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Robert E. Hunter served as US Ambassador to NATO and as chief White House official for Europe and the Middle East. He was Senior International Consultant to Lockheed-Martin from 1998 - 2013. He has written speeches for three US presidents and three vice presidents and provides coaching in strategic planning, political and executive communications and media handling.
Less than three months into a new US administration, it is difficult – if not impossible – to predict specific US foreign policies, beyond President Biden's welcome overall change in approach: notably to return the United States to seek comity with friends abroad, to rejoin international institutions (e.g., the World Health Organization), and to recognize the systemic global threat of climate change.
Making predictions now is particularly difficult regarding the two most critical areas of contention: China and Russia. From the perspective of US-European relations, Russia is obviously more important. At the same time, for several years the United States has sought to line up its European allies (NATO) and partners (the EU) in common approaches to China. But that is less relevant to transatlantic relations than Russia.
The Biden administration's opening moves toward Russia can so far be expressed largely in generalities, as is also true with China: the desire to cooperate where that is in US interests, to compete in some other areas, and to oppose Russian aggression (notably military and cyber) or other actions.
This limitation to generalities reflects in major part that, in foreign policy, the Biden administration is still largely operating on the basis of positions taken during the presidential campaign season. This is small wonder, given the snail's pace at which senior political appointees are decided, vetted, confirmed by the Senate, and then installed in office. Thus while Biden has a functioning team in the White House (the National Security Council staff, which is not subject to Senate confirmation), the State Department has only two "confirmed" office holders, Secretary Antony Blinken and the ambassador to the United Nations.
Mostly, therefore, the Biden administration is acting toward Russia more-or-less on autopilot, largely set following Russia's seizure of Crimea seven years ago and its continuing military involvement in the Donbas and other parts of Southeastern Ukraine – now raised in Western perspectives by current Russian military exercises on the Ukrainian border. The steps the US and NATO have taken since 2014 have reassured those allies (and non-allies) close to Russia as well as putting Russian President Vladimir Putin "on notice." (Nevertheless, Washington and Moscow did agree to extend the critical New START treaty, a clear mutual interest, which would otherwise have lapsed on February 5th.)
Not all NATO allies agree about Russia. In general (with exceptions) those geographically farther away are less concerned, especially compared with the Baltic states and – a non-member -- Ukraine, which is hoping now to be provided a way-station to joining NATO: a Membership Action Plan. While Biden has cited "Russia's ongoing aggression" toward Ukraine, he has not taken a position on its NATO aspiration; but it is a non-starter, given that there is no prospect of Ukraine's ever gaining the needed unanimous allied support to join and thus be defended against military assault.
At least one carry-over US policy toward Russia does have negative implications for transatlantic relations (or at least US-German relations), even while President Biden's full-throated endorsement of the Washington Treaty's Article 5 has contrasted with President Trump's ambivalence. This administration is as set against the Nord Stream gas pipeline as was Trump's, including possible congressionally-mandated sanctions.
Beyond the specifics of the Biden administration's approach to Russia is a major inhibiting factor: US domestic politics, beginning with the 2016 US presidential election in which Russia presumably interfered. There is no evidence that this tipped the scales, yet it became a rallying cry among dissatisfied Democrats to explain why Hillary Clinton lost. (To her credit, unlike Trump in 2020, she conceded defeat on election night.) Democrats' unhappiness led to cries to impeach Trump, even before he was inaugurated. And when the "Russia case" failed, the Democrats turned to Ukraine as its replacement. A major casualty was any possibility because of US domestic politics to try changing relations with Russia, including opportunities discussed by Trump and Putin at the July 2018 Helsinki summit, which were ignored in the American media's zeal to attack Trump. Prospects for improved US-Russian relations have been further damaged by Russia's later actions, including its mistreatment of Alexei Navalny, and by Biden's characterizing Vladimir Putin as a "killer."
This week, Biden did try to employ carrot and stick in a phone call with Putin, on the one hand strongly criticizing Russian actions regarding Ukraine, including major military exercises near its frontier; but – surprisingly -- on the other hand proposing a summit meeting in the next few months. Even with a summit, however, moving US -Russian relations from confrontation to dialogue is a long shot. As evidenced by the intensity of US criticism of Russia, US domestic politics would still inhibit basic change in relations, unless Putin were to undergo an unlikely sea-change in his own ambitions in Russia's backyard.
Current limits on US strategic and policy analysis also extend to consideration of Russian-Chinese relations and the possibility that frigid Washington-Moscow relations could push Russia toward China – and with similar effect from frigid Washington-Beijing relations. It is a safe bet that this angle is not yet being seriously pondered in the Biden administration, given all else that is in play. Further, in its direct bilateral approach to Beijing, the administration is also on autopilot set by Trump. This was evident at the US-Chinese senior-level meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, when Secretary Blinken began by laying out an agenda focusing on China's misbehavior at home and abroad; not surprisingly, the Chinese responded in kind: not an auspicious start.
To this point, the reader might infer that the Biden administration is adrift on analysis and policy planning in regard to both Russia and China, with little or no consideration whether what the US and others in the West (Europeans) do could drive Russia and China closer together. But President Biden needs for now to be "cut some slack." He has rightly set out first to be a "domestic president," and not just to repair damage done by his predecessor. His domestic focus is also his Number One international requirement: dealing with the human and economic costs of the pandemic, rebuilding US infrastructure and competitiveness, and trying to restore civil society (as well as advancing civil rights) – all needed to undergird America's role abroad. He deserves full marks for what he has done so far.
In time, with a full team and presidential attention turning more to foreign policy, there will no doubt be greater focus on the realities of geopolitics and geoeconomics. To aid in that process, America's European friends also have responsibilities (as well as the need for patience): notably coaching the Biden team on the new realities of transatlantic relations in all of their dimensions and unstinting honesty in making European views clear.


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St. Luke's Urgent Care Welcomes Nurse Practitioner Libby Maas
New Providers & Staff
Posted On:
Nurse Practitioner Libby Maas, APRN, CNP, is joining St. Luke's Urgent Care.
Maas earned her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Walden University in Minneapolis. She is board certified as a nurse practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She is also board certified in infection control by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology.
To learn more about St. Luke's Urgent Care, visit slhduluth.com/UrgentCare.

subset: commoncrawl


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Binding: Soft CoverCondition: Near Fine Price:$30.00
Wilk, Christopher MARCEL BREUER: Furniture and Interiors NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1981First printing. Small quarto. 192 pp; 199 b/w illustrations; bibliography. Paperback. Near Fine, a crisp, unmarked, tight copy, covers bright & glossy. The first comprehensive study of Breuer's furniture & interiors; companion to the 1981 MOMA exhibition. Exhibition brochure laid in; errata slip taped to front flyleaf.Inventory number #013463


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Facebook is a popular social networking platform where people connect with family, friends, and like-minded individuals and engage in a variety of possible online activities. A large variety of these activities are made possible through so-called Facebook applications. These applications make use of the Facebook web services and APIs to integrate with the Facebook site, access the Facebook user's social information, and extend Facebook's social platform.
The Facebook Application Model
Facebook uses a proxy server model to allow web developers to integrate to its platform. With the proxy server model, Facebook can open its platform to developers through REST web services, and can provide APIs with high integrability to the Facebook look and feel, without needing to provide hosting services for each and every third-party application. Developers are also free to engineer their applications as they wish, choosing almost any technology they desire to write their app. This creates an even playing field for all developers, at least when it comes to development costs: Developers still need to deploy their apps in a way that can handle potentially millions of users per day. It is not uncommon for a popular Facebook app to grow to a million users within a single week.
The proxy model works like this:
- Your Facebook application lives on your server; you register the base URL of your Facebook app with Facebook
- When a user visits your application on Facebook, Facebook calls the corresponding URL on your server
- Your app calls the Facebook API to get information about the user and their friends and to update the user's profile page
- Your app uses information from its own database and session, and from the Facebook user data, and renders a page with the output from its action
- In the case of a so-called FBML canvas page, Facebook turns FBML markup into HTML and Javascript
- In the case of an iframe canvas page, Facebook wraps the output of your application in an HTML iframe
- Facebook then returns your app's output to the user, wrapped in the Facebook navigation headers, footers and sidebars
First Steps
Writing Facebook applications using Java has proven difficult for many developers. The official Facebook Java libraries were often buggy and not updated as often as the official PHP libraries. To add insult to injury, nearly all official Facebook documentation and sample code (and a good deal of examples out on the blogosphere) are for PHP development. Luckily, a group of independent developers proceeded to implement their own improved and maintained clone of the Facebook API libraries for Java, removing one major obstacle for Java development. This article hopes to provide concise information about how to use these unofficial libraries to create a Facebook web application, and hopefully eliminate the last hurdle for Java developers.
Before beginning to write code, you must first sign up and log in to Facebook. Then, add the Facebook Developer Application to your user profile by visiting the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/developers/. The Facebook Developer Application is where developers request the API keys and the Facebook web address from which their application will be accessed. The Facebook Developer Application is also a public group where Facebook developers can help each other with the API and with proper use of the Facebook Developer App itself.
Figure 1: Facebook sign-up page
Figure 2: Facebok Developer Application at http://www.facebook.com/developers/
Once you have added the Facebook Developer Application, you can register your intended web application with Facebook. Don't worry that you don't have an application deployed yet; the information you will fill in is quite basic and will help organize how the app is developed. To begin, click the "Setup New Application" button on the Facebook Developer App page. This will open the "New Application" page on Facebook.
Figure 3: Facebok's "New Application" page
Follow these steps to fill out the "New Application" page with basic values:
- Fill the "Application Name." This is what you want your application to be known as among users. Facebook will use this name when reporting user activity with your app on users' "Mini Feed."
- Read the "Terms and Conditions" and check the checkbox if you agree with them.
- Click the link named "Optional Fields" to open the form up and show the other fields.
The next fields are optional for the simplest of Facebook apps, but for most types of applications, you want to fill out at least "Callback URL" and "Canvas Page URL" and leave the rest at their default values. Without those two fields filled, you can only create a so-called external Facebook app. External Facebook apps can only be accessed from a domain different from *.facebook.com, but the app can still access Facebook users' social network information through the API.
- In the two e-mail fields, you can enter your e-mail address, but they can be blank during development.
- The "Callback URL" field needs to be filled with the base path URL to your application on your development server. All application actions and pages are relative to this URL.
- What you enter here is specific for your own setup, but to be clear, you should not put "http://localhost:8080/myfacebookapp". This needs to be an address that Facebook servers can reach through the Internet, not a local network address. This means that if you are following along from home, developing on your home computer, you need to find what your external IP address is, and open your application server's HTTP port in your firewall. This is fine for at-home development and experimentation with the API, but you will need to find a hosting solution for "going live" with your Facebook applications.
- This URL needs to have a servlet or web framework action mapped to it, with the URL pattern set to the root of the web app ("/" or the slash.) We will do this for our example later on.
- The "Canvas Page URL" refers to the base path URL on the apps.facebook.com subdomain where users go to access your app. All application actions and pages are relative to this URL.
- For this introduction, you will choose FBML as your application's rendering method.
- Whether you choose to have your application rendered as an FBML canvas or iframe canvas is a matter of whether you will be using a lot of JavaScript effects, Ajax or Flash in your application's user interface (iframes), or whether you want to follow the Facebook look and feel as closely as possible with minimal effort (FBML.)
- JSF, Facelets, and Tapestry developers should select iframe rendering.
- Select no to indicate your application can be added on Facebook. Selecting "yes" would mean the app will show on your users' profiles, helping your app spread as other users see information about your app on their friends' profiles. This is great once you are live, but you will turn it off during development.
- You can leave the Terms of Service URL blank for now.
- If you are developing the app with the help of other Facebook users, you can add them to the "Developers" field.
Now that the fields have been filled as outlined above, you can click "Submit." Facebook Developer App will take your input and take you to a page listing the apps you have registered with Facebook. Below your application's name, you will see an API key and a secret key for your application. Make note of these hex strings; you need them later when calling into the Facebook API.
Figure 4: Facebok's Developer App, showing the newly created app's details (blacked in my example)
Preparing the Development Environment
Throughout the rest of the article, I will be using the Eclipse Web Tools Platform, Apache Tomcat 5.5 application server, and XDoclet 1.2.3. Setting up Eclipse and the Web Tools Platform plugin, XDoclet, and Tomcat is beyond the scope of this particular article. That said, if you have never used Eclipse before and want to work through this article with a minimum of fussing around with Eclipse, I recommend you download the EasyEclipse Server Java distribution of Eclipse and web development plugins, available at http://www.easyeclipse.org/site/distributions/server-java.html . You will still need to download and install Tomcat and XDoclet separately and set up Eclipse Web Tools Platform to work with them.
Once you have your development environment properly set up, create a new Dynamic Web Project called myfacebookapp by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the "New" button on the extreme left side of the Eclipse toolbar. Then, select "Project." When the "New Project" dialog box appears, select "Dynamic Web Project" from the "Web" project category. Then, click the "Next" button.
Figure 5: The "New" button pulldown menu, with "Project" selected
Figure 6: The "New Project" dialog box, with "Dynamic Web Project" selected
At the New Dynamic Web Project dialog box, fill in the project name as "myfacebookapp" and select your Java EE app server in the "Target Runtime" selection drop down, and "Dynamic Web Project with XDoclet" in the "Configurations" selection drop down. Then, click Finish.
Figure 7: The "New Dynamic Web Project" dialog box
Once you click Finish, Eclipse creates your Dynamic Web Project, and may ask whether you want to switch to the "J2EE Perspective." Once the project is created, you can see the myfacebookapp project in the "Project Explorer." Expand all of its folders to see the structure of your project.
Figure 8: The myfacebookapp project in the Project Explorer
Getting the Facebook Libraries
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, a group of independent Java developers have produced an unofficial but excellent set of Facebook libraries for Java development. Go to http://code.google.com/p/facebook-java-api/ to learn more about the project. These libraries need at least Java SE 5. They will not work with Java SE 1.4 or earlier.
You need to download the following JARs:
- http://facebook-java-api.googlecode.com/files/facebook-java-api-1.7.2.jar
- http://facebook-java-api.googlecode.com/files/json-1.0.jar
- http://facebook-java-api.googlecode.com/files/facebook-util-1.7.2.jar
If you're running your Java app server on top of Java SE 5, download the following JARs as well:
- http://facebook-java-api.googlecode.com/files/jaxb-api-2.1.jar
- http://facebook-java-api.googlecode.com/files/jaxb-impl-2.1.jar
- http://facebook-java-api.googlecode.com/files/jsr173-api-1.0.jar
You don't need the three JARs above if you're running on Java SE 6 or later.
Download the libraries and copy them to the myfacebookapp/WebContent/WEB-INF/lib folder on your disk. Once you copy the libraries to the folder, right-click the myfacebookapp project icon in the Eclipse Project Explorer and select "Refresh." Expand the "Web App Libraries" folder and Eclipse will show you the Facebook library jar files.
Figure 9: The myfacebookapp project with the Facebook Java libraries added
Once this is done, you finally can begin coding a basic Facebook app.
A Facebook App in Two Parts: A Servlet and a JSP
To keep things simple, this app does not use any hot web frameworks and cool design patterns. You will write a simple "Model 2" Java EE application, just a servlet and JSP page per action. If you know how to write Java web applications with Struts, Spring MVC, WebWork, Tapestry, etcetera, you will be able to take this code and apply it to your Java web framework of choice. You have to know how to walk before you can run, and you'll do the servlet and JSP walk this once.
Continuing with Eclipse, right-click the "myfacebookapp" folder, and select the "New" menu item. Out of the many choices, select "Servlet." In the "Create Servlet" dialog box, write org.myfacebookapp in the "Java package" field and AbstractFacebookServlet in the "Class name" field. Click "Finish" to continue.
Figure 10: Right-click the project folder and select New -> Servlet
Figure 11: The "Create Servlet" dialog box
Eclipse will create a package in the "Java Resources: src" folder inside the project folder, and in this package you will find AbstractFacebookServlet.java. Eclipse will open AbstractFacebookServlet.java for you. Replace all of the code in it with the following:
Listing 1.1: AbstractFacebookServlet.java
package org.myfacebookapp; import java.io.IOException; import java.util.*; import javax.servlet.ServletException; import javax.servlet.http.*; import org.w3c.dom.Document; import com.facebook.api.*; /** * Servlet implementation class for Servlet: * AbstractFacebookServlet * */ public class AbstractFacebookServlet extends javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet implements javax.servlet.Servlet { protected static final String FB_APP_URL = "http://apps.facebook.com/myfacebookapp/"; protected static final String FB_APP_ADD_URL = "http://www.facebook.com/add.php?api_key="; protected static final String FB_API_KEY = "your-api-key-goes-here"; private static final String FB_SECRET_KEY = "your-secret-key-goes-here"; public AbstractFacebookServlet() { super(); } /* * This method is used by all of the application's servlets * (or web framework actions) to authenticate the app with * Facebook. */ protected FacebookRestClient getAuthenticatedFacebookClient( HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) { Facebook fb = new Facebook(request, response, FB_API_KEY, FB_SECRET_KEY); String next = request.getServletPath().substring(1); if (fb.requireLogin(next)) return null; return fb.getFacebookRestClient(); } }
The getAuthenticatedFacebookClient() method above needs to be called before making any calls to the Facebook API through the FacebookRestClient. You could put the FacebookRestClient in the session object with the idea of authenticating less often, but you will find in practice that your stored FacebookRestClient will lose authentication even though your app session hasn't yet expired. Authenticating every time doesn't use that much more bandwidth because you're going to be calling back through the API anyhow to get information to process your users' requests.
Before you continue, replace the FB_API_KEY and FB_SECRET_KEY constants with the correct settings from your registered Facebook application (the last step from the section "First Steps").
Now, create another servlet, called MainPageServlet.java. Once you have the MainPageServlet.java created, replace the package, import statements, comment block, and class definition with this block of code:
package org.myfacebookapp; import java.io.IOException; import javax.servlet.ServletException; import javax.servlet.http.*; import java.util.*; import org.w3c.dom.Document; import com.facebook.api.*; /** * Servlet implementation class for Servlet: MainPageServlet * * @web.servlet * name="MainPageServlet" * display-name="MainPageServlet" * * @web.servlet-mapping * url-pattern="/" * */ public class MainPageServlet extends AbstractFacebookServlet implements javax.servlet.Servlet {
Note that this servlet will extend from AbstractFacebookServlet, not from javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet. This will allow MainPageServlet to inherit getAuthenticatedFacebookClient(). The comment block is a set of XDoclet properties for servlet definitions in the web.xml document in the application's WEB-INF folder. This declares that MainPageServlet should be mapped to the root ("/" or the slash) of the web app's base URL.
Next, replace the MainPageServlet's doGet() and doPost() methods with the following code:
protected void doGet( HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException { FacebookRestClient facebook = getAuthenticatedFacebookClient(request, response); if ( facebook != null) { if ( getFacebookInfo(request, facebook) ) { request.getRequestDispatcher( "/main_page.jsp").forward(request, response); } } } protected void doPost( HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException { doGet(request, response); }
The MainPageServlet's doGet() method gets the authenticated FacebookRestClient immediately, and then calls a method called getFacebookInfo(), which you will define shortly. If getFacebookInfo() returns true, the code proceeds to redirect the server to "/main_page.jsp." You also will define this JSP page shortly.
Continue fleshing out MainPageServlet's code. Insert this getFacebookInfo() method right after the doPost() method.
/* * This method obtains some basic Facebook profile * information from the logged in user who is * accessing our application in the current HTTP request. */ private boolean getFacebookInfo( HttpServletRequest request, FacebookRestClient facebook) { try { long userID = facebook.users_getLoggedInUser(); Collection<Long> users = new ArrayList<Long>(); users.add(userID); EnumSet<ProfileField> fields = EnumSet.of ( com.facebook.api.ProfileField.NAME, com.facebook.api.ProfileField.PIC); Document d = facebook.users_getInfo(users, fields); String name = d.getElementsByTagName("name").item(0).getTextContent(); String picture = d.getElementsByTagName("pic").item(0).getTextContent(); request.setAttribute("uid", userID); request.setAttribute("profile_name", name); request.setAttribute("profile_picture_url", picture); } catch (FacebookException e) { HttpSession session = request.getSession(); session.setAttribute("facebookSession", null); return false; } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); return false; } return true; }
This piece of code is where the meat of the Facebook action is for this example, so to speak. First, you get the user ID of the current logged-in user, and add this to a collection called users. Then, you define an emumeration set of Facebook API ProfileField types, com.facebook.api.ProfileField.NAME and com.facebook.api.ProfileField.PIC. You pass the users collection and the ProfileField enumeration set to a Facebook API called users_getInfo(). This returns an XML document with the profile name and profile image URL of the user IDs in the users collection—the current logged-in user. You parse out the <name> and <pic> elements out of the XML document, and store the user ID, profile name, and picture URL as request parameters. You do this to allow main_page.jsp to have access to this information as request scope beans.
Now, you get to the JSP part of the application. Create a JSP file called main_page.jsp, and insert in it the following code:
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" pageEncoding="UTF-8" %> myacebookapp Main Page

   ${profile_name}, you are special because you are using myfacebookapp!

This JSP page is straightforward and simple. It uses JSP Expression Language to output the value of the request parameters "uid," "profile_name," and "profile_picture_url" you placed in the request in the getFacebookInfo() method from MainPageServlet.java. Using these values, it displays the users' name and profile picture, with links to their profile, and congratulates them for using "myfacebookapp."
Using Facebook Markup Language (FBML)
Using the Facebook API within your servlet or other Java web framework controllers and actions gives you plenty of power to create your web app. But, there is more to the Facebook API than calling web services to pull out user profile and friend information. With FBML, you can use a markup language created by Facebook to integrate more fully with their platform with a minimum of fuss. For example, replace the main_page.jsp with the following code.
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" pageEncoding="UTF-8" %> myacebookapp Main Page
 <fb:profile-pic uid="loggedinuser" size="small" linked="true" />
 <fb:name uid="loggedinuser" useyou="false" linked="true" capitalize="true" />, you are special because you are using myfacebookapp!

If you call main_page.jsp directly from your Facebook app's URL (for example, http://apps.facebook.com/myfbapp/main_page.jsp), you will see that these FBML tags produce the same output as the previous servlet and JSP EL example. Please also note that calling the JSP page directly means it didn't need to call getAuthenticatedFacebookClient() to authenticate with Facebook. These <fb:> tags aren't JSTL tags. The FBML parsing occurs on Facebook's servers, where the user has already logged in (otherwise, they couldn't access your application on Facebook's URL). Facebook also has ready access to the logged in user's profile information.
Besides FBML, there are also FBJs for Ajax-like effects, and FBQL for querying user information in a SQL-like fashion, all within pages with <fb:> tags. Combine FBML, FBJs, and FBQL with a powerful Java MVC framework, and you can create complex apps that integrate cleanly with the Facebook UI.
The Facebook social network is amazingly popular. To a great extent, the popularity of the service is a reflection of the popularity of the many applications created with the Facebook platform and its APIs. With improved libraries and example code, Java developers can hit the ground running and create more applications, to grow and extend the Facebook platform's reach with new ideas and social services.
- Facebook's Documentation pages: http://developers.facebook.com/
- Independently developed Facebook API for Java: http://code.google.com/p/facebook-java-api/
About the Author
PJ Cabrera is a freelance software developer specializing in Ruby on Rails e-commerce and content management systems development. PJ's interests include Ruby on Rails and open-source scripting languages and frameworks, agile development practices, mesh networks, compute clouds, XML parsing and processing technologies, microformats for more semantic web content, and research into innovative uses of Bayesian filtering and symbolic processing for improved information retrieval, question answering, text categorization, and extraction. You can reach him at pjcabrera at pobox dot com, and read his weblog at pjtrix.com/blawg/.


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OEM Parts & Service Centre was founded in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic with the aim to adapt to the new current norm. We desire to bring an alternative way of thinking to the table. Now more than ever we need fresh new ideas and partnerships to restore and rebuilt our economy and our people.
We established OEM Parts & Service Centre for the primary purpose to serve. Our aim is that we, through the profit we generate as a business, serve, and give back to the communities of South Africa and Africa. Part of our mission plan is to equip communities in the rural areas within South Africa and Africa, to make these communities self sustaining. With the goal of providing jobs and their own micro economies. To equip these communities with the tools and skills to become self reliant and prosperous economies. OEM Parts & Service Centre desires to be a light and a much-needed glimmer of hope to the people of South Africa and Africa.
OEM Parts & Service Centre works in collaboration with different Original Equipment Manufacturer's supplying the Auto Body Repair Market with OEM panel. We also have an export department, shipping OEM Parts to Africa and the overseas markets. Our service department has top notch technicians and we use OEM Approved Parts for service and repairs to your vehicles. Our number one priority is the safety and peace of mind of our customers. We are a parts and service distribution centre that desires to get and maintain 100% customer satisfaction.
OEM Parts & Service Centre's directors dedicated themselves to ensure that OEM Parts & Service Centre meet the needs of our customers by creating platforms within our own business profile that will allow for our business structure to integrate with the goals and vision of our customers, being it from a retail or a service perspective.
OEM Parts & Service Centre wants to be among the first in its segment to move with the times. Thus, our vision is to serve the ABR Market in a new, different way. Complying and moving in line with "The Right to Repair Act" that was implemented, we have embarked on a new and exciting way in doing business with the OEM's, ABR's, Export Markets and Vehicle Service Customers.


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JBS is being sued by Brazil's labour prosecutors over COVID-19 outbreak
Brazilian labour prosecutors are suing JBS SA for damages and demanding better working conditions after a coronavirus outbreak in a processing plant sickens workers.Reuters reports that labour prosecutors published a statement on 27 May, outlining the COVID-19 outbreak at a meat plant in Ipumirim, Santa Catarina.
This is the second time in just over a month that labour prosecutors have sought legal redress against the meatpacker. The case cites it company's alleged inability to stem outbreaks of COVID-19 at slaughterhouses and meat packing sites.
In a statement sent to Reuters, JBS said that it had not received formal notice of the lawsuit and added, without elaborating, that it adhered to "strict protocols" against the virus.
In Rio Grande do Sul state, labour prosecutors on 18 April also filed suit after a high number of COVID-19 cases were detected at the company's Passo Fundo unit. Operations at Passo Fundo, which employs more than 2,600 people and like Ipumirim slaughters chickens, resumed on 21 May after being closed for about a month.
The prosecutors in Santa Catarina alleged JBS is not doing enough to protect its employees at Ipumirim, which was closed after a labour inspection on 18 May.
"The company is considered a contagion hot spot for coronavirus not only in Ipumirim, but also in neighboring municipalities, as it employs workers from all over the region," a statement by labour prosecutors said.
On the day prosecutors closed Ipumirim, some 86 employees had tested positive for COVID-19, or about 5 percent of the approximately 1,500 employees at the site, the prosecutors' statement said.
The cases registered at the plant represented then approximately 14 percent of the contaminations in the west of Santa Catarina, and almost 2 percent of all cases in the state, the prosecutors said.


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By Sudarshana Banerjee
Microsoft and Compal Electronics have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Compal's tablets, mobile phones, e-readers and other consumer devices running the Android or Chrome Platform. Although the contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from Compal under the agreement.
"Together with the license agreements signed in the past few months with Wistron and Quanta Computer, today's agreement with Compal means more than half of the world's ODM industry for Android and Chrome devices is now under license to Microsoft's patent portfolio," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft. "We are proud of the continued success of our licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome," he added.
Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 700 licensing agreements.
More information about Microsoft's licensing programs is available here.
(Sudarshana Banerjee is consulting editor with techtaffy.com. She can be reached at [email protected])


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Native Trees for South Florida
In recent years, the subject of native plants has taken on new significance in Florida horticulture. Reasons for this include the loss of natural areas to development, coastal deterioration due to disturbance of native vegetation, and the naturalization of exotic plants that in some cases may out-compete native species. Fortunately, relatively few of the hundreds of exotic ornamentals that have been introduced into the state fall into the latter category. Two in particular, Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolious) and punk tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia) have become noxious weeds in central and south Florida.
Many counties are considering landscape ordinances that require that a percentage of native plant materials be used in all future developments. Several have already implemented such ordinances. This will result in a need for wider availability of native plant materials. Woody landscape plant producers, landscape architects, and home gardeners in Florida need to become informed about and prepared for the production and cultural needs of native plants.
In actuality, native plants are not really new to our nursery industry. Many native trees are already well-represented in the inventories of south Florida nurseries. Such "staples" of Florida horticulture as sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera), cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), southern red cedar (Juniperus silicicola), live oak (Quercusvirginiana), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) are all native to the state.
Arguments for the Use of Native Plants
A number of claims both for and against the use of native plants have been proposed. Some claims made in favor of native plants are:
Energy efficiency: Because native plants are adapted to our soils, temperatures, and rainfall patterns, they are believed to require less irrigation and fertilization than exotics. However, recent research does not support this contention.Just because a tree is native to south Florida does not mean that it is native or adapted to all soil types and hydrological conditions found in south Florida. For example, a wetland species like pond apple, Annona glabra, is not going to prosper if planted on dry, limestone fill. All too often, native topsoils have been removed and water flow patterns changed during development. If such is the case, an attempt to recreate the original composition of trees and shrubs may fail.
Low maintenance: Native plants are considered to be resistant to pests and diseases in Florida because they have evolved under constant exposure to these organisms. While this is generally true for native pests, exotic pests, to which native plants have no evolved resistance, are regularly introduced, often with catastrophic outcomes. Thus, plant diversity in the landscape is an important means of minimizing the risks from such pest or disease outbreaks. Of course, any newly planted tree, whether native or exotic, will require regular irrigation until it becomes established.
Ecological-educational factor: The use of native trees in landscapes preserves the state's natural resources. This argument is perhaps the best one for wider use of native plants. Florida's continued increase in population places enormous pressures on our native vegetation. The educational benefits of native plant landscapes are of great value, particularly in teaching new residents about our state's natural bounty.
Arguments Against the Use of Native Plants
Claims made against the landscape use of native plants include:
They are slow-growing. Plants differ in their growth rates as much as in any other characteristic. Native plants range as widely in this category as exotics. In many cases, slow growth rates can be improved with regulated nutritional levels during production. Cultivar selection and evaluation programs also can improve slow growth rates. In some situations, slow growth rates may be advantageous; for example, slower growing trees will require less pruning to control size or prevent interference with power lines.
They are unattractive. Native plants include attractive trees like satin leaf (Chrysophyllum oliviforme) and more homely species such as wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera). Both have a niche in landscape situations.
Their propagation is difficult, therefore native plants are expensive. Certain plants become widely available in the trade in part because they are easy to produce. This knowledge comes about through research, in both the private and public sectors. It is true that many choice native species are tricky to propagate successfully, but on the whole, this is due to the fact that few research efforts have been applied in that direction. This is now beginning to change.
They are generally unavailable. Even with the limited amount of in-depth knowledge on native plant propagation, there are currently more than 70 nurseries within the state listed by the Association of Florida Native Nurseries, with a combined plant inventory of more than 500 species. A substantial number of native species are already represented in the inventories of "traditional" nurseries.
Landscape Situations for Native Trees
In certain landscape situations, native plants are particularly desirable. These include:
New development with pre-existing vegetation in which a tree canopy has been retained. Some showy exotics can look out of place in landscapes in which a great deal of pre-existing native vegetation has been spared the bulldozer's blade. In such developments, the use of additional native materials may create a more harmonious and aesthetic effect.
Environmentally sensitive areas such as the coastal strand, barrier islands, and wetlands. These areas have suffered a great deal of mismanagement and shortsighted development. Many of the plants native to these environmentally sensitive areas are particularly adapted to the specialized conditions found there. The use of these native plants may actually help to slow further deterioration of some of these environments.
Public areas (parks, beaches, nature centers). Native plants should be a priority in public areas for their environmental and educational value and are required for restoration of disturbed areas within nature preserves.
Considering Site Factors
The characteristics of the planting site must be carefully considered when choosing native plant materials for landscaping. First, some concerns relating to the past history of the site must be addressed.
What was the original vegetation of the area? This knowledge will indicate which native plants will perform best on the site. Assuming the native soil and hydrology have not been modified, native species that once grew in a given location are likely to do better when re-planted than species from very different types of native habitat.
Have the native soil and/or hydrology been modified? During development, topsoil is often removed and original drainage patterns disturbed. Fill soil of very different quality may have been brought in to replace the topsoil removed. If such is the case, it may be impossible to re-establish the same species that once grew on the site, or it may require a great deal of maintenance to do so.
Additional consideration must be given to the present condition of the site. Does the site accumulate standing water? What is the soil type: muck? white sand? coral rock? Is there salt spray exposure on the site? Will the landscape plants have to be integrated with turf, and possibly be subjected to turf-oriented irrigation and fertilization practices? All of these factors will influence the degree of success with which particular native species will perform in a landscape. The size of the lot also may restrict the use of some species whose mature dimensions require a lot of space.
Finally, certain aesthetic factors come into play when choosing natives, just as they do with exotic plant materials. What landscape functions need to be fulfilled? Should the trees primarily provide shade, barrier effects, beauty in the form of flowers or fruit, or is low maintenance the main criterion for plant selection?
Planting Native Trees
Planting native tree species is no different from planting exotics. Amending the backfill soil (the soil originally excavated from and then returned to the planting hole) is not recommended. The top of the root ball of nursery stock should be placed in the soil at the same depth at which it grew in the field or the container. Circling roots in container stock should be cut just behind the point of their deflection to more firmly anchor the tree and prevent future root girdling. It may be necessary or desirable to reduce top growth; this should be accomplished by thinning out (the well-distributed removal of one or several branches at their point of origin), rather than heading back (cutting all top growth back to approximately the same level). Thinning cuts will preserve the natural shape of the tree.
The trees should be regularly irrigated after planting, and a mulch of organic material is recommended. A top dressing of a slow-release fertilizer can be applied within the dripline of the tree before the mulch is placed down. If rainfall is received on a regular basis in the first few months after planting, this may be sufficient for establishment of small container stock (1 gallon size). If not, periodic irrigation will be necessary. Larger plants may require a year or more to properly establish in the landscape. The frequency of irrigation (weekly to several times per week during the first few months) will depend on temperature, rainfall, and the water-holding capacity of the soil. Irrigation frequency can be reduced in successive months. Generally, the production of new growth is the best indication that a tree is becoming established. Supplementary fertilization 1 to 2 times per year may be desirable, at least during the first year after planting. Some native plant producers recommend using fertilizer formulations with good trace mineral analyses traditionally designed for palms, particularly if the native trees are being planted on fill soils.
How to Use the Selection Table
Table 1 and Table 2 of native tree species suitable for use in south Florida will help in making the right choices for various landscape situations. The list is by no means a complete inventory of the subtropical or tropical tree species that are native to the state. However, the list is representative of those native trees that have proven themselves in the landscape, are available from nurseries, or are judged worthy of wider use and availability. The trees in the tables are arranged alphabetically by scientific name, accompanied by one or more common names (same list of trees in both tables).
Special attention should be paid to environmental factors such as soil pH, light requirements, and drought and salt tolerances (Table 1). Table 2 offers information on plant type, shape, flower color, flower characteristics, flowering season, and uses for the native trees listed. In Table 1, drought tolerance refers only to Florida conditions and should be interpreted as follows: High: will not require supplemental irrigation after establishment; Medium: may require occasional irrigation during periods of unusual water stress; and Low: will require supplemental irrigation during periods of drought.
Nutritional requirements (Table 1) should be interpreted as: High: the species will typically suffer from moderate to severe deficiencies of one or more elements and plant growth and quality will be strongly affected. Regular fertilization may be required to keep these plants alive. Medium: Most plants will show mild to moderate deficiency symptoms of one or more elements. Regular fertilization will be required to completely eliminate deficiency symptoms. Low: Nutrient deficiencies are rarely encountered and fertilization is unnecessary.
Salt tolerance (Table 1) should be interpreted as follows: High: will withstand direct salt spray and soil salinity; Medium: should be protected from direct salt spray but will withstand slightly saline conditions; and Low: sensitive to salt on the foliage and in the root zone.
Under the category of Hardiness Zone, subtropical refers to the transitional area between central and tropical Florida where an occasional winter frost will occur. Tropical refers to southernmost mainland Florida and the Keys where winter frosts are rare to nonexistent. To illustrate, silver buttonwood is categorized in Table 1 as a subtropical/tropical tree with a high tolerance for salt and drought. Before installing a large-scale landscape using native trees listed as tropical only, it is best to confer with your county cooperative Extension service agent about minimum winter temperatures expected in your area. If a particular species can be used in central and north Florida as well, this has been indicated (Table 1).
Obtaining Native Plants
Native plants should not be transplanted from the wild without the permission of the landowner, and never from public lands. In general, it is best to leave wild populations intact, unless the plants face destruction from development. Superior clones in native populations should be identified where possible, and nursery stock propagated vegetatively or from seed. The advantages of seed vs. clonal propagation is that a degree of the genetic diversity of the species is maintained in cultivation.
There is a place in Florida horticulture for both superior exotic and native ornamentals. The "native plant movement" should not be looked upon as a threat, but as an impetus to add to the diversity of landscape materials at our disposal in Florida.
Height, growth rate, soil pH, hardiness zone, salt tolerance, drought tolerance, light requirements, and nutritional requirements of native trees for south Florida.


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Hi Everyone, The blog is about my adventures in the avatar world that surrounds us. Hopefully, there are take away for you in reading the blog. Enjoy! David Alan Bartholomew Phillip Hallsted
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Human Help: Wisteria gnome cage
Quote: The redwood avatar outside my flat got her own avatar. Now she speaks to me.
In Berkeley at Live Oak Park, a wisteria vine is behind a closed gate with a gnome who is lonely. The wisteria gnome is childlike, green, three feet tall with yellow eyes and leafy branches for hair. Prior to the fence, children climbed on his vines. He aided the child by suggesting what to grab or step on. If needed, he placed their hand or foot in the proper location. He misses the fun and laughter of children playing on his vines.
The gnome and I talked about the fence. He wants the fence gone now and I should cut it down. I showed him an image of me behind bars if I did that. I showed him another image of a city council meeting where he explains his dilemma to the people. He agreed to the meeting, but needs to learn how to make a shell and practice wearing it. I will report back on how the meeting comes out.
Tree and plant avatars do not communicate through speech. Use pictures to visual talk to them.
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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FOR CHILDREN ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is largely characterized by social dysfunction. The social problems that are related to this are often assumed to be a choice by the individual, however, this is not the case. Children with ASD want to interact with others but they do not possess […]
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Published: 12 December 2011
Post-mining rehabilitation doesn't restore habitat equivalent to that removed by mining
A research case study from the monsoonal tropics of northern Australia indicates that assumptions about post-mining rehabilitation success need to be reviewed.
Pre-mining forest habitat (2006) at the case study bauxite mine site, Weipa, Cape York Peninsula. Credit:
Sue Gould
It is commonly assumed that we are able to 'restore' habitat and that we are able to accelerate natural processes of ecosystem change. Our theoretical models of how ecosystems change have largely been derived from observations of how natural systems respond to natural disturbance events. These models only hold true, though, to the extent that the biological legacy of the original vegetation is retained both at the site of disturbance, and in the surrounding landscape.
Research in synthetic ecosystems1 is revealing that some key assumptions about how ecosystems change are incorrect. A case in point is rehabilitation following bauxite mining at Weipa on Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, which was the subject of my research. Here, the bauxite ore body occurs as a shallow deposit over large parts of north-western Cape York Peninsula. Darwin Stringybark open forest grows closely associated with the Weipa bauxite plateau which provides a deep, well-drained matrix.
The ongoing bauxite mining process involves completely clearing the vegetation and stripping approximately 50 cm of soil for use in rehabilitation. Mining on the Weipa bauxite plateau lowers the landscape on average by 2–3 metres. After the ore body is removed, the stripped soil is re-spread over the mine floor. Rehabilitation sites are ripped, ploughed, fertilised and direct seeded with a mix of species.
Preparing for mining (2006) at the case study bauxite mine site, Weipa, Cape York Peninsula. Credit:
Sue Gould
The plant species mix used in the rehabilitation sites studies was based on a facilitation model of vegetation succession. This assumes that initial 'pioneer' species will improve site conditions for later species, and that they will then senesce and be replaced by 'late successional' species. Large-seeded, fast-growing species that germinate reliably from seed, for example acacias, are used in the expectation that they will re-build nitrogen stocks in the soil then die and be replaced by more long-lived, slow-growing eucalyptus species.
However, my comparison of vegetation and birds between pre-mining native forest and post-mining rehabilitation at Weipa shows that expectations of how rehabilitation would develop over time have not been met. Rehabilitation successfully establishes vegetation cover but, in sites over 20 years old, it remains dominated by acacias. The desired eucalyptus species that provide key habitat resources for local native forest birds are only established at very low densities. Because of the differences in vegetation, the bird community in rehabilitation also differs significantly from the bird community in pre-mining native forest.
The habitat requirements of many bird species are much more specific than people realise. Whenever habitat changes, the distributions of some bird species expand while others contract. Often, it is the mobile, generalist species that are the winners, while more sedentary species or habitat specialists decline. My findings show that unless rehabilitation is able to restore habitats very similar to the pre-mining native forest, it will not provide suitable habitat for approximately a third of the native forest bird species.
21-year-old post-mining revegetation at Weipa, showing significant difference in the vegetation community. Credit:
Sue Gould
Rehabilitation at Weipa has achieved limited success. It has established vegetation cover and it does provide habitat for birds. However, it has resulted in habitat conversion rather than habitat restoration. Without costly management intervention, the differences in vegetation composition are likely to persist. Therefore, we can say that mining on the Weipa bauxite plateau causes long-term, if not, permanent, loss of the original ecosystem with long-term consequences for the forest-dependent birds whose habitat is cleared for mining.
My research highlights the need to question the assumptions that we can restore habitat in highly modified landscapes, such as post-mining landscapes, and that restoration can be fast-tracked.
Sue Gould is a visiting fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra and is author of the recently published research article, 'Does post-mining rehabilitation restore habitat equivalent to that removed by mining? A case study from the monsoonal tropics of northern Australia, in Wildlife Research 38(6) 482-490, 11 November 2011.
1 Synthetic ecosystems are those made up of new combinations of species as a result of species selection by humans, invasion by exotic species or alteration of environmental conditions or a combination of these effects.


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1. Businesses to spend $15 billion on data protection tech by 2024
Rising concerns about the privacy of personal information will result in businesses spending $15 billion on data protection and compliance technology by 2024, Gartner predicts. Organisations are feeling pressure both from customers demanding greater transparency on data use and from governments imposing new regulations. More than 80 per cent of companies will face at least one privacy-focused data protection regulation by the end of 2023, says Gartner.
2. Companies collecting more data as consumer privacy concerns grow
Over the past year, 70 per cent of businesses have increased the amount of personal data they collect from consumers, according to a KPMG survey. Thirty-three per cent of businesses also said consumers should be concerned about how companies use their personal data, while 68 per cent of consumers are concerned about the level of data that businesses collect. The survey revealed that 40 per cent of consumers don't trust companies to use their information ethically.
3. 'Trusted' partners should have strong privacy credentials
Privacy is becoming a key issue for organisations in choosing which partners to do business with. According to a survey from International Data Corporation (IDC), privacy is an important consideration for evaluating the trustworthiness of potential partners, along with security, compliance, environment and sustainability, and diversity and inclusion. Building a trusted network of businesses is seen as a way to boost a company's trust perception and brand reputation among customers.
4. Rise in online payment fraud threatens data privacy
Juniper Research predicts that, in the next four years, merchant losses due to online payment fraud will exceed $206 billion. Identity and account takeover increased during the pandemic, threatening data privacy as perpetrators focused on capturing consumers' payment information. In 2021, remote physical goods purchases were the leading cause of online payment fraud, accounting for 47 per cent of incidents.
5. Millions refuse to allow NHS to share patient data with private companies
More than one million people in the UK have opted out of a National Health Service (NHS) data-sharing scheme, after an online campaign spread awareness of government plans to make patient data available to private companies. The scheme is now on hold as officials re-evaluate it. Since the campaign launched, NHS Digital has been promising to increase the security and privacy of patient data.
6. UK government revisiting data protection rules
The UK government has launched a public consultation to review the country's data protection regime, with the goal of creating an environment that promotes business growth and trust around data use. The consultation will focus on business accountability for data privacy management, the use of cookies and electronic communication, and data transfer between countries.
7. Consumers won't patronise companies that abuse data
People are becoming more concerned about the privacy of their personal information, and are prepared to adjust their purchasing habits to back up their values. According to an Ipsos study, 71 per cent of consumers said they would stop doing business with a company if it gave away sensitive information without permission. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed also said they need to learn more about ways to protect themselves.
8. Could 'synthetic' data ease privacy concerns for healthcare research?
A public health researcher at the University of Alberta is working to create 'synthetic' medical data that maintains patient confidentiality while still proving useful for conducting research, testing products and training students. The researchers used machine learning to model and create healthcare records that mimic real-world data but cannot be traced back to individual patients.
9. Stockholm called out for 'privacy washing' over schools app
The city of Stockholm has been accused of 'privacy washing' when it blocked a third-party app that aimed to replace and improve upon an expensive and underperforming IT system for schools. "By slandering the volunteers who discovered security defects in its billion-kroner app, the city was able to maintain the fiction that it had exercised good oversight in public spending," says privacy campaigner Cory Doctorow on Twitter.
10. Creating safe, remote work environments a priority for businesses
New ways of working brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected companies' technology spending priorities. Cybersecurity and hybrid working are now enterprises' main concerns, according to recent research by Omdia. More than half (58 per cent) of workers said they either will be primarily home-based or will adopt a hybrid work style, leaving businesses scrambling to invest in technologies that support safe and productive environments for workers and their data.
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Custom Cleaning Group
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(918) 481-1940
We are cleaning Tulsa
Mon – Sat 8am-5pm
Tulsa Commercial Floor Scrubbing, Stripping & Waxing
Commercial buildings require regular maintenance routines, especially on the floors. The presentation of your business offices should always be pristine; otherwise, it can leave a negative impression on your potential clients. Well-maintained commercial office spaces can not only help you impress your customers, but they can also raise the chances of getting more business and sales. To achieve this perfect presentation, a great deal of focus should be dedicated to your floors.
Custom Cleaning Group recently had the privilege of stripping and waxing the floors at American Legion Post 131 in Skiatook, Oklahoma. These floors had not been stripped or waxed in years, and the tile glue was coming up from between the tiles. The results were amazing, and the American Legion post was extremely happy!
Because this project was so successful, we wanted to help other business owners understand some of the areas involved with floor scrubbing, stripping, and waxing. This way you can determine how to best maintain your commercial floors.
What is the difference between commercial floor scrubbing & floor stripping?
The difference between floor scrubbing and floor stripping is very important to understand. Floor scrubbing is simply the removal of one coat of a dirty or damaged floor finish and then applying one or two coats of new finish rather than fully replacing all old layers of finish.
Floor stripping is is a technical term used in the janitorial and sanitation industry to describe the complete removal of all old layers of wax and dirt on your floors and then preparing them to be coated with brand new layers of finish.
Performing a strip and finish is a time-consuming process, but when done correctly, it can totally restore your floor's appearance and even protect it from damage in the future.
How often should you strip your floors?
Regular floor stripping and waxing should be a part of every commercial business' routine maintenance plan, but how do you know when it is a good time to do this and what interval is correct? The answer to the second part of this question primarily depends on the type of business you operate and the corresponding amount of foot traffic it receives on a daily basis.
In general, for heavy-traffic commercial spaces, such as restaurants, retail stores, etc., floors should be stripped and waxed at least once annually or every six to twelve months. This will help to ensure that your floors stay looking their best!
Can you wax a floor without stripping it?
Technically, you do not have to strip the floor before you wax it. However, if there are too many coats of old wax on your floors, and they are causing the floors to become dull, then it's best to completely strip the floor before applying a new coat of wax. This is what we did for American Legion Post 131.
Commercial Floor Care
Keeping your floors in their best condition requires several maintenance actions to be performed regularly. If you leave your floors unchecked, they can lose their original shiny appearance, and your flooring tiles can slowly get worn down. It can become challenging to maintain floor tiles if they get worn off or if they become porous. Because of this, we'd like to share a few basic things you should know about getting your commercial floors waxed and raise the productivity of your business and other professional activities.
Apply a Sealer
After stripping your floor of all the old coatings of finish and waxes, the next step is to apply sealers. Sealers work as insulation for your floor tiles, and you must apply two coats of a high-quality sealer so that there are no leaks of wax even if your tiles are old and have become porous.
Apply Wax
After applying the required number of coats of sealer, you must now apply the wax coat on your floor. There are different types of floor waxes available on the market, and you must choose the wax that best suits your floor tiles. Ideally, you should apply at least 4 to 5 wax coatings to get the best results and to make sure your floor wax lasts for a long time.
Apply Finish
After you're done with applying the floor wax, you should apply the finish layers on top of the waxed floor. The finish helps to protect the wax that you have applied and reduces the scratches and accumulation of dirt over time.
Buff Your Floor
The final step would be to buff your commercial floors. Floor buffing removes any dust particles from the floor, and it brings out the shine of your floor. Floor buffing, when done regularly, increases the life of the finish and the wax on the floors. Therefore, it would be best to get your commercial floors buffed on a monthly, if not weekly basis, to retain the perfected floor appearance for a long time.
Custom Cleaning Group
You must maintain the clean and presentable appearance of your commercial floors. This will require several professional activities, as explained above, to bring out the best form of your commercial floors. If you miss out on any of the above, you will not be able to achieve the best form and, therefore, will need to get your floor waxed more often, which is more costly.
Custom Cleaning Group makes sure your commercial floor is done the right way at affordable rates. Check out all our services by visiting the rest of our website or calling us at 918-481-1940.
Custom Cleaning Group
5666 S 122nd E Ave, Suite B6
Tulsa, OK 74146
Monday-Saturday from 8am to 5pm
Just a Few of Our Tulsa Clients
Custom Cleaning Group
5666 S 122nd E Ave, Suite B6
(918) 481-1940
Monday - Saturday 8am - 5pm
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Phil Ivey is capable of these casino environment mainly intended for his or her success with poker. Greatly thought of as the most effective all-around poker online avid gamers, Ivey has proven to oftentimes email your die or possibly carry out just a few hands and wrists involving chemin de fer pertaining to fun. Still contrary to therefore several other huge paint rollers, Ivey is normally a pointy gambler discussion as good as in an attempt to smack the go from the retaining wall and rely on chances to get over that casino.In 2012, Ivey had taken the idea towards baccarat game tables with Ocean City'lenses Borgata and London'vertisements Crockfords On line casino that has a mysterious woman partner. It turned out absolutely nothing distinct, for the reason that Phil must have been a frequent survey on the dining tables, not to mention on-line casinos were being thrilled taking your boyfriend's phase, certain there was clearly not a single thing possibly even most significant betting paper hearts could quite possibly do today to beat a built-in house edge.
As it so happens, these were wrong.Ivey began in order to gain thousands throughout the casinos. Crockfords discovered out there has been a product awry as well as rejected to pay up, withholding the volume of about $13,000,000 through winnings. Borgata wasn'to since brief so that you can get up to date, together with Ivey finished up going for a walk aside having $9.6 million.In that aftermath, Phil Ivey have been suing Crockfords meant for his or her profits, that's why located light-weight he or she was initially while using procedure often called "border sorting." While using the flaw for the cards' back, Ivey'erinarians associate could identify convenient handmade cards, transforming this furniture on the casino. Instead of sourcing timber this information, Ivey could fully clear off your own home edge.
This higher curler didn't try to hide the point that this individual was in fact with the process while in your partner's comes to visit so that you can both equally casinos, because he didn'to genuinely see it as cheating. She or he was basically easily using casinos' disregard without doing everything to interfere while using the game.Sadly, this UK judge didn't agree. Ivey got rid of his particular getting sued since the courts driven Crockfords wasn't obligated to spend up. Far worse, in the event that Borgata snagged wind flow of that which was developing across the pond, many people considered to go to court Phil designed for your partner's success, along with this example holds ongoing.
Ways Black-jack Saved FedEx.Gambling will be never anything at all you should think of to assist you to protect your because of impendent economic doom. The reality is, more often than not, it will result in further complications versus it's going to solve. However for those who check with Tom Holmes, the actual creator with U.s . Communicate, he might disagree.Back throughout 1970, Jackson developed a preview for a company that is going to offer you a full-scale transport method, right from picking in the packages to getting the application at which it must go. During those times, it ended up being treated by several organizations, along with Holmes ended up being won over one single company thing in command of the entire concatenation was in fact the reply to a problem.As it again ended up, your dog was basically most suitable, except for just before it all followed all around any killer terminate very nearly in advance of the item started.
With 1973, FedEx delivered a very first strain about 186 packages. Right from the start, that they functioned into financial problems. That they ran way up his or her energy statement for you to $24,000 together with primarily $5,000 in the company'ohydrates traditional bank account. Kirkland first of all tried to accomplish issues your old-fashioned solution, wanting to know for a financial loan, but yet he / she ended up being turned down everywhere you go he tried.So, they banked away one more $5 http://riddlersoftgames.co.uk/gambling-establishment-showdown-rules-4/,000 and additionally had them to the pontoon dining tables on Las Vegas. Lovely women Beginners luck used compassion about his / her dour plus somewhat improbable goals to store typically the declining organization, as well as Jackson jogged the original $5,000 around $27,000. I thought this was adequate for niche and then continue the seller intending of at least rather longer.It was basically an extremely dimply commence, yet from that point on, she never ever viewed back. That FedEx user surely could get a lot more borrowing products soon after and even continuing to produce a business that'ersus well worth huge today. In the event right now there weren'longer just for blackjack and additionally Smith''s do-or-die mind-set, nonetheless, the comlete means of shipping and delivery programs may have been a great deal various today.


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Many startups find themselves struggling to stay afloat because of insufficient funding or poor organization. Others are choked by the competition, particularly they're new in an oversaturated industry.
Startups shouldn't be discouraged from starting in a busy field. Instead, they should grasp the importance of competing for the top spot. Of course, brand-new, small businesses won't get far if they don't employ serious strategies for gaining on the competition. Here are five strategies you can use to help your startup get ahead of the competition:
1. Carefully monitor competitors' actions
You can't get ahead of the competition if you don't know what they're up to. Fortunately, monitoring the competition and their actions is fairly easy.
Everything is online nowadays, and you can readily visit competitor websites, storefronts, and social media sites to see what initiatives they're pursuing. As they make moves to promote their business, you can learn from both their successes and their failures while you're working on your own product development and marketing strategies.
2. Use all the resources available
Startups have an incredible wealth of resources available to them, but they're only beneficial if they're utilized. Here are some tools that will help you gain ground over other companies in your industry:
ADP: This payroll service has helped more than 25,000 Canadian small businesses make their payroll and tax processes more efficient.
AdRoll: This advertising tool offers cross-platform retargeting and prospecting to spread the news about your business for a low price.
Cyfe: This platform lets you create all-in-one dashboards to monitor both your online presence and that of your competitors.
Watson Analytics: This predictive analytics and data visualization software hands the power of Big Data to small businesses.
GetResponse: This is an email-marketing platform that helps you track and monitor the success of your emails.
These are just five of the many tools available to take your business to a higher level. With efficiency and productivity tools like these, startups can compete with companies twice their size.
3. Challenge assumptions
Forget what you think you know. Sometimes you operate under assumptions about other businesses and their processes that make it difficult for you to gain an advantage.
Focus on data that comes in real time. Things could change in an instant for your competitors, and you need to be fairly certain you're ready to handle the shifts when they occur.
4. Stick with professional designs
It's true that a good product can "sell itself," but more often, it needs a little push to make it more visual. Thus, the image of your company may be nearly as critical as the actual products and services.
Go with professional designs to ensure your brand will stand out and have the impact you're hoping for. Everything from your logo to your site design and product packaging should be set up to attract appropriate attention and boost brand imprinting.
Don't underestimate the power of professional designs when it comes to beating your competitors.
5. Put your efforts into sales
It's easy to get so caught up in product production, business plans, and marketing theories that you forget about the power of the raw sales pitch. If you don't have experience selling something, try to get some.
Focus on moving the product through sales pitches that demonstrate value to the reader. Once you've developed a solid sales strategy, your clientele will grow. Smart marketing tactics and excellent products will take care of the rest.
What tactics will you use to grow your business and get ahead of the competition?


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My dad was just teasing the kids about the apple, but they believed him. This morning, I told Jerry to go throw it out in the trash outside, but the kids threw a fit. They wanted to eat it, because they were sure it was an apple. I said it was a very under-ripe watermelon, because it was hard and too small to be a ripe watermelon. Jerry thought it was a pumpkin of some sort.
Naturally, we decided to cut it open and find out. I got my biggest kitchen knife, and pressed down to slice it open--and it didn't even leave a dent. Jerry gave it a try and couldn't cut into it either. So what does one do in that situation? Take it outside and slam it on the ground to break it open, of course!
First, the before pic:
I just woke up, so don't judge how I look! |
After the first slam on the ground |
The seeds looked unfamiliar to all of us |
I was sticking with my guess, and Jerry was just dumbfounded. We gave up, and just threw it in the woods. All of this before the kids even got ready for school! When my dad came over to walk the kids to the bus stop (he likes to do that in the mornings), we told him the story, and he laughed and told us it was a gourd that my mom picked up at the farmer's market. I have no idea what people do with those things!
I feel like I was so unproductive all day, and the time went by too fast. I went grocery shopping this morning, and then I was sorting through old pictures and scanning them to my computer, which took forever. I cleaned a little and did a load of laundry. And suddenly, it's almost time for the kids to get home.
I was sore this morning when I woke up (from the classes I did with Jessica yesterday), so I decided not to run today. And it was FREEZING outside--literally, because the grass was all frozen and there was frost all over everything. My car door even stuck a little when I opened it.
I don't like this for two reasons: 1) I'm flying in an airplane in a few days, and I am terrified of the thought of frost on the airplane or the runway (even though they "deice the plane" it's scary); and 2) Because I feel like we just barely got to Fall, and now the weather is winter-like outside. It's not even Halloween and my kids wore winter coats to school today.
Remember how I said I had a bad headache when I was running a couple of days ago? Well, it never went away. The past two days, I seriously was in so much pain that I was just lying on the couch every spare moment I had. Then Jerry mentioned yesterday that maybe it's caffeine withdrawal--and it made so much sense!
I've ALWAYS had two cups of coffee in the mornings, and a few days ago, I quit altogether. Coffee makes me jittery, and I was so nervous and anxious as it was, that I figured I should quit coffee until all this stress goes away. So I haven't had any since. *Cue headache* Today, I still have a faint headache, but nothing like it was the past two days. It kind of makes me not want to start drinking coffee again!


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Sarah Pike
American, 1971
lives and works in Vermont, U.S.A.
Artist's CV >>
'My printmaking addresses the reconstruction of architectural forms in an effort to grasp the invisible sensation of being in a physical space. The environments we engage in are most often imprinted in us through the passive engagement of daily routines. The repetitive actions of entering the same door, traveling from one part of a building to another down a similar series of hallways, or navigating a neighborhood by well-practiced turns and rests at the same street corners are internally absorbed into our body memory even though we take little time to observe consciously the environment through which we pass. As a result, place becomes silently interwoven into our sense of self with the powerful capability of influencing our actions and perceptions.'
© 2016 Ulrich Kühle Sarah Dudley GbR • All rights reserved.


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Are You An Effective Leader?
"Leadership is not about titles. It is not about seniority. It is not about status, and it is not about management. Leadership is about power and the ability to know when and how to use it to influence the people around you to do and become more! Transformational leadership is about using your actions to elevate others and put them on their path to greatness."
– Terina Allen, ARVis Institute
If you are deemed an effective leader, it will be because those you lead believe it so.
The needs of your team or your employees will trump any preferences or inclinations you have for a preferred leadership style. Varying workplace situations require different leadership styles and behaviors to be applied as appropriate.
But it is more important that leaders appreciate and understand that we have a real responsibility to flex between various leadership styles so as to be responsive to different situations and to develop those who work for and with us and who place their trust in us.
No leader will experience sustained success and support without developing and maintaining relationships or without meeting the needs of those they lead.
Regardless of any preferred leadership style, effective leadership occurs when we as leaders not only get organizational results, but when we build trust, develop competence and confidence, and transfer learning, understanding, and value to those who work for and with us.
These ten (10) sets of questions will help you determine the answer to the question, "Am I an effective leader?"
If you take the time to deeply contemplate these questions and then answer as honestly as you can, your own responses will actually tell you more for how effective your leadership style and behaviors are than any predefined/set definition for leadership.
And believe me, your employees and team members secretly express their desire to have you ask yourself these questions as well.
Effective Leaders Can Answer These Questions…
Are the people and the company better off as a result of my leadership? How do I know? On what substantive data do I base my response to this question?
Do I provide resources and remove obstacles for my staff or team members? Am I even aware of what resources they need and where the obstacles are? How can I learn more?
Do I create an environment for my team members to do their best work and be successful? What am I doing in this regard?
Do those I lead trust that I have their backs, or do they believe I am just in it for me? Either way – why and how do I know?
Am I comfortable with several "experts" being in the room, and how do I demonstrate that I value diverse and contrary input?
Did I transfer learning, understanding and value to my employees or team members? What data or information do I use to substantiate my answer?
Do I provide meaningful and relative feedback in a timely manner to my staff? What formats do I use? Is my feedback connecting to specific to position descriptions, performance goals and organizational strategy?
What permissions do I give those I lead to challenge me and give me feedback, or does feedback only go in one direction (from me to them)? Do I learn from my team what I need to keep doing, start doing, or stop doing? How do I collect this information?
Am I learning anything from my staff – my team – and, if so, what? Do I ever thank my staff for helping to develop me or enhance my leadership? How do I do this?
If I am not adding value for those who work for and with me, why then am I holding on to the leadership position? Is it about pay, title or power? Or do I really understand that my own leadership efficacy is predicated upon the value I add to my team and organization?
Step it up a notch! You can also use these questions as a 360-feedback tool, and let others evaluate your leadership through these questions.
You could take this assessment yourself and/or use it as a 360-feedback assessment by providing your employees or team members the opportunity to evaluate your leadership effectiveness for themselves.
If you do use it as a 360 tool, modify the questions from first person to third person and be sure to allow others to answer anonymously and voluntarily so they will be more likely to be as truthful as possible.
360-Feedback Can Be Hard to Take In
As you receive and interpret the results of such a 360 assessment, you will have to prepare yourself for the information you might get back. Put aside personal objections to the information you may receive.
Be open to receive the results (positive and negative) and resist the temptation to denounce the findings. Even if you don't agree with something that is reported, make an effort to understand the responses by trying to see it from the respondent's perspective.
And by all means, do not make any effort to learn which individuals gave which responses on the reports, and do not retaliate against or confront any staff member for contributing to the process.
Each person has his/her own experience with you. Your goal would be to learn how people experience you and whether or not you are adding value and where?
When assessing leadership effectiveness, remember this
Interpretations trump facts, effective leadership trumps position titles, and what our employees actually experience trumps any assertions we make about our own leadership efficacy.
The final judge of anything exists in one's mind and is based on an experience. If we are deemed an effective leader, it will be because our employees and team members actually find value in our decisions and behaviors and deem it so.
Contemplate this…
Are you an effective leader? Whether you think you are or you think you're not, on what do you base your answer?
At the end of the day, do we want people to support, work for and follow us because they want to or because they are forced to?
Do you currently have any method in place to evaluate your own leadership efficacy? What?
This article was updated on January 29, 2022, from its original publication version.
Terina Allen
CEO, ARVis Institute
International Speaker | Strategist | Management Consultant | Educator | Author


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For too long, we have been exploiting and destroying our planet's ecosystems. Every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch and over the last century we have& destroyed half of our& wetlands. As much as 50 per cent of our coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 per cent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5°C.
Ecosystem loss is depriving the world of carbon sinks, like forests and peatlands, at a time humanity can least afford it. Global greenhouse gas emissions have grown for three consecutive years and the planet is one pace for potentially catastrophic climate change.
The emergence of COVID-19 has also shown just how disastrous the consequences of ecosystem loss can be. By shrinking the area of natural habitat for animals, we have created ideal conditions for pathogens – including coronaviruses – to spread.
With this big and challenging picture, the World Environment Day 2021 is focus in the ecosystem restoration and its theme is "Reimagine. Recreate.Restore."
Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting and reversing this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it. This World Environment Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea.
Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people's livelihoods, counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity.
Source: Naciones Unidas


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(Astrology Explored) One of the recently discovered dwarf planets is Eris. As the goddess of Discord, her story is complex. In Greek mythology, she is the pathogenically produced daughter of the goddess Night. Night birthed in primordial unisex Chaos leaving Eris with no male heritage.
Eris, like her mother, could produce children without the aid of a consort. She was whole unto herself, not needing the male principle to complete her.
Except for Ares, the god of war, the Olympians ignored her. Called the Queen of Battle, and supposedly delighting in the bloodletting of war, she and Ares hung out on the battlefield. Was she excluded because of her unwomanly pursuits? Or was it that as goddess whose provenance was more ancient than that of the King of the Gods, (being the great, great, great grand aunt to Zeus); she had little appreciation of the pretensions of Zeus's extended family?
Her battle buddy, Ares, was invited to Peleus and Thetis' wedding, but she was not. Not to be ignored, Eris crashed the party. In the middle of the celebrating deities, she rolled an invaluable gold apple with the inscription "To the fairest." Hera, the wife of Zeus and the goddess of marriage, Venus (Aphrodite), the goddess of sexual love and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, vie with one another for the prize. This competition set in motion the events that prefaced the Trojan War. This act of Eris' earned her the reputation as the Goddess of Discord.
All goddesses are representations of parts of the ancient Sumarian goddess, Innana. She morphed through time into Isis, and then splite by patriarchal culture into the Greek goddesses. The goddesses inherited a manageable and non-threatening portion of Innana's great power. But Eris, with her martial career, did not fit male paradigms of femininity, and sidelined then reviled as the Goddess of Discord.
But is there another way to look at her role?
…the other [side of Eris] [is that] . . .she stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbor, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbor vies with his neighbor as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men."
In other words, another form of the word strife is "striving." Competition creates conditions where individuals . . . strive to improve their life."
But while it is expected that men to compete with one another it still is not culturally acceptable for women to compete. For example, a scholarly study illustrates that women who negotiate for higher salaries suffer a heavy price.
Eris illustrates a feminine principle that is whole, not needing the male principle for completion, ready and willing to take on even the God of Olympus to illustrate a point. Her "discord" is being at odds with the patriarchal culture and the fragmented view of femininity that pervades our culture to this day.
10 Billion miles from the Sun, Eris takes 560 years to complete its highly elliptical orbit around the sun. All the people alive today are born with either Eris in Pisces or Eris in Aries. The discovery of Eris while in the sign of her traditional companion Aries shows us that we are ready to remember the experience of the feminine as whole and complete without the male principle for completion.Eve with her apple kicked us out of paradise. Eris with hers may help us to get it back.
Next: Eris In The Houses
Note: This post is a revised edition of my previously published article from the shuttered 451Press edition of Astrology Explored.
Image published under a Creative Commons license as issued by Flickr user Bill Glover