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There are few better ways to spend a vacation or a long weekend than with a Pigeon Forge cabin rental. Getting away to the Smoky Mountains with your family is a delightful escape from everyday life. Not only is there something romantic and homey about staying in a mountain cabin, but with so much to do in the area such as fishing, hiking, and visiting Dollywood, a mountain cabin stay in Pigeon Forge is the kind of vacation sure to please everyone. Is there a way to make an excellent vacation even better? Why, yes, there is! The next time you visit Pigeon Forge, rent a cabin with arcade games, and you'll get even more out of your mountain getaway than you ever expected.
Weather Is Never an Issue
With any vacation, the weather is one variable you have no control over. If you plan to hike the mountains those plans can be quickly dashed by an unexpected thunderstorm. When you have arcade games in your cabin, however, what might start as a disappointing day can soon turn into an opportunity to play. Is there a better way to spend the day seeking shelter from rain and lightning than blasting away at video game aliens?
Some Family Competition and Time Together
After a day in town or hiking in the woods, you can return to your cabin for a little friendly competition between kids and adults. The fun doesn't have to end when you're out of the woods and back indoors. Make the most out of your time. Arcades make it possible for families with kids to enjoy some indoor time together. Test your skills. Have some friendly shooting competitions. Is Dad still as good at Pac-Man as he used to be? There's only one way to find out.
Stay in for a Change
When the family's on vacation, there's a lot of pressure to get the most out of every available moment. While that's sincerely commendable, the fact of the matter is that running around from sight to sight and restaurant to restaurant can get exhausting and lead you to need a vacation to recover from your vacation. Instead of going out every night, take advantage of the arcade games in your cabin to stay in once in a while. Let the kids play some video games while you enjoy a glass of wine on the porch. You'll have a great time relaxing, and you won't feel guilty about it because everyone's having just as much fun as you are.
The next time you're considering renting cabins in Pigeon Forge, TN, choose My Smoky Mountain Travel. We work with you to match lodging and accommodations to your budgets and needs. Get your Smoky Mountains family vacation started and visit our website at mysmokymountaintravel.com or call us at (865) 432-2504 today!


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Anderson, Ind., reduces fuel costs and improves efficiency with a new fleet management system that assists with the utility division's 50-vehicle fleet.
June storms caused a series of minor power outages in Anderson, Ind., but city employees were able to respond more quickly than ever with the help of a recently deployed fleet management system.
The Web-based solution utilized by Anderson's Municipal Light and Power Division helped trucks nearest the outages to be efficiently deployed.
"We were able to manage those vehicles more effectively than we have in the past by being able to say, 'OK, we have Crew A finishing up on this outage and now we can send them right here a couple subdivisions over that are having another outage,'" said the department's GIS manager, Jason Tuck.
The GeoManager system by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Trimble was implemented in Anderson's utility division in December. Each of the division's 50 vehicles has been equipped with a GPS unit that communicates the information back to the utility division via cellular technology.
Tuck said the system has helped Anderson improve response times and increase efficiency, though the city hasn't yet gathered metrics that detail those savings. Fuel has also been saved because vehicles are no longer sent longer distances than necessary.
It cost nearly $20,000 to integrate all 50 vehicles into the system.
The new system's shining moment came three months ago in June, when between 30 and 40 separate outages occurred in Anderson, which is northeast of Indianapolis.
The resulting savings in fuel consumption and fewer staff hours dedicated to the fleet dispatch during the June storms incident helped the division realize nearly 20 percent in cost savings, Tuck said.
Before deploying the system, the utility division wrote on white boards to map the locations of its vehicles. Tuck said the old process involved making many phone calls to each field crew before official clearance was given to restore a location's power.
The new system still requires some human-to-human communication — the fleet manager or dispatcher contacts the vehicle driver to verify the vehicle's location, and then the fleet manager gives clearance for that vehicle to restore the power — but now the fleet management system interfaces with the division's outage management system through GeoManager's MultiSpeak function. According to Trimble, the MultiSpeak function helps integrate an agency's existing utility application with the fleet management system.
Because the two maps interface with each other, the fleet manager only has to look at one screen. The manager can then track information from the outage map and at the same time can see the fleet's vehicles moving around on the map, Tuck said.
This feature was important. The Municipal Light and Power Division looked into deploying GPS technology with a different vendor, but Tuck said the vendor didn't want to integrate its system with the utility division's outage system.
The fleet management system has only been implemented so far in Anderson's utility division, but the city hopes to roll out the solution to other divisions in 2012.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Compliance Hotline: Online or 1.800.324.5794
Media & News | Jobs | Families | Get Involved | Contact Us
As an integral part of a community's continuum of services, YAP successfully engages many youth who are ineligible for or who are not succeeding with other services. We are driven by the desire for our youth and families to succeed in our program and beyond- to live productive, meaningful lives in their community. Therefore, we want to ensure that we are providing them with the best service possible.
YAP measures and tracks
outcomes, has partnered with a number of universities to do research on our model and been identified as a promising practice by a number of recognized organizations.We have also adopted specific evidence-based interventions that we believe strengthen our core wraparound/advocacy model.
YAP has incorporated
Peaceful Alternatives to Tough Situations (PATTS), an evidenced-based group intervention for older youth, into our work with juvenile justice involved youth in 15 YAP states (AL,CO, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, NJ, NV, NY, PA, TX, WV). The intervention, which uses cognitive-behavioral therapeutic strategies, is designed to help youth manage and reduce conflict and violent responses through emotional regulation and improving pro-social skills.
YAP also uses the evidence-based strategies below in specific programming efforts based on the needs of our youth:


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All Souls'
Rhea Tregebov
Vehicule Press
71 pages
The 43 poems that make up Rhea Tregebov's slight but substantial collection All Souls' combine to create the ghostly effect "of little fingers on your face." This is what happens with good poetry. It lingers. This is why we read it. It is the catharsis that calls us back. The climax in this collection results from Tregebov's unerring ability to strip her poems of excess. What she achieves here is the brevity and intensity of short story writer Raymond Carver whose poem "Late Fragment" begins the collection as an epigraph. "And did you get what / you wanted from this life, even so?" asks Carver. The ensuing 43 poems provide the answer.
Tregebov is associate professor in UBC's Creative Writing Program as well as the author of the 2009 novel The Knife Sharpener's Bell. She has penned six books of poetry for which she has received the Pat Lowther Award, the Malahat Review Long Poem prize, an Honorable Mention for the National Magazine Awards (poetry) and the Readers' Choice Award for Poetry from Prairie Schooner. She has also written five children's books and edited many poetry anthologies. This remarkable resume comes to bear in All Souls'.
All Souls' travels "an infinite perimeter" from the traditional territory of the Musqueam First Nation to the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague to a Roman aqueduct in the South of France to Tregebov's own family dinner table. Piled atop one another, the poems parse the tension between change and stasis. Land claims figure as solidly as unhappy marriages or vanilla, caraway and cherries. The effect is not heart wrenching or bathed in metaphor. What Tregebov offers is "a snippet of / being".
In the end, the missing fragment of Carver's poem is implied. "And what did you want? / To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved / on the earth." These invisible lines are "the little fingers on your face" that linger even though they are not there.
The Blue Guitar
Ann Ireland, BFA'76
Dundurn Press
254 pages
The title of Ann Ireland's new novel is taken from Wallace Stevens' poem "The Man with the Blue Guitar". The novel is Ireland's fourth and appears almost 10 years after her last book, Exile. It is about an international guitar competition in Montreal and the musicians whose hopes hinge on winning it.
Main character Toby Hausner wants to redeem himself after an embarrassing breakdown at a competition in Paris 11 years earlier, when he was still a teenager. Underpinning Hausner's outward desire to win the competition is his need to come to terms with Klaus, his aging father. Many sub-plots, such as a citywide virus reminiscent of the 2003 SARS epidemic in Toronto, thread throughout the story and as they unfold, it becomes apparent that, as the epigraph warns, "Things as they are / Are changed upon the blue guitar."
Music underscores the plot, starting with a Beatles melody followed by a neo-classical sonata then a Spanish waltz through "a Lattice of styles" to the Tarrega, which "begins slowly and builds to a hectic middle section," much like the book. It is here we meet competition judge Manual Juerta.
A "peeling poster" of Picasso's painting The Old Guitarist, the inspiration for Stevens' poem, appears on Juerta's conservatoria wall in Cuba. Minor characters like Juerta appear in such great number throughout the book that the result is a series of interconnected tales, which culminate in the realization that "there will always be life going on at the margins." The virus that threatens to penetrate the characters' lives is the most obvious expression of this. More so is the distraction that undoes the artist, as with Hausner in Paris and a series of competitors in Montreal.
The Blue Guitar is such a pleasurable read that it would be easy to exit the world Ireland creates without a thought to the cleverness with which it was crafted. The competition creates tension and expectation but it is the musicality of the language, the complexity of the characters and the intricate structure of the novel that make it memorable.
Dollars and Sex
Marina Adshade, PhD
Harper Collins
257 pages
In Dollars and Sex, UBC economics professor Marina Adshade tells fictional, empirical and theoretical stories that illustrate economic principles. While economists like Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes are decidedly absent, Mick Jagger and Mae West appear to introduce concepts such as market limits and the institution of marriage.
Adshade suggests that the "Justin Bieber Effect" explains how the use of oral contraceptives has changed women's preferences for a mate. She tackles topics such as why 66 per cent of black women are single and looks at how much the cost of an alcoholic beverage needs to be increased in order to reduce risky sexual behaviour. By the end of the book, a riveting romp of a read, it is difficult to deny that "almost every option, decision and outcome in matters of sex and love is better understood by thinking in an economics framework."
This approach stems from Freakonomics, a 2005 best-selling book by economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics revolutionized the dry perception of economic theory by using it to understand topics such as how much the legalization of abortion affected the rate of violent crime in the US. Two books later, Freakonomics Radio continues to analyze topics such as whether or not expensive wines taste better or how much the US president really matters.
Similarly, Adshade uses concepts such as bargaining power, extensive and intensive margins and Pareto efficiency to understand love and the libido.
The research that provides the foundations for Adshade's economic analysis is far-reaching with studies from Uganda, the Netherlands, India, Sweden and France. But what makes all the information palatable is the humour and insight offered by its author whose voice figures strongly. Not only does Adshade write well, she circles back on her themes the way a good professor does during lectures to link ideas in a course. Indeed the idea for the book came from students in Adshade's undergraduate course at UBC, The Economics of Sex and Love, first offered in 2008.
While Adshade uses microeconomic studies, which seek to explain the behaviour of individuals, in the end, her argument is that macroeconomics, which is the behaviour of everyone in the economy, collectively, is what really influences the way we approach our own love lives. Not only is it hard to disagree with her, it is fun going along for the ride.
Standing Up with GA'AXSTA'LAS: Jane Constance and the Politics of Memory, Church and Custom
Leslie A. Robertson and the KWAGU'I GI XSAM CL AN
596 pages
Standing Up with GA'AXSTA'LAS is the life story of Jane Constance Cook, a high-ranking Namgi's woman from Alert Bay, BC, who lived from 1870 to 1951. Cook, whose traditional name is GA'AXSTA'LAS, appears in numerous scholarly studies and much contemporary literature about colonial history in Kwak'wala territories. In these representations, the dominant impression of Cook is unfavourable. Among other things, Cook is most remembered for her unorthodox stand against the potlatch, a traditional First Nations ceremony banned by the colonial government in 1885. It is GA'AXSTA'LAS' stand against the potlatch that provides the impetus for this "collaborative ethnography" by Leslie A. Robertson (a UBC assistant professor of Anthropology) and the KWAGU'l GIXSAM CLAN.
Standing Up with GA'AXSTA'LAS took 10 years to write and incorporates extensive archival research, oral history and family meetings. The purpose of the book, termed affectionately throughout as the "Granny Cook book," is to place Cook's vocal and ongoing support for the potlatch ban within the complex political context of its time. The book holds a mirror up to the colonial history that Cook's life encompasses and the family stories, which thread throughout, reveal how "memory is embedded in genealogical knowledge."
GA'AXSTA'LAS existed in both the colonial and Indian world simultaneously. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, midwife, political activist, translator, and interpreter who served as the president of the Anglican Women's Auxiliary for more than 30 years, translated weekly sermons from English to Kwak'wala as they were being delivered, interpreted the McKenna-McBride Royal Commission of 1912, worked with anthropologist Franz Boas and translated the 1922 Potlatch Trials. These are only a few highlights.
Her history is inspiring but what remains after almost 600 pages of her biography is an unflinching demand for justice "in the realm of land, law and marriage practices."
The exhaustive research here, in combination with family reflection, reveals the strong and enduring morals that guided much of Cook's personal and political life. According to Cook's ancestor William Wasden Jr., "what a lot of our people are in denial about is what the potlatch became and why she was against it." Standing Up with GA'AXSTA'LAS answers that question.


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Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko after the Wembley epic brawl?
I read a recent interview conducted by one of the daily national papers about a retired sports person. One of the questions was whether in the course of his career, the feeling after victory differed to one after defeats. The answer to the question was that the instant feeling in both cases was similar. The difference is that feeling experience after victory is kept a bit longer in contrast to the feeling after a defeat.
I am sure that many readers will not be surprised and can relate to it. Even though you may have not competed at a professional level. I am also not surprised at the answer but the follow up question and answer is what I want to bring up or raise. The question was whether there was significant difference between the preparation prior to a victory or defeat.
The response to the question was that the bulk of the preparation was not different. This is the bit that I feel is missed in the post analysis of a high level sporting contest. There is a general assumption that the preparation is obvious and winners did it better than the losers in most cases. I agree that you have to be prepared to win a competitive contest or even life challenges but there is no evident difference in the basic preparation routines. The format or variation, technical and physical fitness routines appears different but the objective is the same.
On Saturday 29th April, Anthony Joshua beat Wladimir Klitschko in a heavyweight championship boxing contest, staged in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. There was many more millions watching on TV on the night.
The fans and critics came out with glowing reviews about the contest. The majority of the praise going to the victor Anthony and few acknowledging Wladimir's contribution. AJ won the contest and thus the view is he was the better fighter. However, only the critics do mention as after thought that it could easily have been his opponent.
There was ebb and flow during the boxing contest with both fighters hitting the canvas in 5th and 6th round. The difference is that AJ knocked Wladimir in 11th round few times to force the match referee to stop the fight. At the time of the stoppage, Joshua was up 96-93 and 95-93 on two cards, with Klitschko leading 95-93 on the other. The reason for pointing out the scorecard is to draw readers to issue that whilst the media coverage is on AJ with glowing praise for his courage and win. The reality is that Wladimir could have also won the match.
At the press conference, both boxers showed effects of the close boxing fight and were in similar spirits. The slight difference is in the actual speech. AJ is planning to keep the momentum and feeling a bit longer with evidence in social media posts and further media commitments.
In contrast, Wladimir's speech was a reflective one with message to reveal the next move in due course. Furthermore, there is no mention about the USB stick that contained his prediction about the fight. It is possible that it may not fetch the same fee, if he had won the contest.
It is always easier to analyse post-match and pick up the reasons for the outcome. However, I sense that when both fighters sit down with their management and trainers. It would be much difficult to separate the obvious reasons for the outcome. The preparation and technical ability will not be one of the reasons but execution of the strategy and indiscipline should be among them.
I hope that after the massive reviews that better coverage is given to Wladimir for his boxing abilities. For AJ, I hope that he does learn from the mistakes and works on them for future. As the options available to him are attractive.
In high level professional sporting contest, the difference between victory and defeat is so close and execution of your strategy and taking your chances, when it presents itself is the key. The feeling afterwards is not dissimilar in victory or loss.
You do get contests, whereby it is obvious the outcome regardless of the preparation and strategy or passion of the opponent.This was not the case in this boxing match and credit to both fighters for taking risks. It could easily have been an okay contest, as was evident in the first four rounds. This would increase the chances of both fighters avoiding hitting the canvas and rely on their boxing skills to convince the judges. The end result would be that fans moaning about the lack of excitement.
Significantly, it would have resulted in a closer debate about who deserves the victory and may have forced people to really analyse the fight. It did not happen because AJ and Wladimir decided midway to let go and give fans a brawl.
The key question is whether if there is re-match, I believe both fighters will approach the contest in similar fashion but the difference would be in the ring. I am confident that it would not be brawl but tactical.
Obioma Aguocha- is The Continent Observer sports analyst and a Self Publisher of " The Guide to being the Best (Paperback) 2007 and Sporting Success Simplified 2012 (E-book). You can follow him on Twitter at @sportingadvice


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Posted in Leigh Court | Comments Off on The Moon Loungers make their debut at Leigh Court, Bristol, for a wedding party
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You are currently browsing the Bristol Wedding Band | A Blog by the Moon Loungers weblog archives for March, 2010.
We (modestly!) like to think of ourselves as the premier wedding band in Bristol and the South West of England. Having performed at over 600 weddings across Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Bath since forming in 2006, we have got the whole wedding business down to a fine art.
Whether it's in our guise as an acoustic duo during the daytime, or getting the party started as a 3-piece wedding band in the evening, we always deliver the goods.
This blog contains write ups of pretty much every wedding we've played at since early 2009, so feel free to have a browse around the archives!
For more info, be sure to visit our official web site: www.themoonloungers.com


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Over the last two years, I've kept you updated on Civil Eats regarding a brewing controversy over school food nutrition standards. That battle now seems likely to end in a relative victory for children's health.
Here's the background. Greatly improved school meal nutritional standards went into effect in the 2012-13 school year, requiring more whole grains, a reduction in sodium and more fruits or vegetables. When they were first adopted in 2010, these new standards received bipartisan support as well as the endorsement of the School Nutrition Association (SNA), the nation's leading organization of 55,000 school food professionals.
But by early 2014, these same nutritional improvements looked like they might be rolled back. Claiming difficulties in implementation and increased food waste, the SNA surprised many observers by embarking on an aggressive lobbying campaign to weaken them during the 2015 reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.
While some speculated that Big Food (which funds half of the SNA's operating budget) was behind this sudden about-face, Politico's Helena Bottemiller Evich reported last summer that, by and large, the food industry had little interest in weakening the new standards because they had already spent time and money conforming its products to them. Instead, among the SNA's main allies in this fight were House Republicans, which meant that school food, historically a bi-partisan issue, became unusually politicized.
But after two years of highly charged, partisan debate, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (Republican-Kansas) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (Democrat-Michigan) have managed to broker a deal— the Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016. And so far it seems acceptable to both advocates and the SNA, while still supporting the kids' health.
Here are the specifics:
- Whole Grains: Under the current, improved nutrition standards, all grain-based foods served in schools have to be "whole grain-rich," meaning at least 51 percent the product's grain content must be whole grain. Citing alleged student rejection of these foods and problems with manufacturer supply, the SNA sought to weaken that rule by requiring that only half of all grain foods served be whole grain-rich. Under the compromise, the parties have settled on an 80 percent whole-grain rich standard, which means 20 percent of grain foods served could contain only refined grains. As a result, schools would be allowed to serve items like white rice or a white tortilla once a week, providing the school food operators with more flexibility.
- Fruits and Vegetables: The 2010 nutrition standards required children to take a half-cup serving of fruits or vegetables at lunch, but the SNA has sought to revert to the old system under which kids could pass up these healthful foods, potentially creating an all-beige tray on a daily basis. The Senate Agriculture Committee bill preserves the half-cup requirement, which is widely seen as a significant victory for health advocates and for the produce industry. However, the bill also asks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide guidance on the use of salad bars and so-called "sharing tables" (on which kids place unwanted, uneaten fruits and vegetables) to minimize food waste and ensure food safety.
- Sodium: Schools were already required to reduce sodium to meet so-called Target 1 levels by July 1, 2014. But in response to complaints from school food operators and some food manufacturers, the bill would give schools an extra two years (until July 1, 2019) to reach the next level of sodium reduction (Target 2). The bill further provides that a study will be conducted at that time to determine whether the final planned level of reduction (Target 3) is scientifically warranted, as well as evaluate the impact of the Target 2 level on school meal programs.
- A La Carte Foods: While the new "Smart Snacks in School" rules greatly improved competitive foods and beverages (sold in outlets like vending machines, fundraisers and school stores), some school food operators have complained that these rules limit their own a la carte sale of nutrient-dense but higher calorie items like hard-boiled eggs, hummus and low-fat pizza. Accordingly, the bill would establish a working group to exempt some nutrient-dense snacks.
- Other Items: The bill also includes provisions to: authorize a loan guarantee program for school food service equipment; double funding for Farm to School grants; require USDA to develop a plan to encourage the use of salad bars; and establish a School Nutrition Advisory Committee. The bill would also require studies on: best practices for nutrition education; training and technical assistance to help schools serve healthy food to kids; and if the varieties of milk served in schools affect milk consumption. And it would allow struggling schools a three-year transition period to move from serving canned, frozen, and dried to fresh fruits and vegetables in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
Reactions to the Compromise
In a press release issued last Friday, SNA President Jean Ronnei said the organization "was pleased to work alongside USDA in crafting practical solutions to help school nutrition professionals in their ongoing efforts to improve school meal programs for students. In the absence of increased funding, this agreement eases operational challenges and provides school meal programs critical flexibility to help them plan healthy school meals that appeal to students."
Food advocates also seem happy with the deal. Dana Woldow, writing for Beyond Chron, quotes Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids' Safe & Healthful Foods Project, as saying: "This plan keeps school meal programs moving forward with kids' health as the first priority." And New York University professor and food politics expert Marion Nestle told Woldow, "The SNA lost some significant battles here and its retrogressive demands have been greatly softened. This should give school food advocates much satisfaction that their efforts paid off and that school kids will be eating more healthfully as a result."
What Happens Now?
Bottemiller Evich, writing for Politico Pro (subscriber-only), outlines the next steps for the Senate Agriculture Committee compromise: "Following [the] markup of the bill, it'll just be up to the House to strike its own compromise—which may be easier said than done—or sign onto the Senate version, which the committee says has the support of the White House."
Stay tuned.
A version of this post originally appeared on The Lunch Tray.


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Webinar: (5/22) How Golf Channel uses SnapStream Cloud to watch TV around the globe. Sign Up
SnapStream Cloud is a new SnapStream, with a low monthly fee and no contract. So it's easy to install. By recording your local TV signal over IP, SnapStream is Internet accessible from anywhere.
* SnapStream Cloud supports 3rd party H.264 IP encoders. If you already have an encoder, there is no up-front cost to get started with SnapStream Cloud.
** SnapStream Cloud has all the power of SnapStream's TV recording, search and social integration, plus the ability to ShowSqueeze to H.264 profiles (no WMV transcoding.) Please note SmartChapters are not supported (commercial detection.)


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It might be getting harder to get legally high in Washington state.
On Thursday, the Drug Enforcement Administration sent letters to the owners and landlords of 23 of the state's medical marijuana businesses, stating the properties were subject to prosecution and seizure if they didn't shut down operationswithin the next 30 days, the Seattle Timesreports.
The DEA letters state the 23 businesses had been deemed to be 1,000 feet or closer to a school "or other prohibited area," but in fact state law does not authorize dispensaries of any type.
The letter, which was obtained by the Seattle Times, states:
Please be advised that distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, or manufactruing controlled substance, or aiding and abetting such an offense violates federal law. Doing any of these activities in close proximity to an educational facility or playground, subjects the person involved to enhanced penalties.
The names of the dispensaries have not been released.
Visit the Seattle Times for more details.
In a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's office Thursday, Jenny A. Durkan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington emphasized her commitment to keeping school zones drug free:
We all work hard to create a safe zone for kids in school. There is a reason that both federal and state laws prohibit sales of marijuana in school zones. We need to enforce one message for our students: drugs have no place in or near our schools.
Federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana, but some states, including Washington, have passed their own laws allowing for the possession, growing or selling of medicinal pot.
Since 1996, when California became the first state to pass such a law, 15 other states and the District of Columbia have passed some variation on the statute. Washington's law was originally passed in 1998 and was amended in 2008 and 2010.
There are more than 140 total medical-marijuana related businesses in Seattle alone, the Seattle Times notes. Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed a recent attempt to legalize and regulate the businesses, leaving that state with one of the must unregulated industries in the country, according to The Times.
Kimberly Mills, communications director for Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, told the newspaper that while the city generally keeps a hands-off approach towards dispensaries, any businesses inside school zones are fair game, and they know it.
This newest action is part of a larger crackdown on medical marijuana businesses by both local and federal authorities.
At the end of July, the mayor of Los Angeles signed a new dispensary ban, passed by the City Council, which aims to close all such facilities by Sept. 6, according to LA Weekly. Storefront sales are being targeted, although groups of three or fewer patients will still be able to legally cultivate the plant, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Yesterday, the city ratcheted up the pressure by asking federal authorities to help enforce the ban.
Patient Care Alliance Los Angeles, a trade association, has taken the city to court in an effort to vacate the law, Reuters reports. Cannabis advocates have also been pounding the LA pavement since the ban's passing in an effort to gather enough signatures to force a referendum to overturn the ordinance. If petition-gatherers can find 27,400 names in the next three weeks, the referendum would be put before voters in March, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Meanwhile, federal authorities in California have expanded a continuing crackdown on dispensaries, filing three lawsuits and sending cease and desist letters to more than 60 operations in Orange County, CBS News reports.
RSS Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/dea-to-washington-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-shut-down_n_1828031.html


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What is the most effective way to reach consumers and drive up-selling?
This question is among the chief drivers of enhanced consumer experience. Today's progressive banks and credit unions seek to uncover their customers' needs and desires as accurately as possible, using everything from experience maps, to surveys, to focus groups. Retail banking is bursting with new ideas about how to cross-sell, grab customers attention and convey their institution's value proposition succinctly. The general consensus is that "brand merchandising is the way forward". But there's a lot more to merchandising than a few branded racks adorned with colorful flyers, randomly placed about the branch.
Branding and merchandising are two aspects of marketing/advertising that come under the purview of retail communications. Retail communications is a field unto itself, which has evolved and grown more specialized over time.
Retail Communications
Retail communications is the means by which a retailer informs consumers about products and services, with the aim to expand customer base and increase loyalty and profits. This can be achieved by printed, digital, or other means. Banks and credit unions deploy retail communications in their branches in various forms, including computer monitors and flat screen TV's, as well as signage, posters and flyers. Without question there are opportunity costs for financial institutions that don't consider retail communications an important element of their overall marketing strategy. It is in fact crucial to projecting the F.I.'s value and relevance, as well as its total multi-channel offering.
Communicating the Value Story. Branches have an ecology all their own. This comprises an organizational series of layers beginning with branch design. Branch design (as well as being efficient) should be geared tightly toward branding themes and customer experience. Branch ROI is completely dependent on this. The brand identities of banks and credit unions are becoming increasingly differentiated and these distinctions can be used to influence everything from branch furniture and wall/floor coverings, to the shape of molded kiosks and tech bars. When retail communications media promoting all of an institution's business service lines are combined with these physical attributes, a powerful brand personality emerges. There is consistency. Customers feel they're in trusted hands. Loyalty, brand advocacy, and an expanded customer base will follow.
Multimedia Retail Communications. As stated, a variety of digital, printed and other material can and should be employed to broadcast a branch's available services. Not everyone prefers to view special offers and expanded services on a wall-mounted flat screen. Some people are more attentive to brochures and flyers. Others may be more inclined to notice posters, banners, or information positioned adjacent to places of activity, such as check desks. Ultimately, all of these different media combine to reinforce whatever messaging a bank branch or credit union may be promoting at any given time.
Customer Reminders and Personalization. Retail communications exists separately from the services and products themselves. In addition to in-branch reminders of when an offer expires, or its conditions, personal communications can be sent to customers' mobile devices, computers and physical mailboxes. These media can also be used to inform customers about possibilities such as product bundling, customized services, and products related to those currently used or subscribed to.
Branding is such a familiar term that it's easy to forget just how important a brand strategy really is. A community bank or credit union's brand represents everything about who you are and what you promise to deliver in terms of quality and service. The terms "brand" and "logo" are often used interchangeably, but a logo is really just one component of a company's brand. Your brand is the totality of every thought, sensation, opinion, and experience a person has about your company. Your bank logo is a graphical symbol that embodies all the brand's qualities in a single shape, pattern or character(s).
Branding and Customer Experience. Enhanced customer experience is the new grail for retail banking. Defining who your financial institution is as a brand and translating that into a physical branch, mobile banking apps, advertisements and a website is a process that requires close attention. Whether it's a multi- or omni-channel approach there are several things a financial institution's brand must do to ensure a positive, memorable encounter with customers:
- Create an attractive, vivid logo that people will instantly associate with your institution.
- Develop a tagline that briefly but clearly captures your brand's intrinsic nature and/or function.
- Produce a brand mission and incorporate its fundamental aspects in all your brand messaging.
- Build authentic culture within your organization that believes in and is true to your brand always.
- Generate a company voice or brand personality that communicates the "brand-image-as-character".
- Express the above in design of branches, apps, advertising, websites, issued cards, etc.
- Think like a customer to understand why they chose your brand experience over your competitors.
A Brand is a Living Entity. Having already made reference to "branch ecology" I'll state here that, in order to truly bring your brand to life, you have to find your niche. This is brand ecology rather than branch ecology, but the same layered principles apply; for your company to be the very best of its type, you want it to be as viable as possible, able to thrive under all industry parameters present in that niche. There's an obvious relationship between the niche aspects you most excel at and your typical customer profile. Your customers will recognize these strengths, be drawn to them, and expect the same level of service in related areas. If it isn't already, your brand will respond by expanding into these areas, sending a signal that it is alive and responding to customer demands in real time.
Logos, Logotypes and Wordmarks. Having established that a logo is not a brand, it is important to understand that a logo can nonetheless be considered a "brand in a nutshell". Logos can be a symbol, a word or words, or a combination of both. Logotypes and wordmarks are company logos composed of words, usually the company name. Some well-known examples are Coca Cola, Google and Visa. Your logo will appear on all materials associated with your financial institution, which is why it has to be discussed mindfully; a logo is designed to confer credibility on your organization, not just exist as an end in itself.
The American Marketing Association defines merchandising as "planning involved in marketing the right merchandise or service at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, and at the right price."
Merchandising has grown steadily in parallel with other trends in retail branch banking. The term is not generally well understood, partly because it covers the most fundamental aspects of what can simply be called "organized selling". The most popular use of the term is associated with the marketing and sales of souvenirs associated with sports teams/athletes and musicians/singers. In fact, it is athletes and rock stars who have championed the concept of the individual person as a "brand" through their merchandising efforts. Today's financial institutions can also be thought of as brands in this sense, with a personality and social voice. Selling the products and services via this voice and its accessories is merchandising.
Merchandising for the financial industry consists partly in the positioning of kiosks, dispensers and racks designed to showcase the breadth of a financial institution's services, but merchandising spans a vast range of possible outlets that financial institutions are only just starting to explore. Merchandising goes to the very heart of a bank or credit union's retail strategy, as it can determine the actual mix of products and services an F.I. offers as much as it describes the ways in which those products and services are displayed and advertised.
The physical and informational activity of promoting financial products and services in the retail context goes way beyond static (albeit attractive) displays. Everyone is familiar with free samples, limited price offers, in-store demos, and other direct-to-transaction type methods employed by stores today. Community banks and credit unions are slowly moving into this informational/novelty side of merchandising by hosting workshops, seminars, and other community events, and there is much ground to be gained on other industries in this regard.
Merchandising of services is a large scale undertaking for a super regional or national bank involving millions of dollars spent producing television commercials and international brand recognition initiatives. Community banks and credit unions focus on their much smaller locales, but this is no small task. The retail programs of smaller F.I.'s generally include:
- Creation of discrete retail zones within the branch.
- A range of product and service brochures set in dispensers.
- Branded equipment and check desks with built-in dispensers for informational flyers.
- Interactive digital equipment that informs and drives loyalty.
- Graphic walls with regional references and emphasis on local service.
- Cross/up-selling to newly onboarded customers via banking agents, signage and posters.
- Community engagement.
- Blogging and social media messaging.
- Local TV and radio promotions.
As you can see, branding and merchandising overlap deeply, and it's often difficult to place a retail or marketing effort into any one category. The transformational banking revolution we're currently undergoing depends heavily on retail communications and the brand-merchandising piece of the business. New branches look very different from how they looked in the past, so it's wise to place as much information and guidance in front of customers as possible. Consultation with a retail communications specialist who can deliver a custom designed experience map based on the size and shape of your branches is a crucial first step in building a successful retail program. If the branch isn't yet built, the best approach would be to hire an integrated delivery provider, as their retail communications people should be in-house and able to collaborate with the architect, builder, and any other stakeholders in the project.
When we think of branding and marketing for banks and credit unions, we think of something shiny, glossy and glamorous, and so we should; this is the communications and the human side of the financial industry and it must be compelling and planned well enough to make a real difference to your branch network ROI.
To download this article as a white paper, click here and go!


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Good Night Honey Bath Bomb
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A warming vanilla heart over a caramelised honey base.
Good Night Honey Bath Bomb.
For a warm sweetly scented bath time, full to the brim with skin calming and soothing bergamot and chamomile oils, to help swiftly send you to the land of nod.
Directions for Use
Drop your Bath Bomb in to a bath of warm water and watch as it fizzes, releasing its perfume and essential oils, while the Bicarbonate of Soda softens the water. Rinse bath well after use.
Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Aqua (Water), Cera Alba (Bees Wax), Citrus Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Oil, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, a-Isomethyl Ionone, CI 19140 (Yellow 5).
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Add a touch of cosy rustic charm to your home with our finest British sheepskin. These are proudly made from small family run tanneries across the UK that have worked with sheepskin over many generations. These sheepskins have a dense fluffy texture and incredibly soft underfoot.
Standard Delivery: from £4.95 per delivery to the UK mainland. For much larger rugs this may vary. We dispatch orders Monday to Friday. Please allow up to 5 working days for your delivery.
Overseas: from approx. £9.95 per delivery to Europe. We can deliver worldwide on most products excluding heavy items, so please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will be happy to provide a quote for shipping.


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Aircraft Engine, Nacelle, and Interconnect Wiring Harness Repair Services
There is a reason airlines and maintenance operations turn to Co-Operative Industries Aerospace & Defense when it comes to engine and nacelle wiring harness repair needs. When you select CIA&D for your harness repairs, you can depend on experienced technicians and a dedicated staff.
Backed by FAA, EASA, and CAAC certifications this repair center delivers cost effective harness and interconnect repair services combined with responsive turn-times. This combination can save an organization both time and money – valuable assets in today's tough business environment.
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FAA, EASA, and CAAC Certified for Electrical Wiring Harnesses and Cables used on:
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Repair Station Certifications:
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- CAAC No. F00100406


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Invicta Primary School Learning Charter
At Invicta we aspire for all our children to:
- Enjoy the moment and prepare for their future.
- Enjoy a happy, safe and healthy lifestyle.
- Learn with confidence, enthusiasm and high expectations.
- Consider others with respect and tolerance.
We achieve this by providing:
- Excellent teaching – providing excellent learning for every child.
- A caring school - valuing the contribution of children, parents and the wider community.
- A creative curriculum - giving children real, purposeful and challenging learning experiences.
- A rewarding atmosphere – taking every opportunity to celebrate the achievements and successes of our children.


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It is not that the communist régime refused to reform, writes Dalrymple,
it is that it was incapable of reform for the same reason that a woman can't be a little bit pregnant. If a régime makes the kind of claim for itself that the communist régime made, even if the leaders had themselves long since ceased to believe it, namely that it is the ineluctable dénouement of history if not that of the universe, it cannot retreat. This is because its crimes, claimed to be a step in the march of history, would thereafter be seen for what they were: the choices of fanatical psychopaths avid for total power.


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Kingsisle sent out small images/ puzzle pieces to all of the Official Pirate101 Fansites. All of the images represent small puzzle pieces that should be put together for one main image. I have two pieces of puzzle showing little areas and when put together it'll show a huge picture(s) of new content that's sailing its way to Pirate101! There are 14 puzzle pieces for each puzzle, I have two of them. Make sure to view the other Pirate101 Fansite's puzzle pieces also. Are ye up for the challenge? Sail your way to the other Pirate101 Fansites to put the puzzle pieces together. Note: A few of the other Fansites may only post one today and another tomorrow. I'll post a link to the Pirate101 Fansites below. Here's my two pieces of the puzzle, remember there are two puzzles, I have one of each!
For more puzzle pieces, sail to the other Pirate101 Fansites by clicking the link below!


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On the surface, Pearl Earl and Siamese, two of North Texas' most innovative rock bands, appear to sail different musical waters.
The women of Pearl Earl traffic in psych-rock with heavy grooves and charging guitars that at times hearken back to late '60s San Francisco. Siamese make noisey rock, too, but instead filter it through art, glam and shoegaze soundscapes.
Both bands have upcoming albums on the way — Pearl Earl's self-titled release is tentatively scheduled to drop in May, and Siamese's The Mesmerist comes out on March 3 — so we'll be seeing a lot more of them this year. In the meantime, the bands' lead guitarists and vocalists, Ariel Hartley of Pearl Earl and Teddy Georgia Waggy of Siamese, have recently set aside some time to collaborate. The result is a slinky tune, "Time Is a Circle."
"Teddy's bad at hanging out with people unless it's built on music, so we started linking up to play and get to know each other better," Hartley writes by email, when asked about the collaboration. Though the two bands play many of the same venues, prior to this collaboration Waggy and Hartley had only admired each other's work from afar.
"The first time we hung out, we ended up mutually admitting that we had compared ourselves to each other and been jealous of the other's musical prowess," Hartley says. "It was refreshing to be so honest with a fellow musician and fellow female, and it was nice to realize we weren't alone in our faults — or our Facebook stalking. After that we joined forces."
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Using minimal outside reinforcements, the pair jammed at Waggy's house, trading vocals, guitar parts and synth riffs, while Hartley handled bass and Waggy managed the drum kit. The DIY aesthetic extended into the production, with Waggy engineering and mixing the sessions into a final product.
"We had a lyrical concept in mind about the behavioral loops we fall into, healthy or destructive, and the struggle to see yourself clearly enough to get control over them, and we wanted to express that in the arrangement as well," Waggy writes.
The vocals also add to the track's intrigue, with both artists fluctuating in range and tone for maximum effect. "We drew some inspiration from [David] Bowie and [Freddy] Mercury's collaboration on 'Under Pressure,'" Waggy says. "We each have very distinct vocal styles and wrote these two 'masculine' and 'feminine' melodies to amplify the different timbres."
The song's rhythmic melodies have a cinematic quality that begs for visual accompaniment, so hopefully a music video is on the horizon. Both artists will be busy touring behind their respective bands' new releases for the next few months, but agree "Time Is a Circle" will be the beginning of something bigger. They say a full album could very well be in the cards.


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As many of Brian's followers know, The Chamber of Mysteries dinner and show is the only ongoing show in Malta where people can go and see some astounding magic and illusion all year round. We have a video from a televised feature further below for you to watch!
Despite his several performances in Malta and abroad, all the acts (apart from just a few signature acts) showing at the Chamber of Mysteries are exclusive to the show there. This is set in a small theatre, designed specifically for the show and runs on a weekly basis all year round.
During the show, guests experience magic, illusions and mind reading in an intimate close up environment. There's really no other experience like it. Brian and Lola have created a way in order to present famous stage illusion in a close up manner, with people helping them at various stages throughout the show. Tables fly over people's heads, borrowed items vanish and end up in unexpecting places, people's minds are read and predictions are produced and everything is achieved at very close quarters with people surrounding Brian and Lola.
Since the opening of the show way back in 2011, thousands of guests from all over the world have visited to witness this amazing experience, many of them booking months in advance due to the limited availability.
Then in June 2016, Brian and Lola were awarded the IMS Merlin Award, the most prestigious award in magic, for their show at the Chamber of Mysteries. Holders of this award include the likes of the world's most acclaimed magicians including David Copperfield, Criss Angel and Siegfried and Roy amongst many other famous magicians.
Throughout the years, the show gained recognition the world over, with interviews on satellite television and camera crews coming to talk to Brian and Lola and capture exclusive moments from the show . Here's one of those interviews that was broadcast in Russia.
#dinnershowmalta #chamberofmysteries
Share and Spread the Magic


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'Phone calls on hands-free were hassle-free and all of our callers were able to hear us clearly.'
'good phone'
'The Samsung B3310 mobile phone is a basic, no-frills phone that is best suited for individuals who need a simple phone to communicate with their family and friends, and for occasional Internet surfing. '
'In a word or two
The Samsung B3310 is a distinctive looking phone that is easy to use and enjoy.'
'The display on the Charm is not as vibrant as most other Android phones.'
'Many Android Market apps are unavailable.'
'low-grade photos and videos'
'The speakerphone provided clear, but soft, outbound audio and reasonable inbound audio.'
Screen is extremely low-res
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February 12, 2009 in Fish
We built our house back in 1995 and have lived here ever since. You would think that in those years I would have gotten to know the local resources much better but its not as easy as you might think. For one, there are not that many resources here to begin with. Note also that I didn't grow up here nor do I have any family within a 2000 mile radius, we are on our own. We don't know all the little hidden gems so we have been slowly uncovering them ourselves. There are so many we may never find!
We don't live in outer mongolia but in terms of food, yeah, we do. The local restaurants are best if they are the pizza joints. The others, especially the ones that have illusions of haute cuisine, are not worth the trip down the hill.
If you read this blog, you know I found a fantastic local resource in B.T.'s Smokehouse run by Brian Treitman. Not only does Brian pour everything into his BBQ, he has been great to get to know!
I have written several posts on his food:
- An improbable meat nirvana in a BBQ wasteland
- Criminally Good Smoked Salmon and Bacon – B.T.'s Smokehouse
- Food Photo 101: Shooting BBQ
- A Tasty Carboniferous Terroir
We have no real main streets because all business activity has long since been completely co-opted by big box stores some miles away. We certainly didn't move here for the food but over the years, a steady diet of Stop n Shop blandness can wear on you.
A few years ago I came across a great local butcher, Ed Stearns Dressed Meats butcher shop in Charlton, MA (a hike but close in relative terms). They began business in 1932 so they have been around for a few years. I love supporting local businesses like this especially because its a family business making it in a tough big box world.
My latest great food related fortune has been finding a recently opened fish shop in Sturbridge, MA. Stop n Shop has a fish counter but its bland and the attendants do not know anything about their products. Also, they sell NO whole fish and if asked, they generally look at me like I grew a second head!
So you can imagine how happy I was when I first noticed the G & R Fish Market open in Sturbridge about a year or so ago. They are located at 135 Main St, Sturbridge, MA 01566-1569 (map). In that time I have not had a real free moment to check them out until late last week.
I walked in and was greeted by Sebastiano, one of the market owners. My goodness, he was so welcoming. This is absolutely a good sign because it means he loves what he does. I once visited a fish market in West Concord, MA (Twin Seafood) and felt utterly overwhelmed and a bit terrified by the stridency of their way of doing business.
Sebastiano is the polar opposite, very calm and very excited to hear of my interest in getting some fish bones and whole fish. I found myself making a special order. He was going into Boston to the great fish sellers there and find something for me. I asked him to surprise me. This last Tuesday we got a fantastic 2 foot bluefish that had been caught that morning. This is a fish I have never had before and I have only grilled whole fish so this was going to be a new experience for me.
After taking all sorts of shots of the fish, I gutted it. I remember gutting fish as a kid while camping and I also have a lot of experience gutting chickens we dispatch in our backyard so this was not difficult.
From here its simply a matter of removing the scales (very easy with this fish), rinsing, stuffing the cavity with cilantro, lemons, lime, bit of sea salt, cutting the fish in a few places to encourage even cooking time, olive oil, garlic, salt. I then threw it in a 425F oven for 25 minutes or so, checking the cuts for doneness of the meat (just opaque, just flaky)
The fish came out just barely cooked, lightly scented by the citrus, garlic, and cilantro. It had a distinct flavor that was quite delicious. Its not bland like salmon can be, it holds it own but in a way that is lovely. Be sure to remove the dark meat as that has a much more fishy flavor that some may not like. Everyone in our family loved it from the toddler on up. I will be making stock from the head and bones!
As this is a larger fish and carniverous, it sits at the top of the food chain. For this reason it does bioaccumulate toxins and heavy metals. Its a great once in a while treat but not something a young family or young women wants to eat on a regular basis.


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Sometimes temporary can turn into permanent if you aren't careful. That is what happened when I opened our Double Brush Etsy store and Double Brush Artfire store and threw up a cobbled together store banner. That was a couple of years ago, and today I was finally able to put up something better.
I wanted something that reflected our company, about who we are and where we live. We photographed our newest candle design of monogrammed hand rolled beeswax hearts with one wick connecting them, on a mossy log. I love this log in our Hawaiian rainforest back yard with the different mosses and little Ohia trees growing on them. I also like the soft ferns growing under it and was so sad that so much of the photo had to be edited out.
This is our new banner. What do you think?


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Vivian Girls Vivian Girls(In The Red) Buy it from Insound
It starts with discordance. Things don't quite seem to be gelling on opener All the Time as distant distortion sets in and a disjointed chorus comes out of nowhere. All at once there's a squall of lo-fi confusion and dissidence. Slowly, things start to make sense and by the time the catchy third track Wild Eyes comes along the Vivian Girls' latent strengths are clear. They follow in the vein of the shoegazer generation, but never wallow in their sounds. Instead the Brooklyn trio keeps it quick and direct, with their voices hidden behind Spector-sized reverb and surf guitar noise. It's when those voices rise above and criss-cross to reach near angelic harmonies that the magic occurs.
Tell the World and Where Do You Run sit at the center of the album and act as its emblematic core. Together they represent the two sides of this band, the chaotic tiny squall, and the serenity within it. When singing in unison on the clamorous Tell the World their voices sound like those of shut-in, malnourished cousins of The B52's. Where Do You Run is the slower-paced yin to the rest of the albums yang. Lengthier and more precise than the rest, it resonates for reasons different than the other tracks here. Their voices can be focused on and deconstructed, and its apparent that real splendor is in fact present.
Their lyrics are mostly unintelligible and buried, but my guess is that they're as primitively insightful as the music. Even the closing song I Believe in Nothing seems to exude a type of nihilistic wisdom. The ever-insightful No contains only one word -it's title- repeated throughout the one minute and 19 second running time. It's more about resonance and mood anyway, and titles like Going Insane match that mood perfectly.
Their proficiency at their instruments is questionable, but it doesn't matter in the slightest. Imagine a band of Meg Whites and voilá, four-note solos suddenly sound inspired. Vivian Girls preserve the very essence of rapid, unpolished garage rock. The hooks here are not blatant, obvious, or even easy to pluck out. Listen actively; They leave us to fill in their spaces. For this the album stays in your head, but only as a fragmented and foggy recollection of something that was enjoyable. That means a subsequent spin is always a viable and gratifying option.
It is too soon to tell whether this is a calculated success or an accidental triumph. Somehow, the 21 minutes spent with Vivian Girls are innocent and punctuated by brief moments of euphoria that make this debut more than worthwhile. But be warned, the hype machine does have a hold of them and for many this will be a love-it or hate-it affair. As for me, I think it's obvious which it is.9 February, 2009 - 00:59 — Brett Oronzio


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Startseite // FHSE // News & E... // The « Hennicot-Schoepges award for Excellence in Teaching » goes to...
Diesen Bericht teilen:
Veröffentlicht am Donnerstag, den 18. Februar 2016
André Melzer received the "Hennicot-Schoepges for Excellence in Teaching 2014/2015" for FLSHASE teachers. Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Luxembourg since 2012, he teaches in the area of media psychology and social psychology.
André Melzer, nominated for this award by his students, said he was "deeply touched and flattered".
He said that the key to success with students lies in the ability to make learning entertaining. "The students should never be bored. We have to find ways to communicate with them. Learning should be fun".
André Melzer also tries to motivate his students using new technologies ."I like to combine tools. For example, I don't only use slides but also video clips that connect to the subject."


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The objective of the Collection of good practices and lessons learned on target setting and reporting under the Protocol on Water and Health is to provide concrete advice to countries planning to embark on the process of setting, revising or implementing targets, and reporting on the progress achieved in accordance with the Protocol.
In 2010, the Guidelines on the Setting of Targets, Evaluation of Progress and Reporting were published to assist Parties in addressing challenges related to setting targets and reviewing and assessing progress. While applying the Guidelines, countries accumulated ample experiences including stories and key elements that contributed to the success of the process, as well as areas where things could have been done differently. Recognizing the usefulness of this collective experience and the benefits from learning from and replicating good practices, the Task Force on Target Setting and Reporting under the Protocol decided to prepare the present publication.
The Collection represents a compilation of success stories, challenges and diverse approaches applied by Parties and other States working within the framework of the Protocol. It aims to complement the Guidelines for setting targets and reporting by focusing on the ways in which countries have implemented them in practice. It follows the logical framework laid out by the Guidelines, and covers each step of the process.
Download the publication in English and French.


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- About Us
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- Why choose a serviced apartment
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Set in a highly desirable street in London's exclusive Kensington borough. The apartment comes with high ceilings lots of light and is incredibly spacious - perfect for a family.You are well located for exploring the best of what the Royal Borough has to offer with High Street Kensington just 10 minutes walk to the north. Here you'll find shops galore, everything from high street brands to independent boutiques as well as the flagship Wholefoods store (great for an eat-in meal or for one of the vast selections of fresh take-away meals to enjoy at home if you don't fancy cooking). You also find restaurants cafes antique shops and a cinema. Walk to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park in just over 15 minutes or The Museums of South Kensington (Natural History Victoria & Albert and Science) as well as the Royal Albert Hall are no more than a 15-20 minute walk. Walking through the private front door which is entered on the lower ground floor guests will find themselves in the long entrance hall. White walls large windows and high ceilings ensure the entire property is consumed in natural light throughout.The incredibly spacious living area is to be found at the back of the apartment at the end of the hallway. This hallway opens up to host a chez lounge large antique wall mounted mirror and more uniquely a bust of Margaret Thatcher!The living area is an absolute triumph. Carpeted it boasts a fireplace where a three seater sofa and armchair surround a mahogany coffee table. There is a flat screen cable television for entertainment. Further to the coffee table there is a small rounded corner table with inset chess board - a reading lamp and globe sit proudly here. It is a great space for the whole family to gather at the end of a long day.To the left of the living area is the modern kitchen. There are integrated red units offering plenty of storage space for guests groceries a built in oven microwave dishwasher extractor fan and separate cooking hob. An impressive American style fridge/freezer has a water and ice machine. Conveniently this kitchen space is large enough to also house a dining table with chairs allowing everyone to enjoy breakfast lunch and a more formal evening meal at home together.Out of the kitchen two double doors provide access to an utterly charming squared courtyard - walled on all four sides it is decked to give a sense of quality. There are two magnificent plants and 'climbers' which provide greenery. Outdoor furniture in the form of two armchairs a sofa and table ensure it is a great spot for alfresco dining. The master bedroom which is situated off the main hallway is a beautiful en-suite room. A large window ensures the room feels light and airy it has a king sized bed huge mirror fronted fitted wardrobes large red armchair and two matching bed side tables with reading lamps. The en-suite is beautifully finished and comprises a walk-in shower wash basin heated towel rail and WC. Opposite this master bedroom is the family bathroom. This offers a roll top bath round marble wash basin heated towel rail bidet and a WC. Like the en-suite and the rest of this home it is finished to a reassuringly high standard.There are two further well lit double bedrooms. Both are tastefully decorated and provide chest of drawers and wardrobes for guests belongings. One boasts a well stocked book shelf with mirrors adorning the walls. The fourth and final bedroom is perfect as a child's bedroom. There is a single bed and it benefits greatly from a large window which looks out onto the courtyard. This bedroom doubles up as a great study area offering a small desk and chair.Finally there is a utility room which houses the separate washing machine and dryer. For convenience there is another WC here too.
For exploring the Capital Gloucester Road Underground Station is only a 5 minute walk to the East (on the District and Circle lines and within Zone 1) or Earl's Court to the south also provides access to the Piccadilly Line which goes straight into the centre of London in 10 minutes.
Apartment Type
3-7 nights
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This article explains how you can manage your image exports in the new Recovery Launchpad.
- Datto Partner Portal
- New Recovery Launchpad
You can manage your image exports directly from the Partner Portal home page.
Creating an image export
1. From the Partner Portal, navigate to Status → BCDR Status.
Figure 1: Partner Portal page (click to enlarge)
2. Click the name of the device for which you wish to create an image export.
Figure 2: Device name (click to enlarge)
3. Click RECOVERY LAUNCHPAD at the top right of the page.
Figure 3: The Recovery Launchpad button (click to enlarge)
4. Click START IMAGE EXPORT.
Figure 4: The Start Image Export button (click to enlarge)
5. Select the system, export format, and your desired recovery point. Click the date under the Choose Recovery Point column to select a recovery point.
You'll see the latest recovery point displayed by default.
Figure 5: Choose a system and file type (click to enlarge)
Figure 6: Choose a recovery point (click to enlarge)
6. Click EXPORT IMAGE.
Figure 7: System and file type selection page (click to enlarge)
The Launchpad will automatically remove exports 30 days after the date you created them.
Downloading an image export
1. To download the export you've created, click the icon under the DOWNLOAD field.
Figure 8: The image exports download field (click to enlarge)
2. A Download Image Export modal window will appear. Click LAUNCH SFTP. Clicking this button will open the default SFTP client installed on your computer.
Due to size limitations, you will need to download the image export via SFTP.
Figure 9: The Download Image Export window (click to enlarge)
Deleting an image export
1. Access the Image Exports pane by navigating to the Partner Portal and selecting Status → BCDR Status. Click the name of the device for which you wish to delete an image export, then click RECOVERY LAUNCHPAD at the top right of the page.
Figure 10: The Image Export pane (click to enlarge)
2. Click the wastebasket icon to the right of the desired export, then click DELETE IMAGE EXPORT in the modal window that follows.
Figure 11: The wastebasket icon (click to enlarge)
3. Click Close.


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After many years of sitting in on sales calls and even more providing feedback to salespeople in sales simulations, we've noticed there definitely is variability in the amount and quality of pre-call planning.
Pre-call planning improves when someone else is on the call, like a sales manager, colleague, or even a consultant along as an observer. But the boost doesn't last. Too often it's replaced by the amount of time salespeople have in their car prior to the call or the time it takes to drink a latte at Starbucks.
This story has been told thousands of time. No need to rehash it here. What's more interesting is talking about a frequently missing ingredient in pre-call planning – even when pre-call planning does happen. Salespeople usually identify what they want to say and what questions they want to ask, but they stop there. They omit considering want to propose as the next step to move the sales cycle forward. As many sales managers have told us – every salesperson should close for a commitment that moves the sales cycle forward on every call.
When giving feedback in sales simulations we often share with sales reps and managers that the sales person should plan multiple advances. Why? If the call doesn't go as well as planned, they can close the call with something less aggressive that moves the sale along. On the other end of the spectrum, what if the call goes better than anticipated? If they haven't thought about a more aggressive advance – how will they close the call? Too often the result is a missed opportunity. The best planned and executed sales call that doesn't end with moving the sales cycle don't lead to generating revenue!
If you found this post helpful, you might want to join the conversation and subscribe to the Sales Training Connection.
©2017 Sales Momentum® LLC


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Thank you also to everyone who gave me their kind birthday wishes. You know I love you!
And last but not least, my eternal love and unending gratitude to the awesome antha_aryn, my co-mod in the ShuuKira comm, who allegedly organized all this. I love you so much that I wish I could just come over to wherever you are and give you a ginormous glomphuggle. Where would I be without you?
Fics I Received (All ShuuKira)
You Are The Moon by antha_aryn
Wishes by theacidqueen
The One You Love The Most by chibi_zoe
Still Cute by calmingeffects
Two Different Things by liralen
Hugging Sake and Be Grey by yawns_widely
Foundation, The Start Of Friendship by shadowgirl1605
Shuuhei's Scars by stark_black
Birthday by barukode
Secret Worth Keeping by day_eight (this one wasn't necessarily part of the birthday activity that was arranged by Antha, but I gave D8 a prompt and she fulfilled it, so I thought I might put it on the list too! ♥)
Art I Received (Kira and ShuuKira)
Cheers for Kira by letainajup
Untitled by arrankaara
Untitled by ikaname
Untitled by Silver (of silverharmony)
Untitled by ravient (This is an art of Hibari from Reborn, which I'm separating here because it's a different fandom, but it's just as special :D)
My apologies if I'd missed or forgotten or haven't yet received any - just prod me and I will put them on the list ASAP :D
Also, a great Happy Birthday to Kira Izuru today - one of my two most favorite characters from Bleach! Looking at all the awesome and appropriate fanart and fanfic I got, it's a lucky thing that my birthday and his are only two days apart.
Again, thank you, everyone.
- Harmony


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Here are the 4 visible signs (Volatility Sentiment, Magazine Indicator, COT Percentile , Gold Oil Ratio) we look into it to predict the possible bottom in Crude.
NYMEX Crude Might Hit Back Again
Now crude is trading around $48.94 & as we can see on charts, its approaching to the broken tradeline of last symmetrical triangle pattern. This recovery seems to be a corrective one due to less volume & weak candlestick structure. However small timeframe charts showing some positivity but day & weekly charts are still bearish.
The Volatile Crude and the Rude Global Markets
On monday international crude breaks more than 5% and settled around $50 level which is the lowest settlement since April 2009. Crude tumbled heavily after data showed Russian oil output at post-Soviet era highs averaging 10.58 million barrels per day and Iraq plans to expand crude exports to 3.3 million barrels a day this month.
Daily commodity technical analysis – November 12, 2014
Gold fail to get stability above $1172 mark & fall back. However the move was not well supported by volume due to bank holiday in US market. Coming back to technical an triangle pattern ranging from $1172 – $1153 will declare the direction with break out.
Daily Commodity Technical Analysis Overview – 3rd Nov 2014
Gold consolidating after sharp fall & trying to retest the broken support level turned into resistance. WE may witness more weakness as far as $1182 area remains as EOD resistance.
IS Crude Ready to Fall More?
Now crude is trading around $81.30 & we can see on charts crude unable to trade able broken support area of $84.20 while a formed a very bearish candlestick pattern just below the resistance. The minor ascending channel broken by crude suggest that consolidation done here & we may witness more downfall in coming trading sessions. Technically crude may find support at $79-77 area but before the hidden negative divergence (LH/HH) will do its job.
Crude Technical Analysis – Continue Holding Support.
Crude continue trading in tight range after finding a support just under $90 mark as mention in our last article. Last few days trading showing a slow down in downside movement while the construction of positive candlestick pattern with continue positive divergence suggesting a bounce ahead. A lower trend line support of minor descending channel still favor shot covering.
Crude Technical Analysis – Corrective Bounce Ahead?
Now crude is trading around $92.40 & the bounce $90 mark is well supported by many factors like 261.8% February retracement. , a lower trendline of descending channel as well as a very strong positive divergence. All this together providing a buying opportunity at current level.
Crude Reaching Reversal Zone Once Again.
Now crude is trading around $103.60 & as we can see on charts, crude once again reaching to the resistance zone ,from where we already witness 2 reversal earlier. The candlestick pattern producing a negative candlestick pattern which suggest for a reversal ahead. At the same time indicators showing over bought situation.
Crude technical outlook – crude on major support.
Now crude is trading at $93.35 & as we can see on charts crude is sustaining above the lower trade line of long term ascending channel which made top $112 in last run. This tradeline becoming more powerful when it came in combination of lower trade line of minor descending channel (shown in chart) & a parallel support from the bottom made on in last 3 times. At the same time RSI continue trading with a major possibility of positive divergence.
Crude Oil Short term Technical Outlook
Now crude is trading around $97.80 & as we can see on charts, crude was able to manage above 61.8% feb correction level of last ascending wave.This area also supported by the parallel support area of june 2013 as well as the oversold indicators were looking for some relief.
Crude Technical outlook – reversal possible in coming days ?
Crude oil's rally continued last week and reached as high as 109.32 dollar/barrel. Crude given a long bull run in new financial year. Now its time to review at reversal possibilities.


text: Tails 101 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 @Noneatme Do engineStreamingSetProperty( "infiniteStreaming", true ), that should fix it. Also there's currently an optimization feature enabled which cannot be disabled at the moment, that might explain some of the other popping in and out of buildings in the far distance. the_GTA told me. Link to post


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Wavy Blonde Vixen WigProduct # CA70542
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You'll make an adorable Goldilocks when you add this blonde wig to your costume. The wig is made from a high-quality hair-like material and stays in place on the head with an elastic top. You'll make your storybook or fairytale costume even better by adding this blonde wig.
Recommended Accessories
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Paola Sanchez, CME
The best Laser Hair Removal, Laser Vein Removal, and Laser Skin Tightening in South Florida with top-of-the-line Candela lasers
Paola Sanchez, CME, Aesthetician and Laser Technician
Paola is a licensed and certified medical aesthetician and laser technician with over 10 years' experience in the industry of health and beauty.
Paola has extensive knowledge in the laser cosmetic and dermatology fields, making her an expert consultant for all skin care needs. Her understanding of how laser hair removal works has inspired her with a passion and mission to keep up with changing technology enables her to offer the most advanced service in the industry.
Today, she performs over 15 hair removal procedures per day on a variety of skin and body types, making her one of the most experienced laser technicians in our local area. She has done over 10000 laser hair procedures.
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Favorite Medspa Service to Administer:
"By far my favorite application is the Candela laser hair removal. Women achieve the best laser hair removal results in the industry, and always come back to treat additional areas."
My experience overall was outstanding. I cannot believe how satisfied I am. The staff is very nice and helpful. Stephanie and Nayra was beyond personable and their willingness to assist makes me want to come back even more! I will be sure to come back and refer others here! I enjoyed my laser hair removal session. Come and check Estucia center out! Thank you Stephanie and Nayra for making me feel comfortable and taking out the time to make sure I was well taken care of!!
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I cannot thank Citgem, the PA, enough for all she has done to Beautify me. From HCG diet to fillers, she has been a life changer both mentally and physically. She is knowledgeable and caring in all that she does and is super motivating!! I highly recommend her for any of your beautifying needs!! You rock, Citgem!!!
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THEY HAVE HELPED ME LOSE 60lbs in 12 weeks!!!!! I love you Dr. Ronald Ackerman as well as Jamie Ackerman and Stephanie. You guys were there for me through out the entire thing. They even gave me there cell phone number for 24 hour access. With out you I would still be in my house not wanting to leave unless I absolutely had to. The anxiety was so great. YOU ARE ALL THE BEST! This is like THE HCG DIET ON STEROIDS!
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NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace announced a new planetary rover engineering competition called Exploration Robo-Ops Student Challenge, according to NASA.
NASA's actual Mars rovers, named Spirit and Opportunity, are mobile robots that have been exploring Mars since 2004.
University teams are eligible to win up to $10,000 for designing and building a planetary rover, then demonstrating its capability to perform a series of tasks at the NASA Johnson Space Center's Rock Yard in Houston, Texas.
Graduate and undergraduate engineering teams with a faculty advisor are eligible to compete. Teams are required to submit a project plan proposal by Dec. 15.


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One of the most advanced and latest treatments of regenerative medicine is Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (also called PRP).
PRP injections are an increasingly popular alternative to surgery and offer extraordinary results for patients of all ages who suffer from physical injuries and inflammation pain such as arthritis, tendon and muscle tears and bursitis.
Platelets are small cells in the blood responsible for clot formation and repair of damaged tissues. PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) consists of a sample of your own blood, where a platelet concentrate is extracted along with multiple growth factors and then injected into the injured area. The procedure takes approximately one to two hours, including preparation and recovery time. This provides a blend of growth factors, dramatically improving the body's natural healing process for faster, more efficient restoration, and healthier tissue.
Dr. Pichardo tells us that "The best thing of all is that the injection of PRP is very safe, and since the patient's own blood is being used and the treatment is the same day, the risk is minimal." While other medical procedures carry a risk of reaction to medicines, not with PRP. The most common risks are of very mild pain or stiffness of the treated joint for the following 1-2 hours.
PRP has been used for over 20 years in numerous surgical fields to improve the healing of severe burns, bone transplant, to accelerate wound healing and reduce the risk of infection after surgery. Today's medical research and other intensive studies are demonstrating great benefits offered by PRP for joint pain, soft tissue injuries, disc degeneration, and arthritis, with the aim of improving the body's ability to heal itself naturally.
The treatment is done safely in the office, and can relieve pain without the risks of surgery, general anesthesia, hospital stays and without a prolonged recovery. In fact, most people return to their usual jobs or activities the next day after the procedure.
The PRP treatment is used for acute and chronic conditions as well as preventative medicine. PRP can be used on the face to help reduce lines, wrinkles and acne scars and also helps to form collagen. For people who suffer from hair loss, it has also shown excellent result on stimulating hair growth.
Dr. Pichardo is a national spokeswoman from the Stem Cell Institute of America and also the main lecturer from Advanced Physical Medicine. Together with the Stem Cell Institute of America, Advanced Physical Medicine is one of the first medical centers in the Orlando area that offers this type of advanced therapy. For more info call 407-282-3615, 953 N. Semoran Blvd., Orlando, FL 32807, www.AdvancedPhysicalMedicine.com


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Phylum: Arthropoda - Class: Insecta - Order: Lepidoptera - Family: Pieridae
In the, USA butterflies that are called 'Yellows' in Europe are also commonly referred to as 'Sulphurs' (or 'Sulfurs'). The Little Sulphur is also referred to as the Little Yellow, therefore, but in either case there can be no cause for argument over the adjective 'Little'.
The wingspan ranges from 2.5 to 3.5cm, and when this low-flying butterfly alights on pale flowers it is not at all easy to spot.
Breeding throughout central America and the southern states of the USA, with some adults migrating through the central states of the USA, this rather pallid butterfly also occurs the West Indies including Barbados, where this photograph was taken in late April.
The larval foodplants are Cassia (senna) species in the family Fabaceae, and the caterpillars, which emerge from white eggs, are green with a pale stripe along each side.
In the tropical climate of the Carribbean these butterflies can be seen all through the year; the adults fly weakly and live in rough grassland, where they take nectar from various kinds of daisies (Asteraceae).
Studying butterflies and moths...
If you found this information helpful, you would probably find the new 2017 edition of our bestselling book Matching the Hatch by Pat O'Reilly very useful. Order your copy here...
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Hey coaches,
In order to deploy an update, the BB2 servers will be undergoing maintenance tomorrow October 4th from 10AM to 4.00PM (CEST).
The update should follow on consoles next week. Meaning the Season 10 of the Champion Ladder should start next week. More info soon.
Have fun on the pitch,


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Fringe Festival 2015: Weekend highlights
A busy weekend at the 2015 Minnesota Fringe Festival meant plenty of long lines, unusually intimate settings, and getting to one show with mere seconds to spare. It also meant plenty of shows. Reviews of the festival will run all week, but here are a few weekend highlights.
Loudmouth Collective
This isn't quite like "Stuck in the Middle with You" from Reservoir Dogs, but The Smiths "The Queen is Dead" will never be the same after the final moments of Sam Landman's Pretty Girls Make Graves.
There's quite a twist that comes at the end of the show, which -– as good twists do -– both makes you re-examine everything that has been said to that point, and makes it hard to write a full review without spoiling it all.
Basically, BMX is cleaning her brother's apartment after he died. His current girlfriend, Carla, stops by to pick up some of her things. The pair talks, drink a lot, and take a few hits of pot.
They talk about the dead man, and the messed-up paths they've taken to get to this point. How do the Smiths fit into all of this? BMX is obsessed with Morrissey, Marr, and the other two guys that no one remembers. In fact, she has reduced her musical life to the band's five albums and 71 songs.
Katie Willer (BMX) and Emily Dussault (Carla) breathe plenty of life into Landman's often funny, sometimes horrifying script, and the use of actual Smiths (and at one point, Jethro Tull) vinyl is a brilliant touch.
And it got me to pull my own Smiths vinyl out. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday morning.
New Epic Theater
Making a deep play about shallow people is a tough assignment. Having Oscar Wilde in your corner certainly helps, as you can see in Joseph Stodola's re-imagined Dorian Gray.
The guts of Wilde's original are there: A beautiful young man retains his beauty by swapping his soul out into a portrait. The image turns uglier and uglier, while Dorian is able to do whatever his heart desires. It also means that Dorian can't feel anymore, and this leads him to terrible and ice-cold acts.
Stodola embraces the modern, using severe lighting, pounding techno, and stark staging to bring out the empty lives of the young people populating Dorian's world. Trevor Goris has the sharp features and white-blond hair that brings to mind a more angular Andy Warhol. It's a perfect look for the title character.
Still, the impact wasn't as strong as I had hoped. Maybe we needed more of Dorian's friends and lovers to make sense of what's happening. He's an empty vessel, but they could be developed beyond tortured artist or failing actress.
Shelly Bachberg Presents: Orange is the New POTUS
The Catalysts are back with another political-themed musical. So is their creation Shelly Bachberg, a crazed conservative politician from the northern Twin Cities' suburbs.
Just like Michele Bachmann, Bachberg has fallen on hard times. She's in a minimum-security prison for campaign finance fraud and has to share her cell with a trio of left-leaning criminals.
She has to use all of her guile and knowledge of how to push the right buttons to get the three of them on her side, escape, and ride the wave to the presidency.
The concept still has some legs — let's face it, crazy and Republican go hand in hand these days — but Bachman's faded star take away some of the urgency. On a performance level, the show needs a bit of work. The actors are fine (especially Kim Kivens as Bachberg), but some of the song and dance numbers had hard-to-hear lyrics.
The 2015 Minnesota Fringe Festival runs through Sunday.


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« What's a Remarkable Grad Rate? For Latinos? For ELLs? | Main | 'Targeted Testing' on NAEP for ELLs? »
Will There Be a 'Sotomayor Effect' on Latino Education?
Sonia Sotomayor has been confirmed today as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Hispanic to join the court, according to CNN. (See EdWeek's story by my colleague Erik W. Robelen here.) No doubt, some Latino youths, and other youths as well, will take note and may pay attention to how working hard in school contributed to her success.
At least U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said that, in the same way the interest in education of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has caused some youths to see education as "cool and hip again," Sotomayor's confirmation may cause a "Sotomayor effect."
"I hope that in Latino communities, parents and kids are going to start talking soon about the 'Sotomayor effect,' " Duncan said in a July 31 speech to National Council of La Raza, according to a transcript. "Judge Sotomayor's story is impressive in so many ways. But I love what she has said about the power of education."
So the possibility of the "Sotomayor effect" really has the chance to take off today, with the confirmation.


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Lippo Malls to buy two Indonesian centres
Jul 1, 2015
Singapore-headquartered Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust is to buy two shopping centres in Indonesia.
The properties are Palembang Icon and Lippo Plaza Batu, together worth $83.33 million (or Rp1.06 trillion).
The Batu City mall is a small centre with 12,324 sqm net lettable area but includes the right to build an additional 6500 sqm of space on the rooftop. Batu City is in Malang province in East Java with a population of 190,000.
Palembang Icon is a five-storey 35,797 sqm retail mall equipped with a sports centre, located in Palembang City in South Sumatera.
LMTR says the retail malls will be bought at prices less than independent valuations and they have stable tenants.
Source: insideretail.asia
Related News: Hamleys toy shop to open in Vietnam
New Horizons coming to Vietnam
Applebee's Philippines set for debut
Jamba Juice Indonesia to open next year
Jardine wins Pizza Hut Myanmar rights


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Xerox-owned consulting firm Buck Consultants has recently projected that health care cost increases for all types of medical plans will slow by between 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent for at least the first six months of 2013. This is the first time since 2001 that the Buck's survey has indicated increases of less than 10 percent for any plan type. In its newest National Health Care Trend Survey, Buck Consultants has projected health care cost increases of 9.7 percent for PPOs, 9.5 percent for POSs, 9.3 percent for HMOs, and 9.6 percent for HDHPs.
"Despite the lower trend, though, health care costs continue to outpace general inflation – creating difficult business decisions for organizations," said Daniel Levin, FSA and survey director. "The stubbornly high costs can be attributed to several trends, ranging from a greater use of diagnostic tests and treatments to mandated coverage of certain benefits. Employers need to decide how much of these increases to pass on to workers, or whether to drop coverage and pay the penalties imposed by the Affordable Care Act."
The 123 health insurers participating in the survey reported an average 10.1 percent increase for prescription drugs, about 2.5 times the 4.1 percent rate reported by pharmacy benefit managers. For supplemental Medicare plans, insurers reported a trend increase of 5.4 percent not including prescription drug coverage, down 0.4 percent from the previous annual survey. The decrease is due to the increased federal controls on Medicare fees and slowed growth of Medicare deductibles and copays.
"Another health care trend we'll be watching is the impact of private health insurance exchanges," said Levin. "It remains to be seen how the development of private exchanges will affect the use of public exchange models, but it could likely impact the projected cost trends we measure in this survey."