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If you have every seen a game of Muay Thai (Thai boxing) at a local stadium somewhere in Thailand or even on the web or TV, you know how brutally destructive it can be!
When I visited Thailand recently, I realised that an increasing number of travellers to Bangkok aren't content with merely watching the sport. Many like me want to get our hands dirty and experience Muay Thai.
And I did. At the Rajadamnern Singha Muay Thai Academy (RSM academy) in Bangkok and what if it was only for a day!
RSM academy is in the Thong Lor area close to the popular Sumkhumvit in Bangkok.
This academy is located on the 3rd floor of a shopping center called 'SeenSpace'.
It is a large training area (approx 3500 sq ft) with many instructors around.
So, what was it like when I entered?
The whole area was abuzz with some who looked like freshers (but with a bit more experience than I had), then were the intermediate and in the ring I saw a few who seemed to be training for a while. Let's call them pros!!
It all began with warm up-like most sports and fitness activities. And the warm up was intense. Was it the Bangkok humidity or a mix of intense cardio and mobility work, I don't know! But I was sweating.
Now, it was time to gear up.
The gear included first wrapping my fingers with a hand wrap.
I was told that hand wraps ensure that your knuckles and wrists are protected when you punch.
The coach who could only speak a little bit English, gestured me that I should not wear gloves without first wrapping hands.
It is believed that punch after punch can really take a toll on your hands.
While putting the hand wraps on, I immediately realised that your wraps should be tight enough to stay put. And you should not wrap them so tight that they cut off circulation. It is important that you should be able to move your fingers and thumb comfortably.
And then, I put on the gloves.
How it all started?
After learning basic footwork, punches and elbow attacks, I was invited to enter the ring.
After learning the basic footwork, the first kick that I learnt was Tae Chiang. It can be done by swinging the leg diagonally upwards to attack against the target.
Tae Chiang was followed by Tae Tad. Tae Tad is in fact the most commonly used kick in Muay Thai also because many think it is easy ( well, I don't).
The correct movement for Tae Tad is that the defender must bend his legs a little and swing the kick to the area around the knee-joint or the back of the knee joint.
And post learning a couple of kicks and practising those kicks it was time to learn a few punches.
The straight punch feels like a power punch. In Muay Thai it's frequently used as knock out punch.
Muay Thai's secret weapon
Then finally, I learnt the secret weapon of Muay Thai-elbow strike.
Elbow strike is in fact a very unique weapon that makes Muay Thai different from most other martial arts. During events and matches, elbow strike has the potential to give very severe injury to the opponent as it is used to attack when opponent is at a closer distance. An elbow strike typically strikes the joints and areas around the neck and the face.
After learning a few kicks, punches, strikes and defence techniques, it was time to apply all that I learnt in a a two-minute fight with the coach.
Anyone visiting Thailand must at least take up one session of Muay Thai. It is fun, heart-pumping and also a great calorie burner.
Here is a bit on the fee structure.
If you wish to take a single session it will cost you 550 Baht. And if you are staying a bit longer in Bangkok then you can book 10 sessions which you can in fact use for 3 months at 4,950 Baht.
There is also a Weekly and Monthly Unlimited package through which you can go as many times as you want. Weekly (Unlimited) will set you back by 1,900 Baht and 1 Month (Unlimited) is at 5,400. But then you get to visit as many times as you wish.
The exact address of the place I went to learn was:
Rajadamnern Singha Muay Thai Academy, Seenspace 13 (3rd floor), 251/1 Soi Thonglor 13, Sukhumvit 55, Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok, Thailand, 10110.
And this is how you can contact them +66 2 185 2384 But, apart from Thonglor there are other centres you can visit too. Details of which shall be available on their website. http://rsm-academy.com/


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Browsing: Bactericides & bacteria control
Rapid Facility Services Ltd
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Piano Restoration
The Coach House Restoration Centre
What makes our piano restoration so special is the attention to detail – where nothing less than perfection is accepted. Coach House is a name synonymous with pianos of distinction. A fine reputation has been established over decades as first-class rebuilders and restorers of pianos; reviving and enhancing the tone and appearance intended by their original makers.
Every individual, full piano restoration takes around 300 hours to complete. A long process, but an essential process to create the 'excellence' of sound, touch and appearance that sets us apart from other restorers. The Coach House certificate of 'excellence' is issued with all rebuilt pianos, ensuring the authenticity of all materials used, and warrantying them for 5 years.
'Excellence; to some is only a word, for us, it is a standard'
Is Your Piano Worth Restoring?
Our advice is to certainly consider restoring an older instrument provided it is one of the worlds recognised high-quality brands. The main reason for this is that pianos such as Steinway, Bechstein, Bluthner and Bosendorfer are considerably more valuable following our restoration programme than the actual cost of having the instrument rebuilt.
Many older pianos remain treasured 'heirlooms' of great sentimental worth, which is far beyond monetary value. Coach House technicians fully understand this and provide a sympathetic restoration programme in order for 'the family piano' to be preserved for future generations to love and enjoy also.
The Journey Begins...
Before the rebuilding process commences, a rigorous inspection of the instrument is carried out to establish potential to become a first-class instrument again. Once the assessment has been carried out, and the instrument is deemed worthy for restoration, the exciting journey begins. All restoration work is undertaken including valuable historical instruments, antique and period. Customers will have before and after professional pictures taken, of their priceless family heirlooms. Each client is offered a complimentary loan piano similar to the piano undergoing restoration for the duration of the works.
Take a tour around the fascinating Coach House workshops and discover for yourself our new purpose-built facilities. Witness our experienced craftsmen painstakingly rebuilding the finest period pianos to their original grandeur, learn from our time served Steinway specialists and watch our qualified cabinet finishers add the finishing touches in our spray booth.
Our time served craftsmen
Highly skilled technicians with many years of experience with leading piano manufacturers, namely Steinway & Sons and Bosendorfer, are engaged in our restoration programme.
Our many thrilled customers, from Italy to Sydney to Hong Kong and the world over, whether professional musicians or amateur, concert venues, music academies, schools, colleges or the family piano, testify to the uncompromising highest of standards achieved by the team in our workshops.
Aspects of Restoration
Our 6,000 square feet of workshops are dedicated to all processes of restoration.


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La Jolla Playhouse Appoints New Managing Director
Thursday, April 19, 2018
The La Jolla Playhouse board of trustees has appointed Debby Buchholz as its new managing director.
Buchholz has served as the general manager since 2002 and will assume her new position starting May 1, according to an April 19 announcement.
"Debby's extraordinary leadership – both locally in the San Diego community and nationally through her work with LORT (League of Resident Theaters), the largest professional theatre association in the country – are an invaluable asset to the organization," Christopher Ashley, the playhouse artistic director and Tony Award winner, said in a statement.
Her new role as managing director, in partnership with the artistic director, will consist of directing overall strategic planning, financial management, marketing, development, production management and labor relations for the organization, the company stated.
As general manager of La Jolla Playhouse, Buchholz oversaw business operations, human resources, board governance, and artist and production contract negotiations. Buchholz is also a vice president of LORT and a member of its executive committee.
The San Diego Business Journal awarded her the San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award in 2009. Buchholz is a graduate of UC San Diego and Harvard Law School.


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Etiquette experts suggest two things polite people never do is discuss politics and religion. Studies by the University of Connecticut emphasize not discussing religion when it comes to job applications in New England and the South.
According to a Hartford Courant article, "If you're trying to get a job, it may be better not to disclose your religious preferences, especially if you're Muslim. That's the conclusion that could be drawn from two studies done by University of Connecticut researchers that show that employers are less likely to respond to job applications if a resume contains a reference to membership in a religious group."
As the university reports on its website, "Sara Korvel has a lot to offer prospective employers: a recent graduate of a major university, she made the dean's list in seven of eight semesters and belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa honors society. Fluent in four languages, she landed prestigious internships at an international bank and a state public broadcaster, and held down a job as a Starbucks shift manager for most of her college career. Sara has one significant factor working against her as she searches for her first post-college job, though: she's a Muslim."
"We have sort of a privatized view of religion," UConn Sociology Professor, Michael Wallace, said of the study results in the Courant article. "It's perfectly OK to have private religious beliefs and worship as you please, but as for bringing that into the workplace as part of an overt expression of your identity, that can cut against you a little bit."
The university research finds the number of complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination against Muslim job applicants has almost tripled in less than 20 years. In 1992 there were 1388 complaints. In 2010 the number had grown to 3790. Wallace said this doesn't necessarily mean that discrimination has increased, but it does signal increasing public awareness of the problem.
Sara Korvel who is mentioned above, is a fictional college graduate. She was created as part of Wallace's research that was conducted along with Bradley Wright, an associate professor in the sociology department. The professors, according to the Courant article, "created fictional resumes for four high-performing recent college graduates, randomly assigning each to a religious preference — Catholic, evangelical Christian, atheist, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, or Wallonian, a fictional faith. There was also a control group with no religious affiliation."
The professors conducted two studies: one focusing on New England and the other in the South. According to UConn, "The results bore that out in the New England study: applicants expressing any religious identification received 19 percent fewer overall contacts than the applicants from the non-religious control group. What the researchers did not expect, though, was the scope of the apparent bias against Muslim applicants: Muslims received 32 percent fewer emails and 48 percent fewer phone calls than applicants from the control group, far outweighing measurable bias against the other faith groups."
According to UConn, "By measures like church attendance and belief in God, the South is significantly more religious than New England, and has a much larger evangelical Christian population, and Wallace and Wright wondered how this would affect the results.
"The researchers sent out 3,200 applications to employers within 150 miles of two major Southern cities and found that, when it comes to religious bias, Southern employers have much in common with their New England counterparts. The Southern study found that religious resumes received 29 percent fewer emails and 33 percent fewer phone calls than the control-group resumes; but Muslim applications got 38 percent fewer emails and 54 percent fewer phone calls than the non-religious control group, and were less likely to get a response than those with any other religious indicator."
Wallace told the Courant it was "not a total surprise" to see that the apparent bias against Muslim applicants was more marked than for any of the groups: Muslim applicants received 32 percent fewer emails and 48 percent fewer phone calls than applicants from the control group.


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Our story…here now at Amazon.ca!
Gary McHale book launch at: Freedom Press Canada — 2013 Freedom Symposium, November 9, 2013
Christie Blatchford: Caledonia law = Deep South law
"…the law in Haldimand County operates as the law in America's Deep South once worked, where there was one law for the white man, who could break it with impunity, and another for the black man. In Haldimand County, since the occupation began, there has been one law for natives and another for non-natives."
Helpless author Christie Blatchford, Globe & Mail, May 04/11
IN BOOKSTORES NOW: Caledonia's story, as told by Canada's award-winning author of 'Fifteen Days'…
"I'm sure a lot of people don't give a damn about what happened to the residents of Caledonia. I'm wondering where the next lawless takeover might take place — maybe in my area? Maybe in yours? People don't seem to care unless it affects them directly — that is, except for Gary McHale and Mark Vandermaas." Moose & Squirrel.ca
March 22/11: Free Thinking Film Society & International Free Press Society bring Caledonia to Ottawa
July 12, 2009 – THE END OF THE BEGINNING. After 4 arrests during a 31 month campaign the Canadian flag is legal once again in Caledonia
Category Archives: Gary McHale
McHales do it again: Haldimand Council votes to dismantle Caledonia blockade
UPDATES: Hamilton Spectator, June 25/14: Six Nations warns removing blockade will disrupt peace SUN News Network, June 25/14: Native band opposes removal of long-controversial Caledonia blockade SUN News, June 25/14: Blockade to break in Caledonia? (Pat Bolland interview with Gary McHale) SUN News, June … Continue reading
Coming soon — VICTORY IN THE NO-GO ZONE: Winning The Fight Against Two Tier Policing, by Gary McHale
You shared the agony of Caledonia's victims with Christie Blatchford's best-selling Helpless: Caledonia's Nightmare Of Fear And Anarchy, And How The Law Failed All Of Us. Now…read VICTORY IN THE NO-GO ZONE, Gary McHale's account of how a small group of Canadian patriots … Continue reading
One Law For All — Illegal Peacekeeping Missions on Canadian Soil…And How To End Them
UPDATES: AM1290 Talk Radio, London, ON, Jan 17/13: Andy Oudman interview w/OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis, then Mark Vandermaas, Caledonia Victims Project re Ipperwash Inquiry failures & Ontario's illegal peacekeeping missions [AUDIO] ILLEGAL PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS ON CANADIAN SOIL AND HOW TO END … Continue reading
Thank you note to Senator Bob Runciman: FIRST to denounce Ipperwash Inquiry 'peacekeeping' recommendations
SENT VIA EMAIL (some links have been added to body text)… ————————————- July 13, 2011 . Office of The Honourable Senator Bob Runciman 351 East Block Ottawa, ON K1A 0A4 . Dear Senator Runciman: . As a former UN peacekeeper … Continue reading
Caledonia: what went wrong? Where do we go from here?
No one should assume that Caledonia is all wrapped up with a nice bow because the Caledonia Class Action suit has been settled. Even though the government was forced to write a cheque it can ill afford (politically and financially) … Continue reading
Caledonia milestone: DCE occupiers & OPP respect rights of non-natives during Truth & Reconciliation Rally
"I believe the greatest reason the OPP both acknowledged our Charter Rights and then protected them this past Sunday was because we have maintained a clear message of Equality under the Law for all people, that the Rule of Law … Continue reading
Posted in Caledonia & Churches, Caledonia in The News, CUPE 3903, Doug Fleming, Events, Gary McHale, Jeff Parkinson, Mark Vandermaas, Merlyn Kinrade, Truth & Reconciliation, Truth & Reconciliation Events Tagged Al Gretzky, Blogwrath, International Free Press Society, Mary Lou Ambrogio, Stuart Laughton
MEDIA RELEASE: Father's Day BBQ and Truth & Reconciliation Rally in Caledonia, Sunday, June 19th
UPDATE: Caledonia milestone: DCE occupiers & OPP respect rights of non-natives during Truth & Reconciliation Rally ——— Joint Media Release by CANACE and Caledonia Victims Project – June 9, 2011 Father's Day BBQ (free food & live entertainment) – … Continue reading
R. v. Gary McHale (Assault)
Caledonia Lawsuits & Court Actions> Targeting of Non-Native Activists R. v. Gary McHale (Assault) A charge of Assault was laid against Gary McHale arising out of a 'Truth & Reconciliation' rally held Feb 27/11. It was dropped by the Crown on … Continue reading
ELECTION TOWNHALL MEETING (Haldimand-Norfolk): Delhi Belgian Club, April 14
2011 ELECTION TOWNHALL MEETING Thursday, April 14th at 7pm Delhi Belgian Club 360 James Street, Delhi N4B 2B4 [MAP] Hosted by: Conservatives Against Racism – Keynote Speakers – Gary McHale President, CANACE Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality Report on lawlessness … Continue reading
Posted in Caledonia activists, Doug Fleming, Events, Gary McHale, Mark Vandermaas, Politicians
OPP watch as native occupiers destroy Reconciliation/Apology monument, then burn Canadian flag
Our recent Truth and Reconciliation rally held on Sunday, March 27/11 proves that the OPP still – after five years – will not protect the rights or property of non-natives in Caledonia. OPP officers watched as the Douglas Creek Estates … Continue reading


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Contact Us: (709) 368-6008
Email: email@example.com
978 Topsail Road, Mount Pearl
This page is always under development and construction. If you see a part you need please give us a call at 368-6008 for current pricing and availability and one of our sales or service staff will be more than happy to help you out. Check back later for new products and specials!
Prices and availability subject to change.


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What kind of books does LifeTree Media Publish?
We publish nonfiction books and ebooks that help, heal and inspire. Here are some of the categories we're most interested in.
Personal Development and Transformation
- Personal growth, self-actualization
- Human potential
- Spirituality
- Contemporary philosophy
- Life path / purpose
- Productivity and time-management
- Popular sociology
- Feminism
- Gender theory
- Inspiration
- Meditation and mindfulness
Health and Wellness
- Addiction
- Psychology and self-help
- Relationships, dating and marriage
- Parenting
- Sex and sexuality
- Trauma and abuse
- Diet and nutrition
- Grief and bereavement
- Cancer and disease management
- Cognition and brain function
- Eating disorders
- Sleep dysfunction
Leadership and Business
- Corporate social responsibility
- Digital transformation
- Entrepreneurship
- Sustainability
- Values-based leadership
- Personal finance
- Authentic marketing
- Personal branding
- Career planning
- Groundbreaking business insights
We don't publish fiction or poetry of any kind. As much as we love it, it's just not our specialty.
Could you be a LifeTree author?
There are many good reasons to publish a book, and just as many potential benefits, some of which offer significant returns that can even outweigh revenues from in-store sales. You may want to:
- Share your knowledge with the world and help people who need it
- Tell your company's story, or share your organization's philosophy
- Consolidate a career's worth of experience and information
- Enhance your credibility as an expert in your field
- Boost your rates as a keynote speaker or course leader
- Take advantage of "back of the room" sales opportunities
- Raise the profile of your practice or business
We take our client relationships to heart, so we're selective about who we work with. Although there's no strict set of acceptance criteria beyond the requirement that you fit into one of our publishing categories (see above), have a look at the guidelines below to see if you think we might be a good fit for each other.
We offer:
- Exceptionally high editorial and design standards in line with better traditional publishers. Our highest commitment is to the quality of your book, and we will approach every phase of its development with impassioned creativity and constructive criticism to make it the very best that it can be.
- Rigorous content development, including expert developmental editing, one-on-one coaching, and custom design by our team of industry award-winning book design specialists.
- Personal service and attentive client care. You will work closely with a dedicated project manager, editor and designer throughout the process.
- Thorough organization. A full budget and schedule breakdown and regular status reports ensure you remain in the loop and on track.
- Personalized author branding; bespoke marketing strategy and implementation. From social media training to author videos to traditional publicity campaigns, we can provide or source all the support you need.
- Full service publishing, from concept stage to in-store print book and ebook distribution.
- Excellence. Quite frankly, we believe we are the best the world has to offer as an alternative to traditional publishing and self-publishing.
- Have an original, compelling idea or unique information that, with the right support, could be moulded into a whip-smart book concept within one of the categories above.
- Are serious about writing your book now, and prepared to put considerable time and energy into seeing it through.
- Have proven expertise in your subject area.
- Have demonstrable writing ability in any capacity, including academic papers, blogging, published articles and unpublished work.
- Are prepared to fund the development and production of your book to completion.
- Have a growing platform: an established blog with measurable engagement, exposure to speaking circuit audiences, active on social media presence, high profile within your industry or other claim to celebrity.
- Don't need to have an agent.
- Don't need to have a book proposal.
- Don't need to have written a book before or previously published any work (but do see the point above, regarding writing ability).
- We are constantly on the lookout for talented new voices and brands whose values align with ours. If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you about your book idea.


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So how many ways do people dispose of their dead?
There is firstly what I would consider the most commonly thought of to me, in my culture and Society. That of a British one,
The Christian burial.
The Christian burial is always performed on sacred ground. A hole is prepared in the Earth. The deceased is placed in a Coffin. A rectangular box made of wood traditionally. But a new fashion of using wicker or bio degradable cardboard has become available. I think most people still go for the traditional wooden casket however. A vicar usually performs the Christian Eucharist. Then family and friends go somewhere to have food and drink and to talk about memories of the deceased.
The Catholic burial
The Catholic ceremony is much more complex than the Christian ceremony. It is broken up in to different parts. The deceased still goes in a coffin. But has more of a journey. Firstly is the conveyance of the body to the church. During this the Parish Priest and clergy go to the house the body is resting in. Before removing the deceased , the house is sprinkled with Holy water. Once in the Church. Fascinatingly the feet of the deceased should point towards the East, and when buried also. The ceremony in the church is praying, then mass and then absolution. Followed by the coffin being accompanied to the graveside. There is a final petition made by the Priest and the funeral is completed.
The Islamic Funeral.
In Islam , the first thing to be done as soon as possible is to wash the corpse. The body is then shrouded. The shroud is usually white cotton, as it is plain and humble, as stated necessary. The whole Muslim community offer up a prayer for forgiveness of the deceased. This is called the Salat al-Janazah. The body is then taken for burial. This is based on region and can differ on the different Muslims in that particular region. The body is placed o nits right side, facing Mecca, without its casket. The lowering of the corpse is done by relatives. The mourning period is three days in Islam. With Widower's having to extend this period to four months and ten days. This is to make sure they are not pregnant with the dead man's child, if it is a man who died. Mourning has to be done in a dignified manner. Now you may or may not know about the funeral rites already mentioned. But a more elaborate and unusual one is that of a small ethnic group called the Torajans.
Torajan Burial
The Torajans are an Indonesian ethnic minority group. When some one dies in their community , they have a funeral to fit. Some funerals have to take place months or even years later. Quite a contrast to the Muslim burial that has to be done as quick as possible. The body is wrapped and it is believed the spirit of the deceased stays around their own village until the funeral is completed. The richer the deceased , the more elaborate the funeral. With every thing the deceased will need in the afterlife being placed in their coffin. Their grave can be any thing from a coffin hanging from a tree over a cliff for a baby, to a massive cave opening for big families. They dance, sing and chant to celebrate the long journey of the deceased in to the afterlife. Water Buffalo is slaughtered in the Torajan's ritual. The richer the deceased the more Water Buffalo and pigs are killed over the period of the feast as the deceased will get to the after life faster the more they have.
There are many ways , and cremation is becoming widely accepted,but is forbidden by Islam. As the world becomes a smaller place to live, we will all have to consider how the dead are passed on from this life.
Tibetan Sky Burial( more ritual)
The Tibetan funeral ritual is probably what some may see as the most unfeeling way of saying good bye you could think of, dragging a body up a mountain to let the vultures or nature dissect it. Well, although I have no stomach for getting my loved and not so loved ones to the next life in such a way, there is a little more to sky burials than that.
Whilst sky burial is a practical means of disposal seeing as the grounds are too hard to dig graves and the timber too expensive to gain for cremations, nature's way of giving back to the circle of life as it were is the most common sense approach.
Also being Buddhists, the body is merely an empty vessel and is not needed for the rebirth that is about to occur. The ritual is also noted in the Book of the Dead, so is probably the oldest way of getting rid of the dead.
There are varying degrees of this ritual, some actually hack the body up and even make up a tsampa, which is a mash of bones, yak milk and barley. There are some that handed over the whole body over to the vultures.
Sky burials were banned by The Republic of China because China saw this practice as barbaric ( I hear the irony loud in my ears),20 years later they reallowed the practice however.
There is a ceremonial side to the Sky Burials, that being a monk that usually burns incence and offers up chants for the dead.


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Reader & Writer
The first thing I ever officially wrote was in tenth grade...and it was to impress a girl. It was a short story about a haunted mirror and after I turned it in for an assignment the teacher pulled me aside and demanded I tell her where I plagiarized it from (which I didn't).Decades (and a fulfilled life) later, the urge to tell stories – and impress – has returned. Do me a favor, let me know how I'm doing.
Looking for Alaska (John Green) - I Hunt Killers (Barry Lyga) - The Naturals ( Jennifer Lynn Barnes) - Stupid Fast (Geoff Herbach) - One of Us Is Lying (Karen McManus) - Acceleration (Graham McNamee)
Remember to always be yourself. Unless you suck. (Joss Whedon) - Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid. (John Wayne) - 'It's only heavy when you hold it' (Ajahn Brahm)


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Game Description: If you like to do some dunk try this Basketball game. Really good game for dunk fans.
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In order for oil and gas reserves to reach the market, minerals rights are leased to oil companies through a legally binding contract. At times, mineral rights leasing might include the drilling of an extended reach well. This could be beneficial to the land owner because less surface drilling space is used, smaller holes mean generating less waste, less noise and extended reach wells are kinder to the eco-system.
While there is still a lot of flexibility regarding the definition of an extended reach well, the most commonly accepted term is that the horizontal depth must be twice the length of the vertical depth (2:1). Another acceptable definition is a well that exceeds 4500 feet in length. An extended reach well c
Gallatin Natural Resources, LLC
5646 Milton Street, Suite 401
Dallas, TX 75206


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Stephanie from Late Night Quilter and The Quilter's Planner is back this week with her first free motion quilting video geared specifically toward using a longarm. To watch her free motion quilting videos, simply visit the 2017 Free Motion Quilting Designs page or click on the image above to watch the latest video on Elegant Loops on the Longarm.
Did you catch the post Debbie from A Quilter's Table shared about the Sewing Machine LED Lighting Kit she purchased and used to upgrade the lighting on her Juki?
I did and have already upgraded the lighting on my Juki as well (images above taken with the same camera settings to show the amazing difference the LED lights make to my sewing space).
View this post on Instagram
Day 27 of #qpbestyearever2017 with @thequiltersplanner: Your Machine ✨ Oh my goodness, I 💖 love 💖 my new Juki TL-2200VP Mini. I received her in November, and with @grannymaudsgirl's help, she has been named Yuki (Yuki is Japanese for snow). #YukiTheJuki ✨ I am still working to find that sweet 1/4 inch seam allowance, which is an issue Juki's are known to have, but that is solvable and I am closing in. The only other other thing I wanted to work on was the dim lighting (upper left). I saw Debbie @aquilterstable's post this week about the Sewing Machine LED Kit. I ordered it from @amazon, and my husband and I just installed it moments ago. The difference is amazing! ✨ TIP: Instead of clipping the LED strip and throwing away more light, we soldered the two pieces together for more LED light awesomeness (detail of soldered connection at the bottom). #TipsAndTutorialsTuesday
I also want to point out that when you install the LED lights, you can opt to solder connect the extra strip of LED lights to the end of the first strip to get even more light (see the bottom image above for detail on the solder and wiring connection).
I am looking forward to seeing what Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials you have to share this week!


text: For people still reeling from the impact of Superstorm Sandy, the Red Cross has set up a food distribution center in the parking lot at 210 Center Drive in Riverhead. Volunteers are welcome at the site, which is open today from 11 a.m to 7 p.m., to help hand out food. Check the Red Cross website for information on additional hours, which will be announced as needed.


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Jazz Party
Michael Amsler
Gone fishin': Tom Waits, left, and John Lurie fish and cut bait.
New CDs by John Lurie, Duke Ellington
By Greg Cahill
John Lurie
Fishing with John (Strange & Beautiful Music)
The Lounge Lizards
Queen of All Ears (Strange & Beautiful Music)
IT SEEMS LIKE a simple concept. Independent film star (Stranger Than Paradise, The Last Temptation of Christ) and multi-instrumentalist John Lurie snares a few friends--including Petaluma resident Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, Jim Jarmusch, and Willem Dafoe (Waits gets to travel to sunny Jamaica; Dafoe freezes his butt on an icy Maine lake)--for a series of tandem fishing expeditions in exotic locales for the Independent Film Channel program Fishing with John (the episodes repeat this fall on the Bravo! cable channel).
There just one catch: Lurie doesn't know Jack about fishing. Funny stuff. And the best part is that Lurie--the driving force behind the Lounge Lizards avant-jazz ensemble--has spun off a loopy musical score to accompany this loopy bit of conceptual TV. Loopy, that is, but not without interest, as in "Canoe," a track that accompanies Waits in Jamaica (Lurie on harmonica, Brazilian percussion master Nana Vasconcelos on drums). Or "The Beast," featuring the John Lurie National Orchestra with Medeski, Martin, and Wood drummer Billy Martin.
Meanwhile, Queen of All Ears carries on in the hip downtown New York vein that leans heavily on feeling rather than structure. Featuring Lurie on alto and soprano saxes, these offbeat tracks lope through sometimes Afro-Cubanesque, often funkified terrain that is at its best when it strays into such minimalist dreamscapes as "Scary Children."
Duke Ellington
Jazz Party in Stereo (Mobile Fidelity/Sony)
Count Basie
Live at the Sands ... Before Frank (Reprise)
THIS NEWLY reissued classic 1959 Ellington recording gets the 24k gold treatment from Sebastopol-based audiophile company Mobile Fidelity. Released after the Duke's mid-'50s resurgence, the super-cool Jazz Party boasts a swingin' rendition of Billy Strayhorn's "U.M.M.G." and features trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, reedmen Johnny Hodges and Paul Gonsalves, vocalist Jimmy Rushing, and pianist Jimmy Jones. This is pure Ellingtonia--exotic orchestral jazz rife with dynamic, bluesy arrangements and bristling with stunning solos. One of Ellington's finest-sounding live dates just got better.
Kansas City big-band legend Count Basie has been largely overlooked in the trendy swing revival. This unexpected previously unreleased 1966 date-- which gratuitously caps on the Sinatra mystique-- captures Basie in Vegas and helps to set the record straight on one of the genre's greats. And what a band! Big, brassy, and bold--Basie at his best.
[ | MetroActive Central | ]
From the August 20-26, 1998 issue of the Sonoma County Independent.
© Metro Publishing Inc.


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The Hangover was the biggest comedy of the year, and it's coming out on DVD. We can only imagine what the Mike Tyson bloopers reel looks like.
Assuming there is one, you won't have to imagine what it will look like -- we're hoping for a Christian Bale freak-out, with the crew moving away very quickly -- because you can win one all for yourself.
Or for someone on your Christmas list, if you're cheap.
How? Just send your best hangover story, starring you or a buddy, to firstname.lastname@example.com, or leave it in the comments. Best three get the prize, determined by utterly subjective criteria based on how funny/gross/awful the stories are. No one will see your name publicly, so confess away.
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Engaging with our readers is essential to the mission of the Houston Press. Make a financial contribution or sign up for a newsletter, and help us keep telling Houston's stories with no paywalls.


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A couple weeks back, McFarlane Toys announced it would be producing a line of action figures for Bungie's upcoming Halo: Reach. Nothing too surprising there, as most of us with any kind of flat open surface can attest -- you have lots of Halo toys already, right? Well, we hope you're ready to at least look at some more, because that's what this post is about!
Kotaku attended this year's Toy Fair show in NYC today, where the preliminary packaging and prototype images for the toys were presented. The original announcement for the figures only detailed that we could all expect Halo: Reach stuff from McFarlane this year and well into 2011, but it would appear the initial run is being limited to Noble team (the Spartans the game revolves around) and at least one Ghost-riding Grunt. Hit up Kotaku for the images.


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This recap doesn't include the additional funding for community healthcare centers as we haven't seen estimates of the cost anywhere. It also omits some $100B in "offsets," which Mr. Bogle says are primarily accounting gimmicks versus real revenue increases.
In addition to identifiable effects on deficits for the fiscal years in question, the BPBA inflates the baseline for future spending requests. Lessons of a bipartisan budget blowout: a short-term political victory at a long-term spending price, Wall Street Journal, 2/9/18.
[The deal] included more than $130 billion in domestic accounts over two years as the price of more money for defense. The dollars for community health centers, child [health]care and more will be baked into the budget baseline. That means anyone who proposes returning even to current high spending levels will be accused of "draconian cuts."
No wonder fiscal conservatives decried the deal as an abandonment of the Republican Party's advocacy of fiscal responsibility while it was in the minority. Republicans repeal the Tea Party, Philip Klein, Washington Examiner, 2/8/18.
When Republicans, given power, are consistently growing government and adding to the debt, it's time to stop saying they're abandoning limited government principles. The reality is, they do not actually have any limited government principles. Their priorities are lower taxes and higher military spending, and they are willing to accede to growth in entitlements and other government programs if that is what it takes to secure their first two goals. This is shortsighted, of course, because their failure to grapple with reality inevitably means the nation will one day face both higher taxes and severe military cuts. If the Tea Party, for all the disruption it caused, couldn't change this dynamic, nothing ever will.
We generally agree with these sentiments, but defense spending has been cut irresponsibly in recent years and increases are probably needed now. Cut defense spending with care, 1/23/12; Postelection update: Defense spending, 12/15/14.
The president's budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 (BP-18) called for significantly increased defense spending, but proposed substantial cutbacks in other areas. What's more, proposed cuts in discretionary spending and welfare programs were spelled out in a Major Savings and Reforms (MSR) volume as opposed to the usual practice of leaving most of the details to one's imagination. Pluses and minuses: assessing the president's budget proposal, 6/5/17.
Although defense spending would be boosted overall, the budget proposal references Pentagon estimates of about 20% "excess infrastructure capacity" and proposes another round of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process in 2021. MSR 31.
Other noteworthy proposals include eliminating agricultural subsidies for farmers with Adjusted Gross Incomes of over $500K (MSR 132); selling half of the strategic petroleum reserve (MSR 144); authorizing the USPS to stop Saturday mail deliveries (MSR 168); and restructuring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (MSR 169).
#DEBT LIMIT - After being restarted in December, the debt limit has now been suspended again until March 1, 2019 (safely after the mid-term elections). This is just as well, in our view, as the debt limit has been reduced to a meaningless formality. Fixing the fiscal problem: work on what matters, 6/26/17.
Some fiscal conservatives take comfort in having a debt limit, however, and ideas have been proposed for making this device more workable. If Congress is going to raise the debt ceiling again, it should finally fix it, Robert Romano, netrightdaily.com, 2/8/18.
Debt prioritization should be included with any new increase of the debt ceiling. It would guarantee that when the debt ceiling is reached, and extraordinary measures by the U.S. Treasury to maintain it have run out, that interest payments on the debt would be paid first out of existing revenue. After that, things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the military and veterans' benefits would be prioritized. And so forth. This would guarantee by law that there could never be a default, because existing revenue will always go to servicing the debt first.
#TAX PREFERENCES - In our view, the tax bill that Republicans succeeded in getting across the finish line last December didn't qualify as true "tax reform." Witness the reluctance, for example, to eliminate corporate tax preferences like the wind production tax credit in conjunction with passage of the corporate tax rate cut. Assessing Republican tax plan, 11/13/17.
SAFE [suggested a comparable corporate tax rate reduction] in 2010, but we also proposed the elimination of all corporate tax preferences except foreign tax credit, which would help to offset the lower rates and eliminate distortions in the operation of the US economy. Both the House and Senate bills would prune some corporate tax preferences, but many preferences would survive.
In hindsight, we underestimated the influence of corporate lobbyists. With no explanation or apparent justification, dozens of expired or expiring tax preferences were "extended" by the BPBA. The Senate's ugly budget deal would trample on the success of tax reform, Adam Michel, dailysignal.com, 2/8/18.
The extenders are largely a subsidy package for the energy industry. Two-thirds of the provisions are energy related. The current proposal would extend special credits to solar lighting systems, fuel cells, geothermal heat pumps, and small wind power, among others. Also included in the list of things Congress wants to use your money to subsidize: biofuel, rum producers, private railroads, and nuclear power.
Consider the "we should get it too" comment of one beneficiary. FuelCell Energy applauds reinstatement [through 2022] of a fuel cell investment tax credit, Nasdaq, 2/9/18.
Fuel cells were previously left out of the 2015 tax credit extension for wind and solar. Extending and expanding these incentives for alternative technologies such as fuel cells not only creates jobs, but also aids in encouraging innovation and driving down carbon emissions. The impact of this tax incentive on the energy market accelerates the adoption of American manufactured, clean, efficient and renewable power generation.
#HEALTHCARE - Division E, Health and Human Services Extenders, aka the "Advancing Chronic Care, Extenders, and Social Services (ACCESS) Act" constitutes nearly half of the BPBA. Several of the subjects covered by the ACCESS Act have already been mentioned, such as renewal of CHIP and increased funding of community healthcare centers.
Another notable point is repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which was authorized by the Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office reportedly estimated that this change would increase projected deficits by $17.4B over the next 10 years, although how they would know this when the IPAB was never set up is something of a mystery. Ending Obama's cost-cutting panel would cost $17 billion, Robert King, Washington Examiner, 2/8/18.
. . . Republicans and even some Democrats have long hated the panel because it cedes congressional authority over Medicare spending to an outside group. The CBO analysis does not go into detail over why repealing the panel would cost the federal government so much money.
There were also numerous changes in the ground rules for Medicare, etc. benefits. Today's massive budget deal makes big Medicare changes, Howard Gleckman, Forbes, 2/9/18. Query: why were such changes buried in a "must pass" budget deal that was drafted behind closed doors and published about 24 hours before the deadline?
Re eliminating the "donut hole" for Medicare drug reimbursements, for example, it's been suggested that the true beneficiaries were insurance companies. Senate budget bill helps insurers at expense of sick seniors, Sally Pipes, Washington Examiner, 2/8/18.
#SPENDING AUTHORITY - Congress still needs to prepare and pass the omnibus appropriation bill for Fiscal Year 2018 (and maybe 2019, we're not clear about that) by March 23. Interim funding was authorized by a continuing resolution included in the BPBA.
#BUDGET PROCESS - There has been a fair amount of criticism of late, from both sides of the aisle, about the congressional budget process being broken, etc. The BPBA responds by providing for the appointment of a Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform to study the matter and recommend remedial legislation. (We'll refer to this committee as the "BP Committee" as there will also be a joint select committee to study a possible taxpayer bailout of multi-employer pension plans).
C. Path forward - Two things relating to the foregoing will happen this week.
FIRST, the Senate will take up proposals for a DACA deal in accordance with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell's promise of an open discussion and amendment process. The DACA deadline is March 5, which should allow plenty of time if the principals want to reach a deal (time will tell about that). With the debt limit suspended, there is no procedural obstacle to considering funding for the "wall" that the president says he will insist on, and including whatever amounts might be agreed to in the omnibus appropriations bill that is being prepared.
SECOND, the president's budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 will be submitted to Congress today (Feb. 12). Given that a deal on spending levels for the year has already been made, the importance of this document is somewhat unclear. It will give the president an opportunity to comment on administration initiatives and/or the fiscal situation, however, as well as providing an updated budget projection (reflecting the tax bill and the BPBA). Look for a lot of finger pointing about the eye-popping budget deficits that will be projected, and also claims that the president's economic assumptions are overly optimistic.
Introspection does seem in order about why the budget process has been working so poorly, but it's hard to get enthusiastic about the planned creation of the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform (BP Committee).
One reason for low expectations is the results of a joint select committee appointed to propose at least $2.1 trillion (over 10 years) in deficit reductions and thereby avert the imposition of across the board spending caps (aka the sequester) under the Budget Control Act of 2011. A "Super Committee" is born, 8/15/11.
After meeting some half a dozen times, including several private sessions, this 12-member group deadlocked due to disagreement about whether the goal should be met by spending cuts (favored by Republican members) or by tax increases (favored by Democratic members). See, e.g., Flattering and cajoling the "Super Committee," 11/7/11.
Also, the framework prescribed for the BP committee seems to militate against a successful outcome. Consider the following points, with our comments in contrasting font.
•Goal - "to reform the budget and appropriations process" by "[providing] recommendations and legislative language that will significantly reform the budget and appropriations process."
Unless people start with a shared understanding of the problem, they aren't likely to agree on the solution.
And what if the real problem is not the congressional budget rules per se, but rather the chronic failure of the members of Congress to follow them?
Could it be that the problem can't be solved by legislation, which Congress could ignore or change at its pleasure, but will require constitutional amendments of some sort?
•Composition - 16 members, 4 each to be appointed by the House Speaker (Ryan), the House Minority Leader (Pelosi), the Senate Majority Leader (McConnell), and the Senate Minority Leader (Schumer). One of the members will be designated by Ryan/McConnell as a co-chair; another member will be designated by Pelosi/Schumer as a co-chair.
Experience shows that presidential leadership would be essential to promote effective action on the fiscal problem. Perhaps he should appoint some of the members.
Also, a total of 16 members seems excessive if the goal is to get something done.
•Deadline - BP to vote on its findings, recommendations and legislative language by 11/30/18.
Suppose there was a shift in control of one or both houses of Congress in the mid-term elections. Wouldn't this leave the BP with "lame duck" status, thereby undermining acceptance of its recommendations?
•Voting - The BP committee's report requires the approval of a majority of both (a) the members appointed by Ryan/McConnell, and (b) the members appointed by Pelosi/Schumer.
Given the inherently partisan nature of budget issues, how realistic is it to require more than a simple majority of all BP committee members?
•Legislative action - If the BP committee's report is duly approved, it will be published and sent to the president, vice president, and congressional leaders - presumably for the purpose of being taken up by the House and the Senate. (There is a longwinded provision entitled "consideration of Joint Committee bill in the Senate," which specifies that the filibuster rule and other Senate rules will apply, but no parallel provision for the House.)
One of the fundamental problems with the budget process has been use of the filibuster rule, which has given de facto veto power to the minority party in many cases and given the Senate unwarranted precedence over the House. If consideration of the BP report could be blocked by a filibuster, this problem couldn't be effectively addressed.
So if the BP Committee seems like a nonstarter, what should be done instead? Some ideas will be suggested next week.
#It seems like we all are rushing down the Niagara Falls stream into economic chaos. Very few have noticed, and fewer still understand what is happening. A root cause could be the pervasive use of "fiat money." When I came to this great country, I distinctly recall buying Gulf gasoline, in 1962, for 19.9 cents a gallon. - SAFE member (DE)
#From where I sit, the leadership of both parties are making a "bipartisan" effort to give the uninformed the impression that work is being done. (Read that carefully.) It is my conviction that NOTHING substantial will happen to cure our country's problem until the country embraces TERM LIMITS. All the swamp inhabitants are not Democrats. The weak point in our constitution has allowed the swamp to be inhabited by a self-serving group of professional politicians who will never put the people they are supposed to serve first. Not all, perhaps, but definitely the majority. - SAFE member (DE)
#Time to go nuclear. The Dems certainly would in similar circumstances. - SAFE director


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March 9–June 17, 2018
Honus Wagner and Sports Memorabilia, the next rotation in a Winterthur exhibit series entitled Eye on the Iconic, will feature a famed 1909-11 Honus Wagner T206 baseball card—one of the rarest and most iconic of all sports-related objects. It is widely considered the "holy grail" of baseball cards; another 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card recently set a new world-record price for a baseball card, selling for $3.12 million in 2016. In this Eye on the Iconic exhibit, a prized Wagner card from the New York Public Library will be displayed alongside a "Hans Wagner" cigar box label from the Winterthur Library collection.
Collecting objects, such as sports memorabilia, is a beloved pastime for many. That passion for collecting can result in a museum such as Henry Francis du Pont's Winterthur or in personal albums featuring cards of baseball players, past and present. Regardless of the scale or content, collections tell a story of America—its history, its culture, and its people. The Eye on the Iconic exhibit series features objects that are uniquely positioned to tell those stories.
Join us this spring to view these very special and sought-after objects and images, and experience the connection between the storied history of Honus Wagner trading cards and sports memorabilia collecting over the generations.
Eye on the Iconic previously featured the iconic replica coronation gown of Elizabeth II from Netflix's The Crown.
Image at top: 1909-11 Honus Wagner T206 baseball card, courtesy of the Leopold Morse Goulston Baseball Collection, New York Public Library


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The Forecastle Festival welcomes hometown boys Cory Wayne, Stuart Phelps, Christopher Snow, and Zackary O'Renick of Nerves Junior to the stage this Friday.
The group, which formed in 2009, released their debut album, As Bright As Your Night Light last year. According to the band, the record is, "an expansive, eclectic collection of electronic-laden experimental rock with a hook-heavy edge and dense atmosphere, equally psychedelic and accessible. "
With a loyal local following, it appears that Louisvillians aren't afraid of a little electronic eclecticism in their iPods.
Nerves Junior will perform on the Port Stage (to the right of the entrance gate) at the Forecastle Festival this Friday, July 13th, at 6:30 pm.
Image: Courtesy Nerves Junior


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As exciting game-changers go, the only shows currently surpassing The CW's The Vampire Diaries in their new seasons are Showtime's Sunday blockbusters, the Emmy-winning Homeland (which just won't stop with the jaw-dropping twists) and the back-on-its-game Dexter (finally breaking new ground with Deb's realization of her brother's true identity). After several seasons of treading bloody water with increasingly convoluted plotting that didn't really move the show's core characters forward, Diaries has at last taken the leap in its fourth season (Thursday at 8/7c), turning its leading lady (Nina Dobrev as the tormented Elena) into the most reluctant of vampires, sending shock waves of guilt, anger and worry through the entire Mystic Falls supernatural brain trust.
"I was ready to die. I was supposed to die!" Elena cries upon waking to her new sur-reality, which includes the necessity of feeding to survive. Not an easy prospect for someone of whom it is said her "compassion is her Achilles' heel." This dilemma puts those hovering lovesick Salvatore brothers on yet another collision course over the love of their afterlives. Damon (the indispensable Ian Somerhalder) is, as usual, all petulant frustration and annoyed eye-flashing asides — he's especially amusing next week, as he and eternal worrywart Stefan (Paul Wesley) scrap over how best to supply the new recruit with blood. Stefan is, as ever, Elena's stalwart protector and sympathizing soulmate, guiding her through giddy mood swings while conspiring with witchy Bonnie (Kat Graham) to find a dangerously magical end-run around Elena's unwilling transition to the other side.
Upping the ante as the season kicks into high melodrama: increased pressure on Mystic Falls' various supes — werewolf-vamp hybrids, witches, etc. — and their human collaborators by a violent mob of vengeful Town Council members, who are in such frenzied take-prisoner mode you almost expect them to start waving torches around the village. (Fire does, however, play a part in what happens next.) The first two episodes feel like the rebirth of a recharged series, with Dobrev taking the reins with gusto as she emotes, suffers, hungers and satiates her bloodlust in various surprising ways. Meanwhile, this being The CW, it's not all heartbreak and carnage, as one couple delights in the prospect of "hot, happy vampire sex." Next week, the debate is about whether "grief sex" is healthy or selfish. How can you not embrace a show where a character concedes, regarding Mystic's insanely high body count, "If we stopped having sex every time somebody died in this town, we'd explode." Now the question looms: When are these randy kids ever going to graduate FROM HIGH SCHOOL???
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FROM CULT TO CRUD: One of my fondest early memories on the TV beat was covering the passionate pre-Internet fandom for CBS' late-'80s Friday night cult classic — imagine, a cult classic on CBS — Beauty and the Beast, a romantic fantasy with crime-drama elements (this being CBS, then as now), starring Linda Hamilton as a scrappy D.A. drawn to the furry and forlorn Vincent (Ron Perlman), who lived beneath the streets of Manhattan like a brooding superhero hybrid of Heathcliff and The Lion King. It lasted three seasons (only two with Hamilton), casting a moody and haunting spell that few who succumbed have ever forgot.
For reasons known only to the most craven of TV gods, The CW has decided to desecrate the memory of this unique series with a miscast, misbegotten reboot, also titled Beauty and the Beast (9/8c), though it might as well be called "Barbie and the Buff." Smallville's Kristin Kreuk has all the authority of a Hooters trainee as the new Cat Chandler, a preposterously unconvincing metropolitan police detective still haunted by the murder of her mother some time ago, during which she first glimpsed the mysterious crusader who takes beastly aim at her enemies. Her Vincent has none of the creature-of-legend tragic-poetic aura of Perlman's "beast." As played by woodenly handsome Jay Ryan (who could pass for Thomas Gibson's younger brother), he might as well live among the beautiful denizens of 90210 if not for a noticeable scar on his cheek — and the fact that when he gets riled, he temporarily morphs into a Junior Hulk rage monster.
But "you're not a monster," Cat comforts him, after the forensics on her latest generic murder case turn up Vincent's peculiar "cross-species DNA," the result of genetic super-soldier experimentation during his Afghan War service following 9/11. (Yes, this show even manages to cheapen that tragedy.) Will it surprise you to learn that Vincent's condition is somehow tied to the circumstances of Cat's mother's death? If it does, then maybe the labored and laughable antics of this cult wannabe will somehow satisfy your cravings. (In the pilot's kickiest moment, during a violent fight on a subway platform, blood spatters on the camera lens. What do they think this is, Spartacus?) I suggest anyone with a taste for this sort of story get their hands on the DVDs of the original series' first seasons. The original Beast was a beauty. This one's a bust.


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FRANCE captain Fabien Pelous insists England are still the team to beat even though France are the only side still in Six Nations Grand Slam contention.
The French emerged as title favourites from a weekend of championship upsets following their 29-22 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
France face England in what should still be the championship decider in Paris on March 27.
"Our target was to win our first four games to keep ourselves in contention for when we played England," said Pelous.
"We are still on target and in some ways it does not matter about England's result against Ireland. It will make little difference when we play them.
"What the result showed is that rugby is a beautiful game. It proves that you can say anything and look at all the scenarios before a game, you just cannot tell what the result is going to be on the day.
"But we have to put the result into perspective," he warned. "If we forget about our victory over England in Marseille when it was not their first team, then England have not lost to us for a very long time.
"They are still a great side, they are still the best team in the world and it is going to be very difficult for us. We will have to be at our best."


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In my previous post, I highlighted several of the new features in our latest JMP Clinical release for clinical findings analysis (with a little help from Dr. Seuss). I didn't use one of my favorite quotes from Oh the Places You'll Go; so just to get it out of my system, here you go!
"And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)"
I must say Dr. Seuss lived in an optimistic world. If only we could have such high probability of success in clinical trials! So often, clinical trials end in failure, with safety and efficacy being the top offenders. Worse is when a drug has to be withdrawn from the market due to safety-related issues. The leading cause of withdrawal continues to be drug-induced liver injury (DILI), largely because of the complexity of detection and diagnosis and the rare occurrence (as little as 1/10,000) of such events.
While true DILI is often not observed until post-market, you can (and should) assess safety signals for potential hepatoxicity concerns. Hy Zimmerman has become famous for coining a set of rules (Hy's Law) based on time-relevant liver laboratory measurements tied with the comprehensive patient profile to enable early detection of potentially fatal (10-50% mortality) hepatocellular injury and liver damage (Zimmerman 1978,1999). The Hy's Law Screening process in JMP Clinical has become a state-of-the-art tool just for this purpose, especially with the many new features in our latest release.
The analyses, based heavily on the FDA DILI Guidance and domain experts, highlight the JMP Clinical mantra to flag interesting/potential signals through analytically driven visualization and drill-down into comprehensive patient profiles/narratives and cross-domain safety information.
New tools that enhance the algorithms to flag potential Hy's Law cases include a simplified screening plot of Total Bilirubin and Alanine Aminotransferase (mimicking the FDA eDISH tool), histogram distributions of liver tests and demography, interactive tables that are a standard in medical review, and liver test peaks plotted against Study Day. With new drill-down options to plot exposure-annotated time course profiles and liver laboratory shift plots and tables, it is now easier than ever to apply a standardized workflow to detect potential DILI:
See screenshots below of some of these new features in JMP Clinical 4.1.
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Mike Clayton wrote:
Keep up the good work.
Do you get involved with NIH and FDA metrology and statistical research?
There are many legacy rules that could be improved with better analysis of historical testing.
The industry journals are full of "bad examples."
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The next person to sit in the hotseat sits atop one of the most well known Miniature painting sites in the world; Chern Ann the King of Coolmini.
Tell us a little about yourself
I was an avid miniature collector when I was in school and still love the little metal men. Im also a serial entrepreneur, one of my projects which Im quite proud of is Razer! where we make various gaming peripherals. Im currently working on lots of cool stuff on CoolMiniOrNot full time. Im a lawyer by training but never really developed a taste for other peoples problems.
How did cmon begin?
Dave (the other guy behind CMON) saw an early incarnation of HotOrNot.com and thought itd be cool to have something like that for miniatures. This was sometime in mid-2001. So he bought an off the shelf script, dumped it on the net as is and sure enough it was getting a lot of attention. Some of it was negative though, in the early days of HotOrNot it wasnt really a dating site and was just there to kind of ogle and giggle at peoples pics, so naturally the clone was the same. I looked at the site and then thought itd be cool to add stuff like proper attribution, user accounts, PMs and the like and put up an alternative site. Dave got wind of it and asked me if Id like to join forces on CoolMiniOrNot.com. I said, sure, why not, transferred everything over and started running CoolMiniOrNot.com from October 2001.
Did you ever guess at its popularity being so big?
Well, we had some indication in the early days that there was a hunger for some kind of organized gallery of painted figures, but really I personally had no idea. I basically stuck my head in every few months, made performance tweaks and improvements as well as implementing requested features and if just kinda went from there.
Do you paint or game yourself?
I dont really have time to paint anymore. I used to play a lot of WFB, but my work life involved a lot of computer game playing which occupied a lot of time (not that I complained really).
Do you sometimes feel you created a monster?
Not really; there are lots of sites out there related to the hobby. CMON isnt as big as say, deviantart.com which started around the same time, mainly because it serves a more focused niche
I think.
What do you feel are the biggest positives of Cmon?
Its got a big international audience, with very very active participation from some of the best painters in the field. For those that thrive on competition, CMON is one of the best places to learn. Its easy to find out how well youre doing (say Im painting at a 6 level) and observe what everyone is doing to get 7s. There are several very good painters on that I believe have galleries of their first few paintjobs all the way to their current 8+ scoring figures, which I have to say is just awesome. Weve also been the launching pad for some popular independent lines of miniatures, and that Im also particularly proud of.
Any negatives?
That said, if you dont like a competitive environment, the harshness of a hard, numeric score turns some people off. Sometimes, all you want is the rest of the world to share the joy you have when youve created something cool, not critique it and tell you whats wrong with it. That makes the CMON artists and contributors, including and perhaps especially the beginners such a rare breed whose work they are prepared to let the rest of us enjoy (I admit, I even enjoy the bad paintjobs).
The rating system i s sometimes criticized - how would you defend it?
I wouldnt. It is what it is. I may not agree with some of the scores, but thats the whole point. Everyone understands a 1 to 10 scale, it universally cuts across almost all language and cultural barriers and thats why it works.
As the market leader cmon obviously meets a demand, how do you avoid it getting stale whilst keeping it recognizable?
Well since most of the content is user generated, it should never get stale, there will always be something new to learn. My job I think would be to make the information easily accessible and keep up with new developments on the interface design front that make it easy for the community to connect with each other. We have lots of physical world projects like the annual and Game Forces magazine, as well as manufacturing of miniatures themselves, which also adds a significant dimension to the site that doesnt really exist on pure portals.
Do you have favourite artists?
Not really, although I tend to gravitate towards humorous and/or darker themed pieces.
Cmon now has its own minis - what are the plans for this range long term?
Weve got major news on this front coming up soon.
You have the first cmon convention coming up - can you tell us more about that?
Nothing concrete planned yet, its still early days.
What does the future hold for cmon?
No idea
should be an interesting rest of the year though.
Who would win - The terminator or Predator?
Terminator of course. No sense of fair play?Ouch. Predators are too nice!
Many thanks to Chern for taking the time to answer our questions. If you havent checked out coolmini yet then make sure you do www.coolminiornot.com
Interview with Chern Ann Ng7 Comments
ScottRadom - 06-07-2010, 12:06 PM
Very nice! I sure enjoyed reading that. Thanks for taking the time Brett and Chern!
shanerozzell - 06-07-2010, 04:22 PM
Thanks Chern. Looking forward to the up and coming stuff
Wamp Message


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iFretNot is going to Anaheim in March!
Good news for people who love good news! We will be covering the madness at WonderCon and reporting every hot minute of sweaty, stale, jedi.
My lovely photographer Amanda will be with me to capture all the sights, we might even have an audio recorder for sounds, and if futurama has taught us anything it's that smells can be recorded, too. Look for the latter sometime later this century.
We are looking forward to it and extend our thanks to the organizers of the 'Con! It is always good to see the panels, hear the latest about our favorite characters and games and check out the amazing, colorful and usually home-made costumes. I almost made a Halo-style suit of armor once, but I didn't have $100 for supplies and year to make it.
WonderCon (and ComicCon) is a great opportunity to hear talented authors and artists discuss their craft and hear what works for them and what doesn't. Inestimably helpful, you just can't buy this kind of thing.
Well, I guess you can. Buy a ticket.
Anyways, since it is in Anaheim this year instead of San Francisco, I am taking advantage of its proximity to me and am trying to go all three days if possible.


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ASE Certification
As proof that our training courses meet the automotive industry's requirements,
Car‑O‑Liner Academy has been assessed and certified by The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) for compliance with the Continuing Automotive Service Education (CASE) standards.
Training standards developed by the industry and the assessment process are managed by ASE's training foundation – National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). The intensive certification process for complying with ASE's stringent standards makes Car‑O‑Liner Academy one of the leading providers of collision repair and analysis training.
Car-O-Liner Academy is one of only a few select members of the I-CAR Industry Training Alliance. This means that having successfully completed one of our approved courses, students can convert the hours spent on the course into I-CAR Gold Class points.
I-CAR's Industry Training Alliance programme gives companies and individuals an alternative method of collecting I-CAR Gold Class points, becoming I-CAR Gold Class Professionals and participating in Platinum Individual Programs. The programme is designed to give recognition to technicians and motor vehicle examiners who have already completed other I-CAR approved courses and certificates.


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George Washington Bridge lane closures
Sponsored By
Wisniewski: Phone Logs Cast Doubt On Christie Aides' George Washington Bridge StoryThe logs do not detail what was discussed between then-Port Authority Chairman David Samson and others.
Gov. Christie Gets Extension In GWB Lane Closures LawsuitsChristie was among several defendants who were initially scheduled to respond to the lawsuits by Friday.
Fort Lee 911 Tapes Detail Gridlock During GWB Lane ClosuresFor four days in September, traffic jams ostensibly orchestrated for political purposes clogged streets and trapped motorists in their cars for hours.
Feds Subpoena Christie's Re-Election Campaign, GOP Committee Over 'Bridgegate'The subpoenas will force Christie's political arm to turn over such things as: emails, texts, phone messages, and records dealing with the decision to close access lanes from Fort Lee to the bridge in September – if they indeed exist.
N.J. Lawmakers Approve Of Christie Address, But Are Watching Probe CloselyWith a special legislative committee probing the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, lawmakers were closely listening to Gov. Chris Christie's State of the State speech on Tuesday.
Lead Engineer: GWB Traffic Nightmare Could Happen Again And AgainThere were epic traffic delays, yet again, Monday night, because of emergency repair work at the George Washington Bridge. And then on Tuesday the head engineer said we haven't seen the end of this.
Exec Wrapped Up In George Washington Bridge Scandal Buys Domains With Public Officials' NamesWhy is the Port Authority official who allegedly ordered the closures of local-access lanes to the George Washington Bridge buying up Internet domain address that use the names of public officials?
Gov. Christie Put On The Defensive Over GWB 'Traffic Study' ScandalA state Assembly panel has been holding hearings into the closing that took place leading to the GWB in September. Baroni said they were closed for a traffic study.


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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 at 4:44 pm and is filed under drink, events, firkin, food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Open daily, 4pm - 2am, Kitchen 4pm - 1am
Brunch Saturday and Sunday, 11am - 3pm


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Animal Nutrition
Colleges › College Majors › Animal Nutrition
A program that focuses on the biology and chemistry of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, water, vitamins, and feed additives as related to animal health and the production of improved animal products. Includes instruction in nutrition science, animal health and physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, animal husbandry, and food science.
1 School with Animal Nutrition Major
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus IN Stillwater, OK


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By my previous post you know that I have plenty of free time. So I thought of using this time for good. Using this time to explore some places where I haven't been and always wanted to go. I chose to visit Bangalore, The IT city. Since I am much interested in that field and […]
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text: The video for Midlake's "The Old & The Young" matches the band's pastoral-psych sound and was shot on the English-countryside childhood home of director Oliver Murray. The video follows the transformation of a cranky, old recluse into a joyful, young dancer — all because of the power of music! The Texas band released their fourth album, Antiphon, last fall, their first since guitarist Eric Pulido took over vocal duties. Check out our interview with Pulido about the band's transition following their frontman's departure and watch the video below


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Those of you been at the Largo public library lately have seen that the reorganization of the genealogy center that I talked about a couple months ago is well underway.
>Old cabinets have been moved and remaining cabinets have been consolidated. This has created room for new shelving thus allowing us to spread the collection out to provide needed room for books. We had several linear feet of new books that we could just not put on the shelves because of lack of room. We now have that room.
>The computers had been reconfigured so that the screens are more easily seen by the volunteer on duty. This make it easier for that person to see if somebody is in need of assistance.
>The walled office area has been removed (also making room for those new shelves), and the volunteer desk area is being made into a complete square with room to assist patrons as well as to do administrative work in supportive of the collection.
>Some of the new shelves that had been put up are specifically designed to hold magazines. This allows us to display journals in an appropriate manner... something we haven't been able to do for almost a year.
Those are just some of the major changes that you will notice when you next come to the genealogy center. There is still work being done, so expect a bit of mess in some areas, but that should go away in the (near) future.
Periodically, we are conducting tours of the center, so if you have not been to the center lately and would like to quickly become reoriented, join a tour. The tours will be listed in the class schedule. If there is no tour and you happen to be at the center and would like one, just ask the person at the desk. If I'm around, flag me down and I'll be happy to show the place off.


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Founded in 2016. by a design duo — Luka Perić and Ivan Bjelajac. Together we have over 12 years of experience in helping people, startups and companies achieve their goals. By applying an honest design process to your ideas and problems, we help innovate and form high quality digital products.
We're located in downtown Zagreb, Croatia, surrounded by a lot of parks which makes our two dogs Uma and Lenka very happy. A relaxed and focused atmosphere is what we strive for.
This will guide us when making crucial decisions.
This means answering hard questions and committing.
We can develop a new brand or use an existing one.
Our two dogs named Uma and Lenka.
The dream car, a blue Subaru Impreza WRX STi.


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Best Eyebrow Makeup Products - Tips and Uses
Aug 01, 2016 - Zubaida -
Eye brows have always been really important and no matter what sort of eye brows you are born with you can groom, draw or pluck them to your linking. Not long before i was only known to eye brow pencils which was used by our elderly ladies to draw a really unnatural hard lines to make eye brows prominent. Thanks to fast growing makeup industry now there are different brow products available for different kind of eye brows and you can do your eye brow makeup in more natural way. Today i will be talking about the most famous products used for eye brow makeup and for what kind of eye brows they are used for.
Eye Brow Pencil
Brow pencils like Essence eye brow designer are perfect to shape and define the eye brows which are naturally thick and need correction. It can be used to define arch, extend the brow tail or if you want a bit of change in eye brow shape when it is over plucked or have bald patch.
How to use: Apply short strokes with light hand upwards and out wards moving along the brow length. Now blend and soften these strokes with attached or spooly brush to give natural look.
Sigma eye brow powder which are perfect to add dimension. Light shade is used to apply on all over the brow area and then dark shades can be used to spot fill for bare area or to give more depth and volume near arch areas.
How to use: With angled brush create outline of eye brows using powder and fill inside with light strokes and blend thoroughly. Use the shade matching your hair and for hues choose a shade lighter.
How to use: Apply the gel upward and outward in small strokes focusing on hairs then skin. Once it dries blend the hairs with spooly brush to give soft natural look. Tinted brow gel can also be used to change you brow hair color. Whether you want to darken your brows or lighten a shade choose the shade according to your desire.
How to use: With stiff angled brush outline the eye brows from top and bottom. If you have gaps then with small strokes fill them. Now with spooly brush blend them quickly before it dries. If you are using clear wax apply it with spooly brush without disturbing the product beneath it. Do not apply too much of product to avoid unflattering matting.
What is your favorite eye brow product?
Tags: Eyebrow Essence Eyebrow pencil Sigma Beauty Eyebrow Powder Eyebrow Gel Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyebrow Pomade Brow Wax


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View Location Map
A small township on the Lyell Highway, Derwent Bridge is the usual halting place for motorists travelling to or from the west coast.
Situated close to the geographic centre of Tasmania, and at the southern end of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, the town is named for the bridge which spans the Derwent closest to its source.
A lodge style hotel featuring Tasmanian timbers and enormous brick fire-places is a popular stopping place. Accommodation is available at the hotel and at Derwent Bridge Chalets & Studios. There is excellent trout fishing in nearby lakes and streams.
'The Wall' in the Wilderness is one of Australia's most ambitious art projects to be. It is expected to take 10 years to complete and will eventually consist of 100 sculpted panels each three metres high and one metre wide.


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Choose Your Direction — with Our Help
Implementing solid business processes when deploying fleet management solutions is key. Omnitracs' Strategic Services offers the highest level of support to maximize productivity, safety, compliance, and savings by giving you inside, expert advice on best practices. Seasoned consultants will assess, implement, and optimize your usage of Omnitracs products to lead you toward your business goals.
Benefits of Strategic Services
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Every government has the power to acquire private land for public use. This power is known as the eminent domain and is accompanied with an obligation on the government to pay just and prompt compensation for the acquisition of that private land. This is the power that the government exercised to acquire land for construction of the Standard Gauge Railway. This power is derived first from Article 40 (3) and Article 40 (4) of the Constitution. The procedures are then set out in detail in other laws.
Every government also has the power to regulate how owners utilise and manage their private land. Every government has a duty to exercise this power to secure the interest of the public.
Therefore, a government has no moral or legal obligation to pay compensation when it stops an owner from using land in a manner that may cause present or future harm to the public. This power is aptly named police power.
Police power is granted to the government by Article 40 (4), Article 40 (6), Article 61 (1), Article 62 (1) (i), Article 66 and Article 69 of the Constitution. It is this police power that government agencies are exercising to demolish constructions on riparian land.
Principles involved
Read More
- 1 Ex-KPA manager fights claims of being sacked
- 2 Locals derail work on the new Mai Mahiu railway line, again
- 3 Our hands were tied regarding SGR tender, says Kenya Railways
- 4 Demand for SGR cargo haulage service rises
For some, this may seem a bitter pill to swallow. How can an action that was lawful in the past, be unlawful in the present? To understand the complexities and intricacies of the legal principles involved, the ongoing land reform in South Africa is a good starting point.
South Africa gained independence from apartheid rule in 1994. In the period of transition from apartheid rule to independence, South Africa put in place one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world, rivaled perhaps only by Kenya's of 2010.
However, despite its progressive Constitution, its large body of independence laws, and a robust independent constitutional court, South Africa is bedeviled by land inequality, poverty, crime, inequality between its multi-racial population, and inequality between the rich and the poor.
An audit undertaken by the government of South Africa of private land ownership revealed that whites own 72 per cent of farmland and agricultural holdings. Coloreds own 15 per cent.
Indians own 5 per cent. Blacks own 4 per cent. Others own 3 per cent. Only 1 per cent is co-owned. Until the government led by President Cyril Ramaphosa decided to take corrective action, the Constitution and the laws of South Africa proved incapable of resolving these fundamental societal injustices. By confronting a Constitution and laws that sustain an unjust status quo, South Africa is about to experience the birth pangs and side effects of a "peaceful" revolution.
It is beyond debate that in Kenya water is a scarce resource. With a fast dwindling forest cover, and shriveling water resources, the majority of our land is arid and semi-arid.
Tap water is a preserve of urban areas, cities and towns. In such urban areas, cities and town, only an insignificant percentage of the population has access to regular and clean tap water.
It should be beyond debate that the conservation and protection of forests, rivers and riparian land remains a government policy priority. Any law in Kenya that says otherwise, or protects a contrary situation, is unjust as it sustains a status quo that is and will continue to be harmful to the public.
Margaret Mead once wrote that "never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Our forests, rivers, wildlife, national parks, public grounds, hospital and school grounds, riparian and other land, and so on, should be reclaimed and preserved for the prosperity of our past, present and future. President Kenyatta and his compatriot President Cyril Ramaphosa today stand on the correct side of history.
-The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. [email protected]


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Vaccines 'safe' for pregnant women
It is safe for pregnant women to use any licensed swine flu vaccine, whether it contains a "booster" substance known as an "adjuvant" or not, the World Health Organisation said today.
The WHO's advisory panel on immunisation said while there had been a "few worrisome reactions" to the vaccine, the safety of the medicines were proving similar to the normal seasonal flu vaccines.
"Some adverse events following vaccination have been notified, but they are well within the range of those seen with seasonal vaccines, which have an excellent safety profile," the panel said.
Women in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy make up as many as 10 per cent of all patients hospitalised with swine flu.
The WHO panel said one swine flu vaccine dose is enough to protect adults and older children against contracting the H1NI virus.
Adults, pregnant women and kids older than age 10 are protected against the new virus after one shot, it said.
For younger children, one dose should be given to as many as possible while studies assess whether that is enough to protect against the disease, the panel said.
The recommendation comes after conflicting reports on how many shots people should get. Initial results of tests on pandemic vaccines produced by companies including Sanofi-Aventis SA suggested one inoculation protects most adults.
Swine flu, or H1N1, has infected more than 440,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,700, according to the WHO.
The US and Australia have begun a mass immunisation program based on a single-dose regimen. However, several countries in the European Union remain unconvinced and have called for two shots.
The two licensed vaccines in the Republic, Pandemrix and Celvapan, stipulate that two doses three weeks apart should be given.
However, the health authorities hope that further research on the vaccines will prove that sufficient immunity may be acquired from a single dose, and that people will eventually only need only one jab but this has not yet been confirmed.
Rates of infection in the Republic have increased substantially in the past week to 210 cases per 100,000 of the population. The increase in the rate of infection comes as the HSE announced plans to import one million doses of the flu vaccine into the country by Christmas.
An additional 109 people were hospitalised in the past week and 14 were admitted to intensive care.
A total of 109 remain in hospital and 23 continue to be treated in intensive care. Ten people have died in Ireland to date, all of whom had an underlying medical condition.
Additional reporting: Reuters/Bloomberg


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We're flying back to Rome furiends! We decided to stop at a lovely anchorage last night and get some rest because the seas were quite big and we fancied a nice relaxing dinner on anchor. This morning we set off again and we've got our sails set in a wing on wing configuration, so we're literally flying back to Rome!
We're just passing one of our favourite islands, Ponza, and we should be arriving in our home port of Rome around 2/3am. I've spent most of the trip back from Greece in the bathroom cupboard because I love to wedge myself in there. However, from time to time I do come out into the cockpit to ensure my crew are following their instructions and to get some well deserved ear rubs.
I'm looking forward to being back and seeing all of my furiends but I'm also sad our Greek adventure will be over. We've got lots of new adventures planned already though AND I've still lots and lots to tell you about the summer. I know lots of you are itching to know how we got rid of the dreaded diesel bug too, which I'll be covering in detail very soon.
Bisous, Bailey


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Fourth graders in Mrs. Ayer's class at Golden Elementary School recently showcased their knowledge of geology by creating an interactive virtual museum through Google Slides. After their lessons, students added pictures and research to the various rooms linked to the lobby in order to teach others about what they had learned.
For the project, students conducted their own research along with adding images and videos. Each week, students were very eager to add new concepts they had learned to present to their class and families.