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Learn how to improve your leadership skills and become a better manager and leader. Here's how to be the boss people want to give 200 percent for. In the following video you'll discover 120 powerful tips and strategies to motivate and inspire your people to bring out the best in them.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Whether you are presently running your own business or just planning to start one, you'll find here all the guidelines and tools you need to start, operate and succeed in a business of your own.
The first and most important thing you need to acquire in order to succeed in a small business is... knowledge.
Sounds exaggerated? Listen to this...
According to research conducted by Dun & Bradstreet, 90% of all small business failures can be traced to poor management resulting from lack of knowledge.
This is backed up by our own personal observations. As veteran entrepreneurs and business coaches, we've seen practically dozens of business owners go under and lose their businesses - not because they weren't talented or smart enough - but because they were trying to re-invent the wheel rather than rely on proven, tested methods that work.
And that is where this website can help - with over 300 'how-to' guides, dozens of free books, worksheets and tools - it will show you how to avoid the common traps and mistakes and do everything right the first time. You'll discover here scores of easy to follow strategies, techniques and shortcuts - so that you'll be able to start using them at once. I hope you find this site useful.
Meir Liraz, President, BizMove
You are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Learn to accept total responsibility for yourself. If you don't manage yourself, then you are letting others have control of your life. In this video you'll discover 90 powerful tips and strategies to better manage yourself for success.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Do you have what it takes to succeed in a Business? This management quiz will help you assess your managerial skills
The first question you should answer when you are thinking of starting a business is "Am I the type?" You will be the most important employee in your business. It is more important that you rate yourself objectively as the business manager than how you rate any prospective employee.
Appraise your strengths and your weaknesses. As a prospective operator of your own business, acknowledge that you are weak in certain areas and cover the deficiency by either retraining yourself or hiring someone with the necessary skill. The questions in this quiz indicate to what extent you have the personal traits important to a business manager.
Feel Free to Download any of the Following Books:
A Step by Step Guide to Starting a Small Business
This is a practical guide that will walk you step by step through all the essential phases of starting a business. The book is packed with guides, worksheets and checklists. These strategies are absolutely crucial to your business' success yet are simple and easy to apply.
Checklist for Starting a Business: Essential Ingredients for Success
If you are thinking about going into business, it is imperative that you watch this video first! it will take you by the hand and walk you through each and every phase of starting a business. It features all the essential aspects you must consider BEFORE you start a business. This will allow you to predict problems before they happen and keep you from losing your shirt on dog business ideas. Ignore it at your own peril!
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
A Step by Step Guide
Now you can save hundreds of dollars each year on your Auto insurance premiums through the strategies revealed in this book.
It will help you discover exactly which auto insurance companies provide the best rates in your area plus tips and techniques to lower your premiums and get discounts. With this book you can shave hundreds of dollars off your current car insurance costs.
How to Improve Your Leadership and Management Skills (Free Download)
Effective Strategies for Business Managers
This book features effective strategies and clever techniques to help you improve your leadership and management skills. It points out that you must be a leader that people follow, keep informed, make timely decisions and take effective action. In effect you must control the activities of your organization rather than being controlled by them.
If you've been a manager for long, you know that things can go wrong even in the best of organizations. Problem behavior on the part of employees can erupt for a variety of reasons. In this video you'll discover the top ten ideas for dealing with difficult employees.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Small Business Management (Free Download)
Essential Ingredients for Success
Whether you are presently running your own business or just planning to start one, this book can be the best business investment you have ever made. It will show exactly what you need to know to make your business a success. This guide will teach you scores of small business management tricks, secrets and shortcuts - and teach them so that you can start using them at once.
Business Plan Template (Free Download)
Complete Fill in the Blanks Sample Business Plan Proposal
This guide features a complete business plan template. This fill-in-the-blanks template includes every section of your business plan, including Executive Summary, Company Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Marketing Plan, Operations Plan and Financial Plan.
How to lead and manage a team. In this video you'll discover 10 extremely powerful tips and strategies to motivate and inspire your people to bring out the best in them. Be the boss people want to give 200 percent for.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
No matter how much you are currently paying for car insurance, you can probably still reduce your cost even further. We've reviewed numerous quoting services to bring you the best two. Each of the following free services can provide you with several competing quotes from various companies, thus enabling you to compare and pinpoint on the best rate that is available for your location:
1. Insurance Hits - May save you hundreds on your car insurance. This free service filters out the more expensive insurers and provides you with one or more companies that offer the cheapest auto insurance rates for your specific location. Simply enter in your zip code and get free quotes from providers in your local area that offer the best rates.
2. Best-Quote-Inc. - Call them (toll-free) at (855) 981-7528- this is a free by phone service that provides multiple company insurance rates specific to your location, see how companies compete for your business. Offers great rates from quality insurers.
Our best affordable car insurance section features articles related to motor vehicles quotes. See our car insurance blog for article relating to insuring your vehicle. In cheap full coverage auto insurance you'll discover helpful tips to getting cheap quotes. For information on how to get cheaper quotes on shorter terms see month to month car insurance and also temporary car insurance USA. For first time drivers information see cheap car insurance for new drivers under 25. How about obtaining cheaper premium rates for mature women? no problem, look here, cheap car insurance for first time drivers over 25.
If you are interested in a half year duration see 6 month car insurance for helpful tips on the topic. How about getting more favorable premiums costs for younger drivers? see car insurance for 17 year old and cheap car insurance for under 21 and cheap car insurance for 22 year old female old. Compare Seguros de Coche Barato en Linea: Seguro de Carros en Espanol. Here is another list of drivers insurance useful articles. For how to get discounts see: how to get discounts. Here's how to locate the best quote for high risk or bad credit drivers. Here's how to get a great deal on drivers insurance simply see this list of car insurance companies that offer cheap vehicle insurance. The Oldies car insurance page is another great source to help you save money when the time comes to extened your vehicle insurance premium, featuring useful tips and ideas. How to Create a Home Business Library by Collecting Free Small Business Books Plus Some Useful Advice about How to Save on Auto Insurance. So here is an interesting article that combines tips to saving while insuring your vehicle with buying flowers. Get free starting a business gifts. A guide to help you invest in the stock market.
In this video you'll discover the top ten ideas to help you become an effective manager and supervisor, the boss everyone loves to praise, rather than the boss everyone loves to hate!
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Here's how to choose a cryptocurrency trading platform. As for helpful tips regarding no deposit premium payments see car insurance companies that don't require a deposit and for a list of low cost brokers, agents and companies see very cheap car insurance no deposit. Read the following cheap car insurance informative article if you are looking for better rates for the young drivers in your family, cheaper insurance companies that accept permits. Now, for discovering new ways to get lower quotes on just a weekly bases go to weekly car insurance. If you had problems an considered 'bad driver' look here: high risk auto insurance Florida. New drivers looking to save on their rates should look here: cheap insurance for first time drivers. how about if you want to deffer your premium payments? see here: buy now pay later car insurance.
These tools can be your first step towards small business success. Get business planning, finance, sales, marketing and management templates and tools.
Business Plan Templates
Basic Business Plan Template (MS Word) | Business Plan for a Start-up Business (MS Word) | Business Plan for an Established Business (MS Word) | Business Plan Presentation Template (Power Point)
Finance Templates
Financial Projections Template (MS Excel) | Start-Up Expenses (MS Excel) | Opening Day Balance Sheet (MS Excel) | Balance Sheet - Projected (MS Excel) | Bank Loan Request for Small Business (PDF) | Loan Amortization Schedule (MS Excel) | Break-Even Analysis (MS Excel) | 12-Month Cash Flow Statement (MS Excel) | 3-Year Cash Flow Statement (MS Excel) | Financial History & Ratios (MS Excel) | Personal Financial Statement (MS Excel) | 12-Month Profit and Loss Projection (MS Excel) | 3-Year Profit and Loss Projection (MS Excel)
Marketing & Sales Templates
Sales Forecast For 12 Monthes (MS Excel) | Marketing Plan Guide (MS Word) | Product and Service Description Worksheet | (MS Word) Target Market Data Worksheet (MS Word) | Target Market Comparison Worksheet (MS Word) | Competitive Data Collection Plan (MS Word) | Competitive Analysis Worksheet (PDF) | Brand Message Worksheet (MS Word) | Pricing Strategy Worksheet (MS Word) Distribution Channel Assessment Worksheet (MS Word) Marketing Expenses Strategy Chart (MS Word) Annual Marketing Budget Template (MS Excel) Marketing Calendar Template (MS Excel) | Business Concept Outline (PDF)
Management Templates
SWOT Analysis Worksheet (MS Word) | Job Analysis Worksheet (PDF) | Organization Chart for Chief Operating Officer (MS Word) | Event Planning Checklist (MS Word)
This video deals with Effective Management Strategies and leadership skills. In the video you'll discover 10 extremely effective ideas to ensure that you get moving quickly and effectively on any task!
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Other Business Articles That May Interest You
This article will provide you with useful self development tips and positive thoughts on how to continue your self development and then apply them in your own life: Personal Development Skills -How To Improve Yourself. To many people, strategic planning is something meant only for big businesses, but it is equally applicable to small businesses, see here how to implement it in your small business: Strategic Planning: How To Develop A Strategic Plan.
This article focuses on communication in the organizational structure: Communicating Within The Organization - Communication Channels in Organizations. Each day over one million dollars in free government money is given away to people just like you for a wide variety of needs. In the following guide you'll learn exactly where & how to get free government money you never pay back. This money has to be given away, why not to you? Get Free Money From the Government Now - How to Get Free Grants Money.
Here is a free book that will teach you everything you need to know about personnel management in a small business: Human Resource Management PDF - Human Resources for Dummies. Forecasting sales and profits, particularly on a short-term basis (one year to three years), is essential to planning for business success, here's how to do it right: Profit Forecasting Methods - Forecasting Sales and Profits and Income. Manage a business successfully, manage a company, is the key to the establishment and growth of the business, see here the keys to successful management: How to Manage a Business Successfully - Managing a Business Effectively.
When preparing for Export Documentation and Export Shipping, the exporter needs to be aware of packing, labeling, documentation, and insurance requirements, read all about it here: Export Documents, Export Process, Export Import Procedures And Documentation. You are responsible for everything that happens in your life. If you do not manage yourself, then you are letting others have control of your life. These self management tips will help "you" manage "you": Self Management Skills & Techniques - How To Manage My Life.
This article discusses how to value a business or a company. The most difficult step in buying or selling a small business is probably determining what the business is worth as a going concern, here's how to do it: How to Value a Business for Purchase, How to Value a Company. What is financial ratios analysis? The Balance Sheet and the Statement of Income are essential, but they are only the starting point for successful financial management. Apply Ratio Analysis to Financial Statements to analyze the success, failure, and progress of your business: Financial Ratios Analysis Formula - Balance Sheet Analysis.
The quality of employees and their development through training and education are major factors in determining long-term profitability of a small business: Employee Training and Development Process In HRM, Training Methods for Employees. A good retail business plan gives the retail firm a pathway to profit. This free sample business plan retail store guide is designed to help an owner-manager work up a sound business plan: Free Sample Retail Business Plan Template - Retail Store Business Plan. As the owner of your own business you deal with problems on an almost daily basis. Being familiar with effective Problem Solving Techniques can dramatically affect the growth of your business: Problem Solving Techniques - Types Of Problem Solving Methods.
In this video you'll discover 30 extremely effective strategies for delegating better and getting more done.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Small Business Advertising Budget Allocation, Deciding how much your advertising budget - just how much should be invested in making sales grow - and how that amount should be allocated is completely up to you, the business owner-manager: Advertising Budget Methods, Marketing Budget Allocation Example. The following guide discusses Advertising Media Planning. A wise man once said, "The person who saves money by not advertising is like the man who stops the clock to save time." In today's fast-paced, high-tech age, businesses have to use some form of advertising to make prospects aware of their products and services: Advertising Media Planning Example, Marketing Media Planning.
Whether you are presently running your own business or just planning to start one, the following free book can be the best business investment you have ever made. It will show exactly what you need to know to make your business a success: Free Business Books PDF Free Download - Small Business Management PDF. Here's a practical guide that will walk you step by step through all the essentials of starting a Poultry Farming Business. The book is packed with guides, worksheets and checklists. These strategies are absolutely crucial to your business' success yet are simple and easy to apply: How to Start a Poultry Farming Business.
This free guide for developing a business plan for a construction company is designed to help an owner-manager in drawing up a successful business plan:
Free Sample Construction Business Plan Company Template. There are several basic Export Payment Methods, Import Payment Methods for products sold abroad. As with domestic sales, a major factor that determines the method of payment is the amount of trust in the buyer's ability and willingness to pay:
Import and Export Payment Methods, International Trade.
Most of us desire to communicate effectively, but do not have a keen appreciation of the communication barriers to be faced: How To Overcome Communication Barriers. In order to lose weight you need to create a "calorie deficit". What that means is, you must eat less calories than your body burns in a day. There's no way around it. Now here's how to take full advantage of this diet tool: Free Healthy Weight Loss Planner.
Here's a bunch of online consumer information reports: Online Consumer Guide Reports - Products & Services Buying Guide. If you are interested in FX / Forex trading here's a guide that will provide you with strategies and techniques to make your trading more profitable: Forex for Beginners - How to Make Money in Forex Trading. Binary options is a unique form of stock trading, some love it some hate it, here's a guide that will show you how to make the most of it: How to Trade Binary Options Successfully.
Are you a Spanish speaker? here is a collection of some consumer information guides in Spanish:
Guias útiles para Comercio y Consumo. When preparing for Export Documentation and Export Shipping, the exporter needs to be aware of packing, labeling, documentation, and insurance requirements. Because the goods are being shipped by unknown carriers to distant customers, the new exporter must be sure to follow all shipping requirements to help ensure that the merchandise is safe, see full details here:
Are you interested in sending cash to relatives, friends or merchants? here are the options you have: Send Cash With American Express, Western Union American Express Money Transfer.
Binary options trading provide you with an opportunity to trade stocks, currency and commodity options using a simple platform interface using one mouse click. In contrast to standard investing, binary option trading offers you an extremely clear picture of pre-determined ROI: Free Binary Options Ebook: How to Trade Binary Options Successfully PDF. The Forex market has a daily volume of over $4 trillion per day, dwarfing the volume of the equity and futures markets combined. Thousands of people, all over the world, are trading Forex and making tons of money, here are the basics of FX trading: The Best Forex Trading Broker Online.
Looking for cheaper than dirt flights? We scanned dozens of sources of cheap flights on the Internet to come up with our choice:
Really Dirt Cheap Flights - Dirt Cheap Airline Tickets.
If you're in the market to buy individual health insurance, here's how to get started: Private Health Insurance List, List Of Health Insurance Companies. For the weight watchers among us here's a useful healthy weight loss diet meal plan app to help you lose weight fast. And some attractions from abroad. self improvement.
If you are you interested in health and wellness you'll find this useful, we put together a collection of health related books in PDF format that you can download for free, see here: Bizmove free health and wellness books downloads.
Supervising people involves more than telling them what to do. Effective supervision involves motivation from within the individual, not by externals. In this video you'll discover the top 10 ideas to motivate employees while increasing morale and performance (without giving a raise).
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Here are start-up guides to over 90 different businesses. Feel free to download and use any of the following books free of charge with our compliments.
You'll find here a large variety of businesses you can start, spanning a range of industries, customer segments and initial funding needs. All are within reach for those with a healthy supply of common sense and determination. And, yes, luck always helps.
Clever Out-of-the-Box Solutions to Common Management Challenges
Here's a collection of easy-to-follow strategies to business success. This collection of essential "nuggets" will help you improve performance, adapt to changing business realities, and prosper in todays competitive environment. Just flip through the list, find the topic that interest you and adopt the easy to implement tips.
Here's a collection of short (30 minutes each) video training courses meant to improve your management skills. As a small business owner it will help you explore and learn about various aspects of business ownership. Owning a small business requires that you wear many hats. This of course leaves you with little time to take a deep dive into the many aspects of starting and growing a business. But what if you had access to a small business classroom that provided access to the advice and guidance you need? well, you just found it!
Here is an easy to use Excel based software program. It is a multi featured business planning tool that is extremely useful when planning a new business or project.
The program will help you do the following:
* Plan and analyze your start up expenses and sales
* Perform Break-Even Point analysis
* Conduct 'what-if's analysis
* Perform financial ratios analysis
* Make a "go /no-go" decision
... and much much more.
You also get a detailed manual that will walk you step by step and show you exactly how to take full advantage of the software.
Free Book: Currency Trading for Dummies - Forex Trading 101
The purpose of the Currency Trading for Dummies PDF is to show you how to make money trading Forex. Thousands of people, all over the world, are trading Forex and making tons of money. Why not you?
All you need to start trading Forex is a computer and an Internet connection. You can do it from the comfort of your home, in your spare time without leaving your day job. Please note that when trading Forex your capital is at risk.
In this video you'll discover ten extremely effective strategies to achieve your goals faster.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
The 'Management Skills' section will help you to Improve your personal managerial skills. Discover how to be a leader that people follow, new time management ideas (so you get more done In less time), how to Improve your planning skills, how to be in control of your work and your life, effective delegation techniques, powerful goal setting strategies, how to constantly improve your abilities and more.
Marketing plays an important role (some say the most important role) in the success of your company. Here are guides and worksheets to help you better manage the marketing aspects of your biz, that include advertising and sales management.
Starting a new business is the dream of many people ...starting that biz converts your dream into reality. But there is a gap between your dream and reality that can only be filled with knowledge and careful planning. As an owner, you will need a plan to avoid pitfalls, to achieve your goals and to build a profitable company. in this section you will find useful guides and worksheets to help you turn your new startup into a success.
There is one simple reason to understand financial management and planning - to avoid failure. Eight out of ten new businesses fail primarily because of the lack of good finance planning. The way you manage your financials affects how and on what terms you will be able to attract the funding required to establish, maintain, and expand your company.
This section features guides and articles that do not directly relate to other sections. Among the topics covered: strategic planning, managing productivity, profit planning, manage by objectives and more.
Human resources is concerned with the effective use of the skills of people. They may be salespeople in a store, clerks in an office, operators in a factory, or technicians in a research laboratory. In a business, managing personnel starts with the recruiting and hiring of qualified people and continues with directing and encouraging their growth as they encounter problems and tensions that arise in working toward established goals.
Here is a collection of easy-to-follow strategies covering a wide range of topics. This collection of essential "nuggets" will help you improve performance, adapt to changing business realities, and prosper in todays competitive environment. just flip through the list, find the topic that interest you and adopt the easy to implement tips.
Why have millions of people chosen to work and live in the same place? Why are cottage industries sprouting faster than we can count them? Some home-based businesses start by accident rather than by conscious design. Secretarial services, mobile applications development, day-care centers, Internet businesses, and the like may start out as weekend activities in the recreation room. After a while their owners are surprised to see how profitable or enjoyable the venture has become. The glimpse of a healthy market lures them into a full-time venture. This low-risk, low-overhead, gradual kind of start-up is very attractive to new business people. Here you will find the info to help start and succeed in your own home based venture.
A retail consultant was asked, "What are the three factors most likely to ensure retailing success?" The reply was, "Location, location and ...location" In other words, the impact of choosing retail location on the success of your store operation can't be overstressed! in this section you will discover how to find a prime location for your retail operation in addition to other topics that are crucial to success in a retail venture.
No small business is easy to manage, and this is especially true in a family biz. It is subject to all the problems that beset small companies plus those that can, and often do, arise when relatives try to work together. This section will help you to better understand and manage a family run establishment.
The decision to buy and sell a business requires careful consideration of the many factors involved. If you are a seller, these factors include preparing your biz for sale and finding buyers. If you are a buyer, they include pricing and financing your purchase. This buy and sell section presents an outline to buying and selling factors as well as the necessary procedures for structuring transactions, negotiations and settlements.
There is profit to be made in export. The international market is much larger than the local market. Growth rates in many overseas markets far out-pace domestic market growth. And meeting and beating innovative competitors abroad can help companies keep the edge they need at home. There are also real costs and risks associated with exporting. It is up to each company to weigh the necessary commitment against the potential benefit. The guides in this section will help you to explore the export option.
We scanned hundreds of anecdotes, success stories and bits of wisdom to bring you this collection of the top 100 inspiring anecdotes and stories. We find these witty, inspiring, amusing, eye-opening and spirit-soothing. We hope you'll enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed putting them together.
In our competitive business world, the more contacts we have, the more people who know about us and what we do, our talents and abilities - the more opportunities we will have. For some people, networking comes naturally. Their antenna is always up. They actually have FUN with it. However, for most people, networking is a learned skill and one that needs practice in order to feel comfortable and be effective. In this video you'll discover 10 extremely powerful ideas that will help you become a master networker.
For more insightful videos visit our Small Business and Management Skills YouTube Chanel.
Free Small Business Software Downloads
The 10 Best Free Business Software Tools for Small Business Owners and Managers
We reviewed dozens of business software programs to bring you this list of free quality software programs. Please note that these are all fully functional, completely free programs that you can use without any restrictions.
Here's what's included: free office suit (replaces: Microsoft Office), free project management tool (replaces: Microsoft Project, Oracle Primavera), free small business accounting software (replaces: Quicken, QuickBooks), free task management software, free backup software (replaces: Acronis backup, Genie), free compression software (replaces: WinZip), free ERP - enterprise resource planning (replaces: NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics), free flow chart and diagram creation program (replaces: Visio), free spreadsheet application: (replaces: Microsoft Excel), and free website design software (replaces: Adobe Dreamweaver).
How This Site Can Help You to Start a Business and be a Great Business Manager
Whether you are a manager or an owner you'll discover here all the guidelines and tools you need to operate and succeed in a business.
You'll find this site to be a comprehensive resource, with hundreds of guides, worksheets and checklists that cover almost any situation you can think of. It will teach you scores of strategies, techniques and shortcuts - and teach them so that you can start using them at once. This site does far more than impart knowledge... it inspires action.
According to Dun & Bradstreet, 90% of all businesses failures analyzed can be traced to poor management. This is backed up by my own experience. In my 31 years as an entrepreneur and consultant to companies, I've seen dozens of managers ruin their career and tens of owners go under and lose their businesses -- not because they weren't talented or smart enough -- but because they were trying to re-invent the wheel rather than rely on proven, tested methods that work.
And that is where this site can help. It will show you how to avoid the common traps and mistakes and do everything right the first time.
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Contact us
A Moment of Inspiration ...
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That maybe it couldn't, but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so "till he tried."
So he buckled right in with the
trace of a grin on his face.
If he worried, he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it."
But he took off his coat and took off his hat
And the first thing he knew he'd begun it.
With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
Then take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That cannot be done, and you'll do it.
Copyright © by Bizmove.com. All rights reserved.


text:
Another gas explosion snuffs out hope for the 29 trapped New Zealand miners. All are presumed dead.
Deep sea robots discover a new species in a new genus: the "squid worm."
Animal Planet discovers world's ugliest cat. Kinda looks like Sonny Bono.
International pissing contest: U.S. says it's sending an aircraft carrier for "joint military exercises" off Korea.
"100-proof turkey" takes three days to prepare and is served with 100-proof vodka gravy.
Ohio State president mouths off about college football contenders.
Sarah Palin's new book insults Betty Friedan and devotes several pages to complaining about Murphy Brown.
American workers are out in the cold, but the companies they work for just had their best quarter ever.
... Not surprisingly, Wall Street execs are already back to buying $40,000 cell phones and renting dwarves for their parties.
John Travolta, 56, and Kelly Preston, 48, salve the grief of losing their oldest son last year by having another baby. This one doesn't have a stupid name.
Music nerd makes homemade Blue Man Group instrument thingy for a talent show.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
PLN-E aims to become a meeting point among academic researchers and companies interested on technologies all along Natural Language Processing and other related technologies like text mining, information retrieval, opinion mining, etc.
We aim the submission of works that shows how NLP can help enterprises to solve problems, or develop new products and services. We expect 3 different types of works:
- (Academic/enterprise) Research works at early stages but with a clear orientation to enterprise applications (products/services)
- Works showing how a certain or several NLP technologies have been successfully used to solve a certain problem (such as developing a new product/service)
- Works from companies explaining certain problems that can not be solved with the actual state of the art on NLP.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the next topics:
A) New NLP Technologies with a clear Application in the Enterprise
- Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis
- Monolingual and Multilingual Information Systems
- Voice Question-Answering Systems
- Social Intelligent Systems
- Plagiarism Detection and Systems for Detecting Confidential Information
- Recommender Systems
- Illicit contents/Crimes Detection Systems
B) New Application Domains
- Social Media
- Mobile Devices
- Videoconsoles and TDT
- Virtual Worlds and Massive Multiplayer Games
C) Business Aspects of NLP
- New Business Models
- Unsolved Problems
- Scalability and Performance of NLP Technologies
- Production Environments for NLP Systems
- Real-World Datasets Descriptions
- Demands and Market Needs
- Submission: 15 June, 2010
- Notification of acceptance: 15 July, 2010
- Camera Ready: 15 August, 2010
- Workshop: 6/7 de September, 2010


text:
LinkedIn is the largest professional (online) network in the world. The majority has 3 questions: "What's in it for me?", "I have a profile, now what?" and "How to get more results without spending a lot of time?"
Probably the best way to answer these questions is the book "How to REALLY use LinkedIn"! Together with Jan Vermeiren, I wrote the second edition of this international bestseller.
With this book you will learn:
• 10 powerful ways to find new customers, employees or a new job
• 42 tips to make your profile stand out
• 11 strategies to apply LinkedIn at an organizational level
• 31 answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• 30 lesser-known functions and opportunities
• Plus 53 new pages, including extra tips and timesaving tools
Discover also the free "Video & Tools Library"! It has a vast collection of how-to-videos and extra tools, including several Genius Shortcuts.
"How to REALLY use LinkedIn" is available in English, Dutch, French and Spanish. For more info check out www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com
What most people don't know (yet), is that Jan and I decided to
give away 1 million books for FREE!
To actively stimulate the economy! Too many people are looking for new customers, new employees or a new job. They are hardly using LinkedIn, because they don't know the platform well enough!
At the same time, we are raising 1 million dollar for charity! Check out our website www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com for more info. And remember to download the book for FREE as well! (English and Dutch versions!)
To your success!
Filed under: About Bert, English | Tagged: Bert Verdonck, bestseller, book, free, How to REALLY use LinkedIn, international, Jan Vermeiren, LinkedIn |


text:
Unformed Legal Roads
Published Feb 20, 2018, 9:32 PM
People are often unsure about the legal status of unformed legal roads, colloquially known as paper roads.
We have information about accessing the outdoors responsibly - including roads and walkways, rivers and lakes, and private land. We also have information on using our GIS maps, creating new access, private land and what to do when there is a dispute.
Use the tags below to narrow down what you're looking for. The Community filters refer to the type of user, and Tag filters to the topic being discussed.
Got a question not answered here?
Please contact us via email or phone and we'll do our best to help
Published Feb 20, 2018, 9:32 PM
People are often unsure about the legal status of unformed legal roads, colloquially known as paper roads.
Published Sep 3, 2018, 10:09 AM
We are working with Federated Farmers and Rural Women NZ to provide signage for landholders to use to mark agreeable and voluntarily granted access routes.
Published Sep 5, 2018, 1:23 PM
What is the Queen's Chain and what happens when erosion, accretion or water movement affect public access? What are the access rights relating to the foreshore?
Published Sep 5, 2018, 1:36 PM
New Zealand offers an abundance of walking tracks providing opportunities for access to the great outdoors. These tracks fall into many categories.
Published Jun 7, 2019, 10:06 AM
Treasury's Living Standards Framework means a new way of talking about the value of tracks and trails. Tracks contribute to wellbeing in a multitude of ways.


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This summer for me seems to be a time for reunion with old friends thanks to Facebook. It has been really nice being back in contact and re-kindling our past friendships, vowing not to loose touch once more and to stay in regular contact.
Last month I had a friend from my childhood come over to visit with her two daughters, seeing my friend after so long was lovely and we have seen each other twice more since. I baked these muffins to serve with tea when she came over and they went down a treat, with my friend hardly able to believe what a domestic goddess I've become since the last time we saw each other. Bearing in mind the last time we saw each other, we only lived for the weekends and partying!! Since then I have only baked a few desserts for my sons' birthday BBQ party, which did not last long enough to get a picture of them. Today I took advantage of the cooler weather and baked a cake, I hope to get time to blog it this weekend.
Makes 12 (I ended up with 13)
60g rolled oats
260ml milk
225g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
85g plain chocolate chips, extra for sprinkling (or chocolate chunks, which I used)
1 medium egg, beaten with a fork
140g light brown soft sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
90ml vegetable oil
Prepare the muffin tins. Preheat oven to 190oC/170oC fan oven/375oF/Gas mark 5. In a medium-sized bowl, combine oats and milk. Set aside to soak while you prepare the dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
Now to the milk and oat mixture, add beaten egg, sugar, vanilla and oil. Stir well.
Pour all of the wet mixture into the dry. Stir just until combined and no dry flour is visible. Batter should have a good dropping consistency - not too thick, not too thin.
Fill muffin cases three-quarters full and sprinkle chocolate chips. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned and feel quite firm to touch.


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Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, in all its Order 66ing glory, will make its 3D debut at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, coming April 16-19, 2015. Fans will be the first to see this long-awaited, big-screen 3D conversion by Lucasfilm, completed with care for the look of the original movie while taking advantage of 3Ds stunning possibilities. Revenge of the Sith was originally released in 2005, and brought the Star Wars saga full circle with an action-packed, visually-stunning, emotional story. The film sees the final machinations of Darth Sidious evil plot come to pass and features lots (and lots) of lightsaber duels, dogfights, and Clone Wars battles. With all this, Revenge of the Sith 3D promises to be a great experience, and one that even a Sith could love. (Anakin versus Obi-Wan in 3D, anyone?)But thats not all all the Star Wars films will screen at Star Wars Celebration, including The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones in 3D.
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Instead of breaking medal-count records, the U.S. speedskating team is explaining why its best skaters aren't even close to the podium. Their explanation is that everyone else is just faster.
SOCHI, Russia - Instead of breaking medal-count records, the U.S. speedskating team is explaining why its best skaters aren't even close to the podium. "We're obviously trying to evaluate the variables that could be there," said U.S. sprint coach Ryan Shimabukuro, "but nothing that I'm going to go on record with. ... We're halfway through the competition." And when the skaters are asked, they maintain the rest of the world is just going faster. "That's what it's about is being able to perform when it counts and, unfortunately, we haven't had the results we want," said Brittany Bowe, who owns the world record at the 1,000 meters but only managed eighth place Thursday night. "I thought I was on a great one, but I just didn't go fast enough. I'm sure we'll be able to pick things out and improve on them." The problem is no one is pointing to any issues that might change the disappointing results that's affected men and women long and short track. "I felt fine," said Heather Richardson, who is ranked No. 1 in the world at that distance, but finished seventh. "I mean, I was top going into the race, and I gave it my best and that's all I could do." China's Hong Zhang earned gold with a time of 1:14.02, while Ireen Wust, Netherlands, was second with a time of 1:14.69. Her teammate Margot Boer, Netherlands, was third with a time of 1:14.90. Bowe started fast and stayed in the hunt for the first lap, but faded near the finish. Still, she insisted that there is no problem to be fixed. "I thought I was on a really good one," she said after skating the distance in 1:15.47. "I had a really fast opener, fast first lap, and was just trying to hang in there on that last lap. When I looked at the board, I thought it was going to be a faster time. Immediately, I was pretty disappointed." To say this team is underachieving would be a gross understatement. Expectations were so high for this year's Olympic team, there was talk of them earning a record-breaking number of medals. In 2002, U.S. speedskaters won a record eight medals in Salt Lake City. Halfway through the competition, most are now hoping they don't get shut out and wodering what might be wrong. "I don't think anything went wrong," Bowe said. "I think the top three girls laid down some pretty fast times, and they absolutely deserved that 1-2-3 with the performance they put down." The women said they will watch film with their coaches and try to see where they can improve. They said they feel great and expect they should be able to perform better in their remaining events - the 1,500 and the team relay. "Physically, I feel fine," said Richardson, whose time was 1:15.23. "I think it's the most fit I've been this season. I think everyone's getting faster in Sochi. ... Obviously it's disappointing, but it's all we could do." Bowe said she's going to spend some time with her family and try to enjoy her first Olympic experience. "I'm going to take a step back, enjoy my family," she said. "It's unfortunate that I didn't get the result. But it's my first Olympics and I couldn't be more happy to be here representing my country. It's just been an awesome experience."%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D145341%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E


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Stewards of Gondor
This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.
This article or section needs more/new/more-detailed sources to conform to a higher standard and to provide proof for claims made.
Steward (Q. Arandur "King's Servant") was the traditional title of a chief counselor to one of the Kings of Gondor.
[edit] History of the office
King Rómendacil I established the office of Steward, chosen by the King as a man of high trust and wisdom; Stewards were advanced in years since they were not permitted to go to war or to leave the realm. They were never a member of the Royal House.[1]
The Steward to King Minardil, Húrin of Emyn Arnen, was the founder of the House of Húrin.[2] They were of royal Númenórean blood, but were not descendants of Elendil in the ruling line.[3] After the time of Minardil, the Kings established the custom that Stewards are chosen from this House.
During the time of the Steward Pelendur, this title became hereditary, passing the station of counselor from father to son, much like the Kingship.[2]
[edit] The Ruling Stewards
After the death of King Eärnur, who left no heir to the throne of Gondor, the Steward Mardil Voronwë became the first of the Ruling Stewards. Mardil was the first of the Stewards to administer Gondor, and his descendants did so for 25 generations. The Stewards watched over the throne until it could be reclaimed by a true King of Gondor, an heir of Elendil.
[edit] Reunited Kingdom
Soon after the death of Denethor II, Aragorn Elessar was crowned King. The Steward Faramir, son of Denethor II, surrendered to the King his rod of office, but it was returned to him.[4] Faramir nominally ruled briefly as Steward until Elessar's coronation, but since Faramir rested in the Houses of Healing, Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth took his place much of that time.[5] Though Faramir became Steward a month and a half before Elessar became King, Faramir is not considered one of the Ruling Stewards. King Elessar confirmed in Faramir and his descendants the office of Steward of Gondor, and granted him in addition the title of Prince of Ithilien, ensuring his line a position as counselor of the King.[4]
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", note 53
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", "The Stewards"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "VII. The Heirs of Elendil", pp. 203 & 218
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Steward and the King"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Houses of Healing"


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Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological theory describing the origin and evolution of our universe. Religious acceptance of the concept varies between religions and denominations.
"The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it."
"... some theologians, at least, should be sufficiently well-versed in the sciences to make authentic and creative use of the resources that the best-established theories may offer them. Such an expertise would prevent them from making uncritical and overhasty use for apologetic purposes of such recent theories as that of the "Big Bang" in cosmology."
- — John Paul II[2]
- 1 Description
- 2 Did the universe have a beginning?
- 3 Did the universe come from ex nihilo "nothing"?
- 4 How did the universe get its physical laws and constants?
- 5 Speculations on the pre-Big Bang universe
- 6 Apologetics
- 7 References
- 8 See also
- 9 External links
The Big Bang theory states that around 13.7 billion years ago the universe was condensed into an incredibly small, hot, dense "ball" of space and time. Some have speculated that it emerged from an infinitely dense and small object known as a singularity but most scientists prefer other hypotheses. [3]
The name "Big Bang" is somewhat of a misnomer, since the universe did not expand in a conventional sense and didn't explode or produce sound as we normally understand it. The first fraction of a second saw significant changes in the way forces, matter and energy existed and was very unlike the universe as we currently observe it. The universe expanded very rapidly by a process called "inflation". As the expansion continued, the universe cooled, eventually reaching a point at which long lived particles of matter could "freeze out" of a mixture of mass and energy which was previously in continual flux and collide with each other to form the first simple atoms. Over billions of years, these particles combined to form "clouds" of matter which further condensed, because of gravitational attraction, into stars and planets. Atoms progressively formed "heavier" elements in stars through the process of nuclear fusion.
The history of the universe can be described in some detail back to the instant approximately 10-43 seconds after the big bang. What precisely occurred in the first 10-43 seconds (the Planck epoch) is current unknown with many competing theories, due to our incomplete understanding of the interactions between the theories of gravitation and quantum mechanics.
Did the universe have a beginning?[edit]
Perhaps. Or perhaps not.
The existence of the singularity is speculative. Singularity theorems are proved within the theory of General Relativity, but under the prevailing conditions one has to consider quantum effects. No one knows how to do that rigorously, but it is generally believed that quantum mechanics would not allow a singularity. [4] The co-author of the universe from singularity model, Stephen Hawking, said: [3]
- "[An] interpretation of our results, which is favored by most scientists, is that it indicates that the General Theory of Relativity breaks down in the very strong gravitational fields in the early universe. It has to be replaced by a more complete theory."
There are several possibilities on what the real structure of existence may be. These include the idea that there are no boundaries at all, or that there is a sort of "fuzzy" boundary which is not a singularity. While a singularity or boundary are still possible, there is no good scientific reason in the present to suppose them. The universe may have pre-existed in some undiscovered state. This undermines the apologist's argument as this means there is no way to prove the existence of an "Unmoved Mover" or "First Event".
Events are usually preceded by earlier events. And yet, the singularity cannot be preceded by anything! How is this possible? Because the singularity isn't an "event" at all. The singularity is the limit of physical events. For an analogy, consider the series of numbers 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4... Each number in this series is followed by a smaller number, just like any event has a preceding event. If we follow the chain of numbers, it is easily seen that "at infinity" we reach the number 0. There is no actual Smallest Number within the series, however, and this is precisely why every given number in it is followed by a smaller one. The same is true for the singularity - it isn't a point in space-time, but rather a boundary of it. The singularity isn't a First State, there isn't a "First State". It isn't a state at all. Rather, it is the limit of states, with each state preceded by an earlier one. In other words, asking what came before the Big Bang could be equivalent to asking "what is north of the North Pole?"[5]
An informed discussion of these issues is unfortunately beyond almost everyone, since the early universe was quite unlike the currently observed universe. Many of these issues are among the greatest unsolved problems of physics. [6]
No models predict an infinite universe[edit]
"The fact is, there is no mathematically and physically tenable model of the universe which is extrapolable to past infinity. If Goldstein thinks otherwise, let her tell us the model. The bottom line is: physics doesn't deal in possibilities. Possibilities come cheap. What we want to know is where the evidence points."
No physical model is known with certainty to predict the universe's earliest stages or origin. While most models appear to imply a finite age, we simply do not know and known models are highly like to be incorrect; this subject is at the frontier of knowledge after all! There may be a correct model that corresponds to the actual universe having an infinite age that we simply has not discovered. We can only know a model is correct after appropriate observations, which are not possible at this time. Before Edwin Hubble's observations, there were no tenable models of a finite aged universe, so it is quite possible scientific consensus may sift on this matter. Claiming that no model exists for an infinite universe itself implies a finite universe is an argument from ignorance.
The correct course in this case is to suspend judgement until we can validate a model as being correct. The lack of a model does not imply physical impossibility. If William Lane Craig bases his arguments on a premise that cannot be feasibly verified, his conclusions should also be considered as tentative (at best).
Did the universe come from ex nihilo "nothing"?[edit]
There is a common misconception that the Big Bang means that the universe "came from nothing." This is a straw man argument. What occurred in the very early universe is still a mystery. What, if anything, came before the Big Bang is a mystery.
Apologists claim that without God, the laws of thermodynamics would be violated. [8] At this point, we do not even know if the universe is a close system, which is fundamental assumption of thermodynamics. Also, thermodynamics have not been validated in the very early universe; physicists are still struggling with much more basic problems.
Since the energy of the universe may be zero, or close to it (gravatational energy is negative), the entire universe may be a long lived quantum fluctuation. [9]
How did the universe get its physical laws and constants?[edit]
Scientists don't know that either. Many have been traced back to very fundamental principles, such as the laws of physics are invariant of the point of view of the observer, in a field of physics called gauge theory. [10] Physics can only hope to trace physical laws into a simple, unified set of principles called the "theory of everything" or ToE. However, we may never discover the ToE or the ToE might not even exist. If the ToE exists, it might be a "brute fact". If the ToE exists, and it is not a "brute fact", it is questionable what we mean by an "explanation" for the ToE.
No doubt, if the ToE is discovered, it will be used as another cosmological argument for God. The existence of natural physical laws is used in the natural-law argument.
Arguing that the parameters of the universe, such as the strength of gravity, are somehow significant is the fine-tuning argument.
Speculations on the pre-Big Bang universe[edit]
- "Relating to the big bang theory... Where did the exploding star come from? [11]"
- The cyclic model or oscillatory universe is the hypothesis, attributable to Richard Tolman from 1934, that the universe undergoes an infinite series of oscillations, each beginning with a big bang and ending with a big crunch. After the big bang, the universe expands for a while before the gravitational attraction of matter causes it to collapse back in and undergo a bounce. (This theory has declined in popularity since 1998, when astronomers reported evidence that the acceleration of the universe's expansion continues unabated.) [12] To support the claim that the age of the universe is finite, apologists also point to the second law of thermodynamics which seems to imply entropy would continue to rise. [13] However, there are several speculative theories as to how entropy might be reset in the early universe (and ignoring that makes the entropy argument an argument from ignorance). [14]
- The universe existed forever but somehow eventually developed into a Big Bang. Some models predict a beginning-less universe with no singularity but still featuring a Big Bang. [15]
- Cosmological natural selection is a speculative hypothesis proposed by Lee Smolin. Smolin speculates that every black hole might contain another universe inside it. Thus, our universe might be a black hole inside another universe. Each universe shares properties and fundamental constants with its "parent" universe, but may be slightly different. Thus--according to this theory--universes evolve over time, and the ones that are particularly well suited to produce black holes are the ones that thrive.
- The multiverse hypothesis suggests that there are already multiple parallel universes, generated in a meta-universe. Chris Hedges called the multiverse "in its own way, a form of mysticism."[16]
- There may be no such thing as a pre-Big Bang universe.
- Our intuition about time is based on the environment we live in (and evolved in), with small accelerations and a relatively flat spacetime. In highly curved regions of spacetime, those intuitions break down.
- As an analogy, "north" is a direction that is more or less constant in most cities. But the direction "north" in Los Angeles is not parallel to the direction "north" in Berlin because of the curvature of the earth. In fact, going north from any point will eventually lead to the north pole because the earth is a sphere. At the north pole itself there is no direction of "north" because every point around it is farther south than it is.
- Similarly, "towards the past" is not a direction that is the same for every point in spacetime, but rather going back in time from any point leads back to the big bang. If there is no previous universe from which our universe sprung, it may be that there is a "past pole", or a finite region of spacetime around which every other point is farther in the future. It would be meaningless to talk about what happened before this time, because there would be no such thing as a "before" that. The universe would either be uncaused or the "cause" would be something that did not precede it in time.
None of these concepts have been conclusively demonstrated, but they do illustrate that God isn't the only possible answer.
Creationists often object to the Big Bang theory on the grounds that it removes God's hand from creation. A common Creationist argument against it is the question "What caused the Big Bang?" and the closely related question "What happened before the Big Bang?". Various arguments rely on the universe having a beginning. This includes:
Natural laws came into being at the Big Bang[edit]
- "Now why would Jastrow and Eddington admit that there are "supernatural" forces at work? Why couldn't natural forces have produced the universe? Because these scientists know as well as anyone that natural forces-indeed all of nature-were created at the Big Bang. [13]"
No, scientists say that space and time were (probably) created in the Big Bang but they don't know what, if anything, came before. Saying that "supernatural forces" account for the Big Bang is wild speculation and an argument from ignorance. There could have been the same or even unknown natural forces that brought about the Big Bang. Apologists are falsely conflating "natural" with "the post-Big Bang universe".
Apologists continue to apply the law of causality to the origin of universe. It is therefore inconsistent to say the natural laws came into effect at the Big Bang.
- "that is precisely why we can't depend on the law of causality when it comes to the cause of the universe.[17]"
Apologist arguments assume far more than is currently known by science. Without their premises being established with any confidence, their conclusions are unreliable.
As a historical note, it is interesting to see very obscure areas of reality being used for an argument for God. This is a sign of God of the gaps in that earlier arguments for God from natural phenomena where discarded as science found a naturalistic explanation.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ John Paul II, 1997, pp. M11, M12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stephen Hawking, The Origin of the Universe [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Did Time Start at the Big Bang?
- ↑ Wikipedia, List of unsolved problems in physics [[4]]
- ↑ [5]
- ↑ Jeff Miller, God and the Laws of Thermodynamics: A Mechanical Engineer's Perspective [6]
- ↑ [7]
- ↑ [8]
- ↑ 22 Messages From Creationists To People Who Believe In Evolution, Buzzfeed, February 5, 2014
- ↑ [9]
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist
- ↑ Recollapsing quantum cosmologies and the question of entropy, 2008
- ↑ [10]
- ↑ I Don't Believe in Atheists
- ↑ [11]
See also[edit]
External links[edit]


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
Smoke is made up of a complex mixture of gases and fine particles produced when wood and other organic matter burn. These particles can cause burning eyes, runny nose, coughing, a scratchy throat, irritated sinuses and headaches.
Use common sense. If it looks smoky outside, it's probably not a good time to mow the lawn or go for a run. It's probably also not a good time for children to play outside. When smoke is heavy, avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Remain indoors. Keeps windows and doors closed, temperature permitting. Keep your indoor air as clean as possible. Avoid using gas stoves or candles indoors. Dust masks are ineffective against smoke. If you have asthma, lung or heart disease and your symptoms worsen, call your doctor.
Current visibility observations can be found on the AirNow website under Current Conditions. Here is current air quality data from Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.


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Day 354: 5.30am
Day 354: 6.30am
Day 354: 8am
Good morning guys here the video from BBC world news that they playing all day on they channel to get the Clinton walk for justice out to the world. The one man march for indigenous rights, who well soon have thousands marching with him in Canberra.
Day 354: 9am
I quick shout out to family who marching today at 1:00pm back at home in Roebourne town Pilbara country area. If you live around the area family an friend please go and march with everyone today. This About justice and it the right time to get justice for our people in the Pilbara area an across the country.
Day 354: 9am
Day 354: 9am
[Admin Toby] Senior Constables Larkin & Thompson of the Mittagong NSW Highway patrol congratulating Clinton and wishing him well on the walk
Day 354: 9.30am
Day 354: 9.30am
Day 354: 10am
Keep donating guys we all must there guys an we need all the help we can get to Canberra and then the long journey back home to Perth.
[Admin Gee] We may have finished collecting donations to support The Walk For Justice but Clinton is now preparing to head back to Canberra for the November 4 National Gathering and is taking 5 Noongar Elders with him.
Please see the fundraiser for this undertaking!
Day 354: 12.30pm
[Admin Toby] Uncle Herbert standing along the road making sure his nephew safe and strong walking to his destination.
Thanks to our bus drivers and those joining the walk to Canberra!
Day 354: 1pm
Day 354: 1.30pm
Day 354: 1.30pm
[Admin Luke] Just sent a formal invitation to ALL Federal MPs & Senators to meet with Clinton and Aboriginal Elders from across the country at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra next Tuesday.
Please give your Federal MPs and Senators a call and politely ask them to clear their schedule next Tuesday morning for one hour to come and meet with Clinton and the Elders!
Day 354: 1.30pm
Day 354: 3pm
Day 354: 3pm
Admins Lisa, Gee and Luke are at the airport ready to head to Canberra! Thanks to all of you who donated and shared to make this possible.
Day 354: 6pm
Wwwooo it made the news governor general refuses to step outside.
Please have a read.
Day 354: 6pm
Day 354: 8pm


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12 Secrets of Grenache
Why Grenache has more names than a CIA agent
Mentioned in this article
Great Article! I always wondered about Granache and like the MSG blends from Australia. Know I know the very interesting history and facts.
In 2007, Chris Ringland and Dan Philips collaborated to make eight different Grenache based wines from seven different Australian vineyards (one is a blend of most of the rest) under the Chateau Chateau label. The wines are all very different and very good (90 to 93 points from the Wine Advocate) and are all available through Snooth from Bend Wine Cellar.
All true, but to be more precise at that time it was catalan kingdom, formed of current spanish catalonia and French Roussillon that then fusioned with Aragon and spread across the mediterranean sea enjoying a golden age at a time when the rest of Europe was in the dark ages.
First country in Europe to allow women to vote, to have a council elected with representatives of the different social classes....
I'm happy to see that I knew everything you mentioned except for the fact that it's the second most planted grape in the world. And learning that was irritating because you didn't say, "....after XXX." Do I have to head over to my shelf and look, or should I just guess? Chardonnay? Cabernet sauvignon? Ugni Blanc? Anyway, thanks for promoting my favorite grape. I'll take a good No. Spain or So. Rhone wine any day of the week. Love it!!
#1 Airen white grape
Very interesting Article ,Thank you. My favorite grape.Me love it.
Another great job on picking and blending selectively interesting berries of information, Greg. Artwork was good, too.
Though sometimes I wonder about your headlines: "Grenache is key to France's greatest wines". I don't think too many Frenchfolk would agree with that statement, as-is. Not much grown in Bordeaux and Burgundy, or Champagne and the Loire, and Gigondas hardly qualifies as France's 'greatest'... ;-)
Agree on the GSM blends from Australia. Kilikanoon in the Clare Valley South Australia produce a straight Grenache at 15% alc and have tamed the tannins. I give it a big tick.
Would you please get away from writing articles that incorporate multiple clicking. Just write the article as a whole. I do not want or need it in mincing little bites.
Love every one of your articles, thank you Gregory; I have always liked Chateauneuf-du-Pape and now Port wines from Australia, I guess they have something in common that appeals to my palate.
Recently I visited the Swan Valley vineyards in WA and was pleasantly surprised by the quality and delicacy of their ports. (Also tried some of their vodka and it wasn't too bad either, in fact it was veeeery goooood)
Must agree with Imperial188 and ask that articles be presented as a single read - or at least, that we have the option to read in that way. The slideshow, bitty-bitty approach is very frustrating (and slightly condescending?) When it comes to wine, we on the Sediment blog do like to consume in a single sitting...
I'll toss in my vote, too, saying, as I've said at the bottom of several other slideshows, that slideshows are not a universal cure or solution, and are good for some things, but not for others. I also find the slowness, and itty-bitty-biteness of them, for something I'd prefer to consume as a whole, rather frustrating.
Slide-shows are best used as sexy attention-getters on the home page, or otherwise when the images are the main part of the information flow. Not buried as what are meant to be informative backgrounders deep in the bowels of the articles sections....
Other than the fact that a slideshow cannot (as might be expected) faithfully represent the many qualities of Grenache, ...good article. Indeed, where are the days when this grape was lumped into the little French corner of Côtes du Rhone, where even kingly greats as Châteauneuf du Pâpe were, for some or other commercial reasons of their own, put in the dark shadows of Bordeaux or Burgundy wines. I believe that, in many respects, the wine amateur must say thanks to the flourishment of Spanish wine: indeed, Priorat and Montsant have brought Grenache back to the forefront, where it has its rightful place, being at the base of rich, tasty, generous Mediterranean style wines, as opposed to the highly structured, taut and tight Atlantic types of red wines. ¡Viva la Garnacha!
Gregory--I saw you at the panel discussion at the Grandi Marchi Italian tasting this past Monday in NYC but did not get a chance to say "hello" to. I enjoyed the discussion from all panelists.
Just wanted you to know, I have been a subscriber of Snooth for the last year or so and find it one of the best sites from interesting wine information. Being a Wine Educator at Mercer County College (outside of Trenton, I received many e-mails from various wine sources but find using Snooth more often in preparation for my classes.
Thanks for your valuable information./
Bruce Smith
Wine Educator
Hi Gregory-
So happy that you wrote this piece on Grenache! Couldn't agree more and it's so good to see this fine grape finally recognised: many of us feel it's the Unsung Hero of the Grape World, responsible for that velvety, voluptuous mouthfeel that accounts for the"deliciousness" factor in many wines (which is why so many winemakers add it to their bends), but rarely getting the recognition it deserves! A group of us got together this summer to pool our respective knowledge and appreciation of this versatile grape. It was a mini-summit, with 270 wine professionals and enthusiasts from 23 countries: our mission was to come to grips with why Grenache was often unknown or underappreciated. Here's a short but very sweet video about the key concepts from event, which contains at the very end some useful grenachy facts, figures and suggestions: http://www.YouTube.com/grenachesymp... It was not a commercial venture but rather a sincere attempt to ask some probing questions, then come to the rescue of this noble grape and rally around it.
Stylistically it's usually considered a "classy" grape by those who know it. Some people call it the Pinot of the South, but if Pinot is silk, Grenache is velvet. Part of the problem is that, like Pinot, in the vineyard it tends to reflect the soil and growing conditions more than many grapes, and change accordingly -- a bit like the actor Daniel Day Lewis, who's a very talented chameleon, vs Jack Nicholson or John Wayne, who usually bring a top performance but recognisable style to their role (think Syrah or Cabernet). This sometimes makes it hard for consumers to know what to expect before they open the bottle, but your clear expose' highlights some of the regions where it grows best, so those are safe bets if you don't know the merits of an individual producer.
Anyone looking for additional info and articles can find links on the "Grenache in the News" section on the http://www.grenachesymposium.com website (we'll add a link to this slideshow). There's also a spreadsheet with a compilation of 200+ of the best Grenache wines from around the world selected for the huge tasting we hosted, the largest and most international to date. If you want to be in the loop for the next Grenache initiative please get in touch -- we love to hear from fellow Grenadiers du Grenache. Already, it was unbelievably exciting to see the incredible enthusiasm that built up in 30 countries around International Grenache Day in September-- hopefully we can all help Grenache assume its rightful place in the Olympus of grapes.
With Grenachy Greetings and Gratitude, Nicole
Nicole Rolet
Principal, Chene Bleu Wines
Director of Programs, Grenache Symposium 2010
Greg, I agree with dmcker's comment from a previous article. I am more than happy to just read through. I find clicking for each of several 100 (or less) word notes annoying, and although I like pictures, they often don't afford more info...they just make it prettier. And I don't think that's why I read Snooth -- even if everyone (including me) likes pretty.
I like Grenache based wines from both France and Spain, and I've tasted some good ones from CA, but frankly, I didn't have the energy to click through the pictures on this article. I've saved it -- maybe next week.
Why do so many of you refer to the GSM blend as if its an Australian invention? Its the backbone and inheritance of the Rhone valley, CDP in particular, and in my personal opinion so much better from there than from Australia...
There is a wine I found that I really like. It is Cannenau di Sardignia. I have found that Cannenau is the name of Granache when it is grown on the island of Sardignia. It has a hint of green olive taste that goes great with pizza, pasta, etc..
And what about Maury in roussillon region. One of the best place for Grenache, in sweet Vind Doux Naturels and now in AOP Maury sec in still wine. Same level quality as Priorat with affordable price.
Go to see "Les vignerons de Maury" You will be surprise.


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Thursday afternoon, Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid, finally made use of the so-called "nuclear option" and eliminated the filibuster on judicial nominees.
Majoritarians everywhere rejoice!
This is a pretty easy public relations gambit by Reid and his ilk. After all, the thing that frustrates the American people more than anything about their government is the seemingly pointless lack of anything getting done. Anything which removes roadblocks to action can be expected to be cheered mightily.
There's only one problem: We need minority obstructionism.
Our legislature is not, and never was, simply a "majority vote" body. This is not a parliament in Europe, or a meeting of the local PTA. The United States Congress was designed this way intentionally.
When the Senate struck down the rule requiring 60 votes to cut off a filibuster of appeals court judicial nominations, it recklessly jettisoned more than two centuries of Senate precedent. Not just relating to the filibuster, but also in the requirement that major changes to Senate rules require two-thirds support of the body.
That precedent wasn't just there by accident, or tradition. It had a valid reason for existing.
Majorities are very often wrong. Majorities supported slavery. Majorities supported Jim Crow and institutional racism. Majorities favored — until Pearl Harbor — letting Europe burn and be conquered by Adolf Hitler. Majorities favored the Vietnam War, as well as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Simply having more people share an opinion of something doesn't make that opinion right, nor does it entitle those with a slightly more popular opinion to disregard any consideration of minority opinions.
The Founders intended for this country to have a healthy rule by the majority, but with the occasional important power given to the minority to obstruct and thwart the agenda of the majority, lest it run roughshod over the legislature. By design.
While I do not support the typical conservative idolatry of the Founders and find it necessary to question just about everything they did, in this case they were on to something.
With few (or no) protections for minority parties in a legislature, there is virtually no reason to have a minority at all. Without some mechanism to force the majority to acknowledge and deal with the wishes of the minority, the majority will simply ignore those minority opinions.
And those minority opinions matter. Millions of people voted for those in the minority in the Senate, and they are entitled to representation, not irrelevance.
Just look at how the House of Representatives operates. Being in the minority there makes you a powerless ghost of a lawmaker — which if you are U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud is also true if your party is in power — relegated to horsetrading pork to maybe give your bill a chance to see the light of day before it is likely killed.
That's probably why Harry Reid was so opposed to his rights being stolen away from him back in 2005. Back then it was the Republicans in the majority talking about doing away with the filibuster on judicial nominees, and it was Reid who waxed on poetically about the rights of the minority.
The Senate was always designed to be a protection against the more mob-like proclivities of the House. While representatives to Congress were collectively reflective of majority views, the Senate was the detached, sober voice of reason that put a brakes on the often short-sighted, fickle passions contained on the other side of the Capitol.
The House may have a rabid, ideological majority swept to power in an emotional wave election, and as such will send incredibly ideological bills to the Senate to vote on.
The Senate, on the other hand, was designed for consensus and collaboration, made up of different people and requiring stronger majorities to pass things, thereby empowering the minority and forcing the majority to deal with them.
That may be frustrating to watch as a citizen, but it's an important feature of our government.
In many countries with straight majority vote legislatures, the construction of the national economy can vary wildly from election to election. A socialist comes to power and nationalizes the entire country, followed by a right-wing government that privatizes everything that had been nationalized.
America was designed to be more stable, discerning in its change. At the heart of that was the difference between the House and the Senate, and the need for collaboration between the two viewpoints.
The reality is, the partisan backstabbing and lack of collaborative work in Congress is about the people we send, not the rules they operate by. This won't change anything, and in the process will have made the Senate into the House.
Which begs the question, if this is how it is going to be, why have a Senate at all?


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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Twin Cities dog owner calls her best friend a "miracle."
Once a runner, it's now amazing 3-year-old Gauge can even walk. What's more incredible is that he's even alive.
"The last thing I heard them say was he barely has a heartbeat," owner Betsy Strachota said.
A month ago, Strachota brought Gauge to work when she had to go in for extra hours on a Saturday.
"We have a rooftop deck on our offices," Strachota said. "When I let him out to go to the bathroom, he looked across the roof and it looked like it continued. He couldn't see it dropped off, and he jumped."
He fell five stories.
Veterinarians at the University of Minnesota were worried he would pass away at any moment. They used new imaging technology to see what was going wrong inside Gauge's body.
A regular X-ray showed a fracture, but the university's new 3-D CT scan gave the surgical team a much more in-depth picture.
It only takes six seconds to get the image and instantly doctors could see Gauge's hip had shattered. After stopping his internal bleeding, they went to work in the operating room.
Gauge made it through the second operation, and now is in rehab.
Strachota hopes Gauge can one day run with her again — he has two dozen therapy sessions lined up and then doctors will decide if he needs more surgery.
His treatment hasn't been cheap, Strachota says most dog owners would agree it's worth it.
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Stem Cells Help Heal Broken Hearts
Valentine's Day can lead to plenty of broken hearts. But for cardiac wounds that time alone won't heal, science has made some major advances. When it comes to heart attack, for example, a big development is emerging from a tiny source. Stem cells are coming of age.
Stem cells, harvested from a patient's own bone marrow, have been heralded as a potential quick fix for damaged heart tissue. But can these progenitor cells actually work to heal massive muscle damage?
A new review of 33 studies assessed data from more than 1,700 heart attack patients. The review researchers found that those patients treated with stem cells—in addition to the standard care of angioplasty—had stronger tickers for years to come than those who had not gotten stem cell therapy. The review article is published in The Cochrane Library. [David Clifford et al., "Stem Cell Treatment Following a Heart Attack"]
It's too early to say whether those with stem cell treatments will live longer, according to the new analysis. But for affairs of the heart, it's more evidence that good things can come in very small packages.
—Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]


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Review: Halloween Haunt 2011 disappoints at Knott's Berry Farm
It saddens and pains me to say it, but the granddaddy of all Halloween theme park events has gotten tired, old and complacent.
After 39 years, Halloween Haunt at Knott's Berry Farm looks like a creaky, middle-aged zombie that's lost its will to rise from the grave every night.
> Halloween Haunt 2011 preview: Mazes | Shows | Photos
I'm not sure whether to blame the malaise on contemptuous familiarity, increased competition or just a slow night on an opening weekend, but the Buena Park theme park that set the bar for haunted attraction excellence has become overrun with interchangeable mazes full of indistinguishable monsters.
With 13 mazes, Knott's tends to add about three new mazes annually which usually stick around for four years or so. Haunt has built several well-themed new mazes over the past couple years, including the Jack the Ripper-inspired Terror of London and the zombie-filled Virus Z.
The problem with this year's batch of new mazes (and many of the aging ones) is they lack a compelling back story, set amid a distinct environment with a recurring villain. Too much of Halloween Haunt features recycled themes set in repurposed mazes with reused costumes.
Don't get me wrong. I love Haunt and only want the legacy to continue. Unfortunately during my visit, Haunt 2011 failed more often than it succeeded, with each successive maze more disappointing than the last.
Throughout the evening, I repeatedly headed back to the park's moody and pitch-perfect Ghost Town area in hopes of redeeming an otherwise lifeless and lethargic fright night. But like the rest of Knott's Scary Farm, I found indifferent monsters kicking back, chatting with coworkers and watching the clock.
The only thing that saved my dismal experience was the absolute best installment of "The Hanging" I've ever seen. The irreverent and self-deprecating show can be hit or miss, but the 2011 edition was laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish.
Employing a "Cowboys & Aliens" theme filled with blood, flames and gunfire, the pop culture revue skewered all the year's most infamous celebrities, including Amy Winehouse, Anthony Weiner and Charlie Sheen.
I especially liked the fierce battle between the pitchfork-wielding town folks and the mop-wielding army of Arnold Schwarzenegger's impregnated housekeepers. And somehow "The Hanging" even made me feel bad for Justin Bieber, who had to be killed three times because, like in real life, he just wouldn't die.
Here's a rundown of the mazes, from best to worst:
The Best
> Endgames: Warriors of the Apocalypse - A post-apocalyptic arena where gladiators battle to the death for the entertainment of the rich and powerful. The best new maze of 2011 was also the top maze of the night with a great theme and plenty of good scares. (In CampSnoopy at the former Peanuts Playhouse location).
> Terror of London - Featuring Jack the Ripper and Dr. Jekyll. Great scenery, a solid back story and plenty of atmospheric talent keeps this outstanding maze near the top for the third year in a row. The perfect prototype for future Haunt mazes. (Mystery Lodge)
> Slaughterhouse - A deranged butcher runs a barbecue restaurant. Returning to form after a dip last season, this 2008 maze could be easily elevated and refreshed with a stronger back story and a central villain. (Near main gate)
> Corn Stalkers - Scarecrows and demented farmers amid rows of rotting corn. This year's most-improved maze managed a higher scare-per-scarecrow ratio than in any previous season. (Along Butterfield Stagecoach trail)
> Virus Z - Replicates a small town overrun by infected cannibals, zombies and bloodthirsty corpses. Haunt's best themed maze missed out on a lot of potential scares. Maybe the monsters were on a break. Strong characters and a concise back story make Virus Z the perfect blueprint for future Haunt mazes. (Fiesta Plaza)
The Rest
> Fallout Shelter - Where the insane residents haven't seen the sun since the Atomic Age. Several good jolts from a high-energy crew of toxic mutants. An excellent example of Haunt's indistinguishable and interchangeable themes. (Near Reflection Lake)
> Sleepy Hollow Mountain - Featuring the headless horseman legend with ghosts, ghouls, witches and goblins. Diminishing scares throughout with a pair of highlights: the mesmerizing jack-o'-lantern cave and the disorienting strobe-lit tunnel. (Timber Mountain log ride)
> Delirium - A wasteland along the blurry line between nightmare and insanity. The ambiguous and hazy drug trip dreamscape theme lacked a coherent storyline. More in-your-face stares than scares in this disappointing new maze. (Ghostrider warehouse).
> Invasion Beneath - The military battles against creatures emerging from a fissure in the Earth's core. The confusing new overlay for the classic mine train ride features a lot of machine guns and lasers but little in the way of explanation. I would have stuck with last year's perfectly themed Black Widow's Cavern. (Calico Mine Ride).
The Worst
> Lockdown: The Asylum (2009) - A high-security penitentiary for the insane. Long stretches of inactivity had me looking for the inmates rather than trying to avoid them. An excellent candidate for the early release program - or summary execution. (Backstage near Ghostrider)
> Dia de los Muertos in 3-D - Featuring a Day of the Dead theme. The sleepy maze remains light on scares and near the bottom for another year. No mas, por favor. (At the bumper cars)
> Doll Factory - A psychotic killer's museum of death and disfigurement. Fell from the top to the bottom in large part because it felt like three disparate mazes randomly strung together. Hopefully Knott's retires the disjointed 2007 maze after this season. (Wilderness Dance Hall)
> Uncle Bobo's Big Top of the Bizarre in 3-D - Clowns run amok in a vaudevillian setting. Another precipitous year-over-year drop can be blamed on the relentless scatological humor: Clowns vomiting in toilets and hiding in port-a-potties. It's time to flush this maze. (Under Xcelerator)
> Universal's Halloween Horror Nights: Review | Preview | Photos
> Fright Fest 2011 at Six Flags Magic Mountain: Mazes | Photos
> Halloween Horror Nights 21 atUniversal Orlando: Universal Studios Orlando: Mazes for Halloween Horror Nights 21" href="https://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/themeparks/la-trb-halloween-horror-nights-21-universal-orlando-09201121,0,5172936.story">Mazes | Photos
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Eric Church Performs 'Drink in My Hand' for a Pumped-Up Crowd at 2012 CMT Music Awards
Before Eric Church took the stage to perform his No. 1 single 'Drink in My Hand' at the 2012 CMT Music Awards, Big Kenny and John Rich introduced the singer from the middle of a screaming crowd outside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The quirky duo joked that the entire performance line-up at the CMT Music Awards felt kind of like a drinking game. Still, they toasted red solo cups to Eric Church, and he busted out a crowd favorite song.
Church donned a baseball cap and his signature sunglasses when he performed 'Drink in My Hand' in front of a jam-packed and energetic crowd. With smoke machines, screens displaying gigantic flames and bright strobe lights, Church's performance was definitely unforgettable. The crowd went wild every time he sang the chorus, singing and screaming along with him.
Not surprisingly, the bridge of the song — where Church mentions his alarm clock and yells "bang, bang, bang" — seemed to be the crowd's absolute favorite moment of the set. Church looked elated as he smiled, laughed and shook his head in disbelief at the pumped up crowd that stood before him.
At the end of the song, the rising country superstar put his guitar on his back and stepped to the edge of the stage to get as close as possible to the energy. That might have been the most energetic performance of the night, for sure.
Watch Eric Church Perform 'Drink in My Hand' at the 2012 CMT Music Awards