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FBI Attack on Child Porn Sites May Have Blown Tor Users' Cover
Aug 5, 2013 2:52 PM PT
Ireland-based Freedom Hosting, which hosted several servers on the Tor Project's hidden network, has been taken down through a vulnerability in the Firefox browser -- and the FBI is widely suspected of being the attacker.
The FBI is seeking to extradite Freedom Hosting's owner, Eric Eoin Marques, to the United States on a Maryland warrant, according to the Irish Independent.
Marques, whom the FBI alleges was running a huge child porn network on Freedom Hosting using Tor hidden services, has dual Irish and U.S. citizenship. He is being held in an Irish jail pending the determination of the extradition request
The Tor project, an open network that promises anonymity to users, has denied any connection with Marques.
"It wasn't the Tor network itself that was compromised," Pete Ashdown, founder and CEO of Utah ISP XMission, told TechNewsWorld. "It was the end points, and there are any number of exploits you can run against a Web server."
The FBI declined to comment for this story because the investigation is ongoing.
How Freedom Hosting Was Hacked
The attack was launched through a vulnerability in Firefox 22 and Firefox version 17.0.7.
The latter is in Extended Support Release. An ESR brings new features to the browser build without requiring users to update to the latest version. That saves businesses considerable effort, because Mozilla unleashes a new version of Firefox every six weeks.
Mozilla announced the MFSA 2013-53 vulnerability on Sunday.
The Tor Browser Bundle is based on Firefox ESR-17.
Apparently the attack code configured Freedom Hosting's servers so that they injected a JavaScript exploit in the Web pages delivered to users. That exploit loaded malware that infected users' computers.
The vulnerability has been fixed in both Firefox 22 and ESR-17. Users running the latest version of the Tor Browser Bundle or Firefox are not at risk from the attack.
Tor Explained
Following revelations about the NSA's PRISM program, which is being used to spy on Americans' communications, advice on how consumers can protect their privacy has proliferated in the media. One suggestion that comes up repeatedly is for people to use Tor for communications.
Tor essentially protects users from traffic analysis, which looks at packet headers in Internet traffic, to determine information such as the destination and source of the messages, as well as their timing.
It does so by bouncing messages around a distributed network of relays worldwide.
Tor is used by activists, the media, businesses, and military and law enforcement agencies. In fact, one U.S. Navy team used Tor while deployed in the Middle East. Law enforcement uses Tor to conduct surveillance on websites and for security during sting operations.
Tor and the Freedom Hosting Takedown
The Tor project is investigating the bugs in Firefox that led to the Freedom Hosting takedown.
It says it has nothing to do with Freedom Hosting.
While some reports claim half the Tor hidden service servers have been taken out of action by the attack on Freedom Hosting, the Tor Project will only say that one of multiple hidden service hosting companies appears to be down.
Tor hidden services are servers that can only be reached through the Tor network. Anyone can run a hidden service. Users include dissidents and activists, as well as organizations for suicide prevention, and groups aiding domestic violence and abuse recovery victims.
Hidden service addresses are cryptographically and automatically generated by the Tor software. In other words, nobody knows what they are and nobody can predict what they will be.
"Tor networks make it more difficult to be tracked, but not impossible," Randy Abrams, a research director at NSS Labs, told TechNewsWorld. "It becomes a question of cost -- how much is it worth to go after a target?"
Should Tor Users Fear the FBI?
In the wake of the PRISM revelations, Tor users may have concerns that U.S. spying programs are now seeking to crack the security of services like Tor that offer users anonymity.
However, "the fact that the FBI had known about [Freedom Hosting's] activities since 2011 shows they weren't acting hastily," Daniel Castro, a senior analyst at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, told TechNewsWorld.
"I see this as similar to the FBI doing a stakeout and recording criminals they see walking by," Castro elaborated. "This is a net benefit, and it seems like it's very much skewed in favor of a legitimate activity."


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About Daniel Hawkins
Came here to post the same thing. This already happened.
http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/scholarly/mit-open-access/open-access-at-mit/mit-open-ac cess-policy/
Everything about your response represents precisely the delusional thinking that the article is criticizing.
You completely ignore the comment you replied to, which contains a good point that renders your first paragraph meaningless.
You say Mike's claim that the defendants had a paid subscription is not based on evidence, yet you could not possibly know that, and you offer no evidence to the contrary. In fact, some pretty strong evidence is the fact that these crazy plaintiffs didn't attempt to sue the defendants for gaining access to the journals illegally. If they didn't have legitimate access, wouldn't that be under examination in this suit as well?
You say people don't have to file for patents, implying that they should just give up rather than risking the potential of pissing off copyright lawyers. You suggest that they license the copies they send in with their patent applications, when the ridiculousness of that idea is the central theme of this article.
Your contempt for the spirit of the law reveals your interest in squeezing the legal system for all it's worth, rather than simply doing what's right or what makes sense.
It also appears you have no idea what FUD means, as the article does not attempt to inspire fear, uncertainty, or doubt. Please bring evidence the next time you make ridiculous claims.
As someone who worked under the NSA for a while, I can tell you they most certainly do spy. It's even obvious from their mandate in Executive Order 12333: "Collect (including through clandestine means), process, analyze, produce, and disseminate signals intelligence information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes to support national and departmental missions"
And yes, industrial control systems do sometimes get connected to the internet.
Please check your facts next time.

subset: commoncrawl


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Stay Young Looking Greater London (Westminster)
My smile has always been my best feature. I remember people telling me, even as a child, that I had a really beautiful smile that lit up the whole room. As I grew older, I spent time, money and effort on keeping up many aspects of my appearance. Like women around the world, I wish to look youthful and energetic all my life.Accepting the wisdom and maturity that comes with age is part of life, but we don't necessarily have to make our peace with some of the more obvious physical signs of age. Ultimately, looking good is all about feeling good, which is why I realized that even my smile would require some work to keep it as dazzling and youthful always.
My teeth began to show signs of yellowing and discoloration in the initial stages. I thought it was simply because of some bad habits, so I took the steps that I thought would make a difference. I cut down on staining agents like tea, cigarettes and dark colored foods and began using more effective mouth washes.
None of this had a major effect on my teeth and they continued to deteriorate. As I later discovered, what was happening was that the outer layer of enamel was becoming thinner and less able to protect the inner layer from staining. Simultaneously, my teeth were getting a translucent layer at the edges which ended upcreating the discoloration.
I spoke to some family members who agreed that this was a moment for some professional help. I decided to opt for a laser teeth whitening procedure with Teeth Whitening Pros, a firm of highly recommended dental professionals. I was quite apprehensive as I have a fear of medical procedures of any kind. I also have sensitive teeth with some fillings and root canals done in the past. I was worried about whether or not they would be able to cater to my special requirements and create a procedure which would not impact the health of my teeth.
However, the whitening professionals at Teeth Whitening Pros assured me that I had nothing to worry about. They carefully reviewed my dental history and made sure that the procedure was as safe as possible. My gums were carefully protected while the effective laser technique used by them had no lasting side effects. Though the process itself was certainly just a little uncomfortable, I had no issues with painful gums or sensitive teeth after the procedure.
The results were definitely worth it. Any and all discolorations were completely removed from my teeth and they returned to their natural, white color. I was really happy to have my youthful smile back. Though there are other aspects of my looks over which I have no control, I'm satisfied knowing that at least my best feature, my smile, will be as beautiful as always.


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Welcome to the website of the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO).
This site provides information on the role of the Office and the processing of appeals.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office operates independently of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. It aims to provide an independent, accessible and fair appeals service with regard to entitlement to social welfare payments and to deliver that service in a prompt and courteous manner.
If you need to make an appeal please click on the following link How to make an appeal
Email: email@example.com
Visit Us: Click 'HERE' for directions to our office
Since 1 October 2011 the Social Welfare Appeals Office deals with appeals relating to Supplementary Welfare Allowance, including Basic Income and Supplements. In the case of Mortgage Interest Supplement, applications made before 1 January 2014 are appealable.
Please note: If you have been refused any other Supplementary Welfare Allowance payment e.g. an Exceptional Needs Payment, Urgent Needs Payment, Allowances in Kind or any other "once off" payment, these are not appealable to this Office. Should you wish to have any decision on these reviewed, you should request a review by a "Review Officer"of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
Your local HEO (Community Welfare Service, Community Welfare Officer) (CWO) can provide you with details of the appropriate Review Officer.
Click Here for a list of Schemes which come within the jurisdiction of the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
Data held in the Social Welfare Appeals Office is held solely for the purposes of processing an appeal. When an appeal is closed the appeal papers are returned to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP).
Click on the link below for more information on Data Protection


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Better than Blood Money? I think so.
There's no one element that makes this Hitman entry so good, but I can name one that stands out: communication. Hitman 2016 communicates its rules, objectives, boundaries, and the consequences of the player's actions better than any other in the franchise, and without ruining the challenge by giving away too much. Its methods range from the subtle to the explicit: NPCs talk to themselves and each other about local hazards and security issues the player can exploit, but there's also on-screen text that relays mission-critical info, and an "opportunity-tracking" system that I don't know much about because I turned it off because I thought I had enough help already.
There's also the Instinct mechanic, a button you hold that lets you see people's outlines through walls. On paper, it sounds game-breaking, but I found that it really improves the flow of play; I loved being able to know whether someone was just about to come around a corner or through a door before I committed to some act I wouldn't want to be caught doing. I felt more in control of my decisions and greater ownership of the consequences, good or bad. Yes, the minimap serves a similar function, and there are other ways to make sure you're choosing the right moment to act unseen, but I found the Instinct mechanic to be more intuitive and fun, and the game to be plenty hard even with its help. If you happen to disagree when you see it in practice, you can turn it off, as with many of the helper features.
Unlike previous entries, there's more to shoot for than just ye olde Silent Assassin rating. To unlock new stuff, you must complete "Challenges", of which Silent Assassin is but one of many available on each mission. Most of these don't care whether you're a "silent assassin" on your way to completing them, so unless you're pursuing the ones that do, the pressure to play "perfectly" is greatly reduced. (In fact, some require you to violate the conditions of a "perfect" run.) The mission-specific Challenges double as a guide to what you can do on each mission and hint at how to do them. I've likely already seen more of Hitman 2016 than I ever did of Blood Money, and that's entirely because of this combination of guidance and incentive.
The list of things I didn't like about the game is very small, though some are the big kind of small.
- The control scheme was fine after I got used to it and came to understand why it was arranged as it is, but you can't change it, not even to switch the stick clicks. (I was able to get around that by remapping the controls outside of the game, but I shouldn't have needed to.)
- I'm not a fan of the "Suit Only" Challenges, especially "Silent Assassin, Suit Only", because they ask you to ignore the franchise's central mechanic (disguises) and do it for no sensible in-universe reason. I would have liked to see a return of Blood Money's equivalent challenge, where the limitation was not on disguises but on how many people you're allowed to knock out on a mission, which consequently reduces your opportunities to take disguises but does so in a way that makes perfect sense in-context.
- Lastly on my list of little gripes, I'm annoyed by how many NPCs can see through my disguises; sometimes I have this reaction like "Why did I even bother to put this on?"


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Jack Dylan Grazer
IMDb: 8.1
135 min
In the Town of Derry, the local kids are disappearing one by one, leaving behind bloody remains. In a place known as 'The Barrens', a ...
Actors: Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hamilton, Jake Sim, Logan Thompson, Owen Teague, Jackson Robert Scott, Stephen Bogaert, Stuart Hughes
Me, Myself and I - S01Eps5
IMDb: 7.3
30 min
A comedy examines one man's life over a 50-year span. It explores three distinct periods in his life - as a 14-year-old in 1991, a ...
Country: USA
Genres: Comedy
Actors: Di Vinci SanTana Guthrie, Cheyanne D. Jones, Bobby Moynihan, John Larroquette, Jack Dylan Grazer, Alkoya Brunson
IMDb: 7.9
132 min
Shazam! is a movie starring Zachary Levi, Djimon Hounsou, and Mark Strong. We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of ...
Country: USA
Actors: Zachary Levi, Djimon Hounsou, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer


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Oh my goodness, it's been seven months since I last did a random post! Are you excited to see another one, or do you prefer my photography posts? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 🙂 To my newer readers, my random posts are basically fun, unorganized posts where I share everything from photography to tags to DIYs. I hope you'll enjoy reading this one – let's dive right in!
Random Topic #1: Giveaway Winner
Thank you so much to everyone who entered my four-year blogiversary giveaway! I wish I could send you all a package, but I'm afraid I don't have the funds for that. XD Let's find out who did win!
The winner of the giveaway is…
Sydney @ The Weekly Adventurer!
Congratulations, Sydney! Your package is on its way. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
Random Topic #2: New Profile Photo
GUYS, BIG NEWS. I have a new profile photo. 😮 Okay, it's not actually a big deal, but I thought I should inform y'all so you know it's me commenting on your blogs. XD Here's what it looks like:
Laura took this for me under the condition that I give her credit, so… thanks, dear sister! Click here to check out her blog – she's been working hard to grow her audience and she does a lot of super cool giveaways that you won't want to miss! She's currently giving away a pack of washi tape in every color of the rainbow and you should definitely go enter. 😀
Random Topic #3: Christmas… Collection?
I couldn't think of a word to use in place of "haul". XD I thought you guys might like to see some of the things that I was given for Christmas! My family and friends always give such thoughtful gifts, and I'm so grateful for them. ❤ This won't be a list of everything since I couldn't quite remember all of the small things. XD
My grandparents gave me an EXTREMELY MASSIVE AMOUNT OF BOOKS, OH MY GOODNESS. Guys, if you want to make me happy, buy me books. I have officially run out of bookshelf space and I couldn't be happier. XD
I'm realizing now how many of these books are Newbery Medal winners. The books that win those awards are usually fantastic!
Going Solo is one of the best autobiographies I've ever read – you should all check it out. 😀
Here's Salt to the Sea and The End, which is the final book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series.
Moon Over Manifest and Challenger Deep – two very different but equally good books. 😀
The final book is Okay For Now, which I've mentioned several times recently – it's one of the best books ever!
Here's a little cactus-shaped pencil holder that I've been using to store washi tape. Isn't it pretty?
EEP, this was such an exciting gift! My very thoughtful sister gave me this set of 100 Pixar postcards with beautiful artwork on them. I have some of my favorites hanging on my gold grid right now:
I love them so much! 😍
My sister also gave me this adorable little Sven figure. He looks like he needs a hug, doesn't he? *squishes him*
Megan and Allison sent the lovely envelopes and the gold Sharpie pen is from Madi. 🙂 Also, I don't have a photo of it, but Megan and Allison sent us an AMAZING custom board game that Allison designed, and it's definitely one of the coolest gifts anyone has ever given us!! ❤
These iron-on patches are so neat! I have a bag that's covered in pins and patches, and these were great additions to my collection. 😀
Lastly we have this sign from one of my friends, which is quite the fitting gift considering my overflowing bookshelves. XD
What were some of your favorite Christmas gifts? 🙂
Random Topic #4: BIBPC Entries
How many of you are participating in BIBPC? For those of you who don't know, it's a photography contest hosted by Megan @ A Barefoot Gal. A few of you have seen my BIBPC page, but if you haven't, here are my entries so far:
Category #1: Cozy
Category #2: Candle, candy cane, card, carols, celebrate, chestnuts, chill
Category #3: Tradition
Category #4: Furry
That last one is a Fur-E, in case you didn't get it. XD You can click here to see when I add a new entry! GO TEAM RABBIT!
Random Topic #5: Recent Posts I've Enjoyed
Best of 2018 {Voting} || A Barefoot Gal
Tales of Christmas Woe // wisdom for the new year || The Sarcastic Elf
Goal Recap + 2018 In Review || Steeplechase
Cousin Photoshoots at Golden Hour || A Farm Girl's Life
I Got Lost On A Retreat (But I survived! :D) And I Have Pictures To Tell The Tale || The Lens & The Hard Drive
My Year in Review || Aria Photo Blog
Random Topic #6: Introducing Leo
I got a new plant! I've actually had him for a little while, but I don't think I ever introduced him on here.
Say hello (or should I say aloe) to Leo, short for Leonardo da Vinci. 😛 He's already grown so much since I bought him! I love how easy aloe plants are to care for. Do you have any plants, and if so, what are their names?
Random Topic #7: Awesome Blogger Award
*collective gasp* Clara is doing an award! My extreme apologies to those of you who nominated me ages ago – I pretty much only do these in my random posts, so they take me a while. Anyways, today I'll be doing a tag from Olivia – thanks for nominating me!
Thank the person who nominated you.
Tag your post with #awesomebloggeraward.
Answer the questions you were asked.
Nominate at least 5 bloggers and inform them of their nominations.
Give them 10 new questions to answer.
What is your best memory?
I… don't even know how to answer this. XD I can't just pick one memory! Some of my favorite memories are during the summer – swimming on hot afternoons, going to the fair, picking wild blackberries, etc. But I don't think I can pick one specific memory. 😛
Do you prefer to use spoons, forks, or sporks?
I prefer forks. Does anyone actually use sporks? They seem pretty useless to me. Tell me in the comments if you use them, because now I'm curious. XD
What is your favorite quote?
I have countless favorite quotes from the books I love! I'll pick a few random ones from Goodreads for your enjoyment.
"It seems unfair not to give credit where credit is due simply because one lacks a certain number of candles on one's birthday cake."
― Kirby Larson, Hattie Big Sky
"It made her feel discouraged, like if you took the word apart into two sections of dis and couraged. It was getting harder and harder to stay couraged."
― Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Lucky
"The world is full of disappointment," I said.
"Yes," she said, "I heard him say that. And every creature is simply trying to get what it wants, and to make their way through a difficult world. Do you believe that?"
"No," I said. "There's more than that."
"Like what?"
"Like good books," I said, "and good people. And good librarians, who are almost both at once."
― Lemony Snicket, Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?
"Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes."
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart."
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
What are some of your favorite book quotes?
Where would you travel right now, if you could go anywhere?
THE MOON. I can't think of any place on Earth that would be cooler than that. Any future astronauts willing to take a photographer along?
What type of music do you like?
I listen to a lot of different kinds of music! Some of my favorite bands are NEEDTOBREATHE, Rend Collective, Sleepy Man, Chris Stapleton, and CCR.
What is your favorite season and why?
SUMMER! Yes, it's a thousand degrees, but it's always such a fun time of year that leaves me with lots of new experiences and memories.
Do you enjoy libraries?
Of course! I would say I prefer bigger libraries to smaller ones, because it's easier to find a quiet place to read.
How many siblings do you have?
I'm the second-oldest of five siblings – three sisters and two brothers.
They're great. XD
Have you ever kept a diary, and why?
Yep! I kept a diary when I was 8 or 9, and then I just started keeping a journal again this year. I'm excited to be able to look back and see what I was thinking about throughout the year. 🙂
Do you like to make lists?
I don't know, you tell me. 😛 Google Keep is my favorite list-making tool – it's so easy to use!
My nominees:
My questions:
1. What is your opinion on beluga whales?
2. Disney or Pixar?
3. What's your favorite thing about summer?
4. What is your opinion on handshakes?
5. What's something you've done that most people haven't?
6. How do you pronounce "ukulele"?
7. Would you rather never read another book or never leave your home state?
8. What's your least favorite mythical creature?
9. What's one thing you hope will be invented in your lifetime?
10. What's the #1 thing on your wishlist right now?
Random Topic #8: A Blog You Should Follow
Today's blog shoutout goes to…
Aria is an incredible photographer, writer, and artist – her gorgeous blog is so much fun to read and I really don't know why it isn't one of the most popular in the blogosphere! Click here to follow her blog, and let me know in the comments if you know of any blogs that deserve more attention. 😀
Random Topic #9: Highly Important January Holidays
This post has been quite lengthy, but before you go, you need to know about a few extremely important holidays occurring this month. XD
Today (January 9th) – National Static Electricity Day
January 11th – National Step in the Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day
January 14th – National Dress Up Your Pet Day and National Clean Off Your Desk Day
January 16th – National Nothing Day and National Fig Newton Day
January 18th – National Winnie The Pooh Day
January 21st – Squirrel Appreciation Day
January 24th – National Compliment Day
January 25th – National Opposite Day
January 28th – National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
January 31st – National Backward Day
Are you going to celebrate any of these holidays? Get out there and splash your friends, appreciate squirrels, clean your desk, and, um… other stuff. XD If you want to keep track of all the national days, you should check out National Day Calendar! Or you could be the boring person who only celebrates the big holidays. (But who would do that when you could be celebrating bubble wrap?)
WHEW, thank you so much for taking the time to read that post! I hope you have a wonderful week, my friends. ❤
Which random topic was your favorite? What are your favorite quotes? How do YOU pronounce "ukulele"? What was your favorite Christmas gift? Tell me everything in the comments below!


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Halloween is on its way, and while ghosts and ghouls may have been the undead horrors of decades past, here in 2012 it's all about the zombies and their ilk.
What better way to get in the mood for spooky doom than with this weirdly lovely, thoroughly instructive image from Left 4 Dead 2? See zombie, apply flamethrower. Now that's useful advice for the ages.
Click the image to expand to its full hi-res gory glory.
Open Up [Dead End Thrills]


text:
|Sam Kay (talk)
|Date Created:
|16th January 2009
|Please feel free to edit constructively!
|Welcome to my realm. You'll find naught here but privation, fear and death—oh, and my blade.
Prerequisite: Ranger class, Proficiency with Spiked Chain or Versatile Combatant
As a cavestalker, you nurture a close, almost mystical connection to the deadly terrain of the underdark. To you, the lightless tunnels are not friends, exactly, but perhaps well-respected adversaries. Danger is always present, yet you understand it and even find a certain succor in living alongside it.
Cavestalker Path FeaturesEdit
- Exotic Combat Style (11th Level): If you have proficiency with the spiked chain, you can use it as a single-handed weapon (but not an off-hand weapon, even if you have the two-blade fighting style). If you have the versatile combatant feat, you can use the hand crossbow as a melee weapon (this is the same as using it as a ranged weapon except it has a range of 1 square and does not provoke opportunity attacks). If you have both of the above, choose one of the above benefits.
- Master caver (11th Level): You gain a +2 bonus to acrobatics, athletics, dungeoneering, heal, nature and perception checks made in the underdark. You also lower skill check DCs, move penalties and attack penalties by one categories when you are in cramped spaces.
- Cavesense (16th Level): You gain tremorsense 6.
|Underdark Strike
|Cavestalker Attack 11
|You use your knowledge of the underdark to your advantage, suddenly appearing behind your foe.
|Usage::Encounter ✦ Martial, Weapon
|Action Type::Standard Action
|Melee '''or''' Ranged weapon
|Requirement: You must be wielding a spiked chain or hand crossbow.
|Target: One creature
|Attack: Strength Vs. AC (melee; main weapon and off-hand weapon) or Dexterity Vs. AC (ranged), two attacks.
|Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage (melee) or 2[W] + Dexterity modifier damage (ranged).
|Special: You can shift 1+ your wisdom modifier squares before or after you attack.
|Underdark Stalker
|Cavestalker Utility 12
|Your skill in the underdark enables you to detect threats before they come and position yourself in readiness.
|Usage::Daily ✦ Martial
|Action Type::No Action
|Effect: Make a Stealth check and use that as your initiative check result. If you get the first turn in the encounter, you can shift up to your speed as a free action before taking any other actions.
|Cavestalker's Ambush
|Cavestalker Attack 20
|You leap from cover, your swift attacks dropping your foe.
|Usage::Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
|Action Type::Standard Action
|Melee '''or''' Ranged weapon
|Requirement: You must have had cover or concealment at the start of your turn to use this power.
|Target: One creature that is your quarry
|Attack: Strength Vs. AC (melee; main weapon and off-hand weapon) or Dexterity Vs. AC (ranged), two attacks.
|Hit: 3[W] + Strength modifier damage (melee) or 3[W] + Dexterity modifier damage (ranged).
Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Classes.
Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Sourcebooks → Arachonomicon; the Book of Spiderkind → Classes.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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This is demo store. No orders will be fulfilled.
Fabric Calculator
To use our fabric calculator, simply enter the width of your track or pole, the finished length of your curtain drop (click here) for detailed instructions on how to measure for this) and the pattern repeat of your chosen fabric (which can be found in the fabric's description).
Please be aware that this calculator is only a guide for fabric amounts but is calculated as we do in store. For fabric widths we round up from 0.3 of a width to allow for a good fullness in your finished curtains, however this might not be necessary for dress curtains.
All metre values are rounded up to the nearest metre to ensure that you will have enough fabric for your project.
If you would like a breakdown of the values or have any queries, please don't hesitate to Contact Us.
The width of your track or pole:
The finished length of your curtains/blinds:
The pattern repeat of the chosen fabric:
Our calculator automatically adds 30cm (12") for herms & headers and rounds up to the nearest metre.
Main fabric: 0 metres
Lining fabric: 0 metres
Header tape: 0 metres
Download our trends brochure to get some inspiration your next project.
Browse our Interior Collections and be inspired for your next set of curtains, blinds or soft furnishings. Featuring fabrics from some of our best loved brands, including Clarke & Clarke, Moon, Voyage, Harlequin, Prestigious Textiles and many more, we advise visiting our new in page regularly to see our latest arrivals!
All fabrics are available in 10cm lengths so you can order the exact amount required for your project and for our Made to Measure service, where all you have to do is choose your fabric, lining and style and let us do the rest.
1 Item


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You can tell it's getting close to ice fishing time. Everyone around here is getting there stuff checked out and last years fishing stories are flying!!
We'll be starting our tours of the 4 big sporting goods stores/chains and several sportsman shows soon, so you won't be seeing me on quite so much. Heavy into deer season right now though, but had to take a brake this morning,,I overdid it a bit yesterday and my knees are screaming at me this morning!
Tonight, the 19th on World Fishing Network there will be 2 shows airing on ice fishing. This is one the we filmed last year on the Connecticut River. You'll get to see the guys I work with all winter and my self doing segments on different equipment and techniques. You'll also get to see some of the great pan fishing we have in this area.
So If you want to get a look at the crusty old codular you've been talking to for the last couple years here, I'll be on at 8-9;00PM on World Fishing Network , I'm Les on the video. The old fart!!!
I'm kinda the Ice Teams equivalent of "Uncle Si" on Duck Dynasty,,,,
At least so I've been told !!!
Tune In if ya can,,,,,,,


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NEW YORK (AP) - Sure, three's a crowd. But four is a hoot.
Just consider the stars of "Hot in Cleveland," four funny ladies who would look right at home carved in the Mount Rushmore of comedy.
But rather than on a mountain ridge, this quartet was found one day last week at a tiny midtown Manhattan cafe whose other patrons looked on, bemused, at Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and, of course, Betty White huddled with a reporter at a corner banquette.
Their TV Land sitcom, now in its fourth season and airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST, focuses on three slightly past their prime gal-pals from Los Angeles who decide to make a fresh start in Cleveland (of all places!), where they rent a house whose caretaker, played by White, serves as their salty companion and foil.
Hilarity ensues.
But not just on the show. Get these four women together and the laughter is nonstop. Which begs the question: When did each of them realize she was funny?
"I'm STILL waiting for that realization," says Bertinelli with a laugh.
How's that? As a teen nearly 40 years ago she was lobbing punch lines on the hit sitcom "One Day at a Time," which ran on CBS for a decade. "But then I went on to do all these movies of the week. And after that, I would go up for roles on sitcoms and people would say, 'She doesn't do comedy, does she?' So I started to doubt myself."
Hard to believe, considering her exuberance and thunderous guffaws.
"She's our little cheerleader," says Malick.
"I'm excitable," Bertinelli, 52, confirms, "and what's so ironic is that, during the first season of 'One Day at a Time,' I was screamed at because I wasn't projecting enough."
"Until my late 30s, I did all bad girls," says Malick. "Because I was tall, dark and imposing, I was always the murderer or the ex-wife or some nasty girl."
Then in 1990 came the HBO comedy "Dream On," where she was cast as the psychologist ex-wife of series star Brian Benben. Soon enough the producers realized she was funny.
"I went from being the straight woman to being more and more neurotic," Malick, 61, recalls. "By the end of the first season I had a total nervous breakdown. It was so freeing to just let it all out and run with it!" And from there she ran right into "Just Shoot Me," a long-running NBC comedy set at a fashion magazine, where she played a boozy, slutty former model.
"It happened for me at school," says Leeves, the British-born actress who spent 11 seasons as physical therapist Daphne Moon on NBC's "Frasier."
"I was geeky and tall and skinny," she says, "and the best way in with the other students was to make them laugh. I can remember doing fake lessons on the board before the teacher came in. I would have the class in stitches. And I would think: This is POWERFUL, I LIKE this!"
"These girls can ALL make ME laugh," White reports. "And with THIS one" - she nods toward Leeves - "if we lock eyes for a moment onstage, I'm gone!"
Leeves grins. "My back will be to you in a scene, and then I'll turn around and I'll go like this" - she flashes a little comic scowl at White, then swivels back again. White explodes with a helpless fit of giggles.
"Then I hear THAT," says Leeves, 51, with satisfaction. "Making her laugh is the best part of my day, I have to tell you!"
But as the whole world knows, 90-year-old Betty White is pretty funny herself, and has been since she was hosting a live talk-variety show on a Los Angeles station in TV's infancy, spanning 5 1/2 hours a day, six days a week. Her first prime-time comedy, "Life With Elizabeth," followed in 1952.
Then, years later, she scored her indelible roles on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls."
So where did her funny come from?
"I'm an only child, and I had a mother and dad who never drew a straight line: They just thought funny," she explains. "We'd sit around the breakfast table and then we'd start kicking it around. My dad was a salesman and he would come home with jokes. He'd say, 'Sweetheart, you can take THAT one to school. But I wouldn't take THIS one.' We had such a wonderful time."
Of course, just because these four actresses are funny didn't guarantee they'd click as an ensemble.
"That's always the one unknown element: chemistry," says Leeves.
"You don't know until you're all together the first time," says Malick, "and the lines pop right off the page."
On this show, they're still popping.
"The chemistry between us is that we all adore each other," says White with a laugh - "no matter how much we deny it."
"There's mutual respect," says Malick. "We've all been doing this for a long time. We're all seasoned. So is our crew and many of our writers."
"I'm a little over-seasoned," White pipes up.
But they all acknowledge misgivings at the outset: "Hot in Cleveland" was the first original scripted show on a little cable network that, until then, was exclusively a home for much-loved series from the past.
"I was a little nervous to be the guinea pig," says Bertinelli.
"I didn't even know where TV Land was," says Malick.
"I had just done a pilot for a broadcast network," says Leeves, "and I found things had changed so much since the end of 'Frasier.' There was so much interference from the executives. But with this show I felt like we won't have all those network guys around. Here's a place we can go and experiment and -"
"Nobody'll ever know!" White cracks.
"It'll be a secret!" cackles Leeves.
"The president of TV Land, Larry Jones, is different," persists Malick over her co-stars' chortling. "We go out to dinner with him. He's one of our pals."
White nods emphatically, and then, with perfect timing, adds, "I'm the only one on the show who didn't get her job sleeping with Larry."
Another roar of laughter leaves them all out of breath.
EDITOR'S NOTE - Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier
NEW YORK (AP) - Sure, three's a crowd. But four is a hoot.


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Godin Receives Award for Research on New Propulsion Method for Low-Cost Microsatellites
Thanks to the development of microsatellites, universities and independents can now launch research craft for tens of thousands of dollars, rather than the multi-million dollar price tags of traditional launches. This new class of satellite is democratizing outer space exploration and offering NASA new opportunities to study little-known regions of the Earth's atmosphere.
Kyle Godin, an Interdisciplinary Engineering PhD student at Stevens, recently demonstrated a new method for propelling some of these miniaturized satellites. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presented Godin with its annual Abe M. Zarem Award for Distinguished Achievement in Aeronautics for his inventive research on satellite propulsion.
Weighing in at less than 1 kilogram, picosatellites offer incredible promise to budget-conscious space explorers, not to mention some unique challenges. Among the smallest orbiters in development today, picosatellites require a much lighter and less volatile propulsion system than traditional satellites. For Godin, this meant developing a lightweight solid state propulsion method made from non-combustible materials.
There is a critical reason why volatile, combusting propellants are outlawed on picosatellites. These small devices hitch rides into space in shared payloads to spread the launch cost among participants. A single malfunction during transit could therefore destroy dozens of spacecraft, making safe propulsion a requirement.
To meet these safety requirements, Godin developed a 1cm square thruster that includes a layer of solid state sodium azide. When a picosatellite needs to make a position adjustment while in orbit, a circuit underneath the sodium azide will heat to 275°C, at which point the chemical releases a burst of nitrogen gas enough to execute a maneuver. By covering a picosatellite with these simple thrusters, the satellite can make numerous controlled position adjustments throughout its lifecycle.
Miniaturized satellites are a trending topic for university and independent researchers finally able to reach outer space without reaching into incredibly deep pockets. Incorporating the latest developments in micro-circuitry, revolutionary propellants, and even off-the-shelf consumer electronics, these devices can be fabricated and launched for a fraction of the cost of a traditional satellite.
Despite the name, many miniaturized satellites are not necessarily "small," says Godin, referring to so-called microsatellites about the size of a washing machine. The arrival of picosatellites heralds a truly new age where academic research teams, including students, can experience the thrill of exploring space. Their low price point also allows researchers to undertake missions where the satellite is intended to have only a short life span.
The relative disposability gives picosatellites potential to explore the "ignorosphere," a hard-to-reach level of the Earth's atmosphere that is too high for traditional aircraft and too low for satellites. NASA is especially concerned about increasing knowledge of the "ignorosphere" as phenomenon at this level can affect spacecraft traveling to and from Earth, and may have caused the Colombia shuttle disaster in 2003. Satellites exploring at this altitude would soon crash, but not before gathering critical new data about our atmosphere.
At only a decade old, the science behind picosatellites is still young, but the possibilities are immense. "The low cost of the picosatellite provides students the chance to conduct their own experiments in outer space," Godin says. "It's really exciting."
Godin conducted his research on satellite propulsion as a Master's student in Microelectronics-Photonics at the University of Arkansas (advisor: Professor P. Adam Huang). As a Doctoral candidate at Stevens, he is studying graphene-based MEMS technology, working with his advisor Dr. E.H. Yang.
Godin won the Abe M. Zarem Award for his research paper, "A Solid State Thruster for Attitude Control of Picosatellites." The award was presented at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Nashville, Tenn. earlier this month. As the Zarem Astronautics winner, Godin was also invited to present his work at the International Astronautical Congress in Cape Town, South Africa this past October.
Learn more about multiscale research and education at Stevens by visiting the Nanotechnology Graduate Program.


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SC12 Until this year, the annual SC Student Cluster Competition focused entirely on seeing how much work teams of university students could wring out of 26 amps of juice. They can use any hardware/software combination that will run the required apps; the only limitation is that their configuration has to be shipping by the time of the show. (For an overview, click here.)
At SC12, organisers introduced a new cluster competition that ran alongside the traditional 'Big Iron' battle. This new 'Mini Iron' track provides student teams with identical LittleFe six-node Atom-based "clusters in a box". Three university teams and a team from a local Salt Lake City high school were challenged to find the best solution to the Travelling Salesman Problem.
Team Utah (representing hometown University of Utah) ended up winning the LittleFe competition, so congratulations to the Running Utes. (Or is it "Runnin' Utes?") They also prepared a couple of posters that explain the challenges they faced in the competition. The first poster (below) does a great job of laying out the Traveling Salesman problem and their initial approach to solving it. I use the word 'initial' because it wasn't the solution they ended up using for the whole competition.
They had a sort of hybrid strategy. First they split up the problem and sent each half to a separate node. The problem is evaluated at the node level, and if it's still too complex (too many solutions to evaluate), then it is split again. Once the problem is small enough to fit within the processing envelope of the system, they use Concorde algorithms to do a near-exact solve on each branch. While this worked well in their testing runs, it wasn't providing solutions quickly enough to keep Utah from falling behind their competitors at the show.
So at around 1.00 Mountain Time, they shifted gears and dumped the Concorde in favor of a group of other algorithms that performed much better. From that point on, Team Utah tended to run ahead of the other teams on succeeding data sets, piling up enough points to win the inaugural LittleFe Cup.
Their second poster shows what LittleFe actually looks like and some of the issues they ran up against when using it in the competition. This poster was designed back when the LittleFe competitors were going to be running the same apps as the Big Iron competitors. As the team alludes to in their graphic, running hard core scientific applications on this system is a bit problematic, and probably too ambitious for this first instance of the competition. LittleFe organisers changed over to the Travelling Salesman problem a few weeks before SC12, giving the teams a decent chance to prepare for the task.
I was a bit surprised by the cooling issues. Sure, these systems were running flat-out, but damn, they're only Atoms running at barely 1 GHz. Plus most of the teams were running them without skins, which gave them much better airflow. On top of that? They were tucked into one of the colder areas of the convention hall with an ambient temperature of maybe 68°F on the high side. Most of the LittleFe teams added additional fans to cool their boxlets, which seemed to do the trick.
While Team Utah took the overall LittleFe crown, the other teams were recognized for their achievements. CUNY Staten Island took second place (and it was pretty close throughout the competition). Slippery Rock University topped the judges' interview portion of the competition. Team Skyline, the first and only high school team, garnered an honorable mention when they came out of nowhere to grab the lead; their homegrown algorithm dominated the college teams on the last data set of the competition. But that's another story for another blog.
Congratulations to all of the LittleFe competitors. I'm looking forward to the next edition of the "Mini Iron" competition at SC13 in Denver. ®
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The great challenge with blogging is that a blogger has to keep coming up with new ideas, thoughts, insights and ways of being interesting. Unlike a traditional journalism few blogs are driven by news or constant announcements. Those blogs that do so very quickly become online news platforms, e-zines or e-reporting.
This is why blogs are important as they become places where ideas, community sharing and thinking lives. Without the narcotic element of live news, a blog has to create and curate insights within the community that it has shaped.
This is the essence of the new hierarchy of influence because the blogger has to earn influence and continually re-earn that influence without the power of the mast head of heritage of a publishing house.
This dynamic drives the much commented upon democratic dynamic of the new media platforms. It sets up a cattle auction of ideas in which the communities within the Internet vote up and down your influence. Importantly this democracy does not mean equality there is a fluid hierarchy of influence within the blogging community; not all blogs are created equal.
I believe that ideas are the currency within this voting system. It is the quality, nuance and originality of ideas and thoughts that drives a blog's influence (what I mean by an idea is a meme or a new iterance. This does not have to be profound it can be trivial, humorous or a reflection on a previous meme). However, over time the depth and frequency of these new ideas does drive influence. You have to go back and if it is not for news it helps to have ideas as a currency. The place where these idea starters thrive most of all is the blogosphere.
Blogs and ideas in this way drive the new forms of engagement; without a flow of ideas it is very hard to engage with a community. This creates some rules for blogging engagement: it helps to have a consistent territory on which to comment; the more others interact and engage with your ideas the better the engagement; and of course the more transparent your references to other ideas the greater your authority becomes.
Every blogger knows that coming up with new thoughts and ideas is something of a curse as well as a thrill.


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Serves 6
2-½ – 3 pounds salmon (I like the tail end, skin on piece)
Juice of two lemons
1 lemon sliced very thin
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Zaatar spice (available at most grocery stores and Persian markets)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place salmon skin down on a low-sided pan, lined with foil. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over the salmon. Sprinkle the kosher salt and the Zaatar spice over the salmon. Lay the lemon slices on top of the salmon. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.


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Homeowners evacuated by the Galena wildfire began returning to their homes at 8 p.m. Saturday, but they were told that they should be prepared to leave quickly if conditions change.
Firefighters pushed hard all day Saturday to contain as much of the Galena wildfire in Larimer County as possible in anticipation of higher winds Sunday.
Projected sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph — with gusts up to 50 mph — could spread the wildfire in Lory State Park, so firefighters are working to expand containment lines Saturday, said Capt. Matt Housley of the Poudre Fire Authority. Authorities said Saturday afternoon that the fire is now 45 percent contained.
No homes or structures have been destroyed by the wildfire, and no firefighters have been injured, but hundreds of homeowners were evacuated.
The fire is likely larger than the 750 to 1,000 acres reported Friday night, but no new infrared mapping analysis has been done yet Saturday, said Larimer County Sheriff's Executive Officer Nick Christensen.
Firefighters' hopes for some rain or snow overnight were disappointed. Still, cloudy skies, lower temperatures and subdued winds could help firefighters Saturday.
The cause of the fire was human-caused and accidental, but no additional details were provided, Poudre Fire Authority Capt. Patrick Love said.
Love emphasized "this is not from a prescribed burn or escaped controlled burn" that flared up in the wind.
Firefighters are working on the west flank of the wildfire.
"They are right on the edge," said Larimer County Emergency Services specialist Tony Simons. "It's steep, rugged and rocky terrain."
Another 60 firefighters joined firefighters Saturday afternoon, Simons said. A single Type II helicopter was making drops on the wildfire Saturday, Housley said, and a second will arrive on Sunday.
The Galena fire was first reported at about 11:45 a.m. Friday by a person who called 911. High winds and warm temperatures fueled the blaze near Lory State Park west of Fort Collins.
An evacuation center has been set up at Cache La Poudre Middle School gymnasium in Laporte. About 25 people went in and out of the shelter Friday and Saturday, said shelter manager Janice Mount.
A grandmother, her daughter and grandchildren stayed in the shelter Friday night, Mount said. She shelter is offering mental health counseling and lodging. The American Red Cross is feeding people evacuated because of the fire.
The Larimer County Humane Society is sheltering 10 cats and two dogs including two chihuahuas at its shelter. Bob Francella, spokesman for the humane society, asked evacuees to rely on friends and family before taking pets to the shelter, which can handle animals as large as a llama.
"The movement of the fire will determine our level of involvement," Francella said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kmitchelldp


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At the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft 's Bill Gates looked at the changes since 2001 that have created the first true "Digital Decade", including the growing prevalence of broadband networks, spread of mobile phones, and the advent of portable digital media devices.
"Since I first started talking about the Digital Decade in 2001, the speed with which digital technology has become central to the way we work, learn and play has been amazing," Gates said. "But in many ways, we are at the very beginning of the transformation that software will enable."
Gates went on to outline his vision for the next Digital Decade -- an era in which advances in hardware and software will make computing a ubiquitous part of day-to-day life. Gates referenced how natural Uis will more closely reflect the way people interact with each other. High-definition experiences will be nearly everywhere. Services-connected devices running on the Web and huge amounts of storage accessible via the Internet will mean that information and capabilities people want will be available instantly and seamlessly, no matter where they are.
During the keynote, Gates talked about the ongoing transformation of the PC and shared sales figures for Windows Vista. According to Gates, the company has sold more than 100 million Windows Vista licenses to date.
In addition to technology advances that continue to make PCs more powerful, more portable, and more affordable, there is a growing emphasis on style. Independent research firm Forrester Research has predicted that the period between now and 2012 will be the Age of Style for the consumer PC industry, with "strategists and marketers weaving design concerns into their thinking about every facet of their company's strategies as style and design becomes a critical brand attribute."
Examples of the growing prevalence of more natural user interfaces were also on display during the keynote. Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, previewed a new version of Tellme, Microsoft's integrated voice-and-visual mobile service that lets people use voice commands to say what they want and see the answer on their phone's screen. The new service uses Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities to identify the caller's location, yielding results that are significantly more relevant. Tellme is available today on AT&T Wireless and Sprint phones and will be available in future versions of Windows Mobile.
For example, you can "call" the Web on a mobile phone and say "movies" and the software will recognize where you are located and send to your mobile phone's screen a list of the theaters closest to that location. Furthermore, Microsoft gave an glimpse of how future versions may also offer the ability to purchase movie tickets from a mobile phone and share the movie information with friends and family via a text message.
Bach also demoed voice-activated technology for automobiles, including Sync, a fully integrated in-car communications and infotainment system for mobile phones and digital music players that has been available in select Ford models since September. Ford, which expects to sell more than 1 million vehicles with Sync by early 2009, unveiled the new 911 Assist feature that connects drivers with emergency services in the case of an accident or emergency.


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Public perception of the Republican tax overhaul could be determined in part by what Americans see in their paychecks as soon as next month. The election-year stakes are high — and they've put the IRS and its implementation of the new tax law in the political spotlight.
As the Trump administration looks to quickly deliver on the Republican promise of higher take-home pay, the agency, which isn't supposed to play politics, is "under pressure to take as little as possible so people will see big increases in their take-home pay," Politico's Brian Faler reports. The IRS said on December 26 that it expects to issue initial withholding guidance this month and would encourage payroll providers to implement the new tables in February.
That approach prioritizes "speed over accuracy," The Washington Post's Damian Paletta reports. The new IRS guidelines will still have companies and payroll administrators working with existing W-4 forms that don't reflect the new tax changes in figuring out how much income to set aside. The resulting calculations will be complicated, "and the uncertainty could mean workers severely underpaying or overpaying their taxes by thousands of dollars in 2018 — something that will likely remain unknown until they file their tax returns next year," Paletta writes.
The administration and the IRS could have opted for a different process that would have resulted in more accurate withholding, Paletta adds, but "that process could have taken months, likely delaying any benefit from the tax cuts until much later in 2018."
Democrats this week also expressed concern that the new IRS withholding guidelines could be subject to political interference. In a letter to acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter on Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal, the ranking Democrats on congressional tax-writing committees, cautioned that the Trump administration may try to give taxpayers "phantom windfalls" in 2018 that result in larger tax bills or smaller-than-expected refunds in 2019. (Americans apparently really like getting tax refunds, even if it essentially means they've given the government an interest-free loan.)
"Given that the IRS does not have an independent, nonpolitical Commissioner, we are concerned that the Department of Treasury, which oversees the formulation of these tables, may unduly influence the new withholding tables for the 2018 tax year in a manner that will result in millions of taxpayers receiving larger after-tax paychecks this election year but ultimately owing federal income tax when they file in 2019," the Democrats wrote. In addition to being the acting head of the IRS, Kautter is also the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for tax policy.
The two Democrats also said they asked the Government Accountability Office to determine whether the new IRS tables call for enough withholding to prevent taxpayers from being surprised at tax time next year.
House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) told Politico: "There's never been any question about the IRS' timely, accurate withholding tables, nor should there be today."


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Moseley Bright DAR flag session; Lenoir County Farmer's Market; silver jewelry-making
Moseley-Bright DAR welcomes Boy Scouts
Members of Boy Scout Troop 41 presented the program for the February DAR Moseley-Bright Chapter meeting.
They conducted a flag retirement ceremony, officially retiring 17 American flags. In addition to learning the proper way to retire a flag, each audience member received a copy of the United States Flag Code that instructs how to display, care for, honor and dispose of the flag.
The Kingston Society, Children of the American Revolution, attended the program. As is customary at the February meeting, the Society gave its annual report of CAR activities and accomplishments. The Moseley-Bright Chapter, DAR sponsors the Kingston Society.
For more information, contact any Moseley-Bright Chapter member.
Lots to offer today at Farmer�s Market
The Lenoir County Farmer�s Market is now open for its regular seasonal hours, 8 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays (including today). Some produce vendors might stay later.
Strawberries are in season and ready for shortcake and whipped cream, or just as they are. Lenoir County farmers have been lucky this season. Mark Keene, agricultural extension agent, reports no cases of Strawberry Mild Yellow Edge virus or the Strawberry Mottle virus.
Vendors today include Putnam�s, Porter�s, TC Smith, Ronnie Hanchey and Bill Tilghman providing a variety of asparagus, strawberries, kale, mustard, turnips, bok choy, spinach and other leafy greens, green and maybe some red tomatoes and whatever else has ripened enough to bring to market.
Farmhouse Kitchen & Bakery will have butter pecan sweet rolls; chocolate, lemon, sweet potato, praline apple and strawberry bread; yeast bread and rolls; whole wheat yeast bread and rolls; and samples for tasting.
Rodney Jarman will have kettle cooked pork skins, and boiled and fried peanuts. Barbara Sebald will bring heirloom tomato plants � Roma, Delicious, Rutgers, Cherokee Purple, Black Crim, Beefsteak, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter � and hybrid tomato plants � Sweety, SuperSweet 100, Big Boy, Garden Monster. She also will have Swedish ivy, spider plant and Vermillion house plants.
Almost Heaven Nursery & Farm will have landscaping plants, vegetable and herb plants, palm and banana trees, several varieties of Japanese maple and indoor/outdoor plans.
Nature�s Touch farm will have farm fresh, pasture raised eggs. Their fresh chickens will be available May 4 and 18, June 1 and 15, and July 6 and July 20.
Extension offers jewelry making class
The Neuse Extension & Community Association will host a silver jewelry-making workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension, 1791 Hwy. 11/55.
The two-hour workshop will teach the basics of making a bracelet using silver wire, fasteners and glass beads. All supplies will be available at the workshop. Pre-registration is required due to limited space.
To register, or for more information, call Trudy Pickett at 252-527-2191.


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داستان من و دلیل نیاز شما به این کتابکتاب: هفته کاری 4 ساعته / فصل 3
سرفصل های مهم
داستان من و دلیل نیاز شما به این کتاب
توضیح مختصر
- زمان مطالعه 16 دقیقه
- سطح خیلی سخت
دانلود اپلیکیشن «زیبوک»
این فصل را میتوانید به بهترین شکل و با امکانات عالی در اپلیکیشن «زیبوک» بخوانید
فایل صوتی
ترجمهی فصل
متن انگلیسی فصل
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
—OSCAR WILDE, Irish dramatist and novelist
My hands were sweating again.
Staring down at the floor to avoid the blinding ceiling lights, I was supposedly one of the best in the world, but it just didn't register. My partner Alicia shifted from foot to foot as we stood in line with nine other couples, all chosen from over 1,000 competitors from 29 countries and four continents. It was the last day of the Tango World Championship semifinals, and this was our final run in front of the judges, television cameras, and cheering crowds. The other couples had an average of 15 years together. For us, it was the culmination of 5 months of nonstop 6-hour practices, and finally, it was showtime.
"How are you doing?" Alicia, a seasoned professional dancer, asked me in her distinctly Argentine Spanish.
"Fantastic. Awesome. Let's just enjoy the music. Forget the crowd—they're not even here."
That wasn't entirely true. It was hard to even fathom 50,000 spectators and coordinators in La Rural, even if it was the biggest exhibition hall in Buenos Aires. Through the thick haze of cigarette smoke, you could barely make out the huge undulating mass in the stands, and everywhere there was exposed floor, except the sacred 30′ x 40′ space in the middle of it all. I adjusted my pin-striped suit and fussed with my blue silk handkerchief until it was obvious that I was just fidgeting.
"Are you nervous?"
"I'm not nervous. I'm excited. I'm just going to have fun and let the rest follow."
"Number 152, you're up." Our chaperone had done his job, and now it was our turn. I whispered an inside joke to Alicia as we stepped on the hardwood platform: "Tranquilo"—Take it easy. She laughed, and at just that moment, I thought to myself, "What on earth would I be doing right now, if I hadn't left my job and the U.S. over a year ago?" The thought vanished as quickly as it had appeared when the announcer came over the loudspeaker and the crowd erupted to match him: "Pareja numero 152, Timothy Ferriss y Alicia Monti, Ciudad de Buenos Aires!!!" We were on, and I was beaming.
THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL of American questions is hard for me to answer these days, and luckily so. If it weren't, you wouldn't be holding this book in your hands.
"So, what do you do?"
Assuming you can find me (hard to do), and depending on when you ask me (I'd prefer you didn't), I could be racing motorcycles in Europe, scuba diving off a private island in Panama, resting under a palm tree between kickboxing sessions in Thailand, or dancing tango in Buenos Aires. The beauty is, I'm not a multimillionaire, nor do I particularly care to be.
I never enjoyed answering this cocktail question because it reflects an epidemic I was long part of: job descriptions as self-descriptions. If someone asks me now and is anything but absolutely sincere, I explain my lifestyle of mysterious means simply.
"I'm a drug dealer."
Pretty much a conversation ender. It's only half true, besides. The whole truth would take too long. How can I possibly explain that what I do with my time and what I do for money are completely different things? That I work less than four hours per week and make more per month than I used to make in a year?
For the first time, I'm going to tell you the real story. It involves a quiet subculture of people called the "New Rich."
What does an igloo-dwelling millionaire do that a cubicle-dweller doesn't? Follow an uncommon set of rules.
How does a lifelong blue-chip employee escape to travel the world for a month without his boss even noticing? He uses technology to hide the fact.
Gold is getting old. The New Rich (NR) are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility. This is an art and a science we will refer to as Lifestyle Design (LD).
I've spent the last three years traveling among those who live in worlds currently beyond your imagination. Rather than hating reality, I'll show you how to bend it to your will. It's easier than it sounds. My journey from grossly overworked and severely underpaid office worker to member of the NR is at once stranger than fiction and—now that I've deciphered the code—simple to duplicate. There is a recipe.
Life doesn't have to be so damn hard. It really doesn't. Most people, my past self included, have spent too much time convincing themselves that life has to be hard, a resignation to 9-to-5 drudgery in exchange for (sometimes) relaxing weekends and the occasional keep-it-short-or-get-fired vacation.
The truth, at least the truth I live and will share in this book, is quite different. From leveraging currency differences to outsourcing your life and disappearing, I'll show you how a small underground uses economic sleight-of-hand to do what most consider impossible.
If you've picked up this book, chances are that you don't want to sit behind a desk until you are 62. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, real-life fantasy travel, long-term wandering, setting world records, or simply a dramatic career change, this book will give you all the tools you need to make it a reality in the here-and-now instead of in the often elusive "retirement." There is a way to get the rewards for a life of hard work without waiting until the end.
How? It begins with a simple distinction most people miss—one I missed for 25 years.
People don't want to be millionaires—they want to experience what they believe only millions can buy. Ski chalets, butlers, and exotic travel often enter the picture. Perhaps rubbing cocoa butter on your belly in a hammock while you listen to waves rhythmically lapping against the deck of your thatched-roof bungalow? Sounds nice.
$1,000,000 in the bank isn't the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows. The question is then, How can one achieve the millionaire lifestyle of complete freedom without first having $1,000,000?
In the last five years, I have answered this question for myself, and this book will answer it for you. I will show you exactly how I have separated income from time and created my ideal lifestyle in the process, traveling the world and enjoying the best this planet has to offer. How on earth did I go from 14-hour days and $40,000 per year to 4-hour weeks and $40,000-plus per month?
It helps to know where it all started. Strangely enough, it was in a class of soon-to-be investment bankers.
In 2002, I was asked by Ed Zschau, übermentor and my former professor of High-tech Entrepreneurship at Princeton University, to come back and speak to the same class about my business adventures in the real world. I was stuck. There were already decamillionaires speaking to the same class, and even though I had built a highly profitable sports supplement company, I marched to a distinctly different drummer.
Over the ensuing days, however, I realized that everyone seemed to be discussing how to build large and successful companies, sell out, and live the good life. Fair enough. The question no one really seemed to be asking or answering was, Why do it all in the first place? What is the pot of gold that justifies spending the best years of your life hoping for happiness in the last?
The lectures I ultimately developed, titled "Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit," began with a simple premise: Test the most basic assumptions of the work-life equation.
How do your decisions change if retirement isn't an option?
What if you could use a mini-retirement to sample your deferred-life plan reward before working 40 years for it?
Is it really necessary to work like a slave to live like a millionaire?
Little did I know where questions like these would take me.
The uncommon conclusion? The commonsense rules of the "real world" are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions. This book will teach you how to see and seize the options others do not.
What makes this book different?
First, I'm not going to spend much time on the problem. I'm going to assume you are suffering from time famine, creeping dread, or—worst case—a tolerable and comfortable existence doing something unfulfilling. The last is most common and most insidious.
Second, this book is not about saving and will not recommend you abandon your daily glass of red wine for a million dollars 50 years from now. I'd rather have the wine. I won't ask you to choose between enjoyment today or money later. I believe you can have both now. The goal is fun and profit.
Third, this book is not about finding your "dream job." I will take as a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven billion of them, the perfect job is the one that takes the least time. The vast majority of people will never find a job that can be an unending source of fulfillment, so that is not the goal here; to free time and automate income is.
I OPEN EACH class with an explanation of the singular importance of being a "dealmaker." The manifesto of the dealmaker is simple: Reality is negotiable. Outside of science and law, all rules can be bent or broken, and it doesn't require being unethical.
The DEAL of deal making is also an acronym for the process of becoming a member of the New Rich.
The steps and strategies can be used with incredible results—whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur. Can you do everything I've done with a boss? No. Can you use the same principles to double your income, cut your hours in half, or at least double the usual vacation time? Most definitely.
Here is the step-by-step process you'll use to reinvent yourself:
D for Definition turns misguided common sense upside down and introduces the rules and objectives of the new game. It replaces self-defeating assumptions and explains concepts such as relative wealth and eustress.1 Who are the NR and how do they operate? This section explains the overall lifestyle design recipe—the fundamentals—before we add the three ingredients.
E for Elimination kills the obsolete notion of time management once and for all. It shows exactly how I used the words of an often-forgotten Italian economist to turn 12-hour days into two-hour days … in 48 hours. Increase your per-hour results ten times or more with counterintuitive NR techniques for cultivating selective ignorance, developing a low-information diet, and otherwise ignoring the unimportant. This section provides the first of the three luxury lifestyle design ingredients: time.
A for Automation puts cash flow on autopilot using geographic arbitrage, outsourcing, and rules of nondecision. From bracketing to the routines of ultrasuccessful NR, it's all here. This section provides the second ingredient of luxury lifestyle design: income.
L for Liberation is the mobile manifesto for the globally inclined. The concept of mini-retirements is introduced, as are the means for flawless remote control and escaping the boss. Liberation is not about cheap travel; it is about forever breaking the bonds that confine you to a single location. This section delivers the third and final ingredient for luxury lifestyle design: mobility.
I should note that most bosses are less than pleased if you spend one hour in the office each day, and employees should therefore read the steps in the entrepreneurially minded DEAL order but implement them as DELA. If you decide to remain in your current job, it is necessary to create freedom of location before you cut your work hours by 80%. Even if you have never considered becoming an entrepreneur in the modern sense, the DEAL process will turn you into an entrepreneur in the purer sense as first coined by French economist J. B. Say in 1800—one who shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher yield.
Last but not least, much of what I recommend will seem impossible and even offensive to basic common sense—I expect that. Resolve now to test the concepts as an exercise in lateral thinking. If you try it, you'll see just how deep the rabbit hole goes, and you won't ever go back.
Take a deep breath and let me show you my world. And remember—tranquilo. It's time to have fun and let the rest follow.
Tokyo, Japan
September 29, 2006
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The Creation Of The Universe
The Basic Concepts in the Qur'an
Righteous Deeds
Righteous deeds" (amelunsalihan) are one of the key concepts of the Qur'an. In Arabic, the word
The salvation of an individual is not attained only through faith; righteous deeds, the signs of sincere faith, also save the soul. Saying "I believe" yet failing to comply with the commandments of religion does not lead man to salvation. In the Qur'an Allah states the following about this issue:
Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We tested those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false. (Al-Ankabut, 2-3)
The way a believer does righteous deeds proves his mettle. His deeds indicate his perseverance, stability, determination and loyalty-in other words the depth of his faith.
In the Qur'an Allah informs us about the various kinds of righteous deeds. Communicating the message of Islam to people, striving for the prosperity and the benefit of the Muslims, trying to attain a better understanding of the Qur'an, solving every kind of personal and social problem of the Muslims; all these are important righteous deeds. The fundamental Islamic forms of worship, such as saying prayers to Allah, fasting, spending for the cause of Allah, and the pilgrimage to Mecca are also among the important righteous deeds:
Righteousness does not consist in whether you turn your faces towards the east or the west; what is righteous is to believe in Allah and the last day, and the angels, and the Book, and the messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practise regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and in times of war. Such as do so are people of truth. Such are the Allah-fearing. (Al-Baqara, 177)
Yet there is another point that deserves mention: what makes an act a righteous deed is not its result but the "intention" behind it. That is why for an act to be a righteous one, it should be done purely to seek the approval of Allah. This is what really distinguishes a "righteous deed" from "charity", a concept prevalent in the ignorant society. A righteous deed is done to seek the approval of Allah; on the other hand, the concept of charity in an ignorant society, is based on a spirit of social solidarity and a personal desire to make a reputation as a "charity lover."
The verses below explain why the deeds of believers are by no means similar to alms-giving.
They perform (their) vows, and they fear a Day whose evil flies far and wide. And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive, (Saying)"We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks." "We only fear a day of distressful wrath from our Lord." (Al- Insan 7-10)
If any acts ostensibly complying with the definition of "righteous deeds" are not intended to seek the good pleasure of Allah, they cease to be "righteous deeds." This is simply because they are done to please other people. This is, in terms of the Qur'an, "associating partners with Allah", which is a great sin. In the following verse, Allah explains how an act of worship done to attain not the approval of Allah, but other people loses its value and becomes an ordinary act.
Woe to the worshippers, who are neglectful of their prayers; who only want to make a show of piety. (Al-Maun, 4-6)
Similarly, spending, which is a righteous deed in the presence of Allah, becomes an ordinary act if done to demonstrate one's generosity in order to impress people. Allah describes the difference between spending to gain His approval and to satisfy one's own desires:
O you who believe! Do not cancel out your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury,- like those who spend their substance to be seen by others, believing neither in Allah nor in the last day. They are in parable like a hard, barren rock, on which there is little soil: on it falls heavy rain, which leaves it just a bare stone. They will be able to do nothing with anything they have earned. And Allah does not guide those who reject faith. Those who spend their substance, seeking to please Allah and to strengthen their souls, are like a garden, high and fertile: heavy rain falls on it, and makes it yield a double harvest, and if it does not receive heavy rain, light moisture suffices it. Allah sees well whatever you do.(Al-Baqara, 264-265)
We have prepared a shameful punishment for those who spend their wealth for the sake of ostentation but who have no faith in Allah and the last day: If any take the evil one for their intimate, what a dreadful intimate he is! And what burden would it be on them if they had faith in Allah and in the last day, and they spent out of what Allah has given them for sustenance? For Allah has full knowledge of them. (An-Nisa, 38-39)
In brief, what turns an act into a righteous deed is the intention behind it. If the intention is a righteous one, then the deed also becomes righteous, even if the desired result is not attained. For instance, with the intention of seeking the approval of Allah, a believer may work hard towards a desired end, yet his efforts may not fructify. However, this is not important; he shall still have his reward from Allah. Every believer should acknowledge that there is a reason why Allah does not always let the individual reach his goal: "It is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you do not know." (Al-Baqara, 216) only Allah knows if the desired end will have beneficial consequences for man.
Hence, the result of each deed always rests with Allah. Each task should be done solely to please Him.
As stated above, intention is the essence of a righteous deed. This is due to the fact that Allah is free of all needs. Consequently, He actually does not need any of the acts that His servants perform. Allah states the following in one of His verses:
O you men! It is you that have need of Allah: but Allah is the One free of all wants, worthy of all praise. If He so pleased, He could destroy you and replace you with a new creation. Nor is that (at all) difficult for Allah. (Fatir, 15-17)
He can do anything He wlls when He wills it. He does not need the deeds and efforts of believers to make His religion prevail:
Do not the Believers know, that, had Allah (so) willed, He could have guided all mankind (to the right)?"(Ar-Rad,31)
In brief, if a man does righteous deeds, it accrues to his personal benefit. Right action is surely the way to attain an eternal salvation. As the Qur'an, puts it:
If any strive (with might and main), they do so for their own souls: for Allah is free of all needs from all creation. (Al-Ankabut, 6)
One who says prayers, fasts, spends in the cause of Allah, or supports Islam, becomes himself the beneficiary. It is he himself who needs to do good works; surely he shall have forgiveness and a great reward in return.
For the same reason, in the presence of Allah, a righteous deed is acceptable only when it is the expression of a good intention:
It is not their meat nor their blood, (i.e. of camels which have been sacrificed) that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, so that you may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right. (Al-Hajj, 37)
Therefore, while performing a righteous deed, it is of vital importance to keep oneself occupied with the remembrance of Allah. To this end, a believer should pray to Allah for the acceptance of his services. The prayer of the Prophet Abraham and Ismail sets a good example for all believers.
Remember Abraham and Isma'il raised the foundations of the House (with this prayer):"Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For You are the All-Hearing, the All-knowing. Our Lord! make of us Muslims, bowing to Your (Will), and of our progeny a people Muslim, bowing to Your (will); and show us our place for the celebration of (due) rites; and turn to us (in Mercy); for You are the Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. (Al-Baqara, 127-128)
The address of Allah to David and his people also stresses the significance of prayer, and of giving thanks to Allah during the performance of a righteous deed:
They worked for him as he desired (making) arches,image, basins as large as reservoirs, and cooking cauldrons fixed (in their places ) : "Work, sons of David, with thanks ! But few of my servants are truly grateful !" (Saba, 13)
This is surely the type of service that strengthens one's faith in Allah: One's statement of "I beleive"is reinforced with this service and mount to Allah:
"To Him mount up (all) words of purity: It is He Who exalts each deed of righteousness." (Fatir, 10)
A devoted believer who performs righteous deeds all throughout his life will surely attain the gardens of heaven and will be rewarded most generously by Allah in the hereafter:
As for those who believe and do good works no burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear,— they will be companions of the Garden, therein to dwell (for ever). And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury; beneath them will be rivers flowing; and they shall say: "Praise be to Allah, who has guided us to this (felicity): never could we have found the right path, had it not been for the guidance of Allah: indeed it was the truth, that the messengers of our Lord brought to us." And they shall hear the cry: "Behold! the garden before you! You have been made its inheritors, for your deeds of righteousness." (Al-Araf, 42-43)


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Bipolar Disorder, also known as manic–depressive disorder, is a condition characterized by alternating states of elevated energy, cognition and mood, with periods of irritable mood and depression. The extreme mood swings experienced by patients with bipolar disorder have been strongly associated with disruptions in circadian rhythms — the 24-hour cycle of biological processes that govern our day and night activity.
Lithium is one of the most common treatments for bipolar disorder. However, little research has been done to find out if and how lithium impacts the brain and peripheral body clockwork. A new study published in the open access journal PLoS ONE reveals a novel link between lithium, bipolar disorder and circadian rhythms [1].


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High-end exterior design
Great design is a hallmark of DAF
The New LF's superb exterior design gives it a strong and friendly look, making the truck a great advertisement for your business.
Design Features
The exterior design features of the New LF shares many of the features that give the New CF and XF a completely new look, which is both sturdy and elegant.
The DAF logo has been redesigned with chrome edges and an attractive aluminium-look, symbolising the trucks' quality.
New roof air deflector and fenders improve aerodynamics and lower fuel consumption by up to 4%.
Silver grille strips give The New LF a strong, appealing and modern look.
Especially in city distribution transport, the new vision door improves safety by giving drivers a better view to the near-side.
There is a large panel above the DAF logo so you have plenty of room to add your company name.


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As an attorney who handles these kinds of cases once the social service agencies get involved (representing both children and parents), I think it fair to warn well intentioned people that they may be setting off the equivalent of a nuclear bomb when they tip off so-called "service agencies" they think a child is being abused.
I'm not saying not to call if you think a child is being severely abused (witness severe beatings, see constant suspicious bruises on areas of the body (such as the back) which aren't prone to childhood clumsiness, etc.), but to be careful about what you're unleashing upon an already-frail barely-functioning family. So-called "Social Services" departments usually have NO social services attached to them, only destruction. 99 times out of 100, either the agency destroys a family that only needed a little help to do better, permanently traumatizing the children and often destroying their lives, yanks a child that SHOULD be yanked but then hands the child back to a psycho-parent who should NOT get back custody, or the family retreats from potential support networks who could help them out of fear of well-intentioned busybodies 'sicing social service agencies on them and destroying their family.
This is not paranoid rantings ... out of HUNDREDS of court cases I have handled, I can only name ONE case where calling in the agencies improved a child's life, TWO cases where kids were handed back that should not have been, and over 250 cases where DSS just made lots of threats, shuffled the kids around from foster home to foster home (destroying their ability to form bonds with people), then handed them back to parents who either were not helped (nothing changed) or who were helped by people other than social service agency.
If you suspect a parent is functioning below societal standards or beginning to lose it, don't yell at them, give them "the talk" (you know, the "we're concerned ... do we need to call DSS" talk) or threaten to call the police or DSS. If you do this, either they will disappear and not be helped or you will unleash a series of events that will be the opposite of the good intent you have in mind.
If you think the problem is symptomatic of stress and benign neglect and not because the parent is potentially a psychopathic baby-killer (if the latter, PLEASE call the police right away), be sympathetic about how hard it is to be a parent today and offer support and advice (to the best of your ability given the situation). For example, if a relative or neighbor is going through a tough time, offer to take one of their kids off their hands a couple of hours a week to teach them a new skill you enjoy teaching (piano, baseball, nature walks, etc.). Mom/dad get a break, the kid gets a new auntie or uncle, you get the joy of mentorship. Ask another relative or neighbor if they, too, would be willing to do this.
Don't force your yuppie-upper-middle-class-of-course-all-kids-should-have-private-school-and-dance-lessons-and-parents-should-never-ever-raise-their-voices sensibilities upon the parent. I doubt entitlement-issues are a problem with Wise Bread readers, but you'd be amazed at how many people have really unrealistic ideas about what constitutes "abuse" for a child (wearing hand me downs, not having snack food such as chips and lunchables in the house, etc.) DSS will manufacture confirmations of abuse when it doesn't exist after the 3rd or 4th bogus child abuse allegation by a vindictive person (twice I had cases where the only evidence of abuse were jealous wannabe-girlfriends repeated hotline calls trying to break up a relationship which were never substantiated, but the social workers decided to call it child abuse reasoning "if someone calls us, it MUST be abuse.")
If you want to help, invite the parent over for coffee and listen while they tell you their story. Most people are reluctant to discuss their problems, but if you provide a sympathetic ear, most eventually will. Even if they say nothing, just the fact of having a "normal" friend who listens to them will reduce their stress levels, which will translate into more patience with their children. If you know of resources that can help them stretch their meager resources further, educate them AND encourage them that there is no shame in accepting help when it is needed. If you have ever yourself or know of a respected friend who had once use these services, say so. In my area there are food pantries, free REAL parent education classes NOT offered by DSS (in other words, not simply the "are you beating your kids" type) offered by the "super mommy" groups, educational job training, etc. A lot of otherwise good parents start to lose it because they are ashamed to ask for help and the stress gets unloaded onto their kids.
The Mormon Church in our area has begun to offer excellent free "life skills" classes once a month ranging from budgeting to self-car-maintenance once per month to ANYONE, not just Mormons (highly recommended). If an asteroid were to hit the earth tomorrow, most disaster planners believe that 80% of the people who survive will be Mormons because they are always so well prepared.
If you are a typical Wise Bread tightwad, tell them your own tips for squeezing a penny until it cries and offer to help them learn how you do it. I have a dog-eared ratty old copy of the "Complete Tightwad Gazette" I hand to clients to skim through if lack of resources is the root of most of their problems and, believe me, it HELPS them. Don't scorn them if they are foolish with their money ... many weren't so lucky as to have positive frugal role models. Teach them "to fish" and become their frugal hero.
If the stressed parent is someone transient you see at a supermarket beginning to lose it, be kind. Smile at the parent (not criticize), say something sympathetic such as "I remember when my daughter would tantrum like that at the store" and then go on to offer some solution such as "I used to keep a little container of raisins in my purse and give it to them at the checkout line" or "I used to only be able to shop at 9:00 a.m. because any time after that my little guy needed his nap and would sprout horns." Smile at the child and say something nice such as "hey little guy, you look tired/hungry/sad/angry." The child will usually eye you suspiciously and begin to hic-cough but wail less insistently. In one fail swoop, you have offered the parent a mini-therapeutic session of empathy, redirected the child, and given them a tool to avoid the situation in the future. In other words, you will have just done a better job than most social service agencies, without unleashing destructive forces to destroy the family.
If after reading this you determine the parent has deteriorated to the psycho-parent stage and a call to the authorities is in order, keep your mouth shut about who made the call and be sure to protect your identity. The degree of parent who -NEEDS- social services intervention to help the kids is also the type of parent who will come after you with a crowbar in a dark parking lot some night. Every creature on the planet will kill when it's young are threatened. Only humans are nieve enough to think this instinct has been socialized out of a parent who is having their kid taken away by DSS. If you -don't- fear the parent like this, rethink calling and -do- think about how you can help hook the parent up with needed services and a support network to solve the problem. The goal should be to help the family, not punish or destroy it.


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Bastos-Carvalho Receives Bayer Grant
Ana Bastos-Carvalho, a visiting scholar in the Ambati research group in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, received the Global Ophthalmology Research Award from Bayer HealthCare for her research, "Mechanisms of geographic atrophy expansion in age-related macular degeneration." http://www.bayer-ophthalmology-awards.com/html/b-about-c.html
"We are studying age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the disease responsible for most cases of legal blindness in the American elderly population", Bastos-Carvalho said. "The project awarded by Bayer focuses on unraveling how AMD progresses, which will hopefully lead to new therapies to stop the relentless and untreatable evolution of the disease."
In 2012, Bayer HealthCare launched the Global Ophthalmology Awards Program (GOAP) with the aim of advancing the scientific understanding and clinical management of retinal ophthalmic disorders. Bayer envisions the GOAP as a step toward making the dream of ophthalmology cures and improved treatments a reality.
Media Contact: Ann Blackford at 859-323-6442 or firstname.lastname@example.com