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For decades we've been able to expect nothing of Neil Young but the unexpected. One minute he'll be serenading us with restrained acoustic sensitivity, the next he'll bury us with an all-out feedback barrage. Now the 68-year-old musical extremist has managed the impressively nimble feat of putting his creative machinery in reverse and drive at the same time. Continue reading Neil Young uses Jack White's vintage recording booth for new vinyl album
Category Archives: entertainment
Obscure facts about George Costanza
George Costanza Had 43 Girlfriends on the show
Over the course of 9 seasons, Costanza has 43 girlfriends. At one point he gets engaged and tries that out, but it ends disastrously. His relationships last a very short while before they crash and burn, too, or fizzle out. George's parents are Frank and Estella, who he lives with for awhile. He says he lost his virginity to Ms. Stafford, his homeroom teacher. Jerry humors his need to over express himself and overanalyze things. By the end of the series, George is womanless.
George Costanza was Photobombing 15 years before it became a thing…
Festivus was actually not created by George's father
Festivus was actually not created by George's father, Frank Costanza. The fake holiday was created well before the series was even conceived, in 1966, by an editor of Reader's Digest named Dan O'Keefe, who created it to celebrate the anniversary of his first date with his wife. Festivus came to the script of Seinfeld by way of O'Keefe's son, who was working as a writer of the show. The aluminum pole was the writer's own artistic spin on Festivus.
George was written out of complete episode ('The Pen', season 3) and Jason Alexander threatened to quit Seinfeld if it happened again
Jason Alexander describes this incident as one of the "few" problems he ever had with series creator Larry David. Worried that he was unneeded and on the path to being written out of the show permanently, Alexander confronted David, saying, "Larry if you do it again, do it permanently." He had the confidence to confront David, he says, because the show was not yet a hit, and Alexander had uprooted his career for it.
Costanza is named after a real friend of Jerry Seinfeld's, who later sued Jerry over it
While most know that Larry David modeled the George Costanza character after himself, most are unaware that the character is named after Jerry's friend, Mike Costanza. Mike Costanza would later sue Seinfeld, David, and NBC for $100 million, claiming invasion of privacy and defamation of character. The case was dismissed.
George's Vital Stats
Parents: Frank and Estelle Costanza
Full Name: George Louis Costanza
Junior High School:
High School: Kennedy High School
College: Queens College; he did get into Podiatry School!
Lost Virginity: to Ms. Stafford the home room teacher
Condom of Choice: Trojan
Secret ATM Code: Bosco
Religion: Converted to Latvian Orthodox
Meet the Baltimore Consort
GET SMART – "The Groovy Guru"
SHOW: Get Smart
EPISODE: "The Groovy Guru"
FIRST AIRED: Jan. 13, 1968
The opening scene of "The Groovy Guru" finds our hero Maxwell Smart sporting an unfortunate mushroom coif and color-clashed getup that makes him look like a Monkee caught in a thrift store explosion. He meets up with an agent undercover as a hippie chick who spouts fresh-off-the-shelf slang that all the kids are using these days: "Enough here for the fuzz to peel and freeze." Quoth Agent 86 in response: "Huh?"
It shouldn't take long for a viewer even dimmer than Max to realize that this is going to be a Let's-Make-Fun-of-Youth-Culture episode. Get Smart, one of the looniest live-action cartoons to ever bombard television, was a veritable funhouse of slapstick and satire, designed to poke fun at the Cold War, foreign policy, xenophobia, the spy genre itself, and anything else that heated up the pop cultural and current event thermometers between 1965 and 1970. Its roundhouse punchlines and absurd sight gags amounted to that double helix of "dumb humor + smart satire" alive and well in modern fare likeSouth Park, Arrested Development, or Childrens Hospital.As a television show knee-deep in the 1960s, an episode skewing the hippie movement was almost as obligatory as having opening titles. Each episode of Get Smart had a plot, but in the grand tradition of genre parody, the story only served as a clothesline for whatever jokes and bits the writers' had up their sleeves. The comic-strip plot of "The Groovy Guru" has Control concerned for America's children (somebody please think of them!) when teenagers start falling into a mindless dance trance. They're hooked on radio broadcasts courtesy of the eponymous villain of the week, a DJ and faux revolutionary who plans to take over the world via mind control.
Before delving into some recon on the Groovy Guru's headquarters, Max and his partner 99 arm themselves with pills that inhibit one's ability to tell the truth. Of course, Max accidentally swallows one of the pills ahead of time and in a digressive extended joke typical of the show, he spends much of the first act spouting fabrications like, "My name is Fred." Soon after, Max and 99's infiltration of the Groovy Guru's lair works a little too well – the hip-talking would-be cult leader ends up holding them prisoner. In an expositional dump worthy of any self-respecting villain, he explains that he's going to televise a performance by The Sacred Cows, a popular rock band of the Groovy Guru's own making. Once the kids hear the Cows' song laden with subliminal mind control lyrics, the Groovy Guru will command his throngs of followers to… kill everyone in sight! Alas, Max renders the Groovy Guru unconscious and 99 pulls the plug on the broadcast, keeping the nation's youth safe from pop music and phony anti-authoritarian figureheads if for just another day. It's usually uncomfortable to watch television writers go through the motions of writing episodes that poke fun at youth culture. Whether it's a sitcom about a harried dad or a crime drama where the lovelorn drug-addict teen is the suspect on the witness stand, the plots too often rest on the same crutches: "They're all hipsters! All they do is text! And they're all driving drunk to sex parties!" Somehow, once a TV writer is tasked with writing about teenagers, viewers are forced to sit through a story that amounts to little more than a Ray Romano rant of an old geezer befuddled by anyone too young to know who [insert legendary musician] is.
Certainly, "The Groovy Guru" is stocked with these sorts of jokes. "Do you have any idea the damage that 10 million teenagers can do to this country?" asks the Chief. "I'd thought they'd already done it!" says an incredulous Max.
What makes "The Groovy Guru" work as effective satire is the reason that Get Smartworked as a franchise: everyone in the land of Kaos and Control is clueless. Max was known as the primary dolt, but even Chief and 99 display grave lapses in logic, the foremost one being how on earth they not only keep Max employed but consider him the country's top spy.
By the same token, each character takes turns being the straight man forced to reckon with the dope in the room… funnily enough, even Max slipped into the role every once in a while. The writers' tactic of equal opportunity lunacy meant that there was no Michael Bluth or Tim Canterbury here – no one whose function was to be Above It All.
As a result, when Get Smart makes fun of international diplomacy, the excesses of government spending, or in "The Groovy Guru," those damn hippies, they're merely folding the satirical object into their grander picture of a madhouse where no one knows anything. Five seasons of Control and Kaos, America and its enemies, Us and Them endlessly battling for world domination had the same winking if fatalistic viewpoint ofDr. Strangelove, the ultimate political satire.
Not to say that the youth-specific jokes served up by "The Groovy Guru" are invalid. On the contrary, they were hilariously prescient. When two teenagers in that mindless trance are brought into Control headquarters, their jerky dance moves driven by music pumping from earbuds connected to handheld devices are eerie dead ringers for those iconic iPod commercials of the 2000s. Later, when the Groovy Guru unveils the Sacred Cows, their nefarious mind control lyrics – "Thrill, Thrill, Thrill! Kill, Kill, Kill!" – are not only one of the series' best jokes, they also unfortunately presage the blunt repetitiveness driving much of today's popular music. ("Baby, baby, baby – oh!")
"The Groovy Guru" exemplifies Get Smart's lasting ability to avoid an expiration date. TV comedies have a way of prioritizing timeliness at the expense of timelessness. But as long as there are forces in the world like developed nations, fearful government agencies, or just plain grown-ups trying to do something as absurd as control the chaos, there will always be room at the satirical table for Get Smart.
~ C.J. Arellano
About the Art: Get Smart was a parody of the '60s spy genre. This episode had a thinly if at all veiled message about rock and roll corrupting the teenagers of its time, but thewriters still had fun with it. I decided to do the same and pay homage to one of the best secret agents in the biz with an era-specific rock/movie poster approach. I loved thepsychedelic set during the episode's third act where Max and 99 get stuck in an elaborate death chamber of groovy torture. I knew I wanted to incorporate that set background into this week's art. Since the episode included brain-washing music that placed America's youth in a trance, I focused on the poster having a similar effect to the eyes with the use of crazy-bright color and pattern. ~ Aireen Arellano


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Come One Come All | A Holiday Concert For All Ages!
Southold Library presents a holiday concert featuring three-time Grammy Nominees Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, and some more special guests. This is a fundraiser benefiting the Library's Renovation Fund.When & Where:Thursday, December 21 – Southold High School Auditorium – 7pm Tickets are available as a family 4-pack for $75 and includes a copy […]Continue reading

subset: commoncrawl


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Guittard 0153 Baking Chocolate Ground Sprinkles, 25Lb
Guittard baking chocolate sprinkles are made in the USA with sugar and bittersweet chocolate. Whether you call them sprinkles, jimmies, nonpareils, or something else entirely, no one can deny that the addition of these tiny bits of chocolate sprinkles can make any ice cream sundae all that much better.
Guittard chocolate sprinkles are no different. Guittard real baking chocolate sprinkles are made in the USA with sugar and bittersweet chocolate. They have a fresh, strong chocolate flavor and a nice crunch.
The jimmies are a dark brown color. These pure chocolate sprinkles are some of the best on the market. As opposed to other sprinkles that are full of sugar and palm oils, these are made with real chocolate. Pure European-style chocolate decorative pieces, dainty uniform size. A semi sweet chocolate (48% cocoa content). Made of cocoa processed in the Dutch tradition. Favored by professional pastry chefs for its intense character.


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Fannie Mae is one of the two organizations that back about half of the mortgages in the US. As such, the changes made in these organizations between late 2016 and early 2017, will very likely affect your 2017 mortgages applications and refinances.
There are some instances where property appraisal may not be needed when refinancing a loan. A lender will simply issue you with a Property Inspection Waiver.
Appraisal Information regarding millions of properties is already in the Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter Software. Therefore, this is the data that will be used by the software to assess whether your home's value is acceptable or not.
2017 Mortgage Loan Limits are Higher
The new mortgage rules by Fannie Mae allow homebuyers to get mortgages with much lower interest rates than before. The Federal Housing Finance Agency raised the standard loan limits due to rising property values. The mortgage loan limits have in turn gone up from $417,000 to $424,000.
This rule applies to most States in the US. However, in other areas deemed to be "high-cost areas" the limit set by FHFA is at 115% of the local median home value.
Cases Where a Loan Could Be Declined
The Fannie Mae mortgage rules have made changes effective as of December 2016. The following are areas in which mortgages won't be approved in 2017:
- Environmentally sensitive areas
- Areas where setback laws apply
If the law forbids you from rebuilding a damaged home, then you cannot get a refinancing loan.
The Situation of the HARP Program
The Home Affordable Refinance Program, also known as HARP, is a program that was introduced to allow borrowers eligible for Fannie Mae loans to refinance their loans. This was possible even if the loan value exceeded the property value.
This program will be replaced by another refinance program in October 2017. There are fewer restrictions than the former program which comes as a sweet relief to homeowners.
Moreover, the latest software edition of Fannie Mae allows for automatic verification of applicant's information. This could mean a faster and cheaper purchase and refinancing of mortgages.
How The new Mortgage Rules will Affect Student Loan Borrowers
A recent survey revealed that student loans are one reason student borrowers have delayed buying a home. However, that could soon change. The changes put in place now make it easier for student loan borrowers to qualify for mortgages.
Two of the 3 significant changes announced by Fannie Mae can help consumers with student loans obtain mortgages while the last change is a good option for those with home equity to reduce student loan debt.
Borrowers can now use one of the several income-driven plans that pay off the loan in full during the term. Examples of such plans include consolidated, extended and graduated repayment plans. Other changes include:
- Third-party payers: the new mortgage rules allow mortgage lenders to exclude student loan repayments from the mortgage calculations as long there is a documented proof of payments by a third party, such as an employer or a parent.
- Paying student loans with home equity: the new Fannie Mae 2017 rules will allow borrowers with enough equity in their homes to use some of their funds to repay some of their student loans. This applies to most federal student loans.
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US Training of Mexican Troops Has Escalated in Step With Mexico's Murder Rate
Boots-On-The-Ground Instruction Carried Out by US Military in Mexico City, Campeche and Chiapas — Home of the Zapatistas
US training of Mexican military forces spiked in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, coinciding with a sharp rise in drug-war homicides in Mexico, an analysis of records made public under the Foreign Assistance Act show.
The training in those two years, funded by the US Department of Defense, and to a lesser extent by the US Department of State, covered a wide range of military skill sets and involved hundreds of training programs offered in the US to Mexican forces as well as dozens (at least 60) provided inside Mexico.
For example, in Mexico City during that two-year period, the US military provided to Mexican security forces training in, among other tactics, "asymmetrical conflict," "anti-terrorism," and "open-source intelligence" gathering. US military training also was provided in other parts of Mexico, including the state of Campeche, where infantry, marksmanship and intelligence programs were offered to Mexican troops; and in Chiapas, in fiscal 2011, infantry training was provided to Mexican Marines over two-week periods in April and September.
The latter training programs might be considered particularly sensitive for Mexican politics, given the Mexican state of Chiapas is home to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN, in its Spanish initials).
The Zapatistas are a rebel indigenous group governing more than 1,000 rural communities that rose up in arms in 1994. However, since peace talks were initiated in 1995, the Zapatistas have not fired a shot and have converted to peaceful and civil resistance.
In the 1990s, under Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, a member of the PRI Party, an unsuccessful, violent counter-insurgency campaign was waged against the Zapatistas that involved the use of both the Mexican military and civilian paramilitary forces — as part of an effort to destroy the indigenous movement and its autonomous communities.
On another sensitive front for Latin American/US relations, Foreign Assistance Act records reveal that US military training also was provided to Mexican soldiers in fiscal 2010 and 2011 by the US Department of Defense's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). The Institute was formerly the School of the Americas, which, in past decades, provided training to some of the most notorious violators of human rights in Latin America.
WHINSEC, now reportedly reformed and sensitive to human rights, offered at least 10 different training programs (some multiple times) to Mexican troops in fiscal 2010 and 2011 in subjects such as "counter-narco-terrorism," "joint operations" and "counterdrug ops," according to data provided to Congress under the requirements of the Foreign Assistance Act.
US officials interviewed by Narco News contend that any correlation between increased US military training and rising homicide rates in Mexico is nothing more than "anecdotal." They argue further that, based on the US military's internal "classified" assessments, there is no evidence that Mexican troops trained by the US are subsequently being drafted into organized crime rings or otherwise involved in narco-trafficking corruption. In fact, a DoD official actually argues that the homicide rate in Mexico could likely be reduced if there were a more "persistent" use of military force to counter the "cartel" violence in affected regions in Mexico.
However, the correlation between US training and Mexico's homicide rate remains striking, and there is public-source evidence pointing to significant corruption within Mexico's military that arguably could exploit US military training. Also, the trajectory of the drug war to date makes clear that the more Mexican security forces attack criminal organizations, the more violence those groups commit, including against civilians, to protect their markets and turf from both the government and rival organizations.
The hard-nosed military strategy pursued by former Mexican President Felipe Calderón in prosecuting the drug war, as a result, has failed to adequately account for the blowback on the civilian population of Mexico, some critics charge.
Mexico's new president, PRI Party member Enrique Peña Nieto, is promising a different course in the drug-war conflict, recently announcing plans to direct a considerable amount of funding, $9.2 billion (US dollars) this year, to social programs — though he offers few specifics. Peña Nieto also is promising to put an emphasis on aggressively pursuing street-level crime (extortion, kidnapping, gang violence) as opposed to targeting narco-trafficking "kingpins" — the latter a strategy pursued at great cost by his PAN Party predecessor.
But is Peña Nieto's drug-war strategy really that much different than Calderón's, or is his policy rhetoric simply a mask concealing a much-less innovative plan — an approach already being pursued by the Mexican security forces, with US help, for years now?
The Numbers
In fiscal 2006, ended Sept. 30 of that year, just prior to Calderón assuming the presidency in December, total funding for US training provided to Mexican troops totaled $1.3 million. In fiscal 2010 (which began Oct. 1, 2009), that figure jumped to $12.6 million; and a year later, for fiscal 2011 (the latest year for which finalized figures are available), US funding jumped to $15.2 million.
Likewise, the total number of Mexican security forces trained annually by the US military exploded from 632 in fiscal 2006 to 2,206 in fiscal 2011, according to figures released under the Foreign Assistance Act.
Homicides in Mexico totaled 10,452 in 2006, according to INEGI (the Mexican State Statistics Agency). In 2009, that number jumped to 19,803; and then to 25,757 in 2010; in 2011, the number rose again, to 27,213.
Though the uptick in Mexican homicides began in 2008, within a year of then-President Calderón's deploying the Mexican military in large numbers in the drug war, the three-year period (2009-2011) in which Mexican homicides hit a zenith during his presidency clearly tracks closely with the steep increase in US military training provided to Mexican troops over that same period.
That training is overseen by US Northern Command (Northcom), a DoD branch created in 2002 that is responsible for US homeland defense as well as security cooperation efforts with The Bahamas, Canada and Mexico.
Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for Northcom, explains that the Mexican government ultimately controls the US military training provided to Mexico, whether funded by DoD or the State Department.
"The way it's done is that it's up to the Mexico to decide what training we [the US military] provide," Kucharek says. "We provide them with a list [of options], and the Mexican military decides what they want."
Kucharek adds that "we [DoD] do not see the training as counter-productive" and stresses that any perceived relationship between US funding for military training for Mexico and that nation's homicide rate is "anecdotal." He insists there is no real evidence to show that the US-trained Mexican soldiers are joining the ranks of criminal groups and committing murders.
"We do not see it that way," he says. "We think journalists are making a leap (when they claim Mexican soldiers are joining organized crime in large numbers). Just so you know, we have our own way to check on those dynamics. … I think what is being taken as fact (with respect to Mexican soldiers trained by the US later being linked to narco-trafficking) may not, in fact, be fact."
Kucharek, in essence, says the blame for Mexico's huge homicide problem (more than 120,000 murdered and some 25,000 disappeared over Calderón's term in office) has more to do with inadequate military force.
"It is a war among cartels who themselves are under increasing pressure [by Calderón's military strategy]," he says. "Where it is not working, it is because of the lack of persistent force in some areas of Mexico to combat it [narco-violence].
"[New Mexican President] Peña Nieto now wants to sink more money into social programs as an alternative to the lure of the cartels," Kucharek adds. "We'll see if that works, but expect military-to-military and security cooperation [between the US and Mexico] to continue."
Kucharek's bullishness on the Mexican military and the benefits of US training, though, doesn't seem to square with the facts on the ground in Mexico that are not classified. A January 2013 report by Human Rights Watch points out that between January 2007 and April 2012, the Mexican military opened some 5,000 investigations into human rights violations carried out by Mexican soldiers against civilians, yet "military judges sentenced only 38 military personnel for human rights violations."
And corruption within the Mexican military is not a low-level problem, either. Last year, a Mexican Army general and three retired officers (two of them former generals) were arrested and accused of having ties to narco-traffickers. But Mexican generals being accused of links to narco-traffickers is nothing new. In the mid-1990s, Mexico's drug czar, a former Army general, also was accused, and later convicted, of providing protection to the head of the Juarez Cartel.
Over the course of the Calderón administration, more than 16,000 Mexican soldiers were convicted of desertion — a figure that does not include the tens of thousands of additional soldiers who deserted, and were not caught, but by the mere act of deserting are now branded criminals. How do you think those individuals are now making a living?
And then we have the Zetas, a fierce organized crime group operating in Mexico that is highly skilled in paramilitary tactics — such as intelligence gathering, surveillance and marksmanship. The Zetas were started by former Mexican special-ops soldiers who were assisted by members of a Guatemalan special-forces unit, the Kaibiles, according to a DEA Powerpoint presentation obtained by Narco News previously.
The Guatemala Human Rights Commission has this to say about the Kaibiles:
While former members of Guatemala's Elite Special Forces Unit (Kaibiles) are finally being sentenced for human rights atrocities committed during the 36-year internal armed conflict, Guatemala continues to train Kaibiles and their role is expanding to include combating organized crime.
Despite a congressional ban restricting direct funding to the Guatemalan army due to its involvement in brutal violence, the United States continues to support, train, and coordinate with the Kaibiles.
So it seems the path between US military training of Mexican security forces and their exploitation by organized crime in Mexico may not always be direct, but it certainly can't be declared nonexistent either.
"My take is we made a huge investment of resources in Mexico to support Calderón's [drug-war] policy that did not work and only increased the bloodshed, and put innocent people in the crossfire," says Adam Isacson, senior associate for regional security policy at the Washington Office on Latin America — an independent, nongovernmental group focused on shaping US policy to support human rights and social justice in Latin America. "[The Calderón administration] did not reform [Mexico's] security services, but just put them into the street [to fight the drug war]. And we helped to supply the equipment [not measured in the Foreign Assistance Act figures] and training for that. Calderón should have had a different policy that took into account civilians more."
The Laboratory
Although recently empowered Mexican President Peña Nieto is promising a new course in Mexico's approach to the drug war, there are already signs that it won't do much to change the underlying dynamics of the carnage in Mexico's cities and rural communities.
On one front, the Peña Nieto administration plans to take a page out of the lessons learned from the US war in Vietnam by making an effort to reduce and control media coverage of drug-war violence and death. According to Mexican reports, he is urging the media to make an effort to find an "equilibrium" between bad and good news, and his administration also is tightly controlling the perp walks, information and data released about the drug war.
"What Peña Nieto is doing is ... sweeping violence under the rug in hopes that no one notices," security expert Jorge Chabat said in an interview with the Associated Press. "It can be effective in the short term, until the violence becomes so obvious that you can't change the subject."
Peña Nieto also plans to stand up a paramilitary force, composed of ex-soldiers, that could eventually be some 40,000 strong. Peña Nieto also hopes to created a single, consolidated national police force. With these tools, he says, the Mexican military can be replaced as the primary enforcer of security in the drug war in Mexico, and the battle can be refocused from hunting down the top narco-capos to stemming street violence and other crimes against the community, such as extortion and kidnappings.
But is this focus on street-level violence really anything new?
A trail of email correspondence involving a Mexican diplomat obtained by the secret-spilling organization WikiLeaks seems to show that the Mexican military has been focused on "surgically" attacking street-level crime since at least 2009, when it made Ciduad Juarez, a Mexican border city that abuts El Paso, Texas, a laboratory for the strategy.
The description in the emails obtained by WikiLeaks of the Mexican diplomat, codenamed MX1, reveals that he doubled as a confidential source for a US-based private intelligence firm called Stratfor. The details revealed about MX1 via his email correspondence with Stratfor match the publicly available information on Fernando de la Mora Salcedo — a Mexican foreign service officer who studied law at the University of New Mexico, served in the Mexican Consulate in El Paso, Texas, and was later stationed in the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix (though, sources indicate, he appears to have since been recalled to Mexico).
MX1, in one of the emails released by WikiLeaks, describes the Mexican military's mission in Juarez in 2009 (the very year Mexico's homicide rate began to explode) as involving a special-operations and intelligence-unit component that was embedded within the larger Mexican military force. These special units were charged with carrying out "surgical strikes" against narco-trafficking "cells" and street criminals.
An even more troubling revelation in the MX1 email trail is what the Mexican diplomat describes in a July 13, 2009, email as a "change in strategy" in the Mexican troop deployment in Juarez — a change that refocused the mission on a more "modest goal."
From a July 13, 2009, MX1 email correspondence:
The larger picture of the change in strategy has to do with a more modest goal. As the major cartels have all guaranteed routes into the US, the addiction problem [in] Juarez is causing most of the violence. About 80% of kidnapping victims that survived that you talk to mention that their captors seemed to be high on something.
Therefore, a major component of the [Mexican military] strategy will be to prevent kidnappings and the like by directing efforts against drug addicts and gangs. Gangs are presenting major problems because they are pissed off at each other and their cartel bosses because they are not getting what they were promised. The more modest goal of combating the social violence is supposed to give some breathing room to the [cartel] bosses so that they can issue orders to calm things down. [Emphasis added.]
Is the strategy outlined by MX1 really that much different from Peña Nieto's plan to essentially back off pursuit of the leadership of the "major cartels" and instead attack street-level crime — with the help of former Mexican soldiers re-branded as a paramilitary force. If anything, utilizing paramilitaries, instead of the military, may open the door to even more deadly consequences for an even larger number of innocent citizens and purely political targets. Could that be why, in part, Peña Nieto's administration is now so intent on controlling the media message about the drug war?
Time will tell.
But one thing is clear. US officials do not appear poised to slow down the provision of military training — special-operations, intelligence and infantry-readiness training, etc. — that is necessary for Peña Nieto to accomplish his drug-war objectives.
Peter Valasco, spokesman for the US State Department, stated the following in an email to Narco News:
When President Obama met with then President-elect Peña Nieto on November 27 [2012], the two leaders reiterated our shared commitment to working together to meet our common citizen security and rule of law challenges. The United States remains committed to working in partnership with Mexico, and the administration of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, to address our shared security challenges.
We commend the government and people of Mexico for their courage and commitment to combat criminals and corruption while strengthening institutions. The government has taken major steps, including professionalizing its police forces; instituting anti-corruption initiatives; and establishing long-term judicial reforms. We are committed to working in partnership with Mexico and look forward to advancing common goals for both our nations in the coming years with the Peña Nieto administration.
The next experiment in the drug-war laboratory is set to unfold. And it seems Mexico's civilian population still finds itself in the Petri dish.
Stay tuned….
To see the full reports on US military training made to Congress under the Foreign Assistance Act, click on these links:


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The Major League Rugby season is here. The league kicks off this weekend with three big matches. It's going to the first time we get a look at al of the teams in their element against other MLR sides. No practice games now, it's for real. With all that in mind we thought we'd off our last MLR rankings of the pre-season.
1. Glendale Raptors (Last Ranking: 1): Our question is who is going to stop the Raptors this year. At this point they clearly look like favorites to win the title. They have had their way with teams in the pre-season. Additionally, the team recently add some more big names like Dylan Fawsitt. The team was already stacked if you just took the players they had remaining from the DI club side and the Denver PRO Rugby team but they have gone out and added even more players to the group. If they don't win the whole thing it will be a shock.
2. Seattle Seawolves (LR: 6): We're going out on a bit of a limb here and jumping the Seawolves all the way up to second from sixth. Mostly this comes from reports we heard out of their match against the Prairie Wolf Pack. Their defense was reportedly fantastic and they had Will Holder running things from the fly-half position. There were a lot of questions about how the Seawolves might shape up but if the Wolf Pack game is any indication--and it might not be--they should be good.
Take the jump to read more.
3. Houston SaberCats (LR: 3): The SaberCats are the most familiar team to most observers having played a lot of rugby in 2018. They are a good side and getting better with time. They have the stars to play really well but we still are wondering if they have the depth to contest with the top sides. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them finish in the top two but they could also be a middle of the table pack.
4. San Diego Legion (LR: 2): The Legion offense is going to be excellent but can their forwards hold up against some teams with very strong packs? That is a big question that the day still has to answer. If they can hold up they have every threat to finish in the top two. If it's not then they might struggle and when the June internationals roll around they could be hurt even more.
5. NOLA Gold (LR: 5): Some have labelled the NOLA Gold as their dark horse in the competition and we can see that. Their front-row looks good as does their back-row. They also have their backs that can get out and run. Depth may be an issue but that's what we also said for Ohio in PRO Rugby and they were excellent. NOLA Gold has that chance.
6. Utah Warriors (LR: 4): We probably have the Warriors too low on this list. They've had a solid pre-season so far even if the results haven't been there. Utah has the pieces to be great, especially with the addition of Kurt Morath at fly-half. We've always said that if Utah teams were given a chance to play a full season they would be one of the best teams in the country. We still think that but the early season might be difficult for the Warriors.
7. Austin Elite (LR: 7): There are still many questions out there about how Austin is going to perform. A year ago they were so hot but now it seems that they might not have the depth to compete. Even more they have struggled in pre-season.


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The Technical Stuff
Training and Qualifications
RAI and its pilots have been fully trained and approved by the CAA. The training course was carried out by the Resources Group (ID No: RPQ-s/FaiS/14/151) which now permits RAI to carry out commercial aerial work utilising UAVs/Drones. This also then allows us to obtain comprehensive public liability insurance which is essential when carrying out this type of work.
The training course by the Resources Group has taught RAI that the drones that most people tend to think as boys toys, are something more serious. These essentially are aircraft which share the skies with hangliders, helicopters, light aircraft and the odd passenger plane! And these all need to be kept apart, so there are strict guidelines in place with an altitude restriction of 400 feet, flight surveys and inspections need to be carried out especially checking for controlled airspace areas but to name a few.
So its not just a case of turning up somewhere launching the drone willy-nilly into unchecked airspace and environmental influences pre-flight planning is essential and is always carried out by RAI.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sets the rules on drones in the UK under what is called an air navigation order.
- An unmanned aircraft must never be flown beyond the normal unaided "line of sight" of the person operating it – this is generally measured as 500m (1,640ft)horizontally or 400ft (122m) vertically
- An unmanned aircraft fitted with a camera must always be flown at least 50m (164ft) distance away from a person, vehicle, building or structure
- An unmanned aircraft fitted with a camera must not be flown within 150m (492ft) of a congested area or large group of people, such as a sporting event or concert
- For commercial purposes, operators must have permission to fly a drone from the CAA
- Commercial operators of drones cannot obtain insurance unless they are are qualified and approved by the CAA.
The list above are just some of the rules for UK operators and having attended all the training courses and exams myself I was surprised at how intense the process was, but once completed it all made sense as at the end of the day these are aircraft sharing the skies with full sized aircraft and gravity is an amazing force too!
We currently operate with a quad copter which is packed with technology including GPS controlled by a minimum of 6 satellites, orientation control, auto return home mode in the event of power loss and transmission signal loss, on board compass, intelligent lipo battery offering up to 25 minutes flight time, real time video down link to a 5inch TV monitor giving a birds eye view from the drone, a H3 2D gimbal for the GoPro camera mount producing the 'owls head' steady shot effect.
We also have something called FPV which stands for First Person View, in the form of goggles that you wear which house two small screens, so you can get a birds eye view from the drones video down link. Our customers can wear these goggles to observe the flight and are very useful when we do inspections of structures like chimney stacks, roofs and tall structures.
Every flight will be subject to various surveys and checks well before the drone leaves the ground, with the first one being on-line using Google Earth to check for environment restrictions such as pylons, busy roads, schools etc. Then an onsite survey will be carried out to assess the proposed flight plan. The final checks will be for restricted air space once again carried out on-line, and then the weather forecast and only then will a time, date and weather window will be selected and agreed with our customer.


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Juan Williams is a Sexist Pig. Discuss.
Dear Sarah Palin:
Since you're so invested in defending your FOX buddy Juan Williams and his bigoted remarks, would you care to address this little sexism eruption of his:
Washington Post Magazine reporter Juan Williams said yesterday [November 1, 1991] that the newspaper has disciplined him for what he called "wrong" and "inappropriate" verbal conduct toward women staffers and he apologized to his colleagues.
Williams's letter came several hours after about 50 female employees met with Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. and said they objected to The Post's refusal to say how the paper had resolved allegations of verbal sexual harassment against Williams. The newspaper's management has maintained that such personnel inquiries must remain confidential.
The disclosure came five days after a Williams column on The Post's op-ed page in which he said that Anita Hill had "no credible evidence" for her allegations of sexual harassment by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, but that Hill was "prompted" to make her charges by Democratic Senate staffers. The Post's personnel inquiry had begun more than two weeks earlier, but the column angered many women in the newsroom, and several came forward to say that they had also had problems with Williams. Post editors say they decided to make a public statement after WRC-TV aired a report on the controversy.
Seven women said in on-the-record interviews yesterday that Williams had repeatedly made hostile and sexually explicit comments to them, in some cases over a period of several years. All of them said they believed the comments were meant to embarrass them, not an attempt to date them, and most said that Williams persisted despite their protests.
Jo Ellen Murphy, art director of the Weekend section, said that "he was obsessed with my sex life and that's all he wanted to talk to me about . . . . I raised my voice at him and said, 'Just don't talk to me again.' "
It was speechifying like this by sexists and sexism enablers like Juan Williams — and the climate of fear and intimidation this engendered against women, such as Thomas' then-girlfriend Lillian McEwen, that kept them from speaking out to stop Thomas — which helped slide Clarence Thomas into a Supreme Court seat for which he was manifestly unfit.
In 1991, Williams got off for his sexually harassing behavior with a slap on the wrist that in no way hindered his increasingly lucrative career path. Now, having exercised his bigotry yet again — this time against Muslims — he is rewarded by his pals at FOX News with a few extra million.
UPDATE: And guess what? Juan Williams just got caught lying about the insane and sexist bigotry he's been directing at our First Lady, Michelle Obama: [cont'd]
This morning on Fox Business Network, Juan Williams discussed the circumstances of his recent firing from NPR and revisited comments he made in early 2009 saying Michelle Obama has "this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going." Williams claimed that what he really said was Michelle Obama "has to avoid being what I said was 'Stokley Carmichael in a designer dress,'" but Media Matters took his comments "out of context" to falsely claim he had accused her of being "Stokley Carmichael in a designer dress."
This is absolutely false. Williams, appearing on the January 26, 2009, edition of The O'Reilly Factor, said affirmatively and in his own voice of Michelle Obama: "If you think about liabilities for President Obama that are close to him — Joe Biden's up there — but Michelle Obama's right there. Michelle Obama, you know she's got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking, as Mary Katharine [Ham] suggested, her instinct is to start with this 'blame America,' you know, 'I'm the victim.' If that stuff starts to come out people will go bananas."
Go to the Media Matters site to see the video documentation of Juan Williams' final, sickening descent into FOX News vileness and untruth.


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An IoT Ecosystem Foundation to Build On
Dedicated to Ensuring Interoperable, Reliable and Secure IoT Innovations
For the IoT ecosystem to flourish, security must be integrated from inception, not as an afterthought. The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) is providing a clear starting point through a common security framework that allows reliable interoperability among devices from different manufacturers.
Benefits of the OCF Security Framework and Working Group:
Serious IoT Security That is Easy to Implement
- The OCF Security Framework sets a straightforward foundation, reducing the complexities of developing an IoT security solution from scratch while ensuring proper functionality and support for creative market differentiation.
- Development testing and qualification time is reduced through the OCF Security Framework and unique certification testing tool.
Banding Together to Thwart Security Threats
- Members of the OCF Security Working Group significantly benefit through the collaboration of its 300+ participating companies comprised of leading innovators across multiple industries.
- The OCF Security Working Group leverages the robust security expertise of its member companies to address potential exploits, implement and update security procedures, and protect user privacy.
- The OCF Security Group communicates security issues to other OCF working groups so solutions are collectively and quickly created. Those fixes are then provided to IoTivity, an open source community project, for rapid dissemination to the rest of the IoT industry.
Building Confidence with End Users
- The OCF Security Framework provides various strength levels of device-to-device authentication methods to ensure that IoT nodes only communicate with authorized entities.
- The initial release of the OCF Security Specification provides a strong security foundation with the flexibility to address future threats. In follow-up releases, higher levels of security are defined for applications in industries that require more rigorous authentication methods.
Expertise – Not Just Another Option
- Security is one of the cornerstones of the OCF with a dedicated working group and hundreds of member companies devoted to developing a flexible framework that adapts to the ever-changing landscape of IoT security.
- The OCF's membership is comprised of leading technology companies from around the globe that are contributing their security resources towards the development of a secure, scalable IoT standard.
Specifications and Resources
For more information please visit the Developer Resources page, or read more on the OCF Security FAQ page.
Join the Open Connectivity Foundation
Become a leader in defining secure protocols and connectivity requirements that improve interoperability between the billions of devices making up the IoT.


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We did it!
Ginny Boxall raised £3,400 from 148 supporters
Start your own crowdfunding page
Closed 09/11/2018
We've raised £3,400 to Fund an independent Environmental Impact assessment for Treloar Meadows from Spring 2019 Permission now granted for access
- East Hampshire District, Alton, UK
- Funded on Friday, 9th November 2018
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a new type of fundraising where you can raise funds for your own personal cause, even if you're not a registered nonprofit.
The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.
Preserve Treloar Meadows campaign have fought long and hard to get a full independent EIA for the meadows. We have won the right to an EIA but Crest Nicholson the developer will not agree to an independent company carrying out the EIA preferring to use their own designated ecologists and they refuse to budge on this. We have asked that Surrey Wildlife Trust be allowed to carry out the EIA. We need to raise £5000 to carry out a full thorough independent EIA, the meadows deserve no less
- 2 years ago
Ginny Boxall2 years ago
Big Thankyou to All for all your wonderful support we cant do.this without you 😄😄💟💟
Share this update to help us raise more
Ginny Boxall started crowdfunding
Leave a message of support
Nov 5, 2018
Sharon Cullen
Nov 5, 2018
Hopefully this will help you reach your target :)
Nov 5, 2018
Steve Drake
Nov 5, 2018
A worthy cause to preserve a lovely amenity in my home town
Clive Wood
Nov 4, 2018
Good luck with your excellent campaign.
Nov 3, 2018
Jenny Griffiths
Nov 2, 2018
Thank you for all you are doing. We desperately need to preserve every scrap of wildlife-rich habitat.
Great people make things happen
Do you know anyone in need or maybe want to help a local community cause?
Create you own page and don't let that cause go unfunded!About Crowdfunding
About the fundraiser
Ginny Boxall
East Hampshire District, Alton, UK
Acting Chair of Preserve Treloar Meadows campaign


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Wink Slots
EXCLUSIVE! Sign up for 100% up to £400, plus 50 bonus spins use code BIGBONUS.
The promotion is valid until 31.12.2018 GMT. Under the terms of this Promotion, eligible players are qualified to earn a games bonus and free spins on their first deposit with the Website, as follows: Make their first deposit of £20 plus, using code BIGBONUS with the Website eligible players will earn: (i) 100% games bonus of their deposit up to a total maximum games bonus funds of £400, plus (ii) 50 free spins for use on the Kingdom of Cash slot game only. The promo code BIGBONUS is only eligible to be used on the first deposit and is valid only once. The bonus granted under this Promotion cannot be combined or added to any other offer separately promoted by the Company.


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Bibletime Course
Bible Correspondence Course for 5 – 13 years old
The Bible Correspondence Course ministry has been used by God to reach many children with the Gospel. For our courses we mainly use materials developed by Bible Educational Services. Our full-colour "Bibletime" course is split into 3 levels aimed at an approximate reading age: Level 1, age 5- 7; Level 2, age 8-10; Level 3, age 11-13. Children who enrol will be sent a fun filled Bible lesson each month. Each lesson is divided into 4 studies so that one can be completed per week. Once the entire lesson is complete, it is posted back to our Postal Bible Club for marking and feedback. Joining our Postal Bible Club from Britain is absolutely free; the only cost to you is that of the stamp to return the starter lesson.
Starter Lesson
Please click on the appropriate link below to download and print out the starter lesson of the Bibletime course for the relevant age group. Children who are resident in Britain and like to receive each month free lessons in the post, can join our Postal Bible Club by sending their completed starter lesson to the return address shown on the back page of the lesson. Alternatively, please click here or email us, giving us the name, age and full address of the child in Britain whom you would like to enrol.


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Trevor and Dave come to you live from the hospital as Trevor gets a minor procedure. They discuss drinking too much coffee, nazis being back, and Tickle Me Elmos.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram @thebooksareboringpodcast or on Twitter @booksRboring or booksareboring.net
Theme song by Chris Vandenberg.
Thanks to Damien Doepping for the content warning. Send yours to email@example.com


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George Gasser is the Southeast Admission's office NEWEST Admissions Counselor. His territory is Southwest Missouri, South Central Missouri, Franklin County in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and all other Out-of-State (excluding Illinois).
Here are just a few deets about George's life before the Admissions office:
- A native of Farmington, Missouri, George Gasser
- attended college at Southeast Missouri State University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and a Master's Degree in Higher Education Administration.
Whilst a student at Southeast he was heavily involved on campus
- Rock Climbing Club
- Wrestling Club
- Cycling Club
- Presidential Ambassadors
- He also held offices in Student Activities Council (SAC) and Student Government, serving one year as President of the Student Body.
George's Current Pandora Station: Ratatat
George currently sits in the next cubicle over from Liz and I. We often catch him humming or making sound effects. It is always a nice surprise when George has candy at his desk…we are always the first to know! Throughout the day, we often hear random comments coming from the opposite side of the wall, often some wonderful insights into life.
Beware he often goes a little crazy in his rolly chair!
" Nothing will ever love you as much as Southeast loves you."
– George Gasser
HAPPY TUESDAY! Look for a few more updates this week, I am in the office alone this week! Liz is on her way to Chicago with a few of our fellow PRSSA members attending a conference sponsored by De Paul University!
Ashley's Current Pandora Station: Mumford and Sons
– Peace Love and Papa Johns Pizza at the University Center


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Rockbox mail archiveSubject: Re: When will there be a program for the 80 gig ipod
Re: When will there be a program for the 80 gig ipod
From: Dominik Riebeling <dominik.riebeling_at_gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 11:59:30 +0100
Argh! Is it *that* hard removing parts from the mail you are replying
On 1/1/07, Quinn Brideau <quinrocks_11_at_hotmail.com> wrote:
It won't be "out" soon. The problem hasn't been identified, and unless
- Dominik
Page was last modified "Jan 10 2012" The Rockbox Crew


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Happy weekend.
I cannot believe that it is almost April.
It really seems like this year has been zooming by already.
And this week has been filled with busy work, planning work and a little bit of fun.
Makeover progress
The makeover was in full swing... moving and shaking...
until we hit a snag.
The wood walls are up, wrapped up one coat of paint and even fixed the crazy floor
issue that we had.
And just when I finally started getting the new lighting put together...
I realized there were a few missing pieces.
So back to the waiting game on the replacement parts to arrive.
Here is a peek and I will be sharing a few sneak peek photos of the walls-
and the 'shade of white' color we chose.
Somebody watching me
This is what happens when I sit on the sofa and try to work on the computer.
I get that feeling that someone is watching me... this sweet little rescue dog has nestled right into our homes and hearts already.
ruffles and bows
I have officially turned into one of 'those' people who put little baby bows on their dog.
And she is also wearing a Minnie Mouse inspired harness- complete with ruffles.
And I have no shame... I love it.
Pop of Color on the Patio
A burst of fresh color for a fresh look on the patio-
I am talking color and how to refresh your patio for spring and summer
Design Happy Blog this week.
Keeping Cool
Gearing up for summer entertaining- and summer heat?
Ceiling fans are hugely popular for doing the trick- but fans of the past left a lot to be desired...
but not any more.
Talking about ceiling fans
and the outrageous amount of amazing choices and styles that are available now-
all over at the Lamps Plus blog this week.
And here are a few other favorites this week:
Loving this new fabric from a sweet friend
and love this curvy chair makeover
My oldest son and his girlfriend are up for a visit this weekend-
so I am off to get a little work done before taking some time to play this afternoon.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend and blessed Easter.


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Buy discount Bouncy Castle Disco for adult or kids to play, East Inflatables is a leading, worldwide manufacturer of inflatables with Fun Seaworld Bouncy Castles for sale, and other inflatables with Europe's largest online catalogue of Bouncy Disco.
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Copyright 2002-2020 East-Inflatables.co.uk Limited. All rights reserved.


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Living in Australia is not for the faint of heart, what with its penis-biting spiders and plethora of other terrifying creatures lurking in the shadows. It also, apparently, just experienced a horrifying phenomenon most of us thought could only ever happen in horrible made-for-TV movies starring washed up celebrities. That's right, Australia just experienced a real life Sharknado.
Or, that's at least what the Internet is saying to explain how a big honkin' bull shark ended up on dry land after a tropical cyclone smacked into the Queensland coast earlier this week.
Thrillist's Best (and the Rest): Traveling With a Partner vs. Traveling in a Big Group
To be fair, nothing about this photo -- which was Tweeted from the QLD Fire & Emergency Service account -- suggests this 'nado was even close to as menacing as the enormous chomping shark-infested ones that've been terrorizing Tara Reid for years in the SyFy channel film series. In fact, it's unclear how exactly this poor dead guy ended up in shallow puddle of flood water in the small town of Ayr, nearly 10 miles from where Cyclone Debbie made landfall. What is clear, though, is that Australians should consider it a serious warning, and stay the hell out of those flood waters.
Besides mysteriously whipping large sharks into unsuspecting towns, the cyclone caused some rather substantial property damage and extensive flooding that's left many people trapped. Miraculously, only one death has been attributed to the massive storm so far, which clocked top wind speeds of over 160 miles per hour.
h/t Gizmodo
Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.


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A weblog will probably be a typical way for you personally to interact with guests, shoppers and any person that is involved with your area. A website sets you up as an professional and permits you to get suggestions from your persons that you just wish to get your services or products.
When undertaking internet affiliate marketing you instantly visualize including quite a few banners for your website but in fact it is best to endeavor to refrain from undertaking that. When you appear to have a lot of banners stuffed into your site it appears very unsightly and tends to make men and women not enthusiastic about going to your website yet again.
Location key phrases in web page content material. By undertaking this, the various search engines will understand that your internet site is most likely connected to specific search phrases and rank the web site accordingly. But get care to perform this naturally; abnormal key phrase stuffing appears unnatural and unreadable to some. Just utilize the keywords and phrases in the conversational way.
Be straightforward about that is inside your affiliate system. In case the readers suspect a thing amiss, they might just bypass you and go right to that vendor's internet site. Carrying out which means that you won't get paid to get a sale. You'll want to stop that. Develop a loyal fan base via believe in and honesty.
Create a exclusive net web page for every affiliate merchandise. Compose appropriate and handy details in regards to the merchandise for the guests to study. In case you emphasis a web page on the single solution, it is possible to target a particular audience that's presently keen on the topic. In addition, it make monitoring easier.
Maintain affiliate marketing online web-sites organized by tagging each of the posts. Tags assist site visitors uncover the articles crucial that you them. Furthermore, it aids search engines like google comprehend which keywords and phrases are appropriate to your web-site. Make the tags as descriptive as is possible as a way to produce visitors on the web-site and improve earnings.
Gaining believe in is a crucial component to contemplate for productive affiliate internet marketing. One particular method to foster believe in is usually to display a passion to your solution. The a lot more character and pleasure you present, the simpler it'll be to develop a trusted following. Developing anything of the romantic relationship along with your site visitors now will only increase your hyperlink possible later on.
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Seem for web sites with great revenue. If their price of purchasers is under a single %, you could possibly desire to reconsider functioning with them. You receive paid if persons purchase, and if men and women are not acquiring in the web page, it is going to not matter the number of shoppers you send them. This ratio is a vital 1 to take into account when seeking affiliates.
Would you like to know much more about producing a blog site and earning money around the net? Then click here: http://hcrap-ltd.com/value-of-blog-site-in-online-revenue/


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Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Review: The Island At The End of Everything
The Island at the End of Everything
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy!
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Ami lives with her mother on an island where the sea is as blue as the sky. It's all she knows and loves, but the arrival of malicious government official Mr Zamora changes her world forever: her island is to be made into a colony for lepers. Taken from her mother and banished across the sea, Ami faces an uncertain future in an orphanage. There she meets a honey-eyed girl named for butterflies, and together they discover a secret that will lead her on an adventure home. Ami must go back to the island of no return, but will she make it in time?
You guys this book is stunning, both inside and out. I'm really not sure I can accurately review this to tell you guys how much you need this book! It was just so, so good!
I completely loved the authors writing, her imagery and descriptions where beautiful, I loved how everything kind of circled around and came together for the ending. I genuinely was sitting reading the ending getting all choked up and at the same time kind of bouncing up and down in my seat like yaaaaayy!
I loved Ami, Mari and Kidlat, I loved the three of them together and I loved them individually. I loved the friendship that formed between them, they kind of had a Three Musketeers vibe going on with the boat escape and everything. I was on the edge of my seat for that, and the scenes following that!
Sad as it is to say, I liked being surprised by the characters that where kind. There where a couple that I thought where going to be nasty and they ended up being such great, kind characters. Having said that. I hated Zamora from the start. Like I really, really hated him. He was definitely unhinged and I was waiting and waiting for someone to deal with him or for him to get what was coming to him but nope. Never happened. Like I know that's how life is, but...I just really hated him. Really.
The Island at the End of Everything is such a beautifully written, well researched, emotional book that I really think everyone needs to read!
Labels: book, book review, Bookish, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, review, Teen, The Island at the end of Everything, YA
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900mm stroke, 500 dia, ram dia 300mm, 6 avail,
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Our test kitchen staff was hungry for a great pasta salad recipe. We all realized how truly easy pasta salads are to make, but what makes a pasta salad great are the ingredients. So many ideas of what ingredients we should use popped up and then we just realized why not add all our favorite ingredients in and call it the Supreme pasta salad recipe?! And with so many fresh and great ingredients, we finally dubbed this easy pasta salad as the Supreme Garden Pasta Salad. It was all right in front of us and we were thrilled to make it, film it, test it and eat it all in one quick swoop.
Drool over our Supreme Garden Pasta Salad Recipe:
Seriously, pasta salads should't be boring and the possibilities are endless. We added so many veggies like broccoli, celery and carrots. You can add cauliflower and zucchini if you like. The addition of fresh herbs really makes this garden pasta salad truly supreme with bright flavors. Just right here you have a great vegetarian pasta salad. But we all know that bacon is a popular favorite pasta salad ingredients. So to add to the supremacy of this dish, we added crunchy bacon and salty ham. Yay! How can this pasta salad not be supreme? The fresh vinaigrette is outstanding and give it a taste, share it at your next picnic party and you'll all adore this awesome potluck pasta salad. It's so easy to make the day ahead of time too. If you love extra flavor, just make an extra batch of the dressing and add it to the pasta salad right before serving. Enjoy more salad recipes here and pasta recipes here.
Change the ingredients to whatever you prefer or have handy. Want to make it vegetarian, leave out the ham and bacon. Adjust to your favorites. If you like extra flavor, make an extra batch of the dressing and then toss it over the salad right before serving. We prefer to use smaller pasta.
- 1 pound dried pasta , cooked to package instructions
- 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 1 medium bell pepper , chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 2 medium tomatoes , cut into bite sized pieces
- 3 green onion , chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 3/4 cup chopped ham
- 4 strips cooked bacon , chopped
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese , or your cheese of choice - cubed
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
- 1/2 cup mayo
- lemon zest , from 1 medium lemon
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice , fresh if possible
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper , fresh cracked if possible
- 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
- 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped basil
- Make the dressing: In large bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients (olive oil, vinegar, mayo, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and basil). Taste the dressing and adjust salt, pepper or additional seasonings to your preference.
- Add all salad ingredients into the same bowl as the dressing (pasta, broccoli, bell pepper, celery, carrots, tomatoes, green onion, red onion, ham, bacon, and cheese). Gently stir everything together to coat with the dressing. Add additional fresh lemon zest or juice (optional) to taste. Serve chilled.


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Mitchell Park Domes' Green Infrastructure Project Wins the BizTimes I.Q. Award for Innovation
Milwaukee County's Mitchell Park Domes has won its second award this year for its Green Infrastructure renovations: the BizTimes I.Q. Award for... Learn More
Shorewood Residential Bluff Stabilization Featured in Filtrexx® Newsletter
Filtrexx Sustainable Technologies is featuring a Shorewood Residential Bluff Stabilization project that Marek recently completed in its April on-line newsletter. Marek utilized... Learn More
DVA's Community Resource Center wins Milwaukee Business Journal Real Estate Award
Marek Landscaping is proud to be a member of the design and construction team for the Department of Veterans Affairs – Community... Learn More
McKinley Marina North & Shorewood Residential Bluff Projects Win WI ASLA Awards
The Wisconsin Chapter of the Association of Landscape Architects (WI ASLA) have honored two of Marek's projects for this year's awards program.... Learn More


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Aristide Asprogerakas
To treat stubborn fungal nail infections, I have found that applying heat via a magnifying glass (on a sunny day) totally cure my toenail infection.
I started by soaking my feet in warm water for 10 minutes so that my nails absorbed as much water as possible. This is so the heat can be transferred to as much of the fungus as possible. I used a cheap 3′ magnifying glass from a $2 shop to focus the beam on the entire surface of the nail. I would start by slowly focusing the beam on a section of nail until I could feel a sting. I would then pull back and let nail cool before I did it again. I would quickly zoom in and out so that as much heat as possible could be applied (I even saw small puffs of steam come off my nail). I repeated this process across the entire nail surface.
After a month I could see healthy nail growing out from the base of the nail, and within 6 months any sign of infection has grown out.
I found that just one treatment was enough to treat my nail, but I cannot see any harm in applying the treatment over multiple weeks.


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I proposed this to some close friends while an undergrad and we briefly did it then got really high/drunk/twisted and the notebook went AWOL. I blame frog toxins but have no actual proof. We made it like 10-15 (depending on who you ask) pages in before it went off the rails. The idea is to write a story collaboratively. The voice will be schizophrenic at best and the story will jump wildly, but I think it will at least be interesting.
Proposal: I will write a few paragraphs that provide characters and setting, but no plot development. You take it in what ever direction you see fit for 5 paragraphs (not strictly enforced if you're inspired). It will then be handed off to the next author to do what he/she sees fit.
Order: I am author 1 and anyone interested will go on from there. We'll recycle (if it gets that far) and I'll write something and run it through the order again.
Anyone interested should just reply to this comment.


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Hermanus is known as one of the 12 best whale watching destinations in the world.
Spoil your family and make your way to the Whale Festival from the 29 SEPTEMBER – 1 OCTOBER 2017.
Building on last year's successful Eco Marine Village, you can enjoy great food, quality crafts, great sport events, kids' entertainment, performing artists, the Whales and Wheels Classic Car Show and KFM live every day on Market Square.
Hermanus is home to the only Eco-Marine Village in South Africa, which includes a Shark, Whale, Penguin and Dolphin display as well as an Educational Kiddie area, an award winning botanical garden and biosphere display.
Get on down there, BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION now to avoid sleeping in your car!


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The Harold Keller Public Service Leadership Award was established by the Stennis Center to honor the long-time leader of the Stennis Student Congress, Harold C. Keller, a speech and debate coach from Davenport, Iowa. In the year 2003, Keller stepped down from his post of National Clerk of the Congress. For over 25 years, the man affectionately known as "Mr. Congress," was a driving force in planning and implementing the yearly event. Keller always believed the greatest value of Student Congress is the preparation and inspiration it provides to future leaders in public service. In his years of service, Keller oversaw everything from printing legislation and organizing the chambers to supervising the judging and checking the results. The late Billy Tate, then president of the National Speech and Debate Association, said at the time, "No person has done more to promote and improve the Stennis Student Congress as an event that Harold Keller." The award that pays tribute to Keller's long-time support recognizes an individual who has successfully applied lessons learned through Student Congress to become an effective leader in public service.
2017 Congresswoman Terri Sewell
2016 Sal Tinajero
2015 J. Austen Irrobali
2014 Steve E. Grubbs
2013 Senator Randy Head
2012 Captain Josh Swartsel
2011 Ryan Mulholland
2010 Mark Parkinson
2009 Joshua Segall
2008 Tamara Serwer Caldas
2007 Ali Azizi


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Ah, Jen Larry! The Shrieking Star of the Queen's Parade! You love her, and so here are pictures of her that let you be close to her face!
1. Here is sweet Jen Larry being famous, just the way you like it!
2. Online and at the cinema, Jen Larry is the one to see! Here she is as Blue Costume from the X-Man movie you love to watch!
3. Even when the sun goes down, there is simply no escape from Jen Larry. Here she is haunting the midnight hour and shrieking for no reason in the foul company of the Night Jester! What a dream this must be for you to look at!
4. From her feet all the way down to her shoes, Jen Larry is the cream of the steam. Here's Jen Larry and Don Draper standing together at Babe Ruth's funeral! Au revoir, Bambino!
5. We know you love the famous Jen Larry woman with all of your guts and brain. You are probably asleep and dreaming about Jen Larry right now! Here is Mrs. Jen Larry herself as none other than her famous character named Frequent Problems from the very long movie called Hungry Fun. Thank you for loving all of these sweet pics!
6. Yes! It is so beautiful to know for sure that this is a picture of Jen Larry the adult woman holding the Stanley Cup at last! You were rooting so hard for the Jen Larry girl to win the Stanley Cup, and when Jen Larry finally got her wet hands on the Stanley Cup you screamed so loud that your neighbor thought you were getting eaten by 1,000 dogs. What a happy memory this was for you!
7. Here it is, the final nectar-sweet photo of the beautiful, sour angel named Jen Larry. She is the Sultan of Famous, and you crave glimpses of her face. You yearn to be near the Jen Larry woman from film and cinema, and you would murder every person you've ever heard of just for the chance to smell a rock that Jen Larry has looked at. It's wonderful to understand that these photographs of Jen Larry delight you, and in 100 years you will tell your grandchildren, "I was there to see the photographs of sweet Jen Larry, the Pharaoh of Glamorous Situations." And then you will finally die of old age, and though your body will turn into mud, your mind will live on forever, slumbering eternally and dreaming endless dreams of Jen Larry, the Shrieking Star of the Queen's Parade. Amen.


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Market conditions which can often be precursors to stability have emerged in Florida according to Property Abroad.
The latest data from Florida Realtors shows the number of pending and closed sales have continued to rise alongside median prices, while inventory levels for both houses and condos have dropped.
This has led them to say that the recovery in the property market is now on solid footing as pending sales have increased every month since May last year for both town home-condo properties and existing single-family homes.
Pending sales for July were up by 26% for condos, and by 42% for existing single-family homes compared to a year earlier. Throughout the state, sales of existing family homes reached 17,420 in July, an increase of 9.8% compared to a year earlier, and the statewide median sales price was up by 7.8% to $148,000. The number of condos sold in July reached 7,779, an increase of 2.8% compared to July last year. The median price was $102,000, an increase of 10.9% compared to a year earlier….More at Property Market in Florida Continues to Recover
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For details on our vetted Florida investment properties or to browse our other range of international property investments >>click here<<.


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The ultimate list of smoke grenade fails
We know a thing or two about smoke grenades. It's fair to say that if you are a user of smoke grenades (or smoke bombs as they are also know), the chances are, it's one of ours. We made coloured smoke popular and we were the company that made it accessible and safe for the general user. However, it doesn't matter how vigilant we are as a company, when you sell enough smoke grenades, they eventually find their way into the hands of the 'not so clever'.
Trawling through our archive of emails and phone calls over the past 20 years we have collated a list of mishaps and 'dunce hat' incidents. Oddly it's fair to say that not everyone who has fumbled a smoke grenade is an idiot, but by not reading the instructions, you kind of render yourself as a bit of an idiot.
So, in no set order of idiocy, here we go…
1. Non-toxic means you can breathe it.
No it doesn't. Smoke is smoke and it's not particularly nice to breath. Even though we have managed to design smoke compositions that are non-toxic, if you fill a room with smoke and then think you can go about breathing normally, you may find yourself coughing up and sneezing rainbows.
2. Cool burn means it's cold.
One of our favourite questions is… 'is it cold burn smoke?' The pyrotechnic industry must take some responsibility for this term as it has been used for many years. The term seeks to differentiate between the super-hot military smoke that is encased in metal containers and the commercial smoke that is commonly seen to be handheld. If you hold a military smoke grenade it will of course fuse itself to your hand permanently. We have ceased using this term as we deem it misleading.
However, the term 'cool burn' is still banded around for the 'few' to get totally confused. So let's be clear with this…. A smoke grenade is a pyrotechnic device and the smoke coming out of it is very hot. Yes, the body stays cool enough to hold, but if you try to cover the nozzle with your hand because you want the smoke to stop, it's going to give you a nasty shock and there's the possibility you will look like you're holding a baby phoenix.
3. Legal means you can use it anywhere.
The law has so many blurred lines. The legal system can't account for every detail in life, so it falls to the responsibility of normal human beings to make very fine calculations on a minute by minute basis for our own survival. Kitchen knives are legal, but should you choose to wield it in the high street, your shiny carrot chopper will transform into a set of hand cuffs just like magic. The same thing can be applied to smoke grenades. Perfectly legal, just choose wisely where you wish to use them. Private land, Paintball/Airsoft Fields, areas where permission has been granted…..You're good to go.
There's a wash of Instagram pics shot in many different exotic places, some of which have been achieved without any social concern, whilst others are riskier. There are instances where the fine line has been crossed and that innocent photoshoot has turned in to the annual general meeting for the fire service. Don't be that Dick.
However, the term 'cool burn' is still banded around for the 'few' to get totally confused. So let's be clear with this…. A smoke grenade is a pyrotechnic device and the smoke coming out of it is very hot. Yes, the body stays cool enough to hold, but if you try to cover the nozzle with your hand because you want the smoke to stop, it's going to give you a nasty shock and there's the possibility you will look like you're holding a baby phoenix.
4. I popped one in the post to my mate.
There are certain things that you can't 'pop in the post'. We now print on the side of the label 'do not post' as the obvious is clearly not obvious. You wouldn't mail your Shih Tzu puppy to the vets when it needs its bollocks cut off as it may bite the postman, likewise you shouldn't post smoke grenades either as they may go off causing mild concern or mass panic in this terrorist era we live in.
5. The wire snapped and then I read the instructions afterwards.
The biggest mistake made by users of our smoke grenades is fumbling the ignition. There's pictograms on the side which easily project instructions directly into your grey matter without any need for exerting energy in the form of reading. But even these pictograms can be too much effort for the excited human when faced with an unspent pyrotechnic. The overpowering desire to 'let it off' is so all-consuming that only the dads amongst us turn the product onto its side to reference the correct use.
In a recent survey it found that 64% of men didn't read the instructions before calling tech support.
By reading the instructions you enter a whole new world that is filled with considerably less frustration. The alternative is the photoshoot scenario you now find yourself in where you only bought one smoke grenade, fumbled the ignition by not pulling sideways and you're now cursing us for bad design.
6. It's not real smoke so I didn't realise it was going to set off every fire alarm in the area.
Smoke grenades have tendrils that can seek out even the hardest to reach fire alarms. In first world cities, fire alarms can even out number rats. Did you know you are never further than 10 meters from one of these white squealers? It's worth bearing this in mind next time you host your photoshoot down a narrow alley full of flats and offices.
7. I'm over 18 and I gave it to my kid as he's responsible
Your faith in teenagers has been blindsided by your unwaning love of your kid. Even the 14 years of programming you've put into your child has no match for the peer pressure in his social circle. So, he let a smoke bomb off at school and now his education has gone to shit you say?
8. I tried to stop the smoke coming out.
You can blow the candles out on your birthday cake, you can throw water over a bonfire, you can even put out a burning chip pan with a fire blanket. However, the one thing you can't put out is the smoke grenade you've just started; it has its own oxygen source built into it. Unlike most British builders, once it's started, it's going to complete its task. You smoke grenade will keep pumping out smoke until all the composition inside has been burnt. You can submerge it in water, but even this won't stop it.
9. I got arrested for having it at a football ground and I didn't even let it off.
10. I threw a smoke bomb into my mate's car for a laugh.
The differences between having a cigarette in the car or letting off a smoke grenade off in a car is considerable. It's fair to say that the car will never be the same again. Most notable the colour of the inside will change to that of the smoke grenade, it will take more than a thousand magic trees to be habitable again and the blim hole in the seat the size of a fist made for good conversation.
11. I took one on holiday and all hell broke loose at the airport
Winner of the bonehead of the year award goes to a gentleman who decided to pack a smoke grenade neatly into his suitcase for use abroad.
We will keep this simple….. A smoke grenade is a pyrotechnic, a pyrotechnic is classified as an explosive. So, by packing one into your luggage, not matter how well wrapped up in your underpants it is, you're taking an explosive onto an airplane. In today's world I think I would rather go swimming with piranha wearing a bacon bikini than try board a plane with explosives……
12. End
Be safe. Read the instructions. Consider others. Don't be a Dick. Thank you.


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Naples, Friday 12-13 December 2014
Department of Architecture University of Naples Federico II, Via Forno Vecchio 36 – Napoli, Italy
The 8° Study Day of INU- Italian National Institute of Urban Planning –will be mainly devoted to the "Policies for Italian cities", with a focus on the European ones.
The crisis which is interesting the city, but in turn is making it actor of a new development model – as emerged in the 2013 Inu National Congress –, and the environmental and socio-economic questions concerning the regeneration of urban forms make central the construction of an idea for the city of future.
Our country is in late with respect to the other EU members also in terms of competitiveness, because strategies which they have adopted have improved infrastructures and developed the metropolitan environment, reducing the external costs of the local companies. Similarly, it is possible to observe their technological innovation, the energy efficiency and the reduction of the natural and non-renewable resources.
All these factors clarify the centrality of the urban topic in the government of the Country and the needs of a national politic, where combining suitable rules and tools, and resources in strategic areas.
As regards, the 8° Study Day of INU represents an important occasion in order to synthetize the current state of art, whose organization is articulated in 10 main tracks, and 4 more devoted to the Italian countries, each with a coordinator and a discussant, expert of the specific topic.
|Governance and partecipation
|D. Venti
|Walter Vitali
|Infrastructure policies
|S. Fabbro
|Federico Oliva
|Environment and lanscape policies
|A. Voghera
|Roberto Bobbio
|3 bis
|Environment and lanscape policies
|G. De Luca
|Grazia Brunetta
|Public space policies
|M. Spada
|Paola Viganò
|4 bis
|Public space policies
|M.V. Mininni
|Fabrizio Mangoni
|Security policies
|V. Fabietti
|Scira Menoni
|Urban sprawl policies
|M. Piazzini
|Carlo Gasparrini
|Policies for the reduction of soil consumption
|A. Arcidiacono
|Arturo Lanzani
|Metropolitan policies for the promotion of the society of knowledge and innovation
|M. Talia
|S. Balducci
|European policies in EU countries
|M. Sepe
|Umberto Janin Rivolin
|Social policies
|Camilla Perrone
|Francesco Lo Piccolo
16 SEPTEMBER 2014 Abstract submission (800 characters)
23 SEPTEMBER 2014 communication of Abstract acceptance
20 OCTOBER 2014 final paper submission
The contributions should respect the following formats:
Short text: 8,000 characters including spaces
Short text with 1 image: 6,500 characters including spaces
Long text: 20,000 characters including spaces
Long text: with 1 image: 18,000 characters including spaces
Contributions should be sent at: firstname.lastname@example.com, with indication of the following object: "Author_ VIII INU _Theme X"
The acceptance is based on anonymous evaluation by a Scientific Committee. Following the acceptance of the abstract the authors will receive the author's guidelines.
Round Tables can be organized according with the main Conference topics or other related themes.
The proposal of 500 characters should indicate title, relators and a short abstract.
– 150 EURO for non INU members
– 100 EURO for INU members
– 40 EURO for students (including the inscription to INU)
– 40 EURO for non-author participants
Those who wish to join Inu association during the Study Day will benefit of a reduced registration fee of € 50 (instead of € 75 membership fee).
Methods of payment
The participation fee has to be paid through bank transfer to INU, ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI URBANISTICA – SEZIONE CAMPANIA
Banca CARIPARMA E PIACENZA, Ag. 3 di Napoli
Shift CRPPIT2P464, reason: "VIII Study DAY INU Fee". Evidence of the fee payment must be included in the same email used for final paper submission.
All accepted papers will be published on Urbanistica Informazioni Online journal (with ISSN). 3 Selected papers may be published in the INU journal "Urbanistica".
Scientific Responsible: Francesco Domenico Moccia
Scientific Commettee: Silvia Viviani, Donatella Venti, Sandro Fabbro, Angioletta Voghera, Mario Spada, Valter Fabietti, Maurizio Piazzini, Carlo Alberto Barbieri, Roberto Mascarucci, Marco Cremaschi, Camilla Perrone, Roberto Gerundo, Paolo La Greca, Michele Talia, Andrea Arcidiacono, Marichela Sepe
Organizing Commette: Gilda Berruti, Emanuela Coppola, Michele Grimaldi, Marichela Sepe, Alessandro Sgobbo, Maurizio Russo, Eligio Troisi, Veronica Izzo, Carlo Gerundo, Isidoro Fasolino, Antonio Acierno
Venerdì | friday 12 Dicembre 2014
aula | room SL 4.5
8.30 Registrazione partecipanti | Registrations
9.00 – 11.00 Sessione Plenaria | Plenary
9.00 Saluti | Welcome addresses
Gaetano Manfredi Rettore | Rector Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Mario Losasso Direttore | Head DIARC, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Silvia Viviani Presidente | President INU
9.30 Introduzione della Giornata di Studi | Introduction
Francesco Domenico Moccia Presidente | President INU Camapania
10.00 Comunicazione dei keynote speakers | Keynote speeches
Maria Ludovica Agrò Direttore | Director Agenzia per la coesione e lo sviluppo
Angela Barbanente Vice Presidente | Vice President Regione Puglia
Francesco Lo Piccolo Presidente | President Aesop
11.00 – 13:00 Sessione parallele (2° – 3° – 4° piano / floor) | Parallel Sessions
11.00 – 18.00 Tavole rotonde (2° – 3° – 4° piano / floor) | Round Tables
13.00 – 15:00 Pranzo aula | room SL 3.7 | Lunch
15.00 – 18:00 Sessione parallele (2° – 3° – 4° piano / floor) | Parallel Sessions
18.00 – 19:00 Tavole rotonde finali | Final Round Table
Coordina Silvia Viviani aula | room SL 4.5
Partecipano: W. Vitali, F. Oliva, P. Viganò, R. Bobbio, G. Brunetta, F. Mangoni, S. Menoni, C. Gasparrini
Coordina Michelangelo Russo aula | room SL 4.1
Partecipano: A. Lanzani, S. Balducci, P. Garau, F.Lo Piccolo, P. Gabellini, G. Paba, M. Carta
21.00 Cena sociale | Social Dinner
Sabato | saturday 13 Dicembre 2014
aula | room SL 4.5
9.00 Ricordo di Bernardo Secchi| Lecture in memory of Bernardo Secchi
Paola Viganò
Lettura di brani di Bernardo Secchi | Readings
10.00 – 11:00 Premiazione dei vincitori | Award ceremony
Coordina: Silvia Viviani
Consegnano i premi:
Giuseppe De Luca – sezione monografia | monography
Michelangelo Savino – sezione contributo in libro collettaneo | essay in contributed book
Francesco Sbetti – sezione articolo di rivista | journal article
Marisa Fantin – sezione inedito | unpublished work
11.00 Visite di studio | Field Trips
Media Partner: Planum, the Journal of Urbanism
Download the directions to the venue of the conference and the list of hotels
Download the Call for papers – Booklet


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Does virtual reality technology have the potential to completely reinvent the way we will think of zoos in the near future? According to some groups, the inevitable advancements in technology will make the practice of zoological gardens exhibiting live animals in captivity obsolete. Carole Baskin, CEO and Founder of Big Cat Rescue, seems to also subscribe to that notion.
On Thursday, April 19th, Big Cat Rescue uploaded an 18-minute long video featuring Carole Baskin talking about her experiences surrounding the early days of her "sanctuary". We'll address the statements made regarding that subject at a later date. For now, the primary focus of this article will be on the ambitious plan aimed at changing to zoo industry that Baskin detailed in this video and previously touched upon a few months ago (skip to 3:43).
It's perplexing seeing people supporting zoos while simultaneously defending and funding animal rights organizations hell-bent on shaping society to be against the very idea of zoos. We understand that many people are just completely unaware of those organization's ulterior motives, although, animal rights organizations such as Big Cat Rescue make their agenda painfully obvious (see Facts Supporters of Zoos Should Know About Big Cat Rescue).
Carole Baskin's statements in the video reveal her latest strategy intended to alter the operations of zoos while seeming to also get closer to the end goal of her anti-zoo agenda which involves "the closing of zoos." We took the liberty to transcribe Baskin's plan of action so we can get a better understanding as to what she is trying to convey (emphasis added):
The idea Carole Baskin lays out in her video is problematic to say the least. Don't get us wrong, we have zero problems with zoos choosing to implement virtual reality theaters as a replacement or addition to their big cat exhibits, however, what Baskin has in mind seems to stretch much farther than that.
Imagine for a second that Big Cat Rescue is successful in convincing zoos to replace their exotic cat exhibits with virtual reality theaters. Wouldn't that open the floodgates for other animal rights organizations to start pressuring zoos into replacing more of their animal exhibits? After all, Big Cat Rescue would've paved the way for them to do so.
We're skeptical about the phasing out of animal exhibits in exchange for virtual reality theaters. Would people actually waste money on such a gimmick when they could just watch a documentary from the comfort of their home or purchase a virtual reality headset of their own?
If Carole Baskin is so confident in virtual reality exhibits then shouldn't she lead by example by no longer exhibiting her cats? Surely she plans on implementing the virtual reality exhibits at her own facility, right?
March 2020


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Letters to the editor, Dec. 9
It's been heartwarming here in cold New England to see the super job that Nancy Bechtle and the Presidio Trust Board is doing to vet the Crissy Field plans ("Major setback for Lucas' bold Presidio plan," Nov. 22).
I grew up in San Francisco, and whenever I return, I take the opportunity to take my friends to the Presidio. Trust me, no one goes there to see a monument to George Lucas. Keep up the great work.
John Sinton, Florence, Mass.
Don't build it
Lost in the debate about the proposals for the Presidio's Crissy Field is this:
Why have there been so many proposals for very large construction projects in the Presidio of San Francisco? First, George Lucas' giant office park near the Lombard Gate, then Don Fisher's proposal for a glass and steel art museum in the center of a historic district, the proposals for a multiplex theater and for a hotel-convention center, also in the Main Post, and now the idea of Lucas' demand for a Walmart-size structure to showcase his private art collection.
The idea of saving the Presidio as a national park was to protect it from development, so why all the building? Add to this mix the tear-down and proposed tear-down of historic buildings, the lack of such things as an Army museum or history center, and we'll get something that once was the Presidio crowded with big ugly boxes.
The Presidio Trust (an ill-named organization if ever there was one) acts more like a redevelopment agency than a park service. Any way we can get rid of this bunch, and give the Presidio back to the National Park Service?
Here's a proposal: Build nothing.
James Hartman, Santa Rosa
Mandela and Iraq war
If we really want to honor Nelson Mandela, let's listen to what he has to tell us and take action to bring the perpetrators of the Iraq war to justice. Here he is, speaking in Cape Town in 2004: "We live in a world where there is enough reason for cynicism and despair," Mandela, a fierce critic of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, told Parliament. "We watch as two of the leading democracies, two leading nations of the free world, get involved in a war that the United Nations did not sanction," adding that the world had been horrified by reports of torture of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. and British forces.
"We see how the powerful countries, all of them so-called democracies, manipulate multilateral bodies to the great disadvantage and suffering of the poorer developing nations."
David Romano, San Francisco
Guns and civilization
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn. (Dec. 14), I would like to congratulate our leadership in Washington, D.C, and, specifically, the GOP-controlled House, for its failure to pass meaningful gun-control legislation. Since the Newtown tragedy, over 24,000 gun-related deaths along with more than 17 mass shootings have occurred in our nation, yet nothing is done on the federal level.
In addition, state legislators who have demonstrated the courage to enact gun legislation have been targeted by the NRA ("Gun advocates push to recall state legislators," Oct. 25) and in Colorado, for example, recalled from office.
And we call ourselves civilized. Really?
Al Comolli, Millbrae
Committed to preserving port history
I would like to thank John King for his interest in the port's reconstruction of the fire-damaged Pier 29 bulkhead building on the Embarcadero ("A faux history helps set mood," Dec. 1).
While it is true that the reconstruction included the use of plywood, this material was necessary to provide improved structural strength. What's lost in his story is the port's commitment to preserving its maritime history and the role Pier 29 played as the home of the Luckenbach Gulf Steamship Co., and as part of the transformation of the waterfront in the early 1900s to respond to the opportunities created by construction of the Panama Canal. Likewise, the 2013 reconstruction of Pier 29 and construction of a new cruise terminal at Pier 27 within 10 months transformed this portion of the waterfront to accommodate the 34th Americas Cup Village.
Further, the reconstruction project followed the nationally recognized secretary of the interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. These standards guided the faithful re-creation of the piers' historic appearance while incorporating technologies that meet contemporary fire, public safety and disabled-access requirements. The project received a California Preservation Foundation award in September for its excellence for reconstruction.
Mark Paez, preservation coordinator,
Port of San Francisco


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Strade Bianche 2016.
On 5 and 6 March, Crete Senesi region, will host the Northern Classical further south in Europe
The Strade Bianche 2016 cycling competition is now in its tenth edition for men and the second for women.
Organized by RCS Sport / La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Strade Bianche 2016 together with the Eroica (which take place on October 2nd ) is among the most important and famous cycling competitions all over the world.
On Saturday, March 5 will be held the men and the women competition, who opened the new Women's World Tour; on Sunday 6 will instead take place the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche.
The three races start at Siena. For the pros' race is the first time that starts from the city: in previous years, in fact, the departure was from Gaiole in Chianti and San Gimignano.
For men, women and amateurs, the starting point is from the Fortress in Siena and you will arrive in Piazza del Campo.
The way men of the March 5 consists of 176 kilometers 9 sectors and 52.8 kilometers of gravel roads.
The way women is 121 km, 7 sectors and 22.4 kilometers of gravel roads.
Fans can take advantage of an entire weekend of cycling, culture and good Tuscan food.
The beautiful roads of Val d'Orcia region and le Crete are the scenary of this biking competition!
For more information about the event and the participation fee, check the website www.gfstradebianche.it
Borgo Grondaie is a Bike Hotel in Siena and It is able to offer numberous services and facilities to Bikers coming to Tuscany both for holidays and competitions!
We are waiting for you on this event of sport, culture and traditions!
Published by Hotel Siena Borgo Grondaie