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Aren't these earrings cute? Made with beige, brown, burnt sienna and a touch of purple.
Find them here
I'm known as a glass bead maker, artist, photographer and nature lover. My beads are made by melting glass rods in a torch flame. It's an ancient art skill known as lampworking or flameworking. From the start of actually making a glass bead, to adding the finishing touches of a completed piece, my work is as unique as the person wearing it. Creating beads and designing jewelry takes time and patience. Support artists and buy handmade. Thank you for visiting. Enjoy my work!


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Full / Real Name: Letshego Moshoeu
Born: 23 August 1984 (33 years old)
Gender: Female
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Letshego Moshoeu is a South African biokineticist and adventure enthusiast from Johannesburg who was a contestant on the M-Net reality competition Survivor South Africa: Maldives, in 2011.
She also appeared as a contestant on the e.tv reality competition Fear Factor South Africa, in 2006.
Letshego was born in Mafikeng, North West and currently living in Douglasdale, Johannesburg. This "adventure freak", as she refers to herself, made her TV debut in the reality show Fear Factor in 2006. She faced her fears by competing very well against 19 other contestants to make it to the top 4, as the 2nd last female standing.
Thereafter she made a decision to follow her dream and qualify as a Sport and Exercise Technologist and specialised in Biokinetics. She is currently completing her Biokinetics internship and will be a Qualified Registered Biokineticist by March 2011.
Letshego is an avid runner and cyclist who has conquered numerous racing events such as the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, Cape Argus Cycle Tour, 94.7 Cycle Challenge, the Cradle Quest Mountain Bike 3 day stage race and the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in East London in January 2011.
In 2010, her love of running and cycling saw her join nine other South Africans to swim, cycle and run approximately 2000km in an attempt to raise funds for the underprivileged children in Pennyville, Soweto. The aim of this initiative was to raise funds to build a sports facility and a second crèche in Pennyville.
Team members included the likes of rally driver Gugulethu Zulu, ex-Springbok rugby player Werner Swanepoel, soapie star Henré Pretorius and TV personality Liezel van der Westhuizen.
Letshego is very passionate about keeping her body in shape and aims to be the voice of change to make a difference to South Africa's high levels of obesity. Her number 1 goal is to one day run her own Fitness Facility & Biokinetics practice.
She dated motosport star Gugu Zulu (who competed on SABC2's Strictly Come Dancing in 2008) from 2001 and married him in 2014. They remained married until Gugu's death on 18 July 2016. They have one daughter together, Lelethu.
Fear Factor South Africa - Season 1
Survivor South Africa - Season 4 (Maldives)
Contestant - Herself
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Party Hair How To - Party Hair Tutorial - Cosmopolitan (Minutes Hairstyles Easy Hair)
Pin up girls wear high-waisted bottoms to emphasize their curves and hips. It can be in form of high-waist skinny jeans with buttons on both sides, capri pants, high waisted shorts or pencil skirts.
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Acupuncturist (Ac.)
Member of the Order of Quebec Acupuncturists
Training and personal experience
I am a certified nurse since 2002, (State Diploma in Nursing acquired in France and member of the Order of Quebec Nurses since 2006). I have exercised in many different departments, such as intensive care unit, burned victims unit, as well as taken care of patients in Northern Quebec and Montreal. All of these experiences helped me develop an expertise in health care. I have also developed the ability to analyze, better relate to the patient and be more effective as a health care worker.
After many years of experience in hospitals and the community, I realized that many health problems can be effectively dealt with acupuncture. It is thus my intention to use Traditional Chinese Medicine as an alternative to prevent, cure and alleviate sickness and disease.
Furthermore, the goal of acupuncture is to evaluate the person as a whole, physically as well as psychologically. This approach helps restore balance in the individual and is a must in bringing proper health care.
I obtained my diploma in acupuncture at Rosemont College in Montreal.
Interests ans specializationAcupuncture helps alleviate pain, especially muscles and bones. This is why I intend to complete my studies in specializing in the treatment of these pathologies.
Nowadays, many people want to stop smoking: we are all aware of the dangers of tobacco on our health, and nevertheless it is not an easy task to quit. Tobacco weaning effects on the body can be alleviated with the help of acupuncture by eliminating the toxins in the body as well as helping with the symptoms of withdrawal.
Esthetic acupuncture is a natural technique in helping to treat the effects of age on the face. Such treatments help in bringing muscle tone and better blood circulation to face muscles, which make some wrinkles disappear. These treatments, aimed for patients with well balanced energy, bring relaxation to the points used on the body and especially the face. We use electro-stimulation , magnets and tuina (a Chinese massage technique).
Health issues that can be treated with Acupuncture
- Stress (insomnia, anxiety and overall fatigue)
- Neurological problems: facial paralysis, neuralgia of facial ligaments, lack of concentration, bad memory, depression, vertigo
- Hearing problems: humming and ringing in the ears
- Skin problems: eczema, psoriasis, acne
- Circulatory problems: cold feet, oedema, hypo and hyper tension, transpiration, restless leg syndrome
- Muscular-skeletal pains: arthrosis, arthritis, whiplash, tendinitis, bursitis, lower back pain, sciatic nerve, Lenoir thorn, carpal tunnel, fibromyalgia
- Respiratory problems: asthma, allergies, reinforcing the immune system, sinus problems, colds, flu
- Intestinal problems: stomach burns, gastric reflux, gastric ulcer, digestive problems, diarrhea, constipation, swelling
- Gynaecological problems: fertility, menstrual cycle, PMS, menopause
- Urinary and reproductive system: incontinence, impotency, infections, urinary pain, difficulty to urinate, vaginal secretions
- Withdrawal symptoms of tobacco
- Aesthetic health
Rate70$/Acupuncture treatment (needles) 90$/Acupuncture treatment (laser) 80$/Esthetic acupuncture treatment
Payment methods accepted by the therapist
- Cash
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MOVIE SYNOPSIS [ General Audiences ] The attempt by the military to shoot down a satellite in orbit unleashed an epidemic transmitted through space in a remote village. You can watch Germ online on TV cable or theaters with original audio in English at different dates. This film premiered in theaters in 2013.
Rating: 5 by 571 users./
Runtime: 100 minutes
Marguerite Sundberg, Michael Flores, Mark Chiappone, Beth Pratt, Zoe Miller, Bernard Setaro Clark, Jody Pucello, Alyssa Coan, Vanessa Smith, Brendan Nagle, Michael Essi, Lynette Dixon, Dana Beierle, J.T. Boone, Christine Tino Dickerson and Jack Gargaro.
Drama, Terror, Action.
100-minute film (full movie) directed by J.T. Boone and John Craddock.
The original audio of Germ has dialogues in Dolby Digital, it was produced in USA.
It premiered in cinemas or television in 2013.
Screenplay written by J.T. Boone.
Gus Sacks.
John Craddock, Lynette Dixon, Shep Boone, Dan Campis and J.T. Boone.
This film was produced and / or financed by Germ The Movie and Two Thirds Productions.
Composed by Siddhartha Barnhoorn and Heath Hanlin.
Edel Media & Entertainment and Brainstorm Media.
Without commercial breaks, the full movie Germ has a duration of 100 minutes; the official trailer can be watched in streaming on the Internet. You can watch this full movie free in EnglishDolby Digital in movie TV channels, renting the DVD or with VoD services (Video On Demand player, Hulu) and PPV (Pay Per View, Netflix).
See the page of this full movie, Germ in FULLTV Movies.


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Автор: Dan Oliver
Раздел: RotoVision
|Под заказ. Поступление на склад 12.12.2017
500 Internet Hints, Tips and Techniques is the essential companion for anyone who wants to use the internet to its full potential, as a means of communicating (by computer, phone, or mobile device), participating in a community, setting up and running a blog, photolog, or vlog, or contributing to popular sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr. From basic dos and don'ts, to software tips and troubleshooting advice, this accessible, colourful blend of step-by-step tutorials, quick fixes, and bullet-point tips is the perfect antidote to boring technical manuals. Aiming to demystify issues around creating content, storage, sharing, navigation, remote working, and data protection, this book will help you "skill-up" by means of simple, jargon-free explanations.So whether you have a state of the art laptop, a Blackberry, or a humble PC, and are generating images and video via a digital video camera, or a multimedia phone, this highly illustrated, jargon-busting book gives you all the skills you'll need to create content to share with family, friends and associatese.
Цена 10 140 тг. за 1 штКоличество


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|Page (1) of 3 - 06/20/05
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DVD Insider: Computex, Apple Shift to Intel, InfoCommCoolness abounds, it's only a computer, newness astounds
In this edition of DVD Insider, DMN's Miles Weston looks over the newest gadgets at Computex, ogles the sex and sizzle of the Mac platform shift to the Dark Side of Intel and rounds up infoComm. Weston notices that at trade shows you quickly realize that there is a lot of truth to John Guare's play and the movie adaptation, Six Degrees of Separation. There may well be billions of people on this planet but manufacturers and show visitors run in the same circle.
This year, in that circle – which grew to about 130,000 people – there weren't any breakthroughs, just a lot of refinements of the concepts that had been shown at CES and CeBit earlier this year. By the time the holidays roll around the friends and friends of friends will have wrung most of the costs out of the products so we will have something we can affordably buy.
Once you sifted through the noise there weren't any killer applications or product breakthroughs you come to expect with major shows. Many attributed this void to the shortened product lifecyles and the need to squeeze pennies out of the products as prices and margins continue to drop. When you are at the product development table most managers will make safe incremental bets and enhance current products rather than rolling the dice on high-risk products.
|Here's a 2.5 TB raid array from Hitachi shown at Computex.
Dual-core processors from Intel and AMD created a lot of interest at the show, as did the refinements of liquid cooled processing. Then, too, there was the integration of more and more technology on the same old products to make them "new and exciting."
PCs – desktop and notebook – had cleaner, crisper screens, wireless enhancements, slightly improved batteries, incrementally faster graphic chips, better audio and bigger hard drives. Portable devices – they can hardly be called phones anymore – had better screens, audio/video download capabilities and yes, more storage capabilities/options.
Of course these two product categories are important to the industry's health. IDC recently announced that we have begun shipping our second billion PCs and that the growth potential remains strong (Fig. 1). That and Microsoft's announcement that they will ship at least some flavor of Longhorn this next year which will mean new versions of the application software will be required by users put the sparkle in many eyes.
|Fig. 1
While Intel and AMD set the ground rules for the dual-core processor discussions, the companies that could benefit most from the products will probably be Taiwan's Via, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) in the audio and video content products. Both are getting a lot of interest in their video, audio and peripheral chips. Microsoft's announcement that they will ship at least some flavor of Longhorn this next year which will mean new versions of the application software will be required by users put the sparkle in a lot of people's eyes.
To build excitement around the system potential of the new chips and product advances, firms showed a variety of cube and notebook home entertainment systems like Intel's own PC prototype (see figure 1a below) and Asus' new MC cube (see Fig.1b below). Some of the systems delivered the same feel as CE products by incorporating InstantON. On in a flash, they opened the world of home entertainment with audio, photo, video and TV content.
|Fig.1a -- Intel's PC prototype takes on a smaller form factor
|Fig.1b -- Here's the new MC Cube from Asus
As you might expect with some of the firms' ability to mirror ideas (much nicer way to say copy) was the beginning of microminiature PCs. AOpen was one of the first out of the gate with an economic PC Mini (see Fig. 1c below). By the time the holidays and CES roll around, expect to see a wide array of versions. We can also expect whole families of complimentary storage – like ADS Tech's Mini drive kit -- and digital media players.
|Fig. 1c
Related Keywords:DVD Insider, Miles Weston, newest gadgets, Computex, Mac platform shift, Intel, infoComm, trade shows, Six Degrees of Separation
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Ex-Cop Cleared of Leaking State Secrets ({{commentsTotal}})
Former police anti-narcotics chief Jarek Pavlihhin has been cleared of revealing state secrets as the prosecution's appeal to overturn the ruling has been rejected by the Supreme Court. The ruling by the Tartu District Court is now finalized and not subject to new appeals.
The district court found in May 2013 that the information disclosed by Pavlihhin was not categorized as classified information, and that had it been classified, intentional disclosure of state secrets could not have taken place.
According to the charge, he revealed the identities of five undercover police officers.
The state will now have to cover Pavlihhin's legal bills, which amounted to 22,500 euros.
In the initial case, which the district court upheld, the ex-police officer was charged with embezzling 15,000 euros between 2006 and 2011 and document forgery. According to uudised.err.ee, the missing money was meant to be paid out to a police informant, but never was.
Pavlihhin had worked for the police for 13 years and has been awarded the title of best criminal investigator in Tartu County.


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[I wrote this about a year ago, in an attempt to get my brain round the various claims being made about the banking crisis, the deficit and the national debt. I'm publishing it in the hope that it may be useful to someone …]
Debts, deficits and denials
I'm not an economist. I have found the financial turmoil of the last two years quite baffling, and I'm not sure how to assess the severity of the financial difficulties we apparently find ourselves in – some of the numbers bandied about are so huge that they mean very little to me, and some of the jargon used by the experts serves only to obscure things further. Nonetheless, I've been trying to disentangle some of the issues, and my conclusions so far are here. Please note: all this is rather tentative, and subject to revision. But I believe I am not alone in my uncertainty. There are nine experts on the Monetary Policy Committee which decides what the Bank of England's base rate should be; last month (February 2011) they managed four opinions between them!
I've been trying to find the answers to three major questions – one to do with the role of the banks, another to do with the performance of the UK economy in general, and the third to do with the scope and timing of the cuts being introduced by the coalition government.
Quite a lot of people blame the banks for everything; some go further, and seem to imply that if only we taxed the bankers a bit more, all our problems would be over. How near to the truth is that? And was it all the banks' fault?
That's one issue. The next is: how healthy was the economy when the crisis hit? Were we on a sustainable path, with manageable national debt and deficit? The Tory mantra before the election was that we had been spending £4 for every £3 that we earned; Labour insisted that everything was OK, and that if it hadn't been for the banks we could have carried on as we were. And Ed Balls has repeated much the same recently.
The final question: given where we are now, what's the best course of action? Again, there's a difference of opinion here; the coalition partners say that significant cuts are necessary and urgent – Labour say there's no need to be hasty – we can wait a bit, until we're out of the recession before we tackle the deficit. Who's right?
The role of the banks
So, to the banks. We know that there was a crisis in the banking world which threatened the rest of the UK economy, and that the government was compelled to intervene to prevent the collapse of the banking system. We also know that the banking crisis was brought about by banks selling each other risky loans. (The root cause seems to be US banks giving mortgages to people who were never going to be able to pay them back.) It's actually quite difficult to establish with any certainty how much money the UK government actually gave to the banks. The latest figure I can find is £65.8 billion – that's real tax-payers' money the government gave Royal Bank of Scotland and the Lloyds Banking Group in 2008 to stop them going under[i]. The result of this is that the tax-payer now owns 83% of RBS and 41% of Lloyds. We also own Northern Rock, having provided £27 billion[ii] to keep it afloat over the winter of 2007-8. A total then, of £92.8 billion.
However, these are not the only figures people refer to. In December 2009, a report from the National Audit Office suggested that 'Government support for Britain's banks has reached a staggering £850bn and the eventual cost to taxpayers will not be known for years'[iii]. Earlier that year, Will Hutton wrote: 'Now the British government has had to put an astounding £1.3 trillion in various guarantees and investments behind the banking system in order to avoid the consequence of its fall'[iv]. £1.3 trillion? Yes, that really is astounding! [I wrote to Will Hutton some weeks ago, asking him to explain his figures. I will let you know if he replies.]
So where do these figures come from? As far as I can make out, the £92.8 billion I referred to earlier is actual cash, given to the banks or used by the government to buy bank shares. The other much bigger figures seem to refer to potential cash – they are guarantees or indemnities which may never be called on. Hutton hints at that – but his Observer article was (misleadingly) headlined 'You give bankers £1.3 trillion and do they thank you? Do they hell'. Similarly, we should note the distinction in the NAO report between 'government support' and 'eventual cost' – not the same thing at all.
I don't think it's reasonable to ask the banks for £1.3 trillion back – as we haven't actually given it to them. But it seems perfectly reasonable to ask for the £92.8 billion that we gave Northern Rock, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.
Talking about Northern Rock, Wikipedia says: 'As of 3 March 2009 the bank was repaying the loan well ahead of target, owing a net balance of only £8.9 billion of the loan which stood at £26.9 billion at the end of 2007' (I suspect this refers to the 'bad bank', Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM), which took over £50bn of the bank's older mortgages; the 'good bank', known simply as Northern Rock, still owes us £1.4 billion.) Robert Peston reckons that in the end 'the rescue of the Rock will be seen to be have had negligible fiscal consequences' – i.e. the taxpayer will probably just about break even.
It is not clear how the money we loaned to the other two banks can be recouped. Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams is backing a scheme to distribute most of the nationalised shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds to those of us on the electoral register. The City establishment is a bit sniffy about this – but given their recent record, I don't really care what they think. One of the main benefits of this scheme is that it will get round the 'overhang' problem faced by UK Financial Investments (UKFI), who will be selling the shares on behalf of the Treasury – the market knows that whenever a tranche of these shares becomes available, there will be another tranche along soon, and consequently discounts the price they're prepared to pay. Another benefit is that such a sharing out may do something to reduce the anger we feel about the way the banks have behaved, and their astonishing lack of remorse (I do not share Mervyn King's view that people aren't angry about this).
Let's turn to the suggestion that the bankers ought to do more to pay back the money we have loaned them – in particular the notion that their bonuses should be slashed. In 2010 bankers were expected to share a bonus pot of around £7.3 billion- not quite as eye-watering as the £11 billion they had in 2007, but I expect they'll manage.
You can see why some people argue that these bonuses should be scrapped. I'm thinking of this sort of statement from Unison (Fact Sheet #29): 'The pay and bonuses of the 10 highest paid Lloyds employees would pay for 6,124 hip operations'[v]. Unfortunately, the punitive approach this suggestion hints at fails some basic tests. For a start, bankers' bonuses are taxed – so out of the £7.3 billion, it is estimated that the bankers took home around £3.8 billion, with the Treasury taking £4.1 billion[vi]. I calculate that that tax would pay for 800,000 hip operations. Logically, we might argue for increased bonuses – every time a bonus doubles, the Treasury's tax take will double as well. We should certainly take note of the fact that if we scrap bankers' bonuses, we also lose the tax they pay. I also wonder if it's sensible to make lots of bankers unemployed – would you be prepared for your taxes to go up to pay their benefits?
In Mervyn King's interview in the Daily Telegraph (4th March 2011) he says that in the past 25 years, banks have increasingly 'taken bets with other people's money'[vii]. Not only that – 'the rules of the game are that they get bailed out if it all goes wrong … We allowed a [banking] system to build up which contained the seeds of its own destruction … We've not yet solved … the 'too important to fail' problem. The concept of being too important to fail should have no place in a market economy.' In the Lib Dem Manifesto we said "We will break up the banks, to ensure taxpayers are never again expected to underwrite high-risk banking. We will introduce a Banking Levy, so that banks pay for their tax-payer guarantee, until the break-up is complete."[viii] We have set up an independent commission on separating investment and retail banking, reporting by September 2011, and introduced a banking levy that will raise £2.5bn a year. A good start, I'd say.
One final point on the banks. Labour insists that our problems are all due to the global crisis in the banking industry. But does the government have no responsibility for how the banks behave? Here's Ed Balls, talking five years ago: 'Nothing should be done to put at risk a light-touch, risk-based regulatory regime.'[ix] And here he is again, in January this year: 'We should have ignored Tory and City claims that we were being too tough on financial regulation and been much tougher still.'[x] This looks to me like wanting to have your cake and eat it. As long as the banking bubble was merrily inflating itself, and pouring taxes into Labour's public spending spree, Labour were happy to be hands-off. As soon as the bubble collapsed, Balls thinks they should have been more hands on. Well, I think he's right there – the government should certainly have taken more of an interest in how the banking system was working (or not, as it turned out).
And another final point: it wasn't just the banks that had problems – and not all banks were affected equally. AIG, the US insurance giant, nearly collapsed due to their dealings in the sub-prime market. As Ben Bernanke put it: 'AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system,' and '… to nobody's surprise, made irresponsible bets and took huge losses'. Meanwhile, this side of the Atlantic, Barclays survived without needing to take advantage of the 2008 UK government investment that saved RBS and Lloyds.
And a final final point: there's more to the role of the banks than the actual cash the government invested. We (UK taxpayers) may make a profit of up to £19bn by the time the government has sold all its RBS and Lloyds shares – but the cost to the country of the recession triggered by the banking collapse (currently estimated to be about 6% of GDP) is huge.
How was the UK economy doing before the banking crisis?
There's no doubt that the banking crisis in the UK clobbered our economy. The issue I want to address now is the underlying health of the economy. To put it another way, would everything be hunky dory if the banks hadn't been so reckless?
In his foreword to the Labour Party Manifesto of 2010, Gordon Brown said: 'At the same time the world has been rocked by the first great crisis of the new global economic age.' This theme – that our difficulties are the result of a global crisis – was repeated ad nauseam during the last two years of the Labour government, and through the election campaign. The implication, of course, is that it wasn't Labour's fault, and in particular that Gordon Brown himself bore no responsibility for the mess we find ourselves in. At the same time, David Cameron's mantra during the election was 'We are spending £4 for every £3 in revenue, and we can't go on like that.'
I said earlier that I'm not an economist; however, I know enough to understand that if government spending consistently exceeds government income, then there is what is known as a structural deficit. I'm also aware that governments sometimes spend more than they're collecting in tax to smooth hiccups in the public finances, this spending in the bad times being balanced by increased income in the good. This kind of deficit is called a cyclical deficit. So – was there a deficit? If so, what kind of deficit was it?
Ed Balls on the Andrew Marr show on January 30th 2011 said 'I don't think we had a structural deficit at all in that period [i.e. leading up to the financial crisis]…' A few weeks earlier, he had written in The Times: 'My concern is that a great deceit designed to damage Labour has led to profoundly misguided and dangerous economic decisions that I fear will cause deep damage to Britain's future. What is this deceit? It is that the deficit was caused by chronic overspending …' Instead, Ed blames the financial crisis, the subsequent recession, and the consequent collapse in tax revenues that resulted.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (page 6 of their Briefing Note No. 79, published in 2008), have a different view:
'On the OECD measure, the UK had a structural budget deficit of 3.1% of national income in 2007. This is the 2nd biggest structural budget deficit among the G7 large economies (after the US) and the 4th highest of the 26 industrial countries for which the OECD has data.'[xi]
Let's look at a graph:
Figure 1: UK income and spending 1997-2015
The most eye-catching feature is the sudden huge leap in spending in the two years after the start of the banking crisis in 2007, leading to a massive increase in borrowing. But look carefully at the years leading up to 2007. From 2002 to 2007, we were clearly spending more than we were earning. If you prefer the numbers, try this:
Fiscal Year
Public Spending (£bn)
Tax Revenue (£bn)
Balance (£bn)
Figure 2: UK income and spending 2000-2011
Whichever way you look at it, that's chronic overspending, isn't it? Most economists seem to agree that it's OK to run a cyclical deficit when the economy is threatened by recession, but surely remaining in deficit during the years through to 2007, when the UK economy was performing reasonably well, was reckless?
Remember that Northern Rock was not nationalized until February 2008, and that RBS and HBOS were not bailed out until October 2008. So while it is true that the financial crisis made the deficit much worse, you plainly cannot deny that chronic overspending played a major role too – an assertion borne out by the fact that the OECD puts the UK's 2007 structural deficit at 3.9% of GDP.
Consider two other things. First, between 2000-01 and 2006-07, spending rose by 51%, while tax revenues only rose by 36%. Secondly, from 2006-07 to 2009-10 (which encompasses the crisis years), spending rose by 22%, while tax revenues rose and then fell back to where they'd started.
Let's put it another way. Between 2002 and 2008 we spent £200 billion pounds we didn't have – i.e. money we had to borrow. If we hadn't spent that money, wouldn't we have been in a better position to tackle the bank fiasco?
The cuts
The first thing to be said about the cuts is that we're talking about choosing between bad options and worse options. The key is deciding which option is which. It seems to me that the risk of cutting is recession, while the risk of not cutting is national insolvency. Needless to say, it's all a bit more complicated than that …
The cuts (invariably described as 'savage') are not actually cuts in public spending, believe it or not – rather they are cuts in the rate at which public spending is increasing. They will reduce the amount by which our debt is rising – but it will still keep rising for five years, just not quite as fast as it has been for the last ten. In 2015-16, public spending (at £647bn, expressed at 2009-2010 values) will be higher than it was in 2008-09 (£640bn).
When the unions or the defence chiefs protest about the severity of the cuts, it's worth taking a step back for a longer view. In 1999-2000, Labour shrugged free of their self-imposed commitment to stick to Tory spending plans; fast forward to the end of this parliament and we find that welfare spending will be 34 per cent higher, in real terms, in 2014-15 than it was in 1999-2000, and defence spending will be 36 per cent higher.
In five years time we will still be increasing our national debt at a rate of £20 billion pa. This chart shows the continuing rise in our spending:
Figure 3: UK spending 2000-2015 [estimates in red]
What the government is actually doing is eliminating the structural part of the deficit. That should leave us in the desirable position of being able to borrow when we need to, and saving when times are better. A position one might reasonably describe as prudent.
The IMF gave thumbs up to coalition spending plans in September 2010. They reckoned that the benefits of Osborne's tougher deficit plan 'outweigh the expected costs in terms of adverse effects on near-term growth. Indeed, market reaction to the adjustment plan has been positive.' In other words, the coalition have taken an economic risk with their approach, but the IMF thinks it's a risk worth taking.
Is there an alternative? Not really; during the election campaign, all parties seemed to be agreed that cuts would have to be implemented. Alistair Darling promised 'tougher and deeper' cuts than those implemented by Margaret Thatcher.[xii] The only difference between the two biggest parties was the timetable, with Labour wanting to halve the deficit in four years and the Conservatives wanting to eliminate it entirely within their first term of government. The Lib Dems accepted Labour's plan to halve the structural deficit in four years, but our manifesto also sets out numerous extra cuts that would have been made on top of Labour's (rather vague) plans.
It's worth looking at these figures in some detail. The proposals that Labour fought the election on would have seen the structural deficit halved in four years – i.e. between £30-40bn over that time, equivalent to between £7.5-10bn a year. The proportions in terms of increased taxation and reduced spending would have been similar to the proportions pursued by the current government. This would have equated to roughly 20% cuts in unprotected departments over four years, or 5% a year.
The coalition government has pledged to eliminate the structural deficit within five years – i.e. £12-16bn per year. This equates to roughly 30% cuts in unprotected departments over a five year period, or 6% a year.
So the difference between Labour's plans and the current government's plans equates to about one percentage point a year in most departments.
One has to assume, therefore, that people who argue that the coalition's plans go too far, too fast, are also saying that Labour's plans went too far, too fast. They are invariably reluctant to suggest alternatives.
So – what difference might timing make? I suggested earlier that our choice was between recession (if we cut too quickly) and national bankruptcy (if we cut too slowly). Unfortunately, we cannot try both approaches to see which works better; hindsight will tell us if we made the right choice, but foresight cannot really help. One thing we know already: our national debt is going to keep increasing for the next five years, along with the interest we have to pay on it. We also know that if we don't cut, our debt will get bigger more quickly than if we do. Here's another graph, illustrating the scale of the problem:
Figure 4: UK interest on government debt 2000-2015 [estimates in red]
To give some perspective, it may be worth noting that the interest for this year (£43bn) is slightly more than we will spend this year on defence.
What happens when national debt gets out of control? At its simplest, money becomes more expensive to borrow. We have evidence from our European neighbours to help us here: the so-called PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain – sometimes extended to include Ireland) are all suffering to different degrees from having national debts so large that the markets are increasingly reluctant to lend them money (i.e. to buy government bonds for redemption at some time in the future). Benchmark borrowing costs, as measured by 10-year bond yields, hit 5.51% for Spain earlier this month [9th March 2011], 7.63% for Portugal, 9.58% for Ireland and 12.90% for Greece. The UK, meanwhile can borrow at 3.73% – the markets think we're a fairly safe bet.
Making your mind up
In September last year Stephanie Flanders offered three helpful summaries on her blog – the case for austerity[xiii], the case against[xiv], and how to decide where you stand[xv]. In brief, she suggests:
You will worry most about the coalition's policies if you think that this is a once-in-a -lifetime crisis; that government spending can help avert disaster; that the short-term risk to the recovery trumps everything else; and that policy makers can be trusted to cut borrowing as soon as the danger is past.
You'll be most supportive of Mr Osborne if you think that this economic cycle will be similar to the past; that more borrowing can't do much to support growth; that it's the long-term risk of inflation and a loss of market confidence that we should be focused on; and that politicians have a hard time keeping their promises.
Either way, the choices you might make will depend on your political outlook.
Even Ed Balls accepts that the deficit will have to be addressed eventually; he just doesn't like the way the coalition is doing it. He portrays the argument as one between austerity and growth, without explaining convincingly how higher public spending will promote growth. And given that we won't be able to borrow on the scale of the last ten years, at some point he will have to stop decrying coalition tax rises and start talking about how much higher he'd like to see our taxes go.
It isn't always helpful to ask 'Well, what would you do?' (especially if you're talking to Ed Balls). The Labour party says the government needs a growth strategy, yet the Labour party's growth strategy seems to be: don't cut public spending as fast. That is not a growth strategy.
At this point, my essay officially comes to an end, with a few notes left that I have not used. I have certainly found it very useful to do the research and try to organise the relevant data into some kind of coherent overall picture. No doubt there are errors, but I've teased out a few strands to my own satisfaction … But be warned: there is more to come!
[Odd notes, may be used later:
Manifesto 2001
Public spending not to outstrip the growth of the economy
Labour have said that, if they were re-elected, they would increase spending each year faster than the growth of our national income. That inevitably means even higher taxes. Higher taxes come naturally to Labour, because they don't trust people to spend their own money.
Manifesto 2005
Today, government is spending too much, wasting too much and taxing too much. Britain cannot continue indefinitely to spend more than she is earning without higher taxes or higher interest rates – either of which will harm our economic prospects. If we are to secure our future prosperity, government must once again start to live within its means. The consequences of Labour's profligacy are now plain to see. Last
year, average living standards fell for the first time in over a decade – and the poorest 10 per cent of Britons became poorer.
Fraser Nelson in the Spectator (23rd March 2011): The "total cuts" figure is, oddly, not printed in the Budget. Perhaps because it's so embarrassingly small. After the Autumn Statement, it was 5 per cent over four years. Now it's back to 3.7 per cent over four years: that is to say, total cuts of just 0.9 per cent a year.
BUT – he's talking about total govt spending; so as soc security payments increase (unemployment), tax falls (ditto), inflation – departmental spending must fall to compensate. And where some depts are protected (though that looks increasingly thin, to me), other depts will have to lose even more.]
[To be continued … you have been warned!]
[i] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/business-12661005
[ii] http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/fin_stability_nr.htm
[iii] Independent, 4 December 2009 – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/163850bn-official-cost-of-the-bank-bailout-1833830.html
[iv] Observer, 19 April 2009 – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/19/banking-budget-recession-will-hutton
[v] www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/19584.pdf
[vi] http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2010/10/05/city-bankers-to-receive-7bn-bonuses-this-year/
[vii] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8362959/Mervyn-King-interview-We-prevented-a-Great-Depression…-but-people-have-the-right-to-be-angry.html
[viii] You can download a list of Lib Dem achievements here: http://www.rayleighlibdems.org.uk/
[ix] Bloomberg Speech, 14 June 2006
[x] Independent, 24 January 2011
[xi] you can download the whole IFS report here – full of interesting graphs and explanations: http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn79.pdf
[xii] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8587877.stm
[xiii] http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/2010/09/the_case_for_mr_osbornes_auste.html
[xiv] http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/2010/09/the_case_against_mr_osbornes_a.html
[xv] http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/2010/09/austerity_plans_where_do_you_stand.html


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Erik Lamela wants to take it to the max as Spurs shine
Erik Lamela believes Tottenham have momentum in the title race after they moved up to second in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Watford.
Kieran Trippier's second-half strike, his first goal for the club, was enough to seal victory for Spurs, who have recorded four consecutive league victories for the first time in two years.
Mauricio Pochettino's side are now one point above Manchester City, who they play at the Etihad Stadium next weekend and five behind surprise leaders Leicester with 13 games to play.
"We are second now, we keep moving on in the table so that is good," said Lamela.
"We keep winning which is very important for us, but the next one at Manchester City is more important now.
"I hope we can beat them, but we expect a difficult game. Every game is difficult, every game is important, so we need to keep training to give the maximum next week.
"For me, I feel confident and I am training hard like my team-mates. Everyone trains hard to do their best on the pitch and I think this team is a very good team because we have quality and we are all together to fight."
Watford meanwhile drop to 10th after winning just once in eight matches and the visitors were flattered by the scoreline.
Belfast Telegraph


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Beer Review: Samuel Adams Hopscape and Samuel Adams Fresh As Helles
Sam Adams sent us two of its latest seasonal beers our way earlier this month to remind us that Winter's chill won't last forever.Read more
Sam Adams sent us two of its latest seasonal beers our way earlier this month to remind us that Winter's chill won't last forever.Read more
2014 has been the best year on record for Flavorful World. From the bottom of our food-, wine-, and spirits-loving hearts, we thank you so much for helping us continue to grow and improve.Read more
Nick Chipman, creator of DudeFoods.com fame recently answered some questions from yours truly. Home to recipes for foods often unorthodox, often seeming to be the work of someone unhinged (in the best of ways), and always delicious-sounding, the site is one I've admired at length. Accompanied by enticing photos of each of his creations, Nick's recipes are joined on the site by pictures and reviews of countless restaurant dishes he's sampled, giveaway contests, and even food product reviews composed in haiku form. I could go on, but reading it would delay your coming on in to see what he had to say on a variety of topics. Click in and read about the dude and his food.Read more
There's a reason Fannie May Berries has been in business for nearly a hundred years. It's a reason that I could plainly taste in the sample of fresh chocolate-covered strawberries sent to me for the purpose of this review.Read more


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Iraq: Christian peace workers offered guns
Sheila Provencher from the Christian Peacemaker Team in Baghdad send this report. "If you want, we will send security guards to protect you. Or, if you need weapons, we are happy to give you some weapons." Haider*, our friend who directs an Iraqi humanitarian NGO, speaks with complete earnestness. He, like many of our Iraqi friends, warns us that we are prime targets for kidnappers and terrorists. For our safety and theirs, they ask us not to visit their communities, to avoid certain areas of Baghdad, and not to travel anywhere alone. Often they suggest the "protection" of guns. "Would you like to use my Kalishnokov?" offers our landlord. Walking me home after a neighbour's birthday party, my young friends Hamoudi, 7, and Mustafa, 9, brandish their toy guns and promise to shoot anyone who tries to hurt me! My Iraqi host father has a small pistol as well as a Kalishnokov. "I hate this," he says. "But how else should I protect my family?" Mohammed, another CPT friend, echoes him almost word-for-word. He too has a handgun and an automatic weapon. Streets, homes, and businesses bristle with guns. But does their presence bring comfort or security? On the contrary: a 26-year-old Iraqi woman tells me that she is afraid to cross the city to her university. Hamoudi and Mustafa, my two miniature bodyguards, are so afraid of explosions they will not walk to the end of the street. Even at the neighbourhood church, if a dignitary happens to be worshipping, body-armoured guards stand at the doors. Young soldiers share the same combination of weaponry and fear. They sit atop tanks in the blistering sun, behind automatic weapons with incredible firepower; useless against IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that could claim their lives at any moment. Security contractors drive around in armoured SUV's that Iraqis jokingly call "shoot-me-cars" because they actually increase one's chance of getting attacked. People also carry guns with a strange nonchalance. An Army major whose primary job is to work at a non-profit Iraqi assistance agency still has a gun strapped to her leg. My Iraqi host father carries a pistol in his belt. Young militants from Sadr City tote automatic weapons. Young soldiers, male and female, walk through the hallways of Coalition Provisional Authority buildings with M-16s slung over their shoulders. Do they all realize what they carry is someone else's death? I try to tell our friend Haider that CPTers feel safer without guns. If we carry guns out of suspicion that someone will hurt us, we invite the worst. But if we are unarmed and open, there exists the possibility for human encounter, conversation, and transformation. Right now, possibilities for conversation seem slim. The guns and RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) of teenage militants draw retaliatory slaughter from Coalition troops. The armed vehicles of Coalition convoys draw ambush from armed resisters. The other night, our friend Mohammed showed CPTer Greg Rollins how to dismantle his handgun. We all felt much better with the gun in pieces. How can we dismantle the fear and violence that rule so many hearts and minds today? * All names have been changed Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical violence-reduction program with roots in the historic peace churches. Teams of trained peace workers live in areas of lethal conflict around the world. CPT has been present in Iraq since October, 2002. For more details see: www.cpt.org.


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Repair jobs to steel vessels, which form an important part of the business of the ship yards during the navigation season, seem to be all coming to Cleveland this spring. The new steel barge CONSTITUTION which struck at the Encampment in the Sault river on her first trip down, will be in one of the docks of the Ship Owners' company until probably Saturday of this week. It is unfortunate that the Constitution met with an accident on her first trip, as the excellent workmanship in all parts of the vessel has been favorably commented upon by everybody who has seen her. The survey, which was conducted by Robert Logan for the underwriters and Robert Curr for the owners, provided for the removal of forty futtocks, which were bent considerably and had to be taken out, furnaced and replaced. Forty futtock angles, which were too badly damaged to be put back, were made new, in addition to forty new angles and eleven new plates. The plates are 17 feet long and 5 feet wide.
Marine Review
June 3, 1897
The Maritime History of the Great Lakes site is managed by Walter Lewis
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Learn about this topic in these articles:
history of Balkh
...walls of ancient Bactra, which are more than 7 miles (11 km) in circumference. Other remains of Balkh's splendour include ancient Buddhist reliquary mounds and later Islamic shrines and mosques. The shrine of Khvājeh Abū Naṣr Pārsā is a remnant of its historic past. Pop. (latest est.) 7,242.


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I know you're probably saying success?? How hard is that too make, but trust me there are differences. I love chicken and dumplings, wonderfully light as a feather dumplings with herbs and succulent chicken with carrots and scrumptious gravy........ oh sorry, I'm back now.
I did something different last night, where I would normally just brown the chicken first, I accidently prepared the chicken as if to fry it! I was on the phone, and on auto-pilot and floured and then fried the chicken. ooops. Wellafter thinking about what to do, I went ahead with the my original plan, and my gosh, it was just the best chicken and dumplings I've ever made. My husband was beside himself.
I've read some recipes and the chicken is put into the stew without browning and I'm interested. Just how do you all make yours???


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my latest so far.. inspired by grimm fairy tales..
Great Comice Style of this, really gives a darker view on it.
You know, this is very interesting. We know that the Labyrinth was patterned after the toys and such in her room, so this feels like maybe either an alternate reality or a future reality, a different reflection. And she looks in charge and badass here. She goes back, takes charge, kicks butt, and takes names.
actually i was inspired of grimm fairy tales of zenescope.. hehehehehe.. want it to look like the dark version of the movie..
This is well-done. I don't know if I like it or not; it's so different from most Labyart that I feel as though I have no "basis for comparison".
Is that Hoggle on the other side of Sarah from Sir Didymus and Ambrosius?
Is that Hoggle on the other side of Sarah from Sir Didymus and Ambrosius?


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Tottenham sign defender Alderweireld
London: English football club Tottenham Hotspur FC announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Spanish side Atletico Madrid to sign its Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld.
Tottenham confirmed via social networking site Twitter: "SIGNED: We are delighted to announce the signing of Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid. Welcome Toby," reports Efe.
Alderweireld, on loan from Atletico to English club Southampton this year, signed until 2020 with his new club, though the final price tag has not yet been revealed.
"I'm very proud to be a THFC player. I'm happy to be here & hope to have a wonderful time with this team," the 26-year-old expressed on his Twitter account.
While the defender said he was excited about his next step, he also had good wishes and gratitude for Southampton and its fans.
Southampton coach, Dutchman Ronan Koeman, had previously signed a pre-agreement with Atletico Madrid to secure Alderweireld's services, so he may take the issue to court, British media reported on Wednesday.
If Koeman acts, the Spanish club could be forced to pay Southampton 1.5 million pounds ($2.3 million) to annul that agreement.


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This is my everyday makeup routine. Literally what i do every single day. i must say i look very light in the video but im much darker. when i get better products or a better camera i can do a more in depth video........................................if
OH MY GOSH this was a long ass flight!!! i had a flight from Jamaica to Toronto (4 hours) , then to Vancouver (5 hours), then to japan (10 hours)....Im finally here and loving every moment of it!!Featured
My stay at this hotel was nice, i only wish i had a balcony. I loved my room regardless. The name of this hotel is the Residence Inn Marriot. I sat in front of that closet like everyday. lol.......................................if you liked this video th
This flight experience was craaaaazy because my anxiety got the best of me and i just wanted the plane to land within 30 minutes. AND it was my very first flight and i travelled alone. sorry i couldnt show much more. my SD card only holds 12 minutes and iFeatured
This tutorial is a finding dory eye makeup inspired by the new movie Finding Dory. This is also my creation. PRODUCTS USED:-Brushes: e.l.f crease brush, angle brush, sponge eyeshadow applicator-Eyeshadow: black, yellow, blue, teal-liquid eyeliner, mascara
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Big Story
Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Auto Racing' started by foggdawg77, Dec 4, 2011.
Uh wow, didn't see that coming.
Link here.
Who gets the ride, Vickers, Ragan or someone else?
Reutimann is my first choice. Vickers is my second.
Ragan can go back to racing bandoleros or something.
Vickers shouldn't be allowed to race. I'd rather see Mayfield back.
So where's this leave Kurt?
Brian > Matt
Hilarious stuff.
Right now, it looks like Finch's #51.
You're just as retarded as Vickers apparently.
i heard TRG is looking at Kurt. i think kevin buckler would be able to tolerate kurt's spazzes better than someone like James Finch. also would be wicked to see kurt race in the grand am series a few times.
Yes - I believe he'd do better, both performance and owner-relationship wise, with TRG.
Finch said that he wouldn't "put up with Kurt's **** and pay him money" if he were to drive the #51.
And Penske picks Allmendinger.
Kurt declines #43 ride, goes with the #51
Should be interesting to see how it goes. I expect raging.
No word on Vickers' status for the 2012 season. So far so good. Here's for hoping another few weeks of nothing for him!
Intentionally wrecking someone when looking for a ride is always a solid idea.
There's one thing that sets Busch and Vickers apart. One wins everywhere, the other wins nowhere. Draw your own conclusions.
Vickers can choke on a dick.
Winning doesn't make that acceptable.
Busch can join Vickers.
Regardless of Busch's behavior, I have much more respect for him than Brian Vickers. At least Busch has proven his ride in NASCAR. Besides, I bet we'll see a side of Busch in 2012 we haven't seen before.
And to make it fair, I have the same respect if not more for Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Both of which MK has had several run-ins with despite whose fault it was.
You did see what busch did in the truck race this year...right?
That man deserves no respect, that man should be thankful that he can even have a ride still..
He's going to hate on Brian Vickers until someone else comes along and has a scuttle with Matt. Brian's just the most recent, so he's the troll target for now.
But I truly don't/won't like Brian Vickers. Never have, never will. And regardless of what other drivers have done to X or Y, they still have rides for a reason. BV doesn't, for a reason of course! And at Busch's rate, it won't take but an incident or two more for an indefinite ban I'm sure, regardless of his talent. 2012 will be a good year!


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Kansas City, Here I Come
With the eighth annual Restaurant Week and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, this is the perfect month to explore the city known for barbecue, beer and blues.
DISCLAIMER: The information in this article was fact checked and accurate at press time, but 417 Magazine cannot guarantee its accuracy indefinitely.
Melt away the winter chill by watching the hot, hot, hot routines at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
For the first time since 1985, Kansas City is hosting the 2017 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, January 14 through 22 (2017uschampionships.com). The U.S. Championships serve as the final qualifying event to make the U.S. World Figure Skating Team every year. All junior and championship level events are at Sprint Center, and juvenile, intermediate and novice events are at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence. Single session tickets and packages are available. To see the best of the best, purchase tickets for the Championship Weekend (January 20 through 22) and Smucker's Skating Spectacular. Tickets are available.
Kansas City has an array of fabulous restaurants, and there is no better time to try them than by going to the eighth annual Kansas City Restaurant Week, January 13 through 22 (kcrestaurantweek.com). Last year, a record 185 restaurants participated offering multi-course menus for $15 and $33 (think 417 Magazine's Restaurant Month on steroids). This is your chance to not only try some famous venues like Hereford House, Bristol Seafood Grill and Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue, but also explore the city's culinary landscape. Reservations are a must.
Sample the best of KC Cuisine, like the Sonoran Ranch Salad at Red Door Grill, at Kansas City Restaurant Week.
As the owners say, if you love European style, good conversation and places that are quirky then the Jefferson House (1728 Jefferson St., Kansas City, 816-673-6291) is for you. Peter and Theresa Robinson own this restored historic B&B situated in the Westside neighborhood of downtown Kansas City within walking distance of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The Robinsons moved to Kansas City from the British Channel Island of Jersey and restored this 1896 neoclassical brick house, which is decorated in their European art and ceramic work by Theresa. A few perks during your stay include complimentary gourmet breakfast, Scottish shortbread in your room, a glass of complimentary Boulevard beer to welcome you and Kansas City–made Zum bath products. There are three bedrooms (two are suites), each with queen beds. Rates are $155 to $205.
Tuck in to the cozy and accommodating Jefferson House, which is owned by Brits Peter and Theresa Robinson.
Kansas City is home to nearly 20 breweries, the largest being Boulevard Brewing Company. The Visitors Center (2534 Madison Ave., 816-474-7095) offers free tours daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Show up in advance to claim a ticket. Walking tours last an hour and include some beer tasting. To taste several breweries, head to the Crossroads Arts District and start at Torn Label Brewing Company (1708 Campbell St., 816-656-5459). Its flagship beer is Monk & Honey, a Belgian-American beer brewed with honey from Peculiar, Missouri. A five minute walk away is Double Shift Brewing Company (412 E. 18th St., 816-304-7028), a small batch brewery that opened in 2015 and is run by a firefighter. Check the Facebook page for variety of beer tastings and specials, including half-price growler fills on Wednesday. Next door is Border Brewing Company (406 E. 18th St., 888-320-5199), a small batch brewhouse and taproom (the name is a reference to the Missouri-Kansas border). Beers on tap range from a Blonde to a Nitro Chocolate Milk Stout. Visit KC is creating a Tap Tour on which visitors can pick up a passport, get it stamped at a participating brewery and redeem it for a Visit KC item—slated to launch first quarter of 2017.Edit ModuleShow Tags


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Gold prices gain for second day as dollar's rise takes a breather
Latest News »
- Delhi doesn't have state-like powers, Centre tells Supreme Court
- Gujarat elections: Congress seals seat-sharing deal with Chhotu Vasava's party
- Why companies should recruit more women
- Canara Bank gets board nod to sell stakes in AMC, housing finance units
- Banks ask Sebi to clearly define loan default in revised guidelines
Singapore: Gold headed for the first back-to-back gain since Donald Trump's US presidential election win as a halt in the dollar's rally buoyed demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment.
Bullion extended a rebound from the lowest in more than five months as a Bloomberg gauge of the dollar retreated from the highest since January. The metal slumped in the past two weeks, surprising many analysts, as Trump's pledge to boost infrastructure spending bolstered the outlook for growth and inflation and pushed bets on higher US borrowing costs to a certainty.
"With US dollar index off the high, it has removed one of the negative factors and this has given some reason for investors to buy," Madhavi Mehta, an analyst at Mumbai-based Kotak Commodity Services Pvt, said in an email reply. "Today's rise could also be partly due to nervousness post-Japanese earthquake news."
Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.6% to $1,221.16 an ounce and traded at $1,218.24 by 10 am in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Bullion last gained for two straight days on 4 November.
Investors have been cutting holdings in bullion-backed funds on expectation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month, curbing the appeal of owning gold because it doesn't pay interest. Assets fell 9.4 metric tons to 1,923.1 tons Monday, the lowest since July, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The eighth straight decline was the longest run in almost a year. Bloomberg


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Bibliocrafting: Kindle Covers
|Share the love...
|Oceansoul made this happy-looking Kindle cover that has three press studs at the top for secure closure.
Muchocolor used the scraps of yarn leftover from other projects to create this multicolored Kindle cover.
Spiderlady was displeased with a commercially made Kindle cover she received, so she took matters into her own hands and made a sturdy, awesome-looking Kindle cover out of seatbelt webbing!
LittleQuack made this Kindle cover with a zip-top closure and a pocket in the front for the cord.
Do you have a Kindle or other ereader? Have you made a cover for it? Post about it on the boards!


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Published on Amazon? If you have a book, e-book, or audiobook available on Amazon.com, we'll promote it on WritingForums.org for free. Simply add your book to our Member Publications section. Add your book here or read the full announcement.Dismiss Notice
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Published by BellLily in the blog BellLily's blog. Views: 96
Prompt: Piano
All eyes watched as the man's fingers did their magic. Skimming over the keys, the man closed his ocean colored eyes. His broad shoulders shaking as he reached for farther keys. As he sped up, his silken hair started to sway, and so many girls in the large room swooned while most men scowled and rolled their eyes.
Vance leaned against a pillar, glaring at the piano player. His drink, which he thought was rather wimpy and surely not strong enough, was almost empty. His black hair was in its usual braid, but both Orchid and Priscilla had threatened him and his genitals if he hadn't dressed nicer. So, now he leaned against a fancy pillar in stuffy clothes that had him feeling confined and itchy in places that really shouldn't be itchy in public with no pretty ladies around to entertain him or to impress because they all felt the need to ogle some man who could play the piano.
"If looks could kill," Tybalt said, walking over. Since he hadn't come with threats over his head, his collar was open, as was the top of his shirt which might as well have been un-tucked. His golden yellow hair fell around his shoulders as usual, although his usual head band was gone, and his jade eyes sparkled under the chandelier.
"Go fall in a ditch Tybalt."
"Please man. Me, you, and all the other men in this stupid dance room are all in the same boat. The entire women population in here is now going to compare us to Mr. Musical, and close to none are going to add up. So, us men are going to be stuck with each other until the girls forget about magic fingers over there."
Vance grunted, but didn't deny him. "I don't get it. What's great about him?"
"Women like guys that can play music. Especially if they got a singing voice or the piano. I've yet to meet a woman who doesn't think either of those are sexy."
"Why are those sexy?" Vance grumbled, finishing his drink.
"I don't know. Why are boobs sexy? Or lacey underwear?" Tybalt finished his in one gulp and gave Vance a lopsided grin. "Its just one of those things, and unfortunately a good chunk of the male population doesn't have an ounce of musical talent."
"Hardly. Just none of us have musical talent. I'm sure plenty of other men have some," Vance said spitefully as the music stopped and a number of the girls swooned and the other number rushed to crowd around him as gracefully and daintily as possible.
"Same thing ain't it?" Tybalt grinned.
Vance grinned back and glanced from him to the crowd of woman. "Let's go refill our drinks Tybalt; Phillippe looks lonely and one glass of this wimpy stuff ain't going to pull me through this horrible night." Tybalt laughed and the two strolled over to the table.
Vance, Tybalt, and Phillippe are some mercenaries hired by the antagonist of my story to get rid of the protagonist. They obviously don't have an overly big part in the story, but I kind of fell in love with them. Though you don't get much of anything about Phillippe here. Orchid and Priscilla are just mentioned to give Vance some depth.
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A wooden cross stands in front of the ruins of Smithville United Methodist Church May 1, 2011 in Smithville, Miss. Sixteen people died in the town during an April 27, 2011 EF5 tornado, part of a storm system that swept across six states in the South, killing 342 people and injuring thousands. (Photo by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright)
- Copyright
- 2011 Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright
- Image Size
- 3660x2352 / 24.7MB
- Contained in galleries
- Smithville, Mississippi - April 27 tornado damage (Sepia-toned), Churches


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Worldwide flights | Africa, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, UK and USA | Virgin Atlantic
Book flights to over 36 destinations worldwide with Virgin Atlantic. Join Flying Club, manage flights and book our lowest fares.
We provide free, no spam service; stop anytime with just 1 click.
Adventure Travel & Tours - Book Your Trip - G Adventures
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Cheap flights, hotels and last minute holidays - eDreams UK
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Cheap Car Hire, Compare UK Car Rental & Rent a Car at holiday autos
Football Shirts, Football Kit and Football Strip - UKSoccershop.com - Official Soccer Merchandise
Intrepid Travel - small group tours - Asia Africa Europe Americas Antarctica
Pet Supplies, Pet Accessories and Pet Food
Travel, Adventure and Outdoor Camera Bags | National Geographic Bags
Musicroom.com - Sheet Music for Musicians


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The saga continues. The A's ultimate ballpark destination remains up in the air, a high and deep fly ball, with the entire Bay Area waiting to see in which glove it lands.
And despite what you hear, nothing is certain. Major League Baseball's so-called "blue-ribbon panel" still has not made public its report. Commissioner Bud Selig has not ruled on whether the Giants' territorial rights claim to San Jose should be overturned. Or whether A's owner Lew Wolff can pursue a San Jose stadium project.
However, the fly ball seems to be descending rapidly. Two recent developments — a pointed comment by a powerful baseball owner and a lawsuit filed by a front group for the San Francisco Giants' interests — seem to indicate that Selig and MLB are leaning toward a San Jose solution to the A's problem.
That should come as no shock. If the idea is for MLB to have two healthy Bay Area franchises, common sense says they should be located in the region's two largest cities, more than 40 miles apart, with both teams residing in modern new ballparks. That's instead of the current situation, with the Giants and A's just a short drive across the Bay Bridge from each other and the A's playing in a substandard, outdated and bleak hunk of concrete.
That common sense, however, acquired a strong voice this week at baseball's winter meetings in Dallas. Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was "totally supportive" of Wolff being able to pursue a ballpark project in San Jose.
"He needs to be there," Reinsdorf said. "It has to come to a head soon."
The "soon" probably translates to sometime in the next few months, most likely at an owners meeting in Arizona scheduled for next month. And for those who believe Oakland might still be in the picture, Reinsdorf threw in jabs at both the Oakland Coliseum and Oakland, saying the stadium was "past its time" and so was the city.
"Oakland's had plenty of opportunity to build a stadium and hasn't gotten it done," Reinsdorf said.
Those words could not have been spoken casually and cannot be overestimated. Reinsdorf has owned the White Sox since 1981. He is not only one of MLB's longest-tenured proprietors but also one of the most powerful, known to have Selig's ear. Reinsdorf also led the relocation committee that oversaw the Montreal Expos' move to Washington, D.C., and conversion into the Nationals.
Reinsdorf's statement about Oakland, meanwhile, outlines a chapter of the A's stadium pursuit that many East Bay citizens either forget or refuse to acknowledge. The chapter dates to 1994, not long after the Haas family sold the team to Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann. The two men had big plans for remodeling the Coliseum into a fine baseball-only structure. They requested a meeting with the Coliseum commission.,
"Here's what we'd like to do," Schott told the commission, outlining his remodeling ideas.
"That's all very nice," the commission replied, more or less. "But we have some news. The Raiders want to come back to Oakland, and we've got a financing plan to make it happen that will include building a new center field addition. You can't fight this, because the important people in Oakland want it to happen and they'll make it difficult on you if you try to get in the way."
Schott and Hofmann acquiesced. From that moment forward, the A's long-term future in Oakland was probably doomed. Years later, after Wolff and partner John Fisher bought the team, Wolff did assemble a new ballpark proposal near the Coliseum site. His plan involved mixed-use redevelopment and required Oakland's assistance to acquire the necessary land. The project went nowhere when the city did not or could not cooperate. Wolff then looked south to Fremont and spent years on another failed plan before finally settling on San Jose as his last, not first, resort.
All of that information is contained in the "blue-ribbon" report. The hunch here is that Reinsdorf has already seen it, which explains his assessment about Oakland.
It is possible, in fact, that the Giants also have seen the report, which might be why they backed a lawsuit filed last week by a group called "Stand For San Jose," which curiously is represented by a lawyer and public relations firm from San Francisco.
The lawsuit cites flaws in the environmental impact report for the proposed downtown San Jose ballpark and charges that the city's decision to give Wolff an option on the proposed ballpark property is illegal because the public didn't vote on it — even though no ballpark could be built there without a public vote. Attorneys will hash out the whole thing. But we all know what this is about: The Giants want to delay and/or subvert any San Jose deal.
Clearly, the Giants are afraid that Selig will soon decide against them. Otherwise, why file the lawsuit at all? Why not let the other MLB owners decide the right thing to do? Perhaps because, as Reinsdorf's comments demonstrate, the Giants already know what that decision will be.
And that fly ball may plop into San Jose's mitt before pitchers and catchers report to spring training.


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Typically, one of the main concerns for selecting a CRM solution in the market is to provide in-depth views and analysis of the sales prospects and opportunitiess. Sage ACT! addresses this very well in the SMB market and makes sure that business marketing demands for its users are met.
However, SugarCRM has developed a sales pipeline that is considered by some to be more updated and responsive – especially in the web/online environment. It provides tracking of contacts and opportunities with proper monitoring of the accounts on the dashboards. In contrast to Salesforce, SugarCRM creates a distinct database instance for each customer instead of forcing all online customers to share a single, massive database pool.


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|30 Oct 2014
Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
DVD player that can play MKV/MP4 from external USB
Hi there
I'm looking for a conventional DVD player that can play MKV / MP4 videos from an external USB device. Quality should be 1080p so I suppose a Blu Ray player would suffice.
When reading the specs a lot say they have a USB port but I can never find what exactly the USB port will play -- I don't want it just for looking at photos (jpegs). I also don't want just an XVID / DIVX standard - I would like true 1080p via HDMI from the USB device. (I would love just to plug in an external USB HDD and play the movies).
Any suggestions here --- I don't need an INTERNAL HDD on the device so that should make it cheaper too. I'm not bothered about region either and PAL/NTSC is also an irrelevance for modern TV's too. The only thing if I buy a USA model is that I'd need it to work on European 220V AC.
|My System Specs
|30 Oct 2014
Win-7-Pro64bit 7-H-Prem-64bit
Most that have a usb would be used to access the contents of the device especially if on the front,
Not sure any would have plug and play but doesn't sound outlandish to expect it,
Pretty much like a usb ipod connection on a receiver
|My System Specs
|30 Oct 2014
Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
Just confirmed that my Oppo BDP-103 plays both MP4 and MKV 1080p videos stored on USB flash drive plugged into the front USB socket of the player.
From Oppo main menu, just navigate over to "Video" and push OK, and it then presents BD (i.e. drive tray for discs) as well as the inserted USB drive. Push OK on the USB drive, and it shows the folder structure on the drive. Navigate to the file or folder/file you want and push OK. It begins to play.
Additional disc and file formats, such as DVD, audio CD, HDCD, Kodak Picture CD, AVCHD, MP4, AVI, MKV and other audio/video/picture files on recorded discs or USB drives can be played back on the BDP-103. The BDP-103 fully supports high-resolution lossless WAV and FLAC audio formats.
Roku Ready - Full Roku streaming experience with an optional Roku Streaming Stick plugged in to the MHL Input; Up to 1080p HD; 750+ entertainment channels; Dual-band, extended-range wireless; Compatible with Roku Game Remote.
BluRay, 3D, SACD, DVD-A, Internet streaming, etc.
|My System Specs
|17 Nov 2014
Quote: Originally Posted by jimbo
I would love just to plug in an external USB HDD and play the movies
- our 1TB self powered USB pocket drive holds 90 movies (disc is 76% occupied)
- the TV remote does everything we want it to do.
- select movie, play, <<, >>, pause etc
- we are using MP4 file format, which is OK upto about 27inch, but I imagine a 60inch screen would be crap (untested)
My wife will watch wallpaper peel -- but I like quality video and audio.
- the compromise is ... I lose
|My System Specs
|Thread Tools
|Similar help and support threads
What is the best player to play MKV files.
I have used several media players that supports MKV files but, i was not satisfied with all those players.:( Because the players i used are specially for MKV but those players are not having special features i.e, other additional features like Blu-Ray, HD videos. these are lagging in the players...
|Music, Pictures & Video
Force recognize mp3 player as external hard drive instead of player
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|Hardware & Devices
convert files to play on external dvd player
:confused:Hi, I need some help if possible. I'have down loaded some films from the net which I want to burn to disc and play on a dvd player away from the pc. Most of them will unpack and allow me to burn successfully. However I have some which will only play on a pc dvd. These are showing as...
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some dvd's can't play on sony dvd player but they play on onida player
hi guys....please someone help me..i brought a dvd i put that on my sony DAV-DZ340K dvd player but it can't playable on that but it's plays on onida dvd player please help me how can i play it on DAV-DZ340K.
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Can' Play CDs in Media Player
Just upgraded to Windows 7 64 bit. My Media Player in XP played ordinary run-of-the-mill music CDs. My Media Player in Windows 7 64 bit doesn't, even though the help file says it does!?!? Do I need to set something up? :mad: John
|Sound & Audio
Play an .AVI File on a DVD Player
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Benchmade Morpho Bali-Song - 4.25 Inch Plain Edge D2 Steel Blade - Black G10
Equipped with a spring-latch locking mechanism, this 51 Morpho features a titanium pocket clip and a black G10 handle with anodized titanium liners.
- Bali-Song with spring-latch
- Bali-Song with premium D2 tool steel blade, plain edge
- Black G10 handles with anodized Ti liners
- Ti pocket clip
- Blade length: 4.25 inches
- Blade thickness: 0.100 inches
- Overall length: 9.35 inches
- Closed length: 5.10 inches
- Weight: 3.30 ounces
- Handle thickness: 0.48 inches
- Sheath material: Sold separately
- Class: Blue
Princeton Watches is an Authorized Benchmade retailer. Each Benchmade knife is packaged with written documentation of the Benchmade Lifetime Warranty.
In stock items ordered by 4pm Eastern time ship the same day.
All orders $50.00 or more qualify for FREE UPS Ground delivery. Watch orders $149.00 or more qualify for FREE UPS 2nd Day Air delivery. Please note that FREE 2nd Day Air Delivery does not apply to clocks.


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Prof Liaquat Ali, Vice-Chancellor, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences (BUHS) attended a Symposium on 'Exploring Traditional Medicine' as a Speaker which was held on 23-25, September 2015 in Beijing, China
Speakers from 14 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe presented their papers on traditional medicine in the areas of clinical trials, acupuncture and moxibustion, public health and clinical trials.
More than 300 guests attended the event, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS) in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and IAMP.
Among the high-level guests attending were a number of expert panelists from IAMP member academies, including IAMP co-chair Lai Meng Looi, IAMP Executive Committee members Fola Esan (Nigeria) and Depei Liu (CAE, China), Vincent Titanji (Cameroon) and Vijay Kumar (Sri Lanka). The opening ceremony featured Daimang Fan, vice president of CAE, Boli Zhang, president of CACMS, Bernhard Schawartländer, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) office in China, and Wenming Yu, deputy director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM). The meeting synergized links between researchers and practitioners in traditional medicine around the globe.


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|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|2 - 7 nights
River Rock is a three bedroom, two bath chalet located in a private park-like setting on 11 beautiful acres of grassy meadows, waterfalls, and rushing trout stream.
If you are looking for a secluded and private streamside retreat, you will not find a better location anywhere. Elk Creek, which is a class A stocked trout stream and is rated as one of the cleanest in all of North Carolina; runs right in front of this cabin. The sounds of the rushing stream can be heard throughout the property and the decks on River Rock overlook the stream and a gorgeous grassy meadow where deer and other wildlife frequently roam.
This mountain chalet offers privacy and seclusion with easy access, but yet is convenient to area attractions as it is only 10 minutes off the Blue Ridge Parkway, 10 minutes to horseback riding at Leatherwood stables, 20 minutes to downtown Boone (great for ASU football weekends), 30 minutes to Blowing Rock (excellent dining and shopping) and 30-45 minutes to 4 different ski areas.
River Rock offers rustic comfort with a fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher and microwave, satellite TV and VCR, washer & dryer, propane gas and electric heaters, and all the bed linens and towels to make your stay comfortable. There is also a gorgeous stone (river rock) fireplace in the living room that creates a very warm and cozy atmosphere. The cabin has its very own fire ring (great for family marshmallow roasts-please do not use inside fireplace:), as well as access to hiking trails which lead to a beautiful 60 ft waterfall. There is also a picnic table on the property where you can sit and relax to the sounds of the stream, or have lunch in the middle of the mountains!
The privacy of this property makes it ideal for anything from a quiet honeymoon or romantic weekend to a memorable family vacation.
Keywords: Chalet
We had a great time- extended our stay to 10 days! Jackie, thanks for working with us to lengthen our stay and for arranging to get the new coffee maker! You are always a pleasure to work with.
The location was beautiful, with and without the snow!!! The creek runs down the mountain, from the waterfalls and hiking trails, on the right side of the chalet, across the front of the chalet, and down the entire length of the long driveway. There's a long meadow that runs between the creek and driveway that is perfect for walking or playing. The entire property is so pretty!
The house is very comfortable, with a nice layout so that each floor has a view. It's three-story and has room for the family to spread out, if wanted. The bottom floor is a large playroom with a TV, couches, and a pool table. It has a large laundry room, too. (There was plenty of room for a blow-up mattress, if you need another sleeping spot.) The second floor has two bedrooms, a bathroom, large well-equipped kitchen, dining area, and a den with a pretty stone fireplace. The entire front of the house is glass- 2nd and 3rd floors- and looks out on the creek. The third floor is a large loft bedroom with a comfortable king bed and a bath.
It was nice having a large hot tub, and we enjoyed the fire pit down by the creek. We used the wrap-around porch, even when it snowed. The chalet is very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, so we had fun exploring there, too.
Yes, we would go back!
My husband and I spent five glorious days at the chalet. We have rented many places before over the years and this one exceeded our expectations. The cabin was very well equipped and made for a very relaxing stay. Besides the cabin being beautiful, the property was more than you could ask for in a getaway. It was totally serene.
We look forward to returning!!!
My husband and I just spent a wonderful 3 days here just before Thanksgiving. The cabin is beautiful inside with a beautiful rock fireplace. The property was so peaceful and relaxing. We enjoyed the hike to the waterfalls, the hot tub, and the river. We actually only left the place for a couple of hours. We spent the rest of the time relaxing. Thank-you Jackie for working things out for us!! You were great to work with!!!
The biggest complaint I have regarding this cabin is the smell! It has a horrible musty/moldy smell. We tried to air it out, but even after 3 days, the smell was still there. It was pretty clean, but I had my 1-year-old with me and he crawls. I did not feel comfortable letting him crawl in some places. There were absolutely no fish in the stream. It was way to shallow. The pool table is so not level at all; it was a joke to try to play pool. Overall, if you are just looking for a cheaper place to sleep, I guess I would recommend it. Other than that, do yourself a favor and book somewhere else. Oh, forget to mention the horrible drive there. I have stayed in the mountains a lot(have even stayed on top of a mountain) and I have never encountered a drive so horrible!!
My girlfriends and I took a weekend away and this place was WONDERFUL!!!! Not only is the cabin beautiful but it was very peaceful as well. We didn't have to worry about the outside world and got some much needed R & R. We will definitely be going back yearly and I would highly recommend this place. The hot tub was a great added bonus.
My husband and 9 month old daughter and I stayed at this place this past weekend. We had a good time but overall I wouldn't recommend this cabin.
There was construction junk on the balcony on arrival, we noticed there was dog hair under and on the couch (may not be a problem for some but with a crawling baby it was pretty gross). The hot tub was not hot on arrival and we turned it up 104 on Saturday morning at around 9:30 and it only got to 95 by 10pm that night. There is a bathtub but no faucet for the bath on the main level which meant we had to bathe the baby upstairs -- not a big deal but may be good to know for some.
Also there's another cabin right across the creek -- didn't bother us but we thought it might feel more remote.
We had late check-out because no one was coming the next day but normally check-out is at 10am and there's a lot on their instruction list to do before 10am. We had to pay a cleaning fee (despite it not being all that clean on arrival) and a fee of $5/bag of garbage (or pack it out) since the garbage depot is closed on Sundays. We had to wash a load of towels, strip the sheets, and make sure all dishes were put away (e.g. we couldn't eat lunch and then load the dishwasher and put it on) before leaving. We had until 1pm so it wasn't a huge rush but If you're thinking of going for just a weekend, you only would really get Friday afternoon and Saturday a weekend with a 10am check-out on Sunday.
|Pet Fee
|Tax Rate
Holidays and Summer may require longer stay
Weekly rate $1200 plus taxes and cleaning fee


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Join Perfect Gonzo! Download full-length 34min 15sec movie now!
Wendy is another sexy bitch that loves doing blowbangs. Unlike most of them, she gets some pleasure for herself, as she offers her pussy to each of the guys for them to lick. Satisfied, she goes from guy to guy, sucking them deep and well, working until she gets their loads of spunk all over her face.
- marcus
- : 9min 56sec
- Exclusive video


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Baker's Toolbox
Developer: Code Stork, LLC
Cost: $0.99
Runs on: iPhone
Website: www.codestork.com
If you've ever watched any competitive chef show, you'll surely recognize a common theme. With very few exceptions, no chef likes to bake desserts. Why? Because baking requires a level of precision that doesn't reward creative guessing or substitution. Everything from humidity and elevation level can play a role in the outcome of baked goods. Baker's Toolbox aims to take the guesswork out of this process.
The app provides five navigation channels: conditions, timer, conversions, charts and notes. Conditions uses your current location (with user consent) to show your elevation level, humidity and temperature. Anyone who has baked knows that once you crack 3,500 feet you better start making adjustments.
The timer is a straightforward timer. It's got a start, stop and cancel. It also allows you to attach a label to the timer. I'm not sure why, since this is the only timer and you can't save it for later use. I suppose in case you can't remember what you put in the oven, but if that's the case, maybe you should just stay out of the kitchen.
The conversion page is nice, offering multiple scroll wheels to select the item, volume and unit that you'd like to convert. As you scroll from 1/3 cup to 3/8 cup, a conversion from volume to weight is shown immediately below in real time in both ounces and grams. It would be nice if there were more items to choose from when selecting what items you're converting. There's currently only 28, and includes just one size egg (large).
Chart is just that, a simple page that allows you see the temperature conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius, with a field on which to fill out your own custom temperatures. This page also includes an equivalent chart, showing for example, that 8 tbsp. equals 1/2 cup equals 4 fl oz. It would be really nice if this page also allowed you to input your information, but it's just a chart.
Lastly, there's a note page with a few pre-loaded words of wisdom, such as "get an oven thermometer" and "use a silicone non-stick baking mat"…so don't expect much from this section. You can add and save your own notes too.
As a "toolbox" I was hoping for much more. The location-aware portion of the app is neat, but doesn't provide any benefit. Why not use that information to adjust temperature settings and so on? I've seen some of the tools provided here included with other applications that offer more than this stand-alone app does. This app works without hiccups, but there's nothing dazzling about it. You probably have a non-digital version stuck to the side of your refrigerator that will likely get the job done just as well.
Toque Rating: 3/5