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College Football 2012: 10 Coaches Who Could Be Bowl-Eligible and Still Be FiredApril 8, 2012
College Football 2012: 10 Coaches Who Could Be Bowl-Eligible and Still Be Fired
It's a cut-throat world in the current era of college football. Coaches used to be given five years to build a program, but that time frame has dwindled down to three years, and in some cases two. Rick Neuheisel took UCLA to the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game, but was dismissed prior to that game. Illinois coach Ron Zook was also fired despite making a bowl game.
Last year's turnover rate is far from an anomaly, thanks to the ever increasing demand on coaches to win and win big. Expect similar firings to occur after the 2012 seasons.
Here are 10 who coaches who might need to do more than just reach the postseason to weaken the fire underneath their seats.
Dave Clawson, Bowling Green
The successful head coach at Richmond brought his "Claw-fense" to Tennessee as the newly hired offensive coordinator in 2008. The offense fizzled despite the presence of current NFL star Arian Foster. After Phillip Fulmer was fired, Clawson re-joined the head coaching ranks at Bowling Green in 2009.
The Falcons made a bowl game in Clawson's first season, but have posted only a 7-17 record over the past two seasons. While becoming bowl-eligible is the goal for 2012, it would only be a one-game improvement from 2011. Playing in the much weaker East division of the MAC, a .500 record might not cut it for Clawson.
Jeff Tedford, California
After taking the Golden Bears from 1-10 to 10-1 in just three seasons in Berkeley, Tedford's on-field performance has been less than stellar. Cal is just 12-13 over the past two seasons, including 7-11 in Pac-12 play. Tedford has failed to develop the elite quarterback that he had in his first three seasons with Kyle Boller and Aaron Rodgers.
He may have one in true freshman Zach Kline, but it's asking a lot for Kline to be a difference-maker in 2012. He's lost back-to-back games to Bay Area rival Stanford and eight in a row to USC. The loss of stud recruiter Tosh Lupoi to Washington in January won't help Tedford's cause. The Bears probably don't need to win the Pac-12 North for Tedford to survive, but they at least need to contend.
Dabo Swinney, Clemson
To put it in simple terms, Swinney has been and will continue to be an enigma. In that sense, he's the perfect fit for a program that's only consistent quality has been its inconsistency. Swinney is not just a good recruiter, but a great recruiter. His Tigers started 2011 8-0 and won the ACC title. Then, a month later in the Orange Bowl, 70 happened.
Although the architect of the highly ineffective defensive game plan for the Orange Bowl, Kevin Steele, was dismissed, there continue to be concern about Swinney's staying power in Death Valley. It's hard to imagine a coach getting fired a year removed from a conference title, but with Clemson, always expect the unexpected.
Will Muschamp, Florida
If Kansas can fire a coach after just two seasons, Florida can as well. Don't think athletic director Jeremy Foley will hesitate to pull the trigger if the Gators' 2011 season repeats itself. The last time Florida canned a coach after less than three seasons, they went out and hired Urban Meyer and tripled their crystal ball collection in four years.
The hiring of Boise State assistant Brent Pease to run what was a lifeless offense a year ago adds a fresh new element to the team, with a young defense that started to come together late last season. With an easier schedule, it's hard to foresee the Gators not topping last year's six regular season wins. However, with Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer both having won SEC titles in their second year at Florida, Muschamp will be afforded no patience.
Danny Hope, Purdue
Joe Tiller made a program that was irrelevant for 25 years very relevant when he came to West Lafayette in 1997, but the Boilermakers have slid back since his departure in 2008, posting just one winning season. Purdue has been absolutely gutted by injuries over the past two seasons, but hopes to have both QB Robert Marve and RB Ralph Bolden fully healthy for 2012.
The Boilermakers have three guaranteed wins on their non-conference schedule, get Indiana at home, and avoid both Michigan State and Nebraska. Six wins should not be that hard to scrape together. After going 7-6 last season, it will likely take more than six for Hope to return for a fifth season in 2013.
Derek Dooley, Tennessee
Dooley will frequently use military metaphors to describe his football team, so I'll emulate the coach with the assessment of his 2012 season: It's D-Day. After posting consecutive losing seasons to open Dooley's tenure in Knoxville, the Vols return almost their entire offense and drop LSU from the schedule.
With a light non-conference schedule and a crucial September game with Florida in Neyland Stadium, there can't be any excuses for not winning at least seven games. It might even take eight wins for Dooley to survive. With an athletic department that has been marred by change ever since Phil Fulmer was fired in 2008, Tennessee desperately wants to avoid another coaching search next winter.
Mack Brown, Texas
They can't fire a legendary coach like Brown, can they? Well, they couldn't fire Bobby Bowden at Florida State, and he was run off in 2009 after a similar decline in on-field performance. Any change would obviously be spun as a resignation/retirement rather than a dismissal, but two conference titles in 14 seasons in Austin is seen by most as underachieving.
Do I expect the Longhorns to struggle in 2012 like they did in 2010 and 2011? Absolutely not. It's the second year for coordinators Manny Diaz and Bryan Harsin, and the talent level is back to where it should be at Texas. However, no one saw 5-7 coming in 2010, and few saw 7-5 coming in 2011. Texas must get back to being Texas again. If not, the best job in college football may come open.
Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech
No one is really sure what happened on that stormy Saturday night last October in Norman, but somehow a Texas Tech team who had just lost it starting running back for the season with an ACL injury played a nearly flawless game and handed No. 3 Oklahoma its first loss at home in six years. To date, that is the Red Raiders' last victory.
Mike Leach took a program with a number of inherent disadvantages and had them one win away from the national title game in 2008. Now, entering Tuberville's third season in Lubbock, the program is simply trying to hold off Kansas for the No. 9 spot in a 10-team Big 12.
With three certain wins in non-conference play, going 3-6 in the Big 12 would get Texas Tech to the postseason. However, it might not get Tuberville a fourth season.
George O'Leary, UCF
Yes, O'Leary has won two conference titles, but there's more at play for the Golden Knights program than just on-field results. UCF will move to the Big East in 2013, and is coming off a disappointing season that saw the team miss a bowl game and lose promising young quarterback Jeff Godfrey to a transfer.
Programs often will change coaches prior to joining a new conference in order to generate excitement in the fanbase. Colorado did it after the 2010 season, and Texas A&M did the same after this past season. O'Leary has accomplished some great things in Orlando, but might be hitting a slump at exactly the wrong time.
Mike Price, UTEP
After an embarrassing incident involving strippers cost him his briefly-held job at Alabama, Price found refuge in the west Texas town of El Paso, taking the Miners to a bowl game in his first season in 2004. Since then, there has been only one additional bowl appearance, a blowout loss to BYU in 2010.
There was talk that Price would not survive after a 5-7 season in 2011, but he was retained for 2012. Having just turned 66 on Friday, Price's career is winding down whether he goes out on his own terms. Without at least seven wins, the end is probably near for a coach who was coaching in the Rose Bowl less than a decade ago.


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App Description
Coming in 2015, a horror game that will grab your attention and not let go!
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A baby was born to a happy, young couple.
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In a creepy dilapidated mansion,
Something terrible happened...
…but what was it?
- This game may cause seizures and an accelerated heart rate that can be harmful to your health. Expecting mothers, the elderly, children and those with pre-existing heart conditions should refrain from playing this game.
- For maximum gameplay experience, please use headphones.
▶ Features◀
# An 'escape-the-room' type game that combines problem solving and horror
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App Changes
- September 26, 2015 Initial release

subset: commoncrawl


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Kalahari Desert North of the Orange River, South Africa28.4S 21.2E
The Orange River appears as a green line curving its way through the middle section of this image of South Africa. Here it can be observed flowing westwards through the arid wilderness of the southern Kalahari region and Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Province.
To the North of the river is the Kalahari Desert, a large arid to semi-arid sandy area extending 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains.


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Paul Gauguin Cruises has announced wildlife scientists guest lectures aboard its ship The Gauguin.
Scientists Emily Darling, associate director of WCS Global Marine Programmes, and Sangeeta Mangubhai, director of WCS Fiji, will lecture as part of the new Wildlife Discovery Series programme aboard The Gauguin.
The Wildlife Discovery Series is a lecture programme where guests of The Gauguin have the opportunity to learn about marine wildlife and habitats from scientists, oceanographers and conservationists.
Darling and Mangubhai will share their research and expertise on coral reefs and climate change, conservation challenges and opportunities in Melanesia, and WCS conservation approaches in Fiji, during The Gauguin's June 7, 2017 Bali to Fiji voyage.
Darling is a dedicated coral reef ecologist, passionate about sustaining tropical corals in a changing climate. In her role at WCS, Darling coordinates a coral reef monitoring programme across Melanesia, Indonesia, the Caribbean and Western Indian Ocean. Her research focuses on fisheries management, community ecology and coral responses to climate change. In addition to publishing in scientific journals, Darling has contributed to popular science blogs for major media networks.
Darling earned her undergraduate degree at Queen's University and doctorate at Simon Fraser University. She completed a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship and was recently bestowed a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. She has lived and travelled in southeast Asia, Africa and the northern wilds of Canada and currently resides in Vancouver. She is an expedition diver and underwater photographer and also enjoys hiking, paddling, rock climbing and exploring the natural world.
Mangubhai has worked for WCS since 2014 and is currently based in Suva, Fiji. As the director of the WCS Fiji programme, she has empowered local communities to make informed decisions about their natural resources. Mangubhai specialises in designing marine protected areas, assessing coral reef resilience, monitoring fisheries and evaluating the return on investment of conservation action. Throughout her career, she has studied ecology and advised policy in Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia and East Africa.
Mangubhai completed her education in Australia, earning an undergraduate degree at The University of Queensland and her doctorate at Southern Cross University. She has served as an adjunct scientist for the New England Aquarium, editor for Pacific Conservation Biology and committee member for the Women in Fisheries Network. Mangubhai is fluent in Indonesian and conversant in Fijian and Swahili, and she enjoys drawing and painting in her free time.
Paul Gauguin Cruises has partnered with WCS to offer the Wildlife Discovery Series programme on select sailings in 2017.
For reservations call Paul Gauguin Cruises on 020 7399 7691 or visit www.pgcruises.com


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On April 2, 2015, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the regulatory body responsible for enforcing the legislative framework applicable to the financial sector in Quebec, released a report entitled Internet Insurance Offerings in Québec: Presentation of Consultation Findings and Orientations (Report).
This Report follows a consultation held by the AMF in 2012 through which it sought comments from financial sector participants and consumers on certain proposed measures in respect of Internet insurance offerings in Quebec to adapt the requirements of the current insurance distribution regime to the realities of electronic commerce. The Report's release also follows the publication in 2013 by the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) of a position paper on similar issues entitled Electronic Commerce in Insurance Products. The CCIR's report was generally favourable to the online sale of insurance products so long as there is access to advice when desired. Other than brokers, the recommendations of the CCIR report were generally accepted among the industry stakeholders.
The Report presents the findings of the AMF's consultation and the resulting recommendations. The recommendations also generally take into consideration the views expressed by the CCIR in the position paper referenced above. The recommendations presented in the Report are meant to propose industry practices to follow in respect of online insurance product distribution that take into account both the current requirements of the insurance distribution regulatory regime and the need to protect the public. The recommendations of this Report have been well-received by the industry, other than brokers, particularly the recommendation allowing the sale of online insurance products without a licensed individual agent or broker (representative) being necessarily involved. It is expected that the Quebec government will take the AMF's cue and propose amendments to the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services and its regulations.
The AMF issued the following 11 recommendations to insurance providers selling online insurance products:
Orientation 1: To provide certain key information, including whether the insurance provider is registered with the AMF, on the insurance provider's website at the appropriate moments during an insurance sale transaction.
Orientation 2: To allow the sale of online insurance products without the intervention of a licensed representative provided that: (1) the online service provider is able to offer the consumer the necessary tools to properly assess his needs and make an informed decision; (2) the consumer has access to a licensed representative at any step of the sales process; and (3) a cancellation right be available to the consumer for a reasonable period of time after completing the purchase of the online insurance product.
Orientation 3: To disclose certain information regarding the insurance product to the consumer, including the exclusions and limitations, in a timely manner during the online sales process and before the contract is entered into.
Orientation 4: To disclose information to the consumer using a "step-by-step" approach by regrouping information by subject matter and to confirm that the consumer has read and fully understands each individual item of essential information required to provide valid consent to the purchase of the insurance product. Note that this recommendation equally applies to the content of the distribution guide for a distributor selling online insurance products via the regime of distribution without a representative (Orientation 9).
Orientation 5: To ensure that the information made available to the consumer before, during and after the online sale of the insurance product be in clear and simple language so as not to mislead the consumer.
Orientation 6: To give the consumer a summary of the information used to prepare the insurance quote and any other essential information concerning the insurance product before the transaction is completed.
Orientation 7: To send the contract documents to the consumer when the transaction is completed in either electronic or paper form, at the consumer's choice, as well as a paper copy upon the request of the consumer at any time thereafter.
Orientation 8: To adopt policies and procedures addressing the reliability and security of the provider's systems and practices to ensure that the consumer's personal information is secure at all times.
Orientation 9: For insurance products being sold online by a distributor via the regime of distribution without a representative, to make the distribution guide available on the distributor's website via a link to the website of the insurer whose product is being offered, and to provide the disclosures and information required under the regime of distribution without a representative on the distributor's website.
Orientation 10: To prohibit the placement of any form of advertisement on the website pages where the consumer completes an online application.
Orientation 11: To adopt social media policies and procedures to monitor the content being posted online, including content posted by the insurance provider's representatives, and its compliance with regulations.
During the consultation process, the AMF also sought the views of stakeholders in respect of comparison shopping websites. The views expressed were unanimous: comparison websites should be the subject to the same regulatory oversight as other industry members. In the Report, the AMF takes the position that comparison shopping websites must be duly registered as insurance brokers (firms) and implies that the website operators must be registered as individual brokers (representatives).


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Get Your Game Face On Like the Pros! By Dora Kurimay and Kathy Toon
As readers of this blog know, I strongly encourage players to work on sports psychology. It's amazing how many matches are won or lost on this, and yet after losing a match because of nerves or some related issue, players go and practice the shots they missed when they were nervous rather than address the reason they missed the shots with a dose of sports psychology. Here's a number of resources on sports psychology, including this excellent one.
"Have you ever stopped to consider how elite table tennis players deal with the pressure of competition and consistently perform at their best?" That's the opening line of Get Your Game Face On Like the Pros!, the new table tennis sports psychology ebook by Dora Kurimay and Kathy Toon (available at amazon.com). It's 158 pages with lots of useful content. It covers sports psychology specifically for table tennis better than anything else I've read, since most other books are more general, for all sports. It does so not just with theory, but with practical steps to improve your mental game and thereby your overall game.
I reviewed an earlier and shorter version of this book, "Get Your Game Face On." This version is greatly expanded, both the text and the title. If you are serious about your table tennis, I strongly encourage you to read this book, and try out the various methods explained for strengthening your mental game. It could pay off dramatically in your performance.
The first half is similar to the previous version. In Part 1, the book covers the Game Face System, going over both the routine and how to train for it. It points out four major problems that plague table tennis players, and then goes about giving systematic ways of combating them:
Central to the book is developing a "Game Face," the inseparable relationship between emotional, mental, and physical (the "Game Face Performance Triangle"), and a "Game Face Routine," using the four R's, which are covered in Part 2:
Throughout the book there are numerous real-world examples from world-class players. Often I was nodding my head at mental tricks that match what I'd developed over the years, or at recognizing something I'd see others do. The specific breakdown of how you use the time between points - the four R's - especially led to much thought that will influence my own coaching. The book should be a must for table tennis coaches and serious players.
The book then goes on to cover four major problems players face in competition, with a section devoted to each, and how to recover from them: Anger, Nerves, Mistakes, and Distractions. While the Four R's are likely the most important part of the book long-term, these four sections are probably of great value short term for players trying to address these issues right now. (But the Four R's will give a longer-term fix, especially in combination with this section.)
Part 3 is mostly new, and covers a wide variety of issues under the general topic of Develop Your Healthy Lifestyle Choices. After more about the Game Face Performance Triangle (Emotional-Physical-Mental), it covers 14 specific topics under three categories. Under Physiological, it has Nutrition, Hydration, and Sleep. Under Physical it has Practice, Conditioning, and Rehearsal (practicing the four R's of your Game Face routine). Under Mental, it has Self-Talk, Focus, and Visualization. Under Daily Life it has Time Management, Academics and Work, Fun, Relationships, and Environments.
The book finishes with two more sections, "Where to Go from Here," and a note to coaches, "Hey, Coach, Get Your Game Face On!" It's unfortunate that most coaches don't really focus on sports psychology. There's more to coaching than just technique and tactics.
Dora Kurimay was a member of the Hungarian National Table Tennis Team for six years and was six-time National Champion in doubles, singles, and teams. Perhaps more importantly she has a Bachelor's degree in psychology and two Master's degrees, in Psychology and in Sports Psychology. She has a long coaching background as well, both in table tennis and other sports. She now lives in the U.S. and at this writing has a 2380 rating. Kathy Toon coached tennis for twenty-three years, including at the University of California-Berkeley for fourteen years where teams she coached won three national doubles championships.
USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame
In my blog yesterday when I announced the new inductees I inadvertently left out Richard Butler as an inductee. (I've since added him there.) So here's actual list: Sheila O'Dougherty, Lisa Gee, Tawny Banh, Richard Butler, and Lifetime Achievement Award Donna Sakai. Congrats to all! (Here's the USATT Hall of Fame.)
Para World Championships
They are taking place right now in Beijing, China, Sept. 6-15. Here's the USATT page and the ITTF page for the event. Here are pictures. Representing USA are Tahl Leibovitz and Sherri Umscheid, with Angie Bengtsson the USA Coach. Tahl made the quarterfinals of Class 9.
The 5 Coolest Table Tennis Tables in Existence
Here's the article by Matt Hetherington.
Youth Olympic Games Tribute to Lily Zhang
Here's the video (3:15), created by Jim Butler. (She got the bronze in Under 18 girls.)
Southern Open Highlights Video
Here's the video (9:56).
Completely Insane Rally by Ma Lin
Here's the video (1:10), with Ma on the far side.
The Power of Sidespin
Here's a highlights video (5:01) from four years ago that I don't think I've ever posted.
The Port City Ping Pong Throwdown
Here's the promotional video (2:49), from the Wilmington TTC in North Carolina.
Wizard Pong?
Here's an animated gif image of what appears to be a wizard playing table tennis with his scepter! (Is that Loki from the movie Thor?)
Send us your own coaching news!
Teaching a Beginning Kid to Block
Recently I've had a lot of fun teaching two kids, ages six and seven, how to block. For some reason they find great joy in this. I'm teaching them all aspects of the game, even looping, but they keep begging to block against my loop - and so that's how we end each session.
Few kids at that age have the reflexes or coordination to really block against a ball with varying spin that moves around the table. It's worse if you serve topspin and then start looping, as they have to adjust to two different shots. So what I do to start the rally is to toss the ball up and loop the very first shot at them, right out of the air. Then I keep looping softly, trying to keep it to one spot with the same depth, while they block. (I'm focusing on backhand blocks, but also having them do forehand blocks.) To them it's like a video game, trying to keep the ball on the table against my heavy topspin. They're getting pretty good at it, and I'm getting some exercise.
2014 USATT Election Notice and Process
Here's the notice. And once again I'm pretty disappointed.
On Nov. 25, 2013, I blogged about how unfair it was that the USATT Bylaws were changed so that candidates can no longer get on the ballot by petition. The only way to get on is to have the USATT-appointed Nominating and Governance Committee (NGC) put you on. If they chose not to, potential candidates have no recourse. It used to be you could get on by petition, but no more. I blogged about this more extensively on Jan. 24, 2014.
On May 12, 2014, I wrote, "As I blogged about Jan. 24, 2014, the ICC Director, Rajul Sheth, wanted to run for the USATT Board, but the USATT Nominating and Governance Committee refused to put him on the ballot, with no reason ever given. I still find this unbelievable, both that they wouldn't put him on the ballot and that they have the power to do so, with no recourse such as getting on by petition - and no one from USATT has shown any interest in changing these silly dictatorial rules. It's an easy fix, as I pointed out in the blog. Which USATT board member will become a hero and make the motion to change this rule?"
This time I got a response that very day, as a USATT Board member (who shall remain nameless for now) emailed me that I was "mistaken," that the problem is being addressed, that there was a task force revising the election rules, and that they would be changed before the next election cycle. Well, the next election cycle is upon us, and there have been no changes, based on the election notice. As I pointed out in an ongoing email discussion I'm having this morning, "Only a bylaw change can change the election rules, and that has to come from the USATT Board. If the USATT Board has not approved a bylaw change, then the election rules haven't changed. So unless there was a bylaw change at a board meeting whose minutes are not yet up, AND the NGB in defiance or ignorance of this put up this notice without USATT Board approval, nothing has changed."
In one of my emails this morning it took me about 60 seconds to write the following motion that any USATT board member could make, and would lead to changing the bylaws:
"I move that starting with the election cycle starting in Fall, 2014, that the Nominating and Governance Committee create wording for the USATT bylaws that allow potential candidates for USATT office to get on the ballot by petition with the signatures of 150 USATT members, and that they be allowed to get these signatures at the North American Teams and/or USA Nationals."
Sixty seconds. That's all it took. (Okay, I type fast, and I did make a minor wording change afterwards.) If no one on the USATT board can do something this simple, how can they do anything that's more difficult - you know, like develop the sport? (ADDENDUM: There was a motion by the board at the 2014 U.S. Open meeting - Motion 1 - to "recommend" that the NGC change the rules, but since it only recommended rather than directed, didn't specify that it was needed for the election cycle, didn't ask to allow candidates to be included by petition, and because the motion wasn't made until June - seven months after the issue was raised in November - it likely won't happen this election cycle.)
Regarding the election, once again I'm toying with running. But I'd probably be a hypocrite if I did so. Why? Because I simply don't have time any more to do the things I've argued the Board needs to do. (See one such listing in my Nov. 25, 2013 blog, which I already cited above.) Anyone who's been around USATT for a while knows I've been a very active USATT volunteer (and sometimes staff person) for many years. But I have consistently failed to convince others there of the need to change our ways if we want to really develop the sport in this country. Every time we have one of these discussions at USATT Board Meetings and Strategic Meetings, there are convincing people who "look good in a suit" who argue the opposite, and nothing changes.
But if I did run, what would happen? Since other Board members aren't taking initiative to do what's necessary - if they did, they'd be getting done - I'd have to do so myself. But one of the prime requisites for running for the Board (IMHO) is to have the time to do the job. There was a time I could have done so, but these days I'm inundated, trying to do group and private coaching, promote my club, writing about table tennis, and my outside science fiction writing career. I have no interest in running for the Board and becoming another "judge" who sits back and simply judges things brought before them, as opposed to what's really needed - active legislative types who work to grow the sport. As I wrote in my Jan. 24, 2014 blog, "I want candidates who will pro-actively try to develop our sport, i.e. think of themselves as executives and legislators, not just as judges who sit in judgment of whatever comes before them. We need ones who will bring things before the board and make things happen."
And this whole election fiasco is a classic example of board members not making things happen. And it's so simple - all someone has to do is make the motion to allow candidates to get on the board by petition, perhaps using the past 150 signatures from USATT members as a requirement, and allowing them to get the signatures at the Teams in November or the Nationals in December. (They can even consult with the NGC first.) But it won't happen unless someone on the board stops being a passive judge and takes legislative action.
New World Rankings
In the September world rankings, on the men's side, China's 17-year-old phenom Fan Zhendong has moved up to #2 in the world, after Xu Xin. China now has the #1-4 and #6 players, with Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov breaking up the monopoly at #5 (down one spot from #4 last time as Zhang Jike passed him again). Timo Boll, the #2 German, remains at #9, while their #3, Patrick Baum, moved up from #17 to #14. Germany also has Bastian Steger at #18. China also has players at #10, 13, and 25. On the women's side, the top twelve remained unchanged except for a flip of the #6 and #7 positions. China still has #1-3 and #5-7, with Singapore's Feng Tianwei breaking up the monopoly at #4. One big jump - Romania's Elizabeta Samara jumped from #22 to #13, and is the top-ranked non-Asian woman.
Para World Championships
They are taking place right now in Beijing, China, Sept. 6-15. Here's the USATT page and the ITTF page for the event. Representing USA are Tahl Leibovitz and Sherri Umscheid, with Angie Bengtsson the USA Coach.
Jim Butler Wins 2014 Southern Open
Here's the article, results, and picture.
Xu Xin and Ma Long Training
Here's a video (7:25) from a year ago showing Chinese stars Xu Xin (#1 in the world, lefty penholder) and Ma Long (currently #3, former #1, righty shakehander) training at the Werner Schlager Academy in Austria. You can learn a lot by watching both their form and the drills they do.
Table Tennis Unbelievable
Here's a highlights video (9:39) with some of the greatest shots and rallies of the past four years.
Clayton Kershaw and the LA Dodgers
Kershaw, the LA Dodgers pitching star, ran a table tennis charity event last Thursday. Here are pictures. The charity is Ping Pong 4 Purpose.
Two-Year-Old on Mini-Table
Elephant vs. Penguin
Here's the picture! Some nice artwork. (A search shows that I actually linked to this two years ago, but thought I'd show it again.)
Send us your own coaching news!


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Top of the Pops 1981 currently on BBC4. Watched by Chris Arnsby.
David Kid Jensen: "Hi there! After my being away for over a year I must say it is good to be back... But right now there's thunder in them there mountains." (John- Now Chris you're not going to mention the edit are you because....oh you are going to mention it. We'll be in trouble for this.)
Gary Glitter: And Then She Kissed Me [44]. Kid Jensen is now credited as David Kid Jensen, that time away in Atlanta working for CNN has matured him. If the introduction seems a little abrupt it's because there's something missing from this BBC4 repeat; Gary Glitter singing a song which limped to number 39. For posterity David Kid Jensen's introduction runs as follows: "Hi there! After my being away for over a year I must say it is good to be back and it's a big welcome back for Gary Glitter." (John- Before anyone moans consider the more alarming fact that GG's film is available on dvd shortly and advertised on Amazon)
Toyah: Thunder In The Mountains [5]. Toyah's not available for Top of the Pops this week. Here's a chance to see the video instead. Watch as Toyah escapes from a post-apocalyptic multi-story car park in a two wheeled horse-drawn chariot made from a cut down car. The shots of Toyah driving this thing around seem surprisingly dangerous. The chariot looks difficult to stop, and there's precious little head room for Toyah; especially with the puffed up orange fright wig look she's got going on. The rest of the video is a little more sedate although the plot is obscure. Toyah drives around on the runway of an abandoned airfield past a couple of nice looking forced perspective miniatures. Occasionally she is psychically attacked by the cruel overseer of the car park before there's some business with a gate. The video ends with her gathering troops by sending messages attached to arrows. The message being a picture of, er, an arrow. Best bit the reverse shot of the chariot, recorded as night falls, which reveals that her dangerous looking vehicle has fully working rear lights. Well, no one wants to be pulled over by the post-apocalyptic Police.
|Toyah, on her way to Aldi yesterday.
B.A. Robertson & Maggie Bell: Hold Me [36]. 1981 was a big year for B.A. Robertson. Fresh from ruining the theme to Swap Shop he's allowed back into the Top of the Pops studio for the first time since August 1980 when he helped out as a guest host before that idea was abandoned faster than Toyah doing handbrake turns in her horse-drawn car. This is the first time he's been allowed to sing since April 1980, the dark days of Cool In The Kaftan; sorry Kool In The Kaftan. This may be B.A Robertson's best song but the performance is wrecked by his look-at-me clowning and gurning. He's having a great time but he doesn't have the charisma to transfer that sense of fun across to the audience.
Altered Images: Happy Birthday [16]. A repeat from 01/10/81. There's an unusual audio error as the repeat ends. A snatch of Mike Read's chart introduction plays under David Kid Jensen for a second. It's the kind of technical error the BBC is usually very hot on removing. Presumably it wasn't noticed in the studio, but I'm surprised it wasn't picked up in editing and fixed by snipping a couple of seconds off the introduction to the next song.
The Tweets: Birdie Song (Birdie Dance) [2]. The next song being The Tweets. Everyone's favourite collection of dead-eyed bird costumes can't come into the studio. The costumes are being industrially steam cleaned to remove weeks of studio sweat, and the session musicians are all laid up with heat prostration. Fortunately Legs & Co are on hand although what no one knew at the time was that this would be their last hurrah, or swan song if you prefer. The audience have been issued with a variety of masks (including Donald Duck which must have got Disney's lawyer reaching for his pen) but only half the audience are wearing them properly. The rest, the vain ones who want to be seen on TV, are wearing them on their heads, so half the audience appear to be wearing misshapen hats. To make Legs & Co stand out from the crowd they have been put on podiums which, for health and safety reasons, can only be four inches high. The audience are forced to kneel and wave, and the effect in some shots is like a more cheerful version of Gone With The Wind's battle of Atlanta aftermath. Then there's the black and white Eidophor screen, keep an eye on it whenever it's in shot. A camera has been isolated to point at a plastic duck (which appears to have written on it the phrase Top Ten) and someone else is being employed to hold and waggle the duck in time to the music; that's someone's job!
|Yes, Tweeting started in 1981
Godley & Crème: Under Your Thumb [3]. A repeat from 17/09/81.
The Exploited: Dead Cities [41]. David Kid Jensen is standing next to a woman wearing a sash which reads "Miss Stoney Street Lions Carnival". However she doesn't get a proper introduction because we need to be told that this next song is "the shortest record, not to mention the fastest record, in the charts." The Exploited are frightening shouting men who give the impression of being very cross about something. Whatever it is, like Groucho Marx, they're against it. True to the promise, the song runs for about 105 seconds.
Squeeze: Labelled With Love [31]. First time listening to this prompted the thought that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong with Squeeze. Second time round I've warmed to this deliberately downbeat song. There's an awkward moment halfway through when the song pauses and the audience think it's over and begin applauding. I'm surprised this wasn't corrected with a retake -like the Mike Read audio mistake earlier- and I wonder if recording time was especially tight this evening.
The Creatures: Mad Eyed Screamer [25]. A repeat from 01/10/81.
Bad Manners: Walking In The Sunshine [10]. David Kid Jensen launches into a lengthy explanation of how the charts have changed while he was away -he gets bonus points for reusing his catchphrase "hit sound countdown." The honesty of the sentiment is undercut by watching the audience members next to him see themselves on the studio monitor and pull silly faces and giggle. Buster Bloodvessel has come sensibly dressed for a baking hot studio; woolly hat, jumper and white furry boots. What happens to his hat? It disappears during a lengthy shot of the band. Did he throw it into the audience?
Number One: Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin, It's My Party. The unnamed narrator of this song is a bit of a pill. She'd rather spend her time mooning over Johnny and then bursting into tears when he comes in -admittedly rather insensitively- with Judy; and -gasp- Judy's wearing his ring! (John- Mind you when you think what she said to him last month it's hardly suprising is it?) The correct behaviour (as any fule kno) is to get loaded on red wine, spend the evening slagging off Johnny, and then try and get off with Johnny's best friend or if you're feeling particularly daring with Judy. Now that's a party. (John- Isn't it obligatory to mention it's not Eurythmics Dave Stewart here but an altogether other one?)
Closing Titles: This Year's Blonde, Platinum Pop [48]. On a technical level this song is hideous. The changes between songs are so clumsy it's like skipping between tracks on a CD. Whatever the failings of every other medley ever at least they worked to make the song sound like a seamless whole. That said, the lead singer is doing a reasonable Debbie Harry impersonation, although distractingly she looks more like next years blonde Sam Fox.
Performance of the week: Squeeze: Labelled With Love.


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The Walk _______________________________ 9.4.2010
"Jesus turned and saw her. 'Take heart daughter,' He said, 'your faith has healed you.' And the woman was healed from that moment. Matthew 9:22
The Excellent Wife
This is the Christian ideal of an excelent wife. The woman described in Proverbs 31 sounds intimidating. Who can live up to this image?
Please visit ChristianLiving.bellaonline.com for even more content about Christian Living.
Join me in free, fun online discussions in our community forum. It is all about Christian Living and is located here -
"How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Psalm 47:2
Please pass this message along to family and friends.
Lynne Chapman, Christian Living Editor
One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


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Tag Archives: Justin Timberlake
Memphis – The Broadway Musical Opens – Now in Memphis
Update 10/18/11 MEMPHIS in Memphis! As many know, Memphis the Musical is kicking off their international tour right here in Memphis at the Orpheum Theatre. Last Saturday, I saw the performance and it's a must see for all Memphians. The story is … Continue Reading
Justin Timberlake on SNL Weekend Update
Last night, Justin Timberlake from Millington, TN (just outside of Memphis) made an appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live. This is a great bit he did on SNL Weekend Update. It's a his 2 minute version of the show he was scheduled … Continue Reading
Justin Timberlake will Endorse Callaway Golf
Millington, TN native Justin Timberlake has signed an agreement to endorse Callaway Golf. He will play with Callaway equipment and carry a Callaway branded bag. A story from Callaway quotes Timberlake, "Golf has become an increasingly important part of my life … Continue Reading


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I've noticed that in the past couple of years, I'm doing more with SharePoint web service calls from Nintex Workflow. The problem is (it's not really a problem), is that most users are a little afraid of web services. They don't really know what they are, or what permissions they need etc. There are 2 web services that are part of SharePoint that I tend to use a lot. Lists.asmx web service. I still use that quite often. It's not only good for real work, but also for debugging and seeing the current value of fields, or getting a collection lists or items etc. The other web service I am starting to use more is the UserGroups.asmx web service. Here's the rub. I'm getting tired of : 1. constantly add a Call Web Service action 2. configure the url 3. configure the credentials 4. click on Refresh 5. select the web method 6. fill in all the details 7. enable error handling etc. So I decided to wrap up my UserGroup web service calls into UDA (User Defined Actions). For now, I have only made 4 fairly simple UDA's. There's one thing that all these UDA's have in common, and that is, they use a Nintex Workflow Constant named "Admin Credentials". If you want to have a different credential, then feel free to update the UDA's. Add Group UDA - MSDN Description This UDA will let you create a group in your current site. All the UDAs have input and output parameters that they take. I won't go into the details of each one, because they are almost identical. If you want to know what input parameters they take, each UDA uses a specific web method in the UserGroups.asmx web service. MSDN Documents these methods.
I've also set up an Error Occurred yes/no output parameter and an Error output parameter. If the UDA fails for any reason, it will set the Error Occurred to YES and set the Error parameter to the reason of the failure. That way you can handle it in your workflow.
I have a few things I check first of all, before trying to run the web service call. I check to make sure all the required fields have some information, and that one of the fields has one of two valid values as defined by the documentation on that action.
The UDA looks like this:
If you design a workflow to use this UDA and check the error, if you run it to create a group that already exists, you'll end up catch an error like this :
"Error : Error returned from server: The specified name is already in use."
Configuring the UDA action:
Remove Group UDA - MSDN Description
This UDA will allow you to remove a group. There is currently no checking if the group exists (although you could use the action from the previous blog article -
Does List Exist User Defined Action
This simply checks if a group name is provided.
Add User to Group UDA - MSDN Description
This action allows you to add a user into a group on the current site.
Again, we aren't checking in the group currently exists, or even if the user currently exists. The Call Web Service action has error handling enabled, so any errors will be caught and put into the Error parameter.
Remove User from Group UDA - MSDN Description
As above, but in reverse. Removes a user from a group, but doesn't confirm either actually exist.
Once you have these UDA's, you can go to Manage User Defined Actions in Nintex Workflow 2010 and import them in. Make sure you have the "Admin Credentials" constant, otherwise this won't work at all.
When you have them imported and published, in the Nintex Workflow designer, you'll see this:
Add Group UDA:
Remove Group UDA:
Add User to Group UDA:
Remove User from Group UDA:
This is interesting.
This is just a test
Nice blog. i am unablle to download the uda.
Thanks for letting me know about that. The UDAs should now be downloadable.
Great UDA's! All but one I've already written for myself . Thanks for the info!! (Site is looking fantastic btw)
Cheers Jim :)
Very usefull this article!
Thx for sharing it with us Vadim!
Glad you liked it Rodrigo. Thanks.
Hi Vadim,
I am testing your UDA with the farm account credentials and I still get the error message "The remote server returned an error: (401) Unauthorized". Would you have any idea why?
For information, the loopbackcheck option is disabled.
Thanks in advance,
Really great blog.Excellent stuffs.
Thanks Jahangir
Great information! Although I'm having trouble adding an existing group from the parent site into a sub-site using the UserGroups web service. Is there another web service that does this?
Not sure if you can help, but is there a specific level of credentials required to call the Web Service in the UDA?
Our IT contractor controls the level of rights of our credentials and while I hold site Collection Admin rights my Credentials do not allow the Service to be called. Even using a set of the Providers credentials doesn't call the Service (I tested this by, in the UDA, entering the credentials then refreshing the list of Web Methods will not refresh (with the message 'Request failed with status: Unauthorized.')
Any ideas?
Hi Dan,
it may not be the web service itself, but it could the site that you don't have access to. Part of the URL contains the site/subsite and maybe your credentials don't give you access to that site.
As for what permissions, I don't know for sure as these are MS/SP web services.
Hello Vadim,
I saw this post and think it is very interesting. i have a very complex poweshell script that creates a site. In the script, one of the functions is to create custom groups with roles based on our governance policy.
My question is how can i use the UDA's to create a step that uses what you do but creates a group role using "addrolestogroups" webservice?
Any advice would be great,
Hi Mark,
In UserGroup.asmx, there is a AddGroupToRole web method.
Can you call that?
Hi there:
I just wanted to comment in case folks ran across this, as I did, and tried to implement it via Nintex Workflow 2013 - thinking "what the heck, should be the same."
The UDAs don't work for us 2013-ers, unfortunately, but it proved quite simple to just do 1 web service call to the AddUserToGroup with just the group name & UserLoginID filled out! Much easier than I was expecting, and this blog got me to that point - so - as always, thank you Vadim!
Oh awesome. I had no idea these didn't work in 2013.
Thanks for the suggestions. Told you, you're a fountain of knowledge.


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DMB Represents: Scratch Beneath the Surface of the Newly Released Kodak Moments Project
06 Oct, 2017, 14:10 BST
LONDON, October 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
An Interview with Film Director David Birkitt.
Shot over a period of six months by creative duo Photographer Martin Parr & Film Director David Birkitt, the new Kodak Moments Project pulls away the safety blanket of your average brand campaign and in turn explores a refreshed technique of advertising. Not only engaging the core values of Martin Parr's renowned images of everyday life, but bridging the gap between brand and consumer by bringing you honest, real life moments. Some day to day, some pivotal, all relatable. With zero models, script or set up locations, this campaign breathes life into an area saturated with a sell, sell, sell ethos, instead inspiring you to capture the moments that mean the most.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/568999/DMB_Banner_Logo.jpg )
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/568998/David_Birkitt_and_Martin_Parr.jpg )
"With a production window that spanned six months which would see Martin produce an archive of nearly 100 images and I would direct 10 films along with an anthem piece combining the photography and films, all shot at the same time, on the same day, with the same people. One of the overarching successes of the entire campaign for me is the casting and the related stories. I believe the total number of proposed and researched stories was in the region of 60. Everyone you see in the stills or films are real people, they're friends, Mum's and Dads, their children, it's a real Indian wedding through to the RDA & the Silver Swans. They all let us come and parachute into their lives for a day." - David Birkitt.
"David and I have worked together for a number of years now, he knows very well the environments I like to be in to make my photographs and we have homed the production methods ensuring we get the results we need as well as the clients. Working with David on the film side was great, we understand each other, were both present in the same space, at the same time, capturing the same moments, allowing us to work off what one another were seeing. We had some challenges with staying out of each other's way and our mixes of lighting but we had a great DOP and the results speak for themselves. The best thing of all is having the chance to do our works and make it fit a commercial back drop too!" - Martin Parr.
View the full interview here.
Press Contact: Hollie Maya, email@example.com, +44(0)203-579-5069
SOURCE DMB Represents


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Instagram Followers
Create A Winning Marketing Strategy With These Tips For Your Social Media Presence
Social media marketing can be an extremely effective tool that makes promoting your products in today's business market easy. This type of marketing campaign can allow you to reach millions of customers that would have been otherwise inaccessible. This increased exposure opens up a world of possibility for your business; all you need is an effective message!
Think twice before retaining the services of a social media promotion firm. Many of these types of companies are fraudulent and scam business owners that are inexperienced in Internet marketing. By creating fake social media accounts with programs that automate the process, these companies vastly inflate their statistics. Criminals have found ways to defraud marketing customers while making it look as though they are doing a good job.
One of the best ways to attract your target market is to promise incentives and offers exclusively to those who follow your business on social media. For example, if you're offering your product for a 50% discount and someone else is not, then you're suddenly exclusive! You have the market cornered. Their friends will find out and your business will benefit greatly from the exclusivity.
It takes time and patience to get Instagram followers for fast and safe strategy. You may not get thousands of followers in one night. It has happened in rare occurrences, but it is unlikely that you will receive viral following in just one night. If you exercise patience, your audience will gradually grow to be the size you want.
Interact with your customers whenever you can. Post comments on their blog posts and Facebook status if you feel this is appropriate. Don't promote yourself on their personal posts, though. You should only mention products and services when they are truly relevant to a topic.
Always respond to questions and comments posted on social sites. Log in to these sites at least twice a day, and check your notifications and inbox. You might also opt-in to daily or individual notifications, which can be sent to your inbox each time someone posts a comment or question. Never forget that your comments are public and can be seen by everyone.
Take some time to research the available options when marketing with social media methods. Tools and options differ between sites. There might be one or two networking sites that reach more people, making them more worthy of your time than others.
Every time you write a new posting for your business blog, add links to social media. Your followers will see that you posted new content and rush to read it.
Host employee blogs and feature them on your website to attract potential customers. Your visitors will be able to get a glimpse of behind-the-scenes information they wouldn't have access to otherwise. They can get a better understanding of the values of your company, as well as the production process. You can increase your credibility with customers by allowing them to access this type of insider information.
Research has shown that business hours throughout the week are the times when people most read social media postings. These tools automatically update any social media sites you have so that they post within the time-frames where viewership is the highest and you can create them whenever you're free.
One way to take advantage of YouTube in order to make a reputation for yourself is to make videos of interviews you've had with experts in your field and post them. Not only will this offer relevant and interesting ideas, but it will also allow your business to be viewed as an authority in the field. Your customers will be more likely to trust you and follow your advice.
Grab your business name on both Twitter and Facebook. Doing this preserves your name from someone else's use or abuse, in posting content that is irrelevant or even improper for your line of work. It's all right if you are not set up to make use of the account -- but it's important to save the right to use your name.
Apply the advice from this article to help integrate your business into the world of modern day technology. As you begin implementing social media marketing strategies to promote your business, return to this article from time to time and refresh your memory about the suggestions provided here. Now that you have read this article, you are well on your way to running a successful social media marketing campaign.


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Good news: We bought a dryer the same night...
Bad news: but hubby decided to completely gut the utility room so it matches the kitchen.
Good news: It, well, it'll match the kitchen.
Even Better news: I have loads (no pun intended) of time to write fiction at the laundromat. Best 2 hours of writing time in my day.
This standalone is a slight departure from how I write. It's actually *gasp* serious.
Title: At Night, When the Real Monsters Come Out
Pairing: B/J
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Timeline: Late Season 1
Summary: There's a few reasons why Vic likes the wee hours of the morning. His POV.
Disclaimers: I don't own Cowlip or the boys. I do own a new front loading dryer though!
NOTE: I once read a story on BJfic.net by Tinkabelle entitled Night Intrusions. In the story, she has Brian visiting Justin in the early morning at Debbie's house (coming through his window). I always thought that that would be something Brian would have done at least once. This story takes the idea that he did and that the walls are pretty thin.
Vic liked this time of the night. It's when the real monsters come out.
That, at least, is what his grandfather told him when he was a child. Monsters that made the Universal monsters tame in comparison. Forget the Wolfman, the Mummy and Dracula. Real monsters were hideous, his grandfather would say. Vic would sometimes stay up in his bed until 2:00 in the morning, hiding under the covers with a flashlight, trembling with anticipation until they would come only to fall asleep before he could catch just a glimpse. Creatures possibly as fantastical as the demons in the Cthulhu Mythos that he had been reading about in books given to him by his best friend. Vic would devour page after page until his father would find the books and throw them away saying he shouldn't be filling his head with such nonsense.
Of course, it was years later when he found out what his Grandfather had actually meant. In his translation, which was spotty at best, he didn't mean monsters but demons, real demons. And it wasn't demons as in creatures, but as in all the hidden fears and anxieties kept under lock and key during the day within a person, only to be let out late at night when they thought no one else was looking.
In was even more years later that Vic realized that these same demons that came out at night were far more terrifying than anything HP Lovecraft could ever conjure up. These were real fears and trepidations.
This was the time Vic could reflect on everything without interruption or distractions. He could mull over things like a nephew who was in love with a man who he could never have. That someday, Michael would have to grow up, and that the good Doctor, as much as Vic admired him, was not what Michael needed. Or he could reflect on the fact that his sister was working herself into an early grave despite his best intentions and something had to be done about it but he was powerless to stop her. Or he could just reflect on his worst inner demon - the one that was very tangible. The one that might take him away from his loved ones without so much as a thought for what he would be leaving behind.
Most people didn't like this time of night because that was when their worst fears would surface laying them completely vulnerable - exposed for all to see. All walls temporarily down.
Vic liked this time of night because he never felt as alive as he did when he laid bare without his shields. It was his proof that he was still here.
There was another reason he liked this time of night. It had been happening more and more as of recently. He could hear the sound of the jeep outside and any minute he would hear the unmistakable sound of the...
tap, tap, tap
"Justin! Justin!"
Vic always had to laugh at this part. After all this time, who else would be knocking at his window?
"Open the window. It's fucking freezing out here."
The opening of the sash could be heard.
"Brian what are you doing here? It's...3:15."
This was another thing Vic privately laughed at - Justin always asking Brian what he was doing here at this time of night, and the inevitable answer always being because Brian was bored or because the blowjobs weren't up to par at Babylon or...
"I was bored. This guy was giving me a blowjob in the backroom and I think I fell asleep."
...or both.
"You want me to take care of that for you? I promise you won't fall asleep." Vic could almost see the way Justin was teasing Brian.
He could almost make out Brian's lip-bite as an answer.
"What do you think?"
Vic imagined Brian was pulling Justin to him right now, there would be kissing and then Justin would go down on him.
About ten minutes later, not that Vic was counting, he could hear the groans and Brian's tempo increasing and then the finale.
The sound of bed linen rustling - Brian must be arranging himself on the bed, laying Justin across his chest. He'd noticed them do this on the couch quite a few times when they thought no one was looking.
This was the part Vic liked waiting for. Not the sounds of sexual ecstasy being achieved, although that was a nice side benefit, but this, after that.
"How's school?"
"1500 on your SATs? I know you must have done phenomenal on the verbal. And all you can say is 'okay?'"
"It's alright."
"Ah, we've moved to 'alright.' We might get into 'fine' if we keep going."
Vic didn't hear any reply from the normally verbose teenager.
"Justin? Really, how's it going? Is it...is it that kid? Is he still bothering you?"
"You mean Chris?"
"He pushed me up against the wall the other day. Really, Brian it's okay. Nothing happened."
Vic could almost see the worried expression on Brian's face.
"Shit! I knew the night you outed that fuck...fuck!"
"Brian, seriously, it'll be okay. He can't do anything to me. Really."
Vic wasn't so sure about that.
"God - I should have stopped you when you were outing Chris. I shouldn't have stood there. I knew he would make trouble for you. You told everyone, including his friends, that you gave him a hand-job. He's probably..."
"Brian. Sssh. It's okay."
"Stop saying that. You don't know that. Guys like him are unpredictable. I should have done something."
"You're always saying 'fuck em - who cares what they think - we are who we are.' I just did what I thought you would do."
"Yeah, I know....I wish I never told you all that crap."
Vic could hear Brian's footsteps. Brian was no doubt rubbing the back of his head while pacing the room.
"You shouldn't always listen to everything I say."
"Brian? Are you, Mr. 'No Regrets' actually regretting this? I can't believe it!"
Vic could probably bet the house the kid was standing there with his arms across his chest.
"I do regret some things, Justin. We all do."
Vic figured Brian would conveniently forget he ever had this conversation with Justin tomorrow. Justin would pretend it never happened so Brian could save face.
"I better go."
Vic could hear a few kisses being exchanged, the sash being thrown open and Brian climbing out of the window.
"Justin, be careful, okay?"
"Okay, Brian."
Vic liked this time of night. It's when the real Brian Kinney comes out.
Feedback is Welcome


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By Industry
By Role
scheduling on autopilot
Integrates natively with virtual meeting tools
ScheduleOnce is committed to providing a first-class scheduling experience to everyone. Our booking pages are designed with a focus on usability and accessibility for all your customers, with or without a disability. To help meet our goal of universal design, we follow internationally recognized best practices.
The ScheduleOnce Customer Application is ADA compliant and follows internationally recognized best practices to the extent possible. The product is in conformance with Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA.
Learn more about our accessibility status by reading our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
At ScheduleOnce we believe in and operate according to the principles of universal design. We make it our top priority to ensure that your booking pages and master pages can be used by all people regardless of age, ability, or circumstance. Every design decision we make is done with accessibility in mind. From the page layouts we select, to inclusion of tooltips, we always consider equality and diversity.
Customers who are blind or visually impaired can schedule bookings thanks to our comprehensive support for screen readers. This functionality was developed and tested using JAWS® as a benchmark and other screen readers.
Bookings can be made all with just the use of a keyboard. ScheduleOnce offers keyboard equivalents for all actions that require a mouse. This is to accommodate for individuals with physical disabilities who may be experiencing permanent or temporary conditions that make it difficult for them to manipulate a mouse.
Your customers with low vision and color blindness may have difficulty reading if display conditions are not optimal. In ScheduleOnce, we have consciously designed our booking pages and master pages with color schemes, contrast settings, and font sizes that are visually accessible to everyone. For example, the color contrast between the background and text is always kept at an optimal ratio, as per common best practices.


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A group of landowners who own the vacant lot in Ashland, Oregon, that was the center of a 2010 fire that destroyed 11 homes have been sued for failing to maintain an appropriate level of safety at the site. The plaintiffs are four insurance companies that paid out $1.7 million to six homeowners after the blaze, which has been called Ashland's worst fire in the past 100 years. The plaintiffs request damages compensating them for the insurance payments.
Authorities concluded that the fire at the center of the civil litigation was caused by a 42-year-old homeless man, with prosecutors charging him with reckless burning and reckless endangerment. A judge acknowledged that the man probably started the fire, but the suspect was not convicted as prosecutors could not show that he was fully aware of the consequences of his actions. A prosecutor later suggested that the man suffered from mental illness and alcohol addiction after he was convicted of throwing rocks at middle school students, but the nature of the charges made him illegible for court-ordered treatment. He was released from jail two weeks after sentencing due to overcrowding.
The recent lawsuit argues that the landowners knew that the man and other homeless people were camping in the lot, an overgrown field where the vagrants also reportedly smoke cigarettes and started fires on a regular basis. The lawsuit contends that the defendants failed to address a "dangerous accumulation of waste and overgrown brush" on the property, which presented "an extreme fire hazard" and violated city and state codes.
Online records indicate that the defendants, which include a family trust, a real estate company and three individuals, have denied all of the accusations listed in the claims. A representative for the real estate company argued that it is "not hired to police properties for vagrants" and is thus immune from liability for the fire. "We don't maintain properties. The only thing we are employed to do is market a property," he explained.
Source: Claims Journal, "Insurers Sue Landowners in Oregon Fire," Nov. 14, 2012


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Next morning, we gathered at the gates of Bamburgh castle. We had seen it from beyond its walls, considering how we could glimpse our own 'inner fortifications' from a perspective beyond the control of the ego, and now we were about to voluntarily enter a place that could be, like the conditioned defences of the personality, both a haven or a prison.
We had a little time to explore the outer shell and the façade that the stronghold presents to the world, as well as to see how it sat within, yet dominating, the landscape… a landscape largely shaped because of the castle's very presence. Its landward face looks over the moat to the village that grew in its shadow. The old beehive dove-cote seems a reminder that the homes that cluster close to the castle walls once housed those in thrall to the castle's lord.
To the seaward side, the imposing defences and lines of cannon send a clear message to any invaders seeking to attack. While where the land and sea meet, a medieval burial ground holds the memory of the dead. As an egoic analogy, it could hardly have been better chosen.
Passing beneath the arch of the gate, you are funnelled through a narrow and easily defended lane, where any visitor to the domain is immediately taken under control. Our own defences are very much the same, allowing others to approach us only through certain channels, even though our 'gates' may appear… even to us… to stand open to the world. It is only when you have gained entry …or approval… that there is the freedom to explore.
Climbing the winding path that leads into the courtyard, you are met with defences of another kind. Although the walls are high and thick, especially on the Norman Keep, the real power that is now on display is that of wealth and position.
From the Tudor windows to the ornately carved shields, the inner facade of the castle seems designed to assert social dominance. Magnificently restored and well cared for, there are reminders of its martial past as well as its political position in history writ large in its stones.
Continue reading at The Silent Eye


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Bad Attitude
'A Good Baby' has a man who needs killing
Writer David Templeton takes interesting people to interesting movies in his ongoing quest for the ultimate post-film conversation.
HERE I AM, sitting in the dark, all alone with Jill Conner Browne. I am a lucky man. Browne is the ringleader and founder of the infamous Sweet Potato Queens, Mississippi's unofficial grand marshals of Jackson's annual St. Patrick's Day parade since 1982. They dress in anatomically augmented green gowns to dance and wave to the ever-increasing crowds. Under Browne's guidance, they also act as role models for all "fallen Southern belles," literal or metaphorical.
They have their own website: www.sweetpotatoqueens.com.
Now, the fact that I get to share an otherwise unoccupied movie theater with Jill Conner Browne--we're here for a private screening of the moody Southern drama A Good Baby--will no doubt cause certain women to drool with unrestrained envy.
After all, ever since the release of Browne's outrageous self-help guide The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, the Boss Queen has become an inspiration to thousands of females across the U.S. of A.
On the other hand, since I am a man, my close proximity to Jill Conner Browne may cause a few of my brothers-in-testosterone--those who've heard the rumors, anyway--to openly fear for my safety.
Well, fear not, my brothers.
Though SPQBOL does indeed contain a chapter titled "Men Who May Need Killing," and though Browne is fond of saying things like, "I love men. They taste just like chicken," the truth is, she's a card-carrying sweetheart.
It's a bright pink card with the words "Lick You All Over, 10¢." Upon arrival, Browne handed them out to the theater operators, then showed off a copy of her new book, the hilarious sequel God Save the Sweet Potato Queens, before distributing Sweet Potato Queen bumper stickers all around, smiling and flirting all the while.
Honestly. There's nothing the least bit murderous about this woman.
Until the movie starts.
A Good Baby is an eerie melodrama starring Henry Thomas (of E.T. fame) as Raymond Toker, a gentle hunter in rural North Carolina who stumbles upon an abandoned newborn and finds himself almost supernaturally attached to the child. David Straithairn (Passionfish; Dolores Claiborne) plays Truman Lester, a softly psychotic traveling salesman--he's as crazy as a soup sandwich, and evil to boot--who is hell-bent on getting his good-for-nothing hands on that good little baby.
Lester is bad, bad, bad.
"I hate him," Browne hisses, at one point. "I hate him. Let's kill the sonofabitch."
I agree. But how? Browne consults the screen, where Lester has been making a move on a defenseless country girl (who might have benefited from reading the Sweet Potato Queen books, by the way). Ooh, he's bad.
"Bludgeoning," Browne proposes. "One of us should hit him with something real hard." A few minutes later, after Straithairn has intensified his seduction, I suggest drowning.
"Oh, drowning's good," she replies. "Let's do that."
Thankfully, we don't need to. Something even better happens to bad old Lester.
"DAVID STRATHAIRN IS such a good bad guy," Browne says over a cup of coffee, after the show. "I hated him in Dolores Claiborne, too. You take one look at his face, and you just want to see him dead." Indeed.
Dolores Claiborne--the book was written by Stephen King--is one in a long line of stories about nasty Southern men who die or suffer at the hands of women who've taken a little too much crap. It's a genre Browne is very fond of.
One true-life example is the story of Curtisene Lloyd, which Browne relates in the first book, taking the details from the audiotape of a court case in which Lloyd testified against the man who tried to rape her.
"Curtisene Lloyd," says Brown, "is my hero."
When Lloyd--a middle-aged, African-American Sunday school teacher--woke up one night to find a naked intruder in her bedroom, intent on rape, she took the matter in hand.
"First, she realized that he had no weapon," drawls Browne, smiling slyly. "So she got his dick in one hand and his balls in the other and she twisted as hard as she could in opposite directions. It worked like a charm."
It certainly sounds effective. The would-be rapist fought to get away, but Miss Lloyd had the better grip on the situation. Dragging the whimpering miscreant out of the room and down the hall--pulling him along by his ever-shriveling maleness--she yanked him all the way through the house and out to the porch.
"Then," Browne tells, her expression growing ever fonder, "this itty-bitty woman says to the guy, 'Now, I'm gon' go back in the house and get my gun, and I'm gon' blow your motherfucking head off, you slimy, stanking, lowdown piece of shit!' "
The rapist loped off into the bushes, buck naked and barely able to walk. Back on the floor of Miss Lloyd's room were all his clothes, with his full name written inside every single piece. He ended up going to jail, and the tape of Miss Lloyd describing how she waxed a bad guy's ass has now been distributed throughout the world.
Stories like this have motivated a large number of men to denounce the Queens as man haters, with Browne being named the worst offender of the Sweet Potato bunch.
"Whenever some interviewer--usually a man--gets in my face and wants to know, 'What's this about men who need killing?' " says Browne, "I always say, 'You have any daughters? Do you have a mother? A sister?' If you've ever been close to a woman who was brutalized in any way, you would be the first to want that guy dead.
"Look. I've been a victim of domestic abuse myself," Browne reveals, growing quiet. "And I can tell you, I'm a strong woman. I lift weights. If somebody attacked me on the street, they might just wish they hadn't. But when it's in your home, and it's somebody who's supposed to love you and take care of you that suddenly attacks you, it's so stunning that . . . I . . . I . . . just . . . I was . . . I had no . . . "
Slightly rattled at the memory, Browne stops to compose herself. "Let's just say it stunned me. And after the fact it stunned me all over again that I didn't just murder him then and there.
"So women may joke about it," she continues, smiling once again, "and in the book we do have some fun with the idea of killing some men who really need it, but it's all done as an act of empowering.
"And listen," the Boss Queen concludes, "I've known plenty of women I'd like to run over in my car, too."
'A Good Baby' opens Friday, March 2, at the Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. For details, see or call 415/454-1222.
From the March 1-8, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.


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All Hail to Kale, A Superfood Powerhouse!
Kale has been getting a lot of press lately, and with good reason. This member of the "headless" cabbage family is one of the healthiest foods you can add to your diet.
Kale's nutrient density make it a superfood powerhouse!
It's an excellent source of Vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium. Not only that, it's also a good source of caldium, iron and folate (one of the B vitamins – B9 to be exact). To top things off, Kale is full of a variety of phytochemicals that promote health.
What Can Kale Do For Me?
First and most obvious, kale provides a lot of healthy nutrients and doesn't take a lot of calories to do it.
Also, according to the American Cancer Society, leafy greens like kale are high in carotenoids that lower the risk of lung cancer, esphageal cancer, and mouth and pharynx cancers. The consumption of kale has also been shown to lower the risk for bladder cancer as well.
Find out More About the Health Benefits of Kale in the Video
How Do I Eat Kale?
You can eat kale in a raw salad, or it can also be consumed raw in green smoothies.
Kale can be steamed, simmered, blanched, braised, sauteed, and baked. Just about any way you want to cook it will work.
An old-time method of cooking greens still works today:
Old-Fashioned Cooked Kale
(4-5 servings)
1/4 pound of salt pork or bacon
1 quart of water
2 pounds of tender kale
Choose pork with strips of lean and cut into into 1/4 inch slices, or cut bacon into smaller pieces.
Put into pot and add water. Heat to boiling, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the well-washed greens, cover the pot again, and reheat to boiling.
When greens have wilted down, turn over and press down until they are below the surface of the liquid. Continue cooking until they are very tender, about 30 – 45 minutes, depending on how tender the greens are to start with.
If more water is needed during cooking, add boiling water to keep the greens just covered.
When done, drain off liquid and serve greens. If more salt is needed, add at end of cooking.
And here's a trendy new way to eat kale. . .
Kale Chips
(Makes 2 Servings)
• 2 handfuls kale leaves
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Cooking spray
• Sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Arrange kale on a non stick baking sheet.
3. Very lightly coat kale with cooking spray and a bit of sea salt.
4. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on top of the kale and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy.
The above recipe came from Metabolic Cooking. (You can read our review page about this healthy diet, or go to their information site.)
These are just two of the many ways you can make kale and add this nutritous super food to your diet! Find a recipe you enjoy and go for it


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My question is regarding MS Office, in particular, Excel 2010 and Excel 2013
Our small business is currently using MS Office 2010.
One of our guys who's job is to prepare data in Primavera wants to test Primavera in Excel 2013.
My questions are:
If I install Excel 2013 on his computer, will it show up as a separate entry in Programs and Features?
If the testing with Primavera is completed and I want to remove Excel 2013 from the computer, will that affect the existing MS Office 2010 install on the computer?
Will current MS Office data be affected by Excel 2013 being removed?
As these are two seperate applications, yes you can install office 2013 on the same machine as 2010 as a side by side installation, it will appear as a seperate entry within Programs and Features, so yes you can uninstall it at a later date.
In my experience, I have had multiple versions of Office on my computer. I ran 2007 and 2010 side by side for about a month so I could test a few things. Everything worked fine. The only problem you may run into is trying to open a document by double clicking on it and it opening in the wrong version of Office. To fix that issue you can just change your default programs.
Removing one version or the other or even both will leave all of your documents and the remaining version completely intact. You may lose some of your preferences if you remove the version you want to keep and re-install it(like button locations and settings) but it will not affect your documents, spreadsheets etc.
Hope that makes sense!
Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about.
Thank you very much for the responses and information.
No problem glad we could help
On the other hand, I ran both 2003 and 2010 for a while and I had numerous problems.
Since I use a Personal macro work book, there was often "confusion" as to which application was using which Personal macro workbook. It caused some strange interactions between the 2 versions.
I also had issues with some office apps going through an install process whenever I tried to open them due to registration conflicts.
Bottom line, here's what MS says at the link below:You can install and use more than one version of Microsoft Office on a single computer. For example, you can install and use both Microsoft Office 2013 and Microsoft Office 2010 on the same computer. However, we do not recommend this.
You might want to start here and click on some of the other version links to match your exact situation.
Click Here Before Posting Data or VBA Code ---> How To Post Data or Code.
k, now I need one other thing... where do I get a download of excel 2013??
A trial version


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Radon is a toxic, radioactive gas with no color, odor or taste that forms from the normal decay process of uranium, which is present in most rocks and soil. Uranium slowly breaks down to other products, including radium, which then breaks down to radon. This decay process produces alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.
Some of the radon moves to the soil surface and enters the outdoor air or enters a house or building through cracks in the foundation, while some radon remains below the soil surface and enters the groundwater. Radon levels in the soil range from a few hundred to several thousand pico Curies per liter (pCi/L). The amount of radon that escapes from the soil to enter the house depends on the weather, soil porosity, soil moisture, foundation integrity, and the suction within the house.
The EPA recommends a level of less than 4 pico Curies per liter (pCi/L) of radon in indoor air; however, there is no established safe level of radon. The EPA recommends remediation (taking action to lower the level) immediately if the radon level is greater than 4 pCi/L. Furthermore, EPA suggests that homeowners consider fixing radon levels between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L to maintain a radon level of below 2 pCi/L. The average radon level in homes in the United States is 1.3 pCi/L, but certain parts of the country have higher average radon levels than others.
Pennsylvania has one of the most serious radon problems in the country. An estimated 40 percent of Pennsylvania homes have radon levels above Environmental Protection Agency's action guideline of 4 picocuries per liter.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
World Health Organization on Radon
Related Videos


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In the world of downloadable and instantly shareable music, smaller localized record labels have found themselves taking on the all-important grass-roots task of collecting, curating, and helping to elevate the artists they take under their imprint. Here in the greater Providence area, local label 75orLess has been slowly evolving into a trusted collector, distributor, and supporter of regional bands. Since starting out as a music and popular culture website in 2001, 75orLess has been focused on bringing independent artists to a larger audience.
"The label began in 2006," says Mark MacDougall of 75orLess. "We have our 300th release coming out this year and our goal has always been to document or archive as much of the local music community as we can. In the end, we are only touching a very small amount of the music being created in the Providence area." Along with other local labels, such as Atomic Action in Middletown or Tor Johnson Records out of Providence, 75orLess operates as a service to local artists in many different capacities, all stemming from the base need to share their music.
"Every band that contacts 75orLess needs something different," Mark says. "Some need help getting CDs made, some need help with digital distribution, some need help finding a studio to record in, some need help booking gigs. Some need to borrow gear for a bit. So my role changes with each release. 75orLess concentrates on bands who have recordings to share. That's really where it all starts. Sometimes I see a band live and want to work with them. Other times, a band has finished their album and contacts me about collaborating with them on releasing it."
75orLess also works to put on curated, monthly shows at the club Askew in Providence, which brings together artists from across this label-spectrum that wouldn't necessarily play together. While some bands might find themselves playing with a similar cast of characters, 75orLess actively works to bring artists they see as fitting together.
With their upcoming 300th release on the horizon, 75orLess has had a hand in the foundation of many artists in the Providence music scene and brought albums into the light the best they could. Even when music can simply be put online to be heard by anyone in any place, it still means something when people are working with the sole purpose of bringing art to a place where it is championed and treated as a meaningful work.
"Every release by Mark Cutler is a best seller compared to most other label releases," says Mark, "Some [other] recent releases that I think are especially good are Plug's Block Out the Sun, New Bedford's Sick Pills' Nothing's Funny Anymore, and The Same Thing Project's Walks of Life Collaborations."
Bands that would like to work with 75orLess can email links of their music to firstname.lastname@example.com. "I can't promise anything," Mark says, "but there are plenty of bands on the label who submitted their music this way and we have worked something out."


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The Cannabis Cryptocurrency Phenomenon
You may have heard that there is a real marijuana banking problem since cannabis is still a Schedule 1 drug. Banks are not interested in accepting funds from cannabis businesses or in facilitating purchase transactions for state legal marijuana businesses. The cannabis industry is desperately looking for a solution and many are looking to a cannabis cryptocurrency remedy instead of keeping their cash buried in the back yard.
The markets are booming these days and there are some real leaders in the charge up, including marijuana and cryptocurrency companies. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones hit all-time highs at the end of November. The CME is even going to launch a bitcoin futures contract later this month considering there is so much interest in the market.
Little-known Canadian stocks such as Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd., Glance Technologies Inc., and NetCents Technology Inc. have surged as much as 20-fold this year, giving retail investors a way to embrace the mania without actually having to buy bitcoins.
The country counts at least eight cryptocurrency-related stocks with a market value totaling about C$2 billion ($1.6 billion), making it a burgeoning hub for bitcoin listings. And there may be more ways to invest soon: At least two Canadian firms have filed to launch what could be among the first bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
Canada's stock markets are no strangers to investing fads, with cobalt, lithium and marijuana stocks all bubbling higher this year. The country's TSX Venture Exchange has been dubbed the "wild west," the penny stocks among its more than 1,700 listings gyrating wildly from one day to the next.
Cryptocurrency experts say the fast-evolving bitcoin sector is a classic case of buyer beware, not unlike the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s when shares would spike in value simply because a company had ".com" in its name. Bitcoin, one of several digital currencies, briefly topped $11,000 on Nov. 29 and was trading at about $10,780 on Friday, up roughly 11-fold this year.
Toronto-based Evolve Funds Group Inc. and Purpose Investments Inc. hope to do just that. They've recently filed regulatory documents to launch ETFs based on the bitcoin futures contracts that will begin trading Dec. 18 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Horizons ETFs Management Canada Inc. is also "interested in creating an ETF that would give investors multiple types of exposure to bitcoin," co-Chief Executive Officer Steve Hawkins said in an email.
There are many elements to consider when looking at the market here near its all-time high. Consider the strong interest in the economic potential of legalized marijuana, a possible financial remedy in cannabis cryptocurrency, (which is also technologically dazzling to a point that few truly understand it) and also think of a \"Santa Claus Rally\". If you combine those three elements with an already super leveraged overall market, does suggesting the market is overbought here seem that ridiculous?


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Kevin Bennett, 38, of Warfield Street in Warfield, came home on Friday evening to find the 16ft dividing wall between their home and the unused bakery next door flattened.
A fuming Mr Bennett said on Saturday: "I just couldn't believe it. I was gobsmacked and almost went into a state of shock.
"It is so lucky that nobody was injured. If my partner had been hanging the washing out she would have been killed."
Mr Bennett's partner Sonia Miller, 45, was in the house when the wall collapsed.
She said: "I was told by the developer on Wednesday they would be taking the roof off the bakery so I wasn't too concerned about them being there.
"I was in the living room having a cup of tea and my dog came in looking very distressed.
"I heard a roaring noise so I looked outside and saw a big puff of smoke and bricks all over the place.
"I couldn't believe it - how would they (the developer) feel if this was their garden?"
Yesterday Middlesex-based Hodson Developments - the company who made the application to knock down the Warfield Street bakery - said this was an "unfortunate accident" which the company would "accept and put right".
Company owner Alan Hodson said: "This was just an unfortunate accident and we apologise.
"The roof gave way when we didn't think it would and pushed the side walls out.
"I fully understand the couple are annoyed but the situation will be fully rectified.
"There is no hiding behind doors.We will accept it and put it right. We are already en route to doing that by making the area safe, clearing the site and then hopefully getting back on with the job in a couple of days."
A council planning spokesman said the council's role in this incident was to "ensure the health and safety of the family affected and members of the public".
He added: "We have taken measures to ensure the site is secure and as safe as possible and will ensure the rest of the building is demolished safely."
But he also confirmed the company was in breach of its statutory requirements under the Building Act 1984 by not alerting the council that the demolition works had already started.
Meanwhile the Health and Safety Executive has already started investigating the site for asbestos, and the Environment Agency has been informed to ensure the correct transportation of the waste.
The bakery site had been closed off and entry restricted as the Times went to press.


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In a move set to benefit up to 105,000 Australian children, national child protection advocate Bravehearts has partnered with Little Athletics Australia (LAA) to provide specialist child safety training to its staff and volunteers.
The training will highlight the responsibility adults have in keeping children safe.
Bravehearts criminologists, psychologists and education teams have worked alongside the Queensland Police Child Protection Unit to develop the two-hour 'Supporting Hands: Introduction to Child Sexual Assault' workshop to create change and empower the community at large.
Bravehearts Founder and Executive Director Hetty Johnston said the program is the culmination of 16 years evidence-based research working directly with survivors of child sexual assault and learning from their experiences.
LAA Chief Executive Martin Stillman was alarmed to learn that one in five Australian children will be sexually assaulted in some way before their 18thbirthday.
"Little Athletics has around 105,000 children participating in our activities Australia-wide and we have a duty of care to ensure their personal safety is paramount," he said.
"If Bravehearts Supporting Hands program can help Little Athletics volunteers protect one child from this horrific crime, it has been a very worthwhile exercise. Helping to protect 105,000 kids is just amazing."


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|FFWD ~ Béatrix's Red Kuri Soup
A few weeks ago, our group made Béatrix's Red Kuri soup, and I missed it! I even bought a beautiful Red Kuri squash, from my local farm stand, weeks in advance. My plan was to make it for Thanksgiving! And as most of you know, I spent Thanksgiving in Florida at my son's house. For several days I packed all the food and equipment I would need for our feast. My hand held mixer…packed, pie plates…packed, homemade cranberry sauce, piecrust, and date-nut bread…packed, packed and packed! I was ready to travel south!
When we arrived at the beach house, and unpacked, I realized I left the squash sitting on my kitchen counter. OH NO! So I just skipped FF's for that week! My bad!! (lol)
|Loved…loved this soup…thick, creamy and full of flavor!
|Cutting the elusive Red Kuri squash…the skin is thin and easy to cut through
I should mention the trouble I had sourcing this squash. I was finally able to find one in October, at a local pumpkin farm…go figure! I hadn't heard of this variety of squash until I saw it in "Around My French Table". The farmer told me it is in the Hubbard squash family. In France, it is known as Potimarron, due to it's chestnut flavor. The best thing about preparing this soup, with the Red Kuri squash, was it doesn't need to be peeled!
I absolutely loved the simplicity of this soup! The end result was creamy, slightly nutty and oh so delicious!! Did Bill eat it? A big fat NO! After enjoying several bowls, I froze the rest. I thought I'd serve the remainder over Christmas week! Happy Friday, everyone!
A little side note…While I was having such trouble sourcing this squash, I found a site that sold seeds. I bought a pack, and will be planting them next year in my garden…hopefully with success!
This recipe is from "Around My French Table". Dorie shared this recipe on her blog…so I'm sharing it with you! It can be made with butternut squash as well. To see how the other Doristas did with their Tagine, you can check it out here.


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– Lyan Roger
"Great service, on time with clean van and staff well uniformed. The furniture moving between nurseries was made easily and effortlessly taken away the stress from staff. The children were very excited to see you around and thank you for involving the children and following our health and safety Policy. You are on our list of favorite providers. See you again."
– Peques Head Office.
"Really excellent removal service. Super helpful and very speedy. And really lovely guy. Thank you for your help."
– Sofia
"I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Max Van for making house moving event less stressful. Max Van company's service ticks all the boxes of a great customer experience. From the acknowledgement of your payment to moving the last box, you can relax and be sure of the smoothest handing of your house move!! Thank you again!!!! I will definitely use max Van again and will recommend it to all my friends."
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– Bruce O
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– Marina B
"Simply the best removals service. highly recommended."
– Steve P


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I don't know if this hair accessory would actually work on my abnormally small head, but I also don't know that I care enough to let that prevent me from getting one. Or 12. It's unusual and quirky and I just want to hold it and love it and tell it it's the best little headwrap in the whole world.
It's the Beaded Headwrap, $24, from Urban Outfitters.
It's like the '20s and the '60s got married and had a headwrap baby. I just love the colors of the little discs and beads. The diagonal lines do something for me. And I also think it would look cute with everything from jeans and a T to a cute little party dress—the key would just be to keep your outfit pretty low-key.
I bet some of you are swooning now, too. But if not, here are a few other headwraps (along with this one) that might win your heart:
Which one would you go for?
Related: 8 Cute Hair Accessories That'll Dress Up Your Ponytail


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Senior Software Engineer
Hood-Price Lab
John Earls is completing his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Washington-Seattle. He is currently developing methods and systems to enable large-scale integrative analysis of personal Dense, Dynamic Data clouds to maximize wellness and predict disease in its earliest stages.
Machine Learning, pD3 clouds, Software Engineering, Systems Architecture