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*Product received. This post includes my affiliate links.
Did you check out the fantasy adventure film: The BFG? If not, you absolutely should! We received this to review and check out yesterday. We watched it last night and oh my goodness, we LOVE this movie! Two thumbs up from my family!
About The BFG:
Disney and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Walden Media, present the fantasy adventure film "The BFG," the first-ever motion picture adaptation of Roald Dahl's resonant tale of childhood, the magic of dreams and the extraordinary friendship between a young girl and a big friendly giant.
Directed by three-time Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg, the film reunites the director with his Oscar®-nominated collaborator on "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," Melissa Mathison, who adapted the children's author's timeless adventure for the big screen.
This magical tale of an extraordinary friendship loaded with exciting extras will brighten the holidays for the whole family! "The BFG" comes to Digital HD, Blu-ray™ and Disney Movies Anywhere November 29 (today!!!). Go grab your copy on Amazon.com today! Yay!
This magical tale of an extraordinary friendship loaded with exciting extras will brighten the holidays for the whole family!
Bonus features include**:
Blu-ray & Digital HD:
Bringing "The BFG" to Life – Ruby Barnhill (Sophie) hosts a phizz-whizzing journey through the making of "The BFG." This behind-the-scenes documentary details the film's progression through interviews with Roald Dahl's daughter Lucy Dahl, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, executive producers Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Kristie Macosko Krieger, and numerous members of the talented cast and crew.
The Big Friendly Giant and Me – Sophie wasn't the first "bean" in Giant Country—many illustrations were created as if drawn by a little boy who was there long before Sophie. This charming, in-world short will bring the drawings to life with animation and narration, recounting the friendship and the dreams shared between the boy and the Big Friendly Giant.
Gobblefunk: The Wonderful Words of The BFG – A whoopsey-splunkers tutorial on the meaning of the gloriumptious gobblefunk in "The BFG."
Giants 101 – Jemaine Clement (Fleshlumpeater) and Bill Hader (Bloodbottler) introduce us to the loathsome giants in "The BFG," along with movement choreographer/motion capture performer Terry Notary, who collaborated with the actors and Director Steven Spielberg prior to filming to develop their movements and character traits.
Melissa Mathison: A Tribute – An homage to Melissa Mathison, the extraordinary, Oscar®-nominated screenwriter of "The BFG" and "E.T.," whose talent and heart were as immense as the giants in "The BFG."
John Williams: Scoring A Dream – A journey through the film's concept art and memorable moments, interwoven with the sights and sounds of legendary composer John William's scoring session.
Gobblefunk: The Wonderful Words of The BFG and Melissa Mathison: A Tribute
You can purchase The BFG on Amazon.com. It retails for around $22.99.
Get Social!
Facebook: Facebook.com/TheBFGmovie
Website: Movies.Disney.com/The-BFG
Twitter: Twitter.com/BFGmovie
Website: Instagram.com/BFGmovie


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One morning, Furo Wariboko, a 33-year old Nigerian man wakes up to the discovery that he is now White. This random racial metamorphosis is the premise of Igoni Barrett's debut novel, Blackass – published by Kachifo Limited under its Farafina imprint.
Blackass is a bold attempt at poking holes in the idealism of how the Caucasian race is held to high esteem, in Nigeria. Drawing inspiration from Franz Kafka's 'Metamorphosis', Blackass kicks the reader off on a path of three important questions:
How did this happen to Furo Wariboko?
Why did it happen to him?
Will he be able to change back?
These questions do not seem to bother the character very much, as his primary concern on the morning of this monumental occurrence, is how to get to his previously scheduled job interview.
The author briefly gives us an insight into Furo's family life, but mostly focuses on the starkness of having a white man loitering around the streets of Lagos – without money, and any particular personal drive.
Running through the book is an accurate depiction of a Lagosian's response to a "White Sighting". It speaks to our latent view of the superior position of a Caucasian over a black man. The socio-economic status of the Caucasian is irrelevant, he gets all the passes…just for the colour of his skin. Furo is the beneficiary of a stranger's unsolicited magnanimity.
Furo, who is penniless and desperate to get to a job interview, encounters a young lady. In the course of the conversation, she asks: "Can I give you some money for the bike fare? She promptly "pulled a thousand naira note out of her handbag, and her face was pleased as she handed it over."
Furo Wariboko, gets a job (finally) after years unemployment – thanks to his new skin. He is told to resume in a few weeks. Furo doesn't go back home, or express ecstasy at finally getting a job. Instead, he walks around aimlessly and finally sleeps in an abandoned building.
At this point, the reader might begin to wonder at the direction of the story. Who is Furo and why does he not feel sense of agitation at what has happened to him? What are his likes and dislikes? None of these questions are answered as the story progresses and we are forced to follow the trail, just to see what happens next.
Furo decides to find his way to The Island – where he believes that he will see more people who look like him. Barrett is unequivocal about his intention with the book – forcing you to look at the race and White superiority.
We follow Furo as he strolls around The Palms mall and finds a place to have a drink – where he meets a man called Igoni (who also happens to be a writer.)
Here, the writer makes no bones about showing that an average Nigerian's impression of the white man is equivalent to dollar bills. Everyone Furo meets assumes he is rich, thus they expect that he has foreign currency to give them.
"A white man in Lagos has no voice louder than the dollar sign branded on to his forehead" – Page 117
The only person who doesn't appear concerned with Furo's poverty is Syreeta – who wants to have mixed race children with the White man fate seemed to drop on her laps one afternoon at the Palms.
It is Syreeta who discovers that the only part of Furo's body that remained black was his ass. Furo, who had hitherto not shown any distress at his sudden and strange metamorphosis, is anxious to have his ass 'bleached'
"Feeling dejected by the enormity of his conundrum, he stared across at Syreeta's vanity table with its science lab-like collection of cosmetic bottles. In that moment, the sound of running water from the bathroom splashed into his mind and washed up the hull of an idea.
As Furo saw it, his black behind was a problem to be solved. The step he was about to take was better than doing nothing. Better than sitting around hoping. His failure or success would come through his own hands, and if he failed, at least he would know he tried. He had no choice in the decision that had got him where he was, but now that he was here, he would steer his own course" – Page 135
Barrret's skill as a writer, who isn't afraid to bend words fluidly, shines through the book. The strong visual impressions created by the clear and careful use of words are the most poignant bits of this book.
"By this time it was clear to Furo that the process was moving along much more smoothly than he'd expected. The bribe-sharing, the queue jumping, the fact non-checking and the customer-handling were as efficient as any system whose design was alimentary: in through the mouth and straight out the anus. He was no more than a bite of food for a subverted system, which chewed him up for money and to avoid the cramp of constipation, shat him out fast.
It was bad business for Passport man to fart where he ate, and so, for his own sake he put real effort into guiding Furo around the hiccups in the bureaucracy." – Page 116
The beauty of the exquisitely crafted fabric is ripped when Barrett takes the reader into the head of his namesake Igoni. Told in first person, the section about "Morpheus" includes a long expose into the world of Twitter – through the eyes of Igoni.
Maybe Barrett intended to compare two characters that had experienced the same mysterious change. Maybe he wanted to show the readers what Furo's family was going through in the time he disappeared. Maybe he just wanted to fill the pages of the manuscript.
Perhaps if I needed to understand how Twitter worked as a social tool, I might have enjoyed these bits. The introduction of the character, Morpheus was probably introduced to help bring some sort of resolution to the entire plot but, it failed to do that for me. Morpheus, as well as the large chunks of Twitter excerpts fell flat for me.
Blackass would have been gripping if the writer had jumped on the endless possibilities that the premise presented. However, Igoni Barrett is a fantastic writer whose use of words flows like a soothing stream of cold water on a hot Lagos day.
Blackass was saved by the writer; and will definitely leave you with a sense of introspection about the conscious deference Nigerians have for White people (even Middle Eastern people) – anything but black.

subset: commoncrawl


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In Brief
- Authorities seized $56 million in Bitcoin from a drug dealer.
- It's likely they'll sell the forfeited Bitcoin.
- In the past, authorities have sold Bitcoin for far less than it's worth.
We do the research, you get the alpha!
Irish authorities have forced a drug dealer to forfeit over $56 million in Bitcoin (roughly 5,500 Bitcoin), following a ruling from the High Court that it was the result of criminal activity. As reported by the Irish Independent, he was believed to have been an early investor in Bitcoin.
Clifton Collins, 49, of Dublin, had to give his Bitcoin to the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) under the Proceeds of Crime legislation. The case stretched back to February 2017, when the police found cannabis in his car. The police also searched his home to find more plants.
The CAB had placed a freezing order on the Bitcoin to stop the money from being transferred elsewhere.
It's unclear what will happen to the forfeited Bitcoin, but, if it's anything like other forfeitures, it could be sold by the authorities.
Governments rake in Bitcoin hauls
Yesterday, the US government auctioned off over 4,000 Bitcoin, worth approximately $37 million.
Some of the seized Bitcoin the US government sold came from cases against drug dealers. Over $200,000 came from two drug dealers from Alabama, Tyler Lee Ward and Henry Long Nguyen, who were imprisoned in May 2019 for conspiring to sell Alprazolam, and running a "drug-involved premise," according to a press statement by the Department of Justice.
In September 2019, British police sold over $311,000 in cryptocurrency seized from Elliott Gunton, who hacked the telecommunications service provider TalkTalk.
What'll be interesting to see is whether the authorities sell the stolen cryptocurrencies at the right time. Jameson Lopp, CEO of key-security company Casa, and a self-described cypherpunk and CEO, last week released a "US Marshals Bitcoin Auction realtime schadenfreude tracker," which tracks all of the seized Bitcoin sold by US Marshals.
He found that the US government has lost over $1.7 billion in potential gains by selling at the right time. That is, of course, compared to current prices. The US government sold the 50,000 Bitcoin seized from the original Silk Road in June 2014, when a single Bitcoin was worth around $380. But if the US government sold the Bitcoin when Bitcoin's price was at its peak in late 2018, they'd have made $1 billion alone.


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Long Island Oil Delivery and Heating Service – Cold Weather Safety Tips!
The Long Island cold is notorious for creating scores of household hazards and challenges, such as frozen pipes, clogged gutters, and jammed garage doors. We're all dedicated to keeping the chill outside the house, and our efforts to maintain a warm and toasty indoor environment have resulted in staggering heat expenses.
Keeping a warm indoor environment is crucial to avoid getting sick, especially if you have children in the house. It's also important to take some effortless preventive measures to eliminate damages and prevent issues from escalating into costly problems.
Keep reading to explore some simple hacks and tricks to ensure all home components and systems function smoothly.
Protect your Pipes
All Long Islanders are familiar with the hazards and challenges of frozen pipes, and the exuberant expense of getting them fixed. So, why not prevent the problem from occurring in the first place?
Here's a simple trick: run a trickle of water in the taps to keep the pipes from freezing. We also advise opening the kitchen door and bathroom cabinets to allow warm air to circulate around the plumbing system, preventing the pipes from freezing.
Preserve the Water Lines
We often pay diligent attention to the pipes and plumbing systems inside the house, but we ending ignoring a much more significant component – the water lines. The water lines are typically located in the garage, and keeping the garage doors shut will prevent the chill from freezing the water lines.
Keep Heat on Throughout the House
It's wise to keep heat on in all areas of the house, from the kitchen and living room to the bedrooms, corridors and dining space. Keeping the heat on in all areas will ensure that water lines and the plumbing systems remain functional. The warm air will also help maintain a cozy indoor environment.
Final Thoughts
Preparing oneself for the Long Island winter is never easy, as there's always something new that we learn about home maintenance when the snow is falling hard. We strongly advise maintaining extensive emergency supplies at home, and investing in power banks to ensure your devices are always charged.
It's also wise to keep salt and shovel handy, so you can grab them quickly whenever needed. At the end of the day, prevention is the best way to prioritize safety and curb damages before they occur.


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Stay connected and sign-up for emails to get exclusive deals and event info.
Tatuaje's tip top.
Tatuaje has quickly become one of the most popular brands available. Launched by Pete Johnson, former buyer for the Grand Havana Room, everything bearing the Tatuaje name seems to skyrocket to the top of the charts... and these Miami-made super-premiums are no exception!
To celebrate the brand's birthday, Johnson created an extension to his flagship Miami line and called it, aptly, Tatuaje 15th Anniversary. Featuring two wrapper choices (Oscuro and an easy-going shade Claro), both are beautiful, bold, and bring everything you'd expect from a Don Pepín product. Made under the guide of Master Pepín in his El Rey de los Habanos factory located in Doral, Florida, the 15th Anniversary is impeccably made, mustering a medley of complex tasting notes including toasted peanut, creamy coffee, chocolate chip cookie dough, and just enough spice to remind you it's a Tatuaje. Try one today and celebrate by enjoying an experience 15 years in the making!
We are serious about cigars. We are dedicated to earning your trust and loyalty every day. Your 100% satisfaction is our mission. Should you ever have a less than satisfactory experience, we will replace or refund your purchase unconditionally. Rest assured, you are in good hands at CIGAR.com. We guarantee it!


text: November 26, 2007: at the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, judge AKM Sirajul Islam convicted a man and awarded him the death penalty for killing his wife in 2000. The court also asked the Deputy Commissioner to realise Tk 25,000 from convict Jalaluddin and give it to the victim's seven year son Swadhin. According to prosecution, Jalaluddin of Telipara village of Puthia upazila, beat his wife Sheuli Khatun to death on March 1, 2000 as she failed to give him Tk 50,000 as a dowry. (Sources: United News of Bangladesh, 26/11/2007)


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We are available to advise homeowners, architects, builders and masons on high-end custom stonework. Our experts can solve problems on paper or on site, identifying ways to save at the outset or trouble-shooting costly issues in order to keep projects on track.
Our successful projects encompass hundreds of designs – all in a wide range of materials. We'll bring out the best in your personal vision with unique artistry, precise specifications and accurate project estimates.
Let us find the right stone for your project, selecting materials that will look and perform as expected. Today there are more options than ever, but we'll ensure that your only surprises are pleasant ones.
Looking to set your project apart? Our domestic and imported stone sources are unique. We welcome the challenge of finding that "something special" that can't be found anywhere else in the industry.
We are a full service stone masonry contractor, with the capabilities to complete projects of any size. Our highly skilled craftsmen possess the ability to work with all types of stone to make your vision a reality.
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For a worry-free project, we can provide expert administration from start to finish: scheduling, budgeting, subcontractors, quality control and more. Our experience and hands-on expertise ensure that it will be done to your satisfaction.


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On method for listing chemicals on the Prop 65 list is whether it is listed as human or animal carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization and headquartered in France.
Monsanto Company and others filed a petition for writ of mandate challenging §6382(b)(1), arguing it is improper for a foreign entity, unaccountable to the citizens of California, to determine what chemicals are known to the state to cause cancer.
The court of appeal held that the procedures by which such listing determinations are made are simply the working details of how to implement the Prop 65's broader policy of notification and warning with respect to carcinogenic compounds. The listing mechanisms themselves are not the fundamental policy decisions underlying the legislation.


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Liability After an Indiana Bike Accident
The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) ranks Indiana as the 24th most bicycle-friendly state in the U.S. When bikers and motorists are on the road together, both parties should take extra steps to ensure each other's safety. However, cars have inherently more control over their vehicles and must take extra precautions to avoid a collision.
In addition to traffic regulations, Indiana maintains laws that apply directly to bicyclists. Specifically, Title 9, Article 21, Chapter 11 of the state's code explains the rights and duties of bicyclists in Indiana. Most importantly, all road users should understand that bicyclists have a right to share the road with motorists. In the same vein, bicyclists must abide by the statute as well. For instance, bicyclists may not ride on anything besides the permanent and regular seat attached to their bike.
Further, bikers may not use whistles or sirens while on their cycles. Additionally, cyclists must ensure that their bikes have a working brake that will allow the cycle to stop on dry and level pavement. While most lawmakers understand the importance of bike safety, the law does not require bikers to wear helmets. Although the law does not require cyclists or passengers to wear helmets, bikers should err on the side of caution and wear a helmet.
Liable parties in an Indiana bicycle accident may include cyclists, pedestrians, governmental entities that maintain the roadways, and manufacturers. In some cases, liability may be unclear, or there may be more than one person responsible for the accident. In these instances, the court will evaluate the case under the state's comparative fault laws.
Indiana follows the modified comparative fault system. Under this system, a court will reduce a plaintiff's damages commiserate with their level of fault. However, the law bars recovery if the fact-finder determines that the plaintiff was more than 50% responsible. Therefore, these cases often require an in-depth investigation to determine liability and apportion fault.
For instance, The New York Times recently reported a case involving an impaired truck driver who slammed into a group of bicyclists. The truck driver was under the influence of methamphetamine when he collided with a group of cyclists on an annual 130-mile tour. The accident took the lives of five cyclists ranging in age from 39 to 57. The highway where the incident occurred maintains a 75-mph speed limit and is generally considered a safe roadway for cyclists because of its wide shoulders. Nevertheless, the driver refused to provide blood samples to investigators and only agreed on their fifth attempt. The driver pled guilty to multiple counts of driving under the influence and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Have You Suffered Injuries in an Indiana Biking Accident?
If you or someone you love has suffered injuries in an Indiana bike accident, contact Padove Law for assistance. Attorney Padove has dedicated his practice to representing Indiana injury victims in their claims for damages. In addition, his office handles Indiana personal injury cases stemming from motor vehicle accidents, biking accidents, slip-and-falls, premises liability, medical malpractice and wrongful death. Attorney Padove consistently provides clients with respect, compassion, and excellent representation. Contact Burton A. Padove at 877-446-5294 to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your Indiana injury case.


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In the oppressive late-afternoon heat of April 23rd at the sprawling air base outside Kandahar, Major Michelle Mendes made the dusty walk to her living quarters.
Inside a sparse room, the 30-year-old sat down on her bed with service pistol in hand, and shot herself in the head.
It was the last in a long line of firsts for the young woman who had landed in Kandahar just four days earlier with a hefty reputation as someone who might one day command Canada's intelligence branch.
The pretty analyst with the prodigious intellect was the first Canadian female soldier to commit suicide in Afghanistan.
"You always demand more of the best people," said Colonel Christian Rousseau, who was the top intelligence officer in the branch during most of Major Mendes's service. "Did we push her too much? Obviously we did, because of what happened."
Yet it isn't obvious at all.
A two-month Globe and Mail investigation reveals a deep division among those who knew and loved Major Mendes about whether her meteoric rise played any role in her death, and whether the handful of red flags strewn along her career path should have tempered her ascent.
The Globe has learned that a year before she was deployed to Kandahar, Major Mendes suffered a physical and emotional breakdown - in the language of the modern army, an "operational stress injury" - that saw her take about five months off, see a civilian therapist and go on anti-anxiety medication.
While the army's National Investigation Service continues to probe her death, The Globe investigation reveals no easy answers.
Any suicide is opaque, and unravelling the cause is akin to piecing together a battle after the fact, in that each person may understand only a small slice of what happened.
If Major Mendes killed herself under the stress of working in a war room - and it remains a big if - she, with her insatiable drive and enormous expectations, was complicit in it.
Suicide is rare among female members of the Canadian Forces - from 1995 to 2009, only seven women have killed themselves, compared with at least 145 male members over the same period. The rate for both groups is lower than in the civilian population.
Major Mendes, or "Mic" (pronounced 'Mick') as she was known to friends, is the only woman to have done so on an overseas deployment.
Her ascent to top prospect was so swift: In six jam-packed years, Major Mendes had become a star.
As evidence of her complex drive, she was known for her big brain, work ethic and the home-baked goodies she brought to the office. She never let up on herself: Even in the weeks before she flew to Kandahar, she made extra time for friends and left "others special treats they knew were crafted by her hand and assembled for them," her proud family told The Globe.
When she landed at the airfield in mid-April, she was set to become the inaugural operations officer at the Kandahar Intelligence Fusion Centre, or KIF-C, the international unit tasked with providing intelligence for the most volatile six southern provinces. The prestigious position had been offered to Canada by NATO for the first time just six weeks before, giving the nation a seat at an important table.
Intelligence is vital to military operations in Afghanistan, giving troops on the ground critical information on enemy whereabouts and necessary context for top-level war planners.
It was a high-pressure slot for which Major Mendes had been promoted early to major.
That raised eyebrows in the branch, as had other incidents in her stellar career, some of them seen now with the wisdom of hindsight as red flags that she was having trouble coping.
Among them: The breakdown in early 2008 that forced her to quit the critical Army Operations Course that all officers must take to move up the ranks; Eighteen months earlier, Major Mendes had to abandon her first tour to Kandahar after less than two weeks due to a mysterious illness she told friends was never diagnosed; In 2003, despite roaring academic success, she so struggled with battlefield artillery training that she left the trade.
The sum of these parts is that Major Mendes had no field experience whatsoever. She spent her entire career either in academia or cloistered in "the Puzzle Palace," the soldiers' nickname for the two concrete towers in Ottawa that are National Defence Headquarters.
With her new big job at the KIF-C, Major Mendes wasn't working alongside fellow Canadians, with all the comfort that implies, but rather would have been among top NATO intelligence officers in theatre and the second-in-command.
"I think people who she was working for wanted to do her a favour, and off she went to Kandahar," said a senior intelligence source. "To be suddenly thrust in the middle of something, and be expected to lead, organize, administer, command, direct … it must have been absolutely terrifying.
"Especially if the people who put you there are saying, 'Look, she's going to do a great job.' "How do you phone them up and say, 'I can't do this'?"
That wasn't in her nature.
She was a model child - the small-town background in Grafton, Ont., with the wholesomeness that conjures up, from apple-farm playground, Brownies and Girl Guides, church camp, honour-roll student to talented athlete. Major Mendes emerged as a particularly dogged, almost maniacal, multitasking sort of girl.
As her family told The Globe in a lengthy letter responding to an interview request, "She even combined her two passions for reading and fitness by figuring out how to read a book while swimming laps." They didn't say how she did this, but rather offered it up as an anecdote of her "typical" rural childhood.
Being sent to Brazil as an exchange student in high school opened her eyes to the broader world and set her searching for a career where she could "make a difference." That led her to Kingston's Royal Military College, where she met her husband Victor and was introduced to Lieutenant-General (Retired) Roméo Dallaire, thus cementing her "commitment to serving in uniform," her family said.
Yet Major Mendes came to understand there was a gaping hole on her checklist - a successful deployment.
Junior officers who want to do well always have such a checklist, but with Canada in its sixth year in Afghanistan, a Kandahar tour has become a necessity. The army tribe is divided into those who have gone, and those who haven't: The spoils go to the former.
As the senior intelligence source said, "Baking cookies is nice, and pink cards with flowers on them is absolutely loveable.
"But if you choose the profession of arms, you have to develop the warrior side."
But, before she got her big chance, Major Mendes was sent to take the AOC in early 2008.
This course is so tough that on almost every one, an officer is taken off because of stress.
Students are cautioned not to expect top marks. "That was waving a red flag for Mic," said Captain (Navy) (Retired) Alan Okros, a friend and former mentor. "She was extremely determined and set very high standards for herself in everything she did."
While students normally hunker down in residence at Kingston's Fort Frontenac to focus, for Major Mendes this was a homecoming.
She and her husband Victor, a former pro soccer player she met when he coached her varsity team, had been living apart - she in Ottawa, he in Kingston.
So while her peers were concentrating on their studies, Major Mendes resumed a hectic home life, and, social animal that she was, immersed herself in a busy calendar.
Her time crunch worsened when her husband sustained a career-threatening broken leg in a soccer game in Peterborough. Not only did Major Mendes rush up to retrieve him, but also began ferrying him to physiotherapy.
She had taken on too much, and just weeks into the course, stumbled.
Capt. Okros said she was at home when the incident occurred. "What she described to me was that she got herself to a state of physical and emotional exhaustion, with significant sleep deprivation," he said.
"She told me she had not attempted to take her life, but had choked on vomit, which had aspirated into her lungs, which was life-threatening. I'm not sure if Vic had to actually resuscitate her or just help her with her breathing…. I believe it was touch-and-go for a while."
Now a teacher at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, Capt. Okros said Major Mendes also told him that part of her difficulty was a reaction to prescription medication that had "slowed down her thinking."
So sharp was she, he joked, "Now you know how the rest of us feel."
After being released from hospital, Capt. Okros said, "She did see a civilian therapist and worked on strategies to cope with stress and anxiety so that she didn't push herself to exhaustion again." She was also put on anti-anxiety drugs.
Her immediate superior at NDHQ, Chief of Staff Colonel David Marshall, drove down to Kingston to see her himself, part of what Capt. Okros described as the branch doing "its due diligence. The idea that people were not paying attention is wrong," he said. "It was done quietly, but there was consistent contact."
The powers that be were watching her recovery particularly because she had been felled before.
It was late August of 2006 when Captain Mendes, as she then was, landed in Kandahar to an escalating war and summer heat that transforms outside door handles into scalding hazards.
She'd been given a plum posting as the unit's deputy commanding officer in the All-Source Intelligence Centre, the hub which supplies intelligence to Canadian troops in the field and higher-ups.
But days into the job, Afghan workers building a memorial to fallen Canadian soldiers discovered the petite blonde lying unconscious on a path. They began yelling for help.
"She was literally laying motionless and face down in the gravel," said one soldier who was at the scene.
Medics rushed Capt. Mendes to the base hospital, and there she remained for several days before being airlifted for more testing in Landstuhl, Germany, then home.
"She really hated other people making the decision that she should come back," said Capt. Okros, an industrial psychologist who retired as the director of the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute and first met Major Mendes when she was a student at RMC.
"She desperately wanted to figure out what was wrong with her and to continue. My own view is that she was pushing herself too hard." She told him and others in a group e-mail from Germany that "There's something wrong with my blood, and I'm coming back." Just before her collapse, she had buckled during a sombre nighttime ramp ceremony held on the sweltering airfield tarmac. "She momentarily fainted, but she quickly regained her footing," said a soldier who was at the ceremony. "It happens. Nobody stopped and said, 'Wait - we've got a problem here.'"
But there were signs Capt. Mendes was overwhelmed.
She specifically said so to a couple of her peers, one of whom told The Globe, "She had the deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes."
Until 2006, her only failure on record was at artillery school in Gagetown, N.B., but even that was controversial.
Before she moved to intelligence, she was an artillery officer or "gunner." But when she went for the final leg of her training - Phase 4 it's called - she'd been away from the field for 18 months, getting a master's degree at Carleton University.
Partway through the course, Second Lieutenant Mendes, as she was then, was summoned to a dreaded Progress Review Board, a fate suffered only by failing students. Waiting for the meeting, she saw Captain Kevin Smith, then a warrant officer and instructor and began to "cry uncontrollably.
"'But this isn't what I want to do,' " she had told him. "She thought people rated her too high and it was too much pressure, but she hoped people could see she had so much to offer too."
He told her to be truthful, "and that big grin of hers came on."
Major Mendes realized by then she wasn't cut out for artillery, but wanted to finish the course; she wasn't allowed.
Still, with the help of Capt. Okros and others, she ultimately won a spot at intelligence. As one retired colonel who went to bat for her said to the branch brass, "Why miss the chance at this gem?"
At NDHQ, Major Mendes got noticed fast, as she always had been. Her potential and enormous capacity for work quickly separated her in the eyes of superiors from the rest of the pack.
That nurturing Martha-Stewart streak saw her regularly bring home-baked cookies and muffins into the Puzzle Palace for her bosses and deliver them homemade greeting cards. Behind her back, peers referred to her as "an office pet."
For the year leading up to her second deployment to Afghanistan, Major Mendes was working as a staff officer - gatekeeper - for Col. Marshall, the No. 2 guy in intelligence.
The job gave her legitimate special access, but propelled the caretaker quality of her character into overdrive - she even rearranged the items on Col. Marshall's desk every morning.
Sources close to him suggest she was so overtly maternal that he was almost embarrassed.
But as with other senior officers before him, Col. Marshall learned it was wiser to yield to the force of nature that was Michelle Mendes. Padre Major Steve Moore told the story at her funeral of how Col. Marshall asked, "Who is this young captain who is running my life?" before realizing, "It was the best thing I ever did, letting her take over."
"She was a mommy for everybody," Col. Rousseau told The Globe.
But she was not exempt from stereotypical inferences about her relationships with senior officers. As Col. Rousseau said, "That is crap … she was beautiful. There's no doubt about that. But if she was not performing, she wouldn't have stayed where she was."
Her first big test came when she took a course meant for reservists and aced it - and the next two courses she took, including one in the U.K.
Her job there was really to evaluate the British course, but she "topped" it anyway, Col. Rousseau told The Globe in a telephone interview from Paris, where he is posted at the Canadian embassy.
"You could see right there she had huge [promise] … I saw her essentially as a potential future leader of the branch. She could have been a colonel."
Major Mendes had a knack for making friends in high places.
"She got far more high-level attention than a normal RMC grad would get," said a now-retired senior officer who once lobbied for her. But then, he said, she deserved it - she was trilingual (English, French and Portuguese), and she had that marvellous intellect and work ethic.
After she recovered from her AOC collapse, Col. Marshall personally arranged for her to be "attach-posted" to the school of military intelligence in Kingston. Senior sources described this as his kindly "quid pro quo" for her careful care of him.
As a result, she was able to remain in familiar surroundings and start chalking up the successes again.
She completed an army run; check.
She was a successful teacher; check.
She mentored the junior officers and even started studying Arabic; check, check.
"She seemed to have the work/life balance sorted out," the senior officer said.
In September of last year, though her superiors cautioned her not to rush into it, Major Mendes was offered one of the few intelligence spots at the Army Operations Course, and attacked it again.
Capt. Okros remembered, "It was a completely different experience…. She was in the field, practising an assault over a river in rubber rafts, and it was a revelatory minute for her. 'First,' she said, 'if I'm in charge of an assault on a river in rubber rafts, we're in real trouble. Second, I don't have to excel at this stuff. That's not what I do.'"
She was happy with her C-plus, a good sign Capt. Okros thought, because it suggested her quest for perfection was under control. He thought she'd also learned to take what he called "Me time."
Another senior officer said, "I could see the glow back on her face. After her collapse, she had seemed a very tired girl, very unfocused. You could see something was seriously wrong. What I couldn't see was into her head."
She finished the course last December, at which point Col. Marshall offered her another deployment, this time as a captain, in a senior analyst's role, at the KIF-C, the NATO unit. She was hell-bent on going, too. "There was many a junior officer, to her left and her right, who had already gone out the door to Afghanistan," one former superior said. And, as Capt. Okros noted, "If someone had stepped in and said you can't go … it would have been devastating to her."
Six weeks before she was due to leave, along came the offer of the new seat at the big KIF-C table.
To do it, she would have to be promoted, and it was Col. Marshall, with the blessing of Chief of Defence Intelligence Major-General Matthew Macdonald, who arranged the temporary jump in rank. If she was a logical choice - she stood 18th out of 125 intelligence officers and was on schedule to be promoted this year anyway - she was also, because of her lack of operational experience, a controversial one.
"The reputation of the intelligence branch was on her shoulders," another former colleague said. And Major Mendes knew it; she was at a briefing this spring where the new role was described as just that big.
"I remember turning to a peer," this officer said, "and saying, 'That's the last thing she needs to hear.'"
Michelle Linda Mendes, nee Knight, threw her own farewell party at the Portuguese Hall in Kingston on April 15.
She made the invitations, of course, with a picture of her and Victor, a pink border and little sparkles. She handed out self-addressed envelopes so people could write her in Kandahar. She had a picture of the building where the KIF-C was located; she brought along her desert camos, with the new major's insignia on the chest.
In her speech, she talked of her pride in going, asked people to stay in touch and thanked everyone, weeping when she mentioned her family.
And whenever she addressed the Mendes clan, it was in Portuguese, of course.
"She had that party partly to show she was strong enough," Capt. Okros said. "And she knew folks around her, some of us, were thinking about [the breakdown]and she reassured us in her speech … it was in her subtle use of words. She was telling us, 'I'm good to go.'"
Her family saw it that way, too.
In their letter, signed by her parents Ron and Dianne Knight, sister Melissa and husband Victor, they said, "We … remain confident that the Canadian Forces exercised all of its responsibilities in selecting and preparing Mic for her deployment.
"…you are seeking a rational explanation for an irrational act and have decided to portray a vulnerable person pushed into crisis," they wrote.
Capt. Okros got e-mails from her when she stopped en route to Afghanistan, and again when she landed in Kandahar: Everything was fine.
But for those superiors she had promised to e-mail, there was only silence. "I remember realizing I hadn't heard from her," one of them said, "and thinking, 'That's not like her.'"
Days later, word of her death came in the various ways that such news travels in the military.
Major Helga Grodzinski, a former mentor at RMC, saw Major Mendes's face on a giant TV screen and literally fell to her knees. Capt. Smith saw it on the news in Ottawa: "It was really a blow…. I'd hoped against hope she hadn't committed suicide, and it might have been a result of training too hard or something like that." A former colleague said, "I remember thinking to myself and telling others that the branch was going to break Michelle. I never imagined she would take her own life."
"You cannot believe how she was a star," Col. Rousseau remembered. "I guess we always abuse the good people, in a certain way, because they're so good, it's always easy to rely on them. And I guess they don't want to disappoint the people around them. So they put a lot of pressure on themselves. They hide it very well.
"Michelle, at the end, only knows why she did it."
Al Okros said once that "at the core of Mic was grit," but there was something else too, something softer, and in places where no one could see, she came undone.


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This business has self-assessed as having the following accessible attributes. Please contact the business directly for further detail if required.
CMH Summer Adventures provides adventure travel in the summer seasons for all levels of travelers. Our guided adventures will take you to a place to walk where few others will. Amble amongst the giants of glaciers and soaring peaks, free from crowds, trails, and limitations.


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VANCOUVER, Wash., Dec. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Alliance Party believes that when we have one of the worst weeks in the stock market since the 2008 crash, a partial government shut-down, a proposed $5 billion border wall, and a respected defense secretary step down in the same week, it's time for a change:
"Depriving nearly 800,000 federal workers of their livelihood at Christmas in a partial government shutdown, while elected officials and the President of the United States continue to get paid, is an abuse of power.
"Through his leadership, General James Mattis showed elected leaders of both major parties that there are virtues that require courageous, bold action if this nation is to persevere.
"To further destabilize the Middle East, when American and allied forces have made the ultimate sacrifice to eliminate ISIS, is reckless and dangerous for allied forces, America and the world.
"Soldiers do not leave a comrade on the battlefield, and we cannot forsake our allies in Syria or anywhere in the world without eroding the trust we've spent decades earning.
"Our elected officials must stop the bi-partisan bickering that is destroying America and start working for the American people. They are expected to represent their constituency, not their party or their own personal interests.
"The GOP must stop promoting the poorly conceived border wall. It only aggravates the humanitarian crisis that Trump and the GOP created in our backyard. These actions significantly increase the already staggering national debt.
"The Republican Party has allowed Donald Trump to turn a once proud party into the Trump Party. We cannot allow them to turn our proud nation into Trump country."
- Brian Mistrot, National Chair of the Alliance Party, is a business owner and officer of several companies specializing in healthcare, and former chairman of the American Moderate Party.
- Michael Berger, Vice Chair of the Alliance Party, a former business executive who worked with several state parties, including a post as the National Chair of the Modern Whig Party.
- James Rex, Vice-Chair of the Alliance Party, is co-founder and former chair of the American Party of South Carolina. He is the last Democrat to win a statewide election in South Carolina as State Superintendent of Education in 2006.
The Alliance Party is the culmination of a decades-long movement of successful independent state parties sharing similar values, beliefs and a vision to return America to a leadership position on the world stage. The parties merged to form the first new party that is attractive to those disenfranchised by the major parties as well as most independents. More information is online at www.theallianceparty.com
Media Contacts
Michelle Griffith, APR Co-Director Communications 813.597.8189 email@example.com | Jennifer McLucas Co-Director Communications 828.335.2514 firstname.lastname@example.com |


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It's easy to spot the complainer, but that is the exception.
Most urologists and their staff assume they are meeting the needs of their patients, but with major demands on their time, they seldom stop to ask the patient, "Is there something else I can do for you?" If you want your current patients to come back and to keep the referrals flowing, it's time to find what your patients really want.
Start by having a staff meeting to discuss signals patients send, both on the phone and in the office, and how you can respond to those signals to ensure your patient satisfaction level is high. It's easy to spot the complainer, but that is the exception. Once everyone in the office makes a conscious effort to pick up each patient's attitude and behavior, you will be amazed at the subtle messages patients are sending you. There are the quiet, sullen patients, those who seem agitated or curt, and the ones who are just plain sarcastic.
It's important to be supportive and, at the same time, make sure that the patient's attitude has not been triggered by something you or someone on your team has done. You can simply ask, "Is there anything I've done that has upset you?" Good eye contact and being a good listener go a long way in supporting your patients and making them feel important.
Patient opinion cards
Next, why not have your own service card for each patient to complete at the end of their visit? It doesn't need to be complicated. Ask a few simple questions that, when answered, tell the story. Have a rating scale of 1 to 4: poor, fair, above average, and excellent. This eliminates the tendency for patients to pick the middle rating. Here are a few questions to ask:
These cards are meant to constantly keep your radar up and understand how your patients feel about their visits and you. However, keep in mind that this is not a statistically valid method to gauge overall patient satisfaction. I suggest that patient satisfaction surveys be conducted and analyzed by a professional surveyor unrelated to the practice. A medical marketing consultant can help you with this. Yes, it requires an investment, but it is essential to obtaining and analyzing quantitative information that is reliable and representative of the population you serve, eliminating the potential for biased results.
A qualitative patient satisfaction study requires an open exchange of information between the surveyor and the patient. A survey instrument needs to be developed to ensure the information you collect is consistent. This, and the interview itself, should be done by a professional who is skilled at gathering information without leading the patient. Conducting a post-encounter telephone interview is the preferred method of collecting this information.
Once you obtain baseline results from the patient satisfaction survey, you will know what your patients want and how they feel about the practice. Armed with this information, you can set defined improvement goals and make the "patient experience" all that it can be.
Updated data show survival benefit with adjuvant pembrolizumab in ccRCC
April 19th 2024"This is the first study to show a statistically significant and clinically meaningful survival improvement with any adjuvant therapy in kidney cancer, and this further supports adjuvant pembrolizumab as a standard of care after surgery in this disease setting," says Toni K. Choueiri, MD.
Dr. Goudelocke outlines stand-up urgency in patients with OAB
April 18th 2024"There are plenty of articles written about stress-induced urgency. I, at the time, only found 1 article written in the gynecologic literature about what they called stand-up urgency," according to Colin Goudelocke, MD.


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WORK ENERGY POWER (Assignment-1)
Q1. A water pump lifts water from a level 10 m below the ground. Water is pumped at a rate of 30
kg/minute with negligible velocity. Calculate the minimum horse power the engine should have to
do this?
Answer: 6.6 × 10⁻² hp
Q2. A man weighs 60 kg. Calculate work done by gravity as he climbs a ladder of heights 5m.
Answer: -2940 J
Q3. A body of mass 0.3 kg is taken up an inclined plane of length 10 m and height 5 m, and then allowed
to slide down to the bottom again. The coefficient of friction between the body and the plane is 0.15
What is the
(a) Work done by the gravitational force over the round trip?
(b) Work done by the applied force on the upward journey?
(c) Work done by the frictional force over the round trip
(d) Kinetic energy of the body at the end of the trip?
Answer: zero, 18.5 J, -7.6J, 10.9J
Q4. A pump can throw up 10 quintals of coal per hour from a coal mine 120 m deep. Calculate the power of the engine in watt assuming that efficiency is 80%.
Answer: 408.3 watt
Q5. A car weighing 1120 kg is going up an incline of 1 in 56 at the rate of 20 m in 2s. Find the power of the engine if frictional force is 64 N.
Answer: 2600 watt
Q6. An automobile moving at a speed of 72 km/h reached the foot of a smooth incline, when the engine is switched off. How much distance does the automobile go up the incline before coming to rest. The angle of inclination with horizontal is 30 0 and g = 9.8 m/s²
Answer: 40.8 m
Q7. A ball of mass m hits a floor with a speed v making an angle of incidence θ with the normal. The coefficient of restitution is e. Find the speed of the reflected ball and the angle of reflection of the
Q8. A simple pendulum of length 1 m has a wooden bob of mass 1 kg. It is struck by a bullet of mass 10⁻² kg moving with a speed of 2 x 10² ms⁻ⁱ. The bullet gets embedded into the bob. Obtain the
height to which the bob rises before it swings back.
Answer: 0.2 m
Q9. A moving ball of mass m undergoes a head on collision with another stationary ball of mass 2m. Show that the colliding ball loses 8/9 th of its energy after collision.
Q10. A body constrained to move along the z-axis of a co-ordinate system is subject to a constant force F = -i +2j + 3k Newton. What is the work done by this force in moving the body over a distance of 4m along the z-axis?
Answer: 12 J
Q11. A uniform chain of length L and mass M is lying on a smooth table and one third of its length is hanging vertically down over the edge of the table. If g is acceleration due to gravity, calculate work required to pull the hanging part on the table.
Answer: MgL/18
Q12. A pump on the ground floor of a building can pump up water to fill a tank of volume 30 m 3 in 15 minute. If the tank is 40 m above the ground and the efficiency of the pump is 30%, how much
electric power is consumed by the pump?
Answer: 43.567 kW
Q13. A man cycles up a hill whose slope is 1 in 20 with a velocity of 6.4 km/h along the hill. The weight of the man and the cycle is 98 kg. What work per minute is the man doing? What is his horse power?
Answer: 5122.1 J
Q14. The bob of a pendulum is released from a horizontal position. If the length of the pendulum is 1.5 m, what is the speed with which the bob arrived at the lowermost point B, given that it dissipates 5% of its initial energy against air resistance?
Answer: 5.285 m/s
Q15. A body of mass M at rest is struck by a moving body of mass m. Prove that the fraction of the initial energy of mass transferred to the struck body is 4Mm/(M+m)²
Q16. A bullet of mass 0.012 kg and horizontal speed 70 m/s sticks a block of wood of mass 0.4 kg and instantly comes to rest with respect to the block. The block is suspended from the ceiling by thin
wire. Calculate the height to which the block rises . Also, estimate the amount of heat produced in
the block.
Answer: 0.212 m ,6.8 calories
Q17: Water is pumped out of a well 10 m deep by means of a pump rated 10 KW. Find the efficiency of the motor if 4200 kg of water is pumped out every minute. Take g = 10 m/s² .
Answer: 70%
Q18: Two identical 5 kg blocks are moving with same speed of 2 m/s towards each other along a frictionless horizontal surface. The two blocks collide, stick together and come to rest. Consider the two blocks as a system. Calculate work done by
(i) external forces and
(i) Internal forces.
Answer: 0J, -20J


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- Name: Hugo Troll Race Classic
- Category: Casual, Arcade, Runner
- Developer: Hugo Games A/S
- Current Version: 1.9.6
- Requires Android: 4.0+
- Updated: 05.06.2019
Game description
Hugo Troll Race – this is the busiest race with one of the famous trolls named Kuzma that you will manage throughout the game. Get on the trolley and go on rails to meet adventures, obstacles, and dangerous bosses. This is the same Kuzma from the distant 90s who was transferred to the Android devices.
The developers have improved the graphics and prepared a lot of unexpected surprises, which you will learn during the game.
There is a new option – the choice of character. You can now play not only with Kuzma but also with Cuselina.
For those who are not familiar with the game, let's briefly talk about what to do during the game.
The goal was described above and its achievement is accompanied by the following actions:
- Collecting gold.
- Management of the cart by means of which there is a movement on a game location.
- Battles.
Just do not forget that the game has a huge selection of worlds, trucks, and various auxiliary items.
The game remains very dynamic and exciting, we recommend it to both the nostalgic and the new players.
Play, collect gold and defeat your sworn enemy!
Download Hugo Troll Race Classic for Android
Download Hugo Troll Race Classic MOD (Unlimited Money) v.1.9.6


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The following excerpt was selected exclusively for StartupNation readers from "Daring & Disruptive" by Lisa Messenger. Excerpted with permission by North Star Way publishing, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
I think the key to failure is that if you're going to fail, you may as well do it fast. I have seen so many people do it ridiculously slowly and painfully. It kills me every time to watch someone experience great personal and professional grief over many months or even years. I've never really failed slowly, probably because I'm too impatient for that.
If I'm going to fail, then I want to do it well—fast and with minimum risk. And as a result of this ethos, I'm quite prepared to try out a lot of new and interesting things, unafraid of the outcome. The traditional mind-set is to write a laborious business plan to perfection, run a zillion focus groups, do all your market research, and check every conceivable box before launching into something, but I rarely (okay, never . . . yet) do that.
To take that approach requires a huge investment of time, resources, and money, and you are already deep into the project's life cycle before you even know if someone is going to buy what you're selling. And by the time you launch, you've perfected your idea to within an inch of its life, so when the market gives you feedback, it's often too late to change, move, and adapt. Instead, the experience can leave you feeling paralyzed by disappointment and with a sense of hopelessness about pursuing other ideas.
Related: 5 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Build a Career Plan
Don't get me wrong—I do my due diligence, but just not to the point that the poor project is suffocated or strangled before we even begin.
Of course, that's not to say I take every idea I have and pursue it with reckless abandon! It's no stretch to say that entrepreneurs will come up with a hundred or more business ideas in a year; that's less than two decent ideas a week, which seems more than fair. The ideas are not always viable, but they're always showing up. They come from listening and watching everywhere you go, and being open to the opportunities that you find along the way And they can stem from your own needs or from observing markets around you.
I tend to sit on a new idea and examine it in my head. I try to gauge my level of interest and overall passion, asking myself if I have the sweat and tears to pour into it, because I know that's what will be needed should I decide to do this. In other words, you need to be really juiced up and passionate about it, or it will never fly.
If I feel the idea has wings, I generally write up a few pages on it—literally back-of-the-envelope stuff, things such as an overview, indicative model, potential markets, and indicative marketing/ launch, so that I have something to test out with potential partners.
It can happen within an hour to a week of the birth of the idea, and if I get a bite, I investigate further and start to make more concrete plans. But if I discover that no one is interested, then I bop it on the head, moving on to something else. Pretty simple, really. I do this over and over and over again. It is the only way I work. I never plan more than this initially. And as it grows, you can look at extension ideas and test them out in the same way.
Related: Sign up to receive the StartupNation newsletter!
"Daring & Disruptive" is available now wherever books are sold.


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We show the best tourist places of India at Manali Tour Package. Manali tour package is one of the foremost Tour Operators in the country located in New Delhi, (India) and enjoy a high reputation of providing reliable and personalized services.
As our experience of visiting, we have visited over 95% of the destinations featured on our website. Our skill and latest Knowledge is constantly being updated through frequent visits as well as training. Therefore we give an immediate and considered response to most queries.
We have all frequently trained executives and we update their knowledge and skills. You can feel yourself when they escort you on your tour. They must be fully provide you the best services and standards, so you have to come to appreciate.
Due to convenient facilities and personalized services we have gained an acknowledgeable position in the Indian Tourism Industry. We have our own Fleet of tourist transports like Ambassador Cars/ Tata Indica/ Vista, Tata Indigo cs, Toyota Innova, Chevrolet Tavera, Tempo Travelers and Large Coaches to Provide personalize services to incoming tourists.


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A U value is a measure of heat loss in a building element such as a wall, floor or roof. It can also be referred to as an 'overall heat transfer co-efficient' and measures how well parts of a building transfer heat.
A U-Value calculation is a computer-based assessment that measures the total thermal resistance of a structure. Building Regulations/Standards continue to tighten the requirements of U-Values, with lower limits provided to ensure that building elements, materials and fabric are considered throughout the design and construction process.
This means that the higher the U value the worse the thermal performance of the building envelope. A low U value usually indicates high levels of insulation. They are useful as it is a way of predicting the composite behaviour of an entire building element rather than relying on the properties of individual materials.
Where compliance is required for whole-building energy performance (completely new buildings), U-Values are used within Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculations for new dwellings, and also Simplified Building Energy Modelling (SBEM) calculations for new non-dwellings.
QuinnRoss Energy U-value calculations are carried out in accordance with BRE443: Conventions for U-value Calculations and can be submitted with the necessary Building Control applications to demonstrate full compliance.
As qualified SAP assessors, we can carry out U value calculations for any building in England, Wales and Scotland and send you back the documents you require.
What's a U-value?
A U-value is the rate of heat transfer through a building structure, taking into account the temperature difference across said structure. I.e. it outlines how much heat your building loses through its floors, walls, roofs and glazing. The lower the U-value, the less heat it will lose.
Why is it important?
Its very important. All newly built buildings have to achieve target U-values for floors, walls, roofs and windows. If these are not achieved the building will fail Building Regulations, a legal requirement, and cannot be built.
They also heavily influence the amount of heating energy required to maintain the internal temperatures. Poor U-values will compromise the buildings CO2 targets that it has to comply with.
How do you calculate it?
Again, with approved software that QuinnRoss Energy is fully accredited to use and we have been helping and advising clients for decades on how to best manage their building performance.
Need Help With Your Project?
Contact one of our energy assessors today on 01795 845 780, or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Summertime Reading Part 4: Perspective for Teachers
CompetencyWorks Blog
Competency education is only as effective as the leaders and districts that implement it. The following are posts by incredible educators who offer insight into CBE for any teacher wanting to understand more about how to implement it in their classroom:
The Project IS the Learning! by Rose Colby and Andrew Miller
Competency-Based Instruction & Assessment: Building the Framework by Erica Stofanak
Dancing Out Front, Be Reasonable!, and Exceeding Is More Complicated Than Adding Glitter and Flash by Courtney Belolan
The Offal Lesson by Shawn Cornally
A Classroom Teacher's Approach to Competency-Based Education , A Shift to Competencies: A Practical Approach, and Validating Competency with Wild Pigs in the Woods… by Justin Ballou
Check out the Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Summertime Reading series.


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Good morning folks,
It's a mild morning with gusts of wind swaying the Fir trees around the mountain. The high yesterday was a warm 50 degrees. The low only dipped down to 31 degrees. It was 35 degrees and partly cloudy at 7am observation. The warming tend continues today with chances of rain mid morning into the afternoon. Trails around the mountain are very packed down with recent foot traffic making it like a hard packed layer of ice. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow night into Monday. Snowfall amounts are unsure at this time but I will keep you posted. Much colder air moves into the area pushing this warm weather out and back to the normal winter we all know at LeConte. Have a great day! Looking from the window of my cabin the mountain was socked in. Surges of wind coming from the south bring a thick fog that have settled in on LeConte. Today looks to be a day to huddle up with a cup of a coffee, turn some tunes on and get the bread making started! It will be a very relaxing day on the mountain. One must rest up before the snow returns for more adventures. On my morning rounds checking camp, I noticed a neighboring Junco (bird) slip on the ice at cabin 6 all before catching himself and taking flight. Good save! See you at the top! PNUT Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
LeConte LodgeWelcome to the official blog of LeConte Lodge. We hope you find the information provided here both helpful and enjoyable. Thank you for visiting the site, and we hope to see you on the mountain! Archives
April 2024


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Underwired triangle SOLEIL FLORAL
VAT free outside EU : €96.67 tax excl.
Triangle bikini top - Lise Charmel - Soleil Floral
Made of extremely soft stretch knit. This vibrant and joyful line with a graphic print is inspired by the artistic creations of Milton Glaser, for a contemporary and radiant silhouette.
The mesh-lined cups ensure perfect shape and support for the breasts, even in the largest sizes.
A golden Zamak jewel, embellished with a rhinestone, elegantly adorns the cups.
This cut offers an irresistible plunging neckline. Stretch back for more comfort. Wide straps with extensible clips, multi-position and adjustable. Back closure by clip.
LYCRA® Beauty® certified, this knit provides exceptional comfort and well-being!
Composition: 78% Polyamide, 22% Elastane
STANDARD 100 certification by OEKO-TEX® is a real guarantee of safety for our customers, it guarantees that labeled products do not contain any harmful substances.
from 89€
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An investigation into Elon Musk's $44 billion purchase of Twitter is underway by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), according to a recent report. The story was initially reported by Bloomberg News on Thursday, with the Federal Trade Commission refusing to comment. According to Bloomberg, "under United States merger law, Musk is obligated to inform the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department of the acquisition and wait at least 30 days before closing to allow for an inquiry into any antitrust problems."
"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may seek extra information by issuing what is known as a second request, which would cause the case to be delayed even longer," according to the paper. Although it is unlikely that the merger would be stopped, some opponents have expressed concern that Musk will have too much power over free speech as a result of the new acquisition. A letter addressed by more than two dozen organisations after the revelation that Musk's bid to acquire Twitter had been approved has also tried to tarnish Musk's acquisition by asking advertisers to abandon the site. Musk has not responded to the letter.
CNN reported in an article linked in one of Musk's own posts responding to the controversy that "more than two dozen civil society groups said marketers should secure commitments from Twitter to retain its most critical policies, including those on civic integrity and hateful conduct, and threaten to withdraw funding if Twitter does not comply," according to the article Musk linked in one of his own posts responding to the controversy.
The initiative was called into doubt by Musk in a subsequent article, which said, "I wonder whether people sponsoring these groups are completely aware of what the organisations are doing." Also on Wednesday, a digital safety committee inside the United Kingdom Parliament asked Musk to face questions regarding his recent modifications to the social media platform Twitter.
Previous reports from The Daily Wire said that the United Kingdom's worries may be tied to new draught laws released in March, which contained the possibility of criminal punishment for large tech executives who fail to comply with the country's internet safety regulations.
Commissioner Nathan Simington, on the other hand, rebuffed demands for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, instead urging regulators and the general public to embrace the transaction as a victory for freedom of expression online.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been petitioned to prevent Elon Musk from owning Twitter, Simington said in a statement on Monday. The United States Code and our rules, on the other hand, do not provide us the authority to intervene with this transaction." Unlike other countries, our competition review body does not and has never extended its jurisdiction to online sites such as Twitter."
A statement by the left-wing advocacy organization Open Markets Institute, asking the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Department of Justice to prohibit the acquisition, prompted Commissioner Brendan Carr to reject the proposal. "The Federal Communications Commission has no jurisdiction to prevent Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, and to imply otherwise is ludicrous," Carr added. 'It would be great if the whole FCC made it plain that we would not tolerate these sorts of silly arguments,' says the author.
Source: Daily Wire


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30 Aug What a place to survey!
Posted at 00:07h
in News
Land Dimensions recently completed a Feature & Level Survey of a section of Victoria's coastline around the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge in Port Campbell. Our surveyors spent 3 weeks on site taking over 14,000 measurements over an area of approximately 122 hectares. They witnessed some stunning scenery including this classic shot of one of our GPS rovers with the 12 Apostles back drop. A survey they will never forget!


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AT-KABUL: First Deputy Speaker of Wolesi Jirga, or Lower House of Parliament Abdul Zahir Qadir said that due to government negligence, Daesh militants have been deployed in northern Badakhshan province.
"If the government further remains inattentive, the militants start targeting people," Qadir said.
Speaking at the plenary session of the parliament on Monday, Qadir claimed that military raids by state security forces were inconsiderable against fighters loyal to Daesh terrorists in Nangarhar province, therefore, Daesh fighters were deployed in northern Badakhshan province.
"Daesh terrorists are still active in Nangarhar province, they carry out noticeable battles, while previously they were launched underground attacks only" he asserted.
He highlighted that so far one thousands of his fighters refighting Daesh militants in the province, but government does not support them with military equipment as it do to the local police.
He alleged that local police freeing detained Daesh fighters after receiving telephone call from government officials. "As if they were secret agents among militants," he said referring to the release of Daesh fighters.
He accused high security officials for negligence over rooting out Daesh militants, and called on other MPs to summon security officials for weak performances.
Recently President Ghani during his visit to Jalalabad the capital city of Nangarhar province, ordered security forces to suppress Daesh insurgents from every nook and corner of the country within next few weeks.
First deputy speaker stressed that it is impossible for the government to eliminate Daesh insurgents, adding that Daesh was imposed as a dangerous project against Afghanistan.
"If the government eradicate Daesh insurgents within next three months, I am ready to resin and the government can send me behind bars" Qadir added.
Earlier, officials in the Ministry of Defense, said that Daesh insurgents lost their influence in the country, and unable to stand against Afghan security forces.


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THEY are two simple but powerful objects, heavily freighted with significance, both political and historical.
Two skulls, currently resting in the high-security archives of Scotland's National Museum are among the last remains of the Beothuk people, the indigenous people of Newfoundland in Canada, and they have been part of the extensive collections of the National Museums of Scotland for more than 150 years.
After a three year campaign by indigenous groups, and a formal request for repatriation from the government of Canada, it is understood the NMS is on the "cusp" of finally deciding what to do with the human remains.
The future of the remains, taken from their graves in the 1820s, is shortly to be decided by Dr Gordon Rintoul, director of the museums, in a decision that could be announced as early as this week.
The Canadian government has told the Herald on Sunday that it is committed to a "respectful repatriation" of the remains, and UK museum campaigners have called for the return of the skulls, which were taken from their grave in the 1820s.
Thus far, the National Museums of Scotland have been tight-lipped on the subject, which were brought to Scotland in circumstances that would be impossible today: the remains belong to Chief Nonobawsut, and his young wife Demasuit, whose land was taken by Governor Charles Hamilton in the early 19th century.
Demasduit was captured, while Nonosbawsut, her husband and community leader, was murdered.
Demasduit died of tuberculosis on 8 January 1820 and her body was placed in a burial hut beside her husband and child.
A Scots-Canadian, William Cormack, then took the skull and other goods from the grave of Nonosbawsut and sent them to Edinburgh, with other funerary objects retrieved from that site, to his mentor Robert Jameson, a Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh.
The last of the Beothuk people, a woman named Shanawdithit, died in 1829 of tuberculosis.
The collection of the university museum to which Jameson added Cormack's items was later incorporated into the holdings of the National Museum of Scotland.
Dr Rintoul, in an interview this week on the subject of the Beothuk remains, said that he is close to making a decision on what to do with the skulls, and suggested that he has not ruled out returning the skulls to Newfoundland.
The debate over what museums should, and should not, hold, has dramatically evolved in the last 20 years, with campaigners calling for the return of human remains held in UK and western museums to the lands and people from which they were taken.
The subject of the fate of human remains in UK collections has become part of the broader discussion about the 'decolonisation' of British museums: to give a louder and more detailed voice to those peoples colonised by the British Empire, and to offer forms of restitution, including the return of objects.
Dr Rintoul, this week, noted that the skulls have not been the subject of extensive scientific research since they were brought to Scotland.
In 2017, an NMS statement said they were of "utmost scientific importance, as they represent a now-extinct tribe and these skulls are among the very last evidence for this tribe."
The NMS, he noted, has been returning human remains for over a decade: it returned human remains to New Zealand in 2008, as well as Australia and Tasmania.
A decision on the Beothuk remains could be announced as early as this week.
He said that the NMS had been working through a "detailed" checklist of considerations about the remains.
Dr Rintoul said: "We hope to have an answer on this shortly. In my experience, no two situations are alike: New Zealand is probably the most straightforward place, because of the collaborations between the indigenous groups and the Government, it's been well worked out for some time, it is a straight forward process.
"Not all countries have that approach, but to be honest there's not that many groups who are active in seeking human remains."
He added: "Like the broader restitution debate, there are no straightforward answers.
"I think all one can do is make a judgement.
"At the end of the day, you have to form a judgement on what is the right thing to do, weigh up the various arguments, and that is why we are other major museums in the UK have a formal process to consider these decisions."
Dr Rintoul said the attitude of museums to displaying and owning human remains has changed in the last 20 years.
"Museums do not somehow sit apart from society," he said, "so I would say that what museums display, and how they display, is in part a reflection of the expectations and approaches and views of wider society.
"And as society, certainly in the western world, people do not expect to see human remains in general on display, the only exception to that seems to be Egyptian mummies."
Campaigners for the return of human remains from museums to the culture or countries from which they were taken have strong views.
One is Alice Procter, who is an art historian and museum educator, a campaigner for more ethical museum practice.
She runs the Uncomfortable Art Tours at the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain and the Queen's House at the National Maritime Museum.
She believes it is "well past time" for the the NMS to return the remains.
Ms Proctor said: "Purely the aesthetics of this, the optics of this, reflects so badly on the National Museum, it really does.
"It's a kind of passive complicity in historical violence, and continuing to keep these remains, and to somehow insist on their scientific importance and value, the museum is saying it was right to take them in the first place.
"If the National Museum of Scotland think that's OK, they need to take a long hard look at themselves."
She added: "Museums have human remains as a relic of a previous way of understanding the world.
"For the most part, these people end up part of collections as part of a bigger narrative of objectification and violence against indigenous people.
"It is overwhelmingly indigenous people that are in these collections, and as with the case of the Beothuk skulls, they are taken without any kid of permission from the community, and they taken in secret, and in incredibly invasive and violating ways.
"The fact they are still in the collections, to me, is completely unacceptable. There is no possible reason for keeping these remains and not repatriating them."
Dr Rintoul noted the grim history of the remains.
He said: "They date from a time when it was perfectly common for museums around the world to collected human remains, both from their own countries and from others.
"If you went up and down the UK you'd find all sorts of museums with human remains from UK archaeological digs, however I think in the past 10 to 20 years, across the world, there has been a pretty big shift in the question of should a museum have human remains that are from other cultures and other countries. You'd be hard pushed to find many significant museums who wouldn't at least consider returning human remains."
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, had a private visit of the NMS when he visited Edinburgh in 2017, although he did not mention the Beothuk case.
A new statement from the Canadian government said: "The Department of Canadian Heritage is working diligently with its partners throughout the process established by the policies and legislation governing National Museums Scotland for the successful return of Beothuk human remains.
"The Government of Canada is committed to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples of Canada and recognizes that the respectful repatriation of Indigenous remains and cultural property can play an important role in that process."
Chief Mi'sel Joe, who has led the efforts to return the bodies, said: "I am truly hoping this can happen in this year."
The Canadian request has been backed by the Canadian Museum of History, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and several indigenous peoples governments and organisations.
The request for the remains also includes a declaration backing their return to Canada by the leaders of five indigenous governments and organisations: the Innu Nation, the Miawpukek First Nation, the Nunatsiavut Government, the NunatuKavut Community Council Inc. and the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation.
Chief Mi'sel Joe has visited Edinburgh twice to view the times, and performed a ceremony over the remains.
Chief Mi'sel, of the the Mi'kmaq, along with the Innu and the Innuit, share the traditional lands of the Beothuk.
"They were stolen from Newfoundland. They belong to us and they should be brought back," he has said.
Last year, a motion was made in the Newfoundland-Labrador House of Assembly by member Tracey Perry calling for repatriation of the remains "so that they may be laid to rest with dignity."
In 2017, Chief Mi'sel Joe outlined the importance of the remains.
He told The Telegram: "It was a dark time in our history in Newfoundland, and to me it's not an aboriginal issue as much as it's a Newfoundland issue that we all need to get involved in, because it's part of our history.
"When you look at the history of the Beothuk people and how their demise came about, I think we owe it to them and their remains.
"And their spirit will never be free - we need to do something about that."
Tiffany Jenkins is an author, academic, broadcaster and consultant on cultural policy,
An honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, her book Keeping Their Marbles: How Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums and Why They Should Stay There was published in 2016 to acclaim, and she also wrote Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: The Crisis of Cultural Authority.
Ms Jenkins feels the remains should stay with the NMS.
She said: "In a way to understand what these human remains were, who they were and how they lived, you do need a scientific approach to them.
"The peculiar and paradoxical thing about human remains is that they are both people, they used to be a person, and they are also unique scientific evidence, so that is why they are so charged, and people can make claims upon them."
Ms Jenkins notes that often, the bodies are all that remains of certain cultures: there is no written records, books or notes.
"The peculiar thing, and the difficult thing is, if we want to understand who those people were, where they came from, how they lived, population movement and diversity, we need to be able to research those human remains," she said.
"Scientific interest sounds really abstract and clinical, but it is actually about the people."
Ms Jenkins is well aware of the political aspects to the debate.
She adds: "That's the difficulty. Obviously as a human being you think: this terrible thing happened, what can we do to apologise for it, or to repair those communities, or the wound that is left in Canada?
"I think the solutions are political and social, and they are also about opening up a conversation about what happened and why it happened, rather than a simple moralising - try to understand it.
"But instead we get: well maybe if we give someone some bones, it will somehow repair it. Which I think won't work, and the things that those bones could do, is tell us about who those people were and in some cases that is completely off the agenda.
"And sometimes when they are returned, they are reburied: so what they can tell us about those people is buried underground."
Ms Jenkins said that the increase in these demands for repatriation comes from a "politicisation of culture", which stems from a failure in politics, "an inability to address problems in a political way, so culture becomes a symbol which people turn to instead", and a loss of confidence in what museums are for - "which is tell us about human beings and human civilisations."
The NMS says that dialogue with the groups who desire the return of objects is a key part of the process.
Dr Rintoul points to the 2008 show Extremes: Life in Subarctic Canada, which showed the world of the Tlicho people, with 300 items from the 1850s and 1860s.
The NMS staff took the show to Ottawa and Prince Edward Island, and collected new material.
Dr Rintoul added: "Decolonisation means different things to different people: it is a term I do not find particularly helpful, because what does it mean?
"Major museums like ourselves, and others like the British Museum and the V&A, have a huge quantity of material, but it is been acquired through a huge range of ways, through purchase, through donation, purchased from whoever made it to begin with in the late 19th century, and the amount that has been acquired through, say, military expeditions is only a tiny part of the whole.
"I think it is fair to say that the way museums would view acquiring objects now is very different from 150 years ago or even 50 years ago.
"That's particularly been since the 1970 UNESCO convention on protecting cultural property, which led to a sea-change in the museums world as a whole, with greater emphasis on documenting the provenance of objects acquired.
"Attitudes have changed enormously since the Beothuk material was gathered and acquired, and it certainly would not be acceptable now.
"I think it's really important that museums do not duck the difficult histories attached to these objects.
"We cannot re-write the past, but what we can do is be honest about what that past is, and how we acquired some of that material."
Mark O'Neill, the former head of Glasgow Museums, who led the return of the Ghost Dance Shirt to the Lakota Sioux in 1999m said: "I don't think there are any pitfalls in returning the object, or rather if there are, we just have to live with them.
"When we were managing the Ghost Dance Shirt, as you will remember, there were many who were saying that returning one thing would open the floodgates.
" This has not happened - though it still may - but I have always thought it was ethically wrong to refuse to do something that was right, in case it would generate further requests. These just have to be dealt with.
"It's part of the job of 21st century museums to deal with the history of our collections, and how they reflect global interconnections and the moral complexity of historical rights and wrongs.
"This is not a problem for museums, it is our job. It is not a distraction from our work - it is exactly why museum collections are interesting and important."
He added: "Looking back, one of the best things about the Lakota Ghost Dance Shirt repatriation was that we did it in public - the committee deliberations, the hearing in the Burrell, the display in Kelvingrove which gave people a change to comment.
"It was a massive curatorial task in the service of public education, which is what museums are for.
"From where we started with headlines about 'Indians on the Warpath' to the coverage of the Burrell hearing, there was a great improvement in the quality of the public debate.
" For the NMS, this request is a major opportunity to discuss many of the most significant issues of the meaning, power and ownership of objects."
In a recent paper, Mr O'Neill noted that European colonisers and their decendents collected "millions" of object and human remains from indigenous peoples, through trade, gift or using force.
Restitution in the US is governed by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990, and legislation similar has been passed in New Zealand and Australia. In Canada, under the provisions of a Museums Act of 1990, they deal with claims on a case-by-case basis.
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Shortly after midterms were over my best friend from high school visited Mac from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. We discussed the usual topics of any native Minnesotans in college: hockey and the 2016 presidential election. We're both conservatives and strongly dislike Donald Trump, but we don't agree on who we ultimately will support in the GOP primary; my friend is undecided but leans towards Ben Carson while I am a fervent supporter of Senator Marco Rubio. Discussing these candidates with him inspired me to write about Senator Rubio this week and explain why I believe his ideas, optimism for the future of America and past experiences make him the best candidate to take the White House in 2016.
As you may or may not be aware, I'm fairly moderate. I'm quite conservative on economic issues but liberal on most social issues. I take higher notice of candidates aligned with the GOP establishment as I see them as the best fit for the electorate as a whole. Marco Rubio exemplifies everything I believe the GOP ought to bring to the country in "A New American Century." Rubio comes from a humble background: not born into a prestigious family like some candidates, he didn't inherit money or even receive a "small loan of a million dollars" as in the case of a certain frontrunner. Rubio grew up with a father who was a bartender and a mother who was a maid. He worked his way through college, law school and an early political career accumulating debt and financial hardships just like the rest of us.
I understand that humble beginnings shouldn't be the driving force behind supporting one candidate and that is not why I support Rubio so strongly. I do however believe that the next President ought to know a thing or two about living paycheck to paycheck in a struggling middle class in order to work hard for the average American citizen. We live in an age where politicians are increasingly out of touch with constituents and I find it refreshing to see a candidate with a humble background proving that regardless of the financial situation you were born into, you can make it in America and work to strengthen everyone. I believe Marco Rubio exemplifies these ideals.
The most important thing a candidate for any political office has to offer is their policy intentions, an area often ignored or glossed over by some frontrunners, but not Marco Rubio. The month of October was Rubio's chance to demonstrate his strength on policy with his "31 Days of Policy" initiative. For an entire month, Rubio demonstrated substantive policy ideas including a detailed tax plan, a reduction of the national debt, optimization of American energy sources and higher education/student loan cost reform, just to name a few.
I understand that I'm promoting a conservative candidate to the "most liberal college in America," according to College Magazine in 2014, so I'm sure many reading will disagree with some of his ideas. Even if you disagree, you have to give him credit where other candidates fall short: Marco Rubio has substance, not just talking points.
I support the Senator's policy ideas and ant to bring forth just one example I find pertinent to us college students. Rubio's higher education plan involves overhauling an antiquated system at a time when a college education is vital for most high-paying jobs. Simplification of the financial aid process, income based repayment methods for student loans, a reformed accreditation system to accommodate nontraditional forms of higher education and increased access to career and vocational education are just a few of the senator's higher education goals. Obviously I'm just brushing the surface on the plans put forward, so I highly encourage taking a look at these policies and others in Rubio's 31 Days of Policy. You may disagree, but it's nice to see intentions put forward clearly at a time when candidates seem to avoid taking a stand on issues.
The last few weeks have seen Rubio rise rapidly in the national spotlight, and with that increased media attention comes increased scrutiny. The most prominent of the attacks against Rubio included calls for his resignation from the Senate by the Sun Sentinel due to his absence from many votes. When confronted about his absence during the CNBC debate, Rubio seized the moment and exemplified the media bias that is so pertinent in this country. In 2004, Florida Democrat Bob Graham ran for President and missed over 30 percent of his votes without criticism. John Kerry missed nearly 70 percent of his senate votes when running for President without criticism and even got the Sun Sentinel endorsement. In 2008, Barack Obama missed
60 percent of his senate votes, Hillary Clinton missed 75 percent of hers and Joe Biden missed nearly 80 percent of his votes. (Data from govtrack.us.) Marco Rubio has missed 34 percent of his votes. Yes, he should have more of a presence in the Senate, but a double standard is clearly evident here.
I previously supported Governor Chris Christie, but after listening to and researching Marco Rubio more in depth, I have changed my mind and fully stand behind the Florida Senator. That is not to say that I don't disagree with him on a few issues—his stance on abortion being one of the few areas differentiating our beliefs. I am personally pro-life but I am for an individual's right to choose. Senator Rubio has a different opinion on this than myself and, while I don't agree with it, I still support the senator based on the other political ideals he champions that I hold true and I sincerely hope he will evolve on that one particular issue. I believe that the United States needs a candidate like Marco Rubio at this vital time in history. I encourage my fellow Republicans to take a closer look at Rubio and consider standing behind him for a "New American Century." I implore my Democratic friends to give him a shot and look into him a bit. While you may ultimately support Clinton, Sanders or O'Malley, I see looking at the other sides ideas as beneficial to the electoral process. Personally, I look forward to seeing what else Marco Rubio has to offer and I hope the GOP can rally behind him as a positive voice for the modern Republican Party.


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When Bryce Moen was an MBA student at The University of Texas at Austin, his professor said, "If we're going to teach you to be capitalists, you also need to think about being philanthropists." The advice stuck.
Bryce is chief financial officer of Arch Energy Partners, an oil and gas investment firm. In 2018, he founded ChandlerSpeaks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises funds to give children in need access to speech-language pathology services.
In 2019, Bryce asked the Callier Center to be a practice partner and beneficiary of ChandlerSpeaks. To date, ChandlerSpeaks has awarded Callier nearly $50,000 to provide speech-language therapy to children whose families cannot afford care.
ChandlerSpeaks is named for Bryce and Sara Moen's 7-year-old daughter, Chandler. At 2 years of age, Chandler could say only one word: "mama." She was later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech, a disorder in which the brain struggles to direct speech movement, making it difficult for a child to speak. Developmentally, Chandler was behind in her expressive speech but ahead in her understanding of speech.
"She knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn't physically say it," Bryce said.
Chandler received speech services through Early Childhood Intervention and later through the school district. Since age 2, Chandler has also received speech therapy from Molly Augustine MS'07, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) at Holland Speech & Consulting.
"In the public school system, an SLP could have four or five kids per session," Bryce said. "Speech therapy is an individualized treatment protocol, and from a developmental standpoint, Chandler needed one-on-one care."
The Moens quickly discovered that many insurance carriers do not cover speech-language services.
"When Chandler was at her peak, you're talking $600 to $800 per month," Bryce said. "To get your child into early treatment and carry it forward for a number of years, you're talking about thousands of dollars."
ChandlerSpeaks began as a result of the Moens' desire to help families who cannot afford care.
"Other than Chandler's individual experience, we didn't know much about speech pathology, so we focused on finding a place to donate the money where they could provide services," Bryce said. "I called Molly and asked her who I should work with in Dallas that has a good reputation, and she said, 'Callier is the best in the country. You need to figure out how to work with them.'"
Molly graduated with a master's degree in communication sciences and disorders from UT Dallas in 2007. She continues to provide speech therapy for Chandler, who is now in second grade.
"Bryce and I remember when speaking wasn't a part of Chandler's communication set," Sara said, "and she didn't want to interact with anybody and didn't feel understood. But last year, her first grade teacher called and said, 'Chandler volunteered to read today. She got up in front of the class, and she didn't care that she was reading a different book' — all these things your mama-heart is worried about because you've seen your child struggle for years."
"As you progress in life, communication is the No. 1 key to your success," Bryce said. "Through our partnership with Callier, ChandlerSpeaks is a financial bridge to help children like Chandler receive the ability to communicate and connect."
"Through our partnership with Callier, ChandlerSpeaks is a financial bridge to help children like Chandler receive the ability to communicate and connect."
— Bryce Moen, ChandlerSpeaks Founder and President
I would like to give to help children in need receive the ability to communicate and connect.