text:
The US joint venture that builds the Javelin anti-tank missile came through town recently to introduce a new senior executive, underscoring American industry's hot pursuit of a contract for a medium-range weapon for the French Army, sources briefed on the issue said.
The Javelin joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon presented its new business development manager for France, Ken Alexander, the week of April 15 to officials of the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) procurement office and Army headquarters, two sources said.
The company executives gave an update on the Javelin modernization program in a bid to replace the French Army's aging MBDA Milan missiles. The visit follows a presentation by the joint venture in June.
That puts Javelin in head-to-head combat with European missile maker MBDA, which hopes to develop and build a new weapon under the planned missile moyenne portée (MMP), medium-range missile program.
"MBDA is still the front-runner," one source said.
But the Javelin joint venture is still pursuing a French order. Up to now, the requirement has been for 3,000 replacement missiles.
The US side raises questions as to whether there will be money to develop a new weapon and whether MBDA will be able to deliver by mid-2017, when the Milan is taken out of service, the source said.
MBDA confirmed that work started on MMP in 2010, with some funding from the DGA in late 2011 for the assessment phase, a company spokesman said.
"Work is on track for delivery to start in 2017 to avoid any capability gap when the Milan is withdrawn from the French Army," the spokesman said.
Although a program decision has not been taken due to financial uncertainty, planners see MBDA's role as a given in the upcoming military budget law, a defense specialist said. That's partly because MBDA acts as a channel for British-French cooperation, which could one day lead to a common long-range version of the MMP that could replace the US Hellfire on the Tiger attack helicopter, the specialist said. Such cooperation between Britain and France makes a selection of the US-made Javelin seem impossible, the specialist said.
For the Americans, a lack of French defense money is seen as a powerful ally in their push for the Javelin. For MBDA, however, there are hopes the ministerial investment committee will decide on a program launch of MMP in June or July, with July 21 ringed in on some calendars.
MBDA Chief Executive Antoine Bouvier has said MMP is one of the three big decisions this year, along with an anti-ship missile dubbed anti-navire léger, and boosting range on the Aster Block 1 air defense weapon.
A second defense specialist said the defense staff chief sees the MMP as "the priority of priorities," more so than the anti-ship missile.
Javelin's Pros and Cons
The Javelin joint venture, meanwhile, points to the US Army's order for a modernized model to enter service in 2016.
That clears the way for a first delivery to France in 2016 or 2017, and in time for the Milan replacement date.
Under the US Javelin cost reduction initiative, which would cut unit prices by 25 percent, the request is to extend the range beyond the existing requirement of 2.5 kilometers of the current model.
In firings on a US Army test range late last year, the Javelin in-service model hit targets at 4.7 kilometers, with one missile missing the target and going out to 5 kilometers, the second source said. Therefore, the tests show the current model already has the longer range.
The Javelin, however, is designed as a fire-and-forget weapon, while the French Army calls for a man in the loop to limit harm to civilians. The joint venture offers fire-and-forget in Phase I, and adaptation to French needs under a possible MBDA co-development in a later phase.
The US Army is expected to keep the Javelin in its inventory to 2050, which allows the European local partner to sign up for a spiral development if France picked the weapon.
The US is open to co-development, seen as a necessity given budget cuts. The joint venture is also negotiating with the US government for a multiyear contract for the Javelin, intended to lower costs.
Another argument for the Javelin is French interoperability with British and US forces, which both use the weapon and are often deployed alongside in multinational missions, the first source said.
French officials have ruled out the Rafael Spike missile for undisclosed reasons, the source said.
MBDA displayed a model of the MMP at its stand at the special operations forces innovations network seminar, a trade show and conference near Bordeaux, which ran April 9-11.
The European company has signed an export contract for an undisclosed client for its Milan extended response weapon, a company executive said at the show. Milan ER, developed using company money, lost to Javelin in 2009, when the French Army picked the US missile for troops in Afghanistan.
Anti-tank weapons are among the arms key to special operations forces, according to a glossy brochure produced by the French special operations command.
President François Hollande has said the 2014 defense budget will be the same as this year's, but there is still huge doubt how that figure will be reached, leaving uncertainty over what new programs will be picked.


text: Jumping Line is a minimalist, creative, hard and cheap platformer, which combine all the good old features, like triggers, moving and rotating platforms, spikes, etc. in one big Level and adds a new gameplay element such as the player automatically jumps if he hits the ground. The idea was to remove everything that don't have to be in the game and create a game, made of pure gameplay and level design. So, in-game you have just one big (3.4k blocks long) level with 56 checkpoints to save in it, that will take you for hours to come to the end. Release Notes Version 1.1.1: New server system for user levels. Rating system to filter out bad user levels.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
FIOCCHI AMMUNITION Turkey Shotshells
Fiocchi Turkey 12 Ga. 3" 1 3/4 oz, #6 Nickel Plated Lead
Fiocchi offers the hunter a wide selection of hunting loads that incorporate nickel plated shot to help make any hunt more successful. Nickel plated shot gives the hunter such benefits as denser, more consistent patterns with fewer stray pellets and increased range and penetration than non-plated shot. Nickel plating helps the shot pellets retain their original aerodynamic spherical shape during firing and passing through your shotgun's choke. In short, Fiocchi's nickel-plated shot contributes to a more successful hunt.
SPECIFICATIONS:Mfg Item Num: 123TRK Category: AMMO SHOTSHELLS Gauge :12Type :Nickel-Plated LeadLength :3"Ounces :1 3/4 ozShot Size :6Muzzle Velocity :1325 fpsRounds/box :10 Rounds Per Box, 25 Boxes Per CaseDrams :MaxApplication :Shot Type :


text:
Throwback Footage: Dame Dash Spazzes On Def Jam's Kevin Liles "We Not Equal Partners. You A Quarter Water."
Courtesy of Mr. Exclusive
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text:
Mattapan Line driver was using phone to delete a Reddit post when he crashed his trolley, police say
That alone was grounds for firing him after the December rear-end crash that injured 17, the Globe reports, adding authorities were also not too thrilled to find he had a loaded gun in his backpack at the time.
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One more to be fired?
Slayman said she knew drivers were taking their phones on the trollies.
WTF? I thought that was the point of the "no cell phones" policy. Is she going to be fired too?
There's a difference between
There's a difference between having your phone and using your phone.
The rule for operators prohibits "having"
Operators are not supposed to even "have" the phones while on duty. The phone is supposed to be in the car or at home, not on the employee.
There are posters all over the employee areas reminding them.
"Slayman said she knew
"Slayman said she knew drivers were taking their phones on the trollies."
Where did you hear that? It's not in the Globe article.
Edited out...seems a big omission/screwup
It was originally in the article. It quoted her directly. If that was in error, it seems like they should have noted that as an errata on the article if they edited it out. Fucking Globe...
Good thing the Internet Archive is on the case:
Witness Intimidation?
I wonder what is behind the possible witness intimidation charge(s)?
Also curious about the original Reddit post.
This is one of those charges
This is one of those charges prosecutors abuse nowadays when they "pile on" as many charges as they can in order to intimidate someone into taking a plea, like obstruction of justice, money laundering, "conspiracy to..." whatever. All the defendant has to do is speak to a single person about the crime they committed, ask them not to say something, and the prosecutor can pervert this into a "witness intimidating" or "tampering" charge.
The fact alone
that he was on Reddit should have been cause for immediate termination.
It's kind of fascinating to watch
the interplay between the semi intelligent narcissists and the low IQ cretins that argue incessantly about whatever bullshit their sub is devoted to.
Kind of like the bike vs car people here who just can't realize they're never going to get rid of either or treat bicyclists like they matter.
You can thank the lottery
You can thank the lottery system the MBTA uses to hire these drivers. Just remember you are putting your life in the hands of some completely random person picked by a computer next time you ride a bus or train.
I expected that to be a
I expected that to be a parody site. It is not.
Screening process?
You cant really stop people from applying for any job, but you can always screen them afterward...
Yep, you win the lottery and they mail you some keys
You win that lottery and that's it. No screening, no weeks of training, no written tests. No physical, no random drug tests. They mail you a uniform and some keys, and you just jump on the nearest train and start driving.
you clearly know absolutely
you clearly know absolutely NOTHING about the hiring process!
Bus to train
Isn't the policy they don't directly hire for trolly/subway conductors but instead offer the job to existing bus drivers?
And a better system is
To get your job because either you are friendly with your state rep or you have a relative working for the T?
Is there some metric we are missing? Is there a universe of people in the City of Boston who have experience driving a PCC or a subway train that the T is ignoring?
Does there need to be?
Hire the best guy (or lady) currently in a smaller city. What does an IT company do? They don't settle for the best Bostonian, they import people from India and Poland.
It's like any other job. There's a ceiling and a floor. Somebody on this planet is the safest, most professional public transit operator, and somebody is the worst at that job.
If the best Bostonian you can get to do the job is playing grabass on their phone, packing heat like some dumbass gangster, and wrecking the trains, then clearly, the T can do much better to recruit talent from elsewhere.
Are you familiar with the pool of potential employees?
In this particular industry? I wouldn't say it's exactly apples-to-apples with IT.
Did you also read that this driver was first hired in 2001 and has been an operator since? They made a huge mistake, no doubt, and I can't think of any reason why bringing a gun to work in a position like this would ever be acceptable or consistent with MBTA policy, and removal was proper. But it's clear this person got wayyy too comfortable in their job duties to let something happen like this, but it's not like they were hired yesterday and hadn't been providing otherwise good service in the years prior.
This is not a defense of this operator, at all. I just don't think that you can come to your conclusion as easily when you actually consider more about this.
Pay better attention to your employees
Get Mike Ehrmantraut on him.
You can thank your crappy schools
... for the fact that you can't think critically about what you hear or understand that this system doesn't end with the lottery or why it exists.
To even get in the front door
To even get in the front door, though, there's the lottery system.
All applicants are entered into the lottery, which happens every few years and contains over a thousand names, easily, according to Dillon. Everyone picks a rating station—your preferred station—but it can take a couple years to actually get there once you're in the system. The Red Line, Dillon says, is by far the most popular rating station.
Once you've applied, hearing you number called can take years. And even then, there's an interview, yearly, rigorous training, and written tests to maintain your certifications. In short, it's a long road to get the chance to don an MBTA uniform. And once there, it can be a very trying profession.
this is quoted from this article
it seems to be the best explanation of the job lottery.
System Working
Glad the T investigated and took action.
What do you mean "glad the T
What do you mean "glad the T investigated" ? Investigation should be manadatory! WTF? What if it was worse? All because of a cell phone. And what's up with the gun?
...why the outrage?
Of course it's mandatory. In situations like this, as far as I know, the NTSB gets involved.
Not exactly correct.
The only accidents the NTSB are obligated to investigate are those involving any aircraft (both commercial and private) regardless of the extent or severity of the incident. This requirement was mandated by Congress in the original legislation creating the NTSB in the 1960s.
Investigating accidents that happen in other modes of transportation (highway, rail, marine, pipeline) is entirely at the discretion of the NTSB, who - like most government agencies these days - is operating with an increasingly restrictive budget.
Given that this collision resulted in no fatalities and the injuries sustained by passengers were relatively minor, and as the T's investigation has already determined the probable cause, I'd say it's unlikely the NTSB will get involved.
Thanks for correcting
That's why I put the "as far as I know" in there because I wasn't sure. This isn't directed towards you, but my other point still stands that the following investigation would be mandatory, regardless of who would ultimately be responsible for conducting it.
The release of this story the day after the Patriots loss and the State House sex scandal is timed to minimize the public and the media's attention away from the MBTA troubles.
* Does the MBTA ban on cell phone use apply to Police Officers on traffic posts at North Station
* Did the employee have a license to carry a firearm
* Did the trolley driver have a criminal background
*How many employees have past criminal arrests ranging from domestic assaults to drunk driving or drug dealing
* How many employees carry weapons to protect themselves from the public
* How many employees fear for their safety because they have reported sexual harassment from their supervisors and nothing was done so they feel the need to carry weapons
* How many employees carry weapons in the workplace because they are in fear for their lives because of their race or sexual orientation.
* Those injured in the crash better call Saul because they just hit the T-lottery
Unless they were run down in a crosswalk by an at-fault driver
Then the MBTA will try to delay, stall, and appeal hoping that they die first from their horrendous injuries.
The article listed the litany
The article listed the litany of things he's charged with, which included nothing involving the firearm. Therefore, at most the gun is (a) against MBTA policy so he can be fired for it, and (b) mentioned to add to the sensationalism of it all.
And what's with the firearm
And what's with the firearm related charge going to Nakden District Court?
Sorry, that was supposed to
Sorry, that was supposed to be Malden*
It's out of Dorchester District Court
But he's from Malden.
I do love the typo, though.
Nope, you didn't read the
Nope, you didn't read the whole thing. It says he'll be charged later for improper storage of a firearm through Malden District Court, so it happened within its area of responsibility
Reading fail
On my part. It is weird that they put charges in at two different courts on a single incident.
it was two different crimes
it was two different crimes or incidents. The firearm was reported to be at the scene of the accident, but no one one actually saw it. Clearly, when the detectives went to the home of the driver, they asked to see the reported firearm and noted at that time it was improperly stored in the driver's home in Malden. The firearm must be properly registered because that is a more serious charge.
I rode the line to and from Mattapan Square yesterday.
All I can say is that both drivers were courteous and drove safely. One was a bit stern because one passenger didn't understand or pretended to not understand he needed to pay the fare. The same driver stopped before rolling into a station to allow an elderly woman to cross the tracks so she wouldn't miss the trolley. The other driver was also conscientious and cheerfully announced all the stops.
And you checked for loaded
And you checked for loaded guns?
Have you been on recently?
It improves for a few days and then collapses. Rinse and repeat


text:
It is this researcher's opinion that when there is no concrete proof, or even a hint of probability the questionable family member should be left off of the tree. However, be sure to make research notes about the individual.
A point I have been trying to prove for a while now is that George Allen the immigrant ancestor who arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony with the Rev Joseph Hull Company on 6 May 1635 from England was not married to Katherine Starks/Slarks/Starke. The George Allen that married Katherine Starke was the son of Richard Allen, Moneyer of the Tower of London.
Other pages that have discussed this issue:
The only way to get the word out that the Massachusetts couple has been confused with the London couple is to do research on the family of Richard Allen, Moneyer of the Tower of London.
The following is an extraction of his will:
|Abstracts of wills in the Prerogative court of Canterbury at Somerset house,
London, England, page 35
I have transcribed the will of his son Henry which was written in April of 1640. He mentions his brother George, sister Susan Willmott, sister Joane Usher, cousin Joseph Usher (should be nephew), brother John, and wife Susan.
Thanks to The Records of London's Livery Companies Online I was able to locate the apprentice and freeman records of George and Henry.
Thanks to The Records of London's Livery Companies Online I was able to locate the apprentice and freeman records of George and Henry.
- Henricus Allen - London - New apprentice, son of Rici - Monnyer - Turri London, London. Jozeph Ussher - Master Co Clothworker. Start Date: 25/07/1610 Apprentice Bond Length: 10 years.
- Georgius Allen - London - New apprentice, Son of Rici Allen Monnyer - Turrim London, London. Jozeph Ussher - Master Co Clothworker. Start Date: 30/09/1613 Apprentice Bond Length: 9 years.
- Georg Allen - New freeman Co Clothworker, Jozeph Usher - Master Co Clothworker, 1620.
- George Allen the Elder Sheeremaker - Queenehithe Master Co Clothworker, William Johnson - London - New apprentice - Start Date: 11/02/1658.
The age of apprenticeship was usually 14-21. So this would give George Allen, clothworker a birth date of about 1598, which would make him about 26 when he married Katherine Slarks. Since George Allen the clothworker from Queenhithe, London was busy still being a clothworker in 1658, he could not have been the George Allen who traveled to America with Rev John Hull since he died in the year 1648.
Therefore, Katherine Slarks/Starke was not the wife of our George and she was not the mama of his children.
I am putting together a database of the Queenhithe Allens that I have been able to find so far and will post it when I am done.
UPDATE: I have posted the Queenhithe Allens database at my other blog Extra! Extra!
Leslie Ann


text:
Hi Everyone,
Larry B. who is a participant at our monthly genealogy programs made me aware that he has a print volume of Frederick H. Dyer's "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion". This is a great source to discover information about the regimental unit activities of any of your Union Civil War ancestors. This is a great print source although it is huge in size.
Larry's information made me do some further looking online to see what can be found online that is a much easier alternative to the print source.
I was able to discover a great web site that fits the bill of easily providing this regimental information.
I would like to direct readers to the following site:
You will find information categorized by state, Union first, then Confederate. You will only find a list of the regiments by state for the Confederacy but no information about the regiment simply because it was not contained in the Compendium because it was a Union document. Within each state you will find an identification of the number of organizations within the state. Organizations just refers to the various regiments that may be found within the state. Click on the link to the state of interest.
As an example for Illinois, you will see that there are 239 organizations indicated for the state. When you click on the state link, you will then see that you can select by category of military unit e.g. Cavalry, Artillery, Infantry and any other categories that may be identified for a state.
If you click on "cavalry" you will be directed to another listing of all of the various regimental cavalry units from Illinois that fought in the Civil War. If you know the regiment of your ancestor, you can then click on the regiment.
Once you have selected a regiment, you will then see a great summary of the regimental activities in a timeline order that occurred during the Civil War for the regiment. You will see what brigades, divisions etc. the regiment was part of during the timeline indicated.
You will also then see a "Service" history for the campaigns/battles the Union regiment participated in also in chronological order. So you will now know in what engagements your ancestor participated in during their Civil War service with their regiment.
At the very end of the "Service" information you will also see a very short summary that provides statistics both on officers and enlisted men that were killed in battle or died from their wounds as well as seeing numbers on officers and enlisted men that died from disease. A grand total of the combined killed in action and died from disease is then provided.
You can really picture the activity level your Union ancestor endured during their regimental involvement over a span of time. How wonderful a feeling this can be to realize you can track your Union Civil War ancestor through such a timeline of events and geographical dispersion of their regimental movements.
I want to thank Larry B. for making me aware of a resource he had in print form that led me to do some further online searching to find a better alternative available to all online.
The link above looks like it does the job in fine form!
All of the above is predicated on the fact you know the regiment of your Union Civil War ancestor. If you don't know that you will need to research further, possibly with the help of the National Archives and Civil War material they have or material that exists within an individual state archives often contained within "report of the adjutant general" material issued by a state that contains names of individuals that served during the Civil War within various regiments for the state.
Hopefully the Union name you search for within these resources to find the regiment is a name that is not too common! Knowing the geographical area your ancestor lived may give a hint as to what regiment they may have been in because enlistees often joined regiments that were close to the area where they lived. (Please note that this may not always be the case because an ancestor may have enlisted 100 miles away from where they lived because he received MONEY from that recruitment effort farther away from home than for enlisting for nothing closer to home!)
For those of you with Union Civil War ancestors that already know the regimental information then take a look at the above link if you have not already investigated the regimental movements of your ancestor during the Civil War.
For Confederate research, the above web site will at least provide you with a listing of the regiments identified for each Confederate state. This will at least give you some resource to refer to as your Confederate regimental identification process proceeds.
You will obtain a far more insightful view of where your Union ancestor was and in what battles they may have fought. This can lead you to even further research at a much more specific level of time and geography.
I hope this all helps you.
Thanks again to Larry B for making me aware of a resource he had that led to me doing some other research to find a better alternative to the print source.
Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library


text:
Desperate Housewives Season Eight Pictures
First Look: Secret Burial on Desperate Housewives Season Eight Premiere
First Look: Secret Burial on Desperate Housewives Season Eight Premiere
Some crazy things have gone down on Wisteria Lane over the years — plane crashes, fake pregnancies, neighbors trying to poison one another — but the primetime soap upped the ante in the season seven finale, which saw the ladies of the lane helping Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) cover up his murder of Gabby's (Eva Longoria) abusive stepfather. In these first pictures from the eighth season, it looks like things will pick up right where they left off. There are lots of tears, as the guilty-looking gals and Carlos meet up under the cover of darkness for what looks like a secretive burial of the body. Check 'em out as we all wait for the show to return on Sept. 25.


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It's the age-old question that Corvette builders face each time they find a project car that's in less-than-original condition: Do you want to restore it, or build it into something else?
James Pulliam had some help when he answered that question, which came after he found this '72 Stingray.
To call it a "30-footer" would have been way too generous. "It was in rough shape when we got it," says Pulliam of the Vette you can see in the accompanying "before" photo. Even then, he knew what he wanted to do with it. "When we got the car, we had already decided that we were going to throw a late-model drivetrain in it," he says. "Originally, we were going to do a race car, with a rollcage and the whole nine yards. But the project got too expensive, and the car got too nice to put on the track full-time."
By "we," he means himself and his father, Jim Pulliam Sr., a long-time hot rodder in whose shop James received an education on the finer arts of building high-performance Chevys. "I used his shop, and he was out there every day with me," he says with pride. "He's an old-time hot rodder, so that's what he does."
Show-going with his Dad years ago led to one feature on this shark: a cleaned-up engine bay. As the younger Pulliam puts it, "Going to car shows when I was younger, I saw all the show cars' slicked-up firewalls, and I said, 'Why doesn't anyone do that to the Corvette?'" When the two got to work, they found out why in a hurry. "It's difficult to do, but we got it done," says James. "We got rid of all the vacuum [lines] in the car."
With the (seeming) miles of vacuum lines removed, and the engine bay-including the firewall-smoothed, it was ready for the supercharged LS-series engine. Based on an '03 LS1, it features a Magnuson supercharger, LS6 heads, a Comp Cams-ground Lingenfelter camshaft, as well as a Hooker exhaust system that uses 4-inch-diameter side pipes and MWM mufflers. (MWM = "Mufflers? What Mufflers?") Backing it is a Hurst-shifted Tremec T56 six-speed, with a stout Van Steel-built rearend center section holding a rebuilt Posi and 3.73 rear gears. Keeping it fueled are a Rock Valley stainless-steel fuel tank and a high-volume electric fuel pump feeding stainless lines.
Van Steel also provided the tubular A-arms up front, the adjustable composite monoleaf rear spring, and the QA1 shocks at all corners that went on the '72's frame, which was race-prepped (per GM's Powerbook) and painted silver.
Filling the fenderwells, outboard of a set of Wilwood four-wheel discs, are a set of Michelin-shod CCW wheels. "I was looking at Fikse wheels, and [the prices on] those are just outrageous," Pulliam says, so he looked at the more-budget-friendly CCWs. "I'd heard people mention them before, but I didn't understand what they were about. I gave them a call, and they helped me out with the wheels big time. When I got them on I was excited, because they look perfect on there."
Over the big rims and rubber is a C3 coupe body that had a set of ACI L88 fender flares molded in to fit the big rolling stock at each corner. An Eckler's L88 hood was also fitted and made to look OEM by Pulliam's buddy, James Johnstone. Those items are the highlights of the body's frame-off restoration by both Jameses (Johnstone and Pulliam), which also included shaving the door locks, wiper door, and nameplates, and converting the headlight doors from vacuum to electric operation.
Inside, a pair of leather-upholstered Corbeau A4 seats wear Corbeau five-point harnesses connected to a "shark bar." Aftermarket power windows and locks add convenience, and a Vintage Air HVAC system adds cool comfort to the cabin, which was lined with Lizard Skin insulation before final assembly. (The '72's underbody got the Lizard Skin treatment as well.)
The result is a street-driveable shark that's also track ready. "I take it to Palm Beach International Raceway for track days," says Pulliam, who adds that everything on his '72 is track-ready. "I could put a rollcage in it and take it out to the track, or just take it to the track right now without one and have a good time with it. But I'm always a little worried about wrecking it."
One notable road-couse adventure he had with the car came at the '09 ALMS race held at Sebring International Raceway. "We took it around the track during the parade laps, and people came up and said, 'Man, I can't tell your car apart from the C6.Rs!'" Pulliam says. "It really does sound like a race car when it's on the street."
Would he build another Corvette like this? "I would do it again the same way, because there's really no comparison between a modern drivetrain and the old small-blocks and big-blocks," he says. "It's like night and day."
Do you dream of making a track-ready/street-driveable car out of a "30-footer"-or worse? Pulliam has this advice: "Before you start the project, understand what it's going to cost. Be realistic about it. Get all the parts together, do as much research as you can, and then really understand what you're getting into. I had a pretty good idea, but I went way over my budget on what I thought it would cost."
With results like these, we'd say he got more than his money's worth.


text:
whales.com – One of the true island gems of the San Juan's.We'll serve a fried chicken, potato salad, chips, fresh fruit, dessert, and includes a picnic lunch and nature walk.For more information visit our website.
whales.com – One of the true island gems of the San Juan's.We'll serve a fried chicken, potato salad, chips, fresh fruit, dessert, and includes a picnic lunch and nature walk.For more information visit our website.
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Enjoy the sights and sounds of the incredible marine wildlife that live in the scenic San Juan Islands on our cruise. For more information view here: https://goo.gl/q0ZgF8


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God, it depresses me to even write that title. A specific, Yuletide anti-rape message is not the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about the 'festive' time of year, is it? Y'know, cards, presents, eggnog, targetted posters reminding men that rape isn't nice despite the presence of mistletoe. For shit.
Does rape become more prevalent around this time of year? I've no idea – and I couldn't find any stats that suggested whether that was the case or not – but I suppose there's just more instances of women going out, getting drunk, having fun, needing reigning in, needing jack-booting back to the kitchen…
Oh, I'm being curmudgeonly. Possibly. Well, see what you think:
[brought to my attention by Too Much to Say for Myself]
So, you see, the campaign has one, huge, huge, thing going for it.
It doesn't victim blame. Even if only, specifically, for drinking.
It doesn't victim blame. I find it difficult to be pissed at any rape campaign which doesn't actively blame the victim. You know?
But there has been criticism. We, feminists, as the Daily Mail will tell you, are never fucking happy.
My own personal criticism is that whilst it holds the victims not to blame – my, how far we've come! – the campaign appears to uphold another, very important rape culture myth: that only young, attractive, patriarchal-compliant women get raped. Oh, and apparently, only white women get raped – who knew, right?
Ugly women – whether 'ugly' because they're old, or fat, or hairy or disabled, or whatever – these women do not get raped. Right? I don't even need to tell you the myth I'm talking about, right?
That rape happens because men can't control their penis in the face of an attractive young piece of tail in a vest top. That one. That when 'ugly' women get raped, they don't get raped, they get lucky. Because who would, otherwise, want to fuck that? More, that when 'ugly' women get raped, they don't actually get raped, because who would want to fuck that at all?
That when 'ugly' women get raped, they don't actually get raped, because they are fantasising, because who would want to fuck that?
So, am I being curmudgeonly? Or should I accept that a step forward is at least a fucking step forward?
That, my friends, is the essential dilemna of the feminist curmudgeon.


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Square Roots Hair Design
$79 for a Half Head of Foils or Global Colour, Both incl. Style Cut, In-Salon Conditioning Treatment & Finish from Square Roots Hair Design (value up to $210)
- Highlights
- Fine Print
- Company
The Offer
- Get a fabulous new look from Square Roots Hair Design!
- $79 for a half head of foils or global colour - both options include a style cut, in-salon conditioning treatment & finish (value up to $210)
- After balayage or ombré? No problem! You can upgrade for an extra $30 on the day - just let them know when booking.
- Square Roots Hair Design is a family owned business with over 50 years experience in the hair industry.
- Stylists Arthur, Clayton and Shirli are experienced, friendly and up to date with the latest worldwide hair trends.
- In-salon conditioning treatment and expert finish ensures you'll leave with your hair looking and feeling amazing!
- Check out Square Roots on Facebook.
What We Like
It's hip to be a square! Rectangles are... sort of cool, I guess? Triangles are probably OK. Octagons are definitely out.
... OK, so geometry's not our strong point - but we do know a great hair deal when we see one! That's why we're stoked to bring you this great offer from the hep team at Square Roots Hair Design.
They're offering to treat you to your choice of either a half head of foils or global colour. Both options include a style cut (ooh!), in-salon condition treatment (ahh!) and professional finish (eee!) to ensure your lovely locks leave looking their absolute best.
Boasting a full range of hair services, including cuts, colours, styles and treatments, Square Roots knows you're after quality service and excellent results, and provides just that. With new treatments and techniques to keep ahead of the latest worldwide hair trends, Square Roots' blend of exquisite cutting, beautiful colouring, catwalk-quality finishing and service means you can relax in the safe hands of experts.
Don't be an L7 - click Buy Now and call the cool cats at Square Roots Hair Design!
The Fine Print
Offer expires on 28/08/2016
Multiple vouchers can be purchased (limit: 2 for you & 2 as gifts)
Valid only for new customers or customers who haven't visited in the last 6 months
Bookings are essential & subject to availability (ph 07 571 1303 & quote voucher code)
Valid Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm
24 hour cancellation policy applies - non-attendance or late cancellation will void voucher
Each voucher must be used by 1 person in 1 visit. Limit 1 voucher per visit
Valid for services with Arthur, Clayton & Shirli only
Upgrade to balayage (ombré) for an extra $30 - payable on the day
Thick hair or hair longer than collar may incur additional charges
Extra charge for toner
No refunds or cash back (except where required by law)
Not for use with other offers
The Company
12 Elizabeth St, Tauranga, 3110 Tauranga


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Esperanza's Saturday Academy Students Visit Kent State Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg
Kent State University Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg recently hosted a group of 34 high school students from Esperanza Inc.'s Saturday Academy. Students in the Saturday Academy program visit various college campuses throughout the semester to learn about educational opportunities, college admissions process and more.
Thomas Hoiles, director of Enrollment Management and Student Services, and his staff, shared information about college readiness, programs and courses offered at the center. Current students who have attended the Kent Campus and Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg volunteered to share their personal college experiences with the high school students.
Following lunch and a time-management presentation by Reema Suhwail, Esperanza Inc. program coordinator, students traveled to the Kent Campus. They were greeted by the Latino Networking Caucus (LNC) during the annual LNC Alumni Awards Luncheon in Kent Student Center. T. David Garcia, associate vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, and José C. Feliciano, Kent State's President's Ambassador, addressed the students during the luncheon. The students concluded their visit with a tour of the Kent Campus.
"Seeing the Latino students on campus motivated many of the students to not only possibly attend Kent but to go to college in general" Suhwail commented in an evaluation of the visit.
For more information about Esperanza Inc., visit http://esperanzainc.org.
For more information about the Kent State University Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg, visitwww.geauga.kent.edu/twinsburgcenter.


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While having my morning coffee, I came across this blurb about a new Bike Share program starting up in Knoxville, Tennessee at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Read on..
KNOXVILLE, TN (BRAIN)—The first e-bike sharing system in the U.S. could be unveiled as early as this fall at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
The small-scale pilot program will consist of 15 of Currie's pedal-assist trekking-style bikes and five hybrid, traditional Marin bikes with no batteries. Chris Cherry, assistant professor at the university's civil and environmental engineering department, came up with the idea a year ago as a course project for one of his classes.
"It started as a concept I was interested in studying and I was able to find money to buy the equipment and have my students to do the initial design and analysis for a transportation planning course project,†Cherry said.
But the project soon ran into funding and liability issues, which have delayed its implementation. However, Cherry said the system is just about ready to go live with most of the details, including the unique docking stations, tailored e-bikes and battery vending machines, ironed out.
Cherry emphasized that the impetus behind the program is to develop research findings about bike usage, safety-related issues with bikes and e-bikes and physical activity. The e-bikes and bikes will be equipped with GPS and pedal sensors to track usage.
Cherry said he opted for e-bikes instead of a full fleet of traditional human-powered bikes because of the campus terrain. "Our campus is pretty spread out and very hilly so riding a bike requires a bit of devotion,†he said. "This is a way to hopefully get people to ride more bikes. A lot of students will drive across campus. It's really auto-oriented.â€
Larry Pizzi, president of Currie Technologies, said that aside from providing the fleet at a deep discount, Currie worked closely with Cherry on modifying the e-bikes to make them viable for the program, specifically the battery configuration. Pizzi doesn't think public e-bike sharing systems will proliferate due to the higher price tag of an e-bike and the large scale of citywide systems. "But with private programs, like a university program, it definitely becomes more viable,†Pizzi said.
—Lynette Carpiet
This might be a nice precedent for other university campuses to give their civil engineering & urban transportation planning students a jump start in their chosen career paths… Hmmmmm…..


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Serta Alesbury 8" Plush Memory Foam Mattress
- Serta pillowsoft foam reduces pressure points
- Serta foam core provides proper balanced support
- Cool twist gel memory foam helps dissipate body heat
When it comes to mattresses, one size definitely doesn't fit all. The mattress should be longer than the tallest person sleeping on it. The bed width should allow enough space to fold your arms behind your head without going beyond the mattress edge or touching your partner's elbows (for two adults, we recommend either a queen or a king).
Additional Information
Overview & Specs
- Overview
- Features & Specifications
- Reviews
- Delivery & Shipping Info
- Warranty Info
Product Overview
Affordable, comfortable, cozy: all words you can find in a Serta Perfect Sleeper Alesbury 8" plush memory foam mattress review. A thin mattress that packs a lot of comfort into just three layers of foam, the Serta Perfect Sleeper Alesbury plush memory foam mattress offers pressure point relief to back and side sleepers, conforming to you and hugging you as you sleep for a soft sleeping experience while preventing back, hip, and shoulder pain.
Some plush mattresses that conform to your body as you sleep, especially those constructed from memory foam, can make you feel hot as you sleep. The Serta Alesbury plush combats this with the use of a top layer of 1" Cool Twist Gel Memory Foam allowing for enhanced airflow that keeps you cool as you sleep. The plush softness of the mattress also helps to combat motion transfer, so you won't be disturbed as your partner shifts while you're sleeping.
Read the Serta Perfect Sleeper Alesbury reviews below, take advantage of our 120-night sleep trial and try it out for yourself.
Comfort Type:
- 1" Cool Twist Gel Memory Foam
- 1" Serta PillowSoft Foam
- 6" Serta Foam Core
- Twin: 39" W x 75" D
- Twin XL: 39" W x 80" D
- Full: 54" W x 75" D
- Queen: 60" W x 80" D
- King: 76" W x 80" D
- Cal King: 72" W x 84" D
Delivery & Shipping Info
Items delineated as "FREE SHIPPING" ship free with ground shipping and do not include in-home delivery or setup, nor do they qualify for White Glove Delivery.
Get free delivery when you spend over $399.* This includes next day delivery, free in-home set up, removal of old mattress, and our trademark White Glove Delivery!
*Available for most products and online only. Select zip codes do not apply. Call for details 800-327-7720.
White Glove Delivery Details: We guarantee your new mattress will be delivered within a designated 1 day delivery window, or your delivery is free. If your delivery is late, simply contact us after signing the delivery manifest with the delivery time stamp and we will credit your account or mail a refund check for the price of your delivery fee within three weeks. As part of our White Glove Delivery Service, we will contact you to schedule delivery whenever it's convenient for you. While we install your new mattress, we will also haul your old mattress away. White Glove Delivery is not applicable on all products and is not available in all areas.
Warranty Info
10 Year Limited Warranty
Serta® mattresses or foundations used with proper support are protected by a 10 year limited manufacturer's warranty. Serta products are warrantied against manufacturing defects in workmanship and material (excluding covers and handles, except for handles on iSeries and equivalent level mattresses).
• Comfort Preference
• Bedding sold "as is", or floor samples, or bedding purchased from second hand parties, non-retail establishments or received as a promotional item.
• Bedding height
• Corner guards
• Bent perimeter border rods due to moving or bending the sleep set for innerspring models
• Replacement of another piece in a sleep set unless it is also defective
• Damage of the mattress or foundation due to misuse or abuse
• Mattress damage due to an inappropriate foundation or when an incorrect bed frame is used
• Sheet fit
• Fabric Stains, soiling, fluid penetration, tears or burns
• Adjustable foundations (see owner's manual for details on warranty coverage)
• Mattress fabric (except as noted in the Warranty Coverage Detail section for an All Foam mattress)
• Zippered mattress cover damage due to improper care including removal of cover
• Normal change in softness and recovery time associated with memory foam and latex materials over time. This does not affect the pressure relieving qualities of these materials.
• Body impressions in the mattress that measure less than 1½" for an innerspring mattress; less than ¾" for all smooth top (non-quilted) hybrid mattresses and All Foam model mattresses.
• Sagging in the mattress that measure less than 1½" for an innerspring mattress; less than ¾" for all smooth top (non-quilted) hybrid mattresses and All Foam model mattresses.
The warranty coverage runs from the original date of purchase. Replacement of the mattress or foundation does not extend its limited warranty or begin a new limited warranty period. Your warranty period is based on the code printed on your white law label as indicated on the Warranty Code Chart. The duration of any applicable implied warranties, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, shall not exceed the term of this limited warranty. (Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so this limitation may not apply to you.) Serta® shall not be liable for incidental or consequential damages that result from the use of your Serta® product. (Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so this exclusion may not apply to you.) No expressed or implied warranties are extended to persons who purchase the product from anyone other than Serta Simmons Bedding Company or its authorized dealers, and all warranties to such persons, including the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, are hereby excluded.
If your Serta® mattress or foundation fails due to a manufacturing defect, the exclusive remedy under this warranty will be replacement of the defective product in the U.S., Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands. If the Serta® product you purchased is discontinued at the time of replacement, a current model of comparable quality and value will be selected. To receive service under the terms of this warranty contact your original Serta® dealer. If your original Serta® dealer is no longer in business or you have moved outside the service area, please contact Serta Customer Service at 1-888-55-SERTA (1-888-557-3782) between the hours of 9am to 5pm EST Monday - Friday. A copy of original bill of sale is needed to determine original date of purchase. Model name label and law label must be provided to identify the bedding and validate this warranty.
This warranty gives you specific rights, and you may have other rights, which vary from state to state. This warranty is extended only to the original purchaser from Serta Simmons Bedding Company or its authorized dealers.
You May Also Like:
Calm 9" Euro Top Memory Foam Mattress
Greenwood 9.5" Firm Mattress


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Personalised Birthday Card - Greatest Showman501-085
Personalise your birthday card for that special person this year, our unique designs can be personalised with your loved one name. Check out our other designs and styles to get that design you are looking for. Simply input your loved ones name and our studio will do the rest.
Sizes Available:
Designed exclusively for Jellybean Personalised gifts by our design studio.
Made from:
Your personalised artwork is printed onto Matt satin 400gsm. Card includes Diamond flap envelope.
Sizes Available:


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Missoni Home is a line of the Italian fashion house Missoni, which was made to inspire the public to live a life of fun and creativity. Missoni has always cared about giving the best to their clients. In IL Décor these beliefs are shared. Inspiring the public to create a life surrounded by beautiful things that make sense for the times we live in. From accessories for the bed, bath and any other corner of a home that needs a boost of texture, Missoni Home has it covered. Illuminate a room with the whimsical colored light fixtures Missoni offers or hide away with window treatments in bright stripes or floral patterns. Design a home of elegance and character with furniture designed and upholstered in plush Missoni fabrics. Come and explore in IL Décor how to bring the promise of Missoni Home to your home.
- Home >
- Accessories >
- Pillows >
- Moomba Pillow, Missoni Home
Related Shopping Guides
Missoni Home is a distinct line of Missoni, offering consumers home furnishings such as Bed and Bath furnishings and throw pillows. The color schemes and creativity of the elaborate styles adds beautiful décor to any room in the house. Within the Bed and Bath collection, Missoni has elegant towels and hand towels for customers to group and purchase together. In addition, they offer beautiful bed spreads such as sheets and quilts. Throw pillows such as the Orvault and the Orelle are great examples of the zig-zag style and other tasteful designs.


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In the previous podcast, we broadcasted the first part of Chapter 15 of the Tyranny of God where I began going through the process in which religions, more specifically, Christianity and Islam have come to be the most powerful religions today. First, they establish their god and their scriptures as authorities. Then they demand people to take their god and their scriptures seriously. They encourage people to substitute the need for evidence with faith. They instil obedience. They discourage doubt and enquiry and they enforce regular meetings to keep the faith strong within the minds of their converts. They then proceed to protect beliefs and silence contradictory ideas. In this second part of the podcast, I will continue going through the steps in which these two major religions have come to dominate our way of thinking. This Sunday, 9th of February 2014, Part 2 of Chapter 15 of the Tyranny of God.
Marquez discusses how the two most dominant religions today: Christianity and Islam, have spread. We will see how they achieved this by simply looking at the way their memes work together. We will look at how their belief system is structured to understand what continues to enable and empower them to thrive in the minds of people as parents pass on their beliefs and ideas from generation to generation.
Religions are just human organisations and like other human organisations, they are under pressure to survive. To survive, they need believers to support them financially or otherwise. Thus, they act like memetic organisms. Like viruses, they replicate in the minds of people, influencing the actions and behaviour of people the world over.
Perhaps gods do not exist. We only believe in them if we make ourselves believe in them. We kill and die for these gods. The tragedy is that in our willingness to believe, we end up wasting and squandering our resources and our lives and of others', as we serve and worship these gods we have imagined. Today, Sunday, 9th of December 2013, we will discuss why our ancestors used religion.
It is a common for religious people to say that their god through scripture, gives us a way to live moral lives. But does morality really come from a Divine Being? In this podcast, we delve into this question regarding morality.
In this podcast, I discuss how our ancestors, before they created religions, have come to realise that it is indeed wise to treat others the way you want to be treated. Today, Sunday, 3rd November 2013, Chapter 11 of the Tyranny of God, Why We Are Moral.
It is often said that a particular religion teaches its people how to live moral lives. Many people claim that religion is the metaphorical light that guides people to live wise, moral and satisfactory lives. Is this true though? Are we not moral without religions? Have we not been moral even without religions? These are the sorts of questions I want to delve into today, Sunday, 27th of October 2013, Chapter 10 of the Tyranny of God, Early Human Societies.
Podcasting: Sunday 20 October 2013 - Sunday 27 October 2013
In Chapter 8 of the Tyranny of God, we got thinking about memes. We generally defined memes to be anything that we, human beings can copy. Memes including ideas, stories, rituals and parables made up by people and got copied from one mind to another. Over generations, these memes join up with memes that are compatible or they may also make new memes conceivable. The idea that there is a soul for example, makes the idea of life after death, heaven and hell possible. These in turn makes it possible for gods to exist and we looked at all the different conceptions of god throughout the world. Religions embody and codify these conceptualisations of gods which is an argument I will delve into in later chapters.
However, before we proceed further, in this week's podcast, we will first discuss beliefs and delusions because they are two most powerful types of memes that influence our actions, thoughts and behaviour. This Sunday 20th of October 2013, Chapter 9 of The Tyranny of God: Beliefs and Delusions.
Podcasting: Sunday 13 October 2013 - Sunday 20 October 2013
Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. In Chapter 7 of the Tyranny of God, we got thinking about language. In our quest to understand human nature and the nature of religions, it is important to realise that language helps if not facilitates much of the way we think. In this chapter, I go through memes. Discussions of memes are important because a few chapters later, I argue that much like living organisms are made up of genes, religions are non-living organisms made up of memes. This Sunday 12th of October 2013, Chapter 8 of The Tyranny of God: Memes.
Podcasted: Sunday, 18 August 2013 - Sunday 25 August 2013
Last week, we listened to Chapter 1 on Cosmology. Cosmology is the study of the origins and the eventual fate of the universe. We discussed the Big Bang Theory and how the universe began 14 billion years ago. From there, we discussed how matter collected into clouds, which condensed. Smaller structures formed and they began forming bigger structures. We looked at how galaxies may have formed and how, 530 million years after the Big Bang, our very own galaxy -- the Milky Way -- slowly came into existence. Our own star -- the Sun -- formed, along with everything else in our solar system, including our own planet, the Earth, and its moon. Now, in Chapter 2, we fast-forward from when the solar system formed to the beginning of life on Earth. So here now, for you, this Sunday 18th of August 2013, Chapter 2 of The Tyranny of God: The Origin of Life.


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As the northeast coast mourns and struggles in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. death toll nears 100 and experts estimate up to $20 billion in total insured damages. In the midst of the devastation, power outages, gas shortages, and scarcity of relief supplies, media is adding to the frenzy, blaming Sandy's fury on climate change and calling "Frankenstorm," the "new norm."
"Anyone who says there's not a dramatic change in weather patterns, I think is denying reality," said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at a press conference on October 30. New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg agreed, adding, "What is clear is that the storms that we've experienced in the last year or so, around this country and around the world, are much more severe than before."
Weather experts disagree. The New York Times quotes Martin Hoerling, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
As to underlying causes, neither the frequency of tropical or extratropical cyclones over the North Atlantic are projected to appreciably change due to climate change, nor have there been indications of a change in their statistical behavior over this region in recent decades.
Kevin Trenberth, a climatologist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research who made headlines in 2009 at the center of the Climategate scandal, is also skeptical of reports linking Sandy to global warming. He told the New York Times that, despite changing Arctic conditions, "the actual heating of the atmosphere is very small to cause it to do anything." He concluded that "the null hypothesis has to be that this is just 'weather' and natural variability."
Though Hurricane Sandy did break records in regard to barometric pressure, wave surges and power outages, she is not the trend-setter some claim. She is neither the largest Atlantic storm on record nor the deadliest. The National Hurricane Center reports Olga was the largest in recorded history with a wind extent of 600 miles, more than 100 miles greater than Sandy's. In terms of death toll, among the top ten worst U.S. natural disasters reported by LiveScience are the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 which claimed 8,000 lives and the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 which killed 2,500.
According to the catastrophe insurance provider ICAT, even if Sandy's damage fulfills worst-case estimates, she would also not make the top 10 list of costliest hurricanes. ICAT's Damage Estimator compares the financial cost of storms since 1900 adjusted for inflation. It ranks the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 as number one at more than $180 billion in 2012 dollars. The Galveston and Lake Okeechobee storms rank second and ninth respectively, and seven of the top ten occurred before 1961. Hurricane Katrina is number four.
The disparity in cost and death toll is even more shocking when the relative population and development of coastal areas is considered. University of Colorado environmental professor Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr., made this point in his Wall Street Journal article on October 31. He attributes the staggering financial costs of modern storms to the fact that "there are more people and more wealth in harm's way" than ever before. He credits emergency preparedness and response teams in both public and private sectors with keeping Sandy's disaster tolls much lower than they might otherwise have been.
Pielke warns of a greater public danger than Atlantic storms: "Public discussion of disasters risks being taken over by the climate lobby and its allies, who exploit every extreme event to argue for action on energy policy." Referencing Cuomo's and Bloomberg's comments above he opines, "to connect energy policy and disasters makes little scientific or policy sense," and he cites the recent extreme-event report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admitting "no signs that human-caused climate change has increased the toll of recent disasters." Rather than enacting knee-jerk policy decisions, Pielke recommends practical strategies with a proven success record such as "strategic land use, structural protection and effective forecasts, warnings and evacuations."
Those who declare Hurricane Sandy a harbinger of worse storms to come base their claims on faulty weather models and speculation rather than actual scientific data, says Ed Hiserodt, science and technology writer for The New American. "Media sensationalism isn't going to help the northeast recover," he warns. "And implying that people affected by the storm are somehow responsible for the devastation by contributing to climate change is repulsive."
Photo: AP Images


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Brixâ�Šah, Terrace Caf�© lands a spot at MJH
After losing the name of her restaurant to a pizza franchise moving to town this summer, Brix Terrace Caf© (which is now supposed to be called the Terrace Caf©) owner Karen Laetare has received some good news. The Martha Jefferson Hospital outpatient facility on Pantops has selected her to operate its caf©, which had been run by Tiger Fuel and Simply Delicious Catering.
"Someone told me I should call it the Briquette," jokes Laetre, " but I thought I would get in trouble with the Kingsford charcoal company."
Instead, it will be called the Terrace Cafe @ Martha J and serve outside visitors and hospital patients and employees. For now, it will be open Monday-Friday from 7am to 3pm. The menu will have the same offerings as Brix; easy grab and go, specialty sandwiches, coffee, pastries, daily hot food menu item and soups. Brix will also be the exclusive caterer for the hospital functions.
"This is a great opportunity for Brix, and it is so refreshing to be connected with a Foundation like Martha Jefferson who wants a small business to succeed," says Laetare. "It is truly a win-win situation built on great respect for each other."


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Although Argentina, Chile and Uruguay currently only have 385.5MW of installed capacity between them, they have recently implemented regulations and programmes which will be renewables start to take off.
Uruguay is by far the most ambitious country in the region as its 2030 energy plan aims to end its dependence on expensive fossil fuels. The country aims to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, with 30% coming from wind. This year it is expected to meet its mid-way target of 450-500MW of wind installed two years early, due to improving regulatory and investment conditions set by the government.
Uruguay ended 2012 with 44MW of installed capacity across four wind farms. Although the amount remains static from 2011, the year was spent concluding contract signings, seeking financing and buying equipment. According to Ramon Mendez, the energy director at the energy ministry, $100 million was invested in wind power throughout the country in the past 12 months.
The energy plan has been in place since 2006, when state-controlled power company UTE launched tender rounds to buy renewable power. UTE has so far signed 945MW in contracts with developers in four different tenders. The first tender in 2010 saw contracts signed for 150MW in 22 projects. More than 900MW was offered, which persuaded the government to run further tenders.
However, progress may be slowed by low prices of $63/MWh achieved at the last auction in 2011 and a lack of transmission network.
While Argentina's wind market is still stagnant, this year could see progress with at least 790MW under construction in several regions.
Since 2010, when the government auctioned and signed contracts for 754MW in wind projects at a fixed price of $127/MWh - the highest in the region - little has been developed. Last year, only 26.5MW came online.
Just 50MW of the 200MW Loma Blanca IV, located in southern province of Chubut is expected to come online by December, while the 50MW Mapaspina I, also in Chubut, which is at an advanced stage, may start operations next year, according to an official of the Argentine Wind Power Association.
The problem is finance. Argentina carries investors' scepticism about macro and political stability. Despite harbouring the southern cone's only two large turbine manufacturers - Impsa and NGR Patagonia - business is slow as investors wait for more guarantees.
Argentina's government could take advantage of low prices in neighbouring Brazil and Uruguay to tap new investments, suggests Carlos St James, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Council on Renewable Energy. "In the current situation, no bank will finance projects in Argentina, but with a few changes to protect investments, the market could boom," he says.
A 2006 law gave Argentina a target of supplying 8% of its total consumption from renewables by 2016. This represents around 2.5GW, of which initially 500MW would come from wind.
Neighbouring Chile has a large pipeline under consideration, but the renewables sector is facing a watering down of support from the centre-right government of Sebastian Pinera, which wants to reduce its renewables target and remove financial support.
Although Chile added only 17MW to its installed capacity in 2012, taking it to 205MW, it held two tenders to lease public land for renewables. It is taking advantage of the mining sector's need to reduce emissions and the number of projects under construction has soared.
Chilean renewables association Acera has estimated that 450MW will start operations this year. Chile has an impressive pipeline of 3.25GW of projects that have been approved and a further 2.72GW are being analysed by federal environmental agency SEIA.
Free-market champion Pinera has been proposing significant changes to the country's energy plan, which aims to boost renewables to 20% of capacity by 2020. The government considers the target unfeasible.
In January, the government proposed replacing the land-leasing contracts system, which includes subsidies, with competitive auctions as in Brazil and Uruguay, where the lowest prices win. This has been met with resistance from renewable energy developers.
Other Latin American countries
Honduras is due to start construction this year on three wind projects totalling over 120MW. Power purchase agreements were signed with state-owned utility ENEE in January. Two projects are new wind farms, the third is a 24MW extension to its existing 102MW Cerro de Hula plant, the country's first wind plant, online since 2011.
Peru's wind capacity remains at 1MW, however, in October Vestas won a contract with ContourGlobal for its first project in the country. The location is currently unknown. Peru held its first renewable energy auction last year. The government selected three wind power projects totalling 142MW which must be operational by 2013.
Other countries with wind include Costa Rica (132MW), Caribbean (91MW), Nicaragua (73MW), Dominican Republic (33MW), Guadeloupe (27MW), Colombia (20MW), Cuba (12MW), Ecuador (2MW), Falkland Islands (2MW) and Martinique (1MW).


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Maplin Power Inverter
Untimely battery death is probably the number one frustrating moment when it comes to laptop portability – apart from dropping it, that is.
When it comes to lengthy car journeys, the ciggie-port can come in very handy with the right adapter. Most aeroplanes offer similar connections these days, so with the right kit, you need never be without power, even on the long-haul.
Yet with abundance of choice out there for such gadgetry, you need to hunt around. Maplin offers various options such as this 240V adaptor, suitable for phones, camera, stereos, laptops, small TVs, VCRs.. meh, the list goes on. This particular model also comes with automatic alarm and shutdown protection against overload, over-temperature and low-battery alert LEDs. It looks like a big beast but it is compact and certainly made for the mobile worker.
More info Maplin
Digittrade Old School Protection Sleeve
While dedicated bags and backpacks offer decent hardware protection, they can give the game away to potential thieves and often end up being an additional carry-case to lug around. A laptop sleeve is the obvious solution for this, protecting your precious machinery enough to be thrown in a regular rucksack.
They cost next-to-nothing as well and when it comes to making a decision, the market is inundated with choice from basic bold colours, to stylish designs and pop culture references. I just picked up one of these old-school cassette cases for my Macbook, as I'm a sucker for anything vaguely retro.
More info Amazon
Sponsored: How to simplify data protection on Amazon Web Services


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Looking south from 28 degrees north an hour after sunset in mid-June.
(Click image for full view; created by the Author in Starry Night).
This week, we turn the astronomical spotlight on a seemingly ordinary star with an extraordinary tale. Often in visual astronomy, simply understanding the amazing facts behind a speck of light at the eyepiece can give it a special significance. Take last weeks transit of Venus, for example. Yes, it was merely a black dot taking almost 7 hours to cross the Sun. Not as splashy or dramatic as a total solar eclipse, sure, but the rarity and the historical significance was part of the fun. Same goes for some previous targets weve tracked down in the column, such as white dwarfs and quasars. Sure, you can read the astrophysical journals, but we always like to see this stuff in person. This week, wed like to introduce you to a star that stubbornly defies astrophysics; Przybylskis Star.
Located in the constellation Centaurus, this 8th magnitude star just scrapes above the southern horizon about 14 degrees in elevation for northern hemisphere observers around 30° north on June nights about an hour after local sunset. Fans of this site will remember our hunt for another famous Centaurus object, the massive cluster Omega Centauri. Both are visible in late spring/early summer months from mid-to-low northern latitudes, and if youre around Miami area, you might just be able to nab the northern-most star Gamma Crucis of the Southern Cross asterism in the late spring time as well.
But its the non-descript Przybylskis Star that wed like to turn your attention (and perhaps your telescope) towards this week. This star is an enigma in terms of its chemistry. It was Antoni Przybylski that first noted the anomalous nature of this star in 1961. About 4 times the mass of our Sun, this star has abnormally low abundances of iron & nickel in its spectra and instead displays high amounts of exotic metals such as uranium, thorium, yttrium and a whole slew of other lanthanides. The fusion process runs out at iron, and all of these heavy elements had to have been forged in supernovae sometime in the distant past just whats going on with Przybylskis Star? This odd mixture puts the star in a rare category known as an Ap or Bp star, or stars with a high abundance of exotic metals, of which only 35 are known. These stars are well off the main sequence of the HertzsprungRussell diagram, and would fall off the chart past Delta-Scuti type variables and technetium laden stars. Pryzbylskis star also displays a mind bogglingly fast pulsation rate of 12 minutes, discovered in 1978.
The star also displays another bizarre trait that may give some clues as to its troubled past; its moving at a slightly higher than usual velocity of about 24 kilometers per second with respect to neighboring stars. To give you some perspective, our own Sun is moving about 20 kilometers per second roughly towards Vega. Could Przybylskis star have bared witness to several supernovae early in its career, salting it with heavy elements and ejecting it at high velocity? Whatever the case, Przybylskis star is an astrophysical oddity worth hunting down in the Centaurus region. Its located 6.5° degrees northwest of Delta Centauri and its coordinates are;
Right Ascension: 11h 37 37
Declination: -46° 42 35
Przybylski's star is about 370 light years distant.
Oh, and the second great mystery (and usually the first question we receive!) is how the heck to you pronounce Przybylski? Well, ye ole Internet search turns up a Polish pronunciation of Sh-eh-bel-skEE, though we always welcome a correction on our rusty Polish!


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Today is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Or maybe not; the actual date was not recorded at the time, only the date of his burial which is assumed to have been two days later. Anyway, this quiz is really hard. Knowledge of Shakespeare's writings won't help much, but a magpie mind for trivia may. (That's not me, and I got only one answer right.)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016 ... -quiz.html
Shakespeare quiz
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Shakespeare quiz
John Francis
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Re: Shakespeare quiz
Also one correct, and that was when I applied the standard test-taking technique of eliminating what I knew was wrong and choosing from what remained. You'd think that by pure chance I would have gotten a couple more right that way. Someone is a master of the plausible distractor, which is the technical term for a wrong answer in a multiple-choice test.
There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach
Re: Shakespeare quiz
That's the Sherlock Holmes test: when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
John Francis
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Commisioners —Sifang Museum, Nanjing, P.R.C
Year — 2013
A theatrical perspective from a dream sequence, as if an ascension to the heavens above. Big Bang Bang is a site-specific Gabriel Lester installation made of the same materials as the cladding of the Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing, China.
— January 10, 2020 —
Some catching up to for 2020. last year was spend wining lost of competitions and some are even soon to be delivered. To start with the last thing we won: Parade a wall with approx 600 3D shapes of fossil fish swimming in a school. each fish has a reflecting eye, forming a starry ensemble of playful dots.
— March 6, 2019 —
— November 26, 2018 —
Our founder Gabriel was recently interviewed by Unseen about a day in the studio, check out the article here
— November 5, 2018 —
During the display of 'Void Non-Void' at NDSM in Amsterdam, Gabriel Lester used the hip-hop culture inspired installation as a set for Yung Internet's new video Binnen. Check out this article to find out more!
— October 15, 2018 —
Gabriel Lester work to be featured at Paris International, check it out!
— October 11, 2018 —
Our piece 'Neck of the Woods' was recently exhibited at Lek Art, we hope you enjoyed it!
— October 1, 2018 —
The Conditioning (2018), our latest site-specific installation for the Busan Biennale pursues a more sober but no less immersive critique of architectural space, and politics. Read More.
— September 24, 2018 —
New piece Trek, an artwork about the politics of migration was installed last Saturday for the South London Gallery on Pelican Estate. "When seen from the block above this group of sculptures, coloured to resemble birds of paradise, are designed to appear as if they are being blown in the wind. From the ground they will look like foreign bodies in motion, alien newcomers passing through the Pelican Estate"
Read about the piece HERE Installed 15/09/18
— April 3, 2018 —
One of our latest projects Void-Non-Void is featured on Designboom.
Read the full article HERE.
— March 7, 2018 —
Nucleus, a commissioned indoors pavilion will open soon at the inauguration exhibition of Tai Kwun
— March 7, 2018 —
— March 7, 2018 —
Via PolyLester by Pawel Szubert – a first instalment of light in the shopwindow of the Pelican Studio. A series of interventions curated by PolyLester.
Next: Lennart de Neef
PolyLester – established by Gabriel Lester in 2013 – is a studio focusing on art, public sculptures, architectural interventions, landscape, interior design, stage design etc etc.
Featuring commissioned artworks and designs by Gabriel Lester since 2001, as well as an array of collaborations with a.o. Martine Vledder, Arnaud Hendrickx, Jennifer Tee, Richard Niessen, Koen van Velsen architecten, Irma Boom, KRFT, URA, Hangmen, Hella Jongerius, Rem Koolhaas (OMA), Barcode Architects, Monadnock, BeauArchitects, Auguste van Oppen
Based in Amsterdam, available in the rest of the world.
P o l y L e s t e r
Ottho Heldringstraat 3 unit BG 030
1066 AZ Amsterdam
+31 611 27 49 17 (Lester)
+31 642 12 80 95 (Vledder)


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Posted by Editoress on 07/15/09
Press release
The U.S. Cup has answered the call of the PRO XCT teams, riders and industry to conclude the PRO XCT series at Windham Mountain Resort on August 15th and 16th. Windham Mountain will not only host the PRO XCT series final, but the TrailWatch.net short track series final as well.
"After feedback from several of the pro teams and given the current state of the economy, travel costs and schedules, we have elected to make Windham Mountain the series finale for the PRO XCT series as well as the TrailWatch.net short track series, elaborates Ty Kady US Cup marketing director. "September is packed full of World Cup racing commitments and Interbike, so we felt it was best to conclude the series at Windham Mountain."
In addition, we are now going to host the U.S. Cup unification round at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, California on September the 20th where the facility and schedule is much more suitable to host the final. Details will follow regarding the U.S. Cup unification round on the U.S. Cup website- www.uscup.net
"While we had a lot of the PRO XCT riders and teams support the idea of hosting the PRO XCT finale in conjunction with dirt demo, there were still some companies who expressed concern that the race would take away from their event. And with Cross season starting up on the 26th in Wisconsin, it put some of the Pro riders in a pinch with scheduling conflicts. So at the end of the day, we all agreed it would be best to make Windham the PRO XCT final, and move the U.S. Cup shootout to Bonelli Park a week prior to Interbike, continues Kady.
"We talked with several of the Pro teams and discussed some of the options and collectively we concluded ending the PRO XCT at Windham was the right choice and would save the teams quite a bit of money on travel costs, as well as not conflict with existing World Cups or other racing commitments." comments U.S. Cup chairman Scott Tedro
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When the diamond crater was formed, dinosaurs still walked the earth
Digging for diamonds sounds better than choosing them from a jeweler's display? Then the U.S. state of Arkansas is the place to try your luck – at the world's only public diamond mine.
Just before eight in the morning, when the Little Missouri River is still shrouded in early-morning mist, a group of odd figures gathers on a parking lot in the woods near the small town of Murfreesboro. They're wearing painter coveralls, camouflage pants, gumboots and work gloves. Their faces are hidden beneath wide-brimmed hats and some have scarves wound around their mouth and nose. They are unloading coolers and large plastic buckets from their station wagons, heaving handcarts and shovels out of their trucks. Are they extras from a Mad Max remake, or maybe survival experts on a Sunday outing? Neither, nor is the answer. The women and men now quietly lining up outside the closed doors of a gray industrial building are here to hit the jackpot, that is, find a diamond.
Behind the building and framed by sparse deciduous woodlands in the green nowhere of Arkansas lies the Crater of Diamonds State Park, the eighth-largest diamond mine in the world. The crater measures a good 15 hectares and is all that remains of a volcano that erupted here some 100 million years ago. Among the few diamond mines on earth, this one is truly a solitaire thanks to its location. When it comes to diamonds, most people tend to think of Africa, of the Congo, Botswana or South Africa, where some of the largest deposits in the world are found. But this mine is right in the middle of the USA and has been a state park open to the public since 1972. For a day ticket costing ten dollars, anyone can come here and hunt for diamonds and, equally important, keep his or her find. Over 30 000 rare diamonds have already been claimed since the park opened, making it the state's glittering attraction.
"Welcome to the Crater of Diamonds State Park!" A woman in a tan park uniform opens the door to the waiting group, which includes Josie and David Solark from Florida. Both are tall and have the look of extreme athletes despite their weird get-up in coveralls and sunhats. "This is our eighth year here," says David, who used be with the military, "we vacation here when Florida gets too hot for us." Every day for one to two weeks a year, they sift earth by the kilo here. For them, it's pure relaxation, says Josie. "Finding a diamond is such a thrill that all the hard work is immediately forgotten." The pair have already found nine diamonds. David takes a plastic box out of his pants pockets. Nearly all of the irregularly shaped stones are the size of a pinhead, yellow and brown and have an oily sheen. Josie points proudly to one particularly round one: "We call it "Little Bastard" because it always rolls away. They bring the stones along on their annual mine vacation "to bring us luck," says David.
To get to the mine, you have to pass by the souvenir shop and the exhibition on the history of the crater. But who here is interested in T-shirts or photos of famous gems? The treasure hunters pay for their tickets, shoulder their shovels and stomp out onto the winding path that leads to the mine. The 15 hectares of hilly ground look as picturesque as a freshly plowed potato field. When the crater was formed, dinosaurs still walked the earth. Today, 100 million years on, this part of the park with its brown furrows and mud holes looks as though a herd of triceratops just marched through. Heavy rainfall – mostly in April and May – loosens up the ground, regularly uncovering precious stones. To ensure good conditions throughout the year, the park authorities plow the surface once a month, and the treasure hunters also leave their traces. Last year, more than 180 000 people visited the park, most to try their luck with a spade.
Park guide Waymon Cox offers visitors good advice. With the voice and patience of an experienced storyteller, the 35-year-old explains how to raise Arkansas' treasures every day at ten a.m. On this particular morning, 22 large and seven small listeners are standing around this gentle giant. "The simplest method: take a walk. You wouldn't believe how many diamonds are found that way because the rain or our plow has brought them to the surface." One of the best-known examples occurred in March 2017, when 14-year-old Kalel Langford had only been wandering around for 30 minutes before he spotted a glittering stone by a rivulet: it was a brown diamond the size of a bean, roughly 1.5 grams in weight, which is 7.44 metric carats. The teenager names his find "Superman Diamond." It's the seventh-largest to have been found in the park since it was set up. What is it worth? "Hard to say," Cox admits, "but in 2015, we had an 8.52-carat diamond that was valued at half a million dollars after cutting."
Diamond washing is more strenuous, but also more productive than walking around with your eyes glued to the ground. To demonstrate the process, Cox places a coarse screen over a fine screen and fills the top screen with earth from the crater before plunging the screens into a basin filled with water. "Rock. Tap. Turn," he says, explaining how to swish them, then tap the frame and turn the screens clockwise before repeating the process. The movement in the cold brown water releases the earth, pushes the heavy stones to the middle and down. First, Cox checks the chunks in the upper screen: nothing. Then he tips out the bottom screen with the practised flourish of a conjuror. Lying on the table in front of him now is a square of hundreds of tiny stones, roughly divided by color: outside gray sandstones and lamproites, inside rust-red jasper. In the middle, there are some milky-white crumbs. Diamonds? Cox shakes his head. "No sparkle; they're quartz." Diamonds are carbon, the basis of all organic life. In its pure form, compressed into crystals, its surface is so smooth that no mud or dust clings to it, so that it gleams like metal. No other stone caught in the screen has such a distinctive shimmer. Sixty percent of all diamonds come to light in the washing process, most of them quite unexpectedly. "In 2014, I suddenly found one in the screen during a demonstration," says Cox. "How many have you found up to now?" an elderly lady asks the guide. "Three small ones. But I'm still hoping for a really big one."
Carrying shovels and screens, the group heads out to the field, which is now bathed in sunlight. Nowhere a gleam to be spotted, just row after row of dusty brown. Derek Lester, a sinewy guy with long fair hair and beard is standing up to his hips in a hole in the ground. Richard, his father, is carrying buckets full of earth from the hole to the nearest washing station. The two geologists are taking a strategic approach and have marked the spots where finds have been made so far and are now digging deep down. "Hundreds of people scour the surface here every day," says Derek, explaining his plan, "so we are trying our luck further down, where no one normally goes." He wants a diamond for an engagement ring for his girlfriend, Allison. That's not just much more romantic than buying one, but also cheaper since the rule of thumb that an engagement ring should cost roughly one to two months' income has applied in the USA ever since the diamond producer De Beers mounted a clever marketing campaign in the 1930s. "And plus, this way, I know where it came from," says Derek.
Although many producers are keen to meet ethical standards, you can never be absolutely certain of a diamond's true provenance. Child labor, smuggling and conflict funding all cast a shadow on the gleam of purchased precious stones. A calculable advantage of the Arkansas diamonds is that with the park's certification, they sell for around a third more than comparable stones from unknown sources. Derek wipes the sweat from his brown. "I'm hoping to find one the size of a golf ball." Even after cutting, it would still be gigantic – roughly half of a diamond is lost in the cutting.
It is not every diamond's destiny to become "a girl's best friend" some day, though. The 4 Cs – cut, color, clarity and carat – all have to be just right. Demand also plays a role: A woman who found an 8.52-carat raw diamond in 2015 had an expert cut it to a 4.64-carat gemstone. The process took ten days, but she could not find a buyer for the diamond, which now resembles an elongated, crystal bullet. So its effective value to the owner is zero. Round, white, roughly 2 carats – those are ideal diamonds for jewelry and they sell well, as Cox explained during the demonstration. Such diamonds are the exception among the several hundred found every year at the park. The average diamond tends to be the size of a pinhead and makes no one rich. That's why the mine was never a lucrative commercial proposition for diamond producers. Since news of finds like the Superman – and the Michelango diamond in the same year (named for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, not the Renaissance artist) – has spread on social media, far more visitors have been coming to the park, all of them speculating on making a glittering discovery. But Cox urgently warns against taking selfies with stones: "It wouldn't be the first time a finder had his hotel room or home burgled."
There's absolutely no trace of greed or mistrust at the washing stands. At the long metal basin, an engineer is rocking screens elbow to elbow with a retiree and an auto dealer. A regular visitor is showing a mother and her little boy the amethysts he's found – sadly only worth a few cents, but pretty to behold. The sun blazes down on dusty necks. Arms grow long from hauling buckets, fingers, numb from the icy water. But the mood is light-hearted and focused, maybe because there's something meditative about the rhythmic sloshing and scraping – or simply that messing about with mud also makes adults happy.
Even Derek, the prospective bridegroom, looks weary but not disheartened as he fills up his almost two-meter-deep hotel at the end of the day – as required by the park authority. "No luck today," he sighs, "but we'll have another go tomorrow." At the counter beside the shovel rental, park employees are now patiently assessing dozens of little bags of the "somehow interesting" finds of hopeful prospectors. "That's jasper. Calcite. Quartz. Oh, a piece of glass. You can bin that here." A gray-haired lady whose nose and upper arms are red from the sun, surveys the worthless haul of pebbles in her hand, but still looks quite contented: "When I get home, I'll just rub you with baby oil," she tells her finds, "and then you'll shimmer and be almost as pretty as diamonds."
Top Spots for Treasure Hunters
Glittering Emeralds in Austria
The most important occurrence of emeralds is in a gallery located 2000 meters above sea level in the high alpine valley of Habachtal. Equipment and courses are available locally.
Amber hunting on the Baltic Coast
Amber was reputedly used as a means of payment in the Baltic region in the Middle Ages, and it is still valuable to this day and can be found on the beaches of Western Pomerania in northern Germany.
Gold digging in Lapland
It doesn't have to be the Klondike! Gold prospectors can also strike it lucky around the village of Tankavaara in northern Finland.
This story first appeared in Lufthansa Exclusive, the frequent traveller magazine. For more information about Lufthansa Miles & More offers, please click here.