text:
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by Eliezer Leoni
Translated by Amy Samin
1. The Old Cemetery
In HaMelitz from the year 5653, 9 February 1893, we read: Exactly when our Jewish brethren came to live and set down roots in this city is not known to any of its residents; the old registries that perhaps could have provided some information are not here, because in the large and terrible fire that befell the city thirty-six years ago (in 1857), in which all of the houses and synagogues were destroyed, the records burned as well.
In our estimation, Jews settled in this area approximately 500 years ago. Although there is no direct evidence of this, there is the evidence of graves and remnants of ancient tombstones in the cemetery. To this day, there are ancient tombstones in the Ancient Cemetery (there are three cemeteries here: the New, the Old, and the Ancient), some at least three hundred years old, and doubtless what was intended to be a monument simply collapsed into a heap of ruins under the weight of the years. It could be that they were first put there at the time the first Jews arrived in the area.The Old Cemetery is practically the only one from which it is possible to learn the nature and the essence of the city. Its reputation is engraved in Paleolithic, ancient tombstones. Accumulated and buried in those unhewn stones is the first information about the generations of authors and wise men who lived in our city.
And though, in the year 1857, a horrible fire consumed the city and all of its historical records the registry of the Chevra Kadisha and some of the earliest tombstones still remain.
In the registry from the year 5482 (1722), we read a brief description of the early days of the city. The historian of the Chevra Kadisha writes: The city of Kovel is an ancient one, surrounded by the cities in the Volyn region, where some of the earliest great rabbis, brilliant Jews, settled - the heads of yeshivas of that generation. The greatest genius of his generation, Rabbi Yitzhak, son of the brilliant Rabbi Natan (son of the rebbe) Shimshon Shapira, was the head of the yeshiva in the holy community of Kovel sometime around 1577; also the brilliant rabbi, the great, the Hassid, our teacher the rabbi Yehuda Yudel, author of the book Kol Yehuda was head of the rabbinical court in the city and the great genius, the wonder of the generation, our teacher the rabbi Yosef
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Yaski (the head of the rabbinical court and master of the yeshiva, author of the book Yesod Yosef was one of his sons, the four cedars he planted in Israel, Cedars of Lebanon, great Torah scholars. To our great sorrow, the tombstones of his sons have been lost from the cemetery, for it was the custom in the city at that time to make the tombstones from wood.
From this brief historical review we learn upon which foundation stones the Jewish community of the city was based: rabbis, great scholars, the wonders of the generation, wise men, the authors of books, and the greatest of them all was the head of the yeshiva, Rav Shimshon Shapira, who lived 379 years ago. But that rabbi was not the, the creator of the spiritual world of our city. There were great, wise men who came before him, but their names have been lost because it was not the custom to leave carved records; rather they created tombstones from wood and the passage of time brought about their destruction.
Heplio-lithography, that is, the etching of words onto ancient tombstones is itself of interest, because by such means we can learn the wording on tombstones from past generations. Its most essential value and importance is that it allows us to reconstruct the spiritual portrait of the city in its first centuries of existence.
We provide here the text from several ancient tombstones from the Old Cemetery whose importance lies in the things they can teach us about the history of our city.
Here Lies / Rabbi Shmuel, return in peace / A judge of Israel who knows every hidden sign / A priceless gem, our teacher the rabbi [unknown] and our Sages the brilliant / Hasid the exalted Shmuel, son of the rabbi, the great tamarisk, our teacher the rabbi Mordechai Margalit / Whose soul ascended in purification to Heaven on 1 Elul 5494. / May his soul be bound in the bonds of everlasting peace.This rabbi, who was in all likelihood the son of the famous Rabbi Margalit, died in the year 1733, that is to say, 223 years ago.
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Here Lies / He who went to his eternal rest / The honorable rabbi, the great light, the well-known Yeshiah / Baharab, the great tamarisk, our teacher the rabbi of blessed memory / Was gathered to his Maker and returned his soul to God / on Sunday 10 Sivan 5484 / Today his soul will be bound up in the bonds of eternal life / In the shadow of God he will await the arrival The words engraved on this tombstone stop with the word arrival because the remainder is buried in the ground. This rabbi died in 1723, that is to say, 233 years ago.
Here Lies / The wife and devout rebbetzin / M. Yenta, daughter of our teacher the rabbi Shneor / Feibush. She died on 12 Kislev 5506 / and her modest daughter Mrs. Leah / daughter of Shimon died on the day The remainder is erased, and it is only possible to learn that the name of the rabbi was Shimon. This rabbi's wife, the daughter of Rabbi Shneor-Feibush, died in 1745, that is, 211 years ago.
In the year 5372 / Here rests Aharon son of our teacher the rabbi / Rav Yitzhak of blessed memory 7 Nisan / this month will be a sign for you / called the first of the months of the year / buried a Hasid, leader and head of Dorot-Olam The remainder is sunken into the earth. According to this tombstone, it appears that he was one of the employers of that era. It is impossible to identify his place of birth because the tombstone is sunken in to the ground. This tombstone is from the year 1611, that is, 345 years ago.
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Here Lies / a yeshiva rabbi / We mourn the beauty which is rotting in the earth. / Our wonderful teacher the rabbi Yehuda Leib son of the rabbi and teacher Aharon / his soul is in the garden of peace.This tombstone had also sunk halfway into the earth in 1900, and it was impossible to copy everything that was etched there. The tombstone is from 1748, or 208 years ago.
Here Lies / Miriam who died and was buried / daughter of the righteous judge, our teacher Chaim HaLevy of blessed memory / 12 Nisan 5588.This tombstone stood by the shteibel, and next to it more tombstones were found. By all signs, there were quite a few graves there. This tombstone is from 1827, 129 years ago.
These tombstones confirm the tradition of the city elders, because in the earlier generations the city was populated by wise men and brilliant scholars, who were known collectively as the Wise Men of Kovel. The city of Kovel was a metropolis of Torah and wisdom. Those who served as its rabbis were exalted scholars.
The great preacher of blessed memory, Rabbi Avraham of Turiysk, author of the book Magen Avraham (Shield of Abraham), praised those geniuses lavishly, and said, In the two old cemeteries of Kovel one may discern a Sanhedrin, for in their dust are concealed and held the wise, the sagacious, and the brilliant.
Even if we assume that the Magid from Turiysk was speaking of a small Sanhedrin, one that had
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only twenty-three members, and not a Great Sanhedrin with seventy-one, the righteous man's words prove that the city was filled with wise men and authors.
2. The Transition from Town to City
In the year 1847 there were 2,647 Jews in Kovel. Fifty years later, in 1897, that number had grown to 8,521; in other words, during that period the Jewish population of Kovel more than trebled in size.
In HaMelitz from 1893, Heinech Geller writes that in that year the number of residents of the city was fifteen thousand, and most of them were Jews. Geller's testimony is authentic and there is no reason to doubt his credibility; based on that we can say that in a half-century's time the city's Jewish population increased more than five-fold.
What caused this growth? Just as with the soul of man, whose purpose cannot be fully investigated, also in the material world, in economics, unknown factors operate which cannot be deciphered. Even if we do not know the processes which brought about this rapid growth in the number of the city's Jews, there is one economic factor which is known completely and for a certainty, the laying of the second railroad line in Russia during those years.
From the time the tracks were laid, the city threw off its old form and reinvented itself. Almost magically, wide, paved roads began appearing in the city, including the beautiful Beit HaNetivot Street, along which the houses were built in the new style. Next to the old city, whose aging houses were decaying and whose streets were small and narrow, there arose a fresh new city on the sands full of energy and beauty. Alongside the new houses and streets there arose a new Jewish settlement in the city, brimming with life.
This metamorphosis, this major change in the character of the city, came about thanks to the actions of an exceptional man of many achievements Yaacov-Aharon Entin of blessed memory, who was the contractor for the railroad.
Entin settled in Kovel more than one hundred and twenty years ago. He was originally from the city of Romaniv in the Mohilov Region, near the city of Lyady. He was a Chabadnik, an enthusiastic follower of Rabbi Menachem-Mendel, author of the Tzemach Tzedek and the grandson of Rabbi Shneur-Zalman, the founder of the Chabad movement of Hasidism.
Entin had a friendly relationship with the prince Korsakov-Dondukov of Romaniv, and thanks to his recommendation the railroad tracks were given over to him.
Before he received the job, Entin traveled to see the Tzemach Tzedek [Righteous Scion] and receive his blessing. The rabbi blessed him, and added that a great future good would come to the Jews of the city because of the railroad line and help would come from the heavens.
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Reb Yaacov Entin of Blessed Memory |
Entin was a grand, wealthy man whose worth was about half a million rubles. As an intelligent student, he knew well the saying, If I am only for myself, what am I? He therefore invested much of his wealth in large building projects, in order to provide income and occupation to the Jewish laborers in the city. That was the stimulation, the galvanizing force, which drove him to build the 30 large barracks for the Kovelski folk. The laborers who worked on those projects were mostly Jews. Not for nothing did the workshop owners weep, saying, Who will provide us with work if Reb Yaacov-Aharon is gone?
On 29 Tevet 5658, in the magazine HaTzfirah, Heinech Geller described this man thusly: The deceased was an elder and the pride of the community, always the first to give in every matter of charity, God-fearing and honest
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as any man. His heart was as wide as an open hall, and he improved the lot of many paupers, providing them with an escape from their poverty. His home was always open to the poor and those going through difficult times, and they were treated like family. He never ate bread alone, without inviting someone in need to share his meal. No matter how great his wealth, his heart was never proud, and he was humble; he always gave a warm reception to any poor person who asked for his help. He paid for the weddings of many impoverished orphans, and he never sent widows away empty-handed, always taking care of their financial needs and their peace of mind.
The deceased loved his people with all of his heart and soul, and the holy land was his heart's desire; he always yearned to settle there. Every year, he sent a great deal of money to every charitable institution in Eretz Yisrael. He was concerned about the Hebrew laborers, ensuring they had a place to earn their livelihood, and was heavily invested in building without any benefit to himself, but rather only for the purpose of providing work for the Hebrew laborers.Entin died on 17 Tevet 5658 (1898) at the age of 77. Merchants left their shops, and laborers were absent from their work, in order to attend his funeral. The stores were closed, and the teachers left their cheders and all as one man came to pay their last respects to the deceased. No one, not even the city elders, had ever seen such a funeral.
Entin lived on Old Vakzalna Street. He built a synagogue in his yard which was called the Beit Midrash of Entin. His wife, Nechama Entin, was exceptional in the generosity of her heart and her concern for impoverished yeshiva students. For that purpose, she built a yeshiva with her own money, a wonderful house of prayer; all expenses were paid for from her own pocket. That house of study was the only one of its kind in the city.
By Yaacov Teitelkar
(from the Way of Life of Kovel)
Translated by Amy Samin
The city of Kovel widespread was its renown. A son of Kovel who traveled abroad and was asked about his origins would be absolutely certain to elicit a joyful reaction: Ah, Kovel! I know it, I know it Indeed, I have been there Not because Kovel was an important strategic and commercial crossroads near the main Warsaw Lublin Kiev road, needed by one and all. Kovel was close to the heart of every Jew, the city was like a mother of the Jewish people, a campus devoted to the purity of tradition and the original popular-national Jewish way of life. There was no movement towards an imitation of the corrupt goyish culture The mother tongue ruled in the home, on the street, in society, and no Jewish child heard goyish except from the mouth of the Sabbath goy who came, wearing a thick sarmiga, to serve the Jews on Shabbat by extinguishing the candles in the candelabra, filling the samovar, and gulping down the first cup of cholent with a slice of bread and on the eve of Yom Kippur, affixing the wax candles in their holders
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in the synagogue and replacing them when they melted away from the heat. Or they would hear the foreign tongue on market day, when the farmers from the nearby villages would gather, blocking the streets of the city with their carts loaded with wood and merchandise. The Jewish peddlers and the housewives would walk between the wagons, inspecting the chickens and scouting out goods, handling everything as if they'd already bought it. The farmers leave their womenfolk sitting in the wagons and go off to wander through the marketplace and stopping to peddle their wares in the stores. Seven merchants grab hold of one goy, crying Listen! and begin describing their merchandise in a language that is half goyish and half Yiddish. There is no doubt that the goyim learned a little Yiddish, and dressed up their own language with a bit of the language of the Jews, ending up speaking goyyiddish.
Nevertheless, the Jews of Kovel never caught on to Yiddishism. When the waves of the revolutionary anti-tsarist movement arrived at the start of the 20th century on the shores of Kovel, there was a whole new spirit. The youth of Kovel began to prepare vigorously for the struggle against the tsar, and the workers began to organize for the class struggle with the bourgeoisie. When the political parties aligned with socialism, Yiddishism and anti-Zionism began their activity; all of that movement resembled nothing more than foam on the waves, and there was no fundamental change in the everyday activity of Kovel. The Yiddish school, which had been founded by the Bundists as a counter-weight to the schools founded on the Tarbut system and to the Talmud Torah, couldn't compete and was closed. Most of the workers the tailors, the shoe makers, and the carpenters who were caught up in the socialist idea of this world, and who prepared for the class struggle in order to improve the economic situation of the proletariat, did not stop considering themselves completely faithful sons of Israel, and continued to visit the house of study morning and evening and to listen to the proletarian speaker, the excitable Yosman whose words were as pearls of wisdom, and whose harsh remarks preached of the world to come, kosher Judaism, and national loyalty. And when the time came to select a school for their sons, they did not hesitate to choose the Talmud Torah and the Tarbut school And so the contribution of the Kovel youth to the Zionist pioneer movement and the rising tide of aliyah to the homeland was enormous.
Independent pioneering kibbutz cells were founded. Even the frailest of youths, pupils of the schools and the Hebrew gymnasia, girded their loins, took up saws and axes in their hands and set out for preparation to the astonishment of their parents, who did not understand this insanity of their sons: why did they want to compete with the goyim, hewers of wood, bearers of water, to ruin themselves with hard work, with the shameful toil of a day laborer, at a time when, thank God, nothing was lacking in the home. A few even sailed to a foreign land, suffering shortages and overcoming all kinds of obstacles and difficulties, waging the war against their parents, and preparing themselves with self-sacrifice for the building of the homeland.
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Nothing changed during the days of the First World War, nor the days of the occupation of Kovel by the Germans of Wilhelm, who did not prevent commercial and economic negotiations with the Jews, in order to take advantage of their initiative and talent for supplying provisions for their army. For their part, the Jews did not refrain from taking advantage of the rights given to them by the commandants and the highly-placed clerks with respect to their trades and professions (from whence arose the fatal confidence during the days of World War II that, once again, during the occupation by Hitler, things would not be so bad for them; for this reason most of the Jews of Kovel were unwilling to leave the city ). Also for this reason, they accepted the bad conditions, since they weren't too awful. For example, the Germans were distressed by the annoying problems of hygiene and cleanliness. For this reason, the Wilhelmian Germans were unwilling to allow the mountains of refuse and garbage outside the crowded wooden houses in the lanes of the city, and nor the filth in the streets that had been the norm, nor yet on the lack of public restrooms. They began a program of public repairs and cleaning, and the goyim the yekkim [slang for Germans] never quite understood that the Jew, whose entire being was occupied with matters on a completely otherworldly level, did not have time for such mundane matters. Not only that, according to their habits and in their own special way, they began to investigate the internal matters of the Jews, to pass laws, give instructions and make lists of things the Jews were told to do, with fixed dates for bathing and laundering, and specific instructions for the use of candlesticks for the Sabbath candles in order to prevent fires. In spite of their efforts, none of the Jews followed their orders, for they only obeyed the instructions they received from God.
The Germans had less work to do in the Zand quarter (so called because it was built upon sandy ground) of Kovel which, not only from a topographical but also cultural-social standpoint, represented the center of advancement in the city. As opposed to the crowded wooden houses of the city there were stone houses, arranged along paved roads with clean sidewalks, including many of the city's public institutions: the old and new stations; the Niebieski Prospect (the new Vokzalni Street) the romantic promenade for the young couples of the city; cinema houses; the newly-repaired bathhouse,; the Projenski synagogue for the aristocracy of the city, and the synagogue of the Zand the center of religious, cultural-commercial life, the center for ritual objects of the Jews of the sands at the service and under the management of the famous beadle-mohel Reb Pinchas; the luxury shops with their modern showcase windows, the printing houses, the post office, and the magistrat [municipality]. When the Germans left the city in 1919, it was possible to find signs of renovations and decorations in the German style next to the houses of the Zand, and woven huts of German design, which the Jews of the Zand chose to imitate. Almost nothing remains now of the German influence in the city The proud Poles who inherited the place of the Germans in World War I, and were the lords of the land when they took control of the eastern Ukraine,
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imposed their own culture on the occupied population, spreading a net of systematized assimilation by means of the creation of a chain of elementary schools at which in the beginning attendance was optional but later became mandatory. There were more than a few parents who preferred the practical value of be a man outside and a Jew at home, who sent their sons and daughters to the Polish schools, and the Polish language began to take root in Jewish neighborhoods, becoming a symbol of the bon ton (cultured, well-educated high society). However, the despotic Poles could not defeat the determination of the Jews of Kovel to continue to maintain their traditional, nationalist lifestyle, even when the anti-Semitic Polish government refused to provide support for their educational institutions. Instead, the Jews themselves contributed the funds from their own pockets for two Tarbut schools the Herzliya School in Zand and the school named after Dr. Klomel in the city. Not only that, they did not rest until they had, with their own power, established an original Hebrew gymnasia in a splendid building in the center of town, where hundreds of faithful and devoted pioneers were educated in the idea of independence and statehood in their homeland.
Neither were the Jewish youths frightened by the new Polish decrees, which worsened daily and forbade Jewish nationalism. They established cells and training kibbutzim [collective farms] for work and aliyah [moving to Eretz Yisrael] and overcame the lack of accessibility and the limitations, taking to the streets of the city every year with spectacular ceremonies in celebration of Jewish holidays and demonstrating their strong desire to preserve the continuance of Jewish history and tradition.
In the last years before World War II and the victimization of a people, the Polish rulers became more and more harsh, forbidding all nationalist activity and celebratory public ceremonies, but they were no match for the stratagems of the youth against the worsening restrictions of the government. Their strength never lessened, and their resolve never weakened.
The Jews did not change their attitude during the start of World War II, when the Polish government was destroyed and was subordinated to the Soviet rule. It was difficult for the Jews of Kovel to withstand the deep cracks in the wall of their nationalism made by the Bolsheviks, with their fundamental and revolutionary economic, cultural and national differences. Some of the changes included the destruction of private commerce, the closure of the Tarbut schools and the Talmud Torah, and the establishment of communist schools in their place, and the sabotage thereby inflicted by the government on the way of life of the Jews, harming the soul of the Jewish child to the sorrow of the nationalists, the requirements of the cooperatives and their organization, which dissuaded the Jewish laborer from observing the Sabbath and celebrating his holidays by overworking him. All of this depressed and subdued the Jew's spirit, and perhaps because of this it is possible to see why the Jews of Kovel refused to leave the city at the onset of hostilities between the Germans and the Russians, when they were given the opportunity to flee to the Soviet Union, with the sword of Hitler hanging over their heads
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Normally, the Jews accepted the Russian Bolsheviks, seeing them as rescuers from the threat of the German-Polish war, from the atrocities of the constant bombings and the fear of hooligans in the intervening days between the collapse of Poland and the expected German victory. Since during that time the Russians did not impose the rules of the communist government, the Jew was able to live in peace, and private commerce was able to operate together with the government cooperatives. The Jew knew how to manage, to go his own way in the tremendous national Bolshevist stream, which bathed them in comfortable waters in the midst of the Jewish nationalist-populist way of life of the Jews of Kovel and they lacked for nothing. That is, until the German Soviet war broke out and the Soviets rushed to leave the city, leaving the Jews in the maw of the insane, ravaging Nazi beast and their lives were consumed. May their memories be blessed forever!
by L. Hazan
Translated by Amy Samin
It is heartbreaking to recall the many Jewish communities of Eastern Europe that were destroyed and lost in the deluge of blood.
The heart breaks many times over for the Jewish community that you once knew and where you once spent days and years, where you lived with people in joy and sorrow, at work and at rest, with hopes and aspirations. Together with them you longed for your homeland, with them you laid the foundation for building a people in our land, creating a culture, and reviving the language; but they were not able to see this dream come to life, because of the hand that was sent to destroy, which cut off their lives and brought them an agonizing death, while their eyes searched for help that did not come: perhaps someone will save us. But rescue did not come; dark despair covered everything, bringing with it horrible death.
How much Torah and wisdom, how much activity and thought, initiative and industriousness, how much Jewish intelligence and Jewish kindheartedness and feeling and devotion, how much vitality and spiritual and corporeal beauty were lost and will never return. Those who survived the Holocaust, the likes of which had never before been seen, ponder with broken hearts filled with anger, How could it have happened? How could the pure have fallen? How could such an abomination have taken place so openly, and the heavens were indifferent, and the Throne of God didn't shake and collapse?
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Kovel, Kovel, the city and home of Jewish Volhynia
Forests and swamps shared the vast plain that sprawled over hundreds of kilometers. Not mountains nor hills, but one plateau, and among the forests and the swamps, towns large and small populated by Jews, and among them Kovel, the big city.
There were days, long ago, when the God-fearing Jews of Kovel wandered the plain, strong of faith and virtuous, spending time in the courtyards of the righteous, gathered together as a flock, requesting protection from danger. Calamity, the evil impulse, disease where else could the Jews find protection, if not in the shade of such righteous ones?
Jews would sit and stand in their stores, waiting for shoppers, discussing matters relating to the house of study, criticizing the rabbi and the cantor, and complaining about the difficult times that had befallen them.
The border in those days was the river, and it was as if it had always told the city, To here and no further! and so the city gathered into itself, its streets and alleys, the marketplace and the shops, the houses of study and the cemetery. On the other side of the river were sand dunes, fields and gardens, and all other things with which no Jew had any contact.
But when the railroad tracks were laid and on the other side of the river a large train station was built from which trains set out for all parts of the country, their cars filled with lumber, linen, and leather, and arrived bringing all kinds of merchandise, the city began spreading out towards the railroad station. The Jews passed the watery border, built homes, warehouses and shops on the sands, and made a comfortable life there. But Jews cannot live without a house of study; so on the sands were built new houses of study and the sounds of prayer and Torah and filled the air.
Time passed and the seasons changed, and the Enlightenment spread out into every area, and the winds of change blew through the Jewish streets. In its heart, the Diaspora began to tire of exile and the longing for far-off Eretz Yisrael took hold, transforming into real activity. The Jews of Kovel were among the first in Poland to form strong ties with the ancient homeland of the people. Those who were experts in constructing on foreign sands thought about building a home on the sands of the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. They sent their sons to nationalist-pioneering youth movements which operated on behalf of the land, the sounds of the Hebrew language were heard in homes and on the streets, and Hebrew schools were founded, the crown jewel of which was the Hebrew Gymnasia.
Altogether, there were six or seven gymnasias in Poland, and one was in Kovel! Not for nothing did that happen, nor did random fate have a hand in the selection of that city
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as the home for one of the Hebrew buildings in a foreign country. The groundwork had been done, the desire was strong, and feelings were deep, all of which provided the strength to do battle with the state educational authorities, which regarded Hebrew educational institutions with a disapproving eye, opposed their establishment and harassed them as much as they were able. It was those things that gave the strength to overcome the internal obstacles and inhibitions, the lack of funds and support required for a high school, which had many expenses, and with empty hands but full hearts those involved did many great and wondrous things, producing class after class of young men and women, who were talented and prepared to go and build Eretz Yisrael and to live and renew the culture.
We, whose luck spared us the Holocaust, allowing us instead to sit and watch the building of Eretz Yisrael, know very well the part Kovel had in that building. That praiseworthy combination of vivacious Jews rooted in the past with education and common sense was useful for understanding the real, future needs of the people for a safe landing on the promised shores.
Bitter destiny brought a cruel end to that work; many of Kovel's Jews never arrived on that shore. Pioneers of spirit and pioneers of deed no longer come from Kovel to Eretz Yisrael. The bloodbath that drowned the community left no remnants; the heart breaks for the dear Jews who were lost and for Eretz Yisrael, which was denied a vital force for its revival.
And if we are speaking about the Jews of Kovel it is impossible to refrain from mentioning, in pain and in sorrow, the principal of the Hebrew gymnasia, Yosef Avrekh, may God avenge his blood. Ill-fated due to a physical disability, he was a devoted educator who also worked for the public good together with his friend, the afore-mentioned Asher Frankfort, in many different activities.
Those two were always the first to take action, and they were also the first to be touched by the unclean hands of the ravening German beasts that extinguished their souls, and after them the Holocaust came to the entire splendid Jewish community of the city of Kovel, one among the many Jewish communities, near and far.
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Who will count the number of the good Jews of the city, and of the many faithful people, of the innocent children and the pure mothers, of the young men and women, for whom we had such great hopes, and our hope was lost? Who will give us recompense?
My heart, my heart is with you, Jewish Kovel, and with the other Jewish cities in Eastern Europe, that were destroyed and no longer exist.
Is there comfort? Is there reparation for their blood?
By Baruch Bork
Translated by Amy Samin
The population of Kovel was made up of Jews, Ukrainians, and Poles. Until the resurrection of Poland, the number of Poles was so tiny that even a child could count their number. In commemoration of their names: the priest Shovelski (a friend to the Jews), the pharmacists Prejmovski, Eismond, Friedrichson, and a number of workshop owners.
The small, paltry church stood empty, even on Sundays. It only filled on the holiday of Christmas, when the Polish landowners from the surrounding area would come to pray.
With the outbreak of World War I and the establishment of the Polish government in the city, there were radical changes in the composition of the city's population. When the Russians had left the city in 1915, many Russians and Ukrainians left with them and Kovel had become in essence a city of Jews. With the German occupation of the city, Poles began to appear, and with the establishment of the country of Poland the city was flooded, literally, with Poles. Even so, the Jews remained the majority, with the Poles coming after. Ukrainians made up a small minority.
The Poles and the Ukrainians lived on the outskirts of the city, and the Jews in the center. The entire center of town was free of Christians. In the center of town were the government buildings and the municipal institutions. The treasury office, the offices of the regional governor, the health maintenance organization, insurance offices, city management, fire station, the P.K.O. Bank, the post office and the Sejmik. There were also a few Russian and Polish doctors and a few pharmacies.
Close to the outbreak of World War II, when on the Polish street the slogan birds of a feather flock together (swój do swego), which carried anti-Semitic undertones at that time, was the order of the day, a couple of Polish department stores opened in the Zand [so called because it was built on sandy ground] quarter of the city.
The relationships between the Jews and their Christian neighbors were normal; it's even possibly to say friendly, aside from the Andeki youth who were openly anti-Semitic and gathered in the
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engineering school (miernicza szkoła). In that school was raised and educated the hangman of the Jews of Kovel, Artur Schultz may his memory be cursed, who served as an officer in the Gestapo and was the person in charge of the aktia [roundup of the Jews for transport to death camps]. With the increase in the number of Poles in the city, the small, paltry church barely had room for its worshippers, so the Poles, together with the priest Prolet Snervarovski (who was, by the way, a good friend to the Jews) applied for permission to build a large, splendid church in the Zand quarter.
In the 1920s there were clashes between the Jewish youth of the city and the Polish youth which reached such serious dimensions as to involve crimes literally on the scale of pogroms. Only thanks to the intervention of the priest Prolet Snervarovski with the starosta [elected leader] Kovichi and the commander of the foot soldiers of Battalion 50 which was stationed in Gorky, were the Jews of Kovel saved from calamity. Indeed, with every threat that posed a danger to the Jews of the city, the priest used his authority to nullify the decree.
Most of the Polish population was made up of laborers and clerks, though most of the educated Poles would advance to other positions. Almost all of them belonged to the P.P.S. [Polish Socialist Party] and the N.P.R., such that the Andeki Party with OSAN did not have a large influence on the life of the city.
The majority of the Jewish population was religious. The fathers belonged to Agudah and Mizrahi. Those who did not hold political views were simply Chassids of Trisk, Kotsk, Lubavitch, Stolin, Karlin, Neschiz, Steppen, and Radzin. Even most of the artisans and workshop owners of the older generation were religious. I remember a story people would tell about a man, a ladies' tailor, named Itchi Previn, who before his death instructed his family to put his worktable, at which he had toiled for 60 years, into his grave with him. When the Messiah came, the table would testify that he had never taken the leftover scraps of fabric for his own use.
It seems to me, that if someone were looking for one of the world's lamed vavnikim [36 righteous men], he could be assured of finding him amongst the workshop owners of Kovel.
The younger generation was freer in their activity, and mostly concentrated in the Zionist movements: General Zionists, Hitachdut, Poale Zion Left, Hechalutz, Hechalutz Hazair, Hashomer Hazair, Beitar, Gordonia and HaOved. A not insignificant number belonged to the Bund, and only a handful joined the communist party. Nevertheless, all of them, except for the communists, prayed in the synagogue on the Sabbath and it is hardly necessary to mention that they were quite devoted in their prayers during the Days of Awe.
The youths who, while at their clubs, released themselves from the burden of the mitzvot [religious commandments] would, upon their return home, behave like kosher, God-fearing Jews. Only here and there could you find a family whose son walked about bareheaded, but those cases were quite rare. The majority of the Jews of the city ended their lives in the framework of religion and tradition.
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 21 Jan 2011 by MGH


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This video introduces a ten-day plan to take even the lowest performers and, through a pinpointed coaching strategy, turn them into productive Reps who can be counted on. (length – 5:32)
Call Center Training Solutions Blog
Quickly Improving a Rep's Ability and Results
August 4th, 2015You Can't Coach What You Don't Hear
July 28th, 2015If they are not using your coaching recommendations, they have to start before they will become excellent. This video lesson offers easy ways to get your Reps to start using those new sales/service skills – without having to be perfect about. (length – 4:46)
Overcoming Rep Resistance to Coaching
July 28th, 2015We all have Reps that do not want to change. This video shows you a great way to eliminate a Rep's common way of resisting your coaching. Once gone, your coaching sessions will go much better. (length – 5:15)
Coaching Styles: Directive And Facilitative
July 21st, 2015Two vastly different Coaching Styles with Tips to bring out the best of each. This video is 13 minutes long as the subject is comprehensive. It is worth watching if you lead and coach every day. You will learn ways to improve your common Coaching Style by blending in some of the strengths and traits of the other Style. (length – 13:45)
Delivering Strong Pre-Shift Meetings
July 21st, 2015Are your Pre-Shift Meetings Inspiring or merely Informative? This video lesson introduces easy and effective ways to turn a low-energy Pre-Shift meeting into an inspiring one. (length – 6:17)
Coaching to "The Majors"
July 14th, 2015
Avoid "nit-picking" when coaching. Always spend most of your time coaching to Major skills – this video discusses why and provides best practices. (length – 5:02)
Common Coaching Mistakes And Solutions
July 14th, 2015This video lesson introduces five common Coaching Mistakes or Inefficiencies. Eliminate any of them and watch your coaching and team performance thrive! Each Coaching Mistake includes our Recommended Solution. (length – 5:32)
Daily "Power Hour" Coaching Strategy Introduction
July 7th, 2015The very best way for call centers to use On-The-Fly Coaching in a daily, effective schedule. Watch the On-The-Fly Coaching Introduction video prior to watching this video lesson. (length – 5:27)
On-The-Fly Coaching Introduction
July 7th, 2015This is a highly effective style of floor-coaching, introduced in our Call Center Floor Management program. This video provides specific details about how to employ this unique style of coaching so it generates the best results. (length – 5:42)
Importance Of Floor Coaching
June 30th, 2015This video discusses the need to coach regularly on the center floor and its tremendous benefits. This is a great place to start this video series. (length – 5:14)

subset: commoncrawl


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Nov 15, 2010 2
Broodpudding – or what Belgians do with old bread
Broodpudding – literally bread pudding – is 3-4-5 day old bread broken into bits, covered in milk, brown sugar, raisins and eggs and made into a loaf again. A tasty, moist, sweet loaf. And super easy to make. I couldn't find any recipes in English, so I decided to translate one from broodpudding.be, which seems to be a whole website dedicated to this delicious idea.
Read the rest of this entry »


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Ken Molay, president of Webinar Success, presents tips to help you become a more effective online speaker. Presenting on a webcast or webinar is fundamentally different from speaking in front of an in-room audience. Since you and your audience cannot seeach other, your vocal style and the way you interact with the web conferencing software determines how you are perceived.
You will learn how to prepare a presentation that complements the web environment and how to deliver it with confidence and professionalism. Discover ways to consciously adjust your vocal style in order to build rapport with your audience. Identify common presentation errors that can detract from your message.
As an added benefit, attend this event and receive a free speaker evaluation form that can be used to help identify strengths and weaknesses in your own presentation style.
About Ken Molay:
Ken has a background in software development and marketing, working for companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, Syntelligence, Blaze Software, Brokat, HNC Software, and Fair Isaac. He has acted as development manager, product manager, and product marketing manager.
Ken has been producing and delivering business webinars since 1999. His background in public speaking, radio, stage acting, and training has given him a unique perspective on what it takes to create a compelling and effective presentation.
Ken enjoys world travel and spent a year on his own in Europe. He also spent five years as an international tour guide, leading groups throughout North America, England, and the South Pacific. Currently Ken offers consulting services through his company Webinar Success (http:/www.wsuccess.com).


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Last week I posted some items about Lazarus and in passing mentioned the Lazarus Effect. Coincidentally yesterday I saw an item about it that (to me at least) seems pretty impressive:
Lazarus rising
Will Pavia
The Australian
March 30, 2013
EARLIER this month, a woman with heart disease died in a New York hospital. She showed no signs of life for an hour and 15 minutes after suffering cardiac arrest. At any other hospital she would have been declared dead.
This patient, however, had collapsed at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, a leading centre for research on reviving the clinically dead. After resuscitation failed, doctors chilled her body to slow brain-cell degeneration and applied a sensor to her forehead to measure the saturation of oxygen in her brain (the normal level is 60-80 per cent).
"We've found that if the brain saturation remains less than 30 per cent, people will never come back," says Dr Sam Parnia, the director of resuscitation research. After doctors attached the woman to a machine that oxygenates the blood, "the oxygen levels in her brain shot up to 70 per cent. Her heart restarted. She made a full recovery."
Such revivals are now increasingly common, Parnia says. He has written The Lazarus Effect, detailing how the dead may be reanimated hours after their hearts have stopped and calling on all hospitals to adopt similar techniques. So long as the underlying disease is treatable, death may be but a temporary affliction.
A few weeks earlier The Australian had reprinted an item from The Times that described the same technology:
Lazarus effect of ecmo heart machine
SCIENTISTS have developed technology that can bring people back from the dead up to seven hours after their hearts have stopped - and want it installed routinely in hospitals and even ambulances.
Ecmo machines, which act like heart bypass systems but can be fitted in minutes, are already used widely to save cardiac arrest victims in Japan and South Korea, where they are credited with reviving people long after they have apparently died.
Such machines take blood out of the body, remove the waste CO2 and then pump it back into the body laden with oxygen, effectively replacing the heart. In recent years they have become quicker to fit, small enough to put in ambulances and relatively cheap.


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Don't let 'spongy' brakes impair your daily driving
The traffic ahead is stopped and you put your foot on the brake to slow down. Instead of the firm response you expected, the brake pedal feels spongy and not quite right.
That "spongy" feel could be a sign of air or moisture in your brake lines – and getting them checked out is critical.
Brake lines carry the brake fluid to the brakes. They are the backbone of the hydraulic system that makes the car stop when the pedal is pressed, and any "play" or sloppiness in the pedal is a sign of a problem.
Most vehicles' brake lines are made up of two types – metal tubing for strength and rigidity along the body, and reinforced rubber hoses where they need to flex, such as around the suspension.
"If you feel sponginess in the pedal, it could be because your rubber brake lines are going bad, or there is air in them," said Tim Beachboard, owner of FedHill Brake Line, a Massachusetts-based company that supplies brake lines.
"When metal lines go bad, you won't feel any degradation in the pedal. Suddenly, you just have catastrophic failure, and the vehicle won't stop," he added.
The latter is rare and usually caused by excessive rust on the outside of the lines.
"Moisture develops in the brake lines because brake fluid attracts it," Beachboard said. It slowly seeps through the rubber hoses and into the system.
One sign of moisture in the lines is dark-colored brake fluid.
Anyone concerned that brake fluid might be bad can do a simple visual check.
"Take the lid off the master cylinder for the brake system, and look at the fluid," Beachboard said. "It should look light, like a light beer or a lager. If it's dark, like a Guinness stout, then it's time to replace it."
Replacing the brake fluid in the vehicle's system is something that should be performed every few years to prevent rusting the inside of the metal tubes and decreasing braking ability.
"The weak link in the system is the rubber tube," Beachboard said. "The rubber hoses don't last forever."
The rubber brake lines are often cheap to replace with quality parts from local dealers or parts stores.
Symptoms of a rubber brake line that needs to be replaced include a spongy feel to the brake pedal, rusty brake calipers or rust on the metal fittings at the ends of the rubber hoses.
"If you see any brackets on flex-lines broken, you've got a big problem," he said, adding that without being held in place by the brackets, the flexible hoses can rub other parts of the vehicle and fail.
Beachboard recommends replacing flexible brake lines when rotors and calipers are replaced, as a general rule, and whenever the owner's manual suggests it.
Metal lines can take a lot of abuse, but some wet climates – especially where salted roads and snow are common – will eventually cause rust on the metal lines.
Failure of metal brake lines is rare, but your dealer or mechanic can check them out for you.
"It requires a good visual inspection," Beachboard said. "That's the only preventative maintenance there is."
Beachboard said, "The inspection should be performed by a dealer or mechanic specializing in brake repair." Most brake lines are made of steel, which does rust, though other materials are available.
Some drivers who take their cars on the track or drive them in extreme conditions can take advantage of alloys such as Cunifer, which is used by some manufacturers.
"Cunifer is a blend of copper, nickel and iron that won't rust and remains strong," Beachboard said. Some stainless steel products are available as well, but they are difficult to initially work with and make seal due to the hardness of the metal.
- Metal brake lines should be visually inspected for rust on the outside by a brake specialist or dealer mechanic.
- Flexible rubber brake lines are the weak link in the brake system, but are inexpensive to replace and should be changed whenever calipers and rotors are, or when your vehicle's manual dictates
- Check your owner's manual for brake fluid requirements. Some vehicle experts recommend replacing it every two years
- Brake fluid can go "bad" and turns dark in color. Normal fluid color is light yellow.


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In today's professional working environment, the balance of looking the part and being comfortable can be overwhelming. That's where the expertise and convenience of Custom Clothing curated by you and your Personal Clothier comes in.
With hundreds of cloths to choose from in different patterns and materials in a plethora of styles, you can create a wardrobe to fit your needs for any occasion. Never find yourself unprepared in an ill-fitting suit, shirt, or sport coat again with Custom Clothing for Men by the Tom James Company. And remember, We Come To You!
We offer Men's Clothing collections for every style and budget.
Our custom clothing models are designed by highly-trained pattern makers who understand the relationship between style and fit. Each collection's garments are designed to be worn together. Lapel widths, tie widths and shirt collars are all designed with each other in mind.
Our vast array of fabric is sure to please any taste and budget. And since we own our woolen mills, we can literally respond quickly to the styles of today. While others are contracting their cloth sometimes two years in advance, we are making cloth ourselves.
You have a choice. You can build your wardrobe one suit, one shirt and one tie at a time. Or you can build it more quickly - and more affordably - with our Packages.
When purchasing garments in a Package, not only do you save, but your dress shirts and ties will be perfectly matched to your bepsoke suits - and they will all wear well together.
Tom James offers two styles of packages, each designed for a specific client: Classic Packages offer the full range of bespoke selections from each of our custom collections along with a complimentary gift certificate off your next purchase; Value Packages feature a special seasonal selection of custom suit and custom dress shirt fabrics, all offered at fantastic savings to you.
How long does it take to get custom clothing made?
Because each garment is made to your measurement and pattern, it usually take 6-8 weeks from the time you place your order until your garment is delivered to you by your clothier.
Where do I get measured?
Convenience is one of the biggest advantages that we offer. Your clothier can meet you at your home or office to measure you and pick out your cloth. If you would rather meet at one of our offices, that's not a problem either. We've even been known to measure people in a local coffee shop. We don't care! We just want to offer the most convienient option for you.
What if my clothes don't fit?
During your first fitting, it is normal to need to make some minor adjustments to your garment and pattern. Your clothier will chalk and note the needed alterations and will return your clothing after those alterations have been made.
We provide custom suit models that are designed by skilled, creative pattern makers who are experts at matching style with fit. We offer hundreds of bespoke details to make your custom suit unique. From various lapel styles to exquisite pocket detailing to contrasting stitching, we spare no resource, cost or effort to provide you with details that meet the quality standards you've come to expect from Tom James Company.
Creating a custom dress shirt is an opportunity to express your sense of individual style. We offer only the best in fabrics and details to ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Choose from 16 different monogram styles or contrasting fabrics and stitching that create your one-of-a-kind, bespoke shirt... the perfect complement to your custom business suit.
Learn more about our product & services from a world-class clothier and see if a professional wardrobe service fits your lifestyle.
If we're a good fit, our clothier will meet with you in your home or office at your conveinience.
We use your zip code to align you with the nearest Tom James Clothier. We use your email and phone number to contact you and schedule your wardrobe consultation. See our Privacy Policy for details.
"Barbara has been working with me for the past few years and I have found her to be very professional and knowledgeable. She has done a great job in understanding me and recommending clothing that suits not just my style but also my budget."
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"I wear a lot of suits and every purchase I've made from Tom James seams to stand out among the rest!"
Evan HarnikEvan Harnik- Financial Advisor
If you are wondering if our service is a good fit, our clothiers would be happy to talk with you and evaluate your current and future wardrobe needs.We serve busy, successful professionals by meeting them in their homes or offices, on the go, or wherever is convenient.


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Just as I was laying down for my nap my sister called with great news. Her favorite swimsuit shop was having an incredible sale and I needed to get up there asap. Because I know I will be living in a swimsuit all summer and my previous swimsuits are not going to fit, it was meant to be that I go check it out.
The black thing in the picture is a swimsuit top and the other two things are skirts with built in bottoms. All three things for $12 and they will all fit perfectly for when I look like I ate a soccer ball. They were 90% off…okay, that is a lie, I have no idea how to figure out calculations like that but either way it was a good deal. How did my hair manage to get in that photo?
Too bad I spent more on gas money because of all the traffic.
I had just enough time to make my favorite dinner. In case you were wondering yes, I did eat them all together. Ever heard of a wheat thins sandwich?
I had important places to go
and things to eat.
A bridal shower (if you couldn't tell by the wedding cake sugar cookies) for a bf that I have known since I was 16.
Speaking of soccer….how far do you think the average professional soccer player runs during a game? (I will tell you the answer in the next post:)
What is your workout today?
-I have no idea…I am having a tough time deciding, so many good options!
Do you have to deal with traffic often?
Where is your favorite place to buy swimsuits?


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In my previous post I was discussing whether Facebook Pages will replace official websites and it is largely matter of an opinion. But let's face it: right now Facebook Pages are "in". So, why not make most of it?
Facebook's newsfeed, invitations, and messages are an useful channel to reach your existing fans and their friends, yet it is possible to even SEO optimise your Facebook Page to reach Facebook's entire database and search engines. Probably because of the questionable ranking of Facebook Pages in search engines, the platform itself has recently concentrated on offering new opportunities for Page owners to improve their Pages SEO – while creating benefit for Facebook as well of course.
How to SEO optimise your Facebook Page?
To start with, select carefully the keywords you want to implement since all your strategy will be based on those. Read how to select the right keywords here.
1. Use business's real name as your Facebook Page name – and do not change it
Using too many generic keywords as your Facebook Page name can actually harm your Page's virality rate inside Facebook. If the title seems too long and suspiciously "spammy", fans are likely to hide your updates from the newsfeed and not share it with their friends – and if they do, friends are not very likely to "like" you. Picking completely generic page name like "Car" or "Australia" is not a good idea either, because Facebook has lately been disabling updates for generically named Pages.
That is why it is recommended to chose company's/brand's real name as the name of the Facebook Page. It should however not be changed, because Facebook uses the Page name in the title, and since search engines ding pages when titles change, changing it can give you a lower ranking.
2. Select optimised, long term URL for your Facebook Page
Facebook offers a possibility to pick a specific URL for your Facebook Page, meaning your Page's URL becomes www.facebook.com/YourUsernameHere. Once you pick a Facebook URL for your Page, it cannot be changed – so think a proper, long term name. URLs can be selected at www.facebook.com/username.
It is an opportunity to use more generic keywords than the Page name itself or combine the Page name with additional generic keywords, yet there is a black list of generic usernames that Facebook Pages (and users) are prevented from registering. The platform has taken privileges from Pages with generic titles in the past, so it is possible that it might punish too generic sites by for example removing their status publishing rights.
Please note: Your Page has to have at least 100 fans before it can select a username.
3. Use keywords in the "About" text box below your profile picture
The "About" text box is the highest place in the CSS structure of the page to add custom text, because of the limitations of the default Wall tab. To add keywords in your Page's "About" box, click the "Write something about [YourPage]" in the box below your Page's profile picture (max. 250 characters).
4. Implement keywords and important links into "Info" tab
Facebook "Info" tab is a possibility to add descriptive metadata about the Page. Completing these fields increases the content score in many types of searches.
For example:
- Local searches: Address, City, State, and Post code.
- Product searches: Company Overview, Mission, and Products.
Also, direct links to your own websites or other social media sites increase their traffic and search engine ranking.
5. Create additional "Static FBML" boxes and tabs to include more keyword-dense content on your Page
Adding static text on the default tab of the Facebook Page is quite limited, but there is an app to create additional boxes or tabs that can have any kind of static content such as text, images, and links to increase your ranking. FBML is a subset of HTML and means "Facebook Markup Language".
How to create a "Static FBML"?
- Go to the "Static FBML" application on Facebook.
- Click "Add to my Page", and pick the page you want to add additional box or tab to.
- Once done, close the dialog box, go to your Page, and click "Edit page" under your Page's profile picture.
- Click the pencil icon on the right in the application called "FBML 1″, and choose "Edit."
- Enter the title you want to call the box or tab in the "Box Title" field (max. 10 characters) and enter the HTML you'd like to use in the "FBML" field. Then click the Save Changes button.
- Once saved, click the "Edit" link at the top of your Page to return to your Page's application settings. Click the pencil icon next to the name of the FBML application, and choose "Application Settings."
- To add the FBML as a box, select "Add" next to the Box option and the FBML box will automatically appear on the Boxes tab. If you want to move it to the left side of your Wall tab, go to the Boxes tab, click the pencil icon on your FBML box, and choose "Move to Wall tab."
- To add the FBML as a tab, choose "Add" next to the Tab option. The custom content will by default appear on its own tab on your Page.
Remember however that search engines classify each tab as a separate URL.
6. Post direct links to your website in your Wall
Google favours the pages that link to relevant sites and does not like pages linking to unrelated sites or adding too many links suddenly. Placing links to your status updates gets them closer to the top of your Page's CSS structure giving you better results.
There are two ways to post links into your Page's stream:
- Including the direct URL in the status update – anchor text cannot be controlled, but SEO results are better.
- Using the "attach link" feature in the Facebook wall – anchor text can be changed by clicking the page's title before clicking "Share" in the Facebook publisher, increasing keyword density.
7. Add events with keyword-dense descriptions, photos with captions…and a discussion forum if possible
Use all available descriptive fields on all the shared content. When posting photos, implement keywords into descriptions. When posting events, use keywords in the event description field. Adding a discussion forum to your Page and posting interesting content your fans can comment, can increase your ranking considerably.
8. Increase amount of inbound links to your Facebook Page by posting links to your Page on your website
Inbound links from authoritative websites to your Facebook Page can improve its search engine ranking. It can be done with text links, a "Find Us On Facebook" badge or a Fan Box widget for Facebook Pages .
9. Increase intra-Facebook inbound links by getting more fans
The default version of users profile pages include links to the Pages they are fan of. These pages are visible for search engines, which means that more fans you have, more inbound links you get.
10. Encourage fans to comment and like your content
Every time fans comment or like content in your Facebook Page, their name is linked back to their Facebook profile page. When your Page is indexed, search engines see more two-sided links between your Page and your fans, which is then interpreted as stronger bond increasing your link weight.
These little Facebook SEO tricks can help you to reach beyond the people your fans are connected to and show your Facebook Page to Facebook's entire database. They also can increase your exposure through the search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Msn. However, it is good to remember that these tips were created by Facebook to also promote their own platform and increase their platform ranking in search engines. Do not forget to SEO optimise your own site and include various links in Facebook Page directing users to your own official site. Otherwise Facebook can indeed absorb your official website traffic.


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New-season detailing and fabric innovation is rife throughout the Puma shoes & sneakers collection at OFFICE. With designs available for men, women and kids, you'll find everything from stacked creepers to furry sliders and heels. If you're after a bargain, why not pick up discounted deals in our Puma trainers sale ?
Puma trainers and sneakers are an integral part of the Puma brand; founded by Rudolf Dassler (brother of adidas founder Adi Dassler) and comfortably sitting as the third-largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. Arguably best known for its football boots, the company has sponsored a number of football legends including Pelé, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, and Diego Maradona.
In recent years though, Puma has had a massive revival, with the arrival of new shapes, colours and detailing. The classic Puma suede trainer continues to be popular, while the more recent collaborations with Rihanna have led to the Puma Fenty, Creepers and Fierce releases.
Shop the complete collection at OFFICE for distinctive and quirky designs in leather and suede, as well as a range of cutting-edge silhouettes and new-season colours. Right here, we're sure you'll find the perfect pair for you, so step into some trainers that will help you to stand out from the crowd! Make sure to come back for new releases too - they will be added as and when they drop!


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Queen Victoria by Dalton after F Winterhalter from The Girlhood of Queen Victoria (1912) |
With the death of Princess Charlotte, George IV's daughter, in 1817, the prospects for the monarchy were bleak. Although 12 of George III's 15 children were still living, not a single one of them had a legitimate child. The Duke of Sussex's marriage had been declared illegal whilst the Duke of York's was childless. The Duke of Cumberland had married in 1815, but was yet to produce a child. The race was on to provide an heir to the throne.
In 1818, the Dukes of Clarence, Kent and Cambridge all got married. The Duke of Clarence's marriage sadly produced no surviving children, but the Dukes of Cumberland and Cambridge both had sons in 1819 whom they named George. But any child of the Duke of Kent would stand before them in the line for the throne. On 24 May 1819, a daughter was born to the Duke of Kent and his wife, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
Edward, Duke of Kent from A Biographical Memoir of Frederick, Duke of York and Albany by John Watkins (1827) |
As a matter of form, the Duke and Duchess of Kent proposed various names to the Regent for him to approve: Victoire or Victoria after her mother, Georgiana after the Regent, Alexandrina after the Tsar and Charlotte and Augusta, after her aunts, or possibly after her grandmother and great grandmother.
The Regent chooses to be difficult
George chose to be awkward. He announced that he did not like to put his own name before the Tsar's, but neither did he wish his name to appear after it. He would not contemplate the baby being given the name of his poor dead daughter and declared that Augusta was "too majestic".
George, Prince Regent, from Memoirs of her late royal highness Charlotte Augusta by Robert Huish (1818) |
The Regent insisted that the christening should be a strictly private affair to be held in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace on 24 June 1819 at 3pm. The baby's godparents were the Prince Regent, Tsar Alexander, the Dowager Duchess of Coburg (the baby's grandmother) and the Princess Royal, widow of the King of Württemberg. However, only the Prince Regent was at the christening - the others were represented by the Duke of York, Princess Augusta and Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester. The only other guests were the Duke of Gloucester, the Duchess of York and Prince Leopold, Princess Charlotte's bereaved husband.
When the christening service began, nobody knew what names the baby was to be given. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, with the baby in his arms, sought enlightenment from the parents and then the Regent. At length, the Regent declared that the baby was to be called Alexandrina. The Duke of Kent proposed Elizabeth, but the Regent dismissed that suggestion and reluctantly agreed to the baby being given her mother's name, though he insisted that it had to follow the name of Tsar. So the baby was named Alexandrina Victoria and as a small girl, she was often called Drina.
"The English like Queens"
The Dowager Duchess of Coburg, the Duchess of Kent's mother, wrote to her daughter that she hoped she was happy with a girl. "The English like Queens," she wrote. The Duke of Kent was delighted, referring to his daughter as his "pocket Hercules". He proudly showed her off, urging people to "look at her well, for she will be Queen of England." And he was right.
Sources used include:
Hibbert, Christopher, George IV (1972, Longmans, 1973, Allen Lane, London)
Hibbert, Christopher, Queen Victoria (HarperCollins, 2000, London)
Victoria, Queen, The Girlhood of Queen Victoria, A Selection from Her Majesty's Diaries between the years 1832 and 1840, edited Viscount Esher 2 Volumes (1912)


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Smartphones wallets going mainstream
Using smartphones or tablets as digital "wallets" will be common within a decade, largely replacing cash and credit cards, according to a Pew Research survey released on Tuesday.
Sixty-five percent of "technology stakeholders and critics" who responded to an opt-in poll by Pew Research and Elon University Imagining the Internet Center agreed that handheld gadgets would be a mainstream way to pay by the year 2020.
"The 2020 date might be a bit optimistic, but I'm sure that this will happen," Google chief economist Hal Varian was quoted as saying in a survey response.
"What is in your wallet now? Identification, payment, and personal items," he continued. "All this will easily fit in your mobile device and will inevitably do so."
Google last year launched a "Wallet" service that lets sophisticated Android-powered mobile phones be used to "tap and pay" for purchases at shops.
Many of the 1,021 people surveyed said that security and convenience would be among the factors prompting people to shift to using smartphones or tablets as de facto credit cards or cash.
Some who were optimistic about the future of smartphone wallets expected the trend to be slowed by privacy fears, lack of infrastructure, and resistance by credit card companies and other entities profiting on the current system.
"The driver here will virtually 100 percent be whether or not the credit card industry decides it can make more money through changing technologies," the survey quoted Microsoft principal researcher Jonathan Grudin as saying.
Almost none of the people surveyed expected cash or credit cards to disappear completely, according to Pew.
"Due to concerns about the technology, resistance by incumbent providers and the generally slow nature of societal change, there is a fairly consistent feeling among these experts that mobile payments will exist on a spectrum along with a number of other financial options," study co-author Aaron Smith of Pew Research.
"Indeed, some expect these services to most quickly reach widespread adoption in the developing world, due to its lack of an incumbent banking sector and ingrained consumer habits."


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Success stories
Fire destroyed the Kekkilä Oy peat processing factory in Eurajoki, Finland, but with Premier Tech's help, finished products were moving along the conveyors of a brand-new factory less than one year later.
Learn MoreSt. Lawrence Cement (now a part of CRH Canada Group Inc.), was experiencing problems with the palletizer it was using for cement-filled bags at its Catskill plant. The palletizer was not reliable and the company encountered excessive maintenance issues, downtime and related problems. In addition, the palletizer frequently mishandled the bags and pallets, causing customer complaints about ripped bags and damaged pallets.
Learn MoreWhen Oldcastle Stone Products decided to purchase its first automatic bag palletizer in 1999, its choice of supplier was influenced by one main criterion. The equipment had to be sufficiently robust to quickly and efficiently palletize bags of decorative stones weighing as much as 50 lb, taking into account that if a bag broke, particles up to two inches in diameter might fall onto the conveyors.
Learn MoreWhen your company has a need to increase production efficiency in order to meet customers' demands and expectations, automation is the solution. Blaschak Coal Corporation, Mahanoy City, PA, is an anthracite (hard coal) mining and preparation facility that ships anthracite worldwide for both residential and commercial uses. Anthracite is one of the cleanest solid fossil fuels and carbon sources known to man. Born in 1937, the corporation is currently operated by the second generation of Blaschaks.
Learn MoreEvonik-Degussa, headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, operates a plant in Waterford, NY, that produces and packages hydrophilic (water-absorbent) and hydrophobic (water-repellent) silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silicon dioxide, which is used as a filler in products such as paints, coatings, adhesives, and silicone caulk, is produced in bulk and shipped to end users in containers ranging from 10-pound bags to rail cars.
Learn MoreWyoming Sugar Company, LLC wanted to automate its packaging line by replacing its manual valve packing operations with exactly the same kind of technology, but with added capacity. At the time, three packers were needed to produce 12 BPM (bags per minute) while still having to place bags manually onto each spout.
Learn MoreSatisfying distributors and end users When you are in the concrete industry and your products are intended for the retail market, it is not easy to meet the expectations of distributors and end users. Why? Simply because bags are covered by concrete dust: inevitably, the wholesaler's displays and the customers' car trunks become dusty. In response to its customers' demands, Forwell Materials Inc./Quikrete of Ontario, a leading North American producer of concrete mixes, was looking for a way to provide its products in cleaner, stronger and nicer-looking plastic bags with gussetted bottoms.
Learn MoreBarefoot Pellet Company is a manufacturer of quality wood pellets located in Troy, Pennsylvania. Our company first started operating in spring 2006. The first line we had was a single-stage packing line. At the end of 2007, we expanded our production by purchasing a second pellet mill.
Learn MoreA corn mill automates its bagging and palletizing line to improve production rates and decrease labor costs. Agricor Inc., Marion, IN, has been producing dry milled corn products since 1983. The company buys yellow corn from local farmers and grain elevators and mills it into degerminated corn grits, cornmeal, and corn flour.
Learn MoreWood fuel pellets, animal bedding and industrial-grade wood flour send a loud, clear message about the ongoing exchange of goods and services: commerce may ebb, but there is always flow. American Wood Fibers (AWF), headquartered in Columbia, MD, is completing the installation of equipment at a new plant in Marion, VA. Unlike its eight sister facilities, the Marion plant will manufacture AWF's three product lines.
Learn MoreNrGaïa SAS, based in Saint-Etienne-lès-Remiremont, France, processes paper into eco-friendly cellulose-based thermal insulation. Demand for this insulation is growing: "New regulations related to energy savings are pushing the market up significantly," reports company president M. Olivier Legrand. "The global European insulation market represents 7 200 M€. It is growing at a pace of 6 percent each year." That's the good news.
Learn MoreFounded in 1980, and formerly known as Colispro, Nationex has become an important player in the Canadian courier industry. Located in Montréal, Canada, Nationex's head office is also the main parcel sorting facility. Other facilities are located elsewhere in Québec and Ontario, allowing us to deliver parcels throughout Canada. Today, we have over 400 employees working in our different branches. As a courier company, we collect the parcels from the client and transport them to the warehouse, where they are sorted by delivery zone and loaded into our trucks to be delivered.
Learn MoreThe Premier Tech PTH-920 open-mouth bagging line at the Ceresco facility in Saint-Urbain-Premier has enabled the soybean distributor to vastly improve its production line efficiencies. Positioned inside the PTH-920 bagging workcell, a FANUC Robotics LR Mate 250iC robot waits its turn to move a filled soybean bag from the filler onto a conveyor line for sealing.
Learn MoreA milling company increases their production rate 85% and reduces labor by installing flexible screw conveyors, net-weigh scales and dual-spout open-mouth baggers. Massachusetts-based Bay State Milling Company had an enviable problem: its Clifton, New Jersey, plant couldn't satisfy customer demand for flour. "We needed to keep up with demands from new customers," explains Plant Manager Mike Walsh. "We needed a packer that was high speed, with quick changeover capabilities, and was versatile enough to pack 100-, 50- and 25-pound-bags on the same machine."
Learn MoreThe Russian Peat Group owns several plants in central Russia (Ivanovo, Vologda and Yaroslavl regions) and specializes in peat extraction and processing. Russian Peat manufactures a wide range of growing media products for commercial growers and hobby gardeners. We also produce peat for heat-electric power stations. In season, we employ more than 700 skilled workers and stock approximately 40 million tons of peat in our Ivanovo depot, 100 million tons in the Vologda region, and 80 million tons in Yaroslavl.
Learn MoreIn 2000, Norwegian company Degernes Torvstrøfabrikk bought an automated EM-600R1 baler from Premier Tech's Industrial Equipment Group (IEG). It was the beginning of a long and friendly partnership.
Learn MoreSIA Unguri is a Latvian peat moss and peat block producer that is managing a total area of about 1000 ha of peatlands. Back in 2004, we purchased a Two-Head Vacuum Harvester from Premier Tech's Industrial Equipment Group (IEG) to replace the older European models that we owned. Over the next two years, we also bought a few other Vacuum Harvesters as our production was growing. We kept on buying several units because we were very satisfied with the equipment's performance.
Learn MoreIt was back in 1998 that Gardenscape, a large North American producer of soils, mulch, salt and stone, called Premier Tech's Industrial Equipment Group (IEG), a supplier of bagging and palletizing systems, to investigate a potential alliance. At that time, Gardenscape was using a competitor's horizontal Form, Fill and Seal (FFS) bagger and was not 100% satisfied with the machine's performance and reliability, and neither was it with the after-sales service provided.
Learn MoreVan Schaik's Bio Gro was founded in 1966, originally providing organic soils and landscape bark within the local region. In the 1990s, we moved into the production of potting mixes and other horticultural products, and commenced packaging these lines in 1995. We now employ over 80 workers in three key locations to service South-Eastern Australia.
Learn MoreIndustries Ling Inc. is a company which specializes in the manufacture and printing of cartons for the food, beverage and feminine hygiene industries. This Québec company, situated in Warwick, went into business 50 years ago. It was taken over by RockTenn 30 years later, and the plant now employs 440 people.
Learn MoreNovus International Inc., headquartered in St. Charles, Mo., is a global supplier of animal feed ingredients and other products for poultry, cattle, pigs, horses, pets, and other animals. The company's Novus Arkansas LLC facility in Little Rock, Ark., produces and exports proprietary animal feed ingredients to more than 70 countries around the world. In 2009, the company expanded the Little Rock facility to boost production to meet increasing customer demand. To ensure that the various products were properly packaged, palletized, and secured for transport, the company needed to find a fast, reliable, and accurate automated bagging and palletizing system
Learn More


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From The Inside Photo Effect
This task we'll learn how to change the picture's color, work with the layers, make an original make-up, create the effect of objects' perspectives and volume, imitate the glow-worms and blood drops and also how to work with the filters.
Take a girl's photo, having a cosmetic mask on her face.
Mark out the mask along its contour with Polygonal Lasso Tool.
Cut it out, applying Edit ? Cut (ctrl+x) and place it on a new layer: Edit ? Paste (ctrl+v). Separate the same way the remaining face's portions with the mask. Place this layer lower than the mask's layer. Apply also Filter ? Blur ? Smart Blur.
Make the mask's layer look darker, using the next command Image ? Adjustments ? Brightness/Contrast.
Applying the next option Image ? Adjustments ? Selective Color, it's possible to correct a little the face's layer colors.
Take the Brush Tool next and set out the brush's Hardness on 0%. Pass to the eyes' make-up now.
Blur a little the painted parts with the Smudge Tool.
Paint the same way the lips, applying Filter ? Filter Gallery ? Plastic Wrap.
Copy now the mask's layer, applying to it Filter ? Blur ? Gaussian Blur.
Place this layer under the basic mask's layer, just clicking on it and moving on the necessary place. This way we create the effect of mask's natural positioning on the face.
Merge next step the mask's layer with the face's one, applying Layer ? Merge Down (ctrl+e). Turn around the layer that we've got with Edit ? Transform ? Flip Horizontal.
Distort the form, creating an effect of perspective using the next selection Edit ? Transform. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Choose again the Brush Tool and on a new layer, above the mask, picture several stripes. Group this layer preliminary with that layer where the mask is situated: Layer ? Create Clipping Mask (ctrl+g).
Apply then Filter ? Blur ? Gaussian Blur and change the layer's type on Multiply.
Take the same instrument to draw the eyelashes, but choose a brush of small size this time.
Take the Sponge Tool to make lighter a portion of the indicated eye.
To represent the background, it's necessary to take a photo picturing tile or asphalt.
Place it on the lowest layer, but first open the picture on a new layer, cut it out and get back to the file with the processed picture. Place it then on the new layer.
Further insert the picture of draped textile on a new layer, above the background.
Cut the background on which the textile was situated and erase it, Apply to this layer Filter ? Filter Gallery ? Dry Brush.
To represent the textile's shadow, just copy the layer and blur it out: Filter ? Blur ? Gaussian Blur. Place the blurred layer under the textile's one.
Dark out the upper corners, using Gradient Tool.
Insert the book's picture on a higher layer.
Mark out and erase all unnecessary parts, turn it a little, applying Edit ? Free Transform (ctrl+t) and apply Filter ? Filter Gallery ? Film Grain.
Place the mask above the book. Using Smudge Tool instrument, imitate the chin's touch with the letters.
On a layer lower, picture the mask's shadow with the next tool (Brush Tool) and blur it out.
Minimize the Opacity of the indicated layer.
Insert on a new layer the butterfly's picture.
Mark it out and erase everything unnecessary. Turn around the picture, using Edit ? Free Transform (ctrl+t) and change the color: Image ? Adjustments ? Hue/Saturation (ctrl+u).
Apply to this layer Filter ? Blur ? Smart Blur. Distort now the butterfly, applying the next selection: Edit ? Transform ? Distort.
Add the shadow now the same way we did with the mask. Next step includes copying this layer several times and placing them on the book's pages on different angles.
Merge now the copied layers: Layer ? Merge Down (ctrl+e) and change the new layer's type on Luminosity. Minimize the Opacity till 40%.
On a new layer, above the background, insert a small part of the picture showing some blood drops.
Change the layer's type on Multiply.
Mark out a small part of the drops' layer and copy it: Edit ? Copy (ctrl+c). Place it above the book. Turn them a little (Edit ? Free Transform) and change the layer's type on Darken.
Place now the background's layer copy above all the layers, using Layer ? Duplicate Layer. Apply to this layer the already known filter (Filter ? Filter Gallery ? Dry Brush).
Change the layer's type on Multiply and minimize the opacity till 18 %. The last feature includes the glow- worms. To picture them, it's necessary to choose the Ellipse Tool and draw several circles of yellow color and then inside the yellows – the white ones, but of smaller size.
Select also for blurring Filter ? Blur ? Gaussian Blur.
That's it!
Made by Sigma


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Brea continually seeks sources of outside funding to support our capital projects and programs offered to the community. The city submits requests for federal appropriations to our federal legislators each year and applies for state and federal grant opportunities. In addition, the city actively pursues available dollars from the state infrastructure bond measures and federal stimulus package.
The City of Brea recognizes the need for active legislative engagement at the local, state, and federal levels to protect and enhance the interests of Brea's residents and businesses. City officials maintain close relationships with Brea's state and federal representatives. The City Council adopts an annual legislative platform, which serves as the foundation for the city's advocacy strategy. The city actively monitors state and federal legislation and takes appropriate action, when required, to protect the city's interests and local legislative authority.
Legislative Resources
Brea has many resources available to support its Legislative Program. The League of California Cities provides access to valuable information through its Grassroots Program and local staff so our elected officials and staff can keep abreast of major legislation and issues at the state level. Brea actively participates in the Orange County Legislative Network coordinated by the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities. Brea also retains the services of Townsend Public Affairs to provide critical information on state and federal legislation and issues that affect the city.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact 714-990-7711.


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Driven Wave Machine Model Documents
This material has 2 associated documents. Select a document title to view a document's information.
Main Document
Driven Wave Machine Model
written by
Wolfgang Christian
The Driven Wave Machine model simulates a wave machine driven by a sinusoidal oscillator. The machine consists of horizontal bars welded to a torsion rod that is perpendicular to the bars. The simulation allows the user to change the number of bars, the drive frequency, and the boundary conditions. The simulation also allows the user to change the lengths of the bars, thereby simulating the effect of a wave propagating in a non-uniform medium.
The Driven Wave Machine model is a supplemental simulation for the article "Standing Waves in a Nonuniform Medium" by Paul Gluck in The Physics Teacher 49(2), 76-77 (2011) and has been approved by the authors and The Physics Teacher editor. The Driven Wave Machine model was created using the Easy Java Simulations (EJS) modeling tool. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the ejs_mech_osc_chains_DrivenWaveMachine.jar file will run the program if Java is installed.
- Download ejs_mech_WaveMachineDriven.jar - 1881kb Java Archive File
Last Modified June 3, 2014
This file has previous versions.
Source Code Documents
Driven Wave Machine Source Code
The source code zip archive contains an XML representation of the Driven Wave Machine model. Unzip this archive in your EJS workspace to compile and run this model using EJS.
- Download ejs_mech_osc_chains_WaveMachineDriven.zip - 38kb Compressed File
Last Modified June 3, 2014
This file has previous versions.


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Parents like to claim that videogames are destroying our nation's youth, but that doesn't stop them using the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 as surrogate babysitters so they can continue having unprotected sex and squirting out more little toads that they won't look after properly.
With this in mind, it's clear that videogames and the characters within have a moral and social responsibility to our future generations. Basically, they all need to be qualified to look after our kids, and they're going to have to shape up pretty sharpish in order to meet our high childcare standards.
We've taken a look at some of the least suitable videogame characters, and what they need to do in order to make fit babysitters. Read on to make sure which of these social misfits you won't want near your firstborn.
They say that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but let's be honest—if the book's cover says "creepy little midget in tight spandex will probably lick your eyes while you're asleep", then chances are good that you're dealing with a creepy little midget in tight spandex who will probably lick your eyes while you're asleep.
Tingle is obviously some kind of irreverent sex pest and should not be allowed near children, the elderly, animals and those recovering from invasive surgery. Some people just look like sex pests, and while it may be cruel to mistrust a man based only on his stature and dress sense, you can't take a risk when it comes to your kids. If you asked to look in the trunk of Tingle's car before leaving him alone with your child, nobody would be shocked if you found beer, a length of rope and a plastic bag full of condoms.
You need patience, compassion and a whole lot of heart when it comes to looking after children, and there's something about Kratos that tells us he might not be quite cut out for the gig. It might be the lack of clothing, the chained blades fused to his arms, or his tendency to shout all the time. It could also be the fact that he's a mass-murdering psychopath who cuts open any unfortunate soul who so much as looks at him funny… including his own wife and daughter.
Kids are amazingly annoying entities, able to push the limits of even the firmest temper. We have a feeling that if we let our screaming, demanding, irritating little offspring within fifteen yards of Kratos, who doesn't even take crap from Olympian Gods, it would be a matter of seconds before we were trying to peel Junior's face from the ceiling.


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Forget everything you thought you knew about "cruise food." Dynamic Dining—the new culinary experience aboard Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas—offers a lineup as vast and exceptional as dining in a cosmopolitan city. Among 18 restaurants, guests will find greater flexibility with no set dining times, no assigned seating, and a relaxed dress code.
There's the chance to experiment, with restaurants like the whimsical Wonderland, a foray into molecular gastronomy. Plus, there's a new concept for cruising's traditional main dining room—now five distinctive main restaurants, each with its own style and cuisine, from pan Asian, to upscale French favorites, to American comfort classics. Three star chefs—Jamie Oliver, Michael Schwartz, and Devin Alexander—are also coming aboard with delicious restaurant concepts. In the video above, get a sneak peek at Dynamic Dining on Quantum of the Seas. And head this way to start planning your next adventure. >>


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First Coast Live Scan
Level 2 LiveScan Fingerprinting services offered in Jacksonville Fl.
First Coast LIVE SCAN Jacksonville FL is a registered vendor approved by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). We provide Level 2 pre-employment fingerprinting for all industries. We provide services in our office located at 3728 Philips Highway Ste 13, Jacksonville, Fl 32207 or, if it is convenient for you, we can come to your location
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of Florida, the most populous city in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968. Consolidation gave Jacksonville its great size and placed most of its metropolitan population within the city limits. As of 2020, Jacksonville's population is 949,611, making it the 12th most populous city in the U.S., the most populous city in the Southeast, and the most populous city in the South outside of the state of Texas. With a population of 1,733,937, the Jacksonville metropolitan area ranks as Florida's fourth-largest metropolitan region.Jacksonville straddles the St.
45th & Moncrief, Alderman Park, Allendale, Arlington, Arlington Hills, Avondale, Beach Haven, Beacon Hills & Harbour, Beauclerc, Brierwood, Brooklyn, Cedar Hills, Charter Point, Clifton, College Gardens


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- Home
- Departments
- Human Resources
- Employee Benefits
- Financial
- Virginia Retirement System
Virginia Retirement System
The Virginia Retirement System is a defined benefit plan that covers all full-time employees. Defined benefit plans promise employees a lifetime monthly benefit payable at retirement. The amount of the retirement benefit is based on a specific formula that uses final average compensation, age, and years of service. Employees must meet all other eligibility requirements. For more information, refer to the VRS website and the Employment Policies and Procedures Manual (PDF).
Employer Code: 55210
Employees holding full-time positions are automatically enrolled in VRS.
VRS Effective Date
Date of Hire | When Your VRS Service Effective |
On or before the first business day (see note) of the month | 1st of the month you were hired |
After the first business day (see note) of the month | 1st of the following month you were hired |
Please note: Saturdays, Sundays, and banking holidays are not business days.
The City pays 20.96% of base pay and employees pay 5% towards VRS benefits.
Estimate of VRS Benefit
Log in to MyVRS to create estimates of your retirement benefit using different retirement dates, years of service, and retirement payout options.
Beneficiary Information
Employees should complete a Designation of Beneficiary Form only if they want benefits to be paid differently than the following order or precedence.
- Spouse
- Children and descendants of deceased children
- Parents
- Appointed Executor or Estate Administrator
- Other next of kin
For additional information, review Plan 1 or Plan 2.
Buying Back Service
If you previously worked in a VRS-covered position and received a cash-out, or you were in the military, you may want to buy back your service. It's less costly if you apply within the first 3 years of rehire (VRS membership date). The cost is 5% of your earnings at the time of your Application for the Purchase of Prior Service Credit (PDF) (or 5% of the average of your highest 3 consecutive years of earnings, if higher than your current earnings). The cost to buy back service is much higher after 3 years.
Other next of kin
Age 50, 10 Years of Service
You can retire and receive full or unreduced benefits as early as:
- Age 65, 5 Years of Service
- Age 50, 30 Years of Service
Leaving the City but not old enough for retirement?
View your options.
Questions? You may call 888-827-3847.