text: 'Welcome to the 1st anniversary of StylusLit. In this issue, I interview Canadian poet, Christian Bök, who gives us a view into the experimental and conceptual. Don't forget to read his visual poem, "We Are Rats Who Build the Labrinyth From Which We Plan to Escape". As well, I interview Australian poet and poetry editor of Island, Sarah Holland-Batt, who tells us her views on writing, editing and publishing poetry.' (Rosanna Licari Editorial introduction)


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What do the symbols on plastic containers actually mean?
Please note this post may contain Affiliate links. While clicking these links won't cost you any extra money, it will help keep this site up and running!
Have you ever wondered what the symbols on plastic containers mean? We see them all the time and we know they are there to tell us something, but what?!
They are actually telling us a couple of things:
- If the plastic can be recycled
- What the plastic contains
- How likely the plastic is to leach
- How bio-degradable the plastic is
We know already that some plastics are safer than others but it's time to know which are the safer ones.
What the symbols on plastic containers mean for recycling…
Did you know that not all plastics can go in your outside recycle bin?
All rigid plastics labelled 1-6 can be recycled. A quick way to be able to tell if a plastic can be recycled is:
– holds its shape when crumpled and/or
– would hold liquid
Types of plastics that cannot be recycled are:
- lightweight polystyrene, such as used for meat trays
- Packaging, including foam packing 'peanuts'
- hot drink cups
If you like this post then check out: Fluoride, Low Fluoride or Fluoride Free?
Ok, so what do the actual symbols on plastic containers mean?
Symbol 1 PET or PETE (polyethylene Terephthalate)
Recyclable – Yes
Usually found as – Soda bottles, water bottles, detergent bottles, salad dressing bottles
Recycled into – Tote bags, furniture, carpet
Generally considered safe as it does not leach however it has been known to allow bacteria to accumulate.
Symbol 2 HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)
Recyclable – Yes
Usually found as – Milk and cream bottles, shampoo bottles, cleaning product bottles
Recycled into – Pens, picnic tables, detergent bottles, drainage pipe
Carries a low risk of leaching and is one of the 3 plastics to be considered safe.
Symbol 3 V (Vinyl) or PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Recyclable – Yes
Usually found as – Juice bottles, laundry detergent bottles, clear food packaging
Recycled into – Decks, panelling and speed bumps
Toxic when heated. Contain DEHA which has been linked to loss of bone mass and liver problems.
Symbol 4 LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)
Recyclable – Yes
Usually found as – Squeezable bottles, shopping bags, clothing and bread bags
Recycled into – Compost bins, floor tiles and shipping envelopes
LDPE is safe.
Symbol 5 PP (Polypropylene)
Recyclable – Yes
Usually found as – Ice cream containers, bottle caps and ketchup, syrup and medicine containers.
Recycled into – Battery cases, bike racks and brooms
This is another safe plastic.
Symbol 6 PS (Polystyrene)
Recyclable – Yes
Usually found as – Yoghurt and butter containers, CD cases, disposable plates and cups
Recycled into – Egg cartons, vents and foam packaging
Known to be bad for the environment. Leaches toxins when heated.
Symbol 7 Other
Recyclable – No
Usually found as – Sunglasses, iPod cases and computer cases
Any other plastic that doesn't fit into any of the above categories falls under 7. Can include acrylic and nylon.
Symbol 7 can also include Polycarbonate which contains the toxic bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is a known hormone disruptor which has been linked to infertility, hyperactivity, reproductive problems, and other health issues.
EPS (Expanded Polystyrene)
Recyclable – No
Usually found as – Packaging, hot drink cups, packaging foam "peanuts"
EPS is considered safe.
In conclusion…
Most plastics can be recycled but keep an eye out for number 7 and EPS.
If you can, try to avoid plastic where possible. Here are some ideas:
- Instead of buying water in plastic bottles, instead, buy it in glass bottles or better yet, grab yourself a refillable bottle and then fill with filtered water (this is better for you anyway)
- Always carry a reusable shopping bag when out and about.
- Buy a box of laundry detergent instead of a bottle.
- Make your own fresh juice instead of buying it
- Buy a plastic free sandwich container to avoid using a sandwich bag.
For some other great plastic alternatives check out Big Green Smile and Natural Collection
For easy reference, why not pin this image…
Got any other great tips or ideas for avoiding plastic? I would love to hear them, please share below!

subset: commoncrawl


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I know you are so dominant out there, but so submissive in here, so powerful out there, so pathetic in here...but you like being pathetic, dont you? 53 yo dominant lady, fetish, domination, long toenails, clothes, leather, boots, more. you want something special? come to my room and ask! xxx
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the moment, the man, the game
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I'm Here to Rip Your Soul out...
of the Soul Jar...
Just a Soldier Fighting in the 5500yr Moral War
Against Immoral Soul Trapping Parasites
Tracking the Abomination
Hunting Undead
Vampiric Bodies with no Heart Beat
Raised by Necromancers
Chanting words in to a Corpse
Chanting words in to a Corpse
Incorporated by those of Status
Status in Greek is how You Stand
In Greek the Priest Hood Stood-Over Knowledge
Your Told to Under-Stand
So they Stand-Over You
Unless You make a Stand
Stand Up!
Dis-Spell Un-Enchant Dis-Infect
the Warped Dogmatic Twisted Attachments that make up your SOUL TRAP
"Your Worst Nightmare is only Fueled by your and other Enthralled supporters"
Do not allow Your Infinity to be Trapped,
Drained and Sucked to Fuel the Beast
Forced to Support a "Non-Living" Undead
In-Corporated Dead-Body with out a Heart Beat,
Made by those who Claim the Status to Write Words that Constitute the Dead to Rise as Necromancy Creations that Force you to Empower their Perpetual and Growing Abomination with the Stated Goal of making You Abandon Morality and Freedom...
Necro in Greek is Corpse
Mancy is Divination
Why Divine ?
The Original Creators of these Strategic Manipulative Methodology and Terminology were the Glistening Ones, "Sumerian Language"
AnnuNaKi in Sumerian
Annu = This or These,
Na = Feminine Verb, and
Ki "Self Titled Lord of Earth, created of the "Reeds of Enki" the First After Life Soul-Trap, and the Shi, Mulki terminology to manipulate people in to being Attached and the Zagmuk Hierarchy System to carry out and update via Divine-Insestual Family Advisement" is the Creator of these Immoral Techniques,
Annu-Na-Ki = This or These Females of Ki,
"The Harem of one Individual who began his cult Raping his Sister Daughter, Granddaughter and Great Granddaughter, and whose descendants have only ever had 4 females outside the insestual bloodline brought in to the Gene-pool in 5500 years and this Inbred Family is related to all American presidents and European royals this one bloodline proven with DNA science... "apart from 4 women" Purely Insestual... Psychopathic, Immoral, Ruthless, and Intent on a "New World Order" so their One Bloodline Family can as they put it Inherit the earth when were gone as is their stated goal, one catch they need YOU to wipe your selves out via taking the orders of their UNDEAD NECROMANCY CREATIONS, governments, UN, Police, Military, Banks, Corporations, Media, Religion etc
Any Zagmuk Hierarchy that they can Order you , and make you make a choice chose morality or follow orders of the Dead Body...
The Immoral Elites System "Zagmuk" Hierarchy , of installing programing "Shi" to manipulate you like a Muppet... though the method of "Mulki" Living Clay in Sumerian meaning your are malleable like clay in their Immoral hands now... "Like a Sock Puppet"
The AnnuNaKi use this Method to Create Hierarchy of "Dead Body's with no Heart Beat Constituted with Words Written by Beings with a Heart Beat who are proclaimed God, King, Pope, Divine etc, to Suck your Energy like Vampires"
Religious Bodies
Corporate Bodies
Government Bodies
Police Bodies
A Doctor will find no Pulse on these Necromancy Created Undead Bodies
The Law Demands if one Deals with another they are not allowed to include a DEAD BODY in the CONTRACT or its FRAUD...
Yet Necromancy is ENFORCED through the Sway of its Undead... and those Enthralled to Serve the Dead Beasts...
It is not the Will of Individuals...
Rather the Will of the Necromancers Advising the Undead Entity on the Direction to take...
The People of a Nation do not Chose or even Vote to go to war...
The Necromancers "Zagmuk" False Leader Sacrifice of the Body makes the Appearance of Choice while just representing the necromancers Interest and soon replaces like all undead leaders the UNDEAD BODY GOES ON AND THE HEAD OF THE HYDRA IS REPLACED RE-MASKED
The True Power Lies with the Necromancers who Create, Control and Advise their Undead Body Creations Constituted with Words on Paper
It is not the will of locals to have Gestapo Rounding up and Enforcing the Commands of the Gestapo Representative Bodies Chain of Command "Zagmuk"... that most locals never got to chose or vote on yet are forced to serve and enforce against their fellow neighbors... "School Bully thugs on a Global Generational Scale"
When your Infinite Energy "Life Force" is Free
Then you Experience the Crossing Back from the Manipulated Mul-ki State, to Mul
this Crossing is Known as Nibiru
True Freedom from all Necromancy Undead Attachments Draining Energy and Efforts to the Goals of Immoral Individuals Manipulating the Insertment of Expanded Social, Cultural & Moral Corruption
Then your Soul Jar is Broken
Now you need to Evaluate...
Do YOU Support Necromancy in ANY WAY? or IS YOUR SOUL JAR BROKEN?
"Morpheus in the Matrix, you feel it when you pay your Tax's, your energy supporting efforts you do not MORALLY support"
If its really Broken...
Nibiru "The Crossing Back and Detachment from Shi attack is Complete"
Then You can also now say to people...
I'm Here to Rip your Soul Out...
Of the Soul Jar...
The Day you die... Any Hierarchy, or Undead Body that No longer Enforces its will to make you obey has NO REAL POWER
Why do so many do something now, or support, give there energy to something now that you know you wont the day you die, something that can only keep sucking your energy's after your dead if you CHOSE to continue to give your energies to those creating the words on paper that constitute the Dead... as the brainwashed ignorant enforcers are not going to be there when you die to make you submit to the necromancy creations what will you chose then?
When all Infinite Moral Beings stop being tricked in to giving their energy to Immoral Finite beings and all attachments draining energy to sustain the Immoral are detached, the Immoral Fall Past the Reeds of Enki Creation of the Abyss Absu in Sumerian is the Dwelling Place of Enki where those who are attached go to serve after physical death for eternity until they wake up to the enslavement and Multiversal-nibiru sets everyone free from Enki's Soul-Trap, sending Enki and his Immoral Followers Perpetuating this Abomination to the Final End... OBLIVION... where no Emanations or interactions will ever continue and the immoral meet their final spiritual death...
This 5500yr war is more then fighting for future generations, its also fighting for our Ancestors Trapped by these Manipulations to Serve "In this life and the Next" and like when people started showing up saying heaven isn't flat, its round and enki was powerless to stop them, when everyone showing up is not trapped by only going to show up to free their ancestors from these dogmatic attachments, the 5500yr war will finally end with the liberation and freedom granted for all past present and future generations!
isn't that worth fighting for?
This is why i am a Soldier Fighting in the 5500 Yr Moral War...
j.n.m © firstname.lastname@example.com
j.n.m © email@example.com
Stop Zionism!


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- green construction paper
- brown construction paper
- yellow construction paper
- pencil
- scissors
- glue
- pom poms (or sequins, beads, buttons, etc.)
- Take a brown sheet of construction paper (We actually used black since we didn't have brown) and fold it like a "hot dog" (the long way). With the paper still folded, draw half a triangle with the top point meeting on the fold and leaving about an inch or two at the bottom of the paper. Draw a line for the base of the triangle and then down to make half a rectangle. Cut out your tree shape.
- Trace child's hand several times onto green construction paper and then cut out the hand prints. We used two different shades because that is what we had, and I think it gives the tree some added dimension. We used 14 hand prints for our tree, but you may need more or less depending upon the size of your child's hand and the size of paper you use for the tree. (Tip: Instead of tracing Mia's hand over and over, I traced it once, cut out the hand print, and then used it as a template. This time-saver is especially helpful if your child is young and has a short attention span!)
- Arrange hand print cut outs on top of the tree shape. When you are happy with the arrangement, glue them down. I like the fingers pointing outward to look like branches. (Tip: Make sure to put glue on the side with pencil marks so it looks neater.)
- Draw a star on yellow construction paper, cut it out, and then glue it on top of the tree.
- Decorate your tree as desired. We used pom poms for ornaments, but you could use sequins, buttons, beads, or similar items. Make sure that all glue is dry before displaying your hand print Christmas tree.


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Help us make Hopscotch Design Festival better
Last week Hopscotch Design Festival brought together a diverse community of designers, makers, storytellers, and re-inventors in Raleigh's Warehouse District. It was exciting to see participants who were eager to learn from each other, challenge the status quo, and create with intent. We left inspired with new ideas and renewed passion for how design can shape the future.


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Organizational Alignment
Ensure the work you do is delivering business value
Making sure each part of the organization is delivering value is becoming harder as competitive pressures drive you to do more with less. How will you ensure you are allocating precious resources to where it will make the biggest difference?
- Align operational processes, business competencies, business capabilities and performance metrics to strategic goals
- Prioritize transformation projects to determine which processes should be your focus
- Engage and educate the workforce how they are contributing to value creation
By modeling and aligning people, processes and systems with goals and strategies, iGrafx provides the framework for analysis and communication of how each contributes to the delivery of business value.
Organizational Alignment Products:
- iGrafx Collaborative Process Management – Centralize enterprise knowledge for operational efficiency
- iGrafx Business Architecture – Understand and Analyze the multiple dimensions of your business


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On one of the many ridge tops in southwestern Wisconsin's Driftless Region, the tiny village of Mt. Sterling (pop. 207) is home to the Mt. Sterling Co-op Creamery and their historic cheddar factory. There have been many changes and advances for the cooperative since it was incorporated as the Southwestern Wisconsin Dairy Goat Products Cooperative in 1976, but the cheese—specifically the raw milk goat cheddar-style—has consistently remained their signature and award-winning product.
For the very early history of this cooperative, one need only ask Bob Queen, Madison's own music festival producer extraordinaire (Waterfront, Fête de Marquette, Willy Street Fair, Orton Park Fest). While operating his own goat farm in 1976, Bob became instrumental in the formation of the Southwestern Wisconsin Dairy Goat Products Cooperative. In a recent conversation about the Co-op, Bob said, "[It] was a very informal alliance of goat milk producers who were certainly back-to-the-land '60s radicals who wanted to create a new means of production rather than seize one."
Patricia Lund, Vice President and Marketing Director for the Cooperative is one of several active farmer-members who took a few moments from her farm, Yellow River Dairy in Monona, Iowa (15 miles west of the Mississippi River) to discuss the Cooperative. With the exception of two cheesemakers, an office manager, a plant manager and five to seven other workers who cut and wrap the cheese, all other aspects of the business—accounting, marketing, farmer advisory and other roles as identified by the Board of Directors—are routinely assigned to elected officers and farmer-members of the Co-op.
Patricia and her husband have been members of the Co-op since 1989, and have each held or are holding a seat on the Board. "My husband, by trade, is an accountant," Patricia explained, "and so he kind of got into the financial end. Then in 1994, we went to our first marketing event and, ever since, I've been handling the marketing off and on, and now, I'm back on their Board. Any producer could do that—become involved—that's the nice thing about a cooperative; you can become involved, know exactly where your product is going and what you're doing, or you can choose to simply not be involved," she concluded.
Detailing some of the innovative ways their co-op has changed over the years to meet the individual needs of their members, Patricia spoke about one of their newer programs. By providing access to members to the creamery and cheesemakers, members are creating their own farmstead cheeses using just their farm's milk. Allowing each farm the right to take the products that are produced on their farm and sell them through their own accounts provides a practical alternative to owning or constructing their own creamery. Members are then able to independently sell to retailers and at farmers' markets. Mt. Sterling Cooperative members now benefit from the shared asset without impinging on production of their combined award-winning cheeses.
Farmers in the Mt. Sterling Cooperative share a general philosophy about goat farming that includes humane treatment of the animals and as much grass grazing as possible. Every farmer is required to sign a contract ensuring they will not use growth hormones, which, as Patricia reported, "Doesn't work on goats anyway."
Testing of the milk is conducted at each farm before it is pumped onto the truck to make certain it is consistent with the Cooperative's high-quality standards. And when, or if, there's a problem, field representatives are assigned to begin working with those farms that aren't meeting the requirements.
With 20 farms currently in the Cooperative and herd sizes ranging from 100 to 175 goats, the Co-op is able to pool enough milk to produce a full line of plain andflavored cheddars. They contract with a milk hauler to pick up at each farm and deliver the fresh milk to the creamery, which was acquired by the Cooperative in 1983.
Beyond that, the Cooperative supports independent decision-making for each farmer, but advises members to limit the size of their herds. "The best way to stay milking goats," Patricia commented, "is not to get too big too fast. If you do, you're gonna go out of business. There is a limit to how many you can have and be able to effectively handle them." Instead of farms and herds getting bigger, Patricia says the cooperative looks for more producers when they need more milk. "We don't really want to encourage someone to go out and start milking 500 goats," she declared.
Patricia mentioned that it takes about two-and-a-half hours to milk her herd and, like the rest of the members in the Co-op, she uses a pneumatic milking system that keeps the milk sanitary and collects it most efficiently through a pipeline to a cooling tank. "The concept that this many goats would be milked by hand doesn't really work. You'd get really tired out," she said.
The goat cheeses offered by Mt. Sterling include raw milk cheddars, jack-styles, feta, soft fresh chevre and several other seasonal and specialty flavors. Over the years they have received multiple awards from the American Cheese Society, but the most recent accolades came from the 2008 World Dairy Expo where the Pasteurized Cheddar and Smoked Raw Cheddar took home the ribbons for second and third respectively in the mixed milk category.
In response to the many customer comments and requests we've gotten over the years at Willy Street Co-op, we had to ask if Mt. Sterling Co-op has ever considered making goat butter and Patricia was happy to report that they had just received a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to begin making goat butter. Patricia says they hope to have the butter ready to sell sometime this year, but most likely we wouldn't see it in stores until autumn.
For more information about Mt. Sterling Cooperative, please see their website at: www.buygoatcheese.com or feel free to stop in if you're in the area to see their retail store and if they're making cheese when you get there, they have a viewing window for you to watch the process.


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Keynote Blogger: Emily Doyle, FEASt (Food Education Action St. John's)
Three years ago I became involved in the local movement towards food security. I have worked on industrial pig and chicken farms and have learned a great deal about the industrial agriculture system, now referred to as conventional agriculture. In Newfoundland, I dream of days living off the coast, farm animals in the back, bulk buying and local governance and community. In a way, that is what is being proposed by the local food movement - which makes a strong case for exploring alternatives for community enhancement and sustainability.
Years ago, people had a different type of knowledge, one that is perhaps being lost due to its current undervaluation. We live in the days of the oil economy and who knows where we would be without oil. The days of the past are remembered for their harshness. But absolutes are what we are dealing with here - this is good - that is the past. Starting locally and at odds with mainstream economics and culture is a challenge. Many of our lot work for free and try to live simply. Building capability from the ground up and moving slow we aim for small steps. A garden attached to every school and hospital, the ability to walk to work and shop, knowledge of planting, harvesting, preparing, and storing - a cyclical concept. But I'm just learning how to grow my sprouts - it's a life process.
When I was working on a farm in Birchy Bay, my closest friend was my father's partner's mother and she is a woman who remembers living with no electricity and a well in the back. When I speak to her of organic agriculture she does not understand the rave - her conventional agriculture is organic agriculture, seaweed, fish, etc... ... Ahhh, to learn from the past!!


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The Mermaid's Sister, by Carrie Anne Noble, (Skyscape), 237 pages, release date 1 March, 2015
The Mermaid's Sister is a fairy tale. Not a clumpy, damsel-in-distress story that's been told for generations. The Mermaid's Sister is fresh and heartening—and the damsel is perfectly capable of looking after herself.
From the moment I started reading this book, I found myself slipping into its world with an internal sigh of pleasure. The prose is beautiful: unadorned, but with sparkling clarity. I quite honestly could not put this book down once I started it.
Clara and Maren are foundlings being raised by an old woman, Aunt Verity, a healer who is of part-fairy blood. Clara was brought by a stork. Maren arrived in a seashell. All three of them have known that someday Maren would turn into a mermaid. As this transformation begins, Clara realizes she will eventually have to bring Maren to the sea. She doesn't want to lose her sister, but as Aunt Verity says, "We have to be who we are."
Clara is helped in this undertaking by O'Neill, another foundling, this one raised by a traveling peddler. The three of them leave the girls' mountain-top home, journeying east toward the sea. The don't know that they are being pursued by an unscrupulous trio who run a circus and patent medicine business and who hope to use Maren in their sideshow. As Maren grows smaller and weaker, Clara and O'Neill struggle to save her, aided by Clara's pet wyvern.
This book is marketed as young adult fiction, but it will make satisfying reading for anyone ready to embrace a bit of magic.


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The number one thing we get asked is "Where else can I sell besides Etsy?" And we only know so much, so we have asked you the, experts, to tell us. A few months back we asked our readers where they loved to sell and got a great group of submissions! We've had a few more submissions since then and we wanted to share them with you. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Have a site you love to sell on? Let us know and we might feature you in an upcoming post!
Esther Freedman, owner of cuteheads, has been selling on Shopify since 2012.
Q: Tell Us about Your Brand:
A: Cuteheads™ was born out of a need for modern, stylish separates and whimsical, handmade styles that are parent-approved and let kids be kids. Cuteheads™ is not for the mass-produced-loving shopper; it's for the mama with discerning taste, the discoverer of new things, the lover of handmade quality. We aim to fill your life with comfort and style, while making it easy to get your kids dressed in the morning. All cuteheads™ clothing is made in a sweatshop-free environment, features original work by Esther, and is 100% safe to be worn by your child.
Q: Why Do You Love Selling on Shopify?
A: I love Shopify for a number of reasons. It's user-friendly, very customizable, and its capabilities are robust. For instance, you can put a single product or category on sale. There are also thousands of apps that plug into Shopify, making everything from shipping to SEO easy.
Q: Pros/Cons of This Site:
A: The pros are mentioned above. Unlike some of the other platforms, you can make your site completely your own. The downside is, you either need to have some programming skills, or the means to hire someone to build out your site. They do offer templates you can use, if you don't want a white label solution.
Q: Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on Shopify?
A. There is a monthly fee for businesses.
Find Esther on:
Instagram: cuteheadskids
Cody Bauchman, owner of Lu & Ed, has been selling on Storenvy since 2009.
Q: Tell Us about Your Brand:
A: I have been making Mon-stors and monster toys since October, 2009. What started out as simply dreaming up the design of a monster that "ate" toys as a storage solution for my son when we were in a cramped living situation has grown into an bustling business with hundreds of monsters being made each year!
Lu & Ed products are totally eco-friendly, handmade in Kansas City with textile discards. Each Mon-stor is made from up-cycled fabrics either purchased from thrift stores or salvaged from donated clothing and fabrics. Scraps from large Mon-stors are used to make smaller Mon-stors, and scraps from those are used to make stuffed monsters, Gadget Mon-stors and totes. And the itty bitty scraps left over from those is diced up and blended with poly-fil - meaning there is absolutely no landfill waste from the production of Lu & Ed products.
Q. Why Do You Love Selling on Storenvy?
A. My most favorite thing about Storenvy.com is the complete, total control you have over your custom shop - for free! Unlike other sites, you don't have tiered price points for customization.
You can fully customize your Storenvy shop - beyond just the colors & logo - to really take ownership of it & make it look & operate like a stand-alone website. You can embed blogs, photo galleries, videos, sizing charts, look-books & wholesale catalogs and more with a little knowledge of HTML. You can also have Storenvy host your domain for $5 a month & drop the vanity URL of their site for an added dose of professionalism.
By being able to customize my storefront, I have been able to build an easily recognizable brand with a highly engaged audience. But not only do I get the functionality of a free-standing website (at NO cost), I also can opt in to the Marketplace feature of Storenvy.com, where people from all over the world can browse items from Storenvy sellers which is added exposure for my products & brand!
Q. Pros/Cons of This Site:
A: Pros:
Free custom store builder.
Up to 500 product listings - for free. There is no listing or selling fees!
Did I mention it is totally free to use?
Back end marketplace that you can opt in or out of if you don't want to pay marketplace fees.
Lots of opt-in extras, like Super Discounts that allow you to use BOGO, % off, $ off or free shipping or ShippingEasy, that offers discounts on postage.
You can also opt-in to Box Truck for digital order fulfillment.
10% Marketplace fee (BUT you can opt out of this fee & being listed in the marketplace)
Slightly less known than the current top selling sites (but rapidly growing!)
No mobile app (but one is in the works)
Not handmade only: any indie business can launch on Storenvy .
This can be both a pro and con. Pro, because 1) you don't have to use the marketplace, so this won't even affect you if you don't & 2) it means a more diverse audience of people finding your goods who may not have ever thought to look search for "handmade *insert what you sell*".
Con because it means that there are lower priced like items that are mass produced in the marketplace.
Q: Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
A: No application process, and all items are allowed except for the usual no nos - body parts, 18+ items, weapons, etc.
Find Cody on:
Facebook: .facebook.com/monstors
Twitter: @Lu_and_Ed
Artful Home
Dean and Demi Bensen, of Avolie Glass, began selling on Artful Home in 2014.
Q: Tell Us about Your Brand:
A: Avolie Glass is a man and woman team, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are both glass artists in their own right, having exhibited their sculptural work at places such as the The Oakland Museum of California, National Liberty Museum, San Jose City Hall, and the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design. They also share a personal relationship, and after years of creating their individual work, found themselves wanting a separate outlet for their spontaneous side. Soon the idea of working as a team to reinterpret the classics in functional glass art emerged.
Avolie Glass was born, allowing them to unite in a venture driven by creativity, enthusiasm, love, and the artistic process. The word Avolie (AV-olie), comes from the Italian term Avolio. An avolio is the bit of glass used to join the cup and stem when making a hand blown goblet. They use this symbolism, to express the joining of two, in their creative journey.
Q. Why Do You Love Selling on Artful Home?
A. Very professional staff, easy to work with, attentive to any changes needed, and payments are made on time.
We were excited to be a part of Artful Home's Fall Preview Catalog, which went out to almost 300,000 households. Having an online platform that actually invests in PRINT material for their subscriber base is valuable and unique. They have been very supportive of our work, and made a special effort to integrate us, as new artists, into their site. Their staff is extremely helpful and always available for questions, which made getting started even easier.
When we receive reorders from them, it is always within the initial parameters we set for lead time, ship time, etc. This reliability builds a positive relationship and makes production in larger quantities possible, which allows us to grow our business!
Q: Pros/Cons of This Site:
A: I can't think of any cons for this site. Pros would be the national exposure of a very well-branded company that stays true to its brand over time. Sellers know what to expect and are not put through constant changes. If gives us an opportunity to reach customers that may not see our work in a gallery setting. They also allow for one-of-a-kind works, for those that have unique items that cannot be reproduced in multiples.
Q: Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
A: There is an application process and the jury meets a few times per year. There is also an annual fee to sell on their site, and they have various product categories including: glass, ceramics, fiber, metal, fashion, and jewelry.
Find Dean & Demi Benson on:
Facebook: facebook.com/AvolieGlass
Twitter: @AvolieGlass
Etsy: Avolie Glass
Artful Home:
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CM Yogi Adityanath = #NewIndia? No Thank You Modi!
India Ink - Yash Johri
With great power comes great responsibility, the Modi - Shah combine when handed the responsibility to lead and take forward a #newindia completely score an own goal with appointing a hate spewing Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of UP. Guess the true colours of this new BJP leadership have started to show by this decision. India is in a bad spot with the lack of a credible, serious and socially liberal opposition, we desperately need a new progressive vision for the country and for new leaders to step up! Yogi Adityanath is the BJP MP from the eastern UP city of Gorakhpur, he also serves as the Mahanth (head priest) of a notable temple in the town. However his actions and views have time and again been at odds with one the preamble of the constitution outlines.
Because with moves such as these we dilute the very soul of our country, one which is freedom loving, religiously tolerant, inclusive and essentially humane. The Yogi is representative of BJP politics of yore, wherein theyrallied together people on a truly bigoted agenda which ended with the demolition of a mosque. The BJP government which got elected in 2014, was elected with a massive mandate, however this mandate was one for development, to take the India growth story forward on the back of solid governance. This mandate was not to further a communal agenda that Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee diluted to a large extent to make the party nationally acceptable. In the lead up to the next general election in 2019, the development agenda being the sole objective of the BJP seriously needs to be reviewed.
One of the major reasons for the BJP being able to get away with such murder, is the serious weakness that has enveloped the Congress party. The Indian National Congress, once the party of Nehru, Patel, Gandhi, Azad, Prasad, Ambedkar and other luminaries has overtime been reduced to a poorly run family firm. There is a dire need for India to revive the spirit of Independence, the spirit of a progressive India - where serious efforts were made to reduce societal and religious divides, to uphold an idea of India as once where all of India needed to move forward together.
The Prime Minister in a recent speech spoke of his vision for a New India, I'm sorry Mr. Modi if this is the type of India you seek to build then a very large part of that demographic dividend you often harp on about is not going to be with your government. There are a numerous good and well meaning people who have staked their reputations on the success of the Modi government, they will no doubt feel enormously let down today. Indian people are inherently peaceful, inclusive and freedom loving and any encroachment on these constitutionally enshrined ideals will be met with resistance at the ballot box in 2019.
(All views expressed by the author are personal and do not reflect the views of GU India Ink Staff!)


text: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Toronto's benchmark equities index ca:$isptx retreated Thursday 40 points, or 0.4%, to 11,737. A 1.6% drop in the materials sector TORGC195, +0.47% and a 1.1% loss by metals and mining stocks xx:ttmn weighed down the market. Gold stocks also struggled, with Centerra Gold Corp. CG, +0.93% falling as much as 7%, following news on the resignation of Niyazbek Aldashev from its board of directors. On the upside, Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company Petronas announced a deal to buy Canada's Progress Energy Resouces PRQ, +6.06%, sending shares of Progress soaring 74%. In currency trading, the Canadian dollar fell 0.8% against its U.S. counterpart USDCAD, +0.2563%, with one U.S. dollar buying C$1.0329.


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Make sure the vehicle you plan on trading in is not worth more than the $4,500 rebate allowed by the CARS program. Check with the dealer or the Kelly Blue Book's used-car-pricing guide to see where your clunker falls on the value scale. Bottom line: the dealer can give you a clunker rebate up to $4,500 plus a small sum to reflect the car's scrap value. If your car is worth more than that it's not a clunker, it's a trade-in. Further, any 2009 models bought today will depreciate quickly at first because the 2010 models are arriving. Make sure that impending depreciation is reflected in the price.
Now comes the hardest question: Do you really need a new car? The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association of Bethesda, Md., which represents companies with a stake in car repairs, observed that "routine vehicle maintenance for an entire year costs a consumer less than a single monthly new-car payment." Sure, that organization may be a bit biased, but the truth is that just because something is on sale doesn't mean it's a good deal.


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Rajini's Enthiran 2.0 Official Making Teaser
Lyca Productions presents you the Making of 2.0. | 2.0 is a Science Fiction film featuring "Superstar Rajinikanth" & Akshay Kumar, being directed by Shankar and music by A. R. Rahman.
-Team 2.0-
Cast : 'Superstar' Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson & Others
Directed by S. Shankar
Written by S. Shankar, B. Jeyamohan
Music by A. R. Rahman
Cinematography Nirav Shah
Edited by Anthony
Banner : Lyca Productions


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Those who benefit most from the generosity of vehicle donors are, students and teachers across the United States, people of all ages in professional performance level programs, attendees and everyone in the audience! Over the years funding for arts and entertainment based public programs have been drastically reduced, or removed altogether.
The proceeds from the sale of donated vehicles, helps to sustain and guarantee the diversity of learning and creative expression programs developed by recipient charities, will continue to thrive. The proceeds from the sale of a donated car, boat, RV or other type of motorized vehicle, will make a significant difference for a favorite Museum or charity.
By donating, you can share your passion for a cause and draw attention to what you consider important. In return not only do you receive a tax deduction, but the feeling of know that you are helping others. To select the charity of your choice, click the link of our Charity Affiliates listed above, or, if your favorite is not there, call us!


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Trayvon Martin case 'not as conclusive as people think', says legal expert
Defence attorney explains how lack of forensic evidence would complicate potential prosecution of George Zimmerman
Florida prosecutors face significant hurdles building a case against the man who killed Trayvon Martin, a legal expert has told the Guardian.
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University and a defence attorney, said the case had several "murky" elements which are likely to prove difficult for the prosecution, including within the 911 tape which appears to suggest Zimmerman was the one in pursuit of Martin.
Turley said the evidence was not nearly as conclusive of guilt as many people have assumed. "Some parts of the 911 tape would work to the disadvantage of Zimmerman, others to his advantage," he said. "It would be a very difficult case for the prosecution without more evidence."
He added: "We haven't seen any of the forensic evidence, which is the key."
Turley, who has written a blog about the case exploring the 911 tape, said it included elements in Zimmerman's favour:
It has him ignoring requests not to follow Martin but it includes a portion where he is saying that Martin is approaching him. We have heard reports that Zimmerman was bleeding as the result of a struggle. Zimmerman was a big individual and was armed. It's difficult to believe because of his size and the fact that he was armed that he felt in imminent threat of death. But lawyers could point to the tape showing that Zimmerman believed Martin might be armed. That Martin was moving towards him and checking him out. All of that is likely to be playing to a jury with the question of intend and whether he had a reasonable fear of serious injury or death.
At one point in the tape, Zimmerman refers to Martin's hand in his waistband.
Turley believes that the case is going to turn on classic criminal defence elements under common law, where an individual is allowed to use lethal force if they fear injury or death.
"You lose that defence if you are the aggressor or if you do not have a reasonable basis for fear or serious harm or death. Even if he is not the aggressor there will remain the question of escalation or confrontation."
The key difficulty, said Turley, is the "maddening gap" of evidence at the critical time of confrontation.
"At what point does a physical struggle justify the use of lethal force? If I was the defence counsel in the case, the first thing I would do is the trajectory of the bullet, how close it was to Martin, where it was fired."
Turley said the racial element is unclear. In the 911 tape, Zimmerman says "He looks black" and then says "he's a black male".
"The Zimmerman family have denied any racial element. On the tape he initially appears not to know the race, but then later does. All of these elements are murky."
Nevertheless, Turley believes there was enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman and to secure an indictment.
"Police would have been on solid grounds to arrest him. You have an unarmed teenager and someone who does not comply with a request that he not follow Martin.
"That doesn't mean there's enough evidence to secure a conviction."
Even under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, Turley said, Zimmerman, if indicted, would still have to demonstrate he had a reasonable fear of death or serious injury.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2012


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This news story originally provided by The Columbus
October 11, 2004
Still buried in SLUDGE
Four years after more than 300 million gallons of coal slurry
inundated part of Martin County, Ky., people there feel as bad off
as ever.
Rita Price
So when he caught sight of a Martin County Coal Co. worker
waving him down in the scant, pre-dawn light, Chapman felt more
irritation than concern.
Guards are wont to chase him off the mountain, he said.
Doesnt seem to matter who was here first, whose family has
loved the woods and hunted its creatures and respected the
"He said, Linc, you cant go up there, "
Chapman recalled.
"I asked why. He said, Well, you cant get there.
Chapman squinted toward Coldwater Creek and saw what looked
like a river of volcanic lava.
"My family," he thought.
Racing back to wake his wife, son and daughter, Chapman passed
a creeping sea of coal slurry 15 feet deep.
He was among the first to see what would come to be called the
worst environmental disaster to strike the southeastern
Four years later, "Everything is supposed to be
healed," Chapman said. "Were supposed to be right
where we were. Were not. They need to back up and try
Chapman, like many residents and activists, is still waiting
for someone to do right by
"They kill us with black lung, bury us in slurry, break
our backs in the mines," said Chapman, 49, himself retired
from the industry. "And then they say, Aint you lucky
we gave you a job? "
A mess of slurry
While most of
Slurry, or sludge, is a byproduct of coal mining, a mixture of
sediment and rinse water stored in giant ponds formed by damming
up a valley.
Think of a mining mountain as mashed potatoes, a
On Feb. 26, 1972, a Pittston Coal Co. dam failed, sending a
wave of water and sludge along Buffalo Creek in
"Had it all come Coldwater," Chapman says, "you
wouldnt be standing here talking to me."
The break came on a dam, or pond, known as the Big Branch
Impoundment, an expansive, 72-acre body of water and sludge
visible to the residents below only via an occasional aerial shot
in newspapers or on television.
When the bottom gave way, more than 300 million gallons of
thick, black, suffocating wastewater poured into streams, homes
and wells.
Chapmans 14-year-old daughter, Paige, was too frightened to
sleep in her first-floor bedroom after the slurry came. Before she
left, she tossed a rock in the creek and waited, a long time, for
it to sink.
Added local high-school teacher Mickey McCoy, "Around
here, you didnt have to be Jesus Christ to walk on water."
Political fallout
The subsequent federal investigation into the spill, launched
in the waning days of the Clinton administration and completed
after President Bush took office, has become a bitter controversy
marked by allegations of political favoritism, negligence and
indifference to the plight of a poor county.
"The democracy thing? It isnt working," said
McCoys wife, Nina. "Here, our democracy is being held
hostage by our capitalism."
To many people in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and
southeastern Ohio, proof that corporate interests trump community
came with the recent fall of Jack Spadaro, a federal mine-safety
official whose 36-year career unraveled after he refused to sign
off on what he called "a whitewash" report on the Martin
County spill.
Spadaro, then the head of the National Mine Health and Safety
Academy, says he and other investigators discovered negligence on
the part of Martin County Coal a subsidiary of coal giant
Massey Energy Co. and lax enforcement by the federal Mine
Safety and Health Administration.
The slurry pond had a spill in 1994, Spadaro says, and the
company knew another break was nearly inevitable.
"There was only 15 feet of soil and rock between the mine
and the slurry when it broke," said Spadaro, who also
investigated the Buffalo Creek disaster. "There should have
been 150."
Massey disputes allegations that it knew another spill was
imminent, saying the claim is "completely false" and
that the company follows safety standards that exceed state and
federal requirements.
Spadaros former boss at Mine Safety, Davitt McAteer, defends
Spadaro. McAteer told 60 Minutes this year that major fatalities
were avoided only "by the grace of God," and that
officials expected a report that recommended violations, fines and
possible criminal charges.
"All of a sudden, in January 2001, on Inauguration Day, it
changed," said Spadaro, who turns 56 on Monday, the
anniversary of the spill. "The Bush people came in and
stopped the investigation. They said it had gone on long
McAteer was replaced and Spadaro accused of abusing his
authority and misusing a government credit card, resulting in
$22.60 in bank fees was reassigned to a
"Jack got a raw deal, no question," said Tom
FitzGerald, of the Kentucky Resources Council. "He ran afoul
of a new administration, one whose environmental policy and energy
policy are the moral equivalent of the portfolios of George Bush
and Dick Cheney."
Spokesmen for Mine Safety said that, although they do not
comment on personnel matters, there is more to Spadaros case
than he says. Officials also said that he was denied federal
whistle-blower status.
That hardly mattered to Spadaros cheering supporters Oct. 2
at the Blue Gator in
Established by Terry Anderson a Democratic Ohio Senate
candidate who was held hostage in Lebanon for for almost seven
years after being kidnapped in 1985 the foundation is named
for the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, a now-deceased Roman Catholic
priest held hostage with Anderson.
Low expectations
Mickey and Nina McCoy believe that dignity is insulted
virtually every day.
"Were supposed to sacrifice
The McCoys and others were dismayed again this year when an
administrative judge in
Massey, the fourth-largest coal company in
Mrs. McCoy, a high-school biology teacher, has begged for more
studies on contamination of the local water supply but thinks it
wont happen.
"The EPA let the coal company conduct the tests," she
said. "Regulatory agencies who came in here after the spill
set up shop on coalcompany property. The watchdogs became guard
Massey did, however, bear the cost of the cleanup, estimated at
$46 million. It also paid the
The company maintains that slurry is a benign, nontoxic
substance, no more dangerous than dirt.
During a raucous public meeting in April, a Kentucky Coal
Association representative became angry and offered to eat some.
Mr. McCoy, a citizen panelist at the meeting, has a jar of slurry
saved in case the man decides to follow through.
"It was like Jerry Springer," said Mrs. McCoy,
In the four years since the spill, which temporarily shut down
five water-treatment plants as its black plume moved to the Ohio
River, bottled water has become the largest section of the local
grocery, she said.
Environmentalists continue to push for improved regulation of
mammoth slurry dams, hundreds of which dot the nation. "There
are 223 more of these in
Massey says the area has healed and been "reclaimed."
But Chapman says hes still waiting and watching for fish
wildlife officials say the slurry killed an estimated 1.6 million
in more than 70 miles of stream to return to his stretch of
Coldwater. He used to see mink and muskrat, too.
"I am not against coal mining, and neither are most people
here," he said. "I dont even know that we need new
laws. How bout we use the ones we have?"


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It was fitting that Michael Flanscha's Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) scholarship presentations occurred at not only his home congregation, College Hill Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa, but also at the congregation he attends while at school, Memorial Lutheran Church, Ames, Iowa.
"Both of these mission congregations have received LCEF loan funds over the years for major additions and minor repairs," said Carole White, LCEF District Vice President – Iowa Districts East and West. "Michael was able to celebrate his award with his parents and the congregation members he grew up with, as well as his college peers."
Flanscha is studying accounting at Iowa State University (ISU). "When I asked Michael why he chose ISU, he replied that he was impressed by the positive atmosphere of the Lutheran fraternity on the Iowa State campus. Beta Sigma Psi was founded in 1925; its purpose is to provide an environment for Lutheran college men to grow spiritually, scholastically and socially," said White.
LCEF is blessed to provide annual scholarships for active, faith-filled Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod students just like Michael. The 2018 LCEF district scholarships will be announced this spring. Follow our newsfeed at lcefcentral.org for announcements.
For more information on how you can partner with the ministry of church extension, visit lcef.org or call 800-843-5233.


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The little town of Castagnito lies between Alba and Asti. Maria Teresa Merlo was born here on 20 February 1894. Her father Hector and mother Vincenza were her first teachers. The village school only went up to the third grade, so Teresa had to go to a nearby town to continue her studies. Because the daily trip was too much of a strain on her delicate health, her parents hired a woman to teacher her privately.
This tutor enriched not only Teresa's mind but also her spirit. When she finished her academic education, Teresa learned the art of dressmaking and embroidery and then opened her own sewing school. This was what she was doing at the time she met Fr. Alberione.
Birthplace of Teresa Merlo
The house in which Maestra Thecla was born and in which she lived for 21 years was bought by her grandfather in the early 1800's. In 1989, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her death, the Daughters of St. Paul renovated the house and transformed it into a place of prayer and hospitality for those seeking closer contact with M. Thecla's roots and family life.
St. John the Baptist Parish
Teresa was baptized, received her first communion and was confirmed in this church. Here she attended daily Mass and taught catechism and music up to the day she made her momentous decision to follow Fr. Alberione.


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Jerusalem, Rome, and Alexandria
Zachi Zweig recently produced photographs of a Byzantine mosaic floor discovered under Al Aqsa Mosque between 1938 and 1942. Zweig is certain that this was part of a Byzantine church on the Temple Mount. To this point, it has generally been held that the Byzantines left the Temple Mount in ruins. The 6th century Medeba Map does not show any buildings in this area. Underneath the mosaic floor was a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh). The story is in the Jerusalem Post, and Leen Ritmeyer comments at his blog.
Google Earth has added a layer for Ancient Rome as it stood in A.D. 320. Judging from a 2-minute video preview, this is an extraordinary resource. As with the rest of Google Earth, it is free. It probably would not be difficult to remove a few buildings and create a layer for Rome in the 1st century. Perhaps someone will be so motivated.
Leen Ritmeyer has created a less detailed Jerusalem layer that shows the city in the 1st century. (UPDATE 11/20: This layer is no longer available.)
This story has been around before, but perhaps its re-circulation indicates that progress is being made. The JPost reports that plans are underway for the world's first underwater archaeology museum in Alexandria.
"The whole Bay of Alexandria actually still houses the remains of very important archeological sites. You have the place of the Pharaohs - the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria - which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. You have the Polonike Palace, which was the palace of Cleopatra, and there might also be the grave of Alexander the Great," she said.
Labels: Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Resources, Temple Mount


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Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has successfully used a 30 kilowatt laser to bring down drones during tests in August, the company announced on Wednesday.
During test operations with the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, a ATHENA laser system brought down five Outlaw unmanned aerial vehicles at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
"The tests at White Sands against aerial targets validated our lethality models and replicated the results we've seen against static targets at our own test range," Lockheed Martin's Chief Technology Officer Keoki Jackson said in a press release.
"As we mature the technology behind laser weapon systems, we're making the entire system more effective and moving closer to a laser weapon that will provide greater protection to our warfighters by taking on more sophisticated threats from a longer range," Jackson said.
ATHENA is a ground-transportable fiber laser that is currently being used as a test-bed for future technology. It is part of Lockheed's Accelerated Laser Demonstration Initiative for developing higher powered lasers for battlefield use.
The U.S. Department of Defense has invested heavily in laser technology for precision targeting of enemy indirect fire, improvised explosive devices, drones, missiles and aircraft. Lasers, alongside other high-tech weapon systems like railguns, are expected to be the next stage in warfare.


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In 2019, a winery in Moldova hosted a 10-km race in the world's largest wine cellar, which holds 2 million bottles. more...
November 19 , 1863 : The Gettysburg Address speech was delivered. more...
Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
Millions of people have welcomed four legged friends into the family, in particular, the cuddly mutt. While a lot can be said for a purebred's beauty and grace, mutts are often healthier overall with fewer temperamental problems. This desirable tendency results from breeding within a larger genetic pool where there are fewer chances for unfavorable genes to overlap. The only real disadvantage of the lovable mutt is not knowing what kind of dog it really is. A dog DNA test can answer this question by revealing the ancestry of a furry friend.
Dog DNA tests are offered by a handful of labs as of summer 2008, but this number is expected to grow. Some tests extract DNA from cheek cells, and others require a blood sample. While all tests analyze canine DNA, they aren't all equal. One DNA test might be able to identify more breeds in a sample than another. This has nothing to do with using blood or cheek swabs, but depends on how many breeds the test is capable of recognizing.
A dog DNA test that requires a blood sample will mean a trip to the veterinarian. Participating vets have dog DNA test kits on hand, or you can order one online and bring it with you. Kits include everything needed to draw the blood sample and submit it, along with prepaid postal packaging. Also included is a pamphlet for the client and an assigned test number. Results are mailed to the client a few weeks later with an optional copy sent to the veterinarian for the dog's medical file.
A dog DNA test that requires cheek cells can be purchased online and will be mailed to the client. It contains everything needed to collect the sample including instructions and a swab, making a trip to the vet unnecessary. The swab is mailed back to the lab in a prepaid envelope. According to at least one of these services, results are returned in 4-6 weeks.
One potential drawback of the cheek swab is that it can fail to collect enough DNA material to yield results and might need to be repeated. While most labs won't charge for re-testing a new swab, results will be delayed by several weeks.
A comprehensive dog DNA test costs $120 - $150 US Dollars (USD) or more, while some tests are available for under $50 USD. The difference in price typically relates to how many AKC-recognized breeds the test is capable of identifying. A dog DNA test that can only recognize genetic markers for 50 different breeds, for example, will be less expensive (and potentially less accurate) than a test that can check for genetic markers for over 130 breeds. Companies that offer these tests are constantly working to improve accuracy by increasing the number of recognized breeds in their databases.
The Wisdom Panel™ by Mars, and the Canine Heritage™ XL Breed Test by MMI Genomics, Inc., are two of the most popular dog DNA tests, but there are others. The former requires a blood sample, while the latter utilizes cheek cells. Their websites contain information about the tests, how many breeds the tests can identify, result samples and more. The kits are available online, as are other less expensive and less comprehensive kits.
Getting a dog DNA test for your mutt will not only satisfy your curiosity, it can help you to better understand the dog's temperament and needs. Dog DNA analysis also aids veterinarians in identifying potential health problems associated with certain breeds.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!


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Article provided by: Century Smile
How Culver City Dentists Handle Dental Implants
Dental implants have become more popular today, and more Culver City dentists use this method of teeth restoration. They are human-made replacements made for the root of the tooth. When a patient has missing or broken teeth due to decay, injury, periodontal disease or congenital disabilities, dental implants can replace one tooth or several teeth as well as the lower or entire upper jawline.
Lots of Culver City dentists use dental implants that are made of titanium and are similar to the root of the tooth. Titanium is durable and strong, and it can fuse cells in the jawbone. This process is known as osseointegration, and it strengthens the implant.
Dental implant procedure
When Culver City dentists place the implant in the lower or upper jaw, they take three-dimensional images or CT scans of the jaw. This helps them find the existing bone, the depth and the location of sinuses and nerves. This ensures that the implant stays on properly without causing complications or pain. Modern technology also helps during the positioning of the implant during surgery.
When the jawline does not have enough bone, the dentist may add some bone grafting material that will hold the bone in place. In this case, bone loss may occur due to infection, previous dental work, and health conditions. These bone-grafting materials are made with freeze-dried and mineralized bone that changes into new bones when it heals. Where bone grafting is needed in the sinus area, it is known as sinus augmentation.
Healing time
Dental implants heal in three weeks at least. This differs from patient to patient as some may take months to heal properly. This is rare and may be caused by tobacco use or an underlying medical issue. The condition of your jaw determines how fast it will heal as well. Where a jaw augmentation is carried out, it may increase the healing time.
After an implant heals, the dentist attaches an abutment. The abutment serves as a connector for the implant and provides something for a bridge or crown to attach to the mouth. The abutment helps the dentist to take extra images and imprints to create and set the permanent tooth.
A few dentists offer implants called teeth-in-a-day. This depends on the nature of the dental problem. They can place the implant with the crown and abutment in one setting. This procedure is still limited because the implants may not be able to stand strong chewing force. It may be suitable for some people.
Getting dental implants can be beneficial in so many ways. They offer a viable alternative to natural teeth. They offer stability and strength that can help restore a damaged or lost tooth. If they are properly placed, they fuse with the bone and make a tooth that feels and also appears like a natural tooth. When it is cared for correctly, it can last for so many years with causing issues or failing. In some cases, it can last a lifetime. Even though it will require some adjustments from time to time, it won't need to be replaced.
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This is an update to my website. Anyone looking at the source code can detect the thing having been amended from a different site. At least it confirms to these days' standards in that it does contain only few tables and is resizable.
Here is a link to the old version of my website. This one contains frames and had the disadvantage of adjusting the menu to fit without scrolling, that is having little or small text only.
I haven't got much of an idea of classes and ids, so I just amended the style sheet to see what it brings.
Other than the subjects displayed in the 'old' pages I want to introduce some other stuff that interest me and that also describes me.
If you are interested, have a look at the making of the name of the site.
I hope you enjoy the site and run away quickly - never to return ... else have a nose around, if you like.
P.S.: due to space probs I relocated my old website to a different host as on the link in the menu at the left: http://web.onetel.com/~ainstein/index.html
I hope to get round soon to update the whole site again...


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We assist Entrepreneurs, Senior Executives, and Organizations to
Lead Change Effectively.
Eastern Zen Philosophy denominates the Skandhas as the aspects or aggregates of human being - Body, Sensation, Perception, Mental Formations and Consciousness. These aspects or aggregates are referred as being interdependent, impermanent and constantly changing.
We believe that change leadership is a challenging process; both individually and organizationally. Change leadership is different than change management. It requires an important set of leadership skills and competencies that can be developed and are key for Senior leaders to lead change effectively into their organizations.
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Ready to take the next step ? Complete a brief survey to qualify for a complimentary 30 minutes executive coaching session or call us directly to schedule our first and introductory meeting to discuss our services offerings in detail


text: We are pleased to provide implant-supported overdentures and dentures in Orlando, Florida, as a method of tooth replacement. Please call our office at 407-277-3300 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Michael H. Connor, and to learn more about this technique. With this treatment, our periodontist can provide a permanent, natural-looking restoration for your smile. We look forward to caring for your smile at Orlando Periodontics & Implants.


text:
Ipreo's Discovery Data Surpasses One Million Insurance Agents with Emails Available
New York – February 13, 2015 – Ipreo, a leading financial services industry provider of data on firms and professionals, has surpassed one million insurance agents with at least one email address available in Discovery Data.
Back in 2011 Discovery Data announced a similar milestone, One Million Email Addresses Now Available, for all industries in which it provides data on as part of the firm's continuous effort to offer the most robust information on reps and insurance agents. Now it is proud to share that its data within the insurance industry alone exceeds one million insurance agents with over 1.2 million email addresses.
Discovery Data includes up to three email addresses for an insurance agent, so you can contact an agent at work or at home. A third email address may be available if the agent is also a registered rep or has another secondary business email address.
"The substantial investment we have made to improve and expand email addresses has really paid off for our clients," stated Bob Herrmann, Managing Director of the Global Asset & Wealth Management division of Ipreo. "No data point is more challenging than email addresses and we have the expertise, capacity and commitment to maintain the highest quality and largest quantity in the industry."
For more information on Discovery Data, contact 732-933-1899 or email@example.com.
About Ipreo
Ipreo is a global leader in providing market intelligence, data, and technology solutions to all participants in the global capital markets, including sell-side banks, publicly traded companies, and buy-side institutions. By combining state-of-the-art new issuance systems with the premier global financial and investor data, Ipreo enables our capital markets clients to execute deals more efficiently, maximizing time and resources. Our applications include end-to-end bookbuilding systems, roadshow & conference management platforms, and electronic document delivery. Additionally, Ipreo's suite of investor prospecting and CRM solutions offers the most accurate and comprehensive institutional contacts data and profiles in the industry. Ipreo is the only financial services provider to offer solutions across all asset classes for the Equity, Fixed Income, Municipal, and Syndicated Loan markets. Ipreo is private-equity held by Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and has more than 800 employees supporting clients in every major financial center around the world. For more information, please go to ipreo.com.
About Discovery Data
Discovery Data offers the only single view of the financial services industry with access to all BD and RIA firms, over 670,000 BD and RIA reps, 2,400 trust companies and 1.7 million insurance agents via a state-of-the-art online system, and includes comprehensive firm and professional profiles encompassing hundreds of fields of data, sophisticated search capabilities, and business intelligence capabilities to follow industry trends and mine key data. Additional services include a comprehensive data hygiene program, extensive data feeds for integration with any CRM or data warehouse, data-driven market insight and strategic guidance. Many of the world's largest and most successful asset managers, wealth managers, clearing firms, insurance companies and service providers rely on Discovery's data and services to understand the industry, and to identify, reach and do business with firms and professionals throughout the United States. For more information, please go to www.discoveryco.com.
Press Contacts:
- For Ipreo
- Kate McKay
- Managing Director, Global Marketing & Communications
- 212.849.5060
- email@example.com
- For Discovery Data:
- Chelsea Granholm
- 732.933.1899, ext. 129
- firstname.lastname@example.com


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Dance my friends as today I have Susan B Mead on the couch with me. However, we are not on the desert island this time as Susan has some imaginative writing to share with you. So today's interview will be a look into her world of hope.
This is an I love Authors Interview 32
Hello and welcome Susan. Thank you for joining me on my couch today. I have five questions for you and I can't wait to hear your answers.
Susan – Thank you, Margaret, for inviting me.
Well, if you are sitting comfortably let's begin.
A dog starts talking to you, what conversation would you have with him/her? Why?
Susan – In the poem, The Hound of Heaven, Francis Thompson calls the Holy Spirit of God the Hound of Heaven, for He pursues us fervently! It makes me wonder if this dog talking to me like Balaam's donkey talked to him to correct his path and lead me in the way of the Lord?
What would I say to the dog? Do you know we hear that all dogs go to Heaven? I pray you do too. Do you of Jesus? Oh, how He loves you, for He created you for His pleasure… My son, Kyle, is there and will play with you as you two run through fields and streams. Can you imagine the beauty of your forever home?
Do dogs go to heaven?
Honestly, I do not know whether dogs go to Heaven or not, yet it is a comforting thought. We know Jesus returns on a white horse, so what if there are dogs in Heaven too?
"Ask the animals, and they will teach you…In God's hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:7,10)
"A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal." (Proverbs 12:10)
Not many people think of measuring righteousness by this standard.
I would like to think there are animals in heaven just as it is described in Isaiah 11:6 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." This I feel is a beautiful vision of life in heaven.
A tree 1,000 years old is weeping, what do you think it is weeping about?
Susan –Romans 8:19-27 (NIV) tells us the whole earth is groaning, crying, like a woman in labor, in eager expectation of liberation from its bondage of decay!
Romans 8:19-25
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:26-27
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.
This is so true, Susan, nature yearns for the coming of God just as we do. It goes through the seasons, birth, life, death and resurrection each year waiting for the final amen.
Your calendar has an extra month, what is it for?
Susan –And the sun stood still…
So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. Joshua 10:13
WOW! We have a whole month! What enemy do we fight, Lord? Those lost from the Lord. Go preach the good news of Jesus Christ…
Still later, as the Eleven were eating supper, he (Jesus) appeared and took them to task most severely for their stubborn unbelief, refusing to believe those who had seen him raised up. Then he said, "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all. Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned. Mark 16:14-16 (MSG)
This is certainly our task – to bring those souls to the Lord who do not know Him. I love this answer, Susan, an extra month to do God's bidding.
A flower is depressed how do you help it unfold its petals?
Speak love…I love you. You are beautiful. Let your beauty unfurl, slowly show and shine your unique beauty that only you can reveal, for you have a purpose here. Lift your head and let your heart open for you are safe here and loved, oh so loved.
You have moments to unlock a door and escape from a terrifying chicken, what key five words do you think will open the door?
Susan – The door will be opened.
Ask, Seek, Knock spells ASK! So ask God…
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
Yes, that is so true Susan, so often we forget to ask. Perhaps if we remember what ASK means we might be quicker in finding out the solutions. We might be a little less anxious and keep the terrifying chickens at bay!
An alien demands that you read a book to him/her that epitomizes earth, what would you chose and why?
Susan – The Bible it begins with the creation and foretells the end of the earth. What better description is there, good, bad, ugly and HOPE of Heaven when the earth "rolls up" at the end of this age.
That's a great answer, Susan and a fitting end to my questions. Thank you so much for sharing your hope with us. Your book Dance with Jesus is full of encouragement to deepen faith and move on with life. I hope you have a great tour with Celebrate Lit and manage to reach out to many readers who need your book.
Friends show your appreciation for Susan B Mead. What an incredible lady.
This interview was brought to you by Margaret Kazmierczak author of "How to Make Victoria Sponge" And a contributor to Heart"wings" devotional.Dance with Jesus @SusanBMead #book on tour with Celebrate_Lit read #interview & enter #free #giveaway $50 amazon gift card Click To Tweet
Giveaway – To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!! See details below.
And please don't forget to comment on my blog, it is truly appreciated – thank you.
Click here to purchase Dance with Jesus!
If you like what you read please comment below and don't forget to enter Susan's giveaway.
About the Book
Book Title: Dance with Jesus
Author: Susan B. Mead
Genre: Non-fiction: Christian life, Bereavement, Grief
Release date: March 31, 2015
Grief hits each one of us and can come from so many different directions…
HAVE YOU LOST SOMEONE DEAR TO YOU? A brother, sister, parent, grandparent, family member, friend or a child? A relationship? A body part to cancer or an accident? Do you want to experience the joy of moving from broken to blessed? From GRIEF TO GRACE? Do you want God to take your hand and teach you to dance…with Jesus? Yes?
Then devour the words of Dance With Jesus: From Grief to Grace! Expect to laugh through the tears and experience a deepening of your faith.
Are you looking for a free mini-course to deepen your faith? Text DanceWithJesus (all one word) to 444-999, then reply with your email to receive 6 days of Biblical encouragement.
10% of the profit from Dance With Jesus: From Grief to Grace will benefit Water for LIFE to help dig water wells in remote locations around the world. People Matter!
About the Author
A master storyteller and award-winning, bestselling author, Susan B. Mead leaves audiences motivated to live a life free of regrets even though she has done the hardest thing any parent can do – bury her youngest son, Kyle. With over 22 years in corporate America, 2 million airline miles under her belt, 1 eLit Book Award Gold Medal and 2 Christian Literary Awards on the shelf, an MBA and a Certificate of Ordination hanging on the wall, as well as a Doctor of Theology candidacy in process, Susan shares her expert teachings on business, grief, spiritual warfare and relationships.
Susan has been described as a solid, comforting voice in a messy world. Whether speaking to business professionals, women's conferences, industry leaders or writer's workshops, Susan's insightful wisdom inspires audiences, empowering them to make healthy mental u-turns to help them find calm in the chaos.
Blog Stops
Just the Write Escape, August 28
Josephine's Thoughts, August 29
Carpe Diem, August 30
Multifarious, August 31
Simple Harvest Reads, September 1 (Spotlight)
proud to be an autism mom, September 2
Reading Is My SuperPower, September 2
Texas Book-aholic, September 3
Artistic Nobody, September 4 (Spotlight)
Debbie's Dusty Deliberations, September 5
Janices book reviews, September 6
Jeanette's Thoughts, September 7
Margaret Kazmierczak, September 8 (Interview)
A Baker's Perspective, September 9
Bigreadersite, September 10


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Comparative Migration Studies, vol. 2, no. 3 (2014) [open access]
- Special issue on "Transnationalism in a Comparative Perspective." Includes "In Exile and in Touch Transnational Activities of Refugees in a Comparative Perspective."
Gender and Peace, no. 3 (Oct. 2014) [full-text via ReliefWeb]
- Mix of articles, including "Forced Displacement in Syria."
Humanitarian Aid on the Move, no.14 (Oct. 2014) [full-text via ReliefWeb]
- Mix of articles.
International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, vol. 1, no. 1 (2014) [free full-text]- Inaugural issue of new journal. Mix of articles including "Civilising Kakuma: shared experience, refugee narratives and the constitution of a community."
- Special issue on "Refugee resettlement and seeking asylum in Aotearoa New Zealand."
The Researcher, vol. 9, no. 2 (Oct. 2014) [full-text via Refworld]
- Lead article is on subsidiary protection.
Women's Asylum News, no. 125 (Sept./Oct. 2014) [full-text via Refworld]
- Lead article is "Gender in Refugee Law: From the Margins to the Centre."
Tagged Periodicals.


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Spring clean! So much newness going on around here!
A little peek at whats been coming in...
*Inside the front window, this pink vintage prom dress is peeking out!
*Dest dressed at the beach! This vintage romper just screams fun!
*A little vintage dress...
*On these shelves are lots of pretties for outdoor entertaining this spring/summer.
*We have a table stocked with planting essentials--wood boxes, galvanized buckets, tool boxes, and a little cart.
* This counter has been stocked with new inventory coming in.
Spring is so fun to shop!
Spring is so fun to shop!


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Wood-fired stoneware, mostly functional.Bellmans Auctioneers in Wisborough Green will have some of her work for sale at their auction on 2,3 and 4 April 2019. https://www.bellmans.co.uk/auction-calendar/
A downdraft wood-fired kiln is used, with a firing temperature of 1300 deg. C. Most pots are wood-ash glazed, with some 'sang de boeuf' and tenmoku. A wide use is made of local materials for glazes and decoration.
Trained with Seth Cardew as his first student. 25 years experience as a potter working exclusively with wood fired kilns.


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Gov. Chris Christie has abolished the Council on Affordable Housing, or COAH.
The governor submitted a reorganization plan to the Legislature back in June to do away with the controversial agency.
New Jersey courts have ruled that towns are obligated to provide housing for lower-income people and COAH was formed to implement those rulings.
COAH determined communities' obligations to provide housing for lower income residents. Those functions will now be transferred to the Department of Community Affairs.
The Legislature had 60 days to act to block the move but didn't.
Many municipal officials have criticized its work and DCA Commissioner Lori Grifa says the move will reduce a bureaucratic log-jam.
Fair Share Housing Center, an advocacy group for low-income residents, says the move is a power grab by the governor.


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The family flourishes in Sir Thomas's absence. Edmund takes over as leader of the family and proves to be just and kind. Maria and Julia are the toast of the neighborhood, and Mrs. Norris supervises their social outings and screens potential suitors. Lady Bertram rarely goes out, and Fanny becomes her companion and helpmate. Edmund once again does Fanny a great kindness, ignoring the objections of Mrs. Norris to get her a horse to ride for her health. Tom soon returns from Antigua; the business there has not gone well, and Sir Thomas will be staying longer than expected.
Maria is soon engaged to Mr. Rushworth, an incredibly wealthy but also incredibly stupid young man with a large estate nearby. Sir Thomas sends his consent from abroad, and everyone is quite content. Shortly after Fanny's eighteenth birthday, Mansfield Park receives two newcomers--the brother and sister of Mrs. Grant, the parish priest's wife. Mary Crawford is beautiful and charming, while her brother Henry, though not handsome, is heir to a large estate and shares his sister's charisma. Mary Crawford immediately sets her sights on Tom Bertram and his large estate, although she finds him dull. Mrs. Grant decides to play matchmaker for Henry and Julia Bertram, despite Henry's aversion to marriage. The Bertrams and the Crawfords are immediate friends, and Henry seems attracted to Maria despite her engagement. He explains to his sister that, engaged or married, women are "safe" and therefore more fun. Fanny is a puzzle to the Crawfords, who are unsure of her status in the family; after a somewhat convoluted explanation, Mary decides that Fanny is simply not "out" yet (that is, she has not been formally debuted in society).
Despite her best efforts, Mary has made no progress with Tom, and she is disappointed when he leaves Mansfield to carouse with friends. She expects dullness under Edmund. Mr. Rushworth's visits have become more frequent; in the course of one of those visits, he begins to talk of the remodeling and landscaping he wants to do at his estate, Sotherton. The whole party becomes involved in a discussion of estates and style, and they resolve to visit the place. Meanwhile, Mary and Edmund are becoming acquainted, and she finds herself attracted to him. She complains of the difficulty she has had in getting her harp delivered--it is harvest time, and the farmers are not willing to use their carts for hauling. Despite her vanity and her obviously corrupted sense of the world, Edmund is fascinated by her, and speaks to Fanny of her the next day. They agree on her improprieties, but Fanny does not find her as charming as Edmund does. The conversation troubles Fanny, who cannot admit to herself that she is jealous of Mary as a rival for Edmund's affections. Soon Edmund and Mary are spending a great deal of time together, and eventually Mary is using Fanny's horse almost every day to ride out with Edmund and his sisters. Fanny is neglected and left almost entirely to her two aunts, who abuse her and force her to do their errands. Finally, Edmund discovers Fanny ill after a long day with the two women. He berates them, and himself, and the horse is restored to Fanny.
Plans are finalized for visiting Sotherton. Seats in the carriages are limited, and it is decided that Fanny must stay home with Lady Bertram, although Edmund intervenes on her behalf. Finally, Edmund declares that he will stay home so that Fanny can go. In the end, Mrs. Grant volunteers to stay with Lady Bertram, and all the young people are free to go. The carriage ride to Sotherton is tempestuous. Maria and Julia are now competing more or less openly for Henry Crawford's affections, despite Maria's engagement to Mr. Rushworth. Mrs. Grant instructs Henry to allow Julia to ride on the carriage's open seat for a driving lesson with him, and Maria is furious. Fanny is simply pleased with the view from the carriage. Maria takes solace in bragging of Rushworth's holdings, and is in a much better mood when they arrive at Sotherton.
While the last few chapters have focused on social change on an individual level, these chapters focus on broader social changes. The introduction of the Crawfords brings the city to Mansfield Park. Neither Crawford is aware of the conventions of rural estate life, as Mary's fuss about the transport of her harp shows. She remarks that, in London, anything, even transport during harvest season, can be had for the right price. Her comment startles the inhabitants of Mansfield Park, particularly the logical and sensitive Edmund. Clearly she represents a challenge to the old order. Henry Crawford also chooses to be away from his estate much of the time; he knows little of the old-fashioned duty to the land and the local farmers that Edmund feels so strongly. The two Crawfords' superficiality in matters of everyday life foreshadows their emotional superficiality. While Rushworth seems to be more sympathetic to Edmund's point of view, he too espouses modernity, talking of improvements to his estate and of the latest vogues in landscaping. His comments provoke raised eyebrows and some quoting of poetry between Fanny and Edmund, who are both sensitive to nature and tradition. Julia, Maria, and the others, however, are eager to suggest even more changes. Country estates are quickly shifting from being benevolent, if authoritarian, centers of agrarian society to serving merely as showy hunting parks for the wealthy. As the Bertrams and the Crawfords explore Sotherton in the next chapters, these issues will be explored in more detail.
The romantic entanglements of the novel see their genesis in these chapters as well. Maria is engaged to a man whom she is marrying for money, and the disaster her brother Edmund foresees has just arrived in the form of Henry Crawford, who has absolutely no interest in forming a sincere attachment with anyone. Edmund himself, though, has fallen under Mary's spell, to the extent of inadvertently hurting Fanny in his rush of attentiveness to Mary. When Fanny falls ill, Edmund is partially shocked back to his senses. The feelings of Fanny herself are even more complicated. At this point, she is clearly beginning to feel a romantic interest in Edmund, although she cannot admit this to anyone, even herself. This suggests that Mrs. Norris's plans for her proper upbringing have failed. In these chapters, Fanny has become increasingly self-effacing and, to the modern reader, annoying in her deference to one and all. While Fanny can be grating, she also proves a masterpiece of psychology on Austen's part. Abused by all and pulled in every direction, she must try to please everyone at once, leaving her in a position where she cannot be herself, save perhaps at odd moments with the understanding Edmund. Very likely, Fanny annoys herself as much as she can annoy us, and when we step back and look at her overall situation, she emerges as a very realistic and sympathetic character.


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Once a year, the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) generates hundreds of articles about company chairman, Warren Buffett. The coverage is justified because Buffett is truly one of the world's greatest investors. His success has led to a cult-like following of individual investors trying to be like Buffett. Unfortunately, but realistically, no one is ever likely to duplicate Buffett's success.
Buffett is a great investor who now benefits from his unique position in the investment community. When Goldman Sachs needed money during the financial market meltdown of 2008, they called Buffett offering a 10% dividend on his $5 billion investment. Goldman created a special class for Buffett to invest in and gave him the option to buy shares of common stock at a discount in the future. That's one of the ways Buffett is unique – he is able to complete deals no individual investor will ever be able to participate in.
While we can't be Buffett, that doesn't mean we can't learn from Buffett. We certainly can learn from him. We can even do at least one thing he can't do. As individuals, we can invest in small cap stocks that are too small for Buffett to even look at.
Berkshire Hathaway has a market cap of almost $360 billion. Let's say Buffett found a great insurance company with a market cap of $400 million. That's just 0.11% of Berkshire's value. If the insurer does great and doubles in value Buffett would increase the value of BRK.A by 0.11%. More realistically, let's say he gets a 20% return on his investment. That increases BRK.A's value by $80 million or 0.02%.
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Buffett made $500 million a year in dividends on his Goldman investment and earned an estimated 50% on his investment over 5 years by exercising the option he had. This is the kind of return he needs to continue growing Berkshire and given that requirement, he simply can't look at small caps.
This is where we, as individual investors, have an advantage over Buffett. We can buy small cap stocks because 20% gains mean a great deal to us. One way to exploit this advantage is to study Buffett's deals and apply his valuation principles to small caps.
From his own writings and from books like Buffettology written by his former daughter-in-law, Mary Buffett, we know a little about what Buffett looks for when he buys a stock:
- Steady earnings
- Good management
- Good value
We can quantify each of these to some degree and then screen for companies Buffett might like.
Steady earnings can be fairly simple to define. We can require a company to have positive earnings in each of the last three years and forecasted positive earnings for the current year.
In the letter to shareholders he writes every year, Buffett has mentioned that he measures management with an accounting tool called return on equity (ROE). That is the ratio of net income to shareholders' equity. ROE measures the percent of profit that management is earning with the money shareholders invested in the company. ROE can vary by industry so a detailed analysis is usually needed to understand how well management is performing relative to its peers.
For our purposes, we are looking for the best small caps so we will require companies to have an ROE of at least 15%. This level is better than the ROE reported by about 70% of all publicly traded companies. This limits our search to the best management teams in the country.
Value can be more difficult to define but we can develop a method to value companies based on Buffett's extensive writings. He seems to like the EV to EBITDA ratio, a metric also favored by investment bankers when reviewing acquisitions.
Enterprise value (EV) includes the value of all of a company's stock and debt, in other words the price for complete ownership of a company. Buffett tells us we should evaluate stocks as if we were buying the entire company and EV is the value of the entire company.
Buffett likes to review what he calls "owner's earnings" or the amount of a company's profits that he can decide how to use. He believes the owner's job is to create value by allocating capital which means deciding where to reinvest the money the company makes. Owner's earnings include income before taxes and interest because Buffett believes the owner's decisions impact the amount spent on interest and taxes. Buffett also factors out depreciation and then deducts the amount he believes should be reinvested in the business. For our screen, we can use an income statement line known as "earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization" or EBITDA.
He then discounts the owner's earnings. Discounting is a process analysts use to determine how much a dollar's worth of earnings in the future would be worth today. This recognizes the impact of inflation and is an involved process but we can use a shortcut.
Buffett uses the ten-year Treasury rate as his discount rate because he doesn't make mistakes. Most investors add a risk premium to the Treasury rate because they can make mistakes and the risk premium creates a margin of safety by requiring a company to be significantly undervalued before it is bought. I think a risk premium of about 5% is useful. This means we will use a discount rate of 7%. Now here's the shortcut – divide 1 by the discount rate and multiply by 100 to obtain the maximum value you'll be willing to pay. Using the EV/EBITDA ratio, dividing 1 by 7%, we find the maximum EV/EBITDA ratio we would be willing to pay is 14.3. That's (1/.07) * 100 to convert it to a whole number.
Now we look for small cap companies with positive earnings in each of the past three years, positive earnings forecast for this year, an ROE of at least 15% and an EV/EBITDA ratio less than 14.3. Only four stocks pass this test. Because of their small size, these stocks escape the notice of many investors and offer individuals who can buy small companies large potential returns.
Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVTI) provides trucking services throughout North America. Growth in earnings per share (EPS) averaged almost 45% in the past five years but is expected to average a more sustainable level of 5% in the future. Earnings are expected to be $1.86 next year and the stock is trading with a P/E ratio near 11 based on those expectations. The average P/E ratio for trucking companies has been about 18 in the past five years indicating CVTI is deeply undervalued.
magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (Nasdaq: CALL) makes magicJack products to convert any land-based phone line into a cloud-based app, avoiding long distance charges. Sales have topped $100 million every year since 2009 and the company reported EPS of $0.80 last year. Analysts expect to see similar levels of earnings for the next few years. The stock trades at about 8 times earnings and has an EV/EBITDA ratio of 10. CALL could be an attractive takeover candidate for the right tech company looking to expand into landline services.
HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE: HCI) is an insurance company offering property and casualty insurance to homeowners, condominium owners and tenants in the state of Florida. The company has been profitable in each of the past seven years and grown EPS from $2.15 in 2009 to $5.90 in 2015. The stock pays a dividend of $1.50, yielding about 5%. Yet HCI trades with a P/E ratio of 6, most likely because investors are concerned about the possibility of a natural disaster in Florida. Most insurers have broad geographic diversification and HCI's concentration in one state prone to natural disasters makes it a riskier investment. For investors who can accept the risk, this stock offers high income and the potential for significant capital appreciation.
Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRTG) also offers property and casualty insurance in Florida and adds a small amount of diversification by offering policies in North Carolina, a state with a risk profile similar to Florida's. HRTG began trading in 2014 and provided financial data only back to 2012. The company showed a loss for 2012 but has been profitable since, growing EPS from $1.17 in 2013 to $3.05 last year. The company began paying a dividend of $0.20 a year last year, providing current income of about 1.5%. With a P/E ratio of 4, the risks of owning this stock seem to be fairly low.
These fours stocks might have been Buffett buys fifty years ago, when he was starting out and could benefit from small caps. These stocks might be able to provide the foundation of a new empire built on value investing for those seeking to follow in Buffett's footsteps.