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California trip, Part 1
Ironically enough, it was while we were actually WATCHING Wheel of Fortune that I got "the call". I almost didn't answer it, because it was an unknown area code and usually those end up being spam or wrong numbers. But for some reason, I answered it and it was Gary from Wheel of Fortune. I had gotten my letter in the mail a few months prior, but all the letter says is that you will be a contestant some time in the next 18 months. The call came on a Wednesday night, and in a continued show of poor timing (just like when the WoF audition was scheduled on the same day we were leaving for vacation), the call came the night as I was trying to leave for my Great Lakes trip.
Since I had been planning on staying with my aunt and uncle, the only really pressing need was booking my plane tickets. I was actually pleasantly surprised given that I only had about 2 weeks notice before the tape date – I was able to get a non-stop round-trip ticket to LAX, flying out of Cincinnati for only $330. This is a really good deal as normally those tickets are over $500. I guess it must have been close enough to the actual dates of the trip that they were discounting the tickets to try and get them sold. I also had to talk it over with Carolyn and we decided that there really was no way that she or any of the family could come along. With the baby being so young, it just wouldn't work out. Had she been a little older, or had she not been born yet, we probably would have tried to figure out a way to have somebody watch the other kids so she could have come, but alas, it was just not in the cards.
After I got back from the Great Lakes, I continued my planning. Firmed up the car rental, the lodging with my aunt and uncle, got my county route planning, as well as some touristy things to do while I was in California. In talking with my sister Kerry, who lives in Sacramento, she decided that she would be able to make it down to watch. And in addition to my aunt, my friend PJ was off work on my taping day, so I'd have 3 folks in the audience.
I flew out on Thursday August 23rd. I had arranged with a local hotel to park there and take the shuttle over to the airport. I always get nervous about how long getting through security and such at the airport might take, so I like to have buffer time. My flight left CVG at 9:24, and so I was trying to make the 7:30 hotel shuttle (they run every 30 minutes), but apparently I just missed it, so I had to wait around till 8. It ended up not being an issue at all – I got to the gate in plenty of time. I even was able to talk to the gate agent and swap my middle seat over to a window seat (bonus!).
Flight was uneventful and it always seems weird with the time difference – it was a 4 hour flight, but I left at 9:24 and arrived at 10:55. I went through the airport and got on the shuttle over to Avis. Kerry's flight was arriving about an hour after mine, so I figured that I could have the car rental all secured, so that when she got in, that we could just leave. The shuttle had 2 stops in Avis – the first one was for "Avis Preferred" customers. I was not quite sure what that meant so I didn't get off there and instead just went on to the "normal" counter. As it turned out, I was a "Preferred" customer, which apparently consists solely of signing up for free on their website. Then I got the standard car rental line "Oh we're out of what you reserved so were going to 'upgrade' you". I can not tell you how much this annoys me. I had reserved a compact car due to the good gas mileage, since I was going to be doing a fair amount of driving. Ooh but of course they did not have one of those so I got a "QUADRUPLE UPGRADE!" to a full-size car.
Then the guy at the counter suggested that I could go back to the "preferred" section and apparently one of the features that they have is that if you don't like the car you got, you can just pick another one from a section of cars. You can also pay a bit more per day to upgrade to a car. While I was slightly tempted by the Ford Mustang, I did not go for that . I ended up with a Ford Fusion and then I just had to wait for Kerry to arrive. Apparently there were some problems with the shuttle – she was saying that she was waiting out front of the airport but no shuttles arrived. Meanwhile I was sitting in the car, just waiting and waiting…. Eventually she arrived and we were off!
The first order of business was a stop to Randy's Donuts, an iconic LA eatery. We went to the walk-up window and each ordered 2 donuts.
Then the next stop was over to Hollywood. Traffic on the 405 was slow even though it was the middle of the day, and similarly on Santa Monica Boulevard. Welcome to LA!!! Meanwhile, I couldn't decide if I wanted to sing Sheryl Crow or Weezer . We also passed by the Los Angeles temple which I had not realized was actually on Santa Monica Blvd. We got to Hollywood and parked at the Hollywood and Highland center, because we were only going to be there a short time. First stop was to take some pictures of the Hollywood sign. I had read that the H&H center was one of the easiest places to get a picture of it. We got ourselves turned around trying to find the overlook but eventually we did. It was…. exciting (okay not really but when you're in LA, you gotta do it, right?).
Afterwards we went out front and took some pictures of the stars on the Walk of Fame.
At this point, we realized that it would actually be cheaper to just pay for the 1 hour of parking than to buy something and get the validated parking, so we did that and headed out. It had gotten to be quite a bit later than we were hoping – the original plan was to meet up with PJ down by USC (where he works) and grab a late lunch. But it was so late that we decided that given LA traffic (a constant), it was not going to happen. So we audibled and headed up to the Griffith Observatory. That was a pretty cool place and offered some great views of the LA skyline.
After that, we got ourselves a bit lost but managed to successfully navigate traffic over to my aunt and uncle's house, in Calabasas.
My cousin Pam and her kids came over for a bit of a family dinner, which was nice. The rest of the evening was just spent relaxing. We did watch Wheel of Fortune (of course!), and then my aunt graciously ironed my clothes for me. What happened next…. stay tuned!
Possibly Related posts:
- California trip, Part 2 After my earlier wanderings in California, and my adventures at Wheel of Fortune, we tried to figure out a good spot to eat lunch. We decided on the Stinking Rose, a "garlic-themed" Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills. We made our way over there (through traffic, of course!) and it took awhile to find somewhere to [...]...
- Road Trip details Here's a report on my road trip. Part of this route mirrors some of my latest EFC route, and some of it was just some other ramblings. If you want to follow along, ODOT has some pretty good maps. My favorite is this one, but it's 6.3 MB – so only if you have broadband. [...]...
- Road Trip Took a road trip yesterday. I was going up to Columbus to be with some friends of mine as they got sealed. The sealing was at 11 a.m., so I decided to get up early and take a road trip to visit some new counties as well as test out some portions of my EFC [...]...
- Wheel of Fortune report So after my adventures in California the day before, the morning of the actual taping, I was supposed to be there around 7:30 a.m. and when I had talked to Gary the Wheel guy, he had me all freaked out about Los Angeles traffic, so I ended up leaving the house around 5:30. Traffic was [...]...
- Chicago, Day 2 First of all, I wrote a nice long post detailing yesterday but lo, Blogger ate it. I will try to recreate it, but can't promise to do it justice. Just think of how funny I am, and I'm sure that you'll be able to imagine that my other post was 40 times as funny Anyway, [...]...


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Just two weeks ago, I wrote that the recent escapes of American Matthew Schrier and French-American Jonathan Alpeyrie after months of captivity should give hope to all missing journalists in Syria. We now have two more reasons for hope.
Sunday, the Italian and Belgian governments announced that missing Italian journalist Domenico Quirico and Belgian academic writer Pierre Piccinin were freed. They had been missing for five months.
Quirico and Piccinin entered Syria from Lebanon on April 6 and went missing four days later amid intense clashes between rebel forces and the Assad military backed by Lebanese Hezbollah near the city of al-Qusayr.
In media interviews, Piccinin said he and Quirico were captured by rebel forces and turned over to what he called "Islamist bandits." Surviving in a basement cell during the siege that led to the fall of al-Qusayr to the Assad army, Piccinin and Quirico were transferred first south to Yabroud, near Lebanon, before heading north to Idlib and finally east towards rebel-controlled Raqqa.
Quirico said the pair had been treated poorly, his newspaper La Stampa reported. Piccinin elaborated, saying Quirico had suffered two mock executions. Two failed escape attempts -- one leading to two days on the run in the countryside -- worsened their treatment, he said.
The Belgian newspaper Le Soir, which has published Piccinin's work, said Sunday that the Italian government "had spared no effort to free" Quirico and Piccinin. The paper also quoted Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who praised the "good cooperation" between the Belgian and Italian governments," who have worked hard hand in hand in this delicate matter."
What role the governments played in securing the release of Quirico and Piccinin is unknown, but they should share any relevant information with key stakeholders seeking the release of other missing journalists in Syria. At least 14 local and international journalists are still unaccounted for in Syria, according to CPJ research.
The recent good news aside, there should be no confusion: journalists face incredible risks reporting from Syria. Those risks were the center of conversation at a recent conference hosted by the Lebanese press freedom group SKeyes. Though hosted by SKeyes and attended by other press freedom groups, the event was really a forum for journalists by journalists.
SKeyes' Executive Director Ayman Mhanna put it this way: "It was highly important for SKeyes to organize a retreat, in a calm and peaceful environment, for international journalists covering Syria to reflect on the challenges they face on a daily basis. They, better than anyone, could answer critical questions: What are the true security conditions on the ground? What are journalists' expectations from their employers? What is the best behavior to adopt in case of abduction? What can journalists expect from their governments? What kind of assistance is available for freelance journalists? How can war reporters deal with post-traumatic stress disorder?"
A summary of the ensuing dialogue can be read in SKeyes' full report available online. One of my key takeaways from the conference is that the situation on the ground has dramatically deteriorated in recent months, and many journalists are reconsidering whether it is worth the risk to enter Syria at all.
Piccinin now believes it's no longer worth that risk. "It's become too dangerous for foreigners," he said in an interview with Le Soir. "The revolution is not what it was."
But perhaps just as important as what was said at the conference was who was saying it.
The club of international journalists who risk their lives to tell the Syrian story has always been small, but the conference offered an important opportunity to make it a more tight-knit group. While risk is inherent in the work of journalists in Syria, there is no doubt the work becomes safer when journalists collaborate in promoting best practices, sharing the latest developments, drawing on each other's experiences, and speaking with a common voice.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Australian soldier who died in Afghanistan from a "non-combat related incident" has been identified as Lance Corporal Todd John Chidgey.
Lance Corporal Chidgey was on his sixth tour of Afghanistan when he was found dead in the Australian headquarters at the main coalition base in Kabul earlier this week.
Defence has refused to go into the details surrounding the 29-year-old's death while an investigation is pending.
He has been described as a "consummate professional" who earned the respect of his comrades through dedication and hard work.
"Lance Corporal Chidgey's colleagues in the 2nd Commando Regiment have described him as a brilliant bloke to know and work with, who was loyal to the core and would do anything for his mates," Defence said in a statement.
The decorated soldier was born in Gosford, NSW and joined the Australian Defence Force in 2006.
He was posted to what is now the 2nd Commando Regiment, serving in Afghanistan on tours ranging from two weeks to six months.
At the time of his death, Lance Corporal Chidgey was part of the protective security detachment providing protection for a senior Australian officer.
He is the 41st Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Chidgey's colleagues found him in an administration building with a gunshot wound around 2pm Afghanistan time on Tuesday.
He was taken to the nearby medical facility for emergency medical treatment but later died surrounded by his comrades.
An investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Australia has now ended involvement in combat operations in Afghanistan but about 400 personnel remain in a variety of jobs, including headquarters staff and Afghan National Army mentors.
Lance Corporal Chidgey is survived by his mother, father, brothers and partner.
Defence Minister David Johnston said Lance Corporal Chidgey was a fantastic commando.
"He was a great soldier and he is an enormous loss to the nation," the minister told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.
"I'm terribly sad for the loss of another Australian soldier. This makes 41 in Afghanistan.
"I have spoken to his mother and brother today.
"This is always the downside of dealing with good people - they put their lives at risk for us, they're on the front line and every now and then something like this happens."
Senator Johnston said he believed there were sufficient safeguards to protect the remaining soldiers in Afghanistan.
"The facts of what has happened here are not clear yet," he said.
"We're still conducting inquiries so I have no reason to think there is any systemic issues there.
"The safety of our people is absolutely at the forefront of my mind.
"This is the issue we grapple with every day of our lives to make sure our people have the survivability and safety around them that we must give them."
The defence department would do all it could to support the Lance Corporal Chidgey's family.


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One of the best parts of growing up in the 1980s were the awesome action-packed commercials for GI Joe toys. They featured kids actually playing with the vehicles and figures, re-enacting scenes of heroism as the Joes battled Cobra. The folks at Movieclips clearly enjoyed those ads too, as they were inspired to make a modern version using one of the trailers for the recently released GI Joe sequel.
Ironically, there are collectible action figures these days that look identical to the characters seen in a movie so this isn't that far off from the truth. But something tells us those working machine guns and missile launchers probably won't pass toy safety standards. [YouTube via Topless Robot]


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On rare occasions, insurgents in the Iraq War targeted American soldiers and civilians with chemical attacks in the form of chlorine bombings, which injured troops unlike any other weapon they faced.
One such attack occurred in Fallujah, Iraq on March 28, 2007. It is recounted in the perspective of Marine First Lieutenant Travis Manion in the new book "Brothers Forever," co-written by Tom Sileo and Manion's father, retired Marine Colonel Tom Manion.
Manion was sleeping in a government compound when a loud explosion jolted him awake. Although he didn't know it yet, insurgents had just attacked the compound with a truck bomb packed with chlorine.
Manion and three fellow Marines dashed under enemy gunfire to a nearby barracks, which had been blasted open by the truck bomb. Inside, the building was "hot, uncomfortable, and smelled like a collection of large pools."
Manion was already coughing and covering his nose and mouth as he headed up to the roof to provide security for evacuating soldiers. There, he crossed paths with Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, who had been much closer to the chlorine truck bomb when it detonated and who wrote about the attack in his 2011 memoir, "The Heart and the Fist."
Greitens recalled the first moments after the chemical explosion:
In the barracks, I heard men coughing around me, the air thick with dust. Then the burning started. It felt as if someone had shoved an open-flame lighter inside my mouth, the flames scorching my throat, my lungs. My eyes burned and I squinted them shut, then fought to keep them open.
Chlorine was used during World War I chemical attacks to choke enemy soldiers. In a gas state, chlorine appears yellow-green in color and produces an acid that can damage tissue in a person's eyes, throat, and lungs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include blurred vision, coughing, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, blisters, fluid build-up in lungs, and burning sensations in the nose, throat, and eyes. Long-term complications are possible for some who breathe in particularly high concentrations of the chlorine.
The March 28, 2007 explosion had wiped out an entire wall of the barracks and left behind a cloud of chlorine vapor. Their vision blurred, Greitens and his comrades stumbled outside, where they felt the immediate symptoms of the weaponized chlorine:
On my hands and knees, I began hacking up chlorine gas and spraying spittle. My stomach spasmed in an effort to vomit, but nothing came. Fisher later said he saw puffs of smoke coming from my mouth and nostrils. A thin Iraqi in tan pants and a black shirt, his eyes blood red, was bent over in front of me, throwing up. Cords of yellow vomit dangled from his mouth.
The burning sensation settled in Greitens' lungs, causing him to gag when he inhaled. But he and two others managed to climb to the roof of the bombed-out barracks to defend the compound. "My breathing was still shallow, and I felt as if someone had tightened a belt around my lungs and was pulling hard to kill me," he wrote.
Manion was the next soldier to reach the roof, where he relieved Greitens of his post so he could be transported to a hospital. "I got your back, sir," Manion had told him, recounted in "Brothers Forever."
"After throwing up a few more times, Travis [Manion] rallied to push his physical symptoms aside, knowing from the hellish sights below that many could be killed in a subsequent explosion or firefight. Every time his stomach churned or his eyes started to burn, Travis would block out the discomfort and focus on his responsibility to save lives."
For Greitens, the symptoms lingered. "For the next few weeks I spent every night hacking and coughing in bed," he wrote. "When I woke in the morning and tried to run, my lungs hurt. I felt like they had been zipped half-shut. Still, I ran every day, and eventually I could take a deep, full breath."
Seventeen American soldiers suffered wounds and serious complications from the explosion and chlorine vapor, but none died. The U.S. Department of Defense reported in 2007 that despite many injuries in dozens of recent chlorine bombings throughout Iraq, few were believed to have been killed from the chlorine alone.
Manion was killed by a sniper a month later. Greitens visited Manion's parents to comfort them after their loss. "When Travis said, 'I got your back,' he meant it," Greitens wrote.


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Richard Harlow-Coloursafe Crc Protective Medical Storage
At Design Interviews
(Excerpt) Interview with Richard Harlow : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Richard Harlow : Those who suffer from conditions like arthritis have great difficulty accessing bottles and containers with child proof caps. This often leads them to disable the caps allowing any children that may be present or visit easy access to harmful substances. The purpose of this design is to create an alternative method of keeping children out while allowing a larger range of adults in. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Richard Harlow : Primarily creating a safe and functional product. When I tested this design I was ecstatic to see it performed exactly as I had intended it to. .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Richard Harlow : I am contemplating taking this design into production as soon as I can create a business plan I feel will best work with this style of product. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Richard Harlow : Over all about three months. I worked with a few different concepts but early on this showed to be the most effective route to take. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Richard Harlow : I developed this concept during my final year at university. I was brought a paper written by "Age Uk" illustrating the problem that many elderly people had with child resistant packaging and I was instantly passionate about the brief. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Richard Harlow : The design is not in production yet, however if I were approached to sell the design I would consider it. .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Richard Harlow : I was fundamentally inspired by the workings of a combination lock. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Richard Harlow : The product has a wide range of uses so realistically any company selling a product that could be considered corrosive or any type of medication. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Richard Harlow : The conventional child resistant caps require a level of material deformation to allow access into the container, this design has been designed to minimise the levels of force required and instead depends on the users mental development. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Richard Harlow : The contents of the product are protected from children by coloured shapes on the outside of the packaging. from this function I gave the product the name "Colour-safe". .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Richard Harlow : I used quite a wide range. During the design process I used formal evaluation methods such as matrix analyses. For prototyping and testing I used multiple CAD/CAM software's and machinery taking advantage of both reductive and additive manufacturing methods. Additionally I used a plastics material data base to select the least reactive materials to allow for the widest range of products that could be stored. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Richard Harlow : I would have to say the products dependence of mental development rather than physical force. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Richard Harlow : Collaboration was limited to my self and some advice I Gained from my lecturers. I was however helped by the Cardiff institute of the.[ End of Excerpt: Read complete interview with Richard Harlow on Coloursafe Crc Protective Medical Storage at design-interviews.com ]
Richard Harlow-Coloursafe Crc Protective Medical Storage Images:
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These games teach valuable skills and have a high fun and educational rating.
Your child develops addition and subtraction skills by watching frogs jump on and off the dock.
Your child develops subtraction skills by watching frogs leap off a lily pad.
Your child develops counting and early addition skills by counting different groups of animals.
Zoodles 11.8.7 Copyright (c) 2014 Inquisitive Minds, Inc. All rights reserved.


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One Billion Rising Against Violence On Valentine's Day
COLUMBIA - People around the globe celebrated their Valentine's Day raising awareness for victims of violence, and one Columbia woman brought the event home.
Fifteen years ago Eve Ensler, an American author, started the One Billion Rising campaign against sexual crimes involving women.
Throughout the day videos of One Billion Rising events from every corner of the globe were posted online.Women from countries including the Philippines, India, Turkey, Afghanistan, Sarajevo and Bangladesh danced, sang spoke out throughout the day.
"In two hundred and two countries today on Valentine's Day, everybody is going to be dancing around the world. A billion people are going to dance and really what it is about is that we are trying to say, it's a collective global action and that many people are going to dance and rise then the issue can no longer be ignored," Monique Wilson, Philippine Coordinator for One Billion Rising Campaign said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one in three women have been victims of physical abuse, sexual assault or rape, totaling about one billion women worldwide.
One Billion Rising aims to get one billion women dancing to raise awareness for the one billion who have suffered from abuse.
Last November, Columbia resident Elaine Hartley heard about the One Billion Rising events and decided Columbia needed to join the rising.
"Just participating in an event like this is an opportunity for women to express themselves and to empower themselves and to let go of some of the oppression perhaps and to feel good about themselves and realize that they matter in life and they don't have to take abuse from people," Elaine Hartley said.
Elaine Hartley spent her Valentine's Day devoted to the event, and her husband was right by her side.
"It's very important for everyone to recognize how serious the problem is world wide with the violence against women. In some countries women aren't allowed tom go out in public without having themselves covered head to foot. There are other places where women can't own property, other places where women are treated like chattel, and in the United States there's a great deal of violence against women and that needs to be dealt with.We're not going to solve our problems as a people until we come to terms with our violence," Roy Hartley said.
The Columbia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Mid-Missouri Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and Occupy Como sponsored the event.
Victoria Day of Embodiment LLC is choreographed dances for the event, there was also live music and poetry readings.


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Reddit is no stranger to criticism for its sometimes risque and offensive content.
But now, William Shatner, who is best known as Star Trek's Captain Kirk, has raised some concerns about Reddit's practices.
"I am apalled [sic] by some of the immature, horrifically racist, sexist, homophobic, ethnic... etc.. posts that are just ignored here," Shatner recently wrote on Reddit. "Why are these accounts still active? While Reddit has done well in getting interest from the mainstream I just wonder if by allowing these children to run rampant and post whatever they feel will cause the most collateral damage if Reddit is biting off it's own nose in taking that step to become a mainstream community."
Shatner admittedly writes that he's still new to the site, but that this is what he's noticed in his short time on it. To confirm that this is indeed Shatner on Reddit, we dug through Shatner's official Twitter stream for more clues.
On January 31, Shatner tweeted that he activated his Reddit account. On February 1, Shatner tweeted about already receiving a down vote. And on February 6, Shatner specifically tweeted about how he's horrified by the amount of "racist and cruel gender, sexuality & religious posts made" on Reddit.
To follow up, Shatner recently wrote on Reddit that the entire site seems to be the first mainstream site that "appears to allow racist and other hate mongers to group, congregate, incite and spread their hatred."
Reddit has very limited official rules, like no spam, no personal information, and no suggestive or sexual content featuring minors. The site also has Reddiquite, which is an informal, broader set of values redditors should exhibit. But it's up to the Reddit community to enforce such values.
"All I am asking is why there are rules if they are not enforced," Shatner writes. "If censoring or disabling accounts is not an outcome of breaking the rules, then what exactly is?"


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47 Richards Ave Norwalk CT United States 06854
MBI, Inc. is a $350 million consumer products company, with an outstanding history of sales and profits since our founding in 1969.
Though our new managers come to us from a variety of backgrounds, having majored in everything from Government to Engineering, they do have a few things in common. They all came to MBI with little or no experience in the business world. What they brought with them was the ambition and enthusiasm required to successfully market products and run a business.
Not long ago, the individuals featured in these profiles were in your shoes. They were faced with the difficult choice of either following so many of their classmates into the investment banking and consulting fields or pursuing a less conventional career path with MBI – one that challenged them to run and impact part of a business early in their careers. They chose MBI and have risen to the challenge.
Start your future here.


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Matrix Input - NABOR
Date: July 11, 2019
Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location: Show map
1455 Pine Ridge Rd
Naples, FL 34113
1455 Pine Ridge Rd
Naples, FL 34113
Contact: Melissa
Phone: 239-597-1666
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Whether seeking a career as a professional helicopter pilot or pursuing a private rotorcraft pilot's license, flying helicopters is like nothing else you have ever done or will ever do. And, it is never too late to begin. New people are entering the field every day-from their late teens to their 50s and older. And, it should go without saying-women pilots are every bit as welcome and have the same opportunities as men.
Flying helicopters is exciting, challenging, empowering and just plain fun. But, like any worthwhile goal, the achievement of your rotorcraft pilot's license(s) requires dedication, commitment, hard work, and, depending upon your financial condition, a level of sacrifice.
There are generally two paths to pursuing a career flying helicopters: the civilian path and a military career. If you're thinking about the military option, please contact a recruiting office nearby and get the details from them. Read the small print carefully. Please realize, however, that as a military pilot, you are a military officer above all, with all of the attending duties, responsibilities and commitments first, and a pilot, second. This page will describe the civilian career path.
All professional helicopter pilots must at least be in possession of a Commercial Rotorcraft License. Nearly all, however, have also attained their Certificated Flight Instructor's (CFI) credentials (for reasons that will soon become clear) and many have their instrument rating as well. So, how do you get there from here?
The typical license progression moves through Student, Private, Commercial, and CFI. Many will acquire their instrument rating between Private and Commercial. The instrument rating, though not mandatory for some jobs, is increasingly becoming either a significant benefit or requirement for many of the better jobs. It will also make you a better pilot.
Flight training, for all levels of licensure, requires both ground and flight training. There are a number of flight training schools around the world that provide this level of training. Helicopter flight training is expensive! Much more expensive than fixed wing (airplane) training. Why? Because helicopters are expensive machines to acquire and operate and insurance costs, already high, have risen steeply since 9/11/2001. Many find that flight training in the U.S. is somewhat less costly than training elsewhere, but numerous options exist. This article will focus on U.S. flight training.
All pilots, from student on, are required to pass an FAA structured medical exam provided by an FAA approved physician. In addition to normal, healthy body function, hearing and vision are also tested. No, you do not have to have perfect, uncorrected vision to be a pilot. But, your vision must be correctable with lenses to a relatively high level. Color perception is also important. For most people, the physical will not be a problem. However, certain, red flag areas do exist: history of drug abuse, psychological disorders, certain heart problems, and anything that may imply lapses in consciousness. If in doubt, contact an FAA approved physician and discuss your problem. Often, things can be resolved satisfactorily.
Hours and Dollars
For every level of license there are FAA minimum flight time requirements. In the case of the Private Pilot License the minimum hours are, for almost everyone, very unrealistic. The FAA requires that you have 20 hours of dual instruction and 10 hours of solo to qualify for your Private License. However, 30-50 hours of dual is much more true to life and many take a little more.
You can expect to spend somewhere in the range of $200/hour for flight time with an instructor, and $150-$175 solo time. Ground time is usually in the range of $30 - $40/hour. If you do the math, you will find that it will cost about $10,000 to $15,000 to get your Private Pilot's License. These numbers vary depending upon your geographic location, flight school, ability and helicopter model.
A commercial rotorcraft license requires that the pilot have 150 total hours, minimum, and 100 PIC (Pilot in Command) time. PIC time is earned flying solo in the pursuit of your Private License and any time, after attaining your Private License, where you are acting as the pilot of the helicopter-even while receiving flight instruction. Again, just doing the math, you will spend approximately another $18,000 to $20,000 getting your commercial ticket. If you already have a fixed wing license, some of that time can be applied to your rotorcraft add-on license, saving you some time and money. Now, here comes the part about why almost everyone gets their flight instructor rating.
Most introductory pilot jobs, besides flight instructor, require the pilot to have somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours piloting the helicopter, with most leaning towards the 1000 hour+ side. The most cost-effective way to attain those hours is as a flight instructor. Flight instructors commonly have about 200 hours when they begin flight instruction. In some models of helicopter, you are required to have 200 hrs before you may instruct. Flight instructors are required to have a minimum of 200 hours. From that point on, you are technically employable as a CFI. Now, you may work as a CFI to earn the necessary hours to be competitive in the general helicopter pilot marketplace, while actually getting paid to fly.
All told, it may cost you somewhere between $38,000 and $50,000 to get to your CFI rating and start getting paid to fly helicopters. Not cheap. You could get an excellent college education for that price, and you may want to think about that. You do not have to have a college degree, yet, to get a job as a helicopter pilot. But, a college degree never hurt anyone in any career pursuit.
But, if you've got the desire and made up your mind, that's what you're facing. Yes, you will be spending a lot of money, but you'll also be learning an entire world of new things and you'll discover things about yourself, in the process, that you had no idea existed. And, you can do it on your own time-table. Some are able to find the time and money and just blast through from student to CFI, non-stop. This process can take as little as a year to two years depending upon how often you fly each week, and the number of times you fly each day. Others, pay as they can, taking longer to complete the process. There is no right way or wrong way to become a helicopter pilot and no penalty for taking longer to get there.
Flight Schools, Financial Assistance
Flight schools providing the spectrum of helicopter pilot training are scattered around the country. Check the link at the end of this page to locate some of the schools known to PHPA, though PHPA is not in a position to recommend a particular flight school. You need to do your homework. You should interview your flight school and potential flight instructor carefully, making sure they're right for you. You're about to enter into a long-term relationship and spend a bunch of money. Do it wisely.
You basically want to make sure that you end up with a good feeling about their training regimen (carefully orchestrated and laid out rather than off the cuff), safety record, maintenance capability, pilot management, etc. You want to make sure that your instructor's personality fits yours and that you will enjoy spending hours and hours with them. If possible, ask the local FAA if they have any knowledge of the school that would be pertinent to your decision. They may avoid making specific recommendations, but you may get a feel for their opinion. If you ask them specific questions, they should give you direct answers.
Some loan programs are available, usually at a higher than average interest rate. Check with your flight school. One potential loan program to investigate may be the Career Training Loan from SLM Financial Corp. (a Sallie Mae company) at www.slmfinancial.com. We are not aware of any scholarship programs that help you get your Private Pilot's License. However, once you have your private, at least one scholarship program does exist-for members of the Whirly-Girls (The International Female Helicopter Pilot's Association). This is truly an awesome group of women and if you are a woman, you should join-period. It is available to women helicopter pilots in possession of a Private Pilot's License or higher. The opportunity to network and learn from a great group of inspirational peers is tremendous. You can find out more about the Whirly-Girls at www.whirlygirls.org.
Flight training is conducted under one of two sets of regulations, known as 14 CFR Part 61 and Part 141. If your flight school has the ability to do both, it may save you a little time and money along the way.
One more thing. Since you have to build hours between your Private and Commercial License anyway, one way to do that is by earning your instrument rating. It will cost a little more, but you'll have a valuable new tool when it comes time to look for a job. For those who want to go, "all the way," then earning your instrument instructor's certificate (CFII) after you get your CFI will take you that much farther.
Helicopter Pilot Careers
Working as a helicopter pilot can take you into many different industries, all over the world. Helicopter pilot opportunities include training, offshore support, fire fighting, law enforcement, agriculture, pipeline and utility support, sightseeing, executive transport, fishing, EMS (Emergency Medical Services), search and rescue, logging, test piloting, and more. It can be a rewarding and satisfying career path.
It is very difficult to quantify helicopter pilot's salaries. Salary levels vary greatly by industry, country, qualifications and experience levels. However, salaries and benefits are on the rise. And, the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association is actively involved in helping pilots everywhere earn higher levels of compensation for a job well done.
PHPA membership is available to anyone with an interest in helicopter piloting including student pilots. If you do decide to enter this exciting field, please join PHPA and add your voice to the thousands of helicopter pilots making a difference for each other.
Best of luck and clear skies!


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College Success Resources
Our College Success courses give students the techniques and strategies to learn and apply a variety of active learning strategies to further personal growth and values, advance knowledge of academic study skills, critical and creative reasoning proficiency, tutoring abilities, and career exploration and development. These are valuable learning skills students can utilize now and in the future.
LERN 50 / IDST 50 College Success
LERN 50 and IDST 50, are offered through two departments, the Learning Assistance Department and the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. These exceptional courses enable students to develop confidence in their college work by learning effective study techniques and making the most out of the college experience. These three-unit courses are especially valuable for new students, re-entry students, probationary students, and all students who want to raise their GPA's and succeed in college.
This course gives students valuable techniques and strategies to maximize learning potential:
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Letters from students who completed LERN 50
LERN 55 Successful Online Learning
This one unit course introduces technology and study skills necessary
to succeed in online courses. Includes online course navigation,
course-related computer competency, self-directed learning, online
communications, and study skills for online learning. Especially
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...Thanks to LERN 55 I am planning on taking more on-line courses as the rest of my life is getting all the more crazy. I did like the commitment of on campus classes, because basically I felt I was forced to have things done by a certain day, which made me rush to get it done at the last minute before class. On-line courses also have a due date, but this class has really helped me keep myself in check. I think it will be a great mix to continue a combination of on-line and on campus classes. Back when I went to school, on-line was not even an option. This is my only on-line class this semester. Thank you for providing this course. I am actually recommending it to some of my other classmates in my on campus classes! (James Cassiol, LERN 55 student)
... the emails from our instructor and other classmates help immensely just when you think your alone in this online class you get an email that says just the right thing. (Tammy Heuser, LERN 55 student)


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Of all the days of the year, the day before Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. I usually spend it in the kitchen, cooking and baking, alone with my thoughts and the wonderful smells wafting through the house. Those smells invariably take me back to childhood Thanksgivings - walking in the door at Grandma and Grandpa's, and going up the stairs to the sounds of Shorty barking and posturing like he was going to attack, all from the safety of Grandpa's lap in the recliner. And opening the door at the top of the stairs to those wonderful smells - roasting meats, and buttery potatoes, and the fantastic gravy Grandma made from cream of celery soup. A few more steps, and we'd have to endure the torture of seeing the plates with the slices of pies of various kinds, all topped with whipped cream, sitting on the buffet. It was as if they talked - "I'm going to call your name all through dinner..." but the sight of all Grandma's wonderful masterpieces spread out on the table usually got my attention back where it belonged. Seeing the two pink bowls was always a treat, and still something stirs in my heart and my palate when I bring mine out of the buffet for our own holiday dinners.
I hope my own grandchildren come through my door with anxious anticipation, enjoying the sights and smells of the Thanksgiving table, and that they will hold onto those precious memories throughout their lives.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!


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Professional Psychology: Debating Chamber · Psychology Journals · Psychologists
Alfred Binet (July 8, 1857 – October 18, 1911), French psychologist and inventor of the first usable intelligence test, the basis of today's IQ test.
Born in Nice, Binet was a French psychologist who published the first modern intelligence test, the Binet-Simon intelligence scale, in 1905. His principal goal was to identify students who needed special help in coping with the school curriculum. Along with his collaborator Theodore de Simon, Binet published revisions of his intelligence scale in 1908 and 1911, the last appearing just before his untimely death. A further refinement of the Binet-Simon scale was published in 1916 by Lewis M. Terman, from Stanford University, who incorporated the German psychologist William Stern's proposal that an individual's intelligence level be measured as an intelligence quotient (I.Q.). Terman's test, which he named the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale formed the basis for one of the modern intelligence tests still commonly used today. They are all colloquially known as IQ tests.
Binet and chessEdit
In 1894, Binet conducted one of the first psychological studies into chess. It investigated the cognitive facilities of chess masters. Binet hypothesised that chess depends upon the phenomenological qualities of visual memory but after studying the reports by master participants, it was concluded that memory was only part of the chain of cognition involved in the game process. The players were blindfolded and required to play the game from memory. It was found that only masters were able to play successfully without seeing the board for a second time and that amateur or intermediate players found it to be an impossible task. It was further concluded that experience, imagination and memories of abstract and concrete varieties were required in grand master chess. The line of psychological chess research was followed up in the 1950s by Reuben Fine and in the 1960s by Adriaan de Groot.
See alsoEdit
- La psychologie du raisonment; Recherches expérimentales par l'hypnotisme (1886; English translation, 1899), his first book.
- Perception intérieure (1887).
- Etudes des psychologie expérimentale (1888).
- Les altérations de la personnalité (1892; English translation, 1896).
- Introduction à la psychologie expérimentale (1894; with co-authors).
- On Double Consciousness (1896).
- La fatigue intellectuelle (1898; with co-auther Henri).
- La Suggestibilité (1900).
- Etude expérimentale de l'intelligence (1903).
- L'âme et la corps (1905).
- Les révélations de lécritique d'après un contrôle scientifique (1906).
- Les enfants anormaux (1907; with co-author Simon).
- Les idées sur les enfants (1900).
- Binet, Alfred. (1916). New methods for the diagnosis of the intellectual level of subnormals. In E. S. Kite (Trans.), The development of intelligence in children. Vineland, NJ: Publications of the Training School at Vineland. (Originally published 1905 in L'Année Psychologique, 12, 191-244.) Full text
- Binet, A. (1913) Les Ideas modernes sur les infants, Paris: Flammarion.
- Binet, A. and Simon, T. (1905) Methodes nouvelles pour Ie diagnostic du niveau intellectuel des anormaux, L'Annse Psychologique 11: 245-336.
- Binet, A. and Simon, T. (1911) A Method of Measuring the Development of the Intelligence of Young Children, Lincoln, Ill.: Courier.
Further readingEdit
Introduction to Binet (1905/1916) by [[Henry L. Minton]. Full text Commentary on Binet (1905/1916) and Terman (1916) by Henry L. Minton Full text
He was one of the editors of L'année psychologique, a yearly volume comprising original articles and reviews of the progress of psychology.
External linksEdit
- Human Intelligence: Alfred Binet
- Works by Alfred Binet at Project Gutenberg
- Binet's Self-Consciousness
- New Methods for the Diangnosis of the Intellectual Level of Subnormals by Alfred Binetde:Alfred Binet
et:Alfred Binet es:Alfred Binet fr:Alfred Binet is:Alfred Binetnl:Alfred Binetru:Бине, Альфред sv:Alfred Binet
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


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Pacific Northwest Resilient Landscapes Initiative to be Highlight of Idaho Community Foundation's May Luncheon
By Jennifer Kronberg, Guest Contributor, Idaho Community Foundation | In an area with great natural beauty and land resources like the Pacific Northwest, it's important to preserve the landscapes that make it special. That's the idea behind the Pacific Northwest Resilient Landscapes Initiative, a new partnership between the Idaho Community Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Seattle Foundation and the Land Trust Alliance. The initiative is launched with the support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and will permanently protect thousands of acres of natural lands in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. more »


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Learn how to contact each ARDA department.
Click here to view ARDA's staff by name.
by Geri Bain
Some innovations are so quickly
adapted that it's hard to imagine they weren't always part of our lives— and
like the popular children's book, The
Giving Tree, they keep finding new ways to serve.
Here are three driving trends that
promise to keep morphing, offering new and unimagined benefits for years to
1) Tapping Consumer Analytics. Customers increasingly expect companies to "know" them as individuals
with unique preferences and provide them with highly specific services and
offerings. There are many ways to gain this information, including predictive
analysis (PA) and other services through online travel-booking services. Ultimately,
businesses can no longer afford to market to consumers on a "mass market, one
message fits all" basis. It's critical to learn each customer's wants, needs,
lifestyle, and more—including where they vacation and what activities they want
to pursue—to serve them the way they expect.
2) Going Green. Sustainable practices are good for the
bottom line and the environment. They also add a feel-good factor for guests,
employees, and the community. In a recent TripAdvisor survey, 85 percent of
travelers said that traveling green made them feel more positive about their
trips. This shows green practices are the new normal, and travelers expect
suppliers to embrace sustainable practices that minimize their impact on the
environment. In addition to cost savings, sustainable practices can provide
authentic connections to the destination.
3) Marketing Branded
Lifestyles. Some brands
convey an image that resonates deeply with travelers. Armani hotels in Dubai
and Milan invite guests to live the life of understated elegance that is a
signature of the Armani brand. And Hard Rock Hotels extend the hip,
music-themed restaurants into a vacation (and vacation club) experience. This
is critical because aligning with the right brand can be a great way to tap
into its followers and its image and create a focal point for everything from
design and amenities to marketing.
These three trends promise to remain important in the timeshare industry
for many years to come. Keeping up with how each will be vital for timeshares
in order to meet the changing needs of the consumers. Read the entire article
about driving trends in this month's Developments.
By Howard Nusbaum, President and CEO, ARDA
This year marks two huge
anniversaries for two companies that have made an outstanding impact in the
timeshare industry. There are a few milestone markers around
the industry this year but none as auspicious as that of Wyndham Vacation
Ownership (WVO) marking its 50th anniversary and Interval
International, celebrating its 40th anniversary.
WVO is a company that
truly represents the pioneer spirit of the early days. WVO's President & CEO, Franz Hanning says: "Anytime you look back
over 50 years, you're going to see peaks and valleys—it's not always been a
smooth path or an easy road. But to be where we are now looking back from this
vantage point, it's pretty overwhelming. Our company
has changed people's lives—the lives of our owners, our associates, and
probably my life more than anyone else's. It's been a total rewarding career
for me, built on relationships and friends—core people who have been critical
to our overall success."
But WVO isn't the only one celebrating this
year…so is Interval International. The Miami, Florida-based industry pioneer
remains an innovator in serving the vacation ownership market, and today its
exchange network comprises approximately 3,000 resorts in more than 80 nations.
Through offices in 16 countries, Interval offers high-quality products and
benefits to resort clients and approximately two million families who are
enrolled in its membership programs. That's quite an achievement for a company
that started with just three employees and one affiliated resort.
The timeshare
industry would not be where it is today if it wasn't for these two different
companies and what they each have done over the previous decades. We want to be
one of the first to wish each of these two companies a happy anniversary this
year—thank you for building our industry into what it is today! To learn more
about them, read
our entire articles about Interval International and Wyndham Vacation Ownership in this month's Developments magazine.
Simon Jaworski and Lance Henik of Leger
You are never going to be able to design one ideal timeshare that meets
the needs of everyone. However, with the help of the ARDA International
Foundation (AIF) and utilizing the insights garnered from its recent Next
Generation research, you might be able to move a little closer to this goal.
With this research, it has been found that four core factors account for more
than half of all decisions made among both Millennials and Generation X'ers
when it comes to purchasing a timeshare property. Let's take a look at these
Factor #1: Commitment/Cost Balance.
The most important features, accounting for one-third of all decisions,
are related to commitment. Both current timeshare owners and non-owners
alike mentioned that the "length of contract" (the number of years they were
willing to use the property) and the "interest rate" (a long term financial
cost commitment implication) attached to this purchase were the two most
significant factors.
In spite of the importance of the length
of contract and interest rate, there are, of course, two core cost
factors for purchasing a timeshare that cannot be overlooked. When these
traditional barriers to entry, the "overall price" and "annual fees," are added
into the equation, these four features collectively account for the majority of
a potential timeshare owner's decision-making process.
Factor #2: Sleeping Capacity.
After the key financial aspects, the size of the lodging is also an
important factor, with "sleeping capacity" as a key feature. This has increased
relevancy and appeal with the younger age groups, specifically Millennials, who
want to vacation with larger groups of friends—more so than any of the previous
generations of vacationers.
Factor #3: Exchange.
Next on the list of priorities is exchange. The positive impression and
need for a product that allows both options for an internal and external
exchange is definitely held in greater need by older Gen X'ers, especially when
compared to Millennials who may not be fully aware of the benefits of
exchanging their timeshare (a clear educational opportunity!).
Factor #4: Exit Strategies.
Although a hot topic within timeshare right now, "Exit Strategy" showed
slightly lower importance when compared to the exchange feature. The discussion
of this topic is not only relevant but it also has merit— particularly to
potential new entrants, as non-owners are definitely more intrigued by the
potential for a buy-back option. If positioned correctly, the option to buy
back a timeshare could lead to an extra layer of security that potential buyers
often crave before signing any legal documents.
So, what key conclusions can we draw from
this study? Non-owners tend to be more
sensitive to price than owners, flexibility is key in the sales process, and
those who sell timeshare should strongly consider a wide product portfolio. Read
more about this study in the May/June 2016 issue of Developments magazine
Copyright 2014. American Resort Development Assoc. All rights reserved.


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Gospel Apologizes for Scandal
Ministry organization Gospel for Asia (GFA) recently distributed a statement of apology in Christianity Today for its misappropriation of assets.
Gospel for Asia was stripped of its enrollment in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) due to rebelliousness with ECFA principles back in October.
A portion of the allegations against GFA incorporates utilizing stores from benefactors intended to go toward ministry work in India for the organization's new central station grounds – a $40 million task.
According to Christian Today, GFA's apology in Christianity Today states, "We are sorry for the pain and confusion that we have caused. We understand this has caused great concern and raised questions about the integrity and financial accountability of Gospel for Asia."
The statement claims that ECFA's review "did affirm that funds given to the ministry were accounted for", and says "we acknowledge at times we have failed to utilize procedures necessary to ensure the highest level of accountability that you expect from us and that we expect from ourselves."
Patheos author Warren Throckmorton has pointed out GFA's money related practices over and again. Throckmorton trusts GFA's affirmation that all the ministry's assets have been represented is false and said that in regard to $128 million has been unaccounted for in the course of recent years.
"The ECFA did not review this claim and so it is false for Yohannan [GFA's founder] to tell CT readers that the ECFA cleared them on this allegation," said Throckmorton.
Source: https://www.christianheadlines.com
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Top 6 Presidential Scandals of All Time
With all the talk that was hurled around about voter turnout in the wake of Watergate, it may appear that presidential embarrassments were something new in the 1970s. This is off base. There have been significant and minor embarrassments amid the organisation of numerous if not the more substantial part of the presidents. Here is a rundown of 10 of these embarrassments that shook the administration, all together with most established to freshest.
Andrew Jackson's Marriage
Before Andrew Jackson was president, he wedded a lady named Rachel Donelson in 1791. She had beforehand been hitched and trusted that she was legitimately separated. Be that as it may, in the wake of wedding Jackson, Rachel discovered this was not the situation. Her first spouse accused her of infidelity. Jackson would need to hold up until 1794 to lawfully wed Rachel. Despite the fact that this occurred more than 30 years beforehand, it was utilised against Jackson in the decision of 1828. Jackson pointed the finger at Rachel's untimely demise two months previously he took office on these individual assaults against him and his better half. A long time later, Jackson would likewise be the hero of a standout amongst the most infamous presidential emergencies ever.
The Credit Mobilier Scandal
The Credit Mobilier Company was observed to take from the Union Pacific Railroad. Notwithstanding, they endeavoured to cover this up by offering stocks in their organisation at a considerable markdown to government authorities and Congress individuals including Vice President Schuyler Colfax. At the point when this was found, it hurt various notorieties including that of Ulysses S. Allow's VP.
The Whiskey Ring Scandal
Another embarrassment that happened amid Grant's administration was the Whiskey Ring. In 1875, it was uncovered that numerous administration workers were stashing bourbon charges. Allow called for quick discipline yet brought about further outrage when he moved to secure his secretary, Orville E. Babcock, who had been involved in the illicit relationship.
The Teapot Dome Scandal
Numerous embarrassments struck the Warren G. Harding administration. The Teapot Dome outrage was the most huge. In this, Albert Fall, Harding's Secretary of the Interior, sold the privilege to the oil holds in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and different areas in return for individual benefit and cows. He was in the long run gotten, indicted and condemned to imprison.
Watergate has turned out to be synonymous with presidential outrage. In 1972, five men were found breaking into the Democratic National Headquarters situated at the Watergate business complex. As the examination concerning this and the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg's therapist's office (Ellsberg had distributed the mystery Pentagon Papers) created, Richard Nixon and his counsellors attempted to conceal the violations. He would have without a doubt been impeached however surrendered instead on August 9, 1974.
The Monica Lewinsky Affair
Bill Clinton was ensnared in two or three outrages; the most noteworthy for his administration was the Monica Lewinsky undertaking. Lewinsky was a White House staff member with whom Clinton had a cosy relationship, or as he later put it, a "despicable physical relationship." He had beforehand denied this while giving testimony for another situation which brought about a vote to impugn him by the House of Representatives in 1998. The Senate did not vote to expel him from office, but rather the occasion marred his administration as he joined Andrew Johnson as just the second president to be reprimanded.
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Top 3 Screen Scandals In Russia In Recent Times
The British sharp motion picture "The Death of Stalin" has been restricted by the Russian Culture Ministry, which marked it a fanatic endeavour to twist recorded reality and show Russia in a negative light.
This is the merely the most recent film contention to hit Russia over the last couple of years, as the silver screen is transforming into an ideological battleground.
Here's a glance back at a portion of the extra large screen embarrassments of a previous couple of years.
"The Death of Stalin" (2018)
The Russian Culture Ministry pulled back the screening permit of the film "The Death of Stalin" two days before its debut, referring to indications of "ideological animosity."
The movie about the questionable Soviet pioneer depended on a realistic novel of a similar name and was coordinated by the Scottish author and executive Armando Iannucci. The British-French political parody appeared to a shut group of onlookers of Russian social figures, who purportedly thought that it was hostile and requested to disavow the screening permit.
They focused on their worry over its ideological substance and scenes containing extreme savagery. "The film affronts our authentic images — the Soviet song of devotion, honours and awards," a service official was cited as saying in the daily paper Novaya Gazeta. The authority included that the acclaimed Soviet general Marshal Zhukov "is delineated as a jolt."
"Paddington 2" (2018)
This satire about the experiences of a talking bear is supposedly ideologically robust however experienced a grievous instance of poor planning.
The Culture Ministry deferred issuing a screening permit to "Paddington 2" because another Russian film was planned to debut around the same time, the film's merchant told the Kommersant business day by day.
Media outlets have conjectured that it was a pivotal move to help the Russian film "Going Vertical," which debuted on Jan. 18. The deferral of the screening of another outside motion picture "Labyrinth Runner: The Death Cure," bolsters this rendition. Paddington fans, nonetheless, cry victimisation outside movies.
"Mathilde" (2017)
"Mathilde," a film about the relationship between the last tsar and Polish ballet performer Mathilde Kschessinska, was the most shameful motion picture of a year ago, starting discussions and violent responses from Russian Orthodox activists.
State Duma Deputy Natalia Poklonskaya said that chief Alexei Uchitel's film on Tsar Nicholas II outraged religious devotees. Activists revitalised against the film and issued dangers that they would begin consuming silver screens if they screened the biopic.
Alexei Uchitel's studio in St. Petersburg and a motion picture theatre in Yekaterinburg where the film would have been indicated were determined to flame. The pioneer of the conservative gathering "Christian State — Holy Rus" Alexander Kalinin told the Meduza news site that "The film is a slap in the face to history. It's about a heavenly holy person. It doesn't make a difference which holy person it's about. A heavenly individual is one of the precious stone features of our congregation."
At last, the film appeared in many performance centres all through the nation with no apparent harm to national foundations.
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Top 4 Sports Scandals Of All Time
There have been some enormous outrages all through the historical backdrop of games, and the 21st century has not been invulnerable to the bizarre happenings that can hover far and wide of games. When rating the greatest games outrages of this century, the nature of the illegal demonstration, the media scope it got, and its effect on the game's world all must be considered. In this way, some enormous names or horrible acts don't rate very as high since they might need in one of those territories. In any case, the accompanying rundown offers a gander at the 21st century most shameful games stories.
The Kobe Bryant Colorado Scandal
While glancing back at what Kobe Bryant accomplished in his b-ball vocation, it is difficult to trust that at one point right off the bat in his profession his playing future was in danger. With three NBA Titles added to his repertoire, the then prospective 25-year old hoped to have minor knee surgery in Colorado after a frustrating NBA Finals misfortune to Detroit. A labourer at the lodging where Bryant remained before the surgery blamed the Los Angeles Laker for sexually ambushing her. Bryant admitted to consensual sex, however, denied the rape allegations.
The Aaron Hernandez Murder Allegations
Likely lost in the on-field strength of the New England Patriots is that their last Super Bowl victory after the 2014 season came without one player who should be a key machine gear-piece in their offence during the time of the adolescents. That player is Aaron Hernandez, and the reason the former tight end won't suit up for New England until the end of time is he is serving life in jail for the kill. Hernandez found the middle value of 58 gatherings and six touchdowns over his three NFL seasons and filled in as an excellent supplement to own tight end and 2010 draft pick Rob Gronkowski.
The Lance Armstrong Scandal
Likely the most significant outrage to his current game is the disclosure of doping by 7-time Tour champ, Lance Armstrong. While charges had twirled for a considerable length of time, Armstrong was solid in his foreswearing of any wrongdoing, notwithstanding swearing under vow that he was spotless.
Armstrong was in the end compelled to confess all in a scandalous meeting with Oprah Winfrey after the US Anti-Doping Agency connected weight recommending he was behind the "most advanced, professionalised and effective doping program" don had ever observed. This story held additional sting given Armstrong's rebound following testicular disease and the rush of expectation that was provided by the account. However Lance's accomplishments were stripped from him, and he now has a lifetime prohibition on the rivalry.
The Tiger Woods Scandal
Amid the late 1990s through to the late 2000s, on the off chance that you requested that somebody names a present golfer, many individuals would have said Tiger Woods. Woods was darling for his ability on the green and his terrible kid mentality off it.
Nonetheless, in the background, it turned out his awful kid persona was very nearly a shadow to the reality he had submitted treachery nine times in his vocation. As fact turned out, Woods apologised to the general population and expressed that he would remove time from golf to revive his marriage.
Be that as it may, this was not to be as Woods was in the end separated by his significant other and is presently back hitting the fairway where he has developed himself again to wind up the dearest golfer he was ten years prior.
While Woods hadn't done anything illicit or unsporting, it hurt his picture in the general population eye. Embarrassments don't have to occur on the field of play for them to affect a vocation.
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The Phi Phi Islands sit off the western coast of Thailand, floating like jewels in a turquoise sea, a picture-perfect image of a tropical getaway. Director Danny Boyle filmed his 2000 psychothriller, The Beach, on the largest of those islands and if you know the movie, you know, despite the gem-like setting the story ends badly.
They say, though, that the movie put the largest of the islands, Ko Phi Phi Don, on the map as a tourist getaway, a reasonably priced home to glittering beaches and unlimited partying. And that's undoubtedly what drew two young sisters from a small Canadian village, just north of the Maine border, to travel there for a summer break from their university studies.
Noemi Belanger was 26 and her sister, Audrey, 20, when they planned the June vacation. Both sisters lived in their hometown of Pohenegamook, Quebec. Did I mention that it was small, the kind of place where people know each other, stay close? The population is about 3,000 and both girls worked for their father, Carl, in his grocery store before starting university classes. They were happy girls, friendly, residents say, involved in their community, helping out at the local library, at public beaches.
This summer, they were ready to fly a little, indulge in a splashy vacation. So they saved their money and flew to Thailand in June, went to visit the Phi Phi Islands. And there, as a flood of mid-June news stories made obvious, things went very wrong. Very, very wrong.
The stories were puzzled, horrified. A story in Canada's National Post described a hotel maid finding the sisters dead in their room, with lesions tracked across their bodies, their fingernails and toenails turned an odd grayish blue. They were huddled in their beds, relayed the Global Post, smeared with vomit and blood.
Rumors flew of an exotic poison, of a lurking killer. Dismissive statements from the police added to the sense of mystery. "We found many kinds of over-the-counter-drugs, including ibuprofen, which can cause serious effects on the stomach," one investigator said, sounding as if packing painkillers was the real problem. Mysterious poison deaths of tourists visiting the Phi Phi Islands were recalled: the 2009 death of a Seattle woman, still unsolved today. The similar and also unexplained death of a 22-year-old woman from Norway the same year. An odd cluster of deaths in another Thai city during winter of last year, including a 23-year-old woman from New Zealand. The conspiracy theories expandedto includethe unexplained deaths of two young women in Vietnam this summer. "Is this a cover-up?" asked a letter writerin the Bangkok Post after the police went on from the ibuprofen theory to one that involved food poisoning.
And not just any food poisoning. A leak from the investigationsuggested that detectives were considering the possibility that the sisters had dined - somewhere - on either poisonous mushrooms or blowfish, sometimes called pufferfish or fugu. The fishes are considered a delicacy but they must be carefully prepared to exclude any contact with the liver or other internal organs, which contain an exceptionally potent neurotoxin calledtetrodotoxin.
Neither of these suggestions, though, were an ideal match for the described symptoms. Tetrodotoxin is most famous for its ability to induce a corpse-like paralysis in victims; they may remain alert but unable to move or communicate, gradually suffocating as the lungs fail. Poisonous mushrooms tend to kill by gradually destroying the liver. As quickly as the suggestion was floated it seemed to disappear, leaving the questions to further simmer over the summer.
Until last week, when a preliminary autopsy report was announced, which apparently indicated a toxic level of exposure. According to news reports, toxicologists in Thailand now believed that the two sisters had been drinking a popular local cocktail that contains Coca-Cola, cough syrup, ground up leaves from the kratom tree, and the well-known mosquito repellent DEET and is admired for its hallucinogenic qualities. In their case, apparently, too much DEET had ended up in the drink.
Or as the tourism-focused island paper, Phuket Wan, wrote following the announcement:
Phi Phi is renowed as a rites-of-passage destination for 20-somethings and it transforms from a haven for day-trippers in the sunshine to a less beguiling island party after dark.
Alcohol is just one of the many ingredients that Phi Phi's party people mix in their buckets.
Each bucket is a concoction of all kinds of juices and substances that are mixed into containers of various sizes and usually sucked through straws all night long.
It's a nicely sinister portrait of cocktails in the Phi Phi islands. Still my first reaction was a kind of "DEET, really?" skepticism. We're not talking about anything like tetrodotoxin here; this is a compound we routinely spray all over ourselves on camping trips and summer hikes. Our Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 30 percent of the U.S. population uses a DEET-infused product every year. Plenty of us have accidentally swallowed a little during an over-enthusiastic assault on mosquitoes without getting sick (including myself). Not that you'd want to take it by the tumbler, of course. But it's reasonable to ask whether it would take a tumbler to kill you
The short answer, yes, pretty close to that. DEET, by the way, stands for N.N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, which is basically chemist-code for a formula that includes the familiar elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. It apparently works as a repellent by disrupting insect olfaction-detection systems. And an EPA analysis found that it is slightly toxic to birds, fish, and aquatic invertebrates and has"very low toxicity potential" in mammals, such as ourselves.
So it's not surprising that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reportsthat people have committed suicide with the repellent but only by drinking full "bottles of DEET" along with quantities of alcohol. In other words, evidence is that it would take that tumbler full to kill you. I also looked at the other ingredients in the suspect cocktail, except for the Coca-Cola (which hasn't contained cocaine for more than a century). The codeine in cough syrup could, in a high enough amount, add to a sleepy buzz. And kratom - while known to be hallucinogenic - can also bring on a numbing lethargy in too high a dose. It is generally, though, considered to be most risky for its addictive qualities than for its acute toxicity issues.
Which brings us back to the DEET theory of death. And that requires someone to pour a ridiculously large quantity of this pale yellowish liquid into a drink served to two sisters from Canada. Could someone be that careless? Sure, especially if they were enjoying the island brew themselves. Still, only the Belanger sisters died after that night on the beach; under this theory only one overtoxic cocktail was served. And that does raise a few other questions. For instance, why - as you may have noticed from my fatality list - is it mostly young women who are dying of mysterious chemical poisonings in a tropical paradise?
Even Phuket Wan (which seems remarkably tough-minded for a publication focused on tourism) seems unconvinced by the mosquito repellent hypothesis, noting that it would be unusual for only two people to be poisoned by a shared bucket drink.
Could it be a cover up, the paper asked, for a heavy-handed use of insecticide in the sisters' room? Insecticides have been suspected in some of the other deaths. Could it be that island authorities were trying to hide the existence of a killer who was deliberately spiking drinks? Or, slightly less creepily, that the women had been killed by excessive use of insecticides by hotel management and that authorities were moving to protect reputations? "All options remain open," the paper warned, until the authorities produce evidence of a much more meticulous investigation.
And, yes, you'll find me in the "options remain open" camp as well. It may well be that this is as simple as it sounds, two trusting travelers from rural Canada drinking an untrustworthy bar drink. Still, at the moment, if I felt a sudden urge to go party in the Phi Phi islands, you would find me insisting on a nicely capped container - and, I think, opening that bottle myself.
Which, frankly, makes good sense most of the time anyway.
Images: 1) Phi Phi Island bay, byiamdave/Flickr 2) Handout photo/Phuket News


text: Home Videos (Hong Kong) Hong Kong Content 20 Hong Kong Foods You MUST TRY! Videos (Hong Kong)Hong Kong ContentWe FancyVideos 20 Hong Kong Foods You MUST TRY! June 4, 2017 500 Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter 20 Hong Kong Foods You MUST TRY! Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR eXposed [eXposed ep.3] Megan Bowen aka ChoNunMiGookSaram Korea Content What's Inside a Korean Convenience Store? eXposed [eXposed ep.2] Rose aka ShibbyMintay Seoul clear sky enter location 15.1 ° C 16 ° 14 ° 28% 1.7kmh 1% Mon 13 ° Tue 14 ° Wed 14 ° Thu 14 ° Fri 15 ° We Fancy934FansLike667FollowersFollow106FollowersFollow358,000SubscribersSubscribe We Fancy Guide172FollowersFollow52FollowersFollow421SubscribersSubscribe Xander21,409FollowersFollow4,345FollowersFollow10,100SubscribersSubscribe Haeppy27,021FollowersFollow3,942FollowersFollow25,900SubscribersSubscribe - Advertisement - Most Popular Club Arena – Sinsa-dong, Seoul This is hands down our favourite club in Seoul, South Korea - Club Arena or 클럽 아레나. Like most clubs, it has two main rooms.... Xander We Fancy Guide - January 1, 2017 Xander (a.k.a We Fancy Xander, formally known as BapMokja) was born on November 28th 1988 in Bath, England. After a DNA test in 2018,... CHEETOS Flavored Korean Fried Chicken?!? 치토스치킨 We Fancy Guide - September 13, 2017 We try a KOREAN EXCLUSIVE - Cheetos Flavored Fried Chicken from Mexicana! 치토스치킨 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh4dB-CrKys Haeppy We Fancy Guide - January 1, 2017 Haeppy (Born July 24, 1988), is a Canadian social media personality of Hong Kong descent based in South Korea. Early Life Haeppy was born in Montreal,... Korean Highway Rest Stop Food 휴게소 We Fancy Guide - December 7, 2017 We go on a road trip to a Korean Rest Stop area known as a 휴게소. If you ever go on a long distance trip... Asian Boss (Steve & Kei) We Fancy Guide - January 1, 2017


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Investigators have mapped a region of the brain responsible for a certain kind of multitasking behavior, the uniquely human ability to perform several separate tasks consecutively while keeping the goals of each task in mind. Using imaging technology, scientists from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) found that a specific type of multitasking behavior, called branching, can be mapped to a certain region of the brain that is especially well developed in humans compared to other primates. The study will appear in the May 13, 1999, issue of the journal Nature(1).
"The results of this study suggest that the anterior prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that is most developed in humans, mediates the ability to depart temporarily from a main task in order to explore alternative tasks before returning to the main task at the departed point," says Jordan Grafman, Ph.D., Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section at the NINDS and a co-author of the study.
"We believe that this finding is important because branching processes appear to play a key role in human cognition," says Etienne Koechlin, Ph.D., also of the NINDS Cognitive Neuroscience Section and a co-author of the study. "In everyday life, we often need to interrupt an ongoing task to respond to external events and we all experience how demanding it is to react to these events while keeping our minds on the original task."
According to previous studies, humans may be the only species capable of performing branching, which involves keeping a goal in mind over time (working memory) while at the same time being able to change focus among tasks (attentional resource allocation). For example, people who are interrupted by a phone call while reading must be able to keep in mind the memory of what they were reading just before talking on the phone. Once the phone call is over, they should be able to return to the last sentence read and continue reading.
The investigators used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures changes in blood flow to the brain, to view the brains of volunteers while they performed branching tasks. When a particular part of the brain is being used, there is an increase in blood flow to that area. The increase in blood flow means that there is an increase in the amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in the blood. fMRI can measure the presence (or absence) of oxygenated hemoglobin and use that information to create an image of the brain at work on a screen. The image of the brain shows activation in the areas receiving increased blood flow. The region of the brain that is involved in multitasking is called the fronto-polar prefrontal cortex (FPPC).
Tasks performed by the volunteers involved exercises to test working memory, attentional focus, and a combination of the two. All of the subjects, who were healthy, normal volunteers, participated in all of the task groups. The task groups consisted of a control task, a delayed-response task, a dual-task, and a branching conditions task. Dual-task involves changing focus between alternative goals successively. The investigators predicted that subject performance on the individual delayed-response task and dual-task conditions would not activate the FPPC. They did predict that the branching task which involves problem solving and planning would stimulate activity in the FPPC. According to the fMRI data, their predictions were correct. The FPPC was activated only during those tasks that involved an interaction between working memory and attentional focus decisions.
The FPPC is the region of the brain that controls complex problem solving and is especially well developed in humans as compared to other primates. The study showed that the FPPC selectively mediates the human ability to multi-task.
The NINDS is the nation's premier supporter of research on the brain and nervous system. It is part of the National Institutes of Health located in Bethesda, Maryland, and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the year 2000.
(1) Koechlin, E., Basso, G., Pietrini, P., Panzer, S., Grafman, J. "Exploring the role of the anterior prefrontal cortex in human cognition." Nature, Vol. 399 (6732), May 13, 1999, pp. 148-151.


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text: stevew 0 Posted January 2, 2013 Reducing the number of movie channels but not the subscription fee has been a horror for customers and a drama for Foxtel. From January 1, the subscription TV giant moved to just one movie package of 11 channels (movies/drama), which includes two channels repeating the same programs two hours later. The new offering also splits movie content into genres. Previously there were two packages and a total of 15 channels, with four of them repeating content two hours after it was initially screened. The reduction in the number of packages and channels, but not the subscription per month for those who were previously paying for both packages, has caused a major backlash. Subscribers have vented their anger on Foxtel's Facebook page with more than 600 posts criticising the change. "If the range of new movies doesn't increase and the cost doesn't stay the same then it'll back to DVD's and downloads.... even back to cinemas....," wrote Dennis Radisich. Bruce Foster wrote: "Expect my call tomorrow Foxtel, I'm cancelling my Movies subscription! Refuse to pay for the reduced channels for the same price! Oh and if you send me a price increase in the next month or so expect me to cancel the lot!!" Foxtel's director of corporate affairs Bruce Meagher said the call centre had received more telephone calls than usual about the new movie channel package. However, he said most subscribers who called were satisfied with the changes once they were told they would not be worse off. He said once Foxtel had finalised movie deals with Disney and MGM, subscribers would be the winners. "We are significantly increasing our on demand library so that will also increase the number of movies available," Mr Meagher told AAP. "We would say they are no worse off and over time they will be far better off. "The experience we are getting in the call centre, because they are getting calls as well, once that is explained to people they are quite OK about it. "What we have to do on Facebook is go back and start directly addressing it which is what we are working today." Meagher said having two less time shifted channels was not really an issue, because a lot of subscribers used an IQ box to record movies. He said customers who were only subscribing to one of the two previous movie packages were being catered for. Streamlining the movie channels would mean less "straight to DVD" content being aired and there would also be an increase in the number of movies available on-demand. "We are significantly increasing our on-demand library so that will also increase the number of movies available even though they are not on a channel," he said. "For those who only took one of the movie packages before, there are grandfathering arrangements so they will get the same number of channels as they had before." http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/2013/01/02/17/01/foxtel-feels-viewer-backlash-over-changes 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites