text:
www.bungie.net | halo.bungie.net | bungiestore.com
First things first, this is an unusual Halo update. It's unusual because there's almost no Halo 2 info here, thanks to the fact that the team was on a very intense crunch to complete a very important stage oif development. So if that's the kind of thing that makes you mad, relax, take a week off and things will be back to normal next week. But if for some reason you're curious to know what I was up to this week, then read on.
It began not with a bang, but with a whimper. In this case, the whimperer was Parsons, known colloquially, for terrifying reasons, as "Mango." Mango, you might be aware, is the Studio Manager, which gives him unlimited power. When he barks, we mew, submissively. Now, as Spider-Man noted, with great power comes great responsibility. Parsons must have been watching a chick-flick that day however, since he's about as responsible as a drunk Terminator in the John Connor Children's Library.
"Frankie," he says, his eyes narrowed to hide whatever emotion might be lurking in his beady, reptilian eyes. "Do you have a passport?" he enquires.
"Why yes, I do!" replies I, still bubbly with the effervescence of youth and stupidity. That was a big mistake. As a matter of fact, from now on, when Parsons/Mango asks me a question, I shall simply respond with the opposite of whatever the truth happens to be that day.
"I need you to run a little errand," he says. "To London, and Germany, and you need to leave on Saturday." This was of course, Friday afternoon.
So the next day, I'm off to dear old England, with a bag full of underwear and a relatively complete (although sometimes broken and occasionally untextured) build of Halo 2 on the hard drive of a large and suspicious-looking Xbox Development kit.
The build I took was picked from the last few days of progress for the simple reason that all the blood, expletives and crunching noises were functioning perfectly.
Most of you probably have experienced the joy of carrying an Xbox around. Well a dev kit is heavier, bulkier, and impossibly, sharper. I actually have grooves on my shoulder from lugging it around Europe. But we're not in Europe yet, so we'll get to that.
Going through airport security with anything sharper than a Nerf hackey-sack is cause for much wand-waving, shoe-searching and sphincter-tightening these days. Going through with a huge, heavy, electronics packed box of mystery is always a crapshoot. On one hand, if the security inspector is a young guy, you might squeak through with a couple of game-related questions. On the other hand, if it's an older lady with a distractingly large mole and a bad attitude, you're headed for the ergonomically correct cavity-search station.
At Seattle's security station, they've seen plenty of Xboxes. "That's weird," says the inspector, "The debugs are green and the dev-kits are usually crystal. Why's this one two-tone?" he asked, with altogether too much expertise.
"I don't know," I replied, "I think it's because it's a Euro version."
"Aah, PAL devkit with SCART video kit. Gotcha." He says. Creepily.
So onto the airplane I get, for a ten-hour flight in coach class, near the rear of the aircraft (See: "Mango"). Luckily my view of the toilet was partially obscured by two hysterical toddlers, who proved that kids actually will
stop screaming when they're exhausted. As a matter of fact, eight hours into the flight when one of them paused for a minute, the wit in the seat in front of me muttered, "Thank God. One of them's died."
So why am I going to Europe, you probably asked about a minute ago? Well, the game has to be certified for sex, violence and mild antics by European censors. In this case, the Video Standards Council in Borehamwood, near (allegedly) London, and a German outfit known by the catchy title, Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, or USK for short.
Now the problem I faced was getting to Borehamwood from Heathrow Airport, since the one train service that goes there, happened to be on strike that day. Cue hilarious race across London and then through ever-narrower country lanes (think Death Star trench sequence), stick-shift, right-hand-drive and wrong side of the road escapades. Everything was fine until I hit my first roundabout (four way stops are an exceptional UK rarity) and totally forgot which way to go around. As the old dude in Indy and the Last Crusade said, "You chose….poorly." Sorry London. I promise not to scare everyone next time.
If they check the left hand side of that car they'll see that I hit every curb in central London as I hilariously misjudged the width of the car.
The demo in London was fairly straightforward. I sat with two very polite English chaps and ran them through much of the game. I was especially careful to show them how many human allies you could kill and using what brutal methods to do so. I had to force some characters to swear. One of the marines, as you'll find, doesn't take too much prodding.
Actually, I noticed, going through single player for the first time in ages, that the Marine voice work is awesome. Not so much what they say (some of it is incredibly funny though) but more the way they react properly to circumstance. Even staring at a character for a long period of time will illicit different responses, depending on the circumstances.
The VSC was totally unconcerned with the murderization of Covenant forces. Apparently, if the game didn't allow you to turn on your allies, we'd have gotten the UK equivalent of a PG, regardless of the galloons of alien blood we had flooded the Galaxy with. Britain is now completely unconcerned with bad language, as I discovered watching BBC TV in the hotel that night. Just as well, since every other word out of our game seemed to be bastard., -blam!- or bull-blam!-.
I did point out that technically, you can kill tens of thousands of Grunts, Elites, Brutes, Jackals and "others" while playing a typical game. "No problem, as long as they don't look human," said one of the chaps.
As I liberally coated every surface of New Mombassa with human blood just to show it could be done, the two fellows hummed and hah-ed, but clearly knew exactly what they were doing. Just as I was explaining that you could continue to blast corpses after they'd fallen, but that they wouldn't move, an animation bug kicked in and caused the poor cadaver to twitch horribly, whether I blasted him or not. It has been fixed.
In the end, after seeing tons of game, checking out a few very shocking twists, and finally agreeing that it was not in your best interest to kill all your buddies, they let us squeak by with a UK 16 rating, thanks to blood, swearing and violence.
To be honest, I was glad to get out of London. The city itself is hip and cool, but airport hotels SUCK and the only local entertainment was a gas station. I did play a stupid amount of single player Halo in my room, but I was too jetlaggy to enjoy it. I ended up being frightened and confused and couldn't remember whether I inverted my controls or not. And I was pining for some multiplayer by the end.
So off to Berlin. Now, when you're flying to Berlin, on business, it's hard to not feel like a spy. I tried to look especially international and dangerous. Don't know if I pulled it off or not, but nobody gave me any guff at Tegel International Airport. Berlin, if you haven't been there is pretty awesome. Beautiful old city, interspersed with some truly horrible communist-era buildings and intersected by pretty canals, a river and lots of cool modern buildings. AND the most graffiti you've ever seen. "Ich Bin Ein Berliner," might actually be German for, "I have hella spray cans yo." Berlin is awesome, but it needs a wipe.
So to kill time before prostrating myself before the German censors, I wandered around the museum district, and absorbed myself in the German culture. I speak just enough German to make ein arschloch of myself, and more than enough to order huge plates of meat. Which I enjoyed thoroughly. Meat, cheese and mustard for breakfast. No wonder the Germans drive so fast. They're trying to reach the next bathroom.
The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle is located in a modern office building, but to get to it, you have to walk through an especially shady looking couple of blocks. I began to suspect that Mango was having me whacked. I saw a comic array of efficient German prostitutes and a gang of actual Skinheads. My head was freshly shaved and one or two of them actually nodded agreeably. I nodded back and quickly hobbled away, the 30 pounds of Xbox and 200 million dollars of software loaded on its hard drive, weighing heavily on me, all of a sudden.
I thought it prudent at that point, to refrain from expressing my disagreement with their politics, but wondered why German skinheads put such stock in the British Union Jack flag.
It was a relief to finally reach the USK building. Now, the British office was stacked high with software, paper, ashtrays and full of cigarette smoke and semi-organized chaos. The German office was almost stereotypically efficient. But things took a turn for the strange rather quickly.
So I thought it was going to be the same deal. Show the guy some gameplay, answer his questions and take off, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Remember the scene in Superman the Movie, where the hovering blue faces pass judgment on General Zod? Well that was the quorum of German "experts" that passed judgment on Halo 2. Hovering, blue, the whole deal. As far as I remember. I was pretty spazzed by then.
They asked a lot of very specific questions, including, "Why is this Master Chief so aggressive in his actions against the Covenant?" It got very weird, very fast. So after showing them as much blood, gore and horror as they could stomach, I was finally permitted to leave.
Berlin's subway system, as far as I could tell, appears to operate on the honor system. I never once had to show, display or wave the stupid ticket I bought at the hotel. So remember kids, when in Berlin, cheat them out of five Euros.
Good news on the way back. I had to spend one more night in London, and a cab driver, irate that I only wanted to go to the airport hotel for a measly 10 quid, called me the WORST SWEAR WORD IN THE WORLD, and when I asked him to repeat himself, said literally, "Nuffing guv'nor." Then when I took my seat, he muttered, "Bloody yanks, they've got *#%#@$* buses for *#$@%! like you." Aah, dear olde England. And its honest cockney cab driver. By the way, I'm not American, I'm Scottish.
The flight back from London was bizarre, because I was actually hallucinating from jetlag and lack of sleep. Sick of flying, I suddenly remembered that I have an eight hour flight to the Yucatan Peninsula in exactly seven days and had a near panic attack. But I got through customs, shaking and sweating like my bowels were packed full of heroin and Swiss currency. They paid me no mind, however, and so Halo 2 is safe for kids (16 and over) in the UK and Germany.
When I got back, Mango asked me if I'd ever been to Singapore…
SO next week, back to normal, lots of new Halo 2 info and real events, but until then, here's a look at the localized version of Halo 2.
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Previous Post |
Next Post |
Comm Chatter
Posted by urk at
ScrewAttack shows us some love.
If you're not familiar with what ScrewAttack does, it's about time you got acclimated. And what better way to introduce yourself than with a video where they sing our praises? Bam!
Cover your ears if you aren't into naughty language. Thanks to HBO for pointing us in the right direction.
Tags: Halo 2 (Xbox)
Posted by urk at
I Hardly Knew Thee...
Forward Unto Dawn is taking a look back at Halo 2 with a fresh perspective. Get your own eyes on at the jump below. Thanks to HBO for the heads up (and the bandwidth).
I Hardly Knew Thee...
Posted by urk at
There are those who said this day would never come...
Read Full Top Story
Posted by urk at
Halo 2 is still going strong!
Looks like the Xbox LIVE team has yet to flip the switch. Halo 2 is still online and operational. If you're looking to get some last minute games in, now's the time - there's no telling when it's going down!
Posted by urk at
Goodbye to you.
"This is the amazing Walshy's second montage on youtube. No description needed, but I'll give one anyway. Walshy is an amazing Halo 2 player, and is on one of the best teams, Final Boss, with players like him, Ogre 1, Ogre 2, and Strongside. This montage is a very honest montage with great editing and gameplay. Many snipes, sticks, multikills, and no scopes etc. I hope you enjoy it and leave a comment for me to read!?"
YouTube - Walshy - 2nd Halo 2 Montage
Help us achieve World Domination.
Find out more about Bungie's Top Men and Women.
Insight into building games the Bungie way.
Juicy gossip from or about the Bungie Community.
You've got questions. We've got answers.
© 2020 Bungie, Inc. All rights reserved.


text: Should Liverpool move for Joaquin Correa? Yes Vote No Vote Related Polls Would you bring David Alaba to Liverpool in January? Would you like to sign Depay? Should James Milner be given a new contract this season? Will Curtis Jones become a regular in Jurgen Klopp's side? Related Articles Liverpool: Fans blast Kenny Cunningham's views on Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi Liverpool: Divock Origi in line for Club Brugge loan move Liverpool: Reds keen to secure David Alaba in early January agreement Liverpool: Fans howl at Jurgen Klopp's verdict on Divock Origi's display Liverpool: Fans fume at Takumi Minamino's performance in win over FC Midtjylland Liverpool: Fans react as Roberto Firmino is linked to Real Madrid Liverpool: Reds fans urge Jurgen Klopp to look elsewhere after Adama Traore report Liverpool: Fans want to sign Memphis Depay Liverpool: Reds fans blast comments from Carlo Ancelotti after Everton's loss at Southampton Liverpool: Reds set to table offer for Ozan Kabak in January swoop Liverpool: Fans excited by Dayot Upamecano transfer links Liverpool: John Aldridge delivers honest verdict after Reds beat Sheffield United Liverpool: James Pearce hails 'outstanding' Joe Gomez Liverpool: Andy Robertson sets new Reds record after win over Sheffield United

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We have a few weeks to go until the biggest month-long holiday for writers. That's right. National Novel Writing Month starts Nov. 1, which means it's time for participants to get our party pants on and figure out what we're going to do with our lives once the clock strikes midnight.
For those of you who don't know, National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, is a month-long writing project in which participants attempt to write 50,000 words during the month of November.
This will be my fourth year participating in NaNoWriMo. My first two completed novels were started during November in 2010 and 2011. I worked on a third, still incomplete, novel last year. As I prepare for this year's often agonizing and exhausting, but super thrilling trip down the road to word generation, I wanted to talk about my game plan. Because I'll also have to balance NaNoWriMo with promoting the holiday anthology that features my story and working a full-time job, I have to be organized.
If you're a bit of a plotter like me, you want to have that taken care of before you start your work. I've blogged about this before in the past, but here's a list of the links with some of the practices I use for pre-writing character and plot development.
- Character Sketch: Give your character a name, description and back story.
- Before and After: Determine where each main character is before and after the story. This will help you figure out what happens in the story.
- The 10-Scene Tool: Knowing your 10 main scenes will help with pacing and ensure you drive your story in the right direction.
- Sell It: Write the promotional blurb you'd use to pitch this book to readers. It's like a mission statement for your novel.
- Working Synopsis: Outline what will happen in each chapter in your book. This is the most extensive pre-writing work you'll do should you go down this path.
- Ultimate Plotting Kit: This is a combination of these other tips. Depending on how you create it, this can be a mobile plotter you take wherever you go.
My final tip for making your NaNoWriMo experience a success: Make time for writing. I know I'll have a crazy busy month in November, but I took a couple of vacation days at the beginning of the month, which I plan to use to make a big statement word count-wise. Nov. 1 falls on a Friday, so that opening weekend should give me ample time to strike while my energy and excitement are high. With a quiet Thanksgiving weekend in my future, I've also scheduled in several hours those final three days of the month to sneak in more writing if I haven't met my goal by that point.
I've built in time for writing by pre-writing several blog posts for the month of November. I always like to plan ahead when it comes to my blog, but by actually writing and scheduling a big chunk of my posts now, I'm giving myself more time later. I hope.
With that, let the countdown to NaNoWriMo begin...
Receive Change the Word's latest updates in your Inbox. Subscribe by entering your information under "Follow by email" in the sidebar. Follow me on Twitter @lmchap or "Like" Change the Word on Facebook.


text:
Procedural Plundering: Heat Signature Trailer
You can learn a lot about someone from the games they make, I'm told. Tom Francis's first game, Gunpoint, was about breaking into places, punching people out, bodging their wiring, stealing stuff, then leaving through a window. But look, his second game was a free game about gaily swinging on a grappling hook. That made the score 1-1 in Evil vs. Lovely. To settle the tie, today he released a new video showing a prototype for his third game, Heat Signature. It's about, ah, sneaking up on spaceships, boarding them, sneaking around, punching men out, then stealing their stuff. Oh Tom.
It's all very much an early prototype still, but the core ideas seem settled. You play a naughty person who roams around space boarding procedural ships to rob them or assassinate people. Stealth is key, as you'll want to go slow with your little ship to stop its heat signature (aha!) getting it spotted, lest guns blow you to bits, and you'll want to be sneaky aboard ships, in case they toss you out the airlock and you need to remote-pilot your ship to collect you before your eyes burst. You could also steal their ship. Or shoot them. Or hack them (electronics, not flesh). Options!
It's hardly the prettiest of games, which is why he's looking for for an artist and a composer to come in and help make things look and sound nicer. It's a fair way out from release, obviously.


text:
Published on : Thursday, July 20, 2017
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced key milestones toward implementing the New Generation of IATA Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS). Edenred and Multiservice Technology Solutions (MSTS) were selected to implement the IATA EasyPay payment solution for travel agents in more than 100 markets, while Euler Hermes was appointed as the Global Default Insurance provider. IATA also announced that Featurespace was selected to provide a risk management and fraud protection solution. NewGen ISS is a program launched by IATA to ensure the continued relevance and value of the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) to travel agent and airline customers.
IATA EasyPay
IATA EasyPay is a dedicated e-wallet that IATA-accredited travel agents can set-up and fund to pay for airline tickets issued through the BSP. This voluntary "pay as you go" method will be in addition to traditional cash remittances and credit cards. Funds are secured at the time of ticket issuance.
In addition to providing greater payment flexibility, IATA EasyPay will enable the introduction of a new, simpler form of agent accreditation. It also will allow agents to reduce their financial security requirements with IATA and to safely sell beyond their cash capacity. For airlines, IATA EasyPay represents a fast, secure and cost-effective payment solution.
Edenred and MSTS will partner with IATA to facilitate the global delivery of the IATA EasyPay system. IATA EasyPay is expected to be piloted in the first BSP markets in the Nordic countries during the third quarter of 2017.
"We are pleased to join with Edenred and MSTS to deliver IATA EasyPay which is a cornerstone of NewGen ISS. Working together, we will be able to provide a convenient pay-as-you-go option to more than 58,000 IATA-accredited travel agents, enabling them to take advantage of new and more efficient forms of electronic payments," said Aleks Popovich, IATA's Senior Vice President of Financial and Distribution Services.
IATA also selected Euler Hermes, an Allianz company, to be the provider of a new, voluntary type of financial security for travel agents in the form of Global Default Insurance (GDI). If required to provide a financial security, agents will be able to apply to obtain cover under GDI for the amount of security requested by IATA. Already launched and available to travel agents in several European markets, GDI will be progressively rolled out across the BSPs over the next 18 months.
"Working with Euler Hermes we will be able to offer our travel agent partners more flexibility and choice of financial security while helping to reduce default losses for airlines," said Popovich.
Source:- IATA
Tags: International Air Transport Association


text:
The Super Mario Mash-up Pack contains additional content inspired by Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.
This includes 40 new Super Mario-themed skins such as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, as well as Bowser, Wario and all seven Koopalings.
There's also a selection of Super Mario textures, a Super Mario World to explore and music from Super Mario 64.
But what really sets Minecraft Switch apart from its predecessors is the ability to play in lots of different ways.
Ahead of Express Online's Minecraft Switch review, check out the screenshots above.


text:
Revealed: The winners of the Your Mortgage Awards 2018/19
Halifax has been crowned this year's Best Overall Mortgage Lender at the 29th Your Mortgage Awards.
The lender took home the top prize for the 17th year running, and was given the award at a prestigious ceremony in London last week.
Widely regarded as the UK's definitive consumer mortgage awards, the Your Mortgage Awards 2018/2019 recognised and rewarded those lenders and providers that have offered the very best products and services to mortgage borrowers over the last 12 months.
Your Mortgage editor-in-chief, Paula John, said of this year's winners: "These lenders stood out from the pack, supporting homebuyers and remortgagors with competitive and clear homebuying solutions, from mortgages and insurance to surveys and conveyancing.
"Our award winners range from global banks to regional lenders and building societies, highlighting the depth and breadth of the UK mortgage market.
"And they have all performed this year amid economic and political uncertainty, in a mortgage market characterised by mixed fortunes."
The UK's leading lenders
Congratulations to all of this year's worthy Your Mortgage Award winners, listed below:
Best Regional Mortgage Lender – Yorkshire Bank
Best Intermediary Mortgage Lender – Accord Mortgages
Best First-Time Buyer Mortgage Lender – Santander
Best New-Build Mortgage Lender – Halifax
Best Remortgage Lender – NatWest
Best Buy-to-Let Mortgage Lender – Virgin Money
Best Buy-to-Let Portfolio Mortgage Lender – Precise Mortgages
Best Credit Repair Mortgage Lender – Vida Homeloans
Best Self-Employed Mortgage Lender – Aldermore
Best Large Loans Mortgage Lender – Barclays
Best Offset Mortgage Lender – Scottish Widows Bank
Best Equity Release Provider – Legal & General
Best Bridging Lender – Together
Best Second Charge Mortgage Lender – Masthaven
Best Mortgage-Related Insurance Provider – Legal & General Insurance
Best Surveyor – Legal & General Surveying Services
Best Legal Services Provider – SortRefer
Best Mortgage Lender Scotland – Clydesdale Bank
Best Online Mortgage Lender – Post Office Money
Best Building Society – Coventry Building Society
Best Bank – NatWest
Best Overall Mortgage Lender – Halifax
Editor's Special Award – HSBC


text:
I've never been very good about reading one book at a time. There are so many books, and there's so little time — I'm nearly always in the middle of several books at a time. I've recently finished Queer (In)Justice (written by Joey Mogul, Andrea Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock), which I'd strongly recommend to everyone, and I just started Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness yesterday (I can already tell it's going to be excellent). I'm also in the middle of The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, which I've been working my way through it for a while now.
There are a number of books I already own and am in the process of reading (or was, before I got distracted by a different, newer, shinier book):
- Arbitrary Justice: The Power of the American Prosecutor (Angela Davis)
- Speaking Sex to Power: The Politics of Queer Sex (Patrick Califia)
- Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled (Nancy Mairs)
- The Philosopher's Toolkit (Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl) — It's not like most of the other books I've been meaning to read, but since I never feel quite knowledgeable with the questions people ask upon discovering that I received my B.A. in philosophy, I decided it could be helpful.
There so many books I'd love to buy, and if I won the lottery, I would go on an epic book-buying spree. As it is, I've managed to compile a short list of books I'm saving up to buy, even without winning the lottery:
- Assata: An Autobiography (Assata Shakur)
- Race to Incarcerate (Marc Mauer)
- Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty (Dorothy Roberts)
- Instead of Prisons (Prison Research Education Action)
- Abolition Democracy: Beyond Prisons, Torture, and Empire Interviews with Angela Y. Davis (Angela Davis)
- Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor (Tara Herivel and Paul Wright)
If you can't tell, my current focus is prison abolition and the prison industrial complex. I strongly dislike feeling ill-informed or unknowledgeable, and my immediate reaction to feeling as though I don't know enough to try to find books. Books, of course, can't substitute for actual lived experience or learning from real people, but the right books can make a good start.
There are also a number of books whose release I am eagerly anticipating:
- Captive Genders: Transembodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex (Nat Smith and Eric A. Stanley) — This sounds fantastic. I am absolutely going to buy it once it's available. It appears to be a combination of "the transgender, gender variant, queer liberation movements, and the movement for the abolition of the prison industrial complex" . . . in other words, everything I am looking for in a book. The only way I could be more excited about this books is if it were written by the beautiful and amazing folks at TJLP (which, sadly, it's not).
- Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law (Dean Spade) — To be honest, I'm not positive what the title of this book actually is. I've also seen it called Critical Trans Politics and Gender Is Compliance: Trans Politics and Law Reform in a Neoliberal Landscape. Frankly, I'm hoping for that last title; I like the way it alludes to his essay, "Compliance is Gendered: Struggling for Gender Self-Determination in a Hostile Economy." The point is, Dean Spade is writing a book. And even though I'm no longer as fanboyish about him as I've been in the past, I can't wait to read his first book.
- Violence Every Day: Police Brutality and Racial Profiling Against Women, Girls, and Trans People of Color (Andrea Ritchie) — I went to an excellent workshop she did at Swarthmore College last year, and I also briefly met her again at a book signing she and Joey Mogul did for their book Queer (In)Justice. Given my previous experiences, I can only imagine her book will be very much so worth reading.
- The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities(Ching-In Chen, Jai Dulani, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha) — I've never met any of the authors — I discovered the book because a friend posted a link on Facebook — but this book looks really intense and interesting. And the fact that they're trying to create "safety from abuse without relying on the prison industrial complex" absolutely makes me want to read it.
So, those are my current reading lists. What are you reading now? Are there books you're planning to read? What books do you think I should be reading? Have you read any of the books on my lists?


text:
Compliant with the requirement of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), GBIF was officially launched in March 2001 to fulfill the need to make primary data about the Earth's biological diversity freely available to anyone over the Internet. In the same year, Taiwan's National Science Council (NSC) was invited to represent Taiwan and formally signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to join GBIF as an Associate Participant. Since the scientific name of a species is the most important keyword in linking biological information; the first task of integrating Taiwan's biodiversity data is to establish an accurate, authoritative, and complete species checklist of valid species in Taiwan. The database of TaiBNET was thus created in 2002. In 2006 NSC signed another 5-year collaboration MOU with GBIF. Director Ming-Liang Kuo of NSC renewed the MOU (2012-2016) at the end of 2011.
Paragraph 3.3(c) of the MOU states that each Participant signing the MOU should seek to form a Participant Node or Nodes, accessible via GBIF, that will organize and/or provide access to biodiversity data, or to data and metadata standards, software tools or other services to enhance the GBIF network. In 2004, GBIF's Taiwan node and portal, TaiBIF, was established with the aim to promote the collection and integration of domestic biodiversity information and to assist various databases in sharing and exchanging data internationally. TaiBIF so far has integrated specimen information from most museums and herbaria as well as ecological survey data from government agencies and organizations. A total of 1.59 million digital specimen and observational records from 28 datasets are now accessible through the TaiBIF website (http://taibif.org.tw/?locale=en&tid=485).
In order to more effectively and broadly employ the integration framework and advancement of global biodiversity information, Taiwan also (1) cooperates with COL to continue maintaining and operating Taiwan's Catalogue of Life, i.e., the database and website of TaiCOL (renamed from TaiBNET, http://col.taibif.tw), which contains a checklist of 54,000 native species; (2) cooperates with CBOL and iBOL to continue maintaining and operating Taiwan Barcode of Life (TaiBOL, http://bol.taibif.tw), which has 10,457 tissue samples from 2,981 species and 1,255 DNA sequences from 844 species; (3) cooperates with EOL to build Taiwan's Encyclopedia of Life (TaiEOL, http://eol.taibif.tw), which will have information in Chinese on 16,000 species by the end of 2013. In addition to being the portal of the above three databases, TaiBIF incorporates Biota Taiwanica (http://biota.taibif.tw/) with English descriptions on 2,716 species and 4,973 images.
The National Science Council (now known as Ministry of Science and Technology) and Council of Agriculture over the years have been the main funding agencies to support domestic taxonomists in various fields in their researches. With the help of the TaiBIF project, the data accumulated can be fully digitized, entered into databases, and posted online. When research data are shared and exchanged both domestically and internationally, and their use is actively promoted, their value can then be fully realized. Looking ahead, TaiBIF will continue to promote biodiversity research and related databases and encourage the exchange of biodiversity information to fulfill its objective as the portal to the biodiversity information of Taiwan.
(Last modified in March 2014)


text: An Exercise in Type A school assignment experimenting with using one typeface in specific limited ways. It was originally a newspaper ad for a local business. I learned more than I expected from this project. Each iteration allowed a little more freedom. The process honed my basic type skills. I really enjoy the simplicity and versatility found in good type families and National is one of my favorites. – Hope


text:
An overview of a new approach to geology department organisation with a focus on building an engaged and capable team
Tropicana Gold Mine (TGM) is owned by AngloGold Ashanti Australia Ltd (AGAA) (70 per cent and manager) and Joint Venture Partner Independence Group NL (30 per cent) and is a large-scale open pit operation in Western Australia.
The geology department at TGM is a multidiscipline team of some 65 personnel, reaching 72 at its peak. The geology department consists of the following disciplines: mine geology, exploration, survey, hydrogeology, resourcing support, technical (including resource geology and scheduling) and includes an on-site laboratory managed by SGS.
Coinciding with the commencement of mining at TGM, AGAA was implementing a number of improvement strategies including a focus on 'people are our business'. The geology department adopted the company systems and implemented the department's organisational design, primarily by way of the general manager placing accountability for organisational design with the line managers.
This paper describes the human resource management (HRM) processes undertaken by the geology department from job analysis and organisational design to organisational development, and reflects on both the benefits and the lessons learnt.
The geology department was known as the mine geology department until 2016 when exploration was integrated and the department was renamed. Throughout this paper the terms 'mine geology department' and 'geology department' are used accurately for the relevant time period.
In 2011 the mine geology manager established the mine geology department in readiness for the commencement of mining at TGM. This was an opportunity to set not only the organisational structure, but the philosophy around who the mine geology department are and the methods of work.
Based in the regional office in Perth, the initial team of geologists and technicians worked on establishing systems and processes of work. This included the organisational design of the department, determining which roles would be accountable for key pieces of work and how the roles would be supported through organisational development.
The philosophy was to build an engaged and capable team, with the right person for the role doing the right work, operating efficiently within well-defined systems and processes, rather than building a team constrained by swathes of rigid operational procedures. This required line management implementing key HRM processes to develop role clarity and clear lines of reporting and accountability. Importance was placed on making a distinction between responsibility (a self-imposed or assumed concept) and accountability (personal acceptance of responsibility and being called to account), with emphasis on ownership (AngloGold Ashanti Ltd internal material, 2011). Research indicates that role ambiguity, role conflict and work overload have a clear link to job dissatisfaction (Dhurup and Mahomed, 2011) and these were recognised as contrary to the philosophy of an engaged and capable team.
Key HRM processes of job analysis, organisational design and organisational development were undertaken within the department, rather than by HR specialists. While line management implementation of HRM processes is not a revolutionary concept, this approach has proved successful for the geology department and is based on solid academic foundations in the strategic HRM field (eg Gilbert, De Winne and Sles, 2015).
General manager support and company systems
The success of implementing HRM processes is attributed to the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) of line managers (Appelbaum et al, 2000).
The mine geology manager's ability or competency to perform a HR role was supported by company systems such as System for People (AngloGold Ashanti Ltd internal material, 2011). System for People (SP) has a basis in Jaques's Requisite Organisation theories (Jaques, 2006) and emphasised the importance of the right organisational structure, with the right people in the right roles and effective working relationships. To support the implementation and ensure the sustainability of SP, line management, superintendents and supervisors received training in managerial leadership practices. The geology department leadership group, consisting of superintendents and supervisors, has driven the implementation of role accountabilities.
Motivation to take ownership of HRM processes was understandably high amongst the TGM management team. The rare opportunity to start up an operation, including building a whole new team and way of working, was not lost. Significant effort and importance was placed on the HRM processes of job analysis, organisational design and organisational development.
The general manager was (and is) a driver of the underlying philosophies of an engaged and competent workforce, operating within clearly defined accountabilities, processes and reporting structures. The general manager's support of line management's ownership of HRM processes was critical to the success of the model implemented by the mine geology department.
Job analysis
The first step was to understand what the work entailed. A series of task lists was developed, reflecting traditional mine geology roles as well as the vision for a more innovative way of working. The task lists were used for initial conversations and job analysis, providing the first draft understanding of 'what is the work?'
Process mapping provided another mechanism for identifying tasks and accountabilities. Process mapping was first presented in the 1920s as 'the first steps for finding the one best way' (Gilbreth and Gilbreth, 1921). Process mapping has been used in a number of AGAA operations (Chow et al, 2013) and the geology department used process mapping to analyse and manage work processes, identify process steps and tasks and identify accountabilities. A clear understanding of the role outputs, key deliverables, cross-functional relationships and required resources was achieved through process mapping.
Competencies, skills and behaviours specific to each task and process step were identified, without being confined to traditional roles. This provided an objective understanding of the work, and what was required of an individual to successfully undertake that work – regardless of role title or qualifications.
Similar or 'like' work and skills requirements were grouped into a draft list of roles and accountabilities. It became apparent that there were opportunities for a new way to distribute work. For example, suitably experienced geological technicians are able to undertake tasks traditionally assigned to mine geologists, such as designing blast movement indicators.
Job analysis became an exercise in 'expand and simplify': expand the tasks independently of traditional roles; group similar work tasks together; then simplify into role-specific accountabilities.
Organisational design
With a detailed understanding of the work, and how similar work could be combined into given roles, the organisational structure was then designed. Key to this was grouping like work into teams and identifying the levels of work and reporting structures.
Levels of work and accountabilities were identified with managerial and supervisory role holders having consistent accountabilities for their teams. Roles such as production assistants and specialisations for roles such as geological technicians were designed to provide role holders with an opportunity to develop a broad skill set and role variety. These roles allow for an organisational structure that is relatively lean on the number of roles requiring tertiary qualifications. The outcome has been low turnover and a workforce with a high skill level that supports multiple areas not confined to the geology department.
An example is the work conducted in the on-site lab; the lab workers are accountable to the mine geology manager and are managed by SGS. Geological technicians report to the geology department and run the automated sample preparation process in the on-site laboratory. While undertaking this work, the geological technicians report to the SGS laboratory manager for training, instruction, supervision, allocation of tasks and quality of work.
After job analysis and organisational design were undertaken, detailed role descriptions were developed. Role descriptions include a definition of role purpose and details of cross-functional relationships.
Organisational development
Roles were defined with tasks and accountabilities, from which naturally came an understanding of the training, competencies, skills and behaviours required to fulfil each role. This was the foundation of a traditional training needs analysis (TNA).
The TNA provided a road map for immediate role requirements and role-specific training plans, and appropriate materials were developed. Consistent with the philosophy of engagement rather than prescriptive procedures, a component of organisational development is coaching and mentoring.
More strategic than the TNA was the ability to design career progression and specialisation pathways. A clear understanding of the similarities between role requirements is a foundation for talent pool management and succession planning by highlighting the 'short hops' from one role to another. For example, pathways exist for geological technicians to specialise in sample preparation in the lab or geotechnical support; geologists can transition to and from open pit production and exploration; leading hands can be Emergency Response Team captains; administration assistants can be safety reps; geologists can be schedulers or hydrogeologists. There is even a pathway for a geological technician to move all the way to department manager.
Flexibility of organisational structure
A well-structured organisational design with clearly defined roles, accountabilities and reporting, supported by role-specific organisational development, has produced a high level of flexibility in the organisational structure. This approach allows for skills transfer and flexibility for role holders and also allows the department to respond in an agile way to changes in the operation. Small transfers of accountabilities from one role to another can be achieved relatively easily. For example, an expansion of the mining fleet has not resulted in additional mine geologists or mine surveyors, but the scope for geological technicians providing support has increased.
A tier of superintendents was introduced to the organisational structure. Superintendents have managerial accountabilities, including building organisational capability within their teams. Superintendents are accountable for role descriptions, training requirements, career development, succession planning and organisational structure.
The organisational structure has evolved and gone through several iterations.
The discipline of hydrogeology was created to reflect the fact that the volume of work was unsustainable as a specialisation for a mine geologist, but was in itself a unique role. Geotechnical engineering was incorporated into the mine geology department for approximately one year, in part because of the similarities in the nature of the work. Exploration was merged with mine geology to become the TGM geology department in 2016 and the disciplines of resource support, scheduling and resource development were created. Data management was incorporated into the survey discipline, based on grouping like work and processes of spatial data management. In 2017, a technical discipline was created and incorporates resource modelling and scheduling.
Each change in the organisational structure has been met with a minimum of fuss, and a conversation around 'what is the work?', what the accountabilities are and what opportunities there are to develop personnel.
The evolution of the organisational structure reflects the flexibility afforded by a detailed understanding of the work, roles and accountabilities, as well as the endurance of the philosophy of a capable and engaged workforce.
Lessons learnt
Avoid the silo effect
The organisational design of the geology department has been successful and productive, but has not been developed in isolation of specialist service groups or the overall company strategies. Collaborative relationships have been built with the HR, training and business improvement departments so that approaches are consistent and aligned, and the geology department is able to utilise the technical expertise of, and share Iearnings with, these specialist service groups. Company systems have been used to support the organisational design.
Induction to role
Inducting new personnel to their role and the philosophy behind the organisational design of the geology department is critical to its ongoing success. Without initial familiarisation to the way it works and how the department is structured, the benefits of the organisational design simply can't be realised and a new role holder is not set up for success.
Maintenance of role descriptions, TNA and organisational structure has to occur for the organisational design to remain relevant. Role scope creep can easily lead to role ambiguity and erode role clarity. A newly created role not supported by a role description, TNA and a place in the organisational structure is contrary to the whole philosophy of how the geology department operates. Maintenance and review is simply part of the way the geology department works and it has the ability, motivation and opportunity to sustain its organisational design.
Operationalising HRM processes has benefited the geology department with clearly defined roles and accountabilities; role flexibility; career progression and specialisation pathways; and a flexible organisational design that can respond rapidly and rationally to operational changes.
The geology department was best placed as the technical experts to undertake the HRM processes of job analysis, organisational design and organisational development, and has embedded these processes as part of the way it works. The requirement for detailed analysis and design means that this approach requires sufficient resources in the design, implementation, maintenance and improvement phases, including induction to role. However, this approach produces a detailed, applicable and immediately relevant organisational design.
The support of the general manager, utilisation of company systems and collaboration with specialist service groups has been critical to the success of this model of HRM accountability being assigned to line managers.
The authors would like to thank AngloGold Ashanti Australia Ltd for permission to publish and present this work.
The authors acknowledge Duncan Gibbs, former General Manager TGM for continued support of the geology department organisational design; the AGAA TGM geology department for ongoing contribution to the organisational design; AGAA HR, training and business improvement functions; and James Woodward, Senior Resource Geologist for editing.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, 2011. System for People.
Appelbaum E, Bailey T, Berg P and Kalleberg A L, 2000. Manufacturing Advantage: Why High-performance Work Systems Pay Off (Cornell University Press: New York).
Chow J, Fitzpatrick S, Greenup D and Lloyd S, 2013. Tropicana gold mine – mitigating the challenges of a mining start-up, in Proceedings World Gold Conference, pp 51-59 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Brisbane).
Dhurup M and Mahomed F, 2011. Role ambiguity, role conflict and work overload and their influence on job satisfaction of sports facilitators in public schools in the Vall Triangle, South Africa, African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance (AJPHERD), Supplement 1:172-188.
Gilbert C, De Winne S and Sles L, 2015. Strong HRM processes and line managers' effective HRM implementation: a balanced view, Human Resource Management Journal, 25(4):600-616.
Gilbreth F and Gilbreth L,1921. Process charts – first steps in finding the one best way, presented to American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Jaques E, 2006. Requisite Organization (Cason Hall & Co).
Feature image: Adwo/Shutterstock.com.


text:
Bible Bowl
Each year, Sycamore church of Christ hosts the annual Bible Bowl at the Hooper Eblem Center at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. Book(s) are chosen by a committee for the students who wish to participate to study. a series of 100 questions are asked at Bible Bowl. Awards are given out for individual high scores, team high scores, 5-year participators, 10-year participators, & best t-shirt design.
Happy Haven
Happy Haven is a privately funded Christian home for children located at:2311 Wakefield DriveCookeville, TN 38501
India Mission Work
The India Mission Work is overseen by Willette church of Christ.
Run 4 Don
Run 4 Don was established to honor the late Donald Chaffin. Those who sign-up to run & walk do so to raise money to benefit students in their pursuit of a Christian education & to donate to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association in hopes of finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.
All images and content are copyrighted by their respective owners.


text:
The Brief
Increase sales of the Arriva Student Saver ticket.
Increase sales of the Arriva Student Saver ticket.
We knew that 73% of university students move away from home to study, which also means moving away from Mum and Dad's taxi service. Compounded by a sustained decline in car use among young adults, bus travel can be a lifeline. However, awareness amongst students of term time bus services, and the Arriva Student Saver Ticket was low. The challenge was to come up with a campaign that would get more students on the bus, by increasing awareness and sales of the Arriva Student Saver Tickets.
We created 'Get Your Ride On' – a campaign that actually put students 'on' the bus. Press and outdoor ads ran in key student locations and at freshers events. Online activity included films, banners, landing pages, email, radio, social content and an online game. Not to mention the branded beer mats, free giveaways and freshers competitions – standard student stash!


text:
Enter your details below and we'll get back to you.
Share this article
By Paul Brennecker, PCI QSA, PCI PFI, PCIP, Principal QSA, Security Risk Management Ltd
"Is it hard?'
Not if you have the right attitudes. It's having the right attitudes that's hard."
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Is it hard to be PCI DSS compliant? Not if you have the right attitude. PCI data security compliance is not about ticking the box on a particular day; it's about a change of outlook and meticulous ongoing maintenance.
A PCI DSS assessment is like an MOT; it only applies to a given moment in time. Picture this: your car passes its MOT in the morning but on the way home something – even something minor – occurs that renders your vehicle technically un-roadworthy. You know that if you took same car to the same garage at 5 o'clock on that very same day, it would not pass the test and would no longer comply with the Road Traffic Act. Although you would hold an MOT certificate in your hand, it no longer reflects the state of your vehicle. Ongoing maintenance is required to keep you safe.
In the same way, PCI DSS compliance requires ongoing maintenance. Of course, we all know that there are some for whom simply ticking the box on an annual basis is their modest ambition. But, like the driver with dodgy brakes, they are almost certainly heading toward disaster. They may be only one ill-conceived change of control request away from non-compliance.
Others have been working toward compliance for a long time and have a fully mapped programme of work spanning several years. For these companies, their QSA is like a good mechanic; they not only work to achieve compliance but also offer guidance in security best practice, using their experience to help design policies and procedures that will stand the test of time.
So, what guidance would a good PCI DSS mechanic give you? Given the fact that every business is different, they would certainly tailor a programme of activity to meet your specific needs. But, the principles of good practice remain constant and an awareness of these will stand you in good stead.
Firstly, know your environment. To do this, you should maintain an Information Asset Register so that you know what data you have access to and where it is. Use this information to feed an Information Management System and devise a Payment Strategy to ensure that all payments are accepted and processed in a standardised way. If you know your threat profile, you should exert maximum effort in these areas first but it is also important to establish a Security Diary to make sure that tasks are assigned and performed as required throughout the year.
Compliance should not ever be seen simply as a tick box exercise. In fact, certain requirements can actually help to improve working practice and add value to your business. For example: System Hardening Profiles can, in certain circumstances, be automated so that new servers or devices can be deployed quickly and securely; regular maintenance and patching can provide a more stable environment with less risk of failure and greater security; staff with a better understanding of data security are likely to be able to identify problems more effectively and before they become service affecting; diarising what some term as Audit Tasks throughout the year ensures stability and identifies issues in a timely manner, rather than just at MOT time.
For those who have met the PCI DSS standard, there is, of course, the requirement for ongoing re-assessment. There are some differences between the requirements for the initial PCI DSS assessment and those for re-assessment, principally a need to provide evidence to demonstrate activity throughout the preceding 12 months. For example, there is a requirement to show how System Patches are risk assessed and applied as well as how you have assessed and ranked Security Vulnerabilities as they have been discovered.
Re-assessment also requires evidence of at least two firewall reviews as well as how Cryptographic Key changes and Change Control Logs are used to support many aspects of compliance throughout the year. In addition, you must show evidence of how access is granted, amended and removed for users; provide 3 months of recorded data for review and a log must be in evidence detailing all visitors to the site within the previous 3 months.
For re-assessment, logs are also required to show the tracking of information for all media containing payment data; for logging data, 12 months of records are needed and for the System Audit Process there needs to be evidence of how the logs are reviewed and what actions are taken as a result. There are additional results and reports required to be available for review relating to Wireless Scanning, Internal Vulnerability Scanning, Penetration Testing, Policy and Document Reviews and Incident Logging and Response.
Perhaps inevitably, when the requirement for ongoing maintenance of your PCI DSS compliance are so prescriptive, there are a number of common issues that, if diligently planned policies and procedures are not being followed, may occur to jeopardise repeat assessments. Often staff are not accountable and, as a result, various tasks are not completed. For example, if six-monthly Firewall Reviews are not diarised and no one has been specifically allocated the task, who will remember?
Guidance from a QSA will assist with many of the common problems. Where payment procedures have been introduced that are at odds with the established methods for processing card data, a defined payment strategy is helpful. When there is a risk of critical patches not being risk assessed or applied within the 30 day window, a robust patching procedure is essential to limit exposure to risk. Expert advice will also help streamline processes for vulnerability scanning and the storage of unencrypted card data, which can all too often be found on desktops and servers.
PCI DSS compliance should not be considered an onerous or unnecessary burden, however. If taken to the heart of an organisation it can bring with it untold benefits in terms of efficiency and staff morale. Yet, not surprisingly, few could confidently navigate their way through PCI DSS compliance without the occasional slip up, no matter how much continuous effort they may exert. This is where input from a professional is key. Just as few of us would undertake complex maintenance or repair jobs on our cars (or motorbikes), there are times when it's best to call in an expert.


text:
Three bedroom Terraced House comprising of a three car garage, kitchen/living/dining, guest shower, study, family room and a yard. On the 2nd floor, one can find three bedrooms and a guest bathroom, washroom and roof. Good value for money.
View Property Details of Terraced House to Let in Birkirkara
View Similar Properties to Let in Birkirkara
View Other Properties in Birkirkara


text:
Guess What Is It?
French éclairs etc.
One of the good things about living in the South Germany is that you have all these exciting neighbour countries like Switzerland, Austria and France, oui! Last night we have alredy jumped into our bed & turned off the lights as I got this "Schnaps Idee", this crazy idea that we have to do a day trip to France today... Two and a half hours by car and we were sitting in this wonderful, breathtaking chocolate paradise in Mulhouse! And the only picture I took was my husbands lunch, his chocolate lunch...
It was a cold day today, something between a friendly winter and a hostile spring... just the right time to bake something that feels the house with great smell and the soul with warmth. Quick search in the Internet and voilà!
I took the recipe from lunchboxbunch.com and adjusted it to my needs: I added two bananas and some 50-60g cashew nuts, replaced half of the coconut oil by the canola oils (is cheaper and more healthy) and reduced chocolate chips. I can only recomend to use the bananas, they made the cookies incredibly soft and rich in taste, the rest is up to you!
And here are the evidence pictures:
Mountains Over The Sea
Oh This German Bread!!!
The easiest, peasiest breakfast ever? Good bread with a home made spread! There are so many variations of bread around here that you could it a new one every day without reapeating yourself for... let's say three months. Today we had a spelt bread on our breakfast table. M-m-m...
Spicy Pumpkin Soup - Vegan & Tasty
I know, I know I am about three month too late with this pumpkin recipe. Though honestly speaking I normally start to hate pumpkin by the end of November. Pumpkin antipasti, pumpkin spaghetti, pumpkin soup, pumpkin dessert... How much pumpkin can one eat? A totally different story to find this little bright orange ball at a farmers store in the beginning of February. It looks so uplifting and jumps itself in my shopping basket...
So rich in taste and totally easy to make!
Roast a parsnip and some chilli flakes (parsley root would do it too) in a pan, cut in small pieces half of a Hokkaido pumpkin and add it to the parsnip. Pour over some boiling water and add two potatoes and two or three peeled apples. Put a lid on the pan and let it cook slowly till the pumpkin gets soft. Puree everything with a blender; add at least one tea spoon of nutmeg, a tea spoon of sugar, a little bit of cinnamon, salt, a bit of Modena vinegar and some two-three spoons good olive oil. Checks if it is spicy enough otherwise spice a bit more. That's it!
I served my soup with fresh cress, chill and roasted pumpkin seeds. M-m-m...
April 2015
oh, that moment!


text:
How to Save a Relationship.
Couples in distress can feel chaotic, affecting not only their own lives, but also those around them.
Whether you are at the beginning of your relationship, in the middle, or questioning if this is the end, Couples Therapy, Marriage and Relationship Counselling can help.
All couples experience struggles at some point in their relationship and while difficult, it is not a sign of the end. Instead, it can be an opportunity to move closer through familiar blocks to improved communication and intimacy.
Some of the reasons people seek relationship counselling:
- Arguing has become more often and hurtful
- Loss of intimacy
- One of you has been unfaithful
- You or your partner feel like giving up
- Feeling distant and disconnected
- Going through a major decision or change
- Critical illness
- New parents
- Differing hobbies and needs
- Outside influences are causing stress on your relationship
Renew Hope with Relationship Counselling
You may begin a session feeling wounded and helpless but you will leave with a sense of renewed hope and direction. By experiencing and creating a safe connection with your partner, you become a team working on your relationship together. You will feel confident that you have the skills and experience to deal with the future and, with peace of mind in your relationship, you will see more choices available to create the relationship you desire.
By redefining what the problem is, you will create a blueprint as a tool to help bring clarity to your stressful relationship patterns. I will show you how to use the obstacles in your relationship to get closer to each other at a deeper level.
Whether these problems in your relationship are new or decades old, I can help you by providing a safe place to move through the distress and immediate crisis.
CONTACT ME TODAY. Book your FREE consultation for Couples Therapy and Relationship Counselling.


text:
| 2020-08-24 04:55:00
Roku management to meet virtually with DA Davidson
Virtual Meeting to be held on August 24 hosted by DA Davidson.
Asian Market Update: » 02:4510/2710/27/20
Asian Market Update:…
Story temporarily locked.
U.S. consumer confidence preview » 02:4510/2710/27/20
U.S. consumer confidence…
Story temporarily locked.
U.S. durable goods preview » 02:4510/2710/27/20
U.S. durable goods…
Story temporarily locked.
The Pennant Group CEO sells 46.7K shares of common stock » 20:4110/2610/26/20
In a regulatory filing,…
In a regulatory filing, The Pennant Group disclosed that its CEO Daniel Walker sold 46.7K shares of common stock on October 22nd in a total transaction size of $1.87M. The holding represents about 3% of his total owned.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
AutoNation CEO sells 143K shares of common stock » 20:3910/2610/26/20
In a regulatory filing,…
In a regulatory filing, AutoNation disclosed that its CEO Michael Jackson sold 143.2K shares of common stock on October 22nd in a total transaction size of $8.78M. The holding represents about 57% of his total owned.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Delta Air Lines CEO sells 65K shares of common stock » 20:3610/2610/26/20
In a regulatory filing,…
In a regulatory filing, Delta Air Lines disclosed that its CEO Edward Bastian sold 65K shares of common stock on October 22nd in a total transaction size of $2.18M. The holding represents about 16% of his total owned.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Treasury Market Summary » 20:2510/2610/26/20
Treasury Market Summary:…
Treasury Market Summary: rising anxiety levels took Wall Street sharply lower to start the week. A spike in virus cases here and abroad, along with renewed restrictions and curfews in Europe exacerbated worries there over a double dip recession. Additionally, diminishing chances of a stimulus before the elections added to the more bearish outlooks. Concurrently, some poor earnings and disappointing guidance contributed too. Treasury yields richened measurably as the market continued to recovery the erosion since early in the month. The two key data reports on the calendar were solid, but generally ignored by the markets. View the summary.
Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open » 20:2510/2610/26/20
Notable companies…
Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Pfizer (PFE), consensus 71c... Merck (MRK), consensus $1.43... Eli Lilly (LLY), consensus $1.71... 3M (MMM), consensus $2.26... Raytheon Technologies (RTX), consensus 50c... Caterpillar (CAT), consensus $1.12... Sherwin-Williams (SHW), consensus $7.75... Centene (CNC), consensus 96c... Cummins (CMI), consensus $2.35... Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), consensus $2.68... Corning (GLW), consensus 36c... Restaurant Brands (QSR), consensus 56c... TransUnion (TRU), consensus 75c... Omnicom Group (OMC), consensus $1.06... Sensata Technologies (ST), consensus 54c... Invesco (IVZ), consensus 47c... Harley-Davidson (HOG), consensus 28c... JetBlue (JBLU), consensus ($2)... Crocs (CROX), consensus 69c.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
DexCom's Q3 pre-announcement impacted by tough comp, says Piper Sandler » 20:2410/2610/26/20
Piper Sandler analyst…
Piper Sandler analyst Matt O'Brien keeps his Overweight rating and $465 price target on DexCom after the company's Q3 revenue pre-announcement. The analyst notes that while the top line beat consensus, it marked the lowest beat in over two years and could result in shares being pressured tomorrow. O'Brien adds that the quarter's "tough comp" were part of the reason, and that he is hopeful that DexCom will also share "a number of positives" when it reports its full results tomorrow. The analyst is also maintaining a "constructive" view on the company, stating that he would recommend for investors to take advantage of any weakness.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to U.S. Supreme Court by U.S. Senate » 20:1610/2610/26/20
The Senate voted 52 to 48…
The Senate voted 52 to 48 to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat. As expected, the vote was along party lines, with the exception of Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine who voted with the Democrats on concerns that the nomination was too close to the U.S. elections.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Jefferies positive on ServiceNow ahead of Q3 results » 20:1110/2610/26/20
Jefferies analyst Samad…
Jefferies analyst Samad Samana keeps his Buy rating and $515 price target on ServiceNow ahead of its Q3 results. The analyst contends that the company can deliver "at least modest" net new ACV growth, resulting in "low 20s" subscriber billings growth vs. consensus growth rate of 17%. Samana adds that ServiceNow management may remain "conservative" due to macro uncertainty, but he also views the stock as a "core long-term growth holding".
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Air Lease delivers new Airbus A321-200neo aircraft to Titan Airways » 20:0210/2610/26/20
Air Lease announced the…
Air Lease announced the delivery of one new Airbus A321-200neo LR aircraft on long-term lease to Titan Airways. This aircraft is the first of two A321-200neo LRs confirmed to deliver to the British carrier from ALC's order book with Airbus. The second A321-200neo LR aircraft is scheduled to deliver to Titan Airways in Spring 2021.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Ring Energy announces proposed public offering, no amount given » 19:4110/2610/26/20
Ring Energy announced…
Ring Energy announced that it intends to offer and sell a combination of shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. Ring Energy intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and to fund other general corporate purposes. A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Ring Energy announces cancellation of registered direct offering » 19:3810/2610/26/20
Ring Energy announced it…
Ring Energy announced it has cancelled the registered direct offering of the company's securities announced last Thursday. The previously announced offering-which was subject to required regulatory approvals which have not yet been received-was for the purchase and sale to institutional investors of $18M of shares of the company's common stock, pre-funded warrants and common warrants.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Charles Schwab to cut roughly 3% of combined Schwab-TD Ameritrade workforce » 19:2310/2610/26/20
Charles Schwab's…
Charles Schwab's (SCHW) Executive Council said in a statement to employees of Schwab and TD Ameritrade (AMTD) that, as a result of taking more steps to streamline the structure and reshaping of the combined entity's branch network, it has started notifying individuals that their roles have been eliminated and they will be leaving the firm. This will result in a reduction of approximately 1,000 positions or about 3% of the combined workforce of Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade, Schwab said. "We owe this group a great deal of thanks and ask you to join us in honoring their many important contributions to the success of Schwab and TD Ameritrade," the statement reads. "We're committed to providing full transition support to our colleagues and to help ensure the smoothest transition possible, including reemployment assistance and severance benefits. These reductions are part of our efforts to reduce overlapping or redundant roles across the two firms, but the combined firm will continue to hire in strategic areas critical to support our growing client base. Employees whose roles are impacted by today's changes will have early access to all newly opened positions and be treated as internal candidates for the more than 1,000 currently open positions at Schwab through their 60-day notice period." Reference Link
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Goldman Sachs sued over alleged misconduct cover-up, Reuters says » 19:1810/2610/26/20
Goldman Sachs tried to…
Goldman Sachs tried to cover up claims of workplace sexual misconduct by the company's global head of litigation, Reuters' Matt Scuffham reports, citing a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. The suit, which was filed by former Goldman associate general counsel Marla Crawford, was filed against the bank, its General Counsel Karen Seymour, and its Global Head of Litigation Darrell Cafasso, the author notes. The suit alleges that Cafasso used his position of power to "romantically prey upon a much younger and vulnerable female colleague," the author says. Reference Link
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Reata Pharmaceuticals study shows omaveloxolone improved neuro function » 19:0310/2610/26/20
Reata Pharmaceuticals…
Reata Pharmaceuticals announced that results from the pivotal part 2 portion of the MOXIe trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of omaveloxolone in patients with Friedreich's ataxia were published in the journal Annals of Neurology. The publication concludes that "omaveloxolone significantly improved neurological function compared to placebo and was generally safe and well tolerated. It represents a potential therapeutic agent in FRDA."Reference Link
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Fly Intel: After-Hours Movers » 19:0110/2610/26/20
Check out this evening's…
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Las Vegas Sands exploring sale of Las Vegas casinos, Bloomberg reports » 18:4310/2610/26/20
Sheldon Adelson's…
Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands is looking into the sale of its flagship casinos in Las Vegas, Bloomberg's Gillian Tan and Christopher Palmeri report, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is working with an advisor to solicit interest from possible buyers, and may fetch $6B or more for its Las Vegas properties, the authors note. The portfolio of assets includes the Sands Expo Convention Center, the Venetian Resort Las Vegas and the Palazzo, the authors say. Reference Link
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Trxade Group doesn't foresee need for further capital to support business » 18:3610/2610/26/20
On the company's Q3…
On the company's Q3 earnings conference call, Trxade Group CFO Howard Doss said, "We do not currently foresee a need for further capital to support our business."
ShowHide Related Items >><<
First Bancshares reports Q3 EPS 55c, consensus 52c » 18:3310/2610/26/20
Reports Q3 NII $40.0M vs.…
Reports Q3 NII $40.0M vs. $30.5M last year. Q3 provision for loan losses totaled $6.9M, compared to $7.6M for the sequential quarter comparison and $1.0M for Q3 of 2019. Reports Q3 net interest margin 3.58% vs. 4.05% last year.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Plug Power CEO: The time for hydrogen is today » 18:3110/2610/26/20
In an interview on…
In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Andy Marsh said Plug Power has over 35,000 units deployed. 15% of liquid hydrogen in the U.S. goes into Plug Power's products, according to Marsh. He feels Plug Power is competitive with diesel fuel. "The hydrogen industry is just beginning," he noted. Consumer and company policies are driving growth, but government can add to that, Marsh said.
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Covenant Logistics CEO expects Q4 volumes and pricing to be favorable » 18:2810/2610/26/20
CEO David Parker says:…
CEO David Parker says: "While acknowledging one quarter does not make a trend, we are motivated by the progress surrounding the execution of our strategic plan. In the near term, we are focused on delivering superior service to our customers in what is expected to be robust peak shipping season with limited trucking capacity. Due to changes in business mix, we do not expect to have the excess asset-based capacity to "flex up" and take advantage of the peak spot market to the same extent we did in peak markets of 2014 through 2018. However, we expect fourth quarter volumes and pricing to be favorable and to support sequential margin improvement. In 2021 and beyond, our focus will be continued execution of our strategic plan, which consists of steadily and intentionally growing the percentage of our business generated by Dedicated, Managed Freight, and Warehousing segments, reducing unnecessary overhead, and improving our safety, service, and productivity. This will be a gradual process of diversifying our customer base with less seasonal and cyclical exposure, improving legacy contracts, and investing in systems, technology, and people to support the growth of these previously under-invested areas. As we undertake this multiyear effort, I would like to remind investors that our goal is to improve our earnings and returns in a manner that is sustainable and less susceptible to upward and downward market forces. The gradual improvements we expect will be offset at times by short term forces. For example, in 2021, we expect underlying progress on efficiency and cost control, improved contract pricing, and improved safety. These benefits are expected to be offset to some extent by the return of certain cost pressures (including the approximately $15.0 million pretax in annual temporarily reduced costs mentioned earlier and driver pay in a competitive market) and less excess capacity for capitalization in the spot market. In addition, the potential for greater than normal claims exposure relating to the TFS Portfolio and our auto liability retention could add volatility to our reported financial results and mask some of the progress we expect to make executing our plan. Over time, we expect to exit the plan a stronger, more profitable, more predictable business with the opportunity for significant and sustained value creation."
ShowHide Related Items >><<
Covenant Logistics reports Q3 EPS 56c, consensus 54c » 18:2610/2610/26/20
Reports Q3 revenue…
Reports Q3 revenue $210.8M, two estimates $209.55M. CEO David Parker says: "We were pleased with the progress on executing our strategic plan, which is focused on growing our more consistent and profitable freight commitments, improving margins, improving return on capital, and managing leverage at a reasonable level. Compared with the third quarter of 2019, revenue before fuel surcharges was essentially constant, we reduced our tractor fleet nearly 18%, and profitability improved sharply. Additionally, we have paid down approximately $175.6 million of debt and lease obligations over the past year. On an adjusted basis, net income for the third quarter of 2020 was second best of any third quarter of the past decade and third best of any quarter overall in the past five years. Nevertheless, we are in the early stages of implementing our plan, and we expect ups and downs as we work toward implementing lasting changes."
ShowHide Related Items >><<
National Oilwell reports Q3 EPS (14c), consensus (10c) » 18:2110/2610/26/20
Reports Q3 revenue…
Reports Q3 revenue $1.38B, consensus $1.38B. CEO Clay Williams says: "Despite the sharp contraction in demand for oil and gas-related products and services caused by the global pandemic, our team's solid execution on cost reduction and working capital initiatives continues to exceed expectations, resulting in $323 million in cash flow from operations and a reduction in net debt to $339 million during the third quarter of 2020. While our third quarter bookings were light and market conditions remain challenging, we are seeing some encouraging signals in the marketplace. In North America, we believe drilling activity has bottomed and is likely to rise modestly from current levels. In our international markets, we are seeing more of our customers return to work and fewer COVID-19-related logistical disruptions. As a result, our Rig Technologies and Completion & Production Solutions segments have both seen significant increases in tendering activity, giving us confidence that order intake is likely to improve in the fourth quarter."
ShowHide Related Items >><<


text:
15 Years & Counting
Please join our team and help us give Hope for those who have been diagnosed with a Brain Tumor by participating in the 2020 Angels Among Us on Saturday April 25.
We are Celebrating Don's 15 Year of Survivorship & would love to have all of you join us this year! 15 Years is Amazing! Come Celebrate with us!
Don was first diagnosed with a Primary Brain Tumor in February 2005. This is a scary disease that has brought our family and amazing group of friends together. We are anxious to find a cure for this horrible disease. We would love to have you join our team either as a walker, runner or by donating for the cause.
Join Don and his family to help Duke find a cure for brain tumors. Your gift to Angels Among Us will go directly into the research labs at Duke to support the development of new therapies and innovative treatment techniques being developed right now. These funds are critical in the fight against brain tumors.
Thank you for your continuing and amazing support!
Much Love,
Shanna & Don


text:
Bananas are extremely healthy fruits, as they are high in important nutrients and provide amazing healthy properties.
However, not all are aware of the numerous benefits of their peels, so after you read this article, you will never toss them into the bin.
The peels of both, green and yellow bananas, are beneficial. For instance, ripe bananas are more useful in the case of cancer, as they have potent cancer-fighting properties and they help the body produce more white blood cells.
Here is now to use the banana peel:
1. Banana peel for teeth whitening
Rub your teeth with the inner side of a banana peel every day for two weeks. Soon you will notice the positive results.
2. Remove skin warts
Banana peels will effectively remove skin warts, and it will prevent their occurrence.
3. Acne and wrinkles
Bananas are excellent for the skin as well, they moisturize and nourish it, due to the numerous antioxidants and powerful anti-aging properties. Therefore, rub the peel on the skin, especially on the problematic and irritated areas, and leave it to act for half an hour.
4. Analgesic properties
Rub the painful areas with the banana peel to soothe the pain.
5. A Psoriasis cure
The peel cannot completely treat this condition, but it can effectively calm down the skin.
6. Banana peel for losing weight
You already know that bananas contain potassium. But did you know that a great deal of that potassium is present in banana peel? It can contain around 40% of the potassium.
This mineral is needed if you want to lose weight. It boosts metabolism, so you burn more calories and muscles have enough energy. If you have energy, you can be more active.
However, banana peels contain many other things, such as antioxidants, fiber, B-vitamins, vitamin A.
Fiber is more present in the peel, than in the banana itself. Fiber keeps you full for a longer period.
Now you know that banana peels have some seriously awesome weight-loss benefits. And really, it's not as strange as it sounds. Give the banana peel recipe below a go and you'll wonder why the heck you've been tossing the skins in the trash your entire life.
Bananas Skins with Black-Eyed Peas:
– 4 green banana peels
– 1 teaspoon turmeric
– Salt
– 2 teaspoons coconut oil
– ½ c black-eyed peas (if using fresh, soak overnight)
– ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
– 2 tablespoons unsweetened grated coconut
– Juice of one lime
Method of preparation:
You should chop the peels and place them in water, along with the salt and turmeric. Boil this mixture and add some oil to prevent it from sticking to the pot. As soon as it boils, let it simmer, strain, and store it for cooking some soup or rice.
Boil the fresh black-eyed peas until they are tender. If you use canned ones, you should just rinse them and drain. Over medium heat, heat the coconut oil, add the mustard seeds, and cook until they pop. Next, add the peels and the black-eyed peas.
You should cook this mixture for 5 minutes, Then, remove from heat, add the coconut, salt, and the lime juice.


text:
'Hesher' Is Not for the Faint-Hearted
Director Spencer Susser and his exceptional cast root the mayhem so intimately in the habits of lower-middle class life, self-effacing even in collapse, that the movie compels attention.
Anarchic and idiosyncratic, the trickster figure of myth shatters routines, transforms lives, and revives the sacred in everyday rituals. The trickster is also willful, intervening in human lives when he thinks they need to change.
This is a lesson to be learned by 13-year-old T.J. Forney (Devin Brochu), introduced as he's mourning the death of his mother in a car crash. When he first encounters the long-haired metalhead, Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and his decrepit, matte black van, T.J. thinks he's just met a bigger, meaner version of the bullies who terrorize him daily at school. But when Hesher follows him home and strips to his skivvies to load the Forney washing machine with filthy clothes, T.J. realizes that the fragile equilibrium he has built among the ruins of his family is under threat. The trickster has arrived. And he's planning to stay.
Hesher is not a movie for the faint-hearted. It's peppered with malicious cruelty, eschatology, explosions, sex and drugs, indiscriminate bullying, and repeated uses of "fuck" as punctuation -- scenes frequently leave viewers wincing as if they've been dealt a blow to the head or choking back sobs. It should be unwatchable.
But director Spencer Susser and his exceptional cast root the mayhem so intimately in the habits of lower-middle class life, self-effacing even in collapse, that the movie compels attention. Susser's risk-taking with narrative, his visual acuity, and the exuberant performance he elicits from the protean Gordon-Levitt submerge the audience in all the hallucinogenic disjunction of fresh, raw grief.
While T.J. clings to a routine of attending school, no matter what happens at home, his devastated father Paul (Rainn Wilson) has sunk so deeply into a pharmaceutical wasteland of somnolence and dirty sweats that he barely notices the intruder. Ailing Grandma (Piper Laurie) accepts Hesher as one more mouth to feed at family dinner, no more bizarre than her nearly mute son and the grandson who wants to buy back the car in which his mother died. Indeed, he might even be preferable to either, in that he thanks her for his meals, responds when she asks questions, and keeps her company when she rests in her memento-filled sick room. She can't see the variations we do, as Hesher switches from such gentleness with her to a frame-busting exuberance when he sets fire to a total stranger's pool or seduces the supermarket cashier, Nicole (Natalie Portman), on whom T.J. has fixated with all the intensity of first love.
These extremes seem plausible because Hesher, the character, is something like an immersive experience. Interviewed when Hesher premiered at Sundance in 2010, Gordon-Levitt says that as he read the script, "The character made me stand up and just start saying the words out loud." And at times, he does indeed seem like an actor possessed. Returning one night from a nightmare ride in Hesher's van, T.J. stands in his driveway, trying to stop Hesher from parking his van in it. Hesher drives straight at him, bouncing him out of the way to land in the proverbial crumpled heap. "Cool!" breathes Hesher ecstatically as he drags the teenager to his feet. With one beatific smile, Gordon-Levitt conveys both his character's utter delight in the resilience of the human body and his immediate calculation of future ways in which he can test it.
Hesher's disorder inspires T.J. to act on his own impulses too. His profession of love for Nicole is inspired by her own fear that no one would notice her death. As they sit side by side, gazing soulfully through the windshield, T.J. adds thoughtfully that he would notice she was dead because he would be in the car with her. The shift between an adolescent's dreamy passion and a child's practicality indicates the film's emotional logic, no matter the wildness of what happens. It even pulls off a soft-focus flashback of the fatal car accident without an ounce of sentimentality.
Such logic extends to the film's landscape. T.J., Hesher, and Nicole move through an atrophying suburbia bisected by strips malls, cracked pavements, low-rent motels, and freeways. When Nicole rescues T.J. from his schoolyard nemesis (Brendan Hill), she does so in an empty, dusty supermarket parking lot, where discarded shopping carts seem to have taken root. In the perpetual dusk of T.J.'s house, old-fashioned furniture and a hodge-podge of memorabilia clutter the scene. Such locations seem like characters, exhausted and a little surprised by the tenacity that keeps them alive.
The film's attention to location underscores the debt of Susser and cowriter David Michôd (who made 2010's Animal Kingdom) to American Westerns. Hesher offers an archetypal wanderer who arrives from nowhere, rescues the deserving, and then disappears. Susser suggests in a recent interview that Hesher might also represent death, who moves in, and moves on, without warning or respite. Whoever he is, Hesher exists precisely. For all its excesses, Hesher is that exotic thing, a movie that celebrates human resilience without a single soppy note.


text:
Portlaoise singer releases new EP
'Morning Waits' is the debut EP release from local singer/songwriter Kevin Healy.
He launched the EP to an enthusiastic audience in Whelans, Dublin earlier this month with fantastic support sets from local artists Burningboy (Terry Byrne) and Adela Meally (of Adela and the Meanits).
All songs on the EP were written and produced by Kevin. The EP opens with 'One Step Away', an uplifting song with an infectious chorus and swinging bassline. 'Where you begin' builds into a soaring ballad and is accompanied by a video directed by David Goral which very effectively captures the mood and feel of the song (see youtube.com/kevinhealymusic).
'You and Me' is atmospheric and evocative while 'Sunrise' finishes the EP on an optimistic note depicting the cycles of time and nature.
The beautiful EP artwork was created by graphic designer Celine Cahill and was designed with Kevin to reflect each song on the EP.
Morning Waits is out now and is available from Anthem Records Portlaoise, Freebird Records on Wicklow Street in Dublin and can be downloaded from itunes and Amazon. Visit www.kevinhealymusic.com, www.facebook.com/kevinhealymusic, www.youtube.com/kevinhealymusic and www.twitter.com/kevinhealymusic for more.


text:
Nitish, not Modi, leads the way in BJP's yatra
Party leaders refrained from mentioning the Gujarat chief minister in their respective speeches
Party leaders refrained from mentioning the Gujarat chief minister in their respective speeches
Ayodhya: After the grand success of Nitish Kumar in the Bihar assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it seems, has decided to follow his mantra of success. In fact, no party leader, including BJP president Nitin Gadkari, talk about Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in their respective speeches. During the party's Vijay Sankalp Samagam rally on Thursday at Ayodhya to mark the end of the 18-day long Jan Swabhiman Yatra in Uttar Pradesh, BJP leaders refrained from mentioning the implementation of the Gujarat model of development.
For instance, former UP chief minister Rajnath Singh made it clear that his party will contest the upcoming UP elections on development issues. Singh has promised that if his government comes to power, it will ensure disbursement of agriculture loan to farmers on one per cent interest rate like it has facilitated the scheme of subsidised farmer loan in Karnataka. Similarly, the Ladli Laxmi scheme for the girl child will be implemented, like in Madhya Pradesh. Singh also promised that his party's govt will implement the Public Service Guarantee Act, like in Bihar, to prevent corruption.
Loss of memory?
On the other hand, while speaking on the poor condition of farmers in UP, Gadkari said, "While UP produces about 25 quintals of sugarcane per acre, Maharashtra farmers produce 100 quintals. If my government comes to power in UP, farmers will be facilitated to increase their earnings by Rs 6,000 crore per annum by raising the production. In addition to it, the state will produce electricity using bagasse as I practice in my state."
But Gadkari never took the name of Modi or his state during his entire speech.
Although BJP leaders claimed that they would fight the election on development issues only, everyone missed to list the achievements of Modi in Gujarat. In light of people's perception that leaders only make promises and never deliver, sources say party leaders do not want to make any unrealistic promises and are only talking about implementation of those schemes that are working in NDA-ruled state. But, even in this list, not a single Gujarat scheme finds mention.
Sign up for all the latest news, top galleries and trending videos from Mid-day.comSubscribe


text:
Sold Out
Whenever your cupcakes could use some more flare, try some Candy Crumble Pink & White. This humble candy is perfect to accent the other sweets in your life. Candy Crumble Pink & White are shards of candy that are vanilla flavored with a pretty Pink & White color. Perfect for baby showers, bachelorette parties or that decadent ice cream bar! We sell this candy in bulk at 2 lbs. a bag. Buy yours today and bring the flare, if you dare.
*Store at room temperature for up to 1 year.
Ingredients: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Colors (Red 3 & 40), Carnauba Wax, Resinous Glaze (Confectioner's Glaze), Artificial Flavor
**Tartrazine – PRESENT
Egg product – not present
Dairy product – not present
Sulfites – PRESENT (< 10 ppm)
Soya beans/oil – PRESENT
Nuts/seed products – may have come in contact with
Fish or shell fish – not present
Wheat products – not present
Corn products – PRESENT Gluten Free
Made in a nut free facility.
***DISCLAIMER: Color may vary from visuals. Manufacturing process may differ slightly with every batch. NO REFUNDS for color variance.***


text:
1500 – The fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
1841 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the United States v. The Amistad case that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.
1842 – The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.
1847 – Mexican–American War: The first large-scale amphibious assault in U.S. history is launched in the Siege of Veracruz.
1862 – American Civil War: The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
1910 – The Westmoreland County coal strike, involving 15,000 coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers, begins.
1916 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against the border town of Columbus, New Mexico.
1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to Congress, the first of his New Deal policies.
1944 – World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that would last five days.
1945 – World War II: The first nocturnal incendiary attack on Tokyo inflicts damage comparable to that inflicted on Hiroshima five months later.
1954 – McCarthyism: CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly.
1957 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Andreanof Islands, Alaska triggers a Pacific-wide tsunami causing extensive damage to Hawaii and Oahu.
1959 – The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
1967 – Trans World Airlines Flight 553, a Douglas DC-9-15, crashes in a field in Concord Township, Ohio following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, killing 26.
1977 – The Hanafi Siege: In a thirty-nine-hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings, killing two and taking 149 hostage.
1989 – Financially troubled Eastern Air Lines files for bankruptcy.
1997 – Comet Hale–Bopp: Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day.
2011 – Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights.
1454 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (d. 1512)
1824 – Amasa Leland Stanford, American businessman and politician, founded Stanford University (d. 1893)
1918 – George Lincoln Rockwell, American sailor and politician, founded the American Nazi Party (d. 1967)
1918 – Mickey Spillane, American author and actor (d. 2006)
1934 – Yuri Gagarin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1968)
1941 – Ernesto Miranda, American, inspired the Miranda rights (d. 1976)
1987 – Bow Wow, American rapper and actor
1925 – Willard Metcalf, American painter and academic (b. 1858)
1989 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (b. 1946)
1996 – George Burns, American actor and singer (b. 1896)
1997 – Christopher George Latore Wallace AKA The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (b. 1972)
3131 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407
Telephone: 612.668.4300 | Fax: 612.668.4310


text:
Keep your guests in the picture, step by step.
after the reservation
offers of activities and services
Are you interested? Schedule a call with our representative.
This website uses cookies to offer services, personalize ads and analyze website visits. By further using the website you agree to the cookies use.


text:
|Nom du fichier : Star Trek : Legacy Cheat Codes - Auteur : ANO
Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "config.cfg" file in the "bethesda softworksstar trek legacy" directory. Locate the "cfg_SPPlayerDamageModifier" line and change its value to "0.00".
cfg_SPPlayerDamageModifier = 0.35
to this:
cfg_SPPlayerDamageModifier = 0.00
Your Campaign mode fleet will no longer take damage from enemies or objects.
When doing this ships under your command will not take any hull/shield damage.


text:
Now has its own website!
Only registered users can write reviews. Please login or register to write a review.
I've had these for quite a while but I hardly wear false eyelashes so I haven't managed to finish the box. These come with their own glue which I haven't had any problems with. I find individual lashes when applied look very natural as you don't have a lash band to contend with.
In theory they should be easier to apply since you don't have to stick down a whole lash band but I had some trouble with these (probably because I'm terrible at applying false eyelashes). The hardest part for me was getting them to face the right direction and blending into my natural eyelashes. Once I did manage I was left with beautiful fluttery lashes. I only applied these to the outer third of my eye so it didn't look heavy at all!
I received the style 'Mesmer-eyes' which are beautiful, thick dramatic black lashes. I never knew Model Co had a false lash range so I was really excited to try these out. Packaging is cute and it includes glue adhesive which is good for anyone who doesn't have some already. Once I removed each lash from the pack, I like to gently 'wiggle' the band so that it fits my eyes better and I had no problem doing that to these lashes unlike other brands which the band easily bends or snaps off. I applied the glue on to the band while holding them with some tweezers, I waited until the glue got a bit tacky and placed them on. These were really easy to apply compared to 2 of the brands we were given, so that really impressed me. The glue was pretty good and only at the end of the day did I find one lash lift up at the inner corner. I didn't have to cut down the lash as it fit perfectly which is nice. Overall, I really loved this pair in particular and I would have to say out of all the brands, these are my favourite and I will be looking into more of the styles available.
Please wait...


text:
Dangerous goods en safety equipment
Showing 13–24 of 165 results
Showing 1 - 4 of 18 products in this Category
GHS Labels
Showing 1 - 4 of 27 products in this Category
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS addresses classification of chemicals by types of hazard and proposes harmonized hazard communication elements, including labels and safety data sheets.
IMO Labels
Showing 1 - 4 of 20 products in this Category