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Are you thinking of a bathroom remodel? You can upgrade the look of your bathroom by adding a bathtub. Bathtubs not only give you a relaxing feel but they also change the look of your bathroom. A bathtub is more than a place to wash. It is the best place where you can relax, meditate and get a truly personal experience. There are different types of tubs available on the market. You can choose the one that suits your style. But, there are a few things that you should keep in mind while you choose a bathtub.
Some bathtubs are all about function. You can clean yourself, the kids or your dog. To choose a bathtub, you will have to check on how much space you have for it, what you plan to use it for, and what are your personal style preferences. Let the primary use dictate your selection as you determine what works best for your household.
Standard Tubs
These tubs come at the lowest cost and most of the new home builders favor this type as they are easy to install. This is a basic tub that is available in alcove installation and it can be doubled as a tub-shower combo. Standard tubs are available easily and can be purchased from your local home improvement center.
Bubble Tubs
If you use the bathtub to relax, a bubble tub or a soaking tub is the best choice for you. A bubble tub has tiny holes in its lower parts that force soothing, steady stream of air into the water. To keep the bubble tub functioning efficiently, you will need regular cleaning and maintenance of the tub.
Soaking Tub
A soaking tub does not have any bubbles. It is a simple, nice, deep tub that is made for long, relaxing soaks after a tiring day at work. Soaking tubs can be a good choice to accommodate more than one person in the tub. These tubs are large in size. They are often accommodated in the corners of your bathroom. If you have a large bathroom area, you should think about having a soaking tub.
Jetted Tubs
You can get a nice therapeutic massage at home with the jetted bathtubs. It forces water through strategically placed jets. The jetted tubs are more expensive than bubble tubs. You can go for this only if you can afford the maintenance costs. Also, oils can cause a problem to your jetted tubs. So, even if jetted tubs are the most lavish ones, you should not consider them as you have many other better options.
Another important thing to note while you choose a bathtub from among the different types of tubs is its water capacity. Also, style is an issue with any bathroom remodeling project, and choosing a stylish tub is necessary. Choose a bathtub that blends with the style of your bathroom. A bathtub can be the center piece of your bathroom. Make sure to choose the right tub and get your bathroom remodeling done right.


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Thank you, Mary, for having visited Mexico so many years ago. Because of that visit you are the Patroness of the Americas,
and we give you the title Our Lady of Guadalupe.
I know that the messages you gave Saint Juan Diego are also for all of us, your children.
Help me not to be sad or disturbed by anything.
Help me not to be afraid, even when bad things happen.
You have told us that you are our Mother.
You have promised that you will protect us.
I know that you always pray to God for us.
Saint Juan, I want to love Jesus and Mary as you did.
Ask God to make my faith strong.
Help me to imitate you.
I want to be always ready to do what God wants.
Pray for me, Saint Juan. Amen.
Copyright © 2002, Daughters of St. Paul

subset: commoncrawl


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PPE Agency
Beschrijving foto:
07-04-2018 Spain Queen Letizia and Queen Sofia pose for the photographers during his visit to Moraleja Hospital in Madrid.
Spain's King Juan Carlos has been operated to replace the prosthesis of his right knee.
No Spain
© PPE/Thorton
Afmetingen: 4252 x 2830 (pixels)
Bestandsgrootte: 828.0 KB
© PPE Agency
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Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition Processor Review
Low Res Gaming: Crysis and ET: Quake Wars
For our next set of tests, we moved on to some in-game benchmarking with Crysis and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars When testing processors with these game engines, we drop the resolution to 800x600, and reduce all of the in-game graphical options to their minimum values to isolate CPU and memory performance as much as possible. However, the in-game effects, which control the level of detail for the game's physics engines and particle systems, are left at their maximum values, since these actually do place some load on the CPU rather than GPU.
Our low-resolution Crysis and ET: Quake Wars benchmarks scale proportionately once again as expected, though the spread is a bit different, depending on which game engine you look at. In Crysis, a notoriously piggish game engine that requires both a beefy CPU and a high-end GPU to run well, the gain observed for the Core i7 975 over the Core i7 965 is less prominent at about 4%. On the other hand, Id's game engines in general are coded more efficiently and run more efficiently on a wider range of machines, with higher levels of processor cache and memory bandwidth historically offering better numbers in this type of test. Here the Core i7 975 leads the next fastest CPU by about 14%.


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LOS ANGELES — Pop quiz: Why has John Cusack jumped into the political arena with a pair of videos saying John McCain is a war-profiteering clone of President George W. Bush?
"I know my opinion doesn't matter more than anyone else's and I just make films," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday. "But I do feel you have to speak out, and that's what I'm doing."
The 30-second videos, which went out to members of the liberal political activist group MoveOn.org on Wednesday, will begin airing as television ads Thursday. In one, Cusack offers a "pop quiz" to voters, asking them among other things: "Who supports keeping our troops in harm's way in Iraq but not the bipartisan G.I. bill of rights to support them when they return home?"
McCain and Bush both do, Cusack says, adding, "Bet you can't tell them apart."
Other political news of note
Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
House Speaker John Boehner became animated Tuesday over the proposed Keystone Pipeline, castigating the Obama administration for not having approved the project yet.
- Budget deficits shrinking but set to grow after 2015
- Senate readies another volley on unemployment aid
- Obama faces Syria standstill
- Fluke files to run in California
- Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
In the other, he points out that Charlie Black, a key campaign adviser to presumptive Republican presidential nominee McCain, has been a lobbyist for Blackwater Worldwide, the largest private security contractor in Iraq.
In his latest film, the war satire "War Inc.," Cusack makes no secret that he believes the Iraq war was created to profit private businesses like Blackwater and Bechtel Corp., which hold war-related contracts.
"I'm not going to pretend this thing in Iraq was some kind of free market utopia to spread the gospel of democracy through the Middle East," he told the AP from London, where he's at work on another project.
Cusack says he supports Democrat Barack Obama.
Although he has made such films as "War Inc." and last year's "Grace is Gone," in which he plays the husband of a soldier killed in Iraq, Cusack notes this has been his first high-profile foray into partisan politics.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Lord of the Rings Online (Free to Play) Europe launch!
Turbine's massive Lord of the Rings Online is now accepting sign-ups to the European launch of their new Free to Play. You will most probably need to pay to reach newer areas, advance in certain skills, buy etc. But signing up and enjoying the wonderful world of Tolkien will be free!
Be the first to comment!


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Well, here's something new. Feeding to my renewed zest in garment sewing, I've been delving into the world of indie patterns. Colette might be a name you remember when I attempted their Wardrobe Architect Challenge last year but in addition to running a sewing blog and producing vintage inspired patterns, they also just so happen to run a sewing magazine called Seamwork (cutest name, I know).
Having finally succumbed to my curiosity and signing up for my first subscription last night, I thought I'd share my excitement with any of you who also love crafting.
Seamwork is a monthly digital publication which focuses on all aspects of sewing including techniques, alterations, fabrics and the like. Each month, they also release two easy to sew patterns to their digital library collection which you can redeem for using the two pattern credits you get as part of your subscription fee of $6USD per month. Let's call that just under $10CAD/month since the exchange rate is currently horrid.
Now I wouldn't necessarily call this a magazine fee since anyone can ready any of the articles for free online but it does mean that each pattern works out to be $3USD each instead of the Colette website price of $12USD. All this math sounded pretty good to me!
Seamwork patterns are designed to be easy, approachable, relaxed and customizable, all words which are a win in my dictionary. Having been working through my stash of vintage sewing patterns, I can tell you there are much too many fist shaking moments from complicated instructions to just plain complicated technique so having an arsenal of simple pieces seems particularly appealing. I also like that most of the Seamwork patterns do not require zippers which are my current worse enemy.
So with the first two pattern credits in my account, I quickly went and redeemed one for this gorgeously styled winter cape named Camden. On top of being smitten by the model they used, I'm also smitten by the fact that this is fully lined, has contrasting panel options built into the design (hello – colour blocking).
No collar means this should be less fussy and its pretty much just straight lines all around. Here, it looks like they've used a wool or tweed but I can imagine this potentially in a boulce although I may eventually just do tweed as well.
Now one caveat with Seamwork patterns is that they are all digital which means great for reusuability and accessibility as you can just print off and reprint as you which but it's so time consuming to tape 20-35 pieces of paper together every time you want to make sometime. Sometimes you just want to get going already!
With all that being said, I'm still very excited about these new patterns and hopefully they are as sewing friendly as they sound. I'm tired of wearing the same old couple of jeans and tops some wardrobe basics are definitely in high demand. I'm currently also eyeing Oslo and Bristol so have a peep and let me know what you think!


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- A state of art, world class setup that will run Remote Infrastructure Management(RIM) services out of Puducherry.
- ERC to virtually manage and control the customers' IT operations remotely
- HCL Infosystems becomes the first ICT company to set up a knowledge hub in Puducherry
HCL Infosystems India's premier hardware, services and ICT system integration Company today inaugurated its Enterprise Resource Centre (ERC) in Puducherry. Operating primarily as Managed Service Provider (MSP), HCL Infosystems's ERC would be a part of the Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM). The state-of-the-art HCL Infosystems ERC will be using and deploying various remote support & management tools that will virtually allow ERC to control & manage the customer's entire IT operations off-site. This high tech facility was inaugurated by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Puducherry Thiru. V. Vaithilingam.
Commenting on the occasion Mr. J.V. Ramamurthy, President and COO, HCL Infosystems said, "With a vision to transform HCL Infosystems into a services and solution centric organization, inauguration of ERC at Puducherry, is one such step in the direction. Technologies forremote support & management are rapidly moving forward by leaps and bounds worldwide and it is imperative for a growing organization like ours to capitalize on its reach and offer support that can truly be unique to our customers. The remote support will improve call response time, closure time and thus customers' satisfaction. HCL Infosystems ERC will be using and deploying various remote support & management tools that are expected to deliver efficient and effective services in lieu of on ground support operations of making customer visit for support call."
With the launch of the Enterprise Resource Center, HCL has become the first ICT Company to set up a knowledge hub in Puducherry. This facility spread over 6300 Sq. ft. has deployed world class, high technology managed services and tools for remote access, developed by HCL R&D labs. The facility is manned by highly qualified & experienced technical experts on various platforms and operating environment. Specialised help desks have been set up with 100 DID numbers for call handling. The facility also has a test lab and manufacturing along with in-house R&D making it a unique and reliable support hub.
About HCL Infosystems Ltd.
HCL Infosystems Ltd. with revenue (LTM) of US $ 2.6 billion (Rs. 12,307 crores) in financial year 2009 is one of India's premier hardware, services and ICT system Integration companies offering a wide spectrum of ICT products that includes Computing, Storage, Networking, Security, Telecom, Imaging and Retail. HCL Infosystems Ltd. aims to be a one-stop-shop for all the ICT requirements of an organization. One of India's leading System Integration and Infrastructure management services organizations, HCL Infosystems Ltd. has specialized expertise across verticals including Telecom, BFSI, E-Governance and Power. HCL Infosystems Ltd has one of India's largest distribution and retail networks for ICT products, taking to market a range of Digital Lifestyle products in partnership with leading global ICT brands, including Apple, Cisco, Ericsson, Kingston, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Microsoft, Nokia and Toshiba. HCL Infosystems Ltd. today has one of India's largest vertically integrated computer manufacturing facilities; with over three decades of electronic manufacturing experience, and HCL desktops are among the largest selling brands in the business enterprise space. With one of India's largest ICT services networks that reaches most regions in India, HCL's award winning support services make it a preferred choice of enterprise and consumers alike. For more information please visit us at www.hclinfosystems.in


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Rebel 'With' a Cause: Catching Up with Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho opens up about closeted celebrities and politicians, the lack of Asian American presences in film and television, what it means for her to be a feminist and why President Barack Obama was recently winking at her during a speech at the White House.
Margaret Cho is a rock star. No, literally. For years, her singular brand of performance activism has seared many worlds: stand up comedy, film, television, books, blogs, politics and she has now extended her reach into the realm of music. Her first musical comedy CD Cho Dependent (with collaborators such as Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, and Andrew Bird) drops in stores on August 24 and takes on many familiar Choian topics such as sex, gender and queerness in the iconoclastic way that has become her custom. Cho is another powerful, articulate ally for the queer community, women, women of color, and any and all people who just don't generally fit any kind of predisposed mold. This kind of empathy and allegiance to her audience has justifiably gained Cho an army of devoted, diverse fans, President of the United States Barack Obama chief among them.
When compiling this update to PopMatters' first annual 100 Essential Female and Male Acting Performances, I knew I wanted to include Cho's unique blending of performance styles in her second stand-up feature The Notorious C.H.O. because of the sheer fearlessness of it's star. While not a traditional acting performance by the usual, unimaginative definitions, Cho's work in the film is somewhat of an anomaly: a daring, funny, touching, and incisive call to arms for equal rights featuring an Asian American, the daughter of immigrants, overcoming barriers that would destroy most people (and in fact almost destroyed her), to become the woman at the center of the sharply-drawn action. It is a highly evocative image that Cho conveys, a bawdy message of humanism that doesn't discriminate based on size, age, race, gender, sexuality or belief.
When I saw this film in the theaters back in 2002, I sat gobsmacked in the suburban Detroit theater, rendered wordless at the passion for justice and equality I saw onscreen and the comradery Cho's work inspired in such an oddly diverse audience of young, old, black, white, gay straight, and male, female movie goers and everyone in between. The mismatched crowd laughed their asses off as Cho tackled everything from terrorism to fisting to imitating her famously loved, lovingly-lampooned mother being goaded into riding a camel with the promise of a buffet lunch with equally adept comic precision.
It is very hard to make people laugh, educate and politically arouse them simultaneously, so to accomplish such a synergy and capture it on film is a particularly amazing feat. Cho actually uses the film medium to make change, what a novel idea! This is the kind of acting that redefines what film performance is for me and raises the bar for other comedians who think they should film their live act. Cho's odyssey through and smashing of so many cultural stereotypes and various systems of oppression contains all of the elements I believe a truly great performance should: it is radically political in nature, expressively celebrating many diverse points of view with humor, brains, guts and heart.
For my money, Cho is one of the most radical feminist performers working today and one of the only highly visible public figures brave enough to continue to vocally and justly confront hate in a very public, inspirational way, but also in a hysterically funny and kind way. Her performance in The Notorious C.H.O. is acting, is highly charged politicized performance art, and Cho should not be discounted as simply a racy stand up comedienne when such stylistic elements as voice and gesture are expertly utilized by the actress throughout this complicated, earnest role that only she could play. I called up Ms. Cho in late May for a chat about rock 'n' roll dreams, pressing plans to reconnect with her inner 1970s fag hag and her latest run in with Obama.
I saw you were just sitting in the front row for a Presidential speech at the White House for Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month. That's so exciting! Please dish, how did you land the front row?!
(laughing) Well, I'm such an old groupie, I just know how to get the lead singer's attention. It's something that's in my DNA. Like I'm just programmed that way. Evolution granted me those abilities. I got to the front and it was like, really incredible. Fortunately, that was documented by everybody else because it was an Asian American event, so there was a lot of cameras. However, I did not have one myself. Obama came out and during his speech he winked at me and I was like 'I can't believe the President just winked at me.' I was so blown away and its just really exciting. Kal Penn, who's my good friend who works at the White House, was watching the speech going 'who is he winking at?' Then Obama came down off the podium and he was talking to me and he said he was a big fan and he thought that I was really funny and I was just really moved. I worked on his campaign and so it was a real proud moment when he was elected because it was something I had worked on and I had really been passionate about. During that whole period, I had never gotten to meet him because he was out campaigning. Kal and I were campaigning for him separately, so we never actually hooked up or connected, so it was really rewarding to learn that he was a fan, it was a tremendous gift. I was so honored. It was a really special moment for me.
One of the classic parts of your act is the anecdote about how when you were growing up there were no positive images of Asian women in film and pop culture. How has this changed for the better or worse as you've grown up? What performances did inspire you to act when you were younger?
You know, it's interesting, I don't really know where I got inspiration from. I think probably the thing that maybe made the most impact on me were Richard Pryor's films. They're what inspired me to create that sort of niche for myself, making stand-up comedy films of my shows every year. His films were so inspirational to me, he was a major person that I looked up to, also Eddie Murphy, who had stand up films as well. Raw, which I think is a great, great film and of course Delirious, which is phenomenal. They were inspiring. I think things have changed to some extent. You see a lot more people of color in television and in movies, but its not gone to, like, the lead characters yet. There is a gang of supporting actors who are Asian American, African American; different races, different backgrounds. It still hasn't moved completely forward. There's better visibility. To me it's not ideal but it's better.
Your performance in The Notorious C.H.O. is such a joyous celebration of equal rights. What does the term feminist mean to you?
Thank you, I love that film. Feminism to me is really just a state of being, a state of awareness of what society is doing towards women and talking about equality. I think feminism to me extends not just to my gender but into my work in the LGBT community, my work towards marriage equality, work in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. To me my political life is all feminist, its where it's all rooted. I think its something that's still in need of discussion. You know, people want to talk about how we live in a "post-feminist" or "post-racial" world but I don't think that is true at all. I think there is a lot of sexism but its not as easy to identify and not as easily discussed. Its more about invisibility of women or invisibility of people of color that we need to combat, which is a harder thing to define than outright sexual harassment or discrimination against race. Sexism and racism can get very covert in the modern world and harder to identify but it doesn't mean they're any less present.
It seems like so few artists are willing to express a politically radical side anymore. I mean, even Jane Fonda, who I think is awesome, is like totally PC now. What are the pros and cons to being a really outspoken, opinionated woman of color in the public eye today? How do you think your acting career has been affected by your activism?
Well, its interesting, I think people always assume that I'm mad. I'm not. (laughing) I'm, like, cool with everything and people always assume I'm an angry person. Still, I am critical of certain things. I'm critical of certain stances. Now living in the South -- I live in Atlanta where we film Drop Dead Diva -- I'm very aware of the divides of race and divides of culture and homophobia and sexism. Its a reality and I have to comment on it, I need to talk about it. I don't know how its affected my work as an actor, just because I'm mostly in the realm of stand up comedy, where opinion is valued and it's fine. You can talk about things and you can have a career and still be very progressive.
When you look at people like Bill Maher or Jon Stewart, their careers are built on a certain political, progressive outlook. Even though those guys are progressive, I still have issues with their ideas about certain things. I think being progressive hasn't necessarily hurt me, but it makes me more easy of a target. When the country was seeing more right wing in the earlier of the century, I got a lot of hate mail. A lot of that was directed towards my race or towards my own queerness, because I identify as queer. You really see how homophobic and racist the country is when you're a target of those types of people.


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The British Government Must Do More for UK Torture Victims in the UAE
In recent years, there has been a steady rise of cases in the UAE concerning the arbitrary detention of British citizens. This conversely comes at a time when relations between the UK government and the Emirati regime have never been closer, it was recently announced that the two countries are set to double bilateral trade to up to £25bn by 2020.
The arbitrary detention of British nationals in the UAE is an issue that is often under-reported by the UK media, and largely ignored by the British government, leaving those residing or travelling in the UAE increasingly at risk of ill-treatment at the hands of the Emirati authorities.
Probably the most high profile case in recent years concerning the detention of a British national in the UAE has been that of David Haigh, who was arrested in Dubai in May 2014 after his former employer GFH Capital, an equity firm based in Dubai, accused him of fraud, claims that Haigh has vigorously denied to this day.
The former MD of Leeds United Football Club went on to spend twenty-three months in detention, a period in which Haigh alleges he was subjected to torture by UAE security officials on numerous occasions; this included being beaten, physically assaulted, tasered, and subjected to sensory sleep deprivation, as well as being forced to watch other prisoners being tortured in front of him.
Since his return to the UK in 2016, Haigh has continued to receive medical treatment for the physical injuries he sustained during his detention, as well as psychiatric therapy after being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Despite numerous requests to do so by rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch, the UK government failed to publicly condemn the UAE authorities in relation to the matter, or provide any meaningful and substantive assistance to the British citizen during his detention in Dubai.
The former Leeds United MD has since launched a legal challenge against the Emirati guards that subjected him to torture during his detention. Haigh's lawyer, Tony Cadman conceded that they were relying on "political will from the British and UAE governments" in order for the case to triumph, something that has been sorely lacking in recent times when it comes to dialogue concerning human rights issues.
Another more pressing case, in which the British government have given little sign of intervening in, concerns the imprisonment of Ahmad Zeidan, a British student from Reading detained by the UAE authorities since 2014. The twenty-three year old has been detained in Dubai for four years after being sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges.
Whilst living in Dubai studying at the Emirates Aviation college, in 2013, Ahmad found himself part of a group of people who accepted a ride in a friend's car. The vehicle was subsequently stopped by police who searched it and found 0.04 grams of cocaine. Twenty year old at the time of the arrest, Ahmad claimed he was held in solitary confinement for two days, where he was strip searched, brutally beaten, threatened with rape, and forced into signing a confession written in Arabic, a language he does not understand. The others involved in the incident that evening have since been acquitted or pardoned by Emirati authorities, whilst Zeidan, the only British citizen involved in the incident, has remained in incarceration.
Four years on, Zeidan's family insist that Ahmad has been 'forgotten' by the British Foreign Office, and that as a result of their inaction, he's effectively been left to 'rot in a UAE prison'.
In 2016, Reading West MP, Alok Sharma raised Zeidan's case in Parliament, though in the bilateral meeting that followed, the detained student's father was reportedly told by a Foreign Office case worker that "it was decided that Ahmad's case did not reach the threshold for Her Majesty's Government to support a clemency request".
Human rights charity Reprieve heavily criticised the British government for not formally requesting a pardon, stating that the use of torture, and a forced confession were "more than enough reason for the British government to request his release". Although a Foreign Office spokesman maintains they are assisting Ahmad with his case, his father has claimed this has amounted to no more than a monthly visit to his son from a British embassy representative.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have provided guidance on their website for British prisoners in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It states that anyone who cannot afford a lawyer will have to represent themselves in court unless the charges faced attract the death penalty or life imprisonment.
This was the case when an unnamed British woman was detained in Dubai for having extramarital sex after reporting a rape crime. The family had to set up an online crowdfunding page in order to raise fees needed for her representation. Being denied any form of legal representation due to financial difficulties is in contradiction to various international laws ensuring every person condemned has the right to be legally represented, even for severe crimes.
The charges against the woman were later dropped by the UAE authorities because of intensive worldwide media condemnation, rather than as a result of due process or any meaningful intervention from the British government.
Over the last five years there have been around 1,350 cases of British women being detained in the UAE, a substantial number of which have reported torture and mistreatment at the hands of the Emirati authorities. A freedom of information request to the FCO last year found that the UK Foreign office has intervened in just 28 of those cases, despite maintaining 50 pages of data for each of the prisoners as they monitor their situations.
It is of course not possible for the UK Foreign Office to intervene in all of these cases, there are questions of sovereignty, and the fact that they are unable to directly investigate criminal investigations abroad. Rather, the main issue centres around the fact that, politically, the UK government maintains close diplomatic ties with the UAE despite its flagrant disregard for international human rights law.
In some respects, this silence on behalf of the British government severely puts UK citizens in the UAE at risk. By not issuing stronger public statements of condemnation when British nationals have their basic human rights violated in the UAE, the Emirati authorities are given the green light to do as they please with British citizens within their borders without fear of repercussion from the UK government. It is in this context that the British state risks complicity in whitewashing human rights violations in the UAE.
Soft power, and image management are hugely important factors to the Emirati regime in terms of its geopolitical ambitions and trading relations. The UAE authorities go to great lengths to stress that the country is both open and tolerant, a thriving business hub that is welcoming of foreign nationals wishing to travel, reside or work in an otherwise hostile and often closed region.
These cases demonstrate that there is a divergence between the image that the UAE seeks to project, and the underlying realities on the ground. However, this will not be exposed and the rights of those in the UAE will not improve, as long as the British government and the wider international community remain silent in the face of such routinised injustices.


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THE PILLOW TALK NOVELLAS are three novellas comprising 100,000+ words. The plots of the three novellas are completely unrelated. However, the novellas are thematically linked by several commonalities: all three focus on the psycho sexual dynamics of intensely entangled lovers; all three contain lengthy dialogues that take place in bed (thus the title); all three are set in New York and/or Connecticut, and contain numerous scenes set in Manhattan; all three end in murder; and all three are loaded with dialogue and would translate nicely to film. Follow the links to read the opening of each novella.
The Biographer is the story of a sixty year old retired jewel thief named Sid who hires a beautiful forty year old woman named Callie to write his biography. In bragging about his life of crime she reveals her own criminal past, and they become romantically involved and rob a jewelry store together. He falls in love while she uses sex to coerce the location of his hidden cache of treasure.
The Guns is the story of young newlyweds Lenny and Marilyn who move to New Haven, Connecticut, where Marilyn has been hired as an English professor at Yale University. Lenny is a journalist who aspires to write fiction, and when he is offered a contract to produce a mystery novel and encounters writer's block, he buys a gun for inspiration.
Dear Madam Gilda is set in Brooklyn and Manhattan and tells the story of a professional poker player named Bruno who falls in love with Gilda, the madam of an exclusive New York City 'escort' service.


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In which our Diva remembers
Thirty years ago today, about ten minutes into chemistry class, the phone rang.
Before that moment, I don't think any of us had really noticed that there was a phone in the science room. We all stared, bewildered, as our teacher walked over, picked it up, listened silently for a moment, and put it back down. Then, still without a word, he pulled out the TV cart and turned it on.
I don't remember hearing a word spoken for at least an hour that didn't come from that TV. There might have been an announcement over the PA at some point, but if so I didn't really register it.
It took several minutes to grasp what we were seeing, that somewhere in that enormous plume across the sky -- too big, all wrong -- were the atoms of what had been seven brave, excited people.
He never said, but I can't imagine Mr. Underwood didn't apply for the seat Christa McAuliffe sat in that day. The man who hosted the Science Club at his own house, playing an old 45 of "They're Coming to Take Me Away" at the beginning and end of each meeting, presiding over discussions of when we would next take the Van de Graaff generator over to the elementary school to raise little kids' hair or how one might build a working lightsaber. The one who nominated me for both my Society of Women Engineers awards, even as I was realizing my career path led through all the stories I had to tell.
But I knew that plume was all wrong, too big, because I had watched so many of them rise into the sky before. Most of us in that class were born the year Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. None of us remembered a time when the countdown and the ignition and the rising column of smoke weren't events to look forward to on TV, to hope they fell on teacher in-service days during the school year, to tape when VCRs became a thing. The "send a civilian to space" idea happened because the public was losing interest, a fact that was utterly baffling to me when I read about it.
When I was a little girl (big enough to know that "pirate" and "Jedi" weren't actual options, but before I figured out they came under the heading of "actor"), I wanted to be a ballerina or an astronaut. Preferably both. By 1986, three years into a twelve-inch growth spurt that threw my center of gravity so far off I didn't find it until I was about 25, "ballerina" was pretty firmly off the table. But "astronaut" was still very much in the mix, alongside a few other options that had cropped up over the years. I was even considering applying to the Air Force Academy the following summer, for the sole reason that it was how you got to be an astronaut. (Well, one way. But Annapolis was two time zones away while Colorado Springs was at the foot of a mountain I could see from atop the swingset in my back yard. Besides, I was an Air Force brat, and "Navy wings are made of lead." *g*)
That caution was, and is, all to the good. As much as we might yearn to stand on Mars tomorrow, we need to be careful.
These people should be celebrating this anniversary with their families. They should be telling their children, nieces and nephews, grandchildren what the Earth looked like from orbit on that January morning.
They are immortal, but they should be home. Our pioneers should not be martyrs, not if we can avoid it.
But we still need our pioneers.


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vRSLCM 2.0
vSphere 6.0
No environment created yet
How do I remove a vCenter server from the Managed vCenter Servers tab on vRLCM? There is an option to Edit, but not to delete.
There is no option to remove the vCenter server. The data center needs to be deleted. Once this is done, the vCenter associated with that data center also gets removed.


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People are threatening to boycott United Airlines after a disturbing video went viral that showed a passenger being forcibly removed from the plane.
The incident occurred on Sunday evening on a plane travelling from Chicago to Louisville. In the video, the unidentified 69-year-old man is shown being yanked from his seat and dragged off the plane. The man was then taken to the hospital for non-threatening injuries, according to the Chicago Aviation Police Department.
The shocking video sparked outrage on social media and now people are saying they plan to boycott United's service.
Boycott @united! Show investors we care & won't tolerate this type of business practice. What happened to that passanger is deplorable !
— Paul Butcher (@ThePaulButcher) April 10, 2017
Just cancelled my @united flight for tomorrow and re-booked @VirginAmerica. In fact, may never fly them again.
— Steve Cheney (@stevecheney) April 10, 2017
@ReaganBattalion @united Nicely done @united and airport police ..all because you overbooked?!?..yep this is one boycott that's worth doing #BoycottUnitedAirlines
— Patrick Gallagher (@PatrickGman) April 10, 2017
A United Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider that the airline needed room on the aircraft to transfer crew for another flight. According to a person who said they were on the flight, the airline offered an $US800 voucher, but not enough passengers volunteered to deplane, so the airline chose the man and several other passengers to be rerouted.
According to the Chicago Aviation Police Department, one of the police officers has been put on leave and the investigation is ongoing.
United CEO Oscar Munoz gave the following statement:
"This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologise for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation."
However, his comments were also widely criticised for only apologizing to have to re-accommodate passengers and not for the treatment of the passenger.
NOW WATCH: People are outraged by this shocking video showing a passenger forcibly dragged off a United Airlines plane
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|Ducane has been recognized in the heating and air conditioning industryfor being a top manufacturer of air conditioners and furnaces for morethan half a century. Camelot Air Conditioning and Heating is proud tofeature this leading brand at the most affordable rate around.
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Fiji cuff
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Product details
Cuff bracelet in brass & glass stones One size only Avoid dropping or impact. Avoid contact with water or any source of humidity. Store the bracelet carefully in the original pouch when not in use, after having wiped it with a soft duster cloth. Colour: vintage gold Item code: CHC20WFB75BGS9DC
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Ransomware — the term comes from "ransom" and "software" — is a type of computer virus that prevents users from accessing their systems until a sum of money is paid. Cyber-criminals implant this malicious virus into emails, websites and applications, that we unknowingly activate. It is often disguised as an HTML link or attachment. Once…Read more
Solid State Drives and Deleted Files: Gone for Good?
Nothing can quite describe the panic, fear and trepidation experienced when you realise you've deleted an important file and there's no way of getting it back. Shock. Horror. Dread. Now what? When the PC was first introduced few were aware that deleted files could be recovered, but over time enthusiasts figured out at that deleted…Read more
Dealing with a Water-Damaged Hard Drive
During the cold South African winter months we are often reminded just how small we truly are when the heavens open up and the rain comes plummeting down. Due to the massive storms, we often experience the overflowing of river banks that then force the water to rush down towards the houses, destroying just about…Read more
Tips to Prevent Data Loss
We live in a world where just about everything is stored digitally, from photo albums to important documents, people's contact information to important dates. With such monumental amounts of data containing vital aspects of our lives being stored, there is no denying that when data loss does take place, it leaves us curled up in…Read more
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Back Home Again, With Simple Ingredients
Alex Guarnaschelli's Butter Midtown Opens for Lunch
Alex Guarnaschelli is closer to home than she's been in a long time.
"I grew up in Midtown Manhattan," said the chef, whose outpost of Butter opened for lunch about two weeks ago underneath the Casa Hotel on West 45th Street.
Even though Midtown is her old stomping ground, Ms. Guarnaschelli said it was "refreshing" to be outside of NoHo, where the original Butter has been in business for over a decade. That spot is closed for renovations until the fall, so the chef is spending a lot of time in her new kitchen.
The winter green salad ($11), with gem lettuce, radishes and persimmons, is one of her favorite items on the lunch menu.
"I love it when a few simple ingredients come together on a plate and I think, 'Wow, that's a dish.'"
Ms. Guarnaschelli also offers a Waldorf salad with fried chicken ($22), because "that's what I want to eat for lunch." Her colleagues advised against it—too heavy for lunch. But she said she "can't fry chicken fast enough."
Also on the menu: roasted chicken from Scattered Acres Farms ($24) and toasted sandwiches, filled with grilled artichokes ($17) or bacon, fontina cheese and hedgehog mushrooms ($19).
"You can be naughty or you can be well-behaved," said Ms. Guarnaschelli. "It's up to you."
—V.L. Hendrickson
Butter Midtown, 70 W. 45th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues; open weekdays beginning at 11:30 a.m., 212-253-2828.
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8


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This section of the web site provides a list of security blog and podcast resources that are based around the Northern Virginia (NoVA), Maryland, or Washington, DC areas. If there are any mistakes or information we should add, please let us know through our Contact Us form.
The following are some recent posts regarding local security blogs and podcasts. Look for a complete list of all event-related posts on the Infosec Blogs/Podcasts category page.
We have a lot of information security blogs in our area. See below for many of the most popular ones. Also we've combined all the feeds from the following blogs into a single consolidated one so you can easily keep track of everything. Check it out at http://feeds.feedburner.com/nispnovabloggers.
- Blackhat.org: No this isn't the official Blackhat site … instead it's the blog of Jason M. Oliver, a local security evangelist and technology innovator. This is where he shares his ideas and hyperlinks.
- Brinkmasterj: Joe Brinkley runs this blog that focuses on a range of security technologies.
- Carnal0wnage Blog: Chris Gates blogs about Windows and web security. Chris has also been a presenter at security conferences in the past. Joining Chris is Ken Johnson, who writes about tips and tricks for appsec testing, opinions, and code that may help somebody out.
- Darth Null: David "@schuetzdj" Schuetz maintains this personal blog where he periodically puts out some of his geeky ideas and ramblings that he would like to share with others.
- ElectricFork: Ben "@electricfork" Miller puts out this little collection of interesting notes and brainstorms on protecting from, detecting of, and responding to badness. Ben also organizes a small infosec meetup in Baltimore called CharmSec. See our NoVA Meetups page for more information on this event.
- Georgia's Infosec Blog: Formerly the blog at grmn00bs.com, come here for a blog of Georgia's infosec exploits from CVE to world travel.
- How is that Assurance Evidence?: Chris Burton runs this blog. I think its name says it all! Chris has been in the Information Technology field for the last 10 years, and has been working with Info Security, Info Assurance, Policy and Compliance for around 7 of those 10 years. He's worked with large and small organizations primarily with Federal policy, regulations and guidance.
- Jack Mannino: Since you don't know Jack, you may want to check his blog out. 🙂
- Jack Whitsitt: Art and Security in Washington, DC: A very interesting take on security… Jack's tag line is "An Artist's take on National Critical Infrastructure Protection, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, (and some art)". Don't see too many security blogs like that.
- Room362.com: Based on his blog's catch-phrase, Rob Fuller (a.k.a. Mubix) "drones on mindlessly about the his experience in security."
- Security Musings: Peter Hesse runs his company blog, which provides a lot of useful advice and learning.
- Shpantzer on Security: Focused on Information Security, with occasional coverage of physical security, terrorism, information warfare and other related items.
- Social Hacking: Joey "@theharmonyguy" Tyson, a security engineer at Gemini Security Solutions, runs this blog that primarily covers privacy and security issues in online social networking applications.
- TaoSecurity: Richard Bejtlich's main blog. Nuff said.
- The Cuckoo's Egg: This blog is run by Ned Moran. In his spare time he is an Adjunct Professor in the Computer Science Department at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. This blog chronicles their class discussion and applies theories of Information Privacy and Security to everyday events.
- The Falcon's View: Ben Tomhave left our area for a while but now he's back. He describes his blog as the "mental meanderings of an infosec obsessive…"
- The Guerilla CISO: Michael Smith describes his blog as "The concept behind The Guerilla CISO is a bit of BOFH, a bit of ranting, and a bit of "do it this way because it works". In other words, exactly what I would give somebody in person, and pretty typical blog fare."
- Compute Cycle: Brett Thorson has been running this little podcast since early 2011. In 5 minutes or less Brett discusses computer security and technology news.
- Cyberspeak Podcast: Hosted by two formal federal agents who investigated computer crime, this podcast covers computer security, crime, and forensics. There's always a slight undertone of something about our local area in Bret and Ovie's banter – whether it be about traffic, local communities, or weather.
- Hak.5: Hak.5 is a weekly video podcast for the hacker, modder and do-it-yourselfer. Hosted by Darren Kitchen, Matt Lestock, and Shannon Morse, the show is a hybrid of technology and geek humor. NoVA's very own Rob Fuller (see Room362.com above) makes periodic guest appearances.
- Healthy Paranoia: In this spin-off of the popular Packet Pushers podcast, NoVA native Michele "@MrsYisWhy" Chubirka leads this very entertaining weekly podcast that discusses the practical issues in security. This mean focusing more on the "build it" and less on the "break it" aspects of security.
- SecuraBit: Currently residing in in the metro-DC area, Chris "@secbitchris" Gerling leads a set of rotating co-hosts in this popular podcast that discusses information security news, technical topics, and more. Several of the co-hosts and repeating guests hail from the DC area, including Rob "@mubix" Fuller and Jason "@SecuraBit_Jay" Mueller.


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He won eight Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire and huge acclaim for such stylish films as Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. But now, just when his cinematic success is at its most giddying, Danny Boyle is to return to his theatrical roots – having been, in his words, "distracted for 15 years by the movies".
Boyle will make his National Theatre debut next winter, directing an adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, it was announced today.
According to the National's artistic director, Sir Nicholas Hytner, Boyle was one of the first artists he approached when he started at the theatre eight years ago. It was then that Boyle – over cake at a cafe – outlined his ideas about a Frankenstein production.
According to Hytner: "He has a very particular take … and he described to me in detail how he would make a theatrical event out of it … He wants to make a large-scale and visually ambitious event for our main stage."
At Boyle's suggestion, writer Nick Dear was commissioned to adapt the novel around "a central idea of Danny's", according to Hytner, though he would not say what this was. But it was only after Slumdog's Oscar success that Boyle told Hytner he was ready.
Speaking at the unveiling of the theatre's next season, Hytner said Shelley's novel interested Boyle because of the way it highlighted "the way we have messed around with our environment; the ethics of genetic engineering". The production, however, will not update Shelley's original 1818 novel to a contemporary setting.
Boyle is currently in Utah in the US directing his next film, 127 Hours, about a climber who becomes trapped under a boulder and must saw off his own arm to survive. He will start working in earnest on Frankenstein when the film is complete.
Theatregoers will have an opportunity to observe, in Hytner's words, "how a director with a very distinct personal style has been altered by 15 years in film".
Boyle was artistic director of the Theatre Upstairs, the second stage of the Royal Court theatre in London, from 1982-85, and deputy director of the main theatre from 1985-87.
There he directed plays such as Timberlake Wertenbaker's The Grace of Mary Traverse and an acclaimed production of Edward Bond's Saved. He also directed five productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
However, these productions tended to be small-scale, even when he worked at the RSC. Ibsen's The Pretenders was performed at the intimate Swan theatre in Stratford, as was Tirso de Molina's The Last Days of Don Juan and Ben Jonson's The Silent Woman.
Boyle's film career, meanwhile, has taken a trajectory from the low-budget Shallow Grave in 1994 to the polychrome fantasies of Slumdog Millionaire.
"As a movie director he's as happy carrying his camera around the slums of Mumbai as working on a vast set for a film like Sunshine. He has a big visual imagination," said Hytner, adding that when Boyle worked in theatre in the 1980s, "he wasn't a 'big' stage director".
Other highlights of the forthcoming season include Sir Peter Hall directing his daughter Rebecca Hall – who has a growing film reputation after starring in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona – as Viola in Twelfth Night.
Michael Grandage, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre, will make his National debut with Georg Büchner's Danton's Death. Welcome to Thebes, a new work by Moira Buffini for the theatre's Olivier stage, will be directed by Sir Richard Eyre.
Rupert Goold, who had a hit with Lucy Prebble's Enron, will work on a new drama by Mike Bartlett called Earthquakes in London, and Handspring, the puppet company behind the National hit War Horse, will return with a new piece devised and directed by Neil Bartlett.
Encore for Sir Peter Hall
As Danny Boyle makes his National debut next winter, the theatre will also be welcoming back an old friend: Sir Peter Hall, its artistic director from 1973-88. To celebrate his 80th birthday, Hall will direct his daughter Rebecca Hall as Viola in Twelfth Night, in the intimate Cottesloe Theatre.
His last production at the National was Euripides' Bacchae, in 2002; Twelfth Night will be his first show there under the artistic directorship of Sir Nicholas Hytner. "He has not worked here for far too long, and that's my fault," said Hytner.
Hytner paid tribute to Hall as "one of the great Shakespeareans", adding: "None of my generation would be here without him."
A mighty force in British theatre, who has worked with everyone from Edith Evans and Laurence Olivier to today's emerging actors, Peter Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, running it until 1968. He is now the director of the Rose Theatre in Kingston.
Rebecca Hall, 27, has been making an increasing mark as a screen actor, latterly in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona but also in Starter for 10, opposite James McAvoy, and The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan. As a 10-year-old she appeared in the TV series The Camomile Lawn.
Halls père et fille have worked together before, including on a production of As You Like It (2005) in which Rebecca played Rosalind (like Viola, a role that requires cross-dressing).
Twelfth Night was among the plays her father first took on as a young professional director – in 1954, for the Oxford Stage Company.
• This article was amended on 22 January 2010. The original sited the Rose Theatre in Richmond. This has been corrected.


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Please contact Customer Service at 1-888-491-8833 Ext. 1561
VCA Beavercreek Animal Hospital located in Beavercreek, Ohio is seeking a Medical Director to lead our multi-doctor well established hospital!
We are a very busy multi-doctor practice, open Monday through Saturday with no on call services. Our doctors have worked together for many years, and have established themselves within the community. We have a fantastic tenured support team, who are all dedicated to providing the best medical care for our clients and patients. Our team is committed to providing personal attention to each of our clients and delivering quality medicine to our patients. Our services and facilities are designed to assist in routine preventative care for young, healthy pets: early detection and treatment of disease as a pet ages: complete medical and surgical care as necessary during a pet's lifetime. We provide a wide range of surgical services from routine to more complex procedures.
We are fully equipped with digital radiology, digital dental radiology, companion laser therapy and have an onsite laboratory to run timely analysis of samples to establish a baseline for early disease detection. We see a variety of patients including cats, dogs, reptiles and exotics!
Beavercreek is the largest city in Greene County, Ohio and is the second largest suburb of Dayton. The city is very close to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The community is ever growing and resides in a highly rated public school district. Our hospital offers a good work life balance and a very positive work culture. The area is characterized by a spacious rolling environment providing a very attractive setting for the residential neighborhoods. Beavercreek is considered to be among the most attractive, dynamic and desirable locations in the Dayton area with an outstanding quality of life. Our hospital is in close proximity to WPAFB, Fairfield Mall, The Greene, Dayton International Airport and nearby cities Cincinnati and Columbus.
The Medical Director role is an outstanding opportunity to continue practicing medicine while establishing the direction and medical quality of the hospital like an owner would, but without the risks of ownership. Plus, you'll have the solid backing of experts in Operations, Marketing, Human Resources, Payroll, and more, to help you succeed.
As a member of the VCA family, your passion for medicine and compassion for pets and people is matched with a commitment to your professional growth. Among the reasons to consider joining VCA are:
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text: Put your team pride on display in official style with Chicago Blackhawks clothing and merchandise from FansEdge.com. Ranging from Blackhawks t-shirts and hoodies to Chicago Blackhawks hats and jackets, FansEdge has got you covered with Chicago Blackhawks gear so you're ready to head to the arena in trendy team-inspired style. Display your love for your favorite player with an authentic Blackhawks jersey or Chicago Blackhawks jersey shirt. We offer am amazing selection of officially licensed Chicago Blackhawks jerseys, including alternate jerseys, home and away jerseys, throwback Blackhawks jerseys and, of course, the unbeatable Chicago Blackhawks Breakaway jersey. Snag up-to-date Blackhawks merch from FansEdge.com to add some flair to your game-day wardrobe and collection. Also be sure to add some Chicago Blackhawks accessories to your ensemble or browse our Blackhawks gifts and collectibles to add to your collection or to find the perfect gift for any special fan in your life.


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Come See Us in Action!
The best way to experience Keystone Prep High School is to schedule a family tour. Submit this form or call our Admissions Coordinator, Mrs. Gabrielle Pomales, at 813-264-4500. We look forward to meeting your family!
18105 Gunn Highway, Odessa, FL 33556 / Grades 9-12 / email@example.com
813-264-4500: Admissions and General Information
813-355-0124: Administrative Center / Fax: 813-963-0675
Keystone Prep is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization: #26-3859450
Copyright © Keystone Prep High School


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I made a pact with my best friend that when we went to college neither one of us would fall in love. We were going to enjoy ourselves and this new adventure. She didn't keep her side of the pact, but I was determined to.
Then I met Macsen Sloan.
Emilia Wentworth would do anything for her sister.
For three years, Emilia has lived in the past, feeling her sister's pain and hating those who are to blame, including one of the Sloan brothers.
Finally, she has had enough. The only way to be free is to create a Burn List with all the people who have ever hurt her sister.
As she crosses each name off, she gets closer and closer to her final target. But, things aren't always as they seem.
Loyalties are tested.
Boundaries are crossed.
And the truth is revealed.
I met Mathias Sloan in a club.
I told him I was twenty-four.
I told him my name was Olivia.
I thought that I would have a one-night stand and be done with him.
I didn't know that he was my new piano instructor for the next six months…
We would come together and fall apart. After him, every man was ruined.
If I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have walked to him. I would've turned and run…
The Sloan brothers. Tortured, beautiful men. Broken, yet stronger than anyone has a right to be. If I took anything away from these books, it was that. There are rare few authors who are able to make series focusing on several characters and can make each one dynamic and completely individual from the others. Calia Read did just that in this series. Even the secondary characters had a strong independent presence. Every time that I read something by her I am once again blown away by how complex and sublime each person she allows on her page is.
Every Which Way
Every Which Way was the first glimpse we had into the complicated dynamics of the Sloan brothers. It first comes when they are both vying for the attentions of Severine Blake. It is quickly evident that not all competition is brotherly with them. There is something more, something significant and painful, that is fueling their rivalry.
Severine was the very definition of a spitfire, in every aspect of her life; save her love life. She was deeply guarded when it came to matters of her heart; often to her own detriment. It was easy to see why each of the brothers was enamored with her. I loved Severine; she was fierce, staggering, the exact opposite of what her name might suggest. Her ability to hold her own with even the most aggressive of opponents instantly endeared her to me. It was this that made me hurt for her when she made the safe, but obviously not right, choice when it came to the brothers. Her fear was well-founded after watching the heartbreak her mother suffered time and again at her father's hands.
Thayer and Macsen seemed to be complete opposites on the surface. Thayer's gregarious lightness opposed to Macsen's introspective darkness. Beneath those surface layers, it was easy to see how much of the same hurt and insecurity the brothers carried. How much anger was brewing inside. They were both broken, but in very different ways, by the same person. Their differences in dealing with their pain were what truly set them apart. Thayer found something that soothed his soul, gave him a place to literally leave it all on the court. Macsen turned his pain on himself and did his best to destroy any good that he obtained. Because of those differences, Thayer was more able to hold his own against such a huge personality as Severine was, Macsen lost the parts of himself he knew in her sweeping grandeur.
Every Which Way may have been Severine's love story, but more than that it set up a family dynamic that left me clamouring for to find out more about the boys. Their story was a perfect counterpoint to what was happening in Severine's love life. Just as one thing was working out, another was falling apart, abysmally.
Breaking the Wrong {Spoilers for Every Which Way}
Breaking the Wrong held more secrets within it pages than I could have imagined. Calia Read managed to keep twisting me in circles, even after I was certain I had figured everything out. For me, that's everything. I'm rarely surprised by plot twists, but there were a couple in this book that I didn't quite see coming.
Emilia made a few brief appearances in Every Which Way, I was instantly drawn to her character and was euphoric to see that she would be playing a key role in this book. She was so different than Severine had been I was unsure if she would win me over completely, but she did. After getting to know her through the pages, I felt much more akin to her. She kept herself well-hidden and had a wall a mile high built around herself, something I was quite able to relate to. It was when she started to disassemble that wall that I truly found my love for her. Her brokenness was so perfect for Macsen's I was sure, no matter what, they would find a way to one another.
I was completely torn on Macsen after Every Which Way. I knew he held so much hurt, that he seemed to find a perverted comfort in that pain, I wasn't sure he would ever let it go enough to find happiness. Throughout Breaking the Wrong he changes a lot. He learns how to be himself. How to love himself. How to forgive himself. Macsen becomes a person worth loving, and who is able to give real love in return. His character arc was impressive, and I was ecstatic to take that journey with him.
Every single situation in Breaking the Wrong was predicated on the lies of another. It was truly a lesson on the destructive nature of fallacies, no matter how small. The ache that was caused my watching Macsen, Emilia, and their families deal with the fallout of actions and words of other people was palpable. Knowing that, had everyone just been honest, their pain would have been lessened was heartbreaking. This book broke my heart, it stomped on it, then patched it back together and made it mostly whole again. I still ached for the brothers and the damage their past had inflicted on their tender souls.
Ruin You Completely
Mathias' story. I had been desperately waiting for this. He completely entranced me from his first appearance in Every Which Way. It was easy to see that the man we met in those few scenes was deeply tortured and in desperate need of salvation.
Mathias is my favorite of the brothers. His desperate love of music and need for control in everything he did was easily relatable to me. He further called to my soul with the deep and far-reaching pain he so beautifully carried with him. It was evident from the beginning there was so much more to Mathias than just the gruff exterior he projected to the world.
Katja grew on me. As much as we know about her, I still think there is a lot more that we didn't get to see from her. I deeply appreciated her passion for music and in knowing that aspect of her I knew she was a perfect match for Mathias' desperation. I felt like we were just scratching the surface with her, though. Someone who pours so much of themselves into one thing has to have so many more layers, more than could possibly be fleshed out in one book.
The timeline for Ruin You Completely was much longer than those of Every Which Way and Breaking the Wrong; thankfully it was written in such a way that it didn't feel that way. There was so much tension and buildup, by the time that I got about halfway through the book I was so wound up in the Mathias/Katja drama I couldn't dream of putting the book down. I needed some relief. Needed a moment of weakness. They were few and far between, which made me all the more interested in seeing if they would both get the resolution they deserved.
With each installment in the Sloan Brothers series, the stories grew; they graduated from college romances to something more redemptive, something that gave hope to even the most broken of souls. Every Which Way started pulling back the blinds on the darkness of the brothers' relationships and their very damaging pasts. Breaking the Wrong laid much of that past bare. Ruin You Completely added another dimension to the past and left me needing to know more about the brothers, their pasts, and the glimpse of happiness they were starting to find. Each boy may have found love, but they all still have a long road to find a way to be free from the darkness surrounding them.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
Calia Read lives in Arizona with her husband and their five kids.
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon


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Solidni Jistota is a friendly, easy going club. The music is not too loud that you can't have a good conversation, but if you fancy a dance, the small dance floor is packed most weekend nights as the DJ blends together a decent mix of party tunes.
Catering for the over 25's market, Solidni Jistota attracts a healthy mix of local Czechs, regular tourists and stag & hen nights.
Although a brisk 5 minutes walk from the main nightlife areas, you can certainly fit Solidni Jistota in on a trip around the Prague hotspots. Combine your visit with a drink in the nearby Nebe Kremencova Cocktail & Music Bar.


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COLORBAR Velvet Matte Lipstick in DEMURE- swatch and review
Hi My Lovely Readers, Colorbar is one of the most leading and loved drugstore brand in India. It does not require any special introduction as its very popular. Their matte lipsticks are always talk of the town and loved by… Continue Reading


text:
2019-53 Bay High School Softball Field Improvements
Bidding Closed
Prebid Date12/11/19 2:00 pm
Bid Date12/17/19 2:00 pm
Company & Contacts
Allred Stolarski Architects
John Stolarski 228-762-1975
Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received by the Bay St. Louis – Waveland School District School Board of Education, in the Board Room of the Bay St. Louis – Waveland School District Administration Building in
Bay St. Louis, MS, until 2:00pm, local time, on Tuesday, December 17th, 2019, and then and there publicly opened and read for the following project:
Bay High School Softball Field Improvements
Bay St. Louis – Waveland School District
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
In accordance with plans and specifications prepared by:
Allred Stolarski Architects, PA
711 Church Street
Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564
Bid documents are being made available via paper copy. Bidders are required to log-in or register for an account at www.asaplans.com to view and order Bid Documents ($100.00 per set). All plan holders are required to have a valid email address for registration. Bid documents must be purchased through the website.
Proposals shall be submitted on the blank Bid Form furnished with the specifications and must be accompanied by bid security in the form of Certified Check, Cashier's Check or acceptable Bid Bond, payable to the Bay St. Louis – Waveland School District, in amount equal to at least five percent (5%) of the base bid; such security to be forfeited as liquidated damages, not penalty, by any bidder who may be awarded the contract but who fails to carry out the terms of the proposal, execute the contract and post performance bond in the form and amount within the time specified.
At the Bidders option, in lieu of submitting a physical sealed Bid, electronic bids may be submitted at www.asaplans.com. Bids shall be received electronically until the date/time as stated above. For any questions relating to the electronic bidding process, please call Plan House Printing at 662.407.0193. Electronic submittal of Bids is not required.


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Fresno Amputation Lawyer
I'm Ed Smith, a Fresno Amputation Lawyer. Getting hurt in an accident is bad. Suffering a permanent injury like a lost limb is even worse. In the blink of an eye, your life is changed forever. Losing a hand, an arm, a foot, a leg, etc. will require a drastic change in your life and may result in your being unable to pursue certain life goals or return to your job. My heart goes out to you if you or your loved one has suffered a limb loss injury.
Recently, we learned of a tragic accident involving a North Bay teenager who was hit by a vehicle on I-80. The collision was so severe that the teen had to undergo eleven surgeries in two weeks, including an amputation of her leg.
Sadly, accidents like the one that occurred on I-80 are more common than you may imagine and can result in horrific injuries, including amputation. There are reportedly over three million Americans who have had a limb amputated in the U.S. today.Types of Accidents and Incidents That May Result in an Amputation
An injury necessitating an amputation can occur in an array of circumstances including:
- Automobile wrecks
- Bicycle accidents
- Motorcycle crashes
- Pedestrians getting hit by a vehicle
- A tractor-trailer colliding with a vehicle or a pedestrian
- Accidents at the workplace
- Dog attacks
- Medical malpractice
- Adverse reactions to a prescription medication
- Defective consumer products
Not all amputations are the same. Depending on the severity of the damage, you may need to have a partial amputation or a complete amputation. A partial amputation means that you may be able to retain some use of your damaged limb. Conversely, a complete amputation means you lose the limb in its entirety.Amputation Often Requires Long-Term Care and Major Medical Expenses
For both partial amputations and complete amputations, quality and effective medical care is absolutely critical. There will likely be extensive rehabilitative treatment including learning how to function without the lost limb (e.g., learning to walk again after losing a leg in a car accident). This may include the fitting of a prosthetic device. The prosthetic device can be utilized either for a cosmetic purpose or for a functional purpose like walking.
The advancements made in prosthesis over the years are truly remarkable. However, this means the cost associated with a prosthesis can staggering. For example, the average price for a prosthetic limb can be as little as $8,000 but may wind up costing upwards of $70,000. That is the typical upfront cost. A prosthetic limb needs to be maintained and will eventually need to be replaced after a few years have passed.
And this does not even factor in potential complications associated with the amputation or use of a prosthetic including:
- Infection of the amputated area;
- Long-term pain in the amputation area (also known as chronic neuroma);
- Slow wound healing; and/or
- Extreme discomfort and stiffness around the amputated area.
If you suffer one or more of these complications, additional medical procedures will be required which will then increase the overall medical costs associated with your injuries.The Emotional Toll of an Amputation
In addition to the financial strain associated with an amputation, there is also a serious emotional strain placed on the victim. It is quite common for a recent amputee to become depressed and turn to drugs, alcohol, or other substances for comfort; they may even contemplate suicide. An article published in the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics highlighted the fact that accident victims often struggle with bouts of severe depression, hopelessness, and suicidal tendencies after suffering a catastrophic injury. The article revealed that the rate of clinical depression reported in outpatient settings ranged from 21 percent to 35 percent.Taking Action to Get the Financial Restitution You are Owed
If you lost a limb in a preventable accident caused by the carelessness of another driver, a medical professional, or a corporate entity, you should speak to a Fresno amputation lawyer about whether it makes sense to file a personal injury claim against the responsible party. A personal injury claim allows you to pursue financial restitution for your harms and losses, including:
- Reimbursement of your medical expenses stemming from the accident (including the costs associated with a prosthetic limb;
- Reimbursement for the income lost as a result of your amputation;
- Compensation for future wages that you could have earned had it not been for the accident; and
- Compensation for your pain, suffering, and mental anguish.
To recover the financial restitution described above, you need to establish that the defendant (i.e. the other driver, the doctor, etc.) was liable for your injuries. This is why the specific facts associated with your accident influence the theory of liability that will be argued to pursue damages for you.
In car and motorcycle accident cases, the theory of liability is predicated on negligence. This means you need to establish that the other driver owed you a duty, they breached that duty, the breach proximately caused your harms and losses, and you have proof of actual harms and economic damages incurred.
If you were hit by a commercial vehicle (e.g., a tractor-trailer), you would still seek damages under a negligence theory, but you could also hold the negligent driver's employer liable under a vicarious liability theory known as respondeat superior. Basically, this legal theory holds that an employer is responsible for the negligent conduct of an employee if that negligence was committed in the course of their employment with the employer.
If you lost a limb as a result of a defective consumer product, you could hold the manufacturer, distributor, or seller responsible for a strict liability legal theory. This would require that evidence exists of a defect in the manufacture or design of the specific consumer product. For example, if your Fresno amputation lawyer argues a strict liability theory based on a design defect, then there needs to be evidence that the consumer product did not perform as safely as an ordinary person would expect when the product was used for its intended purpose or if the serious safety risks associated with the product design outweigh the alleged benefits.
Fresno Amputation Lawyer, Ed SmithFresno Amputation Lawyer
I'm Ed Smith, a Fresno Amputation Lawyer. When someone loses a limb in a preventable accident, the damages are usually extensive and insurance companies routinely put up a fight when a claim seeks a substantial amount of damages. For over 30 years I have represented personal injury cases and held responsible parties accountable. If you or someone you love has lost a limb in a preventable accident, I can help. Please call me at (559) 377-7676 for compassionate advice with no obligation. You can also contact me online here.
Many of my former clients' reviews and comments can be found on Avvo, Google, and Yelp.
I am a Million Dollar Advocate. I have won numerous verdicts and settlements worth in excess of $1 Million Dollars.
Please take a moment to read about some of my successful Past Settlements and Verdicts.
:sd rey [cs 1221 bw] ab 9.28.17


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Margaret Glass began her painting career exhibiting at the young age of 20.
Specialising in the then little known Pastel medium, Margaret has been recognised on both sides of the channel as one of the top contemporary pastellists, being a member of both the Pastel Society, London and La Societe des Patelliste de France. She then turned her attention to the oil medium maintaining her wonderful observation and use of light used in her pastels but with an added richness and strength of texture and colour.
She has tutored courses here and in France for the French pastel society and has had one woman exhibitions in the USA, Paris and London.


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Police are excavating the former home of a paedophile couple who knew serial killers Fred and Rose West.
David and Pauline Williams were jailed at Exeter Crown Court in November for a string of sexual offences dating back to the 1980s.
Their catalogue of abuse started in Gloucester, where they met the Wests, and continued when they moved to Devon in the 1990s.
Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed excavation work had started at an address in Bradninch in Cullompton, Devon.
A spokeswoman said: "Following intelligence received, Devon and Cornwall Police are undertaking excavation work at a property on Cullompton Hill, Bradninch, Cullompton, Devon.
"This relates to historic intelligence connected to the address and its former occupants.
"It is expected to take up to four days to complete.
"Specialist officers will be involved in the excavation, which we hope will have as little impact on the local community as possible."
The couple were convicted of 48 individual and joint charges stretching over 15 years following a trial at Exeter Crown Court.
David Williams was jailed for life after being found guilty of offences including 11 counts of indecent assault, 10 counts of rape and two counts of gross indecency with a child.
He was also convicted of three counts of indecency with a child, two counts of cruelty and two cases of aiding and abetting an indecent assault.
Pauline Williams was sentenced to 12 years in prison with four years on extended licence after being found guilty of two counts of aiding and abetting rape, two counts of aiding and abetting an indecent assault and three counts of indecent assault.
Their abuse on victims as young as seven years old was both physical and sexual.
The investigation into the pair, named Operation Abbey, began in July 2013 when a woman disclosed to a mental health professional that she had been raped and sexually abused by David Williams when she was 15.
She then spoke to Detective Constable Debbie Dow, from the force's child abuse investigation unit, and made a complaint against David Williams.
A number of other people then came forward to uncover the abuse they had been subjected to at the hands of Williams and his wife.
The couple denied all allegations against them throughout the investigation and the trial, despite overwhelming evidence against them.
Speaking after the pair were sentenced, DC Dow said: "David and Pauline Williams carried out a string of sickening and callous sexual attacks on children and teenagers without remorse over a 15-year period.
"Their campaign of abuse started in Gloucester and continued when they moved to Devon and lived in Exeter and Tiverton.
"The abuse was both physical and sexual and undertaken by both David and Pauline Williams; one victim was as young as seven years old when this started.
"These victims, both men and woman, had their childhoods stolen by David and Pauline Williams and all have suffered difficulties throughout their adulthood following this abuse as they struggled to live normal lives."
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Hi All,
Am here after a long time. A friend of ours gifted this plant to us and neither our friend nor us know which plant this is. Could someone please help identify it so that we can take good care of it.
- What is the name of the plant?
- Is this an indoor plant or an outdoor one?
- If outdoor, should it be placed in full/partial sun or in shade?
- Should this necessarily be potted in ground or can it be re-planted in a larger pot?
- Being a succulent, what are its watering needs?
- Any special care instructions?
Any help will be much appreciated. Even getting the plant name will help us explore ourselves answers to our other questions. Thanks in advance!
Btw, we are based in Melbourne.
(For some reason, the images have been uploaded in a 90-degrees rotated orientation. Not sure why though. The originals have correct orientation. Please bear with this error.)
Warm Regards,