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The European Centre is a UN-affiliated intergovernmental organization concerned with all aspects of social welfare policy and research.
- an international centre of applied social science and comparative empirical research on social policy and welfare
- an information and knowledge centre providing social science-supported social policy intelligence through a think-net
- a platform initiating future-oriented public policy debates on social welfare issues within the UN-European Region
The UN member states of the UN-European Region: potential Member Countries of more than fifty European nations as well as the United States of America, Canada and Israel. All governments of States that are members of the UN-European Region are invited to participate in and contribute to the activities of the European Centre.
Read about our research activities by country
The European Centre aims at constructing bridges between stakeholders, sectors, countries, policies, and systems in the field of social welfare. We are currently building up cooperation in particular with EU acceding countries of Eastern Europe and countries of the Eastern Partnership.
Information about the Bridging function
It was established in 1974 in Vienna, based on an Agreement between the United Nations and the Federal Government of Austria as the Host Government.
- Coverage of the UN-European Region, i.e."Europe of the 55" including North America as a geographical domain
- UN-affiliation and independence: intergovernmental status, but not a UN-agency
- Policy expertise focused on integrated policies and inter-sectoral action in overlapping areas between welfare, health, care, labour, population and social development
Chair, Board of Directors, National Liaison Officials, Staff members
Research activities within the Centre are organized into two larger units:
(1) Work and Welfare Programme, and
(2) Health and Care Programme.
Introduction and overview: ECV-brochure English
| German
| French
Recent activities Annual Report of Activities & Programme Overview 2017 (English)


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An ageing and growing population, combined with unprecedented constraints on funding, make this five-year period one of the most challenging ever for the health and social care system.
Our 2016 Health Policy Summit provided a timely opportunity for leaders to examine progress made during the first year of the Parliament, hear and question the latest evidence and analysis, and explore solutions to some of the toughest challenges facing the NHS and social care.
In 2016 our three main themes were:
- Re-engaging the workforce to meet the challenges ahead: We explored how the NHS is developing the workforce and implementing successful workforce development and planning to realign ways of working with the needs of patients.
- How is the NHS implementing new models of care to support the improvement and integration of services for patients? 18 months on from the Five Year Forward View, delegates heard how organisations and individuals within the NHS are responding to the major challenges by delivering personalised and coordinated health services that patients need through new service models.
- How do we achieve transformational change in the health and social care service? The Summit provided delegates with the opportunity to think about and challenge perspectives on how the NHS is delivering radical changes in order to create a sustainable healthcare system.

subset: commoncrawl


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Actor, director, producer and all-round good guy Mark Ruffalo is busy, to say the least! He has an extensive list of credits to his name, encompassing both Hollywood blockbusters like Spotlight & Now You See Me, and indie films like The Kids Are Alright & Infinitely Polar Bear.
His biggest role to date may very well be that of Bruce Banner a.k.a The Hulk, who made his first appearance in 2012's #TheAvengers before going on to star in Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron and in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok.
But this talented actor does a lot beyond his blockbuster resume; here are 7 awesome, little-known facts about this fan-favorite #Marvel actor.
1. His First Role Was In An Acne Commercial
Most celebrities work other jobs whilst they try to break into show business; Michelle Pfeiffer worked as a cashier, George Clooney was a shoe salesman and Jennifer Aniston was a telemarketer. Mark Ruffalo is no different, and worked as a bartender for nearly a decade before he was discovered.
In 1989, as well as making his first screen appearance on the CBS Summer Playhouse, Mark starred in a commercial for Clearasil DoubleClear.
2. A Brain Tumor Put the Brakes On His Career
After completing The Last Castle and about to start work on Signs, Mark had to drop out when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor: an acoustic neuroma, specifically. After surgery and testing, the tumor was found to be benign, but left him with a partial facial paralysis and deaf in his left ear; he only recovered from the paralysis.
The role went to Joaquin Phoenix.
3. He Landed An Infamous Role
Ruffalo was soon back on his feet —in fact, has set to play murderer Perry Smith in Infamous. When prior engagements prevented him for doing so, Mark recommend 007 himself, Daniel Craig, for the role.
See also:
- HULK WRAP! Mark Ruffalo Completes His Scenes For 'Thor: Ragnarok'
- Scarlett Johansson Will Drive You To The Polling Booths So We Can All See Mark Ruffalo Naked
- Where Were These 7 Characters During 'Civil War'?
4. He's His Own Double Act!
While Bruce Banner has been played by numerous actors over the years, Mark is the only actor to play both #Hulk and Bruce Banner in the same movie. He performed the Hulk live on set via performance capture. The Hulk's voice was provided by melding together the voices of Ruffalo, Lou Ferrigno, Christopher Boyes (the sound editor) and two people from New Zealand!
Additionally, Ruffalo's Hulk is the first ever Hulk, live action or animated, to have clearly defined chest hair!
5. Ruffalo Is Also An Acclaimed Director
Mark made his directorial debut with the film Sympathy for Delicious, a film about a DJ who gets paralyzed and looks to faith healing for a cure.
The film starred Christopher Thornton, Juliette Lewis, Laura Linney, Orlando Bloom, Noah Emmerich, Ruffalo himself and it went to Sundance Film Festival in 2010, where Mark won the Special Jury Prize and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
6. Mark Ruffalo's Son Is Following In His Father's Footsteps
While Mark has three children with his wife, it's his only son, Keen, that could be seen in Begin Again. He is one of the children playing in the alley when they record the first live song outside.
7. His Prop Game Is On Another Level
For his role as David Schultz in Foxcatcher, as well as gaining 30lbs for his role and participating in wrestling training that was so intense that both he and Channing Tatum cried after their final practice, Mark was given David's actual glasses by his wife, Nancy.
I think Mark Ruffalo may very well be one of the best actors in the business at the moment! He's done some brilliant work, including some of my personal favorites like 13 Going On 30, The Kids Are All Right, Now You See Me and his role as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, just to name a few.
And now we'll leave you with this iconic piece of Mark Ruffalo cinematic history!
What are your favorite Mark Ruffalo films? Comment below.


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In this episode of Press TV's series "Iranscape," we come to get acquainted with two youngsters with different backgrounds, who have come to Iran to continue their education at higher levels. They are Hassan from Syria and Daniela from Slovenia. Hassan Zelzelah, from Syria, had lived for about 21 years in Damascus and then came to Iran. His father is a chemistry teacher and his mother is a housewife. He has a younger brother, who is 18 years old, and a 13-year-old sister. His family still live in Damascus. He talks about his experience living in Iran. Iranian cuisine, ancient historical sites in different cities of Iran, and the ancient Silk Road are the topics he deals with throughout the episode. The other person we get familiar with in this episode is Daniela from Slovenia, Europe. She was born in the capital city of Slovenia in Ljubljana. She has two sisters. She has studied English, German, Russian, Polish, Czech, and Bulgarian. She is studying Iranology (Iranian Studies) at the MA level at the University of Tehran. She encounters an Iranian researcher, Shahin Pezeshki, who is doing research on needle work across Iran. Daniela is very much interested in the Iranian culture. As for the topic of her MA thesis, she has chosen "The Role of Women and Mother in Iranian Cinema".
SOUNDBITE [Persian] Voice of a men Playing Volleyball: "Hit it! … Oh, hit it!"
CONVERSATION [Persian] Hassan and another man: "- Well Hassan, tell me what kind of sports have you done in Iran? What do you do for entertainment?
- Remember we went mountain climbing?
- Yeah, it was your first time and it was quite difficult for you!
- I haven't been to Jamshidiyeh … What's that place called that has a telecabin?
- Tochal?
- I haven't been to Tochal I used to go to Jamshidiyeh Park. Yeah, I want to go to Tochal!
- Well, we'll plan it with the guys to go to Tochal this time. How did you learn Farsi? Did you learn it in Iran? Where did you take the courses?
- I didn't know any Farsi when I came to Iran.
- Well?
- When I got to the airport, I didn't even know how to get to the dorm! The Syrian students who had come here before us, picked us up from the airport and dropped us off at the dorm. They registered us in Farsi courses at the Qazvin International University, then I learned the language. It took about six months and then I went to pre-university for three months. It took about a year including the holidays and then I got into the university."
SOUNDBITE [Persian] Hassan Zelzelah, Foreign Student from Syria: "I'm Hassan Zelzelah from Syria, I lived in Damascus for 21 years and then came to Iran. My father's a chemistry teacher and my mother is a housewife. I have a younger brother who is 18 years old and a 13 year old sister. They still live in Damascus. Our house is located in the old part of the city, where Christians, Muslims, Shias and Sunnis all live together."
CONVERSATION [Persian] Hassan and another man: "- What dish have you had in Iran that you don't have in Syria?
- Uuh, I've had" Ghermeh-sabzi" in Ian we'll see "Ghermeh-sabzi"
- Ghormeh-sabzi"
- Yeah, "Gherme-sabzi"! The first time I had it, I didn't like it, I just hated it! But now I really like it.
- You like it now?!
- Yeah, I really felt that I missed it when I went to visit Syria! I feel the same way about GheymehSibzamini"! We have neither one in Syria. I first tried them in Iran and I really like both!
- What do you usually eat for lunch or dinner over there?
- We have like Magdoos. Magdoos is an eggplant filled with walnut and has olive - So I sure have to taste it.
- Yeah, when you come to the dorm for us to study, I'll cook some for you.
- Ok. Well, where have you been to in Iran? Have you travelled around as you've done in Syria?
- When I went to Hamedan, I went to a cave there.
- Alisadr cave?
- Yeah Alisadr! It was really amazing!
- Did you feel afraid?
- No! I wasn't scared! It was really cool, we were about a hundred people! They took all language students on a trip there when we were learning Farsi.
- But it is a really beautiful cave!
- Yes. I've been to the mountains, I've been to Rasht, Uhh! I've also been to religious sites in Iran …"
SOUNDBITE [English] Daniela, Foreign student from Slovenia: "My name is Daniela and I come from Slovenia, from Europe. I was born in the capital city of Slovenia in Ljubljana. I have two sisters. One is married. Later I also studied English, German, Russian, Polish, Czech, and Bulgarian. I study at the University of Tehran, Iranian studies for the master degree."
CONVERSATION [Persian] Daniela & another Woman: "- Hello!
- Hello, how are you? Thank you very much.
- Excuse me, may I sit down?
- Please go ahead.
- I'm Daniela, I come from Slovenia. I study at Tehran University.I've come here to learn about the Iranian culture and what you do here is really interesting to me. I would like to learn more.
- I'm Shahin Pezeshki. I do research about needle work across the country. Have you ever seen needle work samples?
- Uuuh, no not in Iran. It's the first time I see it here but I've read about it in different books.
- Well see, Iran because of its geographical location was actually a route for those heading to Europe from Eastern Asia or the Far East. Since Iran was located on this Silk Road, it was a region where many people, including those from the Far East migrated to and settled down in. All these migrations have led to ethnic diversity in Iran. This great ethnic diversity has led us to have various forms of art.
- Can you tell me a bit about the history of this fabric? Why is it so important?
- The art of needlework in Iran dates back to more than 8,000 years ago. Each dress represents the people and the features of a geographical location. Well, the needle works represent the different people and tribes in each region. The pattern on the needlework show which tribe it belongs to.
- It is very interesting.
- Well take a look! This is silk needlework from Tabriz, which is located in the northwest of the country. Well, see the needle-works in three different cities in one province are totally different. For example, this pattern is called Tavoos, which they use a lot in their needle-works. And then another region uses star or tulip patterns in their work. This one is silk needlework from Gonabad, which is located south of the Khorasan Razavi Province. This dress is from Badar Abbas, located in the country's south and this one belongs to Sistan and Baluchestan province, which is located in the south east of the country.
- I think Slovenians like this form of art a lot and they would love Iranian needle-works.
- I've been to about 20 countries around the world and have studied their needle-works, especially needle-works done along the Silk Road. Well, hopefully we can stay in touch when you go back, because you speak Farsi very well and that gives me the opportunity to study the needle-works in your country as well. I would like that very much.
- This is a very good idea.
- Yeah.
- Thank you
- Wish you well. Thank you. I hope you have a wonderful time in Iran.
- yeah, I hope the same."
SOUNDBITE [English] Daniela, Foreign student from Slovenia: "I was just a child, 6 or 7 years old while there was Serbian attack on Slovenia and truly I was really afraid a lot. Because I was really worried for my relatives in Croatia and also in Bosnia & Herzegovina and also my grandmother was watching Television every day and when I was with her I saw the names of the young men who disappeared and who died. I wish somehow with myself that if I was there I wanted to help them, I wanted to rescue them somehow or save them but I couldn't and thinking about the other children the same age as me was a big pain in my heart."
CONVERSATION [Persian] Hassan and another man: "-Well Hassan, what did you do in technical drawing class? Did you show the professor your plan?
- Well yeah, I showed it to him, but he found some mistakes and told me I shouldn't have done this here, he said you should have … He said a number of things I understood and some that I didn't!
- Well if you have your laptop with you just show it to me, I'll correct it for you.
- I do have it with me but I don't want to trouble you!
- No, it is no trouble, I'll do it for you.
- Well let's get this open! I solved this part just like the questions in the book were solved. But it wasn't … Ha ha Like this at all!
- 645 times 940.Aha!
- Well see, one of the mistakes was found! This was one of your mistakes! On the graph, you should connect the dots that you've found. Right? Then you should see what information you've been given. You should find all your mistakes! See how many mistakes you have got! Well, I wouldn't approve this either! With all these mistakes you've made!
-What was it that you were telling me about last night?
- I was studying
- Ok
- I learned about a road used 2,500 years ago that stretched from China to Syria.
- Oh!
- This road is known as the Silk Road.
- I've never heard that name before! May be it's called something else in Syria!
- Well this Silk Road wasn't a normal road.
- Aha!
- At that time, it connected the East to the West. Well Syria gives way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Mediterranean is how you go to the West by boat. So this road was used to take all sorts of goods from the East to Syria, then to Europe via Mediterranean Sea and vice versa.
- What was I telling you? Syria has more than 20 different ethnic groups: Kurds, Turks, no we haven't got any Turks. We have some Kurds. Uuuh! Arabs, most of them are Arabs, uuuh! But there are many ethnic groups like Sunnis, Shias and Alawites.
- It is the same in Iran, We have many churches in northwestern Iran. We have Christians, Zoroastrians, Jews, uuuh! We also have Assyrians and for instance we have a number of temples for Hindus in Bandar Abbas.
- Aha!
- Hindus used to travel there a lot for business and presenting their goods. Many of them settled down in the region so we have Hindu temples there.
- Where?
- In Bandar Abbas.
- I've once been to a temple in Yazd, It belonged to Zoroaster. There was a fire there.
- The fire temple?
- They said the fire's never been put out!
- Yeah!
- It belonged to Zoroaster.
- That's the oldest fire that's still burning!
- Yeah, that's what the said …
- I think it's called Baharestan Fire."
SOUNDBITE [Persian] Hassan Zelzelah, Foreign Student from Syria: "When we were kids, we usually played football in the street with the other guys. I was a very active kid. I used to go out and run and jump all around. I never stayed at home. My father and I used to go out to shop groceries everyday cause back then we did the shopping daily. I sometimes miss my family so much that I dream about them. But well what can I do? My studies are a priority for me. I've dreamt about my mother several times and I've seen my sister in my dreams too."
CONVERSATION [English] Daniela & another Woman: "-Uuuh! What's the book in your hand about?
- History of Persia!
- Aha! I think better to continue in English.
- It is in English language but I didn't read it before. Actually I have finished my studies. Now I'm working on my master thesis. Actually we had a lot of subjects, everything about Iran and this course was only for foreign students, the students who came from other countries to study Iranian studies.
- Actually I wanted to know the field of your study. What are you studying in Tehran University?
- In Tehran University I'm Studying Iranology that is Iranian studies at the faculty of world studies in Amir Abad.
- I have seen you for two or three times in the dormitory but you were busy speaking with your friends."
CONVERSATION [English] Daniela & another Woman: "- Aha!
- Yes. You were busy to explain something about policy (?), even I can remember this.
- May be, maybe it was something like that, yeah!
- About Scandinavia.
- I would like to ask you how and where you studied Russian language.
- You know, learning this language completely changed my life, I can say this. Because I have very good professors. They are teaching us and we are learning.
- I am actually pretty surprised when I see how many Iranian students who are Iranians by origin decide to study Russian language.
- I felt that I was really interested, I really wanted to learn. I started especially with its literature. Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, I live all.
- This is for the Iranian people to read.
- Yes. I wanted to tell you that to make you aware that, in two weeks, in 15 days I'm going to meet my family for a very short time, may be two days and I'd like to invite you to our home to Tabriz.
-.I have not seen Tabriz yet and I would really like to see it and I think that even Tabriz is very special in its own way.
- For me Tabriz is always like a grandfather.
- Yes.
- I don't know why I have such a feeling but it is like this.
- This is everything in Tabriz?
- Yes.
- It is a very beautiful city."
SOUNDBITE [English] Daniela, Foreign student from Slovenia: "For my master thesis I chose the topic, the role of women and mother in Iranian cinema. One movie is "Madar" by director Ali Hatami and the other movie is exactly "Shiyar-e 143". This is a war movie which speaks about the war between Iraq and Iran whose son went to the waragainst the Iraqis and she was actually waiting for her son to return. That son would finally return from the war and at the end she came to his coffin too and the coffin was covered by Iranian flags."
CONVERSATION [Persian] Hassan and another man: "- The scientific level at our university is very high. Well, see, Iranians are very good at theoretical subjects and mathematics. I have a Lebanese friend who lived in California; he told me that two students from Sharif University had gone there for their masters and ranked the highest in the entrance exam. They beat everyone!
- Would you like some tea?
- Uuh, yeah I'd like some. Thanks. I like Farahzad! It reminds me of Syria, the traditional culture, picturesque sites.
- Yeah.
- I usually come here to study. Do you usually go camping with your family?
- I usually go with my family, but I've gone to many places on my own when my family didn't have time to come along. You can come along with me and my family once. We can go to the museum if you like or if you prefer an entertainment place, we can go to a place like Eram Park.
- I sure will!
- Sometimes we have guests on special occasions like during Nowruz when it's customary to go see relatives and friends and they also come to our house as well.
- During Nowruz?
- They call it Eid visits! Eid visits!
- I've heard about it."
CONVERSATION [Persian] Hassan and another man: "- And there's another special day in the year, which is the last day of autumn and is known as "Yalda" night. Scientifically speaking, it is the longest night of the year. It has always been customary to stay up all night and celebrate. By celebration I mean it is more important to gather together. On Yalda night, you serve your guests with watermelon, nuts, bring a Hafez book and they fortune tell based on Hafez Poems.
- Do you know what Iranians are known for in our country?
- What?
- Persian rugs form Tabriz and Kashan which are very expensive, and saffron.
- If you like and have the time we can go somewhere out of Tehran like to the North, the woods there. We can also go to the seaside because Iran has beautiful beaches. If you are willing to see beautiful and untouched nature, the Semnan desert is extremely beautiful. During the night in Semnan, you're able to clearly see the stars. It would be even much better if you bring a telescope along or if you like humid weather, we can go to the south of Iran, the Persian Gulf coast. You have got all four seasons here!
- Haha!
- Yeah, all four seasons!
- Yeah!"
SOUNDBITE [Persian] Hassan Zelzelah, Foreign Student from Syria: "Many foreign students study here. There are students from Lebanon, Iraq, China, India, France, some have come from Russia and Germany. When I was learning English in Syria I used to go around with foreign students who spoke English to learn how to speak better. They also needed someone to help them out there. You could easily become much better because of being with them."
CONVERSATION [Slovene] Daniela & her Families: "-Hello dad how are you?
- It goes well.
- That's good. Are you working now? Are you busy today?
- Yes, I'm very busy today. Your uncle and I were in the factory. Your mother just called me now and told me that you were on the Skype, so I came here to see you. Are your studies going well?
- Yes it goes well, I'm looking for my material and I am still writing the thesis now but, yes I think it goes well. My defense session will be in October or , If delayed, in the 5th semester.
- Your studies are really important for you. This shows that Iranians have a very old and rich culture.
- Do you remember when you were in Iran, walking in the streets?
- You also liked the parks that we saw. Yes.
- The parks were beautiful but the people were also very open to conversation.
- I remember this phrase that I learned in Farsi: Do ta nan!
- I will say to my friends that my father only learned two Persian words! Do ta nan. That means two Loaves of bread.
- Try to connect everything. Try to combine your goals and pursue your goals.
- Ok, I will try to male my goals connected. Goodbye dad, goodbye mom.
- Goodbye."
SOUNDBITE [Persian] Hassan Zelzelah, Foreign Student from Syria: "I've come to this conclusion, and I've learned this here that no one but you will rebuild your country because we have everything! Good nature, good people whether it be historical or religious places. With all these refuges that we have in Syria after the war, many of our youth left to other places and got to see different cultures. I'd say no I promise that these youth knowing their culture, will return to Syria someday and rebuild their country with what they have learned from being in other countries."
SOUNDBITE [English] Daniela, Foreign student from Slovenia: "One of my wishes for the whole world is that the nations and people from different countries and different nationalities and different backgrounds would stop argue with each other, that they would stop wars with each other and they would finally be able to reach common agreements and cooperation, This is also one of my very big desires for the whole world."


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President Barack Obama said the U.S. is examining "all options" for aiding Ukraine, including supplying defensive weapons, if the latest round of diplomatic efforts fails to bring a resolution with Russia.
Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said continued Russian aggression in Ukraine has stiffened the resolve of the U.S. and European Union to make President Vladimir Putin pay a price for violating Ukraine's sovereignty. Merkel, who opposes delivering weapons to Ukraine's army, said tactical differences over lethal aid won't shake the unity of the alliance.
The U.S. president said Monday he hasn't made a decision on providing lethal supplies to Ukraine, and stressed that economic sanctions that are hurting Russia's economy can be ratcheted up to pressure Putin.
"Both Angela and I have emphasized the prospect for a military solution to this problem has always been low," he said at a White House news conference.


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Blessings of My Breast Cancer
Download and read online Blessings of My Breast Cancer in PDF and EPUB ABOUT THE BOOK: Unexpected diagnosis. Life-threatening sickness. Death of a loved one. Unbearable financial burden. Everything is against you, and all hope is lost. If this is where you are, you are not alone. Aley Abraham has lived these same experiences and shared these very thoughts, especially when the thing she feared most came to get her-cancer. In an easy-to-read, narrative style, Blessings of My Breast Cancer will leave you with a sense of the Divine. You will learn to apply ten practical steps to not only overcome obstacles but to recognize opportunities in the midst of your struggle. You will find the blessings of your own cancer! **** ABOUT THE AUTHORS: (Aley) In 1982, Aley Abraham became the first in her family to come to the U.S. Already an established tenth-grade teacher with two Indian bachelor degrees, she went back to school in the U.S. and earned a degree in medical technology. Today she works as a microbiologist at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Aley is an active volunteer with The American Cancer Society and speaks frequently at her local church. She has been married for 39 years, has two daughters, two sons-in-law, and one granddaughter. (Susan) As an active wife, mother and career professional, Susan Abraham Thomas enjoys the opportunity to write. She has written for school newspapers and journals, company newsletters and online blogs; created original greeting cards; and supplies daily devotionals. Susan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a certified PMP.


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Sorry for a little silence here on the blog this week, our whole house has recently gone through the stomach flu and little man has also decided he is going to walk now, so it's been a hectic past week or so! Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
I have tried to change the way I clean my home in the past year or so, by changing all of our cleaning products to be a bit more environmentally friendly and safer for little man who is now mobile and touches a lot of the surfaces I clean. I'll do a general post later with what our home cleaning products are if there is interest, but for now I'll keep it to our dishwashing detergent.
This one hits home to me, because it is not only something we touch daily, but the items washed by our dishwasher directly come into contact with our food, which obviously enters our body several times per day. Dishwashing detergent contains several chemicals like chlorine, alkyl phenoxy ethanols (APE's), dioxane, phosphates, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, dichloromethane (DCM), diethanolamine (DEA), artificial fragrances, and more. These chemicals are why you are instructed to store these products in a locked cabinet away from danger of children accidentally or potentially ingesting them. These chemicals are dangerous to your family if ingested, but it is said to be diluted enough after running through the wash to make it 'less dangerous'. These chemicals also can harm our water supply as they are washed down the drain, because they can harm the fish and plant life they come into contact with in water.
This makes me even more concerned, because, while it is pretty, our dishwasher doesn't always do the best job of getting our dishes clean, and sometimes there is a residue from soap left over on our dishes when we use conventional detergents.
So, being resourceful (ahem, cheap) and conscious of what we put in our bodies, I made my own dishwashing detergent. I used this liquid recipe, including the following:
2 cups Dr. Bronner's Castile soap
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp of lemon juice
3 drops essential oil
(below I've pictured both tea tree and grapefruit oils, I like the grapefruit better for this purpose)
I mixed all of the ingredients together and put them in my empty 7th generation dish gel container to store.
Well, I had high hopes for this DIY recipe, and let me tell you, it was a big fail. I used this for about 2-3 weeks (we run our dishwasher pretty frequently) and outside of DH complaining because it made his hands smell, it really didn't work very well. Not that all my dishes came out of the dishwasher sparkly clean before, because as I mentioned our dishwasher doesn't do the best job, but this was worse. The dishes did not come out clean, and this soap left worse of a residue on our dishes than previously.
After this attempt, I ended up just going back to the 7th generation detergent, which I like for a lot of reasons (mainly that if it is accidentally ingested by someone, their typical recommendation is just drink 4-8 ounces of water immediately and you should be fine, but call a doctor if nausea or discomfort continues), but it still doesn't have a totally clean bill with some ingredients I don't like.
I am going to keep looking for DIY recipes that are better-for-you, so does anyone have any recipes I can try?


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Upcoming Important Dates
May 9 – 7th Grade NWEA testing begins
May 9 – Dr. Ross Greene Raising Human Beings… 6:00 pm GMS Auditorium (more below)
May 11 – Washington, D.C Trip Parent Meeting 6:30 pm GMS Library
May 16 -18 – Elementary School visits during the day
MAY 16 – 6th Grade testing begins
May 20 – 8th Grade Physics Day at Funtown
May 23 – Civil Rights Team to state Convention in Augusta
May 24 – HS Student Ambassadors visit Boon Team
May 25 – HS Student Ambassadors visit Mohegan
May 26 – HS Student Ambassadors visit Peaks
May 27 Junior Solar Car Sprint Challenge
May 30 Memorial Day – No School
This Week in Middle School Athletics
5/9 MS GLAX @ Bonny Eagle 3:30/4:45 pm 2:20 pm
5/9 MS BLAX (H) Bonny Eagle 3:30/4:45 pm
5/10 7th BB/SB @ Westbrook 3:30/3:30 pm 2:20 pm
5/11 8th BB/SB (H) Westbrook 3:30/3:30 pm
5/12 MS GLAX @ Massabesic 3:30/4:30 pm 2:20 pm
5/12 MS Track Home 3:30 pm
5/13 8th BB/SB @ Moore 3:30/3:30 pm 2:20 pm
5/16 8th B&G Lax (H) Biddeford 3:30/3:30 pm
Home Contests in bold; Schedule subject to change
An Evening with Dr. Ross Greene
In conjunction, but not necessarily connected to the above announcement, The Rivers Region Coalition, a Drug Free Communities Support Program under grant #SP018268 from ONDCP and SAMSHA, will present an evening with renowned author and researcher, Dr. Ross Greene. The title of his presentation will be Raising Human Beings: Parenting to Foster the Better Side of Human Nature. In this evening of information, Parents will learn how they can influence their child's direction and decisions and resolve disagreements without conflict.
The presentation will be on Monday Evening, May 9, beginning at 6:00 pm in the Gorham Middle School Auditorium. The admission is free.
We do hope that you can find the time to attend this incredibly informative presentation by one of the most predominant people working in the field of adolescent behavior.
NWEA Testing for 7th Graders
All 7th graders will be administered the NWEA Assessment during the week of May 9th. This testing is important information to measure student growth over the course of the year and to help us with placement decisions for next year. The information will available shortly after the testing window closes. We gather that information and prepare it for this year's teachers to examine and for the teachers next year to use as they prepare lessons.
A Great Summer Learning Opportunity
I am happy to let you know about a great summer learning adventure that is available to our students. Junior Engineering and Mathematics with Lego Robotics, Problem Solving Puzzles and Modular Origami will be held during two weeks in July at 43 Foreside Road, in Falmouth beginning July 11 through July 15 and July 25 through July 29. Campers can register for one week of for both weeks. The program is not repetitious, so each week will be a new experience.
The cost of the program is $290 and the faculty, Eva J. Szillery, Ph.D. is the Director of the American Mathematics Competition for the state of Maine. She was also the recipient of Educator RecognitionAward fro Programming Excellence for this program.
For more information you can contact Eva Szillery at firstname.lastname@example.com, or you can pick up a program brochure at the Gorham Middle School Maine Office.
If you pick up a brochure, it comes with an opportunity to receive a discount to the camp. The students will be asked to solve two of the enclosed 5 questions. Successful students will receive a nice discount for their work.
I am always trying to engage myself with a diverse group of learning professionals who are constantly examining the work we do and how we can do it better. By "the work we do", I am talking about making education more relevant and responsive to our our students, their individual needs and what we might reasonably expect for the skills needed in their future.
I believe that we have to accept a different premise about our kids coming to school than we ever had to before. That premise that they have experiences vastly different than students of even five years ago. I also think that the experiences become more pronounced as the students advance in school and we need to recognize that, as well. Students entering middle school have had a significant amount of technology used in their learning and in their daily life.
I raised my kids a long time ago, but I do remember how technology began to creep into their lives and change the manner in which they communicated. Back in those days, IM'ing was the new thing (yup, I am that old!) and my kids would fight for computer time to do their homework (I told you I was old, we only had one desk top in the house!), At least that's I thought! What they wanted to do was to communicate with their friends about all kinds of things, not just homework related. My kids could have 8, 9 or even 10 conversations going on at the same time and still get their homework done. It was impossible for me to fathom this, and yet, they succeeded quite well in school. I was worried that it would have a negative effect on their school work, then I began to worry about who they were talking to, and then I worried that they were talking to their friends about me!
That was quite a while ago, and technology has certainly changed since then.
Marc Prensky, in his book Digital Native to Digital Wisdom, has some interesting observations about whether or not our kids are thinking differently than generations before them.
Brain research over the past decade has demonstrated that the brain is constantly reorganizing itself based upon stimuli it receives, and it does so throughout our lifetime. This phenomenon it known as neuroplasticity. This is a very different thought process from just 10 years ago.
I realize that not all kids get cell phones before they come to middle school, but many of our kids have experience with lots of technology in the form of video games, some of them multi-player games that entail these kids interacting with, or against, humans located someplace else. It sometime requires the kids to collaborate effectively to reach certain goals, or it may require kids devising some sort of logical plan to overcome an obstacle or foe. In both cases, the child is expected to execute some kind of thinking and using past failure and successes to take next steps. This has to have an effect on their brain.
I have heard lots of statistics about screen time of our kids these days, and there are reams of information about how much, what kind and how soon before bedtime should screens be shut down.
I am more concerned with what does all of this mean for schools and education. When our studnets arrive at the school house door, what skills do they possess? What dispositions and attitudes will they demonstrate when they are faced with a difficult problem? How will the adults within the school react to the student solutions to the problems they face? What role with the students play in their learning?
We are on the precipice of a new dawn in education, within the state of Maine, we will be reporting on student progress differently, expectations for graduation will change for all students and the time required to graduate with a high school diploma cold be different for every student. How are we going to face these challenges? Are we going to continue with the status quo, or are we going to recognize and honor the changes in our students?
I have far more questions than answers, but our kids deserve us to examine these questions and look at them through a very different lens.


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Using Leo as a Personal Information Manager¶
This chapter tells how you can use Leo as a Personal Information Manager. It introduces clones: one of Leo's most unusual and powerful features for organizing data.
A clone is a node that appears in more than one place in a Leo outline. Clones are marked with a small red arrow in its icon box. All clones of a node are actually the same node:
- Any change to one clone affects all clones.
- Inserting, moving or deleting any child of a clone will change all other clones on the screen.
Clones allow data to be stored in multiple places within an outline.
Ctrl-` (clone-node)
- Clones node A. The shortcut is a grave accent, not a single quote. This is often on the same keyboard key as the tilde
Please take a few moments to experiment with clones:
- Create a node whose headline is A.
- Clone node A with the
- Type some text into the body of A.
- All clones of A now have the same body.
- Insert a node, say B, as a child of any of the A nodes.
- Notice that all the A nodes now have a B child.
- See what happens if you clone B.
- See what happens if you insert, delete or move nodes that are children of A.
- When you delete a node's penultimate clone, the node becomes a regular node again.
Clones accelerate work flow by creating views¶
Clones can greatly accelerate your work flow. To start a project, clone nodes related to the project and drag them at or near the top level, where you can get at them easily. When the project is complete, just delete the clones. This work flow is surprisingly effective:
- The original nodes never move, but they change whenever their clones do.
- There is nothing to "put back in place" when you are done. Just delete the clones.
Used this way, clones create views: when you gather cloned nodes together for a project, you are, in effect, creating a project-oriented view of the outline. This view focuses your attention on only those nodes that are relevant to the task at hand.
Using abbreviations and templates¶
Leo optionally expands abbreviations as you type. Abbreviations typically end with something like
;; so they won't trigger by accident.
To use abbreviations, you must enable them in myLeoSettings.leo:
@bool enable-abbreviations = True
You define abbreviations in
@data abbreviations nodes or
@data global-abbreviations nodes. None come predefined, but
leo/config/exampleSettings.leo contains example abbreviations in the node
@data abbreviations examples
Abbreviations can simply be shortcuts:
Abbreviations can span multiple lines. Continued lines start with
\:, like this:
form;;=<form action="main_submit" method="get" accept-charset="utf-8">
\:
<input type="submit" value="Continue →">

Abbreviations can define templates in which
<|a-field-name|> denotes a field to be filled in:
input;;=<input type="text/submit/hidden/button"
\:value="" id="<|id|>">\n
,, after inserting a template selects the next field.
Abbreviations can execute abbreviation scripts, delimited by
{|{ and
date;;={|{import time ; x=time.asctime()}|}
ts;;={|{import time ; x=time.strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S")}|}
To use abbreviations scripts, enable them in myLeoSettings.leo as follows:
@bool scripting-abbreviations = True
With abbreviation scripts enabled, typing
ts;; gives:
It's even possible to define a context in which abbreviation scripts execute. See leoSettings.leo for full details.
Using URLs¶
Leo highlights URLs whenever syntax is coloring is enabled.
Ctrl-Left-Click (open-url-under-cursor)
- Opens the URL under the cursor.
- Opens a URL appearing either in the headline or the first line of body text. If a headline starts with
@url, the rest of the headline is take to be a url.
- Leo opens URLs that look like file names using os.startfile.
- Leo opens all other URLs with your default web browser.
- Any scheme (http, mailto, ftp, file, etc.) supported by your browser is valid.
- URL's should contain no spaces: use
%20instead of spaces.
See the Appendix for a complete description of valid URLs.
Using Chapters¶
@chapter trees denote a chapter. You can activate a chapter from the icon area, or with chapter-select commands. Activating a chapter makes only those nodes in the chapter visible. The
main chapter represents the entire outline. Activating the
main chapter shows all outline nodes.
- Selects the main chapter.
- Selects a chapter by name.
Clones are nodes appearing multiple places in the outline.
- Changes to one clone affect all other clones.
- All clones of a node are exactly the same node.
Views allow multiple views of data to exist in a single outline.
- A view is simply a collection of nodes.
- Because of clones, a node may appear in many views at once.
- View focus attention on tasks and reduce searching for nodes.
Leo expands abbreviations as you type.
- Abbreviations range from simple shortcuts to multi-line templates containing fields.
- Type
,,to move to the next field.
- Abbreviations can also insert the result of executing code.
Ctrl-left-clicking any URL opens the URL.
@chapter trees denote chapters. Activating a chapter shows only the nodes in that chapter.


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The work of the eminent French cultural critic Louis Marin (1931-92) is becoming increasingly important to English-speaking scholars concerned with issues of representation. To Destroy Painting, first published in France in 1977, marks a milestone in Marin's thought about the aims of painting in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A meditation on the work of Poussin and Caravaggio and on their milieux, the book explores a number of notions implied by theories of painting and offers insight into the aims and effects of visual representaion.
Traces the trajectory between two paintings, Poussin's Arcadian Shepherds, and Caravaggio's Head of Medusa, and explores painting by opening up a conversation with the image. Considers key critical texts and correspondence on the paintings, and discusses allegory and The Golden Bough, the Arcadian landscape, and Head of Medusa as an historical painting. Includes b&w illustrations. Paper edition (unseen), $15.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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54 - Novato/San Marin - San Francisco
Scheduled Arrivals
There are currently no arrival predictions.
Golden Gate Place & Railroad Ave
Redwood Blvd & Rush Creek Place
San Marin Dr & Redwood Blvd
San Marin Dr & E Campus Dr
San Marin Dr & W Campus Dr
San Marin Dr & Simmons Ln
San Marin Dr & Sereno Way
San Carlos Way & San Marin Dr
San Carlos Way & San Luis Way
San Carlos Way & San Luis Way
San Carlos Way & Corona Ct
San Carlos Way & San Andreas Dr
San Marin Dr & San Andreas Dr
San Marin Dr & San Ramon Way
San Marin Dr & San Carlos Way
Novato Blvd & Eucalyptus Ave
Novato Blvd & Oliva Dr
Novato Blvd & Wilson Ct
Novato Blvd & McClay Rd
Novato Blvd & Grant Ave
Novato Blvd & Tamalpais Ave
S Novato Blvd & Diablo Ave
S Novato Blvd & Joan Ave
S Novato Blvd & Arthur St
S Novato Blvd & Rowland Blvd
S Novato Blvd & Sunset Pkwy
S Novato Blvd & Midway Blvd
S Novato Blvd & Stone Dr
S Novato Blvd & Redwood Blvd
Enfrente Rd & Salvatore Dr
Hwy 101 @ Alameda del Prado Bus Pad
Golden Gate Bridge Toll Plaza-Hwy 101
Richardson Ave & Lyon St
Lombard St & Fillmore St
Van Ness Ave & Chestnut St
North Point St & Van Ness Ave
Beach St & Hyde St
Beach St & Taylor St
Beach St & Stockton St
The Embarcadero & Bay St
Battery St & Filbert St
Battery St & Green St
Battery St & Broadway
Battery St & Jackson St
Battery St & Sacramento St
Battery St & Pine St
1st St & Stevenson St
Howard St & 2nd St
4th St & Folsom St
Perry St & 4th St
About GGT
Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin and Sonoma counties, and also provides limited service to San Francisco and Contra Costa County.
Swiftly is not affiliated with the Golden Gate Transit.


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School blocks things for a reason
@Dave84311 Unban the UltraSurf ip plz
I cant access mpgh through school now without having to use some shitty gay web proxy.
if you got a good proxy pm me info
Last edited by Insomniac; 05-17-2011 at 03:03 PM.
School blocks things for a reason
if they didnt you'd just go on porn lmfao
Dave84311 to unban the UltraSurf ip so i can access the site from here, im using some gay shitty proxy right now that sucks balls, if i wanted to look at porn right now i could
hide my ass . net
thats what i use.
rent a proxy server
VIP Support // May 2011
CF Minion // January 2012
Newsforce // August 2012
Minion+ // March 2013
Moderator // August 2014
Former Staff // January 2015
General Minion // July 2015
Publicist // December 2015
How about try to control yourself and not access mpgh at school and get sum nawlege instead?
Official Sheep and Sheepfucker group
Crossfire minion since 06-12-2011
Minecraft minion since 06-20-2011
Moderator since 08-17-2011
Global Moderator since 09-10-2011
Super User since 08-27-2012
u r not Insane that i know.
Insane never says plz
Insane would fuck dave and force him to unblock it.
"Religions are, by definition, metaphors, after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves youeven, perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business, or marriage thrives, prospers, and triumphs over all opposition. Religions are places to stand and look and act, vantage points from which to view the world. So none of this is happening. Such things could not occur. Never a word of it is literally true.


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Originally developed by Dr. Jim Dyer of the University of Florida Modified by Dr. David Agnew, September, 2006 Arkansas State University. Research Applications in Career & Technical Education. Review. Overview of Research. What is research? (review) What are the types of studies?
Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author.While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server.
Research Applications in Career & Technical Education
Histo al
Eva tion


text:
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US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday denounced the "chilling effect" of Internet hacking on US businesses as he wrapped up two days of high-level talks with Chinese officials.
"Instances of cyber theft have harmed our business and threatened our nation's competitiveness," Kerry warned sternly in a joint closing session with his Chinese counterparts.
"The loss of intellectual property through cyber (spying) has a chilling effect on innovation and investment," he added, speaking after Washington indicted five Chinese military officers in May for hacking into US companies.
The issue was among many disputes and challenges discussed by the world's two leading economic powers during the sixth annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
China insists that it too is a victim of hacking, and accuses Washington of hypocrisy since it conducts sweeping surveillance around the world.
Leaks by former government contractor Edward Snowden have alleged widespread US snooping in China.
State Councillor Yang Jiechi said cybersecurity was a "common threat and challenge facing all countries".
"Cyberspace should not become a tool for damaging the interests of other countries," Yang warned.
Despite pleas from the US side, Beijing did not agree to resume a cybersecurity working group which it suspended after the unprecedented indictments.
Kerry also said the two sides had agreed "on the importance and urgency of achieving a denuclearised, stable and prosperous Korean peninsula".
They had discussed "specific ways" to ensure North Korea complies with its obligations, Kerry said, without giving details.
- Business 'a backbone' of ties -
The two nations focused on trade and business concerns Thursday, with currencies and property rights topping the agenda.
"China and the United States represent the greatest economic alliance trading partnership in the history of humankind and it is only going to grow," Kerry told a breakfast meeting of bosses from top Chinese and American companies earlier.
From small beginnings of about $2.5 billion in 1979 when formal diplomatic relations were established, annual trade between the two economic giants has now grown to a gargantuan $520 billion.
Direct foreign investment between the two has also ballooned, and last year for the first time the amount of investment flowing from China surpassed that from the United States.
"We want to do better," the top US diplomat said.
But there have been a series of US-China trade disputes, while the United States has long insisted that the Chinese yuan, or renminbi, is artificially undervalued.
While the US has not branded China a currency manipulator, which could entail sanctions, it has complained that the weak yuan gives China an unfair trade advantage.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that China had "committed to reducing intervention as conditions permit", and was "making preparations to adopt greater transparency including on foreign exchange, which will accelerate the move to a more market-based exchange rate".
The CEOs of such companies as General Electric, Boeing, Fedex, Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley Bank gathered for the working breakfast with counterparts from large Chinese firms including China State Construction Engineering Corporation, the Wanxiang Group, Dalian Wanda Group and the Shuanghui Group.
"Business is a backbone of the China-US economic relationship," Yang told the breakfast meeting.
"Trade and investment between our business leaders, big businesses, not only brings goods and jobs to us but also mutual understanding and friendship among our peoples."
US administration officials and lawmakers have repeatedly lambasted Beijing for failing to play by global rules, and the breakfast event was billed as a way for major companies from both nations to air difficulties and grievances they have encountered.
Lew said the two sides had "made progress on fostering greater competition over the past two days."
And they had "made concrete progress that will create new opportunities for US workers and companies in an expanding Chinese market."
Earlier this month the World Trade Organization called on China to make its trade policies more transparent amid a "striking" lack of clarity on its rules.
China, which recently become the largest trader in the 160-member group, has failed to live up to key transparency commitments it made when it joined the organisation in 2001, WTO members said.
GMT 04:31 2017 Thursday ,23 NovemberShould Uber users be worried about data hack?
GMT 01:48 2017 Thursday ,23 NovemberChina's Tencent overtakes Facebook in market value
GMT 08:24 2017 Sunday ,19 NovemberDriver held for posting traffic violations on social media
GMT 18:36 2017 Friday ,17 NovemberBahrain to host Global Entrepreneurship Network in 2019
GMT 15:15 2017 Friday ,17 NovemberTwitter to remove 'verification badge' from some accounts
GMT 08:13 2017 Friday ,17 NovemberFashion blogger seeks quirky partywear (12.6k Instagram followers)
GMT 10:13 2017 Thursday ,16 NovemberArtist royalties jump to record but group cites obstacles
GMT 08:14 2017 Thursday ,16 NovemberIsrael to tax Google, Facebook within a year


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The Two Rules that Will Pay Your College Tuition
"I know you're all in college seeking a future in business," the guest lecturer opened. "But today, I'm going to share two rules with you that will pay for your entire tuition. Two rules that if followed, will keep you in a growing business forever."
"Well shucks," I thought as I straightened my posture a bit. "I better actually take notes on this one!"
"The two rules are this…"
I was getting excited. The secret of success was just seconds away. I'm going to be rich! I'm going to drive that same car he's driving! I'm going to have a great life!
He picked up the dry erase marker and headed to the whiteboard.
"Number One," he stated, as he wrote out a pound symbol and number "1" with the red marker, "keep existing customers."
"Number Two" he followed with a tone of a magician ready to announce the card you chose out of the deck, "find new customers."
Now. I'm no brilliant business strategist. But this seemed a bit simplistic to me. But how do you argue? That's about as basic and true as it gets!
Ironically, as I fast forward my life a few years (we won't reveal how many), I find myself in a company that helps other businesses do exactly that. We help companies attract new clients through their online and digital presence while helping our clients retain customers by making it easy for all parties to exchange dollars.
Keeping Existing Clients
Do Your Customers Find it Easy to Pay you? Do you find it easy to get paid? Ironically – accepting payments is both the most important part of owning a business, yet often the most challenging.
A lot of these challenges stem from our modern business climate:
- A highly regulated payments environment
- New payment technologies every day
- Variables in consumer behavior and payment preferences
- Cost of accepting funds
As a broker for merchant processing companies, Evolve Systems has the flexibility of offering a variety of payment solutions to ensure compliance, adapt to existing technologies, support various consumer behaviors, and lower the cost of accepting funds.
But we also understand that while no two businesses are alike, neither are no two customers alike. Because we are also a custom application development company, we are able to build solutions that not only lower your cost of accepting funds, but improve the process of accepting funds…or what we like to call: improving your payment logistics.
Payment Logistics – the Basics
There are really 3 basic elements in the process of accepting payments:
- Payment Capture
- Payment Processing
- Payment Reporting
Payment Capture:
This is all about user experience. Most customers will forgive a higher price in exchange for a quicker way to pay, especially in online purchases. Here are a few tips to consider:
- Do you have a "guest check-out" option for those clients who just want to make a quick purchase?
- How quickly can your customers pay in store or in the restaurant? We will talk about Point of Sale solutions a bit further down, but by speeding up the payment process, not only are your customers happier with quick transaction, but you're able to turn over more customers in a shorter period of time.
- Is it fun to buy from you? Are your systems clunky and outdated? This is the most important interaction with your client. If your client sees a green screen as they check out, they may have reservations about your commitment to innovation. Or if you have an online client engaged in an impulse buy (yet still a little nervous about executing) – a slow and boring payment page might be enough to cancel the transaction.
- Can you "vault" your customer's payment information to make reoccurring billing easier? By taking the "thought" out of a customer's transaction, you stand a much higher chance of retaining that customer through monthly subscriptions or future purchases.
Payment Processing:
Your payment processing needs to be secure and compliant for you and your customer's peace of mind.
- Are you set up in the right processing account?
- Are you PCI compliant?
- Do you understand and accept EMV cards?
- Do you know the little tricks that can keep your processing costs down (like swiping a card vs. punching in the number?)
Payment Reporting:
Your payment processes should not be a roadblock to your efficiency and ease of access to data.
- When your customer makes a purchase, do you have to manually enter data into your accounting software?
- Do you have a Point of Sale (POS) software? Do you have an interface that allows you to not only accept a payment, but have that payment also update your inventory, record customer buying behavior, or streamline your orders?
Nothing says "simplicity" like a streamlined purchasing process for your customers
If we want to keep existing customers, we need to make it easy for them to do business with us. You will find yourself to be much more profitable, and your customers much happier, when your payment logistics are well executed.
Let's have the conversation about the efficiency, ease, and profitability of your payment processes.


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This year we've put together a special Advent Calendar for families to use as they look forward to Christmas! It is designed around our Advent themes this year and is filled with fun ideas and practical ways to engage your children with the truths of the gospel.
We hope you'll join our staff in using it to reflect on all that Christ is for us and for our communities this Christmas season!


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Acrelec in the Drive-Thru
Transform the drive-thru outdoor experience
As presell displays, full digital menus and order confirmation displays, ACRELEC® KIOSKS AND DIGITAL DISPLAYS create a memorable drive-thru experience with eye-catching graphics.
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Create content that motivates guests to add to their order.
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As many of you know I've been on a serious quest to live a better, more balanced, more exuberant life (aka, less work & stress, more fun, connection & calm). Today on the blog: a bit about some changes I've made recently and an amazing new book by my friend @jonathanfields about How to Live a Good Life that I've found tremendously helpful. Link in profile! Enjoy.
Traveller lisacongdon (Lisa Congdon) shared and liked 104 times.


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|Home > Music Genre > Comedy Music > Comedy Orchestral > Track Summary >
Track Summary
Music Track Title: Plinkerty Plonk
Catalog ID: 506807 ISRC: US5UL1156280
Description: Effervescent orange humor meets child-like innocence in this upbeat, playful track. Orchestral elements mixed with different types of plucked instruments and percussion. Perfect for commercials for children's toys, technology products, anything making life easier or more fun!
Social Media Link: https://www.audiosparx.com/sa/archive/Comedy/Comedy-Orchestral/Plinkerty-Plonk/506807
Artist or Group: Paint Chips
Keywords: Percussive rhythmic toe-tapping beat smile happy carefree jaunty light-hearted animated cheerful effervescent
Music Genre > Sub-genre
Comedy Music
Comedy Orchestral
Extended Properties
Duration: 1:53 Tempo: Med Fast BPM: 145
Arrangement: Chamber Ensemble
Instruments: Contra-bass, Cello, Harpsichord, Percussion, Piano, Strings, Toy Piano, Viola, Violin
Vocal Mix: Instrumental
Moods: Jolly, Joyful, Jumpy, Light, Mischievous, Motivational, Playful, Positive, Quirky, Rhythmic, Spirited, Sprightly, Stimulating, Strong, Surprising, Uplifting, Vibrant, Warm, Whimsical, Wholesome
Styles: Comedy, Comedy / Family, Family / After School, Family / Children, Family / Toddler, Film Instrumental, High Tech, School / Education, TV Instrumental, Video Games
Extended Keywords: affable, agreeable, amiable, amusing, bland, charming, cheerful, civil, civilized, congenial, convivial, cool*, copacetic, cordial, delectable, delightful, diplomatic, enchanting, engaging, enjoyable, fine, fine and dandy, fun, genial, good-humored, gracious, gratifying, homey, jolly, jovial, kindly, likable, lovely, mild, mild-mannered pleasing pleasurable refreshing, satisfying social sweet sympathetic, welcome funny comical amusing, comic droll entertaining farcical jocular jokey joshing laughable merry playful pleasant buoyant light lively bouncy cheery elastic fanciful flippant frolicsome graceful high-spirited jaunty light-hearted merry nonchalant resilient spirited airy lively vivacious active alert animate animated bold bouncy brave bright chirpy dauntless eager effervescent energetic enthusiastic fearless fiery full of life


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Buxom girlie Brandi Love likes a tough and stout doggy
Description:Pussy licking warms spoiled blondie up. Stretching her legs in fish net stockings girlie enjoys getting her pussy eaten. Bending over the couch slim and busty chick feels a tough and deep penetration of the cock right in her vagina. Buxom girlie enjoys a tough doggy fuck.
Category:+18 only (Adult)
Added:2 years ago
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If you are looking for best interview question for bootstrap then your search is over now. Here are all best interview question.\nThose will help to face your interview easily.\nhttp://www.learnfly.in/courses/online/web-development/html-css-bootstrap-training
Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author.While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server.
questions for bootstrap.
Q.8-What is the use of Jumbotron in Bootstrap?
Q.9-What do you know about Bootstrap Container?
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Grilled Potatoes
There's nothing that goes better with a BBQ or grilled meat than hot potatoes on the grill. Not only are the delicious, they are a fun way for the kids to make their own little packet just the way they like. In fact, don't just stop at grilled . . . → Continue reading Grilled Potatoes


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The Nazca Lines
The bus from Cusco descended rapidly enough to make our ears pop, like a plane coming in for a landing. But unlike a plane the descent was drawn out, forcing me to spend the night holding my nose and making terrifying faces. When we arrived to the tiny city of Nazca we were exhausted. Magda had caught a stomach bug the night before the bus and neither of us had gotten much sleep. Bleary eyed we wandered out of the bus terminal and tried to figure out where we were going while touts and taxi drivers shouted and pointed in different directions.
The only reason to visit Nazca, so far the grimiest city we'd seen in Peru, are what's known as "the Nazca Lines", one of prehistoric South America's great mysteries. Hundreds of perfect, straight paths in the dirt lead in apparently random directions for miles across the desert floor. As well as the lines there are enormous drawings of birds, a monkey, a whale and a human form which the Peruvians call, "the Astronaut ". Calling it the Astronaut is a trick and does the ancient illustrators ill-service.
Because of the complexity of fashioning such epic artworks on the desert floor, some have claimed they were made by aliens, despite zero evidence for the existence of extra-planetary life and much evidence of the resourcefulness of the Nazca people. The appearance of a large headed man who's face looks masked helps kindle this science-fantasy. Hidden in this fun theory are shades of racism and culturalism seen time and time again regarding the cradle of Andean civilization.
The complex lines were beyond these primitive people's means. The hydro-engineering was too complex, the astronomical predictions too complex. The brain surgery too complex. What is too complex is the idea that a complex society thrived in the Americas before Columbus and was capable of some very amazing things. Like drawing long lines across the desert floor.
Since they are best seen from the air, we made our way to a scruffy little airport and moved from desk to desk looking for the best deal on the little planes that buzz around over the landmarks. Like the hotels in Aguas Calientes, all the companies rated themselves very highly, and all were roughly the same price. We rolled the dice, picked one and soon were crammed in a little Cesna, high above the city.
The Nazca desert is one of the driest places on earth. In a part of the Atacama desert, just south, there has never been a single drop of recorded rainfall. It seems like a curious place for a civilization to thrive until one considers that one of the world's highest mountain ranges is just next door to the east, and the Pacific Ocean is just to the west. Lots of water passes between the two, creating valleys of transient rivers capable of supporting cities. Because of the extremely dry climate and lack of rain to upset the topsoil, the lines and other artifacts are incredibly well preserved. Even wooden poles, used to ensure perfect geometry, have been found still stuck in the earth where ancient surveyors once stood. The desert is a time vacuum where nothing much changes.
Still feeling ill from food poisoning, Magda was positively green as the captain banked hard to make tight circles over the drawings below, sending the world outside into a spin. The featureless desert gives back little in the way of scale, and at first the drawings seemed smaller than promised. Then we passed a highway and the little trucks put all in their immense perspective.
Of all the figures, to me the monkey is the most interesting. The first monkey isn't for miles, across a high mountain range and down into the Amazon forest. It's features are captured well, it has an immense spiral for a tail and appears to be on all fours. That the Nazca had traveled, or had traded with the Amazon meant they had access to the rest of the Americas as well – these primitive people were part of a trade network. It's thought the huge drawing may be a fertility prayer.
The touristic flights focus on the figures, since these are the easiest to comprehend, but the lines are more mysterious. They stretch across the plain toward the horizon. In some cases they converge in the valleys between low hills, points on the landscape as visible today as a thousand years ago.
It's hard to explain the length, but its easy to see how the lines and the figures were made. The first few inches of earth is a dull red, but just below lies a lighter layer. From the air one can imagine a team of Nazca removing the red soil along on of the thousands of pre planned lines, painting the desert by removing it bit by bit.
We both felt queasy by the time we landed. We made our way back to the bus station and waited for our bus to Lima in the fresh dry air. A souvenir shop near us sold refrigerator magnets shaped like monkeys.


text: I need to build a 17' leaf box for the dump bed on my truck. I was wondering what materials some of you have used successfully to build your leaf box. Also, any recycled materials well suited for this application? Plywood is expensive ya know... Also, I have heard of a breathable fabric for the top... Anybody have any experience with this? Thanks, Ed


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Answered You can buy a ready-made answer or pick a professional tutor to order an original one.
HUM 114 Week 2 Weekly Reflection
This archive of HUM 114 Week 2 Weekly Reflection comprises:
Review the Week One objectives.
Discuss the concepts in terms of those that were comfortable and those that created any difficulty in a team member
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The intern will be assisting Principal with design and administrative tasks. Researching, organizing and scheduling, creating and editing images and renderings, and assistance with social media are just some of the tasks done by the individual who fills this position. An ideal candidate is motivated with a can do attitude. Prior experience working with a design firm is not required. Student applicants are welcome but must be pursuing a bachelor in architecture or interior design/interior architecture.
Please send your resume and samples of work in PDF format to email@example.com.
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A little red squirrel enjoys a sunflower seed while perching comfortably on the suet feeder !
squirrel wildlife texture nature
So darn cute! Very nicely done my friend! XXSUEXX
Thanks so much Sue ! Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend :) Reneexxxx
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I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The Book of Apex Volume 4 by Lynne M. Thomas
Series: Book of Apex #4
Published by Apex Book Company on October 24th 2014
Genres: Anthology, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Science fiction
Pages: 368
Source: the publisher
Thirty-three science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories grab readers by their emotional cores to star deep into the source of our humanity and inhumanity. Well-known authors like Ken Liu, Genevieve Valentine, Catherynne M. Valente, Lavie Tidhar, and Alethea Kontis, along with newer voices, sketch surreal pasts, presents, and futures full of characters with familiar and outsized desires and fears.
"The Book of Apex Volume 4" collects the original fiction from Hugo-winning editor Lynne M. Thomas's first fifteen issues at the helm of "Apex Magazine," which included two Hugo Award nominations for the magazine.
I am taking part in the Book of Apex Blog Tour hosted by Little Red Reviewer, so you will see a couple of features linked to the tour over the next few weeks. Please note that my review is based on the short stories of the authors I will be interviewing, Adam Troy Castro and Rahul Kanakia.
Tomorrow's Dictator by Rahul Kanakia
This short story reveals a world where 'adjustment' is possible – a process where people's emotions and behaviours can be adjusted at will by another, resulting in an incredibly hard-worker who doesn't need a break, a totally devoted lover who never strays, completely obedient children and more. It is a very scary idea – the loss of total free will, and people voluntarily give it up without really realising what they're doing.
The main character of the story, Sasha – I don't really want to call her a protagonist because of what she's done – uses the process, both on her employees and her husband, George. George has been reduced to a simpleton, following Sasha around like a puppy and responding to her every word and command. What is especially terrifying is how George asked for the process, and how Sasha agreed to it.
Although we don't get much time to get to know the characters, I instantly disliked Sasha because of how she treated others. Perhaps she was just doing her job, but as she brought adjustment into her personal life then she couldn't really have that big of a problem with it. This tiny glimpse into a world devoid of free will is pretty terrifying and harrowing. For this reason, I'm awarding the story four stars – Kanakia gets a lot across in just a few pages.
During the Pause by Adam Troy Castro
This short story immediately struck me as unusual in that it is written in second person plural – and it's not so much a story as a fictitious warning or message from an alien race, claiming they will wipe 'you' out. Like Rahul Kanakia's story, a real sense of fear for the situation is created in a short amount of time. One of my thoughts after reading the story was that it could even be humans talking to another alien race – although there is mention of how they do not understand religion. However, my idea was that it was humans far into the future, a future where religion no longer had any real meaning – but I suppose it is rather far-fetched!
The message sounds incredibly arrogant, the attackers looking down on their victims as if they are ants they could easily squish with just one step. Which is pretty terrifying – and reminds me of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. Hopefully these invaders will succumb to the same thing as Well's tripods too! I also want to award this particular story four stars – for the chills it sent down my back whilst reading it.


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HOW arvelous it is to lose yourself in a book. To open up the pages and dive into another world, one that steals you away from your troubles, your fretting, your moments of whirling thoughts; even if it's just for a little while.
To escape is to breathe for a bit. And I love to find that escape in the pages of a book. And then after the book is finished and sitting next to you because you can't bear to put it back on the shelf again yet, you find it nearly impossible to pick another. Because for me, I almost always find it too difficult to move on from the world I just closed…often times, I need to say my goodbyes before opening a new story.
I finished a book today that's been on my shelf for nearly two years now, called "Hold Still" by Nina LaCour. It's about the friendship between two girls, Caitlin and Ingrid…and how Caitlin is picking up the pieces of her life after Ingrid commits suicide right at the end of sophomore year of high school. One day, Caitlin finds that Ingrid had slid her journal underneath Caitlin's bed before she took her life…and so a journey of healing begins for Caitlin, all during the time that she's holding onto this last piece of Ingrid that she has left.
This story reached out and grabbed something in me, something I'd pushed aside, and ignored for so long, and I only want to talk about it now because I'm realizing more and more that most of us have felt desperately alone and hopeless at one point or another. But so often, the problem is that we don't talk about it. Like me. For years, throughout middle school and high school.
I still remember the very first moment I thought to myself, "Is this what depression feels like?", as I was walking out of the lunch room in the 7th grade. Through the following years, through the making and breaking of friendships, I was a very broken young girl…and I know with all my heart and soul that if not for my great love for my family, and the Lord's hand being on me always, I would not be here today.
I was always hurting…oftentimes, I didn't even know what the reason was behind it. Mostly, it all stemmed from a betrayal from my closest friends in freshman year…I had given my complete trust to these girls, and we were thick as thieves. Then one day, we weren't; I'm sure I'll never understand teenage girls. And unfortunately, the friendship(s) didn't end cleanly; It was a mess. And it broke me down to the point that feels like the worst possible place to be when you're a 15 year old girl.
And it was a very long, rough road getting out of that place. And I never used to believe the phrase "Time heals all wounds"… I still don't know that I fully believe it. But I do know for a fact that time lessens the pain, and gradually makes it easier to breathe again.
I remember quite vividly how I felt during those years. And so badly, I wish I could now go back in time, give myself a hug, and say…"Hey. It's going to be okay. I promise. Time passes quicker than you can possibly realize, and before you know it, this will all be a memory. Just keep holding on."
I guess that's why I'm posting this now. You see, I never talked about what I now know to have been depression. I still don't talk about it; Even though there are moments when that time comes up when I'm down, it is in the past. The Lord brought me through that time, and though my journey is far from over, I feel that that awful chapter is finally closed.
But I want YOU to know, that if that girl is you…if you're hurting and aching and you feel like you just want peace and rest; if you feel as if you don't have a friend in the world, and the light at the end of the tunnel will never reach you…my dear, you are not alone.
You are loved by the one true God. And even in your greatest darkness, He does not abandon you. And some day you'll look back and see it clearly…just like I do now.
And how fitting that as I'm finishing this post, Matt Redman's "Never Once" comes on Pandora.
"Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say, never once did we ever walk alone, never once did you leave us on our own."
…I've never heard this song before. Chills.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for reaching down and reminding us of your never ending faithfulness.
Stay strong, my chickadees, no matter what battle it is that you're walking through right now.


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Candy's House Candy on NBC's NonStop Nightly: Talking Dirt About Our Housing Market
Published November 10, 2011 by Candy Evans
Time for our monthly real estate report with Jane McGarry over at NBC DFW's NonStop Nightly, which now has a fun name: Candy's House Candy. Really, it's what you and I know as House Porn, but we cannot say that in front of viewers — I mean, in front of the children. As usual, Jane and I were chatting up real estate before and after the segment… turns out she has a second home in Montana and really likes one-story homes! Who doesn't like talking real estate! We didn't get around to talking second homes in Costa Rica, but will hit that next show.
View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com


text: Wooden #Nutcracker with Hammer smashes nuts - Nutcracker done with the lathe for wood, including hammer, which is also created with the lathe. You place the nut in the middle of the bowl (in the notch), and you hit them with a hammer. The shells of the nut can be put in the bowl below, along with nuts still to crush. It is a kitchen tool that makes it easy and fun to crack nuts!


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I wish I had done this after my very first stall that lasted for 4 days.
My advise to anyone reading this. if you KNOW you cheated...don't wait for the stall...do an apple day.
It was easy, I wasn't hungry, AND I only ate 4 of the apples out of the 6 I was allowed.
I do get discouraged when I think that I SHOULD have lost 40 lbs by the 40th day. But you know what. I feel absolutley fantastic. And I will take the 28 lbs I have lost
I am almost to 30 lbs. I havn't been this low in weight in years, even on Weight Watchers!
I have NO acid reflux. No bloated gassy feelings. in fact I have no gas at all!
Today I put on a really cute little suit I bought years ago for an interview. I only wore it once because it was just too tight, and never wore it to the interview.
I don't know why I bought it if it was tight to begin with. It is still in style. One of those classic skirt and jacket type suits. I pulled it out of the BACK of the closet and tried it on today. It looks GREAT.
Since I work in an office I have to wear business type clothes and this is perfect.
I don't understand why so many people are afraid to take HCG. I have a friend who is diabetic, and needs to lose weight. She talks about joining WW or going to the gym, but doesn't. I tell her how EASY this was. but she googled the side affects of HCG and won't take it. I told her have you googled the side affects of the Pill? it is basically the same risks, yet tons of women, including me take those.
And what about smokers...look at those risks, and yet people still smoke...not that I am condoning smoking in any way. But what I am saying is EVERYTHING has some sort of risk. Heck, a few years back they were convinced that HAMBURGER raised your risk of cancer. Have people stopped eating hamburger? nope. I wish someone had told me about HCG years ago. I could have saved my money on WW, and the Oprah cookbook, and the other diet books and pills I wasted my money on.
Ok I guess this is a longer post than anticipated. I just LOVE that this is working!
Today's Plan:
- Brkfst: Pumpkin Coffee, Strawberries, stevia
- Lunch: Shrimp, mixed lettuce, ACV, lemon & basil
- Dinner: Steak, cabbage, apple.