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100% natural tea from PG Tips. Made completely from tea leaves and nothing else. PG Tips pick the top two leaves and the tips (hence the name), which is why it is so, so delicious.
Since making friends with the Rainforest Alliance in 2007, we are proud to say that the tea leaves in our tea bags are fully Rainforest Alliance Certified. By choosing PG Tips, together we are helping to protect the environment, whilst ensuring decent working conditions for farm workers and providing access to education and healthcare for them and their families.
The tea bags may settle a little during transit. Give them a little shake to restore the proper shape of the tea bag before brewing.
Brewing PG Tips Tea:
This product should be stored in a cool dry place.


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July 26, 2013 | Posted in:UNREEL videos
X-PLAIN from album: UNREEL
UNREEL is MK-O second album.
Released October 13th 2008 by Hitch Hyke
Music composed, arranged and performed by Marina Kanavaki & Oannes [MK-O]
Μουσική: Μαρίνα Καναβάκη & Oannes [Σωκράτης Παπαχατζής]
All rights owned by Marina Kanavaki & Oannes [MK-O] ©
MK-O is Marina Kanavaki & Oannes The acquaintance of the two musicians in 2000, led to a fruitful collaboration. The first outcome of this was the rearranged version of Marina's first album "Pote & Tipota" , in 2004 . Today, as a duet [MK-O], are working on a series of albums, first of which was OVATION, their debut album, released in December 2006 by Hitch-Hyke. The multitude of musical influences and the broad working field creates an adventurous listening, hard to categorize. Extended instrumental arrangements coexist with lyrical songs. Rock, classical, techno, psychedelia, industrial, acoustic, electric and electronic instruments as well as a palette of samples varying from from Cesar Franck to Son House, Pink Floyd and Ministry, give a brief idea of the sound of this album. Ovation has been welcomed enthusiastically by the greek press & audience. Their second 2CD album UNREEL was released October 13th 2008 by Hitch Hyke. BLUES FOR THE WHITE NIGGER is their third album, released April 2011 by Puzzlemusik. 4th album, ΑΙΘΕΡΑΣ [Ether] was released March 2015.

subset: commoncrawl


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Council member Daniel Dromm's Guest Op-Ed column in your 12/2/2010 issue has me wondering what country I live in and and how disingenuous an elected official can be.
What did the Council member have in mind when he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the State of New York and the Charter of the City of New York? Did he not understand that it is his duty and responsibility to support our laws and not foster anarchism?
Even if we assume he has become somewhat Euro-centric in his thinking, what country allows non-citizens to vote? Has he tried to vote in Mexico recently?
Or is it that he is just pandering to a segment of his constituency?
How many of those "one in five adult New York City residents" he speaks of are in this country legally? If he is truly concerned for the well being of "65 percent of the residents" in his District who are immigrants, he would be helping them to attain citizenship , legally, so that they would "have a voice in decisions that directly impact their daily lives."
My grandparents all emigrated to this great nation, with one, unified goal in mind, to become American citizens. Yes, we are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws and we must all live by them and uphold them, even if we are elected officials who think it is proper to disregard the laws of our nation.
Vincent Arcuri, Jr.


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WASHINGTON – In the dead of winter, bats should be in a deep sleep. But at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, they are out and about, flying erratically in many cases, acting crazy. Out of nowhere, they have launched their mouse-size bodies at unsuspecting visitors, forcing people to shoo them off with fishing poles, walking sticks and their bare hands.
Officials say they probably haven't gone mad from rabies, something humans should fear. More than likely, it is another troubling sign: Large groups of bats in America's most popular national park appear to be stricken with white-nose syndrome, a deadly fungus that is wiping out various bat species up and down the East Coast, a possible extinction event, some biologists say.
"We can't say 100 percent that it's white-nose, but it most likely is," said Bill Stiver, the supervisor of wildlife biologists at the park, which straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina line. "Our gut feeling is the disease is starting to manifest itself in the caves."
At last count, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a year ago, between 5 million and 7 million bats were estimated to have died from white-nose since it was first discovered in 2006 in a cave outside Albany, New York. That is enough bats to have eaten 8,000 tons of insects per year, many of which devour food crops. Like bees, bats pollinate plants, and in caves, their guano provides nutrients that sustain life.
At Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky last week, there was more bad news. Officials confirmed that a northern long-eared bat from one of the park's caves was infected.
Last March, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced its presence in a cave complex in Jackson County, a cradle for millions of endangered gray bats. The fungus has been confirmed through testing in 19 states, and detected without confirmation in two other states, officials said.
Little brown bats have been especially hard hit. A survey of 42 sites in 2010 found that the population fell from 385,000 before the disease to 30,000 at that time, a 90 percent decline. The northern bat's population was in free fall, going from about 1,700 to 30, a 98 percent plummet.
White-nose, linked to a cold-loving fungus known as Geomyces destructans that strikes during the October to April hibernation, was first detected in the Smoky Mountains caves in 2010 but not on bats, "like having the cold virus but not the cold," Stiver said. Two years later, officials started seeing the disease on a few bats. Now they fear it is full blown.
At Mammoth Cave National Park, until now thought to be clean, the diseased bat was found in the Long Cave. Instead of closing off the attraction, officials are requiring visitors to wipe their feet on decontamination mats to avoid spreading fungus spores to other areas.
Federal agencies and a host of nonprofit groups have waged an uphill battle against the fungus, in laboratories studying ways to kill it, and building fake caves so bats can avoid it. But a grim reality is setting in.
The common little brown bat might all but disappear in the East and possibly the Midwest if the fungus continues to spread. The northern long-eared bat and the Indiana bat are also endangered.
A white-nose death is grisly. The fungus hits when the bats' breathing is low and their tiny heartbeats are at an ebb in hibernation. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Institutes of Health theorize that when the bats awaken from hibernation, their reactivated immune systems go overboard in an attempt to eliminate the intruding disease, destroying the illness but also tissue bats need to live. Ligaments in the wings of bats appear scorched.
There was positive news in 2011 that a few little brown bats in the Northeast were resisting the disease, hanging on to existence "by a tiny little fingernail," a Vermont conservationist said. But in the past two years the disease spread south and as far west as Iowa.
Days before Christmas, reports of erratic behavior started reaching the ranger station at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which has 275 million visitors a year. As a precaution, officials warned visitors to beware of bats because of the risk of rabies. Bat teeth are so small that people might not know they had been bitten.
There are 11 species of bats in the 200,000-hectare park, representing a fifth of all its mammals. Bats that fly around in the winter are doomed, even when they don't have white-nose. They use up fat reserves stored for the winter and starve because the bugs they eat are hibernating.
At this point, bats are in a deadly endurance test, Stiver said. Some might develop an immunity to the fungus, as have bats in Europe, from where Geomyces destructans was likely brought, wildlife biologists say.
Otherwise, the observation of Mylea Bayless, conservation programs manager for Bat Conservation International in Austin, might prove correct. "We're watching a potential extinction event on the order of what we experienced with bison and passenger pigeons for this group of mammals," she said.


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A cookie crust and gooey caramel covered in milk chocolate.
The combination of caramel and chocolate is a candy store classic, but add in a cookie crust and you get a candy-lover's dream. With a shortbread crust, gooey caramel, and premium chocolate, our Halloween version of a Twix™ is irresistible.... Read More
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Jackets & Down Jackets
Down jackets with a modern metropolitan look. Soft, warm and lightweight volumes thanks to innovative-technology padding, skilfully dosed in each model to obtain impeccable and comfortable fits. Fabrics resistant to water and to escaping down.
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Peuterey women's jackets are designed to accentuate the feminine silhouette. The innovative direct injection technique used for the down allows for soft, lightweight and extremely warm volumes that envelop you. What's more, the padding is skilfully distributed in the various parts of each garment to increase warmth in the areas that need greater protection, and to work with the shape and movements of the body.
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Super-slim jacket or sporty-chic bomber? Find your perfect model in the selection from the autumn-winter collection!
The metropolitan style of Peuterey women's jackets
The secret to perfect style - according to the most influential fashion bloggers - is to always feel comfortable, in every context and every occasion. A guaranteed result with Peuterey women's jackets. Designed according to a modern idea of comfort and manufactured with high-quality materials, they have a versatile metropolitan look.
Are you always dealing with a thousand tasks, but are still attached to your look? In your routine, are there situations that require functional clothing, but you don't want to give up on style? A Peuterey quilted women's jacket is ideal for a dynamic lifestyle, from the city streets to an outdoor weekend trip. Take shelter from the cold, wind and rain. Its impeccable design encloses high technology insulation. The pleasant to the touch fabrics are carefully designed to resist water and prevent the down from coming out.
If you already know and love our quilted jackets, take a look at our selection of women's parkas: they'll be like your second skin in winter.
Natural protection: the warm core of a Peuterey women's quilted jacket
The core of a Peuterey women's quilted jacket is warm, soft and ultra-lightweight, rich in the sensory and emotional value only found in natural materials. At the same time, down and quilting offer extraordinary technical qualities and accentuate the sensation of comfort. Their structure creates countless tiny pockets of air that separate the body's microclimate from the environment: these stop the dispersion of heat, but absorb sweat and keep it away from the body. Highly compressible, they return to their initial volume and maintain their characteristics over time. A marvellous gift from nature, enhanced by technologically-advanced techniques.
For the padding in Peuterey women's jackets, only duck and goose down and feather from cold climates are used – these water birds have impermeable and consistent plumage. The extremely high quality raw material is worked according to the current hygiene and public health standards and is treated without harmful substances. Completely traceable, it comes from breeders dedicated to nutritional quality, respectful of the animals' living conditions. Now you know everything: are you ready to shop?


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By Siri Neel Kaur Khalsa
When Al asked to marry me, without thought I said, "You need to ask my teacher, Yogi Bhajan." A few months later we had the opportunity to speak with him at a course he was giving in Washington DC. The answer he gave to Al was neither a yes or a no, but rather, "If you can fulfill these requirements, I will give you my blessing to marry her." The first requirement was that he be healthy. This seemed odd to say to an active healthy young man.
A few months later I went on a yatra to India for several weeks. While there I climbed to Hemkunt Sahib, bowed at the Golden Temple, travelled to Anandpur Sahib, and participated in an amazing parade to celebrate the founding of the Golden Temple. There were people riding elephants, horses, camels; there were cars and buses and thousands of participants. There were people chanting, there were people shouting, there was every kind of instrument accompanying the festival. Our group of American Sikhs sat upon the top of a bus, smiling at the crowds of people along the road and on rooftops cheering. Although the route was only a few miles long, we moved slowly—very slowly for over ten hours through the streets of Amritsar. I came back renewed, restored, reborn, and very thin.
Something had changed in Al. He did not seem as healthy. He had lost weight, lost energy, and the glands in his neck were swollen. He was not sleeping well. Both he and his brother had contracted a lung disease when they were in college in South Carolina, and if, back then, we had had access to the internet we would have understood that this disease can have devastating consequences. Twenty years later his brother died from complications from the disease while awaiting a lung transplant. What we did not know is that sometimes this disease evolves and causes Hodgkins Disease.
Without this information for the next 6 months, we sought advice from many sources. Yogi Bhajan put him on a mono diet; our homeopath had him on daily injections of a homeopathic medicine (that we later discovered was used in the treatment of cancer.) As his condition worsened—fevers and night sweats, large swollen glands in his neck, and lethargy, he was hospitalized. He had meningitis and slipped into a coma. I stayed with him chanting to Guru Ram Das. Yogi Bhajan had told me to chant the shabd Dhan Dhan Ram Das Guru eleven times a day. He came out of his coma and appeared to be recovering.
A month after leaving the hospital the symptoms returned and I brought him to the Hershey Medical Center where I was a medical social worker. Here the doctors tested and diagnosed him with Hodgkins Disease Stage IVB and told me that he would not live the three months until his next birthday.
It was early June and I decided to take him to Summer Solstice. We had been planning to get married there. And so I made arrangements to drive with him across country from Pennsylvania to New Mexico. He had tumors throughout his body—an especially big one near his sternum, and was on pain killers to alleviate his discomfort. I put a mattress in the back of the van where he stayed the entire trip and found someone to share the driving. I made arrangements for him to stay in the Medical cabin while we were there. Despite his condition, I also brought our birth certificates and clothes for our wedding.
At Solstice he got up for Sadhana every morning and then returned for the rest of the day to rest in the medical cabin. After morning sadhana we did the Healing Meditation with the Siri Gaitri Mantra for 11 minutes (Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung). On the fifth morning I walked towards Al. I was stunned, with the sun rising behind him, he looked healthy. I took his picture. I asked him what had changed and he told me that during the meditation, he felt all of the tumors leave him. From that moment on he stopped taking his pain medicine and participated in all of the activities at Solstice.
Knowing that he was now healthy, Yogi Bhajan gave us his blessing and we were married at the end of the Solstice. Our honeymoon was driving back across the country, tenting, swimming, hiking our way home. Back at the Hershey Medical Center he was re-tested and no longer had Hodgkins Disease.
Two years later I gave birth to our daughter and then three years later to our son. The marriage did not last, but Al is well and has had no reoccurrence of his cancer. From this experience I have found a personal relationship to this meditation and to the healing power of Guru Ram Das.
The Siri Gaitri Mantra: Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung
After meeting Yogi Bhajan in 1971, Siri Neel Kaur followed his advice to open a yoga center in south central Pennsylvania. Since that time she has taught thousands of people of all ages the science of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan®. Now she lives in Espanola, New Mexico and travels around the United States as a Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer and a Level Two Instructor. She enjoys spending time with her 2 children and grandchildren.


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Kendall Jenner flaunts deep cleavage in plunging pantsuit
The teen stepped out practically topless, rocking a blazer with nothing underneath! While the star truly had such a "model off-duty" vibe, was her plunging pantsuit a little too risky for your taste? VOTE!
Kendall Jenner, 18-year-old reality-star-turned-high-fashion-model, never takes a day off from strutting her stuff - and her recent look in NYC was no exception! The star was spotted leaving her hotel on June 3 wearing an electric blue pantsuit that nearly revealed it all! In fact, we were nervous she was going to fall out of her top as she headed to Ridgewood, NJ, with her little sis, Kylie Jenner, for a book signing of the girls' new teen fiction novel, Rebels: City Of Indra: The Story Of Lex And Livia. What do you guys think of Kendall's plunging playsuit?
Kendall Jenner's Cleavage In Plunging Pantsuit:
Kendall looks like a mini version of her older sister, Kim Kardashian, in this bright blue Olcay Gulsen playsuit. Kendall nearly flashed it all in this sophisticated yet sexy ensemble. As if the neon blue wasn't enough to really shock us, the plunging neckline of the blazer really took us by storm as the teen opted to go braless under the blazer - and it was buttoned just above her belly button, providing just the right amount of coverage to keep her chest covered!
The matching pants were high-waisted and fit her long slender legs like a glove! Without overdoing the outfit, Kendall chose to leave her jewels at home and simply tied the look together with a pair of metallic silver pointy-toed pumps - the perfect touch! The focus here was definitely on her bare chest - and she looked like total model material in the outfit.
Kendall Jenner's Style:
Kendall has been taking risks in fashion recently by flaunting her assets in everything from low-cut outfits to side-boob revealing jumpsuits. She has obviously taken a liking to designer Olcay Gulsen, as she was seen wearing his sexy black and white cutout jumpsuit, (that showed major side-boob!), to the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. She was even wearing the same exact silver pumps!
Although Kendall's outfit is a bit racy and daring, we totally love the look on her! Do you guys agree or was it too over the top? VOTE.
More from Hollywood Life:
Kendall & Kylie Jenner Rock Leggy Looks For 'Good Morning America'
Kendall Jenner Flashes Side Boob In Halter Top At Billboard Awards
Kendall Jenner Flashes Butt: Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction In Cannes
Photo credit: FameFlyNet


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Despite his incredibly busy schedule, McCreery took a minute — literally — to answer a series of rapid-fire questions for us, graciously opening up about everything from his early Christmas memories, to Rod Stewart, the importance of Rice Krispies on a grueling road trip, politics and more.
60 Seconds With Scotty McCreery
Question 1: What did you ever do to get grounded growing up?
I think one time I actually tried to run away. I packed a bag of Rice Krispies and hit the road [Laughs]. And then I got to the end of the neighborhood and came back 'cause I got scared. I don't think my parents took too kindly to that. All I took was Rice Krispies — no clothes or anything, just Rice Krispies.
Question 2: What is your most memorable Christmas gift?
I'd put it between two: my first guitar that my grandfather got me when I was about ten, or, I got a pretty big telescope when I was younger. I'm a huge moon and stars guy; I love sitting out at night checking out the constellations, so when I got that, I was pretty ecstatic. The guitar is probably number one, though.
Question 3: Have you decided who you're going to vote for, and why?
Oh [Laughs]. Uh, you know, for me, I'm going to keep my politics kinda to myself. I'm a singer and entertainer, not a political analyst on the news. But I'm definitely trying to get informed and watch the debates and stuff. This will be an interesting presidential election, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out.
Question 4: What's the strangest thing you've ever autographed?
There was this one time I had this really, really big guy come up to me, and I think he'd had a few to drink that night. And he came up to me and lifted up his shirt and had this hairy belly just hanging out, and he said, "Sign my belly, man." And I said, "Are you kidding me?" And he said, "No." So I signed his big old belly.
Taste of Country: Oh lord.
That's what I was thinking!
Question 5: When was the last time you were starstruck?
It was a couple of days ago. I was in L.A. going to my EMG, checking out my vocal chords, making sure everything was healthy, and as I walked in, Rod Stewart was walking out. I was like, 'Oh my gosh!'
Taste of Country: Did you speak to him?
No, I didn't. He's Rod Stewart — I let him go on his merry way. But it was definitely, we all turned around, and our jaws were on the floor, like, 'Are you kidding me?' It was cool.


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> Events > Browse by Branch/Location > Events Calendar
Events Calendar
Browse by Branch/Location
If you are a member - make sure you login, in the top right hand corner of the screen before proceeding.
To search for CPD activities near you (or online), click "Browse by Branch/Location" on the left of the screen.
- The word event and activity are used interchangeably in this section.
- Branch events, are events that are hosted/provided by the AASW.
- CPD endorsed events are events that are hosted by an external training provider. The training provider has been assessed by the AASW as meeting a set of quality standards which determines that the event is appropriate and relevant to social workers. If you have questions about a specific CPD endorsed event, please contact the training provider, contact information is available on the event listing.
- SWOT, stands for Social Work Online Training. SWOT is an AASW initiative to provide online training to social workers nationwide. Content is being developed and updated regularly. To browse the available content, please visit the SWOT page


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Jersey Dispatch: Two Takes on the Italian Hot Dog
My attempts to report on the New Jersey hot dog scene have thus far not gone too well. I chickened out at Mitsuwa, lured instead by the authentic Japanese lunch counter fare. I have disappointed other dog vendors in just the same way. Strolling past the kosher offerings on Elmora Avenue in Elizabeth so I could instead have Peruvian roast chicken, and driving by a perfect little Italian stand that was finally torn down in order to expand a jug handle. Perhaps it was for the better; I used those meals to gain a depth of understanding for Jersey's other food icons—dosas, tomatoes, and even pizza. I do recognize my responsibility to the Serious Eats New York reader though so here is my first hot dog report.
I finally tried an Italian Hot Dog at Jimmy Buff´s on Route 22 in Scotch Plains. I ordered two—I was with my wife Maria—and watched the counterman put them on the tray. The parcels were oozing grease before we even got to a table. Upon examination, they were the oiliest, most unctuous things I´d been served in the Garden State. I picked one up, watched it drip for a second, and bit in. It was quite good. That oil was carrying real flavor.
Finally I knew what an Italian Hot Dog was. A piece of dense bread (called "pizza bread" by some), and slices of fried potato, onion, and pepper...both Maria and I were eating with great enthusiasm.
About half way through the oil, bread and potatoes, I made a remarkable discovery; an actual hot dog. It was a perfect ending to one of the richest sandwiches I had ever eaten. A raw lard pannino I once had in Italy was diet food compared to this, and in some ways the Italian Hot Dog was more fun to eat.
Leaving, Jimmy Buff´s, I was curious. Was this it? Because what I had was a second-rate rendering of a first rate (and unique) combination of foods. What would an Italian Hot Dog taste like if its ingredients were perfectly cooked?
At this point all the arrows pointed to "Tommy´s" in Elizabeth. I´m a bit hesitant to write about Elizabeth because it has so many interesting restaurants and cafes that it really deserves its own blog. Going there for a hot dog is like going to Jackson Heights for...um...well...a hot dog.
Went I did though and found Tommy´s within shouting distance of another hot dog vendor, a dozen restaurants from Latin America, a Portuguese barbecue, an Italian butcher, two bright and elegant cafes, and a live poultry market. Tommy himself told me that "there are only two reasons to come to Elizabeth; to eat, or to get in trouble." I told him that eating is how I usually get in trouble.
I ordered a single Italian Hot Dog and prayed. Since Tommy´s has no tables, I sat down on park bench across the street. As I unwrapped my sandwich, I saw that my prayers were answered. Here was a greaseless grilled hot dog, and terrific crispy skin-on potatoes, on a loaf of bread that was chewy and grainy and worth the trip in itself. I quickly ate the whole thing and understood what all the fuss was about.
Driving home from Tommy´s, I noticed dozens of hot dog stands, shops, and carts that had never caught my eye before. The "Garden State" had become the "Hot Dog State." It was an awakening.
A note to the critics - Yes, there is absolutely nothing Italian about an "Italian Hot Dog," but as Tommy reminded me, nobody would buy an "Elizabeth Hot Dog" so they had to come up with a better name.
Jimmy Buff's Restaurant
2581 US RR 22 W, Scotch Plains NJ 07076 (map)
Tommy´s Italian Sausage
900 N. Second Avenue, Elizabeth NJ 07201 (map) 908-351-9831
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Welcome in OneSails!
OneSails develops a wide range of products for ocean and offshore sailing. These sails are produced with specifications, yarns layers, finishing and details expressly developed for use in extreme conditions both for racing and cruising. Offshore performance sails are produced using 4T FORTE™ composite technology that have been successfully tested on racing and cruising yachts sailing rood the world. It offers an unbeatable strength/weight ratio with sails up to 25% lighter compared to other technologies and this allows the production of reliable and long lasting sails without compromising performance.
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Recipe from Pam Richards of North Carolina.
3-4 medium/large cucumber peeled and sliced
1 red onion (optional)
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dill weed
1/2 tsp celery seed (optional)
After slicing cucumber and optional onion, place into a bowl with good lid. Heat all other ingredients: vinegar, sugar, salt, dill weed and optional celery seed. After sugar is melted and liquid is clear, take off heat and pour over cucumbers and optional onions. Seal bowl and refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight. Liquid can be used again without reheating for at least 3 weeks.
*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. Use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an "as is" basis without any representations or warranties.


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Love, Life and Style: Miscarriage During Marriage
A very trying topic to discuss for many individuals and couples; miscarriage is not as uncommon as it seems. There are varying levels to miscarriage, which will be discussed at a later time. October 15 is Miscarriage and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and in tribute to this special day, we present to you an open discussion on Miscarriage and its effect on marriage. Jin at Love, Loss and Laquer brings this to viewers on a first-hand basis.
A miscarriage is the loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. The medical term for a miscarriage is spontaneous abortion, but the condition is not an abortion in the common definition of the term.
According to the March of Dimes, as many as 50% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage — most often before a woman misses a menstrual period or even knows she is pregnant. About 15% of recognized pregnancies will end in a miscarriage.
More than 80% of miscarriages occur within the first three months of pregnancy. Miscarriages are less likely to occur after 20 weeks gestation; these are termed late miscarriages.
What Are the Symptoms of a Miscarriage?
Symptoms of a miscarriage include:
- Bleeding which progresses from light to heavy
- Severe cramps
- Abdominal pain
- Fever
- Weakness
- Back pain
If you experience the symptoms listed above, contact your obstetric health care provider right away. He or she will tell you to come in to the office or go to the emergency room.
What Causes Miscarriage?
The causes of miscarriage are not well understood. Most miscarriages that occur in the first trimester are caused by chromosomal abnormalities in the baby. Chromosomes are tiny structures inside the cells of the body which carry many genes. Genes determine all of a person's physical attributes, such as sex, hair and eye color, and blood type. Most chromosomal problems occur by chance and are not related to the mother's or father's health.
Miscarriages are also caused by a variety of other factors, including:
- Infection
- Exposure to environmental and workplace hazards such as high levels of radiation or toxic agents
- Hormonal problems
- Uterine abnormalities
- Incompetent cervix (the cervix begins to widen and open too early, in the middle of pregnancy, without signs of pain or labor)
- Lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or using illegal drugs
- Disorders of the immune system, including lupus
- Severe kidney disease
- Congenital heart disease
- Diabetes that is not controlled
- Thyroid disease
- Radiation
- Certain medications, such as the acne drug Accutane
- Severe malnutrition
In addition, women may be at increased risk for miscarriage as they get older. Studies show that the risk of miscarriage is 12% to 15% for women in their 20s and rises to about 25% for women at age 40. The increased incidence of chromosomal abnormalities contributes to the age-related risk of miscarriage.
There is no proof that stress or physical or sexual activity causes miscarriage.
How Is a Miscarriage Diagnosed and Treated?
Your health care provider will perform a pelvic exam and an ultrasound test to confirm a miscarriage. If the miscarriage is complete and the uterus is empty, then no further treatment is usually required. Occasionally, the uterus is not completely emptied, so a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure is performed. During this procedure, the cervix is dilated and any remaining fetal or placental tissue is gently removed from the uterus. As an alternative to a D&C, certain medications can be given to cause your body to expel the contents in the uterus. This option may be more ideal in someone who wants to avoid surgery and whose condition is otherwise stable.


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Forumwarz is the first "Massively Single-Player" online RPG completely built around Internet culture.
You are currently looking at Flamebate, our community forums. Players can discuss the game here, strategize, and role play as their characters.
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I'm just offering power to the buyers and giving the greedy sellers a hard time. That's all.
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COVID-19 Readiness Statement 24/03/20
According to the latest government measures, online retailers can remain open. I am pleased to be able to continue dispatching orders to customers. Please be assured that I operate the highest level of hygiene. I have no employees, so all my stock and working environment is safe. Please keep visiting this page or follow me on social media for the latest updates.
Wishing you all the best - Margaret


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FDA Cautions Pet Owners About Chicken Jerky Products For Dogs
In an alert dated today, the FDA is warning consumers about chicken jerky products for dogs:
The Food and Drug Administration is cautioning consumers of a potential association between development of illness in dogs and the consumption of chicken jerky products also described as chicken tenders, strips or treats. FDA has received more than 70 complaints involving more than 95 dogs that experienced illness that their owners associated with consumption of chicken jerky products.
To date, FDA has not been able to determine a definitive cause for the reported illnesses. FDA has conducted extensive chemical and microbial testing but has not identified any contaminant. Many of the illnesses reported may be the result of causes other than eating chicken jerky.
FDA has also received preliminary information from Banfield, The Pet Hospital which suggests an association between exposure to the chicken jerky products and signs of gastrointestinal illness (vomiting, diarrhea and bloody diarrhea).
Dogs that have become ill, typically show the following signs: decreased food consumption, although some may continue to consume the treats to the exclusion of other foods; decreased activity or lethargy; vomiting; diarrhea, sometimes with blood; and increased water consumption and/or increased urination. Some or all of these signs may be present in any individual. Blood tests may indicate kidney failure (increased urea nitrogen and creatinine). Urine tests may indicate Fanconi syndrome (increased glucose). Although most dogs appear to recover, some reports to the FDA have involved dogs that have died.
FDA is advising consumers who choose to feed their dogs chicken jerky products to watch the dogs closely for any signs of decreased appetite, decreased activity, increased water consumption, increased urination, vomiting and/or diarrhea; and, if the dog shows any of these signs, to discontinue feeding the chicken jerky product. The signs of illness may occur within hours to days of feeding the product. Owners should consult their veterinarian if signs are severe or persist for more than 24 hours.
Chicken treat products should not be substituted for a balanced diet and are intended to be used occasionally in small quantities.
The FDA continues to actively investigate the problem. Consumers who wish to report animal illness, please see http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html for contact information on the FDA complaint coordinator in their state.
Source: FDA
(Thanks menusux)


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Air Force, United States Department of the
Air Force, United States Department of the, military department within the U.S. Dept. of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of ). The Air Force traces its roots to the founding of the Aeronautical Division of the Army Signal Corps (1907), variously renamed before becoming a separate service under the National Security Act of 1947. In 1949 the National Security Act Amendments made the Air Force a military department within the newly organized Department of Defense. The chain of command goes directly from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of the Air Force. The Air Force played an important role in World War I (see William Mitchell ; Eddie Rickenbacker ) and World War II (see H. H. Arnold ; atomic bomb ; James Harold Doolittle ). After World War II, the Air Force quickly grew in importance, becoming the cornerstone of President Eisenhower 's defense policy. The Air Force played a major part in the Korean War , the Vietnam War , and numerous cold war confrontations (see Berlin airlift , Cuban Missile Crisis ). Its control of long-range, land-based guided missiles and the strategic bombers gives the Air Force monopolies on two major components of U.S. nuclear strategy . It has the leading role in the military exploration of space and uses aircraft and satellites to collect photo, video, and signal intelligence.
See L. Kennett, A History of Strategic Bombing (1982); M. Sherry, The Rise of American Air Power (1987); W. J. Boyne, Beyond the Wild Blue (1997); R. Overy, The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War over Europe, 1940–1945 (2014).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. Government


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Luiz Camargo opened his MLS account in a big way for the Houston Dynamo Saturday night.
With the Dynamo seeking a late equalizer to pull a result out of a match in which they dominated possession, Camargo latched onto a sublime Brian Ching pass and hit a sweetly-struck near-post blast to pull a 2-2 result out in the waning moments at Gillette Stadium against the New England Revolution.
GOAL: Camargo opens MLS account
"We were trying to tell him to get going forward because we brought on Mac [Kandji] and went to a more attacking formation," Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com after the match. "I was just happy he got into the box and hopefully there's more to come from him in that area."
Camargo was certainly one of the less likely goal-getters on the Dynamo roster. The Brazilian is known as a facilitator in the Dynamo attack who uses his control and superior technical ability to unlock chances for his teammates rather than create for himself.
While he is tailor made for his role as a facilitator, his skill-set lends to goalscoring as well and it is something his teammates, especially Ching – who was encouraging his 'mate to "Get forward and get in the box" during the final quarter-hour – have been pushing for.
"I felt like he wasn't working as hard as he could to get on the ball so I was just yelling at him to get him some encouragement and you saw what happened," the Dynamo captain told MLSsoccer.com by phone after the match. "I think he was just kinda waiting for the ball to come to him, so it was about him being proactive and asking for it and demanding it. I was just trying to encourage him and it worked out for us."
The Brazilian's first MLS tally paid immediate dividends with a well-earned road point, but it could have positive ramifications going forward if one of Houston's best on-the-ball players gains the confidence to create shots for himself as well as his teammates.
"I've seen a big improvement lately and that's good for him," Camargo's central midfield partner Adam Moffat told MLSsoccer.com after the match. "It's good that he took his chance and finished. Hopefully he keeps that up with more goals going forward."
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.


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Colchester Products Liability Lawyers
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Series stars Sarah Shahi, Michael Trucco, Virginia Williams and Baron Vaughn
A First-Ever Universal Cable Productions and Universal Networks International Co-Production
LOS ANGELES, CA - March 15, 2010 - USA Network has announced today the pickup of its newest original series FACING KATE starring Sarah Shahi ("Life," "The L Word"), Michael Trucco ("Battlestar Gallactica," "One Tree Hill"), Virginia Williams ("The O.C.," "American Beauty") and Baron Vaughn ("Invasion") in a first-ever co-production between Universal Cable Productions and Universal Networks International. Shooting on location in Vancouver, FACING KATE will debut with a 90-minute premiere followed by 11 one-hour episodes. The announcement was made today by Jeff Wachtel, president, original programming, USA Network, and co-head, original content, Universal Cable Productions.
"The combination of Michael's and Sarah's unique talents gives this funny, energetic and iconoclastic law show a completely fresh voice," said Wachtel. "We see 'Facing Kate' as the perfect complement to our character-based series line-up."
FACING KATE centers on Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi), a top litigator who became frustrated with the endless bureaucracy and injustice she witnessed on a daily basis and decided to become the ultimate anti-lawyer: a mediator. Using her knowledge of the law, along with intuition and a whatever-it-takes approach to resolving conflict, Kate finds the middle ground for a wide variety of adversaries -- from Fortune 500 corporations to bitter divorcees. After the death of her father, she finds herself at odds with her new boss, her stepmother (Virginia Williams) ... and in bed with her ex-husband (Michael Trucco), himself a lawyer in the DA's office. Helping her keep all of this chaos at bay is her trusted, geek chic assistant Leonardo (Baron Vaughn).
From Universal Cable Productions and Universal Networks International, FACING KATE is executive produced by creator Michael Sardo ("Caroline in the City," "Wings). Steve Stark ("Medium," "The Game") also serves as executive producer along with Russ Buchholz as co-executive producer. Bronwen Hughes (USA's BURN NOTICE, WHITE COLLAR, COVERT AFFAIRS, "Criminal Minds") directed the pilot.
USA is the home to six hit original scripted series: BURN NOTICE, ROYAL PAINS, WHITE COLLAR, PSYCH, IN PLAIN SIGHT and LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. Recently picked up series COVERT AFFAIRS joins FACING KATE as the newest original series to come to USA Network.
Universal Networks International brings quality entertainment channels to the international market. From general entertainment top cable performer Universal Channel, to the home of imagination: Syfy Universal, Universal Networks International delivers premium entertainment to local audiences on a global scale.
About USA Network
USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 98.5 million U.S. homes. A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.
USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
About Universal Cable Productions
Universal Cable Productions creates quality content across multiple media platforms for USA, Syfy and other networks. A leader in innovative and critically acclaimed programming, UCP is the studio behind USA's ROYAL PAINS, LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, PSYCH, IN PLAIN SIGHT and COVERT AFFAIRS along with Syfy's EUREKA, WAREHOUSE 13 and CAPRICA. The studio also produced both long-running series MONK and BATTLESTAR GALATICA. UCP is a division of NBC Universal.
About Universal Networks International
Universal Networks International, the global channels division of NBC Universal, is one of the world's premier entertainment networks, delivering quality content and compelling brands to over 150 million viewers in 130 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The portfolio is spearheaded by five core channels - Syfy Universal, Diva Universal, Studio Universal, Universal Channel and 13th Street Universal - which deliver a full range of entertainment experiences to local audiences across the globe. Universal Networks International also operates Movies 24, the (non-US) Hallmark Channel and an interest in the KidsCo joint venture.
Universal Networks International is part of NBC Universal; one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.


text: A good start for HPI/HB 1/10 offroad team with TQ and 2 cars on podium! Dimitris Tsigkos TQ and won the first national race of Greek championship. Dimitris used the HPI Cyber10B car with some HPI option parts. He won all of the qualification rounds and the first two A final heats to take the overall win. Third place went to Thanos Makropoulos with HB D4 car. Both drivers used HB Megabite tyres.


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Organic White Fusilli La Terra E Il CieloV
Please note: No refunds or returns will be given on clearance sale items.
And, once they're gone, they're gone.
Multi-award winning range of pasta; La Terra e il Cielo is an organic agriculture co-operative founded in 1980 in the Marches Region, Italy.
For ingredients and allergens, see product information below.
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Product information is provided here as part of our effort to give you the best possible online shopping experience. We take great care in preparing this information and checking it with the producer. However, the information provided here is not intended to be a substitute for reading the product's actual labelling once you receive it. Whilst we continually aim to update the information with the very latest data provided by producers, there may be some cases where it is subject to change. Equilibrium Markets is unable to accept liability for any incorrect information provided. Your statutory rights are not affected. If you require more product information than appears here, please contact the producer directly.


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I would like to know the biblical view of the role of animals in our life. Specifically, if animals are an inconvenience are we allowed to just murder them?
The Bible has much to say about animals and their role in our lives.
First of all, we know that in the beginning God created them, the birds of the air, fish and other living creatures of the sea, and cattle, and creeping things and the beasts of the earth (Gen. 1:20-25). "And God saw that it was good" (Gen. 1:25).
We also know that God made man male and female and gave them dominion over the other living creatures (Gen. 1:26). Included in that dominion was the authority to name the animals (Gen. 2:19). It was in that context that we are told that among the animals there was not "a helper suitable for [the man]" (Gen. 2:18, 20). Rather, God gave the man Adam his wife Eve to fill that role. We ought to see that animals were not created in the image of God as man was; thus, they cannot provide the fellowship that satisfies man's soul.
After the fall of Adam, we are told that God made garments of skins to clothe Adam and his wife. From this it appears that the death of animals were required to provide the skins. This was a sober reminder of Adam's sin and shame.
It is evident from Scripture that man's responsibility to exercise dominion is to be understood as a stewardship. That does not mean that man is at liberty to destroy living creatures recklessly or capriciously. Genesis 9:3 tells us that the fish and the beasts were given to mankind for food in like manner as the green plants. We are reminded that when we eat our roast beef or our Thanksgiving turkey that something had to die for us to live. As such they should be received with thanksgiving and managed wisely, remembering God's providential care for us.
In many cases animals can provide food for mankind without them having to die. For example, cows and goats provide us with milk and cheese. Also, animals have in the past and still do provide many helpful services to mankind. Horses and oxen have pulled plows. Horses and camels have provided transportation. Sheep have provided wool. Dogs have provided "eyes" for the blind. And animals of all sorts have provided much beauty and joy to mankind as reminders of God's handiwork and as evidences of God's love to us.
On the other hand, Deuteronomy 7:22 suggests that wild beasts could prove to be a threat to people if they were allowed to become too numerous in the land where the people were to dwell. For instance, we might think of the recent report of one of our OPC missionaries in Africa where poisonous snakes pose a threat to the people and therefore need to be controlled.
It does not appear from Scripture that the Old Testament sacrifices of lambs, bulls, goats, and doves were understood as murder. Yes, the animals were killed, according to God's command, as a testimony of the awfulness of sin and the need for atonement. But nowhere does Scripture condone the reckless killing of animals simply for the sake of convenience.
The sacrifices of old, and even the daily provision of food afforded us through the death of animals, are an ongoing testimony to us that in order for us to live, something has to die. As Christians we ought to be constantly reminded of God's provision for life, and in particular we ought to humbly give thanks for the greatest provision of all that God has given to us. He so loved us that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to die for us that we might be saved from sin and death and be given eternal life.
"Questions and Answers" is a weekly feature of the OPC website. The answers come from individual ministers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church expressing their own convictions and do not necessarily represent an "official" position of the Church, especially in areas where the Standards of the Church (the Scriptures and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) are silent.
The questions come from individuals like yourself. If you have questions about biblical and theological matters, you are invited to send them by e-mail by using the "Pose a Question" link on the OPC home page or by clicking here.
At least one new question is posted each week, so there should always be something new here for you to read. (For those people who would like to look at previous questions and answers, they will continue to be available as well.)
The purpose of the OPC website's "Questions and Answers" is to respond to biblical and theological questions. Matters of church discipline, disputes, or debates go beyond the scope of our work. We recommend that you present your concerns in these areas to the appropriate judicatory. In most cases this will be to a local pastor, elder, or session. We do not want the website to replace personal involvement in, or commitment to, the local, visible church.
While we will respond to every serious questioner, we are not bound to give a substantive answer to every question, should we deem the question to be beyond the scope of our purpose or our own ability to answer.
You will receive an answer by e-mail. Please be patient as many of our respondents are busy pastors. The response to your question may take up to two (2) weeks. Some of the questions submitted will be chosen to be posted here, along with the corresponding answers.
Note that the "Questions and Answers" posted on the site have been editedall personal references are removed, Scripture references or from some source may be added, and sometimes portions are expandedto make the questions and answers more useful to a larger audience.
|© 2020 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


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I enjoyed reading some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writings about the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes when I was younger, which were entertaining (although possibly distanced from the way actual crime investigation actually works), and interesting. I vividly recall one excerpt from the very first Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet:
His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he enquired in the naivest way who he might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
"You appear to be astonished," he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it."
"To forget it!"
"You see," he explained, "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones."
"But the Solar System!" I protested.
"What the deuce is it to me?" he interrupted impatiently; "you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work."
(Chapter 2 of A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, under the public domain in most countries.)
Conan Doyle was naturally exaggerating here in portraying the ideal of Sherlock Holmes (as few, if any, human beings can forget that the Earth revolves around the Sun), but the principle still stands: we need to make a conscious decision of how to manage our memory, because there is a limit to how many different aspects can put inside our resident memory, or otherwise we'll forget more important stuff.
So what does it has to do with the Awk programming language? Many decades after A Study in Scarlet, Eric S. Raymond had this to say in his book The Art of Unix Programming:
(Emphasis mine.)
A case study of awk is included to point out that it is not a model for emulation; in fact, since 1990 it has largely fallen out of use. It has been superseded by new-school scripting languages—notably Perl, which was explicitly designed to be an awk killer. The reasons are worthy of examination, because they constitute a bit of a cautionary tale for minilanguage designers.
The awk language was originally designed to be a small, expressive special-purpose language for report generation. Unfortunately, it turns out to have been designed at a bad spot on the complexity-vs.-power curve. The action language is noncompact, but the pattern-driven framework it sits inside keeps it from being generally applicable — that's the worst of both worlds. And the new-school scripting languages can do anything awk can; their equivalent programs are usually just as readable, if not more so.
For a few years after the release of Perl in 1987, awk remained competitive simply because it had a smaller, faster implementation. But as the cost of compute cycles and memory dropped, the economic reasons for favoring a special-purpose language that was relatively thrifty with both lost their force. Programmers increasingly chose to do awklike things with Perl or (later) Python, rather than keep two different scripting languages in their heads.[90] By the year 2000 awk had become little more than a memory for most old-school Unix hackers, and not a particularly nostalgic one.
Falling costs have changed the tradeoffs in minilanguage design. Restricting your design's capabilities to buy compactness may still be a good idea, but doing so to economize on machine resources is a bad one. Machine resources get cheaper over time, but space in programmers' heads only gets more expensive. Modern minilanguages can either be general but noncompact, or specialized but very compact; specialized but noncompact simply won't compete.
(Case Study: awk in minilanguages in The Art of Unix Programming by Eric Steven Raymond, text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivatives licence, and hopefully quoted here (with attribution) under fair use auspices.)
Back in 1996, after I first learned Perl and started working on Unix, I asked one of my co-workers if I should learn Awk and he said "Forget it! Perl can do everything Awk does and more, and is a much better language". (That was some time before other of the so-called "scripting languages" that gained popularity after Perl, were notable and/or mature enough to be considered by most sane people.) While I was not entirely convinced, and also ended up using GNU awk (gawk) to write a small text processing script for Microsoft Windows at one point (because I preferred not to investigate how to make the perl executable more self-contained). For a while, I felt guilty about not being fluent in Awk, until I read what Raymond said, when I realised why he, my co-worker, and Conan Doyle's words of Sherlock Holmes, have been right all along.
Some people take more radical approaches to managing their memory. A friend of mine mostly converted from Perl 4 to Python, which due to syntactic limitations is not very suitable for one-off scripts on the command line, as his scripting language. He told me that whenever he has to perform a text processing or a similar task from the command-line, he edits a new file in his text editor, which also gives him some boilerplate to write his script, edits it, saves the file, and finally calls it from the command line. If I did something like that whenever I wrote something on the command line, I would quickly become extremely unhappy, but I suppose it is a useful approach if one is most comfortable with Python for such tasks.
Awk is not completely useless, and may sometimes need to be used for extra portability when old, antiquated or kept-minimal-on-purpose Unix systems, are involved, and is of important historical significance. However, in my case, I don't see a point in knowing it. If I need to learn it, I learn it enough to write what I need, and, like Sherlock Holmes, try to quickly forget it because I know I won't readily need this knowledge.
Naturally, this extends to other fields aside from computing. One of my pupils for private lessons testified that he had photographic memory, and for the history matriculation examination, he memorised the entire books, and during the exam wrote an paraphrased answer based on his memory, and as a result, got a very high grade, and eventually forgot most of it. Similarly, my sister, who now studies medicine, told me that she and her fellow students often memorised a lot of material in preparation for the examinations, only to forget it and then learn it again for a different examination, that also covered the same material. This makes me question the effectiveness of the methodology behind medical education, but still reinforces the original point.
The Other Side of the Coin
On the other hand, your knowledge and understanding of it should not be too specialised either, because one can infer many parallels from different fields of knowledge, and reach conclusions, because all knowledge is contiguous. By learning a little of everything and anything, you can often handle situations and have clearer thinking and greater creativity.
In my screenplay Star Trek: "We, the Living Dead", I describe an optimal situation of this in the "Planet of the Hebrews" where scholars each take different units of study and learn any that they want, and eventually are judged based on the number of units they learned, and the amount of useful contributions they have done. And you still shouldn't rule out that someone less experienced, younger, or less qualified, than you will be able to do as well, or even better than you (see what Paul Graham wrote about "amateurs" in "What business can learn from open source?").
This document is Copyright by Shlomi Fish, 2006, and is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 Unported (or at your option any later version of that licence).
For securing additional rights, please contact Shlomi Fish and see the explicit requirements that are being spelt from abiding by that licence.
Despite enjoying captioned images for a long time, I am late to the game of creating them. You may know them as lolcats, and they are also sometimes called "memes", although the term "meme" is used for any unit of thought and more than just. However, I recently created three of them using Wikimedia Commons, or Google Image Search, as well as GIMP and Inkscape, and realised it is incredibly easy to do. I now truly understand why their low barrier to entry - almost everyone can take a photo of a cat or whatever and caption it - makes them so subversive, and why the Cheezburger network is being blocked by both Iran and China.
I have done some work on Star Trek: "We, the Living Dead" (which is now close to being in a mostly usable state) and "Selina Mandrake - The Slayer", which combines a Buffy the Vampire Slayer parody and tribute (with a conscious and constant referencing of the original show) with many more elements. An Indian software developer, with whom I talked on the Internet, and who did not watch Buffy, said it was still very funny, so there may be hope for me yet.
Cheers, all.


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NOTE: This event is not happening due to precautions regarding the coronavirus. Visit our "Coronavirus Updates" page here for more about how Houston's First is responding.
Need a break in the middle of the work week? A spiritual boost to keep you going? Gather with people from Downtown and the surrounding area each Wednesday in suite 1250 of the 1010 Lamar Building for HighPoint Bible Study.
HighPoint Bible Study meets at 1010 Lamar providing downtown workers with physical and spiritual nourishment. Everybody is invited—whether you attend Houston's First or not! Executive Pastor David Self regularly speaks at HighPoint, and there are a wide range of guest speakers including Pastor Gregg Matte.
View our HighPoint Archive and listen to past messages
From 1927 to 1977, Houston's First Baptist Church met at Fannin and Lamar in downtown Houston. In the early 1970s, a popular event was a noon Bible study led by Bro. John Bisagno in the church's Fellowship Hall on Wednesdays.
When the church sold that property and moved to its current location on the Katy Freeway, Deacon Bill Morris negotiated free meeting space in the basement of the Lamar Building so the church could continue the popular Bible study.
Today, HighPoint Bible Study meets on that site, providing downtown workers with physical and spiritual nourishment. It's truly the high point of their week! Everybody is invited—whether you attend Houston's First or not!
HighPoint provides Downtown workers with a spiritual break over lunch in the middle of the week. Bring your own lunch or get some BBQ (cost $5), beginning at 11:30. The speaker begins at 12:10p. Bring a coworker!
Can't find what you're looking for? Contact us.
Need help choosing your campus? Email us or call 713.264.4300.


text:
Please forgive any unorthodox notation or obvious errors here... I'm trying to get an intuition for dependently typed languages, so I'm starting out by seeing which analogies I can take from the simply typed world. In an ML-like language we can encode existential types in terms of universal types:
$\exists a.T(a) \equiv \forall x.(\forall a.T(a) \rightarrow x) \rightarrow x$
Similarly, we could also define sum types in terms of universal types and product types:
$ a + b \equiv \forall x.(a \rightarrow x)\times(b \rightarrow x) \rightarrow x $
This correspondence makes sense to me, since existential types are like infinite sums and universal types are like infinite products.
In a dependently typed language, would it also be possible to define dependent sums in terms of dependent products? This seems close:
$\Sigma(b:B).T(b) \equiv \forall x.(\Pi(b:B).T(b) \rightarrow x) \rightarrow x$
$(a,t) : \Sigma(b:B).T(b) \equiv \lambda f. f\ a\ t$
$\text{fst}\ p \equiv p_B\ (\lambda(b:B).\lambda(\_:T(b)).b)$
$\text{snd}\ p \equiv p_{T (\text{fst}\ p)}\ (\lambda(b:B).\lambda(t:T(b)).t)$
However, I can't convince myself that the definition for
snd is well-typed because I can't show that $t : T (\text{fst}\ p)$. Is there some way to make this work?


text:
Marlins walk off in 10 after Stanton forces extras
Homer ties it in ninth, picks up Fernandez; winner scores on near DP
MIAMI -- Jose Fernandez showed All-Star courage. Giancarlo Stanton demonstrated why he is among the most feared sluggers in the game. And Ed Lucas flashed enough speed to provide the Marlins with an improbable walk-off win on Saturday night.
Lucas legged out a fielder's-choice ground ball to second base, driving in the decisive run that lifted the Marlins to a 2-1 win over the Nationals in 10 innings at Marlins Park.
On the verge of defeat in the ninth inning, Stanton blasted a game-tying home run off Nationals closer Rafael Soriano.
The youthful Marlins continue to show signs of growing up, as they won their third straight and secured a series victory over the Nationals with one game remaining before the All-Star break.
Miami pulled off its 19th comeback win and improved to 4-6 in extra innings.
On a night the Marlins collected four hits, they pulled off their fifth walk-off without a hit. And the run was unearned.
With one out and the bases loaded in the 10th inning, Lucas tapped a ground ball to second off Nationals reliever Craig Stammen. The Nats were attempting an inning-ending double play, but Lucas was just safe at first base. A throwing error by third baseman Chad Tracy on Adeiny Hechavarria's grounder to open the inning made the run unearned.
"We feel like we can still win these games," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "You guys here in April, that's a double play in April, right? To win that thing on a fielder's choice ..."
The Marlins were 14-41 in April and May, but they are 21-16 since.
Fernandez, Miami's 20-year-old All-Star right-hander, admittedly wasn't his sharpest. But he still kept his team close, allowing one run on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings.
"I love this team. I'm going to give it my heart," said Fernandez, an emerging leader. "I'm going to give everything to it. Whoever doesn't like it, I don't mind. This is my team. This is what I work for every day."
It was a well-pitched game on both sides.
Dan Haren threw six shutout innings, limiting the Marlins to three hits while striking out seven.
The Marlins were on the verge of being shut out for the 10th time, and first since May 22 against the Phillies. But leading off the ninth inning, Stanton delivered an impressive blast to pull Miami even.
Stanton crushed Soriano's 1-2 offering an estimated 434 feet to left-center, setting up extra innings.
"I never think homer," Stanton said. "You may swing harder in some counts, so whatever, whatever. But I had two strikes, so that was more, 'Get the barrel on the ball.' It was still a ball, but I got my hands to it. That's thing. If the ball is up and you get your hands to it, it's going to go if you get on top of it."
It was Stanton's second home run in as many games, and 10th on the season.
Exuberant in the dugout, Fernandez was animated rejoicing with his teammates.
"I was pretty happy," Fernandez said. "I got so excited. I know it was worth it. I enjoy it. My teammates laugh. When he made contact too, he made a bomb. Their closer is one of the best in the league. It was fun. I like to have fun and this is a game."
In the Marlins' bullpen, Steve Cishek watched Stanton deliver, then he went about his business.
"Obviously, when Stanton is hitting, everything stops," Cishek said. "He's capable of doing incredible damage. I was just watching him, waiting for something big to happen. You leave one up to him late in a ballgame, he's going to make you pay. That was awesome."
The Nationals threatened off Cishek in the 10th inning, putting two runners on. A wild pitch by Cishek complicated the inning for the sidearm-throwing right-hander, moving those runners to second and third with one out.
But the closer struck out Scott Hairston and Ryan Zimmerman to keep the score knotted.
"I just wasn't making pitches," Cishek said. "I didn't throw a single slider where I wanted to up until I faced Zimmerman, for some reason."
The reason Hairston was batting was because Bryce Harper was ejected in the eighth inning. Washington shortstop Ian Desmond spoke out afterward about Harper not being on the field.
"I usually try to say the right thing, I guess," Desmond said. "We have to have our three-hole hitter in the game right there. It's as simple as that. The person that hits in the three-hole is usually your best hitter, one of your better players, usually the best. There is no doubt that his skill set is there, but ... in a one-run ballgame ... we need that game."
Harper was involved in several key moments, including scoring the Nationals' lone run on a collision at the plate in the fourth inning. He also disputed two strikeouts with home-plate umpire Hunter Wendlestedt.
In the sixth inning, the Nationals' All-Star outfielder was not pleased with a called third strike Fernandez received on a fastball on the outside corner. Harper exchanged a few words with Wendlestedt.
And in the eighth inning, after being called out looking against Dan Jennings, Harper was more vocal in his protest, and he was immediately ejected by Wendlestedt.
Fernandez was able to work out of potential trouble in each of the first three innings. But walks hurt the hard-throwing right-hander. He issued a free pass in three of the first four frames.
In the fourth, a leadoff walk to Harper ended up costing Fernandez. Harper moved to third on Adam LaRoche's one-out single to left field. Miami had the shift on for the left-handed-hitting LaRoche.
Jayson Werth brought Harper home on a sacrifice fly to center on a 2-2 pitch. Harper lowered his shoulder and barreled over catcher Jeff Mathis, who was unable to hold on to Marcell Ozuna's throw to the plate. Harper and Mathis were both fine.
"The most important part, I think about today is, I think the fans, everybody who knows baseball and loves baseball, sees that we fight," Fernandez said. "We never give up. Even when we're losing and we're facing one of the best closers in the game, we never give up. I love this game so much. It gives you the chance every day to come here and compete. For me, it's a blessing. I'm going to play hard every time."


text:
SMA – Social Media Agency landing page -
Suitable for social media company which serve social media Services or easily can be modified for another business, creative, portfolio page, or any purpose. At Social Media Today we understand how important trust is to our customers. This Social Media landing Page will help you to provide an amazing quality of your service. Social media marketing agency primarily aims to attract suitable traffic to your website.
SMA Includes
- Scrolling background items
- Image hovers
- Free support
- Documentation
- Slider
- Two contact forms
- Easy redesignable design
- Clean code
- Cufon replace
How to contact us?
For more information, you can contact us via Themeforest Comment section or Contact form
Release V1.2.1
1) Added .psd file to .zip file.
2) Fixed iPhone left-align bug.
Release V1.2
1) Fixed iPhone and iPad bug.
Release V1.1
1) Fixed Slider bug.
2) Added Sexy Slider to theme.
3) Fixed Safari bug.
4) Added Favicon.
Release Soon: html and wordpress version


text: Make lounging luxurious with our Memory Foam Furniture Cover collection. Plush fabric is treated with an anti-static finish, and diamond stitched with a high loft poly-fill for cozy warmth. Zippered pouch allows for a 1" memory foam seat insert, and three convenient pockets (including a 10.5"pocket to hold a tablet or e-reader device) on each arm give you instant access to smart devices, eyeglasses and magazines. Microfiber backing keeps cover snugly in place. This is a great option for pet owners; keep your furniture protected from the dirt and fur of your beloved household dog, cat or any pet. Machine washable


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"There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed… The army of a country which you call a partner killed our citizens with a political order given by its administration." – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
"Turkey has also stated that Israel will not receive any information from NATO radar systems installed in Turkey, meant to provide warning of an Iranian missile attack."
Turkey rejects Israeli participation in NATO summit
Zvi Bar'el: April 23rd, 2012
Turkey has refused to allow Israel to participate in a NATO conference set to take place in Chicago on May 20, because the Israel has not apologized for the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in a raid on a ship taking aid to Palestinians, a Turkish official said on Monday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu commented on the possible Israeli presence at the conference. "There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters," said Davutoglu last week at a NATO conference in Brussels, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.
Turkish opposition is similar to a veto, and is binding for all NATO member nations. Many member nations, including France, the U.S., as well as Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secratary General, demanded that Turkey reverse its position on Israeli participation in the conference, and even threatened to oppose the participation of Egypt, Morocoo, Mauritania, and Algiera, other non-member nations invited to take part in the NATO "Mediterranan Dialogue" group.
Turkey, however, abrogated any possibility of a reversing its stance on the issue. "The army of a country which you call a partner killed our citizens with a political order given by its administration. We do not call this kind of country a partner," said Davutoglu.
"I promise that Turkey will be the first to defend citizens of NATO countries in any similar situation. I believe in the principle of solidarity among NATO member nations much more than the principle of discrimination, practiced by some of you," Davutoglu fired back at his critics.
This is not the first time Turkey has acted against Israeli participation with NATO. Take for example the Turkish opposition to the Israeli request to participate in the Mediterranan Dialogue group, affiliated with NATO, in Brussels.
Turkey also vetoed Israeli participation in the yearly "Active Endeavor" naval maneuver, in which four naval vessels from four different, non-member nations participate.
Turkey has also stated that Israel will not receive any information from NATO radar systems installed in Turkey, meant to provide warning of an Iranian missile attack.
Next month will mark two years since the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, which lead to the unprecedented decline in relations between Israel and Turkey. Efforts to assuage the conflict, including the UN investigation, which suggested that Israel apologize and compensate victim's families, have not made any changes in the Israeli stance on the issue.
According to Turkish sources, the two sides reached an agreement on the wording of an apology and payment of reparations, however due to political pressure in Israel, especially from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel decided to call off the deal. Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama pressured Turkey to reach an understanding with Israel, but Turkey stated that without an official, public apology, no progress can be made.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland commented on the poor relations between the two countries. "For quite some time now we have been continuing to talk to both our ally Turkey and our ally Israel about the relationship that they have with each other to encourage them to continue to get back to a place where they can have conversation with each other," said Nuland.
Commenting on the Chicago summit, Nuland added, "With regard to arrangements for the NATO summit and partnership events, as you know, Israel is one of NATO's partners in the Mediterranean dialogue. Those discussions are continuing as we head towards the May summit in Chicago."
Meanwhile, Turkish international political standing has improved, due largely to Turkish opposition to the rule of Bashar Assad in Syria, Turkey's role in renewing nuclear talks between Iran and the west, and strengthening ties with Arab nations that have undergone revolutions.
Two years ago, diplomats and analysts were wondering which country had the most to lose from the rift in relations. Today, there is no longer any doubt that Israel is the loser in this very important struggle. Turkey is no longer in need of Israeli intervention with the U.S., Turkey's economic situation is among the best in Europe, and Turkey has become a central diplomatic channel for solving regional conflicts.
Israel, it seems, has accepted its loss of relations with Turkey, even though senior Turkish officials believe diplomatic efforts to improve relations would be worthwhile.
Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report.
See original here.


text:
First Drive: 2014 Ford Fiesta 1.0-liter Ecoboost
These days, just about every auto manufacturer talks about streamlining products and downsizing engines. No one has pushed toward these goals as persistently as Ford. The Blue Oval has brought a wide range of globally developed products to the United States, from the quirky Transit Connect cargo van to the bread-and-butter Fusion (which shares its design with the European Mondeo). It has concurrently expanded its portfolio of small-displacement, "Ecoboost" engine options with near messianic fervor -- even the red-blooded F-150 has one.
In case you're not convinced Ford is serious about all this, consider the 2014 Fiesta and its optional 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder. A tiny car with an even tinier engine and a not-so-tiny price -- it will cost more than the base four-cylinder -- the Fiesta 1.0-liter is the epitome of what would once have been considered a "not for America" product. Only, here it comes. Is it ready?
Good vibrations
Ford applies the full Ecoboost treatment to eke power out of three diminutive cylinders. Turbocharging, direct-injection, and variable valve timing yield 123 hp and an impressive 148 lb-ft of torque -- considerably better than the Fiesta's base 1.6-liter four-cylinder. Ford isn't yet providing fuel economy numbers, but promises they too will surpass the 1.6-liter model, along with every other non-hybrid sold in the United States. Given that the Volkswagen Passat TDI achieves 43 mpg on the highway, we can expect 44 mpg or better.
The U.S. market has started to accept the idea that a small, turbocharged engine can be as good or better than a larger, normally aspirated one. But three-cylinder engines face other hurdles, which is a nice way of saying they're awful. Inherently off-balance and out of sync, they rock violently and generally make a racket. Not surprisingly, these engines have traditionally occupied a small, unpleasant niche, serving as cheap motivating power for unloved b- and a-segment cars like the Geo Metro and smart fortwo.
Ford engineers, working mostly in Germany, developed some new tricks to address these issues. They canceled out the rocking motion by placing weights on the flywheel and the front pulley. Specially designed engine mounts, a stiff iron block, and an enclosed timing belt that constantly passes through the engine's oil reservoir further reduce the noise and vibration.
As a result, the Fiesta's new 1.0-liter is decidedly not awful. In fact, it's quite pleasant. At low rpm, there is a faint rumble, almost like a modern diesel. As it winds out, though, it lets out a mellow growl that's more interesting and more masculine sounding than the typical modern four-cylinder. It backs up the sporty noise with impressive thrust. It feels at least as strong as a comparable four-cylinder-powered car.
You would expect such a tiny turbocharged engine to suffer from low-rpm lag, and you'd be right. Widely spaced gears don't help. The first time we came out of a slow right turn in second gear, we wondered if we'd shifted into fourth. As the day wore on, we learned to work the light clutch and smooth five-speed manual gearbox to keep the engine in its happy zone. Those who cannot or do not want to deal with three pedals are out of luck, at least for now, as the 1.0-liter will not be offered at launch with an automatic. For the record, that means two out of the three engine choices for the 2014 Fiesta will come exclusively with a manual transmission (the other is the upcoming ST model).
The smaller engine has little effect on the rest of the Fiesta driving experience, which is just as well. The Fiesta feels small and light when you want it to, such as when you're slicing through traffic or pushing the pace on a narrow canyon road. Unlike many of its subcompact competitors, the Fiesta is just as happy loafing along the highway at 80 mph. The electric power steering is hyper-quick but benefits from more natural weighting and better on-center feel than most competitors (it no doubt helps that the European-spec example we drove wore seventeen-inch wheels). An upscale interior further contributes to the overall sense of substance and solidity.
Conclusion: The numbers game
Ford has not yet announced specific pricing or fuel economy figures for the 1.0-liter Fiesta. These numbers will be key to its success in the United States, where buyers face no taxes on engine displacement. Put another way, it's hard to imagine people paying a sizable premium for this powertrain unless there's a sizable payoff at the pump. What absolutely should not turn people off, however, is the cylinder count. With its refined new 1.0-liter Fiesta, Ford has once again proved that smaller -- and more global -- really is better.
On sale: Fall 2013
Engine: 1.0L turbo 3-cylinder, 123 hp, 148 lb-ft
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Drive: Front-wheel
EPA Fuel economy: N/A


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Grab a deep-fried Twinkie and get ready to enjoy the tunes.
The Alameda County Fair is back, which means plenty of sugary treats and nightly concerts are on the docket.
This year's musical lineup is one of the best in memory — featuring such well-known acts as Tesla, ConFunkShun, Night Ranger, Ashanti and Eddie Money. As usual, the offerings are quite diverse, ranging from reggae and rock to blues and beyond.
The concerts are free with regular admission to the fair, which runs through July 6 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. The shows are general admission, technically speaking, but the fair is now offering "best seats" wristbands for those who show up early. For details about the "best seats" program, as well as other information, go to www.alamedacountyfair.com.
Here's a breakdown of the lineup:
BEACH BOARDWALK: Also make sure to check out the Free Friday Night Bands on the Beach series at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The concerts are held at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Fridays through Aug. 29. The entire schedule is at www.beachboardwalk.com. Here are a few of the bigger names in the series:
Follow Jim Harrington at Twitter.com/jimthecritic and Facebook.com/jim.bayareanews.
Alameda County Fair concerts
When: The fair runs through July 6. All concerts begin at 8 p.m., except for the all-day Red, White and Blues festival, which runs 1-9 p.m. July 4.
Where: Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton
Tickets: Concerts are included in regular fair admission — $10 adults (ages 13-61), $8 seniors (those 62 and older) and kids (ages 6-12). Children (those 5 and younger) get in free.


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Interested in a risk-free way to increase revenue, profits and assets under management—albeit with lots of hard work? John Arnold of AXA Advisors has found this can be done—repeatedly—through acquiring the advisory practices of retiring advisors affiliated with his broker-dealer.
Indeed, the 36-year-old advisor based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is now negotiating his fourth deal in Tucson, having already acquired two practices in Albuquerque, N.M., and another in Scottsdale.
The opportunity came to Arnold's attention when he learned from his broker-dealer that it had six advisors in Albuquerque and not one of them was under age 65.
The problem of aging advisors has been made more acute by a shortage of advisors entering the business, Arnold (left) said in an interview with AdvisorOne. He says that as a response to the Madoff scandal, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has made it much harder for advisors to pass the Series 66 exam by increasing the number of questions an advisor must correctly answer and by making those questions more difficult.
"So fewer people are entering the business while more people are exiting due to age and retirement," Arnold says. "That creates a huge business opportunity for people like me."
The next step was developing a personal connection with some of those retiring advisors, whom he met at AXA's annual meetings.
"Personal confidence and chemistry is key to the success of this," Arnold says. "The retiring advisor wants to know who's taking over, and they want to have confidence in that person."
Arnold has found that the key consideration for retiring advisors—above even monetizing their books of business—is to know their clients are in good hands. That's what makes acquiring a book of business a win-win for both seller and buyer.
"Retiring advisors' main goal is to make sure the clients are taken care of. Driving a hard bargain is not their priority. They're done. They've got [money]. That gives me the leverage. But in a respectful way. I have to add staff; service time is required; there are incremental costs I'll have to take on my books," he says.
Having learned that Albuquerque—an hour's plane ride from Scottsdale—was an underserved market, Arnold made his first acquisition there in 2010, and the move was an immediate success.
"I paid for that within three months. I was able to dig up a really big 401(k) rollover that the previous advisor didn't know about.
"They [were] in the swan song of their career, so maybe they weren't as hungry as I and my crew."
While a rollover is nice bonus, the biggest payoff and the key to Arnold's acquisition strategy is to try to convert a transactional book of business into fee-based advisory relationships.
"If I can transition these relationships into my advisory practice, that's all new recurring revenue that I didn't have to pay for"—since his acquisition price, usually between one and three times annual recurring revenue, is based on stock and A-share mutual fund transactions and the like.
Encouraged by his first success in Albuquerque, Arnold bought his second book of business last year in Scottsdale, then another this year in Albuquerque, which he is still transitioning. He is already realizing economies of scale through merger of the same-city offices.
Despite all the long hours, additional travel and difficulties of hiring and training new staff members, Arnold considers the acquisitions risk-free.
"For the same book of business, whatever they put the recurring revenue at, if I just transfer it I'm going to make more money because I have a higher payout than [the retiring advisors] do," he says.
Arnold gets a 75% payout from AXA, while the retiring advisors, with lower levels of production, might get a 65% payout. "So if they make $40,000—just by transferring I'm making $50,000," he says.
"All four of these [acquisitions] have been in my eyes a no-risk transaction," Arnold adds. "If I was able to buy the practice and not convert one client into an advisory capacity, I'd make my money back in one year, two years or three years," since the price range of his acquisitions were from one to three times annual recurring revenue.
But the real upside comes from account conversions, which Arnold and his team aggressively pursue.
"I've made it a sticking point that each advisor go to [their] top 25 clients and I insist that that is a joint meeting," he says. "For them to give me an endorsement in person goes a mile for those people [compared to just sending the clients a letter]."
For the rest of the book—the acquired practices have from 400 to 500 clients—Arnold and his six junior advisors call on them, arranging two performance reviews a year, one in person and one through a webinar (unless it's an older client that prefers a phone call to a webinar).
"There's a lot of service work on a lot of smaller, unprofitable accounts, but we want to give great service to everybody," Arnold says.
Now working on his fourth acquisition in Tucson, Arnold says that "One to three times annual recurring revenue is kind of a starting point for negotiations." Other factors include how much is paid up front versus paid out over time (he prefers the latter) and critically, how many personal meetings and endorsements can he expect. It's the latter that drives the value of the acquisition and thus the ratio of price to revenue he's willing to pay.
In transitioning the business, Arnold's team double-checks that each contract from the seller's book transfers—maybe there's a state licensing issue that holds things up—and verifies that his revenue projections were met. The baseline for this analysis is the data AXA provides at the beginning of the acquisition process on the seller's book of business and what the book's contracts produce on a recurring basis.
Arnold points out that a buyer needs to acquire a book of business from one of his own broker-dealer's retiring advisors in order to maximize the financial opportunity.
"The books I'm buying are proprietary products. You need to have a career contract with AXA in order to take advantage," he says.
And the proprietary nature of the product makes these acquisitions highly desirable for the broker-dealer, which is why they typically assist the transactions by providing trustworthy data, for example.
"If a practice is not acquired, it goes into an orphan program," Arnold says. "That's bad for the advisor, bad for the clients." Whereas buying practices is good for the broker-dealer, both buying and selling advisors and the clients, he says.
Arnold says buying advisory practices has been a compelling business strategy, yet he has had a surprising absence of competition.
"There's nobody else that has talked to these older advisors about the transition of these practices," he says.
"Every transition I've had has been respectful," Arnold adds. "The No. 1 thing I keep in mind is the blood, sweat and tears" the retiring advisor applied in building his practice.