text:
- Research article
- Open Access
- Open Peer Review
Parent of origin influences the cardiac expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (Vegfa)
- Christine L Chiu1Email author,
- Chloe T Morgan1,
- Samantha J Lupton1 and
- Joanne M Lind1
© Chiu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013
- Received: 21 September 2012
- Accepted: 25 March 2013
- Published: 5 April 2013
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) is a major regulator of both physiological and pathological angiogenesis. Associations between polymorphisms in VEGFA and complex disease have been inconsistent. The parent from whom the allele was inherited may account for these inconsistencies. This study examined the parent of origin effect on the expression of murine Vegfa.
Two homozygous, inbred mouse strains A/J (AJ) and 129x1/SvJ (129) were crossed to produce reciprocal AJ129 and 129AJ offspring, respectively. RNA was extracted from cardiac tissue of 6 week old male (n = 8) and female (n = 8) parental, and male and female F1 offspring mice (AJ129 n = 8 and 129AJ n = 8). Vegfa and Hif1a expression levels were measured by qPCR and compared between the F1 offspring from the reciprocal crosses.
We found significant differences in the expression of Vegfa in F1 offspring (AJ129 and 129AJ mice) of the reciprocal crosses between AJ and 129 mice. Offspring of male AJ mice had significantly higher expression of Vegfa than offspring of male 129 mice (p = 0.006). This difference in expression was not the result of preferential allele expression (allelic imbalance). Expression of Hif1a, a transcriptional regulator of Vegfa expression, was also higher in F1 offspring of an AJ father (p = 0.004).
Differences in Vegfa and Hif1a gene expression are likely the result of an upstream angiogenic regulator gene that is influenced by the parent of origin. These results highlight the importance of including inheritance information, such as parent of origin, when undertaking allelic association studies.
- Parent of origin
- Epigenetics
- Vascular endothelial growth factor
Angiogenesis is the growth of capillary sized vessels. It plays a critical role in wound healing and embryological development, and in the pathogenesis of diseases such as cancer. Promoting angiogenesis can aid in the treatment of ischemia and myocardial infarction, while inhibition of angiogenesis has been effective in the treatment of cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) is one of the most potent inducers of angiogenesis, and is a major regulator of both physiological and pathological angiogenesis. It has been shown to stimulate blood vessel formation in animal models of ischemic cardiovascular disease [1], has been trialled as a potential therapeutic for myocardial ischemia [2], and therapies that inhibit VEGF are used in the treatment of cancer [3].
A number of studies have investigated associations between polymorphisms within, or nearby, the VEGFA gene and complex disease, including coronary artery disease [4], atherosclerosis [5], myocardial infarction [6], and hypertension [7]. However, these sequence variants explain only a small fraction of the estimated heritability of the diseases studied, and the ability to replicate these findings can prove difficult. For example, inconsistent results have been shown when studying the association between the development of coronary artery lesions in individuals with Kawasaki disease with VEGFA polymorphisms [8, 9]. Population differences, study power, and choice of polymorphism may explain inconsistent results. Additionally, the parent from whom the variant was inherited may also contribute to the inability to replicate results across studies.
Parent of origin effects influence gene expression in offspring and result in the preferential expression of the paternally or maternally inherited allele. It is caused by a variety of mechanisms including imprinting, sex, epigenetic effects, and environmental influences during development [10]. In genetic studies, parent of origin effects are largely ignored; however, recent studies have found evidence of parent of origin effects in breast cancer [11], colorectal cancer [12], and type 2 diabetes [11]. These findings highlight the importance of investigating the effects of parent of origin on phenotype and disease susceptibility.
Due to the inconsistency in results when studying the association between VEGFA and disease, this study aimed to determine whether parent of origin effects influence the expression of Vegfa. This study was carried out in cardiac tissue from F1 hybrids resulting from reciprocal crosses of two inbred mouse strains.
All experiments were carried out at the School of Medicine Animal Facility, University of Western Sydney and approved by the University of Western Sydney Animal Ethics Committee. Two homozygous, inbred mouse strains A/J (AJ) and 129x1/SvJ (129) were used. Crosses between AJ male and 129 female, and 129 male and AJ female produced reciprocal AJ129 and 129AJ offspring, respectively. Male (n = 8) and female (n = 8) mice from each of the parental strains were euthanised at six weeks of age by cervical dislocation. Male and female offspring were collected from each of the crosses (AJ129 n = 8 per sex and 129AJ n = 8 per sex). The hearts were excised, rinsed with PBS and flash frozen in LN2.
RNA extraction, quantification and cDNA synthesis
Hearts were mechanically disrupted in the deep frozen state using the 'Mikro Dismembrator' automated frozen tissue disruptor (Sartorius, Germany), as previously described [13]. Total RNA was extracted from powderised tissue using TRIzol (Sigma Aldrich, USA) as per manufacturer's protocol, followed by DNase I treatment using the 'DNA-free' kit (Applied Biosciences, USA) according to the manufacturer's protocol. RNA were quantified using the NanoPhotometer (Implen, Germany) and cDNA was synthesised from 500 ng of RNA using Bioscript™ Reverse Transcriptase and random hexamers (Bioline Pty Ltd, Australia) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Genomic DNA was extracted using the QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Germany) as per the manufacturer's protocol.
Quantitative PCR
Primers and PCR conditions
Primer sequence 5′to 3′
PCR conditions
Dissociation curve
Dissociation curve
Dissociation curve
Dissociation curve
Dissociation curve
Direct sequencing
Sanger sequencing was used to confirm the presence of a polymorphism in the 3′UTR of Vegfa (NCBI Reference Sequence: NM_001025250.3). Total RNA from the parental strains and F1 offspring was amplified and the purified PCR products were sequenced (Australian Genome Research Facility, AUST). Sequence data was aligned and analysed using Sequencher v5.0.1 (Gene Codes Corp, MI).
Measurement of allelic expression using amplification refractory mutation systems (ARMS) PCR
Heterozygous F1 samples were evaluated for Vegfa allelic expression imbalance using quantitative ARMS PCR. The amplification primers (forward: CTTTCATCCCATTGTCTACC(G/A); reverse: TGTTATTGGTGTCTTCACTGGA) used in the assay generated a 188 bp amplicon. The allele specific primers were run in parallel reactions. Reactions were run under the following conditions: 95°C 10 min; 95°C 30 sec, 62°C 30 sec, 72°C 30 sec for 30 cycles; followed by a dissociation curve. Individual reactions (10 μl) contained 5× MyTaq PCR buffer (Bioline), 0.4 U of MyTaq (Bioline), 1x SYBR Green I dye, forward and reverse primers (10 μM), and 4 μl of cDNA (or 4 μl water for no template controls). All reactions were performed in triplicate. The ability of the primers to distinguish between the two alleles with high specificity was assessed using cDNA from parental strains. Under these conditions neither primer exhibited cross-reactivity with the opposite allele. A standard curve was generated for each primer pair using a dilution series (200 ng to 0.20 ng, 1 in 4) of heterozygous genomic DNA. This served as a reference for the 50:50 allelic ratio as we would expect a perfect 50:50 ratio of the two alleles in genomic DNA from a heterozygote with a diploid genome. We avoided using cDNA as a control as this would bias our results towards the allele expression ratio of the reference sample.
Data analysis
For qPCR, cycle threshold (Ct) values for each sample were calculated using the MxPRo QPCR software (Stratagene, Agilent Technologies, USA). Triplicate Ct values were averaged and the quantity (Q) of each sample was calculated using the delta-delta Ct method [14]. Q values from the normaliser genes were input into geNorm [15] and the geometric means from these genes were used to generate a normalisation factor (NF). The Q values of the genes of interest were normalised by dividing by the NF value. Results are expressed as mean ± SE fold changes in expression.
Statistical significance between groups was determined using a general linear model. Statistical analysis was performed with PASW Statistics version 20. A P value of <0.01 was considered significant to account for multiple testing.
Heterozygous F1 hybrids (AJ129 and 129AJ) resulting from reciprocal crosses of two inbred homozygous strains (AJ and 129) were used in this study. Direct sequencing of the full Vegfa mRNA transcript in homozygous parental strains and heterozygous F1 offspring confirmed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the 3′UTR of the gene (AJ = GG, 129 = AA, AJ129 and 129AJ = GA).
Measurement of allelic expression
This study examined the parent of origin effect on the expression of Vegfa, an important regulator of angiogenesis. We found significant differences in the expression of Vegfa in F1 offspring (AJ129 and 129AJ mice) of the reciprocal crosses between AJ and 129 mice. Specifically, offspring of male AJ mice had significantly higher expression of Vegfa than offspring of male 129 mice. This difference in expression was not the result of preferential allele expression (allelic imbalance), as no difference in the expression of the paternally or maternally inherited allele was observed in the F1 heterozygotes. Expression of Hif1a, a transcriptional regulator of Vegfa expression, was also found to be significantly higher in F1 offspring of an AJ father. These results cannot be explained by Y chromosome transmission, as female offspring of AJ fathers had increased expression of Vegfa. In addition, the AJ female parentals had no difference in expression of Vegfa when compared with the male AJ parentals. The DNA sequences of F1 heterozygotes are identical on autosomal chromosomes and differ only on their sex chromosomes. As Vegfa and Hif1a are not located on sex chromosomes, this suggests that the observed differences in Vegfa and Hif1a gene expression are not a result of DNA sequence variation and may be explained by a parent of origin effect.
Angiogenesis is a strictly regulated process that results from a balance between pro and inhibitory angiogenic factors. VEGF is a potent pro-angiogenic factor and its expression is tightly controlled at a number of levels. Cis-acting SNPs have been shown to alter Vegfa promoter activity [16–18], while SNPs in the 3′UTR have been reported to affect expression via the binding of micro RNAs which affect mRNA stability [19, 20]. The AJ and 129 parental strains differed at a single nucleotide in the 3′UTR of Vegf[21]. In this study, the paternally and maternally inherited alleles within the F1 offspring were expressed equally, indicating that cis-acting regulatory elements within, or nearby, the Vegfa gene were unlikely to account for the observed differences in Vegfa gene expression. However, the presence of cis- acting regulatory elements in genes known to regulate Vegfa expression, which are influenced by parent of origin, may explain the difference in Vegfa expression.
A number of trans-acting factors are known to regulate the expression of Vegfa. Transcription factors that bind to response elements within the Vegfa promoter include hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF1) [22], nuclear factor (NF)-κB [23], activator protein (AP1) [24], and specificity protein (SP1) [25]. HIF1 is a transcription factor that functions to restore oxygen homeostasis during hypoxia via the regulation of genes involved in angiogenesis (Vegfa), glycolysis and vasodilation [26]. In this study, Hif1a expression was significantly higher in the F1 offspring of AJ males which corresponded to increased Vegfa expression within these same animals. Imbalanced expression of alleles within the Hif1a gene could not be assessed as the F1 mice were homozygous [21]. No studies have reported a role for epigenetic mechanisms in the regulation of Hif1 expression however, epigenetic regulation of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL), an ubiquitin ligase that targets HIF1a for proteosomal destruction under normoxic conditions, has been reported. Hypermethylation of the VHL promoter in renal cell carcinoma has been correlated with increased HIF1a expression [27], and deletion of miR-23b has been reported to reduce HIF1a and VEGFA expression via its targeting of VHL[28]. Further work is needed to address whether epigenetic mechanisms are involved in the regulation of genes known to regulate Vegfa and Hif1a expression in this mouse model.
Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is another mechanism that may explain the differences in expression patterns between the F1 offspring from the reciprocal crosses. It refers to genetic or environmental exposures in the parent, which affect patterns of gene expression in the offspring, without the offspring having inherited the allele or been exposed to the environmental agent [29]. Examples of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance include DNA methylation, histone modifications, changes in chromatin structure and the action of small non-coding RNA all of which can result in epialleles. That is, alleles that are variably expressed in the absence of genetic heterogeneity [30]. The epigenetic state is established during early embryogenesis and can be influenced by whether the allele is inherited from the mother or the father, as is the case with the agouti viable yellow allele (Avy) in mice [31]. Parent of origin effects may be observed for a number of genes, if these genes belong to pathways that are ultimately regulated by epialleles. This may be the case in the present study, where a regulator of genes involved in angiogenesis is influenced by the parent of origin, and downstream this alters the expression of both Hif1a and Vegfa. Further work is required to establish which genes are controlled by epigenetic mechanisms within the pathway controlling angiogenesis.
Our study demonstrates that parent of origin influences Vegfa expression in mouse cardiac tissue, and the genetic factors which determine gene expression are more complex than simple Mendelian inheritance. Additionally, given the common use of A/J and 129x1/SvJ strains to generate genetically engineered mice, studies using mixed genetic background mice, or studies using mice after backcrossing, need to consider parent of origin in addition to genetic variation. Finally, the identification of epigenetic regulation in genes involved in angiogenesis has important implications in how future genome-wide association studies need to incorporate technologies, which detect epigenetic and parent of origin information, to provide more informative associations.
The authors would like to thank the UWS Animal Facilities Manager, Mr Brad Harper, for his assistance in the collection of mouse tissue. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Jost Preis in the selection of mouse strains. JML is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Biomedical Fellowship.
Financial disclosures
No external funding was received for this study.
Authors' Affiliations
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- The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/14/43/prepub
Pre-publication history
This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Construction of the Olympic and Titanic begins in Belfast, Ireland, at the Harland and Wolff shipyards.
October 20: The Olympic is successfully launched.
May 31: The hull of the Titanic is successfully launched. 10 months of fitting out follow.
The Olympic leaves on her maiden voyage.
The Olympic, outbound from Southampton, has a major collision with H.M.S. Hawke, a British Royal Navy cruiser. Repairs made back at Harland and Wolff delay the fitting out of the Titanic one month.
January: Sixteen wooden lifeboats, along with four collapsible canvas-sided boats, are fitted on board the Titanic.
March 31: The outfitting of the Titanic is complete.
April 10: Wednesday - Sailing day 9:30 to 11:30 am:
Passengers arrive in Southampton and board ship.
Noon: The Titanic casts off and begins her maiden voyage. She has a near miss with the steamer New York caused by the suction of Titanic's enourmous displacement.
6:30 pm: The Titanic rides anchor in Cherbourg, France.
8:10pm: The Titanic leaves for Queenstown, Ireland.
April 11: Thursday1:30pm: Anchored off of Roche's Point, Queenstown, Ireland. Francis Browne, a Jesuit seminarian,disembarks and takes the last known photograph of the Titanic for the next 73 years. The Titanic leaves Queenstown for New York.
April 12 and 13: Friday and Saturday
The Titanic sails through calm, clear weather.
April 14: Sunday
Seven ice warnings are received during the day. Reports come in from the Caronia, Baltic, Amerika, Californian and Mesaba.
The Californian sends a wireless message directly to the Titanic telling them that they were stopped and surrounded by ice.
The lookouts, Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee, see an iceberg dead ahead. First Officer William Murdoch orders the engines reversed and the wheel hard to starboard. The Titanic slowly turns to port but it is too late. The iceberg strikes the Titanic on the starboard side of her bow. Murdoch activates the ship's watertight doors.
Captain Smith asks designer Thomas Andrews and the ship's carpenter to conduct a visual inspection of the damage.
Water has poured in and risen 14 feet in the front part of the ship.
April 15: Monday
Captain Smith is told that the ship can only stay afloat for a couple of hours. He orders radio operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips to send "CQD", the distress call.
Orders are given to uncover the lifeboats and to get the passengers and crew ready on deck. But there is only enough room in the lifeboats for about half of the estimated 2,228 people on board.
The order is given to start loading the lifeboats with women and children first. The Carpathia, southeast of the Titanic by about 58 miles, picks up the distress call and immediately heads, full speed, to the rescue.
The first of the lifeboats is safely lowered away. It can carry 65 people but pulls away from the Titanic carrying only 28!
The first distress rocket is fired. Eight rockets will be fired throughout the night.
Water begins to reach the Titanic's name on the bow. The tilt of the deck grows increasingly steeper. Lifeboats now begin to leave more fully loaded.
Most of the forward lifeboats have been lowered. Passengers now move towards the stern of the ship.
The last lifeboat leaves. There are now over 1,500 people left on board the sinking ship. The tilt of the Titanic's decks grows steeper by the minute.
The last radio call for help is sent out. Captain Smith tells his crew "It's every man for himself!"The Titanic's bow plunges under. Many passengers jump over board. The forward funnel collapses, crushing a number of people.
Items in the ship are heard crashing through walls and falling toward the sinking bow. The ship's lights blink once and then go out. Several survivors see the ship break in two. The bow section sinks.
The Titanic's broken off stern section settles back into the water, becoming level for a few moments. Slowly it fills with water and again it tilts its end high into the air, before sinking into the sea. Those struggling in the icy water slowly freeze to death.
The rescue ship, Carpathia's rockets are sighted by the survivors in the lifeboats.
The first lifeboat is picked up by Carpathia.
The Carpathia leaves the area bound for New York, carrying 705 survivors.
April 18: 9:00pm:
The Carpathia reaches New York.
April 19 to May 25:
An inquiry into the Titanic disaster is conducted by the United States Senate.
April 22 to May 15: Several ships are sent to the disaster site to search for bodies. A total of 328 bodies were found floating around the area.
May 2 to July 3:
The British Inquiry is conducted.
1913: April:
As a result of the Titanic disaster, the International Ice Patrol is created to guard the North Atlantic sea lanes.


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'Survivor: Kaoh Rong': Deleted Scenes for Season Premiere (VIDEO)
The deleted scenes are here for the season premiere of Survivor: Kaoh Rong, and well…if I'm being honest, I might have been too hasty in judging this season. The season premiere left me feeling as though not everyone in this game knew what they were doing, and while that remains largely true for some of the castaways, these deleted scenes illustrate that these contestants ARE thinking critically and strategically. I suppose Survivor: Caramoan just set a really high bar for strategy. If anything, I admit to my own Survivor blindspots, and I suppose that's one of them. When you have an amazing season like Caramoan, you want the next season to be as amazing right out the gate. It's unfair, but when you've been watching a show for 31 seasons, expectations get inflated.
But I digress. This was a solid premiere with some truly insightful deleted scenes. I'm not sure if this season is going to be on track to land in my ranking of the Top 10 greatest seasons of all-time, but I would imagine this is a season that will at least be genuinely colorful. Hell, we've got some great personalities on the Beauty tribe, just from Caleb and Tai alone! This is without even getting into some of the colorful personalities from the other two tribes, like Debbie from the Brains, and and Jason and Scot from the Brawn tribe. I'm all-in on this season already.
But what didn't we see in the premiere? And what does the eliminated castaway have to say the day after? We have secret scenes, deleted confessionals, challenge videos, tribal council clips with full voting recaps, interviews with the eliminated castaway on the day after elimination, and more! Watch the videos below:
What do you think of this week's deleted scenes? Sound off in the comments!
And for more on Survivor: Kaoh Rong, read our review and analysis of this week's epic season premiere!


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Mineral Makeup by Jane Iredale: With all the healthy attributes Inner Essence has to offer, we wouldn't want your makeup to contribute anything but the same. Mineral makeup not only looks healthier on the skin, but also contributes to its health. Healthy skin is the most beautiful cosmetic you can wear, every product Jane Iredale develops is a true extension of skin care. It is so effective that it is recommended by dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and skin care professionals.
Let our specialists create the look you want, while showing off your most complimentary features. Look and feel more beautiful and confident for a special event in your life.
A great way to learn looks for everyday, evenings, or special events. Learn what is best for your face and coloring, and the tricks of the trade in how to apply it.
Allow our makeup specialists to provide a soft and flawless makeup application with staying power for the most important day in your life. Create a look that is you –only better– for this special day.
The $50 will be credited towards Bridal Makeup application if the bride decides to come back on day of the wedding.
We now offer hair styling! Please give us a call or stop in today for more information!


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Tag Archives: baby swiss
Amish Country
By Carole | Published: March 13, 2013
Troy and I went to Amish Country to research our "Worth the Trip" piece for Edible Columbus magazine. Our mission was to discover gourmet finds, hidden gems, and Amish treasures in this peaceful part of Ohio. Turns out, it is...
Also tagged amish, Amish country, blog, cheese, cheese fondue, chopsizzlepop, dine, eat, edible, edible columbus, food, guggisberg, lehman, recipe, travel | Leave a comment


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Handyman and Lawncare Kings (HLK) provides royal quality home maintenance services for commercial and residential customers at reasonable prices. We carry out all aspects of handyman and lawncare services, as well as specialize in, electrical maintenance, and door kick-in prevention.
Our Mission
Our mission is provide our customers with outside-the-box home improvement services using pure dedication and determination.


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Lift system of egg collecting and transporting
Egg collecting lift system
The benefits of using TEXHA's egg collecting lift system are efficient, economically sound, and most of all healthy. This egg collecting design philosophy includes features such as a strict observance of biological safety standards, a decrease in labor input during the collecting and sorting process, and a dedication to decreasing the stress of the birds during the collection process. Through a system of longitudinal and cross-tape conveyor belts, this system of lift egg collecting has the ability to smoothly regulate egg collecting speeds and reduce egg damage in one, easy and streamlined machine. The lift, which acts as an elevator during collection, can be installed in the cage equipment and is guaranteed to be reliable and precise throughout the entire egg transporting process. The lift egg collecting conveyors turn on by levels while the cross conveyor, a non-working level at the top floor, can be set in the starting position on any floor. The egg slowly moves upwards via the inclined conveyor from floors where it is then picked up for egg collection. These tape conveyors have a smooth and consistent speed which is controlled by specialized personnel who adjust the incline and cross-conveyor belts for speed in incremental steps, which is very important to prevent egg breakage during the elevator system of egg collection. During the collection process, a brush is also used to clean the belts and remove any damaged eggs. This protects the quality of the rest of the eggs and ensures a smooth egg-collecting process.
Elevator system of egg collecting
The elevator system of egg collection is a simple, compact, and highly efficient piece of equipment that increases overall productivity. The elevator system gives you the ability to take eggs from any height during collection and then transfer them for manual sorting, packaging, and to other egg transporting systems. TEXHA produces two types of elevator systems of egg collection: the off-battery universal elevator and the elevator cross-system. The universal elevator is most suitable for flexible egg transportation and is favored for its low prime-cost making it economically favorable, while the elevator-cross system works best for rooms lacking in space.
Egg transportation through rod-shaped conveyors
Applying rod-shaped conveyors connects all of the poultry houses during the egg collection process via a uniform and accessible system of egg transportation and storage. This flexible system allows for centralized egg-storage and increased communication between different sectors of the egg transportation process. The existence of intermediate drives also helps to modernize the system of egg transportation. These systems carry out the sorting of eggs from all poultry houses into one specialized room and remove the unnecessary stacking of eggs on trays, boxes, or containers which increase the chances of the eggs breaking. The rod-shaped conveyor systems also work to exclude the use of motor transport in the course of delivering eggs to storage rooms. As a result, the flexible egg transportation system increases the distance available for transportation between market and production points."


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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1
I am doing public relations for our BHD Family and came across accurate1killers...(your old clan)
I would like to invite you to take a look at our website and check us out....
About Us.................
The Past:
=OC= (Organized Crime) was started in November of 2003 by the founders of ~HS~ (HitSquad) we decided to leave the ~HS~ squad we started way back in 1998 and head in a new direction. While it was hard leaving our friends we both looked forward to the challenge that lied ahead and it wasn't long before we recruited new members, finished our website and started gaining recongnition for =OC=.
The Future:
As =OC= adds new members and continues to build alliances we know we will endure all that is thrown at us because we are committed to one idea, and that idea is "FAMILY" yes we consider ourselves a family in the Delta Force community and all of our family members are bonded by a common interest and goal. For those who are members of =OC= I am my brothers keeper and I have your back as you have mine, and for those who aspire to become an =OC= member you must be able to sacrafice yourself for the greater good and continued growth of the "FAMILY"
Come on out and get to know us, we would appreciate to have you as a friend and have some kickass times.
Tell'em Longshot sent ya!
God bless us all and God bless =OC=
Visit us at <http://www.organized-crime.org>
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this painting can be seen among the 30 works at my solo show at Art Slave gallery, Refugees from the Entrenched Attitude Society...
opening reception Saturday, November 10th, 7pm - midnight
Self Portrait with Dream-to-Voice-Box Device
I have developed this device over time, but sometimes it malfunctions. There are so-called glitches. But sometimes those lead to something unexpected and exciting, so I haven't bothered to mess with it.


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Fish curry with mango (using coconut)
This is a very famous recipe from kerala where the sour taste of mango gives this dish the tangy taste. This version of the curry is made with shredded coconut and usually made with king fish. The coconut oil added at the end gives the authentic taste and flavor of kerala dish. But if you are not a great fan of coconut oil, can skip the last step. This can also be made as gravy by adjusting the amount of water. If you want adjust the thickness of the gravy add a little rice powder. Serve mango fish curry with hot steamed rice.
Click here for Fish curry with mango Recipe


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A little help for Irish dancers
The Colorado Springs chapter of McTeggart Irish Dancers of Colorado celebrated the receipt of a matching grant from the
Westside Wal-Mart by performing dances in front of the store June 4.
The dance group, which works out of a studio on West Colorado Avenue, had fund-raised outside Wal-Mart, 707 S. Eighth St., earlier this year to raise $240. The store responded by matching that amount with $240. The effort is part of an ongoing community-support effort by the store, according to Connie Ramaglia, co-coordinator of its community involvement committee.
McTeggart is the "oldest established Irish dancing school in the United States," according to Kathryn Martin, a McTeggart volunteer and parent of one of the students. A non-profit organization, McTeggart teaches dancers roughly between the ages of 4 and 18. They perform at public events (such as the local St. Patrick's Day Parade) and for charitable causes. They also perform in competitions, with the ultimate goal of competing at the world championships in Ireland.
Westside Pioneer Article


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And because I'm obviously crazy, I did it.
Here are the best moments of 2000.
Subsequent years forthcoming.
We start off the decade with a little whimsy and a bit of insanity via Comme des Garcons. I'm surprised at how sexy this look is, I don't think that word has been used to described any of the recent collections. I love the way her hair seems to meld into her fluffy bolero. And speaking of fluffy, we have one of Hussein Chalayan's iconic collections. I believe the red dress (or other versions of it), moved and "grew wings" with the help of a remote control, which a child was playing with at the show. He set the bar so high for himself right off the bat!
On the second row, we have pure sex appeal from Chloe, back when Stella McCartney was the designer. There's something about it being so glitzy that feels very 90s? Dolce & Gabbana's collection also seems like it's stuck there as well. This was EVERYWHERE, and it's so POPSTAR to do a diamond encrusted bra under a sheer buttondown, complete with tie and FEDORA (cue choreography involving a chair). Clements Ribeiro was totally one of my favorites back then, they always had the sweetest prints. I would wear this sheer polka dot ensemble EVERY DAY now.
Dries Van Noten was a lot more hippie back then, but his mix of florals is still totally killer. The decade started with Tom Ford at Gucci, and this slouchy snakeskin "sweatsuit" was kind of the definition of Louche. Carolyn Murphy in a sparkly nude dress cut down to there and dreads(??!!??) is too cool for school.
Junya Watanabe's show was totally brilliant; models walked down the runway in beautiful minimal pieces, outfitted themselves with waterproof coverings and then walked back UNDER THE RAIN. Would've loved to see that in real life. Also, white + grey + neon yellow = YES.
Narciso Rodriguez was also hanging on a bit to the pure minimalism of the 90's (although he IS a minimalist, so it's not like he had more places to go), but I still love a simple white shift with requisite asymmetrical bodice and sheer covering. Amber Valletta wearing THE Versace dress that was controversial for some reason when JLo wore it to some awards show (my, my, how things have changed; now this is probably what Blake Lively wears to buy tampons at Target or something). Yohji Yamamoto was, of course, making subtly beautiful clothes. I love the soft "feather" headband and ruffle at the bodice. So so delicate.
We finish the season with Prada, who showed a collection full of lipstick print skirts (oh jesus, what I wouldn't GIVE for one of these), and brought ostrich skin back to the limelight in a weird subversive conservative girl look ("I'm wearing a turtleneck but it's clingy and I'm not wearing a bra!" and "I'm wearing a proper cardigan and knee-length skirt but oh it's ostrich skin and I've seen to have forgotten how to do the buttons on the cardi. Heavens!").
And then fall comes and we get to hang out with a killer Balenciaga sweater, with an intarsia dog on it and some kind of shredded skirt layered over narrow brown trousers. This is not quite the Nicolas we know today, in terms of pursuing the future-NOW, but I think it has a general vibe about it that really fits in with where the label is today. Hussein Chalayan continued exploring volume, this time in a delicious print of chocolate brown and bright pink. Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton showed the coat to end all coats (a silhouette he revisits later on in the decade) marched with a beret and a lil' pocket square. Don't you think the whole thing just oozes a mysterious Parisian sex appeal, that is heightened by the way it's carelessly belted at the hips? The Shalom swagger helps too.
Gucci went to the Riviera in the perfect collarless coat accessorized with a scarf tied around the head and big sunglasses. If this didn't become the perfect jet-set look after this, it was just never going to happen. Not that there's any need to keep everything covered up, when you have to go at night you just throw on an impeccably cut suit with a ruffled shirt unbuttoned to the navel. The orange and brown combination popped up again, this time in Christian Lacroix's epic candy-striped boots.
Miu Miu's collection had a sweet 40's vibe that I totally became obsessed with. The suit dress is so. so good. And the little hat! The red and white swirly print was ripped off everywhere, but how could it not? It was insane. I feel like in the early 00's, there was a scene of designers WITH A MESSAGE and Miguel Adrover was definitely one of the bosses. His collection with re-purposed Louis Vuitton bags and Burberry trenchcoats caused QUITE the stir and ignited a debate about what designers do and originality (something that Imitation of Christ would really pick up on the following year).
Tristan Webber was one of the cool British dudes, and his perfectly tailored laser cutout shift wouldn't look out of place today (it also reminds me a but of Mark Fast's Spring 10 collection). We end this year in a highnote of course, with one of Olivier Theyskens' early visions. Leather clad, fabulously-dirty and OH SO EPIC, it's not hard to see why I fell so hard for him.


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Candy apples are a very familiar treat at Halloween because the holiday falls right around the yearly apple harvest. Toffee apples are an extremely popular dessert of children and adults during the Halloween season.
The shape is incredibly basic and uncomplicated. Enhance the caramel topping by adding drops of paint to depict the presence of nuts. Different colored frit can added to indicate candy sprinkles.
1. Copy and using scissors cut the model.
2. Rest the paper pieces on the appropriate tint glass and sketch around the stencil with a permanent marker. Liberally cover up the traced design with beeswax or Chap Stick.
3. A glass saw is needed to cut the design. Follow close to the line to retain the figure and all the small details.
4. Cleanse with soap and dip in clean water or employ glass cleaner to strip off the pen marks and residue. Dry the items.
5. Arrange the sections on a primed kiln ledge and pose the shelf inside the unit. Always hold the glass by the rim to avoid fingerprints. Add any fusible embellishments.
6. Shut the lid or door. Activate the oven.
7. Watch the task at about 1325 degrees Fahrenheit. Whenever gazing at your pieces have on glasses with IR and UV protection.
8. As soon as the glass has your preferred appearance, shut down and unplug the unit. If the unit is constructed with heavy fire bricks, you can allow it to cool down on its own. If however it is built with ceramic fiber, the unit must be kept on and supervised so that it does not cool down more than just about 300 degrees Fahrenheit an hour.
9. Once the pyrometer drops underneath 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the kiln can be opened.
10. Once the piece has cooled down to room temperature, you can add a brooch back. Adhere the brooch back with a two part epoxy.
Red Candy Apple Pattern
Return from this page to one of the following pages:
Halloween Gift
Seasonal Pins
Fusing Projects
Red Candy Apples to Glass Fusing Made Easy
Fused Glass Patterns


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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Documentary Comes Up Short In Funding, But It's Still Happening
"Pretending I'm a Superman" did not meet its funding target but that's not stopping the producers.
"Pretending I'm a Superman" did not meet its funding target but that's not stopping the producers.
A filmmaker looks to chronicle the history of The Birdman in games.
Activision pitchman's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD to compile selected levels from original two THPS games for release on downloadable platforms.
Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting will move into the subscription PC game market this fall with new GameTap service.
[UPDATE] Nokia gives game deck a second chance at success; enlists wide array of retailers to offer rebates.
WGamer gets profound with Ideaworks3D's CEO and resident visionary.
Nokia's redesigned game deck is reportedly being offered for $60 and under in Europe. But will the savings make it to America?
Nokia announces the results of its European N-Gage Challenge, which attracted around 150,000 competitors from 16 countries.
Tony Hawk is coming to the N-Gage, and we have a demo version of the game. Can Tony go portable while still staying polygonal? Find out inside.
We deliver hands-on impressions and media on the Dreamcast incarnation of the popular skating game.
Crave releases new screens of the Treyarch-developed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the Sega Dreamcast.
We take a first look at Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the Dreamcast, coming later this year from Crave Entertainment.
Crave confirms that Activision's latest PlayStation skater is coming to the Dreamcast.
Good news Dreamcast owners, sources indicate that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater will land on the console early next year.
Activision sends us first screenshots of the Nintendo 64 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
Reported by GSN in August, Activision now makes the N64 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater official, and announces its coming to the GBC.
Activision announces the release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the latest skating sensation for the PlayStation.
Activision signs pro skater Elissa Steamer to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
GameSpot News learns that Activision will bring the two PlayStation games currently in development to the N64 as well.
Activision takes GameSpot News to the X Games to check out Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for PlayStation.
Activision signs skateboard jumps and stunts champion for Pro Skater.
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About Trek O PHy. : We Trek O Phy : Its basically combination of Trekking ( Adventure) and Photography. Under Trek O Phy orgainising : Treks, Rappelling and Climbing sessions, Jungle Trails, Rare Places, Rafting, Sailing and so on.. PHY Stands for Photography.. In this digital age all r habitual abt photography.. So we are trying to educate about Third eye. We are orgainising Photo shoot, Photo trails/tours, Indoor and Outdoor Workshops. We feel that the participants can get new information about places, equipment and enjoy there outings with Trek O Phy out of there hectic schedule.
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints..
Trek O Phy


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We're having a party and you are all invited! Next Tuesday night (October 25th) we're joining forces with The Eco Chic and throwing the biggest party of the year – on Twitter. Last year we had over 700 participants and we're expecting this years party to be just as big. Guests have a chance to win a brand new Super Mario Wii Holiday Bundle or one of the many other cloth diapering prizes from our sponsoring companies.
Prizes? Yes, in addition to the Wii Holiday Bundle we're also giving away prizes from AppleCheeks Diapers, Thirsties, Ruby Moon Detergent, BabyKicks, Changing Diapers, Oh Katy Diapers, and more! You can see the complete list of prizes on the RSVP page…with more being added each day.
How do you register? Visit the party RSVP page on The Eco Chic Parties website and follow the directions (do not enter here on the Diaper Shops blog).
Why Twitter? Facebook is very restrictive about how we can hold giveaways. In addition, there is a very large following of cloth diapering parents on Twitter. Just follow the #clothdiapers hashtag and you'll soon be connected to thousands of like-minded families with a passion for cloth diapers. Don't worry though, we're also going to be throwing a small Fluff 'N Treat party here on the blog for our friends who are terrified of Twitter.
How do I tweet? Don't worry The Eco Chic has some simple tutorials on using Twitter. If you are new I would read up on using TweetChat since it's the easiest to understand.
Want some practice? Every Monday night (9pm ET) hundreds of cloth diapering families join the @CottonBabies team for a weekly #clothdiapers chat on Twitter. We'll even pop in from time to time and chat with our followers. It's a great time to practice your Twitter skills and meet some other cloth diapering families in the community.
To join the cloth diapering community online be sure to visit us on Facebook and Twitter. To save money on the purchase of your cloth diapers we are always offering sales and discounts on your favorite brands at our DiaperShops.com family of stores, including Kelly's Closet.


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Photos by Jodi Hilton for the Daily Mail
At least one sweatshop in Turkey is hiring Syrian refugee children to make camouflage uniforms for military groups such as Islamic State and Ahrar al-Sham, according to the Daily Mail. In a report published in the British tabloid on Tuesday, reporters Isabel Hunter and Salem Rizk described boys and girls as young as nine piecing together uniforms in the border town of Antakya for about 40 Turkish lira ($14.50) a day. This isn't an isolated incident. Cast out of their homeland, thousands of Syrian children are toiling in sweatshops, factories, or farms so they and their families can survive.
The United Nations Children's Fund says that more than half of Turkey's 2.7 million registered Syrian refugees are children. Moreover, nearly 80 percent of them are not in school.
Lack of financial support isn't the only thing prevent children from attending school, said Selin Unal, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey. The obstacles are manifold, among them language barriers, uncertainty about enrollment procedures, and difficulties securing transport.
But there are also factory owners in Turkey who see no issue with exploiting children of war; in fact, they are glad to.
"You can overwork the children and they're not going to be oppositional, they're not going to ask for their rights," Leyla Akca is a psychologist who treats Syrian child refugees and their families, told CBS News in May. "They don't know their rights. So they're just going to work like slaves and it's easier to keep them as slaves than doing it to an adult."
Then there's the fact that children are especially vulnerable to abuse, whether physical or sexual in nature.
"Sexual harassment is very common, and so is physical abuse," Syrian Relief Network's Kais al-Dairi told the Guardian last month. "I have interviewed kids and they say in their innocent way, 'this guy held my hand, this guy tried to lead me here, this guy tried to touch me here.'"
At the factory featured in the Daily Mail, Syrian children spend 12 hours a day cutting, sewing, and finishing uniforms, which are then smuggled across the border to various rebel factions. The younger ones are assigned simpler tasks such as measuring the camouflage material, which can be light brown or military green depending on each group's aesthetic preference.
RELATED | 7 Photos That Changed Child-Labor Laws in America Forever
For factory owner Abu Zakour, where the uniforms end up is of little consequence; he says he just wants to make a living.
"The only reason that these children work with me is for the money. If there were no war in Syria, these children would be in school—and school would be a much better option for them," he told the Daily Mail. "Sometimes the family sends very young children to work, and I don't like to say no, so I let him work, to benefit from this."
Because the Turkish textile industry typically consists of larger production houses that subcontract to one or more smaller, unregulated facilities, labor groups warn that European brands need to be vigilant of this new complication in their supply chains.
"The treatment of Syrian refugees in their supply chains is a litmus test for high street brands' concern for human rights in the clothes they sell across Europe," said Phil Bloomer, executive director of Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. "It is also the key way that business can contribute to solving the refugee crisis. Yet for many, refugee workers are out of sight, out of mind."
In a policy paper drawn up by the Fair Wear Foundation in November, the apparel-industry nonprofit cautioned its affiliates about the high risk of child and refugee employment in Turkey's garment sector.
"Under no circumstances should the vulnerability of refugees be used to deny them their basic human rights," the organization said. "Child labour is never acceptable. Efforts must be made to prevent it, and appropriate steps must be taken to remediate child labor when it is found."


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Mac Notes
Switching from Windows
If you read only one article, read this one:
I've Switched from Windows, Now What?
by Terrie Miller 06/25/2002. It's a little bit old, but it covers Right-Clicking, Keyboard Commands, Alt-Tab, and so on. Note that on the Mac
Book, the arrow keys are not labelled Home/PgUp/PgDn/End?, but they function the same as the examples in the article. If you need more commands, the are Mac keyboard shortcuts from Apple and Jacob Rus' detailed Mac OS X System Key Bindings list.
- To right-click, put two fingers on the touchpad and click, or
Ctrl-click. Does not work with all apps.
- Use
Fn-Backspaceto forward delete on a Mac
Book keyboard.
- Menu items may change with
Alt, for example "About this Mac" switches to "System Profiler"
- To see wireless network speed, use
Utilities->Network Utility
- To mount NFS from a Linux server, see MacNfs
- It is not possible to 'maximize' windows in MacOS
- Apple bundles the Safari web browser, Mail, PDF Preview, Java, and trial versions of iWork and Microsoft Office
- Firefox and Thunderbird run well on MacOS
- NeoOffice is a native MacOS version of the Open
Office.org suite
- Camino is a Mozilla-based web browser with native Mac look and features
- Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection client
- Flip4Mac provides free Windows Media codecs
- Platypus creates MacOS .app bundles from scripts (shell, perl, python, etc.)
- JollysFastVNC seems to be a good VNC client
- If you prefer it, Adobe Reader is available for the Mac
- Many other applications such as Google Earth, Eclipse, Netbeans, and Opera work on the Mac
- VersionTracker is a website dedicated to MacOS software
- MacPorts and Fink are projects to build open source software on the Mac
This is meant to be a neutral description of differences between Macs and typical Windows computers. LaptopNotes offers another useful comparison, between laptop and desktop computers.
Hardware Tradeoffs
- Apple offers fewer models than other vendors. This means stable drivers, but you are less likely to get the latest hardware. Additionally Apple models are not the most basic, so you can find cheaper PCs (though usually with fewer features or much heavier in the case of laptops).
- Apple controls what hardware goes into a Mac, while Dell, HP, Toshiba etc. must coordinate with Microsoft to get plug-and-play drivers working. This in turn means things like sleep and hibernate work better on Macs than on some Windows laptops.
- Apple's industrial design has won awards.
Software Tradeoffs
- If you want to run MacOS, you have to use Apple hardware. On the other hand, you can run Windows on Intel-based Macs.
- Apple bundles a third-party applications such as Java which must be installed separately on Windows, but it is difficult to replace or update Apple's version.
- Apple can unilaterally implement new software features, which brings great functionality at the price of incompatibility. For example, in MacOS 10.6 Leopard, Apple added filesystem features which make backups much easier (see Ars Technica's "Time Machine Internals").
Running Windows
There are several ways to run Windows on a Intel-based Mac. All three require a separate copy of Windows (Macs are eligible for OemWindows or the Microsoft Campus Agreement).
More comparisons at MacVirtualization.
|Apple BootCamp
|Requires rebooting. Includes drivers for Apple hardware.
|$40 (UBookstore)
|VMWare Fusion
| Most popular virtualization software. Can use Apple Boot
Camp partition or a disk image. Supports Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.
|$55 (UWare)
|Uses disk images. Has additional Mac-only features
|Open Source, bought by Sun in February 2008


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Vena Holden is picky about the seconds in her shops, specializing in better brand-name clothing, accessories, linens, gifts and shoes. She makes clear that hers is not a used clothing store.
"We look for the higher-end items and are selective in what we take," said Holden, 45, who founded the appropriately named Selective Seconds after years of shopping consignment shops for herself when she worked as a legal secretary and office manager for local law firm Plews Shadley Racher and Braun.
Her two shops in Mooresville and southside Indianapolis carry items in sizes 2 to 3X, but no juniors. A national chain, Plato's Closet, has the teen and junior market pretty much locked up, she said.
Right now, high-end sportswear is popular with tops being the number one seller, said Holden, a member of the National Association of Retail and Thrift Stores. Selective Seconds is one of about 20,000 thrift and resale shops in the United States, according to the national association's Web site.
The first store opened in Mooresville in 1997, and Holden added the 3,000-squarefoot Indianapolis shop in 2003. Not inclined to sit for long, she would like to sell the Mooresville operation and move the other store to a more visible location.
Holden augments store offerings by buying pallets of new merchandise from QVC, a television shopping network. These are returns, discontinued items and overstocks, and draw in customers on their own. She also offers items on eBay. Most of her shoppers are middle-class women.
"I don't buy seconds," said Marjorie Hudgins of Bloomington, who makes the trek north to the shops a couple of times a month. "I like the QVC things they have, all unopened. She has so many different kinds of items, like Louis Vuitton bags, on occasion, or Boyds Bears" collectibles.
The stores rotate their stock frequently, adding up to 200 new items a day, said Holden, a Mooresville native. She alerts customers to sales, new arrivals and promotions through monthly e-mails and quarterly direct mail newsletters.
"They have shoes and nobody has shoes," said Monica Burkhart, a marketing representative in Indianapolis who shops the stores frequently to find clothing to wear on the job. "She knows a lot about the brands and she knows me by name. They try to get to know the client and the type of clothes" she prefers.
Selective Seconds is the only consignment store Judy Price shops, usually visiting a couple of times a month.
"People are so friendly there, they know my name. And the merchandise is good quality and the prices are good," said Price, of Indianapolis. "I usually find something and a lot of time, I find a lot of somethings."
Recently, Holden launched a program targeted at not-for-profit groups. Supporters can donate items to Selective Seconds on behalf of their favorite charity. Forty percent of the sales of those items will be returned to the charity, Holden said. One of the charities Holden picked is in light of Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds from designated donated items will go to the American Red Cross, she said.
"It's really a no-brainer. You clean out your closet, bring your things to us," and support a charity, she said.
Holden had no business plan and started her venture with less than $1,000 in personal funds.
"I have never added any more of my own money," she said. The business is supported by sales.
It wasn't like she was totally without resources, however. She said the law firm was "very supportive and helped me pursue this" by allowing her to work flex time, then part time before venturing out on her own.
"It's a long road. You look at salary in a different way," Holden said. Had she known how hard it would be, she might not have taken the leap. "But I look back and say it was worth it. I don't have to depend on somebody else for my survival."
Vena Holden shopped at consignment stores before opening her own store in 1997.
Source: XMLAr03700.xml


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The real estate business is a tough world. Most people engage in this kind of business expecting to get easy money all of the time. These people have hardly any knowledge about how the business goes around itself, and most of the time end up failing. You cannot blame these people. They only want to earn money for themselves. But behind the bitter reality about this world, there are also those who have success stories for themselves. Most likely they are very knowledgeable about the different aspects of the real estate industry, and through their efforts have come up with good techniques and became successful and wealthy investors. The best thing to do today if you yourself would want to invest in this industry is to seek the advice of other people, those who have succeeded in their own careers. This Dean Graziosi review would help you know more about the person who had already been helping other investors who dream of a successful future, just by learning from the experiences of the man himself.
Why Trust Him?
This person, like all other successful persons, has a story to tell behind his success. Success for him could not be brought alone by mere fortune or wealth, but on how to make up the best out of what you have. Yes he is a millionaire today, owning a lot of properties and having a successful life, but he was not always like this before. As a child, he thrived through the hardships of life, and lived a frugal youth. I guess this is where he gained his commitment and determination to change his way of living, to improve his quality of life. And we look at what he is today, someone who has found happiness and contentment with his hard work.His success story started when he was a teenager. He bought a run-down apartment in their hometown, fixed it, and made money for it. That sparked in what is today a multi-million worth of a man. He is not selfish himself, which seems to be very generous and kind of him, as he gives you a chance to learn the whole story behind his first successful investment. You could purchase one of his books today and see for yourself how he did it. This book of his had already been educating novice real estate investors about the facets of the real estate industry, and employs the real techniques he used for himself to succeed.Unlike any other person who claims to know all about the real estate industry, Dean Graziosi simply claims that with the proper knowledge about it, and knowing what you would do about it, you would succeed in life. The best thing about the man is that he has never failed to pursue what he wanted, that once he eyed himself on a certain goal, and he would achieve it.
He Also Wants You to Succeed
What he is doing today is that he still invests on real estate properties. Not being greedy, but he still wants to show people that only by following his advice on this business, you would surely succeed. Besides his books, he also has real estate courses and an advanced real estate training program. This shows how much he himself wants to share his wealth, by guiding all kinds of investors, be they novice or not, to have their own success stories. Surely there are other guides out there in the market, but if you would give a chance to hear what his system has to offer you, you would not even hesitate to try and follow it.The number of people who have benefited from his life of hard work and success could not simply prove the worth of the man. Maybe the best way for you to know what is really going on with what he does is for you to try it yourself. You would not have anything to lose, you have everything to gain. His techniques have been working for the people who have tried it, and by following his system, they too have gained financial stability and are enjoying a fruitful life. He sees the real estate industry with his two eyes as a seasoned investor, and by knowing how the system works, and knowing the proper thing to do about it, like him you would surely succeed. Who says it would not work for you, you would not have nothing to be afraid of. It is by taking action, even with little but proper knowledge, that you would be successful, wealthy, and happy.


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The US trade representative has vowed to secure the TTIP trade deal before Obama's term of office ends
Having recently driven through the 'fast track' legislation needed for President Obama to get through the US Pacific Rim free trade deal known as TTP, the US trade representative has vowed to speed up the negotiation between the US and EU to secure the TTIP trade deal before Obama's term of office ends.
Michael Foreman, who is leading the US negotiators, has said: "We've got a lot of pots on the stove. We want to get TPP done and through Congress. We want to get TTIP negotiated. We're going to finish ITA. I'm hoping to finish EGA and TiSA". (More on the latter later).
Many European trade unions backed the US trade union movement in its all-out campaign to stop 'fast track', which gives Obama the ability to push through trade deals without line-by-line scrutiny from US legislators. US unions say fast track will now cover TPP, TTIP, TiSA and others in the offing.
These new trade deals have been described as 'turbo charged neo-liberalism', which will effect employment rights, rights to collective bargaining, threaten sovereign government's ability to pass pro-worker legislation and the right of governments to take into public ownership utilities and social organisations.
An agreement between Canada and the EU known as CETA has been initialled and is opposed by many EU trade unions and the Canadian labour movement. However, the EU expects to sign the CETA deal sometime this year or early 2016.
This agreement has slipped silently by public attention, but is highly dangerous as the employment protection clauses demanded by unions have been watered down to little more than a 'strongly worded report'. Meanwhile the ISDS mechanism, which is being fought strongly by Labour MEPs in the European parliament, is in place in the CETA deal.
A vigerous campaign has been waged against TTIP by EU trade unions – although some unions, notably in Scandinavian, say they are in favour the CETA and TTIP deals as they hope it will expand their countries' opportunities to export and trade.
However, unions such as Unite and the United Steelworkers in the US and Canada have warned that their hard fought for and cherished social, employment rights and sectoral collective bargaining system may be undermined by these new trade deals.
EU unions including Unite, the TUC, and the ETUC – as well as Labour MEPs – backed US unions such as the United Steelworkers, the Autoworkers and the AFL-CIO in their opposition to TPP and 'fast track', as they were able to clearly explain the effects of free trade deals on their economy.
The US suffered massive job losses notably in manufacturing since Bill Clinton signed the North America Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. US unions say over 600,000 decent jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, many of them sucked down into cheap labour zones in Mexico.
On the horizon, too, is TiSA, the 24-party Trade in International Services Agreement, which involves three-quarters of the United States' gross domestic product and two-thirds of the world's services, such as banking and communications.
Not surprisingly, EU and US unions are opposed to TiSA. More recently the EU trade minister Celia Malmstrom said she wants to push ahead on trade deals with Mexico and Japan.
EU unions are already warning that Mexico is a major worry. The Mexican government is hard-line anti-union and encourages companies to set up 'yellow' or company 'in-house' unions which provide little or no support to workers are run the company line.
Successive Mexican governments have attempted to break independent trade unions with arrests and false accusations of wrong doing – notably against the metals and mining union Los Mineros, whose leader Napoleon Gomez runs the union Los Mineros from United Steelworkers offices in Canada. Despite being cleared of trumped up charges by the right-wing Mexican government, Gomez feels he will face arrest if he returns to Mexico.
Also coming down the line after TTIP, CETA and TPP is the World Trade Organisation's Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which covers about 97 per cent of world IT trade and the Environmental Goods Agreement, (EGA) accounting for 86 per cent international commerce in green goods.
All of this would not been possible if 'fast track' had been rejected by Congress. As it is Obama needs only to submit trade agreements to Congress for straight 'up-or-down' votes without any amendments.
Froman has claimed: "A lot of opposition we heard during this debate on TPP was based on myth and misinformation. I can't wait for this thing to be done and fully out there in public to say, 'We told you this was going to have fully enforceable and binding labor obligations', and it does."
But US and EU unions are clear that this is not the case. The US has not ratified the main ILO Conventions on the right to form unions, the right to strike and the right to collective bargaining and will not have them in its trade deals.
Others too have doubts about the US administrations ability to deliver early on TTIP. "Getting TPP on this administration's watch is probably the best that they can hope for," said Dan Ikenson, the Cato Institute's director of trade policy studies.
"TTIP – I just think no way. Clinching the environmental goods and the international services pacts could be possible by 2017, but that depends on countries making credible offers to open their markets, and the signs have been mixed on that," Ikenson added.
Tony Burke is assistant general secretary of Unite. Follow him on Twitter
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7 Responses to "Obama seeks to fast track TTIP"
Benito Mussolini once said: "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and Corporate power".
Pretty much defines TTIP as well.
We live in worrying times for freedom and democracy.
Sean Garrity
Mmmm Obama's legacy? Drone Killer or World Domination through trade, tough choice.
Some New Features with leftfootforward….. Go To Next Page
And Labour supports the EU's anti-democratic TTIP policy !!!
Shared trade is a good thing and better than war. If it was Putin doing a similar deal I reckon there would be less moaning.
Drone killing is better than pilots being shot down held to ransom and more economical for the taxpayer.
It`s very worrying.
Leave a Reply


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The MPH degree in Biostatistics includes core courses in biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health services, and social and behavioral sciences. In addition, students are required to complete a public health practicum and write a research-based master's thesis. The degree is designed for individuals who anticipate careers as data analysts in public health research or practice and for individuals who plan doctoral work in public health or biomedical field, but who want more methodological training than those PhD programs offer.
The Biostatistics MPH degree provides quantitative research training to individuals who hold a doctoral level degree in another field (e.g., MD, PhD) or are concurrently pursuing such a degree. The MPH will not be awarded until the doctoral degree is conferred.


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Also Check Out: Joey's Reviews - Anaconda Series
Also Thanks to Kevin Lam (@Klam12) on Twitter
●Support Me On Patreon
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●Joey Hollywood's FacialBook
●Stalk Joey Hollywood on the Twitter
●Paypal Donation
Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
Link to the PDF: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/circ92.pdf


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David Morley appointed to Strategic Advisory Board at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.
Mr Morley is one of UK's most innovative lawyers and widely recognised as one of the most influential global leaders in the legal profession. He said: 'Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is a leading independent law firm in India with an amazing global reputation. It has been at the forefront of driving change, within the firm, in the Indian legal industry and in delivery of services to its clients. I am looking forward to my association with the firm and being a part of their transformation journey as they approach the next century of their journey.'
Strategic board
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas launched its Strategic Advisory Board in 2015 which guides the firm on vision, overall direction and strategy matters. The Strategic Advisory Board currently comprises of Deepak Parekh (Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation); Ashok Chawla (Former Chairperson, Competition Commission of India); Uday Kotak (Executive Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank); Dr Janmejaya Sinha (Chairman, Boston Consulting Group - Asia Pacific) and Professor Umakanth Varottil (Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, National University Singapore and ex- Partner of Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co.
On David's appointment managing partner Cyril Shroff said: 'David Morley's appointment reaffirms our faith in our Strategic Advisory Board. Along with serving as a member of this distinguished board, David will also be an advisor to the firm and will guide the senior leadership on strategic issues of the future. David's experience and vision for the future of the legal profession has few parallels. His approach towards innovation is unique. David's beliefs and thoughts resonate with the values that form the foundation of our firm.'
Illustrious career
After studying law at St John's College, Cambridge, Mr Morley spent almost his entire professional career at Allen & Overy. Winning three successive leadership elections he led the firm from 2013-2016, initially as managing partner then two terms as senior partner. During his leadership, revenue close to doubled from £666 million to £1.28 billion (2005-2015) with profits up 133 per cent from £245 million to £579 million over the same period, including seven consecutive years of revenue and profit growth post 2008/9 financial crisis. Allen & Overy's navigation of the 2008/9 financial crisis, led by Mr Morley, is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study.
Mr Morley has over 25 years of stellar City transactional and relationship experience at the highest level and as a banking lawyer has negotiated some of the largest financings in the world and was awarded the Law Society Special Achievement Award in 2015. Upon his retirement from Allen & Overy, he is now pursuing a range of business interests including being the chairman of private equity fund Elaghmore GP LLP as well as consulting on leadership and strategy in professional services. Earlier stints also include being the Advisory Council Member, Mayor of London's International Business Advisory Council under Mayor Boris Johnson. He was also founder and former chairman of Prime, the UK legal profession's body helping to provide fair access to quality work experience for young people from less privileged backgrounds.


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General Liability insurance is intended to provide coverage for liability arising out of nonprofessional acts that result in bodily injury (BI), property damage (PD), or personal and advertising injury (PI). General Liability is designed to cover an insured's liability arising out of incidents on the insured's premises or from the nonprofessional aspects of the insured's practice, which include premises, operations, products & completed operations and advertising & personal injury.
There are three basic coverage areas that comprise a General Liability policy:
- bodily injury and property damage (BI/PD)
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- medical payments coverage
Personal and advertising injury liability protects an insured against claims arising out of certain offenses, such as:
– libel
– slander
– false arrest
– malicious prosecution
– use of another's advertising idea
– wrongful eviction, entry, or invasion of privacy
The Medical Payments section of the General Liability policy includes payments for third party injuries or accidents on the insured's premises (place of business). Medical payments by an insurer can be triggered without legal action from a third party. This provides for prompt settlement of smaller medical claims without litigation, which can save both the carrier and insured money.
General Liability can be purchased as a stand-alone policy or it can be bundled with Property insurance to form a Package Policy or Business Owners Policy (BOP). The Property portion of a package policy can include coverage for a building or business contents (i.e. computers, furniture, etc..) or both. Learn more about Property Insurance.
Another coverage that can be added to a Package Policy is Hired/non-Owned Auto. This coverage is to provide limited auto coverage to a firm that does not have any vehicles insured under the business name. It provides excess coverage over vehicles owned or rented (hired) by employees and used for company business. Learn more about Commercial Auto Insurance.
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Came across this Save-the-Date this morning and had to repost it! I used to LOVE garbage pail kids when I was growing up. Hell, I STILL love Garbage Pail Kids.
Painted by a real Garbage Pail Kids artist, Brent Engstrom for a friend. Visit his blog if you need a moment of nostalgia! I gotta say, if I received this STD, it would be one wedding that come hell or high water, I would attend. (note: I don't ACTUALLY judge which weddings I attend based on the STD. I don't want to start an uproar)


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Saturday, April 24, 2010
Fighting Spirit Is Important In Go!
Maybe following quotes can give us some insight ... FIGHTING - SPIRIT - INSIGHT ;-)
"Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye."
Miyamoto Musashi
"Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men."
Miyamoto Musashi
"You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect."
Miyamoto Musashi
"The weekest things in the world can overmatch the stongest things in the world.
Nothing in the world can be compared to water for its weak and yielding nature; yet in attacking the hard and the strong nothing proves better than it. For there is no alternative to it.
The weak can overcome the strong and the yielding can overcome the hard.
This all the world knows but does not practice."
Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
"Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now put water into a cup, it becomes a cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot, it becomes a teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend."
Bruce Lee
"Go is a game of chance where the strong player is he who renders circumstances favorable with tricks."
Audouard, Pierre
"He who chases around after many rabbits ends hungry."
Okinawan Proverb
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking we were at when we created them."
Albert Einstein
"Fall down seven times, get up eight."
Japanese Proverb
"Rule number one: Don't let them scare you."
"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
"Five Secrets of Japanese Goju Ryu:
Move quickly
Sound, calm mind
Be light in body
Have a clever mind
Master the basics"
Gogen Yamaguchi
"Do nothing which is of no use."
Miyamoto Musashi
Posted by eyecatcher at 2:53 PM
Labels: Go-History, Go-Picture, Go-Video, Miyamoto Musashi, Philosophy/Wisdom, Quote, Tao Te Ching
2 comments:
- Nate said...
These pictures are awesome!
I just stumbled on to your blog via a link from justplaygo.com - I love your game records. I'm a new player at about 17k, so your comments are both interesting and useful. I've subscribed to your RSS feed and look forward to more!
- June 13, 2010 at 7:21 PM
- Shimari said...
Great pictures, and great proverbs and quotations! I just finished writing a post about fighting spirit on my own blog: Shimari. I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed one of your proverbs!
- July 16, 2010 at 9:50 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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The virtual home of Naomi Clark - Writer, werewolf aficionado, snake-charmer, Mega Shark fangirl
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
"When genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot"
I love that quote. I think it might be my quote for 2014.
And it is 2014, so I guess some of you might be wondering what I was up to in 2013, because I certainly wasn't up to very much writing. The short answer is, I really lost my passion for writing last year. The reasons are myriad: I started a small business which took off and smashed my expectations. I poured a lot of my creativity into perfume-making and have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it, but it is time-consuming and did impact my writing. I'm aiming to find a balance between the two this year.
But perfume-making aside, when I did try to write I wasn't happy with what I was writing. For most of 2013 I was still coming to terms with losing my dad, and that affected my writing on a level I hadn't anticipated - the novel I was working on when he passed away (the third Ethan Banning book) was not a happy novel. I didn't want to write unhappy stuff in the wake of Dad dying, but nothing else I tried held my attention either.
So in the end I just stopped trying. I did of course have the Urban Wolf series republished, and I did start a fourth book in that series called Black Dog, which I hope to continue with this year. I've been delighted and humbled by the response to the series' relaunch (WOLF STRAP is still riding high in the ARe lesbian charts, nine months after its release; SILVER KISS was an Amazon bestseller; all three books in the series are ARe bestsellers), and will be forever grateful to Evernight Publishing for giving Ayla and Shannon a new home.
But honestly, in 2013, writing wasn't fun for me and it didn't call to me. I've gone through periods before where I haven't written, but last year I would say I was simply disenchanted with the whole process. Changes in the industry, frustrations with past choices, a sense that I was trying to put myself into a box I didn't actually fit in...It all added up, and combined with grief and a general sense of futility regarding my writing career, I just...stopped. I considered stopping permanently, in fact, which is why you're reading this on a brand new blog and not my old one - I deleted the old one.
But deep down inside, I didn't want to stop writing. It's just too big a part of who I am and how I work. So I knew I had to get back in the saddle, but I also knew I had to be clear and focused going forward. I started and abandoned so many projects last year, it was just adding to my unhappiness and leaving me certain that I couldn't write anymore, that I'd lost whatever spark it is that makes writers tell stories. So going into 2014, I've decided to get back to basics.
What I love, and where my heart is, is grim and gritty urban fantasy. Whilst I love reading paranormal romance and enjoy writing it, it isn't my passion and I don't feel my voice is authentic in those stories. So I won't be writing anymore.
I have three projects I plan to work on this year. The first and most important to me is the Ethan Banning series. I did start to post chapters of Undertow (book 2) at my old blog last year, but obviously that fell by the wayside as I dealt with depression and lack of enthusiasm. Now I want to get Undertow published and will more than likely be self-publishing it. More on that as it develops. I may or may not do a long blog on the subject of DEMONIZED, AFTERLIFE, and why I don't promote them anymore in the near future. But Undertow will definitely be released into the wild in 2014, and I plan to continue the series until I've ground Ethan into a fine pulp.
Project Two is the Urban Wolf series. I have about 8k written of Black Dog, and whilst it's certainly not the best stuff I've ever written, the seeds of a good story are there. So I'll be getting stuck back into that and carrying on with Ayla and Shannon's adventures.
Project Three is to revisit my first ever urban fantasy world. This is down the list because I need to do a lot of thinking and planning - I came up with this world and the characters when I was in my teens, and it's all very dated and cliched now. But it was my first love and it's got so much potential, I feel I owe it to Young Me to start over and fulfill that potential.
So that brings us up to date. Hopefully I'll get back into a regular blogging schedule as I get back into a regular writing schedule. Stay tuned for more ramblings, lots of guest posts from awesome authors, and news about Undertow. Happy New Year! Time to turn over a new leaf.
4 comments:
I get this on so many levels. The industry BS, the "I wish I was commercial but damn it I don't think I am," the maybe I shouldn't do this anymore...it's more than enough to put the brakes on passion. But I'm happy it sounds like you're finding yourself and your passion again!ReplyDelete
Good luck with writing in 2014 :)Replies
"I wish I was commercial but damn it I don't think I am,"Delete
Yes! Exactly this. I think if I had a penny for every time I had that conversation with my fiance in 2013, I could quit my day job.
- Anonymous8 January 2014 at 13:36
I understand this completely. I never want to be pigeon holed into being one kind of writer because I never know what story will call to me next. That's part of the reason why I went from releasing a YA story to releasing one that is very much not YA. :PReplyDelete
I've also had my writing affected by my mood. 2012 saw me doing very little writing. 2013 I got back in the saddle, and then this year I have SO MUCH PLANNED. This, for me, is going to be the year of writing. And dog walking :PReplies
I'm pretty sure you're going to have an awesome year!Delete


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Two security alerts has been declared along the route of the Apprentice Boys of Derry parade this afternoon.
One alert it is at the city's railway station where the parade began this morning. Police are currently evacuating the station and the surrounding area and the other is on Spencer Road at the Quarry Steps leading to Gobnascale.
A statement from the PSNI, released in the last few minutes said: "Police in Londonderry are currently in attendance at security alerts in the Quarry Steps area of Spencer Road and the railway station following the report of objects having been left both areas.
Area Commander, Chief Inspector Tony Callaghan said, "The railway station has been evacuated and the line between Coleraine and Derry closed as a search of the area is conducted. Cordons are in place and the Foyle Arena has been opened for anyone inconvenienced by the alerts. There are no further details at this time."
1,500 marchers and 30 bands took part in today's parade. The parade had passed off peacefully through the city centre. At 1pm several dozen republicans held a protest at Shipquay Street.