preempt that by potentially setting us aside. Could we get a yearly check in meta post by the Community user asking if the site would like to have a mod election? On some sites, a mod election may be necessary while on others the community could be perfectly happy with the mod team. In either case I don't see a harm in asking and in the second it would help the moderators know that the community is happy with what they are doing. The reason for having the Community user post it on a schedule is that otherwise the mods may feel like the asker of the meta post is irritated with them for some reason, because if they are happy then there is no reason for an election right? While if the Community user posts it then it's just a neutral question that gets asked every so often. I think it's worth doing a mix of what we do now on betas, and the election process. It is. However on a new community, it's extremely useful to get things started on the right foot. The nice thing with the current appointment system is that you guys get to vet the candidates. On one hand, this hopefully means folks with the right mix of SE experience and subject knowledge expertise get picked. On the other hand, this, well, might not scale that well. Y'all can't know everyone. On a smaller, more manageable site (the good ol' days?) it would probably be a great way to get to know the folks in the community (I'm not sure if betas get their own CM on overwatch any more) as well. The pro-tem process also kind of got me used to being a moderator, so it's also a useful way to bootstrap members of a community who are not mods on a smaller site with different challenges. Not everyone makes it (that's true of some elected mods too), but it allows there to be a bit more diversity in the broader community of mods. Of the two "newbie" mods on Software Recs - one's a Stack Overflow mod now, and I'm a moderator on Super User, so the process might actually have helped in some way there. Elections also seem expensive in terms of time and effort, but that's probably a CM might know better than us. I suspect a mix - of an initial batch of hand picked moderators, with top-ups/replacements until graduation being elections - might be a good fit. On beta sites, having elections for top-ups and replacements gives a chance for folks with the 'right' personalities to assert themselves before folks need to decide if they'd be a good candidate for moddyness. Well, in theory, on mature sites, you're basically running elections as needed. It seems to work, and other than Stack Overflow, most sites are not going to need a massive, churning moderator team. In fact, if moderators are getting replaced often, it's more work, and maybe a sign that moderating the site is a bit too much of a chore. They might. On the other hand, it's a massively manual process. As mentioned earlier, elections are expensive, and personally I feel running them only as needed makes sense, even when it's cheaper. This is something that's been a problem for... quite a while. It seems to be getting a little better, but it does feel there's a point where I'd ask, "if it's short of resources, how far is streamlining going to help?". At some point, there's a distinct lack of fat in the processes to trim. Simpler elections sound like a good idea. On the other hand, it's worth considering if running them more often than "as needed" makes sense. On the short term, it might be worth using simpler, more streamlined elections to cut back on the backlog. I like simpler. More often should need a clear reason why it's better. Meta is kind of that. We also have a room on Super User for contacting mods, and it works reasonably well. There's a handful of users on many sites (who I shall not name since they would probably be embarrassed) who have an impact primarily through meta and such. Having read through and realising I misunderstood this completely - They could - but other than initiating town hall question collection and picking the questions, the CMs act primarily to facilitate and organise. I'm not really sure that those processes mirror anything a regular mod comes across ... as a normal mod. In a sense - the community does but I'm not very sure how devolving the process to the community would work better than it does now. The idea of getting mods to "re-up" and letting them take a break and come back has been mentioned before. As someone who's both a mod and an ex-mod - I actually feel the value of a experienced, engaged and accessible moderator kind of goes beyond the site they actually moderate on. So, I'd feel that a mod should be a mod as long as they're able to, and willing to put in the time. I'd say, a mix of minimum activity and an option to step down at any time would be a great compromise. I'm not sure of a "great" system of working out when a community needs more mods short of the mods asking. As long as the flags are handled (which is a "easy" metric in terms of statistics), they're able to keep ahead of meta and there's no major/widespread drama in the community over mod teams. Even where some of our experienced mods are less active, they do form a really useful counterbalance on some decisions behind the scenes, so "activity" is not a great metric. That's to say, we shouldn't have moderator turnover for the sake of having turnover on a mature site. The idea is to make elections much less epic and generational by creating more opportunity for the community to decide who they elect and retain. This seems to be connected to your bullet point about moderators for life. Can you elaborate on that a bit? For example, if you have 3 moderators and the election comes, 3 new would be elected and if the old ones wanted to stay, they needed to nominate themselves again? This sounds like a lot of extra work for then active moderators, who had to go through the election process while also volunteering to keep on moderating their sites. Furthermore, as @fbueckert mentioned in a comment, moderators also have to make unpopular decisions. It shouldn't become too much of a popularity contest. I wouldn't want moderators to have to worry also about the popularity of their potential decision, because there's another election soon. If it's the best decision for the community should matter only. Consider an "Honorary Mod" status for elected moderators. They drift away from the site, have less time for the job, etc. This is usually accompanied by a substantial decrease in activity. They're not around much any more. They are welcome to return later. Something bad happened and the diamond is removed. They get hired by SE and might get an employee-diamond to replace the mod-diamond. They still have privileges, but use them much less frequently because they have network-wide responsibilities now. They were actually doing just fine and are still active and interested, but you want them to step aside so the community can have another election. The risk with removing a diamond from an active elected moderator is that it could cause some frustration and resentment, for both the moderator and the community. Here's somebody who's dedicated years to the site, who thought it was a lifetime position after election, and who's now being told "thanks but you're done". Even when people know intellectually that a change-up is good for a site, I anticipate that many will still struggle with it, because people are complicated multi-faceted beings, not logical machines. Further, there are people whose wisdom and insight we want to retain access to. I could (but won't publicly) name a few individuals who I want to still be part of the mod team even if their activity greatly drops, because they bring history, particular problem-solving abilities, or special skills to the team. Currently they can remain on the team; your proposal would kick them out. For mods who are only stepping down (or being nudged out) to make room, and (perhaps) who have served the site for some threshold amount of time to be determined, let's create an "honorary moderator" status.2 Functionally, this is similar to the case of a moderator getting hired -- the person retains access to the mod tools and chat rooms and team,1 is free to handle things when noticed or urgent, sometimes participates in mod chat, but by and large does not participate in the active moderation of the site. These honorary mods wouldn't carry a normal share of the moderation load, wouldn't count toward a quorum when an official mod panel needs to be called, and would be separated out from the active mods on moderator lists. Should this status be for life? I don't know. I don't think we are at risk of the honorary mods overwhelming the currently-active ones, in the same way that the 15 or so employees with diamonds don't overwhelm the three moderators on a smaller site. So I think "as long as the person is active and wants to participate in this way" would be fine. I think it's also fine to go into this with that intention but knowing that we might need a time limit later -- anybody accepting the honorary diamond knows things might have to change. I got this idea from my congregation's honorary trustees. Past presidents (it's a big job and you had to work your way up through offices usually over ~ten years) become lifetime honorary trustees. They may attend and participate in board discussions, they have access to all the official doings that officers and trustees do, and they are allowed to vote for several years. After a set time they lose the vote but retain everything else. Most of them have drifted away by then, but it's a graceful transition, not a boot. And if somebody wants to return to "active duty", we'll elect them to the board again. 1 Having your team account deleted because the community needs you to make room for another mod would be especially demoralizing, I would think -- you lose your account and body of work. 2 It can be called something else; this is an idea, not a precise suggestion. "Ex-officio", "mod advisor", "venerated elder"... ok, probably not that last one, but this is the kind of function I'm describing. I hope this is rare, but sometimes an election is the last thing a site needs right now -- there's some issue on the site, some factional dispute or the like, and an election will be contentious and perhaps produce results we'll all regret in a few months. I'm not sure how to address this, but we should somehow "take the pulse" of the community before scheduling an election, rather than just having a fixed schedule. Of course, if there's a problem that significant, the community and the CM team should be working together to solve it. The "are we ready for an election?" prod would surface those issues if they haven't been visible to the CMs before. As I've always seen it, site elections are a sign of trust between the Community Team and the site itself; you effectively trust us to be able to select our own leadership without running the site and the network's good reputation into the ground in the process. Early beta sites really haven't earned that trust. And there's also long-running beta sites which still haven't earned that trust. Appointing moderators instead of throwing it to the fickle winds of the voting public is still necessary to ensure that sites have proper leadership when they for whatever reason are unable to choose that leadership for themselves. However, I do agree that there's no real reason for the Community Team to do this most of the time. Except for the very first moderator selection on a fledgling site, in most situations where appointing a pro-tem moderator is necessary you already have an existing moderator team, or at least part of one; these are the people that you have already trusted to know how to effectively lead the community, and whose judgement you're (presumably) already relying on when deciding who next to appoint. Why not just cut out the middle-man and let them deputize their own pro-tems? I would still want the Community Team to sign off before giving any deputized pro-tem access to PII and such, but the majority of flags and work that would necessitate having a pro-tem in the first place doesn't involve more than just having elevated mod-level privileges (e.g. one-vote close/delete/undelete powers). The community leaders should be able to decide if and when there's need for a few extra hands while they're waiting for the next election; there's no reason to backlog the Community Team with this. If a new "real" moderator is needed urgently, we'll let you know. We should do a better job of giving "drive-by" voters relevant information about the candidates. Right now the election screen contains very little information about how a particular candidate interacts with a community – instead, it provides "objective" information like reputation, time on the site, candidate score, and badges, in addition to the candidate's blurb. But besides what the candidate wishes to reveal in her bio, there's no information about the candidate's views on the site, her approach to moderation, her approach to conflict, and so forth. This puts us in the situation where high-rep users, after a long hiatus or period of conflict with the community, can attract votes on the basis of name recognition and "good stats" from drive-by voters who got their minimum voting reputation some time ago and haven't been engaged recently. They get a notification that there's an election, and they vote, and that's that. One way to help address this is by developing better "objective" stats that incorporate things like recent review queue activity (as opposed to years ago), recent flag count and acceptance rate (not just total count), recent meta posts count and score, and so forth, and displaying them prominently, rather than only showing metrics based primarily on rep and long-term badge achievements. I believe a better informed electorate would help make elections less stressful for communities. I'd also speculate that this would reduce the need for CM involvement following controversial elections, though this is just a deduction with no data or even anecdote to back it up. I like the overall idea, but I'm nervous about a few things with replacing pro-tem mods, in particular right out of private beta. Lack of solid knowledge. The community doesn't know their candidates that well, they probably haven't seen them run into many tough situations yet. Lack of voters. There won't be that many users yet, and if all goes well, the site will quickly grow to where most users didn't vote in that first election. Lack of risk mitigation. If we get bitten by the previous two points, we don't have a good safety net. If a mod elected early on does turn out to be a bad choice, it's difficult to avoid a lot of drama, which is always harmful, but perhaps even more so for a site early in public beta. All of that said I absolutely think that we should have elections eventually, and pro-tem mods should be a temporary solution, and making elections simpler and thus easier to have (e.g. for replacements) sounds great. Have we considered the effect on private information? I don't know if this is neutral or negative, but more people cycling through the moderator positions means more people who can see all the mod-private information, like suspension histories and PII. Everybody is bound by the moderation agreement (including after they step down) so I'm not concerned that things are more likely to leak out, but over time more people will see private communication between mods and users. This could become uncomfortable for the users involved; that "be nice" suspension of a prominent user with all the juicy details in the mod message is visible to an ever-increasing number of site users. What will the effect be? This concern already exists whenever we add a moderator, but we're opening the door wider now. Do we care? I don't know. Just from an information-security perspective, we should ask ourselves the question. There's one notable advantage of more users cycling through moderator teams: increased perspective among non-mods. There are many good points here so far about concerns with having more elections. I agree with almost all of them. If the problems with more frequent elections could be figured out, I see one big advantage: the more users who have experienced having to moderate a site, the more “forged in the fires of moderation” users we will have. I think this would be good for the sites. Becoming a moderator has an interesting side effect: the rules look very different when you're the one trying to judiciously apply them. This change in perspective has been remarked on by and is very valuable for myself and my fellow local mods. If we could get some of that outside the set of mods, I think it would be a great benefit to a site. After all, it's one thing for the people who control the levers judging and enforcing the rules to have a big-picture view of tending to site health and operation. It's even more valuable to have that perspective among the general membership. It makes for a lot more cooperation and a lot less friction. But, it's less likely to spread from “The Man” of lifelong mods though, and more likely to spread among non-mods by seeing other non-mods model it. As much as the idea of standing for election every year (or whatever) gives me a headache thinking of how it would politicise every mod action, if we could somehow get more regular users to have moderator experience under the belts, I think that one thing would be of great benefit to site health. In short, moderator experience makes for more conscientious users, and we can always use more of those. If we can figure out how to get more users real moderation experience without breaking anything or anyone else, that would be good. I think the mod for life position works quite well, and I would not change it to have mods reelected annually, or some such. There are plenty of cases where mods step down, or get removed and new users step up and are elected to replace them. Or in another case, a site grows and it gets more mods. That all works (could use some tweaking on the inactive mods steeping down part) but the mod for life bit is central to how our sites are run. As others have stated changing the mod position to focus on reelections is dangerous (just look at politics). If instead of curating the site we help run, which includes some actions that are unpopular, I was just filling my term looking to the next election, I'd always be thinking about how this would effect my votes (again look to politicians). Take an example from our site, blender has an all new still experiential version 2.8, we are getting questions about that new version. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not 2.8 questions should be on topic yet. If I was thinking about getting re-elected, I'd say sure ask away (that is the popular thing), however if I'm thinking about the longevity of the site, and the usefulness of the questions/answers I say no. All that is still changing, next week that button might not be there. Ok, back to the problem of elected forever. Do we realistically expect a mod to volunteer for decades? (Some people have life to do, and simply can't.) No, nobody does. We need to make it very clear this is an opened agreement. Moderators are elected to help run the site for as long as they want to. When a mod gets busy (new job, school, baby, family emergency, moves, etc) they should simply be able to leave. No pressure, no expectations from the users or SE. They could very well be here for decades, or just a few months. Whatever it is, mods should feel free to come and go as they want. Once a moderator of SE, always a moderator of SE. After a moderator is elected and signs that Moderator Agreement, they should be able to return as a mod any time they want (say they finished school, or that baby grew up) even if their position has been filled. Granted they left in good standing, and have stayed even marginally engaged with the site (this does not go for the few that get asked to leave, or are kicked out). You can't have too many mods. So if a mod who helped start the site years ago now has time again and comes back, it is a win win. There is less workload on all the other mods; there is less to learn then a brand new mod; and the site keeps its energy with "fresh blood." Lets say there is a mod "Frodo Baggins." Frodo is more busy then he use to be, he's still on the site nearly every day handling flags and all, but if he knew he could step down, let one of the super active power users take over, and yet still be able to come back as a mod, he probably would step down. See at that point there is no reason not to. The site benefits because the more active a mod the better, and Frodo has lost nothing by leaving. In our current system, there is a huge disincentive to leave as a mod. If you leave, you leave all that power (even if you don't use it that much any more). Our sites suffer when semi-active mods do not want to give up their seats, because there is no guarantee that they will ever be able to come back. So instead of forcing the mods to keep getting reelected (which has a whole host of its own problems), just remove the reasons the mods do not want to leave. Mods keeping a re-election mindset is dangerous. Sites' quality will suffer. Enable mods to freely step down and rejoin when they want. Solves most of the inactive mod problem, keeps sites fresh and active, and the special role mods play safe. Any references to "The Fellowship of the Ring" or "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" may be incidental. The recent pro tem election on the Vi site has left me with mixed feelings. Active member of the community. Sporadic contributor (mostly from when the site was new). I would still consider him to be a good mod, but that's mostly based on contributions I've seen on other sites (he's a great mod on another site). Prolific contributor on other sites, but not on ours. I think few people knew who they are (and thus if they're a good mod). Very few/sporadic contributions on any site spread out over many years. There wasn't really a choice: only one candidate was clearly qualified. I think no one was surprised by the outcome: candidate 1 got 72% of the vote. It's not that I'm unhappy with the outcome; but it seems to me that the entire election process was just ... unnecessary? I'm not active on the parenting site, but looking at their election it seems there was a little bit more choice, but one candidate getting 60% of the votes seems it wasn't a difficult decision there, either. Honestly I'm not sure if the election really improved anything over just appointing the mod. On the other hand, I don't think it did any harm, either. Small update: one of the nominees self-deleted their account a day after the election results were announced. While we can't be sure of the reason, I think it's not unreasonable to assume that that disappointment with the election results is a factor. No content is lost and the user's contributions were sporadic, so not a huge deal; but it does highlight that elections can be a risk and have negative effects. Okay, I am throwing a suggestion out there. It’s very rough and mostly food for thought. Also, it pertains to “running” sites with an established moderator team and probably does not translate well to sites on the scale of SO or the community of SciFi. I am aware that this goes against the premise of sticking to STV, but while STV is great, it is simply not made for what I am suggesting. Introduce a score that quantifies how much a new moderator is needed. This can be calculated from flag-handling times, some special button each active moderator can push, or recent retirees. Introduce a score that quantifies how suitable somebody is for moderatorship. This could cover some basic community-moderation achievements (like the moderator score in current elections) but most importantly should be based on anonymous votes by experienced users. The latter could roughly work like this: Once a user reached a certain reputation, they can nominate up to e.g. three other users for moderatorship (and change that list at any time). The value of these nomination votes could somehow mildly scale with reputation or be higher for existing moderators. If all of the above is positive, the candidate writes a brief text to introduce themselves, is subject to questions by the community, and most importantly subject to a vote. In the latter, voters are only asked to express their approval of this particular candidate. If the result of this is positive, the candidate becomes a moderator. No moderator elections if there are no suitable or willing candidates. Excellent candidates can become moderators when they are ripe. You seem to be proposing a procedure by which the whole community can remove a diamond moderator by majority vote, when there are more candidates than there are seats. A better alternative to consider is removal by a two-thirds vote of the whole community. I suggest that if you do establish a yearly election cycle, it is a great idea to list existing diamond moderators on the ballot, and give them an opportunity to campaign, but they should be removed if they receive twice as many downvotes as upvotes. Why? Because moderator elections are not democratic. I am not criticizing this. It is just important to keep in mind. A community cannot set the rules of its own elections. It cannot set terms, term limits, voting procedures, it cannot determine the powers of its elected officials. Robert’s Rules do not apply. The closest the community comes to establishing bylaws is voting on meta posts which propose community policy, and even then community policy cannot contravene Stack Exchange policy. The moderator agreement is with Stack Exchange, not with the community. In short, elected moderators are community representatives, sort of. But it is closer to the truth to say they are appointed volunteers, and that Stack Exchange uses elections as a way to crowd-source and automate the decision of who is safest to appoint. So the question becomes, how can Stack Exchange crowdsource the question of which diamond moderators they should remove because they are not an asset to Stack Exchange? For that there should be a community consensus, that is, the two-thirds majority which is conventionally the minimum for removal from any office. This procedure is detailed at “Handling Calls to Remove a Moderator”. A two-thirds vote is fairly consistent with what Robert’s Rules calls for. Robert’s Rules begin with confidential investigation by a committee that prefers charges, followed by a trial of the facts by the assembly (censure a.k.a. impeachment), and, if censure passes by a majority, a second two-thirds vote on removal then takes place. “Stack Exchange Inc. reserves the right to terminate my privileges as a moderator at any time without warning.” This is a clause in the Moderator Agreement. Termination could presumably take place whenever a diamond moderator violates the agreement. I do not know if this procedure has documented steps that provide for a fair hearing or due process. From the number of posts, it seems obvious there is interest. Not alot consistency what direction it should take but there is interest. A lot of the posts opposed to reoccuring elections are about the drama (and pain) of the current process. The suggestion is for a simpler less painful process. Long before I was active on SE, I had a mop at a couple of the en.wikipedia.org sites. The process used at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Administrators was not overly painfull, quickly removed the inactive, and provided a route to return. It is one of the most graceful and pleasant process I have seen. It is a common occurrence on wikis to create an account, be active for a certain period of time, then become inactive. While this is to be expected due to the nature of this site, accounts with restricted access should not be left unattended for a long period of time. Users who return after an extended break may no longer be in touch with community practices or policies, which is not desirable in an administrator. Inactive accounts are also more open to account hijacking, and this may be difficult to detect as compromised if the original user is not there to notice edits they didn't make. Furthermore, the list of users with restricted access should only contain those capable of responding to queries within a reasonable period of time. On Wikisource, an inactive sysop will generally have his or her rights removed. An "inactive administrator" is one who has not edited during the past six months and has not made more than 50 edits during the last year. Inactive users automatically lose their restricted access in their next scheduled confirmation of the voting unless the community supports continued access. Any user who has lost access due to inactivity may reapply through the regular processes. I'm incredibly leery of this aspect. It completely changes the paradigm of moderators, and not in a good way. I get that SE is trying to make elections take less from their staff to enact. But...that's kinda the cost of doing business in this system. If you want final oversight and control of the site, you need to keep your hands in it. Less involvement implicitly means less control. See chat and the various debacles that have happened there. If you want to take a step back and automate the process more, while requiring moderators to stand for re-election, you're telling the community that their input and decisions matter more than the overall health of the site does. You're going to face massive backlash when you see something isn't working right, and stick your oar back in. If you want the oversight, you need to put in the work. There are too many words, comments, answers to read them all. So, I'm going to focus on two points. If this has already been said by someone else, apologies. But should communities have a say when that happens? May I suggest two years? If someone is a good fair-minded mod whose presence is unintrusive until needed or an unreliable biased person, I believe two years is sufficient time to either confirm or remove their title. If their status is confirmed, then it's guaranteed for life five-seven years. During which time, a mod can freely choose to resign whenever RL intervenes and new elections should be held, if and when the community feels that necessity. Turnovers are necessary for the well-being of any public institution, private company and workforce, the same principle applies to websites. What about the users who have the right to vote? Should a user who has only posted twice in five years have the same say as someone who has regularly contributed to the site? Should a user who has never posted on meta have the same privilege as someone who has participated, not every week, not every month, but at least (hypothesis) four times on meta in any given year EDIT (this could also include comments). But for candidates, I want to vote for someone who sticks out their neck every once in a while, and I expect them to have been an active member also on meta, not only on the main site. It's a fact, but what I'm about to say will not be liked, not all users are created equal. Some have earned more of a voice than others. I think that regular elections are simply a horrible idea. Having to go through the circus of elections on a regular basis would be a very strong incentive to step down. I am currently a mod on 3 sites (elected on two, appointed on one) so I would have to go through three elections every year if we made this a yearly thing. That would be very tiring. I also think it is very counterproductive to make mods a more political position than they need to be. Moderators need to feel they can do their jobs, which sometimes involves making users angry at us, without fear of this leading to them losing the next election. I really don't want to have a situation where moderators will consider their actions through the distorting lens of how they would affect their reelection bid. I can't see that having a beneficial effect on the quality of moderators' work. However, I do think it could be useful to give the community a simpler way of expressing its feelings about current moderators. To that end, I propose we have a running mod score. Each mod's profile could have two special voting buttons and each user would have the right to up- or downvote the mod (users should be able to change their vote at will). If a moderator's score falls below a certain threshold, and if the total number of votes cast represents a significant proportion of the community, that could trigger some sort of action. Perhaps a mini-election (like a vote of confidence) where users would be asked to vote on the mod retaining their position. Of course, the score should be completely ignored until enough users have voted one way or another that the score can be taken to be representative of what a large part of the community feels. The score also doesn't need to be visible to anyone but SE employees. I think it is important that the communities feel their mods (at least their elected mods) always represent them and there should be a better way for the community to remove a mod when they feel the mod's no longer right for the job. As it stands, the only way a community can de-mod someone is by contacting SE or raising a huge stink on meta. This also means that a few vocal users who dislike a mod can have a disproportionate impact and cause all sorts of drama by complaining on meta. If we had a moderator score as I describe, that could give a much better, more objective and more representative measure of how the community really feels about its moderators. I think these are good ideas for the smaller exchanges. Moderation on low volume sites can be difficult for only a few users to shoulder, and the community is often hard pressed to meet the numbers themselves. Moderation of the smaller sites has been problematic in the past, so taking a slightly different angle could help keep the sites clean while also increasing interest in participation and contribution. That said... I don't think this makes sense for the larger sites. The moderation at Stack Overflow, by far the largest site of the exchange and the lifeline of the company, is in a pretty coalesced state. Its overall process, lineage of term, and selection is being handled very well. I haven't seen really any complaints about it there, and I am an avid follower of their meta site, a frequent contributor, and have ran in a few elections. They were fair, the elected moderators have done well, there was a lot of community participation across the board, and the frequency seems balanced. tl;dr; Good for small, avoid for large. Please do not do this for Stack Overflow. Suggestion: stop using down votes for mod election votes (primaries1). Does it really matter who you are against? Who you are for is what matters. The use of negative voting in SE elections, the down vote button alongside the up vote button, remains a sign of the flaws in SE community's attitudes towards people. We have done a thing lately in trying to improve that. Carry that momentum forward. Down votes during mod elections: not necessary. Add up the "who I am for" votes (the up votes); we each get three in a given election. The winners will still win. The down vote tool for questions and answers retain their utility for the things -- questions and answers -- that is this site's attraction. People aren't things, so please stop treating them that way (in the mechanical sense). 1 primaries point edited in thanks to feed back in comments from @MonicaCellio. I am extremely confused by this bullet point. Our Moderator team is the best there is, bar none. I don't know which moderator team you are referring to, and what evidence you have for it being "the best there is". Having senior moderators is important to retain valuable talent. It is not clear what you are saying here. Are you saying that giving talented people the option of being permanent moderators is important for keeping them? So these talented people that are such good moderators, wouldn't do it if they were not made permanent? In my opinion, that attitude alone is enough for me not to want such a person to be a moderator. Have a say in when what happens? When a moderator becomes permanent? If you are thinking about making it possible for some moderators to become permanent, then why should the community not have a say in this? Yes they should be able to select which ones are permanent and when they graduate to becoming permanent (though I really don't understand what you're saying so maybe my answer is not relevant). And should they be empowered to decide if something has changed? Whether or not something has happened in the past (for example "changed") is not usually something we decide in the present. We don't want to have a lot of needless rollover elections, so maybe we could come up with a system where long-term "senior moderators" are easily retained, while more established communities can avoid needless elections when it turns out: "Nah, we're good. We don't need another election." So at what point have you addressed your question in bold at the beginning, about whether or not "moderator for life" should always be automatic and FOREVER? This has been one of the most confusing paragraphs for me ever to try to interpret. It is extremely obvious that no one should be given mod privileges permanently. Someone is eventually going to develop Alzheimer's and delete every single question on their SE. Also the atmosphere in an SE changes over the years. Those who were good moderators 10 years ago will likely not be liked when the grandchildren of millenials are writing 90% of the questions and answers here. This is why there are ways to remove moderators (for example with 2/3 votes from other moderators). If by FOREVER in all capital letters, you mean you want to remove the capability to remove moderators, then I disagree that this would be a good idea. Have two grades of moderators. Ones that have to run for re-election every year (or however often you propose to have regular elections), and ones that have to run for re-election every 10 years (or whatever). You need to have served at least 1 term as a short-term moderator, to run for long-term moderator. The 10 year moderators would be what you seem to call "senior moderators" and naturally by virtue of the fact that their term is 10 years long, it is easy to "retain" them. But you will find that 10 years is a long time and things change a lot over 10 years, you probably want these "long-term moderators" to be for something like 5 years instead. So should people become "long-term" moderators "automatically" ? No. Some people are good on paper but when they are given the power they turn out to be terrible. Make them survive at least one re-election before you make them "long-term", and don't have anything "permanent". The long-term moderators are given a huge number of years (for example 5) during which they do not need to run for re-election which should be plenty of incentive to do the job, and during this huge number of years, the only way they can be removed is by the existing methods (for example, 2/3 of the other moderators voting for it, though I find 2/3 strange and would think 51% is enough). Moderator elections in beta sites? How does the Constable badge work in the new graduation model?

2019-04-18T10:51:00Z

https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/316051/help-me-opine-about-a-new-election-system/316079

Dr. Blase A. Carabello, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 115 Heart Drive, Greenville, North Carolina 27834. A 63-year-old man notes that his exercise tolerance has diminished over the past year and that he is limited to climbing 1 flight of stairs, reduced from 2 flights previously. His physical examination reveals a late peaking systolic ejection murmur, and his carotid upstrokes are delayed. Echocardiography finds a transvalvular jet velocity of 3.6 m/s, a mean gradient of 28 mm Hg, a calculated aortic valve area (AVA) of 1.1 cm2, a body surface area of 2.1 m2, and an indexed valve area of 0.5 cm2/m2. I suspect that most practitioners reading this editorial would find that this clinical picture is consistent with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) and would recommend aortic valve replacement (AVR), yet only the indexed valve area meets guideline definitions for severe AS. How sure are we, however, that the patient’s AS is truly severe and that AVR is the correct course of action? Starting with the classic work of Ross and Braunwald (1) and now confirmed by randomized trials, there is no doubt that symptomatic severe AS is a fatal disease treated effectively only by AVR (2,3). There are also truly asymptomatic patients with severe AS who are at increased risk who also may benefit from AVR (i.e., those with very severe AS, those with abnormal stress test results, and probably those with high and increasing levels of biomarkers, especially natriuretic peptides) (3–7). In these asymptomatic patients, certainty regarding severity is even more critical because the benefit is less definite than if symptoms were present. Obviously, the clinical problem posed is in defining the word “severe.” In some cases, the diagnosis is apparent but in others, such as in the aforementioned case, the decision is more difficult because severe is as much a concept as it is a number or group of numbers. Severe AS is that level of left ventricular (LV) outflow obstruction that causes more than mild hypertrophy, abnormal coronary blood flow, and diastolic and systolic LV dysfunction that act in concert to cause symptoms, LV damage, and cardiac death. Could we be so naive as to believe that all patients who, despite their varying genetic backgrounds leading to remarkable variation in response to the same stimulus (8), would all get sick at the same gradient, jet velocity, or AVA? I am sure we are not nor do Berthelot-Richer et al. (9) imply that possibility in their erudite work published in the current issue of iJACC. Berthelot-Richer et al. (9) asked the question: which of the various ways of judging AS severity was the best screening tool for predicting outcome and which then best predicted who would benefit from AVR? They found that AVA outperformed other measures in this prediction. In comparing surgical options with so-called medical treatment, extensive propensity matching was required. Although propensity matching always leaves one to wonder whether adequate adjustment was really made, perhaps the most daunting is the presence of coronary artery disease. Accordingly, the investigators performed a separate analysis excluding patients with coronary artery disease, and the results were the same. An AVA <1.0 cm2 was the best predictor of outcome and therefore arguably the best arbitrator of what constitutes severe AS. AVA has the advantage of taking gradient (jet velocity) into the context of flow traversing the valve. The following concept has to be true: the more flow through a fixed obstruction the higher the gradient must be (10). It might explain why AVA would outperform other measures, especially in low flow states, but superior performance of AVA was also found in patients with normal LV function (in whom stroke volume index was also normal). Conversely, because the calculation of AVA requires measurement of flow, outflow tract diameter, and velocity, all which could introduce errors into the results, the simple measurement of velocity (and pari passu gradient) could have the advantage of being directly obtained primary data and of avoiding errors in calculation. But AVA still proved superior. Does that mean that AVA is always superior or the only datum we should rely on? Obviously not! In the example given in the beginning of this editorial, common sense tells us that the information taken as a whole (including the patient’s physical examination) indicates that he had severe symptomatic AS requiring AVR although AVA was not in the severe range. Correction for body surface area indicated severe AS according to the indexed valve area, but it adds yet another variable to the calculation. Logically, larger patients have higher stroke volumes and thus require larger valve orifices. Although indexing is a reasonable approach to this problem, it entails new difficulties. Because it is volume of flow that generates the gradient, normalizing a volume-derived element according to area has its own theoretical problems (11). It would have been of interest had Berthelot-Richer et al. (9) compared AVA directly with indexed AVA (their Figure 3 suggests it may not have performed as well). In the end, the left ventricle doesn’t know what the valve area is or what the gradient is that it is ejecting against. Furthermore, our calculations are usually made at rest. Because most people are active during the day and because the gradient increases by the square of the output (10), a doubling of cardiac output quadruples the gradient to which the left ventricle must respond in some way. Thus, it is not surprising that assessment of severity at rest is problematic in many cases (11). It is now the 21st century yet we are evaluating AS severity by using the same (but valuable) tools espoused by Gorlin and Gorlin (10) in 1951, made apt for noninvasive evaluation (AVA, gradient, and its noninvasive correlate jet velocity). Given that different subjects respond to a given pressure overload in individual ways, it is time to use the biology of the left ventricle that has responded to the overload to aid in making management decisions. The addition to the mix of biomarkers and degree of myocardial fibrosis is of intense interest and should augment hemodynamic assessment of what defines severe (12–14). It may be that these variables and other specific biologic changes that occur at one valve area or gradient in 1 patient but not in another will better indicate whether the left ventricle is heading for trouble. They may also indicate correction of the overload irrespective of the exact AVA or gradient, provided we are convinced that the outflow obstruction is severe. The hemodynamics of AS will always be important in assessing the pathophysiology of the disease because they cause its pathobiology. Coupling hemodynamics with new tools that examine biology should aid clinicians and their patients in making the correct decisions about disease management. In the meantime, except in obviously extreme cases (i.e., a mean gradient of 75 mm Hg), the clinician must use every tool at his or her disposal to assess severity of AS. These tools include a skilled physical examination, AVA, jet velocity, gradient, dimensionless index, and exercise hemodynamics. Add to that armamentarium emerging biological tools and sound clinical judgment, and we should arrive at the correct answer about what is entailed by severe AS. (2014) Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement with a self-expanding prosthesis. N Engl Med 370:1790–1798. (2004) Natriuretic peptides predict symptom-free survival and postoperative outcome in severe aortic stenosis. Circulation 109:2303–2308. (1997) Premorbid determinants of left ventricular dysfunction in a novel model of gradually induced pressure overload in the adult canine. Circulation 95:1601–1610. (1981) Geometric similarity of aorta, venae cavae, and certain of their branches in mammals. Am J Physiol 241:R100–R104. (2006) Prognosis value of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for conservatively and surgically treated patients with aortic valve stenosis. Heart 91:1639–1644. You are going to email the following What Is Severe Aortic Stenosis and Why Do People Die From It?

2019-04-18T17:40:27Z

http://imaging.onlinejacc.org/content/9/7/806

53% of users found this page helpful Was this page helpful? 1. Scene Recognition: This is the first step to crime scene investigation and it involves approaching a crime scene in an organized matter in order to determine the size and extent of it. They must ensure that any possible evidence is not compromised in anyway thus they must determine the resources and equipment needed to successful collect evidence in the next phase. 2. Scene Documentation: This stage of CSI involves documenting and processing physical evidence in which case must be accurate and factual. The collection of evidence is done through note taking, diagrams, reports, photographs, and sketches. 3. Collection of Evidence: This is the portion of the job where actual physical evidence is collected. This is done through careful technical and scientific methods to ensure it is preserved as unchanged as possible so that it can later be examined with accuracy. 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Most programs will also require that applicants submit a reference letter from a previous professor or professional mentor who can attest to the applicant's likely success in the program. The total cost of tuition for a master's degree program can range from $30,000 to $120,000 depending on the school being attended. Individuals who wish to build upon their knowledge and skills as crime scene investigators will find that a doctorate degree in forensic science will aid them in their career aspirations whether they be in research or teaching. Students will be immersed in extensive study of forensic science, which will take them five to seven years to complete. Doctoral curriculum includes classes such as crime scene reconstruction, criminal law & ethics, forensic trace analysis, quality management in forensic science, forensic serology, and human molecular biology. Students will also have to write and defend a dissertation, which is usually done towards the end of their studies. Individuals who are interested in doctoral programs will need to have a master's degree in forensic science or a similar field as a background in biology and chemistry is important. Applicants will also need to showcase their work experience therefore a professional resume will be required for admission. The applicant will also need to submit two letters of recommendation from professional or educational references who can attest to the applicant's prior achievements within the field of forensic science. Depending on whether the student is attending a public or private school the total cost of tuition will vary from $53,625 to $113,035. Accreditation plays an important role in the educational process and it should be considered prior to making a commitment to any college or program. For school accreditation, there is either national or regional accreditation. Regional accreditation is awarded by six regional agencies to four-year university institutions. National accreditation is usually limited to vocational or trade schools. Accreditation takes place to ensure that a program is offering the highest quality of education possible to the students involved. By participating in an accredited program students can rest assured that they are being well prepared for their future careers. Accreditation also provides the opportunity for students to seek federal financial aid as it is not available to non-accredited programs. Lastly, students who wish to move on to graduate programs or simply change institutions will want to seek accreditation as it make the transfer process much simpler. Certification within the field of crime scene investigation is not required, however, it has become a commonplace. Individuals can voluntarily seek certification through three major associations, which will ultimately set them apart from their peers during hiring and advancement opportunities. Individuals seeking certification through the ICSIA must have at least two years experiencing working with crimes scenes for a law enforcement agency. They must also poses no less than 50 hours of post-secondary courses. After the requirements have been met the applicant will be eligible to take the written exam administered by the ICSIA, which consists of 100 questions. The applicant will also take another written exam consisting of a mock crime scene that will test proper processing and handling protocols. The minimum requirements to become certified under the IAI includes at least one year in crime-scene related activities and that applicant must have completed at least 48-hours of CSI board-approved instruction within the last five years. If the candidate meets all minimum requirements they will then be eligible to take the exam, which they must pass with at least a 75 percent. Candidates must also submit two letters of endorsement. In order to take the certification exam administered by the ACFEI the candidate must be at least 21 years old. In addition the candidate must have an associate's degree with four years of work experience, a bachelor's degree with two years of work experience, or seven years of work experience in lieu of a degree. The field of crime scene investigation can be somewhat broad therefore there are several different routes that a professional can take depending on their personal strengths and interests. Individuals can prepare for these areas of specialty by taking classes that will support them during their college studies. Crime Laboratory Analyst: These types of professionals are forensic scientists that analyze crime scene evidence in labs to help identify the right suspect. They use principles of genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology to aid them in their investigations. Forensic Engineer: Forensic engineering is the investigation of materials, products, or structures that fail and in which case cause personal injury or property damage. Forensic engineers are most often used in product liability cases. Medical Examiner: Medical examiners are forensic doctors who perform autopsies in order to figure out an individual's cause of death. A medical degree is required for this field of work. Forensic Psychologist: This specific specialty merges the field of psychology with law. Forensic psychologists often work in court settings and evaluate the mental state of criminals and victims. Certification. International Crime Scene Investigators Association. Accessed October 28, 2016. http://www.icsia.org. Crime Scene Technology A.S. Degree. St. Petersburg College. Accessed October 11, 2016. https://www.spcollege.edu/cstas/#tab=3. Curriculum. Aspen University. Accessed October 12, 2016. http://www.aspen.edu/degrees/bachelors-degree/bachelor-of-science-in-criminal-justice-major-crime-scene-investigation-procedure/classes. Forensic Science Technicians. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed October 28, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/forensic-science-technicians.htm. How to Become a Crime Scene Investigator. Crime Scene Investigator Edu. Accessed October 11, 2016. http://www.crimesceneinvestigatoredu.org. Master of Science in Crime Scene Investigation. The George Washington University. Accessed October 28, 2016. https://forensicsciences.columbian.gwu.edu/master-science-crime-scene-investigation.

2019-04-23T18:15:39Z

https://www.collegesanddegrees.com/programs/crime-scene-investigation

The newest and most expensive carrier ever entered the U.S. Navy fleet Saturday, nearly three years behind schedule and costing about $2.4 billion above plan. When building the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier, the Navy ditched battle-tested features found on previous carriers and instead went with more expensive technology that hasn't always worked out as expected. The ship isn't expected to be fully operational until at least 2020, and its controversial catapult system hasn't launched an actual aircraft at sea. In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) man the rails as the ship departs Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding for builder's sea trials off the U.S. East Coast on April 8, 2017 in Newport News, Virginia. The newest and most expensive aircraft carrier ever built entered the U.S. Navy fleet Saturday, but almost three years behind schedule and billions of dollars over its estimated budget. With Saturday's commissioning, the carrier will go back into testing and training, and isn't expected to be fully operational until 2020 at the earliest. The ship's catapult has yet to launch an actual aircraft at sea and the vessel has only had helicopters land on its deck. Although it has yet to be put to the test, some already say the USS Gerald R. Ford is an example of the Navy's costly and risky bet on "immature" technology. Experts say the Navy's decision to roll out some untested technologies in its next-generation classes of ships has been a costly lesson. For example, the new Ford aircraft carrier going into the Navy fleet cost nearly $13 billion, or around $2.4 billion above plan. The Navy "made a significant bet on the newest and latest cutting-edge technology, and it bet that all of those technologies would mature as these platforms were scheduled to come online," said Jerry Hendrix, senior fellow and director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security, a non-partisan Washington think tank. Hendrix added, "Unfortunately some of those technologies did not mature. Hence, we're seeing some delays in some critical programs, including the new Ford-Class carrier." Although years behind schedule, the Ford carrier was formally commissioned into the Navy's fleet Saturday in a ceremony in Virginia, which was attended by President Donald Trump. The president had previously visited the carrier in March. In remarks Saturday, Trump called the Ford carrier "the newest, largest and most advanced aircraft carrier in the history of this world." When building the new Ford carrier, the Navy ditched the steam-powered catapult system found on the older Nimitz-Class carriers and went instead with a electro-magnetic aircraft launch system. Similarly, the Navy went with an updated arresting gear to catch planes landing on the ship's deck. The Ford is the first new design of an aircraft carrier in 40 years. Last month, acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley conceded costs of the carriers were tough to swallow, but insisted the service (and shipbuilding industry) planned to learn from past missteps. Meanwhile, the maker of the new digital catapult, General Atomics, claims on its webpage the system's benefits include a "reduced manning and life-cycle cost." The technology replaced the battle-tested steam catapult that had been used for decades to launch planes. As it turns out, though, the commander-in-chief is not at all a fan of the supercarrier's technology. In a May interview, Trump told Time magazine in an interview that the new digital power system "costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it's no good." Similarly, the Navy has faced cost overruns and other problems with other new classes of warships, including internal electrical issues with the Zumwalt-class destroyer, and struggles with the controversial Littoral Combat Ship program. Trump alluded to military costs and program delays in his remarks Saturday, but didn't single out the Ford carrier. "We do not want cost overruns," the president said. "We want the best equipment but we want it built ahead of schedule and we want it built under budget." Mandy Smithberger, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Project On Government Oversight, said some of the mistakes made by the Navy on big-ticket programs have been self-inflicted. The service's tendency to "develop really complex technology that's expensive to maintain and not reliable," has been a major drawback. Added Smithberger, "It's not necessarily that it's new technology but it's immature — so it has to be proven technology." Some analysts said the new ideas for the next-generation ships originated in the 1990s, when there was a "go for broke" mindset by some decision makers. In the case of the Ford-Class carrier, the Navy decided to make all of the key changes in new technology upfront on the first ship in the class, rather than wait for successive carriers. The Navy plans to spend around $43 billion on the first three Ford-Class aircraft carriers. At the same time, the Navy and other services have faced fiscal challenges due to the ongoing effect of the budget caps signed into law six years ago. "The Budget Control Act, as far as it pertains to defense, was wrong-minded and that should not have been systematically reducing defense spending," said Brian Slattery, a policy analyst for national security at Washington-based Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. He also said the inability of Congress to pass regular budgets is "very disruptive" to Navy and other service programs. For the Navy, though, the budget situation is particularly pressing because of Trump's stated goal for a larger Navy fleet. As a GOP candidate last year, Trump pledged the Navy would build 350 surface ships and submarines. He has since accepted the Navy's new force structure goal of a fleet of 355 ships — up from the battle force of 276 ships as of Friday. However, reaching the Navy goal could cost approximately $400 billion more over 30 years than the service's previously stated force goal of 308 ships, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Based on CBO's calculations, the Navy would need to buy around 329 new ships over 30 years to reach the 355-ship fleet. That compares with the 254 ships it estimates would be bought under the Navy's prior force goal. "Cost is probably the biggest challenge reaching the larger fleet size," said Smithberger. "You'd have to increase Pentagon spending a lot to afford everything that they're trying to buy. It will require cutting other services or other Navy priorities, including airplanes." Yet the time it will take to reach a 355-ship Navy also is a concern, given signs the Chinese are aggressively ramping up their own naval forces. Separately, Russia is undergoing a modernization plans of its own, including adding advanced nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines to its fleet. "The Chinese are coming hard, meaning they are going for mass numbers and new advanced technology," said Hendrix, of the Center for a New American Security. "The Russians have made decisions to invest in fairly exquisite platforms, like the new Yasen-Class submarine, a nuclear powered, fast-attack boat which is very advanced," he added. "And if they got two or three of those loose in the Atlantic, and we didn't know where they were, it would cause real complications for the United States as well as NATO." In April, the nonpartisan CBO estimated the earliest the Navy could reach the 355-ship goal was by 2035, though it cautioned that 15-year buildup forecast was based on the service getting "sufficient funding." The CBO also estimates the cost to build, crew and operate the larger fleet would average $102 billion annually through 2047. Regardless, Hendrix suggests there is perhaps a faster way to reach the 355-ship fleet size but not necessarily by adding newly constructed ships. Instead, he suggests the Navy might want to consider taking ships out of mothballs and keeping others in service longer to maintain the 355-ship fleet. Others are not so sure it makes sense to keep ships in the fleet longer than they are scheduled. "You can't just run the same ships well beyond their service lives to assume that you can keep up the same level of capability to deter our adversaries," said Slattery. Hendrix said another option to increase the size of the Navy fleet is to look at some vessels in the so-called Ready Reserve Force ships, which are maintained for national defense and emergencies. Either way, he believes there's an urgent need to reach that 355-ship target sooner rather than later. The retired Navy captain insisted the Navy should strive to reach the 355-ship fleet "within a decade in order to deter both the Chinese and Russians who are looking to challenge us at sea."

2019-04-23T01:58:57Z

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/22/ford-carrier-emblematic-of-navys-struggle-with-technology-costs.html

ANTHONY BYRNE, MEMBER FOR HOLT: I'm Anthony Byrne, the federal Member for Holt. You're actually in, for journalists who have travelled out here, the constituency of Holt, one of the fastest-growing areas in Australia. And that's what makes the announcements that you've read about and are about to hear about today, more significant. Given the significance of the announcements, I'm obviously accompanied by my federal colleagues, Mark Dreyfus and Julian Hill, and also by the candidates for Flinders, Josh, Peta Murphy from Dunkley, and Simon Curtis from La Trobe. The state Member for Cranbourne, Pauline Richards, and the member for Carrum, Sonya Kilkenny. But also importantly, the Premier, and most importantly, the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. The road that you see there has at the moment, 25,000 vehicles that go through it per day. In about another 10 years’ time, it will be 50,000 people. You're in the city of Casey. The City of Casey has a population at present of over 300,000 people - 349,000 people. It's almost as big as Canberra. By 2041, it's going to be 540,000 people. This area, ladies and gentlemen, is just transforming before your eyes. And what it needs - and it has with a State Labor Government that's invested significantly through Premier Andrews in this area, a State Government that is invested and invested in the future. What we do need is we need a Federal Government that's going to do the same thing, and that's why I'm so proud to have my friend and colleague and the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten here, and I'll pass over to Bill. BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Good morning, everybody. It's great to be here with Premier Andrews, shadow spokesperson Anthony Albanese and a range of our Labor candidates and members at both the State and Federal level. This is an exciting announcement for Victoria, for Melbourne, in particular for the south-eastern suburbs. Melbourne is one of the fastest growing centres in Australia. I remember coming here as a university student, visiting friends, and this was basically power lines and paddocks and a few plant nurseries between Frankston and Dandenong. And beyond Dandenong, there was some great country towns like Pakenham and Berwick. But in the last 30 years, and in particular the last 10 years, this area has boomed. There are thousands of people flooding in and the roads need to keep up with the population growth. It's growing so fast here that even the GPS is not keeping up with the new roads and redirections. So what this area needs is a State and a Federal government focused on the people. Now they've got that at the state level with Premier Dan Andrews, on everything from level crossings, to his ambitious vision for suburban rail, to further investment in roads. But unfortunately for the last six years, the fastest-growing areas of Australia have been neglected by a Coalition Liberal Government who really don't know where Melbourne is. Did you know in the last financial year, for every dollar spent by Canberra on roads and infrastructure around Australia, only seven cents has come to Victoria. That's not good enough when people in Victoria pay their taxes to Canberra. So today, I'm really pleased to be announcing along with Premier Dan Andrews, that we are good to go to build a great pipeline of projects of roads in south-eastern Melbourne if we win the next election in six or seven or eight weeks. This is not a pipe dream, it's reality. The Victorian Government's done the hard work, they've got the plans. What they need is an ally in Canberra to invest in the fastest growing suburbs around Victoria, and indeed around Australia. So there's a range of exciting projects which will see the roads uncluttered, de-congested. People move out here because they can afford the houses, but the road infrastructure really needs to keep up. That's what we're doing today. We've got a plan. It's ready to go at the state level, the work's been done. And if we can get elected in eight weeks’ time, then this plan becomes a reality. We've got the ability to raise the funds to spend the money and it'll be in our first budget. I'd now like to hand over to Premier Dan Andrews and then Anthony Albanese. I should just say though with regards to the New South Wales election, I extend my congratulations to Gladys Berejiklian on being re-elected Premier of New South Wales. I commiserate with Michael Daly and State Labor. They put up a big effort but they fell short. But my congratulations go to Premier Berejiklian. Now over to Dan Andrews. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: Thanks very much, Bill and it's great to be out here in the south-eastern suburbs, able to celebrate a proper partnership to get things done. Over these last four and a half years, we've been building in road and rail, hospitals and schools - how much more could we have achieved and how much more will we be able to achieve with a proper partner in Canberra? Someone who's prepared to invest side by side with us, to do that hard work, to make sure that we've got people home safer and sooner, more time with families, less time on terribly congested roads. These outer south-eastern roads are ready to go. And I can announce today that the request for proposal - an important part of a tender process - will in fact begin today, with documentation going up online, and we'll be out talking to the market in the coming weeks and months, getting final prices and putting together the final package so that we can be under construction in 2020 and complete this entire package, a very big package of suburban roads entirely upgraded, completed by 2025. The other point to make today as well is that Bill's commitment of $850 million comes also with a shared commitment between the Federal Labor Party and the State Labor Government to make sure that every time we spend taxpayers’ money building the infrastructure we need, we're investing in jobs and skills. One in 10 workers on these projects will be apprentices, trainees, cadets. And that's all about leaving a legacy so that right across their working life, they can continue to build the infrastructure that matters so very much. So Bill, I'm so pleased to think that finally, obviously we have to work hard towards the election of a Labor Government in seven or eight weeks’ time but if that comes to pass, finally, the people of Victoria will have a strong and equal partner in getting the infrastructure we need built today to set us up for the future. Can I also, just before I throw the Albo, can I also pass on my congratulations to Gladys. It's a great outcome for her and I wish her well. As a Victorian Premier, I don't wish her too well but still, it is a fantastic result for her and she's rightly proud. Albo. ANTHONY ALBANESE, SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, CITIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Thanks, mate. This is what a true partnership between what we hope is a Shorten Labor Government and a State Government looks like. People sitting down, working through plans, working cooperatively. And when people look back at the years of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison revolving door government, what they'll look at is six years of lost opportunity. Six years in which we didn't have investment here in Victoria. We lifted investment last time I was the Infrastructure Minister from $87 dollars for every Victorian to over $200. And what we want to do is to lift Victoria up so it gets its share again. In our last budget, Victoria received 26 per cent of the national infrastructure budget. Last year, it received 7.7 per cent. This is in spite of the fact that Melbourne is Australia's fastest growing capital city and Victoria is Australia's fastest growing state. What we need to do is invest in the growth regions. This very electorate of Holt is where the Growth Areas Alliance had its national conference I spoke at about 18 months ago, for that very reason. Just a few weeks ago, I, with the federal candidates and members who are here today, met with all of the councils in this region about their priorities. What we do today is deliver on these eight projects. $850 million dollars, including a new project for a park and ride facility. Including making sure that when they have made announcements, the current Government, such as Racecourse Road, they haven't done it properly. We'll have a full duplication in partnership with the level crossing removal that the Victorian Government are undertaking themselves. The Victorian Government under Daniel Andrews has had to do all of the heavy lifting. Whether it be rail, whether it be road, whether it be park and ride facilities. A Shorten Labor Government will partner in the interests of Victorians, and in the interests of improving roads safety, and in the interests of boosting productivity and our national economy. At the same time as boosting jobs and making sure that we boost training and skills opportunities for people in this region. SHORTEN: Thanks very much, Anthony. Are there any questions on this announcement or any other matters? JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, you've given some interviews in recent days where you've spoken about what sort Prime Minister you'd hope to be. Is that clear indication that you believe that you will win the election? SHORTEN: No. It's a clear indication I want people to vote for Labor at the next election. I think in Australia at the moment, the most common sentiment is that people are sick of the instability and chaos of politics, they're sick of division. And I think they look at Labor federally and say, well, we mightn't agree with every policy you've got but we know you're united and we know you're stable. I think there's another equally important feeling out there in Australian families every evening, the sense that everything's going up except your wages. Only Labor's got a wages policy. Only Labor's going to be fair dinkum on climate change. Only Labor's helping make sure that women get an equal deal to men. Only Labor can say that we're the stable party of politics. And in regard to today's announcement, we didn't get trapped behind a traffic jam of Liberal limousines coming out here to find the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. As Anthony said and as Daniel said, this is the fastest-growing part of Australia at the moment. But it hasn't been getting its fair share from Canberra. It's important that when we encourage people to move out to the outer suburbs, when we want them to have their dream of their own home, that we back it up with the taxes people spend to reinvest in their communities, on their roads out here, so they're not spending hours and hours every day, practically weeks every year, sitting in traffic trying to get home and get to work. SHORTEN: Well why don't I'll let Anthony answer this, he is clearly gunning to. JOURNALIST: Are you going to use that money to fund any of this work or will that be spent on something else? ALBANESE: Well this is just a farce. Find something in the budget papers, find something, a line item with $3 billion. What they did was they took $3 billion that had been allocated for the Melbourne Metro that was approved by Infrastructure Australia. They took that money and allocated it, for a project that is going ahead, and allocated it to a project that isn't going ahead. And then because it was a budget fix, they advanced $1.5 billion to the Victorian Government, that they then wouldn't allow them to spend for ages. They then approved the spending of that and then are trying to double count and say the $3 billion is still there. This is a joke. This was for a project that had a BCR, a benefit of 45 cents for every dollar. And as I've said to various Liberals in the Cabinet who have raised this issue in Canberra, if they give me $100, I'll give them $45 the next time I see them and we'll call it a deal. Because that's the proposal that they had that's been rejected, now twice, with the election and re-election of the Andrews Government. This is a con for them to justify the fact that Victoria is being short changed and getting 7.7 per cent of the Federal infrastructure budget. It should be called out for what it is. If they've got money available, seriously in the budget, they should be allocating it in areas that are ready to go, like these projects. ALBANESE: It's not there. This is a fantasy, this is an absolute fantasy. What we are about is real projects with real dollars that create real jobs, that make a real difference to urban congestion. Not fantasies, not pretending something's there that that simply isn't. And the fact is that because of that decision, the Andrews Government has gone it alone on Melbourne Metro and has gone it alone on so many projects. This is just a con. And the fact is that my state of New South Wales has got pretty close to 50 per cent of the infrastructure budget. When I was the Minister, I cooperated with the Victorian Liberal Government, I cooperated with the Newman Government. What we have in Canberra now is a partisan government that has punished people for voting Labor. SHORTEN: I'm might just say in the light, just momentarily as you collect your next questions and reflect on what Anthony said, and that goes to answering again, your earlier question, this is why Labor's competitive: we've got more unity, we've got more talent and we've got more vision, and that clearly is the case in infrastructure. JOURNALIST: How does a result in New South Wales effect your campaign over the next 6 weeks? SHORTEN: I think it'd be fair to say that there weren't many federal implications, but rarely is there an election that you can't learn something from. You know, I've been thinking about it overnight, and the rise of some of those smaller parties and independents show that no major party can take the voter for granted. And I actually think that the challenge, or the lesson, for me out of yesterday, is to keep putting forward a long term view of the nation, to keep putting forward vision. It's not enough to rely on the fact that you're not the other party, that you've got to offer a positive set of plans. And when you look at the fact that we've got a bigger, better tax cuts for working people, that we're going to reverse the cuts to education, hospitals and health care, and of course, take real action on climate change, and get wages moving - that's the sort of vision people are looking for. JOURNALIST: But after being buoyed from the Victorian results, is this pretty average result for Labor in New South Wales a wakeup call? SHORTEN: Well again, I'd probably refer you to my previous answer. I think when you have a look at the debates they were having a New South Wales, it was about stadiums, it was about the treatment of the bush in New South Wales. But you know, no one should ever say there's nothing to learn. And again, I would say that when you have a look at the vote that independents and third-parties got, not Labor, Liberal, Nats, then what we need to do is recognise people are hungry for vision. Politics as usual doesn't cut it. There's a lot of people who think that the system's broken or that the fix is in and that the vested interests run Australia. Well we're coming with a different platform. We're coming with a platform which is about looking after working and middle class people. What frustrates Australians is we can't move forward on climate change and energy policy. What frustrates people is that everything's going up except their wages. What frustrates people is education cuts and health care cuts. That's what's frustrating people. We've got a vision for that and we look forward to the next seven weeks. JOURNALIST: Bill, Michael Daley's comments about Asians very damaging there in the last week. Does that leave your party with a lasting problem in that state? SHORTEN: No. I've spoken to Michael Daley. He's the first to acknowledge that his comments were wrong and I've certainly said that to him. I think he paid a price for that. More generally, when it comes to tolerance and diversity, I think again, it just highlights the importance of the mainstream parties putting the extremists last. Again, I say to Mr Morrison, put the country first, put One Nation and like-minded parties last. SHORTEN: I was very flattered that they asked me to speak at their launch. At least there was one major party leader speaking. Again though, I think you'd fairly say that there were a lot of state issues and that is the consensus. But you know, I think every election is a wakeup call and you've got to make sure you're offering strong vision, strong policies. I think even our harshest critics wouldn't say that we've been a small target opposition though, would they? JOURNALIST: But why didn't you campaign more with Michael Daley? SHORTEN: Sorry, I don't accept your assumption. I was up there six times. But also, I'm not running for Premier of New South Wales, and if I was, you would have seen a lot more of me. JOURNALIST: What do you think Mark Latham will bring to the New South Wales Parliament? Do you think he will be a valuable addition there? SHORTEN: Well, he brings his Federal parliamentary pension, but, I don't know. I find that talking about Mark Latham takes us nowhere. JOURNALIST: Would you like to see Michael Daley continue as the Labor Leader in New South Wales? SHORTEN: That will be a matter for New South Wales. Listen, Michael came in, 80-plus days, steep climb, did his best but I think even as your question's acknowledging, he hit some rough road in the last 10 days. SHORTEN: Yeah, we've been certainly talking about that in the light of Christchurch, it's a shocking wake up call to say that our major social media platforms, the new media, can't regard themselves as beyond the arm of regulation. I mean if you in the old media, probably some of the things that they allow on their platforms, you'd be in court. You've got to think about what happens before you publish. Social media is a fantastic development, the internet is fantastic - absolutely. But we can't allow it to become a swamp of hatred because - and it's no good for the people who run the swamp, create the swamp to then not take responsibility for what crawls out. What I'll do is I'll be meeting, like the current Prime Minister, with major companies, talking to them. But also what we want to do is, I think there's another issue which people have been raising with me in recent days, is how much tax do these companies pay? You know, if you run the local newsagency, you're a construction worker on this job, you've got to pay your tax. I was surprised, frankly, to find out that in 2017, Google had revenue of $1 billon in Australia, paid $37 million tax. So, I think there's a lot of conversations we've got to have with the big social media companies and I certainly look forward to embracing them with a constructive mindset. JOURNALIST: The Treasurer knocked down a plan this week to increase taxes on the tech giants. I think it was a new digital tax that they were looking at. Is that something you'd be open to? SHORTEN: We haven't seen what the Government's plans are. We're always open to being constructive. JOURNALIST: Are fines or convictions the answer in your mind, or do we need to have a discussion first? SHORTEN: Well I think it's all of the above, isn't it? And let's be clear, it's not just social media. I think existing media need to make sure that they're not encouraging hate speech. I think it's important that politicians, especially the mainstream politicians, work together to stop extremism. This country can't be the great country it should be if we're picking on minorities, if we're dividing, if we're teaching people to be afraid. You know, we've got to stop the dog whistling on immigration, stop the dog whistling and stop the hate speech or the covert encouragement of it. This is not just a one size fits all solution. Yes, the Googles, the Facebooks, the social media new platforms need to be more accountable. But it's all of us, really. All of us have to lift our performance. And that's why again, I'd encourage the Prime Minister to our follow our lead. He mightn't like Labor, and I don't like their policies, but I don't think that the Liberals are worse than One Nation or Fraser Anning. I'm not afraid to say that if Labor can't win the election, I'd rather have the Liberals than Pauline Hanson or One Nation. And our preferences are reflecting what I say. But Mr Morrison can't say that his preferences can do one thing and then pretend to be, you know, something else. His actions are what indicate the truth of his words. JOURNALIST: Premier, real quick just back on this big spend. I know there's no final cost but how will we be paying our share? ANDREWS: There'll be a budget allocation. There already has been and with additional support from a Shorten Labor Government that will mean that some of that funding is freed up to allocate to other projects. Ultimately, a proper partnership, a shared effort, 50:50 on these important projects means we can get them done quicker, we can deliver them in full, create jobs along the way, and that's the way that it should be. Bill's running on the notion of a fair go, and when it comes to infrastructure funding, Victorians have not been getting a fair go. That's why today's promise is so very important and welcomed wholeheartedly. Not just by me and my team, but I think from families right across the south-eastern suburbs who want to get home sooner and safer, they want to spend time with their kids, not time stuck on terribly congested roads. The Prime Minister doesn't seem to understand that. Bill Shorten as the alternative Prime Minister, he most certainly does. ANDREWS: No, no. These are all important road upgrades and cash grants from a future Commonwealth Government will help support building them.

2019-04-22T12:56:11Z

https://www.billshorten.com.au/doorstop_melbourne_sunday_24_march_2019

WHICH THANKSGIVING FOOD IS GOOD FOR DOGS TO EAT? Each Thanksgiving, I cringe upon reading articles written by “pet experts” and veterinarians striving to convince pet owners to not share holiday foods for fear of creating illness in their canine or feline companions. This mindset reinforces the tendency for owners to solely rely on commercially-available, highly processed pet foods that differ vastly from the way food appears in nature. However, there are many foods served at Thanksgiving feasts that pet owners can and should share with their pets. Yes, turkey is safe for both cats and dogs to eat. It’s a food source I often recommend for my patients, as it’s less commonly used in commercially available diets than other fowl like chicken. In my training of Chinese medicine food energy, it is believed that turkey is a cooling protein source for animals with an excess of Yang (heating) energy such as cancer, immune-mediated disease (allergies, “autoimmune” diseases) and infections (bacteria, yeast). Of course, providing turkey to our pets in an appropriately-sized portion is key. Only offer small amounts of white turkey meat lacking skin, which is 38 calories per ounce. Never give turkey bones to your canine or feline companion, because the cooked bones can splinter, causing irritation to the stomach and intestines. Turkey bones can contribute to vomit, diarrhea, pancreatitis and other digestive tract problems. Yes, cats and dogs can both have mashed or sweet potatoes. However, Thanksgiving potato dishes are often prepared with butter, cream, sugar, nuts, raisins or other additives that could cause digestive problems for your pet. My top recommendation is to provide small volumes of cooked sweet potato without the skin or any additives. Sweet potato, boiled and without the skin contains 22 calories per ounce—medium-sized sweet potato is about 5.3 ounces—and is rich in fiber and antioxidants like beta carotene.Potato, boiled and without skin (i.e., white, Russet potato), contains more calories than sweet potato at 26 calories per ounce. Cats and dogs can both enjoy small bits of bread rolls at Thanksgiving. Bread chunks can even be used to disguise medications or supplements, and make the process of administering such treatments more tolerable to the patient and owner. The bread itself should not be coated with butter, oil or spices. Even though your canine or feline companion can eat bread rolls, my top recommendation is to focus on vegetables or meat, instead of bread and other carbohydrates, when offering your pet Thanksgiving foods. Yes, cats can eat corn kernels. But cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they must eat meat in order to thrive. Corn as a significant portion of a cat’s meal isn’t appropriate based on its biological needs. My suggestion is to give your cat only cooked corn, as raw corn can harbor bacteria, molds or parasites that could lead to health problems. I also recommend that no more than one tablespoon of kernels removed from the cob be given to your feline companion. Many cats and dogs eat canned or freshly cooked pumpkin as a fiber source as it can reduce colonic inflammation associated with diarrhea, help firm up soft stools and even provide greater stool bulk to benefit constipation. But pumpkin pie isn’t a dessert made exclusively of pure vegetable matter. It also has sugar, cream or milk, spices, flour, butter or lard. Other ingredients in the filling or crust could cause digestive tract upset in both cats and dogs, so even though pumpkin itself is good for your pet, pumpkin pie isn’t. My top recommendation is to stick to the non-dessert form of pumpkin (canned or freshly cooked) when offering a Thanksgiving day treat to your canine or feline companion. Canned, unsalted pumpkin has 10 calories per ounce, contains nearly three grams of fiber per eight ounce (one cup) serving, and can help with canine and feline constipation and diarrhea. Some drugs commonly given dogs have serious side effects. One group of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID for short) is one of those drugs. Last week a new client complained that her last veterinarian had been “drug-happy”-in fact, she’d “divorced” him over the issue. As prime example of his pill-popping profligacy, she explained that he’d insisted on putting both her dogs on a popular NSAID. In case you’re not familiar with them, NSAIDs comprise the most popular class of drugs prescribed for pain in both humans and dogs. You probably know two of the most common NSAIDs, aspirin and ibuprofen, and might even know others. But the human versions of these drugs aren’t always safe for use in dogs at doses sufficient for relieving pain. That’s why veterinary science worked to develop several canine versions almost two decades ago. Since then, these drugs have been the recipient of accolades and acrimony alike. It seems like nothing good can come without something bad…especially nothing new. Canine NSAIDs, as relative newcomers, have received an outsized share of criticism relative to older, stronger, and even more side effect-ridden drugs. Well, that explains why my new client’s last vet was getting flak for being so fast and loose with these meds. It also explains why there’s so much scary information on the Web about drugs like Rimadyl® (carprofen), Metacam® (meloxicam), piroxicam, Deramaxx®, and Etogesic® (etodolac), among many others. Now, I understand where these owners are coming from. Really, I do. Safely prescribing medication requires a careful hand. But here’s the thing: All medications have side effects, just like all pain relievers have side effects. So why should NSAIDs get any special attention? Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying these drugs are 100% safe. But they are too crucial for too many of our pets’ comfort to discount their use just because there’s a possibility that a problem will ensue. Pets are living much longer these days, dogs in particular. And it’s not always the result of fancier surgeries, improved cancer care, and better nutrition. I can honestly say from my experience that pain-relieving NSAIDs have made the most significant dent in my canine patients’ quality of life and longevity by far. Of course, these drugs come with warnings you should know about, ones which veterinarians have a moral and ethical duty to divulge in detail. This is necessary not just because you, the human and caretaker, have a right to make a thoughtful decision for your pets, but also because knowing the risks and side effects means you can minimize them. Indeed, pet owners who are NOT prepared to identify side effects and intervene if necessary are those whose pets usually suffer the greatest consequences from using these drugs. In fact, I’ve never known even one of my patients to have suffered a severe reaction to any NSAID. All reactions have been minor and the drug was discontinued, changed, or reduced in dosage so that pets could achieve an appropriate safety profile and comfort level: a win-win. That’s great, right? But do YOU know the basic facts about NSAIDs? Side effects of NSAID primarily include vomiting, regurgitation, diarrhea, lethargy, poor appetite, and evidence of nausea (licking the lips and/or salivating). Dark, tarry stools, overtly bloody stools, bloody vomitus, and vomitus with coffee ground-like material in it are all evidence of more severe gastritis and/or enteritis. Worst case scenarios here can include severe bleeding ulcers, though these almost always have early warning signs to help you prevent them. Are There Really Hypoallergenic Dogs and Hypoallergenic Cats? While we all believe that some dogs, e.g. poodles, don’t produce antigens to stimulate our allergies, let’s read this and find out what’s going on. Day after day, allergy-suffering animal loverscomb breed descriptions in search of their Holy Grail: a hypoallergenic dog or cat — one that doesn’t produce sniffling, sneezing, wheezing, itchy eyes, skin reactions or an asthma attack. But what about breeds created to be hypoallergenic, such as Labradoodles, Goldendoodles and other Poodlemixes? They were bred with the idea that the Poodle’s curly (and supposedly hypoallergenic) coat would diminish the likelihood that they would cause allergies. Like any other animal, however, they vary in the amount of dander and allergen they produce. Reputable breeders don’t guarantee their animals will be hypoallergenic. If you’re allergic but still want to add a pet to your family, these tips can help you find one that may be less likely to leave you sniffling, sneezing and wheezing. Do a test run. To find out if a particular breed or hybrid sends your allergies into overdrive, Dr. Miller recommends visiting someone who has only that breed in his or her home and see if your symptoms flare. “If they don’t, that doesn’t mean that breed is OK for you, but it increases the likelihood that you might be able to live in harmony with that [type of] dog,” he says. Look for certain features. Smaller animals and those that shed less tend to spread fewer allergens in their wake. But someone who is sensitive to a particular allergen may still react to it. Watch out for lickers. “If you’re allergic to dog saliva and the dog is a licker, you’re likely to have issues with him,” Dr. Miller says. Consider gender. If you have a mild allergy to cats but still want to adopt one, gender may be something to factor in when making your choice. Male cats, especially those who are not neutered, make more allergens than females. How allergy sufferers respond to allergens varies, but a few simple strategies can help ease the burden. Many people find that taking medications or getting allergy shots helps them better tolerate the presence of animals. Also smart: having your pet groomed frequently, either by a professional or someone in the household who doesn’t have allergies. One caveat from Dr. Miller: If your pet allergies cause asthma attacks, which can be dangerous, you’re better off not trying to live with a dog or cat. Though it’s true that no animal is truly allergen free, there are breeds or hybrids that may be less likely to stir up sensitivities because of their type of coat or the amount of allergens they produce. Here are hypoallergenic dogs and hyperallergenic cats. Dogs: Bedlington Terrier, Bichon Frise, Chinese Crested, Coton de Tulear, Goldendoodle, Irish Water Spaniel, Italian Greyhound, Labradoodle, Maltese, Maltipoo, Miniature Schnauzer, Toy or Miniature Poodle, Poochon, Portuguese Water Dog, Shih Tzu, Silky Terrier, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier, or a Toy or Miniature Xoloitzcuintli. Cats: Balinese, Bengal, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Javanese, LaPerm, Oriental Shorthair, Russian Blue,Siberian and Sphynx. Here at PawNation, we have an overwhelming amount of love for dogs of all shapes and sizes, whether we know them or not. We want to shower them with attention and become best friends. However, we understand that there is a protocol to follow when meeting and greeting new dogs, and we want you to know it too. Keep reading to learn how to properly say hello to a dog and its owner while out and about. Many people get excited when they see dogs and beeline right for them. However, you should always approach the canine’s owner before interacting with their dog. Ask permission before petting a dog, because you don’t know if it’s friendly or not. If they say no, respect that. The canine could be skittish around strangers and may lash out. The owner could be thinking of your own safety, so don’t get offended. If you’re greeting a dog, either squat down to its level or stand straight. Squatting down puts you on the dog’s level, making it equal footing between both of you. Standing straight is the alpha position, but don’t stay in between the two and hover over the dog. This is a threatening position to canines and could lead to aggressive behavior. Many of us go right for the head when we pet a dog, but that’s one thing you should be avoiding when greeting a strange dog. Reaching over the top of a dog’s head is intimidating and makes a dog feel uneasy. Instead, give a soft rub under the chin, the cheek or even the chest. We know it’s tempting to stare deeply into those adorable puppy dog eyes, but try your best not to do it. Dogs view eye contact as a challenge and could become aggressive, so avoid doing it with a canine that you just met. You should look either at the owner or a neutral part of the dog’s body, like the chest or shoulders. So you’ve successfully gained the dog’s attention and are lavishing it with scratches and rubs. That doesn’t mean you should be shoving your face in front of the dog’s face. Again, keep in mind that you’re a stranger to this dog. You wouldn’t be standing uncomfortably close to someone you just met with your face abnormally close to theirs, so don’t do it to an unfamiliar dog either. The canine could feel threatened by you invading its spaceand may lash out. Keep yourself safe by keeping your distance. Is There Diabetes in Dogs? Type I diabetes, known as diabetes mellitus, is the most common type of diabetes in dogs, but it can be prevented through diet and exercise. Can dogs get diabetes? The simple answer is yes, they can. While the two are not conclusively linked, the surge in canine obesity corresponds to the rise in incidence of canine diabetes. Though there are two forms of diabetes — commonly known as sugar diabetes (diabetes mellitus) and water diabetes (diabetes insipidus) — and the first is by far the most frequently diagnosed in dogs. Diabetes mellitus tends to affect dogs later in life, typically between the ages of six and nine, but the rate of incidence seems to be higher in female dogs. While there can be a genetic component, in the vast majority of cases, diabetes mellitus in dogs can be prevented through a combination of diet and exercise. Diabetes in dogs cannot be cured, but diagnosed early, diabetes can be managed in the same ways as in humans: through a modified diet, exercise, and insulin injections. There are two major forms of diabetes in dogs, known colloquially by their identifiable sources, to wit, sugar and water. Since diabetes mellitus, or sugar diabetes, is by far the more common, that’s what we’ll focus on here. Put simply, diabetes mellitus in dogs is a condition in which a dog is unable to convert his food into the energy he needs. In a bit more detail, dogs develop diabetes mellitus when the pancreas produces insufficient amounts of insulin. Insulin helps to convert proteins in dog food into glucose. Glucose is a sugar that provides energy to all parts of a dog’s body. When a dog has diabetes mellitus, the excess sugar is voided in the urine. Over time, dogs with diabetes can experience vision loss and an increase in kidney problems. Fortunately, diabetes mellitus in dogs can be both prevented and managed. The rarer form of canine diabetes, known as water diabetes or diabetes insipidus, is usually related to the brain, kidneys, or a failure of communication between them. In dogs, diabetes insipidus arises from a dog’s inability to retain water and is usually caused by head trauma or by faults in the pituitary gland or in the kidneys. Changes in appetite and frequency of urination are the primary symptoms of both sugar and water diabetes in dogs. Food plays a major role in canine diabetes. Because the dog’s pancreas is not producing enough insulin, the brain is tricked into thinking that the dog is starving. Thus, a diabetic dog may overcompensate by eating more or by being hungry more often. Hyperglycemia in dogs, or the excess in blood sugar levels, means that a dog with diabetes will also urinate much more frequently. Just as insufficient energy drives a dog to eat more, increased urination also leads to increased thirst. Along with appetite changes and frequent urination, dogs with diabetes will experience decreased energy as the condition progresses. Left untreated, diabetes in dogs can lead to widespread system failures, with the eyes and kidneys being the first victims. Dogs with diabetes are at increased risk for developing cataracts in the eyes and eventually blindness. Over time, the failure to filter blood sugar may lead to enlarged kidneys and urinary tract infections. While there is no conclusive link, dogs who are overweight or obese tend to be diagnosed with diabetes more frequently than those who adhere to a disciplined diet and regular exercise. When symptoms of diabetes in dogs appear, a veterinarian can diagnose the condition in two primary ways: through blood tests and urinalysis. In pronounced cases, levels of sugar in the blood and urine will be noticeably higher. Can diabetes in dogs be reversed? Once diagnosed, diabetes in dogs cannot be cured, but it can be managed in the same ways as it is in humans. For dogs, these diabetes management strategies, under the supervision of a veterinarian, include a modified diet, regular exercise, and insulin injections. Dogs diagnosed with diabetes will require strict treatment for the remainder of their lives. Some dog breeds seem to experience a higher rate of developing diabetes than others. Breeds believed to be genetically predisposed to canine diabetes include the Beagle, Bichon Frise, Dachshund, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Keeshond, Miniature Pinscher, Schnauzer (Standard and Miniature), Poodle, Puli, Samoyed, Spitz, and certain Terrier breeds (Australian, Cairn, and Fox). Genetic predisposition is only an increased likelihood, not an eventuality. In dogs that are not genetically predisposed, preventing diabetes is a simpler process than treatment. A regular, well-portioned diet along with regular, if not daily, exercise are key to preventing the development of diabetes in dogs. Avoid giving your dog table scraps, especially around the fall holidays. A lifetime of an unbalanced diet and insufficient exercise can lead to overtaxed kidneys andpancreatitis, both of which have been causally linked to diabetes mellitus in dogs. Diabetes in dogs is not a rapid onset condition, but the culmination of a process as a dog reaches middle and old age. Over the course of your dog’s life, a veterinarian can help you determine appropriate meal portion sizes tailored to your dog’s breed or mix; size; and age. Do you live with a diabetic dog? Among dogs, regardless of breed, females are at higher risk for diabetes, especially as they age. Spaying female dogs can reduce the risk that hormones released during the estrous cycle do not interfere with insulin production.

2019-04-23T09:51:22Z

https://westsidedognanny.com/2014/11/

Bruce Nesmith is a Founding Member of Strong Towns. He blogs at Holy Mountain, and the following essay is republished from his blog with permission. A recent column in the Cedar Rapids Gazette highlighted just how much angst small town residents can have about their community's future. Bill Menner, executive director of the Iowa Rural Development Council, argued that statewide candidates of both parties should put forth "meaningful rural-specific policy initiatives" as they campaign in the state; by "meaningful" he means "targeted policies and investments" addressing "issues that limit [rural Iowa's] ability to grow." Most of Iowa developed as a predominantly agricultural economy. In 1890 it was the tenth-largest state in the Union, even without any large cities. (Des Moines' population that year was 50,093; Cedar Rapids had only 18,020.) Our two million residents were spread evenly across the state, with hundreds of small towns serving the surrounding farms with necessities, schools and gathering places. Changes in agriculture, transportation and commerce put that model away long ago; our farms are now largely corporate or similarly huge operations, and use machinery rather than hired labor. (For more on contemporary farm life, see Russell Arben Fox's "What Do Farmers Want?"). Some small towns have reinvented themselves as bedroom communities, college towns or tourism/recreation centers, but the majority that lack that option have seen population and economic prospects decline. Both the industrial and post-industrial phases of American economic development took place elsewhere. Iowa has grown slowly since the 2010 census, adding just under 100,000 residents by the Census Bureau's 2017 estimates. Ten urban and suburban counties added 127,943, which means the other 89 counties lost more than 25,000 residents. Some degree of resentment at these disparate outcomes is understandable, and has received attention as Iowa has shifted politically from purple to red in the 2010s. Donald Trump won easily here in 2016, and Republicans dominate both federal and state offices. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds refers to small towns as "the real Iowa," while lambasting "far-left liberals in Des Moines and Iowa City." Federal and state funding flows easily to urban areas, where elected officials and staff know how to maximize their success. Rural places don't have that same capacity and are often left behind. [m]easure the disparities in project funding between rural and urban places and put in place remedies to address them. But if you look for data to confirm the federal and state government's systematic unfairness to small town Iowa, you'll find they don't exist. According to the American Community Survey's census of governments, transfers from the federal and state governments amount to 26 percent of county government revenue, compared to 17 percent for cities, 21.6 percent for special districts, and 51.4 percent for school districts. But those numbers are not broken out by county, town, and city. What we can say for sure: The biggest items in the federal budget are Social Security, Medicare and defense. The former goes to individual citizens—mostly elderly people who predominate in small towns and rural areas—so it's not surprising that the 52.1 percent of the state's population that lives in the ten urban-suburban counties receives only 46.9 percent of federal benefits to individuals, and 46.9 percent of federal awards. The biggest item in the state budget is education, which also rises with the population. The state has not undertaken county consolidation, which has been batted about as long as I've lived in Iowa. That's why we have counties with fewer than 10,000 people that, nevertheless, receive government spending that accrues to (and maybe props up) county seats. Still, it must be hard for rural residents to see the state allocate a paltry $1.3 million to expand broadband access while a single interchange on I-380 north of Cedar Rapids is going to run upwards of $20 million. The myriad cities that have succeeded in this century often build on three factors: the economic advantages often found among clusters of knowledge workers, social and cultural amenities that come with a dense population, and broad attitudes of tolerance and inclusion. To those we should add: better access in cities to mobile broadband as well as venture capital—as firms in those fields see a greater likelihood of returns on their investments where population is denser. That's why urban areas are growing and small towns and rural areas are mostly not. It's nothing sinister, and there's no point in being resentful. The young and hip will always command an outsized share of media attention, but we shouldn't let that affect our cold-eyed assessment of what's working for successful places. Small towns and rural areas have advantages, too—strong community identity, easy access to natural places, and often compact walkable business districts. Though those advantages are probably not enough to entirely ensure "the survival of Iowa's 900-plus small towns," as Menner advocates. One of my sons lives and works in Seattle; if he could find a similar job in Decorah, or Clear Lake, or Red Oak, he'd move in a minute. Menner's column suggests some state policies that could build on those advantages: expand the broadband grant program, create a state rural housing initiative, better funding for existing agencies... But there's the rub: all of that costs money. So does education, health care, and public institutions. The state of Iowa is not building fiscal capacity to make these sorts of public investments possible—quite the opposite, in fact, as the legislature annually delivers substantial tax cuts, and the governor dips into contingency funds to pay the bills. Menner would like to see someone at the state level designated as rural liaison-advocate. But in a state government run by Republicans elected on the strength of rural and small town votes, there already is that someone: the Governor, an acknowledged fan of "the real Iowa." Republicans at the state level, however, have decided to play culture war instead, producing bills to defund Planned Parenthood, bar "sanctuary cities" (of which the state has zero), and ban abortions after six weeks (something they're attempting to do just one year after banning abortions after twenty weeks.) None of that helps rural counties get out of the doldrums; nor does it help the cities that are the state's real economic engines compete for talent. Rural and small town Iowans need to stop voting for policies that help you feel good, and start voting for policies that help you live well. Support Menner's group's advocacy for more state investment in your community while recognizing that investment is not going to happen without tax revenue. Don't wait for the 1 percent, or urban residents, or the magic of supply-side economics to produce a windfall, but do be willing to pay for the services your community needs. While you're waiting for the state to act, improve your own capacity and attractiveness: invest in human capital, specifically education and small business development, including libraries and adult education opportunities. Buy local and avoid national big box chains whenever you possibly can; your money will stay in your community and help it grow. Take advantage of your assets, be they natural, existing institutions or fortuitous location; as Aaron Brown notes, recreation is a bigger industry now than agriculture or mining. For more ideas, check out Kaid Benfield and Lee Epstein's "The Death--and Life--of Small Town America," Aaron Brown's "Rise of the Rural Recreation Economy," and Dan Gilmartin and Daniel J. Hurley's "Invest in Talent That Drives Economic Growth." Even a well-funded state government can't afford to buy everyone a pony, but towns can position themselves to use whatever they can to grow stronger. Why Did This Town's Entire Police Force Quit? When a small Massachusetts town made national news as its entire police force quit, it was easy to have preconceived notions about what the moral of the story must be. Then a reader from the town reached out to give us this far more nuanced and interesting explanation. We have chosen a rural life—who pays for our infrastructure? The short answer is: we don't have much of it, but we take care of our own needs. Strong towns require strong citizens: people who learn to take control of their lives and do for themselves things that are doable.

2019-04-24T08:18:51Z

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/7/12/what-is-the-future-of-iowas-small-towns

I’m becoming a bit of an expert when it comes to the NHS (National Health Service for my overseas readers; you’re very welcome here, by the way – don’t listen to the Brexenophobes). I’ve been in its clutches in one way or another for the last 24 hours. First with dad in Colchester General, and then I decided to pay Bristol Southmead a visit last night. The NHS is a behemoth. It employs 1.5 million workers. And with doctors, surgeons, nurses, cleaners, caretakers, drivers … (I could go on), it pretty much represents every strata of the UK. I can tell you now that it employs people from all over the world: I know two Spaniards and an Indian quite well now; and a couple from Essex, which might as well be a foreign land to the rest of us. Southmead has its own resident cat – how cool is that? It is big. And, I’m guessing as a result, a bit slow. C and I popped into Southmead just after two yesterday morning and, whilst we did see three different nurses and I had my blood pressure taken more times than was necessary and had wires stuck to every spare piece of flesh and then strapped to a machine that goes ‘ping’, we didn’t see a doctor until gone nine. And we were out 15 minutes later. And the staff with dad (who is very poorly, but today mum says he is looking a bit brighter – we’re made of strong stuff, us Ladleys) were less enthusiastic than those at A&E last night. And I felt that they had too much to do, and on that list wasn’t giving my pop the nursing care you sort of expect. But, with staff shortages and maybe without the stern oversight of Hattie Jacques bursting out of her matron’s uniform, they’re just all a bit floppy. C, an ex-Army nurse, was spotting all sorts of nursing ‘don’ts’, but dad was comfortable. And safe. Of course, the biggest thing which we all take for granted is that the NHS if free. From my 111 phone call last night, to the two bits of toast and two cuppas this morning, and a wonderful post-Brexit chat to a lovely Spanish nurse [issue: if we leave the EU, Spanish nurses stop earning ‘equivalent experience’ points which they can trade for a job back home – jobs which are in short supply; hence they are all thinking about moving away from the NHS to somewhere where there are jobs that the Spanish health service will recognise. Nice one Brexit.] the cost to me was zilch. Yes, it would have been nice to see a doctor before the sun had risen, but we were sat in our own cubicle and I was checked on regularly. I was never in danger. And it was all free. We should not take that for granted. So, what’s wrong with me? I have an ectopic heartbeat (an extra beat that surprises me every so often) which developed into full-blown atrial fibrillation (AF) ten years ago … that’s where the heart dances to its own tune, indignantly ignoring the instructions that are designed to allow you to climb the stairs without passing out. I was admitted … and a half-an-hour drip later my heart was back under command. A round of tests later and I was told to expect this to happen more and more, and at some point I’d be fitted with a pacemaker with a rheostat that I could turn up just before I went out for a Saturday Park Run. But nothing happened. Sure, my ectopic heartbeat continued to ambush me, but no more AF. Until last week. When, instead of a full blown AF episode, my heart picked a fight with itself as to who was in charge of the beating. Then, the good old sinus nerve (the one who should be in charge) asserted itself and all was well. I weathered this for a bit, but then by about 1.30 last night I’d had enough and, via 111, admitted myself … with a sleepy C following me dutifully. The prognosis is unclear. I have to get a 24 hour ECG and then they’ll look at the results. Hopefully it’ll be another passing episode and I can forget about it for a while longer. Who knows. For the record? I had two really good days down at the school in Farnham and I might have picked up another job at a school slightly closer to home. And, notwithstanding wandering around with a bunch of wires stuck to my skin for 24 hours sometime soon, we’re hoping to get up to Scotland before Friday and have a couple of weeks wandering around in Doris. In the meantime the government has a chance to redeem itself this week. But, somehow, I feel we’re in for a series of events designed to try to get May’s deal through the Commons. I live in hope that this is not the case. There is so much to write about, but if I did I might lose my final three readers. But, come on, unless I misunderstand May’s letter and Tusk’s reply we now find ourselves having to either accept the PM’s plan (which, BTW, gives away the crown jewels and only then opens trade talks with the EU … they have all the cards) or leave without a deal. Both of which I thought had been written off. The first by Speaker Bercow; the second by Parliament last week. Where on earth does this leave us? Has sanity lost the will to live and deserted London for the Shires? Does any of this make sense? On a more positive note (realising you’ve just eaten ham that’s two weeks out of date is more positive than Brexit) after a couple of days work at Jen’s, and in preparation for picking up the trike trailer on the way back from Scotland, we had our towbar fitted today. The photos tell the story. A fab job by LNB Leisure. They’re based in Aztec West, just half a mile from here. I took Doris in this morning, ran home, did some stuff – including taking Jen for a consultation – and then picked her up this afternoon. The cost = £950, including grounding wheels, which I love. That’s £400 cheaper than an equivalent quote I got last year. Other than the service, which was great, what was fab was that they fitted a special bracket for our external alarm socket and put a little sticker reminding us that this was not where you stick your trailer electrics. And for £20 they soldered the extra plate back onto the silencer which had fallen off on the way to the MoT. So, all-in-all, a proper job, even if we’re now a good deal poorer. I’m off to the school for two days work, and then I’m up seeing Mum on Friday night/Saturday. My bum is beginning to look like the Focus’s seat base. We then have just a couple of days before we head off to Scotland. I’ve just deleted a paragraph talking about His Donaldness and right-wing supremacists … he doesn’t think it’s a problem – just a few people. Grrrr. And then I paused and was about to pen something on Theresa May’s insistence that she’s allowed to ask government to vote again for the third time on an unchanged EU Breixt deal next week, whilst there’s always a sharp intake of breath anytime anyone suggests that we go back to the people and ask them what they think about where Brexit is heading. So I thought I write something on the Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, who started the whole Friday school-strike malarkey on climate change, which has spread to 1600 cities in 105 countries. Apparently she might get the Nobel Peace prize. If she were a British student she would only be allowed to collect the prize once she’d finished 1,000 lines – I will not play truant, even if the water levels are above my knees – to be completed on Monday afternoon detention. But I gave up on that. Instead I thought I’d come closer to home. First, Dad is in hospital with a UTI. Apparently if you have dementia and get a urinary infection it can send your mind into all sorts of places it shouldn’t be. We’ve seen him this afternoon and he is very weak. Both C and I would be surprised if they let him home anytime soon … which might mean that he finishes his time there. That would be very sad, but when your Dad is as tired and confused and as unhappy and frustrated as he is, and at 88 and having had a full life, that may not be so awful. I think. We spent a couple of hours with him today. We got him out of bed, gave him a wash and a shave and, having fed him, left him to his sleep. I forgot to mention that we spent Friday and Saturday night with R&C (many, many thanks) … and Burgundy, who is clearly v comfortable. Mum is fragile and a little confused, but coping really well. Their carers have been brilliant – immensely flexible and very helpful. We are all lucky there. Whether she can cope full time remains to be seen. A day at a time. On a more upbeat note, we’ve booked our flights too and from East Asia. Over a six week period we fly (via HK) to Seoul, then to Singapore and finally from Hanoi to Seoul, and then fly home. I’m not a fan of flying. It’s nothing to do with being in the air (or, indeed, plummeting out of it), it’s the environmental impact. There are other choices, of course. Like don’t go. Or buy a camel and take a bit longer. Neither of which are great options. Anyhow, we shopped around and, in total, the cost of all of the flights is £900 each. Which I don’t think is a bad price, although we’re probably got seats in the hold. Notwithstanding catastrophe here we have a week of work at Jen’s and then I have two days at the school at the end of the week … and then a weekend free. And then, mid the next week, we’re off to Scotland for a couple of weeks in Doris. Hurrah … blooming … hurrah. Is it about stopping the Romanians from coming over here and stealing our jobs? Is it about all those millions of pounds we send to Brussels which then gets spent unwisely on frivolous projects in Greece and Southern Italy? Is it about stopping the European Court from making half-arsed decisions that overturn those made by our own courts? Or perhaps is the mad edicts, invented by overpaid bureaucrats in Brussels, that straighten our bananas and inflict ridiculous health and safety laws on us. Or that, outside of the largest economic bloc in the world, we will be free to make our own trade deals which will ensure that Britain prospers more than it is at the moment? Are those the benefits? Are they? That’s what you told us. Remember? Then why, or why, aren’t the Brexiteers banging those drums now? Why aren’t they reminding us every day of the ‘no lose’ decision (their words, not mine) of leaving the EU? All of the brilliant things that are going to come our way. All the many positives. Instead, why are they holding up a fading piece of paper which shows that, almost three years ago (a very long time in politics), less than a third of those eligible to vote in this country decided we should leave the EU … based on a hugely misleading campaign underpinned by illegal canvassing methods. No, it’s no longer about the positives. No. We’re leaving now because we, apparently, voted for it. And not because it has proven to be a really a good idea … because it hasn’t. In the three years since the vote it has been shown that the positives have been overplayed and are now outweighed by the negatives. Reality has blown away the smoke and we can now see the mirrors. The small print is no longer quite so small. Tell me again, Bexiteers, what are the benefits of leaving EU? I know, I know. We voted for it. I hear you. But, come again. Now that we are at the door, what are the real benefits of leaving? ‘Cos sure as hell, I can list a dozen reasons why we shouldn’t. Let’s see what calamities befall us in Parliament tomorrow. Hopefully sense will prevail, we extend Article 50 by a year, a new proposal is put together and the people get to vote on it. A meaningful vote. No smoke. And no mirrors. An informed choice. Anyhow, for the record, a couple of days of good sewing at Jen’s. We are making some pretty fine stuff. Dad’s in hospital having had a fall. Kevin has been on the spot, which has been really helpful as I thought I was going to have to get in the car and head off the Colchester. Mum’s in a tizz, but there may be some good that comes out of this. And today I made some more covers for Doris’s seats. Am a seamstress. Well, sort of. Today Jeremy Hunt said, in so many ways, that if MPs don’t vote for May’s plan on Tuesday then a second referendum might well be an outcome – which would overturn Brexit. You might want to read that sentence again. And once more. The government is running shy of exposing the will of the people … now that the people are better informed. I am unlikely to vote Conservative again in my lifetime. However, with Comrade Corbyn forcing a 70s agenda down our throats, I can’t see me voting Labour either. Advice please. Now, away from politics. We’ve between campervanning since the 80s. We’ve owned six different vans from v small to pretty blooming big (aka Doris). Until recently we used to scoff at old people (like me …) turning up with a van as big as Tescos. And double scoff at old people turning up with a van as big as Tescos pulling a car, or similar. They weren’t proper vanners … they had too much comfort (ehh?) and, what was with pulling a car? Why not just have a decent car and tug a caravan? Well … he starts quietly … mid-last week we went the final step and bought a trailer on eBay for Doris to lug about our Piaggio mp3. And, on the same day, I booked Doris in to get a towbar fitted. This pulling a trike about, which is probably as much about mid-life crisis as it is anything else, is not a cheap option. All together we’re getting on for £6,500: nearly-new bike, towbar and nearly-new trailer. And don’t forget the extra 1.5 metre length to the van and the multitude of behind-the-hands scoffs that will follow us from site-to-site and aire-to-aire. And we certainly won’t get any help from anyone if we struggle to park Doris with her new appendage. Nobody will come to our rescue, Everyone will blame our choices. Our trailer – not our bike … which is red. Will it last? I hope so. We could have really done with the trike in 2017 in Croatia (+ a trip into Bosnia) and would have loved to have had it for our 8 months away on our original Italy/Greece tour in 2014. And, now we’ve definitely got Morocco in our sights for a 6-weeker sometime soon, the idea of having a motorbike to head off into the Sahara seems like a really good plan. We’re having the towbar fitted (including rearwheels to prevent grounding – soooo excited) in a couple of weeks. And we are picking up the trailer – an unused Armitage side-entry motorcycle trailer fitted especially for an mp3 – on the way back from Scotland in the second week in April. We’ve had Mary here for the weekend and I’m working Monday and Tuesday at Jen’s. We’ve a funeral to attend (nobody you’d know) on Friday and then Richard and Caroline’s for the weekend. Hurrah!

2019-04-20T16:17:28Z

https://thewanderlings2013.wordpress.com/2019/03/

Xcode 8 makes it easier to find several new categories of bugs with improvements in Runtime Sanitization and the Clang Static Analyzer. The Thread Sanitizer will help you find data races and other concurrency bugs. The static analyzer has been extended to search for localizability issues, check nullability, and find memory leaks in MRR code. [ Music ] Hello, I'm Anna. Welcome to the Thread Sanitizer and Static Analysis talk. Since our team works on bug-finding tools, we are going to tell you about new ways of catching bugs. I'm going to start with giving a brief overview of Address Sanitizer and then dive much deeper into Thread Sanitizer which is a new feature we introducing this year. Later, Devin is going to come up and tell you about the new checks we've added to the Clang Static Analyzer. But let's start. Sanitizers, [inaudible] LEM tools that combine compile time instrumentation and runtime monitoring to find bugs at runtime. They're similar to Valgrind. However, their main advantage is that they have low runtime overhead. They work with Swift and Objective-C, and they have tight integration into the Xcode UI. So last year we've introduced Address Sanitizer to macOS and iOS. This tool finds memory corruptions such as stack and heap buffer overflows use up the freeze, double freeze. It's extremely effective at finding memory issues. So if you're not using it already, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. This year we've extended the tool to provide full support for Swift. Which will be especially exciting to those of you who love to live dangerously in Swift. So what does it mean if you are using unsafe pointer types? Run your test with Address Sanitizer turned on, it will find some bugs for you. Now, while Address Sanitizer mainly focuses on memory corruption issues, there is another large source of bugs that are threading issues. These are even harder to reproduce and debug. They're sensitive to timing. They might occur only in some certain circumstances which means that the appellations that contain them will have unpredictable behaviors. So this year we introduce support to another tool, Thread Sanitizer which will help you to both find and better understand your threading bugs. TSan reports mainly different kinds of bugs, so let's take a look at some of them. It will tell you about use of uninitialized mutexes. This might not seem like a big deal. However, if you are using a mutex that is not appropriately initialized that will lead to very subtle bugs in your applications because you're not actually getting any mutual exclusion when you use such a mutex. Another example are thread leaks. If your application has a lot of threads and if those threads are leaked, you will, and if there's memory leaks. Another one unsafe call in signal handlers and unlocks from a wrong thread. However, data races are by far the most common problem because they're so easy to introduce. They happen when multiple threads access the same memory location without using proper synchronization. So let's see how this tool works by going into an Xcode demo. So here I'm going to demo this Thread Sanitizer on an alpha version of last year's WWDC app. So here as you would expect, it brings up a schedule for the week. However, notice this interesting visual bug. Even though all the session's data has been downloaded, the network activity indicator keeps spinning. Now, I know I use a global variable to decide when to show and hide this indicator so there might be a threading problem. Let's see if Thread Sanitizer can help us find it. In order to turn on Thread Sanitizer, we go to edit scheme. Choose diagnostics tab. And click here on enable Thread Sanitizer. Now, here you can choose to pause in the debugger on every single issue and debug that issue right there. Or you could choose to keep running, collect all the threading issues that Thread Sanitizer report, and explore them later on. The second workflow is new in Xcode 8, and it's only supported by Thread Sanitizer, so let's take a look how that works. When your launch application under Thread Sanitizer, Xcode is going to rebuild your project with extra compiler instrumentation, and it's going to launch it in a special mode that tries to find threading issues. So here is our application is up. And Xcode tells us that Thread Sanitizer detected two issues by displaying this purple indicator in the activity viewer. Clicking on this purple indicator will take us to the issue navigator. And while previously we only used it to display build time issues such as compiler warnings, compiler errors, Static Analyzer issues. This year has been extended to provide support to runtime issues. And this is where Thread Sanitizer's issue found its home. So Thread Sanitizer reported two problems. Let's take a look at each one. The first one is use of uninitialized mutex. Now, this problem occurred as you were running that application sometime in the past. Thread Sanitizer is going to tell us about that exact moment by providing a historical stack trace. Even though this is not a live stack trace, you can walk its frames as if it was a live stack trace. So let's take a look. At some point we called acquire lock. That called pthread mutex lock, and passed an invalid mutex reference. That was called from reset feed status which was called from the initializer. Now, as you can see here we do initialize the mutex, but we initialize it after we use it. It's a simple ordering bug. So just reordering those to statement should take care of that. Okay, let's go on to the second problem which is a data race. Also, here Thread Sanitizer tells that there is a data race on the variable called activity count. Now, that's the same global variable that they use to decide when to show and hide that indicator. Since this is a data race, Thread Sanitizer will tell us about two events. The two race accesses. A read and a write here. So the read happened on thread 11, and the write happened on thread 13. Notice that neither of those are a main thread, and the stack traces are the same which means that they are probably executing the same cord from multiple threads without using synchronization. So let's take a look. Okay, here we are updating this activity account variable. Now, I could have fixed this race by adding a lock. But notice that this is just a symptom. The next line here updates the UI. And we know that the UI updates should happen on the main thread. So the proper fix here is to dispatch both the counter increment and the UI update onto the main cue with Grand Central Dispatch. This will both take care of the logical problem in our application and also take care of the race because all the threads will access that count variable from the same thread. Now, I'm sure I sound very convincing and you all believe me that I fixed the bugs. However, the best way of checking yourself is to run the tool again on your project. So we should rerun the application again with Thread Sanitizer turned on. And again it's going to rebuild your project with this extra checking and launch it in the special mode. Now, the application is up. We see that the strange visual UI bug is gone, and Thread Sanitizer doesn't report any issues. So all is well. Let's go back to slides. So just to recap the demo, you can enable Thread Sanitizer in the Scheme Editor when you go to the diagnostics tab just like you did with Address Sanitizer. In addition to ASan's workflow of stopping in the debugger on the very first issue, Thread Sanitizer it supports an additional mode. Where you could keep routing as the issues that detected, and then you could explore them in the issue navigator. They will stay there until you launch an application again. So let's now talk about what Xcode does behind the scenes to make this all work. In order to use Thread Sanitizer, Xcode passes a special flag to both Clang and Swift compilers that instruct them to produce an instrumented binary. This binary links to a TSan runtime library that is used by the instrumentation to both monitor the execution of the program and detect those threading issues. So if you're building and running Cocoa command line, you can pass an option to either of the compilers. And Xcode will also support Thread Sanitizer by providing enableThreadSanitizer option. Now by default, TSan will keep running as the errors are detected. But you can instruct it to abort on the very first issue by setting this TSan options environment variables to halt on error equals 1 when you launch your process. That will allow you to have the same workflow as what you have with Address Sanitizer. So where can you use this tool? Thread Sanitizer is supported on macOS and in the 64-bit simulators. It is not supported on the device. So now you know how to use this tool, how to launch it, how to find issues. Let's talk about what, how you can fix the bugs it reports. And we'll focus mainly on data races because this is the biggest category of bugs it reports. So what is a data race? Data race happens when multiple threads access the same memory location without using proper synchronization and when at least one of those accesses is a write. And the problem here that you might not only end up with stale data, but the behavior here is unpredictable. You might even end up with a memory corruption. So what are the reasons for data races? Well, it often indicates that you have a logical problem in the structure of your program. And only you will know how to fix it. On the other hand, it also means that we are missing some synchronization. So let's talk about that second scenario. Here is an example of a data race in Swift. We have a global variable data. We have a producer that sets it for 42 and a consumer that prints it. If those two pieces of code are executed by two different threads, there will be a data race. So how about this code? We introduce another variable called is data available. And we set that flag after we update the data in the producer, and in the consumer we are going to wait until the flag is set and then if once it's set, we print the data. Well, this looks very logical. It seems like it should work. The problem here is what you see is not what will get executed. The instructions here can be reordered by either the compiler or the CPU, so you cannot assume that the flag is set after the data is updated. The order of the instruction is not guaranteed neither in the producer nor the consumer. So what is the point here of this slide? I just want to demonstrate that trying to roll your own synchronization methods is often not a good idea. What should we do instead? We should use something that's available already. For example, Grand Central Dispatch is a very good option. You can dispatch the recent accesses onto the same serial queue that will make sure that they execute it on the same thread, and there will be no data race. So now as you might recall Thread Sanitizer works for both Objective-C and Swift. So let's use Objective-C for our next example. Here is lazy initialization code. And we are implementing method called getSingleton. That makes sure that we return the same shared instance to all of its callers. Now, if this code is executed by multiple threads without proper synchronization, there will be a data race when both threads try to update the shared instance variable. Okay, so what about this code? We tried to fix the problem by allocating and initializing a local variable, and then we are using atomic compare and set operation to make sure that threads atomically update that global variable. So there will be no data race on the right. This might look like a step in the right direction, but this code still has problems. So let's take a look at them. First, it's very difficult to reason about memory management when you are using atomics. So, for example, here you will have use-after-free if you are using ARC. And if you are using MRR, this object will be leaked only in case there is a race. So that's not good. That's not the only problem. Another problem here is that since the read is unsynchronized, there could still be a race where one thread is trying to read that shared variable and another one is trying to atomically set it. So this is undefined behavior, and that's not good. What should you do instead? I mean, if you know the solution already, use Grand Central Dispatch. Dispatch wants performed laziness socialization for you. It's even simpler in Swift. Both global variables and class constants have dispatch one semantics. So you can choose either of those two solutions, whatever works best for your code. Okay, so just to summarize, you should use the highest level API that's suitable to your needs. And most people should be using Grand Central Dispatch. If that's not suitable, you can use pthread APIs or NSLock, for example, now, we do have a new OS unfair lock that's new on our platform this year, and it replaces OSSpinLock. And they also have C++ and C11 Atomics. They are supported by Thread Sanitizer. But as you've seen in the previous example, they're very difficult to use correctly. And besides the performance, being here is either not measurable or negligible. So don't choose to use those APIs if you did not measure that they actually have something on your application. So for more information about all of those APIs, please attend Concurrent Programming talk on Friday. So now let's talk about benign races. What are those? Some developers argue that on some architectures, for example x86, you do not need to insert synchronization between a read and a write because the architecture itself guarantees automaticity of those operations on pointer size data. Now, it's important to remember that any race, even at a benign race, is considered to be undefined behavior from C or C++ standard. So not only will you be surprised if that code with benign races write, runs on an architecture you have not tested well on before. But the compiler is free to reorder those instructions as if no other thread saw that. So the bottom line is that you might end up with very subtle bugs. So as our engineering lead for Thread Sanitizer [inaudible] "Fix all the bugs." Now, to the most exciting part of our talk. As we all know, data races are hard to reproduce since they're so sensitive to timing. So the most interesting thing about Thread Sanitizer is that it can detect races that did not even manifest during that particular program run. Let's see how it does that. When you compile your program with Thread Sanitizer, it instruments every memory access, and it prefixes it with a check, with a code. But first, records the information about that access. And second checks if that access participates in a race. So let's take a closer look. For every aligned 8 bytes of application memory, Thread Sanitizer shared those state, keeps track up to four accesses. So suppose we have four threads. Thread one writes to that memory location. Thread sanitizer updates that, stores that information to shadow thread to reset memory location. Again, we record that, and we keep going on and on. So now what happens if you have more than four accesses? Thread Sanitizer uses an educated guess onto what cell to evict next. So here it evicts access to that same thread which lets it not lose precision. However, if we had access from a fifth thread, it would evict a random cell. So bounding the number of accesses like this means that we might not catch all races and all cases. Okay. Now, let's talk about how it detects data races. Thread sanitizer uses a well known technique of vector clocks for race detection. So how does that work? Thread local storage for each thread keeps track of threads own counter and the counters of all the other threads. This counter is initialized to zero, and every time a thread accesses memory, its counter is incremented. So, for example, here suppose thread one access two memory locations. Thread two accessed 22 memory locations. Thread three accesses 55 memory locations. Now, this timestamps are not comparable. Each thread uses those timestamps or counters to order the accesses to memory that it performs. Okay. So let's go back and bring back our memory location and its shadow and see how its threads interact and how they update the counters here. We'll also add the lock that threads used to synchronize access to that memory location. Okay, thread one writes. It's a well behaved thread. It's going to acquire a lock. It's going to update its counter. It's going to write to that memory location. Now, Thread Sanitizer sees that. It's going to update the shadow. Before updating the shadow, it sees that there is nothing in the shadow, stored in the shadow which means that that memory location has not been accessed before. So it just safe to go ahead and write that down. Now before releasing the lock, thread one is going to update it with its own timestamp, and it releases the lock. Now, it's time for thread two to write. Again, thread two is a very well behaved thread. It's going to acquire the lock. Now, acquiring a lock like this lets thread two see that thread one has implemented its counter. Now, thread two implements its own counter, it writes to that memory location. Thread Sanitizer sees that it's trying to update the shadow. Now, here it sees that there is something there it shadowed before, so that means that memory location has been accessed already, so it's going to check for races. By comparing the timestamps, Thread Sanitizer sees that thread two has synchronized after thread one has accessed the memory. So there is no data race. And we can just proceed with the update. Before releasing the lock, thread two is going to update with its own timestamp. And it releases the lock. Okay, now it's time for thread three to write. Thread three has been waiting for a long time. It's so excited to write to that memory location. Guess what, it forgets the lock. It implements the counter, writes to the memory location, Thread Sanitizer is there, it's watching. It's trying to update the shadow and check for races. So here the Thread Sanitizer sees that the old view of thread three is too old. The reads and writes stored in the shadow happened after thread three last synchronized. This allows Thread Sanitizer to catch the bug. So what's important to know about this algorithm is that the sensitivity of timing that we associate with data races does not apply here. TSan can detect races even if they did not manifest during that particular run but could occur if you run your application again or your users run your application. And this makes using Thread Sanitizer much more effective than debugging and trying to reproduce those data races in the [inaudible] without the use of the tool. Now, another thing to remember here is that Thread Sanitizer is a runtime bug finding tool, so it will only catch races if you provided sufficient coverage. So please run all your tests with Thread Sanitizer turned on. And that was Thread Sanitizer new in Xcode 8. Use it. It will find bugs, it will make your applications better. Now, off to Devin who will tell you about the checks we've added to the Clang Static Analyzer. Thanks, Anna. Unlike the sanitizers, the Static Analyzer can find bugs without even running your code. It does this by systematically exploring all paths through the program. This makes it great at catching hard to reproduce edge-case bugs. It's supported for all of the languages that Clang compiles to, so C, Objective-C, and C++. This year, we've added three now checks to the Static Analyzer. A check for missing localizability, a check for improper instance cleanup in your manual retained release code, and a check for nullability violations. Let me tell you about them. A common bug in localized apps is to forget to localize a UI element. This can be very startling for your users. They'll be using your app in their own native language when all of a sudden, out of the blue a string in your language shows up in their UI. This is not a good user experience. So let me give you a demo of how the Static Analyzer can catch this kind of bug. Okay. So I'll demo the Static Analyzer on the same app that Anna used. To run the analyzer, you can go to Xcode's product menu and choose analyze. This will explore a large number of paths through your program and try to find a bug along each one. Just like Thread Sanitizer, if address, if the Static Analyzer finds an issue, it will display this blue Static Analyzer icon in Xcode's activity bar. If you click on it it will show you the issue navigator, so it looks like we have a localizability issue. A nonlocalized string is flowing to a user-facing property. So we should localize it. But looking at this method, I don't see anything immediately wrong. So I'm going to click on the diagnostic. This shows me more information about how this nonlocalized string ended up flowing to the user-facing property. I can explore this path with the path explorer bar at the top of Xcode's editor. Working my way backwards, I can see that this method is called from a TableView data source method, and then an intern it's passing in this nonlocalized constant string. So let's localize it. To do so, I'll use the NS localized string macro. This will load a translated version of the string at runtime. Now, it's really important when using this macro to also include a comment for your translator to help them correctly translate that string. So I will say "This is the button that resets the session filter." Okay. Let's run the analyzer again to make sure we fixed the issue. Looks great. So I'll switch back to slides. To recap, you can run the analyzer from the product menu, and it will display any of the issues that it finds in the issue navigator. As we saw, it's super useful to click on that diagnostic to show the path. This makes it easy to understand the issue and ultimately how to fix it. So the analyzer can now find missing localizability as we saw. But it will also warn us if we've forgotten to provide that comment to our translators. Here I've provided a comment of nil which is not helpful at all. And so the analyzer will warn about it you can turn these checks on and other Static Analyzer checks in the Static Analyzer section of your project's build settings. The check for missing localizability will be turned on automatically by Xcode if your project has localizations in more than one language. The check for missing comments is off by default, but you should make sure to turn it on if you don't communicate these comments to your translator in some other way. For example, you might already be doing this directly in your strings file. This year we've also improved checking of dealloc in your manual retained release code. It's really important under manual retained release to not release instance variables that are synthesized for assigned properties in your dealloc. If you do so, this can cause an over-release when the owner of that value also releases it and can crash your program. So the analyzer now warns about this. On the other hand, you must release instance variables that are synthesized for retain or copy properties. Because if you don't, they will leak. The analyzer warns about this as well. Yeah! So this is an awesome check. It found a bug in every single manual retained release project that we ran it on. So try it out. Of course, the best way to get rid of retained release issue is to update your project to automated reference counting. Fortunately, Xcode can help you do this automatically. If you go to the edit menu and choose convert to Objective-C ARC. This will have the compiler handle all of the messiness of retained release for you. Finally this year, we've added a check for nullability violations. This builds on work from last year where we annotated our STKs to indicate whether methods or properties take or return nil. For example, Core Location's timestamp property is non-null. This is because every measurement of a location also has a corresponding date and time. In contrast, its floor property is nullable. That's because this property will return nil when the location is in a venue that's not indoor location enabled. You should annotate your own headers with nullability because it enables a new program and model where you communicate your expectations about nullability directly to your clients. This is important because violations of those expectations can cause crashes or unexpected behavior. In fact, we thought it was so important that we built it into Swift where the optional type requires you to check for nil before using a value. Now, it's important in Objective-C as well, and so we've added a check for nullability violations to the Static Analyzer. And this check is particularly useful for projects that mix Swift and Objective-C code. And it finds two kinds of issues. There might be logical problems in your code. Maybe you're returning nil when you shouldn't. Or you might have an incorrect annotation. So let's take a look at how to fix each of these two kinds of issues. A common mistake is to initialize a local variable with nil and then later fill it in with a series of non-exhaustive branches. This method, for example, returns a short description of a location. Either the name of a city or the country that contains that location. But we fail to consider an important case. What if the location is in international waters? Then there will neither be a city nor a country. And so this method will unexpectedly return nil. And the analyzer will tell us about it. Fortunately. This is awesome, too. Fortunately, the fix here is simple. All you need to do is initialize your local variable with a nonnil default. In this case, we'll use the constant string Earth and, of course, we'll make sure to localize it. On the other hand, it could be that your code in the implementation is perfectly fine, and it's the annotation that's incorrect. And we found that one way that this commonly arises is when you use the convenient NS assume nonnull begin and end macros. These macros wrap a portion of your header and say that inside of the reins that they wrap, that types will be implicitly nonnull. This can save you a lot of typing, but it also makes it really easy to forget to mark a property as nullable. In this example, the pressure property returns nil when the device doesn't have a barometer. But the property is implicitly nonnull. Fortunately, the fix here is simple as well. We can simply explicitly mark that property as nullable inside of that region. And this will tell clients that they shouldn't expect pressure data to always be available. Now, you do need to be careful about this. That's because the nullability of your API is a contract. And so you shouldn't change it just to make the analyzer happy. Instead, you should carefully consider the API that you want to expose and use that. If you do decide to change your API, you'll also need to carefully think about backwards compatibility. This is particularly important in Swift where nullability changes how a type is imported. You might also find yourself in a situation where you can change neither the implementation of your method nor its annotation. And in these cases, you can suppress the analyzer diagnostic with a cast. One way that this commonly arises is in methods that defensively return nil when a precondition is violated. In this example, the method returns nil when an index is out of bounds. If there's existing code that relies on this behavior, then you can't remove that check and you can't replace it within a cert. Instead, the right thing to do is tell the analyzer that that's what you meant by casting the return value to nonnull. So that's what's new in the Static Analyzer and Xcode 8. So let's wrap up. Today we told you about three great tools. These tools find real bugs. Address Sanitizer and Thread Sanitizer find memory corruption in threading issues at runtime. And the Static Analyzer can find bugs without even running your code. So please use these tools on your own projects. They will help you find your bugs before your users find them for you. If you're interested in more information, you can go to your session website. And there's also several related sessions that we think you might find helpful.

2019-04-22T18:45:43Z

https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/412/

Guys, Dingdong is the voice which indicates the arrival of someone at your place. When a visitor pushes button of the wireless doorbell a bell rung and it can be in any form, It could be Ding dong sound, poems, prayers or songs which indicates someone is outside to meet you. Nowadays in big cities, the trend has developed that uses telephone technology to wireless signal doorbells as well as to answer the doors and remotely release electric strikes. In wired doorbell one terminal of the button is wired to a terminal on a transformer, A doorbell transformer steps down the 120 or 240 volts AC electrical power to a lower voltage, typically 10 to 20 volts and the other terminal is connected to one of three terminals on the signalling device. A smart doorbell is connected with internet connected doorbell that notifies the smartphone of the homeowner when a guest arrives at the entrance of the home, It activates when the guest presses the button of the doorbell when the doorbell senses the guest with its built-in motion sensors. This doorbell is quite expensive and has a limited range of frequencies. So the best option between three doorbells is Wireless Doorbell which is not expensive and easy to install no time is required to install the whole system in the premises it also have high range of frequency, in ways of money it is pocket friendly it is also portable, so these are the features which make it the best option among these three. As most people prefer Wireless Doorbells because the physical wiring is not necessary for it. Most Wireless Doorbells system consists of a radio transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter is mounted at door outside and receiver can be placed anywhere in the house where it meets the range specifications. It is also very cost effective. When opting for a Wireless Doorbell it’s important to keep a range of the doorbell in mind. As it doesn’t need any physical wiring, Wireless Doorbells can be installed, setup and running in a few minutes with a few screws. Its installation is very easy; you don’t need any physical agent to install your system in the house. You can do it by yourself. It is very cost effective because in wired doorbells you need to pay a huge amount to a professional electrician, needs wires even the beauty of house also ruined by wires whereas in the wireless connection you can easily do the job by yourself. Modern Wireless Doorbells not only provide a laundry list of features for ultimate convenience and versatility, but they often look quite nice as well. In addition to being able to install a wireless push button transmitter anywhere you want, you can place the receivers anywhere near an electrical outlet. If you have outlets on the exterior of your home, you can even hear the doorbell ring and greet visitors while working in the backyard. Wireless Doorbell is known for their range they come in various ranges like 50 to 1000 feet. Some cheaper doorbells have limited operating ranges of 50 feet or so. Better quality range up to 1000 feet or more. They can be quite nice for lounging out back by the pool as well. As we know in Wireless Doorbell no physical wiring is required you only need a transmitter and receiver installed inside the house, whereas in wired doorbells somewhere you have to compromise with the beauty of your house with wire and it also needs much cost because professional will charge their fees for the installation of the doorbell therefore Wireless Doorbell required less cost compared with wired doorbell. A wired doorbell cannot be installed anywhere you want, it only can be installed at a fixed place by the professional agent whereas Wireless Doorbell can be placed wherever we want according to our need. Sometimes we are busy doing something in the backyard and someone rung our bell but we didn’t hear the chime of wired doorbell but in Wireless Doorbell we can place the receiver anywhere we want and here the chime when someone arrives. There are various types of innovation happened in Wireless Doorbell like as we take to design, the design of the doorbell comes in various shapes that are attractive, stylish and modern too. Different types of ringtones are available in the form of Ding dong, jingle bell song, poems and songs even now a day ringtones are coming in the form of prayers too. In today’s world the doorbells with camera attached to it plays a very helpful role, security is a big reason to worry because we are not safe anywhere even not in our house, especially the home where elders and small children live the camera help the person to identify who is standing outside the door without opening gate. Since this camera fitted doorbells often come with a speaker and a microphone attached to it, you can even communicate with someone who is standing outside the door before letting him in. Wireless Doorbell is expensive rill only a few years back, now they are very cost effective as you don’t need any wiring and any installation agent who charge fee for installation of the doorbell whereas compared with wired doorbell you need wiring as well a person who will install the system and charge for it, therefore, the better value for money is Wireless Doorbell. As we know Wireless Doorbells needs a battery which is the biggest disadvantage of using Wireless Doorbell because you never know when the battery is about to die and there is no way to find out when will battery die. If the outsider presses the button and its not working then surely you have to change the battery. Wireless Doorbells are in trend now and available in various designs and shapes after having lots of options customers get confused to choose which one is the best for their building. Wireless Doorbells are limited in frequency it comes in the range from 100 feet to 1000 feet but if you need to fix doorbell in a big building you think about the range of frequency. Wireless Doorbell can collide with many frequencies such as doorbell sound, car alarm as many of these are same frequency range. Because of this reason, one can choose a Wireless Doorbell which may have wireless frequencies and block other interception frequencies of another device. Guys, if you want a stylish and modern doorbell so you got it as SadoTech Model C Wireless Doorbell provides a stylish modern design in white colour. It is a C series doorbell. Remote transmitter button is rated IP33 waterproof and acceptable for outdoor use. In this doorbell, you don’t need any battery for the main receiver. It is CE, FCC, and RoHS Certified. It is used in the training of dogs, used in classrooms to quiet students. The weight of the item is 4 ounces and the product dimensions are 3.2 x 1.5 x 3.5 inches, and the thickness of the bell is 29 millimetres. The bulb installed in it is LED. It covers the range up to 900 feet and is very cost effective. Music lovers can opt for this option, Bodyguard Wireless Doorbell is made up of ABS material, which is not harmful. It has not affected by Dust, rain, Sunlight. It even has no electromagnetic radiations so it is very friendly to pregnant women as well as children. The 2 doorbell receivers are highly sensitive; the level of protection of remote transmitter button is rated IP44 weatherproof so it works perfectly outdoors. It has 36 different ringtones like a ding dong, Christmas song, prayers and poems and volume is adjustable from 20 dB to 80 dB. The weight of the item is 8.8 ounce and the product dimensions are 6.9 x 4.6 x 2.7 inches. It covers the range up to 1000 feet. No integration of L series Doorbell. If you have more than one door entry or multiple entries then the features of this doorbell will surely attract you. The STARPOINT L series is a configurable and expandable doorbell system that can add 20 more extra receivers, transmitter buttons, motion sensors and door sensors. Multiple receivers can be configured to ring with different ringtones to let you know which transmitter is triggered; it is very convenient feature for multiple door entry. The weight of the product is 12 ounces and the product dimensions are 8.5 x 4.8 x 3.8 inches. The coverage range of star point expendables doorbell is up to 600 feet. The battery cell type is alkaline. Comes with 2 buttons and 2 chimes. L series Doorbell is configurable. Expended to 20 + buttons. Perfect for larger homes and offices. The range is up to 600 feet. The special feature of this doorbell will help you if you have a hearing problem. It has 36 types of ringtones Including songs, prayers, Christmas song and poems. It also has the special feature of flashing light with the audio alert indicator. The installation of the bell is very easy. Easily plug the receiver into an electrical outlet. The push button can be mounted to the doorframe. The push button is rated IP44 weatherproof no effect of rain, dust and sunlight and it’s acceptable outdoor. The weight of the item is 4.8 ounces; dimensions are 4.8 x 3.2 x2.6 inches. Battery cell type is alkaline and the covers the range up to 1000 feet. The range is up to 1000 feet. As the range of the GE, Wireless Doorbell is not high but the features of the product are quite impressive, the GE Wireless Doorbell includes one wireless door chime and two compatible push buttons. It has eight unique sound options. Its installation is very easy, no wiring is required only 3 C battery is included. The weight of the product is 9.6 ounces and the product dimensions are 1.8 x 3.8 x 5 inches. The range of the product is up to 150 feet. It is useful in small areas where you don’t need much range, It is also helpful in a small business where you need to ask for something you can just press the button. so it is also a very important product who works in fewer ranges. Four levels of volume setting. Backed up by 1-year warranty. Volume needs to be improved. Can be used in small workplaces. Honeywell premium portable doorbell works with up to 3 push buttons, motion detectors or door contacts for added security and convenience. It has three types of chime tunes, the volume is fully adjustable if you are a lover of loud volume you can increase the level of volume and if you want to minimise it you can do it too. It also has a code system through which you can eliminate interference. The weight of the item is 1.45 pounds and the product dimensions are 1 x 4 x 5 inches, the battery is also required in it. the range of the product is up to 250 feet. The range is up to 250 feet. It has 3 chimes or ringtones. 3 push buttons, a motion detector for security. MoKo Wireless Doorbell is very stylish, modern and impressive model it consists of 36 types of different ringtones. you can adjust volume up to 5 levels from 25 dB to 85 dB and its totally your choice which one you want, you can choose your best level of the volume. The remote transmitter button is IP 44 weatherproof means no effect from dust, rain and sunlight and is also acceptable for outdoor use. Installation is very easy, no wiring required you can install it by your self. Just plug the receiver into any electrical outlet, no battery is required in it. the weight of the item is 3.84 ounces and the product dimensions are 6 x 3 x 2 inches. the covering range of the product is 900 feet. Wide range, up to 900 feet. Volume adjustable up to 5 levels. The kit of TeckNet remote Wireless Doorbell includes 1 push button and 2 receivers to meet the customer’s higher level demand, Remote transmitter button is rated IP 33 weatherproof means it resists from rain, sunlight and dust and acceptable for outdoor use. Easy installation just plugs the receiver into an electrical outlet, when someone pushes the button blue LED light flashes to indicate someone’s arrival. It has 32 different types of ringtones. It includes 1 battery operated transmitter and 2 plugin receivers. The weight of the product is 6.4 ounces and the product dimensions are 6.4 x 4 x 2.2 inches. the operating range of the product is 820 feet. The one who has a hearing problem can get the indication of some one’s arrival by the LED light. 32 different types of ringtone. The range is up to 820 feet. Coolqiya Wireless Doorbell is very durable and safe the transmitter button is rated IP 55 and is waterproof with various certifications. It has more than 50 different ringtones and you can adjust volume up to 4 levels, the transmitter fitted in it allows you and your visitor to leave a message for each other. No batteries are required for receiver simply plug into electrical outlet. The weight of the product is 14.1 ounces and the product dimensions are 3.1 x 3.1 x 1 inches. The covering range of the product is up to 1000 feet. The special feature in this doorbell where you can leave a message for each other if you are not at home and your closed one arrived at least they can leave a message for you and after coming home you will get their message and revert them back. So this feature is very helpful. 50 different types of chimes. Volume is adjustable up to 4 levels. Leave a message in microphone. It does not have frequency blocking. The Ifecco Wireless Doorbell ‘s remote transmitted button is rated IP 44 waterproof and resist Dust, sunlight and rain and acceptable for outdoor use. It has 36 types of different ringtones which include Ding dong bell, Christmas song bell, poems, song among all these you can choose your favourite from the upper button and the volume is adjustable up to 4 levels. If you are looking for a weatherproof or stylish Wireless Doorbell it could be considered as an option the weight of the item is 5.9 ounces and the product dimensions are 6.1 x 4.5 x 2.6 inches, the covering range of the product is up to 1000 feet. At last, I am here to recommend the best Wireless Doorbell. The doorbell which stands well on most of the parameters given above are the easy installation, portable, innovative, high range frequency goes with SadoTech Model C Wireless Doorbell. Everyone is familiar with the brand and it occupies a very good market. It has all the features which you need in your Wireless Doorbell and if we see cost wise it is very effective and you don’t have to pay any installation fee, you can install it by your self, you can choose ringtones from different Fifty plus ringtones and is quite stylish and modern, it will enhance the beauty of your house and even the covering range is 900 which is quite good. The dimension of the product that is 3.2 x 1.5 x 3.5 inches are also good even it resists from dust, sunlight and rain and is acceptable for outdoor use. If we see money value of the product so it is also in the positive side as the price of SadoTech Model C Wireless Doorbell is pocket-friendly, you don’t need to think about before purchasing it. Thanks to all readers for reading the article. Hope I provide the necessary information on top 10 best Wireless Doorbells. stay tuned with us for more interesting topics.

2019-04-22T16:39:50Z

https://www.inknik.com/best-wireless-doorbells/

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2019-04-18T17:23:13Z

http://lisus.com.ar/contable/VersionCooperba/fonts/ebook.php?q=buy-James-Arness.html

This book review of a graphic novel based on a true story was posted on 30th April, twelve years to the day since the event at the heart of its story, a suicide bombing of the blues bar of the title in Tel Aviv. This review is dedicated to the memory of the three who died, Dominique Hass, Ran Baron and Yanay Weiss, and with great respect for the Mike's Place family who refused to let this act define them, instead reopening their bar in a week to prove that terrorists cannot win in the face of love, peace and dedication. There's no doubt that 'Mike's Place' is an important book, one that should be read widely by a broad section of world society. It grabbed me quickly and drew me inexorably into its story, which can be, but shouldn't only be, boiled down as far as a refreshingly different response to an act of terror. Terrorists want people to be afraid, hence their name. They want others to change who they are through fear, to spend their time, effort and money to placate that fear, to voluntarily give up their freedoms because of it. Yet, after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the entrance to 'Mike's Place', a blues bar in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing three and injuring fifty, the folk behind it reopened in a week. Put simply, they refused to allow terrorists to win and that's an example, which in these days of security theatre, mass surveillance and the erosion of civil rights in the holy name of the War on Terror, needs not only to be heard but to be thoroughly absorbed. For that message alone, this is worth your money. The question is what else it is. In many ways it's a really odd book because of the choice of medium. While the story, at its heart, is about the bombing of Mike's Place, it's also about a documentary film that was being shot there when that bombing occurred and it's the film that provides the framework. So this graphic novel is about a film about a blues bar and we can't hear the music. The lack of sound is a massive gap and it's one key reason why this book shifts from being a standalone to a companion piece. It tells the same story as the documentary film, but with a very different approach so that neither loses from the competition but both gain from the reinforcement. Rather than recommending either over the other, I'd actually recommend both. I read the book first, then watched the film, then watched it again with my better half, then re-read the book. Doing so within a few days helped me to see the differences and also to focus in on a few frames in the book whose importance had eluded me at the time. The common story follows American filmmaker Jack Baxter to Israel to find a story about the Middle East that he hadn't heard before. He expects it to be about Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian on trial in Israel for terrorism. He's an important figure, still a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council even from prison, where he's serving five life sentences. However, it soon becomes clear that he isn't the story and a local film crew is working it anyway. Baxter decides to go home but, walking along the beach in Tel Aviv the night before flying out, hears blues music on the night air and follows it into Mike's Place, finding his story there because it epitomises a Middle East that he didn't even know existed. It's certainly an enticing place. People come here to eat and drink and dance and listen to live blues music. They're a diverse bunch from a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds, a global family, but politics and religion are subjects to be avoided inside the bar. It's a place to enjoy life and people throng to it even during the early 2000s, with the Second Intifada hurling violence into Israel and a war raging not too far away in Iraq. What's more, the new bartender, Joshua Faudem, is a documentary filmmaker himself so Baxter hires him and his new Yugoslavian girlfriend to shoot the film for him. It goes well. Then, just as Baxter and Faudem believe themselves done with the primary shoot, ready to start editing forty hours of interviews and other footage into a feature length film, a new angle manifests itself with vehemence. On 30th April, 2003, twelve years ago today, a suicide bomber tries to enter Mike's Place, and being stopped by Avi, the bouncer, blows himself up in the doorway. The impact to the film and the Mike's Place family is immediately obvious and overt. The three dead include a key character, Dominique Hess, a French waitress who was the first person to be hired at Mike's Place. Another key character, Avi the bouncer, is hospitalised. What's more, Baxter himself, outside at the time, is hurled back in through a window by the blast and seriously injured too. Politics and religion had been kept out of Mike's Place all along but they showed up anyway, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake. Now, of course, the film isn't over and, with Baxter in hospital and out of the picture, Faudem continues to shoot footage. Mike's Place was targetted because it was a symbol of peace and togetherness, so owner Gal Ganzman knows that it has to reopen and quickly to restore that symbol to the world and prove that this suicide bomber and the terrorist organisations behind him cannot win, just so long as people can still eat and drink and dance and enjoy life at Mike's Place. Of course, Faudem is at the heart of this with unprecedented access for a filmmaker. Talk about being in the right place at the right time, where the right time is also about as wrong a time as can be comfortably imagined. So that's the common story between the film and the book, which mostly tell the same story, often in the same words. Many panels are direct adaptations from the film, as if they were drawn photographs with transcribed dialogue. The difference in story boils down to the film being released in 2004, as 'Blues by the Beach', while the book is not yet released; it's due this June in a handsome little hardback from First Second. The film is an urgent piece, packed full of emotion: anger, cameraderie and love, not to mention the will to endure and a reaffirmation to live. The book is abstracted by the passage of time, that gap of a decade not diminishing the story but making it less emotional and more considered. Most obviously, the book includes the terrorists as well as the Mike's Place family. We don't see them in the film, but the book includes three of them, beginning with the planner on a day trip to Tel Aviv, talking with Dom at Mike's Place as he confirms it as a target, and continuing on with the two men who enter Israel with mass murder on their mind. Tellingly, one is notably humanised. The assumption at the time was that the second bomber's equipment malfunctioned so he didn't follow his colleague's action. The book ties him to Dom too, leaving her a big tip earlier that day and waving to her moments before she's hit by the blast. It posits that this second bomber, Omar Khan Sharif, backed out of his act, dumped his bombs and left, not unable to murder but unwilling. He eventually leaves his clothes neatly folded on the beach and walks into the sea to drown. This fits the facts that we know, but it includes a great deal of guesswork and elevates Dom's role massively, suggesting that her unwitting acts saved as many as Avi's deliberate ones. There are other differences too. As if to compensate for the loss of sound, meaning that we never hear the blues playing from Mike's Place and fail to grasp the palpable diversity in accents amongst the key players, it ups the ick factor with pages dedicated to the devastation and further details that enhance moments in the film. For instance, Jack mentions in the film as he leaves hospital that he believes there's still glass embedded in his skull, though the end credits clarify this to 'embedded organic shrapnel'; however the book explains outright that it's not glass, it's bits of the bomber. Another pair of changes tie to the human angle, the relationships between the people in the Mike's family and how they change after the bombing. On one side, the book builds the connection between Gal and Dom, how the former believes that they're a couple but the latter is leaving it behind. On another, the fresh relationship between Joshua and Pavla, who shot most of the film between them, collapses in its wake. Even though Pavla also edited the documentary, she clearly distanced herself from it over time and she's renamed accordingly to Sasha here. Mostly, it's the tone that's changed, and it's why I'd recommend that people interested in this story watch the film first and then follow up with the book. 'Blues by the Beach' introduces us to Mike's Place, the people behind it and the atmosphere that it generates. The music is local and the bar crowded, but it feels utterly authentic. For all the many Guinness signs, it isn't a slick, lifeless corporate drinking hole; it's a vibrant community of real people whose living in the moment finds firm definition as a celebration of humanity. The actions of Asif Muhammad Hanif threaten that but fail, quickly and entirely, because the Mike's Place family refuse to let him win. While the three people left dead by Hanif's bomb are unavoidably victims, those who survived it don't identify themselves as either victims or survivors because they refuse to let an act of terror define who they are. Instead they choose to define themselves by acts of love, peace and dedication and I salute them for that. While the film observes, endures and documents this story, the book looks back at it from the distance of over a decade. 'Mike's Place' starts and ends in different places, brings a new perspective to the relationships which end within the narrative and widens the scope to include the bombers themselves. It's a worthy follow-up to flesh out the story and enhance our understanding. Koren Shadmi's art is effective but it doesn't replace the live footage of the film, capturing a succession of moments as photographs but losing the gaps between them and the life that should animate them. And, at the end of the day, this story is all about life. It deserves to be read and absorbed and thought about.

2019-04-20T02:58:19Z

http://www.thenamelesszine.org/Illustrated-2015/Mikes_Place.php

Does anyone dehydrate their own meals for hiking? What kind of dehydrator do you use? What are some foods to avoid? What are some of your favorites? Just wondering because I just ordered an Excalibur dehydrator and am looking for recipes for backpacking foods. Chili, beef stew, various casseroles are what I typically dehydrate. Thanks for the input! I have a feeling I am going to be developing a lot of my own recipes. I like to cook and experiment with food so it will be fun. After these you will be creating your own recipes! I have an excalibur, very fine dehydrator. Assuming you bought it new, it will come with a recipe book and great tips on how to dehydrate. I don't have recipes; I just dehydrate all types of veggies/fruits and meats. The closest thing I got to recipes are the concoctions I put together for marinades, (but I don't write them down) which can enhance the taste greatly. However, I don’t marinade much of the stuff for a long hike (only for stuff I do for home), because I just got too much stuff to mess with marinades. Of course this doesn’t include meat/poultry -- ALWAYS MARINADE MEAT/POULTRY -- marinades are an important process to ensure the meat stays bacteria free. Lean ground beef, browned, drained, rinsed (yeah, rinsed), dehydrated. Packs light, rehydrates wonderfully, and works in so many trail meals - ramens, mac & cheeze, potatoes, everything. For meat, lean ground beef works real well. Just cook it up drain it and put in in the dehydrator. I have a Nesco with the 'fruit roll up trays" they are solid so nothing falls through the tray. When drying stuff one way to have a better chance at being successful is to dry food with low fat content, the higher the fat content the better chance at it going rancid. Don't add butter or oils to the foods and always get the leanest meat available. Beans, corn, peas, work well. You can put them in right out of the bag if you buy them frozen. Dry these items separately and you can add them to supplement store bought foods on a hike. You will find lots of backpacking recipes using dehydrated ingredients on my website. I use an Excalibur Dehydrator. You guys are great! Thanks for all of the tips, my dehydrator will be here tomorrow! I will definitely check out backingchef.com. In a dehydrator, which is a machine that removes all the hydro (water) from the food. You can buy these or make them. My grandmother used to make dehydrated foods by putting the food between screens and putting them out in the hot sun. We have a Sunbeam, which works great. Thanks for the plug Russ. While I do really like my own book, the other that you posted, Backpack Gourmet, is a wonderful resource as well. If the original poster has any questions I'd be more than happy to help. Thanks LauriAnn, I may just buy both books, I have been dehydrating all kinds of food! What great fun! I just discovered how stinky it is to try and dehydrate broccoli!!!! On an impulse, I bought an Oster brand food dehydrator when I was in Wal-Mart one day. It only cost me a mere $40, and is pretty much bargain basement special.... but I'll have to say, I'm pretty glad I bought it. I was thinking about getting a better one like the Excalibur, but then decided that I want to maybe build my own, as I am looking to "stockpile" dehydrated food in mass quantities for when I live "off the grid." But for the time being, my cheap little Oster brand is good for experimentation purposes. Here is a decent YouTube channe (http://www.youtube.com/dehydrate2store) which specializes in instructing people on the art and science of food dehydrating. Thusfar, I have only experimented making "soup mixes," dehydrated chili, as well as a beef/turkey stew kind of thing with some combination of noodles and "one minute" rice. I used a variety of freeze dried meats from the different freeze dried food suppliers combined with dried gravy packets (and dried chili packets for the chili) which you can get at just about any supermarket (McCormicks brand 'seasoning mixes,' or there is usually also a 'store' brand of these things, for about $89 cents apiece. . I have not tried dehydrating the meat yet myself. Kind of afraid to leave meat exposed on the counter in the machine for 24 hours... afraid it might pick up bacteria from sitting there.... but I'll experiment with that later. Dehydrating jerky is simple. To ease your fear of the meat getting contaminated try this method that I use. 1) Top shelf London Broil meat, Its low in fat. 3) Mix in w/ your jerky mix over night. 4) Place on cookie sheet and bake @ 350* for only ten min. in your home oven. Blot off dry w/ paper towel. No risk of spoiling because they were allready cooked in the oven. Oh-oh !! I'm new to dehydrating too- do you have to first cook the meat conventionally (10 mins. in 350 degree oven) ? Made jerky just a few times and didn't cook it previously, but kept it in a 'fridge after I jerkyed it as we tested (munched on) it. When you purchase a dehydrator they usually come with a "cookbook", many of which recommend that you pre-cook (or sometimes post-cook) the meat, especially poultry. I never do (start dehydration with completly raw meat/poultry) and I don't refrigerate nor do I vacuum seal. I just keep in a dark cool space and have eaten chicken jerky that was about a year-old. However, the marinade process (with ample amount of salt), IMHO, is cruicial to keeping bacteria growth under control. No matter how lean, most meat has some fat, which will liquify during the dehydration process and you can blot away with a napkin. However, not all fat will melt away, to do this one would have to over-dehydrate the meat, devoiding it of most of its nutritional value. I have a certain chili recipe I make which uses a can of Bush baked beans (different flavors), and I'm looking to see if I can make a dehydrated version of my concoction for use on the trails. Most of the other ingredients in my chili I can dehydrate no problem..... but the can of beans.... I need to figure out how to do that. It's not the beans, obviously.... those are easy to dehydrate.... but its specifically the tasty liquid in the can of beans that I need to dehydrate. I was thinking about maybe separating the beans from the juice, dehydrating the beans as normal in my dehydrator.... and then putting the liquid from the can spread out on a tray in my oven.... with the door partially open to let the moisture escape... and then seeing if I can turn all that liquid into some kind of..... whatever.... some kind of dried out substance like a Fruit roll up.... where I can just add the water back to it later to reconstitute the sauce. Same question I have for tomato sauce..... I reckon if anyone knows how to dehydrate tomato sauce, it would probably be the same as dehydrating the liquid in the can of beans. I'll be using the food dehydrator specifically in drying veggies and fruits. I find my Excalibur works perfectly for me. After experimenting for some time with dehydrated foods, I've discovered that outside of dried fruits/veggies, crackers & onion bread, I don't put it to much use, so a 4-trayer is ideal. None of them compare to the Excaliber. Well worth it. I can never get celery to reconstitute to it's original shape. This is beginning to irritate me. It's a small nitpick, but it's bugging me. I have not tried enough kinds of vegetables to see which other ones don't reconstitute properly, but I have tried celery multiple times, using different blanching lengths and times... and it always reconstitutes basically "flat." It doesn't regain its curved shape, like it originally had. It also tends to be stringier too, in taste, but that bugs me less than the shape. Corn and carrots seem to reconstitute to almost identical their original shape.... but celery.... grrrr.... I am now resigned to the fact that I shall just have to supplement my dehydrated celery with freeze dried celery which is much more expensive. The freeze dried stuff should retain the same shape, since it's not as shriveled up as dehydrated food, and resembles more the original look. I tried many veggie dishes, I have not tried to dehydrate noodle/pasta since I wasn't sure if they would dry properly or not. I have stayed away from meats since I tend to buy the cheap stuff and know they have more fat then the leaner stuff. I do have some precooked ham I going to try and dehydrate and make my own bean/ham/tater soup. Fruits no problem,Right now dehydrating water melon and see how they turned out. Bannana chips and apple chips are awesome with some walnuts/pecans. I want to try Yogurt,but not sure how to properly do it right.

2019-04-22T06:25:01Z

https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-58378.html?s=d5e48bf7d719760ec17cfdd4619b8398

Discussion in 'Cat Behavior' started by ScarlettSkater, Apr 21, 2018. I've written on this board quite a bit, and quite frankly, I'm frustrated, concerned, and confused over the behavior of my littermate Siamese kittens, and I'm hoping someone can help advise. As some of you may know, I am the owner of 5-month-old Siamese, Luna, a female seal point, and Artemis, a male chocolate point, and they are littermates as mentioned above. They have always been loving, bonded to each other (often to the exclusion of their humans), and the best of friends. In fact, I often remarked that they got along better than most human siblings! However, that changed after yesterday. Both were scheduled for spaying/neutering yesterday. As is usually the case, I was able to get Luna into her crate (which is actually the size of a small apartment: it can fit not just the two of them, but a litter box, bedding, etc with plenty of room to spare), but Artemis could not be caught. This happened a few weeks ago, when we took them on a "trip to grandma's house", (a five-hour trip one way). They loved being there, but while I was able to catch Luna easily, Artemis took THREE HOURS to catch. So this is hardly news. So Luna went to get spayed, and we have to figure out a way to get Artemis there (which I ask about later in this thread,) but when she returned, Artemis started acting antagonistically. I realize he was stressed from the multiple "catching attempts" so I get why he would hiss and growl at me, but when he started doing it full-time from his perch in my boxspring (where he goes when he gets freaked out) to the point I could hear it even with the tv on, I knew something was wrong. I was further reminded of this when I saw him growling louder when Luna came near, which she did, not realizing that her brother was being hostile towards her, hissing at her, and even swiping at her if she didn't get the hint. Obviously, I didn't want her hurt, especially in her condition, so I did what others in this forum recommended in similar situations, finally getting Artemis to move to my mom's bedroom down the hall and keeping the door closed so he stays in there, while Luna stays with me. Despite what everyone has said she should do, she still climbs a bit to get on my bed (which I'm trying to discourage, don't want her messing up her stitches) but both are relatively better now, despite crying all night for each other. To add to the problem, I don't think the cats were very well socialized. While they did come from a breeder, they also were in their own "wing" with three adult cats, (mom, dad, and aunt) and other than cursory visits from the breeder to feed them, replace their litter, etc, I don't think they had much socialization. So all the tools listed in this article work for folks whose cats let them near, but not necessarily in my circumstance. I did rub a towel on Luna to try to get the "vet stink" off, but good luck getting anywhere near Artemis to get his scent to rub on her! I even had to raise my voice at him to get him away from her (they were under the bed, so I couldn't physically seperate them) which I hate to do in their traumatized state. My next challenge will be getting Artemis to the vet, since he is the one who is hardest to catch. The irony is, I have the crate out all the time as sort of a "Cabana" for them, and he loves hanging out in there...when we don't need him to be there. I'm wondering how that's going to go, and if Luna will suddenly start acting hostile towards him because of the "vet smells" and if this will have to start all over again. I've kind of been going crazy over here (in case you haven't noticed lol) and not sure what to make of all this. 1) How long should I keep them apart? I think this article said "a few days" but I'm not sure what worked for your cats, specifically Siamese? To clarify, there will be someone with each of them 95% of the time, my mom and I are keeping an eye on both, especially Luna, until she heals. 2) Is socialization only possible during a window of time, as one vet suggested, or is there still hope? I can only really pet/hold Luna when she's in repose, or if she's not actively playing, but Artemis is my loveable coward who is seemingly afraid of everyone and everything, so only lets me pet him when he's in repose/sleepy and even then, if I move my other arm as if to lift him, he freaks out. In the two months I've had them, I have lifted Luna countless times, but only lifted Artemis a few, after which he wriggled out of my grasp. Any suggestions? 3) Will they get any more social towards me? Part of the reason I wanted Siamese is because they are supposedly "vocal", yet perhaps because of Luna and Artemis' bond, they only seem to chat with each other, no matter how much I speak to them. I'm honestly a bit disappointed that they are relatively aloof and not super-social....any suggestions? 4) For the lovely experience of trying to get Artemis to the vet, I read on this forum about gabapentin to mellow him out - anyone with Siamese experienced with this? I know pedigree cats tend to be high-strung and more sensitive (these cats eat better than most humans I know) so I wasn't sure if they are a good idea....I would of course ask my vet for the prescription, but wanted to get the Siamese perspective before I ask. Thanks again everyone, and sorry for the rambling, I'm really worried about the kitties and want to make sure I do everything correctly. In case you didn't notice, these are my first kitties, and they are quite a challenge! Your kitten's smelling the vet on the other kitty. Cats know each other by scent and since your kitty doesn't smell like himself anymore, he thinks its a stranger on his territory. Try using a small amount of baby powder. Put some on your hand and rub on all cats heads and behind the ears. It neutralizes the smell. Works well for me and usually works quickly. Cats personality can change as they get older. One of my cat (not a siamese) was not cuddly or affectionate, but the older he got, the more loving and vocal he became. duckpond and ScarlettSkater purraised this. A few drops of real vanilla extract on both cats may also help. I know that what your vet said is the acknowledged current thinking, but we've had more than one member here successfully turn a street cat into a house cat with time and patience. At least one was, to all intents and purposes, a true feral. Don't give up, but do be aware that the socialization at this point will be a longer, slower process. There may well be setbacks, so don't let that discourage you! duckpond, ScarlettSkater, tinydestroyer and 1 other person purraised this. ScarlettSkater and Mamanyt1953 purraised this. I second the vanilla. REAL vanilla extract on both cats. Just give them time, you could feed them on opposite sides of the door so they have a pleasant experience near each other. Sorry you are going through this with your kittens. Sounds like an awful breeder selling under socialized cats. As far as catching Artemis, since he is young we can try a couple of things that don’t work as well on older and more wary kitties. I would start feeding him a treat he loves by putting it in the bathtub or shower area and I would store cat carrier In the same room for at least a few days prior to vet day. You could in fact try putting the treat in the carrier but he may not fall for that. Anyway, once he is happily eating you shut the bathroom door and in that small space with limited places to hide you should be able to capture him and stick him in the carrier. Top loading carriers work best, if you have a front loader only then tip it on end and drop him in feet first. ScarlettSkater, Mamanyt1953 and danteshuman purraised this. I have litter mates that are best pals, but when one goes to the vet and comes home, it's 2-3 days of slapping, screaming, hissing, etc., and no blood shed nor a hair out of place. Lots of noise, no damage, but it's stressful for the slap-ee and the cat being yelled at (not to mention being jolted awake at 1:45 AM to a somewhat melodramatic cat scream), so we do keep them separated for a few days til everyone's cool. The vanilla thing is really, really good to know. For us, giving the cats time to relax, calm down, get a good meal and take a good, long bath is the best start. IME litter mates ARE like siblings in humans. They play together, sleep at the same time, eat side by side, but can argue and fight like crazy. Unless there's serious targeting behavior and someone is being bullied unfairly, or there's any kind of "real" fighting, I wouldn't worry too much but just keep them separate for awhile and let them calm a bit. Does Artemis love food? I'd start by feeding him any and all meals in a crate, door open. If he won't go in, feed him near it, then the bowl at the entrance, then just over the entrance threshold until he's happy to go in and out for food. If we're trapping semi-ferals for SN's, this method works well to catch 4-5 at a time in a large dog-type crate. ScarlettSkater, Mamanyt1953 and Desertmouse purraised this. Thank you! After keeping them away from each other for about a week and a half, everything was fine again and they are now getting along. I did finally catch Artemis, but he's still weird and I'm posting a separate question about how to socialize him better. Luna is the loveable one! Oh, good. These things often settle down with time and patience. Funny you say this. I started working on "socializing" Luna a month ago. Then, she was reluctant to be held, and would only let me hold her for very short periods of time - 30 seconds, 1 minute, at the most. I went away to visit family with both her and Artemis and while I was there, worked to increase the amount of time she would consent to be held. I think I got up to 2 minutes. When I returned home, the time started to increase more; then she got spayed, so I had to separate her from Artemis so she could heal. That's when things changed: she started to become much more friendly, and wanted me to pet her 10, 20 minutes at a time! She would flop in front of me, knead whatever she could, bonk my hand with her head, and rub against me to encourage this. However, Artemis is tricky. I'm still having a difficult time with him - sometimes he lets me pet him, but most of the time, he runs away whenever I come near. It's not just me either, the rest of my family has the same experience. I'm posting a separate thread about that. This is awesome, thank you! I'm especially excited about the last one, still trying to get Artemis to be more affectionate and less skittish, so I'll check it out. This is good to know for the future. In the end, time was the answer. Now they are back together with no problems. I really liked the breeder, it was the vet who suggested that perhaps they were not ideally socialized. Seeing Luna behaving so affectionately now, I'm not sure that's the case. Artemis is still a little weirdo though, but I'm wondering if that's personality more than anything else. And I see now that the lack of recognition post-vet-visit is normal, so that's reassuring. It was mostly because I had never had two cats before, so had never seen the dynamic change so abruptly. Thanks for the help! This is great, thank you! The only issue is, my bathroom has a washer and a dryer. Because of mandates, we needed a special filter for energy efficiency so they are away from the wall which gives kitties even more space to squeeze behind them. I don't even allow them in there too much for that reason. What worked for me, (finally) was getting Artemis out in the small hallway between our rooms. We blocked any furniture he could squeeze behind and put his favorite tunnel (he likes to hide there whenever he's frightened, which seems to be most of the time). Then when he went into the tunnel, my mom picked it up, folding it so he couldn't get out, and I opened the door into the bathroom (where the carrier was hidden) so we could put him in. Before that, we had given him a light sedative. Honestly, it didn't seem to help much, it slowed him down but not much, but perhaps it did help and I just didn't notice. Anyway, that's what eventually worked for us. Now both seem to have recovered and are back to being buddies! Funny story - Artemis LOVES food and LOVES his pet carrier - when I don't need him in it, that is. He actually sleeps in his carrier (I call it his cabana because it is large and covered with fabric over a frame), and considers it a great place to hide out. The kitties still spar, but not maliciously but more like playful tussling. Of course, I watch to make sure it doesn't get out of hand, since Artemis is larger and about two pounds heavier than Luna, but for the most part they are super comfortable with each other now. Sounds as if things are well under control now! As for Artemis, some cats are just less hands-on than others. Hekitty would barely let me touch her when she was much younger. As she has become a middle aged cat, she is far more affectionate.

2019-04-20T16:30:57Z

https://thecatsite.com/threads/help-my-kitten-is-hissing-growling-after-his-littermate-came-back-from-vet-other-complications.365378/

pl is a program that produces plots and charts from data, and produces results that can be viewed on web pages, paper, slides,or interactively on the screen. Standard types of plots may bedone using prefab plot templates, or a user-developed script filemay be supplied for greater flexibility and customization.pl may be executed from the command line or as a CGI program. See the various prefab examples .A large number of script examplesare also available.Some usage examplesare also shown below. Command line arguments may generally be given in any order.If there are arguments that you want to always have in effect, you can invoke them from a config file.Many settings can also be made dynamically from scripts via proc settingsor proc page.Processing occurs in this order: first the config file is read; then command line args are processed (left to right); then proc pageand/or proc settings.Later settings override earlier ones. Produce a plot using a prefabplot template.prefabname identifies the template, eg.cron or vbars.Necessary parameters are supplied on the command line using the form parm=value. names a script filethat will be interpreted to produce results.Alternatively, -stdin may be used to indicatethat script will be available on standard input. Declares the namedvariable and sets it to the given value. This is a convenient way to pass informationto prefabs and scripts. Variable names are case-sensitive. sets the variable CUTDATE to 10-31-98. Specify a filename where the result will be written.No processing is applied to this name.. so the ending should be appropriate forthe selected output format, eg. use .png for PNG files.If -o stdout is used,result will be sent to standard output. If -o is not specified, a default output filenamewill be used. Set ploticus' working directory to dirname.If used, this argument should be specified leftmost on the command line, since it affects evaluation of other args. -svg or -svgz SVGgraphic. See also SVG / XML options below. -drawdumpafilenamesame as -drawdump but result is appended to file. produce a client-side clickable imagemapto accompany a png, gif, or jpeg.These can be used for hyperlinks, and also for providingpop-up text labels that appear when the mouse passes over a region.By default, client-side map content is written to stdout. produce a server-side clickable imagemap fileto accompany a png, gif, jpeg, or SVG. Same as -csmap but all mapped regions are shown outlined in green,and a complete HTML chunk is produced which involves the output image name. Same as -map but all mapped regions are shown outlined in green. explicitly name the output file containing the map info. The name may also be set in proc page.If a name is not specified, client-side image map info will be written to stdout;server-side image map info will be written to a file having the same name as the output result fileexcept with a .map suffix(stdout may be useful in dynamic content HTML situations).For SVG this parameter is not needed, since image map info is embedded in the SVG file. Scale the final result.If one value is given, the result is scaled by this amount in both x and y.If two values are given, scaling in x and scaling in y may be done independently.A scale value of less than 1.0 reduces thesize; an scale value of greater than 1.0 enlarges. Scaling is done relative to the origin (0,0) which is at the lower left. Sets the pre-crop size of the result image for GIF/PNG/JPEG, or sets the display window size when drawing to X11. On other output devices this option does nothing.width and height are in absolute units.0,0 is the lower left corner.If -pagesize is not specified, the default size will be 8" x 8".Size is set before any drawing takes place and is unaffected by the -scale option. When rendering PNG/GIF/JPEG images, this option determines amount of internal memory allocation for accommodating the image.The result can never be bigger than this size, and any drawing outsize the bounds will not be visible.To create PNG/GIF/JPEG images larger than 8" x 8", this option MUST be specified to set a bigger size.Cropping options (below) can be used along with -pagesize as long as they result in a smaller rectanglethan the pagesize; they take effect after all drawing has been completed. -pagesize has no effect with EPS or paginated PostScript results (the PostScriptBoundingBox will be determined by the extent of the graphic). For image or EPS output, crop the result tightly to the extent ofthe design. Normally a small margin is allowed on all four sides.This option sometimes crops a bit too tight; if so try -croprel. Crop image or EPS result to the box specified byx1,y1 and x2,y2, in absolute units. Note that there may be no spaces in the coordinates specification.Cropping takes place after design is rendered and does notaffect coordinate locations. Crop image or EPS result tightly to the extent of the design (like -tightcrop),but then adjust the cropping outward or inward on one or more sides.left is the amount to adjust the left side, in absolute units.Similarly for bottom, right, and top.Positive values always adjust outward from center; negative values adjust inward (tighter).There may be no spaces in the left,bottom,right,top specification.Cropping takes place after design is rendered and does notaffect coordinate locations. sets the overall font to font. See fontsfor more info. sets the overall default textsize to pointsize.All embedded size specifications will be rendered relative to this. sets the overall default linewidth to w.All embedded line width specifications will be rendered relative to this.See linedetails(pli) for more on line width. sets the overall default text and line drawing color to color. sets the background color to color. Use centimeters as your absolute units, instead of inches.On the command line this must appear to the left of any arguments dealing withabsolute unit values, such as -pagesize.Centimeter absolute units can also be set via proc settings.If cm will always be the desiredabsolute units, the preferred way to achieve this is by using units: cm in a ploticus config file. Use inches as your absolute units. This is the default. Set the label or title for the output. For X11 this sets the window title;for PostScript and SVG it sets the %%Title attribute. These options (new with version 2.10) allow capacities to be raised for accomodation of very large data sets, or lowered to minimize memory usage.The defaults in this section are defined in pl.h. Set the capacity for data rows to nrows. Default nrows is 10,000.Ploticus will allocate one pointer for each row. Set the capacity for data fields to nfields. Default nfields is 200,000.Ploticus will allocate one pointer for each field. Set the capacity for script lines for active procs to nlines.Default nlines is 5000.Active procs are the current proc, all #saved procs, andall proc getdata procs that contain embedded data.Ploticus will allocate one pointer for each line in each active proc. Set the capacity for the data plotting vector to ncells.Default ncells is 100,000.The data plotting vector is an array which holds plottablevalues for situations where the values must be sorted or pre-screened forbad values. Ploticus will allocate one double value for each cell. Use this if you need to render a polygon having more than 500 points in PNG/GIF/JPEG, X11, or SWF, orany continuous line having more than 500 points in SWF. Note: raising the maximum number of categories may be done using proc categoriesfrom within the script. This allows arbitrary text to be inserted into the opening <svg> tag. By default the first line of the SVG result will be the XML declaration <?xml .. > .Use this option to suppress the XML declaration line ifthe SVG result is to be embedded into a larger XML document. Set the XML character encoding method. This encoding will be indicated in the XML declaration line.The default is iso-8859-1 which provides Latin and Western European character sets.For Unicode fonts this should be set to utf-8 (for more discussion see the Unicode section in fonts). Causes a suitableHTML <EMBED> tag to be written to standard output. This may be used to set the compression level to n for SVGZ output(0 - 9 where 9 is highest level of compression and the default). After generating results in the specified format, execute commandin order to view the results on your screen. The output file will automatically beincluded in the command. For example, if a GIF file is beinggenerated you might use this to invoke the xv utility: -viewer xv. If PostScript is being generated you could use something like this toinvoke the ghostview utility: -viewer "gv -magstep -1".The given command must be available on your system and locatable inyour command search path.This option may not be used with -o stdout. For paginated postscript, set paper orientation to landscape (oblong). For paginated postscript, set paper orientation to portrait. Allows production of large-size posters made up of multiple standardsheets of paper butted together. May be used only with paginated PostScript,and should be used in combination with the -scale and -textsizeoptions. x,y is the point within your result (in absolute units) that is to be placed at the lower left corner of the page.For further discussion of this, see posters . Debug mode. Causes dianostic information to be written to the diagnostic stream (stderr by default, see -diagfile below).Highly recommended if you are experiencing difficulty.Best to use -debug as the first (leftmost) argument so that it can reporton all arguments gotten.Another effect of debug mode is that any temporary files are not removed upon termination. Write ploticus script lines as they are executed. Lines are written to the diagnostic stream (standard error by default) or standard output.Lines are written after variablesand most script directives, including flow-of-control directives, are evaluated. Identify unplottable data, showing the value, and its row and field. All non-error messages and output will be written to this file (default is stderr). Allows developer to set the first portion of all ploticus error messages to tagfor purposes of presentation or identification. All error messages will be written to this file (default is stderr). Print version number, copyright info, web site address, etc. The output file may be specified on the command line using the -o option,or via Proc Page's outfilename attribute.If so, the result is written to a file of that name.-o stdout may also be used to send result to standard output. Otherwise, if your script filename has a "recognized extension"( .p, .pl, .plo, .pls, .htm or .html ),the base part of the script file name is used and .png, .gif, etc.is appended. If your script filename doesn't have a recognized extension, the generic name out.* will be used. X11 output is always displayed on the screen, andpaginated PostScript is written to standard output unless -o is used. If page breaks (Proc Page) are encountered when rendering in any format otherthan paginated PostScript,special action is necessary since each page must go into a separate file. A Proc Page outfilename may be specified for each page;otherwise a pn prefix will be attached to the beginning ofeach page's output file name to indicate page n. If a clickmapis being generated, the result file is named similarly to the above. The following examples assumethat you have a script file called lineplot1.p. pl -gif lineplot1.p -viewer xv = produce GIF and view using xv (assuming xv image viewer is available on your system). pl -eps lineplot1.p -viewer gv = produce EPS and view using gv (that's ghostview, assuming it is available on your system). pl -ps lineplot1.p | lp = produce paginated postscript and send tounix lp print spooler. pl -ps lineplot1.p -veiwer gv = produce paginated postscriptand view using ghostview. The name of a ploticus configuation file, for setting default date notations, numbernotations, measurement units, etc. The path name of a directory where ploticus will look for prefabscripts. The "factory" prefabs are located in the ploticus ./prefabs subdirectory. Locale support. Thanks to Oleg Bartunov olegAATTsai.msu.sufor contributing this. pl must be built with -DLOCALE for this to work. Control the disposition of error messages. Allowable values: stderrwhich is the default, and cgi which causes error messages to be written to stdout with html formatting. Ploticus has some stated limitations(mostly related to capacities that you may run into if you're dealing with large data sets). To report problems or get help see the ploticus support page. The primary author is Stephen C. Grubb.Ploticus covered by the General Public License (GPL)... please see the ploticus copyright pagefor more info.

2019-04-24T20:43:30Z

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/45/idpl/3231243/numer/1/nazwa/ploticus

A new study on fracking from supposed health professionals is a collection of anecdotes and assertions that should be called “100 or So Lies About Fracking”. collection of allegations and anecdotes; the sort of pseudoscience we’ve come to expect from this gang. Their latest report is pompously titled as a Compendium of Scientific, Medical , and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (Unconventioanl Gas and Oil Extraction). It might better be called 100 or So Lies About Fracking. Sandra Steingraber (pictured doing one of her schticks), uses natural gas to heat her home in Trumansburg, NY, and was the ringleader, which was hardly a surprise. Nowhere in this report did I the reader find any evidence of evidence that came from a unbiased source study. Much of the material consists of self authored rhetoric from 30 More Days of Fracking, or New York Residents Against Fracking, which are anything but reliable sources as their aim is simply to stop natural gas development in New York or anywhere else. There is no evidence in the compendium to support this allegation, other than references to some junk science reports that have been previously debunked; no scientific backup. There is, though, considerable evidence contradicting everything Steingraber and company assert and it’s available online. Check out this set of charts comparing Bradford County, Pennsylvania air pollution levels in 2006 (pre-drilling era) and 2012. No county in Pennsylvania has more Marcellus Shale wells than Bradford. Fracking itself has never contaminated water sources or aquifers as Lisa Jackson, former head of the EPA, testified at congressional hearings in 2011. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has also said “I still have not seen any evidence of fracking per se contaminating groundwater.” No one denies surface contamination can occur if fluids are illegally disposed of, if their is an equipment failure, or operator negligence. Or, that methane migration issues can’t be aggravated by drilling in some instances. The report notes “Schlumberger, one of the world’s largest companies specializing in fracking, published an article in its magazine in 2003 showing that about five percent of wells leak immediately, 50 percent leak after 15 years and 60 percent leak after 30 years.” This information is true, but what is conveniently or accidently left out is that these numbers include off-shore oil and gas production which is done under water and has a higher failure rate. Additionally, the Ground Water Protection Council has also done extensive reviews of data from more than 220,000 wells in Ohio and Texas and found failure rates of only 0.03% in the former and 0.01% in the latter. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says there have been no red flags in their monitoring of radioactive elements in waste from Marcellus Shale development. The NYS-DEC has also addressed concerns over radioactive waste cuttings from the Marcellus Shale in it’s SGEIS. See here, here and here. It’s a non-issue. OSHA regulations apply to operations on a well pad and, as I noted earlier here, oil and gas extraction, combined with the support activities connected with it, has had fewer total fatalities than agriculture or tourism. Rates of non-fatal occupational injury in the industry have averaged 1.5 per 100 full-time workers in 2012, compared to 3.5 for all industries combined. See the details here. Moreover, if we are going to compare industry dangers and death risk to workers, then let’s compare that of oil and gas to coal mining, one of the deadliest and most dangerous jobs a person may have. Should we not work off shift factory jobs that require lighting at night? And, since when is lighting from a drilling rig, that is up for maybe two weeks at most, “chronic exposure to light”? How can anyone take this hyperbole seriously? Where are the scientific studies that show this statement to be true as applied to gas drilling, which is a short-term activity? What were the measured parameters used in the study, was it nocturnal mice and rats or was there a study with human participants and by whom? Drilling has been going on in America for over 100 years and although some people may be stressed over the work and noise others are not. More importantly, once a well is completed, these variables discontinue. If any stress is put on the public, it is brought on by fractivist misinformation campaigns such as this one! Consider, too, that many of us find gas drilling to be exciting and invigorating, although these dogs seem non-plussed. Why is it so many fractivist arguments begin with “A growing body of evidence…” but are accompanied with little or no evidence? Yes, there is some evidence of a connection between wastewater injection and small earthquakes, but wastewater injection is not being proposed in New York and gas companies operating in the region are already recycling 100% of their wastewater. Finally, geothermal energy has been inducing earthquakes since the 1960s, so why isn’t this renewable energy source getting the same attention? What relevance does this have today? We are in the age of information technology and environmental awareness were drillers are required to be permitted with comprehensive drilling plans showing depth, well pad placement, pressures, seismic anomalies, etc.. Drillers use the latest technology to check for fractures in the cement casings and mapping of the well bore. Pressure tests on completed wells are done prior to fracturing operations to identify any avenue of possible escape of the fracturing fluids before even one gallon of of the stuff is sent down a well. The pressure in a well also goes down over time, meaning it is highly unlikely to leak later if it doesn’t leak at the outset when pressure is much. much higher. I have read the report of goats being born with just a head, but I ask how does a head develop in a womb without a heart, spine or other organs needed to develop. So, I ask where is the science and why are there no links to these wild claims that demonstrate the silliness of this contention? There is no causal evidence to support any these contentions, wild or otherwise. It should also be noted most farmers are desperate to see natural gas development move forward so they can continue to farm. Referring to Anthony Ingraffea’s studies are questionable at best as he is an avid anti-drilling advocate funded by the Park Foundation not to find anything positive about drilling but to only come up with negative rebuttals to the science of drilling itself. The EPA and Department of Energy have both stated that converting to natural gas from coal will in fact slow down climate change, buying us more time to develop renewables and get off fossil fuels eventually. Putting Americans to work in any state is the necessity of a nation starving for work. Making statements about the jobs all going to out-of-towners is false. The vast majority of oil and gas industry workers in Pennsylvania are local hires and they’re making excellent money. Deborah Rogers, Arthur Berman and Chip Northrup have all tried to make this claim, but the evidence is against them. See this recent piece from my fellow guest blogger, Nick Grealy. Never have I read a more biased statement against drilling as this one presented by Sandra Stiengraber and the Concerned Health Professionals of NY! I see no link to blood, urine, mucus, human or animal cell studies. I see no independent lab test results. What is highly present in this paper is references to press stories and unsubstantiated claims brought forth by paid activists from New York agitating people in drilling communities to bring frivolous law suits against drilling companies simply with the promise of a big payout. Have there been problems? Yes, of course, but the problems found in natural gas drilling are also found in wind power, solar energy and geothermal (which often uses the same fracking technology as natural gas). It is the responsibility of the New York State DEC to ensure environmental protection and they do it well. Since the 1960s, DEC has helped clean up dead lakes in the Adirondacks caused by coal-burning acid rains and mercury contamination, and the Susquehanna River where, as a child, I remember local factories in Broome County dumping hazardous waste directly into the river. More tomorrow! Watch for Part II. So Victor, who are we to believe? A shale gas activist landowner profiting from fracking or health professionals, scientists and medical organizations. Humm … let me think … you know what, I think I’ll believe the latter. I can’t wait for your part II. So, you’d prefer to take the word of an anti-shale gas activist who lives in a house heated with tracked gas and is paid by Heinz and Park, et al to push their message? Pitiful. Ha !!! I see why Clifford Goudy is against fossil fuels. He’s afraid his funding will run out because of our discoveries of NG and how it is being used to generate power. I didn’t say “anti-shale gas activist.” I said, “health professionals, scientists and medical organizations.” Please don’t put words in my mouth. Vic is not profiting any more than the rest of us who own land. Thanks to the dithering of Cuomo there are no wells being drilled, no royalty money coming in, no ad velorem tax revenues for schools and towns.. So tell me how we are profiting? The facts speak for themselves. I did not make any of my observations out of spite but spent about 15 hours reading the compendium and checking many of the references. I live in NY were good Ideas are gone through by the one percent’s who determine policy and by the time they decide drilling is ok they would have bought a few million more acres of foreclosed farms. You go ahead and comprehend this breakdown as you see fit your mind is set and closed. Whether or not I profit from gas drilling has left my mindset years ago. I fight the fight for the simple fact that I am an American Vet who sees beyond the gas issue into a issue far more important. That which I fear most is the fake fear mongering environmentalist using their fear tactics to further their socialistic agenda and imposing their ideologies onto an unsuspecting public that will not realize the agenda until to late. I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said America can only be destroyed from within. We are at the door of energy independence which in itself has more value to Americans to be a secure and safe place to live. Land rights of Americans have never been so threatened by socialist as they are today. After Natural Gas these socialist will go after logging and quarries. They would stop hunting and outlaw anything that creates jobs because these people who are fake environmentalist are controlled by the one percent who want to create two classes of Americans, Themselves and poor. No Victor, your post is purely a combination of personal slander and half truths. I respect your interest in making America a better place but I fear you are missing two important points – 1) quality of life depends on the quality of the environment, and 2) the threat of global warming and the role fossil fuels are playing in that process are real. Wrap your mind around those two facts and you might begin to understand how misleading your posts are. I don’t think Vic’s posts are misleading in any way and I don’t see any half-truths in them. Let’s talk facts. Point out where you think he’s wrong. Vic Furman is dealing in facts, not the unsupported fearmongering propaganda of the anti-driller. Southern Tier landowners are sick and tired of Constitutional property rights infringement- rest assured none of us are making any money. we have been victimized by activists, celebrities, and Albany politicians like Silver and Cuomo, who turned a straightforward regulatory issue into a political firestorm, complete with the highest level NY courts ignoring existing law to legislate from the bench. is HVHF 100% safe? no, nothing is. is burning fossil fuels ideal? no, but there are currently ZERO affordable scalable alternatives- least of which would be absurd schemes to harness wave power on a macro scale. natural gas is so important worldwide it’s Putin’s leverage over Europe and Ukraine. beating up on four little counties in NY is not going to change climate trajectory. here’s an idea: since Andrew “I am the State” Cuomo fancies himself such a Climate Messiah, why doesn’t he start rationing or banning the use of fossil fuels right now prior to the election and see where that gets him… unelected, that’s where. Democrats are just NIMBYs. Poor Cliff would lie if he had to tell the truth to do it. He contradicts himself in every post.

2019-04-25T22:52:05Z

https://naturalgasnow.org/100-lies-fracking/

Bush Confesses to Waterboarding. Call D.C. Cops! “History will not judge this kindly,” Ashcroft predicted. “This” is torture. Against innocent people. Conducted by CIA agents and American soldiers and marines. Sanctioned by legal opinions issued by Ashcroft’s Justice Department. Directly ordered by George W. Bush. An April 11th report by ABC News describes how CIA agents, asked by previous presidents to carry out illegal “black ops” actions (torture and killings), had become tired of getting hung out to dry whenever their dirty deeds were revealed by the press. When the Bush Administration asked the CIA to work over prisoners captured in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere, Director George Tenet demanded legal cover. The Justice Department complied by issuing a classified 2002 memo, the so-called “Golden Shield,” authored by Office of Legal Counsel Jay Bybee. “Enhanced interrogation techniques”–i.e., torture–were legal, Bybee assured the CIA. Tenet was a good boss, a CYA type. He wanted to protect his agents. So he got the Principals to personally sign off on each act of torture. “According to a former CIA official involved in the process,” ABC reported, “CIA headquarters would receive cables from operatives in the field asking for authorization for specific techniques.” Can we beat up this guy? Can we waterboard him? The Bushies weren’t otherwise known for dwelling on details. Osama was in Pakistan; they invaded Afghanistan instead. Two years later, he was still in Pakistan. They invaded Iraq. Bush and his top officials still found time to walk through every step of torment a detainee would suffer in some CIA dungeon halfway around the world. Not only did he know, he personally approved it. He likes torture. At least four detainees have committed suicide at the torture camp created by George W. Bush after 9/11 at Guantánamo Bay. Twenty-five more made 41 unsuccessful attempts to kill themselves. The conditions of their confinement–ordered by Bush and his Principals–constitutes torture. It no doubt prompted their deaths. If George W. Bush were an ordinary citizen, there can be little doubt that he would face a long prison sentence for the scores of acts of torture he authorized both specifically and generally. Four of the seven white hillbillies charged with the kidnap-torture of a black woman in Logan County, West Virginia are now in jail for at least the next ten years. If Bush weren’t president, he would face murder charges. The maximum sentence in a federal murder case is death. If Bush and his co-conspirators are not above the law, if the United States remains a nation where all citizens are equal, they must be arrested and indicted. But by whom? The Supreme Court has never resolved the question of whether a sitting president can be arrested by civilian authorities. Even if he were charged and convicted, many legal experts say he could issue himself a pardon. Bush could be extradited to one of the countries where the torture and murders were committed–such as Afghanistan or Cuba. But he could claim immunity as a head of state. There is, however, a person who could begin holding Bush and the others accountable for their crimes. She is Cathy L. Lanier, the 39-year-old chief of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. Chief Lanier, take note: you have probable cause to arrest a self-confessed serial torturer and mass murderer within the borders of the District of Columbia. He resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Go get him. History is calling, Chief Lanier. Your city, and your country, needs you. Actress/singer Miley Cyrus–the “Miley” is short for “Smiley” (yes, really)–has just signed a book deal. For her memoirs. She’s 15. Sorry for the late posting of this cartoon. Technical BS and all that. I don’t expect most people to understand this one; it’s a satire of art comix (the kind that appear in the NY Times Sunday Magazine) where nothing much happens and the characters are all sad and lonely. Which is pretty much the state of mind of Bush as he dreams of a time when he’ll finally get more quality time with his beloved. Among the highlights of this interview are shots of the cover of the new French edition of “La Route de la Soie en Lambeaux” (that’s “Silk Road to Ruin” to you Murkins) and the artwork for next year’s graphic novel “The Year of Loving Dangerously.” No, I haven’t learned how to draw more realistically. The art is by Pablo J. Callejo, noted for the “Bluesman” series from NBM. It’s my story, and I wrote it. Why Is America So Mean? “The 82nd,” the man ahead of me in the security line at the Kansas City airport said. He was 64 and white, very Hank Hill and not the kind of guy you’d typically see chatting up a skinny 20-year-old Latino dude. But they were both veterans. Common ground is a given. “I was in the 82nd too,” the kid told the old man. I looked down. The kid’s legs were gone. He was standing on metal. Implausibly and heartbreakingly, white Converses adorned the tips of his prosthetic legs. High tops. On the other side of the metal detector, I caught up with the young vet (Iraq? Afghanistan?). HomeSec was giving him the whole treatment: arms stretched out, the wand, stern expressions and stupid questions. The wand beeped and beeped. The TSA guy scowled. “I’ve got titanium all the way up my spine,” the kid explained. You’re kidding me, I thought. After what he’s been through. After what he’s done for his country. I wanted to scream: Bastards! You should wave him around the checkpoint. Here, sir, we’d like to offer you a seat in first class. No, no, no charge. I bit my tongue. Here in the land of the twee and the craven, I know when to shut up. That’s what we do now. Airports are nodes of high-intensity fascism in a nation settling into authoritarianism lite. Hassle the bastards and you might end up dead. I had a flight to catch, doncha know. Have we, at long last, any decency? In one respect, the three remaining presidential candidates say, “Yes, we do.” They’ve promised to close Gitmo. What ought to happen to the nearly 300 detainees is obvious. Hand each of them an apology, a bag of cash–a million bucks wouldn’t be nearly enough for what they’ve been through–and a plane ticket home. Those who can’t return to their countries of origin because their U.S.-backed dictatorships would murder them receive a penthouse suite in the U.S. city of their choice. I’d let them switch places with their guards and 300 top-ranking members of the Bush Administration for a couple of days first. No questions asked. Just get on the plane, and don’t forget your bag o’ cash. Here’s how messed up, how separated from common sense justice the United States of America has become: We might close Gitmo. But we’re keeping the inmates! “When it comes to closing Guantánamo, talk is cheap,” Columbia law professor Matthew Waxman tells The Los Angeles Times. Because, you see, the U.S. government has violated the victims’ rights so egregiously for so long that there’s no longer a legally appropriate way to process them. “Especially vexing,” says the paper, “are scores of foreign detainees: Officials lack evidence to prosecute, but warn against setting them free.” It’s an 800-year-old Western legal principle called habeas corpus: you can’t hold a person in custody without charging them. Oh, wait–Bush got rid of that. “Because there is little evidence against them that could be used in a U.S. court, government officials fear that a federal judge could order them freed,” the Times continues. Heaven forbid that we release people, even if there’s no evidence they’ve done anything wrong. What’s next? Taxing the rich? “Then you would have 100-plus future sleeper-cell members unleashed in Kansas,” a “midlevel official” told the Times. No grain silo would be safe. Gitmo inmates have been waterboarded, urinated upon by U.S. soldiers, violently force-fed and driven to suicide. Some of the “dangerous terrorists” (John McCain’s description) were 12 years old when Afghan warlords sold them to U.S. forces for cash bounties. They’ve grown up in Gitmo. When do we finally, at long last, decide that they’ve suffered enough? Maybe we should just shoot them. It’s not just foreigners. Even for its own native-born wretches, America couldn’t find a path to fundamental decency if it were lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. In ancient Rome, executioners abided by a rule: If they failed to hack off your head after three swings of the blade, they set you free. Not here. Men condemned to lethal injection wake up screaming; the guards administer more poisons and barbiturates. Veterinarians abandoned the three-drug cocktail used to kill inmates in most states because they considered it cruel to animals. Many death row prisoners are innocent. Sometimes they even manage to prove it before their executions. “At least 205 men and one woman nationwide have been exonerated through DNA evidence since 1989, including 53 who…were convicted of murder,” reports The New York Times. But what happens to those who are set free? No compensation is enough for someone who serves years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But society ought to come up with something. There ought to be money. Millions and millions of dollars. So much that the victim of a judicial miscarriage never has to work again. It wouldn’t bring back the lost years, the shattered relationships and murdered moments. But it would be a start. Then again, this is America. We don’t apologize, much less try to pay penance. Here’s $24 and a cheap suit. Too bad about those 15 years. Thank you for playing. Want compensation? Find a lawyer who’ll work for $24 and sue. Ah, but there’s a catch: you need a law under which to file a lawsuit. 36 of the 50 states have laws that specifically prevent innocent ex-prisoners from going to court to seek the damages they ought to have been given without asking. Twelve of the remaining 14 have limits. (New York and Maryland do not.) California caps total payouts at a stingy $100 a day, up to a maximum of $10,000–even if they lock you up for 20 years by mistake. As individuals, Americans are generous to a fault. They do the right thing, or at least they try. The disconnect occurs when we express our collective will, through our courts and government officials. Our laws and our politicians are mean, cheap and callous. All over the country, local policemen are tracking suspects to steal their DNA. Yes, really. You are currently browsing the Tedrall's Blog blog archives for April, 2008.

2019-04-20T06:53:08Z

https://tedrall.wordpress.com/2008/04/

When Dalton Conley, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, talks about race, his authority is based on more than academic research. Every day he straddled the lines of race in the New York City housing project where he grew up in 1970s, a white kid, son of bohemian artists. The apartment complex, Masaryk Towers, then and now stands in a largely Puerto Rican and African-American neighborhood on the Lower East Side. As Conley explained when he stopped by the Nautilus office last week for an interview, his childhood was like a social science experiment. “Even when you flip the script and you are the minority, you see the stark advantages of whiteness and the divisions of social and cultural capital,” he said. Given the history of using biology for political means, it’s really important to say that race as we know it is not a biological concept. In 2009, Conley earned a Ph.D. in biology, specializing in genomics. The results of his biological education appear between covers in 2017’s The Genome Factor: What the Social Genomics Revolution Reveals About Ourselves, Our History & Our Future, co-written with Jason Fletcher, a professor of public affairs with appointments in sociology, applied economics, and population health sciences, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In our Nautilus interview, Conley confronted the controversies that infix discussions about race. A recent podcast interview between author Sam Harris and Charles Murray, coauthor of The Bell Curve, the notorious 1994 book that delves into race and IQ, inspired a volley of exchanges. Throughout, Conley spoke with calm conviction, drawing from both biology and sociology, to bolster his view that race is not a scientific category. Genomics, he explained, is now filtering out the myths and misinformation, proffered by both the political left and right, about race, intelligence, and success. You write that “race does not stand up scientifically.” Why? Race as we treat it in the United States—black, white, Hispanic, other—the one-drop rule, otherwise known as the law of hypodescent, where if you have any black ancestry, African American ancestry, you’re classified as black—these commonsensical notions of racial divisions in the United States really do not map onto genetic clines or ancestry differences in the human population. In fact, those real ancestry differences belie our notions of race. Are you saying there’s no genetic component to race? There are definitely genetic ancestry signals in our genomes that are easily recognizable. For example, if someone is 100 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent, or even 12.5 percent Ashkenazi Jewish, that is very identifiable in the genome. If someone has African ancestry we can recognize that in the genome. The more fine-grain you get, either you need really detailed genotyping information or a big sample size to really identify small differences, like, say, between Swedish and German, or something like that. But there are definitely signals of our historical origins in the genome. There’s no denying that. My point is that they don’t actually reinforce what we call race socially, and what we act on in our daily lives in the United States or elsewhere, for that matter. I define race as a social identity in which you do not choose your identity, unlike ethnicity. Ethnicity is something that’s affiliational. I’m actually an eighth Irish but on St. Patrick’s Day, especially given my last name is an Irish last name, I can choose to be 100 percent Irish, drink green beer, and wear all green. But if I said, “Well, I’m also English,” or “I’m also Jewish,” people wouldn’t say, “Well, that doesn’t make sense. Which is it? Choose.” It’s individual, it’s affiliational, you can have multiple ethnic identities. Race is something that’s socially determined. I don’t choose my race. Society around me, how people react to me, defines my race. Generally, even though there is a robust multiracial movement, you can only have one race. In fact, to the extent to which the scholars and activists are pushing the idea of multiracial classification, especially since the 2000 census allowed more than one choice, that’s pushing what we call race more toward what sociologists would call ethnicity. Race usually also implies a power differential. That’s why the boundaries of race are so policed, because there’s real stakes there. Now, I’m making this distinction between race and ethnicity that sociologists make. However, it’s not a hard line. Obviously there’s inequalities within ethnicity. Some ethnicities have higher status and higher associated incomes and so forth than other ethnicities. But that’s the fundamental difference between race and ethnicity. That’s all social, I would say. Biologically, there are genetic clines that are more continuous distributions of the alleles, nucleotides, and repeats that you see in some populations at a higher prevalence than you see in other populations. Some people call it the continental ancestry because you can really recognize not just which continent people’s ancestors hailed from, but also even sub-continental, tribal identities that have unique genetic signatures that are passed on and we can see in our own genomes today. We all have the same genes, i.e., the same protein coding sequences, but there is significant variation between groups. Some of that has important consequences like Tay-Sachs or sickle cell, and some of it is just neutral accumulated mutations that don’t really matter much. What compelled you to tackle genetics and race? I feel that, absent our history, we could probably talk about continental ancestry and genetic clines productively, and investigate them and understand patterns of human migration and group difference with genetic tools at our disposal. Some people are doing that kind of research, learning that, for example, people came over to North American earlier than we thought. That’s partly evidenced by artifactual analysis, but also from genetic analysis. Learning about who mixed with whom in the New World has been very informed by genetic analysis. I think it’s all very interesting and very important to human sciences. “The Bell Curve” authors were totally premature and over their skis scientifically, because there was no genetic evidence to analyze. However, I think it’s important to, given the history of eugenics, the history of trying to essentialize biological differences, even the debate in the 19th century that put Darwin on the side of his erstwhile enemies, the religious conservatives—there was a debate called monogenism versus polygenism which was, “Are humans all one species or are they multiple species?” Darwin, based on scientific evidence, was arguing that we are all one species. Many people seized on his ideas in the late 19th century to argue that there were fundamental biological differences and used that to justify everything from imperialism and slavery to genocide. I think, given that history of using biology for political means, it’s really important to say that race as we know it is not a biological concept. Speaking of controversy, what is The Bell Curve? Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray wrote this book in 1994 based on very limited data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that the role of intelligence in society, and getting ahead, had increased, and concomitantly that the role of genes had become more important in determining success and who gets ahead and the role of environment had decreased. In fact, it was a very elegant, if slick, sophistic argument that the U.S. and other modern societies had become meritocracies much more than they were in the old boy days when women were excluded and Jews and blacks were excluded from elite institutions and so forth, such that the paradoxical consequence of becoming meritocratic was that the inequalities that do remain are based more on merit, and therefore are more intractable. Add in the fact that as higher education became more important and a sorting ground for future spouses, then the more endowed genetically were increasingly not mixing up with everybody else but reproducing with each other. Therefore, in each generation furthering genetic disparities in intelligence and in socioeconomic success. They added a number of other arguments, like that we’re living or entering a period of dysgenics where lower ability people were having more kids than higher ability people, leading to an overall “degrading of the population” despite all the evidence of the Flynn effect, which is IQ has actually been increasing over the course of the 20th and 21st century with each generation. Lastly, they made an argument that these dynamics explained racial differences in success and in other outcomes, and that they were based on innate genetic differences between what we’ve called social races. What’s wrong with The Bell Curve? They were making this argument back in the mid 1990s, 1994, and there was no molecular data on a large scale available for analysis of humans. They were really, at the very least, totally premature and over their skis scientifically, because there was no evidence to analyze. All we knew about how important genes or an environment were back then came from twin studies and some adoption studies, and some other methods. But basically trying to infer how big an elephant is by looking at the shadow of the elephant, not observing the actual elephant itself. We hadn’t sequenced the human genome. More importantly, we hadn’t developed these chips that allow people to send in their saliva to 23andMe or Ancestry.com or some other lab and get a readout of their actual molecular sequence. Now, today that we can do that, and scientists have been doing that. Biological and social sciences have combined forces to do that for major studies, whether that’s medical studies or traditional social, scientific, and economic surveys. We can now actually pose the question that they posed over 20 years ago. The answer seems to be yes, some genetics matter for success. That’s not deniable. But it’s not that genetics are becoming more important for socioeconomic success than they were in earlier birth cohorts in the 20th century. It’s flat. It’s not accelerating. If anything, there might be even some evidence of declining importance of genes for cognitive ability and for socioeconomic success. We have seen, for example, that the genetic effects on, say, height and on obesity have really ratcheted up as the environment has changed over the last hundred years. Today, your BMI is much more determined by your genotype than by your environment than it was 100 years ago. It’s not that all genetic effects are going down or stable. Some are really becoming more important. Genetics of smoking’s become more important than environment today. But for intelligence and for socioeconomic status, how far people get in school, and all those kind of things, the evidence is just simply not there to support their claim that we’ve become more of a genetically stratified society than when we were in mid-20th century. In a recent interview with Charles Murray, author Sam Harris said “there seems to be very little we can do environmentally to increase a person’s intelligence, even in childhood. It’s not that the environment doesn’t matter, but genes appear to be 50 to 80 percent of the story.” What do you think? I had said that genes explain about 50 percent of most human behaviors, including cognitive ability. They’re rounding up. They’re taking the higher-end estimate to say 50 to 80 percent genetic. I don’t think there’s a consensus on that. I also think that’s a complete misreading of the relationship between the genetic providence of a trait and whether or not we can do something about improving it. The left likes to say that there are no biological differences between any recognizable groups of people. And we just know that’s not true. I’m talking to you right now. I can see you across the room. You’re wearing glasses. I had severe myopia and had LASIK surgery in my late 20s. Myopia in modern society is almost completely heritable. It’s almost completely 100 percent genetic. It didn’t exist in pre-modern societies, largely. It is a function of our environment, but in terms of who gets or does not get myopia, it’s almost 100 percent genetically determined. Yet we both cured our myopia, so to speak, with glasses and with surgery, so just because something is genetic doesn’t mean you can’t address it. I believe that’s true about cognitive ability or educational success, non-cognitive skills. Just because they have a genetic basis in a cross-section among a population today does not mean that we cannot address it. The Flynn effect that I mentioned, that the average IQ has been increasing over the course of the 20th century, shows that even if there’s a genetic basis, fixing the environment, getting lead out of gasoline, getting rid of asbestos, becoming a more knowledge-driven, cognitively complicated society—there’s lots of theories about why the Flynn effect is occurring. But basically, generally improving the health and well-being does raise the average IQ of the population. I think there’s plenty of evidence of that. Again, just because something has a genetic basis does not mean that we can’t do anything about it. Is there a genetic basis to intelligence? I think that the general consensus in the behavioral genetics literature and the molecular genetics literature is that there is definitely some basis to cognitive ability that’s genetic. What percent is genetic, what percent is environmental, is up for grabs. In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest, although it’s controversial, that that itself varies by social position. A psychologist at University of Virginia, Eric Turkheimer, has shown that it appears as though when you’re in low socioeconomic status, if you’re growing up in poverty, the environment trumps genetics. Your impoverished environment doesn’t even allow your genetic propensities to rear their head, so to speak. If you have two siblings, and one is genetically gifted and one’s not, they end up more similar because they don’t have the resources or the right environment to allow those differences to emerge. Only in high socioeconomic status families do you see the genetic-effect bloom, if you will, so that you actually see that differences are based on genetics in high SES families. So you can’t say independent of the social environment how much of IQ is genetic. That’s one view. The other view is that, what I tell people in shorthand, if you look at any behavior, it’s probably plus or minus about 50 percent environmental and about 50 percent genetic. Some are less genetic and some are more. Also, Eric Turkheimer coined what he called the First Law of Behavior Genetics, that all human behavior is partially heritable. What does the political left get wrong about genes and race? I think the left likes to say that there are absolutely no biological differences between any recognizable groups of people in the world. And we just know that’s not true from genetic analysis, from disease prevalence, from genetic disease prevalence across the world. We know that populations that live in high altitudes, for example, have developed genetic adaptations to that. We know that adult lactose tolerance varies by population, and where there were large domesticated mammals from which we drank milk as adults. So there are real differences. We can’t say that we’re all exactly the same biologically. I think even as recently as the year 2000, the late Harvard biologist Stephen J. Gould said basically human evolution stopped 40,000 years ago or more, and everything you see, all the differences across the globe you see, are the result of the same blueprint essentially. The same human biology. But we know that, for example, increasingly there’s evidence that evolution has sped up. Meaning that segregation of alleles has sped up since the neolithic revolution 10 to 12,000 years ago. So that’s the part that the left clings to that’s not holding up scientifically. What does the political right get wrong on genes and race? The right just goes off the deep end in suggesting that there are real genetic basis of what we call socially as race or ethnic differences, and that most importantly, that these differences in genetic allele frequencies across groups explain controversial human behaviors like criminality and deviance, cognitive ability and other outcomes that we care about. They’ve really hung their hat on small effects. There’s something called the warrior gene, colloquially, the monoamine oxidase gene, which degrades neurotransmitters so that they can be reused. There’s group-level variation in the alleles in that gene, and it’s been associated with criminal activity, and lo and behold, people are making arguments that race differences in criminality are genetic. Now it turns out that was a spurious effect. That was a chopsticks problem [discussed below], and it never replicated, and it’s been refuted over and over again. In fact, the leading journal Behavior Genetics refuses to publish single gene studies anymore because we now know that they’re probably false positives because, as I mentioned, any effects on behavior are teeny and spread across the genome, so it’s very hard to recognize a single effect of a particular gene and certainly not explaining group differences in observed behaviors. Yet the right refuses to see that scientific evidence, and is still stuck in 2003, when we thought that single genes explained big proportions of human behavior when they don’t, and they’re really just proxies for cultural differences. What do you make of comparing IQ scores of blacks and whites? There is no denying that there is a test score gap between blacks and whites in the United States. What the etiology of that is, is an entirely different story, however. It is too facile to claim that that’s genetically based, that the genetic differences between these two groups explain that test score gap. In fact, there’s plenty of evidence that’s not the case. For example, the test score gap has narrowed since the Civil Rights triumphs of the 1960s. If it was entirely genetically based or even predominantly genetically based, that should not happen, number one. Number two, we just can’t factor out the environmental differences in history that we see between blacks and whites in the United States to come to some residual genetic comparison that will be clean. Even now that we can measure the genome directly like many of us are doing, that doesn’t help us in explaining cross population differences. The genomes of blacks and whites are different because of the fact that a lot of the genetic variation got truncated among the white population, the non-African population, due to the bottlenecking coming out of Africa, where the entire rest of the world, essentially, is populated by 1,000 to 2,000 common ancestors. The right goes off the deep in suggesting that there are real genetic bases of what we socially call race or ethnic differences. When there’s that kind of small population bottleneck, it eliminates a lot of the genetic variation that had built up over thousands of years. That genetic variation remains in African populations who do not experience that bottleneck. Of course, there’s been other bottlenecks, like Ashkenazi Jews in Europe in about the year 800. The Icelanders, an island population, is a huge population bottleneck. Because of that fundamental difference in genetic diversity, you can’t compare the genomes between whites and blacks. They’re apples and oranges. So all the analysis that can generate what we call a polygenic score, for example, to predict an outcome in European populations, doesn’t predict in black populations. The whole genetic architecture is different. You could analyze within a given ancestral population, say, Western Europeans, and one of the genes that more or less predicts who does better or worse on cognitive tests or non-cognitive skills, for that matter. But you could not then export those estimations to a different population such as a African-American population and run the same analysis. In fact, if you do that for something as neutral as height, it doesn’t work. What’s called a linkage disequilibrium structure of the genomes are different. In other words, the SNPs, the A-C-T-G that we measure and tag, are measuring different things in different populations. They’re approximal to different amounts of variation. So, if you take a polygenic score for height that predicts a very good percentage, basically 50 percent, of variation in the white population in height, it does not predict very well in African-Americans. In fact, it predicts African populations to be, if I remember correctly, several inches shorter than they quote, unquote should be, based on the analysis of whites. There, we have an objective indicator. We have height. We can take the polygenic score for whites and port it over to African-Americans or Africans, and it simply predicts incorrectly. That is also true for any outcome, whether we did that for body mass index, cardiovascular disease, or intelligence, so we really can’t make the apples-and-oranges comparison. You can only compare within ancestral groups. There’s the added issue that once you compare cross-groups, you’re confounding history and culture with genes because they’re both inherited together in what’s called population stratification, or the chopsticks problem. You could find many alleles, many genetic variants, that will predict chopstick usage if you analyzed a combined population of whites and Asians, but all you’re detecting, ultimately, is that certain alleles are more frequent in Asian populations and certain alleles are more frequent in white populations. It’s really not causing chopstick use, because if you looked within those populations, those alleles wouldn’t predict at all. They’re just correlated with these cultural traditions that are inherited. That’s one of the many big challenges in looking at racial differences or continental ancestry differences in any outcome, let alone for something as crazily controversial as intelligence. What should we better understand about the interaction of genes and the environment? There is a sharp line in the popular imagination between genes and environment. But that doesn’t really exist. Our environmental exposures are very much determined by our genetic propensity. So let’s say I had perfect pitch, which I have exactly the opposite of perfect pitch. I have a terrible ear for music. And I quickly learned that I’m no good at music. So yes, I had to take the clarinet in middle school. But the moment I could drop that, I dropped it. The kid who had an innate genetic propensity to perfect pitch and to rhythm probably got many more positive rewards for doing music in whatever form. And therefore put him or herself in environments that further nurtured that musical talent. You can easily see that with athletics. You know, we don’t dote on people like me at the Olympic training center in Colorado. We don’t give all those environmental resources to people who are not genetically endowed. And even within a family, it’s the kid, we know that reading to kids when they’re very young increases verbal ability. We know that from experiments. But there are, even within the family, differences between the kids in how much they tug on their parent’s sleeve in saying one more story before bedtime. They are structuring their own environments to a certain extent. Likewise, if you are in a certain environment, your genetic propensities may be completely ignored or quelched. If you’re the incredibly fast-twitch muscle, fine motor, or quick-reflex dexterity kid, born into a family of Asperger mathematicians—I’m sorry to use a cliched trope—you may not be able to fully express, or be supported in expressing, your innate athletic ability. And vice versa. If you’re the brainiac kid born into the family of the high school football coach, you wouldn’t be nurtured as much and the genetics wouldn’t flower. So you really can’t even separate nature and nurture. And the pathways by which genes, when we talk about, say, IQ or something being 50 percent genetic, that includes those pathways through the environment. The fact that a genome may lead you to an environment that then creates a virtuous circle to increase your cognitive ability or certain aspects of your cognitive ability. Just like showing early athletic talent leads you to be swept up into the better teams and longer practice hours. So I think we have to keep sight of that intertwining braiding of nature and nurture before we imagine that we’re just going to select a baby with a high score on this or that, and our job is done. What will we know about genes and intelligence by 2025? What will happen by 2025 is that we will have polygenic scores that predict a range of outcomes much better than they do today. So that 10 percent predicting cognitive ability or education will at least double by then. We will be no closer to a scientific understanding, or we’ll only be slightly closer to a scientific understanding, of how those genes rear their heads so to speak, or have their effect. The kid who had an innate propensity for perfect pitch got many more positive rewards for doing music in whatever form. For example, we don’t know if the effect of genes on, say, IQ or on educational attainment, works through central nervous system, on brain size or cortical surface area, or through height and physical attractiveness. We know that physically attractive children get more attention from parents, from teachers, from strangers. So they have more interactions, they have more verbal development. It could be that it’s related to height and discrimination based on height or skin tone. The kind of Catch 22 is that as we more fully explain the variation in the population that’s based, or correlated with genetic differences, as we get better at doing that we lose the precision on what the mechanism is. Yes, we do biological annotation analysis to show that of these top 74 genes for example, they’re over-expressed in the central nervous system, they’ve been shown by other research to have important roles in what we call endophenotypes, that is, measures that we know are kind of intermediate between gene and IQ. Mostly, as I mentioned, in the central nervous system. However, the more we increase the predictive power of these polygenic scores, the more we’re capturing a broader and broader array of effects. And we really can’t narrow those down biologically to understand exactly, you know, how you build a better baby. We can kind of do it by selection, just the way that chicken breeders have quadrupled the size of a chicken, and particularly the breast meat, over the last 50 to 75 years. We can now do that with these scores, with more scientific precision than if we wanted to sort of self-breed as smarter, just by mating based on observed interaction, you know, dating. But who knows if we want to do that? Hopefully we’re not that crazy. But I don’t think we’re getting to a deeper understanding yet, at least, of what is exactly the biology and the developmental processes behind them. Why do you say a lot of “pseudo-science racism” has infected the race and genetics discussion? It’s very easy to go and do some sloppy science and show that there’s genetic differences between two groups and those genetic differences correlate with, let’s say, IQ differences or some other differences because, as I said, there’s the chopsticks problem that there are the genetic differences between groups, there are behavioral and social differences between groups, and you can correlate those pretty easily. Doing careful, real science, helps on these controversial topics, helps slay those dragons and beat back those ideological pseudo-scientists. It’s why I got into this in the first place. You mentioned The Bell Curve was published in 1994. I think a much more important book was published a couple years later, and that’s What Money Can’t Buy: Family Income and Children’s Life Chances by the sociologist Susan Mayer, who’s at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She showed that many of social science’s assumptions that people with more income, their kids do better; well, it must be a causal effect of income, so let’s raise incomes. This was right around the time of welfare reform that the book came out, and it really suggested that, “Wait a second. We never did a big experiment where we randomly assigned different levels of income to families and then observed the children and see who did better. We’re basically going off of correlational data and people. The families that have a lot of income are fundamentally different in many ways than the families that don’t have income.” She did a lot of neat statistical tricks to show that, probably, the effect of income on children is vastly overstated. That sent me, personally, down a rabbit hole to try to understand what is the true effect of income and wealth on kids’ outcomes, and what is spurious, and what makes up that spurious effect? Is it cultural? Is it genetic? That’s how I ended up spending the last 20-plus years, first looking for natural econometric experiments to try to really assess the effect of social environment on kids, but then ultimately to go into the belly of the beast and try to understand how genetics might be influencing how kids turn out socioeconomically. Gosh, well, as I mentioned, my father was an artist. But his other metier was a horse player. I spent probably, on average, a day a weekend with him at Aqueduct or Belmont racetracks. Essentially he does what I do, which is he uses background and environmental variables to predict which horse is going to win the race, and tries to make money off of that. And after I graduated college, I literally intended to save up some money and move to California and live off of horse handicapping at Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, and then hop freight trains. That was actually my intended career, which was to use the same skillset of statistical analysis to make a living as a sort of Charles Bukowski-esque horse player. But life had other stuff in store for me.

2019-04-19T02:40:48Z

http://nautilus-web-602376506.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/issue/48/chaos/ingenious-dalton-conley

A storm is said to rage most fiercely just before it ends, and the year usually follows suit. The antiquated word for pure reflects the custom of greeting the new year with a clear soul. Sowing season and symbol of the start of the new year. The sacred animal was associated in Roman legends with springtime and fertility. The Latin word for a pair refers to the twin stars of the constellation of Castor and Pollux. During late June and most of July the meadows, or meads, were mowed for hay. When the sun was in Leo, the worts (from the Anglo-Saxon wyrt plant) were gathered to be dried and stored. Persephone, virgin Goddess of rebirth, carries a sheaf of barley as a symbol of the harvest. Marking the season when domestic animals were sacrificed for winter provisions. Libra's full moon occasionally became the Wine Moon when a grape harvest was expected to produce a superior vintage. Scorpio heralds the dark season when the sun is at iss lowest and the first snows fly. The sacred tree of the Druids and the Roman God Jupiter is most noble as it withstands winter storms. The fearsome nocturnal animal represents the "night" of the year. A Blue Moon occurs when the moon with its 28 day cycle appears twice within the same calendar month, due to that month's 31 day duration. Many consider the Blue Moon to be a goal moon where you set specific goals for yourself. This tree was sacred to the Druids. The pith is easily pushed out of green shoots to make whistles. Several shoots bound together by cordage, can be trimmed to the desired length for producing the note you want and used to entice Air elementals. The old superstition of "whistling up the wind" began with this custom. Another sacred tree to the Druids. It is said that you may cut an apple into three pieces, then rub the cut side on warts, saying: "Out warts, into apple." Then bury the pieces and as the apple decays, the warts will disappear. Use apple cider in any old spells calling for blood or wine. Apple indicates choice, and is useful for love and healing magic. A Druid sacred tree. Druid wands were often made of ash because of its straight grain. Ash wands are good for healing, general and solar magic. Put fresh ash leaves under your pillow to stimulate psychic dreams. Known as Lady of the Woods, Paper Birch and White Birch. Carefully gather strips of the bark at the New Moon. With red ink, write on a birch strip: "Bring me true love." Burn this along with a love incense, saying "Goddess of love, God of desire, Bring to me sweet passion's fire." The specific name of a god/goddess may be added. Or cast the bark into a stream or other flowing water, saying: "Message of love, I set you free, to capture a love and return to me." ***Remember*** It is unwise to use this incantation and ritual directed toward a specific person as that would violate the rule. If a love is to come to you, it must be of that persons free will to do so. Also known as Ellhorn, Elderberry, Lady Elder. Sacred to the White Lady and Midsummer Solstice. The Druids used it to both bless and curse. Standing under an elder tree at Midsummer, like standing in a Fairy Ring of mushrooms, will help you see the "little people." Elder wands can be used to drive out evil spirits or thought forms. Music on panpipes or flutes of elder have the same power as the wand. Remember the words of the Rede. Elder is the Lady's Tree, burn it not or cursed ye be! A slightly fibrous, tan-coloured wood with a slight sheen. Elm is often associated with Mother and Earth Goddesses, and was said to be the abode of faeries, explaining Kipling's injunction; "Ailim be the lady's tree; burn it not or cursed ye'll be". Elm wood is valued for it's resistance to splitting, and the inner bark was used for cordage and chair caning. Elm adds stability and grounding to a spell. Wands made of this wood symbolize white magick and healing. Forked sticks are used to find water or buried treasure. If outside and in need of maigckal protection quickly draw a circle around yourself with a hazel branch. To enlist the aid of plant fairies, string hazelnuts on a cord and hang up in your house or ritual room. Magically, hazel wood is used to gain knowledge, wisdom and poetic inspiration. A beautiful white wood with an almost invisible grain; looks very much like ivory. Holly is associated with the death and rebirth symbolism of winter in both Pagan and Christian lore and is important to the Winter Solstice. In Arthurian legend, Gawain (representing the Oak King of summer) fought the Green Knight, who was armed with a holly club to represent winter. It is one of the three timbers used in the construction of chariot wheel shafts. It was used in spear shafts also. The qualities of a spear shaft are balance and directness, as the spear must be hefted to be thrown the holly indicates directed balance and vigour to fight if the cause is just. Holly may be used in spells having to do with sleep or rest, and to ease the passage of death. A bag of leaves and berries carried by a man is said to increase his ability to attract women. Also known as Birdlime, All Heal and Golden Bough. It was the most sacred tree of the Druids, and ruled the Winter Solstice. The berries are poisonous! Bunches of mistletoe can be hung as an all-purpose protective herb. The berries are used in love incenses. Oak has been considered sacred by just about every culture that has encountered the tree, but it was held in particular esteem by the Celts because of its size, longevity, and nutritious acorns. The oak was the "King of Trees" in a grove. Magick wands were made of its wood. Oak galls, known as Serpent Eggs, were used in magickal charms. Acorns gathered at night held the greatest fertility powers. The Druids and Priestesses listened to the rustling oak leaves and the wrens in the trees for divinatory messages. Burning oak leaves purifies the atmosphere. It can be used in spells for protection, strength, success and stability; the different varieties will lend their own special 'flavour' to the magic. The Pine tree is an evergreen, its old title was "the sweetest of woods." It was known to the Druids as one of the seven chieftain trees of the Irish. Mix the dried needles with equal parts of juniper and cedar and burn to purify the home and ritual area. The cones and nuts can be carried as a fertility charm. A good magickal cleansing and stimulating bath is made by placing pine needles in a loose-woven bag and running bath water over it. To purify and sanctify an outdoor ritual area, brush the ground with a pine branch. Also known as White Willow, Tree of Enchantment and Witches' Asprin. Once of the seven sacred trees of the Irish, a Druid sacred Tree. The willow is a Moon tree sacred to the White Lady, Its groves were considered so magickal that priests, priestesses and all types of artisans sat among these trees to gain eloquence, inspiration, skills and prophecies. For a wish to be granted, ask permission of the willow, explaining your desire. Select a pliable shoot and tie a loose knot in it while expressing what you want. When the wish is fulfilled. return and untie the knot. Remember to thank the willow and leave a gift. Also known as English Yew and European Yew. Another important tree to the Winter Solstice and the deities of death and rebirth. It is a beautifully smooth, gold-coloured wood with a wavy grain. The Irish used it to make dagger handles, bows and wine barrels. The wood or leaves were laid on graves as a reminder to the departed spirit that death was only a pause in life before rebirth. All parts of the tree are poisonous except the fleshy covering of the berry, and its medicinal uses include a recently discovered treatment for cancer. The yew may be the oldest-lived tree in the world. Ancient yews can be found in churchyards all over Britain, where they often pre-date even the oldest churches. There are some convincing arguments for it being the original 'World-tree' of Scandinavian mythology. The Yew may be used to enhance magical and psychic abilities, and to induce visions.

2019-04-24T10:12:39Z

http://www.divasbotanicals.com/all%20else/celtic_knowledge.htm

July | 2018 | Enough of this Tomfoolery! One of our enduring images of Queen Victoria is the woman always dressed in black with a white widow’s cap atop her head. Her jewel are also devoid of colour, not for her coloured stones such as emeralds and rubies but always pearls and diamonds and in some portraits, she is depicted wearing a pearl and diamond bracelet with a miniature portrait of her husband Prince Albert. His untimely death in 1861 sent the Queen into mourning from which she never recovered and for the next forty years until her own death in 1901, she wore black in Albert’s memory. Her only concessions to colour were the orders and decorations she would wear for state portraits and occasions. These included the sash and star of the Order of the Garter and pinned on her left shoulder were the badges of the Order of Victoria and Albert and the Order of the Crown of India. The latter was established to mark Queen Victoria’s proclamation as Empress of India in 1876 and was one of the three Indian orders of chivalry that cemented the link between the British crown and her Indian subjects, most especially the various princes. The insignia of the Order of the Crown of India contained the initials “VRI” which stood for “Victoria Regina Imperiatrix” (Victoria Queen Empress) and underlines Queen Victoria’s relationship with and image of India. In this blog, I will be looking at this relationship through two prisms; first with Queen as Empress of India and secondly, her fashioning an image of India based on her dealings with individual Indians and the addition of the Durbar Room at Osborne House. On 27 April 1876, Queen Victoria was proclaimed “Empress of India” after the passage of a bill granting her the title and style of empress was passed in both Houses and received royal assent. In reality, the title was a watered down version of what Victoria originally wanted – “Empress of Great Britain, Ireland and India” which the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli with his customary tact and flattery was able to dissuade the Queen from assuming said title as well as avoid controversy by giving assurances that Britain and Ireland would not be included. This is not to say however that the move to grant Queen Victoria the title of “Empress of India” was smooth sailing, far from it as from the moment the Queen articulated her desire for the title, most explicitly when she opened Parliament in person the year before, what became known as the Royal Titles Bill was dogged by controversy. The debates over the Royal Titles Bill not only reveals to us Queen Victoria’s view on foreign and imperial matters as well as that of the political establishment but also says a lot about how the British saw themselves and crucially how the British saw India. In many ways, the assumption of the title “Empress of India” by Queen Victoria represented the triumph of the romantic over the liberal view of India which for better or for worse has coloured British policy in India during the days of the Raj. This optimism was not to last however as the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 led to the Government of India Act the following year which transferred the functions of governing India from the British East India Company to the Crown. This also led to a shift in view with regards to how best approach Indian affairs. The Liberal view of a corrupt India which could be improved through education and rule of law was set aside in favour of the more romantic view that India was “unchanging” and its traditions should be cherished rather than changed or suppressed. Corollary to this was the belief that Indians were not like the British and it was unfair to treat them as such. In February 1876, opening Parliament for the first time since the death of Prince Albert, the Queen spoke of “the hearty affection with which he has been received by my Indian subjects of all classes and races assures me that they are happy under my rule, and loyal to my throne.” This was reference to the tour of India being undertaken by her oldest son and heir Albert Edward Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) from 1875 and its success became the impetus for Queen Victoria to request Parliament to add “Empress of India” to her existing titles. The success of the on-going tour was not the only motivation for Queen Victoria to request for the title of Empress of India. First of all, Victoria in her mind was already empress since the Government of India Act if not even earlier. This view was exploited by politicians such as Lord Ellenborough who as Governor-General in the 1840s was extending her authority in India through the annexation of territories and facilitating relationships with the various Indian princes and the Crown independent of the East India Company. These bonds were cemented with the exchange of gifts, correspondence and crucially the establishment of an honours system with the creation of the Order of the Star of India. The latter was established following the suppression of the mutiny as a way to reward the princes who remained loyal to the British. Its insignia and motto “Heaven’s Light Our Guide” was designed and conceptualised by Prince Albert and this honour could be seen as being in line with the Government of India Act’s provision for the princes becoming central to British policy in India. Secondly was with regards to Britain’s relationship with Russia which could be described as cool even chilly due to two main issues – the so-called “Eastern Question” regarding the concerns of the European Great Powers with the Ottoman Empire’s continuing political and economic instability. Britain’s view was that the Ottoman Empire was an important buffer state in order to check Russia’s desire to exploit nationalist sentiment in the Balkans and position itself as the champion of the Slavs. The other was with regards to the “Great Game” which came about due to Russia expanding its empire into Central Asia which placed its borders next to India. There was fear on the British side about a possible Russian incursion into India while the Russians were suspicious of British commercial attempts into Afghanistan and Central Asia. The question over precedence and status also played an important factor with the Queen’s desire for the title. In reality Queen Victoria was not as status conscious as her continental counterparts however she was annoyed at continental royals maintaining that her children were socially inferior to the children of a Russian tsar or an Austrian emperor. What aggrieved her further was after German unification in 1871, the new emperor Wilhelm I (father-in-law of her oldest daughter Victoria Princess Royal and Crown Princess of Germany) thought that he ranked higher than Victoria who was a mere queen. Disraeli’s reply to Lowe’s charge of Roman emperors coming to the throne through violence was to cite the example of the Antonines or the “Five Good Emperors” who reigned from 96-180AD. And while it may be true that Rome flourished under the reigns of these five men and that the succession was peaceful, it did not detract from the fact that a cursory glance at the list of Roman emperors, the great majority obtained the throne through the sword and died by the sword. The answer to these questions as Gladstone outlined in the rest of his speech was a resounding “no.” In the end, the title of empress was simply in Ralph Metcalfe’s words “a determination to assert Britain’s equivalence as a major power with her European rivals” as well cement the bonds between the British crown and the Indian people and princes under the person of the British monarch. Contrary to Queen Victoria’s view that the bill was passed by a large margin, in reality it was only a slim one and on the condition that the new title only applied to India. The Prince of Wales meanwhile only learned of the passage of the Royal Titles Act not through official channels but through the newspapers while still on tour. This was something that the press picked up on as shown in a cartoon by John Gordon Thomson for Fun magazine which depicted a bewildered Prince of Wales upon seeing his mother Queen Victoria riding in state atop an elephant and attended by the assorted paraphernalia of Indian royalty. Outwardly, the Prince received the congratulations and felicitations graciously but behind the scenes, he wrote a stinging letter to Disraeli miffed at not having been informed, stating his opposition to the title and any moves to change his style to that of “Imperial Highness.” The Prime Minister having handled the passage of the bill badly was afraid that the press and public would find out about the Prince’s opposition to his mother’s new title quickly wrote to reassure him that there would be no change to his title and the rest of the royal family.

2019-04-23T06:28:40Z

https://enoughofthistomfoolery.wordpress.com/2018/07/

,so you can make an informed decision! NET conducts junior high, senior high, Confirmation, and mixed-age retreats. We provide a variety of retreat themes, dramatic skits, and music, making every retreat a unique and Catholic experience. While the theme varies, the message is always the same: “In Jesus Christ, the son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all, as a gift of God’s grace and mercy.” (Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI) NET retreats are a great component to integrate into your existing Catholic youth program, Parish/School Programs, and Youth Nights. With great power comes great responsibility! At Confirmation, the grace of Pentecost is unleashed and we receive greater access to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God can do incredible things with us if we are open to His action. How will your life look different when living in the power of the Holy Spirit? This theme explores the personal experience of young people who open themselves to the action of the Holy Spirit after Confirmation. This talk is suitable for all Confirmation programs. There is no cross, big or small, in our life which the Lord does not share with us When storms rage, boats will rock. When you suffer, what or who is your anchor? This theme explores the power of being anchored in the hope of the resurrection in the midst of suffering. Only God is big enough to fill you. The pursuit of happiness motivates every decision we make. Why is it, then, that we find ourselves unhappy so often? This theme explores our search for true happiness, highlighting the one thing that is big enough to fill our deepest desires – God himself. Remember who you are. Who are you? A soccer player? A dancer? The funny guy? The nice girl? There is one identity you don’t have to earn and cannot be taken away. This theme explores our inclination to identify ourselves by what we do rather than who we are as God’s sons and daughters. Middle school, Senior high, Confirmation. One universal home guaranteed by God. What if there was an institution we could trust when our reasoning fails us? What if there was an institution guaranteed by God himself to withstand every difficulty the world offers? There is. This theme explores the Catholic Church as the universal home for all people. We owed a debt we couldn’t pay; He paid a debt He didn’t owe. We owe a debt we can’t pay. Who has the righteousness to volunteer as tribute? This theme explores who Jesus was and how His sacrifice restores our relationship with God. Middle school, Senior high, Confirmation. True friends walk together through their weakness. Betrayal, gossip, and scandal: these traits often characterize friendships portrayed in the entertainment industry. What if our friendships, were instead marked by support no matter the circumstances? This theme explores the role of authentic friendships and their ability to empower us to greatness. Real men lay their lives down for others. What does it mean to be a man? Strength? Fame? Wealth? Masculinity means sacrifice. Fewer and fewer men are willing to respond to this difficult call. Do you have what it takes? This theme explores authentic masculinity in response to Christ’s example of laying down His life for others. Say “yes” to God. Say “yes” to love. Mary crushed the serpent’s head and welcomed Jesus into the world by saying “yes” to God’s plan for her life. God has an incredible plan for your life and wants to share himself with others through you. Will you say “yes”? This theme explores authentic femininity through imitating Our Blessed Mother, Mary. You are loved and saved! How can we experience the gift of God’s Joy this season? In Pope Francis’s letter, The Joy of the Gospel, he writes, “Christianity spreads through the joy of disciples who know that they are loved and saved.” This Christmas theme explores how we can experience the Joy of the Gospel by remembering God’s love and saving grace. When we see that it truly was God who became man, we can be open to the journey he invites us on to become like him.We are each on a journey. Many traveled 2000 years ago to visit a child during this season we call Advent. But what sort of child attracts the attention of the world leaders of the time? This Advent theme explores the intrigue surrounding Jesus’ birth and our journey to become like Him. Commit to the Heroic 40; Forty days and forty nights of prayer with guaranteed results. Think about the many diet plans that promise great results “in just forty days.” What would the world be like if we took these 40 days of Lent to truly grow closer to God? This Lenten theme explores the way God can transform our life when we seek him consistently in prayer. Middle school, Senior high, Confirmation. Jesus rose from the dead so that we can live. Too often our daily faith experience is disconnected from the power of Christ’s resurrection. What difficulty in your life do you need the power of Christ’s resurrection to overcome? This Easter theme demonstrates that Christ’s rising from the dead has a direct impact on the lives of those who follow Him. The overnight and weekend retreats provide a more intense retreat experience by taking the youth out of their regular environment and helping them to think seriously about their relationship with God. Throughout the retreat, young people will participate in small group discussions, prayer, and activities aimed at helping the young people take ownership of their faith and grow deeper in relationship with God. And, of course, there will be time for recreation and fun! On day two of the retreat, the retreatants are presented with practical steps they can take to build their life on Christ (prayer, sacraments, fellowship, and service). They’ll also spend time separately as women and men to grow in their understanding of what it means to live as God’s daughter or son during the True Grit/Dignified presentation. The retreat closes with the presentation “Fear Not,” followed by a time of prayer, during which the young people are invited to respond to God’s love and commit their lives to Christ. This NET overnight retreat is not a “lock-in” type experience. The team and the youth will sleep during the night hours. Experience has shown us that NET’s overnight and weekend retreats are most effective when they are done with groups that are small enough to be reasonably supervised and mature enough to handle the length and intensity of content. We would like to provide your youth with the best retreat experience possible, and ask that all weekend retreats be limited to a maximum of 80 youth in grades 9-12 only. If you are hosting an overnight retreat, please choose a site that will provide hot water showers for the team and at least two separate sleeping areas for the men and women. No chaperones needed if the group is under 80 youth and only in high school. The host parish is responsible for arranging the meals and lodging needed for these retreats. If beds are not available, please have the youth bring sleeping bags, or as a last resort, consider having them return home for the night. The host parish will also need to contact a priest to be available for the weekend liturgy. Mass, Reconciliation, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are highly encouraged for the overnight and weekend retreats. When the NET team leader calls to confirm the details (7-10 days before the retreat), please let them know you’d like to have Mass, Reconciliation, and/or Adoration. Please have priests available in those cases. Inquire about these with our scheduling department. What makes NET Ministries so successful is our peer to peer approach to evangelization. The witness of young, zealous missionaries, filled with the joy of the Gospel, invites young people to participate in the “abundant life” (John 10:10) that Jesus offers. Retreats are effective at providing an opportunity for young people to encounter Jesus and offer their lives to him; however, discipleship requires regular formation, accountability, and witness by other disciples. Having a monthly NET team on campus can begin to help strengthen and enliven the work of campus ministers and faculty in forming students as disciples of Jesus.

2019-04-22T16:48:15Z

http://www.netusa.org/retreatthemes/

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South Dade will be looking to win its sixth straight Class 3A state title this weekend. South Dade enters the FHSAA state wrestling tournament this weekend as the favorite to win a sixth-straight Class 3A team title, but not as big a favorite as they’ve been in recent seasons. Leading the way for the Bucs are returning state champions Bretli Reyna, Brevin Balmeceda, and Todd Perry. Tyler Orta, Joshua Swan, and Eric Temes have finished on the podium before and their performances this weekend will go a long way toward assuring South Dade wins another team title. Chasing South Dade will be Miami-Dade County rival SW Miami. The Eagles will bring nine wrestlers to Kissimmee including 145-pound favorite Julian Hernandez. Fleming Island brings the most wrestlers in Class 3A with 12 Golden Eagles taking the mat. Winter Springs, Hagerty, and Miami Southridge will all be battling for top spots in Class 3A. The action begins on Friday morning with the first round starting at 10 a.m. What you will read is my best guess as to how Class 3A will play out. What you will also read is Shannon Heaton’s best guess as to how Class 3A will go. The buzz: This is not an easy path for Rowland, who could face a top 10 wrestler in all four rounds in Kissimmee. The senior is battle-tested this year and I think that will serve him well this weekend. Region 3A-2 is loaded with talent and a few of those guys could switch spots on this podium, just as they’ve exchanged wins this year. Nguyen comes in hot after winning the region crown so he gets the nod. There aren’t many sure things in this bracket and the back end could be as exciting as the front. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Angelo DeDona, Manatee (top half); Zion Gonzalez, University-Orange City (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Morales v. Lens Mathurin (Freedom). Winner has a solid chance to medal. The buzz: Region 2 is, indeed, bringing four hammers to bear in this weight class, and Rowland will have to face at least two of them, perhaps three, to run the gauntlet. By comparison, the bottom half is ever so slightly more balanced but less top heavy, meaning we'll probably see a Region 2 pairing in the semis. What intrigues me most is that potential DeDona-Rios quarter. Going 305 on that one, for the experience factor. The buzz: Wadle started the season strong and he hasn’t let up all season. That doesn't mean it will be an easy walk to the title because Busutil is lurking on the other half of the bracket should Walde get past third-ranked Delgado and fourth-ranked Giraldo. The senior Busutil hasn’t lost to a Class 3A wrestler this season and last lost a match back in Week 7. This will be a great final if it plays out. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Robert Dusendang, Columbus (top half); Joseph Riestra (Cooper City). First-round match you can't miss: Josh Guerra (Riverview) v. Gabe Rendon (Oviedo). The buzz: The instinct is to go chalk with these brackets -- see if you don't next month with your NCAA sheets -- but I agonized a long time over that Wadle/Delgado quarterfinal. I could really see that going the other way. I think it's going to be a monster match. Meanwhile Busutil, who seems to be one of those kids who's been around for years and years, has been building up to this moment, with a bonus point win at Region 4 over Delgado. If Wadle does the same or better, I'll be convinced he's the real deal to become a multi-timer, but experience counts a lot with me. The buzz: Hines won an early season meeting 6-2 against the returning state champion Jackson and gets the nod here but Jackson has been on a winning tear since losing some high profile matches early in the season. Melguizo is the wildcard because he’s the only one with wins this season over both Hines and Jackson and if he can repeat those 4-3 wins, the state title will be heading to the 305. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Tyler Forrest, Riverview (top half); Christian Fields, Freedom (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Huffman v. Forrest. Both could medal. The buzz: Just a monster final set up, with last year's 106 runnerup and 113 champion set to square off. Hines won, 6-2, at Danny Byron, and head-to-head wins matter a lot with me, it's why I made the pick as is. I would just say this, though: a year ago, Palm Harbor's Gabe Naranjo had a prior win over Jackson, too. Jackson's road is much tougher, however, with Huffman and Johnson looming as quarterfinal and semifinal opponents, while Hines should not have much trouble before Saturday's semis, if then. The buzz: Orta and Chopek have been dominant this season with each only having a single loss to wrestlers from Florida (both to Class 2A wrestlers). Both wrestlers are also not strangers to the big state tournament stage as they each have reached the state finals (twice for Chopek) and each is looking for their first state title. I’ll go with the South Dade senior in this one. A potential quarterfinal to not miss would be at the top of the bracket between Kohn and Valdes. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Jose Gonzalez, Southwest Miami (top half); Fredy Rizo, Ferguson (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Rizo v. Dylan Burton (St Thomas Aquinas). The buzz: Khawly-Orta flies under the radar for nationwide buzz that surrounds teammates like Reyna and Balmeceda and Perry, but he's proven steady and capable over the years. Chopek has flourished in his new home, not missing a beat after reaching the 1A finals each of the past two years. Will this be the year he gets over the hump? As he's a former northerner, I hope so. Chopek will have a very tough semi against either Kohn or Valdes, while Orta's path to the final is -- by state wrestling standards -- smoother. The buzz: Reyna is a huge favorite and the top half of this bracket is where the battle will be. It doesn’t hurt that four of the top six wrestlers in the state are in that top half. The freshman Gonzalez has had no growing pains in his first high school wrestling season and he’s part of a young movement in the state that could end up being one of the most talented senior classes ever. But I don’t see anybody getting past the two-time state champion Reyna. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Destin Jones, Miami Palmetto (top half); Travon Rose, Ft Pierce Central (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Jones v. Felix. Both could medal. The buzz: The Now v. The Next. Reyna is one of 3A's superstars, no question, and I think he should roll through this bracket, perhaps even the final, but Gonzalez might be the best freshman in 3A, at any weight. So while the Buccaneer juggernaut is of course the pick, I'd expect a pretty freewheeling final, with a lot of points piled up. Gonzalez's top half of the bracket does appear to be a much stronger half. The buzz: Another big favorite with Lehigh-bound Hines expected to celebrate another state title in front of a home crowd. The bottom half of the bracket is loaded along with Hines so expect some big battles for the podium while a potential semifinal between Swan and Phillips in the top half should have the arena rocking on Saturday morning. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Kyndryck Higgins, Palm Beach Gardens (top half); Dalton Williams, Fleming Island (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Couple of them on the bottom half, but I'll go with one involving my local kid. In the Williams-Dematas match, you could see two kids that reach the final eight. The buzz: It's a swan-song weekend for Hines, and while there's plenty of ranked competition (five kids in the top nine) in his half, I expect him to roll through to the finals. The interesting question might be more who'll be his finals opponent on Saturday night. I'd expect a titanic struggle in the semis between Phillips and Swan; that matchup will generate a lot of attention. The buzz: This is the first weight class with a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the state meeting in the semifinals with Hernandez and Woods both in the top half of the bracket. They’ve met once this season with Hernandez getting a 6-4 win in the finals at the Tri-County Invitational back in Week 9. Contreras has wins over Temes and Janssen this season and will likely need to repeat each accomplishment to reach this final. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: David Milton, Columbus (top half); Will George, Palm Beach Gardens (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Pick any of the Region 1 v 4 matches, but I'll go with Contreras-Temes as a barnburner in round 1. The buzz: Having seen Woods and Contreras several times over the past few years, I know that each of them are a match for top-ranked Hernandez. I wouldn't be surprised to see any of them on top of the podium on Saturday night, but when it comes down to the semis, Woods might be the most-capable guy in the draw. They didn't have a chance to meet up at Knockout, with Woods up at 152, where he was a finalist, where Hernandez was fourth and Contreras fifth at 145. The buzz: Returning state champion Lovett has been one of the most dominating wrestlers in Class 3A this season and I don’t expect that to change. The top half features a monster potential quarterfinal where Villalobos and Winter Springs’ valedictorian McCandless could meet up on Friday evening. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Jonathan Rodriguez, West Port (top half); Gianni Guerriero, St Thomas Aquinas (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Chop v. Guerriero. Winner could make semis, loser has to fight through either McCandless or Villalobos in Saturday blood round. The buzz: Like Hines at 138, this is kind of a swan-song tour for Lovett, who may have surprised a couple of folks with his win last year but won't sneak up on anyone this year as an unbeaten senior. He should sail into the finals, but his opponent might well be determined in Friday night's top quarter between McCandless and Villalobos, which projects to be all-out war. The buzz: Another chance to catch one of the top wrestlers in the entire country as Oklahoma State-bound Balmeceda concludes his high school career at Silver Spurs Arena. The rest of the battles in the weight class should be thrilling as the rest of the podium could look a variety of ways. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: George Llanes, Coral Park (top half); Tanner Hill, Fleming Island (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Hill v. Davidson. Path to a medal might be easier for the loser of that match; that doesn't happen often. The buzz: Balmeceda wraps a six-year states career this weekend, and while he'll get tough competition from the quarters forward, I expect he'll come out on top once again and take his fourth title. At the same time, sophomores Lukens and Eaddy are making this stretch run a prep run for the top spot/spots in 2020. One of the most loaded brackets of the entire group. The buzz: Should be back-to-back titles for South Dade but one of the matches I’m intrigued by here is the first round match between Perkins and SW Miami’s Bryan Valdes, who gave the Hagerty junior one of his three losses this season. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Nico Esposito, Ft Lauderdale (top half); Elijah White, Edgewater (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Perkins v. Valdes. Could meet up again on Saturday. The buzz: Like Balmeceda, Perry wraps up a long career this weekend, but one with no pushovers, exactly, either, as he could face four ranked wrestlers this weekend. I'll be curious to see if the Region 2 semi replays itself between Finken and Thompson, and if it does so in the same way that regions did. Region 2 is bringing a lot of pain into this bracket, with three wrestlers ranked in the top five. The buzz: The top wrestlers in this weight class are both on the top half of this bracket so expect some fireworks in Saturday's semifinal round. If the SW Miami junior wins that one and faces Bencid in the final, he’ll need to beat him for the fifth time in six weeks to win a state title. The rest of this weight class is full of podium worthy wrestlers and expect some explosive battles in the quarterfinals and placing matches. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Kohl Drake, Newsome (top half); Armando Acosta, Buchholz (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Bencid v. Acosta. Not saying winner automatically makes the final, but...winner has a real shot at making final. The buzz: This is going to be a very entertaining bracket, I think most so in the quarters Friday and top-half semi on Saturday. Just murderous matches everywhere. There will be at least one top-seven kid that does not get to Saturday. We should see a 1-2 semi; in the bottom half, you want no part of the consi side, particularly once two of the top-five ranked kids in the state come down to pay a visit in consi round 2 and the blood round. Just keep winning, as the movie might say. The buzz: The last of the 3A “sure things”, Burburija will look to finish his senior year with another state title and an unbeaten record. D’ascoli, a state qualifier in 2017, has put together a stellar season after missing last year to injury and Nix gets the unenviable task of coming into this tournament ranked No. 2 in the state and ending up in Burburija’s bracket. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Christopher Telusma, Jacksonville Lee (top half); Noah Lusk, St Thomas Aquinas (bottom half). First-round match you can't miss: Bobby Williams v. Anthony Williams. Could be two medalists in round 1. The buzz: Of the state's best in the weight class, the two best might be meeting in the semis on Saturday morning with Burburija and Nix. Both have pretty clear paths to face each other, and the loser of that semi would have a pretty clear path to third place. Meanwhile, there's three pretty solid bottom-half kids who all have a good shot at a run to the title match, and all three should medal in some form or another. The buzz: I could pick this bracket a number of different ways and each one would have holes in it. I’ve decided to go with recency bias on it, but if a few wrestlers get back on track this week, it will provide chaos to my picks. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Taso Kourtakis, Southridge (top half); Dylan Ruiz (Osceola). First-round match you can't miss: Dossey v. Lascano. Two top-four ranked kids, both with lots of motivation after last week. The buzz: Oh, Region 2. You must have been a crazy place in this bracket last week, with Howe falling in the quarters and Dossey falling in the final. Thing about a surprise run in a prior-level tournament is, it's not a surprise to anyone anymore. Of course, Onalaja could repeat the feat again this week and shock the world again. I'd really watch out for Canedo, too; he knows how to get to Saturday night, having done it before. The buzz: Former Lake Highland Prep wrestler Ruff hasn’t missed a beat this season, going 36-1 with his only loss coming at district duals to Lake Mary’s Moxley (who Ruff has beaten three times this season). He will be tested if he's going to win his first state title, with Kentucky-bound (for football) Pope potentially waiting in the semifinals with his unbeaten record. The bottom half of this bracket is the place to watch the quarterfinals where the potential matches would be No. 3 vs. No. 4 and No. 5 vs. No. 6 in the state. Wrestlers that could prove me wrong: Maxwell Diaz, Coral Park (top half); Willie Lampkin, Lakeland (bottom half). First-round match: Pope v. Saint John. Could have a rematch of this one in the consi semis, the way I see it playing out. The buzz: Region 1 heavies were going to play a big role in this weekend. Perhaps an even-bigger one if the Hollenbach/Sanchez projected semifinal, which I have going to Sanchez, goes the other way. Might feel a bit differently once the Friday night quarterfinal results are in. Ruff v. Pope also has the potential to be a decent top-half semi.

2019-04-26T10:07:22Z

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/wrestling/os-sp-wrestling-class-3a-state-preview-2019-story.html

Even though I am focused on writing blogs about the Canadian digital landscape and emerging online trends, I wanted to share an idea that I have been kicking around in my head for a while. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I meet on Wednesdays with my “Career Yoda”, Rachel. We meet every week at a Second Cup where we discuss my assignments. I am always amazed by how many people are there working on their laptops and I have noticed that there are a number of regulars (sometimes teams of laptop workers) who are there every day. I believe that someone could write a book about the companies that these coffee shops have launched and I sense that there is an untapped market out there for coffee shops. I recently discovered someone on Twitter who also had that thought and is already one step ahead of me. I recommend you check out @thecoffice to see what I mean. So, instead of writing a story about the entrepreneurs who now call coffee shops their “coffice”, I thought I’d outline some opportunities for coffee shops like Canada’s Second Cup and Starbucks (obviously an American chain) to tap into a new revenue stream by accommodating entrepreneurs beyond providing free wi-fi. 1. Private workbenches to rent by the hour – Toronto has already opened a few Centres for Social Innovation where entrepreneurs can rent a desk and chair or office space by the hour or for a short period of time. I believe that coffee shops have an opportunity to also offer this service if their shop is big enough. They could either have an upstairs area or an area in the back designated to entrepreneurs who are working out of their shop. 2. Private call rooms – If the coffee shop doesn’t have the space for full desks or tiny offices, another alternative (or addition to small offices) would be tiny phone booths or call rooms. They could have one or two tiny “phone booths” that just have a chair, tiny table and a phone that entrepreneurs could again rent for a small fee and would just pay the barista for a key to one of the booths, or book the room online in advance. 3. Conference call dial-in numbers – If small businesses are already there working for an hour or two, perhaps Starbucks or Second Cup could host a number of 1-800 dial-in numbers that they could rent to entrepreneurs for the day via an online service. This would likely involve a partnership with a Telco – I believe that Starbucks has already partnered with Bell on some web services. This could either be a separate fee or be built into the fee for renting a tiny space for the hour or day. 4. One or two private meeting rooms for teams – Again, this could be booked by the hour on some sort of web portal hosted by the coffee shop where entrepreneurs could book the room in advance when they know they will be working out of that “coffice”. The meeting room could be equipped with a projector and conference phone. Perhaps you could also pre-order coffee and treats to be set-up in the room when you get there? 5. Online Community for Entrepreneurs – Starbucks or Second Cup could tap into a community like Sprouter to have entrepreneurs share their stories about launching their business from their shops and also provide some coffee perks, no pun intended, to frequent users of their office services. I suspect that there are additional opportunities for coffee shops to accommodate an “anywhere office” for entrepreneurs. Please share your ideas and I’ll add them to the list. Thanks so much for the mention above in your post about The Coffice. Free (sometimes limited) wifi service in partnership with the big telcos; a “laissez faire” attitude towards us Cofficers who plant in the Coffice for full work days; access to power outlets — these are just some of the benefits provided to us — whether they know it or not. Starbucks is definitely taking a top position in my books as the corporate coffee shop leader. Their unlimited free wifi and newly launched content network has seen to that — both great moves on Starbucks’ part. The one I frequent is terrific to its patrons…from the baristas up to the district manager, whom I’ve met. It may be a while before the other majors follow suit; I thought your ideas would be great for some of the indies to try out — especially the ones who are a bit put off by us dedicated Cofficers. Most issues tend start and end with money, so they may want to check these ideas out to maybe embrace the Cofficer and supplement revenue with some alternatives. If Cofficers find them valuable (I think I would use one or two of them if they were available), indie coffee shop owners would know. If not, they move on. It can’t hurt. One of the most important things I think a Cofficer (seasoned or rookie) should have is a really, really good network of other Cofficers (and beyond). Some of us could use it more than others, and this is one of the reasons why I’ve launched both the Twitter feed and Facebook page (blog to come). I really liked your Sprouter idea as well. These networks are so important to us Cofficers in provide the missing infrastructural elements needed to do our work. Before signing off, one fantastic idea I actually read about recently (I’ll try to get the name of it) was a childcare service for work-at-home moms who want to get out of the house to do work but haven’t got alternative childcare options. I really loved this idea and think a coffee shop would do extremely well if this were in place. We have places in the States called “Coworking Spaces” where entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and freelancers can pay monthly fees for access to a space to work at that isn’t their home. Not only do they offer places for the self-employed to go during the day, but it is also a great opportunity to network with other freelancers. And there is usually free coffee to boot! I’m all for working in coffee shops, but I’d like it better if they offered some kind of security for our belongings, that way I’m not totally paranoid that my bag will get stolen or have coffee spilled on it when I get up to go to the bathroom. We have lots of coworking spaces up here too. Free coffee aside (a convenient value add), they’re all terrific and serve the needs of business people of all sorts just perfectly. Whether it’s a real desk, access to wifi and a printer, as well as networking opportunities, I highly recommend coworking spaces — if it’s something you can manage. From my perspective, and of others, a monthly rental of any space — coworking, real office, etc. — isn’t very budget friendly for a freelancer/startup. But a coffee a day at $2.00 max. is very much workable. When I first started working out of my regular Coffice (a Starbucks in my neighborhood), I made sure to buy at least one thing in the morning and another in the afternoon. As I’ve become better known there by the baristas and the manager, I don’t feel as obligated to keep buying. In fact, sometimes the baristas offer me a freebie every so often; it’s either an unclaimed drink from another customer or during a down time they’ll wave off my money. That’s just one benefit of becoming a regular at a Coffice. Another benefit of being a regular at a Coffice is the networking opportunities; and with that is having a trusted co-Cofficer with whom you feel comfortable leaving your stuff. Regardless of how well you know that person, courtesy dictates that before asking them to watch your stuff, you ask them how long they plan on being there. If it’s long enough to use the facilities, great. I’ve established a collegial relationship with another Cofficer at my regular Coffice. When he needs to step out to speak to a client, I’ll keep an eye on his stuff. When I have to take care of something at home (which is close by), he’ll do the same. Moreover, we’ve been able to trade business back and forth every so often. OH! And he designed my Coffice logo. I could go on, but how’s that for Coffice networking benefits? As far as spilling your coffee…that’s a tough one. I tend to put my bag and jacket on the other chair that comes with the table. I happily give it away during the busy times, but while I’m using it, it keeps my bag close to me and off the floor. So far the only spilling I’ve been concerned about is on my laptop. Keep the great feedback coming David – here on Andrea’s blog and at our Coffice networks!

2019-04-24T22:39:27Z

https://therunningstart.ca/2010/11/16/how-coffee-shops-could-capitalize-as-an-office-for-entrepreneurs/

In this blogpost, you will learn how Azure SQL Database intelligent performance feature Intelligent Insights has successfully helped a customer troubleshoot a hard to find 6-month intermittent database performance issue in a single day only. You will find out how Intelligent Insights helps an ISV operate 60,000 databases by identifying related performance issues across their database fleet. You will also learn how Intelligent Insights helped an enterprise seamlessly identify a hard to troubleshoot performance degradation issue on a large-scale 35TB database fleet. Azure SQL Database, the most intelligent cloud database, is empowering small and medium size business, and large enterprises to focus on writing awesome applications while entrusting Azure to autonomously take care of running, scaling, and maintain a peak performance with a minimum of human interaction, or advanced technical skill set required. Intelligent Insights is a new disruptive intelligent performance technology leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to continuously monitor and troubleshoot Azure SQL Database performance issues with a pinpoint accuracy and at a large scale simply not possible before. Performance troubleshooting models for the solution where fine-tuned and advanced based on the learning from a massive workload pool of several million Azure SQL Databases. In the period since its public preview debut in Sep. 2017, we have witnessed some remarkable customer success stories with Intelligent Insights that I would like to share with you. NewOrbit is an ISV based in the United Kingdom building and running software on Azure for startups and enterprises, including a system for background checking of employees and tenants. Thousands of customers check more than 400,000 people each year and the system does that through integrating information from various services. NewOrbit runs entirely on Azure and use about 200 SQL Databases. NewOrbit has a flat organizational structure consisting of developers and customer account managers only. They do not employ DevOps team or DBAs as they rely on SQL Database built-in intelligence to automatically tune and troubleshoot database performance for them as NewOrbit CTO Frans Lytzen is saying “I have Azure for that”. NewOrbit experienced an intermittent performance issue lasting for about 6 months that resulted in getting an increased amount of timeouts for existing systems running in production. Their first reaction was to upgrade to a higher pricing tier on Azure with more capacity, however this did not help and it seemed very strange to them. As they’ve seen more than enough spare DTUs on their Azure subscription, NewOrbit understood right away that dialing up the capacity will not make the issue go away. NewOrbit has decided to try Intelligent Insights. As soon as they fired up the solution, it showed that there seems to exist a memory pressure on their databases. This was not immediately obvious and NewOrbit understood that memory pressure is not the cause but most likely an effect of another underlying problem. Intelligent Insights has within a day of being turned on pointed out there are several queries suspected as a root cause for the memory pressure. NewOrbit has promptly fixed and deployed new queries to production witnessing an immediate decrease in memory pressure the following day. As NewOrbit grows as a service, their databases and queries are getting bigger and the complexity grows. They have now implemented a continuous improvement program relying on Intelligent Insights to regularly review and optimize database queries for the best performance of their applications. SnelStart is a Dutch ISV developing and running SaaS service for small and large companies providing financial online services such are bookkeeping, invoicing and accounting. SnelStart relies on Azure to deliver their service to about 64,000 customers. The underlying infrastructure employs 60,000+ SQL Databases, mainly in elastic pools. Maintaining a massive amount of databases at scale and quickly reacting to customer issues, especially in cases of services degradation or an outage is an imperative for SnelStart. To maintain such a large amount of databases typically involves having a large DBA and DevOps team. Once a customer calls on the phone complaining that the service is slow or unavailable, SnelStart team needs to quickly identify and act on resolving the issue. The company had a number of cases where it would find out about a performance or unavailability issues from their customers first. Hoping to improve their response time, SnelStart has decided to use Intelligent Insights as a performance-monitoring tool. SnelStart uses the solution daily to help identify elastic pools hitting its CPU limits. The built-in intelligence helps the company identify top consuming databases in overutilized elastic pools, providing suggestions of other elastic pools with sufficient capacity where the hot databases could be moved. SnelStart as their DevOps strategy has created separate elastic pools on each of their logical servers where they move high consuming databases. This allows the company to research slow running queries, and other database problems with the help of Azure SQL Analytics until repaired. Once performance of hot databases has improved, SnelStart typically returns them back to the original elastic pools. With the help of Intelligent Insights, SnelStart was also, in one of the instances, able to quickly identify application queries causing database locking, much before their developers could manually troubleshoot the root cause of the issue. Hotfix for the issue was deployed within minutes, and before customers were impacted at scale. Better yet, there were no customer phone calls received regarding the service performance. This was an entirely new type of capability for the company, as the service monitoring has shifted from a reactive to proactive relying on SQL Database built-in intelligent performance. Bauke Stil, Application Manager, SnelStart. SnelStart was impressed with the efficiency of detecting database performance issues automatically and at such scale in the sea of 60,000 SQL Databases. As all of their customer databases are having the same structure, the company is also using the solution to identify and resolve common performance issues across their entire database fleet. Once an issue is identified on one database, a hotfix is deployed to all databases immediately benefiting all SnelStart customers. Microsoft TFS provides an online service supporting our developer community and customers. It is a complex system handling trillion lines of code across the customer base. The service provides sophisticated reporting, builds, labs, tests, ticketing, release automation management and project management – amongst others. Providing a 24/7/365 service globally with a top performance is imperative for TFS. Once you click to check-in your code, or if you are perhaps creating a TFS ticket, you expect a prompt response from the service. TFS massive infrastructure runs on about 900 SQL Databases with combined 35TB of data stored. TFS has previously used its own monitoring and alerting solution capable of observing slow queries and sustained high CPU periods. On one of the occasions, the existing tools identified a performance issue providing only a shallow analysis that there exists a heavy locking on a database, but nothing else. Further troubleshooting has indicated the locking was table scoped and related to lock partitioning. This meant that the affected slow query visible in the stats is typically not the root cause of locking, but only a surface effect of some other blocking query causing the locking. The workload in such cases keeps on piling up, so upgrading to a larger resource pool could only be a short-lived solution. The only way out of this was to find the blocking query and to fix it. Troubleshooting in cases such as this one is typically very difficult, as it requires considerable DBA skills and it is very time consuming. TFS turned to Intelligent Insights to help with performance troubleshooting automation. In this particular case, the system has identified application related increase in the workload pile up, and has provided a list the affected and blocking queries. Analysis of the blocking query has identified that this was a maintenance query scheduled periodically to remove unused attachments. Further analyzing the code, it was determined that the size of the deletion batch was too large causing the issue. New query with reduced batch size was deployed promptly, having an immediate effect in resolving the heavy locking and gradually relieving the workload pressure. Remi Lemarchand, Principal Software Engineer, Microsoft TFS. Remi concludes that he prefers using Intelligent Insights first in troubleshooting database performance issues before moving onto other tools due to the level of depth it provides, and considerable reduction of manual DBA troubleshooting time required. Since applying the fix to the blocking query, the database is purring along nicely! Marriage of AI and Azure SQL Database has resulted in disruptive new capabilities of intelligent performance not possible before. Small and medium size business can now do more with Azure on a large scale with a smaller crew and at a considerably lower cost compared to running infrastructure on their own. Large companies and enterprises can have less headaches and relieve pressure from their DBAs and DevOps as SQL Database intelligent performance can help them identify operational issues on tens of thousands of databases in a single day, compared to months in some cases. To help you start using SQL Database Intelligent Insights for troubleshooting performance issues, see Setup Intelligent Insights with Log Analytics. For related SQL Database intelligent performance products, see Monitor Azure SQL Databases with Azure SQL Analytics, and Automatic tuning in Azure SQL Database. Please let us know how do you envision SQL Database intelligent performance helping you?

2019-04-18T20:37:50Z

https://azure.microsoft.com/zh-tw/blog/ai-helped-troubleshoot-an-intermittent-sql-database-performance-issue-in-one-day/

Not quite the usual topic of conversation around here, eh? But eating healthy, living healthy, being healthy, and following God’s natural plan and order — that’s normal stuff. So.. it turns out that our anatomy is designed to squat to eliminate. This should come as no big surprise there to anyone who has had any exposure to natural childbirth; squatting is the best way to allow that baby to get out, too. This was brought to mind for me again recently by Mommypotamus’ excellent article on pelvic floor issues and incontinence, Why You Need to Pee in the Shower. But our “western civilization” toilets, for some reason, have been designed in a different position altogether. And it’s causing us to struggle with constipation, hemorrhoids, and a host of other complaints. Until now, your only choice was pretty much to remove your toilet and create a squatting toilet similar to those common in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and some parts of Latin America. Visit Squatty Potty to find out more, or order yours. Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link your costs will be the same but As For My House will receive a small commission. This helps cover some of the costs for this site. We appreciate your support. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe may be good products/services for my readers. So if you live in a state where your access to raw milk is legally limited – it’s time for action! Call your state legislators and tell them to get things changed! Anyone who would like to see raw milk available in Mississippi, here’s the point of contact: Taylor@mspolicy.org. The adorable photo is not mine, but was featured at HealthyVibrantHappy (a website with which I’m not otherwise familiar) in a terrific post, The War against Raw Milk… Really. What, you don’t think this is a fitness blog?? Okay, it’s not. But (a) I do care about your health and well-being, and (b) as a former fitness model and personal trainer, I do have some idea what I’m talking about in this area. Yes, it’s Day THREE of the As For My House Holy Week Giveaway Bonanza! What? A bunch of blog giveaways aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “holy” or “Easter”? I know… But I wanted to share my joy with you at this time of year, and share gifts in honor of the Greatest Gift of All that Christ gave us. There will be five giveaways, each lasting for a week, leading up to Easter Sunday. As you may not know, if you haven’t delved into the murky “about us” back-story posted here somewhere, I used to be a fitness model and personal trainer. I was also very involved in mentoring women on their fitness journey, through various online communities which sprung up around the “Body for Life Physique Transformation Challenge”. I stopped working as a trainer because of time conflicts with my family responsibilities, and of course I would not compete these days due to the immodest apparel and attitudes involved. But none of that means that I think being in shape is a bad idea! For a long time, the book and concept of Body for Life has been the defining product out there, in my opinion. It doesn’t have any fads, or “magic pill” solutions – just a sensible, healthy eating and exercise plan. It was the book I’d recommend to anyone who talked about getting in shape. There’s a new kid in town, and he’s taking over the “King of the Hill” spot! Dustin’s book is without question the best resource out there for a woman (or anyone!) looking to get in shape. It combines a common-sense approach to healthy eating and exercise, with all the latest research available to improve the effectiveness of your diet and training. There is an emphasis on real, wholesome food over “supplements” and “replacements”, which is very important to me (and in fact I think this is the one area in which he might have gone even further). Strength training is combined with highly efficient “burst training” cardio – no boring hours on the stairmaster here! Dustin also addresses ways to strengthen your body with various physical limitations, and of course busts all the still-too-common myths about strength training for women. A nice addition to the book is the success stories interspersed throughout. Real women, sharing their real challenges and journeys – and triumphs. A few look like bikini calendar girls, but most of them do not – there is probably someone in the book with whom nearly every reader can identify. There’s also more information, and a newsletter, available on the Dustin Maher Fitness website, as well as community on the Fit Moms for Life and I Love Being a Mom Facebook pages. FIVE STARS. This is a book that every woman interested in being more healthy, energetic, and “in shape” should read. Absolutely. I received a copy of the book for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way for this review. This review has not been approved or edited by anyone. Fit Moms for Life is providing the prize for this giveaway, shipped directly to the winner. I was “disclosing” before it was cool. See my Review Policy for the full scoop. The hand laundry continues, with much slow progress along the learning curve. Here’s a few things I’ve learned so far about the process, and the products. Breathing Washer, Rapid Washer, or laundry plunger. When I started my journey, you may recall, I went with an inexpensive rubber toilet plunger (new!). A plunger is a plunger, right? The rubber plunger lasted through just a few weeks of hard use before it gave out – the rubber isn’t designed for that much bending, all the time. The breathing washer has been a lifesaver, and valuable investment. It is a sturdy plastic cone that doesn’t flex, so no stress on it that way. It uses pressure and suction to push/pull the water through the clothes, offering very effective cleaning. Must have tool for hand laundry. On the advice of a friend, we installed it with a T-post in the ground rather than trying to dig in its sleeve, and added reinforcing dowels on each arm with cable “zip” ties. I use good ol’ wooden clothespins to keep things from falling off every time a breeze blows by. That part works like a charm. Mississippi weather? Not so much. Brief but frequent rains, and high humidity, make drying outside sometimes quite challenging. Although I try to use it as much as possible, I am very thankful that we still have our gas dryer hooked up and available! …and Wolf set me up a lovely little laundry stand with a utility sink, the mounted wringer, room for a bucket to gather clothes in from the wringer, and room underneath for storage (or, in my case, the cat boxes!). He bought the utility sink at Lowes, then had to build a table to raise it since we’re so tall. The side also needed to be reinforced to support the wringer, and it needed a more functional drain/plug. It now lives in the “mud room / laundry room” by the back door, using the same plumbing connections the washer used. Other than some challenges with finding a drain setup that works in that sink (which was designed for just a rubber stopper), the laundry station setup has been working out very well. The wringer? Not so much. First, a picky complaint: the description states, and the photo shows, wing nuts to adjust the tension. It did not, however, show up with wing nuts. Luckily, Wolf replaced the “plain nuts” that were included before I ever even saw it, and I went about doing laundry. But the design is seriously flawed. When mounted on the side of the laundry tub, the rollers are, obviously, dangling over the tub (allowing the water wrung out to go down the drain). Over time, due to friction rubbing the finish off, and constant exposure to water, the ends of the rods quickly start getting tiny rust specks… Which are then ground off at each use, and the greasy, rusty water drips off — right onto the clean laundry waiting to be wrung (or the next load just placed in the tub). Over time, now, the black paint on the arms has worn all the way through, and those surfaces are rusting as well, resulting in more “gunk” in the works – which is now also creeping in along the rollers (soiling clothes as they are wrung), rather than “just” dripping down onto the clean clothes below. The work-around we have come to is that Wolf completely disassembles and cleans all the interior bits of the wringer about once a month. Meanwhile, I wait between each load of wash (and rinse) for the drips to dry up and stop before cleaning out my tub and beginning the next load. It’s an awkward situation, but it is what we have to work with for the time being. The company from which I bought the wringer didn’t seem concerned with my feedback, declaring that they have sold “thousands” of these over the years. They say that, while not perfect, it is made in the USA and they are proud to offer it. I feel they are likely missing the point: I imagine that most people use the wringer for weekends at the cabin, or other intermittent or light use. It still bears noting that under heavy, full-time use, it has the above (serious) issues — my suggestion was not that they stop selling it, only that they add some clarification to the description. The manufacturer of the wringer, who previously chatted with me by both email and phone about his design ideas for related products, did not respond to my two emails on the subject, nor to an inquiry by a mutual friend. Wolf is working on a way to rebuild the wringer that will solve this problem. He had actually hoped that the wringer company would be interested in such an improvement, and it could be manufactured this way for the benefit of a larger population. Since that’s not the case, he will do a “one-off” rebuild of my existing wringer, and I, at least, will be happy. Baking Bread – REALLY From Scratch! Yep, we finally put the pieces together! And ground it into flour in my brand-new NutriMill Grain Mill. Then we used the EZ Wheat Bread recipe from Everyday Food Storage (we’ve been using her EZ White Bread up to this point). (Nick actually made one batch with our fresh-ground flour prior to this, but used the recipe we’ve been using for white bread. As you might expect, it was rather short and dense). Anyhow, off I went, piling the ingredients in the bowl. Here’s my lovely assistant, the KitchenAid mixer, doing all the “hard labor” part of the job. After that, it rises in a bowl for about an hour. It took a bit longer, as it was (surprisingly) chilly in my kitchen. Then punched down, shaped in to loaves, and left to rise in the loaf pans for another hour or so. Here are the loaves, after that second rise, ready to go in the oven. I didn’t do a very good job of dividing the dough in half, did I? So, into the oven they went. We had tweaked the time and temperature a bit on her white bread recipe, but since this was (a) a different recipe, and (b) a new oven from when we worked that all out, I decided to go with the (higher) temperature listed on the recipe. I didn’t think it was quite done, but it had to come out before we got to “charcoal” on the top. Sitting there, buttered and shiny, it sure looks good, doesn’t it? It was not, in fact, done in the middle. While I was, naturally, very disappointed in the waste, as well as not being able to enjoy the fruits of my labors, I do realize that this is a learning process. Although we have been baking our own bread for several years now, we have stuck with one “tried and true” recipe — and we went through this same process in the beginning getting it worked out, too. So, today, we are back at it. The flour has been ground, and the mixer is churning away. We’ll lower the oven temperature 25 degrees, and extend the baking time a bit. I’ll keep an eye on things and see if it look like it might still need foil over the top, as well. It was on this big flat cart, like you use at Lowe’s, and it totally filled up the back of my Tahoe (that was before Clyde – wait, you didn’t read the story about Clyde??). As you can see, R.T. enjoys the wheat berries straight out of the bag! Naturally, we got home to discover that we didn’t have enough of the 5-gallon buckets accumulated to store it all! It’s been slow going getting them from the Commissary bakery, but I have a couple of other places to try now, so maybe we can get caught up. I’ve also gotten in with a group of ladies on an order for combined shipping, to get some Gamma Lids – that will resolve my issues with a couple of buckets I have that are lidless, as well as making life easier in general. (They snap on with a gasket like the regular lids, then the center part screws open (but seals tight) for access).

2019-04-24T22:53:25Z

http://www.as-for-my-house.com/simple-living/

Would You Choose More Fish or One Big? depends on what I"m fishing for. FW I only target large. I have almost no desire to catch quantity of largemouth and smallmouth bass that are under 15" Early season it's fun only after a long winter. I like the little guys to grow up healthy. I can turn off my computer and in 3 hours have 30 fish if I wanted to...But haven't done something like that in 15 years. I think it's bad for the fishery. I'll often not set the hook if it doesn't feel like a good fish. Like bergalls when toggin. Same goes for trout. Have one successful trip steelheading and jersey stockies become an afterthought. J blair literally broke me when he introduced me to his secret river that holds trout that run over 3 feet. Luckily I found a special spot that has fish that fight like steelies to feed the need. For Bass and blues. I'm ok with quality fish but do my best to avoid the stripers with diapers. I try to size my gear appropriately without being undergunned. Cows in the spring time and rats and Albie's in the fall. One big years down the road the big ones you remember. I'd say a better comparison would be 1 large or 15 or 20 30" fish. Five 30" fish is fun but nothing to write home about. From time to time. Walking into blitz is good for moral. Truly I'm just happy to get a chance to wet a line but obviously the answer is big fish are a thrill to catch - and release safely, any day for me at least. Something I've noticed over the years is that opportunities for Big fish sort of appear & you have to be ready when they do. This phenomenon occurs as a bi-product of hunting. The more time you spend hunting & the better dialed in you get, the chances go up. I think the most important things are 1 -Being able to hunt. 2 - Having forests to hunt in & 3. Having game to hunt for. As a case in point, I had a lucky opportunity to get a weekend day off from work & to myself in late April this year - wanted to go trout fishing on the Upper Delaware river. Time of year was typical fairly high, cold water, snow still on the ground in areas..etc. It wasn't a case of me thinking about getting a big fish, instead I was just trying to think about spots where fish hold in higher water situations & being they are wild Rainbows - what food sources were available that time of year & how would they be delivered. My experience of living on the river for years & fishing it regularly told me that my chances were slimmer than slim of even catching a fish. I broke out a 12'6" Z-Axis 5 wt Switch rod, loaded up a small box with my custom tied high water Delaware Black Stonefly Nymphs & Streamers, filled another box with Baetis Nymphs & Baetis Bunny Duns & loaded a bag with wading gear & packed a nice lunch, complete with bottle of Malbec, a wool blanket & a camping chair. Then I threw the Fat Tire bike on the truck rack and made the drive up to the upper main stem. It was a 70 degree, sunny, picture perfect day. I loaded the gear on the bike & started out along the train tracks, looking for long tail-outs with nice seams & slack water because that's exactly where all of the fish set up & feed that time of year. I rumbled along for miles & thundered down into a perfect spot. The Rapids were angrily turbid upstream & I was fishing in a nice calm pool that had a 100 yard seam between the shallow, slower water & the raging current. The remote chance was there to catch a fish, size unknown. During the summer, in that section of river, big fish come up out of the rapids into the tails of pools, near dark & into the night, & they will eat smaller fish & nymphs with reckless abandon. But it wasn't summer & I couldn't really be picky because this was the only shot I had been given thanks to the amount of hours I work. The laws of early & late season fishing dictate that you fish during the afternoon hours when the water temp will be closer to optimal, which for a Wild Rainbow can be 61 degrees. Side note - it isn't really the temperature that dictates what optimal is it's more about the level of aeration in the water. Extremely well aerated water will stretch that optimal temperature as high as 70 degrees. But in the early spring water is nowhere near 61 degrees so what that basically means is at whatever point in during the day when the water is the warmest it will be closest to 61 degrees and hence the best time to fish because the fish will be most active and more willing to exert some effort in order to take in some calories at that time of day. So as a hunter, I had stacked the deck in my favor as best I could. I decided to go with the Stonefly nymphs tied with some nice peacock herl and nice peacock sword fiber tails & shiny black bead heads. I wasn't sure if it was really the right choice because I had half a mind to just tie on a streamer and use a Teeny 130 full sinking head fly line. But, I wanted to dunk some big 'ol nymphs & that was that! I set up with a floating Spey line & looked up at the beautiful sky and really felt appreciative just to have the opportunity to be out there for the day in such a remote & amazing place. All alone. Just me & the Black Bears & the Bald Eagles and the Deer. My, my, the Deer. On the way in I saw a herd of Deer running up ahead of me, they were running along the train tracks because I had spooked them. At first, I thought they were seagulls flapping their white wings, because their bodies were pretty much invisible to me at such a distance. All I saw what their tails flapping as they ran, with occasional glimpses of their white undertails. At that point my attention shifted and even though that calm, critical voice in my head said, "You know this isn't happening today for you old boy, right?" - I nodded & told me to shut up & I let myself start working the seam & focusing on mending the line & working systematically, first in close, then gradually further out. How many million times have I cast a fishing rod and just enjoyed the act of casting irregardless of catching any fish? I was having a lot of fun just doing my thing and not expecting anything when all the sudden ' bump, tap, tap, BUMP! "Holy S__t Care," the voice said. Before I knew it the Spey rod had a nice Bend in it. I got tight on the fish right away and realizing it was hooked, it accelerated out into the current and bolted down-river, which caused my old Hardy Spring & Pawl reel to scream like a Banshee as the fish was feeling more like a freaking missile than a trout. It literally streaked out into the raging water. All I really saw was a few flashes of pearl & I followed the tip of my line with my eyes & it was moving! Fast!! Then, this bruiser went airborne & I just started laughing out loud. It was a huge rainbow. It turned and then came towards me like a freight train I picked up as much line as I could and lifted the Spey rod, tip up, high into the air, somehow I stayed tight. If I hadn't of had that extra 3 1/2 feet of rod, the line would have absolutely went limp & I wouldn't be writing this little account. The pearl streak turned and headed right back out into the current and again with the trusty old Hardy screaming away. Then the fish went Airborne again, this time shaking & flipping as it jumped. I instantly lifted the rod again as high as I could, painting the clouds with my rod tip. The fight was on. Somehow, my adversary didn't pop off the line. I had managed to stay absolutely tight & in contact all the while. I backed my way to ankle deep water & gave some side pressure & gradually turned the tide of the fight, which ended shortly thereafter. It was a 5 minute battle, maybe slightly longer all in. As I released the fish, handling it with my signature green fingerless wool gloves, I was just flat out stunned by how pearly it's sides were. It's back was bright light olive & there were hundreds of little black dots all over it. The most impressive thing about this fish was it's massive tail. The girth of it & the obvious power. I was amazed. All Fins literally perfectly formed. A wild holdover rainbow, 32 inches long. All total I had taken about 15 casts. I was laughing to myself and shaking my head. I broke the rod down, tossed the reel in my shoulder bag went to the bike & set up the chair & decided to have lunch. I didn't take another cast that day. I sat for a while, thinking about life in general as I nibbled on Smoked Jalapeño Almonds & sipped some wine from my tin cup. The area I was in was very depressed,economically speaking. I felt like a cowboy visitor who was just passing through with wide eyes. I needed the dose of quiet & the chance to recharge. I was humbled & reminded that the world is a tougher place for most people these days. I happened to catch a big fish & thankfully, my leader knots held up & it didn't pop off the hooks on account of it was hooked right in the corner of its jaw. I rode my way out & drove home. Mission accomplished & I guess that's why they call this sport Fishing & not Catching. A lot, or as little, goes into this sport as you care to give it. Reason I tell this long story is to propose a suggestion. Instead of being concerned with catching big fish, maybe we all should focus a little bit of that energy on things that matter more. Also think about this. The day will come when you get a shot. In the meantime, tight lines everybody & God bless. Depends on how predatory I feel. Some times, I fish with heavy gear in the Ditch ("loaded for bear" as it were) when I think that I have a shot at a 40 or larger. Other days I have a blast catching lots smaller fish on light spinning gear or fly rods. If I HAD to pick one or the other for the rest of my life, I'd opt for a couple dozen smaller (28-34") fish on a tide, because I can keep scaling back my gear such that catching smaller fish is great fun. I'll take the numbers over the one big fish. Getting into 24"- 34" in the surf works for me. Perfectly happy with any action but there are for sure days when I am focused on size. If catching that one big one means fishing in a crowd is rather catch smaller fish. I keep my fishing circle very small. I fish for the enjoyment and relaxation. The OP example. I will take the larger fish every time. Change it to blitzing 30" to 36" fish for an hour or more vs a single 30#. I'll take the action every time. Whenever ( rare ) I have the luxury of a blitz I will admit I start thinking about how to cull the bigger fish , once I have gotten my jollies off just catching.. I fish almost entirely for the cooler, and would rather eat a 30" (or smaller) any day over a bigger fish, so give me the five 30's, we'll keep our 1 per angler, and the rest get to live, grow up, and get caught by the rest of you in a decade or so.

2019-04-23T08:14:40Z

https://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/739431-would-you-choose-more-fish-or-one-big/?page=2

I am incredibly proud of the completion of this building designed by award winning architects Duel Architecture. The construction of MidCity progressed smoothly and according to schedule – with many design and engineering upgrades included along the way for the benefit of our future homeowners. Our most notable delay was waiting for the registering with land titles in order to include the lake association’s many requirements – however we still managed our goal which was to get homeowners into their homes on time. A new addition to our service lineup is the printed Homeowner Guide and Online Homeowner Portal which Alture has provided to every owner. We hope that you find this resource useful as it contains detailed information from the paint colour in your bathroom down to who installed the kitchen faucet. I appreciate all the support everyone has given to us this past year, and hope all our homeowners enjoy peace of mind knowing that you are living in an incredibly sound and well-built building that will last for years to come. Brian’s book launch is just around the corner, please come and join us March 2nd at 6pm, 431 Princess Ave. Just a bit of background, some of you may know I’ve been working with 100 Success, a group of individuals who want to lend their support to the Downtown Eastside community by providing mentorship and encouragement for individuals who have completed recovery (Climbers) to connect their business ideas and social projects to advisers (Sherpas) and to potential clients. Come join us this coming Wednesday for a glimpse into what we’ve been doing! The new rules on BC’s Property Transfer Tax have been released with the potential to save up to $13,000 for some, and rate increases for others. The goal of the province’s 2016 budget to help put home ownership within the reach of more people, but you can weigh in – does BC’s New PTT achieve its stated goals? Requirement that property buyers self-report their nationality when they register their property. Let’s go back and recognize the PTT as a major source of BC’s revenue, Vancouver accounting for nearly one-quarter of the government’s $1.15-billion windfall from B.C.’s property transfer tax in the past fiscal year. The property transfer tax was introduced in 1987 as a “luxury tax,” however thresholds have not changed since then, meaning it has turned into a revenue generator for the province. We have just sold this gem nestled in a resort-like complex. Welcome to Lakeside Terrace! If you missed this great opportunity, email us on the form below to get in contact today. The perfect balance of elegance and charm greet you as you enter the foyer, and continues into the large kitchen & open concept dining/living room. The tastefully decorated master suite has two closets/ 4 piece ensuite with separate shower. A huge private deck is your oasis perfect for entertaining. With water features/lagoon, and manicured gardens you are surrounded by beauty. Workout in the gym, dip in the pool or relax in the hot tub/sauna. A short stroll to mall/T&T, all levels of great schools, the West Coast Express, Lafarge Lake, Aquatic Center, and soon the Skytrain. Eric Hadley and Alex Taman opened an RESP account for their 9-month-old daughter, Molly, in 2010. Contributing as soon as possible can reap significant financial rewards down the road. What could help even more, in my opinion, is a well-funded education savings plan, ideally, in the form of a Registered Education Savings Plan. While RESPs have been around for many years, and really took off in 1998 with the introduction of the matching 20% Canada Education Savings Grants (CESGs), my experience is that parents are not using them in the most strategic or optimal manner possible. Here’s a quick overview of the basic rules and then we’ll run through a couple of optimization strategies. The RESP is a tax-deferred savings plan that helps an individual, typically a parent, save for a child’s post-secondary education. Similar to other registered plans, the RESP is in essence a wrapper in which you can hold various eligible investment products, such as GICs, mutual funds and even individual stocks and bonds. Unlike RRSPs, contributions to an RESP are not tax-deductible nor are they taxable when withdrawn. The main benefit of the RESP is the ability to have all earnings (capital gains, dividends and interest) on the investments inside the RESP accumulate tax-free until withdrawn. When the funds are paid out, they are included in the student’s income but presumably the child will be in a low- or zero-tax bracket, on account of the various tax credits available to them (including, most commonly, the basic personal amount and tuition, education and textbook amounts) that little, if any, tax will ever be paid on the earnings when withdrawn. The other benefit is the CESG, equal to 20% of the annual contributions, to a maximum of $500 (or $1,000 if there is unused grant room from previous years). The maximum CESG entitlement is capped at $7,200 per child. When funding an RESP, the first missed opportunity is that parents often only start thinking about contributing to their kids’ RESPs several years after their children are born. But contributing to an RESP as soon as possible can reap significant financial rewards down the road. For example, take Alan, who starts saving for his daughter Amy’s education the year she is born. If he contributes the $2,500 maximum amount needed each year to maximize the CESGs until he hits $36,000 of contributions in the year Amy turns 14, he will have accumulated nearly $61,000 in Amy’s RESP by the time she is 18, assuming a 3% rate of return. Contrast this with Zoe, who only starts saving for her son Zack’s education when he turns 10 by contributing $1,000 in that year and then $5,000 each year from age 11 to 17 to catch up on all prior years’ CESGs. By the time Zack is 18, assuming the same 3% rate of return, Zack’s RESP would only be worth $49,000, despite Zoe having contributed the same $36,000 that Alan contributed. Finally, for those parents who can afford to do so, consider maximizing the tax-deferred (or, most probably, tax-free) compounding by contributing beyond the annual amounts needed to maximize the CESGs. This can be done by making an additional lump sum contribution of $14,000, bringing the total amount contributed up to the lifetime maximum of $50,000 per child. Jamie Golombek, CA, CPA, CFP, CLU, TEP is the Managing Director, Tax & Estate Planning with CIBC Private Wealth Management in Toronto. Rich Coleman, minister of natural gas development and housing, tours the Budzey Building, a newly completed structure providing 147 apartments for women or women with kids who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, in Vancouver on Thursday. VANCOUVER — Women and children first is the key to the province’s latest social-housing project, the success of which will hopefully draw more federal support for other projects in B.C. On Thursday, minister Rich Coleman toured the Budzey Building, near Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The building provides long-term permanent housing for women (including transgender and cisgender) and women-led families. The Budzey was opened in July 2015 and was gradually tenanted throughout the fall. Only just recently did the building finally reach capacity. According to Amelia Ridgeway, an associate director at RainCity Housing, the organization partnered with B.C. Housing to interview prospective tenants, ensuring that the residents being moved into the Budzey are from the surrounding community. As well, there was a focus on women who had been longtimetenants at nearby SROs (single-room occupancy) facilities. We have just sold one of the best SOUTH view HOMES on Burke Mountain. If you missed this great opportunity – email me below to find out about other similar homes in your neighbourhood that are coming up for sale! Find the Full Listing information here. Place for your family and more. Stunning VIEWS. Master bedroom retreats with spa-inspired Ensuites. Built by MOSAIC. Upgraded appliances, a master-planned community to be complete with play space, green space and shopping village. Massive kitchen islands, spacious laundry rooms, double-door ensuite bathrooms, walk-out backyards, mud rooms for gear, window lounges, closet space to spare. No CARPET AT ALL. Located in Quite side of David Ave.

2019-04-21T16:15:51Z

https://theresashaw.ca/page/2/

Do you know that many celebrities have been using the Lagree Method, such as Sophia Vergara, Michelle Obama, Zac Efron, Kim Kardashian and Meghan Markle? Exerting on the Megaformer you are getting a full-body workout that increases flexibility, strengthens your muscles, and improves your endurance. However, the truth is the workout has only just begun once you start to feel your muscles begin to shake. Your legs, arms, and abs aren’t the only parts of your body getting stronger — so is your mind. The most important gains you receive from Lagree Fitness are mental. Have you ever found your mind starts wandering during a fitness class? Your body may be going through the motions, but you’re thinking about what you’re going to eat for dinner or how annoying your coworker was today. You don’t have the luxury of a wandering mind during a Megaformer workout. You are forced to focus on the now because you have to listen to the instructor to understand how to do the moves correctly. Not only that, you are tuning into how your muscles are feeling and responding to those movements, so you have to concentrate. The amount of focus you use during your Lagree Fitness class translates into your daily life. When you leave your Lagree Fitness class at Studio40, you may be surprised to find that there is a slight bounce in your step despite the gloomy weather. This is for several reasons. Of course, exercise, in general, is going to lift your mood, as your body produces endorphins. There’s also the fact that you are doing something positive for self-care, which is always a great way to make yourself feel better. Lagree Fitness simply makes you feel more confident. Your posture gets better, enabling you to stand tall. When you learn all the things your body can do, you can’t help but to feel better about who you are. This overall makes you a more positive person. The ways your body becomes stronger are apparent to everyone else, but you might find yourself happiest with the ways your mind is becoming stronger. The Lagree Fitness workout is comparable to a combination of Pilates and weight training. When you come in for a Megaformer workout at Studio40, you know you are doing something that’s good for your body and mind. Exercise, in general, is beneficial to helping you get sounder sleep, but this is especially true after a Lagree Fitness workout. This is because it requires so much physical AND mental energy to perform this 40-minute workout. Not only are your muscles exhausted, so is your brain. You never want to stop learning, and the Lagree Fitness workout ensures that your brain is flexible and ready to take on new information. You don’t get bored on the Megaformer. Every class is different and requires you to challenge yourself mentally and physically. This translates to a brain that is hungry to learn more. Regardless of whether your priority is in physical or mental gains, you can get them all here at Studio40 Fitness. Are you chasing after the elusive six-pack? Doing all those sit-ups isn’t going to cut it. If you’re looking for enhance your core strength, it isn’t enough to simply do isometric exercises that target the abs. When you go to a Lagree Fitness class, you are using your core the entire time. Every move we do in class involves the core, which means if you’re trying to strengthen your core, there is no better option. This is why a Lagree fitness workout is not only great alone, but also as a cross-training plan with sports. Though this is not always the case, in general, women are more flexible than men. This is an area that is worth to focus on, because when you are more flexible, you are able to take your athletic performance to the next level and move about your daily life more comfortably. In terms of improving your flexibility, there are few better fitness options than Lagree Fitness. It allows you to increase your range of motion, become more flexible, and helps prevent injuries through our workout program. You know which muscles you want to work on, so you probably have a workout plan when you hit the gym targeting those specific muscle groups. In addition, as you go about your daily life, you tend to do the same movements again and again, building those specific muscles as well. During a Megaformer workout, you are working muscles you may never even realize you have. The first time you experience the shaking that occurs during a Lagree Fitness workout, you’ll be able to recognize it — you are getting stronger in places you didn’t even know had muscles! You have to be entirely focused on the workout when you’re doing it. This is because you have to do every move precisely to maintain proper form and get the most out of your workout. It also centers a lot around breathing, so it promotes mindfulness is a similar way to yoga. This means that a Lagree Fitness workout is not only an incredible way to strengthen your physical body, it also has powerful effects on your mind. Taking a break from life's daily grind to focus in on a tough workout, is an incredible way to enhance your focus, which translates to other areas of your life. Some men stay away from the Lagree method because the movements are slower than what they are used to at the weight rack. Trust us, just because it doesn’t look like your traditional workout, it doesn’t mean that it is easy. In fact, this workout is extremely challenging, and many people consider it the hardest they have ever done. Regardless of your preferred form of physical activity, adding Lagree Fitness into your routine is an incredible way to enhance your performance across the board. Put aside any preconceptions about the Megaformer workout and come try it yourself! You! Regardless of when you decide to jump on the Megaformer, to truly get the most out of your workout, it’s important to be thoughtful about how you’re fueling it. We need food for our bodies to function optimally, so more important than anything, make sure that you are eating at least a quick snack before you come into our studio. That being said, there are some food choices that will make your workout go smoother, and others that will leave you uncomfortable. In this post, we will go over some good options for fueling your Megaformer workout. First off, if you will be eating a full meal before you come in for Studio40, it’s best to eat between an hour and two hours before class. This gives your body plenty of time to digest while still providing you plenty of energy for your workout. What you eat specifically can vary, but you want to make it a balanced meal with protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Protein and fat both burn slowly, providing much-needed energy to help you maintain stamina. They also require your body to work a little harder to digest, so don’t wolf them down 15 minutes before your class! In addition, while carbohydrates provide great, quick-burning energy, most people find that eating too much before class isn’t necessary because you aren’t putting in as much aerobic work. You are the expert on your own body. Eat what you digest well and gives you the energy you need to power through an intense workout. Salmon and broccoli with lemon-butter sauce. Spinach salad with chicken, avocado, and your favorite veggies. Lettuce-wrapped turkey burger with cheese. Lentil soup with a roll and butter. Tofu scramble with veggies and a side of peanut butter toast. Alternatively, you might opt for a small snack 30 to 45 minutes before your class. This is a good idea if you are doing an early morning class and won’t have time to let a full meal digest, or you haven’t eaten in a few hours and you need a boost of energy. If this is the case, you will want to focus more on getting carbohydrates that you can quickly digest so you can put that fuel to good use immediately, as well as a small amount of protein to aid your muscles. Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and sliced banana. Your favorite fruit with a handful of nuts. Oatmeal made with milk and fruit. In addition to making sure you’re getting enough food, you want to make sure you are staying hydrated. Drink water before, during, and after your workout. If you struggle to drink just plain water, consider slicing up some fruit and putting it into your water bottle for a lightly flavored beverage. We hope that these tips help you get the most out of your Megaformer workout. If you’re interested in trying the Lagree Method you can schedule your classes and also try other classes we offer like yoga, hip-hop and high interval intense training (HIIT).

2019-04-22T04:37:05Z

https://studio40.fit/blog/

Gaze in wonder at the lofty spires of Hungary’s Parliament Building as it rises majestically above the Danube in Budapest. Sit down for friendly, intimate meals with farmers in Croatia and artists in Romania. Uncover scores of little-known treasures, including the picturesque Bulgarian hill towns of Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanassi and the surprising rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo—a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Step back in time to investigate the history and legends along the Danube while you cruise the Iron Gates. Tour Belgrade by bicycle, marvel at the massive People’s Palace in Bucharest or see Vlad the Impaler’s tomb in the Romanian countryside. From Budapest to Bucharest, Roman ruins to medieval fortresses, this journey will reveal the unstoppable resiliency of the human spirit, as well as the highlights of this spectacular region. The adventure of a lifetime awaits you. Explorers wishing to discover ancient lands and modern multicultural cities. Photographers, amateur archaeologists, connoisseurs of regional cuisines and anyone who loves beautiful and mysterious locales. Arrive at Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. If your cruise/tour package includes a group arrival transfer or if you have purchased a private arrival transfer, you will be greeted by a Uniworld representative and transferred to the hotel. Count Dracula might be a fictional character who makes the blood curdle on Halloween, but his historical namesake is not. Vlad III—known in his heyday as Dracula or “Vlad the Impaler”—was a medieval prince with a penchant for brutally punishing his enemies. Or was it all a smear campaign instigated by his enemies? Find out more today on a visit to his tomb. Also on the agenda—a guided tour of the infamous Ceausescu Mansion. Legend says that a tiny, verdant island in the midst of lovely Snagov Lake, just north of the city, contains Vlad the Impaler’s tomb. Vlad III, who ruled Wallachia (now part of modern Romania) in the 15th century, may have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and countless successor vampire novels), though he got his sobriquet “the Impaler” for the brutal methods he employed against his enemies, not for sinking his teeth into virgins. However cruel Vlad was, the monks of Snagov Monastery held him in great esteem and are said to have buried him in their monastery after he was slain in a battle nearby. Take a boat over the peaceful waters to the serene garden and monastery to see the simple marble slab that marks the tomb, as well as the beautiful medieval frescoes that adorn the interior of the monastery. Bucharest is a fascinating combination of Communist grandiosity, elegant French-influenced 19th-century buildings and surprising survivors dating from the 1500s. Perhaps nothing more perfectly encapsulates Romania’s 20th-century experience than the mind-boggling People’s Palace, which you can visit today. Another option is a walking tour that shows you this city from a local’s perspective. Begin the day with a panoramic tour of Bucharest, followed by a traditional three-course Romanian lunch at a local restaurant, before transferring via motorcoach to Giurgiu, where your ship awaits. A panoramic tour will show you that Bucharest is a fascinating combination of Communist grandiosity, elegant French-influenced 19th-century buildings and surprising survivors from the 1500s, which are acquiring new gloss in Lipscani, the restored old quarter. Bucharest began as a fortress in the 15th century, a warlike origin that set the tone for its turbulent history. It saw glory days as the summer residence of the Wallachian princes and was burned to the ground by the Ottoman Turks; then Austria-Hungary and imperial Russia fought over it for a century. After Wallachia and Moldavia united to form Romania in the mid-19th century, Bucharest enjoyed a prosperity that was reflected in its extravagant architecture, some of which miraculously survived WWII bombing and Communist building programs. You’ll see Bucharest’s very own Triumphal Arch, which is modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Victoria Boulevard, lined with chic shops and handsomely restored prewar buildings—and sites where protests brought down Ceausescu’s regime in 1989. These days Bucharest enjoys a lively and eclectic cultural scene, hosting international arts festivals and concerts, and a measure of prosperity apparent in its busy cafés and thriving street life. Perhaps no sight in Bucharest more perfectly encapsulates Romania’s 20th-century experience than the mind-boggling structure known as the People’s Palace. Nicolae Ceausescu razed one-sixth of the city to erect this enormous palace—the second-largest building in the world—which all but bankrupted the country and helped trigger his downfall. Some 20,000 laborers worked on the building, which has 1,100 rooms in its 12 stories. Only a small portion of it is open to tours—in fact, only a small portion of the rooms are furnished—but you’ll see the vast marble-sheathed halls, huge chandeliers and basement bomb shelter that comprise an astonishing monument to the dictator’s ambition. The cost to the country was enormous, but the craftsmanship is exquisite; the dictator meant it to be a showcase of Bulgarian decorative arts, and in that he fully succeeded. “Give a penny for the Athenaeum.” Back in the 1880s, this was the theme for the fundraising campaign that resulted in one of Bucharest’s most beautiful and most beloved buildings: the Romanian Athenaeum. Ordinary citizens, not wealthy patrons of the arts, contributed their pennies and built a jewel-box concert hall with perfect acoustics, which they cherish to this day: It’s called the spiritual and artistic heart of the nation. Start to explore the Bucharest locals love right here with a look at the stately neoclassical home of the George Enescu Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra, and continue to Revolution Square, perhaps best known for the moment when Nicolae Ceausescu climbed into a helicopter on the roof of the Central Committee building and fled Bucharest in 1989. Stroll past the elegant shops in the neighborhood, as you head to Lipscani, the restored old quarter. Just a few years ago this neighborhood was all but a shambles; now it is a lively social center. Here you’ll find everything from a famous beer hall to a spectacularly renovated bookstore, as well as the city’s oldest surviving church and the remnants of the Old Princely Court, where the Wallachian rulers—including Vlad the Impaler—lived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Your walking tour ends at Hanul Lui Manuc, built two centuries ago as an inn and recently restored, where you will take a seat in the tree-shaded courtyard and relax over some favorite local appetizers—perhaps some stuffed mushrooms and a variety of sausages. Your next destination, the Basarbovo Rock Monastery, is the only rock monastery where monks still live and worship today. Climb the narrow rock stairway to the 15th-century cloister, which is cut into the limestone cliffs high above the Lom River, and take a look at the arresting frescoes. You’ll also spend some time in Rousse, a city with an easygoing, gracious feeling. Freedom Square, a huge open plaza, takes its name from the Freedom Monument, which soars from the center of the square; the stately Belle Epoque buildings surrounding the square attest to the city’s prosperity in the 1890s. Stroll along wide, tree-lined Alexandrovska, the main pedestrian street that links the city’s many attractive squares, encountering such landmark sights as Rousse’s grand theater, the city museum and the first movie theater (it opened in 1896). Twice the capital of Bulgaria—before and after the Ottomans conquered the nation—Veliko Tarnovo climbs steep hills above the Yantra River, topped by the ruins of Tsarevets, the stronghold where Bulgaria’s kings ruled between 1185 and 1393. The remains of the great stone walls and towers that you see formed the historic heart of the Second Bulgarian Empire. History lives in this town, as a quick look at the wares for sale in Samovod Marketplace will show you: Handicrafts are all made by local artisans using ancient, medieval or Renaissance technologies. You’ll have time to peruse the exceptional local pottery and textiles there before heading to Arbanassi, home to six amazing 17th-century stone churches, each one decorated with colorful and intricate frescoes. Learn something of the multicultural history of this fascinating town at the Ethnographic Museum and visit the UNESCO-designated Nativity Church, where murals of the Nativity, the Last Judgment and the zodiac brilliantly blend religious and humanist iconography. At another of the churches, Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, you’ll hear the otherworldly singing of an Orthodox choir in a short concert. Your day’s adventure includes a traditional three-course Bulgarian lunch, complete with live folk music. Drive through the scenic Bulgarian countryside to Belogradchik, a small town in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains, not far from the Serbian border. After some light refreshment at a local hotel, you’ll be ready to explore the astonishing rock formations nearby, which are over 200 million years old—and have inspired nearly as many legends! Many of the strange wind- and weather-hewn shapes have names, such as Adam and Eve, the Bear and the Castle. The outcroppings formed a natural defense for the town that was enhanced with man-made fortifications over the centuries. Whether you choose to hike with a local expert to the top of the path or not, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views. Your return will take you past some sights that highlight Vidin’s mixed heritage: the Orthodox cathedral, the Turkish mosque, the Konak (the 18th-century headquarters of the Turkish police) and the cruciform barracks (which date to the 1790s). The final stop will be Baba Vida, whose stern 10th-century stone walls were built on the site of a Roman watchtower. Cross the Danube via the brand-new bridge that links Bulgaria and Romania to meet Mircea Dinescu, poet, journalist, satirist, media mogul and key figure in the revolution that overthrew Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. Among his surprising ventures is Cetate Cultural Harbor, a haven for artists of all sorts—poets, potters, painters, filmmakers and musicians. In 1996 Dinescu’s foundation purchased a once-grand house called Port Cetate, which had fallen on very hard times, and transformed it into a largely self-supporting farm and “cultural harbor.” Artists from all over Europe are invited to participate in workshops and residency programs, and the farm is the scene of a film festival, music camp, poetry camp and even a gastronomic arts festival. There’s a reason for that particular focus: Dinescu makes fine wine, which you may sample, and the kitchen staff turns out delectable Romanian specialties. Stroll through the peaceful grounds and study the artwork on display before sitting down to tapas and music. The setting may be rustic— that’s part of the charm—but the art, music, poetry, food and wine are quite sophisticated. Today’s main attraction will be the spectacular scenery along the Danube, as you cruise a stretch of gorges known as the Iron Gates. Later, head ashore to explore a Paleolithic site and an extraordinary well-preserved medieval fortress. All along the way, history lines the banks of the river. Keep an eye out for Trajan’s Plaque, which the ancient Romans erected to commemorate the road they anchored in the steep cliffs above the water, and Golubac Castle, built in the 14th century and attacked successively by the Serbs, Magyars and Turks. The Turks won the castle in 1458, which helped to reinforce their control of the area until 1867, when they abandoned it. Lepenski Vir is one of the largest and most significant prehistoric archeological sites from the Stone Age, located on the Danube. It was once the epicenter of one of the most highly developed prehistoric cultures, with complex social relations and even rudimentary urban planning. The discovery of this prehistoric settlement has changed the image experts once had about the early Stone Age, expanding scientists’ knowledge about human communities that walked the earth millennia ago. Later, you’ll visit Golubac Castle, one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in Europe, a powerhouse that has loomed over the Danube for centuries. Unwind onboard as you cruise the breathtaking Iron Gates, an 83-mile-long (134-kilometer-long) stretch of scenic gorges that were cut through the Carpathian and Balkan mountains over eons by the Danube River. These gorges, which act as a natural border between Serbia and Romania, are among the most dramatic and beautiful sights in all of Europe. This was one of the swiftest and most dangerous stretches of the river before two dams were built: Iron Gate I and Iron Gate II. Construction on the dams began in 1964 and took 20 years to complete; they have dramatically altered the area’s landscape, raising the water level by 114 feet (35 meters) and drowning several islands and villages. As a motorcoach carries you through the city, you’ll see a mix of architectural styles that reveal the city’s past, ranging from Gothic, Ottoman, baroque and art nouveau to utilitarian Communist apartment blocks and modern high-rises. While Belgrade has been no stranger to political upheaval, the 19th-century Residence of Princess Ljubica and serene old residential streets speak of calmer days, as do the bustling present-day café-lined boulevards. You’ll pass the tomb and memorial museum of Josip Broz Tito, which is located at the site of Tito’s former residence in Belgrade’s affluent Dedinje neighborhood, and visit Kalemegdan Fortress, high on a hill above the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. Ancient Romans built the first fortress here, and successive conquerors and defenders—Slavs, Byzantines, Ottomans, Habsburgs—continued to build and destroy fortifications on this site for another 1,500 years. Walk along the old stone walls, passing monuments and memorials (some will surprise you—poets and composers are honored here as well as military actions), for a sense of Serbia’s distant and more recent history. It’s not the only intriguing historical sight you’ll see today, however. You will also visit the Karadjordjevic Dynasty Palace and sip a glass of sparkling Serbian wine as you tour a compound of palaces built in the 1920s and 1930s. Serbia’s royal family, which is related to most of Europe’s royalty, has a strictly honorary position in modern-day democratic Serbia, but Crown Prince Alexander (who did not feel that taking the title of king was appropriate when his father died in exile in the United States in 1972) and his family still live in these palaces. A local expert will show you the public rooms of the Royal Palace, the White Palace, the adjacent chapel and the spacious grounds. Mount a bike and spend a leisurely half-day getting an up-close look at Belgrade, complete with lively commentary from your guide, who will tell you not just about the tumultuous recent past but also what it’s like to live here. Ride past Branko’s Bridge, Staro Sajmište (a former concentration camp), the Palace of Serbia and Hotel Jugoslavija; after a refreshing stop at a traditional fisherman’s bar, you’ll be ready to pedal to Kalemegdan Fortress and see a bit of Serbia’s more distant past. Welcome to Croatia! This ancient country has made a remarkable recovery from a brutal civil war, and its beautiful countryside, colorful folk traditions and delicious rustic cuisine make it a most rewarding place to visit. Welcome to Croatia! This ancient country, which has made a remarkable recovery from a brutal civil war, is noted for its beautiful countryside and thriving folk traditions, as well as delicious simple, local rustic food. You’ll dock in Vukovar, Croatia’s biggest port, at the confluence of the Danube and Vuka rivers. The bullet-riddled water tower stands as a reminder of the bitter Croatian War of Independence, fought between 1991 and 1995, when Croatia sought to break away from Yugoslavia. Thousands died during the siege of Vukovar, which was heavily damaged. As you take a short walk through the town now, you will see lasting signs of the conflict, but you will also see a revitalized community, determined to rebuild. From Vukovar you’ll head to Osijek, where you’ll visit Tvrda, a military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they took the region back from the Ottomans. You’ll also learn something of Osijek’s long history—which dates back to Roman times—and stop by the Church of the Holy Cross, built by the Franciscans after the Ottomans left. Venture into a lesser-known part of Croatia today. Set off from the port of Vukovar with your local expert, who will tell you about Vukovar’s calamitous experience during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), when much of the city was shelled, and head to Osijek, the capital of Slavonia. Osijek is an attractive town on the banks of the Drava River that combines a long history—settlement predates the Romans, who built a fortress there that was conquered by Attila the Hun— with an easygoing charm and a readiness to embrace the future. You’ll stroll through Tvrda, the baroque military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they seized the town from the Ottoman Turks, and see some of the historic highlights via a panoramic tour. Located on opposite sides of the Danube, Buda and Pest each has a distinctive character and allure all its own. Explore this dynamic and multi-faceted city with your choice of excursions—you can see it from a local’s perspective on our exclusive walking tour, cover more ground with a panoramic tour or “Go Active” with a guided bike ride. Vibrant Budapest, Hungary’s capital, offers an enchanting combination of East and West, old and new. Even its geography is made up of two parts—Buda (the hills) and Pest (the flatlands)—divided by the Danube. Which part will you choose to explore today? You have three options to choose from. This panoramic tour is a wonderful way to get an overview of the city if you have never been here before. It will carry you from Heroes’ Square, created in 1896 to honor the thousand-year anniversary of Hungary’s founding and its greatest historical figures, past some of the city’s most striking architectural sights—Dohány Street Synagogue, the Hungarian National Museum, the state opera house, St. Stephen’s Basilica and the truly stunning Parliament Building—to Castle Hill, which has been called the heart of the nation. The city of Buda began here, when King Béla built a strong keep in 1243 as a defense against Mongol invaders; a castle replaced the simple fortress, and over the centuries other castles replaced that one. The current castle is primarily 18th century; a museum dedicated to Budapest’s archaeological finds is housed there, and the Castle Hill district has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You’ll go inside the magnificent 700-year-old Matthias Church, named for one of Hungary’s greatest kings, and then wend your way on foot to the picturesque Fisherman’s Bastion, whose seven fairytale-like towers represent the seven tribes that originally settled the region. It offers a glorious view of the city and the Danube below. Get ready for a fun immersion in the daily life of Budapest—your local expert will show you how to use the metro (one of the oldest in Europe) to easily reach all the city has to offer. Start with a visit to one of the city’s irresistible market halls. Stalls spill over with produce, sausages and meats, festoons of dried paprika, cheeses, and jars of honey, all of it authentically Hungarian. After you leave the market, stop for coffee and a sweet treat at Szamos Gourmet Palace, a combination pastry shop, café and chocolate maker in Vörösmarty Square. Marzipan is a favorite confection in Budapest, and Szamos has specialized in making it since the 1930s, so you might want to try some—but the shop’s truffle selection is equally irresistible. Refreshed, you’ll be ready to hop back on the tram for a visit to the gracious green spaces of Károlyi Garden, sometimes described as Budapest’s most charming small park. You’ll ramble along the boulevards and pass the Hungarian National Museum, truly getting the feel for this dynamic city, as you head back toward the ship. Note: Budapest’s market halls are closed on holidays. If your tour lands on a holiday, we will skip the market. Only the Netherlands and Denmark have a higher proportion of people who use bicycles for their daily transportation than Hungary, and you can spot the bright-green bikes that are part of the city’s bike-sharing program anywhere. Join a local expert to experience the Budapest bicyclists love: Wheel along the Danube past such sights as the moving tribute to the Jews shot by the Nazis on the banks of the river, the Hungarian Parliament building, St. Stephen’s Basilica and Andrassy Avenue, and swoop over the bridge to Margaret Island. It’s a fun and active way to get out and see the city the way locals see it. In the evening, a special Captain’s Farewell Reception and Dinner will be prepared for you. If your cruise/tour package includes a group departure transfer or if you have purchased a private departure transfer, you will be transferred to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport for your flight home. Or you can extend your stay in beautiful Budapest with our exciting optional post-cruise extension. Arrive at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. If your cruise/tour package includes a group arrival transfer or if you have purchased a private arrival transfer, you will be greeted by a Uniworld representative and transferred to the ship. You’ll go inside the magnificent 700-year-old Matthias Church, named for one of Hungary’s greatest kings, and then wend your way on foot to the picturesque Fisherman’s Bastion, whose seven fairytale-like towers represent the seven tribes that originally settled the region. It offers a glorious view of the city and the Danube below.Note: Visits to the interior of Matthias Church may not be possible on some weekends and Catholic holidays. Only the Netherlands and Denmark have a higher proportion of people who use bicycles for their daily transportation than Hungary, and you can spot the bright-green bikes that are part of the city’s bike-sharing program anywhere. Join a local expert to experience the Budapest bicyclists love: Wheel along the Danube past such sights as the moving tribute to the Jews shot by the Nazis on the banks of the river, the Hungarian Parliament building, St. Stephen’s Basilica and Andrassy Avenue, and swoop over the bridge to Margaret Island. It’s a fun and active way to get out and see the city the way locals see it. Get ready for a fun immersion in the daily life of Budapest—your local expert will show you how to use the metro (one of the oldest in Europe) to easily reach all the city has to offer. Start with a visit to one of the city’s irresistible market halls. Stalls spill over with produce, sausages and meats, festoons of dried paprika, cheeses, and jars of honey, all of it authentically Hungarian. After you leave the market, stop for coffee and a sweet treat at Szamos Gourmet Palace, a combination pastry shop, café and chocolate maker in Vörösmarty Square. Marzipan is a favorite confection in Budapest, and Szamos has specialized in making it since the 1930s, so you might want to try some—but the shop’s truffle selection is equally irresistible. Refreshed, you’ll be ready to hop back on the tram for a visit to the gracious green spaces of Károlyi Garden, sometimes described as Budapest’s most charming small park. You’ll ramble along the boulevards and pass the Hungarian National Museum, truly getting the feel for this dynamic city, as you head back toward the ship. The bullet-riddled water tower stands as a reminder of the bitter Croatian War of Independence, fought between 1991 and 1995, when Croatia sought to break away from Yugoslavia. Thousands died during the siege of Vukovar, which was heavily damaged. As you take a short walk through the town now, you will see lasting signs of the conflict, but you will also see a revitalized community, determined to rebuild. From Vukovar you’ll head to Osijek, where you’ll visit Tvrda, a military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they took the region back from the Ottomans. You’ll also learn something of Osijek’s long history—which dates back to Roman times—and stop by the Church of the Holy Cross, built by the Franciscans after the Ottomans left.Enjoy an Ajvar demonstration in the courtyard of the monastery, a local specialty made from bell peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. You’ll also learn how to prepare vegetables in authentic Croatian style. From there, the group will split up and head off to different nearby villages for a home-hosted lunch.Later, you’ll visit the Vucedol Museum. The basic idea behind the concept of this unique museum was integration into the terrain—the entire structure is designed to be mostly buried in the ground and only the façade is open to the landscape. Its shape, as serpentine, follows terrain, and on whose green roof you can reach the archaeological sites over the museum. Along the path, you’ll encounter the various Vučedol culture archaeological findings that have been discovered to date, which showcase the daily life and customs during a turbulent time of the immigration of the first Indo-Europeans and their relationship with the natives, the blending of material cultures and religions. Following your time at the museum, enjoy lunch at the Goldschmidt winery. Venture into a lesser-known part of Croatia today. Set off from the port of Vukovar with your local expert, who will tell you about Vukovar’s calamitous experience during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), when much of the city was shelled, and head to Osijek, the capital of Slavonia. Osijek is an attractive town on the banks of the Drava River that combines a long history—settlement predates the Romans, who built a fortress there that was conquered by Attila the Hun— with an easygoing charm and a readiness to embrace the future. You’ll stroll through Tvrda, the baroque military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they seized the town from the Ottoman Turks, and see some of the historic highlights via a panoramic tour. You’ll follow up your tour with a stop in a village just outside the city for a traditional Croatian lunch hosted by local villagers. Translators will be on hand to help you and your hosts converse, so you can actually learn a bit about one another’s lives and interests. You’ll pass the tomb and memorial museum of Josip Broz Tito, which is located at the site of Tito’s former residence in Belgrade’s affluent Dedinje neighborhood, and visit Kalemegdan Fortress, high on a hill above the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.Ancient Romans built the first fortress here, and successive conquerors and defenders—Slavs, Byzantines, Ottomans, Habsburgs—continued to build and destroy fortifications on this site for another 1,500 years. Walk along the old stone walls, passing monuments and memorials (some will surprise you—poets and composers are honored here as well as military actions), for a sense of Serbia’s distant and more recent history. It’s not the only intriguing historical sight you’ll see today, however. You will also visit the Karadjordjevic Dynasty Palace and sip a glass of sparkling Serbian wine as you tour a compound of palaces built in the 1920s and 1930s. Serbia’s royal family, which is related to most of Europe’s royalty, has a strictly honorary position in modern-day democratic Serbia, but Crown Prince Alexander (who did not feel that taking the title of king was appropriate when his father died in exile in the United States in 1972) and his family still live in these palaces. A local expert will show you the public rooms of the Royal Palace, the White Palace, the adjacent chapel and the spacious grounds. Later, head ashore to explore a Paleolithic site and an extraordinary well-preserved medieval fortress. All along the way, history lines the banks of the river. Keep an eye out for Trajan’s Plaque, which the ancient Romans erected to commemorate the road they anchored in the steep cliffs above the water, and Golubac Castle, built in the 14th century and attacked successively by the Serbs, Magyars and Turks. The Turks won the castle in 1458, which helped to reinforce their control of the area until 1867, when they abandoned it. The discovery of this prehistoric settlement has changed the image experts once had about the early Stone Age, expanding scientists’ knowledge about human communities that walked the earth millennia ago.Later, you’ll visit Golubac Castle, one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in Europe, a powerhouse that has loomed over the Danube for centuries. Drive through the scenic Bulgarian countryside to Belogradchik, a small town in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains, not far from the Serbian border. After some light refreshment at a local hotel, you’ll be ready to explore the astonishing rock formations nearby, which are over 200 million years old—and have inspired nearly as many legends! Many of the strange wind- and weather-hewn shapes have names, such as Adam and Eve, the Bear and the Castle. The outcroppings formed a natural defense for the town that was enhanced with man-made fortifications over the centuries. Whether you choose to hike with a local expert to the top of the path or not, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views. Your return will take you past some sights that highlight Vidin’s mixed heritage: the Orthodox cathedral, the Turkish mosque, the Konak (the 18th-century headquarters of the Turkish police) and the cruciform barracks (which date to the 1790s). The final stop will be Baba Vida, whose stern 10th-century stone walls were built on the site of a Roman watchtower. There’s a reason for that particular focus: Dinescu makes fine wine, which you may sample, and the kitchen staff turns out delectable Romanian specialties. Stroll through the peaceful grounds and study the artwork on display before sitting down to tapas and music. The setting may be rustic— that’s part of the charm—but the art, music, poetry, food and wine are quite sophisticated. Twice the capital of Bulgaria—before and after the Ottomans conquered the nation—Veliko Tarnovo climbs steep hills above the Yantra River, topped by the ruins of Tsarevets, the stronghold where Bulgaria’s kings ruled between 1185 and 1393. The remains of the great stone walls and towers that you see formed the historic heart of the Second Bulgarian Empire. History lives in this town, as a quick look at the wares for sale in Samovod Marketplace will show you: Handicrafts are all made by local artisans using ancient, medieval or Renaissance technologies. You’ll have time to peruse the exceptional local pottery and textiles there before heading to Arbanassi, home to six amazing 17th-century stone churches, each one decorated with colorful and intricate frescoes. Rousse walking discovery tour with Ivanovo and Basarbovo monasteries. Walk through the woods of Rusenski Lom, a protected region that is home to a wide variety of rare birds, among other wildlife, to Ivanovo Rock Monastery—once an enclave of more than 40 churches and chapels that the devout built inside caves above the Lom River Valley. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famous for its beautiful and well-preserved 14th-century murals.Your next destination, the Basarbovo Rock Monastery, is the only rock monastery where monks still live and worship today. Climb the narrow rock stairway to the 15th-century cloister, which is cut into the limestone cliffs high above the Lom River, and take a look at the arresting frescoes. You’ll also spend some time in Rousse, a city with an easygoing, gracious feeling. Freedom Square, a huge open plaza, takes its name from the Freedom Monument, which soars from the center of the square; the stately Belle Epoque buildings surrounding the square attest to the city’s prosperity in the 1890s. Stroll along wide, tree-lined Alexandrovska, the main pedestrian street that links the city’s many attractive squares, encountering such landmark sights as Rousse’s grand theater, the city museum and the first movie theater (it opened in 1896). Another option is a walking tour that shows you this city from a local’s perspective. This morning, you’ll disembark the ship in Giurgiu and drive through the countryside to Bucharest, where you’ll enjoy a traditional three-course Romanian lunch at a local restaurant and a panoramic city tour. Tonight you’ll relax in the comfort of a luxury hotel located in the heart of the city, Romania’s capital and its cultural and economic center. Bucharest began as a fortress in the 15th century, a warlike origin that set the tone for its turbulent history. It saw glory days as the summer residence of the Wallachian princes and was burned to the ground by the Ottoman Turks; then Austria-Hungary and imperial Russia fought over it for a century. After Wallachia and Moldavia united to form Romania in the mid-19th century, Bucharest enjoyed a prosperity that was reflected in its extravagant architecture, some of which miraculously survived WWII bombing and Communist building programs. You’ll see Bucharest’s very own Triumphal Arch, which is modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Victoria Boulevard, lined with chic shops and handsomely restored prewar buildings—and sites where protests brought down Ceausescu’s regime in 1989. These days Bucharest enjoys a lively and eclectic cultural scene, hosting international arts festivals and concerts, and a measure of prosperity apparent in its busy cafés and thriving street life. Perhaps no sight in Bucharest more perfectly encapsulates Romania’s 20th-century experience than the mind-boggling structure known as the People’s Palace. Nicolae Ceausescu razed one-sixth of the city to erect this enormous palace—the second-largest building in the world—which all but bankrupted the country and helped trigger his downfall. Some 20,000 laborers worked on the building, which has 1,100 rooms in its 12 stories. Only a small portion of it is open to tours—in fact, only a small portion of the rooms are furnished—but you’ll see the vast marble-sheathed halls, huge chandeliers and basement bomb shelter that comprise an astonishing monument to the dictator’s ambition. The cost to the country was enormous, but the craftsmanship is exquisite; the dictator meant it to be a showcase of Bulgarian decorative arts, and in that he fully succeeded. “Give a penny for the Athenaeum.” Back in the 1880s, this was the theme for the fundraising campaign that resulted in one of Bucharest’s most beautiful and most beloved buildings: the Romanian Athenaeum. Ordinary citizens, not wealthy patrons of the arts, contributed their pennies and built a jewel-box concert hall with perfect acoustics, which they cherish to this day: It’s called the spiritual and artistic heart of the nation. Just a few years ago this neighborhood was all but a shambles; now it is a lively social center. Here you’ll find everything from a famous beer hall to a spectacularly renovated bookstore, as well as the city’s oldest surviving church and the remnants of the Old Princely Court, where the Wallachian rulers—including Vlad the Impaler—lived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Your walking tour ends at Hanul Lui Manuc, built two centuries ago as an inn and recently restored, where you will take a seat in the tree-shaded courtyard and relax over some favorite local appetizers—perhaps some stuffed mushrooms and a variety of sausages. Legend says that a tiny, verdant island in the midst of lovely Snagov Lake, just north of the city, contains Vlad the Impaler’s tomb. Vlad III, who ruled Wallachia (now part of modern Romania) in the 15th century, may have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and countless successor vampire novels), though he got his sobriquet “the Impaler” for the brutal methods he employed against his enemies, not for sinking his teeth into virgins. However cruel Vlad was, the monks of Snagov Monastery held him in great esteem and are said to have buried him in their monastery after he was slain in a battle nearby. Take a boat over the peaceful waters to the serene garden and monastery to see the simple marble slab that marks the tomb, as well as the beautiful medieval frescoes that adorn the interior of the monastery. Then continue further afield to the opulent former residence of Romania’s former leader Nicolae Ceausescu, where you’ll have a guided tour. It’s been a quarter of a century since deposed Romanian president Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed by a firing squad on Christmas Day in 1989, but now you can roam the opulent 80-room residence where the couple once lived, situated on 3.5 acres of grounds in one of Bucharest’s most desirable neighborhoods. For 2018 Uniworld launched their newest Super Ship — S.S. Beatrice. The S.S. Beatrice boasts yacht-style light wood with blue and white finishes throughout, a renovated lobby featuring elegant mirrors, marble floors, a white Murano chandelier with blue shades, and a grand staircase made of nickel and black iron – a signature design element of Uniworld’s Super Ships. The ship’s redesigned lounge features sofas and chairs with hand-made upholstery, a parquet floor and upholstered ceiling panels, solar shades, and new USB ports allowing guests to charge anywhere they are sitting. The artwork throughout the ship includes pieces from Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder and Pino Signoretto. Additionally, S.S. Beatrice has two new Grand Suites each measuring 310 square feet and a second 390 square foot Owner’s/Royal Suite. Connecting rooms, ideal for friends and families traveling together, have also been added. This majestic, ultra-luxurious, boutique cruise ship is the perfect base to explore the rivers from. Fabulous public areas are complelmented by lavishly appointed riverview staterooms and suites. Handcrafted Savoir® of England beds are draped in high-thread count 100% Egyptian cotton sheets and European duvets, along with a menu of pillow options. Staterooms and suites on the Rhine & Danube Decks have floor to ceiling windows opening to a French balconies. Individually decorated suite size: 225 sq. ft. The 130-passenger River Duchess is decorated in soft hues of blue and green complemented by soothing earth tones, providing a tranquil and elegant onboard ambiance. Enjoy spectacular and ever-changing views of Europe’s most enchanting waterways in the ship’s stylish Blue Danube Lounge, Palace Restaurant, or the La Motte Sky Lounge. An in-depth journey offering fresh new adventures in the Old World. Sail past quaint villages and great cities on the glorious Danube, visiting baroque abbeys and medieval cathedrals, tasting fine wines and encountering new cultures.

2019-04-26T12:56:15Z

https://www.globalrivercruising.co.uk/cruises/danube/uniworld-highlights-of-eastern-europe/

My wife and I were pleasantly surprised by our car-buying experience. From the test drive with Kyle, who definitely knew the product to Nicole in the finance office, who made a complicated procedure easy and painless! We felt the price we paid was fair without having to haggle. My husband and I were looking for a vehicle that was great on gas and great in the snow,as i will be doing quite a bit of traveling the next few months. Ryan showed us a 2014 Crosstrek! I love it! The process was very quick. The car needed front wheel bearings and Ryan set it up to have them installed at no charge to me. I was able to drop my vehicle off and get a loaner over night. Our overall experience was amazing. I highly recommend New Motors for you next vehicle purchase. Ryan was very polite and has even called again to check to make sure i am still satisfied after the bearings were put in. The service department was also very polite and helpful for getting my appointment set up. Excellent staff with very nice clean inventory. I would highly recommend LeBoeuf Auto Sales to all you shoppers looking for quality used cars. I would definitely recommend buying a car from here. Tom Kuna was my salesman and was an amazing help through the process and got me in the car I wanted! I have been dealing with Bianchi Honda for over 40 years. I have just purchased my 6th Honda and it was like all of the other times. Effortless and no drama. I have bought my second Odessey from Daniel Milhisler and it is always a pleasure to do business with hihm. Always professional and he knows his product. Dan is always available to answer any questions I might have about how to use some of the gadgets on the vehicle. He is available for this anytime in the life cycle of the van. Over the many years of dealing with Bianchi I have dealt with most of the different departments. From Sales to Service you can tell that Jason has instilled his customer care attitude throughout his organization. I have had many dealings with the service department over the years and Phil Pinyok has done a great job taking care of Bianchi customers service needs. I have never left Bianchi's not feeling satisfied that my needs were met. The quality of the Honda vehicles matched with the honest customer appreciation shown by the entire staff make it the reason that I don't go elsewhere for my transportation needs. To Jason and the entire Bianchi staff: "Keep up the good work and thank you". We recently leased a new Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti Sport with Justin Sutton at Auto Express and could not be happier with the experience. We were out of state buyers and Justin worked with us to make the whole process as streamlined and stress-free as possible. When we flew into town, he had arranged for us to be picked up at the dealership and we were on the road in our new Alfa in under an hour. Justin was very upfront with the pricing, which was extremely competitive, and there were no surprises when it came time to sign the deal. I highly recommended working with Justin and Auto Express. We don’t regret bypassing the 3 dealerships within two hours of us to work with them at all and will hopefully did it again in the future. I had driven my 2011 Subaru Outback for 7 years & was ready for a new one. Ryan was very helpful & knowledgeable about the 2019 model. We drove both the Outback & the Forrester & in the end decided on the Outback due to incentives offered by Subaru & dealership. I???ve used New Motors for service & have always been happy with them. I???m ready for this winter knowing my Subaru will go thru any snowstorm! Had an amazing experience at new motors. Very friendly staff, only took about 2 hours and boom! We were done and had bought a car! It was by far the quickest amount of time I???ve ever spent in a dealership buying a car. They know their business and do it well. Chris was very helpful and answered all of our questions and got this whole car buying process done quickly and efficiently. Allan who took care of all the paperwork was knowledgeable and super easy and friendly to deal with! We will be doing all our business with this dealership from here on out!! Thanks to all of you! Keep up the good work!! I provided New Motors an "Excellent" rating. From the time I initially inquired about a vehicle with Taneeka to the day I picked it up I had nothing but friendly smiles and great conversations. I personally worked with Seth Murphy, he was very knowledgeable about the Subaru Crosstrek which was helpful and he was open to any question I had. He was able to provide me solid answers which inevitably lead me to purchasing my first "new" car. While filling out the paperwork with Allen Yingling he was able to provide me with even more information in which I was unaware of. All in all, Seth & Allen were straight-up with me, there wasn't any pressure to add anything in which I was comfortable with. I had a very pleasant time working with New Motors and would recommend them to anyone looking for a new vehicle. This was my first time ever purchasing a car, and I was quite nervous about it. I originally was interested in a used Outback, but after speaking with Taneeka Shetler over the phone regarding various pricing deals I decided to purchase new. After doing extensive research online I went into the dealership to test drive the 2019 Forester and Crosstrek. Mike Francis was quick to assist me, and listened to what I was looking for in a car. I had walked into the dealership fairly set on the Crosstrek, but after hearing my priorities and concerns Mike helped me decide on the smaller and more affordable Crosstrek. It was an absolutely no-pressure environment, and I felt that Mike thoroughly and completely answered any questions I had to ask. After I had made my decision and returned for the final purchase, both Mike and Allen Yingling made sure that I knew exactly what each signature and piece of paper was for, as well as my options for financing and payment. Allen thoroughly explained my protection and warranty options, and was happy to answer all of my questions (though he was so thorough, I didn't have many questions at all!) As a first-time car buyer I was very nervous, but I was put at ease the moment I began working with Mike and the New Motors team. I would certainly recommend them to family and friends, or for anyone looking for an informative, no-pressure dealership. Thank you! Worked with Steve Quinn at New Motors to purchase a used BMW 535i xDrive. I saw the car on their website, and stopped in to talk to someone about the car. Of course I felt uncomfortable as I waited for someone to talk to, I've bought many many cars over the years, and it's always felt like a me vs them situation. Steve finished delivering a car to another customer, and we sat down at his desk to talk. We learned quickly that Steve is very knowledgeable about BMWs, and was very interested to get us up to speed on the car we were interested in and it's features. We went for a test drive, and Steve helped us understand the car features . After a bit of discussion, we settled on a price, and decided to buy the car. Steve said he could have the car detailed and everything ready for the next morning. We came back the next morning, talked to Steve for a bit then met with Allen Yingling to discuss the financing and maintenance options. I was very impressed that Allen searched many options for the financing, and found an option much better then my local credit union which is usually best. Allen also gave us several options for the maintenance of the car, and even though we chose not to purchase any of the maintenance packages, Allen was understanding and didn't push. We really liked that. A few minutes later we left with the car. Overall, it was a great experience. From Steve's knowledge and obvious passion about BMWs to Allen's financing work and no pressure approach, we really enjoyed the experience. Way different than what I 'm used to at other dealerships. This is my second Subaru purchase from New motors. Both times the experience was wonderful/ Everyone I dealt with was courteous and willing to help in any way possible. Cory was informative, but offered no pressure, which is what I wanted.

2019-04-21T02:12:29Z

https://www.cars.com/shopping/subaru-outback/erie-pa/

Not your average picnic potatoes, this no mayo potato salad is an easy cookout recipe. Southern French Potato Salad is tangy and delicious with a dijon mustard salad dressing. A yukon gold potato salad that will perk up your next barbecue or potluck. When it comes to cookouts, picnics and potlucks — I usually cede the Weber to my husband or other worthy grillmaster while I tackle the sides. As far as cookout recipes go, a good potato salad still ranks in the top 10 in my book. My Southern French Potato Salad is probably in the top 5 because it’s a no mayo potato salad recipe… and ideal for summer alfresco dining. These lovely picnic potatoes aren’t heavy or goopy. In fact, they’re delightfully light and zippy thanks to a douse of white wine, briny capers and lots of fresh herbs. The best part is that French potato salad recipe is really easy to assemble. Start with the potatoes. I like Yukon Gold, but any waxy potato will do. Bring the spuds to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain the water from the pot, cover with the lid and let the potatoes steam in the pot. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel off the loose skins and slice them into rounds. It’s the hard-boiled egg (and celery) that make this French potato salad a Southern French Potato Salad. Folks in the South like eggs in their potato salad — it’s an unwritten but long accepted rule. Having grown up in Virginia, I’m not immune to those cultural dictates — and thus I always make potato salad with eggs. To add a subtle flavor and moistness to the potatoes, sprinkle on a few tablespoons of dry white wine and chicken broth to the still warm potatoes. Carefully toss the potatoes to coat and let them sit and soak up the liquids while you prep the vegetables. Most French potato salad recipes use scallions and/or shallots and both work nicely here, but in the summer when I can get a good sweet onion, I like to include them in the mix. Finely diced celery adds a little crunch and it’s in keeping with my Southern roots and chopped capers give a briny little bite that ties this dish together. The BIG thing that differentiates a French potato salad from a Southern potato salad is the mayonnaise — as in — there isn’t any. Instead a French potato salad uses a dijon mustard salad dressing that coats the potatoes without getting goopy or heavy. Whisk together the dijon, vinegar, salt and pepper and then slowly drizzle in the olive oil until you’ve achieved a creamy emulsion. It’s simple and delicious over the warm potatoes . Add the chopped vegetables and hard boiled eggs to the sliced potatoes and pour on the dijon mustard salad dressing. Toss in the chopped parsley and dill and gently toss to coat. This Southern French potato salad can be served warm or at room temperature. If you do chill it, bring it to room temperature before serving. The flavors are so mild that you’ll lose the subtle flavors if the potato salad is too cold. I served this at a big family lunch last weekend and everyone loved it. A great alternative to mayonnaise-based potato salads and perfect for picnics and cookouts. I call it "Southern" French potato salad because I've added egg and celery (typical Southern mix-ins) but you can skip them for a more traditional French potato salad. In a large stock pot add the potatoes and cover with cool water. Heat over high heat until the water comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Tip the pot to drain all the water then place the lid on the pot and let the potatoes steam (off the heat) for 10 minutes. Place the eggs in a small sauce pan and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes off the heat. Run under cold water, then peel eggs. Meanwhile, chop the celery, onions, scallions and capers and transfer them to a bowl. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife to peel the loose skins from the potatoes. (Don't worry if it doesn't all come off, you just want to remove the loose bits. Slice the potatoes into 1/4" thick rounds and transfer to a large shallow bowl. Sprinkle potatoes with wine and chicken broth and toss carefully with a spoon, trying not to break them apart too much. Let the potatoes soak in the liquids for a few minutes. Meanwhile, make the dijon dressing. In a bowl, combine the dijon, vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly to form an emulsion. Set aside. Add the chopped vegetables to the potatoes and drizzle over the dressing. Add the dill and parsley and lightly toss to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature. This is my kind of potato salad! I’m honestly not a huge fan of the mayo versions – they leave me feeling so heavy. But this sounds fresh and wonderful! This looks and sounds ridiculously good, Lisa! I’m French, and I’ve never even had French potato salad, let alone make it. I fail. I need to rectify this stat. This sounds so tangy and refreshing. I love the addition of capers, and with a mustard dressing like that, who needs mayo? It’s funny—growing up I was *huge* into creamy sauces and dressings. I still appreciate a little shmear on a sandwich or burger, but when it comes to salads anymore, not a chance. Give me ALL the vinaigrettes. This is just the type of potato salad we would enjoy. We don’t like the heavy mayo covered potatoes you can’t taste anything else. We really like capers so this side would be perfect for our picnics and bbqs. “The BIG thing that differentiates a French potato salad from a Southern potato salad is the mayonnaise — as in — there isn’t any.” Yippee! I am not a fan of potato salad with mayo so this recipe is right up my alley. I love eggs in potato salad as well. Bookmarking this for sure! I love how you mixed French and Southern traditions together in this potato salad! It looks like you took the best of both and put them together for a great BBQ side. And no mayo makes it even better since that is one less thing to worry about when you’re eating outside. I’ll be sure to have the salad room temp when I make it. Potato Salad is a favorite dish of mine and this recipe looks heavenly. I love how there is no mayo, but the white wine and Dijon mustard must give it the perfect light flavor. I am definitely making this with our next cook out. I’ve never had capers in my potato salad before! I want to try this ASAP. I’m all about potatoes so I’m going to have to eat this like, tonight! Definitely pinning it! I can’t tell you how I love your Southern FRENCH potato salad Lisa, although I’m Swiss from Geneva we’re close enough to France to share a lot of recipes. I’ve always had potato salad with your dressing and that’s the way I love it. We also dip the potatoes overnight into a mixture of broth and wine to keep them whole. Since I moved to live by the Mediterranean sea, I’ve started adding a few shredded anchovies. Oh now I’m craving for a potato salad! You’re the second person that has mentioned soaking them overnight — that’s very interesting — and I think the anchovies would be perfect too. Thanks, Michele. We brought this one to a picnic last week and there wasn’t any left! that dijon mustard dressing sounds incredible! I love that this is a non-creamy potato salad and it uses eggs. So yum! I will have to try this one at my next potluck or BBQ! We love potato salad and are always looking for different variations on it. The dressing sounds amazing. Oh I agree! Gimme all the eggs in my potato salad! This recipe is delightful, pinning to make, as potato salad is THE perfect summer side dish. I love the addition of eggs in the potato salad and it looks fantastic I would devour the whole bowl ! we all would. OMG am loving EVERYTHING about this salad. From the wine, to the capers…and of course the dill. This is going to be a hit at my next BBQ party. Printing right now!! I love potato salad but I’ve never had it like this. It looks so good, I have to try it!

2019-04-20T16:18:32Z

https://www.garlicandzest.com/southern-french-potato-salad/

Naba Dental is the #1 choice for family dentistry. Exam and x-rays for only $39, plus $100 off any same-day major treatment. Free cleaning with exam and x-ray purchase for children 12 and under. Call us today to schedule your appointment! I had a great experience at Naba Dental. The Dentist and her entire staff was great. Great environment. If you are looking for a Dentist that you can trust on, this is the place. I have been to several other places in the past. Some of these Dental clinics out there, they really take advantage of you and you go for something and they give you a long list of issues. She was great. She only recommend things that i really need. She is my Dentist now. Strongly recommend her. For someone who never visit a dentist before. Been little afraid.. my first time was great the staff made me feel comfortable and kept me informed of every detail.. just done with my second cleaning I have to give it to the great staff and their passion to work with patients.. 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A compassionate and hardworking team that ensures that each patient receives the highest quality of care, treatment, and satisfaction with their visit. The dentists fixed my smile and helped restore my confidence! Naba Dental is one of the best dental clinics I have been to. The staff and environment is so friendly. Also, Dr. Mirza leaves no doubt in your mind. She is great and makes sure you are satisfied. Naba Dental had a great environment and the staff was kind and informative! 10/10 would recommend to anyone in search of good dental care! I love Dr.Mirza.I brought my daughter last year to her and I was very satisfied with her job. So, I changed my insurance this year just to have the opportunity to come and check my teeth too. I am sure you will like her and her team.They are very nice and kind. Very organized. And the place is very clean. I had a great time at Naba Dental. The place is so welcoming and warm. This place will make sure your time and money is not wasted! They are the best dental clinic and the only one I will ever go to! Very good clean office with wonderful staff! Dr Mirza is a very friendly and warm dentist, who explains everything she does and what’s needed to have/keep healthy teeth. They are wonderful with kids as well. Kids aren’t scared at all and feel comfortable going to the dentist 🙂 we are going for years to Dr Naba and we can highly recommend this office!!! My husband and I are new patients. All the staff was very patient and helpful. They walked us through everything step by step and made sure we were satisfied before we left. Thank you Naba Dental! We have been going to Naba Dental for about 2 years now as a family. They have a clean, comfortable and modern facility. The staff is helpful, flexible and courteous. Dr Mirza is excellent. She is skillful, efficient, patient, thorough, forthcoming and honest. She even suggests ways to save us money even though it might not be financially beneficial to her practice. This is a rare quality for a dentist. I highly recommend this practice. Absolutely love this place is nice and peaceful. I was able to be seen at my appointment time. Loved my experience from the time I walked in the door receptionist was really nice and with a smile, dental assistants were amazing and polite, I LOVEEEE the dentist she explained in detail to me exactly what I needed to have done and what wasn’t necessary at the moment. The wonderful lady who brought me the estimate was amazing as well giving me a lot of options I could do. Highly recommend this place. At NABA Dental, we’re committed to providing you with excellent and affordable dental care. Dr. Rubab Mirza, DDS has over 10 years of experience working in dental care, ranking her among the best general and pediatric dentists in the Tanglewood, Memorial, and Galleria areas of Houston, TX including the 77057, 77056, 77063 and 77024 zip codes. She and her team of dental hygienists take great care to make sure your visit to the dentist is easy, comfortable, and effective – because going to the dentist shouldn’t be a scary event! With a wide range of services that include adult dental care and pediatric dentistry, we carefully examine the medical and dental history of our patients in an effort to tailor our services to your individual needs. We pride ourselves on our state of the art equipment and expert training, and we will bring that expertise to you as your family dentist. Our staff is friendly, caring, and ready to help give you and your family the smiles you desire. Keeping teeth healthy through professional exams and cleanings are key to maintaining a healthy smile. Cosmetic dentistry can bring back form, while restorative dentistry brings back function through fillings, dentures, and dental implants. Deep tooth problems like small fractures, hidden canals, and calcium deposits can be relieved through endodontic surgery. Your gums need care just as much as your teeth. Periodontic care treats inflammation and diseases, such as gingivitis. Sedation can take the anxiety and discomfort out of a dental visit. From cleanings to surgery, sedation dentistry will put you at ease. Whether a tooth is knocked out or the pain of one prevents you from eating and sleeping, we can help restore your mouth back to good health. Pediatric dentistry provides the same level of care and services for children that is given to adult patients. Preventative dentistry is the crux of healthy teeth. Most insurers emphasize this point, often providing total coverage for a certain number of preventative and diagnostic procedures per year. The biggest benefit to having dental coverage is the peace of mind that comes with coverage for high-cost procedures. From fillings and root canals to crowns and dentures, dental coverage will help manage the cost of dental procedures. We aim to be the best affordable dentist in Houston, and dental insurance makes this even more possible. Whether you just need a cleaning, or you’re in need of emergency care, restorative work or endodontic and periodontic care, dental coverage will put a smile on your face before you even step into the dentist’s office. Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates about NABA, promotions and special tips. I love Dr.Mirza. I brought my daughter last year to her and I was very satisfied with her job. So, I changed my insurance this year just to have the opportunity to come and check my teeth too. I am sure you will like her and her team. They are very nice and kind. Very organized. And the place is very clean. Very good clean office with wonderful staff! Dr Mirza is a very friendly and warm dentist, who explains everything she does and what’s needed to have/keep healthy teeth. They are wonderful with kids as well. Kids aren’t scared at all and feel comfortable going to the dentist :) we are going for years to Dr Naba and we can highly recommend this office!!!

2019-04-22T11:02:10Z

https://www.nabadental.com/

In the Hagadah we say that the Jews in Mitzrayim stood out. Our Chazal inform us, this was because of three of their actions; they did not change their language, their names or their style of clothing. I therefore decided to use this story for Shabbos Hagadol. As noted in last weeks’ story, when Malka came to 770 for her yearly meeting with the Rebbe, almost every year she would receive guidance from the Rebbe in regards to enhancing her observance of Shabbos and kashrus. In this weeks’ story we will find out about the one time the Rebbe “visited” her, in her town. I am writing it in first person as this is taken from Malka’s correspondence with me. As I noted previously, all my audiences with the Rebbe, besides the first one when I went with my parents into his [yechidus] room, were by a nod or a glimpse as he walked down the final two steps onto the sidewalk as he was going into the car. He told me that he has a small package containing matza for me from the Rebbe. I asked him how he found me, and why would he think that I am the Jewish person he was searching for? He replied that the Rebbe told him to bring matza to this village and to give it to the [single] Jew living there. He was given no name or address or any other information. But as a follower of the Rebbe, he accepted the mission and set out to fulfill it. When he arrived in the village, he started to ask the Gentile people if there is anyone Jewish in the village. Nearly everyone he asked answered that there is no one Jewish in this village, as I never told anyone that I am Jewish. Finally, he met a few people who said that they suspect I might be Jewish because I am the only person in the village that does not ever attend the community church. The funny thing is that I was always invited to go to the church and join my neighbors. The social pressure was building and I had decided that I will attend church that coming Sunday so that I will fit in with the rest of the people living in the village. I figured it is no big deal; I am a Jew and will always be a Jew. Attending a church once in a while in a social setting, and not as a religious act, won’t change that! It was exactly then, that week, that I had decided to go to church the coming Sunday. It was a week or so before Passover. And that was when this rabbi showed up at my door! It made me think hard and deep: The ONLY way he found me and the ONLY “sign” that I am a Jew is that I don’t attend church. Do I want to really give up that sign??? If I attend church I DO lose something huge: my identity as the Jew in this village. Yes, it is going to change things and in a big way. It was at that moment that I decided to keep my identity and sign of being Jewish and NEVER go into the church. It was the one and only time that I received something from the Rebbe – he knew I needed it at that moment and he was sending me a message that he is watching out for me. The greatness in this was twofold: If he would have asked the messenger to deliver it to me by name, I would never have received this important message. I would have been happy that he sent me something, but not necessarily would I have connected it as a message to not attend the gathering in the Church. Secondly, he allowed me to understand it on my own, without telling it to me straight out. It was my decision and resolve, not his. I maintain this resolve till this day, decades later. Just a few months after [my adopted parents passed away and] I decided to rebel against all mitzvos, I visited the Rebbe. It was shortly before Pesach. The Rebbe reminded me that I promised to keep Shabbos and therefore I cannot do any melacha forbidden on Yom Tov. The Rebbe smiled and said something like, “Yom tov is also called Shabbos”. The Rebbe gently, yet firmly demanded and insisted, and I had to acquiesce. He didn’t leave any options. There were no compromises. As stubborn as I was, he always won the “debate”. As a personal note to the readers of this column, a story without a message is a wasted opportunity. My personal message to readers: These days I hear there are many young people who are angry, let down and disappointed by real or perceived trauma. These young people are turned off and choose to rebel. Many go “Off the Derech” (a cliche I read plenty about) and live a self-destructive physical and spiritually suicidal life. I say to them and their parents, I have been there and have done that too. If anyone feels angry at G-d – it is me. I was orphaned twice: from both of my birth parents whom I never knew and then sixteen years later, from my adopted parents whom I loved. I had one anchor to being Jewish and that was my annual visits to the Rebbe. However, I lost that one anchor too when I lost the ability to see the Rebbe. As an Orthodox observant young teenager I gave up on Judaism and chose to live away from it all – I moved to a place with no Jews. But, I keep connected to the Rebbe as I promised years ago. I visited him then at 770 and now at his grave site annually (and the graves of both my sets of parents), and I keep Shabbos and kosher, as I promised years ago. (I am now building an eruv around my property to enjoy the longer Shabbos days outdoors with a book and only kosher snacks). I feel I have a right to be angry (as many of you also feel)! I am rebellious! But I am still a daughter of G-d and the Rebbe told me that G-d loves me no matter how angry I am at Him. I keep my promises of observing Shabbos and kosher without procrastination, while I wait for Him to finally keep His long overdue promise to take us all out of this painful exile. I suggest to the youth (and those older) who are angry: Consider coming (at least) once a year to visit the Rebbe. I visit and I cry the whole time until there are no more tears, and then I leave behind the pain as a comfort settles on me with a feeling of being connected to something greater than me. I am uplifted from despair as I internalize the message that the Rebbe told me so long ago, that Hashem is my parent and that even this rebellious daughter is loved by Hashem. One day, maybe I will understand why, maybe not, but life is not just about me, for as I learned in Hebrew Day School, if I live only for myself – what am I? By myself I am insignificant. When connected to something greater than us, you and I will reach greater heights. Therefore, I advise and indeed implore you; even if presently you are rebellious and angry, be connected to something greater than your individual self. I celebrate Passover alone without any family as they were taken from me and I chose to celebrate alone away from any other Jews. I, the Rebellious Daughter, ask of you the Rebellious Son or Daughter (no son or daughter is really “wicked” – just rebellious, and may sometimes feel fully justifiable to rebel), to come join whatever family you have for the Seder. Appreciate that you do have family, and join their Seder because the Seder has a special place dedicated just for you. After all, we are one of those Four Sons/Daughters, who belong at our family’s seder table. I will always be a daughter who is loved by Hashem. Part 3 – How the Rebbe guided me when I had a serious medical illness. Will come next week iy”h. Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech in the United Lubavitch Yeshiva Ocean Parkway and the author of numerous books. He is available to farbreng in your community and can be reached at avtzonbooks@gmail.com. Weekly Story: To Which Part Are You Part Of? Zahava your two poems in loshon hakodesh touched Malka. Does Malka read and speak Hebrew? Wow! This is an amazing story. Can’t wait for Part 3! Thank you for posting it. Malka, You are soooo AMAZING. When I read part one, I cried the whole time. Reading part two was just as dramatic. I wish I could hug you. When I light shabbos candles I will think of you each week. Be strong because Moshiach is soon coming and we will all be together in Eretz Yisroel. I cant wait to meet you. Your BFF. Love XOXO, D.L. And wow is not the word. Thank you, Malka, for sharing part 2, but even more significantly, thank you for sharing your postscript. Your message is so true and so powerful. I’d love to meet you one day. I wish you a happy and kosher pesach and look forward to reading part 3. Your words, quoting the words of the Novee, I learned long ago in High School but had long forgotten. These words touched the very deepest part of my soul, my core. It is so spooky, I am haunted by these words!! Would you like to have contact? I feel I need to. It would mean a great deal to me. If you would be interested, please contact Rabbi Avtzon. He told me he would be willing to make the arrangements. I understand if you decline because you value your privacy which I respect and also expect. You posted two interesting comments on Part of my story. My life plan was to remain here in this village till the end. I arranged with an attorney that when the time comes, to have my remains sent to Israel and buried in a Jewish cemetery there (I paid for all this). All my assets will be donated to two worthy organizations I chose, one that helps Jewish orphans and one that treats Jewish couples struggling with fertility. I think it is a good plan. But it would be precious for me to meet you because you wrote words that touched the deepest part of my soul. If you decline to meet, please explain: Why did you choose those specific words? because that is the exact passage I had asked in my Will to be written as an epitaph on my tombstone when I will be buried in Israel. I felt is summed the finality of my life: To finally be brought back to rest among my people. That is why I am haunted that you wrote those particular words. Besides my attorney who wrote my Will, no one else knew of this! And that is why I would love to met you. Something draws me to do so. I read this story and tell it to my family at the shabbes meal. Sipuray tzaddikim that lived in our times. Yasher kochacha. I pray for Malka and wish her mazel. She is an incredible person. I did not like the comments posted by Zahava. Who does she think she is to give mussar to our Malka? I find it very disturbing for Zahava to quote p’sukim that shtech instead of uplift. Zahava quoted a hit song from Avermel Fried, how is it that Malka did not ever hear that song and thought it was an original poem from Zahava? However,I can tell you first hand that Malka was inspired by Zahava’s comment and asks that Zahava contact me directly so I can relay to her Malka’s personal message.of thanks and…. For some reason the words of Zahava were meaningful to Malka, maybe they were dvorim hayotzim min halev. It is evident that Malka is trying to contact Zahava because of her message. It shows that we never know what words we use will touch someone. Malka, you would make a great shlucha. Your message is inspirational. If you are near any Chabad House drop in and say hello. I am strengthened by your strength. I march forward with your resolve. You are my hero. Shabbat Shalom! I pictured Malka as a young person in her twenties, but now I realize she must be at least 40 or maybe even 50 years old. She is not a child (as someone asked if her name is actually Malkie). She might even be a grandmother with einiklech. How long has she been away from yidden? She is probably on her late forties. No matter her age, she is Hashem’s Malka’leh. We all are. You, Malka, are a keli. The Rebbe knew you are a keli so he worked with you. You appreciated him and he appreciated you. It was a special relationship. How lucky you are. You must be a very smart and sensitive person. I know you are special to the Rebbe and Hashem. Don’t you see that Malka keeps her promise. When, oh when, will YOU keep Your promise and bring Moshiach? Enough is enough. It is time to bring Moshiach. Hashem keep your promise, NOW! I sent Malka’s message to my son who was not planning to join us for the Seder. As much as we tried, he hasn’t come to the Seder for the past 3 years. IO sent Malka’s message. It worked! He will be coming for the Seder and bringing a friend with him. Thank you for making our family whole again for the Seder. Just shared the story at my family Melaveh Malka – a story about Malka, how appropriate! Seems that Malka will be alone for the Seder nights. Would anyone living near her invite her? Malka, We love you. Malka, please come visit our school! Please forgive me but I have a very strong intuition that this story is totally fictitious. It is a made up story from beginnng to end and it belongs in a book written by an author commonly known as Grimms. Have a happy and kosher Passover. I am sure you don’t believe in ANY stories of the Rabbeim and probably think the Baal Shem Tov never existed.I question if you believe in kriyas yam suf too, or consider it a natural event. You have no emunas tzadikim and are probably a snag who has no shaychus to such thinks that cannot be proven scientifically. You write: “I have a very strong intuition”, a strong hergesh. Your co-heretic writes: “It is so shockingly clear for many reasons”, not just a very strong intuition but “clear” and with “many reasons”. Yhis is the derech of the samech mem, he starts with a thought or theory and develops it to factual, as with evolution, that the heretics have a strong intuition against Creation, and then become shocking clear for many reasons in their heresy. It is so shockingly clear for many reasons that there is absolutely no truth to this story. Someone is feeding Rabbi (gullible) Avtzon with a total and complete fairy tale. clear for many reasons…YET YOU DO NOT SAY EVEN ONE REASON. Instead you resort to childish name calling (gullible), because that is your ability, to mock and make fun, you must be mezerah Amolaik, asher korcha baderech, bigmatriya sofek. There is a purpose for a mockingbird. If all say yes, one must say no. Reading again both negative comments, it is obvious they are from the same author. The first mentions “it belongs in a book written by an author commonly known as Grimms”, while the second calls it a “complete fairy tale”. The one who wrote it is not the first kofer. Shame that he trafficks his poisonous kefira like a drug dealer. Do you have matzos for this Pesach? and love Malka and thanks for sharing. Oh Rebbe we miss you! How long can this golus continue? This story blew me away … I never heard before the Rebbe giving over such nevuha be’galuy ! I was also wondering how old Malkie is, sounds like she doesn’t have children. She must be such a special person ! We all heard MANY stories of “nevuha be`galuy” by medical issues, when dr’s say an operation was needed and Rebbe said no. We recently heard it by the hurricane in Miami when the people were ordered to evacuate and the Rebbe said they should stay. And we heard it during the Gulf War when ” “gedolim” sent their bochurim to chutz l’aretz and allowed shaving of beards to be prepared for gas masks and the Rebbe said Eretz Yisroel is the safest place. Also in predicting the war will be over by Purim etc etc etc. This is a very small “”nevuha be`galuy” compared to those!!! הפסוק הזה, הלקוח מספר ירמיהו, פוגע בנקודה רגישה וכל פעם מרטיט מחדש את מיתרי ליבנו, ולא לשווא. הפסוק נאמר על בניה של רחל אימנו, אשר מתה בזמן שכרעה ללדת את בנה השני, בנימין. I was just forwarded this article and enjoyed reading it. Thank you for carrying such inspirational stories.

2019-04-22T11:57:48Z

http://crownheights.info/something-jewish/573018/weekly-story-not-abandoned-part-2/

I cannot believe that I have been in France with my beautiful French girl, Odile, for over a year. I look back to the day I returned to France, in September of 1912, after that first visit with my father in the April. My unannounced return surprised her father, as well as startling the beautiful girl of my dreams. It was a comical moment, now I think about it. A lovely September day and I can remember almost every moment here in France with Odile since then. Here I am right now in our special little tool shed in Martinpuich. An odd space for romance I admit, but I suppose many things about our romance are odd. A cramped space, smelling of oil and dusty grime, but we both love that, so I suppose it’s fitting enough. I can look out the tiny window and around this small farming village, nestled between ridges in the lovely region of the Somme in northern France. In the distance is the road north from Albert to Bapaume. I can’t see the road from here, but it is the road that brought me here to this wonderful life in France. I expect the view from this window will always be wonderful and nothing can take that away, I am sure. I sit now and await the arrival of my beautiful Odile. The captivating free spirit that landed squarely into my life in April of 1912, a spirit that is now wrapped around my heart and soul, gripping me willingly tighter in to her and one which will not let me go. I am not attempting to resist, for I know now that I truly love her. Indeed, it was in this small space that I told Odile, in my terrible French. I do think it is getting better, it’s just sometimes, I forget the names of things. I am not yet sure if she feels the same way about me. I see by the way she looks at me, the way she moves around me, that I do mean something special. After all, I am a long way from home and she is happy for me to be here, so I suppose that must mean something. My French is still an engine in pieces strewn on the floor of this shed, but I do know she wants to spend her time with me and wonderful time it always is. Outside the shed is the equally wonderful and yet terrible motor bicycle that we have been using, to spend time with each other. We have finally made it work and the frames that I have put on to carry the vegetables and other items in my errand rounds are strong enough to carry my precious love in very little comfort, but with much fun to make up for that. We always end up smelling of petrol and covered in soot, but it is wonderful to spend time in the free wind with Odile, her hair unable to resist the breeze over the slopes of the Bazentin Ridge. Today is cold. Not the coldest I can remember, but the roads are covered in mud, which freezes into ruts and this makes getting about on the motor bicycle probably dangerous, if I was actually riding it. But I don’t much in December. I am spending most of the time pushing it along as it either does not start, or slides around in the mud, throwing me off in to the fields for a soft landing. I have now lost count of the number of clips around the ear from the village families, angry with dirty cheese and bread, with fingermarks and mud coating the parcels. Still, most give me a smile and a coin as well, once I tell them how hard it has been to get to them at this time of year and I always get to them, just the same. Today, Odile is coming to meet me, to help get the motor bicycle back home again, with at least some of the bread still in a fit condition to eat. She is late, as usual and it will be dark soon. I will write her a note in English, hide it here as I often do and hope that she will understand it well enough. Sharing notes here is something we have always done. It is exciting and I can say how I truly feel without my clumsy French making me look a fool yet again. I get quite enough digs in the ribs with the usual ‘imbecile’ to last me quite well enough. Her notes are in English and French, to help me learn the French language on the page, which I struggle with all the time. I expect she will be here in a half an hour or so, so I can at least make a start. It is nearly Christmas now and about time I finally learned of her feelings and showed her my deepest soul, now hers for all days. Darling Odile, my beautiful French love from over the sea. I am always too shy to say the things I really feel to your face in my terrible French, so I want to say this to you, right now, in the cold of this tool shed but in the warmth of your love. It is nearly Christmas in 1913, a time of year when we can say how we feel, without fear and so I take this chance to say these things to you. I wish every moment to be with you, I have some coins in my pocket from my errands, wages earned in the desire to stay here in France with you. I worry that I must return to England, worry that if I did, we may never be able to get to be here, like this, again. Perhaps in the future, we can see the things we have planned in our heads take their place in this world for real. I will, I promise, learn French enough to take lessons as an engineer. I will travel to learn the skills and then be able to make and repair my own machines and to solve problems by inventing devices. This I will do. For you, Odile, are truly my love. I look into your eyes and realize this is where I want to be. There will be nothing in the future, I am sure, that can take us away from each other, nothing that can break our bonds of love. This is my hope. I do hope that you feel the same about me, or this may be a wasted heart, walking the halls of life empty, cold and shrouded in a great darkened cloak. Christmas in 1912 was new and exciting. I was away from home and it all passed by so quickly, I can scarcely remember. This year, I have a plan for you and I do hope that you enjoy the surprise I have made for you, my all time love. As usual, I wrapped the note tightly and placed it in the usual not-so-secret, secret location. This tool shed was not used often by the owner, this corner never at all, in my opinion. I don’t think he knew we used this place. It was a good place, on the road from Bazentin towards Pozieres, on the rise in the ground sweeping away from the Bazentin Ridge. Odile now arrived, very cold and now hungry. I looked at the two parcels left to deliver and decided that one of the bread loaves could be spared. ‘Yes Odile, the cold is starting to get to me. You take the parcels and I will push this blasted motor along’. ‘I will, William, but now you must only be speaking at me in French, how is that? You must learn my language, Mr William-not-the Conqueror’. I had to agree. I had to give my French another chance to disappoint. ‘Let us go Odile, it is weather for us to about turn’. ‘William Collins, you are the worst French speaker I have ever known. Will I ever get you to speak, silly English imbecile’. We both laughed, but I was no clearer what went wrong with my French. Anyway, off into the afternoon, just as it began to get dark. We arrived at the last house on my round for the day. It was on top of the slight hill on the edge of Bazentin-le-Petit village, where the road curves away to Pozieres and down into the village itself. Odile lived in the farm opposite the church, although her father was an engineer and not a proper farmer. He had a number of strong and friendly lads working with him, mostly older, married men from the village. They always looked out for Odile, as a daughter of the village and made sure I knew my proper place, where that was concerned. I was happy to be here and always knew the rules. I knew my way around them though, which was more fun! I went inside the small house, warm and smelling of burning wood, whistling as usual so as not to startle Madame Villiers. Odile waited outside, as it was my work and I had to get by in French without her help. By making enough friendly noise as I went in, she would know it was me and not the cheeky little lads coming to pinch her wood as they did from time to time. ‘Bonjour, Madame Villiers. It is William, I have come inside to offer you food and other thing’. Behind me I could hear Odile trying to stifle a laugh. I was trying my best, but it seemed still to be not good enough. ‘I have brought you Christmas, here in a box. I hope it is all there. I think one loaf might be away, but there is enough remaining and I had one left over from tomorrow’. Another giggle. ‘Oh hello young William, my sweet boy. I think I know what you have said, ha-ha. Getting better every day. Let me see you, here, come over. There, such a handsome boy, even for an English one. So, you have brought me Christmas have you? What does Christmas in a box look like then eh? Let me see’. ‘Yes here it is’. I saw a twinkle in Madame Villiers’ eye, but was none the wiser. ‘It is all here, my boy and more besides. Here you are, take these for your trouble and thank you. Are you there Odile, my love? I think I can hear you encouraging your young man here to improve his French. It is not so bad now. At least he isn’t offering me soap cakes any more’. I was not able to follow the conversation, but it was kindly enough and the coins were more than the usual, so that was a good thing. Two in the box for the future, one for Odile’s mother and one to send home, or perhaps take home, if I am able to, next year. ‘Yes, Madame Villiers. William is improving every day. Perhaps by next year, he will get through a day without anyone scratching their head when he leaves. See, look he is smiling and has no idea what we are saying. Here, let us end his torment’. Odile spoke to me in English, to help me understand my mistake. ‘My darling William, one day, you will follow our conversations, but alas, is not today. Let us go away from Madame Villiers to let her, say, scratch her head at you offer of Christmas in a box’. ‘Er, right. Thank you Madame’, I said over my shoulder, in bewilderment, ‘I will see you after Christmas, so jolly Christmas to you’. Odile and Madame Villiers both laughed and we left the warmth of the corner house and went out again into the cold. Odile squeezed my hand a little harder and I could hear under her breath, more words in English, not French. ‘I do love you, silly English boy. More practicing I think’. It was only a short walk and push, happily now it was down the hill, to home. We stepped through the gate of the Lefebvre farm as the day finally sank into night. It was now deep into the year and around the shortest day. There was much still to do and lamplight would be how it was to be done. My little outhouse was very comfortable. It now had a chair and table as well as a small bed. The roof did not leak water, but cold air could get in and so Odile’s mother had knitted together old woollen clothes to hang across the roof, to keep away windy draughts that arrowed down my back, chilling me to the bone. After dark, Odile was not allowed into my outhouse alone. It was a rule of Odile’s father. A kindly man, but one whose sense of right was clear. He was happy for us to talk openly of marriage and a life together, but all in good time, William, let life take its course, he would say. He loved his family, his daughter more than any I expect. He told me that he was sorry not to have had more children, in a quiet moment working on an engine, but was pleased that I was around to help out. ‘William, I have written to your father to tell him how well you help and that you earn your stay with hard work. A clever boy you are, solving problems with machinery and with a talent for engines I see. That is pleasing and I know that you care for Odile and that you are a fine mannered young man. I think maybe you can go to England to see them again and to think about your future. I am happy for you and Odile, but do not neglect other things that are important. Your family love you too’. ‘I know sir and I will to go back to see them more one time. I am happy that you allow me to stay in here with Odile and your mother, sorry, er Mother of Odile. I like to work hard, I enjoy the engines and a new ideas’. Monsieur Lefebvre smiled and came over to pat my shoulder, smiling and guiding me into the house. The unmistakable smell of French onion soup filled the kitchen with wonderful aromas and steam. Warm at last.

2019-04-19T12:21:53Z

https://chrischerry.co.uk/2014/01/11/themadgamechristmaspresent1913chapterone/

Pioneer Belts made by General Leathercraft Mfg. are some of the highest quality weightlifting belts on the market. The Pioneer Cut Powerlifting Belt is a unique spin on a traditional single prong power belt that allows for 1/2″ size increments instead of the standard 1″. Combine this innovative feature along with some of the highest-quality materials available and a seemingly infinite amount of customization options and you have one of the best power belts available. Pioneer Belts are some of the most popular weightlifting belts currently available. Not only have they been noticed by the public (see their 100K+ Instagram followers for reference) but they've also been noticed by other companies as shown by their latest collaboration with Rogue Fitness. The Pioneer Cut Power Belt is a unique take on the ever-popular single-prong power belt that was invented by powerlifter Steve Strohm that allows for twice as many size adjustments as a traditional belt. Pioneer has combined this technology with heirloom quality materials to create what is likely to be the last belt you'd ever have to buy (we'd understand if you buy many others simply because you like them.) We are big fans of the belt and honestly see it as one of the best value belts available thanks to its quality, price, and potential durability. We recommend the Pioneer Cut Belt to anyone seeking a high-quality power belt. How Does the Pioneer Cut Power Belt Compare to the Competition? What a good powerlifting belt is designed to do is allow the lifter to increase the quality of the isometric muscular contraction in the trunk region. The belt gives the muscles of the trunk something to contract against, providing much-needed proximal support to the spine. The feeling of having a more rigid torso also provides confidence in moving what needs to move, and keeping still what needs to keep still during the lift. The Pioneer Cut Power Lifting Belt that we got sent in is 13mm thick (there thickest option and ordered mostly to compare to the SBD Belt,) and 4” wide which is the standard power belt width (we use 3” and thinner for deadlifts, however.) One of the standout features of Pioneer Fitness (and also one that can be overwhelming) is that they allow you to customize just about every part of your belt. This means that if you know exactly what you want, it’s a breeze. However, if you’re unsure or have a difficult time making decisions, you may be stuck in a constant feeling of unsurety and never actually end up purchasing a belt. One thing that is easy and should be done by everyone who is going to order a belt is to make sure you get the correct size. In order to get the proper size belt, I took out a tape measure and measured my circumference around the navel for the most accurate measurement and then choose my size based upon that. Do not, I repeat, do not just order a belt based upon what you would guess. I’ve done this in the past with power belts and been way off and had to completely reorder a new belt. The 2nd customizing option is for them to use either treated or untreated leather for your Pioneer Cut Powerlifting Belt. The differences between treated and untreated leather are pretty simple. Untreated leather is just raw leather. It can be a little harder to break-in and doesn’t protect as well against moisture. This isn’t a problem for some lifters as they wouldn’t have a problem with their own sweat adding to the character of the belt. The treated leather option means that the belt is immersed in a combination of mineral and fish oils. This allows the leather to be a little more pliable and also helps protect the leather from moisture. The third option you are able to choose from is whether you would like the belt width to be 3” or 4”. More and more companies are beginning to offer belts other than the traditional 4” power belt, and for good reason. Several years ago Mark Rippetoe (author of the barbell textbook Starting Strength) came out with an article called “The Belt and the Deadlift,” where he spotlights the importance of having powerbelt options less than the standard 4” width. Belts less than 4” (such as the Pioneer Cut 3” Power Belt) work much better for most people when performing the barbell deadlift. From here, you have additional customization options that cost a little more money. For instance, you can choose the stitching color within a vast palette of options (add-on $9.95 for any color you choose besides white which comes free). You can also upgrade the buckle color from the standard silver/nickel-plated to black for an add-on of $9.95. Furthermore, you may wish to add custom laser burned messages to your Pioneer Cut Powerlifting Belt to either the outside of the belt (add $50.00), the loop of the belt (add $15.00), or on the tongue of the belt (add $15.00). These messages are standard text, but in our opinion, the lettering comes out very sharp and professional looking. For an additional add-on of $75.00, you may also wish to add a laser burned picture to go onto your belt. The Pioneer Cut Power Belt by Pioneer Fitness (a division of General Leathercraft Manufacturing) is the latest advancement in the prong style of power belts. The first thing we noticed about the Pioneer Power Belt is the reason why it is trademarked. The Pioneer Cut is trademarked as it utilizes a specific design so that you can make precise ½” increments to tighten the belt. Most prong belts adjust only in 1” increments, which often feels either too much or too little. The Pioneer Cut is stated to be a patent pending design by powerlifter Steve Strohm who we’ve talked to via Instagram. It’s nice having a belt designed by someone who has actually spent some time underneath a barbell, as they will perhaps have a better concept of realizing the nuances of what makes a good power belt indeed good. There’s no doubt that the person who came up with the idea actually used it. Tracing our fingers over the lettering we had done to our Pioneer Cut Belt, we noticed how durable and thick the 13mm treated leather feels. The cut and stitching are very uniform and well done. The belt utilizes a seamless roller buckle with a single prong, with nickel-plated rivets to hold the buck system together. One cool feature we noticed is that leather at the buckle end is nicely tapered down so it's not overly thick at the loop. We examined other power belts and noticed that other companies do not taper down the leather nearly as well as Pioneer has. The leather Pioneer uses one solid piece of what is called sole bend leather, sandwiched by two pieces of suede with all three layers being glued and sewn together. Sole bend leather is some of the best quality of leather you can find. Sole leather is cut from the best portion of steer hides (below the shoulder and along the back ends and side of the steer’s spine) and is firm, thick, and strong. Outside of some high-end weightlifting belts, sole bend leather can commonly be found in high-quality shoes and boots. The buckle portion of the belt uses a seamless roller buckle, which is something found on more expensive belts and should increase the longevity of the belt. The prong portion of the buckle is run through the folded portion of the belt, but unlike most power belts, there is a large cutout which allows the prong to slide up or down. This, combined with the offset holes is what allows the belt to adjust in smaller increments, and more importantly, do so without the belt feeling any different from a typical prong belt. To top it off, the Pioneer Cut Powerlifting Belt also comes with a lifetime warranty and is made entirely here in the U.S.A at their shop in Texas. They also offer a discount for military and first responders if you ask them for one. Breaking a belt like this in does take some time. One way to speed this process up is by rolling it up into a circle one way, massaging it back and forth, and then rolling it up into a circle the other way and repeating. This is not a one-time process and will need to be repeated multiple times in the beginning, but eventually, the belt will fit your torso like your favorite baseball glove would your hand. When we take stock of the other powerlifting belts we have used, we notice the little differences that the Pioneer Cut Power Belt have above their competition. The ability to adjust a single prong power belt with ½” increments is a big deal to us. Sometimes a lifter will notice how much their midsection may fluctuate throughout the day. Some days you may be storing extra water or may be a little too bloated from carbs. Other days you may be slightly depleted. This is where a ½” becomes very useful. The ability to accommodate these seemingly small yet significant changes in trunk circumference is novel and needed. In terms of manufacturing and leather work, Pioneer is among the best out there. Every step from the design to the manufacture of the Pioneer Cut Power Belt has been optimized for function as well as durability. They cut no corners in the material used as well as finishing touches which is why their belts are priced as they are. For example, one of the most well-known powerlifting belts in the industry is the Inzer Forever Belt. This belt is notorious for being one of the hardest belts, if possible, to be broken in. One of the reasons may be that in the leather layering process, they add a layer of what is called Robus Leather to be used as one of the layers. You have probably handled Robus Leather before as it is used as a cheap leather in low-end shoes as well as purses and other low-market brand leather products. It feels and rips like cheap “leather-board” cardboard. The reason Inzer and some other companies use this is to simply make the belt thicker instead of using one solid piece of sole leather as the Pioneer Cut Power Belt utilizes. Bob’s belts as well as the Crain Power Belt also uses Robus Leather as a layer (along with a good solid piece of vegetable tanned sole leather). Durability wise, they do stitch and glue the layers together which helps with the belt holding together over time, but, just because a piece of material is hidden, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Another belt from the past few years is the STrong Belt by powerlifting industry leader Mark Bell. While popular, when compared to the Pioneer Cut Power Belt we find several flaws such as the type of leather used and how it is layered together. The STrong Belt is 3 layers of 3 to 4mm curried leather that is only stitched together, not glued. This results in the leather rubbing together and over time will weaken the stitching. Similar to the STrong Belt would be the Rogue Ohio Lifting Belt which uses 2 pieces of curried shoulder leather that are stitched together (but aren’t glued). Again, Pioneer uses one piece of sole leather stitched, glued, and sandwiched by 2 pieces of suede. A newcomer in terms of belt making is Dominion Strength Training. They produce the Starting Strength brand of belts and have largely focused on 3” deadlift belts although they’ve begun venturing into 4” power belts as well. The Dominion Weightlifting Belt utilizes the conventional single prong design and appears to apply no dressing to belt edges, whereas the Pioneer Belt does (and we find gives it an overall more professional look as well prevents the edges from fraying over time). This said, Dominion Strength is making great belts and are comparable in many ways to Pioneer without the wide array of customization options. We've done a review on the Deadlift Belt from Dominion Strength that you can find here. Best Belts is another option very comparable to the Pioneer and Dominion. The Best Belt is more comparable to the Dominion Weightlifting Belt in the simplicity of its design and features. Best belts allows for fewer customization options compared to Pioneer (we’re pretty sure Pioneer blows everyone out of the water in this area.) You are able to choose the color of your belt, and the lead time is generally 5-7 weeks. Pioneer Belts have a lead time of 4-6 weeks for non-embroidered belts and 6-8 weeks for embroidered/laser burned. Not every company listed above offers customization options (besides sizing), so the ability to professionally laser cut your name or whatever text or picture you choose truly makes the Pioneer Cut Power Belt a cut above the rest. Our general feel for the Pioneer Cut Powerlifting Belt, after using it extensively for the past few weeks and breaking it in, is that is one of the best single prong belts on the market. A single prong power belt is a simple design, and this is where we believe attention to detail has served the folks at General Leathercraft well. The feel, overall construction, and the added touch of ½” adjustability of the Pioneer Cut Powerlifting Belt are sure to make you feel as if you have the best power belt that money can buy.

2019-04-19T08:51:30Z

http://www.garagegymreviews.com/pioneer-cut-powerlifting-belt-review/

SPAM is junkmail, but it is so much more than a nuisance. Reports show that over 50% of SPAM targets victims with Phishing attacks of some kind, using seemingly innocuous Email as clickbait or to steal personal information. With more and more desperate measures being taken by criminal organizations, there is also an increase in nuisance type SPAM. It can be difficult for the average person to appreciate the degree to which SPAM creates problems on a day to day basis, particularly when compared to the real threat of Identity Theft or other Credit Card fraud, however the threat is very real. The majority of all Phishing attacks and SPAM/Scam mail are not directly criminal, meaning that they merely facilitate aggressive advertising, nuisance advertising (failing to honor unsubscribes), or build Identity Theft profiles using your Personal Information- all of which can be sold. Remember, other than the rare cases of Industrial Espionage or targeted attacks directed toward you personally, it’s simply a numbers game driven by monetary reward. Whether or not you feel savvy enough to avoid falling prey to some Email scam, there are so many different types of scams that you will become a Phishing victim sometime in your life, even if you are very tech savvy. Imagining a future in which this doesn’t happen is possible, but it is absolutely unlikely unless significant changes happen. The MiCASA™ Public Trust (MPT) outlines a new platform that promises to end SPAM Email forever. The platform is not just about technology. It is technology serving a very real human concern about security and ethics. It stands to create a commercial zone whose security underpinnings maintain ethical communications and mutual respect. Fortunately, the technology to do this has already been imagined, it has already been built, and the only people who need to do things differently are you, the public. This isn’t about convincing lawmakers or lobbying Big Tech to change a thing. Your participation makes all the difference in the world, and the significance only grows as certain milestones are achieved. Sound lofty? This is about a Social System rather than Software. True enough, advanced technology fuels it all, but this is a technology-forward application whose aimed at the social good. It remains inclusive to all who would enter- private individuals as well as small business, non-profits and entrepreneurs- all except the Spammers, of course. The issue preventing sufficient regulation of Email to destroy bad SPAM are the topics of Commercial Interest, Privacy, and Trust. In reality nothing will slip by the demands of commercial interest. Generally speaking, laws in a free market society (most western type nations) will permit Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Text (Smartphone) Campaigns, and SPAM, and for this reason SPAM will probably always exist. Sustainable solutions to the SPAM problem will include a means to represent Commercial Interest in a positive fashion, but in a way that is different than it is done now. Private organizations have a difficult time dealing with SPAM as well as serving the needs of regular contact between members of their organization and the rest of the world. Taking the case of corporate mail alone, the current Solution regarded as most effective is strict Whitelisting. The problem remains that Whitelisting is too restrictive and it precludes regular access that such organizations need to conduct business in the real world. Lookahead: Given the fact that Email addresses, just like Street addresses are open to the public, and that most SPAM, Scam, and hacker emails avoid any certainty about their actual origin- this is precisely the problem addressed by MiCASA’s Authentication Solution using IPAL. Solving the problem of bad SPAM cannot be left to a Whitelist alone as this closes off the system. The system needs to breathe to remain vital, and Whitelists are simply too air-tight. What if a Virtual Whitelist could be constructed- one which had acceptable rates of access, and one which in fact solved the problem which makes Whitelists in a Corporation too restrictive- what if the process to become Whitelisted were both automated and ensured compliance with Community standards? This component to the system provides more or less “public” access and yet still enforces Community guidelines. Turning towards the issue of Privacy when reviewing potential Solutions, note it is nearly impossible to implement a system that solves for bad SPAM while retaining Privacy. Of course, privacy in the modern world is a matter of degrees. Regarding privacy in a pure sense, take a moment to think of a business such as Google or Microsoft launching a campaign promising Privacy along with their Big Tech solution for SPAM free Email. Such a thing might fail based on the perceived lack of trust alone. Would it really be a bad thing? That much is unclear. What remains true is that Privacy in a Virtual Whitelist Environment would require a significant amount of Trust. Setting aside the relationship between Privacy and Trust for a moment- it is after all a balance point similar to the issue of Restriction and Access in the case of the Whitelist above- there is yet a technical challenge with Privacy in the proposed Solution. Assuming the Solution works like most VPN’s (Virtual Private Networks) the chief problem with Privacy is that the entire network potentially has access to internal communications. This may sound like Security and Privacy are at risk, but let us just focus on Privacy: while Privacy is guaranteed against those outside the Network, inside it is a little difficult. Again, assuming that the software solves all the problems of Security and Privacy between members, what remains is Privacy with the actual Administration of the system. When all else is accounted for, the System itself would have access to every mail ever sent, and in a proposed Solution serving several classes of individuals from private to commercial to other interests, this single point of exposure becomes the critical issue regarding Privacy and Security. One Solution is to require Double-blind communications between all participants in the system including the system administrators and the system itself! This article is too limited in scope to speak on this point. Identifying this point is sufficient- and significant. “Form Fits Function” is a truth of technology so dry it’s almost laconic. But if you have kept up so far, this is where Blockchain makes a Cameo and it may keep you through to the end. Blockchain is the most hyped technology of the day (c.2018), and while Bellasys does not really call it hype, Blockchain is neither flawed, pointless, nor in itself truly a technology. Controversy aside, the worst use-case for any technological component is because it looks good, or sounds good. While there is nothing wrong with finding useful and legitimate/legitimizing applications for hype and fanware, it rarely makes for good systems architecture. The compelling use case for Blockchain here is the highly specialized system of Authentication (IPAL Technology) providing certitude that among all the possible machines sending and receiving mail on the network, those machines are absolutely, positively authenticated and therefore traceable in an otherwise private and secure double-blind virtual network. This is one critically placed point bridging Privacy, and Trust. Without certitude about the origin of mail, there isn’t any means to enforce ethical conduct and community standards. This addresses the exact nature of the current problem today, and the chief difference between email open to the world and Email managed in a Network free of SPAM. Imagine for a moment that this was not a deal-breaker. in that case the issue simply becomes filtering out unwanted mail, and this is possible today thanks to many tools already created and utilized by all of the major Email service providers, including individual domain servers. In brief- after taking out the “bad guys”, handling Email preferences and Settings becomes nearly trivial. The Solution and Systems Architecture proposed by MiCASA™ could be easily implemented as a commercial service; however, it is intentionally designed to not only promote transparency and ethical communications in its network, it enforces it. The only single private interest the system is responsible for is the Community itself, and collectively even the community isn’t a real entity, but rather, thanks to it’s decentralized nature, it is a virtual construct that can evolve based on the needs of the Community while still retaining it’s core values as an egalitarian construct. Clicking a link inside a Phishing Email is the Coup De Grace… but it’s not the only target. We live in a tech landscape that is anything but straightforward, and here’s a great example: how is it that one of the most common attacks is the act of stealing your Email address? If “they” already have it, meaning you have already received an email at your address, why is opening it a problem if you don’t click any links inside? Typical Spammers and Scammers need to keep their “reputation” high to work with the way most bulk email services are wired. Too many “bounced” emails sent to defunct Inboxes causes problems for their reputation, and reputation directly affects whether an email will land in the next Inbox. Because most people do not carefully report spam using tools in Google’s Gmail, for example, and because many legitimate and valid emails accidentally get marked as SPAM, these metrics are not adequately employed by bulk email servers, and even less reliable than other metrics – such as bounce rates and open rates. Verifying that there is a live person attached to any one of the millions of spam mails sent is vitally important. Do not open questionable mail messages to find out, but should you open them as our testers do, you will notice many new mass emails with literally nothing written in them! They have a very compelling Headlines (subject line) that could sound like real news, or a offer for new shopping resources, but in reality it’s just a ploy to get those open rates up for some bulk mail account to try and earn reputation and ensure continued Inbox delivery. With most criminal agencies the opposite is true- they don’t care about Reputation because they tend to hijack valid Email accounts relying on raw numbers to generate enough responses in a short period of time- typically under 2 weeks. After all, truly criminal organizations risk exposure the longer a campaign remains open. Conversely, typical Spammers and Scammers rely on valid services and they are just waiting to get the signal that someone is listening on the end of their line. Therefore, hackers are employed to begin stealing personal data from the moment an email is opened, regardless of whether any links are clicked within, or other action is taken. Because of the way most bulk email services are wired, typical spammers and scammers need to keep their “reputation” high by sending email to valid email boxes. There are also current “hacks” employed by bulk mail service providers that rely on the API’s of various Mail Providers to boost reputation simply for having mail marked as “read” without ever having been opened! This is perfectly legitimate usage in some contexts, but gives false reputation to many spammers and scammers. This is the current model of Email Spam, and here are 2 case scenarios which reflect activity of 2 typical Email Inboxes- one everyday user, and one system administrator who manages multiple clients and maintains an email account with each domain. The typical user receives 10 SPAM emails each day, or more. This does not seem like a horrible nuisance until one becomes socially active or begins shopping online. Each store wants your email address for the shopping cart. There is nothing devious about this- these are retailers who have earned your business and at least an opportunity to extend more offers to you- usually these companies play very nice if you “unsubscribe” from their list. Most typical users can “unsubscribe” even from Spammy mail because most spammers care enough about reputation to honor the unsubscribe request. However, as more and more spammers turn to services who are not dependent on reputation themselves, there are increasing percentages of email (services) that you can never “unsubscribe” from, because once you show one retailer that your email address is valid, it becomes part of a for-sale pool that will make the rounds to all spammers in their service roster. Have you ever signed up for a retailer and then suddenly had a huge increase in SPAM? Guess what? It’s probably not that retailer! It’s probably some mail you accidentally opened, or clicked on a link out of curiosity. Once you have done this you have validated your email and given the green light to pounce on your Inbox- and this may not happen right away. It’s strategic. Of course, there are tough tactics employed by retailers all the time.

2019-04-18T11:21:57Z

http://bellasys.com/micasa-email-service-ends-spam-forever/