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Scotland: Tracing Ancestral Trails
Scotland: Finding your routes where millions of Americans came from
By Kristi Girdharry
"Scottish Ancestral Trail, the only Scottish-based luxury tour operator focusing solely on Scotland, creates specifically tailored vacations for people based on their own family research," says Tracey Legat, Marketing and PR Consultant for Scottish Ancestral Trail.
"They can take you to the villages where your ancestors lived, the church where they were married and the dockside from whence they left. They can also arrange meetings with historians and genealogists to help you gain a better understanding of Scotland of the time," Legat says.
"With the continued interest in family genealogy these types of specialized vacations are a natural progression."
Scottish Ancestral Trail is owned and managed by husband and wife team Peter and Lesley Gray and is based in Dumfriesshire in the southwest of Scotland.
The business came about after the Grays researched their own family trees. The subject was fascinating to them, so they set forth on a venture to capitalize on their passion and to help others who shared their same curiosity.
As Lesley Gray says, "We found that tracking down the remote places where our own ancestors came from very time consuming, despite our familiarity with the country! We started to think how much harder it must be for visitors from overseas to find these places in the time frame of a short holiday."
Where They Came From
Scotland is rich with ancient history, lovely scenery, and wonderful places to travel, but it used to be considered a place to avoid… Maybe that's why so many Scots found their way across the Atlantic.
The first Scots started emigrating to America in the 1600s. There were waves of immigrants during the Cromwellian Civil War and the Jacobite rebellions. They came for different reasons: some were criminals facing prison or execution, while others were simply poor and looking for a better life somewhere else.
Today, as with many distant relatives of immigrants, the Scots have flourished all over the country. This has left some people wondering where their relatives came from. Thanks to Scottish Ancestral Trails, people looking to follow the roots of their family tree have access to professional help and the trip of a lifetime.
Affirming Our Identity
Lynn Rudberg, 65, of Batavia, Illinois, started researching her Scottish genealogy in the 1980s. "Who knows why some of us become obsessed with our ancestors. Perhaps it's a matter of affirming our identity," she says. "At any rate I really had not made much progress on my Scotland ancestors as their names were so common, and I had enough to keep me busy on this side of the pond."
Last spring, Rudberg hired a genealogist and was able to find some clues to her paternal Grant family in the Highlands. Around this same time, she read about Ancestral Trail in Family Chronicle magazine.
"I think it was last August that I finally e-mailed Lesley, and we began working on a plan for us to visit the area where the Grants came from."
It Adds Up
"The only difficulty was deciding to spend the money to make the journey. I never have added it all up! Naturally it was costly since we had to travel Scotland from the middle, to the top, to the bottom, and back to Edinburgh; and then we wanted to visit London for a week.
"Lesley was very patient with me as I hemmed and hawed. She was quick to respond to e-mails and just so helpful in general. By last November we knew we were going for certain. I had been in correspondence with George Grant from Glenfarclas [a distillery Rudberg learned about through her queries] and was able to meet with him when he visited Chicago in late November. We indeed are distant cousins."
Traveling like this does add up, but there are ways to keep your costs down. Keep in mind that the cheapest times to travel to Scotland are during the off-season which is November 1 – December 12 and December 26 – March 14. In the past few years, airlines have been offering great deals during these times. Also, remember that flights are less expensive during the week than on the weekends.
Scotland winters may be rainy and cold, but the winter season might give visitors a more honest view of Scottish life. You will get a chance to see Scots going about their everyday lives largely unhindered by tourist invasions.
Additionally, many hotel prices drop by a significant amount. Also, by arriving after the winter holidays, you can take advantage of post-Christmas sales to buy your fill of woolens, china, crystal, silver, fashion, and handicrafts — so you can spend all that money you saved on other accommodations!
Rudberg's Trip Begins
"So the last week of May 2006, off we went," Rudberg says excitedly, "First of all, we hit the UK during a two-week period of sun and wonderful weather, and that really helped. Lesley and our driver, Jim, met us at the airport in Edinburgh.
"That first day is kind of a daze, and I recall just feeling disbelief: am I really here? Jim whisked us off to our hotel, which was located right off the Royal Mile. After we had settled, Lesley appeared and explained our itinerary."
Rudberg then explained how this was actually the "final" itinerary, for the Grays had been keeping her up to date via e-mail as to how the trip would play out.
"On the second day, she had arranged for a local historian to walk us up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle and to give us a short course on 'the Mile.' That was so very interesting."
The Royal Mile is Edinburgh's oldest street, connecting Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyrood House, with more than 35 historic buildings, museums and other points of interest along the way.
"The third morning, Jim picked us up and was with us for the rest of the week. Neither of us wanted to attempt driving UK style, so this was a major factor when planning the Scotland trip. Jim was wonderful: good sense of direction (and humor!), patient, prompt, and he certainly added to the success of the journey.
"We headed north toward Grant country. While in the Highlands, we were able to meet with George Grant again, tour the distillery, visit churches my Grants had attended and cemeteries where they had buried their dead."
Stunning Moments
"Lesley had managed to obtain permission for us to visit Lynbeg, the farm where my immigrant John Grant had been born in 1816 and where he grew up. The current owners only visit occasionally, so I was able to take my time there. That really was a stunning moment… literally walking in my ancestors' footsteps. Lesley had set up an appointment for me with a local genealogist who was able to give me background on the area and the Grant family.
"We spent two nights in a darling small hotel where we were served delicious suppers and breakfasts. I have special dietary needs and the Grays had passed this on to each place where we stayed.
"Driving south we visited Elgin Cathedral, Loch Ness, Glen Coe, Stirling Castle, and Roslyn Abbey. We had one night in Stirling then on to Dumfries. My husband was able to play 18 holes of golf, and Lesley joined me as we visited Kirkgunzeon. It is a very small village… just a sight to see with a small stream running through it and the church on the other side of the bridge.
"Again, I saw where my ancestors had been christened, married and buried. The Kirkpatricks had been blacksmiths in the village, and Lesley had arranged for us to have coffee with the current blacksmith's wife! I loved this village… think I left a bit of my heart there! Jim drove us around to various farms where family members had lived and later I met with a local genealogist who, come to find out, is a distant cousin, too!"
The Journey of a Lifetime
"As we said at the time, we never would have found the small winding roads in the Highlands leading to churches and farms, nor would we have been able to locate the farm areas in the south. Jim was so great: he had maps he seemed to study every night and knew where he was going at all times. The Grays had actually driven up north to scout out the area — finding the hotel, farms, and churches so that no time would be wasted.
"When it was time to head back to Edinburgh, it was difficult for me to let the countryside go. Lesley and Peter invited us to stop at their place for tea and to say good-bye. I told Lesley the only problem with the trip was that there wasn't enough time. She expected that and said, 'Most everyone has the same complaint.'
"It was the journey of a lifetime… that's for sure. If I had to pick out a highlight or two it would be the time spent at Lynbeg and in Kirkgunzeon. It was astonishing to me that I was actually there… and if I could, I would return tomorrow!
"Ancestral Trail really did a wonderful job planning our journey for us. Lesley and Peter are a joy to work with and we would recommend them to anyone."
Using professional guides may not be the least expensive option when researching your family tree, but when it all adds up, the time and effort saved is truly worth it. There are always going to be places where it helps to have "one of the locals" helping you out.
You can contact Scottish Ancestral Trails by visiting their website: scottish-ancestral-trail.co.uk. The Grays also have staff working in the US in case you'd like to directly speak with someone.
Kristi Girdharry is a writer living in San Francisco.


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Save 9%
Current price is $17.28, Original price is $18.99. You Save 9%.
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Pure Cult: The Singles 1984-1995
17.28 In Stock
Say what you want about the Cult, a band who will certainly go down as one of the most schizophrenic in rock history, but singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy could sure write a great tune. Just glance at a few titles included on the greatest-hits collection Pure Cult: The Singles 1984-1995: "Edie (Ciao Baby)," "Love Removal Machine," "She Sells Sanctuary," "Wild Flower," "Fire Woman," "Rain," "Lil' Devil" -- you get the picture. Spread haphazardly across the disc (rather than in chronological order), each track's uniqueness is even more evident, further showcasing the Cult's fearless creativity. Early songs such as "Spiritwalker" and "Resurrection Joe" will surprise most fans with their class and maturity, while later cuts like "Wild Hearted Son," "Heart of Soul," and "Coming Down" (from their disappointing latter-day albums) are given new life when viewed on their own merits. Boasting almost identical track selection to another Pure Cult collection (including a few rare outtakes) of a few years earlier, this one's merely a tad more career-spanning complete, but the small differences aren't worth stressing over.
Product Details
|Release Date:
|Beggars Uk - Ada
Album Credits
Performance CreditsCult Primary Artist
Ian Astbury Vocals
Benmont Tench Keyboards
Mark Brzezicki Drums
Mickey Curry Drums
Charley Drayton Bass Guitar
Billy Duffy Guitar
Scott Humphrey Keyboards
Michael K. Lee Drums
Bob Rock Guitar,Keyboards
Matt Sorum Drums
James Stevenson Guitar
Warner Drums
John Webster Keyboards
Richie Zito Keyboards
Craig Adams Bass Guitar
Nigel Preston Drums
Raymond Taylor-Smith Drums
Scott Garrett Drums
Jon Sinclair Keyboards
Kinley Wolfe Bass Guitar
John Sinclair Keyboards
Technical CreditsIan Astbury Composer
John Brand Producer
Billy Duffy Composer
Chris Kimsey Producer
Bob Rock Producer
Rick Rubin Producer
Richie Zito Producer
Steve Brown Producer
Alex Jenkins Cover Photo
Dominic Wills Liner Notes

subset: commoncrawl


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MMC Benefits Handbook
Healthyroads offers comprehensive wellness programs designed to help you and your family members maintain and improve your health. Using the Healthyroads wellness benefits can open your eyes to new ways of thinking about your health. It can also connect you with health professionals who specialize in the steps you want to take, and choices you want to make.
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Mother's Day Boat Cruises
Brunch Cruise
Celebrate Mom to a Mother's Day Brunch aboard Obsession III. Give Mom a day off and take pleasure in a mouth watering brunch buffet with background Jazz music and onboard Magician entertaining you throughout the cruise. With spectacular views, this sure will be a Mother's Day to remember.
Package includes:
- Two hour yacht cruise plus half hour boarding
- Delectable brunch buffet
- Boarding Mimosa (Or juice for children)
- Fully licensed bar for purchase on board
- Jazz background music
- Magician on Board
Leaves from The West Pier behind Harbourfront Centre
- May 10th 2020 *CANCELLED due to COVID-19 restrictions*
- Boarding time: 11am
- Cruising from 11:30am-1:30pm
- $71 per person ages 16 and up
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- $3 per person age 4 and under
- Sample menu
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Interested in booking 20 or more tickets please contact 416-260-6355 or email firstname.lastname@example.com


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Austin's First Food Hall Is Here!
Reinvention is an exciting term, which is exactly why we're using it to describe the corner of 2nd Street and Congress Avenue. We are proud to introduce Fareground, an inside-outside, eat-drink, work-play, early-to-rise, late-to-close hub, all within walking distance of the heart of downtown Austin.


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This is the 2nd part of this interview which was conducted in June 2013 and was originally published in issue 2 of Nishikigoi Digest International.
Part 1 can be read here – http://nishikigoi.life/2014/08/27/growing-jumbo-koi-theory-and-practice-interview-with-mike-snaden-part-1/
NDI – We touched on water temperature a little earlier. Can you give us an idea of what you consider your ideal temperature regime would be?
Mike – I don't think there is any point trying to heat the Koi to any kind of temperature in winter, and there's certainly no point in feeding the fish in winter, unless you're at 19 degrees or more the fish aren't going to grow anyway. However, if you keep the water temperature during winter months at say 15 degrees the fish will lose quite significant weight.
Most breeders tend to keep their fish at 12°C in the winter months, literally from the time they are harvested at the end of October or beginning of November through until the following April, and they'll keep those fish indoors and they won't feed the fish at all. At 12°C sure the fish will lose a little bit of body weight but they won't lose any significant amount of body weight so it's quite easy for them to put it back on again.
You can go lower in winter, you can drop it down to maybe 7-8°C no problem at all but I think if you are going to go that low you need to know that the fish are in extremely good shape health wise and parasite wise before you drop it that low.
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As far as summer temperatures go what I usually try and recommend doing is to get up to let's say 20 degrees, something like that, by May time and then if by the end of June you were up around 22-23°C start feeding a summer growth type of amount of food if you like but it's important I think not to overfeed the fish early in the summer because I think if you feed them too much too early all the fish do is make eggs and get fat and the problem with that is that when you get through into the main growth months, which is really August onwards, if the fish are too fat in those months then you find yourself not actually feeding as much as the fish really could be utilising for growth because you are worried about them being too fat. So, I think it's better to go very very steady through that first part of summer with that 23 degrees and then August onwards you can literally pretty much double the amount of food you feed them and really start getting serious growth out of the fish, I think that's a much better regime. I think really your optimum summer growth temperature is going to be 23-24°C, some people heat higher than that but I think the problem you've got with that is that with big fish, the metabolism with those is such that if you start heating them to say 26 or 27°C the fish have a much lower appetite, basically because their gills aren't so efficient at getting the oxygen out of the water and the oxygen levels are lower, so effectively the fishes growth metabolism goes up so they grow faster if you like but they won't eat so much food so if the water is too hot the growth is too fast and the fish don't eat enough food so consequently you can't get the body on the fish, so I think 23 or 24°C is really where you'd want to be.
NDI – Lots of people that read this interview won't have the same climate as in the UK, for example people in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. This may be a difficult question for you to answer simply because you've no experience of doing it, for the people in those countries where daily temperatures of 30°C are normal, if you were them would you still be trying to manage the temperatures as you've explained above?
Mike – I would but the trouble is, like you say Mark, some of those countries don't really have a winter so I think it can be difficult to raise fish and keep them big and youthful, it's feasible but it's just difficult. What I know some hobbyists are doing, certainly in Indonesia and I would imagine other places as well, is putting chiller units on their ponds to cool the temperature down but I think perhaps you've got to be a relatively wealthy Koi keeper to be keeping fish in that manner because I don't think those units are cheap to buy, or to run, so it's kind of difficult. I don't really envy people in hot countries, as much as our climate is not great and it costs a lot to heat the fish at the end of the day it's easy for us to choose what the fish temperatures are going to be whereas in some of these other countries there's not an awful lot they can do about it.
NDI – Again something we touched on briefly earlier, feeding. Your main feeding period starts in May after a period of fasting?
Mike – Yes, towards the end of May is when I start feeding.
NDI – And what sort of percentages are you talking about when you start feeding and what kind of food are you using?
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Mike – I've never actually calculated and done it on body weight but 2% of bodyweight per day is the norm. With young Koi such as tosai it's possible to use a little more than that, perhaps 2.5%, and with jumbo Koi they are a lot lazier in their eating habits so with bigger fish you'd be looking more like 1.5% of bodyweight per day. What I tend to do personally is feed the fish with a general kind of feel for what I've fed in previous years with a rate that I think is about just right and then just observe the fish week on week and if I think they are putting on too much weight then I ease off on the food and if I think they're not carrying enough weight then I increase the amount of food that I'm giving. It's not a scientific way of doing it but it seems to work reasonably well for me. I think it's quite easy to a degree to overfeed fish, particularly young fish, so in that regard it's probably better to stick to the 2% or 2.5% daily feed rates because what you'll find, if you actually overfeed small fish, or any fish for that matter, obviously they get too fat, that's one problem, but it's quite easy to raise young fish and overfeed them on a daily basis. When you first get them they eat a lot but what happens is that if you're overfeeding after a few days they start to eat a lot less and then you find yourself thinking the fish are fussy eaters and they're just not eating enough whereas in reality you just trying to overfeed them and that's why uneaten food is floating around all the time.
NDI – A question I often get asked is 'what food do the breeders feed?' I know there is no definitive answer to that, breeders will use lots of different types of food depending on the type of Koi, and brand preference. For you personally what food are you using as a general rule?
Mike – Lately I've been using FD food. I think ultimately I would like to be using Saki Hikari but it's the same scenario as it is for a lot of breeders, they'd also like to feed Saki Hikari to everything but they can't really afford to so it's kind of a tricky one.
Personally I think most Japanese foods are actually pretty good, the ones that are actually made in Japan. I don't think that you can go far wrong with those because the Japanese manufacturers are not just giving food out to a bunch of hobbyists to get on with it and then putting the food into production. What the Japanese companies are doing, and I'm sure you're aware of this yourself Mark, is to sell the food to a certain breeder who will trial it for quite a while and during the course of that the breeder will report back to the food company and say 'well OK, the fish are doing OK with this', or perhaps they'll say, 'my fish are getting too fat with it', or 'the body types too weak in the tail tube'. Various different things they'll report back with and the food companies will try to continually keep on tweaking and adjusting the recipe until the breeder's happy with it. Because of that I think the food companies in Japan have got a whole lot more understanding than companies outside of Japan that basically manufacture something that they think is a pretty close replica of a food that they regard as being good but in reality the problem being is that you might find your fish in the first year you feed it are fine, and maybe in the 2nd year you think they are fine as well, but when you are trying to grow this fish through to jumbo you might end up with a fish that effectively, after 6 years of feeding with that certain brand of food the body type is actually not too good and you might even find yourself looking at the fish and thinking 'well it's too fat, the tail tube's too weak' or whatever and maybe the fish was no good to start, but in reality the food that you've raised that fish on tirelessly for 6 years is actually no good. So, personally I think, for me it's just got to be Japanese foods.
NDI – OK, with regards to the specific type of food, are you feeding a growth food, colour food, a mix, wheatgerm, what do you prefer?
Mike – I don't like too high protein. I think high protein food is OK for young Koi like fry or tosai. I think young fry can utilise much higher protein levels than older fish can. For me I think somewhere from 35 through to 40% is about right for generally raising fish and with those kind of protein levels it's easier to feed the fish and get it right as it were. I think if the protein is too high you end up with some fish that will grow quite easy and some fish will just get too fat too easily. I think it's hard to control what goes on with the whole pond environment with a food that is too high in protein.
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I tend to use a fishmeal base food with some colour ingredient in there, or a certain amount of colour food mixed in it, and I think for me that's about right. I'm not really interested in wheatgerm food but that's really just my preference, at the end of the day I think that fish need to be fed very much on a fish meal based food.
NDI – Lots of people consider wheatgerm food as the starter food for the season for example. Is that something you agree with or perhaps just a marketing ploy or a bit of a fallacy?
Mike – I think it's very easy for fish to digest wheatgerm food so I think yes, starting off in the early part of spring or summer it's not a bad thing as it's easy for the fish to deal with it and utilise that food but I wouldn't personally be inclined to feed it beyond that. What I do think it's good for is conditioning fish for shows because at the end of the day you'll find that using very low protein food, or wheatgerm food, you'll get much better skin condition on the fish. So, if you're trying to prepare fish for Koi shows in that instance I think that wheatgerm food is quite a good move because it will allow the skin, particularly the skin on the face of the fish, to brighten up a lot compared to higher protein food which, let's face it, when you're feeding fish through the summer months quite heavily the skin of the fish can go out of condition really easily, it's quite common to see fish that are kind of quite yellowy skinned or very muddy skinned. Personally I don't think that's a problem because it's something that's quite easy to address. If you've got a Koi show coming up, or likewise going into winter, you can stop feeding those fish and because there's no real loading on the kidneys or anything the fish actually brightens up, effectively the fish is kind of in detox mode when you stop feeding it.
NDI – We spoke at the beginning about pond systems, pond size and depth. In terms of the full system can you explain your ideal system in terms of filtration etc?
Mike – You've got to firstly start with the footprint that you've got available. Let's just say for argument's sake you've looked at your garden and you've worked out you can get a 30ton pond in there. Then you have to look at the the pond, say OK, the pond is going to be 30tons, stick to, as we've talked about before, the 1.5m depth as a maximum. Ideally I would say 1.3 or 1.5m is where you want to be but, assuming you've got that pond of 30tons, what you've then got to look at is turnover rate and dynamics of the pond.
What I would say is that if you've got a 30 ton pond, or whatever pond you build, I really think you need to turn the pond over every hour in order to make good water, I don't mean good parameters, I mean water that's a really good eco-system for the pond, that's very much alive with bacteria. So, with that in mind, if you just said OK then the pond's 30 ton it's going to be turned over at 30,000 litres per hour that then is going to determine your bottom drains. Personally I think if you're going to run anything less than 15 or 18,000 litres per hour you're going to start to perhaps suffer with issues of settlement in the bottom drain and that is the worst thing you can do. When you build a pond you've got to look at the dynamics and basically keep all of your pipework clear and clean all the time. So, whenever you build a pond don't look at the pond design and say OK this pond is let's say 12m long and 4m wide and decide from that you need 3 bottom drains, what you've got to look at is the dynamics of it. So, if you've got a 30,000 litre intended turnover rate basically, if the pipework runs are not too long and kept nice and simple, you should be able to rig a pond up so you've got 2 bottom drains in there with 25,000litres per hour of flow with let's say 4-5" of head loss on the pipework but the one thing you can be sure of, with the head loss on there the bottom drains will stay clear all the time. So that's really the most important thing I think with any pond when you come to think about building it is keeping those bottom drain runs clear.
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Personally I think it's incredibly bad if you build a pond whereby you allow settlement to occur in any of the pipework anywhere in the system, it's got to be clean.
Beyond that you've got to look at filtration. I'm not a big fan of mechanical filtration, or should I say pressurised filtration, because to my mind what you've got effectively is something very similar to a big teabag whereby you're using beads or sand to physically trap the waste and then once you've trapped the waste you're forcing water through it. Therefore any component of that waste that is biologically decomposing is being dissolved into the water and adding to the TDS levels and also discolouring the water. That's just something that I'm really not a big fan of.
I'm also not a fan of excessive aeration for the same reason we spoke about earlier. I think you need to maintain an O2 saturation of say 80%+ so then you know that if you have issues with weather or power failures everything is OK but I don't think it's good to go excessively beyond those levels because at the end of the day you could put 10 times the amount of aeration in there and only get 2% more O2 saturation anyway which personally I think is a wasted effort.
NDI – The system you have running here, you had a blank canvas to build that pond and chose to run ProfiDrum and Bakki Shower. Given you could have chosen any system to run, what was your rationale to choosing that system?
Mike – For that particular system what I wanted to try and recreate was the optimum conditions for trying to raise fish jumbo, the reason being that really more than half the fish that are in that pond already belong to people and a lot of those owners are actually overseas and they are people with big dreams and, because they've got big dreams, I've got to make sure that those dreams and hopes become realised as often as possible. So, I wanted to produce a Koi pond that was basically not only perfect in terms of dynamics and filtration but also a good ecosystem for the fish. So, what I opted for there was a pond of 38 tons, which is 8500 gallons, using 3 bottom drains running a total turnover rate of about 83tons per hour, so effectively that's about 210% per hour turnover rate with about 27,000 litres on average per hour per bottom drain.
When I first went into the ProfiDrums I went to the Holland Show in search of what I thought was the best drum filter I could get for my own use, at the time I wasn't intending to sell them, and after looking at all the various manufacturers that I could find someone else actually recommended to me that I go and chat to the guys at ProfiDrum and consequently that ended up being the route with it. The idea I like with it is that the waste from the bottom drain goes into the drum filter and effectively gets removed from the system before it gets chance to decompose. Every 10-20 minutes the screen then cleans itself and that waste goes straight off down the drain so you're then putting water over the showers that is really already very clean in so far as the waste hasn't started adding to the TDS levels. If you've got a pond that's already very biologically heavily loaded whereby you're actually physically having to use bacteria to break down the waste it will use a lot more KH, add a lot more to TDS levels and also GH levels so the balance between all the water parameters becomes a lot more difficult to manage. What I figured with the drum filters, the waste is getting taken out of the system before it decomposes and then there's a lot less waste to be dealt with by the actual Bakki Showers so therefore the showers aren't using, or aren't creating, so much acid by-products so they're not consuming so much KH and also are not adding so much to the GH or TDS levels.
I went for showers on that particular pond because I wanted to use a system that I've been using now for 10 or 11 years because to my mind there are so many advantages with it because of O2 saturation, gas desaturation if you like, or gases being released, and also because none of this is happening with any pressure, it's all kind of finding its own equilibrium because of the water being able to tumble over the media so freely, so there's no pressurisation of anything there. Of course, I think with the showers, if they are degassing, then you need to get rid of the air around them so I think the showers need to be able to breathe properly and be ventilated properly so you don't find yourself in a situation whereby gases are being broken down and released by the media but effectively getting dissolved back into the water again because the showers can't breathe properly, so I think this is also important.
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NDI – So in your Bakki Showers you are using genuine Bacteria House media?
Mike – Personally I wouldn't use anything else because what I've found, and I've actually got here 3 copies of Bacteria House, and none of them are the same. If you took a picture of it and put it on a website people might think 'oh yeah it's Bacteria House' but if you come to use it it's very different in so far as none of the materials are as hard as Bacteria House. One of those 3 copies in particular, if you put it into a system and it's only in there for let's say a week it's clearly not been fired properly or it's not a proper ceramic because that media you can then take out and you can literally break it in one hand which you can't do with Bacteria House. Bacteria House is a ceramic, it's not something that's made up of minerals that will get dissolved by low KH levels and things like that, it won't get dissolved by acids in the pond. Bacteria House, basically after you've run it for 10 years you can take it out of the system and use it in another system if you want, it's not something that wears and becomes disposable. The other thing I've also found with it is that Bacteria House is, compared to the copies, a lot more porous, the pores are bigger but also one easy way to see that is to actually literally put it up to your mouth, like a mouth organ, and try and blow through it. None of the copies have got that same kind of porosity, there's no way you can blow through it in the same manner. The problem I think is that if the pores are too small like on the copy medias, or alternative medias, that people use, what happens is after a few months the water doesn't physically pass through the media anymore because basically it's become kind of jellified and bunged up in the middle. You then run the risk of creating a bacterial disaster if you like by running that media, whereas with the proper Bacteria House the water does manage to soak and permeate all the way through the media, it won't actually stay in there and block up and I think that anyone that's ever run the systems can attest to the fact that if they take any piece of media out at any stage during the system's life and broken that media open it smells fresh, it looks fresh there is no blocking up going on in there and that's something you just won't find with any of the copies that are out there.
NDI – The new pond system we've discussed has been running here for around 12 months now?
Mike – In actual fact in September 2013 it will be 2 years.
NDI – Is the system still running as it was designed originally or have you changed anything?
Mike – The only changes I've done to it, of course I've been playing around and watching the parameters really closely, but basically it's running as it was in the beginning, the turnover rate is slightly higher than what I was originally intending, I was intending for it to be 38 tons with a turnover rate of approximately 70 tons or 72 tons per hour. What I found was the bottom drains were working more efficiently than I imagined they would so I found myself being able to up that turnover rate to sort of 82-83,000 litres per hour and that's using about 600w in total for the 2 pumps. As far as changes go the only actual change I've done is to put in more extractor fans where the Bakki Showers are in order to help them keep breathing properly, basically because of what I said earlier regarding gas levels building up in the filter house and getting re-dissolved into the water so I put plenty of fans in there to ensure there's plenty of aeration to help the showers degass properly. The other thing I have trialled is using an air curtain on there to see how that affects the condition of the fish but, after running it for a couple of months now I've actually reverted back, as I thought I would, to not using any aeration at all, for me it just seems to work better that way.
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NDI – For any hobbyist out there looking to build a pond is this something you would offer as an ideal system?
Mike – Personally I think yes, the system is a massive overkill. By that I mean effectively we've got a pond that's 2 tons smaller running outside with half the number of Bakki Showers and that systems not half as good, the difference between the 2 ponds is kind of incremental really, the outside pond which we've got which has half the number of Bakki Showers, and a lesser turnover, sure the water's not as good, but the new one is not twice as good. Parameter wise it quantifies as being perhaps 10% better on paper as it were. But I have no doubt that the higher turnover rate makes it a better performing system and a better eco-system for the fish irrespective of what the parameters are.
As far as parameters go I look at a lot of parameters, I don't just look at ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and hardness, I also look at components of the hardness because one thing that's important to me is to understand what's going on within the whole system. At the end of the day if you're trying to chase low TDS levels and keep those differential levels between raw water and pond water as small as possible I think you need to know what's contributing to the TDS levels in the pond. There's about 14 parameters I test on a regular basis just to see and keep a track on where those parameters are going and one thing that I've found is that the main component within the food that adds to the TDS level is actually calcium. Basically the food is pretty rich in calcium and it seems that the food, even when you are running a pond with particularly soft water and low TDS, there's an awful lot of calcium in the food which the fish just can't utilise so they excrete it as waste. Specifically I think that's the one key component that an over stocked pond will suffer with, a complete rise in calcium levels, especially if the pond is overstocked, overfed and under maintained.
In the western world everyone puts UV lights after the pumps. What people tend to do, when designing a filter system, they go into a settlement chamber, they go through a biological system and then they go through their pumps and through heat exchangers and UVs and that kind of thing and I think that's a really bad thing to do because, assuming that your pond filter is any good and it's actually making a good ecosystem, you need that water to go back to the pond alive. I think anyone that's been to Japan will have noticed that the breeders have got UV lights over settlement chambers and they are doing that for a reason, that reason being is that waste that settles in settlement chambers basically starts to create and release bacteria into the water from the moment that waste stops there in the settlement and the last thing you want is for that bacteria to then go straight through the rest of the system and reproduce in the whole pond. The UV needs to be over the settlement so all of that festering waste in the settlement is getting hit by the UV all the time and then, after that you then go through your biological bays and back to the pond because then, with any luck your waste is creating bad bacteria whilst it's in settlement, the UV is trying to deal with that to keep it relatively healthy, the biological bays can then concentrate on making water that's biologically really nice and very much alive with bacteria and then that bacteria can also go back to the pond and keep the pond alive as it were and I think that's much much better. I think one of the worst things people can do is put a UV system after the filtration, I think it's a big mistake.
NDI – I think the general reason for people doing that is a belief that it's the cleanest water and therefore it won't make the quartz sleeve get dirty and if the quartz sleeve gets dirty the UV will stop working.
Mike – Yes, it is the cleanest water, but it will also make the most sterile water and I think that sterile water for raising Koi is just no good, the water's got to be alive, it's got to be an ecosystem. To put the UV over a settlement chamber you can do it in such a way that you can buy a conventional UV and make a lampshade of sorts for it and suspend it over your settlement bay. Of course you need to make sure it's safe and you're not actually physically looking at it all day long but it's very easy to make it so the UV is shining down into the settlement area and consequently keeping it healthy and allowing your filters to produce good water and good bacteria and make the pond abundant in that.
NDI – Talking of sterile water, around the world people are using things like ozone on Koi ponds, what are your thoughts on those systems?
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Mike – You've just struck on something else that I'm not particularly fond of, personally I think people worry too much about ozone levels. The way I see it, ozone to me is something which is quite a potentially dangerous thing to play around with, but also the way I feel about this is that if you've got fish that have been properly quarantined and are basically free from bacterial issues they should really stay free of bacterial issues in a pond that's of a decent design and consequently to my mind you don't really need to put ozone on there. The other theory of my own really is that if you are in a situation where you are using ozone to actually oxidise organic levels in the pond you're not just oxidising organics, that ozone level that's being put into the pond is oxidising everything indiscriminately, and to my mind this includes the fishes colour, and I think you've got to consider the fishes colour as being a living organism in its own right, these pigment cells are literally a living creature that live on the fish and if you consider it that way you look at it slightly differently. The way I see it is that it's kind of similar in a way, I think ozone in a way kind of attacks the colour and makes the colour kind of harden up but also makes it become thin so I think that colour doesn't really last so long on a fish that's been kept in an environment with high ORP levels and the way I see it is that is you look at let's say a mudpond, and one thing I've done is a lot of testing of ORP levels in mudponds in Japan. None of the ponds we run here run above 200mV of ORP and the fish generally speaking keep pretty good colour condition long term no problem at all. I wouldn't encourage a low ORP but I certainly wouldn't want to make it high either, what I mean by that is a mud pond typically I've found is generally on average 100mV of ORP level and what you've got to think about, and this is always something I try and explain to people, is that a new mudpond is an environment for keeping Koi and it really is quite a volatile one and any breeder will say that if they build a new mud pond they'll never put good fish in their in the first year because at the end of the day any breeder that knows what he's doing will realise that fish never actually do very well in the first year, or the subsequent 2nd year, and it's not really until the 3rd year onwards that mudponds start to actually work properly and the reason for that being is that what you've got effectively is very very heavily decomposed fish waste that's in the bottom of the mudpond that kind of makes that sediment or silt but it's not the same as fish waste that's built up in a vortex. Fish waste that gets built up in a vortex and stays there too long rots and bacteria can't get to it but in the mudpond it very different because the fish waste in relation to the surface are on the pond bottom is so small and when that fish waste hits the bottom of the pond the bacteria then work on it and break it down so thoroughly that it almost becomes very much like sinking mud sort of like you'd find in the sea as it were, it's very similar to that. What I've found is that that mud that's in the bottom of the pond is very much the same as what facial clays are made of, like anti oxidising clays and I think that what you've got there effectively is anti-oxidising facial clays. Basically these are clays that have a negative ORP and it is literally a case of anti-oxidising, I think that the mud pond, any pond that's mature, the fish do well in there because you've effectively got an anti-oxidising environment for the fish, or basically a pond that's very clean and healthy but doesn't run a particularly high ORP level because of that negative ORP in the clay at the bottom and I think this is part of the magic of why mudponds work so well. So, for that measure if you like, personally I don't get hung up on ORP levels on my own pond, I'm interested to know what they are but I'm certainly not interested in trying to raise those ORP levels. I try to get clean water by justifying it being low in TDS, not high in ORP. It's easy to say, well OK the ORP is low we'll lift the ORP up by using potassium permanganate but at the end of the day you can oxidise all your organics in the pond using potassium but you can still have a high TDS level afterwards so I don't think there is any point in dressing up your ORP levels in order to deem your water as being clean, you're much better off using conductivity or TDS levels to determine it's clean.
NDI – Just to give people some idea of the numbers that are being achieved in the main pond here, what sort of growth rates have you achieved so far?
Mike – There are fish that have been in that pond, they've not been in there so long as yet because the pond is quite new, one is 5 years old and about 83cm, but there are quite a few sansai that came in as tosai that are 70cm+ that are in there now. So far I'm quite happy with it but my long term aim with that particular pond is to use it as a tool whereby in a few years time people will come here and they'll see fish of 85-90cm and hopefully beyond and look at those fish and be able to say 'wow' and consequently hopefully they'll turn around and ask when those fish came into the country and how did they get so big, and I can then turn round and explain it's not such a big deal but if you concentrate and work on making good water you too can achieve the same thing, that's the reason for trying to inspire people with a pond that hopefully is performing as well in the future as it has so far.
NDI – One thing many hobbyists talk about, certainly when I talk to people in Indonesia and the Philippines, are issues with maintaining the colour on Koi. In some cases I'm sure this is simply down to the fish being wrong to start with, other times people suggest it's a temperature problem, the fact their pond is naturally too hot, the fish grow so quickly so easily and lose colour, and another thing that perhaps contributes to loss of pigmentation is lack of natural light. How do you consider those aspects in terms of maintaining colour?
Mike – I think it's really important to keep the temperature and levels of light in keeping with each other, and I think this is also one reason for giving fish a proper winter. If you think about it, as far as the UK is concerned, during our winter months we don't really get as much daylight, the day time is usually pretty cloudy, and if you try to use elevated temperatures and keep your fish growing at the end of the day they are not going to get enough light to keep that colour thriving so you are going to end up with fish whereby the colour is going to look really weak and washed out. Really you've also got to apply the same theory in the summer, if you're raising fish in the summer you've got to think about whether the fish are getting enough light. You don't want them getting too much sunlight because that will kind of age the colour too much and vice-versa if the fish aren't getting enough light you need to think about trying to supplement the light a little bit, maybe with things like metal halide lighting, something like that, it won't save anything from losing colour but it will kind of help a little bit if you are in a bit of a compromised situation. In Indonesia and other countries like that, like you say, they do suffer a lot with the colour not keeping on the fish, and I think a large part of that is to do with the temperatures being too hot and the fish getting too much sun, the colour's aging too quickly and then you get an awful lot of teri weakness with the fish because the colours not got a chance to rejuvenate and catch up, which is one advantage you will get with the winter months. I think with fish that are wintered it's so much easier to keep them looking youthful once they get big. But, obviously you have to think how you are raising the fish during the summer months to make sure they do get big if you are then going to winter them properly. So lighting is important and in this regard I think it's better as well to make sure the fish are getting a lot of light. It's better to get morning light than afternoon light on them because, although the afternoon light is good for getting the temperature up, it's also a little bit more intense and runs more of a risk of doing colour damage to the fish. At the end of the day if you've got a pond that's getting full sun all day long the fish really have got nowhere to go, they've got nowhere to hide from it. If you're in a situation where your pond is getting full sun all day long what you need to try and think about is shading it in such a way that, let's say at 1 or 2pm, they start to get some shade. If half the pond is shaded, because the fish aren't entirely stupid, provided you don't put your auto feeder out in the sun so it drags the fish out into the sunny area, the fish will predominantly try and stay in the shaded area if it's too hot and sunny for them. It's better to give the fish the option of knowing what's best for it.
NDI – One thing connected to the growing of Koi which I'm asked about a lot in various parts of the world is the pushing Koi too hard in terms of growth and development. We've seen breeders in Japan who've gone to the point that it was a big deal that this was a 70cm nisai etc., but now everyone seems to have pulled back because it was making fish too weak, because it was overloading organs and the fish generally weren't strong enough and you get to 3 or 4 years old and the fish just go belly up and die. For people in a tropical climate where they can feed all year do you think there is a danger that hobbyists could do just that and grow fish too quickly?
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Mike – Yes, I do subscribe to the theory that much as people in these climates can grow fish easily and have a lot of fun with the fish I think also the success rate doesn't really work hand in hand with that. They can grow fish really quickly but also get a much higher failure rate, they can get fish like you say but they look old and haggard if you like because they've not got any winter months to rejuvenate and I think, in some regards, in days gone by breeders were trying to push for tosai that were 40cm+ or even 50cm+ and a lot of breeders have now realised in the last few years that they actually ruin an awful lot of fish trying to get them that big and consequently they've also kind of come to the conclusion that in actual fact pushing those fish an extra 10cm as tosai doesn't necessarily mean when the fish get jumbo they are going to get any bigger or grow any quicker. And a lot of these breeders have realised that the success rate of fish, or jumbo tosai, worth keeping is much much higher if they are raised in a slow manner. I think as you've already suggested Mark, a lot of breeders I think do have a lot of issues whereby if they raise fish really big as tosai and then end up with 70cm nisai the fatality rate if you like of those fish not getting as old or as big as they should I think is particularly high. To me, hitting 80cm as 5 years old and then carrying on beyond that is plenty quick enough and not too quick, providing you're just allowing them to grow and not forcing them and I think there's a big difference between those two.
NDI – Just a last point really and to bring what I think's been a very interesting conversation to an end, what most people are under the wrong impression about is that there are 85cm Koi swimming all over Japan, 85cm anywhere in the world is a big fish and therefore it's important for hobbyists to be realistic with their objectives of what they can achieve.
Mike – Yes you're right, and you do need the right bloodlines, the right genetics and a breeder with the right kind of business model and then you've got to hunt down the fish that are good examples for that breeder. It's no good choosing tosai from a breeder of say 35cm and the dealer is saying 'these fish are jumbo tosai' when in reality all of the breeders' best ones are all sort of 40 or 45cm, chances are those ones that are 35cm basically aren't going to make the grade size wise and that's why the breeder's getting rid of them and sold them off to the dealer at a better price. So I think you need to know whatever fish you buy, whether it's tosai or nisai, they've got to be on par for what they should be at that age from that breeder. So I guess in that regard a lot of it comes down to trust of the breeder or dealer concerned, or you own experience of how you should grow fish from that breeder.


text:
Disabled Christian News
How To Become A Christian
We all will die, but GOD loves us so HE made a
way that we can be with HIM in Heaven.
2 Samuel 14:14 "Like water
spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does
not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not
remain estranged from him."
Note it says that we are banished, and
estranged from GOD. But also note He devises ways so that we do not have
to remain that way.
What makes us to be separated from GOD, our
Isaiah 59:2 "But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not
Sin is what keeps us apart from GOD. And the Bible says
we are all sinners.
Psalms 14:3 "All have turned aside, they have
together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."
Ecclesiastes 7:20 "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is
right and never sins."
Isaiah 53:6 "We all, like sheep, have
gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all."
Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God,"
Has the Bible convinced
you that you are a sinner? I know I am a Sinner!
John 1:8 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us."
Now I ask you, how do we get rid of our sin?
So we can have a relationship with GOD. Some will say, "just try your
best to be good, and don't sin." Others might say, "join a
church, or be baptized." Still others have told me, "if you are
God conches, (if you believe in God), that makes you a Christian."
But what does the Bible say about Sin?
1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
Revelation 1:5
"and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the
dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed
us from our sins by his blood,"
Romans 5:9 "Since we have now
been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath
through him!"
1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ died for sins once
for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to
death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,"
Boy the Bible says
that my sins are so bad JESUS had to die for them. We don't like to think
that we are that bad, do we? But I do allot of good things, doesn't that
count for something?
Isaiah 64:6 " All of us have become like one who
is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up
like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
The Bible
says that our good acts are even bad in the sight of GOD. So even if we
try are best to be good, and attend church regularly that can't save us from our
The only way we can be saved from our sins, is thru faith in JESUS, whose blood
washes away our sins.
Galatians 3:22 " But the Scripture declares
that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being
given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe."
Romans 3:22 "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe."
Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have
been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Galatians 2:16 "know that a man is not justified by
observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith
in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing
the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."
Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"
So I can't do
anything to work off my sin. It is only through faith in JESUS that can
save me.
If you believe that JESUS died on the cross for
your sins, Why not pray to him now?
GOD I know I am a sinner. But I
except by faith that JESUS died for my sins. And now I am forgiven, not by
anything I did, but because JESUS died for me. Come in to my heart JESUS
and make me a new person. Help me to study the Bible so I can get to know
you better, and grow as one of your children. In JESUS name, amen.
If you have any questions about being a
contact Lloyd Tietz the Webmaster
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text:
An Informative and Interactive Session on RTI Act
TMAD organized a meeting on RTI Act on 5th February, 2017 @ CV Corp Solutions, Kukatpally, by Social Activist, Rakesh Reddy Buddudu.
TMAD has organized many such sessions earlier and this was the reinstating of such meetings. It was a very information session on RTI Act and the participants were encouraged to write an RTI application and the way the questions has to be written has been discussed. All the participants understood the best way of asking questions to get proper and relevant response.
Speaker: Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu
Participants: Prasanthi, Sandeep, Ramakrishna, Rajesh, Dileep, Satish Chennamsetty, Sridhar, Sunanth, Bheemineni Sreenivasa Rao, Naveen, Balaram, Y. Leela Krishna
TMAD thanks Chaitanya Vaddi, CEO of CV Corp for providing the venue to conduct the meeting. TMAD also thanks volunteers, Sandeep and Naveen, for co-ordination to set up this venue.


text:
In a recent article, the author points out that many competing and opposing factions believe that the only way to reduce racism in America is to tear the system down and start all over again. Starting over again will include going back to the time of the Attack of Moses regarding his wife who was a woman of color. Reducing racism in America will require determining the systemic inflection point that will provide the greatest impact with the least amount of effort.
According to the article, millions of good people sit on all sides of the racial fence, and it is wrong to dismiss their impact, even at a time they're getting drowned out by rioters and reactionaries. Advances in racial understanding are such that we no longer even notice many of them, such as counting how many blacks are on the basketball court at once, or whether the white office is run by a black supervisor.
Yet we are not happy, we are not satisfied and we are becoming increasingly frightened. Many blacks think racism has gone from overt to a more elusive but sinister subtle brand.
Many whites are frustrated that in their eyes, no advances seem good enough. They think blacks should appreciate being granted their rights and take advantage, which offends blacks who don't think they should have to have been "granted" their rights in the first place.
Democrats blame Republicans for endorsing and legislating in favor of an "Incarceration Nation" that has devastated families by putting much of black America behind bars. Republicans blame Democrats for thinking that throwing money at affirmative action programs would solve everything.
They point out that Democrats are in power in most of America's major cities, yet that is where much of the tension is found. The election of our first African-American President, which was hailed as the exclamation point of racial progress in America, has turned White House politics into the most bitter, racially polarized battleground of all.
Why does racism in America result from blame?
Blame contributes to the final stages of a dysfunctional organization
Dysfunctional Organizations
There are five levels of a dysfunctional organization. The foundation for the dysfunctional organization begins with each person's use of defense mechanisms for coping. Defense mechanisms are the unwritten rules an individual learns and utilizes to effectively deal with circumstances that are upsetting, embarrassing, or threatening.
The second level is skilled incompetence, which is the outcome of the defense mechanisms we have internalized. When the defensive behaviors we've learned are transformed into a learned behavior, that behavior becomes a skill – albeit an incompetent skill – that we consider necessary in order to deal with issues that are embarrassing, threatening, or upsetting. A skill that is learned from the regular application of a defense mechanism has a high degree of incompetence embedded within it, because we are unaware of how this skill will impact our future.
Skilled incompetence transforms into a defensive routine. Defensive routines are the third level. When the skilled incompetence is automatically exhibited at all times, the behavior is now a defensive routine.
Defensive routines lead to fancy footwork. Fancy footwork is the fourth level. Fancy footwork happens when individuals try to deny the behavioral inconsistencies they exhibit, or else they place blame on other people, which results in distancing themselves from taking responsibility for their behavioral inconsistencies.
Fancy footwork leads to organizational malaise. Organizational malaise is the final level. During this phase the individuals in the organization will seek to find fault within the organization rather than accept responsibility for their actions and correct their behavior accordingly. The individual continues the process by accentuating the negative and deemphasizing the positive in an effort to cover up their actions. The organizational malaise is further exacerbated by a refusal of one or all the members to discuss their area of responsibility.
Many people and organizations fail to acknowledge how they contribute to racism in America. One such organization is the American teaching staff. The American teaching staff is 72% White female.
The White female teaching staff becomes the inflection point to reduce racism in America. No matter what side of the fence that you are on when it comes to racism in America, you are going to face a White female teacher.
White female teacher can reduce racism in America by promoting positive racial teacher student classroom relationships (Properateasclaships) instead of relying on The Raccelerate Phenomenon.
Related Articles
Racism is still very much a problem in America
Racism Is Real: New Online Video Highlights Racism In America, Goes Viral [Video]
Where do racists in America live?
Dr. Derrick L. Campbell, Ed.D.
PO Box 1668 Blackwood, NJ 08012
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Author of Promoting Positive Racial Teacher Student Classroom Relationships
"The model that you use to analyze teacher-student relationships is a good one for most school districts".
~ Joe Vas ~ Perth Amboy Mayor
"Dr. Campbell's Cultural Relationship Training Program is comprehensive, informative, and should be required training for all schools"
~ Darrell Pope ~ Hutchinson Kansas NAACP President


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FitFlop Muk Luk Bootie (Black)
$ 75.00
$ 150.00
Our updated little MUKLUK SHORTY II shorty boots are like dreams for your feet, with their fluffy sheepskin lining, a flip-up /fold-down cozy cuff, and unbelievable underfoot cushion. Unbeatable for sheer 'snug', wear them with or without socks until the summer comes. Our bet for your new favorite boots.


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Massachusetts Public Records
Public records from the state of Massachusetts are available from a variety of different sources. There have been laws on the books in Massachusetts mandating the disclosure of public records since 1851, and many records are open if you know who and how to ask for them. Here is how you can access the various types of public records in the state of Massachusetts.
Table of Contents
Massachusetts Public Records Laws
In the state of Massachusetts, the process of accessing public records is fairly straightforward. According to state public records law, any records that are created by or in the custody of any government body of the state must be made available unless it can be shown that the information will be a danger to public safety.
Exceptions to this open door policy include:
- Medical records
- Inter-agency memos referencing developing policy positions
- Personal notebooks of employees
- Law enforcement investigatory materials
- Trade secrets
- Closed bids and proposals
- Appraisals on contracts in negotiation
- Personal information from firearms permit applications
- Questions and answers to assessments
- Blueprints, procedures, or policies related to security matters
- Adoption information
- Personal information about judicial employees
Massachusetts Criminal Records, Arrest Records and Background Checks
Massachusetts criminal records checks can be done on almost anyone in the state, with easy background checks that pull up arrest records and other in-depth information. In Massachusetts, a criminal record is called a CORI, which stands for "Criminal Offender Record Information" and these reports are largely open to anyone through an online portal run by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. While certain classes, such as employers, landlords, real estate agents, and government agencies, will see a more complete report, the general public can pull reports on anyone that will show recent convictions.
Massachusetts Jail and Inmate Records
In order to locate an offender who is currently an inmate at one of the Massachusetts Department of Correction facilities, you will need to have the offender's first name, last name and/or commitment number. You can look up the information at Vinelink.com, or you can call (877) 421-8463 for further information.
If you have questions or concerns about a current inmate, you can refer to the state of Massachusetts Victim Services unit.
Massachusetts Court Records
If you are looking for court records in Massachusetts, it will depend on the particular court and type of case as to the proper method for obtaining records. Certain trial court case information is available to the public electronically via eAccess, where users can search by case name, case number, and case type. For court records and information before 1860, you will need to search the Judicial Archives at the State Archives of Boston. Access to records at the county level may be achieved either through the county's website or by enlisting the help of a third party service.
Massachusetts Vital Records
All vital records in Massachusetts should be requested through their Department of Human Services, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, with the exception of very old records.
Birth and death records in Massachusetts go back as far as 1841. For records before this date, you may wish to contact the particular town or city. From 1841 to 1920, records were maintained at the Massachusetts State Archives, and you must request records from them directly either via mail or in person. You will need to know the person's name, and the city or town in which the birth or death occurred. The archive is located at: 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA 02125.
Beginning in 1921, The Registry of Vital Records and Statistics is the place to request all birth, death, marriage and divorce records. There is no online method of requesting these. You would also either need to request via mail, in person, or through a third party website. Their address is: 120 Mt. Vernon St., 1st Floor, Dorchester, MA 02125.


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Abby Finkenauer volunteers at the Eastern Iowa Diaper Bank after derechoAshley Hinson volunteers at the Derecho Resource Center after derechoGov. Kim Reynolds closes bars, breweries and nightclubs in 6 countiesVilsack's highlight derecho damage during Democratic Convention video
Watch: Vice President Mike Pence responds to Iowa derechoRecord number of women running for federal office in IowaGov. Kim Reynolds tears up while thanking Iowans for support during COVID-19Here are the candidates in Iowa's upcoming Congressional races
Theresa Greenfield talks about how COVID-19 is affecting her approach to health care.Theresa Greenfield on how she differs from Sen. Joni Ernst.Theresa Greenfield lays out her plan for her general election bid against Sen. Joni Ernst.Theresa Greenfield, U.S. Senate candidate, meets with Register journalists
Watch Next
Voter suppression and turning 'red' states 'blue'See video of the scene at President Trump's campaign rally in Des MoinesElection 2020: Iowa's congressional delegates face competitive races


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Introduction:Peripheral transmission thickener has two kinds, peripheral roller transmission and peripheral gear transmission.
Capacity :87~3000t/d
Improvement:Single row cross column rotary support or single row four point contact ball rotary support, collector device with good insulation, exposed rotary parts with light shieldAdvantages:
Unique bridge design, excellent rigid strength and strong overload capacity.
Peripheral roller transmission, low energy consumption, stable and reliable operation.
Simple operation, convenient maintenance and remote control.Technical Parameters:


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Our vision is to use cutting-edge science and innovative technology to empower individuals to lead happier, more fulfilling lives.
Happify is taking a 21st century approach to creating a "well lived" life.
The Happify concept focusses on these 5 key areas which have been scientifically proven to influence happiness – Savour, Thank, Aspire, Give Empathise.
Offering various "tracks" to their users, helping to deal with issues such as strengthening friendships, handling stress and getting motivated to keep fit, Happify cater to a broad spectrum of potential visitors and the issues they want to address.
Some tracks are free, others are available only to Happify Plus members, but all offer brain training for your emotional health (Headspace have similar aims) and the chance to take control of your own happiness.
If you want to focus more on happiness (see Happier as well if you do) then Happify give you the tools to make positive steps towards a happier life.


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365 days of SL, day 216:
(Click for larger — 1920x1033 PNG, 2668 KiB)
And we're back on track — days 213 to 215 got skipped because I didn't have an opportunity to be on SL, but everything should continue as before now. :)
Last night was a quiet night (which I needed); we only hung out in Lordshore, at the beach towels near Lordshore Lookout Point and Lordshore Bridge, at Jeogeot Bay. It's a nice spot, and I enjoy being there, although I'm itching to actually go somewhere again, too, like we used to do back in spring — swimming through Jeogeot Bay, finding the volcano island there, exploring Michael Linden's home and all that are among the happiest memories I have for this project, and I'd love to recreate that spirit of adventure and exploration and wide-eyed wonder at just what you can find on SL if you're only willing to look.
But last night, I needed rest, and that's what I got.
The beach towels that we're using here have a bunch of different built-in poses, BTW, but you cannot select them; instead, you get a more or less (?) random one when you sit. They don't have names, either, but the one I got here is what I like to call the "fuck me" pose, for what I think should be obvious reasons. I think it's only supposed to show exhaustion and utter flopping, though, which was definitely appropriate.
With any luck, there'll be more exploration today again, but it's been a pretty packed day so far with no end in sight, so we'll see.
Location: Lordshore (47, 124, 23) (Jeogeot Gulf, Lordshore Cove)


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Have you lost your instructions for surgery or after-care instructions? In this area you will be able to find the information you need. As always if you cannot locate the information you are searching for feel free to Contact Us by email or phone.
Pre-operative Surgery Instructions
Preparation for Balloon Sinuplasty
Aftercare Instructions for:
Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy
Instructions for:
Ear Irrigation:
- Mix Equal parts distilled water and white vinegar
- Draw into syringe, insert tube into ear (approx 1.5 inch) and flush
Nasal Wash:
- Mix 1 quart distilled water
- 1 heaping tsp of non-iodized salt
- and a pinch of baking soda
The inner ear serves two purposes: hearing and balance. There are mechanisms in the ear that inform the brain about your position, orientation in space and movement and all times – to keep you in balance. A false sensation of spinning or whirling, known as vertigo, can occur when the signal to the brain is blocked or misfires. In addition to the sensation of dizziness, symptoms may include headache, nausea, sensitivity to bright light, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, ear pain, facial numbness, eye pain, motion sickness, confused thinking, fainting and clumsiness.
Dizziness can also be a symptom of a more serious medical problem, such as high or low blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, tumor, medication side effect or metabolic disorders. Therefore you should always seek medical attention if you experience ongoing or repetitive dizziness.
Common causes of dizziness
Acoustic Neuroma
An acoustic neuroma is a benign growth on the nerve that connects the inner ear to the brain.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV):
BPPV occurs when tiny calcium crystals in the ears loosen and begin moving about the wrong part of the ear. It is characterized by sudden, short bursts of dizziness that happen most often as a result of head movement. There is no known cause for BPPV. It usually resolves itself in a matter of days.
Inflammation of the Inner Ear
Dizziness may be one symptom of an inner ear infection.
Meniere's Disease
Meniere's Disease is characterized by long periods of dizziness, lasting from 30 to 60 minutes or more. It is accompanied by symptoms such as ringing in the ears, hearing loss and a feeling of fullness in the ear. There is no known cause or cure for Meniere's Disease, although medication and behavior changes can help reduce the severity of the symptoms.
Some migraines (vestibular migraines) can cause a feeling of imbalance and vertigo. This may be accompanied by ringing in the ears or hearing loss. Migraine-related vertigo may occur in conjunction with or separate from the migraine headache.
If you're experiencing any form of repetitive or chronic dizziness, please contact our office and schedule an appointment with one of our otolaryngologists.


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Whitaker Center
5 Consecutive Projects
Roto developed a comprehensive master plan with Whitaker Center in 2007 to entirely renovate and replace most permanent science exhibits. Over the next 5 years, the science center completed a sequence of new exhibit projects based upon that Plan, ranging from 2,800 to 3,600 square feet in size, choosing Roto each time on the basis of fixed-fee design-build engagements.
- Comprehensive Master Plan, including facility and exhibit renovation
- KidsPlace, the center's first dedicated exhibit space for young children
- Forces of Nature, featuring the first walk-in, unstaffed "hurricane room"
- Carnival of Health, a fun and colorful twist on fitness and wellness
- Move-It!, featuring numerous tinkering-style problem-solving exhibits
Exhibit design for Whitaker Center followed a strongly visitor-centered philosophy, ensuring that each activity within each theme would create memorable learning for the widest possible audience spectrum. Exhibits were a blend of tried-and-true science museum staples, many from Roto's repertoire of more than 1,000 previously-successful interactive elements, always supplemented by one or more totally original experiences that are unique to these projects.
Roto design progress is always guided by pre-established budget parameters, ensuring that creative development maximizes the available resources and avoids gutting ambitious projects through "value engineering." All Roto design-build projects were completed within the guaranteed budgets they started with.
"Roto designs exhibits that visitors love to use. That's what we like about them."- Steve Bishop, Vice President, Whitaker Center


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Upgrading from K2 Five to 5.1 fails with a number of errors being highlighted within the configuration analysis. These errors are also highlighted within the K2 set up trace log.
You can access the trace log via the following directory: Program Files (x86) > K2 Blackpearl > Set up > Logs
The following errors are displayed:
Script execute failed:
System.Exception: Script execution exception: Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common.ExecutionFailureException: An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: The CREATE UNIQUE INDEX statement terminated because a duplicate key was found for the object name 'Authorization.Object' and the index name 'UX_Authorization_Object_ClassID_Hash_IsClassObject'.
The duplicate key value is (64b0b584-8c45-4cce-839e-8daaa2ae16d8, 0x3c602a1c2455f7219a1abd46d8e66f980e6cad7949d93f0ed30de2f7a9854261, 0).


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I just finished up a couple of Artist Trading
Chubby Blocks for a holiday swap I'm in. On the
Halloween ATB I used a weathered block and misted
it with a combination of Tungsten Carbide and Sterling
Silver Color Mists from the Molten Metals set. I really
love the dark shimmery look they gave the wood.
Next I used images from OTM's
gave them some dimension by adding
3D Crystal Lacquer over the images.
I also drilled a hole in the top and added a rusty
bent piece of wire I mounted through a skull bead
and then glued onto the block. I hung a key,
and some ribbons from the end.
This ATB I made for a friend knowing she likes the color
combinations of turquoise and red. I first adhered some
freebie images found online that I printed up, and then
added some DecoArt's Snow-Tex and while it was still
wet I sprinkled extra fine glitter dust. I then embedded
bells and beads into the wet snow and let it dry. I also
adhered one of Sakura's Glass tiles over the words
on the front side of the block. I love how the
glass tile magnified the words!
Again, I used push pins for the feet.
For Unique Whimsical
Gifts Visit


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Australia (AUD)
We have a new Carhartt WIP website for customers in the US and Canada. Now offering domestic shipping and returns. Check it out.
After having ELZO DURT'S work, the Carhartt store in Hossegor will dedicate his gallery space to the photography of David Manaud! If you should happen to be in "French California" around the 27th, pass by for a drink at the Vernissage starting at 19:30h!(LG)


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Wild Blueberry Immune-Boosting Tropical Smoothie
10 min
Serves 2
1 cup frozen Wild Blueberries
1 cup coconut water
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger*
½ cup frozen pineapple
½ cup peeled orange segments (approximately one orange)
Optional Topping:
orange slice or wedge
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
- Garnish glass with orange slice or wedge.
- Serve immediately.
*You can substitute ¼ teaspoon ground ginger for fresh.


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The Aspiration: You start a lookup engine optimization (Seo) campaign and instantly you have hundreds of thousands of hits and your internet website crashes simply because of the traffic and – of course! – the revenue. You by no means have to do something once more except sit back again and unwind: hundreds of thousands of people will go to your website every working day from now on, buying everything you care to provide. Oh, and did I mention? The Seo campaign by itself was an inexpensive, quick, do-it-your self package.
TuneWiki is a social music app that lets users share and remark about what they're listening to correct now. It's not an internet radio services like Last.FM, but it's a fantastic way for someone to declare their adore for Lady Gaga or whoever they listen to. It also includes radio advertising as a bonus. Plus, the droid application also offers lyrics for audiophiles that like to sing-a-long while taking part in MP3s off of their gadget.
Share your podcasts on your website, blog and on social networks. You can set up plugins on your site to allow your visitors to pay attention to your podcasts whilst they browse via your products. Create new podcasts frequently: maybe your initial podcasts will not get a great deal of interest, but eventually, individuals will start listening to them. You can share your podcasts on specific sites and even produce your own online radio channel or playlist and share it with your clients.
To make certain that your duplicate will get to the point rapidly and is relevant to the individuals studying it, you will require to produce an outline. This is extremely easy and will get you considering obviously about what you must say to your visitors and in which order. Create dot factors of no more than ten phrases that summarize what you want to say. As soon as you've created these, look at them and determine whether or not they should be in a different purchase to inform a better story to your visitors.
You must remember that your readers have brief interest spans. We all do. We are overcome by the amount of info that hits us daily. Television advertising, radio Advertising, email messages, newspapers and sales catalogues have pressured us to skim through information and not consider the content in. Your job is to reduce through to your reader by providing them with a compelling story. If I use the little black dress as an example once more, I may inform the reader about the first time I wore this incredible dress, how it made me really feel and the benefits that I got from sporting the dress. I might share with them why I am so passionate about the gown and how I want to share my enthusiasm with the world. Interact with your audience and inform them the methods in which the item has enhanced your life.
A speed of 300Mhz is required for your Pc or laptop computer to operate the satellite software program. This speed is necessary as it needs to be a match to your suggested web link. A better pace on your pc will ensure you have no problems accessing the web channels.
Most nearby radio stations in major cities also stream live and have Xmas music for free at some stage during the period. Here in Rhode Island, LiteRock one zero five streams live on-line with Xmas songs playing 24 hrs a day.
Tags: advertising agencies, make money, tv tuner box
Comments are closed here.


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Other than being up to my ears in baking at the last minute I'm having a stress free Christmas. Normally, today would be filled with last minute gifts and stressing out about if I've bought enough for Shelby.
This year I started shopping early and I decided to go with four gifts:
1. Something she wanted.
2. Something she needed.
3. Something to wear.
4. Something to read.
It was easy and quick. We decided on a new bible for her something to read and it was actually the most expensive thing that we purchases (I used coupons and sales for everything else).
My daughter get tons of things - some that never get used, so I wanted to tone it down some and focus on quality not quantity. I did the same thing for Bekah. We will see how it goes over...so far so good for me.
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Circle Brass Flat Bead - SET OF 3
$ 18.00
This product is currently sold out.
These beautiful brass beads were used in some of our custom wall pieces and we had so many people asking about them, that we decided to offer them up for you!
They are a great addition to any wall hanging adding a unique, artistic flair.
Solid brass, 2", flat edge
Price is for THREE beads.