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This LightCMS release brings you two exciting changes. These are a new, streamlined text editor and a redesigned media manager. Keep reading to learn more about these great new features.Text EditorThe new text editor gives you the same important features you're accustomed to with a streamlined design, yet familiar approach to WYSIWYG editing.
Tag, you're it, or at least your products are! This release of LightCMS brings you a new Tag List layout to the Product Listing element. Also in this release is a List with Summary view for the Calendar element and a new responsive design.
There's no better way to kick off the new year than by bringing you two frequently-requested updates to the calendar element: featured image and thumbnail image. This release also brings you a new responsive design and a new, SEO-friendly naming technique for image file names. Keep reading to learn more about what you will find in this release.
As 2015 draws to its close, we're excited to bring you our final features release of the year. This release contains two new features that can simplify styling in certain areas of your site. These include the option to apply CSS classes to individual elements and the ability to set dimensions for gallery thumbnail images.
Thanksgiving is just a week away and this LightCMS release brings you several new features to be thankful for. These include list ordering for blog and calendar elements and several new store user credit card options. Keep reading to learn more.
Halloween is less than a week away and have we got a treat for you! This release brings you an awesome new feature that lets you customize the look of your checkout page. Keep reading to learn more.
Let's imagine for a moment that you're one of the lucky designers. You've managed to navigate a large design project and you're close to delivering the final site. It's integrated with a CMS, and the client is going to take over from here on out.
The end of summer is now just a few short weeks away, but our end of summer feature spree is in full swing. Round two of the spree brings you a page publishing option, an updated design manager, and a new ecommerce template. Keep reading to learn more.
It's hard to believe that summer is nearly over. Since this is typically the time of year where we re-focus and start anticipating the fall and winter months, we thought we'd end the summer with a feature spree! Here's how it'll work: We will have a total of three releases in September.
This release of LightCMS brings you a couple of often-requested, awesome new features! Global Elements give you the ability to share an element across pages by adding the element token to the template, and the secure login feature is now controlled at the site level instead of the account level. Keep reading to learn more about these features and the other things you'll find in this release.
This release of LightCMS brings a highly requested new feature: Plan Builder, which lets you create up to 5 unique pricing plans. This release also includes the Blog Post featured image. Keep reading to learn more about these two exciting new features and what else you will find in this release.
This LightCMS release brings an exciting new feature that lets you add visual interest to your blog lists: blog thumbnail images. This release also brings a new default LightCMS template and the introduction of the LightCMS Developer Plan Starter program. Keep reading to learn more.
This release of LightCMS brings exciting new changes to Checkout and the Form Builder as well as two new fully responsive designs. Keep reading to learn more about what you'll find in this release. Responsive Checkout For quite some time you've enjoyed responsive design on your website pages and in your web store.
As children, we learn the importance of passwords. Who doesn't remember playing as a child and asking "What's the password?" before granting permission to enter a room, a clubhouse, or even a password protected page. What?
Elements are the keys to LightCMS's simple-to-use content management system. From the beginning, we built LightCMS with an "edit in place" approach, using toolbars that overlay the various editable pieces of content on a site. It's one of the things that sets us apart from most other dashboard-based systems.
What you see is what you get, but just wait until you see what all it includes! In case you can't tell, we're super excited to bring an updated WYSIWYG editor to the LightCMS content management system. This updated editor provides you with many new features, enhancements and some improvements to existing features.
As the old adage says: There is no such thing as a free lunch. But we say: Who needs a free lunch when you have free shipping! This release includes two new free shipping methods for your LightCMS online store plus more available currencies for Stripe and a whole lot more.
We're excited to announce several highly-requested blog features and we know you're going to love them as well! These features add functionality to give you greater control of when blog posts are published as well as customization ability and additional SEO related enhancements. Here's more detail about each of the features coming in our 2014.6 release.
We're pleased to announce a major security enhancement coming to the LightCMS platform. On June 2nd, we'll roll out the FTP Secure protocol for connecting with your LightCMS website via FTP. LightCMS has always provided FTP access to ensure you can work the way you want when designing websites on our platform.
We're very pleased to kick off this week and this month with some very exciting new features. The first of these is a very highly-requested addition that will be a fantastic benefit for LightCMS customers and for our design partners and their clients. Take a look below to check out everything that's new.
Today, we're pleased to announce that we've added ten new, responsive designs to the LightCMS system. As always, these designs are available to be used on any LightCMS website at no extra charge. They are customizable through our built in Design Editor and advanced users can even download their source code to use them as starting points for their own designs.
We're excited to announce another major feature addition to the LightCMS platform. We're calling it Digital Goods and it's one of the features most requested by our LightCMS customers. We know you're going to love the seamless integration of Digital Goods with LightCMS's robust and simple-to-use online store functionality.
We're excited to announce some changes to the LightCMS pricing plans that we know you're going to love. These have been in the works for many months and we're pleased to finally bring them your way. There's a lot to cover here so please take a moment to read all the way through this announcement to discover everything that's new.
Ever since we introduced our store functionality in 2011, LightCMS has been working hard to simplify the challenge of accepting credit card payments on the web. Today, we're announcing another big step forward with one-step credit card set up through Stripe. It's no longer necessary to establish a merchant account outside of LightCMS.
Twitter recently released a new opportunity for website owners to enhance the way their content is displayed when it is shared on Twitter. It's called Twitter Cards and today we're announcing automated integration of Twitter Card tags for every website on the LightCMS platform.
We're excited to tell you about a couple of new features that went live today. First, we've added built-in support for Facebook Comments to our blog platform. Second, we've expanded the capabilities of our own Magic Drop technology, released last month.
Everyone loves magic, and we've got a new trick of our own to share with you today. We're calling it Magic Drop Technology and it's live and running on your LightCMS website right now. Drop Files.
Back in May, we officially designated the summer season as LightCMS's Summer of Love, promising to deliver wave after wave of new features and to fill the world with immeasurable laughter and delight. Now the Summer of Love has come to an end and we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all that has been accomplished. We're still trying to determine if our levels of laughter and delight were truly immeasurable.
Cool winds are a-blowin' and summer is all but a memory now. Yet, we're still squeezing more features into the great Summer of Love before it winds down completely. On Tuesday October 9, 2012, we'll be adding a few new niceties to the platform.
This week, we've rolled out a couple new features we'd like to tell you about. One adds functionality to the built-in LightCMS Design Editor and the other adds options for those who code their own designs. Check out the details below.
We're excited to bring another fantastic, mobile-friendly, responsive design to the LightCMS platform. Slate is our newest addition and it's available at no cost inside your LightCMS account. Check out images and more details below.
The winds of change are in the air and summer is winding down, but we're cranking out as many features as we can before the great Summer of Love comes to an end. Today, we've got an amazing new addition that we know you're going to love. Introducing powerful new image editing and effects built right into the LightCMS Image Element.
We've updated three of our freely-available LightCMS designs to comply with our mobile-friendly, responsive approach. Devon-Cornerway, Devon-Poster, and Devon-Verdure have been a part of our system for some time, but they have been completely re-engineered to offer a fully-responsive design experience that adjusts dynamically and looks great on any device from smartphones to tablets to high-resolution displays. Check out the designs in the screenshots below.
This week, we're adding two new mobile-friendly, responsive designs to the LightCMS platform plus a nice little feature on the LightCMS store. Check out the designs and the details below. Two New Designs Spread and Vanity are the names of two new designs now available inside your LightCMS account (see screenshots above).
The temperatures have dropped below 100 degrees but the Summer of Love is still going strong. Last week we slipped in a nice addition that we wanted to point out. It's the ability to add meta description content to blog posts and calendar events.
Properly displaying images on websites has always been a challenge that LightCMS has worked to make as simple as possible. Now, with new devices and screen resolutions such as retina displays the challenge is even greater. We're up to the task, though, and today we're announcing a new element that puts LightCMS customers even further ahead of the curve.
That's right, this week is so hot we're rolling out two great updates in just a few days. Monday, we told you about the new ESC Hotkey and today we're excited to introduce you to LightCMS's new mobile-friendly default template, now with a fully responsive design optimized for display on iPad, iPhone, Android and more. The New, Responsive Haus Template Haus has been the default design for LightCMS for about six months, and today we're giving it a significant upgrade.
Holy moly! Temperatures in our neck of the woods are expected to hit 109 degrees today. The Summer of Love keeps on rolling and the features keep on flowing.
We love you. Really, we do. And this summer, we're expressing our love by rolling out hot new LightCMS features week after week.
Another sizzling-hot week, another sizzling-hot feature. That's how we roll with the Summer of Love. This week, we've got some new goodies for those of you who like to code and tweak and tinker with your own designs on LightCMS.
Another hot new release is rolling out today as a part of LightCMS's Summer of Love. We're bringing even more love to the blog element with blog Pingbacks, which launched this morning. Existing blog elements will have Pingbacks disabled by default so that nothing will change for current blogs.
The Summer of Love train stopped briefly at the July 4th station this week, but we're roaring down the tracks again with the release of enhanced mobile support for all our photo galleries! What's New? Our photo galleries and product detail pages now support an upgraded lightbox overlay experience.
Things are heating up here at LightCMS headquarters. The temperature outside broke 100 degrees this week and the Summer of Love is in full swing. Today, we're bringing more love to the party with an update of the LightCMS Page Bar which includes one click access to the LightCMS Design Editor from any page on your site.
Love is in the air. Can you feel it? This week we're bringing a whole lotta love to the LightCMS blog element with a very highly-requested feature we know you're going to love.
The Summer of Love continues here at LightCMS and this time, it's our built-in store functionality that's getting a little love with new, improved ways to display your product options. Thus far, all product options have been combined into a single dropdown list on a product's detail page. So, if you have a shirt that comes in three colors and each color has four sizes, customers have to select from a single dropdown menu displaying every possible variant of the product.
As we mentioned a week or so ago, this summer is special for LightCMS. It's the Summer of Love — a summer full of new features for the LightCMS platform. And though it's technically not quite summer yet, we're kicking things off this week with a new release, scheduled for Wednesday, June 6th.
In the summer of 1967, tens of thousands of people descended on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco defining the hippie revolution during a season we now know as the Summer of Love. 45 years later, LightCMS is setting out to accomplish pretty much the same thing, except instead of all those people and the revolution and what not, we're going to be adding a ton of new features to our software. Welcome to LightCMS's Summer of Love!
Yesterday, we rolled out the last major piece of the LightCMS Design Editor — background image editing. We began phasing in the Design Editor a couple of months ago and this update marks the last phase of that rollout. For a refresher on the Design Editor itself, check out our previous announcement of the Design Editor.
Another phase of our design area enhancement is rolling out this week. The Developer Role will allow LightCMS account owners to grant design-management capabilities to other users of their website. Businesses and organizations will be able to allow multiple staff members to have access to design controls.
We're continuing the roll out of design changes we began last month with a complete overhaul of the LightCMS Design Section. This release presents a stunning user interface that makes managing your designs so much easier. The update paves the way for the new Developer Role (coming soon) which will permit account owners to allow users of their choosing to access the Design Section controls.
We've got a new feature coming to the LightCMS platform. It's called the Store Manager role and it will allow you to grant store management capabilities to non-admin users on any website. Previously, users could not access the store management pages or manage product listings unless they were given the Administrator role, which gave them access to the entire website.
Today, I want to take a closer look at the new LightCMS Design Editor, which we began rolling out last week. The Design Editor offers the opportunity to make changes to the design of a LightCMS website without editing any code. The Design Editor works out of the box with all of LightCMS's built-in designs.
Today, we're excited to announce a groundbreaking new addition to LightCMS — the new Design Editor. This new tool makes design customization accessible to everyone, even to web novices, with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editing interface anyone can use. Using the new design editor, you can easily modify and customize any of our built-in website designs with simple to use tools.
We're very excited to announce that the next generation of our toolbar interface will be rolling out on the LightCMS platform next week. The completely redesigned interface takes the user experience on LightCMS to a whole new level. We know you are going to love this upgrade.
We rolled a big improvement out the door and down the steps today, one that's been in the testing bay for a couple months. Wide Open Field The image editor is the most apparent improvement you'll see when you interact with the text editor. You'll be welcomed with a larger, cleaner canvas to work on when you click the "Image Editor" icon.
Last week we rolled out an additional payment feature for the LightCMS store. PayPal Express Checkout can now be enabled alongside PayPal Website Payments Pro. Enabling Express Checkout with your Payments Pro integration means that your customers will be given a choice to "Check out with PayPal" or to check out using the built-in payment process. If they click the "Check out with PayPal" button, users will be taken to PayPal's website where they will login and review their transaction befo...
Every December about this time, we like to take a look back and reflect on all that has happened with LightCMS over the previous year. It's always fun for me to peruse a year's worth of blog posts and remember just how much can happen in a twelve month period. 2011 has been another groundbreaking year for LightCMS.
We released a nifty new feature today. It's the "Archive By Year" blog skin. We've had our "Archive By Month" blog skin for awhile, but for blogs that may not post as frequently, dividing posts up into months isn't always ideal.
Another addition to our list of supported payment processors went live this week. Now you can accept credit card payments through your LightCMS store via PayPal's Website Payments Pro. Pro vs.
The LightCMS store just got even better. We've added two new payment processors to the mix, giving you and your clients even more options when it comes to how you receive payments through your store. Take a look at what's new below.
Earlier this week, we released an exciting new feature to the LightCMS store that we know you are going to love. We wanted to take a minute to give you the details, so take a look at what's new below. Carrier-Calculated Shipping for Your Store You can now tie-in with Fedex, UPS and USPS to have your store calculate shipping rates in real time.
We released a major upgrade to LightCMS today. This upgrade is an all-out assault on spam comments and it gives you more control over all comments left on your sites. Here's a look at what's new. The New Comment Control Menu Every comment on your blog now has its own control menu.
Today we're releasing a major new addition to the LightCMS Store -- Discount Codes! This feature is already live and running inside your LightCMS account. To set up discount codes, log in to your site and click Store on the top toolbar, then select Settings -> Discount Codes.
UPDATE (8/10/2011) - After working with our new infrastructure for several hours on our live system, we determined it was not meeting our high standards of performance and, therefore, we have reverted back to our original configuration. We are keeping the storage limit increases and the transaction fee changes discussed in this article, but the infrastructure improvements discussed here have been postponed. We're rolling out some big improvements to our pricing plans as well as a major system in...
If you haven't tried out the new online store, you're really missing out on some of the best features of LightCMS. Plus, it's so easy to get started, there's really no reason not to give it a try. To help point you in the right direction, here's a little overview of the amazingly easy process of adding products to a LightCMS website. In any editable region, click on "add element," scroll to "product listing" in the drop down menu, and hit the "add" button.
Yesterday we launched several key improvements to our online store functionality. The main goal was to make several parts of the tax and shipping setup faster and more intuitive. Before the update, we felt that the system in place wasn't as easy to use as it could be.
Earlier this week we updated our WYSIWYG feature demonstration video. You can check out the new version here. For consistency, we decided to replace Tim's melodious voice over with the same voice over talent heard on our other, more recent LightCMS videos.
As part of our free designer program, LightCMS offers a selection of marketing scripts which can be used on your own website to promote the CMS. Two of these scripts, the features script and the pricing script, will be receiving updates related to the addition of the LightCMS online store. Usually, we make updates to these scripts behind the scenes without any announcement, but because these are more significant changes, we wanted to give you a little advanced notice.
Along with the unveiling of our online store yesterday, we also mentioned that we would be launching a revamped design viewer. The design viewer is a white-label resource we make available to LightCMS Designers to easily show off the available free templates in the system. You can see the current version of the design viewer here. We wanted to let you know that we'll be launching the new design viewer at the same link on Tuesday, June 14th.
The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived — your complete, fully-integrated online store is here! And while that development alone is huge, it's not the only thing we're launching today. Allow us take a moment to go over some of the great things we've released and what we're planning for the future.
The launch of the new LightCMS Online Store is less than a week away and things are going well. We're so excited to bring these new features to you and we know you're going to love the new functionality they add to each LightCMS website. To help you get ready for the big release, I wanted to offer a few details on a new design token we'll be adding to the system to support the integration of shopping cart functionality into your designs.
By now you are likely aware of the LightCMS Store coming on June 8, 2011. If you need a refresher, please see our announcement post from last week. We're very excited to bring you these new features, but we recognize that some of our customers may want control over whether or not the store features are enabled on their clients' websites.
For months we've been telling you we're working on something huge. It's so big, in fact, we've given it a code name: "Project Tuscany." Now, it's time for the big reveal. We're so excited about this we can hardly stand it.
A new feature rolled out the door with this week's updates. It's actually a frequently-requested feature, and we're happy to now bring to you. As of yesterday, when you add a new page, you can set the page as hidden right on the "Add a new page" screen.
This week's system upgrades bring a couple of visual enhancements we wanted to draw your attention to. First off, the Page Manager tool has received a face lift. The new look of the page management tree is more pleasing to the eye and easier to navigate.
Today's regular weekly update included a few handy new features. Take a look below at what's new. Improved insert media tool automatically embeds all types of content from across the web We've updated what we formerly termed the "insert video" tool in the WYSIWYG editor with more functionality.
Next week, we'll be launching a new CMS feature that is one of the most often-requested by our users and of particular help to our international customers. We'll be adding the ability for you to set the format for dates and times used in system-generated content across your websites. As a part of this release, we'll be standardizing the format of date and time strings as well.
This week's software upgrade rolled out a ton of "behind-the-scenes" funtionality as well as one great new feature for you and your clients. This new feature makes it easier than ever for your clients to set up their sites to work with Google Analytics. Visit the Advanced tab under Website Settings, you'll see a new field titled "Google Analytics" (see image below).


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Somewhere in all of this, I've lost the urge to eat breakfast. Most mornings, I'd much rather sleep, run and/or shower in the cool, fleeting morning hours than take the time to prepare something, then sit and eat it. And by the time I've dealt with my morning list and fed and prepped everyone else, there is rarely time for that anyway. So my smoothie streak continues! And I've been really loving it.
I'm still following and super inspired by this raw vegan Australian Instagrammer and have been totally tantalized by all of her fruity breakfast creations, such as this lovely little number...
|Frozen banana blended with dried cranberry powder and topped with coconut flakes.
|Blended watermelon and ice.
|Watermelon beet juice on tap.
|Watermelon, straight up!
SMJ Summer Smoothie
Makes a quart-sized smoothie which, in my case, serves 1*
2 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
1 cup frozen organic strawberries
1 cup coconut water
2 mint leaves, roughly torn
1) Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. If you are going to make this last the morning, add a few ice cubes after blending.
*I've found that the key to making a smoothie breakfast last me the whole busy morning is to make a really massive one. A quart or more of fruit is an incredible way to start the day! I take this breakfast from the kitchen, to the shower, to the car...
To chasing dudes on to the baseball diamond.
It's a watermelon winner.

subset: commoncrawl


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Man on the street: To date or not to date
Published August 21, 2003 in issue #0233 of The Hook
What's the best pickup line?
Adam Kron: "Have you seen the latest pirates movie? It's rated Arrrrrrr."
Katie Donaldson: "You can Pokemon if I can Pikachu."
Donnell Norman: "He says: 'Did it hurt?' She says: 'When?' He says: 'When you fell down from heaven.'"
Where's the most romantic place to take a date?
John Thomas and Barbara Nolan: "L'avventura or Metro"
Kimberly Pennock: "McGuffey Park"
Mark Deaton: "The Depot restaurant in Staunton"
What's the worst date you've had?
Scott Fennessey: "We met for drinks at Mono Loco, and she told me her dog had almost died because she'd taken it in to be castrated, and it had almost bled to death. Then she said she wanted to move to Manhattan, and wanted to know how much money I made."
Stewart Mart: "An AOL personals thing. We chatted online, then met for lunch. We didn't click."
Cordell Fortune: "I went out with a girl, and she had a seizure in the restaurant. It kind of freaked me out."


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Coyotes beat Oilers 3-1
David Moss and Boyd Gordon each had a goal and an assist as the Phoenix Coyotes stayed firmly in the playoff picture with a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Antoine Vermette also scored for the Coyotes, 5-1-2 in their last eight games. They sit in ninth place in the Western Conference, one point back of the idle Detroit Red Wings for the final playoff berth.
Nail Yakupov responded for the Oilers, who are sliding out of contention, having lost four in a row. They trail Detroit by four points.
Phoenix and Edmonton each have eight games remaining.
Phoenix got a gift goal to start the second period, scoring just 37 seconds in. Gordon sent what should have been a harmless shot on net from the corner that would have gone wide had it not hit Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk and deflected in.
Dubnyk was directly responsible for giving the Coyotes a 2-0 lead midway into the second period as well. The goalie went to play a puck behind the net and got tangled up before sending the puck straight out in front to the stick of Vermette. He put home his ninth of the year.
It was Yakupov's turn to make an awful Oilers giveaway late in the second period. He coughed up the puck at his own blue line, giving Moss a shorthanded breakaway. Moss had Dubnyk beaten with a nifty deke, but hit the post.
Edmonton finally got onto the scoreboard as Ryan Smyth's shot caromed off the leg of Phoenix's Michael Stone. Yakupov was able to redeem himself for his earlier gaffe by batting in his 10th to make it 2-1.
Phoenix put the game away with a power-play goal from Moss with 9 seconds left in regulation time.
NOTES: It was the third and final meeting between the teams this season, with Edmonton capturing the first two. Yakupov's overtime goal gave Edmonton a 2-1 win in Phoenix in January, and the Oilers made it two in a row over Phoenix with a 3-2 shootout win on a goal by Sam Gagner in February. ... Edmonton came into the game having lost 10 of the previous 13 to the Coyotes despite this year's successes. ... After a five-point night against Calgary on April 3, Oilers forward Taylor Hall was held pointless for his team's next three games. ... Oilers forward Ales Hemsky returned after missing his team's last game with a foot injury. Ryan Jones was scratched to make room. ... Phoenix defenseman Zbynek Michalek returned from an ankle injury. Forward Lauri Korpikoski remained day to day with an upper body injury.


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Hong Kong SAR
What you need to know before you go
Hong Kong is a truly cosmopolitan city in Asia, attracting people from every continent to its busy and bustling streets. Lively, exciting and striking from any angle, the contrasts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories could not be starker. Hong Kong might be a full-on working town, but its entertainment options are as wild as they are diverse.
Hong Kong is also one of the largest shopping hubs in the world, which might present you with a challenge: just how to fit in all the best retail outlets in time – the same goes for the fabulous choice of dining. City-wide, you'll be amazed at the nightlife options and how the city transforms once the sun sets. There are so many things to see and do, so take enough time to get to know this fascinating destination before planning a vacation at one of Asia's most vibrant cities.
Top destinations in Hong Kong SARWhere will you go next?
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Island, located south of Hong Kong, is the state's historical, political and economic center. The central district of the island is where you can find towering skyscrapers housing international businesses and financial offices, while the northern area forms the southern side of Victoria Harbour, which is largely responsible for the development of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Island is also home to many attractions – you can visit Man Mo Temple (the oldest Buddhist shrine in the city), hike Victoria Peak or Dragon's Back Hike for panoramic views of the city, and enjoy impressive light-and-sound shows at Hong Kong's A Symphony of Lights. There are 6 MTR lines connecting Hong Kong Island to the rest of the state, making it easy for travelers looking to explore neighboring districts, such as Kowloon, Causeway Bay, and the New Territories.Read more
Cheung Chau
Lantau Island
New Territories


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Strolling easily from one side of the stage to the other, Deepak Chopra addresses the 2,000 members of his audience as if speaking in a face-to-face conversation with each person in the room.
"People who feel self-power are immune to criticism," he says. "They look at it as useful feedback, negative or passive. They're willing to take risks because they believe in their vision."
The planners of the Pershing Insite 2012 business conference had invited him to speak Thursday on the topic of "The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness." As the author of 18 New York Times best sellers on human empowerment, he is certainly qualified to speak about the topic of leadership. Indeed, Kyle Stock for The Wall Street Journal last year picked Chopra's book, also titled "The Soul of Leadership," as one of the nation's five best business books.
But never mind all that. Deepak Chopra is here to speak to you. And you. And you.
"A true leader is the soul of a collective consciousness," he says, and we are all storytellers of our hopes and wishes, heroic strivers of mythological dimensions. "A good story is the story of the hero's quest, and a good story starts with a dream."
Martin Luther King had a dream, Chopra reminds us, not an individual dream, but a collective vision. We are, each of us on this planet whirling in space, sharing that vision, and some of us—the leaders—are agents for change and transformation. Chopra won't get into politics, but it seems obvious to him that President Obama is one such agent of change whose dream is only now beginning to be expressed by the collective consciousness.
Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Facebook, Twitter, the Arab Spring, money, religion, relationships. All create a synchronicity of crisis and opportunity, and out of the chaos emerges the new hive mind of human belief systems and social networks. So, too, do great leaders emerge and shape the reality we perceive.
Great leaders ask themselves the big mythical questions: Who am I? What do I want? Who are the heroes and mentors we can learn from? Great leaders are oriented toward relationship building, toward creating a soul identity that projects itself outward with love, kindness and compassion. Great leaders make their own good luck by being aware—present in the moment—and they are fundamentally happy people.
Chopra reminisces about the time when he was a child growing up in India, and his mother took him to a street demonstration in support of Jawaharlal Nehru, the man who led India out of British imperialism and into sovereign independence. Nehru looked directly at Chopra's mother, took a rose from his lapel, and threw the flower to the beautiful woman in a pink sari. The crowd gasped, his mother collected the symbol of Indian independence to her bosom, and Chopra realized at that very moment that his mother was the leader of her house (even if it was his militaryman father who had all the ribbons and medals).
"Well-being is the one thing that predicts everything. The economy, social unrest, conflict, hospital admissions, financial institutions—all are driven by the world's level of well being," says Chopra, a fit 65-year-old who practices yoga, meditates and surrounds himself with the emotional support of family and friends. "Suffering is the best predictor of chaos, more than GDP or any other predictor."
Great leaders are charismatic, Deepak Chopra tells us, and the hive mind of this audience of 2,000 souls, following his every word and move as he roams about the stage, can see clearly now that the man himself is a leader of great charisma.
The day he spoke at Insite, Chopra posted a photo of himself at the conference on the "picture of the day" page of his website. In short order, he received dozens of comments from admirers, one of whom summed up the adoration that Chopra inspires: "Guru, you are just amazing."
Read Power in Practice: A Coaching Program to Last a Career from the May issue of Investment Advisor magazine at AdvisorOne.


text: Posters – IBC Top 10 Tips IBC's Top 10 tips highlight steps families can take to help protect themselves, their homes, businesses and vehicles. Click on the posters below to download the PDF and save a copy for your home and/or office. Know Your Policy Cyber Security Disaster Recovery What to Do After Disaster Strikes Fraud PreventionCyber Fraud and Online Identity Theft Get the Alberta Facts Auto & Road SafetyBack to School Cycle Safety Road Safety For a Safe Motorcyle Ride Auto Insurance Fraud Lock It or Lose It Distracted Driving Rail Safety Week Winter Driving Holiday Driving HomeHo Ho Home Safety Reasons to have Tenants Insurance Vacay Prep Opening the Cottage Reducing Risk of Water Damage Spring Cleaning for Home and Car Melting Snow and Ice Fire Prevention Daylight Savings Halloween Safety Winterizing Your HomeBusinessSmall Business Owners DisasterShakeOutBC Preparing for an Earthquake Hurricane Preparedness Emergency Preparedness Week Emergency Preparation Avoiding Slips, Trips and Falls Insurance 101Financial Literacy FAQs inter Woes and Insurance


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Judy Blume is still standing up for kids
It's been five years since Judy Blume published a book, but the legendary children's and young adult writer is back in the news thanks to "Tiger Eyes," the first movie adaptation of Blume's work, directed by her son Lawrence. Rookie magazine caught up with Blume to talk about the movie, and interviewer Jamia Wilson and Blume worked their way around to a subject that Blume's made a priority in recent years: not just speaking to teen-agers' experiences in her novels but standing up for their rights to read books that challenge them, even if the content makes adults around them uncomfortable.
"They wanted to remove 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' from a middle school library near Chicago. I met kids who were defending the book the week before I saw you. I met them on Saturday afternoon and Monday night they had to present [their case] in front of the school board," Blume told Wilson. "The kids won the vote to retain the book -- I think it was six to one."
It makes sense that an author who recognizes that children and young adults grapple with questions of faith, menstruation and masturbation, debilitating phobias, and extreme and disturbing misbehavior by their siblings would also recognize children as independent actors and support them, even and especially when it means challenging adults' assumptions about what's kid-friendly. "I always say that censors don't come near you unless they know kids like your books," Blume told Wilson. "They're not sitting there reading all of the books. They are waiting until they find out if kids like it first."
We don't hear a ton about book-burners these days, but that doesn't mean concerned parents aren't trying to get books removed from curricula and school libraries. Earlier this year, a Fairfax County, Va., mother tried to get Toni Morrison's "Beloved" out of her high school senior's English class; Chicago Public Schools removed Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoir "Persepolis" from the seventh-grade reading lists on the grounds that the torture sequences were too intense; and a Northville, Mich., woman complained to her school system that "Anne Frank" was "pornographic" (the school disagreed).
Parents are always going to be anxious over how fast their children grow up. It's easy to dismiss these people as loons, but it's smarter for kids, school systems, and writers alike to instead try to make them understand that a book isn't going to blindside a child with ugliness or pain. Instead, encountering something tough on the page lets kids know that they aren't alone in their troubles -- or makes them more ready for the realities that are coming for them as an inevitable part of growing up, no matter how hard their parents try to protect them. As Parker Posey's bookstore clerk told Louie last season, as he searched for a good read for his daughter: "Some of these books will let her take these feelings, these emotions, out for a safe kind of spin." Blume's support for kids who are fighting for their rights to read isn't just about respecting them as readers. It's about preparing them to be citizens.


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Police: $32K in Electronics Stolen From Sioux Falls House
Sioux Falls police are looking for suspects in a big-time theft discovered over the weekend in a house that was ready for sale.
Officer Sam Clemens says the theft was discovered by a real estate agent on Sunday in the house in the 300 block of West Devitt Drive.
He says the thief or thieves forced their way in and took a washer and dryer and a surround-sound system.
Clemens says the washer and dryer were valued at $800, and the electronics, including speakers, sub-woofers, a surround-sound receiver, amplifier and a power center, were valued at around $32,000.
Clemens says the theft is believed to have occurred sometime between Wednesday and Sunday.


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Nagisa Ni te | GEOG11 | Released: 01/01/02
Songs For A Simple Moment was conceived as a retrospective of the music of Shinji Shibayama and the two great groups he has led - The Hallelujahs (1985 / 88), and since 1992, Nagisa Ni te, a co-venture with his partner Masako Takeda. These two projects, alongside Shibuyama's sterling work for the legendary Osaka based record label Org (Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Naoki Zushi) place him absolutely at the vanguard of a type of Japanese music which is sometimes referred to as folk-psyche. The Shibayama (and Takeda) variation is particularly beautiful, characterised by honesty and emotional nakedness, and by complex melodic structures and fragile vocals, which often give way to incredible soaring guitar solos. In Japan, Nagisa Ni Te's music is on the ascendance and a new album, Feel has just been released.
Limited number of vinyl copies now back in stock.
GEOG11CD | Geographic | Out nowAdd to cart: £9.99
- 01. Wonder
- 02. The True Sun (Previously Unreleased Live Version)
- 03. Me, On The Beach
- 04. Elegy To Betrayal
- 05. Star (Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix)
- 06. They
- 07. I'll Follow Soon, No Matter Where You Are (Previously Unreleased Demo)
- 08. I'm Not Green (Previously Unreleased Alternate Version)
- 09. The True World (Previously Unreleased Live Version)
- 10. Far Cry


text:
Everyone who DMs Bolsillos every single game on the sploder website will be promoted to lieutenant!
haha yeah
I know right!
But still it would be intresting to meet the ten year old version of u
I could act like it if you want
Normally, I'd plead with you not to, but I won't judge. I was absolutely toxic at that age. I suppose I still am. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It is what it is.
It honestly be great.Seeing how much you changed!Im the same no matter what age!!
Like now currently your very serious and hate that kind of stuff but before you loved it.What made you change ?
change what?I think he meant me, I am the sarcastic pushover ghost while ur a whiny little kidI will seal you again if you continueFine...
Dont understand what your saying even if I meant you.Btw I was talking to crazykitty sorry.
Oh sorry I have this inner ghost that WONT SHUT UP!blah blah blah...See?...
I'm FinnzAnd I'm KyleTogether we are One person.
How odd
Ik, It's like im talking to myself lol
it is...
You just need a bit of imagination, that's all
You know, I'm not sure what exactly this thread is supposed to be.
no u
Our imagination is limitless... I live in another dimension called the Pencilverse, Everything made by a single universal pencil. Isn't that creative enough?...
Let's just change the name of this thread to "The Ethan and Finn Thread" already, please.
no, not really
You are dead from inside... Welcome to my world, hehe
Your world? i'll pass, the pencilverse sounds like when teachers invent a weapon to stab students
Page created in 0.076 seconds with 25 queries.
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text:
A surreal RPG with a unique graphical style and droll scenario.
Tags in descending order of votes.
Votes are the number of times the tag has been applied by a Steam user, shown next to each tag name.
Club 250 is the Steam 250 member's area, offering deeper analysis using full historical data.
Club 250 is free during this preview period, but joining today
covers some of our costs and allows you to receive rewards based on your pledge level, including
your Steam reviews on an exclusive ranking and
your name etched into the site!
Chat on Discord
from the web, your desktop, mobile or all three at once!
Join our comfy little community and chat about games, rankings or whatever.
Follow our official Steam curator
page to access game rankings directly from the Steam store! Automatically updated every day.
Contact by email


text:
Over 40 years of experience means not only can we provide the right instrumentation for your application, we can support and service it as well.
Make us your source for flow meter sales, rental, calibration and training.
Instruments Direct specializes in flow meter sales, rental and service. With over 35 years of experience, our knowledgeable engineers and specialists can help you select the right flow meter for your application every time.
We carry an extensive inventory of flow meters and instrumentation to meet your prompt delivery requirements, and everything we sell includes free lifetime technical support.
Call now at (888)722-5543 to speak with an application specialist, or contact us now.


text:
Monitor Reaches Agreement to Join Forces with Deloitte
Creates a new worldwide player in strategy consulting
Nov 07, 2012, 09:44 ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Monitor Company Group Limited Partnership, one of the world's most prestigious strategy consulting firms, today announced that it has agreed to join forces with Deloitte, one of the world's largest professional services providers. The transaction is subject to certain conditions and Monitor expects it to close as soon as practicable following their satisfactory completion.
Under the asset purchase agreement with Monitor, Deloitte Consulting LLP will acquire Monitor's U.S. practice, and practices outside the U.S. will be acquired by certain other member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Upon closing of the transaction, Monitor's and Deloitte's Strategy consulting practices will combine to forge a new and preeminent global presence in the industry, bolstered by Deloitte's leadership and reputation globally. The complementary strengths of the two organizations will be manifest from the outset, creating:
- A confirmed leader in strategy consultancy
- One of the largest life sciences strategy practices
- One of the largest marketing strategy practices
- A broad-reaching innovation strategy and execution practice
Bansi Nagji, President of Monitor, states: "Monitor has built a unique brand in the field of strategy consulting over 30 years, renowned for highly customized client solutions and world class intellectual property and thought leadership. Our talent base – from partners to employees – is of the highest quality, working collaboratively across borders to serve our outstanding network of global clients. The opportunity to marry these qualities with the extraordinary strengths of Deloitte, and to invest together to serve our clients' rapidly evolving needs, is hugely motivating."
Michael Canning, national managing director of Deloitte Consulting LLP's Strategy & Operations practice, adds, "We have long admired Monitor for its excellence in strategy consulting and we are excited about the fit and compatibility of our practices. Deloitte and Monitor leadership will work closely together to capture the best of both organizations and enhance our capabilities as world-class global strategy practices that provide clients with exceptional value. The combination of practices with Monitor's will further accelerate Deloitte's growth in the strategy space and what we develop together will reshape our industry. I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues from Monitor as we bring that vision to life."
This transaction combines Monitor's well-regarded brand, strong thought leadership and top-notch talent with Deloitte's extraordinary reach, access, and resources. Monitor complements Deloitte with global expertise in customer and market strategy, corporate and business unit strategy and innovation, and a particular focus on life sciences and consumer products.
Increasing demand for tighter integration between strategy and implementation makes Monitor and Deloitte a natural fit. As a pure-play strategy consultant, Monitor was facing increasing financial pressure as a stand-alone business. The recent economic downturn drove Monitor to evaluate its strategic options and determine that Deloitte was not only the right strategic match, but also provided the opportunity for substantial short-term and long-term growth as well as opportunities for its employees and clients.
To help facilitate this proposed transaction and preserve the firm's considerable value as a going concern, the assets will be sold by means of a court-approved sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The transaction with Deloitte would be completed following approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware and is subject to, among other things, higher or otherwise better offers, as well as regulatory approvals.
Monitor intends to continue serving its clients in the ordinary course and has filed a number of customary motions seeking court authorization to continue to support its business operations.
Founded in 1983, Monitor Company Group LP (www.monitor.com) is a global consulting firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The firm advises for-profit, sovereign, and non-profit clients in growing their businesses and economies and furthering their charitable purposes. Monitor creates and sustains leading, world-class capabilities in the management disciplines essential to growth – including strategy, marketing, organizational design and innovation – and brings those capabilities to bear in a pragmatic and customized way for clients. Monitor authors have published more than 80 articles in leading business journals and have published some of the most influential business strategy books of the last 25 years.
Contact: Eamonn Kelly
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 415 932 5358
SOURCE Monitor Group


text:
Grocery Girl: My Life Working for a Grocery Chain
To get to my office, you have to walk through the whole supermarket. First, the rainbow produce, then the proud olive oil bottles and the fragrant coffee, and the butcher section with its big, red slabs of meat, around the beer bend...
Then up through a grand, grave-looking door with "Do Not Enter!!" affixed to its front. Then you pass through an imposing metal gate, up a narrow flight of stairs, and through another creaky gate. Your ID card gets buzzed not once, not twice, but thrice.
The "medium security prison," as my coworkers affectionately call my office, is also the cash room for the company, hence the hardcore security.
After three months with my company, I am still without an official place to work, which I'm assured is totally normal and nothing to worry about. One day I will have my own little corner of a desk and a computer to call my own.
Until then, I bounce around to the desks of various people who are busy working in one of our stores or perhaps away on a trip. Sometimes I get settled, only to have the desk's actual owner come and peer at me sideways. I apologize, scramble to save and email myself my work, grab my stuff, and hunt for the next place to camp out.
The Good Stuff
Besides my lack of a home at work, and other numerous quirks, I dig my new job.
I loved restaurant work in part because I was on my feet all day, running around doing this, that, and the million other things. Now I'm a much more desky person. I even wear heels to work sometimes! (A first!)
Other days, I am in jeans and sneaks running around the stores, hanging up signs on ladders and telling customers where the oatmeal is; or giving out umbrellas to VIPs and helping orchestrate a teen cook-off. No two days are alike.
I get to do a lot of writing: waxing poetic about standing rib roasts, or Catalan olive oils, or Basque cheeses, or frozen veggie burgers. I feel lucky that I get paid to write about food, that my two passions are coming to live together so gorgeously.
Room to Grow and Grow and Grow
There's a laundry list of ideas for projects I will delve into. We're working on new ways to train the managers and staff, to get them all fired up about our incredible, no-one-else-has-them, amazingly priced, unfathomably delicious specialty items. The soft dried French fruit, the highest quality anchovies, the tiny production olives, the cheeses, the chocolates.
We're organizing our archives of signs and information; a veritable and enormous treasure chest of knowledge, details, quotes, and stories.
And meanwhile, I'm writing like crazy. About products for Hanukah, or how to serve your lamb chops, or our kosher selection, or why nobody cold presses olive oil anymore.
Unencumbered by an official job title, I am both overwhelmed and inspired by the endless possibilities, wide open and waiting for me.
And, there's the not small perk that I'm working with food, in a truly great store. What could be so bad when I'm only a few gigantic gates away from fresh crusty breads, just-popped popcorn, towers of awesome cheeses? There's always a latte waiting to cheer me up, a bialy, a coconut macaroon, a half sour pickle. Life is good.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Diamond Trust of London
Launched: May 10, 2012
Concludes: May 26, 2012
Current Funding: $22,897 out of $78,715 goal
The overwhelming majority of games seeking funding on Kickstarter are necessarily designed for platforms with relatively few barriers to entry, like the PC, Mac, or mobile phones. Diamond Trust of London bucks this trend, becoming what looks like the first retail Nintendo DS game to look for funding on the site.
Created by Jason Rohrer, the indie auteur best known for thoughtful games like Passage, Sleep is Death, and Inside a Star-filled Sky, Diamond Trust was picked up for publishing by Zoo Games' IndiePub label last year and was finalized last October before waiting seven months for final approval by Nintendo. With that approval now in hand, Rohrer says he faces a new problem: determining whether there's enough of a market for the game to satisfy Nintendo's "large manufacturing minimum" for retail DS titles. "Kickstarter is a perfect way to answer that question," Rohrer writes.
The game itself is a multiplayer-only, board-game-style positional strategy title focusing on secret Angolan Diamond traders. DS download play allows multiple players to share one cartridge across multiple systems, and lets the game reveal a player's secret information without that player being aware that they've been compromised. The game also boasts a unique "interactive music engine" that changes the background noise as you play.
A pledge of $35 gets you a shipped copy of the game, while pledging $55 or more gets you a limited edition cartridge with secret "historical objects" that Rohrer promises will be unique to each purchase.
Launched: April 11, 2012
Concludes: May 11, 6pm EST
Current funding: $403,840 out of $500,000 goal
An interesting-looking take on the stealth-action and survival horror genres, Republique sports a "1984-inspired story" all about helping a young woman named Hope escape a shadowy totalitarian state. Rather than directly controlling Hope, though, you have to help indirectly by monitoring surveillance camera footage and hacking into various computer and security systems so she can make her move.
Republique is the first effort from new indie studio Camoflaj, but that doesn't mean the development team is untested: the company's developers have previously worked on franchises like Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and F.E.A.R. The developers also recently announced that David "Solid Snake" Hayter and Jennifer "female Shepard" Hale would be providing voice talent for the game, helping to move the four- to six-hour story along.
You'd think a game with this kind of premise and development pedigree wouldn't have any trouble easily soaring past its $500,000 funding goal, but Republique has largely struggled to attract significant donations—it had only raised about $150,000 as of about two weeks ago. Things have picked up quite a bit as tomorrow's funding deadline approaches, with funders bringing in over $40,000 yesterday alone, but the game still needs just over $100,000 in a little over 24 hours to get over the finish line.
Pledges start at $10 for the iOS edition and $15 for a downloadable copy of the desktop edition, going all the way up to $10,000 for those who want to be flown out for a personal tour of Camoflaj HQ.
"Two Guys From Andromeda" Spaceventure
Launched: May 9, 2012
Concludes: June 12, 1:27pm EDT
Current Funding: $106,970 out of $500,000 goal
Classic PC adventure game fans will remember Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe as the "Two Guys from Andromeda" that brought you the sprawling Space Quest series. Now, 17 years after the sixth and final game in that series, the pair has teamed up again for a new "SpaceVenture" Kickstarter project. While the new game won't actually be a true sequel to the Space Quest series, the creators are promising this spiritual successor will include the kinds of pop culture references, humor, art design, and "hilarious death sequences" that series fans know and love.
With over one-fifth of the $500,000 goal already raised in about a day, and 32 more days to go before the deadline, this project looks well on its way to becoming a reality. The creators say that beating that goal by a substantial margin will help fund "the full scope of what's brewing in our heads right now." That includes elaborate animation and audio work, as well as a world-class voice acting team that's set to include Ellen McLain (GlaDOS from Portal), John Patrick Lowrie (Team Fortress 2's Sniper), and Rob Paulsen (Pinky from Pinky & The Brain) among others.
A $15 pledge gets you a downloadable version of the game, while $100 gets you an old-fashioned, Sierra-style big game box filled with extras.


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text:
A Sandwich a Day: Mr. Bloomburger at Sunny & Annie's
A new sandwich every day.
In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
Beyond the flowers and sodas sold outside is a small doorway that leads into Sunny & Annie's: a tiny, cramped 24-hour convenience store filled with endless cans and goods and a little deli counter. Taped all over said counter is an armory of sandwich options—a whopping 30 to be exact—all of which are more adventurous than the next. Customer favorites (but not ours) include the P.H.O. Real; but even more wild is the the Mr. Bloomburger ($7.50).
This sandwich is one of the most bizarre we've ever encountered: curry or lemon chicken salad, seafood salad, and a medley of fresh vegetables, like cucumber, watercress, tomato, and red onion, served on a hoagie or in a wrap. We went with the chicken curry—if we're going to do bizarre, we might as well not be shy—and it was surprisingly satisfying, with a sneaky curry flavor, pops of juicy grapes, and crunchy celery, and a nice creaminess that made up nicely for the slightly dry chicken.
As for the seafood salad? I'm not sure if it was truly necessary, though the shock of finding a plump mussel in one of my bites was quite memorable. It didn't interfere with anything nor did it take anything away from the sandwich; the salad simply added a subtle briny flavor and some interesting textures. The liberal layer of creamy avocado, crisp vegetables and cilantro give necessary freshness and sliced jalapeño adds some appreciated edge.
An added boon to the place: They deliver. For free. 24 hours a day.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text: Over the course of meeting people and posting here in the forums, I've had a number of people respond positively to my idea to write a low budget travel article. Well, here it is. The article is available for download in PDF format. (Six pages, about one megabyte.) For convenience, I have copied and pasted the text of the article in the next post, although I think the PDF is cleaner and easier to read. I prefer that the PDF be the standard copy. As always, I'm open to discussion, suggestions, questions, criticism, and new ideas. I'll update the PDF occasionally. Jamie


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Phillies back at .500 after loss to Mets
Missed chances hurt Philadelphia, leading to Hamels' 12th loss of '13
NEW YORK -- The Phillies have advanced to the point where they expect to win these games.
Philadelphia weathered an erratic start from Cole Hamels and an ineffective day at the plate on Saturday, but still mounted a late comeback before falling just short in a 5-4 loss to New York.
The Phillies had several opportunities but wound up stranding four runners in scoring position in the first three innings alone. They wasted another great chance in the fifth inning, but homered in the ninth before leaving the potential tying run standing on second base.
Chase Utley came up with the biggest hit of the game, a two-run homer in the ninth inning that accounted for the final margin. Utley took Mets closer Bobby Parnell to the second deck in right field to pull the Phillies within one run, but they couldn't complete the comeback.
"That's what good teams do. We're working toward that," said All-Star Domonic Brown, the man standing on second when the game ended. "Chase had a big home run there. I'm just trying to do my little part, whatever that is. I got lucky and got a pitch up to drive."
Brown doubled to left-center in the ninth inning, but the game ended on a sharply hit ball to second base by Darin Ruf. That was just one of a few missed opportunities for the Phillies, who couldn't convert a bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth inning when trailing by one run.
That may have been Philadelphia's best chance to assert control. Hamels began that rally with a single, and the Phillies loaded the bases on a single and a walk. Utley made it a 3-2 game with a sacrifice fly, and that brought Brown to the plate with two men on base.
Mets starter Zack Wheeler fell behind, 3-0, against Brown, and manager Charlie Manuel gave his top run producer the discretion to swing. Brown wound up flying out on the next pitch, and after Wheeler walked Ruf, reliever Gonzalez Germen entered to strike out Delmon Young with the bases loaded.
"I don't know if it was [a ball], but it definitely wasn't a pitch I wanted to swing at," said Brown of that key fifth-inning at-bat. "I've got a man in scoring position, and I was trying to drive the ball in [at] 3-0. I was trying to get a pitch up to drive. It's that simple, but it's not that easy. I'm looking for a pitch middle-in. He threw it away and I was trying to take, but by that time the swing was already through."
Manuel said after the game that he routinely allows Brown to swing in 3-0 counts with runners on base. The strategy didn't work this time, but Manuel trusts Brown to make the right decision.
"He's got 70 RBIs and 24 homers," Manuel said of his cleanup man. "I feel like right now he's our guy that knocks the runs in. ... I think the ball was up a little bit, and he skied it in the air to left-center."
Southpaw Hamels (4-12) went into this game on a hot streak. The 29-year-old had completed at least seven innings and allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last three starts before the All-Star break, but he had trouble finding the strike zone on Saturday.
Hamels walked two batters in the first inning and frequently wiped his hands, and he said afterward that the heat affected his grip. Marlon Byrd and Juan Lagares came through with run-scoring hits in the first inning, and the Phillies left the inning trailing, 3-1.
"You can't always go out with your best stuff, but you have to make adjustments," said Hamels. "I wasn't able to make the adjustments as quickly as I would have liked in that first inning. I made the adjustments once the game went on, but the first inning was obviously what decided the whole game."
Jimmy Rollins got the Phillies (49-49) started with a leadoff home run in the first inning, the 45th time in his career he's led off a game by going deep. But perhaps more important, the long drive was the first homer for Rollins in 161 at-bats, the fifth-longest drought of his career.
The Phillies, who have yet to push two games over .500 all season, allowed the game to get away on a couple of insurance runs. David Wright singled in a key run in the fifth inning, and Daniel Murphy singled home another run in the seventh. Eight of the Mets' 10 hits went for singles.
Rookie Germen earned his first career win for the Mets (42-51).
Philadelphia scored 13 runs in Friday's series opener, and Manuel wishes the team could have saved some of that offense.
"Yesterday our right-handed hitters could hit those balls to right field and get hits. Today we couldn't do it," said Manuel. "It felt like we got anxious on [Wheeler's] fastball up. He was throwing some fastballs up, and we were definitely chasing them out of the zone. I said before the game that we had to make sure he got the ball down in the strike zone. We had chances, but we didn't get it done."
The loss snapped the Phillies' streak of seven wins at Citi Field, but they maintain a 7-4 edge over the Mets this season. Sunday's series finale will pit All-Star Cliff Lee against Matt Harvey, who started the All-Star Game for the National League.
"We've got a guy pretty good, too. That's what makes it great," said Manuel of the matchup. "That's what makes it a good game. How do we have to approach him? We've got to make him throw strikes and try to get good balls to hit. He's a power pitcher with overpowering stuff, and his secondary stuff is real good. He commands it. He's tough to beat, but that doesn't mean we can't do it."


text:
Low cost delivery across Singapore
Delivery is FREE when you spend $99 or more in our online store.
We do everything we can to get your products to you quickly, safely and cheaply! We offer standard or quick delivery options. Quick delivery means you should get it within 24 hours of ordering (subject to holiday working hours and showroom closures). Standard delivery will take a little longer, if you're not in a hurry.
- Standard delivery costs $10.
- Quick delivery costs $20.
If you prefer to pick up the products yourself from our store, hit the self-collect option at check out. We'll have them ready for you and can help you pick some cool looking plants to go with them.
We aim to dispatch standard delivery items within 1 working day once your purchase has been confirmed. Orders will be despatched by courier and should arrive within 3 days. Free delivery orders will be despatched by standard delivery. There is a maximum weight limit of 20kg per order.


text:
Kelly keys five-run fifth behind vintage Verlander
Ace-like performance backed by outfielder's mastery of Masterson
CLEVELAND -- Justin Verlander was back, and he didn't want to leave.
He had thrown 106 pitches through seven innings on Tuesday night against the Indians, and he thought he had enough left to stay in for another inning as he walked down the tunnel. When he realized manager Jim Leyland had the bullpen going, he came back out and made a deal.
"I just told him, 'Hey, I want this eighth. If we go three-up-three-down, great. If I put somebody on, you can take me out,'" Verlander said. "And he goes, 'All right, I'll give it to you.' That's all I needed to hear."
Six pitches later, Verlander was back in the dugout, having retired the Indians on three easy outs. Three outs after that, the Tigers were celebrating another win over their American League Central pursuers, this one a 5-1 victory, and a 10-game winning streak.
They had a lot more to celebrate than that. If Verlander can keep pitching like this, they have their ace back.
"I thought tonight was the most locked in and focused he has been in a while," Leyland said.
Detroit has built its division lead while Verlander has worked to rebuild his game. Detroit's five-game lead is its largest since June 17, and its winning streak is the first double-digit run the team has had since running away with the division in September 2011.
The Tigers have held opponents to two runs or fewer nine times during the streak, including the last seven games. Their starters are 8-0 with a 1.25 ERA during the winning streak, allowing just 46 hits over 72 innings, with 16 walks and 53 strikeouts.
Detroit has now gone two full turns through the rotation in the streak and averaged better than seven innings per start. Verlander closed the first turn with a decent outing but walked five Nationals over six innings. This time it was vintage Verlander.
If he can repeat this, the Tigers will be frightening.
"He seemed to find another gear tonight that we've unfortunately seen in the past," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "When he starts hitting 100 [mph] at the knees, and then snapping a breaking ball off, that's tough."
Verlander twice hit 100 mph on the Progressive Field radar gun, but velocity wasn't his problem. He could throw hard if he didn't care where the ball went.
What he did on Tuesday was blend velocity with control. The control is what was missing.
Verlander fell behind Nick Swisher in the first inning, then struck him out chasing a 97-mph high heater. He hit 97 mph and 98 mph on back-to-back strikeouts of Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth, the former on a called third strike. Then he sent ex-teammate Ryan Raburn flailing at a 99-mph fastball in the fifth.
"For whatever reason," Leyland said, "he went out there really aggressive and turned it loose."
A pair of 100-mph fastballs came in the sixth with runners on second and third. Kipnis fouled off the first on a 2-1 pitch before taking an offspeed offering for a strike. The other jammed Cabrera into an inning-ending groundout.
"He was locating it at 96, 97," Don Kelly said. "It wasn't like he had to try to throw 91, 92 and locate it."
Kelly could see that all the way from left field. But then, considering the way he saw everything Justin Masterson threw at him, it's hard to question his eyesight.
Kelly started the game in left field over Andy Dirks based on his history with Masterson -- 8-for-21 lifetime, with a homer, going into the contest. His second-inning single off Masterson loaded the bases with nobody out, but Masterson escaped with back-to-back strikeouts of Alex Avila and Jose Iglesias before a Ramon Santiago ground ball ended the threat.
Masterson (13-8) seemingly rolled from there, but he lost command in the fifth and hit three things he shouldn't have: Santiago's left knee on a bunt attempt, Victor Martinez's right foot on a first pitch with two outs and a runner on, and Kelly's bat.
Martinez's hit-by-pitch extended the inning for Kelly, who sent a drive to right for his fifth home run of the year. The three-run shot powered a five-run fifth inning that included a Miguel Cabrera double off the wall in left-center field that gave him his 100th RBI of the year.
With that run-scoring hit, Cabrera clinched his 10th consecutive 100-RBI season. He is just the fourth Major League player age 30 or younger with that many 100-RBI campaigns. Albert Pujols and Jimmie Foxx put theirs up consecutively as well; Alex Rodriguez had 10 in his first 11 seasons.
"He loves facing me," Masterson said of Kelly. "If I was Superman, he'd be my kryptonite, especially this year, with a couple of homers. Guess there's always a guy. He salivates when I get up there. … How it happens, I don't know."
Kelly doesn't know, either, but he saw the pitches well enough that he could identify each one that he hit, including the four-seam fastball Masterson tried to bust in on him that he hit out.
"Obviously, he's a great pitcher," Kelly said. "I can't explain it. I just see him well. I mean, when you have a guy who throws 96 mph with a sinker, slider, changeup, it's just one of those things. ... I guess I just see the ball well."
The way Verlander was going, that was the ballgame, as he retired the final nine batters he faced.
Verlander said his success was the result of an adjustment he made in his side session, moving his landing foot more in line toward the hitter and opening his delivery more.
"It's not a huge difference, but there is a difference," Verlander said.
He's smart enough not to guarantee that it'll stick. He has had promising gems before, only to struggle the next time out. Still, this felt different.
"I am excited," he admitted. "I'm excited, obviously, to see the adjustment that I made make not just a little impact, I thought it was a big impact today. Everything I've been searching for, I was able to find it today. So that's obviously a huge stride in the right direction."


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Monday, November 30, 2020
Palestinian women celebrate the fruits of their hard work at Women's Day conference
Zann H.
- March 08, 2017
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women's rights
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- As the world honours International Women's Day on March 8, a conference held in Ramallah a day before celebrated Palestinian women's contribution to their communities. The event brought together women from all walks of life as representatives of various organisations took to the stage and recounted their success stories. The conference was organised by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) as part of the organisation's gender strategy.
Palestinian women have come a long way in the resistance against the Israeli military occupation. As a staff member from PMRS said via Skype from Gaza: "I'm nothing but a Palestinian woman who knows how to sacrifice, a hard working woman, who has the honour to carry the Palestinian burden on her chest."
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, co-founder of PMRS and secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, also highlighted this important facet of Palestinian women's life as they are very often subjected to both physical and psychological pain while living under Israeli occupation. His speech opened by paying tribute to women who have been victims of imprisonment, injury and even death.
Moreover, some of them have to endure the anguish of being the mothers of "martyrs" or widows.
"Palestinian women are pillars of resistance," said Palestine's Minister of Women's Affairs Haifa Al-Agha.
Dr Khadija Jarrar, director of the Women's Health programme, gave the conference's opening speech, followed by Ms Ann-Sofie Nilsson, Consul General of Sweden, who emphasised the importance of gender equality. She highlighted how it can be achieved through the 3 'R's – rights, resources and representation.
The fruits of PMRS' labour were recounted by various representatives from different villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A woman from Jeeb Aldeeb outlined the achievements in her village, citing a solar panel project, school buses for children and a stationery shop as examples of progress. She also acknowledged the personal achievements of some residents, including a hairstylist who was able to train abroad, and a DJ.
Sanaa from Rummaneh, a Palestinian village located near Jenin in Northern West Bank, lamented how difficult it is to build homes and cultivate land in her village, which lies in Area C. Plagued by frequent military drills and shootings by Israeli forces, Sanaa related how hard it was for women to go out before the opening of a women's club there.
"I see men as companions because they're also pushing for women's rights," added Sanaa. "My husband plays a great role in sending me outside so that I can be trained."
Asmahan from the village of Barta'a, located in the "seam zone" created by the apartheid wall and straddling both sides of the Green Line, described the daily suffering of its 5,000 inhabitants.
"At the gate [of the checkpoint] we pass in and out every day, there are portals emitting laser and this is forbidden, even in airports it's not allowed. Here it causes great problems for pregnant women. Some had to get abortions. 20% of our dead are from cancer," Asmahan said.
A male speaker, Malek Bashir, a paramedic from Al Ram, hinted at how deeply entrenched cultural norms can be an impediment to realising gender equality in Palestinian society.
"I'm going to be honest. 3 years ago, I could not talk to women because our culture prevents us from talking to women, we were afraid. So with PMRS we decided to break this barrier," Malek said.
Malek spoke of the reactions of Al Ram residents when they first saw a boy and a girl, each with a brush in their hands, fixing and painting the sidewalk.
"They first looked at us like we're crazy. After they saw the results on the sidewalk, they thanked us. From there, we keep our motto: equality, equality, equality! Now we have 90 volunteers and we are stronger than ever."
In fact the role of men cannot be under-estimated in the quest to attain gender equality. The story of Dana Abu Jarar from An Nabi in Tulkarem Governorate, was to many an inspiration. Bound to a wheelchair, she's been paralysed since the age of two. She's now the head of a rehabilitation programme. Through her mother's dedication, she managed to attend school, work and even learn to drive.
"I bought a car because my job made me financially independent. I'm married and I have four children. I thank my husband for supporting me. I travelled to be trained in Lebanon, Egypt... I even ran as a political candidate once! And today I give all the trainings I can," Dana said.
The conference concluded with a feisty Dabkeh dance which enthralled the audience as the spirit of Palestine filled the air.
Photos by Zann Huizhen Huang
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We almost started tearing up ourselves as we watched longtime QVC host Lisa Mason do her emotional final show — Diamonique, fittingly — on QVC Tuesday evening.
Mason also did the big reveal about her plans: She has written a book about God called "Big Life Lessons From That Still, Small Voice." More on that later.
Ms. Mason got choked up and was literally speechless twice during her two-hour show: For a few moments when her fellow host, Jacque Gonzales, called in on-air to say goodbye, and when makeup vendor Laura Geller called in at the show's finale.
Mason, clutching a tissue, couldn't get a word out when Gonzales called in. There was a long silence until Mason composed herself and Gonzales spoke up.
"You are my mentor, and took me by the hand day by day and step by step," Gonzales, tearful herself, told Mason.
Gonzales threatened to hop on a train to Manhattan and stalk Mason in her Upper East Side neighborhood.
"I love you," Gonzales said.
"I love you too, sugar," Southern belle Mason replied back.
Later on, Mason joked about her temporary loss of words. "Was it an awkward moment of silence?" she asked. Only if someone doesn't have a heart, Lisa.
Then near the end of the show, Geller called in and Mason just put both her hands up on her face, covering her eyes, and didn't say a word, she was so emotional. Geller spoke up and filled up the dead air, singing praise for Mason until the beloved host was able to speak.
"Stop crying, wipe those tears already," Geller told her.
They apparently see a lot of each other, since Geller lives on 68th Street in the Big Apple and Mason and her husband Gino are on 76th.
"Girl, did you see I lost it?" Mason told fellow host Jane Treacy later in the show, referring to her emotional reaction when Geller called in.
Mason got weepy more than once, not just with Gonzales and Geller.
There were plenty of other call-ins, including former QVC host Kathy Levine, skin care vendor Dr. Adrienne Denese, makeup vendor Mally Roncal, designer Louis Dell'Olio, Affinity Diamond expert Michael O'Connor and Chaz Dean.
QVC also aired clips of QVC hosts Dan Wheeler, Jayne Brown and Leah Williams saying their goodbyes to Mason.
Mason, who joined QVC in 1995, also offered a bit of advice to viewers.
"Find a way to bring happiness to your life," she said. Amen to that!
QVC did Mason a kindness by flashing the home page for her new website, lisamason.org. We tried to get on the site after the show, but it was down. Maybe it crashed from the traffic from her fans.
Finally, Mason briefly talked about her book.
"It's a great book, it's not about me," she said. "But it's called 'Big Life Lessons From That Still, Small Voice.' It is about God and it's coming out end of February. I'll let you know where. And I want you to be there with me when we launch it. And it really is about how important God is to me and always will be. That will never, never, never vary in my life."
Then Treacy and Wheeler come on the air with Mason, Wheeler handed Mason a bouquet of roses, and Treacy brought out a big cake that said "Best Wishes: We Will Miss You."
For astrology buffs, Mason is a Capricorn born Dec. 28, which is also her wedding anniversary with Gino.
, ,,,


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Greg Weston: Senate scandal may be Harper's worst hour
The widening Senate scandal that the prime minister flippantly tried to dismiss as a "distraction" just days ago has instead become arguably Stephen Harper's worst hour.
The question is no longer only whether taxpayers have been stiffed by the expense-account hijinks of a few senators feeling overly entitled to their entitlements.
At risk is Harper's own credibility, with his apparent mismanagement of the growing political crisis having already provoked rare public criticism from members of his own cabinet, caucus and Conservative party core.
Most of this political disaster revolves around a mysterious $90,000 personal cheque from Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, to help Senator Mike Duffy repay four years of invalid expense claims.
The money given to Duffy in March this year was apparently a "gift" with no repayment expected.
Equally mysterious, the prime minister claims he knew nothing of the deal between his closest adviser and the Conservative senator.
No one has yet offered a plausible reason why Wright — a cautious, diligent, highly successful former business executive — would give Duffy a $90,000 personal gift to solve a political embarrassment in the Senate.
And if a prime minister known as a micro-manager and control freak claims he didn't know about this extraordinary deal, average Canadians might be excused for wondering why he didn't know.
The path not taken
It all could have gone down differently.
The day the story about Wright's cheque broke, Harper could have called a news conference to announce he had sacked Wright, was kicking Duffy out of the Conservative caucus, and was turning the whole deal over to the RCMP and the federal ethics commissioner.
Instead, Harper's office proclaimed that the PM had full confidence in his chief of staff, and waited five days to confirm Wright's resignation.
Harper never did call in the Mounties, and it was the opposition that triggered a probe by the ethics commissioner.
This week, six days after the $90,000 Wright-Duffy deal broke in the media, reporters were finally summoned to hear the prime minister supposedly confront the issue in a special address to his Conservative caucus.
Instead, Harper never mentioned Wright, Duffy or the $90,000 payment.
Instead, he used his MPs and senators and the media in the room as props for a photo-op and a lot of hyper-partisan rhetoric.
Then, Harper simply left town and flew to Peru on a trade trip that could have easily been handed off to one of his ministers.
Scandal not blowing over
The whole episode left many Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers openly furious over what they regarded as a wrongheaded strategy to simply shrug off the whole thing and hope it would blow over.
But it didn't, and it hasn't.
Now it turns out Wright — and perhaps others in the prime minister's office — were consulted by Conservative senators involved in doctoring a Senate report on Duffy's expenses.
If Harper didn't know about any of this, he should have.
More than a year ago, Auditor General Michael Ferguson very publicly raised red flags about a lack of documentation to support some unnamed senators' expense claims.
And Duffy's case was hardly hidden from the PMO.
The former broadcaster had lived in Ottawa for more than 30 years, and had a cottage in Prince Edward Island when Harper appointed Duffy to the Senate as a member for P.E.I. in 2008.
If Duffy had declared his home in Ottawa as his "primary residence," he would not have been entitled to any housing or travel allowances.
But by claiming his P.E.I. property as his primary residence, Duffy got it all: a housing allowance to live in his suddenly "secondary" Ottawa home, almost $90 a day for other living costs while he was in the capital "on Senate business," and taxpayer-funded trips to P.E.I. and back.
In four years, he claimed almost $90,000, plus dozens of free trips between Ottawa and P.E.I. for himself and his wife.
Yet, until six months ago, no one in high office apparently raised an eyebrow.
Ditto for Liberal Senator Mac Harb and Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau who had made similar arrangements after going to the Senate.
It wasn't until the media subsequently raised questions late last year about Brazeau — then Harb, then Duffy — that the Senate finally called in the private auditing firm Deloitte.
(Conservative Senator Pam Wallin also came under scrutiny for her travel claims, a probe that continues.)
Duffy neglected to mention Wright's generosity
According to Senate documents, on Feb. 14 this year, Duffy's case was sent to Deloitte for a full audit of his housing and travel claims.
A week later, Duffy told CBC he and his wife were voluntarily repaying just over $90,000 in housing allowances.
He neglected to mention they would be paying with money from the prime minister's chief of staff.
In any case, Duffy's repayment didn't stop the audit.
Sometime in late April, Deloitte submitted its findings to the Senate, and a report was prepared by the sub-committee that first sent Duffy's file to the auditors.
On May 7, the Senate sub-committee of two Conservative senators and one Liberal approved a damning draft report, saying there was no justification for Duffy's having claimed his Ottawa home as a secondary residence.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the Senate — the two Conservatives agreed to doctor the report.
Two days later, in the official report to the Senate, all references critical of Duffy had been deleted.
This week, one of the Conservative senators involved in altering the report admitted he discussed Duffy with Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, generous donor of the $90,000 gift cheque two months ago.
"I would have been having a number of discussions with Nigel," Senator David Tkachuk said.
"He didn't tell me to do anything really. We discussed Mike [Duffy] and the situation he was in.
"I mean the Prime Minister's Office was very concerned about this. They don't like this scandal going on. It was hurting us politically."
Clearly, it still is.


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Angels' turnaround depends on Hamilton, Pujols
Club has not performed to expectations despite big payroll and high-profile names
Tour these United States and talk to other baseball fans about this year's Angels and usually the topic of how they've gone about these first 15 weeks centers on one three-letter word …
It is with great shock, disappointment and -- in many ways -- amusement that a star-studded Angels team fresh off a second straight offseason splash finishes the first half in grave danger of missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.
How are they here, at 44-49 and 11 games out of first place in the American League West and nine back of the second AL Wild Card spot -- with five teams to jump -- despite one seven-game winning streak and one eight-game winning streak?
Let's count the ways …
1. Josh Hamilton (struggling with new surroundings) and Albert Pujols (hindered by plantar fasciitis) have basically been shells of themselves. They've hit a combined 29 homers -- eight fewer than Chris Davis alone -- while batting .237, with neither ranking anywhere among the top 80 in the Majors in OPS. That in itself is detrimental to a team that dedicates so much of its payroll to these two: Both will make $227 million combined from 2013-17; Pujols will make another $114 million in the four years that follow.
2. The Angels' biggest hindrance in 2012 was the bullpen, and the two biggest reasons the organization felt it shored it up this offseason -- Ryan Madson and Sean Burnett -- have barely pitched. They've combined to appear in 13 games -- all by Burnett, who has made two separate trips to the disabled list -- and it's no guarantee that either will return this season.
3. Starting pitching wasn't necessarily expected to be a strength, but it wasn't supposed to be this bad. The Angels rank 23rd in the Majors in starting pitcher ERA. Joe Blanton, signed for two years and $15 million, is 2-12 with a 5.53 ERA. Jered Weaver, the bona-fide ace, missed over seven weeks with a broken left elbow. Tommy Hanson has a 5.10 ERA while making only nine starts. And Jason Vargas is on the DL with a blood clot.
First-half awards
|MVP: Mike Trout Sophomore slump? What sophomore slump?
|Cy Young: C.J. Wilson Maybe it isn't saying much on this year's rotation, but Wilson is 5-1 with a 2.04 ERA over his last six starts.
|Rookie: J.B. Shuck He was let go by the Astros and has exceeded expectations while getting a lot of playing time in Peter Bourjos' absence.
|Top reliever: Ernesto Frieri In a little more than a year, he's gone from a Padres long reliever few had heard of to one of the game's better closers.
4. Little things have ailed them, too. The Angels have inexplicably gone from ranking second in the Majors in Defensive Runs Saved (DNS) in 2012 to second-to-last in 2013. They've hit into an AL-leading 94 ground-ball double plays. And they've made 38 outs on the bases, tied for second in the Majors.
5. That Jekyll-and-Hyde stretch that began in mid-May. From May 18-26, the Angels won eight straight games, and it looked like they were starting to make their climb up the standings -- in a similar fashion to how they closed out the first half of 2012. But then they fell off again, losing 11 of their next 15 games. One step forward, two steps back.
"It's a compilation of events, truthfully," Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "We have not performed to our ability in a lot of different ways, and we have a half-season to turn it around."
Looking for a reason for second-half optimism?
Look no further than this number: 26.
Players to watch in second half
|Josh Hamilton You have to figure that at some point, he'll get really, really hot -- and he started to just before the All-Star break.
|Albert Pujols He isn't healthy, and probably won't be all year, but Pujols has a track record of overcoming.
|Jered Weaver His ace form started to show leading into the second half, and the Angels will need plenty more of that to make the playoffs.
That's the number of games the Angels have left against the two teams in front of them, the A's and Rangers. That's almost 40 percent of their second-half schedule, and it'll make up 13 of their first 20 games coming out of the All-Star break.
Don't think that's such a big deal?
Keep in mind that last year the Angels' postseason hopes essentially came down to that. Yes, they started the season 6-14. But there were critical head-to-head matchups -- particularly Sept. 10-13 against the A's and Sept. 28-30 in Texas -- that could've led to a playoff berth had the Angels done better.
"Ultimately it's going to come down to how we play, and it revolves around us," Angels slugger Mark Trumbo said. "But the fact that we do get quite a few opportunities against teams that we're chasing, you couldn't ask for anything more than that. I think you always want to be in control of your own destiny."
The Angels figure to be one of the most interesting second-half teams to watch, because Hamilton and Pujols could get hot at any time, and because one of the best players in the game -- Mike Trout -- is in their everyday lineup.
But, as manager Mike Scioscia said, "We're not going to reach our goal without starting pitching."
The Angels will need a lot of very good starts in the second half to make up their deficit, and they probably won't be very active before the non-waiver Trade Deadline. Their Competitive Balance Tax payroll is still dangerously close to the threshold at which teams are taxed 17.5 percent -- something the Angels don't seem willing to take on -- and they don't have much in the way of trade chips in their farm system.
So, the second half may come down to one question: Do they have enough in-house?


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Got an idea for using technology to make government run better? It could win you $10,000 from the 2014 Better Government Competition.
The Better Government Competition is a project of the Pioneer Institute, a non-profit and non-partisan research organization focused on improving public policy in Massachusetts. Ideas and innovations from the federal level are welcome, however, particularly when focused on information-sharing, fraud detection, reducing energy costs or streamlining agencies' reporting, licensing and regulatory processes. The focus of this year's contest is "leveraging technology to transform the public sector." Potential areas to address include:
The deadline is fast approaching; submissions in the form of short "idea papers" must be received by April 16. And determining what your ethics officer thinks of such a contest is up to you!
Posted by Troy K. Schneider on Apr 09, 2014 at 11:22 AM
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The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31.
These early-career leaders already are having an outsized impact on government IT.
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Saturday, June 4, 2016
Bed_Bug_Pest_Control_for_Bed_Bug_Problem_Elimination_in_Seattle_Washington - Docs.com
Adult bed bugs are about the shape and size of an apple seed and go through molt stages,shedding their skins, which is an indicator their presence.After feeding, bed bugs return to their harborage to hide. They eventually defecate in these areas, which appears as black to brown stains on porous surfaces or black to brown mounds on nonporous surfaces.Bites also may indicate bed bug activity, but further signs will need to be found, since other sources can cause red welts on the skin.. Published by Ampm Exterminators. 21 Views, 0 Likes on Docs.com. #bed bugs pest control price #electronic pest control bed bugs #natural pest control bed bugs #fleas pes
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Mota, A. Teixeira da (Avelino Teixeira); Hair, P. E. H. (Paul Edward Hedley) / Jesuit documents on the Guinea of Cape Verde and the Cape Verde Islands, 1585-1617: in English translation
11, pp. [unnumbered]-2 ff.
This material may by protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code).| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright


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Police of Daytona Beach, Florida, are looking for a man who stole 4 pairs of athletic shoes from a Marshalls store by shoving all 8 shoes into his pants.
Click Orlando reports, Nov. 28, 2012:
Daytona Beach police are searching for a man who they say was caught on video stealing four pairs of shoes from Marshalls by shoving them down his pants and walking out of the store.
According to a police report, the man walked into the Marshalls on International Speedway Boulevard on Nov. 11 and put the shoes in his shopping cart.
Daytona Beach police said the man then cut off the security sensors and put the shoes, valued at $160, inside his blue jeans.
Police said the man was walking out of the store when a loss prevention officer approached him. The man pulled the scraper out his pocket, however, and told the officer, "Come on, I'll stick your a**," according to the police report.
The man then drove away in a gold Mitsubishi car, police said.
The culprit was described as a black man with a shaven head, goatee and a tattoo on his left forearm, according to police. He was wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information about the man is urged to call police.
To see the security video of the thief in action, click here.
This is a screenshot I took from the video of the split second when the security camera captured the face of the thief.