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This was published 1 year ago
Eight years to write a plan, as battles build to war for Perth bush
Hundreds, if not thousands, of emails have poured into my inbox over recent years from distressed residents begging me to help them save this or that bit of bushland. Not a week goes by without another one.
Battles have raged in Shenton Park, Midvale, Bayswater, Trigg, Cockburn, Kenwick and Ascot, to mention just a handful, and together these battles represent a war.
People are worried and depressed about the state of the biodiversity that has always been Perth's genuine claim to fame.
And anyone who's ever tried to deal with the Perth's environmental approvals and planning system, whether trying to clear bushland or protect it, finds an intimidating maze that makes little sense even to the agencies that are part of it.
No one really knows how important each patch of bush is in a city-wide sense. Developers can proceed with the assumption that if they cut this bit down, someone else will save another patch, somewhere... just not in their backyard.
Yet the McGowan government suspended work on one of the state's biggest planning documents, the one that might have fixed this mess once and for all.
The previous government decided to start work on the Green Growth Plan plan in mid-2011. Eight years ago.
A draft did come out for public comment in 2015, but in 2018 this government suspended the final document pending a six-month 'review'.
The government has just confirmed it will take even longer – until mid-2019. It is now waiting for a 'supplementary report' on the completed review, to finalise its decision.
If the government doesn't can it altogether, the project could be a decade old by the time it's finished.
Imagine how many of your tax dollars have been spent paying people to work on this plan.
Melbourne's equivalent plan was completed in about four years and has been in effect since 2013.
Planning with the lights off
The Swan Coastal Plain was already 71 per cent cleared of natural vegetation by 2014, to accommodate the present Perth and Peel population of 2.1 million.
With a forecast of 3.5 million people by 2050, a plan is needed if we want to prevent total clearing.
Currently, when a development is being considered, planners have no way of knowing how precious the bush being cleared is, in relation to how much is left.
There is no monitoring of clearing approvals in Perth.
The Green Growth Plan plan aimed to solve this, and for the first time bring together state Bush Forever protections and national endangered species protections in an overarching planning document, while simultaneously addressing things both national and state policies missed.
It was intended to dovetail with the Perth and firstname.lastname@example.com million planning frameworks.
Effectively, all urban and mine developments would have got upfront environmental approvals without having to jump through the hoops they do currently.
The principle behind it was a hierarchy: "avoid – mitigate – offset".
That is, avoid bush if possible; if not, mitigate damage if possible; if not, pay money for environmental works or conservation elsewhere.
It was aimed to allow developers to look at a plan, pull up a set of maps, and know which bits of bush were locked, which bits could be developed and what offsets they might need to pay.
It would have saved the expense of assessing individual sites on a micro level.
Without the plan we are valuing it blindly and giving environmental approvals blindly, too.
Currently, a listed threatened species being found on their land means chaos and costs for a developer. Community groups get upset and begin campaigning.
This plan aimed not just to identify what areas should be conserved, but also what action was needed to properly look after the conserved bits.
The offsets were intended to generate revenue that could be used to manage land.
Finally, after much consultation, the draft came out for public comment in 2015.
The maps locked in clearing of nearly 40,000 hectares of habitat including endangered banksia woodland, and pine forest providing food for black cockatoos.
But it also made broad commitments such as keeping 2600 hectares of habitat in a strategic 'retention layer' and bold recommendations like limiting urban sprawl north of Perth.
Why stop at the final hurdle?
The draft was highly controversial with environmental groups, because it locked in the loss of so much habitat – something likely to happen anyway, but confronting when laid out.
The retention of large areas of bushland rather than smaller areas is more logical from a conservation standpoint, but is confronting for people who value the amenity of small patches of natural bush in urban settings.
The Urban Bushland Council said the draft cast doubt over the future of Bush Forever sites, was over-reliant on "offset" plantings and would not protect Perth's green corridors.
Major green groups joined forces in October 2017 to ask for a major review.
The plan was also controversial with some parts of the development industry, which ironically, given the viewpoints above, viewed it as an environment grab.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia WA gave dire warnings of a "range of economic and social impacts for land development and new home buyers".
No-one was happy, but this in itself is not necessarily a sign that the project was not worthwhile.
Other planners thought it was a worthwhile project.
They envisaged the offsets revenue going into an independent body, with non-government organisations, friends groups and traditional owners able to bid for funding for restoration projects.
But the governments (former and current) didn't communicate this vision. It's a dry and difficult subject and the draft itself was criticised for being opaque.
WAtoday understands a team of four public servants was working through a huge number of public comments, and had done a lot of work on the revisions.
But a revised draft was never released, though a public servant reportedly inadvertently let slip in March 2017 that the government was also thinking of limiting development south-west of Perth.
Shortly after, in early April the government quietly published an update on its websites that it would suspend work on the document pending a review.
It appointed an independent four-member panel to undertake the review "over the next six months", promising even more consultation.
The review was to make recommendations to Deputy Premier Roger Cook about merit, risks, benefits, alternatives and costs.
At the one-year mark the government says the initial review identified three critical "gateway" issues regarding legal risk, flexibility and funding, and the government had extended the review.
It had asked for a "supplementary report", due mid-2019, and would then make a final decision.
Pushing through the pain barrier
This government inherited the Perth and Peel @3.5 million planning frameworks, also half-finished, from the previous government, but those it managed to complete.
So why not do the same with their intended partner, the Green Growth Plan? Why couldn't they push through the pain barrier?
Isn't any plan for Perth's bush better than no plan, and eight wasted years?
Imagine a city in which people could stop fighting, wading through torturous planning systems, protesting, writing letters, weeping over trees getting cut down.
Imagine if we could all pour that energy into something more positive.
I hope the government can imagine it too and find the guts to get on with the job.
Emma Young is a WAtoday reporter focusing on environmental issues, urban planning, social justice and the arts. She has won eight WA Media Awards, including the Matt Price Award for Best Columnist.


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Receiving Holy Communion
By Swami Dr Snehananda Jyoti on 23-10-2014
This article is mainly for Catholic Christians who form the biggest denomination ( about 125 million) in the Christian religion. Everyone can benefit, though, as I have no agenda other than the unadulterated teaching of Christ. This article is in the context of controversial discussions about divorced and re-married Catholics receiving Holy Communion at the Eucharistic celebration that is the most important worship in the Catholic Church. Eucharist or Holy Mass is the memorial of the Lord's last supper where Christ in a dramatic gesture shared with his disciples his body and blood in the form of bread and wine just before betrayal by one of his own disciples, passion, death by crucifixion, and resurrection.
The discussions related to divorced and remarried Catholics and homosexual Catholics in connection with family life and Christian living in today's world are taking place in an important synod (assembly) of bishops and non-Catholic Christian observers in Rome with a view to reformation. These discussions are highly important as the synod tries to discern the will of Christ in dealing with all of humanity, especially the members of the church living in changed circumstances or with different sexual orientations.
Christ as a universal teacher came for all, and his teachings apply to all. His program was to preach the Kingdom of God, and liberate all, especially the oppressed, from the clutches of all that was ungodly, unloving, hypocrisy. He lived an extremely simple life, and taught through example and parables – short stories of principles with a moral attitude – with compassion as well as authority. His parables, to mention a few, – of the Good Samaritan depicting our obligation to love unconditionally every human in the world, of the Prodigal Son demonstrating the unconditional love and forgiveness of the father (God) toward his wayward son, of the Lost Sheep wherein the shepherd (standing for Christ or the pope or a bishop or, finally, you or I) leaving the ninety-nine sheep to look for that one stray or lost sheep – are unparalleled in the whole of human history. So what further enlightenment are we waiting for?! Is not Christ's teaching plain and simple?!
The test of the time is very near. Ultimately everything boils down to our readiness to be rejected, nay crucified, by the unpopular decisions that we make and that will not be accepted by our so-called constituencies that comprise our own very near and dear ones ( the world). Ultimately it is a war between the flesh and the spirit, the demands of the world and the demands of the Kingdom of God. Were we not taught by the master that a disciple is not going to be treated any better than the master?!
So where are we? For goodness sake, let us give communion to all who follow the teaching of Christ, and who in their well-formed conscience come with good intention to receive it. Who has put us in the place of God to judge the intentions of persons? If Christ could give communion to Judas, who would betray him soon after the first celebration of the Eucharist, I, as an ordained priest, have no problem in giving communion to the divorced, the re-married, the homosexual as long as they are clear in their conscience. If they are not clear in their conscience, the good Lord will take care of them. Christ never said a follower of him has to get a special training, and get ordained to celebrate the memorial of his last supper (Eucharist). We have given up our own rights to a bunch of administrators (priests, bishops, pope), and then we cry foul if they do not do what we have a right to.
I am reminded of a scene in the beginning of a pre-election campaign that elected Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of the United States in 1980. He was not very popular in the beginning of the campaign. So in the primaries his competitors would not give him microphone on a stage that he shared with other republican candidates. So he went and boldly snatched the mike from one of them right in front of the television cameras broadcasting the news to the nation. The rest is history. The bishops and pope will say this story has no relevance. Why? Because they rule according to the divine right. Well, you know what happened to the theology of the divine right of kings. The kings as well as the theology that supported them are all gone. You may also want to remember that this same theology taught that blacks did not have souls.
We need to be also aware that Bharatiya Janata Party that governs India now is not India. Similarly, the pope and the magisterium (the governing authority) are not the Catholic Church. We are the church together with them. They are or ought to be elected administrators of the Church. A pope elected by cardinals appointed by a previous pope does not make sense. Democracy is not perfect. Nonetheless, only democracy, not autocracy, can go with an enlightened spirituality. In passing I may also note that Pope Francis and I joined the Jesuits in the same year, that is, i958. Only I left the Jesuits after about 25 years after due discernment. While I have great admiration for the Jesuits, I can say I will not be able to write what I am writing as a Jesuit with a fourth vow to the pope. So kindly read what I write at your own risk! I may also say everyone of us who is baptized, male or female, is a priest. In fact I dare say everyone who follows the teaching of Christ is a priest through the baptism of desire. I am not advocating anarchy. I am only advocating sound theology, awareness, and conscientization so we all can be aware of our own rights as well as our own obligations. Of course, all this has to be done in the true spirit of Christ, in the theology of kenosis (emptiness: empty of ego). We have to fill ourselves with Christ, and empty ourselves of our own ego. Here we may have different views. But then we do not all understand Christ exactly the same way. So, finally, let us surrender ourselves to Christ so we can do his will. Lord, help us see things the way you see.
About The Author
Swami Dr Snehananda Jyoti
Dr. John K Thekkedam (Swami Snehananda Jyoti) spent most of his life as a clinical psychologist in USA. He began his public life as a Jesuit priest. Quite attracted in distinct philosophies, he left the society and founded 'East West Awakening'.

subset: commoncrawl


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MTF Arri Bayonet To Arri PL Adaptor
The Arri bayonet to Arri PL mount is beautifully crafted stainless steel and brass. This quick release adaptor is designed for all Arri bayonet mounted lenses, and will allow you to use them on any PL mounted camera.
Questions & Answers
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Average minimum and maximum temperature in Pamporovo (Smolyan) in celsius
The monthly mean minimum and maximum temperatures over the year in Pamporovo, Bulgaria.
Show the average temperatures in Pamporovo in Fahrenheit
- On average, the warmest month(s) are July and August.
- On average, the warmest month is July.
- On average, the coolest month is January.
- The average annual maximum temperature is: 18.0° Celsius (64.4° Fahrenheit)
- The average annual minimum temperature is: 6.0° Celsius (42.8° Fahrenheit)


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Things that Made Me Happy Last Week: Week 9
1. Coming home. After a nightmare of a trip (due to a 24-hour gastric bug of the worst kind that announced itself just as I boarded the plane from Atlanta to Frankfurt) I wanted to hug my sofa when I finally made it home and could collapse on said piece of furniture...
2. Making 2 people happy on Sunday morning: the person I gave a heavily discounted practically brand new bag to and the homeless guy I bought a breakfast at the bakery where I had agreed to meet the bag buyer.
3. Getting to spend time with my friend and her family in Athens. Despite the nasty return trip, I really had a great time.


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It was the best of years, it was the worst of years. We saw a lot of good things happen and we saw some things that kinda bugged us. From the death of Buttons and Chris Love to the Riot at the Open and the 100-foot wave in Europe. So much, so fast. Here's a look at 13 of the most nuttiest things that happened in the world of surf in 2013.
13. Sam George's Eddie Aikau Doc on ESPN
Have you ever seen anything so cool on normal television? When ESPN ran this on national TV it really blew us away. The film sets a whole new standard for talking surf story on the big screen. And whilst the Taylor Steele stuff will always be epic, we haven't been this stoked on a surf flick since we screened Five Summer Stories at our Buttons benefit at Lido a few months ago …
12. Maya Gabeira and Carlos Burle's Incident at Nazare … oh and Laird's Claim
Whether it's Burle's 100-foot wave or Gabby almost drowning trying to catch one, for a few days a couple months back there wasn't a single person in the surf world not talking about that 100 foot wave (not that anyone has forgotten about McNamara's the previous year). And then Laird came out and talked about it. We're not pointing fingers, picking sides or any of that other stuff, but that was some good rhetoric and caused a little uproar in the big wave community.
11. The final day of the Billabong Pipe Masters
Nuff said. This was the sickest day of pro surfing we've seen, if not for the drama, the surfing. John John and Kelly in the final. Kelly winning. Mick Fanning getting to the semis doing what he had to do to win the world title. All time. And the look on CJ Hobgood's face when he was sitting out the back after Mick's wave in Round 5 … the whole day was timeless.
10. The death of Chris Love and the birth of Drug Free Surfing Movement
When Chris Love died earlier this year something had to happen. And one surfer/photographer named John Salanoa was the person to get it going. He started a DFS sticker campaign and earned the support of some of the world's best surfers. He's on a mission to save lives, and as far as we know, no other young surfers have died since Chris. Hats off to John for kickstarting the Drug Free Surfing Movement. It's more alive now than ever.
9. The HB Riots at the Vans US Open of Surfing
The Vans US Open would make this list anyway because it was the first time they've ever sponsored the biggest surf event on the planet. The riots after the final put a little bit of a stain on it but it's nothing we're gonna trip on. Still, riots or not, the Vans US Open of Surfing was a big deal and next year is only going to be better … or will it?
8. Anastasia Ashley's Twerking
Over 6,000,000 views on You Tube and growing on our mind more each passing week. Did it really happen? Did she do it on purpose? Was it all set up? Doesn't matter. Anastasia's brilliant.
7. Dustin Barca Vs. GMO Corporations
Big corporations are poisoning the lands in Hawaii and no one likes it. No one hates it more than Dustin has been doing everything in his power to stop the GMOs. For the past year and longer, Dustin woke up everyday thinking about it and falling asleep each night thinking about more. His voice would be heard. Has been heard. The people get it. But will the corporations? Our heart is with Dustin and his crusade into 2014 and beyond. We have faith the people of Hawaii will win.
6. The New ASP World Tour
It was bound to happen. The ASP was basically going through the motions, each event's sponsor having total control of the webcast, putting their biased staff behind the mic and interviewing all the surfers. This just isn't right. While it's entertaining and extra fun for staffers it just doesn't work out that well. So the ASP sold to Zosea Media, bought the Big Wave World Tour and is out to conquer the world in 2014. Can't wait to see how that all rolls out come March at Snapper.
5. The Death of Buttons
This hit the world by storm. It hurt the world ten fold. Buttons was a surfing icon and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. His surfing was far ahead of his time and after battling his demons for so many years he seemed to find a new peace in life with wife and children and an epic surf school on the North Shore. The world came together in hopes that he would beat it but in the end the cancer took his life. He is gone but will never be forgotten. Buttons we love you and will see you on the other side.
4. The Coming of Age of Tia Blanco
There's one girl surfer who kicked a little more ass in 2013 than any other amateur surfer we can think of. Tia went on a rampage in the Open Women's NSSA and won back to back to back to back events, over and over, taking the title and holding down the top of the NSSA Open Women's rankings. And she's still there…. on top of all that she might be the next best thing to happen to women's surfing since Alana Blanchard. No joke. She's the real deal and with model good looks it's only a matter of time before some company much larger than Volcom takes her under their wing and pays her a million bucks to do it all over again for their brand. But for now, she's Volcom all the way and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
3. XXL Big Wave Challenge founder Bill Sharp Reinstates the Newport Surf Council to Help City of NB Change Outdated Blackball Regulations
This is still in the works but in late 2013 the rebirth of the Newport Surf Council took shape and made some suggestions to the Newport City Council, or the Blackball Working Group, rather, that should change the way we surf in Newport for years to come. It might not happen this summer, but it will happen the next. Change is coming and the blackball, in some parts of Newport, could be a thing of the past.
2. The death of Transworld Surf
This was a big deal but it seems now to be more of a publicity stunt than anything. TWS never went anywhere. They still produced a special edition, the website is more alive than ever and their online presence has all but disappeared. But the news was a big deal. Grind Media bought up and axed the title so their two Er and Ing titles could take the lead on newsstands, because face it, Transworld was kicking their ass.
1. Ghetto Juice Magazine, Yo!
You didn't think this wouldn't make the list now did ya? Of course it was another epic year for the biggest little surf mag in the world. Eight epic issues and a lot of good times, including Airshows, Grab Bag contests and a couple movie premiers that went off the charts. Expect more greatness in 2014.
This top ten 13 list is dedicated to the memory of Kirk Passmore. —- by Skip Snead
Posted by: Ghetto Juice at: 20 Dec 2013 14:52
Here are some other articles you might be interested in.
The GJ Interview with Nathan Fletcher
Opening Weekend at Vans US Open of Surfing
A few Words With Kanoa
OC's Sanuk Goes L.A.; Opens Flagship Store in Santa Monica


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Don't let the Admins take over! This article is in need of help! Click "Edit" to help!
This article or section needs more contributions, as it is currently considered low-quality. If you know anything about the topic this article is focused on, please feel free to contribute. All editors are welcome.
The 2006 Era is the second era stage in Driver: Parallel Lines, after the 1978 Era. It contains new vehicles spawning, and a new color scheme of modern blues and grays.
After serving his 28-year sentence in Sing-Sing, TK returns with a plan to get revenge on the people that used him as a scapegoat for one of the biggest crimes of the 70's - drugs. His first step, with the help and planning of Ray, is to kill The Mexican - after Ray tells TK that he's seen him working in an arcades in Queens, and that he was heavily addicted to alcohol, TK realizes that Mexican is the most vulnerable and the easiest of targets, and not only that, but his death can be used as a warning to the rest of the gang that TK is back and not afraid.
Differences Edit
Here lists notable differences to gameplay elements, such as vehicles, buildings, storyline and characters.
Character(s) Edit
- All characters featured in the 2006 Era have had changes in their attire.
- TK now 28 years older (making him 46 years old). His appearance has also changed; he now has facial hair, longer hair, larger, taller, and a more muscular structure.
- Candy is shown to have his hair grayed out and grown slightly and is much heavier.
- Slink is shown to be taller and has much more visible facial hair, although he hasn't changed that much.
- Bishop is shown to have his hair grayed out and wrinkled around the faces, while his facial hair has been shaved.
- Corrigan's hair has grayed out and become shorter, while he no longer has a moustache.
- Ray is now 51 years old, and has shorter hair and more visible facial hair, along with slight wrinkling around his face. His hair is also a darker shade of brown, much more closer to black.
- The Twin Towers are no longer present, due to the real life 9/11 Terrorist Attacks in 2001, and construction is now being held in the same area. The plaza around them is also covered by glass windows, rendering the area inaccessible. Glitching through the walls reveal that excavated rubble is found where the towers once stood.
- The construction site in Queens has become a complex of apartment blocks, while construction sites in areas around the Bronx have become apartment towers
- The colors of various roads have now been changed to look worn out or modernized. In addition, alleyways and roads are less cluttered with rubbish and steam generators as they are in 1978. Bus stops can also be found on pavements.
- The Beach Front Theme Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn has been shut down and is now vandalized. In addition, the MCU Park has been built over where the Cyclone sat in the 1978 era.
- Industrial areas now have more modernized technology, scattered with less dock crates, or have been converted into residential apartments.
- The Brooklyn Bridge changes from a lighter shade of tan to a dark gray brick color
- The racing tracks in LaGuardia Airport, Hunt's Point, and New Jersey now have more seating areas, watchtowers, and are more modernized in appearance
- The billboards around Times Square billboards change.
- The exterior and interiors of Ray's Autos change, with the inside now having a mural painted over the brick wall.
- The Safe House has now become vandalized and severely damaged inside.
Vehicles Edit
- The Torrex taxi replaces the Wayfarer, although the Wayfarer will still spawn around the city.
- The Paramedic replaces the Meat Wagon, but the Meat Wagon will still spawn around the city.
- The Zartex used by the New York Police Department is replaced with the M700. Their Helicopters are also now updated to a newer model.
- The Loan Shark mini-games are replaced by a new mini-game named Hitman.


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Poroshenko's former Crimean plant to be integrated into Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation
16:06, 16 October 2015Economy
199 0
JSC "Sevastopol Marine Plant," which formerly belonged to Petro Poroshenko, has become a branch of Russia's OSJC Ship Repairing Center Zvezdochka under the lease contract for 49 years, with an approved roadmap of integration of the plant into the structure of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the USC's press service said on Friday.
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MXNet Release 17.05
The NVIDIA container image of MXNet, release 17.05, is available.
MXNet container image version 17.05 is based on MXNet 0.9.3a+.
Contents of MXNet
This container image contains the complete source of the version of MXNet in /opt/mxnet. It is pre-built and installed to the Python path.
The container also includes the following:
- Ubuntu 16.04
- NVIDIA CUDA® Deep Neural Network library™ (cuDNN) 6.0.21
- NCCL 1.6.1 (optimized for NVLink™ )
Key Features and Enhancements
This MXNet release includes the following key features and enhancements.
- Latest cuDNN release
- Improved IO pipeline for increased multi-GPU performance
- Optimized SGD weight update
- Added the nccl_allreduce option for gradient communication
- Added support for dilated deconvolutions
- Improved convolutional neural network (CNN) performance by removing unnecessary computations
- Added options to show the cuDNN algorithms that are chosen for convolutions
- Ubuntu 16.04 with April 2017 updates
Known Issues
There are no known issues in this release.


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I need to get Brenna's birthday invites printed, but we are still working on determining the time for the party (it will be sometime around lunch). But, here is a sneak peak at the party invite for anyone following the blog :-) (costumes are not mandatory - but feel free to come with a crazy hat or sunglasses (or just a crazy outfit) :-)
Brenna has not been in the mood to go to school this week, she will do anything to procrastinate going including letting me take her picture, lol. Here was her yesterday morning modeling with her inner tube (which would be so much more fun if she would go in the big pool...) (Brenna has such a warm body I am trying to keep her well hydrated and cool each day - so the first thing is keeping her hair up - I think she looks good with bangs or without - she is just too cute!)
Hello All!!!
Hope all is well out there! It is hot, hot, hot here (Our apartment reached 90 yesterday afternoon - expecting the same today). Brenna and I have been spending our afternoons at the pool, but poor Justice is stuck in the apartment. I have been waking up very early (before the sun is up) to take him for his walks, but still feel bad for him in the hot apartment with all of his hair... I asked for some suggestions for keeping my pet cool yesterday on facebook and got a great suggestion of feeding him ice cubes - so he had several treated this morning and I will give him more throughout the day (when we are here). (I feel too bad having him be alone more than a few hours with this heat, so we only go to the pool for about 3 hours (although, I think 3 hours is plenty of time at the pool - especially since Brenna only wants to be in the kid pool and refuses to go in the big pool)). It has been a good opportunity to see other moms from school and do some more socialization :-)
Not too much going on here - we did some paper crafting yesterday. I brought out my alphabet stickers for Brenna and said she could have any letters that she correctly pointed to - hmm, really, really need to work with her on her alphabet...(although I think the sticker idea may be the best for her yet - she really wanted to get the stickers and paid close attention when we reviewed the letters before so that she could get as many as possible...)
Hoping by next week that the weather cools off some - the forecast is calling for storms here on Sunday morning, so I am crossing my fingers that next weeke will be cooler...
Hope everyone is staying cool there! Take Care!


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I think. I hope.
They're Just Words (main part, professional part)
Looks 'xactly the same and should have no issues. You will notice two differences immediately. One may be annoying and please let me know. All external links will have the "external link" icon next to it. If you find that distracting, tell me! Personally, I'm not fond of it but it's something I am trying. The other difference will be some links with lines through them. That means they are broken and I need to fix them. Of course there may be a few other things here and there that are new. Like a new "captcha" for comments I'm trying.
As far as things being broken still, there's a few pages with specific purpose, such as the sitemap, that are not working since they are plugin or code dependent. Those still need to be fixed. Most of the major changes were behind the scenes. WordPress is an awesome software and luckily this site has a "real" theme with very few changes to it.
Thought Patterns (the good, the bad, the fugly)
The problem with good old Thought Patterns is it's been around a loooong time. Which means a huge database with lots of stuff that I wasn't sure was still needed or not so I was just leaving tables still there. So the blog was getting slower, taking up a lot of room, and just asking for trouble. Which was surprising it was not the one hacked. Or maybe the hackers just didn't want to deal with all the clutter and went for nice and neat TJW instead. We'll never know.
Once I figured out what I was doing and got the other half working, I got to work on this one. Which wasn't easy. The theme I use is based off one of the original themes from way, way back and is so customized, I'm surprised it still works with each update. The CSS file, bless its heart, is what holds this site together. It's a strong beastie.
So. Plugins. Outdated. Wow were they. Replacing
some many most of them was impossible. Luckily I'd found replacements for the important ones when doing the other so all I had to do was either find something for the others or decide if I really and truly needed whatever it was that plugin did. I opted for the latter.
Which means some things no longer exist. If you were subscribed to be notified of new posts, that no longer exists. I can't find one that does what I want without also notifying you of everything else under the sun (like if I update a page or log on). And there's going to be some older posts with some missing stuff in it. Broken code, missing images, etcetera. Get over it.
Anyway, I could go on and on about what is working and what is not. But I'd rather go sit out in the sun with my dog and my honey. So have fun with the "new" sites and let me know what you think. And let me know if anything is not working.


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Send Us An Email Call 07 3245 5425
Termite Nest
So you find a termite nest and you want it destroyed right. Well hold on just a minute it's not that simple. I'll explain what needs to be done when a nest is located in a garden.
I get plenty of customers calling us asking can we come out and kill a termite nest in the back garden. Getting rid of the nest is a simple process, but before this happens some thought needs to go into the situation.
Many people think because there is a nest in the garden that the termites are going to eat the house. There are many different species of termite and not all of them attack timber in service. When we use the term "Timber in service" it's basically wood that we use to build with.
Ok so let's have a look at the process in destroying a termite nest and why we may need it.
Termite inspection
The inspection will give us the information we need to deal with the nest. The inspection will be carried out throughout the property and the gardens.
All of the internal and external walls are checked for any signs of termite activity. The roof void is a favourite hiding place for termites so this area also needs a thorough inspection.
The termite inspection generally starts outside checking all the garden beds and the exterior of the house. Then the internal inspection is carried out using a number of different inspection tools.
Main Inspection Tools
The tools used are a sounding stick, moisture meter and in my inspections a thermal imaging camera. For me, the thermal imaging camera is a valuable inspection tool as we get to see behind the wall coverings.
The first tool we use is the sounding stick, this when we walk around the house tapping all the wooden architraves and skirtings. During this process, we are listening for a difference in sound to detect termites.
After the sounding stick, the moisture meter is used, this will be placed on the wall to check for moisture. Moisture is a sure sign of termite activity or maybe even a leaking water pipe.
If water leaks are picked up behind walls during the inspection it's recommended to have them seen to straight away. We must remember termites are attracted to moisture and they need it to survive. So the moisture meter is a great tool for any termite technician to use.
The last tool we use is the thermal imaging camera this gives us a really good look behind the wall coverings. If termites are in a wall cavity the thermal imaging camera will pick them up. The camera builds up an image of the surface from different temperatures.
So if there's a termite nest or workings in a wall the camera will show the image and give us an idea of the size.
What's In The Report
So once the inspection is completed the report will be filled out and then emailed. The report will give a complete analysis of how well the property stands up to possible termite attack. The report will also give the homeowner information on areas of concern that may need attention.
Any areas that are found during the inspection that may give termite's easy access to a home will be written in the report. These areas can then be attended to by the owner to help prevent future termite attack.
I always say to my customers to think of the termite inspection report as your friend. A thorough inspection and a well-written report can save a home from being attacked by hungry termites. A full report is essential before attempting to destroy a termite nest.
Before we destroy a termite nest
For anyone to just destroy a termite nest with or without chemicals is crazy. If a nest is found around a property, and within about 50 meters of the house there is a chance termites could be on the attack.
Some termite species such as Coptotermes acinaciformis can attack a home from 50 meters away. That's a serious long-range attack by little insects the size of an ant, but it happens often. This is one of the reasons we need to keep the nest intact.
Before we can destroy the termite nest we need to find out what species we are dealing with. We also need to find out whether or not the termites have made their way into the house.
If termites are active inside a house and there is a nest located in the garden somewhere we need to destroy it in a different way.
So it's not as simple as just kill the nest and move on, we first need to do a full termite inspection of the house. As explained above the termite inspection will give us all the information we need to correctly destroy the termite nest.
When a nest is located in a garden and there are active termites in the house we use the termites in the house to destroy the nest.
Identify the termites
We first need to identify the termites if they are both the same then we can assume the outside nest is responsible for the attack on the house. It's at this point we have to reassess how we destroy the nest that is outside.
The identification of a termite is done by collecting the soldiers. The soldiers are identified by looking at the head this will give us the type of termite we are dealing with.
Once we know what species of termite we are dealing with an appropriate plan of action can be put into place. The last thing we want to do is destroy the nest found in the garden and leave the termites in the house. This type of situation happens a lot when homeowners decide to do their own termite treatment.
Some knowledge of termites and the surroundings are needed before we attempt to remove them. This is where the termite inspection is very important without it we are just shooting in the dark.
Destroying the termite nest
Now that we have all the facts from the inspection report we can now get on and destroy the termites.
So we will do two scenarios of destroying a termite nest. The first will be when no termites are found in the house, and the second when there are termites in a house.
Scenario 1
So the inspection has picked up that there is an active termite nest in the garden but no termites in the house. This is the easy scenario it's as simple as flooding the nest with a termiticide.
This can be done with either a hand pressurized sprayer or a truck mounted machine. Both will effectively destroy the nest, if the nest is fairly large then the truck mounted system works best.
The amount of chemical used to destroy the nest will depend again on the size. For larger termite nest somewhere between 15-20 litres would be used.
Once the chemical has been injected into the nest that's pretty much it, all the termites will die.
As a side note, when dealing with chemicals it's important to use appropriate clothing and always read the label first. The label is like a pest controllers bible it must be followed at all times regardless of how much experience you have.
Scenario 2
In scenario two the process is a little more involved as it will require some monitoring over a few weeks.
So we know we have termites in the house and there's a nest in the garden. So as explained earlier we need to use the termites in the house to destroy the nest. By first treating the termites in the house we will soon know if they are from the same nest found in the garden.
This is where some monitoring of the situation and some patience is needed. The main thing we want to do is get rid of the termites from the house. This is important as we want to limit the amount of damage to the house.
Depending on the time of year will depend on how long it will take to fully eradicate the termites. This is where patience is needed because during the winter months termites aren't as active. Because they're not so active during winter the elimination process takes longer depending on the size of the colony.
The Treatment
There are a few different ways to treat termites in a home we can use baits, dust or foam. The baits are attached to walls or architraves where there are active termites. The termites then feed on the bait and over some time the bait is transferred to the rest of the colony.
When using either dust or foam to get rid of termites the product is applied directly to the workings. This is then passed throughout the colony causing the eventual demise of the entire colony.
Both methods work very well and it's up to your termite professional to decide which they deem best for the situation.
Once the chemical has been applied the termites need to be left to unknowingly pass the poison back to the main colony. As mentioned earlier this is where the monitoring takes place. This is usually over 3-4 weeks again depending on the time of year.
Once the termites have been eliminated from inside the house the nest in the garden can be checked. If the nest has also been destroyed then we can safely say the termites that were in the house were from the nest in the garden.
If on the other hand the nest is still active and we are sure there are no termites remaining in the house. Then the nest can then be flooded with an appropriate termiticide. And that's how you get rid of termites.
Barrier treatment
Where live termites are located inside a house it is also recommended that a full termite barrier is installed around the house. This will help to protect the house from future termite attack.
During a termite inspection, checks will be made to ascertain whether or not an active treatment is in place around the home. If there is not an active termite management system in place it will have to be marked in the report as essential.
So now you can see the importance of not just destroying a termite nest but also the importance of the termite inspection.
Termites are a very clever little insect and to properly manage them you need to think as they do. Having a sound understanding of the feeding habits of the many different species of termite is also very important.
Using an experienced pest control company to deal with a termite issue is paramount. Termites can destroy a home if left untreated for some months so don't try it yourself it's just not worth the risk.
The most effective way to keep a home safe from termites is to have an annual termite inspection carried out. Along with an inspection it is recommended that all homes have an adequate termite management system put in place.
This post is aimed at homeowners to give you a better understanding of why we deal with termites in different ways. Anyone with concerns about termites simple reply below or send us an email.
Don't let termites ruin your home get it checked by a professional.


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Day 205 of Colourisation Project – November 28
Challenge: to publish daily a colourised photo that has some significance around the day of publication.
Long before selfies became ubiquitous and annoying, one woman, the Countess of Castiglione, is proof that narcissism predated Facebook.
Notorious for being Napoleon III's mistress and a special agent for the cause of Italian unification, Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, better known as La Castiglione, was an Italian courtesan, who availed herself of the relatively new photographic industry to help build and create her own legend within her lifetime. In so doing she left an indelible print in the history and scope of photography.
In an extraordinary 40-year collaboration with the French court photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson, Virginia Oldoini invested all her resources to produce more than 700 portraits of herself. Widely considered one of the most beautiful women of her time, the photographs covered three distinct periods of her life: 1856–57 – her first entry into French society; 1861 to 1867 – her return to Parisian life; 1893 to 1895 getting towards the end of her life. Pierson was still taking photos of her when he was 70-years old.
Oldoini's objective was to capture and re-create for the camera the defining moments of her life. She took editorial and artistic control of the images out of the hands of Pierson, even to the point of choosing the camera angle. She called all the shots. (pun intended)
Most of the photographs portray her in various elaborate dresses and theatrical costumes, representing various biblical and literary characters such as Beatrix, Salambo, Medea, Lady Macbeth, Judith, a nun, a prostitute, Anne Boleyn, Queen of Etruria, Queen of Hearts and even a corpse in a coffin.
Today's image is one of those. Entitled L'Assassinat (The Assassination), Oldoini portrays the biblical Judith entering Holoferne's tent, dagger in hand ready for the kill.
Her vanity knew no bounds. She would send albums of her portraits to friends and admirers. Totally self-absorbed and fascinated by her own self-image, she assumed that others would be as well.
In her declining years Oldoini lived an increasingly reclusive and eccentric life in an apartment on the Place Vendôme. She had her rooms decorated in funereal black. All mirrors were removed and the blinds kept drawn. Confronting her advancing years was too much for her. She didn't want to have to face her mortality and slowly deteriorating beauty. And she didn't want others to confront it either. She would only leave her apartment at night time shrouded in veils.
Oldoini had hoped to show her photos at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in a retrospective titled The Most Beautiful Woman of the Century. But death got in the way. Oldoini died from a brain hemorrhage this day, November 28, 1899 in Paris. She was 62 years old.
Oldoini saw to it that her legacy would endure through the ages via her vast photographic oeuvre. Indeed, it has.
"The idolatrous mob demanded an ideal worthy of itself and appropriate to its nature – that is perfectly understood. …A revengeful God has given ears to the prayers of this multitude. Daguerre was his Messiah. And now the faithful says to himself: 'Since photography gives us every guarantee of exactitude that we could desire (they really believe that, the mad fools!), then photography and Art are the same thing.' From that moment our squalid society rushed, Narcissus to a man, to gaze at its trivial image on a scrap of metal." – Baudelaire, 1859, The Mirror of Art


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You know what's better (and just a little bit more affordable) than that trip to Mumbai you've been planning for ages? A sneaky Chicken Tikka Masala or Lamb Korma from Chilli India.
This lot is all about keeping tradition alive, with all dishes made fresh onsite with the best ingredients by some very talented Indian chefs.
It truly is a one-stop Biryani shop.
11:30 am - 11:00 pm


text: Chișinău or rather a small village Coşniţa is a place where I spent my last week. I was a memper of training cours about how make RECIPE OF SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE!!! I spent great week with people from whole Europe and Asia I mean Gorgia, Armenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Bylerous, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Moldova, Spanish, Italy. It was pleasure spent with all of them one very busy week. Coşniţa is small village 30 km from Chișinău. Love this place so much with fresh air and animals around. People were so nice and curious about us, I suppose that in this village they don't have a lot of time visitors like we vere I mean from so many different countrys. Every day I woke up very early to didn't lose any hour form day. I also tred run everyday but without days when day befor was a party JIt happened to me twice. All day long we have activity and only two breaks but It was only impossible felt it because treiners were so good and all the time made joks and treated us like partners no students. Food wow, from country side so healty and tasty. A lots of those food I eat first time in my life, special food from East part of Europe. People wow wow wow, so friendly, clever, amazing crazy ambitious people mainly presidents of organizations from their countrys. Something magic happened beetven us. Mayby because we were busy all day long, mayby because we wanted work all day long, mayby because of treiners. For sure they will stay in my heart all my life, so good feeling !


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WE THE PEOPLE of Global Warming, in order to form a more perfect… Who's the 'We' we're talking about here? Is it those who believe in 'a physical limit' and look for others to join them in living the life of a leech perched on the backs of the productive? It is the productive who actually provide something of value to society.
That an economy can be run by those who provide nothing but demands about what others will do and what others will have and how others shall live is an idea that literally does not work. Do you fear Big Oil making big dollars and destroying the world with their products? If so, then why don't you also fear the products of the Anthropogenic alarmism industry and all of the money they are hauling in and providing nothing more than a game of make believe about humans destroying the Earth?
AGW has been falsified as a science. We all now know it is nothing but the story of a wacky enviro-religious-Leftist political movement.
And, the AGW True Believers are simply engaging in a mental trick to excuse their lack of contribution to society. Now as ever the AGW religion is the new age belief system of hypocritical Western urban elitist snobs complete with fantastic predictions by doomsday prophets about rivers running red! You can't make this stuff up: reality really is stranger than fiction.
What about the AGW politics of fear? Should it matter that it is impossible to `detect' within the natural variation of the continually changing climate any global warming due to human activities whatsoever? The Leftists and their liberal comrades in mainstream media really don't care about the truth.
Others do care: the number of skeptics who once were `believers' and now decry all of the AGW hooey are legion. Anyone who does care about the truth and spends the time to thoroughly understand the science understands that AGW is nothing but a hoax and a scare tactic promoted by a public-funded Western academia that is chock full o' Leftists and liberal utopians.
Depriving humanity of the possibility of being more able than our ancestors to face real not make believe challenges is the result of liberal utopianism and is the legacy of the secular, socialist government-education machine. Meanwhile the Left has produced nothing but years of roasting George Bush and indulging in fantastic memes like blaming Governor Palin for murder in Arizona.
Most surely we must learn that the Leftists' climate porn and politics of fear will not heat homes and run factories that provide jobs. The only thing Bush ever did is what the Left has long feared to do: be enthusiastic about standing up for America with his whole heart.
Even Phil Jones of CRUgate fame has admited there has been no statistically relevant global warming since 1995. In as much as we have been in a period of global cooling for a decade shall we rewrite history and thank Al Gore for saving the world from global warming?


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Just to bring things back down to earth with a bump after the elegant, spare prose of St Augustine, here's a post about spitting.
I'm currently working through Norman Davies' magnum opus, Europe: A History. As well as the main narrative, stretching over 1,000 pages, Davies includes around 300 "mini-essays" on specific topics, which he calls "capsules". One of these is on "Mores" (pp.346f.), and looks at how social etiquette has varied over the years.
Davies opens with the story of a Byzantine princess who arrived in Venice in the late 11th century to marry the Doge, and was reprimanded for her "anti-social" use of a fork to eat her food:
People in the medieval West took meat with their fingers from a common dish. The fork only came into general use during the Renaissance, and only for lifting morsels to one's own plate. The table set of knife, fork, and spoon was an eighteenth-century innovation.
He goes on to describe the equally dramatic reversal that has occurred in the etiquette of spitting. Quoting the German writer Norbert Elias, he sets out injunctions on spitting from various etiquette guides over the centuries:
- Do not spit over or on the table. (English, c.1463)
- Do not spit across the table as hunters do. (German, 15th cent.)
- Turn away when spitting, lest your saliva fall on someone. If anything purulent falls to the ground, it should be trodden upon. (Erasmus, 1530)
- You should abstain from spitting at table, if possible. (Italian, 1558)
- Formerly. it was permitted to spit on the ground before people of rank. … Today, that is an indecency. (French. 1572)
- Frequent spitting is disagreeable. At important houses, one spits into one's handkerchief … Do not spit so far that you have to look for the saliva to stamp on it. (Liege, 1714)
- It is very ill-mannered to swallow what should be spat … After spitting into your handkerchief, you should fold it once, without looking at it, and put it in your pocket. (La Salle, 1729)
- It is unpardonably gross for children to spit in the faces of their playmates. (La Salle, 1774)
- Spitting is at all times a disgusting habit. Besides being coarse and atrocious, it is very bad for the health. (English, 1859)
- Have you noticed that today we [hide] what our fathers did not hesitate to display openly? … The spittoon is a piece of furniture no longer found in modern households. (Cabanes, 1910)
As the quotations above suggest, spitting's social acceptability declined rapidly in the nineteenth century, possibly due to fears about tuberculosis. However, as late as the 1960s, Davies recalls, London buses still considered it necessary to display signs saying "NO SPITTING".
Just in case you find yourself transported back to medieval times and wish to avoid any social faux pas, here are some other examples which Davies quotes (again from Elias) of the etiquette of the time:
- It is bad manners … to wear a helmet when serving ladies.
- Don't blow your nose with the fingers you hold the meat with.
- If you have to scrape [the back of] your throat, do so politely with your coat.
- Farts may be concealed by coughing.
- Before you sit down, make sure that your seat has not been fouled.
- It is impolite to greet someone who is urinating or defecating.
The last item on the list, though, is one that today's wealthy guzzlers might also consider adopting:
- When you eat, do not forget the poor. God will reward you.


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Paleomycology: Discovering the fungal contemporaries of dinosaurs
Fungi tend to be small, soft, and ephemeral — properties that don't exactly help establish a strong presence in the fossil record. But they certainly have been around for a long time (perhaps 4 billion years?). Here we explore some of the fungi of the distant past, including some molds preserved perfectly in amber for tens of millions of years.
Entomophaga maimaiga – The caterpillar killer
Since we'd rather not let gypsy moth caterpillars eat the leaves off entire forests, we're pretty happy about Entomophaga maimaiga, a fungus that attacks them. In this post we take a close-up, time lapse look at the devouring of a caterpillar by a fungus that is an effective agent of biological control.
Fungi in streams: a leaf nightmare
The fungi that live in burbling streams are full of surprises. They're shockingly pronged and elegant–not the kind of thing you'd expect to find in a spoonful of filthy-looking foam. And they're surprisingly important as foundation members of aquatic ecosystems.
The Dish on Deliquescence in Coprinus Species
Inky caps are mushrooms that're stately when they first appear, but dissolve into embarrassing black ink upon maturity. Why do they do that, and how? You can actually write in their stinky ink! How do I know the ink stinks? I don't want to talk about it.
So you want to be a truffle-farmer…? (Part 2)
Our trufficulture adventure continues with a short history of black truffle cultivation in France, with a note on the unreasonable expense of synthetically truffle-scented olive oil.
The Future of Fungal Freshness?
What if mushrooms weren't grown in dank grow rooms by gnomes and elves, but instead grew right in their clever packaging on the way to market? Our student reporter interviews designer Agata Jaworska about her concept 'Made in Transit,' presented as her MS thesis at the renowned Dutch nexus, Design Academy Eindhoven.
A simple way to preserve fungal cultures
In this post, PhD student Anuar Morales Rodriguez shares a cheap and easy method for maintaining collections of fungal cultures. If you don't have access to a vat of liquid nitrogen or a lyophilizer, this method (first developed in Brazil at CIAT) allows you to store your favorite fungi over the long term as dried cultures on filter paper.
Riddled with ringworm?
Ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin–no worms are involved. That doesn't make it a pleasant disease though. Here you can read up on the fungi that cause ringworm and a vaccine that can prevent it in animals. If you're human, you're on your own. We apologize if reading this post makes you itchy.
Beware! The Slime Mold!
Our intrepid reporter studies the science behind the movie, The Blob, debunking Dr. Meddow's longstanding theory that The Blob is a mutant bacterium from outer space. Warning: this post contains actual ooze, plus a song that, if you get it in your head, will haunt you for days.


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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tilda is travelling the World with Kapitein Koek!!!
Are you enjoying the up coming holidays!
I am already in the Christmas mood............ Jingel bell, jingel bell..........!
But my card today is all about travelling.
How do you feel to travel the World with Tilda and Kapitein Koek ?!
When I saw the challenge at the Sir Stampalot blog ~Travel The World , I knew what I want to make.
The paper with Kapitein Koek is actually not DP, but from gingerbread cookies box , yep.
Tilda is from Jungle collection 2009, I bought mine at Sir Stampalot.
She is coloured with copics. All details are from my stash.
Hope you will enjoy the travel with Tilda, lol.
Have a wonderful evening or day :) !
32 comments:
Oh wow Renkata,hoe kom je er op,dit is zo geweldig,TOPPIE!!!ReplyDelete
Groetjes Heidy
What a creative card.. This cute image goes perfect and love the charm :)..ReplyDelete
What a brilliant idea and I love the finished result. Certainly a great box to keep, wonder were the gingerbread cookies nice:) Thanks for playing along at Sir Stampalot this month.ReplyDelete
grappige combinatie Renkata, leuk gevonden en het resultaat is prachtigReplyDelete
oh my word, Renkata, your card is brilliant! I love the crinkled-up map behind Tilda, it fits with the theme so well. I think your idea and design is so creative, and a great choice of Tilda image too. CoBReplyDelete
This is so cute and what a perfect use for the picture off the cookie box! So clever! Awesome card Renkata!ReplyDelete
Perfect image for your box.. I love this Renkata.. Your coloring is beautiful.ReplyDelete
That is so cute and very creative, Renkata.ReplyDelete
Hi RenkataReplyDelete
What a super creation, so imaginative and cleverly put together.
Thank you for sharing with us at Stampalot challenge this month and good luck.
B x
Oh wow... I think this is soooo cute Renkata. Just love it! hugs SharonReplyDelete
Gorgeous card, love the sweet Tilda.ReplyDelete
Oh it's cute, beautiful work !ReplyDelete
Amazing card, Renkata! Lovely image and I love the DP which is not DP you have used! Hugs Delphine xxReplyDelete
Fantastic card. I really like the image and all the details on your card.ReplyDelete
Have a nice day,
from Anna A
Great Entry, great design, thanks for joining Sir Stampalot's challenge, Good luck.ReplyDelete
Happy crafting
Tracy x
Super creative Renkata..I would love to travel the world with Tilda! Great coloring!ReplyDelete
Good luck and thank you for sharing over at Sir Stampalot this month
this is fantastic Renkata I love it...what a fantastic idea and it works so wellReplyDelete
Mina xxx
This is fab Renkata. The image is perfect for your box!! I just love your coloring of Tilda!ReplyDelete
Oh wow, this is great - such fun!ReplyDelete
Thank you for joining our "Travel the World" challenge at Sir Stampalot this month.
Clare x
Hi Renkata,ReplyDelete
Your card is fabulous!!!
and tilda is adorable.
Great idea...I love it!!!
Big hugs, Murielle
- AnonymousDecember 16, 2010 at 9:04 PM
I just love this.ReplyDelete
It is fabulous and the coulorig is brilliant.
A beautiful card with wonderful details, thanks for joining us at Sir Stampalot this month and good luck!ReplyDelete
Renkata thank you for your emotional speech on my blog!!ReplyDelete
Wow! This so cool!ReplyDelete
Thanks for the lovely comments on my card for the blog hop and sorry, the puzzle piece wasn't showing . Its all fixed now if you want to collect it!
Thanks for visiting. Viv http://doggonecrazy-viv.blogspot.com/
What a lovely creation. You are so creative and the theme and layout design of this card is too cool :o)ReplyDelete
Hi Renkata! I was visiting blogland and saw a digi of a fairy in a wineglass. It said it was from you, but I don't see it on here. Can you direct me where I can find it?ReplyDelete
Happy Holidays!
Such amazing work I love it!
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas!
kim x
Oh Renkata this is fabulous, I love itReplyDelete
hugs Mandy xx
Hi Renkata, pop along to my blog, the post dated 22 December has a little something for you on there. CoBReplyDelete
Stunning work! Thanks for sharing with us at Sir stampalot and good luck!ReplyDelete
Thank you for the sweet comment you left on my blog.. I am so sorry I have not been around blogland lately.. Will be back after the first of the year.. have a wonderful holiday and a blessed new year.ReplyDelete


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Structure-Dependent in Vitro Metabolism of Alkyl-Substituted Analogues of Triphenyl Phosphate in East Greenland Polar Bears and Ringed Seals
Organophosphate esters (OPEs), used as plasticizers and flame retardants, are major emerging environmental contaminants in the Arctic. OPEs of environmental interest include triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) and a growing array of alkyl-substituted TPHP analogues. Using a microsomal assay of the liver tissue of polar bears and their ringed seal prey, the comparative in vitro metabolism of TPHP was investigated relative to the analogues of isodecyl diphenyl phosphate (IDDPP), (p-tert-butylphenyl) diphenyl phosphate (TBPDPP), tris(p-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate (TTBPP), and two tris(isopropylphenyl) phosphate isomers (T2IPPP and T4IPPP). Polar bear metabolism of the p-tert-butylphenyl-substituted OPEs, TBPDPP and TTBPP, had a substantially slower rate and percent metabolic depletion compared to those with TPHP. Isodecyl- and isopropyl-substituted OPEs, IDDPP, T2IPPP, and T4IPPP, were also more slowly depleted by polar bears than TPHP was. TPHP, IDDPP, T2IPPP, TBPDPP, TTBPP, and T4IPPP were all slowly metabolized by ringed seals. Overall, TPHP in vitro metabolism was clearly affected by o- and p-alkyl substitution that generally hindered the depletion rate. This information is important in understanding the accumulation, biotransformation, and magnification of TPHP and other OPEs in top predator polar bears and their ringed seal prey as well as transfer of OPEs between trophic levels, i.e., ringed seal to polar bears.
|Additional Metadata
|Persistent URL
|Environmental Science and Technology Letters
Strobel, A. (Adelle), Letcher, R.J, Willmore, W, Sonne, C. (Christian), & Dietz, R. (Rune). (2018). Structure-Dependent in Vitro Metabolism of Alkyl-Substituted Analogues of Triphenyl Phosphate in East Greenland Polar Bears and Ringed Seals. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 5(4), 214–219. doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00064


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Honolulu Star-Bulletin – February 10, 1966
Ripper Collins and Tosh (Oddjob) Togo grappled to a standoff against Neff Maiava and Gil Ane in a tag team wrestling match at Civic Auditorium last night.
Collins scored the first fall, pinning Ane with an atomic drop. Then Maiava subdued Collins with head butts to even the score. Time ran out before the third fall could be marked up and the match ended in a draw.
The final event of the night also ended in a draw when both Nick Bockwinkel and Johnny Barend were counted out of the ring on the third and decisive fall.
Bockwinkel took the first fall with a submission hold and Barend squared matters with an atomic hold on the second fall.
In preliminaries, Nick Kozak scored two straight falls to defeat Beauregarde and Dean Higuchi won on a disqualification against the Golden Terror.


text: Georgia is a little gem squeezed between Europe and Asia. It is called the balcony of Europe, as it hangs out of the Caucasus mountains, overlooking the lands of the Turks and the Persians. Georgia are friendly and welcoming, though fierce of their traditions. The Motherland statue overlooking Tbilisi well represent the Georgian national character: …Read more »


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Trend Curve Indicator
Trend trading is a key to success and most of successful traders work with trends. Trend trader needs an indicator which has fast response to direction change and also disregards rapid and useless price changes. Here it is! Trend Curve Indicator creates a smoothed price curve, with almost no lag respect to a real trend change. It uses some filters to remove sharp and fast changes that make ripples. The indicator has two different colors for uptrend and downtrend. There is also trend change yellowish color that connects uptrend and downtrend together. Therefore, all trends separate of each other and can be used to trend trading simply.
Trend Curve is a simple tool to find trend direction change and new trends. Each trend starts by yellowish color and then continues until trend power decreases.
Trend Curve indicator works well at any timeframes. However, timeframes greater than M30 are better, because the trends are longer.
There is just one input parameter. ALPHA is the coefficient of a low pass filter in the last stage of program which creates the final curve. Lower values make less sensitivity to price changes and can be used for seeking longer trends. Higher values (up to 0.95) are useful for scalping. You can see the differences between high and low ALPHA on pictures.
Input Parameters:
- ALPHA: Softness of Indicator 0<a<10


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Mussoorie, a popular hill station in Northern India, is perched at an altitude of 1880 meters. This popular travel destination is also called "Queen of Hills" as it is replete with verdant hills and varieties of flora and fauna which transform the Mussoorie tour into an unforgettable experience. Providing magnificent vistas of the Himalayan snow ranges, Roorkee and Doon Valley, it serves as the perfect base to enjoy a break from the hectic city life.
Lake Mist, Municipal Garden, Jwalaji Temple, Van Chetna Kendra, Nag Devta Temple and Sir George Everest's House comprise the top visitor attractions in and around Mussoorie. Tourists can also explore the Kempty Falls which is easily accessible from Mussoorie. Some other places to visit in Mussoorie are the Happy Valley, Mussoorie Lake, Jawahar Aquarium and Company Garden.
During the sojourn, tourists can enjoy a cable car ride and soak up the panoramic view of the town. Besides, they can head towards the Nahata Estate, a highest peak in the town, for relaxing amid quiet environment and soothing breeze. Adventure lovers can indulge themselves in trekking, camping, mountain climbing and other such activities. Those who like shopping can pay a visit to the main mall road and pick hand-carved jewellery boxes, wooden bowls, magazine racks and other types of handicrafts. At the same place, they can buy procelain figures, candle-stands, gift items and antique British furniture.
Mussoorie is a wonderful hill station that invites tourists from all over the world to spend vacations in the lap of mother nature. Tourists not only praise its charm and greenery, but also the serene atmosphere and lively weather.


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Age: About 8,000 years ago
Origin: TBD
Parent Branch: E-L1250
Descendant branch(s): E-BY1984 E-BY6746 E-CTS11721 E-PH2121 E-PH3961
FTDNA Tree Link: Link
YFull Info
Name: E-PH2818
Age: 8000 ybp ± 1600 CI 95%
Expansion: 8000 ybp ± 1500 CI 95%
Parent: E-PH281
Note: This information does not imply an endorcement of YFull or their methods. It is provided at the request of readers.
E-PH2818 is a branch on the paternal tree of human kind. It and branches help trace human history from our origin in Africa.
FamilyTreeDNA Y-Haplotree
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E-PH2818 Technical Details
This branch is defined by the Y-Haplotree at FamilyTreeDNA as E-PH2818. There, it is the child of the E-L1250 branch.
Defining Variant(s)
This branch is defined by YFull as E-PH2818. There, it is the child of the E-PH281 branch.
Defining Variant(s)
Sources & Resources
Related Resources
Coming soon…
Academic Sources
Peer reviewed sources have not been added for this branch yet. If you know of one I have missed, please link to it in the comments.


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Where there's a Wick there's a way.
Two things out of the chute: 1) Keanu Reeves is a deeply underrated action star and I'm thrilled he's getting some burn and 2) it's great to see an emphasis on practical, grounded mayhem in a Hollywood production.
If you sense a "having said that" coming, then your cynical Internet instincts serve you well. Because, having said that, John Wick has been sort of overrated. I suspect action movie aficionados are so desperate for CGI-free/light-on-the-hyper-edits bad-assery that when something decent like Wick checks those boxes, the reaction swings a bit too far in the other direction.
But just a bit. Because once the gun smoke has cleared and the corpses have been wheeled out on the coroner's gurney, John Wick is still a fairly bad-ass little movie and something not to be missed by anyone calling him or herself an action fan.
It starts out quietly enough. Wick (Reeves, The Matrix) is a solitary man, grieving after the death of his wife (Bridget Moynahan, I, Robot). A bit of daylight penetrates his bleak existence when a new puppy shows up at his doorstep, the parting gift from his beloved. As he struggles to put his life back together, he falls victim to the random attack from an obnoxious son of a Russian mobster. Unfortunately for the kid–and everyone under his father's employ–Wick was the wrong guy to mess with.
In his previous life he was a hitman so feared, so lethal he was "who you sent to kill the Boogeyman." Those are the mob boss's words and he knows that blood-soaked can of bloody worms covered in blood has been opened. What ensues is an all-out war between a vengeance-crazed Wick and every henchman with a sidearm and an unnaturally inflated opinion of his reflexes within a 30-mile radius.
That weirdo set-up actually works a lot better than you think. The puppy-as-motive dynamic, as goofy as it may sound, pays off in a big way and you will be down with John Wick's blitzkrieg. Which is good, because sans an emotional driver (as modest as it may be), Wick would be a shallow bullet-hell. Things, of course, spiral out of control, so the dog-revenge grows into something more robust, but to get the violence spilling forth believably, directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (former stunt guys) have crafted a satisfying launch-pad.
When the boosters fire it's no looking back. The film races forward with very little downtime as Wick finds himself in a variety of violent confrontations, nearly all of which are brutal, visceral and well-executed. The action beats are varied: gun/judo (gudo?)face-offs, one-on-one MMA bouts, full-scale nightclub shootouts, car chases and a rainy-night final fight. Reeves shows off his chops, doing many of his own stunts, which allows the cameras to keep the action in front of the audience. Stahelski and Leitch keep the havoc rooted and realistic (as realistic as the prospect of a lone man single-handedly decimating a Russian mob can be) and spice up the narrative with some cool touches, like an assassins-only hotel and side-story featuring Willem Dafoe as an aged hitman.
It's all great fun and slick as all get-out, but two big things prevent me from exalting John Wick as a true action masterwork. One: despite the steady flow of nifty fights, there's no signature set-piece, nothing I'd cue up to blow someone's mind (including the final battle, a sad wet fart of a final fight). Two: this isn't fair, but in a post-Raid 2 world, it's a whole lot harder to electrify the genre. This comparison doesn't make a John Wick a failure, not even close, but it's just a lot harder to do call it anything much more than solid action movie.
Terrific Blu-ray, though. Summit has put out a technical showcase, kicking off with a razor-sharp 2.40:1, 1080p transfer, augmented by a highly aggressive, hyperactive Dolby TrueHD Atmos audio mix. The result: an early candidate for Reference Disc of 2015. Bonus materials are featurette-heavy (six in all), but they're all worth your time. My favorite is "Don't F*#% with John Wick," an in-depth look at Keanu Reeves' preparation for the role, the depth and physicality of which were truly impressive. An audio commentary rounds out the offering.
I have not come here to bury John Wick; I have come to praise him. I'm just going to stop short of laying prostrate before his majestic form. Not Guilty.


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Everything posted by Aren
I have resolved the problem by clearing all keys and starting again
I have alleviated the problem by using Autohotkey to disable the = keyboard key temporarily when I am using a remote control but this is just a work around also it would be handy if there was a software on off switch with command line for Flirc so there would be no need to unplug it when not in use.
Here is the config my_flirc_config.fcfg
flirc = sign is sent by flirc in error
Aren posted a topic in Firmware BugsWhen I press a key on a remote which has not been learnt by flirc = sign is sent by flirc, in other words if I use my TV remote when my PC is on with flirc plugged in I hear an error sound from my PC and if I have a text editor open = is typed also if the flirc program is open on the keyboard page I can see that the = keyboard key is being pressed. This happens with any remote that hasn't been used for flirc.


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Tandem Tetrahydroisoquinoline-4-carboxylic Acid/beta-Alanineasa New Construct Able To Induce a Flexible Turn
Tetrahydroisoquinoline-4-carboxylic acid, a constrained beta-2-amino acid named beta-TIC, wassy in the sised for the first time in enantiopure form .The biocatalytic route applied herein represents one of the few successful examples of enzymatic resolu tion of beta-2-aminoacids. Model tetrapeptides, namely, Fmoc-l-Ala-b-TIC-b-Ala-l-Val-OBn (Fmoc = fluorenyl-methyloxycarbonyl, Bn = benzyl), containing both isomers of beta-TIC, were prepared. Both computational and NMR spectroscopy studies were performed. Areverse-turn conforma-tion was observed in the case of (R)-beta-TIC enantiomer thatwas obtained in 99 %enantiomeric excess by enzymatic res-olution. The beta-TIC/beta-Ala construct represents the first example of a flexible turn mimetic containing acyclic and an acyclic beta-aminoacid. Furthermore,the presence of an aromatic ring of beta-TIC could facilitaten on-covalent interactions to increase the potential of this scaffold for the preparation of protein–protein interaction modulators.